Stand Still, Be Still---Wait, Know, and See!!!

This is another Word that the Lord gave to me about three to four years ago.  Father God, I come to You in the name of Jesus asking You to once again forgive me for sitting on what You have told me to do.  I pray that this Word will still reach whomever it needs to reach and they will be blessed mightily by You, and that You and only You will get all the Glory.  In Jesus' name I pray...Amen!!!

In addition to Divine Instruction, this Word that I'm going to share comes somewhat out of a personal conviction and struggle that I have been faced with repeatedly throughout the years.  It deals with waiting, believing, believing before seeing, seeing beyond natural sight, knowing the goodness of God, and having faith! All of these things have different names, yet are synonymous, and areas that must be strengthened in our Christian journey.  The first scriptural text comes from Exodus 14 when God leads the Israelites out of Egyptian captivity and through the Red Sea.  There a quite of few things that we must see here that God does for us when we're faced with adversity as well as the overt, hostile attacks from the enemy.  As God begins to reveal the deliverance process, He will create an agitation and a confusion in our enemies.  Our enemies many times have a control complex and want things to go their way.  However, that is an extreme conflict of interest because God is sovereign and the enemy does not have permission to rule over or control God's elect (1 Chronicles 16:22, Psalm 105:15).  So when the enemies begin their hot pusuit for us, it will be quite fierce.  To us it may even look like they will catch us and do with us just as they wish to.  We're then faced with a choice, either surrender to the enemy or activate our faith and let God do what He will. The latter part of Isaiah 59:19 tells us that when the enemy comes in like a flood, the Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.  Which brings me back to Exodus 14, as the Israelites approached the Red Sea with shaken faith, murmuring, complaining, doubting, the desire to go back, and blatant anger towards their leader Moses, God instructed Moses to lift up his rod and stretch his hand over the sea to divide it.  God also told Moses to tell the people to go forward.  Do we realize that in the face of urgent adversity, we will some times have to do some things that make absolutely no sense to the human mind or logic.  We can only trust and believe that God will do what He said He will do!  In verses 13 and 14, Moses tells his doubtful and nervous followers, "(13) Do not be afraid. STAND STILL, and SEE the salvation of the Lord, which He will accomplish for you today.  For the Egyptians whom you see today, you shall see again no more forever. (14) The Lord will fight for you and you shall hold your peace."  Here, Moses is letting them know in other terms...shut your mouths, this is the Lord's battle and He will give us victory, all we have to do is STAND STILL and SEE.  As Moses lifted his hands and the Israelites crossed through the Red Sea, which was made dry land and the waters appeared as a wall. This indicates to us that in the midst of God blocking the enemy's attacks, He will make our paths smooth and provide a wall of protection for us.  When they reached the other side, it seemed as if the Egyptians were getting closer to them and would overtake them. The moment that all of the Israelites had reached the other side and all of the Egyptians were in the separated sea, the Lord caused the wall to fall and flood them out or should I say drown them.  Pharaoh and his army, all of his best trained troops with their mighty equipment (horses and chariots) were drowned in the Red Sea. Verse 7 says that Pharaoh took 600 choice chariots and each chariot had captains over them.  Pharaoh and is best trained and most skilled warriors were all overthrown and consumed in the Red Sea.  So what this is telling us is that when God lifts up the standard and cancels the enemy's attacks and assignments, anyone who is joins forces with the enemy will be judged as well and suffer God's condemnation.  Be mindful of who you follow!  As a further sign of His salvation, God even showed the Israelites the dead Egyptians on the seashore (Verse 30).  This is for those of us who need to see before we can totally believe.  Also, notice in Verse 13 that Moses told the Israelites that God will accomplish that task for them today.  So for those of us who are trusting, believing, and WAITing on God to handle some situation(s), it won't be very long before He does it!!!

The next scripture comes from Psalm 46.  This particular scripture can be seen as an extension to Exodus 14.  This scripture reminds us that in those times that we are afraid, anxious, nervous, or  just simply seem to be losing it, God is a refuge and a very present help in our time of need (verses 1-4).  Even when things around us seem to be shaky or falling apart, God will not be moved and will yet be our refuge.  God will also cause those crazy things around us to cease or be destroyed by His hand (verses 5-9).  In verse 10, God says "BE STILL, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!"  This is assurance to us that God will protect us and so that He gets all the glory, everything that rises against His Word or His will be bow.

In those times when we get challenged, we must remember that although we may be shaken, we must not be moved.  We must stand on Christ, the solid rock who shall not be moved.  When we are STILL, we WAIT on the Lord to do what He says He will do and in turn HE will bless us.  We must not grow weary nor faint because God will definitely keep His Word.  Isaiah 40:31 states that, "But those who wait on the Lord shall renew their strength; they shally mount up on wings like eagles, they shall run and not be weary, they shall walk and not faint." Then Galatians 6:9 states, "And let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due seaon we shall reap if we do not lose heart."

I encourage you again, when times are rough, shaky, overwhelming, confusing, unclear, etc....cry out to the Lord, STAND STILL, BE STILL, WAIT, KNOW, and SEE that He will perform everything that He promises to do.  It doesn't require any work from us, just our faith!!!

I hope that someone was blessed, strengthened, enlightened, our encouraged by what I have shared.  Most importantly, I hope and pray that this message has brought your closer to God.  Be blessed in Jesus' name...Amen!!!

