my wings are made of faith

Don't be afraid to enjoy yourself!

Recently Lori posted on the importance of getting rest in the in Lord. I wanted to revist that concept and add a lesson I am leaarning.

Don't be afraid to enjoy yourself. I struggle with this because I subconsciously think if I enjoy something it won't last.

This doesn't apply to small things like a movie or an evening out with friends. This usually applies to the big things God is doing in my life.

James 1:17 tells me that every good and perfect gift is from above.

So why can't I enjoy the good and perfect gifts He has given me...like my husband. Let me explain.

I am a black woman who married a black man who loves the Lord, didn't have kids, had a good job, had vision, and lived a servant leader life. We don't have a crazy home life. Are we perfect? By no means.

But deep down I didn't want to enjoy the fact that we had no "baby mama drama", for example, because I didn't want offend those who had drama. I didn't want to come across stuck up or haughty. In fact, I have down played many good things in my life just because I didn't want to offend or make some else feel....bad. I have made such a habit of it that the Lord actually had to tell me to "enjoy yourself".

If every good and perfect gift comes from the Lord, then we can enjoy the gifts he has given us. Learning to enjoy yourself is pursuit in balance. I can easily take it the out of balance the other way and make life all about me and my enjoyment.

Enjoy yourself. If you have worked hard, play hard. Joyce Meye wrote a book called Eat the Cookie..Buy the Shoes: Giving yourself permission to lighten up! I bought it a long time ago and might need to pull it out again to relearn how to celebrate the blessings of God. If you stuggle in this area, check out the book!

It is so tempting to think that Christians should always be in some state of hardship, trial, struggle, or torment. But God thank you that give us abundant life. Life that is free from bondage...even the bondage of false humility. Help us see our blessings, acknowledge our blessings, and celebrate our blessings without guilt, fear, or pride.

Balance

The danger of looking closely at our own lives is always that we lose our focus on Jesus.  So early in any commitment to look inward, or while taking long looks at self, 2 things must be reckoned with early:

1. Remind yourself often that when Jesus healed, he often linked the healing with forgiving sins and faith. It was a package deal. But in that context, all the stories also relate to us the impact it had on people's lives to make them love him. Their lives were turned around, and they became healthy and sinfree, but they entered a world where Jesus said: "Follow ME." These people gained a deep abiding love for their Savoir.

 Whether is easier, to say, Thy sins be forgiven thee; or to say, Rise up and walk? Luke 5:23

2. On the opposite end of that, however, is the issue of losing yourself. If you have a picture of what you think living for Christ is according to someone else's eyes, you are in danger of losing the person Jesus created YOU to be. Many people, if I asked the question- Is it correct to seek more of Jesus, and less of me?- would quickly respond, "yes!"  If you answered yes, let me challenge you with a few names: Mother Theresa, Billy Graham, Martin Luther, Dwight L Moody, Peter - "The Rock" Apostle, Apostle Paul...to name only a few.  God chose each of these people because of their willingness to bring themselves to his light, flaws and all.  None of these people were seeking to fall in line with what someone else thought their Chrisitanity should look like. Seeking Christlikeness together is not that we might look at one another, but that we might encourage and support individual efforts..

But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings. Malachi 4:2.

 Yes, we want more of Jesus, but he wants more of us. A gift we give one another.  And what a relief.  As we give to him our bodies and souls, we should find that Jesus loves us just the way he created us. His indwelling spirit is an all Him, all me relationship!  He wishes to empower us, (right down to our imperfect personalities and our bodies' failure to respond the same way someone else's will,) to have life that we live by choice. Please don't, this year, fall into a dogma of self sacrifice. Instead, visualize seeking change as an opportunity to give all of self to Jesus so that he can give it back with power.

 Many "religions" in the world have this issue at the root of their failure to understand God's word, or as a basis to allow the religion to dominate the subjects. Christians are the only faith based people who have the ability to have this kind of balance between God and Man. The flaw in some of the religions that seek kindness toward your fellow man, is that they focus on self to the extremes - ranging from self anialation to self worship. Many of Christ's followers came because of his miracle of healing and discovered the bonus of NEW LIFE, unique to anything they imagined they could have before. Unique and opposite to religious quest. Giving all of self to Jesus, can only be because we are captured by his love knowing he gave all of himself to us.

Lastly, wholeness is not about working our way to faith. It is about faithing our way to work.  I'll leave you to sort that out. LOL

Precious Lord, I ask you for balance as I seek your best for me. Help me stay aware that you only shine a light on my flaws to offer opportunity to do a miracle in me, because you love me. You both heal and save from sin because you meet our needs, and restore us to wholeness while empowering us to NEW LIFE. While we seek personal change...remind us that it is to give us empowerment to serve you best. Defeat the acts of Satan to distort your desire to make me wholly one with you. Help me not to begin a guilt trip list in the process. We seek Grace and Blessing. We praise you for your Love that inspired you to give your all for us. We recieve your gifts and open our lives to your Healing.  AMEN

It's Week 3 of The Wholly Healing adventure. If you haven't already, check it out and be sure to pick up your journal page!

http://mywingsaremadeoffaith.typepad.com/faith/2013/01/52-weeks-of-wholly-healing-week-three-put-on-the-armor-of-god.html 

 If you are new you will want to start from the beginning - Week One. Missed last week, here's week 2. Don't miss a single week by visiting every Monday.

The Christmas Star

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, wise men from the East came to Jerusalem, saying, “Where is He who has been born King of the Jews? For we have seen His star in the East and have come to worship Him.”—Matthew 2:1-2

Can you imagine a star so bright and glorious?

When they heard the king, they departed; and behold, the star which they had seen in the East went before them, till it came and stood over where the young Child was. When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceedingly great joy. And when they had come into the house, they saw the young Child with Mary His mother, and fell down and worshiped Him. And when they had opened their treasures, they presented gifts to Him: gold, frankincense, and myrrh.—Matthew 2:9-11

 

Even before the Wisemen met Jesus, they rejoiced at the sight of the beautiful star. Jesus brought them joy in the anticipation of meeting Him, the newborn Savior. Do you get the same joy in your heart when you think about your relationship with Jesus? When you think about meeting Him face-to-face one day? 

Pure joy. This is what Christmas is all about. 

And behold,an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. —Luke 2:9-11

"I bring you tidings of great joy which will be to all people." These verses bring so much joy to my heart. Great joy is there in knowing Jesus in a personal relationship with Him. Christmas isn't about all the religious laws and rituals, it's about welcoming Jesus, a Savior for all who believe, into the deepest part of your heart. The best gift you could ever receive is not the gift wrapped all pretty under the tree, it's receiving the gift of Jesus. 

The gift of Jesus doesn't cost a penny. He already paid the ultimate price on the cross. His love, grace, mercy, and abundant peace is free for the taking. This Christmas, he invites you to open up those gifts, one-by-one, and store them in your heart. May these gifts remind you daily of how much He loves you—A God who humbled Himself and became man (through His Son Jesus) so that He could identify with the human race. A God who would send His son to the cross to save those who believe from darkness and an eternity apart from Him. Love was born this day. 

Great joy. Christmas overflows with great joy. 

MERRY CHRISTMAS

One Heart, One message - One Spirit

Before I get started, I wanted to share great website, and especially their freebies page - chock full or fun ideas.

FREEBIES  From the Women of Proverbs 31 Ministries.

Its a wonderful place with more devotions, and great help for your day.  Options for super reading, books, training classes for writing and more.  These women are just like us, allowing themselves to show their vulnerabilities and how God helps them day by day.  Great Inspiration. They bless me, and make me want to meet them.

I love feeling like I am one of something, a kindred spirit with people who think like I do.  But what really excites me, is when I think how wonderful that the Holy Spirit shares with all of us the  same message.  There are times that I will go to 3 or so of my favorite devotional pages, or watch Dr. Charles Stanley, or Mr. Prince and all of them are speaking on the same message.  I know they didn't plan it, often from different "religious" ties, and having various audiences, but all are speaking on the same subject...and sometimes it was the same one the Spirit shared with me before I heard any of them.  Same thing happens sometimes when sharing with friends.  What the Lord has shared with them, and gave them on an inspiring card, or facebook Pic, or whatever...is the same thing the Lord gave to me.  It  encuorages me to find those persons, read what they are writing, become one in prayer with them and know that the same Spirit in me is the one in them.  We don't just serve the same God, we are one with the same God and he in us.  Its a connection that will stand the test of eternal time.

I am truly thankful on this day before Thanksgiving that Jesus called us to be one people, and gave us one name. We are one family, with one heart, and one savoir. 

And they shall be my people and I will be their God: And I will give them one heart, and one way, that they may fear me fore ever; for the good of them, and their children after them. Jeremiah 32: 38,39.

 Wishing all of our friends a wonderful Thanksgiving Day and the best upcoming Christmas season, in spite of everything the world around us says is about to befall us.  Let us remind one another, that we all have the same wonderful God still in control!

Thank you amazing Father for Sharing with us your Spirit.  The thing that binds our spiritual family, is not a prayer, or good will, or service, or many of the things that other "religions" claim brings peace or wholeness. It is you, the one true God making us one with him and with each other, of one mind and one heart.  Help us Lord to stand through the tough times with one heart. Uniting around the message of the Spirit that leads us to meet each day with only the toils of that day.  One message, one savoir, one blessed path. In Jesus Name AMEN

 

 

Power In A Word

I awoke from a nap with a single phrase from an old hymn running through my head.  I haven't thought of it for years. But upon the memory, I smiled at also remembering, that it was an anchor phrase for me at one time. It was then when I learned there was power in a single word - the odd old-world word- whosoever.  I can still hear my mother standing by my side in church when, I had to look up to her 4' 11' person, and could see the underside of the hymnal. "...Whosoever will, may coooomme." (by Phillip Bliss, 1870)  She lifted the book a bit as she took solace in and rejoiced, as she sang the word whosoever with confidence it included her. 

 My Mom had been born with only one leg.  She had a shorter partial leg on her right side for which they were able to make her a heavy wooden prosthetic.  She was proud to have it, however, because with it, you almost could not tell she had a disability at all.  She walked with a slight sway. Many people could not figure out the cause.  They would sometimes ask us when she was not in earshot, "did your Mother have Polio?"  We would shock them a bit, I suppose, when we said with big smiles, "No, she has a wooden leg!" It never phased us. It was part of who she was. We accepted her daily routine of dressing her leg as easily as her routine of brushing our hair. She did anything she wanted to do, and never paused. She wanted to live as if she was the same as everyone else. She had a tenacity that a lot of people in her youth went out of their way to impress on her.  Many of her family saw in her a willingness to be a part of everything and they told her she could do whatever she desired in life.  And that is just how she lived.

But it wasn't always so.  She had endured her share of persons who mocked her and didn't include her. As a child, her leg was not a leg shaped prosthetic, but rather the proverbial "Pirate" style "peg-leg."  My Grandmother told me once she worried about her, until the busdriver shared a story of a day when children pushed her to the back of the line until one unlucky fellow called her "that" name - "pegleg".  Not able to take anymore belittling, she leaned back on her good leg and swiped a long round kick with her wooden one, putting him flatly on the ground. And she reclaimed her place in line as she stepped over him.  The driver never chastised her to my knowlege. To my Mom it was important that she was among the "whosoever wills."  In God's eyes she was never left out, or seen differently, as unacceptable. My Mom never once conveyed a feeling that God saw her differently.

Because of that and a number of other things in my life, the all inclusiveness of Jesus' promise, that whosoever believed could.., became important to me as well.  I was so pleased when I totally understood that Jesus included children when he said "whosoever". And my mom was the initial planter of that seed in my mind as well.  When I was a toddler, she sang a song to us at bedtime. It was usually, "Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in his sight, Jesus loves the little children of the world."  (Author Unknown) Thereby, I spent my youth fully believing that all children everywhere were a part of the whosoever.

I overheard someone in our church discussing this in the hall, if my memory is correct.. A lady was saying that she didn't think children "of this age" were old enough to understand a decision for Christ. I so wanted to pull her skirt and say, "that's not what Jesus said."  When I looked up the word, and counted the times it was used in reference to believing in Christ, I found about 17 verses which indicated that the grace and salvation of God was available to anyone who would believe. (I totally loved the verses where Jesus sat the Children in his lap.) In some trasnlations, the word everyone is used, but to me something is lost. The word whosoever is melodic. I know it is a translation, but to me it is more all inclusive than any other translation. 

Because I believed the message of the word, I have always been willing to accept "whosoever" in other walks of my life.  I beleive in an all inclusive message - no one exempt from the grace, blessings and freedom of God if they will only believe that they are included in the whosoever. It becomes personal.  Although many deny your right,  anyone, everyone  and  whosoever will believe it, has a place among the children of God.  I rejoice in this fact. I try to see every individual, first, as one of the whosoevers in the world, before making judgement on their character, or failures, or good looks, or the way they dress, or their age, or color, or whatever.  I beleive Jesus looked through the filter of the words of his day that meant "whosoever."  And I have my Mom, a great old hymn, a childs song, and at least 17 verses in the New Testament to thank for it. 

John was the first disciple whose writings focused on that theme of universal acceptance to any who believed. (Chapter 3)  But the Apostles used the theme often in Acts and other epistles, because they were actually teaching to a wide variety of individuals. Their  message needed to be clear, that God accepted anyone, any nationality, any station in life, and any age as long as they believed.  That is a powerful word. We like to think in America that freedom should be a whosoever term.  Anyone who believes in and seeks freedom has a right to it.  Salvation should be exactly like that. We should champion it for all men.  Wars have been fought for freedom, and are ongoing today in many countries. That ideal goes hand in hand with the salvation message, and is of equal - no greater - value. It is one of the last messages that was left to us in the scriptures, as a reminder. In his closing comments, the author of Revelation (John on the Isle of Patmos,) wrote:

And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. Revelation 22:17

It is not only for whosoever will, but there are no strings attached. It is free. No acts of discipline, or adherence to law necessary.  And it is as necessary as water. We are called to it, to come and if anyone will, take it. I hate when anything is added to this message. If you are thirsty, drink water. If you long for the grace of God, take it.  Anyone, everyone, whosoever. 

