Persevering In Pursuing God

This morning I am reading from Mark 2:1-5 NIV:

[1] "A few days later, when Jesus again entered Capernaum, the people heard that he had come home. [2] They gathered in such large numbers that there was no room left, not even outside the door, and he preached the word to them. [3] Some men came, bringing to him a paralyzed man, carried by four of them. [4] Since they could not get him to Jesus because of the crowd, they made an opening in the roof above Jesus by digging through it and then lowered the mat the man was lying on. [5] When Jesus saw their faith, he said to the paralyzed man, “Son, your sins are forgiven.”

This story is generally well known, at least to me, and as I was reading it this morning, I had a couple of thoughts. First, I was thinking about the fact that as soon as people heard Jesus had come home they gathered. Now Jesus had grown up in Nazareth, but had moved to Capernaum once he started His public ministry, so he had only lived in Capernaum a little while. The people gathered outside His home, one wonders if it was rented, or if He owned it. Regardless, the roof the men start digging through is apparently Jesus' roof! Later He tells people that if they follow Him, they won't have a roof over their head, and I wonder if He was referencing this event? :-) Anyway, these men are desperate to get their friend close to Jesus, and tore off Jesus' roof to get to Him. I find it strange that once Jesus heard the noise above Him that He didn't stop and command the crowd to make room for the men, for clearly they were making a mess of the place. He was either "in the zone" or following His Father's leading, so that the rest of the events would unfold as they did.

Secondly, the paralyzed man had four ambulatory friends whom were desperate to see their friend healed. That makes me believe that his state was due to something relatively recent, either that or he had an amazing personality. The culture in those days did not have much room for the lame, the weak, etc. Their lives were generally filled with begging, for they had no socialized health system. If he had been paralyzed for long, his friends would likely have been like himself, beggars. Instead, here was a young man with four desperate friends, who were strong and determined. Having several friends and family members who are seriously sick, the initial phase of diagnosis is when it seems everyone is around trying to help, and I think that was true of the four friends, their buddy was only recently paralyzed and they were willing to do what it took to see him healthy.

A quick note on this, it is always wonderful to have many people around you when you have recently received difficult news, but its even more helpful to have people stand with you through the long arduous times of treatment. We want to pray for this type of devotion, dedication and desperation toward those loved ones who have been battling their situations for long times. So often we lose our drive and determination, and just learn to accept the situation, but I believe the Lord can and does heal, so let us keep pressing on, digging through whatever we need to see them healed.

Finally, I am guessing that his injury might have been related to some of the sins Jesus forgave. I believe this is the only case where Jesus addressed a person's sins prior to healing them. Jesus never seemed to do the same thing twice, and we should make sure that we don't create a theology around this one event. That being said, Jesus was also making a significant point, that He spoke for the Father, and the Father was the one forgiving sins, and as His Son, He was representing that authority. This was not lost on those around Him, for they immediately start questioning His actions in their minds. Jesus was stating very clearly who He was, the people just couldn't accept it. The healing of the man was the exclamation point to His statement about representing the Father. Only God could bring healing like that, instantaneous and complete, and Jesus demonstrated that He was from Him, and operated in His authority.

It is also very interesting to note that it was in response to the faith of the group that He forgave the young man's sins, and then healed him. This is a great example of the power of intercessory prayer, for this is the physical demonstration of what the intercessor does through their prayers. They pray until they see breakthrough, as we see in this story, specifically breaking through the roof to get to Jesus.

So I am encouraged this day to press in, to persevere and pursue the Lord for healing for those I love. He doesn't seem to mind our making a mess in doing so, He is looking at our hearts and our faith. He has the authority and power to heal, let us go to Him.

A Step Toward The Lord - Be Encouraged

This morning as I was waking up, my thoughts started down an interesting path, one that is not a common first waking thought pattern. I believe the Lord likes to speak to us in that time when our minds are awake, but our thoughts are still minimal. The theme this morning was encouragement for anyone moving forward in relationship with the Lord.

I felt like He wanted me to write briefly about the importance of relationships, but even more so, His desire for relationships with each of us, no matter where we are at, or how young we are in our relationship with Him. So often there is pressure, whether from external sources, or from ourselves, to perform at a level that is outside our abilities, and that includes the areas of relationships, even relationships with the Lord. I specifically felt His pleasure for anyone who makes any step towards Him, no matter how small! That is important to hear - the Lord is happy with even the smallest step we take towards Him.

So often religion can interfere and cause us to think our relationship needs to be a certain way, or involve certain things, and they are generally all external trappings. So much time in prayer, certain types of prayer, so many meetings attended, dressing a certain way, acting a certain way, speaking a certain way. Anyone can learn to do these things, but none of them is a true indicator of your heart's attitude toward or relationship with the Lord. For example, just because we dress like an adult doesn't mean we are an adult in our actions or thoughts.

The Lord is most concerned about our heart and our affections. The Lord sees past all the external stuff and looks at our hearts, our motivations and He is very pleased when we are moving towards Him in relationship. Relationships require communication with and knowledge of the other individual, not just facts about them, but how they think, how they act, their ways. It is impossible to have a relationship with someone we don't know or communicate with - those are the basic building blocks. We can know plenty about someone else, even feel like we know them, because of someone else's relationship, and our relationship with them. I know about several of my parents friends, even though I have never met them. In our faith this is often the case, we are introduced to the Lord by our parents and pastor or priest, but that does not constitute a relationship. It is very helpful to establish a level of understanding and comfort, but ultimately the Lord wants a relationship with us.

