The Kingdom Of Heaven Is Not A Democracy

The Holy One calls to me this morning. Wrestles can seem so dark to my mind like the watches of the night just before dawn. But when the Holy Spirit speaks the darkness gives way to light and that Light is Truth.

Today His word to me corrects any misconception I might have about His ruling authority.  "The Kingdom of Heaven is not a democracy!"

Oddly enough, this brings a smile to my face and a joy to my soul. I have been caught up with all that is going on in the world of politics and feel a great frustration in my "righteous" spirit as the people and so called majority have voted for the principles of darkness to govern this nation. 

I have been arrogant in past thinking that our democratically operating Republic could handle all the challenges coming against it.  While I believe that this (our form of )government based on the wisdom of our founders according to their guiding principles of faith in the One True God, is the best government ever established on earth, I am brought to the truth that no external government of men is sustainable given the degree of evil that lies within the human heart. 

Sin is a reality of humanity and evil has a grip on every man or woman ever born.  Eventually depravity will take over and external government will fail.  Today the Lord has taken me deep into the subject matter of the Kingdom of Heaven. 

Living my temporal life in a place governed by the rule of the majority, even with its good founding principles locked into a constitution, I find that evil can conquer and over-rule through deception so that we, as a people, can actually be led by consent to surrender all that makes us free.  Literally speaking, we can vote our way into bondage and become slaves to a system that thrives on wickedness.   

Religion is no different in concept than our "democracy".  Its the rules and our observation of them that make us feel secure.  What a shock it is to our entire sense of well-being when we realize the government is our enemy and our observation of rules is not enough to keep us safe.  

It took the 1st coming of Christ to straighten out our thinking and reveal the Kingdom of Heaven to our darkened minds.  At the time of His 2nd coming He will execute judgment on all that stands in opposition to the Kingdom of Heaven and His ruling authority as King.

At the time of His 1st coming, Rome was the governing authority in the world and the Scribes and Pharisees were the technical ruling authorities over the Jewish people.  Unwilling to surrender their power, they rejected the One who gave them the law of God that they were misusing to maintain their sphere of influence and ruling authority over the nation of Israel. 
  
Jesus came to bring the good news of  His Kingdom AKA The Kingdom of Heaven and to invite all to become its citizens.   His Kingdom is an eternal Kingdom but operational in the world of that time and is still operational in our world today.

The Kingdom of Heaven is an upside down Kingdom in the realm of human thought.  We must give to get, serve to rule and die to live, all exceeding backward and upside down to the ruling authority of our flesh.  Yet the good news about the Kingdom of Heaven brings love, forgiveness, healing and peace to everyone who accepts the truth and believes that Jesus is the King.

Jesus taught people everyday about the Kingdom of Heaven and God whom He called, Father.  Then one day He said to the Pharisees, "The Kingdom of God does not come with your careful observations, nor will people say "here it is" or "there it is" because the Kingdom of God is within you."  Luke 17:20. 

His words reveal that something transformational needed to happen in their thinking.  In their careful observation of the external law they had failed to deal with the Godly conviction set by the internal one.  The internal spirit of the law which should bring about goodness and mercy had been over-ruled by the external letter of the law that brought hypocritical adherence and legalistic judgment. 

The Kingdom of Heaven is first established in the heart and the Kingdom of Heaven is a place of choice. 

The good news of the Kingdom of Heaven is all about the Creator's unconditional love for the individuals He created to be in a personal relationship with Himself.  The good news of the Kingdom is that all are welcome and can become a citizen by recognizing and pledging personal allegiance to the King of the Kingdom of Heaven.  That King is Jesus. 

Man by nature is a rebel of God's kingdom authority and presses for independence from it. The good news of the Kingdom is that God is willing on His end to bring humanity back under the safety of His governmental ruling authority after we come to deal with our rebellion  of it.  

The Kingdom of Heaven is a government that operates under God's Sovereign authority.  Jesus brought to humanity the good news of the Kingdom of Heaven, not the good news of "the church" or the good news of the "USA".  It was not the good news of Rome or the good news of the Pharisees that He brought us. 