In this month of Thanksgiving, I am most thankful that the water of life is free to whosoever will partake of it.

Thank you Jesus for this marvelous word, and its concept of all inclusiveness.  Open our eyes to the fact that there is absolutely no one exempt to the love and inclusion of a God who seeks the hearts of all - not some but all. Thank you for being that wonderful God! AMEN

What i don't like about "religion"

Several weeks ago, my pastor said something about religion (in a sermon) that really stuck with me. He talked about the church getting questioned about what denomination they are and i loved his response. In a nutshell, he said that the church's religion (denomination) is the Bible. It's Jesus Christ. He spoke about how specific religions imply, by their rules, that they have figured God out. Each religion has their own set of laws and rituals that cause divisions in the body of Christ.

i love that my church doesn't claim to have it all figured out. We read, study, and meditate on God's Word, letting Him and the Holy Spirit put truth, wisdom, and guidance on all of our hearts. Following Christ, and the holy Word is the only way to truly get to know God. Strict laws and rituals are impersonal and a setup for failure of faith, especially when we serve a loving, personal God. 

I want you to show love,
    not offer sacrifices.
I want you to know me
    more than I want burnt offerings. —Hosea 6:6

God doesn't want the rules/laws/rituals of religion! Jesus came to put all those things aside because His love and sacrafice set us free from all that religious stuff. If you want to really know God, understand what His Word means, you need to dig in to the Word, not just trust religious figures and rigid laws. 

Don’t let anyone capture you with empty philosophies and high-sounding nonsense that come from human thinking and from the spiritual powers of this world, rather than from Christ.—Colossians 2:8

Here there is not Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave, free; but Christ is all, and in all.—Colossians 3:11

They will act religious, but they will reject the power that could make them godly. Stay away from people like that!— 2 Timothy 3:5

But it was to us that God revealed these things by his Spirit. For his Spirit searches out everything and shows us God’s deep secrets. No one can know a person’s thoughts except that person’s own spirit, and no one can know God’s thoughts except God’s own Spirit. And we have received God’s Spirit (not the world’s spirit), so we can know the wonderful things God has freely given us. — 1 Colossians 2: 10-12

Dear Lord, thank you for setting me free from the laws/rituals/judgements that man has created. i know that the only way to get to know you perosnally is by spending time with You and in Your holy Word. Guide me and never let me fall prey to any religion that claims to have you all figured out. i desire You. Just You. All of You. In Jesus mighty name!

 

The Whole City

What would it take for almost an entire city in America to gather to hear the word of God? 

And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles beosught that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath....And the next sabbath day came, almost, the whole city, together to hear the word of God. Acts 13:41, 44.

In Chattanooga, Riverbend draws huge crowds, but not almost the whole city. Football games draw large crowds, but seldom almost the whole city. In Atlanta, the Olympics drew people from around the world, but the whole city didn't attend.  I was a member of a church once, that was so on fire for Jesus, that we had to hold a couple of services at the Charlotte Motor Speedway, because about 11,000 people attended a special church service. But never the whole city. People attend the Super Bowl as one of the largest gatherings that occurs in our nation. If you count all those who attend via media, well it probably comes close....Most people in most cities are at least aware of some part of that gathering.  People have found reasons to gather for thousands of years, but in these early years after Christ's death, the city of Antioch asked Paul and Barnabas to teach on the sabbath about Jesus, and almost the whole city came to hear what they said.  Note, the people asked that these men would teach them.  

Notably, Paul and Barnabas taught Jesus fulfilling Jewish prophecy, from a strictly Jewish point of view. Earlier in the chapter, these men quoted verses from the old scripture and from Psalms specifically twice.  Why would the Gentiles of Antioch care? Jewish teachers had made it well known that they expected God to send a special prophet, to do mighty things for thier people. Some believed he would become King. Maybe, the people of Antioch were curious to know more of the story directly from someone who was close to the situation. It was news. Maybe the story of someone raised from the dead might draw a crowd....but I think it was verse 38:

Be it known unto you therefore, men and brethren, that through this man is preached unto you the forgiveness of sins.

Younger people won't remember the years when Billy Graham came to town, and huge crowds gathered to hear him give his simple message. It was always direct and simple and to the point. Much like the apostles when they went into any town. I was struck by the brevity of Pauls message to the Jews at Antioch. He covered time from their earliest history, to their present day in the most incredible outline that might ever have been put to a sermon. The story drew crowds in every town, and according to Acts 12: 24

...the word of God grew and multiplied.

Many Jews believed, yet many didn't.  That's reasonable, don't you think.  Kind of like politics, when half the people think one way and half are on the opposite side. What was remarkable was the fact that people around the world who were never taught to expect a Lord and King, who didn't necessarily honor the 10 commandments, or any of the other Jewish laws, cared enough to come hear about Jesus, as Savoir and many accepted him readily, more so than his own people. I never tire of thinking how amazing the spread of that grand old story was.  People were ready to die for their faith with much the same fervency that we as Americans tend to be willing to die to preserve freedom.  There's just something about being "free" ~ from the power of evil men, free to pursue life, free from guilt and sin.  Jesus' story was one of how men could be free in a not so free world.  That's why they came. Everything about the uniqueness of what Jesus' story offered was different than what any "god" had previously presented to men.  This was a story of a God who died in your stead, who released you from bondage, who promised life more abundant...and so much more that was never offered by the religions of serving statues or greedy gods who struck lightning if you disobeyed. This was not a god no one really ever saw. This was the son of God on earth. A God who said "I care about you, and this is how much I care."  Think of how different the story of Jesus was.  And how real. What a gift to mankind and how much WE take that for granted.

I am so thankful today for my Bible, that tells me this lovely story, and how the story was told and told again...and is still being told with the same results.  Even though the whole town doesn't show up to hear, God still seeks any heart that needs to hear it for the first time.  And that -- just sends joy all over my soul.

Thank you Jesus, for a story so wonderful that we never tire of telling it again, and may it never lose its glory to my soul.  In your precious name, AMEN

Blessings on your day, Christi and Jason.  Sending our love from Chattanooga!  Have a marvelous day. I know the wedding will be beautiful.  So excited for you.  Cant wait to see pics.  Allelujah!!!

 

No Longer Blind

In the fifth grade, one of my dearest friends was a precious girl who was blind.  She saw a tiny bit of light and but mostly dark,  very little in images, and no color whatsoever. The result was she was very dependant upon her hearing and perception of space. She had been blind for as long as she could remember, so she didn't feel she had a disability necessarily. During the time I knew her, what I learned was that she had a much deeper awareness of everything around her, and as it related to her than the average person would.  She had an understanding that was profoundly different than and much more valuable than mine. I admired her for her strength and character, and I dearly loved her smile.

Amazing Grace, that old familiar song, says, "I once was lost but now I'm found; was blind but now I see."  We can understand that it means that we once understood and can see in our minds eye something we did not understand or see before we were saved, once the Spirit opened our eyes to the truth of our Savoir. But unless you have known a blind person, it is difficult to know the depths of that saying. My friend, Judy, knew she was approaching a doorway because of the sound that was coming through the opeining. Close your eyes one day and walk down the hallway of your home.  Notice how there is little to no sound while you are passing by the wall, but as you pass an open door, there will be almost unperceivable sound....unless you aren't listening. Judy said she learned that in every new situation she counted her steps between doorways by listening for that sound.  In case there was something like the noise of a crowd to drown out that sound next time she needed to know where the door was. Judy's sense of  perception was heightened in ways I never could imagine. She recognized people not just by their voice, but by their smell, and the heigth of the shadow they cast.

Before Paul was saved, he resisted because he thought he was being obedient and serving God with passion. He was dedicated to his religion to say the least.  He wanted to please God and the men he served.  And he was good at it.  But a day came when God got his attention, and forced him to see Jesus with a new and deeper perception.  Something more than what many around him could see. God made him temporarily blind so he would have to stop and see truth with something other than his conditioned senses.  To hear, and see, and feel and understand what he was missing.

And he was 3 days without sight...Acts 9:9

Ananias, putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the Lord, even Jesus, who appeared to you in the way..has sent me that you might receive your sight , and be filled with the Holy Ghost. And, immediately there fell from is eyes...scales, and he received his sight... arose and was baptised. Acts 9: 17, 18 (condensed)

We all know the story, of how much Saul changed, including his name which became Paul, in part, so people would not relate him to the evil monster he had been.  Sometimes fervency and well intentioned service, even done for God goes astray, because it is done out of human will rather spiritual vision.  I serve a Savoir who asks me to let him show me the things of a spiritual realm, things available to all who will allow God to open their hearts to be sensitive to the imperceptible. Our world is actually blind to truth, and we must first turn off the world and listen for the open doors. Then counting our steps, prepare for the din of the world to attempt to drown out the still small sound that makes navigating in this world as Christians possible.

Lord help me to be the same kind of Christian that Judy was as a blind person. Make my understanding profoundly different and more valuable than it would otherwise be. Help me be strong and of good character and full of joy, just as she was.  So many people see Christianity as a disaility, but help us demonstrate the value of knowing Christ, and being filled with your Spirit as having perception beyond that of common men and women.  Give us this Grace of uncommon vision, of new sight, a deeper awareness of your presence. In Jesus name, AMEN 

 

Fanning the Flame

In 2 Timothy 1:6-7, Paul says to Timothy,

“For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.  For God did not give us a spirit of timidity (fear), but a spirit of power, of love, and of self discipline (sound mind).”

This letter was written by Paul as he was imprisoned and likely knew he was going to die soon.  I am astounded that, even at the point of his death and years of persecution, Paul was encouraging others to continue spreading the gospel or fanning the flame as he puts it.  Paul was assured of Timothy’s calling because he himself had laid hands on Timothy in prayer.

Verse 7 so eloquently reminds us, Christians, that if we are fearful or timid, we are not walking in the fullness of God’s will for our lives.  Paul reminds Timothy that he needs to “work out” what God “worked in.”

Although we can look at this letter from a historical standpoint, God’s word is still alive and active, sharper than any double edged sword (Hebrews 4:12).  God has gifted every believer with a specific calling and wants us to cooperate with the Holy Spirit to fan the flame in our own lives.

From the somber tone of Paul’s letter, Timothy had slipped a little on spreading the message.  Paul reminds him that God has Timothy a spirit of love, power, and sound mind.  

If we take this verse apart a little bit, we see that the Lord encourages us to love others with a God given love: a selfless love. The Hebrew word for “power” is “dunamis” which is the word that we get our English word, “dynamite” from.  This word is also used when Jesus gave the disciples power over demons and healing diseases in Luke 9:1.  The last part of the verse promises that we have a sound mind to focus and apply every part of our minds on accomplishing God’s will.  I heard a pastor say, “Our sound minds help us to not become proud when we succeed or not become bitter when we fail.”

We, like Timothy, often need to be prompted or reminded that we are here for a bigger purpose: to fan the flame of the gospel through the gifts we, Christians, already possess: love, power, and sound mind.  

My prayer:  God, thank you for the strong reminder that I am responsible for fanning the flame of the Spirit to those around me.  Holy Spirit, remind me when I slip or become scared.  Jesus, thank you for demonstrating what fanning the flames looks like no matter the cost; even the death on a cross.  I choose to be obedient to my calling today.  In Jesus name

 

Questioning God?

If you never ask God” why?”, you will live in ignorance and spiritual poverty. Ask why God says what He says in Scripture and let him tell you.

 Which is easier, to say to the paralytic, ‘Your sins are forgiven you,’ or to say, ‘Arise, take up your bed and walk’? Mark 2:9

Joseph Prince was teaching this morning, and he said, when he was studying, he asked God, “Why didn’t you just say ‘rise up and walk instead of take up your bed and walk.’ ” You know the story.   I remembered that it once occurred to me to think, “Why did Jesus tell the lame man, like a little child, to pick up his bed?” But I didn’t pursue the question. So I missed the greater meaning and the blessing.  It seemed petty at the time.  But not one word that Jesus spoke was superfluous.  Mr. Prince went on to explain that the man had been lying on that bed for most of his lifetime. He had been in a position of rest the whole time, but was miserable.  What he needed was rest from his impairment and his circumstances. Jesus was challenging us to question God’s meaning on the word Rest.  At Jesus’s feet was the place where this man expected to find it.  His prayer was not just to walk, but to be able to get up on his own, and to be free from the bed. So Jesus was not just freeing the man from his illness, but also from his position on the ground, and the reality of living in his bed. Oddly, to be free from his bed, he had to be able to take control of his bed from his new position of being able to stand and walk.  That is a much grander picture of being made well than one of just getting up to walk. I believe it meant that the man was suddenly able to adjust to the abrupt change in his life as well. Was it a greater thing that he could miraculously walk, or be able to adjust to having to do things for himself after 38 years of being waited on?

My intent here however, is to get you to ask questions about God’s words on a regular basis. Ask, when you study, “God why did you say it that way?” Some of the symbolism in Jesus’s teachings was understood immediately by his Jewish peers.  Just as we recognize that there is a culture of music that would use the word “sick” in modern language to mean that something is “really good in an unexpected way,” Jesus’ peers understood the idioms of their language.  For us, it is sometimes foreign.  But more often than not, Jesus had a greater underlying meaning, the result of which was - he could teach and expect the Religionists to be confused, but the seekers would hear and understand. The *Spirit of God opened the meaning to their hearts.  He often instructed his listeners that only the children of God could understand.

I have heard an occasional preacher say to never question God. Or to lash out at God, or pray in anger, or ask God, “why?”  Jesus did not teach any of these things. The friends of Job did. But not Jesus. God expects us to be persons with emotions, and seekers of truth, not zombies or slaves to what we have been taught. In this way, the scriptures always remain fresh.  And we don't become the puppets of modern day Pharisees. I suggest even to children to question anything someone teaches you, until you can find reason to believe it for yourself.  I deliberately would say something false to my children, or to my Sunday School Class to challenge them to rebuke me. And of course when they said, “That isn’t true,” I would complement them on thinking for themselves and standing up for the truth. 

