Remembering the Deeds and Character of God

This morning, as I was reflecting back over this last year and looking forward into 2021, I was asking for a good verse to guide my thoughts and prayers, and was led to Psalm 77.  As I was reading through this psalm, I thought that this actually fits quite well with where I have been dwelling, at least in my mind.  

I think for many of us, 2020 was a rough year, and its in times like this that we can tend to turn our hearts away from the Lord, but in reality, we should be doing the exact opposite, turning towards Him, and remembering all the things that He has done in our lives

So, my encouragement this morning is to allow the thoughts of the Psalmist to lead us to remembering all of the good things the Lord has done, not just last year, but in the years past as well.

Psalm 77:1-15 NIV:

[1] "I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. 

[2] When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands, and I would not be comforted. 

[3] I remembered you, God, and I groaned; I meditated, and my spirit grew faint. 

[4] You kept my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak. 

[5] I thought about the former days, the years of long ago; 

[6] I remembered my songs in the night. My heart meditated and my spirit asked: 

[7] “Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again? 

[8] Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? 

[9] Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion? ” 

[10] Then I thought, “To this I will appeal: the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand. 

[11] I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. 

[12] I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.” 

[13] Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God? 

[14] You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples. 

[15] With your mighty arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph." 

Yes Lord, You do great and awesome things.  You have been faithful and merciful and loving!  You have blessed us with abundance beyond measure!  You are the God who loves us, and who has not forsaken us!  Our hope lies in You, for it is not just in what you do, but it is in who You are Lord!!  Help us to turn our hearts and minds fully toward You!

Amen and Amen!

Blessings in this New Year,  Sam

Seek, Forsake, Turn

This morning when I opened my Bible it opened to my last point of reading and my eyes landed on the following verses - Isaiah 55:6-7 NIV:

[6] "Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. 

[7] Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. 

Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon."

What a great and simple message for today!

Seek the Lord - the assumptive fact is that He IS near, and is willing to be found!  Oh, that we would set out hearts on seeking Him rather than other things.

Let us forsake our wicked ways and unrighteous thoughts!  This is the first step in repentance, changing the way we think.  I was reflecting on my need to make a couple of changes in my life, and the first thing I need to do is to change the way I think.  

The encouragement to forsake these ways and thoughts, speaks of a  complete leaving behind.  This is not a choosing to put those things on a shelf nearby where we can revisit them, rather, this is a packing them in a box and sending that box to the dump, never to be seen again.  The Lord understands our proclivities and weaknesses and that is why He always commanded Israel to "Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places." (Deuteronomy 12:3 NIV).  We would be wise to take the same approach in our lives to our wicked ways and unrighteous thoughts! 

The key thing here is not to focus on what we are forsaking, but instead to embrace God and His plan for us.  Simply leaving an old way of thinking or acting behind is not enough, we must fill that emptiness with something positive, something meaningful, something that brings us real life, and what in this world is better than relationship with God?  

Jesus spoke of this very thing when He was teaching His disciples in Matt 12:43-45, where He is discussing the casting out of impure spirits, and gave them this perspective - [43] “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. [44] Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. [45] Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

Note, the reason the spirit was able to return and live there was that the house was unoccupied.  The point being that simply emptying one's life of those things that are not of God is not enough, we must fill those areas back up, allowing the Lord to occupy those very areas we cleanse.  In the same way, the earlier verses from Deuteronomy were actually from a chapter focused on proper worship of God.  The removal of the former things was not sufficient, there was a need to embrace worship of the Lord.

This morning, I am encouraged in three things.  First, that God is near, and willing to be found, willing to be found by any that turn to Him!  This is the first and foremost thing!  Secondly, that I need to take a look at my life and where things are not in alignment with God, make the decision to forsake them completely.  Finally, I am encouraged to replace those things I have forsaken with worship of the Lord, turning towards Him and embracing relationship with Him.

Amen!

The Lord's Long Game

This morning the first verses that came to my mind were from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, written approximately 700 years before Christ came.   

Here are the verses - Isaiah 9:2-7 NIV:

[2] "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; 

on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. 

[3] You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; 

they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. 

[4] For as in the day of Midian's defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, 

the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. 

[5] Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. 

[6] For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. 

And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

[7] Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. 

He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, 

establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. 

The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this."

I was thinking how amazing the Lord is, and how His purposes span generations, centuries, even millenniums.  We are so focused on our lives right in front of us, that we have a difficult time grasping the Lord's long game, his purposes and plans that span hundreds and even thousands of years.  Yesterday I was talking with a  good friend about the blessings and prophecies that Jacob spoke over his sons, which took place right before he died, and at the start of the Jews time in Egypt.  Its difficult to identify exactly when this was, but some people believe it was close to the 1680ish B.C.  Whatever the exact date, this is what He prophesied over Judah, from whom Jesus' lineage would come nearly 1700 years later - Genesis 49:8-11 NIV:

[8] “Judah, your brothers will praise you; 

your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father's sons will bow down to you. 

[9] You are a lion's cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. 

Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness---who dares to rouse him? 

[10] The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, 

until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his. 

[11] He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; 

he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes."

Again, while the words are not as clear as those from Isaiah, but there is a clear allusion to the reign of Christ!  I was thinking about the frame of mind both of these men must have been in, for they were clearly channeling the Holy Spirit. One wonders if upon speaking or writing these, they had any idea of the significance.

Scriptures like these give me great confidence in the plans of the Lord, for they are far beyond my comprehension and understanding and yet they are true, and He accomplishes what He says He will do.  I am encouraged by His heavenly perspective, and know that when He is speaking to me, there is a depth to His words that I can never possibly comprehend this side of eternity.  I am also encouraged that if I don't understand what He is about, that He isn't worried, for He is watching over all of His words to bring them to completion, even if I have no idea how.  The good thing is that He really doesn't need our understanding, but He uses our participation to accomplish His plans.

This all reminds me of a couple of verses again from the Prophet Isaiah, speaking of God's words - Isaiah 55:8-11 NIV:

[8] “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 

[9] “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

[10] As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, 

so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 

[11] so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, 

but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

Amen and Amen!

"What Should We Do Then?"

This morning, I am reading from Luke's Gospel, but rather than focusing on Jesus birth, which we celebrate tomorrow, I am reading about the preparative ministry of John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Jesus.  I find it very interesting and that the time between Jesus' birth and the beginning of His ministry is about 30 years.  I have spent much time thinking about the quiet years of Jesus' life, when He lived in Nazareth, but those are not my focus today either, instead I want to look at John's basic message.  Here are the verses that I am reflecting upon today - Luke 3:1-8 NIV:

[1] "In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar---when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene--- [2] during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. [3] He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 

[4] As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. [5] Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. [6] And all people will see God's salvation.' ” 

[7] John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? [8] Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham."

One of the reasons we know that Jesus started His ministry in about the 30th year of his life, is this passage from Luke that sets John's ministry beginning in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar.  His rule as emperor began in 14CE, following the death of Augustus, and if we believe Jesus' birth was in 0CE, then we have John starting to preach in the 29th year of Jesus life.  We could spend quite  bit of time looking at the situation in the greater world, within the Roman Empire during these times, but God's plan first and foremost was to interact with the Jews, and to step into their world, literally.

While Jesus' birth is absolutely critical to our salvation, it is His ministry that provides us a true understanding of the Gospel, and His Gospel was preceded by John's preaching in the wilderness. John was clearly a prophet fulfilling the verses from Isaiah, as one crying in the wilderness, "prepare the way for the Lord!"  He was to prepare the hearts of the people, and his message was repentance, turning away from sin.  Specifically, he said, "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance."   In other words, actually repent, and let your lives show this repentance, for repentance is much more than feeling sorry for one's sins, but instead it means to think in a new way, and to act in accordance with that new way of thinking.  

The Greek word that we translate repentance is metanoia, which is the conjunction of two Greek words 'meta' and 'noeo',  and they would be translated "after" and "reflection or thinking about something".  This really has very little to do with our feeling guilty,  but is rather a message that is supposed to inspire change in one's behavior, after reflection.  We actually see this played out in the verses that follow this short account of John's initial message - as follows in Luke 3:10-14 NIV:

[10] “What should we do then?” the crowd asked. 

[11] John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” 

[12] Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” 

[13] “Don't collect any more than you are required to,” he told them. 

[14] Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely---be content with your pay.”

