Restoration and Abundant Blessings

Yesterday during our time of worship after the sermon, I felt like I heard something from the Lord concerning those who have gone through some difficult times.  The verses that I was directed to are as follows -  Jeremiah 33:6-11 NIV:

[6] “ 'Nevertheless, I will bring health and healing to it; I will heal my people and will let them enjoy abundant peace and security. [7] I will bring Judah and Israel back from captivity and will rebuild them as they were before. [8] I will cleanse them from all the sin they have committed against me and will forgive all their sins of rebellion against me. [9] Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things I do for it; and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide for it.' 

[10] “This is what the Lord says: 'You say about this place, “It is a desolate waste, without people or animals.” Yet in the towns of Judah and the streets of Jerusalem that are deserted, inhabited by neither people nor animals, there will be heard once more [11] the sounds of joy and gladness, the voices of bride and bridegroom, and the voices of those who bring thank offerings to the house of the Lord, saying, “Give thanks to the Lord Almighty, for the Lord is good; his love endures forever.” For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were before, ' says the Lord."

We were reflecting on the Lord's presence, His indwelling Holy Spirit, and His desire to be with us.  As we were reflecting I felt led to the scriptures above and had this strong sense that the Lord wanted those of us who are living in difficult situations to have hope!  

In the scriptures above the Lord had just talked about Israel's rebellion, and disobedience being the cause of their present captivity, but that their hopes and dreams to return to their own land were going to be fulfilled by Him!  The sense I had was that the Lord was starting to put in motion processes of restoration, with the goal being rest and relationship! 

This restorative process flows out of relationship with Him! It is interesting all the "I will" statements in verses 6-8:

I (God) Will - 

Bring Health and healing to the land

Heal my people 

Let my people enjoy abundant peace and security (rest)

Bring my people back from where they are captive (freedom)

Rebuild my people and their homes/cities

Cleanse my people from their sin

Forgive my people's sin of rebellion

I love the imagery found in verse - [9] "Then this city will bring me renown, joy, praise and honor before all nations on earth that hear of all the good things I do for it; and they will be in awe and will tremble at the abundant prosperity and peace I provide for it.' "

The Lord will be so good to His people that all the nations will tremble (fear) because of the goodness of God, the very prosperity and peace He provides!  That is definitely more than just a Sunday "feel good" from going to church!   

Oh Lord, we pray that You would launch your grace, mercy, compassion and blessing and fulfill Your word in all its completeness in our lives!  Lord, bring healing and restoration especially to those in hopeless situations!  Please bring health healing, rest, freedom, abundant blessing, forgiveness and cleansing to  Your people!  Help to press into You for You are the one that will do all of this!

Amen and Amen!

Spiritual Vision Impairment

The verses for this morning come from the end of the story of Jesus healing a man who was born blind. The story is a great read, but today I am just focusng on the last few verses  - John 9:35-41 NIV:

[35] "Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, and when he found him, he said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?” 

[36] “Who is he, sir?” the man asked. “Tell me so that I may believe in him.” 

[37] Jesus said, “You have now seen him; in fact, he is the one speaking with you.” 

[38] Then the man said, “Lord, I believe,” and he worshiped him.

[39] Jesus said, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind will see and those who see will become blind.” 

[40] Some Pharisees who were with him heard him say this and asked, “What? Are we blind too?” 

[41] Jesus said, “If you were blind, you would not be guilty of sin; but now that you claim you can see, your guilt remains."

Yesterday my theme in prayer was listening to Jesus, and this morning the theme is Spiritual Blindness, so I see a bit of a pattern.  Lord, help me to see and hear!

If I were to create a definition of Spiritual blindness from these verses, it would be those who think they can see and understand God but don't have relationship with Jesus.  

It is such an interesting thing that the Pharisees and other experts of the law, knew the words so well, but completely didn't recognize the author was in their midst!  Not only that, but when Jesus pointed out that they were misinterpreting the very meaning, they wanted to kill Him!  They were so committed to their understanding that they refused to change or even consider that they might be wrong, even when confronted with signs and miracles, healings and deliverances.

As I was thinking through this I was reminded of a story about a magician named the Amazing Rudi who created a fake psychic "Carlos" and worked with 60 Minutes in Australia.  The show was a complete hoax and at the end of it, they revealed it as such, but there were people who would not believe they had been tricked.  They were so firm in their belief, and judgments that when confronted with the truth by the author of the hoax, they refused to change their minds.  In the same way, the Pharisees were so committed to their way of understanding the Law and God, that they were unwilling to change their minds.

I know that at times I  certainly have been spiritually blind, or maybe vision impaired!  Especially when I was younger in my faith, I thought I had most everything figured out, and understood exactly what God was like, based on my own experience and what I had heard from trusted teachers.  I was convinced that the beliefs of our church were representative of the complete truth, and every other church only believed part of the truth.  I was spiritually vision impaired for sure.

There are many such churches out there, denominations that teach such,  and many of our brothers and sisters that refuse to believe anything other than what they have been taught or seen themselves.  There are those that hold the Bible as the complete record of God, and anything experienced that is not specifically found in the Bible as being not of God.  We have many ways of being spiritually vision impaired, of seeing things only through the lenses of our own limited understanding and perspective.  

The Lord has been gracious to me, providing me ample opportunities to change my mind (repent) about my beliefs and perspectives.  He has been gentle and merciful, knowing that it requires a level of humility to admit my own wrongness, and He is willing to help me get to that point!  

I guess if I were to modify my definition of spiritual blindness I would add spiritual pride, as a sort of spiritual vision impairment.  We can see in part, but be convinced that we see the whole thing and understand every bit perfectly.

I am reminded of the story of the blind men who encountered an elephant and each defined the elephant by what they could touch, but none were able to describe the whole elephant.  In my spiritual walk I have realized that I have only experienced a very small portion of God, and that as such, I better keep my eyes and ears open to further understanding and opportunities for repentance!  

I am impressed more and more how true God's words through Isaiah are , “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).

I am also impressed to be aware of anyone claiming to know everything about God, for while I once had similar thoughts myself, I have been mercifully corrected.  :-)

May the Lord bless us and help us to see!

Amen!

Listen to Him!

This morning I was reading from Mark, Chapter Nine.  There are so many things to think about and reflect on in every chapter of the Gospels, its almost impossible to really reflect on a whole chapter at once. That is why I read through the chapter and then think back over it and see which bit stands out the most in my recollection.  Often times it is not the one I would think going into the chapter.  This is just one of the many ways I have learned to listen to the Lord.  The verses that stood out to me today are the following - Mark 9:2-10 NIV:

[2] "After six days Jesus took Peter, James and John with him and led them up a high mountain, where they were all alone. There he was transfigured before them. [3] His clothes became dazzling white, whiter than anyone in the world could bleach them. [4] And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. 

[5] Peter said to Jesus, “Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters---one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.” [6] (He did not know what to say, they were so frightened.) 

[7] Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!” 

[8] Suddenly, when they looked around, they no longer saw anyone with them except Jesus. 

[9] As they were coming down the mountain, Jesus gave them orders not to tell anyone what they had seen until the Son of Man had risen from the dead. [10] They kept the matter to themselves, discussing what “rising from the dead” meant."

The single verse that stood out to me this morning was verse 7, specifically - "a voice came from the cloud: “This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!"   The thought that ran through my mind when I read this was how interesting that God the Father would choose to say that last bit, of all the things He could have said!  I think this is obviously REALLY IMPORTANT! 

