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

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The Invitation. Revelation 19:9

January 7, 2018 /

  “Then the angel said to me, “Write,[Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” And he said to me [further], “These are the true and exact words of God.”

 The wedding invitation. At one time or another we’ve all received one. Often, they arrive enveloped in vellum coverings etched by a calligrapher’s skillful hand. They hold within themselves a promise. The promise of our witnessing declarations of mutual love, fidelity, and a vow of eternal commitment exchanged between a groom and his bride.  However, those who receive this invitation are receiving so much more than mere paper tucked inside of paper. They’re being offered an exclusive opportunity at witnessing the spilling over of sheer joy. Of love. A joy born from the expectancy of the long-awaited fulfillment of a promise. A promise made long before the finely labeled invitation ever arrived…

As it is on earth, so it is in Heaven…

Yet, what that invitation doesn’t contain—doesn’t share, is the couple’s history. Everything that has led up to their nuptials. How did they first meet? How long had they been together before they knew—this is the one; my forever friend and lover?

Love is born out of relationship, out of friendship.

But then, being friends of the betrothed, the recipient of the invitation most likely knows those answers. After all, they’re friends. And friends are privy to information strangers are not…

Neither are strangers invited to witness such sacred moments—the eternal union of two souls. Invitations to weddings are reserved for family, friends—for loved ones only. Those with whom history is shared—those we have a relationship with, whether new or long-standing.

Again, as it is on earth, so it is in Heaven…

Only those that welcome God’s invitation here, today, are welcomed into Heaven to celebrate with Him eternally.

Two thousand plus years ago Jesus was crucified. Scripture tells us that when He breathed His last the veil in the Temple—the one that separated man from God, was torn. “But Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and gave up his spirit. Suddenly, the curtain of the sanctuary was torn in two from top to bottom, the earth quaked, and the rocks were split.”—Matthew27:50-51. This is the same veil that only moments before the high priest alone entered through to gain access into the Holy of Holies. Into the very presence of God. It was torn now, from a single rip, top to bottom. And this tearing signified that the sin barrier that had separated God from man had been destroyed—was eternally removed, in the solitary act of loving obedience. Through Jesus’s death on the Cross. His perfect act of love—the Sinless taking onto Himself the sin of the whole world satisfied God’s just wrath caused by His hatred of sin. Thus, allowing us to stop from continually having to offer a blood sacrifice to demonstrate our repentance of sin.

Jesus’s death on the Cross, His shed Blood, did that for us—once, for all.

Yet, Jesus knew long before He was hung on that tree, those who would accept His invitation and those who would not. Judas can testify to that. So can the 11 other Apostles. Still, despite their marked differences, Jesus loved them equally—both the loyal, and the one who would betray Him. He died for each of them, regardless. And not just for them, but for the whole world. Yes, even for those who hated Him. Hate Him still. Rejected Him. And reject Him still. We hear evidence of this in some of His final Words spoken from His Cross. Listen to what Jesus says concerning those who had cried out, “crucify Him, crucify Him”, and concerning those who had falsely, maliciously, sentenced Him to die. For the ones also, who had driven nails into His innocent flesh. “Then Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up His garments by casting lots. The people stood watching, and the rulers sneered at Him.” … Luke 23:34-35.

Yet, in that very moment, in a seemingly unlikely, Blood soaked, brutal moment, a most precious paradox occurred. As life was leaving Jesus’s Body, an undeserved invitation into eternal life had graciously been extended to all who would…

However, like any invitation sent by dear friends or family—the invitation sent to all from God, through His Son Jesus Christ, must also not only be received, but opened—and, more, both accepted and responded to. Otherwise, it simply remains just another piece of paper. Another unanswered invitation that too many today have received, yet carelessly tossed aside. Buried it somewhere in a draw. Forgotten…

Their invitation from Love left unopened. Thus, it remains one-sided. Having no more value to the one who possesses it than any other shiny scrape of fine vellum…

Yet, most of us wouldn’t treat something so valuable, sent with such hope and care, such love—so carelessly…

No, we too would take care to open it, to fill it out, sending it off in a timely fashion. And, then, as a reminder to ourselves of the wonderful event it was sent to mark—we’d circle the day on our calendars as a reminder of something joyous to look forward to!

To celebrate…

Now, with that in mind, here’s my question…

If we would take such great care with human invitations sent to us, why are we so neglectful of those divinely, personally, sent us by God?  “Abide in Me, and I in you” –John 15:4. This God’s invitation to stay with Him, live with Him, walk hand in hand with Him, eternally…

More exactly, it’s the invitation that cost Jesus His very life. One that invites us to enjoy friendship with Him now, thus being assured of life eternal life with Him at the moment of our earthly deaths. Also, unlike the wedding invitation sent out by family or friends that bids us to come and share in a day of their lives, Jesus invites us to be with Him always. To walk with Him daily. To share His bountiful table, to enjoy friendship with Him, and, to stay, to abide with Him eternally. To be the recipients of His great and unending love. “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure, buried in a field, that a man found and reburied. Then in his joy he goes and sells everything he has and buys that field. “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls. When he found one priceless pearl, he went and sold everything he had and bought it.” –Matthew 13:44-46

Friend I urge you, if God has sent you an invitation to His marriage supper, run, open it, and prepare yourself! If you’ve foolishly tossed it in the junk draw of life, if it’s gotten buried under the weight of carrying a load you were never meant to —lost in the sea of the relentless daily grind, go, now, repent, and find it again!

Cry out to God in thanksgiving that what was once lost is now found!

Blessed one, dance for joy that this most sacred invitation has made it safely into your hands…

Put it in the place of prominence it so rightly deserves! And Remember, strangers aren’t invited to witness such sacred moments—the eternal union of two souls. Invitations to weddings are reserved for family—for loved ones only. Those with whom history is shared—those we have a relationship with, whether new or long-standing.

You have been chosen to attend—your presence requested!

And, as it is on earth, so it is in Heaven—

“No longer do I call you servants … but I have called you friends” (John 15:15).

Friend, if you haven’t asked Jesus into your heart today, do it now. Then, check your mailbox. Surely your invitation awaits you. Welcome!

The Conclusion of; The Foreshadowing. Galatians 6:7-8

December 31, 2017 /

 “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return. The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.…” —Galatians 6:7-8

 

The covering of our sins started in a garden. It is here we get our first glimpse of The Lamb of God…

God went to great lengths—to extreme measures, to ensure His sin-stained children were afforded a way to be returned to right relationship with Him. Last week we read that it was God Himself who enacted the first blood sacrifice for His own. He killed innocent animals that both Adam and Eve might be covered by their bloody skins—a foreshadowing of the work of Jesus. A murky glimpse at how His Innocent Blood would come to be willingly—lovingly, purposefully shed, once, for all…

So, if God went to such extreme measures—the sacrificing of His Only Begotten Son, that His children might be given a way to return to Him, why were Adam and Eve punished? Their sins were forgiven. Why were they made to endure God’s wrath? His Judgement?

Why are we?

Love. Judgement mingled with mercy forms the Cross…

As with all Truth, we find our answers squarely in the Word of God. Listen: “…And you have forgotten the exhortation that addresses you as sons: “My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline, or lose heart when He rebukes you. For the Lord disciplines the one He loves, and He chastises everyone He receives as a son.” Endure suffering as discipline; God is treating you as sons. For what son is not disciplined by his father? … (Hebrews 12:5-7; also see Deut. 8:5; Psalm 94:12; Psalm 119:75; Proverbs 3:11-12; and Revelation 3:19).

Clearly, the Word of God has much to say about God’s just judgement—the chastening of His children…

Don’t allow God’s great mercy and forgiveness to be confused with His justice—His Righteous Judgement’s. His Word assures us that once we have accepted Him as Lord and Savior of our lives we are—in that very instant, washed clean, and are reconciled to Him, through The Blood of Jesus. That’s the mercy part… “For God was pleased to have all His fullness dwell in Him, and through Him to reconcile to Himself all things, whether things on earth or things in heaven, by making peace through the blood of His cross.” —Colossians 1:20 Yet, though forgiven of our sins—and though they are remembered no more—no longer counted against us, sin always has and always will have consequences. That’s the just judgement part…

Last week I referred to King David being familiar with God’s punishment, His Righteous Judgement. David suffered great loss as the result of his sins with Bathsheba, another man’s wife; and the subsequent murder of her husband in a desperate attempt to cover up his sins. His treachery—his slippery slope into sinning started in rebellion—as most sin does. As King, it was a custom that each Spring all Kings and their armies would march against their enemies into war. Though Scripture doesn’t tell us why, David, rather than marching to war with his men, sent his Commander Joab and his officers, as well as all the fighting men of Israel, out to war without him. And, as result, one sleepless night David would get up and walk to his rooftop terrace to get fresh air. And It would be there that the enemy of his soul would be waiting to take him captive—if only a for a time…

Bathsheba was on an adjacent rooftop just finishing her ritual bath. It is thought she was a great beauty—fair in face and form. David saw her and desired her. He sent a messenger to go and get her. Yet not before he had inquired into who she was and learned that she was the wife of Uriah, one of his own fighting men. Had David been where he was supposed to have been—doing what he should have done, perhaps none of this would have happened. Isn’t that the way sin typically gets its hooks in us? When we have strayed from the straight path? And so it did with David. Yet, rather than turning from his sin and repenting, David delves deeper in. Bathsheba informs him that she’s now pregnant as a result of their adulterous affair.

