Israel's "Valley of the Shadow of Death"~Baron Eickhoff

FRIDAY, JULY 10, 2009

Israel's "Valley of the Shadow of Death"

Roger Alexander shared with me yesterday that
when he and his wife Terri were in Israel, they went to the "valley of the shadow of death".
I didn't know that this was an actual place in Israel. Apparently it was a trail traveled by merchants that was very dangerous because of the robbers and murderers who would attack those who traveled the path.

Roger said that learning of the realness of the valley was one of the highlights for him in Israel.

One of man's greatest fears in Israel and many parts of the world has long been those evil men that prey upon unsuspecting people and places. Yet Jesus said,

do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear Him who is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
(Mat 10:28)

A day is coming in Israel when men's hearts will literally fail them from fear.

And they will fall by the edge of the sword, and be led away captive into all nations. And Jerusalem will be trampled by Gentiles until the times of the Gentiles are fulfilled. "And there will be signs in the sun, in the moon, and in the stars; and on the earth distress of nations, with perplexity, the sea and the waves roaring; men's hearts failing them from fear and the expectation of those things which are coming on the earth, for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. Then they will see the Son of Man coming in a cloud with power and great glory.
(Luk 21:24-27)

Men's riches and wealth will not deliver him in the day of God's reckoning.

Why should I fear in the days of evil, When the iniquity at my heels surrounds me? Those who trust in their wealth And boast in the multitude of their riches, None of them can by any means redeem his brother, Nor give to God a ransom for him— (Psa 49:5-7)

and when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that does not fade away. (1Pe 5:4)

Yours in Him,

Pastor B.

Shine Through~Mark Balmer

Shine Through

Posted:

Based on “Shine for God” by Pastor Mark Balmer; 7/4-5/09,

Message # 2487; Daily Devotional #4 - “Shine Through”

Preparing the Soil (Introduction): I had the privilege this weekend to hear the testimony of a young man who was able to go on a mission trip to China. Hearing how God had worked out the circumstances and visa problems was cool. It is always good to remember that if God wants you somewhere, He already has the details figured out. The thing that stood out the most to me was when Leo started talking about his time in the underground Church. This is where I saw his personal relationship with God shine through. He did not know he was going to teach or say anything official, yet had something prepared, just in case he had the chance.

However, when the opportunity came to speak, he didn’t use his prepared message. Instead, he talked about the section of Scripture he had read the day before during his quiet time. It was during that time that God spoke to Him and gave him the words to say that would have an impact on the Church there. To hear how God spoke to him through the reading of the Word and spending time with God was amazing. Then God used that time to affect the lives of others. It was clear evidence of how a personal relationship with the Lord works. In a way, you could see Leo's face shine.

Planting and Watering the Seed (Growth): Spending time with the Lord affected the lives of those around Leo. It was evidenced by God's working through him. When we spend time with the Lord it is not just for ourselves. When Moses went up on the mountain it wasn’t just for himself. Yes, he did ask for God to show him His glory (Exodus 33:18). But that was not the only reason. God wanted to write His Words to the people on the new tablets, and Moses was the man for the job (Exodus 34). It was personal, but God had a much greater impact in mind than just for Moses. When Moses went to speak to God he did not go up on the mountain and say, “God, I have this plan worked out for how You should affect the lives of the Israelites. Would You bless it for me?” He went up on the mountain to hear from the Lord and then pass on what he heard. He told the Israelites what God told him, and that is how God guided the nation. One man in the hands of God can have an enormous impact.

Harvesting the Crop (Action/Response): God has chosen to use people just like you and me to impact the world. Are we perfect? No. Will we mess up? Yes. Is God's grace sufficient? Yes. But how can you and I have any effect of the world around us? By spending time with God (Philippians 1:6). In and of ourselves we do not have much to offer. Yet with God the potential is unlimited (Philippians 4:13). If you don’t think God can do great things through you, then there is a problem with your faith. Spending time with God, in His Word (the Bible) and listening to what He is telling us, gives Him the opportunity to shine through and affect the lives of those He places in our path. I love the opportunities God gives me. I look forward to the chance to pass along what He has spoken to me. Those words are not just good advice. They are the truth right from God. As He reveals Himself to us, He shines through us. The more time you spend listening and obeying God, the more evident His working will be in your life.

