Pray the Word

Posted on March 9, 2014 by Mark McMillion

I don’t know about you but, for me, life is a fight every day. And we have a lot to fight, especially with (as the Bible calls them) “the sins which do so easily beset us.” (Hebrews 12:1) Almost everyone has to fight laziness, indifference, boredom and the swarm of little distractions that assail us each day. This happens to everyone, not just Christians.

That’s why for me, prayer is utterly, absolutely essential. Life can be wonderful and beautiful. But at the same time, I’ve found that to stay alive and survive, I have to never lose sight that this life also is a battleground. Some may not like that but this truth is something I’ve found by difficult personal experiences.

Life is full of amazement and joy. But there’s a darker side which fights the Light of this world and will do all it can, in whatever way it can find, to extinguish the Light and those who hold onto the Light, if it can.

And of course, I’m of the opinion that the Light came to this earth in the person of Jesus of Nazareth. He said so. He said, “I am the Light of the world, he who follows Me will not walk in darkness but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12) I’ve found that personally true and have lived that for over 40 years.

But in the world as it is right now, the powers of darkness are very strong and seem to be getting the upper hand more and more each day. Recently I found that a dear friend, a missionary comrade who fought together with me on the mission field 20 years ago is now virtually totally secular. They have put down their candle, taken off their armor and relinquished the banner of the Lord they once did so mightily hold high. Will others arise to take their place? Maybe. I hope so.

So what can we do? As Jesus said to His disciples after multitudes of them went back from following Him, “Will you also go away?” (John 6:67) Is there anything any of us can do to overcome the insidious tide of darkness that grows in these times?

I for one believe that it really comes down to each individual. The devil can’t quench your light and steal your crown if you recognize him and resist him. When the Bible says, “Resist the devil and he will flee from you” (James 4:7), it’s presenting one of the greater truths in the Bible.

Of course one of the devil’s favorite and successful ploys is to convince you that he’s not there in the first place. That’s why so much darkness today is presented as “light”, which we are encouraged to view as “modern” ways of looking at the world, culture, values or truth itself. Jesus said, “If the light that be in you be darkness, how great is that darkness.” (Matthew 6:23) So much in our times is presented as enlightenment and rational relativism but it’s just the latest darkness, packaged in today’s trendy way.

Again, what can we do? First, recognize the battle. Two, if you have faith in God, nourish it and defend it with all your might. How can you do that? You feed your body every day, no one has to be told to do that or reminded. In the same way, it’s essential that you have a spiritual feeding every day. The Jews of Moses’ time knew this. God told them, “These words which I command you this day shall be in your heart, and you shall teach them diligently to your children.” (Deuteronomy 6:6 & 7) In the Old Testament, there were daily rituals that were commanded them in order to keep the blessings of God. There’s even an obscure verse, “The fire shall ever be burning upon the altar; it shall never go out.” (Leviticus 6:13) Does that have any meaning to us in these times? Yes. The fire of faith, commitment and love for God should ever be burning upon the altar of our hearts, the depths of our soul, daily. It should never go out. It should be something that is a part of you daily.

Let’s face it, it could seem the Catholics and even the Muslims know more about prayer than most Protestants. I know Catholics who go to Mass every single morning. And everyone knows that Muslims are called upon to pray 5 times a day and ten’s of millions of them do. So our prayer life is one place where we can personally take action to “be strong in the Lord and the power of His might” (Ephesians 6:10).

And for me, I find that praying the Word is a great strength. When I go to the Lord in prayer, I bring His Word with me. I “pray the Word”. It pleases God when we honor Him by reminding Him of His Word and His promises. We have been given “exceeding great and precious promises, that by these we may be partakers of the divine nature” (II Peter 1:4). Even Jesus Himself prayed the Word. On the cross, Jesus cried out to His Father, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me” (Mark 15:34). And at that moment He was quoting the first verse of Psalm 22, one of the strongest of the prophetic passages about the Messiah in the Old Testament.

My friends, it’s a battle. It’s a battle to keep the faith, hold on to your crowns and not to be part of the “falling away” of the last days. We each want to be one of the virgins who kept their lamps burning, not the ones who ran out of oil and so their lamps went out. Have some kind of personal devotions daily. Have some kind of personal private, even desperate prayer daily. Try to help your loved ones to do the same. “Put on the full armor of God, that you may be able to stand in the evil day. And having done all, to stand.” (Ephesians 6:13).

“Who Do You Think You Are?!”

Posted on February 2, 2014 by Mark McMillion

Has anybody every said that to you, “Who do you think you are?” Or maybe, have you ever said that to yourself? It can get kind of deep.

Pride is such a major pitfall of Christians. But on the other hand, you can be so negative about yourself that you just feel God couldn’t possibly use you. These are things our human hearts are privy to, even without any assistance from the Devil.

