In Sync

Exodus 12 : 40 – 41, Now the sojourn of the children of Israel who lived in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. And it came to pass at the end of the four hundred and thirty years -- on that very same day -- it came to pass that all the armies of the LORD went out from the land of Egypt. NKJV

Exodus 14 : 13 – 14, And Moses said to the people, "Do not be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which He will accomplish for you today. For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. The LORD will fight for you, and you shall hold your peace." NKJV

We’re told in Ecclesiastes 3 that there is a time for every purpose under heaven.  I’ve watched synchronized swimmers with amazement and wonder, curious as to how they’re able to be absolutely in sync with each other while their heads were under water. They understood the principle of purpose and timing, and this governed their every move. The team that perfects purpose with timing the best walks away with the highest honor.

Like the synchronized swimmers, Moses walked in perfect harmony with the timing and purpose of God. When God told him to march, Moses carried out God’s plan to the letter. As they stood at the banks of the Red Sea and saw the Egyptian king and army closing in on them, Moses sought direction from the Lord.

You may not be in a fight for your very life today; you might not be in need of a deliverance from your adversary, but if you are, then learn how to walk in sync with the Lord. Moses had to seek the Lord’s direction for each and every move that he was to take in the extraction of Israel from the land of bondage. He did so because they were in a spiritual battle over their freedom, and they were fulfilling a promise that God had made to their father, Abraham.  

Did you know that God has a plan for you, and a portion of that plan must be fulfilled through your obedience today? If you’re fighting to hold onto your faith because Satan has you in his sights, as Pharaoh did when he pursued Israel to the Red Sea, then do what Moses did. Seek the Lord’s will and allow Him to order your footsteps.  

There was a time when God instructed Moses to “STEP,” and there was a time when God wanted Moses to “STAND.” If you don’t know when to step and when to stand, then you could move out-of–sync with the Lord and hinder your release from bondage or pursuit by your enemy.

Moses had learned how to walk-in-step with the Lord because he had gotten out-of-step with God earlier in his life. Moses didn’t step, and he didn’t stand; instead, he acted in his own power and struck an Egyptian. This act of murder prolonged the stay of Israel in Egypt for an additional 30 years. Once we get out of God’s will, purpose, and timing, we can prolong or over- stay our season. This will lead to greater agony and affliction, as we can clearly see in Exodus 2. Are you in sync with the Lord’s purpose and timing in your life today? If not, then turn from your own ways, as Moses had to do and listen to the voice of God, as Moses also did.

God will use every season of our lives for our good, if we will live each season of our life unto Him. (Romans 8 : 28) God knows we will experience both good and difficult seasons, but He doesn’t want us to prolong our stay in either of them. While we’re living this new life in Christ, God is at work in us changing us into the image of Christ. He’s transforming us from former slaves of sin into liberated children of the Most High God.

Synchronizing My Steps With God’s plan,
Pastor Asa Dockery

Letting Go Of Regrets

Romans 8 : 28 – 30, And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called;… NKJV

Do you have any regrets in your life? Are there things that you have done in your past that, if you were given a second chance, you would gladly do differently? We all have issues in our lives from our past that can cause us guilt, shame, and regret. Let me ask you a more important question about the mistakes of your past. Have you repented and asked the Lord to forgive you? If so, then today’s word is customized just for you.

As bad as we dislike and might hate the regrets of our past, there’s one thing that we can take from those hard knocks. If we learned from them and allowed God to use them to reveal wrong in our hearts and they brought us into a closer walk with Him, then they were good character building blocks. From time to time, I speak to older people that live much of their present lives caught up in the regret of the mistakes of their past.

For some reason, they allow that regret to cause them to dwell on their past instead of learning from their past and moving forward in Christ. Many elderly people who have lived their lives dwelling on the past have passed away and never completed all that the Lord had for them to experience while they were alive… they died filled with shame and regret.

The Holy Spirit instructed me to write this word today specifically for you. He doesn’t want you live with regret over the past or dwell in the past. Why? Because faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things not seen. God wants His children to be alive and live with the hope of a brighter future. Yesterday will always be darkened by the brilliance of the hope of a brighter tomorrow.