And that’s where events worsened. “But each one is tempted when by his own evil desires he is lured away and enticed. Then after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and when sin is fully grown, it gives birth to death.” —James 1:15-16

Scripture tells us the rest of the story…

David summons Uriah, tries to get him to sleep with his own wife, Bathsheba, so it could be said that the child that had been conceived in secret was, in fact, Uriah’s own. When Uriah, a man of honor, didn’t sleep with his wife, David had him sent to the front lines—into the thick of battle, thus ensuring he’d die there. And he does. And David takes Bathsheba as his wife. And the Lord, the same God Hagar called, El Roi. The God who sees me—saw, was witness to, what King David had done. And so, God sends the Prophet Nathan to convict David of his sin and to pronounce His Righteous Judgement. And, after hearing Nathan’s account, David is convicted saying of his actions, “I have sinned against the Lord.” —2 Samuel 12:13. Now, listen to what Nathan says to David in response to his confession of sin. “…And the Lord has taken away your sin; you will not die. However, because you treated the Lord with such contempt in this matter, the son born to you will die.” (You can read the full account of this story in 2 Samuel, Chapters 11 &12).

David, like Adam and Eve, was forgiven his sins because this first blood covenant covered their sins, the shedding of innocent blood instituted in the Garden of Eden by God— a foreshadowing of Jesus’s coming. We will see further evidence of this and its lasting effects on the lives of the Israelites. God instructs His servant Moses in the building of the First Temple and in the shedding of blood for the forgiveness of sin…

Though God forgave David his sin—a sign of His unfathomable mercy, Yet, David suffered the consequences of his sins—a demonstration of the law of seed-time and harvest told in His Word. “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. Whatever a man sows, he will reap in return. The one who sows to please his flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; but the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life.…” —Galatians 6:7-8

Listen to the words Nathan spoke to David concerning God’s judgement resulting from David’s sin: “This is what the Lord says, ‘I am going to bring disaster on you from your own family: I will take your wives and give them to another[d] before your very eyes, and he will sleep with them in broad daylight. You acted in secret, but I will do this before all Israel and in broad daylight.’”—2 Samuel 12:11-12

Yes, God first covered His children—His chosen, with animal blood. The law—His law, commanded it. “According to the law almost everything is purified with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”—Hebrews 9:22

But God—our all-loving, merciful Father—is also our Righteous and Just Lord. Blood was shed so that sin—whose penalty is death, might be forgiven. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” —Romans 6:23

David did not receive what he deserved—death. Neither did Adam and Eve. And, neither do we if, we are God’s child…

Yet, sin is so egregious to God that man had to be cut off from a Holy God as its result. Every man who does not have a relationship with God is actually, ‘a walking dead-man’—spiritually speaking. They are likened to the white washed tombs Jesus spoke of when He chastised the Pharisees. On the outside all appears well enough—they do good deeds, help when they can, they try not to hurt anyone. But on the inside—nothing more than a dead man’s bones. The Word of God is clear; As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; There is no one who understands; no one who seeks God. All have turned away; they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.… (Romans 3:10-12)

We’ve just celebrated Christmas. The little baby we saw laying in a manger, wrapped in milk rags, was placed there to die. His entire purpose for coming into the world was to die for it. To shed His Innocent Blood that you and I and he and she, and all of them, might have Life in Him and restoration with the Father. The spilling of animal blood was never intended as a permanent solution for reconciling God and man. A lasting and True—a complete sacrifice, had to be offered. So, God sent His Only Son to do what only One who is Pure and Holy can do.

Cleanse us of our sins. Once, and for all…

Yet, it is in this most loving act that we witness how both God’s great mercy and His just judgement are intrinsically linked—how they live as one. At the Cross, an Innocent suffered that the guilty might live. “For indeed Christ died for sins once for all, the Just and Righteous for the unjust and unrighteous [the Innocent for the guilty] so that He might bring us to God, having been put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the Spirit;” —1 Peter 3:18

Nowhere in Scripture does God tell us we get a pass on the consequences of our sins. They cost Him too much to simply look the other way. That we are not dead as their result is yet another astounding display of God’s unfathomably great mercy and love on display for all who will—to witness.

Rest assured, sinful decisions have consequences, if not in this life, then in the next. We are blessed, though, because the principle of reaping and sowing works in a positive way as well: “The one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life” (Gal. 6:8). We can sow good seeds that will turn negative situations into positive ones. –Charles Stanley

Have you asked Jesus into your life? Won’t you do that now? He’s waiting for you…

The Foreshadowing Part 1; Genesis 3:21

December 24, 2017 /

 “The Lord God made clothing from skins for the man and his wife, and he clothed them.”

“For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.” —Leviticus 17:11

 

Before we get into this Word, let’s pray:

Spirit of the Living God, illuminate your Word, breath your Ruach Breath on it, that it may come alive in us, and through us, feed may. In Jesus’ matchless name we pray, amen.

The law was clear. In order that God’s righteous anger regarding sin be satisfied, blood must be shed. Now before you lose your mind over that Truth, try to understand the Righteous anger of God in this context: J.I. Packer summarizes: “God’s wrath in the Bible is never the capricious, self-indulgent, irritable, morally ignoble thing that human anger so often is. It is, instead, a right and necessary reaction to objective moral evil” (Knowing God, 151).

So  then, how can a sinful man offer a pure blood sacrifice in an attempt to satisfy God’s Righteous anger?

The answer is—he cannot. Only one who is sinless—a pure substitute, can stand in the place of a sinner to make atonement. And so, we see God’s plan of redemption from the beginning of man’s existence unfolding through His merciful covering of the sin of Adam and Eve with bloodied animal skins.  Substitution. It’s a murky shadow of what was yet to come; not only for Adam and His wife, but for all mankind.

The covering of our sins started in a garden. It is here we get our first glimpse of The Babe in the manger. The Most Precious Lamb of God…

Come with me into that garden. It’s okay, we’ve been invited. Quietly though, so not to interrupt—let’s watch what’s unfolding between God, Adam, Eve, and a serpent…

Adam and Eve have sinned. They have each knowingly done what God commanded them not to do! Adam explicitly heard God say not to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil—and, that if he did, he would surely die! “But the LORD God warned him, “You may freely eat the fruit of every tree in the garden—except the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. If you eat its fruit, you are sure to die.”—Genesis 2:16-17 But Adam was not alone! Scripture clearly shows that Eve knew not to eat the fruit also. Scripture points out that God had instructed her, as He had Adam. “Of course we may eat fruit from the trees in the garden,” the woman replied. “It’s only the fruit from the tree in the middle of the garden that we are not allowed to eat. God said, ‘You must not eat it or even touch it; if you do, you will die”—Genesis 3:2-3.

So, now their hiding—as people do, or try to, when they know that they’ve sinned by disobeying God. It’s a carnal proclivity all have inherited from our original parents—a knee-jerk reaction. Don’t believe that? Catch any three-year-old doing something they know they have no business doing and watch how quickly and how easily they’ll lie when confronted! We are each born with a sin nature. “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard”—Romans 3:23. And, simply because some refuse to accept this Truth—In no way voids it reality…

Just ask King David. He will tell you all about what happens when we to hide our sins (2 Samuel 12).

