The Secret Power of Praise**

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  We are preparing another annual celebration of the Birth of the Savior of the world.  I cannot help but wonder if this year, 2018, will be the very last year we are privileged to celebrate His birth here on earth.

My thoughts are on those who crossed the finish line of this temporal existence we call "life" before this Christmas.  Most didn't realize they would be ushered into the Presence of the One who came, lived and then laid down His earth life for them.  Eternity is truly only a heartbeat away for any one of us.

With this world and all it's problems growing darker and more hopeless by the day, the thought of His return is most comforting.  I am consciously aware of the sweet Presence of the Holy One. He always helps me arrange the pieces of my life experience and understand where they fit together.  The pleasant, the hard, even the "random pieces have a place in the mosaic of my life.  

I am thankful for my wonderful Counselor and would not want to open my eyes to a day here without Him.  I know He has called me into our love relationship and all I had to do was say "yes".  Is there any greater gift than the Holy Spirit of my Savior?  NO, nothing trumps His presence in my life, and   I am grateful. 

The New Year is approaching and it is appropriate to take a look back over the past year with all it's ups and downs, joys and sorrows.  I have experienced a year of more grace than I ever could have imagined.  It was hard, and I know the trials are not over yet.  Trials are part of the human experience and will continue until the Lord returns or calls us home.

The Holy waits for me to form the questions that only He can answer.  Under the weight of every trial I ask Him, "How did I survive?  I mean really.  And how can  face what is not resolved in the problems I see today or the trials that have yet to unfold?"

Then comes that long, long, seemingly endless moment of silence.  How can a second of earth time be so loaded with cascading thoughts barraging the human mind?  "Stupid question...you just got to figure this one out yourself...there's no answer to that...what's the matter with you anyway?"

There is always an antagonist trying to separate me from the Holy One.  Whether it's the enemy of my soul AKA Satan, or the flesh still under the curse of the fall.  Subtle interference, static on my line.

Then the Holy One speaks and puts an end to the confusion.  "In every trial and every temptation, there lays a reason to praise God.  Focus on that and the trial will become quite manageable."

I look back over the last year and realize the wisdom and the explanation of my survival.  The Holy One set my heart and mind to praise God when I was not sure if I could take my next breath.

The ancient Psalmist knew the secret the Holy One shares with me:

Psalm 146, "Praise the Lord, oh my soul
                     I will praise the Lord all my life
                     I will sing praises to my God as long as I live"

And Paul, offers us the same secret in his letter to the Hebrews,
 
Hebrews 13:15, "Through Jesus Christ, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise, the fruit of lips that confess His Name."

And again, Peter writes more of the same wisdom,

I Peter 4:12,  "Dear friends, do not be surprised at the painful trial you are suffering as though something strange were happening to you, but rejoice (as in praise) that you participate in the suffering of Christ that you may be overjoyed when His Glory is revealed". 

The Peace of the Holy One floods my mind and the weights begin to lift.

For me, the pain of  loss was over-ruled by the praise and joy that I will see him (them) again because of our Savior and the Cross He bore.

In the heart wrenching sorrow of watching those I love go through hard and painful trials, I can rejoice and praise Him, knowing that the Lord, my God holds them in the palm of His hand and will use, in His masterful and Sovereign plan, each detail for their eternal best and His Great Glory. 

The Holy One has provided me with a picture:  Each trial has a door between me and the storehouse of God's Blessings (the resolution and comfort) that I need and desire.  There is a lock and there is a key.

What is the key that turns the lock that opens the door to the storehouse of His blessings?

Today He has whispered in my ear "It's praise!"

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?
                    

Peter, Do You Love Me?

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  It's Christmas.  It's a day to celebrate.  It's a day to be so thankful.  Thankful that our God came, wrapped Himself in flesh, lived to show us the relationship He desires, died to save our souls and now is seated at the right hand of all Power and Authority.  Yes, indeed, there is so much to be thankful for.

The Holy One enters into my mental celebration.  His voice is soft and gentle, "Priceless one, do you love Me?  I know you are thankful and all, but do you love Me?"

I couldn' help but register the Lord's end of the conversation He had with Peter on the day He appeared to re-instate the one who failed Him in His darkest hours on earth. He simply asked, "Peter do you love Me?"  (John 20:15-17)  It's interesting how even the the slightest things can be overlooked until Holiness points them out.

I notice that Jesus didn't ask Peter if he felt thankful, He asked him, "Peter, do you love Me?"

He didn't ask Peter if he felt "obligated.  "Peter, do you love Me?"

He didn't ask Peter if he felt guilt-ridden, since that could have been a great leverage over Peter to push him into service.  "Peter, do you love Me?"

Peter got the point and now, so do I.  Jesus desires our lives to be lived, motivated and driven by our love for Him.  Thanksgiving is part of that expression of our love but that is also how we can get tweaked and twisted in the  motivation behind what we do. 

Obligation and guilt will not be enough when it comes to fulfilling our appointed tasks.  We can never begin to repay our Savior for what He has done for us, but in the quiet of this Christmas morning, I can reaffirm my love for Him.

As last year is winding down to close, and  the New Year is ready to unfold, I purpose in my heart of hearts to do what I do out of love for my Lord.  The Christmas message to me this morning comes from the heart of my Beloved.  The question He is asking must be answered from our hearts as well.   I believe He is asking each one of us, as He asked His beloved Disciple that day, "Peter, do you love Me?"

Our answer will precede our Heavenly assignment, and impact all we do.   My prayer this year is simple:

"Holy One, may everything I do, be done out of a pure sweet love for Jesus......"

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

 

"Empty Handed"

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  It's early but the wonderful smell of the traditional pine tree is familiar and sends the message to my mind that this is, indeed, Christmas time in North Carolina.  .

Life goes on, the seasons continue and that is a good thing.  Sometimes we can think it cruel that the whole world doesn't stop when something in our personal world ends.  The fact that life does go on, and the sun continues to rise and set is a constant reminder to me that we were created for eternity.  Ours, as God's Beloved,  is a timeline that has no beginning and no end.  As surely as the winter comes, it will give way to spring.....again.....some...day.

The winter has it's own kind of splendor, a beauty to behold for the eye that is looking for it.  While the cold outside chills my bones, the picture of the Nativity warms my heart.  This is the time and season to celebrate the Birth of the King.

The Holy One and I have been having discussions about what gift I have to give to Jesus this year.  I confess that I have nothing to give that He hasn't already given to me.  But then, Holiness highlights for me a "gift" He has given to me that I can give back to my King.  The Holy One assures me that it is OK and that giving what has been given is different than being "empty handed".

I find myself wondering in the depths of my heart,  "But will my Lord use it?  Will He value His gift in me (that lies somewhat hidden) enough to use it?"

The Holy One takes me back to His Word,  I Corinth 12:7, "There are different kinds of gifts, but the same Spirit, there are different kinds of service but the same Lord. There are different kinds of working but the same God works all of them in all men.  Now to each one the manifestation of the Spirit is given for the common good" .

My heart leaps for joy at the thought that my Lord just waits for me to give back to Him what He has given to me.  My Lord desires and is ready to use the gift He gave me to glorify Himself and for the common good. ( I.E. with benefit to others.)  I realize now, that He cannot use it fully, until and unless I give it back to Him. 

The Holy One makes it very clear, none of us have to come to the manger "empty handed".  We all have something to give back to the King.  A gift He desires to use if we would but bring it back to Him. 

What that gift might be from each one of us is personal and unique in it's manifestation.  Something we might describe as a "personality trait", a tendency toward something that is considered good, a talent being used for worldly gain.  Anyone of these might be the "gift" the King longs for you to give Him this year.  The scriptures identify many gifts the Lord would build up and develop in His people who are willing to bring to Him the least of what they think they have to offer.  A conference call to the Holy Spirit can bring great clarity to the subject.

This morning, I heard Him loud and clear.  I am prepared to give my gift to the King, knowing He will use it and I am so thankful to see that I do not have to come to the manger "empty handed".  None of us do.  What do you have to give to the King?

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?






    

What's Your Gift?

The Holy One calls me this morning.  The Holiday season is in full swing.  We are being barraged with gift ideas, stores competing for our limited Christmas budgets and all the guilt that goes with wrong priorities.

Is it just me or does all this whoopee seem to bring more tension than relief?  The day that we celebrate as being the most pivotal point in the history of man, next to the day, Christ Jesus resurrected in His Glory, has become such a weight and burden of back-and-forth gift giving that we just want to get past it.

