Foundations March 31, 2011

Thursday, March 31, 2011

END TIMES READING PLAN: Ezekiel 41-42

SCRIPTURE READING

Rom 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (NIV)

Rom 8:38-39 For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, ³⁹neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (NIV)

There has always been a place in the human heart for the heroic lover.  This is a drama that has been played out in fairy tale romances for years.  The king whose bride is stolen goes to endless difficulty and danger to get her back.  He sails the oceans, fights the dragons and wins the battles – does whatever it takes.  He goes through countless struggles to get his bride back.  The startling reality is that the story is true and it is the Gospel of the cross as lived out through Jesus Christ.  He went through tragic suffering for LOVE!  When the emotional heart of the Bridegroom God grips our hearts, everything changes.  We discover that He delights in us, He would do it again. 

PRAYER & MEDITATION

1. Read Romans 8:38-39 again.  Soak in it, mediate on it, ask the Holy Spirit to write it on your heart, to fill you with understanding of the depth of His love for you.  If you are able, get down on your knees and worship Him for His love.  Declare that you are willing to receive this love from Him.  

2. Spend a minute thinking about how your life would change if in the next five years you dedicated your life to pursing His love for you.  What would change in your personal life?  How would your spiritual life change?

3. Spend some time in prayer, thanking God for the truths that He has revealed to you through these March devotionals.  Ask Him to seal these things in your hearts so that they will not fade away.  Ask Him to finish the work that He has started in you.  

Foundations March 30, 2011

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

END TIMES READING PLAN: Ezekiel 40

SCRIPTURE READING

Mark 3:17 “To James the son of Zebedee, and to his brother John, He gave the name ‘Boanerges’ (that is, ‘Sons of Thunder’).” (HCSB)

The Bible character that had the greatest revelation of the Bridal paradigm was the apostle John (don’t confuse him with John the Baptist, they are two different people).  The apostle John was the man who wanted to call down fire from heaven on cities that didn’t attend his meetings.  He rebuked people who cast out demons because they weren’t in his group and he asked Jesus to let him sit at His right hand forever.  Yet, he was given a prophetic name by Jesus; he was called a “son of thunder”.  What does this mean?  I can imagine Jesus saying to John:   “I have called you to be a son of thunder in the Spirit. I want My love to thunder in your spirit, and I want your love for Me to thunder back to Me,” because that is what John was to be known as in the years to come. He was known as the apostle of love. He was the one apostle above all the others who understood the thunder of God’s love for him, and his life was so devoted to Jesus, it thundered back to heaven the love that the Spirit worked in John’s heart back to him. John was the great lover of God.

PRAYER & MEDITATION

1. It took time for John to become a great lover of God and it will take time for you too.  Are you willing to pursue God over the weeks, months or years? Are you willing to wait patiently for Him to transform you?

2. Ask God if there is a specific step of obedience that you can take today in order to walk out the love that He is growing in you.  

3. Spend some time asking God to reveal to you the thunder of His love for you.  Ask Him to pour His love into the very core of your being so that you will never be the same again, never held back by fear, hurt or doubt because His love thunders in your spirit.  

Foundations March 29, 2011

Tuesday, March 29, 2011

END TIMES READING PLAN: Ezekiel 38-39

SCRIPTURE READING

Song of Solomon 4:10 How fair is your love…my spouse! How much better than wine is your love, and the scent of your perfumes than all spices! (NKJV)

These verses are an metaphor of Jesus speaking to His Bride.  Notice how He calls her “my spouse”; being called Jesus Bride speaks of His desire for affectionate partnership with us. He tells her that her love is better than wine.  This means that our relationship with God can be better than all the other privileges and the best experiences we can have in this age.  It’s better than anything that the world can offer us.  This is a promise that He has given us that we need to believe.  He has told us that He will satisfy us more than any of our worldly pursuits.  Declare this to Him today; tell Him that you believe Him.  If you begin believing this, it will radically change your life.  The scent of your perfumes refers to her mind being filled with God’s Word.   When we meditate on the word of God, we begin to emit the fragrance of our God all around us; this fragrance arises as an offering to God. 

PRAYER & MEDITATION

1. In these verses, Jesus says, “How fair is your love, my spouse”.  Jesus accepts our love even if it is weak and immature.  Ask the Holy Spirit to show you your understanding of God’s acceptance of your love.  How does knowing He accepts your love motivate you to love Him more?

2. In what ways has experiencing the love of God been more satisfying than the pleasures of this world for you?  Ask the Lord to change your heart so that His love truly is more satisfying than worldly pleasures. 

3. When you spend time in the Word and in prayer, you give off a scent that is lovely to God.  Spend some time praising God for accepting your efforts to grow and learn to love Him more.  Thank Him that He loves you while you are maturing, that He loves each step you take.

Foundations March 28, 2011

Monday, March 28, 2011

END TIMES READING PLAN: Ezekiel 36-37

SCRIPTURE READING

 John 21:15 When they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon, son of John, do you love me more than these?" He said to him, "Yes, Lord; you know that I love you."

