A Joyful Attitude Adjustment

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

God is calling for a radical change in the Church, a change that goes deeply into the roots of our being.  He is calling for that transformation that can come only from a renewing of our minds.  (Romans 12:2).  God is calling for an attitude adjustment.  In spite of what is happening around on the world stage, God is calling His church into joy and even greater joy.  Greater joy will be the sign that we have undergone the radical change, the transformation by the renewing of our minds that God is calling forth in our lives.  

What makes Christian joy different from the worldly joy?

Worldly joy is fleeting because it rests in satisfying earthly desires.  Christian joy rests in our relationship with God which must include a greater acceptance of His love.   Walking in the love of God brings radical change in our lives. We move out of pessimism and into hope We see the grandeur of our God in His creation.  Our hearts overflow with thanksgiving and worship. We are encouraged, empowered and emboldened in our testimony  .  

              During the troubled times of rebuilding Jerusalem after the Babylonian captivity, Nehemiah encouraged the workers:  "Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our LORD. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength" (Nehemiah 8:10 NKJV).

  God is not desirous of a weak, sickly, fearful Bride.  We are strengthened by rejoicing but are weakened by fearful murmuring and complaining. Revelation 19:7 tells us the Bride must make herself ready for the coming of the Bridegroom.  That readiness means choosing to be joyful.

            Our joy is a testimony to the overcoming power of our God.  When asking for forgiveness for his grave sin, David sang unto the Lord: ^“Restore to me the joy of Your salvation, And uphold me by Your generous Spirit. Then I will teach transgressors Your ways, And sinners shall be converted to You” (Psalm 51:12-13 NKJV).  Both David’s joy and his witness came from a renewed relationship with God.
 

            We cannot deny that we live in troubled times in a fallen world.  Many of God’s people are experiencing personal afflictions as well.  The apostle James wrote: “My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience. But let patience have its perfect work, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking nothing” (James 1:2-4 NKJV).

            Personally, I am trusting in Romans 8:28 (NKJV). “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.” I am asking God for discernment to see and understand the goodness that  God is bringing forth from present difficult circumstances.

            As we walk through the valleys of life, we must remember the words of Solomon in Proverbs: 

▪ Proverbs 15:13 (NKJV)
¹³  A merry heart makes a cheerful countenance, But by sorrow of the heart the spirit is broken.

▪ Proverbs 15:15 (NKJV)
¹⁵  All the days of the afflicted are evil, But he who is of a merry heart has a continual feast.

▪ Proverbs 17:22 (NKJV)
²²  A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a broken spirit dries the bones.

Thanksgiving in the Highest

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Revelation 5:13 (NKJV)

^“And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever.’”

            It is in thanksgiving that we praise God for what He has done in our lives. In thanksgiving, we sing as David sang: Psalm 30:11-12 (NKJV)  “You have turned for me my mourning into dancing; You have put off my sackcloth and clothed me with gladness, To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks to You forever.  

            However, it is in adoration that we praise God for Who He is.  In adoration we join with John as he observed those worshipping around the throne in heaven. Revelation 5:11-13 (NKJV) “Then I looked, and I heard the voice of many angels around the throne, the living creatures, and the elders; and the number of them was ten thousand times ten thousand, and thousands of thousands, saying with a loud voice: ‘Worthy is the Lamb who was slain To receive power and riches and wisdom, And strength and honor and glory and blessing!’

       “And every creature which is in heaven and on the earth and under the earth and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them, I heard saying: ‘Blessing and honor and glory and power Be to Him who sits on the throne, And to the Lamb, forever and ever!’” 

            Let us begin this holiday season by praising God for all that He has done in our lives remembering always that the greatest gift He has given us is salvation through the atoning work of Jesus on the Cross.  Let us then move into adoration of Who He is. He is the Beginning and the End, Creator and Sustainer of the universe, Redeemer, King of Kings and Lord of Lords.  He is omnipotent, omniscient, omnipresent and omnibenevolent. He is the Ancient of Days, the Lion of Judah, and He has chosen to call us His friends.

            Psalm 34:3 (NKJV)  “Oh, magnify the LORD with me, And let us exalt His name together.”

Time to Rebuild and Restore 

Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

Isaiah 35:8-10

"A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for others. Whoever walks the road, although a fool, shall not go astray. No lion shall be there, nor shall any ravenous beast go up on it; it shall not be found there. But the redeemed shall walk there.  And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away."

