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

Tag: Rapture

Until Then…

January 28, 2023 /
MaryEllen Montville

“So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask him to send more workers into his fields.” –Matthew 9:38.

God alone knows the hour He will say to Jesus, His Son, “It’s time for You to bring Your Bride home. Now go—the house has been readied to receive her. My Father’s house has many rooms; if that 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 take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. –John 14:2-3.

In Matthew 9:38, Jesus was speaking to His disciples. He asked them to pray for the physical solution to a great spiritual need. We would do well to imitate this principle.

Countless souls from every tribe and tongue, desperate for hope, healing, and deliverance. Lost and wandering, sheep in need of a Shephard. In need of those chosen by God to proclaim the Good News to “whosoever will.” 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.

Jesus knew many were ready. “Ripe” to believe in Him, in the Good News of the radical Gospel of repentance and salvation He preached. From then on Jesus began to preach, “Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” –Matthew 4:17. The problem, if it can be called that, is that there was only one of Him. Only One who could deliver, save, heal and set free. One God-man standing amidst a sea of need.

Within Matthew, Chapter Nine, we read that Jesus healed a man who, some say, had been paralyzed since birth. Jesus also raised a young girl from the dead. Then, He called a new disciple. He restored the sight of not one but two blind men. Jesus healed a woman who, the Bible tells us, had been bleeding for twelve years. And immediately following all of this, and knowing the work ahead, the sheer number of those that will come to believe in Him as a result of the miracles He has and will do. Jesus knows the time is at hand for more “harvesters”  to be deployed. Those He will call, just as He did these disciples, to join them in their labors. And so, Jesus instructs His disciples to pray for those who are coming. Then He said to His disciples, “The harvest is [indeed] plentiful, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into His harvest.” –Matthew 9:37-38.

I tell you the truth, anyone who believes in me will do the same works I have done, and even greater works, because I am going to be with the Father. –John 14:12. Jesus is not suggesting that anyone He had or, by the power of the Holy Spirit, will call to Himself, ever could or will “outdo what He has done.” No. When Jesus spoke these words, He was speaking of sheer numbers. Quantity, not quality.

In His Sovereignty, God knew there would be an ever-greater need for those who would do what He was doing—had come to do. The will of His Father. To proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord to the captive—setting people free. The Spirit of the Lord is on Me, because He has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim liberty to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to release the oppressed, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor. –Luke 4:18-19.

Today, Beloved, we are blessed to have been chosen by God to do just that. Join Jesus in doing the will of our Father by proclaiming the acceptable year of the Lord to the captive.

We get to spread the Good News of salvation worldwide with the click of our mouse. Via a single podcast or television program. Modern technology enables us to reach more people with the Gospel daily than perhaps Jesus did in His three-year earthly ministry. And, while some today, by the power of the Holy Spirit, have been given the power and authority to heal the sick, cast out demons, lay hands on, and deliver a soul from oppressive spirits, not everyone who professes to be a believer will do any of one these. There are spiritual seasons. Seasons of grace in which the Holy Spirit moves in power according to the will of the Father.

God chooses to use us according to His will—think Jesus’s mother, Mary, here. Or Moses, Noah, David, and the Apostle Paul. Or that one God used just today to lay hands on that soul bound by addiction one moment and was freed the next.

The Apostles had power bestowed upon them by the Holy Spirit per the season for which they’d been called. Remember, the Church was nascent. And God was moving differently than He did say, in David’s day or ours. Now that is not to say we will not or cannot experience such an anointing or outpouring in our time—that is for God alone to decide. We must watch and wait and be ready should it happen.

Yet even if it should, we will never outdo the One who created and endowed us with His power and authority.

Beloved, only God knows when He will send my Lord to bring us Home, ushering in then, the great and final harvest, the end of this age. How blessed are we to have been chosen to be a part of it at all! An answer to prayer? When Jesus and His disciples prayed to the Father for workers. They weren’t just praying for the one who showed up after the amen; they were also praying for us. That God would send us out to gather in those He had sealed in Christ Jesus from before the foundation of the world—so that not one soul be missed. God has made us what we are, and in our union with Christ Jesus he has created us for a life of good deeds, which he has already prepared for us to do. –Ephesians 2:10.

 And so, Beloved, when Jesus returns, may He find us doing the will of our Father.

