Hear Him - Friday Praise & Pray (for others) May 13, 2022

Have you ever studied the Book of Ezekiel? I find this particular prophet to be very interesting. For instance, he's the only human recorded in the Bible to have ever told God 'No!' I kid you not! He wasn't like Jonah who just decided to disobey God's instruction. Ezekiel came right out and told God he couldn't do something he'd been commanded to do. Now, I do not recommend any of us try this and caution everyone to go understand how he was able to essentially refuse an instruction. In Ezekiel's case, to obey would have meant disobeying the Law of Moses, given by God Himself. The prophet respectfully expressed his reasons why and praise God He's a kind and loving Father because Ezekiel wasn't immediately burnt to a crisp.

Don't dismiss my concern for Ezekiel potentially being turned to ash for refusing to obey the Lord. After all, a few chapters later in the very Book of Ezekiel, God exacted immediate punishment on someone. He dealt with a wicked leader, named Pelatiah, right as Prophet Ezekiel was speaking God's verdict on the leader. Ezekiel hadn't finished prophesying when Pelatiah dropped dead for his sins against the Lord. So, as you can see my concern for Ezekiel that he'd face God's swift justice wasn't overblown.

However, today's message isn't about God's justice. It does, nevertheless, cause us to take a look at leaders but from a slightly different perspective. Let us consider our scriptural basis in Ezekiel 13:22 - "By your lies you discourage good people, whom I do not wish to hurt. You prevent evil people from giving up evil and saving their lives (GNT). For some background, the Lord was speaking against false male and female prophets. He'd detailed how these individuals erred then stated what their punishment would be. In this verse, He was telling female prophets that their offense included discouraging the righteous with their messages while preventing those living in sin from repenting, because they weren't being told they needed to.

And now, you're thinking we're going to discuss false pastors and other wolves disguised as sheep in the Body of Christ, right? You'd be wrong. No, the Lord's word was to not point fingers at these types but instead to take a good look at ourselves.

Ask yourself, would you be susceptible to the words of a liar perpetrating as a man or woman of God? Have you ever fallen for one? If the answer is no, congratulations and keep it that way. Please, remain cautious and be mindful of 1 Corinthians 10:12 - So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall!

Now, if the answer is yes or if you aren't sure, please don't beat yourself up. The truth is, it can happen to anyone and that is why we need to train ourselves to hear the Lord and obey Him when He speaks. God has given us the ability to stay out of all sorts of trouble through His word and His voice. He gave this capacity because He loves each of us and wants us to live as earthly overcomers with heaven as the ultimate destination. Knowing His voice and His word will help us in tough situations. We'll hear the scripture - which is His voice written in the Bible - play in our heads when someone speaks a word contrary to the Lord's. We'll hear His voice within us telling us to leave a place or end a conversation that could potentially cause us to sin or walk outside of His protection.

The same evil spirit causing people to share false visions and speak lies packaged as the word of the Lord is the one striving to ensure that God's people don't hear Him. So while it may be very easy for us to condemn the wolves in sheep's clothing, let us prayerfully seek to hear God and resist the devil which stands against our rightful position as people who listen, hear, and are led with zeal by the King of kings. We need to study His word and eliminate the things that create so much noise in our heads whereby we can't hear that soft, loving whisper. Then, we must pray for better hearing and practice hearing and obeying His instructions. May the Lord help each of us, IJN, Amen.

I pray you'll join us at 12 Noon EST today to obey God's instruction to praise Him and intercede for others before we seek His face to have our entire being open to His voice. God bless and see you then!

Hear to receive the new - Tuesday Praise & Pray (for others) May 10, 2022

I'm always amazed at how two people can have the same problem but God's solution for each person can be completely different. I think of the times Jesus healed blind men in the New Testament. In Matthew 9, there were two blind men and He simply touched their eyes. In John 9, He spat on the ground, made some mud and placed it on the blind man's eyes.

Jesus was God personified on earth. He didn't need to be creative when healing people and yet, He seemed to go out of His way to heal people differently each time. This begs the question, why?

Praise God, He didn't leave us to wonder. On more than one occasion, He explained He did things the way His Father instructed Him to (John 12:49, John 7:16, John 8:28). To achieve this, He clearly had to listen to the Lord's voice right?