The good news of the Kingdom is that God is willing to take over the government of humanity in a personal way, one life at a time. The Kingdom of Heaven is a perfect place that operates in perfect order and that brings perfect peace.  For us to be ready to enter we must be ready to live in surrender to the ruling authority of the Kingdom's King: Jesus.

Jesus said, "Repent for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand. "  Matt 4:17.  What was He telling us to repent about?  Was it last night's binge?  Or lying about your last sick day to the boss? Actually It is neither and both for each is merely a reflection of the evil sin nature that rules our flesh in opposition to the rule of God. 

It is not the individual sin acts that Jesus came to die for, it is the wholesale sin nature that lives in rebellion of God's Sovereign authority that He was crucified to end once and for all.  Accepting His death as a substitute for our own, we agree that the rebellious nature must die in order for us to receive the blessing of eternal life.  We agree to give him our pathetic rebellious nature in exchange for His Holy One.   

Since His death on the cross, those of us who have surrendered our lives to Him, now come under the ruling authority of His Spirit from within.  Sin is no longer our Master and we have the ability to reject all the temptations to live in independence of God. 

Why is that such good news?  Because the Kingdom of Heaven is the ultimate place where man, created in God's image belongs and can find peace and security for all eternity. People back in the day of the first coming of Jesus misunderstood his words and his mission.  They thought He came to set up an earthly kingdom as an alternative to Rome.  However in reality He came to reveal the Kingdom of Heaven in earth which is first internal and initially established in the heart.

The Kingdom of Heaven is just that: A Kingdom.  It is a form of government that is under the ruling authority of a king.  It is a monarchy.  We do not get to vote and the opinion or rule of the majority holds no power.  When we speak of Jesus as the "King of Kings" that describes Him as the ultimate of all authorities.  But this is where the rubber meets the road in our lives as Christians. Is Jesus Christ our ultimate authority?  And do we yield to His authority in all aspects of our life?

We are constantly being tempted and are contiguously barraged with the challenges to act apart from our Kingdom's Heavenly Authority here on earth. All of us fail and that is why repentance is so huge an issue  Repentance re-establishes the chain of command and Kingdom authority when we rebel or fail to seek the Lord's directives and act independently in our lives.

Today, the world does not acknowledge the Kingdom of Heaven nor will it yield to our King yet.....the day is coming when every knee with bow and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

I am thankful for the wonderful privilege to be a citizen of the Kingdom of Heaven and to bow before my King Jesus here in the earth realm.  Today, the Holy Spirit brings me the sweet reminder that unlike with the government in the USA, the goodness and mercy and peace of the Kingdom of Heaven can never be voted away.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

       
        
          

The Power Of Our Words***

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  He has an urgent message that He wants to convey and one that I need to hear:

"The power of life and death is in the tongue, so speak life".

The Holy Spirit brings this message with a deep caution and a reminder to me of how all things came to be.  Our mysterious Creator God brought all things originally into existence through the power of His spoken word.  Even if we choose not to believe in that truth, our unbelief does not change it. 

However our unbelief in the raw power of the spoken word can impact our lives.  As I look around I see all the evidence that confirms the truth. His message to me continues:

"Beware of what your spoken discouragement sets into motion and guard your words."

It is a shock to realize how easily the enemy of our souls can manipulate life and circumstances through all of us human "vessels".  One of the primary manipulation tools the evil one uses is emotional manipulation.  The devil understands how our emotions can rule our lives and provides ample emotional challenges that send us into fits of discouragement, hopelessness and  despair.

The "hook" is not in the emotion itself but rather the words we speak when we are in that hard emotional place.  Words of discouragement spoken in times of despair can become a form of a curse since we begin to agree with the evil and destructive agenda of the devil whose goal is to separate us from the love and goodness of our Creator God.

In John 10:10, Jesus tell us that the "thief" comes not but to rob, kill and destroy, but He (Jesus) comes that we may have life and have it to the full. 

The enemy of our souls understands the principles of the Kingdom of Heaven even better than we do since he was once a "guardian Cherub" full of wisdom.  Ezekiel 28:14   He is an ancient being turned foe who became an antagonist against God and His created and all that God has said is "good".

The enemy's ultimate goal is to keep humanity separated from our Creator.  He knows first hand the spoken word of God and our legacy.  He knows how men and women are made in God's image, and how the redeemed have been given authority and power to destroy the works of darkness, which is his evil agenda. 

