Hebrew Roots

In his new book, Temple Treasures, Steven Fuson writes, "It is a new day in God. We are anointed to reestablish the divine order of God so that His people today can experience the court, the Holy Place, and the Holy of Holies in their pure state. Let the confusions of the past fall aside as the pattern burns bright with fiery clarity. Let God reveal His temple treasures in majestic glory and power."

I believe we are living in an age when God wants to reveal so many things to His people. We must remain open to all He has in store for us. This includes understanding our Hebrew roots. Every passage in the Bible can be interpreted literally, spiritually, and prophetically. This, of course, includes the Torah and all of the Old Testament.

There are treasures in the Torah that point us to Jesus Christ--Yeshua Hamaschiach--the Messiah, who lives within us. In fact, He is one of the treasures of the Temple, for we are the temples of the Holy Spirit, and Jesus dwells within us. All power in Heaven and on Earth is found in Him and He lives within us. I believe this means that His power is available to us all the time.

Moses' tabernacle was a shadow and a likeness of heavenly things. It was a pattern of things to come. Let God reveal His mysteries to you, as you delve into the treasures of the Temple and the Torah.

The scarlet thread that holds all the Bible together is the blood of Jesus Christ, which cleanses us from all sin. David Davis writes, "As we enter into the fullness of the mystery of the 'one new man' of Jew and Gentile, those who long to sing Heaven's new song cry out together: 'You have redeemed us to God by your blood out of every tribe and tongue and people and nation'" (Revelation 5:9).

Let's rediscover our Hebrew roots. There is so much to learn from them.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day, which is perhaps one of the nicest holiday of the year because its focus should be on gratitude, family togetherness, and faith. However, all too often the focus of the holiday may be placed on less-important things--food, football, and sometimes even strife and complaining.

We need to remember something about how this national holiday began. Many people trace it back to the Pilgrims' first year in the New World. However, the truth may be that it actually began in St. Augustine, Florida, a few decades earlier. Whatever the case, Thanksgiving is a celebration of the blessings God has bestowed upon us.

H.U. Westermayer wrote, "The Pilgrims made seven times more graves than huts. No Americans have ever been more impoverished than these who, nevertheless, set aside a day of thanksgiving." What were these brave people thankful for? I'm sure at least a part of it was the fact that God had guided them safely to the New World where they could enjoy freedom of religion--a liberty that had been denied to them in England.

We still enjoy that liberty and several others for which we should be deeply grateful, and we should show our gratitude by the way we live. President John F. Kennedy said, "As we express our gratitude, we must never forget that the highest appreciation is not to utter words, but to live by them." W. J. Cameron writes, "Thanksgiving, after all, is a word of action."

I like what William Jennings Bryan said about Thanksgiving Day: "On Thanksgiving Day we acknowledge our dependence."

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Blessings

In Dr. John D. Garr's book, Blessings for Family and Friends, we learn of seven reasons why we should bless our families and friends through prayer:

1. You fulfill the instructions in the Word of God for blessing.
2. You establish and promote a culture and lifestyle of blessing.
3. You maintain a positive, "Good News" mind-set by blessing.
4. You manifest the gifts of the Holy Spirit through blessing.
5. You confirm your dependence on God as your source.
6. You reinforce to yourself and to others that God's Word works.
7. You are always blessed even more when you bless others.

Did you know that the Bible is a book of prayers, and that out of 667 recorded prayers, there are 454 recorded answers?

As we enter this Thanksgiving season, let's remember to bless our homes and families. "God, our maker, doth provide for our wants [needs] to be supplied; come to Go's own temple, come, raise the song of harvest home" (From "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come.")

Take the hands of those you love, look directly into their eyes, and speak the Word of God over them. Give them your personal blessing.

Remember these words: "God is the God of blessing. He always has been, and He always will be. He will never change: he will never compromise His covenant faithfulness that is ever manifest in the blissings He brings to His children. He will never stop blessing His children!" (From Dr. Garr's book, cited above.)

You can be the conduit through which God's blessing flows out to those you love.

Does God Ever Change His Mind?

Isaiah warned King Hezekiah that he would soon die and that he needed to get his affairs in order. He said, "Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live."

Sobering words, to be sure.

E.M. Bounds (in The Classic Collection on Prayer published by Bridge-Logos Foundation, Inc.) writes, "What can set aside or reverse that divine decree of Heaven? Hezekiah had never been in a condition so insurmountable, with a decree so direct and definite from God. Can prayer change the purposes of God? Can prayer snatch from the jaws of death one who has been decreed to die? Can prayer save a man from an incurable sickness? These were the questions that his faith now had to deal with. But his faith does not pause one moment. His faith is not staggered one minute at the sudden and definite news conveyed to him by the Lord's prophet. No such questions that modern unbelief or disbelief would raise are started in his mind. At once he gives himself to prayer. Immediately, without delay, he applies to God who issued the edict. To whom else could he go? Cannot God change His own purposes if He chooses?"

So, Hezekiah prayed, "I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight." Hezekiah then began to cry.

