Truth in HD December 2012

7/29/2019 Truth in HD December 2012

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Its the Christmas season, a

time when we stop and cele-brate the birth of our Lordand Savior. It is supposed to

be a time of reflection on allthat the birth of Christ

means for us as Christians.But out in the world it is atime of turmoil and rush,long lines and short tempers.Many have forgotten the

reason for the season: thecelebration of the birth ofthe Son of God, the savior

of mankind.

Romans 6:3-4 reads, Doyou not know that all of us

who have been baptized intoChrist Jesus were baptizedinto his death? We were

buried therefore with him bybaptism into death, in order

that, just as Christ wasraised from the dead by theglory of the Father, we toomight walk in newness oflife. (Romans 6:1-4 ESV)

Do you not know? Those

words went right throughme as I read them, remind-ing me of my childhood and

Mom telling me I knew bet-ter than towell, you getthe picture. How often do

we forget what we shouldknow, even what we have in

Christ? We have been givenNew Life and have much to

celebrate! But, all to often,

we go through each day likewe did yesterday. Do younot know that the old wayof life is done, that we canwalk in the newness of life,

and that we are enabled towalk with Christ in this newlife?

The Holy Spirit enables us

to live differently than wedid, to align our will withthe will of God. Our old

way of life is dead and bur-ied, gone, and yet many

continue on as if nothingnew has taken place. If the

old way of life is gone andwe are raised to new life inChrist, why do we not actlike it? Is it because we donot know or is it because we

have forgotten what wehave, that we have reason tocelebrate?

And just to remind us, both

you and me; we were deadin our sin, subject to the

wrath of God, and awaitingjudgment, which would nothave been good by any

measure. Then somehow,through the divine will ofGod, we became aware of

our sinful ways and life-style, and saw the need for

change. Not being able tosave ourselves we realized

we neededa saviorand we

willinglyturned to

God andacceptedthe forgiveness He offers in Jesus

Christ. Each of us has a story, thatlife changing moment when Jesus

entered our lives.

Ponder this: Why do we allow the

world to drag us back?

Sure we may have the same job,drive the same car, and have thesame face to look at each and everymorning, but DO YOU NOTKNOW that you are a child of

God, that Christ came to this earthto save us? To give us new life andto set us free from sin and the waysof the world.

That gift of life is ours in Christ!That change, that new life, is possi-

ble because of the humble birth ofthe worlds Savior. Our new life inChrist is a spiritual change, a

change of the heart, attitude, andoutlook. We have been immersed in

Christ (baptized into Jesus), wehave much to celebrate and to bethankful for on Christmas day.

So, now you know. Merry Christ-

mas!

Do You Not Know? By Kenny Seidler

V OLUME 2, I SSUE 12

DECEMBER2012 The Truth In HD

THE TRUTH IN HD

The Church You CanBelieve In Today: WeAre Family

2

Bad Times orGoodSeek God!

4

The Power of theWord

6

Blessed Are the Meek 8

INSIDE THIS ISSUE:


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V OLUME 2, ISSUE 12 P AG E 2

Yet to all who received him, tothose who believed in his name,he gave the right to become chil-dren of God-- children born not

of natural descent, nor of humandecision or a husband's will, but

born of God. (John 1:12-13 NIV)

For he chose us in him beforethe creation of the world to be

holy and blameless in his sight.In love he predestined us to beadopted as his sons through Je-

sus Christ, in accordance withhis pleasure and will (Eph. 1:4

-5 NIV)

One of our children and his wife

are in the process of adopting achild. I am learning it is not only

an expensive process, but a com-plicated and extensive process.There are interviews and

investigations that go overevery aspect of their lives

from early on. They have tohave cash to pay for theinterview process and allthe preliminary work beforethere can even be any kind

of recommendation to theadoption agency. The listgoes on and on with respect to

what a journey this is for them.

After the process is completed,

however, and all the fees arepaid, and all the ts are crossedand all the is dotted, they willhave adopted a child. The childwill not have been born into our

family, but adopted into the Wil-son family. The word adoptionin relation to a child is definedas, 1. To take into one's familythrough legal means and raise as

one's own child. 2. To take upand make one's own. 3. To take

on or assume.