So an equally dangerous pitfall can be a misplaced self-abasement. Basically, if we get our eyes on ourselves, it is almost hopeless. Like the old song by Tennessee Ernie Ford said, “If the right one don’t get you, the left one will.” If one sin doesn’t get you, sometimes it seems another one will.

But of course, things are not hopeless at all. That’s why the Bible says, “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.” (Hebrews 12:2) It doesn’t say, “Looking unto ourselves…” That’s why prayer, immersing ourselves in God’s Word, being busy and active in obeying what He’s told us to do, and just mostly forgetting ourselves is so essential.

I think it was the famous blind song writer, Fanny Crosby, who said, “There is joy in self-forgetfulness.” Boy, is that true. But there’s more to it than that. Once we get our eyes off ourselves, either how great we are or how terribly we are, we find that God Himself has a plan and an agenda. And He’s wanting to get in contact with us about it.

An example of this can be found in these verses from Matthew 9:36 through 38. It says, “But when He (Jesus) saw the multitude, He was moved with compassion upon them, because they fainted and were scattered abroad, as sheep having no shepherd. Then He said to His disciples, ‘The harvest is truly plenteous but the laborers are few. Pray therefore the Lord of the harvest that He will send forth laborers into the harvest.’”

We so easily keep our eyes on ourselves. But it’s like Jesus said in another place, “Lift up your eyes and look on the fields, for they are white already to harvest.” (John 4:35) And He wasn’t talking about barley and wheat fields either. He was talking about the vast harvest of souls who long to be part of the Kingdom of God.

When we begin to take heed to God’s Word, we find that…He needs us. Not just to pray, not just to go to church, not just to be good citizens and vote for the right political party. He needs us desperately in the work that He commissioned His disciples to do: to witness, win souls and take care of the results.

“But who am I?! I can’t do that!! I don’t have the gifts!! I haven’t been to the Dallas Theological Seminary! I might say something wrong!” Etc, etc, etc.

And some of this might not be misplaced. True humility is what the Lord wants. But so often, other things enter into the mix and just hinder the calling of God in our lives. A much better response is what’s found in Isaiah, “And the Lord said, ‘Who will go for us and who shall we send?’ And I said, ‘Here am I Lord, send me.’” (Isaiah 6:8)

Would to God that more people of the Lord would respond like that! If more would respond like that, then you wouldn’t have verses like Jeremiah 8:20, “The summer is past, the harvest is ended, and we are not saved.” Why were they not saved? Because no one shared the message of salvation with them? Because no one “went out into the highways and hedges and compelled them to come in”? (Luke 14:23)

But so often for sincere Christians, their hesitancy to answers God’s call and obey what the Spirit is leading them to do can come back to condemnation and misplaced self abasement. They think they’re not worthy. They think they don’t have enough gifts. They doubt that it’s even God’s Spirit calling them. They have such a “humble” view of themselves that it’s morphed over into their heart condemning them and belittling them.

So many of God’s greats in the Bible were just little people who did what God told them to do. Jesus said of one woman, “She has done what she could.” (Mark 14:8)

That’s what we each should be asking ourselves each day. “Have I done what I could? Am I obeying what I know God personally wants me to do? Am I resisting the voice of the Lord in some area of my life? Is there some step forward in service and God’s calling that He’s drawing me towards that I’m hesitating in?”

It’s not a question of talents or abilities; it’s just a question of yeildedness to His voice, both the voice we hear in our hearts personally and the voice that speaks to us through reading His Word. “He gives the Holy Spirit to them that obey Him.” (Acts 5:32). He can “lead us into all truth” (John 16:23) and also into opportunities of service and fruitfulness in Him that are far more than we can imagine. God help us all to obey and follow His Words and His calls. “Today, if you will hear His voice, harden not your heart.” (Psalms 95:8)

The Greatest Song of All

Posted on January 22, 2014 by Mark McMillion

I am not a musician but music has always played a really big role in my life. I’ve sometimes wondered how my life would have been different if I‘d ever been able to learn to play guitar. I got to where I knew a lot of chords but I just never could get the strumming part down. Oh well.

I’m thinking of sharing different times in my life when some song really spoke to me, lifted me or affected me. But then I’m realizing how very personal it all is. Each song I think about I hesitate from sharing because it’s such an opening into some of the most personal moments of my life.

For example, I wrote a blog post about “The Radio Miracle” how that, during an indescribable few weeks when I was 20, when so many things happened to bring me to the brink of death and hell, that at one point in the middle of the night when I was in desperate prayer, my radio came on without my touching it. And a song of that time was just then playing which said, “Lift up your fellow man, lend him a helping hand, put a little love in your heart.” The words of that song were the words of God to me for that moment, conveyed through music, by a complete miracle.

