Living For The Lord In The Land of Exile

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  A new lesson has begun in my training as a bond slave of Jesus.  While nothing changes the Sacred Romance, there are days when the depths of our love bond is being tested.

At one moment in my temporal marriage, when the  mountain seemed too high to climb, I was on the verge of giving up and walking away.  The voice of my Beloved spoke,  "I know your hurt, your pain, even your confusion, but I want you to go back in there and die for Me one last time". 

The death He was asking me to die wasn't anything more than pride, but it seemed so painful at the time.  Little did I know that it was the "one last time" when I would have the opportunity in my marriage to serve the Lord's good purpose in my earthly husband's life.  Within a few short seeks of that directive I became a widow.

Today there is much happening that can be twisted by an evil voice in the darkness to blame the God who created and loves us for the horrible tragedies we see and experience, or give up on the thought that goodness and mercy can prevail on a fallen earth, or that it might be a personal directive to serve our Lord in the heartbreaking realities of life in this darkened realm..

The temptation is to express words of despair or anger or unbelief, all worthless words that set a tone for more fear to dominate and impact others.

The Lord gently moves me on in my meditation.  "Those devastated on earth need to hear truth.  Truth can be hard but it does bring much comfort to the soul."

The Truth is that eternity looms large in front of all of us.  There is no guarantee in this life as to the length or duration of the temporal.  But if we live as if the temporal is all there is, the hardship or heartache brings on a despair so deep and dark, it chokes out the goodness that can be found as we pass through the land of the living.

The awe and wonder of our Creator is in His love and therein is where we find our hope.  I Corinth 2:9 says, "No eye has seen, no ear has heard, no mind has conceived what God has prepared for those who love Him".  I can't even imagine.......

During the election cycles of the past, I focused on the words spoken by one who wanted to change the U.S.A.  His words were superficially sweet but sent a chill up my spine for what it would mean for America to undergo such a change.  I entered into a time of mourning for what I perceived to be the death of the country I love.

The Lord heard my weeping and put truth in my heart and  mind.  The Holy One told me then, "This land is not your home.  It has never been anything more than the land of exile".  Those were shocking words to my heart and my political agenda.  I erroneously believed that somehow we could make America here like the Kingdom of Heaven in my heart.  Until Jesus returns to rule and reign as the Majestic King that He is, no government on earth will ever be perfect.

This season is a time to remember those who have fought and died for the principles of freedom that America's government is based upon.  We celebrate the ultimate sacrifice each has made.  With humble gratitude we honor the fallen and those on the front lines still fighting to protect the "Land of the Free".  We salute those who have returned home as heroes, having seen the horrors of war in other lands so others don't have to.  Today, we are facing great challenges here, to fight for the restoration of our great republic and One Nation Under God.

For the Christian whose heart is fixed on Eternity, this land is not our home.  No matter where we pitch our "tent" here on earth, we are just passing through.

Back in Jeremiah's day, when the Lord spoke through His Prophets, He gave a message to the Children of Israel on this very subject.  Jeremiah sent a letter from the Lord to the "exiles" who were living in Babylon. 

The Lord calls me to read it again and apply it's directive to life today.

Jeremiah 29: 4-7:  " This is what the Lord Almighty, the God of Israel says to all of those I carried into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon,   Build houses, and settle down.  Plant gardens and eat what they produce.  Marry and have sons and daughters.  Find wives for your sons and give your daughters in marriage, so they too may have sons and daughters.  Increase in numbers there and do not decrease.  Also, seek the peace and prosperity of the city (land) to which I have carried you into exile.  Pray to the Lord for it because if it prospers so will you."

Tucked into this message is a picture of God's world view and His purpose in the world:  His people, carried by Him into a land not their own with a commission and a command to live and prosper there.  A quick read of the text brings a revelation of God's Will for us in this temporal life experience.

God moves His people into foreign places (whether neighborhood, communities or really foreign lands) to represent Him to the world around us.  We lose His  perspective when we wall ourselves off and isolate to live out all our "doomsday-prepper" scenarios.  We may not be as "radicalized"as some but the walls between us are as fixed as the barbed wire around the compound.

