Your Signet Ring

“But when this happens, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, I will honor you, Zerubbabel son of Shealtiel, my servant. I will make you like a signet ring on my finger, says the Lord, for I have chosen you. I, the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, have spoken!” (Haggai 2:23 NLT)

 

When God called Zerubbabel to his task, he became like a signet ring on his finger. A signet ring represented authority. If God has called you to a task, God has authorized you to act and speak on his behave.

A signet ring was used by a king to sign documents or give authenticity to proclamations, edicts, and the like. Jesus Christ is the all-powerful signet ring on the hand of the Father. All authority was given to him in heaven and on earth. When God calls us, and we obey, we become like a signet ring on the hand of Christ. Christ’s authority rested on submitting his will to his heavenly Father; our authorization rests on the subjection of our desires to that of Christ’s. Christ wears our ring to accomplish His will, not ours.

Jesus sealed his authority when he chose his Father’s will rather than his own on the Cross.  In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, “Father, if you are willing, please take this cup of suffering away from me. Yet I want your will to be done, not mine” (Luke 22:42 NLT). Christ achieved this standing through one momentous event on Mt. Calvary. Our stance emanates from a series of events where our will becomes progressively subservient to his.

Your signet ring on the hand of the Father will have great authority when your heart’s desire is like that of Jesus in the garden, not my will but thine.

Image used with permission by Microsoft.

Ken Barnes, the author of  “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: Ken Barnes' Book Site
Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com
            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

 

The Great Temptation

“You have said, ‘What’s the use of serving God? What have we gained by obeying his commands or by trying to show the Lord of Heaven’s Armies that we are sorry for our sins?  (Malachi 3:14 NLT)

 

As a Christian, if you haven’t felt like the people of Malachi’s day, at some point you probably will.  When evildoers prosper and the righteous are burdened with adversities, there is a great temptation to conclude that serving God is in vain.  Take courage, ultimately the righteous and the unrighteous will get their just reward.

The Devil works overtime to promote an incorrect image of God.  What the Bible tells us about God, the Evil One voices the opposite.  It is a battle that starts in our minds. If we compare ourselves with the unrighteous, we will often come to the wrong conclusions about God.  If I allow myself to form my view of God based on what he gives me as compared to others, I have started to succumb to the great temptation of judging the character of God.  Psalms 145:17 (RSV) says, “The Lord is just in all his ways, and kind in all his doings.”  And all means all.

If you are stuck in dire circumstances, look to God’s Word, not to your surroundings. Circumstances change but God’s Word never does.  Psalms 11:4-5a (NLT) says, “But the Lord is in his holy Temple; the Lord still rules from heaven. He watches everyone closely, examining every person on earth. The Lord examines both the righteous and the wicked.”  Don’t mistake silence for lack of concern.

God always takes care of business, for some you it may be in this life, for others the next one, but God always has the last word. Don’t submit to the great temptation.

Image used with permission by Microsoft.

Ken Barnes, the author of  “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: Ken Barnes' Book Site
Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com
            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

Swimming Upstream

If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the furnace of blazing fire; and He will deliver us out of your hand, O king.  But even if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we are not going to serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”  (Daniel 3:17-18 NASB)

 

The three Hebrew boys, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, were firm in their faith. They had learned that in an adversarial culture, you must learn to swim upstream.

All cultures have a way of conforming us to its precepts. We resist by refusing to submit to anything that is lifted up against the knowledge of God. First, when the delicacies of food and drink of Babylon tested the three Hebrew boys, they chose to remain faithful to the dietary restrictions they practiced in Israel.  Second, when confronted with the idolatry of worshiping King Nebuchadnezzar, they remained committed to the one true God. They believed that God could deliver them, but if he didn’t, they still would not bow down to the golden image. Revelation 12:11 (NASB) says, “And they overcame him because of the blood of the Lamb and because of the word of their testimony, and they did not love their life even when faced with death.” They refused to cling to that last great idol, life itself.

In an increasingly hostile environment in which we live, Christians must learn to swim upstream. God has created in the salmon the need to travel up-river to fulfill the procreation of their species. In like manner, God has put in the hearts of believers the desire to endure the trials of our up-hill battle to receive our reward, the soon return of Christ.

Ken Barnes, the author of  “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: Ken Barnes' Book Site
Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com
            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

Image used with permission by Microsoft.

 

The Testing of Praise

The crucible is for silver and the furnace for gold,
And each is tested by the praise accorded him.  (Proverbs 27:21 NASB)

Most people enjoy a good compliment, yet the praise afforded you, if not appropriately received, can be more detrimental to your character than your trials.