So again, I felt like the Lord wanted us to know that He is pleased with any step we make in His direction. He is desirous of a relationship with us and is always moving in our direction. We may not have much time to pray (converse with God) during our day, but if we make an effort to carve out even 5 minutes a few times a week, the Lord will meet us. Thinking back to my parents, they live a significant distance away and most of our communication these days is over the phone. They would love hearing more from me, even if it was a 2 minute call once every three days. In the same way, the Lord longs for us to reach out to Him and will never reject even the smallest gesture or step.

So the question for each of us is how can we move towards the Lord, in our life, with our schedules? For each of us that might look different, and that is just fine. The Lord understands and values our uniqueness, and will work with and interact with each of us individually. We might read the Bible and ask Him to direct our reading of it, we might listen to Christian music on the radio as we drive to work, we might encounter Him through music or movies, we might encounter Him and hear Him in those around us, in service, in quiet, in nature, in devotionals, in dreams, in day dreams, in our creative abilities, in kindness towards others, during long walks, or short coffee breaks. He doesn't care, He is just happy we are moving towards Him.

Our relationship with the Lord is meant to be the single greatest treasure in our life. It is meant to be the source of life, strength and power. The deeper our relationship with Him, the more we realize how infinite is His love for us, and how readily He will pour His love on us. Let us endeavor to take any step towards Him today. He will meet us!

Jesus' New Teaching

This morning I am reading from Mark and was thinking about how it was when Jesus first started ministering. Here are a few verses - Mark 1:21-22, 27-28 NIV:

[21] "They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. [22] The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law."

[27] "The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching---and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.” [28] News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee."

I was thinking about the reality of the synagogue teachings they were used to hearing, and how dry those must have seemed. It had been 400+ years since they had a prophet write anything new, and the rest of their teachings were of the law, disected into 900+ rules. They probably had some sort of 3 year cycle, but never any new teaching, rather just explaining old teachings or rules that some one else made.

Along comes Jesus and He starts teaching things like His sermon on the mount (Matt 5:1- 7:27) which was based on familiar things but wholly new and personal and clearly authored by Jesus. At the very least, they must have thought that He sounded like one of the Prophets. There must have been real excitement, real interest in what He was saying. His language was relateable, using parables and examples they could understand. He was revealing the heart of the Father to a generation who knew only rules, and regulations. He was speaking the language of relationship, and speaking as one who knew. He was doing signs and wonders that they had heard about from the Books that become the Old Testament, but had never seen them in their life. He was confronting and defeating demons and setting people free. He was healing people's sicknesses. No wonder the whole countryside came to hear about Him.

My prayer is that the Church would once again experience this type of freshness and life, this excitement that accompanied Jesus. We have the words of life, and the path to eternal life in our midst, and yet it seems that the primary message the world hears is the judgmentalness of a few "Christians". I pray that the new teachings of Jesus would shake us up and breath life into us all.

Amen!

Jesus of Nazareth (it's important)

This morning I have been reading through the different accounts of Jesus visit back to Nazareth after He began His ministry. These can be found in Luke 4, Mark 6 and Matthew 13. To summarize, Jesus goes back home and teaches in the synagogue and although the people are amazed at His wisdom and authority, they ultimately cannot accept Him, and even become offended at Him. He declares that no prophet is ever accepted in His hometown, and afterwards leaves and we don't really ever hear of Nazareth again.

What I find interesting is that Jesus is then identified as Jesus of Nazareth, really throughout His ministry, even when He confronts Paul on his way to Damascus. Clearly the identification by location of hometown was one of the ways the people differentiated people with the same name, and there was more than one Jesus in the history of the Jews. The reason I find this interesting is that Jesus names Himself the Nazarene, and yet this is the one place He really didn't do any miracles. This is the one place where Jesus lived the majority of His life hidden from view, living a purely human existence as the son of a carpenter. I like this because it is clear that Jesus never lost sight of who He was or where He came from. He was the greatest man whoever live, yet He chose to refer to Himself as from Nazareth.

Although He was the Son of God, He claimed and named Himself as coming from Nazareth, never letting us forget His humanness. This is so different than many of the 'important people' we see today who change their names and almost try to obscure their pasts as normal people. Many famous entertainers go to great lengths to distance themselves from their normalcy. Many of the great leaders of history tried to create stories of their uniqueness as evidenced by their unusual childhoods, trying to get people to believe they were somehow different than everyone else. Jesus, although there are stories of a unique birth, always pointed back to Nazareth, for even demons called Him that name. He was and is unwilling to let us forget His humanness, His years of quiet living as a carpenter's son.

Thus, this must be an important point, and one we should think on. His incarnation, His humanness is essential to our salvation, and also to our ability to follow in His footsteps. The whole idea behind WWJD (What would Jesus do?) is to identify what He would do, and then do the same thing. We are called to "Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons." (Matt 10:8) if we believe He only did these things because of His divinity than we will never even try. However, if we believe that He was doing these things as a human, through the power of the Holy Spirit working through Him, than we can do the same things, for that is our operational mode. Jesus referred to this exactly when talking about the miracles and belief in John 14:11-12, and uses this idea to launch into the gift of the Holy Spirit, and His role in our lives (John 15-16). It is clear that Jesus fully expected His followers to walk in His footsteps and minister the way He ministered. We can only do that if He ministered as a human, emptying Himself of His divinity (Phil 2:6-8).

One other thought, the fact that He could do limited miracles in Nazareth also points to His humanness. If He was operating out of His divinity, the culture of faith or unbelief would have no effect on Him or His abilities. Yet, scripture clearly says He was limited in what He could do there, because of their lack of faith.

