Matthew 26: 36 - 43, Then Jesus came with them to a place called Gethsemane, and said to the disciples, "Sit here while I go and pray over there." And He took with Him Peter and the two sons of Zebedee, and He began to be sorrowful and deeply distressed. Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me." He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." Then He came to the disciples and found them sleeping, and said to Peter, "What! Could you not watch with Me one hour? Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak." Again, a second time, He went away and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if this cup cannot pass away from Me unless I drink it, Your will be done." NKJV
I used this story about Jesus praying in the garden of Gethsemane as a way to encourage you today in your walk of faith and in your prayer life. Please note that Jesus was asking the Father to let the cup pass from Him. Even though, earlier in the Gospels, He had said that He was sent to suffer and die on the cross, we read here that Jesus still prayed for the cup of suffering to pass from Him.
Jesus was praying a prayer that diametrically opposed God's will...and He asked this request of God three times. However, after the third time He knew the answer. Jesus woke up His sleeping disciples and told them that His betrayer was at hand. Isn't it interesting that shortly after Jesus prays a prayer that God doesn't answer in the way Jesus requested, the betrayer shows up on the scene?
Over the years of being a pastor, I have had many occasions where people would ask about their unanswered prayers concerning an infirmed loved-one. You guessed it; their loved-one died. Consequently, this tragedy left the believer wondering where God was and why He allowed it to happen. The Lord gave me specific instructions to write this word for someone today. If you have prayed for a friend or family member, and the Lord took them into His presence, you could easily become discouraged, lose heart, and lose your faith in the power of prayer.
However, let's look at this principle from a different perspective. We have the desire to see everyone come through sickness and be made whole. I have seen or heard of many that were terminally ill, and God heard the prayers of the righteous and saved those who were at death's door. Nevertheless, there may be those times when you pray for someone, and it will appear as though God didn't even hear your prayers. God had a bigger picture in mind when Jesus prayed, and He may also have a bigger purpose in mind when your requests didn't seem to get past your mouth.
The Lord doesn't always let us know the outcome of certain prayers because there are things that He knows, but we can't handle or understand that information at the time. Therefore, He will give us the opportunity to trust in His will and judgment. Even so, if we should disagree with His answer, or if His answer doesn't fit our desire, the enemy will use that breech in our fellowship to bring in the betrayer. You will know he has arrived if you find very little or no desire to pray after the passing of someone you love.
When Jesus was about to depart from the disciples and return to heaven, He told them that He had many things to discuss with them, but they were not able, at that moment, to bear the news. He went on to tell them that the Holy Spirit would come and be with them and in them, and He would guide them into ALL truth. When God is silent concerning our unanswered prayers, we must rely on the Holy Spirit to empower us to one day face the truth. In the meantime, we must go on trusting our heavenly Father.
Jesus concluded His prayer with "Nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." Ultimately, at the end of a prayer for a serious situation, we must leave the outcome in the hands of the Father, knowing that we have done everything we could for the person in need.
The Lord is my Rock,
Pastor Asa Dockery
Friday, January 20, 2012
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Jesus Gives Us Life
Genesis 2: 7, And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being. NKJV
John 10: 10, The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. NKJV
I find something very intriguing in what Jesus stated in John 10: 10. He said that He had come that we might have life. Maybe I'm strange, and you might agree, but weren't people already living when Jesus spoke this in their ears that day? There is as much difference between living and having life as there is between earth and heaven. Therefore, we can conclude that the only true way to experience the God-kind-of-life that Jesus was teaching about is to be included in the One who is life- Jesus.
I used the verse in Genesis 2: 7 to try and illustrate the difference between a living being and having life in Christ. When God breathed into man's nostrils, he became a living being, having breath. When Jesus breathed on the disciples shortly before His passion, He told them to receive the Holy Spirit. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we not only receive life at that moment, but we also have eternal life. Jesus didn't stop at us having life; He desired that we have abundant life. The only way to have that kind of life is through abiding in the Vine.
Remember, we can only have a new life if we are in Christ. If we "confess" Christ, but "live" according to the world, we're not abiding in the true Vine. It doesn't matter what you and I confess if we don't follow through with obedience and the action that backs up what we say we believe. In the same way, if we don't look to Jesus and obey His will in our lives, then we deceive ourselves. We are only living; we are not walking in His life.
If you read about the pioneers of the faith such as Noah, Job, Sarah, Ruth, and the father of the faith, Abraham, you will notice that when they began walking with God, they possessed very little. However, eventually God increased them with greatness. It isn't about how much you possess, but how much of God's attributes you possess. We are required to come to know the God that we say we believe. Consequently, as we walk in faith with God, the life of God will begin to flow into our life through the Holy Spirit and bless us with God's character and characteristics.