But more on that next week…

Thankfully, God wasn’t then, nor is He now—caught off guard by our propensity to lie and cover up our sins. In fact, He had, unbeknownst to Adam and Eve, implemented a permanent solution for their, and our, sinful condition…

But first—a foreshadowing of God’s all-inclusive plan…

From the time God’s first image bearers—Adam and Eve sinned, God grieved the loss of communion with His people. He went to extreme lengths to restore our relationship by sending His one and only Son “to seek and to save the lost” —Luke 19:10. Without the birth of Jesus, and without His unconditional willingness to die on His Cross, to shed His Innocent Blood as payment for our sins, thus offering us the hope of restoration back to God, we each would be eternally lost. Dead in our sins…

God called. Adam and Eve hid. Let me ask you, are you hiding also? Has the Holy Spirit been convicting you—calling you? And has your response, like Adam’s, has been; “I heard you walking in the garden, so I hid. I was afraid because I was naked.” (3:10) Has that sin you committed left you feeling exposed—guilty, shameful? You’re not alone. But might I urge you to come out of hiding—confess to God what He knows that you’ve done! Don’t follow Adam and Eve’s lead by playing the blame game with God. We, each, are responsible for our actions and responses (Genesis 3:12-13). Rather, go to God and confess your sins and ask His forgiveness. You may not escape the consequences of your sin—that is something only God will decide, but, you will be forgiven…

However, to do this, to be forgiven, you first must have a relationship with God…

So, if you are feeling something inside of you that’s telling you to ask Jesus for forgiveness—it’s the Holy Spirit doing what He does—the will of God! God wants you for Himself! Won’t you stop here, now, and simply say yes to Jesus? Ask Him to come into your life and be your Lord and Savior. He wants you, loves you, He died for you—

but, He won’t force you…

Little did Adam and Eve know, that God knew they would fall—would sin. And, little did they know that He had predestined a way—the only way—for all who sin to be forgiven. And yes, that means you too! He’s made a way just for you. As surely as He did for Adam and Eve, for Abraham and Moses, for Rahab the prostitute, and, for all those who will…

How? Through the Blood of Jesus. His Only Son…

He would be born to a virgin (Matthew 1:18-25; Luke 1:26-38). Wrapped in milk rags and laid in a manger (Luke 2:7). A king would try to kill Him (Matthew 2:16). He would be despised by those He was sent to save. And in the end, His own would betray Him and demand He was handed over to those who would crucify Him (Luke 23:21). He’d be nailed to a cross (Luke 23:26-43). But not before they beat Him so severely His insides were literally hanging out (Isaiah 52:14). His innocent Blood shed. He would be hung high and naked on that cross—innocence between two thieves (Matthew: 38; Luke 23:32).  And, He’d be buried in a tomb not His own (Isaiah 53:9). He’d be left alone—abandoned by those whom He loved, who’d promised to follow Him always (Mark 14:50). But, early on a Sunday morning the stone they’d used to seal Him off—shut Him up, be done with Him, was rolled away!He was not there (Luke 24:1-12). Had anyone been listening the prophets of old, as well as to Jesus Himself, each had foretold of these events. How they must happen and why (Isaiah 53; Psalm 22; Psalm 16; Luke 9:22; Matthew 17:23). An animals blood was never meant to be a lasting substitute. It was only a foreshadowing— for The One yet to come.

Jesus—the One who would come in the fullness of time (Hebrews 10).

Animal blood could never fully quell God’s righteous anger caused by man’s sin and rebellion. Sin is so grievous to God that only death would be its just payment…

But, now, standing here in the garden, we witness God’s first hint of a love that is far too big for any of us to take in this side of eternity. We watch as God’s great love and mercy for His own, His children, gives birth to His killing innocent animals in place of Adam and Eve—that His justice be served. Even though their sin warranted their death. And, then, God lovingly covers their bodies with those bloody sacrificial skins—signifying their sin was forgiven.

Blood must be shed for atonement—for the forgiveness of sin. It’s the law…

Yet, though they were forgiven—the consequences of their choices followed them (Genesis 3:13-23). God is loving, yes. But He is also Just. We forget that, or try to…

Again, we need only look to King David as an example, both of God’s forgiveness and His justice ((2 Samuel 12:16-18).

And, while all this was happening  in the garden, Jesus was there, watching. Knowing He’d be next. He was—willingly, patiently, waiting. So, in God’s perfect timing, His sacrificial death would atone for our sins—once, for all.

Love came in the form of a babe wrapped in milk rags and laid in a manger—

His Atoning Blood would come later…

The Conclusion of; Are You Going Gray? Revelation 3:15-16

December 17, 2017 /

 “For it is the time [destined] for judgment to begin with the household of God; and if it begins with us, what will the outcome be for those who do not respect or believe or obey the gospel of God” (1 Peter 4:17)?

Before we get into this Word, let’s pray: Spirit of the Living God, illuminate your Word, breath your Ruach breath on it, that it may come alive in us, and through us feed may. In Jesus’ matchless name we pray, amen.

“Punishments never come into the world unless the wicked are in it; but they do not begin unless they commence first with the righteous.”—Writings of the Rabbi’s

We read last week that the world today, our society—is more spiritually polarized, that is, more divided, than at any other time we’ve witnessed in our collective recollection. Save that of the days of Noah. Clear lines of demarcation have been drawn in the proverbial sand. Those who acknowledge the One True God—Jesus, on the one side, and those who are doing their level best to eradicate Him, and anything to do with Him—out of our consciousness, our world, our way of life—on the other.

Last week we read also that a great sifting is occurring in the world. Now I don’t profess to know what ‘stage’ of that sifting we are in—I leave that to the far more learned and discerning for comment. But, the evidence I see in my life, the ‘pressure’ of the Potter’s Hands on me—doing the work of extracting whatever impurities He has found in me, bringing me to the place where I must make a bold, a certain, and a pure stand for Him—no matter what happens, is clear. I am being broken that I may be built back up. Sifted, that those impurities that serve no purpose in my life—be taken away, removed, that I might be ready—prepared.

God is starting this sifting—as our Scripture indicates, with His Church; His children. He must— in order to purify us, prepare us, for Who and what is yet to come…

He is turning up the heat of the refiner’s fire—burning off our dross, those sins that linger and cling—cleansing us of our impurities, as with gold. He is trying—testing, our faith. Albert Barnes says it this way: The word “judgment” here (κρίμα krima) seems to mean “the severe trial which would determine character.” Scripture describes it this way in 1 Peter 1:6-7: “In this you rejoice greatly, even though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been distressed by various trials,  so that the genuineness of your faith, which is much more precious than gold which is perishable, even though tested and purified by fire, may be found to result in [your] praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.”

When Peter makes this statement, he is speaking to the Church of some impending calamity that is about to come upon all. Jesus too had foretold of a calamity that would come to His disciples prior to the destruction of Jerusalem. We find His Words within Matthew’s, Mark’s, and John’s Gospels. “For at that time there will be great tribulation, unmatched from the beginning of the world until now, and never to be seen again”—Matthew 24:21. “Brother will betray brother to [be put to] death, and a father [will hand over] his child; and children will rise up and take a stand against parents and have them put to death”—Mark 13:12 “They will put you out of the synagogues and make you outcasts. And a time is coming when whoever kills you will think that he is offering service to God”—John 16:2. This ‘general punishment’ spoken of will fall upon the just and the unjust alike. But if on the just—it is for our strengthening, not our destruction.

For our refining, our building up. It will shake loose all who profess Christ with their mouths—but whose hearts are far from God. Here, Peter is assuring all Jews, believing, and unbelieving alike—a guaranteed outcome is coming. He is affording those who don’t believe time to choose. To return to the One True God. And that same offer is being made today both to the Jew and to the gentile. Whether you believe Scripture as you read it or not—it is Truth, and what it says—will happen. Just as the Jews of Peter’s day had a choice, so too, do we—do you. “For it is My Father’s will that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in Him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day.”—John 6:39 (Emphasis my own).

