What DO We Believe?

This morning I opened my Bible and started reading from John's Gospel, tenth chapter.  There is so much to reflect upon in this chapter, for it is full of the Lord's comments about His ministry as the Good Shepherd.  However the verses I want to spend time with follow that section and are every bit as important.  Here are the verses - John 10:24-30 NIV:

[24] "The Jews who were there gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Messiah, tell us plainly.” 

[25] "Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The works I do in my Father's name testify about me, [26] but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. [27] My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. [28] I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. [29] My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all ; no one can snatch them out of my Father's hand. [30] I and the Father are one.” 

I don't know how more clear Jesus can be, "I and the Father as one."  Those words should end all discussion, end all dispute, and be the absolute unshakeable foundation of our faith!  I find His response to their question about whether He was the Messiah very interesting.  He starts by questioning their belief, talks about His works, then about His authority to give eternal life and finally about His unity with the Father, which in our backwards view makes total sense to us, but I am thinking was quite shocking to the Jews.

Going back to the verses, I think it is important that we take to heart what Jesus says in verses 25 and 26, for our belief is key in our encountering Jesus.  Jesus is alluding to the fact that there are people who witnessed His works (healings, deliverances, multiplication of food, etc.) who, after seeing these things, did not believe that Jesus was from God!  The prophets had spoken quite clearly about the signs of God moving, and what the Messiah would do, and these people should have known what to look, how to read the signs.  When confronted with these signs, at Jesus hands, they chose to not believe.

Thinking about belief, it is interesting how we can believe for a while and then seemingly change our minds and not believe.  I know many who have walked with the Lord, who have had relationship, and then walked away for one reason or another.  In the case of the Jews here, they wanted Jesus to admit that He was from God, that He was the Messiah, but their response when He does so is not worship.  Here are the very next verses - John 10:31-33 NIV:

[31] "Again his Jewish opponents picked up stones to stone him, [32] but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” 

[33] “We are not stoning you for any good work,” they replied, “but for blasphemy, because you, a mere man, claim to be God.”

It seems to me that they wanted a Messiah to their liking, one who did exactly what they wanted, their way!  They had something better here, the very Son of God, and they wanted to kill Him.  I think this demonstrates the religious spirit quite well.  It is a spirit that wants to control, wants to shape "god" in an image that is powerless and controllable. This spirit stirs up offense at anything that is different than what is allowed or desired... and does it with a sense of fervency and self-righteousness.  

I mean think about His last statement for just a few seconds, wouldn't it be better to have the Son of God your leader, rather than the some anointed military leader. It shows how twisted we we can become when we go all in with wrong thinking, wrong beliefs, or a spirit of religion.

How often do people get offended at God because He doesn't do what they want him to do?  I think that so often our belief about God is  that He is a helper, serving our selfish perspective in that moment.  Rather than looking at everything He has done, at all His provision and blessings, we instead look at what we want God to do, and when He doesn't do it we choose unbelief, because He clearly isn't the "god" we want!  Oh Lord forgive us!

Going back to the idea of belief, I think the questions is what do we actually believe?  

If we believe that Jesus is our Savior, the very Son of God who is one with the Father, our belief should never falter, should never change!

However, if we believe that Jesus is sent to make us happy, or healthy, or bless us, or help us, then when He doesn't do as we want, we no longer believe!  

Jesus at one point spoke about how people were only following Him because He fed them (See John 6:26).  One wonders how often we are following God for the very same reason, for what we want Him to give us.  We don't really want a God who thinks differently, or acts differently than we do.  God pointed out the problem back in Isaiah's day when He said, “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." (Isaiah 55:8-9 NIV). 

Dietrich Bonhoeffer said something like this, 'that part of the problem the Jews had with Jesus is that He always seemed to answer a different question than the one they had asked, or at least He answered it at a different level, or from a different perspective.

One would think that God, or His son whose every word came from the Father, would do exactly that!  From His vantage point outside of time, having all knowledge, when He addresses a situation He is operating at a completely different level, with a very different perspective.  I think this is the key decision point in our faith and belief of God!  If He is God then of course this is true, but if He isn't then He is incapable of anything supernatural, and Jesus was just a wise and gentle teacher.

He isn't God only when He does what we want Him to do!

