Ground Zero

Jeremiah 25:6-7

“Do not go after other gods to serve them and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands; and I will not harm you.’Yet you have not listened to Me," says the LORD, "that you might provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.”

We all know “Ground Zero” is the place where the Twin Towers once stood as symbols of capitalism and American economic might. It should be a warning that we should not put our confidence in what we have achieved with our hands, which is temporal and can easily be destroyed.

God had an ongoing issue with His people Israel. He had chosen them, blessed them, and made them great. But instead of worshiping and thanking Him for their abundance, they began to worship the works of their hands. So, God sent His prophets to warn them, but because of the love of the works of their hands, they refused to listen and repent. As a result, God sent the Babylonians to destroy Israel and take them into captivity.

Yet those in Jerusalem and Judah thought it was impossible for it to happen to them because Jerusalem was God’s chosen city and the temple was God’s dwelling place. After all, they were the people of God, and they were worshiping God in His temple. Despite this, God destroyed His city and temple and sent His people into captivity because they continued to worship the works of their hands.

We the church, who are God’s people, must be careful that we, too, do not become deceived into thinking that because we are God’s chosen people and worship God that we will avoid the judgment that God will bring upon this world, if we, like the world, worship the works of our hands.

If we are not watchful, prayerful, and obedient to God’s Word, not only could our nation experience a Ground Zero, but we as the church could face a Ground Zero when what we have put our confidence in is stripped away. Ground Zero is not for our destruction but to cause us to make Jesus, His Word, and His will the center of our lives. It is only when we reach Ground Zero that we will have the courage to stand up and proclaim the lordship of Christ in our society, no matter what the cost, because we have already lost everything for Christ.

Paul said in Philippians 3:7-9, “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish , that I may gain Christ.”

Andy Clark

God Apps

This past week at my home group we were discussing the importance of prayer in our everyday lives. We talked about the discipline of having times of prayer at church, in the mornings and evenings, but more than that we needed develop a habit of prayer where we incorporated God into every aspect of out lives. One of the ladies in the group was sharing about how stressful her job was and how she continually turned to God for wisdom and help in dealing with people who had terrible attitudes, got angry, and even cursed at her over the phone.

As she was sharing, another woman in the group picked up on the discussion and began to talk about how hard it is for us to understand, believe, and tap into the spiritual realm. However, we have all kinds of electronic devices, such as I-pads and smart phones, of which we have little understanding about how they work, but we constantly use them to get information out of the air and instantly communicate with people all over the world. Her husband spoke up and said, “What we need is a God app.”

The fact is that we do have God “apps,” such as gifts, fruit, and power of the Spirit, prayer and the Word. Jesus told the disciples in John 16:7-8, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” When we are born again, we receive a tremendous gift from God, the Holy Spirit, the Helper who dwells in us always. We have access to the Author of life who knows all things and has unlimited resources, but we are too busy to learn how to use our God given apps.

My children are much better than I in using their smart phone because they spend hours exploring the limits of its use. It is such a part of their daily lives that they feel they could not live without it. You only get to know the Holy Spirit by spending time with Him and incorporating Him in every aspect of your life. He needs to become such an important part of your marriage, family, work, and finances that you cannot function without Him. He is your one-stop solution to everything.

Jesus said, “When He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.  All things that the Father has are Mine. Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.” (John 16:13-15) 

Don’t just use your smart phone to make emergency calls, or worse yet, leave it at home. Get to know the Author of life who lives in you. He is an awesome genius who knows everything and has infinite resources that are available to you for every situation.

Andy Clark

Seeing the Unseen

Hebrews 11:1,3

“Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen…. By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”

I love this quote from Graham Cooke’s The Faith Series. "Faith is action. It is stepping out towards what God has shown you is yours in the invisible realm. If we believe, then we must make an action consistent with that belief. So faith is an external action based upon an internal belief."

While the focus of both Hebrews 11:1,3 and Graham’s statement is the importance of faith as to what we believe and how we act on that belief, there is also a key element that we often overlook that is also an essential ingredient to the will of God manifested in our life. Faith is activated by what we see in the spiritual realm. It is the evidence or the ability to see and bring into reality things not seen. Faith is not a leap into the unknown. It is stepping out towards what God has shown you is yours in the invisible realm.

So, we may have faith but fail to receive because we lack godly vision. Many times our faith is driven by what we see in the natural and what we desire in the natural. We are not laying claim to the invisible but the visible. Our spiritual vision can become clouded by the constant visual bombardment of the world causing us to attempt by faith to lay claim to what the world has to offer rather than what God has to offer.