So, the fact that He is named the Nazarene, and He calls Himself that name is really important, for it is directly related to His incarnation. Jesus was truly God and truly man. We, as His followers, can operate as He did because He was operating as purely a man during His ministry prior to His death. Let us proudly follow Jesus of Nazareth, and let us follow His example and never forget where we came from, and our own humanity.

Led by His Presence

This morning I woke up with the theme of Presence running through my mind. Not my usual waking up thoughts, so I decided to pay attention and let the Lord speak to me. I find that often the Lord speaks in those times when my mind is still quiet, right after I wake up. I guess one could say the Lord is an efficient communicator, for He knows when to speak when I will listen.

So the primary theme around His Presence was the need to foster our sensitivity to it, and also return to Him our attention, by being present to Him. I was thinking about Moses and the first time the Presence of God filled the tabernacle, and there was real purpose and immediacy to His presence. Here are the verses from Exodus 40:33-38 NIV:

[33] "Then Moses set up the courtyard around the tabernacle and altar and put up the curtain at the entrance to the courtyard. And so Moses finished the work.

[34] Then the cloud covered the tent of meeting, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle. [35] Moses could not enter the tent of meeting because the cloud had settled on it, and the glory of the Lord filled the tabernacle.

[36] In all the travels of the Israelites, whenever the cloud lifted from above the tabernacle, they would set out; [37] but if the cloud did not lift, they did not set out---until the day it lifted. [38] So the cloud of the Lord was over the tabernacle by day, and fire was in the cloud by night, in the sight of all the Israelites during all their travels."

Apparently the moment that Moses finished the work on the tabernacle, God's presence filled the tent of meeting, which is where Moses and God would meet and talk. This speaks to me of God's desire for us to experience His Presence. We see this same pattern when Solomon finishes the temple in 2 Chronicles 7:1-3 NIV:

[1] "When Solomon finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the temple. [2] The priests could not enter the temple of the Lord because the glory of the Lord filled it. [3] When all the Israelites saw the fire coming down and the glory of the Lord above the temple, they knelt on the pavement with their faces to the ground, and they worshiped and gave thanks to the Lord, saying,“He is good; his love endures forever.”

I love the idea of the presence of God filling the temple, and sometimes wonder why we don't experience this type of visitation of God's Presence? The answer is that we still do occasionally see God visit His people with His manifest presence, it just may not have happened near us, nor in the church in which we participate. There have been several "revivals" in my lifetime here in the US, and many more abroad, where the Presence of God shows up in very noticeable or manifest ways.

More importantly, His presence is always with us, for when we experience salvation, His Spirit takes up residence in us! Jesus said the Holy Spirit would be in us - John 14:15-17 NIV: "If you love me, keep my commands. [16] And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever--- [17] the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you."

So for me, the theme this morning was learning to recognize the presence of God stirring in our midst. Since He is in each of us, He doesn't need to come and fill the room with His presence, but can rather move in us. The issue I think is that many of us just don't recognize this, or haven't learned to discern His presence's affect on us.

That is what I felt the Lord wanted to discuss today, learning to pay attention to His presence in us. Part of the reason many of us struggle with this is we are not bringing ourselves to be present to Him, in other words we are distracted. I had in my mind the image of people today with their smart phones sitting around each other, each distracted by their phones, completely ignoring each other. That is a great example of distracted relationships.

When we gather together the Lord is moving in us, and we want to be able recognize that and listen to Him, we want to follow His leading, as the Israelites did when His presence was over the tent of meeting. We want to be able to sense the stirring of His Holy Spirit, and move in that direction. The onkynway we can do that is if we are paying attention to Him.

I am reminded of PS 123, where the song writer talks about the maid having her eyes set in the hands of her mistress. This speaks of constant attention to the direction she might be given. I believe this is the way the Lord wants us to come to Him, especially during our times of prayer and corporate gathering. The Lord wants to speak to us, wants to give us direction, wants us to experience His presence and learning to discern and understand how He interacts with us is essential. We must learn to pay attention to the gentle stirrings, the new thoughts that enter our mind, the ideas or memories that represent themselves, and especially any physical manifestations. When the Lord reveals His presence to us, His power will affect us, and that is good.

We must establish a culture in our lives, and in our churches that values the direction of the Holy Spirit. That should be a silly statement, but I think this is unfortunately not the norm for many churches. It is too often the case that we can have church whether the Lord reveals His presence or not. We have fine tuned our liturgies to honor God and speak about God, but we seem to have forgotten He is in our midst, alive and well and wanting to move and direct and breath life into us.

For us to make progress individually and corporately in our ability to recognize the Presence of the Lord, we must practice, and give ourselves the freedom to step out and try out what we are hearing, sensing or feeling. I can't tell you how often I get a sense of God wanting to do some thing, but I sweep it away because it seems silly to me. I heard a story about a church group that was learning to hear from God, listening to the stirring of the Holy Spirit. One man only heard that he was supposed to tell the lady who was conducting the training that she was wearing a yellow dress. That certainly doesn't sound like some amazing word of the Lord, but when he spoke it out, she was overwhelmed by the mercy of the Lord and fell weeping. She had asked the Lord to confirm her long term prayers for a family member by having someone speak a very specific word that morning saying she was wearing a yellow dress! Only the Lord knew that, and the man who listened to the stirrings on the Holy Spirit in him, spoke it out! It was magnificent!

So my prayer is that I would learn to listen and recognize the stirrings of the Lord's presence in me. I pray that we would all learn to pay attention and be present to Him, whom we serve and love. Let us learn to be lead by the Presence of the Lord who is in us!

