2012... A New Beginning

The Spirit calls me this morning.  There is peace and a sense of excitement as I end this last year of 2011 and look for ward to what 2012 will bring. 

I wonder if this will be the year the of the Lord's return for His Church?   Or will this be yet another year to press forward, assault the gates of hell to rescue yet more the of the Rahabs caught behind enemy lines? 

This last year has been brutal in so many ways. Lots has been shaken out and down.  Faith has been tested and tried.   The world is in chaos, our country divided, and our families broken by sin. 

So why is there any sense of peace?   John 14:27, Jesus said, "Peace I leave with you. My peace I give to you.  I do not give to you as the world gives.  Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid."

Jesus said this as He was explaining to the disciples the up and coming disbursement of the Holy Spirit into their hearts and minds to take place after His Ascension. Since that time, we who are born again, have the Presence of Christ Jesus through His Spirit, and the Holy Third Person of the Trinity provides the peace beyond explanation or understanding. 

The Holy Spirit calls me this morning to get ready for the coming year. 

He has me ponder the world and all that is being offered.  The temptations abound and the things to delight our flesh are endless.  Then He begins to make the point of today's counsel meeting.

He speaks into my thinking, "As you look around, the world is in a buying and selling frenzy.  The primary  medium of exchange is money.  You want something, and you offer your money in exchange.  This form of commerce is how you have been programmed to live your life in the economy of the world.

But God's economy doesn't work that way.  The medium of exchange in God's economy is Heavenward words, otherwise known as prayer"

What a wonderful reminder for the one who has no  money with which to purchase all that is needed or desired in the earth's realm.  The medium of exchange in God's economy is prayers and petitions.  As believers we have to know this.  But if we really believe it, why is there so little prayer being brought to the One from whom all blessings flow?  

Prayers are like gold in the Lord's economy, and through our prayers we gain the blessings from Heaven.  But an even more exciting reality is that the Father Himself has loaded up our Heavenly bank account with all the resources we need to procure the blessings we seek.

Worthy words, prayers, petitions, and the faith to believe are all available to the poor in spirit to exact the greatest blessing from Heaven's Throne.  In John 15:7, Jesus said, "If  you remain in Me and My words remain in you, ask whatever you wish and it will be given to you.  This is to My Father's Glory that you bear much fruit showing yourselves to be My Disciples."

An amazing promise, but as the world dominates our thinking we are programmed to value only our life and comforts here on earth.  Things have become more important than people, our ego's bigger than our God, and our words worthless to bring about changes in our lives and the lives of those with whom we have been commissioned  to share our faith and the Good News about the Savior.

The New Year presents a line in the sand, and an opportunity to cross over.  We can leave behind the twisted priorities and bondage to worldly comforts in favor of a new beginning.  Lessons learned can now be applied to effect changes that can and will have an eternal impact.

We have all we need to shed the fruitless deeds of darkness, continue on the work and mission of our Lord: to destroy the works of the devil, set the captives free and look forward to the return of our King, in all His Glory. We have the Holy Spirit within and all He asks is that we yield to His rule in our lives and Heaven's goals will be accomplished.

To access the Throne and have the storehouse of Heavenly answers opened to us, we need only bring the contract Jesus signed in His blood, and the "gold" placed in our heavenly bank account called the "prayers" of the saints.  The Lord calls for our participation in the government of our world and  it is in this place of prayer that we begin. 

We communicate to God what we believe our corner of the world needs and He will send the resources.  It is a sacred trust.  Intimacy reveals His wisdom over the affairs of men and what is really needed.  He will communicate this to us and we can then petition with the complete faith that we have all we ask.

I cherish the time spent with the Holy One and I pray for more and more intimacy to be established between us in 2012.  I know this is His will and my desire, so I anticipate an amazing New Year of deeper and more prolonged fellowship in ever increasing prayer.  As I pray for the Mind of Christ to overtake my human mind, and seek to bring every thought into the captivity of Christ, I know I will find more and greater answers to the petitions I bring.

We, the Church of the living God, have been given a legacy of power and authority by the Author and Creator of everything that exists.  What will we do in 2012, with the legacy we have been given and the delegated authority we have to pray, "Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven" and see it happen?

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

Resurrection Power

The watches of the night bring the "psyops" of evil.  Like the croaking of a frog, the repetition of the message the enemy wants me to believe, keeps assaulting my mind while I am half asleep.

The Holy Spirit calls to me out of that place of vulnerability to remind me that He is always with me to combat the lies with Truth.  How thankful I am each and every day to know that My Redeemer lives, and His wisdom and counsel begins right away.

