10,000 Times 10,000

Please don’t try to make a doctrine out of this. It is a spiritual principle, and not intended to be an exegetical study.

I was in a prayer meet most of the day last Saturday with some of the leaders of the Business Men’s Fellowship. Most of the day we had twelve men in constant prayer to seek God’s direction for the ministry. Twelve was also a significant number to Jesus. Though He had many disciples, He specifically called out twelve. What was the point of twelve? This Scripture came to my remembrance.

“How should one chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight, except their Rock had sold them, and the LORD had shut them up?” Deuteronomy 32:30

I recognize that this passage refers to the favor of the armies of Israel against their enemies. But I have often found that Old Testament physical warfare has correlations to New Testament spiritual warfare. One Israelite warrior had tremendous favor on the battlefield against the enemies of the Lord. So what did that have to do with Jesus ordaining twelve with apostolic authority. I’m no “math wiz”, so bear with me. It seems the favor increases ten times with each warrior, etc.

Then it hit me …
1 vs 1,000
2 vs 10,000
3 vs 100,000
4 vs 1 Million
5 vs 10,000,000
6 vs 100,000,000
7 vs 1 Billion
8 vs 10,000,000,000
9 vs 100,000,000,000
10 vs 1 Trillion
11 vs 10,000,000,000,000
12 vs 100 TRILLION

I have no idea how many godly angels or fallen demonic spirits exist in the kingdom of God. John the Revelator said, “And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne and the beasts and the elders: and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands” (Revelation 5:11). That number alone looks like 100 million and then some.

In prayerful authority we walk in spiritual power over the forces of darkness! Jesus told these same disciples, “Behold, I give unto you power to tread on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy: and nothing shall by any means hurt you” (Luke 10:19). We really don’t need a mathematical formula to realize that just a room full of Spirit filled believers who come together to pray in faith and agreement with the Lord’s will, do so in authority over ALL spiritual forces! But the shear numbers gave me a vivid picture of what ALL really means. The theory (not doctrine) is that Jesus called out 12, because 12 possessed total domination over any, every and all spiritual powers. It only took 12. Twelve was enough. If this is true, then the principle is unchanged for us in our day. We must gather to pray! As the National Day of Prayer approaches on Thursday May 7, let us put into perspective, the power of prayer to affect the will of God in the earth! Let us pray!

School of Life Long Learning

I’m passionate about Christian education. Call me “Christian Ed” if you like. I remember summer camp when I was a teen. We were visited by the president of a Bible college. His approach to the young people was very interesting. He asked the students, “What career choice have you made for your future?” Many kids weren’t sure. Others were confident they would pursue fields in engineering, medicine, law enforcement and business. His next question was simple. “After completing your education,” he asked, “how many years of your life will you spend in that profession?” Most of the young people assumed 30, 40, maybe even 50 years in their chosen occupation. He then asked, “How many years do you expect to be a Christian?” The obvious answer is the rest of your life. The last question was, “Then should you consider starting your adult life in Christian education?”

The Bible college president posed a convincing argument. Too bad I didn’t follow his counsel in my youth. It took me many more years to come to the reality of his sage advice. A career may last a few decades, but serving the Lord is forever. Yet, how seriously do we take the issue of adult Christian education? I believe as believers, when entering into relationship with Christ, we enroll in a “School of Life Long Learning.” One human lifetime is not enough to learn all there is to know about God. But isn’t that one of the primary reasons God has given this one life to you?
“Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the priceless gain of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I may have Christ.” (Philippians 3:8 NLT)

However, I have witnessed well meaning Christians dismiss the value of faithful commitment to Bible study. “Sunday School is what I did as a kid,” seems to be their attitude. It really demonstrates an attitude of, “I did my time as a kid, so I don’t need Bible classes anymore.” With or without a degree, we don’t graduate from Bible school until resurrection. I am confident that I will take and teach Bible courses for the rest of my life. It is a matter of spiritual discipline in my mind.

Another deficiency to note is the “dummy down” approach being taken with adults. We need to teach to stretch and grow our faith by the Word of God (Rom. 10:17). If I had my druthers, I would teach all adult classes at least to a junior college level. We tend to live with such low expectations of students that we seldom give homework or expect that students will memorize Scripture verses. You might be surprised at what level students will rise to when challenged and lead.

I’ve been so pleased with the resent response we had at our church in launching a school of ministry. I told the pastor if we could get six commitments we should start the two year diploma program. Wonder of wonders! We finished our first session with 24 disciples. Four times more than the fleece I had laid out. But people are hungry for discipleship, thirsty for the knowledge of God and longing for leadership.

