Small Things and Plumb-lines

This morning I was reading out of the book of Zechariah.  I opened to Chapter 4 which has an often quoted verse, Zech 4:6 "... ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty."  I love this verse, as it directs me to pursue relationship with the Holy Spirit.  

This morning I was drawn more to verse 10, which reads, "Who despises the day of small things? Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel."  Historically, He was rebuilding the temple, and it was a bit pathetic when compared to the original temple.  Many  commentators, talk about how this work was despised by those who knew what the original temple looked like, but that even though it was unimpressive, they were glad, for the temple was being rebuilt.

My reflection has more to do with the building of the Lord's temple within me. (1 Cor 6:19)  I was thinking about my own grandiose plans for my life, and my seemingly inability to enact even small changes in my daily walk.  I was thinking of the many New Year's resolutions to exercise more, eat right, study God's word more, etc.  Sometimes, my eyes are so focused on the big things, that I don't rightly value the small things like daily personal discipline, speaking words of encouragement to those around me, being a witness to my family and friends, etc. 

I recognize that I need to welcome God's plumb-line (direction, correction and encouragement within His Word) which He uses to show me where my life is out of line with His plan and purpose for me.  I imagine that the small things are the individual bricks or blocks which He is using to fulfill His purpose for me. I don't have a proper perspective about what He is building, and with my eyes focused on my own self, I don't easily see when I am starting to get out of line.

Lord, help me to see how You want to use the small things in my life.  I want to be a proper resting place for Your presence!  Help me to welcome Your correction and encouragement, that I might align myself with You.

Be on Guard! Be Alert!

Link to photo

I know the title is a bit aggressive, but it is Jesus speaking in Mark 13:33.  I was reading through Mark 13 last evening before going to sleep and this phrase just stayed with me.  This morning I decided to do a bit more research into this phrase and where else it was used in the New Testament.  (Link here to StudyLight and multiple verses)  There were several places that 'be on guard' was used by Jesus including Matt 16:6 (yeast or teaching of the Pharisees); Mark 13:9, 23, 33 (Trouble during the End-Times) ; Luke 12:15 (Greed).   Paul also used the this phrase in Acts 20:31 (False teaching); 1 Cor 16:13 (Attacks against faith).

I thought it was a good message on which to focus.  Jesus was cautioning His followers to be alert and on guard.  In other words to be prepared for difficulty and attacks as they followed Him.  We would be wise to heed His warnings.  Being prepared and alert will allow us to follow Him unswervingly.  

I was thinking about guard duty and how there are many internal distractions and difficulties one must overcome to be able to be alert and prepared.

1. Complacency - maintaining a level of concern, especially during periods of relative peace
2. Inattentiveness and Sleepiness - it is easy to lose focus and even become sleepy during long periods of waiting
3. Focus on wrong things - distracted by things that don't matter, or less importance
4. Loss of preparedness - being lax in exercise,  lack of equipment
5. Misunderstanding the seriousness of the situation - not giving the proper weight to potential difficulty or attacks

I think that all of these apply to our spiritual lives as well as our physical lives.  It is so easy to lose focus, lose zeal, focus on things that aren't so important, get distracted and lose our edge.  We must work to stay alert and be prepared.  Jesus considered it so important that multiple times He cautioned His followers.  Especially as we enter difficult times, this warning must be taken to heart.  All of the issues Jesus mentioned - religion (teaching of Pharisees), difficulties, greed, and false teachers must be guarded against, for they will all cause us to lose focus and direction.  Our walk must continue to be focused on loving God, loving each other as Christ loved us, and obedience!

Lord help us to stay alert, and be on guard!  We want to hold unswervingly to Your path.  We want to maintain focus and zeal!

No Room

A couple of evenings ago I was reading in John 8 and verse 37 just grabbed my attention.  It reads: "... Yet you are ready to kill me, because you have no room for my word."  I was struck by this seemingly strange phrase that Jesus spoke.  It is a radical reaction by the Jews, and Jesus explanation of the reason was thought provoking to say the least.  I re-read the previous few chapters, to see what 'word' Jesus was referring to in His statement.  

