Greetings and blessings in the name of Jesus Christ,
How wonderful it is to come together under the banner of the name of Jesus
Christ. Today while I was praying the Lord laid it upon my heart to begin
writing this message to you. It is not by power or might that this message
is brought but rather by the work of the Spirit within me so that through
me-He may channel His grace and mercy so as to equip you to serve Him.
Exodus 33:19, "And He said, "I Myself will make all My goodness pass
before you, and will proclaim the name of the LORD before you; and I will
be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show compassion on whom I
will show compassion."
Psalm 23:6, "Surely goodness and lovingkindness will follow me all the
days of my life, And I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."
Psalm 25:7, "Do not remember the sins of my youth or my transgressions;
According to Your lovingkindness remember me, For Your goodness’ sake, O
LORD."
Psalm 27:13, "I would have despaired unless I had believed that I would
see the goodness of the LORD In the land of the living."
Isaiah 63:7, "I shall make mention of the lovingkindnesses of the LORD,
the praises of the LORD, According to all that the LORD has granted us,
And the great goodness toward the house of Israel, Which He has granted
them according to His compassion And according to the abundance of His
lovingkindnesses."
Jer 31:4, ""I will fill the soul of the priests with abundance, And My
people will be satisfied with My goodness," declares the LORD."
Hosea 3:5, "Afterward the sons of Israel will return and seek the LORD
their God and David their king; and they will come trembling to the LORD
and to His goodness in the last days."
Psalm 33:5, "5 He loves righteousness and justice;
The earth is full of the goodness of the LORD."
Jer 31:12, "Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion,
Streaming to the goodness of the LORD-- For wheat and new wine and oil,
For the young of the flock and the herd; Their souls shall be like a
well-watered garden, And they shall sorrow no more at all. "
Jer 31:14 - [ In Context | Read Chapter | Discuss this Verse ]
--> --> -->[if gte vml 1]> -->[endif]--> --> --> -->[if !vml]--> --> -->
-->[endif]-->[ Multi-Translation | Make Poster ]
I will satiate the soul of the priests with abundance, And My people shall
be satisfied with My goodness, says the LORD."
The Lord is deeply troubled by many things that are going on
in our culture and world today. He is troubled by the sick,
the hurting and the broken going untended to. He is troubled
by the many ministers who go around burning themselves out. We
are a people addicted to the religious aspects of what a life
with God may look like, but without the sacrifice of actually
growing in God. This is a deeply troubling aspect and fact of
the modern Christianity today. In Christianity it is praised
to work overtime with study but not prized to spend time in
reflection. As one who is engaged in the task of Pastoring the
flock of God it is also my responsible to the people who call
me Pastor to take care of myself. One of the key aspects where
Israel fell into disobedience was when their obedience became
compartmentalized. For example when David sinned it was not
because he did not love God but rather it was out of lust.
Even though King David was a great man of God he still had
issues. It is still the same for us today. Even though we may
think we have nothing going on-there is always some area of
weakness in our lives. We are all human beings on Planet Earth
and nobody is perfect in this journey towards growing in
Christ. We all need each other Praise God for that! God made
us one for another to use our gifts by His grace and power. He
did not call the mighty of this world, but those of lowly
stature He calls and equips to serve Him in power. The god of
this world may rage against the powers that be, but there is
but One King, and that is Jesus the Christ. He is forever and
ever while the temporary power of satan may seemingly be of
some supremacy, but for not the Lord is still the King of
Kings and the Lord’s of Lord
S!
How I give praise unto the Father for His great work within my own life
and the lives of those whom He allows me to minister unto. Very often
though there are avenues into our lives that we allow ourselves to get
involved in that cause us to not see and or taste the goodness of the
Lord. Oh taste and see that the glory of God. Taste and see the goodness
of the Lord. The orphans and the street children of this world cry out for
help in a dry and weary land. The people perish not for a lack of
information but for a lack of demonstration of the power of God moving in
and through the congregation. It is time that we opened up our doors oh
saints of God that the people may experience the grace of God. It is time
for the love of Jesus Christ to flow in and through us. Friends how we
ought to burn with such a fire that the love of Jesus would overflow from
our hearts and lives. When I hear of other believers struggling in their
faith my heart breaks. I long to see the people of God walking in the
power of God under the anointing of His Holy Spirit. I long for people to
grow in and experience more of Jesus. My heart burns for the heart of God
because I have experienced the power of God for myself. It is not by might
nor by power but by the power of the Lord. It is time for more of the
power of God to invade our time and space into this dry and weary land.
