Unstoppable

I want to share an insight from Pastor Todd Rainwater concerning our decision making and God's purpose for our lives.  This is an incredible testimony of God's favor.  Reading it reminded me of a song by Viktory called "Unstoppable."  Song and lyrics are after the jump.

Pastor Todd Rainwater
Insight 12

Genesis

Theme         You Choose!

 

Text             “The whole countryside is open to you. Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will separate. If you want the land to the left, then I’ll take the land on the right. If you prefer the land on the right, then I’ll go to the left” (Genesis 13:9, NLT).

         

Insight         Genesis chapter 13 is an interesting story in Abram’s life. It is a story that reveals how confident Abram was in God. In other words, Abram’s trust was in God and God alone. He understood that the blessings and provisions in his life were there because of Whose he was. Abram was so confident in Whom his provisions came from that he freely allowed Lot to choose because he could not loose.

           Here’s the story… Abram and Lot were both very wealthy with flocks of sheep and goats, herds of cattle and many tents. So much so, that the land could not support them both living so close together. Eventually, “Disputes broke out between the herdsmen of Abram and Lot ” (13:7).

          Abram didn’t want the herdsmen’s dispute to come between himself and Lot . So Abram said, “The whole countryside is open to you. Take your choice of any section of the land you want, and we will separate. If you want the land to the left, then I’ll take the land on the right. If you prefer the land on the right, then I’ll go to the left.” Abram’s offer reveals that he believed no matter what Lot choose he would still be blessed. How can this be?

          Abram knew he was blessed if he went to the right AND he was blessed if he went to the left. He was blessed because of Whose he was not what he choose. He was so confident in this reality, that he allowed Lot to make the decision. Are you that confident in the Source of your blessings?

          Unfortunately, many of us believe we are blessed primarily because of what we choose. Consequently, we get paralyzed in analyzing the choices and worried about choosing correctly. Abram didn’t see it that way. He was free! He determined that the Source of his blessings was God Himself.

          Look, you are blessed primarily because of Whose you are! Live with the confidence that you are blessed coming and going, lying down and getting up, over here and over there, in this job and in that one. Blessings are a benefit of knowing and walking with God.

 

Prayer          Father, thank You for blessing me. I acknowledge that You are my Source of blessing and provision. I will stop over analyzing and worrying. Bless me Father, for I am Your’s. In Jesus name, AMEN.

I'm In Love

I was listening to DJ Wade-O's radio show (www.wadeoradio.com) and he was playing some old school tracks.  One he played in particular is a song by Sho Baraka called "Higher Love."  This was the first single from his first solo album.  I remember loving this song because it was a real description of why I love the Lord and also where he took me from.  It reminded me of the pressure sometimes I felt to continue to follow the old crowd and the difficulty of trying to explain to them why I can't follow.  Sho does an excellent job of artiulating this.  When I heard it today, I thought of a few scriptures:

2 Cor 5:17-21 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Sho, to starts that song, mentions going back to Egypt.  He means this in a figurative way as he is making reference to Exodus, which begins the journey of the Israelites out of Egypt to the promised land.  Egypt represents the past, it represents sin.  Despite being free from slavery, the Israelites found their journey difficult and actually wanted to return to Egypt.  Why would anyone want to go back to slavery?  When we are outside of Christ we are slaves to sin, but in Him we can be slaves to obedience which leads to righteousness (Romans 6:16).  We can all leave our "Egypt" because in Christ we are a new creation:

Ephesians 2:1-10 - And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind. But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

So would you rather stay in slavery or accept God's free gift of grace.  The scriptures above clearly show that God's love is like no other.  Sho describes this love in the song.  Enjoy the track and lyrics after the jump.

Mr. Pretender

I bought KB's album, Weight and Glory, and I must say I am impressed with the album all the way around from theology, lyrical flow and production.  Definitely one of my favorites of the year.  One song in particular that gripped me is called Mr. Pretender (see link to song and lyrics below).  The song is about the devil. When I think about this song, I am reminded of two instances in the Bible where Satan attempted to deceive.

In Genesis 3, the Bible records that Satan, in the form of a serpent convinced Eve to eat of the tree of knowledge, the one tree in the garden that God told her and Adam not to eat.  Genesis 3:2-5 records, "He said to the woman, 'Did God actually say, ‘You shall not eat of any tree in the garden’?, And the woman said to the serpent, 'We may eat of the fruit of the trees in the garden, but God said, ‘You shall not eat of the fruit of the tree that is in the midst of the garden, neither shall you touch it, lest you die.' But the serpent said to the woman, 'You will not surely die. For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.'"  So Satan is not only claiming to know something that God does not desire for Eve to know, he also claims God to be a liar when it is he that is a liar.  Eve believed Satan and ate of the tree, and then Adam ate.  As a result, we now have sin, death and disease in a fallen world.

Now look at Matthew 4:1-11:

"Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. And the tempter came and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, command these stones to become loaves of bread.'  But he answered, 'It is written, 'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'' Then the devil took him to the holy city and set him on the pinnacle of the temple and said to him, 'If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down, for it is written, 'He will command his angels concerning you,’ and 'On their hands they will bear you up, lest you strike your foot against a stone.'' Jesus said to him, 'Again it is written, ‘You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.'' Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. And he said to him, 'All these I will give you, if you will fall down and worship me.' Then Jesus said to him, 'Be gone, Satan! For it is written,'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'' Then the devil left him, and behold, angels came and were ministering to him."

  His strategy with Jesus was the same as with Eve; he even used scripture with Jesus. However, Jesus fasting and communing with God, also having scriptures in His heart was able to resist the devil and he fled (James 4:7).  That should be our response as well.

Satan is the ultimate deceiver.  He tries to convince us his way is better than God's way.  He is the ultimate pretender, a phony, a counterfeit of everything God stands for.  He pretends to give you better than what God gives by using anti-God tactics.  The great deceiver to come will be known as the anti-Christ (see the book of Revelation).  In the song below (listen to song and see lyrics after the jump) KB describes some of the lies Satan will use to convince us his way is better.  Enjoy and let me know your thoughts and comments here or on facebook and twitter.  You can also e-mail me at platinumlife7@yahoo.com.