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| LENT: Preparing the Way -
The Spirit of Understanding |
March 11, 2009 |
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" 'Not by might nor by power,
but by My Spirit,'
says the LORD Almighty."
(Zechariah 4:6)
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"A shoot will come up from the stump of Jesse; from his roots a Branch will bear fruit.
The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him -
the Spirit of wisdom and of understanding,
the Spirit of counsel and of power, the Spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD - and He will delight in the fear of the LORD."
(Isaiah 11:1-3a)
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Dear Friend,
This week, as we come to the table of the Lord to feast upon the His wonderful Word, we come before Him with a hunger to gain understanding. We have entered into a difficult and challenging season in the life of our nation and many believers are questionning whether or not the Lord will extend His hand of mercy, or if we are beginning to experience the wrath of God. This week, alone, we woke up to the harsh reality that our current leadership is walking a vastly different path than the one our founding fathers (who sought the Lord for understanding in His Word) chose to walk.
The Lord expressed His purposes for His people clearly when He spoke through Moses, saying, "No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it. See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction...but if your heart turns away and you are not obedient, and if you are drawn away to bow down to other gods and worship them, I declare to you this day that you will certainly be destroyed...I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to His voice, and hold fast to Him. For the LORD is your life, and He will give you many years in the land..." (Deuteronomy 30:14-15,17-18,19-20).
The Lord's purposes have not changed. The peace, prosperity, and rest that were covenant benefits for living a life obedience to the Word of God are as much a promise for us today as they were in Old Testament times. These blessings are not only for the benefit of God's children, for "righteousness exalts a nation" and "blessed is the nation whose God is the LORD" (Psalm 33:12; Proverbs 14:34).
Moses explained the importance of being obedient to God's Word: "Observe them carefully, for this will show your wisdom and understanding to the nations, who will hear about all these decrees and say, 'Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.' What other nation is so great as to have their gods near them the way the LORD our God is near us whenever we pray to Him?" (Deuteronomy 4:6-7).
All that we need for understanding the times in which we are living and for walking a life of obedience are provided for us in the Word of God. If we are willing, He will fill us with all knowledge and understanding, but we must come to His table hungry, ready to eat the portion His places on our plate. Today, as you come to His table with a hunger and thirst for righteousness, may you be filled!
"For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please Him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God..." (Colossians 1:9-10)
Grace and peace,
Traci Alexander
Trumpet and Torch Ministries
Psalm 27:4, 13-14; 73:23-26
P.S. This current Lenten fast is a one-day-a-week email devotional journey - you can choose whatever day of the week you would like to partake of your spiritual meals - be sure to not eat all your meals in one sitting! You will receive your devotional each Wednesday leading up to Easter. The upcoming 40-day HARVEST journey will be an online daily devotional journey beginning April 12th. If you are not currently registered at www.trumpetandtorch.org, please do so now so you can take part in this exciting new journey! Take time now to familiarize yourself with the Temple side of the website where you will find your daily devotionals and your personal online journal. If you have any questions please submit your request to info@trumpetandtorch.org. Visit our Email ARCHIVE to read past prayer and devotional emails.
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Begin your mealtime by reading and meditating on Daniel 10:12-19.
"Since the first day that you set your mind to gain understanding
and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard,
and I have come in response to them." (v.12)
So often, when we are experiencing a trial or we find ourselves struggling through a difficult circumstance, we just want to get through it; we want the problem solved, the pain to pass, and the situation to be resolved. Every so often there may be a desire to understand the reason behind what we are going through. When we come to that place, desiring to gain insight into our present situation, the Lord will surely meet us there and give us the answers we are looking for. "Blessed is the man who finds wisdom, who gains understanding..." (Proverbs 3:13).
The Spirit of the Lord will give us the understanding we need to help us see the truth of a matter. Through the Word of God we receive the comprehension and discernment necessary to be able to judge between good or evil. Living in the age of technology that we do, we have immediate access to and endless see of information at the click of a button, but access to information does not necessary open our eyes to understanding.
