Sonsofthesea.org

"Come follow me and I will make you fishers of men." Matthew 4:19

Category: Connection (Page 6 of 10)

You Are Mine.

September 3, 2022 /
MaryEllen Montville

“For thus says the Lord God: Behold, I, I myself will search for my sheep and will seek them out” –Ezekiel 34:11.

God knows them that are his and can call his own sheep by name; he knows the places where they are; for he has fixed the bounds of their habitation, and was delighting himself in the habitable parts of the earth, where he knew they would be, even before the world was. –Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible.

It started in the Garden. God’s searching out His own, that is. Draw to His image and likeness; He sought communion with His creation. He’s seeking fellowship with you now, Beloved, even as you read this. God has always desired to be one with you through Christ Jesus. That started way before the Garden. Somewhere in eternity past. When Eden was but a seed yet planted and you, a mere sketch, some faint intersecting lines in God’s mind, waiting to be created.

Yet be sure of this one thing, God knows where you are.

Nothing and no one are hidden from Him, even when we think we are, especially when we may want to be. “When they heard the sound of God strolling in the garden in the evening breeze, the Man and his Wife hid in the trees of the garden, hid from God” –Genesis 3:8.

We serve a God whose very nature is Love. He is relational—desiring intimate communion with His children. To walk and talk with us, talk with you, friend. God’s love is personal. He knows you by name. And God loves you. Jesus lived as a man and died as one, just for you. The fact that the Sovereign God of the universe, Holy and blameless, desires to know us, be in a covenant relationship with us, with me, borders on incomprehensible. Something just too good to be true. Yet as mind-blowing as that is for this writer to take in at times. I know it to be true. God, Himself has told me so.

He is an intimate, personal Father. One who desires an open-door invitation into our hearts and lives that He might walk through them at will. Listen to how John Eldredge states this truth: Jesus came to reveal God to you. He is the defining Word on God—on what the heart of God is truly like, on what God is up to in the world, and on what God is up to in your life.

Tell me, friend, have you dared to ask God what He’s up to in your life?

Have you afforded God, His Son, Jesus, and His Holy Spirit an open-door invitation?

Have you invited them in—made room for them?

Do you seek, want to know more of, or at all, this God who thought it not too great a sacrifice to send His only Son to die in your place?

Has it crossed your mind that no one else but Jesus ever made such a sacrifice just for you?

“Then I passed by and saw you, and you were indeed old enough for Love. So I spread My cloak over you and covered your nakedness. I pledged Myself to you, entered into a covenant with you, and you became Mine, declares the Lord GOD” –Ezekiel 16:8. As surely as God’s covenant with Israel stands—and it always will. So it will be with you, child of God. Having been grafted into His everlasting promise of Love and devotion, your loving Father will continually fight for you. Woo, you. Desire you only.

God wants, more; He chooses to be active in your life. He longs to be the center of your every waking moment, invited into and consulted about your dreams and decisions.

“Even those decisions I may consider far too dull, too trite to “trouble” God over. Isn’t it too much to ask of God that He help me make decisions? Listen as I talk about my dreams. Bring clarity to my confusion and doubt. After all, He’s God! Isn’t He too busy overseeing the entire planet, to say nothing of knowing the heart and thoughts of every single person—simultaneously? Doesn’t God have too much going on to be bothered with my thoughts and troubles,” you ask?

The answer, friend? Absolutely, emphatically, No! Nope. Not at all. Never.

Psalm 139 makes it plain God already knows everything about you. He’s just waiting on you to bid Him welcome into your life, heart, and your “boring” daily concerns. “You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely” –Psalm 139:1-4.

You are not faceless, nameless, nor aimless in God’s eyes, Beloved. God created you on purpose, for a purpose. “As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything” –Ecclesiastes 11:5. You are no mistake. God sees you. God’s way is so much higher than our own. So far beyond our finite ability to take in, friend. You’ve been created to touch lives no one else can. Why? They don’t carry in them what God has placed in you alone. You are as unique as your fingerprint!

So regardless of what you’ve been told, think about yourself. Contrary to your feelings, God loves you and desires to have a relationship with you. Yes, you personally. He wants to make His home in you.

Now please hear my heart. I’m in no way trying to minimize your pain or any trauma you may have suffered at the hands of another. I remember the sting of such wounds all too well. I’m just speaking the Truth in love here, sharing something that can save you. The Truth that can and will heal your pain. With the full authority of one God has healed, I can say that healing from such wounds is possible—no matter how nasty or deep they are.

All things are possible with God.

Friend, God is so acutely attuned to His world. His creation, to you, personally, that even when a sparrow, some little chick somewhere, falls to the ground, it doesn’t escape His notice. “Are not two little sparrows sold for a penny? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s leave (consent) and notice” –Matthew 10:29.

God created you. He has a plan and purpose for your life. Still, despite the lengths this magnificent, Sovereign, Loving, relational God can and will go to reach you, the one thing God won’t do, can’t do, is violate the free will He’s given you, died to provide you. You must then choose to say yes and welcome a relationship with God.

The choice is yours. God has done His part. Ask Jesus into your heart today, as Lord, Father, and Friend. He’s waiting for you to say welcome, come in. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him” –John 3:16-17.

Fixing Your Heart on God.

August 13, 2022 /
Kendra Santilli

“For my people have committed a double evil: They have abandoned me, the fountain of living water, and dug cisterns for themselves— cracked cisterns that cannot hold water.” –Jeremiah 2:13

In Jeremiah, Chapter Two, God describes Himself as the fountain of Living Water, reminiscent of how Jesus referred to Himself in John 4:13-14. Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” Could this have foreshadowed who God’s Holy Spirit would be to us?

God tells Jeremiah that He alone is the fountain of Living Water, its Source. Through Jeremiah, God asks his people, “what more can you possibly need?” Jesus’ saying that He can give anyone Living Water is groundbreaking to those who know the Scriptures. If Jesus can provide this Water, it must surely be the Spirit of God flowing from the Father Himself.

Within Jeremiah 2:13, God paints a beautiful picture of humanity seeking fulfillment in things that don’t last.

A cistern is a secondary source of water. For example, a cistern would hold water from rainfall. These cisterns could dry out quickly and wouldn’t fill again until there was an overflow from something else or another rainfall. A fountain, like a spring, is a primary source of water. A constant flow of water from which you can continually draw. God is telling Jeremiah His people have abandoned Him for a secondary source of belonging. They have abandoned the True Source for a low-quality, unfulfilling version. One that will leave them sick spiritually and, ultimately, would destroy them.

I see some of us in this picture—today’s Christians that is.

A people who too often neglect God for a lower-quality source of fulfillment, still, I invite you today to read the message found in the book of Jeremiah as a call to humble yourself and return to the Father.

The book of Jeremiah is centered around a prophet in the Old Testament by which this chapter was named. He came from a line of priests in a town called Anathoth, believed to have been about 3 miles Northeast of Jerusalem. We know that Anathoth was still part of the Israelites’ territory because the settlers there were priests from the tribe of Benjamin, one of the 12 tribes of Israel. Because of the amount of lamenting we read from him, Jeremiah is known as “the weeping prophet.” At first, I thought he was just an emotional guy, but as I dove into this book, I realized his weeping resulted from a touch from God that had given him a heart for God’s people—Jeremiah’s heart was hurt by what hurt God’s.