What gets defeated in the practice of judgement and isolation is the Heavenly war for souls;  those precious to the One who gave all men the breath of life, and the One who died that all may live in the Eternal Presence of Holiness.

There is great news for us as believers within the "Great News" for the world at large.  The "Great News" for the world is that God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, JESUS, THAT WHOEVER BELIEVES IN HIM (as the Son of God,  what He did for us through His death and what He made available for us through His resurrection) WILL NOT PERISH, but WILL HAVE ETERNAL LIFE.

Within that great news of eternal life is the promise of His presence in the temporal world as well.  God can and will make a distinction in the lives of His people.  But never lose sight of His reason:  That the world will see Him in us, and desire to join the family and community of believers in the one true God and His Son Jesus.

This is not about a bank account or all the "fixins" of a gilded life.  The Gospel must be as true here as it is in 3rd world countries, just relative to our surroundings. 

I pray for  peace so that in each trial that will come, others will come to know His peace through my life and example. I pray for prosperity so that as I am taken care of, others will come to know the security of His provisions through my life and example.

Opportunities abound in the land of exile to represent Christ to the world around us just like in the final days of my marriage.  The question to each one of us who "know" the Lord is: "Will we take them?"

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

 

 

 

Eternity Now

The Holy One calls me this morning with exciting new thoughts of Eternity.  We live at an accelerated pace in the advancement of technology and knowledge.  We live at an accelerated pace in travel and communication.

People are racing toward the next weekend, the next romance, the next promotion, or the next acquisition to make temporal life more comfort.  The world is racing in an accelerated pace toward something and few recognize it as Eternity.

God's Word says that "with the Lord, a day is like a thousand years and a thousand years is like a day".  II Peter 3:8   The Holy One speaks to remind me that God does not view time as we humans do.

The Lord has provided for my Kingdom education and I am in this season finding the time to to sit and savor rather than strive and stress with things happening that I cannot control.

The most exciting and fascinating thing to come out of His command to "wait, watch and worship", is the grasp of what time may actually be, in light of Eternity. 

Given the description of II Peter 3:9, we sometimes resign ourselves to have to "wait" for God to move in our behalf. 

I understand that God inhabits Eternity and that, (while a mind bending thought) reveals the truth that He is beyond our comprehension of time and space. 

When we follow the directives given to pray, "Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth as it is in Heaven", we may fail to take into account the absence of a clock and calendar to Heaven's Will. 

Heaven's Will is bound up in the Great "I AM".  "I  AM" as God describes Himself, is always in the "present" moment.  If I truly believe that, then His will doesn't require time on my calendar and clock to become my reality.

Could it be that this dynamic is how Jesus conferred miraculous, instantaneous healings over people on earth?  And then again, why Jesus said to His followers in John 14:12, "I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in Me, will do what I have been doing and will do even greater things than these because I am going to the Father".

What does it take to experience the fulfilling of that outrageous promise?

First and foremost is the relationship to the One who made the promise.  Jesus said, "I am the Vine, you are the branches.  Apart from Me you can do nothing".   We must be in that very special relationship with Jesus that He describes as "Vine Life".  John 15

Next is the relationship we have with the Holy Spirit. He is the One, Jesus said would be our enabler and the very One who would teach us all things and remind us of everything He said in His written legacy.  John 14

By and through our relationship with the Savior and the Spirit, we are then invited into relationship with the One who resides in the Holiest of Holies, the Father God and Voice that called all things into existence.  Jesus said, I am the Way, the Truth and the Life and no one comes to the Father except through Me."  John 14:6

And then there is the relationship we have with the physical world around us, and this is the place where most fail and why we experience and witness so little of what Jesus did.  Our relationship with the temporal is so strongly connected with our flesh that we speak out flesh fears.  Our flesh is so convinced by what we may see in one moment that we denied what can change about our circumstances in the next. Words have creative power so these words influence our life and what happens.

Believing God, Who is Spirit and resides in a realm beyond our senses, makes it necessary for us to trust Him to be outside the human reasoning, and above and beyond our comprehension or what we "see" with our human eyes.

If we can push to that place of Truth, then we can push a little further to the place where all things are possible and what we dream about is already a "done did deal".

