Remember, Reflect, Reread, Revisit

Over the last two days the Lord has had me reflecting back on some of His words to me. There has been a  theme of revisiting and reminding myself of some of the things He has spoken.  This morning I felt led to turn to Nehemiah chapter 8, Here are the verses that caught my attention this morning - Nehemiah 8:13-18 NIV:

[13] "On the second day of the month, the heads of all the families, along with the priests and the Levites, gathered around Ezra the teacher to give attention to the words of the Law. [14] They found written in the Law, which the Lord had commanded through Moses, that the Israelites were to live in temporary shelters during the festival of the seventh month [15] and that they should proclaim this word and spread it throughout their towns and in Jerusalem: “Go out into the hill country and bring back branches from olive and wild olive trees, and from myrtles, palms and shade trees, to make temporary shelters”---as it is written. 

[16] So the people went out and brought back branches and built themselves temporary shelters on their own roofs, in their courtyards, in the courts of the house of God and in the square by the Water Gate and the one by the Gate of Ephraim. [17] The whole company that had returned from exile built temporary shelters and lived in them. From the days of Joshua son of Nun until that day, the Israelites had not celebrated it like this. And their joy was very great. 

[18] Day after day, from the first day to the last, Ezra read from the Book of the Law of God. They celebrated the festival for seven days, and on the eighth day, in accordance with the regulation, there was an assembly."

As I was reflecting  on this word I felt like I should turn to Psalm 77:6-15 NIV:

[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."

Clearly the theme is remembering what the Lord has done and has spoken.  It is good for me to review what the Lord has said regularly, and that is something I have not been very good at of late.  The Lord speaks into our lives to give us direction and guidance, and perspective.  Sometimes His words are spoken as confirmation and to provide assurance that He is in deed paying attention to your life.  

In the verses from Nehemiah, the people discover that they have forgotten as a people one of the feasts they were supposed to celebrate.  They had been in captivity for a few generations and had apparently not remembered to pass down the teachings, or not done the job well.  One wonders what we as a Church have forgotten in the two thousand years we have been functioning, let alone in the last couple of generations?

The verses from Psalm 77 is more of a remembering history and recalling times of sweetness or closeness of the Lord!  The Lord never changes in His affection for us, but we certainly do go through seasons where we are more aware of His love.  It is good to remember, and rekindle on our side these memories and even the affection.  

In summary,  I am encouraged to spend some time today remembering, reflecting, rereading and revisiting God's words, actions and encouragements.  I am encouraged that there is much He wants me to be reminded of in my life.  He has done amazing things and remembering is a great way to feed the flames of gratitude and affection!  

Thank you Lord for all that You have spoken and done in my life in 2021.  I look forward to 2022!!

Amen!

Possessing The Land

On Sunday, during worship, I heard a phrase in my mind, "possess the land".  This is reference to the promised land for ancient Israel, but the thought I had was that this phrase has a New Testament, New Covenant,  Kingdom of God now, application.  I don't believe I have thought that through before and I wanted to take some time to reflect on what that might mean for us today.  The original verses I was reading from came from Numbers 33:51-54 NIV:

[51] “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: 'When you cross the Jordan into Canaan, [52] drive out all the inhabitants of the land before you. Destroy all their carved images and their cast idols, and demolish all their high places. [53] Take possession of the land and settle in it, for I have given you the land to possess. [54] Distribute the land by lot, according to your clans. To a larger group give a larger inheritance, and to a smaller group a smaller one. Whatever falls to them by lot will be theirs. Distribute it according to your ancestral tribes."

Now the interesting thing about all this, which I am sure is not news, is that the people actually had to work to possess the land.  It was not an empty land and the previous inhabitants needed to be conquered or driven out.  Possessing the land requires effort.  Possessing the land was their inheritance, but they needed to work to clear the land and settle in it.  

Secondly, they needed to purify the land of the idolatry and wrong worship, effectively driving out the territorial spirits that had been resident in that land.  God was not just another god, with a small g, but was God of All, and this was His land, and they were receiving their inheritance from Him!

As I was reflecting on these verses I reminded of two things from the New Testament, the sending out the twelve apostles, and the early church accounts found in Acts 2 - 4.  The first bit is found in all three of the synoptic Gospels, but I like Matthews version.  Matthew 10:1,5-8 NIV:

[1] "Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness." 

[5] "These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. [6] Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. [7] As you go, proclaim this message: 'The kingdom of heaven has come near.' [8] Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give." 

I see in this Kingdom proclamation a similar command to that which was given by the Lord, they are to go in and drive out that which is not of God, while proclaiming His Kingdom.  Jesus gave them authority, for it was in His name that they could do these things, as it was in God's name that Israel was able to take possession of the Land.  We know that the Kingdom does not exist of geography, but rather of the hearts of men and women, as Jesus says its within us (Luke 17:26).  In a very real sense, this sending out of the Twelve, was the first major expansion of the Kingdom, and they were allowing God to take possession of His Kingdom, and driving out the previous inhabitants, sickness, leprosy, demons and even death.  The question is whether our command as the church is any different today?

The second bit was the life of the early church, post-ascension.  I make that distinction only because Jesus was here on earth during the sending the of the Twelve, and one could think that maybe that command was specific to them, and not the church's command.  In Acts 2, immediately after Pentecost, we see an energized new church, 3000 people added to the believers in one day, now meeting regularly.  Luke writes the following account of those first days... Acts 2:42-47 NIV:

[42] "They devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. [43] Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. [44] All the believers were together and had everything in common. [45] They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. [46] Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, [47] praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved."

One could draw some parallels between these first days in the early church and the first days in the Promised Land, if one wanted to, for they both speak of a new era, and change in the destiny of people of God, and the fulfilment of one His promises. Rather than go hard after that comparison, I just want to look at what possessing this new land (if we use that analogy) looked like for this new Church.  

It was a time of regular expansion (people were added to their number daily).  The Kingdom was rapidly being added to, and they understood this was part of their command (see Matt 28:18-20)

It was a time of regular fellowship and regular communion (breaking of the bread)..  The people met together and established their identity, and shared as was needed. The sense was that they were a unique and new people.

They continued in the working of miracles, and signs and wonders, which were the calling card, or proof of God's hand upon them, and their authority as provided by God. It was this that made them different, this authority and miraculous provision for the expansion of the Kingdom.

They focused on the teachings and the Word of God, as spoken by Jesus and revisited by the Apostles.  They had a new covenant, and Jesus' teachings were the focus, rather than the Law (I am making an assumption here that is based on the later writings of the New Testament). 

This was a time of rapidly increasing belief - God was moving and they were all in. 

Continuing on and looking at Acts 4, we find the church continuing to hold onto what they had been taught and commanded to do, and Peter & John were thrown into jail for healing the man that was crippled from birth.  They got back together with the other believers after their release and this was how they all responded, praying a bold prayer - Acts 4:29-35 NIV:

[29] "Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. [30] Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.” 

[31] After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. 

[32] All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. [33] With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God's grace was so powerfully at work in them all [34] that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales [35] and put it at the apostles' feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need."

We find here similar happenings as to what was described in Acts 2.  They are proclaiming the word, continuing to work miracles, signs and wonders, continuing to meet together, continuing to share with one another as needed.  

I was just thinking, Luke writes, "no one claimed that any of their possessions was their own", and one wonders if this is because they were now focused on possessing something far greater!  They went from possessing things, to possessing the Promise, the New Covenant and the Command of the Lord!  They were embracing fully the Kingdom of God reality that was evident in their midst.  

I am reminded of an interesting point the Lord made concerning possessing the land, found in Leviticus 25:23-24 NIV:

“ 'The land must not be sold permanently, because the land is mine and you reside in my land as foreigners and strangers. [24] Throughout the land that you hold as a possession, you must provide for the redemption of the land."

