The Real Test of Job's Life

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  Trust has been the subject and issue between the Lord and me for some time.  Maybe even longer than my conscious awareness has registered.

His voice pierces the darkness in my room and removes the last sleepy covering off my mind.  I hear Him almost proclaim "God trusts His creation!"  I cannot help but think, "What a bizarre twist of the trust we have been discussing lately I.E. mine in Him."

The crazy world we live in and the circumstances we have to deal with, are not only upside down, but way too out of control to imagine a potential fix. They seem to be pressing down and onto all believers these days.  At every corner and every turn humanity seems to be on a track to do evil and flesh is driving the train.  Despair is a knee-jerk reaction for all who hope for a better life.

Since the account of Job has had my attention lately, it's not surprising that the Holy One wants me to return to his story.  I have read about the enemy identified as "Satan" and know the part he played in all that Job suffered.  Today the Lord calls me to re-read the exchange between God and Satan.

I notice that God initiated the conversation, so I can be assured He understood what was going to happen next.   The Eternal One does nothing and allows nothing without knowing what every player in the scenario will do.  Our education calls for things that will teach us about ourselves and the Master...things that He already knows. 

The first important thing I saw is that Satan is a created being just like the human, but with a little greater power that he must gain permission to exert.  That eliminates the feeling of being a "victim" of his evil, so long as I am trusting my God.

Back to the conversation in Job 1:8 NIV.  God's assessment of Job was reflected in His delight for Job's heart of reverence.  "Have you considered my servant Job?  There is none on earth like him.  He is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil".

God was bragging on His Creation.  Job appears to have lived before Israel was a Nation, and before the law that provided for his right standing in God's eyes.  In many ways, Job was a man like Adam who, while tempted on earth and not perfect, kept himself above reproach in his flesh life.

The opening statements about Job reveal that he had temptations like "fear" but took his fears to God and by making a sacrifice for his children, he acted as the priest of his household and family.  We have no indication that he acted out of anything other than an inward desire to please the Creator God.

We read in Roman 1:20 NIV, that what may be known about God is plain, "For since the creation of the world, God's invisible qualities, His eternal power and Divine Nature have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse." Job lived in that knowledge and acted according to his faith before the law was introduced. 

Job was therefore, a man who, like Abraham, looked up, understood Someone created the Heavens and the earth and lived his life to please that Someone.  Even the concept of sacrifice may have been instilled in the hearts of men since the fall and therefore, Job made the sacrifice in his faith accordingly.

For me, today, the most fascinating part of this account is God's "trust" in His creation. God trusted that Job's Divine DNA would hold and prove God's Sovereign wisdom in the creation of man and the free will Job had to worship and love the Creator. 

Remembering the rebellion by 1/3 of the Heavenly Host, Satan's game is to alienate the created from the Creator; man from God and God from man.

While the Law and the Prophets teach us how God dealt with a nation, a society of His people, Job reveals a personal one-on-one intimate relationship the Creator looks for with His Beloved.

God's delight in Job, reveals the challenge that evil takes up to defeat God each and every day here on earth through our human trials and tribulations.

As the conversation between God and Satan continues, we can see that Job didn't even know the high stakes that were on his humility in the furnace of his afflictions.  God's creative genius and wisdom that speaks in Proverbs 8:30 NIV, was being challenged by Satan through Job's trial. 

Personified Wisdom speaks, "I was filled with delight day after day, rejoicing in the whole world and delighting in mankind".

Satan's argument suggested that Job was loyal and "feared" God in his reverent life only because of a love for God's temporal blessings.  Permission was granted by God to test Job's loyalty to Himself through the obliteration of God's blessings and past His hand of Divine protection.

God's confidence in the man He created was put to the ultimate test.  Would job fail and the enemy's accusation be proven right? Or would Job stand firm in his loyalty and vindicate God's delight in him? 

Through many agonizing chapters, we read of the pain of his losses and the human assessments of his suffering.  Thankfully we who study God's Word have a completed picture of Job's life and struggle. 

In a sense we have been given God's perspective and in this instance, we can see and know the end from the beginning.  We can even come to understand the bigger picture of the epic struggle between the great (although created) adversary, Satan and God the almighty and all powerful Creator.

God trusted his Beloved Creation and Job through his trial vindicated God's wisdom in our design.  God has created humanity for more than the days and experiences we have and focus on here in the temporal lives that we live.

While we have limited knowledge through God's Word, of what lies ahead or of His Eternal plans for man, the challenge Satan puts forth in an effort to destroy us, makes me believe it is so much greater than I can even begin to hope or  imagine.

Satan's accusations were very apparently to try to use Job to bring universal humiliation to God and His Creation.  Satan, we must remember was created to worship God and in his pride refused.  Man now has that privilege and role.  Satan was cast out for his rebellion and awaits his final banishment.  His obvious goal is to denigrate man, God's created and chosen replacement as worshippers.

This greater understanding of what we are suffering on earth at Satan's hand should give us all hope and courage to persevere. 

God's delight is in us
God's vindication is through us
God's restoration is upon us

The devil is defeated when, through the hard times we face on temporal earth, we stand firm in the reverence and worship for our God.  Seeing the end from the beginning of Job's life, I know God will restore his Beloved. 

In the matter of our Eternity, God already has restored His beloved through His Son, Jesus the Christ, but the personal trials on earth will continue until we depart planet earth. 

The real test to Job's life was the delight that God had in him.  Keeping his reverence for the Creator, Job learned more about His love.  I have to ask myself,  "in all my trials, like those of Job, will God be vindicated"?  

Worship is the only way, in the furnace of our afflictions, to make sure that His is.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?    

         

       
 

God's Immutable Sovereignty

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  The New Year approaches. A day for resolutions to make changes in our life or status, enact disciplines that we hope will improve our health and to set some goals we failed to achieve in years past.

Holiness speaks to the deepest thoughts in my mind regarding resolutions we all are preparing to make:  "Apart from Me you can do nothing".  I realize that any resolutions I might make or even desire to make, in and of myself is destined to fail unless He enables and provides. 

Knowing this, I have been asking the Lord for a promise out of His Word that is personal to me and one that I can take claim to in this upcoming New Year.  The Holy One has been teaching me about His Sovereignty for some time now.  Today, in answer to my request, and judging by the promise I have received, I know the lessons will continue into 2014.

God's immutable Sovereignty ia a deep dark mystery.  It is the least understood and most questioned Characteristic of our Creator God.  God's Sovereignty seems to end every discussion and it goes far beyond out quest to understand Him.

All the "why" questions do seem to go back unanswered to the mystery of His Sovereignty:

Why do bad things happen to good people?
Why are the innocent taken and evil ones left to thrive?
Why are some people healed while others suffer the same infirmities unto flesh death?

Questions abound for things we cannot control or explain and each one takes us back to God's Sovereignty.

As a person of faith and in a deeply personal relationship with Jesus, the Christ, the issue of God's Sovereignty comes up over and over during my journey here on earth. 

Trusting in His Goodness is always challenged by the enemy of my soul.  Nothing has changed since Eve was approached by a serpent with a lying tongue suggesting the Creator's motives and His rules for successful living were not in her best interests.

If we are settled in a belief that this temporal life is all there is, the reason for our hope dims as the circumstances overwhelm our desperate need for resolutions here.

However if,  as the Word of our Creator God teaches, and there is a life after this one; another place far and away from the things that cause our pain on earth, then the subject of His Sovereignty can actually draw us closer in fellowship and not repel us away from His Presence.

Who do I trust in any situation in life?  Who did I trust when death and divorce knocked at my door and took someone I loved?    Humanity will never have all the answers and at some point we all will have to just trust that God's Sovereignty is ultimately good. 

The story of Job has helped me resolve this issue in my own heart and mind.  The ancient account of his life and trials have given us a look past the temporal into the Spirit Realm where God resides. It gives us a picture of dark created beings that also exist past all the human senses of sight sound and touch. 

