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Ready to Bloom

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He is like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers. Psalm 1:3

I love spring.

And I have to admit, I’m a little more eager for it this year. We’ve had a very long, very cold, very gray winter. I’m ready to feel the warmth of the sun. I think creation would agree.

Yet even now hope emerges with the promise of new life. Green blades have begun to penetrate the brown blanket of lawn. Beautiful red buds have emerged on my maple trees. What has lain dormant and barren stands ready to bloom in full force.

My heart bursts with anticipation. Change is coming.

I sense the same promise looming on the horizon for the church, dear one. What has appeared dormant and lifeless is about to spring to life, bursting with beauty.

Can you sense it? The Spirit of God calls us to awaken from our slumber and rise to release the new life Jesus loosed on the cross.

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. For behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord will arise upon you, and his glory will be seen upon you. And nations shall come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your rising. Isaiah 60:1-3

I’m ready to see it. Aren’t you? I long to witness the glory of the Lord evident upon His people. Light will penetrate the darkness, and many will be drawn to the brightness of our rising.

But here’s the catch, beloved. You and I can’t penetrate darkness while our hearts remain dark. We too closely resemble the darkness to disperse it.

So what if we determined not to blend in with the fallen world any longer? What if we gave Jesus unrestricted access and invited Him to blossom our hearts with the fruit of His Spirit?

Fruit-bearing marks the path to glory, dear one.

“By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples.” John 15:8

Let’s see how you and I can become beautiful, fruit-bearing branches that reveal the glory of God.

We plant the seed.

God cannot produce fruit without seed, dear one. And Jesus clearly defined the seed for us when He explained the parable of the sower to His disciples in Luke 8:11.

“The seed is the word of God.”

There’s no getting around it, my friend. If you and I want to experience the promises of God and become living testimonies to the power of resurrection life, we must spend time reading the Word. That’s the only way to plant the seed.

1 Peter 1:23 tells us that we have been born again, “not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God.”

God’s Word is the imperishable seed. It can’t die, but it can be snatched away, and weeds can choke it out. That’s why it’s imperative to regularly return to the Word. We have to keep replanting the seed the enemy has snatched up until it takes root.

We water the seed.

Seeds can’t grow without water. Jesus said in John 7:38-39, “Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive.

As we actively believe the implanted Word, living water flows. The Spirit waters the seed of the Word to bring growth. That’s why Jesus declared in John 4:23 that true worshipers would worship in Spirit and Truth. Only a true worshiper will yield godly fruit. The Word will not do its work without the presence of the Spirit.

We must seek the Lord’s presence though prayer and invite the Spirit to bring the Word to life in us.

Understanding provides the light to make it grow.

Psalm 119:130 declares,

The unfolding of your words gives light; it imparts understanding to the simple.

This is why the work of the Spirit is so necessary, dear one. He gives us understanding of the Word, teaching us all things (John 14:26). Without Him, the words on the pages of scripture are just words. But through Him, the seed takes root and begins to grow the fruit of God’s heart in us.

Seed. Water. Light. Only these essential elements can initiate and sustain growth. Let’s trust Jesus to change our character and grow us up in Him, that we can be filled to the measure with who He is (Ephesians 3:19). We have nothing to fear, only lavish promises to fulfill.

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” Jeremiah 17:7-9

 

Waiting on Dueling Angels

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But for you, O Lord, do I wait; it is you, O Lord my God, who will answer. Psalm 38:15 ESV

God answers prayer. I love the certainty of that promise.

But our opening scripture also reveals another truth: We often have to wait for that answer.

The waiting frustrates most of us. In this world of instant gratification, often God’s movement seems a bit slow. But what if it isn’t God that’s keeping you from your answer?

Today we will glimpse two prayers from a gatekeeper, a man whose prayers released God’s deliverance on this earth. You’ve probably heard of him. His name is Daniel.

Our friend Daniel is most famous for having survived a den of lions, but that’s not what we’ll be talking about today. Today we’ll see how he served the people of God as a watchman, discerning God’s Word and releasing His will through prayer.

