Jesus and Islam don't mix!

Been in Ezra 4 today. In light of this weekend's Islam symposium, it has a lot of treasure to be mined out! "The enemies of Judah and Benjamin" came to offer their assistance to build the house of the Lord. They claimed to be sacrificing to Israel's God, thinking that they would be allowed to help. The builders knew that these enemies weren't serving the God of Israel, even though they claimed to do so. In their rejection, they "frightened them from building." This intimidation prevented the returned exiles from building the house of the Lord FOR 16 YEARS! How powerful fear can be! There is only one God. THE Father. He has a Son. Jesus. There is no other. All other gods are false gods. Only He who acknowledges BOTH Father and Son are legitimate worshipers! The Muslim Jesus is NOT the Son of the Father. No intermingling the deities. Allah is not the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. When they come to the Christians and desire to build with us, we must be willing to risk rejection and persecution. We boldly proclaim that Jesus is God in the flesh. He is the Supreme Ruler of the Universe! We bow down to Him only!

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GO FORTH IN SPITE OF OUR FEARS!

CONTENDING WITH THE NATION OF ISLAM IN THE LAST DAYS

When Cyrus allowed the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple, they were "terrified because of the peoples of the lands" (Ezra 3:3). In spite of their fear, they still offered burnt offerings on the newly built altar. Burnt offerings symbolize entire consecration to the Lord. It was a 'whole' burnt offering, given freely over to God. It represents a TOTAL surrender to the fire of His love. It was COMPLETELY consumed on the altar. It is entirely possible to offer yourself to the Lord in complete surrender, even if you're afraid. As Ray Comfort says, "Courage is not the absence of fear. But going on IN SPITE OF fear." Joshua was told 4 times in Joshua 1 to "be strong and courageous". Why? Because he was going to need much courage to face all of the enemies in the Promised Land. It says that they offered "burnt offerings morning and evening" (3:3). They worshiped the Lord even though they were terrified. This is truly an example of a 'sacrifice of praise'. In taking the gospel to the Muslims, we will most likely be afraid and in need of God's inspiring confidence and strength. But will we offer ourselves entirely to Him, in spite of our fears? Will we go for Him, bearing His reproach outside the camp? Will we "follow the Lamb wherever He goes" (Revelation 14:4)? Will we love not our lives even unto death (Revelation 12:11). I can hear the Lord say, "Be strong and courageous;" "You can do it;" "Fear not, for I am with you." The God Who gives encouragement through the Scriptures (Romans 15:4) persuades us to stand up for Him in this crooked and perverse generation. He is compelling us by His love and grace to go forth boldly and preach the good news to the Muslims in our midst. It may be intimidating at first, but allow His perfect love to drive out your fears. Let's offer ourselves to Him and His purposes in this generation. IN SPITE OF how we feel, He is with us, compelling us to go. They have already been prepared by His tender love and they are waiting for us to tell them about the Father and His beloved Son, Jesus! We don't have to 'go' into all the world to do so. He has brought them to us! Muslims from all of the nations have come to live in America. The harvest is ready! Let's do it!

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What we don't believe may kill us.

I was meditating on Jeremiah 40 this morning. The king of Babylon placed a man named Gedaliah in charge of the city of Jerusalem. Johanan came with a group of men and told Gedaliah that the king of Ammon sent Ishmael to kill him. "But Gedaliah...did not believe them" (40:14). He told them that they were lying about Ishmael. In the next chapter, Gedaliah is murdered by Ishmael, just like the group said. He refused to believe the truth and what he didn't believe killed him.

I had an old roommate in college whose dad used to be an Olympic kick boxer. His doctor told him that he had a blood clot in his foot. He needed to have an operation or he would die. He didn't believe the doctor. He died several days later. What he didn't believe killed him.

Just like Gedaliah, unbelief will eventually kill us, whether in the natural or the spiritual. Jesus said that when the Holy Spirit comes, He will convict the world of sin "because they do not believe in Me" (John 16:9). The root of all sin is unbelief. We really don't believe that God is Who He says He is. And we don't believe hat He means what He says when He speaks. Unbelief is worse than cancer. It will eventually kill your spiritual life and perhaps, like my friend's dad, kill you physically.

Let's put unbelief to death before it puts us to death.

Heavenly Father, I plead the blood of Jesus over everyone who reads this post. I take authority over the spirit of unbelief and release the faith to believe that You are Who You say You are and Your Word is true. "You are God and Your Words are true" (2 Samuel 7:28). May we believe and live. in the Name of Jesus. Amen.

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8th day: NEW BEGINNINGS

After spending the 4th of July with my precious nephews and my family, I grasped anew why children are such a gift from the Lord. They bring new life. No baggage. Innocence. A fresh perspective on reality. They are untainted and pure. God's ways are so different from ours that we need new eyes to see. Their skin is soft, their eyes are bright, their insides are exciting and adventurous, awaiting the 'next thing.' They have that appreciation for birthday cakes with icing, a new toothpaste flavor, and whatever else they see. How much clearer it is that we are to become like little children to see/inherit the kingdom of God.

My brother, Jeff's boys and I went with Grandma Kurland to a wading pool. Their highlight was riding on our backs while we swam; or on our shoulders picking up leaves in the pool. After retrieving the leaves, we handed them to the lifeguard. She was so thankful for us 'helping' her clean the pool. That was a precious time of bonding. It's those little things that seem to bring the most joy. While we were leaving, Ethan insisted that we say good bye to both lifeguards, thanking them for keeping us safe! Precious!

This 8th day of July, a few days after celebrating our nation's freedom, I desire to view life through a new pair of eyes. "His mercies are new every morning" (Lamentations 3:22-3). I commit this new day into the God of new beginnings. "Behold, I make all things new" (Rev. 21:5). His freshness; His view of not remembering our former sins and shortcomings; His new day and new life. What awaits this day that the Lord has made? I guess we'll find out...

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Gold vs. Bronze: Faith vs. Judgment

GOLD REPLACED WITH BRONZE
FAITH REPLACED WITH JUDGEMENT

When Rehoboam “forsook the Law of the Lord” (2 Ch. 12:1), Shishak, king of Egypt, came and took the golden shields which Solomon had made. Rehoboam replaced them with bronze.

Gold represents faith.
Bronze represents judgement.

When we don’t walk in faith, we end up critical and walking in judgement. It says that Rehoboam had the commanders guard the bronze shields. There was a particular guarding of the bronze shields-as if someone would steal them. How much like us. We guard our own religious judgements and protect them. Why? Because we know that we’re right-and others are wrong! We guard those areas in our hearts. We set up 'commanders,' our own thoughts and devices, to make sure that everyone else knows that we have the truth-and we won’t budge when we judge!!

REAP WHAT WE SOW

Egypt is a type of the world. 12:9 says that the king of Egypt “took the treasures of the house of the Lord”. The Lord’s treasures are His people. The world has infiltrated, sabotaged, and plundered God’s people with subtlety, subterfuge, and deceit. The world, the flesh, and the devil, have all had their share in plundering God’s people for too long. Let us not be misled by our bronze masquerading as our gold. "Judge not, that you not be judged" still applies to us today. "When the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on the earth?" If all that we have been sowing is judgment, masked as 'prayer concerns', we will reap a harvest. But it won't be a harvest of righteousness by faith, it will be a harvest of destruction.

It's our choice! Let's replace our bronze with the gold! The shield of faith will bring freedom into our lives, free from playing God and judging others.

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