Controlling the Tongue

Proverbs 6: 16 - 19, These six things the LORD hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: A proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who sows discord among brethren. NKJV

Jesus tells us in Matthew's gospel that we will know false prophets by the fruit they bear. He also tells us that it is from the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. Have you listened to what is on the hearts of people lately? When we step back and take a good look at the fruit of people's thoughts and imaginations, it tells us a whole lot about the condition our society is in. 

Out of the seven things that Solomon calls an abomination to God, three of them are directly connected to the tongue. Almost half the things that God hates about the wickedness of man originate from an evil tongue. Satan used the tongue to speak great lies to Eve about God and about Eve's identity. Through his words, he was able to deceive Eve, and then turn her heart against God. In other words, Satan caused division in the world. We know from the account in Genesis 3 that Satan spoke a lie to Eve; he bore false witness against God concerning the consequences of eating from the tree of knowledge, and finally, he sowed discord. 

Therefore, we can say that Satan is the originator of the problems mankind has with the tongue. James tells us that the tongue is a small member, but it can do great damage to the body. It can set small fires that quickly escalate into huge infernos, which destroy lives, marriages, careers, churches, and businesses. I have personally witnessed the tongue stop moves of God in the church by sowing discord among other members. 

Almost two years ago, our church experienced a mighty move of God's Spirit, and miracles begin breaking out in the body. There is a woman in our church that was in her house when it exploded from a gas rupture under her house. The explosion almost destroyed her leg. As a result of the extensive surgery on her femur bone, her leg was shortened. She had to walk with the assistance of a cane because her heel couldn't touch the floor. God did a creative miracle in her leg; it grew so that she is able to walk with her foot on the floor. Other miracles were also documented by doctors as notable and unexplainable (but we knew what really happened.) Nevertheless, soon after the outbreak of miracles, a spirit of offense entered into the hearts of some of the people; they began to speak against one another..., and the miracles were over. 

God created the tongue to speak life, but Satan perverted the heart of man so that we would begin to speak death over ourselves and over others. Death and life are in the power of the tongue. If we can control our tongues, then James tells us that we are perfect and able to control our entire body. Consequently, we must be very careful who we allow to influence our hearts and what we speak through our mouths. When we stand before the judgment seat of Christ as believers, we will have to give an account to the Lord for every word we have spoken. 

Are you able to control what comes out your mouth? Are you speaking faith and life? Proverbs tells us that we'll eat the fruit of our words. Guard your heart, so that you don't take up someone else's offense and become a party to sowing discord among the brethren. It's far better for us to take our grievances to the Lord in secret, and then allow Him to deal with the issue, than for us to say something that would bring judgment on us from the Lord. May the Lord help us to speak life always, so that He might be allowed to perform His good Word in our lives and in our situations. Let me leave you today with the priestly blessing that God gave to Moses, Aaron and the children of Israel.

Numbers 6 : 24 - 27, "The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you; the LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace."' "So they shall put My name on the children of Israel, and I will bless them." NKJV

Pastor Asa Dockery

Repentance Brings Times of Refreshing

Acts 3: 19 - 21, Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that He may send Jesus Christ, who was preached to you before, whom heaven must receive until the times of restoration of all things, which God has spoken by the mouth of all His holy prophets since the world began. NKJV

The Spirit of the Lord has been dealing with my heart about the spiritual condition of the church, as well as our nation. However, the purpose of this word today isn't to preach about what's wrong; it is to share with you what the Word says about repentance. The Holy Spirit took me took me to several scriptures recently that illustrated times when Israel had turned their hearts away from God. Nevertheless, God remained faithful to them, as a faithful Husband to an unfaithful wife. Through these scriptures, He showed me how His love for the children of Israel (and for us today) goes far beyond our unfaithfulness.

Please allow me to share just a few passages with you, so that the truth about times of refreshing from the Lord can be established in our hearts. As a result of our being refreshed, hope can spring forth in our hearts for a brighter tomorrow. 

