Power 2011:Hebrews 6

Reading in Hebrew 6 I came to the part where the author speaks about those who, in his time, were unable to get past the infant stages of Christianity. He says they were enlightened. They were companions with the Holy Spirit, tasted God’s good word and the powers of the coming age. Believers in the apostolic age regularly saw the power of God. Acts 4:33 “And with great power the apostles were giving testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and great grace was on all of them.” In the 21st century the majority of the American Church is not experiecing the power of God in their daily lives. The Great Blackout has so badly affected the Church that many believe that the Power spoken about in Bible times  is limited to the Bible times. Scripture tells of another time in Jewish history, before Christ, when the Juice was lacking.
1 Samuel 5:16 “In those days the word of the Lord was rare and prophetic visions were not widespread.”  In 1Samuel 2 it is explained that Eli’s wicked sons treated the Lord’s offering “with contempt.” Which is worded alot like Hebrew 6:6 referring to those who have fallen away from the modern priesthood, “holding Him up to contempt.”
In 1 Samuel 3 the Lord calls Samuel in the night. Verse 7 says that Samuel had not yet experienced the Lord. In this uncomfortable and awkward position Samuel doesn’t realize what was happening and his first response is to assume that Eli had called him. Samuel goes on to serve as Judge for the Israelites until the rebel and ask for a king. This event was a tragic but necessary step in God’s sovereign plan.  We, the Church, have in many ways already made this tragic choice and gone beyond it. Under the leadership of many kings the Jewish nation’s relationship with the Lord was up and down; many times turning away from God to worship idols. What is an idol? Anything that becomes more important than God,an alter we keep deep down in our darkness for making sacrifices to ourselves.
Will we cleanse ourselves and our households and cut down our alters?
Will we allow God to be king once again?
Will we continue to deprive ourselves of the uninhibited,  awesome power of God moving in our lives on a daily basis? Some us think, “When revival comes, God will tear us away from our vices.” But maybe it’s, unless we tear ourselves away from our vice revival will never come.
I don’t want anyone to misunderstand what I’ve written. I don’t want you to think that if a christian from the early days saw us now they would be embarrassed or something. I sure they thought their good ole day would never end right up until the first persecution. And they would understand as we should that this age is part of God’s sovereign plan. He’s not scratching His mighty head wondering where He went wrong with us. He knew where we’d be in the 2011. He knows the problems we are facing the uphill struggle is all part of the plan. I have a hunch that when Jesus returns for His bride, He does expect to find her standing tall unscathed by all the enemies attacks. She will not have conquered and subdued the unbelieving world. She certainly will not be lording over it like in ages past. I think He expects to find His bride on her knees, bloodied and swollen in the mud, patiently awaiting her king. She will give Him a gap toothed smile when He says to each one us, “Well done good and faithful servant.”
When helplessly facing a mighty African horde, righteous king Asa prayed this prayer:
   
“Lord there is no one besides you to help the mighty and those without strength. Help us, Lord our God, for we depend on You and in Your name we have come against this multitude. Lord, You are our God. Do not let a mere mortal hinder You.”

Success vs Failure

To succeed in this world means to accomplish something. Align action with purpose and will to achieve a desired outcome. Many men base their identities upon there successes. Some on their failures. In today's world we are taught to believe on of two things about ourselves; that we are one two things a success or a failure. And there is some sort of unwritten code or point system that measures which side of the line you’re on based on the point values of your various successful undertakings and less successful exploits. Not surprising is the fact that those task deemed by the world to be more valuable and thus more worthwhile are the immoral evil action done by men who feel no shame. Men of God are already at a disadvantage when we walk out the door know that the things that bring other men favor within the world we can not condone. It is hard sometimes living a corrupt world where every man is considered either a success or a failure.
But what is a failure. Can it be simply defined as someone who fails? No one on earth can claim they have never failed. Does that mean that we’re all failure? The fear of failure can leave us paralyzed unable to act for fear of loss. And when we fail we can become discouraged and destructive mindsets can be established. Instead of trying harder to succeed often time we guarantee our failure by not trying at all.
Let’s get a healthy dose of perspective.
“For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”(Romans 3:23) All fall therefore all have failed. As humans we fail everyday. We sin against the almighty God. How can you fail anymore than that! You fail to live up to your potential being made in God’s image for his glory every time you do something that brings shame to his name. (OUCH!) But there is hope in the next verse. “They are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus.” Isn’t that verse like a weigh of your chest. Justified by His grace, just say that word. Grace, doesn’t come out like a soothing sigh of relief. Ah, Grace. If it doesn’t it should. In other words the penalty for failing got a lot more bearable when you accepted his gift of grace and mercy. When Jesus died on the cross he said to us all, “You’re failures are pardoned. You’re debt is paid. I got you. Go and sin no more.”
“God presented Him as a propitiation though faith in His blood to demonstrate His righteousness, because in His restraint God passed over sins previously committed.” The death of Jesus the spotless lamb was the removal of the consequences of our failures. We are no longer defined by our sin. We are no more sinners than we are failures. And we are not sinners. We are saints who sin. The whole point of the Bible is man finally being reconciled with God after his fall. A person's purpose here on earth is to be reconciled with God and then to bring Him glory. When you accepted Christ that was the ultimate success that goes way beyond their point system. It permanently made you a success in Him. The word says that the angels go nuts every time a sinner comes to Christ. Every regenerated Christian is a success in God’s eyes. Believe it and live like it. We will come across situations where we will not find success. Be comfortable with who you are. Let get comfortable with our failures.