Only Jesus***

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  The sense of His Presence floods the room like the light of a brilliant sun rising on a new day.  I hear Him say, "Only Jesus". 

With fragments of thought He challenges my mind and I wonder where He will lead.  I have been deep in lots of thoughts lately about the life and time in Jesus earthly mission and journey leading up to Good Friday and the Cross and why He is so worthy of our worship.

There are stories written that miss the truth about why Jesus died, and in the re-telling of history, lack a grasp of God's Sovereign purpose.   His death can be laid at the feet of Rome, or the Jews, or a traitor in His midst.  However, with Spiritual understanding we know that Jesus death was not due to human reaction to His message although humans did react and still do.  Jesus came to die. That was His mission and He was sent by God to into the world so that all men through His death and subsequent resurrection might be saved. 

I have come to know and accept as truth that due to human depravity and a "sin" nature we a carry in our flesh from birth, there has been no person who could pay the price of Holiness, atone for sin and live to tell of it.....Only Jesus.      

In God's economy death is the penalty for sin.  If not for one sinless life being sacrificed, each sinful human would die for their individual sin nature and then live no more.  Such is God's justice and the end of any possibility of eternal life based on our own sacrifice and death.

Fortunately that tragic truth is not the end of the human story except by rejection of God's Only Son Jesus, who brought and  lived out the plan for our salvation and rescue offered to each individual during this temporal, earthly life.

When we think about the crucifixion of Christ and now are able to see it depicted on the big screen, the torture becomes real and it is hard to watch. But then other movies have been produced that show in graphic detail human carnage and suffering whereby our minds can become de-sensitized to what our Lord suffered in our behalf.

Crucifixions and be-headings have surfaced as a means of persecution and death for His followers around the world.  We watch videos in real time and are horrified and then we see our war heroes come back from the theater of battle with unbelievable wounds, maimed and scarred.  So was it just the physical torture and death that saved our souls? 

When I follow the thoughts from the words the Holy Spirit spoke to me this morning, I begin to understand a little more of the mystery of why "Only Jesus" was spoken.

Due to our sin nature, humans cannot fathom the relationship with God until after our salvation and then only partially and that is due to the  possession by the Holy Spirit.  Jesus, on the other hand, lived in the place of relationship with the Father God from eternity past and throughout His life on earth until that dark day on the calendar we call Good Friday.

The Cross of Christ is the place where all the judgment and wrath of Holiness against sin was vented and where the curse of the fall was experience in full and broken off humanity by the shed blood of Jesus.

The warning spoken was the penalty fulfilled, "And the Lord God commanded the man, "You are free to eat from any tree in 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. 2:16-17

The death that Adam and Eve experienced at that time was not a physical one as we know it.  Rather they were cast out of the garden where they first walked with the Creator in a peaceful relationship and humanity was set to continue life relationally void of the most important piece of their eternal design.

Only Jesus as one part of the three Person eternal Trinity could fully understand what separation from His eternal Father is all about.

Only Jesus Who knew the Father intimately and eternally could suffer what any and all who die without Him will suffer when the final end comes.

We live as eternal beings in carnal bodies.  The human idea of death is focused on the physical and natural elements of our being.  But the bigger picture and greater penalty is the emotional, spiritual and soul separation from our Creator. 

When our Lord said on the Cross, "My God, My God, why have you forsaken Me?" that was the full penalty he suffered and paid for us all.  The physical torture was one thing, but the relational separation between Jesus and the Father was the ultimate agony. 

Not unlike when we suffer the emotional loss of a loved one and the "death" of relationship with our human beloveds, Jesus felt that pain on an unfathomable level.  For the first time in His eternal being He was separated, abandoned, forsaken and alone.  The Holy eyes of the Creator Father could not look upon the sin laid on the Creator Son. 

We humans cannot begin to know that suffering until we stand before the judgment seat of Holiness.  Only there without the Savior Jesus will we know and bear the ultimate penalty for sin.  Here we live in chosen ignorance but there we will see the clearly without self deception.

Only Jesus as God, the Son, could pay the ultimate price for our salvation because only Jesus knows what eternal separation from God the Father means to the soul.

We recoil at the physical suffering of crucifixion and can thank Him for bearing the cost on a physical level but to truly grasp the ultimate price He paid for us we must look at the emotional and relational sacrifice He made to save us. 

Only Jesus could make the conscious decision as God to pay the relational price in death for our sin because only Jesus was with God when time as we know it began.

Each and every day draws us closer to that last one we will experience here on earth.  Each day with all there is to keep us distracted the question of where we will spend eternity and more importantly WHO we will be spending it with can get shoved down on the list of life's priorities   As for me, I pray to have my focus on Jesus with a deeper reverence for why I call Him Savior.

Only Jesus knows what humans will suffer if we pass on from here without Him.

Only Jesus.......can save the soul!

Only Jesus.....

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

.                                   

The Untold Story***

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  If we are to believe everything we hear from those whose job it is to bring us the "news" of the day, all is lost and there is no hope for any of us.