But just a week before that, I’d been listening to a completely different kind of music, by my favorite group at that time, The Rolling Stones. I’d listened for the first time to their most recent album back then, “Beggar’s Banquet”. The voice of darkness that so strongly came through that album very nearly claimed my life. That’s what I wrote about in “Lucifer and the White Moths”.

There are many other incidents where music has carried me through deep valleys of despair that I don’t think I would have survived if a song hadn’t been on my heart and on my lips, virtually non-stop in some cases for weeks and even months.

I’d like to share a song with you that perhaps many of you know but some don’t. It’s called “The Greatest Song of All.” I don’t know the history or background to it but I first heard it in the 90’s, during what seemed like a time of great defeat and loss. I guess for me this song is such a combination of an incredible heavenly concept, really good music and a perfect text to the song. But maybe in some ways it doesn’t do much good to talk about a song since it’s a thing of itself which goes beyond descriptive words. I’ll paste it in here and hope it will be blessing to you.

http://youtu.be/IWjbZhbRZAE

Well, it’s Christmas

Posted on December 20, 2013 by Mark McMillion

Everybody’s different. Paul said in the Bible, “One man esteems one day above the other, another esteems every day alike.” (Romans 14:5) I guess I’m like the second group there when it comes to holidays. But also there’s just something about Christmas, or at least there should be. In many parts of the world, it’s the most revered holiday of the year. And of course if you’re a Christian, you know it’s supposed to be the celebration of the birth of Jesus of Nazareth.

For probably I can say “literally billions of people”, the story of the birth of Jesus is known to them through the Christmas carols and all the hoopla that goes on each year in late December. Or early January if you are of the Orthodox branch of Christianity.

But I guess I’m hoping to be more than informational here in this post. Being a Christian and/or a believer in the God of Abraham is more (or should be more) than information and knowledge. It’s supposed to be something that goes to your very soul and essence of your being, changing it radically and totally.

Like God said in Ezekiel, “A new heart I will give you and a new spirit I will put within you. I will take the stony heart out of you, and I will give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezekiel 36:26) I can certainly say with all my soul that this is what happened to me. I was like “the tin man” in the movie, “The Wizard of Oz.” I just felt like I didn’t really have a heart. Or if I did, it didn’t really work very well at all.

That’s why when I came to the Lord and I was told that I needed to love the Lord and tell Him I loved Him, I just told Him that I felt like I hardly even knew what love was. I believed in Him. But He would have to teach me how to love Him or actually love anybody for that matter. Over the years I think I can say that He has heard that prayer and gradually given me more of a heart that can love Him and others.

This may not be the kind of Christmas message you’ve heard very often and maybe it’s not even the kind of Christmas message someone is supposed to share. But, sadly, often Christmas has been a pretty rough time for me. For one, just being really honest, it seems to happen with me that the enemy of God seems to especially want to act up around this time of the year.

Some of the most dangerous situations I’ve ever been in happened right at Christmas and it even involved other Christians. The darkness just hates the light and it seems the enemy of God brings depression, anger, and whatever else he can get a hold of to try to break into the camp of the saints and into their hearts at Christmas time, even more than at other times. Maybe you’ve never experienced that or maybe you have. But I have repeatedly and it’s made me a little wary of Christmas time.

On the other hand, I think that if I can steer myself around that particular danger and make an effort to make Christmas a time of personal devotion and a time of specially drawing near to the Lord, I’ve found that it can be a really wonderful time.

Like it is for many people, the songs of Christmas, Christmas carols that really sing about Jesus have been a special thing for me all my life, even when I wasn’t a Christian. I’ve heard a number of friends of mine say the same thing about a certain Christmas song, that it’s not only their favorite Christmas song, it’s their favorite song of all.

But I’m speaking about the song, “Oh Holy Night”. It is just one of the most stirring, soul-quickening songs I’ve ever heard, probably the most so of any song. I suppose if you aren’t a Christian, it might not speak to you. But if you are, it’s just like a national anthem of heaven, or something like that. For me each Christmas, whether I’m with my family or not, whether I’m with Christians or not, the high point of Christmas is hearing and singing this song. I’ll add it in here.

I hope you can singing it from the bottom of your heart and be moved, touched and thankful for that holy night when our dear Jesus was born. Without Him we can do nothing good and be nothing but lost and hopeless souls.

I’ve had a really pretty good year and I hope you have too. It is such a thrill how I’ve been in connect with so many this year, friends new and old, both here in the U.S. and literally all over the world. I know the darkness rages against us all so much. So it’s always a thrill to hear of all of you how are keeping the faith and continuing to stay on the Wall of His will wherever you are. I love you very much. I pray you have a great Christmas and a blessed coming year for Him. Thank God for the Holy Night which has made our wonderful lives possible. With love, your friend, Mark

“Judge Righteous Judgment”

Posted on December 11, 2013 by Mark McMillion

The first Bible verse I ever memorized was John 7:24, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.” Boy, I needed that verse. I had come to believe in God in the previous few months, after very nearly dying and not going to heaven. So I knew from experienced that God was real. And I knew that the Devil was real. But I hadn’t at that time become a Christian as I just didn’t know who Jesus was. But I began to read the Bible vociferously because I knew it was the book that told about the God I’d come to find was real.

