Christmas Memories

This morning I am reminded of Christmases past, of family celebrations both as a child and as a parent watching my children enjoy the beauty of Christmas morning. 

I am reminded of times my grandparents made the drive to our house for Christmas, or times we went to their house, with their metallic Christmas tree. 

I am reminded of gifts stacked around the Christmas tree, all of us kids waiting at the top of the stairs for our parents to give us the ok. 

I am reminded of years with our kids, us up early to fill their stockings, sitting by the fire in the library while we opened gifts. 

I am reminded of years where Christmas was white and we would spend Christmas Eve sliding at Pamela Park, trying to kill some time before festivities began. 

I am reminded of singing Happy Birthday to Jesus, gathered in our hallway in front of the statue of Mary and Jesus my dad carved. 

I am reminded of so much, and while the memories are sweet, I am reminded that today we are really celebrating the Son of God coming to earth. He is the true gift and we are all the recipients.

I am reminded that we have been celebrating His birth, for centuries now, and His birth is just as impactful today as it has ever been. Let us celebrate Jesus today, and the choice He made to freely come and set us all free!  His incarnation was a choice, birthed out of love! 

I am reminded that ultimately today is a celebration of love, God's love for us, our love and gratefulness to God.

John 3:16-17 NIV:
[16] "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

The Greatest Gift...

In meditating on the word today, I am reflecting on a few verses from the Letter to the Hebrews 1:1-3 NIV:

[1] "In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, [2] but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. [3] The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven."

I was just thinking how we still are working to understand the mystery of Christ's birth, ministry, death, resurrection and ascension!  When I look at my grand-daughter, watching her grow and develop, it is just amazing to think that Jesus, the exact representation of the Father, the creator of the world, came to earth in the exact same way, being born, and growing and developing as any child.  What an amazing humbling expression of His desire for us! 

I can't wrap my head around the mystery of the son of God laying aside His divinity that He might perfectly represent us in fulfillment of the Law.  As prophesied 700 years before His birth, He was born of a virgin and was Emmanuel - God With Us.  ( Isaiah 7:14 NIV: "Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign: The virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.)  He wasn't just with us, He perfectly represented us to the Father, even as He represented the Father to us!

He did all of this, accomplished the Father's plan perfectly, and restored that which was lost, namely opportunity for relationship with the Father!  When we look at Jesus' prayers in John 17, we so often read them from our present perspective, knowing all that Jesus accomplished, but let us think on them with fresh eyes and mind this Christmas Eve.  Here are a few of the statements made by Jesus and others about His Father:

Matthew 11:27 NIV:  “All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him."

John 1:18 NIV: "No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known."

John 14:6-11 NIV: "Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. [7] If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

[8] Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

[9] Jesus answered: “Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? [10] Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. [11] Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves."

Finally, as we look at His perfect humanity, we see God's purpose in Jesus becoming like us, explained- Hebrews 4:14-16 NIV:  "Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. [15] For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are---yet he did not sin. [16] Let us then approach God's throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need."

-and-

Hebrews 7:24-26 NIV: "but because Jesus lives forever, he has a permanent priesthood. [25] Therefore he is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them.

[26] Such a high priest truly meets our need---one who is holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens."


So, in the midst of this season where we celebrate Jesus' birth, let us remember that He is really expressing and representing the heart of the Father, who desires that all might be saved and in relationship with Him.  He is representing the Father in everything He does and says, and in turn, He is representing us to the Father.  He is, even now, seated on His heavenly throne, interceding for us, representing us to the Father.  He loves us, and has made a way for us!  Even though we can never fully understand or comprehend the full extent of all He accomplished, we can certainly celebrate that which we do understand!  He is the greatest gift ever given, and we can embrace Him, and embrace the Father and Holy Spirit because of  Him. 

Amen!

The Ultimate Treasure of Relationship

Yesterday, I was reflecting on the uniqueness of my relationship with the Lord, and today I was wandering through some different thoughts, pursuing the Lord's word for me.  Sometimes it seems I am walking down a path remembering certain things I heard and saw, waiting for something to pop out.

As I was thinking though te conversations and thoughts I had yesterday, I was reminded of the ministry of Heidi and Rolland Baker in Mozambique and much of the world.  They founded and run an organization called Iris Global and it amazing to read of all the things they are doing and involved with worldwide.  Fore more details you can go to the Ministry web-site at Iris Global

I was reading through some of their newsletters, and came across the letter from 2014.  It seems to me that they capture very well the one key theme that has been resonating in my heart for some time - that our walk is all about relationship with Jesus.  Here is a long excerpt from their letter from 7/16/2014:

"What motivates us to keep going? What puts energy into our spirits when we run out of answers and resources? How do we stay patient and upbeat when the outlook seems bleak, yet again? Where does our power to live, serve and give come from? The question is important, because missionaries do get tired, discouraged and down. Christians of all kinds run out of motivation, no matter how much they have. Leaders with huge responsibilities lose their peace and joy. Ministries become more like businesses, and preachers more like sales managers. But what makes the Kingdom run? What is the fuel that fires us effortlessly? What is the real thing?

Every day we find out more of the answers to these most fundamental questions, and every day we learn that what used to motivate us is no longer enough. We are going higher, pressing on to what lies ahead. We keep learning what Jesus is interested in, and lose interest in what we used to pursue. And we learn that unless Jesus is interested in what we are pursuing, the going gets tougher than we can bear.

But there is a secret place, a hiding place, a lower place, a holy place that exceeds our dreams. It is not found in anything external and impersonal. It is not found simply in activity, sacrifice and dedication. It is not found in goals, projects, productions and progress. It is not found in finances and growth. It may be missed entirely even when preaching, teaching, training and discipling. It may be forgotten completely when evangelizing and praying for the sick. The greatest and most powerful gifts don’t necessarily contain it. Even ministry to the poor may become an impersonal effort that misses that greatest and most intensely motivating creation of God, that supreme display of His glory: relationship!

Love is a gift of relationship, not just self-sacrifice. The secret place is not necessarily found in a prayer closet or a posture of soaking, or in battling for a just cause, or in a massive prayer and fasting effort. Even the most amazing miracles can leave us lonely and without relationship. We can run out of motivation advancing the most noble ideals and working at all levels to transform society. We can minister until we have no more strength, and still go home and lie in bed without the relationship for which our hearts are made.

Everything is okay with relationship. It is all that Jesus cares about, all that motivates Him. He could do many more amazing miracles and dazzle the world with His powers, but He is interested only in relationship. The entire creation, all the grandeur of the physical world, and all His works are designed to serve one thing: relationship. Revival has no content without it. Renewal and manifestations are pointless apart from it. Miracles only find their meaning in it. Joy is shallow and groundless unless rooted in it. Without relationship we are the living dead.

There is no pressure in genuine relationship. When it turns into work, it is gone and finished. It is effortless to maintain. It is not the goal of struggle, but the fire of life. It brings the utmost peace, and washes away all tension. It is the point of living, the substance of existence, the atmosphere of heaven. It motivates to heroic heights, bringing out our best. In relationship we know we are alive, we have arrived, we are satisfied. When we turn away from relationship to pursue anything else, we lose. We have no strength to give and love without it. It is a haven, a rock, a river of living water, the perfect source of motivation to keep going.

As our Perfect Savior, Jesus provides us with relationship. For this He died and rose again on our behalf. He provides not only His Word, His promises and His gifts, but also freely fills our lives with relationship in response to the desire He has put in our hearts. No guilt and condemnation can keep us from drinking in all the relationship with Him that we desire. Nothing in our past can block us. No attitudes in others can prevent us from tasting and seeing that He is good. And from this tree of life that is our Savior, we can branch out into more and more relationship with those all around us. He takes away our loneliness. In Him we end our search and find our destination.

So in this experience of revival in Africa, our values have been refined in the fires of pressure, opposition and disappointment. Thousands of churches and testimonies of supernatural power do not keep us motivated. Huge feeding projects are not enough for us. We need more of a goal than to target people groups and disciple followers. Education and development don’t keep our hearts alive. Mobilizing world-wide support still falls short. Academic missiology lacks the energy that Africa needs.

No, our hearts must have perfect relationship, a perfect union between us and our Savior, in the Holy Spirit. We were never meant to be alone for a moment. Our whole motive is to live life and do everything together with our God, to take pleasure in His company always. Our power to live comes entirely from our satisfying relationship with Him, and to stay there is to stay in our own private revival that cannot be disturbed by anything else. Only when that relationship is golden, incandescent and pure enough do we have the power to delight in all that God has richly provided for us to enjoy.

