| Prepare the way of the Lord! Elul is a month of preparation! We are not talking about physical preparation, but spiritual! Elul is dedicated to preparing oneself to come before Melech HaOlam, the King of the Universe. |
| The Hebrew month of Elul this year begins sunset, August 20. Elul is the month before the seventh and holiest month of the Jewish year. Think of Elul as the final month before a wedding, or better yet, the final month before the return of our Bridegroom King! Get Ready! Get Ready! Jewish Year 5769 : sunset August 20, 2009 |
| As believers in the Messiah we know that we have a Great High Priest who has broken down the middle wall of separation and has passed through the heavens and now sits at the right hand of God the Father making intercession on our behalf. Because of His great sacrifice we are now able to come boldly to the throne of grace. But does this mean we no longer need to prepare ourselves spiritually? No! In fact every month should be a month of preparation for us. Every day we should be preparing the way for the coming of our Lord! Every believer should be a voice of one crying in the wilderness Prepare the way of the Lord! The day of the Lord will come as a thief in the night. Yeshua (Jesus) says in Matthew 24:36 "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only." Matthew 24:44 "Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect." Revelation 22:20 "Surely I am coming quickly." What is Yeshua saying? Be Ready! Be Prepared! Is He just speaking of salvation? No! Absolutely not! Revelation 22:12-14 "And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last." Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. Once again Yeshua is saying, "Behold, I am coming quickly." But, He doesn't stop there He goes on to say, "And My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work." Revelation 19:7 the Word of God reads Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has made herself ready. Made herself ready Sounds like to me we are talking PREPARATION We need to do something! Now, don't get me wrong I know it is by grace we have been saved and not of works But let's look at that verse a little closer Ephesians 2:8-10 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast. Verse 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. What did verse ten say? When we quote these scriptures we usually leave off this verse. The truth is we are cheating people from the victory that rightfully belongs to them when we preach only part of the gospel. We are so busy trying to win converts that we’have lost the whole truth. What are you saying Pastor Cheryl? I’m saying that when you truly have accepted Jesus as your Savior through faith yes, it is a gift of God. But when you receive that free gift of love and grace it floods your soul, your very being with His love and His grace! This means in return we love because He loves. I love Him because He first loved me. I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me! If it is no longer I who lives, but Jesus; THEN I BETTER GET ABOUT MY FATHER’S BUSINESS! BECAUSE GLORY HALLELUJAH! THAT’S WHAT JESUS WAS ALL ABOUT! DOING HIS FATHER’S BUSINESS! For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works! For what? For good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. So, God has called you to do something that will bring an increase to His Kingdom. He has prepared a work for you to do that will help in preparing the way of the Lord. Are you doing it? Are you about your Father’s business? Jesus is the Word and when Jesus (the Word) is living inside of us we have a new love for the Word (Jesus) Because we love Jesus (the Word) we do as He says. We do as the Word says, because remember Jesus is the Word! So if we love Jesus we love the Word. Why? Because Jesus is the Word! So if you’re telling me you love Jesus but you really don’t enjoy preaching or reading the Bible (it’s boring to you) Hello! What are you really saying? You’re saying you really don’t love Jesus, He’s boring to you. Because remember Jesus is the Word! If you truly love Him, you love the Word! • John 1:1-5, 14 Now that we’have cleared up the fact that Jesus is the Word Let’s go back to preparing ourselves spiritually. How do we prepare ourselves spiritually? 1. We put on the mind of Christ Philippians 2:5 reads; Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus. How do we put on the mind of Christ? By putting on the Word! By renewing our minds in the Word! When you are saved you’re spirit is recreated. But it is up to you to do something about your mind and flesh (body). We know that no one can work for their spiritual salvation; IT IS A FREE GIFT, FROM GOD. But you are responsible to do something about your mind and body. Being born again is the first step, but it doesn't’t stop there. If you want to live in victory you must be willing to put on the mind of Christ. You must be willing to renew your mind in the word. Renewing your mind in the word; thus putting on the mind of Christ is the key to Christian growth. It is the key to spiritual maturity. It is how we prepare ourselves spiritually. Do you know you must prepare yourself in order to hear God speak? Many people look shocked when you tell them God speaks to you. God speaks to all His children, but many aren't listening or cannot hear because they haven’t prepared themselves to hear. If you are not prepared spiritually then it’s going to be hard for you to receive any thing from the Lord. Romans 