To be born is to be; brought

forth by birth. The child wascarried in the mothers womb

and was born naturally. I want toemphasize, though, that in eithercase with respect to whether a

child is adopted into a family oris born into a family, the lovethat comes from the parents and

rest of the family is the samedeep abiding parental love that

comes natural to men and wom-en. Either way, we receive thechild; the child is the parentsown and is indeed a blessing

from God.

There is, however, a differencebe-

tweenbeing

borninto afamilynatural-ly and

beingadopted

into a family, The only differ-ence I would suggest is simplyhow the child got there or the

means by which the child be-came a part of a particular fami-ly. There are Scriptures that sub-

stantiate that we are both bornand adopted when it comes to

God and His family.

Lets look at this subject form aspiritual perspective. The Scrip-ture talks about those people that

are born-again, and they are borninto Gods family. Childrenborn not of natural descent, norof human decision or a hus-

band's will, butborn ofGod. (John 1:13 NIV) Thosethat are born-again are childrenof God. The Scripture says,Yet to all who received him, to

those who believed in his name,he gave the right to become chil-

dren of God(John 1:12 NIV)

Jesus told Nicodemus, "I tell you

the truth, no one can see thekingdom of God unless he isborn again."(John 3:3 NIV)Nic-odemus asked the question, "How

can a man be born when he isold? Surely he cannot enter a

second time into his mother'swomb to be born!"Jesus an-

swered, "I tell you the truth, noone can enter the kingdom ofGod unless he is born of water

and the Spirit. Flesh gives birthto flesh, but the Spirit gives birth

to spirit. (John 3:4-6 NIV) Weare only born into the Family ofGod spiritually, supernaturally,

by the will of God, not the willof a man or woman. Salvation

makes us a child of the King!

How are we born-again? Re-ceive Him, Yet to all who re-

ceived him (John 1:13NIV) andbelieve in Christ, to those who

believed in his name (John1:13 NIV). When someone of-fers us a gift, it has to be re-ceived or the person with the giftis unable to give it. We have to

humble ourselves to receive thegift, Jesus Christ, from God to

be able to receive salvation.

The Church You Can Believe In Today: We Are Family By Bruce Wilson

Im not worthy to

be here, but praise

God I belong!


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THE TRUTH IN HD P AG E 3

We are also adopted into Gods

family.For he chose us in himbefore the creation of the worldto be holy and blameless in his

sight. In love he predestined usto be adopted as his sons [unto

the adoption of children (KJV)]through Jesus Christ, in accord-ance with his pleasure and

will(Eph 1:4-5 NIV)

The word Adopt is divined as

1. To take legally into onesown family and raise as onesown child. 2. To take as ones

own. 3. To choose or accept.

From the Greek we find the defi-nition of adoption as; G5206

uihothesia hwee-oth-es-

ee'-ah theplacingas ason, thatis, adoption (figuratively Chris-tiansonship in respect to God): -

adoption (of children, of sons).

Vines Greek Dictionary defines

adoption as God does notadopt believers as children; theyare begotten as such by the HolySpirit through faith. Adoption isa term involving the dignity of

the relationship of believers assons; it is not a putting into thefamily by spiritual birth, but a

putting into the position of

sons.

Therefore there are two aspectsor a two-fold act of becoming amember of the Family of Godthat happens simultaneously,

being born-again, spiritually,

and then given a position in thefamily by adoption. Sonship.For you did not receive a spiritthat makes you a slave again to

fear, but you received theSpirit

of sonship. And by him we cry,

"Abba, Father."The Spirit himselftestifies with our spirit that weare God's children. Now if we

are children, then we are heirs--

heirs of God and co-heirs with

Christ, if indeed we share in hissufferings in order that we mayalso share in his glory. (Rom

8:15-17 NIV)

But when the time had fully

come, God sent his Son, born ofa woman, born under law, toredeem those under law, that we

might receive thefull rights ofsons.(Gal 4:4-5 NIV).

What does all of this mean inrelation to the Family of God? I

think the Gaithers said it best inthe song they wrote so manyyears ago; I'm so glad I'm a

part of the Family of God, I'vebeen washed in the fountain,

cleansed by His blood! Jointheirs with Jesus as we travel this

sod, For I'm part of the family,

the Family of God.

