8 Jerusalem staggers,
Judah is falling;
their words and deeds are against the LORD,
defying his glorious presence.

9 The look on their faces testifies against them;
they parade their sin like Sodom;
they do not hide it.
Woe to them!
They have brought disaster upon themselves.

10 Tell the righteous it will be well with them,
for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds.

11 Woe to the wicked! Disaster is upon them!
They will be paid back for what their hands have done.

12 Youths oppress my people,
women rule over them.
O my people, your guides lead you astray;
they turn you from the path.

1 This is what Isaiah son of Amoz saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem:

2 In the last days
the mountain of the LORD’s temple will be established
as chief among the mountains;
it will be raised above the hills,
and all nations will stream to it.

3 Many peoples will come and say,
“Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD,
to the house of the God of Jacob.
He will teach us his ways,
so that we may walk in his paths.”
The law will go out from Zion,
the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.

4 He will judge between the nations
and will settle disputes for many peoples.
They will beat their swords into plowshares
and their spears into pruning hooks.
Nation will not take up sword against nation,
nor will they train for war anymore.

5 Come, O house of Jacob,
let us walk in the light of the LORD.

12 When you come to appear before me, who has asked this of you, this trampling of my courts?

13 Stop bringing meaningless offerings! Your incense is detestable to me. New Moons, Sabbaths and convocations— I cannot bear your evil assemblies.

14 Your New Moon festivals and your appointed feasts my soul hates. They have become a burden to me; I am weary of bearing them.

15 When you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide my eyes from you; even if you offer many prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are full of blood;

16 wash and make yourselves clean. Take your evil deeds out of my sight! Stop doing wrong,

17 learn to do right! Seek justice, encourage the oppressed. Defend the cause of the fatherless, plead the case of the widow.

18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool.

For the director of music. Of David the servant of the LORD.

1 An oracle is within my heart
concerning the sinfulness of the wicked: [a]
There is no fear of God
before his eyes.
2 For in his own eyes he flatters himself
too much to detect or hate his sin.

3 The words of his mouth are wicked and deceitful;
he has ceased to be wise and to do good.

4 Even on his bed he plots evil;
he commits himself to a sinful course
and does not reject what is wrong.

5 Your love, O LORD, reaches to the heavens,
your faithfulness to the skies.

6 Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains,
your justice like the great deep.
O LORD, you preserve both man and beast.

This is the in fact the very reason that Jesus receives the honor and glory that does. The creator of heaven and earth, the King of kings and Lord of lords gave up his throne in Heaven to come down to earth to be around His creation and serve them. He served by healing and mending broken hearts. He restored the spirits of those who were outcasts in society. And of course, He made us whole again by uniting us again with the Father. But he also met people’s physical needs. He healed different sickness. He fed the hungry. He provided spiritually AND physically for people. Jesus actually tells us that if we do not love others through service, then we have no part in him. Matthew 25:31-46 reads

31″When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his throne in heavenly glory. 32All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34″Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37″Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40″The King will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’
41″Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44″They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45″He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46″Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal life.”

Think of the men and women of faith (that you know personally) whom you admire the most. What is it that stands out to you? Their wisdom and understanding of the scriptures may be one of your answers, but chances are that your response was ‘their heart for others’ or ‘their desire to serve in ways that others would choose to avoid.’ Spiritually this is what separates the mature in Christ from the babes, or the spiritual “men from the boys.” It is only when our heart for others overflows into our daily behavior, as we restore both the body and soul of our neighbors, that we truly become formidable soldiers in the spiritual war we are waging.

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.
Matthew 7:24

So they decided to go the easy route and ask Jesus to increase their faith. What better person to ask! Jesus was full of faith—just look at all He did! Nothing—or no one—not even Satan stood in His way. He just spoke a word with such assurance and authority that what He said would be done! Jesus knew what lies Satan told and how he tried to deceive people. Jesus also knew the truth—Satan had no power whatsoever. God backed Jesus up—every time!

Now, back to the apostles. When they asked Jesus to increase their faith, His response shocked them. He told them they didn’t need a large amount of faith. A mustard seed size would do!

Well OK, they thought, Jesus won’t increase our faith. But how do we get mustard seed size faith? I feel positive that many of them went out in the next few days to check out the size of a mustard seed! Take a look at a mustard seed. (Google image it if you need to…) Pretty tiny, isn’t it? You can barely feel it, it is so small.