This unseen realm and those dark beings must be factored into our understanding of God's Sovereignty as the Creator of everything even those things that we can not see or explain in human terms.

This earth and all that may seem permanent due to its age is really just a temporary setting in light of eternity.  The mystery and some of the "why" questions in our minds may just have to wait for God's purpose in our eternity to be revealed.

The important point I register today about Job's life and trial was the humbling fact that Job had to wait,  amid all the discomfort of his losses,  until God chose to speak and bring relief to his pain.  Job was powerless to protect himself in or from the hard things that were brought to him.  He truly suffered and in every way we might also suffer, but in his multiplied agonies, he chose NOT to judge THE Judge.

Job began in the human way of trusting in his own righteousness but in the end, he trusted only in the Sovereignty he learned of his Creator and saw that it was good.

The Promise I have been given for 2014 is out of Isaiah 55: 8-13




















              

God, The Ultimate Giver

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  Christmas is over for another year and the shopping fervor gives way to the next aspect of traditional Christmas:  buyer's remorse and receiver's regret.

With so much emphasis on the material aspect of the celebration we call Christmas, I wonder why we are all so "driven" to give.  We will go into debt, compete for the last of a certain item on the shelf and make every effort to get that "one" thing we have to have, only to give it away.

Humanity is surely fascinating to observe and I wonder about the bigger lesson to be learned in the watching.  The Holy One shares a bit of understanding from His knowledge of the created.

Holiness speaks to my heart, "Humanity was created in the image of the Ultimate Giver.  You struggle with that inside yourself and it effervesces in different ways." 
 
Cascades of thought stream out of that Truth and I receive his amazing Grace.  I have been thinking about the hard reality of the back end of our zeal but not really contemplating upon what drives us at the base of our gift-giving frenzy. 

In the beginning God gave.  He created man and gave him the breath of life.  He created the Garden of Eden and then Eve and gave them to the man.  He created the relationship called marriage and a desire for a family and then gave the couple children.  The fallen world, in sin and deprivation, needed to be rescued and He gave His only Son.  (John 3:16) 

Jesus came into the world as the exact representation of the Father.  Knowing the penalty for man's sin, AKA death and separation from the Father, Jesus, in an act of incredible sacrifice gave His life for all.  Not wanting to leave us as orphans in a hostile world, Jesus then gave His Holy Spirit as our constant indwelling Companion and Counselor.

Our greatest human desires are built upon our deepest human needs.  God is the ultimate benefactor of all we could ever ask or hope for.   I never really made the connection between the Creator Giver and the created's drive to give.

As in all aspects of life, perspective is key to successfully navigating the conditions we meet and emotions we have to deal with.  Looking back at all the years of Christmas "guilt" and the mixed emotions of those days, I understand the point the Holy One is making to my heart. 

One of the most stressful nightmares I had as a parent, was running helter skelter on Christmas eve to find things to put under the Christmas tree for my kids.  To be empty handed, with 6 sets of little eyes looking for love in the form of material gifts from a jolly old soul called St Nick, always ruined the dream of a plush worldy Christmas to remember.   Guilt can mar any Christmas and sorrow can over-ride the real joy of the celebration if we are not careful.

I look within and with the help of the Holy One, see that the struggle comes not to depress the giving, but rather to define the gifts.  If we look at the world's priorities, the best gifts are the latest fads in clothes, games, cars, etc.  But in truth all those things rip, break and fade with age.

The really important gifts we have to give to others are the intangible ones of kindness, gentleness, love, joy. The most long-lasting gifts are those that have no expiration date and are incorruptible by time.

The knowledge of the Holy that we possess and, by His Spirit, is now ours to give to our family and others, is the One Gift that keeps on giving and lasts, not only for a lifetime here on earth but throughout eternity to come.

As a parent or a friend, the greatest gifts we have to offer are the ones we fail to recognize as the most valuable ones we can give.  Things like:

A kind word of encouragement during a long hard season of woe.
A hope expressed to someone who is about to give up on life.
A smile that tells a child how much they are loved.     
A warm hug for someone who hasn't felt a human touch in a long, long time.
And most importantly, a respect and reverence modeled to others, for the One who gives us our next breath and heartbeat.

For God so love the world that He gave His one and only Son.......

God is the ultimate Giver and because we are created in His image, we are "givers" too.   God's best gifts are imperishable.  Can we say the same about ours?

Looking at our giving from God's end, there comes a fresh and new priority that bears no guilt and brings great satisfaction to our gift-giving nature.   The truly important gifts we have to give are not dependent on our earthly bank account, but rather on our Heavenly one.

Living in the material world, the challenge of Christmas, for a Christian, is the same one we face every other day as humans made in the Glorious image of God:  To represent our Lord in a flesh body where lust and love are opposite ends of the same soul. 

I, for one, want to leave all the striving and "Christmas proformance anxiety" behind.  My desire is to be a "giver" with the same heart and Spirit as my Heavenly Father and my Lord.

God's greatest Gift was the one we needed the most, the Savior of the World and to us, God gave His only Son.  Then, Jesus, God's Only Son, representing the Ultimate Giver, gave His life in order to rescue ours. 

The Bonus Gift of His Holy Spirit, is the power within that I now have and that which will transform me into a "giver" like my Lord. 

Since the gifts we value and the gifts we give seem to impact the peace of this Holy season, it seems like a great thing to find a promise out of God's Word for each person on my list and speak it out over their life in the coming year.

I understand the Holy One is not indicting my choice of tangible gifts for those I love, but rather opening my eyes to the much, much, more that I have to offer and helping me to arrange my priorities according to His.

For the lost souls among those on our list, the Truth about the Babe in the Manger is a perfect gift.  For those who know Him and are struggling with the trials of life here, God's Word and His promises are gifts we can pass along.  Prayer is the method of delivery we can use to transport our gifts to the ones we love.

God is the Ultimate Giver and we were created in His image to be "givers" too.  The question then becomes, "What are the gifts we are choosing to give?"

The Holy Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

        

God's Perfect love

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  In the quiet of this time, I hear Him speak gently to my soul.  "Perfect Love drives out all fear."

The Christmas countdown is underway.  The clock is ticking and people are scrambling for the last minute perfect gift to give to those they love.  The ads are everywhere I look, competing for the attention of the masses.

Christmas is the time for Christians in the Body of Christ to celebrate the perfect Gift that God gave the world:  His only begotten Son, Jesus the Christ.

While the Gift of God's Son has been given to all the world, it is still the privilege and right of every person to accept or reject Him. 

As we approach Dec 25th, the emotional stress seems to mount up and at it's fever pitch,  it has even become a "war".  However,  for all Believers, the war over Christmas should be a signal to our minds that something is amiss.

God sent His one and only Son into the world that the world might come to know His perfect love.  Instead we focus on our "right" to say "Merry Christmas" and boycott worldly stores that say, "Happy Holidays".  We punish the world of non-believers with our power of the purse.

Jesus was sent to save the world not condemn it.  John 3:16 is the verse we quote all year long until the lead up to Dec 25th.  "For God so loved the world that He gave His One and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him, shall not perish but have eternal life.  For God did not sent His Son into the world to condemn the world but to save the world".

We need to take note that God did not send his Son to demand that the world say "Merry Christmas" to us in the market place.  In fact God did not send His Son into the world to give Christians a  reason or excuse to hate those who fail to recognize or or refuse to accept Jesus as their Christ.

God did sent His Son into the world to rescue and redeem all humanity and provide a way for each of us to be brought back into a personal intimate relationship with Himself,  just like back in the Garden of Eden before Adam and Eve lost it.

The Holy One reminds me of His perfect love.  The "perfect'  love that God has for the world of men, individually and corporately, for we all are His handiwork and the unique image of Himself.

The war on Christmas has been called by the enemy of our souls.... AKA Satan or the devil.....or whatever one might call Heaven's arch enemy.  He hijacked the day long ago to disturb the peace that Christ Jesus came to bring.