Being the mom and grand mom of military soldiers and missionaries (who are in the spirit one and the same),  I have come to know that, in this world of life and death drama, things are not always how they appear and the chosen narrative spoken by the world is rarely the Truth.

For those of us in the trenches of the battle for the souls of men, discouragement is something to be refused even if reports on the ground focus on the ancient tribal wars that we do not comprehend.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth and the Gospel demands that each and every one of us hear it and chose personally whether or not to accept it.  The Holy One brings His assurance, "I am the same yesterday, today and forever.  My purpose will stand and will be accomplished". 

God's purposes can be misunderstood and His reputation defamed unless we come to terms with His Word about Himself that tell us that His thoughts and ways are higher than humanity can grasp. Isaiah 55:8-9.   It is important in our relationship to give God the benefit of every doubt that the enemy brings to mind.

As we look from afar, we can begin to doubt that any good thing could come out of the inferno that the Middle East has become in just a few short months.  I want my Lord to walk me through these dangerous sounding reports and see things from His perspective. 

In light of eternity all things look different.  The light of eternity suddenly shines on this place of chaos and confusion in my mind and I can begin to see things that have been hidden before. 

We are made privy to the Lord's battle strategy and the untold story as conveyed by some of His generals on the front lines.  They report that while warring factions are engaged in a bloody battle for power and control of the temporal turf and people who inhabit it, vast numbers of people are coming into the Kingdom of Heaven on a daily basis.  Turning to Jesus for salvation is the door of hope many generational "Muslims" are choosing as the alternative to the despair that the war and their ancient religion has brought

The threat of persecution unto the death does not mean so much to those who acknowledge that they were dead before Salvation came to their souls, and Jesus followers in the Middle East are willing to die for the Prince of Peace they have finally found.

The Gospel is like no other good news ever told or offered.  The Middle East is a field ripe unto harvest and the laborers are few.  Today is the day to "ask the Lord of the harvest therefore to send out workers into the harvest field."  Matt 9:37

The untold story of a powerful move by the Holy One in a land I might be tempted to give up on as hopelessly lost for all eternity causes energy for praying to surge from my place in the trenches. Even reports of the rise of what seems to be a brutal power (s) in the region is only serving to expose the truth about the religion and its hate filled tenets among those who have generationally accepted and been programed by its abusive authority.

The network of Jesus followers in the world of men is vast.  We all have a part to play and must never lose confidence that our part is too small or insignificant to make a difference.  We as Believers are all called and commissioned at this time in the history of the world and man to apply our energy and strength into the Lord's harvest field whether on the front lines or from the trenches. We are to use both hands and all the weapons we have to both build and defend; to sow, water and reap as the opportunities arise

The untold story that the world has missed is the greatest story ever told.  God loves humanity and sent His Son, Jesus to rescue us. We were created and through the death of Jesus, we have been saved for a personal relationship with the One who has given each one of us the breath of life.

Today, I am thankful and encouraged to put my voice with brothers and sisters around the world who are asking the Lord of the harvest for all that is needed to reap from the fields the souls of people ready to be brought into the Kingdom of Heaven.  

While the news reports of the gloom and doom of a worldly perspective,  I  know and trust that God is on the move through the untold story of the eternal harvest being written anew every day.  We all can be a participant in His move with the part we have been given to play.

The time is now.  The fields are ripe.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?           

      

  

The Lord Is Present With His People

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  As the day of the Lord's return draws near the enemy of our King and Kingdom is pulling out all stops to His reign of end times terror.  The reality of our trials hit heavy yesterday as family members come under siege. 

The Holy One is ever present and reminds me that evil has a voice and uses it to discourage even the "elect".  My Authoritative Counselor speaks, "The enemy is a liar.  Never yield to his lies". 

This morning it was the voice of evil that startled me out of my peaceful sleep, and as the Holy One makes His presence known I cry out that He respond to the voice that has said, "God has abandoned the earth and His people."  A sequence of visuals run through my mind and project images of cyclones, disease, broken hearts and bodies, all the "evidence" that causes many to say "Where is God?"  

The true battlefield of faith is in the mind.  The enemy is a master of deception and his assault takes place and gains the greatest victory in our thoughts  His temptations draw us into those imaginations that feed our flesh desires and starve our spirits of unity with the Lord. The spirit of evil has a voice like the Holy Spirit and we must discern at all times who is speaking.

In John 10:14 the Lord Jesus says, "I am the Good Shepherd, I know My sheep and My sheep know Me."  In this chapter He speaks of His sheep, "who listen to His voice" and as His sheep they, "follow Him because they know His voice".

The more time we spend in His Presence, the more we will come to know and discern His voice from the other voices vying for our attention and most importantly we will be able to discern the Truth of our Lord from the lies of the evil one.

The enemy of our soul is the arch enemy of Heaven's Sovereign, whose goal it is to assassinate God's Holy Character to those who know He exists and to keep those who deny there is a God in the darkness of that lie.