Now, picture a mountain. It is Huge! In man’s eyes mustard seed faith could never remove this mountain. But God back’s up His promises to us. God is so simple—He will not make things difficult for us, or make something out of our reach. Matthew 17:20 says, “I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there’ and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you. Mark 9:23 says “Everything is possible for him who believes.” And chapter 10, verse 27 tells us that all things are possible for God.

So, how do we obtain Mustard Seed Faith? We read that God will grant us the measure of faith we need in Romans 12:3. (Make sure to read verses 1 and 2 though when you read this passage!)

OK so now we have mustard size seed faith. What do we do with it? How do we use it?

When we are praying for others or ourselves:

1. We need to get our minds off ourselves, off the other person, off the situation and focus completely on God. We need to see what Jesus has already done for us by His stripes and the cross, and look to the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus says trust in Him, He tells us so many times, “I tell you the truth,” He watches over His Word to perform it.

2. Focus on building your own faith. The gift God gives you is enough, but you can build upon what you have.

Romans 10:17 says that faith comes by hearing and hearing by the Word of God.

God’s Word is Truth; you build your faith by getting the truth into your heart.

You can’t read or hear the Word then put it on a bookshelf. What happens when you do that? Well, what happens when you quit exercising and eating too much? You gain weight and loose your muscle. What happens when you don’t focus on giving in your marriage and focus on the getting part? The marriage suffers. What happens when you let you garden go? The weeds come in and overtake the plants. The same thing happens when you stay out of the Word. You forget what the Word says and how to apply it to situations in your life.

So by reading the Word of God is how you increase your faith. Keep in the Word, by reading, listening to tapes, listening to others teach and preach until the Word is in your heart and you live, breathe, speak, walk and act on God’s Word at all times.

It is not (even remotely) in our own power that any one is healed. We are just a vessel that God can use. If you are a willing vessel then God will use you. Jesus already paid the price for our healing 2000 years ago. (1 Pet. 2:24. by His wounds or stripes you were healed.)

Galatians 3:13 says that you and I have been redeemed from the curse of the law. Redeemed means to be bought back. The blood of Jesus did this!

3. Keep a close fellowship with God. Keep teaching others what God says about healing. Keep combining your faith with the faith of others. Keep doing what God tells you that you can do!

Mark 11:23-24 a prayer of faith. Now notice in verse 22 that it says “Have faith in God.” This is where it all begins. The words I want you to focus on here are say, do not doubt, and believe what God says, ask and believe you receive. So when you pray you need to say the Word, talk the Word and act on the Word.

Hebrew 11:6 says that without faith it is impossible to please God, because everyone who comes to Him must believe.

2 Cor. 5:7 says that we must live by faith NOT by sight. Seeing can be very deceiving. Keep your eyes on God.

1 John 5:14 says, that we can have confidence, that if we ask anything according to the Word of God then we will receive what we ask. This verse should steer us to the Word to see just what God’s will is concerning healing or anything for that matter.

You use the same faith to believe that Jesus is the Son of God and you made a confession that He is your Lord and Savior.

You use the same faith to believe that you have received the Holy Spirit when you asked.

You use the same faith to believe you have received wisdom when you ask.

You use the same faith to believe God hears you when you pray.

You use the same faith to believe you are made righteous and justified after you are born again.

This same faith comes through you with power and conviction when you lay hands on people and pray for others to receive healing or deliverance.

4. Continue to work by love, develop this love in your life. 1 Cor. 13:2 says that faith has to be proceeded by love.

Jesus did all things with love and compassion for others.

1 Thes. 5:8 says to put faith and love on as a breastplate. Faith and love go hand in hand, and protect and shield your heart. Remember, God looks on your heart, your motives. Jesus had mustard seed size faith, because He believed the Father. Jesus is the author and finisher of our faith (Heb. 12:2). He lives in you. Use your faith!

So, again I ask you to look at your tiny mustard seed, and see Jesus and the Power of the Holy Spirit working in you and act on this faith and move any mountains standing in your way.