We need to do the same. Hearing the Lord is a fundamental part of our walk with Him. It is so fundamental that God repeatedly commanded all who belonged to Him to listen and obey Him. One such instruction is found in Ezekiel 3:10 - And he said to me, “Son of man, listen carefully and take to heart all the words I speak to you.

Hearing God's word means different things to different people. For instance, God spoke to Abraham in his sleep (Genesis 15:1). We are also told that God spoke to people through prophets as He did to King Hezekiah in 2 Kings 20. Then there's Daniel, to whom the Lord sent an Archangel to give him the answers to his prayers (Daniel 9-10).

Just as there's no limit to how God can and will do something, there is also no limit to how He communicates with His people. Some hear the Lord's instruction in a song, others, while watching a show. Then, of course, there's also the receipt of His word through scripture. Have you ever had that moment where you stumble upon a Bible verse and it just happens to be the precise answer to a prayer?

We have to train ourselves to hear the Lord, for we need His voice to keep us from harm. After all, we are told in Psalm 119:105 - Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path. This will require we pray, create quite moments to commune with Him, and of course, actually obey the instructions we receive.

Psalm 81:8 - Hear me, my people, and I will warn you— if you would only listen to me, Israel!Failing to hear God means we miss out on the warnings. It means we fall for satan's lie that God can only do things one, solitary way. And when that happens, we won't be in position for the unique way He's planned to answer us or elevate us for His purpose. We'll be stuck waiting to see a repeat when His plan is for something brand new.

Let us seek a deeper hearing of the voice of God. Let us train ourselves with the grace of the Lord and the help of the Holy Spirit so we become the children who look forward to and await the new from a good God who loves us. May the Lord Almighty help us.

'Late' but on time - Praise & Pray (for others) May 6, 2022

We all expect the Lord to show up by our deadlines. I know do and I tend to pray with my timeline in mind. However, the Lord isn't restricted to showing up for me within the time frame I desire or expect. In many cases, He'll show up earlier. Still, there are those times when God shows up after a set deadline. Praise the Lord that whenever He does this, He somehow manages to be right on time.

Don't believe me? Meshach, Abednego and Shadrach had to be thrown into the fire for the Fourth Man to show up (Daniel 3). Job lost his wealth, his kids, and his health. Then, God showed up and restored to him double in Job 42. Same with David when the Amalekites raided his base in Ziklag (1 Samuel 30). They kidnapped the women and children and plundered. God in His wisdom showed up after the worst had happened but He enabled David to not just recover what was lost but to plunder those who'd plundered him.

Are you familiar with the story of what happened to the Israelites at Ai? Joshua was leader of his people and they were still new in Canaan at the time (Joshua 7-8). They'd defeated Jericho and took on the next city - Ai. Unfortunately, they were soundly defeated. Joshua and his people went to the Lord in fasting and sought His face to understand how they could have lost that battle. The Lord revealed the reason, showed them how to remedy the situation, and gave them strategy to win.

The result? The next time the Israelite army showed up, the men of Ai came out to fight. Unknown to them, they were about to meet a fighting force that had the full backing of the God who shows up right on time. By nightfall, the city of Ai was no more.

God's pattern of showing up 'late' but on time continued in the New Testament. Lazarus had to die and his family and friends had to mourn so that God would be glorified when he was resurrected (John 11). He did the same in the case of Dorcas (Acts 9). And when it came time to heal the daughter of Jairus, Jesus took His time getting to the twelve year old, who eventually died but was revived in a great miracle (Mark 5). One would wonder why God would allow the girl to die and let her family endure the pain of her loss. Yet, none of that matters now, nor did it matter then. These experiences, though tough, gave God glory and allowed millions of people to praise the Lord as well as be strengthened thousands of years later.

In each of these examples, God could have shown up before the bad thing happened. He could have made a mighty move before a deadline. Instead, God chose to make sure that nobody else could claim His glory. He ensured that all who witnessed the ensuing miracles knew without a shadow of a doubt that no idols or false gods could do what He'd done in that age or any age to come.

If the Lord shows up 'late' He will nonetheless be on time to save His chosen ones. Don't believe the lie that if He doesn't show up by the manmade deadline then He'll never appear. Call on the Lord while you honor and serve Him, then watch Him show up in a big way. He doesn't lie and has promised to rescue those who belong to Him. As the creator and controller of time, He will move according to His schedule. If we accept His timing, He will be glorified in our lives and regardless of the deadline, we will testify that He showed up right on time.