Today the Holy One takes me back to the reason my heart should celebrate.  He takes me back to the time when all the angels held their breath as God became man.  Holiness wants to flood my mind with His peace, so He has to repair my thoughts.  He takes me to His Word and illuminates for me the account of the Wisemen.  Today I am to focus on the Magi in the drama that changed the world's understanding of God.

It's hard for us, who have been so blessed with the historic record of their epic journey, to read the few verses that speak of their part in the drama of the time when God wrapped Himself in flesh to walk among us and imagine what it was like for them.

The Magi made their way from a faraway land on the basis of a "prophecy" and a new star in the heavens.  They packed up their camels and set out on a journey to find a newborn King.  They travelled for a long long time.  No planes or taxis for these Wisemen.  Not even a map to navigate their way.    What must it have been like when the "One" they had been searching for was found?

As I ponder the effort and preparation it must have taken for them to launch such a mission, I am saddened by all the mindless, pointless distractions that get in the way of just a simple celebration of the birth of my King.

I know the Holy One is taking me somewhere in these thoughts about the Wisemen and me.

Matt 2:9
"After they (the Magi) had heard the king (Herod) they went on their way and the star they had seen in the east went ahead of them until it stopped over the place where the Child was. When they saw the star, they were overjoyed"

"Overjoyed"!  Is this what I feel when I think of the Babe in the manger and what God does to lead us to Him?

It goes on to say, "On coming to the house they saw the Child with His mother, Mary, and they bowed down and worshipped Him.  Then they opened their treasures and presented Him with gifts of gold, incense, and myrrh."

What makes this event so mind blowing to me is that these 3 wealthy Wisemen made their sojourn with no apparent "reward" for themselves like so many of us desire as we seek the King today.  This journey seemed to be made for the extreme privilege of finding the "One" the prophecy spoke of and the "One" the star revealed. 

All this took place before Jesus manifested even one sign or wonder as God in the flesh. Their worship came strictly on the basis of Who His is, not for one thing He did for them or anyone else.

Thinking about the motivation of the Magi, and the gifts they brought to honor the King, the Holy One calls me to assess my own heart.  He asks me, "What are you willing to sacrifice in order to find and know the King?   Do you count it a privilege just to have found Him?  What are you willing to give Him as you celebrate His birth?

I believe these are questions for all of us to ponder in our heart of hearts.  The events of the day when God wrapped Himself in flesh and walked among us are history.  What we do to seek and honor Him is a choice we must make in each new day.

The story of the Wisemen is one to be recalled over and over, not just as we celebrate the birth of our King but each day as we seek to find, serve and honor Him in our lives.

The Holy Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him? 

Sin of the Soul

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  He always brings a refreshment to my soul.  Even as He is working to purify my "stinkin thinkin", His Presence brings relief.

The accuser of the brethren (as Satan has been described) hurls his insults at my mind.  The attack begins during the watches of the night, just under the radar of my conscious awareness.  The enemy begins early to try to infect my thoughts and make his evil presence known on the battlefield of my mind.

I am thankful that Holiness wakes me each morning with reminders that He rules my life; that the enemy can hurl his insults and take his potshots at me, but in the end my relationship with the Holy One always prevails unto victory.

Today, as the enemy reminds me of past failures that seem to relate to current issues, the Holy One speaks:  "The past does not dictate the future.  You are a different woman today than the one who got deceived years ago".  His gentle voice and sweet love floods my soul.  The One who knows me better than I know myself comforts me.  There is no guilt, no condemnation, no bitter words or even an innuendo that suggests rejection.

The Holy One continues,  "We see sin differently than you do".  Since the "opinion" of Trinity is the only one that counts, I press in to hear what  my Lord has to say to me on this subject.  "The sins of the flesh that you are so prone to focus on are temporal.  The laws I have given for the temporal, affect the best interests of your flesh life in a fallen world.  The more important sin to be dealt with is the sin of the soul and My Law in that regard affects the best interest of your Spirit life for all eternity.

I am always amazed at the simplicity of Truth.

The sin of the soul is willful independence from the One who created us.  The sins of the flesh are just symptoms of the sin of the soul.

Humans seem to be in the constant turmoil over the flesh failures, and  thinking that our Savior, Jesus Christ,  came to offer one more tool for the "big" issue of sin management.  Or worse yet, one more impossible requirement to an already inexhaustible list of what is required to have peace within.

Far from that, the Savior came to obliterate once and for all the "soul sin" that separates us from our Creator God, and that which is the source of all the "flesh sins" we see being carried out in ourselves and others.

God, Himself,  has offered the only way to cleanse the "soul sin" we are all infected with at birth; the soul sin that leads to soul death for all eternity.

Jesus was sent into this fallen world to bring the cure.  We always quote John 3:16 as God's great love for us but the next verse brings additional clarity regarding the Heart of the Creator for His beloved creation I.E. each one of us.  "For God did not send His Son into the world (of people) to condemn the world (of people) but to save the world (of people) through Him".

"For God so loved the world that He sent His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life."

From God's end the problem is solved. The cure has been granted for any who would choose to take it. Jesus came and did what was necessary to save every person ever born from the "soul sin" that causes death of the person/soul for all eternity.

Now,  the big question we each, individually, must answer is: "will I take the cure?"

The Holy Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

 

The Power of Pentecost

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  So much is happening in the world, it seems like the end is near.  Ancient prophecy is unfolding before our very eyes in real time on the 6:00 news.

The times can be very dark and scary.....or.....the times can be very exciting.  I have heard it said that the same wave that would drown a swimmer, provides a surfer with the ride of his life.

The Holy One presses in on my perspective and takes me to His Word in Acts 2.  By this time the historic record was set, Jesus had come, died, resurrected and ascended.  His visible Presence was no longer with the Disciples.  Gone was His voice, His laughter, His touch, even His stern rebuke which set boundaries to their over zealous flesh and calmed a raging storm.

They had a life experience to draw from, having watched God interact with His creation.  But now they were just ordinary men with an awesome memory and a story to tell.

Jesus lived His earthly life as a man; flesh, blood, emotions and He knew the weaknesses within.  He knew that, in their flesh, not one of them could complete the eternal life or death assignment He had left them with.  All that He came to accomplish associated with the message of our salvation, His sacrifice and the restored relationship between the Creator and the created, would require a strength and power beyond their humanity to convey.

The Holy One whispers to my heart, "Those days for the Disciples are not unlike your days today.  Apart from Me you can do nothing."

The Spirit takes me back to read one of the last commands from Jesus before He ascended into Heaven.  Acts 1:4, "On one occasion while He was eating with them He gave this command, "Do not leave Jerusalem but wait for the gift My Father promised, which you have heard Me speak about.  For John baptized with water but in a few days, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit".

And in Acts 1:8, when discussing the restoration of Israel, Jesus said, "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by His own authority.  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth".  Those were His parting words to them and then He was taken up and a cloud hid Him from their sight.

With that very limited description of what was to come, the Disciples went to Jerusalem and waited.  I wonder if some might have been tempted to rush out and share the super-natural event they had just witnessed, by-pass Jerusalem, and go in their own powerful self-sufficiency?

Thankfully they did not.  Thankfully they obeyed the Lord and left us with a completed story of the indwelling Presence of Holiness and passed on a legacy of the power and authority available to all of us who call Jesus our Lord.

I cannot begin to imagine the anticipation of that event we now know as Pentecost.  But I know that I need to experience my own "Pentecost" today.

"The fields are white unto harvest and the laborers are few."  And again, "How can they call on the one they have not believed in?  And how can they believe in the one whom they have not heard?  And how can they hear without someone preaching to them and how can they preach unless they are sent?

Jesus is the One sending.  But.........the task for any believer who calls Him Lord is too much to take on unless Jesus provides us with His authority to operate and His love to share.

We are fortunate to have the written record of the life and times of the Disciples at our fingertips.  We can go to the Bible and read the historical account of what happened on the day of Pentecost but the Disciples had not yet experienced the great event when Jesus told them to go to Jerusalem and wait.

I can't begin to imagine the anticipation over what was about to happen.  What they had already seen was so off-the-chart supernatural and miraculous.  The deaf hear, the blind see, the dead are raised.  They had been able to see, feel, and touch the Savior who was crucified then resurrected.  They ate, drank and shared more of life with the One who died and then came back to them.

And then, wonder of wonders, they watched Him ascend up, off planet earth and into the Heavens. Pentecost came just like the Lord told them.  A day when they received the special "Baptism" different than the water baptism that identified them with Jesus' death, burial and resurrection.  The baptism with the Holy Spirit was the necessary component and power to LIVE the resurrected life and enable them to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth.

