The Sword of the LORD

"THEREFORE BEING JUSTIFIED by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ: by Whom also we have access by faith into this grace wherein we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.  And not only so, but we glory in tribulations also: knowing that tribulation worketh patience; and patience, experience; and experience, hope : and hope maketh not ashamed; because the love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given unto us.” (Romans 5:1-5).   The year before I retired from the job I had for 42 years was a very difficult one.   I was asked to supervise five separate departments, all of which were “problem areas.”   I was forced to ask a lot from the people who reported to me, and I was asked to give more of my time to try to turn some of the worst operations around.   The problems were mostly engineering and maintenance issues resulting from the purchase of new equipment that wasn’t robust enough to do what the eng...

In the second Book of the Kings of Israel chapter six is a story that touches my heart because it has great relevance to the struggles that we face as Christians in an ever changing and increasingly complex world.   The King of Syria at the time, Ben-hadad, decided to invade Israel, but when he would send his army to a certain place hoping to surprise the Israelites, God would speak to Elisha the Prophet and he would reveal the position of the enemy troops to the King of Israel.   In this way, they were forewarned, and saved from disaster, many times.   The Syrian King, however, was very agitated, and demanded to know who the spy was in his ranks who was revealing their troop movements to the enemy.   One of his servants spoke up, and told him that it was the prophet in Israel who was aware of every secret plan that Ben-hadad made.   Ben-hadad, therefore, commanded his army to go and besiege the city of Dothan, where Elisha was staying at the time, and bring...

"But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.  Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for Whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: that I may know Him, and the power of His resurrection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto His death " (Philippians 3:7-10).   The cry of the Apostle Paul's heart was to know Christ in all His fullness.  Like the other apostles and disciples of the Lord who came before him, Paul was willing to forsake everything and spend the rest of his life following Jesus and learning Who He really is.  All the things that he once counted as treasures and great accomplishments in his life - his position in the...

As the apostles, Peter and John, were about to enter the temple in Jerusalem for prayer, they encountered a man who was lame sitting at the gate and asking for handouts.  The man was over 40 years old, and had been born lame and never walked.  When he saw Peter and John, the man asked them for some money.  This man received healing that day because these two men were obedient to God and stopped to minister to the need.  The record of this miracle can be found in Acts 3:1-8.  Five things stand out to me that preceded this miracle, and these five things I believe are pre-requisite to becoming useful servants of God, and, ultimately, channels for miracles:   “And Peter, fastening his eyes upon him…”   First, and foremost, before we can minister to others, we must be willing to see their needs.   It is too easy to look past them, or worse, not see them at all, as we speed through our busy schedules.   The apostles were on their w...

“After these things Jesus showed Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and in this way He showed Himself: Simon Peter, Thomas called the Twin, Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together.  Simon Peter said to them, "I am going fishing." They said to him, "We are going with you also." They went out and immediately got into the boat, and that night they caught nothing.” (John 21:1-3 NKJV).   After Jesus’ betrayal and subsequent execution, the disciples were despondent and unsure how to proceed.   Jesus had appeared to them two separate times after His death, yet they still didn’t know what they should be doing.   In this context we find Peter and six other disciples at the sea of Tiberias and Peter declaring “I am going fishing,” and the others going along with him.     Fishing is what these men knew.   It was their profession before the Lord called them.   They had grown ...

"Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls." (James 1:21).    A neighbor who lives behind me has an amazing apple tree.  It is enormous, and has been there for a very long time.  It provides a lot of shade to them in the summer time, and an ample amount of fruit in the fall.  The amazing thing about this tree, though, is not its size, or age, or even the amount of apples that it bears; no, the amazing thing is that it bears five different varieties of apple!  Someone years ago took the time to graft the branches of other apple trees into the branches of this existing tree.  Now, that which was not possible for this tree to bear on its own has not only become possible, but a reality.   The Bible teaches us that the Word of God can be grafted into the lives of believers.  It is an operation that is, unfortunately, very foreign to man...

As we rapidly approach another election cycle, and people in America are considering their options for the next President to lead the nation, my thoughts go to the Old Testament story of Samuel and Israel’s desire for a king.   For centuries the Israelites were under the oversight of judges who offered guidance to the nation in matters of military engagement.  They also resolved disputes between the people and upheld the civil laws of Israel.  These were men (and women, in the case of Deborah) who were chosen by God and anointed to resist the oppression of their neighbor kingdoms and lead their people in the right ways of the LORD.   Samuel the Prophet was the transition between the time of the judges and the time of the prophets.  He was the last judge of Israel and the first of a string of prophets of the Lord who gave spiritual guidance to Israel.  He also was trained in the temple and raised by Eli the priest.  Consider how significant an i...