Jesus has been speaking about coming down from Heaven, of His relationship with the Father, and His knowledge of Him.  To the Jews who were waiting for a king/messiah who was more in line with King David, the thought that Jesus could actually be the Son of God was untenable.  They weren't waiting for God to visit them, they were waiting for a mighty man.  If Jesus were the Son of God, then His words would have the same authority as the Word of God they held so sacred in their scriptures.  The things He was saying should be embraced with equal weight as the Ten Commandments.  This revelation would upset their highly polished religious life, or even their normal every day life.  They were fine with a new leader who would rescue them from the Roman's, but God in their midst was more than they could handle, or wrap their minds around.  So, they decided the easiest thing to do would be to kill Him, rejecting Him and His words.

I was thinking of how crazy that response was when they were face to face with their savior.  As I was thinking this, I felt the Lord shed a little light on my own response to His Words to me.  I realized that I have not always treated His words to me as if they were spoken from God, but rather have thought of them as more like suggestions.  I realized I was deciding, based on the impact His words might have in my life, whether I would respond to them accordingly.  In other words, I wasn't making room for His Word. Ouch! 

Lord, I pray that you will help me to rightly respond to Your Word, and make room for Your Word in my life! 

As we remember Jesus birth, and how there was no room in the inn (Luke 2:7) lets set our hearts on making room for Jesus.

New Wine Needs New Wine Skins

Last night before going to sleep, I was reading Matt 9:17 where Jesus says, " Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved."  This morning, I was further researching this and went to Luke 5:39, where one additional statement is added, " And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for he says, 'The old is better.'"

I was thinking about these verse as they could be applied to a new move of God in our lives (new wine).  God is constantly at work encouraging us to grow and change, but often we prefer things to stay the same.  We like the way our lives are, preferring the known.  I was thinking about how short sighted that perspective really is - an unwillingness to try something new, because we like the 'taste' of what we already have.  In the wine industry they must constantly produce new wine, for without new wine, they would never have mature wine, they would ultimately run out of the old.  Also, each new years vintage potentially could be the best ever, but one doesn't know for a few years. 

Going back to Jesus' statement, the new wine requires new wineskins because it expands.  Having an inflexible attitude would be the equivalent of old wineskins.  When God wants us to change, He causes things in our lives to stretch us, and we can either go with it and allow ourselves to stretch, or resist.   The results of resisting are that the new wine is lost, and the old wineskin can't hold wine anymore.  In other words it becomes empty and dry, with no refreshing ability.  I know people whose lives are dry and empty, and I think in some ways it might be due to their inability to change, as God desired.  Finally having new wineskins is also about a longer term perspective.  New wine never tastes as good as the old wine initially, but it must be allowed to mature, and in time becomes better tasting.  We need to have flexible attitudes with long-term perspectives to truly have new wineskins.

Lord, I pray that I might have a new wineskin attitude.  Help me to embrace the new wine (change) you pour into my life and help me to trust that this change will bring about maturity and betterment to me.  

Love & Faithfulness

This morning I was reading from Proverbs 3:3-4 and spent some time just thinking about the verses.  They read, "Let love and faithfulness never leave you; bind them around your neck, write them on the tablet of your heart. ⁴ Then you will win favor and a good name in the sight of God and man."

I imagined that love and faithfulness were like a sign hanging around my neck, the first things that a person would experience when encountering me.  Like the following image:

My prayer is that when a person meets me, they will experience both love, and ultimately faithfulness.  I recognize that so often my heart is not full of love, and instead often full of judgement or a critical spirit.

Lord help me to walk in accordance with Your Word.  Help me to be an example of love and faithfulness in this increasingly unloving and faithless society.

Presents or Presence?

I found myself reading through Jeremiah 50:7 this morning.  It reads, "Whoever found them devoured them; their enemies said, ‘We are not guilty, for they sinned against the LORD, their true pasture, the LORD, the hope of their fathers."  The phrase  'the Lord, their true pasture' really grabbed my attention so I started thinking about what that really meant.  A pasture is a place of rest and provision, or food.    I was reminded of two verses, the first is John 6:35, "Then Jesus declared, “I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty."  The second verse is Matt 11:28,  where Jesus says, "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest."

I was thinking of how Israel was constantly forgetting that it was God who was responsible for the blessings and miracles they had seen.  In Lev. 26:1-13  God warns them to remember His blessings and be obedient, and He will continue to bless them and walk among them.  In other words, obedience will bring presents and His presence.  Jesus said a very similar thing in John 14:23, "Jesus replied, “If anyone loves me, he will obey my teaching. My Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him."  What an amazing statement - God will actually take up residence with us.  Our obedience to Him is what enables this living situation.  Israel's sin was that they constantly wandered away from God with their hearts.  They enjoyed the gifts, but never fell in love with, or really understood the one who gave the gifts.

