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Having Vision Means Change is Ahead

04 Jan

SpotlightI’m posting about entering this New Year with vision. It comes from spending time in the Lord’s presence. Then, having heard from the Holy Spirit, you begin to see what could be – what should be – what must be.

Vision is the destination. It’s where God is bringing you. But it comes with responsibility.

As soon as you see your destination, this vision requires movement and direction.

Then the LORD replied: “Write down the revelation and make it plain on tablets so that a herald may run with it. For the revelation awaits an appointed time; it speaks of the end and will not prove false. Though it linger, wait for it; it will certainly come and will not delay.”
Habakkuk 2:2-3

We are probably all familiar with this verse of Scripture. Many times in the past I’ve posted about the need to write down what God speaks to you. This brings clarity of purpose.

When you have spiritual vision, you can move forward more quickly. Those two words I mentioned – movement and direction – speak of CHANGE. That’s what usually scares us.

In Ezekiel’s day there was a proverb among the people.

“Son of man, what is this proverb you have in the land of Israel: ‘The days go by and every vision comes to nothing’?
Say to them, ‘This is what the Sovereign LORD says: I am going to put an end to this proverb, and they will no longer quote it in Israel.’ Say to them, ‘The days are near when every vision will be fulfilled.’”
Ezekiel 12:22-23

The problem is; if you don’t move forward with God’s plan, then nothing happens. God doesn’t do anything without a channel. By seeing where God wants to bring you, it should motivate you.

It should be our desire to move forward in the Lord’s grace. So we spend quality time hearing His voice to the church. Then, we set our course to accomplish what we’ve already seen. That’s how Jesus operated.

It should be our goal for 2016, to do whatever it takes to bring about God’s plan for our lives.

Question: What do you know that the Lord wants to do through you this year?

© Nick Zaccardi 2016

 
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Posted by on January 4, 2016 in Prayer, Revival, Spiritual Walk

 

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Entering the New Year with Vision

01 Jan

2016As we start this New Year of 2016, I wish God’s best for you. As the people of God, we know that we have His blessing and favor upon us. But we need to continue walking in His vision for our lives.

I want to take a few posts to talk about our spiritual vision. It’s important to spend quality time in the Lord’s presence to understand where He’s taking us and what He wants us to accomplish.

The Jewish leader, Nehemiah, knew some things about vision as he helped the children of Israel to return to their homeland after the Babylonian captivity.

Hanani, one of my brothers, came from Judah with some other men, and I questioned them about the Jewish remnant that survived the exile, and also about Jerusalem.
They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.”
When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.
Nehemiah 1:2-4

Nehemiah saw what was presently happening in Jerusalem. He knew that what was happening was not God’s best. The broken down wall and burned out buildings needed to be restored.

What was his response to this news? He spent time with the Lord. That’s where vision is born.

It’s especially easy to receive God’s imparted vision when you’re dissatisfied with what is. That’s because vision is the burden that comes when you see what is in contrast to what could be.

Vision always demands change. So Nehemiah mourned, fasted, and prayed. He did this so that God could work the necessary changes in him first of all.

That’s why not everyone wants the Lord’s vision for their lives. Vision calls for change and that change must work on me first.

I cannot accept this work of the Holy Spirit until I want to see a change. If I’m content with my present circumstances, then I won’t seek God with fervency. That’s what it will take to be a child of God with vision.

Question: What do you see that needs to change in your life personally and in the church?

© Nick Zaccardi 2016

 
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Posted by on January 1, 2016 in Prayer, Revival, Spiritual Walk

 

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The Journey of Faith

28 Dec

TrailThe word picture that’s used the most in the Bible to describe our Christian life is probably walking. We even call our life in Christ the walk of faith.

I personally love walking and hiking. It seems that the more I pursue this in the natural, the more I learn about the spiritual walk.

The Bible uses Abraham as an example of one who walked by faith in God.

By faith Abraham, when called to go to a place he would later receive as his inheritance, obeyed and went, even though he did not know where he was going. By faith he made his home in the promised land like a stranger in a foreign country; he lived in tents, as did Isaac and Jacob, who were heirs with him of the same promise. For he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God.
Hebrews 11:8-10

Abraham was a man of faith. He lived in tents and shelters. He didn’t know what lay on the trail ahead, nor did he know where it was leading. But because he trusted God, he kept moving forward, and entered the land of promise.