The devil has limited power so he schemes to get us humans to speak (with the power of our own words) in agreement with what he has plotted and planned and thereby work to destroy ourselves and the good things the Lord has planned for us.

If we do not guard our words, we can inadvertently, unconsciously, but ever so powerfully orchestrate our own dreadful circumstances by merely agreeing with the negative things we see and feel as a final and inescapable reality.

James 3:9 says of the tongue, "with the tongue we praise our God and Father and with it we curse human beings (including ourselves) who are made in His image".

I take that word "curse" to mean not just derogatory statements we make about each other but also to set up a contradictory image of our Divine purpose that is good, though an oppression of darkness that is not good nor according to our Godly image in creation.

Fortunately there is a "limit" to the power of the tongue when we make rash comments, speak harsh commands,  or pass ungodly judgments against people in our lives.  I wonder how careful we would be if every word we speak brought a visible and immediate result.  Would we tell others to "drop dead" when they annoy us?  Would we tell those who garner our temporary anger to "go to hell"?

Even if the careless words we speak do not appear to impose a life curse, what if they create a dark atmosphere over the lives of the ones we see fit to "curse" and what if we will be accountable one day for such brutal and oppressive words?  The Bible says we will.

Then there is that personal issue:  what if our spoken discouragement in a moment of frustration actually impacts what can become a life struggle for someone else?  How much will our worthless words spoken over our children set them up for difficulty in their lives?  How much does our derogatory self-talk initiated by the enemy's accusation of our character,  hold us bound to a life of defeat?

What if we look at our circumstances then declare and confess that "nothing will ever change", or "the situation is hopeless", or "I cannot believe that any good thing can come of this'"?   What if we, by our very own words, in contradiction to God's words about us, have executed what translates to  curse and even worse, a death warrant over what might have been a very powerful witness of God's true and Divine intervention?

The sorrow of that possibility breaks my heart for myself and others struggling in bondage to our own declared fears and discouragement.  So today I will take a look at the things I have spoken.  I will ask the Holy Spirit for the reminder of those negative, careless, worthless words I have released over myself and others.  I will take responsibility for the negative words and revoke them all in Jesus Name.

As I think about what may be “true”, according to what I see, the Lord puts up a caution and a place for discernment.  I must not focus on the weaknesses and faults or failures of others or myself even as the brutal truth, but rather use the knowledge of such “truth” as a call to prayer and to petition the Lord to be our strength in weakness.  Then I can speak the good will of Heaven over all that I see or fear.   

Today I will appeal to my Lord for discernment to know what needs to be corrected and I will also ask for Divine discretion in the words I choose to use from here on out.

I purpose to think on whatsoever is true, noble, lovely, praiseworthy, admirable and according to the list of good things that goes on and on, and then I purpose to speak the very life of my Savior and the power of His good Name over all I see.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?                           

     

Thy Kingdom Come***

The Holy One calls to me this morning. There is an assault on my peace that has for a while choked out my hope.  Today hope has been revived as the Holy Spirit teaches me more about His Kingdom. His voice fills my spirit ears:

"The Kingdom of Heaven is material as well as ethereal."

This is a message of hope since the evil one floats the deception that the Kingdom of Heaven is only a future place of the sweet by-and-by and not a present place for the situational day-to-day.

To make His point, The Holy One reminds me of His word that reveals a kingdom where streets are paved with gold and has dimensions.(Rev 21)  Even if the graphic picture is not one we can wrap our finite minds around, the description of it is provided in material terms. 

But then the King who came to earth to show us the way and the only point of entry into the Kingdom said, "The Kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, nor will people say, "here it is" or "there it is" because the Kingdom of God is within you".   
Luke 17:20-21

As I ponder the words spoken and written, I realize how I can be out of balance in my thinking and not operate in the total truth about the Kingdom of Heaven AKA God's Kingdom. 

Jesus, in teaching the disciples how to pray, said to pray in this manner: Our Father Who is in Heaven, Hollowed ( Holy) be Your name.  Your Kingdom come and Your will be done in earth as it is in heaven".  Then follows the prayer petition of provision, forgiveness, protection from temptation and deliverance from evil. (Matt 6:9-13).