This kind of learning is a blessing from God.  It is intended to allow us to give the Spirit an opportunity to  commune with our hearts. *The greatest example of this was when Jesus would question his disciples – who do people say that I am …., who do you think I am? He often sent them back to the scriptures of old for their proof.  That is exactly what we should do to understand God’s intents.  Some, who go back, will only see a small part of the Old Testament and it will always revolve around the 10 commandments.  Like the Pharisees, law is the only thing some will see. But a seeker who opens his or her heart to the answer from God, will begin to see patterns throughout the scriptures that reveal themes of God’s truths. Solid principles on which to build life. They will verify one another.  If the truth is found throughout the Word, it isn’t a freak revelation. We take a lot of truths for granted in the information era, but so much of what is still there is a hidden jewel, waiting to be revealed by the Spirit. Jesus challenged us to find them.  He even used the example of the “Pearl of Great Price,” to indicate the value of being willing to dispose of everything you think you already know to possess the precious - what God wants you to know. Don’t miss God’s blessing by taking the Word on someone else’s declaration.  I challenge you to not believe me and go see for yourself! LOL

*However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come. John 16:13

*Then they understood that He did not tell them
to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the doctrine of the Pharisees and
Sadducees. When Jesus came into the region of Caesarea Philippi, He asked His
disciples, saying, “Who do men say that I, the Son of Man, am?” So they said,
“Some say John the Baptist, some Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the
prophets.” He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”  Simon Peter answered and said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Matthew 16:12 - 15

Lord, keep my curiosity keen especially when I am reading your Word.  Make the Bible come alive with new meaning, and precious truths.  Keep me looking for the jewels inside. And thank you for hiding them there. in Jesus' name, AMEN

Turn Their Hearts

When I think of how I relate to Jesus, I am saddened that more people don't want to know about him around the world. One of the reasons God sent his Son, is so that we might know how much he wantts to be our friend. People around the world worship the oddest things and do it with gusto, and sincerity and flare.  Their holidays are full of fun, and all about the gods they worship.  Ours progressively get less and less about our Savoir. The life and fun, the joy and admiration of our God sort of dwindles away.  We don't do a lot as Christians to make our Savoir someone others would like to know. We burden the whole concept with what to do and not do until it snowballs into a load much to heavy to carry.  It becomes a religion to serve our King. Not at all what Christ presented. 

That should be what is different about serving Christ.  God wanted Jesus to be a picture on earth of a God who doesn't want religion, but rather wants to be someone we look on with so much fondness and genuine love that we share him joyfully as such with everyone we know. Jesus compared himself to many personalities whom we would gladly want to have in our lives: a friend who sticks closer than a brother, a friend who would die in our stead, a Father who lovingly provides for his children, a King who loves his subjects and deals with them wisely and judicously, the friend of the groom who stands by him at his wedding, a friend of children who would not have them rejected, and oh so many more.  Who doesn't need a friend like that - one who is available any time of day or night? He is worth celebrating, and worshipping, and extoling profusely in every way possible.

 We really don't need to dress him up. He's a pretty wonderful person to know, if we spoke of him in truth.  Down through the years, I have  had occasions when someone would say something like: "You talk about God like you knew him in person or something."  I am always amazed when Christians don't feel like they know God personally.  So many times, when God allowed me to be used to lead someone to Christ, it was when they came to realize that Christ is a personal savoir.  It is Christians who are sometimes our own worst enemy.  We are the real reason the whole world does not know Christ as a wonderful savoir and friend. 

Jesus is a real threat to evil in this world. Satan  loves nothing better than to have us misrepresent our Lord as something he is not.  Or to have us represent him in such a way that people just plain don't want to deal with him.  We don't serve him because he is a mean slave driver to whom we are ever more indebted.  We serve him because we love him, and because he is the greatest thing to come into our life.  Where is the excitement that comes with knowing that?  I once had that eeking from every ounce of my being.  But the restrictions other people tend to place on serving my savoir, diluted it. I don't know about our readers, but I don't want to serve the diluted version. I want to serve the Christ who is everything he said he was. With joy and enthusiasm. And perhaps we might turn the hearts of the world to join us.

 And they kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with joy; for the LORD made them joyful, and turned the heart of the king of Assyria toward them, to strengthen their hands in the work of the house of God, the God of Israel. Ezra 6:21-22

Lord, help us put the fun back into being your Saints, that we may tutn the hearts of all men. AMEN

No Stopping It

In the fifth chapter of Acts, a lawyer named Gamaliel warned the men of the temple to be careful about what they intended to do with the disciples.  He told them of another teacher named Judas whom the people had followed during the time of the taxations.  He too had been killed, and his followers simply dispersed, Gamaliel reasoned.  So to the men who wished to threaten, jail, and perhaps even have Jesus's servants punished and killed, he said:

And now I say unto you, Refrain from these men, and let them alone: for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will come to nought.  But if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it. Lest haply ye be found even to fight against God. Acts 5:38 - 39.

He could have been a lawyer for the disciples... LOL.

I suppose he thought that they would just go away eventually.  Yet he spoke with more wisdom than any lawyer I have ever known.  He spoke a profound truth!

Take a good look at the things that are gaining momentum in your life.  If it is something men are devising, in the great timeline, it will mean nothing at some point.  But if it is of God, we have no effect on it.  We pray as Jesus taught us: "Thy Will Be Done." But sometimes we pray it as if we are giving God permission.  Lest we forget, it is God's will.  We are merely deciding to accept it, or reject it, whether to submit to it or to "fight against God."

Sometimes we want something to happen or to not happen so badly, that we try praying harder, longer, with more faith that our will might be done..."Please please please God we pray."  I can name you times when I have fallen into that trap.  The question is - "what is God's will?"

Prophecy is like that.  If God says it is going to come to pass, it will. Sometimes our politics fall into a routine of trying to make something God predicted would happen to NOT HAPPEN.  We are missing the mark!  God didn't put Christ on this earth to make the politics of the earth suit Christians.  Our freedom is first a freedom from the burden of sin. I believe the forefathers of the USA understood the principles of freedom and justice as presented in God's word.  But they also understood that the real constitution, which makes a difference, is when, in an environment of freedom to do so, we are about the business of winning souls to Christ. No laws or president will be able to change the circumstances of our political or social standings.  Only the change of men's hearts will bring about such changes.  In the days that Peter and Paul and the other disciples taught about the Lord, souls were added to the church daily....DAILY.  At least once, more than 5000 men had that amazing change of heart that began to build the church among Jews and Gentiles, which spread into the whole world. 

Put your energies into God's plan, and it won't be wasted.  In the sixties, when I was young, I had the great joy of being present when I saw this kind of thing happening.  Our pastor was a man who stood firmly on the word of God.  He took his truths from the scriptures, without making an agenda from them.  He made it clear at church and on the radio when he preached, that God's full intent was to save the souls of lost men and women.  God accepts us just as we are.  No consideration for where we've been or plan to go. He doesn't judge us by our depth of sin. He simply provided a solution for all sin, and included all to be eligible for freedom from sin. 

Gamaliel didn't figure on the impact this would have on people who needed that kind of God.  Or maybe he did...just maybe he knew that he would appease those who sought to do the will of Satan, long enough to let as many people as possible hear this great news...because he knew that once men heard, they would know the freedom he knew.  I like to believe that Gamaliel had discovered Jesus as his own Savoir.  And he knew that there was no stopping the momentum that having a savoir affect men's lives could have.

One more note. I have always said that if what you are doing is leading souls to Christ, then you can know that you are a part of God's plan.  If your church isn't growing, if you never have opportunity to share your savoir as the Christ, if you are not planting seeds, if you go years without seeing souls around you being saved in some place where you are involved....Satan has you genuinely fooled into thinking your life is right with God.   But no ministry will gain souls by holding the feet of the children to the firey heat of the law.  Or bashing their saints til they are discouraged.  This is why we at My Wings Are Made Of Faith seek to uplift the readers, to bring joy to those in pain, and share the freedom the children of God should be experiencing.  But we encourage you to know you are in God's will, because as Gamaliel said: " If it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it."

Why not be a part of it?

Dear God,  I long for my children and grandchildren to see what happens when people hungry for the power, that was winning souls by the thousands in the days of the disciples, is governing the hearts and actions of everyday people. If that same momentum was to occur in our generation of technical ability, the whole world could hear of and be changed by the grace and mercy of your love in a few days!  Lives could be changed by the thousands today as much as then. Even now, in our age of sarcasm and disappointed Saints.  Fill us Lord with a new amazement for the change you made in each of our own lives. AMEN

Sin, Sins, or Sinful? It Grows on Ya!

I have been accused often of being too soft on sin.  And I have been told often that I am a pessimist.  But to me those are people who don’t recognize sin for the power it has on life, and fail to do the one simple thing that is required to resolve the issue.  An “ignorance is bliss” attitude will never give anyone the same optimism I have, that my sin has been dealt with.  I confidently trust the power of the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ to take care of my sin.  And I walk daily in that confidence.

 Sin is frequently dealt with in the extremes: from the extreme of denial to the extreme of constant fear - of not having confessed sin.  Christ wants us to be in neither place. Our place is also not a middle ground somewhere in between these two. Living in the middle ground is a push/pull life of trying to figure out where you stand on what constitutes sin – which things to do and which to not do, to stay in a right relationship with God. One church says this and another that. Sin is a job for God, and He freed us from that kind of life. It is not a life of choices of which sins, but what resolution, that I chose to live by. The point of scripture in its entirety is to reveal this truth. It is necessary to trust that God has done what it takes to meet his own standards for reconciliation, and come to him with complete and utter confidence that our sins are covered by the blood. 

I do not wish to undermine the effects of sin on our lives.  Or say that salvation takes away the consequences of sin.  Not so. Recognizing our sin, and desiring to avoid those consequences by avoiding the sin acts is a matter of mapping our life to seek God’s best. That too was what the cross was about. I did a research project of the words in the Greek and Hebrew that are generally translated “sin.”  I discovered that the whole gist of it fell into two major categories throughout the ages of scripture.  By far the most scripture words refer to “missing the mark.” Aiming for God’s best and hitting somewhere outside the bull’s-eye. The second is a concept that sin is an element of our inner character which leads to us acting out in a sinful way. It was not the individual sin actions that the scripture themes of redemption, salvation, etc. deal with, but rather, the sin nature.   That nature is the seed for the sinful acts, which grow into the sin condition.  There’s a long discussion of how dealing with sin as if it were individual acts of “dos and don’ts” is out of man’s thinking.  Suffice it to say, that I prefer to deal with allowing God to replace my sin nature with his divine nature, and then I don’t have to worry about how to deal with individual acts. Whether or not I am aware of individual acts, I try to focus frequently on the fact that my behavior should reflect that I am not governed by my sin nature when God is in control.

 For what the law was powerless to do because it was weakened by the flesh, God did by sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh to be a sin offering. And so he condemned sin in the flesh, in order that the righteous requirement of the law might be fully met in us, who do not live according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. Romans 8: 3-4

Lord, I accept that my sin nature steers me outside the boundaries of your best for my life.  I confess a need for the divine nature to overrule my actions sometimes.  Please, Lord, don’t let sin take root in my life, but fill me with your power to live in a Christ-like way.  AMEN

HE REMEMBERS THE DAY

When Jesus was on earth in human form, he spent a lot of time trying to explain to people that he had come from his Father, who he sometimes clearly, and sometimes not so clearly, signified was God.  Some understood and believed, among both Jews and non-Jews.  Some never understood his hidden meanings and ceased to follow him.  He made constant references to elements of the old scriptures and compared himself to them, sharing that, in those stories of old, he was hidden, if they would just open the eyes of their hearts and see him.

One tiny little mention he made about knowing Abraham personally angered those who sought to kill him for his craziness.  All these men could understand was - he was talking about things that made no sense to them!  Asking people to eat his body and his blood. Saying he was the bread and water of life; and if they partook of him they would not hunger and thirst again….  Would you have listened to such a crazy talking person now?  (John 8)

He told them if they would keep his saying, they would never die. And the Jews said, ”Now we know you have a devil.” Jesus’ response was delightful~

Your father Abraham rejoiced to see my day: and he saw it and was glad. Then said the Jews unto him, Thou art not yet fifty years old and hast thou seen Abraham?  Jesus said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Before Abraham was, I AM. John 8:55–58.

Most of us focus on the last part of Jesus’ statement, but I can’t help but pause and think of this precious moment when Abraham recognized his Savoir - long before he was born a babe in a manger and died for Abraham's sins.  What sort of day was it for Abraham, the day he believed in Jesus, although he didn’t know him by name? Jesus says he remembers it as a day of rejoicing and gladness.  Think, for an instant, how Jesus might relate the story of the day each of us became believers. Abraham looked forward and understood the blood and the flesh scenario. He understood about the Father who would give his son as a sacrifice. And it gave him joy. What did the Spirit share with you that made you believe?

Why didn’t these men hear and understand?  Because, even though they had been taught the stories their whole lives, they were just stories to them.  They claimed God because of their heritage as Jews, not because they listened to the Spirit of God who opens the hearts and minds of people to understand and receive God. At this time, the Spirit was not given to indwell sinful man, but it is made clear in Old Testament verses and in many of Christ’s own teachings that the Spirit has always spoken to our inner man. And just as Jesus taught of the Father and the Spirit, the Spirit teaches of Jesus and the Father.  Most of the times the Old Testament characters spoke of talking to God, it was the Spirit with whom they spoke.