The Jews responded as they should, or at least asked the right question, "what should we do then?"   This really should be the primary question we ask ourselves daily, in our relationship with the Lord!  Our relationship with Him should inspire us to repentance, changing the way we live after thinking about what we have heard and learned.   The Lord is about change, in the best way possible, for each of us!  His desire is that we learnt to live as His sons and daughters, and learning or education is effectively about transforming our lives by learning to think differently and then acting differently.  

I love how many of the main-line denominations prepare for the major church holidays of Christmas and Easter with a season of reflection and preparation, and what should be a season of repentance, changing the way we behave after thinking and reflection.  We are celebrating Christ's birth tomorrow, and as such, our lives and whole world WAS changed!  His coming to earth, becoming like us in all ways (see Phil 2:6-8), was to make a way for us to be in relationship with Him.  We have the opportunity to reflect on His words, and on His actions, and ask ourselves, "What should we do then?"

This morning I am encouraged to ask myself this same question, "What should I do, in light of Jesus coming to earth, in light of my relationship to Him, in light of His words to me and actions towards me?"  What needs to change in the way I think, and in the way I act?   This Christmas, as we celebrate the Light of Christ coming to the world, let us allow His light and truth to shine into our lives and cause us to think and act accordingly!

Amen!

Embracing Differences In The Body of Christ

Last night I had a number of dreams, but I had two in particular that stood out, and they were both about a small country church that a friend and I visited one weekend when we were traveling somewhere together.  Anyway, the people there were lovely and excited about having visitors, as  that clearly didn't happen often.  They were hoping we might become long term members.  What was interesting was their worship, or I should say their music selection.  They had several people get up and sing to the Lord, but the styles and selections were not cohesive at all.  One guy, wearing his special leather vest and long guitar sang some rock-ballad style song, with his wife accompanying him, to the Lord.  The next up was a traditional hymn, sung operatic style, and then the third woman got up and was rapping, and dancing quite horribly.  It was at that point I woke up.  

Upon waking, I had to smile at the bizzareness of the dream, and the strange ways my mind apparently entertains itself!  Anyway I went back to sleep, and then something that almost never happens to me occured, I dreamt about the church again, and this time it was clear it was some time later, and that people knew me, and it appeared that I had even spoken there.  Anyway the music selection this time was equally off the charts unique.  There was a group that was doing a 70s style love song, complete with choreography and interpretive dance motions, another group was dressed in the matching outfits and were clearly going to be a doing something with British invasion sound. Another individual got up and sang something that would be heard on TBN, very dramatic and such.  Another couple got up and sang a beautiful worship song that they had written and was clearly a church-group favorite, or everyone was mouthing the words, and commenting on how much they loved that song.  

Again, I woke up and thought that was so strange to have two dreams in one night with a very similar theme, going back to the same place.  It was at this point that I felt like the Lord pointed me back to one of my Pastor's sermon this past weekend about our need to look past our differences.  

The point that I get out of these dreams is simply this that in the same way we allow the enemy to separate us over different teaching, or things we think are important, worship styles can be equally difficult to see past.  I felt like the Lord gave me the same dream twice to make sure I was paying attention, and understood.  In His eyes, it was all worship!  Everything that is directed to Him, regardless of style, quality of voice, or skill, He enjoys and welcomes.  We are so quick to judge other's expressions as being less than what we want, or think is correct, or moves us, and somehow we allow this to become a point of separation in the Body of Christ.  I have a strong feeling that we are going to need to look past our differences in every area in the near future.  We are all sons and daughters of God, and He loves us, not in spite of our differences, but because we are all unique.  There is something in our uniqueness that He loves, for it represents His creation, and each is a small representation of Him.  

It is time for us to welcome, with love, acceptance and warmth, those that are different than us, no matter how they pronounce Shibboleth (see Judges 12:4-6)

Blessings, Sam

Reading Paul's Letters Backwards

This morning I have been reading Paul's letter to the Philippians backwards, as I read first verse of Chapter 4, which led me to turn to some verses in chapter three.  Here are the verses in the order I read them, for I was deconstructing Paul's logic.

Philippians 4:1 NIV

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!

The question in my mind was "standing in what way?"

Philippians 3:17-21 NIV

Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. [18] For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. [19] Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. [20] But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, [21] who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

I thought - "what is his example?"  Clearly, there are those who do not embrace the cross of Christ, and what that means, but understanding what that means to Paul, required that I backtrack to see what He was talking about.  Being an enemy of the cross of Christ is a theme that I need to do some more research on, and will come back to later.  However looking back to His example, He describes it as follows:

Philippians 3:12-14 NIV

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 love Paul's transition statements, for they do require a that one understands fully, what He was just talking about, for he is building a logical flow.  In this case, read verse 12, I again wanted to revisit what he meant by "not that I have already attained all this".  

Philippians 3:7-11 NIV

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. [8] What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ [9] and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ---the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. [10] I want to know Christ---yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, [11] and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

While these verses are very familiar to me, it was actually helpful for me to read them in this way, asking questions and going backwards to find the answers.  Sometimes, I find I flow so easily through Paul's writings, that I don't actually stop and let the meaning f what He just wrote settle into my mind and heart!  He has so much weight to his writings, and while they do flow well logically, it is important for me to stop and really mine them.  

Today the foundational thought of all of these verses is that everything He was pursuing previously in His life, were as nothing when compared to Christ.  In fact, the more he experienced this life in Christ, the more he realized he was only scratching the surface, but the value of what he had received in Christ, and the value of knowing Christ more fully was worth everything, and every waking breath for the rest of His life!  This was no casual pursuit, but a life-long, all-in pursuit!   Also, this was not an ala-carte pursuit of Christ, just picking and choosing what he wanted, but rather an embracing of everything regardless of the cost, personally.  

Oh Lord, that I might have a greater understanding of the supreme worth of knowing You, that everything else in comparison is so much rubbish.

Amen!

The Wedding Banquet of the Son - Reflecting on Difficult Passages

This morning I am reflecting on a difficult set of verses from Matthew 22:1-14 NIV:

[1] "Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: [2] “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. [3] He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. 

[4] “Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.' 

[5] “But they paid no attention and went off---one to his field, another to his business. [6] The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. [7] The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 

[8] “Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. [9] So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' [10] So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. 

[11] “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. [12] He asked, 'How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend ?' The man was speechless. 

[13] “Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' 

[14] “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

This parable of Jesus has always been a bit of a mystery to me, and certainly has a few verses I prefer not to read.  It is so important that we work through everything Jesus said, not just the things we like.  I like the idea of a wedding feast, of inviting everyone, not so much a couple of other things.

First, there are statements that seem contradictory - verses 9 & 10 and verse 14.   In the first statement the King has thrown open the invitation to all they can find, and good and bad alike are invited and come, and fill the banquet hall.  So it seems to me that many are invited, and many come. Of all those that come, only one is rejected, the one who doesn't have on the wedding garb, which seems in contradiction to Jesus' final statement of only choosing a few.  I guess, we have to include in His final statement all those who were originally invited, who rejected or ignored His invitation, so that is a much larger group of those who were invited, but who ultimately were not chosen to remain.  I am sure that Jesus, in speaking to the people who were following Him, was speaking to the Jews, and there were probably Pharisees and teachers in the crowd, and thus He is wrapping his parable up and essentially bringing their minds back to the original invitees, who were clearly the Jews.  

This final statement may very well be pointing to the time following Jesus death and resurrection where there were only a few  remaining followers of Jesus, and may well be prophetically looking at the overall rejection of the Gospel by the great percentage of the Jews.  I have no idea how many Jews converted as a percentage of all possible, but it seems likely that of the overall population - few would have been the correct description.  That is somewhat helpful.

The second bit worthy of reflection is that here Jesus seems to be clearly indicating that there would be an opening of the Gospel to the Gentiles, for the servants invited everyone they could find, which would likely have included those not of Jewish decent, especially if we read this logically and look to the fact that Jesus said the King had sent an army to burn the city of the first invitees, thus there were not many of those people left.  Regardless, we find Jesus' description of those that are gathered unexpected for the list includes the good AND the bad.   The Greek word that is translated as bad in English is the word "poneros" and it is defined as follows: 

1. full of labours, annoyances, hardships

    a. pressed and harassed by labours

    b. bringing toils, annoyances, perils; of a time full of peril to Christian faith and steadfastness; causing pain and trouble

2. bad, of a bad nature or condition

    a. in a physical sense: diseased or blind

    b. in an ethical sense: evil wicked, bad

If we take the whole of that definition, we find described many that we would hope to be invited, those whose lives are full of hardship, troubles and pain.  It seems here that Jesus is veery much prophetically speaking of the Gospel of Grace, and the mercy and compassion that flow from that Gospel.  Secondly, we find those who are broken, in some way physically; the blind, lame, diseased, etc. but also mentally, emotionally and spiritually.   I think this would be extended to those who see themselves as broken, the worn down, the weak, those overcome by their struggles.  Again, here I see a great message of hope in the Gospel of Grace.  These things don't disqualify anyone from being invited.  Finally, in the definition we find the invited could include the ethically bad, those that would cause us to question the King's motives.  Why would He want these bad people invited to the wedding banquet of His Son? That I can't answer, but again, judgement of who is bad is not my place.  The point is that these people receive an invitation too, and come to the banquet.