"But it is the Spirit in a man, the breath of the Almighty,
that gives him understanding." (Job 32:8)
The Scriptures tell us that a man of understanding "delights in wisdom", "holds his tongue", "keeps a straight course", "is even-tempered", and is "patient" (reference Proverbs 10:23; 11:12; 14:29; 15:21; 17:27). When the Spirit gives us the power of understanding our eyes are open and we begin to see everything from God's perspective. We begin to "understand" the reasons behind our current circumstances and realize that God is sovereign and in control, no longer do we "re-act" to a difficult situation, instead we learn to become more proactive as we walk through life on this earth.
"The unfolding of Your Word gives light; it gives understanding to the simple."
(Psalm 119:130)
Daniel was found to "have a keen mind and knowledge and understanding" (Daniel 5:12). He was a man who sought the Lord in prayer three times a day (6:10), he was a diligent student of the Scriptures (9:2), and he sought the Lord daily, determined to not become complacent in his captivity, but to gain understanding into the mind and will of God for himself and his people. The Lord desires that all His children would desire such understanding. He loves to reveal His plans and purposes to a willing heart and through His Spirit of understanding enable His children to go to battle and experience victory! "You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart" (Jeremiah 29:13).
We are told in God's Word how priceless and important understanding is: "...though it cost all you have, get understanding" (Proverbs 4:7). As we look at the times we are living in, and the challenges we are facing, we must become more determined than ever to seek God in His Word, asking Him to open our eyes to greater understanding and confirm to us the role and responsibilities that we are being called to undertake in these last days. As you begin your day in prayer, confess to the Lord those areas of your life that you are just seeking relief instead of revelation. Begin to make a conscious effort to seek God, daily, in His Word for understanding into the times we are living so that you may be able to discern clearly between the truth of God's Word and the lies that are polluting (and destroying) the world in which we live.
Journal:________________________________________________________________________
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LUNCH BOX
Begin your mealtime by reading and meditating on Judges 3:1-11.
"But when they cried out to the LORD, He raised up for them
a deliver, Othniel...who saved them.
The Spirit of the LORD came upon him,
so that he became Israel's judge and went to war.
So the land had peace for forty years..." (v.9-11)
As we discussed last week, the world in which we live in today is not much different than the time of the Judges. We are living in a time where evil is being called good and good is being called evil and everyone is doing what they see fit to do (reference Isaiah 5:20). Greed, immorality, and idolatry are as much in existence today as they were back then. How sad that we have not learned from our self-centered past, but how blessed we are to worship the God who is "the same yesterday, today and forever" and is still interceding on our behalf, despite ourselves.
At the time, when Israel had chosen evil over good and had departed from the walking in the ways of the Lord, they were experiencing the pain and suffering that come from living a life of disobedience apart from God. God, in His mercy and goodness, graciously raised up deliverers to save His people from their own destruction. The Lord has raised up many men and women, throughout history, who have believed and trusted in Him, and who have made themselves available, and through them allowed His people to experience victory!
"Whenever the LORD raised up a judge for them,
He was with the judge and saved them out of the hands of their enemies
as long as the judge lived; for the LORD had compassion on them
as they groaned under those who oppressed and afflicted them."
(Judges 2:18)
Our Heavenly Father has a purpose in all His plans for our lives, and while He may get angry at our poor decisions, He will use these times of discipline to accomplish His greater purposes.
The Lord allowed His beloved Israel to experience suffering, at the hands of pagan nations, so that He could teach the younger generations about warfare, and, also, to test them all to see if they would be obedient to His commands (3:1-4). It is often only when we experience danger or difficulty that we wake up and become more alert and watchful and we begin to seek God for His protection and help.
Othniel had made himself available to the Lord and the Lord empowered Him, through the Holy Spirit, to lead his people with knowledge and understanding and experienced the power necessary to go to battle and defeat the enemy. God used Him mightily in the civil arena and through him the nation experience "peace for forty years". Because of his trust in God and his obedience to the will of God the Lord used him to bless the nation of Israel. "Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with few things; I will put you in charge of many things" (Matthew 25:23).