While judgment seems to be a theme threaded throughout the entire book of Jeremiah, we also feel the ache of God’s heart for His people.

We read of God’s desire for His people to be restored to Him before His judgment comes. While the Bible does not talk much about Jeremiah’s life before becoming a prophet, it tells us Jeremiah came from a line of priests, indicating he grew up learning the scriptures. He was not rogue when God called Him. Following the examples of the prophets in the Old Testament, Jeremiah was mentored before stepping into his calling. Jeremiah had submitted himself to the Temple’s work and to serving Anathoth’s people when God called him to be a prophet. The interesting thing about God calling Jeremiah is that his tribe was outside Jerusalem. Year’s prior, King Solomon had banished this tribe from the Temple into Anathoth because of their disloyalty to him. Their being banished tells us Jeremiah came from a line of priests who could only serve the people to a degree but could no longer offer sacrifices in the Temple.

Why would God call someone from this family instead of a priest with full access?

Asking this question of you, Christian, asking it of us all, why would God call sinful people only to banish us from His presence? I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again- God is not afraid of our past, status, or reputation. He has a way of redeeming what seems lost to fulfill His divine purpose. Jeremiah had a specific assignment: to restore the hearts of God’s people to the Lord.

Jeremiah was called to talk to God’s people about God, above interceding for them; God already knew their transgressions and hearts were callous towards Him. The funny thing about this is that we often expect God to force people to choose what’s right, but our praying usually has to be coupled with action. “Faith without works is dead” –James 2:20.

We can pray for our brothers until our dying breath, but if we never open our mouths to sharpen them or tell them about Jesus, we will have only made it halfway. Praying for someone is what prepares their heart. Actions plant the seeds the Holy Spirit will water. Excuses don’t work with God. Jeremiah was a young man who tried to use his youth as an excuse to avoid his calling, but God nipped that in the bud by telling Him that he was purposed for his calling long before he was born. “The word of the Lord came to me, saying, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations” –Jeremiah 1:4-5.

In that moment, the Bible tells us, “The Lord reached out his hand, touched my mouth, and told me: I have now filled your mouth with my words. See, I have appointed you today over nations and kingdoms to uproot and tear down, to destroy and demolish, to build and plant”– Jeremiah 1:9-10. Jeremiah is then filled with the Spirit of God and calls Israel out on their sins as a nation. He also begins to feel the sadness of Israel’s repeatedly turning away from the God who had saved them—time and again. I get the sense that God felt the betrayal by the people that He had chosen long ago to be His family. Remember, the first commandment of the Mosaic law is this: “you shall have no other god before me”– Exodus 20:3. Yet again, Israel had worshipped other gods, even making an idol of the Temple. “Do not trust in deceptive words and say, “This is the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord!” –Jeremiah 7:4.

Israel had turned the Temple into a god instead of turning to God, seeking His presence.

The Temple became Israel’s cracked cistern. What’s yours?

If turning God’s Temple from their Source into a “cistern” wasn’t grievous enough, the Israelites also turned to pagan gods. Any other source save God alone, any cracked cistern, will never sustain you and will cause a depletion of your soul’s life.

Maybe your cistern is a significant other? Perhaps it’s your children, church, pets, home, your money? Where are your attention and affections focused? If Jesus is not the first thing that comes to mind, you’ve found a cistern.

God wants your heart.

He aches for you to come Home, tapping back into the Fountain of Life, His Living Presence in you, His Holy Spirit. Jesus is rich in love and mercy, and He abounds in blessings. God wants to bless you and provide for all of your needs. God wants to fill you with the joy and peace that can only come from His Pure, Living Water.

Hebrews 13: 8 reminds us: “God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” He wanted the hearts of His people then, and He wants them still. He wanted a family then, and He wants one now.

We were made for God, and in Him is where true peace is found.

Ask God today to expose your “cracked cisterns.” Then, ask Him to fill you with His Spirit, which will cause you never to thirst again.

And friend, if you have not asked the God who gives all who ask His Pure, Living Water, ask Him today. Drink deeply, and be satisfied. No cistern you have used to date will truly satisfy your longings as Jesus can. “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life” –John 4:13-14.

Perspective.

August 6, 2022 /
MaryEllen Montville

“But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ,” –Philippians 3:20.

“To wait is to learn the spiritual grace of detachment, the freedom of desire. Not the absence of desire, but desire at rest. Waiting does not diminish us any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don’t see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy”–John Eldredge.

I read somewhere that having and maintaining a proper perspective in this life will help us reflect on the importance of our priorities. As Christians, Jesus should be our priority, loving Him, firstly and wholeheartedly, passionately—with abandonment. Expecting at any moment, we’ll see Him. Right now, today! Our brothers, the Apostles, lived with this level of expectancy. We ought to be praising God, worshipping Him with all that is in us—throwing off all pretense, any thought of how mere men may perceive us, our worship. I’m talking about the type of abandonment King David once demonstrated for us. “Then David came dancing before the LORD with abandon, girt with a linen ephod, while he and all Israel were bringing up the ark of the Lord with shouts and the sound of trumpets.” –2 Samuel 6:14-15.

David had little concern for the thoughts of men. His heart was bent on pleasing and honoring God. We would do well to take note of David’s example.

Yet how easy it is for us to be deceived, for me to be deceived. Forgetting, even momentarily, there is a world just beyond the veil, our true home. Easy to be lulled into believing that what we see, taste, and touch, those we can wrap our arms around, looking into their eyes, is all that there is. Now, being all there is. The firm earth we stand upon and the four walls that enclose us, our home. But that is a lie—a delusion. “For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come” –Hebrews13:14.

This world is not your home, Beloved Sojourner. “For this world is not our home; we are looking forward to our everlasting home in heaven” –Hebrews 13:14.

I am here to remind you of Jesus’ promise to you, child of God. “In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and welcome you into My presence, so that you also may be where I am” –John 14:2-3.

We forget, temporarily, I pray, that though we serve a God we’ve yet to see face to face, save in the eyes and smiles, in the expressions of those we love. Those whom God permits to walk a while with us, that we might be afforded some fleeting glimpse of His beauty or fairness, His passion or the peace left in His wake. This God we’ve yet to touch, wrap our arms around, look into His eyes; this withstanding, Jesus is more real than the most real thing before us! Realer still than your spouse’s hand in yours or that beloved child, snuggled up against your side, warm.

God, more perfect than any precious newborn babe or the most magnificent sunset or seascape ever witnessed, more beautiful and majestic than any mountain or rolling green plain. More regal than the Lion He created. Holy, Perfect, more precious than silver or gold, nearer to us than our next breath or heartbeat, this, in some small part, is our God. “O Lord our God, the majesty and glory of your name fills all the earth and overflows the heavens. You have taught the little children to praise you perfectly. May their example shame and silence your enemies! When I look up into the night skies and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you have made— I cannot understand how you can bother with mere puny man, to pay any attention to him!” –Psalm 8:1-4.

So let me ask you this. When was the last time you just laid back on some sunny day or still, star-filled night and just let your eyes drift upward or out? Even if you were sitting in your car, in traffic instead, staring out through some rain-soaked windshield?

When did you last intentionally contemplate spending your eternity with Jesus?

