Peace

4:00 A.M. comes early these days but when the Holy One speaks who can roll over and refuse to get up?

Today the dialog begins with a question. "If you could reflect any characteristic of Jesus, to the world around you, what would it be?" I am challenged by the question and excited by it at the same time because I have learned that the Holy Spirit's primary goal is to bring Glory to Jesus Christ, the Only begotten Son of God in and through His people. The Holy Spirit is "Christ" in me, the hope of glory. (Col 1:27). This question brings an expectant hope of things to come.

Knowing that the fullness of Christ is present within, by the life of the Holy Spirit, I sense that this is a starting point for a much deeper dive into His manifestation through my life and a greater personal accountability for what happens next. In order for the life of Christ to manifest, the death of self must take place. Knowing this is one thing, surrendering to it is something else. Passion must overrule fear of dying.

I can't help but wonder if this is why the Holy One asks the question and gives me a choice of where we will begin this next critical step toward living the resurrected life of Christ within. His life within arouses our passion. In the same way that Jesus, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning it's shame, so can I. (Heb 12:2) This passion to see the Life of my Jesus glorified though me is scheduled to keep me going against any pain of the dying to self.

As I ponder the original question, I come to my answer. If I could reflect any characteristic of my Lord to the world around me, it would be His Peace. With the world in such chaos and people facing all the uncertainties of life upon the earth, everyone is in desperate need of "Peace". Jesus said, "My peace I leave with you, My peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid".

I want to reflect THAT peace, regardless of what we are going through. The peace that can say, "all is well with my soul". I just envision the Holy Spirit walking into every person's dire circumstances with His penetrating peace.

His Peace that brings a sense of coming resolution:

For the fearful, a sense of courage
For the sick, a sense of healing
For the aged, a sense of youthful vitality restored
For the doubters, a sense of confident hope
For the mentally confused, a sense of clarity of mind
For the victims, a sense of coming rescue

I desire for myself the peace that transcends all understanding and prevails against any threat known to man and so this is the quality in the Life of Jesus I would most desire to reflect to the world around me.

Only by the power of the Holy One can this peace ever effervesce out of my life.

What characteristic of our Savior would you live to reflect?

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?

"Come, Follow Me"

The Spirit calls me this morning. I hear Him say, "Come, follow Me". It's not that I haven't read those words before or even heard them in my ear, but in this season of "death", dying to my self and personal "expectations", those words have even deeper meaning than ever before.

When each disciple heard those words there was a decision required. For Peter, James and John, the call to follow Jesus took them out of their fishing boats and away from their "occupation". They were career fishermen, leaving everything they knew how to do.

Months ago, the Lord took me to Joshua 3:3-4. When the Children of Israel were about to cross over the Jordan into the "Promised Land", the Lord gave Joshua the order to tell the people, "when you see the Ark of the Covenant of the Lord your God"...move out and follow..."then you will know which way to go since you have never been this way before."

The operative word is "follow". The Lord calls us to follow Him, not "write your own script, blaze your own trail, dictate your own part in the play".

When Jesus first called the Disciples, He was visible. He lived with them, and modelled Holiness in human form. He led them and they chose to follow Him. Now, and ever since He returned to His original Glory Seat, we have had His indwelling Presence in the form of the Holy Spirit to lead us.

Jesus said to His Disciples, "Come, follow Me". Now, the Holy Spirit of Christ says to us, "Come, follow Me. Leave your old ways, your old aspirations, your old goals for yourself. Let Me lead you and come, follow Me".

Christ in the flesh was rejected and ignored and Christ in the Holy Spirit can also be rejected and ignored. It's hard to imagine how "Majesty" can be ignored but we do it every day.

"Come, follow Me" brings a decision requirement and for each one of us. It will be a unique and individual act of obedience. We must leave the past, leave the familiar and walk into a whole new idea of "purpose".

For me, "Come, follow Me" means I am being asked to leave the familiar and venture off with my Lord into an unknown future here on earth. It is exciting and fearsome all at the same time. The one thing I do know, is that I am not equipped nor expected to lead. I am at last finally learning how to follow.

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?