Why is this so? As long as we refuse to hold onto our past, and we don’t  allow it to rule our tomorrows, then we are constantly being changed from faith to faith and from glory to glory. The Holy Spirit is continually at work in our lives and using our decisions to teach and grow us up into the image of Jesus Christ.

Do you know that, as a Christian, there is a calling on your life? Most Christians tend to think of “a calling” as something that compels people to go into full time ministry. This couldn’t be further from the truth. We are ALL called to live according to and fulfill the purposes of God in this new life that we have been blessed to experience.

In the passage above, Paul didn’t limit calling to ministry, in fact, that word doesn’t appear in the verse. We are all called according to the purpose of God for our lives. As a child of God, this is your new destiny in Christ Jesus. It’s no longer about how you want to live your life, but what God has already planned for your life.

Let me share something to help you in your daily decision making. Many Christians live in a state of regret, because they don’t include the Lord in their daily decisions. Too many times when we operate our lives according to this philosophy and blow it, then we will go to the Lord in regret and invite Him to help us fix our mistakes. This isn’t profitable or beneficial if you plan to live a healthy spiritual life.

The mindset that I have described is one that adds God to our plans as an afterthought; this violates the commandment of God that tells us that we are to love Him more than anyone or anything. God doesn’t want to be an appendage to our daily routine; When He is in the center of your heart, He will appear in the center of your decisions. Will that prevent you from making future mistakes? No, but it will take the sting of regret out of your life, because you made the Lord the centerpiece of your decision making process, and His love will cover your mistakes or sins.

One final thought: Look at the pain, regret, and shame from you past and ask yourself an honest question. Is my past holding me back from enjoying and experiencing the blessings of God in my present and having hope for my future? If it is, let me leave you with this statement. The regret of leaving God out of a decision that later causes you serious regret will be nothing compared to a life that is lived without God being in the center of it all. One day all of us will stand before the Lord and give an account for those things that we have done, whether good or evil.

Also, we will have to give an account for those things that God called us to fulfill while on the earth but were dismissive of them. We will be rewarded in heaven based on our obedience to His calling here on earth. If you haven’t already done so, make the decision today to place the Lord in the center of your decisions and desires. The result will be a life that is fulfilling and not filled with regrets. Now go out there, and let’s change this world for our Christ.

Looking Unto Jesus,

Pastor Asa  

 

A Clear Conscience

Hebrews 9 : 13 – 15, For if the blood of bulls and goats and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies for the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, cleanse your conscience from dead works to serve the living God? NKJV

In the context of today’s passage, we read that God wants us to move beyond dead works and begin to serve Him with our hearts. However, in order for us to serve Him apart from dead works, we must first be willing both to seek and to listen to His voice. This brings me to the point of today’s devotion.

If you’re a child of God, then you know that your sins have been forgiven by the Lord, and they will be remembered no more. Today, I want to ask you if you know that the blood of Jesus has done more for you than simply purchase your forgiveness. His blood not only offers us forgiveness of sin, but if we will pursue God’s will and serve it in the earth, we will also discover that His blood cleanses our hearts and minds from the consciousness of sin.

We’ve heard many sermons and Bible studies on the power of Jesus’ blood to forgive us of our sins, but how many times have you heard about the cleansing power of His blood? Forgiveness pertains to the way the Father sees our hearts, but cleansing has to do with the way we view our heavenly Father. If we know that our sins have been forgiven, we will be liberated from the power of sin. However, if our minds haven’t been purged by His blood, we can struggle with being in the presence of God. This can explain, to a degree, why some believers are still afraid of God after they have received the Holy Spirit in their lives.  

The Jews who were led out of Egypt, the land of bondage, by Moses were afraid to hear God’s voice when they came to Mount Sinai. They told Moses to speak with God and then tell them what He commanded, and they would obey. They were forgiven, or out of bondage, but they were afraid of God because of having a guilty or shameful conscience while in His presence. This is where many believers pull away from God; it is simply because they aren’t taught about the cleansing power of Christ’s blood in the walk of the believer.  

This fear comes from living their entire lives in unbelief. Now that God had delivered them and has saved us, He desires us to serve Him without fear. In order to dispel the fear of man, God requires us to walk by faith. The only way you and I can walk by faith is through obedience to God’s Word and His voice.