I was reminded as I was thinking through all this, of being a child and waiting for my grandparents to come for Christmas.  I was always excited to see them, but in truth, I was probably more excited to see what gift they brought for me. I was more interested in their presents, than in their presence.  Now that they are gone, I wish I would have spent more time with them, getting to know them, for they were the real treasure!  In the same way - God is the treasure!  He is so good and loving that He always brings good things, but we should not become distracted by the presents and miss His presence!

I was wondering how often I have gone to church, and been satisfied with the presents (good worship, or good preaching) and never really focused on His presence!  God help me to have the right perspective this year.

God Loves the Unlovable

I woke up this morning, having dreamed about  a friend from college who was one of the most socially awkward people I have ever met.  In my dream, we were at a camp for youth that I used to run, and he was sitting at a table with me and several of our friends.   He got up to get a drink, and before he returned one of the people sitting at the table with us, suggested we pull a prank on him. I  refused to allow them to pull the prank, because I knew that the reason he was at that camp was due to the fact that he was accepted by us.  His whole life had been one of rejection or being made fun of, and I wasn't going to allow that to happen.  Again, this was a dream and never happened in real life.


I woke directly from that dream, and immediately thought of the leper that Jesus touched in Matt 8:1-4.  Jesus was showing us the ways of the Father (See yesterday's post on God's Ways) through His actions.  He reached out and touched the Leper.  Touching the Leper was supposed to make Jesus unclean, but in the Kingdom of God, when He touches you, you become clean, He doesn't become unclean.   In other words, God is more powerful than any unclean thing!  


Jesus continues to demonstrate this love and acceptance of other outcasts and undesirables, meeting the women at the well, the women caught in adultery, the 10 lepers, the blind beggar, the tax-collectors and other sinners, to name a few.  These were all people that the religious community of the day would have rejected or avoided, and Jesus specifically told the story of the Good Samaritan to show this (See Luke 10:25-37) and to call us to act differently.  


In showing us the Father's heart, Jesus demonstrates the reality that should exist in our lives and in our churches, namely the loving of the outcast and unlovable.  So whether we are the outcast, unlovable or rejected or ashamed, or whether we know someone who fits those categories, God's message is the same - "I love you and accept you". 


Lord help us to clearly demonstrate this to those around us!  Help us to overcome any fear we have of being associated with, or being affected by someone that society rejects.   Help us to live out Your message to us in 1 John 4:4, "...the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world."  Amen.

Discovering God's Ways

This morning while praying my two cats were nearby, as usual.  They are very different, and I found myself thinking how I have come to know their ways (in other words - how they will act in a given situation), through my daily interaction and observations. Immediately after having that thought, I was reminded of a recent message I had heard speaking about Israel hadn't come to know God's ways, in spite of their wandering 40 years in the desert, seeing His works, signs and wonders.

I looked up ways in my Bible concordance, and was encouraged by Ex 33:13 where Moses prays the following, "If you are pleased with me, teach me your ways so I may know you and continue to find favor with you."  This was followed by Deut 10:12 which reads, "And now, O Israel, what does the LORD your God ask of you but to fear the LORD your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul..."

I was thinking about how we can know God's ways so that we might walk in all of them, as we are encouraged to do in the verse listed above.  I was reminded of Jesus word's to Philip, when Philip asked Jesus to show him the Father (John 14:9-14), "Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? ¹⁰ Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. ¹¹ Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves."

In other words, if we look at Jesus, if we study the Gospels, we will see God's ways!  We need to focus on the person behind the works and miracles and come to understand His ways. We will see revealed to us, how God acts in given situations and circumstances, and we will come to know His ways.

Lord, help us to know Your ways, more and more!  That we might walk in Your ways all our days!  That we might rightly represent who You are to the world around us!

