Living On The Outskirts Of Sodom

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  So much is happening in our land and the scandals just keep hitting the 6 o'clock news.  Could we be entering into a time when maybe, just maybe, accountability for decisions made and actions taken will be required for those who have previously "gotten away" with their bad decisions and evil actions?

For those of us who embrace the Word of God and are committed to the greater "law", we know and understand, that we are living in a period know as God's Grace.  We are cautioned about making and passing  "judgements" over other people's lives.

We can debate the issue of cheap grace all day long and battle those who are taking the "liberty" to live like a "child of hell" while claiming to be "Christian".  But the interesting thing about God's Grace is that it does not lessen our accountability in relationship with Holiness.  God's Grace is His, and not due to any action or re-action on my part.

It is important to understand that God is not just over-looking our humanity and accountability but has made away of escape and rescue from the wrath of Holiness that has and must come.  God has sent his Son, Jesus Christ, into the word to suffer that wrath for everyone who was every born of woman.

In addition to bearing the full wrath of a Holy God against unholiness in every form, Jesus introduced to mankind the 3rd person of the Triune Godhead, know as the Holy Spirit.  He is the One indwelling each person who enters into a relationship with the Christ and agrees to allow Jesus to become Lord of their life.

This period of God's Grace here on earth, that we are currently living under, is for a time and a season that will end some day.  No one knows that day except the Father. This period of Grace, is when we can shed our guilt and be set free while someone else has paid our debt. 

Failure to respond to God's love today, offered through the Savior, Christ Jesus, sets a person up for the Great White Throne judgment (Rev 20) where all will rise and stand before The God of all Creation.  Rejection of His Son will be the only issue on the docket.  All the great deeds done in the flesh will account for nothing if God's Only Son has been rejected by the good-deed-doer.

Living with the Holy One makes for such a fascinating life.  He leads me into all truth and is the Government over my life.  When He speaks I listen.  His counsel comes to guide and protect and provide for my temporal life in preparation for my Eternal one.

The Holy One speaks to me this morning and asks me to "Carefully consider where I pitch my tent".  Of course this doesn't relate to my living arrangements because I am not a tent dweller.  What He is talking about is where I live in relationship to the world around me.

Am I living in a place where I can influence my world?  Or am I living so close to the world in my thinking, that it is influencing me?

The Holy One takes me back to His Word, in Gen 13:12.  We are told that a man named Lot lived among the cities of the plains and pitched his tent near Sodom.  Now the men of Sodom were wicked and were sinning greatly against the Lord."

The background of the story is that Lot was a nephew of Abraham, the Patriarch of the faith.  They had moved  out of Ur and lived together for many years.  The day came when they were to part ways and separate their families and possessions. 

As they stood looking at the land that stretched out before them, Lot was given first choice of the land and the direction he would go.  Lot chose his direction, took the well-watered plains of the Jordan, moved his family and "pitched his tent near Sodom".

Almost everyone knows the Biblical account of Sodom and Gomorrah.  Almost everyone has heard about the judgement of God that destroyed it and all the wicked people who lived within it's borders.  But today, the Lord has taken me back to the conversation He had with His servant and friend, Abraham.

In Gen 28:16. Abraham was offering hospitality to 3 strangers who were passing through his camp.  "When the three got up to leave, they looked down toward Sodom and Abraham walked along with them to see them on their way".

Walking with His friend, Abraham, the Lord spoke about Sodom and His purpose in the "visit".  "Then the Lord said, "The outcry against Sodom is so great and their sin so grievous that I will go down and see if what they have done is as bad as the outcry that has reached Me.  If not, I will know it."

Among the many things I glean from this portion of Scripture that gives a glimpse of the Creator's heart, I recognize His attention to our lives here on earth.  He told Abraham that He came down  to see for Himself what was going on.  Do we question that God already knew what He would see?  Of course, He knew, but was interacting with His friend Abraham.  His physical appearance lent itself to our human understanding of problem solving: I.E see the problem first hand. 

God said, "The outcry against Sodom is so great".....  I wonder who might have been making the outcry that reached God's ears?  Scripture doesn't say but it does give us a sense of God's Character and Personality in that we know He re-acts to our cry and our out-cry.