I am wondering if this bit, was being embraced fully by the early church, recognizing that the possessions they had were actually the Lord's and they were just caring for them, but were free to share them with others, specifically because of that?  It seems that they were taking a pretty radical approach, at least in my American mindset, and we don't really see this modeled anywhere else that we know of in the early church.  We do know they were encouraged to give freely, to spread the wealth, if you will.  

Anyway, things to think more on, things to look at in my own heart, and mostly a Gospel of the Kingdom of God present with demonstration to proclaim!

Lord help us!

The Coming Light

This morning, as I sat watching the approaching sunrise, I was reminded of some verses from Isaiah 60:1-5 NIV:

[1] “Arise, shine, for your light has come,

 and the glory of the Lord rises upon you. 

[2] See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, 

but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you. 

[3] Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn. 

[4] “Lift up your eyes and look about you: 

All assemble and come to you; your sons come from afar, and your daughters are carried on the hip. 

[5] Then you will look and be radiant, your heart will throb and swell with joy; 

the wealth on the seas will be brought to you, to you the riches of the nations will come."

As I reflect on these verses I am reminded of John's opening stanzas in his wonderful Gospel, and I see many parallels.  Here are a few of his opening verses - John 1:1-5,9-14 NIV:

[1] "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [2] He was with God in the beginning. [3] Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. [4] In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. [5] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. 

[9] The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. [10] He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. [11] He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. [12] Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--- [13] children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God. 

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

Truly, the words of Isaiah concerning the light, the Glory of God coming, has been fulfilled.  Nations have come to the Light of Christ!  Sons and Daughters from far away have come to the Light!  The world has been changed and continues to embrace the fulfillment of God's plan and purposes!  One day the Glory of the Lord will cover the earth!  Both Isaiah and John saw similar visions and heard similar statements:

Isaiah 6:3 NIV: "And they were calling to one another: “Holy, holy , holy is the Lord Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.”

Revelation 4:8 NIV:  "Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying: “ 'Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty,' who was, and is, and is to come.”

Revelation 5:13 NIV:  "Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!”

Each time we celebrate Christmas, we are one year closer to the final fulfillment of God's word and the Glory of Jesus Christ!  Let us celebrate Jesus,  the Light that has come into the world today!  Let us remember His great love, His desire for all the world to know Him and His love!

Amen & Amen!

The Right To Become A Child of God

 

As we are celebrating Christ's birth tomorrow, I thought it would be good to spend some time reflecting the following verses from John 1:9-14 NIV:

[9] "The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. [10] He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. [11] He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. [12] Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--- [13] children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God." 

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

I love the simplicity of John's language, yet it carries great depth of meaning. I love verses 12 and 13, revealing the path to relationship with God as simple as receiving Him, believing in His Name, and becoming a child of God.  

I find his statement that God gave us "the right to become children of God" interesting.  The Young's Literal Translation (YLT) has this as "the authority to become children of God".   The Greek word that is used by John is exousia, and Thayer defines it as follows:

1} power of choice, liberty of doing as one pleases

    a) leave or permission

2) physical and mental power

    a) the ability or strength with which one is endued, which he either possesses or exercises

3) the power of authority (influence) and of right (privilege)

4) the power of rule or government...

We derive the word exercise from this Greek word, and that provides some helpful insight into this great mystery.  It is God who makes this all available (the ability to become His child), but it our choice to exercise this opportunity.  We can have an exercise room in the basement, but if we never go down and use it we will never receive any of the benefits of it.  In a similar way, God has removed all barriers to our relationship with Him, yet it must be our choice.  Our choice to believe, to receive, to desire to become His child. Our natural birth on this earth, was not our choice, but our second birth is, and is made possible by God, through Jesus.

The fact that God came to earth, becoming fully man, choosing to be born in humbleness, living most of His life in quietness, establishing a ministry with humble people of little influence, suffering and dying and rising, all so that He might open up this right, this authority, this choice to us to become His children is just amazing, and many find it too improbable to believe.  But to those that do believe, to those that do receive this most inauspicious truth, He gives the ability to make this choice to become His children. This is part of the Glory of God!

So, today let us celebrate His coming to earth, believing and receiving and choosing to accept this great gift!  He is the true light, let us choose to be children of the light!

Amen!

What We Worship Matters

This morning I ran across an interesting verse while reading in Second Kings.  Here are a couple of verses to help set context - 2 Kings 17:14-15 NIV:

[14] "But they would not listen and were as stiff-necked as their ancestors, who did not trust in the Lord their God. [15] They rejected his decrees and the covenant he had made with their ancestors and the statutes he had warned them to keep. They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless. They imitated the nations around them although the Lord had ordered them, “Do not do as they do.”

The phrase that stood out to me was, "They followed worthless idols and themselves became worthless."

That saying just makes me stop and think.  

The NASB translation has it "they followed vanity and became vain".

The transliteration of the original Hebrew words would be hebel hawbal, and could be translated empty, vapour, or vanity, and became vain, or empty.

Looking at that statement, I guess we could say what we worship matters!  In their case they worshipped nothingness, thinking they were something, and in the end they were nothing, of no value, essentially empty of worth, or substance in God's eyes. 

I think about all the things people give themselves to these days, we have influencers and those trying to be influencers, people focused on gaining followers on social media, and the like, and it just seems to all be emptiness, or vanity.

Going back to that phrase, we could also say that we take on the value of what we worship.

While God loves his sons and daughters, there is only one name that is Highest, one name that causes every knee to bow, one name that is the center of all worship.  I believe that John saw this very thing in his revelation on Patmos.  Here are just a few verses - Revelation 5:9-14 NIV:

[9] "And they sang a new song, saying: “You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God persons from every tribe and language and people and nation. [10] You have made them to be a kingdom and priests to serve our God, and they will reign on the earth.” 

[11] Then I looked and heard the voice of many angels, numbering thousands upon thousands, and ten thousand times ten thousand. They encircled the throne and the living creatures and the elders. [12] In a loud voice they were saying: “Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom and strength and honor and glory and praise!” 

[13] Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, saying: “To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!” 

[14] The four living creatures said, “Amen,” and the elders fell down and worshiped."

Amen and Amen!  In this season, let us remember who we worship!  Let our worship of Him bring value to us, not in our own eyes, but in the eyes of God!  

A Trustworthy Statement

This morning I am reflecting on a few verses, which interestingly were part of what was apparently an early hymn found in 2 Timothy 2:11-13 NASB:

[11] "It is a trustworthy statement: 

For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him; 

[12] If we endure, we will also reign with Him; 

If we deny Him, He also will deny us; 

[13] If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself."

These verses were some of the first that impacted me as an early Christian, and as such they have a special place in my heart.  Yesterday morning I was reflecting on Jesus' statements about being Messiah and how he dealt with the people who wee wanting to stone Him for saying He was the Son of God.  I was reflecting on how Jesus always seemed to respond with grace and invitation to His detractors,  giving them the opportunity to repent.  However the end of verse 12 here, seems to be in conflict with that statement, at least at first pass.

I thought it worth working through this morning, as being some of the most ancient "trustworthy statements'' about our faith, it is unquestionable to an extent.  As I was reflecting on these verses this morning, I felt like I gained some additional understanding that was helpful and in line with what I have experienced in Christ.

There is an eternal perspective that is important when reading scripture, as is evident here.  Eternal life is found in knowing Christ Jesus.   John wrote it this way, "And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life." (1 John 5:11-12 NIV).

Since we can know Christ Jesus here, and live in union with Him here, we can experience eternal life while still present on the earth in our earthly bodies.  We also look forward to an "eternal reward" in heaven, so there is a now (present) and future aspect to this eternal perspective, and of course there is a state of pre-salvation that many people are in, prior to entering into relationship with their Savior Jesus, and that is important to note.  Thus, if we read these verses with a pre/now/future understanding we can understand these verses more clearly.

