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?