This morning, I read a most remarkable story.  It appears as just a few sentences among all of the deeds of the Kings of Israel and Judah.  It says this...

"And Elisha died, and they buried him. And the bands of the Moabites invaded the land at the coming in of the year. And it came to pass, as they were burying a man, that, behold, they spied a band [of men]; and they cast the man into the sepulchre of Elisha: and when the man was let down, and touched the bones of Elisha, he revived, and stood up on his feet." ( II Kings 13:20-21)

Elisha had become weak.  It may have been from a sickness or perhaps it was simply old age which caused him to die.  But even in death, the power of the Lord was upon him.  God's anointing had even permeated his very bones.  This just blows me over.  God gave a man life from a man who was dead!

Even in Christ's death we received life.  It was important for him to die so that we might live.  To me, Christmas is more about the power of God to bring hope to a dying world.  Whatever we face in the future or even today...whatever deaths we experience, may life come from that death.

A dream has to die so that God can raise it up again.  Death does not have the final say so.  As Jesus said that he came so that we would have life...abundant life...so should we walk in that life.  The fate of our country and of our world is not sealed by militants or terrorists.  It is not sealed by drug lords or our very own government.  The fate of our country lies in our giving life wherever we go and raising the dead.  Our words, our deeds and our very bones carry the anointing of the living God.  We can expect change as we go and be what God called us to be.

By your very touch, a life can return from the grip of death.  So go, and be a life giver!

...and unto me what is mine

When we read the stories of men and women of old who changed their countries and rose to greatness from humble beginnings, it is inspiring but often not enough fodder to get us moving toward that same greatness. Perhaps not everyone wants to have the burden of greatness on their shoulders. Not everyone wants to stir the waters of controversy. Not everyone desires to change the world, but shouldn't we all, as Christians, desire to see the world changed?

It was just a few short days ago, God spoke to me these words. "Render unto Caesar what is Caesar's and unto Me, what is mine." What He was saying was perfectly clear to me. You see, we spend our time making money to feed our families and to pay our taxes...to give to the poor and support ministry throughout the world. We give our calling for none of the prior reasons, but instead to render unto God what is His. This is our passion, even though at times it appears to be more of a headache than a desire, it is the very "thing" that haunts us day after day. It often keeps us up at night or nudges its way into our thoughts when our mind is on something else.

I realize that everything belongs to God, but if we are going to be world changers, it will come by knowing what is God's and what is Caesar's. What has God given us individually which will change the world? Is it a book we are to write? Is it befriending a family so that all will be saved? Is it boldly saying what God wants us to say and risk the anger of others? The list of what God has called us each individually to do is endless. We must render unto Him what is His if we truly want to change the world.

For me, I have my orders. What will NOT change if I do NOT render unto Him what is His? But, what WILL change if I lay it all before Him for Him to infuse it with power? I boldly say, I am a world changer and so are you.

Spiritual Gophers

Gophers are varmints!  They dig elaborate tunnels under crops and fields, eating the roots of whatever plant is growing above.  You cannot always see them but you know they are there by the trail of destruction they leave above ground.  In fact, from my understanding, they spend most of their lives gnawing away at the labors of man.

Contained within Luke 8 is the parable of the Sower and the Seed.  The seed which fell on good ground produced an abundance...in fact the Bible says a hundredfold.  Living in corn and sorghum growing country, a hundredfold may not seem like much when you think how many "seeds" are on one head of corn, but without reproduction a cob would be bare.  Multiplication is contingent on the richness of the soil in which a seed is sown.  In fact, in this story, the condition of the ground is THE most important ingredient to receiving a good harvest. 

So, where do the gophers come in?  An interesting fact about gophers is that they like to burrow in easily worked soil even though they possess long claws for digging.  They are particularly fond of legumes and pose the biggest threat to farmers who grow such crops.  Well worked soil, loose and rich was the soil which produced the greatest harvest according to Luke's Gospel.  But in this parable, we know the soil was free of varmints. 

Spiritual gophers can invade the good soil in which we have planted our seed.  Luke 8:15 says this..."But that on the good ground are they, which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep [it], and bring forth fruit with patience."  I like this phrase, "keep it".  It is a picture of one who guards the precious seed planted and guards the soil of their heart so that they will bear fruit in season. 


According to soil experts, the key to a successful program is to regularly monitor and detect gophers invading an area.  It is like that with our hearts.  When we hear the word God gives us and hold fast to that word, constantly reminding ourselves OF that WORD, then we have set up a program to monitor any potential attack as we through patience produce a crop.

Test the soil of the heart to see if there is something which has circumvented His Word and if there is, ferret it out and set a guard in place.  The heart must remain tender soil to receive good seed.