In looking at the other accounts of this event, we have very similar words.

Luke 9:35 NIV:  "A voice came from the cloud, saying, “This is my Son, whom I have chosen; listen to him.”   

Matthew 17:5 NIV:  "While he was still speaking, a bright cloud covered them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!”

All three of the accounts end the Father's statement with the command to "Listen to him!"  I find it interesting that in my recollection of the different stories of the transfiguration, I remembered the first phrases, but not the last. I clearly need to get better at listening to Him.

In my reflection this morning, listening is the obvious focus!  This leads to the obvious question for those of us reading these words a couple thousand years later, "How do I listen to Jesus?" 

I am not an expert, that is for sure, but this is one of the things that I have worked on for the last 40+ years of my life, listening to Jesus.  I think it safe to say that if this was the last thing the Father said audibly about Jesus, we should probably pay attention to it.  I like to believe that if this is the Father's command, then it must be possible to listen to Jesus.  Secondly, if its possible to listen to Him then it is something I can learn to do, and even get better at it.

Listening for me includes all the following:

1) Actively taking time every day to quiet myself, focused just on my relationship with Jesus.

2) Reading Scripture and reflecting on it

3) Praying, which is really just having a conversation with Jesus, where I both speak and listen

4) Learning to discern what His voice sounds like, and the different ways He can speak

5) Reading about others who have learned to listen to Him, and how He speaks to them

6) Talking to other who follow Him, hearing how they hear the voice of the Lord in their lives

7) Working to be aware of His voice through out my day, and not just in my quiet time

8) Often reflecting at the end of the day, how I have encountered Him

9) Journalling my conversations, and interactions so that I can go back and read all that He has said to me

Each of the actions above could be broken into several sub-points, for I have discovered that listening to the Lord is a rich experience.  He speaks in so many ways, and I am working to be more attuned to each of the ways I have experienced Him speak.

This morning I am encouraged to make sure I "Listen to Him!"

Amen and Amen!

When Jesus Comes to Dinner

This morning I am reading again from Luke 11, and will spend some time reflecting on what I think is a somewhat humorous interaction between Jesus, the Pharisees and experts on the Law.  Here are the verses - Luke 11:37-46 NIV:

[37] "When Jesus had finished speaking, a Pharisee invited him to eat with him; so he went in and reclined at the table. [38] But the Pharisee was surprised when he noticed that Jesus did not first wash before the meal. 

[39] Then the Lord said to him, “Now then, you Pharisees clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside you are full of greed and wickedness. [40] You foolish people! Did not the one who made the outside make the inside also? [41] But now as for what is inside you---be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you. 

[42] “Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God. You should have practiced the latter without leaving the former undone. 

[43] “Woe to you Pharisees, because you love the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces. 

[44] “Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it.” 

[45] One of the experts in the law answered him, “Teacher, when you say these things, you insult us also.” 

[46] Jesus replied, “And you experts in the law, woe to you, because you load people down with burdens they can hardly carry, and you yourselves will not lift one finger to help them."

My first thought on reading this was that I didn't want Jesus as a dinner guest!  :-)  Lately, I have been reflecting on the interactions between Jesus and the Pharisees and other "experts".  This morning, as I was reading these "woes" I initially was thinking, 'yeah that's right give it to them good and hard!'   However after a bit more reflection, I started wondering if I have similar issues in my life, where if I asked, the Lord would point them out?  As painful as that would be, I believe my heart wants to know so that I can do a better job of reflecting the Lord in my life! 

In both verses 41 and 42 above the Lord provided clear guidance on how to change or do better.  I know I need that in my life!  I do want to do better!  I want to reflect Jesus in my life, in my actions, and most importantly in my heart!  

In reading the verses above, I sort of felt sorry for the one expert of the law who had the gumption to try and correct Jesus, saying He was insulting them too!  I guess we can see from the Lord's response how concerned He is with hurting someone's feelings!  :-)

Seriously though, the Lord does bring correction and direction, and in my experience it is much more gentle and merciful if I am willing to hear, have a teachable heart, and a humble attitude.  I do want to be able to reflect the Lord in my day to day life, and I want to do better.  The Lord is gracious, merciful, compassionate and gentle when He brings correction.  A few weeks ago I was reading about the epileptic boy the apostles couldn't heal (See Mark 9: 14-29) and the Lord pointed out something in my belief that was incorrect, and provided me the opportunity to change my thinking and belief!  It wasn't a harsh word, more of a gentle revealing of an incorrect assumption, that led to a wrong belief.  

I think the Lord is looking for those who will follow Him, and not get offended with Him.  If we look at the verses following this dinner party,  the response of the Pharisees and experts of the Law was anything but that - Luke 11:53-54 NIV:  "When Jesus went outside, the Pharisees and the teachers of the law began to oppose him fiercely and to besiege him with questions, [54] waiting to catch him in something he might say."

Oh Lord, help us to receive and embrace Your correction!  Help us to desire to reflect You more accurately to those in our lives.

Amen!

Can God Speak To Us in Dreams?

This morning I am once again just pondering a dream I had recently about ministering in Papua, the Crosiers and Mango bread.  It is just so interesting that those three things stood out from the dream, and I am quite sure I have never read nor seen anything that puts these together, or would give any reason for my mind to  present these to me.  

Here is my description of the dream - Last night I had an interesting dream where my honey and I were ministering at some island, I thought it was Papua, but never had anyone say that specifically.  We were hanging out with the people, had a prayer meeting with them, were learning about their crops (huge onions) and plantings, etc.  I specifically prayed for fruitfulness for them as a people as they didn't have many kids.  I remember there was some Crosier missionaries that had established Christianity, and they had the greatest mango bread, it was carmelized on the outside.

The question is whether God can communicate real facts to us in our dreams?  When I woke up from this dream, I had no known reason to know any of these things, and had no idea if they were true, or even existed (like mango bread)  I started to do some research, and I have listed some of the links below:

Mango Bread - https://www.eva-bakes.com/hawaiian-mango-bread/   (The picture in the recipe looks very much like what I saw and tasted in my dream)

Crosiers in Papua - https://crosier.org/about-us/history/  (This fact was the most random, and specific.  Indeed the Crosiers established a ministry in Western Papua (not Papua New Guinea), in lowland area like I saw in my dream.  I knew next to nothing about the Crosiers and they actually did not send many missionaries to many different countries, but did to Papua)

Onions in Papua - https://www.oxfam.org.au/2019/07/how-onions-are-helping-families-to-smile-in-papua-new-guinea/  (While this is Papua New Guinea, it is still a very specific fact, that one would never randomly think up...)

After reviewing these links, it was clear to me that indeed these "facts" that I had seen or known in my dream were real!  Again, I cannot think of any time where I have read about any of these things, seen a documentary about any of these things, or any reason to think about them on my own. I even checked whether there was any TV shows that would have included these things, but nothing that comes up in a search have I ever heard of or viewed, or even aired anywhere near the time I had the dream.

When I told my honey about this dream she blamed my uncanny ability to remember random facts. Again, I can absolutely attest to the fact that these three things were completely new to me, and only verified since having the dream.  This brings me back  to the central question, can God speak to me in my dreams and provide real data, or facts?  

If I look at the scriptural evidence, it is clear that God did use dreams to communicate with people throughout scripture, in both the Old and New Testaments. Dreams are referred to over 90 times in scripture, so there are an abundance of examples. This morning I am just going to look at a couple of instances where God provided specific details or information in dreams.  The first that comes to mind is the story of Joseph interpreting Pharaoh's dream found in Genesis Chapter 41.  In this case the Pharaoh's dream was prophetic, and came true (seven years of abundance, followed by seven years of famine). This was not so much a providing of facts in the present as a prophetic picture of the near future (next 14 years), but certainly is a good description of how God can use dreams, even in the lives of those that do not know Him.