Therefore in Him we do not pursue revival, but rather revival pursues us! Church growth and miracles pursue us. His presence pursues us. He Himself follows us, responds to us, and takes pleasure in making us happy, for we make Him happy. We care how He feels. We satisfy His longing. To stay close to Him is no effort, but a relief, a release, a door to freedom. To get a miracle is never the point, but in our relationship with Him miracles are a delight for Him to perform on our behalf. In fact, we cannot live without miracles, and in the normal Christian life we recognize that everything is a miracle, “for in him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28).

Love in Jesus,
Rolland and Heidi


My prayer is that our hearts might be stirred by this same treasure, relationship with Jesus!  Let us embrace this opportunity to celebrate and know Him fully in this season of joy and peace, as we celebrate His birth.

Amen!

Of Hidden Work and Wrong Judgment

This morning I am once again reading and thinking about some verses from Paul's letter to the Romans.  He communicated so clearly about the Gospel of Grace, and how we should individually embrace this gospel.  Here are the verses - Romans 14:1-4 NIV:

[1] "Accept the one whose faith is weak, without quarreling over disputable matters. [2] One person's faith allows them to eat anything, but another, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. [3] The one who eats everything must not treat with contempt the one who does not, and the one who does not eat everything must not judge the one who does, for God has accepted them. [4] Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To their own master, servants stand or fall. And they will stand, for the Lord is able to make them stand."

I love verse 4, "Who are you to judge someone else's servant?"  We must learn to trust that the Lord is able to be Lord over and in each other's lives.  He has different calls, different plans and a unique relationship with each and every one of us, and sometimes His call and direction for some else is pretty different than what He is doing in our life.  We need to learn to be accepting of His ability to deal with each of us in a different way. 

Secondly, I REALLY love verse 1 and wish that we, as a church, would learn to embrace this fully.  We must learn to embrace those who are just starting in their faith walk, those who are struggling, and those who are just learning what it means to live a life of faith, without hitting them with a bunch of rules about how to live life as a Christian.  We must give each other grace to grow in areas where the Lord has already touched our lives, and grace to embrace things that God hasn't called us to change in our own lives.  I wish Paul had listed some of the disputable matters, as that would have been helpful, but it would just create another list of rules, that we are so fond of creating and following, so we can keep score and judge our behaviour against someone else's - which brings us back to verse 4.

Our walk with the Lord really is about our relationship with Him.  Each of us will find a unique experience within that relationship, for we are each unique.  My relationship and interactions with the Lord are quite different than what my honey experiences.  She hears him differently than I do, our prayer times are different from each other and the things the Lord is doing in my life, are not the same as He is doing in hers!  It is amazing to me, how gently and perfectly the Lord deals with each of us, and yet how very different His ways are, even though we are in a deeply intimate relationship with each other.  He truly loves and directs each of us as we need, and that is so encouraging to me.

My prayer is that I would learn to leave the Lord to His Lordship over everyone else, and I would focus on my own walk with Him, and not compare myself to others, or make judgments about their walks based on what I see!  I know for me, the majority of what the Lord has been doing and saying to me are between He and I, and externally most likely not evident.  I just thought of an interesting analogy - when a house is being built, it an look complete on the outside and still have months of finish working being done on the inside, all of which would be hidden from external view.  Even though things don't seem to be changing externally, internally the house is changing radically.  Can I trust that the Lord is able to do the same in the lives of those around me, without my knowledge? 

Finally, I was just thinking about this some more and realized that much of the work the Lord does in my life is hidden from my view, as I am so often not aware of the spiritual realm, and the Lord clearly is doing things in my spirit, without my knowledge.  I have many times seemed dry and unmoving in my faith walk, seeming to not move for months at a time and then suddenly make some significant progress!  I believe that is due to all the work the Lord has been doing in my spirit, but I was just unaware.  There are times that people have asked me what the Lord was doing in my life and I have no clue.   Then, after several months I look back and can clearly see that the Lord was at work the whole time, and even see the specific things He was doing at the very time the person asked me (which I was not aware of at that time).

I guess I could summarize this whole reflection by simply saying I need to give myself and everyone around me grace to follow the Lord in whatever way He is leading.  I need to trust that He is the Lord of my life, and even though I may not see it, He is at work always in my life, conforming me into His likeness.  I can trust that He will lead me and guide me, and that He will do the same for every brother and sister in this great Body of Christ.  Finally, I need to lay down my judgmental ways and trust that the Lord is at work in ways that are not known or hidden from my view.

Amen!

A Life Dependent on the Father - the Radical Example of Jesus

Lately I have had a thought rolling around in my heart and mind.  I have been thinking about the relationship Jesus had with the Father.  Essentially, this relationship with the Father, that Jesus modeled, is the opposite of what we experience naturally.  In the natural, we are 100% dependent on our parents for the first number of years and then we grow to become more and more independent, finally able to think and act fully on our own and our parents become advisors if we let them!  Jesus demonstrated pretty much the opposite of that.  He grew up perfectly obedient to the Father, and in His ministry only said and did what the Father told Him and showed Him to do.  We could say that Jesus' ministry was 100% dependent on the Father's direction through the power of the Holy Spirit.  He spent His life looking to the Father, not trying to be independent from Him.

As I think about it, our invitation to join ourselves to Christ is more like marriage is supposed to be than it is like growing up from a child to an adult.  We are supposed to be constantly growing more and more in love,  experiencing greater and greater intimacy, and our motivation to act comes out of a place of love and affection.  We are invited into a holy union, joining ourselves to God.  This is really quite a radical pursuit if we really embrace it.

Looking at some of the statements Jesus made about His relationship with the Father is helpful.  He gives us a path to follow.  Here are just some of the verses that relate to this theme.


John 6:28-29 NIV:  "Then they asked him, “What must we do to do the works God requires?” [29] Jesus answered, “The work of God is this: to believe in the one he has sent.”


John 6:38,46-47,63 NIV:

[38] "For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of him who sent me."

[46] "No one has seen the Father except the one who is from God; only he has seen the Father. [47] Very truly I tell you, the one who believes has eternal life."

[63] "The Spirit gives life; the flesh counts for nothing. The words I have spoken to you---they are full of the Spirit and life."


John 8:28-29 NIV:

[28] "So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. [29] The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.”


John 10:37-38 NIV:

[37] Do not believe me unless I do the works of my Father. [38] But if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me, and I in the Father.”


John 12:49-50 NIV:

[49] "For I did not speak on my own, but the Father who sent me commanded me to say all that I have spoken. [50] I know that his command leads to eternal life. So whatever I say is just what the Father has told me to say.”


John 13:15-17,34-35 NIV:

[15] "I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. [16] Very truly I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. [17] Now that you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them."

[34] “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.”


Now the real question is how to move forward in pursuing that more dependent and obedient life-style?  How do I make practical changes to my attention and focus, listening and hearing, in such a way that I am more consistent and intentional in being conformed to the likeness of Christ?  Lord, how do I pursue hearing and obedience with the same focus you did??

I like to think that if there is a will, there is a way.  In this case, if it is God's will and purpose for me to walk in deep intimacy with Him, then there must be a way available to me, that He has provided. If His desire is for me to be fully engaged, representing Him through my unity with Him, then He must make a way for me to step into and walk out this level of obedience and intimacy.

Clearly, prayer is key, as that provides the opportunity to converse.  However, if you are like me, your day becomes quickly busy and full of all sorts of other concerns.  That is where I need real help hearing, Lord!  I am so easily distracted, and needing to give my attention to my work and business that I feel like I loose connection to the Lord, due to the noise of all that I am needing to do.

Again, looking back at the idea that our faith walk should be more like a marriage, I am never not conscious of being married to my honey.  I do find that this covenant relationship definitely changes the way I think and act, which is a good thing.  In the same way, my relationship with the Lord must impact my life, my words and actions.  However, I want to go deeper still, pressing forward into that which Jesus descried and modelled.  I do want to walk in unity and intimacy and obedience.

Lord, I am not sure how to move forward, but I know You have made a way, and I am about finding that way forward, in You!  Help me to pay attention, to embrace all that You have for me and call me into.  Help me to become more and more dependent and obedient in midst of all the swirl of my daily life.

Amen!