Every time I hike, I illustrate the walk of faith – the dependence that if I continue to follow the path, step by step, I’ll come out to the end promised by the map. In my case, I don’t actually know the person who wrote the guidebook. I don’t even know the person who marked out the trail.

Yet in spite of this, I’m willing to strap a pack on my back, and follow a trail through the woods for days at a time. I willingly trust those who have done it before me and those who “wrote the books and maps.” I have faith that the trail I’m on will come out where they say it will.

You may ask, “What does that have to do with our spiritual walk?” It turns out that there are definite parallels between the two.

The fact is, sometimes the trail I’m on doesn’t feel right. There are times I’m hiking a southbound trail that, because of the twists and turns, actually heads north for a time. I know that I’m supposed to come out south of where I started. But when I look at my compass, it seems that I’m headed in the wrong direction.

What do I do? To put it simply – I trust the book and keep going. Eventually the trail makes a turn and heads south again. Amazingly, it comes out exactly where the map said that it would.

When I think about Abraham’s walk of faith, I see the same things happening. The Lord gave him a path to walk. There were times he had to go in a direction that didn’t seem right to his natural mind. But in spite of his present circumstances, he looked forward to the distant end of his journey because he trusted the One who wrote the “guidebook.”

It takes trust and obedience toward God to reap the promises of His Word. We need to trust Him even when life doesn’t look like it will turn out the way He says it will.

God knows the end from the beginning. He sees all the twists and turns ahead of you. The Holy Spirit can guide you on the best possible course to navigate your way through the tough parts of this life.

Spend some time in the Lord’s presence. Recommit yourself to following his path for your life. Let Him know your desire to trust His Word as the only true guide for your steps. Then you can rest assured that you’ll see His destiny for your life come to pass.

Question: What is a time when you thought that God was taking you in a “wrong” direction?

© Nick Zaccardi 2015

 
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Posted by on December 28, 2015 in Faith, Prayer, Spiritual Walk

 

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Knowing Christ through the Spirit

18 Dec

SpotlightI’ve been posting about having an intimate knowledge of Christ. We must allow the Holy Spirit to have His way in us. That’s where the supernatural wisdom and revelation comes from.

The problem arises when we’d rather have the foolish thinking of the world. Sometimes we buy into the promises of happiness that bombard us from all sides.

The book of Hebrews contains a quote from the prophet Jeremiah. He was looking forward to the blessings of the New Covenant.

No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest.
Hebrews 8:11

One of the greatest blessings that we’ve been given is the ability to be taught directly by the Holy Spirit. God, Himself, can speak to you.

Even though it’s our foundation of faith, reading the Bible is not enough to give us this knowledge. Hearing my teaching or that of other godly men and women isn’t enough.

If we want to know Christ on a personal level, then we need to make ourselves available to the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. Only then can I recognize who He truly is and what He wants to accomplish in and through me.

But whatever was to my profit I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. What is more, I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ — the righteousness that comes from God and is by faith.
Philippians 3:7-9

This passage sums up everything that I’ve been saying. Paul talks about the wisdom of this world and the resulting desire for the things that our flesh thinks will make it happy. He says that they’re all rubbish compared to knowing Christ.

Why? Because knowing Him intimately will change me. It will revolutionize my life. I will never be the same.

How will it happen? Paul continues…

I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, and so, somehow, to attain to the resurrection from the dead.
Philippians 3:10-11

That’s where true change takes place. When you tap into the resurrection power of the Lord Jesus Christ. When you recognize Him as He is in you. This is where we receive the power for victory.

The question is; do we want to share in the fellowship of His sufferings? That means that we choose His wisdom, even when the flesh wants something else. It’s emotionally painful to choose the Spirit over the flesh, but that’s the path to power and victory.

Allow the Holy Spirit to work in you. Let Him change you by His wisdom and revelation. Then watch as He works His power in you.

Question: How does your flesh react to God’s wisdom?

© Nick Zaccardi 2015

 
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Posted by on December 18, 2015 in Prayer, Revival, Spiritual Walk

 

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Really Knowing Christ

16 Dec

JesusI’m posting about the importance of knowing Christ. I talked about not wanting to know Him in the worldly way – just for the blessings He could give you.