God's perfect love is revealed in His perfect Gift.

I John 4:19 NIV, "There is no fear in love, but perfect love drives out all fear, because fear has to do with punishment.  The one who fears is not made perfect in love.  We love because He first loved us."

As I ponder the depth of that verse, I understand more of what the Holy One is trying to teach me.  Apart from the Holy Spirit of Christ indwelling my "heart', my "core", I have no capacity to love.  I can "love" only because He first loved me.  Love is the fruit of His Spirit not my human heart.

Those who hate the Lord and take exception to my faith, are to be pitied not condemned by me.  For there, but by the Grace of God, would I still be standing right alongside of them hammering the nails into His hands.

Even the things I interpret as their pride and arrogance and condemnation of my faith stems from a heart filled with the fear that I might be right.  

God sees and knows the heart of all men.  That is why He sent the "Perfect Gift" out of His heart of "Perfect Love".  Jesus, God's Gift, was the very thing the world needed.

He was there before we ever knew Him, providing the very thing we needed the most.

And that is His Perfect Love.  Let's all try to share that message this Christmas.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?


 

The Reason for the Season

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?

The Father Heart

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  There is a sense of urgency in the atmosphere, like when I was in high school and the final bell was about to ring for everybody to be in class.

He speaks into the quiet of the early morning, "The Father Heart of God is under attack".  I find my own heart aching as I consider the weight of His words.  Much of my wrestles and trials lately have had to do with a father's heart.

The message of Malachi 4:5 has been one I pay attention to because these were the last words written before the 1st coming of the King of Kings, Jesus the Christ.  The conditions on the ground here on earth are eerily similar today to the ones spoken of back in the time of Malachi.  

All indications are that the return of the Lord is imminent.  It is written that the day of the Lord's coming will be like a thief in the night.  It will take many by surprise unprepared to handle that epic event. 2 Peter 3:10 and 1 Thessalonians 5:2 NIV

Elijah, the prophet of God was the name mentioned in Malachi 4:5 NIV, "see I will send you the prophet Elijah before the great and dreadful day the Lord comes.  He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children and the hearts of the children to their fathers or else I will come and strike the land with a curse."

These words paint a picture in my mind of a swirling mysterious dark and foreboding cloud.  The message is clear, the warning unmistakable.  We would do well to ponder these words as we see all the Chaos in the Middle East that speaks of an atomic explosion about to take place.

If you are a stranger to the "Prophetic" calendar of end times....the Middle East and specifically Israel is where the last great battle on planet earth will take place before the return of Christ to the earth.  The first coming of Christ was the delightful introduction of God's amazing Grace through God's only Son, Jesus. Jesus came the first time to "show us the Father".

The next time He appears will be more like a "dreadful day"....with cataclysmic events taking place that have been outlined in the book of revelation. 

The Word of God is an instruction manual as well as a book of promises.  I take heed  and pay attention to all  the words written as each word is applicable to life today here on earth.

The back burner personal story to this is a raging custody battle that has exposed society's agenda to eliminate fathers from their children's lives.  The battle itself is not against flesh and blood but against the powers of darkness so evil that are using people they find willing to break down the Godly structure of authority and protection and love that provides security to the children from the God-ordained father role.

The Holy One always uses the personal to bring me to His lessons for the corporate issues that He wants me to understand.  Today He is connecting more of the dots in the bigger picture of human rebellion and rejection of God himself.

Our society is in big trouble.  The covenant relationship of marriage and family has been ravaged.  The core relationship that makes for a strong and peaceful society is being destroyed and re-defined. 

While we can pass the circumstances off to the dark Lords and a fallen earth, we cannot blame-shift the responsibility for wicked actions to any darkness but the darkness that lies within the human mind.

The thing that strikes my own heart so heavy is the realization that the warning goes far beyond the human situation of marriage and family, divorce and custody. This touches the very core of our relationship and understanding of the Father heart of God.

The Holy One draws me deep into His counsel today. 

The Prophets of old were the father figures of authority representing God's heart to the people.  Elijah was a very, very significant Prophet to the nation of Israel.  Not only did his spoken word stop the rain and the dew from falling for a period of 3 years, by his voice and prayer, Holy fire came down from Heaven in a mighty display of God's power. 

Fire was the affirmation of his message and Elijah's respected position in the Lord's service.  I Kings 18 NIV

Then there was the mystery surrounding his dramatic translation from earth to Heaven  in 2 Kings 2 NIV, which left his successor Elisha as a stunned witness to the power of Holiness upon His life.  

2 Kings 2:11, "Suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them and Elijah went up to Heaven in a whirlwind."  With no more of an explanation than that, Elijah was no more.

There is much to be gleaned from Elijah's recorded life, including clues about the Rapture of the Church.  But the overwhelming purpose he served was to turn the hearts of the people back to the One True God.  He exhorted those who had been sucked into idolatry, compromise and rebellion to come back into covenant loyalty to the One who brought them out of Egypt's slavery and bondage and formed them into the nation they were.

Many look at the Old Testament as history with little or no relevance to our world and relationship with Holiness today.  Many look at the New Testament as a grace laced excuse for what God calls rebellion.  The Holy Spirit blows holes in both those points of view.  Love always warns when disaster is waiting.

The "Spirit" that was on Elijah then is the same Spirit of Holiness that is in us today.  Jesus' death resurrection and Ascension opened the way for the release of His Holy Spirit into our being.  It bears repeating, the Spirit of Holiness that was "on" Elijah then, is "in" believers today.

The message the  Holy One has been speaking to my heart is that Elijah created the contest with the priests of Baal in order to draw a line of loyalty in the sand demanding that the people pick a side.  "Choose this day who you will serve", but the contest was not without the display of God's sovereign and powerful Holy fire to make that decision easier for the people.  The mercy and grace of our God is amazing.

Elijah drew the line and it brought down fire.  Jesus drew the line and it brought down miracles.  When Jesus came to show us the Father,  miracles were the evidence of the Father heart of God.

Our battle today is the same as it was then, not against flesh and blood even as it concerns our marriages and families.  Ours is a kingdom battle. The Kingdom of Heaven VS the Kingdom of the dark lord we know as Satan.

The destruction of God's ordained unit we call marriage, is the beginning of a strategy to separate every child and every  "next"  generation from understanding and trusting the Father Heart of God.

When we wipe out that divine structure of authority,  our children become casualties of the war.  Chaos and confusion abounds in a broken family and emanates out and adds to a broken society.  But that is just the earth bound consequences we suffer.  The real devastation issue is that a child of divorce has a much harder time trusting the One we know as our Heavenly Father. 

While marriage is a symbol of a Heavenly relationship with Christ, the earthly father-child relationship is a symbol of our relationship with our Heavenly Father.

The damage to an innocent child-like heart and mind is incalculable and lies hidden in the deep recesses of their being.  No wonder the enemy of our soul targets the earliest keepers of it. 

The warning of Malachi is clear and the stakes are eternal. Earthly fathers have a high calling and a deep responsibility to model the Father Heart of God to their children. Interruption of that comes with a solemn warning. I cannot help but notice the silence from the Church on that issue.  Many are deceived about the serious consequences of personal rebellion and denigration of the father child relationship and never hear the "rest of the story".  

The message has been laced with so much grace and the consequences of divorce dismissed as non-existent for the "blood washed" believer, but life here on earth tells us otherwise.  Divorce statistics within the church are staggering. Not wanting to hold people accountable to live by their covenant vows, we are left to endure and somehow deal with the mess that divorce makes in the family unit and the toll it takes in the heart of a child.   

God's warnings are always to a peaceful end if they are heeded.  For every curse there is a promise once we have allowed the Lord to deal with the hardness of our hearts. We, as the body of Christ need to pay attention to the children and make sure to encourage fathers in their role, and if there is not one present in the life of a child, become one to them. 

"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God."  The love of earthly fathers for their children impacts more than their security here.   It forms the trust bond that will someday be transferred to their Father God.