Cultivating (Additional Reading): Psalm 119:25-40; 2 Corinthians 3:12

wm

Calvary Chapel of Melbourne; 2955 Minton Road; W. Melbourne, FL 32904; 321-952-9673

All Bible references are from the New International Version (NIV) unless otherwise noted.

God's People Become His Enemies~Bob Caldwell

When God's People Become His Enemy 2:5 The Lord was like an enemy. He has swallowed up Israel, He has swallowed up all her palaces; He has destroyed her strongholds, And has increased mourning and lamentation In the daughter of Judah. It is a horrible thought to find yourself treated by God as His enemy, especially one who, in former times, had been the object of God's pleasure and who He had abundantly prospered in His grace (v. 4-5). God's anger, wrath, and burning indignation are obviously something that we would not like to personally experience. Nor are these descriptions of God's anger something that many people believe God could ever be, if in fact He is a loving God. It raises the question if it is possible that love and anger can find compatibility in God. Consider a cancer that slowly and painfully destroys one you deeply love. Would it not be appropriate, even loving, to abhor the cancer that has so horribly hurt the object of your love? In fact, given the cancer example, it might seem fair to ask, "How can God really say He loves us, yet feel no aversion, no hatred, for the grotesque corruption sin has wrought within us?" To take it a step further, is it not logical that the source of sin's destructive force would also be abhorred? This seems clearly to be the case with how God saw Jerusalem during the time the book of Lamentations was written. The city that was to be a light upon a hill to Israel and the world had become an aggressive force for evil. The Temple that once held the glory of God had become a temple filled with idols. Pagan fertility cults had become commonplace in Jerusalem. They practiced the worship of the powers of fertility through sexual relations with cultic prostitutes. What Israel, and Jerusalem in particular, had become was something God had to hate if He in fact actually loved the people. Like many people today, Jerusalem had a false sense of security in their belief that God was obligated to bless them no matter how rebellious and evil they became. God's love, however, demanded that He rid them of their prideful delusion. Where God sees the destructive cancer of religious deception today He hates it. How could He love us and not hate what is designed to destroy us?
Lamentations 2:1-22 God's Anger with Jerusalem 1 How the Lord has covered the daughter of Zion With a cloud in His anger! He cast down from heaven to the earth The beauty of Israel, And did not remember His footstool In the day of His anger. 2 The Lord has swallowed up and has not pitied All the dwelling places of Jacob. He has thrown down in His wrath The strongholds of the daughter of Judah; He has brought them down to the ground; He has profaned the kingdom and its princes. 3 He has cut off in fierce anger Every horn of Israel; He has drawn back His right hand From before the enemy. He has blazed against Jacob like a flaming fire Devouring all around. 4 Standing like an enemy, He has bent His bow; With His right hand, like an adversary, He has slain all who were pleasing to His eye; On the tent of the daughter of Zion, He has poured out His fury like fire. 5 The Lord was like an enemy. He has swallowed up Israel, He has swallowed up all her palaces; He has destroyed her strongholds, And has increased mourning and lamentation In the daughter of Judah. 6 He has done violence to His tabernacle, As if it werea garden; He has destroyed His place of assembly; The LORD has caused The appointed feasts and Sabbaths to be forgotten in Zion. In His burning indignation He has spurned the king and the priest. 7 The Lord has spurned His altar, He has abandoned His sanctuary; He has given up the walls of her palaces Into the hand of the enemy. They have made a noise in the house of the LORD As on the day of a set feast. 8 The LORD has purposed to destroy The wall of the daughter of Zion. He has stretched out a line; He has not withdrawn His hand from destroying; Therefore He has caused the rampart and wall to lament; They languished together. 9 Her gates have sunk into the ground; He has destroyed and broken her bars. Her king and her princes are among the nations; The Law is no more, And her prophets find no vision from the LORD. 10 The elders of the daughter of Zion Sit on the ground and keep silence; They throw dust on their heads And gird themselves with sackcloth. The virgins of Jerusalem Bow their heads to the ground. 