When was the last time you purposefully shifted your perspective from this world to the next—your real and true home, and thought about what it will be like the second you’re afforded the unfathomable privilege of looking into Jesus’ eyes? Or of hearing His voice for the first time? Or even the feeling that might overtake you when His hand touches yours—reaching for you, His Bride? Such thoughts equally blow my mind and make me giddy—simultaneously! Leaving me with that feeling in the pit of my gut one gets from the first major drop on a rollercoaster or when you witness something so profoundly beautiful that the awe of it robs you of your breath, stopping you in your proverbial tracks! And this, in the natural. How much more the supernatural!

How about when the Holy Spirit so stirs within you that it’s no great leap to understand another person has taken up residence there? Yet, in that second of eternal birth, rapturous, our finally seeing Jesus face to face will far exceed any vivid description any one of us might come up with. Any beauty wildly imagined. Indeed, our every hope and longing will be realized in that instant. Every heartache, all questioning, washed away. Was I good enough, did I do enough, put to death, finally, in the One who gave it all for you and me?

We will be like Him, scripture says. Transformed, living eternally in the very presence of our God. Oh, glorious day! Maranatha! “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” –1 John 3:2.

Consider this your reminder, dear sister, brother, and new friend. A reminder that what you see and touch and hold dear now—is quickly fading away. Conversely, God is, quite literally, drawing nearer and nearer daily. So I encourage you to shift your perspective. To fix your eyes and hope, to, quite literally, bet your life on Jesus. “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them. For everything in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—comes not from the Father but from the world. The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever” –1 John 2:15-17.

Friend, if your eyes and thoughts have been so fixed on the things of this world that you have not considered the next, I pray that you’ll do that today. Please, don’t let another day pass without asking Jesus to open your eyes to the Truth. He is Truth. “Lord,” said Thomas, “we do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me” –John 14: 5-6.

Night Vision

July 23, 2022 /
MaryEllen Montville

“He reached down from on high and took hold of me; he drew me out of deep waters” –2 Samuel 22:17.

It had always been God’s own Spirit at work in David. Wooing, shaping, molding, chiseling away, enabling David to see His God clearly, affording David a relational understanding of Himself few men possessed. It was God who had empowered David to press on amid unjust treatment, persecution, and betrayal.

David’s natural eyes failed him, as every man’s will—think Bathsheba here. Only God’s Spirit at work in David could enable him to see beyond the lusts of his own flesh and into the Spirit realm, discerning God’s will. It was God’s Spirit, His power and ability from which David drew strength, saw clearly, was given direction—enabling him to live by faith, not by sight, feelings, or faulty human judgment.

God’s Holy Spirit gave David something he did not possess in and of himself—night vision.

That ability afforded God’s children, by the power of His Holy Spirit, to see beyond their natural ability. David had it. And, if God’s Holy Spirit resides in you, so do you.

From youth through old age, David praised the faithfulness of his God. I say his God because David’s relationship with God was nothing if not personal, intimate even. Reading through the Psalms, First and Second Samuel, and various other Scriptures, makes this truth plain.

While tending his Father’s sheep, David spent days and nights serenading God with songs of love and adoration. David extolled God, glorifying God’s goodness, love, mercy, kindness, and power. He sang of God’s protection and tender care for him. David exalted God’s creative abilities and awesomeness.

David was a man who lived in awe of his God! There is much we can learn from David.

Whether we have been walking with the Lord for one year or fifty, our learning and determining to keep the flame of our love for God ablaze should be our primary focus, our number one goal in life. “You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” Deuteronomy 6:5. David took God’s first command to heart, and God took notice of David’s heart. “After He had removed him, He raised up David to be their king, concerning whom He also testified and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My heart, who will do all My will'” –Acts 13:22.

Yet nothing David accomplished for the Lord, not one thing, was done his own power, no. Hear the Word of God on this Truth: “Then he answered and spake unto me, saying, This is the word of the Lord unto Zerubbabel, saying, Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, saith the Lord of hosts” –Zechariah 4:6.

It is impossible to carry out God’s plan and will in our own power. The Lord has made this abundantly clear throughout Scripture.

David was not a perfect man by any means—none of us are, save Jesus. “You know that He appeared in order to take away sins; and in Him there is no sin” –1 John 3:5.

Yet, despite his many sins and shortcomings, God favored, protected, loved, and inclined His heart and ear towards David. God alone pulled David out of deep waters—and David knew it. He loved God for it. For saving him from his adversaries, those too powerful for David to overcome. And why did God do this for David? Love.

Yes, David undoubtedly loved God unashamedly, but never forget that it was God who first loved David. God who chose Him, anointed him, empowered David to do the work He had planned for him before the foundation of the world—and, as it was with David, so too with you and me. God has chosen us in Christ Jesus for His good pleasure, plan, and purpose—pulling us, pulling you, specifically, out from deep waters.

This mystery is far too great for this finite mind to take in fully! And yet, having been chosen in Christ, saved by Him, I am literally, eternally grateful to God. “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you so that you might go and bear fruit—fruit that will last—and so that whatever you ask in my name the Father will give you” –John 15:16.

Friends, David was God’s choice long before one song of praise or word of love had ever formed on David’s lips. “Now the Lord said to Samuel, “…Fill your horn with oil and go; I will send you to Jesse the Bethlehemite, for I have selected a king for Myself among his sons. Then Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the midst of his brothers; and the Spirit of the Lord came mightily upon David from that day forward” –1 Samuel 16:1; 13.

And, as it was with David, so too with you and I, Beloved of God.

Like David, we too have been afforded the high honor of having been chosen in Christ before the foundation of the world, sealed, eternally, in Jesus. His Spirit alive, at work in us, assures us of this Truth. “Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his death he might break the power of him who holds the power of death—that is, the devil— and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. For surely it is not angels he helps, but Abraham’s descendants. For this reason he had to be made like them, fully human in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people” –Hebrews 2:14-17.

Having purchased us with the unplumbed price of His shed Blood, He is jealous of us, His Bride, wanting our love, undivided devotion, praise, ardent worship, and adoration; just as God wanted David’s. Any devoted husband rightfully expects his wife’s undivided love and affection. How much more than does our faithful Husband desire for all of us to want all of Him?

So let me ask you, friend, when is the last time you spent time just lavishing the Lord with love? When did you last set time aside to spend with God alone?

Now I’m not talking about an hour spent in route or rushed morning devotions. I’m talking about going for a walk or drive together, speaking and listening, admiring God, His creative ability in nature, and giving Him praise for it? When was the last time your heart was so filled with love for God that you had no choice but to cry? Not in sadness, in awe. In gratitude. How about the last time you spontaneously praised God? Just sang or danced before Him, worshipped simply because He is God and deserves your praise?

Now hear me, child of God. I don’t ask these questions to shame or chide you. Know that I ask them of myself before posing them to you. Confessing firstly, I am guilty of falling far short of the above. I am sure that is why, in part, God has placed this teaching in my own heart.

Instead, I ask these questions that we might course correct, returning wholeheartedly to our first Love—seeking out our Beloved, wooing Him.

God isn’t asking us to spend our days doing more and more for Him, family. He’s asked, asks still, that we love Him fervently. Not circumcised in the flesh only, hearers of His Word, but in our hearts, being doers of God’s Word. “I know your deeds, your hard work and your perseverance. I know that you cannot tolerate wicked people, that you have tested those who claim to be apostles but are not, and have found them false. You have persevered and have endured hardships for my name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against you: You have forsaken the love you had at first” –Revelation 2:2-4.