Next up is the man without a wedding garb, and the King's response to him.  To me, the King's response seems a bit harsh on the surface, but digging into this a bit more, I am not so sure.  Everyone else, good and bad, those gathered from the streets, the alleys, the countryside, wherever, were wearing wedding garb.  Clearly this wasn't something they had time to grab, but was something that was provided by the King.  I read a few commentaries and apparently that was not uncommon for wedding garb to be provided for guests of such large and elaborate weddings.  Anyway, the point is everyone else puts on the wedding garb, except this man.  He clearly is an exception, and must have made a specific choice to not wear the garb.  The commentators believe this represents those who are presented the Gospel, but in their final act of rebellion, reject it. One wonders if the man thought he would never meet the King anyway, and could just take what he wanted, eat what He wanted and enjoy the feast without honoring the Son, whose wedding it was, or the King who invited him, paid for everything and even provided the wedding garb?  Whatever his state of mind, the King responds rightly, for this is His son's wedding, after all.

Finally, I was thinking about where I would put myself in this story.  My first response was as one of the wedding guests, for I clearly have accepted His invitation.  However, my second thought was that actually, while I could be one of the wedding guests, I think I am actually invited to be one of the servants of the King, who is sent to invite all who would come to the wedding banquet of the the Son!  What a great invitation, not to just be a guest and enjoy the feast, but to invite all I can to join the feast!  

This morning I am encouraged to make sure that I read and reflect even on the difficult passages, for the words of Jesus, the Word of God is worthy of my time, my energy and my understanding.  Secondly, I am encouraged that even these difficult passages can bring me hope, encouragement and an understanding of my purpose.  Lastly, I am encouraged to pray for all those who have not yet received their invitation, and to be an inviter myself.  Lord, help me be one whose life leads others to You!

Amen!

Let Peace Rule in Your Hearts

This morning I felt led to reflect on a few verses from Paul's letter to the Colossians 3:15-17 NIV:

[15] "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. [16] Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. [17] And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

My first thought on reading these verses was how bad we need God's peace right now!  While this is typically a pretty busy time of the year, getting ready for Christmas, Christmas parties, seeing loved ones, this year is more about trying to minimize contact with others, worrying if you have a cold or a cough, concern that the virus might visit your house or place of employment!  I see anxiety all around!  We are seeing ever constricting rules of lock-down, and it feels like we are  in for a long winter.

This is why Paul's message is so important this morning, for he encourages us to LET the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, in other words its our choice as to what we allow to rule in our hearts.  We can allow anxiety and fear to rule in our hearts, or we can allow the peace of Christ.  Many of us are taking a responsible approach to keeping others safe, and that is laudable.  We, however, need to make sure that this is not a rationalization for fear.  We can be responsible and peaceful at the same time!  

Lately, I have been seeing a significant increase personally, and in the people I love, of anxiety, feelings of inadequacy, aloneness, introspection, and fear.  I see a increase in illogical thoughts, of reasoning disconnected from fact, of people's mindsets being set by things other than the Word of God.  This brings me back to Paul's encouragement, "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts!".

Let us embrace his next encouragement, to let the message and words of Christ, dwell richly among us, reflecting on it, meditating on it, speaking it to ourselves and to one another!  The other night I realized I had been under a similar attack and I just started reminding myself of who I am, of what God has said about me, of His word over me, and it allowed me to break through into a place of peace.  I  started thanking the Lord for all the goodness He has poured into my life, thanking Him for His provision and blessing.  I started admonishing myself, reminding myself of all the incredible interactions of intimacy I have had with the Lord, and saw my previous thinking dissolve into nothingness for it was based on lies, not the Truth of the Word.

Since that evening, I have been listening to much more worship music, I have been actively praying more throughout the day, I have been choosing to let His peace reign in my heart and it has made a huge difference in the state of my mind and heart.  I am not ignoring all the swirl, but I am not getting caught up in the swirl.  I am reminded of Jesus' teaching about building our house (our Life) on rock (His Word) found in Matthew 7:24-25 NIV: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. [25] The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock."

As I read those last verses, the rain still came, the streams still rose and the winds still blew, but the house did not fall...it did not collapse into the flood and get swept away.  There is no denying that we are in a season of storming, swirling, and change, but we can remain steadfast, by allowing Christ's words and peace to reign in our hearts and minds!

My prayer for myself and for all is that we might embrace this encouragement today!  That we would press through the whirlwind surrounding us, and reconnect with the Rock, the Lord,  for He is unshaken!  Let us really embrace the reason for this season, and let His peace reign in our hearts!

Amen!

Gratitude and Thanks

Today, I think I want to spend some time reflecting on gratitude.  There is a saying about "first world problems" for people who live in well developed places that are all angry or frustrated when one of our luxury items or lifestyle options isn't perfect.  I think its time I spend some thought on things I take for granted, things I don't often think of, but are such a  blessing!

So here is my list of things we have that I don't often think about, but am grateful for in my life - things that many people would be ecstatic to experience, or have:

1) clothes that fit

2) clothes that aren't worn out

3) clothes that are appropriate for the season

4) shoes that fit

5) socks and underwear

6) not having to wash my clothes every night

7) a comfortable bed to sleep in

8) no bugs in my bed

9) pillows

10) blankets

11) able to sleep in a room with my door open

12) able to sleep through the night without hearing any gunfire, or screaming, or even honking horns

13) a bed in a bedroom

14) temperature controlled home, heat in winter, A/C in summer

15) running water, in my house

16) clean water, in my house

17) water that is safe to drink

18) toilets that flush and don't smell

19) toilet paper

20) the ability to bathe when I want to, daily if desired

21) soap, shampoo and deodorant

22) tooth paste and tooth brushes

23) my own private bathroom

24) towels and wash cloths

25) not having to bathe in someone else's dirty water

26) automatic hot water

27) refrigerators for safe food storage

28) electric stove and oven

29) freezer for safe food storage

30) grocery stores with an abundance of food stocked in them daily

31) money to buy food

32) not being hungry

33) not having to hunt for my food

34) multiple grocery stores within an easy distance

35) a car that works

36) a car that is mine, that I can drive whenever I want to drive

37) the freedom to drive wherever I want to

38) inexpensive fuel

39) comfortable furniture

40) enough furniture to equip multiple rooms

41) doors that lock

42) windows that lock, and open

43) electricity

44) quiet neighborhood

45) a yard that is mine

46) trees, birds and wildlife visible

47) air that is clean to breathe

48) no visible pollution or trash

49) books

50) education

51) neighbors who are caring and friendly

52) family living nearby

53) not having to do manual labor to support my family

54) a relatively stable economy

55) personal space, having multiple rooms I can go to if I want to be alone

56) quiet

57) peace

58) loving family members

59) freedom

60) eyeglasses with the correct lenses

61) enough food for the day, for all my family

62) clean dishes

63) pre-processed food

64) a well balanced diet, if I want it

65) a diverse diet, plenty of food options

66) readily available medicine

67) readily available modern medicine and medical care

68) inexpensive medicine

69) medicine to relieve some of the common aches and pains

70) law and order

71) freedom of religious expression

72) freedom of speech

73) freedom of movement

74) freedom to choose 

75) abundance of food

I know I could keep going for quite a while, but this sure helped me be thankful for all the blessings that are in my life, many of which I take for granted every day!  

As Paul encourages us in 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 NIV:

[16] "Rejoice always, [17] pray continually, [18] give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

May the Lord bless you today, and may your life be filled with abundant blessings!  May your heart be filled with gratitude!  

Gratitude, Mercy and Compassion, Rather Than Fear and Hoarding

This morning I felt led to turn to James 5, and I was thinking, I generally know whats in that chapter, not sure why that is the reading assignment today.  However, after reading it, it certainly grabbed my attention.  Here are the specific verses I am focused on today - James 5:1-11 NIV:

[1] Now listen, you rich people, weep and wail because of the misery that is coming on you. [2] Your wealth has rotted, and moths have eaten your clothes. [3] Your gold and silver are corroded. Their corrosion will testify against you and eat your flesh like fire. You have hoarded wealth in the last days. [4] Look! The wages you failed to pay the workers who mowed your fields are crying out against you. The cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord Almighty. [5] You have lived on earth in luxury and self-indulgence. You have fattened yourselves in the day of slaughter. [6] You have condemned and murdered the innocent one, who was not opposing you. 