11 My eyes fail with tears, My heart is troubled; My bile is poured on the ground Because of the destruction of the daughter of my people, Because the children and the infants Faint in the streets of the city. 12 They say to their mothers, "Where is grain and wine?" As they swoon like the wounded In the streets of the city, As their life is poured out In their mothers' bosom. 13 How shall I console you? To what shall I liken you, O daughter of Jerusalem? What shall I compare with you, that I may comfort you, O virgin daughter of Zion? For your ruin is spread wide as the sea; Who can heal you? 14 Your prophets have seen for you False and deceptive visions; They have not uncovered your iniquity, To bring back your captives, But have envisioned for you false prophecies and delusions. 15 All who pass by clap their hands at you; They hiss and shake their heads At the daughter of Jerusalem: "Is this the city that is called ‘The perfection of beauty, The joy of the whole earth'?" 16 All your enemies have opened their mouth against you; They hiss and gnash their teeth. They say, "We have swallowed her up! Surely this is the day we have waited for; We have found it, we have seen it!" 17 The LORD has done what He purposed; He has fulfilled His word Which He commanded in days of old. He has thrown down and has not pitied, And He has caused an enemy to rejoice over you; He has exalted the horn of your adversaries. 18 Their heart cried out to the Lord, "O wall of the daughter of Zion, Let tears run down like a river day and night; Give yourself no relief; Give your eyes no rest. 19 "Arise, cry out in the night, At the beginning of the watches; Pour out your heart like water before the face of the Lord. Lift your hands toward Him For the life of your young children, Who faint from hunger at the head of every street." 20 "See, O LORD, and consider! To whom have You done this? Should the women eat their offspring, The children they have cuddled? Should the priest and prophet be slain In the sanctuary of the Lord? 21 "Young and old lie On the ground in the streets; My virgins and my young men Have fallen by the sword; You have slain them in the day of Your anger, You have slaughtered and not pitied. 22 "You have invited as to a feast day The terrors that surround me. In the day of the LORD's anger There was no refugee or survivor. Those whom I have borne and brought up My enemies have destroyed."
Lamentations 2:1-22 v. 1 and did not remember His footstool – The footstool is a reference to the Ark of the Covenant. The Ark of the Covenant was symbolic for the presence of God among the people the Israel. v. 3 every horn of Israel – There are a few references to horns in this chapter (also v. 17). Horns symbolized strength and leadership. The horn in verse three is a metaphor for Israel's strength being cut off. v. 6 the appointed feasts and Sabbaths – The feasts were regular assemblies on designated days of the year. These feasts and Sabbaths were forgotten because there were no longer priests to guide the people in the way of God's law. v. 10 gird themselves with sackcloth – Sackcloth was made of goat's hair and was worn as a symbol of mourning. v. 15 all who pass by clap their hands at you – The Hebrew verb used for clap in this passage denotes a gesture of anger or derision. Those who passed by and clapped were scorning Israel. v. 17 He has exalted the horn of your adversaries – Exalting the horns is a metaphor for increasing the strength of Israel's enemies. v. 19 pour out your heart like water – This is a metaphor for an act of worship. v. 20 should the women eat their offspring – Cannibalism was a desperate last resort when starvation was imminent.
The Lord was like an enemy. He has swallowed up Israel, He has swallowed up all her palaces; He has destroyed her strongholds, And has increased mourning and lamentation In the daughter of Judah. –Lamentations 2:5 Your words of warning speak to our hearts today, Lord. We know that You care for us and love us and seek to protect us. And we also know that You will discipline us as we need to be disciplined. Thank You, Lord, for teaching us where we go wrong. We pray for eyes open to see the coming destruction before it has to occur.
Prison and Jail Ministry I have not been a spiritual person but I've been getting in touch with God and this service is very important to me and my recovery. It means a lot to me to have one of the ladies from Calvary come out here and take time for all of us to come closer to God and our spiritual side. Prayer Points There to be fruit from the teaching on Sundays out at the SBWCC. That women will continue to seek Jesus in and out of prison. For doors to remain open and for Bible studies to continue at these facilities.