The Holy Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

      

   

      

Christian: A Name or Relationship?

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  The cold winds are blowing.  I can hear them even in this early morning hour.  The deadness of winter covers the landscape and the chill is bone deep.

The Holy Spirit uses things in my temporal life to speak of the important issues in my Spiritual one.  "Many are interested only in the Name "Christian", and not the relationship with Me."  I get a visual of this being like a teenager who carries the name of the father yet lives in rebellion of his authority and is estranged in relationship. 

The Holy One speaks to me in what may seem like random sentences or fragments of thought, yet this is His way of drawing me into the subject matter we are going to discuss today.

I know from deep within that our time on earth is running out.  It's not just the fact that I am getting older and closer to my unknown expiration date, but the signs are abundant that speak of the Prophetic return of the "King".

The 'King" being Jesus, who left planet earth over 2000 years ago.  The One who  was crucified with a crown of thorns on His head, will return in Majestic power and authority and Glory unlike anything man has ever seen.

When John, the Disciple who knew Jesus personally was given just a vision of the Glorified King, he "fell at His feet as though dead".  Rev 1:12-17.  The vision of the returning King is further described in Rev 19:11-16.  His is described in these words, "His head and hair were as white as snow-white wool, His eyes like a fiery flame, His feet like burnished brass refined in a furnace, and his voice like the sound of rushing waters".  

These visuals are stunning and should put anyone who questions his Sovereignty on notice, that when He comes, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess that "Jesus is Lord" of all.  But in truth, the sheer power of His being will knock even the proud and arrogant off their feet and onto their knees.  In the earth realm today, we are given the opportunity to choose to willingly bend our knee in honor of this King, however the day is coming when all will bend their knee by compulsion of His Glory.

I go back to the words that Holiness just spoke to me, "Many are interested only the Name and not the relationship".   I have to ask: Is our identification with Christianity in name only?

I realize the sad truth in His statement,  Jesus came the first time to seek the lost and rescue the sinner, and that is called our salvation.  Jesus came to save humanity from the "eternal separation from God" penalty that came with the fall.

Many have been misled into thinking that salvation from a place called "Hell" is the end game and goal of His crucifixion and death.  Consequently many hold to the superficial but comforting thought that Jesus provided something we might call "fire insurance".  Saved by the skin of our teeth from the possibility of the flames, and counting on Grace that "must" forgive all our future sins, the idea of a day-to-day personal relationship with our Creator falls into the nice-but-not-necessary file.

This deception is more than sad, and may even prove to be lethal on the day we leave planet earth for our eternal destination.

Hell is typically described as a fiery place of intense heat and gnashing of teeth which boils down to human agony.  Contrast that with Paradise and the visual image of the Garden of Eden where man could walk with God in the cool of the morning amid all the wonder of pleasant surroundings.

Man's rebellion resulted in the separation in relationship from the Creator and all His delightful provisions.  Hell is the ultimate place of it's termination.

We read in the book of Genesis that man was expelled from the Garden of God due to disobedience and made to roam the earth.  Access to the Garden and God and the Tree of  Life, was closed off to man.  

This temporal life on earth is the place where each one of us can and must decide to seek God (or not) and ask to be restored to the relationship He originally provided for man with Himself  and it is through Jesus His one and only Son that God has said the restoration is possible.  Rejection of God's only means of restoration, relegates us to eternity in Hell.

Salvation is more than just not having to suffer the agony of Hell.  It is the restoration of relationship lost.  Hell is a "place" just like Heaven.  But Heaven is more about "Who" than "where" and hell is more about "Who not" than "where".  Heaven (paradise) is the place where life as we know it began and where our hearts long to return.  Hell, on the other hand,  is the place of relational death and isolation.

For all of those who think Hell is a place where flesh sin is permissible and people like themselves who value the flesh pleasures will find companionship, residing forever in an immoral party atmosphere, need to think again.  Hell is a place where the partier will wake up all alone and isolated with no relationships at all.  What could be more terrifying than that?

Then there are those who think they are close to the safe zone, having followed all the "rules" that underscore all their own good behavior.  They bear His Name but refuse a relationship.  So, is the "good" good enough?  A question any who have been exposed to the Gospel must ask.

Jesus speaking of the end times, said in Matt 24:12, "At that time, many will turn away from faith and will betray and hate each other, and many false prophets will appear and deceive many people.  Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of many will grow cold.  But he who stands firm to the end will be saved."

The thought of the reality of that scripture turns the inside atmosphere of my room as frigid as the outside air.  Jesus is talking to HIS PEOPLE, all who are called by His Name.  The days to come will present many challenges to our love and devotion for and to the Lord Jesus Christ.  If we cannot live for Him today, how will we be able (if necessary) to die for Him tomorrow?

I look around at the persecution that can and will come.  People who love the name and not the relationship, can more easily fall away and ultimately find themselves out  in the cold.  As for me, the warning is enough.  Do you know Jesus personally enough and love Him deeply enough to be willing to die for Him?  Or is it just a name that you are proud to bear?

The Holy Spirit is calling.   Can you hear him? 

        

 

The Knowledge of Good and Evil

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  His words ring true like a very loud bell in my ear, "You need Me".

That is the understatement of the Millennium and I wonder where He might be going with that simple statement of fact.  There is no question that I need Him.  He is my link to my Savior and my Heavenly Father.  He is my counselor and friend.  I know how much I need Him but why point that out today?

"You are struggling to understand life and to gain the knowledge of what is good.  Confusion accompanies human analysis of the difference between good and evil".

I love how He cuts through the mental chaff that is non-essential and hits the core of my wrestles.

I know from Biblical history that in the original Garden of God, there was a tree and it offered the "knowledge of good and evil" as it's toxic fruit.  I also know that the first man was warned that to eat of it would mean his death.

As the Holy One takes me into His counsel, He explains things so that I can understand what is written in the Word of God.

I agree with my Counselor that His Word is truth.  I accept that it is truth even if I cannot always understand all that it contains.   I study to gain more knowledge and He guides me in my pursuit of that wisdom.

To study is for me to meditate on His Word and let Him instruct me as we go.  He takes me back to His Word and the account of man's time in the Garden of Eden before the fall.

It fascinates me that God's Word is a living word and seems to speak to each and every situation humans have to deal with every day regardless of the time or society in which they were born.  It is ancient and yet relevant in today's world. 

It holds lessons and applications at every level of our mental and spiritual maturity. It doesn't really matter where we are in life or our walk, the Holy One reveals the truth of His Word as we go and grow.

Today He is asking me to go back with Him to the Garden to see something new.  Life with the Creator of all things is always interesting.  There is no end to topics to discuss or things to learn.  We will never arrive at the place of knowing everything about everything.

When it comes to knowing the Triune God, I am humbly aware that His thoughts and ways are so much higher than mine.  Isaiah 55:9 NIV reminds me, "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than yours and My thoughts higher than your thoughts."

As I think about the garden and the tree, His Word and humanity, the questions begin to roll through my mind.  The Lord invites me to question Him in this protected place of His counsel room.

I think about the forbidden tree that bore the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. 

I think about the innocence that was lost the day that Adam and Eve ate from that tree.

I think about free will (God's design), and how, in order to be "free",  we must be given a choice and I see that the forbidden tree was the option they chose.  It occurs to me that, here I am, eons of time and distance from that day, still reeling from the curse of that decision.  Just like "mother Eve" I am analytical in my thoughts but often confused by the difference between good and evil.

Humans are required to make moral and ethical decisions each and every day.  Confusion abounds and opinions differ even in what seems to be the most simple of choices.  Good bad, right and wrong all get decided by an internal code set by the individual or an external rule set by the society in which we live.  We cannot, in most cases, even defer to the "other" opinion which is conveyed in the Word of God by the only One who truly knows what is good and what is evil.