Have you asked Jesus into your heart? Welcomed Him into your life as Lord and Saviour? Have you asked God to pull you out of the deep waters threatening to pull you under? If not, friend, why wait any longer? Call out to Jesus right now!

Unending Love, Amazing Grace.

July 16, 2022 /
MaryEllen Montville

“And raised-us-with Him and seated-us-with Him in the heavenly-places in Christ Jesus, in order that He might demonstrate in the coming age the surpassing riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus” –Ephesians 2:6-7.

‘Twas Grace that taught my heart to fear And Grace my fears relieved. How precious did that Grace appear the hour I first believed. My chains are gone, I’ve been set free My God, my Savior, has ransomed me. And like a flood, His mercy rains, Unending love, Amazing Grace. The Lord has promised good to me His word my hope secures He will my shield and portion be as long as life endures. –Chris Tomlin.

Via His Word and various worship songs, the Holy Spirit has spoken to me throughout the day. Stirring up in me reminders of His Holiness, His Power, His Amazing Grace, and Love. God has been refreshing me. Re-minding me (returning to my remembrance); He is not finished with me yet. His ongoing work of sanctification, my being made new, constant. “ And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.” –2 Corinthians 3:18.

God has been reminding me of just how easily I forget what, said anemically, is the extra-ordinary privilege I have been afforded in having been chosen in Him. My having been saved by the finished work of Jesus, His life, death, and resurrection. My salvation, costing Jesus His life. I have been humbled today, brought low. Not in a bad way. That’s not the Holy Spirit’s style. Instead, I have been reminded that I am standing on Holy ground whenever God shows up as He has today; I’ve been in the very presence of my heavenly Father. My knees bent, hitting the floor in adoration and awe, feeling the weight of His glory all around me. Who am I that God would come to me?

Now, hear me here. I don’t say this lightly or with some false sense of humility.

I understand I am God’s child and that it is very natural for us to commune with each other. Yet, even knowing this; still, a holy reverence overcomes me whenever my Father shows Himself as plainly as He has today. And I pray that never changes. May I never lose my awe of such a Holy, Loving God.

In His infinite mercy and unfathomable love for us, His children, we who have been chosen in Christ Jesus from before the foundation of the world stand as living testaments, open letters, epistles of God’s unplumbed love. Both now and in the world to come. Irrefutable proof of the supernatural power of our God—to men and angels alike. In 2 Corinthians 3:3, the Apostle Paul says the following concerning your being a living testament to our God. “You show that you are a letter from Christ, delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.”

Listen to how Angelica Duncan describes your being a living testament: “To be a living epistle means you are a living, breathing, walking letter of God’s goodness, glory, and grace!”

So for those whose memory of that precious sacred moment, the Sovereign God of the universe first revealed Himself to you, has dimmed. That very instant, God plucked you out of the kingdom of darkness, placing you safely, instead, into the Kingdom of His Marvelous Light. The Lord has sent me here today to lead you back. Back to the remembrance of the most wonder-full, life-changing miracle you have ever or will ever experience. The hour you first believed. To stir up a re-minder of the very precious gift of faith entrusted to you.

Hold tight to this Truth, child of God! Clinging to it as if to a lifeline, “your” lifeline. Salvation is nothing if not personal. Re-membering, Christ died for you.

No other gift, no matter how great, will ever have greater worth than the gift of your salvation. No healing or blessing, no ministry, spouse, no-thing will ever surpass you receiving Jesus as Lord and Savior. Nothing. “Therefore, my brothers and sisters, make every effort to confirm your calling and election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, and you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. So I will always remind you of these things, even though you know them and are firmly established in the truth you now have” –2 Peter 1:10-12.

I pray you never forget the very second this unsearchable miracle occurred in your life, having been seared into your memory, indelible, until the Lord calls you back to Himself.

That very second when, like Paul, scales fell from your eyes. Then, for the first time in your life, you saw clearly. Not by human hands, mind you—no Ananias prayed over you. “Jesus answered, “Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless they are born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to Spirit. You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again” –John 3:5-7.

Instead, you were persuaded God had sent His Holy Spirit to visit you as surely as He visited Mary—depositing eternal life into your belly. Filling you with His eternal promises and sealing you in Himself for all time, birthing a new man from the old. You have been washed clean, prodigal. Never forget that Truth! “In Him, you also, when you heard the word of truth, the good news of your salvation, and [as a result] believed in Him, were stamped with the seal of the promised Holy Spirit [the One promised by Christ] as owned and protected [by God]” –Ephesians 1:13.

Chains that had you bound for years, some for a lifetime, falling to the floor. You have been set free from sin, death, and the law; because of Christ Jesus. Because God so loved you that He sent His only Beloved Son into this world to die in your place. All that “whomsoever” might be reconciled to Him, now and forever. “He Himself is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world.” 1 John 2:2.

Remember, too, child of God, when your eyes close to this world, they will open to an eternity spent in the loving presence of your Lord. Never lose hope then. “Jesus answered him, “Truly I tell you, today you will be with me in paradise” –Luke 23:43.

Beloved brothers and sisters, listening to Chris Tomlin’s Amazing Grace (My Chains Are Gone) Holy Spirit reminded me of the Truth Paul shares with us in today’s Scripture. And so, I’m passing along this oft-needed reminder to you, too, wanting to stir up what the Holy Spirit stirred up in me. A reminder of who I am in Christ Jesus. Contrary to how I may feel in moments of weakness, doubt, or fear, Christ is not finished with me yet. And neither is He finished with you. Keep moving forward, child of God. Keep trusting in God alone. “Pray in the Spirit at all times, with every kind of prayer and petition. To this end, stay alert with all perseverance in your prayers for all the saints” –Ephesians 6:18.

Friend, if you’ve yet to ask Jesus, who sets us free from our past, into your life as Lord and Savior, do it now, please. Why stay bound to your sin, addiction, or pain for one more minute? Live free this instant! “A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son belongs to it forever. So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” –John 8:35-36.

The Cloud & The Spirit.

July 9, 2022 /
MaryEllen Montville

“When he falls, he will not be hurled down, Because the Lord is the One who holds his hand and sustains him” –Psalm 37:24.

When the Israelites felt alone, weak, and weary, unable to help themselves, worn out from their seemingly endless wandering, God’s Word reminds us that He stood faithful and True. God was with them every step of the way—sustaining, guiding, and providing for their every need, despite their rebellion, murmuring, and hard-heartedness. These were His chosen ones—His beloved children, after all. “After leaving Sukkoth they camped at Etham on the edge of the desert. By day the Lord went ahead of them in a pillar of cloud to guide them on their way and by night in a pillar of fire to give them light, so that they could travel by day or night. Neither the pillar of cloud by day nor the pillar of fire by night left its place in front of the people.” –Exodus. 13: 20-22.

And despite their less-than-stellar attitude, right in the middle of the Israelite’s temper tantrum, God heard their cry, saw their need, and met it. “In the desert the whole community grumbled against Moses and Aaron. The Israelites said to them, “If only we had died by the Lord’s hand in Egypt! There we sat around pots of meat and ate all the food we wanted, but you have brought us out into this desert to starve this entire assembly to death. “While Aaron was speaking to the whole Israelite community, they looked toward the desert, and there was the glory of the Lord appearing in the cloud,” The Lord said to Moses, “I have heard the grumbling of the Israelites. Tell them, ‘At twilight you will eat meat, and in the morning you will be filled with bread. Then you will know that I am the Lord your God.'” –Exodus 16: 2-3; 10-12.

