Receiving God's Best

1 Peter 5: 6 – 10, Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. NKJV

In the book of Proverbs, we’re instructed to place our complete trust in the Lord instead of leaning on our own understanding. As Christians, we must be willing to acknowledge God in ALL our ways and allow Him to direct our steps or decisions in life. It is God who has given us the privilege of having free-will. However, apart from the wisdom of God, and since we have the freedom of choice, we run the risk of making poor and even destructive decisions in life.

God tells us in Deuteronomy that He has set before us death and life, and He counsels us to choose life so that we and our children might live. Having stated this let me ask you a probing question. Are you pleased with your life? Do you believe the life that you are living is God’s best for you, or are you living in bondage? You see; humans have a tendency to take life as it comes, not really challenge it, until it gets to be overwhelming.  

Many times in the Word of God, we’re told that we will reap the fruit of our choices and suffer the consequences of wrong actions. Therefore, we must be careful to allow God’s Word and Spirit to have entrance into our hearts so that we can discern the difference between a bad decision and a good one. God’s Word is a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path. If we should reject God’s principles by not applying them to our everyday lives, then we will walk in spiritual darkness and stumble (stumble means to transgress or sin).

Even though God knew the dangers of giving men free-will, He loved us enough to give us that freedom. God wants us to choose freely to accept and love Him with our whole heart. Nevertheless, if we decide to ignore God and His love for us, we will pay the price for our decision. We must all come to the place in our life where we’re willing to turn to the Lord for direction and spiritual protection; we must forsake our ways for His.

It’s not enough to say, “I will turn to the Lord and accept His will.” We must also choose to forsake our old ways, old thoughts, and old habits in exchange for His ways. If we decide not to give up that flesh nature, we will FALL short of God’s best for us. Instead of choosing to decrease and crucify self, it’s simply easier for our flesh nature to add Jesus to our ways. Consequently, the door of our hearts will be left open for the lies of Satan to enter through the old ways of our flesh nature.  

In order for the principles of life (God’s life in us) to operate at an optimal level, we must be willing to discipline ourselves to come into agreement or alignment with God’s Word. If we should fail to transform our ways by applying God’s Word, the Word will have very little to no impact on our lives. Therefore, we are instructed to “take no thought” when placing our complete trust in God and His Word. Satan will speak lies from your old ways and try to get you to act the same way you always have so that he can neutralize the power of God’s seed from impacting your life.

On a practical level, I have watched Christians who knew God’s Word up one side and down the other decide to give themselves over to the desires of their flesh rather than fully obey God’s Word. Consequently, they suffer great loss. Instead of allowing the Sword of the Spirit (WORD) to circumcise their hearts of the fleshly ways, they decided to obey their lusts and live in bondage to Satan’s lies. James said, “When I know the good that I should do and do not do it, then it becomes sin to me.” Whatever is not of faith is sin, and sin will destroy our lives.

So the next time you face a decision that requires you to die to the flesh and live for God’s glory, choose life that you might live and possess the promises of God.  

Living by Faith,
Pastor Asa Dockery 

Oh How I Love Jesus

Hebrews 5: 5 – 8, So also Christ did not glorify Himself to become High Priest, but it was He who said to Him: "You are My Son, today I have begotten You." As He also says in another place: "You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek"; who, in the days of His flesh, when He had offered up prayers and supplications, with vehement cries and tears to Him who was able to save Him from death, and was heard because of His godly fear, though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. NKJV

While in prayer, the Lord dealt with me through His Spirit about the hearts of His people growing cold toward Him. However, before we proceed, let’s break this down. If you were to ask Christians if they loved the Lord, I’m sure that all would answer, “Yes.” We can be sincere in our hearts, but God doesn’t just look at our sincerity or our intent; He also looks at our actions. “For God so loved the world that He GAVE His only-begotten Son.” God looks at our obedience in order to gauge the degree of love we really have for Him.

Jesus warns us in Matthew 24, that in the last days, the love of many will wax cold. As the Spirit was speaking to me, this is what I heard. “Ask my people to remember if there was ever a time in their walk of faith when they were more on fire (passionate) for My work than they currently are?”

Can you recollect a time in the past when you were excited to attend “His church” and fellowship with the saints, nevertheless, you no longer possess that enthusiasm? Has there been a time in your relationship with Jesus when it was both a blessing and a privilege to serve, pray, give, and obey His commands, but now it’s more difficult to find the willingness? If you find yourself in this condition, don’t feel condemned because that isn’t the reason God is giving us this word. God wants His people to return to Him with their whole heart. His desire is that they fall madly in love with Jesus all over again. In other words, He wants us to return to our First-love.

