sBy Gobel Brockman
“And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret. But all things that are exposed are made manifest by the light, for whatever makes manifest is light. THEREFORE HE SAYS: “AWAKE, YOU WHO SLEEP, ARISE FROM THE DEAD, AND CHRIST WILL GIVE YOU LIGHT.” See then that you walk circumspectly, not as fools but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.”
Ephesians 5:11-16 (Emphasis mine.)
The news has been filled this week with stories regarding New York’s passage of The Reproductive Health Act (Senate Bill S2796) which, among other things, protects the right to abortion in New York well into the third trimester of pregnancy. Other states are also considering similar laws. Many were saddened and heartbroken over this news - as was I. I will tell you, however, that even though I was saddened, I wasn’t overly surprised that such a law could happen. The Apostle Paul told us in 2 Timothy 3:1 “But understand this, that in the last days will come perilous times.” I say that I’m not overly surprised by things like this because I expect evil days to get worse, because we were warned over 2,000 years ago that it would happen. To use church vernacular, I don’t expect “lost” people to act “saved.” But what I will say is this:
IT’S TIME FOR THE CHURCH TO START ACTING LIKE THE CHURCH!
In saying that, I want to be as clear as I know how to be: I am NOT calling the church to “political activism.” So what AM I calling the church to do?
*I’m calling the church back to the Prayer Room.
*I’m calling the church back to radical obedience to the word of God and to the Spirit of God, and to be light in the darkness. (Matthew 5:14)
*I’m calling the church to recognize the truth of 1 Peter 4:17: “For the time has come for judgment to begin at the house of God; and if it begins with us first, what will be the end of those who do not obey the gospel of God?”
*I’m calling the church to follow the instruction of 1 Timothy 2:1-2 that says, “Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.”
*I’m calling the church to recognize who the real enemy is, as we see in Ephesians 6:12-13: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand.”
I’ve heard it said in the last few days that what has happened both in New York and Washington DC will “awaken a sleeping giant.” I fully believe that to be true. But I’ve heard several quote Isaiah 5:20 in the last few days, which says this: “Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; Who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; Who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” I submit to you that part of America’s problem is that the church in America seems to struggle with this as much as the “lost” struggle with it. That must change.
May we as Christians return to Lord with all of our heart, soul, mind, and strength. May we live in radical obedience and true, Biblical holiness. May we indeed “Awake that Christ may give us light” and indeed be light in the darkness. May we awaken to the reality that we are in spiritual warfare, and the eternal souls of men and women are are stake.
And may this “Sleeping Giant” not roll over and hit the snooze button.
Saturday, January 26, 2019
Sunday, January 20, 2019
Get Filled Up - Then Get Going!
By Gobel Brockman
In Acts 1 we see the resurrected Jesus about to ascend back into Heaven. His last words to His disciples before His ascension are found in verse 8:
"But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”
In Acts 2 we see them waiting in Jerusalem until the promised Holy Spirit came, and His indwelling made an immediate impact on the disciples. Peter preaches what was the inaugural message of the New Testament church, and three thousand people gave their lives to Jesus Christ. In the following days they saw incredible miracles, powerful deliverance, and continued growth. I try to imagine what they must have been feeling during that time. I imagine them looking at each other with joy and wild-eyed wonder as they witnessed firsthand the power of God moving among them and through them. I believe we all have periods in our lives when we wish we could push a button and say, "Life will always be like this." I'm sure it had to be like that for them during that time.
They were about to learn a difficult lesson, however, and it's a lesson that we must learn as well: you can't stay in your "Jerusalem" moments forever. What I mean is this: in the Scripture I quoted earlier Jesus told the disciples that they were to go to "Judea, Samaria, and to the end of the earth." In Acts 8:1 we read this:
"And there arose on that day a great persecution against the church in Jerusalem, and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles."
I find it very interesting that the persecution that God allowed to come to the disciples actually fulfilled His very words to them - even listing the areas they went in the same order. The Holy Spirit being poured upon them was for a purpose, and that purpose had to be fulfilled.
Our purpose must be fulfilled as well.
Times of revival and refreshing are amazing, and I thank God for every season of these that He has allowed me to experience. I must remind myself, however, that I'm not supposed to simply be a "sponge" - getting filled but never releasing what I receive. I desire and I NEED the Holy Spirit's continual infilling, but I need to be reminded that He fills me so that I can take what He gives me and share it with others. Our "Jerusalem" experiences are awesome beyond words, but our "Judeas and Samarias" need what God gives us. May we receive everything that God desires to give us in those times when God blesses us in abundance, and then may we take those blessings and share them with everyone we can.
What am I saying? Simply this - get filled with God, then get going for God!
Sunday, January 13, 2019
Want to Hear God? Turn Your Head
By Gobel Brockman
I’m sure you have this happen before: you hear noise, but you’re not sure what it is. A few seconds later, you realize that someone has been talking to you. You don’t want to appear to be rude, so you say something like, “I’m sorry, I didn’t hear you.” And then you do something else - you turn your head sideways so that your ear is pointed right at them. With that, you are letting them know that they now have your undivided attention. This reminds me of what the Bible says in Isaiah 55:3:
“Incline your ear, and come to me; hear, that your soul may live; and I will make with you an everlasting covenant, my steadfast, sure love for David.”
“Incline your ear.” With that in mind, let me ask you some challenging questions: Have you ever felt like God has been silent toward you? You have prayed, but no answers seem to come. Are you in a confusing situation, you’ve been asking God for direction, but hear nothing? Have you ever felt like asking God, “Why aren’t You speaking? Why won’t You tell me what to do?” If your answer is yes (and if you’re like me it will be) I have a simple suggestion for you:
TURN YOUR HEAD.