1 Kings 18 : 37 - 42, Hear me, O LORD, hear me, that this people may know that You are the LORD God, and that You have turned their hearts back to You again." Then the fire of the LORD fell and consumed the burnt sacrifice, and the wood and the stones and the dust, and it licked up the water that was in the trench. Now when all the people saw it, they fell on their faces; and they said, "The LORD, He is God! The LORD, He is God!" And Elijah said to them, "Seize the prophets of Baal! Do not let one of them escape!" So they seized them; and Elijah brought them down to the Brook Kishon and executed them there. Then Elijah said to Ahab, "Go up, eat and drink; for there is the sound of abundance of rain." NKJV

Take note that after the children of Israel repented, and the prophets of Baal, as well as the false prophets who ate at Jezebel's table were killed, the rain began to fall in Israel, and the forty-two-month drought was ended. We see in this account the faithfulness of God to His people; He brought refreshing times to them and their land, after they turned their hearts back to the Lord.

Joel 2 : 16 - 19, Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children and nursing babes; let the bridegroom go out from his chamber, and the bride from her dressing room. Let the priests, who minister to the LORD, weep between the porch and the altar; let them say, "Spare Your people, O LORD, and do not give Your heritage to reproach, that the nations should rule over them. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?'" Then the LORD will be zealous for His land, and pity His people. The LORD will answer and say to His people, "Behold, I will send you grain and new wine and oil, and you will be satisfied by them; I will no longer make you a reproach among the nations. NKJV

Just look at all the blessings and the increase that God promised Israel He would pour out on His people, if they would only turn to and pursue Him with all their hearts. God promised to restore to Israel the years that the enemy had stolen from them and to remove the reproach that had come upon them as a NATION... if they would only repent. Once again, we see that God is waiting on His unfaithful wife to return to Him so that He can show her His goodness and lavish His love on her. After repentance came into the hearts of God's people, the Lord relented from the harm that was about to be released upon them for their sin. Instead, God desired to pour out blessings and to bring them times of refreshing. 

Isaiah 54 : 4 - 10, "Do not fear, for you will not be ashamed; neither be disgraced, for you will not be put to shame; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and will not remember the reproach of your widowhood anymore. For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is His name; and your Redeemer is the Holy one of Israel; He is called the God of the whole earth. For the LORD has called you like a woman forsaken and grieved in spirit, like a youthful wife when you were refused," says your God. "For a mere moment I have forsaken you, but with great mercies I will gather you. With a little wrath I hid My face from you for a moment; but with everlasting kindness I will have mercy on you," says the LORD, your Redeemer. "For this is like the waters of Noah to Me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah would no longer cover the earth, so have I sworn that I would not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but My kindness shall not depart from you, nor shall My covenant of peace be removed," says the LORD, who has mercy on you. NKJV

Once again, the Lord led me to a scripture that uses the reference of a husband and a wife. Even though God was angry with Israel for a moment and even forsook them, afterwards, He swore to them that He would never again forsake them... just as God had sworn to Noah that He would never again destroy the earth with a flood. If you will read the entire chapter from Isaiah, you will discover the tremendous blessings that God promised His people, if they would only repent and return to Him with whole hearts. 

I sense in my spirit that God's heart is broken over the choices of the hearts of His children; they have turned a deaf ear to the truth of His Word. It grieves the Holy Spirit when we seek to please ourselves rather than please our Husband, Jesus. The Lord led me to share this with you today so that you would know that it is always God's intention to bless His children, even while we're being unfaithful to Him. However, He cannot bless us, until we repent of our wicked ways and return to Him with whole hearts. 

Let us pray for our governmental leaders, church leaders, our nation, and one another, so that God will grant us the privilege of repentance. Consequently, He can, once again, shower us with His blessings and restore our nation to a place of honor. Change begins with us as individuals, as we become broken and honest before a holy God.