The Lord is jealous over all our other loves, He is jealous of all the things that eat up our time and attention. Often good things can hold us back in our relationship with Jesus, good things like family, career, and children.  How do these things stand between us and the Lord?  It’s really quite simple, they cause us to loiter.  Most people could easily find more time to spend with Jesus, but they don’t because of loitering.  What does spiritual loitering looking like?  It’s being idle, aimless, lounging around and wasting time. Multitudes of God's people spend their time endlessly loitering - idly spending time with friends or lolling in front of a TV. We loiter away so many precious hours - and we neglect our Lord and Savior! God is as jealous lover, and He hungers for a Bride that will voluntarily choose Him.  Do you seek Him when your time is your own?

PRAYER & MEDITATION

1. Ask God to reveal to you areas in your life where you are loitering.  What does spiritual loitering look like for you? 

2. Spend some time in prayer, asking God to grow your love of Him.  Tell Him that you want to love Him more than the things of this world.  Ask Him to fill you with His love so that you can give that love back to Him.  Tell Him that you want to give him the attention that He deserves and cry out to Him to show you how.  

3. Thank God for hungering for a Bride that will voluntary choose Him.  Thank Him for His deep commitment to you, that He is not willing to give up on you but gently woos you with His love.  Praise Him for His kindness and mercy in revealing the things that He has shown you today, that He is making you into a mature Bride.

Foundations March 27, 2011

Sunday, March 27, 2011

SCRIPTURE READING

Luke 14:33 So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple.

Yikes!  This seems like a harsh verse, it’s fun to talk about the love of Jesus and to grow in learning to love Him more, but this verse reminds us of another element of being a Bride.  The Bride does not remain living at home with her parents, she must leave her past behind and move in with her Bridegroom, after the wedding.  In the same way, we are called to put our pasts behind us, to remove all past loves and distractions.  For some, this may be the hurt that they have been holding onto, for others; it’s the distractions of career, entertainment, media or recreation.  If you want to be the Bride of Christ, you must be concerned with more than simply escaping hell. You must live your life in such a way that you are solely focused on being His Bride.  Are you counting the cost as you prepare to be united to Him? Or are you going to give Him mere lip service after the wedding? Have you started a commitment you're not willing to finish? Or does your mind wander back to things of your past - old friends, old habits, old loves? If you commit to this marriage, you must not only leave your past behind - you must completely forsake it!

PRAYER & MEDITATION

1. Ask the Lord to show you any past loves that you are holding on to.  This could be entertainment, recreation, career, friends, habits, hurts or fears, etc.  Confess that you have placed these things above Him.  

2. Ask the Lord to reveal to you if there are any commitments that you have made to Him that you haven’t finished.  Spend some time praying about how you are to finish that commitment.  

3. Pray that you will learn to leave your past behind so that you can fully embrace Him on your “wedding” day.  Ask Him to empower you to walk out your commitments and to keep you from wandering back to old ways.

Foundations March 26, 2011

Saturday, March 26, 2011
END TIMES READING PLAN:  Ezekiel 20, 34

SCRIPTURE READING
Song of Solomon 4:16 Awake, O north wind, and come, O south wind! Blow upon my garden, let its spices flow. (ESV)
Rom 8:28 We know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. (ESV)

All things work for God’s ultimate purpose in preparing a Bride as Jesus’ inheritance. Many Christians are quick to embrace the south winds of refreshment and blessing but struggle with accepting the north winds of trial, struggle and adversity.  We need both the north winds of testing and difficulty and the south winds of refreshing to mature us.  Both play a strategic role in maturing us into the Bride of Christ.  Only God has the wisdom to know the right combination of the north and south winds that are necessary in each season of our life.  Only God fully knows His purposes and plans for our lives, our make-up and destiny.  The guiding principle through all of human history has been God, using His power and wisdom to select, train and prepare a Bride to reign with Jesus.  Both blessings and challenges work together to train the Bride.  Our prayer must be a two-fold prayer, we must pray for the north wind of adversity and the south wind of blessing since both play a strategic role in maturing us to be a pure and spotless Bride.  In testing and difficulty and in times of prosperity we must acknowledge that God alone knows the purpose and He is sovereign.



PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Ask the Lord to show you how the north winds of adversity and the south winds of blessing have worked together to mature and refine you. 

2. Ask God to soften your heart, to grow in you a deep trust in Him so that you can learn to love and trust Him in all circumstances, during the north winds and the south winds. 

3. Spend some time thanking God that He is in control of all your circumstances, that He is sovereign, that you can trust Him fully.

Foundations March 25, 2011

Friday, March 25, 2011
END TIMES READING PLAN:  Ezekiel 5, 11

SCRIPTURE READING
Rev 19:6-9  Then I heard….the voice of a great multitude… crying out, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure"— for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, "Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." (ESV)

How do we acquire the wedding garments that Jesus refers to in this passage of Scripture?  How do we make ourselves ready for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb?  We make ourselves ready by growing in voluntary love and holiness.  The fine linen that is referred to in this passage of Scripture speaks of distinctive wedding garments that are given individually to each believer according to their behavior or acts of obedience.  Our wedding garments will be possessed forever and are being formed now by our obedience done in a spirit of love.  The choices that we make today will literally affect what we wear for eternity.  Many Christians have wedding garments that are soiled and ripped and need to be bleached, mended and repaired through their obedience and love towards Jesus. What we do now has impact far beyond our natural lives, our choices before the wedding matter.