In this day and age we desperately need believers to give God their best effort toward self-discipline to study, learn and grow. If you are gifted and capable, we need you to step up and teach the Word. If you are a true follower, seek out and find Bible based, Spirit filled courses to study. Join the “School of Life Long Learning” today!

If you live near Stockton, CA, take classes with us at Lakeview bible Institute (http://www.lakeviewassembly.com/). If you can study online, try Golden State School of Theology (http://www.goldenstate.edu/).

The Lost Coin

I recently finished teaching a series on “Kingdom Parables”. A few weeks ago I was meditating on the parable of the “Woman & the Lost Coin” (Luke 15:8-10). This is one of the lost-and-found parables of Jesus. There is truly more joy in heaven when a lost soul is restored to faith in Christ. But something else occurred to me from this story. Practically speaking, what did the woman really loose? One coin out of the ten was probably equal to a day’s wages. I suppose that could stress a person out. But I think there was something deeper in her panic. The tenth coin that she lost was her tithe! And, according to Malachi 3 with the tithe goes the blessing.

Now, I understand that tithing is a controversial subject. I don’t see tithing as a command to new covenant believers. The New Testament command is to love – God, you, believers, neighbors and enemies. That encompasses just about everybody, don’t you think? Tithing is an expression of love for God and everyone else! The servant of the Lord owns nothing. Everything belongs to the Master. Regular, consistent tithing supports the local church that provides ministry to your family and others. Giving the tenth portion of our increase is a guideline that expresses we understand that all we have is our trust of the kingdom of God, and that we are answerable to Him for how we manage 100% of these kingdom assets. In the new covenant the tithe is an expression of commitment and faithfulness to the Lord. Whether Old or New Testament, God rewards expressions of faithfulness!

Then the next question to be answered is this. Where did she lose her tithe? If she can find it, the blessing of God can be restored to her. I suppose, when she retraced her steps, she realized the tenth coin was lost in her house. Now, I have heard people say they can’t afford to tithe; that is to make a commitment to regular consistent giving to the kingdom of God through the local church. Truth be told, I will be the first to admit, we have made just about every financial mistake in the book, but we have always made a concerted effort to maintain the tithe as an expression of our faith toward God.

When I started to think about losing the tithe in the house, the thought occurred to me how wasteful the American Christian is. We leave the lights on, waste gas, through food away, over eating, over spending, pay exorbitant interest rates on credit cards. Not to mention that we are gluttons for entertainment and high tech gadgets. Ask yourself, “Could I find the tithe, if I removed the movie channels from my cable subscription, or cut the cable all together? Could I find the tithe, if I planned my meals and ate out less? Do I need to keep the gym membership, if I don’t go? Etc.” We need to get back on a reasonable household budget until we find the tithe again. Try paying your tenth first, than live on the rest. And don’t forget to save for your financial future.

When the woman in the parable found the tithe, she had a party! There will surely be a party in the house of God when 100% of the believers give 100% of the tithe! The local church is struggling today with only 20-30% of the membership faithfully contributing. Think of what we can accomplish for the kingdom of God when all believers bring the entire tithe into the “storehouse”. When we prove ourselves to be faithful with the little that we have now, God will be able to trust us with more. Would you count it an honor to garner our Lords trust?

Compressed Time Frames

I think I remember someone saying, “We are living in a period of compressed time frames.” I shared with our Business Men’s Fellowship today that it feels like we are running to catch up to jump onto a moving train that’s picking up speed. I don’t know if it’s true for the rest of the world, but for the kingdom of God the times and the seasons are gaining momentum. Our labor in the Lord is also becoming more concentrated, and we are experiencing greater result for the effort.

I’m reminded of the parable of the farmer in Matthew 20, who hired laborers for the vineyard. He went to the marketplace in the early morning, late morning, noon, early afternoon, then finally late afternoon, always finding able bodied workers for the field of harvest, standing around, unemployed in the square.

The parable doesn’t say harvest, but I assume it from Jesus comment in John 4:35, “Say not ye, There are yet four months, and [then] cometh harvest? Behold, I say unto you, Lift up your eyes, and look on the fields; for they are white already to harvest.” Since the time of Jesus, the field of the earth has been ripe for the picking.

The farmer paid each man as agreed. (That’s another lesson.) But I asked the Lord once, “Why the urgency? What was the big hurry?” All I could imagine were billows of dark clouds looming over the horizon. An ominous storm was brewing, and the farmer knew the harvest had to come in that day, for by tomorrow whatever was left in the field would summarily be destroyed by the oncoming weather front. It was no longer a matter of skill, or resources, or money. This was a last days ingathering or nothing!