Thousands Are Touched

This morning I was grazing in the Gospel of Matthew and came across these verses - Matthew 15:29-31 NIV:

[29] "Jesus left there and went along the Sea of Galilee. Then he went up on a mountainside and sat down. [30] Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them. [31] The people were amazed when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled made well, the lame walking and the blind seeing. And they praised the God of Israel."

I just love reading verses like these, and thinking about the glorious experience of seeing Jesus heal thousands. The next verses include Jesus feeding 4000 men, not including women and children, so there were possibly as many as 10,000 people gathered together. What an awesome experience.

I am also very aware of the fact that after Jesus was crucified, that only 120 of His followers met together in the upper room, and this represents a huge decrease in the numbers who were committed to the Lord. One wonders what caused people to stop following him? I am sure that not everyone could continue to take time off from their jobs or responsibilities. In the same way, many of us are too connected, to tied in to others, unable to sustain our walk with Him with great intensity. The important thing is that 10,000(?} People personally experienced the touch of the Lord, in their own body, or through family members.

I am reminded of a couple of verses from Isaiah 35:5-6 NIV:

[5] "Then will the eyes of the blind be opened and the ears of the deaf unstopped. [6] Then will the lame leap like a deer, and the mute tongue shout for joy. Water will gush forth in the wilderness and streams in the desert."

Amen! We pray for days like this once again the church, that every day, every Sunday we would see the Lord come in power, ministering to thousands and thousands.

Restoration of Worship

This morning I was reading through John 9 and was just struck by the interesting conversations reported between the religious "Pharisees" and the people who actually experienced healing by Jesus. The story is of a blind man, blind since birth who is healed by Jesus on the Sabbath. The religious establishment can't approve of the healing because Jesus don't follow the religious rules. I don't say the law, because what they were practicing at that time was a far cry fro the actual law that Moses penned at the command of the Lord. They had warped the Law into some 900+ rules and "clarifications" and somewhere lost the whole purpose of the law.

This is what Isaiah spoke of in Isaiah 29:13-14 NIV:

[13] "The Lord says: “These people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship of me is based on merely human rules they have been taught. [14] Therefore once more I will astound these people with wonder upon wonder; the wisdom of the wise will perish, the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish. ”

The Law was meant to draw the people to God, to help them understand His heart and mind towards them. It was to give them guidance as they deal with each other, and ultimately was supposed to point them towards the Messiah. Instead it had become a set of rules and regulations that became points of legal discussions and continual bickering, as demonstrated in these verses from John. They were unable to decide if the healing was from God because it happened on the Sabbath, the day dedicated to God. Talk about confused thinking, I would think that would be exactly the day God would move in their midst!

Unfortunately, we see much the same today, as brother and sisters in the body of Christ attack others over similar issues. Some churches preach healing, and signs and wonders and see them occurring in their midst, and other churches condemn them as being cults or worse. We see endless battles over interpretations of scripture and understandings of the original Greek or Hebrew. We seem to have lost our sense and are missing the purpose of the Gospel. Let us pray that verse 14 of the quite from Isaiah continues to be fulfilled in our lives, that God would astound us with wonder upon wonder and blow away the endless rules of men. We need God, and His power evident to all the world.

Let us cry out for the Lord to move in our midst, astounding us with His wonders, and cutting through all the "rules of men". Let us cry out for true worship to be restored to all peoples who call Jesus Lord. Let us cry out for our hearts to return to God and to become inflamed with passion for the Him.

A River of Love

This morning I have been just resting in the Lord's presence, enjoying my time alone wth Him. Here are few verses I was meditating on from Psalm 36:5-10 NIV:

[5] "Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies.
[6] Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. You, Lord, preserve both people and animals.
[7] How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
[8] They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights.
[9] For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.
[10] Continue your love to those who know you, your righteousness to the upright in heart."

I am so amazed by the love of the Lord and His constant, abundant, unfailing and unchanging love. It is out of this abundant stream of love that everything else flows from the Lord. He truly is the fountain of life.

I was just thinking how that which is primary with the Lord, is what He asks for first in return. The first commandment reflects this in Deuteronomy 6:4-5 NIV:
"Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength." We are invited to love Him in return for the love that He pours out on us continuously.

So let us drink deeply from the river of His delights and let us pour back to Him our love, with all our heart, soul and strength. He is worthy. Amen!

Uncovering the Temptations of the Enemy

This morning I was going to read a few verses later in Matthew, Chapter 4, but the story of Jesus' temptation caught my eye. Here are the scriptures - Matthew 4:1-11 NIV:

[1] Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. [2] After fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry. [3] The tempter came to him and said, “If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” [4] Jesus answered, “It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’ ”

[5] Then the devil took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple. [6] “If you are the Son of God,” he said, “throw yourself down. For it is written: “ ‘He will command his angels concerning you, and they will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’ ” [7] Jesus answered him, “It is also written: ‘Do not put the Lord your God to the test.’ ”

[8] Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their splendor. [9] “All this I will give you,” he said, “if you will bow down and worship me.” [10] Jesus said to him, “Away from me, Satan! For it is written: ‘Worship the Lord your God, and serve him only.’ ” [11] Then the devil left him, and angels came and attended him.

My first thought on reading these was that they probably only cover the high points of the temptations, because the enemy is very deceptive and works in many behind the scenes ways that were not described here. However it is good to look at these temptations and the enemies tactics so that we are aware and can recognize his ways.