The Kingdom Established Through Love

Recently I was reading Psalm 93:1, "The LORD reigns, he is robed in majesty; the LORD is robed in majesty and armed with strength; indeed, the world is established, firm and secure."  I was thinking about how God, could have established His Kingdom on earth, through His awesome power and majesty!  He is all powerful, full of majesty, and His words and His voice are awe-inspiring (See Psalm 29)

However, when He came to earth, He chose to come in human form, not as an all powerful man, but rather in humility.  He emptied himself of His divinity and took on our form, and even more humbly, became a servant (Phil 2:6-11).  He lowered Himself to our level and became for us an example of how we should live.  He gave us a new Commandment - that we should Love one another (John 13:34).  In fact, Jesus said that the way people would know that we are His disciples is through our love for one another (John 13:35).  In other words, the outstanding characteristic of His followers, and thus His kingdom, will be Love.  

Jesus talks about the end-times when the Love of many will grow cold in Matt 24:10-14, "At that time many will turn away from the faith and will betray and hate each other, ¹¹ and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people. ¹² Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, ¹³ but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. ¹⁴ And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."

So, let us embrace this main characteristic of God's Kingdom here on earth.  Let us Love one another, and stand firm in that Love!  That we might stand out in a society and culture that is becoming one of hate.

Amen - help us Lord!

Watching, Waiting with Our Light On

Last night, I was reading from Luke 12:35-38 prior to going to sleep.  This verse is normally assumed to be pointing to Jesus' second coming, but as I was reading it, I felt the Lord give me some new insight.  The verses read, 


"Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning, ³⁶ like servants waiting for their master to return from a wedding banquet, so that when he comes and knocks they can immediately open the door for him. ³⁷ It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes. Truly I tell you, he will dress himself to serve, will have them recline at the table and will come and wait on them. ³⁸ It will be good for those servants whose master finds them ready, even if he comes in the middle of the night or toward daybreak."


I felt like the Lord said, this is for your life now too! In light of our call to be His witnesses, letting our light shine before men (Matt 5:16), I think this verse can also apply to how we walk out our lives daily.  The Lord wants to come and minister Life through us, and will bring to us opportunities throughout our days.  If we are not prepared and ready, with our light already shining, we may very well miss those opportunities.  When He does come, all we need to do is provide the "open door".  We do this through relationship and our consistent loving witness to those around us!  He will come in and actually serve (do the work that needs to be accomplished), and we will be blessed!


Awesome!


For some continued mind-blowing revelation, I realized as I was reading this, that in some way this is a fore-shadowing of what Jesus did at the Last Supper.  He took on the role of the servant, washing the feet of the apostles, and then fed them, giving them the bread (His body) and the cup (His blood). The bread and cup represented the New Covenant, and His sacrifice which opened the way for us to be in relationship with God.  Literally tearing in two the veil (sin) that separated us from God.  Through this sacrifice Jesus made the way for us to share in "Eternal Life" and have the Holy Spirit actually indwell us!  


I could just keep writing....  Lord, help us to more fully understand this awesome reality!

The Greatest Equation

The other morning I was reading 2 Corinthians 5:21, which reads, "God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God."  As I read this, I was overcome with the reality of what it says!  I decided to write it out in an equation format because it was so incredible:


Jesus Has No Sin --> He becomes Sin for us


We are full of sin --> We become the righteousness of God 


All this is made possible because Jesus became the perfect sacrifice. In Isaiah 53:10-12  God explains this incredible truth through the prophet Isaiah.  It reads,  


¹⁰ "Yet it was the LORD’s will to crush him and cause him to suffer, 
   and though the LORD makes his life an offering for sin, 
he will see his offspring and prolong his days, 
   and the will of the LORD will prosper in his hand. 
¹¹ After he has suffered, 
   he will see the light of life and be satisfied; 
by his knowledge my righteous servant will justify many, 
   and he will bear their iniquities. 
¹² Therefore I will give him a portion among the great,
   and he will divide the spoils with the strong, 
because he poured out his life unto death, 
   and was numbered with the transgressors. 
For he bore the sin of many, 
   and made intercession for the transgressors."

Not only did He make intercession for us, but He invited us into His life - literally allowing us to become the righteousness of God!  I am sure this is one of the mysteries that we will never fully comprehend!  That we, through Jesus becoming sin for us, become, in God's eyes, righteous like He is righteous!  Incredible!

Jesus you are beyond comprehension in your awesome love for us!