[7] Be patient, then, brothers and sisters, until the Lord's coming. See how the farmer waits for the land to yield its valuable crop, patiently waiting for the autumn and spring rains. [8] You too, be patient and stand firm, because the Lord's coming is near. [9] Don't grumble against one another, brothers and sisters, or you will be judged. The Judge is standing at the door! 

[10] Brothers and sisters, as an example of patience in the face of suffering, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. [11] As you know, we count as blessed those who have persevered. You have heard of Job's perseverance and have seen what the Lord finally brought about. The Lord is full of compassion and mercy."

I can't help but read the first 6 verses in light of our present experience.  My first thought was thank goodness I am not rich, and yet as I think about it, I am!  I haven't lost my job during this time, I haven't struggled to feed my family, to keep electricity on, water running, any of the basics!  Yet, there are millions of people who are affected in these very ways.  I haven't hoarded anything, but I have no lack.  I don't think James was referring to toilet paper when he wrote this, but I would say that the hoarding of things, is every bit as bad as the other things James is decrying here!  He is talking about those people whose only focus is on themselves, people who really don't care what befalls others, as long as their lives are unaffected.   That hits a bit too close to home, for I know my families own comfort and life-style certainly take precedence over most every other thing,  and every other person in our life at present!  I do pray for those who are lacking, but that is generally as far as I will go.

As I was reflecting on this bit, I was defending myself, saying to the Lord that I don't really know anyone that's in need now.  However, as I was thinking that I felt the Lord say, 'yeah but there are people we probably know about through church that are in need, and we just need to be willing to ask!'   In general (not to defend myself) we have tried to be a generous family, and we do give and share our blessings with others as often as we can, but this time is different.  We are ALL in a crazy time, not just one or two of us!  We are ALL affected emotionally, spiritually, financially, and socially.  We have so much more we can give that isn't related to our money!  We are wealthy beyond imagining, compared to much of the rest of the world.

I feel that the main issue the Lord is after here is my heart and my focus.  When times get tough I tend to go into survival mode, which means I am focused on what I need to do to make sure we are safe, sound, and secure, with as much as possible locked down.  I reduce my focus to my own family and closest friends, and essentially shut myself off from the rest of society, mentally at least.  While God put Noah and his family into the ark, I don't think this should be the way I act now.  I am part of a much larger family, the Body of Christ.  Even beyond that, we are called to be a light to the nations, and that is impossible if we go into lock-down mode.

I think this reflection is very appropriate, as tomorrow we celebrate a holiday that began with a large group of people gathering together to share their bounty, in gratitude and friendship.  In this season of lock-down, and restrictions, there are people who need help, and if I don't have my eyes open looking for where I can help, I will miss them.  I can choose to open up my storehouses, even though they may not be rich, they are more full than others, and I can share in friendship and gratitude my blessings with those who need help!  I can choose to live out of a motivation of gratitude, compassion and mercy, rather than fear and hoarding.

My prayer is that I might live my life embracing this great family I am a part of, willingly sharing our blessings, being open to helping those in need and choosing to embrace gratitude and openness rather than locking everything down in fear.  I pray that as the Body of Christ, we would embrace a love and concern for each other that allows us to meet one another's needs!  I pray that the Light of Christ might shine brightly through me and through the greater Body of Christ to this dark world, in this dark time!  

Amen!

Reading and Understanding With Discernment

This morning I felt like I should read from the Book of the Prophet Micah, which is definitely not on my normal weekly or monthly reading list.  I am always interested to see what the Lord is about when He leads me to what I would consider obscure, or maybe call them lesser-known, verses.  This morning I am apparently continuing the theme I started yesterday, a reflection on the multiple levels of truth conveyed by God when He speaks.  He we see the Prophet Micah, proclaiming what is seen as a Messianic Prophecy - Micah 5:2-9 NIV:

[2] “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, 

out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times.” 

[3] Therefore Israel will be abandoned until the time when she who is in labor bears a son, 

and the rest of his brothers return to join the Israelites. 

[4] He will stand and shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord, in the majesty of the name of the Lord his God. 

And they will live securely, for then his greatness will reach to the ends of the earth. 

[5] And he will be our peace when the Assyrians invade our land and march through our fortresses. 

We will raise against them seven shepherds, even eight commanders, 

[6] who will rule the land of Assyria with the sword, the land of Nimrod with drawn sword. 

He will deliver us from the Assyrians when they invade our land and march across our borders. 

[7] The remnant of Jacob will be in the midst of many peoples like dew from the Lord, 

like showers on the grass, which do not wait for anyone or depend on man. 

[8] The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, 

like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, 

which mauls and mangles as it goes, and no one can rescue. 

[9] Your hand will be lifted up in triumph over your enemies, and all your foes will be destroyed."

The first thing I will say is that when I read these verses, I could easily understand how the Jews were waiting for a Messiah who would free them, and would be a military leader!  I mean the language is quite specific, and yet when we look at them against the record of Jesus' life, we see that He fulfilled the prophecies, but not in the militaristic way.  

As I know very little about Micah, I figured I should do a bit of research.  Micah was written between 735 and 700BC, which predates the Babylonian exile of the Kingdom of Judah, and is during the time of the exile of Kingdom of Israel to Ninevah, which interestingly would be the land of Nimrod, and peopled by the Assyrians.  He was writing primarily to the Kingdom of Judah, but it seems God's heart was still for the tribes of the Kingdom of Israel, the Northern Kingdom.  What is even more interesting is that it was the Babylonians that destroyed Ninevah, and defeated the Assyrians.  It was 100 years before the Southern Kingdom (Judah) would be taken captive by the Babylonians.  

When I read these verses, I tend to combine all references to Israel, Jacob, Judah into one people, and while that is true, from a lineage perspective, at this time Judah, who Micah is writing to, and Israel were separate Kingdoms and had been for close to 200 years.  That really changes how I read these verses, and should help us understand that God speaks into very specific circumstances, and sometimes the things He speaks are just for a particular group, or even individual.  If we look at verse 5, where Micah is talking about seven shepherds, even eight commanders, we can understand that based on the known history of the southern Kingdom they actually had eight additional kings from the time of the Assyrians capturing the northern kingdom and their own defeat by the Babylonians. At the time of his writing Hezekiah was king, and he clearly followed after the Lord, for we find the following passages - 2 Kings 18:5-7 NIV:

[5] "Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. [6] He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. [7] And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him."

As I look back at the verses above, I now understand that Micah was essentially intermixing prophecies about the Messiah (2-4, 9), a King for Judah (Hezekiah) (4, 6), the southern Kingdom (5), the Northern Kingdom of Israel (3,6), and all of the tribes of Jacob (Jews) (7-8).   Wow!  

Reflecting on all of this, I can see the multiple layers, some spanning 700-800 years in the making, others 100-200 years in the future, and other bits almost immediate, and some that are still in play!  This makes me think back on the different things the Lord has said to me, and ask Him for clarity and understanding around timing.  I normally just take God's word to be about now, but it is clear that He speaks in multiple layers and it takes a discerning heart to be able to hear and understand what He is saying.  We must be able to parse out those words the Lord intends as seed for next year or the year following, those words He intends to give us nourishment and encouragement in the moment, and those things that are for ourselves or others.  Clearly the only one who can guide us correctly is the Holy Spirit.  I don't know about you, but I know I need to be praying for discernment much more than I have been!

I am also reminded of how important context is to understanding the word of the Lord.  We could read these verses from Micah, and extracting them out of their historical context, think they all apply to us, or all apply to Jesus, and get all messed up in our minds and and understanding.  The Jews in reading verses like these hundreds of years later, could have done exactly that, and thought that verses that applied to Hezekiah were actually speaking about the coming Messiah, and thus they would expect a warrior Messiah!  

Lord, I pray that you will provide me greater understanding and insight, the ability to discern Your word more clearly!  I know You speak from Your eternal perspective, and You know I need help understanding what You are saying!  Help me to hear and understand more clearly!

Amen!