First, he waits until Jesus has fasted for 40 days. The enemy generally doesn't tempt us or attack us when we are strong, but rather at our weakest. He doesn't fight fair, nor does he want a fair fight, because those he can't win. He will always attack us at our weakest point, at our most vulnerable spot. I heard one preacher say that he always goes for our Achilles heal in other words the single spot we are most vulnerable.

Second, he doesn't give up and can lay in wait for many days and even many years. I heard another man who ministered to fallen pastor's say that in most cases the pastors he worked with had fallen into sin after years of walking in an area in victory. His point was that the enemy will wait for years, even decades to try and snare us, so we must always be on guard, and never believe we are beyond the point of temptation in any area of our life.

Third, he hits us in not only the vulnerable spot, but in the spot that hurts the most. Jesus was hungry after fasting for 40 days, so where does the enemy strike first? In the same way, if we have areas of wounding in our lives, that is where the enemy will strike, right where we are wounded. If we have been betrayed in relationships, or wounded by rejection, the enemy will aim for those spots first as we often lack faith in those areas. It is easier for him to deceive us or cause us to loose our grip on the truth that we have been living in these areas.

Fourth, he is relentless and will change tactics if we are victorious in one area of temptation. He is like the door to door salesman who won't take no for an answer, he keeps on coming up with new and creative ways to attack us and tempt us. So its important to not let down your guard after scoring a victory, for he will be coming back, and often with a new approach.

Fifth, the enemy is the deceiver, so anything he says is half-truths, and may sound good, but the underlying affect is to have us fall short of God's glory and presence, and purpose for us. He also isn't beyond twisting scripture to his own end, so not only do we need to know the Word, we need to grasp the heart of the messages of God so we can judge correctly that which we hear. It's knowing what is true that will help us recognize that which is false.

Finally, he tempted Jesus in the areas of provision and need, power and authority, and in assumption, unbelief and idolatry. He will often test us in any or all three of these areas.

Lord, thank You for uncovering the enemies ways, so that we can recognize them and resist them. The final point is that Jesus has authority over the enemy in all areas of our life, so we can command the enemy to leave and he will have to leave!

Keep Pressing On!

This morning I am reading from Philippians 3:12-14 NIV:

[12] "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. [13] Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, [14] I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

I like the fact that Paul, despite his own personal accomplishments, continued to drive forward into the Lord and His purposes. It's thought that Paul wrote this letter in 62-63AD, which is 27-28 years after his conversion in 35AD, yet in his mind he still had not accomplished his purpose in Christ. There is no resting on his accomplishments, no limiting himself because of past failures or successes, instead he is forgetting what is behind him, in the past and only looking forward.

I like the verse from Lamentations that says "The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." (Lam 3:22-23-ESV). This is true in the case of a past of regrets, or of great accomplishments. The mercies extended to us by the Lord today are new, they are fresh, they carry the same strength, encouragement and power that they did yesterday or last year.

So whether we disappointed or excited about yesterday, or our past, our minds should be set on what is before us, and we should be looking to the Lord to provide that which we need to fulfill His purposes. We are encouraged by Paul, who leads by example, to embrace the day and see that which is in front of us, that which we can accomplish for the Lord. Regardless of our past, our age or our accomplishments, we will always have more to do out of love and passion for Him. So, let us keep pressing on toward the Lord, for He is the prize.

The Cost and Reward of Following Jesus

This morning I am reading from Luke 14:25-30 NIV:

[25] "Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: [26] “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters---yes, even their own life---such a person cannot be my disciple. [27] And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

[28] “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won’t you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it? [29] For if you lay the foundation and are not able to finish it, everyone who sees it will ridicule you, [30] saying, ‘This person began to build and wasn’t able to finish.’

I was thinking about how different Jesus is than pretty much any man that has ever lived. Here we find large crowds following Him, and rather than encourage them, or trying to use the crowd to His advantage, He issues some very strong challenges. He wasn't worried about popularity, about their feelings, or their agreement, He was worried about their souls.

These verses represent another set of verses that most of us would rather not read, for they challenge our thinking about our lives and our commitment to the Lord. We would like to believe that following Him, truly being one of His disciples, is easy, and does not require much effort or sacrifice. In the relational paradigm of the Kingdom, these words challenge us, so it is important to understand what Jesus was saying, and why.

First, putting these statements in a historical context, He knew what was likely going to be the fate of His followers, as He understood His life would ultimately end on the cross. He was looking for those followers who would put Him first in their life, because to do so could mean their death. The Lord couldn't build the Body of Christ upon anyone but those fully committed to following Him.

Secondly, He talks about taking up our cross and following Him. This statement is a direct indication of the cost of following Him, that it would lead to sacrifice, and in most of the Apostles cases - martyrdom. For Jesus to say anything else, would have been less than true, and He is the Truth. He knew, from conversations with the Father, that there would persecution and difficulty for His followers, so He told them that would be the case. He valued the truth over popularity.

Finally, these verses should help us evaluate and set our priorities in our life. I think of this as the back side of the chief commandments. He said we must love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, that is the first great commandment. To love God first, means all other loves in our life must take a secondary position. Nothing can come before God. This is very challenging to many of us, for in many of our lives our faith is an optional extra. While the Lord is for any step we take towards Him, we must know that His call is a invitation to abandonment unto Him. The call is for us all, our experience will be a journey of deepening relationship, but the destination is the same for us all, Him.

So, let us not become fearful of what we lay aside, but let us look to Him and all that we gain in Him. He is the great reward. He does love us, has a plan for us, and its for our ultimate fulfillment and eternal joy. Amen!

The Invitation Of Christ

The theme this week is hearing and responding to the call of Christ and this is actually a very interesting topic, and one that is very significant to those that have walked in the ways of the world. Lord we pray for grace and mercy for all who are lost, struggling, fumbling or tripping in their life.