-Robert J. Dantzler
December 19, 2011

Chase God, Not Things!!!

Do you remember those tv shows in which a genie would appear and say that he/she could grant three wishes? Most often the beneficiary would wish for material things. What if God asked us directly what should He give us? Would we ask for tangible things too? Consider this...when we ask for those things that are eternal (wisdom, knowledge, understanding, etc), God is faithful to give us that which we have asked for. In turn, we can gain those things that are tangible because we have been blessed with godly wisdom, knowledge, understanding, etc.

References: 1 Kings 3:1-28, Matthew 6:33, Colossians 3:1-2

Rest in God's Forgiveness!

Many times in our lives we have been overcome by our sins. At times we have probably even shifted the blame to others (I'm mean because my mama was mean, or I fornicate because my daddy did). Regardless of what we're faced with, the fact is that we did it. In turn our actions cause there to be unrest within us. But thank God for giving us His Son to take away our sins, forgive us, restore us, and give us peace within, with God, and with others. Today, choose to receive God's gift of forgiveness and be at peace!!! God bless you!!!

References: Colossians 1:19-29, Isaiah 9:6

Fret Not!!!

Have you ever gotten bothered by seeing people who are deliberately evil succeed?  Well believe it or not, you're not alone in feeling that way. One thing that we can be certain of is that evildoers will get what's coming to them.  Therefore we need not fret because God has the final say.  As for us, we need to be sure that we trust in the Lord and do good, feed on His faithfulness, delight ourselves in Him, and rest in Him.  He is faithful and will care for us!!!

Reference: Psalm 37:1-11

Just A Touch

Before I begin this blog, I would must start out a prayer!  Lord, I thank You for this word that You gave me about four years ago.  I pray that You forgive me for not posting it and another that You released to me sooner.  There may have been eyes that were supposed to read this, but may not be able to because I tarried.  For that Lord, I sincerely apologize and pray for Your forgiveness! I thank You Father that this Word is still fresh in my mind and I thank You that I am finally delivering it! I pray that it will still reach and touch whomever it is designed for! I trust You Lord and thank You for using me!  In Jesus' name I pray...Amen!!!

The Word that I wish to share with you who are reading this comes from Mark 5:21-43 and can also be found in Matthew 9:18-26 and Luke 8:40-56.  I was particularly drawn closer to Mark's account of this occurrence maybe because it seems more descriptive and it also allowed for me to create a perfect image in my mind.  In this passage of scripture, Jesus had just entered into Capernaum and as many times before, He was met by a multitude, which thronged Him heavily.  Jesus was approached by a church leader, Jairus who rushed to Jesus, fell at His feet and asked Him to come with Him to lay hands on his daughter who was at the point of death. Jairus knew of Jesus and His power to heal.  On the way to the home of Jairus, there was a woman in the crowd who had what is called an issue of blood or a certain flow of blood.  She had visited many doctors and spent all of her money and resources to become well, and unfortunately nothing happened because the flow/issue continued.  After exhausting all resources, her last hope was to get to Jesus to be healed.  Her faith and belief that an experience with Jesus would heal her led her to touch the hem of his garment and when she did, she was healed immediately.  Jesus stopped to turn around and find out who in the crowd touched Him because He felt power leave Him knowing that someone was bold enough to reach out for Him and had gone to an extreme measure to be healed and receive a blessing.  In her fear and trembling, the woman confessed that she touched Him, and Jesus told her that her faith had made her well and to go in peace and be healed of her affliction.  While He was speaking life back into the woman, He was interrupted by someone from the house of Jairus saying that his daughter had died and that there was no reason to trouble Jesus any longer. Jesus turned to Jairus and told him to believe and continued towards Jairus' house. Upon arrival there, He only permitted three of His disciples (Peter, James, and John) to join Him. As they entered, there was a great amount of weeping and wailing, and Jesus said to them that the little girl was only asleep and not dead. The mourners ridiculed Him as He announced that, but He continued into the room where the little girl lay with the three disciples that accompanied Him along with the girl's parents. Jesus took the girl's hand in His hand and said to her to arise. She arose immediately and walked, and those who had witnessed it were overcome with amazement.  He commanded them strictly to give the girl something to eat and that no one should know of it.

Now that I have recapped the story, this is what God spoke to me.  In times of turmoil, strife, despair, or grief all that we need to be made whole is JUST A TOUCH!!! The woman who TOUCHED Jesus' garment through an act of faith was made whole because she believed. Jairus left His home and sought out Jesus when He entered the the city and needed a TOUCH from Him.  If we want to TOUCH God, we much increase our faith, our belief that He can and will do all things, that He will do what He says in His Word.  We must TOUCH Him with our prayers that are made in faith and with a pure, honest, hopeful heart. We must believe that God can make a way out of no way for what seems unclear and impossible to us.  He does that when we TOUCH Him with our prayers, when we TOUCH Him with our faith, when we TOUCH Him with our belief, when we TOUCH Him with our humility! Just as sure as we TOUCH Him, He will TOUCH us back! It was His power that left Him and TOUCHed the woman and she was made well and healed! It was His TOUCH (physically and verbally) that raised Jarius' daughter.  So if whenever we encounter situations that seem too unfavorable for us, all we need to do is go to the Father for JUST A TOUCH!!! Be blessed!!!