Review:

It seems that the Church in America has been in a Babylonian captivity for many years.  Our captivity came because we succumbed to the customs of the world system rather than the commandments of our King.  We have given both tacit and tangible approval of practices that the Bible has warned us are not God’s best for us, i.e. sinful practices.  We have allowed the chains of political correctness to bind us.  We have diluted the Word of God.

The world system, like the Babylonian conquerors of Israel, is crying for the awakening of God’s people. We have become like the ancient Israelites, unable to bring joy into the world.

Consider Psalms 137:1-4: “By the rivers of Babylon, There we sat down, yea, we wept When we remembered Zion. We hung our harps Upon the willows in the midst of it. For there those who carried us away captive required of us a song, And those who plundered us required of us mirth, Saying, ‘Sing us one of the songs of Zion!' How shall we sing the Lord's song In a foreign land?”

The Lord is calling us out of our captivity in the Babylon of worldliness that has surrounded us in the past years.  It is time for us to take our harps from the willow trees and return to Zion. 

When Cyrus allowed the Israelites to return to Jerusalem, they did not return to a resplendent nation.  Judea was broken physically and spiritually.  The walls were in ruins; the Temple destroyed.  The returning remnant met opposition at every turn.  The return was difficult.  Yet God blessed them and brought them through to victory. 

It is now our time to rebuild and restore.

The rebuilding and restoration must begin with the Church, the spiritual Israel.

Isaiah preached that charity and compassion are the foundation stones to rebuilding and restoring.

Isaiah 58:10-12: “If you extend your soul to the hungry and satisfy the afflicted soul, then your light shall dawn in the darkness, and your darkness shall be as the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your soul in drought, and strengthen your bones; you shall be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. Those from among you shall build the old waste places; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; and you shall be called the Repairer of the Breach, the Restorer of Streets to Dwell In.”

The government in Babylon allowed and encouraged the rebuilding of Jerusalem.  However, it was God’s people who had to do the rebuilding.  And so, it is up to God’s people to rebuild this nation.

The books of Ezra and Nehemiah tell the story of the rebuilding and restoration.  The first edifice to be built was the Temple.

Ezra 1:5-7:  "Then the heads of the fathers' houses of Judah and Benjamin, and the priests and the Levites, with all those whose spirits God had moved, arose to go up and build the house of the Lord which is in Jerusalem. And all those who were around them encouraged them with articles of silver and gold, with goods and livestock, and with precious things, besides all that was willingly offered.  King Cyrus also brought out the articles of the house of the Lord, which Nebuchadnezzar had taken from Jerusalem and put in the temple of his gods.”

What had been taken from them was returned.  We must cry out to God for those freedoms which have been challenged and/or actually taken from us to be restored.

In chapters 9-10, Ezra called for confession of sin and repentance. The Jewish people confessed and repented for their sins.  We believers must confess and repent for our sins and then for the sins of our nation.

Before the Babylonian captivity, Israel had adopted many pagan practices including the worship of Baal. The fundamentals of Baal worship remain alive and well today. The principal pillars of Baalism were child sacrifice, sexual immorality (both heterosexual and homosexual) and pantheism (reverence of creation over the Creator).

As we seek to rebuild the spiritual temple of God, our personal temples must be cleansed.

Daniel spoke of an Abomination of Desolation (Dan. 11:31; 12:11) that desecrated the Temple of God.  It happened during the years between the Old and New Testaments.  It will happen again in the Third Temple as prophesied in the Book of Revelation.

Sadly, it is occurring today in the Church.    Some areas about which we should be concerned include:

•Denial of Creation

•Fascination with violence

•Horoscopes and other occult activities

•Substance abuse

•Unbiblical sexual activity

If we want to be repairers of the breach, we must first confess and repent of sinful beliefs and practices in our own lives. 

Remember: “A highway shall be there, and a road, and it shall be called the Highway of Holiness. The unclean shall not pass over it, but it shall be for others.

Each of us must examine our own heart and decide whether we want to walk on the Highway of Holiness or remain in Babylon.