You may have very legitimate reasons why you’re not as passionate as you once were. However, God doesn’t want our excuses because He has given us His grace. Paul sought the Lord when he was persecuted, beaten, reproached, and hated and asked Him to remove these things from his life. Nevertheless, God told Paul, “My GRACE is enough!”

We all have a decision to make. The Lord is dealing with our hearts concerning our love for Him and for His work on the earth. What are we going to do to change how we demonstrate our love for God and for His church? While this Word is still speaking to our hearts today, we must make a fresh commitment to reengage in the good fight of faith.

Allow the Spirit of God through His grace to stir up the embers that have grown cold in your heart. The fire may have diminished, but the love is still there in your heart. Get alone with God and spend the time that is needed in His presence to reignite your passion to serve, to give and to be Jesus’ hands and feet to the world. You can do all things through Christ. Let’s do this for the glory and honor of God.

We are currently in the first week of our 21 day fast and would love for you to join us. We have had some who have already pledged that they would. We must decrease, so that Christ can increase in us in 2014. We want to pray for you and lift you up to the Lord, so that you can overcome any hurts, setbacks, or disappointments of the past. It’s time for you to experience the joy of being fulfilled while pouring out the love of Jesus to others who may not know His love.

Serving God Beside You,
Pastor Asa Dockery

Email us at: prayer@whcnorth.org 

When God's Love Reached Down

Matthew 23 : 37 – 39, "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the one who kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing! See! Your house is left to you desolate; for I say to you, you shall see Me no more till you say, 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'" NKJV

There is absolutely nothing in this world that can compare to the LOVE that God has for mankind. Throughout the Bible, we can read many accounts of when God stretched out His hands to His people; unfortunately, we can also see where they rejected His love. I would like to remind you that the Bible was written over the space of many centuries. Still, from the book of Genesis to the Revelation of Christ, God is recorded as being a Savior, who is yearning to save a world that is lost.

Book after book and chapter after chapter, God remains the same in the Bible. However, throughout scripture, His people decided to reject His love and His law, and they ended up in trouble or in bondage. Even so, God had a plan that would bring them out of their afflictions. Over and again, we can read where God brought His people out of bondage and slavery, and delivered them from their enemies. Nonetheless, how many times do we find a place where He was able lead them to Himself?  

Even in the verses that I used today from the gospel of Matthew, we can see Jesus “lamenting” over a Jerusalem, who had rejected the prophets and Him. You can feel His heart break as you read the words that He spoke over Jerusalem when He saw their choice to turn a deaf ear and a hard heart toward Him.

Out of all the stories in God’s Word where God is reaching out to mankind, we need to consider a very important truth. Shouldn’t it have been the other way around? Shouldn’t the Jews and mankind as a whole reached out to God? How many verses do you suppose are written in the Bible where God is instructing His followers to turn to Him and away from the path of destruction?

From a Biblical understanding, I know why it has to be that way. Jesus said, “You did not choose Me, but I have chosen you from the world.” What I am asking is, “Where are the hearts of those whom God is reaching out to save?” Which direction are you walking today? Are you pursuing God or the world? May the Lord continue to grant us the privilege to pursue Him with our whole hearts so that we might find Him and experience His unconditional love? If we draw near to Him, He has promised to draw near to us.

In Love with God,
Pastor Asa Dockery

Victory Is Sweet

Hebrews 2 : 14 – 16, Inasmuch then as the children have partaken of flesh and blood, He Himself likewise shared in the same, that through death He might destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage. NKJV

It has been said by someone that sin doesn’t die; nevertheless, we are to die to sin. Long before God made man, sin entered creation through the prideful heart of Lucifer, who became Satan after his fall. Satan is the originator of sin.

When God placed man in the garden, He warned Adam not to eat of the tree of knowledge, lest he die. However, Adam and Eve allowed sin to enter the hearts of men; because of their disobedient actions, sin was now “living” in them. Even though Adam refused to confess his sin to God, he was conscious of the shame and guilt of it. We know this because Adam and Eve hid themselves from the presence of God when He approached them.