Dear friend, if you’ve read this far and what you’ve read makes no sense to you, please, take a moment, and ask Jesus to reveal its Truth to you. Invite Him into your life as Lord, repenting of your sins, and ask Him to give you new hope, new sight, a new life in Him! We don’t know when Jesus will return, only that He will. Please, be found ready when He does. “Then the kingdom of heaven shall be likened to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. Now five of them were wise, and five were foolish. Those who were foolish took their lamps and took no oil with them, but the wise took oil in their vessels with their lamps. But while the bridegroom was delayed, they all slumbered and slept. “And at midnight a cry was heard: ‘Behold, the bridegroom is coming; go out to meet him!’ Then all those virgins arose and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.’ But the wise answered, saying, ‘No, lest there should not be enough for us and you; but go rather to those who sell, and buy for yourselves.’ And while they went to buy, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding; and the door was shut. “Afterward the other virgins came also, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open to us!’ But he answered and said, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, I do not know you.’ “Watch therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour in which the Son of Man is coming. –Matthew 25:1-13.

Suddenly.

August 22, 2020 /
“So stay alert. You have no idea when he might arrive” –Matthew 25:13.

This teaching is dedicated to Jillian and Hayden. It’s their wedding day! Mazel Tov!

Today we’ll be exploring the marriage supper of the Lamb and, how in many ways, it mirrors a traditional Galilean wedding. Specifically, the suddenly of the Bridegroom’s return for his bride. We’ll do this by exploring the roles of both the bride and groom, as Jesus and His disciples would have understood them. Taking that understanding then, we can contrast it against our expectations for His imminent return for us, His bride, and see how the two line up. If you’re familiar with Scripture, you’ll recognize today’s verse as a final warning given by Jesus at the closing of the Parable of the Ten Bridesmaids—fitting considering verses 1-13 address our need to be prepared for His return. To more fully appreciate this suddenly moment described in Matthews’s Gospel, we’ll take a more in-depth look into the Galilean wedding customs. After all, there’s a reason Jesus chose to use this familiar analogy when teaching His disciples more about the Kingdom of God and His future return…

First, comes the betrothal—the promise. It’s a pledge made between the father of the groom and the father of the bride— the “bride price” is settled here. This pledge is meant to recognize the value of the bride and the loss her family will experience once she leaves the familial home. This pledge is a fundamental part of the Galilean wedding custom. A negotiation that clearly outlines the rights and responsibilities of the bridegroom towards his bride—this pledge carries the full-weight and responsibility of his father’s assurance to fulfill it. “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” –John 3:16.

Once an agreement for the “bride’s price” had been reached, the prospective couple is then brought together, face to face now, the groom pours a cup of wine. Then, taking the first sip from it, he offers it to his bride. This shared cup of wine symbolizing the new covenant he is choosing to enter into with her. “In the same way, after supper he took the cup, saying, “This cup is the new covenant in my blood; do this, whenever you drink it, in remembrance of me” –1 Corinthians 11:25; Luke 22:20. If she accepts his cup and drinks from it, she is stating in front of him, and those witnesses gathered around them, that she too wishes to enter into this marriage contract.  Yet it’s here, before accepting his cup, that the bride may refuse the terms of the marriage proposal that’s been offered her—being free after all, to either accept or reject them. If she accepts his cup, she is then recognized by all as “the one who was bought with a price.” “Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies” –1 Corinthians 6:19-20. She’s an engaged woman now.

The gathering of the two families and their witnesses breaks up here. And immediately the groom returns to his insula—his father’s house. Here he begins preparing the place, the rooms he will eventually bring his bride to after their wedding feast is over. It’s here, in his father’s insula, where these newlyweds will live. Here in this cluster of buildings where his parents and aunts, uncles, and grandparents each live within the rooms, they added on at the time of their betrothals. “In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also” –John 14:2-3.

And while it is the bridegroom’s responsibility to go and prepare the place that he and the bride will live, he is also responsible to ensure she has everything she will need within her future home as well. “Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him” –Matthew 7:11-12! And since only the father knows the hour, he’ll release his son to go and retrieve his bride, the son is free then to attend to the final preparations, all those finishing touches, for their insula. “But as for that day or hour, no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father” –Mark 13:32. The father has spared no expense—no sacrifice to himself too great to ensure that his son’s bride has the absolute best he has to offer her. Remember, she is valuable to him. “This is my blood, and with it God makes his agreement with you. It will be poured out, so that many people will have their sins forgiven.” –Matthew 26:28.