When God said to the man, "You are free to eat from any tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, for when you eat of it you will surely die".  Gen 2:16 NIV

The newly created man, called Adam, did not know "death".   He did, however, know the One who gave the command and warning.  We understand death as the cessation of physical life.  Adam, who was created  as an eternal being, in relationship with the Creator, and in innocence, had only the "threat" of dying to deal with.

God was warning about the death of their relationship and on the day of that rebellious decision, relational death occurred and man was driven out of the Garden, separated from God.

In essence, God said, "Here's your choice, Adam and Eve: tree of life, or tree of the knowledge of good and evil.  One means relational security with Me forever and one means relational death and separation from Me forever.  But you get to choose."

To give a human example from marriage.  Once we are in the covenant called marriage, we find relational security.  The rule that protects the relationship is exclusivity.  A man or woman by covenant has the expectation of mutual loyalty to the one flesh union.

The rule of the covenant is that you must not engage in any other relationship that involves a sexual one flesh relationship with someone else. It is like saying to our spouse, "If you commit an act of adultery, breaking the one rule of covenant then we are done here".   Death to the relationship and marriage is the end result.  Physical death is not at issue (absent murderous rage), but relational death happens.  

Simplified, that is what God said that day in the Garden.  The temptation to violate Creation's covenant relationship, came like another man or woman to a marriage.  The temptation was embraced, the rule broken and the covenant relationship died.

We all know and suffer the consequences of that death.  Without the security of a relationship with and to the Creator, without His wisdom and discernment, the lines between good and evil got muddied and the world became a hell-hole in man's pursuit of self. 

We can even draw parallels between the immorality that occurs after the marriage bond is destroyed.  Sexual sin becomes less and less "evil" and more and more prevalent and is even perceived as "good".  Ouch, that one hurt.

But God so loved the world, that He sent His Son, and representative Jesus, the Christ to redeem us and to restore us back into Creation's covenant relationship.

Since flesh rebellion brought Spiritual death, flesh death was the only thing that could restore Spiritual life.  And so Jesus came to die and pay the price that Adam and Eve had avoided.

If Adam and Eve had died physically, humanity would not exist.  There would be no one created in God's own image with whom the Creator could enjoy a sweet fellowship like He had with man back in the Garden of Eden.  

In an amazing act of unconditional love, the God of all Creation provided a way for His rebellious beloved to be restored to the original relationship with Himself.

We know it as the "Way of the Cross".  The way does not involve our death but His.  However,  the way does involve a choice and decision like the one given Adam and Eve in the Garden. 

Jesus is the tree of life.  He always was.  Could it be that the Tree of Life in the Garden looked like the Cross of Calvary and was not pleasing to the eye?   I wonder about that because of what God said to Adam, "WHEN you eat of it you will surely die"  He did not say, "IF" you eat of it you will surely die. 

The clues about the ultimate Sovereignty of our God confirms that He knows the end from the beginning of all things.  He knew in advance what Adam, Eve and the serpent would do.  Nothing about the fall took God by surprise nor destroyed His ultimate plan for man.

Free will has always been our privilege and individual responsibility, and it continues to be so today.

The Holy One said "You need me".  Having walked me back through the account of the human drama of creation, man's choice, human betrayal, and redemption, I understand the great need beyond the desperate desire for relationship with Him.  I need Him on board to discern the difference between good and evil, right and wrong and to have God's perspective in my day to day experiences and decisions then I need Him to enable me to do good.

By way of the Cross, I have been restored in relationship with God and through the Holy Spirit of Christ, I have the wisdom, discernment and strength to see and do things God's way.

I freely confess I need the Holy Spirit.  We all need Him, for He is the Spirit of Truth.  As choices abound each and every day and while the knowledge of good and evil may challenge my mind, The Holy One gives me His discernment so I can know the difference between the two. 

The Holy Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

      

The Joy of Jesus***

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  I wake up to the sound of His voice gently pulling me into His presence

Sleep is a sweet escape from all the concerns of this earth life.  But when there is a battle to be fought and a war to be won, a sleep-escape after the body is rested can neutralize the warrior.

I am thankful that the Holy One is insistent on our early morning conferences because there are overwhelming things to discuss about life these days.

The Lord knows my frame and makes stops along the journey that allow me to re-arrange the weights I am compelled to carry.  He always tells me His yoke is easy and his burden is light, but I insist on bearing burdens not placed on me by Him.

Quite often my burdens become burdens due to my perspective.  Sandbags around the legs of the eagle are placed there to strengthen his wings not to cripple his ability to soar.  A burden or a tool may look the same unless the purpose for it is defined.

The Lord knows I need an attitude adjustment before I can properly handle the weight and He speaks directly about the heaviest burden I bear and opens up a conversation about the Cross.

I find that there is nothing random in God's economy.  I believe there is eternal if not temporal purpose in each detail of my life.  While I cannot see where all the pieces will ultimately fit, I trust that the Sovereign One knows and will someday make all things clear to me.

I long to know my Beloved better.  I am addicted to His love, and delight in the Sacred Romance whereby He is not reluctant to reveal more and more of Himself each and every day.

Jesus, my Savior, died on a cross for me, so when the Holy One opens up the subject of the Cross, I know He is going for my heart.

The Holy Spirit begins by speaking His Word.  Heb 12:2 NIV, "Jesus, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame" but goes on to say, "I know the cross you are bearing for Me".

The burden instantly becomes less heavy when I see it in light of our relationship.  The enemy of our souls is a liar and a thief.  His primary objective in all our lives is to separate us from the love of God. 

Since God is love and evil cannot separate us from the "love" at God's end, we humans become his target and he works relentlessly to manipulate our perspective and destroy the love relationship with our Creator from our end.  His agenda is to keep the unsaved in darkness and the saved in doubt about the love of our Creator God.

The death of Jesus on the Cross at Calvary represents the greatest humiliation a human could possibly endure.  Beyond the physical pain of a body tortured beyond recognition, the emotional toll of being stripped naked for all eyes to see puts a whole other meaning to the shame that Jesus suffered.  The shame our Savior bore was the shame that was found in the garden that drove the original pair to cover themselves with leaves.  He bore the shame of their sin nakedness and ours.

But what was the "joy" spoken of that was set before Him that enabled my Lord to endure the Cross and it's shame?

On a human level we pay great respect to our fallen heroes; those men and women who give their lives for a cause.  Our government hands out medals to those who exhibit such courage unto the death.  I doubt that, on the battlefield, our fallen heroes are motivated by that reward.  I would imagine that in the trenches it's their heart of love for the ones they are fighting for that keeps them going.

While the enemy tries to get me to focus on survival, the Lord speaks to me about His purpose in the war.  These early morning conference calls, serve as what might be considered "time in the trenches" to evaluate the battle, listen for the strategy of my Commander-in-Chief that will provide the victory His way, and remember the love that put me here in the first place.

The Holy One reminds me of my first love.  He takes me back to the One who suffered excruciating agony to make our relationship with God possible here on earth and beyond into eternity.

It was His heart of unconditional and ultimate love that put Him on the Cross.  But what about the joy that enabled Him to endure?

Was it the sweet anticipation of reunion with the Father and a return to His throne of Glory that brought the joy?

Was it the sense of the mission about to be accomplished that brought the joy?

Was it knowing that the object of His love (AKA us) would be forever in his company that brought the joy?

My money is on the upcoming joy of His unity with you and me made possible in no other way than through the cross.   I believe that from the very foundation of the earth His motive was to restore Paradise lost and reclaim the intended love relationship with His Beloved creation, man.   The love thoughts of you and me able to be with Him forever, brought the joy, and that joy brought the endurance.

"Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning it's shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men so that you do not lose heart."  Heb 12:2-3 NIV

Today I am encouraged and  I find more strength to endure the cross I am bearing.   The cross of His suffering ended in complete victory, as will mine.  I realize that persecution is actually bearable as it unifies me with my Beloved.  The joy I find in our Sacred Romance enables me to endure the humiliation and pain it might cost.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear him?