The question of why God allows this has to do with His plan for eternity and the preparation of His Beloved for the Kingdom of Heaven.  Free will has been given all humanity and the purpose for it lies in the choice all must make to either engage in a relationship with the Creator or not.  Heaven is a closed kingdom and only those who by free will and choice desire entrance will be given entrance and then only those who enter by the ONLY gateway available AKA through Jesus will find access.

God's will and His way is narrow by design but all are invited to know the Gate and walk through Him into the Kingdom of Heaven and into the waiting arms of our Father.

Considering all the misrepresentations of God that are present in the world, our anchor to His Word by and through the Holy Spirit is an imperative to the faithful.  Just like the voice that spoke in the watches of the night it carried a misrepresentation of the faithfulness of my God and King. 

There are those who see "God" as one of those mythical Greek ones who send their lightning bolts to earth and then watch as humanity reels,   It makes for good fiction but also distorts the truth about our loving Creator.

If we, as believers, do not cling to the Truth and stand firm in our faith, we too can get sucked into a false and deceptive understanding our of God and Savor.  Evil provides attacks and points to these things as "evidence" that contradicts the existence and true nature of our God.  But God wants to use the same things to strengthen His people in a multitude of ways if not for our days on earth, then for greater things having to do with our eternity.

I understand this and deny him the fruit of those lies.  This morning his tactic has been to suggest that God has abandoned His people until we are evacuated from this realm.  In other words, we are on our own until the sweet by and by.  Nothing could be further from the truth.

The Holy One began today by reminding me that Satan is a liar and I am not to believe him no matter what threat or "evidence he tries to impose or use.  Then He takes me back to His Word and Truth:

Deuteronomy 31:6, "Be strong and courageous.  Do not be afraid or terrified because of them for the Lord your God goes with you;  He will never leave you nor forsake you."

Joshua 1:5, "No one will be able to stand against you all the days of your life.  As I was with Moses so I will be with you;  I will never leave you nor forsake you."

Hebrews 13:5, "Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have because the Lord has said, "Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you".  So we can say with confidence "The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid.  What can man do to me?"

As I glean from His Holy Scriptures, I understand the command not to fear "them".  "Them" can be people who oppose us but can also be the dark spirits who speak fearsome threats to our mind.  I understand that our victory is confirmed and for our lifetime.  God was with Moses and will always be with us as well.  And from the Hebrews passage, I understand that the Lord is our helper and He is the antidote to any temporal fear due to life's challenges whether they originate out of untoward circumstances in life or man made threats.

We never ever have to worry with the thought that our Lord has abandoned the earth or His people.  We are to be a light in the world just as our Lord is the Light OF the world.   He said that apart from Him we can do nothing.. and yet with Him nothing is impossible.  He is our source and will never stop being our source.

The Truth stands and I choose to believe Him.  I will continue to look for manifestations of His Presence in the trials of our lives. 

I declare the Lord truly is present with His people and the lie of the enemy is dismissed.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?   


       

Counted Among The Lord's Beloved***

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  His words to me speak of a grief to His heart and it registers as a grief to mine.  "Why is it not enough for you to be counted among my Beloved?"

His question pierces the atmosphere that has been heavily saturated with complaints about the degree of hardships many of us, His people, are facing today. 

While the Word of God is a Book of promises and I believe every one of them is mine, the one thing missing is the "when" of the fulfillment of these wondrous promises.  The promises are given by an eternal God and I must accept that God's timetable in all matters may be different than mine.   

The Old Testament is a history and outline of how God deals with humanity.  It is revealed through the historical account of the one nation called Israel.  God has provided the modern world along with all the generations before us, the knowledge of Himself through the ancient and historical account of the Jewish journey as a nation.

From the promise given to Abraham for his descendants up to the fulfillment of the promised Messiah in the first coming of Jesus the Christ which begins the New Testament, God provided us with clues as to His being. 

The Old testament set the stage for what the New Testament provided at the arrival of Jesus:  God revealed Himself completely in human form. The New Testament in the person of Jesus is the complete revelation of His being.

The Old Testament speaks volumes about what our Sovereign God expects and how He kept the nation of Israel within the boundaries of those expectations throughout their history.  We can point to all their failures only to find that failures are also part of what God expects. 

The Law and the Prophets were a honing tool useful not just to the ancients but to us "moderns" in the Church today. The nation struggled with life on earth just as we do. They struggled with flesh temptations in rebellion and disobedience just as we do.  They struggled with God's Sovereignty just as we do.

Yet we, who are living in this dispensation of Grace called the "Church Era",  have a profound advantage in life and the struggles we find and face on earth today.  The struggles may be the same but we are blessed to have the indwelling Holy Spirit of Christ to rely upon as we decide the best way to handle those struggles.

In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit was active but external to the people.  Since Pentecost and when Jesus breathed His Holy Spirit into His followers, we have Him as our internal Counselor and blessed Companion.

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth.  When He speaks to me I listen.  When He warns me I take heed.  And when He voices His grief I come to ask His forgiveness and seek to change what is causing Him the pain.

