The Sword of the LORD

At a certain point in Jesus’ earthly ministry, He began to show His disciples the truth concerning His Passion.  He told them plainly that He was to suffer at the hands of the elders and chief priests, and that He would be killed by them; but, after three days, He would be raised from the dead.  This was, indeed, a difficult concept to comprehend.  It was hard to wrap one’s mind around.  After all, Jesus was the mighty Son of God, the promised Messiah, and the Prince of Peace.  How could they kill Him?  Hadn’t He come to establish God’s heavenly Kingdom on earth and reign forever?   Peter was especially affected by this revelation, and, acting as a friend and one who loved Jesus, he began to rebuke his Lord saying, “Be it far from Thee, Lord: this shall not be unto Thee.” (Matthew 16:22). I’m sure that Peter’s whole intent was to comfort His Lord, and encourage Him that He would overcome these difficulties, and go on to be the King of Israel – was...

“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 engine...

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...

“Now Jericho was straitly shut up because of the children of Israel: none went out, and none came in.  And the LORD said unto Joshua, See, I have given into thine hand Jericho, and the king thereof, and the mighty men of valour." (Joshua 6:1, 2).   Jericho was Israel's first real test of faith after God delivered them across the swollen waters of the Jordan River.  Considered to be the oldest inhabited city in the world, Jericho sat just west of the Jordan River on an ancient trade route that led to Damascus.  It was strategically situated at the pass that led up to the central highlands which ran north and south along the heart of Canaan, and was well fortified against its enemies.  It had a double wall that was 30 feet tall.  The outer wall was 6 feet thick, and after a space of 15 feet, the inner wall was 12 feet thick.  These walls were massive and virtually impervious to frontal assault.  Once Jericho was conquered, Israel would be able ...

"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 th...

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 schedul...