‘With regards to both conflicts and cooperation, and with regards to both falling out and falling in, we communicate from the grace and goodness of God, representing His glory and greatness. The Spirit convicts us, and through Him we communicate.
Or, from another point of view, we speak and respond with a mindset of rejoicing, giving thanks, and praying without ceasing.
When we find ourselves in heavier and high-impact conversations, it helps to always keep this in mind. I just thought to air this out because many such conversations have also come up as of late.’
Not sure if I held up to this recently. Or, well, yesterday I had back-to-back ‘heavier and high-impact conversations‘, and while I’m not sure my choice of words, reactions and responses resulted in the optimal results, it’s certainly leading me to praying more.
And here I’m reminded that even through these confrontations, I ought to remember to rejoice and to give thanks. It’s not too hard to do that. I mean, I give thanks because the conversations could have gone further south than they already have. I rejoice, because I know that through it all, our God and King is with us, faithful to us, and even now He is working all things for good.
Mind you, this is ‘good’ not according to our perspectives, expectations and preferences, but this is good, as God is the only One who is good, and good, according to this good God of ours. Meaning we may not see immediate results, but we know that He’s on top of things.
Earlier I wrote about how one word we take in this season is to Elevate – that is, to step up in our game. Pair this up with addressing another word which is ‘Neglect’, and I end up with the word ‘Confront’; And to rope it all together, I’m to elevate personally by way of confronting things, people and situations that have been neglected for the longest time.
Personally, this has meant staving off appetites that have dictated too much upon my routines, and have left me frustrated and disappointed. This has meant the (literal) deletion and removal of memories and triggers to said old appetites.
Lately (as in yesterday, literally) this has also meant standing up against behaviors and actions deemed intolerable, and (also literally) speaking up, still with grace – that is, grace in the form of stern rebuke against the offender(s), and in the name of protecting my house.
We’ve talked in length about how having the mind of Christ is (1) thinking, knowing that Christ thinks with us, and we think with Christ, and (2) having new perspectives, new ideas, new desires, new preferences, new priorities, etc.; I guess we can add to that list. Having the mind of Christ also means the old appetites have passed away, and behold, all appetites have been made new.
The old responses (or lack thereof) have ended, and our responses have been made new. Part of me recalls that I was more comfortable in confronting and rebuking those seen as coming against my house, because I had that shallow confidence that somehow, even if I do rebuke them, they would still see me as a friend, and would not be so quick to declare themselves as my enemy. In that case, I believe something else has been made new; I mean, the old priority to be liked by everyone has passed away, and here, the desire to be liked has been made new – by way of knowing that the Creator of the Universe likes and loves me, and that’s all that matters.
Seems we are elevating, in the sense that our putting the grace of God into action is taking us into more compromising territory. And not that this ought to fully intimidate us – I mean, sure, there are reasons for us to fear, but it’s in these heights that we see more perspectives and deeper insights into the perfect love God has for us.
We’d also be appreciating our down-time more, by naturally dwelling on the Word of God, waiting on the Holy Spirit, and being still and knowing God is God.
I love how the more things elevate, the more things are actually coming together.
Thought I’d let off some of this steam before I head out and take stuff in a couple of upcoming fellowships.
For this season Q2:
- Dwell on the Word. Wait on the Spirit. Be still, and know that God is God.
Remembering last Mothers’ Day:
- for the Women and Mothers – You are beautiful, because you shine the grace and glory of the Most High.
- for the Men and Fathers – God is the primary Shield who protects our households. God is the premiere Refuge who covers our women and children. As He protects, so we protect.
Remembering last week, from Pastor James:
- John 3:5-8 Salvation is being Born Again.
- There can be no rebirth without death, so when Christ died, we died, and when Christ rose again, so we rose again as new creations. What does this mean?
- 1 Peter 1:23 says we have been born again through the Word of God.
- 1 Corinthians 6:19 says we are temples of the Holy Spirit.
- It’s not to say that when we dwell on the Word and when we wait on the Spirit, we do nothing. Acts 17:28 says in Christ we live, and MOVE, and have our being.
- So, women shine in their daily lives, all along dwelling on the Word and waiting on the Spirit.