This morning I was reading my Ignatian Exercise book and he had a great quote - and I figured out how to copy it!

"At times, we may resist opening our ears to Christ's call because we are afraid of what we'll hear (for example, we may not want to change something about our lifestyle). Or we may resist because we have an image of God as imposing the divine will on us to make us pay for some past sin. To the contrary, God's call is meant to give us a fuller life of deeper meaning and authentic joy (though not without the sacrifices that accompany a life of discipleship). Far from being imposed from above, God's will-or God's desire-for us is found in our own deepest, truest desires." The Ignatian Adventure, O'Brien

This is so true, and probably something that many struggle with, especially the first line. Lord, help us all to see both our need for you and Your awesome glorious relationship.

I am reminded of Jesus statement from John 10:10b "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." The Lord is not after a limited life, but rather the fullest possible life. The enemy would lie to us and tell us that the Lord is all about rules and regulations, things that we can't do anymore. The truth is that the Lord desires nothing of the sort, what He wants is relationship, and for us to come into our destiny as His children, His heirs.

We are often so focused about the here and now, the things right in front of us, and the Lord is inviting us to the deeper places, to the greater realities. We have the opportunity to change the world, to make an eternal difference in our lives, and the lives of those around us. We have the opportunity to extend healing, health, peace, joy, mercy and compassion to the world. We have the opportunity to step into the destiny we were created for in the first place. We are invited to walk in complete fulfillment. The invitation is to step into the dream life, the life that fulfills us at the deepest level.

To put it in a car analogy - we have a nice little Ford escort that has a decent sound system, and has been the car that many good memories were made in. Its old, a bit rusted, we don't quite fit comfortably, and several options don't work, but it is our car. Now we are being given the opportunity to receive a Rolls-Royce that was custom built just for us, all the options you want and need, seats built exactly to your measurements, and the exact right color. The car comes with the privileges associated with the owners of such a car. The only thing we need to do is trade in the Ford. Seems like it would be an easy decision, and yet many of us choose to stay with the old car.

Lord, I pray that You would help us to see the reality of life with You, seeing through the lies and deception that the enemy has constructed about life as a Christian. Help us to recognize that You are all about inviting us to a deep, meaningful abundant life, that was designed specifically for us.

New Directions Via The Holy Spirit

This morning I am reading from the Book of Acts, chapters 9 & 10 - (see Acts 10:1-48, I didn't include it here due to the length). It is so encouraging to see how the Lord guided Peter, how He directed actions and situations. He sent an Angel to Cornelius and told him who to look for, and where. He gave Peter a vision and then directed him specifically, all to break him out of a mode he was operating in, namely working only with the Jews. Reaching out to the gentiles had been alluded to, even commanded by Jesus, but the church had not yet either caught on, or felt specifically directed to do so.

I was wondering how it was that they didn't understand Jesus' command in Matthew 28:18-20 NIV:
[18] "Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

As I was thinking about that, I thought about a few things: First, the Gospel of Matthew was written well after these events that Peter experienced, so although they had heard the commands of Jesus at His ascension, they might not have fully understood them until later when, through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, Peter was commanded to preach to the gentiles. Second, they might have believed that the command was to preach to the Jews in all the nations, for they were a scattered people, and that is exactly what they were doing at the time, spreading out and talking to the Jews. In fact Paul, had focused primarily on the Jews until his visit to Corinth - (see Acts 18:6).

Regardless of the reason, the events of Acts 9 & 10 (I am including Paul's conversion in Acts 9) were a significant turning point for the Church. I a encouraged because these were not the ideas of men, but rather the direct result of the Supernatural interruption of the Lord. He provided visions, visitations, power encounters and perfect timing to change the course of history. I am encouraged, because if He did it before, He can do it again. I am encouraged because God cares about our lives and our direction to do the same for us. We can't forget that the direct result of these events was salvation for Cornelius's whole household, and this situation was partially in response to the prayers of Cornelius. I am encouraged because the Holy Spirit didn't even wait for Peter to stop speaking before He jumped all over Cornelius's household - (see Acts 10:44) indicating His desire to move and to empower.

It was precisely because the Holy Spirit had already been poured out that Peter felt it was right to baptize them. In other words, the Holy Spirit wasn't worried about the preacher, He was already moving before the altar call. The Holy Spirit is alive and active in the church, and we need to recognize and follow His leading!

So my prayer today is that the Church pray for the direct intervention of the Holy Spirit, through Supernatural guidance, visitations and visions for new moves of God. That we make way for the Holy Spirit to interrupt us, and we pay attention to Him when He does. He does so for good reason, and is often bringing new understanding and maybe even a new path to explore. We can be confident the Lord will guide His Church, but we also need to follow His lead. He might have a new direction for us!

Dealing With Anxiety

This morning I am reading from Paul's letter to the Philippians, which is one of my favorite letters from Paul.

Philippians 4:4-7 NIV:

[4] "Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! [5] Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. [6] Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. [7] And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."

These verses are an interesting prescription for dealing with anxiety. I think verse 4 and 6 and 7 all go together in this perspective. Paul's starts with and repeats the first step, rejoicing! Rejoicing is more of a choice about attitude, than an emotion. It involves our giving thanks and choosing to review a situation in a positive light, recognizing that there is something good in store for us regardless of the way it appears.