In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. Daniel 9:2

Daniel lived in Babylon, the result of Israel being carried off into captivity because sin had removed God’s covering of protection. Jeremiah had warned them in advance of their exile, declaring they would serve the king of Babylon for 70 years.

Daniel realized those 70 years were coming to a close and it was time for God to deliver His people once more. So, he put on his party hat and waited to see God move.

Well, not exactly. He did precisely what Elijah did last week when God had revealed His will. He prayed.

Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy … I prayed to the Lord my God… Daniel 9:3-4

Interesting consistency, don’t you think? God declares His will, and a human vessel comes into agreement with Him through prayer to see that what God said would happen actually does.

Are you beginning to understand the vital importance of prayer, dear one? You and I won’t see God manifest His power without it.

Daniel understood that and dropped to his knees. I love what scripture reveals about his answer.

While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the Lord my God for the holy hill of my God, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice. Daniel 9:20-21

Can you even imagine it? Daniel hadn’t even finished praying, and an angel showed up mid-sentence to give him God’s answer.

I bet you’re wishing you were on Gabriel’s “to do” list today.

Look at what Gabriel tells him.

At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Daniel 9:23

The NIV puts it this way. As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you.

God released His answer the moment Daniel started asking.

Here’s what you need to know, dear one. Every time you utter a prayer with a heart that seeks God’s will, He moves. Something happens in the heavenly realms whether you see it at that moment or not.

This particular time, when Daniel prayed, God blessed him with an immediate answer. But let’s see what happens a few years later when Daniel approaches God the same way.

In Daniel 10, under the reign of a new king, Daniel received a vision from God and began to seek Him in prayer and fasting for understanding of it. We’re told he fasted, prayed and didn’t bathe for three straight weeks before a visitor arrived with a word from God.

“Do not be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come in response to them. Daniel 10:12

Once again, we see God confirming that He heard and answered Daniel’s prayer on the first day he started asking. But let’s see what else the visitor tells him.

But the prince of the Persian kingdom resisted me twenty-one days. Then Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, because I was detained there with the king of Persia. Now I have come to explain to you what will happen to your people in the future, for the vision concerns a time yet to come.” Daniel 10:13-14

What in the world? God dispatched a messenger immediately to deliver His answer, but the prince of the Persian kingdom detained him for three straight weeks until the archangel Michael came to help him so he could slip away.

Listen, dear one. You and I have no idea what’s happening even now in the heavenly realms. Satan’s forces work hard to hinder God’s movement on earth at every turn. What we just read describes angels and demons battling in the unseen.

God sent His answer, but evil forces sought to hinder it from getting through to the earth. Why? Because presently the earth is Satan’s realm, and the enemy comes against God’s own “in great wrath, because he knows that his time is short!” (Revelation 12:12)

But here’s our amazing promise!

You are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world. 1 John 4:4

God’s will always trumps the enemy’s efforts, as long as there is a human vessel willing to bend the knee and align himself with God to see it accomplished on earth.

Daniel prayed for 3 straight weeks. The angel met resistance for precisely 21 days. Daniels’s persistence in prayer bound the work of the enemy and loosed God’s will so it could become realized in his life.

Does that sound familiar, dear one? Jesus taught that the gates of hell cannot prevail against a praying church.

“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven, and whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” Matthew 16:19

Perhaps we should pray like we believe Him.

To Aid and Protect

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“And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.” Ezekiel 22:30 ESV

Do you find that your prayers tend to be reactionary?

Mine used to be. I’d offer grateful prayers at dinner and sweet nighttime prayers with my children, but it took something unpleasant happening to bring me to my knees and make me cry out passionately to God. I’d pray in response to things I didn’t like or understand.

I didn’t want it, so I’d ask God to change it. Sound familiar?

What if God offers something so much better than help out of our present messes? What if He wants to help us avoid some of those messes all together?

We’ve spent the last couple of weeks digging into some biblical principles about prayer. John 10:3 revealed a simple but profound truth. Jesus doesn’t open His own gates.

Instead, He seeks gatekeepers—or watchmen—to listen at His gates and open them through prayer. Unlike our enemy, Jesus doesn’t just force His way into our present circumstances; He only ever enters by the door (John 10:1-2). And He waits patiently for a gatekeeper to respond to His call and open the gate, inviting Him in.