- Men protect and provide, all along dwelling on the Word and waiting on the Spirit.
- There can be no rebirth without death, so when Christ died, we died, and when Christ rose again, so we rose again as new creations. What does this mean?
Today we move from a tale of three sisters, to a tale of three altars.
Altar 1
15 Now the Philistines had stopped up all the wells which his father’s servants had dug in the days of Abraham his father, and they had filled them with earth. 16 And Abimelech said to Isaac, “Go away from us, for you are much mightier than we.”
17 Then Isaac departed from there and pitched his tent in the Valley of Gerar, and dwelt there. 18 And Isaac dug again the wells of water which they had dug in the days of Abraham his father, for the Philistines had stopped them up after the death of Abraham. He called them by the names which his father had called them.
19 Also Isaac’s servants dug in the valley, and found a well of running water there. 20 But the herdsmen of Gerar quarreled with Isaac’s herdsmen, saying, “The water is ours.” So he called the name of the well Esek, because they quarreled with him. 21 Then they dug another well, and they quarreled over that one also. So he called its name Sitnah. 22 And he moved from there and dug another well, and they did not quarrel over it. So he called its name Rehoboth, because he said, “For now the LORD has made room for us, and we shall be fruitful in the land.”
23 Then he went up from there to Beersheba. 24 And the LORD appeared to him the same night and said, “I am the God of your father Abraham; do not fear, for I am with you. I will bless you and multiply your descendants for My servant Abraham’s sake.”
There can only be one well for a great expanse of land. So to say that Isaac had many wells from Abraham means that he had a lot of land.
Everything good comes from the Lord, and He adds no sorrow to it, indeed. So all things may look fortuitous, but we will know if it comes from the Lord if we don’t call the well Esek, or Sitnah. All things good are according to the promises of the Lord, and are as Rehoboth.
The Lord also reminds the children of the promises He made to their fathers.
25 So he built an altar there and called on the name of the LORD, and he pitched his tent there; and there Isaac’s servants dug a well.
As a response, Isaac built an altar – not in Esek, not in Sitnah, but in Rehoboth.
26 Then Abimelech came to him from Gerar with Ahuzzath, one of his friends, and Phichol the commander of his army. 27 And Isaac said to them, “Why have you come to me, since you hate me and have sent me away from you?”
28 But they said, “We have certainly seen that the LORD is with you. So we said, ‘Let there now be an oath between us, between you and us; and let us make a covenant with you, 29 that you will do us no harm, since we have not touched you, and since we have done nothing to you but good and have sent you away in peace. You are now the blessed of the LORD.’ ” Genesis 26:15-29
Following the altar, Abimelech makes peace with Isaac. This is a change from when he told Isaac to go away, ‘for you are much mightier than we.‘
Altar 2
16 So Obadiah went to meet Ahab, and told him; and Ahab went to meet Elijah.
17 Then it happened, when Ahab saw Elijah, that Ahab said to him, “Is that you, O troubler of Israel?”
18 And he answered, “I have not troubled Israel, but you and your father’s house have, in that you have forsaken the commandments of the LORD and have followed the Baals. 19 Now therefore, send and gather all Israel to me on Mount Carmel, the four hundred and fifty prophets of Baal, and the four hundred prophets of Asherah, who eat at Jezebel’s table.”
Elijah’s Mount Carmel Victory
20 So Ahab sent for all the children of Israel, and gathered the prophets together on Mount Carmel. 21 And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.”
Context: Israel was under Ahab, who wed Jezebel, who did not stop at declaring that Baal was the god of Israel, but also commanded that prophets and priests of God be hunted down and killed.
I also emphasized – in the days of Isaac, the wells were being covered. During this time, the nation was being torn apart by ‘two opinions‘.
But the people answered him not a word. 22 Then Elijah said to the people, “I alone am left a prophet of the LORD; but Baal’s prophets are four hundred and fifty men. 23 Therefore let them give us two bulls; and let them choose one bull for themselves, cut it in pieces, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it; and I will prepare the other bull, and lay it on the wood, but put no fire under it. 24 Then you call on the name of your gods, and I will call on the name of the LORD; and the God who answers by fire, He is God.”