Breaking them down - 

"For if we died with Him, we will also live with Him;"  (Now and Future)

"If we endure, we will also reign with Him;: (Now and Future)

"If we deny Him, He also will deny us;" (Future only)

"If we are faithless, He remains faithful, for He cannot deny Himself." (Pre/Now/Future)

I might not have the right of it, but this is how I think it works.  We can die to our old selves, embracing Jesus, here during our earthly life, and when we do this we are living with Him.  If we endure in our faith through life's difficulties, we will experience His sovereignty, even during our earthly life, and certainly in our heavenly inheritance.  We have the opportunity to experience some bit of Heaven's reality here and now, and that is just a taste of what is to come.

In a slightly different light it seems to me that If we deny Him during our life, He continues to provide us the opportunities to repent and change our minds.  He has paid for all our sins and would see all men saved, if possible.   Paul wrote the following, "This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth." (1 Timothy 2:3-4 NIV).  He also wrote, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8 NIV). He doesn't give up on us in our sin, even in our denial, but continues to extend mercy, continues to draw us to Him, to present the truth, that we might accept His salvation.  

I could go on with several other verses and examples, but I believe that the second half of verse 12, where it says He will deny us, is only experienced on the day of our judgment.  Christ is clear that there will be a day (See Matt 25:31-46) when a final decision is made by the Lord concerning our life.  Now this might happen at the time of our death, or at some future time on the "Day of Judgment", which is referenced by Jesus, Paul, James and Peter, but it will happen if God's word is true.  I don't need to know the exact details of how this all works, but I do know that the Lord is loving, compassionate, merciful, faithful, forgiving and just, and that none of these characteristics interferes with any of the others. 

This morning I am encouraged to look toward the day of God's full expression of sovereignty, and revelation in heaven, and to look for the expression of these even here and now, in my life and through my life.  I am encouraged to trust God, to believe the totality of His Word, even if I don't fully understand it all.  I am encouraged that God has this all totally under control, and as a merciful God, He will work it out.

Me, I will live my life for Him, I will endure, I will strive to grow in my faith, and I will never deny Him.

Amen!

Koinonia Group of Suffering

 

Lately my honey and I have been talking about the minor sufferings of life, old age, soreness, and the like.  I guess that is normal for people who are getting older.  The question is how to embrace the uncomfortable, and even down-right disabling, in light of our faith.  My honey has had cancer twice, and her sufferings are far greater than many, and yet, far less than many others.  In some streams of faith the phrase "redemptive suffering" is welcomed, and we were talking about that phrase and the reality of it.  Redemption originally had to do with recovering something that has been lost or stolen, and is first used by God in describing how He would rescue Israel out of Egypt (See Exodus 6:6)

This morning I opened my bible to Paul's letter to the church in Philippi and was reflecting on the following verses - Philippians 3:7-11 NIV:

[7] "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."

Paul has such a wonderful grasp of things, and didn't shy away from calling people to embrace things that were uncomfortable.  Of course, He wrote this during times of persecution and difficulty, but they really do apply to even the most gentle of Christian lives, for we are all called to deny ourselves and pick up our cross (Matt 16:24) and that is uncomfortable for all.  The one phrase that I have only understood briefly is the end of verse 10, here the NIV translates it "participation in his sufferings" but the NASB more accurately translates it "fellowship of his sufferings".  The Greek word used here by Paul is the word Koinonia, which is a word that is sometimes used to describe fellowship groups where people establish life connections.  It could be translated communion, or fellowship, and envisions a tight friendship where experiences are encountered together.  When suffering is involved, this sharing of life can certainly be welcomed, especially by the one who is suffering and in need of encouragement and even of lifting up.

So going back to Paul's letter, he combines this personal discomfort, if you will, of denying oneself with embracing relationship with the Lord, which includes Jesus' death and resurrection.  While he doesn't mention it specifically here, this is clearly the source of our salvation.  Jesus went through all that He did that we might be redeemed, set free from the power of sin and death, and welcomed into relationship with the Father.  This redemptive work was all about others, essentially all the rest of the world.  Jesus represents, for us, the ultimate life of self-sacrifice for the sake of others.  That theme is where our conversations have recently led us, living our life, as uncomfortable as they may be, for the sake of others.  In our particular case, for the sake of our children and grand-children.  

It really shouldn't be a surprise to us that we are called to view life this way, but it was a bit new to me, at least in the intentionality of it.  That I live my life for my wife and children, working hard to lead, to provide, to encourage, to be a dad and husband have always been my focus.  I didn't really spend much time thinking about it, just did what I knew I needed to do.  However, as life becomes more of a struggle with pains and sufferings, I find that my reasons for my actions must become more intentional.  I find myself choosing to embrace the discomfort, for the sake of our future, and our future interactions with our children and children's children. What a great gift they are, and what a great responsibility of allowing our lives to be light, bearing witness to our relationship with Christ Jesus.  In some small way, this does feel like we are laying our lives down for our family, making decisions that will benefit our children and grands.  In this way, I do see that there is some small fellowship with Jesus, who laid down His life for us all.  Jesus spoke of this as recorded in John 10:17-18 NASB:

[17] "For this reason the Father loves Me, because I lay down My life so that I may take it again. [18] No one has taken it away from Me, but I lay it down on My own initiative. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This commandment I received from My Father."

Jesus' self-sacrifice was obviously far more painful and absolute, but this laying down one's life for others, is clearly at the core of all He did, and in embracing a similar approach to life, we do share a certain fellowship.  My honey, upon recovering from cancer twice said she was now the member of a club that she never wanted to be part of... but as part of that club, she could help others who were struggling with the same.   She was able to, in some small way, help others find a way through their struggles, and in doing so, find value in what she went through.  In maintaining her faith through all her suffering, she is a strong witness to the love of God providing comfort and hope in the midst of difficulty, questions and fear.  In daily dealing with the ravages of her treatments, continuing to love and care for others, continuing to press into relationship with Jesus, she is definitely part of the koinonia group of sufferings.  This certainly was never her intent in life, but has now become her daily cross, one that she embraces to the best of her ability, for the sake of her family and friends.  In choosing life, in choosing to love, in choosing to be a part of the lives of those she loves, in choosing to continue to pursue the Lord, she is redeeming her suffering, and praying that her life leads others to redemption and salvation.

My honey is just one of many that I know who are choosing to live their lives for others, and in some way redeeming their suffering.  Rather than being a victim of illness, she and many others are choosing everyday to do all they can for others and for future opportunities of life.  They are embracing life as members of this koinonia group of suffering, led by Jesus himself.  Their lives bear witness to the faithfulness and redemptive work of Jesus' life, death and resurrection.

Amen!

You Are The Body of Christ

For reflection this morning, I am looking at some famous verses from Paul's letter to the church in Corinth.  Thank God they needed help, for Paul's first letter is such a wonderful guide, even framework for the Body of Christ.  Here are the verses I am looking at - 1 Corinthians 12:7-14,27-30 NIV:

[7] "Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good. [8] To one there is given through the Spirit a message of wisdom, to another a message of knowledge by means of the same Spirit, [9] to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by that one Spirit, [10] to another miraculous powers, to another prophecy, to another distinguishing between spirits, to another speaking in different kinds of tongues, and to still another the interpretation of tongues. [11] All these are the work of one and the same Spirit, and he distributes them to each one, just as he determines. 

[12] Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. [13] For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body---whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free---and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. [14] Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many." 

[27] "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. [28] And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. [29] Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? [30] Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues ? Do all interpret?"

[31] "Now eagerly desire the greater gifts. 

And yet I will show you the most excellent way."  (At this point he writes about Love...)

My reflection this morning is really more of a highlighting the key things that are resonating with me.