The Spirit is calling me to that place and I am excited to see what will happen in the next season of my life. The idea of time in light of Eternity is a thought still a little "ethereal" to me. When I am being taken in an unfamiliar direction by the Holy Spirit, He will pose questions to stimulate my thinking and extend my grasp or understanding of His ways. Today begins the "what-ifs" and"why-nots" that open up a whole new arena of thought.

I find myself looking at things like the "compression of time".  When a person falls victim to sickness and disease, not unlike some of Jesus' patients, the natural world tells us that time for healing would be days, weeks,  months, years or never to be expected on earth.  Yet Jesus brought instant relief to the afflicted, and defied the natural "law" by operating in God's Eternal Law of the "Present".

If time does not exist in the Spirit realm, then answers to our prayers and petitions can come instantaneously, just like Jesus modelled. 

What if delayed answers are nothing more than the time it takes for us to wrap our brain around God's willingness to provide them?

What if we accept the fact that the Spirit realm is the real realm and the natural world is just a shadow?

What if, as soon as we petition from our right relationship with the Promise giver, we believe and declare the answer is granted?

I have to admit the revelation of possibilities is causing my Spirit to soar against the caution of the flesh to slow my roll.  But I have lived long enough in places of deferred hope and resigned delays in the answers to life's challenges that I am ready to learn more and live in light of Eternity Present.

How about you?

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?






 

Wait, Watch, Worship

Today the Holy One calls to me.  New life springs out of the rocks in the forest.  Tiny but exquisite flowers are finding their way from the crevices to delight the eye of those who take the time to look for them.  The message of "slow down" seems to be coming from my Counselor and Friend.

What an interesting, message considering where I am in my life journey.  Last July, life took a sudden turn and I found myself a widow after 31 years of marriage to a move and a shaker.  This life change seems more like a shut down than a slow down so the "message" is curious to me.

Gone are most of the old ways of familiar activities.  It's interesting to discover how much I used to do to keep up with his energy level and his drive.  I guess as a wife we all can and do become the "cog" in someone else's wheel.    

As I look back, I have to admit I was a "hoop-jumper" going through the motions and trying to meet the expectations of another.  Performance has been an issue all my life so performance anxiety presses down upon the flesh emotions that I learned to live with. 

Tension is a familiar feeling and an unwanted intruder, yet it has always lived side-by-side with the other voice of self-preservation, "I am woman, hear me roar!"

Since I have had to accept the new normal AKA widowhood, I realize the old life is gone. There is a future and a hope but different now that I am facing the challenges without the human husband I lived with for so much of my earthly life.

The call of the Spirit this morning takes me to His Word, Psalm 46:10, "Be still and know that I am God".  Today the sense of the verse is the power within it.

The Sovereign God of all Creation spoke it.  His Divine Will is in it.  Power beyond all comprehension stands behind it.

There always seems to be a "moment" right before a great display of nature's power is unleashed that we know to be the calm before the storm; the still before the rush of a tornado; the silence in the atmosphere as Creation seeks to hide from its Creator.

"Be still and know that I am God" is only part of that verse.  It continues on to say, "I WILL be exalted among the nations.  I WILL be exalted in the earth".

While so much of our earthly life boils down to the pursuit of individual, happiness and whatever it takes to obtain our personal goals, this verse commands our attention upward toward the Almighty God enthroned in Heaven.

I have learned over the last year that this life is tentative.  It can be over in a heartbeat or on a day we least expect it to end. We are not in control of life or death no matter how hard we may try to self-protect. 

I am so thankful when I hear the comforting voice of my Savior no matter what He speaks.  I trust Him with all my life circumstances.

Leading up to the translation of my earthly husband, my Lord spoke calming directives for each day's struggles and challenges.  Just like in the days of Abraham I found Him to be my faithful friend.  "Shall I hide from Abraham what I am about to do?"  Genesis 18:17

My relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ traverses decades.  I have walked with Him for most of my life.   He has never left me nor forsaken me even when I failed, I betrayed, and I stumbled on the journey.  He was always there to pick me up, dust me off and put my feet back upon the higher ground.  He has also been the wind beneath my wings when I found the courage to soar.

When He speaks, I know to listen.  My Lord knows the end from the beginning of all things.  He knows the pathway ahead and the twists and turns of each day's events before they touch my life.