If you want to view the context of my historical view of the timing of these verses, here is a link to the image:  https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/586eb3372994ca8b180cb830/1483656581843-L4W79JQ4G2URIRBFJ09K/Old-Testament-Timeline1.jpg?content-type=image%2Fjpeg

The Eternal Significance of Jesus' Words

This morning I am reading from John 5, picking up where I was last reading.  Another one of those verses, that as you read them and let the words really settle in, you realize maybe you need to have a deeper look.  Here are the specific verses from today - John 5:24-27 NIV:

[24] “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life. [25] Very truly I tell you, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. [26] For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself. [27] And he has given him authority to judge because he is the Son of Man."

Verse 25 is the one that grabbed my attention this morning, as in reading it carefully, Jesus is saying the dead will hear His voice.  Now I would normally think that He is speaking metaphorically, but 6 chapters later we have Him command Lazarus, which is clearly a literal fulfillment of this statement.  So the question in my mind, is whether this is applicable to more than Lazarus, or others that we are told He raises from the dead?  Is it speaking prophetically of the day of Resurrection, when we are told that many who were dead were raised and seen walking about the city? (Matt 27:52-53).  Is He speaking of those dead in sin?  Is He speaking about all those that die?  Can we apply this to those who have passed, who we are unsure of the state of their salvation? 

Jesus is clearly talking about eternal life as stated in verse 24, and he is also speaking about judgment, so this could very well be seen as pertaining to the final judgment.  Adam Clarke in his commentary takes a wide approach -

"Three kinds of death are mentioned in the Scriptures: natural, spiritual, and eternal.

The first consists in the separation of the body and soul. The second in the separation of God and the soul. The third in the separation of body and soul from God in the other world. Answerable to these three kinds of death, there is a threefold life: Natural life, which consists in the union of the soul and body. Spiritual life, which consists in the union of God and the soul, by faith and love. Eternal life, which consist in the communion of the body and soul with God, by holiness, in the realms of bliss.

Of the dead, our Lord says, the hour is coming, and now is, when they shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and live. The hour is coming, when all that sleep in the dust shall awake at the voice of the Son of man, and come to judgment: for he giveth life to the dead, John 5:21,28,29. Again, the hour is coming, when some of those who have died a natural death shall hear the voice of the Son of God and live again here. It is likely that our Lord had not as yet raised any from the dead; and he refers to those whom he intended to raise: See Clarke on John 5:21. Lastly, the hour now is, when many who are dead in trespasses and sins, shall hear the voice (the word) of the Son of God, believe, and receive spiritual life through him." (Adam Clarke Commentary)

I do like this wider approach, for Jesus, seems to say things that have many layers, and that is how I would expect one who is speaking for the Father in Heaven to speak.  His words have eternal significance, and thus, our understanding of them, while limited to this present natural mind, cannot be complete.  Often when I read scripture and read the words Jesus speaks, I assume that He speaks the way I speak, with a purpose and generally one intended understanding.  There are times where my speech might have allusions to something else, where the true meaning is veiled, but that is rare.  I generally just say what I mean, and use simpler words to convey my thoughts, so that I am clearly understood.  When I write I use a simpler set of words, and don't try for conciseness or perfection.  I am reminded of a friend of mine who would spend hours writing papers in college, for he was always searching for the perfect word, rather than using several words to convey his thought.  

As I think about Jesus' words, I am reminded of what He says a bit later, "For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken." (John 12:49 NIV)  Thus, we know that Jesus was not just communicating, He was repeating what the Father told Him, or "commanded" Him to say.  He was speaking words that were coming from the Father's eternal perspective, and speaking into the eternal record.  His words are not to be taken lightly.  I go back over and over to the famous quote from Isaiah 55:8-11 NIV:  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. [9] “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. [10] As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, [11] so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

Clearly Jesus, in speaking for the Father, was speaking words whose full understanding are beyond our grasp, words that are accomplishing exactly what they were meant to accomplish, and words that have eternal impact. 

Going back to the verses of reflection this morning, I think we must take that wide, multi-layered approach to understanding Jesus' words, for they were not spoken just for those who were following Him that day, but for all creation, for all time.  If we continue on reading in John the next two verses we see clearly that Jesus was including the final judgment in His comments - John 5:28-29 NIV:  “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice [29] and come out---those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned."

In summary, I am encouraged to read scripture with an openness to deeper understanding, recognizing that especially the words that Jesus spoke have a weight and eternal significance.  I must lean into Him to hope to understand His word's deeper meaning!  I need to allow His words to drive me to prayer, to conversation with Him about their meaning, their application to my life, and about their purpose in me!

Lord, help me to better listen, and understand.  Help me to be a recipient of Your eternal words!  I desire as well to be able to speak the words I hear You tell me to speak, just as Jesus demonstrated.

Amen!

Deep Dives and the Awesomeness of God

This morning I am reflecting on a few verses from the end of the eleventh chapter in Paul's letter to the Romans.  I love the depth of Paul's thinking, yet there is so much more.  Here are the verses - Romans 11:29,33-36 NIV:

[29] "for God's gifts and his call are irrevocable." 

[33] "Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! 

How unsearchable his judgments, and his paths beyond tracing out! 

[34] “Who has known the mind of the Lord? 

Or who has been his counselor?” 

[35] “Who has ever given to God, that God should repay them?” 

[36] For from him and through him and for him are all things. 

To him be the glory forever! Amen."

In this chapter Paul has been reflecting on the Jews and Gentiles.  For those of us living in these days, its hard to imagine the complete surprise it was to the Jews that Gentiles would be offered salvation, for we have lived in this dispensation for 2000 years, but during the days of the early church this was a major issue.  We this topic in several of the letters, Galatians and Acts two of the most prominent, and while they describe some of the angst, confusion and outright disagreement, I don't know if we can really grasp the depth of this all.  

The only thing that I have seen in my life that comes close, is my conversation with a Chinese man who grew up under the teaching of Mao, but then in his 20s was told that was all wrong.  He no longer had any trust for any belief system, for he was told that everything he had learned, his whole foundation of thought, was wrong.  The Jews had lived their whole lives believing they were the "Chosen People", God's nation, His possession, and they were and are!  And Yet, God was not limited, and had bigger thoughts and ideas, and this included welcoming the Gentiles into relationship with Him.

This brings us to the verses for reflection, for Paul was speaking of the selection of the Jews, in verse 29.  However, we know that God's heart towards us Gentiles is the same in love, mercy and forgiveness.  In the same way that the gifts and calls of the Jews are irrevocable, so are ours!  We have turned our back on the Lord, grown hardened in our hearts, become dull in our faith, but all the Lord has given us and called us to are still ours!  That is such great news!  We can't lose these things from disuse, or disinterest!  We can't give them back, for they are ours!  We may not deserve then, in truth, none of us deserves anything from God, and yet He gives them to us freely!  Just as His mercy is extended to us in the Gospel of Grace, not because of anything we have done, but because of His love, so are the gifts and calls! 

Finally as Paul was reflecting upon all of this, He waxed eloquent, in describing the unknowable, unfathomable God, whom he loved.  We would be well severed to take this same approach to God, for we are constantly trying to figure Him out, to limit Him to working in certain ways, through certain people.  

We believe these days that science can explain everything, and yet daily there are new discoveries made, often completely unexpected.   We are observers, and recorders, even sometimes understanding how some basic things work, but there are whole sections of scientific thought that are for explaining why the things we think we know don't work that way all the time, like quantum-mechanics.  They have what's called the "uncertainty principle", that basically says we can't actually know where something is located and its momentum at the same time.  Think about that, one of the core principles of deep science says we can't know these two most basic things about a particle at the same time, which simply means we can't explain everything through science.  

Anyway, sorry for the deep dive there, my point is that we don't understand God, we never will fully understand God, He is beyond knowledge, and yet He invites us into life with Him, making Himself knowable, embracing our human limitations, and extending us grace and mercy in the face of these limitations.  He is and was and always will be, and we are well served to acknowledge this, and acknowledge our limitations.  His gifts, callings and invitations to life with Him are ours  always for He is unchanging.  

We can't fully understand all God's ways, but we can embrace the truths that we do know.  He has laid a solid foundation that is unchanging, and never will change, unlike the teachings of Mao or whatever other human thought we follow.  We can depend on His mercy, His Love, His Grace and His Faithfulness forever.

Let us allow His greatness, His mercy to us to rise up in gratitude!  Let our minds be renewed and our hearts become soft, and let us embrace Him who loves us eternally!

Amen!