Looking around at the world spinning out of control, I am heartened by His Word to me, "If you cry out about what grieves you, I will do something about it.  But if you resign yourself to the wickedness then you are too close to Sodom to be an effective Witness.  I have given you audience and a voice to govern your world.  What will you do with it?"

I don't read anywhere in God's word where we must be "politically correct" in identifying what values we are to embrace and live by.  Living in love is not living in compromise.  In fact we can look at many examples of an uncompromising godly integrity that caused men a lot of near-death experiences.  But the testimonies abound of God's Divine Hand of intervention and rescue for the righteous and  His destruction of the wicked.

In this account, it was Abraham's loving intercession that caused Lot to be rescued.  He had pitched his tent too close to Sodom and was about to be destroyed along with it......

But God...........

His assigned servants, the destroying angels, grabbed Lot and his family before the judgement was to be executed and led them to safety out of the city, "for the Lord was merciful to them".

Lot's wife was a casualty of her own attachment to that wicked place.  And for having his tent pitched too close to the place of wickedness, Lot lost his wife to it's siren call.

The Holy One presses in with legitimate questions for His people:

Are you grieved enough by what you see to cry out to God for His intervention?

Are you so close to the wickedness that you accept it as "just life" and not "great opportunity" to change the temporal "what is" to the Divine "what can be"?

Are you convinced beyond conviction that the Lord is calling His servants to action and He has a mission for you of eternal significance?

Are you living on the outskirts of Sodom or in the Promised Land?

Where have you pitched you tent?

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him? 

  
 


 

The Power of the Holy Spirit

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  It's a day to be in awe of the  One who calls me.  Because He usually brings Glory for the Father and the Son to my mind, it's odd to stand back and worship the role and Person of the Holy Spirit.  And because He indwells me it's almost like celebrating myself and that cannot be right...right?

Yet today, I am brought to a new awareness of the magnificence of the Holy Spirit and the so often over-looked or under-appreciated magnitude of His Being.

Scripture says that, "In the beginning",  (Genesis1:3), "Now the earth was formless and empty.  Darkness was over the surface of the deep.  And the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters".  It goes on to say, "And God said, "let there be light" and there was light".

As I meditate on the Trinity and try  to grasp the unattainable complete picture of a Being so Glorious, men would be incinerated  in His Presence unless He wrapped Himself in flesh.  I can only imagine....what it was like....to be there.....in the beginning.

There is such  a mystery surrounding the "community" that is made up of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.  As I think about the 3rd Person of the Trinity and marvel at His possession of my soul...I wonder....

It seems that He is "The Force".  As in "The Force be with you".  He is the One Jesus relied on to bring His "new immortal body" out of the tomb.  And He is the life Force that will bring us out as well for He is the Force behind resurrection life.

That inter-dependency upon each other seems to be the model of what the Lord Jesus called for within His Body, the Church.  Since before Creation manifested a world we know as the Universe, God as the Trinity:  the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit were in harmonious unity.  Without beginning and without end, they were a Community beyond our comprehension, and always will be.

Yet They have invited us to enter into fellowship and be united with Them ....All of Them...in complete "unity"....in comm-"unity".

It has been suggested that the Holy Spirit is the One who empowers the spoken Word of God.  He is the Force in the Word, Who gives life to the Word.

As I move through this course of study and into maturity, I realize I have entered the "school of the Holy Spirit".   Upon my own petition and request, He has set about to teach me of His role in the Triune Godhead.

I honor Him and I worship Him.  Jesus came to bring Glory to the Father.  The Spirit came to bring Glory to the Son and now, we, by the power of the indwelling Spirit, can bring Glory to all Three.

I admit to having a flawed perspective of the Holy Spirit at the onset.  My early education did not include a study of His Role or Being.  Misrepresentation and ignorance of Him led me to suppress  even a desire to become acquainted with the One who will give life to my mortal body and raise me from the dead should I die in the flesh before my Lord comes.

I know this is a sentiment shared by a vast majority of the Body of Christ.  Ignorance of this incredible side of the three part Godhead has crippled the Church since He is the Force behind the spoken Word of God.

