The other day, when I went into prayer, I asked the Lord to give me a “New Year’s message”. This is what the Lord had to say to me “Go back and look at Lot’s wife when she turned back and looked at Soddom and Gomorrah” which is from Genesis 19:26 “But his wife looked back from behind him, and she became a pillar of salt.” Naturally I said “Lord how can this be a New Year message. Right then the Lord spoke to me and said “What do most people do when a new year starts?” I said they make a New Year resolution. The Lord replied back “Exactly!” See the word resolution comes from the word resolute. Resolute means: a) marked by firm determination; b) bold, steady. This told me it’s up to ourselves to see that this resolution comes to pass, but the problem is our determination, boldness, and being basically steadfast to keep this commitment becomes weaker over time at least for the ones that are very hard to do or the more challenging ones which we thought would be easier to do. This applies in our Christian walk of life. We want to make a commitment, but when the challenge becomes to overwhelming for us, it causes us to give up more easily. Now, what does this imply? When we take our eyes off of what were going after we start becoming that pillar of salt. No, maybe not literally or physically speaking. The truth of the matter is that we have allowed our flesh to interfere. The Lord said “It’s deeper than we think.”
How can this be deeper than we think Lord? I replied. The Lord said “Go back and look at what Lot’s wife was looking at?” I replied “She was looking at Soddom and Gomorrah.” So, I took the time to look up the word’s Soddom and Gomorrah. Soddom means burning. Gomorrah means submersion. Now submersion means submersed or submersing. Now the Lord told me to look at Soddom and Gomorrah as a marriage. Now if Soddom really means burning and Gomorrah means submersion we have a problem in making our New Year resolution to work. Again this means we have a problem making the word of God to work in our lives as well. Negatively speaking, what is happening right here is that our fleshly desires (that burning sensations; which is the Soddom) reminds our flesh what it used to like and takes on what it used to do or always seemed to work for us (submerged into; which is the Gomorrah) and brings it back into play. Yes, it means we have done it for so long and now it wants to override what we really need to accomplish in our live. The point I am trying to make is Soddom and Gomorrah is like a marriage; they worked well together and it works us over just like it did with Lot’s life. We have to understand it doesn’t matter how much help we get by getting into prayer and getting others to pray for us; it’s about our own self determination of really wanting that change that were looking for. It’s true. We can be encouraged, stand on the scriptures, pray for ourselves, or even ask for others to pray and we start seeing results working, then all of the sudden something, or many things, start popping up and before we know it our eyes have been taken off of what were going after and then it never comes to pass. Now, let’s turn this scenario around. The word of God says this in Romans 12:21 “Be not overcome of evil, but overcome evil with good.” So, how can this fit with the pillar of salt story. Let’s reverse the effects of what is taking place. The word Soddom means burning. We could see how it was a burning desire to bring us back to the flesh. Well, let’s take that same burning desire and let God’s word burn out the fleshly desires to prevent us wanting to go back to the fleshly ways. The same goes for Gomorrah. Don’t let our flesh submerse, or give into, unto the ways of the old fleshy desires, but submerge ourselves into the word of God to keep pressing forward to remove the evil or fleshy desire that is trying to overcome us. God always has the victory for us. All we have to do is submit to God as it says in James 4:7 “Submit yourselves therefore to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” The trick is we have to acknowledge that the word of God does work and it’s always higher than our ways which can be seen in Proverbs 3:6 “In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.” and Isaiah 55:9 “For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.” Now, both of these scriptures that we’re given say that his word works and it works for our benefit to overcome. When we get this going Isaiah 54:17 will become more alive to us. Isaiah 54:17 “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.” Wow, what a scripture to fall back on. “No weapon that is formed against thee shall prosper” tells me don’t even give room for my fleshly desires to come against myself again. This means all I have to do is turn to the word of God and allow it to work in my life. See, this is telling us don’t let the Soddom and Gomorrah take us over, but turn it around and let the word of God take over Soddom and Gomorrah in and for us. “And every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn” once again we have to take control over the flesh or the enemy to stop it from taking us over because whatever is trying to take us over is being judged by the word of God and his word is higher than our ways. “This is the heritage of the servants of the LORD, and their righteousness is of me, saith the LORD.” This tells me once again that if we become born again and let his word truly work it will overcome what is coming against us due to the fact that we belong to him and the Lord now resides in us. What an overcoming power. Then the Lord told me this will parallel with the wine skin parable. Luke 5:37-39 “37) And no man putteth new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. 38) But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. 39) No man also having drunk old wine straightway desireth new: for he saith, The old is better.” We have to understand that when we really want to change something; we have to stick with it. Now there is another feature we seem to forget. It’s called a New Year resolution, right. The Lord told me “It just might take a full year to overcome it, not that it can’t come quicker, but there just may be that much burning out that needs to take place, it also depends on how much you decide to submerge into my word and make it work for you.” Some things just take time. I always think about how long it took to burn out the old ways and begin to trust the word of God such as Moses leading the people to the promise land. No, I don’t want anybody to have to wait 40 years but my point is that it may take some time to get our results and all this hinges on just how fast we take a hold of the truth and let the word of God do its work for us. The bottom line is that were to be the salt of the earth not the pillar of salt that nobody can see. This reminds me of the parable spoken by Jesus. Matthew 5:13 “Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? It is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and trodden under foot of men.” We should be the first part not the second part. The first part is we need to help season and tenderize or breaking down the tough walls that stops someone from receiving the truth of God’s word. The second part is all about not working the first part and we begin to look like a pillar of salt or a salt that piles up and doesn’t go anywhere. It’s time to not only get salted by the word of God, but to spread the salt so others will get to know Jesus.
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Jason HolstineMy heart's desire is to see that you walk in the purity of God's word and to strengthen it into your life, so that you're able to see all of God's promises blessing you richly as you advance in his word. CategoriesArchives
April 2024
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