You will notice we say "brother

and sister"'round here, Its be-cause we're a family and theseare so near; When one has aheartache, we all share thetears, And rejoice in each victo-

ry in this family so dear.

From the door of an orphanageto the house of the King, Nolonger an outcast, a new song I

sing; From rags unto riches,

from the weak to the strong, I'mnot worthy to be here, but praise

God I belong!

Over the years I have tried to

communicate to those I pastorwhat it means to be the Familyof God. Im sure at times, it has

been a futile attempt because forme it is hard to put into words

the significance and the impactthe family of God has had on mylife. The Family of God is so

much more than our experienceof our natural families. There is

a love experienced in the Familyof God that cannot and will not

ever be experienced anywhereelse with any other people.

Thats because God is in it.

When I was introduced to theChurch of God Reformation

Movement around 1979, I didntknow anything about it, but I didknow that I was experiencing

something I had never experi-enced before. I knew there wassomething different, and overthe years I have come to under-stand the Biblical aspect of the

Church and the family of God. Ithas been one of the greatest ex-

periences for me on this side ofeternity. We are family! There isan old saying, Blood is thicker

than water, that means thatthere is a tie to a natural family

by the blood flowing throughour particular familys veins.However, the blood that Jesus

shed for us is more significant,more powerful, and more sub-

stantial than any blood thatflows through our own veins.

I am indeed honored to be a part

of the Family of God and I amso thankful for all my brothersand sisters. IM NOT WOR-THY TO BE HERE, BUT

PRAISE GOD I BELONG!


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The Apostle John on the Isle ofPatmos was extremely con-cerned about the congregationshe had ministered to throughout

what we call Asia Minor. Thevision he received never gavethe local church a dischargefrom the mission they werecalled to. They were in fact giv-

en a message that reinforced themission as the priority. When I

read the 21st chapter of Revela-tion I see a summation of themessage of the book and the en-

tire Bible. No matter what kindof persecution you might endure,

the mission is never changed. Infact they were reminded thatGod is all about creating a Bride

and that the ultimate end for HisBride, the Church, is to be with

Him in Glory.

F. G. Smith stated that, In theNew Testament dispensa-

tion the heavenly elementsof the New Jerusalem have

descended to earth in theform of the new covenant,and Gods people obtain aforetaste of heavens gloryand are made pure even as

Christ is pure, and aretherefore represented ashaving come unto Mount Sion,and unto the city of the livingGod, the heavenly Jerusa-

lem." (Heb. 12:22-23;) and Goddwells with them in a very im-

portant sense. (2 Cor.6:16) They

are one with the redeemedabove, and together they consti-

tute one family in heaven andearth, all loving the same Fa-ther, adoring the same King,

drinking from the same fountainof life eternal, and all basking in

the same divine light that beams

from the throne of God. (P.422, The Revelation Ex-

plained) Then we are remindedthat no matter how bad things

may get, heaven is the goal andthat what we have is a foretasteand we will experience the Lordin His fullness in glory and nomore temptation or persecution,

no more sin and death, for thefirst order of things will have

ended.

Whenever we are tempted to

recreate the Church after a hu-man design, we need to pauseand again become refreshed inthe vision that God provides forus of His Bride. There are vari-ous structures used today in the

governance of the Church at thelocal level and in how congrega-

tions associate and work togeth-er. One aspect of some of those

offer-

ingscomes

fromthe

busi-nessworld.

Thereare

those who picture themselves asthe C.E.O. of the church and thatthe structure and operation

should reflect that. The onlyproblem with that thought wouldbe there is someone already des-

ignated as the head of the

Church and His name is Jesus!

Revival isnt found in the work

and wisdom of man. Revival bynature means something already

exists but needs a shot in the armso to speak. But where that shot

in the arm is supposed to come

from seems to be the point ofdebate among us today. Thefeeling that the past has nothingto offer seems especially evident

in our current church culture.Every solution to the dyingchurch seems to be somethingnew and we dont see the newdoing a lot. We just seem to be

rushing from one new idea toanother. When Israel crossed the

Jordan and God instructed themto establish the memorial oftwelve stones, wasnt He saying

you will need to remember whatI have done in the past and then

act on that established truth?Israel had a history of quicklyforgetting what God had done

for them. Consider that Hebrought them out of Egypt and

had taken care of all their needsas they journeyed through thedesert, only to want another godwhen it seemed as though Moseswas away on the mountain too

long. They quickly resorted topaganism and turned from God

to go into vile sin.

