Mat 17:4 nkjv; Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

As we look at how Peter responded that day on the mount of transfiguration we can get a little insight into how we also respond to life’s experiences and what we do about them. The natural heart of man is to either gravitate to or stay with what we know, or are very comfortable with. We love to build our lives around safe ground or past experiences.
I wonder if we were to ask ourselves this question today, that is where are we in the economy of god, would our answer reveal that much is built on past experiences both good and not so good? Growth comes from both areas but are we moving forward from that last experience.

It is good, Peter said so let us build three dwelling places; one for Moses and Elijah and also you Lord!

With all that God the Holy Spirit is doing in our lives, what are we seeing? Or should the question be, are we seeing anything? For our answer will determine what we are building on wether they are past or present experiences. Are we just repeating the same things over and over or are we moving forward to a new life that determines our every decision?

Here in this passage it seems as if Peter does not quite know what to do with this unveiling of Jesus before his eyes and this to me seems strange considering the revelation he had in Mat 16:16 nkjv "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."

Jesus is transfigured before him he reveals some thing of the glory of the Kingdom, and Peter seemingly not quit knowing what to do reverts back to what worked in the past he wants to build to a past experience which was about building monument or pillars and altars to what had happened so future generations could be reminded about the event. Abraham built an altar his grandson built a pillar to an event he had with God and then later on in life built an altar to what God had done. Yes there he did want to include Jesus.

It was not until Father spoke from heaven that Peter was brought back to the reality that the past was not the issue. How much I wonder of what we give your life, our time, or resources and our emotional and spiritual energies too is based on past experiences rather than going forward and reaping eternal value.

We have constantly challenge our selves to build on what God is doing now not just on what he did in the past.
Isa 43:19-21 nkjv it says this; Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The beast of the field will honour Me, The jackals and the ostriches, Because I give waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My people, My chosen. This people I have formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise.

So it begs the question, what is God doing today in our life, in our work, in our marriage and in our family. Not what was he doing or what has been done as great as these things are there has to be a now God revelation or experience other wise we will build on what was.
There is nothing wrong in speaking about what has happened for they are great testimonies, but beloved to change what is around we need to declare what God is doing, for that is the power in being a great witness Acts 1:8 nkjv "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

We are to witness to, not about. You see Jesus is the great I am as well as the great he who was and He who is to come. Where do we want to live in God?
We can live in the I was, or the I will be. But life and faith is found in the great I am.
God wants to build into our lives today as well as to morrow.

But life is only found in the to days. As we look down though Bible history we will find that every time God revealed Himself a fresh to man some thing dramatic happened to that generation but because man does not stay fresh with God he does stay with the I am the now of God he then rationalises what God has done and then will set about controlling the spiritual life he wants to have. You will notice that the conversation changes from what is to what was. And I remember.

What did Peter see? Yes he did see Jesus glorified but the main focus was on what was, the moment he wanted to build to the past the Father steps in to again refocus him on what was or what is. (Mat 17:5 NKJV) While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!"

Moses and the Law, as great as he was and the Law was, they were for a season. Peter’s focus was on the one that delivered the law that is Moses; he had drifted away from the one that had come to fulfil the law the word himself. As good as the Law was its purpose was to expose sin, it showed by condemnation how far man had drifted from God.
Gal 3: 24-25 therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.
As great as it was it was not Christ. One of the major problems that we face is placing most of our focus on what was, not what is now.

Then Peter also saw Elijah. And again as great as He was as a Prophet who brought the burden of God to the people. He was for a season. God had been in both of these situations the Law and the Prophets. God was doing a new thing, he was coming in a new way, for the word had become flesh and now he was being glorified before the eyes of peter and he did not now the visitation he was having.

Both of these had passed, and their miniseries were now fulfilled in the one that stood before Peter with a face that shone like the sun. Moses and Elijah who represents the rule of the law and the ministry of relationship.

Elijah was the prophet of relationship. Mal 4:5-6 nkjv Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse."

Again there was one before Peter who was the embodiedment of all relationship. He had already said to Peter in John 14:6 nkjv "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

Both total rule and fulfilled relationship could be found in Him. Father was getting peter to refocus his attention to what the real issue of this visitation was all about and that is, this is my beloved son, hear Him. It is not about the law or the prophets it is about my son for these two who are represented by Moses and Elijah point to him. In Amos chapter 5 it says to seek the lord and live. I love this for it helps us to get back our focus, which should be about Him not what he can do, but Him.

Amos 5:4-6b nkjv; For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel: "Seek Me and live; But do not seek Bethel, Nor enter Gilgal, Nor pass over to Beersheba; For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, And Bethel shall come to nothing. Seek the LORD and live.

Bethel was the place where Jacob had a visitation from God the place of revelation and he named the place the house of God. It was the starting place of his realization of God and that he had lived for what he wanted rather than what God wanted for his life.

