"Be still, and know that I am God! I will be praised among the nations, I will be praised in the earth." Psalms 46:10

In one passage in John, we read about how Jesus' friend Lazarus was critically ill. Since Lazarus was a good friend of Jesus, I'm sure those around Jesus were expecting that He would come immediately to his aid. The scripture says, however, that Jesus stayed two more days in the place where He was. It was in those two days that Lazarus died. It's so hard to understand why it is that God waits to do the things we ask of Him. It's good for us to remember, though, that He has His purposes for waiting. God was about to teach everyone involved a much deeper lesson here. As Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, He made sure they all understood that He is the resurrection and the life for all who believe. God has His perfect timing for everything under heaven. You may be waiting for God to intervene in some area of your life. You may have been begging and pleading with God for years on that particular thing. But we can relax and know that God's timing is perfect. We never know what God is doing behind the scenes, in order that our joy would be made full. Remember that He knows best what would bless us most and He is working all things for those of us who love Him and are called according to His purposes. Brothers & Sisters, relax. God is in control. He has greater things for you than what you could ask or think! BE STILL!

"Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, "I am the Light of the world: he that follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but will have the Light of life." John 8:12 ; "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. And at midnight a cry was heard: 'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!' Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the wise answered, saying, 'No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.' And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut." Matthew 25:1-10

During the feast of Tabernacles in Jesus' day, the temple priests would set up four great lampstands with golden lampholders, which they would light with the aid of enormous ladders in the Temple courtyard. The lighting of these lamps began the celebration of the "Great Hosannah" (Hoshannah Rabbah, in Hebrew). The celebration went on in to the wee hours -- with music and dancing and rejoicing, while the beautiful lights lit up the night. Jerusalem was a breathtaking, illuminated city on a hill. The following morning the Jewish people would recite the prayer for the eighth day of the feast -- "Be thou praised, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who makest light and causes darkness, who makest peace and createst all: the light of the world as the treasure of life…" Yeshua said, "I am the Light of the world.". God is Light, He loves light, He creates light, He sheds light, He desires light. Lamps with oil produce light, both for those who carry them and for those who see the light bearers. "You are the light of the world", He said. So the Lord also expects light from and His people. The light of God in our lives comes from His Holy Spirit, and oil has always been associated with the Spirit's ministry in the lives of believers. Burning oil produces light. If we are spiritual "virgins" because we are betrothed to one Heavenly Husband, we ought to bear His light in this dark world. Yet He has told us that some virgins will not have the wisdom to do it, so it is a warning to us; a warning not to quench the Spirit, but be filled with Him and be the light of the world. Brothers & Sisters, some of us, though virgins, have been walking in darkness. This could change. The choice to light our lamps belongs to us. The gift of the Holy Spirit has been given to all true virgins. The wise among us will "buy oil" and maintain our lamps thoroughly filled. To "buy oil" means to "spend time" with the One who supplies it, asking Him to fill us up, and to clean out the impurities in our "lamps". You know what this means for you personally, and I know what it means for me. We ought to think about the joy of the wedding, and prepare our hearts with His light... illuminated beautifully for all the world to see, and to be ready! At midnight, when the Bridegroom suddenly appears, our joy will be unspeakable. FILL YOUR LAMPS!

"By faith the walls of Jericho fell down after they had been encircled for seven days." Hebrews 11:30

After spending forty years in the wilderness, the children of Israel crossed into the Promised Land arriving to immediately face what seemed an impregnable fortress and an impossible task. Imagine receiving the instruction to march around the fortified city seven times, then finally be commanded to shout with all your might and sound shofars! It seemed like such a ridiculous warfare strategy...and yet, this time, they followed the instructions, marching around the walled city of Jericho and on the 7th day, after 7 rounds, witnessed the miraculous collapse which opened the way to victory. Obeying the voice of the Lord in faith was met with His supernatural intervening power. The object lesson? Do what God says, follow His instructions, putting your faith into action! Brothers & Sisters, faith that works is true faith, and it reveals the awesome God whom we serve! Respond to God's word obediently, no matter how ridiculous it may seem, and when He is ready your breakthrough will come! HAVE OBEDIENT FAITH!

"My soul, wait thou only upon God; for my expectation is from him." Psalms 62:5

It never ceases to amaze me, the way the devil uses our offenses and our "offendedness" to divide and conquer marriages, relationships, churches -- even entire nations! Many of us are not careful enough about the things we say and more importantly, we get offended way too easily. As we were discussing this topic recently, a good friend gave this analogy and we loved it: If you are holding a baby and his little arm swats you in the face, would you take offense to that? Of course not! We know the little guy didn't intend to hurt us. We respond with "awwww" or laughter or something to that effect. But if it is a friend, a family member or a brother or sister in the church who offends us with a little swat of his words or actions, we are undone. We expect more from them! What hypocrisy! We become angry and we want to defend ourselves, fight back or leave forever. Jesus said NO! He said that even if someone despite-fully uses us, that means on purpose, that we are to respond in love! We as human beings are troubled and sinful. We are not perfect and we should never expect others to be, no matter what their positions are in the church. God is perfect and He is the one from whom our expectations should come -- no man. Brothers & Sisters, so let's be quick to forgive, and slow to anger! Turn over all of those offenses to the Lord and allow Him to restore His perfect shalom over us!Shalom! ARE YOU OFFENDED?