The church never rises above theculture by taking on the gods of

the culture. The Church onlybecomes that City on a Hillwhen she is empowered andlives out of the heavenly visionof the Church. Revelation 21:9-

10 tells us how the Church isrevived. She must again see theheavenly vision that she is The

Bride of Christ, the heavenlyCity New Jerusalem that comes

down from above. That isntunderstood through anythingthat this world can offer. Notice

again vs. 10, And He carriedme away in the Spirit. Thats

the only way to really see the

Bad Times or GoodSeek God! By Henry Scoff

...the heavenly elementsof the New Jerusalem

have descended to

earth...


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church, through the Spirit ofGod, never through a new idea

by man.

Lets not forget that the vision of

the Church was given to the per-secuted Church of Johns day toencourage them to stay focused

on Gods plan. There wasnt anew plan offered just because

times were tough. They weresimply reminded that the ulti-

mate destination is glory!

When Ezra was commissioned

to rebuild Jerusalem, notice hispriority revealed in Ezra 8:21, he

proclaimed a fast. Why a fast tobegin a building project? To as-sure total reliance upon the Lordand not self. Ezra directed the

people to seek God and was tooashamed to ask the king forguards as they traveled afterhaving boasted about the Lordscare for them. There is the posi-

tion we need to be in - total reli-

ance upon the Lord and wantingHim glorified in all. That is our

first priority to bring glory to

God!

While most of us would tend to

act as though what Israel didwhen Moses was on the moun-

tain was very primitive and thatwe would certainly never do an-ything like that, we fail to see

our own golden calves. Any man-made effort not ordained of

God may simply appear to Himas a golden calf. As the peopleof God danced and worshipedthe golden calf, the smell of theirworship was not pleasing to

God. They had turned from thefirst principal of worship andfollowing God found for us inRomans 12:1-2, I beseech you

therefore, brethren by the mer-cies of God, to present you bod-ies a living sacrifice, holy, ac-ceptable to God, which is your

spiritual service. And be notfashioned according to thisworld: but be ye transformed bythe renewing of your mind, thatye may prove what is the good

and acceptable and perfect will

of God. (ASV)

Ezra felt a sense of shame andcould not turn to the king before

God. Israel could wait no longerfor Moses. They appealed toAaron for a god substitute. Weshould not pass over that tooquickly and miss the implica-

tions.

First, they had forgotten Moses'opening statement to them inEgypt, I Am has sent me tolead you out of bondage. Insteadof seeking God, in their anxiety

to progress they turned to their

own foolish ideas.

Every one of us will come to

moments in life when we haveuncertainty about the next stepin our journey and be tempted to

seek to create something to fillthe void---our seeking must be

for God and to hear His voice!

I was sitting reading the Wordunder a pine tree on a deer stand

when I noticed movement in myperipheral vision. Movement isgreat on the deer stand, but you

have to wait for it. Gods move-ment is that way. We cant cre-ate it, we have to wait for it. Cre-ating activity can stir up excite-ment but that doesnt mean its

Gods activity.

Revelation 21:23, and the Cityhath no need of the sun neither

the moon, to shine upon it: forthe glory of God did lighten it,and the lamp thereof is theLamb. (ASV) The view into

heaven is everything God hasdone in Jesus Christ, but in per-fection. If we reverse that andcome back to earth, isnt it im-

perative for us to seek the light

of Jesus above all else and seekHim with such intensity until we

are as His Bride walking faith-fully in His Light? The Glory ofGod is our light and the Lamb is

the Lamp. The more we lift upthe name of Jesus and the more

we faithfully follow the Lamb,the greater the degree of His glo-ry in the Church. Then the Lamb

will be our light and the Lambsenergy will be ours and we will

experience the revival of the

Bride!

Bad times or good, our first pri-

ority is to seek God!

Every one of us will come

to moments in life when

we have uncertainty about

the next step.


