Two Gardens and The Cross

The Holy One calls to me this morning. The day we set aside to honor and celebrate as the day of the Resurrection of Jesus the Christ from the dead is almost here.

But before we can celebrate His resurrection, we need to come to terms with His crucifixion and that is the day we have come to call, “Good Friday”. As I get set to revisit the events of Good Friday so long ago, The Holy Spirit sets me to pondering,

“The Garden of Eden was Adam’s, the Garden of Gethsemane was Mine”.

Since the movie called “The Passion” was released, we have a more graphic picture and heartbreaking understanding of the torture of that day and what our Lord went through even before He hung on the Cross.

To those who may not know the history of the Jewish people, or its relevance to the Cross the timing of our Lord’s death matches up with the timing of the Jewish Passover celebrated because the Children of Israel were rescued out of Egyptian slavery (symbollic of our slavery to sin)  in a miraculous and dramatic way.

Moses was called by God to lead His people out of bondage and slavery under the Great Pharaoh of Egypt, but first he had to gain their release. Most of us know the story and the hardness of the Pharaoh’s heart, but the night of the Passover was the final act by God that actually forced the exodus out of Egypt.

For the release of the Hebrew slaves from bondage, one final act of God’s Sovereignty and power was unleashed over the Pharaoh and Egypt. The “Angel of death” passed through the land and was to kill the firstborn in every household both man and beast.

Exodus 11:4-7,  “Thus says the Lord, about midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of the Pharaoh who sits on his throne even to the firstborn of the female servants who is behind the hand mill and all the firstborn of the animals.

Then there shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt such as was not like it before nor shall be like it again. But against none of the children of Israel shall a dog move its tongue against man or beast that you may know that the Lord does make a difference between the Egyptians and Israel”.

The Children of Israel were then given a life or death directive which served to identity them and their household and to test their obedience of faith in the One Who said unto Pharaoh, “Let My people go”. For the Lord God Almighty was their Deliverer.

Each household was to take a male lamb without blemish and keep it from the 10th day of the month until the 14th day of the month at twilight. They were then to kill the lamb and place its blood on the 2 doorposts and the lintel of the houses in which they were to eat it. They were to roast it in the fire and consume all of the sacrificed lamb and what was not consumed was to be burned in the fire.

They were to prepare themselves to leave in haste in anticipation of their release. That night was called “Passover” because the Death Angel went through the land of Egypt and struck down every firstborn of men and animals in every household, but passed over the houses of the children of Israel where the blood of the lamb has been applied to the doorposts.

This Passover is one of the most important celebrations for the Children of Israel and is re-enacted by the Jewish people every year to commemorate that miraculous deliverance, protection of their firstborn,  and exodus out of slavery and bondage.

On the Thursday evening before “Good Friday” Jesus was celebrating the Galilean traditional supper with His disciples.  It was eaten tgether, then came a time of fasting until the sedar (passover meal) was eaten.  The period of fasting after this last supper was a  "fast for the first born".  According to Jewish tradition this fast was commemorating the Lord's protection of all the first born of Israel as the death angel went throughout the land of Egypt and killed the firstborn of every household that did not have the blood of the lamb on it's doorpost. They ate the meal and after Judas (the one who betrayed Jesus) was sent away to complete his infamous act of betrayal, Jesus set forth the directive from this “Last Supper” and last  meal that He would share with His disciples.

Little did they know at the time that Jesus Himself was to be the Passover Lamb they symbolically remembered in this way. He broke the bread and passed it out to His disciples, He poured the wine and told them to drink. As they did this in communion together Luke 22:19-20 says,

“And He took the bread, gave thanks and broke and gave it to them saying, ‘This is My body which is given for you’.

Likewise, He took the cup after supper saying, ‘This cup is the new Covenant in My blood which is shed for you’. "

After that, they left the place of the Last Supper and went to the Garden of Gethsemane as was their tradition to pray before ending the fast for the first born and where the final surrender of Christ as Savior and sacrificial Lamb of God was completed.