Seeking the Lord with All My Heart,
Pastor Asa Dockery

Free

Isaiah 9: 2, The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in the land of the shadow of death, upon them a light has shined. NKJV

In John 8, Jesus teaches us that if we will continue in His Word, we will come to know the truth and the truth that we know will make us free (paraphrased). We know that Jesus is the Light of the world. We also know (from John 1) that Jesus is the Word of God made flesh. When God saw the sin and depravity of man, He sent us a Savior. When Jesus came, He spoke the truth, which is the light that shines in darkness and exposes the hearts of sinful man.

The purpose of Jesus coming into a world that was spiritually blinded by sin wasn't to condemn us; it was to show us what was hidden deep in our hearts. After the truth exposed the sin, the blood of Jesus was offered as the sacrifice that would save us from the condemnation of sin. Isn't it interesting that Jesus preached the truth that convicted people of their sins BEFORE He died and paid for our sin debt? 

Why did the truth come before the offering for man's sin was completed? Before mankind was able to receive a Savior, we first had to realize that we were sinners. Sin had blinded all of mankind, and without the light of God's truth, no one would have known about sin. We know this because Jesus and Paul both taught on the subject. Let me share a couple of excerpts from both. 

John 15: 22, If I had not come and spoken to them, they would have no sin, but now they have no excuse for their sin. NKJV

Romans 7: 7, What shall we say then? Is the law sin? Certainly not! On the contrary, I would not have known sin except through the law. For I would not have known covetousness unless the law had said, "You shall not covet." NKJV

We can see by these two examples that the truth had to come first, and then, once conviction was felt in the hearts of the sinner, the sacrifice was made for remission of those sins. Therefore, we know that God has given us hope for the problem that sought to take our souls to hell. Instead of God sending His Son to condemn us with His Law, Jesus came to shine the light of truth and hope so that we could choose life or death. 

Just like the prophet, Isaiah, declared in today's scripture, the people who walked in darkness have seen a great light. The Light was sent to set us free from sin's bondage; it was not sent to condemn us for our sin. However, we must now make the decision to forsake our sin because, according to Jesus' Words, we no longer have an excuse for it.

If we will choose to walk in the light of God's Word, then sin will lose its hold on our soul. Darkness isn't greater than light, and sin isn't more powerful than God's love or His truth. While we still have the time, let us cast off the works of darkness and let us put on the armor of light in Christ. Whom the Son of God makes free, they are free indeed.

Give Me the Word, So I Can Be Free,
Pastor Asa Dockery

It Is Time for Revival in the Land

Romans 13: 8 - 14, Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, "You shall not commit adultery," "You shall not murder," "You shall not steal," "You shall not bear false witness," "You shall not covet," and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light. Let us walk properly, as in the day, not in revelry and drunkenness, not in lewdness and lust, not in strife and envy. But put on the Lord Jesus Christ, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts. NKJV

Today, I want to share some findings about the church and our culture with you that were taken from the research of "The Barna Group." The purpose of this word is to encourage you in your walk of faith as a follower of Christ. If you have ever wondered if you're making a difference in the world, or if you even matter to anyone as a believer in Christ, let me share these staggering stats with you about American society. After reading these percentages, you should have a new-found sense of duty and responsibility to be all that God has ordained you to be as one of His children.

During the WWII generation, the percentage of Bible-believing Christians was 65%. This generation gave birth to the largest baby boom in history... up to that time; they were called the "Baby Boomers." There was a sharp decline of Bible-believing Christians in the Baby-Boomer generation; the percentage went from 65% down to 36%. The Baby Boomers gave then gave birth to Generation X. In this particular generation, the number of Bible-believing Christians now dropped to only 16% from the previous number of 36%.

Now, we come to the new generation that has exploded in number and exceeds the record number of babies who were conceived shortly after the end of WWII. The Millennial Generation has the lowest number of Bible-believing Christians of any generation that we have a record of in the church, at only 4%. Finally, 91% of those polled by The Barna Group say there is "no" absolute truth. 