When God asked Adam if he had sinned, it was the deceitfulness of sin that kept Adam silent and in denial. If we don’t confess our sin to God, it will keep us in bondage as well. We are commanded in the Word of God to confess our sins before the Lord first, and then we are to turn away from them. 

However, many people fall into the trap of condemnation over the sin that is living in their hearts and manifesting in their lives. As a result of the condemnation, they try to stop sinning in their own power. You must remember that sin doesn’t die; it is us whose flesh nature has to die in order to overcome sin’s strangling hold. It was for this reason that God sent Jesus into the world to die for our sin. Since Jesus had no sin in His heart, nor was any deceit in His mouth, He didn’t have to die TO SIN; instead, He had the power to die FOR OUR SIN.

During His earthly ministry, Jesus told His disciples that if they desired to be His disciples, they would first have to deny self, take up their cross, and follow His example. Jesus knew that each disciple had to come to a place in their walk of faith where they would have to choose to die to the old life of sin. We, too, as Christ’s disciples have to make the same decision to die to sin that we might live unto God. Until believers choose to die so that they can live, they won’t have the power to quit sinning. If we could stop ourselves from sinning without the power of Christ in us and working through us, then He died in vain. We are to submit to God, resist the Devil, and then he will depart from us. In other words, we must first honor God in our hearts. It is through our honor of the Lord and His authority in our hearts, that He can give us the victory over the sin in our lives.

In God’s kingdom, if you desire to receive, you must first give. If you desire to be exalted, you must first become humble. If you long to live apart from sin, you must first die to the desire for sin’s pleasure by the Spirit of God. Victorious living in the kingdom of God will cause us to suffer for a little while, but the liberty we experience afterwards will be well worth the pain.

Galatians 2 : 20 – 21, I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the law, then Christ died in vain." NKJV

Dying to Live,
Pastor Asa Dockery 

You Shall Be Above Only

Psalms 19 : 7 – 14, The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul; the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple; the statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring forever; the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. Moreover by them Your servant is warned, and in keeping them there is great reward. Who can understand his errors? Cleanse me from secret faults. Keep back Your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me. Then I shall be blameless, and I shall be innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in Your sight, O LORD, my strength and my Redeemer. NKJV

Are you a student of God’s Word? Do you have a deep hunger to get into the Word and learn all that you can about God and about living a holy life before Him? The excuse or complaint that I hear most from Christians concerning a lack of hunger for the Word can be attributed to a lack of understanding. Even though Christians have placed faith in Christ, it doesn’t mean that our hearts are completely open and ready to trust Him to tell us what we should be doing with our lives.

There is a very good explanation as to why people don’t understand God’s Word. Paul teaches us in Romans 7 that the Law of God is spiritual; however, we are carnal or carnally minded. When we were out in the world, our hearts were hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. We only trusted in our own knowledge and in those things that we understood with the human mind. God is Spirit; He doesn’t speak to our minds, but to our hearts.

Even so, when we come to faith in Christ, it is with the understanding that we have believed in Him with our hearts and not our minds. However, there is a tendency to avoid things that we, humans don’t understand. Nevertheless, when it comes to the Word of God, we must be willing to overcome this stronghold. We have to place importance and value on anything that pertains to our soul’s salvation. Therefore, if you struggle with a lack of hunger because you don’t fully understand the Bible, let me share some truths with you so that you will be encouraged.

Please reread the verses that I shared at the beginning of today’s devotion. You will notice that God’s Word works first in our hearts, and then it renews our minds. A lack of understanding of God’s Word is the result of having the hard heart of a sinner; however, now that you are born again, God will give your heart greater understanding; nonetheless, you must be willing to attend to His Word.  

At this point, in your pursuit of God, you will have to exercise your will. You will have to decide to seek God through His Word, even though you don’t fully comprehend its message. Once you set your heart to read God’s Word, He will open your heart and illuminate your understanding. The truths contained in the Bible will remove and replace everything that sin and Satan planted in our hearts that poisoned our minds and separated us from the life of God.

The greater our hunger grows for the Word, the more God will grant us understanding of it. Some of the greatest “thinkers” of our time were taught the Word of God from childhood. The Bible was once deemed by our Congress as useful in all areas of life and was even taught in our schools. This wisdom from our forefathers gave our nation the ability to lead. However, now that our nation has decided to separate society from God’s Word, we can see the fallout that has resulted. Satan doesn’t want anyone to read or understand God’s Word; it is our victory over him and this world. God said, “My people are destroyed by a lack of knowledge.” They rejected the truth of God’s law. Cultivate a hunger and thirst for God and His Word and watch understanding and victory follow closely behind.

