PHRASE
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APPLICATION
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Isa 9:6…. And His name will be
called wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God, everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.
This prayer is part of a chapter that is a :”How To Manual”
for letting brotherly love continue (see Heb. 13:1):
Col 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your
hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
Phil 4:6 Be anxious for nothing, but in
everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests
be made known to God;
7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding,
will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.
The world looks at peace as the absence of warfare. This is
not how the Bible defines peace. Isaiah called Jesus the Prince of Shalom
which refers to prosperity, to health, to a friendly greeting, happiness,
welfare, etc. The Greek word is eirene (i-ray'-nay) which is translated one,
peace, quietness, rest, set at one again, prosperity. We can have the peace
of God and with all men.
Rom 12:18 If it is possible, as much as depends on
you, live peaceably with all men.
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 Heb. 13:20 & 21 is a prayer for us. The author is
asking God to do something for us and first defines some of God’s
capabilities. Hearing what is said, in our hearts, our faith will soar. We
will receive the abundant Grace and Faith we need to receive the answer to
this prayer.
The resurrection is the most fundamental, most wonderful
aspect of the Christian faith. We serve a risen savior. Jesus really was
crucified, was definitely dead and buried. There can be no question that He
is alive today. I Cor.15 is called the resurrection chapter. We need to read
it and be as familiar with it as we are the Christmas story.
1 Cor 15:17 And if Christ is not risen, your faith is
futile; you are still in your sins!
20 But now Christ is risen from the dead, and has become the
firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep.
21 For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection
of the dead.
22 For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made
alive.
We now can live in this Resurrection Power, we are alive in
Christ!
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of the sheep
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Here is another statement
defining our relationship with God. There are many leaders in the Body of
Christ, and the Lord has given us pastors (shepherds). We need to recognize
these people and properly relate to them. Our obedience to do this is a
direct reflection of how we are relating to the Great Shepherd. Leaders, in
turn, must recognize they are not in control, they are only obedient servants
– God doesn’t love them any more, or less, than anyone else. Our Heavenly
Father has no favorite kids.
This picture of
Jesus as the great Shepherd shows something wonderful about His character. He
cares for us, His heart is toward us and He is looking out for our welfare.
There are about 55 references to shepherds in the Bible and we could learn
much through reading each, but as sheep, lets just keep these 2 things in
mind:
1 Pet 5:7 casting all your care upon Him, for He
cares for you.
Rom 8:28 And we know that all things work
together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called
according to His purpose.
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The blood is the vehicle of the resurrection. Jesus was
raised, “through the blood.
Deut 12:23… blood, for the
blood is the life
When the Lord spoke to Cain,
He gave us a great example of this
Gen 4:10 And He said, "What have you done?
The voice of your brother's blood cries out to Me from the ground.
Abel was a believer, though his body was dead, he wasn’t.
The eternal life of God flowed through the veins of Jesus.
That blood is so powerful, It still accomplishes so much we will never fully
comprehend Its power. We are bought by it, washed in it, healed by it, we
receive Grace and Resurrection Power through it. The very life of God is ours
as we partake of it, if even figuratively. The penalty for our sin is taken
care of by It. There are so many great songs written about the Blood if the
Lamb, may they never leave our repertoire.
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It is this death
and resurrection of Jesus our Lord that makes knowing God real, that
separates Christianity from all the lies and cults. This everlasting covenant
is the only means of Salvation. Every other belief system is a lie condemning
its followers to hell. This may be a controversial statement, but it is true
anyway, Jews, Muslims, Roman Catholics, Buddhists, Hindus, Mormons, Jehovah
Witnesses, B’hai and all the like must all forsake the lies of their false
religions and come into this covenant. There are those who sit in the seats
of the most Holy Ghost filled, on Fire and in Revival churches who must do
the same.
