“Then Jacob made a vow, saying, ‘If God will be with me and keep me on this journey that I take…and I return to my father’s house in safety, then the Lord will be my God.  This stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God’s house…”  Genesis 28:20-22

After Jacob’s long and eventful stay in Haran, and the Lord’s deliverance from Laban, his uncle and now angry father-in-law, he began his return to his homeland.  Once again God miraculously delivers him, this time from his brother, Esau!  However, in spite of his former vow and the Lord’s promise, Jacob had a change of mind/heart and settles in Shechem.  There, due to his grand-daughter’s rape and to his two son’s treachery in killing all the males and looting the city, Jacob was forced to move once again.  It was at this point that God reminded Jacob to go BACK TO BETHEL (Genesis 35:1a)!  The name comes from two words, meaning House of God!

If you stop and think, it is a great thing the Lord has done that He has given us the Holy Spirit to remind us of what He has already told us (John 14:26b)!  It can also be a humbling thing to be reminded we haven’t kept our commitments to Him!  Notice the Lord makes two requirements for the trip (Genesis 35:2).  1) Put away your idols!  It has been well said that an idol is anything or anyone that substitutes for the place of God in your life!  2) Purify yourself!  “If we confess our sin, God is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  (1^st John 1:9)!

Not only does the Lord have two requirements for this trip, but He also has two remembrances to keep in mind (v 3).  1) It is God Who first makes a commitment to Jacob in Genesis 28:13-15 to bring him back to Bethel!  2) Then Jacob makes his vow to God in Genesis 28:20-22.

I remember a story of a man who was driving his wife and children to a remote campsite to take a camping vacation.  He came across a sign stretching across the road that read, “Road Closed!  No Entrance!”  He drove around the sign proclaiming, “I know where I’m going and how to get there!”  After a 10-mile long, bumpy ride, he came to a washed-out bridge!  He turned the car around, drove back another 10 miles.  When he arrived at the sign, someone had hand-painted a message on the backside of the sign, “Welcome back, Stupid!”

It is never a good thing to disobey God, but if you do make that mistake, it is a very good thing to get back to where you started (Bethel=House of God)!

Jon Moore

While He was still speaking, they came from the house of the synagogue official saying, “Your daughter has died; why trouble the Teacher anymore?”  But Jesus, overhearing what was being spoken, said to the synagogue official, “Do not be afraid any longer; only believe!” 

                                                                                                                                  Mark 5:35-36

Faith that is untested is faith that is uncertain.  Faith that has been tested and matured is faith that is prepared to deal with whatever challenges that life brings!  The synagogue official Jairus came to the Lord with a weak faith, but as the result of walking through a time of testing, he came out with a stronger faith.  Note the significant tests of faith through which Jairus was required to walk.

The first test of his faith in Christ was the test of patience.  No sooner had Jesus agreed to go to the home of Jairus to minister to his terminally ill daughter than the Lord was led to minister to a woman with a twelve-year long issue of hemorrhaging-(verses 24-34)!  Can you imagine what was going through Jairus’s mind while all this was happening?  “Hurry up!  My daughter is dying!  Why are we wasting precious time?”  Most times the Lord operates on a different time schedule than we do!  Will we be patient in our faith to trust Him?

Secondly Jairus had to pass though the test of perseverance.  A messenger came delivering a somber message.  The girl had died!  He was asked, “Why trouble the Master anymore?”  What would Jairus do?  Would he accept the report after Jesus had accepted his request to come to his home, and “…lay Your hands on her, so that she will get well and live?”  It is at this point Jesus said, “…only believe!”  It is important to know that this word in the original language of the New Testament literally means, “Keep on believing!”  Would Jairus continue in faith?  Will you and I continue to believe the Lord’s Word when so much around us seems to contradict?

The third test of faith is that of purging.  When Jesus, three of his disciples (Peter, James & John) and Jairus arrived at the home, professional mourners were already there making a loud commotion (common in that day).  When the Lord said the girl was not dead, the mourners laughed at Him, so He put them out, allowing only the parents and the disciples to accompany Him into the child’s presence.  Not only is it crucial that we trust the Lord, but it is also critical we surround ourselves with other believers in Christ!