I always wondered why there was the word "in" earth and not "on" earth in the KJV. Some translations have transcribed that word as "on" earth which makes more sense to our human minds.  Unless, that is, we come to grasp and understand that the "ethereal" earth kingdom is the place where the invisible enemy resides and does his best to corrupt the physical/material earth with his depraved agenda.
 

Sickness and disease, lust and murder (all death spirits) are on the list of the evidences of a dark kingdom that festers in our material/physical world but really originates in the ethereal realm.  These are the works of the devil that Jesus came to destroy and then to teach us how to do the same.

This has caused me some faith issues and exposed some underlying unbelief that needs to be resolved with regard to miracles and Divine intervention. I am so thankful that the Holy Spirit leads me into all Truth and is patient for the time it takes me to grasp what He is trying to teach me.

The importance of today's message has to do with following Truth that leads to the structure of Divine authority and that opens the way for Divine intervention in our material/physical world.
 

Jesus came to show us the Father as well as the Kingdom of Heaven and how it operates.  Jesus was in total submission to the Father's Will and that put Him in perfect balance in both the Heavenly Kingdom and the earthly one.

Jesus said that He only did what He saw His Father in Heaven do and only spoke what He heard His Father in Heaven speak.  This defines the structure of Kingdom  authority that Jesus came to demonstrate and then teach.

All that Jesus did in over-ruling the conditions associated with life in our earthly realm, were according to what the Kingdom of heaven offers all its citizens.  This visual picture of the Kingdom of Heaven was given because we as individuals must choose where we will spend eternity:   Will we choose to ultimately live with the Creator God in His kingdom or reject Him and choose to live somewhere else apart from Him.  Jesus came to offer the better choice by the demonstration here on earth of what life is like there, in the Kingdom of Heaven.

By and through miraculous intervention (the evidence of the miracles here on earth) Jesus calls us to believe:

In the existence of the Kingdom of Heaven!

In the One True Holy God of all Creation whose Kingdom it is!

In the fact that His death through crucifixion and His life through resurrection is the only way to enter the Kingdom of Heaven!

Those of us who believe and are, by choice, already citizens of the Kingdom of our God,  are now in a position to be a witness to:  His Divinity (as our God), His life (as our King) and under His authority (as our Lord).

We are to live our lives here on earth as servants of our King,  as a beloved child of our Heavenly Father and in the structure of Divine authority that comes from honoring the Lordship of Christ and His Holy Spirit who dwells within us.

When we are in right alignment with those factors in our mortal existence we can see and experience the Kingdom of Heaven here on earth, and then, through our lives, others can see it as well.  The importance of our coming into right alignment can never be underestimated since our life is to serve as the "evidence" of His love and care that can cause others to come to believe and receive Jesus as their own personal Savior, Lord and King.

As I let the Truth saturate my mind, heart, soul and spirit, I am reminded of a visual that describes the Body of Christ in ways that are similar to how a human body moves and operates.  We are all members of the Body of Christ and like our body parts.   In our physical body the head is where all information is received and stored and where all our outward actions are first initiated.  Christ is the Head of the Body and all our actions must be initiated by Him.

As a part of the body I must report to Him what is going on from any and all threats I am aware of to any and all needs that might require an action to be taken for the good of the entire Body of which I am a part. I am to convey all the challenges and respond to His directives for His Godly, Kingly, Headship directive and reaction.

Taking this visual helps me to grasp the bigger picture of my role and ultimate accountability with the Lord's authority to act.  I cannot move on my own for that is like a spasm in the body and the representation of a body part taking independent action that is not fully connected to the Head.  The Church can be a well functioning body in a graceful motion and purpose given by the Head or it can be a spastic disconnected set of body parts.

The Kingdom of Heaven truly begins in the heart of the individual.  As we each give Jesus the Lordship over our personal lives then we can become a well functioning part of the bigger Body of Christ moving in concert with all the other parts reporting to and taking directions from the Head whereby the blessings of the Kingdom of Heaven can then flow to and through us.
 