The longer you and I walk in faith and obedience to God's will and maintain our fellowship with Him, the greater His life will increase in us. The Bible tells us that God never changes; it also teaches us that His kingdom and dominion on the earth are always increasing. Even so, how can it increase on the earth if it's not done through His people, who dwell on the earth? You are a people...this tells me you are a very good candidate for the life of God to shine through so that He can show the world His greatness in an earthen vessel.
Do you want to shine for God today? Do you want to be great for God today? A thousand-mile journey begins with the first step. If you're accustomed to just existing and getting by, then get better connected to the Vine and let His life and glory begin to increase both, you and your family. You can do all things through Christ, who strengthens you, but you must be willing to let His strength flow through you. It's all a matter of the heart.
Abiding in the Vine,
Pastor Asa Dockery
John 10: 10, The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly. NKJV
I find something very intriguing in what Jesus stated in John 10: 10. He said that He had come that we might have life. Maybe I'm strange, and you might agree, but weren't people already living when Jesus spoke this in their ears that day? There is as much difference between living and having life as there is between earth and heaven. Therefore, we can conclude that the only true way to experience the God-kind-of-life that Jesus was teaching about is to be included in the One who is life- Jesus.
I used the verse in Genesis 2: 7 to try and illustrate the difference between a living being and having life in Christ. When God breathed into man's nostrils, he became a living being, having breath. When Jesus breathed on the disciples shortly before His passion, He told them to receive the Holy Spirit. Through the power of the Holy Spirit, we not only receive life at that moment, but we also have eternal life. Jesus didn't stop at us having life; He desired that we have abundant life. The only way to have that kind of life is through abiding in the Vine.
Remember, we can only have a new life if we are in Christ. If we "confess" Christ, but "live" according to the world, we're not abiding in the true Vine. It doesn't matter what you and I confess if we don't follow through with obedience and the action that backs up what we say we believe. In the same way, if we don't look to Jesus and obey His will in our lives, then we deceive ourselves. We are only living; we are not walking in His life.
If you read about the pioneers of the faith such as Noah, Job, Sarah, Ruth, and the father of the faith, Abraham, you will notice that when they began walking with God, they possessed very little. However, eventually God increased them with greatness. It isn't about how much you possess, but how much of God's attributes you possess. We are required to come to know the God that we say we believe. Consequently, as we walk in faith with God, the life of God will begin to flow into our life through the Holy Spirit and bless us with God's character and characteristics.
The longer you and I walk in faith and obedience to God's will and maintain our fellowship with Him, the greater His life will increase in us. The Bible tells us that God never changes; it also teaches us that His kingdom and dominion on the earth are always increasing. Even so, how can it increase on the earth if it's not done through His people, who dwell on the earth? You are a people...this tells me you are a very good candidate for the life of God to shine through so that He can show the world His greatness in an earthen vessel.
Do you want to shine for God today? Do you want to be great for God today? A thousand-mile journey begins with the first step. If you're accustomed to just existing and getting by, then get better connected to the Vine and let His life and glory begin to increase both, you and your family. You can do all things through Christ, who strengthens you, but you must be willing to let His strength flow through you. It's all a matter of the heart.
Abiding in the Vine,
Pastor Asa Dockery
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Overcoming the Obstacles
Matthew 20 : 30 - 34, And behold, two blind men sitting by the road, when they heard that Jesus was passing by, cried out, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!" Then the multitude warned them that they should be quiet; but they cried out all the more, saying, "Have mercy on us, O Lord, Son of David!" So Jesus stood still and called them, and said, "What do you want Me to do for you?" They said to Him, "Lord, that our eyes may be opened." So Jesus had compassion and touched their eyes. And immediately their eyes received sight, and they followed Him. NKJV
There are so many accounts in the gospels where people were healed even though they put forth very little effort of their own. Many times Jesus would seek people out in order to heal them, or He would travel to them when He was asked. Then, once He made the connection with them, He did all that was needed to ensure that the person was made whole.
However, there are those like the story of the two blind men that I shared with you today. In this example, the person had to overcome some obstacles that stood in the way of their healing, EVEN THOUGH THEY HAD THE FAITH FOR A MIRACLE. I really wanted you to get that, did you?
These two men received their miracle once they got to Jesus, so that wasn't the issue. Nevertheless, the problem for believers sometimes is being able to make their way to Jesus. Do you remember the woman with an issue of blood? She had been plagued with that condition for twelve years. She had tremendous faith in her heart because Mark tells us in chapter 5 what she was thinking and believing as she pressed through the throng of people that surrounded Jesus. She also had to overcome the condemnation of the law which forbade such a person to be caught out in public. She was determined to make it through the crowd and get her miracle. However, before she could overcome and receive, she had to physically lower herself.
There's yet another story where a man was a paralytic. Jesus was in a house ministering, and it was filled with people. Nevertheless, this man had four friends who didn't allow this situation to deter their faith. They climbed upon the roof and began to tear it off. Then they lowered the man to where Jesus was, and he was healed.
