BLOWING THE TOP OFF
"Give , and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you."
Luke 6:38

Science was never my best subject by any means, but it did always seems to hold my interest more when we did experiments. My favorite one, and one I still use to awe my own kids at times, is the mini explosion when baking soda and vinegar react. Now incase you have never tried this, allow me to explain the steps for you. Back before all cameras were digital, you could take an empty film canister and fill the bottom section with about two teaspoons of vinegar. In the lid you would pack tight a generous portion of baking soda. In a quickened fashion, you closed the lid of baking soda on top of the canister filled with vinegar and stood back. Within a few seconds the canister would shoot up in the air due to the pressure built up from the carbon dioxide gas. This simple and harmless explosion would leave you with a canister that clearly had its top blown off and the substance poured out all over.
I use this illustration as it is one that God has recently shown me concerning His blessings. In Luke 6:38, Jesus is preaching concerning the cause and effect of giving. Clearly put, Jesus tells that that when we give, it will be given back to us. The word 'give' here in the Greek means to bring forth, commit, or deliver. So when we bring it forth, we should also expect that it will be brought forth onto us.
Now if we continue in this verse we see exactly how it will be brought forth. A good measure, or portion in the Greek, will be brought. It will be pressed down, or tightly packed and squeezed into the container just like our baking soda. And then, with the mix of God acting like the vinegar, it is shaken together, stirred up, vibrated, building pressure until finally BAM! It then is running over and pouring out all over us. Running over in the Greek is defined as the exceeding overflow. This isn't just a little foam, but rather a huge explosion and blasting off like the with the canister. And how eye opening that the words 'poured into' is the same word in the Greek as 'give'. The reaction of mixing giving with God is His exceeding giving back on us.
I think it fitting that after Jesus talks about the explosion of giving, he brings it all back home with the phrase that how we give defines how we are given back to. Now I am not asking for an offering, so you do not need to fear me passing the plate, but I want to share with you what God has been impressing on me. No matter how we view this, it all comes back to obedience. There have been times when God has prompted me to give generously and I have given a smaller amount. There have been times when I have also given generously as prompted and really did not have much to spare. But regardless of my pocket book, God did not want my money. He wanted my obedience. When I obeyed God completely, God blew the top off my canister. On the flip side, when I did not obey, a little foam was produced, but not an top blasting overflowing amount.
We have to begin to see God not as Jehovah Just-Get-By, but Jehovah Jirah, the provider who knows no limits. We get used to survival when God is wanting to bless us with more than enough. Fear of our finances, time, resources, etc, has to be gotten rid of. The muscle of faith needs to be built up. So let us prepare ourselves for the blowing off of the top. Let us pray for what God wants us to do, and obey fully. In giving of our obedience we will see Him shake the canister for a top popping explosion. Obey God in your giving, and join me ON THE VANGUARD!

THE SHADES OF SIN part 2
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land."
II Chronicles 7:14

If you mix blue and yellow, then you will get green. If you beat heavy whipping cream long enough, then you will make butter. And if I drive 43 miles per hour in a 30 mile per hour zone, then I will get a speeding ticket. All these statements have been proven correct. Yes, even the speeding statement was proven in my life just a few weeks back.
When last I wrote I shared with you my decision to steal the lemon and the affects that were a result. Not only did I swell up with guilt, but as Ezekiel 39:24 states, God hid His face from me and handed me over to my enemies. The cost of a simple lemon resulted in distance and death (Rom 6:23). Was it worth it?
Webster's defines an if / then statement as: a statement that proves if something happens then something else will happen. Thank you Webster for those wise words. However, I can think of no greater if / then statement than the one found in II Chronicles 7:14. If God's people will take the steps outlined concerning sin, then God will do what He promises concerning forgiveness. Perhaps we should break down the shades of black and red outlined in this verse with the help of the Strong's.
From the start, God addresses us as His people, or tribe, and under His authority. He spoke directly to us that humility, prayer, seeking of His face and turning from our sin, all composed the IF portion. It is only in doing these things that we can expect the statement, and the outcome, to be promising. And promising it is indeed, for in the THEN portion God tells us that He will be attentive to us, pardon us, and mend us. In breaking down all the words from the Hebrew for this verse, it would read something more like this:
IF My tribe, those I have addressed in my authority, will come under subjection and be judged through intercession and supplication and strive for My face and return to the starting point instead of their naughty and wretched ways, THEN will I be attentive to their voice from heaven and will pardon their offensive penalty and will mend, as a physician, their land.
Black is a stubborn color. When painted on a wall, it seems to take many coats of the next color to hide the black. I have tried it before. Whether with primer or with the next color alone, the black is stubborn to leave. Sin is also stubborn. Looking back at my thievery, the decision to steal was not made on a whim. I contemplated for days. I knew they were there and were ripe. I knew also that a lemon was tart. But the temptation continued to nag at me until finally I gave in. The temptation and desire was stubborn.
But red is also stubborn, and maybe even more so when it flows from Jesus Christ over our sin. As a Christian we have three points of utmost power: the Word, the Name, and the blood. It is when we do take these words in II Chronicles to heart, and humble, pray, seek, and turn, that we find His blood covering our sin and allowing us to be heard, forgiven, and healed.
As I shared last time, the shades of sin are truly only two colors, black or red. The question is, has God hid His face from you because of your sin? IF so, THEN the answer is clear. Follow the instruction He has provided. Let us be judged through intercession and supplication and strive for His face and return to the starting point instead of our naughty and wretched ways. Let Him be attentive to you, pardon you, and mend you. Then come, and join me ON THE VANGUARD!