You, however, did not come to know Christ that way. Surely you heard of him and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.
Ephesians 4:20-24

The knowledge of Christ that I’m talking about is that which is based in relationship. It’s the knowledge of Christ that changes your life. Nothing is off-limits to the Holy Spirit.

This was the basis of Paul’s prayer that we looked at in the last post.

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better.
Ephesians 1:17

What is this knowledge actually about? He uses the Greek word epignosis. There’s really no exact word in the English to translate it. It means to have full discernment or recognition.

It’s like this…I can tell you that I know Abraham Lincoln. But you would immediately realize that I was lying. That’s because you know that there’s no way I could have ever met him.

I may have studied about him in history. I might have watched documentaries about his life. I know about him – but I don’t know him.

That’s what Paul is trying to tell us in this verse. He didn’t pray that we would read the Bible more; or that we would attend church and listen to more sermons about Christ. Instead, he prayed that we would tap into the Spirit of wisdom and revelation. He wanted our knowledge of Christ to be more intimate than second-hand word of mouth.

In order to truly know the Lord, we need wisdom – the ability to interpret and apply the facts that we know. We also need revelation; the uncovering of things that we don’t know. That’s how we learn to know Christ in the way He wants to be known.

“Well, then it’s up to God to give me this knowledge.”

Actually, He already did. When we were saved, He placed the Holy Spirit on the inside of us.

We know also that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know him who is true. And we are in him who is true — even in his Son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life.
1 John 5:20

This has already been accomplished in us. If we are in Christ, then we have the Holy Spirit. Now it’s up to us to receive the wisdom and revelation that He desires to give to us.

But that seems to be the hard part. Because receiving God’s wisdom means that I leave the foolish thinking of the world.

Question: How does worldly thinking have a negative effect on the life of a Christian?

© Nick Zaccardi 2015

 
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Posted by on December 16, 2015 in Revival, Spiritual Walk

 

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The Last Days – Don’t Do These Things

18 Nov

KONICA MINOLTA DIGITAL CAMERAI’m taking a few posts to look at what our attitude should be like in the last days. Specifically, we’re dealing with the principles given to us by Jesus in Luke chapter 21.

First, I want to talk about three things that the Lord told us NOT to do.

He replied: “Watch out that you are not deceived. For many will come in my name, claiming, ‘I am he,’ and, ‘The time is near.’ Do not follow them.”
Luke 21:8

His first command to us is, don’t follow them. We are to ignore those who claim, “I am he.” We should already know that one. Jesus said that at His coming every eye would see Him. It will not be a private return. In spite of this warning, many have come claiming to be another incarnation of Christ.

The second statement that the Lord made was a little more subtle. He said not to follow those who come in His name claiming, “The time is near.”

Please understand, I believe that the coming of the Lord is near. The difference is that this is only a small part of my message. Christ is talking about those whose whole focus is on the soon coming of the Lord and the signs surrounding it.

Remember what I told you in my last post. In Scripture, the Second Coming is never the main focus – it’s always the reason for living correctly. You have to be very careful when you see a whole ministry based upon “the time is near.”

“When you hear of wars and revolutions, do not be frightened. These things must happen first, but the end will not come right away.”
Luke 21:9

The next thing Jesus tells us is don’t be frightened. You’re going to hear various bad reports. The world may be full of problems, but one thing remains true through the ages; Christ is still on the throne.

No matter what’s happening around us, Christians should never fear the future. The Holy Spirit is always with us. He leads and guides us. More than that, we know that He gives us the grace to stand strong in spite of the current situations.

Many people are predicting catastrophe for the United States. We don’t know what the future holds for our country. But I know the answer – Jesus Christ is Lord.

“But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you. They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. This will result in your being witnesses to them. But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves.”
Luke 21:12-14

The Lord’s final general statement is; do not worry…how you will defend yourselves.

“What if it becomes illegal to be a Christian?”

It’s happened before and God brought His people through victoriously. In the Book of Acts Paul was headed to Jerusalem. Churches were telling him not to go because of prophecies that spoke of his arrest. He said he was not only willing to be arrested, but to die for Christ.

The key is that if you’re called to go through persecution or martyrdom, then you’ll receive the grace to stand firm. So – don’t worry about it now – the Lord will give you what you need when you need it.