God's Secret Agents~Greg Laurie

Thursday // July 9 // 2009

Today's Read the Word: Joshua 3

God's Secret Agents

Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to minister for those who will inherit salvation?

— Hebrews 1:14

Make no mistake about it: angels are actively involved in the lives of the people of God, and in the affairs of men in general.

One of the reasons we may not be personally aware of the presence of angels in our lives is that they are doing their job properly.

Angels generally operate undercover. Theirs is a vast world of intelligent, powerful spirit beings. Angels are invisible, and they remain that way most of the time, except on very rare occasions. As we see from Scripture, God will sometimes clothe angels with a human form.

Angels are God's secret agents, not drawing attention to themselves, but instead doing the bidding of God. They have a specific work and ministry in the life of the Christian.

That certainly gives us hope in these troubled and dangerous times in which we are living. When we think of all the violence, chaos, and danger in the world today, it is comforting to know that God's angels are watching out for us.

Angels may not help you find a parking place, but you can know this: they are God's secret agents, powerfully and effectively doing the work He has called them to do.

Copyright © 2009 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000

What About Angels?~Greg Laurie

Wednesday // July 8 // 2009

Today's Read the Word: Joshua 2

What About Angels?

For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible. . . .

— Colossians 1:16

Years ago, a Time magazine poll showed that 69 percent of American adults said they believed in the existence of angels, and 32 percent claimed to have felt an angelic presence at some time in their life.

Even more surprising, the numbers jumped higher when they polled teenagers—three out of every four American teenagers said they believe in angels.

Contrary to what some believe, angels are not dead humans trying to earn their wings. Angels are an altogether unique group of beings created by God. In fact, there are different rankings of angels.

First and foremost is the archangel known as Michael. He is probably the highest-ranking angel in God's heavenly host. He is the only angel referred to in the Bible as an archangel.

Then we have the cherubim. They are powerful and majestic angelic creatures that surround the throne of God. They were placed as guards outside the Garden of Eden after Adam and Eve were expelled (see Genesis 3:24).

Third, there are seraphim. Isaiah vividly describes them as crying, "Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts!" in his vision of the Lord enthroned and exalted (see Isaiah 6:1–3). It appears the seraphim were created to worship and praise the Lord.

Fourth, there is Gabriel. This high-ranking angel brought special messages to God's people. He appeared to Daniel to reveal the future to him. Years later, he brought the message to Zacharias that he would have a son who was to be named John, whom we know as John the Baptist (see Luke 1:5–19).

And of course, Gabriel also had the high privilege of announcing the birth of Jesus to Mary.

So we see that angels were created to worship and praise God, to serve Him, and to be messengers for Him—and so are we.

Copyright © 2009 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000

Conspicuous Christians~Greg Laurie

Tuesday // July 7 // 2009

Today's Read the Word: Joshua 1

Conspicuous Christians

"You are the light of the world."

— Matthew 5:14

There are two good ways that we can be light for the world. We can let our light shine by doing good works, and we can let our light shine by proclaiming the gospel.

Jesus told us to be conspicuous Christians when He said,

You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:14–16)

When there is a disaster, when people are starving, when there is a country torn by war or ravaged by disease, Christians should be the first on the scene, doing what they can. We can let our light shine at home or in our workplace by being kind, generous, loving, and by living sacrificially for others.

As Christians, we can let our light shine before others through our good works.

Then, of course, we also should let our light shine by proclaiming the gospel, telling others of their need for Christ. We are not to be secretive about our faith. We can tell our neighbors the good news. We can make sure our coworkers know exactly what a Christian believes. And we can raise our children to walk with the Lord.

You can be a conspicuous Christian—let your light shine!

Copyright © 2009 by Harvest Ministries. All rights reserved.

Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Bible text from the New King James Version is not to be reproduced in copies or otherwise by any means except as permitted in writing by Thomas Nelson, Inc., Attn: Bible Rights and Permissions, P.O. Box 141000, Nashville, TN 37214-1000