The Sword of the LORD

According to the Bible, sometime around 600 B.C. the King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, had a dream.   The problem was that, while he thought the dream might be significant, he couldn’t remember either the dream or what it might have meant.     Having many “wise” men in his employ, Nebuchadnezzar called them together and demanded that they tell him what the dream was that he had dreamed, and the interpretation of that dream.   After all, wasn’t that what he was paying these guys for?   Oh, and as a little incentive, if they couldn’t come up with the dream, the king was going to have them cut in pieces.   No pressure.     The wise men naturally urged the king to reveal the dream to them and they would then gladly interpret it for him, but that was useless because the king truly had forgotten it.   It seemed like a good test for his wise men also.   He would be able to see which of these guys really were wise and which were not.   After their reasoning and pleading failed, the king

“AND MOSES ANSWERED and said, But, behold, they will not believe me, nor hearken unto my voice: for they will say, The LORD hath not appeared unto thee.  And the LORD said unto him, What is that in thine hand?  And he said, A rod .”  (Exodus 4:1,2).   Success in life should not be measured so much by what we achieve compared to others, but what we achieve with the gifts that have been given us.  Many fail to obtain this success, though, because they don’t recognize and believe that God can use them regardless of how insignificant or unprepared they may feel.  Too many folks are crippled from being spiritual­ly effective by their own fears, doubts, and feelings of inadequacy.  They look at what they have in comparison to others who they consider “gifted,” and “talented,” and they feel that they themselves have nothing to offer.  They consider them­selves weak, and foolish, and feel they are unable to contribute anything significant.  If they can’t be a great orator, or vocalist, or

The prayer of King Jehoshaphat that is recorded in the 20 th chapter of the second book of Chronicles in the Bible is extraordinary in its directness, honesty, simplicity, and power.  In his prayer Jehoshaphat references another powerful prayer that was offered by an earlier king of the Israelites; and that prayer, in turn, represents an important provision that God has made that affects all of our prayers from that time till this, and even till the end of this world.   Jehoshaphat was a good king whose heart was after God.  He wasn’t a perfect king, but he was open to the Lord’s correction, and therefore God was able to direct him and bless him in marvelous and miraculous ways.   Jehoshaphat had reigned in Jerusalem for about 16 years when a report came to him that the Moabites and the Ammonites were coming against him to war with a great multitude of armed men.  Scripture reveals to us what Jehoshaphat’s reaction was to this news: “And Jehoshaphat feared…” (2 Chronicles 20:

“And the LORD was with Joseph, and he was a prosperous man; and he was in the house of his master the Egyptian.” (Genesis 39:2).   Have you ever really considered what it means to be prosperous in this life?   According to the Merriam-Webster Dictionary it means to be “marked by success or economic well-being,” or “enjoying vigorous and healthy growth: flourishing.”   This is the commonly accepted definition of prosperity, but is it an altogether accurate one?   The Bible seems to present us with a completely different definition of prosperity.   The verse that I have quoted in the beginning of this message is packed full of meaning and insight into this subject.   Let’s break it down to discover God’s mind on the matter.   “And the LORD was with Joseph.”   It is very important to note that Joseph had a personal relationship with God, and for this reason God was with Joseph.   He didn’t leave him on his own, but guided and protected each phase of his life in order to ul

“And now abideth faith, hope, charity ...” (1 Corinthians 13:13).   “We give thanks to God always for you all, making mention of you in our prayers; remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ , in the sight of God and our Father; knowing, brethren beloved, your election of God.” (1 Thessalonians 1:2-4).   In his first letter to the Corinthian church, the Apostle Paul mentions the enduring quality of the “big three” Christian values or virtues.  The importance of these is emphasized repeatedly throughout the New Testament, but in Thessalonians Paul gives us some special insight into how they influence our walk with God.   Paul’s visit to Thessalonica was characterized by many dangers which he and the local converts were exposed to because of the gospel that he preached.  He had entered the synagogue in that city and for three weeks preached that Jesus Christ was Lord to the Jews.  Some Jews were convert

There was a man by the name of Naaman who lived toward the end of the 9th century B.C.   This man was the captain of all the armies of Syria.   He was vastly wealthy and powerful, and he was trusted and respected by his king.   Despite all that Naaman had going for him, though, he was a leper.     Leprosy was a dreaded disease.  It caused the flesh to rot from the bone; and it made outcasts of those who were afflicted by it because no one wanted to be exposed to it or to look on those who had it.  This was obviously a traumatic state of affairs for any one, let alone a man in Naaman's position.   During an earlier raid into the land of Israel, the Syrians had taken some captives among whom was a young girl.  This little maiden was placed in the house of Naaman to wait on his wife.  Upon hearing of her new master's affliction, she said to her mistress, "Would God my lord were with the prophet that is in Samaria! for he would recover him of his leprosy." (2 King

In the fourth chapter of Jeremiah, God says, "Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns."  The idea of plowing the ground before planting it is very natural; but when we consider the process, it can seem like a very violent act to the earth that we are preparing.   We tear open the surface with the plowshare or pulverize the ground with a rotary tiller, churning and softening the dirt in order to create a rich seedbed in which the new plants will thrive and produce crops.   Fallow ground is that which has not been planted for a time, but has been left to grow over with weeds.  Being unplanted, it is therefore unfruitful and unproductive.  It becomes a tangle of useless vines and thorns.  We, as individuals, often have areas of our lives that we have left "fallow."  These are areas that are unfruitful and unproductive for the Lord.  We all know that the fruit of the Spirit listed in Galatians 5 is, "love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, go

“I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the right­eous forsaken nor his seed begging bread.” (Psalm 37:25).   During my first year of Christianity, I felt inspired to write a small tract entitled God Is No Pauper .  It was a simple message on trusting the Lord for His provision of our daily needs and the needs of the ministry.  It exposed the notion of having to appeal to man to supply one's needs rather than trusting in the promises of God.  One section of that message is as follows:   "If the earth and all the fullness thereof is the Lord’s, then surely He is capable of carrying out His work without His saints having to beg and yahoo for funds to support that work.  Neither is it easy to imagine God’s holy apostles and prophets “passing the plate” to procure wages to support the work that God had given them to do.  Why, therefore, should it be any different for any of His other ministers?                                                 "The