Question: What is the result of following these commands the Lord gave us?

© Nick Zaccardi 2015

 
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Posted by on November 18, 2015 in Faith, Power of God, Return of Christ

 

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God is God

11 Nov

GalaxyIn my last post I started talking about the person of the Holy Spirit. I’m trying to show that the language we use is messing us up sometimes. We don’t serve three gods. We serve one God – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We run into problems when we try breaking them apart into separate entities. That’s because it’s God we’re talking about.

We have not received the spirit of the world but the Spirit who is from God, that we may understand what God has freely given us.
1 Corinthians 2:12

So who lives in us? According to this verse it’s the Holy Spirit.

I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
Galatians 2:20

Does Christ live in me or does the Holy Spirit live in me? That’s a dumb question – God lives in me.

You, however, are controlled not by the sinful nature but by the Spirit, if the Spirit of God lives in you. And if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ.
Romans 8:9

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of God and the Spirit of Christ. He’s all the same person. To know the Holy Spirit is to know Christ and the Father. We just need to deepen our relationship with Him.

“I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one: I in them and you in me. May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
John 17:22-23

The Lord wants us to be one in Him. How will He accomplish this? Jesus said, “I in them…” It’s His Spirit within us, bringing us to unity.

That’s why we call that the unity of the Spirit. You can’t break up God into little separate pieces. God is God – Father, Son, and Spirit.

In many areas of life there’s overlap and cooperation in their function. You can’t say – “Only the Holy Spirit did this.”

The fact is that the God of Glory, Creator of the universe has decided to take up residence in His people. I don’t understand why He’d want to do that, but I’m glad that He did.

It’s the greatest insult imaginable to ignore His presence in us. We should be eager to run to Him throughout our day. It’s the Holy Spirit of God that leads and guides us into the life that’s truly worth living.

Draw on this precious relationship that we’ve been given. The more time you spend with the Lord, the greater the blessing.

Question: How much quality time do you spend with the Holy Spirit?

© Nick Zaccardi 2015

 
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Posted by on November 11, 2015 in Encouragement, Power of God, Revival, Spiritual Walk

 

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Who is the Holy Spirit?

09 Nov

DoveHere we are 2000 years from when the Holy Spirit was given to the church. But do we fully understand who He is?

We’ve developed a religious language that’s not based on the Bible. It seems like it’s based on songs and traditions. If you listen to our language you get the idea that there are three Gods.

There is only one God. My goal is to explain some things that may sound confusing at first. But throughout this series I want us to have a clearer picture of who the Holy Spirit actually is.

The fact that we’ve been created in the image of God should give us a foundation for understanding Him. Just like us, there are three parts to His being – Father, Son and Spirit.

Part of the problem is that we like formulas. Many times I’ve heard that we must pray to the Father, through the Holy Spirit, in the name of Jesus. While there’s nothing wrong with that, a lot of what we do sounds like this…

If you were meeting with a friend, would you say, “I just want to sit down with your body and talk to your mind through your ears.”

We don’t do this in the natural. We simply say, “Can I talk to you?”

Even something as simple as “Who created the world?” sometimes can be confusing.

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.
Genesis 1:1-3

We know that God created everything, but we argue over whether it was the Father or the Spirit who said, “Let there be…”

In talking about Jesus Christ, Paul said…

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him.
Colossians 1:15-16

Was it Father, Son, or Spirit who created us? What I’m trying to say is that it doesn’t matter – God created us – all the parts of His being worked together.

That’s like asking; was it my spirit, soul or body who drove my car? I DROVE MY CAR!!!

I think that we get so caught up in the parts of God’s being, that we miss the big picture. God Himself lives in us. I have access into His presence.

I don’t believe that the Lord is as concerned over our formulas as much as our relationship with Him. We must spend quality time getting to know the person of the Holy Spirit.

That’s what the next few posts will deal with.

Question: How would you characterize your relationship with the Holy Spirit?

© Nick Zaccardi 2015

 
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Posted by on November 9, 2015 in Creation, Faith, Spiritual Walk

 

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Are You Tired?

06 Nov

ClimberI don’t know about you, but sometimes I just get tired. Tired of the battles, the problems of life, and everything that society throws at me. It’s times like that when I need to seek the encouragement of the Word of God.

