Tomorrow is the Fourth of July. Today I’m thinking about cookouts, flags, and fireworks. Is that what being American is all about?
I’m grateful for having been born in the United States. There’s been so much going on lately in this country, much of it is negative. However, I continue to believe that the USA is still the best nation on earth.
We were founded upon Christian principles. The question is; are we a “Christian Nation” anymore? Does a Christian nation tell you not to pray in public? Does a Christian nation tell you not to display Christian symbols where everyone can see them?
While it’s true that many Christians live in this country, we have to come to grips with the obvious. The United States, as an entity, is no longer Christian. As believers, we need to live understanding that fact.
When David became king of Israel, it was recorded that many groups came from all over that nation to join the ranks of his army. It describes the weapons they used and their strengths. There’s one group in particular that stands out to me.
…men of Issachar, who understood the times and knew what Israel should do – 200 chiefs, with all their relatives under their command;
1 Chronicles 12:32
The only weaponry it tells about these men was their ability to understand the times and live their lives accordingly. This should be a lesson to us in the United States. The Apostle Paul echoes the same sentiment.
Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is.
Ephesians 5:15-17
We are called to be just as Issachar was. We need to be people of understanding. We live in a nation where the attitudes are very quickly turning against any kind of Christian influences.
I don’t say that to scare us or sour our mood. I’m trying to get us, as the people of God, to wake up to the fact that coasting along with the crowd is no longer an option. We don’t live in a place where godliness is applauded and sought after.
We now live on an active mission field. That means that our lifestyles should look more like missionaries than consumers. God didn’t place us here at this time in history to merely bask in the pleasures of this society. Church is not just a place where we celebrate our salvation.
We’re more than that. The church in America should be a counterculture that is actively seeking to change people’s lives for Christ.
So, this Fourth of July, celebrate and enjoy the freedoms we have as Americans. There’s nothing wrong with that. But also, pray for the spiritual understanding that it takes to live for Christ in this generation.
Pray for, and actively seek, a revival in our land.
Question: How are you living counter to the culture around you?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: America, attitudes, celebrate, Christ, Christian, Christian nation, Christian principles, consumers, cookout, counterculture, fireworks, flag, fourth of July, freedom, God bless the USA, godliness, Jesus, mission field, missionaries, pray for revival, revival, understanding, understanding the times, United States of America, USA
This post is the last in a series about our relationship to the Word of God.
The Book of Revelation mentions synagogues of Satan (Revelation 2:9). These are places where the teaching of Scripture was done by satanic influence. I need the Holy Spirit to help me interpret the Bible. Yet, there are those who listen to the demon’s view of it.
The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.
1 Timothy 4:1
There are those who teach the Bible, but not the Word of God. This is a great deception. Of course no one would listen if a minister got up and said, “Satan says to do this.” But if he reads a Scripture verse and puts a demonic twist to it, the church seems to fall for it most of the time.
Just because someone quotes Scripture doesn’t mean that what they’re preaching is of God. I need the discernment of the Holy Spirit to protect me from false teaching. How can I tell the difference between Satan’s teaching, man’s teaching, and the true Word of God?
Then the disciples went out and preached everywhere, and the Lord worked with them and confirmed his word by the signs that accompanied it.
Mark 16:20
This verse literally says that the Lord was a co-worker with them. They did their work – proclaiming the Word of God. God did His part – confirming the Word that was proclaimed. Miracles were commonplace. As the disciples went out, the Word of God spread, and there were signs and wonders everywhere they went.
When Satan quoted the Bible to Jesus (Luke 3:9-11), he used it to try and convince the Lord to jump off the highest point of the Temple. If Jesus had jumped, would God the Father have confirmed that “word”? Of course not.
Just because I quote the Bible, it doesn’t put God under any obligation to confirm it. Even if I’m preaching from a text on healing, there’s no confirmation unless it’s a Word God wants preached at that moment.
There are questions I need to ask myself. Is God working with me? Am I proclaiming the Word of God for these people? If the answer to both of these is “yes”, then I can expect a move of God.
We may not like it, but the truth is plain and simple. If there are no signs following, then it wasn’t the Word of God that was preached.
When the crowds heard Philip and saw the miraculous signs he did, they all paid close attention to what he said.
Acts 8:6
Scripture is very clear as to relationship between the preaching of the Word, and the response of the hearers. When the Word of God is confirmed, there is a supernatural manifestation that draws people’s attention.
America needs a revival of hearing the Word of God. It will only come from those who have received and planted the Word into their lives.