Paul, who in 2 Corinthians 4:7-17 encourages us to walk in faith in the midst of the challenges we face in life, concludes in verse 18 by saying, “while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” We must refocus our vision, faith, and actions off of the temporary, material, chaotic, decaying world we live in and begin to see what God sees and respond as God would have us respond.

Colossians 3:1-4 says, “If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. Set your mind (or affection) on things above, not on things on the earth. For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory.” May you see Jesus as you never have before and find Him to be all that you need.

Andy Clark

The Cave

1 Samuel 22:1-2

“David therefore departed from there and escaped to the cave of Adullam. So when his brothers and all his father's house heard it, they went down there to him. And everyone who was in distress, everyone who was in debt, and everyone who was discontented gathered to him. So he became captain over them. And there were about four hundred men with him.”

It was God’s anointing on David’s life that enabled him to kill the lion and the bear, to kill Goliath, and bring great victory to Israel. It was the anointing that enabled David to play the harp in worship to God to quiet the tormented spirit of Saul and enabled him to become the greatest general in Saul’s army, so that the women of Jerusalem sang, “Saul has killed his thousands and David his tens of thousands.”  It was that same anointing that protected and sustained David as a refugee in the cave of Adullam.

It was in the cave of Adullam that God begin to pull together the men that would make David’s army. David’s mighty men started out as poor, disgruntled refugees, the outcasts of Saul’s kingdom. They went in the cave defeated and came out with the shout of victory because they had joined up with David’s cause and vision. It was in the cave of Adullam that they were trained for war and galvanized together as one to become David’s mighty men who would one day conquer and subdue kingdoms.

It was in the cave of Adullam that David wrote the Psalm of praise in 2 Samuel 22.

"The LORD is my rock and my fortress and my deliverer;

The God of my strength, in whom I will trust;

My shield and the horn of my salvation.

He teaches my hands to make war,

So that my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

You have also given me the shield of Your salvation;

Your gentleness has made me great.”

The anointing of the Holy Spirit is upon our lives not only to enable us to worship God in the good times and to bring us victory over circumstances in life, but also the anointing of the Holy Spirit is upon our lives during our time in the cave, when no one sees us, and the enemy surrounds us and seeks to destroy our souls. It is in the cave that we truly discover God to be our rock, our fortress, our shield, and our salvation. It is here that our true character is tested and our hands are trained for war. It is in the cave that our vision is sharpened, and deep, life-long relationships are formed.

May you discover today the greatness of our God; may His anointing sustain you and  renew your strength and vision for all He has for you.

Andy Clark

In Christ

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, as I look around today, I see so many facing challenges in their lives, whether it be with health, finances, family issues or ministry. I want to look at some promises today that will help you walk in victory whether facing the fiery furnace or a den of lions that seem to be ready to devour you at any minute.

Isaiah 54:17 says, “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.”

This promise of overcoming circumstances and people that may come against us is based on two godly principals. First, as children of God, being more than a conqueror is our heritage. Because Christ overcame we will overcome also. He has defeated the powers of death, hell and the grave. We walk in His resurrection power. God does not promise to keep us from attack of the enemy, but the attack will not prosper because of who we are in Christ Jesus.  

Secondly, God declares that our righteousness of from Him. We do not stand in our righteousness but in the righteousness of Christ. This promise is not based on our goodness or our ability, but on who Christ is and what He has accomplished for us. We often fail to overcome because we are so aware of our weaknesses and failures, and we lose sight of who we are in Christ. Romans 8:1-3 says, “There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has made me free from the law of sin and death.”

I like to illustrate the principle of Romans 8:1-3 by placing a hanky over my fist. My fist represents my sinful nature, and the hanky the righteousness of Christ. The accuser of the brethren, other people, and even we ourselves often focus on what is under the hanky, while all God only sees is the hanky. I then begin to stuff the hanky into my fist to illustrate that over time as we walk in the Spirit, the righteousness of Christ that covers us begins to fill our life as we are changed from glory to glory in the image of Christ. However during the transformation process we are constantly covered by and stand in the righteousness of Christ.

Christ is our salvation, our healer, our provider, and our deliverer. God loves you not because of who you are or what you have done, but because of who He is. He is love. Victory is His because He cannot fail. Defeat is not in His nature. He has peace in the midst of conflict and turmoil because He is the Prince of Peace. As a born again believer, you are in Christ and it is out of your relationship with Him that you overcome and walk in love, peace, and victory no matter what circumstances you face.