Beloved, this loving, long-suffering God of the Old Testament is the same loving, long-suffering God we serve today. He is our Father, so kind, merciful, and tender; even when we act abysmally, God never says, “now you’ve gone too far. My love and grace and mercy will not and cannot cover this one!” God is static. “The same, yesterday, today, and forever” –Hebrews 13:8.

And to say I am honored and joy-full to serve such a God would be a gross understatement. Because, as Paul said, I am chief among sinners. I’m in endless need of God’s mercy, grace, correction, His long-suffering patients.

My anemic words fail to express the slack-jawed awe I experience when the Lord pulls back the veil from before my eyes, affording me a clear peak at my ugliness, my murmuring, complaining, my selfishness, my not-so-Sunday-morning spit, and polished self. While simultaneously allowing me to experience His lavish mercy and grace. I know I don’t deserve any of it. None of us do—I can smell the stink of my own sin as surely as the prodigal would have smelled the pig filth that clung to him—carnality has its own foul stench. And yet, this Loving Lord I serve washes me in His Word. Cleansing me from my unrighteousness, my sin. I am still held and cared for by my Father, despite myself. “If we are faithless, He remains faithful [true to His word and His righteous character], for He cannot deny Himself” –2 Timothy 2:13.

Our relationship with God is nothing if not personal.

So, this faithfulness God demonstrates daily is not because of something I’ve done or deserve. It’s certainly nothing I’ve earned. Instead, it’s all about Jesus. My relationship with Him.

Said correctly, because God so loved the world, He sent His only Son, Jesus, to save “whosoever” will believe in Him. Jesus, having chosen me in Himself before the foundations of the world, through His life, death, and resurrection reconciled, made a way for me to be restored into right relationship with our Father. God’s Spirit alive in me now, having made His home in me. So now, when my Father looks at me, He no longer sees my sin. Instead, He sees His Son, Jesus. The Spotless Lamb, slain before the foundation of the world—Revelation 13:8.

Our God has never been caught off guard—

He has always had a ram in the bush.

While the Israelites experienced types and shadows of God’s glory, a Pillar of Fire by night and a Cloud by day, we who are in Christ Jesus have the undeserved, unearnable honor of having the Sovereign God of the universe reside in us—God’s Holy Spirit. “And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever,  the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you” –John 14:16-17. This same Holy Spirit Jesus said would come and lead us into all Truth. “But when He, the Spirit of truth, comes, He will guide you into all the truth; for He will not speak on His own initiative, but whatever He hears, He will speak; and He will disclose to you what is to come” –John 16:13.

So then, child of God, pointing us back to today’s verse: Even though we stumble and sin, in those moments when we allow our carnal man to take the wheel, looking nothing at all like Christ, even then, God’s promises remain true. “When he falls, he will not be hurled down, Because the Lord is the One who holds his hand and sustains him” –Psalm 37:24.

As surely as God is with Israel, remaining faithful to His Word and covenant promise to this day, we who believe then are equally assured that God will also remain loyal to us, having been grafted into Israel’s vine. How? Through the new covenant. Jesus shed Blood—if we have a relationship with Jesus. “It is impossible for the blood of bulls and goats to take away sins. Therefore, when Christ came into the world, he said: “Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me; with burnt offerings and sin offerings you were not pleased. Then I said, ‘Here I am—it is written about me in the scroll—I have come to do your will, my God.'” First he said, “Sacrifices and offerings, burnt offerings and sin offerings you did not desire, nor were you pleased with them”—though they were offered in accordance with the law. Then he said, “Here I am, I have come to do your will.” He sets aside the first to establish the second. And by that will, we have been made holy through the sacrifice of the body of Jesus Christ once for all.

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances. Then you will live in the land that I gave your forefathers; you will be My people, and I will be your God” –Ezekiel 36:27.

In closing, have you asked Jesus, the One who loves and sustains us, into your life as your Lord and Savior? If you have not, I assure you He’ll come, making all things new, if you invite Him. No sin is too great, no rebellion so fierce that God’s mercy and grace cannot redeem it. His Blood, washing it away, white as snow. “The true children of God are those who let God’s Spirit lead them. The Spirit we received does not make us slaves again to fear; it makes us children of God. With that Spirit we cry out, “Father.” And the Spirit himself joins with our spirits to say we are God’s children” –Romans 8:14-16.

Heart of Flesh.

May 28, 2022 /
Kendra Santilli

If life is a journey, that must mean there is a process. We love the adventure of going on a journey but shy away from the challenge of the inevitable process accompanying it. If you are anything like me, your brain is an idea factory, a well-oiled machine—whipping up business or work improvement ideas. People like us have the ambition to get things started by formulating a plan, but we’re slack in carrying it through. I have heard it said that motivation is a great tool to get started toward a goal, but discipline is the element required to complete it. Whether it is a new diet, exercise program, or something as simple as an attitude adjustment, it is easy to fall off the wagon when things do not progress as quickly as we want them to. We want to see our maturity instantly but do not have the drive to get through the tough stuff.

While we start with inspiration from individuals who have succeeded in what we want to achieve, we do not always realize the dedication it took them to get there. I’m talking about that feeling we get when seeing before and after pictures on home improvement projects or the before and after photos of one’s weight loss. What is not pictured are the failures and small victories they achieve along the way over months or years. We don’t see the sacrifices and challenges that become the steppingstones to their final destination. We forget that consistency and discipline are the most crucial ingredients for success.

The same is true for our spiritual lives.

Today I would like to introduce you to the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel. This ancient book was written to make plain God’s judgment on Israel: it’s also a prophetic glimpse into their future. The same God that spoke to Ezekiel then is speaking to us still. God does not change. His heart has remained the same, and like the entire Bible, Ezekiel’s message still speaks to us. Ezekiel 36:26-27 reads, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. I will place my Spirit within you and cause you to follow my statutes and carefully observe my ordinances.”

This verse is brimming with the hope of the final destination. It is saying that God’s plan for His people was once again for them to become inclined towards Him. The “heart of stone” here represents stubbornness or pride, the calloused part of humanity that declares we do not need God when, in fact, He designed us to function optimally in communion with Him. The “heart of flesh” means the person is softened towards the things of God. Their desire becomes that of pleasing Him, not rebellion against Him. It is only through a softened heart that the Spirit of God can dwell within us to help us follow His ways.

So, while this verse speaks to the goal, the preceding chapters describe the first steps God had to take, exposing the wickedness of man. For God to work in us, He first has to remove our broken pieces, making room for what is good. God gives Ezekiel prophetic visions of the rampant sin among His people, the Israelites. When God gave Ezekiel these visions, it was understood that the acts of the Israelites broke His heart. Scripture shows us time and time again that God and sin cannot coexist, yet God longs for a relationship with sinful mankind. Can you see the dilemma? He wanted to dwell with man but could not. You must understand this: generations before this, the Lord gave laws to Moses for the people to have a guide for living rightly before God so that they could have a relationship, but because they disobeyed these laws, God grew displeased. Even with clear-cut expectations, the Israelites still didn’t get it. If you read the chapters before this, they are riddled with judgment as Ezekiel exposes Israel of all her sins.