I am not at Bethel. So often we can stay with the revelation that we once had of God and don’t move on. As great as what we have had it will not sustain us for we are being taken from glory to glory and so then must continue to yield to what Father wants. It is not about the revelation it is about Him and His desire to control our religious experience.

Then God says do not enter Gilgal. This was the place where Joshua brought Israel to and re-established the sign of covenant as they were circumcised. It was a reminder to the nation that they were and are a covenant to God.

This was the place of remembering the victories, the deliverance from Egypt and the smashing of Jericho. Again Past victories fade in present defeats. Paul understood this so well and he records this for us about his life.
Phil 3:13-14 nkjv says; Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead I press towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Paul was saying yesterday is gone. God was saying in Amos, don’t enter back into the past victories, for I am not there. They are great testimonies but I am looking for a witness.

Thirdly he said, don’t go down to Beersheba. This was the place of many well. This is the place of great blessing. Again we can get so caught up with the blessing that we miss what God is doing. Jesus said seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.

God instructs Amos with these important words. Seek the Lord and live.

When Moses died in Josh 1:2 nkjv "Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise. In God’s economy it is Forget what was and focus on what is, focus on what I am doing.

While Peter spoke a voice from the cloud spoke. This is my beloved son here him.
Father intervened and brought Peter back to the main game.
Now notice what God said to Elijah in 1 Kings 19:11-13 nasb; So He said, "Go forth, and stand on the mountain before the Lord." And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. And it came about when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

God calls him into his presence. Notice he instructs Elijah as to where he is not. God was the cause of all these manifestation but he says I am not in the midst of them. After the gentle blowing he wraps himself up. Closing of to all things but the voice of the Lord. What are you doing here Elijah? That is another message.

Now not when Peter lifted up his eyes after the Father had spoken who was there, Jesus. The rule of law, the relationship would all be found in the king of kings and the Lord of Lord.
Peter it is not the vision, it is not the great feeling as great as these things are, it is faith in Jesus, I am the way. It is not in building a tabernacle, it is not religious works.

It is in accepting Jesus. In Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost when a crowd gathered because of what they heard, Peter stands to explain. When you listen to him, you just know that he learnt a great lesson that day on the mount when Jesus was transfigured.
For when he spoke his focus was not on the wind it was on the word, it was not on the sound that drew the crowd but on the saviour, it was not even on the fire but on the fresh start you can have in Christ.

Although we need revelation, it is not that either! It is Jesus. 2 Corinthian 12:2-10 nasv I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago‑‑ whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows he was caught up into Paradise, and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. On behalf of such a man will I boast; but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to my weaknesses. For if I do wish to boast I shall not be foolish, for I shall be speaking the truth; but I refrain from this, so that no one may credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me. And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me‑‑ to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake for when I am weak, then I am strong.

It is not the revelation it is Christ. What is our focus to day? Is it the past or is it present.

I wonder if Eve was more prone to be deceived because her focus was more cantered on what God had said rather than what God was saying after all he would fellowship with them in the cool of the evening. By the way that was the start of the new day, I wonder if there is more to starting the day of with God rather than when we feel like it.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was not the tree of life. The past as good as it may seem is not the present. We must live now not yesterday.
A testimony is about what happened a witness is to some thing.
While Peter was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!"

STAYING FRESH MATT 17:1-8

Mat 17:4 nkjv; Then Peter answered and said to Jesus, "Lord, it is good for us to be here; if You wish, let us make here three tabernacles: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah."

As we look at how Peter responded that day on the mount of transfiguration we can get a little insight into how we also respond to life’s experiences and what we do about them. The natural heart of man is to either gravitate to or stay with what we know, or are very comfortable with. We love to build our lives around safe ground or past experiences.
I wonder if we were to ask ourselves this question today, that is where are we in the economy of god, would our answer reveal that much is built on past experiences both good and not so good? Growth comes from both areas but are we moving forward from that last experience.
It is good, Peter said so let us build three dwelling places; one for Moses and Elijah and also you Lord!
With all that God the Holy Spirit is doing in our lives, what are we seeing? Or should the question be, are we seeing anything? For our answer will determine what we are building on wether they are past or present experiences. Are we just repeating the same things over and over or are we moving forward to a new life that determines our every decision?
Here in this passage it seems as if Peter does not quite know what to do with this unveiling of Jesus before his eyes and this to me seems strange considering the revelation he had in Mat 16:16 nkjv "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God."
Jesus is transfigured before him he reveals some thing of the glory of the Kingdom, and Peter seemingly not quit knowing what to do reverts back to what worked in the past he wants to build to a past experience which was about building monument or pillars and altars to what had happened so future generations could be reminded about the event. Abraham built an altar his grandson built a pillar to an event he had with God and then later on in life built an altar to what God had done. Yes there he did want to include Jesus.
It was not until Father spoke from heaven that Peter was brought back to the reality that the past was not the issue. How much I wonder of what we give your life, our time, or resources and our emotional and spiritual energies too is based on past experiences rather than going forward and reaping eternal value.
We have constantly challenge our selves to build on what God is doing now not just on what he did in the past.