If you’re afraid to be in the presence of God because you “FEEL” guilty or ashamed, even though you know that the Holy Spirit dwells in your heart, then know that you must submit to God by walking in faith and not in fear. Are you going to heed your feelings of fear now that God has saved you or will you submit to God and resist the Devil?

The first generation of Jews refused to obey the voice of God, and God didn’t allow them to enter His rest or the Promised Land. The second generation obeyed the voice of God, and faith saved them from perishing in the wilderness. We all have a choice to make when we become believers in Christ. Will we serve God or will we allow a guilty conscience to keep us running from the God, who has already saved us from our sins?  

Romans 5 : 8 – 11,But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from wrath through Him. For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life. NKJV

Now that you have been born again, you must take the next step and begin to serve Him by faith. Seek God with your whole heart and you will find Him. Don’t be afraid to hear His voice or face what He might ask of you because He is for you. We don’t have to fear the God that saved us, but we must reverence Him and honor His will in our lives. If we will reverence the Lord through obedient faith, He will purge our guilty conscience, and it will keep us from sin (Exodus 20:20).

Free from the Guilt of Sin,
Pastor Asa Dockery

Make A Change

Hebrews 10 : 36 – 39, For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: "For yet a little while, and He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; but if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him." But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul. NKJV

Are you saved from sin? If you are, then the Word of God commands you to live by faith. However, many believers struggle when it comes to understanding their salvation. Hosea tells us in chapter 4 that God’s people are destroyed because of a lack of knowledge of the truth. When Jesus came to earth, He didn’t preach about the traditions of the elders or the doctrines of the Pharisees, but He taught the people truth. In John 8, He told the Jews, who had believed in His teachings, to continue in His Word, and they would come to know or recognize the truth, and the the truth that they knew would set them free from the bondage of sin.

Even so, we must avoid the pit that Israel fell into when God delivered them from the land of bondage… which, to us, represents coming out of sin. Even though God had saved Israel from living in bondage to Pharaoh, the Israelites chose not to listen to God when they met with Him at Mount Sinai. If we are saved, we must walk in our new identity by faith. As the scripture has instructed us in Hebrews 10, “The just shall live by faith.” If we should draw back from heeding the voice of God because of fear or unbelief, then God has said that He would have no pleasure in us.

But the generation that came out of Egypt didn’t want to listen to the voice of God or hear the truth because they were living in unbelief. Let’s bring this conversation up to today’s generation. Many Christians believe the fallacy that once they’re born again, they no longer have to be accountable to God or serve God; they need only to enjoy life on their terms. Isn’t that pretty much what Israel did in the wilderness.

They wanted God to provide for them, but they didn’t want to obey God by faith. If, as Christians, we choose to walk according to the desires of flesh, instead of dying to those desires, we will not be able to fulfill God’s purpose for our lives. Paul tells us in Galatians 6, if we sow to the flesh nature, we will of the flesh reap corruption, decay, and death. Nevertheless, if we choose to sow to the spirit, we will of the Spirit reap life and peace. Those who chose to walk in unbelief all died in the wilderness, but those who denied self and chose to obey the voice of God, these entered into the Promised Land.  

Salvation isn’t just about going to heaven someday. True salvation is also about living victoriously by faith while in this present world and inheriting the promises of the Kingdom of God. If you are born again, don’t you desire to please the Father? Don’t you desire to be transformed into the image of Christ and to live holy before God? I desire these goals to be true in my life as well, not out of fear, but rather out of my love and devotion to the God that loved me when no one else could reach me because of my sins.

If you have been living your new life in Christ only to please “self,” and you desire to make a change today, then submit your will to His will. Put God before everyone and everything else and pursue Him. You won’t lose anything that is good for you. Instead, the good things will become a greater blessing in your life because your priorities are correct now.