The enemy's tactics against me always boil down to the battles I am watching unfold or worse, the battles that are in full swing and raging.  It's not just the fact that a battle is being waged by the evil one, it's all the suggestion that the "evidence" proves he is prevailing in it to the "apparent" destruction of all that I hope for.  His ultimate goal is to destroy my faith that God is who He says He is.

The Holy One allows me to vent my fears.  He listens while I repeat the lies to Him that the enemy has fed me.  I take it all to Him this morning.  He receives the dark words of doom. I repeat what I hear the evil voice taunting me with, as I suffer in the circumstances of this trial. 

His gracious words start to flow to me.  I Peter 4:12-19,  "Do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering as though something strange were happening to you.  But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ."

I walk my mind back to my Savior's life and model.  What about "take up your cross and follow Me" have I missed?  The Holy One gently clears my mind,

"Beloved, you do not get to choose your own cross".  I do not get to select the place where I must die to my flesh, my heart, my emotions.  But die I must or I can never experience resurrected life.

I put my mind on the death of my Savior, and process His suffering.  True to the scriptures, I find within this painful trial, that my Lord knows well my pain.

He was betrayed by those closest to Him
He was misunderstood
He was rejected
He was crushed in heart
He was emotionally all alone separated even from His Father
He was brutalized physically
He heard the victory chant as evil drove the spikes through His hands and feet

But then I realized there is something He did not model, something that overwhelms me that was not in Him.  Self Pity.

With the Holy One guiding my thoughts, as I ponder the agony of the betrayal I feel and lift my eyes to the way the Savior suffered for me, I realize there was no self pity......ever.

Jesus came on a mission and the mission did not disintegrate due to the response of the P.O.W.'S or the munitions of evil set up against Him.  Jesus came to conquer and conquer He did. Past the pain of all that he suffered, He rose triumphant and is now seated at the right hand of all  Power and Authority.

I Peter 4:13,  "But rejoice that you participate in the sufferings of Christ so that you may be overjoyed when His Glory is revealed.  The Holy Spirit who dwells within me is charged with the Sovereign Role to bring Glory to the resurrected Savior of the world, in me and through my life. 

Discouragement and self-pity have no place in my heart or my mind.  I repent and petition the Holy One to release His joy and peace within me and give me the strength to walk on for the ongoing commission is well stated in I Peter 4:19,  "So then, those who suffer according to the will of God should commit themselves to their faithful Creator and continue to do good".

The Spirit reminds me that the closer we get to the return of the Lord, the more intense will be the  enemy's efforts to discourage all who believe and represent the light.  But He is here to "strengthen the feeble hands, steady the knees that give way, say to the fearful hearts, be strong and do no fear, your God will come.  He will come with vengeance and with Divine retribution.  He will come to save you".  Isaiah 35.

Suddenly I begin to feel the power of resurrection life flood my heart and mind, realizing nothing is impossible for my God.  Self-pity has given way to the Lord's mighty Presence in this ongoing battle against the darkness and the commission to walk and live in the delegated authority I have against evil, as a servant of the Most High. 

Evil is now on a leash and we can enforce it's boundaries.  The gates of hell will not prevail against the delegated authority of the Lord's people.  Lord, Thy kingdom come and Thy Will be done on earth as it is in Heaven. 

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

Born Again

The Holy One calls me this morning and I open my eyes and ears to yet more of an understanding of His ways.  He is no respecter of persons and I am so thankful for the wisdom He so liberally provides for all who seek Him without Him finding fault.

God knows I am a flawed vessel, yet, He patiently leads me into all truth by His Holy Spirit.  My human mind is so dull and resistant at times.  I get a little glimmer of profound truth then lose it to earthly distractions.  But the Lord is patient with me and He never gives up.  We are each on our own unique journey with Jesus.  He has the road map for our lives and will get us to our ultimate destination, but not via the same roadways that He is taking other believers.

In this personal and unique relationship with our Savior, we all get truth at different times and in different ways.  I marvel at how long it takes for me to find a specific truth that comes so easily for others.  Yet, the Holy One never condemns me.  He patiently brings it around again and again until it finally clicks.

So what was the grand "revelation" to my heart and mind again?  The message of what it means to be "born again" and why that catch phrase is so significant.

Jesus said, when speaking to Nicodemus in  John 3:3-8. "I tell you the truth, no one can see the Kingdom of God unless he is born again"  and again He repeated and said, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the Kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.  Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to Spirit.  You should not be surprised at my saying, you must be born again."