Here is the account of Pharaoh's first dream - Genesis 41:1-4 NIV:

[1] "When two full years had passed, Pharaoh had a dream: He was standing by the Nile, [2] when out of the river there came up seven cows, sleek and fat, and they grazed among the reeds. [3] After them, seven other cows, ugly and gaunt, came up out of the Nile and stood beside those on the riverbank. [4] And the cows that were ugly and gaunt ate up the seven sleek, fat cows. Then Pharaoh woke up."

Here is Joseph's description of the dream - Genesis 41:25-27 NIV:

[25] "Then Joseph said to Pharaoh, “The dreams of Pharaoh are one and the same. God has revealed to Pharaoh what he is about to do. [26] The seven good cows are seven years, and the seven good heads of grain are seven years; it is one and the same dream. [27] The seven lean, ugly cows that came up afterward are seven years, and so are the seven worthless heads of grain scorched by the east wind: They are seven years of famine."

And here are the results - Genesis 41:46-48,53-54 NIV:

[46] "Joseph was thirty years old when he entered the service of Pharaoh king of Egypt. And Joseph went out from Pharaoh's presence and traveled throughout Egypt. [47] During the seven years of abundance the land produced plentifully. [48] Joseph collected all the food produced in those seven years of abundance in Egypt and stored it in the cities. In each city he put the food grown in the fields surrounding it." 

[53] "The seven years of abundance in Egypt came to an end, [54] and the seven years of famine began, just as Joseph had said. There was famine in all the other lands, but in the whole land of Egypt there was food."

Again, this is not exactly similar to what I experienced, but a great example of God providing "future facts" to someone in a dream.  The second example comes from the Gospel of Matthew, in which God again provides specific information in a dream that would not have been known or available.  Here is the account - Matthew 2:13-14,16 NIV:

[13] "When they had gone, an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream. “Get up,” he said, “take the child and his mother and escape to Egypt. Stay there until I tell you, for Herod is going to search for the child to kill him.” [14] So he got up, took the child and his mother during the night and left for Egypt,.."

[16] "When Herod realized that he had been outwitted by the Magi, he was furious, and he gave orders to kill all the boys in Bethlehem and its vicinity who were two years old and under, in accordance with the time he had learned from the Magi."

These two examples show how the Lord can communicate to us in our dreams, sometimes specifically in words, other times in images and symbology.  Personally i have had many dreams where the Lord is apparently showing me things, sometimes future events, sometimes providing insight into what is happening around me, and sometimes random facts that prove to be true.

I think in this particular instance God is reminding me of His ability to speak in and through dreams.  He is capable of communicating with us, if we will pay attention and learn to listen.

Lord, I pray that You would continue to speak clearly to me, to all of us, so that we might hear what You are saying and act.

Amen and Amen!

Pruning and Fruit Bearing

This morning I am back in John 15, starting at the beginning, and reflecting on Jesus' famous teaching on being the vine.  Here are the verses - John 15:1-8 NIV:

[1] “I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. [2] He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. [3] You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. [4] Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me." 

[5] “I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. [6] If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. [7] If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. [8] This is to my Father's glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples."

I was reading through some articles on pruning vines to make them the best producing and healthiest.  Grapes only are produced on year old wood, and the pruning process has a couple of purposes.  If left to itself the vine will put too much energy into growing leaves and vines and not enough into growing grapes.  The pruning of the vine removes unhealthy parts, distracting parts and focuses on creating the perfect mix of new growth and fruit bearing.  The optimal time for pruning is in the late winter, just before entering a new growing season.  True pruning doesn't go for quantity of grapes at the expense of the quality.  The vine dresser prunes the vine in a way that is appropriate for that particular vine, if it is well established and healthy the vine dresser will allow more grapes to form, if the vine is newer, the focus will be on shaping the vine to the support structure, and establishing a few healthy main branches.  

Here are some pruning tips from  https://gardeningtheme.com/theme/pruning-grape-vines-in-two-easy-steps :

• Immediately remove disease- or pest-infested wood from the vicinity of the grape vine plant and burn it. Disinfect the pruning shears used to cut diseased wood with alcohol to prevent the disease from spreading to healthy plants.

• If grape vines are pruned too much, their yield will be reduced and the bush will become thicker and stronger. If, on the other hand, pruning is insufficient, the vine will yield more, but it will also become weaker. It is therefore important to maintain a balance between yield and vine growth.

• The grape vine needs support in order to grow upright. Keep this in mind when planting the vines and place the proper support (wire, stake, trellis, pergola and other types of support) above the vines so that you can attach new shoots to it.

Overall it is important to note that it is only year-old wood that grows grapes... and properly pruning the vine is essential to producing healthy, disease-free fruit.  Normally a vine-dresser is looking for a limited number of branches that will in turn create an abundance of heathy and spaced out grapes.  There needs to be enough space for circulation of air between the clusters of grapes.  

When training the vine usually the vinedresser will wrap the branch around the support several times, creating a well supported branch. When choosing the main trunk, the vine dresser looks for one that is the most vertical, strong and healthy, and chooses the branches that are strong, healthy and well supported.  In Jesus' commentary, He is the Vine, we are the branches.

The are some very clear spiritual principles we can draw from these simple examples.  

1) Support is necessary for a healthy vine.  This means strong healthy relationships with others in the body of Christ.  I like the picture of the branch wrapped around the support.  This picture seems a good example of having our lives woven together, with deep life giving relationships of mututal support and encouragement.

2) Pruning is essential every year to maintain an optimal yielding vine, with quality fruit.  

The primary pruning takes place at the end of winter.  If we are referring to our spiritual life, this would represent a season where life seems difficult, relationship with the Lord is not producing abundant fruit... but pruning is done at this time to limit any possible damage to the vine.  Think of this as the Lord helping you get ready for a new season by removing some things that once were fruitful, but are no longer bearing fruit.  

For the believer this type of pruning can seem confusing, especially when that which is removed was formerly fruitful and good.  The Lord knows what He is doing, and that is preparing one for the next season of bearing fruit. 

The vinedresser also cleans the vine during spring and summer  growth periods.  This pruning is removing shoots, branches and weak growths that will pull energy from the vine  and the production of grapes.  Again, to a believer this might seems strange when the Lord cuts some new interest, engagement  or relationship that looks good, but in the end these would have been unhelpful.  In these seasons we need to trust that the Lord knows what He is doing, and allow Him to remove things.

Finally, true life comes from Him and it is essential that we remain connected to the Lord!  We need His word to clean us, and focus us. We will not bear fruit on our own, all life comes from our relationship with the Lord.  We may go through slow seasons or difficult seasons where the Lord seems distant, and in those times it is essential to remain in Jesus, so we don't miss the next season of bearing fruit, and allowing His life to flow through us.

Thinking back to Jesus teaching this all to His disciples, these words were spoken at the Last supper and they were about to go through a very difficult season, followed by a season of great growth where remaining connected to the Lord was essential to their survival and success.  We often don't have a good perspective of our seasons, where we are and where we are going.  We need to trust the Lord sees all and will help us to maximise our fruitfulness in Him, by staying connected to Him.  Daily prayer, reflection and listening is essential for us to stay connected. 