Today, when He says, "slow down", I need to make some changes even if I have not registered my own speed on the trail.  There are important things I might miss, but even if it is just to linger longer so I can catch my breath, I know my Beloved has purpose in the wait.

Who knows what dramatic and powerful move of His hand might be just around the corner and He is placing me in the perfect place to witness and stand in awe of what He is about to do.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

Monday Worship

The Holy One calls to me this morning with a deep sense of worship flooding the atmosphere.  Yesterday was a Resurrection Day Celebration as each Sunday has become, for me, the day to remember that historic event and what the "Church" has instituted as "Sunday Service".  It reminds me to worship the Risen Savior each week as we gather together wherever that may be. 

So much has been lost over the generations since the Disciples and the Church saw Jesus Ascend, up into Heaven, out of their physical sight, to take His eternal position and receive the Glory that was His before the foundation of the world.

These days, there is some worship, but mostly teaching and some of that has become error leading us even further away from Christ and the worship of our God.   Perhaps the point of Holiness toward the  call  to worship, is that today is NOT Sunday.  It's Monday.  A work day.  A get up and out and onto the treadmill day.  The mood, if it ever was worship, is surely different on Monday. 

Thoughts flood my mind about the One sent to save all of us.  Jesus is the Son of God, a distinct One of Three who make up the Tri-une or 3 person God Head we know as our Creator.  His role was to make the personal sacrifice and to suffer the death that was made necessary at the fall of humanity. 

Holiness cannot and will not be compromised without the ultimate consequence being suffered and penalty for it's violation paid.  God said, in essence, "If you choose the forbidden and eat of it's fruit, you will die".  The forbidden tree was there to give man's free will a choice.  What would be the privilege and responsibility of free will if there were no choice.

The choice given was life or death.  The choice given was between a relationship with or separation from, the Creator.  The choice given was to live in the wonder of  God's abundant and permissive blessings or to take the freedom and use it to defy God's Sovereignty and merciful warning.

Thus began the treachery of a dark, defiant evil and the loss of innocence.  The peace of God fled along with the innocence and man found himself knowing more than he could handle with the knowledge of good and evil now flooding his finite mind and soul.

That is really at baseline what true death is, after all:  The rebellion that led to Holiness withdrawing Himself from relationship with man.  Knowing about things beyond our control, creates a climate of fear, worry, and anxiety.  Having to discern between good and evil without the appropriate wisdom and courage leads to judgement, unforgiveness, rejection and then ultimate isolation.

If we stop the story there, then all hope is lost. But God, in His unconditional love for His Creation, was never out of Sovereign control.  In His eternal plan, there was always a rescue in mind.  Awaiting the perfect time in the history of man's days upon the earth, Jesus was set to enter our world (the fallen one) and reclaim the turf surrendered by Adam and Eve.  He was the chosen One of the Three Person God-Head to make the sacrifice that would "redeem", as in "pay the price" required to re-establish man's relationship with the Holy Creator without compromising Holiness Himself.

Jesus said, "I have come into the world as a light so that no one who believes in Me should stay in darkness.  As for the person who hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge him.  For I did not come into the world to judge the world, but to save it..  There is a judge for the one who rejects Me and does not accept my words."  (John 12:44-48)

Judgment is the flip side of Salvation, and God, the Father,  has been preparing men for that day and giving men, individually, the choice since the garden and Adam and Eve.  While none of us chose the forbidden tree, each one of us today can and does choose life or death.  The Tree of Life that stood in the garden of God, left behind when the pair chose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil is still being offered today. 

Jesus, the Christ, is the Tree of Life.  He came without judgment to be the One to take all judgement upon Himself.  Holiness poured out the severe consequence for it's violation on the Son of God.  Since all humanity is guilty and no one could be found to take away the sin of the world, God Himself stepped in.  The Creator took the form of His created to redeem what was lost.  He took up flesh to die for the souls of all men.  And that is why we worship Him.

But God did not leave the One He sent to rot in a human tomb. In a miraculous intervention, the Holy Spirit (Who is the 3rd Person of the Tri-une God-Head) entered into the drama of creation to renew and resurrect the Life and Body of the Savior of the world.