We often times carry these beliefs in our mind and heart that are actually incompatible, but if we don't think hard about what we believe, we can live for years just ignoring this situation.  

God is either God or He isn't, there is no part-time truth here.

Jesus is either one with the Father or He isn't.

Our will and our own thinking, our wants or desires, have no impact on the statements I just made!  We are not the center of all things, the one whose thoughts and emotions all depend upon, yet this is often how we act.  Oh Lord, forgive us!

So this morning I am encouraged to dive much deeper into what I believe and why!  I am encouraged to look at my own thinking about the Lord, why I follow Him, why I love Him, why I believe He is God!  I am encouraged to look at how I respond to Him when things don't go the way i want!  I am encouraged to dig deep and make sure that my thinking aligns with my beliefs! 

Oh Lord, help me!

The Effects of Bad Seed

Recently some friends and I were talking about the crippling effects of unforgiveness. As I was thinking more about that I was reminded of a dream I had 10 years ago, about a woman who was literally shriveled up due to bitterness and anger at God.  I gained some additional insight as I ruminated on that dream and our recent conversations.

Here is the dream -  In my dream I met this older woman who was bent over, shriveled and just really bitter.  I asked the Lord what was wrong with her, and He said she had was angry at Him, and full of bitterness.  Many years earlier she had received a prophetic word about her life, and she had immediately set about trying to make it come to pass.  She had spent her whole life trying to see this word fulfilled and ended up exhausted frustrated and bitter. The Lord told me she had misunderstood the purpose of a seed prophetic word.  These words are meant to give us perspective about who we will become in time, not the next day.  Seed words, like all seeds, take time to produce fruit, and it is only by tending them and nurturing them that they become really fruitful.      

That was the totality of the dream, and I think it illustrates an important point about our need to become co-laborers with the Word/Promise of the Lord, to see it come to pass.  

Yesterday, what I understood was a bit of a different angle, and that is how negative experiences and even negative words about us can negatively impact our lives.  It seems to me that the woman had allowed a second seed, a negative judgment about the Lord,  to be planted in her shortly after the prophetic word, and unfortunately she had allowed that seed to mature and produce fruit.  When she was frustrated in her efforts to make that word come true immediately, she allowed a lie from the enemy to take root, and over time that is the seed that bore fruit.  She was angry at God for "lying" to her and that accusation had turned to unbelief, and even unforgiveness, and finally into bitterness towards the Lord! 

The seed to fruit principle is true both in the natural as well as the spiritual realm, both negative and positive seeds!  The seed we plant, turns into the fruit that seed came from, and will continue to do so over and over again!  That is why plants produce seeds.  In our spiritual life, if we allow unbelief, unforgiveness, or accusations against the Lord, or  other negative thoughts to be planted and continue to grow, they will bear that fruit in our lives over and over again.  It is a sort of self replicating thing, that must be dealt with!  

If I allow the seed of unforgiveness to be planted and grow, I will reap that harvest.

If I allow the seed of unbelief to grow, I will reap that harvest, over and over again.

If I allow the seed of self-hatred to grow, I will reap the harvest of self-hatred.

I am reminded of a few verses:  

Hebrews 12:15 NIV:  "See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God and that no bitter root grows up to cause trouble and defile many."

Ephesians 4:26-27 NIV:  “In your anger do not sin” : Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, [27] and do not give the devil a foothold."

We must deal with these things, and the longer we have allowed them to grow, the deeper the roots will be, and the larger impact.  The verse from Hebrews indicates that it can affect many! Thinking about this all in the language of seed and fruit, the foothold we give to the enemy is exactly that, a seed.  I have seen, and know of many people who struggle with anger, frustration, self-hatred, unforgiveness, unbelief, or a victim mentality, and in every case that I know well, there is always a root cause.  In pretty much every case, they experience the same things over and over again, continually reaping the harvest of that negative seed.  Some folk I know literally have a litany of wrongs done to them that they repeat over and over and over, constantly feasting on that negative fruit!  Yikes!

So how do we deal with these things in our lives?  How do we pull them up by the root, and rid ourselves of their impact?  Thankfully the Word has much to say, and much has to do with forgiveness and repentance!

Ephesians 4:31-32 NIV:  "Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. [32] Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."

Colossians 3:12-13 NIV:  "Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. [13] Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you."