Ctrl/click the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NsrpSM2Fz-s

Holy Highway

Ginger Hendricks | Jim Hendricks

  

The Time of Love

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe

In these days, God is revealing in great depth “the Spirit of the Bride” to His Church. Indeed, now her time is “The Time of Love” (Ezekiel.16:8). God is calling the Bride of Christ to make herself ready as she awaits the return of her Bridegroom (Revelation 19:7). His desire is for her to come into the depth and full significance of His love and to reveal that love in our daily lives.  God wants to see His people healed and delivered, and able to walk in the fullness of who they were created by their Heavenly Father to be. He desires maturity in the Church.  The Father’s heart yearns to see us living our lives out of a place of purpose, divine fullness, abundance and faith.

 

Father God is raising up mature Sons of God in this hour who are willing to be carriers of His marvelous light, who exist to carry on the ministry of Jesus Christ and further advance His kingdom by undoing all works of darkness.

Christ Jesus is coming back for a glorious Bride, without spot or wrinkle, a people that hear His voice and walk in the unity of the faith and the knowledge of the Son of God.

Mature Christians are called to encourage, equip and activate the Body of Christ in our gifting, calling and destiny. God desires for us to know Him more intimately and to make Him known to a lost and dying world.

 Walking in the joy and peace of the Lord in spite of the circumstances in our lives is a powerful testimony to a confused and seeking world. Because joy and peace are fruit of the Spirit, they are part of our spiritual DNA.  They are developed in our lives when we understand our identity in the Lord and accept the truth that we are radically loved by our Creator.  Just as nothing can separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus, nothing can separate us from the joy and peace that spring forth from that love.  When we receive that into our lives, we can move into ministry that will change the lives of others.

 Celebrating the Feast of Tabernacles:   

The 7 Fruits of Israel:  Olive Oil 

By Rev. Lonnie C. Crowe 

 

Deuteronomy 8: 7-8 "For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land, a land of brooks of water, of fountains and springs, that flow out of valleys and hills; a land of wheat and barley, of vines and fig trees and pomegranates, a land of olive oil and date honey.” 

 

These seven fruits make up the Bikkurim, the first fruits offered in thanksgiving to the Lord at the Temple in Jerusalem during the Appointed Times of the Lord: Passover (Pesach), Pentecost (Shavuot) and Tabernacles (Sukkoth). 

 

In scripture, oil often represents the Holy Spirit.  While the Holy Spirit indwells all believers, we do not always avail ourselves of His power and direction in our lives.  He is our Helper (John 14:16). He is the one who leads us into all truth (John 16:13).  He imparts to us the spiritual gifts as described in 1 Corinthians 12.  His presence allows the fruit of the spirit to enrich our lives (Galatians 5:22-23).  He empowers us to do the work of the Kingdom (Acts 1:8). 

 

Everything olive oil is used for in the natural has a spiritual significance.  Olive oil is used for light, sustenance, healing, preservation, and anointing.  The Holy Spirit works in our innermost being in the same way.   

 

Consider the parable of the wise and the foolish virgins. Matthew 25:1-13 (NKJV) "Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. 

And at midnight a cry was heard: 'Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!' 
Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' 
But the wise answered, saying, 'No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.' And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. 
Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!' But he answered and said, 'Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.' Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming.” 

 

One of the many lessons of this parable is about missed opportunities to serve and to fellowship with our Lord because we are unprepared. 

 

All ten virgins had been invited to meet the bridegroom.  All ten had lamps.  All ten slumbered and slept.  The difference lay in their preparedness.  Five had oil and five had none.  

 

Attempting to do the Lord’s work with no oil in our lamps leads to frustration, despair, missed opportunities and burn out.  It is imperative that we keep our lamps full.  

 

In 1 Kings 17, we read the story of Elijah and the widow.  Her flour and oil were continually replenished as she used them to feed her family and the prophet.  Obedience to the Lord kept her supply replenished.  In our obedience, He will supply our need (Philippians 4:19). 

 

Prayerful meditation on the Word will also keep us ready and willing to serve as the Lord would have us serve. The psalmist wrote, “I have more understanding than all my teachers, For Your testimonies are my meditation. I understand more than the ancients, Because I keep Your precepts. I have restrained my feet from every evil way, That I may keep Your word” (Psalm 119:99-101 NKJV).   

   

Worship will cause our cups of oil to overflow.  Declaring to the Lord His glory, majesty and power lifts us to higher ground. Living on that higher ground empowers us to meet our Bridegroom in every circumstance of our lives. 

 

An old favorite song is “Give me oil in my lamp, keep me burning.”  The biblical truth is that in the Holy Spirit we do have oil for our lamps.  It is up to us to replenish that oil through obedience, service, meditation, worship and fellowship with our Lord.