This Covenant differs from any man made contract in that it
is sealed with the precious Blood of the Son of God. This is not something on
perishable paper and signed in ink. This is the Covenant is the Word of God,
it is as sure as He is, it is eternal as He is, it is Absolute Truth, as He
is. The blood seals the eternal covenant between God and man. This is much
more than a contract, this is more than an agreement. It isn’t signed on the
dotted line with a pen and a date, not even a notary public could make it as
binding as it is. Jesus did everything necessary for the second part of this
prayer to be possible, He did everything required to give us
2 Pet 1:3,,,all things that
pertain to life and godliness,
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make you complete
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That takes care
of the Who and the How of this objective. Now, with that established, the author
describes the What of this prayer.
This phrase is part of a larger thought, but can be safely
isolated. We need to know that our lives are fulfilled, that we are whole
persons, in Jesus Christ.
Col 2:9 For in Him dwells all the fullness
of the Godhead bodily;
10 and you are complete in Him, who is the
head of all principality and power.
People search so hard, and do all kinds of crazy things, to
find this place of contentment and rest. You don’t have to prove anything,
nor strive to become what you are not. We find fulfillment and satisfaction
in life as we receive the answer to the rest of this prayer.
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make you complete in every good work to do His will
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Do not despair if your look at your life and you don’t see
it so filled with good works. There is a process going on. The Greek for this
word make is katartizo (kat-ar-tid'-zo) which means to complete thoroughly,
i.e. repair or adjust, fit, frame, mend, (make) perfect, prepare, restore. As
we grow in Grace, as we become more like Jesus, we grow in the knowledge and
ability to function in this new realm. When we look at our lives, this is the
good thing we should see, this restoration process, this rebuilding of the
new creature in Christ.
Another verse
that describes this process is:
2 Cor 5:17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is
a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become
new.
The tense of the last 2 words of this verse, and the first
word of Heb. 13:21 is important. The Greek word is ginomai (ghin'-om-ahee);
which is translated many ways including to cause to be ("gen"-
erate”), be assembled. The process of becoming new started when you accepted
Jesus as your Lord & Savior, and will not end until either He comes again
or you time on this Earth is done.
Jesus gives us the 1st key to how to we come into and
express this completeness.
Matt 5:16 "Let your light so shine before
men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
We find completeness and fulfillment in life when others
see Jesus in us.
Eph 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should
walk in them.
This is where the rest is, realizing that He is making us,
and He rebuilding our lives us for a purpose, for good works.
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If Jesus is Lord of your life, than you are continually
surrendering your will to His. This sounds like a nice cliché but it has very
deep implications and ramifications to our lives.
Step 1: Find out what His will is,
There are 2 verses in Romans that describe the lifestyle of
finding out what His will is.
Rom 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by
the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy,
acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.
2 And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed
by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and
acceptable and perfect will of God.
We continually offer ourselves to the Lord, and allow Him
to guide us through changing the data in that hard drive between our ears. We
get a new way of thinking, a new perspective on everything. A transformation
is taking place and we know the answer to WWJD? (What Would Jesus Do?). The
completeness stated in this verse in Hebrews starts to happen as we do what
Rom. 12 pleads with us to do.
Step 2: Determine to obey it,
In this verse in Romans, Paul urgently pleads with us, to present your
bodies a living sacrifice. This is a determined
act of your will, a decision only you can make. Once made, you will be able
to tap into God’s Grace and power to follow through, but just be willing to
be willing. We continually have the choice to yield to the Spirit or to the
flesh.
Step 3: Find the Grace to do it,
Remember the prayer we are looking at in Hebrews is that
the Lord would make you complete in every good work so it isn’t something you can do, just something you
accept.
Eph 2:8 For by grace you have been saved
through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God,
9 not of works, lest anyone should boast.
God gave you the Grace to act on the little bit of Faith
you had so that you could accept Jesus as Lord and Savior. We take every step
from then on is the same way.
Step 4: Empowered by His Spirit in our inner man, DO IT.
