Month: January 2011

Compromise and Consequence

January 29, 2011 — Leave a comment

Josh 7:10-11
10 But the Lord said to Joshua, “Get up! Why are you lying on your face like this? 11 Israel has sinned and broken my covenant! They have stolen some of the things that I commanded must be set apart for me. And they have not only stolen them but have lied about it and hidden the things among their own belongings.

So much of the time when we find ourselves in trouble, and are crying out to God for help, this is the response he is giving us. How many times have we allowed things in our lives that we knew didn’t belong there, and then found ways to justify them, knowing they were a compromise. Sin allows curses and death into our lives. Not every bad thing that happens to us are our fault, but I’m sure if we really looked, we would find many instances that we can see consequences of compromises. We see later that once they repented, and cut all traces of the compromise from among them, they had immediate and complete victory. The bible says that when we repent, that he is faithful to cleanse us of all un-righteousness. His restoration is immediate! Get up, repent, and go walk in righteousness!!

God, Search me, and see if you find any wicked thing in me!
PJ

Center Field

January 28, 2011 — Leave a comment

Josh 8:18
18 Then the Lord said to Joshua, “Point the spear in your hand toward Ai, for I will hand the town over to you.” Joshua did as he was commanded.

We thought it was cool when Babe Ruth pointed to center field (well at least our grandparents did), but how cool is this! We can walk mindful and fully aware of Gods will in our lives. He wants us to run boldly into our promised land battles with deliberate persistence! I don’t agree with the ” name it and claim it” line of thought from the “Faith Movement” of the seventies and eighties, but there is a truth to ” calling those things that aren’t as though they are”. To pointing at the city, or the obstacle in our way in defiance and violent persistence. Or to pointing at the promises for our lives, our families, our churches with a stubborn aggressive faith, not settling for anything but all that God has promised us! You can’t win a fight if you go into it believing your going to lose! We already know we win, so point your spear at your Ai and charge! Whooahh!! (that was my intimidating battle cry)

Josh 8:26
For Joshua kept holding out his spear until everyone who had lived in Ai was completely destroyed.

The Kingdom of God suffers violence, and I’m taking it by force,
PJ

Am I Compatible?

January 27, 2011 — Leave a comment

Is 7:9
Israel is no stronger than its capital, Samaria,
and Samaria is no stronger than its king, Pekah son of Remaliah.
Unless your faith is firm, I cannot make you stand firm.”

God is not a Devine puppeteer, and we the mindless, insignificant puppets. He is our creator and our source of strength and power, but we are made in his image. We have been given a will, and the ability to have faith, and have been given the measure of faith to believe unto salvation. But we need add to, build up, and strengthen our faith to walk in all that God has for us. If we have no faith, we are not compatible with Gods power and anointing. It’s like the three little pigs…you can’t build a house that will stand out of straw. The first little kiss of a breeze will scatter it to the wind. And if you have just enough faith to survive, its like building out of sticks. It might stand for a little while, but the first good storm that blows in will knock it right down. But if we build up our faith (by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God) then we will be strong, and be able to stand and walk in the power and authority of God. God will go before us, and his power will flow in us and through us, but only when we are compatible. Grow in Faith, and walk in power!!

Supernaturally Compatible,
Pastor Josh

Devine Purpose

January 26, 2011 — Standard — 1 Comment

Matt 1:17
All those listed above include fourteen generations from Abraham to David, fourteen from David to the Babylonian exile, and fourteen from the Babylonian exile to the Messiah.

It’s hard to be a skeptic when you see the careful planning God put into bringing about our salvation. I’m not going to pretend to understand the symbolism behind every ” type and shadow”‘, nor do I know the significance of all the numbers and dates and so on and so on….but any idiot (a category that I may very possibly fall in to) can see that so many consistencies can’t possibly be a coincidence. Before man ever fell, God had a carefully laid out plan for restoration. Our God is the greatest strategist ever…OK, that’s kind of an understatement. Think about it though! You really have to have more faith to be a skeptic then a believer. But here’s the really awesome part. The same careful planning that went into salvation, went into our purpose and destiny! Check this out…..

Eph 1:4-5
4 Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. 5 God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.

Even before he made the world!!!!! What!!! There are no coincidences in our existence. before the world was even made there was a plan…for me. I was loved, I was wanted, therefore I am loved and I am wanted and I have a purpose and a destiny and a “call” that is eternal and irrevocable! Wow! Meditate on that one as you go through your day. What could the world possibly throw at me that could touch it!

Loved and Chosen,
Pastor Josh

Write the Vision

January 25, 2011 — Standard — Leave a comment

Habakkuk 2:2 Then the Lord said to me,
“Write my answer plainly on tablets,
so that a runner can carry the correct message to others.

Well, as all of you, my adoring public, know, I have not been to good at staying on top of this blogging thing. I do hope to change that in this coming year. God put it on my heart some time ago to write a yearly devotional for our young people, and have begun to peruse that the last few weeks. Something I have always tried to do is journal every day as I study the word. I heard someone say once that the mind doesn’t remember revelation so as God reveals himself to us through his word and prayer we should always record those things we receive. As I have been reading through my past years journals in preparation for the devotional, I have been overwhelmed by the amount of entries that I have completely forgotten about. Some of them were even revelations that actually changed the course and direction of my life! If I hadn’t written them down, they would now be lost in that one moment of encounter, which though it was an awesome moment, would have little to no lasting effect on the rest of my life. It is these revelations that I will be using to write the book that I hope will be a blessing to those who use it. I have decided to post some of my new daily journal entries here on my blog. I don’t pretend for one moment to assume that God is revealing anything to me that he is not revealing to anyone else that is truly pursuing him with a heart to hear, nor that my thoughts are any more important than anyone else’s….but, this is joshkiefer.com, which means I get to write what I want! Just kidding. I promise I won’t rant and rave about my opinion on this and that, or go off on tirades bashing the government, exposing some new conspiracy theory. Just quick little thoughts about what God’s showing me in his word. Nothing more, nothing less. So, check it out….or don’t. It’s all good.

Peace and Love,
Pastor Josh