Sometimes we need more than just the faith to be healed. There are times when we also need to add perseverance to our faith so that we overcome the obstacles that are in our way of reaching the Lord. Satan is very effective at placing roadblocks, hindrances, and people in the way of others who need a touch from Jesus. The Lord laid this word on my heart for somebody that perhaps has given up, or is about to give up on getting their miracle. Remember this, the Kingdom suffers violence, and the violent seize it by force.
Allow a righteous indignation to arise in your spirit because you know that Jesus has already paid the price for your miracle, and Satan is trying to rob it from you. Stand on God's Word, overcome anything or anyone through the prayer of faith, and you will touch the Healer. Seize your miracle or healing today!
You are the Healed of the Lord,
Pastor Asa Dockery
There are so many accounts in the gospels where people were healed even though they put forth very little effort of their own. Many times Jesus would seek people out in order to heal them, or He would travel to them when He was asked. Then, once He made the connection with them, He did all that was needed to ensure that the person was made whole.
However, there are those like the story of the two blind men that I shared with you today. In this example, the person had to overcome some obstacles that stood in the way of their healing, EVEN THOUGH THEY HAD THE FAITH FOR A MIRACLE. I really wanted you to get that, did you?
These two men received their miracle once they got to Jesus, so that wasn't the issue. Nevertheless, the problem for believers sometimes is being able to make their way to Jesus. Do you remember the woman with an issue of blood? She had been plagued with that condition for twelve years. She had tremendous faith in her heart because Mark tells us in chapter 5 what she was thinking and believing as she pressed through the throng of people that surrounded Jesus. She also had to overcome the condemnation of the law which forbade such a person to be caught out in public. She was determined to make it through the crowd and get her miracle. However, before she could overcome and receive, she had to physically lower herself.
There's yet another story where a man was a paralytic. Jesus was in a house ministering, and it was filled with people. Nevertheless, this man had four friends who didn't allow this situation to deter their faith. They climbed upon the roof and began to tear it off. Then they lowered the man to where Jesus was, and he was healed.
Sometimes we need more than just the faith to be healed. There are times when we also need to add perseverance to our faith so that we overcome the obstacles that are in our way of reaching the Lord. Satan is very effective at placing roadblocks, hindrances, and people in the way of others who need a touch from Jesus. The Lord laid this word on my heart for somebody that perhaps has given up, or is about to give up on getting their miracle. Remember this, the Kingdom suffers violence, and the violent seize it by force.
Allow a righteous indignation to arise in your spirit because you know that Jesus has already paid the price for your miracle, and Satan is trying to rob it from you. Stand on God's Word, overcome anything or anyone through the prayer of faith, and you will touch the Healer. Seize your miracle or healing today!
You are the Healed of the Lord,
Pastor Asa Dockery
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
There Can Be No Hope Without Faith
Hebrews 11: 1, Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. NKJV
Mark 16:9-15, Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either. Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. NKJV
I am baffled by the unbelief and hardness of heart that the disciples walked in while following Jesus... yet they still followed Him. It seems that they were alright as long as Jesus was with them. However, the moment He was arrested, every one of them forsook their Lord. This scenario reminds of the principle written about by King Solomon in Proverbs 29. Where there is no vision or revelation, the people perish or cast off restraint.
When Jesus called the twelve men to lay everything down and follow Him, it seemed as though they had no problem with that degree of sacrifice. There had to have been something about being in the presence of Jesus that gave them the peace to lay down their livelihoods, forsake all, and follow Him. We can know that the power of His presence was the reason they walked with Jesus because the moment He was no longer leading them, they all forsook Him and returned to their old ways.
This brings me to the reason for today's word. Were the disciples walking by faith as they followed Jesus, or were they walking in unbelief? According to Hebrews 11, true faith is the substance which produces hope in the hearts of true believers. By this definition, the disciples didn't have faith in their hearts. Moreover, because of the principle I spoke of in Proverbs 29, we understand why the disciples threw off the restraints that originally caused them to sacrifice in order to follow Christ. Without faith, they had no hope to endure the night season.
Many confess faith in Christ. However, the Lord will prove those who are truly committed and expose those who only confess, but don't believe; He does this by fiery trials. Peter teaches us in his epistle not to consider it strange when we find our faith being tried by fire. James also teaches us to count it all joy when we're surrounded by various trials. Obviously, the disciples discovered something about Jesus in the time of separation that eventually solidified their faith, because you never read of them denying Him again. Jesus is just as PRESENT through our faith in His Word as He was when they were walking with Him physically.
Our faith must not waiver, even when it appears as though Jesus has forsaken us. When we enter a dark season, and we no longer FEEL as though God is with us, then that is the time for our faith to become energized. Faith will give us the hope that one day this will pass, just like an eclipse. You will sense His presence and experience His goodness once again. In the past five years, have you gone through some dark, depressing, and hopeless days? How did you respond to the trial when it looked as though God had turned His back on you? Did you go "a fishin'," or did you stand on God's Word until God said, "Let there be Light"?
