MCA Anchorage September 2020 Schedule

Anchorage local congregations have received approval to meet indoors with the following guidelines:

1. The attendance is not more than 50% of the room’s approved occupancy.
2. Masks are encouraged.
3. Ten feet of distancing is required.
4. The room is sanitized between gatherings.

We are prepared to accomplish all of these. Exciting!!!

MCA LIVE

9:00 AM Indoors at the Central Campus and Live Online

10:15 AM Outdoors – Central Campus North Parking Lot – not online.

11:30 AM Indoors at the Central Campus and Live Online

6:00 PM Our Prayer Meeting, Room 120, in the Central Campus and Live Online.

MCA Island Revival

9:00 AM in the West Campus

MCA Multi-language

11:30 AM in the West Campus

MCA Strong Tower

1:00 PM in the Central Campus

MCA Champions Club

9:00 AM in the Central Campus – 11 – 17 years of age

11:30 AM in the Central Campus – 3-10 years of age

MCA Children’s Ministry, including Nursery

9:00 AM in the Central Campus

11:30 AM in the Central Campus

MCA Youth Ministry

9:00 AM at the Youth Development Center

10:15 AM at the Youth Development Center

11:30 AM at the Youth Development Center

Your invitation to your friends, relatives, associates and neighbors to worship with you is good for them, you and all of us. Many people need encouragement to return to their weekend worship lifestyle. You are a key to helping them.

I look forward to seeing you soon.

Toward a Biblical Not Eating Plan (Fasting)

Birthdays provide an opportunity for me to adjust yearly plans, create new life trajectories, renew commitments and make new pledges.

Birthdays that end in a zero (10, 20, 30, etc.) invite “visioneering” for ten years. Directing a decade of life decisions is a tremendous empowerment.

I have been researching, considering and meditating upon the spiritual and physical healthfulness of fasting.

Spiritual and physical health is, in the case of fasting, significantly impacted by what I DON’T do. Really, it isn’t complicated. Just don’t eat for lengthy amounts of time and you will significantly increase your healthfulness.

The Bible has much to say about the timing, processes and priorities of not eating.

We now know additional benefits to living life in total control of our feed and fast cycles. Without a doubt I often eat too much, too often. In this way I am better at the feed cycle than the fast cycle.

Yoshinori Ohsumi was awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for his discoveries of the mechanisms of autophagy. In essence, from my non-scientific brain, autophagy is how a cell recycles its content.

We now know that cells self (auto) eat (phagein) a variety of cellular products. This autophagy (self eating) is SUPER important for health in more ways than we currently understand.

Here’s the deal. Autophagy is initiated and turbo charged (these are my layman’s terms) in the fasted state. That’s right. Our cells do their serious self cleaning work when the body is in the unfed state.

Immediately, I want to know, “How often do I need to be unfed and for how long? Having read, listened and watched many experts in the field of autophagy and fasting, I am convinced no one knows how each body will best respond to being unfed.

At this point, I must make my own determination regarding my “not eating plan” for the time between this birthday and the next ending in a zero (the Lord willing, a ten year experience).

The Bible opens with God revealing a six and one cycle in God’s creation work. Six days of creation. One day of rest. Then God’s word commands that we live in a one day of Sabbath rest to six days of work cycle. Yes, technically we work from our rest. We don’t rest from our work.

The Year of Jubilee is then revealed as seven cycles of seven years each. Seven cycles of seven years is a time frame of forty-nine years. Seven cycles of seven years initiates a “macro” Sabbath.

Reading the autophagy research, the Biblical commands and the propensity for cycles of seven, I have decided to commit to a rather simple “not eating plan.”

I know that it’s not rocket science, but none the less, it is my plan. Every seven days I will not eat for twenty-four hours in a row. Currently, my plan is to eat no later than seven on Saturday evening and no earlier than seven on Sunday evening.

Promising research is coming forth on the value of being in the unfed state for twenty-four hours in a row.

Second, I plan to fast for seven days either every seven months or every seventh month. I am still contemplating the Biblical patterns that may impact this decision.

Every seventh month is, according to our calendar, every July.