Second Chances and Redemption - A Reflection on John Mark

For the last few days I have been thinking about a young man mentioned in the Book of Acts.  His name is John Mark and while we don't know much about him, he has a significant impact in the ministry of Paul and Barnabas.  We first hear of him the night Peter is miraculously freed from prison.

Acts 12:11-12 NIV:
[11] "Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”

[12] "When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying."

From this short verse and inclusion by Luke of his name, we can see he was likely a young man, and was raised in a family of faith. Luke was writing this not as  a first person account, and that he knew John Mark personally, likely lead to his inclusion here.  In fact it might have been a bit of John Mark's remembrance that was included by Luke here.

We next see John Mark accompanying Paul and Silas as they return form Jerusalem back to Antioch. Acts 12:25 NIV:  "When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark."

I can just imagine the excitement of John Mark, setting out with Paul and Barnabas, heading back to Antioch with them.  They had not started any of their missionary adventures yet, but they were elders in the Antioch church, and God was moving powerfully there.   What a great honor it must have been to serve these two leaders!  Additionally, John Mark was essentially the second representative from Jerusalem to visit the growing church in Antioch.  It doesn't say anything about this, but I would imagine he was considered one of the young leaders, possibly being raised up for significant ministry.

Shortly after their arrival Paul and Barnabas are called out by the Holy Spirit, to be sent on the first of their missions (See Acts 13:1-3).  They were prayed over and sent out and John Mark once again accompanied them.  Acts 13:4-5 NIV:  "The two of them, sent on their way by the Holy Spirit, went down to Seleucia and sailed from there to Cyprus. [5] When they arrived at Salamis, they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues. John was with them as their helper."

This Mission to Cyprus is really the first missionary trip of the church, and John Mark had the opportunity to go along with Paul and Barnabas!  Talk about being on the cutting edge, seeing God move in powerful ways, as He confirmed their words with Miracles and signs, what an exciting time it must have been for John Mark!

It seems that they are not too far into their mission when we hear of John Mark once again, really just a  quick side-note.   Acts 13:13 NIV:  "From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem."

That is all that is recorded about John Mark's ministry with Paul and Barnabas, so the question is why is he significant?  The answer to that is found in the following passages from Acts 15:36-41 NIV:

[36] "Some time later Paul said to Barnabas, “Let us go back and visit the believers in all the towns where we preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing.” [37] Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, [38] but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. [39] They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus, [40] but Paul chose Silas and left, commended by the believers to the grace of the Lord. [41] He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches."

I can't even fathom the impact of this disagreement on John Mark.  There was clearly more to the story then what was previously recorded by Luke, but we don't have any details.  Whatever the source of the disagreement, we can tell that Paul had a very strong opinion that John Mark couldn't be trusted.

As I was reflecting on on this, I was reminded of times in my life where certain ministers or ministries had expressed concerns about myself, effectively labeling me as only good for certain things.  I remember the zeal I had for serving the Lord, and I remember the impact their negative words had on me, sometimes causing me to even doubt my calling, or my choice to follow the Lord.  I am sure that John Mark was impacted deeply by Paul's words.

My reflection continued, for it is clear that Barnabas provided an opportunity for redemption and restoration to John Mark!  Even though I know almost nothing of him, I am moved in my heart to compassion for him.  That John Mark wanted a second chance is clear, for this wasn't some conscripted service.  I am sure He asked to join them again, and was hoping for a second chance to return to the Lord's service in this way. 

What struck me about this is how merciful the Holy Spirit is toward John Mark.  Make no mistake, the decisions to go back to the missions field was not just an idea of Paul or Barnabas, but rather divinely inspired.  They were once again being encouraged forward by the Holy Spirit.  The key point here is that John Mark's inclusion was also part of the plan of the Lord.  While John Mark was effectively serving as a helper to Paul and Barnabas, he was serving the Lord primarily!

Often we can lose sight of that fact, that we are all servants of the Lord, first and foremost, especially when personalities get involved.  Even the most anointed ministers are not the Lord, and sometimes can let personal offense or their perspective get in the way.  We are all individually called and chosen by the Lord, and He is one to whom we are called!  Who knows why John Mark left, but maybe it was in obedience to the Lord?  I have had times, in the past, where what the Lord was calling me to do was in conflict with the plans of someone I was serving under.  When I brought it to the Lord, He made it very clear.  He said, "You can either be loyal to them, or obedient to me!"  At that point the answer was easy.

I believe that Barnabas came to a very similar point in this situation, He could either be loyal to Paul or obedient to what He felt was right in the Lord to do, to bring John Mark along, and give him a second chance!   I am grateful for this example of obedience in the face of personal conflict, not as an example of conflict, but rather as an example of redemption and restoration!  I believe this demonstrates clearly the Lord's heart for John Mark, and really for very believer!  None of us is less than any other in the eyes of the Lord!  From a purely human perspective, I would rank Paul as being more important, but in the Lord's eyes, John Mark was, and is, just as significant!

So today, my encouragement is to look to the Lord for my sense of significance, period!  I have served in many ways, and under many ministries, but my primary allegiance is always to the Lord!  He is the only one who  truly knows my heart, and His calling in my life!  I certainly don't always get it right, but I must always look to the Lord, not at anyone else, or at their opinions or decisions concerning me.  The Lord has a plan of me, and as long as I am looking to Him and trying my best to follow Him, I will be successful, regardless of what others think!

Thank You Lord, for calling me and loving me, and for being my Lord!  Help me to walk in freedom, not allowing other people's opinions of me to limit my service to You!

Amen!

Receive, Respond, Reflect and Rejoice!

This morning I am reflecting on some verses from Paul's letter to Titus 3:3-8 NIV:

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

I really like Paul's summary of the Gospel message here.  He calls Jesus the kindness and love of God our Savior, and that is a wonderful name.  Jesus is NOT the judgment and punishing of God, but rather the kindness and love of God!  He saved us because of His kindness, love and mercy, while we were still sinners.  This is true of us all, for His salvation is just as real today as it ever has been.

Secondly, his description of our transformation, "washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit" is so helpful.  It is not self-purification and works, but rather rebirth and renewal both of which the Lord accomplishes in us.  We are receivers of God's abundant grace and mercy.  Our job in this whole thing is to receive and acknowledge the great gift we have been given.  In the end, our efforts to do good are simply a response of gratitude for all that we have been given!  We are responding to His initiation, to His action, to His offer, to His love, and then called to reflect that back to the world around us!

I guess I could summarize the Gospel it as receive, respond and reflect, all accomplished in a spirit of gratitude!  Or maybe it could be summed up as receive, respond, reflect and rejoice!

Thank You Lord for Your simple truths and encouragements!

Individual Learning Plans From The Holy Spirit

This morning I have been reading in Hebrews 12, and letting God's word soak into my soul.  I am aware of my need to spend more time reading The Word, so I am endeavouring to increase my time reading and reflecting.  The verses that I am reflecting on this morning are as follows - Hebrews 12:7-13 NASB:

[7] "It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? [8] But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. [9] Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? [10] For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. [11] All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness."

[12] "Therefore, strengthen the hands that are weak and the knees that are feeble, [13] and make straight paths for your feet, so that the limb which is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed."

Now the NIV version translates this differently speaking of enduring hardship as discipline, which seems to twist the meaning slightly out of context to me.  Immediately on reading the NIV version, one feels that God is causing the hardship to enable discipline, and thus colors the discipline with a dark taint.  The NASB version (shown above) doesn't elicit in me the same perspective.

The word the author used, that has been translated discipline is the the Greek word paideia, which is defined as follows:

1) the whole training and education of children (which relates to the cultivation of mind and morals, and employs for this purpose now commands and admonitions, now reproof and punishment) It also includes the training and care of the body
2) whatever in adults also cultivates the soul, esp. by correcting mistakes and curbing passions.
    a) instruction which aims at increasing virtue
    b) chastisement, chastening, (of the evils with which God visits men for their amendment)

Now we know from the context of the following text that the author is using this to refer to children, as sons and daughters, not as adults, so when we read this section we should understand the use of discipline purely as definition 1 above.  Secondly, since the definition refers to training and education of children, we should think of education under the best teacher, the one who knows us perfectly, and understands even our inner thoughts, Holy Spirit.  The VAST majority of this education and training is positive in focus and results, the purpose and goal is to help us mature and grow in knowledge and understanding.  Tests are to help us and our teacher understand what we have learned.  Tests can actually be fun if you totally understand your material, and are meant to be encouraging in that perspective. 