Questions: How hungry are you for a revival to sweep our nation? Are you willing to seek God for it?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: America, Bible, Christ, church, confirming the word of God, deceived, deception, discernment, false teaching, God's word, healing, Holy Spirit, Jesus, last days, last-days deception, man's teaching, miracles, proclaim, revival, satanic influence, Scripture, spiritual discernment, synagogue of satan, teaching, truth, word, word of God
In my last post I talked about those who minister without the Word of God. We are experiencing an epidemic of this in our American Christian experience. Jude wrote about this problem almost 2000 years ago.
These men are blemishes at your love feasts, eating with you without the slightest qualm – shepherds who feed only themselves. They are clouds without rain, blown along by the wind; autumn trees, without fruit and uprooted– twice dead.
Jude 1:12
This rebuke describes a growing segment of the church. What an appropriate editorial on many of the “ministers” we see on Christian cable and radio.
Jude describes them as shepherds who feed only themselves. They preach messages that excite people in order to keep their cash flow going strong. They’re clouds and wind with no rain – autumn trees with no fruit.
If there’s no fruit, then there are no seed to plant. But that doesn’t matter. With no rain they couldn’t water them either.
It’s a sign of the times that we live in. There’s an abundance of the Bible being preached in America these days. How much of it is a Word from God? How much of it speaks what God wants said to this generation for this time in history? How much planting and watering is being accomplished?
For the amount of Scripture being sent through the airways and over the internet, there is very little fruit to harvest.
“The days are coming,” declares the Sovereign LORD, “when I will send a famine through the land – not a famine of food or a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the LORD. Men will stagger from sea to sea and wander from north to east, searching for the word of the LORD, but they will not find it.”
Amos 8:11-12
The prophet Amos predicted the days when there would be a famine of the Word of God. What is a famine? It’s usually a dry weather pattern. As a result there’s no rain, no crops, and no new seed. This must go on for years to qualify as a famine.
During the time of spiritual famine that Amos wrote about, Israel had many synagogues. These were places where the Scripture was taught. There were people teaching the Scripture all over Israel. Scripture reading abounded – but not the Word of God.
It grieves me to look at the United States in light of this Scripture. We are in that exact same place. An abundance of the Bible is being preached and taught from every possible media outlet. Yet for all of this, the church of Jesus Christ is, for the most part, marginalized.
We need to hunger and thirst for a revival of the Word of God in us. Of course we need Scripture as our foundation – to keep us on track. But we must seek God Himself so that we can receive the Living Word to burn within us.
Questions: What could America look like with an abundance of the Word of God going forth? What could your life be like?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: American Christian experience, Bible, Christ, Christian radio, Christian TV, church, epidemic, famine, famine of the word of God, fruit, harvest, Jesus, minister, planting, rain, revival, revival of the word of God, Scripture, scripture without the word of God, shepherds, televangelist, watering, word, word of God
As I was reading the Bible the other day, I came across a Scripture that caught my attention. It was describing Christ and how He was revealed to the world. It got me thinking about our relationship to God.
…and who through the Spirit of holiness was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead: Jesus Christ our Lord.
Romans 1:4
Jesus Christ was shown to be the Son of God. Not just by someone’s testimony. It was an act of power by God raising Him from the dead.
That in itself was not news to me. The part that really spoke to my heart was who did the declaring. The passage says that it was through the Spirit of holiness that He was shown to be the Son of God.
That’s what I found to be interesting – the Spirit of holiness. Why did Paul not call Him the Holy Spirit? Isn’t that the more common term? Actually, this is the only place in Scripture where He’s called the Spirit of holiness.
Holiness is something that this generation of believers really needs to come to grips with. It seems that we tend to back away from any mention of holiness. We find it boring and old fashioned.
This is a subject of great importance in the Bible. It’s found throughout the New Testament. We are to be a holy people before God.
Holiness is related to separation. It means to be set apart for God’s purpose.
It’s like this. When Christ found us, we were like a dirty, cast off piece of pottery in the trash heap of the world. When we turned to Him as our Lord and Savior, He rescued us from that place – that’s our salvation.
He then took us as His own and placed us on display in His household. We are now to be exclusively used for the Lord’s purposes. That’s holiness.
As we remain in His house, Christ continues to clean us up and restore us. That’s our sanctification.
By using the term Holy Spirit, we mean the Spirit of God who is set apart from the world and the things of the world. The phrase Spirit of holiness brings it to a whole other realm.
He’s not only the Spirit who is set apart – but the Spirit who sets us apart. He is the Spirit of God who makes us holy. That’s where we try to water down the truth.