While the bridegroom’s been away busying himself preparing the place for his future bride, the bride has kept busy as well. She has been diligently focused. Making certain she has been a good steward of all that’s been freely provided her. Ensuring then, she will be impeccably dressed in her pure, white wedding gown. Now, having done all that she can, she is ready—she waits patiently then for the sound of her bridegroom’s arrival. “Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already been perfected, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. I do not consider myself yet to have laid hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize of God’s heavenly calling in Christ Jesus” –Philippians 3:12-14. Much time has passed since the bridegroom vowed to return for his bride yet, she holds dear their pledge of fidelity. And while waiting she remembers—takes comfort that they drank from the one shared cup of their new covenant.

Now, suddenly, at long last, the father finally wakes his son, telling him it is time to go and take hold of his bride! Jumping up quickly, the bridegroom is off to gather her to himself! He’s been longing for this moment! The familiar blast of his shofar is heard by all. Those wise guests, the same ones who have been expecting this joyous moment, come running; dressed, and ready to meet the bridegroom on his way to gather his bride…! “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’ “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps” –Matthew 25:6-7. And then he sees her—a vision in pure and sparkling white standing before Him. His bride, without spot or wrinkle. She has been dressed and ready to meet him, eagerly expecting his imminent arrival. “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him. Dear friends, now we are children of God, and what we will be has not yet been made known. But we know that when Christ appears, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is” –1 John 3:1-2.

Now friends, having gained a greater understanding of how Jesus and His disciples understood the allegories played out within the Galilean wedding tradition, (remember, it was at just such a wedding in Cana that Jesus performed His first miracle!) is it any wonder He used its example to emphasize the Father’s extravagant love for His children while teaching His disciples—teaching us about our need to be ready for His imminent return? About His willingness to lay down His own life for us—His Bride? Teaching us all then, what we must do to ensure our preparedness for His imminent return. And, the heart-wrenching state those who do not have a relationship with Jesus will find themselves in when He does suddenly return? “Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps. The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out. ’No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’ “But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut. “Later the others also came. ‘Lord, Lord,’ they said, ‘open the door for us!’ “But he replied, ‘Truly I tell you, I don’t know you.’ “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour’” –Matthew 25:7-13.

Friend, some things are true whether you believe them, or not. That Jesus was born a man, was crucified, died, was buried, and rose to life again on the third day is the Truth. So is the fact that His return will happen sooner than most think. The only way to ensure that you are ready to meet Him and spend eternity with Him is to have a relationship with Him. Do you have that? If you don’t, you can. Ask Jesus to forgive your sins and be the Lord of your life. He will come to all those who sincerely want Him to. “The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. But the day of the Lord will come like a thief” –2 Peter 3:9.

Is it Ready Yet? John 14:3

January 27, 2019 /

 “When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.”

We are a people, most of us at least, who are impatient for an expected end. Bear with me for a moment as I explain…

You wake up to the smell of something delicious baking. Sticky buns drizzled with warm icing? Your favorite cake or cookies perhaps? Maybe? Hopefully! Whatever it is, your nose has foretold the rest of you to expect some gooey, goodness soon! And, your taste buds have announced that they will not be denied! Your salivating in anticipation of the deliciousness that is soon to come.

Or, You’re a child. Your parents announce they’re taking the whole family out for a drive. It’s a surprise. Someplace fun! And you can bring a friend. Your adrenaline starts pumping. You become feverish with excitement. The butterflies in your belly have turned into dragons by the time you get into the car! You’re ready! Anxious even. Yet full of enthusiasm and expectation! “I can’t wait” you squeal! This is going to be so good!

Perhaps its a  blood test that has confirmed what you’ve instinctively known for days now. Your pregnant! Even though you know that it takes nine months before the baby is born, you find your hand searching out your belly. You’re in front of the mirror looking for the slightest evidence of a “bump”. It’s too soon though. Yet everyday you’re examining your body for signs of what’s to come. Knowing it takes 9 months doesn’t deter you from checking things out daily. Why? Your waiting to see evidence of your baby! Even though you know he or she is there, still, you want to see for yourself. What will you be like little one? And the anticipatory ticking away of days and weeks and months begins…

Most of us do great beginnings. Some of us even finish strong. It’s that middle part—the “in-between” waiting part that we’re not all necessarily the best at. Those, “for-evah” in-between places where some of us eventually lose it! It’s around the 78th time we hear ourselves singing about the wheels on the bus that our proverbial wheels fall right off!