It's time for hope to return to the church, and for those who have gone through the sifting of Satan to return to the Lord and strengthen one another with their testimonies. Through Christ, we are overcoming the lies of the enemy and realizing at a deeper level what the Lord was saying all along, "Greater is HE that is in you, than he that is in the world."
Luke 22:31-32, And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren." NKJV
Jesus prayed for Simon's faith, and Simon returned to Jesus after the sifting was over. Jesus is sitting at the right hand of our heavenly Father, and He lives forever to make intercession on our behalf as our High Priest.
One Day, We Will See Him Again,
Pastor Asa Dockery
Mark 16:9-15, Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe. After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either. Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. NKJV
I am baffled by the unbelief and hardness of heart that the disciples walked in while following Jesus... yet they still followed Him. It seems that they were alright as long as Jesus was with them. However, the moment He was arrested, every one of them forsook their Lord. This scenario reminds of the principle written about by King Solomon in Proverbs 29. Where there is no vision or revelation, the people perish or cast off restraint.
When Jesus called the twelve men to lay everything down and follow Him, it seemed as though they had no problem with that degree of sacrifice. There had to have been something about being in the presence of Jesus that gave them the peace to lay down their livelihoods, forsake all, and follow Him. We can know that the power of His presence was the reason they walked with Jesus because the moment He was no longer leading them, they all forsook Him and returned to their old ways.
This brings me to the reason for today's word. Were the disciples walking by faith as they followed Jesus, or were they walking in unbelief? According to Hebrews 11, true faith is the substance which produces hope in the hearts of true believers. By this definition, the disciples didn't have faith in their hearts. Moreover, because of the principle I spoke of in Proverbs 29, we understand why the disciples threw off the restraints that originally caused them to sacrifice in order to follow Christ. Without faith, they had no hope to endure the night season.
Many confess faith in Christ. However, the Lord will prove those who are truly committed and expose those who only confess, but don't believe; He does this by fiery trials. Peter teaches us in his epistle not to consider it strange when we find our faith being tried by fire. James also teaches us to count it all joy when we're surrounded by various trials. Obviously, the disciples discovered something about Jesus in the time of separation that eventually solidified their faith, because you never read of them denying Him again. Jesus is just as PRESENT through our faith in His Word as He was when they were walking with Him physically.
Our faith must not waiver, even when it appears as though Jesus has forsaken us. When we enter a dark season, and we no longer FEEL as though God is with us, then that is the time for our faith to become energized. Faith will give us the hope that one day this will pass, just like an eclipse. You will sense His presence and experience His goodness once again. In the past five years, have you gone through some dark, depressing, and hopeless days? How did you respond to the trial when it looked as though God had turned His back on you? Did you go "a fishin'," or did you stand on God's Word until God said, "Let there be Light"?
It's time for hope to return to the church, and for those who have gone through the sifting of Satan to return to the Lord and strengthen one another with their testimonies. Through Christ, we are overcoming the lies of the enemy and realizing at a deeper level what the Lord was saying all along, "Greater is HE that is in you, than he that is in the world."
Luke 22:31-32, And the Lord said, "Simon, Simon! Indeed, Satan has asked for you, that he may sift you as wheat. But I have prayed for you, that your faith should not fail; and when you have returned to Me, strengthen your brethren." NKJV
Jesus prayed for Simon's faith, and Simon returned to Jesus after the sifting was over. Jesus is sitting at the right hand of our heavenly Father, and He lives forever to make intercession on our behalf as our High Priest.
One Day, We Will See Him Again,
Pastor Asa Dockery
Monday, January 16, 2012
Do I Have FAITH?
Deuteronomy 8 : 1 - 4, "Every commandment which I command you today you must be careful to observe, that you may live and multiply, and go in and possess the land of which the LORD swore to your fathers. And you shall remember that the LORD your God led you all the way these forty years in the wilderness, to humble you and test you, to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep His commandments or not. So He humbled you, allowed you to hunger, and fed you with manna which you did not know nor did your fathers know, that He might make you know that man shall not live by bread alone; but man lives by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the LORD. NKJV
I have discovered that when believers are hit with serious trails, they are more open to taking a closer look at themselves. There's something about having something go wrong in a person's life that causes us to evaluate our past conduct. However, too many times this can open the door for the enemy to bring us under condemnation. If you find yourself leaning toward self-doubt, condemnation, and guilt when you're surrounded by "shark-infested waters," take notice of what Jesus did when He was tempted in the wilderness by the Devil. He answered Satan's thoughts with, "It Is Written."
Jesus knew His spiritual identity. Nevertheless, many times Christians will turn to other sources to find help and strength when responding to spiritual assaults from their adversary, the Devil. This brings us to the teaching for today. Just as Jesus turned to His heavenly Father to draw His identity and power, we must be WILLING as His disciples to follow His example while under an attack of Satan.