#1 - I am part of the Body of Christ (verse 27)

#2 - Whatever manifestation of the Spirit or gift I have been given is for the common good - the good of everyone, including me (verse 7)

#3 - We are all supposed to be connected and working in unison as members of the ONE Body of Christ (verse 13)

#4 - The Holy Spirit is the source of all that is needed, as He determines (verse 11)

#5 - God wants us to eagerly desire the greater gifts (verse 31) 

We are all critical to the Body of Christ.  If your physical Body is missing a part, or parts, it is limited in some way, unless its the appendix - :-)  We need to understand our significance!  This is not the church of the professional ministers, and the audience!  This is supposed to be the Church of every person connected and important and flowing in the manifestation of the Spirit for the good of everyone else!  This is not a Body where we can just drift along to the sweet by and by, we are meant to be active participants, desiring growth and health for the overall Body.

That being said, we all have different roles, different responsibilities, different callings, and even gifts.  They are given as the Holy Spirit determines, and His determination should be held as the highest directive.  In other words, who are we to only acknowledge only certain people's giftings or callings, when Holy Spirit has determined for the sake of the whole Body of Christ to distribute His manifestations to many if not all?! 

As a Body/Church we should be eagerly desiring for the great gifts to be evident, to be nurtured, to be encouraged!  We should not be afraid of Holy Spirit's manifestations, determinations and gifts, as they are critical to the healthy operation and growth of the overall Body of Christ!  If you are a teacher, you should eagerly desire God to raise up Apostles and prophets, etc. If you are a pastor, you need all of the above! If you are a member of any Church, you need all of the above, plus need to be praying that the Lord calls you to one of these! :-)

Lastly, none of this is about position, hierarchy, or power, or any specific denomination or congregation, it is about healthy balanced living and growth for the overall Body of Christ.  Do we need strong leaders, sure!  Will the Lord bring organization?  Sure He will!  Will there be some that are more visible than others?  Absolutely!  This is for Holy Spirit to drive and determine and we must humbly submit to His better ways and ideas.  We can think we understand what He is saying, and even take these words and apply them to our life, and keep the bit we like and agree with, and let the other parts lanquish or even be ignored, but Holy Spirit will make His way and will known.  I am confident that He will do everything well, and will not fail, even if He has to use sinful and weak individuals like me!  He actually doesn't have a choice, that's all that are available!  :-)

This morning, I am just encouraged that Holy Spirit really does have all this under control, and that being a part of the Body of Christ is much more than I have experienced so far!  I am convinced that we will see radical changes to our perspectives in the coming days and years!  I believe that the Lord is going to help us break out of our present limited view, and open our eyes to His worldwide, connected and powerful Body of Christ, and we will come to understand our critical part to play!

God: Father, Employer or Task Master?

Yesterday, during worship, I had another bit of revelation drop into my mind, and while not totally new, it certainly addressed something in me that needed to change.  Although disconcerting at times, correction from the Lord is always gentle, at least in my experience.  He leads me to my error and shows me the truth and and allows me to chose to change.

In summary, the idea that I was reflecting upon yesterday is that how we think about God, directly impacts our faith and our living out that faith. One could say they are directly tied to each other.  I am reminded of a book I read by A.W. Tozer, who said how we think about God is the most important thing in our life (paraphrased).  He made this same point, that our thinking about God impacts our living out our faith.  If we think God is an angry God, a task-master, than we will react to God that way, and perceive Him in that light.  If we think He cares only for righteousness via the Law, we will try to live our life in accordance to the Law.  If we think of Him as God of love, mercy, compassion and forgiveness we will relate to Him, and live out our life in that light.

What I saw yesterday was similar to an algebraic equation of 2x = y (or something similar).  I saw, in that moment, my expectations of God, revealing something about my faith, and belief towards God.  In the equation above, usually we would be given one factor and that would allow us to figure out the value of the other.  One could say that one side of the equation is hidden but revealed by the other.  

What I saw in my heart yesterday was an attitude towards God that revealed an inaccurate thought about Him, and impacted how I lived out my faith.  Specifically, I saw myself basing my understanding of God's love for me as being directly related to what He does for me, as in if He answers my prayers the way I want Him to answer them, then I believe that He loves me.  I found that I had placed expectations on Him, and that I was withholding some of my affection, waiting for an answer to some of my prayers.  In that moment, I realized that I wasn't embracing the Gospel of Grace, but rather a works based mentality, and worse  than that I wasn't seeing that in my own life,  instead I was projecting that on God!  I realized that I must have some works mentality, or legalism in my own life, where I believed that God only loved me if I did what He asked me to do!  

What I saw immediately reminded me of two separate examples from scripture, the first was the difference between Martha and Mary, as described in Luke 10:38-42.  In this story, Martha is busy with many tasks and Mary just sits at the feet of Jesus.  I saw that Mary understood that all she really needed was relationship with Him, listening to Him, and Jesus called that the better thing.  It seems to me that Martha was operating out of paradigm that Jesus expected her to make the preparations, and only in fulfilling those preparations would Jesus care for her.

The other story that came to mind was the Prodigal son, but not the younger son, but rather the older son, found in Luke 15:25-31 NIV:

[25] “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. [26] So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. [27] 'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' 

[28] “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. [29] But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. [30] But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!' 

[31] “ 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.

I have always understood the older brother to have had a wrong impression of His father, of His father's heart towards himself.  We see this echoed in his reply, "Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends."  He saw his father as a slave master, and saw himself as a slave, someone who must follow orders.  It is clear that he didn't feel the father's affection for him, nor embrace his true identity as his oldest son. The Father takes that moment to correct the oldest son, and show Him the truth, that He loved him and everything the father had was available to him.  The older brother, rather than living his life in relationship with the Father and enjoying all the Father had, was living his life as a slave, and expecting the Father to act the way a salve master would, never rewarding his obedience, never embracing him, loving him or providing for him!  What an ugly perspective he had of an obviously loving father!

I saw in my life the root of a similar thought, only revealed by my expectations on the Lord!  I was waiting for Him to do something for me (the older son's expectations was a goat for a feast) to show that He really loved me. Rather than being grateful for all that He has already done, I was focused on the one or two things that I wanted, and it was quite ugly, frankly. 

Additionally, I saw that I was treating the Lord like my employer, rather than my father.  I was expecting that if I did 2X,  he would do Y.  As in, if I do these 40-60 hours of work in the week, I would get paid.  This, while a bit better than seeing God as a slave master, is still a wrong perspective.

However, rather than chastise me, the Lord just gently invited me to embrace change, to repent of my wrong attitudes and expectations and just enjoy the intimacy with Him that is always available.  He isn't making His love for me dependent on my obedience, and I shouldn't make my love for Him dependent on fulfilled expectations. He has loved me, and given me salvation, forgiveness and relationship all without me doing a thing.  I don't need to do anything but accept all that He is offering me.  Why would I embrace anything other than the Gospel of Grace? 

As I embraced this invitation during worship, I was reminded of my love for each of my children.  While I was excited for their birth, when I first held them each in my arms, I found my heart exploding with this passionate love for them!  They hadn't done a thing and yet I loved them with a passion that I had not experienced before.  I knew that regardless of their life, who they became, I would always love them.  I felt the Lord say that this is the same way He loves me, that I don't have to do a thing, that His love for me has never waned, nor been impacted in slightest by anything I have done, or not done.

This morning I am encouraged in that I hear the Lord saying the same thing - "My son, you are always with me and everything I have is yours!"  No requirements, no tasks, just relationship!

Amen and amen!

Spoken Words vs. God's Word

On Sunday during worship I had some interesting insight, that I thought was worth digging into a bit more.  I was looking at some scripture in Exodus and Genesis, specifically about the Levites, and ran across something that grabbed my attention. 

In Genesis, as Jacob is getting ready to die, he calls his sons together and speaks prophetically over them.  I remember reading the bit about Judah, and Jacob rightly prophesies that Judah will ultimately rule over the other tribes.  Since I was looking at the tribe of the Levites, I thought I would read what Jacob said about them, and these are the verses - Genesis 49:5-7 NIV:

[5] “Simeon and Levi are brothers---their swords are weapons of violence. 