 

   

       

The Sword of Division

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  We are living in a time of great division within our ranks as believers.  Outside threats have created inside conflict.  How we handled what we see and experience has made us feel like enemies to those who once were considered friends.  Legalistic judgement came knocking at my door yesterday and I was quite surprised at who was standing there.

When judgement from the world comes, we understand it as the persecution we have been promised we will suffer.   Jesus said, "A student is not above his teacher nor a servant above his master......If the head of the house has been called "Beelzebub" how much more the members of his household.    Matt 10:25 

Somehow we expect that the world will persecute us for a righteous stand but when judgement hits from our legalistic home team the shock is stunning.  My mind reels from the shock of the judgement from those, who by every standard of the Word have betrayed the very righteousness they claim to defend.

Jesus warned His disciples in Matt 10:21. While they found themselves in hot water with the ruling authorities the final blow to their unit came from within.  Judas was one of them.

The Holy One speaks to the recent attack and shares a comforting word and a warning:

"Within My Body grow tares along with the wheat.  The enemy has infiltrated your ranks and sewn deception and error under the religious precept called "legalism".  My sheep are confused and defeated by the ever-shifting standards of legalistic expectations.  Beware the yeast of the Pharisees".

I see the truth of His message.  As I look at the bigger Body of Christ, and having been steeped in legalistic bondage for many years, I understand personally that the judgements I held over others was to enable me to accept myself.  I excused my own violations while pointing out those of others.  Exalted-self became a white washed fence.

Jesus, our beloved Savior came to set us free from the law of sin and death and while we embrace that in theory, we set about imposing rules taught by men as the conditions for membership in the "club of the saved", otherwise known as the Church.

Isaiah was given a message from God, for the Nation of Israel that we might want to consider as a message for the Church today:

The Lord says, "these people come near to me with their mouth and honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me.  Their worship of me is made up only of rules taught by men." 

Even in the context of that day and ritualistic observation of the law, God was dialing them up to understand the point that He sees and judges the heart.  

Christianity for some is like a pop culture today.  Join up, go to Church on Sunday, do some good things, put on a clean front and live like a child of hell during the week. 

Hypocrisy abounds in the Church of the living God.  Lifestyles of the rich and famous are the ones we covet while rejecting the humble, simple life that Jesus modeled in obedience to the Father's will even unto death.

We claim Jesus as Savior but reject him as Lord.  We have been saved out of Sodom and Gomorrah but as Lot's wife, we look back mesmerized at the world and its offerings unto our utter destruction. 

We live in the land of religious and faith freedom today with no expectation of martyrdom.  Yet what am I doing with my freedom to impact the world for my Kingdom and my King?

I have to say and then judge myself: Hypocrisy abounds if my Christianity is only skin deep.  Hypocrisy flourishes if I commit the same sin as the world I judge.  Hypocrisy thrives if I lower the standard of Holiness rather than live up to its challenge.

The Word of God says, that without holiness no one will see God.  Do I care that the world sees God through me?  If I compromise the life of Holiness within in favor of my own definition of righteousness, the world will not be able to see God through my life, no matter how I whitewash the outside. 

True to His role in our Sacred Romance, the Holy One helps me process the confusion and pain of unexpected things even in the form of legalistic judgements from others who are claiming to share the name Christian.   His warnings cause me to look deep within my own heart for similar things.  He invites me into His Presence and encourages me with His Word.

Lines are being drawn even in the Body of Christ.  Matt 10, gives a prophetic expose of what we are to expect in these final days before the return of our King.  Jesus said, "Do not suppose that I have come to bring peace to the earth.  I did not come to bring peace but a sword". 

The sword of Christ will divide, and it is a great divide.   The line between those who pay lip service and those whose hearts are true to the Lord will become more and more clear as life here ratchets up.

Knowing the line is being drawn helps me to choose on which side I will make my stand.  I am thankful that the Holy One calls to me each morning, for in His Presence there is peace.   Once again, I surrender my heart to the only one who can comfort it.

The Holy Spirit is calling.  Can you hear him? 

                             

Training for Reigning

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  He wakes me up with words that challenge me to higher levels of critical thinking.  Thinking that I know is Godly wisdom.

My carnal mind is constantly tempted to process events according to the wisdom of man, yet God's Word says, "I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate."  I Corinthians 1:19 NIV.

Living in a flesh body with the Holy Spirit of Christ as my Divine Counselor, causes some intense internal struggles that make me feel like a crazy person until I surrender to His Lordship.  In this season of my life and "training for reigning", the learning curve has been off the charts.

I have found that the conditions on the ground and the trials of just trying to get through each day can cause us to forget that this life is temporal and we are being groomed here to reign with Christ throughout eternity.

Today the Holy One speaks to the need to utilize the discernment that comes out of the wisdom that only He can provide.  I confess that I cherish my early morning conference calls from the one who possesses and gives all I need to navigate this place called the earth realm.

The Holy One knows exactly what it takes to calm His child and provides the manna for my curious mind to feed upon.  God is not against wisdom nor knowledge as He created our inquisitive minds and the genius we are capable of rising to the level thereof.

In fact, I believe the Lord is well pleased with His Creation when man operates in Godly wisdom to subdue the earth and represent Him in the world that touches our lives.

The great danger to the world and our own destiny is when, in rebellion, we use our God given intellect to find ways to build up our own tower of Babel in defiance of the Creator and exaltation of the created.

I understand that the original fall was not the end of man or his destiny but rather an important component in God's eternal plan for His Beloved.  God has given all of us free will so that in our free will, we will choose God. 

The original fall, as recorded in the book of Genesis, was not a surprise to the Creator and, in fact, was necessary to the bigger plan and ultimate eternal destiny of every human born. 

Relationship with our Creator God is a personal choice and individual decision.  No one makes that decision for us.  All come on equal and level ground to the Throne of Sovereignty.

God sent His Son,  Jesus into the world as the doorway back to Himself.  Call Him a bridge, call Him a doorway, call Him a linkup,  Call him by anything that makes the point to your heart and mind.  Jesus is God and our salvation comes through Him alone.

Salvation is our rescue, it is our life preserver, since true life is found in relationship.  Salvation is for the purpose of a life restored and reconciled back to the One Who gives life and the One who IS life. 

Hell is just a state or place of isolation.  To say we are saved from Hell, is to simply say we are put back into relationship and spared from the dark abyss of isolation and separation away from our Creator.

Humans were created to be in relationship.  Solitary confinement is the ultimate punishment before death and most would choose death over a lifetime of solitary confinement.  The fact that Jesus came to show us the Father and called God by the name, Father, emphasizes that important relationship He came to model.

Realizing the human need for relationship in creation, helps to grasp the truth about the Trinity.  We were created in God's Glorious image and by design,  relational from birth.  God Himself is a unique community in form and relationship as the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

We are given free will and must choose to join in community with the Holy Trinity.  God is who He is regardless of my opinion.  I must accept that He is who He is even if I do not fully understand Him. 

The first step in the God-me relationship is to accept by faith the truth that Jesus is the only doorway to that relationship.  Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through Me." 
John 14:6 NIV

Once we pass through that Doorway, we enter into relationship with God Himself and we receive the first important Gift in our new relationship:  He is the 3rd Person of the Trinity and is called, The Holy Spirit.  This is where our eternal life actually begins along with our "training for reigning". 

Important to note, the earth realm is the only place where we are permitted to choose our eternal destiny and to decide whether to enter into a relationship with our Creator God or not, but the earth realm is also a place of grooming for what lies ahead.  Our obedience to God's Word and the Lord's commands, promises rewards beyond our wildest imagination.

The Holy One gently reminds me, "The disciples were privileged to know Jesus as God in the flesh and they called Him, Lord.  History tells you they were put into trials of all kinds and their loyalty was tested.  Your trials on earth are testing His Lordship in your life as well." 

