One of the ways to understand the character and nature of God is to study the names used for Him in the bible. Our text mentions a compound name of God that gives insight into His character. The story of Abraham and Issac is familiar. Issac was the fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham to provide a son from whom would come a great nation. God then tells Abraham to sacrifice his son. Our text is the end of that story where God has provided a ram as a sacrifice. This is the only location in the bible where we read God’s name as Jehovah-Jireh: God is a provider. What is a provision? The root word in Latin is provisioun which means to see before. It means to prepare before and to act in advance. It means to see ahead and to prepare for what has yet to come. Abraham was calling God the Lord, who knows exactly where we are, where we are going and can supply all we need. The provision of God is not a random shopping list of things that we think we need, but it is a specific supply of exactly what we need when we need it. We can all tell stories of God’s provision in our life. These would be stories of an on-time God who provided exactly what we needed at precisely the moment we needed, and He will do this even when we did not see the situation before it unfolded. Abraham had to travel for three days without knowing what was ahead. It was not until the moment of sacrifice that God revealed his plan and supply.

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The Provision of God - Video

The Provision of God - Audio

Tonight is Halloween. Children will go door-to-door, asking for candy to fill their buckets. When they get home, they will sort through the haul. They will go after the good stuff first and then dump the rest into a big blow to pick through later. After a while, all the candy will begin to taste the same. The candy in the dish will begin to affect the others. If the flavor we are supposed to have is changed, we are of no use to God. The bible is clear that we need to be separate from the world and give no appearance of accepting the practices of the world. If we are not careful, we will take on the flavor of the world, and no one will be able to distinguish us as a child of God. We must not live a life that would cause them to see us as not any different from them. We must be desperate to be separate.

Desperate To Be Separate - Video

Desperate To Be Separate - Audio

All things are possible WITH God. God can do it on his own, but the scripture says WITH God. In our text, God asks if the dry bones could live. God did not need the prophet to prophesy, but He worked through the prophet to accomplish His work. God wants to be involved in our lives, but He does not want to do it all by himself. We have to participate WITH God in the work. He wants to equip and empower us to do the work. If we get involved like God wants us to, we too will hear a noise and experience a shaking.

Behold a Shaking - Video

We conclude our Praying Through The Tabernacle series tonight in the innermost part of the Tabernacle: The Holy of Holies. In this place, the high priest would enter to convene with God once a year. The veil, which represented the body of Christ, separated the Holy place and the Holy of Holies. The veil was torn when Jesus died on the cross, removing the separation between Him and man. No longer did a High Priest have to go once a year to intervene on our behalf. When He tore the veil, anybody could talk directly to God. Inside the Holy of Holies, we find the Arch of The Covenant with several items inside to commemorate God’s promise. Brother Long describes the construction of the Arc and the significance of the items inside. God described all of the things we have discussed over the last five weeks to provide a way for Him to reside among His people. God wants a relationship with each one of us. By studying the Tabernacle and using it as a model for prayer, we learn about God’s desires for a relationship with His people.

The Holy of Holies and the Arc of the Covenant - Video

The writer of Hebrews uses the analogy of a race to illustrate how we live our spiritual lives. No one would run a race with extra weight or encumbrances. Instead, they would do anything they could to win the race. Anything keeping us from running the race to the best of our abilities is a handicap. Of course, the race in Hebrews 12 was not an actual contest of speed but was a spiritual battle. When we think about handicaps in this spiritual race, we often think of human, fleshly, disadvantages. We might think about physical challenges, but sometimes handicaps can be about finances, problems, or the season of life we are in. Some people might think about their job, their boss, people they work with, or their spouse, which is holding them back from being more spiritual. We find all kinds of excuses for why we are not in a place to worship God and have a good relationship with Him. The truth is all of those things are not our real handicaps. If we look around, we can find people who have been in the same circumstances we have and have a good relationship with God. The real trouble is not what is happening around us; the real problem is inside us. What really holds us back? It is not the wounds of life; it is how we react to and deal with those wounds. It is not what has happened to us that is hurting us; it is how we deal with those things that are hurting us. Wounds that never heal. Wrongs that we allow to fester and destroy us. Our inability to forgive those that have wronged us. The greatest hindrance in our lives is not what people have done to us; it is the wounded pride we further and foster in our hearts. We justify our anger because of what happened to us, but that is the very thing that is keeping us from winning our spiritual battles. There is conflict in people’s lives not because it is unresolvable but because of the pride of the hurt person and their inability to forgive. This inability to forgive and to leave the past behind us is our real handicap.

Our Real Handicaps - Video

When we step into the holy place, we step from the natural light of the outer court and into a room formed by frames and skins where it would be dark without some sort of illumination. The bible says that God’s word is a lamp unto our feet. The candlestick is even more than that. The candlestick burned oil to produce the light. The oil is likened to the Holy Spirit that is applied to our lives. The burning of incense on the altar of incense is a representation of our worship rising up to God. The outer parts of the tabernacle were about cleansing the priest. Once entering the holy place, the focus begins to shift to serving others, culminating at the altar of incense.

The Candlestick and the Altar of Incense - Video

Our text tonight is the familiar story of Jesus’ encounter with blind Bartimaeus. Although he did not have his sight, Bartimaeus’ faith was intact. He was not in an alleyway having a pity party or in a bar drinking his sorrows away. Bartimaeus was by the highway trying to find help. On that day, Bartimaeus heard Jesus passing by, and began to call out. First, he used his ears, and now he begins to use his mouth. Jesus hears Bartimaeus calling and asks to see him. Now Bartimeaus uses his feet to put his faith into action. Jesus asks what he needed, and again Bartimeaus uses his mouth to make his request. He did not have his sight, but Bartimaeus used what he had to ask Jesus for what he needed. And Jesus responded.

Using What I Never Lost - Audio

Even after following Jesus in His earthly ministry, the disciples did not understand that The Kingdom of God was not going to be like an earthly kingdom. In our text, two of the disciples are vying for positions of authority. When the others heard this, they became indignant. Jesus had to remind them that to lead in God’s kingdom, they must first become servants. It is vital to learn to lead by a different model.

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