I’d been so horribly misjudging so many things at that time. I think that’s the reason that God put that verse into my mind and heart right then because I really needed to look at things differently and judge things differently. But when you think about it, the whole idea of judgment is not a real popular concept nowadays, whether you’re a believer or not.

When they think of judgment, so many Christians immediately remember what Jesus said, “Judge not, that you be not judged”. (Matthew 7:1) And so they get the idea that we’re to just sort of acquiesce and go along with almost anything since, “We aren’t to judge.” Hmm. And then the atheists and agnostics often feel that there’s no right or wrong anyway, no good or bad, no truth. So “judgment” just becomes almost a bad word.

Judge righteous Judgment-flattened Is that really how it should be? Don’t we all make judgments all the time? Every decision you make is in some ways a judgment, based on your values, your information, your ethics and your interests. So actually we’re all making judgments and we have to.

Jesus said plainly in that verse He put into my heart that we’re to “judge righteous judgment”. But what is “righteous”? Here the believer and the unbeliever may go different directions. A believer will know that righteousness is found in God and the unbeliever hardly even believes in any kind of righteousness since “Who are we to judge?”

But the Bible often says that we are to judge, not in a self-righteous way but in a Godly way, on His foundation, with His eyes of mercy and truth. Paul told the Corinthians, “Do you not know that the saints shall judge the world? And if the world will be judged by you, are you unworthy to judge the smallest matters? Don’t you know that we shall judge angels? How much more the things that pertain to this life.” (I Corinthians 6: 2 & 3)

Jesus even said of Himself, “My judgment is just; because I don’t seek My own will, but the will of the Father which has sent Me.” (John 5:30) Maybe that’s a secret or key. If we are not seeking our own will or way but are seeking God’s way and His best, then our views and judgments can be more aligned with God’s love and justice. That way, our judgment on maters big or small will be moving towards the “righteous judgment” He wants us to have.

James, “the Lord’s brother” (Galatians 1:19), had some important things to say about this. “So speak and so do as those who shall be judged by the law of liberty. For He shall have judgment without mercy to those who’ve shown no mercy. And mercy rejoices against judgment,” (James 2: 12 &13). Merciful judgment. It all comes back to a loving God, a loving Savior, a pleading, interceding Holy Spirit, all moving in us to be wise and merciful in our judgments, whether they be tiny daily decisions or our most major “affairs of this life.” (Proverbs 4:23)

Jesus reproved the Pharisees because they were so busy with tiny details like tithing their spices and had “omitted the weightier matters of the law: judgment, mercy and faith,” (Matthew 23:23) We are called on to judge righteous judgment, judgment with mercy, led by God’s wisdom and Word. And like Paul said in that verse above, it’s even going to be a part of our job in the world to come. So Lord help us all to judge righteous judgment, to be basing all we do on His foundation of truth and love and to be learning now in this lifetime to see things through His eyes, so we’ll make the best decisions and to be examples to others of His loving justice and judgment.

Conviction or Condemnation

Posted on December 8, 2013 by Mark McMillion

The difference between conviction and condemnation was something I struggled with a lot as a young Christian. It seems to be something that’s not often touched on or even understood by many Christians. But for me, learning the difference between conviction and condemnation was a battle that I had to win if I was to grow in my Christian life.

Simply put, God convicts us of specific sins or weaknesses, giving us hope that if we bring it to Him, He can and will forgive us and heal us. On the other hand, it’s the Devil that condemns us, saying that we’re just generally bad and hopeless. It’s been understanding the difference between these two that has been an essential part of my being able to get to grips with some of the sins, failures and shortcomings of my life and to also recognize when the voice of Satan is trying to bring hopelessness to me in some matter.

Is what I’m saying here according to God’s Word? In John chapter 8, the Pharisees brought a woman to Jesus who’d been caught in adultery. They called upon Jesus to agree to the writings of the Jewish law that she should be stoned to death. But Jesus said to them, “He that is without sin among you, let him cast the first stone.” And the next verse says, “When they heard it, they went out being convicted by their own conscience”. (John 8:9) Jesus’ words brought conviction.

How about the Devil’s words? In Revelation 12:9 the Devil is called “the accuser of the saints”. The devil is like the prosecuting attorney in a courtroom, constantly bringing our sins before ourselves and God, calling for our condemnation and judgment.