The Extent To Which God Will Go To Save Somone

This morning I was reading from Acts 16: 16-36, how Paul and Silas were thrown into prison for setting a woman free from a spirit.  In particular I was interested in verses 25-32 which reads:


 "About midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. ²⁶ Suddenly there was such a violent earthquake that the foundations of the prison were shaken. At once all the prison doors flew open, and everyone’s chains came loose. ²⁷ The jailer woke up, and when he saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself because he thought the prisoners had escaped. ²⁸ But Paul shouted, “Don’t harm yourself! We are all here!”

 ²⁹ The jailer called for lights, rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. ³⁰ He then brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?”

 ³¹ They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved—you and your household.” ³² Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.

I was thinking about how it was interesting that God caused the doors to open and chains fall off Paul and Silas, but not so they could escape.  Rather it seems that this was done so that the Jailer might recognize God's sovereignty and be saved, along with his whole household.  I come to this conclusion since God had rescued Peter from prison earlier, and just walked him out of Prison.  In this case He left Paul and Silas there, so they could minister salvation to the Jailer and His family.  In addition, Paul and Silas were actually set free from Prison the following morning - so the earthquake and doors opening, and chains falling off was completely unnecessary.  This leaves me to conclude that God went to those lengths so that this one family might be saved!  Amazing!  His love for us is beyond understanding and comparison!

It is also a good reminder to those of us who walk with the Lord to look for these types of opportunities in the midst of our own struggles and difficulties! I haven't been beaten and thrown in prison, but I would imagine I would normally be thinking about my own situation, but Paul and Silas were praying and ministering in song to those around them, and aware that God was about doing something more than just freeing them.

Thank You for Your amazing Love God!  Help me to be a true witness to this Love, regardless of my own circumstances!

Don't Disqualify Yourself

This morning I was reading through Luke 12:22-32 where Jesus is talking about how we worry about many things, but the Father sees and provides - verse 29-31 reads, "And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. ³⁰ For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. ³¹ But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well."   I was meditating on the fact that the Father is such a good Father, giving us the things we need.  I really like the next verse (32) which reads, "Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom."  The reality of the kingdom is that this includes healing, miracles, deliverance, etc.  I was thinking about how amazing it is that God would choose to use any of us, let alone myself to further His Kingdom.  I am sinful, full or pride and selfishness, undependable and wholly not up to the task of being His witness, yet he chooses me (Eph 1:4).  I have disqualified myself many times due to weakness, sinfulness and general recognition of my lack compared to Christ.

As I was thinking these, I felt like the Lord spoke the following words of encouragement.

It is the Father's choice to make. Do not discredit or disqualify yourself.  He is the one who chooses.  In the same way that He healed differently many times, He chooses differently.  We cannot compare our lives and gifts to others that were called of God to see if we qualify or not.  In reality none would ever qualify, but God overlooks that and chooses us.  It's His choice and His free gift!

I guess if the Lord can choose and use someone who persecuted His church and oversaw the killing of His servant (Paul) or someone who is an illiterate, stuttering plumber (Smith Wigglesworth) than He can use me too.


Note: to be clear - during his young adulthood, God healed Smith or his stuttering, and he was able to read.  At first he could only read his Bible.  He became a plumber at 23.

Prodigal Son or Prodigal Father

The other morning I was reading through Luke 15:11-32 - the story of the lost son.  Growing up this story always referred to the prodigal son.  Several years ago I happened to look up the word prodigal and was actually quite surprised by the definition I found:

adj.

1. Rashly or wastefully extravagant: prodigal expenditures on unneeded weaponry; a prodigal life.

2. Giving or given in abundance; lavish or profuse: prodigal praise. See Synonyms at profuse.

n.

One who is given to wasteful luxury or extravagance.

The first definition makes sense when applied to the son, but what caught my attention was the second definition, which in this case could easily be applied to the Father.  For the Father's response to the son, after he had squandered his inheritance, was lavish and profuse.  He gave the son the best robe, placed the family crest ring on his finger, re-established his status as his heir, and threw an extravagant party to celebrate his return.  This is the type of Father we all have in Heaven.  He gives abundantly, lavishing His gifts and blessings on all of us, even though we clearly don't deserve any of it, and have probably wasted much that He has given us in the past. 


What an awesome Father we have in our Life!  I know whatever I have done, He will be there waiting for me, desiring to lavish His blessings on me!  As Paul writes in Galatians  4:6, "Because you are his sons (daughters), God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out,“Abba, Father'.  He desires that each of us know Him as our Father, and is waiting for us to return to Him.