PRAYER and MEDITATION
1. Spend some time in prayer, asking Jesus to give you a picture of what your wedding garments look like.  Will you be satisfied wearing them for all eternity in their present condition?

2.  Jesus wants our wedding garments to be spectacular fine linen, bright and pure.  Ask Him for steps you can take so that you will be a radiant Bride.

3. Thank God for the gift of the wedding garments, for giving us insight so that we can prepare and make ourselves ready.

Foundations March 24, 2011

Thursday, March 24, 2011
END TIMES READING PLAN: Jeremiah 51

SCRIPTURE READING
Eph 5:26-27 that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. (ESV)

In this passage, Paul gives us key details and defines what it means for the Church to be made ready at the time of the Second Coming. The Church will be so filled with glory, sanctified and cleansed, that she will not have spots, wrinkles or blemishes. The Church’s mind, emotions and actions will be radically cleansed while on earth, before Jesus’ coming. In God’s grace, He prefers to cleanse the Church through His Word and prayer. The Church must feed on Scripture, pray, fast and obey. We give our heart to God and receive from Him as we read Scripture in a way that creates an active dialogue in our heart with God. Scripture gives us the conversational material in our prayer life that we pray back to God. We pray dialogue with God by praying truths back to Him that help us obey His Word and commit to Him. As you pray, make declarations of your resolve to obey the Word. Tell Him that you want to be the pure and spotless Bride. Tell Him that you want to be presented to Jesus in splendor, as a glorious Church.

Foundations March 23, 2011

Wednesday, March 23, 2011

END TIMES READING PLAN: Jeremiah 50

SCRIPTURE READING

2 Cor 11:2 For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.

We are declared to be a pure virgin presented to Christ, by the work Jesus did on the cross.  When we receive the gift of salvation, immediately we become pure and clean.  You are the one He wants!  He longs for you, the burning heart of the uncreated God burns with desire and passion for you.  He wants you as His intimate partner forever.  He has as holy obsession about you.  This should cause you to reinterpret your life entirely differently.  This should redefine everything about you, as you see God’s passion for you.  Our image of God changes when we see ourselves in this light.  This should disarm one of the most powerful emotions humans face – the fear of rejection.  This should empower us to walk a life of love.  At the core of our identity, we are not slaves struggling to love God, we are not hopeless hypocrites futilely attempting to love God, but we are authentic lovers of God who are struggling to love Him more.

PRAYER and MEDITATION

1. Do you feel like a betrothed virgin? Do you feel clean, chosen and desired by God?  If not, ask Him why and for steps that you need to take in order to move in the direction of feeling clean, chosen and desired by Him.  

2. Do you define yourself by your struggles or by His work on the cross and His passion for you, as a Bridegroom?  Ask the Holy Spirit to reveal to you any areas of shame or condemnation that are hindering you from embracing your true identity as the Bride.  

3. Spend some time listening in prayer, asking the Lord to reveal to you if you have any unresolved feelings of rejection.  Spend some time in prayer about these feelings, asking Jesus to redefine who you are and to show you how He feels about you. 

Foundations March 22, 2011

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

END TIMES READING PLAN: Jeremiah 33

SCRIPTURE READING

Matt 24:32-33, 42 ³²Now learn this lesson from the fig tree: As soon as its twigs get tender and its leaves come out, you know that summer is near. ³³ Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door….watch therefore, for you do not know what hour your Lord is coming.

We are being told in these verses to have an attentive heart to what the Spirit is doing on the earth at this time. The Bible is clear that we cannot know the day and the hour of Christ’s return but we can know the season.  If we are to be prepared, we must watch what the Bible says about the signs of His coming.  As we watch the signs and event trends that are predicted in Scripture and see them progressively unfold in this generation, we become alert to the Spirit’s stirring in our own personal lives and ministry.  Watching and waiting empowers us to obey and love God and others more as we receive strength from the Holy Spirit.   When we watch, it’s like we are putting fuel into our car instead of pushing it.  A heart that knows Jesus as a Bridegroom will automatically watch for His return, this heart will yearn for Him to come back; it will not fear the end of the age but rather align with His plans and look forward to the glorious wedding day. 

PRAYER and MEDITATION

1. Ask the Holy Spirit to show you any fears that you may have about the end times.  Spend some time praying about these fears, asking God to heal your brokenness and woundedness. 

2. Ask God to show you a specific area of sin in your life that He wants to help restore to wholeness so that you can watch, wait and yearn for His return.  Spend some time in personal confession.  

3. Spend some time in prayer committing to growing in the area of watching and waiting, ask the Lord to give you strength to keep your focus on Him and His return and not get distracted with things of the world.