Bounds writes, "Hezekiah had hardly finished his prayer, and Isaiah was just about to go home when God gave him another message for Hezekiah, this time one more pleasant and encouraging. The mighty force of prayer had affected God, and had changed His edict and reversed Him in His purpose concening Hezekiah. What is there that prayer cannot do? What is there that a praying person cannot accomplish through prayer?"

As a result of Hezekiah's prayer, God healed him and gave him an additional fifteen years of life! There is great power in prayer. We know that prayer changes things, but did it change God's mind in this case? Our God knows the end from the beginning, so I doubt that He changed His mind, but He did use this situation as an opportunity to show His people the importance of prayer and faith.

Tennyson wrote, "More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of."

Let us pray, pray, pray, pray. Let us believe, believe, believe, believe. Let us receive, receive, receive, receive.

Our God hears and answers prayer.

The Surpassing Greatness of Knowing Christ Jesus as Lord

Paul writes, "I consider everything to be loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord" (Philippians 3:8).

In Morning by Morning (a Pure Gold Classic published by Bridge-Logos), Spurgeon writes, "I must know Him, not as the visionary dreams of Him, but as the Word reveals Him. I must know His natures, divine and human. I must know His offices, attributes, works, shame, and glory. I must meditate upon Him until I 'have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge.'"

When we really know Christ Jesus as Lord, we will love Him in the way Spurgeon describes. Our knowledge of Him, according to Spurgeon, must be:

• An intelligent knowledge
• An affectionate knowledge
• A satisfying knowledge
• An exciting knowledge
• A happy knowledge

Spurgeon writes, "This knowledge of Christ Jesus will be a most happy one. In fact, it'll be so elevating that sometimes it will completely bear me up above all trials, doubts, and sorrows, and will fling about me the immortality of the ever-living Savior, and gird me with the golden-belt of His joy. Sit today at Jesus' feet and learn about Him."

Do You Know the Shepherd?

To be a courageous Christian is to have confidence in God. Paul writes, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philippians 4:13). Yes, with Him and through Him we can do all things, but without Him, it is impossible to accomplish great things. Jesus said, "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing" (John 15:5).

How do we learn to abide in Christ? It is accomplished through worship, prayer, fellowship, and getting into the Word of God on a daily basis. God's Word provides the believer with hope, as we learn to trust in all His promises.

We must get to know God intimately and personally. The great Bible teacher Dr. Alexander Maclaren said that everything he knew was due to one habit: spending an hour each day alone with God. On of his assistants wrote, "He read it [the Bible that was spread open on his lap as he prayed] as a child would read a letter from an absent father, or a loving heart would drink in words of a loved one from far away."

Yes, to know God and abide in Christ, you have to spend time in the secret place. An old chorus says, "Shut in with God in the secret place; there in the Spirit beholding His face, gaining new power to run in life's race, I long to be shut in with God."

Bob Gass, in his Bridge-Logos book, A Fresh Word for Today, writes, "One night, a famous orator recited the 23rd Psalm to a packed house and great applause. Afterwards, he spotted his vicar in the crowd and called him to say a word. To their surprise, he too recited the 23rd Psalm. But when he was through, there was silence. People dried their tears all over the audience. At this point, the orator stood beside his pastor and simply said, "The difference is, I know the 23rd Psalm--but He knows the Shepherd."

Do you know the Shepherd? Really know Him?

Quiet Time in the Morning

In the morning, when the world is waking up and the rush of life has not begun, is a good time to draw close to God. He has been speaking to me about this lately through the Scriptures and a book I'm reading: E.M. Bounds--the Classic Collection on Prayer--a Bridge-Logos Pure Gold Classic.

Robert Murray McCheyne wrote, "I ought to pray before seeing anyone. Often when I sleep long, or meet with others early, it is eleven or twelve o'clock before I begin secret prayer. This is a wretched system. It is unscriptural. Christ arose before day and went into a solitary place. David says, 'Early will I seek thee'; 'Thou shalt early hear my voice.' Family prayer loses much of its power and sweetness, and I can do no good to those who come to seek from me. The conscience feels guilty, the soul unfed, the lamp not trimmed. Then when in secret prayer the soul is often out of tune, I feel it is far better to begin with God--to see His face first, to get my soul near him before it is near another."

Intimacy with God is so important. It's what He wants from us. When we look at some of the prayer habits of Christian leaders, we realize how prayer influenced their ministries:

Charles Simeon devoted the hours from four till eight in the morning to God.

John Wesley spent two hours per day in prayer. He began at four in the morning.

Martin Luther said, "If I fail to spend two hours in prayer each morning, the devil gets the victory through the day."

Bishop Asbury said, "I propose to rise at four o'clock as often as I can and spend two hours in prayer and meditation."

Samuel Rutherford rose at three in the morning to meet God in prayer.

John Welch, a holy Scottish preacher, thought the day ill-spent if he did not spend eight or ten hours in prayer.

I could cite several others, but the above review is enough to convict me of my sin of omission. I need to spend more time in prayer, so I resolve to get up earlier in order to meet with God.

When God awakens me in the middle of the night, that is time for prayer, too.

The Bible says, "Draw night to God, and he will draw nigh to you" (James 4:8).