Today, the Lord is stirring His children to return to Him with all their hearts and to seek Him more fervently on their knees in prayer. Our greatest power on the battlefield comes first and foremost from a life of prayer. May our eyes be opened to understand the Lord's plans behind the challenges we are facing, and may we respond by becoming more watchful and alert as we diligently seek Him in His Word. This afternoon, pray for the eyes of God's children to be opened to discern more clearly the evil that is present in our day, and to experience an increased appetite for God's Word, that we might become a mighty army armed with Truth. "The fear of the LORD - that is wisdom, and to shun evil is understanding" (Job 28:28).
Journal:________________________________________________________________________
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DINNER TABLE
Begin your mealtime by reading and meditating on Luke 24:13-35.
"We know that the Son of God has come
and has given us understanding, so that we may know Him who is true."
(1 John 5:20)
The Lord delights in meeting with His children. He desires to fill us with all knowledge and understanding so that we can, indeed, 'know Him who is true". Each day that we commit to meeting Him in His Word and in prayer we experience a divine encounter with the living God.
Jesus declared, "I am the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:6). It is His desire that we "know" Him. It is in knowing Him that our eyes are opened to greater understanding of His purposes. It is through understanding that we gain insight into the purposes and plans of God. In the parable of the sower, Jesus explained the blessings that come from receiving and understanding the Word of God: "But the one who received the seed that fell on good soil is the man who hears the word and understands it. He produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown" (Matthew 13:23). The understanding we gain from spending time in the Word of God allows us to become fruitful for the kingdom of God.
"They may be every seeing but never perceiving,
and ever hearing but never understanding;
otherwise they might turn and be forgiven!"
(Mark 4:12)
The Lord's purposes in alerting us to danger and allowing us to suffer through difficult circumstances is to draw us to Him so we can gain understanding and our hearts can be softened to receive His Word. When Jesus met the two men on the road to Emmaus He walked with them and opened their ears and eyes to receive understanding for all that had just happened regarding His crucifixion. "And beginning wtih Moses and all the Prophets, he explained to them what was said in all the Scriptures concerning Himself" (Luke 24:27). Jesus used the Scriptures to give them understanding and a fire was ignited in their hearts. "Were not our hearts burning within us while He talked with us on the road and opened the Scriptures to us?" (v.32).
Jesus desires to ignite that same burning desire for His Word that will cause us to declare boldly, as these two men did, "It is true!" (v.34). The days are growing more evil and the love of most is growing cold. As His children we must be able to discern between what is false and what is truth, what is good and what is evil, and we must not compromise. May we pray fervently for believers everywhere to experience fully the Spirit of understanding so we can stand shoulder to shoulder against the evil of the day, boldly advancing the kingdom of God as we speak His Truth to a world who has no understanding. "He who has ears to hear, let him hear" (Mark 4:9).
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Heavenly Father, how we praise you that "when the earth and all its people quake,
it is [you] who hold its pillars firm." We have no reason to fear when we put our
trust in you. We repent for how often we come to you requesting for you to
fix our problems and change our circumstances instead of inquiring of you
the reason for the situation we are facing. May our "cry come before you,
O LORD; give [us] understanding according to your word". Wake us each
morning to listen like one being taught and to receive greater understanding
for the times in which we are living. We do not want to walk blind and deaf in this world.
Give us ears to hear and eyes to see. May we truly understand what the Spirit
is saying to the Church. Help us to respond to your Word and become diligent
do-ers of the Word and not just hearers only. Give us a Spirit of understanding
so we can boldly go to battle against the enemy and receive victory.
Lord, we realize that much of our struggle is our own doing because we have not
sought you as we should. We have forsaken our First Love for
the second rate substitutes of this world.
Give us the understanding and grace we need as we endure the hardships and trials
that are part of your discipline in our lives. Do whatever is necessary to draw
us back to you. May we return to you with all our hearts and be empowered by
your Spirit to accomplish the work you have called us to.
For your glory, honor, and praise we ask all of this in the name of Jesus Christ.
Amen.
(Psalm 75:3; 119:169; Isaiah 1:3; 42:18; 50:4; Daniel 9:13;
Hebrews 12:7,10-11; James 1:22; Revelation 2:4,7 ) | |
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