Every seven months is (starting in my birth month) September and then April and then November, etc. As of today, I am strongly leaning toward this plan.

Bringing God’s revelation of His six and one cycles into my fed/unfed strategy is a fun proposition because I am convinced that aligning with God’s revealed patterns may have benefits far beyond what science understands at this time.

With my upcoming zero ending birthday (60) I commit to this plan. It looks like I might find new meaning to the Bible verse, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst after righteousness.”

MCA Church Anchorage: August 2020 Schedule

Jesus is Lord!

Beginning Monday, August 3, 2020, the MCA Weekend Schedule will be adjusted to accommodate the most current Mayoral Mandate for the Municipality of Anchorage.

Saturday Greatest Hits 

• 100% outdoors.
• NO food or beverages served
• Masks required
• 10 feet social distancing

Sunday Services

• MCA LIVE Parking Praise

• 9 AM, 10:15 AM, 11:30 AM OUTDOORS Parking Praise at the Central Campus
• All congregants must stay in vehicles, properly distanced 10 feet apart
• NO food or beverages served
• Please bring your own elements for Holy Communion

• MCA Sunday Evening Services

• To be determined

• MCA Island Revival 

• Join the Park and Praise services at the Central Campus Parking Lot

• MCA Multi-language

• Join the Park and Praise services at the Central Campus Parking Lot

• MCA Strong Tower

• Join the Park and Praise services at the Central Campus Parking Lot.  11:30 Service is translated into Spanish

• MCA Youth Ministry and Children’s Ministry

• Youth and Children attend Park and Praise at the Central Campus Parking Lot

Ministry opportunities, Monday through Saturday are being determined as needed.

Preparing for the Judgment of God: Matthew 24

God often directs people to be prepared for what is to come.

Amos 3:7, 8

“For the Lord God does nothing
    without revealing his secret
    to his servants the prophets.
⁸ The lion has roared;
    who will not fear?
The Lord God has spoken;
    who can but prophesy?”

Galatians 3:7-9

⁷ Know then that it is those of faith who are the sons of Abraham. ⁸ And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, “In you shall all the nations be blessed.” ⁹ So then, those who are of faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith.

Revelation 10:7

⁷ but that in the days of the trumpet call to be sounded by the seventh angel, the mystery of God would be fulfilled, just as he announced to his servants the prophets.

Matthew 3:3

For this is he who was spoken of by the prophet Isaiah when he said, “The voice of one crying in the wilderness: ‘Prepare the way of the Lord; make his paths straight.’”

Matthew 10:7-10

⁷ As they went away, Jesus began to speak to the crowds concerning John: “What did you go out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken by the wind? ⁸ What then did you go out to see? A man dressed in soft clothing? Behold, those who wear soft clothing are in kings’ houses. ⁹ What then did you go out to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet. ¹⁰ This is he of whom it is written,

“‘Behold, I send my messenger before your face,
            who will prepare your way before you.’

Recommendations

1. Carefully consider what prophetic voices are saying in this season.
2. Prepare the way of the Lord in your life by applying the guidance of Matthew 24.
3. Have conversations with like-minded Christians around the question, “In what ways should we be prepared in this time in God’s prophetic calendar?”

Destroying the Work of the Devil: Romans 10

Jesus and His ministry are a blessing, in every way, for those who live in alignment with Romans 10:8-11.

⁸ But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we proclaim); ⁹ because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. ¹⁰ For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. ¹¹ For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 

This “will be saved” is the overarching concept for all of the tremendous effects Jesus has in the lives of those who confess with their mouth and believe in their heart that Jesus is Lord and that God raised him from the dead.

The word concept for “will be saved” in this passage is among the most important in all of Christian experience.