A visitor to Africa freed a struggling butterfly from its cocoon, but he was shocked that it did not have its distinctive coloring as it flew away.  A native explained that by beating its wings against the cocoon, the wings are marked by splashes of vivid colors, but releasing it from its beatings, the visitor had robbed the butterfly of its beauty!  Likewise, victorious faith by definition MUST BE TRIED!  There can be no victory without conflict!  Keep believing Jesus!

Jon Moore    

“Now the sun rose upon him just as he crossed over Penuel, and he was limping on his thigh.”

Genesis 32:31

Sometimes it is tempting to view crises as unneeded and unwanted intrusions in our life!  We may very well find ourselves asking the Lord, “Why me?”  We can lose sight of the fact the Lord often uses such events to disable our natural abilities as a reminder that the same One who has called us now lives in us to accomplish all to which He has called us!  Often times our greatest need is for the Lord to touch us with that “disabling” touch.  That was certainly true for Jacob as he wrestled with “a man” in Genesis 32:24.

I want to visit with you about two things that happened to him after the angel (see Hosea 12:3-4) touched the socket of Jacob’s thigh, so that the socket of his thigh was dislocated (Gen. 32:25b).  First, he now walked with a limp as a daily reminder of his dependence on God!  He no longer was free to function as his birth name implied=Supplanter; Heel-grabber; Deceiver.  He would now walk (live) as a man completely dependent on the Lord!  No longer was he free to live by the credo, “The end justifies the means!”  He would now live his life and serve the Lord relying on the Lord’s daily supply of His guidance and strength!

Secondly, his limp would be a daily reminder of not only his dependence on God, but a reminder of the Lord’s continual presence in his life!  The ultimate ‘success’ of his life and ministry would no longer rest on his talent, his abilities, his resourcefulness, his ANYTHING!  His fruitfulness in life and ministry would forever be linked to the faithfulness of God to never leave him, or forsake him…to be with him always, even to the end of the age!

A new Marine recruit was puzzled to be ordered to hold his food tray a certain way when standing in the chow line, even when he was chastised for not having his hands on the tray in the proper place.  It wasn’t until later when he was issued his weapon that he learned he was to hold his weapon in the same way.  Unknown to him, he was being prepared for future encounters with the enemy!  Often we do not understand when we have to go through difficult, sometimes painful experiences in life, not understanding at the time that the Lord is touching us with a disabling touch in order to prepare us for future encounters with our enemy the devil!

Jon Moore

“…If there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.”

Several years ago a man sent me a book he had compiled entitled, “Deep Fire”.  It is a collection of sayings by men and women, mostly from the past.  For several months I have been thinking and praying about sending some of these quotes out for your thought and prayer.  When the author of the quote is known, it is given…

“The secret of detachment from the world is attachment to Christ.”  A J Gordon

“In God’s work we see His hand, but in His Word we see His face.”

“One needs no further explanation of the lack of the fullness of the Spirit than the fullness of self”

                                                                                                                                               James H. McConkey

“Small opportunities are often the beginning of great enterprises.”  Demosthenes

“A deep and sober daily concern to please God is the rarest of rarities.”  Vance Havner

“Faith will lead you where you cannot walk.  Reason has never been a mountain climber.”  E W Kenyon

“During times of revival the Divine is so real that nothing else matters.  During times of decline, like our day, everything except the Divine matters.”

“Suspicions subtract, faith adds, but love multiplies.  It blesses twice-him who gives it, and him who receives it.”  C T Studd

“No amount of activity in the King’s service will make up for the neglect of the King Himself.”

                                                                                                                                      Robert Murray M’Cheyne

“Though the gracious soul still desires more of God, it never desires more than God.”  Matthew Henry

“The death of Jesus for you makes possible the Life of Jesus in you.”  Major Ian Thomas

“A revival is a miracle.  It is the hand of the Lord, and it is mighty.  It can only be explained as the direct act and intervention of God.”  D Martin Lloyd Jones

“Revival is not some emotion or worked-up excitement; it is an invasion from heaven that brings a conscious awareness of God.”  Stephen F Olford

Would you consider a recommendation from me?  Start at the top and take one quote per day.  Memorize it.  Quote it to yourself several times a day.  Think through the quote.  Pray about it.  Is the Lord using the quote to speak to you at some level in your life?  Respond to Him.  Talk back with Him.

Prayer is a dialogue, not a monologue!

Blessings

Jon Moore

“Was not Abraham our father justified by works when he offered up Isaac his son on the altar? You see that faith was working with his works, and as a result of the works, faith was perfected (completed).”