In John 14, Jesus laid out what was about to happen upon His death and spoke of the One who would empower all who believe in Him: His identity (as God), His Authority (as Sovereign), His love (as Sacrificial).

Jesus spoke of a Comforter and a Counselor, who would come to live "with us and be in us"  He went on in John 15, to give us the picture of Himself as "the Vine" and His disciples AKA you and me, as the branches with  His life force bearing fruit through us. That "Life Force" connecting us to Him is the Holy Spirit.

To say that I have just discovered the tip of the iceberg of incredible things to come, is the understatement of all time.  I have been blessed in the Sacred Romance to learn more about my Beloved Savior & Lord, now I am being led into places where His life and His Spirit can be unleashed.  As in all matters relating to life with the Lord,  it is the surrender of my will that unleashes His Power.

All were born into a fallen world.  The "curse" is the separation from the Creator.  His love could not leave us without a rescue.  He sent Himself in the flesh to die the death that was required to lift the curse and redeem man.  The death of Jesus, restored the order of Creation and brought peace once again between the Creator and the created.

Free will gives all men a choice to be restored to our Creator God or not.  Once the decision is made to go on with God and His Son, Christ Jesus, the Holy Spirit is sent to empower the order of Heaven to be manifested through those who have embraced that life with the Creator.

Under the influence and control of the Spirit, we are on assignment here to live in that restored dominion and harmony with the Creator as it was in the Garden before the fall.

The Holy Spirit brings enforcement of God's Divine order through our spoken words.  We do not have the power to change things but He does.  Our Spoken words are His dominion.

Evil understands this better than we do.  The enemy in his cunning strategy has convinced people to speak his agenda and thereby cripple the Holy Spirit's power.   "The power of life and death is in the tongue." 

We quote that scripture yet do not discipline our words. We speak in agreement in the power of evil over the power of our God.  I am called today to repent for all the worthless words I have allowed to pass my lips.  Because they were spoken in times of distress and heartache is no excuse. 

The Lord is the same yesterday, today and forever.  The Holy Spirit stands ready to bring my spoken word of God's Word into the earth's realm to the delight of all mankind and the establishment of His order through me.

I celebrate and worship the Holy Spirit.  I delight in this understanding of His role within my being.  I can feel His confidence beginning to surge.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

        

The Eternal Now

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  It's the beginning of a delightful day where peace floods my heart and mind.  Nothing new that is "detectably" different has appeared on the landscape of this life, yet I sense something amazing is in the works. 

The Holy One has been stepping up the pace of this training time.  While the directive is "Wait....Watch...and.....Worship", as I "watch" from my observation deck, I realize more is happening in this "wait" time than when I was so busy in a self-driven fury to take myself to my own goals, and "worship" is the only response I can have to what I now see.

Today, the message is about God's time-table of eternity.  The Holy One speaks,  "You must live today and squeeze out all the opportunity you can find to serve Your Lord".  In Matt 6:25,  Jesus said, "Do not worry about tomorrow".  I am beginning to understand the importance of living life in today.

The Holy Spirit takes me back to an old movie I saw years ago called "Ground Hog Day".  I laugh at how many deep Spiritual lessons I gain from Hollywood without them even knowing it.

For those who never watched the movie, the simple plot line followed a self-centered news reporter on assignment in a small town who was to capture the celebration of "Ground Hog" day.

The man got caught up in a time anomaly where he woke up every morning to the same day on the clock and calendar.  He re-lived exactly every situation in that day over and over again.  At first, he acted out of all his self-centered emotions, but as time went on (not really) but as time repeated each situational opportunity, he slowly changed and became a better person as a result.

While I do not have the luxury of re-living any day knowing the exact events and outcome with the ability to re-act or re-think my self-centeredness, the Holy One speaks to something I can and must factor into each truly "new day"

God said to Moses, "I AM".  That description of Himself is loaded with explanation of the realm beyond our senses.  To grasp the "Presence" of the Creator we have only to embrace the moment we are in.

We can somehow gain a shadowy mental image that God is "Eternal" and has no beginning and no end.    Yet, and as hard as that fact is to comprehend with our human mind, we must stretch to understand our Creator God if we truly want to "know" Him.