Having faith in Christ means that your confidence is in Him; your faith is no longer in yourself, or the ways of the world. So when trials come that challenge your faith and cause you to begin to doubt God's faithfulness or the authority of His Word, then we must, at that point, decide where we will turn. It will be determined in the trial, not on a pew in church, whether or not our faith is genuine.
Jesus was out in the wilderness and had fasted for forty days when He found Himself being tempted by the Devil in every point that we will be tempted as Christians. He was tempted in the areas of provision, protection, and power. These areas are covered in the Apostle John's epistle who wrote, "All that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life."
How we choose to react to trouble, heartache, and disappointment will determine if we have true faith in Christ. True Biblical faith will produce hope. Hope is needed for those moments and times when it may seem as though God has abandoned us. The writer of Hebrews describes or defines faith as being the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen. Therefore, if we have true faith and are born again, we will have a true hope in our hearts that God is faithful to His Word and us, even in a tragic or life-threatening situation.
Lest you get under momentary condemnation because you don't feel hope the very moment calamity hits your life, you must also remember that you and I are human. It's easy for us to become disoriented while being blind-sided by the Devil because we will be experiencing the raw emotions of our situation. The Lord not only understands this about us, but gives us time to heal and find our direction before He begins to push us in the direction of finding Him when the cloud of "dust and doubt" begins to settle.
The place that we must guard our hearts is when Satan tries to exploit our raw emotions to seek vengeance or go out on our own to find healing and comfort in the ways of the world. These would be classified as acts of the flesh responding to "a wrong." However, we must choose to remain submitted and committed to Christ. The Lord knows that our emotions will respond because He made us that way. We must process and judge what has occurred in our lives so that our hearts won't be overwhelmed. This is more of a process that it is a reaction of the will. Whew!
When God brought Israel out of Egypt, He didn't lead them directly into the land of promise. He was testing their obedience to see whether they had faith or unbelief in their hearts. It seemed that Israel as a nation walked with Moses and God until something "wrong" happened to them. You see, they repeatedly hardened their hearts against God and didn't choose to obey His Word whenever they came under a spiritual attack. Since they consistently chose for forty years to reject God and harden their hearts to the Holy Spirit, they had no hope that would carry them through the trials in the wilderness.
As a result, that generation all perished in the wilderness because they were filled with unbelief. We must be careful to guard our hearts from entertaining unbelief and departing from the living God when we find ourselves going through difficult situations in our walk. True faith will produce true hope, and hope will always bring us back to the Word of God as the final authority. Once we overcome the initial emotional process of hurt, loss, and disappointment, we will find renewed hope and strength. However, we must first decide in the fiery furnace to turn to the Lord as our eternal source for this temporal life.
God is faithful to His Word, and you will find that He will be faithful to you when you make a heart decision to trust and obey His Word always. God won't always come on the scene in our time. Nevertheless, He has given us the power of the Holy Spirit, and He gives us hope that doesn't make us ashamed. He won't let us hope in something that will never happen. Once He gives us hope, we can know that what we are hoping in, He will bring to pass. Abraham hoped even though everything in the natural screamed there is nothing to be hopeful about.
True hope will do just that in your life. Even so, you must make the decision to place your complete trust in the Lord. We all must make the decision to have hope, even after we have made the decision to have faith in Jesus. Why? Because we live in a world that is filled with tribulation that will challenge your faith.
Walking by faith and Not by Sight,
Pastor Asa Dockery
I have discovered that when believers are hit with serious trails, they are more open to taking a closer look at themselves. There's something about having something go wrong in a person's life that causes us to evaluate our past conduct. However, too many times this can open the door for the enemy to bring us under condemnation. If you find yourself leaning toward self-doubt, condemnation, and guilt when you're surrounded by "shark-infested waters," take notice of what Jesus did when He was tempted in the wilderness by the Devil. He answered Satan's thoughts with, "It Is Written."
Jesus knew His spiritual identity. Nevertheless, many times Christians will turn to other sources to find help and strength when responding to spiritual assaults from their adversary, the Devil. This brings us to the teaching for today. Just as Jesus turned to His heavenly Father to draw His identity and power, we must be WILLING as His disciples to follow His example while under an attack of Satan.
Having faith in Christ means that your confidence is in Him; your faith is no longer in yourself, or the ways of the world. So when trials come that challenge your faith and cause you to begin to doubt God's faithfulness or the authority of His Word, then we must, at that point, decide where we will turn. It will be determined in the trial, not on a pew in church, whether or not our faith is genuine.
Jesus was out in the wilderness and had fasted for forty days when He found Himself being tempted by the Devil in every point that we will be tempted as Christians. He was tempted in the areas of provision, protection, and power. These areas are covered in the Apostle John's epistle who wrote, "All that is in the world is the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life."
How we choose to react to trouble, heartache, and disappointment will determine if we have true faith in Christ. True Biblical faith will produce hope. Hope is needed for those moments and times when it may seem as though God has abandoned us. The writer of Hebrews describes or defines faith as being the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen. Therefore, if we have true faith and are born again, we will have a true hope in our hearts that God is faithful to His Word and us, even in a tragic or life-threatening situation.