[6] Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly, for they have killed men in their anger and hamstrung oxen as they pleased. 

[7] Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel."

To say I was surprised would be an understatement.  I was expecting (in my poor memory of these verses) something along the line of what Jacob prophesied over Judah, that Levi would serve God, and was chosen by God for this special honor, or something positive at least.  Instead Simeon and Levi are essentially cursed, and told that they will be dispersed and lose any significance.  Wow, imagine having heard that in the presence of all your brothers!  I am sure they were rocked, they might have been mocked, and from that day forward the people of the tribe of Levi must have felt under a heavy word.  

As I was reflecting on all of this, one of our pastoral team got up and spoke an encouragement to those that had been with family over the holidays, and specifically those that had difficult situations.  As I was listening to him, I was thinking of so many people that I knew who lived under the shackles of harsh or critical words spoken about them, or over them by family members, former teachers, bosses, friends, or whoever.  Often these words become turning points, as they become internalized, and people live the rest of their lives trying to prove those words aren't correct, or they live in agreement and allow themselves to be limited by them, suffering self-esteem issues, even self-hatred.  There are those that I know that spend their lives trying to gain their parents approval, because of harsh or hurtful words that were spoken to them as children.  There are those that experience this afresh when they see family over the holidays.  I imagine that Levi, and all the Levites had a similar experience following this word being spoken over their lives, and relived it over an over again.

However, I must say that this is clearly not the end of the story for the Levites, because God had a different plan, and He had a different word He was going to speak over them.  I think the first indication of change was that Moses was born into tribe of Levi (See Exodus 2:1).  There are several references to Levites  in the story of Exodus, but rather than focus on them I want to look at how God spoke about the Levites in Numbers 3:11-13 NIV:

[11] The Lord also said to Moses, [12] “I have taken the Levites from among the Israelites in place of the first male offspring of every Israelite woman. The Levites are mine, [13] for all the firstborn are mine. When I struck down all the firstborn in Egypt, I set apart for myself every firstborn in Israel, whether human or animal. They are to be mine. I am the Lord.” 

What a completely different word God spoke concerning the Levites!  In fact later, as the promised land was being allotted, the Levites weren't given an inheritance of land, as noted here - Joshua 13:33 NIV: "But to the tribe of Levi, Moses had given no inheritance; the Lord, the God of Israel, is their inheritance, as he promised them."

Not only is the tribe of Levi claimed by God, "they are to be mine", He (God) is their inheritance! 

Wow, wow, wow!  What a complete change of destiny!  

This is my great encouragement today!  God's word is the only word we should listen to in our lives, concerning our destiny!  His word is the FINAL word!  He sees our true value, our true purpose, our true destiny.  Our parents, former teachers, bosses, false friends, co-workers, coaches, or whoever has spoken negative words into your life, don't have the final say!  God's word can set you free!  

I am sure that the former words of Jacob, although written in their books of Law, no longer had any weight in the lives of the Levites, after they heard God say He chose them, they were His, and He was theirs!

My prayer today is that the power of any such word, spoken over anyone I know, or who reads this, will be broken by Jesus!  For His words are simple and true.  I love You, I have chosen You and You are mine!

Amen and Amen!

Quarreling With God?

A couple of mornings ago I was reading in Psalm 95 which is an interesting Psalm.  Half of it is praising God for His greatness, and then it shifts and warns the people not to harden their hearts like the Israelites did at Meribah.  Here are the first two verses, then the shift to the second theme - Psalm 95:1-2,8-9 NIV:

[1] "Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation. [2] Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. 

[8] “Do not harden your hearts as you did at Meribah, as you did that day at Massah in the wilderness, [9] where your ancestors tested me; they tried me, though they had seen what I did."

I remembered a bit of the story referred to here, but also thought it would be good to reread, as clearly something significant happened at Meribah.  I was also reminded that this episode in Israel's history was referenced in the Letter to the Hebrews, and I wanted to look at that before going back to Exodus 17, which is where the encounter is described.  Here is the bit titled in my NIV "Warning Against Unbelief" from Hebrews 3:7-13 NIV:

[7] "So, as the Holy Spirit says: “Today, if you hear his voice, [8] do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the wilderness, [9] where your ancestors tested and tried me, though for forty years they saw what I did. [10] That is why I was angry with that generation; I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.' [11] So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.' ” 

[12] See to it, brothers and sisters, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. [13] But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called “Today,” so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness."

Clearly this was a serious issue in Israel's history, and it appears to have been one of the events that caused Israel to spend 40 years in the wilderness.  Whatever happened there is described as "the rebellion (verse 7, Hebrews), and the author of Hebrews describes this as the sin of unbelief.  With this perspective I turned to Exodus 17, expecting something pretty significant, but I couldn't remember the details exactly.  Here is the total account from Moses - Exodus 17:1-7 NIV:

[1] The whole Israelite community set out from the Desert of Sin, traveling from place to place as the Lord commanded. They camped at Rephidim, but there was no water for the people to drink. [2] So they quarreled with Moses and said, “Give us water to drink.” 

Moses replied, “Why do you quarrel with me? Why do you put the Lord to the test?” 

[3] But the people were thirsty for water there, and they grumbled against Moses. They said, “Why did you bring us up out of Egypt to make us and our children and livestock die of thirst?” 

[4] Then Moses cried out to the Lord, “What am I to do with these people? They are almost ready to stone me.” 

[5] The Lord answered Moses, “Go out in front of the people. Take with you some of the elders of Israel and take in your hand the staff with which you struck the Nile, and go. [6] I will stand there before you by the rock at Horeb. Strike the rock, and water will come out of it for the people to drink.” So Moses did this in the sight of the elders of Israel. [7] And he called the place Massah and Meribah because the Israelites quarreled and because they tested the Lord saying, “Is the Lord among us or not?”

That is the whole story, and I must say I was a bit underwhelmed.  In fact, I found myself somewhat agreeing with the people in the first couple of verses, so I figured there must be a bit more to this story, so I did a bit more reading, trying to understand the context and the significance of this event, for it was referenced a couple different times.  It is important to note that this is before Mount Sinai, before the 10 commandments are given, and before the "Golden Calf" incident.  However it immediately follows the Lord providing Manna every morning, and quail every evening.  

Additionally, they were being led by God who used the pillar of cloud or fire to direct their path. They had not been in the wilderness very long, so the memory of the crossing of the Red Sea should have been fresh in their minds.  God led them specifically to Rephidim, which actually means place of beds, or rest. They were led to camp here and clearly God knew there was no water, and knew that He had promised to feed them morning and night.  The author of Hebrews calls it a time of testing, and the whole set-up was apparently, exactly that, a set-up, where the Lord could determine the state of the hearts of the people, and assess their belief.

Into this context, I started looking at the account.  From the text the conflict seems to happen in verse 2, where we are told they quarreled with Moses. They wanted water, which seems to be a very reasonable request, and they went to Moses, as God's clear representative asking for it.  The original Hebrew word, 'wayyare' here translated quarreled, is used in several other verses in scripture, and most often it is translated "contends with", however in 1  Sam 15 the word i is used to describe an ambush the people of Israel attacked the Amelakites. In other words, it is a serious and possibly one-sided conflict, more like a slaughter than an argument.  The people weren't asking nicely, in fact the possibility of the threat of physical violence could be in the realm of possibility, and they might have had stones in their hands.

When I look at this situation, it seems to me to be an accusation of unmet expectation. Now, there is some reasonableness, water is necessary for life, especially in the desert, but it is the way in which they approached the issue that seems to be the issue.  They didn't ask nicely, they didn't inquire of the Lord, they didn't wait for Him to provide, what was clearly needed and understood, they didn't pray, they demanded water, violently.  