The death penalty that was initiated in the Garden of Eden for the first act of human rebellion of God’s Will, was about to be paid through the death of the innocent Lamb of God: Jesus the Christ.

The first Adam (man made in God’s image) refused to obey the one rule in submission to the Creator. The relationship between Creator God and His beloved created human was broken and until the penalty was paid there could be no reconciliation in the God/man relationship.

The terms of the redemption were impossible for a mortal human in the genealogy of Adam to meet. The death penalty would stand unless a perfect and blemish-free sacrifice was made. None born of human male seed could meet that criteria since the fall despoiled all flesh; So God Himself provided the Holy and innocent sacrifice.

The sin gene is carried by all the male of our species which answers the question of why an immaculate conception and virgin birth was necessary.

Temptation to sin had to be offered and rejected which answers the question of why the encounter with the devil in the wilderness took place and even when in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus broke under the pressure and asked that the cup of suffering might be taken away.  Still Jesus submitted to His Father's will. 

All the sin that is associated to our flesh under the rule of our sin nature had to be utterly destroyed which answers the question of the brutality of the flesh that Jesus endured.

The ultimate relational penalty of rejection of all that is unholy by a Holy God had to be complete which answers the question of Jesus’ dying words, “My God, My God why have you forsaken Me?”

Each element of the penalty of death for sin and the requirement of our redemption was paid and fulfilled by our Savior, God’s Only Son, Jesus.

The second garden was a reenactment of the first, but with an eternal difference. Where the first Adam failed the second Adam, Jesus in his same position succeeded. Where rebellion first got its start in the Garden of Eden, Jesus 's complete submission to the Father’s will ended the fatal consequence in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Taking on the sin of the world was something only the eternal God of all creation could do and live to tell about it, however as a side note: we will at times be taken to our own personal Garden of Gethsemane before we are taken to our personal cross where the question of surrender is still being asked.

The weight of that decision on a human body, caused the Lord to sweat drops of blood as He knew the pain and cost to His physical being yet He made that decision anyway.

The mystery of Holiness will never be completely understood this side of Heaven but the love actions of our creator to redeem His creation are clearly visible as we remember the two gardens and the Cross.

Recalling the past events in this commemoration of “Holy Week” enables me to appreciate the magnitude of the Father’s love and delight in the power of the Resurrection and the sacrificial life of our Messiah Jesus the Christ. 

Hallelujah He died for us and now is Risen! Resurrection life: Now that's something to celebrate!

The Holy Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?

Do You Trust God’s Ways? ****

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  I confess that I live my life in God’s Word.  Many have tried to convince me over the years that the Word is not to be taken so literally but I do tend to see my life literally or symbolically on every page.   All my struggles, all my hopes, and all my circumstances are somewhere written in God’s Word.

I guess I am a hopeless romantic for the Sacred Romance that I read about in the Holy Scriptures.  From the damsel in distress waiting for her rescue to the kingdom battle between good and evil, I see the Heavenly things as my earthly reality.

The Holy One challenges me periodically to check myself in the trust department.  He questions me on that issue today.

“I know you trust My will BUT do you trust My ways?”

God’s Word is His will.  And I do definitely trust His will.  But there is, in my mind, a difference between trusting His will and trusting His ways of bringing it to pass in my personal life and trial. 

When I cannot see the road ahead, it is harder for me to trust my Navigator.  Many times the Lord has told me to “fly by the instruments” when clouds cover my view of the terrain.  Today He reminds me of His Word:

2 Corinthians 5:7, “For we walk by faith and not by sight”.  And then, Hebrews 11:1, “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen”.

I understand by God’s Word that I am being sanctified (made Holy) through the trials of life that come my way.  But when the “bee stings and the dog bites”, as they say, I wonder about His ways.  In the beginning of a hard trial, I find it difficult to see or accept what appears to be His “way” of perfecting me.  Bottom line is that I squeal like a stuck pig and try my best to avoid the cross until I come to terms with what He allows as His “way” within His will.

My Lord brings me to the faith crisis where I must, on shaky legs, stand.