In verse 6, Paul continues the prescription by directing one's mind away from the anxiety causing issue, towards God. Changing our focus away from ourselves, and reviewing our situation from God's perspective is healthy and helps us to gain a different perspective. Secondly, doing this opens us up to God's peace, for when He views our situation, He views it from the place He sits which is filled with peace. When we bring our situations before God, it should be with the expectation that He will provide us with His perspective, and His plan, otherwise why would we bring it before Him? He is not asking for us to file our complaints, but rather to come to Him for answers and direction.

Anxiety is often the result of feeling out of control, and when we come to God, we come to the one who is in control. He helps us see what He thinks and what He is doing in our regard. When we bring these issues before Him, this establishes His dominion over the area that is causing anxiety. In God's dominion, peace reigns supreme, which is why peace then guards our hearts and minds, the two areas the enemy tries to attack. When we are before God, the enemy is unable to bring His attack to bear.

I was just thinking that coming before God into His Presence, where peace reigns, is much like seeking asylum or sanctuary from the attacks of anxiety. Anxiety can't penetrate, cant touch us there, and as a long as we stay in that place before God, we are safe and guarded. The enemy tries to get us to leave that place, tries to get us to pick our concerns and worries back up and carry them back out of God's presence, where he can renew the attack. That is why Paul encourages us to come to the Lord in every situation, which means we are constantly before Him. If we are constantly before the Lord, we will be guarded and protected.

Finally, often times anxiety can be the result of habitual lines of thinking, such as self-doubt, self-hatred, self-condemnation. When we come to God, He reveals His truth, which breaks through the lies and deception of the enemy. So, once again, following the prescription laid out by Paul, we can experience victory in these areas of our life.

Lord, break the chains of anxiety in our lives, with Your peace and Your presence!

Drink Deep, My Soul

This morning I am reflecting on Psalm 42:1-2, 7-8 NIV:

[1] "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God.
[2] My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?
[7] Deep calls to deep in the roar of your waterfalls; all your waves and breakers have swept over me.
[8] By day the Lord directs his love, at night his song is with me---a prayer to the God of my life.

I was thinking about the deep need we all have for God. There is a longing in each of our lives to know Him and to be loved by Him. It is the same internal need that causes men everywhere to worship a god, or animal, or something greater than themselves, for we have a deep longing that can only be met by something or someone greater than ourselves.

I think we have within us a need to belong, a need to know that our lives matter, a desire to connect to something greater than ourselves. Some people give themselves to causes, some to different pursuits, some to adventure, some to people groups, all of this is just a symptom of the greater longing, to connect to God (at least that is what I think). Verse 7 describes this perfectly to me; the deep (God) calling to my deep (need for God).

In our relatively shallow western lifestyle, we often times don't understand this deep flow within ourselves, so our answer is to try and find something to quench the thirst. We run after things believing they can still the hunger inside us, the thirst for the deep, but all things fall short. The problem is that this thirst, this longing, can only be filled by God. Other people, our jobs, money, food, drinks, movies, television shows, sex, drugs, adrenaline, cars, houses, none of these, not individually, nor if they were all piled together, can fulfill our deep longing.

So let us choose to drink deep from the only fountain of life that can truly satisfy. As Jesus said in John 4:13-14 NIV: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, [14] but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”

Jesus, Creator and Child

Continuing my meditation on Jesus' life, thinking about Him as a little child this morning. The verses are from Luke 2:39-40 NIV:

[39] "When Joseph and Mary had done everything required by the Law of the Lord, they returned to Galilee to their own town of Nazareth. [40] And the child grew and became strong; he was filled with wisdom, and the grace of God was on him."

I was just thinking about Jesus as a toddler. So much of what a child does during their first two years is discover new things, figure out how they work, etc. I remember my son was able to figure out any restraint system we used on drawers or cabinets and he was always interested in any button or knob on any electronics. He was constantly learning, excited to figure out something new. My question this morning is whether this was true of Jesus as well?

In the beginning of the Gospel of John, he makes it clear that the world was created through Jesus - John 1:1-4, 14 NIV:

[1] "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was with God in the beginning. [3] Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. [4] In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

[14] The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."

As I was sitting here thinking abut Jesus, I realized that everything was created through Him, so how would he look at the new things He discovered as a toddler? Would it be the joy of discovery, or maybe the joy of finding something very familiar that you haven't seen for a long time? Not that this matters at all to our faith, or salvation, it is just an interesting line of thought and reflection.

As I wrote yesterday, I find the thought that Jesus really was a child comforting. There is an ability to approach Jesus as we would another human being. In Isaiah 55:8-9, the Lord speaks about how different His ways are than ours, yet with Jesus we have one whose experiences and understandings are very similar to ours. So we can be confident when approaching Him in prayer, knowing that He will understand us. This really is a significant point, for understanding and empathy aware not always found in those who have authority in our lives.

So let us approach Jesus as one who understands, one who created this glorious world, yet fully knows the struggles of living in it. His perspective of life here is truly unique.

Jesus Understands Our Struggles

This morning I felt like reading from Hebrews 4:14-16 NIV:

"Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. [15] For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are---yet he did not sin. [16] Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

Lately, I have been meditating on the fact that Jesus came to earth, fully human, and developed from a baby to a man, in the same way that each of us develops. It really is an amazing thing, His emptying Himself and in humility becoming man. The author of the letter to the Hebrews is flowing in that same mindset, as he describes the fact that Jesus was tempted in every way.

I don't think there is any clearer example of the complete emptying of His divinity than that statement found in verse 15. The Greek word Peirazo that is translated 'tempted' has the primary meaning of being tested, as in trying to do something new and being tested in one's abilities and character. The secondary meaning has to do with temptation. I think both translations are so important for us to understand. Jesus, in becoming man, was tested in the same ways that we are tested by new challenges and struggles. He was tempted to go against the will of the Father (the basic definition of temptation in this context) and there is no way either could be the case if He didn't empty Himself of His divinity.