As I was thinking through this situation, several personal situations popped into my mind where I had unmet expectations on the Lord, and I was reminded of my own actions, which could totally be labeled unbelief.  I try diligently to follow the Lord in every major decision, and there have been a few times, where following Him has led me into a difficult situation, or situation that was not what I imagined it would be.  The latter is more common.  

When God speaks into my life I am always believing it will work out for the best, and by best I mean, the best I can imagine, or more specifically "what I would like to happen".  It is probably not actually the best for me, but I am pretty self-focused and often look at my finances as a major indicator of God's provision, and blessing.  I have been led into jobs that ended, jobs where I ended up being laid off, and I remember very clearly turning to God, and saying something like, "Is this what You call provision?"  

Honestly, plenty of the time I am praying and seeking the Lord, and tying my best to humbly wait on Him, but there are times that an underlying accusation rises up, and that is the result of unbelief.  This thought that God has led me here to starve or die of thirst (figuratively), rises up and I find myself agreeing with it.  This is the same sin as the Israelites committed here in Meribah. 

If I wanted to identify these similar thoughts or actions, I could put together a list:

1) I didn't sign up for this God!

2) You clearly don't know what's best for me, so I will choose a different path!

3) I have been waiting on You for the fulfillment of this promise, but You have never fulfilled it so I am going to make it happen!

4) If you don't do this for me, I am going to walk away!

5) If You loved me...

6) I am done with this... church... job ... marriage (anything entered into while following the Lord).

I could go on and on, but I think for me this list will suffice.  The truth is there has been, and continues to be, a bit of unbelief in my life.  I don't want to wait on God (He would have surely provided water in time to save them).  I don't believe His plan is the best for me, because difficulty and struggle clearly can't be good for me (tongue firmly in my cheek on that statement).  I am too self-focused and selfish to look at the bigger picture, and I believe my own thoughts and expectations more than I believe His word and promises.  Ouch, that last one really hit home. 

So, what am I to do?  

I believe the answer can be found in Heb 3: 12-13.  I need to turn towards God, this requires repentance (literally turning my mind and heart), seek His forgiveness, and daily encourage myself, and the Body, that God is faithful, good, loving, merciful and compassionate!  

He knows my situation!  

He has a plan!  

His plan is perfect!  

I need to wait on the Lord, and put the stone  of accusation down.  

I need to believe that He will lead me and guide me. 

I need to trust Him!

I need to believe Him!

I need to do exactly what He tells me to do, nothing more, and nothing less!

I need to ask for more faith! 

God does totally get it!  He understands my situation better than I do, and He is faithful!  He is faithful to lead me, even when I choose wrongly.  He is faithful to continue to love me and direct me, even when I don't trust Him.  He is faithful to forgive me when I take matters into my own hands.  He has already taken upon Himself any punishment my actions would have earned under the Law, so I don't need to fear His punishment.  I can turn towards Him, and enter His rest, immediately!  

I certainly don't deserve this love, or faithfulness on God's part, but that is  what the Gospel is all about!  None of us deserves any goodness, faithfulness or provision, and yet God in His unbelievable mercy and love, extends the offer to us all!   

Lord, help me to recognize any area where my heart is hardened and help me turn towards You.  Forgive me for any and all unbelief that still exists in my heart and mind!  Help me to believe!  Help me to trust!  Help me to wait on Your perfect plan!

Amen!

New Revelation: Layers Of Additional Meanings

 

Last night we had a time of worship at our church.  It was a lovely time, and in the midst of it, the Lord was encouraging me in some of the some of my recent reflections to embrace fully a changed mind.  I felt Him gently drawing me back to look fully upon Him, taking my eyes off those distracting things.  As I was working through some of that I was reminded of the Story of the wayward son, found in Luke 15: 11-32.  This is one of my favorite stories and as I was rereading it I had a couple of thoughts that were completely new to me, and I believe they were just the tiniest bit of new revelation (at least to me).  I love when the Lord opens my eyes to something new, seeing a new layer of potential meaning.  It is almost like a rose just continuing to open, revealing additional layers of beauty.

Jesus was telling this parable to a mixed crowd of His followers and Tax Collectors, sinners and Pharisees ( See Luke 15:1-3), and it was the third Parable we have recorded from that day.  Any He begins the story about a wealthy Father who has two sons, and he details the failings and wanderings of the younger son, but also includes the reaction of the older son, when the younger finally comes home, and the father celebrates.  I wanted to share those verses and look at a few thoughts - Luke 15:25-32 NIV:

[25] “Meanwhile, the older son was in the field. When he came near the house, he heard music and dancing. [26] So he called one of the servants and asked him what was going on. [27] 'Your brother has come,' he replied, 'and your father has killed the fattened calf because he has him back safe and sound.' 

[28] “The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. [29] But he answered his father, 'Look! All these years I've been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. [30] But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!' 

[31] “ 'My son,' the father said, 'you are always with me, and everything I have is yours. [32] But we had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' ”

What I heard last night were some additional levels to this story, that I hadn't thought of previously.  When Jesus speaks, there is usually more than one perspective, and usually deeper meanings as well as the most obvious.  

Clearly in the context of the crowd He was addressing, at first pass, the younger son represents the repentant sinners and tax collectors, those that were turning from "evil" lives to follow Him,.  The older son represented the Pharisees, those that followed the Law.  If you will, we could even go so far as saying the younger son represents the soon to be revealed New Covenant and the Gospel of Grace, the older son represents the Covenant of the Law.  While that was always a bit of an undeveloped thought for me, last night I saw it much clearer.  We could even go so far as to say the younger son represents the Gentiles, and the Older son represents the Jews.  Jesus is clearly the greatest prophet to have ever lived, and I believe He was laying the foundation for what would later be revealed and fulfilled through His sacrifice, and the revelation of the Holy Spirit.

One other thing that passed my mind was that we could possibly say that older and younger sons represent the angelic hosts and humans.  The spirit of the older son would, in this case, clearly be representing the fallen angels, for their rebellion and hatred towards God's other image bearers, man and woman.  I had never ever thought of that parallel, but I think its possible something is there worth reflecting upon. 

Additionally, another nuance I saw was the story being applied to the church today, and the new believers representing the younger son, the older son representing those that have embraced a bit of a religious spirit that has somehow convinced them that they have earned some right to payment (having things their way), or control from the Father.  In this case, the answer of the older son, "this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes" reveals an unforgiveness of the younger brother, even possibly a belief that he is tainted, or somehow is bringing his former sinful ways, or the fruit of them, back to the Father's house.  One could say that the older son feels the younger son doesn't deserve to be celebrated, and certainly not in charge of anything, until he demonstrates that his life is cleaned up, and earns the right to it.  I have unfortunately seen this attitude alive and well in the church, and even at times have had similar thoughts.  Lord forgive me!

One last thought on the older son, I also felt like he represents those of us who have judged the Lord for things not working out the way we wanted them to.  He represents those of us who have followed the Lord to the best of our ability, working and being obedient, and seeing others prosper, or be blessed, and wondering why God hasn't produced what we wanted or expected.  Ouch, that one certainly hits close to home for me.

In all of these nuances, I feel the Father's answer to the older son is an invitation to change the way he views Him, and to change the way he thinks about his situation.  The Father is celebrating the repentance (changing his thinking and actions) of the younger son, and I am sure He would celebrate the repentance of the older son as well!  The Father clearly understood the older son, and actually did the exact same thing that He did for the younger son, he went to him.  The Father's answer of intimacy "you are always with me" and promise of blessing and provision, "and everything I have is yours" have always been true, but he wants the older son to see that once again!  He is inviting the older son (those of us that are embracing this way of thinking) to lay down his offence, embrace the truth and change the way he thinks of the Father, and of his brother, who has already repented.