Like Israel, our walk with God ebbs and flows. God never changes. He remains constant in all things. The ebb and flow come from us; we are inconsistent. When we first come to the Lord, we are filled with the excitement of new hope. Then as we read the Bible and spend time with God, conviction begins to grab hold of our hearts, making us quite uncomfortable. This reflection is the part where the easy option is to stop pursuing God because, amid that expository process, it feels as though you will never reach the maturity of the examples that you see around you.

Let me remind you: you were not there during their process! And you cannot compare your process to someone else’s final product.

Every person who seeks God will find themselves exposed by His word. The Bible says, “there is no one righteous, not even one; … there is no one who does good, not even one.” – Romans 3:11a-12b. According to the Bible, even your best day is not good enough before God. The process of walking with the Lord may feel like condemnation at first. It may feel like the judgment that we read about in the first half of the book of Ezekiel, but if you stay the course, that feeling of judgment will turn to a sense of hope as He turns your heart from stone to flesh. Discomfort should not be the thing that stops you from pursuing God. Instead, it should propel you closer to Him as He is the only one who can redeem what once was lost. When you believe in Jesus, you receive the righteousness of God. Those failed attempts to start living better and be a better person are no surprise because that can only be accomplished through Jesus. “The righteousness of God is through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe.” – Romans 3:22. “God made [Jesus] who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that in [Jesus] we might become the righteousness of God.” – 2 Corinthians 5:21 (emphasis my own). Jesus is the key to our ability to live a righteous life. We cannot do it without Him. Our being molded into His image is hard but worth it. Jesus promised that He would make us new. Our responsibility is to believe what He says and ask for the faith to walk unwavering with Him.

If you don’t yet know Jesus, I invite you to ask Him into those uncomfortable spaces in your heart, to clean them, making things new within you. Jesus wants to walk with you despite your mess. God made a way for a relationship with Him to be possible through Jesus. Ask Jesus to give you a new heart and renew a right spirit within you, His Holy Spirit.

Revealed.

April 23, 2022 /
MaryEllen Montville

“God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth” –Ephesians 1:9-10.

The crowd’s thunderous, “…Hosanna to the Son of David!” “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” “Hosanna in the highest heaven!” –silent now. Even the treacherous “…Crucify him! Crucify him!” vomited up from the mouths of the ones He had come to save, dried up. His Bloodstained Cross lay discarded, yesterday’s news. The very agent of their supposed victory abandoned now. His Cross, burned to ashes, perhaps? They didn’t want to leave behind even a trace of His Precious Blood, erase all evidence of Him, lest one of His radical followers claim this Bloodstained wood held power, leading others to believe that even in death, He lives. Has power, still. Not magic. Not some religious relic. Rather, Bloodstained wood that will never be silenced. Truth, some tried desperately to seal up in tomb-like silence, behind some weighty stone they mistakenly thought would shut up His claims of being their long-awaited Messiah—once, for all. The King of the Jews sealed neatly away, silent now, finally. Blood cleaned up. Body wrapped up. Problem solved!

But God had a plan.

Long before the Third Day Resurrection of our Lord, even before the Trinity stood over the dark void and spoke, God had a plan in place to redeem all of His children, Jew, and Gentile alike, one, in Christ Jesus. Child of God, Your Father has loved you with an everlasting love. I know, such a mystery is too great to take in. For me, it’s right up there with Jeremiah 1:5, “I knew you before I formed you in your mother’s womb. Before you were born I set you apart and appointed you as my prophet to the nations.” Wait, what? Even before I was in my mother’s womb? Wouldn’t that imply…

If you didn’t catch how purposefully loved you are after reading Jeremiah 1:5. Hand-chosen, a unique and vibrant thread intricately interwoven into a lavish tapestry far exceeding anything our finite minds and myopic vision can fully take in; all before that tapestry yet existed, then read this. Let it add some other beautiful layer of certainty as to how it is God sees you. “But now thus says the LORD, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.

You are His. And, He has redeemed you.

To fully understand the full weight of those two statements, a more than cursory understanding of the ancient Jewish wedding ceremony is helpful here. I won’t get into it now, but I do encourage you to look up a reliable source and read the intricate and detailed process of ancient Jewish weddings. Or back click on the link I’ve provided. Times and customs may have changed, but God’s love and election haven’t.

Ancient Jewish Marriage

It has always been about Jesus—God’s redemptive plan, that is. When Adam and Eve sinned, we catch our first glimpse of “God’s plan” in Genesis. We, God’s children, being covered by the blood of something innocent—a foreshadowing, a sign. God has always given signs to those who have eyes to see. “And the LORD God made garments of skin for Adam and his wife, and clothed them” –Genesis 3:21. An innocent life had to be taken. Innocent blood was shed. The guilty, covered. That’s you. That’s me. That’s the Gospel Message. The Living proof of John 3:16 foreshadowed in Eden. Sinful man saved by the redeeming Blood of God’s Spotless, Perfect Lamb. His One and only Son, our Lord, Jesus the Christ. The Way. “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” –John 14:6.

“God has now revealed to us his mysterious will regarding Christ—which is to fulfill his own good plan. And this is the plan: At the right time he will bring everything together under the authority of Christ—everything in heaven and on earth. Furthermore, because we are united with Christ, we have received an inheritance from God, for he chose us in advance, and he makes everything work out according to his plan. – And this is God’s plan: Both Gentiles and Jews who believe the Good News share equally in the riches inherited by God’s children. Both are part of the same body, and both enjoy the promise of blessings because they belong to Christ Jesus” –Ephesians 1:9-11;3;6.

Easter is over. The Crown of Thorns vanished, His Cross, ashes. But Jesus is still here. Still very much alive and calling “whosoever will” to Himself. And the Power of His Blood, well, that’s forever. The Blood will never lose Its power—or voice. The work of the Cross is finished. Praise God! But the plan God had for the Cross, its true purpose, continues. I know this with certainty because I’m still here, but that’s for another day. God’s plan to redeem all those chosen in Himself since before eternity past is alive and well today. “Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come boldly and confidently into God’s presence” –Ephesians 3:12.

Consider this your invitation from God. Accept His love for you, the plans He has just for you. “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future” –Jeremiah 29:11. Be used by Him, not as man uses you, but be used for God’s glory and honor, weaved into His lavish and beautiful tapestry so resplendent in glory you cannot take it in, yet. But in just a moment, if you’ll but believe, you’ll see as Jesus sees, and every thread will make perfect beautiful sense.

Now I hear you saying, but I have no faith; I don’t know your Jesus. Take heart, friend; Jesus knows you; that’s why He sent me. The truth remains Truth even when you don’t believe it to be Truth. That’s the beauty of Truth, of God. He is unchanging. You can rely on Him, His Truth.

So If you are here, you’re here because God’s called you here. There is no coincidence. You are being invited to join Him; you are one of those spoken of in today’s Scripture. You are part of God’s plan. One He chose in Himself, before the foundations of the world. Accept His offer and come on back home. “Jesus answered him, “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God” –John 3:3.