Up Out of Debt

"A certain woman of the wives of the sons of the prophets cried out to Elisha, saying, "Your servant my husband is dead, and you know that your servant feared the Lord. And the creditor is coming to take my two sons to be his slaves." (NKJV) This story out of II Kings 4 was about God fearing, prophesying believers who found themselves in debt. The husband had died and the woman and her sons were in trouble, but she refused to suffer in silence. Instead, this woman poured out her heart to Elisha the prophet who asked her "What can I do for you and by the way, what do you have in the house?" She knew what he was really asking, "What do you have in your house of value?" Her response to him was that she had a little oil. (It may seem strange that she considered oil as a valuable commodity, but oil was used for a multitude of purposes in that day from cooking, lighting, medicines, perfumes and anointing. It was a very important household item.)

As the story continues, she sends her sons to borrow all the jars they can from the neighbors with instructions to bring them back to the house. They lock the doors behind them and begin pouring from the jar with little oil into the empty jars which were borrowed. As they finish pouring into the last jar, the oil ceases. Then Elisha tells her to sell enough of the oil to pay off the creditors and live on the rest!

What an amazing story! The Kingdom of God came right into her indebted situation and not only eradicated what was owed, but supplied enough for them to be cared for. She stepped out of debt and had a pension from God to boot! She was bold enough to ask and wise enough to obey...SHE saw God's Kingdom Come.

We want what we know is in heaven to come down into our situation, but God is asking..."What is in your hand of value that you will give to me?"

The Kingdom of God-"By My Spirit"

One of my all time favorite verses is Zechariah 4:6.  It reads like this..."Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This [is] the word of the LORD unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the LORD of hosts."

Living in the land of the "frontier spirit" we as a people pride ourselves in our ability to overcome adversity.  We gut it up.  We pull ourselves up by our bootstraps.  We stand tall in our own power.  We have that pioneer spirit of do or die and we are proud of being proud, if that makes any sense.

But when I read this verse in Zechariah it becomes evident that the Kingdom of God has little to do with human effort and more to do with us being obedient to flow in God's Spirit.

You remember in the beginning when the Spirit of the Lord moved upon the face of the deep and God said "Let there be" and there was?  That is and was the same Spirit of God Zerubbabel was encouraged by, the Spirit, the breath of God to do an impossible task of rebuilding the Temple.  With opposition from the outside and apathy from the inside, this man was told that MIGHT...the might of armies, POWER...the power of individual human effort would not accomplish the task.  Instead, help would come from the SPIRIT of GOD who breathed and the waters stood in a heap before all Israel.  Help would come from the ONE who set the stage for all of creation to move from the unseen into the seen.

Like Zerubbabel, I find myself facing the Word of the Lord in my life to do this or that and I say to myself, "How will I do this?  I do not have the strength, the quickness, the aptitude to do this God!"  But God asks of us to step into His Kingdom life and walk away from the meager help of an army type of strength or the insipid boot strap pulling power and walk in the way of the SPIRIT.

Impossible tasks call for the God of the Impossible, and if you think about it, even those things we think we can accomplish apart from His Spirit are still impossible without him.  Like the Pevensies who stepped from the world of the seen into the world of the unseen-Narnia and found adventure, let us find adventure in walking with the Spirit of God.

Kingdom of Forgiveness

This morning as I was getting ready for work, I was overwhelmed by thoughts of God's great forgiveness for me. 

Working in retail, one tends to see the good, the bad and the ugly side of human nature.  For the most part, people are kind, but for some reason it is easy to remember those who lashed out over something as meaningless as a $2 necklace. 

Several years ago, a woman came into a store upset because the wall cross she had purchased the week before was now on sale and she wanted the clerk to give her some of her money back.  The woman behind the register calmly explained that the cross was not on sale when she purchased it and no money would be returned.  Angrily the customer stormed out and called the owner of the store complaining about how her purchase was handled.  The end result was that the customer received the discount and the clerk was reprimanded.  Of all the nice people who entered the store that Christmas season, one woman was remembered above all others, and it was the woman with the "cross".

Having a cross to bear is different than having a grudge to bear.  I can raise my hand and say that I too have been like this Cross Lady with the Cross, unwilling to forgive and release what I perceived as injustice. 

The crowning touch of God's Kingdom lies in his great love exhibited through His forgiveness for us.  Forgiveness shows love more so than any other act besides the giving of one's own life.  Walking in the Kingdom of Forgiveness opens doors to change for yourself and others and puts a spring in your step as you release those who have wronged you or someone you love.

Forgiveness may seem a weak gesture and even a foolish gesture as we protect our rights and try to right a wrong, but it is the act of a royal nature.  Remember the King who forgave a man the debt he owned?  That same forgiven man failed to extend forgiveness to the one who owed him, but instead had him jailed.  Eventually, the King learned of the deeds of the forgiven one and reversed his decision.

If there is any act which should be rampant this time of year, it should be the act of forgiveness.  God has reminded me this morning of his nature to forgive.  This generally indicates to me that I am going to have to walk in forgiveness today.  So be it.  May God's Kingdom of Forgiveness reign today as you shop for Christmas gifts and may His Kingdom rule in every part of your thought life, the deeds you do and the words you speak!

I Corinthians 1:25 "Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men; and the weakness of God is stronger than men."

Luke 6:37 " Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:"