In very short order I follow His lead back to the Word and His Will.  The Holy One knows my meandering spirit and this is how He leads me to find the nuggets of truth He has for me today.

I have a chain reference Bible and that is such an important resource for the way I go and grow along our journey. I may start at one point and thought then that leads me to another thought and scripture which leads to another but then I will eventually find the word He has written just for me today.

Through a series of very interesting scriptures I finally arrive at Numbers 11:1-3, "Now the people complained abut their hardship in the hearing of the Lord and when He heard them His anger was aroused. Then fire from the Lord burned among them and consumed some of the outskirts of the camp.  When the people cried out to Moses, he prayed to the Lord and the fire died down. So that place was called Taberah because fire from the Lord had burned among them."

Part of why I appreciate the Old Testament so much is due to the way God dealt very directly with His people.  I tend to be a cause and effect person so I appreciate a direct and immediate response if I walk out of bounds.  But the Lord is grooming me in a love relationship and that learning curve is different than for one just being taught His rules.

When I read the word "anger" in the Old Testament, the Holy One interprets through His filter to my heart the word "grief".  I see how in my life I am similarly guilty of complaining about the hardships and that is a grief to my Lord.

Then He takes me to the New Testament for His directive and to understand what He expects of me today.

James 1:2, "Consider it pure joy my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance, perseverance must finish it's work so that you may be complete not lacking anything"

And again in Hebrews 124-7 it speaks of running the race with perseverance, "In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood and you have forgotten the word of encouragement that addresses you as sons, "My son, do not make light of the Lord's discipline, and do not lose heart when He rebukes you, because the Lord disciplines those He loves and He punishes every one He accepts as a son.  Endure hardship as discipline.  God is treating you as sons."

I am very clear about what has caused Him the grief: my personal lapse into complaining and how that interrupts the strength I might otherwise find to persevere. I get the image of a runner focusing on the muscle pain in his leg rather than on the finish line or a body builder half way through a lift focusing on how heavy the weight is rather than the goal of lifting it above his head.

There are so many priceless points to ponder in each lesson the Holy One teaches.  His lessons are personal and endless as He grooms His beloved for our eternal destiny, of which this earth life is the preliminary phase.

For me today, I see by His word that "perseverance" must finish IT'S work.  The time between my prayer and its answer is the perseverance zone.  If I spend the time in that zone grumbling and complaining the finished work of perseverance might not be attained in the present hardship.

My performance mentality reels at the thought of missing what the Lord is trying to teach and that may be classified as "striving" to some.   But for me the thought of grieving my Lord over something I can ask Him to help me change, is heart breaking and I need to fix it.

I repent and ask Him to forgive my complaining and give me His help as I persevere through the hard times waiting for His much sought after answers to come.  I can feel His warm love and forgiveness and I must declare to my Lord, it is enough to be counted among His beloved.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?       
              

  

Salvation is For.... Not Just From...

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  Disasters around the world strike close to my heart.  When fearsome things hit home, thoughts of eternity loom large, not the thought of "if" we will be catapulted into eternity but "when".

The Holy One speaks to remind me, " The ultimate goal in your salvation is not to just save you from something.  It is to save you for something.  I have saved you for Myself and for our eternal love relationship.

That simple truth is so easily forgotten when we try to share the Gospel with others.  With all the visuals we have placed before our eyes of death and destruction, it is easy for people to become emotionally seared and apathetic or dominated by fear of evil.

The salvation that continuously presses the threat of hell, fire and damnation to people who are living it on earth seems to understandably fall on deaf ears. This is by no means an attempt to minimize what the Word of God teaches about the place of torment, but to understand why that end of the salvation message may be less motivating to those living through these dark days on earth.  

Likewise to promise people in the Middle East that salvation will change their temporal suffering is a far cry from their life experience as they witness Christians who are being martyred every day.

The essence of the Gospel is Truth for every person on earth and every generation regardless of their geography.  And the Truth must be shared with all people in light of eternity.

In the days of Jesus, Rome was a powerful governing force on the earth.  Jesus operated within its structure and did not offer to change the politics of the day.  Jesus also operated within the social structure of the day which was for Israel and the Jews, under the authority of the Scribes ad Pharisees. 

Jesus declared His mission on a day when He spoke in a synagogue in Nazareth. 

Luke 4:17-21, "The scroll of the prophet Isaiah was handed to Him.  Unrolling it He found the place where it was written, "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me because He has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.  He sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight to the blind; to release the oppressed; To proclaim the year of the Lord's favor."

Then He rolled up the scroll and gave it back to the attendant and sat down.  The eyes of everyone in the Synagogue were fastened on Him and He began by saying to them, "Today this scripture is fulfilled in your hearing".

Clearly these verses speak of His role as the Messiah, and are applicable to everyone regardless of the circumstances here on earth.   Truly the thing that holds us bound is the sin that separates us from God.  Sin breaks our hearts, and keeps us in darkness and not just until a political regime change occurs.  True freedom starts in the soul and moves to the heart and mind.