Mary and Martha were brought to a similar place when their brother Lazarus died.  In the culture of the day, the death of their brother was in many ways the death of their life as well.  He was their provider and protector and held the inheritance rights that were needed for their future and lives as women.

Their desire was to have him healed to carry on in life as one they loved and needed. The account of Jesus raising him from the dead in John 11 was a beautiful representation to me that their desire and God’s will was the same.   But for a few agonizing days and in a life and death trial they were forced to accept God’s ways, which were quite different than they imagined in the discovery and execution of His Will.

They suffered in a temporal loss to have revealed to them God’s eternal gain: Jesus their friend, was also the Resurrection and the Life.  God wrapped in flesh and the One who holds power over death as well as sickness.   God’s will was the greater revelation and His way for them required Lazarus to die so Jesus could come and exercise His power over death.  

We have this account as an applicable principle foundation for our faith.  Today I simple confess, “Lord, your will AND Your way, may it be as You say.  Please give me the faith to trust you even when I do not understand Your way”.

When it seems that surrender means my death and I surrender anyway, the Cross has had its perfect result and resurrection/restoration is soon to follow.   I must continue to stand firm believing that my heart desire and His will are one in the same but I also must trust His way of bringing it into my life. 

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

The Drift***

The Holy One calls to me this morning. Not too long ago anarchy filled the streets of an otherwise quiet town in the mid-west. A spirit of lawlessness has been unleashed and we can see how prophecies warning us about that spirit in these days called "end times" is very accurate.

It is very easy for people to point fingers and cast blame but the incident that captured nationwide attention is just one of countless examples of the lawlessness we are witnessing all around us every day. Lawlessness causes disorder. Social laws broken result in social chaos. But what happens in the Lord's community when His rules are ignored or broken? 

The church is the Lord's community. In essence, the church is a nation within a nation not unlike Israel who was a nation among other nations and when God sent them into exile, other nations tried unsuccessfully to absorb them.

The Israelites maintained their national integrity even when greater nations at the time tried to break their identity as God's "Chosen" and destroy the unity of their "tribes".

We live in the "land of the free" yet religious persecution is happening. Our spiritual nation as the church is under attack, but the weapons being used against us are not just swords and spears. Evil has other more effective weapons to draw from to destroy our unity and take us out of the battle.

Today, the Holy One speaks to the danger of apathy and compromise. "All this lawlessness did not happen in a day. The evidence and consequences of disobedience to social laws happens over time. Once you turn to darkness, the light fades slowly". I know the Holy One is speaking a deeper truth regarding rebellion than the visible anarchy I see in the world.

We tend to think that to walk in rebellion of the Law Giver we serve, would bring an immediate consequence and that we would be catapulted into a dark place quickly. But in reality the sun going down casts long shadows in the evening until there is no more light.

Apathy and compromise create a drift from Holiness. A little slumber, as they say, and poverty will come upon us (Prov. 24:33-34). Spiritual slumber creates spiritual poverty and spiritual anarchy takes over the life. Christians are especially at risk because the "spirit" of anti-christ targets our will and, since our "freedom" is found in the willing surrender not enforcement of our rights, surrender is most often required of us.

Christians are citizens of another kingdom. This land is not our home, but we are still attached to this world by geography if not by heart, and over time we can lose sight of our Kingdom and our King.

I regard the book of Malachi as an important one to ponder since it was the last book of the old Testament before the first coming of Christ. I see similarities in the struggle and the conditions here on earth as back in the days before Jesus came the first time.

Here is an excerpt from this book:

Malachi 3:13-16, “Your words have been harsh against Me says the Lord, yet you say, ‘What have we spoken against you?’ You have said it is useless to serve God (our argument for compromise); what profit is it that we have kept His ordinances. And that we have walked as mourners before the Lord of hosts. So now we call the proud blessed, for those who do wickedness are raised up; they even tempt God and go free
.

Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another and the Lord LISTENED AND HEARD THEM; so a scroll of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and meditate on His name.”