Some of my favorite indoor Olympic events are the diving competitions. Competitors twisting, turning, and spiraling downward through the air until they hit the water with hopefully a minimal splash. In these events, there are different heights from which the athletes can jump and different aerial feats that can be achieved based on the distance from the competitors’ starting points and the water’s surface. But there is one thing that they all have in common. Each individual has a platform from which they can showcase their talents.

A few years ago Chris Tomlin and his band were in Belfast, Germany for a concert event. It was early in the afternoon and the band’s guitarist had some free time. So he decided to check out the local bands there. While he was listening, the band started singing a song that gripped his heart. He ran to get Chris out of the dressing room to come hear this song. By the time Chris got to the stage, the song was over. So Chris and the rest of his band met with this local Belfast worship band afterwards. They gave him MP3s of all of their songs and he listened to that one special song. Tomlin said that he was so moved that he just had to ask them what inspired this song.

Their band and a few other members of their church went on a mission trip to Pattaya, Thailand recently. In Pattaya, there are over 30,000 female prostitutes over the age of 18! (That is not counting the ones under 18, or even the male prostitutes there) While they were walking around the town, they walked into a local bar there called….”The Climax Club”, which was looking ofr bands to play. They agreed to give it a try and asked how long the owner how long he wanted them to play. The owner said, “As long as your friends continues to buy cokes.” So they ended up buying cokes for 2-3 hours.

So for over 2 hours this band sang Jesus over these prostitutes who had no idea what they were singing! All of the sudden this song “came down from heaven,” as one of the band members recalls.

The band, whose name is Bluetree if you want to check out their album, used what platform they had to reach a lost city for Christ. We may not all have the same platform as “high” as Bluetree or Chris Tomlin, but in our everyday lives we are constantly performing for an audience. Our friends, our families, our coworkers, our classmates- they are all watching us, “tuning in” so to speak, to see whether what we proclaim is real. And just as my entire perception of swimming and diving is formed based upon the performance of a few individuals on a platform every four years, so many of you will encounter people whose entire perception of Christianity is based upon whether you are “real” with them or not. When I challenge you to perform well, I don’t mean to fake an identity in the way an actor performs. I mean to dig down deep and call upon the strength of the Lord that you have hopefully filled yourself with- similar to how an athlete who has trained summons his weeks and months of training when it is time to perform on the field. Utilitze the gifts God has given you and capitalize on the opportunities and platform you have been entrusted with (Matthew 25:14-30). You never know just what kind of splash you may make…

A soldier’s level of physical fitness has a direct impact on his combat readiness. The many battles in which American troops have fought underscore the important role physical fitness plays on the battlefield. The renewed nationwide interest in fitness has been accompanied by many research studies on the effects of regular participation in sound physical fitness programs. The overwhelming conclusion is that such programs enhance a person’s quality of life, improve productivity, and bring about positive physical and mental changes. Not only are physically fit soldiers essential to the Army, they are also more likely to have enjoyable, productive lives.

There are several components of any fitness program. The three major components of most programs are flexibility, strength and endurance, and cardiovascular endurance.

In everyday life, what is the importance of being flexible? Strong? Cardiovascular endurance?

Flexibility is important to our bodies as we know that if we do not stretch and keep our muscles limber, they can tear when it comes time to exercise or when we start to get really active whether it’s soccer, basketball, football, etc. In the military, physical activity is a major part of the job description, especially on the battlefield. If you aren’t flexible and the enemy sneaks up behind you or your commander tells your troop to move to its next location right away and you take off running, chances are you’ll cramp up and pull something. You will probably end up not being in the best position for yourself or you may end up on the losing end of that particular battle all because you weren’t flexible. It is a necessary part of training.

Strength is important for several reasons. In sports we lift weights to get strong so that we don’t get pushed around – so that our opponent does not determine how the game is played. Think of an offensive lineman. His role is to use his strength to the best of his ability to the rest of his team in a better position to do their jobs. His strength benefits not just himself, as he pushes back the guy across the line from him, but his whole team. In the USMC and the Army, strength has an even greater purpose. Strength is required to carry the loads of equipment that you have strapped to your back. You have to be able to execute the plan and handle your assignment while carrying that load. And in those instances, when you’re in hand to hand combat with the enemy, you obviously have to be strong or you will be defeated. It’s as simple as that. There are no weak soldiers. If you are weak you will fall. Strength is a requirement in the midst of war.