Jesus came to pay the price for and proclaim our freedom.  It is a complete and common freedom whether we live in a hut or a mansion; in an obscure village or a major city.  Freedom for one must be the same freedom for all.

How do we explain this to 3rd world citizens or neighbors who live in temporal ghettos?

Jesus said, in John 18:36, "My kingdom is not of this world".  Simple enough unless one is looking for a political or worldly king. 

As followers of Christ, we must realize and accept that the One we follow was rejected, persecuted and ultimately crucified. Kingdoms on earth do not change for His death but the hearts and minds of people do.

The true picture of salvation was painted for us in the Biblical account and 11th hour of life for one thief on a cross.  (Luke 23:39-43)  Jesus was crucified between two men who had been found guilty of crimes punishable by death.  One man mocked Jesus and challenged Him to show His powerful authority and save them and Himself from the penalty. 

This man  just wanted temporal relief to be saved "from" the death he was facing with no apparent remorse.  The other thief, declaring his guilt and belief that Jesus was a king with a kingdom said, "We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve, but this man has done nothing wrong.  Then he said, "Jesus, remember me when you come into Your kingdom".  Jesus answered him "I tell you the truth, today you will be with Me in paradise."

This man spoke words that were a reflection of his desire for a relationship with Jesus and to be remembered.  Jesus confirmed that relationship, "Today you will be with Me in paradise".  This man accepted his fate and the pain of the "hell" he must have been experiencing.  His desire was to be in the relationship Jesus came to offer all people.  In the face of temporal death, he was focused on an eternal relationship with the Lord after he breathed his last breath on earth.

As we live amid the horrifying circumstances that can even be described as "hell" on earth, may we never forget that Jesus came and died to save us for Himself; that we might live in an eternal love relationship with the One who created us for that purpose.

The Divine plan behind our salvation is not just to save us "from" the judgment which will come upon all who reject Jesus, but to save us "for" that deeply personal relationship with our eternal King, which actually begins here on earth.

It is for the Love of God that we are saved and that is to be the over powering message I share with those who have not yet heard the Truth. 

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

                   

The Sacrifice

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  The pace of life has slowed in this season of caring for a parent in the twilight years of her life. This morning the Holy Spirit speaks to the subject of life changing circumstances and tells me, "Consider My sacrifice". 

I am thankful that He chose to speak to me about this subject before I get too far into the land of "self-pity" which is a place any or all of us can go visit when trials come demanding the release of things we may hold dear.

He draws me in then points me to His Word in John 10.  This is the passage about His role as the Good Shepherd.  The Mediterranean Shepherd is different than a western one.  The Mediterranean shepherd would lay down his life for his sheep.  He is a fierce protector and a gentle lead.  He watches over the sheep and takes them to higher ground when the grazing at the lower meadows leaves the turf there barren of food.

The Lord uses this metaphor to teach us about His tender love for us, His symbolic "sheep".

In this passage He points out the difference between a shepherd and a hired hand and then in John 10:14, He talks about Himself as the Good Shepherd, "I am the Good Shepherd and I lay down my life for the sheep.  I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen (referring to Gentiles).  I must bring them also.  They too will listen to my voice and there shall be one flock and One Shepherd".

Then my heart skips a beat as I read the next verse and the point that He wants me to see, "The reason My Father loves Me is that I lay down my life only to take it up again.  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord". 

Here is the Son telling us what  He does to please the Father and in that I see how our Father loves His sacrifice. "The reason the Father loves Me is that I lay down My life only to take it up again".  The depths of their relationship, who can fathom?  But the clues are present for me to glean.

"Sacrifice" is the offering of a life or object to God and it is the giving up of one thing for the sake of another.  In the context of this verse, the Son did both;  He gave up His life to God the Father, and gave up His physical life for the sake of all humanity.

What caught my attention today, is the revelation that the Father loves Him for reason that He laid down His life only to take it up again. Jesus lived in a flesh body just like we do.  I am sure the challenge of the physical torture that He knew was coming was no less difficult for Him than for any flesh person.

In the Garden of Gethsemane we are told that our Lord's physical tension was so high He did sweat blood.  The bloody sweat came from such elevated blood pressure that His capillaries broke just under His skin and He bled internally.

My mind swirls with all the thoughts of the Cross and Crucifixion but the Holy One wants me to stay focused and understand that His point today involves the "sacrifice" that touches the Father Heart of God.  Jesus directed us to understand that the Father loves those who lay down their lives only to take them up again. 

As we come to believe in the One He sent I.E  His Son, Jesus and to trust in the purpose for which He came, I.E. to rescue us from the eternal separation from our Creator God, and to reconcile us back into a personal relationship with our Creator God then we are symbolically laying down our lives for His Name sake only to pick them up again as we live in service to His plan and purposes.  Our sacrifice in surrender opens the channel of the Father's love that He lavishes upon His children.

In our flesh life, we are called in an ongoing way to lay down our lives in surrender to the principles of Holiness and to live in the Divine resurrection life of Jesus. In our flesh lives we are commanded to love one another in spite of our differences.  We are commanded to serve one another in spite of our own needs.  We are commanded to give to one another in spite of our own poverty.