Jesus came and accomplished the entire purpose for which He was sent.  Now, our access to the Heavenly Throne of our Creator, whom we have the privilege of calling "Our Father", is assured. The connection lost so long ago has been re-established and made possible for all who call upon His name. 

With our eternity secured and our relationship with the Living God established, earthly life takes on a whole new joy and freedom. Judgment is gone and with it goes all the fear, frustration and performance anxiety of our flesh.  Life with Jesus is full of Divine purpose and the peace that was lost in the rebellion. 

The reminder to worship is a blessing in more ways than one.  It opens my heart and mind to the much more there is to celebrate and experience in the Sacred Romance with my King. 

What does He have planned for us today?  I find that as I set my heart to worship, it doesn't really matter. because it's all going to be sweet in fellowship with my Beloved.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?
 

Who Do You Trust?

The Holy One calls to me this morning. He is leading me into some very narrow catacombs of thought about the structure of Divine Authority.  Today, He poses the question of ultimate accountability.  "Who do you trust to stand before a Holy God in your behalf?"

In the big issue of rescue and safety (Salvation) that is not an unreasonable question.  As I walk with the Lord, I am more and more convinced that life is a matter of perspective and seeing something from a different angle is important to the picture of our lives here on earth.

We talk about "salvation" and those who are "in the know" about Christ realize He is the only One making the claim as that of man's Savior.  Of course He backed up His claim by dying on the Cross and defying death through a miraculous resurrection, historically documented from eye witness accounts. 

The Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John speak of the event and, then, at the beginning of Acts chapter 1:1-11, the account of His mysterious Ascension was recorded by Luke in his letter to the one known as "Theophilis".

The question posed by the Holy One this morning takes me to the thoughts of life on this fallen earth:  The sin nature of all men.  The personal accountability for "missing the mark" required by Holiness, and the ultimate salvation from the penalty we all know we deserve..

Somehow we have perfected the art of blame-shifting in an effort to free ourselves from the guilt of our unacceptable actions.  This behavior represents a big part of the problem in getting it right with the Sovereign God of all Creation.  Blame-shifting doesn't cure the guilt or bridge the chasm between God and man.

White-washing sin is another method we use to try to diminish responsibility for "bad form".  That method may postpone the accountability but in the end at some point we will have to deal with things we have said or done.  Consequences follow actions.

The Holy One pushes me past what I already know about personal guilt and accountability, to press in about the historic and symbolic, but obsolete function of the "priests" of old.  These were men chosen by God to represent the coming Intercessor and Savior of the world of men, Jesus the Christ.

Before Christ came and gained the honor of becoming humanity's Great High Priest, men served in that function and role under the Divine structure of authority and accountability before God.  They offered up blood sacrifices to atone for the sins of men and to quiet the guilt and fear of Holiness.

But now, by the sacrifice of Christ and His Blood of atonement,we are assured that the curtain that existed between God and men keeping humanity at a distance was torn in two. Access to the God, the Father was obtained and made available to any and all as individuals.  "All" meaning any who would choose to follow Christ Jesus and claim Him as their Savior and Lord.

Jesus is the Great High Priest of Holiness.  All who came before or who have taken up that role since His death and Ascension are merely men, fallen flesh, just like you and me.

I understand the point to the question that the Holy One asks.  I look around at the structure of our religious age and see that many are relying on Pastors and Priests to not just teach truth but somehow represent us to God the Father and that is a dangerous mistake. 

Since the Cross, the responsibility and accountability for our life falls directly on our own heads.  We will not make it to Heaven because we belong the this "church" or this "denomination", or follow and support that person's "ministry". 

For all the confession going on in a box to the ear of a man, nothing is forgiven that does not issue out from God Himself and through the Blood of His chosen sacrifice for our sin, Jesus the Christ.

Likewise any shepherd we may find to respect and honor is still just part of the flock and a sheep himself.  There is only one Great High Priest.  Only one Good Shepherd and only one Savior of the world.

I know and confess that there is no one besides Jesus that I will trust to stand in my behalf before a Holy God.  I respect those called to be "pastors and priests" to teach and instruct us but when it comes to my eternal security and needed forgiveness for all I have done or will be tempted in my flesh to do, the only One I trust with my eternity future is the one who came from there to save me.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?