The people are perishing not for a lack of knowledge anymore they are
perishing because the people are not allowed to experience the presence of
God. Instead what they are offered is a gospel of legalism that says if
you do this and do that you will grow in the Lord. They are told that you
can experience this and do that but even so if you do these things you
cannot really truly grow. We have denominations that set themselves as
guides to the blind, but they in and of themselves are blind. They do so
under the premise of preaching the Gospel the message of salvation, but in
effect they are also in a position to protect and guide the sheep in
faith. How can the blind lead the blind?
I praise the Lord not for self gain, but for His work within
my own life. I’m thankful that God has been gracious unto me
and giving me good gifts to serve Him. I’m thankful that He
shows me where I’m supposed to be and where I’m not supposed
to be. I can look back at my life in Christ and see how His
hand has protected me. I can see how I was an angry young man
who was addicted to porn, and chronically depressed. I can
look back and honestly wonder where I would be today if it
were not for God leading me out of those activites and into
the study of His Word. Without His Word I would not be where I
am today. Without His healing hand touching me and ministering
His healing into my emotions through the lives of His people I
would not be able to minister to people today. I would not be
healed by the blood of Jesus Christ nor would I be able to
continue in ministry. Without Jesus I would have walked right
out of the very ministry He called me into, because for a time
I was honestly walking in my own power. I became burned out to
the point I didn’t know I was burnt out, and then I walked
into a corridor of life where all of everything was coming
against me which caused me mental harm not to mental emotional
harm. This was very dangerous, but this is the state of many
ministers and believers who do not deal with issues, but
instead say, "Praise the Lord, I’m serving the Lord." Here me,
and hear me good when I said this here. When service for the
Lord because serving without growing in the Lord it is nothing
more than serving yourself. If we are serving self we are not
serving God. God does not want us to grow in ourselves or in
our own strength, but to seek after the righteousness of the
Lord. God wants us to pant for more of Him in this dry and
weary generation. What God wants is worshippers of His holy
presence. What God wants is for His living presence to fall
upon our lives afresh daily. It is not about us it is all
about the Lord. Oh taste and see the glory of the Lord is in
this place in this hour in this time. Hallejiuah to the Lamb
of God!
When we look to the life of King David a man whom God called a
man after His own heart we can see that David had issues.
Every person greatly used by God has issues though but what is
different about the one’s God uses? The people God uses the
most are those who have come to the place where they are tired
of doing life their own way. God is not pleased by those who
wish to do life on their own terms, because it is a direct
denial of God’s authorship of life. God created us for His
glory to share in His glory. When God created you it was for a
unique person nobody would ever have again. When God created
you He did not create you in mistake, but rather formed you
for service for His Kingdom. He did not only form you for
service in His kingdom, but again He formed you to be a
worshipper of His presence. When we take a look into the NT
you can see that those who were broken were restored for what
purpose? What was the purpose of the lady in John 4? This
woman was an adulteress, but also she had issues going on
underneath her life. In other words her spirituality while
perhaps good at a glance-did not include Jesus. Jesus who’s up
and her life is changed on the spot. Jesus meets with this
lady and it shows us today that God wants to meet with us in
the midst of our brokenness to lead us closer to himself. But
why does He need to heal us some will ask? He needs to heal us
because we are broken creatures.
Perhaps your intellect is going to object that you are a
broken creature. It doesn’t take much to prove that we are
broken creatures honestly. All one has to do is go to a major
city in any part of the world. Take a look not at the business
centers, but at the poorer areas of the city. When you walk
into these parts of the cities you can clearly see the events
of what sin does to a city, culture and to people. You can see
people living on the streets, engaging in prostitution and
other activities. What does this say about our civilization?
What hope does the homeless man living under the bridge in the
highest crime area of the city? These are all very valid
questions of course, but of course we must also ask ourselves
the crucial question of where is Jesus in the midst of all
this pain and suffering. If the Christian church believes in
the blood of Jesus Christ is for the salvation of mankind then
we also must believe that it is for the man living in the
dumps in the highest crime area. If we believe in the mercy of
Jesus we must also believe it for the women who is about to
have an abortion. We must also believe in the mercy of Jesus
for the person caught in addictions to pornography,
alcoholism, and other such addictions which are strongholds.