The sentiment is, that if God deals thus strictly with his people; if there is that in them which makes the visitations of his judgment proper on them, there is a certainty that they who are not his people, but who live in iniquity, will in the end be overwhelmed with the tokens of severer wrath. —Albert Barnes

The mind-blowing fact that God so loved His creation that He sent His Only Son to die in our place, your place, his, her, and their place—that all might be re-united, re-membered, with Him, for all eternity—is both a mysterious blessing, and a free gift. And none, no not one, is worthy of such grace—such mercy, and, neither can we earn it. “For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God; not as a result of [your] works [nor your attempts to keep the Law], so that no one will [be able to] boast or take credit in any way [for his salvation].” —Ephesians 2:8-9

So, that this judgement, this sifting, and refining, is occurring—should not be a source of fear for the believer. Neither should it be catching us unaware—as we each share the same Spirit who is only ever able to tell us The Truth. Our garments are being washed—we are being made ready to be received by The Bridegroom—Jesus! Receiving all that we have hoped in—and for (1 Thessalonians 5:5)! However, if you’re reading this and you have not asked Jesus to come into your life as your Lord and Savior, today—right now, is the time for you to stop all that you’re doing and ask Him in. Time is short, and He is waiting just for you! Believe it or not…

If you are a believer, rest assured that your trial, your refining is not meant to harm you. It is simply that, a refining, and not a punishment like that visited on those who refuse to humble themselves before God. Remain confident in the knowledge shared with us by Paul—one who has finished his race—has gone before us, and leaves behind these words of encouragement for us to hold tight to: “For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18). Be encouraged today my brothers and sisters! What we must experience— is simply our preparation for Who and what is yet to come! But, God is faithful and True to keep us until His coming. After all, it’s only a trial, and though by fire, an you have lived thus far through many—besides, look how a fiery trial turned out for Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego! “…He answered and said, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire, and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.”—Daniel 3:25

“When power is given to the destroyer, he observes no distinction between the righteous and the wicked; not only so, but he begins first at the righteous.” But God limits the destroyer ‘s power over His people. —Rabbins

The fulfillment of this Scripture is happening. This is, ‘that time’, that season, spoken of in the Bible. Whether we are experiencing birth pangs only, or the world is further along, is something too deep for me—again, I leave that to the more learned…

Yet, the same Spirit that was in Peter, in Jesus, is also in me. And it is through His revelation that I am confident in writing, in sharing with you today this simple Truth… (John 16:13-15).

We are being sifted. We must choose to acknowledge God or we deny Him. And, He will return for all that belong to Him—soon and very soon. “Look, I am coming soon, bringing my reward with me to repay all people according to their deeds” (Revelation 22:12).

Solomon assures us that there is nothing new under the heavens. And, as our Scripture points believers towards the day Peter spoke of —the impending destruction that was to come—and of the suffering that would befall all those who loved God and held firm to His Truth and commands—as in the days of Noah, what was, is happening again. And, it will continue to come full circle in ways unimagined…

Yet, so long as it is still today. As long as there is breath in your lungs. It’s not to late! There is still, as John the Baptist heralded, time for all to repent! Because the Kingdom of God is at hand…

It seems only fitting to leave you all, believer and those yet to believe, with the final Words spoken in Revelation Chapter Three by the One who was, and is, and is to come… “Behold, I stand at the door [of the church] and continually knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with him (restore him), and he with Me. He who overcomes [the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God], I will grant to him [the privilege] to sit beside Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down beside My Father on His throne. He who has an ear, let him hear and heed what the Spirit says to the churches.’”—Revelation 3:20-22.

I urge you friend to ask Jesus into your life today!

And Saints— repent of every sin that so easily entangle us, now, while it is still today…

“Are You Going Gray, Part 2”. Revelation 3:15-16

December 10, 2017 /

  “But you, believers, [all you who believe in Christ as Savior and acknowledge Him as God’s Son] are not in spiritual darkness [nor held by its power], that the day [of judgment] would overtake you [by surprise] like a thief; for you are all sons of light and sons of day. We do not belong to the night nor to darkness”

  Before we get into this Word, let’s pray: Spirit of the Living God, illuminate your Word, breath your Ruach breath on it, that it may come alive in us, and through us feed may. In Jesus matchless name we pray, Amen.
Referring to His Body, Jesus said this to His friends. That if it were destroyed, He would raise it again in three days. God can’t lie. It will happen.

It did happen…

Had they forgotten? They must have. They went to a tomb expecting to find a dead body there, when clearly, He had told them it would not be there, but rather, be raised up—resurrected…

Our Scripture today reminds those of us that have put our hope—our faith, in Jesus that we are no longer ignorant of what is to come because His Spirit lives within us. Therefore, we do not live in spiritual darkness, as unbelievers—unknowing, left without a clue about what is to come. Just as Jesus had told His followers that He would not be found in a tomb—a dead thing, powerless, hopeless,

so too He has told us…!

“At that time people will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory.”—Mark 13:26

He is sifting this world. Jesus is. He said He would. And there are only two sides—two camps, one can end up in. Sheep or goats. Not my words. Jesus tells us that this is what’s to come—the sifting, this separation of those that love and choose to follow Him, obey Him, and those that don’t. —Matthew 25:31–46

We each have been given the same choice…

Don’t, as the saying goes, shoot the messenger! Rather, humble yourself. Perhaps, just perhaps, today, right now, God is causing you, allowing you, to feel a little prickly, a bit uncomfortable—that you might be challenged! If so, run to Him, come to salvation— if you haven’t. Or, wake up from your slumber—your luke-warmness, your grayness, if you have…

This is your, my, our, clarion call—God is at the door!—Revelation 3:20

They went gray for a moment—His disciples…

After seeing Him betrayed, beaten, falsely accused, after seeing the One they thought would save them—their people, hanging limp, lifeless on a criminals Cross, enshrouded, laid-out in a tomb, a place for dead things. They went gray. As did their hopes—their dreams, of a future free from tyranny, injustice, and the evil allowed under the Roman’s rule. Sound familiar? What in your own walk with the Lord, in your life, has caused yo to loose hope? To walk away from your dreams?

Perhaps they’d forgot too, that Jesus had told them as long as they were in this world, there’d be trouble. Maybe in their grief, they’d forgotten He’d said also, ‘to take heart, don’t be afraid.’ He’d told them not to lose their peace—to trust in Him, and stay strong. Not to allow the grayness, the fear, the troubles, and doubts that will assail them, assail us all, to swallow up their hope—the Truth.

That He’d overcome the world—John 16:33

And we, like our brothers and sisters before us— have this same Jesus with us too. This One who has overcome the world. And, we have Him in ways they never did. We have not only their accounts to glean from, but we have every Word, every promise spoken by God—Alpha to Omega. Every utterance of the Holy Spirit, each step of our path laid out before us—foretold to us.

He is alive within us leading and guiding our every step…

“I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”—John 14:18

He wasn’t just speaking to the ones He was about to depart from…

We, like our brothers before us, are being called to move past the Tomb, past what was. We’re being called to set—fix our eyes, our hopes—our faith and trust, in what is yet to come. The Majesty on High! The Hope of Glory! On Jesus, seated at the Right Hand of the Father. Waiting. Risen, and coming again in all power. The very power He has given us, as a deposit—to lead us and guide us, as it did our brothers before us—into all Truth.

And, when our work, like theirs, is finished—safely back home with Him…

When the women had gone to the tomb to anoint—prepare, His body for burial—they too must had forgotten that Mary, Lazarus’s sister, had already done that when she had broken open her costly bottle of Nard—washing Jesus’s feet and wiping them with her hair? The resurrected sitting in the presence of the Resurrection. Had they forgotten that if the body is clean, only the feet need be washed? Odd that, seeing how it was a part of the culture, a custom. Wait—didn’t Jesus Himself demonstrate this very Truth to them the last time they had broken bread together? But I digress…

It was when the woman went to the last place they had seen their Lord—that they were told by a messenger that the One they were looking for wasn’t there! What! How He can He not be here? It’s where we left Him. We saw them put Him in there! And along with Him, went all our hopes and dreams. He must be there! He simply must be! Otherwise, where shall we go to find Him…?

Let me ask you friend—is it possible that you, like myself, and our brothers before us, continue to go back to a place that is familiar? Back to the spot you last saw Him, had your last encounter with Him? Have we become tomb dwellers?Seeking what is alive among what’s dead? Are we looking for a God who is no longer in the familiar place we left Him—our go-to spots?

“He is not there, He is risen!”—Matthew 28:6

Is God calling you, as He is me, to a new place today? That He might open our eyes to our unbeknownst gray-ness? To point out, that we—those that want Him, live for Him, will go out searching for Him, that we need to be willing to move out beyond what we know—just as those that went before us did. Think Peter getting out of the boat here.

To meet Jesus in a new place, he had to first leave his familiar that he might walk, however briefly, where no mere man ever had or could, without Jesus (Matthew 14:28-29).

And, since Jesus is speaking to us too, guiding us, as he did our brothers, to follow Him, to be open to experiencing Him afresh—in a new place, recharged, glowing with renewed power and purpose shouldn’t we, like Peter leap over the side of our proverbial boats and start walking on the water we’re being called to walk upon!

“I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you.”—John 14:18

He wasn’t just speaking to those He was about to physically depart from…

The entire 16th Chapter of the Gospel of St. John is filled with instructions—specific instructions. Instructions for you and for me.  Look them up for yourself. Re-member them, roll around in them, let them seep into your pores, swim in your very Blood—His!