Standing In Our Freedom, In Step With The Spirit

 This morning as I sat down to pray, pondering the state of our nation, and all the swirl around this election, I felt led to read out of Paul's letter to the church in Galatia, the fifth chapter.  I could quote the whole of the chapter, but instead am trying to glean the key parts that were highlighted to me this morning.  Here are the verses - Galatians 5:1,7-10,13-17,22-26 NIV:

[1] "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

[7] "You were running a good race. Who cut in on you to keep you from obeying the truth? [8] That kind of persuasion does not come from the one who calls you. [9] “A little yeast works through the whole batch of dough.” [10] I am confident in the Lord that you will take no other view. The one who is throwing you into confusion, whoever that may be, will have to pay the penalty." 

[13] "You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh ; rather, serve one another humbly in love. [14] For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” [15] If you bite and devour each other, watch out or you will be destroyed by each other." 

[16] "So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. [17] For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want." 

[22] "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. [24] Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. [25] Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. [26] Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other."

If I could summarize  these verses I would begin with verse 13, "Love your neighbor as yourself".  The core message and command of Jesus is to "Love one another!" (John 13:34).  Let us look to our actions and words and make sure that they are loving.  

Secondly, we are called to stay in the Holy Spirit, to walk by the Spirit, guided and directed by the Spirit. While Paul  first lists the things of the flesh, I figured it makes more sense to look at the fruit of the Spirit and compare our thoughts and actions against that list. Paul warns us that anything contrary to these is of the flesh, and in conflict with the Holy Spirit, and thus the will of God.  

It is so easy to get all wound-up by all the swirl around us, but our call is to keep our eyes focused on the Lord, and to stay in step with Holy Spirit.  We should not be swept up into the turmoil, but instead, embracing the call to love one another, every bit as much today as last Monday, as any other day!  We should be constantly monitoring our lives, our thoughts, our words and our actions, and making every effort to live in peace (Heb 12:14) and to allow the fruit of the Spirit to be evident in our lives.  We want to bear witness to the Holy Spirit, who lives within us! 

Let us stand in the freedom that we have, and let us love each other well.  Let us stay in step with the Spirit, that we might bear witness to Him who lives in us!

Blessings,  Sam

When We Just Don't Get It - God Is Still Faithful!

 This morning I am reading from John's Gospel, chapter two.  In John's recounting of the Good News about Jesus, he skips much of what was included in the other Gospel's for his was written last, and I would assume he didn't feel he needed to include what was already available in the synoptic Gospels.  Instead, I love how John is focused on Jesus as the Son of God, and the memories of the apostles, often times commenting on how they didn't understand certain things or even believe certain things until afterwards.  He gives his Gospel such a personal feel.  

In John 2:13-22, he recounts how Jesus drove cattle, sheep and money-changers out of the temple. He provides a couple of eye-witness details, and recounts the conversation where Jesus, when asked about His authority replies cryptically, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.” (John 2:19NIV).  It appears no-one understood at the time what Jesus meant, for john adds the note in John 2:22 NIV:  "After he was raised from the dead, his disciples recalled what he had said. Then they believed the scripture and the words that Jesus had spoken."   Notice - its wasn't until after He was raised from the dead, that John noted that the disciples then believed!  In other words, prior to that time, this particular prophetic statement had NOT been believed!  Wow, that is an interesting comment.  This gives me great encouragement that even if I struggle to understand or believe something, the Lord isn't going to chastise me, or leave me behind!

In fact, John adds the next three verses, which are actually the ones I wanted to reflect upon today, as if to emphasize the point I just made above.  Here are the verses - John 2:23-25 NIV:

[23] "Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. [24] But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. [25] He did not need any testimony about mankind, for he knew what was in each person."

John's point here is that Jesus, while fully human Himself, also had deep insight, through the Holy Spirit, into each and every person He met.  He knew them, knew what they were thinking, and knew their motivations.  He knew that left to their own ideas, and motivations they would try to make Him King, and use Him for their own advancement. While He was busy revealing to them all the true character and nature of the Father, through signs and wonders, healings, deliverances and even raising people from the dead, they were thinking about how they could benefit from Him.  They weren't to be trusted with His real mission, nor even the knowledge that He was the Messiah for much of His ministry time.  They couldn't grasp the mystery of what He was really about, and would royally muck things up if He entrusted 'the real plan' to them!  

Matthew captured the essence of this perfectly in the following verses - Matthew 16:21-23 NIV:  "From that time on Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, the chief priests and the teachers of the law, and that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life. 

[22] Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. “Never, Lord!” he said. “This shall never happen to you!” 

[23] Jesus turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.”

Jesus is finally speaking to the apostles about 'the real plan', Peter's first response is "This shall never happen to you!"  Peter, one of his closest companions still hadn't fully understood 'the real plan'.  Jesus says that his concerns were not the concerns of God, but merely human concerns.  That must have shocked Peter, and the rest, for they were likely thinking the same thing!  

Again, the point of this is that Jesus understood this tension existed in His followers.  He knew they didn't understand what He was saying, knew they didn't grasp 'the real plan' yet never did He send them away, leave them behind, or berate them for not grasping the truth.  This exchange with Peter might seem like a rebuke, but it wasn't aimed so much at Peter, as the source of Peter's thinking, the enemy himself.  

My point in all of this, is that God has an incredible amount of grace for all of our inability to understand what He is doing, what He is saying, even our unbelief!  He understands our limitations, our selfish perspectives, our lack of spiritual insight and understanding.  He knows His thoughts are higher than our thoughts, and yet He chooses to work in and through us, and has mercy on us in our own limitedness!  He is not afraid of our lack, for He has the power and authority to make His plan work, regardless of our own bumblings, unbelief and general dunder-headedness! He is still faithful, even when we are not, even when we haven't a clue.

Oh, what a great God we serve!  Thank You Lord for not treating me as I deserve, but instead inviting me into an intimate and trusted relationship as Your son!

Amen and Amen!

Competence, Boldness and Freedom

This morning I am reflecting on a few verses from Paul's second letter to the church in Corinth.  Here are the verses - 2 Corinthians 3:4-6,12,17-18 NIV:

[4] "Such confidence we have through Christ before God. [5] Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves, but our competence comes from God. [6] He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant---not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life." 

[12] "Therefore, since we have such a hope, we are very bold." 

[17] "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. [18] And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

Looking at these verses, three related words seem to summarize the themes - competence, boldness and freedom.  It is interesting that in Paul's case all of these have the root in the Holy Spirit, whereas if I were to normally think of someone that embodied these, it would be due to their own fleshly attitude and mindset, not a spiritual encouragement.  I believe these are all true, and all available to us today.

The confidence of competent ministry, something which develops as the Holy Spirit bears witness by His presence and power is first on my list of prayers for me and for our congregation!  We desire to see God move, to know that He is leading us and guiding us.  Paul was clear that His confidence was not founded on his own abilities or knowledge, but rather due to the witness of the Holy Spirit's ministry through him.  As He said in his first letter to this church, 

"I came to you in weakness with great fear and trembling. [4] My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, [5] so that your faith might not rest on human wisdom, but on God's power." ( 1 Corinthians 2:3-5 NIV).

This consistent experience and recognition of God's blessing leads to hope, which should lead to boldness!  Again, Paul was not looking to his own skills or knowledge, but rather to the witness of the Holy Spirit, in him and through him.  There comes a level of confidence and boldness from the consistent ministry of the Holy Spirit, which is bearing witness to God's desire and will to work through him.  Oh that we would have the same confidence, the same boldness, the same expectant faith every time we gather in His name!

Continuing on, this consistent witness, this confidence, this competence which leads to boldness, should operate in us to allow us to open new doors, to press into new things, experiencing the freedom that comes with an intimate relationship, and knowledge of the heart of God!  I love how the schools of ministry for Bethel, in Redding California, encourage people to try new things.  Their belief is that if you don't experience failure then you are not pressing into the fullness of all God has for you!  In other words, the Kingdom will be expanded through taking new ground, and new ground is often the result of a new experience in the Holy Spirit!  If we aren't pressing into new experiences we aren't really embracing this boldness, this confidence in the Holy Spirit's witness and guidance.  

Ministry in the Holy Spirit should be anything but boring and consistently the same.  I believe this is partly due to the Holy Spirit's desire to keep us tuned to Him, looking to Him for our confidence and competence, not to our own knowledge and experience.  We must never lose our dependence on the Holy Spirit!  We must stay tuned into Him, relying on His guidance even in the consistent and seemingly mundane, for as Paul says, "Not that we are competent in ourselves to claim anything for ourselves!"  We must continue to remind ourselves that all we have, all our abilities, our understanding of Him and His ways, are all from Him!