This book of scripture touches on many things we can see in operation today in the Church and are eerily similar to conditions back in the day of Malachi in the nation of Israel under this indictment:

Polluted offerings, (giving God 2nd best), corrupt priests (false teachers) treachery of infidelity (physical and spiritual adultery) robbery of God (in resources and honor).

In this sad truth the Lord has given a powerful promise for those who keep the faith, Malachi 3:17-18, “They shall be Mine says the Lord of Hosts, on the day that I make them My jewels. And I will spare them as a man spares his own son who serves him. Then you shall again discern (see the difference) between the righteous and the wicked, between one who serves God and one who does not.”

A drift begets discouragement and discouragement begets compromise. We do not know when the Lord will come back in His resurrected Glory so we must take steps to encourage one another in the faith until He arrives. This is a warning for those who will hear. I must be careful in my expressions of what I see before the last chapter in any trial has been revealed. God will always have the last word and for His people that last word is good.

 

If you feel yourself drifting grab hold of your anchor which is the Word of God. Read and declare His promises. Speak to each other encouraging words and in prayer speak to the Lord who is always ready and willing to speak back.

I tell you the Truth,

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?

 

            

The Father Heart of God ***

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  Great is His faithfulness. Even as I come to our early morning meeting a little drowsy, His message is very clear.

“A Father disciplines the child he loves”.

Our assignment post salvation is to live for Christ and He told us that His purpose was to bring glory to His Father in Heaven.  The ultimate purpose then for every believer in Christ Jesus is to follow His lead and bring glory to the Father as well. 

As the world turns, ignorance of our Creator God flourishes and misconceptions about Him abound.  He is our Heavenly Father and the Sovereign God of all creation, but in the world He gets a bad rap.

We have the Word of God in our possession, the Holy Spirit of Christ as our indwelling Counselor, and the Love of God through Christ as our testimony.  So it is up to us to share what we know and Who we love to correct the ignorance and misconception about our Heavenly Father and the eternal plan He has for humanity.    

Our silence allows the lost and dying world around us to continue to slip into eternal oblivion without realizing they have and must make a choice for a relationship with the Creator God AKA our Heavenly Father.  Misconceptions about Him and the Truth of His being can cause people to run away, refuse His gracious offer of rescue or fail to grasp the depth of His love.

But today the Holy One speaks to me about those of us who do know Him yet cannot see the handwriting on the wall when it comes to His discipline over His people in the Body of Christ. 

Our Heavenly Father is love and mercy, of that there is no doubt, but our Heavenly Father is also Holy and many of us are operating in such a spoiled child syndrome we forget that we are to be transformed into the very image of Christ, the Son. 

When we first get adopted, we are (or should be) overwhelmed by our new family dynamic.  We are received into the family of God and gain the life and inheritance of a privileged child.  But then the trials come and the privilege meets up with the responsibility to represent the family Name.  We must live in co-operation with the love of God and in submission to the Holy Spirit of Christ who sought us out and then go seek others who are perishing without a hope.  For God is not content that any should perish but that all people come to the saving knowledge of His Son, Jesus Christ. 

Divine Discipline is the right of the Heavenly Father to exercise over His child.  But what does Divine Discipline look like and how does “discipline” differ from persecution? Or does it?

Hebrews 12:3-7:

"For consider Him who endured such hostility from sinners against Himself lest you become weary and discouraged in your souls.   You have not yet resisted to bloodshed striving against sin.  And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as sons: 

My son do not despise the chastening of the Lord, nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him.  For whom the Lord loves He chasten and scourges every son He receives.  If you endure chastening, God deals with you as sons.; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten?”

And then, Matt. 5:10-11 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness sake, for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven.  Blessed are you when (not if) they revile and persecute you and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake”.

It seems to me that in our nation today, we who are the Body of Christ are experiencing both at the same time.  Our nation is being chastened for how far we have slipped from our foundational faith and personally we are being persecuted as we stand for the values we live out in obedience and according to our faith in Jesus.

As a Christian parent we understand the need and purpose for discipline over our child.  Discipline has the intended end to establish boundaries for the child’s safety and well being and to the honing of their Godly character.   We understand the threats the world presents and the eternal consequences for those who do not come to faith in Christ as their personal Savior.  We understand the pressure to compromise.