I remember one time my son got back his Missouri Standardized Testing Results and was feeling bad about his scores.  He was in the 5th grade at the time, but He didn't fully comprehend what the scores meant.  When I explained to him the fact that he was doing math and reading at levels similar to highschool students (grades 10-12), he suddenly went from feeling discouraged, to feeling REALLY good about himself.

It seems to me that the purpose of our discipline (education and training) is to allow each of us to mature fully into trusted adult sons and daughters of God.  As each of us is unique, I believe that each of our trainings is unique to some extent as well, a Holy Spirit crafted individual learning plan.  He is about raising all of us to represent Him, and He is primarily a God of love and compassion!  He wants us to be able to represent Him to others, and walk along others as they go through discipleship.  Any punishment that I have ever received was not so much punishment as having to redo work in a particular area. 

If we think about school, any time we get a failing grade in a particular subject that is meant to provide evidence of the need for repeating that subject or subject area!  We don't receive beatings for failing a spelling test (at least I never did) and I don't see God the Father ever using such methods with me, in any area of failing.  He is about growing me and training me to faithfully represent Him to those I encounter, helping them to understand what they are experiencing and providing insight into how God works in our lives.  As the author writes above, "He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness."

Finally, the author finishes this section with a strange bit on strengthening hands and knees that are feeble, and making straight paths for our feet.  Again, we tend to think education is just about the mind, but we are triune beings, beings comprised of body, mind and spirits, and God's education system doesn't just focus on one part of us to the exclusion of others.  Holy Spirit, really does want to teach us in all areas, and desires that we mature and grow and develop well balanced in all areas.  When I read this statement, I am envisioning those of us that grew up under poor teaching, where only certain parts of the Gospel were preached, and thus our development was out of balance.  We need proper education and focus to strengthen the weaker areas!  There are certainly some who have become so focused in one area that they have become disjointed, or out of proper alignment, which affects all their thinking and actions.   The Lord would have us healed and balanced, and He will help us.

So this morning, I am encouraged in my life to listen closely to Holy Spirit as He guides me and directs me.  I am encouraged to listen and to embrace His direction, knowing full well that His purpose is to enable me to grow into a mature son, one who can be entrusted with greater responsibility and authority.  I am encouraged to endure discipline, just like I endured through math class, trig, algebra, chemistry and even phy-ed.  All of these classes were designed to aid me in growing in my education, and how much better is the Holy Spirit at personally crafting an individual learning plan just for me! 

Amen!

Encouragement in the Struggle

This morning I am reflecting on one of those difficult verses - 1 Peter 4:19 NIV: "So then, those who suffer according to God's will should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good."

The Passion Translation makes it more palatable - "So then, those who suffer for following God’s will should enfold their lives into the Creator, who will never fail them, and continue to always do what is right."

This translation makes more sense, in that an individual finds themselves in a difficult position, and got in that position through following God as best as they could.  When a person finds themselves in such situation, one could be tempted to listen to the accusations of the enemy, who is quick to accuse God of being unloving, uncaring, of promising blessing, but delivering difficulty, etc.

However, I think it is high praise to God, an offering of praise that flows straight to the Throne, when we choose to double-down and set one's heart on following God in the midst of the struggle, pressing into Him in intimacy, and refusing to curse god and die (Job 2:9).  We can press onward, doing what is right, continuing to praise God in the very midst of the struggle, in the very midst of our suffering, knowing that He loves us, that He is faithful, and that He will never fail us!  He has a plan and it is good!  We can choose to give God glory, to sing His praises in the midst of our pain and suffering!

Let us encourage ourselves and one another this day, especially those that are in the struggle.  Let us press onward, deeper into God, into His arms of mercy and compassion and love!  Let us embrace intimacy and surrender unto Him!

Amen!

Difficulty and Perspective

This morning I am reading from 1 Peter 4 and realized this is one of those sets of verses that I don't like to read, because of my desire to be liked by all, and my desire to not suffer.

1 Peter 4:12-16 NIV:

[12] "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the fiery ordeal that has come on you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. [13] But rejoice inasmuch as you participate in the sufferings of Christ, so that you may be overjoyed when his glory is revealed. [14] If you are insulted because of the name of Christ, you are blessed, for the Spirit of glory and of God rests on you. [15] If you suffer, it should not be as a murderer or thief or any other kind of criminal, or even as a meddler. [16] However, if you suffer as a Christian, do not be ashamed, but praise God that you bear that name."

Its all good imagining this happening to other people, and I would be happy to pray for courage and strength for them, and be for them in my heart and mind.  However, if this was happening to me, I would likely have a different response!

Recently I was reflecting on how when I read the scriptures, I often read about a situation, but already know how it will end up, so its difficult to really empathize with those in the situation.  For example, when reading the Book of Exodus, Chapter 14, where the Israelites are trapped between the sea and Pharaoh's army.  I know how they will escape, so I have a hard time appreciating how they felt, when facing certain death, or at least a return to slavery.    God told Moses he was going to give Himself glory through the Egyptians, but didn't tell him how, until after they were trapped, and needed an escape immediately!

However, this morning as I am reflecting on this, I realize that my view of the Israelites in that situation, knowing how they were going to be set free, is the same view that God had, minus any personal involvement.  He knew what was going to happen as He views our lives outside of time!   If He looked, He would have seen the same thing as I now see, and known the Israelites would be saved.  I hope that makes sense!  Obviously He had everything to do with their being set free, but the vantage point of being outside of time, allows Him to look "back" in time, and to look "forward" in time as well.  Note: direction only matters to those who are in time.

If God is outside of time, He sees everything from the beginning of time to the end of time and everything in between.  He sees where He intervenes, at just the right time, sees how His interaction affects lives, and sees everything that will happen in each of our lives.  It is a perfect vantage point, and one that produces no surprises, in time.  He knows what happens, when it happens, what it affects, and understands all perfectly.  When He looks at my life He sees the whole expanse of my life, beginning to end, and there are no surprises.

This morning, in reading Peter's less then encouraging words (at least to me) I am reminded to pray for the Lord to give me His vantage point, and to see that it is similar to what Peter is expressing.  God will be glorified!  God's will is going to be accomplished.  We are going to become like Him, more and more and everything in our life moves us within the context of time, which God sees, controls and takes into account.  God's perspective is perfect, and He is speaking words of hope, though Peter.

I feel like the Holy Spirit is saying, embrace the present with the understanding that Your future is already understood, and its good!  Embrace the present, even if it is difficult, as it leads to greater things, greater intimacy with His Spirit, and the spirit of glory that will rest on you.

Lord, help me to look at all difficulty and testing this way.  Help me to look to you rather than to myself!

Forgiveness, Our Daily Work

This morning I felt led back to Luke 17, where I have recently been reflecting on forgiveness and faith( https://amomentwithgod-srh.blogspot.com/2019/09/forgive-now-faith-now.html) .  I am back reflecting on these same verses, as clearly I have more to learn. :-)

Here are the verses - Luke 17:3-10 NIV:

[3] "So watch yourselves.

“If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. [4] Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying 'I repent,' you must forgive them.”

[5] The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

[6] He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.

[7] “Suppose one of you has a servant plowing or looking after the sheep. Will he say to the servant when he comes in from the field, 'Come along now and sit down to eat'? [8] Won't he rather say, 'Prepare my supper, get yourself ready and wait on me while I eat and drink; after that you may eat and drink'? [9] Will he thank the servant because he did what he was told to do? [10] So you also, when you have done everything you were told to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty.' ”

My reflection begins with verse 5, and the apostles recognition that they needed more faith to forgive as Jesus was calling them to forgive (or maintain relationship with one another).  As I read through this bit this morning, I felt like it had to do with trusting God alone, and not feeling like we need to receive some sort of reparations for someone's sin against us.  Forgiveness essentially means sending away, and this case it is a sense of being owed payback, or we could say vengeance.  We are called to forgive one another over and over and over again.  Every time, it seems that we should be taking that sin and our woundedness and laying them at Jesus' feet, entrusting ourselves and our woundedness to Him, rather than holding on to it.

In many ways, this is modeling exactly how the Lord deals with us!  We sin constantly, and He constantly is extending forgiveness.  He has already paid for our sins, and has already borne upon His own body and soul the punishment we are all due.  He cancelled that debt, and made a way for us to receive forgiveness, over and over and over again!  In embracing the need to forgive one another and walking that out, we are representing His Kingdom principles to the world!