Finally, the Lord's goal in all of this is that we would be transformed into His image, experiencing an ever increasing glory!  Thus the miracles, signs and wonders, healings and such we experience today, should be the low-bar of expectation as we look to the future.  Ever-increasing Glory speaks of ever-increasing intimacy and authority, and experience!  We are called and invited to constantly press into the Lord for more!  His Glory, our experience of His presence and impact in our lives, is meant to be ever--increasing, so let us throw off dullness and lethargy, acceptance of the status quo, and let us press into Him for more and more!  Let us wait expectantly, and embrace every opportunity to be transformed into His image.  Sometimes, this will require us to die to ourselves, specifically to our fear of man and fear of failure, that we might become more like Him!  

Let us look to Him, look to His guidance, look to His encouragement, look to His Promise, look to His empowering, and let us step boldly into freedom, into full life in Him!

Amen and Amen!

Dealing With Difficult To Understand Passages

 This morning I have been reading from 2 Samuel, and wrestling for understanding of a story about David.  Here are the verses - 2 Samuel 12:7-14 NASB:

[7] "Nathan then said to David, "You are the man! Thus says the LORD God of Israel, 'It is I who anointed you king over Israel and it is I who delivered you from the hand of Saul. [8] I also gave you your master's house and your master's wives into your care, and I gave you the house of Israel and Judah; and if that had been too little, I would have added to you many more things like these! [9] Why have you despised the word of the LORD by doing evil in His sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword, have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the sons of Ammon. [10] Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.' [11] Thus says the LORD, 'Behold, I will raise up evil against you from your own household; I will even take your wives before your eyes and give them to your companion, and he will lie with your wives in broad daylight. [12] Indeed you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, and under the sun.'" [13] Then David said to Nathan, "I have sinned against the LORD." And Nathan said to David, "The LORD also has taken away your sin; you shall not die. [14] However, because by this deed you have given occasion to the enemies of the LORD to blaspheme, the child also that is born to you shall surely die."

So as I have been thinking about these verses several thoughts have come to mind:

1) The child is innocent, why strike the child for the sins of David?

2) Bathsheba was essentially innocent, why cause her grief for the sin of David?

3) Why forgive David and still strike the son?

4) Did God cause the child to die, or did He allow the child to die?

5) Is this representative of God's character, and ways?  Isn't He the same always?

6) Does God do this today?

7) Why did David ever sin in the first place? 

All of these are good questions, and while I don't have solid answers to them all, I think I have some understanding.

First, it is important to note that the Old Testament represents the progressive revelation of the character and nature of God.  At the time of these events, they only had the received the Law, the prophets Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel had not lived yet, and these were major sources of Revelation of the character of God.  Jesus, who is the perfect representation of the Father (Heb. 1:3) had not lived yet, nor provided His understanding and teachings.  However, in reading this story it is important that we read it with all of that understanding in place, so that we do not misunderstand God's Character.

For reference -  here are just a sampling of some of the verses I am referring to:

Isaiah 53:5-6 - The messiah would bear our sins

Jeremiah 31:30-34 - A man will die for his own sin, and God will make a new Covenant and write it on their hearts, and God will forgive their sins.

Ezekiel 18:3-32 - A man will die for his own sin, not for his fathers.  God takes no pleasure in the death of anyone, but desires repentance.

John 4:1-42 - story of Jesus interacting with the woman at the well, who is clearly an adulteress, yet He brings salvation to her, not judgement.

Second, God was operating within the context of the Covenant of the Law that He had given Moses, even though God had another better Covenant, and New Covenant planned through Jesus.  He hadn't released the understanding of Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel yet, so He (God) was operating within the constraints of His present revelation.  This is actually quite merciful, as to expect David to understand something He had never heard or seen previously would not be just, nor would it bear witness to the Law's He put in place.

An analogy here that might be helpful, in elementary school there are certain rules that we need to follow, that are no longer necessary in Highschool or college.  These are in place at the time to aid in our education and learning experience.  However, if we applied the rules for seniors in highschool to a kindergarten class, but only to certain students, it would be confusing to all the students, would undermine their understanding of rules and how they work, and actually cause issues with their development.

Thirdly, according to the The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, when we read phrases where God says, "I will raise up" or "I will even take", we must understand that God is essentially saying the following ""That is, in the course of my providence I will permit this to be done." Such phrases in Scripture do not mean that God either does or can do evil himself; but only that he permits such evil to be done as he foresaw would be done, and which, had he pleased, he might have prevented."  This is such an interesting a deep subject, for not everything God foresees happens, and often times His warnings are headed and what could have happened doesn't.  The reverse of this is also true, God can foresee things that will happen, as a result of our free-will.  He will often warn us about them, but if we continue down that path, we will suffer the consequences.  Thus, He sees us, could intervene, but doesn't out of His respect for our free-will.  (This is much too deep of a topic to cover in such a short meditation - so will leave the rest for another time.)  In the story above, He doesn't intervene and answer David's prayers.

Fourthly, as I mentioned earlier, we really need to filter all such biblical accounts through the perfect representation of the Father, provided us by Jesus (See Heb 1:3).  The simple question of whether Jesus would say this or do this (something which we read), should give us pause in our application of that something, found in the Old Testament, to our lives. For example, I referenced the story of Jesus and the Samaritan woman, found in John 4.  While clearly not the same situation, we see Jesus dealing with someone who is clearly in adultery, (She was married 5 times, and now living with a man who wasn't her husband).  We could argue that she wasn't a Jew and wasn't under the Law, but that really isn't the issue here, the focus is on the response of Jesus, representing God the Father to someone who is clearly sinning, and for who the punishment would be stoning (See John 8 for the other story  of the woman caught in adultery).  His response to her is to engage her in conversation, reveal His knowledge of her, and open her eyes to the truth of who He was, namely the Messiah.  She is radically saved and becomes one of His first evangelists, getting most of her town saved by leading them to Jesus.  This is nothing like what we see in the story from 2 Samuel, and yet it is the same Father.  Both are true accounts, and true  representations of the Father, but Jesus' actions and words represent the best understanding of the Father's heart and character.

So, in light of the above, how should we read and understand David's punishment and the words of the Lord, spoken to him by Nathan?  We see God revealing to David that His sins are not hidden, neither from God, nor from others.  We understand that our actions, and our sins, can have ramifications that are damaging to ourselves and to others.  Sometimes that damage is done to our attitudes towards others, our relational paradigms, our thoughts and heart motivations,  and other times they can have real world consequences. God, in dealing with David, was calling him to a place of transparency, humility, repentance, obedience and deeper relationship.  We are all encouraged down this same path, regardless of the seriousness  of our sins, and our lack of knowledge of God's ways and purposes.  If we look at the response of the Samaritan woman at the well, we see this exact same flow of transparency, humility, repentance, obedience and relationship.  

In this scripture from 2 Samuel, we see God intervening in David's life, causing him to stop his sinful ways, and turn back to the Lord.  Bathsheba's next child is Solomon, who would become King after David, and we see in his birth and life, the redemption of all that had been lost by Bathsheba due to the consequences of David's sin.  We see God redeeming their relationship, and blessing it, which should certainly tell us there is more to this story than just punishment for sin.  We know from other scriptures (Matthew 1:5)  that David's great grandmother is Rahab, who just might be the prostitute that provided Joshua a safe place to hide when they were spying out the land.  Talk about redeeming one's life!  

Hopefully this reflection provides some helpful insight and tools for understanding difficult passages in scripture.  God knows us, loves us and wants to lead us into deeper relationship with Him.  Sometimes that requires Him to intervene in our lives, calling us out of our sin in painful ways, but His heart is always for us!  He desires to redeem all that has been lost due to our sins, and has this tendency to bless that which is restored with double blessings.  Let us entrust ourselves to this loving God, who does not punish us as our sins deserve, but who took upon Himself the punishment for all our sins!  Let us turn towards Him and acknowledge our need for Him, ask forgiveness humbly and enter into deeper relationship with Him.  

Amen and Amen!

 

In These Terrible Days Pursue Righteousness, Faith, Love and Peace

This morning I am reading from Paul's second letter to Timothy.  Like any of his letters, there are really no chapters and verse numbers, those were added later to help us navigate.  I am reading the end of chapter two into the beginning of chapter three for they are directly related, and applicable to these days.  Here are the verses - 2 Timothy 2:22-26 NIV:  

[22] "Flee the evil desires of youth and pursue righteousness, faith, love and peace, along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart. [23] Don't have anything to do with foolish and stupid arguments, because you know they produce quarrels. [24] And the Lord's servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. [25] Opponents must be gently instructed, in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth, [26] and that they will come to their senses and escape from the trap of the devil, who has taken them captive to do his will."