The first thing we need to do is recognize that any of the bad fruit we are experiencing is not from God!  He doesn't want us to live our lives in such pain, anger, bitterness and frustration.  He desires us to be set free, and He has made a way!  In Jesus words, He came that we might have life and have it to the full (John 10:10). 

I have found that forgiveness is my first weapon, for by forgiving I am able to let go of the hurts, wounds and pain!  Most of the time I need the Lord's help!  Oftentimes it is something I need to continue to forgive, for I find that there are little roots still left in my emotions, in my spirit, in my thoughts towards those that have wounded me.  Setting my heart to forgive is really a decision I must make about what I will allow to grow in me.  What fruit do I want to harvest in my life?

Secondly, I must ask the Lord's help in repenting, thinking and acting differently!  Repentance is a beautiful word when You realize it is the means for transformation of our lives!  Learning to think and act differently is described by Paul as the renewing of our mind (Romans 12:2) and this is essential.  If we do not allow the Word of the Lord to be planted, and then nurture and water that word, we will not harvest the fruit (See Matt: 13:3-9; 18-23 - The Parable of the Sower).

Thirdly, we must recognize any judgments we have made, or agreements we have with the lies of the enemy about God, or about ourselves.  He (the enemy) is constantly accusing God to us, telling us He doesn't love us, care for us, watch over for us, desire our good, have the power and authority to help, etc.  He is also constantly accusing us to ourselves, telling us we deserved the pain, that we are worthless, too damaged to be any good, failures, etc.  Sometimes we don't even know we have made these agreements, or believed the lies, and that is the nature of the deceiver, He deceives us into thinking his lies are true.  Again, this is something we should ask God's help in uncovering!  Once uncovered, we need to ask forgiveness for these wrong thoughts about God, and His creation (ourselves especially).  

The best indication of whether or not we have bad fruit in our lives, is by what we experience (harvest).  The Lord has provided us lists of what life He desires for us, and if we are not experiencing these all the time, then its a good bet we need to do some weeding and root extracting. 

Paul writes about it in his letter to the Galatians 5:22-23 NIV:  "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." 

- and - 

Ephesians 5:8-9 NIV:  "For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light [9] (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth)"

James adds the following - James 3:17 NIV:  "But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere."

If I struggle to experience this type of fruit in my life then its a pretty good bet that I am need of some repentance, and maybe even some help in uncovering the roots of those things that need to be removed.  I am so thankful for Christian counselors, pastors and others the Lord has given wisdom in helping us step free of these negative harvests.  There is no shame in asking for help!

Finally, the watering and nurturing of God's word, knowledge of His love, and the blessed Gospel will likely involve creating a litany of God's promises, blessings and affirmations!  We need to be reminded daily of His love!  As Paul wrote in his letter to the Philippians 4:4-9 NIV:

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

[8] Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable---if anything is excellent or praiseworthy---think about such things. [9] Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me---put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you."

Amen and Amen!

NEW Wine

Yesterday there seemed to be some new things in the spiritual river that I was hearing, ends and beginnings, new things has been a theme for a while.  Lord, please help me to hear, help me to listen to what You are saying.  

Here are some helpful verses:

Isaiah 42:9 NIV:  "See, the former things have taken place, and new things I declare; before they spring into being I announce them to you.”

Isaiah 43:18-19 NIV:  “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. [19] See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland."

Isaiah 48:6-7 NIV:  "You have heard these things; look at them all. Will you not admit them? “From now on I will tell you of new things, of hidden things unknown to you. [7] They are created now, and not long ago; you have not heard of them before today. So you cannot say, 'Yes, I knew of them.'"

There is definitely something to the Lord bringing forth surprises, new things, new revelations!  I love the fact that He is still creating, still unfolding His plan and purposes and sometimes we are unaware, and when it falls into place, we see all the things that He has prepared in advance, and how certain aspects of our previous experiences were actually pointing to this, we just didn't understand it at the time.  

Often I find that He has been talking, but without the final context, I have misunderstood Him.  It is like what happened with the Apostles and Jesus' passion and death, He had been speaking about it very literally, and they just couldn't grasp it, and it didn't make sense, until afterwards when they remembered.

The danger in the new wine and new material to patch old, is that the new does not coexist well with old paradigms.  In fact, one could say they can be destructive.  The familiarity of the old can also limit our acceptance of the new!  We like the old better, we don't like change!