“His Word is the same, yesterday, today, and forever more.”—Hebrews 13:8  And, since this is Truth, then what Jesus spoke in love, from a deep place of great caring and foreknowledge—applies to us as well. “I pray for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one.”—John 17:1-2

Friend, Jesus isn’t challenging our grayness today because He doesn’t love us, God forbid! Rather, He is chastising us—stirring us up, to re-member with the passion we once carried in our hearts for our First Love…

To re-member, reconnect, with that passion, the desire, the time spent—alone, longing just for Him! To re-member how we could not wait to be with Him, to sit at His feet, hanging on His every Word—like some young groupie! How we told everyone we met about this man Jesus! We were alive, in love, piping hot—on fire! There wasn’t a shred of gray-ness, of lukewarmness, about us. And today, like no other time in the history of the world, grayness cannot be tolerated.

Why?

Ask the Pharisees. Grayness is neutral, it’s half believing, it hasn’t chosen, committed, to a side. Grayness, lukewarmness, is being a fence straddler, a half-in, half out kinda person, an, in between person. How can that person expect to please God! —Lk 20:45-47

Signs. God always gives us signs.  A warning. Time to prepare. Noah will vouch for this…

The Sun and moon and stars—times. Signs in the heavens pointing towards what God is about to do—has promised to do. “And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight.”—Acts 1:9

If we are to shed our gray-ness, now that we have been made aware of it, and become re-awakened, more determined than ever before to recommit to God what is His—knowing that time is short. And, to chase after Him, and all that He has for us to do for Heaven’s sake—then we must leave the familiar safety of the Gospels behind. As life-affirming, and informed as they are, we must be willing to go out beyond what is comfortable and familiar to us—out past the death of the Cross, and the entombment of the grave. We, like our brothers before us, must follow what Jesus is calling us to do now—today. Not only what we first believed. What’s familiar…

We must stir the embers of our once raging fires…

“And do this, understanding the occasion. The hour has come for you to wake up from your slumber, for our salvation is nearer now than when we first believed. The night is nearly over; the day has drawn near. So let us lay aside the deeds of darkness and put on the armor of light.…”—Romans13:11

Join me next week as I share Part 3, the final post of this teaching. Until then, may the Lord bless you and keep you until He returns…

 

 

Are You Going Gray? Revelation 3: 15-16

December 3, 2017 /

 “I know your deeds, that you are[neither cold (invigorating, refreshing) nor hot (healing, therapeutic); I wish that you were  cold or hot. So because you are lukewarm (spiritually useless), and neither hot nor cold, I will vomit you out of My mouth [rejecting you with disgust].”

He’s not speaking to the world in general. In Chapter 3 of the book of Revelation, God is talking specifically to His own—to the Body of Christ, the Church.

If you are a Blood bought believer in Jesus Christ, then God is talking to you! And, if you don’t yet know Him, now is the time. He loves you fiercely, and wants you to be with Him always…

Before we get into this Word, lets pray: Spirit of the Living God, illuminate your Word, breath your Ruach breath on it, that it may come alive in us, and through us feed may. In Jesus matchless name we pray. Amen

Gray days, we all have them—perhaps even a season of gray-ness…

Everything just feels neutral—status quo. No great highs, neither any major dips, or lows. We are not one way nor the other—we’re neutral—comfortable, blithely moving along. Our ministries are fine, our lives, fine. So are our families, friends, finances, and oh yeah, so are those sins that so easily entangle, those little foxes we’ve allowed to slip into our house—they’re fine too…

Wait, what! Sin is fine? No! No, it’s not! It’s not fine!

Now that I have your undivided attention you’re ready to hear that in the same way you were just reading along and then wham, something slipped in that wasn’t right, didn’t belong, so it is with satan. One of the enemy’s greatest tricks—his greatest deceptions, is to lull us—unsuspectingly, into a state of gray—of complacency.

Neutral-ness, grayness, lukewarm-ness, will kill your fervor for God—and for His people! If the enemy of your soul, that roaring, roaming, vicious, lying enemy—set on taking you out, can’t rip you from God’s Mighty Hands, then he will settle for robbing you of your passion. The power of your light…

I feel the Lord impressing upon me that now is not a time for grayness, neutrality. Not a time to be lukewarm! He will tolerate that no longer. It’s as though God is calling His children to perform an, ‘internal temperature check’ of sorts. Not to shame us, and certainly not to harm us. But rather to refine us, to bring us that one step closer to Him. Like myself, any believer who has had their sleep disturbed when the Holy Spirit roused them at 1, 2, 3 o’clock in the morning with that ‘call’ that goes off in the pit of your belly, that tightening that will not be ignored—that Holy disruption that wakes you up, or sits you down, or stops you in your tracks at random times of your day. Knows what I’m talking about. God is calling you to pray and pray and pray, pleading prayers of mercy. There’s a sense of urgency—a quickening, in your Spirit…

I know that you understand what I’m sharing.

And, as it is in the Spiritual realm, so too, will it manifest in the natural—the division, separation, polarization. The result of the great shaking, the sifting—the separation of the Sheep and the goats that has begun in the spirit realm. And, as with a woman’s labor pains, shall only increase. We, as a people, are experiencing a pronounced polarization in the natural world…

Allow me to explain.

If you are a parent, boss, leader—one in authority, then you should know that to lead and guide people righteously, then justice, mercy, patients, and a great deal of love, among other attributes, must accompany this great privilege. Even in doing all that your able however, there may yet come a time, when contrary to all you’ve poured into them, they will simply refuse to accept your kindness. And, so, with a heavy heart, you must allow them to go their own way. As I said, as it is in the Spirit, so it is about to manifest in the earth…

This is what I sense is happening in the Spirit, now.

God has left man with no excuse not to acknowledge Him. The world in which we live, all of creation, testifies as to His existence. And, in the technological age in which we live—now, in many places on earth, most have heard that there is only One True God—and of His Son, Jesus Christ. Most have heard that God sent Jesus into the world—a sinless sacrifice, so that all men might have the opportunity to be reconciled back to Him after sin had separated us from Him, after the fall of Adam and Eve in the garden. Yet contrary to this knowledge, many refuse to acknowledge God and turn to Him and repent of their sins. Allowing Him to restore them back into right relationship with Himself. A time is quickly coming upon us—a tipping point, when God will say enough, and contend with man no longer. When He will allow those, who continue to slander Him, refuse to acknowledge Him, those who mock and ridicule Him—to have their own way…

Since you are now reading this, you too now know.

God will always confirm His Word (Mark 16:20). How? Through His Spirit.

And, by signs. His Word tells us that He, in the last days, will sift the world. That there will come, in those days, a great sifting—a great separation, a stark division will occur. “…But he said, ‘No, lest while you gather up the tares you also uproot the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest, and at the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, “First gather together the tares and bind them in bundles to burn them, but gather the wheat into my barn” (Matthew 13:29-30).

One must only look at our sin-saturated society to see evidence of this division—this polarization that’s occurred—this line in the sand that becomes more divisive daily. And I’m not talking politics or its cabals here, they’re a symptom only—a byproduct of this polarization. I’m speaking specifically about a society that is now calling good evil and evil good. I’m talking about just how far, as a people, a society, most have drifted from God…

But the prickly part, the crux of this message, is not for those who have chosen not to follow Jesus, but rather, for those who have. Those He is speaking to in this verse. As believers in Christ Jesus, we His Body, must be held to a higher standard.

It must, according to Scripture, start with us…

Join me next week, God willing, on 12/10 when we’ll delve deeper into the more personal ‘prickly parts’ of this teaching. What specifically, is God calling His children to do, ‘in such a time as this?’ Until then saints, pray in the Spirit. Pray without ceasing. Repent, ask the Holy Spirit to reveal those ‘hidden’ areas in your life that need to be laid open before the Lord…

And, if you have not yet asked Jesus into your life as Lord and Savior, but what you’ve just read is resonating with you, then now, right now, without delay, is the time to ask Jesus to come into your life as Lord and Savior. Here’s what His Word assures you if you do: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Romans 9-10).

 

November 26, 2017 /

 “I have been crucified with Christ [in Him I have shared His crucifixion]; it is no longer I who live, but Christ (the Messiah) lives in me; and the life I now live in the body I live by faith in (by adherence to and reliance on and complete trust in) the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

Are you living the crucified life that you ought? Before you answer, keep in mind that If you have received Christ as Lord and Savior, then you’ve agreed to climb up on Christ’s Cross and be crucified with Him…

So, with that in mind, I’ll ask again: Are you living life dead to self and alive to Christ?

Those questions hit me like a thunder bolt! Jolting me out of my familiar mid-week leaning-in posture—causing me to sit straight up in Holy Ghost conviction!

Crucifixion. Not your typical topic of conversation. It conjures up images of unimaginable brutality and unthinkable cruelty. Yet, in the case of Jesus, though brutal yes, this unthinkable act was voluntary. The high-point of His coming into this world was to die for it.