Get Ready for the "Rain"

The Spirit is calling me this morning to give me yet more of a picture of Himself. I Kings 18 has been the study for weeks. I ponder, I mull, I go back to it over and over to glean what the Spirit is trying to speak through the verses of this chapter about Elijah and the Lord's mighty answer by fire from Heaven.

 I have been focusing on that small cloud in the distance (I Kings 18:44) that represents an end to the drought and famine in the land. It was God's will and His privilege to stop the drought that was a Divine discipline over His people for their idolatry and apostasy. God's mercy is so amazing. He doesn't leave us in that place of penalty forever. But what does that cloud mean in my life? What does it represent as a symbol?

 I have been seeking the Spirit's answer and today I can see, in part, what it represents. In keeping with the over arching lessons from the Lord in my life; the call to ministry and the preparation for the next season, the cloud is significant. In that cloud is the personal promise for life sustaining rain. Not the rain for an end to the physical drought I have been experiencing in my circumstances (although that will be affected as well) but a much greater "rain" that is coming. It is the "rain" of the Holy Spirit Himself. 

 I believe the Holy Spirit is about to "rain" down onto and through His people with power and authority. (For those who are already experiencing the "rain", I say, Hallelujah, that I am finally poised to know what you know). I believe with all my heart, that those of us who are seeking the Lord are being called to empty ourselves and to allow Him to empty us. Those things we have not been able to release, He is taking out of our hands. The reason for the "clean out" is not just for the purpose and sake of our own purity, but to be emptied of self, so we can be filled up with and by the Holy One. 

 I saw in my Spirit the coming "rain", the coming deluge, the coming drenching of our lives with "Holy Rain". But only the empty vessels will be filled with His powerful anointing. Like the huge "blue barrels" only the empty ones can be filled. For those who are not emptied, (those filled with dirt, mud, brown water, etc.), the new rain cannot be captured and will instead be as runoff, not able to be collected or used. 

 The Lord, through our circumstances, is trying to get our attention and to break our will so we can experience even greater things that He has in store for His people. We have been exposed to and affected by corrupting things, the kind of things that prevent our usefulness as servants of the Most High. 

 These are the times of great challenges in our world and in our lives. The Holy Spirit is the only One equal to the challenges we face. The "rain" is coming! Are you being emptied right now? Better get ready for the "rain". 

 The Holy Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?

God's Dwelling Place

I cannot believe how long it has been since my last post. (Did you give up on me?) The Spirit continues to call me and speak His wisdom each day but there are times and seasons when the world seems like it is spinning out of control and hours turn into days, then days turn into weeks before my very eyes.

The Spirit calls me today to slow down. He calls me to come away with Him and just sit for a while and recover my heart.

We live in a vastly different "world" than the one that Jesus entered. Different in the sense that man's inventions and technological advancements have known no bounds. Knowledge has accelerated and so has the pace of our lives. As I look around I just have to marvel at how creative and amazing are the things that man has come up with in an effort to control his life and environment.

Travel has gone from feet to buggy to car to plane. We have gained so much in our mobility but lost so much in our endurance. Most of us regardless of our age cannot fathom a physical walk even to the store to buy our daily food.

The same principle applies to every other arena of our life. Quick fixes, immediate gratification of our needs or desires and everything operating at the speed of light. But we have lost so many more important things in the process. We have lost time itself. Time is such a sweet blessing from God. God inhabits Eternity. We have somehow become so programmed to only consider the immediate temporal that we have lost our sense of eternity and the peaceful patience that goes with it.

While so much is different now than 2000 years ago, man's basic problem is still the same. Unlike the enemy of our soul who demands spontaneous quick responses and reactions that lead to destructive decisions, the Lord exhorts us to "give careful thought to our ways". We are to ponder, meditate, get wisdom all of which takes time that we don't "feel" we have.

No matter how advanced we consider ourselves to have become, we are still plagued by the same old problems and there is still only One cure even today.

The God of all creation is calling us to turn our hearts toward Him. Even though our pace has accelerated way past the clock of Haggai's day, the message of this prophet of God sent to the people is relevant to us here and now.

Haggai 1:9, "Give careful thought to your ways. You expected much but see it turned out to be little. What you brought home I blew away. Why? Because of My house which remains a ruin while each of you is busy with his own house. " The Spirit reveals how our time, energy and attention in this fast paced life is being diverted to "existing" not living. We are to live with the Presence of our God, our Lord, our Savior. Our hearts, His Home can be "ruined" by neglect.