We get our instincts as a parent as an endowment from our Creator.  Just as a human father disciplines his child, our Heavenly father disciplines us.  Our earth years do not matter to our Eternal Father.  We are always His child and for the duration of our years upon the earth He will always be raising us up into His character and image.

As for this nation, I confess the lawlessness and war in the streets is in part a consequence of electing lawless leaders.  Putting our dependency on Government rather than the Lord also brings the dire consequence and necessary discipline needed to turn our hearts back to God.  We need to confess the folly of our betrayal and pray for His forgiveness and intervention.  

Back in the days of Elijah, the Lord’s dire discipline was a drought and subsequent famine that covered the land.  All people were affected by it.  The Divine discipline led to the great contest on Mt Carmel and fire from Heaven that drew the people back to their covenant relationship with God that they had violated and the One whom they had betrayed (2 Kings 18)

Would the drought and famine have been necessary if the people had been loyal to their God?

As for us personally, I can see how Elijah, the loyal one, was provided for in the midst of the drought and famine along with a widow who was in obedience to the Lord’s command.  I can see how Elijah was being honed in his character of faith and loyalty to prepare him for the future confrontation with Jezebel and the Priests of Baal.  What faith was being honed during the three years of the famine that was needed to call down fire from Heaven?   If you think Elijah did not have his moments of fear in confronting evil Jezebel and hearing her threats, remember the cave where he fled to hide and what he learned in that persecution.

Our Nation is in a place of Divine discipline in my opinion and we who stand firm on His principles are also in a place of persecution.   If we do not see that this discipline is due to our rebellion, we will not take steps to repent and turn.  If we speak of this as a God ordained “judgement” of the unsaved then the Cross is pointless and hard times are God’s place of reckoning His anger against sin and not the Cross.  If we compromise during persecution no one will see the Lord in our lives.

Time for us to stop the finger pointing at others while claiming grace for ourselves and let the Lord show us where we are in need of correction.   

The Word tells us that God said, “If MY people who are called by MY name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face and turn from their wicked ways…..THEN I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sins and heal their land”. 

If we truly know the Father Heart of God, then we will accept His hand of correction and take the steps to end His grief at our rebellion or self-centeredness otherwise known as sin.  When we step up and face our own accountability to our Heavenly Father, confess our sin and failures and with the help of His Holy Spirit turn from our own wicked ways, the purpose for the Father’s discipline is accomplished and we can be restored to the good times. 

Jesus opened the way to the Father so I have no excuse not to seek Him for what He wants to correct.  I have come to realize that God has an opinion on everything about my life and quite often it is different than mine.  He sees sin differently than I do so I need Him to tell me what He wants me to correct.

Out of the loving Father Heart of God comes the discipline I need to hone me in the understanding of His ways and transform me into the image of my Lord.  My Heavenly Father loves me and I know it.   He loves you too.  Do you know it?

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?   

Making The Most Of "Tarry" Time***

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  It is amazing how much I begin to see when I ask the Holy Spirit to lead me into all truth.  Thoughts of my “Lazarus” fill my mind and almost break my heart.  I say almost because the Lord has given me a promise that He calls to mind today. 

“Try to make the most of this “tarry” time”.

The Lazarus of Biblical time and friend of Jesus was made famous as one who was raised from the dead and restored in relationship and life with his two sisters, Mary and Martha.  Death had claimed him yet while he was still alive but sick, the sisters sent out an SOS for Jesus to come and heal their brother.

John 11:4-7, “When Jesus heard that (Lazarus was sick) He said, “This sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.  Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.  Then after this, He said “Let us go to Judea again”. 

Jesus delayed coming into the situation and he tarried (lingered) in the place where He was.  Mary and Martha, like many of us, petitioned that Jesus come and bring relief to the suffering and relieve their life crisis in a timely manner and they, not unlike many of us, had to wait for Him to arrive.