But there’s another kind of condemnation and one that’s perhaps even more subtle. The apostle John wrote, “If our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart and knows all things.” (I John 3:20) Some people have a lot of trouble with that. Their heart condemns them in several ways. For one, since we are all sinners (Romans 3:23), then without the rebirth through salvation in Jesus, each of our hearts overcomes us through one sin or the other.

Sometimes though, even if you’re saved, your own heart may have the habit or tendency to condemn you. It’s like negative thinking. A verse that helped me on this one time was “He that justifies the wicked and he that condemns the just, both of these are an abomination to the Lord.” (Proverbs 17:15) You can get to thinking, “Oh I’m really humble because I’m always so down on myself”. But it’s not the way the Lord wants us to be in the spirit. For us to condemn ourselves is actually an abomination to God, according to that verse, just as much as if we were justifying the wicked,

Maybe the most famous verse about condemnation is, “There is therefore now no condemnation to them which be in Christ Jesus…” (Romans 8:1) But in some ways, it’s a thin line to walk. On one side, we don’t want to “fall into the condemnation of the devil” (I Timothy 3:6). God forbid. But that sure doesn’t mean in any way that we want to harden our hearts against the gentle chiding voice of the Holy Spirit which “will reprove the world of sin and of righteousness and of judgment”.

It comes down to which voice you are learning to listen to. We don’t want to be in tune with “the accuser of the saints” or our own heart that can condemn us. But we do want to have a clean conscience that can help to be a guidance to us. And even more than that, we want to have a clear channel to the voice of the Lord Who will convict us and lead us in the paths we are to walk in.

Someone said one time that it’s like a chain with a weak link. We’re that chain and we all have weak links, sins, and weakness, areas that we need to change and grow in. The Lord takes a look at the chain, probably sees a number of weak links and He points out the one that He wants to work on. He points to one weak link and says, “That one right there, give that one to me and I’ll fix it.” But then the Devil comes along and says, “Oh my God, that is a bad chain! It’s bad! It needs to be totally thrown away!”

That’s the difference between conviction and condemnation. One is specific, doable and brings hope for change and improvement if there is repentance. The other is general, totally negative and also hopeless. God help us all to know the difference between condemnation and conviction and to learn to recognize the Lord’s voice of conviction that brings change, hope and progress. “For Godly sorrow works repentance to salvation, not to be repented of. But the sorrow of the world works death.” (II Corinthians 7:10)

Is Not Easily Provoked

Posted on November 6, 2013 by Mark McMillion

Some of the worst things that have ever happened to me occurred when I allowed myself to be provoked. So a very deep lesson for me has been learning not to allow that to happen. I suppose it’s a weakness—one that God really doesn’t want me to fall prey to.

Some people just have a knack for saying and doing things that provoke others. Sometimes it’s unintentional—a personal trait they have that rubs people the wrong way. At other times, a person knows exactly what they’re doing and even intentionally provokes someone into saying or doing something wrong.

When you get right down to it, it’s like the Apostle Paul said about the devil: “We are not ignorant of his devices” (II Corinthians 2:11). We’re all tempted by doubt, depression, confusion, and “the sins which so easily beset us” (Hebrews 12:1). And it seems that if the devil can’t trip you up with one device or trick in his bag, he’ll show up again down the road with another method.

That happened to me this morning. This time the mechanism was that old enemy of mine: provocation. That’s why the thirteenth chapter of Corinthians has always held special meaning for me. One of the attributes of living in God’s love is that we are “not easily provoked” (I Corinthians 13:5). But if you’re not deep in the Lord, it can be such a temptation at times.

Perhaps the most famous incident in the Bible of someone being provoked to anger and then sinning is the story of Moses. The people he led out of Egypt and through the desert were a real mess. They were constantly murmuring, doubting, and complaining. Usually, Moses remained calm and stayed submerged in the peace of God.

But on one occasion, the people were murmuring about the lack of water. God told Moses to strike a nearby rock, and water would be given to them. But Moses was so incensed and provoked by the incessant grumbling and whining of God’s people that he said, “Hear now, you rebels; must we fetch water for you out of this rock?” (Numbers 20:10). Then he struck the rock twice, in anger and wrath.

You could think, “Well, I don’t blame him. It wasn’t his fault—he was provoked. It was the people’s fault.” And it can certainly seem that way. But God holds His people, especially leaders, to a higher standard. God told Moses, “Because you did not sanctify Me in the eyes of the children of Israel, therefore you shall not bring this assembly into the land which I have given them” (Numbers 20:12). Moses was provoked, and it caused him to act completely contrary to how God wanted him to act.

And that’s often the real problem with being provoked. It can feel as though it isn’t your fault. “Look what they did!” you might say—and often, you’d be right. Someone really did something wrong. But those who know and love the Lord are not justified in being provoked into retaliating or answering back with wrong for wrong.