James 2:21-22 

There are different kinds of faith. One popular kind we may call “positive confession” faith.  Those who teach this kind of faith often emphasize that man creates his own faith!  If he thinks positively and talks positively, anything is possible in the area of wealth, health, success, etc.  Seemingly God is not necessary, because man creates his own faith!  Another kind of faith is “blind” faith.  Once again, this kind of faith has no need of being created by, or given by God.  Presumably one just decides what he or she wants, then decides to “have faith” for it!  These kinds of faith so readily available in the world are different than Bible faith, the faith that is the gift of God (Ephesians 2:8-9).

Besides coming as a gift from God, James in the book that bears his name in chapter two emphasizes that Bible faith results in God-empowered, God-honoring works.  He also says that, “Even so faith, if it has no works, is dead, being by itself.”  Some have suggested this is a contradiction in the Bible, but that cannot stand in the light of a closer look.  The verses mentioned earlier in Ephesians 2:8-9 are followed in verse 10 by, “For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works…”  So Godly works are understood to be the outcome of faith that comes as the gift from God!  Then James follows up in James 2:21-22 (see above) by saying that works both correspond to and complete one’s faith.  Godly works will correspond to God-given faith, and God-given faith is not complete until it is expressed in Godly works!

James tells us that these truths are exemplified in both the life of Abraham, and the life of Rahab the harlot (v 25, see also Joshua 2:4, 6, 15)).  Abraham is the patriarch of those in the family of faith, because “Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.  Therefore, be sure that it is those who are of faith who are sons of Abraham.” (Galatians 3:6-7)  But it is good to know that what is true for the patriarch is also true for the prostitute!  There is no hierarchy among the sons and daughters of God by faith!  Godly faith is expressed, manifested by Godly works.

After John the Baptist was arrested and imprisoned by King Herod (Luke 7:18-22), he sent messengers to Jesus to ask, “Are You the expected One, or do we look for someone else?”  Jesus responded by telling the messengers to go back to John and tell him what they had seen and heard.  He was restoring sight to the blind, making the lame to walk, cleansing lepers, enabling the deaf to hear, raising the dead and preaching the gospel to the poor!  Seemingly Jesus did not directly answer their question, but actually He did so in the surest way possible.  The clearest evidence of who Jesus was (Messiah), was what He was doing (the works of Messiah).  That is not only true of Jesus.  That is true of both you and me.  The clearest evidence of who we are is what we are doing!  If you are of God-given faith, you will be engaged in God-honoring works!  The clearest evidence of who we are is what we are doing.  Are you part of the Lord’s faith family?

Jon Moore

“But earnestly desire the greater gifts.  And I show you a still more excellent way.”

1^st Corinthians 12:31

The church at Corinth is often called Paul’s “problem church!”  The believers there struggled with divisions, religious pride and misunderstanding spiritual gifts.  In chapter 12 of what we know as 1^st Corinthians the apostle dealt with the matter of spiritual gifts the Lord has given to each of His children, as well as the gifted men He has given to His churches.  He ends the discussion by pointing to a more excellent way, the way of God’s love.

One day a child asked her mother, “Why does the sun shine?”  The mom’s answer was short and simple, but very profound, “The sun does what it does, because the sun is what it is!”  The sun shines (gives light), because the sun is light to all!  Likewise, God does what He does, because He is Who He is!  God loves, because God is love (1^st John 4:7).

In the first three verses of chapter thirteen Paul explains why God’s love is the more excellent way to live and to minister to others.  1) Love adds sincerity to words.  “If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.”  People, especially young people are quick to discern insincerity in words.  When we speak to others in God’s love we have something real to say.  2) Love adds strength to actions.  “If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.”  I am always reminded of the layman’s definition of nothing=A zero with the rim knocked off!  That’s NOTHING, and that is what our actions amount to in the absence of God’s love.  Actions taken in the love of God give us something real to do!  3) Love adds substance to giving. “And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.”  Only when we give in the love of God do we have something real to give!

The early church was not wealthy with this world’s goods and was largely opposed, but it had two formidable weapons expressed by the Greek words Kerygma and Koinoinia!  Kerygma speaks to the word of God, and Koinoinia speaks to the loving fellowship between Believers.  Understand that the ancient world was filled with religions, philosophies and false deities, but the missing element for which people were starving was to know that they were loved!  The world has not changed.  People are still searching for something real, and it is only found in the person of Jesus Christ and in and through those who are His!