From their view things went from bad to worst and the unthinkable happened:  Lazarus died and Jesus, the One they knew could heal him didn’t show up.  They were forced into a “tarry” time which is the place between the petition and the answer they so desperately desired. 

I don’t know what those days were like for the sisters because I know the end of that story.  Jesus finally arrived and gave outrageous and convincing proof beyond all doubt that He is God.  Not only is He a Healer, but He is God of the living as well as the dead.

My “Lazarus” is not physically dead but in a dark place of what appears to be a form of spiritual death.  My “Lazarus” seems to be locked in a tomb of hopelessness and the despair of a life trial is like a death shroud that is wrapped around the soul.

I cried out for healing but it seems that my “Lazarus” slipped into a form of faith death and I am helpless to change his condition. I am caught in what I have come to term as the “tarry” time waiting for the Lord to come and wake my beloved up from his death and call him out of his tomb.

Whether your Lazarus is a husband, a child, a brother, a marriage gone cold as death, a vision that has died or an opportunity that seems to “lie in state” with no hope for revival, it is well to remember that Jesus operates on a different timetable than we do.  Every trial in life and most petitions we make for Divine intervention seem to be on a time-released schedule for seeing the answers.

In our fast paced world, the expectations we have is that our petitions will bring instant gratification and answers to whatever need we have.  It is nearly impossible to slow our roll, take up the Lord’s pace and appreciate that His timetable is eternity. 

While He tarries, we can draw the wrong conclusions and make the wrong assumptions that His delay is a denial.  It is important that we do not come under the tyranny of the urgent and lose our own faith while praying for the faith of another.

The Lord is preparing us for another world where the principles of our existence are different than the life we live here on earth.   When time is no more a consideration and death is no longer a threat, perspective changes.  In our world today, the “tarry” time is excruciating but from God’s eternal perspective it holds very valuable lessons about His Being.

The wisdom of the Holy Spirit and the words He chose to speak remind me that the answer to my fervent prayers will come and important for me today is that there is much to glean and even accomplish while I wait.

I need to trust in what the Lord has shown us in His life and death:  His greatest work was accomplished in the tomb beyond human eyes before He re-appeared as risen from the dead. 

Jesus loved the family so dearly that He tarried in order for them to have the greater revelation of His Being.  He wanted to show them and His Disciples (and us) that He was not just a Healer but the Author of life and conqueror of death itself.  Jesus is the eternal God of the impossible.  He was for Mary and Martha then and He is for us today.

I believe my prayers have a scheduled time for the Divine manifestation of the answers,   So until I see them, I will ask the Holy One to help me make maximum use of the “tarry’ time believing that He is coming with the greater answer which is resurrection life for myself as well as the ones for whom I pray.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?     

Conditional Surrender***

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  Political correctness has become a suffocating blanket thrown over our truth denying nation.   Compromise abounds inside and outside the church as we process and form our opinions apart from God’s Word and pledge our allegiance to people not our Lord.  Truth calls out but the people ignore it and so truth fails. 

The Holy Spirit speaks His important reminder in these days of chaos and confusion, and He says,  

“You cannot pray about the conditional surrender of another until you have taken the steps to correct it within yourself.”

With a few words the Holy One speaks volumes then sets up my lesson for the day.  The Holy Spirit is my indwelling counselor who leads me into all truth.  Then He begins to show me how to apply the truth He reveals.  Whether the compromise is revealed in the big world of politics or the small world of my personal life, it boils down to how my heart and will is acting in “conditional surrender” to my Lord.

The lessons are always personal at the onset, so I must look at my own life first to understand the principles of Holiness and what lies within my heart and mind that the Lord wants me to see and change.  Here is when my thoughts shift from the political to the personal and I brace myself for what is about to be discussed. 

As a parent whose job it is to pray for my family of kids and their kids, the Lord takes me back to His prayer for the Disciples and also for those of us who follow Him today.  This was His parting prayer for them and us before He left planet earth and one that is still at the Throne of our Heavenly Father as we speak.