Blessed is the one who listens to me, watching daily at my gates, waiting beside my doors. For whoever finds me finds life and obtains favor from the Lord. Proverbs 8:34-35 (ESV)

Today I’d like to dig a little deeper into the role of the gatekeeper or watchman. Consider this description of John 10:1-5 from the Bible Knowledge Commentary.

Verses 1–5 describe a morning shepherding scene. A shepherd enters through a gate into a walled enclosure which has several flocks in one sheep pen. The enclosure, with stone walls, is guarded at night by a doorkeeper to prevent thieves and beasts of prey from entering. Anyone who would climb the wall would do it for no good purpose.

10:3–4. By contrast, the shepherd has a right to enter the sheep pen. The watchman opens the gate, and the shepherd comes in to call his own sheep by name.

Can you picture it? Now let’s zoom in on the tasks of the watchman. I see two primary roles.

  1. The watchman guards against enemy attacks on the flock.
  2. The watchman opens the gate for Jesus to enter in.

Let’s examine each one to see how they apply to us.

The watchman guards against enemy attacks on the flock. I don’t know about you, but this one gets me excited. When the watchman does his or her job, the enemy’s plans get thwarted.

Maybe you need to take a moment to let the idea settle on you. If you choose to accept the role of watchman and exercise the authority given to you through prayer, you can stop enemy attacks before they ever take place. You and I don’t have to just keep reacting to bad stuff getting heaped into our laps, dear one. We can listen at the gates of God and stop some of it from ever getting there.

Don’t believe me? Consider these amazing promises from God’s Word.

…the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words… the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God. Romans 8:26-27

It’s the Holy Spirit’s job to help us pray. What does He tell us?

… he will guide you into all the truth, for he will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. John 16:13

The Holy Spirit carries the voice of Jesus calling out at the gate. He declares only what He hears from the Son, and He will even reveal things that are to about to take place.

Amazing, isn’t it? In Christ, we have an early warning system. Trouble is, most of us don’t tune in.

But what happens if we do? What happens when a child of God draws near to Jesus with a submitted heart, listening at His gates?

The watchman opens the gate for Jesus to enter in. When we sense the Holy Spirit leading us to pray for something and we choose to give voice to the thought in agreement with God’s will, our prayer becomes an invitation for God to enter in and alter the course the prince of this world has set.

A few months ago while praying over my younger son, I felt prompted to pray for my oldest. I asked God to ensure that Austin would live out every bit of his inheritance in Christ.

I had no way of knowing at the time that a few weeks later during a routine doctor visit for his eleventh grade physical, the doctor would find a mole on his back that would make her request a follow-up visit with a dermatologist. When the dermatologist agreed with the assessment and requested it be removed and tested, we received assurances that it was all routine and we likely wouldn’t hear anything back. No news is good news.

I have to admit, I felt a little unprepared for the call I received on the day of his sixteenth birthday. The office informed me the pathology report revealed the cells were changing and had a mild to moderate chance of becoming cancerous later on. They wanted him to see another doctor to have a larger area removed.

The hardest part was telling him that night that he had to go back. I could see the fear creep into his eyes as the same realization dawned on him that had settled on me during that phone call. Sixteen year olds aren’t supposed to have to worry about cancer.

I assured him God had this. His words, however, pierced my heart. “What if God wants me to die?”

I refused to entertain that line of thinking. God had, after all, allowed us to find it early, before any real damage had been done. And that’s when my thoughts returned to a day weeks before when I felt the Spirit prompting me to pray for my son to live out every bit of his inheritance.

You see, it was during that time that God was beginning to teach me about the watchman. The watchman stops enemy attacks and invites Jesus to intervene.

And I realized. What if the prayers of a mother listening at the gate stopped the enemy from stealing from my son’s life and invited Jesus to show a doctor something previous visits to the dermatologist had missed?

Wisdom cries aloud in the street…at the entrance of the city gates she speaks. Proverbs 1:20-21

Beloved, who will be the watchman for your family if not you? There’s only one requirement. You must be willing to listen at the door, ready to open the gate.