For me, the message is that "it's time to slow down, get out of the fast lane, give careful thought to the Lord's dwelling place, my heart...His home." The call is for all of us to give careful thought to our priorities in this fast paced world.

The Lord is and always has been the One who has all the answers to all the problems we might have to face in any given day. But do we take the time to seek Him and then do we take the time to listen for His response? Have we forgotten the covenant with Jesus that we entered when we first got saved? Our heart was offered as His dwelling place....Have we let it go to ruin through neglect...been too busy with the urgent to find the important?

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?

A Living Sacrifice

The Spirit calls this morning and He has yet more for me to glean from the I Kings 18: 16-39 passage that has unearthed such a treasure trove of wisdom.

Elijah was the very voice of God to the people who were in an apostate state. God in His mercy called for a contest which would demonstrate His Almighty Power and reveal the impotence of the prophets of Baal who had led them astray.

But today the Spirit turns my attention from the people to the altar, more specifically to the "sacrifice" upon the altar. Romans 12:1 says we are to offer OURSELVES as a "living sacrifice". In the I Kings scripture, the altar was prepared and the sacrifice was placed upon it, having been prepared for this dramatic demonstration of God's Power and Authority.

Today I see the picture the Spirit is trying to show me, that in this great contest between God and evil, I am like that sacrifice on the Holy altar of God. The difference is that unlike that "dead sacrifice" I am alive and able to step down and remove myself from the altar if I choose.

My deep desire is to receive the answers coming from Heaven and my God. My desire is for the Spirit's fire to descend upon my life as a demonstration of God's powerful authority for all to see and have their hearts turn back to the God of all Creation. My desire is to have the Holy One torch my life with His fire.

The Spirit recalls to my mind the times past when, in the contest with dark forces, I removed myself from the altar, too afraid or faithless to wait for God's answers. I was too afraid of what the fire would do to my comfort zones...too committed to "saving" myself. I hate looking at the past except to learn and know how I have grown in the knowledge of the Holy One and grown to trust His way with me.

Today as the "contest" moves forward, I feel the water drenching my life. I Kings 18:33, "Fill the four large jars with water and pour it on the offering and on the wood". Elijah had them do this 3 times to insure that no "human" effort was possible to "torch" the sacrifice or counterfeit an answer. And I know that there is nothing I can do now except remain on the altar. Truly drenched in the impossibility of any humanly inspired resolution, I wait.

Normally water drenching the sacrifice would extinguish all hope for an answer, but not today. In the past the seeming impossibility of God's answer brought discouragement and unbelief, but not today.

Today, I wait anticipating God's powerful answers. Today I wait for what only God can do.

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?

Choose This Day Who You Will Serve

The Spirit calls this morning and my conscious thoughts are still in yesterday's scripture:

I Kings 18:16-39. It is interesting how God's Word is so full of wisdom and Truth that the more I mull it over the more I see relevant to my life.


Today I was thinking about what it means to call fire down from Heaven like Elijah did in that contest with the prophets of Baal and I begin to doubt. I don't doubt the Lord's power, I doubt myself. I confess to the Holy One my fear that I am not worthy or righteous enough to be eligible for the answer by Power; fear that I am not worthy or righteous enough to call for and to have the answer of "fire" from heaven sent to consume the sacrifice and end the contest against darkness. Doubt is debilitating because it is so "self" focused. Our enemy loves to provoke doubt. This is his ancient strategy. The doubts swirl but then Holiness speaks to me:


"You are not the One who calls for fire....I Am"


"You are not the One righteous enough to gain the answer....I AM"


"The answer will come because........I AM"


My worry is for naught, the doubt melts away and the enemy retreats. It is not because of who I am that Heavenly fire will descend. It is because of who He, the Holy Spirit within me is, that causes Heaven to respond.


If I am just a consecrated vessel then it is not about how I stack the wood for the altar...not my "works" or even any self generated prayer. Fire comes down at the Spirit's request. And His requests are never denied.