Isa 43:19-21 nkjv it says this; Behold, I will do a new thing, now it shall spring forth; shall you not know it? I will even make a road in the wilderness and rivers in the desert. The beast of the field will honour Me, The jackals and the ostriches, Because I give waters in the wilderness And rivers in the desert, To give drink to My people, My chosen. This people I have formed for Myself; they shall declare My praise.

So it begs the question, what is God doing today in our life, in our work, in our marriage and in our family. Not what was he doing or what has been done as great as these things are there has to be a now God revelation or experience other wise we will build on what was.
There is nothing wrong in speaking about what has happened for they are great testimonies, but beloved to change what is around we need to declare what God is doing, for that is the power in being a great witness.

Acts 1:8 nkjv "But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth."

We are to witness to, not about. You see Jesus is the great I am as well as the great he who was and He who is to come. Where do we want to live in God?
We can live in the I was, or the I will be. But life and faith is found in the great I am.
God wants to build into our lives today as well as to morrow.
But life is only found in the to days. As we look down though Bible history we will find that every time God revealed Himself a fresh to man some thing dramatic happened to that generation but because man does not stay fresh with God he does stay with the I am the now of God he then rationalises what God has done and then will set about controlling the spiritual life he wants to have. You will notice that the conversation changes from what is to what was. And I remember.
What did Peter see? Yes he did see Jesus glorified but the main focus was on what was, the moment he wanted to build to the past the Father steps in to again refocus him on what was or what is.

Matt 17:5 nkjv says; While he was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!"

Moses and the Law, as great as he was and the Law was, they were for a season. Peter’s focus was on the one that delivered the law that is Moses; he had drifted away from the one that had come to fulfil the law the word himself. As good as the Law was its purpose was to expose sin, it showed by condemnation how far man had drifted from God.

Gal 3:24-25 therefore the law was our tutor to bring us to Christ, that we might be justified by faith. But after faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

As great as it was it was not Christ. One of the major problems that we face is placing most of our focus on what was, not what is now.
Then Peter also saw Elijah. And again as great as He was as a Prophet who brought the burden of God to the people. He was for a season. God had been in both of these situations the Law and the Prophets. God was doing a new thing, he was coming in a new way, for the word had become flesh and now he was being glorified before the eyes of peter and he did not now the visitation he was having.
Both of these had passed, and their miniseries were now fulfilled in the one that stood before Peter with a face that shone like the sun. Moses and Elijah who represents the rule of the law and the ministry of relationship.
Elijah was the prophet of relationship.

Mal 4:5-6 nkjv Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord. And he will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers, lest I come and strike the earth with a curse."

Again there was one before Peter who was the embodiedment of all relationships. He had already said to Peter in John 14:6 nkjv "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.
Both total rule and fulfilled relationship could be found in Him. Father was getting peter to refocus his attention to what the real issue of this visitation was all about and that is, this is my beloved son, hear Him. It is not about the law or the prophets it is about my son for these two who are represented by Moses and Elijah point to him. In Amos chapter 5 it says to seek the lord and live. I love this for it helps us to get back our focus, which should be about Him not what he can do, but Him.

Amos 5:4-6b nkjv; For thus says the LORD to the house of Israel: "Seek Me and live; But do not seek Bethel, Nor enter Gilgal, Nor pass over to Beersheba; For Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, And Bethel shall come to nothing. Seek the LORD and live.

Bethel was the place where Jacob had a visitation from God the place of revelation and he named the place the house of God. It was the starting place of his realization of God and that he had lived for what he wanted rather than what God wanted for his life.
I am not at Bethel. So often we can stay with the revelation that we once had of God and don’t move on. As great as what we have had it will not sustain us for we are being taken from glory to glory and so then must continue to yield to what Father wants. It is not about the revelation it is about Him and His desire to control our religious experience.
Then God says do not enter Gilgal. This was the place where Joshua brought Israel to and re-established the sign of covenant as they were circumcised. It was a reminder to the nation that they were and are a covenant to God.
This was the place of remembering the victories, the deliverance from Egypt and the smashing of Jericho. Again Past victories fade in present defeats. Paul understood this so well and he records this for us about his life.

Phil 3:13-14 nkjv says; Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead I press towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Paul was saying yesterday is gone. God was saying in Amos, don’t enter back into the past victories, for I am not there. They are great testimonies but I am looking for a witness.
Thirdly he said, don’t go down to Beersheba. This was the place of many well. This is the place of great blessing. Again we can get so caught up with the blessing that we miss what God is doing. Jesus said seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.
God instructs Amos with these important words. Seek the Lord and live.
When Moses died in Josh 1:2 nkjv "Moses My servant is dead. Now therefore, arise. In God’s economy it is Forget what was and focus on what is, focus on what I am doing.
While Peter spoke a voice from the cloud spoke. This is my beloved son here him.
Father intervened and brought Peter back to the main game.
Now notice what God said to Elijah.