The Holy Spirit reminds me that, without Him:  His wisdom, His interpretation, His guidance and His counsel, I would not be able to grasp one iota of the infinite nature of God's Being.

The Sacred Romance with my Lord, Jesus Christ, is and must be the bond that ties me to the Trinity and all that the Eternal Trinity represents.  The Spirit was sent to facilitate that Romance.

Today, the Holy One speaks to me about the "Eternal Now" that each and every day happens to be.  Unlike the man in the movie, we don't get to re-do any day or situation.  Our best hope to live out a victorious life, is to see what is before us, follow the unlimited wisdom of the indwelling Christ and seize every opportunity to do good.

Armed with all the promises of the One who orchestrates and controls our days and times upon the earth, we can and should seize every day and it's circumstances as the opportunity each is:  to fulfill the Lord's Divine purpose for it's existence.

When God says, "I AM", His purpose fills the moment.

When God says, "I AM", His strength meets the challenge.

When God says, "I AM", His presence stops the clock .

To live in the "Eternal Now" slows my mind and enables me to re-focus.  Planning for tomorrow is not a bad thing unless I am using all my wits and wisdom that God wants me to use in today, for things that are not yet here.

God is the great "I AM" and while  He knows the future, He calls me to live in each moment and in each day, seizing the opportunities He ordains to live in and love out His Glorious Will in my "Eternal Now".

I delight in what He has planned for us....today.  And what a great way to begin my "Eternal Now"

The Spirit is calling.  Can you Hear Him?    

Words That Change What Is

The Holy one calls to me this morning.  After last night's thunderstorm, His gentle voice is a sweet reminder of His love.  Elijah knew when to exit the cave where he was hiding, and it wasn't during the wind, the earthquake or the fire. 

The Lord spoke in a gentle whisper and when he heard it, Elijah came out to the mouth of the cave.  I Kings 18:11-13

Threats on his life were what sent Elijah into survival escape mode.  I can't say I don't understand how he felt.  Making a stand in the world especially as a Christian, brings forms of persecution that threaten to rock our boat.

Elijah had just executed Jezebel's priests of Baal.  He had just brought forth a challenge to the Nation of Israel, to turn from their idolatry and come back to the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

In addition to the supernatural proof of God's Sovereignty AKA the fire from Heaven called down by the Prophet, Elijah also heralded the end of a drought, and famine caused by the lack of rain that the people had suffered under a covenant breaking curse. 

I appreciate the entirety of God's Word and while the prophets of old often brought news of impending disasters, I see that for every "curse" there was a "blessing" once the people did a course correction in their lives.  

I appreciate the account of Elijah and even the "fear" recorded here because, if this great man of God could run in fear of a murderous spirit, I realize I am in good company when fear strikes my mind and my heart.

The truth be told, I have a "leg-up" on Elijah.  I have a permanent anchor to God from within.  I have the Holy Spirit who indwells my being.  I am not alone.  His gentle voice wells up from within to speak truth, not from outside my cave.  I can hear Him when I choose to listen, and He always has something important to say.

For a long time, the Holy One has been teaching me deep lessons on changing the rules of engagement in the battles I face in life. The internal process is called Sanctification, but the outward effect is call victory over the darkness.

"Guard your words", the all too often overlooked warning in taking my turf for the Kingdom of Heaven, is the message I have been getting over and over again. The "Voice" is commanding but gentle.  His voice calls me to see that heeding this warning is critical to the victories I so desire.  The strategy hasn't changed over all the generations and skirmishes with the enemy of our soul.

Victory lies within the power of the spoken word.  Not just any spoken word, but the word of the Creator God.  Scripture tells us and it is written that God spoke all things into existence.  We are His workmanship and embedded within our being is the delegated authority He has given man to represent Him and His kingdom on earth and over the earth. 

It is ours to have and take dominion over our circumstances and especially those things not in keeping with the Word of the Creator.

This is information the "enemy" does not want us to have or act upon.  We do have an "enemy" in this earth realm.  His oppressive tactics have worked to keep us in bondage to a power-less neutral state of being. 

