It's Time to Worship. Grab Your Knife.

By Gobel Brockman

The book of Genesis tells us the story of Abraham and his wife Sarah. When they were both old and past the age of having children, God made a promise to Abraham that he would be "the father of many nations." The Bible goes on to say that "Abraham believed God, and it was counted to him as righteousness."  In time God fulfilled the promise and Isaac was born. In Genesis 22:1-5 we are then told this story that took place years later:

     "Now it came to pass after these things that God tested Abraham, and said to him, “Abraham!” And he said, “Here I am.” Then He said, “Take now your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and go to the land of Moriah, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” So Abraham rose early in the morning and saddled his donkey, and took two of his young men with him, and Isaac his son; and he split the wood for the burnt offering, and arose and went to the place of which God had told him. Then on the third day Abraham lifted his eyes and saw the place afar off. And Abraham said to his young men, “Stay here with the donkey; the lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you.”

I want to emphasize that this was more than Abraham just being asked to sacrifice his son: he was being asked to give back the very promise of God to him. I love Abraham's response: "So Abraham rose early in the morning." There was no hesitation or second thoughts in Abraham's mind. God had issued the demand, and he was going to obey. He went on to tell his servants something even more interesting: "The lad and I will go yonder and worship..." This brings me to the main point that I want to make this week. When Abraham went with Isaac up the mountain, he wasn't carrying a guitar to sing worship songs around the fire with Isaac. He didn't have praise music downloaded on an MP3 player and headphones. He went up that mountain with a knife. Let me say it this way:

American Christians seem to judge worship by which bands are going to be playing at WinterJam, or which "big name" speakers will be at the next conference. Abraham judged worship by the size of his knife.

I also want you to notice how Abraham finished his sentence: "The lad and I will go yonder and worship, and we will come back to you." Abraham was going to sacrifice his son, and yet he said "we" will come back. How could he say that? Hebrews 11:17-19 gives us the answer:

     "By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises offered up his only begotten son, of whom it was said, “In Isaac your seed shall be called,” concluding that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead, from which he also received him in a figurative sense."

Abraham had faith that if necessary, God could and would raise Isaac from the dead. Abraham passed the test and God provided a ram for the sacrifice. The promise of God was still alive and well! The promises of God are alive and well for us also. What we are called to do, however, is to follow Abraham's example and trust God with the promises that He has made to us. God is indeed faithful and true to His word and His promises. The challenge is whether or not we trust Him to fulfill them. So what will our response be? Are we willing to take the promises of God and go worship? Are we willing to go not with a guitar or a keyboard, but with a knife and a sacrificial fire?

That should make for an interesting worship conference.

The Holy Spirit

By Gobel Brockman

*NOTE: This week's devotional is an excerpt from my book "The Holy Spirit: Still for Today, Still for You" All of my books are available for FREE download for Kindle and Kindle apps on Sunday & Monday, November 20-21 (US Eastern Standard Time) at this link: 

https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_1_8?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=gobel+brockman+kindle&sprefix=gobel+br%2Caps%2C192&crid=1RA9E3IT6UECU

In John 13 Jesus shared what we refer to today as “The Last Supper” with His disciples. When they were finished in the upper room, they departed to go to the garden of Gethsemane. What I have found interesting as I’ve studied this story over the years is that in His last moments of freedom, what was one of the prominent things that Jesus chose to speak to His disciples about? In these last moments Jesus focused on telling the disciples about the coming Holy Spirit. In John chapters 14 through 16 – while walking to the place of His betrayal - Jesus mentioned the Holy Spirit’s role in their lives at least five times. As He told them about what the Holy Spirit would do in their lives, it’s important to understand that He was telling us the same thing - what Jesus told them about the Holy Spirit is for us today as well! Let’s take a look at what Jesus said to them about the Holy Spirit, with the understanding that He desires to do the same things in our lives today.

COUNSELOR

     “I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Counselor, that He may be with you forever: the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, for it does not see Him, neither does it know Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you, and will be in you.” – John 14:16-17

Almost immediately after telling the disciples that He was “the way, the truth, and the life” (verse 6) Jesus tells them that He would pray that the Father would give them “another Counselor.” The Greek word for “Counselor” in this passage is parakletos, and it has an interesting meaning: “intercessor, consoler, advocate, comforter; one who is summoned and called to one’s side; one who pleads another’s cause.”

What an amazing thought – the Holy Spirit is there to console us, comfort us, and intercede for us! I want to emphasize again a very important point: we are not called to live a victorious Christian life in our own strength. Anything that God asks of us, He will also through the Holy Spirit give us the power to carry it out. We must understand that God has not left us to do this alone! I also believe it’s important to note that Jesus said in this passage that the Holy Spirit would not only live with us, but in us. He doesn’t desire to just show up when we need Him, but He desires to take up permanent residence in us! 

TRUTH

     “But when the Counselor comes, whom I shall send to you from the Father, the Spirit of truth who proceeds from the Father, He will bear witness of Me.” – John 15:26

“He will bear witness of Me.” In this passage we see an incredible truth – the Holy Spirit will always direct us to Jesus Christ. In these last days when Jesus said that deception and “false Christs” would arise, I cannot emphasize enough just how important it is for us to be established in truth. We again hear Jesus referring to the Holy Spirit as “the Spirit of truth.” False doctrine and deceptive, even devilish heresies have always been something that the people of God must be on guard against. If we will give Him place in our daily lives, the Holy Spirit will help us in this area by continually bringing us back to the simplicity that is found in Christ. The Apostle Paul spoke plainly about this in 1 Corinthians 12:3:

     “Therefore I make known to you that no one speaking by the Spirit of God says, “Jesus be cursed!” And no one can say, “Jesus is the Lord,” except by the Holy Spirit.”