As I was thinking back through my life, I see that seasons usually take longer than a calendar year, and at times I find that frustrating.  I want to grow and produce fruit now... not years from now!    I also see that my daily walk with Him, staying connected, is the most critical thing to maintaining a healthy faith.  IT is so easy for me to get distracted, to start thinking only about myself, my needs, my wants that I lose sight of the fact that all life comes from Him.

Oh Lord, help me to better understand the season I am in, and help me to bear good and abundant fruit for Your Glory!   Help me to understand and trust Your pruning process, and embrace the cleaning and pruning that You are about in my life.  I do want to bear much fruit.  I want to remain connected to You!

Amen!

Gifts, Power, Authority and the Body of Christ

This morning as I have been setting my heart and mind to the Lord, i was reminded of something Bill Johnson said in a sermon I listened to recently.  He was talking about the difference between commissioning, being given authority, and walking in power in that commission.  A great example is the great commission in given to the Apostles, and then the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. 

Matthew 28:18-20 NIV:

[18] "Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. [19] Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, [20] and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Luke 24:49 NIV: 

"I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

Acts 2:1-4 NIV:

[1] "When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place. [2] Suddenly a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. [3] They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of them. [4] All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them."

In sharing these, Bill made the distinction between the commissioning (Giving of authority) and the pouring forth of power (Pentecost) and how the first was really not possible until the second (empowering) occurred.  Clearly there are callings and commissions that require both in a fullness only God can provide.

As I was thinking about the way the Lord calls and empowers us, I started thinking about the Gifts of the Holy Spirit, and how we should approach them?  Clearly these gifts are given to be used, but often received without instructions or commissioning, at least in my experience.  The question in my heart this morning is whether the gifts are given with the express authority and power to exercise them?  

I am going to look at a couple of the sections where the giving of gifts is described, starting with Romans 12:4-8 NIV:

[4] "For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, [5] so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. [6] We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; [7] if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; [8] if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully."

Adding to these verses we have Paul describing additional gifts in his letter to the 1 Corinthians 12:7-11 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."

The first thing that I noticed is that Paul describes the gifts within the context of the Body of Christ.  The gifts are clearly meant to be part of our experience in the Body of Christ, and they seem to be meant for our common good.  These are all clearly gifts, and at least in my experience gifts are meant to be enjoyed, and experienced.  

The original Greek word that is translated gifts is xarisma - defined as follows:  

Cognate: 5486 xárisma (from "grace," 5485 /xáris) – properly, the operation of grace (divine favor), i.e. a grace-endowment to edify the Church (note the -ma suffix, focusing on the end-result of the endowment of grace).

5486 /xárisma ("grace-gift") divinely empowers a believer to share God's work with others, i.e. Spirit-empowered service to the Church to carry out His plan for His people.

[5486 /xárisma (but not limited to) "spiritual gifts." xarismata (the plural form) literally means "grace-endowments."]

I love how the definition essentially brings into focus not only the gifts (freely given) but also the empowering of the Holy Spirit.  In other words, we don't receive the gift without the power.  To put this in our modern vernacular, the gifts come with the batteries. :-)

While that is a semi-humorous take, this is an important distinction.  The gift includes the empowering from the Holy Spirit.  They are His gifts, and when He gives them He includes the necessary power to exercise them.  Secondly, they are grace-endowments, meaning given without any earning, something God freely chooses to do.  We don't earn these gifts through our maturation, or obedience, or anything else.  We get them because we are part of the body of Christ and they are given for us all, or for the common good.  

In regards to the common good, our experience in the Body is meant to be positively impacted and affected by the use and practice of these gifts.  We generally don't have a problem with most of the gifts described in Romans, but many places are uncomfortable with the list found in 1 Cor., for they seem more "spiritual".  Its one thing for someone to be giving the gift of leadership, its another to have someone given the gifts of miraculous powers, or speaking in tongues.  The point here is that they are all similar and all given by the same Holy Spirit, for the benefit of the whole Body of Christ.

If they are given in the context of the Body for the benefit of the Body of Christ, one would think that they also come with the authority, as well as power to be exercised.  If the Holy Spirit - who is leading and directing the Church gives out the gifts, it is for good reason, and He isn't making a mistake.  Its not like someone giving a two year-old a gift that should be used by an 18 year-old.  We need to learn to trust the Holy Spirit, believing that He fully knows what He is doing.

Lastly, while the gifts apparently come with the power, and even the authority (implicit in the giver being Holy Spirit) we can absolutely grow in maturity in our use of the gifts.  In the same way that a 16 year old can receive a license to drive (Power and authority), they usually get better at driving as they practice, so do we in our use and practicing of the gifts.  The wonderful thing is that since they are given to the members of the body, for the common good of the body, we have a built-in training center option.  They gifts are meant to be tried and exercised in the context of Body life, where older members can help guide, encourage, and hone the use of the gifts.  Our goal should be to raise up and encourage the use of the gifts every chance we get, as it is for our own benefit overall.

Without going to far down the path, what are we missing if we don't encourage the regular use of these Spiritual gifts?  We would be missing or lacking to some extent  that which these gifts were meant to impart... prophecy, service, leadership, giving, teaching, mercy, wisdom, knowledge, miraculous powers, healing, discernment of spirits, speaking in tongues and interpretation of tongues.   It's funny that those last two are the ones that get the most focus, and seem to me the least impactful to the body overall, yet are the reason many places quash the Spirit.  The other thing I noticed is that prophecy is on both the Roman list and the 1 Corinithians list (and one of the 5-fold ministries).  

In summary, as I reflect upon these few verses, it is apparent to me that we need the spiritual gifts; we need them for our own good; we need them exercised and regularly used; we need those things they are meant to impart!  Oh Lord, help us to welcome fully Your great gifts, that we might learn to use these gifts in the power and authority in which they were given!  Help us to grow and mature and experience all that You have for us!  

Amen and Amen! 

An Unusual Food

Recently I was listening to a sermon by Bill Johnson (to listen to the full sermon, see the link at the end of my note) talking about an unusual form of nourishment, that he came across in scripture.  It was a very encouraging message for those dealing with difficulty.  He starts with Numbers 14:9 NKJV: 

[9]  "Only do not rebel against the LORD, nor fear the people of the land, for they are our bread; their protection has departed from them, and the LORD is with us. Do not fear them.""

Looking at the subject of bread...and food.  He then tied this verse to the following 2 verses.

Matthew 6:9-13 NKJV:

[9] In this manner, therefore, pray: 

Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name. 

[10] Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. 

[11] Give us this day our daily bread. 

[12] And forgive us our debts, As we forgive our debtors. 

[13] And do not lead us into temptation, But deliver us from the evil one. For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

and finally - Psalm 23:1-6 NIV:

[1] "The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 

[2] He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 

[3] he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name's sake. 

[4] Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. 

[5] You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. 

[6] Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever."

His message focused on the belief that that there is something we encounter in the Lord when we view it from His perspective that is food to our spirit.  Difficulty viewed rightly can nourish us, and sustain us, in the face of the opposition, in the face of our enemies.  

After listening to this sermon a couple of times, I was reminded of Jesus' comment after interacting with the woman at the well - John 4:31-34 NIV"

[31] "Meanwhile his disciples urged him, “Rabbi, eat something.” 

[32] But he said to them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.” 

[33] Then his disciples said to each other, “Could someone have brought him food?” 

[34] “My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work."