We can "see" with our eyes what evil has worked into our circumstances and then resign ourselves to the "evidence" and belief that things are just what they appear to be.  But is that true?   Where does faith for better things enter in... like God's Will...Heaven's Will and when does that become our reality in the earth realm?  How do we begin to change "what is"?

It is imperative that we understand the most devastating thing to our dominion over the earth is when we speak words of agreement with the devil's dominion and control over our lives.

God's Word and His Will is to bless His people.  Jesus came to represent the power of Heaven and the Will of the Father and Creator of all.  Jesus came and over-ruled evil's agenda.  He delivered, He healed, He blessed.  His life and sacrifice changed the dark's dominion over earth. Jesus won and gave dominion back to man.

The Word of His testimony and the power of His blood defeated all the forces of darkness we find coming against us in the world today.  But what are we doing with such an epic legacy?  Somehow it doesn't "look" like I am winning, and I have been asking the Holy One, "why"?

In answer to that wide-open-too-many-reasons-to-explain kind of a question, I am surprised by His response.

"Worthless words" was His reply. "Every time you speak what you see or fear, antagonistic to God's Word and His Benediction over you, you are agreeing with evil and fueling it's power over you."

You mean to tell me that every time I speak what I see is wrong or fear will happen, that it empowers the darkness and its grip over my circumstances?

Hearing my thoughts, The Holy Spirit speaks, "That about sums it up. You have been relinquishing your dominion by your spoken faith in evil's power over your declaration and faith in God's power.  You must speak what you desire not what you fear. The Word of God contains a promise for all you could want or need.  Discipline your spoken words and watch things change".

While I am not fond of "discipline", if I want to see things change, I need to make this vitally important effort to guard my words.

The Lord never forces His will, but since I know that His Will is best, I happily agree to allow Him to govern my tongue.  Since He is my Source, I will listen for and speak out His words that will change what is.

The Holy Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

  


 

Blessings Follow Obedience

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  His Presence fills the room and with that comes delight.  My Holy Counselor has been teaching me a lot in this new season of my life.  Much of my "education" has been to unlearn old things rather than learn new things.

While I know Truth as a whole, there has been error mixed in,  Those errors have put me in forms of bondage that I was set free from when my Savior was nailed to the cross.  My perspective is changing and the blessing of His wisdom is peace.

It's amazing how many times it has been written:  "Do not fear", "fear not", "be anxious for nothing", yet fear has seemed to prevail in every challenge with the unknown.  Today my gentle Counselor calls me to consider why fear is unnecessary as a servant of the Most High.

"Fear is bound up in judgement and judgement is bound up in the law.  Jesus came to set you free from all of it".  Wow, what an accurate assessment of the subtleties of wrong thinking and the hope of a greater freedom to be experienced.

When Jesus died on the Cross, He said in a loud voice, "It Is Finished!"  We read those words yet forget what they meant.

The Levitical priesthood, was the core authority for the Nation of Israel historically and most of our laws trace back to theirs.  The relationship with the Sovereign God of all creation was distant and only a few were given privilege in their human form to participate in relationship.  Few found what we have been offered today.

The "law " for all our human attempts to live by it, could not change a heart. The law only proved our desperate depravity.  Flesh is consumed with self-preservation, self-promotion and lusts.  Flesh distorts even the highest principles of good character, and ends up on it's own throne and sets it's own rules of engagement in life.

The law was a target no man could hit.  God's used the "law" to convince us of our own inability to successfully work for His acceptance.   He used the "law" to point out our desperate need for a Savior and then sent His Son, Jesus, to rescue humanity who could not rescue itself.

I notice that observation of the "law" back in the day,  kept humanity at a distance from the Holy One, then, just as it does today.   For some there is a little box that is entered where sins confessed and penitence paid is supposed to bring us back into right relationship with God.  Unfortunately that does not make one right with God.  We cannot atone for our failures. 

Much like the "Tent of Meeting" in the Old Testament, there was a curtain that separated the people from their God.  Only the "High Priest"could enter the Holiest of Holies and then only on a certain day, in a certain way was the advance into His Presence,  acceptable to the Most High.  The people had to maintain a respectable distance or suffer extinction.  Jesus came to change all that.

While we, the Church have lost some of the rigidity and obedience to the "law" it still impacts our lives in countless ways.  We claim we are free, but observe the very thing that nailed our Savior to the Cross. 

As an example, The Holy One speaks of the "law" of tithing.  I feel the weight of that law.  He takes me back to the reason for that law, where I find it was establish for the most part to provide for the Levites who were commissioned to serve in the temple and were not able to "work" fields or support themselves or their families outside of their calling. 

God was simply providing for His servants through the "law".  Today, our failure to observe the "law" produces guilt and condemnation in the heart of most believers. 

Does God need our worldly possessions and money that we have such a tight grip on in our temporal lives?   Or does He have a higher end in mind?

Psalms 50:9-15, "I have no need of a bull from your stalls, or a goat from your pens, for every animal in the forest is mine and the cattle on a thousand hills.  I know every bird on the mountain and the creatures of the field are Mine.  If I were hungry I would not tell you, for the world is mine and all that is in it.  Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Sacrifice thank offerings to God.   Fulfill your vows to the Most High and call upon Me in the day of trouble and I will deliver you and you will honor Me."

The law is good for society to maintain order and boundaries for our selfish flesh to live within.  It is good for it emphasizes the point that we, in human flesh, cannot meet or live up to God's standard of life and Holiness. But the law, does not change the heart of the human.  In this time of Grace, once we have been  rescued,  the law produces guilt and condemnation, and cannot co-exist with the Grace that God has given through the shed blood of Jesus. 

When Jesus said that He came to fulfill the "law" and then from the Cross, shouted "It is finished", the curtain in the Temple that separated man from His Creator was torn in two...top to bottom...came down from Heaven and opened the way, into the Holy Place of God's Presence.

God, in the Person of Jesus Christ, reached out to our humanity like never before, to reveal Himself as in no other time in the History of our days upon the earth.

As we set about to "obey" the law, the rules, or the requirements of the Church to be a member, may we instead consider this:  If we are truly "saved" we have already "obeyed" the only thing needed in God's extravagant offering: Acceptance of His rescue through Jesus Christ His Son.  There is nothing more to be done or worked out in order to be "right" with God.

However, the flesh has a throne of it's own to exalt and that is where we must put the "work".  We are free from the "law" that was set up externally to govern our flesh, but we find that a new internal code has been established that we know as the 'law of love'.  For this purpose, Jesus sent His Spirit to dwell within and empower us to live out His Holy life. 

To follow His earlier example, in the "law" of tithing, the Holy One calls my attention to the conviction of sharing and giving: not under compulsion, but rather the sweet desire to be a blessing to the world around me.

If I say "no", when He asks me to share or give, I will not be condemned, but I will miss out on a blessing that He has waiting for those who obey His voice from within.  Blessings do follow obedience, not to the "law" but to the voice of my Shepherd.

The Spirit is calling.  can you hear Him?

  

 

Living In Community

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  It is Sunday.  A day of some semblance of community.  For a few hours we come to a common place to exercise a common faith in a common Savior.  It's a snippet of Heaven that many actually find  hard to relate to.

The Holy One speaks to the deep in me.  For months I have been out of that kind of fellowship for reasons know only to the One who plans and gives Divine purpose to my life.

He told me going into this "season" that if I cannot get to the "Body" (Of Christ AKA the Church), He would bring the Body to me.  God is faithful to His promises and His Will, so fellowship has continued even if in a different location and way.

Walls between denominational loyalties have vanished and relational community with those of like spirit and calling is beginning to bud and flourish.

This morning, in the meditations of my heart, the Holy One speaks.  "Look at what sullies the community of believers".  I can tell by His words that this is going to be a new angle on an old problem. He reminds me of the Garden where man's origins lie, before "community" became the "society" we see today.

He directs my attention to the Words of the Creator at the foundation of the world.   In Genesis 1, God gave Adam the blessing and commission to be fruitful and multiply.  He gave the commission and authority to rule over creation.  Absent is any commission to rule over each other or make another man your slave.

