Marching Forth!

As a Christian when you hear the term "signs and wonders," what comes to mind?  I think of things like Jesus healing the paralytic, cleansing lepers, casting out demons and raising the dead.  My mind goes to miraculous manifestations of God's power at work in the lives of people.  Let us not imagine, however, signs and wonders are a New Testament phenomenon.  The Bible makes it clear God has been doing signs and wonders through His people since the beginning, and in ways that might surprise you. The context of Isaiah 8 is God directing the prophet Isaiah to name his son "Mahershalalhashbaz," quite a mouthful.  I am sure many people were quite surprised anyone would name their son a compound word that is basically a sentence meaning, "speedy spoil and hasty plunder."  It was meant to be a divine encouragement that the Assyrian/Israel alliance formed against Judah would soon fail, even before the boy Mahershalalhashbaz would be able to say "my fathe...

It is wonderful when investigation into the claims of scripture confirm the truth of God's word.  Because the Bible is the word of God, we can place our faith in the infallible accuracy of the revelation.  I believe a problem can arise when well-intentioned people take it upon themselves to "prove" the Bible is true by the discovery of ancient artifacts or sites.  The Bible is not true because we have found the actual 10 Commandments or Noah's ark:  it is true because it is the word of God, and we therefore expect the evidence over time will stack up. There will always be naysayers and doubters even if every single ancient artifact mentioned in the Bible was produced, authenticated, cataloged and kept safe in a museum.  The discovery of the Ark of the Covenant would not necessarily stir belief in the historical authenticity any more than an empty tomb near Jerusalem prompts people to believe Jesus is risen from the dead.  The facts are Jesus did rise from t...

" Many are they who say of me, "There is no help for him in God." Selah  3 But You, O LORD , are a shield for me, m y glory and the One who lifts up my head ." Psalm 3:2-3 When I read this passage it occurred to me David's knowledge of God lead him to rest and confidence believers can sometimes lack.  The circumstances around the penning of this psalm was Absalom had declared himself king in Hebron, David's most trusted advisor and many others defected and conspired with him, and thus David fled from Jerusalem to prevent bloodshed.  One might expect David to pray for protection for his household and himself, yet instead David acknowledged God was a shield for him. Do you see the difference between praying to God for protection and knowing God is your shield?  Since God was David's shield in Whom he sought refuge in by faith there was no need for him to pray for protection.  Of course there is nothing wrong with praying for God to protect us, but readi...

  “ A moving buddy -- if you don't have one, get one !” Woody – Toy Story As moving day approached in the movie Toy Story , Woody strongly urged all toys to find a “moving buddy” for their safety and support.   I have heard believers exhort other Christians in a similar manner to “get prayer” or encourage them to find someone if they “need prayer.”   This way of speaking of prayer might suggest prayer is something we need  others can do for us, that prayer is primarily about what we receive or there are greater benefits on offer when we coordinate with others.   The Bible does not speak about prayer in terms of getting but doing ourselves, and to pray with other Christians with likeminded faith is a privilege, responsibility and birthright of believers we ought to embrace.    The spiritual reality is we are exhorted to pray without ceasing because this is the will of God for us.   We need to pray for the health of our souls even as we breathe ...

It is remarkable that in the time between the creation of the world and the great flood, there were only a handful of people mentioned by name who feared the LORD and walked with Him.  Abel, Enoch and Noah are men spoken of in the book of Hebrews who were marked by faith in God.  By faith Abel and his offering were accepted, Enoch walked with God and was not because God took him, and by faith Noah was moved to obey God and build an ark according to divine specifications.  Everyone created in the image of God has the capacity to know and walk with Him by faith, but the scripture makes it clear those who do are numbered in the minority. It dawned on me clearly as I observed what we are told of the antediluvian world, that very few people walk with God.  It is one thing to call on the name of the LORD but another to walk with Him, day by day in communion and fellowship.  People who have heard of God and even believe He exists do not always call out to Him, seek Hi...

An aspect of God I admire is His power over all things at the same time.  There is nothing that happens without His knowledge; no scheme of man or Satan is allowed to be enacted that skirts His redemptive plans and purposes.  Knowing we will see God's goodness in the land of the living turns our eyes towards Him in faith, to see what He will do.  As the scripture demonstrates countless times, His ways are higher than ours.  We could be likened to dogs sniffing the ground when God is over and above all with all wisdom, knowledge and power.  When we are on the trail of truth it is only because He first blazed it before us. I love how God uses means we imagine are below Him.  He chooses to use human beings as His servants when He created angels for the purpose of being His ministers.  He can use the worst trials and tribulations to bring forth beauty, healing and comfort.  God even at times used enemies of His people to discipline His chosen people, ...

There is a place for rebuke in the body of Christ, as this is a way love can be shown by correction.  When I hear people who feel inclined to rebuke the devil, however, I wonder why not seek the LORD in prayer?  Why not make our supplications to God who will rebuke and destroy the enemy of our souls in due time?  Imagine, praying to the devil when you ought to be praying to God!  Even if Satan happens to be in earshot, our rebukes are nothing compared to God's. It is a good practice to see if the practices of professing believers have biblical merit.  A quick survey of the scriptures does not demonstrate believers are ever taught or led by Jesus to rebuke the devil.  The passage which some have run with is  Jude 1:8-9 that reads, " Likewise also these dreamers defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak evil of dignitaries.  9 Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil, when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring ...