Power Amidst Struggle

May 31





In God, Not Out of Trouble


"And seekest thou great things for thyself? Seek them not: for, behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord: but thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither thou goest" (Jer. 45:5).


A promise given for hard places, and a promise of safety and life in the midst of tremendous pressure, a life "for a prey." It may well adjust itself to our own times, which are growing harder as we near the end of the age, and the Tribulation times.



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What is the meaning of "a life for a prey"? It means a life snatched out of the jaws of the destroyer, as David snatched the lamb from the lion. It means not removal from the noise of the battle and the presence of our foes; but it means a table in the midst of our enemies, a shelter from the storm, a fortress amid the foe, a life preserved in the face of continual pressure: Paul's healing when pressed out of measure so that he despaired of life; Paul's Divine help when the thorn remained, but the power of Christ rested upon him and the grace of Christ was sufficient. Lord, give me my life for a prey, and in the hardest places help me today to be victorious. --Days of Heaven upon Earth



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We often pray to be delivered from calamities; we even trust that we shall be; but we do not pray to be made what we should be, in the very presence of the calamities; to live amid them, as long as they last, in the consciousness that we are, held and sheltered by the Lord, and can therefore remain in the midst of them, so long as they continue, without any hurt. For forty days and nights, the Saviour was kept in the presence of Satan in the wilderness, and that, under circumstances of special trial, His human nature being weakened by want of food and rest. The furnace was heated seven times more than it was wont to be heated, but the three Hebrew children were kept a season amid its flames as calm and composed in the presence of the tyrant's last appliances of torture, as they were in the presence of himself before their time of deliverance came. And the livelong night did Daniel sit among the lions, and when he was taken up out of the den, "no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God." They dwelt in the presence of the enemy, because they dwelt in the presence of God.

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It is important for believers to understand that our lives are not without trials. If fact, we are told through scripture that the trials will come. Our peace as believers is not in the absence of struggle, but despite the struggle. Our peace comes in the promises of God and the knowledge that God honors His Word. The peace comes from knowing that God has promised that He will sustain us in the midst of the storm. He will give us our "lives for a prey", or more lucidly, He will not allow the destroyer to prevail. 

Trust me, the vicissitudes of life will roll in. The darkness is going to settle over your paradise. Heartache will find you. Despite the soft teachings of some, you are going to face adversity. Do not despair, your victory is not in the circumvention of life's trials, but in the power of God that rests on you in the midst of them. You are traveling through the valley of the shadow of death, but you are still standing. You are picking up the pieces of a broken marriage, but you are still standing. You are in the perpetual furnace of persecution, but you are still standing. You have felt the sting of betrayal and abandonment, but you are still standing. 

The power of God flows through your veins, it is your inheritance as a member of the royal family of God. There is a peace that transcends all understanding; it moves past human perspicacity and beyond natural reason. Rest in this peace of God knowing that no weapon formed against you shall prosper. Rest in this peace knowing that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you. Rest in this peace knowing that God will never leave you nor forsake you. Rest in this peace knowing that nothing can separate you from  the love of God. ~ Bishop Rick Wallace

I Don't Wanna Cry!

RWM SERMON- 05-20-09 I Don't Wanna Cry

By Bishop Rick Wallace

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes....”(Rev. 21:4 and 7:17)

“And the Lord will wipe away tears from all faces....”(Isa. 25:8)

If you are anything like me, you have those moments in which tears begin to well up in your eyes.  You make abortive and bootless efforts to suppress the inevitable tide of physically manifested emotions.  Tears can be brought on by many ardent and effusive forces.  There are tears of regret; when I take a retrospective glance at my life, tears began to flow as I am reminded of the pain that has come to others because of my selfish actions.  There are tears of pain.  The same retrospection that produces regret also paints the malevolent and inclement portrait of abandonment and heartache.  There are tears of Joy, sadness, emptiness and loneliness.  Tears are most often associated with negative emotions, so this is what we will address today.

It is a natural human instinct to hold back tears.  Nobody wants to cry.  I took some time to stop by and tell you that it’s okay to cry, your tears are temporary.

           

“For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory...”(2 Cor. 4:17)

Jesus promised it, mama confirmed it, and experience has consummated and solidified the fact that this world will bring pain to those that inhabit it.  There is no circumvention of the trials and tribulations of this life.  You will inevitably take some wrong turns that consequently lead to pain.  You will at some point in time experience the heartache brought on by the neglect and betrayal of those you love and hold dear.  There will be a time when you will, just as David, say, “In return for my love there are my accusers...”(109:4)  There are men that with every ounce of their being attempt to stem the tide of tears that flow as a result of pains that run deep.  There are women that have sworn that they will not shed one more tear over a man that has repetitively wounded their emotional stability.  Yet, in both instances, these people wake in the morning to find their pillows drenched with tears.

Tears are as natural as the instinct to suppress them.  They are a physiological response to invisible emotions; emotions that the majority of us don’t want exposed.  In our culture, tears are considered a sign of weakness, especially when it comes to men.  However, our emotions were never meant to be suppressed, but expressed.  David, Jeremiah, and Jesus all wept.  Very few people understand that crying and weeping are part of the healing process.  Suppressed emotions are never conducive to proper healing.

The most awesome truth about our moments of weeping is that no matter how hard we try to conceal our tears, our weeping is never a solitary experience.

“And the Lord said: ‘I have surely seen the oppression of my people who are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry because of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows.”(Ex. 3:7)

God acknowledges that He has seen and heard the cries of His people.  He establishes the point that He is not some distant God that is cold and aloof toward His people.  Exodus 2:23 informs us that as the cries of the children of Israel rang out, God heard their groaning and He remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  Remembering His promises, God looked upon the children of Israel and acknowledged them.  God has promised us that He will never leave nor forsake us.  This fact should bring solace to every believer.  Though the vault of your emotions has been breached and a medley of emotions cascade through the hollows of your existence, do not despair.  No matter how lonely the moment, irrespective to the current darkness, you are not alone. 

Not only has God promised never to leave us alone, He has promised to act on our behalf.

           

“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.”(2 Chron. 16:9)

“When the enemy comes in like a flood.  The Spirit of the Lord will lift up a standard against him.”(Isa. 59:19)

God did not simply acknowledge the children of Israel and their circumstances, He became personally involved.

“So I have come down to deliver them out of the hand of the Egyptians...”(Ex. 3:8)

Not only have “I’ heard their cries and seen their oppression, “I” am going to intervene on their behalf.  The God we serve is completely responsive to the needs of His people.  He does not sit idly by while they face the vicissitudes of life.  God responds to those tears with a decisive force, bringing power, joy, and peace. 

In fact, it is those moments of mourning, weeping, and crying that God moves most awesomely in the lives of believers.  When the pain of the moment has taken control of your life; when the loneliness has consumed you and the manacles of depression has seized hold of you; when no one else seems to care, God hears and God answers.  God responded to the cries of Job, David, Jeremiah and more.  It was the weeping of Mary and Martha that moved Jesus to tears and prompted the resuscitation of Lazarus.  It was the weeping of the nation of Israel that caused God to speak through Ezekiel and promises to bring them up from their graves of despair.  God moves in moments of desperation.

Let us look once again at the book of Exodus so that we might closer examine the dynamics of God’s movement in the lives of His chosen.  It begins in Chapter 1.

           

“But the children of Israel were fruitful and increased abundantly, multiplied and grew exceedingly mighty....Now there arose a new king over Egypt...and he said to his people....come, let us deal shrewdly with them....therefore they set taskmasters over them to afflict them with their burdens....and they made them serve with rigor.... Then the King spoke to the midwives...and he said, when you do the duties of a midwife to the Hebrew women, if it is a son, then you shall kill him...”(Ex. 1:7-6)

The God we serve is a “show up” God, and the show up process begins at the moment of need.  Up to this point, God had sustained His people through providential care.  They had increased abundantly and grew exceedingly mighty, but the moment the Egyptians moved against them, the show up process began.  God’s subtle movements are revealed in His providential provisions.  There is nothing subtle about the show up process; when God shows up He shows out.  He is completely radical in His movement.  He leaves no doubt as to who has brought deliverance.  Your tears are a visible sign that God is about to bust a move.

Every oppressive move of the Egyptians drew God closer to His people.  Every lash of the taskmasters whip, every drop of sweat from the brow of an enslaved Israelite, every vociferous cry of a Hebrew woman brought closer the day that God’s inimitable and unsurpassed power would be displayed on behalf of His chosen.  The tears of the believer are like a magnet that acts as a spiritually kinetic force that draws God to the center of the struggle.  Sometimes all you can do is cry.  Your ability to reason has dissipated, rendering you dysfunctional.  You want to pray, but you can’t form the words.  All you can do is cry.  Your soul sinks within you and the questions of why, how and when press their way to the surface.  Why is this happening to me?  How could he/she do this to me?  When will it end?  All of these questions have their place; however, the most pertinent question is not why, how, or when, but who?  Who can I turn to when my attempts to ebb the tides of the tribulation proves futile?  Who can I trust when no one else seems to care?  When those who are normally the pillars of support in my life are being crushed under the weight of life’s realities, who can I turn to to be the buttress that sustains me in the midst of the storm?

“When I cry out to you, Then my enemies will turn back; this I know, because God is for me.” (PS 56:9)

“And it will be for a sign and for a witness...for they will cry to the Lord...and he will send them a savior and a Mighty one, and He will deliver them.”(Isa. 19:20)

“Then David and the people who were with him lifted up their voices and wept, until they had no more power to weep....So David recovered all...and nothing of theirs was lacking, either small or great....David recovered all...”(1 Sam. 30:4, 18-19)

When there is nowhere else to turn, even when there is “no more power” to weep, God hears our cries, even the silent cries of a desperate soul.  Its okay, go ahead and cry.  Your tears are a release of the pressures, hurts and disappointments of the moment.  Your tears are a clarion sounding to God that His child is in need.  Your tears are not meant to be quenched or suppressed; they are an expression of the heart’s yearnings.  Your tears are a part of God’s show up process.

Isn’t it awesome to be in Love with a God that loves you; a God that becomes personally involved in our lives.  I can’t promise you that there will not be tears, in fact, the one you hold dearest may yet break your heart; the expectations for tomorrow may go unfulfilled; In return for your love, they may become your accusers.  Yet, God, in His bountiful love, sees, hears, and responds to the cries of His people.

God, through His Word, has not only promised temporal relief from life’s struggles and disappointments, but an eternal acknowledgment and comforting for every tear shed during this ethereous journey of Christianity.

“God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in trouble.”(PS. 46:1)

“For the lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters.  And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”(Rev. 7:17)

“And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying.  There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”(Rev. 21:4)

In Psalms 46, we find that God is a present help in trouble.  He is there during those bouts with loneliness. He is there when you are grieving and mourning the loss of a loved one. He is there when all you possess is taken away.  No matter what you are going through; no matter how dark the moment, God is there.  Not only is He a present help, but he has promised to bring eternal peace and comfort.  He has promised to wipe every tear permanently away from your eyes, after which there will be no more death, no more sorrow, nor crying.  He has promised that He will personally take away forever, every pain, every heartache, every tormenting struggle.

Isaiah 25:8 says, “He will swallow up death forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces.  Isaiah 35:10 says, “And the “ransomed” of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with singing, with everlasting joy on their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and singing shall flee away.”

“The “ransomed” refers to those who have been purchased at a price; those whose debt has been expiated by the Son.  “The ransomed” are those who have been redeemed by the precious “Blood” of the “Lamb”.  Ransomed and redeemed are words meritorious of our concentrated attention.  These words remind us that we have been released from the prison of sin; we have been rescued from the pit of hell; we have been preserved for all eternity; we have been liberated, set free, and cut loose from the shackles of eternal damnation.  God in His matchless love has said,”I will ransom them from the power of the grave...(Hosea 13:14)

When we keep in view the fact that we are creatures redeemed by the creator; when we are able to apprehend in full the understanding of the magnitude of the love required for God to redeem us in our sinful state, we will view our trials, sufferings, and disappointments in a different light.  We will view them as Paul did:

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.”(Rom. 8:18)

“We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed....for our light affliction, which is but for a moment is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of Glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen.  For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.” (2 Cor. 4: 8,9,17 and 18)

Your tears are a momentary response to the reality of the moment.  Your tears are a physical expression of an emotional state.  It’s okay, go ahead and cry, the pain won’t last forever.  God’s on His way and He’s bringing joy with Him.  He's coming to wipe away ever tear.  You may be crying now, but weeping only endures for a night, for joy comes in the morning.  Cry if you must, but do not despair; the God we serve is a show up God.  He is on His way to deliver, to heal, to liberate, and to exalt.  So, let the tears flow when they come, for soon God will wipe every tear away!

May you be richly blessed!

Sincerely,

Bishop Rick Wallace

Founder and President

Rick Wallace Ministries

100 Men of Purpose

Author: The Invisible Father

No Cross; No Crown (revised)

“And he who does not take his cross and follow after me is not worthy of me.” (Matt. 10:38)

“Do not fear any of those things which you are about to suffer.  Indeed, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will have tribulation, ten days.  Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” (Rev. 2:10)

This is not one of those feel good, tell me everything is going to be alright, sermons.  This not an attempt to coddle you or hold your hand.  I am reaching out in the hopes of shocking you into a state of lucidity as it pertains to a certain spiritual truth - “No Cross, No Crown”!

No Cross; No Crown, unfortunately this term has become anachronistic, archaic and even cliche`-ish; used on a whim with no force.  This term has, without question lost its substance, its meaning, and its motivational influence.  Some believers speak it and others hear it oft quoted, but the persuasive force that once incapsulated this term is no longer present.  In the late 1600’s English Quaker, William Penn sat down at his desk under the lantern light and penned No Cross; No Crown, it was then that the term carried weight, it was heartfelt, it encompassed the true meaning and purpose of this ethereal journey of Christianity, but most consequential was its motivational force.  It prompted the believer to stand up and press forward.  It brought with it a vehement sense of urgency.  It stirred the heart and soul of those within earshot to be about the Father’s business.

As time has progressed, the Christian has become both, arrogant and self centered; we have become lazy and unpurposed; we have retreated to a life of desire and comfort.  We have forgotten the mandate of Christ to take up the cross. We seek the rewards and benefits associated with a life we have yet to live.  The Christian has become detached from reality at illusionistic depths; far beyond the illusions of the drug addict, beyond any preconceived notion of the drug dealer, far beyond those we have the audacity to look down upon.  Instead of embracing the “cross” we have fled from it -to a life of ease, yet, absent of reward.

We have fallen victim to philosophical teachings that are not founded in scripture; teachings of self-help, self-determination and making our own way.  Worldviews such as Liberalism (An education system based on Secular Humanist Worldview; a political tradition emphasizing personal liberties and equity over traditional moral concerns); Nihilism (The belief that life has no ultimate meaning); Relativism (The belief that “truth” is relative to the individual and the time and place in which one acts; there are no absolute or objective truths); Secular Humanism (A worldview based on atheism and naturalism in which man is the measure of all things; man, not God, is the ultimate norm by which truth and morals are to be determined) have permeated the faith and have heavily influenced the Christian way of life. We have embraced the “if it feels good, do it” mentality.  However, the word explicitly dictates that not only are we to embrace the cross, but that each of us has his own cross to bear.  Unfortunately, we have created our own religious escape from spiritual reality.  In adapting a philosophy that prescribes a life of ease and undisciplined principles, a philosophy that affords a reward without an act which merits reward, we have turned from the spiritual truth of God’s infallible Word to move toward our own euphoric utopia.

There is no true faith apart from the cross.  The cross is the defining moment in the faith of every Christian.  It is the belief in the cross that brings us salvation.  “The Cross” is the place of expiation, the place where the magnanimous work of Christ was completed.  To live apart from the cross is to live a life of denial, void of truth.  I have aspired to reveal to you an inescapable truth; No Cross; No Crown!

What does it mean to take up or bear one’s cross?  It means to live your life as unto the Lord.  It is presenting your body as a living sacrifice, giving of yourself for the sake of Christ.  Bearing your cross calls for you to live the life of a Christian soldier to walk into your destiny despite the difficulties and struggles of the moment.  Look at what Paul had to say about the responsibility of the Christian soldier:

“You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ.  No one engaged in warfare entangles himself with the affairs of this life, that he may please Him who enlisted him as a soldier.” (2 Timothy 2:3,4)

Bearing your cross requires dying to self and carrying out kingdom work.  It is counting it all joy when you fall into various trials.  It is the apprehension and execution of the divine plan of God; to stand in faith when those around you wonder aimlessly about.  It is not meandering through the pathways of mediocrity, nor gallivanting through the portentous halls of self-destruction.  It is walking into your destiny and fulfilling your purpose.

There is an old aphorism which states:  Everybody wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die.  This adage can be transposed to say: Everybody wants Christian benefits, but nobody wants the job.  Everyone wants to experience the many rewards and blessings God has to offer, yet, we cringe at the thought of the trials we must face.  I present this question as posed by an old hymn: Must Jesus bear the Cross alone and all the world go free?  I think not, the song concludes: No, there’s a cross for everyone and there’s a cross for me!

Not until we embrace the cross, will we experience the full measure of God’s infinite and bountiful blessings.  Not until we walk boldly into our destiny can we truly know God with the intimacy in which we were created to know Him!  There are too many believers walking around with a power deficit.  They say all the right things religion has trained them to say, but internally they are struggling with the reality of the moment and the uncertainty of tomorrow.  Their lives have been lived in a superficial vacuum that portrays a form of Godliness, but in truth has drained them to the point of defeat.

It is not my desire to rain on your parade, but to breath life into your waning hopes.  I hear too often, the questions:  Has God forgotten about me?  Does God care?  Why hasn’t God answered my prayers?  These are only a few questions of concern I hear from believers.  It seems that believers are anticipating the movement of God in their lives, however, they have failed to see the connection between their movement and His.  Listen to what God told Solomon:

“If My people who called by my name will humble themselves, and pray and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from Heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal their land.” (2 Chron. 7:14 NKJV)

In this awesome statement of promise and deliverance, we would do well to take notice of the fact that the promises are preceded by a conditional clause initiated by the conjunction, “if”.  This points to the fact that God requires certain things from us prior to blessing us.  We want God to bless, to heal, to prosper; However, we fail to bear our crosses, we have failed to position ourselves to receive the blessings we seek.  The bearing of the cross and the blessing go hand in hand.  One cannot advance to spiritual maturity without persevering through the intense and sometimes arduous struggles of life.  It is your spiritual maturity that places you in a position to be blessed by God.  As you mature spiritually, God is free to bless you without you losing your focus -in other words spiritual maturity allows the believer, at the time of blessings and prosperity, to remain focused on and occupied with the blesser instead of the blessing.

The mature, cross bearing Christian consistently and incessantly finds himself in line with the will of God, therefore, in perfect position to experience the power of God as He acts on his behalf.  We can, therefore, deduce within the reasoning of the aforementioned facts, that our progression toward spiritual maturity is paramount and the only way to reach spiritual maturity is by the consistent , daily intake, absorption, metabolism, and inculcation of Bible doctrine, as well as the application of said doctrine to the issues of life.  This is bearing your cross!

You see, there can never be a reward without an act to merit the reward; No Cross; No Crown!

The rewards of bearing your cross are multitudinous, too many to cover them all.  However; we will cover several that are noteworthy.  As a Christian bears his cross, he develops a sense of purpose, an apprehension of the fact that he belongs to something greater than himself.  Through the comprehension of this new truth, he is now able to face the struggles and vicissitudes of this life with the confidence that those things that are too big for him are no problem for God.  He can face the struggles and storms of this life knowing: Trouble doesn’t last always; but he also has a great understanding and appreciation of this fact: No Cross, No Crown!

A Christian that bears his cross has a sense of direction: he knows where he is headed.  He is not deterred, discouraged, or derailed when the storms of life began to rage.  The bearing of his cross has both, strengthened and prepared him for the battle that lies ahead.  He understands that adversity is the fertile soil through which the seed of prosperity is planted and cultivated.  He is exactly where he should be in order for God to bless him and prosper him, and when he does find himself in a bind, he can relax in the peace of God, because he knows that, “No weapon formed against him shall prosper.”

As a cross bearer, you carry a strong sense of honor, knowing that you share in the death, burial and resurrection of our Lord and savior, Jesus Christ.

As we move toward a close, I implore you, I beseech you to examine yourselves; to look within.  Upon a thorough and complete searching of yourself, can you say with absolute certainty that you are a cross bearer?  Have you pushed aside the cares and affairs of this world and focused yourself on the battle at hand?  Have you committed yourself to the battle or are you still wondering aimlessly about with no sense of direction?

Has the intensity of the battle caused you to shrink back and withdraw to a position of comfort and assumed security?  I hope not!  The writer of the letter to the Hebrews made it distinctively clear how God feels about those who draw back:

“Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, my soul has no pleasure in him.” (Heb 10:38)

It is my prayer that as the battle intensifies, so will your resolve to persevere.  This is not a time for lethargy and gradualism, but a time for purpose and destiny.  I urge you to press on with a fierce urgency and an inexorable determination to fulfill your destiny.  God has not promised you a life of ease and tranquility, for he told us that in this world there will be tribulations, but he did not stop there.  He finished by saying, in essence, not to worry, not to fret, be of good cheer, for he has overcome the world.  There is no life of ease, but there is a life of reward.

We all stand in need of God’s blessings; we are all in search of His “Well done” proclamation.  We are in search of an exaltation of some sort.  We are looking to reap the magnanimous bounty which God has stored up for us.  In this exploration for acknowledgement and reward, we must apprehend and take hold of this one fact -No Cross; No Crown.

Any attempt at circumvention of this divine truth will prove devastatingly unsuccessful.  We are to march forward with our hearts and minds focused on the very one who keeps us.  Our time of adversity is not a time to crumble under the pernicious attacks of the enemy, but a time to rise through the omnipotence of God.

Yes, my fellow Christians, this is a spiritual war, the enemy is a most formidable foe, yet our destiny is victory.  This victory is as certain as life itself for the one who endures.  This victory has been placed in escrow for the one who refuses to surrender.  There is a promotion in your future, but understand this promotion comes at a price -No Cross; No Crown!

It is time to rise to the majestic heights of faith walking.  It is time to soar through the winds of perpetual prosperity.  To elevate ourselves to a position of spiritual enrapture.  For too long we have been languishing in the quicksands of mediocrity and lethargy.  We have lingered through the desolate valley of tamed dreams and dwarf goals.  We have been imprisoned by the manacles of hopelessness and despair.  Yet, the luminous and phosphorescent light of hope strains through the pores of darkness.

Pick up your cross and receive the power to overcome every obstacle.

Take up your cross and find that God’s grace is sufficient.

Bear the cross of your calling and experience the awesome force of God’s anointing as it flows through you.

Live the life of someone who is divinely blessed and highly favored; take up your cross!

May God bless and keep you.

Bishop Rick Wallace

Founder and President

Rick Wallace Ministries

100 Men of Purpose