We like to think of the Holy Spirit as the power source of the church. Miracles, healings, signs, and wonders always draw a crowd. But separation, on the other hand, sounds too much like commitment.
This generation seems to want the power without the holiness. I believe that it’s time for us to seek the Spirit of holiness. At the place where we are separated for God’s exclusive use, we will find all the power we need to live victoriously and win the lost.
Question: Have you seen examples of the Holy Spirit setting you apart for His use?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: Christ, commitment, exclusive use, God, God's purpose, holiness, holy people, Holy Spirit, Jesus, Lord, makes us holy, power of God, relationship with God, resurrection, savior, separation, set apart, Son of God, Spirit of holiness, the world
We’ve been looking at Abraham’s example of what it takes to be in position to receive God’s blessing. The big question remains. How far are we willing to walk with God down this road of faith that He chooses for us?
When they reached the place God had told him about, Abraham built an altar there and arranged the wood on it. He bound his son Isaac and laid him on the altar, on top of the wood. Then he reached out his hand and took the knife to slay his son.
Genesis 22:9-10
In this remote setting it would have been very easy for Abraham to have chosen differently. He could have taken Isaac with him, and left the area. Yet, he made the choice to follow God’s instructions no matter how painful they were to him.
It’s easy for us to look back and say, “Of course he trusted God.” We have the completed Bible to refer to. We have a knowledge of how the story ended. We know now that God never asks for human sacrifice.
There’s no way that we could ever fathom what it was like to be Abraham at that moment. All he knew was that he was about to take the life of the most precious person in the world to him.
When I see how far Abraham trusted God, it begs the question, how far am I willing to let my faith take me? How much am I willing to give up based solely upon God’s Word?
I think that this generation of believers are more like the rich young man who came to Jesus. The Lord told him to give up everything and come and follow Him.
When the young man heard this, he went away sad, because he had great wealth.
Matthew 19:22
In our society, this call is commonplace. Athletes are told to “leave it all out on the field.” In entertainment competitions they are told to hold nothing back.
Why do we get the idea that Christ is asking too much of us by saying that we must lay our lives down to follow Him? It’s only when I come to the place of total surrender at the feet of the Lord that I’m in the position to receive the strength and blessing that comes from His hand. Jesus held nothing back for our sakes, and now we must follow in His footsteps.
This may not sound like your typical “Six Steps to Prosperity” message. It wasn’t meant to. I’m not looking for the wealth it takes to fulfill my every whim. I want to see the provision I need to fulfill God’s destiny in me. I want to see and experience revival in God’s people.
It’s time for us to lay everything down before the Lord. If you can’t do this, then pray for the strength it takes to get to this point. Then watch what God will do on your behalf.
Question: What things would be the hardest for you to give up if the Lord asked you to?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: Abraham, choices, faith, follow Christ, follow God, God, God's blessing, God's destiny, God's word, hold nothing back, how far can you trust God, Isaac, lay down our lives, leave it all on the field, provision, revival, rich young ruler, road of faith, total surrender, trust, willing, willing to give up
God is calling His church to a higher level in Christ. The return of the Lord is very close, yet sometimes the church seems to act like we have all the time in the world. Are you complacent about where you are spiritually? Or do you want to see a greater move of God through your life?
At one point in his life, Moses had a similar choice to make.
Now the LORD had said to Moses in Midian, “Go back to Egypt, for all the men who wanted to kill you are dead.” So Moses took his wife and sons, put them on a donkey and started back to Egypt. And he took the staff of God in his hand.
Exodus 4:19-20
Moses had been away from Egypt for a long time. But in this time of his life, God was calling him to return to his former home. The difference was that this time he had a mission from God – to set his people free. Even so, it still required a long wilderness journey.
Sometimes the hardest thing to do is to start. The planning and organizing are usually pretty easy.
I enjoy hiking. There are times that I have spent a few days on the trail.
When morning comes and it’s time to move on, thats when the truth of this is made real. It’s not that tough to break camp and put things away into your pack. But when you finally put your pack on, and stand there with your trekking poles in your hand – a subtle transformation occurs.
Suddenly, without warning, the campsite that you’ve called home for the past twelve hours is no longer yours. Now you’re a part of the trail and looking for a new destination.
We may be very satisfied where our life is right now. But this isn’t our destiny – the Lord has a greater work He wants to do in us. When God calls us to a higher level, we can never be satisfied this way again.
Remember that we need to be a people who are packed and ready to go. This world is not our home and the things of this world will never truly fulfill us.
