Dear friends,
I hope you are prospering in the Lord. I woke up early this morning thinking about how so many Christians live with shame and regret over past sins. The psalmist said that weeping may last a night, but joy cometh in the morning. In this letter, I want to encourage those who feel shame, regret, or guilt. I pray that this will encourage someone today.
In my years of counseling I have found that many people live in shame and regret over past sins. They spend their entire lives apologizing for their failures. I want to make a few statements and ask some rhetorical questions that I hope will get us to the root of the issue. It is essential that we get our focus off the past or it will destroy our future. You cannot move into your future destiny if you are looking backward. Remember Lot's wife. God told them not to look back. She did and turned into a pillar of salt. One little boy in Sunday school said his mother looked back and turned into a telephone pole. We cannot embrace our future if we are looking back.
Those who live in shame and regret tend to be entirely self-focused. They walk about with head held low unworthy of God's blessings. Because of the self focus they often engage in self-pity. They are constantly plagued with the "if only I had" or "if only I hadn't". This is totally unproductive thinking. Religious thinking will keep us introspective all the time and we will be forever doing penance for our sin. The truth is that this type of thinking is:
1. Egocentric- It is all about me. It puts the focus on the wrong person. It should be about Christ. It is still rooted in the mindset, "I am what I do" or worse yet, "I am what I have done." We cannot save ourselves. It is not by works that we have been saved. It is grace through faith.
2. Rooted in unbelief. Is there anything that I have done that the blood of Jesus and the finished work of the cross is insufficient to cover? Has the blood of Jesus lost its power? If I am still carrying the burden of past sins I have never appropriated the cross of Christ. Shame and regret were nailed to the tree.
3. A lie of the enemy. One of satan's greatest fears is that Christians would discover who they are. In Colossians that certificate of debt was nailed to the tree and principalities and powers were spoiled. That which you are grieving over has been paid for. The enemies right to hold that against you was taken from him.
4. Antithetical to forgiveness. To think this way is a failure to appropriate the forgiveness of God. God's forgiveness is not only extended to you, but is to be extended through you to others. For some people it is easy to forgive others, but the hardest person to forgive is themselves. Friend, if God has forgiven you and you can't forgive yourself then your standard is higher than His. You are rejecting His grace and opening yourself up to the tormentors.
There is good news. Remorse was to last only a short time. Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning. Look at the scriptures. He has turned my mourning into joy. He has turned my mourning into dancing. Their mourning shall be turned into laughter. It was for freedom that Christ has set us free. There is therefore no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus. The kingdom of God is righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Spirit. We have been called to joy and freedom.
What must you do? Take your burden to the cross and leave it there. Guilt, shame, and regret were nailed to the cross. Appropiate the finished work of the cross. Choose to forgive yourself. Change your focus from self to the author and finisher of your salvation. Adopt an attitude of gratitude. Replace wrong thinking with God's truth. Instead of "I am what I do" replace it with "I am what I am by the grace of God". Paul said,"Forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Phil.3:13b,14
My friends, be blessed today and may you forever be encouraged by His love.
In His love,
Herb Dean
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Tuesday, April 21, 2009
They that wait upon the Lord
Dear friends,
How are you doing? So often, I tell you about how I am doing and pray that things are well with you, but today I want to ask, "How are you doing; how are you really doing?". There's an old rock song that has the line, "I just dropped in to see what condition,your condition is in." The scripture says that we are seated in heavenly places, far above all rule and authority. That is our position, but if you are like me sometimes my condition and my position don't line up. I want to talk about His presence today, because I believe that if we are in His presence we experience the good of our position and our condition changes.
When I talk about being in the presence of the Lord what do I mean. The psalmist made it clear that we cannot escape His presence and the Lord Himself promised He would always be with us. So what am I talking about. I am talking about His manifest presence. Jesus said," For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them." If we know that God is omnipresent any way, there must be something special about the two or more gathered in His name. I believe it is His manifest presence. In His manifest presence there is often a tangible awareness that the Lord is present.
A couple of weeks ago I talked about those who seek after the Lord's presence as in Psalms 84, will make springs in the desert. Those springs are the overflow of His presence. Let's look at a few scriptures that make mention of the presence of the Lord. There are many.
Psalms 16:11 In thy presence is fulness of joy. Have you found that when you encounter the Lord's presence that the things that were troubling you seem to disappear. There is a sense of peace and well-being. Hopefulness arises within us.
Isaiah 40:31 But those who wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles. They shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. What are they waiting on? They are waiting on the presence of the Lord. The presence of the Lord gives us renewed strength. The presence of the Lord allows us to soar above our circumstances. The stronger the wind currents, the higher the eagle soars. The presence of the Lord brings endurance. If are experiencing His presence we can endure and continue on. There is nothing more tiring than to go through what we feel are our Christian (religious) duties when God is not in it.
Acts 3:19 Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come fro the presence of the Lord. The verse is to unbelievers, but there is truth relevant to all of us and that is that times of refreshing come from the presence of the Lord. Many a time in my life I have come into the meeting house tired and discouraged but when I made a choice to worship and praise Him I found myself refreshed in His presence. God inhabits the praises of His people. He dwells in our praise. That is the reason that satan resists praise.