1. This word concept is used for deliverance from disease or the influence of demons.  Matthew 9:21, 22, Mark 3:4, Mark 5: 23, 28, 34, Mark 6:56, Mark 10:52, Luke 6:9, Luke 8:36, 48, 50, Luke 17:19, Luke 18:42, John 11:12
2. Additionally, this word concept depicts God’s saving actions from physical danger or death.  Matthew 8:25, Matthew 14:30, Matthew 16:25, Matthew 27:40, 42, 49, Mark 8:35, Mark 15:30, 31, Luke 9:24, 56, Luke 23:35, 37, 39, John 12:27
3. Third, this word concept depicts God’s saving actions from spiritual danger or death. Matthew 1:21, Matthew 10:22, Matthew 19:25, Matthew 24:13, 22, Mark 8:35, Mark 10:26, Mark 13:13, 20, Mark 16:16, Luke 7:50, Luke 8:12, Luke 9:24, Luke 13:23, Luke 18:26, Luke 19:10, John 3:17, John 5:34, John 10:9, John 12:47

Although God’s saving, healing and delivering are depicted uniformly, there are two additional facets within this overarching word concept for God’s gracious actions in our lives. 

God saves, heals and delivers with the nuance of being the Divine Therapist.

God also saves, heals and delivers with the release of His immediate miraculous power.

These three “word concepts” are all very similar yet with hints of differences.  In the end, the experiences are the same. 

We are saved, healed, delivered and made whole by the saving ministry of Jesus.

Today’s text boldly reveals, salvation, healing, deliverance and being made whole are the experience of the person who:

1. Believes in their heart that God raised Jesus from the dead.
2. Confesses with their mouth that Jesus is Lord.

Notice the priority in this passage upon “the word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart.”

From this passage we learn:

1. It is in believing in our heart that we are justified, and
2. It is in confessing with our mouth that we are saved (the entire saving, healing, delivering and made whole experience).

We can count on this 100%.  Guaranteed. 

¹¹ For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” Romans 10:11

Today, let’s believe in our hearts and confess with our mouths the Lordship of Jesus and His resurrection from the dead.

Destroying the Works of the Devil: Divine Healing in the Gospel of Matthew

Destroying the works of the devil: Divine Healing

Let us consider the passages in the Gospel according to Matthew that specifically speak of Jesus’ healing power and presence.

A visitation of Jesus’ healing presence and power is an antithesis to the pandemic pandemonium in our world today.  As of July 19, 2020 there have been 14,429,382 people world-wide who have been infected with the corona virus.

Even Jesus followers align with Isaiah’s (Isaiah 6:9, 10) analysis of the human condition.

Indeed, in their case the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says:

“‘“You will indeed hear but never understand,
    and you will indeed see but never perceive.”
¹⁵ For this people’s heart has grown dull,
    and with their ears they can barely hear,
    and their eyes they have closed,
lest they should see with their eyes
    and hear with their ears
and understand with their heart
    and turn, and I would heal them.’  Matthew 13:14-15

When it comes to the role of healing in the Good News, maybe we hear but never understand, see but never perceive.

Maybe our hearts have grown dull and our ears can barely hear.

In our condition, we turn with our hearts to God and He will heal us.

Psalm 51: Preparing for the Judgment of God – Cleanse

Psalms:  Preparing for the Judgment of God – Cleanse

Paul’s words to the Ephesians continue to have an urgency in this season of ministry.

²⁵ Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, ²⁶ that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, ²⁷ so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. Ephesians 5:25-27

As Christ cleanses His Church (like a bright and shining bride) of stains and imperfections, do we have responsibilities in the process of being holy and without blemish?  2 timothy 2:20-26

²⁰ Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable. ²¹ Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

²² So flee youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith, love, and peace, along with those who call on the Lord from a pure heart. ²³ Have nothing to do with foolish, ignorant controversies; you know that they breed quarrels. ²⁴ And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, ²⁵ correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.

• We are to cleanse ourselves from what is dishonorable.  Vs. 21
• Set apart as holy
  • Useful to the master of the house
  • Ready for every good work.
• Cleanse ourselves of youthful passions and pursue righteousness, faith love and peace, along with all the other people who call on the Lord from a pure heart.  Vs. 22
• Cleanse ourselves of foolish, ignorant controversies. Vs. 23
• Cleanse ourselves of quarrelsomeness. Vs. 24, 25
  • Kind to everyone
  • Able to teach
  • Patiently enduring evil
  • Correcting opponents with gentleness

Look at Paul’s hope for these opponents of Christ.