Lest you get under momentary condemnation because you don't feel hope the very moment calamity hits your life, you must also remember that you and I are human. It's easy for us to become disoriented while being blind-sided by the Devil because we will be experiencing the raw emotions of our situation. The Lord not only understands this about us, but gives us time to heal and find our direction before He begins to push us in the direction of finding Him when the cloud of "dust and doubt" begins to settle.
The place that we must guard our hearts is when Satan tries to exploit our raw emotions to seek vengeance or go out on our own to find healing and comfort in the ways of the world. These would be classified as acts of the flesh responding to "a wrong." However, we must choose to remain submitted and committed to Christ. The Lord knows that our emotions will respond because He made us that way. We must process and judge what has occurred in our lives so that our hearts won't be overwhelmed. This is more of a process that it is a reaction of the will. Whew!
When God brought Israel out of Egypt, He didn't lead them directly into the land of promise. He was testing their obedience to see whether they had faith or unbelief in their hearts. It seemed that Israel as a nation walked with Moses and God until something "wrong" happened to them. You see, they repeatedly hardened their hearts against God and didn't choose to obey His Word whenever they came under a spiritual attack. Since they consistently chose for forty years to reject God and harden their hearts to the Holy Spirit, they had no hope that would carry them through the trials in the wilderness.
As a result, that generation all perished in the wilderness because they were filled with unbelief. We must be careful to guard our hearts from entertaining unbelief and departing from the living God when we find ourselves going through difficult situations in our walk. True faith will produce true hope, and hope will always bring us back to the Word of God as the final authority. Once we overcome the initial emotional process of hurt, loss, and disappointment, we will find renewed hope and strength. However, we must first decide in the fiery furnace to turn to the Lord as our eternal source for this temporal life.
God is faithful to His Word, and you will find that He will be faithful to you when you make a heart decision to trust and obey His Word always. God won't always come on the scene in our time. Nevertheless, He has given us the power of the Holy Spirit, and He gives us hope that doesn't make us ashamed. He won't let us hope in something that will never happen. Once He gives us hope, we can know that what we are hoping in, He will bring to pass. Abraham hoped even though everything in the natural screamed there is nothing to be hopeful about.
True hope will do just that in your life. Even so, you must make the decision to place your complete trust in the Lord. We all must make the decision to have hope, even after we have made the decision to have faith in Jesus. Why? Because we live in a world that is filled with tribulation that will challenge your faith.
Walking by faith and Not by Sight,
Pastor Asa Dockery
Friday, January 13, 2012
The Wisdom of God is Greater Than Satan
1 Corinthians 2 : 7 - 8, But we speak the wisdom of God in a mystery, the hidden wisdom which God ordained before the ages for our glory,8 which none of the rulers of this age knew; for had they known, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory. NKJV
Have you heard the old adage that says, "Ignorance is bliss?" Well, the Lord doesn't want His children to walk in darkness or spiritual ignorance, because it can cost us greatly. If we don't know the ways of God, we might tend to think that only Satan is in control in the earth, and then lose all hope and faith in the Lord...and that is exactly what Satan is shooting for with his fiery darts.
If we, as the body of Christ, don't know the ways of God, and we find ourselves in a "furnace situation," it can leave us feeling all alone and vulnerable to Satan's lies. The voice of Satan intensifies when we can't hear God or know what the Lord's plans are when we face the furnace of affliction. To me, this is the definition of isolation, and the reason why many believers choose give up in a heated battle over their faith. Satan will use our spiritual ignorance (of not knowing the ways of God) to lead us astray while he is pressing us with the threat of danger. Therefore, it is essential that you and I know the truth that is contained in the Word of God and that we continually seek God's face.
Paul gives us wonderful insights in his writings that allow us to understand and know the ways of God. What Satan doesn't know, but we can know (through the Word of God) is that Satan is ignorant of the ways of God. Satan believes in his heart that he is wiser in his ways than God is. If you will look at today's text, Paul shows us how God used Satan's ignorance against him to carry out the will of God to crucify the Lord of glory.
It's important that we understand the previous statement. Satan will use our ignorance of God and His Word to deceive us, but God's wisdom is greater than Satan. Let me put it this way; if Satan knew what he was really doing when he attacked you and me, he would leave us alone. How do we know this to be true? Just read Romans 8 : 28, where Paul is giving us the revelation that God has promised to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose...that He will turn around the trials that were meant to bring evil to us and use them for our good.
