Marching Forth!

It all started like a regular day at church:  there was prayer, fellowship, and giving.  Things changed after a large financial gift was presented to the church leadership.  Instead of commendation, blessing, and acknowledgement, there was rebuke.  It was divinely revealed the man had only given a portion of what he claimed, and suddenly he fell down dead.  This was a day at church no one would ever forget, and three hours later it became even more crazy when the wife of the man also fell down dead in the congregation for lying to God.  This is a true story, and you can read about the demise of Ananias and Sapphira in the book of Acts chapter 5. The Bible says great fear came upon all those who heard these things, and the wise today still take notice.  After teaching this portion of scripture at church this weekend, I put myself in the place of a congregant in the church in Jerusalem.  How would I felt to see these sudden deaths for lying to ...

God is not like a person who conveys, "Do as I say but not as I do."  He is not like a parent who needs to apologise after doing or saying something they forbid of their children.  He is utterly consistent in His righteousness and purity.  His holiness reaches infinitely beyond our ability to ascertain, and He says truly of Himself:  "I am the LORD; I change not." Romans 1:31 sums up the condition of a sinner worthy of death with five words which are the antithesis of the of character of God:  " undiscerning, untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful ."  Having established His throne on righteousness, God is the source and sustainer of all life.  God is discerning, knowing all things.  He is absolutely trustworthy for He cannot tell a lie.  God is loving, demonstrating this reality by sending Jesus Christ to save sinners.  He is forgiving, a quality not found in men who nurse grudges and remember wrongs done against them. ...

" And Elisha prayed, and said, " LORD , I pray, open his eyes that he may see." Then the LORD opened the eyes of the young man, and he saw. And behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha ." 2 Kings 6:17 It seemed like a hopeless situation:  the Syrian army surrounded the city of Dothan to bring Elisha to the king.  When the servant of Elisha saw they were surrounded by this great force he was overwhelmed.  He said, "Alas my master!  How shall we do?"  "Alas" is a word used to express pity, grief, or concern.  The servant of Elisha realised he and the inhabitants of the city were out of their depth given the tenuous situation, and given the circumstances it is likely most people would have panicked. The perspective of Elisha was quite different than his servant.  Elisha didn't ask what they should do because he knew something his servant did not:  they were not alone or forsaken.  God was with ...

Have you ever received a call you declined to take because it was a "private" number?  In the old days people would "screen" their calls by listening to the caller speak on their answering machine in real time:  if they wanted to take the call, they could.  But if it was a caller they would rather not talk to at the moment (or ever!), the machine ran interference. This morning I read a passage which showed similar to how we screen calls, God in a sense screens prayers.  Those who do not fear or regard Him do not have the access and immediate response He gladly gives to those who trust and obey Him.  The situation is described in 2 Kings 3 when the king of Moab rebelled against Jehoram king of Israel.  Jehoram enlisted the aid of king Jehoshaphat and the king of Edom.  Of the three only Jehoshaphat feared the LORD.  When Jehoram blamed God for dooming their mission, Jehoshaphat suggested they inquire of the LORD and Elisha the prophet was summon...