School of the Holy Spirit - Part 3 - Study

This morning during my time with the Lord, I was reminded of the fact that one of the responsibilities of being in school is studying, in particular going back through my notes.  I started reading through my notes for the last three weeks and found I had already forgotten much of what the Lord has shown me during my morning times with Him.  I was even more amazed at how I had forgotten things He had shown me, even in the last 5 days.  


I was reminded of a few verses, the first in Psalm 119:11, 15-16 which reads, "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you....I meditate on your precepts and consider your ways. I delight in your decrees; I will not neglect your word."  Here the psalmist writes of the need to hide God's word in my heart, and meditate on it, being careful not to neglect His word.  To me this sounds much like studying, delightful studying, but studying nonetheless.


The other verse is Isaiah 50:4 which reads, "The Sovereign LORD has given me an instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary. He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being taught."  For me this is very pertinent, as I take my time with the Lord in the morning.  I am encouraged that He says He will waken my ears to listen as one being taught, because I am being taught.


I was thinking about how, so often in the past, I have not taken seriously my study of His word, and learning what He has been teaching me.  Lord, help me to become a real student, and all that entails, of Your word, and teachings!

School of the Holy Spirit - Part 2

This morning in prayer, I was reading the parable of the Sower (Luke 8:5-15) which is all about hearing/listening and responding.  In particular I was focusing my thought on verse 15, which says, "But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop."

I was thinking about the three action verbs - hear, retain and persevere.  This is exactly what we need to do, anytime we are in a learning situation, where we need to learn something.  If we are in training for a new role at work, we need to listen to what they are saying, figure out some way to retain what they are saying (taking notes, etc) and then through perseverance (repetition) practice what we have learned until we get it. 

Finally, I continued reading and stopped at Luke 8:18 (God's Word Translation), "So pay attention to how you listen! Those who understand these mysteries will be given more knowledge. However, some people don’t understand these mysteries. Even what they think they understand will be taken away from them."

In other words, if you combine this verse with verse 5-15, how we listen is very important.  If we are retaining and understanding God's word, and putting God's word into practice, and bearing fruit, we will be given more understanding and knowledge.  Like any schooling, this takes time and effort (study) and discussion. If we are not actively pursuing, possibly due to our busy schedule, concerns of the days, etc., we are in danger of losing even that which we have learned.

Lord, help me to be a good student - actively listening, working on retaining and putting into practice that which You show me.

The School of the Holy Spirit

Recently I have been thinking about the role of the Holy Spirit, as Jesus reveals it in John 16: 7, 12-13:  "But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you....“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. ¹³ But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come."  As I was thinking about this all, the phrase - 'Going to the School of the Holy Spirit' popped into my mind. 


It is very clear from Jesus' words that it was necessary for Him to go so that the Holy Spirit might come.  My thought is that clearly Jesus was limited by His earthly body in how many people He could reach, but the Holy Spirit is not limited in any way.  John 16:14 continues: "He will honor and glorify Me, because He will take of (receive, draw upon) what is Mine and will reveal (declare, disclose, transmit) it to you." (Amplified Bible). One of the clear roles of the Holy Spirit is to literally teach us.  Because He knows our very thoughts (Psalm 139:2), He is able to immediately direct us and guide us in a way that is unique for each of us.  


As an example, this morning I was journaling a prayer to the Lord and wrote the following: "Lord open my eyes, ears, mind and heart to what you are saying!"  Within 30 seconds of writing that down, I felt led to read Isaiah 32:3-4 which says, "Then the eyes of those who see will no longer be closed, and the ears of those who hear will listen. The mind of the rash will know and understand..."  I was amazed at the intimacy of the instruction and acknowledgement of my prayer and His answer!  He truly was inside my mind, or looking over my shoulder as I thought and wrote those words, quickly answering almost word for word.  Amazing!


Lord, that we all might go to the School of the Holy Spirit, and truly learn from you!  You know us perfectly and know what each of us is needing and looking to receive.  Teach us and guide us to Your perfect plan.

Visitation, Redemption, Restoration and Glorification

This morning while praying, I was meditating on Jeremiah 29:10-14, and thinking about how God moves in the same way over and over again!  I wrote the four words of the title down as a quick synopsis of God's work through out Israel's history, and Jesus' ministry.