In a very real sense there is meant to be something absolutely sustaining in experiencing the Lord's will fulfilled through our life, and in our life!  I remember when the Lord had us give away one of our cars, and how in giving it, it became apparent that the Lord had been working on something for years, and meeting heart cries and prayers, and sending a message of absolute love and intimacy to the recipient of the vehicle.  I knew it was a huge confirmation to our firend, and it was so sustaining to us, to know how the Lord worked through us... and gave us a confidence.

I am just thinking about how full one's life would be if they walked in a level of confidence and obedience as they pursued the Lord, stepping out of their own weakness into His strength, and seeing Him step in over and over again, providing what was needed in the time it was needed, providing victories where there shouldn't be victory, etc.

Oh Lord that You might help me to view my life from Your perspective, that I might see difficulties as opportunities for You to express Your provision and blessing!  Help me to stay in lock-step with Your plan and purpose!  Help me to not overstep and enter into presumption, but rather do Your will,a nd finsih the work offered to me!

Amen and Amen!

Link to Bill's sermon.  It is well worth listening to:  https://youtu.be/30VWk28p4WU?si=d77i05Uz82FznF7z

Dreams & Identity

Recently I had an interesting dream that got me thinking about my identity as a son of God.  We had a Men's retreat this past weekend and our speaker did a wonderful job, and the theme for the second day (Sat.) was our identity as sons of God.  Interestingly, I had the dream on Friday night.  I am so encouraged when the Lord does things like that, for it is hard to miss His message when He is providing repetition! 

Sometimes my dreams are epic dreams almost like movies and this was one of them.  My dream seemed to be a remake of a movie from the 1980s, a movie that I haven't seen in probably 20-30 years.  The movie is called Ladyhawk, and the very simple theme is that two individuals who love each other are cursed by an evil priest to never be able to fulfill their love and be together.  In my dream there was a very similar plot, an evil bishop was trying to keep two individuals apart and had cursed them and enlisted multiple demonic beings to help.  There was a group of us who came to understand what was happening and we were working to break the curse and set the two people free.  Just as the action started I woke up.  

I asked the Lord what that all meant, as He often uses dreams to communicate with me (its very common in the Bible).  I felt like He said this dream represents the spirit of religion, which tries to keep us from ever experiencing the true love of God, and establishing a real relationship.  I thought that was quite an interesting word picture and wrote it all down.  I headed to the retreat and had no real idea what the theme was for the second day, and sure enough our speaker starts talking about our identity and the way the religious spirit causes us to miss the relational nature of our identity as sons, and keeps us thinking we are just servants.  

I was reminded of the story of the prodigal son, found in Luke 15.  I am not going to quote all of the story, just a few specific verses.  It is well worth reading and reflection.  In quick summary, a man has two sons, the younger son asks for his inheritance and then leaves and blows all of the money in a sinful lifestyle. The following verses take it from that point - Luke 15:17-19 NIV:

[17] “When he came to his senses, he said, 'How many of my father's hired servants have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! [18] I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. [19] I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired servants.' 

Too many of us think this is the best we could ever hope for, to be a servant, working and earning what little blessings we can from God (for the Father in the story clearly represents God).  We think that we have sinned too greatly, lived a life chasing our own pleasure, whatever, and that we don't deserve a real relationship with God.  The spirit of religion would absolutely love to keep all of us in such a state, for a servant doesn't have real authority or power, and is task or rule oriented (we could say under the law). In this existence, we depend on our own efforts and the acknowledgment of a good master, but there is no true love.

Jesus in continuing the story shows us how wrong that attitude and thinking is, for the Father will have none of it!  

Luke 15: 20-24 NIV: 

[20] "So he got up and went to his father. “But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. 

[21] “The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.' [22] “But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. [23] Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. [24] For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' So they began to celebrate."

The Father wants us all to recognize our identities as sons and daughters!  IN the story He immediately restores all that the son left, his authority, his identity and favor!  I love this story and the illustration of God the Father's love for all of us, His waiting patiently for us to come to our senses and turn towards Him.  The Father doesn't want servants, He wants sons and daughters!  

Paul writes about how we have in us this yearning for Abba, Father.  (Romans 8:15, Gal. 4:6)  In both of these verses Paul speaks about our adoption as sons and daughters.  To me, the idea of being an adopted son, while great, seemed one step from being a true son.  However, once I did some research into the term used by Paul, I came to realize why He used this Roman term.  Here is a link to my study on the meaning and significance of adoption, as used by Paul: 

https://amomentwithgod-srh.blogspot.com/2017/06/adoption-as-gods-sons-and-daughters-its.html

To summarize, the significance of this term, is that in this particular Roman institution, the complete previous identity of the adopted son or daughter is completely erased, as if they never existed previously.  In fact, the family relationship in this "adoption" is so strong, that the Father could never disown the adopted child!  In other words, once adopted you are forever the Father's child, son or daughter forever, and your former existence no longer exists!  In other words, you can't actually go back to being who you were before, no matter what You do, that option/identity no longer exists.

I could continue on, but suffice it to say that the Lord is desirous of our stepping into our true identity as sons and daughters!  The world and the spirit of religion, try to keep us from experiencing true relationship, for as sons and daughters we have authority and power, and the ability to walk in intimacy and favor!   The one thing the enemy of our souls fears more than anything is sons and daughters of God who learn to walk in their true identity, for they have the same inheritance as Jesus (Rom 8:17).

Oh Lord, help us to come to our senses and return to You!  Help us to step into our true identity, and live our lives as Your daughters and sons!  Help us to fully experience Your Love and acceptance, Your welcome Home!

Amen and Amen!  

Choosing to Lay Down Our Crowns

Yesterday morning I had a bit of a interesting experience walking into our church.  Earlier in the morning while praying the Lord had directed me to Matthew, chapter five and while reading it, I felt the following verses were applicable - Matthew 5:43-48 NIV:

[43] “You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' [44] But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, [45] that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. [46] If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? [47] And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? [48] Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."

I love these verses as I believe they help us gain God's perspective on how we should act towards all, whether friend or enemy.  God calls us to step past our view of the world to see it as He does.  He considers us all to be His children, and is pouring blessing upon us all.  

As I was reading and reflecting on these words, I saw how they applied to every distinction and label we would affix to anyone.  Jesu could have listed nations, people groups, genders, etc. and it would be the same message, that God loves us all and blesses us all, whether we know Him or not, whether we are righteous or not. Yesterday morning, I was reminded of the increasing polarity between our two main political parties the Democrats and Republicans, and understood these verses to be applicable to those labels as well.

Recently I have been reading a book that speaks about loving the world as God loves the world, and not seeing the non-Christian people as evil or our enemy. I don't believe I have ever taken that extreme stance, and have loved the simplicity of John 3:16-17, that speaks of God's motivation of love, first and foremost. My regular prayer is that all those who don't know God would come to experience His love and the salvation available in Him. 

One of the things I am very aware is the increasing polarity we find in America.  It seems like its specifically stirred up during election years.  We are seeing plenty of inflammatory language and rhetoric, accusations abound and we are being told the candidates are lying to us, that you can't trust them, etc.  As the level of attack becomes more severe the closer we get to the election, we are in danger of believing all this and choosing sides, believing that members of the other party, regardless of where we stand, are our enemies.

So back to my experience walking into church, I was praying for our city, the people of our church, especially for the division that is occurring between political groups.  As I walked in I saw a ton of people wearing red (It is common on the days that the KC Chiefs play for people to wear red) and I thought how interesting it is that we, as a city, can lay down our labels and division under a KC Chief's banner!  I started thinking about how, in the Chief's stadium, there is no concern for political party affiliation, that is all laid aside for the day, and we choose to see one another as fellow fans!  We lay down our other labels, whether, race, gender, political party, religion and we choose to unite.