The Holy One explains it to my own heart and mind this way:  "When you were born in the flesh  under the dominion of a sin legacy, you were incomplete.  However, you were born with a Spiritual potential that required a choice. 

Created to be "in the image" of God , Who is a Three  Person Trinity, at our flesh birth, the Third Person of the Trinity was not dispersed within.  There is a hole, a void, a place in your heart for God, but it is vacant at your flesh birth.  At birth you are flesh and soul but missing the Spirit.

Over the course of every human life will come the opportunity and responsibility to choose to be in relationship with the Creator.  For those who choose relationship with God, the Father through the only Savior, God, the Son, Jesus, the experience of being "born again" happens and the Holy Spirit enters to complete the unity of that relationship."

I see clearly that we must be born again, whereby the Holy Spirit enters in to complete us and enabled to live to the fullness of our potential in the image of our God. We are brought into His image by the indwelling Third person of the Trinity, missing at our flesh birth.

Our flesh birth is temporal and suitable for all that is only temporal.  But when we are born again of the Spirit, everything about our being is redeemed so that we can "see" and "enter" the Kingdom of our God.

To our God be all the Glory.  Heavenly Trinity, earthly us: the unifier is the Holy Spirit who enters when we are "born again".  Jesus came in the flesh to model this truth.  Holiness wrapped in humanity, Jesus represents the individuals we can become if and only as we are "born again".

May we each become the dwelling place of Holiness as we come to faith in Jesus and find ourselves truly "born again".

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

God's Crazy Plan

The Spirit calls me this morning.  The significance of this time and season is acknowledged by all of us who call Jesus our Savior.  The house is quiet this year.  One of many since all the kids moved on and into their own personal Journey with Jesus.  We will get together later, but for now the heart longs for those who have left and a return to the days gone by.

As a parent it is so hard to watch my children leave home and the sorrow can be overwhelming.

I wonder what it was like for the Father to watch the Son leave home?

I often wonder what it must have been for the God of all Creation to leave His Glory and wrap Himself in flesh?  But today, the Holy One has me focus on the the heart of the Father who sent His Son into the world to pay sin's debt to Holiness.

What must it have been like for the Father to watch the Son leave home?

His birth on earth was not the beginning of the plan for redemption of His fallen Creation.  But it was the pivot point in the history of man upon which our eternity depends.  God so loved the world that He sent His only Son that whoever believes in Him (that He died in our place for sin) will not perish but have eternal life.

The plan was crazy, from the human point of view.  Unbelievable for most.  That God, the Son would descend from His Heavenly Throne and come to us in the form of a human baby, small, frail, and vulnerable.  Crazy, that God, the Father would send His Son to watch him die on a human constructed Cross to pay the sin debt of the world.  Crazy that God, the Spirit would raise Him up in a transformed body to the Glory that was His before the creation of the world. Crazy, the love that devised the plan.  Crazy, that it was all for us, His beloved creation.

Satan, the arch enemy of Heaven was no doubt laughing with glee at the Creator's lunacy in making Himself so weak as to be like His Creation.   But that is where evil made his fatal mistake.  Satan believed one of his own lies, the one that has stumbled men over all the generations:  That God is made in the weak image of man.

The truth is that man is made in the Glorious image of God and the birth of Jesus is the very evidence of that Sovereign fact.  Could it be that everything about Jesus; His birth, His sinless life, His death, His Ascension was to prove that God's original design was not flawed until sin entered in? 

Jesus came from Heaven to Earth to model for us our original glorious potential in unbroken fellowship with our Creator and with an eternal future that the human mind cannot begin to fathom.  But in order to participate in that future, the power of sin unleashed at the fall had to be broken.

The question that comes to mind is "who, under the affects of the fall could break the power sin unleashed at the fall?"  The answer is:  No one but God Himself and that is, after all, the point.

Man did not create God, God created man.  Who then could pull man up out of the death that sin promised but the One who created man in the first place. And we were created in His image. The Father, the Son, and The Holy Spirit form the Trinity, and we were designed to be a three part whole:  the flesh, the soul and the Spirit.

Born in sin at birth, we lack the Holy Spirit.  Not only did Jesus come to model our potential to live a Holy life, He sent the One, whose role and part of us, our humanity was missing:  The Holy Spirit.  He is now available to all who would come to acknowledge the desire and desperate need to be in relationship with our Creator and willing to accept the Only Way to get there.

The Son left home to bring back many sons and daughters to the Father's love.  He left home to gain and insure that eternity would provide the supreme joy for His Father's heart:  to be surrounded by those He created , who worship Him for who He is.  To provide through His death a huge eternal family from every tribe and every nation on earth .