“Are we there yet?”

“Is it ready yet!”

“God how much longer; I’ve been carrying this baby f-o-r-e-v-e-r already!”

And we the Church are no different…

Much like those above, we too are filled with a growing sense of expectation. We too are keeping our eyes open for our expected end. The scenery of life whipping past our windows in a blur. We’re focused on our destination. We’re looking for our hope to finally be fulfilled! We know we’re going on the ride of our lives! A heavenly journey unlike any other. We know we’re about to partake in a slice of heavenly goodness unlike anything we’ve ever tasted before! Sure we’ve had a sample. A little wooden spoon full of a taste. A taste that so enticed us it has left us longing for so much more of its sweet goodness. Forget this wooden spoon stuff give me the scoop and a bowl! We know that at any moment, in a nanosecond, before they can fully blink their eyes we’ll be gone; delivered from this world. “Caught up” we’re told. Snatched, as one would snatch another from a roaring fire. Saving them from death…

Rejoice! No more wooden spoons.  Jesus is coming for us! For some 2000 plus years we’ve been told—in some shape, form, or fashion, that He will return for His children! Even the world knows of this Truth; those that don’t believe in “all that Jesus stuff” have heard about Jesus’ returning.

So then, are we that generation every other generation before us has spoken of? The, “This generation that will not pass away until, generation?” Will He come in my lifetime? In yours? By all indications time has crowned. Its head is showing. We’re almost there! We are one more “big push” away from seeing Jesus face to face! From, quite literally—meeting our maker, our Father, our lover. That Friend who has stuck closer to us than a brother throughout our anticipation of His coming. And yet, even in our knowing He will return for us, in the guarantee He has given of this fact, in its absolute-ness, are we really still looking up? Still eagerly awaiting Him? Yearning for His coming? Or, have we allowed ourselves to become so enamored by the seductive scenery passing by the windows of our lives that we’ve mistakenly accepted it as our home? Have we taken our eyes off of Jesus’ promise to come and, “snatch us up?” Bringing us to Himself. Back home where we belong? Back to all He has prepared for us? Have we taken our eyes off of Jesus while we were busy running around preparing for His arrival?

Martha knows a thing or two about this type of distraction. You know Martha; Mary and Lazarus’s sister. She was the one scurrying about making certain every detail of her dinner and its presentation was well attended. After all, Jesus was the guest of honor. She was so focused on everything being “just so”, she snaps at Jesus, her honored guest, commanding Him to get after Mary! To charge her to get up and start helping with the serving of this dinner! Martha has definitely lost her focus. Jesus is with her. The Prince of peace is in the room and yet she is filled with anxiety. She’s gotten caught up in the seductive scenery. She’s taken her eyes off of her honored Guest. But not Mary. She was determined to pull up a cushion and just sit, enthralled, at Jesus’ feet; drinking in His every Word. Her belly full long before she’d taken one bite of her dinner. After all, man doesn’t live by bread alone…

This account of John’s goes on to tell us that Mary, in her devotion and love for her friend, her teacher, her Lord, breaks open, what in all likelihood was, if not her entire dowry then certainly a large portion of it, an alabaster jar of nard. In an instant she is at Jesus’ feet. And her worship, along with her nard, is freely spilling forth.  Filling the room with a sweet fragrance. Mary sees Jesus clearly. Yes, she has enjoyed dinning with Him and laughing with Him—but she never lost sight of just who it was she was sharing this privilege with. Yes, He was her friend. And yes, He was her Teacher—her Rabbi. But above all He was her Lord. Her long-awaited Messiah. She was certain of this. After all, He had raised her brother Lazarus from his tomb after he’d been 4 days dead. Who but God could do such a miracle! And, she remembered His conversation with the 3 of them concerning their belief in seeing the glory of God.

Beloved, how often do you find yourself looking up or out these days and asking, “Jesus, are we there yet? Is it time yet? How much longer must I wait to enjoy your sweet presence face to face Lord? How often do you find your hand checking the proverbial bump on your own belly? This world is one more good push from seeing Jesus face to face. This world has crowned. Its waters have broken, and creation is bearing down with all its might. Are you ready to receive your portion? Beloved let these words found in Hebrews encourage and comfort you both. “Therefore, do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God, you may receive what was promised. For yet in a very little while, He who is coming will come, and will not delay” Hebrews 10:35-37.