The Holy One speaks, "and it's no different today".

I am thankful to know that I need more in order to answer the call of the Lord on my life.  The much more that I need is the very thing Jesus promised to provide more of:  His Holy Spirit.  Odd as it sounds to me, there is great relief in realizing that in and of myself, I can do nothing. 

The power and Presence of the Holy Spirit has been given to every Believer who calls Jesus their Savior.  Yet it is up to each one of us to yield to His Presence and operate in His power. 

The day of Pentecost is a symbol of the Divine Habitation of Holiness in humanity and our intense anticipation  should be in the awe and wonder of what He's going to do next.

Acts 2:17 and Joel 2:

"In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people.  Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions and your old men will dream dreams.  Even on my servants, both men and women I will pour out My Spirit in those days and they will prophesy.  I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke.  The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the great and glorious day of the Lord and everyone who calls on the Name of the Lord will be saved."

I don't know about you, but the excitement and anticipation of that is almost killing me.

The Holy Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?  

  

   

Unconditional Love

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  Thanksgiving is just around the corner.  This has been a year of hard things, but then there is always something to be thankful for, even in the hard times we all experience awaiting the return of our King.

Perseverance in a trial can create a thankful place in the heart with the simple fact that the last year or month or day or even hour is past and will never have to be lived through again.   Eternity is laid out before us with all the thoughts of a peaceful paradise so comforting as we pass through the hard days here.

The purposes of God, who can fathom?  His Word in Isaiah tells us, "I am God and there is no other.  I am God and there is none like Me".  It goes on to say, "My purpose will stand and I will do all that I please".

So much of my human thinking for years has revolved around trying to grasp God's purpose for what I see touching our lives.

The Holy One speaks, "Unconditional love has no purpose but itself.  Purpose is reason and if you stop tracking your value at a "purpose" for your life in what you do as a servant, you haven't gotten into the depths of God's unconditional love".

The silence in my head is deafening as the shock and yet awe of His words sink in.

Failure to understand God's unconditional love drives people to busy-ness and attempts to validate their "value" through "good works".  A mistaken thought of "flowing" along in God's purpose for our lives can actually prevent us from finding the true value of our lives.

God's love is unconditional love.  He doesn't just give it.   He IS it.  God IS unconditional love.  He created each one of us out of His being of unconditional love, for His good pleasure.  His good pleasure is relationship with His Beloved..... AKA you and me.

So much of the time we want to "do" for God rather than "be" for Him.  Adam was first created to "be" with God, not just to manage the garden that God created.  Tasks and assignments flow out of that original fellowship but were never intended to replace or earn it.  God brought all the animals He created for Adam to name.  An activity designed to draw Adam even closer to the Creator in the co-management of God's created world.

God created Eve for Adam, not to replace Him but to expand the relationship and love dependency as they made themselves at home in the Garden with God.

God loves His Creation,  but we are the ones trying to find our value in what we do, rather than realizing our value to our Creator is found in who we are to Him.

Human love is tragically conditional and grossly different than God's unconditional love.  Today the Holy One makes His point.  I fulfill God's true purpose for my life by being in relationship with Him.

Having been raised under legalism, the faulty reasonings have been hard fought and life long in correcting.  The reliance on what I do and how I act as the determination of my value to my Creator is off-base and stops way short of who He created me to be.

Relationship "with" our Creator not busy-ness "for" Him is where our value is realized.  We are individually and uniquely His masterpiece, created for His good pleasure.

That Truth comes as such a relief.  When I think of God's purpose in my life as an action or even a mission, a heaviness fills my heart.  Fear of failure and guilt over unmet expectations clouds an otherwise sunny sky.

I am who I am...warts and all. I judge myself and see the flaws.  But the Holy One tells me that I am "the apple of God's eye".  He loved each one of us before we were ever born and He sent His unconditional love in the form of a Savior before we had done anything good or bad.

Paul says in Romans 8:38, "For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither the present nor the future, nor anything else in all creation can separate me from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

And what was the "mission" of the Savior, Christ Jesus?  To restore the broken relationship with our Creator God.  To bring us back into the fulfillment potential of our true and basic "purpose" for which we were created:  To live now and eternally in the unconditional love of our Creator God.  To be the unique and beloved person we were created to be.

I John 3:1, "How great is the love the Father has lavished upon us that we should be called the children of God."

Having accepted the sacrifice of God's chosen Savior, Christ Jesus, I can now rest in the knowledge from Holiness that the days of "doing" are no substitute for a life of "being". 

I am thankful for the Holy One and the sheer  joy of being in His Presence, beyond any task or assignment or expectation as His servant. Today He has taken me further in to the depths of understanding my Father's unconditional love.

I ask Him to remind me often, when the demands of proving myself start to well up, that my true purpose and the peace that goes with it are to be found in my "being" and not in my "doing".

The God of the universe, created me to be in relationship with Himself...nothing more and nothing less.  He calls me to His bask in His unconditional love, and my heart leaps with joy.  Now that's a wonderful purpose. 

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?


 

The Friendship of Holiness*

The Holy One calls me this morning.  I never really know where we will end up when the thoughts we share start to roll.  Life with the Spirit is more like a slow meandering than a time-measured straight-away.

I am thankful for His exceeding and endless patience. He knows my thoughts and the way I process His wisdom.  He reminds me often that His timetable is eternity not like the clock and calendar we humans always seem to prioritize.  I am resisting the urge to get to some point when I realize friendship has no point to make or teach it is just to experience.

I cannot stop thinking about the onset of winter, and the season of life I have just entered.  The darkness outside, the cold blustery winds, the leaves blowing away and the nakedness of the land that a few weeks ago was lush and green.

Then my Friend asks a hard question, "If everything were taken away, would My friendship be enough for you?" 

All of us on planet earth are experiencing losses, some more than others.   Each one of us is facing something that represents a "winter" season, challenging to our faith and the fears run high.

The Holy One takes me back to His Word to show me that faith challenges are nothing new.  John 6 begins with the account of the miracle where Jesus multiplied loaves and fish to feed the multitude of 5000 + people.  His point to His followers was to teach them that He is the bread of life, our sustenance and He is all we need.

With that as a backdrop, and proof that He is God, John 6:66 says that from this time,  "many of  His Disciples turned back and no longer followed Him".  He even asked the intimate twelve, "You do not want to leave Me too, do you?"

The question and reaction stems from a faith crisis that can crop up when life doesn't go the way we think it should.  A faith crisis when God doesn't do what we ask or fails to deliver an answer in the way we expect.  A faith crisis when His teaching gets tough and requires us to change our long and tightly held traditions.

I have faced a lot of winters in the course of my life.  This is the 65th one in earth years.  The one thing I know from experience is that it will pass.  The springtime will come again, and Hope will come with it.  The promise of the Holy One stands, "I will never leave you nor forsake you".  Joshua 1:5 and Hebrews 13:5.

If we wonder why these powerful, profound and comforting words were recorded for us to read and remember, it must be because the Lord knows His people will have to face days like today, when all we thought we could depend on in this world evaporates and His friendship is all that is left.

He repeats the question to my heart, "If everything were taken away, would My friendship be enough for you?"

I look outside.  The new day is beginning to dawn.  The clouds still cover the earth, but the warm Presence of Holiness fills my heart.  In answer to His question, I, like Peter, am compelled to say, "Lord, to whom shall we (I) go?  You have the words of eternal life".  And I must thankfully add, "Yes, yes, yes, Your friendship is more than enough for me."

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

The Day Of the King Draws Near***

The Holy One calls me this morning.  Struggles abound and there is much to talk over with my Counselor and Friend.  News of yet another storm to hit an already devastated area of the U.S. reaches  my ears.  Physical trials of body breakdowns touching people I know and love.  Unemployment escalating and families in crisis, all indicators that this life is spiraling out of our control.

I feel the winter setting in and my body groans just like my heart.

The Holy One speaks, "It won't be long now.  The day of the King draws near."  Oh how I long for that day, when the foot of Holiness will step back into the world on the spot where He left us over 2000 years ago. That was a supernatural event, when the Creator of gravity revealed His power and authority over it, and His return will be nothing less supernatural.

Acts 1:9-11 sets the stage and tells the story of that amazing moment in history. I go there knowing the Holy One has something He wants me to "see".   After Jesus ascended into Heaven from the Mount of Olives, scriptures tells us:

"After He said this, He was taken up before their very eyes and a cloud hid Him from their sight.  They were intently looking up into the sky as He was going.  Suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.  "Men of Galilee" they said, "Why do you stand there looking into the sky?  This same Jesus who has been taken from you into Heaven will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into Heaven".