Jesus said: He that is of God hears God’s words: ye therefore hear them not because ye are not of God. John 8:47

How can anyone know for sure he belongs to God?  Well according to Jesus, he can hear the words of God. (Hear means to hear the words in our hearts in such a way as to understand.)  If you don’t always understand scripture, are you lost?  No, you are listening aren’t you? The difference with the men in John 8, is they didn't want to hear what the Spirit was saying. All those who followed Jesus, often didn't understand yet, but they were listening. Just open your heart to hear the Spirit as he teaches you what he wants you to know.  That will do. 

Lord, my favorite part of my relationship with you has always been how your Spirit lets me know you are real, thousands of times in thousands of ways, you make yourself known.  Please never stop making yourself visible to my heart, even if my mind fails me…continue precious one to speak to my heart. And Dear Jesus, it makes me glad to think that you remember the day we met, just like I remember the day we met. Thank you for that sweet revelation. AMEN

Pursuing the Proverbs - Day 11

This is an Old Testament verse. We often don’t think of the Israelite saints as “soul winners.”  Christians think they have that all sewed up by being given the “Great Commission.”  But it was on the heart of the man who wrote this Proverb, many years before the Lord sent out his followers to seek the lost.  It is believed that Solomon was the author of most of the Proverbs. Think of all the people he had access to. He believed in winning souls, and that it would be the fruit a believer would yield, if he were wise. Jesus referred to the old scripture texts often, and he spoke of fulfilling those scriptures.  His stories always referenced both the familiar things in life to his listeners, but also familiar verses from the scriptures, which all good Israelites learned in the temple and at the tables of their fathers. When Jesus spoke of a tree yielding fruit, his followers probably knew he spoke of a Proverb, which said that winning souls was wise.  They knew he wanted them to go and help others believe according to their scriptures. God gave us different personalities, and talents. But Christ wanted all of us to use the talents we have to share the Savoir with others, to “win” souls. It has been his desire for hundreds of years.

Today’s Reflection: If you are a fruit tree, it is only natural you yield fruit.  Being a tree of life, means you produce fruit that is 1- good for food, to sustain life, and 2 – seed bearing, to produce more trees that produce fruit, promoting furtherance to life. As human trees of life we have the inner ability to feed a hungry soul, or produce the oil that lights their way, and also to plant the seeds that perpetuate the winning of souls.  What we say and how we say it, might feed a hungry soul today. And they in turn might tell someone else. There is a lot of wisdom in bringing more people into the family of God.

The most practical application I can think of is to actually ask people, at appropriate times, if they have ever been born again. Next time you are dropping groceries, and stumbling over curbs, and look up at someone who is trying not to laugh at you, say: “Are you a Christian?” If they say yes, say,” Well good, would you please pray for me today, I am having a rough day.”  If they say no, say, “that’s too bad, ‘cause I could sure use somebody’s prayers today.” You would be witnessing without beating someone over the head with it.  Plant the seed.  Maybe, you can think of other ways to interact that wisely help you to help awaken in someone the ability to hear the Holy Spirit’s call, while planting the seeds of the tree of life.

Today’s Prayer: Lord, in the days after your death, the Christians who witnessed had to find ways to do it. And they proclaimed you at risk of their lives, sometimes.  In other countries around the world, the risks are equally high. We would be wise to win souls while we can for our country’s sake, that we may continue to have that freedom.  In the battle for souls, winning is the key word. Americans love to win. Lord make us winners in the fruit business, and help us put all our winning energy into making the best orchard on earth. AMEN

For more wisdom, read Chapter 11 of Proverbs.

 

 

The Bent Branches of a Family Tree

Today as I was studying the lineage of Jesus, I believe that the Lord wanted me to share a message of encouragement to those wrestling with past failures and regrets.  As we look at the lineage of Christ in Matthew 1:1-18, we can examine several distinct women who may have struggled with God’s plan, judgement from others, self worth, fear, and past mistakes.

Tamar (Genesis 38:1-30, Matthew 1:3), tried to control and manipulate the Lord’s plan for her life by tricking her father in law to sleep with her so that she would have a child with the family’s birthright.  

Rahab (Joshua 6:17-25, Matthew 1:5), was known as a prostitute (Joshua 6:17) and hid Joshua’s spies.  The Lord ordered that her life and her family’s lives be spared because of her bravery in secretly harboring the men.

Ruth (Ruth 4:13-22, Matthew 1:5), a young widow honored her deceased husband by following her mother in law and gleaning food from Boaz until the Lord offered the opportunity for her to be remarried. 

Bathsheba (2 Samuel 11 and 12, Matthew 1:7), a beautiful married woman and wife of Uriah, committed adultery with King David and became pregnant.  David sent Uriah out to the front lines of a battle where he perished.  They, then became married, and had King Solomon after the first child died.

Mary (Matthew 1:16, Luke Chapter 1 and 2:1-39), the precious, selfless mother of Jesus who committed herself to the Lord’s plan.  As a young engaged woman (probably 13 or 14) followed the directions of God even knowing that she could be disowned by her family, stoned to death, and denied marriage by her fiance, Joseph.

Each of these women of Jesus’s family tree probably represents a quality in us: brokenness, poor past choices, judged by others, trying to find self worth, fear, control issues, etc.  Just like these women, we are not condemned by our circumstances or decisions.  We, dear friends, are covered by the grace from being in the lineage of Christ under the new covenant.  

Our challenge today is to walk with the confidence and dignity that comes from being a daughter of the Most High King.

My Prayer:  Lord, thank you for the birth of your precious son, Jesus.  We praise you that through this child, our Savior came to live a sinless life.  God, thank you for showing us that even Jesus’s family tree has bent branches of people who, like us, just need a Savior.  Holy Spirit, remind us to take our positions in the kingdom as redeemed daughters.  Lift our heads high today as our hearts are reunited with your grace and mercy.  Jesus, thank you for the sacrifice of dying on the cross so that our all of our sins are covered.  In Jesus Name!

“Taste and see that the LORD is good; 

blessed is the one who takes refuge in him.”

~Psalm 34:8

 

 

 

Love and God's Family

Relationship.  It is what God wants from us. In many of Christ’s teachings, he spoke of God as his heavenly father.  He was deliberate in this because he was describing the way he wanted us to see God.  He didn’t use the terms of his forefathers which emulated God’s magnificence. He used a family term. Then he said, “ye must be born again.”  Teaching children about salvation is made simpler when we help them understand that concept of being born into God’s family.  The birth of the soul into the spiritual newness of life with God as our father is a simple form of the complex new union with God.  But the other element of family is about the intimacy of a couple, the pairing of two people and the deepness of love that should be unique to two people. Using that picture as a guide, Jesus also referred to the relationship of his Church family as a love similar to the union between husband and wife. He called himself the bridegroom, his followers, the Church, therefore referenced as his bride.

Jesus answered, “How can the guests of the bridegroom mourn while he is with them? The time will come when the bridegroom will be taken from them; then they will fast. Matthew 9:15(TNIV)

 In this example of relationship, the result would be the new birth generated in the form of new Christians born into the church family.  Our intimacy with God should produce new births into his family.  The family union as compared to the husband/wife relationship is complicated but full of the deeper things about our intimacy with God. The father/child relationship is more about our relationship one on one with God; while the husband/wife relationship type is more about our response and expectations as a member of the family, the church.  For Jesus the whole of the church was precious to him, singularly the most intimate union element of the God/people relationship.  For any who don’t believe in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, it would be helpful to consider the union between men and women as a reference for God’s relational expectations of his actual experience with us as members of the church.  The old adage of two become one, is often forgotten in our modern world, where it is often forgotten that once that union occurs, this is what God considers marriage.  This union was meant to bring increase to the family.  My intent here is not to discuss the implications of that, but to help us notice that Jesus effectively introduced us to the 3 members of the God-head and helped us see how they interacted with us by referencing the family as a familiar place of love. 

God the Father, Jesus his son and by proxy his father becomes our Heavenly Father as well, and the one who indwells us –the Holy Spirit.  As in any family, we are at once, the child of someone, and the parent of someone when the union is able to produce children. And just as in all the families of the world, not every union or every individual marriage is called to have children, not every individual Christian is called to a ministry of leading people to Christ, or has the gift of ministry.  Scripture clearly tells us that different individuals are given different talents and abilities.  However, at the same time, it was never intended that only the pastors, preachers, teachers or missionaries were the only ones able to lead the lost to Christ.  Our personalities come in to play in the gathering of people, thus the variety of Christian congregations. And the many different ways we reach out to the world to tell them about Christ.  But the objective and the result are the same - children being born into the family, because of an intimate relationship between the “church” and their God. 

Jesus furthers this image by expanding his own position in this image. He says he is also the best man at the wedding.

He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice. Therefore this joy of mine is fulfilled. John 3:29 (NKJV)

 He is also the minister that oversees the legal issues of the union.  He in effect, leads the couple through the wedding process, and signs the documents when it is done > by his finished work on the cross.  He paves the way, doing all he can to be the grooms advocate, then he is present as all the legal items are dealt with.  He sees to it that the commitment is signed, sealed, and delivered.

What is significant, that once the covenant has been signed, the relationship in a real marriage between husband and wife is not sealed in public. Only the spirit of God is present in that intimate moment. Although many make their commitment to Christ in the presence of the Church family, what should always happen is that a very private, intimate decision and acceptance of the indwelling of the Spirit must also occur.  It is a simple moment, when we permit our God to become one with us, make the decision to become his child.  Often when individuals ask God to save them, they really don’t know that they are opening their hearts to the Spiritual intimacy.  But they know that a change has occurred.  There is some kind of process that leads to that moment, that decision to be united with the God who is as big as the universe.  But it doesn’t have to be a long one. I can in fact happen the moment we believe.

 I had a friend many years ago who told me she was married after knowing her husband only two weeks. I was appalled. All I could think of was, “How could you possibly know if you want to marry someone in two weeks? Her answer was, “You know Mark, wouldn’t you know he was the right person if it were you?” She was right.  Mark had a noticeable uniqueness.  My husband said that if we could have, he would have married me as soon as he met me. To him, knowing immediately that I was who he wanted to marry just happened.  When Jimmy was sent to Vietnam, I wished we had married sooner, when I knew he was the one, why wait so long?  I struggled with the possibility of instant love being true until I met my friend, and until I thought about my experience with salvation.  I spent almost a year of struggling with how to be saved, and then later wished I had understood all I learned earlier, so I could have been saved sooner. In fact, I knew I wanted Christ to be my savior, but it never happened until I fell in love with him. It would have been so much simpler to allow him to be my savoir so much sooner, and gain the understanding later.  I could have lived in the glow of his love, rather than where I was - in “the fear of his damnation,” if I didn’t figure it out. I, like so many, thought he was there to send me to hell, until I knew the truth that he was there to save me from it, and draw me into the security of his family.

 I am a great advocate for teaching children early in life the “understanding” part, so that when they choose to make that decision it is easier for them. Jesus said to allow the little children to come unto him. Do you think he believed that little children could or should understand the intimacy of the act. Of course not. (Yet teens would be wise to heed how God feels about intimacy.)  He wanted the focus to be on Love.  The binding agent of every family that functions as it should.  Last week, I spoke of Joy. This week God wanted me to share his view on LOVE. And in this case it is a choice we make. A choice to enter into the family of God focusing on LOVE. 

What is the Christmas story more than a story of love and family and new birth.  Jesus was born into this realm from the very start to tell us about becoming family.  The common man in the form of the shepherds, the wealthy man in the form of the Magi, and the angels from the realms we can only imagine, all rejoiced in the birth of a child who was born to emulate the one desire of God. That we would  be brought into a family style relationship with Him. It is the desire of his heart, and the purpose of being born as a babe.  His first advent was not as an angelic being, but as a babe.  Could he have come from the skies? Sure, and he will.  But Christ came first as a babe, that we might know the intentions of God, that he might call him Father, and then present him as Spirit. Desiring to open for us a way to a relationship and become a member of God's family.

“ All God has ever wanted is to make it clear that we are made in his image.  We are sentient beings, who love, feel, hurt, long for fellowship...etc. And so is God.  What God wants from each individual is relationship.  Jesus, God's Son came to earth, to try to make this understandable in human terms.  He called God his heavenly Father, in order to make it clear that God wants us to become a member of his Family. Not by filling out a card and joining a church. Jesus said: "Marvel not that I said unto you, Ye must be born again." St. John 3:7 (King James Version, New Testament) He is simply saying that it is not some list of works (honoring laws or philanthropies) that will take care of the sin issue. It is a life experience, a giving of life, by God, in a new way. You were born one time as a flesh and blood human; now you must be born, as a spiritual being, into a family relationship, with a real God as your Heavenly Father. Why does this sound child-like? Because it must be easy enough for a child to understand.” CW

 Father, make this real to someone who begins to wonder if the story of Christ is just a fairy tale.  And to some who never considered the real meaning and intent of relationships as God sees them.  Then help us all to choose love.  May the consequences of that choice lead us to an appreciation of how unique and amazing a relationship with someone who will not desert us actually is.  There is only one relationship that we are assured will not fail.  Even we fall out of relationship with you. So thank you Lord, that your relationship with us is never broken. Then help us celebrate Christmas in the spirit of that truth and in the spirit of Love. For all, who are lacking the family relationships, who have difficulty referencing family love, or who lost what they once had, or who long for and have never had, fill the void.  Help us see the birth of a child in the Christmas story, for what it is – a demonstration that you became a babe that we might know the desire of your heart is a relationship with us.Be the family some have never known, and help us pass that kind of Love to our own. AMEN

Who's Driving?

The other day I saw a bumper sticker that said, “If God is your copilot, change seats!”  It made me laugh because it seems like more than ever, people need to feel like they have control over their lives.  The fact is that nobody has control over even the next breath they take, except the Lord.

Mark 4:21-22 says,

“He (Jesus) said to them, “Do you bring in a lamp to put it under a bowl or a bed?  Instead, don’t you put it on its stand?  For whatever is hidden is meant to be disclosed, and whatever is concealed is meant to be brought out into the open.”