And so should it be for us as well if we claim to know Jesus as Lord and Savior…

It was for Esam, an Iraq Christian, who, after 5 hours of torture, after being brutally beaten, was crucified by Isis in front of his wife and children. Why? When He was told to deny Jesus he refused. And so he was told, “If you will not deny this dog, this Jesus, then you will die like Him.” And he did.

Esam was crucified…

Was he afraid? I’m sure he was. Yet his love for Jesus, that promise he made that his life was no longer his own, strengthened him, giving him the grace necessary to surrender it all to God. “And they have overcome (conquered) him by means of the blood of the Lamb and by the utterance of their testimony, for they did not love and cling to life even when faced with death [holding their lives cheap till they had to die for their witnessing]” Revelation 12:11

Overcome: To subdue, over-power, to conquer. “Living your life unafraid to die for Christ’s sake empowers you to truly live your life for Him. Because to live is Christ and so too, to die…

I knew God had just said, Now that I have your full attention, this is where—the direction in which, I’m calling you. Follow me.

I recognized in an instant I was being sent back to the Cross—yet again. But my death, (unlike Jesus’s, unlike Esam’s), was purely spiritual; it’s dying daily to all my little gods. To straining the gray from my life, ridding it of lukewarmness, of me-ism’s, my death, my personal choice to lay down my life, to be crucified with Him, remains an ongoing process…

From my familiar seat, in familiar surroundings, I could hear too, the familiar steely echo of the hammer striking archetypal nails.

Loving God is meant to cost you. Serving God means understanding dichotomy—seeming contradictions. Dying to live. Giving to receive. Emptying yourself to be filled. In other words, thinking as God thinks, not as the world around you think…

The Pastor asked the above questions last night. He was unpacking his message and talking about how God had rebuked the Pharisees concerning their faithful—yes faithful, letter of the law tithing.

How Jesus chided them for having failed in true giving because what they had given was incomplete. Because when it came to the heart of their giving Jesus wanted more (Matthew 23:23). He wanted, wants, hearts that are generous in giving everything. Like Esam’s. Hearts, like His own, willing to give it all. Hearts lavish in showing mercy, open-handed in trust—in faith believing, princely in demonstrating love, kindness, and compassion. A heart that’s fair and just. One that uses the same scales to weigh another’s sins and short-comings as it does its own. A heart willing to die to its wants to please, build up, support, encourage, comfort, give, seek the best for, another. One that would rather die than to break his commitment to live for God…

Not one that is tight-fisted. Giving only what the law requires, says must be given—and not one thing more.

That’s when I thought  to myself what I believe we’ve all said to ourselves or aloud, at some point—if we’re Christians. My giving is pure, joyful, a privilege. I’ve been crucified with Christ; my life is no longer my own. That it is Christ who lives in me...

And I know that if you, like myself, love God, and have said this, you too have meant it—mean it, when you say it. I know I do. But do I, do we, mean it to the point of death?  Like Esam? Or do we mean it like the Pharisees meant it, giving what is required by the law but no more?

Do we mean it even when it costs us—because it will.

It will cost us because—love is, after all, sacrificial…

Something must go—must be given up, over to, surrendered, put to death. Over, and over, and, over again. For however long that love, that relationship lasts—else it will die—rot, dry up, from selfishness—from an overdose of; “But what about me….?”

The Pastor went on to point out how as new Christians, we take pride in our Christian-ness. In being able to quote a few Scriptures, serve on a ministry team, have our faces—better still, our names known by our fellow Christians, our pastor,  Christian 101. The alpha of our salvation. He then went on to point out the B’s and C’s of the Christian experience. He finished his teaching with an example of the more mature Christian. The one that has been through some battles, suffered seemingly unbearable loss, having some scars to show for their years—having carved out circles in midnight rugs as they battled in prayer—contending. Has spent time in the refiners finer—finding themselves prostrate on the floor—in tears of gratitude, or repentance. Who knows this walk—their strengths and abilities, have nothing to do with self and everything to do with God. That in truth, they’ve yet to scratch the surface of knowing their unplumbed God…

But they want to—they strive to, will give anything—to know Him more.

He’s all they have—all I have.

Hence the ongoing deaths—our love for Him drives us back to His Cross…

Love requires that we give everything, not simply what the law requires.

Love is sacrificial…

It drives us back to the hammering and the nails that recommit us—to our sacrificial life’s work—death to self and life in Christ. And, for as long as we live in these tents of flesh they’re necessary— the hammer and the nails, those cyclical trips to the Cross—they’re air and water necessary to our souls. Only Jesus died once for all—we are not Him…

Though He lives in us and through us, we, unlike Him, are not yet perfected as He is perfected.

I was jarred when the Pastor asked those questions of us—of me. My answer, ashamedly—honestly, was no.

No, I’m not wholly living my life-like I had crawled up on His Cross and died. I leave far too much room for myself—my wants, thinking, and abilities. Though I want to, strive to, and at times do give it all—I am non-the-less selfish. My flesh wins out far too often in its ongoing war with my Spirit. And it is here, in this knowledge, in my weakness that I was reminded I have a Father who knew how selfish, imperfect, and flawed I was when He called me to be His own. It’s why He sent Jesus into my pig-pen, to wrap a cloak around me, to put His signet ring on my finger, and to prepare a feast—and a permanent place for me…

So then, I will not, must not, allow the enemy of my soul to condemn me for something God has sent His Only Son to free me from. Though God lovingly convicts me that I may grow in Him, though He demands that I relinquish what does not reflect Him to the world around me, I do not stand condemned before Him.  Why? The finished work of Jesus has redeemed me—His Life, His death, and His resurrection.

Jesus did for me—for you, for the whole of the world, what we could not do for ourselves. His perfect—spotless, sacrificial death, His Blood—if received by us, by anyone, reinstate us to right relationship with Father God.

But as I’ve said from the outset of this message—Loving God will cost you, because true love, at its core, is sacrificial.

It always seeks what’s best for its beloved. It serves—first, loves, first, gives, first, forgives, first, encourages, comes-up alongside of, lays down the right to, thinks of other before self…first.

True love is the mirror image of God’s love for us turned out toward the world—towards each other…

Hence our need, my need to return to that Cross—His Cross, my Highest example of what death to self is Truly all about. That I might, unlike the Pharisees Jesus chastised, learn to give God my all. My very best. Those things that cost me to give…

For God so loved the world that He gave, His only Son—so that I might, we might, know Him, and through that knowing be transformed into His image. And continue as vessels that bring—carry life, to the world as He did.

Like Father—like daughter/son.

My brother, my sister, if you claim to know Him, to have received Him—His Spirit, I’ll ask of you what was asked of me, what convicted me.

Are you living as though you had climbed up on Christ’s Cross and been crucified with Him? Are you living your life dead to self? Or are you living the way of the Pharisees? Giving some, but not all, to God? I urge you to pray to the Lord that He may show you where you need to lay “self” down.

I pray your strength as I pray my own…

And, if you don’t yet know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, today is the acceptable day, now—right now, wherever you are, whatever you’re doing, stop. Just stop. Ask Jesus into your heart now—and mean it, He will come…

“But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved” (Romans 10: 8-10; emphasis added).

 

“Why Peter?” Matthew 16:15-17

November 19, 2017 /

 “He said to them, But who do you [yourselves] say that I am?  Simon Peter replied, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God. Then Jesus answered him, Blessed (happy, fortunate, and [a]to be envied) are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. For flesh and blood [men] have not revealed this to you, but My Father Who is in heaven.”

So why is it that Jesus called Peter out of the boat? Why not Andrew, John, or James? If it were to demonstrate to them all the truth of His divinity, then certainly His walking on the water, according to both Johns and Marks Gospel accounts, accomplished that. Each writer clearly states that, all of those in the boat fell down and acknowledged that He was the Son of God.

So why Peter?

Why did Jesus call Him—solely, to step out of the boat and walk on a raging, life-threatening, sea?

I posit, and the Scriptures certainly backs up, that it was apparently groundwork for what was yet to come…

For a Peter who ran, God came. For a loud mouth, God came. For one who was so rash he reached for a sword as his answer, God came. For a leader who tucked-tailed, God came. For a beloved friend who denied Him, not once or twice, but thrice, God came. For what God saw inside the heart of Peter, and not what we see, God came. And, through Peter’s life, the Holy Spirit reveals what can happen to a man when God comes…

Think of it. Walking on water—stepping out on a sea as solid as dry land, for however briefly, is something one would never forget. And, even if the memory of it dimmed with time—as the most powerful of our memories do, one word, one poke at the embers of that experience and it would rage white-hot once again!