What must it have been like for the Father to watch the Son leave home?  Much like it feels to my own heart today, very bitter sweet.  The sorrow of broken fellowship for the moment but filled with the knowledge that when they do return home, they will be bring back many new ones to flood my heart with joy.  

I am thankful to the Holy One for putting the temporary separation in perspective and reminding me of the joy of a bigger family.  One that will be together for all eternity.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?  

Introducing....KING JESUS***

The Holy Spirit calls to me this morning.  Awaken by a blasting headache that has come and gone through the watches of the night, I long for His peace to invade my brain.

The conflicts all around me have escalated to a fever pitch.

The words of the prophet Malachi keep echoing in my mind.  The last book of the Old Testament, is a short book packed with what was grieving the Heart of God before the FIRST coming of our Savior and Lord.  I find it a very important read now that we are so close to the Return and SECOND coming of our Savior and Lord.

Malachi 3:13 says, "You have said harsh things against Me, says the Lord.  He was speaking to "believers" at the time it was written and He speaks to me today.

But what have I said against you, Lord?   Sometimes we speak only in the voice of our hearts that is audible only to the Holy One who dwells within.  Has He heard me say, "It is futile to serve God. What did we gain by carrying out His requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty.  But now we call the arrogant blessed.  certainly evildoers prosper and even those who challenge God escape."

Loosely translated, "Where are you Lord?  I have been praying and praying but things don't change except to get visibly worse for the home team."  It is at this sad point and despairing of life that I find myself thinking, "if things are just going to get worse and worse, why go on?"

But then the Holy One speaks to my despair,  "My child, this world is NOT your home, you are truly just passing through.  I have placed within you a longing for your homeland of Heaven that nothing on earth can satisfy.  Stop trying to make the world a better place (for yourself) and rather instead, work to make Heaven a bigger place (for Me).  You are here to enlarge Heaven's ultimate citizenship by introducing the world to Heaven's Eternal King....JESUS.

Hebrews 11:13-16 says it best: Speaking of the Patriarchs of our Faith, and exhorting us today, "Instead they were longing for a better country, a Heavenly One.  Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their (our) God, for He has prepared a city for them (and us).

The Holy One has re-set my thinking and brought me to repentance. 

His wisdom is two-fold:

I understand now, why I feel so estranged in my heart from all that is around me.  This world is not my home.  It has been a huge mistake to keep trying to "move in", to keep trying to "fit in".  I can now embrace the Truth, that, until I move on to my Heavenly home, the longing will be in my heart for a place not of this world.

And, as I accept this Truth, I can then be free to do the "greater" works drawing from the Holy Spirit's Presence, for it is given to us who believe and have our feet on planet earth, to introduce the world to our King of Kings for so long as we are here.

Matt 28:18, Jesus said, "All authority in Heaven and earth has been given to Me.  Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations".  In other words, "Go tell the world about Me".

I am so thankful for our early morning pep talk.  I am now ready to get back in the game and re-calibrate myself to His goals for my life.

Eternity is for all of us just a heartbeat away.  It is imperative that we keep our mindset on eternal things.  We must anchor to the goals and forget trying to make life here so comfortable for ourselves or others that we cannot nor need not think on eternity.

Releasing our tight grip on our desire for earthy comforts, we can move on to the real purpose for our lives which is to introduce all we meet to our Eternal King of Kings:

JESUS CHRIST

AT WHOSE NAME

EVERY KNEE WILL BOW

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

Resurrected Hope**

The Spirit calls me this morning to talk things over.  Hope like Lazarus has died.  Nothing is turning out like I had hoped.  I am in a place like Martha and Mary mourning the death of hope for that is what was placed in the tomb beside the body of their beloved brother, Lazarus.

While he was sick, the sisters sent word to Jesus to come quickly for Lazarus was in desperate need of a healing.  The women were watching as their brother slipped into death, helpless yet hopeful that if only Jesus would come, Lazarus would be brought back from the abyss of this sickness and restored to health so that life with his family would go on.

Scripture says in John 11:5, "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, yet when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was two more days".  Then in vs. 17, scripture tells us, "On His arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days."  This delay had nothing to do with any lack of love for them. 

Martha and Mary were beside themselves with grief, shock, and despair at the loss of their brother.  The awful truth was that Jesus did not arrive in time to "heal" him.  The sisters had knowledge that Jesus was a healer.  They had a personal relationship with Him and even sent word saying "Lord, the one you love is sick". 