THE SHADES OF SIN part 1
"And the nations will know that the people of Israel went into exile for their sin, because they were unfaithful to me. So I hid my face from them and handed them over to their enemies and they all fell by the sword."
Ezekiel 39:24

I have a memory from when I was about nine or so that has stuck with me, and for good reason I am sure. My neighbor had a lemon tree with a few lemons ready to be picked and I was more than ready to pick one. I snuck over into her yard under the disguise of getting my ball back, picked one, and bolted back over into my yard. With the fruit of my thievery in my hands, I climbed up our tree and sat on the branch to begin peeling the skin. The smell was fresh, the flavor tart, and the guilt thick.
The minute I finished the lemon I began to feel sick. It wasn't that the lemon was poisoned, but that the delivery was tainted. I had stolen. I had gone against God's command that thou shalt not steal (Ex 20:15). As I held this sin in my heart I allowed the guilt and shame of it to eat me up. The words of David in Psalm 32:3-4 were my words.
"When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy upon me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer."
When I could not take it any longer, I conjured up the strength needed to confess my sin to my mom. As she walked me through repentance with the Lord, the joy in my heart returned. I was forgiven and clean again.
Sadly enough, my days of sin never ended at that moment. As I grew up I dealt with times of rebellion, foul mouth, pride, attitude, selfishness, and lust to name a few. I think back to times when I grew so comfortable to sin that I no longer felt the Holy spirit's conviction for the sins I was committing. With every sin I was distancing myself from God and landing myself deeper into exile.
Honestly, I have always looked at sin in levels, or shades of color on a pallet. There are the big sins, such as murder, which are jet black in color. But then there are the little sins, such as taking a few paper clips home from work, that are like a light light gray or ivory color. As I have grown up, however, I have learned that God sees it one way. Sin is sin, and the only color of sin is black. If I chose to cheat, the color is black. If I want to murder, it is black. If I give someone the finger, it is black. And if I sneak a lemon when the neighbor is gone, or paper clips from work, it is black.
We read that God forgives our sins and in a way, has amnesia. But God is not color blind when it comes to sin. He knows two colors: the black of sin and the red of His blood covering our sin.
To know that God hides His face when I sin is depressing as I want Him to see me. Knowing that I am handed over to the enemy when I sin angers me because I am tired of the devil beating me up. But Ezekiel 39:24 is in a way built on an if/then statement. If we sin, then yes we are distanced from God and handed over to our enemies. But if we confess our sin, renounce it, repent and turn from it, then God is close and we walk under His protection. I have been focusing recently on myself and finding myself praying for a cleansing as I am made aware of items of sin still in my life. I do not want to give the devil any foothold.
Being a Christian is not only about leaving sin behind. It is also about being changed from self-focus to God-focus. I want to be God-focused. If you do too, then let's renounce all sin in our lives and live ON THE VANGUARD!

LEGACY:
"'The LORD is slow to anger, abounding in love and forgiving sin and rebellion. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation.'"
Numbers 14:18

This is not an easy devotional to write this morning. In the past I have shared with you about my overcoming the addition of porn and the lessons I learned from kidney stones, but this one is different. Today I want to share a piece of what God is stirring in me personally. While mowing the grass over the weekend and listening to my ipod, I heard a song that touched me. I had heard it before and had purposefully put it on my ipod. Maybe it was because it played in my headphones while my kids played in the yard that made all the difference. Whatever it was, it moved from just being a song to being a challenge.

I see their faces, look in their innocent eyes
They're just children from the outside
I'm working hard, I tell myself they'll be fine
They're in independent
But on the inside, I can hear them saying...

“Lead me with strong hands
Stand up when I can't
Don't leave me hungry for love
Chasing dreams, but what about us?