That’s a hard saying, isn’t it? It doesn’t seem fair. But we aren’t supposed to be like everyone else. Jesus wasn’t. He was provoked many times—over and over again, as the Bible tells us (Luke 11:53).

Personally, I stay very much “on guard” against being provoked, or yielding to a provocation in a way that causes me to respond contrary to how God wants me to respond. It’s a real device of the devil to draw us into arguments or pull us out of the peace and Spirit of God.

It’s in those intense moments—when we feel stirred up and insulted, when our first reaction is to blurt out a thoughtless word or act unwisely—that we most need to look to the Lord. We must not let our “old man” (Ephesians 4:22) and worldly reactions get the best of us and cause us to sin.

Sometimes it’s these kinds of sins—provoked by gross injustices or even satanic diatribes from godless people—that truly test us. But God’s grace is there to give us the power not to yield to provocation.

Yes, it can be difficult. But the results of being provoked can be far worse than holding our peace in the moment of trial and temptation. May we all be aware of this dangerous ploy of the devil that so many of us fall for. As it is written: “When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him” (Isaiah 59:19).

Burn Through The Clouds

Posted on November 3, 2013 by Mark McMillion

You ever had a cloudy day? I’ve had a few in the last days. I felt “bottled up”, little nagging questions, fears, complaints or other kinds of nuisances just stacked up behind each other at the edge of my thoughts and mind. They seemed to come from the general direction of doubts.

So it’s all caused me to pray all the more. Victories are won in prayer almost more than any other way. Jesus, at the beginning of His ministry, went out into the desert to pray for 40 days. He had to defeat the Devil first. And it sounds like it was quiet a battle. But He won. (See Luke 4:1-13)

Sometimes when you’re surrounded by clouds, the best thing is to pull over. Kind of like, “wait till the fog clears.” Sometimes that’s the thing to do. If you’re not sure what you should do and you can’t see the road ahead of you, then it could be time to pull over till you can see clearly again.

But I think at other times, that’s not really God’s highest and best. Like the old song says, “Up there, the sun is always shinning.” I’ve been beset by clouds for a few days. But I know where the sun is. I know pretty much what my vision is and what I believe the Lord wants me to be doing. Maybe it’s time to “walk by faith, not by sight.” (II Corinthians 5:7) I believe the Lord was wanting me to let His sunshine within me burn away the clouds of uncertainty and the many other things that have been assailing me the past few days.

Sometimes you just have to go on “automatic pilot”, like airplanes do. The pilots often just fly by their instruments, not looking out the window. It’s like Solomon said, “He that observes the wind shall not sow and he that regards the clouds shall not reap.” (Ecclesiastes 11:4) Like I wrote about Nehemiah in “Cannot Come Down”, sometimes we just have to say no to the folks who want to have us come down from the wall of God’s will into “the plain of Ono”. (Nehemiah 6:2) It’s actually says that, the plain of “Ono”.

It’s the Devil sometimes who brings the clouds, the temptations, the negative emotions, everything he can find in his bag of tricks to get us out of God’s Will. If he can’t dissuade us from doing God’s will, he tries to delay us, to get us tripped off on sidetracks and anything rather than using our precious time for God’s highest and best.

Paul on one of his missionary journeys seemed to be in a fog for a while. He and his helpers were out on the mission field in Acts 16, going from city to city and then it says “they were forbidden by the Holy Ghost to preach the Word in Asia.” (Acts 16:6). So they kept going forward and it says they were planning to go to Bithynia, the modern southeast coastal area of the Black Sea, “but the Spirit did not allow them.” (Acts 16:7)

I don’t know about you but I might have been tempted to get agitated around that time. “Well, Lord, here we are out serving you and you keep telling me “no” every time I turn around! I’m in a fog Lord!” It’s not recorded Paul said that but he might have been tempted. But I’m guessing it really got them in a stronger sense of prayer. And then came the answer, “A vision appeared in the night to Paul, a man of Macedonia saying, come over and help us!” (Acts 16:9) They were in a fog. But then it lifted and they got a clear answer from the Lord.

But if you look closely at the verses there, it doesn’t say they just stopped all activity. Sometimes you have to really read closely to see a hidden point. In Acts 16:8, even after they had been stopped twice by the Holy Ghost in going a direction they were thinking about, it says “Then passing by Mysia, they came down to Troas.”

They didn’t let the clouds of uncertainty and what could have even been a temptation to doubt get to them. They kept the light of the sun inside of them keep them going when in some ways they didn’t know what they fully were to do. They went on the instructions they already had. They kept going by faith, even if everything was not totally clear.