"According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it." 1 Corinthians 3:10

An elderly carpenter was ready to retire. His contractor was sorry to see such a good employee go, and asked him if he would build just one last house as a personal favor. The carpenter agreed but his heart was not in it. He resorted to bad workmanship and using cheap materials. When the carpenter finished his work, the contractor came over and handed the front-door key to the carpenter. "I appreciate all the hard work you’ve done for me all these years and I’d like you to have this house as a token of my gratitude.” The carpenter was shocked! If only he had only known he was building his own house, he would have worked much harder! Now he owned a house that wasn’t built very well. We should think of ourselves as carpenters, and our lives here on earth, as our house. Each day we hammer a nail, place a board, or erect a wall, we must build with care! It is the only life we will ever build. And what we do here will count for eternity. Brothers & Sisters, our lives today are the result of our attitudes and choices in the past. Our lives tomorrow will be the result of our attitudes and the choices we make today! Let’s proceed with caution. BUILD WISELY!

"Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person." Col 4:6

What is it about salt? And how do I season speech with it? Gracious speech is sweet, yet Paul says to season it with salt. A friend of mine makes this interesting breakfast of Avocado mixed with some flower meal, cocking oil, dried fruit and nuts with some date honey to sweeten it. Then..might seem strange, he adds salt. Salt brings his healthy breakfast to a new level of flavor. Salt carries all the other flavors to a new level of palatability. It brings a wonderful balance to the sweet porridge. Take out the salt in any recipe and there's something vital missing. What is it about salt? By itself, salt doesn't taste so great. It's too strong. Yet add it to the recipe and its power becomes the very thing which brings life to the food. I think salt is that element of God's truth that enhances, preserves and strengthens us. Speech seasoned with salt will encourage or warn, it will impart life and prevent decay from setting in, or stop it in its tracks. Stopping decay is reversing a fundamental element of the Fall. Salt is vital to life and salted speech is too. Believers need to be "salty" in a world that is falling apart from the suffusion of sin and decay. Brothers & Sisters, our message is sweet. God forgives, He loves, He brings eternal life. Yet these wonderful truths exist in an awful context of death and decay which we must not ignore by only speaking graciously. We must add salt. SPEAK "SALTLY"!

"But it displeased Jonah exceedingly, and he became angry. So he prayed to the LORD, and said, "Ah, LORD, was not this what I said when I was still in my country? Therefore I fled previously to Tarshish; for I know that You [are] a gracious and merciful God, slow to anger and abundant in lovingkindness, One who relents from doing harm. "Therefore now, O LORD, please take my life from me, for [it is] better for me to die than to live!" Then the LORD said, "[Is it] right for you to be angry?" So Jonah went out of the city and sat on the east side of the city. There he made himself a shelter and sat under it in the shade, till he might see what would become of the city." Jonah 4:1-5

We continue looking at Jonah, and find him in Chapter 4 displeased with God's mercy toward Nineveh. The Assyrians were arch-enemies of Israel and among the cruelest nations in history. Instead of being elated that God spared 120,000 Ninevites Jonah preferred to see his own pronouncement of judgment executed by the Lord. "Let those Assyrians get what's coming to them – they deserve to go to hell without any mercy for how they've treated Israel!" The Hebrew word "charah", " to be hot, furious, burn, become angry, be kindled" is a very strong expression for Jonah's feelings as he leaves the city of Nineveh and sets up a shelter to watch what will happen – he seems to be hoping that God might change His mind and destroy Nineveh anyway. Have you ever felt this way? Someone has really hurt you; really done evil to you more than once – you knew from God's point of view he was "begging for a bolt" (of lightening), and you wished judgment would rain upon him. The last thing you want to do is warn him to stop; you want justice, not mercy; maybe even ... revenge! Would you have the courage to admit that? To be really honest with God? Tell Him how disappointed you are that your tormentor hasn't been hit by a truck or developed a brain malignancy? Jonah's honesty is commendable. How many of us would try to hide feelings like that, even from ourselves? "Please take my life." Jonah says. But the Lord understands. Instead of condemning Jonah for his merciless attitude He tries to reason with His prophet. "`Is doing good displeasing to thee?' He asks Jonah. Then Jonah's misery is compounded when the plant God gives him for shade withers and dies. Depressed and angry, Jonah reveals the depth of depravity in human nature. "“It is right for me to be angry, even to death!” he pines. He cannot find joy in the mercy of God. Brothers & Sisters, I shudder to think of what would happen to me if I received God's justice for my sins. I would not want to wish His punishment even on my worst enemies. Perhaps Jonah didn't realize that his own attitude was displeasing to God and also deserved His judgment. I'm so thankful for God's mercy to us. We should bless our enemies and pray for those who despitefully use us; we should overcome evil with good. Mercy triumphs over judgment. The Lord gives us the power to be like Him. He did it by dying on the cross and rising from the dead, after three days. Jonah was a sign of this, remember? HAVE MERCY ON ME!