Show me you're willing to fight
That I'm still the love of your life
I know we call this our home
But I still feel alone”
Lead Me - Sanctus Real


I am one of the lucky people these days who's parents are still together and just celebrated their 38th anniversary last week. What a testimony of love and devotion. And although I got my share of punishment for the stupid actions I did while growing up, I never felt as though my parents did not love me. They challenged me to be the man I am working hard to be now.
But here in lies my confession; my challenge. Am I being the father God has called me to be? Am I leaving a legacy that my kids will be happy to receive? In reading Numbers 14:18, it says that God will punish the children for the sins of the father. I feel bad enough that my kids have to deal with knowing that their parents could not make marriage work. To add any additional trouble to my kids breaks my heart. I do not want to see my son have to deal with an addiction to porn, or my daughter give into temptations to be popular. It is not worth me seeing them carry on my ill-fated legacy just so that I can enjoy another moment of sin now.
I would much rather see my children receive and carry on a legacy of love. I want them to feel my devotion to them, see my fight for them, and know my love for them. Is that not the legacy God displayed for us? In devotion He sent Jesus as a sacrifice in our place. On our behalf, the devil was confronted and defeated in the fight of the ages. And in confession of our sins, we are given forgiveness because of His love for us. Then I owe it to my children to leave a legacy for them that resembles the legacy God left for me.
You may have children and feel the tug and challenge I am struggling to write out here. Or you may not have children but can still reflect on the legacy that has been passed down to you from your parents. Either way, we are only human and we want what we want when we want it. But I am learning, maybe the hard way, that what I fail to confront and deal with now will not only affect me, but those behind me. In that thought alone, I want to do better. If you also agree and want to leave a legacy of blessing instead of pain, then let us stand up together under the example given us by Christ. Make the choice to leave a blessed legacy, and join me ON THE VANGUARD!

JEHOVAH NISSI
"Then the LORD said to Moses, 'Write this on a scroll as something to be remembered and make sure that Joshua hears it, because I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.' Moses built an altar and called it The LORD is my Banner. He said, 'For hands were lifted up to the throne of the LORD. The LORD will be at war against the Amalekites from generation to generation.'"
Exodus 17:14-16

Remember the movie Glory? The movie itself is based on the letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the commander of the first black regiment in the United States Army. In the final scenes of the movie, the heroic charge of Shaw's Massachusetts 54th regiment on Fort Wagner are recreated. In a speech given before the dawn attack, Shaw points to the regiment's standard-bearer and said to the men, "If this man should fall, who will lift the flag and carry it on?" Thomas Earl, known from the letters as a weak and terrible soldier, boldly steps forward and declares, "I will!" As the fight ensues that night, Shaw is found dead. The standard is not picked up by Earl, who had found courage that morning to declare his stance, but rather by Private Tripp, a soldier who had previously deserted his regiment. The letters of Colonel Shaw were written as not only his personal memories, but as a story that years later we could still find courage in.
Moses had his own story like Colonel Shaw. In Exodus 17, the Bible records Moses leading the people of Israel against the Amalekites. Hur, Aaron, and Moses stood on the top of the hill, while Joshua and his chosen men defended themselves against Amalek. As long as Moses' hands were raised, Israel won the battle. When Moses' arms grew tired and weak, Hur and Aaron held them up. While this is a great illustration of accountability, it is also a great illustration of God as our banner.
Moses, Joshua, nor anyone in God's army raised a flag as we know it, but when the battle was over and the army of Israel was victorious, two actions were completed. First was, God told Moses to write this down as a memory for Joshua, which is now a memory also for us. The second thing, however, was that Moses built an altar to God, naming it Jehovah-Nissi (God is my Banner). The word Nissi is defined in the Strong's as: flag, sail, flagstaff, signal, and standard. In that moment, God proved Himself to Israel as their standard, their flag. As a tribute to Him, they built their altar and named it for who God was in that moment.
We are like Moses, and Amalek is our enemy. The enemy rises up against us and throws attacks our way. Be it drugs, porn, bitterness, sickness, depression, financial hardship, low self-esteem, the list is endless, but the answer is the same. We stand under Jehovah-Nissi. We stand under the flag of who God is. In these moments, call upon Jehovah-Nissi. Raise your hands like Moses; stand with others who will hold you up if needed, but do not give up. Do not let the standard fall to the ground. Now join me ON THE VANGUARD!

SURELY NOT ME
"...As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us."
Psalm 103:12