So all the people answered and said, “It is well spoken.”
25 Now Elijah said to the prophets of Baal, “Choose one bull for yourselves and prepare it first, for you are many; and call on the name of your god, but put no fire under it.”
26 So they took the bull which was given them, and they prepared it, and called on the name of Baal from morning even till noon, saying, “O Baal, hear us!” But there was no voice; no one answered. Then they leaped about the altar which they had made.
27 And so it was, at noon, that Elijah mocked them and said, “Cry aloud, for he is a god; either he is meditating, or he is busy, or he is on a journey, or perhaps he is sleeping and must be awakened.” 28 So they cried aloud, and cut themselves, as was their custom, with knives and lances, until the blood gushed out on them. 29 And when midday was past, they prophesied until the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice. But there was no voice; no one answered, no one paid attention.
30 Then Elijah said to all the people, “Come near to me.” So all the people came near to him. And he repaired the altar of the LORD that was broken down. 31 And Elijah took twelve stones, according to the number of the tribes of the sons of Jacob, to whom the word of the LORD had come, saying, “Israel shall be your name.” 32 Then with the stones he built an altar in the name of the LORD; and he made a trench around the altar large enough to hold two seahs of seed. 33 And he put the wood in order, cut the bull in pieces, and laid it on the wood, and said, “Fill four waterpots with water, and pour it on the burnt sacrifice and on the wood.” 34 Then he said, “Do it a second time,” and they did it a second time; and he said, “Do it a third time,” and they did it a third time. 35 So the water ran all around the altar; and he also filled the trench with water.
36 And it came to pass, at the time of the offering of the evening sacrifice, that Elijah the prophet came near and said, “LORD God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that You are God in Israel and I am Your servant, and that I have done all these things at Your word. 37 Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again.”
38 Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench.
I got emotional at this point, especially where I read out Elijah’s prayer. Isaac called upon the name of the Lord at the altar and then Abimelech made peace with him.
Elijah called upon the name of the Lord at the altar and then the Lord answered with fire, consuming the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the dust and the water.
**Jandel also reminded me after the service that we should look at God’s response here versus Christ’s state at His crucifixion. We point out that the fire of the Lord consumed much more than just the sacrifice, but Christ, even at His state, spoke ‘it is Finished’ – unconsumed, therefore far more sufficient to serve as the sacrifice for the entire world.
39 Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, “The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!” 1 Kings 18:16-39
Altar 3
4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” 6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
The Upper Room Prayer Meeting
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey. 13 And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James. 14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. Acts 1:4-9, 12-14
Coming of the Holy Spirit
1 When the Day of Pentecost had fully come, they were all with one accord in one place. 2 And suddenly there came a sound from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. 3 Then there appeared to them divided tongues, as of fire, and one sat upon each of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance.
The Crowd’s Response
5 And there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men, from every nation under heaven. 6 And when this sound occurred, the multitude came together, and were confused, because everyone heard them speak in his own language. 7 Then they were all amazed and marveled, saying to one another, “Look, are not all these who speak Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each in our own language in which we were born? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites, those dwelling in Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya adjoining Cyrene, visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes, 11 Cretans and Arabs—we hear them speaking in our own tongues the wonderful works of God.”Acts 2:1-11
“But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book until the time of the end; many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall increase.” Daniel 12:4
Knowledge shall increase. We’re in an age where the wells are being covered, where opinions are tearing us apart, and where we are crying out for restoration.
Build your altar – Dwell, wait, and be still.
Behold the move of the Holy Spirit!
After worship, Sister Helen spoke up and responded to when we sang: “The atmosphere is changing now“
Romans 14:17 was impressed upon her: “…for the kingdom of God is not eating and drinking, but righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.“
We’ve arrived at a turning point where we acknowledge the presence and move of the Holy Spirit in our lives.
Righteousness in the Holy Spirit, directing us to keep digging wells and taking refuge where there is no contention.
Peace in the Holy Spirit; Peace that goes beyond understanding, serving as power that transcends a multitude of opinions.
Joy in the Holy Spirit – Unspeakable, exceeding joy that keeps us steadfast as we wait on the Lord to move on what we think is important and immediate.
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