Talk about a mind blower.  But then everything about Jesus blows my mind.  Somehow I feel the Holy One smile at my thoughts.  His role is to bring honor and respect and awe and worship from inside me out for My King.  And I give it gladly because He is worthy.  Sadly, many, even those called by His Name, withhold such praise.  "But Lord, what can explain the lack?"

It's not long until the Holy One provides the answer.  "It's the cares of the world and the human reaction to them.  Too many lies over too many generations have clouded the legacy of the faith.  The anticipation of My return has left the minds of most of My people.".

Truth has just sent a shock way to my being.  We go along to get along and the return of the King never gets mentioned by most who are doing "Christianity."  If we thought that tonight at midnight the horn would blow and we would see the return of the King, how would we live today?  Even a casual glance into most lives tells the tale that the subject of His return is not discussed. 

The Acts church was on fire...they did not know the day of His return any more than we do, yet they lived their lives in anticipation of it.  Priorities change when our focus does.  Maybe that is why the church is so inconsequential today.  No one cares what the church thinks or has to say even about moral issues because of our  compromise.  We are not living as the Body of Christ in anticipation of His return so why would anyone outside the church be concerned?

Prophecy has been laid out for all of us to read.  The opinion of scholars, who have spent a lifetime studying God's Word,  seems to be that we are truly in the last days before His return.  The one thing we do know is that we don't know.  The day of His return is a very well kept secret.  But knowing that it is coming should have an impact on the way we choose to live our lives.

The Holy One asks me to think about what I would do differently today if I knew the Lord was coming back tonight?  And then do it.  Much to think about as the day of the King draws near.  What about you?  What would you do differently if you knew that the King would be coming tonight?

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

God's Purpose Stands

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  His question to me is one I have  heard Him ask more than once.  "I know you trust My Will, but do you trust My Ways?"

God's Will is exceeding clear for it is written.  God's Word is His Will.  It's His ways, "so much higher" than mine that are hard for me to understand a lot of the time and this is one of those times.

The Holy One reminds me, "God never loses".  My finite mind cannot begin to comprehend the infinite Mind of Holiness, but as He speaks this profound Truth, I know I need to re-calibrate my perspective to align my heart with His.

He takes me back to my familiar friend, the prophet, Isaiah.  As I grow older and feel the effects of my own weakness, the Lord told me to tuck Isaiah 46:8 in my memory banks as an important and powerful comfort.  I go there often.  "Even to your old age and gray hairs, I Am He.  I AM HE, who will sustain you.  I have made you and I will carry you.  I will sustain you and I will rescue you".

God continues to speak to His people:

 "To whom will you compare Me or count Me equal?  To whom will you liken Me that we may be compared?" 

To the president and his extravagant but hollow promises?  To the government so in debt that it will take years of all of us paying "it" to NOT take care of us?  Or how about to the Republican party whose values are most like my own?

I see the "idolatry" begin to emerge.  Placing our hope in anything or anyone but the Lord Himself is like trying to stand on shifting sand, and it boils down to "idolatry". 

Then my eyes catch the point of today's conference.  Isaiah 47:9:

"I Am God and there is no other.  I AM GOD and there is none like Me.  I make known the end from the beginning, from ancient times what is still to come.  I say, My purpose will stand and I will do all that I please".

"God never loses."  We may not understand His ways at all times and in every situation, but we can know in our heart that His purpose stands.

For those who cast their vote and are hoping to rely on big government to sustain or rescue them, these will be disappointing times.  Idols are worthless, but maybe that's what Holiness wants us to learn.

I find some kind of poetic justice in the thought that this president will now have 4 years to deal with the huge mess he has made in his governing both here and around the world.  "God's purpose stands."

For those of us who believe and trust in our Savior, Jesus Christ, our lives will be full of Divine opportunities to trust and see that He is good.  Even as the darkness swirls around us, I believe and trust that the Lord will make a distinction between those who serve Him and those who do not.  

Back to Isaiah 40:28-31 for the rest of the story:

"Have you not heard?  The Lord is the Everlasting God,  the Creator of the ends of the earth.  He will not grow weary and His understanding who can fathom?  He gives strength to the weary, and increases the power of the weak.  Even youths grow tired and weary and young men stumble and fall.  But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles.  They will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."

And for those struggling with all that the "mess" means for our families, Isaiah 40:11 promises:

"He tends His flock like a Shepherd.  He gathers the young in His arms and carries them close to His heart.  He gently leads those that have young".

The game of life has many innings.
The puzzle of life has many pieces.
The race of life has many miles.

But God is in control of them all.  When He says, "My purpose stands", I must not  question what it looks like from here.  And when He asks me,  "Do you trust My ways?"  May my heart always be quick to say, "Yes Lord, I do".

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

 

Who's your King?*

I have been journaling my thoughts and conversations with my Lord for years.  I will often look back at previous times in my life when lessons were like bricks used to build up my "faith wall".  

The Lord had His people, Israel built altars at places and times when He provided supernaturally for their rescue or spoke vital instructions for their continued success among the other people groups (nations) of the world. So as not to forget their relationship with Him, He had His people establish visual reminders.  For me, this is the reason I journal.

Life here on earth runs in cycles, where every generation faces it's challenges.  The trials of life are not the same today but similar to the ones previous generations have struggled through. Every one has free will as something we are born with.  I understand the purpose in our free will is that all of us get to choose where we will spend eternity and who we will choose to follow as our leader (s) during our time here on earth.

It's easy to become discouraged when we see poor leadership making decisions that are destructive to our familiar way of life, in what seems to be a toxic agenda to destroy the people Jesus died to save.

However, when you realize how impermanent things are, things become much less compelling to stress over.  We are not defined by any "season" as our identity, nor does it represent a permanent way of life here.  The full realization here is that God rules.  We must trust where the world is heading as Adonai's ultimate plan unfolds.  Faith dictates that our Heavenly Father can (and does) intervene and our true identity is that of the "Child of a King".

As a case in point, I turned back in my journal to a time when I was sure our nation would go down in flames with us in it.  The lesson was a brick in my faith wall and it serves as an important reminder to me today that Yeshua NEVER leaves His throne of ultimate power and authority no matter how much the evil ones lie. 

Here's a page from 2012 and a similar struggle I was having back then with the hope I need for today.        

The Holy One calls me this morning.  News of the 2012 election is front page in these hours just before dawn.  The first thing I saw when I tuned in for the results was a picture of the winner of the election on a newspaper and the headline, "Hail Caesar". 

"How appropriate", my sarcastic side responded, "the people have spoken and chosen their king".

The Holy one speaks, "I am still YOUR King, nothing changes that". 

''But Lord", I begin to argue my talking points about how this was such an opportunity for Holiness to turn back the clock and restore some dignity, integrity and respect for the "one nation under God" that we used to be.  Not to mention, this being a place of liberty and justice for all, a safe place in such a dangerous world.  People will surely misunderstand You now.

His response was cutting, "are you one of them?"

History and now Holiness reminds me that the Messiah did not come to change politics, He came to change hearts.  It is tempting to put that expectation on our Shepherd and get bitter when He doesn't show up that way.

While it is our civic duty to participate in every election that comes and goes, while it is still our privilege to speak of our values and stand when evil is advancing against them, we must not be shocked when the dark world does not agree or lose our Peace when what seems so wrong wins the day.

Our job is to continue to represent the Eternal King.  Our assignment is still to be His light in this dark place, and serve His interest and love for the people He created in His image.

The election is over and that distraction has passed.  Our lives will change as a result, one way or another, but there is such comfort in the fact that The Sovereign God of Eternity is still on His Throne.

For those who call Jesus, "Savior, Shepherd and King", this event changes nothing.  The Good Shepherd still takes care of His sheep and the Eternal King still leads His people.

The message from the Holy One to me is clear.   As we await that glorious day of promise when Jesus will return to usher in The Millennial Reign of Christ, let us not become discouraged or "call the arrogant blessed". 

Words of wisdom and encouragement were written and recorded before the first coming of Christ and the Holy One takes me back to them today.  Discouragement among believers was reaching the ears of Holiness, and God through the prophet Malachi spoke these words:

 "Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other, and the Lord listened and heard.  A scroll of remembrance was written in His Presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored His Name.  They will be mine, says the Lord Almighty, in the day when I make up my treasured possession.  I will spare them just as in compassion a man spares his son who serves him.  And you will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not".