I was reminded of the picture of heavenly worship presented to us in Revelation 4:2-4,9-11 NIV:

[2] "At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. [3] And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. [4] Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. 

[9] Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, [10] the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say: [11] “You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being.”

This laying down of crowns is representative of choosing to lay down one's affiliation, one's realm of authority, and coming under the throne and rule of God.  Wouldn't it be wonderful if we all could choose to lay down all our labels, all our judgments, all our opinions to come under the banner of God's love?  We have allowed ourselves to be divided in so many ways, by gender, religion, denomination, congregations, neighborhood, political party, and hundreds of different more granular alignments.  We think our way is the right way, and hold fiercely to our beliefs, our opinions, so much so that we are willing to begin to think of anyone of differing opinion as our enemy! 

Going back to the experience I had when walking into church, in my minds eye,  I saw people in our church being called forward to align by political party, Democrat, Republican and those in between.  I saw the invitation given to purposely choose to lay down our political affiliation and choosing to cross over and hug and welcome those of a differing affiliation.  I saw the healing that simple geasture would bring, and I also saw how difficult it could be, but if we take God's perspective, there would be grace to do so.

I understood that all of these things that divide us are the result of choices we make, and we can choose differently!  I can choose to lay down my crown and welcome all I meet as God would welcome them!  I can chose to treat all with respect and love, representing the Father in loving and accepting them!  I can press forward to love the way He does, and to embrace the invitation Jesus gives us to 'be perfect as our Father in heaven'.  

Me encouragement this morning is to choose to lay down my crowns, my judgments, my opinions, my labels that I might see others as the Lord sees them. I must learn to look past the all of those to see in each one I meet the worth and value they have as a daughter or son of God!  I must choose to do so, for I know my natural proclivity is to instantly judge and label!

Lord help me to love as You love me!

Amen and Amen!

Freedom Now!

Last evening we had a worship night with our church, and it was a wonderful time.  During worship I saw in my minds-eye a couple of pictures.  The first was like a bird cage, but bigger, with someone stuck inside it.  I thought the Lord wanted to set them free, whoever it was.  Next, I saw a couple of additional pictures, the first being the cage but with solid walls and no light getting in at all,  then the cage had really thick bars, but at least there was light inside, finally I saw the picture of the cage again with very thin bars, and understood the person was so glad that things were lighter that they didn't consider that the Lord actually wanted to set them free. 

When I got home I felt like I received a bit more clarity, in the same way that a dog that is kennel trained takes comfort in their kennel, and prefers to lay there even when they are free to roam, and the doors open, there are those of us that prefer the comfort of our captivity, if you will.  However, it was clear the Lord wanted to set them free of all bondage, captivity or slavery.

As I prayed about this set of images this morning, I felt that this especially relates to those that feel trapped in certain circumstances, but because those circumstances are so much better than what was previously experienced, they think they are free and in a much more healthy place, so they don't realize the need to be set free.  

The truth is that even a cage where you have plenty of light, food and security is still a cage. Paul, when he lived in Rome was always under house arrest, even though he had certain freedoms.  The truth of the matter is that He was still a prisoner.

So whether the cage is a bad relationship, a bad job, a bad living situation, trying to earn someone's favor, whatever, the word of the Lord is FREEDOM!  His desire for us all is freedom in every part of our life!  He desires to set us wholly free that we might step fully into all of God's plans and purposes for us!   

Lord, I pray that even now You might move in our lives and proclaim FREEDOM over us, that we might be wholly free!  Move in our situations and do what only You can do!  

2 Corinthians 3:17 NIV:  "Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom."

Amen and Amen!

The Long Wait

The other night I had an interesting dream where I was present during Jesus' birth and time growing as a boy.  It was an interesting type of dream as I wasn't really back in those days, but more of an observer out of time, however I could interact with the people, and I was primarily interacting with Mary, the mother of Jesus.  Specifically, the topic of our conversation had to do with the long wait for Jesus to be revealed to the world as the Messiah. 

It was a very thought provoking dream and I wanted to spend some time reflecting on this theme, and how it relates to our own faith and belief that God is going to fulfill certain promises in our lives. I will start with Mary's interaction with Gabriel as recounted by Luke 1:26-38 NIV:

[26] "In the sixth month of Elizabeth's pregnancy, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, [27] to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. [28] The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” 

[29] Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. 

[30] But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary; you have found favor with God. [31] You will conceive and give birth to a son, and you are to call him Jesus. [32] He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, [33] and he will reign over Jacob's descendants forever; his kingdom will never end.” 

[34] “How will this be,” Mary asked the angel, “since I am a virgin?” 

[35] The angel answered, “The Holy Spirit will come on you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. [36] Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be unable to conceive is in her sixth month. [37] For no word from God will ever fail.” 

[38] “I am the Lord's servant,” Mary answered. “May your word to me be fulfilled.” Then the angel left her."

The first thing that comes to my mind when reading this, is whether Mary understood that Jesus was going to be the Messiah?  The angle doesn't use that exact word, but I think we can make the assumption she understood.  Her son was going to be the "Son of God" and He was going to sit on David's throne and His kingdom would have no end!  These are clearly messianic terms and expectations.  

Imagine how she dealt with this event going forward.  There are some commentaries that have imagined what must have happened between her and Joseph, her and her parents, etc.  Without writing a quoting massive amounts, I think it is safe to say she likely dealt with the ramifications of this reality in private.  I mean who could you share such a word with and have them believe you, or understand the absolute, mind-blowing claim she was making?  

Thankfully she found in her kinswoman Elizabeth someone who had also experienced a miracle and angelic activity!  I can jsut imagine Mary's releif in knowing that Elizabeth believed her and even confirmed what she knew to be true!  

When I think back to events where I have experienced the Lord powerfully, they become something that I go back to regularly, as reminders of His love and personal knowledge of me, and my situation. Mary, while she had the memory of the words of Gabriel, also had the very real child growing inside of her as a present reminder.  One of the things I asked Mary in my dream, was what it was like every time she looked at Jesus as He grew up?  Was she constantly reminded of His miraculous birth and the promise of God?

Continuing on with the scriptural background, I want to look at Jesus birth, and the following interactions Mary had with the shepherds, again recounted in Luke 2:8-19 NIV:

[8] "And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. [9] An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. [10] But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. [11] Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. [12] This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 

[13] Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, [14] “Glory to God in the highest heaven, and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.” 

[15] When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 

[16] So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. [17] When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, [18] and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. [19] But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart."

Verse 19 is really the whole theme of my dream, the pondering and treasuring of these things by Mary, in her heart.  Other than the coming baptism of Jesus and the prophetic words spoken by Anna and Simeon, and Jesus' visit to the temple when he was about 12, we know very little of the life of Jesus, Mary and Joseph.  We can make some assumptions about their life, based on the response to the people of their home town of Nazareth when Jesus starts to minister there... they are amazed and wondered where He got all this wisdom?   We find this recounted by Matthew 13:54-56 NIV:

[54] "Coming to his hometown, he began teaching the people in their synagogue, and they were amazed. “Where did this man get this wisdom and these miraculous powers?” they asked. [55] “Isn't this the carpenter's son? Isn't his mother's name Mary, and aren't his brothers James, Joseph, Simon and Judas? [56] Aren't all his sisters with us? Where then did this man get all these things?”