12:2; And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Ephesians 4:22-24; That you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, And be renewed in the spirit of your mind, And that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness. Did you notice that the scriptures said you put off and you put on? You can see this is your responsibility. This is part of your preparation for the bride of Christ. How can God use you if you can’t hear Him? How can you know God’s will for your life if you’re not listening? Suppose you are listening. How do you know if what your hearing is from God if you are not renewing your mind in the Word? Understand that preparing yourself spiritually is very important. It sets the atmosphere for miracles. It sets the atmosphere for God to work in our lives. Putting on the mind of Christ takes discipline. It doesn't’t just happen over night. You must be willing to be committed to the things of God. You must be determined to not give up. And you must have a desire to change. Many believers want to complain about how miserable their life is, but they don’t want to do any thing to change it. Many believers want you to pray for them because they have it so bad and they really need God to move on their behalf. But they don’t want to do any thing themselves. What is it you really need God to do? May things we need God to fix, not all but many, usually wouldn't’t have had happened in the first place if we were in the Word and living the Word. The question is not as much what you need God to do, but what do you need to do? Are you spiritually preparing yourself by putting on the mind of Christ? Are you renewing your mind in the word? And then are you living the word? This takes us to step two to spiritual preparation. 2. Crucifying the Flesh It’s not enough to just read the word you must be willing to live the word. And once again this takes discipline and willingness to change. The more the word is inside of you the more you are able to live it. The more the word is inside of you the more your love for it grows. As part of the Bride of Christ you are responsible for preparing the way of the Lord! You are responsible for being that light that shines and points the way to Jesus! So, believers, mediocrity should not be part of your life. Laziness should not be part of your life. The world should be able to look at you and see Jesus. As believers of Christ we should strive for excellence. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me! We should be excellent in our work We should be excellent in our homes We should be excellent in our relationships As believers we should do the very best in all we do. We should be people that live above the standard! This will only happen when you are willing to renew your mind in the word of God and live it. Understand when your mind changes you will change. You live the way you live because you live the way you think. So you can’t even begin to crucify the flesh until you receive the word. • James 1:21-22 Who is James speaking to? He is speaking to believers. Remember it is your spirit man that is regenerated when you are saved. Your soul deals with your intellect, your mind. You must be willing to receive the word and be a doer of the word. Once again this is something that you are responsible for. Many times you may here the word but you don’t receive it. When you receive it, it is planted in your mind. It takes root and begins to grow thus in return you begin to be a doer of the word. This means you begin to crucify the flesh. You begin to live a holy life before the Lord. You begin to change. You begin to grow spiritually. But notice the growth started with you receiving the word. The word receiving is very important. How do you know if someone has actually received the word? They begin to change, to grow. If there is no spiritual growth in your life then you know you are not receiving God’s word. Then you need to ask your self why, why am I not receiving God’s word? What is keeping me from receiving God’s word? It is very important to get to the root of the problem. Perhaps you do not receive God’s word because you do not want to change? Perhaps you are bound by sin or even bound by doctrine. What keeps you from desiring to change? What keeps you from wanting more of God? If you honestly want to live in the victory that Jesus wrought for you then you’ll ask God to help you examine your heart. God what keeps me from receiving your word and being a doer of your word? God why do I resist change in my life? Be determined! Persevere! At times we have to take the first step naturally before we can receive spiritually. Be determined to read God’s word and receive it. Usually we’re not receiving because of our mind set. We go into God’s word saying I know I’m not going to understand so why am I bothering with it. Or I know I’m not going to get anything out of this because it’s so boring or I’m so tired. We need to change our way of thinking. Go into God’s word saying O.K. God what do you have for me today. What can I learn today and how can I apply it to my life? Or how about, God reveal to me your will for my life through your word. I love what King David says in Psalm 119:18; Open my eyes, that I may see wondrous things from your word. Here’s one He wrote just for me. Psalm 119:130; the entrance of Your words gives light; it gives understanding to the simple. How can we forget verse 11 and 12; Your word have I hidden in my heart that I might