It is high time, as the Apostle Paul proclaimed in his epistle to the church of his day, for Christians to put off the "works of darkness" and to put on the "armor of light." Our salvation is much nearer now than when we first believed. I was compelled by the Holy Spirit to share the findings of this poll with you to show that we are, indeed, living in dark times. Nevertheless, it is not the time to get in despair or to become despondent over the situation we find ourselves in, but rather it is the time for the CHURCH to RISE UP and be counted for Christ. It's time for us separate ourselves from the pleasures of this world and to become the "salt and light" that Christ ordained us to be. 

Instead of the world influencing the church, let us live out the Word of God so that we are able to influence and impact the world for the glory of God. It is the prayer of many believers; myself included, that we will see a revival of God's holy fire return to the hearts of His children. It's also time that we return to our First Love, Jesus, and seek to please Him, instead of our fleshly appetites.

According to the stats that I have shared with you today, this nation is poised for a revival like this world has never seen. I don't believe it is a coincidence that God has moved upon the heart of Reverend Billy Graham during this season to bring a grassroots movement of evangelism back to the church of America and Canada. It is possible for us to see millions of souls swept into the kingdom of God in 2013. In Romans 5:20, Paul tells us that where sin increased, grace increased the more. God has always had a plan; even so, He needs people to carry out that plan. Won't you join with thousands of believers to turn this tide of evil descent around and proclaim that this is the year for a mighty harvest? You can learn more about "MyHope with Billy Graham on our website. Go to www.whcnorth.org. You will find the link to MyHope there. Will you be a part of this great move of God's Spirit in these last days? Contact me at passion30@whcnorth.org. I look forward to hearing from you.

Reaching Out to a Dark World with the Love of Christ,
Pastor Asa Dockery 

Perfect Peace

Isaiah 26 : 3, You will keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You. NKJV

John 16 : 33, These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." NKJV

Have you ever set out to accomplish a task that required the help of others? Perhaps you've been in need and have reached out for assistance, only to realize that no one would cooperate with you. Isn't it frustrating when someone's help is essential, and it's just not there? There are times when God allows us to experience what it is like when He tries to work on our behalf, but can't get us to cooperate with His Spirit. 

If we would just work with the Lord, instead of resisting His way of doing things, life would go much smoother. In Isaiah 26:3, we read that God will keep us in "perfect peace" as we keep our minds fixed on Him. After all, isn't He the answer to all of our problems? Consequently, shouldn't we be focused on Him and listening to His voice rather than being focused on the impending trouble we face? Absolutely!

We can do without many things in this life; however, peace isn't one of them. Peace comes from having the presence of God in our hearts, surrounding us  every minute of the day. There is nothing in this world that can give you the peace that only God can give. 

One of the mantra's of the world is "world peace." The problem with the kind of peace that the world seeks is that it will always elude them because they're trying to accomplish peace apart from God. No one, including Christians, can have peace while walking in opposition to His Spirit. Therefore, we must be willing to yield our hearts and the thoughts of our minds to relying upon Him and allowing His presence to keep us in His peace. 

Jesus tells us in John 16:33 that we can only find peace in the Word that He has spoken. In this world, or if we are focused on the world, we will have tribulation that can take away any peace that we may have in our hearts. Therefore, let us give our time and attention to the Word of God and the will of God for us, and as a result, God will be allowed to keep our hearts in peace. Through His peace, we will reduce our stress and  greatly improve our quality of life.

Nevertheless, before you set out to "get God" to go along with your plan, why not first ask Him what His plan is? If He gives you peace about the plan that you have offered up to Him in prayer, then you have His approval to move ahead. We will have the peace of God when we come into agreement with HIS will for us. Father always knows best.