As we report to the head and receive His directives for our function, the Body of Christ will no doubt experience and manifest more of the earth shaking delightful things Jesus brought to earth as evidence of the Kingdom of Heaven.  Things like Divine healing and deliverance, the bind given sight, the deaf given hearing, the lame given mobility and even the dead restored to earthly life.

Today, I am thankful that my hope has been revived with the truth about the Kingdom of Heaven. To acknowledge with thanksgiving the Lordship of my Jesus and take all things needed to my Head, is the plan and prayer for this day.   But I know I must first yield to His authority and directives in my personal life and then I can wield His delegated authority as He tells me what to do.  This is the challenge. 

So I pray:

Abba Father

Holy is your Name

Your Kingdom come

Your Will be done

In earth (through me)

As it is done in Heaven

All for You and in Jesus Name!

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?  

                           

  

  

                 

     

          

Divine Healing: The Purpose In The Process.***

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  We live in a word of "real time" action.  We are connected to remote places all around the world and made privy to what is happening there while it is still in process.   Mail is sent and received at the touch of the send key on my computer and the demand for instant gratification grows by the day.

Then there is JESUS! The Author of Life and the Healer of the infirmed, never in a hurry and yet always on time. 

I wonder about the miracles He executed especially as He left word for us, that those who believe on His Name would do even greater things after He departed this earth realm.  His word to me at first light helps me to grasp an important perspective as we navigate this life journey and discover His will in each situation we face.  His words are not what I expected and require further discussion:  "Instant miraculous healing is not always best".

The operative word is "best".  The Holy Spirit takes me to His Word in Luke 17:11.  This is the account of ten men who had leprosy.  They cried out to Jesus as He traveled along the road to Jerusalem. "Master, have pity on us ".  When He saw them, He said, "Go show yourselves to the priests".  AND AS THEY WENT THEY WERE CLEANSED!   One of them, when he saw he was healed, came back praising God in a loud voice.  He threw himself at Jesus' feet and thanked Him-- and he was a Samaritan.

Jesus asked, "Were not all ten cleansed?  Where are the other nine?  Was no one found to return and praise God except the foreigner?"  Then He said to him "Rise and go, your faith has made you well".

We do not know the details of the nine who were never seen again in scripture.  But because they did not come back to find or thank Jesus, I assume they did not care past the healing to get to know the Healer or give Praise to the One who provided the healing.  Once He healed their physical infirmity did they simply go on with life too busy making up for lost time?   Or did the healing even remain since Jesus said to the lone returnee, "Rise and go, your faith has made you well"?

This account has so much to ponder as one who believes in supernatural healing.  There is no question in my heart and mind that Jesus responds to our cries for help.  The man who returned acknowledged the Lord who healed him and did so with utter thanksgiving, having thrown himself at Jesus feet.  He had a personal encounter with His personal healer and it changed his life forever.

The question is surely well asked "Where were the other nine"

I have come to place ultimate value on my indwelling Counselor and the wisdom He speaks.  I also have a great appreciation for the lessons I have learned in the process of receiving His resolutions.  We do not arrive on planet earth perfectly prepared to handle all the challenges here in a Godly way. Nor are we in any stretch of our pride close to the image of Jesus in character qualities that make us fit citizens for the Kingdom of Heaven.

All our trials are things permitted to challenge us, hone us, transform us but most importantly to draw us into a deep and personal relationship with our Creator and Savior God.  The Holy Spirit's wisdom this morning is a reminder to me that the process is more important than the resolution at times, and the duration of any trial should not be the consideration of its value.

If a team engaged in any sport could know at the beginning of the event that they would be the winners at the end, they might well focus more on how they played the game. 

"AS THEY WENT, THEY WERE CLEANSED"!

If I take the Lord at His word and believe in my heart that my infirmity is healed, then my concern is not laced with fear but rather focused on how I can better walk through the process to the promised end.  The question then, is not "Is it God's will to heal me", but rather "How can I appropriate the healing that is already mine?" 

I am very encouraged for myself and those I know and love who are in desperate need of healing.  The words from the Holy Spirit spoken to my heart counter the lie of the enemy that says "delayed healing is denied deliverance."

