Prayer Partners - Valuable Beyond Description

Recently I received an e-mail from a good friend in the church. He is a spiritually-minded man who understands the power and necessity of the ministry on encouragement. Although his e-mail was directed to me, you will benefit from this simple counsel of praying Scripture-centered prayers when interceding for others.

Hi Pastor Jim:

I hope that your day is being blessed by our Lord. I was thinking about your focus on prayer.

I am sure that many times you are asked to pray for others or just make that choice to do so. God's word teaches us how to intercede for others in Colossians 1:9-12: "We have not ceased to pray for you and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that you will walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might, for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience; joyously giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in Light." This passage teaches us what to pray for and how to pray for others. Ask God that we (they)...

• ...be filled with the knowledge of His will. (Col. 1:9)
• ...walk in a manner worthy of the Lord (Col. 1:10)
• ...bear fruit in every good work (Col. 1:10)
• ...increase in knowledge of God (Col. 1:10)
• ...be strengthened with all power (Col. 1:11)
• ...joyously give thanks to the Father (Col. 11-12)

Our prayers do not have to be specific, but they do need to be full of faith, consistent, and according to God's will. Trusting God means looking beyond what we can see to what God sees.

My prayer is that God blesses you abundantly as you pray for the flock, your family, and your loved ones and as you continue to serve IBC faithfully.

Dick Crump

Amazing Love

The LORD appeared to us in the past, saying: "I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness." Jeremiah 31:3

In an uncertain world, God’s love is certain. Emotions are changeable, even fickle. That is why we rejoice that God’s love is as far above an emotion as the heavens are above the earth. God’s love is an action of His will that is expressed and validated at the cross of Jesus.

God’s love is personal. I have loved YOU. With the Lord, we are not a number. We are not lost in the crowd. The Lord’s personal knowledge of, and involvement in, our lives is a basic element of this covenant love.

God’s love is permanent. …with an EVERLASTING LOVE. Since God says what He means, and means what He says, we have the confidence that nothing can separate us from the love that is grounded in Jesus Christ.

God’s love is persevering. …I have drawn you with LOVING KINDNESS. Loving-kindness is an Old Testament equivalent for mercy. Mercy is God’s active love in the midst of our waywardness, frailty and sinfulness. Thank God that when we are unloving and unlovable, the Lord perseveres with His loving-kindness.

"O Lord, in a world that is so fickle and changeable, we rejoice in the certainty of Your love, through Jesus Christ. Amen"

What Should It Look Like Today?

Combine the idea that appearances are not important with the human desire to fit in with the crowd, and you end up with a culture that is becoming sloppily casual. Unfortunately, this mindset not only being applied to attire, it is also promoting the idea that followers of Christ can look and act like society at large. Any attempt to challenge this in the life of the church is likely to receive negative reaction. In fact, in the church I presently serve, shortly after I arrived, a dress requirement was instituted for those who lead in worship.

This was done because I had no desire to see a woman’s midriff or a man’s frayed jeans during worship, both of which were visible in my first weeks as pastor. Coupled with a high view of worship, which means bringing and giving God our best, a very basic dress code was developed. Well, the label of legalist was quickly forthcoming. Who did I think I was to establish expectations for the attire of those leading in worship! It seems that in our effort to become seeker sensitive and relevant, we have become more concerned with the opinion of our unbelieving culture than with the approval of our holy God.

Right from the start, the separation of God’s people from their unbelieving world is set forth in the Word of God. In Numbers 6 it is called “a vow of separation to the Lord.” A couple of specific and visible marks of this separation were to be fastidiously followed. First, evidently in those days, people drinking wine and fermented drink was very common. So, one mark of separation was to abstain from wine and fermented drink. Also, in those days, men evidently cut their hair, with the exact length unknown. So, a second mark of this vow of separation was no razor was to be used on his head.