In other words, Christians are supposed to live out our testimonies in our every day routines.  We are called to conduct our daily business in ways that reflect our Father.  We will never be perfect, but we will be known by our character and love which will reveal to others that we are not in control, but a Holy God is driving our lives.

One of my weaknesses is that I like to be in charge of everything.  I like to organize and direct every single area of my life.  Therefore my challenge is an attitude of daily surrender to Jesus recognizing His authority over every area of my heart.

As a teacher, I love to see that my students are growing spiritually and are academically successful.  As a mom, I desire to observe that my kids are making wise choices and maturing as Christians.  As a woman of God, I want to make an impact on people who I work with and live by.  

The fact remains that I can only be a lamp stand-a simple prop for the Holy Character of God.  I cannot “save” one person, only live a life that reflects my God.  My job as a Christian is to simply point others to Jesus.

My Prayer:  God, thank you for being in control of my life and caring for me so deeply.  I pray that I would honor you by revealing your sweet character to those around me.  The cry of my heart is surrender to you and your will for my life.  Holy Spirit, remind me that I am not in control, but that you are interceding on my behalf.  In Jesus Name!

 

"Surrendering to Christ is like signing your name to a blank check and letting the Lord put in the amount."

                                                                                                                ~Billy Graham 

 

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Two is a Number of Hope and Blessing

The number 2 has been on my heart this month, and I have been surprised by the wonderful things the Lord is teaching me about this very symbolic number. I wrote on an earlier blog about the most significant meaning, which is “BLESSING.” A great example is when Jesus fed the masses, he first blessed the food and then he broke it into pieces to feed them. As he did at the Lord’s Supper. Breaking the bread would be of course into two pieces, thus making two pieces to feed two persons, and each time breaking it in two again and again, thus giving us the multiplicity of blessing. It is meant to be a blessing that, like all of God’s gifts, should grow and continue to bless. But this example also gives us a ground-work for the second meaning of the number “2”. Many of the numbers have double or intertwined meanings. “5” for instance means either gift of God, or grace and they are intertwined. Grace is a Gift of God, etc.

But the number “2” was initially understood by Hebrews to mean divided, broken, split, separated or changed. From the oldest scriptures, allusions were made to separation from God being the difference between Heaven and Earth, or “in the world” as opposed to “in the temple”. And that separation has a symbolic “place”. It is the Mount of Olives, east of the city of Jerusalem. There is a brook called Kidron which flows between the temple site in Jerusalem and the Mount of Olives where Jesus often went in the evenings after preaching in the city during the day. From day to night, from West to East, from work to rest, from seeking religion to seeking God in prayer, and many, many more examples of allegories can be extrapolated from the image of Jesus moving between the two.

But, the one the early Christians could relate to most was that King David made that same trek from Jerusalem to the Mount of Olives when being pursued by his Son Absolom for possession of the crown. There are numerous examples, but this one bears such a striking comparison to what Jesus did, and we know that Jesus himself was saying, “I am the king who walks from the temple to a place of rejection, but I will someday return to be your king.” It is one of the reasons they captured him in the early morning hours at the foot of the mountain, because they thought it would destroy the symbolism to stop him before he went back into the city. All Hebrews knew that David returned to Jerusalem as King. When Jesus rode into the city on a donkey, he was making a definite reference to him being the fulfillment of that as prophecy, something expected of their future Messiah. The Jewish leaders were not about to allow Jesus to become the people’s King. It would mean that they would be in definite danger of Roman retaliation. They did not understand that Jesus was the Spiritual King of their people, and that He would come only as physical King when the whole world was able to benefit. They were not expecting God to be their Messiah, they were expecting another man. Yet when God came as man, they rejected him.

What has all of that to do with the number 2. Well, in the time of Jesus, the way to cross over the Brook Kidron was by a road that topped an arched bridge…How many arches? Want to guess?  >2 of course. It was a beautiful modern stone structure, a grand part of the marvel of the city of Jerusalem in the day. The mountain ridge itself is a picture type of the number 3, referencing it as a place where all the persons of the trinity were symbolized. But, it is prophesied that the ridge will someday be spilt by an earthquake into how many pieces? > 2. These underlying twos refer to the fact that when Jesus passed back over the bridge for the last time on earth, it was to heal our separation from God and bring to us a blessing of freedom from the legalisms of human religion.

Jesus went to the Mount of Olives almost daily and to the garden called Gethsemane at the foot of the mountain to spend time in prayer with God the Father and for rest, often. He genuinely wanted us to look back at the frequency with which He went to this place and wonder why. This place provided a picture type of the Holy Spirit, whom Jesus had not yet revealed to the believers. Gethsemane means “place of the olive press” or simply “olive press.” At the olive press the oil of olives was pressed for sale. Oil is a type of the Holy Spirit, so he was going to the place where oil might be obtained, symbolizing a purchase price must be paid to receive the Holy Spirit . The olives must be sacrificed to obtain the oils; Jesus to obtain the Spirit.

The trek over from the place of religion - the temple, to a place of choice - a garden, symbolizes crossing the gap between God and man. He wanted us to see the place as a type of rebirth, as going from being merely a companion to God, to becoming one with God through the Spirit, by taking him inside, allowing Him to indwell, as with the ingesting of the oil. But also to see the Spirit pictured in all the other uses of oil. As a light if burned, as warmth, as the base for healing ointments, and oh so many other references. He wanted us to see that we would no longer be separated from God, but that He wished to become our daily and constant companion by indwelling us. Choosing to walk to this garden of symbols was an invitation for us to make a daily decision to "walk the walk."

Now the Garden of Gethsemane was not at the summit of the mount, but at the base of the ridge, near the Brook Kidron, where there was water. Another illusion to the Holy Spirit- water is a symbol of receiving the Holy Spirit and his power to divide between good and evil. It was a symbol of how easy it was to become one with God. By simply walking over they were already in the place where the oil dwelled. No climbing the mountain to get there. No hiding away as King David had to save yourself. No work, for that was all done for the day. Only resting in the place where the Spirit dwells.

Now, how many picture types of the Spirit does that make? “2” Yet the greatest of all the typology here is the pairing: between 1) the elements of separation, division, and the eventual brokenness of Christ’s physical body (beginning with his capture in the Garden of Gethsemane) and 2) the element of blessing that will come from all of this symbolism and fulfillment of the prophecies.

There is hope in this pairing. It is the promise that out of brokenness, division, the separation of death, etc., there will come blessing if Jesus is our King. Jesus will come again, and scripture says he will come first to the Mount of Olives, where those buried on that hillside are said to be the first to be resurrected, but when he returns as King He will cross back over the Brook Kidron into Jerusalem as our Lord and earthly King. Just as he returned every morning from the Mount of Olives to teach and minister to his followers during his walk as Jesus of Nazareth, He will come again to minister to us and it will begin when he touches the Mount of Olives and crosses the Brook Kidron entering the city once more. Until then - separation. Separation before blessing. Two elements to a Bible truth that go hand in hand. Never under estimate the power of a number in the Bible. Believe it or not, I have only touched on the twos that are symbolically significant to the Mount of Olives and the Garden of Gethsemane. Or to the principle of Twos. And all of them tell the story of this principle – the one Jesus demonstrated every time he broke bread. Brokenness leads to blessing, separation to reunion, crossing over from religion leads to communion with a real God. There are always two sides to every story, and this is the greatest story of all. Jesus was saying, although I leave you in body, I come to you in a way that they cannot kill, able to provide you with even greater blessing – by the indwelling of the Spirit.

My brother-in-law crossed the Brook Kidron this week, from earth to Heaven, to be where Jesus is with the Father, in that Beautiful Garden of Heaven….leaving us broken and separated from him. The same is true of all our loved ones who have gone before us to the Heavenly Garden Of Gethsemane, to be with Jesus and in the Father’s presence by the power of the Holy Spirit. One day all who have gone over will return, bringing to this earth a blessing like we have never known. Whether I am still here on this earth or have gone over too by the time it happens, I can be certain of one thing. All of the principles of God, made clear by the emphasis on the number "two" give assurance to my heart that God will honor his promises. This Blessing is something I can count on, place Hope in, and believe with all my heart.

For where two or three are gathered together in my name, I am there in the midst of them. Matthew 18:20

Lord, Christy, Lori and I are gathered in your name, with one heart - to serve you. We wish to minister truth, freedom, joy and encouragement to those who have been led into a fearful religious world. We want to emmulate what you would have said if you were here saying it. Help open the eyes of our readers to see that every part of your Word has significance and power to show your love and grace. Even the numbers are full of meaning. And every symbolic or prophetic meaning is meant to edify us. I rejoice in the Principle of Twos, and thank you that my favorite "two" is me and You. AMEN

 Please, readers add your own scriptural reference to the number two, express how it shows the Brokenness/Separation to Hope/Blessing principle.  What are your favorite pairings.  Can you think of twos that just jump right to blessing from the pairing? Leave us a message.

 

A Winning Team

Throughout the past six years in my walk with the Lord, I have become thoroughly convinced in the necessity of having a winning team surrounding me.  By the term “winning team,” I mean a group of solid believers who will support my journey.  

Over the past ten years, the Lord has graciously blessed me with friends who live Christ centered lives.  Women who study God’s word and apply it every day.  These sisters are not perfect but are motivated to become more like the Lord.  Along with their Godly walks, I see women who are not afraid to speak the truth in love, even when I don’t necessarily like it.  My friends live all over the United States, but are there for me with just a phone call or email.  

Friendships like this do not usually happen overnight but take months or years to develop.  These particular women have not led perfect lives and have all had struggles, heartbreaks, or strongholds but search for God’s hand every day in the midst of life.  We laugh, cry, and pray with one another carrying each other in prayer and love.  My sister chicks are on my team.

The other part of my team that has developed over the past two years is my health care team.  The Lord has led me down paths to find several excellent doctors who are all Christians and understand my need to pray and petition before taking medicine or having medical procedures.  I believe these medical professionals hear my concerns and value me as a human being.

As I’ve gotten older, I know that I need doctors who will listen to me and want me to be healed, but understand who the “Healer” ultimately is.  They view themselves as a facilitator of healing.  The health care providers I choose are on my team.

As Christians, I believe it is crucial that we develop a support group composed of friends and doctors who always point us to Jesus and cheer us on through our journey of sanctification.

Ephesians 4:1-6 says,

 “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.  Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.  Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace.  There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;  one Lord, one faith, one baptism;  one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.”

My Prayer:  God, thank you for the winning team you have placed in my life.  I pray for those who don’t have a support group today to reach out to you and that you would begin to develop a Godly covering.  Lord, thank you  for being with us, but we praise you that you don’t expect us to walk through our lives alone.  In Jesus Name!

  

 

Turn About!

 

The word “repent” is illustrated in scripture, as having a boat whose very small rudder is able to make a very large boat turn about.  In the movie Titanic, we are told that the rudder was too small to turn the ship about fast enough to avoid the ice-burg, resulting in the infamous disaster.  Never the less, a very huge ship can be turned about with a very small rudder.  

 A second illustration of what repenting should be is travel.  With modern day GPS travel should be easy, (GPS - the tool that was supposed to revolutionize getting from point A to point B without stopping to look at the map, which is no doubt sending you back to the map, like it is me).  I will admit that for generally getting you there over a long distance, on major highways, I like the GPS, and for finding places when a map or computer are not handy, I like it.  But I turn it off when getting around in an unfamiliar city. I get very tired of being told to stay in the left lane, just moments before being told to make a right turn. What? Did no one tell them it’s illegal to make a right turn from the left lane? Both illustrations indicate to us that the Christian walk is a matter of navigation in God’s eyes.   Not a treadmill of choosing right from wrong, or trying to choose which religion is the best guide. (Spiritual GPS) Who ever actually gets it 100% right anyway?

Navigating the Christian walk is frustrating to seasoned, well-studied Christians, much less for newly saved individuals, who have way too many religions telling them what is the best way to go. Of all the Bible “dirty words,” as Lori calls them, “sin” has got to be the one that sends people away from the Christian concept more than any other word.  “Repenting of sin” sounds down right gut wrenching, to an adult who is contemplating Salvation, if it means a daily grind of self inspection, which includes trying to draw all the fine lines between RIGHT and WRONG.

Think about it.  If you take any subject, and you begin to use it to navigate according to it’s rightness or wrongness, you find yourself on a pendulum of swinging from one side of the issue to another, of “how far can I go without crossing God’s line?”  NOT that we are trying to sneak in a little sin, but that we are trying to not displease Him. (double negative intended.) Sometimes it seems even the Amish sin.  And by the way, they admit they do.  Do you get the point, that it is impossible to live by a right/wrong gage? The more you try to gage your sin, the farther you get into living under the law, and we are made free from the law by our salvation. It’s a ploy of Satan to keep us looking at ourselves, and take our eyes off Jesus.

To some people, this argument sounds like a total cop out to pretend we don’t sin. But properly labeling sin for what it is, and looking at repentance as God wants us to see it, makes the “repent” word down-right appealing. Sin is any thing we do that is taking us in a direction out of God’s perfect will for our lives. Sin is like driving to a destination and getting on the wrong road. It affects us in negative ways.  It adds frustration and stress to our circumstances. If it is the wrong road, it just won’t get us where we are going. The only way to resolve the situation is to turn around, or if traveling by boat, turn the helm by moving the rudder > to head in the right direction. Whether it is a total turn around, backtrack and start over, or is just a simple left or right turn -time is lost. But there is no getting around the fact that we won’t get to a northerly destination going south.

Living within God’s will is as simple as that.  It is not whether my pants are the right color, or if my tattoo is upside down.  Ridiculous? Well some of the things that people say are sin gages are ridiculous too.  If there is one thing I personally believe Christians need to repent of, it is falsely representing the Christian walk - as a list of rules God wants us to follow.  We have turned more people away from Christ by misrepresenting him and why he died. And that my friend is sin. 