Jer 29:10-14 says, "This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my good promise to bring you back to this place. ¹¹ For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. ¹²Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. ¹³ You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. ¹⁴ I will be found by you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the LORD, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.


Col 1:13-14 says, "For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, ¹⁴ in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins."


I could probably pick just about any verse and point to one of these major themes, evident and clearly described. God is consistent in His love and action on our behalf.  He comes to us (either in word or in person), rescues and redeems us, and invites us into continued relationship with Him!


What other God gets personally involved, personally redeeming the ones He loves, providing for forgiveness of sins, through His own sacrifice!   Truly there is no other God like our God!  To God be all the Glory! 

Thinking Outside the Box

This morning I woke from an interesting dream which has Spiritual connotations.  In my dream I was in a class with several people and our teacher had assigned us several simple tasks.  The first task is the one that really stands out.  He had several bowling pins set-up and spread-out over a large area.  He gave us a tennis ball and asked us to try and get a strike (knock all the pins down with one throw or roll.  All of us tried to throw or roll the tennis ball to knock down the pins but were clearly unsuccessful.  Once we all failed, the teacher stepped forward and said, "Let me demonstrate how to do this task."  He then proceeded to place the ball between his knees, holding it in place, and walked to each pin and knocked it over, simply completing the task.  We were all dumb-struck at the simplicity of the solution.  None of us had thought outside the normal rules of the game of bowling.  


At that time I woke up and immediately thought of the verse from Isaiah 55:8, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD."  I thought about how true this was - as a perspective in any of God's actions.  Our perspective is so often limited by our understanding of how God has worked, or the way we think He would work.


Is 43:18-19 says, "“Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past.  See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?"  


Lord, help us to perceive Your action and not limit our perception to how we think you should act, or how we have experienced You acting in the past.  You are the creator and never stop creating.  

God's Perfect and Beautiful Plan

This morning I was reading in Eccl 3:11 "He has made everything beautiful in its time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end."  I was also reading Isaiah 52:5-6 which reads, "“And now what do I have here?” declares the LORD. “For my people have been taken away for nothing, and those who rule them mock,”declares the LORD. "And all day long my name is constantly blasphemed.⁶ Therefore my people will know my name; therefore in that day they will know that it is I who foretold it. Yes, it is I."

Isaiah 52 leads into the 'Song of the Servant' where Jesus' death is prophesied, along with the suffering He would endure, and the price He would pay for our redemption and atonement.  I was thinking how much greater God's plan was than the thoughts of men.  When Jesus came, the people of Israel were under Roman rule, and were longing for a Messiah who would come and set them free from this conquering nation.  They wanted a victorious warrior / King who would restore them as a true nation. 

God's plan was that Jesus would come and set them free from the kingdom of the enemy (Satan) and restore them to true relationship with Him.  Jesus established the true Kingdom of God through His death and resurrection.  He made the perfect sacrifice for forgiveness of sins and established a new and better Covenant.  The people of Israel were looking for a simple military victory - God had an eternal victory planned.  

How much more beautiful and perfect was God's plan?  In the history of man, God visited, paid the price for them all and provided a way that all men might know Him and have relationship with Him.  No man could have ever thought up a plan like this, or seen it through to completion!  God you truly are awesome!

Eyes to See

A couple of days ago I was praying and one of my cats, like usual, was wanting me to pay it some attention.  This particular cat loves to chase shadows. As we were playing, I had the thought that his ability to interact with me, totally depends on where he is looking.  If he is looking away, he doesn't see the movement of the shadow.  As I was thinking about this - I felt the Lord say that this is similar to our experience.  We need to be looking in the right place to see Him moving!  Our eyes need to be looking for Him and at Him, not at ourselves, our circumstances, or surroundings!


As I continued meditating on this I had a few scriptures pop into my mind.


Psalm 123:2 "As the eyes of slaves look to the hand of their master, 
   as the eyes of a female slave look to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the LORD our God, till he shows us his mercy.

Luke 10:23 "Then he turned to his disciples and said privately, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see."

John 4:35-36 " Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. ³⁶ Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together."

So based on these scriptures our response should be to look actively to the Lord, rather than ourselves, that in doing so we will be blessed and see the opportunity for advancing the Kingdom all around us!

Lord, help me to see!

Is it God's Will to Heal, Always?