What I am saying is this: the problem probably isn’t that God isn’t speaking, it’s that we are not hearing. We allow so many distractions in our lives that all we are hearing is noise. Just like the scenario I described at the beginning, if you want to hear what someone else is saying you have to “incline your ear.” Sometimes we simply need to stop listening to the outside noise – the noise of other opinions, the noise of worldly pleasure, and the noise of our own ideas running through our heads. We need to block all of those things out, turn our head, incline our ear, and tell the Lord, “You have my undivided attention. I am listening.” There’s another interesting Scripture in Jeremiah 29:13:
“You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.”
To search with all of our heart suggests that we stop listening to everything else and incline our ear to the Lord. It involves us making the decision that hearing from Him, listening to Him, and heating His voice is the most important thing in our life. When we are willing to do that, we may be surprised to learn that He has been speaking the whole time. We just haven’t been giving Him our undivided attention. Do you need a word from the Lord in your life? Do you need wisdom or direction? If so, my word to you today is simply this:
TURN YOUR HEAD.
Saturday, January 5, 2019
There's Power in God's Word
By Gobel Brockman
"And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.” - Mark 8:22-26
This passage of Scripture has long intrigued us. It's the only time mentioned that Jesus had to lay hands on someone for healing twice. It has brought many questions: Did the blind man not have enough faith? Did Jesus have a sudden "lapse of faith" Himself? I believe the answer is simpler than that. In Matthew 11:20-22 we read this:
"Then (Jesus) began to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, BETHSAIDA! (Emphasis mine) For if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you."
This happened before the story we're talking about now. Jesus had pronounced judgment on Bethsaida because of their unbelief. I believe that why the first thing Jesus did was "take him by the hand and lead him out of the village." Even then, His first prayer only partially worked. He had to pray again to see the healing completed, which says something to us both very simple and very profound:
There's power in God's Word.
This story is undeniable evidence word that the word of God is indeed strong. And it's noteworthy that when the work was done, Jesus told the man not to return to the village. We need to understand the power of God's word. In Genesis, we're told that He created everything by just speaking. Over and over we read, "And God said, let there be..." and there was. The Bible also says in Numbers 23:19: "God is not a man that He should lie, or the son of man that He should repent." His word is sure. What He speaks, He means. When He tells us, "Behold, I am with you always" we can know it's true. When He says, "The soul that sins shall surely die" we need to take Him at His word.
What I'm getting at is this: most people have a book in their house. For a few, it's nothing more than a dusty coaster on the coffee table. But there is life and power in that book. And it's available to you. There are many warnings in it we need to heed. There are many promises in it we need to claim. The Bible says this about itself in Hebrews 4:12: "The word of God is alive and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword." If you need answers, God has spoken. If you need correction, God has spoken. If you need hope, God has spoken. As we begin this New Year, I have a simple suggestion for us all: instead of over-complicating our Christian faith, why don't we instead just approach 2019 with a simple, child-like faith that if the word of God says it, that settles it?
I want to live my life with that kind of faith. There's power in God's Word.
"And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him. And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, “Do you see anything?” And he looked up and said, “I see people, but they look like trees, walking.” Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly. And he sent him to his home, saying, “Do not even enter the village.” - Mark 8:22-26
This passage of Scripture has long intrigued us. It's the only time mentioned that Jesus had to lay hands on someone for healing twice. It has brought many questions: Did the blind man not have enough faith? Did Jesus have a sudden "lapse of faith" Himself? I believe the answer is simpler than that. In Matthew 11:20-22 we read this:
"Then (Jesus) began to upbraid the cities wherein most of his mighty works were done, because they repented not: Woe unto thee, Chorazin! woe unto thee, BETHSAIDA! (Emphasis mine) For if the mighty works, which were done in you, had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I say unto you, It shall be more tolerable for Tyre and Sidon at the day of judgment, than for you."
This happened before the story we're talking about now. Jesus had pronounced judgment on Bethsaida because of their unbelief. I believe that why the first thing Jesus did was "take him by the hand and lead him out of the village." Even then, His first prayer only partially worked. He had to pray again to see the healing completed, which says something to us both very simple and very profound:
There's power in God's Word.
This story is undeniable evidence word that the word of God is indeed strong. And it's noteworthy that when the work was done, Jesus told the man not to return to the village. We need to understand the power of God's word. In Genesis, we're told that He created everything by just speaking. Over and over we read, "And God said, let there be..." and there was. The Bible also says in Numbers 23:19: "God is not a man that He should lie, or the son of man that He should repent." His word is sure. What He speaks, He means. When He tells us, "Behold, I am with you always" we can know it's true. When He says, "The soul that sins shall surely die" we need to take Him at His word.
What I'm getting at is this: most people have a book in their house. For a few, it's nothing more than a dusty coaster on the coffee table. But there is life and power in that book. And it's available to you. There are many warnings in it we need to heed. There are many promises in it we need to claim. The Bible says this about itself in Hebrews 4:12: "The word of God is alive and powerful, sharper than any two-edged sword." If you need answers, God has spoken. If you need correction, God has spoken. If you need hope, God has spoken. As we begin this New Year, I have a simple suggestion for us all: instead of over-complicating our Christian faith, why don't we instead just approach 2019 with a simple, child-like faith that if the word of God says it, that settles it?
I want to live my life with that kind of faith. There's power in God's Word.
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