The foundation for doing the seemingly impossible—the sheer miraculous, had been laid—through this one-act of obedience, of great faith. Great humility would be laid in Peter also, suffusing with this faith—but only after his unfathomable betrayal. And these would come together and congeal with his fierce loyalty. An allegiance that was born both from revelation knowledge—gnosis, and from directly tasting the fruit of that revelation—of what Jesus offered, however baffling at times—repeatedly.

Knowing it would never be found—that Truth, in anyone or anything else. Ever…

And, that one experience, mixed with this humility and this knowledge—this gnosis, would be so seared into Peter’s being, his faith, that even the denial of its Author—as astonishing and heart-rending as it was, could not erase what he knew to be Truth. We see evidence of that on a sandy shore during breakfast—John 21:15-17.

It was to Peter that Jesus said if he’d but give Him the rest of His life, He would make him into a ‘fisher of men’, one who would change the world—Mark 1:17. It was Peter to whom God revealed that Jesus was the Messiah—the Son of God, the rock—the Truth, on which His Church would be built when asked, “Who do you say that I am?”– Matthew 16:13-20 And, too, it was Peter, who, after the visitation of the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room, addressed the crowd gathered in Jerusalem for Passover, each in his own language—and about 3000 were saved and baptized—Acts 2:41. And Peter who first brought the Word of God to the gentiles when Cornelius and his entire household accepted Jesus as Lord and were baptized—Acts 10. Peter, who is recognized as the Apostolic leader of the early Church whose counsel Paul, and Barnabas sought about how the gentiles should be taught to practice the way and their rights as followers—Acts 15.

And in the end, it was Peter who was crucified upside down. Not worthy, according to his own words, to taste death as His Lord did.

Yet throughout the Gospels we see evidence too, of the dichotomy present in Peter. His bold profession’s and pitiful shortcomings. His humanity.

The very same Peter who denied Him and ran, God chose to be the pillar of the early Church

Yet it is this bold, impetuous, ill-tempered, sometime weak-as-water, unwavering martyr that God used—to help carry the Gospel forward and perpetuate the Truth of Who Jesus is, and the Life He offers—that is still producing fruit to this day.

Back to my original question. Why Peter? There were at least 10 others that loved Jesus as Peter did. Who had given up everything and followed as Peter had. Left homes, families, husbands, wives, and children—gave of their time and resources until they had given it all. Up to their very lives…

What was it that Jesus saw inside of Peter? Surely, he wasn’t perfect.

I believe the Word shows us that it was both the measure of faith, as well as the fierce loyalty that God had placed in Peter—Romans 12:6, along with a deep and abiding humility, that set him apart for the task which God had called him—John 21:15-17. Though he didn’t always understand Jesus—or His teachings, Peter recognized the Truth in them. Simple man that he was, Peter knew, that only Jesus had these Words of Life—these teachings, and that outside of them there was nothing—John 6:68. Not that the other’s lacked faith or loyalty, they didn’t. But God knew what He had created Peter for—what would be asked of him—required, and exactly what it would take to see Peter through—to accomplish what He had destined Peter for. And through him, his Church on earth. And it would take walk-on-water faith, and an abiding, in-the-face-of-all-adversity, stalwart loyalty, mixed with a knee-bending humility, to partner in perpetuating God’s eternal Truth…

Jesus Christ is the way, and the Truth, and the Life—John 14:6

What has God placed exclusively within you, Peter?

More, will you  be faithful, humble, and, loyal to what He has given you also—for such a time as this—and, for those who you alone were created to influence?

“Immeasurable Value” Philippians 1:29

November 12, 2017 /

 “For you have been granted [the privilege] for Christ’s sake, not only to believe and confidently trust in Him, but also to suffer for His sake…” 

Solomon tells us that there is a time and a season for everything under heaven. So it shouldn’t surprise us that the Lord brought forth a time—a season, specifically set aside, associated with—being thankful. We actually call it, “Thanksgiving.” A time when we gather as a collective, connected, human family and recall all that we are thankful for. We sit—gathered around tables and steaming platters of food, hands joined, and hearts bent inward.

In a prayer—a confession, we take turns saying what it is we are most grateful for.

In a social media exercise conducted on Facebook of the top ten things people are most grateful for—Number One on the list, topping the charts, was friendship. People were most grateful for their friends. Also in the top ten are “family and friends,” “husband,” “children,” and “daughter.” It appears that we are most thankful for the people we are closest to.

By far, the most significant, meaningful, fulfilling, the most precious relationship I have—the friend I value most in life, is Jesus. It’s the relationship I have with Him. And so, it’s here—as the head of this table, the one you and I are seating at, that I’ll ask you to indulge me for a moment so that I might talk a bit about who it is I am most grateful for.

Hopefully—you share in my gratitude? But if not, maybe later, as our time together comes to a close—you will…

I didn’t go looking for a friendship with Jesus.

I knew of Him certainly, but that was all—a knowing, a head knowledge. It was a start, a seed…

Years of Catholic school and my weak as water faith in the fact that there was more to life than what I was experiencing, was the only true thread that connected me to God. That, and the fact that I had always believed—felt, somehow intrinsically knew, that there was a reason behind all that I saw around me. Mind you, I take no credit for this knowing. It was a gift. I wasn’t a person who believed in random anything. I still don’t. I know now that though I didn’t yet know (ginṓskō ) God—He certainly knew me, in the truest, most intimate sense! And why wouldn’t He, after all He created me, formed me, knew my most intimate thoughts and intrical parts. God speaks of His intimate knowledge of His friends this way: “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” (emphasis my own).

I didn’t choose Jesus, as I said. He chose me, wooed me. He stood over the void He was about to turn into the place I know as home and said, Yes, I think MaryEllen will fit perfectly into my plan for this place. And He did it before He created one tree, one fish. Before grass was green He chose me to be His! And so, in His infinite wisdom, and, for lack of a word I’ve not yet found to describe His loving-kindness, His goodness, and unmerited mercy, God was gracious unto me and called me to be His own—His friend…

He set a place—a forever, exclusive seat at His table for me…

So in this season, and every day that He allows me to live—to be used by Him in some small way, I am grateful…

But it’s now, here, with you, that He is reminding me of this great privilege I’ve been afforded. Not everyone knows Him—or wants to. I’ll leave the theological explanations of why to those far more learned than I. What I can tell you with absolute certainty, with boldness, is this. If He had not chosen me, I’d be dead. Most likely literally, but if not, most certainly I’d be among the living dead—the hopeless. You see my life had become a cesspool. There’s a saying that will give you a glimpse of what I’m talking about. It goes something like this: You can put a gown on a pig and a gold ring through its nose—but it’s still a pig. And that friend, describes my state of thinking and living right up to the second Jesus reached across time and eternity and took me to be His…

Everything on the outside looked fine—hence the gown and gold ring on our fictional pig…

Three beautiful, healthy children, a home, good food, a car, money in my pocket, talents, and a family that hadn’t tossed me to the wolves. Even after years of my abandoning them. Yet I was a train wreck—wallowing in sin, depressed, in denial, manipulative, and, angry. Knowing it was wrong—I was wrong, wanting out—but feeling as though I were powerless to change one thing. And I was. No one—unless their out of their minds, literally, would choose living that way…

And then Jesus came. Bringing with Him the change only He can. Just like that, seemingly, out of nowhere. I know now—have some small glimpse in retrospect, of how Paul may have felt when Jesus knocked him off His horse! “And he fell to the ground. Then he heard a voice saying to him, Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me [harassing, troubling, and molesting Me]? And Saul said, Who are You, Lord? And He said, I am Jesus, Whom you are persecuting. [b]It is dangerous and it will turn out badly for you to keep kicking against the goad [to offer vain and perilous resistance]” (Acts 9:4-5). Though I didn’t hear one Word from Jesus the day He knocked me off my proverbial horse—I most assuredly felt Him. I knew something had just happened to me as I sat there listening to the priest exegete his homily.

Yet I had no idea—no frame of reference for what that feeling was—nor how it would immediately, lastingly, turn my life upside down—in the best possible way…

It cost me. His coming to me, being chosen by Him—it cost me. If fact, it still is, costing me that is. But oh, what a privilege, an honor really, to pay the price of calling Jesus my own! And yet my cost has been chicken feed when compared to what Jesus willingly paid to call me His…

Again, I can relate to how Paul tells it, listen: “But whatever former things were gains to me [as I thought then], these things [once regarded as advancements in merit] I have come to consider as loss [absolutely worthless] for the sake of Christ [and the purpose which He has given my life]. 8 But more than that, I count everything as loss compared to the priceless privilege and supreme advantage of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord [and of growing more deeply and thoroughly acquainted with Him—a joy unequaled]. For His sake I have lost everything, and I consider it all garbage, so that I may gain Christ…” (Philippians 3:7-8).