For all the things that may have been lost to us in this election, the one thing surely gained as we look and move forward, will be the myriad of opportunities to serve God in the land of the living.  We will find more opportunities for Jesus to work through our lives and change hearts for all eternity.

What an incredible time for the Lord to make His distinction, when all the chaos of the world comes crashing down and we, His people, the sheep of His pasture are safe and secure.  Our assignment is still the same no matter who occupies the Oval Office.  We are to represent and serve our Eternal King.

Many challenges face us in these days no matter who is elected to lead us.  Choices still abound and life will go on until God says otherwise.  By the sound of the headline today, the nation has chosen it's king.

In my heart of hearts, I have chosen mine....the Eternal King of Kings..... Jesus Christ....to whom all glory is due.  The only thing left for me to do is serve Him.

The Holy Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

   

Freedom to Choose

The Holy One calls to me this morning earlier than usual.  I am not tired but I am aware that today is going to be a long day...an important day.....Today is election day.

Listening to the poll takers and political analyzers, I realize how close and divided are the two candidates and their respective sides in this election. 

For me the choice is so clear.  Four years ago I mourned at what I felt then was the death of my country and the over-ruling of all the ideals that made us who we are as a nation.  Because my perspective comes from my personal relationship with my Lord, it's hard for me not to wonder about those who disagree with my world view and the politics that reflect what emanates out of my faith.

Four years ago, the Holy One answered my despair by reminding me that, this world is not my home.  My beloved country is still just the land of exile.  Heaven is my homeland and I must not become too attached anywhere else.

Four years ago He spoke to me and I read His directive to me in Jeremiah 29:4-9.  These passages, after that devastating election, gave me the assurance then, that all would be OK and that He is still on His Throne.

The Lord said to His people, "Build houses, settle down, plant gardens, eat what they produce.  Find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage.....increase in numbers....and pray for the peace and prosperity of the city to which I have carried you into exile, for if it prospers, so will you".

The message was clear, "Continue to live out your faith in Me, nothing has occurred that is outside of My control."  That was four years ago and while not without trials, God has sustained us.  Life has gone on and now we have another election and the freedom to choose a leader.

The tension has been building up and my questions to Holiness are endless.  The question that keeps surfacing is all about how someone else's free will impacts my life and how the exercise of their freedom causes me to suffer, personally or corporately. 

So much happens in our lives that seems to play up the sense of being victimized by someone else's freedom.  Just ask a faithful but betrayed husband or wife.  Just ask an abused victim of unwarranted assault or an orphan abandoned by a heartless parent. 

We must all realize that where there is great freedom, there is also great responsibility and great accountability some day.  In a national election we can be a corporate victim of someone else's choice of leadership.

It's just not fair, yet when 51% of my countrymen voted for a leader who vowed to change America and lived up to that vow and I must live under the dark consequences of their bad choice, it makes me CRAZY...CRAZY....until the Voice of Holiness speaks.

"Nothing changes My love for you or My promises, even in the land of exile. The darkness will continue to be dark, but you are My light in the world."  The Holy One reads my deepest thoughts and fears about all the "what-if's" having to do with this election and the consequences to this nation (and even the world) as we exercise our freedom to choose and vote accordingly.

National trials follow national choices.  Corporate accountability brings corporate consequences.  Just look at Historic Israel for the Truth of that reality.

Then the Holy One takes me to II Peter 2:4-10 and I find His familiar Peace.  "If God did not spare angels when they sinned but sent them to hell, putting them into gloomy dungeons to be held for judgement. If he did not spare the ancient world when He brought the flood upon ungodly people, but protected Noah, a preacher of righteousness and seven others.  If He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah by burning them to ashes and made them an example of what is going to happen to the ungodly.  And if He rescued Lot who was distressed by the filthy lives of lawless men....if this is so then God knows how to rescue godly men from trials and to hold the unrighteous for the day of judgment while continuing their punishment."

In each situation, God's mercy warned and people chose to ignore the warnings.  How much does the decisions of leadership affect our personal lives?  How much do we personally suffer or benefit for what our elected President does through his leadership?  This becomes the subject of a great debate for another day.  The last four years of consequences have been warning enough about straying away from Godly principles.  I see the direct correlation and shudder at the thought of corrupt leadership.

But the point to me today is that God knows how to rescue His people even as the whole earth spins out of control.  I know this election day will close and become part of history, just like four years ago.

 I know my relationship with my God will not change no matter who wins or who loses today.  But there is an important lesson for each one of us to glean as we make our decision and cast our vote.

Free will is a sacred trust and must be exercised with great discretion and a thought toward what consequences will follow not just personally but also corporately.  Free will must be aligned with God's will or disaster awaits.  And we will each stand personally accountable before a Holy God for how we vote in this or any election we have the privilege to participate in.  The choice looms large and with great consequences for the next four years at least.

Since we are all in this together I am compelled to say,"choose well, my fellow country men, choose well!"

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

   

Faith in Faith

The Holy One calls me this morning.  It looks like a crisp, clear, beautiful morning is about to unfold, judging by the stars I see in these hours just before dawn.  The refreshing coolness of the garden, rather than the warm humidity that marks the end of summer, greets me this morning.

I am deep in thought about yesterday's teaching from the pulpit of our pastor.  Something about his words  and Truth is like a thorn in my brain.  The Sermon on the Mount and Matt 5 has been the subject of the teaching for several weeks.  The high standard of Holiness leaves it's mark upon my mind.

Yesterday, I left the church condemned.  The teaching and the standard is impossible.  Too high for me to attain to.  I confess this to my Counselor, whose job it is to see me to the standard.

He speaks to me what I already know is the Truth, "Apart from Me you can do nothing".  John 15:5.

I confess to Him that I know that to be true in the mission fields of life, advancing the Gospel, and serving the King of Kings.  But this was all about my attitude toward others who have set out to destroy me, my family, my church, and my attitude about my weakness and failure to meet and live the standard of Holiness.  I confess, without Him I cannot even find a foot upon which to stand.

Then our conversation turns:  "Do not confuse faith in faith with faith in Me". 

This seems to be a point of confusion that Holiness wants to clear up.  While it seems to be a fine line to draw, He begins to show me the depths of the difference between the two.  I begin to ponder and wonder about the "faith of a mustard seed" it takes to move a mountain in God's economy.

We all have faith in something. It may be faith in the government or faith in the alignment of the stars for good fortune.  Whether it be our faith in the chair we are about to sit down on or our faith in our own ability to provide, protect or live a happy or holy life here on earth, we all rely on something to hold us up.

Then, for me as a follower of Christ, I see how much of the time I am demonstrating or relying on faith in faith or faith  in myself to bring answers or circumstantial changes to my life and needs here on earth.

The Holy One takes me to John 11 and the account of Lazarus.  While there are many points to ponder tucked into this portion of scripture today, He wants me take a look at faith and where it should always be placed: in Christ Jesus alone.

Mary and Martha were beside themselves with grief.  Their brother Lazarus fell ill and passed away.  The Healer, Jesus, their close friend and the One they understood to be the Messiah had been summoned but He had not yet come in time to heal Lazarus.

While their reaction and the teaching of Mary and Martha's leap in faith is well discussed, the Holy One has me look at Lazarus inside the tomb, 4 days dead.  Then He speaks to my heart, "Dead men have no faith, yet I raised Lazarus.  You put Me in a box when you think I will not or cannot work in a life where there is no faith.  And that is having faith in faith rather than faith in Me".

What an overwhelming distinction He has just made.  I confess the truth in His conviction.  I look at what seems to be dead and I grow hopeless for people, visions, even dreams yet unfulfilled.  Faith in faith is a dead end because it always comes back to me.

Lazarus was raised up, not because of his faith but because Jesus is the resurrection and the life.

Lazarus was raised up, not because Mary and Martha acknowledged that Jesus is the resurrection and the life, but because He IS the resurrection and the life.

This mornings conference has been so important for my attitude and provided yet more understanding of the incredible Power and Authority and Character of my God.  I do not need to rely on faith in my faith or someone else's to witness the Holy Hand of Divine intervention.  Rather, I just need to rely on the One who brings resurrection life into dead places including the deep catacombs of my heart.  Faith in faith is a dead end.  Faith in Christ Jesus brings forth life.

I cannot change things or people as hard as I might try.  I am thankful for my wise Counselor and His willingness to correct my thinking.  He alone can take the death of condemnation and change it into life giving conviction.  He alone provides the hope that I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.  He alone speaks life into dead places.  He alone is God.