not sin against thee. The only way we can crucify the flesh is to hide God’s word in our heart. Earlier we read Romans 12:2. What does Romans 12:1 say? I beseech you therefore, brethren’ by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. In other words; I beg of you, I implore you by the mercies of God, by the blood shed of Jesus, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, that you live in a way that is acceptable to God. You live in a way that brings Glory and Honor to His name and not shame. After all, this is the least you can do; Paul was saying. Didn't Jesus shed His blood that you might live? Then why don’t you live like it. Act like it. 1Corinthians 9:14 reads; The Lord has commanded that those who preach the Gospel should live from the Gospel. This applies to everyone that proclaims to be a Christian. Preaching is proclaiming. If you’re going to say you are a Christian then you need to be Christ like. We are responsible for presenting our bodies as a living sacrifice before God. God expects us to have control over our bodies. We need to make sure our new man, our spirit man rules over our bodies. Look at what Apostle Pal says in 1 Corinthians 9:27; But I discipline my body and bring it into subjection, lest, when I have preached to others I myself should become disqualified. He said he disciplines his body and he brings it under subjection. As the bride of Christ we are to prepare ourselves spiritually by growing and maturing in the word and by living holy lives, thus preparing the way of the Lord! • 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 Apostle Paul is addressing the problem of carnal Christians. They can’t grow any more because they are still on milk. They are stuck in the baby stage. No spiritual growth, therefore they don’t understand the things of the spirit. Romans 8:5-8; for those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace, Because the carnal mind is enmity against God; for it is not subject to the law of God, nor indeed can be. So then those who are in the flesh can not please God. Verse 13; for if you live according to the flesh you will die; but if by the spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. In other words if I allow my flesh to rule and make all the decisions I will experience sickness, destruction and defeat. But if I allow my Spirit man to rule I will live life more abundantly. The important thing to remember is the choice is up to you! Will you prepare your self spiritually, thus preparing the way of the Lord! Another step to preparing ourselves as part of the Bride of Christ is repentance. 3. Repentance Repentance is the primary focus during the month of Elul. As believers in Christ (Messiah) repentance should be once again, part of our daily walk. 1 John 1: 9 reads; if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Many believers have mistaken this verse to mean all I have to do is confess my sins and this is enough. But it’s not. When we repent of our sins once again it involves change. Change is all part of our spiritual preparation. When change (for the better) is evident in our lives we know we are spiritually growing. We are becoming more Christ like. There is less and less of us and more and more of Him. From Glory to Glory, from change to change! So true repentance involves action on our part; it also involves returning; returning to righteous living. And if our sin has been against another person then our repentance involves making a wrong right. We see this in the story of Zacchaeus. • Luke 10:1-10 Notice, first Zacchaeus had to have a desire to meet the Lord. God provided the place and the time; He even had a tree there for Zacchaeus to climb. Notice though, Zacchaeus had to give the initiative. He had to make the move to see Jesus and to receive Him. And he did, he saw the tree and he climbed it. Now even though God provided away for Zacchaeus to come to Jesus, it was Zacchaeus who had to decide to do it. And once he met Jesus he had to be willing to receive what he was saying to him. When he received he experienced a repentive a heart. After he met Jesus and received Jesus he was never going to be the same. But it wasn’t enough that O.K. from here on out I’m going to live differently, No! He was willing to go back and correct his wrong doings. His repentance included rectification and restitution. And he didn’t have to be talked into it. You know, well now that you’re a Christian you should make things right, or you shouldn’t do those things any more. Or you really shouldn’t dress that way any more. You really shouldn’t talk that way any more. No one had to tell Zacchaeus what he was doing was wrong. No! After having a personal encounter with the Lord he immediately wanted to do what was right in the eyes of the Lord! He instantly had a heart change! So by looking at the majority of Christians today we have to wander one of two things. Number one; there hasn’t really been a personal encounter with the Lord. Or number two there are a lot of Christians who just like to play ignorant! Repentance is important! Living a holy life is important! Preparing ourselves spiritually is important! Repentance always leads to positive change! Elul is also a time of forgiveness. Forgiving others plays a major role in our repentance. Jesus tells us plainly in Mark 11: 25-26; And whenever you stand praying, if you have anything against anyone, forgive him that your Father in heaven may also forgive you your trespasses. But if you do