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All scripture is God-breathedand is useful for teaching, re-buking, correcting and training

in righteousness, so that the

man of God may be thoroughlyequipped for every goodwork (2 Timothy 3:16-17

NIV). For the word of God

is living and active. Sharperthan any double-edged sword,it penetrates even to dividing

soul and spirit, joints and mar-row; it judges the thoughts and

attitudes of theheart (Hebrews 4:13). Gods

word is alive. It is not a book,it is not simply literature, and itis not Gods suggestions for

man. The word equips man for

all things. The Word of Godtransforms man from one whobears the nature of sin and

death to one who becomes

more and more like Hiscreator. We have this greatpromise of the word, that

He gives us everything weneed for life and godliness

as we continue to pursueknowledge of Him (2 Pe-

ter 1:3). Yet I think somany times we see theword not as an agent of trans-

formation, but as a tool con-

taining some great motivationalthoughts. What do you think

when you read words like this?

I can do all things throughhim who strengthens me.(Philippians 4:13 ESV)

Now to him who is able to do

immeasurably more than all weask or imagine, according to

his power that is at work withinus(Ephesians 3:20 NIV)

Very truly I tell you, whoeverbelieves in me will do the

works I have been doing, and

they will do even greater thingsthan these, because I am goingto the Father.

(John 14:12 NIV)

Do you think about the power

of God at work in your heart?Do you think about the Godwho created all things waitingfor you to open yourself fullyto His Spirits lead? Do you

believe that the same powerthat raised Christ from thegrave is within your grasp?There is no doubt that God de-

sires to

do

greatthingsthroughHis

people

- great-er

things than we can even beginto measure with human under-

standing. How do we live inthis power? We have to trulybelieve in Him. It sounds sim-

ple. And that fits with the sim-plicity of the gospel of Christ.

But I mean truly believe thatHe is able. Believe that His

Word is authority. Our soul hasto recognize the power con-tained just in the wisdom that

we gain as we seek Him andapply His word to our hearts.

We apply His word because ittransforms and it is power.

A.W. Tozer said this:Believing, then, is directingthe hearts attention to Jesus. It

is lifting the mind to Behold

the Lamb of God (John 1:29),and never ceasing that behold-ing for the rest of our lives. At

first this may be difficult, but it

becomes easier as we looksteadily at His wondrous per-

son, quietly and without strain.Distractions may hinder, butonce the heart is committed to

Him, after each brief excursionaway from Him, the attention

will return again and rest uponHim like a wandering birdcoming back to its window.

We have to have a commitment

that is from the depths of who

we are. It is something that isunwavering even when we aretired or weary. We need a com-mitment that we seek to fulfill

even when we dont have a

great emotional experience. Itseems that so many things insociety are based on how onefeels at any given moment. If

we dont feel like doing some-thing we dont do it. I just readan article this week about pray-

er. The title caught my atten-tion: Billy Joel Taught Me

How To Pray. Here is a smallpart of the article,

The Piano Man said that everyday when he wakes up he goesdown to his studio and for one

hour sits at his piano. He be-

The Power of the Word By Josh Wilson

Do you believe the samepower that raised Christ

from the grave is within

your grasp?


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gins the hour by playing scales,familiar tunes, or anything thatpops into his head really.

Sometimes the hour at the pi-

ano seems for him like sixhours as inspiration just willnot come, and its all he can do

to make himself sit there re-

hashing old ideas. At othertimes, however, somethinghits, and musical ideas that he

didnt even know were therebegin to pour forth. Some days

that early hour of drudgery willturn into three or four hours of

the most amazing musical de-light, and the hours will passlike minutes. Now this is what

he said that changed me. He

said, If I hadnt been there Iwould have missed it.

We pursue God relentlessly nomatter what. No matter howyou feel you still fix your eyes

on Him. Maybe you wont

have that emotional experienceall the time. But you can besure that the Spirit still works.You can be sure that when you

are in a position where you are

bearing a weight that is morethan you can handle, His Spiritwill empower you and you will

see the promises of His Wordlived out. Immeasurably

moreI can do all thingsthrough HimDoing greaterthings than He did.