Now, when the enemy of my soul comes to me and says, "this or that is because of your lack of faith" or "you just need more faith",  I will point to the story of  a dead man who had no faith and how the Author of  Life worked things out anyway.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

 

Love Warns

The Holy One calls me this morning. A storm is brewing outside.  Winds are starting to rev up and the gentle balmy breeze is about to morph into something so much more.....well......threatening.

The weather forecaster has called for a storm front that may bring a fast end to fall and a brutal introduction to winter this year.  The Holy One has some words of warning just like the weatherman.

"My Word is Truth....all of it.  You cannot pick and choose what to accept and what to reject out of My Word.  All the promises are yes and amen for you, but all the consequences are yours should you choose to reject, deny, defy or ignore my warnings."  The Holy One gently reminds me that "love warns".

His peace flows to me and I think it strange in that His Words are so sobering.  My heart is anchored to His love.  What is He saying to me that represents warning?

I do embrace the fullness of His Word.  I do believe everything His Word speaks and represents.  I have lived the majority of my life in trials that only serve to prove His Word is true. 

Lately, He has been taking me into the deeper issues of His Grace.  The depth of it who can fathom?  We live and breathe in the "Age of Grace".  Unlike any other time in the history of man, this "Age of Grace" brings the potential to be in the inexpressible unity with the Trinity, the Triune Godhead who created everything.  Not just everything we see and know, but everything...period!

He says it again, "Love warns".  II Peter 3:3-7 says,  "By the same Word, the present heavens and earth are reserved for fire, being kept for the day of judgement and destruction of ungodly men".

Just as in the days of Noah, who, upon the command of Sovereign Holiness, built an ark to escape the judgement by water upon wicked men, we have been given a greater "Ark" in which to survive the ultimate judgement by fire that will come upon the whole earth.  That greater "Ark" is Jesus. 

In Christ Jesus, is the only place of escape for what lies beyond the "Age of Grace".  Grace has allowed every person to find Him, because "God is not wanting any to perish but everyone to come to repentance"  II Peter 3:9.

Love warned Noah and he listened.  Genesis 6-9 and Hebrews 11:7.  And through the story of Noah we can see Divine rescue. Love even warned the Great Pharaoh of Egypt, but he ignored the warnings.

How many times did God send Moses into the Pharaoh's presence?  How many times did God provide the evidence  the He is the Sovereign God of all creation?  How many time did God through Moses warn? 

The Pharaoh was so arrogant in his own power and self-rule, he chose to rebel rather than submit to the One who held his next breath.  Even if we don't talk about Grace before the Cross, Grace was extended even back then to the Pharaoh who refused it.  He drowned in the very sea that provided great and Divine deliverance for God's people, Israel.

Love warns and consequences follow disobedience. 

So what is the deeper point for me today?  I go back in my mind to the Garden of Eden where it all began.  Love warned, but the arch enemy of Heaven floated a lie that Eve believed, "You won't really have to pay a consequence if you take and eat from the forbidden tree".  What Satan really did was call God a liar.  Love warned and rebellion rejected the warning:  Consequences follow disobedience.

Many believers today refuse to call out sin.  We refuse to change our own ways and so we refuse to warn others about pending consequences. We are so misguided about the Grace message that we fail to point out the reasons for it. 

Somehow, we, like the Pharaoh and Eve, believe we can escape the consequences of our self-exhaled defiance of Sovereignty.  That fatal mistake is being played out over and over, from generation to generation.  Our depraved thinking spurred on by the enemy of our souls rejects the Truth of God's Word.  Sin brings the consequence of pain, sorrow and ultimately death.

Grace is found only in God's Chosen Savior, Jesus Christ.  It's not about pleasant circumstances that we may experience or long for, but rather the brutal torturous death to the sin within, that Jesus paid for on the Cross.  By the subsequent release of the Holy Spirit we can partake of His Divine nature and escape the ultimate judgement coming upon the earth.

Love warns and Grace has been given.  However, there is a day on the calendar of our lives when, if rejected, individual judgement will come.  It might be today, it might be tomorrow.  The question is "Are you ready?"

The "Ark" is available.  Jesus stands before you with open arms as an open door.  But will you believe and come in?

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

 

Count the Cost

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  My wandering thoughts flit from subject to subject.  The early hour and darkness speaks of yesterday's frustration not left behind.

"Can I never get cut a break?  Do I always have to wake up to the war?"

The Holy One knows my sense of humor so He responds, "I told you long ago, you need to learn to love the war, 'cause it's going to be your life."

"OK, OK, but could you help me get into my armor today?  It's all kind of disheveled.  The buckle of Truth is half way around my waist, my Peace laces are untied, my Breastplate is a little crooked, my Shield is very heavy and I'm still fumbling with my Sword!  At least my Helmet is secure, but I really need your help today just getting dressed for the battle."  (Ephesians 6)

And so it goes.  We laugh together and cry together and look out over the landscape like Lewis and Clark.  So what priceless nugget of wisdom am I about to receive from the Holy One?  It's not long in surveying the horizon that I hear Him say, "Count the cost".

He takes me back to the words of my Jesus in Luke 14:28, "Suppose one of you wants to build a tower.  Will he not first sit down and estimate the cost to see if he has enough money to complete it?"  The same passage talks about a King going to war against another King and the necessity of considering what it means and whether or not he has the resources to fight and win the war.

The point is well taken.  The Holy Spirit touches on the subject of being a Disciple of Jesus Christ.    To be a Disciple of Jesus requires sacrifice.  Jesus does not want a blind naive commitment that expects only blessings.  As our relationship with Him grows, so does the requirement to surrender to His ways.

That is why so many fall away.  The cost to be a Disciple, after a while, can be like a bucket of cold water on our hot passionate heart.  The road is narrow and treacherous.  Sometimes we lose sight of Him.  Dark forces call out to us to abandon Him; to join in the revelry of rebellion and the comfort of a flesh way station.  A way station which is, in reality, a dark prison from whence there may be no escape.

The cost of being His Disciple is complete surrender.  And complete surrender is costly to our flesh.  The good news is that once we go there, once the mental battle in resistance has been won, the Holy Spirit takes us the rest of the way in His strength.  While the highway of Holiness is a difficult path, for every temptation to turn back, there is a way of escape.  I Corinth 10:13.

Today I look at the war and I remember.  For a moment (or for days) I forgot the cost and what has already been invested.  Today, I am brought back to the moment when I said, "Here I am Lord, send me".

Counting the cost also requires vision.  It's not just what must be sacrificed in counting and paying the cost but we must also remember the goal and the reason.  Jesus, when looking at humanity in the depths of our depravity and what it would take to redeem us, counted the cost and paid it willingly.


I wonder what the vision of redeemed humanity was like for our Savior?  As He suffered so much alone on the Cross of Calvary, was  He thinking of the day He would hold us in His arms?

The battle we fight, the race we run, the puzzle we work; however you look at life to compete and complete, it's in Eternity with our Creator, in the arms of our Savior and in the paradise of where we truly belong that we will find our reward. This life is but a vapor in the context of Eternity, a passing through on our way to the real place of ultimate contentment.

I am thankful for our early morning conference today.  When the road is hard and the cost to inch forward seems high, I am thankful to be reminded by the Holy One of the end, when all my hopes and dreams will become reality.   And, when the cost of following Jesus will seem as nothing compared to the cost He paid for me. 

"The one thing I do:  Forgetting what is behind, and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus"  Phil 3:13-14

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

  

Narrow Gate, Narrow Road

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  Choices abound and we must make them.  The election is soon to be over and the direction of our Country, the "One Nation Under God" Country, ordained and founded upon the principles of Biblical righteousness, Country, will be in the hands of people elected by the vote (choice) of those governed. 

Just as in all the issues of life here, our Eternal destination brings a choice.  I think about the choices I see people making and shudder.  The Holy One says, "Enter through the narrow gate.  Narrow is the road that leads to life and only a few will find it." Matt 7:13-14.  These are haunting words spoken by the God of all Creation and the One who inhabits Eternity.  His words make me ponder.

If I look at the statement as a challenge to my sin nature to get straight, live by the rules, don't make any mistakes,  hopelessness ensues.  How many times in how many ways have I missed the mark.  All the rules and regulations "required" to live a Holy life are overwhelming, simply impossible to follow longer than a few minutes  How exhausted and weary we all become in that place of human effort.

Does that mean we are on that broad road to destruction?