God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, ²⁶ and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will.  2 Timothy 2:25, 26

Both of these passages feature cleansing.  In Ephesians 5, Christ is doing the cleansing.  In 2 Timothy 2, we are doing the cleansing.

What do the Psalmists bring to a conversation about cleansing?  Repentance.

Catherine Parks, in Real: The Surprising Secret to Deeper Relationships (The Good Book Company, 2018), is insightful on repentance in Psalm 51. The following is from Eight Steps for Real Repentance from Psalm 51. https://www.thegospelcoalition.org/article/steps-repentance-psalm-51/

So how do we grow in a joy-giving habit of repentance? Here are eight steps.

1. Define the sin.

The first step to meaningful confession is understanding what sin is. David uses three different words for it in Psalm 51: “iniquity,” “sin,” and “transgressions” (vv. 1–3). Each term has been deliberately chosen for its unique meaning. “Transgression” is rebellion against God’s authority and law, “iniquity” is a distortion of what should be, and “sin” is missing the mark. David also says his sin is deep—there is no minimizing or excusing it.

2. Appeal to God’s mercy.

The psalm begins: “Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love” (v. 1). Here, David appeals for forgiveness based on what he knows about God’s character: that he is merciful. David knows God is committed to him in a relationship of “unfailing love”—and when we come before God in repentance, we do so because of his covenant with us through Christ.

3. Avoid defensiveness and see God rightly.

David’s sin hurt multiple people. He committed adultery, orchestrated a murder, and tried to cover it all up. And yet he says to God, “against you, you only, have I sinned” (v. 4). How can that be? Sin is missing the mark—God’s mark. Our sin does hurt others, and we must seek forgiveness from them, but all sin is ultimately against God.

4. Look to Jesus.

David writes, “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I shall be clean” (v. 7). He knows hyssop signifies purification with blood (see Ex. 24), and he knows that blood alone can make him clean. What he doesn’t know is exactly how this will be done. But we do. We have the full revelation of Jesus, who “has appeared once for all at the culmination of the ages to do away with sin by the sacrifice of himself” (Heb. 9:26).

5. Ask God to break and heal you.

David prays, “Let the bones you have crushed rejoice” (v. 8). When God reveals our sin to us, it’s painful. It’s never pleasant to confront just how unholy we are. But like a doctor resetting a fractured bone, it is God who breaks, God who sets, and God who heals.

6. Be comforted by the Spirit.

Next David prays, “Do not . . . take your Holy Spirit from me” (v. 11). But the fact that David is grieved over his sin is a sign that the Spirit is at work in him. Have you ever been so discouraged by your sin that you’ve wondered, How can God love me? Surely I’m not really a Christian. Take comfort in knowing that the grief you’re experiencing is a sign that you have the Holy Spirit working in you, causing you to hate what God hates.

7. Rejoice and proclaim truth.

In verses 12–15, David asks God to make him so joyful about his salvation that he can’t help but proclaim the gospel to others: “Open my lips, Lord, and my mouth will declare your praise.” This is important, because so often we do the opposite—we wallow in our sin and draw back from serving others because we think we’re unworthy. But the joy of forgiveness should compel us to share the good news with friends, family, co-workers, and neighbors.

8. Resolve to obey.

We can do all the steps above, but if we’re planning to sin in the same way again, then grace isn’t truly taking root. What God desires is the mark of true repentance—a heart that is “broken” by sin and truly “contrite.”

As Puritan pastor Thomas Watson wrote, “‘Til sin be bitter, Christ will not be sweet.” If we come to God with a heart set on obedience, he “will not despise” it because of Christ’s sacrifice on our behalf (v. 17).

Destroying the Works of the Devil Against Relationships: Unbelief and Distrust

We are lifelong learners with the curricula of Christ.  Disciples of Jesus. 

Five primary dimensions of our discipleship are (as identified by the Barna Group):

• Finances
• Relationships
• Physical and mental health
• Vocation
• Faith

This conversation reflects upon the destruction of the works of the devil in our relationships.

Relationship between humans and God is absolutely essential to our well-being, individually, as groups and as a race.

Knowing this, the Bible opens with God revealing His relationship with and satan’s attempted destruction of the God/human relationship.