And, like the men Jesus healed, “as they went, they were healed.” (Luke 17:14) Sometimes we have to do the “wenting”, the obeying. In this case, Paul and his companions kept the faith and kept obeying, even when they seemed to maybe be getting their signals wrong. Eventually the fog cleared and they went on to the light of a brighter day. In this case, it involved the first works of the evangelization of Europe when they went into Macedonia and established what became one of the strongest of the Early Church communities.

If you’re in a fog, it may be necessary to pull over for it to clear. On the other hand, don’t let any doubts of gloom or confusion cause you to be deterred in your journey of faith. “We don’t look at the things which are seen, but the things which are not seen. The things which are seen are temporal but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (II Corinthians 4:18)

Spiritual Habits: Hearing from God

Posted on October 23, 2013 by Mark McMillion

One of the most amazing and beneficial things to me in being a believer is how we can actually get answers from God. Probably for some that may sound almost boastful. But it’s not. Here’s one of the more famous quotes from King Solomon, from the book of Proverbs. “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and don’t rely on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will direct your paths.” (Proverbs 3:5 & 6)

The Bible so often boils incredibly important truth down to something so brief and simple that you can actually memorize it. Each part there is so vital. First: “Trust in the Lord.” Believe. And believe to a degree that you trust God.

Then next? “Don’t rely on (or default) to your own understand.” What does that mean? We all have so many stray thoughts clanking around in our brain. “Maybe this?” “How about that?” “I remember one time…” Stray thoughts. Our own understand.

But what should we do instead? “Acknowledge Him.” What does that mean? Essentially it means to pray. The Bible is full of examples where folks just like you and me simply didn’t know what to do.

A famous and Godly king of Judah in old times was completed outnumbered by the enemies of God’s people who surrounded Jerusalem. He poured out his heart in prayer, saying to God in one place, “Neither know we what to do, but our eyes are turned towards You.” (II Chronicles 20:12)

That king didn’t “lean to his own understanding.” He not only acknowledged the Lord, he “poured out his heart before Him.” (Psalms 62:8) And God really came through for His people; it’s a wonderful account which you can read in II Chronicles 20.

This approach to life, this habit should be so natural and ingrained in us that it should almost be like breathing. Maybe for those who are new to the Lord and His ways, it takes some work to make this part of your life. But recognizing the vanity of our own thoughts and so turning to acknowledge Him and to look for God’s answers should be one of our most basic “survival instincts” we have as believers.

And the Lord loves to answer us. The Bible is just full of promises from God that He will answer and lead and guide us, personally, intimately and faithfully. One of my favorite promises from Jesus is this, “He who has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves Me will be loved of My Father, and I will love him, and will manifest Myself to him.” (John 14:21) What a promise! He will manifest Himself to us. He will be there.

Like God told Isaiah, “You shall hear a voice behind you saying, ‘this is the way’, when you turn to the right hand or the left.” (Isiah 30:21) If there was anyone who really utterly depended on God to lead him and guide him and show him what to do, it was King David. You could read I Samuel 23 to hear of some of the amazing answers to prayer for direction which David received.

You may say, “I’m not anyone great, I’m not king David or Isaiah!” You don’t have to be. His eye is on the sparrow.

But maybe it would help to try to capsulize the idea. First, believe. And you could say, “But I don’t have enough faith!” One man said to Jesus, “Lord I believe, help my unbelief.” (Mark 9:24) Did the Lord say, “Sorry buddy, nothing but perfect faith will do for Me”? No, He didn’t. The Lord saw what the man had, not what he didn’t. So, believe. And you do.

Second. “Don’t lean on (or rely on) your own understanding“. Like King David said, “I hate vain thoughts.” (Psalm 119:113) Our part is to not be satisfied with our own personal thoughts and understanding of things.

But what are we to do? Third should be, “In all our ways acknowledge Him.” Turning our thoughts into prayers, even silent ones if need be. Look up in your mind and heart to the Lord. Expect God to answer in some way, since He’s said so emphatically and repeatedly for thousands of years that He will. And then, fourth, the rest of the promise says, “and He will direct your paths.”

It’s a promise from God. It’s not vain drivel. It’s one of the most important contracts and pledges that has ever been given. God wants to bring light and understanding into our lives. He has a better plan than you or I do. He sees what’s up ahead. He can do more for you than you can for yourself.

As Paul said to the Ephesians “Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think.” (Ephesians 3:20) If we’ll just turn away from our vain thoughts and our own understanding and instead seek His leading and ways, we’ll find He’s right there, sometimes almost instantaneously to give us ideas, truth and understanding that will lighten our loads and give us direction like we’ve never known. As king David said to God, “You will show me the path of life.” (Psalm 16:11)

What’s it to you?

Posted on October 5, 2013 by Mark McMillion

Jesus and Peter-1 flat Have you ever said that to someone, “What’s it to you?” Or maybe someone’s said that to you? It’s usually not considered a real warm, friendly way to talk to someone. But Jesus said that one time to Peter, one of His top disciples. Why would Jesus talk like that to someone? Let’s look at the context and see if we can find out.