The question really becomes, "Who is Jesus Christ to you?"  The answer to that question tells us whether we are on that broad road to destruction or on the narrow road that leads to life.  For you see, JESUS IS the narrow gate.  JESUS IS the narrow road that leads to life. The narrow gate and the narrow road is not about sin or lack thereof.  It is about God's only provision for a restored relationship with Himself.

For all the religions that have shuffled out over the course of the history of man seeking God.  There is only one way to God.  God Himself, in the Person of Jesus Christ, bridged the gap and became the gateway, the very narrow gate between man and His Creator.

Choices abound and if we insist on finding any other way into the Presence of Holiness, other than the one way that He Himself provided, then we are on that broad road to our own destruction.

Jesus was not born into the depraved world of men to offer a new plan for sin management.  He did not come to present a new improved set of rules that would fuel self-righteousness, and legalistic mumbo-jumbo of relative comparison to others whose sin is worse than ours.  Jesus did not come to merely cleanse us of past sin with the expectation that without a supernatural change of DNA, we would somehow never sin again.

The Holy Lamb of God was sent into the world to bear the sin nature that all have been born with since the fall of man.  The Holy Son of God came to pay the ultimate price that any and all sin deserves:  the wrath of a Holy God against all that is unlike Him.  He came to crucify the "old sin nature" and to offer each one of us the chance to be "born again" with the  new nature of Holiness dwelling within.   By the Power of the Holy One within, the cycle of sin and separation from God can be  broken once and for all.

Of all the religions conjured up in the minds of fallen humanity, there is none who can boast of a Resurrected Savior. None that offers a substitute to pay the price for original sin. None that provides a hope for walking the highway of Holiness with God Himself.

The One who paid that price and bore the sin nature of humanity became the narrow gate. It is by His Name alone, the Name above all Names, Jesus Christ,  that we have access to Heaven, and to the Throne of the God of all Creation.

So the question is still the same, "Who is Jesus Christ to you?"  If not that narrow gate, if not that narrow road leading to the God of all Eternity who is Life, then you have chosen the broad road that leads to destruction.  Are you one of the few who has or will find it?

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?



 

More on Grace

The  Holy One calls to me early this morning.  Darkness brings so many doubts into my mind.  Winter is approaching and the chill creeps into my bones.

Death has left it's empty mark.  Funny how the presence of things can seem like such a trial until the absence of the same things with the emptiness and loneliness kicks in.  Sometimes silence can be louder than a rock band concert.  Today is one of those days.

The Holy One is here.  I know He will never leave me nor forsake me.  Yet, He allows me these moments, hours and even longer sometimes, to open up the dark catacombs of thought that need His Light to heal. 

"The age of Grace" has been on my mind as I look around and see life here on earth spinning out of control.  People acting out their lusts for power and control.  Millions of people walking wounded, scarred by an unseen enemy, in a battle they don't even know is raging.  A battle for their very souls.

This "Age of Grace" bears a double edged sword.  On one side we have been given the most outrageous opportunity to lay down our guilty lives.  Guilty from the standard that Righteousness holds and guilty to receive the judgement and wrath of a Holy God.

If we reject the opportunity to have Christ and the Cross of Calvary as the place of judgement for our guilty lives, then we will face Holy judgement on the final "day" before an Almighty Sovereign God with absolutely no defense. 

"Grace" is favor from God given or extended to man.  What is there,  that speaks of more favor than the acquittal of a guilty person on the basis that someone else took the blame and paid the ultimate price the guilty would otherwise have to pay?

Jesus, God in the flesh, in an act of total and unfathomable Grace, came and paid the ultimate price for you and me.  Christ took all the wrath of Holiness and paid the penalty for all that our sin nature could conjure up and do.  That is a fact and that is the basis of our faith.

The "Age of Grace" and God's favor brought a new Covenant between God and man.  God has written it and signed it with the Blood of Jesus.  But this new Covenant can be rejected and many do.

The other side of that double edged sword of Grace is that this life is the only time and place where we can enter into the new Covenant with Holiness, and accept His offering of favor.  The "Age of Grace" in which we live brings total freedom.  There is no awful personal judgment here like unto the judgement at the end of time or that which was experienced by Christ on the Cross. 

Life can be hard or cruel but Holiness poured out all His wrath for sin on the Cross and on Jesus over 2000 years ago in earth time.  Today each one of has the freedom to choose where we will spend eternity and whether we will choose to endure the wrath of a Holy God on our own merits, thus denying a need for a Savior.

The "Age of Grace" in which we find ourselves began when Jesus came to bring the Truth about God's love.  He came and He loved.  He fixed people's lives and the distorted perspective of God that had been twisted by evil.  He call God, "Father".  And He gave to those who will accept His death as a substitute for their own, the privilege to do the same.

The Bible says that there is no other name under Heaven by which we can be saved. Acts 4:12  There is only one way to God and that one way is through the death to sin that Jesus paid.  Jesus and the Cross is the only access God Almighty as provided as the "Way" to Himself.

Many will say, "but I'm not all that bad".   If we judge ourselves by ourselves or against the sin of others who are worse, that argument might seem viable to our own minds.  However, the truth about "Grace" is that we desperately need God's favor because it is His standard of Holiness that we have violated.

"The Age of Grace" will come to a close one day.  Our ability to receive it and act upon it will end.  Most likely it will come as suddenly and unexpectedly as Jesus came into the world.  The picture of that day is written in Rev 19:11,  as the Rider on a white horse enters the scene. 

The Holy Scriptures of prophecy shriek out the wrath of a Holy God and Divine judgement of sin not yet atoned for.  Sin, as in wrong doing, (according to the standard of Holiness), lawlessness, rebellion and ultimate rejection of the only name by which we can be saved.

Grace begs the question, "From what are we saved?"  What does God's favor really mean?

If we think that it means that a Holy God will wink at our sin, we would be wise to think again.  Rev 19 describes the return of the Lord yet to come.  His 2nd coming will not be as the "suffering Messiah" subject to the torture and power of men.  No, no, no!  His next appearance will be in power so great that none will be able to stand in His Presence or speak a word. 

Rev 19  provides some stark visuals of that day.  "With justice He judges and makes war".  "His eyes are like  blazing fire", "Out of His mouth comes a sharp sword", "He treads the wine press of the fury of the wrath of God Almighty".  There will be no escape and no where to hide on that day.

While future ultimate judgment awaits us, the "Age of Grace" still provides a small grasp of what will be more heartbreaking than even physical death.  It has been said, that the wrath of God in this "age" comes through His "slipping away".  If we do not grab hold of Him now, we will not be able to grab hold of Him later.

The dark absence of the Light of life, will be a more profound penalty than physical death.  I felt today, to a very small extent that loneliness brought on by the death of my husband of 31 years. His absence and my loneliness is real.  However, that emotional hole is nothing compared to the darkness of a world and eternity without God. 

Amazing Grace is ours for the taking.

The warmth of His love flows to me.   The loneliness of my circumstances is cured and I am overwhelmed by the sense of His Presence.

By and through His amazing Grace, not only am I saved for all eternity from the wrath my sin deserves, but I am welcomed in the courtyard of His fellowship and love.

People and the love relationship we have with them may pass away from our temporal place and in each case we must deal with the hole in our heart that they leave.  But we will never have to deal with losing relationship with the "Light of life", who is the Savior of our souls so long as we accept His "Amazing Grace".

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?  



 

Grace

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  It's been a while since I transcribed our early morning conference.  The numbness and shock of my widowhood is blending into my new reality and the Lord has been gracious to me.

The thoughts about "Grace" are heavy on my heart these days.  Grace is something I know I have, yet cannot explain.  The love and favor of God toward man is the best definition of "Grace".  The age in which we live and breathe is called the "Age of Grace".

This period of time in the history of man's days upon the earth was ushered in through the birth of the Savior, Jesus Christ. The Old Covenant between God and man came in the form of the "law".  The New Covenant was signed in the Blood of Jesus and came in the form of the crucifixion and judgment of sin on the Cross of Calvary and it is called "Grace".  God's favor extended has given all men the opportunity for forgiveness and atonement, a price paid for sin, but not by the offender himself.

Lately there has been more and more talk about "Grace" and as Christians we are exhorted to extend it.  But what is this "Amazing Grace" we sing about and yet can be more dangerous than the laws we break?

The "Grace" we claim to live under was not cheap.  It called for the sacrifice of the Crown Jewel of Heaven, God's one and only Son, Jesus Christ. The Holy One speaks to my heart, "There is the responsibility side of Grace that belongs to those who have received it."