Sometimes we just need to go before the Lord and reiterate to Him our total commitment to following His path for our lives – no matter where it leads. We need to thank Him for the destiny that He has prepared for us. Then, we need to be open and listening for any course changes He may speak to us.
It all depends on our attitude. Am I satisfied where I’m at, or do I hunger to see what God wants to do in these last days?
Question: Do you desire to move up to a new level in Christ?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: attitude, Christ, complacent, course changes, destiny, greater move of God, higher level, hunger for more, Jesus, Lord, Moses, move on attitude, moving on in Christ, return of Christ, satisfied, spiritual, spiritual level, the world
I have said that the United States desperately needs a revival. What is that? Is it a church full of weeping, “falling down under the power of God”, or huge crowds on Sunday morning?
Is it something we plan into our schedules? “Revival Meetings the first week of December.”
The truth is that it’s not something we put on, but a work that God performs in us. It’s a special presence of Christ revealing Himself to our society.
I believe that revival is birthed out of desperation. When we reach the end of what we can do, all we can rely on is the work of God in us.
It’s kind of like the condition of Israel as they prepared to leave Mt Sinai in the book of Exodus. They had already turned from God before Moses had even come down from the mountain with the law.
Now God has cleansed the camp and they are about to move out. They are headed for the Promised Land.
Then Moses said to him, “If your Presence does not go with us, do not send us up from here. How will anyone know that you are pleased with me and with your people unless you go with us? What else will distinguish me and your people from all the other people on the face of the earth?”
Exodus 33:15-16
Now there’s a desperate prayer! What if the modern church prayed like this and meant it? Most churches would close their doors the first week.
Unfortunately, we just go on with the show. We’ve learned how to experience growth without the move of God. A great music team and a charismatic preacher is all you need for success.
We need to learn that growth doesn’t mean that God is in the work. It grieves me to say it, but if the Holy Spirit left us today, 90% of churches would be unaffected. Much of the church in America is leaning on the arm of flesh to sustain it.
We need the presence of the Lord. What else will distinguish the church from any other good social program?
The key is transformed lives. That’s the proof of the power of God. When Christ works through His people, we don’t remain the same.
Then Moses said, “Now show me your glory.”
Exodus 33:18
This is the prayer of desperation that needs to go up from God’s people. We must put aside our goals, and seek the glory of God in our lives. If He does the work, then He gets the glory.
It’s time for revival in our nation.
Question: How desperate are you for a move of God in our nation?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: America, arm of flesh, Christ, church, desperation, foundation for revival, glory of God, God, God's people, Holy Spirit, Jesus, modern church, move of God, power of God, prayer, presence of Christ, presence of God, revival, the Lord, transformed lives, United States, weeping
The past week has been very challenging to us as a community and a nation. I live and minister in Watertown, Massachusetts. It’s a tiny area where not much seems to happen – until now.
I have a friend who was at the Boston Marathon. Upon looking at the pictures they took, they saw the terrorists standing right next to them in the crowd.
My daughter works in the Watertown Mall. She arrived at 10 pm for an overnight inventory shift. At 2 am they were informed by FBI agents that the store (and the town) was in lockdown – no one in or out.
I have a member of our church who lived in the area of town where she witnessed explosions and gunfire that evening. She spent the rest of the night comforting her children and grandchildren as she saw Swat Teams sweeping her neighborhood.
What’s happening in our nation? Where are the days when this only happened in other parts of the world and we only watched the events on TV?
Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance.
Psalms 33:12
I believe that the protections we enjoyed in the past were due to the heritage of faith laid down by our godly forefathers. That was then, this is now. We have become a nation where any public reference to Jesus Christ is considered an abuse against society.
We have effectively told God that we don’t want Him interfering in our schools, courts, or politics. Then, in times of crisis, we ask where He went to. We have become so enamored by our own prowess that we think we have the answer to all our problems.
I do not believe this is the judgment of God on America. He is a God of grace. Instead, the Lord is respecting our wishes for Him to keep His hands out of our business.
No king is saved by the size of his army; no warrior escapes by his great strength. A horse is a vain hope for deliverance; despite all its great strength it cannot save.
Psalms 33:16-17
America needs a change of heart and not a change of politics. We desperately hunger for revival. God’s people must awaken from slumber and turn the tide upon their knees. That is where true restoration will come from.
I believe that the recent events will be a part of the call to us. The pressure is on. Are we willing to pray the price required to save our nation? It is time for us to rise to our feet and be true men and women of God.