1 Kings 19:11-13 nasb; So He said, "Go forth, and stand on the mountain before the Lord." And behold, the Lord was passing by! And a great and strong wind was rending the mountains and breaking in pieces the rocks before the Lord; but the Lord was not in the wind. And after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake. And after the earthquake a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire; and after the fire a sound of a gentle blowing. And it came about when Elijah heard it, that he wrapped his face in his mantle, and went out and stood in the entrance of the cave. And behold, a voice came to him and said, "What are you doing here, Elijah?"

God calls him into his presence. Notice he instructs Elijah as to where he is not. God was the cause of all these manifestation but he says I am not in the midst of them. After the gentle blowing he wraps himself up. Closing of to all things but the voice of the Lord. What are you doing here Elijah? That is another message.
Now not when Peter lifted up his eyes after the Father had spoken who was there, Jesus. The rule of law, the relationship would all be found in the king of kings and the Lord of Lord.
Peter it is not the vision, it is not the great feeling as great as these things are, it is faith in Jesus, I am the way. It is not in building a tabernacle, it is not religious works.
It is in accepting Jesus. In Acts 2 on the day of Pentecost when a crowd gathered because of what they heard, Peter stands to explain. When you listen to him, you just know that he learnt a great lesson that day on the mount when Jesus was transfigured.
For when he spoke his focus was not on the wind it was on the word, it was not on the sound that drew the crowd but on the saviour, it was not even on the fire but on the fresh start you can have in Christ.
Although we need revelation, it is not that either! It is Jesus.

2 Corinthian 12:2-10 nasv; I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago‑‑ whether in the body I do not know, or out of the body I do not know, God knows such a man was caught up to the third heaven. And I know how such a man whether in the body or apart from the body I do not know, God knows he was caught up into Paradise, and heard inexpressible words, which a man is not permitted to speak. On behalf of such a man will I boast; but on my own behalf I will not boast, except in regard to my weaknesses. For if I do wish to boast I shall not be foolish, for I shall be speaking the truth; but I refrain from this, so that no one may credit me with more than he sees in me or hears from me. And because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, for this reason, to keep me from exalting myself, there was given me a thorn in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to buffet me‑‑ to keep me from exalting myself! Concerning this I entreated the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He has said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness." Most gladly, therefore, I will rather boast about my weaknesses, that the power of Christ may dwell in me. Therefore I am well content with weaknesses, with insults, with distresses, with persecutions, with difficulties, for Christ's sake for when I am weak, then I am strong.

It is not the revelation it is Christ. What is our focus to day? Is it the past or is it present.
I wonder if Eve was more prone to be deceived because her focus was more cantered on what God had said rather than what God was saying after all he would fellowship with them in the cool of the evening. By the way that was the start of the new day, I wonder if there is more to starting the day of with God rather than when we feel like it.
The tree of the knowledge of good and evil was not the tree of life. The past as good as it may seem is not the present. We must live now not yesterday.
A testimony is about what happened a witness is to some thing.
While Peter was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, "This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!"

Do not say it is 4 months John 4:30–36

John 4:35 Do you not say, “There are still four months and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look at the fields, for they are already white for harvest!

Do not say. Here we see Jesus desiring to change the focus that the disciples had about the harvest and to change the definition or their world that they had defined by their words which was based on the circumstance that were before them rather than the truth of what was confronting them.
We learnt that our world is defined by our words.

Heb 11:3 nkjv; by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

Note Hebrews says that words frame worlds. The life or the world we live in has been framed has been created or formed by words - words that both others and we have spoken and then we have made these words a part of our life.
Words are absolutely vital and that is why we are encouraged to place a watch over our mouth.

Psa. 141:3 Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips

.
Jesus said do not say; why? Because the fields are white unto harvest. We create the world around us by our words and often we hold back from doing things because of this world we have created.
When we look at this subject that Jesus addressed that is the harvest which is white, we would call this in modern language Evangelism.The truth is we are hindered from going forward and reaping because of the world we have created and that world some times looks at the four months until or in other words the circumstances rather than the truth that it is white now.
There is so much fear and intimidation and a tendency to see all the circumstances why it cant be done rather than the truth that God will bless as we see the harvest and begin to do some thing about it. The reason for the fear is that we often see Evangelism as a closing a deal mentality or bring them to a decision rather than sharing what Christ has done and how what he has done has changed our life and is continuing to change our lives.
The disciples’ declaration was that the harvest was at least four months away where as the truth presented by Jesus was that it was ready now. When we are closing the deal orientated that is getting them to pray the sinners prayer, and we should always give them an opportunity to do this, if we are only closing the deal centered and see this as evangelism then we miss the truth that Jesus teaches that WE DON’T GET ANYONE SAVED this is the job of the Holy spirit.
Evangelism is not about closing the deal as I have already labored it is about preaching the gospel and this is what is required of us and should they respond it is a command from the Lord to make them disciples. Winning souls is a great thing but we must remember who does what.

Prov. 11:30 the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.