My human mind swirls with what that means.  We are being blasted with the requirement to extend it to others in the same measure we have received it from the God of all Creation.  Knowing that all my sins have been forgiven by the Grace of our God suggests that Grace and forgiveness are inter-changeable.

But then the Holy One takes me to Hebrews 10: 26, "If we deliberately keep on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the Truth, no sacrifice for sin is left, but only fearful expectation of punishment."  Then in Heb 10:29, "How much more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the Son of God underfoot and treated as an unholy thing the Blood of the Covenant that sanctified him and who has insulted the Spirit of Grace?"

By these Scriptures, I see the point that Holiness is making to me today.  Grace can be offended.  Grace is deeply personal, and while forgiveness is to be offered liberally to others, my personal response to Grace must be to stop the sin within.  Through the power of the Holy Spirit I can and must live a life that models surrender to Jesus Christ as Lord.

Grace is favor from God.  We cannot earn it, but we can live in humble and sacred appreciation for it.  Grace cannot be fully appreciated unless we grasp the flip side of Grace and look deep into the dread of Holiness and the wrath our sin deserves. 

Religious pride, self-righteous arrogance, and legalistic judgment skirts the entire issue of Grace.  If we continue to look at the sin of others even in Godly forgiveness, but refuse to come to the place of  accountability and repentance for personal betrayal of Holiness, we miss the most important component of Grace:  the ability to stop sinning.

The whole of the subject of God's amazing Grace is beyond our ability to fathom here.  The knowledge of God's Grace is progressive.

Today was an important lesson in the school of God's Grace.  It is sufficient to keep me from sinning, unless of course, I "deliberately keep on sinning:, treating as unholy the Blood of the Covenant that sanctified me" and insulting the (Holy) Spirit of Grace by my decision to keep on in my sin.

Accountability must come before Grace can be appreciated. Unless and until we humbly acknowledge the depth and weight of our own depravity in the eyes of a Holy God, Grace becomes cheap forgiveness.  A superficial, "I'm sorry" for that which required the brutal crucifixion of the Holy One.

The next time we are exhorted to offer Grace, may we first look deep within and understand what it really means to have received it.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?     

Where's Your Faith?

The Holy Spirit calls to me this morning and His subject matter is Faith. 

The world is spirally out of  control and we are being tempted at every corner. The temptation we face as believers are not just in our flesh that seduces us at every corner.  In fact, we may well be victorious over the truly "sinful" things identified as flesh sins, such as adultery or murder, but fail to recognize the temptation toward unbelief due to a wrong perspective or spirit.

The Holy One has been speaking His grief to my heart over the last few months:  "When I return will I find faith on the earth?"  Luke 18:8.  I hear His anguish and I do not want to fail Him.

Today, I realize He has something important to convey to me and I am bracing for what that may be.

"Everyone is exercising faith in something or someone.  The question becomes, in whom or in what have you placed your faith?"  With that simple statement of truth and question, the swirling of my stinkin' thinkin' comes to a sudden halt, almost in mid-air.  He goes on to say, "You have been full of doubts lately.  Doubting me is really putting your faith elsewhere".

Oh how the rebuke stings.  Yet, I realize the undeniable truth in what He just spoke to me.  The liar, the devil, Satan as he is called,  has been making inroads into my mind. 

Lately, because of "circumstances" I have been in places of doubt. The lie of evil along with the "evidence" in the natural supporting the temptation toward unbelief is challenging my faith in the Divine power of Righteousness and Holiness to prevail. 

The doubts are about internal as well as external issues.  "Be Holy because I am Holy", the enemy says "that's not possible."  Evil is more powerful than your God", the enemy says, "just look at the world!".

The devil is working relentlessly to have us place our faith in him and his authority.  Even and especially as a believer in Christ, he attacks us to destroy the testimony of faith in our God.  When we doubt we are actually placing our faith in something other than our God. 

The test comes when all the "evidence" in the natural is supporting unbelief in God's Good Sovereignty.  Will we stand firm in our faith?

Our testimony is refined in the fires of adversity, when the flames of eminent death to all we trust in, licks at our feet.  Will we say, along with Shadrack, Meshack and Abednego, "If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to save us from it and He will rescue us from your hand O King.  But even if He does not, we want you to know O King, we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up."  Daniel 3:17-18

Will we say, even along with Job, "Though He slay me yet will I hope in Him".  Important to note that the end of their "test" became a testimony of the greatness and power of our God.

As we are all feeling the heat of adversity from the days and times in which we live, will we be faithful to the One who calls us to Himself? 

And when He comes, will He find faith on the earth?  In you?  In me?

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear him? 

Into The Land of the Giants*

The Holy One calls me this morning.  Nothing changes our early morning conference calls, and for that I am so thankful.  The Holy One has called to me every morning for years. 

I am sure He was calling to me even before I recognized His voice or my need to respond.  That's the way it is with Holiness: He calls and then He waits.  Now I recognize His voice like a sheep does the Shepherd's and nothing is more important than listening to all He has to say to me.

The importance of our relationship has never been more clear than while my earthly husband was slipping away into eternity.  The Holy One never left me. In a supremely super-natural way, the Holy Spirit spoke to me throughout the dying process, and the one thing I could count on was His call to me each and every morning.....and then amazing grace for the moments flowed.

The last and most familiar season of my temporal life is over.  It ended when my earthly husband crossed his finish line and went to be with our  Lord.  Grief may last through the night, but joy comes with the rising of the sun, and the conference with Holiness at daybreak.

The whole earth is groaning with the need to see the return of our King.  He left here over 2000 years ago after having conquered the enemy of our soul.  Upon His resurrection and return to His Throne of Sovereign Authority, He released the power of His Holiness into the life of every person willing to follow Him into and through that death He suffered once and for all.

I am one of the grateful recipients of His gift because Holiness speaks to me.  Out of my thankful thoughts, He takes me to His Word and touches on the next phase of our journey.

The adventure now requires me to go on alone.  Not alone in the sense of no fellowship, but alone without my physical companion of 31 years.  Not alone in the sense of no direction or grasp of a plan, but without the other guy providing his vision and his leadership over temporal circumstances.

I confess there is some fear associated with my loss.  And that fear is the point of today's meeting. The Holy One wants me to address the fear of the future.

I believe that in every season, there is a symbolic "out-of-the-wilderness and into-the-promised-land" scenario.  I believe the Word includes all the details of how God worked in the nation of Israel and all those individual lives for our education in Holiness.  I believe that if we look close and be honest about our personal life experiences and compare them to those detailed in God's Holy Word, we would see ourselves on every page.

The fear of the future and even entry into the "promised land" poses a battle.  We must go into the "land of the giants" to take possession of all God has promised us. My lesson today finds me in Numbers 13-14 with the Biblical account of the exploration of the promised land and the reports that came back.

The Holy Spirit speaks to my heart and mind, "going on into the promised land after the wilderness was not only permissible, it was a command".  Wow, now that puts it into perspective.  The refusal of the people to move forward into the land of promise, into the land flowing with milk and honey was not only ridiculous from a historic perspective,  but it was rebellion in God's eyes.  Reading the account and report given by those sent to explore the "promised land", I understand why.

The faithlessness of 10 out of the 12 who were sent to explore the land, spread like a cancer among the people.  Fear replaced faith and rebellion ensued.  Joshua spoke into their rebellion words that we need to hear today.  Acknowledging that the land was "good", Joshua emphasized the fact that, in spite of the large inhabitants of the land, God was with them and God would lead them and God would give Israel possession of the land.

In Numbers 14:9, Joshua conveyed the point of the "test" for the nation then and for me today when he said, "Only do not rebel and be afraid of the people of the land, because we will swallow them up, their protection is gone, but the Lord is with us.  Do not be afraid of them".  It is apparent that the real obstacle to the people of Israel for going forward was the "fear" that was  master over their faith.

We are told by the evil one that we are out numbered and out gunned when it comes to our taking possession of the land.  The obstacles are too big, and any attempt to move forward in God's Will would be a suicide mission.   Turn back, return to what is comfortable, the risk is greater than the reward.  Faithlessness has many expressions.

The Voice of My Shepherd speaks clearly, "If you have the faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, "move from here to there" and it will move.  Nothing will be impossible for you."  "Only do not be afraid". 

The Holy One has made His point to me today.  I can move out and into the "land of the giants" confident that the Sovereign God of all Creation is with me.  Faith vs. fear.  The only question is, "will I go?"

The Holy Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?