Inheriting the Promises of God,
Pastor Asa Dockery

Knowing The Father

John 1 : 15 – 18, John bore witness of Him and cried out, saying, "This was He of whom I said, 'He who comes after me is preferred before me, for He was before me.'" And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is in the bosom of the Father, He has declared Him. NKJV

The prophet Malachi declared that God is the Lord, and He does not change. Even so, what is truth according to scripture, and why do we need to know the truth and walk in it? In the first chapter of the gospel of John, he writes to us about the Word of God. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. The Holy Spirit revealed to John the origin of truth that has the power to save people’s souls. The truth that we now know to be the Word of God proceeded from the mouth of God.

Therefore, we know that truth didn’t begin with man, but with God. Just by the Lord revealing this one truth about His Word, He assures us that man’s beliefs and opinions have nothing to do with truth. In other words, if what we believe or what we speak as humans doesn’t line-up with the Word of God, then we must be willing to accept that we are wrong in light of the Bible and begin to embrace change… if we want to know God for who He really is.

As you continue to read the first chapter of John, you will begin to see a progression of the plan of God as it pertains to the manifestation of His Word as truth. John boldly declared to his generation that the Word which proceeded from the mouth of God had become flesh and dwelt among them. We know that Jesus began as the Word of God, but when Mary received the will of God to bring God’s Son into the earth to preach and proclaim the truth, He became a man. Once Jesus, the Word of God was born in the world, He was known as the only-begotten  Son of God.    

Why is it important that we understand where the Word originated, and that He became flesh? Jesus is the only (MAN) that has proceeded from the heart of God. He is the only man who knew the Father (our Creator) from the beginning. He is the only man who knows God for who He really is and not according to the knowledge of man or man’s beliefs. Remember, God spoke to Mary, the mother of Jesus, about His plan to send His Son into the world in order that we might be saved. Instead of Mary being impregnated by a man, God impregnated her with the Seed of His Word through her faith. Now we can have assurance that Jesus is not just a man or just another prophet sent by God; He is, in fact, the Word and the Son of God.  

When Jesus spoke to the people of His day, He spoke the truth like no other man. He also spoke as One having great authority. Why was Jesus different than the “other ministers” of His time? He was the truth, and He had personal and intimate knowledge of God because He had been with God since the beginning. No man can make that claim, only Jesus.  

Therefore, if we as humans desire to know the truth, we must be willing to turn to Jesus, the Word of God, and believe in Him. If we will, then the Father will begin to reveal Himself to us, even though we haven’t known God at all. We can conclude that truth doesn’t come from our minds, but is revealed to our heart through faith in Jesus Christ. Through Jesus, we can come to know the Father and walk in the truth, just as He knew the Father and walked in the truth.

If you desire to know God as your heavenly Father in the way that Jesus does, then you must be willing to obey the command that Jesus spoke to the Jews, who believed on Him in John 8. He told those who believed in His teachings that they must continue in His Word, and they would know the truth and the (revealed) truth would make them free. There’s only one WAY to the Father and one way to know Him as the true God; His name is Jesus, the Son of the living God. This is eternal life (John 17 : 3).

Walking in the Light,
Pastor Asa Dockery

Loving Broken Vessels

John 3 : 17, For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. NKJV

It’s obvious when you look at creation as a whole that God loves diversity. Debbie and I have three sons, and each one of them is different from the other two. They’re distinct in almost every way, even though they’re brothers. It amazes me to watch each son become their own person, and as I watch the maturation process developing each of our children into the person in which they are to become according to God’s plan, I realize that I am witnessing the vastness of God in their individuality. At the same time, even though they are very different from each other, I can see the connectedness of love.

In much the same way that God looked beyond our sins, weaknesses, and flawed behavioral patterns in order to love us back to Him, we are to grow in love toward each other. When God saved us, He didn’t look at us, as though we would always remain the same; instead, He saw us as the people we would become when we chose to accept and embrace His love. As a pastor, I have the privilege of watching the children of our church over the years as they grow up and become young adults. It amazes me to watch as these young adults begin to walk in a new season in their lives and how they struggle to make sense of their beliefs and how to apply them to everyday life.

Paul tells us in Romans 3 that all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. We are all broken vessels in need of God’s love in our lives so that we might be transformed into the original masterpiece that was intended by our heavenly Father. Inevitably, each young person has to come to the place in their faith walk where they must decide whether they’re going to depend on God and allow Him to love them through their struggles, or choose to rely on “self.” Even though we sometimes choose to walk away from the Lord, it doesn’t prevent God from continuing to love and protect us.