Jon Moore

“Now when the wife of Uriah heard that her husband was dead, she mourned for her husband.  When the time of mourning was over, David sent and brought her to his house and she became his wife; then she bore him a son.  But the thing that David had done was evil in the sight of the Lord.”  2^nd Samuel 11:26-27

One of the most liberating truths about coming to know Jesus Christ is the freedom it brings; Freedom from the penalty of sin, from the power of sin and eventually from the presence of sin (John 8:32).  However, freedom in Christ cannot be separated from responsibility, from accountability.  This New Testament doctrinal truth is illustrated (as are many) in the Old Testament in the life of King David.  David chose to disengage himself from his soldiers and stay at home in a time when kings usually went to war.  During this time of idleness, he saw Bathsheba, lusted for her, committed adultery with her, tried to cover it up and ultimately was responsible for seeing to the death of her husband, Uriah the Hittite.  What some in the world might overlook, the Lord held David accountable!

There are two significant things regarding how the Lord held David accountable, and we would be wise to learn them.  First of all there was an afflictive aspect of God’s dealings with him.  The Lord said, “The sword shall never depart from your house…I will raise up evil against you from your own household…You did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel…” (2^nd Samuel 12:10-12).  True to the Lord’s Word, the baby Bathsheba would bear would die.  Tamar, David’s daughter would be raped.  Amnon, his son would be murdered by Tamar’s brother.  Absalom, his son who led a rebellion against his father would be killed.  David’s concubines would be ravaged in full public view.  And Adonijah, another son of David would attempt to seize the throne in defiance of David’s stated wish for Solomon to succeed him as King.  Just as surely as the Lord said concerning the Word that comes forth from His mouth, “will not return to Me empty…Without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it!”  (Isaiah 55:11)

But do not fail to see and learn that there is a second aspect of God’s dealing with David, and it was and is REDEMPTIVE!  “Then David said to Nathan, ‘I have sinned against the Lord’ and Nathan said to David, ‘The Lord also has taken away your sin; you shall not die’”  All of God’s Judgments of His people are ultimately redemptive!  Our freedom in Christ is certain, and His Grace is so amazing that, “There is no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus!” (Romans 8:1).  As surely as we confess our sins, “God is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and cleanse us of all unrighteousness.”  (1^st John 1:9)

In 1992 there was a scandal in Washington DC (really).  It came to be known as “Rubbergate.”  People in congress are allowed to write checks on the “congressional bank” up to the limit of their congressional “salary.”  In 1992 sixty-six congress persons wrote about 20,00 bad checks (more than their “salary”).  The value of these 20,000 checks was $10,846,856.  That brings to my mind Jesus’s last word on the Cross.  It was “tetelestai” which roughly means “completion”.  In the market place it meant “Paid in Full”!  Something tells me politicians are not through writing “hot” checks, but Jesus Christ’s payment for salvation will never be returned for lack of sufficient payment!  Praise the Lord, It is finished!

Jon Moore

“Now this I say, he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.  Each one must do just as he has purposed in his heart, not grudgingly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”  2^nd Corinthians 9:6-7

One Sunday a pastor sensed the offering time as a “teaching moment” prior to his message, and he asked the congregation the following question, “Do you look on giving to the Lord something you have got to do, or something you get to do?”  He went on to say that if Jesus is our Master, then giving is something we as believers get to do, but if Money is our Master, then giving is something we as believers have got to do!

The apostle Paul had received a pledge from the church at Corinth that they would take up an offering for the believers in Jerusalem who were literally starving due to a great drought in that area.  He would soon be coming to collect their promised gift to take it to Jerusalem.  He sought to encourage the Corinthians to fulfill their promise by reminding them of the results of giving cheerfully by faith.

He reminded them that this ministry produces thanksgiving to God (v10).  The believers in Jerusalem would recognize the giver of the gift being the Corinthians, but the author of the gift as the Lord God Almighty!  Paul also emphasized that their gift would fully supply the needs of the saints in Jerusalem (v12).  Prayers and words of encouragement are good and needful, but tangible gifts fulfill the challenge of tangible needs!  Then Paul pointed out that this gift would spur the saints at Jerusalem to both glorify God for the Corinthians obedience (v13), and also pray in the Corinthians behalf (v14).  Thus by the Corinthians cheerful giving by faith, their obedience would produce praise, provision and prayer!