What they could not see nor comprehend at that moment, was His plan to work a profound miracle and testimony into the fabric of their lives that would make the history books for all eternity.  Their perspective was limited and their view short sighted.  They had known Jesus to be healer and that was the  limit of their expectation to date.

The Holy One speaks to me, "You are like them.  You trust Me now, for what you have seen or experienced Me doing in the past, but not for the higher, bigger, more outrageous things that you have not seen nor experienced before.  Life will always provide opportunities for the faithful to go past what they know about Me to the higher levels of greater miracles."

But Lord, at what point in the disaster that forms the stage for the miraculous is THE turning point?  Lazarus died and hope died with him.  Jesus, you arrived but Lazarus was still dead.

The Spirit speaks, "Read on My child".

Martha went out to meet Jesus. When she heard He was coming, Martha went out.

In her grief, she went out to meet Jesus.
In her mourning, she went out to meet Jesus.
In her heartache, she went out to meet Jesus.

Martha went out to declare her faith, and not just in what she believed was a lost opportunity to see Jesus do what He had done for others as in heal her brother. Martha's next words conveyed her desire to take yet another step further in her faith in Jesus, "But I know that even now, God will give you whatever you ask."

Martha recognized and affirmed that Jesus was the Gateway to God.  She declared her belief that Jesus was the Great Intercessor, and that God, who governs life and death would give Jesus whatever He asked.

Then those incredible words hit her ears, Jesus said, "I AM, the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in Me will live even though he dies.  And whoever lives and believes in me will never die.  Do you believe this?"

Finally, Martha understood the true identity of the one before whom she was standing. She discovered that Jesus is God.  "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who was to come into the world. 

In that moment, her hope was revived.  Hope was resurrected before her brother.  On that day, the tomb was emptied of all that it held, her brother and her hope.

What in your life lies in the tomb of death and alongside of it, your hope?  I know what it was in my life today.

When faced with the impossible things.  When death occurs and mourning takes over, will we be like Martha and go out to meet Jesus? Will we run to Him for comfort and understanding and to take that next step further in faith in Him?

The Holy Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

The Reason for the Season

The Holy Spirit calls to me this morning.  The news is blasting away with "tis the season" and then all the whoopee over the greeting "Merry Christmas" or "Happy Holidays" or any variation thereof.

The Christmas season is upon us and for some years the conflict has been escalating between the world and religious people over Dec 25th and who owns the "rights" to that day on the calendar.  Many are saying "This is our day and you have no right to hijack it and make it less than what we say it is".  Others say,  "I'm not even a Christian and yet you force me to acknowledge the preeminence of Christ on that day and by your tradition refuse me an alternative Holiday."

As I ponder the debate realizing how heated it has become, the Holy One reminds me that He has an opinion and I need to hear it.  He starts with a sobering question, "Could it be that the Lord Himself does not want His name attached to the worldly celebration of gross materialism that western Christmas has become?"

We defend that day with all our vigor and even virile indignation (otherwise know as hatred) against all who seek to take the "Christ" out of Christmas.  But, seriously, what has been lost when those who are called by His name are so caught up in the worldly extravaganza that we just blend in with the crowd and put Santa next to the manger in our hearts and minds.

The world does not honor Christ as Savior or as Lord, so why insist that they be forced to yield to our acknowledged reason for our personal celebration of that day.  The roots of traditional Christmas date back to the politics of religion in a different time and place than the actual time and birth of our Savior. 

Tradition has taken the place of faith so why are we so shocked that the same spirit of darkness that began the tradition has taken it back again, and now to the point that even Christians are on board.   Leaching Holiness is the devil's ancient game.  Offering an "appearance" of goodness and mercy hooks us and then the complete distraction from Holiness is easier.

The birth of Christ happened in history.  But it is the personal love relationship between us and Him that matters in the context of life on earth and beyond.  And the reason we need to acknowledge His birth is to be humbled by His death.  Jesus Christ came to die in our place.  He was born to take away the sin of the world. 

Unfortunately, Heaven is not the final destination point for all who will celebrate the birth of the Savior on earth and spend years exchanging gifts and shouting "Merry Christmas to those we meet.  All that outward stuff matters not if our hearts are not Christ's home.  Unless the Birth of the Savior takes you to His death on the Cross,  His Divine Birth and the celebration counts as nothing for you.

I will celebrate the good cheer and the giving that the season inspires, but maybe it is time I stop the huge fight for the "tradition" of the season and think more about how I can offer the world the alternative of my faith in the "Reason" for the season.

Back to the original question: "Could it be that the Lord Christ Himself does not want His Name attached to the worldly celebrations as it stands today?"

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?