The version of this teaching as recorded by Mark is interesting, here it is -  Mark 2:21-22 NIV: “No one sews a patch of unshrunk cloth on an old garment. Otherwise, the new piece will pull away from the old, making the tear worse. [22] And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the wine will burst the skins, and both the wine and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins.”

Looking at the version from Luke, we gain some additional information - Luke 5:36-39 NIV:  [36] "He told them this parable: “No one tears a piece out of a new garment to patch an old one. Otherwise, they will have torn the new garment, and the patch from the new will not match the old. [37] And no one pours new wine into old wineskins. Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins; the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. [38] No, new wine must be poured into new wineskins. [39] And no one after drinking old wine wants the new, for they say, 'The old is better.' ”

Important things to note:

1) Trying to path the old with new is bad, it ruins both.

2) Trying to contain new wine in old wine skins is bad, it ruins both.

3) Many prefer the old over the new.

4) New wine requires new wine skins!

What does new wine symbolize?

Here are a few verses - 

Genesis 27:27-28 NIV

"So he went to him and kissed him . When Isaac caught the smell of his clothes, he blessed him and said, “Ah, the smell of my son is like the smell of a field that the Lord has blessed. [28] May God give you heaven's dew and earth's richness---an abundance of grain and new wine."

Deuteronomy 7:12-13 NIV

"If you pay attention to these laws and are careful to follow them, then the Lord your God will keep his covenant of love with you, as he swore to your ancestors. [13] He will love you and bless you and increase your numbers. He will bless the fruit of your womb, the crops of your land---your grain, new wine and olive oil---the calves of your herds and the lambs of your flocks in the land he swore to your ancestors to give you."

Psalm 4:6-8 NIV

Many, Lord, are asking, “Who will bring us prosperity?” Let the light of your face shine on us. [7] Fill my heart with joy when their grain and new wine abound. [8] In peace I will lie down and sleep, for you alone, Lord, make me dwell in safety.

New wine is symbolic in the Old Testament of the Lord's blessing, and abundance.  There is joy in the harvest, and peace in the provision of the Lord.

In the New Testament, we find the New Wine is symbolic of the New Covenant, and Jesus' blood, which is shed for us, washing us clean, paying the price for our transgressions, the greatest blessing of all time!

Luke 22:17-20 NIV:

"After taking the cup, he gave thanks and said, “Take this and divide it among you. [18] For I tell you I will not drink again from the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes.” [19] And he took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, “This is my body given for you; do this in remembrance of me.” [20] In the same way, after the supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood, which is poured out for you."

I am greatly encouraged this morning that the Lord is moving, is unfolding, is revealing new things!  I am encouraged because He is about it, and it is not of our doing!  His plans and purposes, as they are revealed will make sense, for then we will see in retrospect, and will understand that He has been speaking all along!  

I am encouraged that God's blessing in new wine, may very well require me to accept new things, new paradigms, new ways of doing things!  I must be willing to lay down those things I am familiar with, those things I prefer, in order to join myself to what New thing the Lord is pouring forth!

I love when the Lord is moving, there is joy in the revelation, joy in His provision, and joy provides endurance, for sometimes there is a process and timing that takes longer than we want.  

Yes Lord, pour out Your New Wine!

His Unsearchable Ways

This morning I am reading from Roman's 11, which is where Paul is speaking about the future salvation of Israel, and the ingrafting of the Jews.  It is an interesting chapter in that Paul is uncovering some small part of God's plan.  In the midst of it though Paul is warning the Gentile church to not become arrogant or conceited, which are the calling cards of spiritual pride.  Here are some of the verses - Romans 11:17-21,25 NIV:

[17] "If some of the branches have been broken off, and you, though a wild olive shoot, have been grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing sap from the olive root, [18] do not consider yourself to be superior to those other branches. If you do, consider this: You do not support the root, but the root supports you. [19] You will say then, “Branches were broken off so that I could be grafted in.” [20] Granted. But they were broken off because of unbelief, and you stand by faith. Do not be arrogant, but tremble. [21] For if God did not spare the natural branches, he will not spare you either." 

[25] "I do not want you to be ignorant of this mystery, brothers and sisters, so that you may not be conceited: Israel has experienced a hardening in part until the full number of the Gentiles has come in,..."

