The Sword of the LORD

Around the year 57 A.D., the Apostle Paul determined to go to Jerusalem.  He knew he would be arrested by the Jews, imprisoned, and possibly put to death as a result of that decision.  He knew this in his spirit, but also because a prophet by the name of Agabus had foretold it.  In Acts, chapter twenty-one, we read, “And as we tarried there many days, there came down from Judaea a certain prophet, named Agabus.  And when he was come unto us, he took Paul’s girdle, and bound his own hands and feet, and said, Thus saith the Holy Ghost, So shall the Jews at Jerusalem bind the man that owneth this girdle, and shall deliver him into the hands of the Gentiles .  And when we heard these things, both we, and they of that place, besought him not to go up to Jerusalem.  Then Paul answered, What mean ye to weep and to break mine heart? for I am ready not to be bound only, but also to die at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus .” (Acts 21:10-13).  Paul did ...

A few weeks ago I had a dream.  At least that’s what I would have to call it.  It was actually more like an interruption of a dream.  You know, like one of those public service announcements that come on the television in the middle of regular programming to warn of an imminent weather threat or an Amber alert.  I was dreaming about something completely unrelated (I can’t remember what) when a voice spoke to me in my dream and said, “ All things are possible to them that believe .”   In my dream state, I remember being both surprised and inspired by the statement and being filled with faith at the possibilities of such a promise as this.  My excitement was so great that it woke me up and made me want to run out and apply my faith to everything I could think of!  Instead, I pondered over what I had heard and what God was speaking to me. As I thought about this experience, I was reminded of two places in scripture that I believe relate to what I had he...

“For who hath despised the day of small things?” (Zechariah 4:10). God is always working.   Even when it seems like things are not moving along as quickly or as effectively as we would like, God is still working just the same.   As wise King Solomon said, “To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.” (Ecclesiastes 3:1).   This is as true in the lives and fortunes of men as it is in the natural world.   Through the ups and downs of life, the blessings and the disappointments, the joys and the tragedies, the successes and the failures, God still has a purpose and a plan for those who love Him and have been called and chosen in Christ Jesus His Son.   We cannot always judge the “greatness” of a work by some notion that we have of what “great” should look like.  Everything that God does is great.  Major Ian Thomas, who was an English author and founded a worldwide missionary fellowship, wrote, “Which of these thing...