Then came the horrifying fall: Chaos and confusion ensued.  Man and woman tried to hide rather than repent so God issued a discipline over mankind that was to establish a form of order that had been lost in the fall.  Woman would have pain in childbirth and problems in the marital relationship.  Man would have hardship in his work and frustration in his dominion over the earth.

The original benediction was withdrawn as Adam and Eve rejected fellowship with their Creator.  The nature of sin is self exaltation.  Every man became his own god.  Over the course of time and throughout history a "top-dog" mentality became the rule of community.

Without Divine intervention and  a set of laws to govern society, man,  no doubt,  would have utterly destroyed himself.  In the Old Testament, man was given a government of laws and penalties for breaking them.  Generations passed under the watchful eye of our loving Creator.

Then something happened.  Something beyond human imagination.  The Creator took the form of His Creation to rescue mankind from the horrors of the fall.

The magnificent Centerpiece of God' eternal plan for the restoration of relationship with His Beloved came to us when Christ was born in a flesh body.  Since flesh is the place of weakness in the one who was created in the very image of God, flesh has to be crucified so the real image of God through man can emerge.  Jesus allowed His flesh to be impaled as a model to be followed.  The crucifixion of the flesh comes in all sorts of challenges and opportunities to impale it are found present in each and every day.

While Jesus was sent to die the "sinner's death", He modelled for us what our life in community was to look like.  God's ultimate "law of love" was instituted at that epic crossroad and Cross.

Jesus' death was the death to sin in all forms and the fulfillment of the law.  He impaled flesh, the real enemy of Holiness, to the Cross.  Our relational peace with God was restored and the original benediction over His beloved has been reinstated for those who choose to follow Christ Jesus.

Herein is the Truth and message to me this morning:

Because of the infection called sin brought into man at the fall, even the "discipline" God intended to teach us has been twisted and corrupted.  The depravity in man and the provoking of our flesh by dark spirits from another realm, drives people to abuse each other, lord it over each other and enslave each other whether by seduction or chains.

The message of the Holy One comes at cross purpose to the intent of the fallen: which is to rule and dominate from a self-serving mindset.  Jesus said He came not to be served but to serve.  And that He did!

Looking at the life of the Savior throughout the Gospel accounts of His days upon the earth, I see how He took dominion over all that was hurtful and harmful to people who crossed His path, yet not a sword was drawn nor an effort made to force their surrender.

Jesus modelled the nature of a servant in the power of a Master.

He did not "lord it over" people but rather took dominion over their circumstances, and the issues that were causing them suffering, sorrow and pain. For those of us who are called by His Eternal and Sovereign Name and filled with His Holy Spirit, His words and His legacy remain on this earth for us to embrace, follow and live.

Phil 2:3, "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.  Each of you should look not only to your own interests but to the interests of others".

The crucifixion of our own flesh comes in the actions of prioritizing and serving someone else's needs in addition to our own.  Selfish ambition excludes others and that is the point to the directive.

When Jesus walked the earth, He surely fed Himself and took care of things His own life needed, but in the situations He faced on His journey, He ministered to the needs of others.  At the end of a long hike up a mountain when people followed Him to hear His teaching,  everyone was hungry.  In considering His need and the needs of the disciples, He looked to the interests of the crowd as well and fed 5000+ people.

Compassion and sympathy for the suffering and needs of others preceded every miracle.  We can make excuses for our indifference and say "Yes, but He is God",  while refusing to draw from the Holy Spirit He sent to empower us to live as He lived and serve others as He served.  Selfish ambition and vain conceit doesn't even look for a way to help another it is so focused on "numero uno" in the flesh life.

Jesus' parting words should be as loud as a cymbol in our community of Faith, "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you love one another." John 13:34-35

Community as God ordained and designed it requires each one of us to be a servant of the other. When we finally get the picture of our true "dominion", not in the exercise of  self-exaltation and ultimate power to rule over others, but in the exercise of our authority over circumstances that cause pain and suffering to our fellows, the Church will begin to fulfill her designated destiny to Glorify Jesus as His body and Representative on earth.

 The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

    

  
 

Living For The Lord In The Land of Exile

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?