It’s Personal

February 19, 2022 /
MaryEllen Montville

“But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor—Counselor, Strengthener, Standby) will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him (the Holy Spirit) to you [to be in close fellowship with you]” –John 16:7

While speaking to His disciples, Jesus said the above. His point? Not even death will keep Him from being with those the Father has given Him—His Beloved Bride. His disciples. You and me. “…And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age” –Matthew 28:20. He is the eternal One: The Alpha and Omega, God’s Logos. Bound by no-thing, nor anybody. He is our Promise Keeper—All-Seeing and All-Knowing. Time cannot constrain God, nor can flesh and bone, angel nor demon hide anything from Him who stands outside of the very time He created. Nothing is hidden from He who imagined and fashioned the flesh and bone, blood, cells, and sinew that uphold us. “You have searched me, LORD, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you, LORD, know it completely.”–Psalm 139.1-4.

This Omniscient, Omnipresent, Omnipotent God exists at once, within all His children.

Jesus had to look His beloved friends square in the eye and tell them; He would soon be leaving them, physically, that is. Have you ever stopped to consider how Jesus’s disciples felt hearing such news? Jesus knew His return to the Father would bless His friends. Being fully God and fully man, He knew the pain His words brought to His friends. I can only imagine that Jesus took some measure of comfort in knowing it was for their betterment. But sitting there in what indeed may have been a moment of slack-jawed silence, fear, and pain, Jesus’ disciples, had not one clue that soon and very soon, His Holy Spirit would be living within them, always.

In my anemic imaginings, I can almost feel the leaded gut-punch of Jesus’ statement landing squarely against His disciple’s defenseless hearts, lacerating them. And while pausing to imagine my brothers’ emotional states, I was reminded of yet another brother who had experienced similar pain, King David. I was reminded of his desperate anguish before the Lord. David had an illicit affair with Bathsheba then ordered Uriah, her husband, to be sent into a fierce battle, ensuring he would die there on the front line. David’s sin was great, and God had temporarily withdrawn His spirit from David. So, in a desperate, heartrending plea, David cried out to God r forgiveness, not to take His Holy Spirit from him—remember that? Unrelated to Jesus’ disciples, but akin in similar emotion; the fear of losing God.

I can empathize, can’t you? In allowing myself to imagine my life without God’s Holy Spirit living in me, at the helm of my life, a desperate panic grips my heart.

How could I live without the Holy Spirit’s comforting? His Ever-present-ness? His leading and guiding, opening, closing, correcting, and realigning, without His whisperings? His merciful, unmerited kindness? Without His friendship and unfathomable love? Even allowing myself to examine these vain imaginings is unnerving. Losing God’s Holy Spirit is as inconceivable to me as losing some piece of me; a leg, arm, or eye—being struck mute suddenly or going blind. Yet far more piercing even than any of these. I could live minus anyone of them. I would be the walking dead minus God’s Holy Spirit alive in me. And I experientially know this because I was the walking dead in my not-so-distant past.

Yet despite the pain I know Jesus’ disciples experienced, I, for one, thank Him for His unswerving obedience to our Father. For His physically coming into this world and physically leaving it as well. If you are God’s child, His Holy Spirit alive in you, then I am sure you are thank-full as well. We, my true brothers and sisters and I, scattered across the globe, millions each united as one now in Christ, by His Holy Spirit alive in us. Jesus loved us enough to leave us—bodily, that is.“…And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age” –Matthew 28:20.

As our Great High Priest, Jesus accomplished His work here on earth through His sacrificial death and resurrection. The Blood of God’s Perfect, Spotless Lamb, shed for the sins of the whole world. Having resurrected, He is our Great High Priest forever, seated now at the Father’s Right hand, as Intercessor He pleads our cause and presents our offerings before God. “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin” –Hebrews 4:14-15.

Back now, to Jesus and His disciples. We will continue looking at John, Chapter Sixteen, digging a bit deeper. But before we do, to recap: Jesus had just told His disciples He was leaving. It was time for Him to return to the Father. Not leaving them hopeless, Jesus promised them He would send a “Helper” His Holy Spirit. Jesus knew the work the Father had sent Him to do was nearing completion—His Cross before Him now.

In John Sixteen, starting in verse Eight, Jesus begins to unfold “why” the Holy Spirit is coming.

In part, He is sent into this world to convict it—of its sin and God’s righteous judgment, also, of the coming judgment. And in verse thirteen, Jesus reveals even more of the “why.” He goes on to say that when the “Spirit of Truth” comes, He will guide us, you, me, every Blood-bought believer in Jesus Christ, into all Truth. Seemingly, and in part, this Truth is the “so much more” Jesus spoke of in verse twelve? While in verses thirteen and fourteen, Jesus assures His friends that when the Holy Spirit begins to reveal future events to them, they can trust His voice—His leading, counsel, His revelation. Why? Because the wisdom of the One to come flows directly from Him. Jesus is His Source. Remember, up to this point, Jesus’ disciples have only known, trusted, relied on Him, Jesus’ voice, His teaching. So Jesus assures his friends that the Holy Spirit only speaks what He has received from Him, and that Jesus speaks only from what He receives from God. Triune Unity. “I have not spoken on My own, but the Father who sent Me has commanded Me what to say and how to say it” –John 12:49.

Perhaps penning the Revelation from Jesus while exiled on the Isle of Patmos, John remembered Jesus having spoken these very Words? But I stray.

In verse fifteen, we witness Jesus make plain the greatest mystery ever shared with humanity: The mystery of The Trinity. Here, Jesus makes plain yet deepens the Truth He has been speaking to his disciples from the beginning, He and the Father are One. Jesus now broadens their understanding of this marvelous mystery by including the Holy Spirit in this Oneness.

For the past three and a half years, His friends have solely depended on Jesus. Relied on Him to reveal, teach, expound on, point the way toward the Truth. Towards God and His Kingdom plan. They have witnessed Jesus’ miracles, healing the sick, lame, and blind, bringing the dead to life. Yet the disciple’s pain and disbelief, coupled with their yet limited spiritual understanding, momentarily prevents them from fully understanding that Jesus is not deserting them. Instead, He is passing the proverbial baton to the Holy Spirit. The One who will be with them now, living in them, always. They yet to understand that the work of the Holy Spirit is, in part, to point them, and all those who will come to belong to Jesus, “into all Truth.”

That He will spread God’s Truth globally, by revealing Christ, God’s Logos, person by person; the work of the Holy Spirit is nothing if not personal. And being one of those to whom He has revealed Christ, I thank God for my very personal encounter with the Holy Spirit. I thank God for the engagement ring Jesus slipped on my finger in the person of His Holy Spirit alive in me. Christ’s assurance He will fulfill the promise He made me, returning to bring me to where He is, eternally. And so, I wait. We wait, family. Assured and hope full—we are never alone. “Father, I desire that they also, whom You have given to Me [as Your gift to Me], may be with Me where I am, so that they may see My glory which You have given Me, because You loved Me before the foundation of the world” –John 17:24.

Friend, Jesus died that you might have eternal life, live each day with His Holy Spirit alive in you. Leading and guiding and strengthening you—regardless of sins you may have committed. Won’t you ask Jesus to be Lord of your life today? Confess your sins and be saved!

Now I know, You…

February 5, 2022 /
MaryEllen Montville

“I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear; But now my eye sees You; Therefore I retract, And I repent in dust and ashes.” –Job 42:5-6.