Finally we come to the area of exercise known as cardiovascular endurance. One thing that amazes me the most about professional soccer players, particularly those who recently competed in the World Cup, is their cardiovascular endurance. Soccer matches are 90 minute games broken into halves with no timeouts and no commercial breaks. This means these guys are going at it almost non stop for close to 50 minutes at a time. Clearly these guys trained hard to get to where they are now because they understand that if their opponent senses any let down in their intensity, then the other team will strike at that moment when their guard is down. The exact same holds true militarily. In a war scenario, troops can go days and weeks when they are constantly on the move whether it’s in retreat from the enemy or in advancing to achieve a better position to attack from. If you and your fellow soldiers have not been in training, then your adversary will sense your weakness and either attack then or use that opportunity to escape from you before you can strike the final blow. It is very difficult, almost impossible to be an effective soldier without a good, strong heart.

So what does all of this fitness have to do with our Christian walk?

How do you think flexibility relates to our spiritual lives?

Similar to our physical bodies, we must continually “stretch” ourselves. Push our limits. There will come a time when we are required to exert ourselves spiritually more so than we are typically used to. If we have not been stretching our faith and our trust and understanding in the Father and His will for us then we will break like an old rubber band that has lost its elasticity. My next point also ties into this line of thought. We must remember to also remain flexible in our plans for our lives (Jeremiah 29:11). As I am currently in the process of outlining my goals for the next few years, this applies to me as much as it does anyone else. If I am so proud, rigid and bound to MY plans that I am not humble and willing to submit to what the Father has in store for me then I will be broken in that as well. I may have wonderful plans that would uplift others. But it may not be His plan. Be flexible. Trust that He knows what is best.

What are some areas that require strength in our day to day walk?

Let’s recap examples we looked at earlier. For the lineman, strength is all about positioning. Whoever has the greatest strength will have the more advantageous position to work from. The lineman’s strength allows his fellow teammates to either, offensively, move further down the field, or defensively, pursue the offensive ball carrier and prevent him from advancing or making any progress. As soldiers of Christ, we are called to both advance his kingdom onward, making headway for our fellow brothers and sisters to join the cause and march onward with us, and pursue the Adversary to the gates of Hell and prevent him from advancing any further in this world which is rightfully our Father’s domain. Our other example was that of the soldier diligently working to achieve his tasks, all while carrying his heavy supply pack. The connection I’m attempting to make should be quite clear for this example. We understand the greater plan that God has for all of mankind. We understand what our assignment or role is within that “master plan” and what we have been called to do. However, just because we have this new found understanding, life will not all of a sudden become much easier for us. In fact, the burdens we must bear and loads we must carry may seem to get heavier. This does not nullify or make void our assignments, though. We have still been tasked with a duty, and it must be carried out or others will suffer as a result. This is when we must call upon not our own strength, but that of the Lord (Isaiah 40:31). The same strength and power that erases sin and conquered the grave is available to us each and every day.

What importance does endurance have to us as Christians?
And finally, we come to topic of endurance, particularly cardiovascular. Both the soccer player and the soldier must have strong hearts in order for them to remain functioning at a high intensity for long periods of time. Each of their opponents will be watching them to see if there is any let up in their fervor or discipline. At the precise moment that their guard is let down, the enemy will strike and all progress that has been made up to that point could ultimately be lost. Think in your own lives of the times when you’ve been on fire spiritually. Maybe it was a retreat, conference, or some other sort of rejuvenating experience. Those first few days or weeks after that event or moment you probably read the Word daily, prayed fervently, and were more likely to catch yourself in temptation before you went through with anything. But because the training wasn’t thorough or your heart may not have been totally into it, you began to slip back into old habits. Before long, areas that you thought you had protected and secured before, had now become vulnerable and open to attack by the enemy. David after undergoing such an attack, think Bathsheba, took the proper route in asking for a strong and pure heart and a steadfast spirit (Psalm 51:10). Only when our hearts are clean and in the right place will we be able to remain on fire for the Lord and repeatedly resist the attacks of the evil one.

This is the type of soldier the Lord seeks. One who is willing to stretch himself and mold himself to the will of the Father. One who calls upon His strength to endure the burdens of this life and fulfill our individual missions. And one who has a good heart and continually runs to seek the Creator’s face.

The training manual has already been given. The workout plan is clear. Are you ready to prepare for battle?