There are two parts to this. They are ‘vow of separation’ and ‘to the Lord.’ The ‘to the Lord’ is the most important part, emphasizing the spiritual desire to please Him. The ‘vow of separation’ became the outward symbol and representation of the inward spiritual reality and desire. Make no mistake, abstaining from wine and allowing your hair to grow, does not in and of itself, provide any spiritual benefit today, or in the time period of Numbers.

The New Testament, in agreement with the Old, promotes the spiritual truth of separation. It is called being set apart, sanctified, holy.

• It is God’s will that you should be sanctified…For God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life. 1 Thessalonians 4:1,7
• As obedient children, do not conform to the evil desires you had when you lived in ignorance. But just as he who called you is holy, so be holy in all you do; for it is written: "Be holy, because I am holy." 1 Peter 1:14-16
• Do not be yoked together with unbelievers. For what do righteousness and wickedness have in common? Or what fellowship can light have with darkness? What harmony is there between Christ and Belial? What does a believer have in common with an unbeliever? What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said: "I will live with them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they will be my people. Therefore come out from them and be separate,” says the Lord. 2 Corinthians 6:14-17a
  

Here is the question I am posing. What would this look like today? What should be some visible, observable characteristics that distinguish followers of Christ from the fallen world around us? Any list you make must be motivated by the spiritual desire to please Him through your actions. The actions themselves do not set you apart. Rather, since Christ has saved you and set you apart, your actions follow accordingly.

Maybe it is time to sit down in a quiet place with your Lord and your Bible with pen and paper in hand. If you need a place to begin, try Colossians 3. We are not called to fit in with the world. We are called to become more and more like Christ. A "vow of separation to the Lord" might just be in order.

That's a Good Question

Although I have answered the question scores of times, I find myself asking the exact same question. It is not because I do not believe my answer. Rather, it is because I need to hear the answer again and again in my life. The question usually arises when, reading through the Bible from cover to cover, the reader comes to Leviticus and its 27 chapters. The question: Why all the blood and the bloody details about the blood of the sacrifices?

The word ‘blood’ is used 78 times in Leviticus. And around these 78 occurrences, we have vivid and graphic details provided about what is to be done with the blood. Among the more graphic is the use of blood in the ordination of Aaron and his sons. Under the direction of the Lord, Moses took blood from the sacrificed animal and put some on the right ear, the thumb of the right hand and the big toe of the right foot on Aaron and each son being ordained to the priesthood. Then he sprinkled some blood on each side of the altar.

The answer to “why all the blood” is supplied by keeping in mind the central figure of each and every book of the Bible: Jesus! Every mention of the blood of animals used in sacrifice, as prescribed by God, is a picture and a prophecy of the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the Cross. There is another phrase, used 18 times, in Leviticus that focuses even more on the shedding of blood. It is a phrase employed to describe what kind of animals were to be used for sacrifice and offering: without defect. We are “with defect,” or to say it another way, “with sin.” If you and I were without defect or without sin, no sacrifice would be necessary. That, however, is not the case, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23).

Jesus is without defect, without sin. Therefore, He who knew no sin could become sin for us (see 2 Corinthians 5:21). By the way, lest we think the New Testament to be a little less bloody than Leviticus, be reminded that the blood of Christ is mentioned 42 times. It remains central in the New Testament because it is central to the Gospel and central to our salvation.

• ­In Him (Jesus) we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace… Ephesians 1:7
• ­But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since we have now been justified by His blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through Him! Romans 5:8,9
• How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God! Hebrews 9:14
• For you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. 1 Peter 1:18,19

In the book The Cross Centered Life, C. J. Mahaney exhorts followers of Christ to preach the Gospel to themselves every day. This means we need more emphasis, not less, on the blood of Christ.

Why don’t you read the book of Leviticus some time during the next week? As you do, keep your thoughts and attention on the Cross and the shed blood of Jesus. Remember Aaron and his ordination? Thank the Lord that the blood of Christ is applied head to toe, so that our eternal destination is not hell, but heaven.

Now that is Good News!