As the end times play out and we wait for the return of our King, I believe more and more "contests" are going to be called for by God. He loves us too much to allow continued compromises that result in destroyed and defeated lives. I believe the lines of demarcation are being drawn and the challenges set up. I must not fear the "contests" but instead welcome them. They are called by the Holy One and will occur as we confront compromise.


"Choose this day who you will serve"


The challenge and contest in Elijah's day was the same as today. The "gods" may be different but the spirit of idolatry is the same. The "contest" was set up to capture the attention of the people and turn their hearts back to God.


Idolatry is not necessarily believing in another "Deity". Idolatry is a matter of who or what gets the attention of our mind and the love of our heart. Is Jesus the centerpiece of our hearts and minds? Is He the object of our love and devotion? If not be prepared for the "contest". If so, count on the "fire".


Choose this day who you will serve.....


The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?

Fire From Heaven

The battle rages and the Spirit calls. Sometimes life seems to stretch out in endless status-quo. But then.........there are times when a contest is called to end the comfortable apathy or to open our eyes to the position on the fence we have taken up in our faith.

I have been reading about contests in God's Word and the Holy Spirit speaks as if we are about to experience a Divine contest in our lives just like in the days of old when Elijah met up with the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel.

The Spirit this morning pointed me to I Kings 18:16-39, the account of Elijah, the prophets of Baal, 2 altars, 2 sacrifices, and 1 Divine Fire coming down from Heaven to burn the chosen sacrifice.

As I read this story I am impressed by the fact that God's people were living in such an apostate state, they were looking to "foreign gods" in an effort to end a drought that was causing a famine over the land. Ironically, the people were living under a Divine judgement for the very sin they continued to commit: Idolatry.

They were living in breach of covenant loyalty to the One True God and were suffering for it, yet they continued to consult and worship pagan gods through these prophets of Baal. The events leading up to their breach had to do with the King of Israel taking on a pagan wife, Jezebel, who introduced Baal worship.

Elijah's mission was to expose their "idolatry", discredit the fraud the prophets of Baal had deceived them with and reveal the Power and Glory of the Holy God of Israel. God sent Elijah to confront Ahab and the people and to set up a contest between the god's of Ahab's pagan wife, Jezebel and the Holy God of Israel.

It is important to remember that this contest was brought about because God's people, not the "world", but God's people, were living in idolatry and unbelief. The evidence of this breach in covenant loyalty was spoken in VS 30 when Elijah "repaired the altar of the Lord which was in ruins." The prophets of Baal had so infiltrated their lives, the people had allowed their Holy place of Godly sacrifice to be in ruins. They had been living in compromise for so long they couldn't even see their apostasy and the consequences of it through the drought and famine over the land. God was about to end the drought but it was crucial for the people to know the One who brings the rain since they seem to have forgotten Him.

The "contest" was ordained by God to once again reveal His Sovereignty and once again bring them to a place of decision. "How long will you waver between two opinions? If the Lord is God follow Him; but if Baal is God follow him." But the people said nothing. The fence may look like a safe place to sit but no one can live on one. Elijah proposed a contest involving 2 altars and 2 sacrifices. Each would call on the name of their god acknowledging that "the god who answers by fire...he is god. Then all the people said, "what you say is good".

After a day of frenzied idolatrous worship and all the desperate cries from the prophets of Baal for a visible answer to no avail, Elijah stepped up to offer the simple prayer of faith. He prayed that God would glorify Himself as the God of Israel and make it known that he, Elijah, was God's servant and had done these things at God's command". He prayed for the answer "so these people will know that you, O Lord are God and that you are turning their hearts back again".

Holy fire came down from Heaven and burned the sacrifice, the wood, the stones, the soil, and even the water that had drenched the altar to insure the understanding of the supernatural fire that was to burn the sacrifice.

Confronted with this undeniable proof of God's Power and Authority, the people "fell prostrate and cried, "the Lord he is God..the Lord, He is God". Then the blessing of God's rain fell upon the land.

As I ponder this portion of scripture, I see so much application to our lives today. Many of God's people are apostate, our "Christian" nation is following Baal worship, some of our Elijah's are feeling like they are all alone and no one is listening. One thing is for sure, The Lord, He is God! The Lord, He is God! Maybe it is time for a contest after all.

The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?