Have you ever done something that seemed like the right thing to do, and it got you into a bunch of trouble? It was a trap of Satan, and it worked to a degree, because you thought you were doing the right thing... but now you're in trouble. Generally, this is where we will call on the Lord and seek His face and His direction to lead us out in victory. As we do, through His wisdom, the Lord will begin to show us strategies that will conquer the enemy's lies. When we come out of that trial with the victory, we become more like Christ through our faith. Then, guess what? God just used the ignorance of Satan, through our faith, to turn an evil situation into a glorious victory that grows us in our faith walk with the Lord. God didn't set up our fall; it was our ignorance of the trap that set everything into motion... but, thankfully, God delivers us from all of our afflictions.
This is why God tells us to seek Him early... to call on Him, and He will answer us before we fall into the traps of ignorance. Isn't our God amazing? The cross in the natural looked like Jesus' defeat, but in the Spirit, it was the final act of God that sealed Satan's defeat and brought us victory over our own sin. WOW!
I Love the Lord,
Pastor Asa Dockery
Have you heard the old adage that says, "Ignorance is bliss?" Well, the Lord doesn't want His children to walk in darkness or spiritual ignorance, because it can cost us greatly. If we don't know the ways of God, we might tend to think that only Satan is in control in the earth, and then lose all hope and faith in the Lord...and that is exactly what Satan is shooting for with his fiery darts.
If we, as the body of Christ, don't know the ways of God, and we find ourselves in a "furnace situation," it can leave us feeling all alone and vulnerable to Satan's lies. The voice of Satan intensifies when we can't hear God or know what the Lord's plans are when we face the furnace of affliction. To me, this is the definition of isolation, and the reason why many believers choose give up in a heated battle over their faith. Satan will use our spiritual ignorance (of not knowing the ways of God) to lead us astray while he is pressing us with the threat of danger. Therefore, it is essential that you and I know the truth that is contained in the Word of God and that we continually seek God's face.
Paul gives us wonderful insights in his writings that allow us to understand and know the ways of God. What Satan doesn't know, but we can know (through the Word of God) is that Satan is ignorant of the ways of God. Satan believes in his heart that he is wiser in his ways than God is. If you will look at today's text, Paul shows us how God used Satan's ignorance against him to carry out the will of God to crucify the Lord of glory.
It's important that we understand the previous statement. Satan will use our ignorance of God and His Word to deceive us, but God's wisdom is greater than Satan. Let me put it this way; if Satan knew what he was really doing when he attacked you and me, he would leave us alone. How do we know this to be true? Just read Romans 8 : 28, where Paul is giving us the revelation that God has promised to those who love Him and are called according to His purpose...that He will turn around the trials that were meant to bring evil to us and use them for our good.
Have you ever done something that seemed like the right thing to do, and it got you into a bunch of trouble? It was a trap of Satan, and it worked to a degree, because you thought you were doing the right thing... but now you're in trouble. Generally, this is where we will call on the Lord and seek His face and His direction to lead us out in victory. As we do, through His wisdom, the Lord will begin to show us strategies that will conquer the enemy's lies. When we come out of that trial with the victory, we become more like Christ through our faith. Then, guess what? God just used the ignorance of Satan, through our faith, to turn an evil situation into a glorious victory that grows us in our faith walk with the Lord. God didn't set up our fall; it was our ignorance of the trap that set everything into motion... but, thankfully, God delivers us from all of our afflictions.
This is why God tells us to seek Him early... to call on Him, and He will answer us before we fall into the traps of ignorance. Isn't our God amazing? The cross in the natural looked like Jesus' defeat, but in the Spirit, it was the final act of God that sealed Satan's defeat and brought us victory over our own sin. WOW!
I Love the Lord,
Pastor Asa Dockery
Thursday, January 12, 2012
The Victory Has Been Won
Matthew 26 : 38 - 39, Then He said to them, "My soul is exceedingly sorrowful, even to death. Stay here and watch with Me." He went a little farther and fell on His face, and prayed, saying, "O My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as You will." NKJV
After Jesus was baptized, He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. There He fasted and prayed for forty days. And when His fasting had ended, He came out of the wilderness in the power of the Holy Spirit, entered the temple and began to teach. As He was teaching, a man with a demon began to manifest. Jesus took control of the situation, delivered the man and continued with His teaching.
If you study the gospels, you will find that Jesus regularly slipped away to be alone in prayer with the heavenly Father. Before Jesus went to the cross, He first went to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed. Jesus knew His hour to suffer on the cross was upon Him; as He prayed, He asked the Father to let the cup of suffering pass from Him...three times Jesus prayed this request before His Father. He was bringing His flesh into subjection to the will of God; Jesus knew the sole purpose of coming to earth. He even told this to His disciples when He was alone with them earlier. He also told them that after 3 days, He would arise and meet them in Galilee. So we can see that Jesus wasn't trying to nail down what the Father's will was, but rather, He was subjecting His humanity to the suffering of the cross. Once He obtained complete submission in prayer, He knew that He would be able to endure the next three days.