And for you dear friend saying to yourself, “I don’t think it’s an accident I’m here today.” You’re right! Listen to what Jesus is saying to you too; if you’ll just ask Him into your life as Lord: “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent. Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with me. To the one who is victorious, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I was victorious and sat down with my Father on his throne” Revelation 3:19-21.

“Just A Taste” Mk.9:1-8

July 16, 2016 /

ice-cream-1123717_960_720 In today’s Scripture Jesus opens with a puissant statement of fact. But what is He alluding to specifically?

A clue is given within His word choice. Jesus hints at its deep significance through His word usage. The solemnity of what He is about to say, He uses language which He reserves only for occasions such as this. Pay attention…“Verily I say unto you…”

Is it His death and resurrection to which He is referring in this odd opening verse? Or, maybe it’s the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost?

Perhaps He’s speaking to the imminent spread of Christianity or, to Jerusalem’s destruction in A.D. 70?

Mark’s opening verse is ambiguous, oddly placed…hence all the scholarly debate surrounding it.

But if we just look at it, it seems a natural flow, an easy pivot. It serves to transition us into what’s coming next. Linking some of those present to His, Jesus’ own future intent. Jesus gathers us up and points us toward Mt. Hermon—to His Transfiguration. And everything is clear, deep but clear.

While each of the fore-mentioned events are Biblical fact, for a few within the crowd that day, three within earshot of Jesus actually—each of these events will become a reality. Eye-witnessed.

And that is the very heart, the core, of this event, this witnessing. So it’s toward that, toward seeing and tasting for oneself that we’ll look toward today. One delicious spoonful at a time…

What happens to us, each of us, when we’re given a taste of Jesus?

If we are anything like our brothers we’re left wanting more. A taste isn’t nearly enough to sate our longing, our desire for Jesus.

But it is just enough, typically, to leave us wanting. Craving that is, desiring, running after—more of Him.

You noticed no doubt the visual used today is ice cream. Specifically, many tasting spoons standing in many tubs of various flavors of ice cream.

Why?

To demonstrate a point, two actually. The first, as human beings we do enjoy our options, dare I say, demand them!

If you have doubt about the validity of my statement, check out the variety of television stations available to us. The variety of, types of, cars, colors, watches, fashion choices and eateries. How many flavors do we really need—to flavor our coffee?

We are inundated with choices, varieties, types. As a result, we are often left unsatisfied, overstimulated, by what we’ve chosen. Left flat. Yet we’re happy glad that we get to wake up tomorrow and get to choose anew!

We have not yet been satiated.

Neither have our three brothers.

But things are about to change—eternally…

Three have been chosen, hand-picked to follow Jesus up a mountain. And you…come along.

Yet, for these three, this is nothing new, being the first to go, do, and see that is. Somethings aren’t meant for everyone to witness, first, filters are required.

Peter, James, and John—Jesus ’ inner circle. They are those filters through which Jesus pours Truth, His Truth, Kingdom Come Truth—full strength, by the mouthfuls.

These were chosen for their unique abilities. Each eventually would learn both how to consume, ingest and then disperse, speak out, allocate, teach—these unfiltered Truths.

Three prodigious leaders of the future Church. They’ve each been with Jesus from the beginning. Hand-picked. Known by God—Ginṓskō, like a man knows his wife. Intimate like.

For nearly Three years now these have slept beside Him, eaten with Him, been privy to His numerous miraculous healing’s and extraordinary, unparalleled, radical teachings. Yet they are not yet fully firm, not yet set in their knowledge of His divinity…more time is needed.

Things are still a little wobbly…

But wait you say, Peter? Wasn’t it Peter, this same Peter, who said out loud, who answered correctly when all others failed, that Jesus was The Christ—The Son of God?

Yes, you are correct.

It was this same Peter indeed. The one who loved Jesus the most, think John 21. Yes, it was this impulsive, bold, bodacious Apostle—the denier, the reinstated one, the Fisher-of-men, the fisherman, the rock. Simon.

And yes, it was John. The same John who laid his head against Jesus’ chest at the Last Supper, the one Jesus loved. The Beloved. The one who stood at the foot of the Cross and received Mary as his own mother. The very same John that would write a Revelation on an Isle called Patmos. Exiled there after having survived being boiled in oil for his refusal to stop preaching the Gospel when ordered to do so by the Emperor Domitian.