Being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joy.
Colossians 1:11

The Apostle Paul understood how to live victoriously in spite of all the stuff that was happening around him. He knew where to go to receive strength in his time of need.

One of the things that the Holy Spirit desires to do in us is to build us up in our inner man. He wants to give us the power we need to stand our ground for Christ.

This life is very draining on people. I don’t believe that there’s any such thing as an easy life. Of course, as the saying goes, the grass is always greener in someone else’s yard. We look at other people and think that they have it so easy.

The reality is that we’re all different. We all see life from a different perspective. The things that you find difficult to deal with, I don’t have any problem with. And some of the things that trip me up, you don’t struggle with at all.

The simple fact is that everyone needs an abundance of endurance, patience, and joy. Those are the qualities we seem to lose so easily. Yet that’s exactly what the Lord wants to bring into our lives.

Apart from the Holy Spirit we would give up too soon. I want to see the finish line and cross it with strength. I don’t want to barely finish then collapse in exhaustion.

Finishing strong requires me to rely on His strength for my life. I must come to the realization that without Him I can do nothing.

It’s a humbling experience to tell the Lord that you need Him. But that’s why Scripture teaches that if you humble yourself before Him, He will exalt you.

That’s why we need to run to God’s Word. The verse above is especially encouraging. I’m so glad that the apostle didn’t say, “Being strengthened with some power according to my best efforts.”

When I draw on the power of the Spirit, I have access to all power – all the power I need overcome in every area of my life. This power isn’t based upon what I can do. It’s all because of the Lord’s unlimited resources. He’s the One I look to for help.

Draw on the power of the Holy Spirit today. Spend quality time in His presence and watch what the Lord can do in a life that is yielded before Him. Make use of His promises. Let Him grant to you His endurance, patience, and joy.

Question: How have you seen the difference between living in your power vs. the Holy Spirit’s?

©Nick Zaccardi 2015

 
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Posted by on November 6, 2015 in Encouragement, Faith, Power of God, Spiritual Walk

 

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God’s Place of Rest

26 Oct

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI’ve been posting about resting in the Lord. I’ve talked about what life is like with and without that rest. God desires for His people to find that place in His presence.

Now we who have believed enter that rest, just as God has said, “So I declared on oath in my anger, ‘They shall never enter my rest.'” And yet his work has been finished since the creation of the world.
Hebrews 4:3

The only way to enter that rest is by faith, there’s no other way. God calls it, My rest. That means it’s the very same rest that He has entered. What a privilege to know that we may enter God’s rest. It should be obvious that since it’s His we cannot enter on our own.

He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters,
Psalm 23:2

It’s interesting to note that the phrase quiet waters literally means the waters of rest. Just like sheep, we can’t find this place without Him. That’s because it’s only found in Him. According to the writer of Hebrews it’s for we who have believed. It must be by faith that we enter this rest.

Jesus said the same things during His earthly ministry.

“Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him.” By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.
John 7:38-39

Jesus was speaking here about the Holy Spirit. That’s where we access the streams of God. If they are the waters of rest, then that means that I must rest in the Holy Spirit. Of course the Israelites we read about in the Old Testament rejected this provision of God. Jeremiah talked about it in his prophetic writings.

“My people have committed two sins: They have forsaken me, the spring of living water, and have dug their own cisterns, broken cisterns that cannot hold water.”
Jeremiah 2:13

The children of Israel rejected God’s rest. They ended up trying to find a rest on their own. It didn’t work. It’s sad to say, but we’re guilty of the same type of wandering sometimes. We would much rather do it ourselves than to take part in what God has freely provided.

He makes it clear in Hebrews 4:3 above that everything that was needed for our rest was accomplished in God’s Creation. Now that’s interesting to learn. The cross wasn’t needed to enter into His rest. The only thing required was faith. Of course there’s more available to us now through the cross, but the access is still the same – faith.

It requires us to trust God in all things. It doesn’t matter what the situation I’m in right now looks like. God has it all under control. I can rest confidently in Him, knowing that He will work all things out for my good.

Question: How does resting in God affect your outlook on life?

© Nick Zaccardi 2015

 
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Posted by on October 26, 2015 in Faith, Spiritual Walk

 

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