Can we always avoid disaster when our ship is heading into sin even though we repent? Sometimes, we just don’t realize we are sailing headlong into the thing that will destroy us, until it’s too late. That is the sole reason for finding daily time to take a look at the map, turn off the religious GPS, and focus on the destination. And on hearing the still small voice of God. 

One last thing about repenting. For me it is most often an act of pulling up anchor.  I find my self anchored, going round in circles, as if dead in the water, unable to move forward.  Finding safe harbor, refueling, and restocking are all elements of the ship illustration of the Christian life. But the only time it is good to just sit idle in the water is for fishing, rest and relaxation, and research.  If your engine and equipment are sound, there always comes a time to pull up anchor and go! So repenting may not be a change in course, or a decision to stay on course, but a decision to set sail for a God given destination.  That too can require a change of mind or circumstances. Without making the change, sin will develop in your life.  Is God going to send you to Hell if you miss the boat? NOOO!  You just won’t receive the greater things God has in store that can be found at that destination. Why miss out?

See sin, from now on, as a going thing, not as a doing thing. See repentance as a change in course thing, not a sit down and cry cause I’m so bad thing.  Your self worth will rise, because you will begin seeing yourself as God sees you – as a friend with whom He can hardly wait to show how great things He can do in your life, which great places He wants you to go with Him to, and what marvelous things He wants to show you along the way. And why miss the gifts at the end of the journey. How simple to just realize you are sorry you're headed the wrong way, and turn about.

For Bible illustrative reading  - Paul talks of living strictly under the law and being converted to the Christian walk:

Acts 26 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+26&version=KJV

He then tells the story of being prisoner aboard a ship – as a free man held prisoner because he has determined to petition Caesar.  Paul is not in sin himself, but finds himself at the mercy of someone who choses to not heed Paul’s admonition from God for when and where to sail.  They sail into disaster, and yet God remains with them, and none is lost.

Acts 27 http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Acts+27&version=KJV

2 sets of verses: from this text I would leave with you:

Repentance in the hour of need - 

  ²²And now I exhort you to be of good cheer: for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship. ²³For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, ²⁴Saying, Fear not, Paul; thou must be brought before Caesar: and, lo, God hath given thee all them that sail with thee.

 ²⁵Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even as it was told me. Acts 27: 22 –25 &

⁴⁰And when they had taken up the anchors, they committed themselves unto the sea, and loosed the rudder bands, and hoisted up the mainsail to the wind, and made toward shore. Acts 27: 40

All the repentance in the world will not save you from the disasters that come into your life, but when they come, they will give opportunity to encourage others to believe.

LORD, help us to be willing to turn about, even when it means heading into rough seas, especially when our circumstances have hindered our getting to your intended destination. AMEN

 

CONFIDENCE - when God Blesses faith

While under siege by the great nation of Assyria, Hezekiah stood firm as the king over Judah, a mere remnant of the tribes of Israel which had not been overtaken by the wars around them. And when pressed to appease the encroaching armies, he sent all the gold from the Temple, and from the coffers of the King’s house. When there was nothing monetary left to keep them from attacking, he continued to trust in the God of his forefather, David.  Hezekiah had made a great sacrifice in giving this gold to Assyria, for it was he who had overlaid the temple doors with gold; and it was he who cut it back off to give to the Assyrian representatives. The work of his life had been undone. Hezekiah didn’t put confidence in his life’s work; nor did he cling to it, and protect it at all costs assuming it was the source for his future.

The Assyrian King sent 3 men with a great host of troops out of Lachish to Jerusalem. And when they arrived, their leader, Rabshakeh, sent a message to Hezekiah asking him: “Thus saith the Great King, the king of Assyria: What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?”(kjv)  They went on to assume it must be Egypt. They mocked that trusting Egypt was like leaning on a staff which was sharp on both ends. If Hezekiah’s people leaned on it, they would be stabbed by the end on which they leaned.  Placing doubt, the Assyrians hoped to destroy the confidence this little nation had, and hoped to take them without a fight. But Hezekiah did not trust in Egypt -a type of trusting in the people and things of this world.

 Rabshakeh continued to deride them, saying, don’t say you trust in your Lord, because Hezekiah has already given up the altars, and said this is what’s left in Jerusalem as an altar!  (As if the altar only had value if covered in gold.) Hezekiah didn’t place his confidence in his money, or the importance of his church. Hezekiah didn’t place his confidence in his church, nor in the place where he worshipped.

Rabshakeh also taunted – “you say, but they are vain words, ‘I have counsel and strength for war.’ On whom do you trust that you rebel against me?” He spoke with a false confidence believing nothing could stop the Assyrian armies, because nothing had so far. Hezekiah didn’t put his confidence in the circumstances that appeared to prove nothing could withstand the power of these great armies. But Rabshakeh had wisely asked, “On WHOM do you Trust.”  “What Confidence is this wherein you Trust?”  He expected them to boast that another army somewhere was forming against them, for the sake of job security. But Hezekiah was not seeking job security for his armies.

It was then that the Assyrian leader began to be diplomatic (or was it “deceitful.”) He offered 2000 horses if they would join him, seeking to know the numbers of men they expected to muster, but also hoping to turn them against their own king. He railed on Hezekiah’s men, in their own language, that they should not trust Hezekiah to protect them. He offered to take them to a land where there were great riches and plenty of food, if they would become his soldiers. He went on to say, "Don’t listen to Hezekiah when he says the Lord will deliver you, because the gods of all these other nations haven’t delivered them." He even went so far as to say, that he had come in the name of the Lord. That he was whom God was blessing, (and perhaps he believed it might be true in some twisted way.) But Hezekiah was not swayed by the deceiver who set lures for his men.

Hezekiah knew ON WHOM he believed!!!

When I taught children, I found it was important to give them Bible words to learn and understand.  A study of the word confidence, reveals that it doesn’t mean the same as faith. Confidence is a result of faith.  But also a result of trusting the promises of God. It has to do with knowing what you believe, with understanding.  Then acting on it - but only after praying to seek assurance God wants you to proceed.  Confidence isn’t something to boast of or give reasons for; it is an attitude of steadfastness. It is a jewel, a gift, and John told his followers to not give it up.  Confidence grows and strengthens as we read and understand God’s Word. Faith is as a grain of mustard seed, a tiny hope on which we place trust.  But confidence is when faith takes root and is watered and tended. Each new endeavor requires faith, a point in time when we first believe. But confidence is gained only when we have tested faith.  We fail to gain confidence when we misplace our faith. When we believe that money, jobs, church, friends, supporters, circumstances, politics or what appears to be truth in the eyes of the world are our reasons for feeling safe – we have misplaced our faith, and cannot grow confidence.  Faith in God’s promises, security, holiness, and truth alone is the fertile ground in which the seed of faith can grow. And when it has grown, let us prize it above all the things of this world that we might have confidence to leave the battles up to God.

Hezekiah didn’t gather an army against the Assyrians, but asked those about him to join him as he prayed.  Sometimes, it sounds like a broken record when we ask people to pray, but that is where acting on our confidence begins.  And funny thing…that action is often to wait on the Lord to take care of the matter. Why do we pray expecting God to give our battles back to us? Our confidence comes from allowing God to use His power to perform in our lives. Hezekiah knew this, and it is why he was called the greatest king that Judah ever had.

This story comes from II Kings 18. The verses concerning Rabshakeh asking in whom Hezekiah placed his trust are verses 19 and 20.  But this is the verse I want to leave with our readers, for Hezekiah warned his people not to respond to the deceiver:

But the people held their peace and answered him not a word, for the King’s commandment was, saying: “Anwer him not.” II Kings 18: 36 KJV

Who is calling on you today to defend your confidence? God says you don’t need to answer. Just know in whom, and understand what and why you believe.  So you can stand fast in confidence against all odds. Testimonies are for leading the lost to Christ. Not for defending God or ourselves. God can defend Himself and us.

Father, once again it is focus on you that remedies life’s hardest questions.  Help us to respond out of confidence, which allows us not to answer to the deceivers of the world.  All who rail against us, even those who say they come in Your name, who know they have everything all figured out, and have unparalleled resources and accusations with them. All those are no match for just focusing on You. And in our confidence, help us not to be quick to act, but let us wait upon your almighty power, and sometimes only upon your power. Though the world screams loudly about us, sometimes you just want us to do nothing except pray, leaving the results up to You. Instead of responding to the din of the world, help us not be “should, ought must Christians.”  Rather help us know the difference, to be Confident Christians. AMEN

(P.S. Sometimes the railing assailant really wants our testimony because they are seeking a Christ.  If we share Christ rather than defend Christ, our words become a path to Christ.)

 

Just One

i had a really good conversation with a friend on Friday. He was telling me his view of God ... that He is a mean, judgmental God, sitting on His throne waiting to throw lightening bolts every time we make a mistake.

Sigh.

He asked me about my view of God ...

i believe God is a loving, kind, generous God who wants the best for us. Sometimes that means God applies discipline to our lives, but He also covers us with grace and mercy. There is no greater act of love that can be shown than that of God sending His only Son to die on a wooden cross so that we can have eternal life with Him (if we choose to believe).

My friend proceeded to share that His view of God has been distorted by Christians who claim to love Jesus, but act nothing like Jesus and who preach the Word of God but don't live it. hmmm.

So, it's been heavy on my heart that the church as a whole (and individually) is not doing a very good job of reaching people to share the truth. It's not enough to go to church on Sunday—this is not where we are going to reach those who have been told untruths ... they want absolutely nothing to do with church or Christians.

Sometimes i think the church gets too caught up in wanting to save the world—but only in masses of people to save time. The reality is that we reach people one by one ... and we have that chance every day.

We need less of huge, organized religious establishments who draw in the masses in hopes to share the truth and secure one's salvation—they have no means to walk with an individual through this life change and be a friend. We need more of people like you + me who has been touched by God's grace and who have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior to reach those who have not.

The truth is that it can be overwhelming to look out into the crowd and see all the lost people who have no hope—there are millions. But if we have a goal to reach just one, we find it's an attainable goal. And once we reach one, we try to reach another ... and another. It becomes a beautiful ripple effect that has no end.

If we all have the goal to show the love of Christ to just one person, just think how many lives could be changed. All it took for me was one friend to say, Hey, would you like to go to church with me today?—that one person and simple question secured my eternity in heaven that day.

i encourage you to choose one person who doesn't know Jesus and to commit them to prayer and let God open up doors of opportunity for you to share the Good News. i promise that if you pray for it, God will move.

How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace ... —Isaiah 52:7-10

An Ugly Word

This past weekend I heard a refreshing sermon about the importance of confession of sins not only vertically with God, but also horizontally with others.  Too often these days the word, “confession,” is considered taboo among Christians because it seems old fashioned.  When we dismiss this simple principle, we are attempting to bypass God’s plan for a healthy relationship with his children.

The word, “confession,” means “to admit or acknowledge.”  In this case it fundamentally means admitting our sins to a Holy God.  No formal ceremony needed.  

I John 1:9 says,

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”

In my life, I try to take care of my confessions as the Lord brings them to mind by saying something like this, “Lord, I know that ____ was not the right thing to do.  Please forgive me and help me do better.”  This childlike act of confession clears my slate on a vertical plane.

On the horizontal axis, Matthew 5:23-24 says,

“Therefore, if you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar.  First go and be reconciled to your brother; then come and offer your gift.”  

Confession of sins to others involves prayer about the right words and timing, but can be such a beautiful, Christ centered restoration when handled properly.

I love I Timothy 1:15-16 which says,

“Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners-of whom I am the worst.  But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his unlimited patience as an example for those who would believe on him and receive eternal life.”

Let’s face it: we all sin which is why we need our wonderful Savior.  When we take care of our confessions, we can share in the fellowship and freedom that forgiven children can experience.  

My Prayer:  Lord, thank you for reminding me the importance of confession to you and to others.  Holy Spirit, make me aware when there is something I need to confess so that I can enjoy abundant life as a believer.  Jesus, thank you for covering my sins on the cross.  I pray that others will embrace the freedom of confession and live joyfully in your peace.  In Jesus name!

 

On the Topic of Judging Others ...

There is one thing i've always been afraid of, even before i committed my life to following Jesus—judgment. i'm not afraid of judgment by God because i know that His grace and His blood has covered all my sin. i'm talking about the judgment that comes from people, especially those who call themselves Christian. i've been amazed, throughout my journey as a Christian, that the people who've hurt me and judged me the most are the same ones who preach scripture and go to church in their Sunday's best.

i've been thinking a lot today about the reason people leave church and give up on God. It's because the people who have come forward in truth and honesty and brokenness are the ones who get criticized by the ones who should be responding with love and grace, seeking truth because they know Jesus and His word.

Now, i find myself surrounded by a bunch of stone-throwers in regards to my dissolution of marriage.

And as they continued to ask him, he stood up and said to them, “Let him who is without sin among you be the first to throw a stone at her.”—john 8:7

There is a lot of gossip going around in religious establishments when no one knows the truth—and no one has asked me for it either. Mere speculation. What i find to be the most interesting and saddening is that a lot of these people stood around and watched me struggle for over 2 years and left me to carry all of this alone. Maybe they prayed. But no one offered to come to our home and help ... to see what i saw and experienced. Yet, when my husband tells me he just wants to be my friend, doesn't call me but twice in two months (to only ask for more of his things), and had rejected me 3 times within 3 days, they are all ready to throw the first stone at me in judgment. And even though i offered several times to meet with people to share the truth (truth that only a wife would know about her husband), they all rejected me and decided to speculate what they believed to be true.

"Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment.”—john 7:24

Today, i am not afraid. God knows the truth and one day it will all surface—truth always wins. The truth has set me free and i won't be held in bondage by those who choose to gossip untruths. God is the one true judge and i know that i am right before God and that is all that matters.

i was reluctant to share all of this, but think it's important to share because Christians (i include myself in this) are not doing a very good job of be a shining light of God's love and mercy and grace. We are turning people off from Christianity and Jesus because we are judgmental, hypocritical, impatient, quick to anger, gossipers, etc. If we are reading our Bible, we know what God says about all of these things, so every time we contradict what we know to be true by our actions, we send people farther away from the church and Jesus.

i am not angry or bitter that i am being talked about. If anything, i'm even more empowered to be rich in mercy and full of love as i encounter those who are hurting and going through turbulent times. The truth will always be that we will never know someone's whole story (without going directly to the source), so we shouldn't be quick to throw stones. Those who are hurting need to be loved and heard and shown grace—everything that Jesus would show us.

i love what Matthew 7:1-5 says (click the link to read the NKJ version). The version below is The Message version.

A Simple Guide for Behavior
"Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt? It's this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.

Father God, we live in such a judgmental culture. It's easy to pick on others to take the focus off our own faults. Help us all to seek the truth—from the source—so that we can all be right before You. Take the stones out of our hands, God, for we know we have no right to judge others. Remind us that the right thing to do is to be kind to those who are hurting and struggling, to hear their story without judging, and to be full of mercy and grace. Humble us, Lord, when we have a holier-than-thou attitude because we know we are not without fault, too. Bless those who seek truth in honesty and with their heart. Bless those who are feeling the heat of judgment that's not from You— block the flaming arrows and give them a spirit of peace.

Scripture to memorize:
 “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.—Matthew 7:1-2

Looking Through God Glasses

What is your image of the disciples of Christ?  Do you see them all as fishermen?  Well they weren’t all fishermen.  Do you visualize them as all dressed in flowing robes of colorful cloths? Well they weren’t.  Have you ever envisioned even one of them with a sword hanging by his side?  Think about it….

In St. John 18:11 Jesus said to one of his disciples: “Put up thy sword into the sheath.”  You know this story well.  To whom was he speaking?  It was Peter of course.  Peter the bold, the strong, carried a sword which he used to cut off the ear of a temple servant in the Garden of Gethsemane, when they came to take Jesus away.  Now visualize the disciples again.  Can you visualize them with at least one carrying a sword? Have you ever?  I can’t think of a single painting that I have seen, which has disciples who look obviously different from one another, much less with one of them carrying a sword.

We do that when we visualize what a Christian should look like too.  One of my greatest pet peeves about the Christian faith, is that it frequently falls into a pattern of dictating what the followers of Christ should look, act, and behave like.  We have all known of whole churches that fell pray to “doctrines” of a bad leader, whom they trusted to their deaths. It is a lie of Satan that all Christians should fit some sort of mold. Or to follow one who claims to be called of God to an ever-tightening tiny image of who we ought to be. As a child, this little box image of what a Christian oughta be made me think I could never be good enough. In fact, my father once told me he decided not to be a Christian because he knew he could never be good enough.

Jesus consistently went to the person whom society had rejected and said: “ follow me.” How often was he rebuked for being somewhere the Scribes and Pharisees said men ought not to go? How many times was he eating with people in whose home pious Jews would never set foot?  He talked to women, of other than Jewish descent.  He talked to prostitutes. In fact, he talked to women, period. In some perversions of religion, it is and was forbidden to even talk to women. He let the children climb on his lap and rebuked any who tried to pull them away.  He fit no one’s mold, but His Father’s.

Now, as Paul said, all things may be permissible, but all things are not wise. I get that. But, Jesus had a definite reason for going to the unwanted of society in his day, because as he called them, they were “the lost.”  Any lost person you might encounter, will probably be seeking for direction, hoping to get to a place of knowing where they are in the world. Jesus had a short time to reach them.  He started off teaching in the conventional way, at age 12, in the temple. But in order to reach the lost he had to go where they were.  Jesus had nothing to fear of the people in the streets as it turned out.  It was the people in the temple who sought to kill him.  I can’t say as much for the situation today.  It is mostly out of fear that I would not approach just anyone on the streets today.  But equally, I would not trust just anyone in a pulpit.  So the question becomes how to reach individuals who are not accepted by the main stream, while we continue to portray the holiness of God. Jesus made it perfectly clear.  It is with our words - using His Word and rightly dividing the Word of truth, and by not creating molds that we ask others to fit into. 

One of my favorite ways to teach my 5 to 7 year old Children’s Church students in years gone by, was to tell them something I wanted them to challenge me on.  Now I had to teach them to dispute me, because society spends a lot of time teaching children to not rebuke their elders.  But that is actually dangerous if we don’t give them permission to use the brain God gave them as well.  My bright little students were willing to believe anything I told them. So I would say something, ridiculous and see how quickly they would call me on it.  For instance, I might say: “Today I am going to tell you the story of how Jesus told everyone that it was OK to beat people up.”  At first they were too shy to speak against me. But once they learned that I was expecting them to catch me lying, and I wanted them to say: “No that’s not right,” - they were quick and loud with their response.  I would say,  “I was just seeing if you were listening.”  So it became a game for them listen well enough to catch me telling them something that wasn’t true.

Three Things:

1.  We always made sure that we clarified when I had told them a deliberate lie, and that I wanted them to catch me in it and say with boldness, “Miss Cynthia, that isn’t true.” I told them not to believe everything they were told.  To find out for themselves what was true. I told them it was wise to listen and decide for themselves what they believed. I told them not to get in the habit of correcting their parents and other teachers, but to think about what people said, and if it didn’t seem right to ask questions.  I also told them if it didn’t seem right, to not believe it until they were sure whether it was right or wrong.  And sometimes, it would be OK to boldly say: “That isn’t right, I know it isn’t.” Or be firm when they say: “Don’t do that ‘cause it isn’t right!”
2. I made it clear that I wanted them to use their own brains. I told them they were never too young to know what they believed.  Jesus asked people to think about what they were being taught. To challenge it if necessary. To seek the truth.  To alter their vision, and break the mold of what they commonly believed to be truth. He asked them to challenge conventional truth, and test it with God’s truth. People argue at length about what that truth is, but they often do it like the Pharisees did. Satan can argue a good argument, by manipulating the truth. What is true in the whole scripture is what is true.  And sometimes the deepest truths are hidden in pictures and types, not out in the open, so we have to dig. They are jewels to be found, by exploring how God packages truth.
3. I challenged the children to boldly respond to me with “no, that is not right,” if I was wrong.  It was my intention to help them begin to make up their own minds what was right, and what was wrong, rather than depending on an adult for their morality.  Many adults have never done that for themselves. It amazes me sometimes how often leadership, especially in the church, directs its constituents to blindly follow their lead.  Wise leadership should be fashioned after Jesus’ example.  He challenged the acceptable, and sought the heart of the people, not as servants to a master, but as friends. (St.John 15: 14-15.)  He asked them to think, reason within themselves, and to make the subtle differences.

I could cite any of several scriptures, but I believe this one says it best:

(Jesus said:) Woe unto you lawyers! For ye have taken away the key of knowledge: ye entered not in yourselves, and them that were entering in, ye hindered. St. Luke 11:52

Dear Jesus, you challenge us to take a second look at our mental image of who and what we expect a Christian to be. To think for ourselves, and question authority, and hold our leaders accountable. Help us Lord, to teach our children balance, not blind obedience. Knowing we can obey You without question gives great peace of mind, and it is marvelous to be able to teach this to our children.  Let us begin with them, teaching them to open their minds to seek to see things from God’s perspective. Not as skeptics, but as seeing all things through “God Glasses”.  In your precious name, AMEN.

 

Promises of God

From the file box:

Prosperity = The Fulfillment of the Promises of God…

 In 1993, my husband had a surgical procedure done to clean a blocked artery and save his heart and life.  Seeking comfort, he ran across the verse: A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you. And I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh and I will give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26

Followed by: 37:14:  And shall put my spirit in you and ye shall live…. 

Now these verses were taken out of context, but when you are facing something that might mean your life, you don’t care how the Lord gives you peace of mind.  The whole Biblical text is written to the Israelites who needed restoration as a nation.  This is the text where the “Dry Bones Parable” is found.  A promise is given by God to raise up the floundering nation and give it new life. Even though it is presumed to be as dead as dry bones, God promises to “resurrect” it, and give it full life once again.  

Ezekiel was a colorful writer, but God used him to give strong mental pictures of how God was able to do whatever was necessary to keep his promises to His people.  In the depths of these verses, so much more can be gleaned.  The resurrection promise itself was a “type picture” of Christ.  Jesus’ disciples would come to understand that the real resurrection for the nation of Israel was through their Messiah. Israel became, not just a great nation, but the ancestral parent of a greater work - the birth of a church, to which any who believed might be born. Through them God gave life to a family that would affect the world. But this great work would come only when His followers thought all hope was lost.  It would only occur if this long awaited Messiah died. Never did they dream he would be resurrected.  Yet the picture was there, just as Jesus said, in the very verses they studied and believed.

Jesus did not remain dead long enough for his bones to dry.  But the prophecy was about an Israel, which came to a place where they feared all hope was lost. They lost their ability to believe that God was able to give continued life to their failing nation.  Mmmmm. Parallels all around this one, but I am not going there.  (Yes the people of our nation would do well to seek the truths in these chapters.)  God does wish to give continued life to the nations he has blessed, even to the point of bringing them back from dry bones.  But my actual point is - these verses give us a visualization of the lengths to which God is willing to go, to give the people he loves the promise of life.  Out of that life was the promise of a savoir, and if Israel failed, would there be no savoir?

In a discussion with my son, recently, I asked him to use the litmus test of basic Gospel truths, against which to test the doctrines of various religious faiths as he studied. We talked about why one of the most important of these is the fact that God wants us to choose life in every circumstance. Life and the regeneration of life are extremely important to God.  But when you are facing a circumstance or illness, which threatens life, death, not life, can be the reality.  I have often thought that if I were facing cancer, I would not have the desire to fight for life. Mainly, the reason is that death is the better than life, because of Christ.  I see the after-life as my resurrection to the best form of life. But, I am not seeking death. Yet God prefers that I choose to love life.

For my husband - where he was, wanting to live, and who was facing a life-threatening event - any promise from God that He cared about life, which could give an assurance that life was really important to Him, was timely.  My husband loves life. He loves living every day.  He has a God attitude about life. He holds each day precious. Even before he was threatened by his blocked artery, he treasured life.

So when God gave him these verses, they were not out of context for him.  The “ye shall live,” of Ezekiel 37:14 was as if it were written to him and for him, because God was comforting his heart and giving peace to his mind. God was saying to my beloved, I care about YOUR LIFE.  It was personal. 

It is a wonderful thing that our Bible is so multifaceted.  My mind is opened to the vastness of God’s ability to use His Word to bless and inspire us in so many ways.  Every story, and parable bears a witness to the truths He wants us to focus on and in fact, to bank our hopes in the vaults of their promises. 

So Jimmy claimed those verses, and went to surgery with a renewed confidence that God would use this scary time in his life to give him not just renewed physical life, but renewed spiritual hope for a greater, longer, fuller life.

I have a flip-calendar of scriptures, given to me by my daughter, from Heartland Samplers, Inc., which is one of a Series called “Bless Your Heart.”  It is appropriate for me because I often use the southern phrase “Bless your heart.”  And not as a derogatory remark, but in the sense of this calendar, that the Lord can bless your heart in a spiritual way through the Word and Prayer.  Anyway, on February 4 of this particular year’s calendar, it says:

“God can mend a broken heart, but we have to give him all the pieces.”

Followed by the verse:

“The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18.”  

On this page I scribbled: the year, a note about the surgery, and the verses my husband had claimed, so I could remember the day the Lord resurrected us to new life, when we could share in the second half of  Ezekiel 37:14 which says: 

“then shall ye know that I the Lord have spoken it, and performed it, saith the Lord.” 

Thank you, Lord for promises to claim. For scripture, that calms our minds and spirits when the days of comfort are needed. Give comfort today to those who need it and seek a word from you.  Help us all to appreciate that You are the champion of life in all aspects of life.  You have made life a precious thing. Help us to live like we cherish it too.  In Jesus’ precious name, AMEN.

 

Stand Aside and Let the Spirit Guide

 

In Phillipians 1:12 Paul said: “Now I want you to know, brothers and sisters,^[a] that what has happened to me has actually served to advance the gospel.”  NIV

 In the 4 or 5 verses following this one, Paul says that because he is in chains, some have become emboldened, (inflamed we would now say,) and speak of Paul who teaches of Jesus, without the fear they once had. He says that some teach Christ of contention, hoping to make Paul’s situation worse. Another he says, preaches in love, knowing that Paul is set for the defense of the Gospel. Many gained the confidence to speak boldly, without fear.  In other words, he felt that his being imprisoned opened the door for others to find a reason to go in his stead to preach the gospel, since he was unable.  In Verse 18 he said, “what then? Not withstanding every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached, and I therein do rejoice.”

“Whether in Pretense or in Truth????”

What Paul was saying was that even when people teach of Christ with errors, and out of emotion, he is never the less being talked about.  People were becoming bold enough to discuss a man called Christ. And in spite of the inaccuracies, Paul was just glad they were talking about Jesus. If he was pulled back, they ceased to lean on Paul's knowlege, and found courage to seek their own. To someone like myself, who compares every scripture to the next trying to be accurate, it is hard to accept that anyway Christ is preached is OK.  But the truth is, when the people who have sought God’s truths for years, get out of the way of younger learners, who are left learning by the Holy Spirit’s guidance, their lessons are more personal, and they stick.  When I was a teen, I realized how important healthy discussion over the meaning of Scriptural passages was.  My pastor called it: “Rightly dividing the Word of Truth.”

My son recently said he wanted to investigate the different religious beliefs to discover for himself which of the church doctrines he actually felt he believed. As a parent you want your child to not be led away by false doctrines, but as a Christian, I want him to know what and why he believes it, because he was bold enough to trudge into the depths of God’s Word, with the Spirit as his guide. That is the key, seeking that truth in the word, not in the various doctrines.  I only wished to direct him to compare the beliefs of any religious group to the Word, not to find the beliefs that sounded as though they made sense and then find the Scriptures to uphold it. He went further to say, that he felt he should look to the oldest Hebrew and Greek texts to see if the accepted translations adhered to what he understood God was saying.  I agreed and suggested he find a Vine’s Expository to see the present translations of the words in the oldest texts.