The second chapter of Genesis is written with the love of God for His creation in clear view.

God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, is the First and Primary relationship.

In Christianity it is universally understood that God is love.

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. 1 John 4:8

For love to exist, there must be another.

God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are Eternal Others loving perfectly from eternity past, present and forever.

The enemies of God would, logically, seek to undermine and destroy perfect love.

In Genesis 3 we see a battle ground of the enemies of God against the perfect love between God and the other.  The Garden of Eden is the setting and Adam and Eve are God’s beloved who are under assault.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?”

² The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, ³ but God did say, ‘You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.’”

⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”  Genesis 3:1-5

From then until now the enemies of God are opposed to every relationship in which perfect love from one to the other can be experienced and expressed.

Destroying the works of the devil against you and your relationships is of vital importance and is the exact mission of Jesus.

Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.  1 John 3:8

It is the devil’s work to damage your knowledge and experience of God’s perfect love.

The enemy of God intends for you to believe that God’s character is tarnished by wrong motives, fear and selfishness.

⁴ “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. ⁵ “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” 

• “You will not certainly die” suggests that God lied.
• “For God knows” suggests that God is afraid of what He knows.
• “Your eyes will be opened” suggests that God wants your eyes closed (figuratively).
• “You will be like God” suggests that God doesn’t want you to be like Him.

These are always the strategy of the enemy of God against you and your relationship with God and others.

1. Don’t believe God is who and what He says He is.
2. Therefore, don’t trust God.

In this way we can state, “The works of the devil (that Jesus came to destroy) include unbelief and distrust of God.”

Prayer is the beginning action in our war against these works of the devil.

“Lord, I ask you to open my understanding so that I believe and trust in you.  Remove, heal or destroy every work of the devil that hinders my capacity to believe and trust you.”

We can strengthen our belief and trust in God by proclaiming the “Hand of Belief and Trust.”

1. God is who He says He is.
2. God can do what He says He can do.
3. I am who God says I am.
4. I can do what God says I can do.
5. The Holy Spirit is actively working belief and trust into me.

Jesus destroys the devil’s work against my experience of God’s perfect love and relationship with Him by replacing my distrust and unbelief with tremendous trust and beautiful belief.

MCA LIFE GROUP HOMEWORK

Listen – My Story

• Do you have a story of something that was harmful or no longer helpful being destroyed?
• In what life events, situations or concepts do you tend to doubt God?  For example, “It is difficult for me to believe God in _______________.

Learn – Digging Deeper

1. Believing God is a component of faith. Do you have faith?  Romans 12:3

• With everyone given a measure of faith, why do so many people not believe God?  2 Corinthians 4:3, 4

• What brings increased faith to the human life?  Romans 10:17

• In light of these passages, please proclaim, out loud, together, the “Hand of Belief and Trust.”

Life – Taking it Home

1. What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this lesson? 
2. How can your Bible Fellowship help you destroy the works of the devil in a relationship?

Lift – Prayer

• May we pray with you about belief and trust?
• May we join you in prayer for the destruction of the works of the devil in a relationship?
• Please pray for the guiding coalitions that are studying the best options for the MCA worship schedule in the era of corona virus mandates, regulations and mindsets.

From Feasting to Fasting: Destroying the Works of the Devil

²¹ Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. ²² For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way, since we had told the king, “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.” ²³ So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.  Ezra 8:21-23

We are seeking wisdom from God about discerning those things in our lives that are lovingly allowed by God for His eternal purposes and those that are in our lives by the intentional design of the devil.

Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil, for the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil.  1 John 3:8

The Bible makes one posture and one behavior the most important aspects of this discernment and decision process.

• ïThe crucial posture is humility.
• ïThe crucial behavior is fasting.

With the exile over in Babylon, King Artaxerxes decreed the return of Ezra and his people to Israel.

The challenge?  In the distance between Babylon and Israel were many powerful enemies of Israel.  

Why is that a challenge?  Ezra had confidently proclaimed to the king, “The hand of our God is for good on all who seek him, and the power of his wrath is against all who forsake him.” Vs. 22

Ezra was therefore ashamed and embarrassed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect them from the enemies as they traveled.