There are times when the sacrifice goes beyond pride, time or resources.   Sacrifice can come from our emotional trials when we are asked to go on without a life partner or beloved friend or all that we have possessed before a natural disaster touched down in our neighborhood  without fear, bitterness or anger that tries to commandeer our faith and our trust in God's goodness..  The list goes on with the "sacrifices" we are called to make but now I see the love from our Father that such sacrifices bring.  God, the Father does not just give love, God IS love.  That is His Being and as we lay down our lives and sacrifice His way, we are a part of His Being.

I understand the priceless promise of necessity Jesus spoke of in John 14:20, " On that day (Pentecost) you will realize that I am in the Father, you are in Me and I am in you".   I cannot begin to sacrifice or lay down my life on my own.  The flesh has too many exclusion clauses and excuses.  However, knowing the Spirit of Christ lives within my flesh body I find the courage and confidence to face whatever the cross or sacrifice might be required of me today.

With the love of the Father, I realize the cross is not so heavy and the burden truly becomes light. I feel His love in the sacrifice and now especially His love for the one who is making it.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?  

God's Love In The Storm**

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  People that I love are in the midst of life's storms.  Circumstances like the weather are ever changing and  unpredictable.  Many of us are crying out to the Lord with an SOS. 

The Holy Spirit speaks into my heart and reminds me of a certain storm on a certain lake and the Disciples shaking in fear.  "I AM the same yesterday, today and tomorrow.  Nothing happens outside My control." 

I turn to the book of Matthew to re-read the account He has brought to my mind.  Jesus had just spoken to the multitude and taught a new lesson we know as the "Beatitudes".  He followed that lesson with visual manifestations of healing and deliverance from demonic oppression for all who were brought to Him in those conditions. All the supernatural elements of His deity were now on display.

Leaving that place we come to Matt 8:23-24, "Then He got into the boat and His disciples followed Him.  Without warning a furious storm came up on the lake, so that the waves swept over the boat but Jesus kept sleeping". 

The disciples went into a panic mode.

Vs 25-26, "The disciples went and woke Him saying, "Lord, save us we are going to drown".  He replied, "Oh you of little faith.  Why are you so afraid?  Then He got up and rebuked the wind and the waves and it was completely calm."

Wherever I read this passage I am struck with the visual that the One who created the storm is asleep in it.  Even as His flesh, like that of the disciple's, was being threatened by the natural circumstances, the Lord demonstrated His authority over the winds and the waves.  The storm became a tool in the Hands of the Master and one He used it to teach the Disciples a lesson in trust.

From a warfare perspective, I can see the storm as an "attack" on Him after a victorious meeting with 5000+ people on the side of a mountain whereby He revealed Himself as the bread of life for all who followed Him there.  The way He rebuked the storm suggests that the enemy may have had something to do with it.  I can relate it to the arch enemy, the devil throwing a tantrum at the One who came to destroy his evil works.  Regardless of how we might interpret the origin of the storm, His use of it leaves no doubt as to Who had authority over it.

This situation also reveals that while He was disappointed in their apparent "lack" of faith and the fear of the storm's destructive potential to their very lives, He patiently calmed the storm, using it to teach them more about Himself.

This reminder comes as  sweet blessing to my heart while I pray for family and friends facing their own storm in life.  I can pray trusting that it is, yet again, as all storms in life, only a tool in the Hands of the Master with eternal purpose for those who are caught up in it.

As I have been encouraged to see life and the situations on earth from that overarching perspective, He reminds me to pray His will in light of eternity and not let temporal fear get in the way.

For those who know Him as Savior and Lord, their peace will be a testimony to the world around them of His Presence in their lives and so I pray for their peace.  For those who do not know Him as the One who calms the storm, I pray they find Him in it.

We cannot begin to fathom what the Lord of eternity has waiting for us or how this or any storm plays a part in His eternal plan.  But one thing we can be sure of:  God's eternal and unconditional love is in the storm.

The Spirit is calling  Can you hear Him?
         



    

Walk Steady***

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  I love my FB family!  I cherish those I can connect with and I am thankful for the place where I can get a glimpse into their world and bring them into mine.

We are connected by a black cord and when that fails, wonder of wonders, there is this thing they call WiFi, a signal invisible to the eye that maintains the network between us....Just like the Holy Spirit maintains the invisible  network between me and my Lord Jesus.  

I love sharing life with others and the knowledge of the Lord is the essence of life. 

Facebook is an interesting phenomena for the facilitation of our human relationships.  A social link that allows our joys and sorrow to be shared as they are being experienced.  We can post our opinions and press our passions.  But the network is a place where we can also pass along our prayers to brothers and sisters in the realm.

There are always postings of a range of emotional issues and they provoke a range of emotional responses from my heart as friends and distant family members share what is touching their lives.     

The Holy One speaks to my potential pendulum swing this morning,  Walk steady, process what you hear and read in light of Eternity and remember My grace is sufficient for all circumstances. 