 I looked into what every religion I could find believed, just so I could know why I believed what I believed, when I was very young. The end result was - I had to find a way to understand the Bible to know what I believed. Questioning the language, the concepts, the beliefs of people in my own religious title, strengthened my faith rather than diluted it.  I was bold enough to say, even to teachers, or in response to pastors over my own faith, “I don’t believe that because this verse says that God taught something different.”  As a result, I found a church where I believed they taught more of the truth, as the Spirit had revealed it to my heart.

Does my believing it, make something more true than what someone else believes. No.  This is mainly true because God shares His promises and his gifts to different personalities and persons, in various degrees of spiritual growth, in different ways.  Sometimes it seems he is telling us different things. Often, we are learning the same things, in different ways.  When my son and I finished our discussion about the various faiths, he said that it seemed all the Christian faiths basically believed the concept of Christ’s birth, death, resurrection, and that you needed to accept that by faith, and everything beyond that was various details about how to live.  A lot of it seemed the same basic thing to him. And I asked, “ You mean like they might all be a part of … one church… or something. And maybe they should call it “The Church?” 

In God’s eyes, we are under one umbrella, His flock, by one name.  We are members of the Church, no religion, just the beloved born again children of God. 

In Christ’s final days, when he prayed he asked the Father to make us all one.  When he spoke to Peter who was having great difficulty understanding what was happening, Jesus said, “feed my sheep.”  Then he seemingly repeated himself and said, “feed my lambs.” What was the difference?  Christ was saying that some would be fed having deeper knowledge of the old scriptures which told of a Christ.  Some would be fed as lambs, from the basics, as knowing nothing of the promise of a savoir, a messiah, never hearing the scriptures of old - starting from scratch.  He then said. Follow me. And when Peter said “Lord, and what shall this man do?” Jesus sort of said,  “What’s that to you? Follow thou me.”  (St. John 21)

Following Christ is an individual commitment. Regardless of how or under what circumstances we learn of our Savoir, it is up to us to follow him. Not the way someone else says to, but how the Spirit leads us.  If we find our courage to share Christ, because we are compelled to believe the Word says something different than what our church is teaching us, then follow the Word.  You shouldn’t have to quit your church.

Ephesians 2:18 For through him, we both have access by one Spirit unto the Father.19 –Now therefore, ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellow citizens with the saints and of the household of God.

3:14 For this cause, I bow my knee unto the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.

 15 – of  whom the whole family in heaven and earth is named.

16 – That he would grant you according to the riches of his glory, to be strengthened with might by his Spirit in the inner man.

17-That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that being rooted and grounded in love,

18 – May be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length, and depth and height;

19 – And to know the Love of Christ, which passeth knowledge, that ye might be filled with all the fullness of God.

20 – Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.

21 – Unto him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus through out all ages, world without end. Amen 

LORD, when you take my influence from my children and grandchildren, be their guide through the Word, by the Spirit. Help me rejoice when they seek You not me to find their way through the Christian walk. May I see as Paul did that they at some point just use us as crutches to lean on, not learning for their own spirit’s sake, what You would teach them if you were walking life’s path by their side.  Stand so close that they will trip over you if they don’t follow you, please dear Lord.  Help them not to look at what other’s say is truth, unless their words are soundly backed up by the whole Word of God, the Scarlet Thread of Redemption -  The theme of life and liberty that winds from Genesis to Revelation, speaking of the Son of God, and the Blood He shed for THE CHURCH. And that for all of us. AMEN

 

wisdom

Lately, i have been a little (little maybe being an understatement) weighted down. But particularly, something someone said to me was bothering me.

Most people that i've shared my story with and who know all the details have been 100% behind me, because they know how to pray specifically and because all the pieces to the puzzle make sense when looked at as a whole picture. i was told by someone, who chose not to get all the information that because they had decades of theological training and experience that my story didn't make sense, that it didn't line up with biblical truth (remind you, that they don't know all the details), and that the Lord couldn't possible reveal things to me and not them.

i felt so small and unimportant and it made me question whether God did reveal things to me, as Luke's wife. i was made to feel that because i didn't study textbooks and lots of theological studies and go to school to learn about the Bible, and because i've not been a Christian for a really long time that God couldn't possibly speak wisdom to my heart.

i have to tell you that it took me months and quite possible a couple years to make my heart pure before God so that He would speak to me and reveal things to me. But, mostly, i had to humble myself before the Lord, telling Him that whatever He told me i would believe because it came from Him—whether i wanted to hear it or not.

So, when my story was unbelieved and when i offered to share the whole story (details and all), they chose not to hear it or meet with me. They chose to be in the dark. This troubled me because i wanted to share what the Lord told me—not for my sake, but for LUKE's healing.

i prayed last night for God to heal this hurt in my soul, to reveal to me that what He showed me is true through His Word. Often times i don't know where to turn in the Bible when so much is on my mind, so i just sat there quietly and waited upon the Lord to bring scripture to my mind. And, eventually God brought me to Job 28.

Job 28

Job Tells of Earth’s Treasures

 ¹ “Surely there is a ^[a]mine for silver
And a place ^[b]where they refine gold.
² “Iron is taken from the dust,
And copper is smelted from rock.
³ “Man puts an end to darkness,
And ^(A)to the farthest limit he searches out
The rock in gloom and deep shadow.
⁴ “He ^[c]sinks a shaft far from ^[d]habitation,
Forgotten by the foot;
They hang and swing to and fro far from men.
⁵ “The earth, from it comes food,
And underneath it is turned up as fire.
⁶ “Its rocks are the ^[e]source of sapphires,
And its dust contains gold.
⁷ “The path no bird of prey knows,
Nor has the falcon’s eye caught sight of it.
⁸ “The ^[f]proud beasts have not trodden it,
Nor has the fierce lion passed over it.
⁹ “He puts his hand on the flint;
He overturns the mountains at the ^[g]base.
¹⁰ “He hews out channels through the rocks,
And his eye sees anything precious.
¹¹ “He dams up the streams from ^[h]flowing,
And what is hidden he brings out to the light.

The Search for Wisdom Is Harder

 ¹² “But ^(B)where can wisdom be found?
And where is the place of understanding?
¹³ “^(C)Man does not know its value,
Nor is it found in the land of the living.
¹⁴ “The deep says, ‘It is not in me’;
And the sea says, ‘It is not with me.’
¹⁵ “^(D)Pure gold cannot be given in exchange for it,
Nor can silver be weighed as its price.
¹⁶ “It cannot be valued in the gold of Ophir,
In precious onyx, or sapphire.
¹⁷ “^(E)Gold or glass cannot equal it,
Nor can it be exchanged for articles of fine gold.
¹⁸ “Coral and crystal are not to be mentioned;
And the acquisition of ^(F)wisdom is above that of pearls.
¹⁹ “The topaz of Ethiopia cannot equal it,
Nor can it be valued in ^(G)pure gold.
²⁰ “^(H)Where then does wisdom come from?
And where is the place of understanding?
²¹ “Thus it is hidden from the eyes of all living
And concealed from the birds of the sky.
²² “^[i](I)Abaddon and Death say,
‘With our ears we have heard a report of it.’

 ²³ “^(J)God understands its way,
And He knows its place.
²⁴ “For He ^(K)looks to the ends of the earth
And sees everything under the heavens.
²⁵ “When He imparted ^(L)weight to the wind
And ^(M)meted out the waters by measure,
²⁶ When He set a ^(N)limit for the rain
And a course for the ^(O)thunderbolt,
²⁷ Then He saw it and declared it;
He established it and also searched it out.
²⁸ “And to man He said, ‘Behold, the ^(P)fear of the Lord, that is wisdom;
And to depart from evil is understanding.’”

i tell you, i was so blessed by the Lord last night - that He would heal the hurt i felt. He led me to the exact Words i needed to hear. He reassured me that wisdom doesn't come from books and years of theological experience, it comes from knowing Him and seeking Him with a pure heart. i was so simply reminded that God does speak to those and give wisdom to those who ask.

i love what my study Bible says about these verses:
The wisdom of God is not gained by natural or theoretical knowledge. What God does not reveal, we can't know.

So, what He does reveal, we can know. Typically i just post an encouraging song on Wednesdays, but i felt this was so important to share because sometimes Christians put other Christians down because they don't know the Bible in and out or because they don't have years of theological studies under them, so they assume that God won't give us the type of wisdom and understanding that He might give those who study the Bible for years.

If you fear the Lord and seek Him with a pure heart and in TRUTH, He will reveal things to you and give you wisdom. God speaking to your heart trumps natural or theoretical knowledge.

Thank you Lord for comforting me and reassuring me that the wisdom you've given me is indeed true—i know i've sought it with passion and a pure heart.

On Wings of an Eagle

 In the US there are two species of eagles: the best-known Bald Eagle, our national bird, and the Golden Eagle, which is rarer in the eastern states.  Both are huge birds as far as raptors go. They have 6-8 ft. wingspans.  Compare that to the human wingspan of  5 -7 feet, usually.  Yet these birds can sit on a human arm, so it is the wings when outstretched in proportion to its body that give the bird its power in the air.  Hang in here with me for a paragraph or two ~ 

 I am what you call, a “birder.” I just like watching birds. When I discovered the tools for getting to know more about birds, I jumped in full force to become     “A BIRDER” (emphasis and underline!).  I try to learn their names, calls, songs, identification markings, habitat, and anything else I can, to know what I am seeing. On certain days, my husband and I partner with others to find the birds, ID them, and report what we’ve seen.

One of these activities, which I love, is manning a “Hawk Watch Site,” whenever possible.

  On our Hawk Watch, birders who love hawks, falcons, kites, eagles, and other raptors, sit for hours with binoculars toward the sky, scanning for them to fly by during migration.  We man the watch during the prime migration dates, and report data collected, to one of several groups who compile and compare it over the years.  We record one bird, or hundreds, but live for the excitement of seeing hundreds of Broad-winged hawks in kettles, as they head south for winter. September is our highlite month, because most Broad-wings move south in that month.On rare days, we can see a thousand or more. I love the assurance of seeing migrating hawks if we just go sit and wait. Like leaves that turn in the fall, birds will migrate as they have for centuries.  Weather plays a key role in when they migrate past us. Watching these birds make this awesome trek reminds me of how - 

God is in the details and in control.

 Seeing Eagles on our watch is not as rare as it once was.  Not many years ago, viewing an eagle was a quite rare sight, in many states and flyways.  DDT had made eggshells unable to support the incubation stresses, and eaglets were just not being born and raised to adulthood.  In recent years, the story has changed. If one only looks, Eagles can often be found.

 I said all this…

to give some credence to my knowing what an eagle on wing looks like.  As they fly into view from a great distance, they are like specks, too small to definitively say what bird we are viewing. We follow the speck with our binoculars. As it comes closer, certain things become obvious about it, even while it can’t be viewed with the naked eye. For instance:

how it holds its wings.  A vulture will hold its wings in a dihedral, a slightly upturned V.  A broad-winged Hawk will hold its wings with the wing tips pushed forward somewhat.  An eagle? Well, an eagle holds its wings flat as a board, for long durations of its flight.  No other bird does that. It will work its wings on a windy day, or a day without much lift. They also need to flap to lift from the ground.  But I have seen them travel for miles in migration, resting on the air alone, and never lift their wings from that flat, airplane like silhouette. They appear to not use a muscle.  In fact, if the air is dense with haze, it is possible to think for a few moments you are looking at a plane, not a bird, way out there.

 Eagles fly with ease, not working the air for lift, but allowing the rising air to lift them.  If we see a full adult Bald Eagle coming in, with white head and tail, the white sort of fades into the blue sky. Head-on, it looks like a board is flying toward you for the wings are the only thing visible. Until it’s close enough for the sun to define that head and tail as white, there still can be no doubt that we are seeing an eagle, due to the flatness of the wings.

 There are two points that I wish to make from this illustration:

1. Avidly pursue a goal, but never under your own strength.

The Christian parallel to “mount up with wings as an eagle” is - we should be able to “fly” toward a goal, with ease, allowing the Holy Spirit to lift us, going for miles, never having to act under our own strength. 

     o       The ultimate being who is always there to lift us, encourage us, move us along our path, give us rest while in flight, and keep us airborne for long stretches through the day - is the Spirit. But like the wind we cannot always see his interaction with us. We move along thinking we are without him, with struggles and frustrations.  And conversely, when aware of  Him, we will get to our destination, simply on what He does in our lives, gliding on His power for long durations of our spiritual flight, if we allow it.

    o        Lest I mislead, remember the eagle always has to move its wings to find food and to lift itself into the heights where the winds are. It also lands to rest through the night and during the storms.  It covers its journey in segments. Its food is near the ground.  It is not a do nothing life.

                                                                        
 2.      Work less at being a Christian, and be known by our flight stature.     

    o       Eagles don’t hold their wings out straight as a board for recognition. They do it, because structurally it is how they are able to fly with the least amount of energy loss.  Migration is a long journey. They are in it to get where they are going with the least stress.  So, whatever they can do, to use less energy, is what they will do to make the flight benefit their goal.  Christians would benefit by working less at being a Christian.

    o        I don’t want to be known by what church I attend (the color of my head and tail) ~ I look for the judgment of God to be upon the structure of my faith and on whom my faith rests. (The way I hold my wings.) As one looking on the eagle, I can’t ID it by its dress till it’s close. An eagle isn’t depending on its dress to fly.

 

     Lord, I don’t want to be known by the color of my head and tail, but by the way I hold my wings. Many people will never watch how I hold my wings; they will only look for how I am dressed.  But you Lord, will know if I allowed you to help me fly like the eagle. AMEN

 

 

This is my life verse.  In the KJV it reads:

“They that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength, they shall mount up with wings as Eagles, they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint.”   Isaiah. 40:31