Back in the summer of 1996, while I was visiting my family between my junior and senior college years, I went through an rough spot. I had been dealing with my pornography addiction for some time by that point and was working hard on resisting the devil that summer, and God was granting me victory. Sadly enough, I wasn't fully winning the fight. Although clean that summer, I struggled with the guilt and shame of what I had done and found myself unable to believe that God was able to forgive me for my actions. My moments of disbelief that summer were complicated as I also struggled with a physical problem that plagued my body that summer.
It was my desire to begin really putting thoughts down on paper, be it stories, poems, songs, what have you. The trouble, however, was that I could only write for a brief moment before my hands with burn with pain. I would go back and forth between the typewriter and printing by hand, looking for anyway to get my thoughts out with the least amount of pain. Each action I took was short lived.
After trying muscle creams and arthritis pain creams and still finding no relief, I humbly sought prayer from the church intercessors. As part of my intership, I had prayed alongside these warriors, so I trusted the one who pulled me aside from the prayer group and explained my pain. Without me giving her the full details, she explained to me the exact pain I was in, even the degree I was at that moment. And then she said a profound statement. "Because you are unable to forgive yourself you have this pain. God has forgiven you of your past and now you also must let it go."
I was left dumbfounded. In a way, I had come to believe that God could forgive anyone else, but surely not me. In my thought, even Charles Mason stood a greater chance of being forgiven than I did. But it was this exact thought pattern that brought upon me my own pain. She continued on for about another ten minutes or so before I was convinced that she was right. My physical pain was a symptom of my pride.
Psalm 103:12 shares that God has removed our transgressions for us. The Strong's defines this word transgressions as such:
6588 - PESHA - moral or religious revolt, rebellion, trespasses
God had already forgiven me of my revolt against Him through my sin, but I had not forgiven myself. As I later heard someone tell me, by not believing that God could forgive me of my sin I was in essence saying that I was better than God. God had mercy on all except me. I was the special child; the exception to the rule. Only I could grant myself the forgiveness I needed, not God.
As I would learn on that summer day, I am not better than God. I held myself above God, and opened myself to an attack. When this was made clear to me, and I asked God to forgive me not only for my actions, but for my attitude towards His forgiveness, my hands were instantly free of pain.
I am unsure if you have any pain as a result of not forgiving yourself, but I know that there are many who simply cannot believe that God forgives anyone except them. It is contrary to Roman 6:23 where we read that all have sinned, and I John 1:9 where we see that with our confession, God is able to forgive us our sin. There is no comment in the Bible that says God will forgive all sin except for ______(fill in the blank), or for all people except for _____(your name here). When God said ALL, He meant all people and all sin.
I challenge you as the day goes on to evaluate yourself. Are you holding a weak image of yourself because you do not think God can forgive you. Is a woe-is-me attitude stunting you from going forward in Christ. You must believe that God's word is true when it comes to forgiveness. He will, can, and does forgive you for any and all sin you have committed. Stop being weighed down by the guilt of the devil, and join me ON THE VANGUARD!

THE SEVEN DAY CHALLENGE
"March around the city once with all the armed men. Do this for six days. Have seven priests carry trumpets of rams' horns in front of the ark. On the seventh day, march around the city seven times, with the priests blowing the trumpets."
Joshua 6:3-4

I woke up from a dream this morning and really felt God was talking to me concerning the account of Joshua and the city of Jericho. However, as I laid there in my awakened prostrate prayer sprawl, I saw how God was not only challenging me, but others as well. Before I go on, though, I should point out that there are two types of walls. They are walls that keep us protected, as seen in the story of Nehemiah, and walls that prevent us from having what God has told us is ours. Whether we like it or not, we all have these preventing walls that we are up against as did Joshua and the Israelites. But, like Joshua, God has promised us the victory, (Josh 6:2).
Six days they marched around Jericho with the ark of the covenant of the LORD. For six days they marched in complete silence, except for the sound of their footsteps and declaration of the trumpet sounds. And for six days they made their rounds and returned to camp as they were ordered. All this repetition led up to day seven.
Rising as normal at daybreak on the seventh day, the Israelites began preparing for their march. Joshua gathered the army and gave a slight change in plans from the days before. This time, instead of marching around once, they would march seven times. And where as they had previously returned to camp in the same silence they had marched in, this time they would not return, but rather give a battle cry, the likes that had never been heard before. So, with God on their side and His promise of their victory, they started out.
The Bible describes Jericho as a city dripping with fear. They had heard of God's mighty power and the feats previously accomplished, but now they were about to see first hand the power of the One they refused to believe. As the final circle around the city was completed, the people shouted, the trumpets blared, and the walls came down! The army of Israel ram sacked the city and the grip of Jericho on the land was ended. Once again, God's promise was made complete.
Contemplating this story and my dream this morning, God showed me that I have walls that need to come down. I have walls of sin, fear, and anger to name a few. And as strange as it may sound, I believe that I am to march around my walls for the next seven days. This is my challenge from God to me, but it may be yours also. Perhaps you have walls or addictions that God is wanting to deal with. Or perhaps your city block is populated with unbelievers than believers and your march is for their salvation. Maybe your march is on an attack in your marriage, health, or finances. Whatever the reason, I encourage you to take the same seven day challenge. Listen to God, hear Him speak the walls that he has raised you up to defeat, and then march. As God told Joshua He now tells you, "See, I have delivered Jericho into your hands," (Josh 6:2a). Bust down the walls, and join me ON THE VANGUARD!