This is a reminder of what He spoke to Paul in 
2 Corinth 12:9, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness."

I have come to realize that God's grace is truly visible in the rear view mirror.  When we go through hard times nothing seems to offset the difficulty of putting one foot in front of the other. 

While we feel the weight of the burden we can wonder, "Where is God" in the moment of our weakness. But somehow we make it to the other side of the valley and from there we look back and see the grace that got us through.

The trials of life can hit us hard an fast and sometimes last for a long time before resolution comes.  From an earthbound perspective, it is difficult to see any point or purpose and this is where faith is most critical.  

Our God and Savior is Sovereign.  He acts with absolute authority.  He needs no permission for what He permits to touch our lives. The enemy tempts us to fear His Sovereignty,  yet as we go and grow with Him we see His unconditional love and how His mercy  protects us at all times.  

Fear has been a life long struggle and an antagonist to my faith.  It comes knocking at my door at any time day or night to see if I will open up to its doom laced threats.  That spirit of fear sends ripples to even the peaceful calm moments with promises of an attack, if not now then surely on another day.  

I have learned that fear within is sin and agreeing with the threats the spirit of fear poses, provides an open door for my faith to get compromised. Fear is a flesh sin that oddly enough does not offer any flesh perks. Fear is a challenge to my faith walk and is to be confessed and then conquered with my Team Captain and indwelling Holy Spirit.

His wisdom today exhorts me to "Walk steady" and with a reminder of His eternal purpose and His grace. 

In times past the mention of His grace being sufficient opened the vault to all kinds of fear threats.  I would begin to wonder what horrible thing  was going to present itself as a situation whereby I would need grace?  I would put on my holy crash helmet and buckle up then wait to see what tsunami was heading my way.

But today the directive to "walk steady" brings a sweet peace and no fear as I prepare to draw near and listen to my Heavenly Counselor and friend.

I am slowly learning to look at this life and its trials in light of eternity, walk steady as I go and to take everything we experience here as having eternal purpose in God's plan and economy. 

To walk steady is to firmly trust that fact and look beyond this life as to how it all might fit together as a form of preparation for our next and eternal life.

This cyber connection of the Internet  presents a real time view of the chaos happening in the world, and at the same time it offers a great opportunity to walk steady amid the confusion and share my relationship with the Prince of Peace, Jesus the Christ.

Prophecy unfolds on the 6:00 news and now on my very own personal FB feed.  Walking steady requires firm footing and firm footing finds its stand on the Word of God.  The Holy One takes me to His Word.

In Luke 12 we are told that at the end of (earth's) time, nation will rise against nation, kingdom against kingdom.  There will be great earthquakes and famines and pestilences  in various places and fearful events and great signs from Heaven will take place.

Mark 13 contains the same words spoken by the Lord about the  conditions that will precede His second coming.  His first coming as God in the flesh was to open the way back to our Creator God that had been closed off due to the fall of man. 

His life, death and resurrection represented the perfect model, the required sacrifice of death for sin and the promise of eternal life in a way that humanity can relate to.  Many did see and testified that the Lord of life is also the risen Conqueror of death.

His second coming will not be obscure or silent but will be visible to all and His Majestic appearance will cause every knee to bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord and God.  All will bow, even His enemies and the unbelievers who have heard of Him yet deny who He is.

The Bible is His love letter to all of us, but if one does not know Him it is like opening someone else's mail.

His warnings to those who believe are to be taken seriously:
 
"Be on your guard"!
"Watch out that no one deceives you"!
"Be alert!"
"Be careful or your heart will be weighed down with dissipation"! (to indulge in pleasure to the point of harming oneself)
"No one knows the day or the hour"!
"Therefore keep watch"!
"What I say to you, I say to everyone, "Watch"! (Mark 13:17)

We are living what appears to be the end times and days of man upon this earth.  Events are stacking up and the contractions  leading to a new birth of a new world are coming closer and closer with greater and greater intensity.

The message is urgent for all to come to the saving knowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord of all, and to make that a personal declaration of faith. God's word exhorts us to "number our days"  since death can come like a thief in the night and at any moment.

The Holy One tells me to "walk steady" and to do that I need to lean on Him every day and in every way.  I can rejoice with those who are rejoicing in wonderfully blessed days and I can weep with those who are weeping through the hard times of this life.  I can process world events and not be afraid or discouraged but then see and heed His warnings as the day of His return draws near.  

Today He reminds me that regardless of the emotions I feel today I am to walk steady with my Lord and King, trusting that all is well in light of eternity and that His grace will always be sufficient.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?  
     

      

They Have No More Wine***

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  So many mind-bending things are happening in the world and humanity needs help.

The call to be an intercessor came long ago in my life. Lessons on intercession are always being taught.  It seems so strange to look back and see the honing process over time.  I feel the burden to pray for specific things that I think the people or situations "need".  When people ask for prayer, it usually comes with a desired resolution to the problem.