One of the questions that often is asked in the face of chronic illness is whether God wants to heal the afflicted person?  Especially when the continual prayers seemingly have no affect.  I was praying for people this week, pondering this question.  I was reading through Matthew's gospel, contemplating the fact that Jesus healed all the sick people that were brought to Him (Matt 4:24; Matt 8:16; Matt 12:15; Matt 14:6).   It is clear that Jesus healed all the sick that were presented to Him.  


I was also reading in Hebrews 1:1-3 which reads, "In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, ² but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. ³ The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word."


Verse 3 states that Jesus was the exact representation of the Father.  In other words, what Jesus did, is exactly what the Father would do.  So if every sick person that came to Jesus was healed, this represents the Father's will and intent.  His will is to heal, let there be no doubt.  If the sick person if brought to Jesus - we can know that it's God's will to heal them.

God's Perspective

Yesterday morning I was praying in a different room of our house, and as I was looking around I noticed how easily I could see the lines of perspective (Artist term).  I was thinking about how I could change my position in the room and that would change my view of the lines of perspective.  As I was thinking this all through, I felt the Lord speak to me about how this is related to our perspective of our lives.  We view our lives from a certain perspective - one that is related to our past experiences, understanding and present situation.  As I looked back at recent situations in my life, I could almost see how my perspective was affected by my situation.  When I was struggling, I couldn't see beyond the struggle because I was so focused on it.  When I was feeling down, I couldn't see beyond the pit I felt myself in.


I could also see how differently God saw those situations - knowing He had a plan that was being  worked out, even when I couldn't see it.  I thought about how nice it would have been to have had His perspective!  I know that is actually His desire, that I would start to see things from His perspective.  His view is perfect. He sees all things.  As it says in Hebrews 4:13 "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account."


Lord, help us to gain Your perspective on our lives and present situations!

Blind Man Healed With Mud

This morning I was reading through John 9, and I was thinking about verses 6 and 7, which read, "After saying this, he (Jesus) spit on the ground, made some mud with the saliva, and put it on the man’s eyes.  “Go,” he told him, “wash in the Pool of Siloam” (this word means “Sent”). So the man went and washed, and came home seeing."


I was thinking about how strange it was that Jesus spit into the dust, created mud and applied it to the mans eyes.  This was a man born blind, so likely He suffered some significant malformation of the eyes, like missing optical nerve, etc.  Clearly this was a creative miracle - He had new parts created for his eyes.


As I was thinking about this awesome story, I was reminded of Gen 2:7, which reads, "Then the LORD God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being."  I realized that in essence, Jesus was creating new eyes, in the same way that God created man in the first place.  I found the parallels very interesting, and I am sure Jesus meant the parallels to be drawn, as much of Chapter 8, Jesus is talking about how He came from the Father, and yet people do not believe Him.


Our God is truly amazing and truly God!  

God's Promises - Like Treasure

This morning I was reading through Psalm 119 and came across verses 161 and 162.  They read, "...but my heart trembles at Your word. I rejoice in your promise like one who finds great spoil (treasure)." As I read that verse, I was reminded of all the promises associated with righteousness I had recently been studying (see my earlier post).  Although interested in the promises, I didn't exactly feel like I had found treasure.  


Clearly there is a gap between my experience and God's purpose for His Word and promises.  I am encouraged when I read His promise - but not to the level I would if they were treasure. How great it would be if we fully comprehended God's word, His promises to us and His plan to fulfill those promises.  I think our lives would be lived out significantly different.


Lord, help me to rightly discern Your word and promise to me, that I might treasure Your word and respond to You accordingly.  That I might tremble at Your word - in anticipation of Your fulfillment.

Mightier than the Pounding Waves

I was reading through some Psalms this morning and stopped at Psalm 93.  Verses 3-4 were very timely and topical as I was just reading of Hurricane Irene.  They read:


 ^3"The seas have lifted up, LORD,
   the seas have lifted up their voice;
   the seas have lifted up their pounding waves.
⁴ Mightier than the thunder of the great waters,
   mightier than the breakers of the sea—
   the LORD on high is mighty."


As I was contemplating the potential damage caused by the Hurricane and its pounding waves, tidal surges and damaging winds, it was good to be reminded that God is infinitely more mighty and powerful than this.  


I was also reminded how Jesus with three words, stilled the wind and waves. (Mark 4:39)  Lord we pray that you would speak over Hurricane Irene and have mercy on the millions of people in harms way.