This all happened after Jesus’ resurrection. In another blog article, I wrote about “He Said It Three Times” and this is part of the same conversation where Jesus said “What’s it to you?” (John 21:22) to Peter. He’d just told Peter three times to “Feed My sheep” (John 21:16), to teach and minister to the disciples and followers of Jesus.

And the very next thing the Lord said to Peter was, “When you were young, you fastened your belt and went where you wanted. But when you grow old, you’ll stretch forth your hands and another will carry you where you do not wish.” (John 21:18) And the Bible goes on to tell us that the Lord was signifying to Peter that, when he was old, he would “stretch forth his hands”; in other words, Peter would be crucified.

So this was a very important, significant conversation Jesus was having with Peter, all taking place after the Lord’s death on the cross and His resurrection. What was Peter’s reaction? The Bible says that the next thing was that Peter saw John, another of Jesus’ closest disciples, and so he asked Jesus, “What about him?” (John 21:21)

Sometimes you just wonder and marvel at all this. The love and patience of Jesus. The all-too-humanness of some of His disciples, perhaps especially Peter. Peter had just heard some precious, personal words from Jesus for himself. But it doesn’t come across that Peter really relished the moment and its significance. Instead he asked the Lord, “What about John?” In His mercy and longsuffering, the Lord even partially answered Peter’s question but then also added a chiding reproof.

Jesus answered Peter’s question about John this way: “If I will that he remains until I come back, what is that to you? Follow me.” (John 21:22) In that one sentence, Jesus left open the possibility that John the Beloved would remain alive till the return of Jesus at His Second Coming. History tells us that John lived perhaps another 60 years after this time, to extreme old age. And here Jesus was foretelling that John would remain long after the Lord had returned to heaven.

But then Jesus asks Peter directly, “What’s it to you?” “Why should that matter to you, Peter? Just follow Me.” Of course it should be said that there are different ways you can say that. You can say that phrase in a cocky, challenging way or you can say it in a kind but somewhat chiding way. I’m sure the Lord spoke that in a kind way. But why would the Lord talk to Peter like that, even if it was kindly said? Was Jesus finally getting fed up with all the boneheaded things Peter had done and said over the last 3 years? Patience was wearing thin? I think not.

which greatest flat Here are a couple of things that Jesus might have foreseen that He was trying to prevent happening to His disciples as He was about to leave them: comparing and jealousy. Even before His crucifixion, His disciples were coming to Him to ask Him which would be the greatest of them in heaven. (Matthew 18:1)

There’s just an inborn sinful nature of man to “compare ourselves among ourselves and measure ourselves by ourselves” (II Corinthians 10:12), as Paul later warned the Corinthians. Getting our eyes on each other, “which is the greatest?”, “who gets most?”, “do I get enough?”, “will someone get more than me?”, and “is that really fair?” It’s just so ingrained in us but is so contrary to God’s ways.

Basically Jesus was telling Peter to not look too much on how others were doing or what was happening or going to happen in their lives. “Just follow Me”, was Jesus’ bottom line to Peter. And perhaps this reproof hit home for Peter. It seems like Peter and John got along well and were never recorded in the later parts of the Bible as ever having any strife or competitiveness, although I’m certain that Satan would have loved to stir that up.

But what about us? There’s a message there for everyone, not to feel we have to measure everything against our own personal standards of what’s fair and “am I getting what I deserve?” Maybe you’re even in an “unfair” situation right now. Maybe people are treating you unjustly or you’re being taken advantage of. “What is that to you; follow Me.” The Lord said one time, “Vengeance is Mine saith the Lord, I will repay.” (Romans 12:19)

It doesn’t have to be fair right now. The Lord sees it all and we can be utterly sure, “all things work together for good to them that love the Lord.” (Romans 8:28)

To me one of the greatest samples of this in the Bible is Joseph. If ever anyone was mistreated and “it wasn’t fair”, it was Joseph. His brothers actually sold him as a slave! But years later, when he’d been shuffled and reshuffled by God to end up being “second in Egypt” (Genesis 41:43), he met up with his brothers again and they were certain Joseph would now pay them back for the evil they’d done.

But he didn’t. His heart was so right with God that he could say to them about what they’d done, “You meant it for evil. But God meant it for good.” (Genesis 50:20) One of the most amazing examples in the Bible of keeping your eyes on the Lord and not on people and circumstances and conditions. Seems like Joseph had already learned that lesson that Jesus shared with Peter nearly 2000 years later, “What is that to you? Follow me.” Joseph did that. And he ended up saving his family and nation. Lord help us all to keep our eyes on Him and not on anything else.

Mark McMillion

Creeds and Deeds, Facts and Acts

Category Archives: Basic Christianity