It is such a tempting thing to embrace spiritual pride when the Lord is blessing us.   We get to thinking that we have a special place in God's heart, which is true, but we start to elevate ourselves above others (in our own eyes and hearts) which is not true!  There is a fine line of going hard after the Lord, and not judging others who are pursuing Him differently.  

If we think our pursuit of Him, or our personal holiness has some impact on how God loves and blesses us, then we are embracing, in a way, a works mentality.  As Paul says a few verses earlier, "And if by grace, then it cannot be based on works; if it were, grace would no longer be grace." ( Romans 11:6 NIV).  We must always remember that our salvation, our relationship, our gifts are all grace, freely given and NOT earned.

In my logical mind, I can't see how all that Paul writes in this chapter is possible!  How will all of Israel be saved? (Rom 11:26 NIV)  I don't fully grasp the way the Lord moves across multiple generations and yet interacts with us in our present state, and somehow all of it works out perfectly.  It really is enough to make your mind break if you try to understand it all.  I think Paul gets to this place and thus ends this chapter with the following - Romans 11:33-36 NIV:

[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."

To that I add my Amen! I don't need to understand it all, I know that God is worthy of my trust, belief and love!

When God Emptied Himself

Yesterday while walking my dog I found myself thinking about Jesus, and His emptying Himself to become man, and it just really got me thinking.  The best verse t describe this is found in Philippians 2:6-11 NIV:

[6] {speaking of Jesus Christ} "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; 

[7] rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. 

[8] And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death---even death on a cross! 

[9] Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, 

[10] that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 

[11] and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father."

I am spending some time thinking about how Jesus made Himself "nothing" (see verse 7 above) in becoming man.  I believe this word nothing is used in contrast to the infinite, all-knowing and all-powerful nature of the Godhead.  In comparison, although in God's image, man is as "nothing", limited in our perception, limited in our life-span, limited in our abilities,  just plain limited in our finite-ness.  

Other translations say He emptied Himself, and I think that describes well Jesus' incarnation.  I am amazed that the Lord would humble himself to such an extent, for most of us rarely choose, of our own volition, a humbler position or existence, and if we do, it is certainly not comparable to what Jesus embraced in becoming like us.

He was eternal and outside of time, yet He chose to be bound by time, and its affects on our human bodies.  

All powerful, yet He chose to become fully man; embryo to fetus, to baby, to child, to adolescent to man.

All knowing, He chose to be limited to the confines of a human mind, depending on the Father and Holy Spirit for any other insight or understanding.

The Creator, He chose to fully embrace and accept being one of His creations.

Having all authority and power, He lived under the authority of His mother and father, under the power of the Roman Empire, under the power of the spiritual forces present at that time.

He was the greatest man to ever live, yet He remained hidden for 90% of His life.

He was part of the Trinity, Holy and Majestic, beyond comprehension, and yet He emptied Himself, to become a triune being like us, body, mind and spirit.  

Ultimately He suffered brutal beatings, humiliations and finally crucifixion and death, and raised not His mighty right hand or voice against His killers.

I find my mind just can't grasp any of this, the absolute unfathomable mystery of His becoming man!  I don't even have words to express what actually He went through in emptying Himself, becoming as nothing, for our sake!

I know that it is true!  I know that He chose this to reconcile us to Himself, to the Father and Holy Spirit, but it just seems too great a cost, too great of a sacrifice, just beyond anything and everything that has ever been done!  

Then, after having suffered, been beaten and dying for our sins, He comes back and extends to us the Gospel of Grace, giving salvation and eternal life to any and all who receive Him and believe!  He opens the door for the Holy Spirit to come and indwell us, pouring out living water!  

His "vengeance" against those who killed Him was to offer them salvation and full life!

Wow, wow, wow!

Lord, I am clearly not worthy of any of mercy, any of Your grace, and yet You shower it all down upon me!  You love me and desire relationship with me!  You have made a way where there was no way!  You paid the ultimate price, yet did so willingly!  

Thank You Lord for all that You did to set me free from sin and death, that I might accept Your Gospel!

Thank You, Thank You, Thank You!  