Question: How have these events affected your faith? How will you respond?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: America, America terrorists and the Lord, awakening, Boston, Boston Marathon, change of heart, Christ, explosions, faith, FBI, forefathers, godly, heritage of faith, Jesus, MA, Massachusetts, public, restoration, revival, swat team, terrorists, the Lord, United States, USA, Watertown
I’ve been posting about the power of God at work in us. How far are you willing to go to walk in the power of the Spirit? Experience tells me that we would rather talk a good game and make excuses, than to put forth the effort to see the real thing.
“If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.”
John 15:7-8
This is the last verse I looked at in my previous post. It deals specifically with the power available to those who remain in Christ. It says that they can ask what they wish and it will be done.
Think about the trust God places in that kind of believer. I personally wouldn’t give that kind of power to most Christians that I know. It would be dangerous.
The fact is that in this fifteenth chapter of John, the Lord referred to us remaining in Him 8 times in 4 verses. I think He’s trying to make a point. It’s required that we remain in Him if we want Him to manifest His power in us.
I asked a question four posts ago – in the first of this series (Power and Authority – The Difference). I asked which form of power – AC or DC – was better?
You probably answered the question as most people do. They say that they prefer DC batteries because they can go where they want. They can take their device with them when they leave the house. When you have to plug it in the wall, you’re confined to stay at home to use it.
This is the big problem in the body of Christ today. We want to be able to leave the house. If your goal is to go in and out of the house, then batteries are better.
If you intend on doing that in the spirit – living for Christ sometimes and living for self at other times, then the power of the law is better than no power at all. Christians of this generation have a real problem with remaining in the spiritual “house.”
There are two forms of power. The greater of these requires you to remain in Christ. Our goal seems to be to live with one foot in the world, and one with Christ. You can’t do that and use the power of the Spirit to any great extent.
We need to take an honest, hard look at our walk with God to see where we fit into this picture. We must then be willing to make the changes necessary to remain in Christ.
Question: What will it cost you to remain in Christ? Are you willing to pay the price?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: body of Christ, Christ, Jesus, one foot in the world, plugged in, power, power of God, power of the spirit, remain in Christ, spiritual power, spiritual walk, the law, this generation, trust
We live in an age of hero worship. It seems that people are more inclined to follow those with the most glitz and showmanship. It has, unfortunately, carried over into the body of Christ.
When it comes to the teachings we accept, how do we decide who to listen to? We need to be asking the right questions. This was something that was clearly portrayed in the ministry of Christ.
The following is taken from the Scriptural passage found in the Gospel of Luke 4:16-40. You will want to read that first to understand what I share in this post.
In that section of Scripture, Jesus preaches at two different synagogues. One was in His hometown of Nazareth, and the other in Capernaum. In both cases He preached the same message. Knowing that it was the Lord, I am assuming that both messages had the same level of anointing.
In spite of these similarities, only one of the towns, Capernaum, received a blessing out of the visit. It is clear to see from the narrative, that the reason was the questions that they asked themselves as Jesus was ministering.
This is important to us because we are guilty of the same type of attitudes that these people had. I believe that we have missed out on countless blessings because our attitudes got in the way. What makes the difference?
Verse 22 shows the question the people of Nazareth were asking. It demonstrates what they were focusing on.
They spoke well of Him. They were amazed at the words from His lips.
“Isn’t this Joseph’s son?”
They were concentrating on who was speaking – was He all that they were expecting?
Capernaum was a different case altogether. Verse 32 and 36 make it clear that they were amazed at His teaching. They recognized that His Word had power and authority. Who He was and what He looked like didn’t figure into their acceptance of the Word.
As a result, revival fell in Capernaum that day. Demons were cast out and all the sick that lived in that area were healed (Verse 33-40).
We need to learn this lesson. Sometimes the biggest show has the least anointing. On the other hand – there are times God wants to perform great miracles through His “unknown servants”.
We need to be asking, “What is the anointing, authority, and power upon this Word.” How big a following someone has shouldn’t figure into it. It’s all about the spirit behind the message, not the person God is using.
If we keep this in mind, then we’ll find the blessing of God in some of the most unlikely places. We will also open ourselves up to the miraculous.
Question: Have you ever received a blessing from God’s unknown servants?
© Nick Zaccardi 2013
Tags: anointing, asking the right questions, authority, blessing, blessing of God, body of Christ, Christ, expectations, hero, hero worship, Jesus, message, ministry, power, preaching, questions, revival, showman, showmanship, teaching, unknown servants, word, word of God
Tomorrow is the Fourth of July. Today I’m thinking about cookouts, flags, and fireworks. Is that what being American is all about?
The Spirit and the Word 