Secondly, although verses 7-10 seem to be a whole new teaching, I think they have to do with forgiveness as well.  Sometimes, when we have been wounded, and come to a place of healing, extending forgiveness to someone who doesn't deserve forgiveness, we can think we have done something significant.  True, for us it is significant, but in the light of Jesus' sacrifice and death, it is next to nothing!  He has given us a new command - to Love one another, as He has loved us (John 13:34), and one of the ways He loved us was to extend forgiveness to us all.  He encourages us to lay down our lives for one another, and that includes our  woundedness, our unforgiveness, any past hurts, any wrongs that have been done to us!  This is supposed to be our daily work, that which is expected of us, in the Kingdom.

Imagine if the church regularly practiced forgiveness like this and came to understand the need to extend forgiveness to all, how different a place it would be!  If we demonstrated to each other forgiveness, repeatedly, blessing people, even those who hurt us, with no desire for judgment upon anyone!

Amen Lord, increase our Faith!

The Lord Will Have Righteous People

This morning I have been reading through the book of the Prophet Malachi.  These are the verses that caught my eye today - Malachi 3:1-4 NIV:

[1] “I will send my messenger, who will prepare the way before me. Then suddenly the Lord you are seeking will come to his temple; the messenger of the covenant, whom you desire, will come,” says the Lord Almighty."

[2] "But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap. [3] He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver; he will purify the Levites and refine them like gold and silver. Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness, [4] and the offerings of Judah and Jerusalem will be acceptable to the Lord, as in days gone by, as in former years."

As I reflect on these verses, the part that grabbed my attention was the second half of verse 3, "Then the Lord will have men who will bring offerings in righteousness".   His desire is for people of righteousness, and He will have them.  The interesting thing, is that we now know that this righteousness will be accomplished by the Lord, and not by our actions.   We ARE righteous, through faith in Jesus, not through our observance of the law. 

Paul writes very clearly that this is so in several of his letters, and the following couple of verses from his letter to the Romans are good examples - Romans 3:22,28 NIV:

[22] "This righteousness is given through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew and Gentile,.."

[28] "For we maintain that a person is justified by faith apart from the works of the law."

I love how the Lord, set the stage for the awesome fulfillment of these words from Malachi through Jesus.  He proclaimed refinement and purification of the Levites, but instead of applying that word to them, He applied it to Himself, and did all that was required to be perfectly righteous.  Then He, in His great mercy and compassion, applied that righteousness to us, to those that believe!  He said He will have people who bring offerings in righteousness and then He made it possible for all people to fulfill this word!   Whether gentile or Jew, man or woman, if we believe and receive Jesus in faith, we receive His righteousness! 

Paul wrote in his letter to Romans 5:17 NIV:  "For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God's abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!"

Thus, we find in our own lives, this word from Malachi fulfilled, for we who believe in Jesus, are able to bring our lives as offerings in righteousness!  Let us lay down our lives before Him, who is our righteousness, and let us give Him glory for doing what only He can do!  He has visited His people, He has come as a refining fire, He has come and purified, and He has established us as righteous!

Thank You Lord!

The Decision to Follow Jesus

I felt like I should read through all of Paul's first letter to the church in Thessalonica, and was reflecting on how Paul actually only had a short time there. Here is the beginning of Paul's letter - 1 Thessalonians 1:4-10 NIV:

[4] "For we know, brothers and sisters loved by God, that he has chosen you, [5] because our gospel came to you not simply with words but also with power, with the Holy Spirit and deep conviction. You know how we lived among you for your sake. [6] You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. [7] And so you became a model to all the believers in Macedonia and Achaia. [8] The Lord's message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia---your faith in God has become known everywhere. Therefore we do not need to say anything about it, [9] for they themselves report what kind of reception you gave us. They tell how you turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God, [10] and to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead---Jesus, who rescues us from the coming wrath."

Paul's initial visit to them was reported in Acts 17:1-5 NIV:

[1] "When Paul and his companions had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where there was a Jewish synagogue. [2] As was his custom, Paul went into the synagogue, and on three Sabbath days he reasoned with them from the Scriptures, [3] explaining and proving that the Messiah had to suffer and rise from the dead. “This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Messiah,” he said. [4] Some of the Jews were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas, as did a large number of God-fearing Greeks and quite a few prominent women."

[5] "But other Jews were jealous; so they rounded up some bad characters from the marketplace, formed a mob and started a riot in the city. They rushed to Jason's house in search of Paul and Silas in order to bring them out to the crowd."

Luke in his recording of events goes on to tell how some of these new believers, specifically those found in Jason's household, were arrested following the riot, and ended up having to post bail, which is probably some of what Paul was referring to in verse 6 on his letter to them.  I am sure that Luke captured some, but clearly not everything that occurred to them, as he was one of Paul's companions, and likely left the city with him.

Anyway, my thoughts are on the message that Paul must have preached during those three-ish weeks he was with them.  His letter speaks about how he worked to support himself during their time in the city (1 Thes 2:9), so we know they didn't spend their whole time talking.  We know from his opening lines that the gospel came with "power, with the Holy Spirit and with deep conviction."  Clearly the people were impacted, and their lives were changed.  In fact, they responded in such faith that they became a model for Macedonia and Achaia. 

As I reflect on this it is evident to me that Paul's message, his gospel of grace and of salvation through faith, rocked their world, in more ways than one!  They became alive spiritually, and were so convicted that their lives were eternally changed, and that all took place in a very short period of time. I am encouraged that when Holy Spirit is involved and active that things can accelerate considerably.

Recently I have been reflecting on conviction and commitment, and the invitation of the Lord to "go for it" going all in in pursuit of Him.  This is no special invitation to some few "Saints" but rather the invitation to us all, who would follow after Jesus.  He invites us to follow Him.  In fact, He issued that very invitation 28 times in the Gospels.  One of the things that usually is usually recorded after He gives that invitation is how people immediately follow him, leaving everything.  Jesus described following Him as follows - Matthew 16:24-25 NIV: "Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me. [25] For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it."

Jesus is clearly not speaking about a simple and easy commitment, yet that is what many of us, myself included, desire.  I want my level of commitment to be easy to attain, one that doesn't require me to change extensively, nor to be persecuted or looked down upon for my beliefs.  What Jesus describes is a laying down one's life, even denying oneself.  I generally suck at denying myself.  I don't like to do it, don't like to say no to myself, let alone doing it for the rest of my life! 

We recently were watching a movie about the church in Iran.  It is apparently one of the fastest growing churches in the world, and that in the very face of severe persecution, where following Jesus can lead to torture and death.  The people who were interviewed in the movie spoke of an attitude of heart and mind that each time they leave their house could be their last time.  Wow!  In spite of that reality they gladly embrace the invitation to follow Jesus. 

As I reflect on Paul's gospel, his appeal to the Thessalonians, I am convinced that His message was closer to the message of the church in Iran than it is to the messages that are shared in many of the churches in America.  This makes me pause and wonder if we are missing something, or if we fully understand the invitation before us!  Certainly we don't live in such an environment where our lives are endangered by our pursuit of Jesus, at least not in the way they are in Iran.  However, the invitation to lay down our lives, to deny ourselves is just that - our old lives should be endangered by our commitment to follow Jesus.  A decision to follow Him should be a death sentence to our old self, our old man! 

In some ways, it seems easier to live the life Jesus called us to embrace in the face of extreme persecution, than to live this radical call in a place where we can keep on allowing our old man to live comfortably in our lives, while we lightly follow Jesus.  I don't have the daily decision to follow Jesus to my literal death, instead I have the 10,000 opportunities per day to let my mind, heart or eyes stray.  At different times I feel that I am a good representation of at least 5 of the 7 churches that were written to in Revelations. 

Yet, the truth is I that am righteous in God's eyes.  When the Father looks at me, He sees His son Jesus, in whom I am hidden.  I have Jesus interceding for me at the Father's right hand, I have the Holy Spirit living in me, leading me, guiding me and teaching me.  I am the most blessed of men!  My invitation to lay down my life and deny myself is as true today as it has ever been.  The Lord, in His great mercy and compassion, doesn't hold my weakness, my ineffectiveness, my passivity or my sin against me.  He sees me as I am in truth, in His truth.  He loves me, has paid the price for me and continues to breathe His life into me, encouraging me on, strengthening me for the purposes for which He has called me. I have before me, today the choice to lay down my life, to deny myself and follow Him, that I might bring Him glory and I might become more like Him. 