When it comes to the truth about evangelism we have to remove any and all impediments and that includes the guilt that we feel because we are in fear about asking people to give their lives to Jesus because we have been taught the closing the deal is what it is all about.
In Mark chapter 5 we have the encounter of Jesus with the man in the tombs and his deliverance from all that tormented him, the one the bible says dwelt in the tombs of gadarenes and after he was set free he begs Jesus to let him go with him but Jesus had other ideas for him.

Note Mark 5:19; However, Jesus did not permit him, but said to him, “Go home to your friends, and tell them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He has had compassion on you

.
As you continue to read about this encounter you see that this man who was set free begins to proclaim all that had happened to him, why? Because that is what Jesus asked him to do.
Evangelism is about obedience not so much about closing the deal note what

1Cor. 3:7 says; So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase

. He who wins souls is wise knowing who does what in the conversion.
Our message about what Jesus has done and it’s effect on us will help change the thinking of people around us it will help change their minds which is an important part of the soul of man. If we can influence the souls of men then we can influence the soul of a city. Our obedience to what Jesus has asked us to do that is share the gospel or share what Jesus has done in us gives the Holy spirit some thing to work with because the bible says in

Rom. 2:4; Or do you despise the riches of His goodness, forbearance, and longsuffering, not knowing that the goodness of God leads you to repentance.

Now if we take this seriously that is evangelism is more about obedience rather than closing the deal, we will more than likely remove the four month syndrome from our speech and we will see that it is white to harvest in other words we will see the opportunities that are around us every day and it removes the weight of carrying the load and puts it back in the Lords hands.
Our job is to preach the good news. The first thing we need to define is what is the good news and we need to share it in simple form.
No 1 God loves us. John 3:16 says the God so loved the he gave his only begotten son that who so ever believes in hi should not perish but have ever lasting life.
No2 God has a plan for your life. Jer. 29:11 nkjv For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. The central truth of this plan is that God desires that we have a ongoing relationship with Him and from that relationship a fulfilling abundant life. John10:10.
No 3 There is a problem; we are separated from him because of sin every single one of us because we have all sinned and come short of the glory of God. The reality is this we cannot reach our potential while there is a barrier between us and God.
No 4 there is a solution; God sent his son Jesus to do what no other man could do and that was to pay the price that was needed to buy us back from the grip of hell and death. That price required a life and he gave his on the cross, the price required was his death for our life. Now his death secured our release but his resurrection was proof positive that God accepted the price paid.
No 5 Choice is now in our hands; We are now given the choice by the Lord to accept or reject his gift of life. If we accept and believe what Jesus has done then the next thing that we are to do is to turn away from what we were doing and turn to Him, putting it simply we are to surrender our life and we do that by trusting that he can do a better job with our future than we can.
That is the gospel simply put and all of us can do this. The other thing about Evangelism is we are to use our prayer life not so much to pray for souls but for those who would go out and reap the harvest.

Luke 10:2 nkjv says; Then He said to them, “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest

.
Our response to this should be here am I Lord send me.

Is. 52:7 How beautiful upon the mountains Are the feet of him who brings good news, Who proclaims peace, Who brings glad tidings of good things, Who proclaims salvation, Who says to Zion,“Your God reigns!”

Jesus says do not say it is four months until the harvest; in other words lets deal with the excuses and be empowered with the simplicity of the gospel and share it and leave the rest to the Holy Spirit.

Do not say 1 Sam 17:34-37

Verse 36 Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.

Last week we talked about our responsibility for the place the town, the city, the nation and we live in. We are responsible for the peace of that place for God said that he would forgive and heal the land if we humbled ourselves and turned from the things that we do wrong. We also discussed the need for us to focus on what we need to put right in our lives rather than pointing out what is wrong with others.

Isaiah 58:9 nkjv; Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, Here I am. If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness.

We learned that if we are to move into a new season for our lives we have to be very carful about what we allow to come forth from our mouths. Our words must be seasoned with faith for it is faith that pleases God. One thing we do not want to do is to make the same mistakes with our mouth and get ourself right back into the old season. Remember the bible says that God has called us from glory to glory that means our best is yet to come and our best days are still ahead of us! “Do not say.”
So how do we avoid making the same mistakes in our new season?
Well the first thing that we need to agree on and settle in our hearts is that we will experience the future and the hope God has set out for us and before us. Our part in this equation of course is we must be willing to make any adjustments, corrections, and changes that the Holy Spirit leads us to make. One of those changes is to put a guard over our mouths and this is accomplished as we speak forth faith and testify to what God has done and is doing in our lives rather than being caught up with all the things that want to pull us down.
Note David’s confession;

1 Samuel 17:36; Your servant has killed both lion and bear; and this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, seeing he has defied the armies of the living God.

Words either free us, or they bind us. Words either build us up, or they tear us down. Words either encourage us or discourage us. Words declare a heart full of compliments or a heart full of complaints.
David did not get caught up with the words of fear that God’s people and king Saul got caught up with. Yes there was a giant to defeat and yes this giant was real but David was more concerned with testifying what God had done in and thru him then what was standing in front of him. This was just another opportunity for God to work in him and thru him.