And continuing - 2 Timothy 3:1-5 NIV:

[1] "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. [2] People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, [3] without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, [4] treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God--- [5] having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with such people."

The thought that struck me this morning was the last sentence of chapter 2, verses 26 for this basically explains the next 5 verses.  The terrible times in the last days, as described by Paul, are the result of the trap of the devil, which enables him to take people captive, or capture them through their own agreement with him.  I reflected on this theme on this past Saturday, and I believe this is one of the key issues in our day, believing the lies of the enemy concerning God.  I believe its actually been one of the main issues since history has been recorded.  We understand that Jesus came to confront this, as described in 1 John 3:8 NIV:..."The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work."  

Notice though, Paul's encouragement to Timothy is to not engage them in arguments, for this bears no good fruit, but instead tells Timothy that he should treat everyone with kindness, and gentleness.  At worst, our response should be to just have nothing to do with such argumentative people.  However, we should be ready to gently instruct those that are willing to listen at all, engaging them in gentle conversation, in the hope that their eyes might be opened to their own deception, allowing them to change their mind, breaking off their agreement with the devil and stepping into the Kingdom, through the salvation of their souls.  

First and foremost though, our call, as was Timothy's, is to pursue righteousness, faith. love and peace.  If our eyes and efforts are set on these things, we will be safe-guarded from the craziness of some.  Paul writes in his letter to the  Ephesians 6:12 NIV: "For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms."

So let us embrace righteousness, faith, love, peace and gentleness towards all our brothers and sisters, especially those who are not yet members of the Kingdom of God.  Let us not be surprised when people believe such things, and respond accordingly.  Let us instead "fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline." ( 2 Timothy 1:6-7 NIV).

Amen!

Breaking Our Agreement With The Enemy

 Apparently directly related to a dream I had this morning, I was led to the following verse in 1 John 3:8 NIV:..."The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work." 

There could be several ideas about what this "devil's work" might be, but I think if we go back to the beginning, applying the hermeneutics principle of first mention, we find that the devil's work was to convince Eve that God was lying about His plans for her.  Here are the verses from Genesis 3:1-5 NIV:

[1] "Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. He said to the woman, “Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'? ” 

[2] The woman said to the serpent, “We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, [3] but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' ” 

[4] “You will not certainly die,” the serpent said to the woman. [5] “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.”

This exchange is noteworthy for two reasons, first the serpent (representing the devil) is questioning the nature of God, in his first question and then is outright lying about his nature in his second statement.  However, of secondary importance, Eve doesn't know the truth, or remember it.  She misquotes God's command to her, leaving an opportunity for the enemy to convince her of a lie.    God told Adam the following Genesis 2:16-17 NIV:  And the Lord God commanded the man, “You are free to eat from any tree in the garden; [17] but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat from it you will certainly die.”  I believe that if she had been able to stand on the truth, and the knowledge of the character of God, that she could have resisted this deception.

We can learn much from her interaction, for the end-result was that both her and Adam ended up believing or agreeing with the lies of the enemy, and their lives and relationship with God was altered from that point forward!  It seems to me that the devil's primary work, based on this encounter, is to get humankind questioning the character of God and the Truth, believing lies about God, and then agreeing with this accusation, for it is nothing less than an outright accusation that God doesn't have their best interests in mind!  

Jesus in coming to earth, and representing the Father perfectly, (Heb 1:3) was proving to us, once again how good the Father really is, breaking through the lies and deception, the work of the devil!  We need to war against these same lies in our lives, for the enemy hasn't stopped questioning the goodness of God, accusing Him of holding back from us the best, coloring His perfection, His love, His mercy and compassion, His justice as angry, punishing, limiting us from that which is best.  This is all an elaborate scam, and the purpose is to get us to agree with the devil's perspective, causing us to break relational intimacy with the Father.  

The Good News is that the power of the this deception has been broken by Jesus, and He has paid for this sin.  He has opened the way to the Father, and thus, the separation that Eve and Adam suffered need not be our experience!  We can repent, renounce our agreement with the enemy, and step back into the waiting arms of the Father.  

Today, I am encouraged to look at my life, at my thoughts, at my heart and see where I have agreed with the enemy and renounce my agreement.  Jesus gives me the authority to tear up that contract, where I signed on with the enemies view.  I can step into the fullness of all that God has for me, breaking off the lies and deceit, and step into true relationship with the Father as His son!  I am so thankful that Jesus has come to destroy the works of the devil, preparing the way for me to break off the shackles and step free!

Thank You Lord!

A Call, A Visitation, Or A Habitation?

 This morning I have been thinking about a book I was reading last night called "The Dancing Hand of God" by James Maloney.  It is  a great book that stirs up my faith for more of the Lord in my life.  This morning I am reading from John's Gospel and realized that my verses for reflection were directly related to what I was reading last night.  James Maloney was recounting a time where the Lord's presence came in a way that the Lord called a habitation.  He was ministering in a church for 8 days, and the Lord's presence was so thick during that time that it was as if He was in the room, and His ministry was as it had been, everyone healed, etc.  It was a glorious experience from the sounds of it.

This morning I was reading Jesus' prayer for us all, right before His passion, found in John 17:20-23 NIV:

[20] “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, [21] that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. [22] I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one--- [23] I in them and you in me---so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me."

Here Jesus is speaking of intimacy that is essentially a habitation, where we experience the intimate indwelling of "I in them and You in Me".  This is so much more than a Sunday encounter at Church.  

As I was reflecting on these verses I felt like the Lord said something like the following, "You have settle for an occasional Zoom call with me, and think that You desire a visitation, but what I want is habitation!"  

As I thought about that statement, I related it back to regular life.  Many of us make calls to loved ones via phone, face-time, Zoom or whatever is available these days. While these are ok, they don't replace face-to-face visits, where we are actually visiting someone's home for an hour or two.  If we really want quality time with someone we might schedule a visit to stay with them for a weekend, or even a week.  I would equate that to a visitation.  Things really get serious when you decide to move in with someone, experiencing the intimacy of inhabiting the same space for months and even years.  The intimacy that a habitation is meant to enable is much greater than what develops during a visitation, and certainly more than the occasional call.   

Jesus' prayer in John 17, is a heart cry for habitation with us!  

Wow!

Now, I will say I have lived with and experienced all of the above with friends and family.  We have dear friends that will drop by for an evening and its a great time.  We spend a few hours cleaning before they get here, have a nice meal, have some deep conversation and then they head back home and we go back to our regular lives.  Times like these are blessings and enrich our lives.

We also have dear friends that have visited for a week or two and that is better, although that is also more work ad requires more self-sacrifice.  We have to adjust our lives, our schedules, our daily regimens, when they come to stay.  It is more work, and always requires a level of self-sacrifice, but the level of relationship is much deeper. We have so much more time to share, to listen, to interact, to understand and just be together.  It is disrupting to our regular  lives, but worth it.

We have also been blessed to have had many people who have lived with us, some living with us for over a year.  This is something completely different, and requires a level of self-sacrifice that many are not willing to make.  Having someone else, who isn't extended family, living in "our" house, using "our stuff" eating "our food" for months on end is not our common experience here in the US, at least not here in Kansas City.  This habitation, logically,  enables an intimacy that is even deeper than is available with a visit.  However, it requires much more self-sacrifice.  We must change or adapt our whole way of living, even our way of thinking about "our" stuff like furniture, food and time.  It can be wonderfully glorious, and it can be down-right trying, even difficult at times.  Not so much because of the people that inhabiting our house, but more for the selflessness that is required.  The blessing is that now these people are like family!  We have lived together and shared life together to such an extent that we know each other more deeply than few others. It is a wonderful thing.

The question I felt encouraged to look at this morning is whether or not I want a habitation experience, with the Lord as my housemate?  We could extend that and ask if we really want the Lord to come and inhabit our church?  Are we willing to radically change "our" lives, "our" ways of doing things, "our" plans? Are we willing to sacrifice "our" schedules, "our" time, "our" control?  Are we willing to do lay own our lives for greater intimacy with Him?  Are we hungry enough for His presence, that we are willing to open up the door to "our" lives, "our" church and make room for Him?

It is clear from Jesus prayer in John 17, that this is His desire!  If that is His desire, He will make a way, and it is possible.  The question is are we willing?

Oh Lord, my prayer today is that I might desire Your presence, Your habitation, more than anything in my life!  Help  me to be open and willing!  I desire to experience the intimacy You describe in Your great prayer to the Father.  I want t be with You where You are, and have You with me where I am, every day, all day long!

Amen and Amen!