To emphasize His point to me today, the Spirit takes me back to God's Word:

II Timothy 2:10-12 NIV, "Therefore I endure everything for the sake of the elect that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus with eternal glory.  Here is a trustworthy saying,;  If we die with Him we will live with Him, if we endure, we will also reign with Him."

Today, the Holy One has brought reinforcement to my heart whereby I can be strong and full of good courage. 

Knowing and trusting that these hard times somehow have an eternal purpose in my training for reigning, I find my peace and sanity again.

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?  




 

The Power Of Life Is In The Tongue

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  Yesterday's battle was brutal and brought some deep wounds to my heart.  The mystery of my God creates so many questions in my mind.  But the one that always seems to crop up is simply, "why?"

Why does this happen and that not happen?  Why does evil seem to gain a foothold and claim the day?   The rocks on my road have been many and sharp lately and my feet are feeling the pain.  My agony comes not from my personal suffering but from all that I see my loved ones and others going through.

As one who confers with Holiness, in my human attempts to find God's will for myself and others, today is no exception.  The Holy One calls me earlier than usual.  I am thankful to know the fitful night is over and He is here in the darkness with me.

I understand the strategy of evil is to tempt me to question my Heavenly Father's goodness and wisdom.  I refuse the enemy's lies and surrender my heart to understand the events of yesterday from my Lord's perspective.

He takes me to HIS Word and reminds me of MY words.  Proverbs 18:21 (NIV) says, "The tongue has the power of life and death".  Proverbs 13:3 (NIV) says, "He who guards his lips guards his life."

The lessons from the Holy One never cease and His wisdom continues to flow if only I will sit myself down to listen.  Wringing my hands is never an option better than folding them and so I pray.

Today my "why?" question seems to find an answer.  I ask, "Why, did the situation turn away from the righteous end I was praying to find?"  The Holy One tells me to "Check the declarations made in fear and anger!"

Just as in the days of Job's trial, I see human culpability, and a Divine Principle of Holiness therein.    Back in the day, Job said,  "What I feared has come upon me, what I dreaded has happened to me".  (Job 3:25 NIV)  Evil brought to Job what he feared and what he dreaded, and then came the test.  

The spoken word carries great power in life.  If we fail to recognize the power of God's spoken word in creation and understand how it applies to those of us created in His image, we can miss out on so much of our personal authority to create good situations in our lives and avert the evil that seeks to devour us.

The Holy One has been teaching me this principle as to the power of my words spoken, not in fear, but in positive declaration, of what I desire to see come to pass in my life.  There have come wonderful manifestations of the truth of this principle as I learn to discipline my tongue and speak no evil.

"Evil " speech includes agreeing with all the threats of harm that I may see, feel or even hear in my ears coming against me from the dark forces around me in the unseen realm.  We are given to speaking negative words and then blame God for the outcome.  

Declaring what I fear, as if it is impossible to change, empowers the enemy to deliver exactly what I have feared and then spoken.  Conversely, and with reverence for God His Word, and that great principle at work, I realize that my heart desires, declared out loud, come to pass as well.  

Usually what I fear is the opposite of what God promises in His Word to me.  Reality on the ground becomes what we have declared and if it's not Heaven's best since every good and perfect gift comes from there, then evil is having it's way.

The Holy One gives me the truthful sequence of events and our human accountability in what actually takes place. Fear represents an alternative agenda than the one faith represents. What I speak out loud: what or with whom I voice my agreement, it is those words that begin to dictate my reality.

Most believe that the sequence of doom begins at the circumstantial situations we find around us, rather than the articulated fears within the heart.  As I agree in despair with what might happen or even what I see beginning to set up, then darkness descends to overpower the Light.

We are cautioned, warned and exhorted to guard our tongue.  We are to think upon what is good, noble, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, or praiseworthy (Phil 4:8 NIV)  If we think right thoughts, we can express right words and we will see good things in the land of the living.  Then we are enabled to confirm God's Word as true.

In the sweet sovereignty of our Creator, as we are all on a learning curve, God can, will and does deliver us from those dank prisons of our doomish declarations, but not before He makes His point.  

I am so thankful today to understand the "why",  even as I see this lesson in the negative.  I purpose to co-operate with my Lord and guard what passes over my lips acknowledging the truth that the power of life IS in the tongue.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?





      

Fear: Temptation That Is Not Sin***

The Holy One calls to me this morning. As I open my eyes to a new day, I can sense that "fear" is about to speak and Holiness is watching like a coach to see how I will handle the next few minutes on the clock. Anxiety is a vexing sensation that can plague the most reasonable person with all there is to fear in this chaotic world. 

I have been taught that fear and faith cannot co-habitate so the next little while may, in fact, determine where I will spend my day or even longer in fellowship depending on how I respond to the threat.

My coach speaks into the fear charged atmosphere and I hear his calming voice say, "fear is only a temptation, not part of who you are".

At that moment, the Holy One lifts me up and out of the grip of that evil one trying to impact my mind.  I know the fruit of the Holy Spirit is peace and I call out for Him to flood my mind with it now.

My Lord is faithful, and I can feel the warmth of his presence as my flare prayer is answered.  But what is the much more to be gleaned and applied from the lesson today?

The Holy One takes me back to His word and all the times He says, "do not fear", "fear not", "be anxious for nothing".

Of all the sins we might fall victim to, fear is one that offers no satisfaction to our flesh.  There is simply no "perk" to fear and so I wonder why I am so tempted to go with it.  The Holy One begins to explain: "Threats of harm are part of the human experience".    

A little fish in a big  pond can make for a harrowing existence for the little fish, but in reality, my Heavenly Father owns the pond and has arranged for and sustains  my life within it.

As I wait upon the Lord for more input, I am guided by my Counselor within to Proverbs 29:25, "Fear of man will prove to be a snare.  But whoever trusts in the Lord will be kept safe".

Then the light goes on.  I see how fear of anything apart from the "fear" of the Lord is a snare. Fear sets up the trap for my flesh to react in "sin".  Fear of man and what man can do to me in any given situation creates the setting for the sin in me to take center stage.

I am beginning to "get" what the Holy One is showing me.  Fear of failure can cause me to seek ungodly ways to succeed.  Fear of poverty can cause me to seek ungodly ways to make money and thereby make money an idol.  Fear of rejection can cause me to seek ungodly ways to be accepted.  Fear of losing control can cause me to seek ungodly ways of asserting control.  And to the big one mentioned, "fear of man" and ultimately fear of harm can cause me to seek ungodly ways to self-protect leading me to anger, bitterness, rage and even murder.

The examples keep rolling through my mind that confirm the truth I have just been given.  I have always seen fear as the sin rather than understanding that fear is the temptation and sin is the action that follows.

Fear is a snare that can lead me to unbelief, and to question God's Sovereign authority.  I see how fear is a game the enemy has always played with my mind.  But today, I have come to realize that I do not have to keep playing fear's game.   I can avoid the trap that fear sets up for my flesh.

Fear, like any other temptation in life, involves a choice and decision on the part of my free will: to yield to it or reject it.  Temptation to fear is not sin in and of itself, but rather a snare that tempts me to take the sin bait therein.

The enemy will not tell you that you have a choice, but the Holy One does.  Following His lead and His wisdom, I know I can and must choose to reject the enemy's fear and bypass the snare that it is.

"Whoever trusts in the Lord is kept safe."

I have come to know that spoken words are a powerful and creative force in the atmosphere of life.  I have begun to grasp and apply the principle behind God's word that says, "The power of life and death is in the tongue".  So I make my verbal declarations into the unseen realm where things that touch my life and circumstances  originate, not in fear, but in faith that God will rescue.

I declare that God's Word is true and I am safe!  His great peace now reigns in my mind.

I sense that there is a big smile on the face of my Counselor today and I can feel it on my face as well. 

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him? 

God's Wonderful End of Job's Trial***

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  Today is Sunday.  The day to celebrate rest and to worship the Lord.