Seek Him with commitmentand dedication. Worship Himand He will lift you up. I dont

know about you but Im begin-ning to change my focus in

worship. We serve a God thatcannot be explained by wordsor even understood by our

thoughts. Should our worship

not be our greatest expressionto Him? Should we not seek toexcel in worship? We have to

learn more and more to wor-

ship in spirit and truth. But theeyes of our heart have to beunrelenting in their gaze upon

the Son of God.

Joshua said, Now fear theLord and serve Him with allfaithfulness. Throw away the

gods your forefathers wor-shiped beyond the River and in

Egypt, and serve the Lord. Butif serving the Lord seems unde-sirable to you, then choose for

yourselves this day whom you

will serve, whether the godsyour forefathers served beyondthe River, or the gods of the

Amorites, in whose land you

are living. But as for me andmy household, we will servethe Lord.Will you serve Him? Will you

fix your eyes on Him?

Consider the words of this old

hymn.Fill me with Thy Spirit, Lord,Fully save my longing soul;

Thru the precious cleansingblood

Purify and make me whole.

Fill me with Thy holy light,

I would have a single eye;Make me perfect in Thy sight,Tis Thy will to sanctify.

Fill me with Thy perfect love,Naught of self would I retain;Losing all Thy love to prove,

Lord, I count a happy gain.

Fill me with Thy mighty

powr,

Father, Son and Spirit, come;In my soul the unction pour,Make me ever all Thine own.

Fill me with Thy presencenow,

Lord, Thyself in me reveal;

At Thy feet I humbly bowTo receive the holy seal.

Come, O Spirit, seal me Thine,

Come, Thy fullness now be-stow;

Let Thy glory in me shine,Let Thy fire within me glow.

Fill Me with Thy Spirit,

Lord-D.S. Warner

Let Thy glory

shine in me,

Let Thy fire

within me

glow.


8/10


Blessed are the meek, for they shallinherit the earth.

-Matthew 5:5

When I was in high school I decided tospend the beginning of one summerumpiring Little League baseball games

to earn extra money. I did that for a fewyears and decided to do something moresubstantial, so I got a certification toumpire high school baseball games. For

a few years I took part in those games,and during that time something stoodout that I had never noticed when I

played baseball during my childhood.

When a game begins bothteams have a hope of winning. The

players have received instruction from

their coach in practice and they take thefield to apply the fundamental princi-ples of baseball that they have learned.They believe that as long as they applywhat they have been taught by their

coach and do not deviate from the planthere is little that can keep them fromvictory.

But sometimes things dont go the way

we plan. A player might make a mis-take, or something unexpected happens

that takes the focus from the plan.Many times failure to execute the plan

can be catastrophic for the team. The

players are not sure what to do and itbecomes even more important for themto listen for the instruction of their

coach, however, when things get badenough that the plan changes, players

begin to hear the advice of people be-sides their coach. The score becomes

lopsided and one by one the parents inthe bleachers begin to call out instruc-tions to the team. They all know whatneeds to happen and what each player

needs to do, and very few are shy aboutsharing that advice publicly. As thesituation deteriorates, the only hope ofthe team is to listen through all the voic-

es that call out to them for the one voicethat will bring them together the voiceof their coach. That is the one voicethat will offer consistent counsel and

bring the team together giving them thehope of victory.

Our charge to carry the culture of GodsKingdom into the world around us is

similar to those baseball games in someways. We have been called by God fora specific purpose, and to carry out a

plan. God has taught us through His Wordwhat we need to know to live within theculture of His Kingdom. As we live with-

in Gods counsel that we receive in Hisrevelation, we are confronted by voicesthat call out for our attention. People allaround us know what we need to do, and

how we need to live. Some know how weshould handle our finances and what weshould do with our free time.