not forgive, neither will your Father in heaven forgive your trespasses. Now that’s pretty easy to understand. Forgive and you shall be forgiven. The same measure of mercy you give out you shall receive. This takes us to step four of preparing the way of the Lord. 4. Walk in Love A spiritually mature person walks in love. God is LOVE! You can’t separate the two. When we try to minister without the love of God we are out of balance. And it will not work! When we try to discipline without the love of God we are out of balance and it will not work! Galatians 5:6 tells us our faith won’t even work with out love. Confess the word all you want with out love it will not work. Many people are indoctrinated and many people have found religion, What I want to see is a body of believers that have had a personal encounter with the Lord! A body of believers that not only walk in His word but in His love! God is love and He has imparted His love to us. But we can only walk in that love when we are willing to let our spirit man rule. One of the most important steps to preparing ourselves spiritually is our love walk. When we walk in love we have a teachable spirit and are less likely to be offended. Can I tell you that when we find our selves being offended all the time, the problem isn’t everybody else? The problem is usually with us. And it’s usually because we are stuck on ourselves. When we get the focus off of ourselves and on to Jesus we will find out that it’s very hard to get offended. When we get our focus off of ourselves and on to Jesus we will want to read His Word, receive His Word and be a doer of His Word. When we get our focus off of ourselves and on to Jesus we won’t have to prove our point, have the last word, or get even. Those things won’t matter. When we get our eyes off of ourselves and on to Jesus we find ourselves growing, maturing in the things of God. And we find out that’s easier and easier to walk in the fruit of the spirit. Our last step to spirit preparation is number five. 5. Do not allow the enemy to condemn you! • Romans 8:1 When you’have done wrong and you have repented learn to move on. There’s no time to hang out in pity land. God has a work for you, which He prepared before hand that you should walk in them. If you’re sitting around beating yourself up for your sins how I ask you are you going to anything for God. Repentance is important but don’t stay there wallowing in self pity. I can’t believe I did that or I can’t believe I didn’t do that. I can’t believe I said that word! You did! Get over it and move on! Condemnation will keep you in the pity pit and it will keep you from spiritually growing. As long as you’re moving in you’re faith you’re growing you’re preparing the way of the Lord you’re O.K. Not everyone is going to grow at the same pace. When you are willing to take steps of faith no matter how small God is well pleased. Be a Bride that prepares themselves for the coming of their Bride Groom King! During the month of Elul the shofar is sounded daily. Calling God’s people to repent and draw near to Him. It is also said that in the month of Elul God’s people can find favor with Him. It is during Elul, the King shines His countenance upon all. Isaiah 55:6-7 is often quoted; seek the Lord while He made be found, Call upon Him while He is near. Let the wicked forsake His way, And the unrighteous man his thoughts, Let him return to the Lord, And He will have mercy upon him; And to our God, for He will abundantly pardon. As believers in the Messiah we know that now in Him you who once were far off have been brought near by the blood of Jesus. Ephesians 2:13 Ephesians 1:6; we are accepted in the Beloved. Colossians 2:1O; we are complete in Him. We know that the Favor of the Lord is with us every day! He will never leave us or forsake us! He loves us with everlasting love! Romans 8:31-39 What can separate us from the love of God! Isn’t this all the more reason to be faithful to Him? Isn’t this all the more reason to dedicate ourselves to His work? Isn’t this all the more reason to seek Him diligently? To worship Him and to learn all we can about Him. Isn’t this all the more reason to remember all that He has done for us and to prepare ourselves spiritually; thus preparing the way of Lord! To me the month of Elul is a month of rededication to the Lord and a month to reflect on how awesome He is; a month to remember His sacrifice and His love. A month to seek His will for our lives and dedicating ourselves to live it! Elul should be a reminder to us all; To prepare the way of the Lord everyday! Live in His presence and to share Him with someone everyday! For His bride has made herself ready. And the spirit and the bride say “Come!” and let him who hears say, “Come!” and let him who thirsts come, whoever desires, let him take the water of life freely. To purchase a teaching CD on the month of Elul click below cheryl@opendoorministrieswv.org Home |
Elul - The King is in the field!
Come out to meet Him!
Come out to meet Him!
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| During the month of Elul the shofar is sounded daily, Calling God’s people to repent and draw near to Him. It is also said that in the month of Elul God’s people can find favor with Him. It is during Elul, the King shines His countenance upon all. |
| Elul should be a reminder to us all; To prepare the way of the Lord everyday! Live in His presence and to share Him with someone everyday! For His bride has made herself ready. |