In other words, they knew Jesus, and his family and they were normal, not unusual, accepted as part of the community.  No one was expecting Jesus to have miraculous power or wisdom from the Father, except Mary, and she clearly hadn't told anyone!  

I know I am pushing past the words here, but I am trying to understand the internal belief in the promise of God that Mary must have clung to, and held onto for 30+ years.  She pondered and treasured these things in her heart, but she must not have said anything to those around her.  I am sure Jesus became aware of His purpose and the Father's plan for Him at some point in His life, most likely before He was 12, but again, others around Him were not aware.  

In my dream,  I asked Mary what it was like watching Jesus grow up (He was still a young boy in the background of the dream), knowing who He was, but keeping that promise hidden in her heart?  She didn't really respond with words, but she looked at me with eyes that showed the pain and long suffering of the life-time of waiting.  I woke up shortly after that interaction, and have been thinking about it since.

I can't even fathom what she went through, watching her son for 30 years, wondering when He was going to be revealed to the world!  I can't imagine the countless times she must have gone back in her mind to the visit of Gabriel, or the shepherds, or the words of Ann or Simeon, to help her hold onto the promise, believing the word of the Lord, watching Jesus' apparently normal growth and development.  I know I am skipping over  a few other times where the Angel of the Lord visited and provided guidance and direction,  which would have been helpful indications God's word and promise were still in play, but those were relatively early in Jesus life.  From the time Jesus was 12 until he reaches 30 years of age, we know basically nothing or their lives, but based on the verses from Matthew above, it seems like they were very normal.  

I wonder how many times Mary reminded Jesus who He was, whispering it in His ear?

I wonder how she felt when her husband Joseph died, for he was clearly one who understood what she was carrying in her heart?

I wonder how many times she questioned if God's promise was actually real, if He was going to fulfill His whole word?

I wonder if much of the reason she hid all this in her heart, was due to King Herod trying to kill Jesus when He was an infant?  

I wonder if Mary had any other confirmations in her daily life that she was on the right path, and Jesus was where he needed to be?

I wonder how many times Mary had imagined her life, following Gabriel's visitation, being very different than it was?

I could go on and on, but the thing that I understood from the dream, is that there is grace for those who have been waiting a lifetime to see God's plan and purpose come to  fruition!  I understood that anything I am carrying in my heart pales in comparison to what Mary carried!  God's word is true, His promises are real, and He is capable and will fulfill them!  No matter how long its been, how normal our life seems, God will sustain us, and keep us to until the day of fulfillment.  I am convinced that He is Always Good, even when we don't understand or fully see!

I am encouraged that we can take Mary as a great example of one who believed, and kept on believing, kept on holding onto the words that had been spoken, and the promises given!  I am encouraged that in her quiet pondering and treasuring, she was to be found exactly where she was supposed to be.  She knew this promise of God, while physically present in her household, was beyond her ability to make happen.  She knew God was capable and after great things!  I am encouraged that Mary is a fantastic model for being a humble servant of God who never loses sight of the bigger promise! 

Oh Lord, help us today to learn to trust You, trust in your ability to fulfill Your word, Your Promises, and Your purpose for us, and for all our family!  Whether its been one year or 30+ years, God's word, promises and capabilities have not changed!  He is with us in the long wait!

Amen and amen!

A Positive Action List

This morning I decided to read through the whole of Paul's first letter to the Thessalonians.  It is always interesting to read larger chunks of scripture to pull many themes together into a single stream of thought.  There is much to reflect upon in this letter, but I found myself drawn to the  last several verses, the encouragements that Paul gives to the people.  Here are the verses I am reviewing - 1 Thessalonians 5:12-24 NIV:

[12] "Now we ask you, brothers and sisters, to acknowledge those who work hard among you, who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you. [13] Hold them in the highest regard in love because of their work. Live in peace with each other. [14] And we urge you, brothers and sisters, warn those who are idle and disruptive, encourage the disheartened, help the weak, be patient with everyone. [15] Make sure that nobody pays back wrong for wrong, but always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else. 

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

[19] Do not quench the Spirit. [20] Do not treat prophecies with contempt [21] but test them all; hold on to what is good, [22] reject every kind of evil. 

[23] May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through. May your whole spirit, soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. [24] The one who calls you is faithful, and he will do it."

The first thing that grabbed my attention was the end of verse 12, "Who care for you in the Lord and who admonish you."  Specifically I wanted to understand "admonish" as the original recipients would understand it.  I find, especially with words that have a slight negative understanding in our modern English, that often times the original Greek word is not so negatively bent. 

In this case the original Greek word is "nouthetéō (from 3563 /noús, "mind" and 5087 /títhēmi, "to place") – properly, to place the mind, i.e. reasoning with someone by warning (admonishing) them.  (continuing) 3560 /nouthetéō ("admonish through instruction") especially appeals to the mind, supplying doctrinal and spiritual substance (content). This "exerts positive pressure" on someone's logic (reasoning), i.e. urging them to choose (turn to) God's best." (Strong's Concordance)

I like that description, placing something in another's mind.  That is the heart of instruction and good teaching.  I have a few teachers that I listen to that do this so well, they gather scattered thoughts, organize and correlate them and place them nicely into our minds.  Having new thoughts in our minds is a necessary part of repentance, our learning to think differently, or better, so that our actions can then line up with our thinking.

The rest of Paul's final exhortation is fairly action packed:

Live in peace

Warn those who are idle or disruptive

Encourage the disheartened

Help the weak

Be patient with everyone

Do what is good for each other 

Rejoice always

Pray continually

Give thanks in all circumstances

Do not quench the Spirit

Do not treat prophecies with contempt but test them all

Hold onto what is good

Reject every kind of evil

Wouldn't this be a good list of things to keep about, rather than all the negative focus on sinful behavior on things not to do?  This list is more positive and as I mentioned, action oriented.  I was just thinking how wonderful it would be if we could embrace these as a congregation, or as the whole Body of Christ!

Oh Lord, help us!  We can get so distracted, so focused on little things and allow them to distract us and even divide us!  Help us to live at peace with each other, embracing the call to Love one another!  

May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you (us) through and through!  Lord, help us to place these things in our minds, that we might live them out for Your Glory!

Amen and Amen!

Prayer and Power

Yesterday, right before I woke up, I had a dream where my wife and I were hanging with a bunch of friends from Church.  Two of the people in the group were friends who are well-known intercessors, and we were talking about Church History.   I said to my honey, "if you want power, pray!  The powerful people always prayed!"  Our intercessor friend said, "AMEN!"  that is where I woke up....  

I started reflecting on the theme of prayer yesterday and ended up snoozing during my quiet time, partly due to the allergy medicines I am taking, but the theme of prayer settled into my consciousness and I returned to it over and over, as I drifted in and out of my slumber.   Since I was unable to fully engage yesterday, it seemed like a good theme for my prayer this morning.  

Rather than going to Church history and digging into the stories of people who were great prayers, like Praying Hyde, George Muller, or Count Zinzendorf, I decided to go to our best example, Jesus!  Just searching for the word pray in the New Testament in my online bible provided a more than ample list of verses to read and pray through! 

While we do see many references to Jesus praying, the Gospels do spend more time on His words and teaching to His disciples, which only makes sense as His prayer was to our Heavenly Father.  I am only going to quote a couple of verses, but there are over 150 times that pray, prayer or praying are used in the New Testament, so there are plenty of other verses to reflect upon.

Here are the verses I am going to look at this morning.

Mark 1:35 NIV:  "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed."