For I was ashamed to ask the king for a band of soldiers and horsemen to protect us against the enemy on our way…Ezra 8:22

This situation required discernment.

• Do we travel through enemy territory trusting in Artaxerxes’ military guards?  
• Do we travel through enemy territory trusting in God’s protection alone?

Ezra determined, surely against all recommendations, to travel through enemy territory trusting in God alone.

Here we see the crucial posture, humility and the crucial behavior, fasting with exceptional clarity.

Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek from him a safe journey for ourselves, our children, and all our goods.  Ezra 8:21

In this verse, Ezra gives an essential insight into the crucial posture and behavior.  

It is the behavior of fasting that produces the posture of humility. 

Growth in humility is necessary for me, us, Anchorage, Alaska, the United States and the world.

Humility is the way.  Fasting is the means.

Today, with Ezra, we need God’s protection for ourselves, our children, and all our goods. 

This week, the Lord spoke to MCA Church through Missionary Rod Rivas.  

“With all that is going on in our world today, our response should be fasting and prayer.”  Staff Meeting, June 29

Today, I proclaim this week, July 5 through July 11, 2020, a season of fasting and prayer for MCA Church.

Please ask the Holy Spirit to guide you in deciding your fasting and prayer protocol.  Also, please follow the advice of your medical professionals.

Fasting and prayer suggestions

• Reduce all distractions (especially media, social media and entertainment)
• Fasting and praying one meal per day
• Fasting and praying one day 
• Fasting and praying more than one day
• Fasting and praying all foods in a category (helpful for those with a strict medical diet)

For over 25 years MCA Church has hosted a July 4^th community feast.  This year we host a community fast.

As we fast and pray, we seek the Lord to do again what He has done for Ezra, 

So we fasted and implored our God for this, and he listened to our entreaty.  Ezra 8:23

May the Lord respond to our fasting and praying by destroying the works of the devil in our lives and world!

Divine Healing: Destroying the Works of the Devil, Part 3, Finances

Divine Healing:  Destroying the works of the devil, part 3

Is there any difficulty in your life that defies natural causes, reason and normal healthy living?

⁸ The one who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning. The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work. 1 John 3:8

This verse reveals one of the devil’s works is deviating from God’s intended character, behavior and attitudes for your life.

This deviation is called sin.

Jesus came to destroy the devil’s work of sin.

Yet the devil’s works are far more than just sin.

In Luke 2:1-12, the work of the devil is sin (invisible) and paralysis (visible).  Jesus healed the visible as proof He has authority over the invisible.

2 And when he returned to Capernaum after some days, it was reported that he was at home. ² And many were gathered together, so that there was no more room, not even at the door. And he was preaching the word to them. ³ And they came, bringing to him a paralytic carried by four men. ⁴ And when they could not get near him because of the crowd, they removed the roof above him, and when they had made an opening, they let down the bed on which the paralytic lay. ⁵ And when Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralytic, “Son, your sins are forgiven.” ⁶ Now some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts, ⁷ “Why does this man speak like that? He is blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” ⁸ And immediately Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they thus questioned within themselves, said to them, “Why do you question these things in your hearts? ⁹ Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or to say, ‘Rise, take up your bed and walk’? ¹⁰ But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—he said to the paralytic— ¹¹ “I say to you, rise, pick up your bed, and go home.” ¹² And he rose and immediately picked up his bed and went out before them all, so that they were all amazed and glorified God, saying, “We never saw anything like this!”

We may make a loose comparison between The Barna Group’s Life Domains and Jesus’ revelation of His ministry purpose.

We can speak of the health or unhealth of each life domain.

Finances

Unhealthy     Mostly Unhealthy       Neither      Mostly Healthy           Healthy

Relationships

Unhealthy     Mostly Unhealthy      Neither        Mostly Healthy           Healthy

Physical and Mental Health

Unhealthy      Mostly Unhealthy     Neither        Mostly Healthy           Healthy

Vocation

Unhealthy      Mostly Unhealthy      Neither        Mostly Healthy          Healthy

Faith

Unhealthy      Mostly Unhealthy      Neither        Mostly Healthy          Healthy

Jesus announced the purposes and intentions of the devil.  John 10:10

¹⁰ The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.