As I thought about what I might share today, I remembered the disciples rowing with all their might against a contrary wind into the wee hours of the morning. They must have been very tired and when they saw Jesus walking on the water they thought He was ghost and that they were going to die. But He said to them, "It is I; do not be afraid." Then they willingly received Him into the boat, and immediately the boat was at the land where they were going. John 6:20,21 Isn't it amazing how the presence of the Lord can accomplish instantly what man in His best, well-intended efforts cannot accomplish. I had this thought and perhaps I have shared it before, but there are some of us who have been straining hard against the oars. We've grown tired and weary. Yes, we started across in obedience to the Lord and we encountered a contrary wind and it seemed that the Lord was not there. Lord, we want to see you walking on the water, but more than that we need you in the boat. Lord some of us need an immediately. I heard a pastor share that the key to church growth was in Mark 2. And again He entered Capernaum after some days and it was noised abroad that Jesus was in the house. Immediately many gathered together, so that there was no longer any room to receive them, not even near the door. and He preached the word to them. Mark 2:1,2 What we need is the presence of the Lord. In His presence we are changed from strength to strength and glory to glory and faith to faith.
Lord, I pray today that all who are weary, discouraged, and dry might be refreshed by your presence, even this day. We need you Lord in this hour more than ever before. Come, Lord Jesus in manifest presence into the lives of those who are crying out to you now, in Jesus name, Amen.
I finish as I began. How are you doing? Be blessed.
In His love,
Herb Dean
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
Called to make Springs
Dear friends,
I pray that you are well. I have not written in a while, but we are well. We have seen God wonderfully answer some of our prayers that we had persistently prayed for a long time. I am thankful I have a Father who hears and answers our prayer at the appropriate time. Though these are difficult times for many in the body of Christ I believe we are on the threshold of a great spiritual breakthrough. He is calling us to Himself, calling us to prayer, and when He calls us to pray, we know He will answer. I hope you will be encouraged by this message today.
As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a spring; the rain also covers it with pools.
Psalms 84:6
How often I have read this psalm and on many occasions have sung parts of it, but the passage about the Valley of Baca never meant much. The Lord really spoke to me through it recently. I had never really thought about the Valley of Baca. As this passage of scripture was illumined to me I began meditating on it and looked up the Valley of Baca. Baca is actually a type of plant known for its ability to survive dry places. So what we see being described in Psalms 84 is the pilgrimage of life for those who have found the intimacy with God that the psalmist begins the psalm yearning for. It describes those who intimately know their God and are continually praising Him. In this pilgrimage of life heading toward the New Jerusalem we pass through dry places. Some of you may be in a wilderness or dry place in your lives right now.
A year or so ago, I was visiting a church in another city and I was complaining about how dry the area where I was living was. One of the elders who is very prophetic said that he was familiar with the area and that it was indeed a dry place and that the Lord was calling us to dig new wells. How do you dig a new well? As I pondered on that, I felt that it was pressing into God, seeking Him whole-heartedly, and developing an intimacy with Him. I believe that is true, but oftentimes the natural is a picture of the spiritual. To dig a well, you have to remove a lot of dirt to get to the water; sometimes you have to move or go through stone.
One morning in my quiet time, the Lord asked me, "Is it Middle Georgia that's dry or is it you?" I thought about it and came to the realization that it was both me and Middle Georgia that was dry, but it was not the fault of Middle Georgia that I was dry. Maybe it was dry because I was dry. I could give many reasons or probably better said excuses like hurts and disappointments in ministry, unfulfilled prophetic words, betrayals, and misunderstandings that had made me less and less intimate with the Lord. My prayer life was not what it had been at one time. It was necessary to redig the well in my own life that I might begin to dig new wells in Middle Georgia.
I cannot say that it is my responsibility to bring revival to this area, but I do have a responsibility to be a conduit through which the Spirit of God flows. Jesus said, "He who believes in Me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." John 7:38 It is obvious from what Jesus said that other scriptures make reference to this. There are many scriptures that talk about rivers and water. In Ezekiel 47 we see the small stream of water flowing from the threshold of the temple that became a huge body of life-giving water. Are we not the temple of the Holy Spirit from which this live-giving water flows? In the Psalms 46:4 it says "There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God." Are we not tributaries of that river?
The kingdom of God came in power when the Spirit of God was poured out at Pentecost. The kingdom is in the Spirit. Jesus said the kingdom of God is in you. He told his disciples that when they entered a place to heal the sick and to say that the kingdom of God has come nigh. If we have become conduits of the Holy Spirit then the kingdom comes wherever we go. We must all pass through our Valley of Baca and we will either impact it for the kingdom or we will be impacted by it. If we are not flowing in the Spirit we will be drained dry and become like our surroundings, but if we are flowing in the Spirit we make springs in it. I have heard it said that water attracts water. We make it a spring, but look at the second part of the verse. The rain covers it with pools. The Spirit of God within us attracts the presence of God. God promises to make streams in the desert and pools in the wilderness and He chooses to pour Himself out through you.