Jesus lived life with this sense of urgency, and expressed it when he said, “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work” (John 9:4). This life is our one shot, and this may be the last generation to have the opportunity to labor in the harvest field while it is yet day. “…Behold, now [is] the accepted time; behold, now [is] the day of salvation” (II Cor.6:2).

May this be our prayer while we are working. Yes, working and praying at the same time. “The harvest truly [is] plenteous, but the labourers [are] few; Pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he will send forth labourers into his harvest” (Mat 9:37-38).

Two Kinds of Storms

Jesus said, "Peace be still." Those words in the midst of that tempestuous moment must have calmed more than the wind and the waves. Albert Barnes puts in this way, "There is something exceedingly authoritative and majestic in this command of our Lord. Standing amidst the howling tempest, on the heaving sea, and in the darkness of the night, by his own power he stills the waves, and bids the storm subside. None but the God of the storms and the billows could awe, by a word, the troubled elements, and send a universal peace and stillness among the winds and waves. He must, therefore, be Divine." Words can have their meanings and definitions, but when the "Word made Flesh" speaks with such commanding authority, all of the kingdom must bow, in heaven, on earth and under the earth. Light and darkness stand at attention. Even so must the very fear and anxiety within us bow to the calming command of the One who set the very stars in their places, and ordered the sun to rule the day, and the darkness to rule the night. In one moment Peter and the other disciple are questioning if the Master even cares for their well being as the stormy sea batters the little boat and slaps them coldly in the face. In the next moment another kind of chill shuddered their souls as their sea of doubt turns to humble tranquil surrender in the wake of the absolute Lordship of Christ...:

People's New Testament Commentary adds, "Such an astounding display of power, the control of the storm in which men are as helpless as infants, filled them with awe. What manner of being could he be whom storm, wind, and sea obeyed? They had not yet learned that the word which the sea obeyed was the word in obedience to which the world itself was made." Is it any wonder that these same fear filled disciple burst out of that upper room on that great day of Pentecost as the men who "turned the world upside down?" This same Jesus, who arrested the wind and the waves on that day, is the very same Spirit of Christ who released the rushing mighty wind that filled the place where they were sitting, with cloven tongues of fire that consumed their timidity and turned them into the Apostles of the New Covenant!

In our past, we have lived in the bondages of fear, anxiety, timidity and doubt. We have now been empowered by the same Holy Spirit who enables us to break free from the controlling influences of our past, and go forth, living the rest of our lives in power and love and a sound mind of the Spirit of peace! Jesus in the Prince of peace! Jesus is the King of kings, and the Lord of lords! He is Lord of all, and He is Lord of the storms of my life!

Read my book, "IDENTIFYING GOD". To order a copy, or for more information contact me at edhan362@yahoo.com

Painful Parenting

Did our parents lovingly discipline us? I got a spanking and a hug from my father. "And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth" (Heb. 12:5-6). The Almighty Shaddai, (which is one of the seven proper names for God), lovingly disciplines His children.
In my mind punishment is different than discipline. Punishment is to impose a penalty for our sins. We are incapable of repaying the full price for the cost of our sin, so Christ took the penalty for sin upon Himself. The price has been paid in full on the cross for all who believe. Though the penalty is removed, God still lovingly disciplines us as His children. Discipline is training that corrects, molds, or perfects. Even this, at times, can be a painful but necessary growing process in our lives.

I had to take one of my daughters to the doctor to get her immunization shots when she was small. When she saw the needle on the syringe she panicked and became hysterical. Neither the nurse nor the doctor could hold her steady. I had to take her in my arms and hold her still, and tell her it was going to be alright. She couldn't clearly articulate her feelings, but her eyes said it all. "Daddy, why are you letting them hurt me like this?" At her young tender age, do you think that she could understand the vaccine from the needle was going to protect her from a disease that could kill her? This was beyond her comprehension, but I had a responsibility to protect her from a worse fate. Therefore, I allowed her to be hurt by the doctor in order to save her from something worse.

Was that love? That was the kind of love that parents have for their children. "See now that I, [even] I, [am] he, and [there is] no god (elohiym) with me: I kill, and I make alive; I wound, and I heal: neither [is there any] that can deliver out of my hand" (Deu. 32:39). There are times when we need to realize Almighty (Shaddai), in His power to destroy, is trying to work something out in us. This may seem like a hardship at times, but in the end we will see the wound and the healing were both expressions of His love.

(Taken from my book, "IDENTIFYING GOD". To order a copy, or for more information contact me at edhan362@yahoo.com)