Trials such as uncomplimentary things people may say about us, by nature, often produce humility in our lives. On the other hand, tributes given to us can sometimes engender pride in our hearts. It is not so much the praise that is problematic, but how we start to conclude that we deserve this public applause. The Christian life is a cooperative effort between God and man, but at times our thinking about what we do and God does, becomes a little skewed. We start to take added credit for our success than is warranted.   Our arrogance becomes clear when we lose a measure of gratefulness to God and others who have generally been part of our success. When we are on this slippery slope, others can see it in us, but we cannot see it in ourselves. Pride always blinds us to our faults.   Due to our vanity, we need someone around us that loves us enough to tell us the truth

Am I saying that you can never receive a sincere compliment, of course not? We are called to affirm each other. A simple thank you will suffice for any commendation, yet we must also realize that all blessings ultimately come from God, and without him, we can do nothing.

Publically confessing that we have a propensity to take God’s glory is the antidote to pride. You will only be telling people what they already know.  They will be glad that you recognize it also.

Ken Barnes, the author of  “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: Ken Barnes' Book Site
Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com
            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

Habakkuk

Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. For each one will bear his own load.  (Galatians 6:2,5 NASB) 

 

There seems to be an apparent contradiction between verses two and five. There are times when we all have burdens so oppressive that we need some help, yet we should never let our dependence on someone, other than Christ, become a lifestyle.

Clarity comes to this portion of Scripture when we understand that there is a collective and individual responsibility we have as Christians. The Greek word for burden (v. 2) expresses an overwhelming or excessive weight that any person would have difficulty bearing. In this case, we, as Christians, must fulfill the law of Christ and help bear their burden. In (v. 5), the Greek word used for the load was often used to refer to a soldier’s pack that everyone in the army was expected to carry.

There are certain burdens or loads that we must help the brethren bear and others for which we should not take responsibility. Doing something consistently, for some who can do it for themselves, is not loving them. In our desire to love and serve people, we can unwittingly become part of their problem rather than the solution.

Have you heard of the little boy who found a cocoon? He waited expectantly for the butterfly to emerge. A hole appeared in the envelope, and the butterfly was struggling to get out. The butterfly seemed so desperate that the boy took scissors and clipped the cocoon, the butterfly emerged, but it spent the rest of its life crawling around, never being able to fly. The struggle a butterfly incurs in freeing itself prepares it for living outside of the cocoon.

Are you serving or enabling people?

Image used with permission by Microsoft.

Ken Barnes, the author of  “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: Ken Barnes' Book Site
Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com
            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

Serving or Enabling

Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. For each one will bear his own load.  (Galatians 6:2,5 NASB) 

 

There seems to be an apparent contradiction between verses two and five. There are times when we all have burdens so oppressive that we need some help, yet we should never let our dependence on someone, other than Christ, become a lifestyle.

Clarity comes to this portion of Scripture when we understand that there is a collective and individual responsibility we have as Christians. The Greek word for burden (v. 2) expresses an overwhelming or excessive weight that any person would have difficulty bearing. In this case, we, as Christians, must fulfill the law of Christ and help bear their burden. In (v. 5), the Greek word used for the load was often used to refer to a soldier’s pack that everyone in the army was expected to carry.

There are certain burdens or loads that we must help the brethren bear and others for which we should not take responsibility. Doing something consistently, for some who can do it for themselves, is not loving them. In our desire to love and serve people, we can unwittingly become part of their problem rather than the solution.

Have you heard of the little boy who found a cocoon? He waited expectantly for the butterfly to emerge. A hole appeared in the envelope, and the butterfly was struggling to get out. The butterfly seemed so desperate that the boy took scissors and clipped the cocoon, the butterfly emerged, but it spent the rest of its life crawling around, never being able to fly. The struggle a butterfly incurs in freeing itself prepares it for living outside of the cocoon.

Are you serving or enabling people?

Image used with permission by Microsoft.

Ken Barnes, the author of  “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: Ken Barnes' Book Site
Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com
            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

Forgiveness

“If you forgive those who sin against you, your heavenly Father will forgive you.  But if you refuse to forgive others, your Father will not forgive your sins.”

 (Matthew 6:14-15 NLT)

 

People often do not show us a great deal of mercy. If we are sincere, we must admit that we do not deserve forgiveness. Feeling that we merit compassion is a contradiction in terms because mercy is not getting what we deserve. Our quest to receive the right treatment from man is futile; it only comes from God.

Some of us are on a life-long journey to receive mercy from people. The problem with this is that most people are more equipped to give us justice rather than kindness. Trying to force someone to forgive you is an exercise in futility. It hinders you from receiving it from God. Extending mercy does not necessarily mean people will reciprocate, but it does mean that God will. Un-forgiveness is human, overlooking an offense is divine.  The latter sets people free along with yourself.

What does this require of us? We must return good for evil.  Isn’t that what Jesus did for us on the Cross? While we were yet in our sins, Jesus died for us. He showed us mercy and grace without us ever deserving it. Should not those of us who proclaim to follow Christ respond similarly? Someone once said you should never expect too little from man nor too much from God. We often expect too much from man and too little from God.