In this life domain continuum, the purpose of the devil is to move you from right to left.

It is the purposes of God to move you from left to right.

For our consideration today, I have chosen Malachi 3:8-12.

⁶ “For I the Lord do not change; therefore you, O children of Jacob, are not consumed. ⁷ From the days of your fathers you have turned aside from my statutes and have not kept them. Return to me, and I will return to you, says the Lord of hosts. But you say, ‘How shall we return?’ ⁸ Will man rob God? Yet you are robbing me. But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In your tithes and contributions. ⁹ You are cursed with a curse, for you are robbing me, the whole nation of you. ¹⁰ Bring the full tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. And thereby put me to the test, says the Lord of hosts, if I will not open the windows of heaven for you and pour down for you a blessing until there is no more need. ¹¹ I will rebuke the devourer for you, so that it will not destroy the fruits of your soil, and your vine in the field shall not fail to bear, says the Lord of hosts. ¹² Then all nations will call you blessed, for you will be a land of delight, says the Lord of hosts.

This is a passage about God’s blessings upon those who returnto obedience to His covenant.

In our world dominated by the “prince and power of the air (the devil)” many of processes are influenced against the goodness of God.

John, the Apostle states:

¹⁸ We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.

¹⁹ We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one.

In the Malachi 3 passage, for example, God’s intended harmonious creation experiences the negativity of food destroying devourers.

Devourer is a way of stating, “eater.”  There are locusts, caterpillars, rodents and any number of plant diseases postured to devour the food sources of God’s people.

Nature would be very different without the influence of the devil and the agreements made between Adam, Eve and the devil.

We understand the eating of the crops and produce in Malachi 3:11 to be both directly and indirectly the work of the devil as allowed by the providence of God.

Jesus’ clearly announced that he has come “to destroy the devil’s works.”

Today, this also includes the direct and indirect works of Satan against you and your:

1. Finances
2. Relationships
3. Physical and Mental health
4. Vocation
5. Faith.

If you are living in obedience and holiness before the Lord and……

There is a strong underlying resistance to the progress you are seeking to make in these five domains and you are having a difficult time moving from left to right on the continuum, it is most likely a work of the devil against you.

Despite your prayer, wise counsel and best effort you are moving from right to left on the continuum, it is most likely a work of the devil against you.

There is a sudden destruction or reversal of progress, it is most likely a work of the devil against you.

There is a major issue for which no cause or solution is known, it is most likely a work of the devil against you.

Is there any difficulty in your life that defies natural causes, reason and normal healthy living?  The Holy Spirit’s discernment is necessary to determine your best way forward.

1 Corinthians 2:14

The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.

1 Corinthians 12:10

to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues.

Today, by faith in the life, death, burial, resurrection and ascension of the Lord Jesus Christ and in the power of the Holy Spirit, I resist the works of the devil coming against my finances, relationships, physical and mental health, vocation and faith.

With Jesus, in Matthew 4:10, we declare, “Be gone, Satan!”

In the name of above every name, we pray.  AMEN

Listen – My Story

• What is the best part of your summer as of today?
• What are your plans for staying active in July and August?

Learn – Digging Deeper

1. When you observe our world of today, what evidences do you see that the whole world lies in the power of the evil one?

• 1 John 5:19

• Do you rest peacefully in John’s statement in 1 John 5:18?

¹⁸ We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning, but he who was born of God protects him, and the evil one does not touch him.”

1. The Christian.  ^“We know that everyone who has been born of God does not keep on sinning.”
   1. Jesus.  “but he who was born of God protects him”
   1. The Christian.  “and the evil one does not touch him.”

• This week’s text, Malachi 3:8-12, connects tithes and offerings to God’s rebuking of those things that devour.  Do you see God’s resource protection as a person who tithes?

Life – Taking it Home

1. What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this lesson? 
2. What do you need to do to see God’s rebuking of the devourer of your finances?

Lift – Prayer

• May we join you in prayer for the destruction of the works of the devil in your finances?
• Please pray for the family of Ethel Thomas in their time of grief.