Among the voices that cry out for the at-tention of the church is the voice of trends.The things of this life go through cycles.Things become desirable and then their

popularity fades. We see this in clothing,music, and many other parts of popularculture, and the church is not immune to

this. For years the church has tried toincorporate popular elements of cultureinto our worship and the work of God.The purity to which Scripture has called usis compromised when we begin to allow

the culture of the world dictate the cultureof the Kingdom of God. We go through

phases of using certain fads and programs,and then those pass and something newcomes along. This should not be. We

cannot allow the world to change thechurch, it is the call of the church to

change the culture and the values of theworld around us through the power of

God. But the voice of trends calls out to

us nonetheless.The church also contends with voices that

originate a little closer to us. Tradition is

often allowed to control the work of Godschurch. At times it helps to focus us onthe foundation we have been given, butmany times it distracts us from that very

foundation. We have, at times, been guiltyof forgetting the call to invade this worldon behalf of Gods Kingdom as we en-deavor to maintain the traditions we have

put in place. Our identity becomes soclosely associated with certain traditionsthat it becomes almost impossible to fol-low the guidance of Gods Word and Spir-

it. Throughout the history of the churchthere have been times when Jesus couldhave said of us as He did of the Pharisees,in vain do they worship me, teaching as

doctrines the commandments of men. Youleave the commandment of God and holdto the tradition of men.

In addition to trends and tradition, values

of the world call out to the people of God.The culture of the world always takes ourattention away from God and points it to

the riches that the world offers. Theworld continually tries to catch our gazewith things that it tells us we must have,

and at times we allow ourselves to beconvinced that we need what it has tooffer. We get caught up in seeking

wealth and possessions and it becomes

impossible to carry out the call that Godhas given us to create a different culturein our lives.

These voices are always calling us vy-ing for our attention. But as these voic-es cry out to us there is one that still,small voice that cried out to Elijah so

many years ago that will give us thedirection we need to live the lives towhich God has called us. The voice of

God calls out among all the voices ofthe world, pleading for us to sit back in

a spirit of humility and meekness tolisten for His direction. It transcendsthe culture and the trends, and even the

tradition that we have put in place asGods voice draws us to somethingmore. It calls us out of the world intoHis marvelous light.

The church today stands in need ofthose who will be meek enough to listenfor this voice as it stands in stark con-trast, and direct opposition to the culture

of the world. God uses teachers whoare not afraid to stand up for His Word

and who will be sensitive to the gentlewhisper of His Spirit. As unpopular as

it may be to proclaim the whole counselof God, it must be done. But the neces-sity of our day is men and women whowill listen for this counsel, people who

are not afraid to tackle the depth ofScripture and seek out all that God hasto offer us. God called His people tothis character of meekness long ago

when he said, Therefore, you shep-herds, hear the word of the Lord Ifthe Word is ever to move in power to-day we must be willing to listen to the

prophecy of the Word and proclaimwhat God reveals to us through the

power of His Spirit. Men and women

who will say along with A.W. Tozer, Ido not know what the future holds. But

I know one thing: Rather than betray thesheep of God, rather than lie to themand deceive them and keep them agitat-ed and stirred up with all kinds of popu-

lar topics; rather than take my materialfrom Time magazine, Ill preach theWord to empty seats and sigh and cry

for the abomination that is in the earth.

We live in a day when the voices of the

Blessed Are the Meek By Nick Wilson


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world have become so strong that theytoo often drown out the voice of God.When we want to see a renewal of

Gods power we invent a program in anattempt to bribe God into showing it.We get together and talk about what we

should do and take the best of our ideasand ask God to bless them. Never inthis process do we listen for the voice ofGod as He speaks His will to us. If wewant to see the Word move in power we

must be meek enough to listen forGods direction as to how to carry outHis will. Why is that so hard for us todo? It only makes sense that if we are

carrying the culture of His Kingdom weshould do it His way, but sometimes we

just cant seem to get that. We might behumble and spend our time mourning

for the state of the world, but unless weare willing to be meek enough to listenfor Gods direction those things will notdo much good. God leads those who

will listen to His voice.

Too many Christian lives and thework of too many congregations are

trial and error. We just do what wethink we should do and if that doesnt

work we will just try something else.We convince ourselves that its alrightto live that way because its risky busi-

ness to do Gods work. Where do wesee that in Scripture? When was it evera risk to follow the will of God? We

may face persecution or trials, but Godhas never done anything to give us theimpression that He will not sustain us ifwe will follow His will.

The meek are never alone. They spendtheir lives listening for Gods directionas they serve Him and do His work.