Verse 37 Moreover David said, "The Lord, who delivered me from the paw of the lion and from the paw of the bear, He will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.

David testifies to what had been and then declares what will be and the foundation of this declaration was what already had been.
We all at some time or other have had some run ins with the lions and the bears of life and some of us are still facing and still running into them but we as His people have seen God bring us through time after time and delivered us from the paw of the lion and the bear and it is these experiences we need to remember and it is these victories we need to declare as we press toward the new season before us.
We have to be careful about what comes out of our mouths and what we listen to that comes out of other mouths.

Heb 11:3 nkjv; by faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.

Note Hebrews says that words frame worlds. The life or the world we live in has been framed has been created or formed by words - words that both others and we have spoken and then we have made these words a part of our life.
Words are absolutely vital and that is why we are encouraged to place a watch over our mouth.We have already learnt from scripture that words contain the power of life and of death.

Proverbs 18:21 njkv says, Death and life are in the power of the tongue, and those who love it will eat its fruit.

The seed we sow with our mouth forms the fruit we eat. David framed his world with words of what God did and then releases the word of faith and slays the giant that stood before him.
When God called Jeremiah to be the prophet he wanted him to be Jeremiah was afraid of what was going to happen and so he begins to build a framework around his life to protect himself. He tries to create a world or a veneer that would insulate him from what he has to face and he does this by the words he speaks.
Listen to what he says;

Jeremiah 1:6 nkjv then said I Ah, Lord God! Behold, I cannot speak, for I am a youth.

Then in the next verse God corrects him and the world that Jeremiah was trying to create; Verse 7; But the Lord said to me: Do not say, ‘I am a youth,’ For you shall go to all to whom I send you, and whatever I command you, you shall speak. Do not say, why? Because worlds are formed by the words that you say.
It is so important to read and meditate and know what God says about us and what we have and can do in this life and stop listening to the voice of the enemy who is trying to get you to create a world that does not in any way line up with the world that God wants you to live in.
Proverbs 6:2 nkjv says we are snared by the words of our mouth; we are taken by the words of our mouth. So what this is saying is that it is possible to first be “snared” or caught in the trap and then “taken” away from the world God wants us to have by the negative words of our mouth!
Today to many wonderful people are living far beyond the level of life that they were created for because of words spoken by them or words received that were spoken by others. In some way they are snared in that circle of life because their confession has not changed. We need to dream of life in our hearts, we need to dream and vision our life in God and settle it in our hearts so that from the abundance of our heart let our mouth speak.
Having the choice in life to speak what ever we will and then knowing the power of our words it behooves us as believers to retrain our mouths to speak good things especially over our lives and loved ones. What we say can make the difference between success and failure. You will see that victory and defeat is found in the words we speak.
Pro 18:21 “...And those who love it will eat its fruit.”As we speak we enjoy the fruit of our speach whether good or bad. Good words bring a good harvest.

Proverbs 18:20 njkv says; A man's stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; From the produce of his lips he shall be filled

This brings us to the second thought I would like to share; once we have decide that we want to live different then we have to give weight to that which we have conceived in our hearts by declaring the matter. Our declaration enforces and reinforces our decisions. Once we have decided to come out of our old season, we then need to declare that decision with the words of our mouth.
David faced the giant because his heart was full of the possibilities of God and despite the desire in his heart to see the giant destroyed, desire was never enough to get the job done. David had to give strength to his desires by declaring the matter. When we were confronted with the revelation that Jesus is Lord it was not enough for us to have the desire to be saved or even a belief that we need to be saved there had to be a declaration of that belief there had to be a world created where that belief could grow.

Romans 10:9-10 nkjv says; that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

There has to be a belief then a confession.
How often as believers have we been distracted away from believing that God heals and so we don’t confess it as much as we ought because we have settled with the thought that yes we know God heals for the bibles says that every one that came to Jesus was healed and Psalm 103:2-3 says; Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases. We have no trouble with this for the possibilities are all there in the bible, we know about but what we may struggle with is do we know that God wants to heal us.
Before we can change direction or cause something good to happen, we must first decide something and step into the belief of it, and then we must declare it to be so. If we believe that God heals then we have to conceive and release the belief of it into our hearts and don’t let go of it no matter what circumstance throw up at us and then begin to declare our belief in the goodness of God in the land of the living.

Job 22:28 nkjv you will also declare a thing, and it will be established for you; So light will shine on your ways.