The battle rages and the trials continue, yet in the midst we are permitted and actually commanded to rest and worship.  As I lay the trials down for a  while, Holiness reminds me of a man named Job.

For those who know God's Word, much is revealed in the book of Job.  We are given a glimpse into the unseen world beginning with Job 1:6.  God's created beings called angels, came to present themselves to their Creator and Lord.

One such celestial being is called by the name, Satan.  He turns out to be man's arch enemy and the one who brought all the grief into Job's life.

The rest of the book that bears his name, is the story of Job's season of trials.  We are privy to the disasters Satan brought to him, the counsel he received from his friends and the ultimate connection he made with the Sovereign God of all Creation.

If we take God out of the equation, we can certainly become fearful in the epic contest between good and evil, light and dark.  Our trials can become hopeless and resign us to bitter defeat by the unseen forces that we cannot control.

While Job's trial are intense to read about and his sufferings almost unbearable, there is much to learn and apply in this ancient account of the man and his encounter with God.

In the historic time period of Job's life and trials, he lived before the Savior was sent into the world, and before the Holy Spirit took up residency in the being of men.

We now live in an informed era, where the Son of Holiness, Jesus the Christ, has come and left us with a legacy of hope that Job was not aware of before His trials.

The Holy One has a point to make to me today, so I am all ears.

He speaks to the trials we are all facing on earth today.  We all have a taste of what Job went through.  Some have physical infirmities, some have financial losses, some have relational heartaches and some are struggling with separation of the hardest sort through death of a loved one. 

All have some and some have all of these trials hitting their life today and The Holy One directs me to read the end of Job's story.

While we can all so relate to Job's life as the days of our suffering seem endless, if we skip to the end of Job's story we will see purpose and in purpose we will see hope.  If we can see that Job was being persecuted for his righteousness before God and tested in his loyalty toward his Benefactor, we can gain a better grasp of our own trials.

Job was a man just living out a relationship with his Creator to the best of his ability and understanding at the time.  Satan, the accuser brought a charge against Job that required he be tested so that God, as well as Job could be vindicated. 

Who would dare speak evil of the Maker?  Only the one who wants to rule in His place.  Only a being with free will not unlike our own.

As we progress through our trials and suffering does it ever occur to us that evil is the voice that challenges our loyalty to our Lord?  Do we stop to realize that our love response to our Lord and God is tested as the trials hit our lives?  Can we allow our reaction to the heat we feel in our lives to become a vindication of God's great love and wisdom in His creation of mankind rather than an inferno of self pity?

The enemy made his accusation about the man:  The only reason Job was loyal to God was because his life was protected , blessed and easy on earth.  Hidden therein is a patronizing suggestion that man, created in God's glorious image would betray him when suffering was permitted;  that man, just like Satan himself, would rebel and thus prove the worthlessness of God's Beloved.  While the rebel angel was tested and failed through power and privileged authority, Job was tested through sorrow and suffering on earth. 

In the free will all of us were given at birth to choose relationship with our Maker, there must come some heartburn that tests our loyalty to the One who created us to live eternally with Himself.

I am thankful to have Job's testimony of courage to stand in the heat of adversity.  I am blessed to see the source of our trials and the ultimate reason for them.  I am relieved to read the end of Job's story and how once the Divine purpose was accomplished in the testing of his faith, he was restored in the earth realm, and reconciled through repentance in his relationship with God.

Job's trial ended with a greater understanding of the mystery of the Lord's Sovereignty.  He is quoted as saying, "My ears had heard of You, but now my eyes have seen You, therefore I despise myself and repent in dust and ashes." Job 42:5

The hope we can glean from the life of Job is that after he suffered, "The Lord blessed the latter part of Job's life more than the first".  Job 42:12

We can gain the same comfort from I Peter 5:10, "And the God of all grace who called you to His eternal glory in Christ after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you and make you strong, firm and steadfast.  To Him be the power forever and ever.  Amen".

In an odd kind of way, the trial of Job also tested Satan's power of influence.  Could Job be convinced to betray the One he knew to be God? Some have buckled over the course of history to join the ranks of the rebel forces and we can read about their fate as well as Job's.  Judas failed the test as did King Saul.

Into each of our lives will come the day of reckoning when circumstances present difficulty and groaning and but also great opportunity.  Our loyalty to our Lord will be tested, of that we can be sure.  When that day comes will we stand firm and trust that our God is ultimately good? 

Job's story is not unlike our own.  Into a swirling saga of hard circumstances, faithless (but well-meaning) friends and oppressive evil, God spoke to Job about Himself.

And when God spoke, Job listened.

Job's end was a bountiful restoration of his earthly life, but even more important than that, Job's end was a personal encounter with the Sovereign and Majestic God of all creation.

As I look at Job's life, I may recoil at his suffering, but when I read of the end, I can rejoice for what it teaches me about my God. 

Today I find that rest is possible and even in the day of trial, worship of the Holy One is my delight for He is worthy.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?      
    

   

  

Sacrifice Goes With The Mission

The Holy Once calls to me this morning.  Yesterday was Veteran's Day and the nation took the time to honor our military veterans for the sacrifices they have made and are still making today.

The Holy Spirit brings to my mind the words of Jesus in Matt 24:6, "You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it you are not alarmed such things must happen but the end is still to come.  Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom.  There will be famines and earthquakes in various places.  All these are the beginning of birth pains."

This is just a statement of what's happening today and the conditions we face on the ground and in the environment around planet earth.  The battle field is in the natural and in the Spirit realm as well.  There are natural famines and Spiritual ones.  There are natural earthquakes and Spiritual ones.There are natural wars and Spiritual ones.

These things are said to be like "birth pains".  Having birthed 4 of my 6 children, I understand "birth pains".  Having 3 adopted grandchildren, I can look upon the struggle and sacrifice in adoption to see that bringing forth new life, is laborious and hard work in the process.

The Holy One captivates my thoughts and He speaks to my meandering mind.  "The sacrifice that goes with the mission is part of the mission.  It cannot be avoided but will someday be understood".  My wise Counselor knows my unspoken thoughts as I think about those things that I see we suffer and yet do not understand why.

We are all suffering the high price of the calling by God on our lives.  In fact, it seems that, if we are not "suffering in the sacrifice", something is off in our service to our King.

There is not one mission given by our Lord that doesn't involve sacrifice. Whether it be one of inconvenience or some other more desperate form of death to comfort and ease in life, sacrifice is a reality in the Lord's commissioning of His people.

In my times of trials, I see how I have sometimes missed that memo and have not always understood the sacrifice that was required or why.  Self-pity can surely breakdown an otherwise potentially outrageous testimony of God working out the impossible things in our lives.  Testimonies are made in the furnace of adversity.

The Lord exhorts us to "count the cost" of following Him and being His servant and representative to a lost and dying world.  We read that in His word but then leap right over it without truly understanding the days we will spend in the dungeons of persecution, the times we will slosh through the mud pit of being misunderstood, or the hours we will spend away from all the glitz and glamor of a party with our friend that is unacceptable to our calling.

In this world, many will suffer through unprovoked divorce, family divisions, church splits, physical torture or abuse in different forms.  Some  will feel the arrows of the evil one in their bank accounts, their health or be made to endure losses to their dignity or assassinations to their godly character.

Some of the sacrifices we can see for what they are.  But what about the ones that's seem so pointless and having to be made for no discernible reason?  The Holy One speaks to my heart about "those"sacrifices today. 

In a perfect Christian world the good guys are supposed to win and come through every battle without a scratch.  But that is not my reality and the wounds can be deep.  Today I am thankful that my Counselor is ever present and a comfort as I nurse some of those wounds.

His words lift me up.  Somehow, as we wait for the promised resolutions to our struggles and continue on in the mission we have been called to execute in service to our King, there is great relief in knowing that the sacrifices we are required to make are not in vain.

I can find the peace to "keep on keeping on" knowing  that "the sacrifices cannot be avoided but will  someday be understood".

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?