In short: any person, any preacher, any church, or any denominational hierarchy that denies that absolute Lordship of Jesus Christ is not being led by the Holy Spirit and must be avoided at all costs!

Move Your Magnifying Glass

By Gobel Brockman


     "Oh, magnify the Lord with me, and let us exalt His name together." - Psalms 34:3

I feel comfortable in saying that most of you reading this have looked through a magnifying glass. If you happen to have one handy, take me moment and check it out. Hold it next to the computer, tablet, or smartphone that you're reading this on. Hold it close to the screen, then move it back a few inches. You'll notice that as you move the magnifying glass, the object you're looking at is changing sizes.

Well, at least it appears to be changing sizes.

The simple and obvious truth is that what you're looking at isn't changing sizes at all. So what's happening? The object isn't changing; your perception of what you're seeing is what's actually changing. An object that seems small can become much bigger in your eyes with just the slightest movement of the magnifying glass. In the Scripture quoted above, we are told to "magnify the Lord." For me, that poses an interesting question: how could we possibly make God bigger? Isaiah 66:1 tells us this:

     "Thus says the Lord: Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. Where then is the house that you could build for Me? And where is the place of My rest?"

If Heaven and earth can't contain Him, then how can we make Him any bigger? The obvious answer is that we can't. So just what does it mean to magnify the Lord? Simple - we change the way we look at Him! So many people look at God as some kind of cruel taskmaster who can't wait for us to mess up so that He can destroy us. Others see Him almost as a "foster father" who only tolerates us for what He might receive from us. I say to you that God is nothing like that at all! He is loving, gracious, kind, and as II Peter 3:9 says, He is "not willing that any should perish, but that all would come to repentance." When the Bible tells us to "magnify the Lord" I believe that one aspect of that is simply to change the way you view Him.

Whether we think of it in these terms or not, we're always magnifying something. The problem is that far too often we magnify the wrong things. We look at out financial situation and think it's way too big for us to handle. We may look at our health issues and think that our physical problems are too difficult for us to endure. Sometimes there may be a family member facing an addiction or difficult situation and we're tempted to think that it's hopeless. My point is that in those times we are magnifying the wrong thing. Rather than seeing our problems as too big, perhaps we should instead begin seeing our God as more than big enough to handle them, and big enough to give us grace to make it through them. Many times we come to God feeling as though we need some kind of miraculous breakthrough, when all we really need is to, if you will, "move our magnifying glass" and start seeing God differently. Instead of increasing our doubt and unbelief, why not begin to see God in His holiness and love and begin watching our faith grow? If you are a Christian and you're presently facing a serious situation for which you have no answer, my advice to you is simple:

Move your magnifying glass. Point it in the right direction. God's already big enough to help - just start seeing Him that way.

How Clean Is Your Dirt?

By Gobel Brockman


In the fourth chapter of the book of Mark, Jesus tells a parable about a man sowing seed on different kinds of ground. He said that some fell on the path and birds immediately came and devoured the seed. He said that other seed fell in shallow soil where they couldn't take root and soon withered. Some seed fell among thorns where they grew but couldn't flourish. Some, however, fell on good ground and were able to produce an abundant harvest. For this week's devotional I would like to look specifically at the third group He mentioned.

In verses 18 and 19 of Mark 4 Jesus described this group:

     "Now these are the ones sown among thorns; they are the ones who hear the word, and the cares of this world, the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things entering in choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful."

There's a point that I want to make about these verses, and it's what I would like to focus on this week. In the first two groups Jesus mentioned, the seed had little or no chance of growing. That was not the case with this group of seed. The potential was there for growth and a successful harvest. The problem wasn't that the ground wasn't fertile, the problem was that it was cluttered. I honestly believe that this is one of the biggest problems that people face today regarding the depth of their belief and commitment to Jesus Christ. You see, many people will say that they believe that Jesus is the Son of God. They will give mental assent to the truth of the gospel. The problem, however, is that mental assent isn't enough. In the book of James we read that the devils believe in God - and tremble. (James 2:19) Faith in God that is genuine will produce within us a desire to remove anything in our lives that will hinder our spiritual growth - and within that thought lies a huge problem.

When we think about things that can hinder our faith we immediately begin thinking about specific sins - drunkenness, adultery and fornication, and physical violence among many other things. But if we will notice what Jesus said in our passage from Mark 4, we will see none of those things mentioned. What we see instead is "cares of this world" deceitfulness of riches" and "desires for other things." What's the point? These people weren't hindered by blatant sin, they were hindered by "innocent" distractions. For them, it wasn't a case of not believing, it was a case of divided loyalty and misplaced priority. Let me say it this way:

Sin doesn't always look ugly. 

Sometimes sin is obvious and horrible, but sometimes it comes in the form of simply being too busy doing "good" things. We can become so caught up with our families, our careers, our finances, and our desire to have fun that we lose sight of the most important thing in life - the God who created us and sent His Son to die for our sins. I'll get to the point: if there are things in your life that are more important to you than your life in Christ, they will soon choke out your desire to live for Him altogether. We think of idol worship as doing things like burning incense to statues and sacrificing animals, but sometimes idol worship takes the form of being so busy with our families that we forget the God who blessed us with those families. I look at it like this: an idol is anything you have to get permission from before you can say "yes" to Christ. When we're too busy for what Christ wants in our lives, we're too busy. Period. When we consider that Jesus said that the greatest commandment of all was to "Love God with all of your heart, your soul, your mind, and your strength" (Matthew 22:37-38) that should let us know how He feels about divided loyalty.

So I end this week by asking a simple question: are there "thorns" in your soil? If so, who's responsibility is it to clean them out?