I felt compelled today to share this…

First as a reminder to myself—because though I’ve been afforded this awesome privilege, both of salvation and friendship with Jesus, and to partake—share, in His suffering, truth be told, shamefully, I often forget just how very precious and costly this privilege is. How dearly another—willingly, lovingly paid the price that I might taste of its goodness at all! Secondly, but no less important, to remind you too—if you’ve been chosen by Jesus, knocked off your proverbial horse as it where, to return to the place—to the fervor, of where it all began—this thankfulness…

Friend, thank you for joining me at my table…

And thank you for allowing me the privilege of sharing with you the Person for who I am most grateful. Jesus Christ. Prayerfully, you too are thankful for Him in your own life. But allow me, if you will, another moment to speak to anyone who may not share in our gratefulness because they’ve not met our Lord.

Friend, there is room at this table for you…

Jesus has set a place for you as well. He didn’t forget about you. He set it two thousand plus years ago at His Cross. The Blood—His innocent Blood, was shed there for you—so that you too may be called His chosen, His friend. He’s done all that was asked of Him and He tells us in His Word that if we ask Him to come to us, and believe that He is who He says He is, then salvation is ours—friendship with Him is ours. “But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart,” that is, the word of faith we are proclaiming: that if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with your heart you believe and are justified, and with your mouth you confess and are saved.…” (Romans 10:8-10).

Won’t you call out to Him today? Please, join us in fellowship as we celebrate—this gift of giving thanks to The One…

Give thanks with a grateful heart

Give thanks to the Holy One

Give thanks because He’s given Jesus Christ, His Son

And now let the weak say, “I am strong”

Let the poor say, “I am rich

Because of what the Lord has done for us

Give thanks…”

 

“Proper Use” For” 1 Corinthians 7:31

November 5, 2017 /

 …” and those who use the world [taking advantage of its opportunities], as though they did not make full use of it. For the outward form of this world [its present social and material nature] is passing away.” 1 Corinthians 7:31

 Before we get into today’s teaching, let’s first define the word, use.  The proper ‘how to’ of using a thing, as referenced in our Scripture verse.

Use:The privilege or benefit of using something…

In Chapter Seven, Paul deals with questions asked him in a letter by the Christians in Corinth.

Today, for the purpose of this teaching, we’ll focus only on verse 31 of this informative, ‘how-to’ Chapter. We’ll look at how our hearts and minds ought to view the ‘things’ we’re given—even those, especially those, that are pleasant and seem good to us. And, how the viewing of them, these, ‘things’, directly affects how we ought to be experiencing the passing of time…

This topic, the proper use of things, is one the Holy Spirit has dealt with me on. And, as with all messages He gives, they’re first run, as a heart check, through me, and only then, passed on to you. My prayer for you before we move on is that you allow God to have His perfect way in you. Accomplishing all that He wills in and through you as you read on, and always…

So, now, as we jump in, Scripture, as it should always be, will be our guide today. Our foundation, our facilitator, in getting us started in the right direction. Paul, in part, is teaching us in this chapter to have, ‘imminent thinking’, just as he has had. To be ever aware that at any moment, quite literally, Jesus will return. It’s not a, ‘He might’ thing—rather, it’s a He will!

It’s written in Stone…

Paul cautions us in today’s verse to be vigilant—always at the ready! He is simply reiterating for us what Jesus said to us in Matthew 24:44: “Therefore you also be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”

So let me ask you, “Are you ready to meet Jesus? If not, now, today is being afforded you the opportunity to!…

As Christians—followers of Christ, He calls us to live our lives in imminent expectancy—Listen: “Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, And my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor” (Psalm 39:5, emphasis my own). In other words, regardless of how long you may live—it’s only but a moment when compared to our eternity…

Once we—through the revelation of the Holy Spirit, grasp just how fleeting our time on earth is, it should bring about a change in the way we desire to use this time we’ve been blessed with. Though we’re free to choose how we use what we’ve been given, if you call yourself a Christian—if you know Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, then you should always—in all you do, (not just in marriage, as Paul was referring, but also in relationships, work, good deeds, with your possessions, or within your ministry), have your eyes focused on eternity. On Jesus. Being good stewards of whatever time we’ve been given. So, now that we have a biblical direction in place pointing us towards—our due north, concerning how it is we should wisely use our time, let’s look next at how we ought to be regarding—dealing with, the ‘things’ in our lives.

We should never lose sight of why we are here and what God’s purpose in having given us— gifted us, with anything, is truly for.  And that is to be used to advance the will of God and His Kingdom. They were not given, these blessings and talents, so that, he with the most toys at the end wins! Quite the contrary. Everything we have been given, and all that we do with it should bring glory to God. Everything. “So then, whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the glory of [our great] God” (1 Corinthians 10:31).

I don’t know about you, but I have a propensity—a bent, towards allowing stuff, things, possessions, even time, to get the best of me. Let me explain…

If I am not watchful, and too often, if I’m being transparent here, I’m not, I allow the enemy to slip in through the crack in the door my lack of humility creates. Next thing I know I find myself thinking that all the stuff in my life (for the sake of this teaching I’ll focus on material, tangible, things such as my home, furniture, car, possessions) is actually mine. And, mind you, to a certain degree it is mine. But not for the reasons the enemy is promoting. Pride in self, in my accomplishments, in what I’ve done. Think King Nebuchadnezzar here, you can read it for yourself if you’re not familiar (Daniel 4:28-30). Rather, everything is mine because God in His infinite love and through His provisional care, choose to bless me with it—has provided it for my use. And it is, and forever will be, His choosing to bless me, not anything I’ve done or given to myself, that has brought any of it into existence—contrary to how strenuously the world may disagree with that line of Truth… “O LORD our God, all this abundance that we have provided to build You a house for Your holy name, it is from Your hand, and all is Yours” (1 Chronicles 29:16).

Yes we work. We partner with God. But before we were ever able to do so, He had to have first equipped us to do so. Who provided us the job? Deeper, who gifted us with the talents and abilities to do said job once it was given to us? You get where this is going? Which  brings me to the root of this teaching. The ‘how to’ of using the things God has given us—gifted you and I with.

And more, deeper still, the ‘heart-attude’ in which they should be honored…

As with all things given us by the Lord we should hold our belongings loosely—with an open hand.

How we hold what’s given us mirrors back at us the condition of our hearts…

The posture of our heart is a direct indication whether we’re grateful, faithful, and trusting in God. Whether we’re looking for ways—opportunities, to share with others, all that God has blessed us with. Is our hand open to allow ‘all who will’ to partake(Revelation 22:17 )? Do we see—think of, all that we’ve been freely given rightly—through the Perfect lens of Scripture? Do we view every-thing we’ve been blessed with as a tool to be used, in some small or great way, for advancing The Kingdom of God?

As a key that unlocks the blessings for future generations?

Do we use everything to demonstrate the love of Jesus to a lost, a dark, and a dying world? Or, are we, like the world, blinded by a heart whose roots got tangled up in the wrong soil? Producing within us the fruit of selfish ambitions? Have we allowed so much of the world to seep in, that we’ve lost sight, however briefly, of eternity? Are we scared that if we share—give of what we have, we might run out ourselves? Ugly I know, but is it possible that our  perceived or perhaps tangible tastes of lack have allowed us to believe that we might lose all that we’ve wrongly chosen to hold dear? That if we don’t keep our hand closed, perhaps someone else will come and steal it—what’s ours! And so, in fear, we close—ball up our hand into a fist. We close off any chance of anyone taking anything that’s ours…

The problem with that isn’t so much about the posture of the hand, though wrong and harmful, as it is the posture of the heart…

Fix the heart and the hand will follow. Time is short. Any ‘thing’ that you’ve ever called your own is a gift from God. Ask the Holy Spirit to do a heart check in you today. Use the tools  you’ve been blessed with wisely—keeping your eyes fixed on eternity always…

I remind you of this Truth today because the Holy Spirit first reminded me…

My hand is open to you, come, take what you will. As I’ve been given, I freely give. “Iron sharpens iron; so a man sharpens the countenance of his friend [to show rage or worthy purpose]” (Proverbs 27:17).

If you have not asked Jesus to be your Lord and Savior, now is the acceptable time. If you’ve felt Him tugging at your heart as you read these words today, please friend, answer Him with a resounding and heartfelt, “Here I am Lord!”

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