When we decide and declare something, it will be established in our life. Nothing happens until you declare it.
This new season do not say anything that will not produce life but instead Use our own mouth to speak into our future. Use the creative force that God has given us to speak into our goals, dreams, desires, and what we know God has for us according to His word. Use our mouth to speak deliverance use our mouth to speak perseverance, for life instead of death.
Let me close with this thought. We will eat the fruit of our lips and some times we can be led away by the fruit of others. When David is about to face the giant the promise to him or who ever slays the giant was to be part of the kings household and that seems to be a great offer in its self but the reality is that God did not want him to be part of the kings house God had destined David to be the king himself.
No matter how persuasive the words of another are or how great the offer or how persuasive this offer is to solve the problems of our lives we have to stop and ask our selves is this what God has called me into. Do I join another or do I become the king of the situation my self. There is a difference between what God offers and what a man may offer.  Too often on our way to our destiny there are opportunities to become side tracked. There is no doubt that this has be the ruin of a many a wonderful Christian. Some times in the midst of facing a giant it becomes more inviting to partake in the things that impress men instead of the things that impress God. 
David knew where his strength came from and this then enabled him to defeat the lion and the bear,he declared where his strength came form and this enabled him to be ready for the challenge of Giant. The difficulty for us on our road to destiny is to remember that our strength comes from His presence and it is God’s presence in our lives that causes us to have victories not our strength and if we remember this then the giant no matter how big will be defeated.
“Do not say”

Do not Say Isaiah 50:4

Isaiah 50:4 nkjv The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of the learned, That I should know how to speak A word in season to him who is weary. He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear To hear as the learned.

God gives us the tongue of the learned. I love this because we do not have to rely on what we do not know, we can rely on the Holy Sprit to guide us into our ministry in helping those who are in need. We are called by God to lead and help people out of the turmoil’s that they face and we have the answers and those answers can be found in Jesus Christ. One of the keys to helping people is to remove the focus from our selves and onto what is important and that is the kingdom of God. The whole strategy of the enemy is to get you to focus on you self and then you become the important issue not the kingdom of God.

Yes we know that God is mindful of us and He knows the very hairs on our head and all the promises of God are there for us but the reality is we are saved to be an example and a bridge a path for others to find the answers to life and living. The focus must be out to others and directed to the kingdom of God. Every thing we do must be or must have some redemptive purpose to it, where as the enemy all he does is to draw attention to himself and away from God and His purposes.

In (Exodus 7:12 NKJV) we have the confrontation between Moses and the magicians; Verse 12c says; for every man threw down his rod, and they became serpents. But Aaron’s rod swallowed up their rods.

The sorceress and the magicians threw their rods down and they turned into snakes the whole idea of this was to grab attention, to draw attention to themselves and to cause fear and intimidation to those gathered. I love the but of scriptures; but Aaron’s rod swallowed them up; all that Moses and Aaron were about was for redemptive value it was not about attention, it was about deliverance, it was redemptive for the people of God

The bible says in (2 Thessalonians 2:9 NKJV The coming of the lawless one is according to the working of Satan, with all power, signs, and lying wonders. He will in the last days try and draw attention around the world to himself and he will do it with lying signs and wonders.

When we stop and look at the decisions we make or our actions in life can we see what we do as having redemptive value or are the things we are involved in about bring attention to our selves? Jesus said we are the light, the salt and the yeast of the world. Light to show the way out of problems, salt to bring savour or flavour to peoples life and yeast to infiltrate every are of life with the glory of the kingdom. The kingdom of god is about life, love and light.

One important issues to have the tongue of the learned is to know how to implement the “do not says” in our life so that we are not snared by our own words and a good place to start this series is in 2 Chronicles.

2 Chronicles 7:14 nkjv if My people who are 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 will forgive their sin and heal their land.

This is a very familiar passage of scripture that often is used to teach on intersession and to bring people back to the importance of prayer. The key for me is this part of the scripture which says ‘If my people would turn from their wicked ways.’ The first thing we notice is that we as the people of God are responsible for the well being of our towns, our cities and our nations and the turning first starts with us.

I want us to see if we will the focus when dealing in the kingdom is always away from our self and reaching out to others, but when it comes to issues that need to be resolved relational or others it is always pointing back and becomes personal. God does not say that we are to deal with what is wrong with others but to turn ourselves. We can so limit what can be achieve in our life when the focus we have is in the wrong direction.

It is hard to reach out to some one with words of life if we are snared by our own mouths, it is hard to demonstrate the kingdom if we are about pointing out some one else’s problems rather than turn away from what ails us. Isaiah the prophet put it this way;

Isaiah 58:9 nkjv Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; You shall cry, and He will say, “Here I am.’ ‘If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness;

Isaiah says put away the pointing of the finger, I would like to call this statement of Isaiah’s the “do not say.”
In Elijah’s darkest hour when he is hiding in a cave, when he as run from Jezebel who wanted to kill him, God comes in 1 kings 19 and challenges him with this question; what are you doing here? As you read the story you discover that instead of dealing what was wrong in his own heart, Elijah starts to point the finger at what was wrong with Israel and all that he had done for God and he declared that out of all that was in the nation he was the only one left who served God.
Even though he snared himself with his mouth, God gives him another chance and asked the same question again. Do not say what is wrong with others turn from what we need to turn from. Elijah missed the opportunity to renew his calling and the reason for his existence because he was snared by the confession of his own mouth and did not see what was really going on in his own life.
The moment we are fixed with what is wrong with others is the moment we loose our capacity to reach them or to minister to them with the tongue of the learned. We stop being light or salt or yeast in their situation. Jesus said do say it is three months until the harvest for the fields are white to harvest. What ever you put off till later is more than likely not to get done.