In spite of our flaws, God has made a commitment to mankind to love us through the hard seasons of life. We all struggle at times over our faith in God because we are faced with difficult decisions and fiery trials while living in this corrupt world. This is a normal part of maturing and of coming to know the God that Christians call “Abba Father.” Just as God didn’t condemn us as sinners, but sent His only-begotten Son into the world that we might be saved, God is still deeply in love with us, as He works in our hearts to cleanse and to mature us in His love.  

Even though we taught our children beginning at a very early age about Jesus and salvation, each of them has their own belief system. This has taught me a very important principle. Sin has definitely had a major impact on all humans in the way we view God and how we each respond to God. Even though we were originally created in both the image and likeness of God, sin altered the image and changed the likeness in which we saw God. Therefore, we have a “world view” of God before we come to the knowledge of the truth. As sinners or fallen humans, we have our own way of thinking and believing… but not according to truth.

The Bible teaches us to train up our children in the way they are to go and when they’re older, they won’t depart from that path. God is our heavenly Father, who not only loved us while we were sinners, but continues to love us while He changes our hearts to see Him through eyes of truth. If you’re a child of God, then you’re on the same journey as me.

Together, God is working through our mistakes, failures, and sins to bring us to the knowledge of the truth and to know His love, which surpasses knowledge. Through it all, God has never stopped loving us. Although He has loved us, He wouldn’t allow us to remain the same as when He picked us up out of the miry clay. We may be broken, but we must never forget that we are deeply loved by our Creator and heavenly Father.  

Covered by the Love of God,
Pastor Asa Dockery

When Trust Is Broken

John 14 : 23 – 24, Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me. NKJV

In today’s passages, Jesus is instructing His disciples to demonstrate their love for Him by keeping and continuing the work of His Word in their walk. Please allow me a few moments of your day to make a distinction between love and trust. Do you have someone in your life that you love, but don’t trust?  They may be a relative or very close friend, but they have acted inappropriately toward you or violated your trust in some way, and this has strained your relationship with them. It’s not that you don’t love or care for them any longer; it is that your confidence in them has been shattered.

If any of those thoughts describes a relationship that you may have with someone, then let’s look at this principle in a deeper way.  God was displeased with man in Noah’s day because of their hearts continually being filled with evil. Therefore, He made this statement about the flesh of man; He said, “My Spirit shall not always strive with man for he is flesh.” Consequently, God shortened the lifespan of man to 120 years. Even though God has no confidence in man, God never stopped loving man.

In John 3, John writes about the love of God and declares that God so loved the world that He gave His only-begotten Son. In spite of the evil ways of man, and although God couldn’t trust the flesh of mankind to fulfill His will in the earth, God still gave His best for our worst. Although our sins stopped His will from being obeyed in the earth, it didn’t stop Jesus from dying for our sins so that we might be reconciled with the Father once again.  

Through His love, God looked beyond the symptoms of our sins, such as disobedience and lack of character and dealt with the root cause, which was an evil heart of unbelief. Now, all that God asks of us is that we place faith in the work of Christ and believe on HIM for our salvation.

Here’s the point of today’s word: When we come to faith in Christ, it doesn’t mean that we will be spared from ever again having loss or pain. In fact, there will be times where you may get hurt at God and stop obeying Him because “your trust has been violated.” It is during these times that Satan can get into the battle and use our pain to stop us from demonstrating our love for God. Remember, Jesus said, “If you love me, then you will keep or honor my commands.” We must understand that love, and trust is NOT the same thing.

Even though God couldn’t trust us as sinners, He never stopped loving us. If we should allow an offense to stop us from demonstrating our love and gratitude through our continued obedience to God, then we have made the decision to love ourselves, or the object of our affection that was lost, to pull back our love from God.  

You can see how Satan is very subtle, but effective in the way that he fights the children of God. We may not always agree with the way that God has chosen to sanctify us from our old ways, but we must not allow the loss or pain of “our cross” to keep us from loving God. Jesus has gone before us to demonstrate how to endure, and through love, finish the race that has been set before us by the Father.

By the Grace of God,
Pastor Asa Dockery