They are willing to test the Word thatGods Spirit speaks to them. We have

conditioned ourselves not to test thepromises of God because Jesus said thatwe should never test God. That has

become our excuse for disobedience.Jesus said that when He was tempted by

Satan to do something that would bringglory to Himself rather than God.Scripture teaches us that Gods promis-

es are for us and we can test the powerGod has promised to us. The entireministry of Jesus was such a test. Eve-rything the disciples did in His name

was such a test. Scripture even tells us,Bring the full tithe into the storehouse,that there may be food in my house.And thereby PUT ME TO THE TEST,

says the Lord of hosts, if I will not openthe windows of heaven for you and pour

down for you a blessing until there is nomore need.

The meek are familiar enough with Godsvoice that they will trust Him as Hespeaks to them. Those who are not gentle

and lowly enough to listen for Him willnever be familiar enough with the shep-herds voice to hear when He calls outfrom among those overwhelming voicesof the world.

The meek have power to walk through thislife under the direction of Gods Word,and they also overcome temptation. De-

spite what we so often think, meeknessdoes not make us a doormat. It is notweakness. Kenneth Jones wrote, Themeek person does not fight back at perse-cutors, not because he or she is weak-

willed, but because he or she is so sure of

his or her rightness before God that he orshe is willing to be mistreated since he orshe knows that God and right will win in

the end.

Moses faced opposition from his ownfamily when Aaron and Miriam opposed

him. He could have had them excommu-nicated or even killed, but this man was soin tune with the will of God, and had lis-tened to the voice that called out to him to

such an extent that he did not need to givea heavy-handed response. Numbers 12:3tells us, Now the man Moses was verymeek, more than all people who were on

the face of the earth. He did not showweakness by being meek, but a resolve tofollow Gods voice in any circumstance.

This power came from a devout faith in

the voice of the One who spoke the Wordto him. He knew that He could trust thevoice of God and when a question or adifficulty arose, Moses knew enough to

listen for the voice that would guide him.He did not form an exploratory committeeto research the sociological effects of thesituation. He listened for God. It is not

our ingenuity or determination that will

deliver the culture of the Kingdom into theworld. It is the Word of God working inand through our lives. This will bring the

counter-culture of God to those who are inneed of it..Scripture tells us that meek shall inheritthe earth. They are heirs of what right-

fully belongs to God. They need not cre-ate a revolution or train a great army, butusher the culture of heaven to earth by the

power of God at work within them. They

are those through whom God answers theprayer Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be

done in earth as it is in heaven.

Those who will experience Gods power

firsthand as He invades the earth with thisheavenly culture are the meek. Men andwomen who will not charge ahead without

direction, but who understand what it meansto wait upon the Lord. God has given suchpeople a call to represent Him in this world aspriests. But you are a chosen race, a royalpriesthood, a holy nation, a people for his

own possession They reflect His imagein the place that He created to be His domain,or Kingdom. Look at the rest of the words ofthe Apostle Peter in this verse, But you are a

chosen race, a royal priesthoodthat youmay proclaim the excellencies of him whocalled you out of darkness into his marvelouslight.

The meek are the ambassadors of Gods grace

and mercy. They are stewards of the Wordwhich He has spoken to, and through them. Ifwe want to see Gods work in the world to-

day, it will be when we take the time to listento His Word as it is revealed to us by HisSpirit. In a day when programs and ideasdominate the church, we would do well to

remember that it is the meek who will inheritthe earth. Maybe today we need a moratori-um. Not on offshore drilling as those put in

place by governments, but on programs and

activities in Gods churchj. Maybe we needto spend some time meekly listening for thevoice of God. We are called to carry HisWord into the world, but when was the last

time we honestly, earnestly listened for Hisvoice? The church needs nothing more todaythan the voice of God.

According to Leonard Ravenhill, If thechurch today had as many agonizers as shehas advisers we would have revival in ayear! Among all the voices of the worldthere is one that calls out to us and speaks of a

future and a hope. He cries out as Jeremiahdid so many years ago, I know the plans Ihave for youto give you a future and ahope. He has promised a blessed inheritance

to those who will heed His voice. He has

revealed Himself in His Word and speaks tothe church today through His Spirit. Will welisten? God will bring His culture into the

world today through those who are meek.Will He find such people among us?


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Truth in HD December 2012