And James, John’s brother. Whose mom asked Jesus that each of her sons sit at His right and left hand in Heaven. James one of two brothers whom Jesus prophesied would in fact drink of the shared cup of suffering that He, Jesus, would  Himself drink from. This same James would be the first of the chosen Twelve Apostles to see martyrdom by the sword at the hands of King Herod Agrippa, as witnessed in Acts Chapter Twelve.

We could get heavy here. We could delve into deep Biblical Truths and mysteries— from here on out in fact.

We could get theological. We could enter into the significance of, the meaning behind, these three brothers being allowed to witness Jesus’ Transfiguration. More, we could delve into both the immediate and lasting reasons why Jesus took them, as leaders, along in the first place…

We could look into the significance of, the meaning behind, the Law and the Prophets. Symbolized by Moses and Elijah’s appearance and witnessed by these men. Moses, symbolizing those that have died in Christ, the other, Elijah, one who never tasted death…Wait. Didn’t Jesus say something about not tasting death before His return?

We could examine how neither the prophets nor the law could or can save a man. How it is only through the shed Blood of Jesus Christ, only by His Redemptive work done for you and I on Calvary’s Cross, that our salvation may be, can be found. How one such as you and I can’t even enter the place of desiring the new life Jesus’ death and resurrection provides without, outside of, the Fathers call.

We could go into it all. But we won’t…

Rather, I’d have your focus be on what’s to come…

As with our brothers, let’s assume you’ve had a taste of Jesus also. And like our brothers, though wobbly at times, you’re determined, fixed on following after Him. You’re walking up the mountain with Jesus, trusting, curious, excited, yet filled with trepidation’s. But your walking. Heel to toe—your walking.

The Apex is in sight yet you stop because He did. Look! What’s happening to Him? You can’t look anymore, not straightaway, only barely, through squinted eyes. Dazzling bright whiteness. Jesus stands before you—éclat.

And that Voice, that soul-penetrating, commanding Voice. Emanating from within the clouds. That same Voice that said, that you heard say, “This is my Son, listen to Him.” That Voice. The One that changes everything…

And wham…you’re on the ground. Stiff as a dead man with fright. You knew He was different this Jesus, knew He was powerful, believed He was a Prophet, The Son of God even, Messiah—but now. Oh now, sweet undeniable now…

Silent in contemplation, each step a thought, you return to the mundane that awaits you at the end of this journey, the base of this mountain. There’s always a valley. The necessary mundane, the purpose of the journey. Lessons. You’re now a witness to something so immense, so life altering it can only do one thing for you, propel you, prepare you, for what awaits you…The Fullness of Jesus.

There is a song by Jesus Culture entitled, “Holy Spirit”.

Within its second verse these lyrics are found; “I’ve tasted and seen, of the sweetest of loves. Where my heart becomes free and shame is undone. In your presence Lord.”

That dear heart, beloved, that is where I want you to focus today. On that taste. That moment on your personal mountain top, your place of witnessing His Transformative power…

I’m challenging you today to continue to walk in the footsteps of those three brothers who went before you. Trailblazers. The original taste-testers…

Follow their lead, read their stories, listen to their hearts—every time you, like they, get a little wobbly. And you will. We all do. Each time, every time your taste buds need a reminder of that one-of-a-kind, mind-blowing flavor of Jesus Christ. That other-worldly experience only He provides!

Why? Preparation.

Once you’ve tasted His love, mercy, goodness, grace, kindness—the plethora of His unmerited favor, His benevolence. Once you’ve had a taste of Him, His perfection, everything outside of Him becomes lack-luster, bland. Hospital food bland. It becomes ordinary and eventually, prayerfully, completely undesirable…

This is our great goal. Here, now, on earth. Before others—to desire, exude, crave, Him alone.

Like our brothers before us the taste of Jesus should leave us, has left us—ravenous. And it, that taste, should drive us to do anything—anything. Destroy every, any obstacle, every relationship that stands in the way of more—of it. Of Jesus.

Everything must be pushed aside, left. As we stand before all that Jesus has for us, like greedy, unashamed children we should be jumping up-and-down. Shovels, not spoons in our grasping hands, saying, screaming… yes please daddy, I would most definitely like more, and more—and more.

Until the day I stand before you a shirt-stained mess, belly puffed out from the bits hungrily gobbled-up along the way. Now, home with you. Sated. Finally, no further need for my spoon…

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