There Is No Peace like His Peace,
Pastor Asa Dockery

The Candle Maker

Matthews 13 : 13 - 17, Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they do not see, and hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand. And in them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says: 'Hearing you will hear and shall not understand, and seeing you will see and not perceive; for the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them.' But blessed are your eyes for they see, and your ears for they hear; for assuredly, I say to you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it. NKJV

When you read this passage of scripture and take it at face value, it appears as though Jesus doesn't want the Jews to be saved and healed. However, we know that just isn't the case because Jesus was sent by the Father to the household of Israel. He also tells us that He was sent to seek and to save that which was lost. Therefore, we need to study the Word of God and see what this portion of scripture really says so that we can learn truths from it that will help us receive the answers we need from the Lord.

Why did Jesus speak to the Jews in parables, if He was sent to save, deliver, and heal them? Conversely, why did He speak plainly with His own disciples so that they heard and understood the mysteries of the kingdom of God? Unlike the majority of the Jews in Jesus' day, His disciples obeyed Jesus when He commanded them to forsake all and follow Him. Because the disciples believed in Jesus and obeyed His commands, God gave them spiritual ears to hear and spiritual eyes to see. God also gave the disciples understanding so that they could perceive or grasp the truths that Jesus taught them. God did this for the disciples because they believed Jesus and placed their trust in Him as their Messiah.

Even so, we see the majority of the Jews still rejected Jesus and His testimony that He was the Son of God. Therefore, they HARDENED their hearts and rejected Him as their Messiah. Consequently, He could do no mighty works to help them. The hardness of their hearts kept or prevented God from releasing His power and favor upon His own people. Jesus gives us the reason why the Jews hearts were hardened and why they couldn't understand His parables. They repeatedly hardened their hearts to the prophets of God and to His Laws.  

When Jesus was speaking privately to His disciples, He used a term that refers to the making of candles as to why He used parables to speak to the Jews. The KJV says, "This people's heart is waxed gross. The NKJV says, "Grown dull." In Jesus' day, candles were formed by dipping wicks into hot wax and then pulling it out to allow the wick to cool. This process was repeated many times until the candle reached the thickness that the candle maker desired. In the same way, Jesus said that the Jews had hardened their hearts to God's Word over and over, until they could no longer hear the truth. In other words, their hearts were completely closed to God's voice, and now He could do nothing to help them. 

Here is the sobering part of today's teaching. The writer of Hebrews teaches us in chapter 3 that the Jews, who were led by Moses in the wilderness hardened their hearts to the voice of the Holy Spirit for forty years, even though they saw the mighty acts of God. Because the Jews constantly disobeyed God and hardened their hearts to His voice, they weren't allowed to enter His rest. All the Jews who had been delivered from the land of bondage died in the wilderness; they didn't inherit the Promised Land. Only those who were twenty years of age and younger were allowed to possess the promise of their inheritance from God.   

Let's put a draw string on this and bring it altogether. In the same way that the Jews could not enter the Promised Land because their hearts were hard and because of their unbelief, the Jews in Jesus' day didn't accept Jesus as their Messiah (Promised Deliverer). As a result, they also perished, just like their predecessors. The writer of Hebrews tells us that if God's own chosen people didn't inherit the promises of God because of their unbelief, then we (Gentile believers) should believe and obey God's Holy Spirit, lest we allow the promises to slip away from us, and we perish as well.

Should you hear the voice of God or the Word of God preached and choose to harden your heart because it doesn't agree with your carnal desires for sin, be careful that you don't harden your heart to the point that you cut your soul off from God's power and presence. It happens more than you might think. The generation that we're living in "chooses to believe" that their sin won't be punished. James calls this being deceived by ourselves. People who deceive themselves by ignoring the truths of God's Word so that they can continue sinning against it, don't need Satan or a person who lies to deceive them, they're already deceived by their own deceptive ways. 