Oh, that we could learn to imitate the Father, celebrating the return of the lost, remember that we, too, were once lost, and embrace the invitation to intimacy and promise of blessings available to us!  Lord, help us to represent Your heart to all we meet, sinner or fellow brother or sister in this Your family.  Help us to lay down our wrong judgments, our wrong ways of thinking, and embrace Love, mercy and the Gospel of Grace.

Amen and Amen!

Living a Fragrant Life

This early morning I am reflecting on some verses from Paul's letter to the Ephesians 5:1-4 NASB:

[1] "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children; [2] and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma. 

[3] But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; [4] and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks."

My first thoughts in reading these verses this morning is that they seem polar opposites, and I think that one of the points Paul is developing here.  As I look at the relative importance of the two sets of verses, I believe our focus should be on the first two verses rather than the second two verses.  So often though, it seems we hear much more about the second set of verses, and the following few verses that I have not included here.  

My thinking is that if we are imitating Christ Jesus, and representing the Father, as His sons and daughters, and walking in love, then much of what we are warned against in verses three and four should be minimal issues.   However, a bit later on, Paul ascribes the actions in verses three and four as idolatry, and I think He is dead right.  We don't like to think of ourselves as idol worshippers, but I am guessing that anyone from this ancient time, if viewing our lives, would see idolatry alive and well in our culture.  We have phones on us, staring at them constantly, we have games we play, movies and TV shows we "must" watch, we live our lives connected to social media, and all these seem to be taking the place of God and His Word in our lives.  We chase after money, luxuries, and want what we want, often not thinking about the lowly or needy, or how we could sever the Lord with our finances. We have become so busy chasing busyness and things, that we no longer have time or attention for God.  Its hard to imitate someone we don't hang out with regularly.

Again, going back to verses one and two, we are encouraged to walk in love, a love that is representative of the way Jesus loved us.  He was constantly interacting with people, calling them to their greater purpose, inviting them to follow Him. Sure, His invitation often included a command to walk away from sin, but it was always in reference to gaining something far greater!  We have been invited into the very family of God, as His beloved children.  He has demonstrated His love for us, and continues to pour forth that love upon us daily.  If we could live rooted and grounded in that love, and walk throughout our days, actively loving those around us, I daresay we wouldn't have much time to worship our busyness, social media, and material idols. 

Paul is essentially espousing a replacement of one type of life-style with a different one.  He is encouraging the Ephesians to recognize which character traits and behaviors belong to which focus, either imitating God, or embracing the world. The greater the contrast between them the easier it is to see where we are aligned, and which ones we are pursuing ourselves.  As in all life-style changes, often the battle is won in the moment by moment decisions and thoughts throughout the day.  If we can begin our day spending time with the Lord, looking for ways we can imitate Him, and walking in love, we can at least start this day heading in His direction.  If we can then bring an awareness of Him and trying to imitate Him into our day, consciously choosing to turn towards Him again and again, we will find our lives becoming fragrant to Him.  

I am encouraged this morning to look closely at my life and my actions throughout the day, to see which direction I am tending towards.  I want make sure that if I find myself, throughout the day, turning away from focusing on the Lord, that I stop and turn back towards Him!. I want to choose to walk in love, to work at imitating my Lord in thought and in deed. I want my life to have a sweet aroma to my Lord!  I want my life to draw others towards Him, that they would see the effects of living in a relationship of love with Him, and desire that for themselves.  I want the Lord to be more important than anything else in this life, the only one I worship.

Amen and Amen! 

Jesus: Alive, Well and Reigning

This morning I have been reading a bit of Paul's second letter to Timothy and one of the things Paul wrote got me thinking.  Here are the verses - 2 Timothy 2:8-10 NIV:

[8] "Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead, descended from David. This is my gospel, [9] for which I am suffering even to the point of being chained like a criminal. But God's word is not chained. [10] Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect, that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, with eternal glory."

As I read verse 8, I thought to myself, "that is an interesting way to sum up the Gospel."  I guess if someone were to ask me to sum up the Gospel, I would definitely not include descended from David, at least in my first thoughts.  

This got me thinking about the  faith subjects that I think about most often, and it led me to the conclusion that I often am focused on the ministry of Jesus, rather than His Crucifixion and Resurrection, which is really the turning point of history.  I believe Paul includes the reference to David, as a way of framing, and founding this amazing plan of God in the Word and history of the Jews.   He believes that is important, as without that understanding we don't have the proper context for Jesus' life, ministry, death, resurrection, ascension and established Kingdom.  

Paul was so confident in this Gospel that He preached it unto his death.   He  endured much that he might faithfully bear witness to Jesus, and instruct "the elect" in everything, continuing to encourage them to hold fast to this Gospel.  His perseverance was much more than a life-style, it was a loyalty and dedication to Jesus, His savior, the Messiah, the Risen One!  His Gospel was lived out daily, and defended ardently, because it was embodied in Jesus Christ, now Risen and alive. 

As I think over this, I realize that for me, I too often find myself relating to the historical Jesus, that which is provided to us in Gospel accounts, rather than to the alive and Risen Jesus, who is alive, every bit as much today as He was in Paul's day.  I worship Him, and pray to Him and interact daily with Him, but if I were to be asked to describe Him, or think about Him, I tend to defer to that which is written in the Word, rather than speaking of Him as I know Him in my life today. 

This morning, I find myself encouraged to change the way I think about Jesus throughout the day.  I am encouraged to look to Him as He is, alive and well and interacting today!  I am encouraged to embrace this changed thought pattern to learn to think of Jesus alive and active today, first and foremost.  Lord, help me to change, to revise, to renew my minds defaults and see you as You are, alive and well, resurrected and reigning!

Note: the picture is me today, as I post this, as a reminder that Jesus is just as alive, He is just as present, He is not a historical figure only. 

Amen!

Something Completely Different

This morning I have been reflecting on Isaiah, chapter 19, which if you haven't read, is one that is quite surprising.  Reading the first verse, it seems like many of the other prophetic announcements, found in the major and minor prophetic books, against one of Israel's enemies, the nation of Egypt.  Here is the beginning - Isaiah 19:1 NIV:

[1] "A prophecy against Egypt: See, the Lord rides on a swift cloud and is coming to Egypt. The idols of Egypt tremble before him, and the hearts of the Egyptians melt with fear."

I was imagining Isaiah writing this down, in His prophetic flow, whatever that looked like, and then the Lord, shifts the theme and Isaiah find himself writing things he had never heard nor thought before.  I am reminded of a Monty Python skit called "Now for Something Completely Different". By the time he finishes this chapter, his final verse is as follows - Isaiah 19:25 NIV:

[25] "The Lord Almighty will bless them, saying, “Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance. ”

These two verses represent a magnificent 180 degree change, or do they?

If God is always the same, unchanging, past, present and future, (see Heb 13:8) then these verses don't represent a change, but rather an unveiling of a deeper flow of God's heart for the people of Egypt.  I believe this deeper love for Egypt, while often not seen, represents God's true feelings towards them.

I was thinking that a couple of famous verses, also found in Isaiah's prophecies, are almost an apology from God to Isaiah.  God says through him in Isaiah 55:7-9 NIV:

[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. 

[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."

This theme of the repentance of wicked people, and God having mercy on them, is the core of the Gospel message, which Jesus fulfilled, and announced.  Many people, couldn't understand this apparently radical visitation of grace and mercy upon sinners, and Isaiah, while the speaking forth the very theme, probably had some serious questions as well.  God in His mercy, brought clarity.  

He doesn't think like us, nor can we think like Him!

He doesn't act like us (thankfully)!

Most of us, myself included, have very little depth of understanding of God and His ways.  We cruise along, holding onto a shallow, at best, understanding of God and His ways and Word, and think ourselves mature, or at least comfortable with our knowledge of God.  Then God does something or speaks something that rocks our understanding.  In that moment, we receive a bit of revelation, which we think opens up a door of insight to God's hidden ways, and we are correct, to a degree.  However, it is my belief that there is always greater depth, and deeper ways to God, that we will never grasp, even when we see Him face to face!  