Revealed and Made Known

Today I felt led to read from John 17, the final prayer of Jesus over His disciples and over us.  I am always encouraged when I read His prayers and press further into Him for understanding.  The verses I am reflecting on this morning are as follows - John 17:1-8,26 NIV:

[1] After Jesus said this, he looked toward heaven and prayed:

 “Father, the hour has come. Glorify your Son, that your Son may glorify you. [2] For you granted him authority over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. [3] Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent. [4] I have brought you glory on earth by finishing the work you gave me to do. [5] And now, Father, glorify me in your presence with the glory I had with you before the world began. 

[6] “I have revealed you to those whom you gave me out of the world. They were yours; you gave them to me and they have obeyed your word. [7] Now they know that everything you have given me comes from you. [8] For I gave them the words you gave me and they accepted them. They knew with certainty that I came from you, and they believed that you sent me. 

[26] I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”

The verses that stood out to me this morning were verses 6 and 26, where Jesus speaks about how He revealed and made know the Father.  This is such a  critical part of His ministry, and yet it seems to be missed, or at least not highlighted by many.  The ministry of Jesus was one of constantly representing the Father in word and deed.  He said earlier in John's Gospel that every word He spoke came from the Father ( John 8:28 & John 14:24) and everything He did was at the Father's direction (John 5:19).  In other words He was representing the Father to us all!  The author of the Letter to the Hebrews opens with this profound fact and says , "The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being,..." ( Hebrews 1:3 NIV).

This reality that Jesus was representing the Father is so important for us to grasp!  If we want to know what the Father thinks or says we can look to tthe words of Jesus recorded in scripture and get a very solid idea of the exactly what the Father is like.

We don't need to wonder, or question.

What Jesus said is what the Father was saying!

The Father is unchanging, so everything that Jesus said about the Father then is true of the Father now!  

If the original sin of Adam and Eve was believing a lie and accusation about the Father, then Jesus coming and correcting that wrong belief and proving that accusation wrong is of critical importance in our understanding and relationship with Him!

Thank You Jesus for revealing the Father to us!  Thank You for faithfully representing Him to us all   Help us to dive deep into this revelation, into your representation of the Father, that we might rightfully love, honor and follow Him in all our words and actions!

Amen and Amen!

A Wholly Different Take On The Prodigal Son

Recently some members of our church spent some time in Ephesians 1, and walked through these incredible promises.  Here are the verses - Ephesians 1:3-14 NIV:

[3] "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. [4] For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love [5] he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will--- [6] to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. [7] In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God's grace [8] that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, [9] he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, [10] to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment---to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ." 

[11] "In him we were also chosen, having been predestined according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose of his will, [12] in order that we, who were the first to put our hope in Christ, might be for the praise of his glory. [13] And you also were included in Christ when you heard the message of truth, the gospel of your salvation. When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, [14] who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession---to the praise of his glory."

As we were talking through these sections, the theme of our adoption into a place of sonship and daughtership, was brought up over and over again.  Our identity as a son or daughter is essential for us to understand as all blessings are supposed to flow to us out of that relationship, to God's Glory.  In Christ, through our salvation and redemption, we have been blessed with every spiritual blessing in Christ!  Wow, that is actually unfathomable!

These verses and others like them talking about our sonship, our adoption, and our inheritance like Romans 8:14-17 are key to how we must understand our identity for us to walk fully in God plans and purposes.  We are called to represent Him to this world, and part of that representation is our invitation to continue Jesus' ministry, operating in the power of the Holy Spirit, as first experienced in Acts 2, but demonstrated over an over again in the rest of Acts.  The miracles, the signs and wonders, the healings, the casting out of demons, the inspired preaching and prophetic insight are all ours to lay-hold of for they are part of our heavenly inheritance as sons and daughters of God!  Oh what a lovely and blessed invitation we have received!  Oh that we might live out the fullness of this in our daily lives!  This is definitely my heart!

Yesterday while walking in the park I was thinking very similar thoughts to what I wrote above, reflecting on my life, and my inheritance in Christ!  I was suddenly reminded of another son and inheritance as described by Jesus in Luke 15:11-32 in His parable of the wayward son.  Without quoting all the verses here, the basics of the story is that the younger son of a rich man, asked for his inheritance early, and went and squandered it in a distant land.  Jesus describes it as follows, “Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. After he had spent everything, there was a severe famine in that whole country, and he began to be in need." ( Luke 15:13-14 NIV)  

The idea of squandering all of his wealth in wild living is a picture to me of someone who does everything they want to  do, a wholly selfish individual.  They see no value in the relationship, no importance to their authority as son, no desire to represent the Father!  Historically, I always thought this was a picture of those who have fallen away from the faith, who have lived in a place of relationship and blessing, only to reject it all for the sake of their own selfish desires.  