Whatever weapon has been formed against you today cannot prosper because the God of the universe declares over you “this is their heritage and their righteousness is of me.”

Andy Clark

Old Clothes

Mark 2:21-22

“No one sews a piece of unshrunk cloth on an old garment; or else the new piece pulls away from the old, and the tear is made worse.”

In Mark chapter two, Jesus has just healed the paralytic man who had been lowered through the roof and forgiven of his sin, causing a stir among the scribes who teach that only God can forgive sins. Jesus then goes on and asks Matthew, a tax collector, to be His disciple and goes to a party at Matthew’s house, causing more consternation among the Pharisees. They then ask Jesus why He and his disciples don’t fast twice a week like the Pharisees and their disciples. 

It is in this context that Jesus makes the above comment about old clothes. Jesus had a habit of totally upsetting the traditions of His day in His teachings and actions. What He did and said challenged the norms and traditions of His day. To choose a tax collector hated by Jews to be His disciple and then go hang out at a party with all his ungodly, corrupt, and wicked friends, when Jesus should have been fasting with His disciples, was total sacrilege. All of this was punctuated by a demonstration of power that no one had ever seen before.

Jesus has not changed. He still wants to strip us of our old clothes, our old nature, mindset, and traditions that war against what God wants to do in our lives and our communities. We tend to cling to our understanding and experiences to define our future. When faced with new challenges in the wilderness, the children of Isreal kept wanting to go back to the familiar of Egypt. Egypt was not a good place but a safe place that they were familiar with and understood. The wilderness was a hostile environment where they were totally dependent upon God.

Jesus calls us to a radical change of dying to our old nature, ways of thinking, and doing things. We, in turn, would prefer a gradual reformation. We want to keep the old clothes of our past that we are comfortable with and just have Jesus patch the bad spots in our lives. But Jesus wants to strip us of ourselves, so that He can clothe us with himself and move us into our future. The only way from Egypt to the Promised Land is through the wilderness, where we totally lose control and become dependent on the Father.

Sometimes we forfeit future promises of God for the security of our present. We become so familiar with where we are. It is not the best, but it is comfortable. Allow God to enlarge your borders. New borders bring new challenges but also greater capacity. God doesn’t call us to be normal because Jesus lives in us. God wants to introduce you to your future while you are in your present. “For I know the plans (plural) I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

Andy Clark

Rivers in the Desert

Isaiah 43:19

“Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it?

I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”

Maybe you find yourself in a spiritual desert or wilderness, whether it is where you work, live, or minister. You find yourself surrounded by spiritual apathy, no spiritual life, or actual antagonism against spiritual things. Maybe your own life feels a little dry or you feel you are in a spiritual rut. I believe God wants to do a new thing in your life, your family, your church, community, and job. But that new thing can only spring forth as we allow Him to build a road in the wilderness or bring a river into your desert.

Jesus said in John 7:37-39, "If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."  But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.”

Isaiah said God would make rivers in the desert. Jesus said, “…out of our heart will flow rivers of living water.” The source of living water for your desert begins with your relationship with God. The new thing begins when you become so thirsty for God that you cannot be satisfied with anything else. Jesus said we must come to Him, we must believe in Him, and we must receive Him. The man who found a treasure in a field sold everything He had to buy the field. To come into the fullness of what God has for us we have to sell out to the River Maker.

Jesus identifies the Holy Spirit as the living water that will flow out of us to water our desert. Now, in the context of this Scripture, it says the Holy Spirit had not yet come because Jesus had not yet been glorified, meaning He had not yet died, risen, and ascended to the Father. But I believe in a spiritual sense the Holy Spirit is unable to refresh our desert because Christ has not yet been glorified in us. As a believer, the Holy Spirit resides in you, but His presence, this living water, has not been manifested in your life, family, or job because Christ has not yet been glorified in you.

The key to a road in your wilderness and rivers in your desert is not only a pursuit of Christ, the treasure in the field, but a willingness to glorify Him in the midst of your wilderness and desert. Exalt His Name on your job, in your family, and in your church. Involve Him in your dry places, and rivers of living water will spring out of you, bringing refreshing into your environment. Be a cup of cold water for someone today in the Name of Jesus, and see what He will do for and through you for His glory.

Andy Clark