I am greatly encouraged to know that Jesus really understands our struggles and the work that is required to overcome difficulties, struggles and temptation. It is because of this knowledge that He has mercy, and provides us grace to help us in our time of need (verse 16). He understands our struggles. He knows how deceptive the enemy is, and how alluring sin can be. He has lived without, has been uprooted, has been rejected, has lived a life of being overlooked and misunderstood. He has dealt with the loss of loved ones, seen sickness and disease. He has worked hard, learned the aches and pains of our frail human bodies, and in all of this - "He did not sin" (verse 15).

We can approach the throne with confidence, not fear, when we come to Him for help. He can empathize with our weakness, our pains our struggles, because He has lived them. He didn't live a life of privilege and prosperity, but rather a normal human life. As I write this I a reminded of the story of "The Prince and the Pauper" by Mark Twain, where the prince and the poor boy exchange places, and the prince has no ideas of the struggles of the poor in his father's kingdom until he trades places with the poor boy. This makes him into a fair and just king one day, and the same is true of Jesus. It is because He was fully human that He empathizes with us, and has mercy upon us.

So let us be encouraged as we approach Jesus. He understands our situation and will have mercy on us and provide us the help we need (grace).

God is Engaged in Our Futures

This morning I am reading from Daniel 7:9-14 NIV:

“As I looked, “thrones were set in place, and the Ancient of Days took his seat. His clothing was as white as snow; the hair of his head was white like wool. His throne was flaming with fire, and its wheels were all ablaze. [10] A river of fire was flowing, coming out from before him. Thousands upon thousands attended him; ten thousand times ten thousand stood before him. The court was seated, and the books were opened.

[11] “Then I continued to watch because of the boastful words the horn was speaking. I kept looking until the beast was slain and its body destroyed and thrown into the blazing fire. [12] (The other beasts had been stripped of their authority, but were allowed to live for a period of time.)

[13] “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. [14] He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed.

I have been jumping around a little lately as seems right. This morning I felt I should read from the Book of Daniel. He is clearly one of the most prophetic and accurate voices concerning the coming times the Jews would experience. When he was prophesying, the Jews were in captivity in Babylon. The dream he had immediately before these verses had to do with the next four regional empires that would control the middle east region and the promised land. He had this dream in the 560's BC, and foresaw the Chaldean (500s), Alexandrian (334-300), Greek (300-30) and Roman (30BC) empires. More importantly, he foretells the coming the Son of Man, namely Jesus, and the establishment of His kingdom that will never be destroyed.

What caught my eyes concerning these passages were the description of Heaven, and the parallels we see in the other descriptions of Heaven, notably those found in Isaiah, Ezekiel and Revelations. I am encouraged by the description of Son of Man, establishing a kingdom which will have no end, and everlasting dominion. He will be worshipped by people of every nation and language. These same themes can be found echoed by Jesus in Matt. 28:18-20. These couple of verses really establish the foundations of the Gospel, and they were written 500+ years before they happened. Jesus came preaching the Kingdom of God, and established it here on earth, with authority and power unlike that which had previously been seen.

For me, all of this just continues to confirm the reality of the Word of God. He is active and involved. He sees the future and brings understanding and perspective. He prepares people, and gives them understanding and insight of circumstances and situations that they will encounter, so that they will not lose heart or hope. These verses from Daniel gave the Jews helpful direction concerning the coming Empires, so that they would understand and have long-term vision. They knew, as time progressed and kingdom's rose and fell, that there day would come. They also maintained their own national identity.

So let us be encouraged personally, for just as God provided prophecies and insight and understanding to the Jews, so can He do for us. He loves us and wants us to know that He is engaged in our lives and is aware of all things, and His purposes will be fulfilled.

The Gift of the Gospel

This morning I felt like reading Paul's letter to Titus. The following verses are just really healthy - Titus 3:3-8 NIV:

[3] "At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. [4] But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, [5] he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, [6] whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, [7] so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life. [8] This is a trustworthy saying. And I want you to stress these things, so that those who have trusted in God may be careful to devote themselves to doing what is good. These things are excellent and profitable for everyone."

It is so important that we remember where we came from, how we became saved and the methods God used to draw us to Him. Salvation was a free gift, not something we earned. It is through love and kindness that we were drawn, and it is love and kindness that we must express to those in our previous state. He saved us, and this was accomplished through the Holy Spirit, washing us and cleansing us (sounds like repentance to me). We are now heirs having the hope of eternal life, and we are always justified because of His grace.

How easy it is for us to slide into thinking otherwise. Paul, in this letter, warns about the "circumcision group" which was a group who didn't want to let go of the religious practices of the Jews. They felt they had to add to the Gospel, and add additional human effort or actions to satisfy the requirements of righteousness. The Gospel was just too good to believe for them, so they added to it. This is unfortunately the case all too often for many churches. What starts as the pure Gospel, soon becomes loaded down with religion. There are ways to dress, ways to act, expectations and activities that are required. I am not saying that we shouldn't be changed by our salvation, for we are a new creation in Christ (2 Cor 5:17) and that should be evident in our lives. We are to encourage each other onward in our lives in Christ, but we must not take on His role as Lord, nor take away from His gift of grace and His righteousness.

So let us remember how we once were, and express the same love and kindness to those who are lost and deceived. Let us not add to the Gospel, but rather hold it up as the greatest gift to all mankind and let us preach it without reservation or reduction.