Some years ago a banker figured out the two small copper coins (quadrans=1/64^th of a denarius [one denarius=average daily wage]) the widow gave to the Temple treasury in Jerusalem, drawing 4% interest compounded semi-annually would be worth $4.8 billion-trillion (That is 17 zeroes!)  today!  Cheerful giving in response to the Lord’s leading produces meaningful results both in the giver and in the receiver.

Jon Moore

“But as He was discussing righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come, Felix became frightened and said, ‘Go away for the present, and when I find time I will summon you.’”  Acts 24:25

My father’s father, “Grandpa” Moore lived in a day when people, “Never put off until tomorrow that which could be done today!”  It seems to have become more convenient to, “Never do anything today that can successfully be put off until tomorrow!”  Procrastination seems to be the watchword for our day.  That reminds me of a man in the Bible, a Roman governor by the name of Felix who put off his opportunity to place his faith in Jesus Christ, and the results were disastrous for him.  What about you?  Has there ever been a time in your life when you put your faith in Jesus Christ, and in Him alone, for the forgiveness of your sins and a new eternal Life in Christ?

Felix’s first mistake was to assume that he was in control of his life, that he could decide what he would do about the claims of Christ on his life whenever he (Felix) wished.  He made the same mistake the men did on Mar’s Hill outside of Athens, Greece in Acts 17.  When Paul spoke to those men about their need of Christ, “They began to sneer” and said, “We shall hear you again concerning this.”  But Acts 17:33 says, “So Paul went out of their midst!”  And there is no Biblical or historical evidence that after Paul left Athens that he ever returned there.  Those men were listening to him for both the first and last times!  We would all do well to learn that the time to do business with God is when God is doing business with you…

In 1896 William Jennings Bryan was asked to give the major speech at the Democratic National Convention.  The nominee for the Democratic Party for President of the United States that year was expected to be one of two other men.  Mr. Bryan was simply the “favorite son” nominee from his state.  After two rounds of voting neither man had received a majority of votes, and a movement began to elect Bryan as a “compromise.”  After the third round of voting, Mr. Bryan won the nomination.  When asked by the media if his opportunity to speak had made the difference, he reportedly said, “Yes, and that is about all we do in this life.  We are given opportunities, and we either use them, or we lose them!” 

The question for today is, What have we done with the opportunity God has given to each of us?  I pray you will use that opportunity, and not lose it, for God’s glory and your own good…

 Jon Moore

“Let this same attitude and purpose and [humble] mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus: [Let Him be your example in humility:] Who, although being essentially one with God and in the form of God [possessing the fullness of the attributes which make God God], did not think this equality with God was a thing to be eagerly grasped or retained, But stripped Himself [of all privileges and rightful dignity], so as to assume the guise of a servant (slave), in that He became like men and was born a human being. And after He had appeared in human form, He abased and humbled Himself [still further] and carried His obedience to the extreme of death, even the death of the cross!” Philippians 2:5-8 Amplified Bible

More and more believers today are expressing frustration over their failings in living the Christian life. Often asked questions are, “Why can’t I have victory in my prayer life? In my family life? In my financial life?” The answer to each question is found in the questions themselves, the repetition of the personal pronoun “I”! Victory will never be found apart from the Victor Himself, the Lord Jesus Christ. He alone is the key, the essence, the Life-source! We are instructed to let Him be our example in humility (v 5). That humility is seen in two ways. First, He stripped Himself of all privileges and rightful dignity, the attributes that make God God (v 6,7). Secondly, He abased and humbled Himself still further, and carried His obedience to the extreme of death (v 8)!

In short the relationship between Jesus the Son and the Heavenly Father is to be the example for our relationship between the believer and the Son. Jesus Christ lived His life on earth as a man (He consistently referred to Himself as the Son of Man), yet not just any man, but man as God intended man to be! He was yielded to the Father, occupied by the Father and totally available to the Father for His exclusive use! He said, “I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but the will of Him who sent me.” John 6:38 Believers are not called upon to live a “copy” of Jesus’s life, but to yield ourselves to Him, rejoice in the knowledge we are occupied by Him (in Christ, and Christ in us) and daily make ourselves available to Him for His exclusive use! Just as the Father expressed Himself in both words and deeds through the Son’s humanity, Jesus Christ stands ready to express Himself in both words and deeds through each believer’s humanity…

Jon Moore