Elijah gave up his ministry the mount he was consumed with what was wrong with very body else rather than addressing what was wrong with himself; We are to be light so that we can show people a way out of there situation not so that we can high light what is wrong or what they are doing wrong. God says if my people who are called by my name will turn; Jesus never majored on the peoples being sinners he majored on showing them a way out of their sinful life. I am the way the truth and the life he said.
The turning has to be from us. Elijah found himself snared by his own mouth and I am not sure what brought him to that place maybe he was tired or just run down from giving out so much and the lesson to be learnt from this mans story besides do not say; is that at our greatest place of victory may also be the place of our greatest failure.

For instance we may have struggled with smoking for years and finally we have broken free from its grip and now after our victory we let our guard down and are hit with some thing else from out of left field which we thought we had victory over. Elijah who had just destroyed 500 false prophets of baal was now after this great victory intimidated by Jezebel who threatened to do the same to him as he did to her prophets. I wonder in his tiredness if he was just overcome with the enormity of the ministry and the problems that he saw before him. The bible does not say, God just asked the question, what are you doing here?

It is so important not to get caught up with pointing out other peoples problems no matter how justified you feel in doing it, the hardest thing to do some times especially when we feel justified is just keep the mouth closed. The psalmist understood this and cries out to God with this petition;

Psalms 141:3 nkjv Set a guard, O LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips.

Moses faced the same problem and restricted his ministry to God’s people because of no watch on the door of his lips. Moses was overcome by the problems and issues of the people of God rather than see the solutions and that God would as he had done so much in the past provide a way out for them. When Israel were in trouble in the wilderness God instructed Moses to speak to the rock and his provision would flow out and bless his people but instead of just ministering as he was called to do he allows his mouth to run away from him and points out the problem of the people. God had instructed him to speak to the problem not about the problem.

He ends up striking the rock, which was ok to do in the past, but this was to be a time of glory that had no hand of man involved. It seems that the people problems stopped him from ministering the way that God wanted him to minister and so he reverted back to the way things were done rather than to what God wanted done. The light was used to reveal problems rather than God’s power and solution to their situation. “Do not say”

In the New Testament we are encouraged to not let any evil communication escape from our mouths for not only does it devastate people around us but it snares us and restricts what God wants us to achieve in our life time.
One way to address this issue is to implement in our lives what Paul instructed the church at Rome to do.

Rom 12:14-15nkjv bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.

People do not want us to point out there sins they know exactly what is happening in their lives and they very often are not looking for answers to why they are weeping, more than likely as Paul said they are looking for support to weep with them and allow the light to show the way the salt to bring savour and the yeast to soften their lives and impregnate them with the kingdom of our God and saviour.

Ours is a ministry of reconciliation not separation.

Paul said weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice and quite often the very break through that we are looking for our lives may be hinged to this statement of Paul’s. Although you are facing a hard time you are aware of some one else’s break through and your mouth does not snare you instead you rejoice with them about their break through. On the other hand we who are living in the break through or the great blessing of God know how to sit with those who need a break threw and can weep with them when the weeping is required.

In Jer 1:11 God came to Jeremiah the prophet and asked him twice a question what do you see? The first response was that he saw a branch of an almond tree (I do not have time this day to explain what the almond branch meant to Israel but suffice for now it was very important to them) and God said to Jeremiah that he had seen well. The second response to the question was that he saw a boiling pot facing away from the north. He is what I want you to see, God said you have seen well, why? For you have not majored on the problems but your first response was to see the solutions that God would provide in the midst of the boiling pot that was yet to come.

Do not say. Even what we leave our children and our children’s children can often be established by what our mouths snare us with. The bible says that a wise man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children yet when you look at what is being left to our children is but a massive debt which will hold them in bondage for years to come despite all the rhetoric that is being put forward as good economic management. If you look through this nation there is not much left to sell to pay for what was already paid for by our for-fathers.
In the book of Isaiah we see a great insight into the modern leadership and how its mouth snares this leadership and how because of this snare their decision enslaves generation to come.

Is 39:6-8 nkjv Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the Lord. And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. So Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good!” For he said, “At least there will be peace and truth in my days.

There was no peace in the days of his children’s children; there is a message there that needs to be preached. We must face what is wrong in us and deal with it rather than be obsessed with what is wrong in some one else other wise we get enslaved and generations that follow after us.

Hebrews 12:15 nkjv looking carefully lest anyone fall short of the grace of God; lest any root of bitterness springing up cause trouble, and by this many become defiled

;Moses, Elijah and many more great people of faith did not finish what they were asked to do because they did not put a guard on their mouths.
'Do not say.'