You may be in a very dry place. God has put you there to make a difference. You may have redig old wells or dig new ones. There may be a little dirt or a lot. There may be some stones that have to be removed, but there is an abundant source of water sufficient to turn your dry place into a well-watered garden. You may be the stream that your dry land is waiting for. We had close to a nine inch rainfall deficit since the first of the year and over the past three weeks we have had so much rain we made up the deficit. Last Wednesday at our prayer meeting a young man said, "The drought is over." I inquired as to whether he was talking about the natural or the spiritual and he said the spiritual. The next night the local meteorologist declared that the drought was over. I could not help, but believe that was a confirming word. If the Spirit of God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead dwells in you, He can change the environment through you. May God fill you with Himself today that all who encounter you may encounter life-giving water.
In his love,
Herb Dean
I pray that you are well. I have not written in a while, but we are well. We have seen God wonderfully answer some of our prayers that we had persistently prayed for a long time. I am thankful I have a Father who hears and answers our prayer at the appropriate time. Though these are difficult times for many in the body of Christ I believe we are on the threshold of a great spiritual breakthrough. He is calling us to Himself, calling us to prayer, and when He calls us to pray, we know He will answer. I hope you will be encouraged by this message today.
As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a spring; the rain also covers it with pools.
Psalms 84:6
How often I have read this psalm and on many occasions have sung parts of it, but the passage about the Valley of Baca never meant much. The Lord really spoke to me through it recently. I had never really thought about the Valley of Baca. As this passage of scripture was illumined to me I began meditating on it and looked up the Valley of Baca. Baca is actually a type of plant known for its ability to survive dry places. So what we see being described in Psalms 84 is the pilgrimage of life for those who have found the intimacy with God that the psalmist begins the psalm yearning for. It describes those who intimately know their God and are continually praising Him. In this pilgrimage of life heading toward the New Jerusalem we pass through dry places. Some of you may be in a wilderness or dry place in your lives right now.
A year or so ago, I was visiting a church in another city and I was complaining about how dry the area where I was living was. One of the elders who is very prophetic said that he was familiar with the area and that it was indeed a dry place and that the Lord was calling us to dig new wells. How do you dig a new well? As I pondered on that, I felt that it was pressing into God, seeking Him whole-heartedly, and developing an intimacy with Him. I believe that is true, but oftentimes the natural is a picture of the spiritual. To dig a well, you have to remove a lot of dirt to get to the water; sometimes you have to move or go through stone.
One morning in my quiet time, the Lord asked me, "Is it Middle Georgia that's dry or is it you?" I thought about it and came to the realization that it was both me and Middle Georgia that was dry, but it was not the fault of Middle Georgia that I was dry. Maybe it was dry because I was dry. I could give many reasons or probably better said excuses like hurts and disappointments in ministry, unfulfilled prophetic words, betrayals, and misunderstandings that had made me less and less intimate with the Lord. My prayer life was not what it had been at one time. It was necessary to redig the well in my own life that I might begin to dig new wells in Middle Georgia.
I cannot say that it is my responsibility to bring revival to this area, but I do have a responsibility to be a conduit through which the Spirit of God flows. Jesus said, "He who believes in Me, as the scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water." John 7:38 It is obvious from what Jesus said that other scriptures make reference to this. There are many scriptures that talk about rivers and water. In Ezekiel 47 we see the small stream of water flowing from the threshold of the temple that became a huge body of life-giving water. Are we not the temple of the Holy Spirit from which this live-giving water flows? In the Psalms 46:4 it says "There is a river whose streams shall make glad the city of God." Are we not tributaries of that river?
The kingdom of God came in power when the Spirit of God was poured out at Pentecost. The kingdom is in the Spirit. Jesus said the kingdom of God is in you. He told his disciples that when they entered a place to heal the sick and to say that the kingdom of God has come nigh. If we have become conduits of the Holy Spirit then the kingdom comes wherever we go. We must all pass through our Valley of Baca and we will either impact it for the kingdom or we will be impacted by it. If we are not flowing in the Spirit we will be drained dry and become like our surroundings, but if we are flowing in the Spirit we make springs in it. I have heard it said that water attracts water. We make it a spring, but look at the second part of the verse. The rain covers it with pools. The Spirit of God within us attracts the presence of God. God promises to make streams in the desert and pools in the wilderness and He chooses to pour Himself out through you.
You may be in a very dry place. God has put you there to make a difference. You may have redig old wells or dig new ones. There may be a little dirt or a lot. There may be some stones that have to be removed, but there is an abundant source of water sufficient to turn your dry place into a well-watered garden. You may be the stream that your dry land is waiting for. We had close to a nine inch rainfall deficit since the first of the year and over the past three weeks we have had so much rain we made up the deficit. Last Wednesday at our prayer meeting a young man said, "The drought is over." I inquired as to whether he was talking about the natural or the spiritual and he said the spiritual. The next night the local meteorologist declared that the drought was over. I could not help, but believe that was a confirming word. If the Spirit of God who raised Jesus Christ from the dead dwells in you, He can change the environment through you. May God fill you with Himself today that all who encounter you may encounter life-giving water.
In his love,
Herb Dean
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