Because Jesus had become sin, the Father had pulled away His Spirit (or presence) from Jesus. When His Father pulled away, Jesus spoke these words, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" Jesus was now a perfect man upon that cross. How do we know that? Then, as Jesus hung on the cross, He said, "It is finished" and gave up His ghost. When He said His final words upon the cross and died, the veil was torn from top to bottom. God had split the veil to reveal to all of mankind that He was pleased by the sacrifice of the "Last Adam".
The wrath of God against fallen man was appeased; the sin debt for all our sin was now paid. Because Jesus prayed and yielded His will to the Father's will in the garden, before He was hung upon the cross, He then had the grace to endure the suffering so that He could gain the victory for us.
Christians can have faith in Jesus and still have a war in their souls over the lust for sin in their lives. If you have sin in your heart that you want to be set free from, then do what Jesus did in the garden: He prayed until "His" will became the will of the Father. Here's the key to this prayer accomplishing victory in your heart. Jesus wasn't praying for God to take away sin; He was praying that He would submit to the Father's will. Although that was the way Jesus prayed, too many times we ask God to take away our burden (or sin), but we don't seek Him about His will after the deliverance. If we don't pray to be able to submit to the Father's will, then there's a good chance that we will go back into our old ways.
He didn't pray once, or twice, but three times. Man is a triune being, and, as such, Jesus was bringing His entire being into agreement with the Father's will. His victory over sin was won in the garden when He chose to submit to God. James tells us in chapter 4 that we must submit to God and resist the Devil, and he will flee from us.
If you have a war raging in your soul over sin, lust, habits, sickness, or disease, then go to the garden and get your will in subjection to the Father's will. Because Jesus submitted in prayer to the Father, He had the authority to enter Hades (hell) and take back the keys of death and hell. No longer does Satan have the authority, but all authority has been given to Jesus. Those who refuse to submit will have a constant battle within their soul. Jesus told us to come unto Him, and we would find rest for our weary souls.
Kneeling in the Garden,
Pastor Asa
After Jesus was baptized, He was led by the Spirit into the wilderness. There He fasted and prayed for forty days. And when His fasting had ended, He came out of the wilderness in the power of the Holy Spirit, entered the temple and began to teach. As He was teaching, a man with a demon began to manifest. Jesus took control of the situation, delivered the man and continued with His teaching.
If you study the gospels, you will find that Jesus regularly slipped away to be alone in prayer with the heavenly Father. Before Jesus went to the cross, He first went to the Garden of Gethsemane and prayed. Jesus knew His hour to suffer on the cross was upon Him; as He prayed, He asked the Father to let the cup of suffering pass from Him...three times Jesus prayed this request before His Father. He was bringing His flesh into subjection to the will of God; Jesus knew the sole purpose of coming to earth. He even told this to His disciples when He was alone with them earlier. He also told them that after 3 days, He would arise and meet them in Galilee. So we can see that Jesus wasn't trying to nail down what the Father's will was, but rather, He was subjecting His humanity to the suffering of the cross. Once He obtained complete submission in prayer, He knew that He would be able to endure the next three days.
Because Jesus had become sin, the Father had pulled away His Spirit (or presence) from Jesus. When His Father pulled away, Jesus spoke these words, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?" Jesus was now a perfect man upon that cross. How do we know that? Then, as Jesus hung on the cross, He said, "It is finished" and gave up His ghost. When He said His final words upon the cross and died, the veil was torn from top to bottom. God had split the veil to reveal to all of mankind that He was pleased by the sacrifice of the "Last Adam".
The wrath of God against fallen man was appeased; the sin debt for all our sin was now paid. Because Jesus prayed and yielded His will to the Father's will in the garden, before He was hung upon the cross, He then had the grace to endure the suffering so that He could gain the victory for us.
Christians can have faith in Jesus and still have a war in their souls over the lust for sin in their lives. If you have sin in your heart that you want to be set free from, then do what Jesus did in the garden: He prayed until "His" will became the will of the Father. Here's the key to this prayer accomplishing victory in your heart. Jesus wasn't praying for God to take away sin; He was praying that He would submit to the Father's will. Although that was the way Jesus prayed, too many times we ask God to take away our burden (or sin), but we don't seek Him about His will after the deliverance. If we don't pray to be able to submit to the Father's will, then there's a good chance that we will go back into our old ways.
He didn't pray once, or twice, but three times. Man is a triune being, and, as such, Jesus was bringing His entire being into agreement with the Father's will. His victory over sin was won in the garden when He chose to submit to God. James tells us in chapter 4 that we must submit to God and resist the Devil, and he will flee from us.
If you have a war raging in your soul over sin, lust, habits, sickness, or disease, then go to the garden and get your will in subjection to the Father's will. Because Jesus submitted in prayer to the Father, He had the authority to enter Hades (hell) and take back the keys of death and hell. No longer does Satan have the authority, but all authority has been given to Jesus. Those who refuse to submit will have a constant battle within their soul. Jesus told us to come unto Him, and we would find rest for our weary souls.
Kneeling in the Garden,
Pastor Asa
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