A quick note, I do believe that the Lord created each of us as unique individuals, and that I am part of His Glorious creation.  He isn't calling me to deny everything I like, am gifted to do, or enjoy.  Those are things that He has put in me to reveal His glory.  What He is inviting me to do is to lay down my selfish pursuits, those that are flesh-driven, self-glorifying and against His will.  He has a better plan for me, and He is asking me to embrace that upward call.  I can't do that if I am unwilling to let go of lesser things.

This morning I am encouraged to embrace the invitation to follow Jesus with new vigor.  I am encouraged to look at my life as a gift, to see those things that I can do to bring Him glory, and to focus on Him, rather than my own selfish pursuits.  I know that I might fail, but I also know that He knows that and still loves me, and encourages me onward and upward.  Lord, help me to live my life as a witness to the true gospel!  Help me to understand your invitation to follow you in all of its fullness.

Amen!

Dealing With Giants

This morning I was continuing to read from 2 Samuel, and came across a brief section that I thought deserved a little reflection.  Here are the verses - 2 Samuel 21:15-22 NIV:

[15] "Once again there was a battle between the Philistines and Israel. David went down with his men to fight against the Philistines, and he became exhausted. [16] And Ishbi-Benob, one of the descendants of Rapha, whose bronze spearhead weighed three hundred shekels and who was armed with a new sword, said he would kill David. [17] But Abishai son of Zeruiah came to David's rescue; he struck the Philistine down and killed him. Then David's men swore to him, saying, “Never again will you go out with us to battle, so that the lamp of Israel will not be extinguished. ”

[18] In the course of time, there was another battle with the Philistines, at Gob. At that time Sibbekai the Hushathite killed Saph, one of the descendants of Rapha.

[19] In another battle with the Philistines at Gob, Elhanan son of Jair the Bethlehemite killed the brother of Goliath the Gittite, who had a spear with a shaft like a weaver's rod.

[20] In still another battle, which took place at Gath, there was a huge man with six fingers on each hand and six toes on each foot---twenty-four in all. He also was descended from Rapha. [21] When he taunted Israel, Jonathan son of Shimeah, David's brother, killed him.

[22] These four were descendants of Rapha in Gath, and they fell at the hands of David and his men."

As I was reading this section and reflecting on it a couple of thoughts came to mind.

1) Under the leadership of a King who has killed giants, his men can kill them too.

2) Because He had killed a giant, David likely had trained his armies on how to do it.  They clearly didn't use the same weapons, but they were successful nonetheless.

3) My belief is that it had more to do with faith, and knowledge that it could be done, than it did with any special strategy.

4) After they defeated the giants, their reputation increased significantly, and any other giants likely avoided them! :-)

5) If we apply this same logic to Jesus, anything Jesus did, we as His representatives can do, too.  It has to do with faith and knowledge that it can be done.  It might be accomplished in a different way, but there is still an anointing (If we want to call it that) for the killing of giants (sin, sickness, death, disease, disabilities) under Jesus.

One of my favorite authors, Graham Cooke, writes this about facing giants.

"If the enemy puts up a giant against you, the Holy Spirit declares to you, do you see the giant? That is what I am making you into. By the time this conflict is finished you will be his size and he will be reduced to the size that you have right now. Take a look at that giant because that giant is an open door to a whole new you."

So this morning I am encouraged that even though we might be facing a few giants, that the anointing for victory over them is present to us!  We have, in Jesus, the right and way to victory!  He demonstrated this, and as His representatives, we can do exactly the same, even greater.   He promised us the following - "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. [13] And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son. [14] You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it." ( John 14:12-14 NIV).

Amen and Amen!

Faith, Accusations and Truth - Mephibosheth

Yesterday during worship I felt led to read from 2 Samuel 16:1-4 NIV and the Lord started speaking to me about something I believe He wanted to address. Here are the verses:

[1] "When David had gone a short distance beyond the summit, there was Ziba, the steward of Mephibosheth, waiting to meet him. He had a string of donkeys saddled and loaded with two hundred loaves of bread, a hundred cakes of raisins, a hundred cakes of figs and a skin of wine.

[2] The king asked Ziba, “Why have you brought these?”

Ziba answered, “The donkeys are for the king's household to ride on, the bread and fruit are for the men to eat, and the wine is to refresh those who become exhausted in the wilderness.”

[3] The king then asked, “Where is your master's grandson?”

Ziba said to him, “He is staying in Jerusalem, because he thinks, 'Today the Israelites will restore to me my grandfather's kingdom.' ”

[4] Then the king said to Ziba, “All that belonged to Mephibosheth is now yours.”

“I humbly bow,” Ziba said. “May I find favor in your eyes, my lord the king.”

My first thought in reading this was that Ziba was an honorable guy and here he was sacrificing to care for David (as David was fleeing Jerusalem because his son Absalom had usurped the throne). I was thinking that Mephibosheth was clearly taking advantage of the situation, and that after all the kindness that David had shown him (See 2 Sam 9).

Then a few moments later I thought, no I don't think that is right, so I continued to read. When David comes back to Jerusalem, we actually get the whole story, as follows:

2 Samuel 19:15-18,24-30 NIV:

[15] "Then the king returned and went as far as the Jordan. Now the men of Judah had come to Gilgal to go out and meet the king and bring him across the Jordan.

[16] "Shimei son of Gera, the Benjamite from Bahurim, hurried down with the men of Judah to meet King David. [17] With him were a thousand Benjamites, along with Ziba, the steward of Saul's household, and his fifteen sons and twenty servants. They rushed to the Jordan, where the king was. [18] They crossed at the ford to take the king's household over and to do whatever he wished...."

[24] "Mephibosheth, Saul's grandson, also went down to meet the king. He had not taken care of his feet or trimmed his mustache or washed his clothes from the day the king left until the day he returned safely.

[25] When he came from Jerusalem to meet the king, the king asked him, “Why didn't you go with me, Mephibosheth?”

[26] He said, “My lord the king, since I your servant am lame, I said, 'I will have my donkey saddled and will ride on it, so I can go with the king.' But Ziba my servant betrayed me. [27] And he has slandered your servant to my lord the king. My lord the king is like an angel of God; so do whatever you wish. [28] All my grandfather's descendants deserved nothing but death from my lord the king, but you gave your servant a place among those who eat at your table. So what right do I have to make any more appeals to the king?”

[29] The king said to him, “Why say more? I order you and Ziba to divide the land.”

[30] Mephibosheth said to the king, “Let him take everything, now that my lord the king has returned home safely.”

What we find is that indeed Mephibosheth had been slandered to the King by Ziba. Ziba had even gone so far as to give David a large amount of gifts, and had clearly received David's favor. Ziba totally took advantage of a situation, knowing that David wouldn't be able to follow up on the truth of what he was saying. But in the end justice was done, and Ziba's lies were exposed.

I felt like the Lord said there are people I know who have been wrongfully accused in their lives and that He was moving to bring revelation and restore that which was lost.

Secondly, I felt like He said there are those of us that have believed the accusation against our brothers and sisters, and that we need to repent, and we need to give them the opportunity to speak on their own behalf.

Thirdly, I felt like He said there are those that have believe the accusations the enemy makes about their very selves. He is constantly working to make us believe that we have somehow disqualified ourselves; or that we have lost our way so bad that we will never get back to where we were; or that we have nothing to offer and have no value in the Body of Christ; or that we have missed out on our opportunity to minister as we should have done! I am sure there are several other accusations the enemy makes, these are just the ones he uses to beat on me.

Anyway, the Truth is fully known by God. He is making the truth known to others! If we stay focused on Him, it really doesn't matter if we are repaid or not, because intimacy with Him is restored and embraced! He is all we need and want!

Amen!

Faith and Favoritism

This morning I am continuing a reflection that I started last week, reflecting on some verses from James 2:1-5 NIV:

[1] "My brothers and sisters, believers in our glorious Lord Jesus Christ must not show favoritism. [2] Suppose a man comes into your meeting wearing a gold ring and fine clothes, and a poor man in filthy old clothes also comes in. [3] If you show special attention to the man wearing fine clothes and say, “Here's a good seat for you,” but say to the poor man, “You stand there” or “Sit on the floor by my feet,” [4] have you not discriminated among yourselves and become judges with evil thoughts?"

[5] "Listen, my dear brothers and sisters: Has not God chosen those who are poor in the eyes of the world to be rich in faith and to inherit the kingdom he promised those who love him?"