God is calling His people to become broken over our evil ways. We must forsake them and return to Him with whole hearts. Therefore, we must be more than just hearers of the Word; we must also obey the truth so that it can save our souls from deception. God doesn't want us to be religious. God wants us to walk by faith and be obedient sons and daughters so that we will inherit the promises of God. All of God's promises are yes, and they are amen in Christ. You have an inheritance in Christ. Therefore, keep your heart humble and pliable to His voice, and you will possess His promises.

Seeking the Lord with My Whole Heart,
Pastor Asa Dockery

You Are Loved!

Matthew 8 : 8, The centurion answered and said, "Lord, I am not worthy that You should come under my roof. But only speak a word, and my servant will be healed. NKJV

Throughout the Old Testament, the gentiles are excluded from the covenant that God made with Abraham. In fact, Ishmael, Abraham's flesh and blood son was also excluded because he wasn't conceived of God's will; he was birthed through Abraham's desire to have his own son. You may ask, "Why was God so set on having His own chosen people upon the earth, even though we're told in Psalms 24 that the earth belongs to the Lord and all that dwell therein?" 

Perhaps it wasn't that God was seeking to exclude the peoples of the earth from being in covenant with Him; it was God establishing His ways in the earth so that people could be brought to faith. Allow me to call to your remembrance John 3:16: For God so LOVED THE WORLD that He gave His only-begotten  Son, that WHOSOEVER believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting or eternal life. By this scripture, we can conclude that God did love the peoples of the world. He was revealing to Abraham, the Jews, and us just how important faith is to Him... and to us who desire to walk in covenant with God and be saved.

God rejected the acts of Abraham that he had done in his own power, but accepted Abraham's obedient acts when they were done through faith according to God's instructions. God loved Isaac, but rejected Ishmael. God loved Jacob, but hated Esau. Once again, let me say that we see this distinction throughout the Old Testament and even into the gospels. The scripture that I shared above exemplifies what the Lord has given to share with you today. Even though the centurion was a gentile, he still had a need that only Jesus could supply. Instead of allowing the fact that he was a gentile to prevent him from receiving from Christ, he acknowledged the authority that Jesus walked in as the Son of God.

Because the centurion didn't dwell on not being worthy, although he mentioned it, his focus was on Jesus' authority. The centurion did this by faith because he had heard about Jesus from the Jews. It was this gentile's faith in Jesus that caused Jesus to sit up and take notice. Moreover, Jesus sent His Word and healed the servant of the centurion. When Jesus saw the humility and faith of this gentile man, He told those who were assembled that He had not found such great faith, even in all of Israel.

Once we get past the gospels, and through the book of Acts where the Holy Spirit is poured out upon the gentiles, as well as the Jews, Paul, who wrote almost two-thirds of the New Testament books, teaches us a new principle. (Please allow this new-found  revelation to get down into your heart and spirit.) When Paul begins writing a letter to the believers in Ephesus, he tells them (Gentile believers) that they are ACCEPTED in the Beloved, Jesus. Instead of Paul's emphasis being on our unworthiness, he placed it on Jesus' worthiness and our acceptance from the Father through the work of Christ.

Now you are accepted in Christ, if you have placed your faith in Him as God's only Son. You no longer have to listen to the voices of condemnation and guilt that still accuse you because of the things you have done in the past that were wrong in God's sight. So instead of focusing on being unworthy and having nothing to offer to God, begin to focus on Jesus and to declare that He is worthy of all adoration, praise, and honor for saving us and for reconciling us back to God through His cross.

Let us sing praise songs that exalt Jesus and focus only on Him instead of telling God how unworthy we are while we're in His presence. If God has forgotten our past, shouldn't we honor His request, not insult Him by bringing up our unworthiness before Him? It never was about us anyway. It's all about Jesus and our faith in Him that causes us to be accepted in God's sight. Now we can be blessed and walk in the favor of God because of what Jesus has already done for us. 

I Am Blessed and Accepted in Jesus,
Pastor Asa Dockery