God desires to give us what we do not deserve. Forgiveness is the doorway to God”s abundant mercy and grace. Give, and it shall be given to you.

Image used with permission by Microsoft.

Ken Barnes, the author of  “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website:Ken Barnes' Book Site
Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com
            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

Faith and Patience

We do not want you to become lazy, but to imitate those who through faith and patience inherit what has been promised. (Hebrews 6:12 NIV)

 

My scriptural reference above instructs us that the promises of God never come to fruition except through faith and patience.

On the landscape of the Body of Christ today, there are many churches with names like Faith Christian Center, or Faith Baptist Church. How many churches have you seen named Patience Christian Church?  Probably not one, I suspect. In this Bible verse, neither of these Christian virtues, faith or patience, is elevated over the other. Faith is never exercised without patience, and patience is not cultivated without faith. They always work in tandem and never in isolation.

Paul admonishes us not to become lazy. How do we become lazy? By not imitating those who have gone before us and have received the promises by faithfully enduring. You have probably heard the prayer, Lord give me patience, right now. It would be nice if it worked that way, but it doesn’t.

When I was a young Christian, I would watch speakers come through our church and tell of their mountaintop experiences. They appeared to leap from one mountaintop to another. I could not get out of bed without, spiritual speaking, tripping over my own feet. I wondered what was wrong with me. These feelings continued until I observed the lives of these preachers more closely, and found out that between their mountaintop experiences were long journeys through the valley of delay, discouragement, and even some failure.

There are no shortcuts to spiritual maturity. It only comes through patient endurance.  Imitating those who have gone before us and practiced faith and patience enables us to inherit the promises of God.

Image used with permission by Microsoft.

Ken Barnes, the author of  “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: Ken Barnes' Book Site
Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com
            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

You and Them

Then I will hold my head high above my enemies who surround me.

 (Psalms 27:6a)

There are times when the world seems to come down all around us. Accusations and innuendoes are flying all around you. Some of them being partly true and others completely false. Occasions like these will show you with whom to put your trust.

You may be trying to do good, and the world will tell you that you are doing badly. When you are trying to do the right thing, those around you will say to you that you are doing wrong.  When you are trying to give your best, those close to you will demand even more. There does not seem to be anywhere to run, yet God is our fortress.

When we are actually doing badly, God gives us the Gospel to show us how to be good. When we really are wrong, God grants us his grace to help us to do right. When we are not giving our best, the Lord reveals to us his son, who teaches us how to do better. Whereas the world tries to revile you, God works with you to lovingly correct you.

The Devil actively seeks to distort reality, manipulate and condemn you. When someone makes you feel like there is no hope for you, this comes from the pit. God accepts you just as you are, but he loves you enough to help you be better.  God sees you not just as you are, but as you can be. Therefore, he has great hope for you.

What you focus upon, you become. If you dwell on the trash the world says about you, it will eventually bring you down. If you gaze at a kind and just God, it will transform you.

Speaking about the world, Mother Theresa once said, “It was never between you and them anyway.” It’s between you and God.

Image used with permission by Microsoft.

Ken Barnes, the author of  “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website: Ken Barnes' Book Site
Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com
            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com

The Heart and the Mind: Doing good things the right way

 But when they arrived at the threshing floor of Nacon,  the oxen stumbled, and Uzzah reached out his hand to steady the Ark.  Then the Lord’s anger was aroused against Uzzah, and he struck him dead because he had laid his hand on the Ark. So Uzzah died there in the presence of God.  (1 Chronicles 13:9-10 NLT)

 

David had good intentions.   King Saul’s did not honor the Ark of the Lord, and David did not want to do the same. Good intentions are not enough. The work of the Lord must be done not only through good means but right ones. We can follow our hearts without exercising our minds and have disastrous results.

In I Chronicles 15:13 it says, “Because you Levites did not carry the Ark the first time, the anger of the Lord our burst out against us.  We failed to ask God how to move it in the proper way.” David learned a harsh lesson on how to accomplish the purposes of God. He assumed he knew how to do it without first asking God. Self-sufficiency may be the source of a multitude of sins.

It appears to me that people in the Church today fall under two categories. Those who emphasize the truth, exercising their minds, and those who dwell on the spirit and follow their hearts. The is a need for both as Jesus said that we must worship in “spirit and truth,” but not one at the exclusion of the other. If I might paraphrase what I heard someone say; All truth (mind) and no spirt and you dry up. All spirit (heart) and no truth and you blow up. Spirit and truth, and you grow up.

God gave us a mind and a heart, and he expects us to use them both.  We can avoid experiencing problems of our own making by doing good things the right way.

Image used with permission by Microsoft.

Ken Barnes, the author of  “The Chicken Farm and Other Sacred Places”  YWAM Publishing
Email:  kenbarnes737@gmail.com
website:Ken Barnes' Book Site
Blogs: http://kensblog757.blogspot.com
            http://gleanings757.blogspot.com