Seeking God and Finding Understanding,
Pastor Asa Dockery

Active Faith Releases Increase

Matthew 14: 18 - 20, He said, bring them hither to me. And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. KJV 

Take notice that the miracle in the above scripture began with a command. Jesus told them to bring the fishes and loaves to Him. What need are you faced with today? Take it to the Lord in obedience. Doesn't the Word of God tell us to take our burdens and cares to the Lord and leave them on the altar? When life brings us into a situation that requires more of us than we have to offer, we must learn how to activate our faith by standing on the Word.

To the disciples, the five loaves and two fish didn't seem worth mentioning, but Jesus knew the value of what they had and wanted to show them the hidden potential. This brings up the reason for this word today. We have things we own, and we have connections with other people in our life that have potential, but we can't always see the potential that is right before our eyes. Our humanity can cause us to see only the obvious and not the potential, when it comes to our resources. When we mix the Word with our faith, it takes our eyes off of the obvious and places them on the potential. 

Faith will reveal and release the potential that creates miracles, but we must be willing to activate our faith. Let's look at the example found in the book of Kings. God had commanded the widow to feed the prophet before he had entered Zarephath. When he asked her for a cake, the woman tried to ignore God's command and Elijah's request, but later she obeyed. It was very good for her that she ultimately obeyed God because it allowed the prophetic anointing on Elijah to show the woman what she had in her own house. However, because of her fear she couldn't see the potential.

What do you have in your possession that, once it's given to the Lord, could become the next miracle that will break your cycle of lack? Remember Jesus told the disciples to bring Him the fish and loaves. Elijah commanded the widow to bring him a cake first, and then (after he had eaten) she could fix one for herself. Take your lack before the Lord today and keep bringing it until He reveals through your eyes of faith the hidden potential and releases His power upon it to supply all of your need. Those who trust in the Lord shall not lack. The Lord is my Shepherd, and I shall not be in want.

Lord Show Me What I Can't See,
Pastor Asa Dockery

Moving On

1 Samuel 15: 35, 16: 1, And Samuel went no more to see Saul until the day of his death. Nevertheless Samuel mourned for Saul, and the LORD regretted that He had made Saul king over Israel. Now the LORD said to Samuel, "How long will you mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? Fill your horn with oil, and go; I am sending you to Jesse the Bethlehemite. For I have provided Myself a king among his sons." NKJV

We all go through difficult seasons in life, and we’ve all made mistakes and committed sins, which have caused us great heartache. Just as the Lord regretted that He had placed Saul as king over Israel, we, too, have situations that have arisen in our own lives which cause regret and shame. When you read the scriptures, you can see a stark contrast between Samuel’s response to God’s decision to remove Saul and God’s response to it. The prophet mourned for a while; however, God was ready to move on. In fact, God already had a “son” in mind who would replace the disgraced leader of Israel.

There are many attributes that I personally love about God’s nature; nonetheless, there’s one attribute that I dearly love and that is the one which gives every person on earth the ability to move on in life. The unmerited favor of God (GRACE) gives fallen humanity a chance to start over and make things right. God’s grace grants us forgiveness for our past mistakes and empowers us “to turn the page."

If today, you find yourself living with grief and regret over your past, and you feel stuck there, then there is hope for you in Christ. God is in the redemption “business” of turning hopelessness into hope. It is His will and His desire to come into your life and redeem your past. No one can go back into their past and undo what has already taken place. Even so, God has promised us that He will remove our sins and failures through His grace and will remember them no more… if we repent and accept His plan for us.  

We can either decide to live in the regret of our past mistakes and mourn about the death or loss of what has been, or we can align ourselves with God and turn the page on a new chapter in our lives. If we choose to move on with God and to fulfill His plan and purpose, then His joy will become our strength. Satan doesn’t want us to break free from regrets over our past because he can use those sins as weight. Satan enjoys holding us in bondage and wearing us down over things that we have done. In contrast, God wants us to be strong and filled with His joy.

We’re instructed in Hebrews 12: 1–2, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” NKJV

If you allow Him, God will give to you a garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. It’s okay! Let the past go; give it to Jesus and watch as He turns the page on your life.  

Moving on in Christ,
Pastor Asa Dockery