Sometimes it seems that the Lord wants me to participate in being part of the answer like when a person voices a deep need for something I can provide such as food or clothes or paying a bill in their behalf.  Other times it seems that He wants me to think of a creative resolution and petition for that resolution, thus co-laboring with Him in the crisis.

Today He speaks yet another response to the burden to help as I am slowly learning to see all things in light of eternity.  He simply said, "Mary got it right".     

His words are often so mysterious at first.  But that is His way to lead me into all truth.  He knows I love a mystery and He is the greatest mystery that exits for man to try to solve. 

He first reminds me of the essence of the model prayer that Jesus taught the disciples to pray.  That prayer begins with the acknowledgment of the One from who all blessing flow: Our Father who is in Heaven.  Then He moves on to the honor due His name.  But then, Jesus teaches us to surrender all things to Him:

Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done
in earth as it is in Heaven.

As one who prays and all who should, this passage cuts through human pride and motivation.  We struggle with this because we allow the chasm to exist between God's will and our own.  If we truly understood the Kingdom of Heaven and God's will, we would pray without ceasing for all the goodness that Heaven holds and is God's ultimate will for His beloved.

As I ponder His statement, the Holy One directs me back to the very first miracle we find in the Gospel of John.  Jesus and His disciples were in attendance at a wedding in Cana.  It was a time of great celebration and running out of wine would be a horrible social faux pas.

As the story unfolds, Mary, the mother of Jesus was aware of the problem:  they had no more wine.

As I imagine the scene, Jesus was just a guest and the people at the celebration had no idea who He was for He had not yet revealed himself as the Son of God.

But Mary knew her son and most likely watched Him handle other issues in their lives.  But upon that we can only speculate since there is no record of that in scripture.

I am fascinated by the exchange between Mary and Jesus in
John 2:3-5, "When the wine was gone, Jesus' mother said to him, "They have no more wine".  "Dear woman, why do you involve me?  My time has not yet come".  His mother said to the servants, "Do whatever He tells you".

Here was a major social crisis unfolding.  A beautiful wedding feast that was still in progress was about to be ruined.  One very important element in their celebration was the fruit of the vine I.E the wine and that well had run dry.

The failure to have enough wine for the duration of the entire wedding feast was an unspeakable humiliation for the parents.  That social custom was loaded with Spiritual symbolism, since the Jewish wedding and marriage celebration is a picture of the ultimate wedding of Christ to His Bride, the Church.

For all the arguments that focus on the alcohol issue pro and con, the turning of the water into wine is much different and deeper than the drink it represents.

John, the disciple who penned this Gospel, was intent on sharing the "miracles" as "signs" and not to be enamored with the miraculous details but rather to stand in awe of the One sent from Heaven who could change earth's reality.  These were "signs and wonders" that identified Jesus as God in the flesh.

As I read the account and the exchange between Jesus and His mother, I understand what the Holy Spirit has pointed out today:  Precious Mary, went to her son Jesus and simply stated the crisis that she saw in the making, "They have no more wine".

She did not go into all the explanation of what it would do or what it would mean to the host or the guests or the social standing of the family. Nor did she go to Him with a blueprint, or list of suggestions on how to handle the uncomfortable situation.  There was no evidence of her opinion or personal plan as to what Jesus could or should do to resolve the problem.

What an amazing picture of how we as believers are to handle our problems in life especially those we cannot personally fix.  And then to try to understand the answers that come in light of eternity and the bigger picture of God's purpose in each trial.

Our Father in Heaven cares about the details in each one of our lives, but His perspective traverses all of life and all of eternity, past, present and future, where ours is limited to the very specific hour and day that we are in at this moment.

To delight ourselves in the Lord is not to delight ourselves in merely the momentary provision for our needs met or done our way, but to delight in His Being and the relationship He operates in with regard to His beloved.

I know that apart from Him we can do nothing yet by His Holy Spirit within are set apart to do (and witness)

incredible things, all according to the bigger picture that brings glory and honor to the Creator and provides the evidence of His being and life to the world around us.

The answers we are provided are not just to ease our pain or win a battle victory so we can get puffed up with pride.  The answers are not for us to "brag" about having God's ear or to justify our righteous cause.

The answers come for a much higher purpose and that is to bring glory and honor to the One who provides them and recognize His greater purpose in them.

My lesson in today as I look at the account of Mary, Jesus and the problem that presented an opportunity to connect with the Power of heaven, is to follow the model of Mary and the exhortation in Philippians 4:4-6: 

"Rejoice in the Lord always I will say it again rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all the Lord is near.  Be anxious for nothing but in everything by prayer and petition with thanksgiving present your requests to God and the peace of God that transcends all understanding will guard you hearts and minds in Christ Jesus."

Mary reflected the peace, confidence, and trust that Jesus would take care of the problem and He did.    

Our world today is a crazy terrifying place, but God is still on His throne and still giving all of us the evidence of His being.  As we face what seem to be impossible circumstances in our lives, I pray we all will remember that "Mary got it right" and what we can learn from her simple assessment of an impossible situation that brought her to her powerful God: "They have no more wine."

The Holy Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?