I was struck by verse 5, and the idea that God has chosen the poor to be rich in faith.  I was thinking about how this might be a bit challenging to many of the churches in America, who count themselves blessed to have wealthy congregants, that they might build beautiful buildings, and run extensive programs.  Many of these churches have outreaches to the poor, and do well with providing food and clothes, etc. which is laudable. 

However, as I read these verses today, I had a strong sense that we ought to be approaching the poor, as key members of the Body of Christ, for they have been gifted with Faith!  We need in the Body, more than anything, an increase of faith so that we might step into the purposes and plans that Jesus has for us all!  We need to raise the "water-level" of faith in the Body!

I am reminded of the many times Jesus encouraged the apostles and disciples to have more faith, to press in for more faith. Here are a few:

Matthew 17:20 NIV:  "He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”

-and-

Matthew 21:21-22 NIV: "Jesus replied, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only can you do what was done to the fig tree, but also you can say to this mountain, 'Go, throw yourself into the sea,' and it will be done. [22] If you believe, you will receive whatever you ask for in prayer.”

I think it is safe to say Jesus wanted His followers to press in for more faith.  In several of the later writings of the Apostles, they too encouraged faith.  James had a whole section that spoke of the importance of faith in action (See James 2:14-26).  Paul wrote constantly about faith, as the key element to the Gospel of Grace.  The author of the letter to the Hebrews wrote a whole chapter on people of faith (See Heb. 11).  Both Peter and John also took up the topic of faith in their writings as well.  Suffice it to say faith is critical to the Body of Christ, and should be something we encourage and value.

Clearly faith is important, but equally so how we treat others.  I find it very interesting that in the last 4 days I have had two completely unsolicited conversations with good friends, both of which brought up the topic of favoritism in local churches.  In both cases, it was seen as something that called into question the heart of the pastors, who were running after and seemingly enamored with the wealthy and famous in their congregations, at the expense of those who were not wealthy or famous. 

Going back to verses following the ones I quoted above, James would have very clear guidance concerning this type of behavior, for he wrote, "But if you show favoritism, you sin and are convicted by the law as lawbreakers." ( James 2:9 NIV).  Now, we no longer live under the Covenant of the Law, but I think we can see his opinion concerning favoritism. 

As I reflect on this, I am reminded over and over of the intimate love that the Lord has for each one of us!  The Lord doesn't have favorites, or maybe we can say  we are all His favorites!  For He clearly shows favor and rains favor down upon us all, righteous and unrighteous alike (See Matt. 5:45).  He considers each of us, equally His sons and daughters!  There is no hierarchy of love and affection, or even honor in the Father's eyes.  We are all loved, treasured, valued, and cherished equally in God's eyes. 

As Jesus' representatives here on earth, as His Body, it is so important that we learn to reflect His heart!  We are called to love and honor, treasure and value evey other member of the Body of Christ.  It should not matter if they are yong or old, rich or poor, gifted or not, even unloveable!  Jesus was just as willing to have dinner at a Pharisee's house, as He was to have dinner with a tax-collector!  He embraced the sick and leprous, the young, the old, the poor, the demonized, the sinner.  He knew the value of each to His Father, for He was doing and saying all at His Father's direction (see John 14:9-10). 

I know that I need tons of work in this area, for I am so quick to judge, so fast to form an opinion.  I look at people and based on their clothing, the way they act, move or look, decide if I want to even engage them in conversation!  Oh Lord, forgive me! 

We are called, as the Body of Christ to be open to all, too extend the words of Life to all.  We must learn to walk in humility, learning to serve and honor all those we meet, regardless of their social standing!  We are called to be lights that shine bright in this dark generation (Matt 5:14-16).

Oh Lord, help us! 

Forgive Now, Faith Now!

This morning I felt led to read from Luke 17, and while there are several interesting stories to reflect upon in that chapter, I found myself drawn back to the first topic that Jesus was discussing, namely forgiveness.  Specifically, what I found interesting was the correlation between forgiveness and faith.  Here are the verses - Luke 17:3-6 NIV"

[3] "So watch yourselves.

 “If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. [4] Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying 'I repent,' you must forgive them.”

[5] The apostles said to the Lord, “Increase our faith!”

[6] He replied, “If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you."

Normally, I would not consider verse 6 as a part of the previous discussion, yet it clearly is connected by the request of the apostles, who recognized they needed more faith to forgive as Jesus commanded them.  It makes me wonder what issues they were dealing with as a fellowship that caused them to cry out, "Increase our faith!"

This story takes place late in Jesus' ministry, for he is on His way to Jerusalem for his final time (Luke 17:11).  The conversations about who was to sit on His right hand were behind them, the offer to call down fire on the town that didn't welcome them was as well. The apostles, still didn't understand that He was going to die (See Luke 18:34) and were likely trying to figure out how this all worked, this new thing that Jesus was clearly starting.

We don't know what the situation really was that caused Jesus to talk about forgiveness, but the language is clearly aimed at at their fellowship of followers - for Jesus spoke of the sin being done by "brother or sister".  The Greek word used here is adelphos, and it literally means "of the same womb".  The word is used to describe biological brothers and sisters, and later was used as well to describe those who are closely connected in fellowship.  Jesus did have biological brothers in His band of followers, and clearly they were also a group of close friends and followers for they went with Jesus everywhere.

So, it seems to me that Jesus is describing one who is in close relationship who sins.  I am not going to go into the definition of sin here, other than to say that the Greek word used is defined as having no share in,  missing the mark, or path. The sin could be large or small, He doesn't say, but what He does say is that its consistent and persistent.

Jesus defines the interaction as someone sins, you rebuke, that someone repents.  What I find very interesting is the Greek word that is translated rebuke, is the word epitimao.  It is defined as follows:

1) to show honour to, to honour
2) to raise the price of
3) to adjudge, award, in the sense of merited penalty
4) to tax with fault, rate, chide, rebuke, reprove, censure severely
     a) to admonish or charge sharply

The word itself is a conjunction of two Greek words, epi and timao.  Epi means upon, and timao means to set the value of something, to honor.   What is interesting is how a word so strongly having to do with honor, and value, has been translated multiple times as rebuke!  Could this be one of the times that translators put a little of their own theology into their translation?  I don't know, and can only question, for I am certainly not a Greek scholar.

I can say that often our understanding of forgiveness and dealing with those who sin, can have a completely wrong perspective.  We normally think that this involves judgment, and guilt and punishment, and yet Jesus demonstrates over and over that forgiveness is about restoring relationship.  If my goal in going to a brother who sins against me is to restore relationship, which technique would have better results - rebuking or honoring them as someone of significant importance in my life??  I know which way I would like to be approached!

I think that at times we can read verses such as these and think they give us the right to "rebuke" and judge our brothers and sisters, multiple times a day, and that isn't the focus at all.  It is about forgiving and restoring relationship multiple times a day!

The word Jesus uses that is translated as forgive is aphiemi which means to send away and forget.  The word itself is rich in the definition, as there are many ways its used, but it always has a sense of finality to it.  This is what Jesus tells the apostles thy must do multiple times a day.

It is at this point the apostles cry out, "Increase our faith!"

It seems to me they are crying out, "We need faith, NOW!"

I believe they rightly understood that restoring relationship was of critical importance, and they needed help changing their hearts and minds.  So often we read this, thinking that Jesus was addressing the apostles as the ones that were doing rebuking and forgiving, not the ones who needed to be repenting!  What if Jesus actually meant they were the ones sinning every day, multiple times, and their cry of, "Increase our faith!" actually had to do with their need to repent and change the way they were thinking?!

Wow, that changes this whole story in a hurry!  The goal of Jesus' ministry was to reveal the Father and restore us to a place of relationship with Him.  He was working and ministering within the relationships He had with these followers, and I believe they understood what He was saying in that context.  I know when the Lord speaks to me, it is within the context of how I understand our relationship that He usually speaks, usually calling me deeper into relationship and challenging me to change the way I am thinking (repentance).

He encourages me to recognize my need to change, to ask forgiveness for those times that I choose wrongly, and to press forward deeper into Him.  I think this whole story is about us learning to do exactly that, with each other as well.  We are called to be joined to the Body of Christ through the bonds of deep relationship.  We are all human and all have issues and we must learn how to move past those things in us that cause issues for each other.  We are called to ascribe honor to one another, to see the importance of relationships, to ascribe the correct value to our relationships.  It is only the context of connection to the Body that we are truly able to fulfill our purpose and God's plan for us, thus forgiveness and repentance are critical to our walk.