That understanding might be true, but yesterday the Lord opened my eyes to how in many ways I am like that younger son!  

Ouch!

I was not expecting that!

As I thought about it I realized this was absolutely true!  In light of the eternal blessing, spiritual blessings, wisdom and revelation, this incredible inheritance that I have received and been gifted in Christ, what have I done?  More often then not, my focus is wholly on myself, I am focused on what I want to be focused on, I am concerned about my little wants and needs rather than representing the Lord!  I might not of spent it all on wild living, but I certainly have not done much with it that would represent the Lord in a meaningful way!

I have used the gifts and talents given me by God for my own betterment, my own desires and purposes.  I think much more about my own desires and plans than I ever do of the Lords!  I am less concerned about His will and purpose than I am my own.  I don't operate in real authority, power or wisdom, yet they are all available to me!  I have squandered much of what I have been given!

Worse yet, I think much of the church is in a similar state!  We have as our inheritance all authority and power, the continued ministry of Jesus, and we settle for building churches that we want, lifestyles that suit us, feeling good about our weekly service, about how well we sang, or preached or whatever, yet lacking the power, the authority, the mercy, compassion and love demonstrated by Jesus!  The Church of God is meant to represent the ministry of Jesus to a fallen world, and more often than not we bicker and fight amongst ourselves, and are more focused on our stuff than what the Lord is about in the rest of the Body of Christ.

Oh Lord forgive me for squandering my inheritance!

Oh Lord, I need Your help!

Oh Lord, we need Your Help!  

Help us come to our senses!  Help us to recognize the truth of our inheritance, the authority and power, and heavenly blessings that are ours in You!  Help us to return to the Lord and receive the embrace, the robe, ring and sandals of our identity, those which represent our true inheritance!  Help us to wake up and recognize that You are waiting with loving arms, waiting for us to turn towards You, that You might run to us and embrace us and restore all that we have squandered!  

Lord, I want to step into my inheritance as Your son!  Help me to rightly represent You in ALL I do!  Help me to take my eyes off myself, off my wants and desires, that I might look to You to see what You care about, what You purpose for me!

The GREAT NEWS is that God does forgive, is waiting for me to return with open arms and plans to restore everything I have squandered!

Amen and Amen!

Our Daily Bread

This morning as I was praying I just had this thought about the importance of feeding ourselves on the Word, daily and immediately I was reminded of the Israelites going out each morning and gathering manna!  

Here are the verses where the Lord introduces manna - Exodus 16:11-18 NIV:

[11] "The Lord said to Moses, [12] “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, 'At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.' ” 

[13] That evening quail came and covered the camp, and in the morning there was a layer of dew around the camp. [14] When the dew was gone, thin flakes like frost on the ground appeared on the desert floor. 

[15] When the Israelites saw it, they said to each other, “What is it?” For they did not know what it was. 

Moses said to them, “It is the bread the Lord has given you to eat. [16] This is what the Lord has commanded: 'Everyone is to gather as much as they need. Take an omer for each person you have in your tent.' ” 

[17] The Israelites did as they were told; some gathered much, some little. [18] And when they measured it by the omer, the one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little. Everyone had gathered just as much as they needed."

What a great picture of what we are invited to do, to have daily interactions with the Lord, "The bread of Life"! (See John 6:48)  Lord, you desire to meet with us daily, to provide real food for our hearts, minds and spirits!  You desire to feed us!  Its enough for today, but tomorrow I need to do the same.

Secondly, this morning I was led to read from Isaiah 43:18-21NIV:

[18] “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. 

[19] See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland. 

[20] The wild animals honor me, the jackals and the owls, because I provide water in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland, to give drink to my people, my chosen, 

[21] the people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise."

We need food and water, and the Lord is about providing us exactly what we need!  Not only does He provide bread, but He provides springs of living water! (see John 4: 13-14) Let us turn to Him today, to feed us and quench our thirst!  Let us learn to seek His "Bread of Life" and "Living Water" every day!

Amen and Amen!