Using the imagery of Egypt in scripture as an example, it was both a blessing and a curse to the Jews.  It initially was a place of shelter and abundance, even multiplication to the Jews, under Joseph, but soon became an enslaving nation. Later, in Matt 2, we see God sending Joseph, Mary and baby Jesus to Egypt to escape the killing plans of Herod, so Egypt was again a shelter for the very Son of God, not just His people.  Possibly these verses from Isaiah represent this very thing, the Blessing of God released on Egypt for their role in protecting Jesus.  I think that is probably a bit of an over-reach.

What I think we are seeing here in Isaiah 19, is the uncovering of God's truer feeling for the nation of Egypt, and the Assyrians ( which include present day Iraq and Iran).  When I say truer, I mean that we probably haven't actually plumbed the full depth of God's feelings for them, but He definitely loves them, and calls them His people.

Now, taking this thematic idea of God's seemingly deeper love, mercy and compassion towards those we would think of as His enemies, or at least the enemies of His people, we must revisit our own judgmental attitudes towards them.   Some of our brothers and sisters even go so far as calling down judgment on certain people groups.  I believe that this perspective, while possibly even founded on some scripture, like Isaiah 19:1, probably doesn't represent God's true heart towards these people.  I am reminded of two separate verses from the Gospels.

John 3:16-17 NIV:

[16] "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

Matthew 9:11-13 NIV:

[11] "When the Pharisees saw this, they asked his disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” 

[12] On hearing this, Jesus said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. [13] But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.' For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”

I believe that Jesus' life and words best represent God's heart towards the world, towards all that are in the world, even towards those that are sinners and even possibly considered enemies of His church.  This is a very large stretch for most of us, but God doesn't limit Himself to our thoughts or our ways.  He is God, unchanging, and His plans, thoughts, emotions and purposes are far beyond our ability to comprehend.  We would, however, do well to emulate Him in his best revelation, His Son Jesus.  We would also do well to humbly accept that we don't actually understand all of God's ways.  

In summary, I am convinced that God sees the world differently than I do.  I am convinced that my grasp of His Word, is at best shallow.  I am convinced that my best path is to try to emulate His Son Jesus, in my life here, that I might represent Him to the best of my ability.  I am further convinced that I will be surprised by God's mercy, compassion and love!  He really is so far beyond my understanding and knowledge, but He is always inviting me deeper.  

Amen!

A Life and Legacy of Love and Faithfulness

This morning I have been reflecting on my life, a bit more than usual, as it was 6 years (plus 4 days) that my Dad passed on into heaven.  If there is one thing I can say that sums up my Dad's life, it would be to say he left a rich legacy of faith and love!  As I look at my life, I wonder if the same could be said of me, and it causes me to reflect, which is a good thing.  

Like usual in the midst of my reflection I like to go to scripture to get a different perspective, and today is no exception.  I started reading John's Gospel, and realized he didn't include his own testimony of the Lord calling him and his brother.  His Gospel is so different than the other three, much more of an eye-witness account, and I found it interesting that he didn't include the brief account that is included by the other Gospels.  Here is the account from Matthew 4:18-22 NIV:

[18] "As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. [19] “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” [20] At once they left their nets and followed him. 

[21] Going on from there, he saw two other brothers, James son of Zebedee and his brother John. They were in a boat with their father Zebedee, preparing their nets. Jesus called them, [22] and immediately they left the boat and their father and followed him."

Going back to John's Gospel, we find that when he refers to himself, it is often in relationship to Jesus, as the one Jesus loved (See John 13:33). I think this is a good perspective to have in life, that our significance really comes from our relationship with the Lord.  Not in a bragging sort of way, but as the source of identity and purpose and focus.  We are told that John and James, left their father, their boats, everything and followed Jesus.

In some of my past research I realized that James and John were likely the first cousins of Jesus, as it appears that their mother and Jesus' mother Mary were sisters. (see - https://amomentwithgod-srh.blogspot.com/2015/05/an-interesting-thoughti-wonder.html)  When I realized that, it helped me to understand, a bit more, the verses from Matthew where he describes James and John leaving everything to follow Jesus.  They were already well acquainted with Him, as first cousins, who might even have grown up together or at least seen each other regularly.  That being said, its clear that Jesus didn't begin His active ministry until after His baptism, and I believe that Jesus really did live a basically unremarkable, though perfectly obedient to the Father, life up until that point.  I wrote a few reflections on what I call "Reflections on a Quiet God" and they have to do with Jesus growing up, knowing He is the son of God, but not being released into ministry until He was 30 - they might be helpful.

This morning my reflection is centered on John.  His life, was unremarkable as well, up until that day that Jesus called him and his brother to follow him.  He was a fisherman, raised by a fisherman, living in a fishing village.  I am sure his daily life was focused mostly on fishing, providing sustenance for his family, and the community, for surely they sold their fish in the market.  The question, if you can call it that, that I am considering this morning, is how John lived His life out, after the 3 years of ministry with Jesus?  

It is clear from scripture that he spent those three years living with and following Jesus.  He was one of His most trusted disciples, and after Jesus ascended He was one of the leaders of the newly founded church.  However it was  the other James who was the primary leader of the Church (See Acts 15:13), John's brother James was executed by Herod (Acts 12:2), and Peter was the leader of the active ministry, and John was Peter's companion.  In fact, in the following Acts of the Apostles, we don't hear anything more about John specifically after chapter 8.  In fact, we don't really hear from or about John until he writes His letters and His Gospel, which were written later in His life. 

What we do know from history of the early church is that John was active in ministry in Jerusalem, then Ephesus and eventually Patmos, where he was banished.  According to early writers, "when John was aged, he trained Polycarp who later became Bishop of Smyrna. This was important because Polycarp was able to carry John's message to future generations. Polycarp taught Irenaeus, passing on to him stories about John. Similarly, Ignatius of Antioch was a student of John and later appointed by Saint Peter to be the Bishop of Antioch." ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_the_Apostle). 

Thus, while still recognized as a leader, we see that John was mostly concerned with establishing the church on a solid foundation.  He was a faithful follower and leader, but didn't require the spotlight.  He ministered for the remainder of his life, continuing to to follow the one who called him that day.  His faithfulness, and consistent witness were key to his legacy.  He didn't falter, that we know of, he continued on pursuing the call of His life, and was a faithful witness years after the rest of the Apostles  were gone, all martyred.  He is called by some the Apostle of love, for his first letter resonates with that core commandment.  He encouraged the followers of Jesus to love, as He (Jesus) loved us!  He wrote the following verses in his first letter 1 John 3:11,16-18 NIV:

[11] "For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another." 

[16] "This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. [17] If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person? [18] Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth."

In summary, as I reflect on John's life, for a few minutes, I am encouraged that a life of faithfulness and love, a life dedicated to passing on what is known, what has been experienced, and what is most important, being loved by the Lord, is a life worth living, and a legacy worth passing on.  John knew Jesus maybe better than anyone alive, probably from the time of his childhood, and he dedicated his life to continuing Jesus' ministry and message.  He spent many years in obscurity, as a fisherman, then as one of the three most trusted companions, then as a leader dedicated to passing on to others such as Polycarp and Ignatius, Jesus' teachings and ministry of love. He was an eye-witness to Jesus, and his life was his witness. 

My prayer is that my life might be a witness to those that follow, to those that want to know this Jesus.  My prayer is that my relationship with Jesus would be that which is my anchor for my life, that which keeps me faithful and focused.  My prayer is that being "one that Jesus loved" is sufficient for me. My prayer is that my message of love, of loving one another, of loving in action, would be evident in and from my life. 

Amen!