We are right to cry out for more faith, more help from Holy Spirit!  We are right to extend forgiveness and ask forgiveness to and from one another!  No matter how many times a day, nor how deep the wounds are, we are called to relationship with Him and one another and we must learn to walk in intimacy, transparency and humility.

I know I need His help every day!  I need faith NOW!

Amen!

It's a New Day!

I was just sitting here, and the thought, "It's a New Day" passed through my mind.  Now that isn't my normal morning thought, more like "crap, another day of work..."  I decided to pay attention to this thought and let it resonate in my heart and mind, believing it is from the Lord, and He has purpose in speaking this to me today.

My first thought after hearing that phrase was from Lamentations 3:22-23 (NLT): "The faithful love of the Lord never ends!   His mercies never cease.²³ Great is his faithfulness;  his mercies begin afresh each morning."

It is a good thing to begin the day thinking about the faithfulness of the Lord!  His faithful love never ends, his mercies never cease, in fact they being anew every day, for eternity!!  His love never ends, never changes, and is always there, waiting to shower down upon me!  I can definitely look forward to a day of experiencing His faithful love, a day of new mercies! 

This helps me step away from anything that would try to cling to me, any residue of the days before.  Regardless of how good yesterday was, or how bad, today is a new day!  I can leave all that behind and press forward into that which the Lord is doing today!  I can press forward to experience His love anew, to experience His faithfulness, His new mercies. 

I am reminded of Paul's famous lines from his letter to the Philippians 3:12-14 NIV:  "Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. [13] Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, [14] I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus."

Lord, I thank You for this opportunity to reset my heart and mind this morning.  I don't know how the day will go, but I do know  that You are faithful, that You will express Your faithful Love for me, and that You will provide new mercies for me today!  

You do have a plan and purpose for me, and today I can press forward into them, for I certainly have not seen or experienced the fullness of either in my life yet!  Lord, thank You for all the past blessings, and provision, Your faithfulness in the face of the storms of life, your enduring Love, patience and forgiveness!

Thank You for this new day!

Jesus Has the Final Word Concerning Sin!

This morning I woke up from an interesting dream.  In my dream I was talking with an older gentleman that I was acquainted with, and he had been struggling with a serious sickness.  As I asked him how he was doing, he made mention that he was doing ok, but that this sickness was the result of the sins of one of his previous ancestors.  He then went on to quote from Exodus 34:7b NIV": ... "Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children and their children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.”

My response was interesting, as I was immediately moved with compassion for the man!  He was sitting under condemnation due to incorrect understanding, and teaching, and my heart was moved to gently open the scripture to him, to help him free himself from the chains of condemnation.  That is where I woke up.

This is clearly not one of my normal dreams, so I thought it was worth diving into the topic that come up, as wrong teaching and understanding can be very harmful in our lives.  I was having breakfast with a friend yesterday and we were talking about similar topics, although more along the lines of the theology of healing and faith, and how we can be taught things by well-meaning pastors that are not consistent with the truth that is found and demonstrated in Christ Jesus.  In the past the Lord walked me through a progression, concerning sin, that can be seen in scripture, and that is very applicable to this dream today.

As I was thinking about this dream, I felt like the Lord even gave me the title, saying He has the final word concerning sin!  What  a great message of hope!

As I mentioned previously, in the past the Lord had laid out for me a progression that we can see in scripture of how sin was described and dealt with, and it is important that when we think about sin, we think correctly, and do not remain stuck with an Old Testament mindset like the man in my dream.  The verse from Exodus is clearly not the last thing God says about sin, and even generations affected by sin.

In Ezekiel we see God updating the peoples understanding concern sin.  Here are the verses - Ezekiel 18:19-23 NIV:

[19] “Yet you ask, 'Why does the son not share the guilt of his father?' Since the son has done what is just and right and has been careful to keep all my decrees, he will surely live. [20] The one who sins is the one who will die. The child will not share the guilt of the parent, nor will the parent share the guilt of the child. The righteousness of the righteous will be credited to them, and the wickedness of the wicked will be charged against them.

[21] “But if a wicked person turns away from all the sins they have committed and keeps all my decrees and does what is just and right, that person will surely live; they will not die. [22] None of the offenses they have committed will be remembered against them. Because of the righteous things they have done, they will live. [23] Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign Lord. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?"

We see here clearly that the former word of punishing sin to the third or fourth generation is no longer true.  He says clearly that He will NOT cause the guilt of the parent to be shared by the child.  In fact, it looks like He actually forgives the person for previous sins.  God is helping the Israelites progress in their understanding, concerning sin, and we can see in this progression a greater truth that will be revealed.  We see God providing a prophetic understanding of what He was planning in Jeremiah 31:31-34 NIV:

[31] “The days are coming,” declares the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and with the people of Judah. [32] It will not be like the covenant I made with their ancestors when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, ” declares the Lord."

[33] “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. [34] No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, 'Know the Lord,' because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

Here we see God promising to forgive our sins and remember them no more! This is clearly pointing to what He did through Jesus, yet at that time, they only had the promise of the New Covenant, yet weren't living under it.  However, if God said He was going to forgive their sins and remember them no more, it would be impossible for Him to then punish a future generation for a sin He no longer remembered and had already forgiven.

We have here two of the important updates on the topic of sin, both found in the Old Testament, but they are not the final word yet, for that is only seen in Christ Jesus!  We know from Hebrews 1:3 that Jesus is the exact representation of the Father, and thus what is revealed by Him (Jesus) is exactly what the Father is like and doing and saying.  Much of the truth concerning Jesus' death and resurrection was only understood afterwards, but Jesus addressed the truth of God's plan multiple times.

Jesus alluded to God's plan to save us from our sin in John 3:16-17 NIV: "For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

Jesus spoke about the forgiveness of sins several times, even forgiving people of their sins, much to the consternation of the Pharisees.  Finally, Jesus on the the night of the Last Supper, initiated the New Covenant, as prophesies by Jeremiah some 700 years earlier, during the meal as recorded in Matthew 26:27-28 NIV: "Then he took a cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. [28] This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."

- and -

Luke 22:20 NIV: "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."

The author of the Letter to the Hebrews later was helping the Jews understand this all and wrote the following - Hebrews 9:15,22 NIV:

[5] "For this reason Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance---now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant."

[22] "In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness."

Since Jesus has shed His blood for the forgiveness of our sins, why would God ever hold them against us, or against our children?  We have been set free from the requirements and punishments found in the Old Covenant, and we now live under the New Covenant, set in place through Jesus' own blood. We can no longer be condemned for our sins that are covered by Jesus blood!  Paul writes the following - Romans 8:1-2 NIV: "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, [2] because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit who gives life has set you free from the law of sin and death."

We have been set free from all of that, and thus to think, like the man in my dream, that we can be punished for the sins of our earlier generations is clearly no longer relevant, or true.  The final words concerning all of this were spoken by Jesus, while he hung on the cross, "It is finished!" (John 19:30). One of the meanings of the word Jesus spoke is "paid".  He completed exactly what He was sent to do.

Peter wrote the following about Jesus, “He himself bore our sins” in his body on the cross, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; “by his wounds you have been healed.” (1 Peter 2:24 NIV)  Again, I ask, if Jesus bore our sins, and died for them, why would the Father punish us for them again??  Was Jesus' sacrifice insufficient or ineffective?  Is God such a wrathful God that He wants to make us pay over and over again for something that has already been paid for by His beloved Son?  Clearly the answer is NO.

Today, my encouragement is to fully embrace the truth of the New Covenant, that Jesus shed His blood to establish!  We are all set free from the requirements of the Old Testament Covenant of the Law, and all of its rule and regulations and punishments!  Thus no longer will a man's guilt be shared by his children, or his children's children.  Rather, if we receive the salvation offered to us in Jesus, all of our sins have been paid for, and are remembered no more!

As Paul writes in His letter to the Romans 8:31-34 NIV:

[31] "What, then, shall we say in response to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? [32] He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all---how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things? [33] Who will bring any charge against those whom God has chosen? It is God who justifies. [34] Who then is the one who condemns? No one. Christ Jesus who died---more than that, who was raised to life---is at the right hand of God and is also interceding for us."

-And-

Romans 8:38-39 NIV:

[38] "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, [39] neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

This includes sin!  Jesus clearly has the final word conerning our sin, because He paid for it all.

Amen and Amen!