We must believe in the blood of Jesus for the healing of the
family who is having emotional issues. In other words if we
believe in Jesus we must also believe that if He is doing such
a great work within us then He also desires to do the same in
the lives of others around us.
You may be saying by now, "Dave this is all wonderful I know this." How
sweet the sound of grace is. Its bells ring out loud. You can hear the
sound of grace when the church bells ring throughout the city. You can
hear the sound of grace when the choir gets up into its proper place to
sing praises to the Lord. You can hear the sound of grace as the voices of
the congregation rise to the heavens in praise and adoration of the
Savior. But when the church does not rest and take care of itself the
church dies. There is an epidemic in the land today for more and more
churches are closing. Why are they closing? They are closing because
people are not being taken care of. The church is a place for broken
people to be cared for and loved. Jesus gave us simple instructions to
love one another (John 13:35) and the world would know that we are His
disciples. It is my daily prayer that through the ministry of
Servantsofgrace that people would experience the love not of Pastor Dave,
but of the love of Jesus Christ for themselves. It is my sincere prayer
that the love of Jesus would abound more and more in your hearts. It is my
sincere prayer that those who are broken would find healing through the
blood of Jesus Christ.
I long for churches where the Spirit of the Lord may come
flooding in. I long for places where Jesus can move powerfully
in and through influencing the entire city for His name. I
long for cities that are being overrun by the Spirit of God. I
long for cities to be recaptured in and through the love of
Jesus Christ. I don’t know about you but I’m just plain sick
and tired of legalism-I want to see the name of Jesus Christ
lift up high. I want to see the banner of the name of God
lifted up by His people. I long for places where His Spirit
does not need to knock to come in if He is even allowed in. We
love to do business in His house, but His house is to be a
house of prayer. It is time that we set His church in order
friends. It is time that we lifted up the name of the Lord so
that Jesus may move in and through our lives. What do you say
friends? Are you hungry for more of God and less of you? When
John the Baptist ministry was just about done he said, "He
(Jesus) must increase, but I (John the Baptist) must
increase." What John the Baptist understood was that it was
not about him that mattered but that he was but a forerunner
of the One whom God had chosen for the task, which was His
only begotten Son who would die for our sins, be resurrected
from the grave, and Ascend to the Right hand of the Father. It
was to Jesus that we must decrease and He must increase within
us. This means that we are really going to have to take deep
look into the broken places of our lives. For many of us this
will mean that we will have to rearrange our lives. For many
it will require hard examinations deep into our emotional
lives, and into how we were raised even. Does it mean that it
will be easy? The Christian life is not easy, but it is the
life God has called us into. I long for more of Jesus to be
lifted up in His house-His church and among His bride. I don’t
know about you, but I want to see the power of God fall afresh
upon His church so that people can be saved, set free and
renewed in the love of our Father God. I want to see Jesus
lifted up in His place, and also in your lives. I am praying
that God would open up the window of your heart today to
experience a mighty renewing in your life. I am praying that
God would take that which is broken in your life right now,
and lead you to restoration in His name. I am praying that God
would open the doors for His service to His holy people. I am
praying that God would open up your life so that you can
experience healing from issues that have plagued your life. It
is time friends that we arose out of ourselves to see and
taste the goodness of the Lord. It is time dear friends that
we taste of the grace of God for ourselves. God is calling His
people to experience His love ever more to drink of the cup of
the living God.
Do you taste and see the Lord is good towards you today? How long has it
been since you really taste of the goodness of God? How long has it been
since you drunk deeply from the river of His love? How long has it been
since you were prayed for and loved truly? How long has it been since you
heard the Truth from God’s Word? How long has it been since you opened up
the Word of God the Bible for yourself? How long has it been since you
allowed Jesus to come in like the morning sun into your heart? Friends it
is time that we as His people be refreshed in the joy and love of Jesus.
If the deer panteth for water so the souls of many today panteth for the
living Word from the living God of heaven and earth.
May the Lord bless you. May He be gracious unto You granting you peace and
favor in the name of Jesus.
You reading this today remain in my prayers that God would bless you as
you turn more from yourself and more towards Jesus Christ. My prayer is
that you would taste and know the goodness of the Lord.
In Christ Alone,
Pastor Dave