Mark 6:46 NIV: "After leaving them, he went up on a mountainside to pray."

John 5:19 NIV:  "Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does."

John 12:49 NIV: "For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken."

I am not sure what comes to mind when we hear the word prayer, having grown up Catholic I was certainly familiar with the word, and practice of repeating prayers, but not so familiar with what we see in these four verses.  The idea of going somewhere separate, and praying for long periods of time seemed like something monks and nuns would do, but not a regular congregant.  

Jesus describes a level of intimacy with His Father that was remarkable, in that every word He spoke and everything He did came from the Father   My early understanding of prayer was to send plenty of words towards heaven and hope that God heard and moved on whatever situation I was praying about.  It never really crossed my mind that prayer was actually another way of referring to a RELATIONSHIP with God. That is what what Jesus modelled to us all.  Its not the words we speak that change us, but rather the words we hear, and what we see in prayer that are important!  We are changed, not by our flurry of words but by our listening, hearing and conversing.

I think its safe to say that Jesus didn't repeat the "Our Father" prayer over and over again when He went up on the mountain to pray.  Instead He conversed with the Father!  As a younger man, I figured Jesus, as God's Son and part of the Trinity, really didn't have to "pray" so much as He just knew what to say and do as a part of the Trinity.  However, as Paul writes, Jesus laid down His divinity in some way, becoming fully man (see Philippians 2: 6-8), and thus what He modelled to us is what is available to any of us, as mere humans.  We can have an intimate relationship with the Father, where we know what He is saying and see what He is doing! 

The three people I mentioned earlier as great prayers, were all people who understood this simple reality and pursued it with a wholehearted passion.  They too were not repeating a set of words over and over again in their prayers, instead they were conversing with God!  Because of their intimacy with the Father, they experienced great power, for they saw what the Father was doing, heard what He was saying and came into agreement with Him!  They had no power of their own but stepped into the flow of power that flows from the Father, Son and Holy Spirit!  

In the same way that Jesus demonstrated the power of His words, things like "Lazarus, Come Forth!" He modelled for us the ability God has made available to us to speak into existence His plan and purpose, with power and authority.  Jesus handed His ministry to the church and fully expects and knows that somehow we will fulfill the great commission, and come to a place of unity and purity.  We are unable to accomplish any of this on our own, from our own reserves of power, but only through uniting ourselves to Him through intimate relationship, through prayer.

For some heavenly reason that we cannot fathom, God chooses to work in and through us to accomplish His will on the earth!  He wants to bring about change, and He will do it through us!  

While I cannot claim any great intimate relationship with the Lord, I am certainly trying to pursue that type of relationship with Him.  I too get up early to pray!  I go to someplace where I won't be interrupted and work on listening and seeing!  Oftentimes I need to get all of the stuff that is running around in my mind, cleared out before I can truly listen and see.  My time of prayer is mostly listening and allowing the Lord to direct my thoughts, what I read, even what I reflect upon.  There is a simple rhythm of relationship that I try ot live within every day, as I know intimacy does not come from occasional interactions, but rather through regular conversation, transparency and humility.

As I often do, as I reflect on my relationship with the Lord, I see parallels to my relationship with my sweetheart.  Early on in our relationship we spent hours in conversation, getting to know each other, learning what was important, asking questions, and listening as much as sharing.  As we have grown, our relationship has gone much deeper, often I don't need to ask what she is thinking, as I know what she is thinking.  (Note:  I still ask most of the time, just so I don't assume and get it wrong).  I communicate constantly so that I know wat she is thinking, what she would like me to do, etc. not because of some fearful response, but because of my great affection.

In the same way, I spend time every day, usually at the start of the day, not because of some religious rule, but because of my great affection for Him.  I try to remember throughout the day to seek His presence and guidance as I work, interact with others, or just relax.  I am nowhere near proficient nor understanding everything the Lord is doing or saying, but I am getting better, growing my relationship with Him.

Ultimately, I do believe that the Lord wants this type of relationship with all of us!  That we might know what He is thinking, saying and wanting to do through us!  I believe He wants to partner through us releasing great power to change our lives and the lives of those around us!  He is looking for faithful, trustworthy people to invite into a place of intimacy so that He can entrust them with greater vision for what He wants to do!  I think its safe to say that much of what He wants to accomplish is impossible without His involvement and His power.  "Jesus looked at them (us) and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” ( Matthew 19:26 NIV).

Amen!  Let us believe that He wants to show us great things that He wants us to pray and speak into reality here on earth!  Let us be witnesses and ambassadors of His love and power to the world!  Let us learn to pray / relate with Him in deep intimacy!  Let us Pray!

Amen and Amen!

As I Have Loved You!

I ended up snoozing yesterday morning, and was not able to spend much time thinking a theme I that had recently come to mind.  On Sunday, I started thinking  about the New Commandment that Jesus gave us, found in John 13:34-35 NIV:  “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. [35] By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

This simple statement, while similar to the the previously quoted, "love you neighbor as yourself" seems to me to be a significant change in how we are supposed to live, and I wanted to spend some time reflecting on this and researching it from that perspective.  

As I noted earlier we are familiar with a similar statement, spoken by Jesus in summarizing the commandments.  We find it quoted in Matthew 22:37-40 NIV:

[37] Jesus replied: “ 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' [38] This is the first and greatest commandment. [39] And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.' [40] All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

I have heard this described as a vertical love and a horizontal love.  Loving god who is above, and loving our neighbors who are on our level. One could use the cross with its vertical beam and horizontal beam signifying these two expressions of love.   While challenging, I do think that I could fulfill these two commandments on my own, or at least it seems possible.  

The new commandment, however, calls us to love each other as Jesus loves us, and this is a whole different level of love!  If we were to sketch this commandment out, we must always looks at others as Jesus looks at them, so that we might understand how to love them as He loves them, and that requires us to view others from His vantage point.  In other words, my love for others must always start with our unity with Him, an intimate relationship where we can hear His words and see what He is doing.  While we could think this might think this requires us to ascend to heaven and then look down upon earth to one another, I think that in reality it is more of what Jesus demonstrated, as described by Paul in his letter to the Philippians.  Here are the verses - Philippians 2:1-8 NIV:

[1] "Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, [2] then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. [3] Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, [4] not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others."

[5] "In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: [6] 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!"

Verses 3 & 4 are where the rubber really hits the road, in my opinion.  Essentially we are called to servant-hood, valuing others above ourselves, and looking to their interests before our own.... a laying down of our life so that we might love and serve others. Paul continues on and invites us to have the same mindset of Jesus in our relationships with one another!  

I am convinced that this invitation, this new commandment is absolutely impossible to do on our own, or at least it is for me!  I can handle loving god, and loving others as long as they are on my same level, but this call is to humility and serving one another, before our own interests, and that just wars against my inner self, my flesh and personal mindset, if I am being honest.  It is all good to say those lovely words, its a whole other thing to embrace them and try to live them!  

I believe that I am only capable of doing this, if I unite myself to Christ to such an extent that my life becomes His.  I must choose this life, this is not something that He will come and force upon me.  In doing so, I will absolutely be invited to lay down my life, for that is what Jesus did for me. 

Oh Lord, I see how much more this commandment is than it seems on the surface!  Help me to lean into You, to learn from You, to trust in You, to unite myself with You!  I want to be able to walk out my remaining days representing You, having Your mindset, and loving others as You love them, and as You love me.  I know I am not capable of this love without You help, but I know You will help me!  

Thank You Lord for loving me!

Amen!