John 17:15-19, “I do not pray that you take them out of the world but that you should keep them from the evil one.  They are not of the world just as I am not of the world.  Sanctify them by Your truth.  As you have sent Me into the world, I also have sent them into the world.    And for their sakes, I sanctify myself that they also may be sanctified by the truth”. 

The Holy Spirit is the “Sanctifier”.  The truth sanctifies us…the truth sanctifies me.  Things start to get uncomfortable as the heat of our conversation begins to rise.  Jesus said that for “our sakes” He sanctified Himself, meaning that He was the first to surrender to the truth and complete obedience to the Word and Will of His Heavenly Father.   Holiness requires separation from worldly values and flesh dominated pursuits. 

As a Christian in this land of exile I understand my first loyalty must be to my Kingdom and my King.  The same is true in our family life.  

Jesus led in obedience and He rules through surrender to the authority of our Heavenly Father.   This speaks to the structure of Divine authority in all matters of life and today it really speaks to me.  

Bam!  Truth hits like a lightning bolt and I begin to see my own “conditional surrender” to my Father’s will. The prayer we all esteem and follow as our model speaks of complete surrender as we say and pray, to our Father in Heaven, “Thy kingdom come Thy will be done in earth as it is in Heaven”. 

I am struck at this moment with the thought of how many prayers have been lifted up as “MY will be done in earth”.  I understand it is not the petition themselves that are right or wrong, but rather my heart “attitude” in the prayers that the Lord seeks to change.

As a servant of the Most High, it is my role and privilege to serve my Lord’s will. A servant does not judge or manipulate the mission or the message even if the Master’s purpose is not clear to the servant at the time.  

Conditional surrender puts up a hand and says to the Lord, “You can have all of this BUT NOT …… or you can have every arena of my life EXCEPT …….. and we can all fill in the blanks.

My complete and unconditional surrender is challenged in my relationships and today we go deep into that place of hesitation.  The Lord takes me to Matt 10:34, “Do not think that I have come to bring peace on earth.  I did not come to bring peace but a sword.  For I have come to set a man against his father and a daughter against her mother and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man’s enemies will be those of his own household.”

From the entirety of that portion of scripture, we can read that our complete loyalty to Christ above all other relationships will be challenged.   If these closest heart relationships will be tested, how much more will a friendship with the world come under the Lord’s scrutiny?   

The Holy Spirit has been my companion and friend for years and years.  He has walked with me up the high mountains and through the deep valleys.    His counsel is always perfect when I look back over time, but His ways are mysterious and sometimes foreboding to my carnal thinking.   

Some of my questions have answers and the Lord is willing to provide them to my enquiring mind.  I see how conditional surrender sneaks past my Holiness radar when it involves loyalty to my kids or friends or even a political party when the principals and discipline of God’s word is being compromised.  God’s love provides mercy but His Holiness is uncompromising.

The hardest times come to me and involve my family and the Lord’s requirement to surrender all to Him. Conditional surrender is really a trust issue.  Do I want them happy or Holy if those are mutually exclusive?

Trusting that in the end God’s goodwill toward them is His perfect plan over them reveals His directive for me.  Trusting His purpose in what He allows that goes past my understanding of it, requires a deeper level of surrender, unconditional surrender.

As I pray for all of my beloveds to walk with the Lord and live in surrender to His Will, I recognize hypocrisy if I am not in the same unconditional surrender that I am praying that they be in.  I am sure every parent would agree that giving up a child to hard circumstances is harder than going through them ourselves.    

Trusting the Lord as a participant is different than trusting Him as an observer especially as it involves children who have grown up and away from my control as a parent.  The love and protective instincts are still in operation but I must defer them (in unconditional surrender) to the Lord Jesus Christ whose love for them is greater than even my own.  As deeply as I love them and hard as I might want to be, I am not their savior and I must surrender them unconditionally to the One Who is. 

My focus this morning begins to narrow and the range of thoughts bring me back to an understanding of the Lord’s word to me.  Sanctification is not for me alone but for the sake of those I love and have been privileged to lead. 

Conditional surrender is a blockade to Holiness and must be corrected in my own heart first before I can begin to pray (and expect) that it be corrected in theirs. 

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?