Are you ready to receive the answer to another awesome
prayer of Apostle Paul?
Eph 3:16 that He would grant you, according to
the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with might through His Spirit in
the inner man,
This is God working in you that He might shine through you.
Matt 5:16 "Let your light so shine before
men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
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When you love somebody you want to do what they like, you
want to become what they like. So it is with our relationship with God. The
Lord doesn’t play games with us, getting us to guess what He wants. There are
many verses that describe precisely what pleases Him. As we read these
rhetorical questions from Micah, remember the previous phrase, it is God
working these things in you.
Micah 6:7 Will the LORD be pleased with thousands
of rams, ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my
transgression, the fruit of my body for the sin of my soul?
8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; and what does the
LORD require of you but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with
your God?
David also understood that the Lord was not requiring
sacrifice for the sake of ritual. This is that David that sacrificed a
tremendous amount of animals as they brought the Ark of the Covenant into
Jerusalem.
Ps 51:16 For You do not desire sacrifice, or
else I would give it; you do not delight in burnt offering.
17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and a
contrite heart-- these, O God, You will not despise.
God want our hearts, He expects humbleness and total
reliance on Him for anything good. Our salvation is not based on works,
neither do we please God by doing good things in our own strength and power.
Paul said it this way,
Eph 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in
Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should
walk in them.
If you do some good thing in your own strength and power
you have reason for pride, God gets no Glory. When you do the good works you
were created to do, lead and empowered by the Holy Ghost then there is no
occasion for pride and God gets all the Glory. When you lead someone to
Christ, who is the savior? When you lay hands on the sick, who is the healer?
When you feed a hungry person, who is the provider? When your family sees the
change in your life, where did the power for those changes come from? Where
does the wisdom and inspiration come from to explain a verse from the Bible?
If you answer to any of these questions is anything other than Jesus than you
missed the last phrase of Micah 6:8 altogether, “to walk humbly with your God.”
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This statement is the icing on the cake.
Acts 17: 28 "for in Him we live and move and have
our being,
These 2 verses in Hebrews describe many things about who
God is and what He does, and all if it is Through Jesus Christ.
John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the
Word was with God, and the Word was God.
2 He was in the beginning with God.
3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing
was made that was made.
4 In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
John makes this a very inclusive statement. If the Father
did everything through the Son, it would be rather presumptuous of us to
venture on our own. There are 2 things to pray each day, “Father, show me
what you would me to do today.” And / OR, “Father, as I go to do those things
you have out in my hand to do today, give me the wisdom, strength and power
to do them with the perfection that brings You all the glory.” Amen
Reception of the answers to these prayers requires that we
walk in the Spirit, that we maintain a hearing heart, that we follow the 4 steps listed above.
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to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen.
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This is the end result of it all. This is the why for all
of it. The Lord doesn't give us room for self-centered pride. The end result
of the answer to this prayer is that our lives would point people to Jesus.
Bringing Him Glory means there is a perceptible light, a beacon pointing to
Him.
Matt 5:16 "Let your light so shine before
men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.
Walk in those good works you were made for by walking in
the Spirit and you can't help but give Him Glory.
This phrase also speaks of eternity, and of God receiving
Glory eternally. What is so amazing is that we have an eternal part to play
in this happening. If someone sees Jesus in you and gets saved, you have
helped change history. The legacy we leave when we go to Heaven will also
have eternal consequence. Some people are called to do good works that last
much longer than their bodies. Or, do we bring Glory to God in such a way
that our children do also? We can be such an arrow that future generations
will follow the trail. Sure, eternity is much longer than there will be
future generations, especially if Jesus comes as soon as some think He might,
but we have the responsibility to fulfill the Great Commission. As we do so,
empowered and anointed by God for success, future generations will be
effected.
May God receive all the Glory for all eternity, through His
Bride, the church (that’s us). Amen.
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Heb. 13:20 Now may the God of peace who brought up our Lord Jesus
from the dead, that
great Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant,