Count how many friends you have across each of your social media platforms. Go ahead; I’ll wait. Now, of the total number of “friends” tallied, how many of those people do you know, relationally? How many do you regularly have coffee or dinner with, get together with to hang out, just because? Do you know their birthdays? Their kid’s birthdays? Their mom and dad’s name. Their favorite color or food? How many do you talk with regularly? Have you been in their home, and they in yours? Have you ever had to place the full weight of your trust in any of them? How did that turn out? By now, I’m sure you figured out where I’m going with this strange request for you to friend count?

Knowing, as in knowing someone, can mean vastly different things to us.

Yet the knowing Job was referring to in today’s scripture verse—is universally understood. How? All born-again believers in Jesus Christ know God—more are known by Him. Though our degrees of understanding, spending time with, surrendering to, and seeking after Himmay differ, our knowing Him is collective. If we are Blood bought believers, we know and are known by God. Scripture clarifies that when we accept Jesus, God’s Holy Spirit takes up residence within us. “Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” –Acts 2:38.

Nowhere in Scripture have I read where God gives more of His Spirit to one child than He does to another.

So, when we talk about knowing a person, what does that mean? What does it look like to you and me? I’m sure how we define “knowing a person” will vary widely depending upon our definitions of the term knowing. Yet our knowledge of a person is where I want us to focus today. Specifically, I want us to examine, dissect, really think about knowing Christ.

Do you know Jesus intimately? Is He “The Person without whom you cannot live? Do you communicate with Him throughout your day?” Or do you know Him like you know some of your “friends” on social media, in name only? Is Jesus on your radar at all?

So, we’re all on the same page as we move forward now; we’ll be using the following two Greek terms/definitions of “knowing, having knowledge of” as our cornerstone.

Oida. This Greek verb implies common/universal experiential knowledge: Examples: Oida denotes having basic knowledge of facts concerning a person, place, or thing. We see this word used some 318 times throughout Scripture. Examples of this common knowledge are: All humans are born infants. Water can be liquid, solid, or vaporous in form. 2+2 will always equal 4—dogs bark, cows moo, and pig’s squeal.

One example of this Oida knowledge, spoken of in Scripture, jumps to mind; it’s found in John’s Gospel, Chapter 6.

By miraculously multiplying five loaves of bread and two fish, Jesus fed a great multitude, some five thousand men, not counting the women and children—and, there were leftovers. We’ll pick up the following day; this same crowd wakes to notice Jesus and His disciples are gone. So, they piled into borrowed boats and went across to Capernaum, searching for Him. But Jesus knew their hearts. He knew they came seeking more food—to witness another miracle. They hadn’t come because they wanted to be with Jesus—they were merely curious about Him. “Who is this guy? What is He all about?” They weren’t so much interested in getting to know Jesus, His heart, and ways, nor to understand what it is they might do for Him, no. These came in search of head knowledge—what they might witness, experience Jesus do in their midst—for them. We know this because Scripture states that soon after Jesus lays out for them the only way to have a genuine relationship with Him—to get to know Him, everyone, save His chosen twelve, abandoned Him. They went off looking for the next best thing—moving on to the next “friend.” They had only wanted Oida knowledge of Jesus. And once they got what they wanted, they were out. –John 6:22-66.

The second type of knowledge we’ll look at today is, Ginōskō. And though Oida and Ginōskō both imply, are translated “to know,” Ginōskō refers to having a more intimate knowledge of.

Now, going back to the beginning of this teaching, I asked some questions concerning friends across your social media platforms. How well do you know them—if at all?

Undoubtedly, most of us have “friends” that are family members. Others, family by choice, others still, brothers and sisters in Christ—family, one-in-all. And then there is your husband or wife. And it is within the context of this sacred relationship, we best witness the living definition of Ginōskō. Allow me to explain.

In Genesis 4:1-2, we read the following: “Adam had relations with his wife Eve, and she conceived, gave birth to Cain and said, “I have gotten a man with the help of the Lord.” Then she gave birth again to his brother Abel.” The intimate knowledge spoken of here is Ginōskō knowing. It far surpasses even the parent-child, sibling, or life-long friend, knowledge of another. It is a profoundly personal, wholly transparent, intimately immersed in, sacred, set apart, exclusive oneness. In John 10:14-15, Jesus spoke of this same intimate knowing existing between Himself and His Bride, listen: “I am that good shepherd, and know mine, and am known of mine. As the Father knoweth me, so know I the Father: and I lay down my life for my sheep.” Underlining added for emphasis.

The disciples knew Jesus’—more Jesus knew His disciples. And it’s this level of knowing Job professed to gain in today’s Scripture verse. This outcry of, “then I knew of you, Lord, but now, I know You.” This sudden realization that the Sovereign God of the universe has singled him out—wants to be one with him. More is in him, and He wants to show Himself Mighty to Save. This intimate knowing Job has acquired of God has him on his face before His Lord. Genuine, heartfelt repentance is a beautiful thing.

Returning now, to John Six, to that moment when Jesus instructs the crowd that had crossed over on boats that to indeed find Him, for them to genuinely be His—One with Him, to Ginōskō Him, they must eat His Body and drink His Life-giving Blood. It’s within a few moments of Jesus’ saying this when everyone but His disciples bailed. The others weren’t ready to receive that kind of friend request. They wanted no part of what Jesus had just told them needed to happen.

But not Jesus’ disciples. They wanted so much more than mere Oida knowing; like Job, they wanted the Truth, they wanted a Ginōskō knowing. Listen to Peter’s response to Jesus’ question: “You do not want to leave too, do you?” Jesus asked the Twelve. Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and to know that you are the Holy One of God.”

Did you catch that? The “and to know, Ginōskō, that you are the Holy One of God? Peter knew Jesus.

Yet, in Matthew’s Gospel, we witness the Apostle Peter’s awakening. That moment Peter went from Oida—experiential knowledge, into a deeper, more intimate Ginōskō understanding of his relationship with Christ—of just who Jesus was. Of their connection one to another. Again, it’s Scripture that makes this abundantly clear. “Simon Peter said, “You’re the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.” Jesus came back, “God bless you, Simon, son of Jonah! You didn’t get that answer out of books or from teachers. My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am. And now I’m going to tell you who you are, really are. You are Peter, a rock. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out” –Matthew 16:17-18 MSG.

Scripture informs us two paths lay before us—one leading to Life, the other to death. God has given us the free will to choose which we will take. Oida, the path laden with stony words and second-hand experiences. Littered with statements like “I know about Jesus, I’ve heard everything about Him,” made smooth only by other people’s experiences of Him—empty of any actual knowledge of your own. Or there’s the way of Ginōskō. The personal, living as One with God daily, path. The Him Living in you and you living for Him, path. The “all-in” way. “Now listen! Today I am giving you a choice between life and death, between prosperity and disaster” –Deuteronomy 30:15.

Today, friend, the choice has been set before you. Which will you choose? And know, not choosing is a choice. It leads away from where Jesus is calling you—to know Him.

“This day I call the heavens and the earth as witnesses against you that I have set before you life and death, blessings and curses. Now choose life so that you and your children may live 20 and that you may love the Lord your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him. For the Lord is your life, and he will give you many years in the land he swore to give to your fathers, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob” –Deuteronomy 30:19-20.

« Older posts Newer posts »

© 2024 Sonsofthesea.org

Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