Jesus came to show us the Father and His kingdom.  Healing  by His hand is a "Kingdom" principle.  In John 9 we are told about a man who was born blind.  Jesus was asked by the disciples the reason he was born blind.  They, like us, were just trying to understand the "whys" of life.  It was thought back in the day, that personal sin was the source of such infirmity and the disciples were trying to determine in their minds the "who" and "why" cause. 

Jesus's answer in the bigger perspective was one we all can find and take comfort in:  "This happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life".   John 9:3

I cannot begin to imagine the man's joy and how many lives were touched by his healing and restoration.  The testimony of his healing brings hope for me and those I love.  I see all healing as Divine, it is just the timing that makes it "supernatural".  Divine healings came with the daily life that Jesus modeled for us and that commission to carry His life forward has been delegated to the church. 

We are the church, and the kingdom still needs to be represented by the gracious mercy and Divine power of our Healer.  Our physical lives are important but not as important as the Principles they give witness to.  Thankfully we can take claim to both the principles and the testimonies they provide of the Lord's love for us.

As a Christian and one who has always wanted a "formula" for the problems in life, I am finding the Lord does not allow nor expect us to find a "formula" to be worked, in all the books written about religion.  The blind man had a personal encounter with a personal God and no other explanation could be found.  When cross-examined by the Pharisees who wanted "the" explanation, the man was left with the simple testimony of his meeting with Jesus:  "I was blind, but now I see".   John 9:25

Jesus does truly know what is best for each one of us and that is the important point in every trial  What if we are in a "time" work that is eternally best for us?  While we are all understandably desperate for an instant fix to the troubles we experience and yes even suffer, there is much to be gleaned in the process.  But will we trust Jesus, in the process, to get us to the desperate and desirable end?

The Spirit is calling.  Can you  hear Him?      
  

The Dark Days Of The Tomb***

The Holy One calls to me this morning .  Encouraging words are what I hear and with so much to be discouraged by in these difficult days, the words of my Lord coming out of the darkness set the stage for our early morning conference.

"Remember the days of the tomb.  I was at work in the darkness out of the sight of human eyes". 

I cannot begin to fathom the emotional agony of the disciples in the time between the death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus.  We read about it from start to finish knowing the glorious and epic end from the beginning.  We read about the unbelief of the disciples and may even wonder how in just 3 days they lost their hope and faith?   

However,  if I take a minute and turn off what I know is the end of the story, I can relate to their deep agony.  I too can live in the pain of unbelief as I await the answers to my prayers when the silence of the Tomb is deafening.

In Luke 24, we read about two of the disciples expressing the unbelief that most of them were struggling with as the two walked along the road to Emmaus: 

 "Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus about 7 miles from Jerusalem.  They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.  As they talked and discussed these things, Jesus Himself came up and walked with them but they were kept from recognizing Him.  He asked them, "What are you discussing as you walk along?"

The two began to relate to Him the events according to the sadness of their human hearts and minds.  The fact that it as the 3rd day after the Crucifixion represented the day of utter hopelessness due to the Jewish belief that after the 3rd day the soul left the body making the death final. 

They even told this "stranger" the story they heard from the women that morning about having gone to the Tomb and finding it empty including the testimony of the vision of angels and the message that Jesus was alive.  Yet their unbelief persisted for up to that point, "Him, they did not see". 

As I think about their unbelief  I am convicted by my own.  Until Jesus revealed Himself to them their faith was sealed in a tomb along with the crucified body of the One they called "Lord".  Only when Jesus revealed Himself was their faith revived and the power of His resurrection became their reality.  A personal encounter with the risen Savior was essential to their faith and essential to ours as well.

There are disturbing similarities between their faith and mine as I come to repent again for the deep and grievous sin of faithless unbelief and discouragement.  The message this morning brings me hope and in my hope I plead for more manifestations of His Presence and intervention into the deep trials of life.

I petition for more miracles of His Divine intervention, without apology, because I am merely following the Lord's  directive when He said in John 14:11, "Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me or  at least believe on the evidence of the miracles themselves". 

Miracles are a sign of His Divine Being, His Sovereign authority and the evidence that He is who He says He is.  He has Sovereign authority over all the circumstances and conditions of our earthbound lives and miracles are His privileged exercise of that authority.

The mystery of the Tomb cannot be explained by our finite minds, but lessons can be gleaned to comfort our discouraged souls. God's ultimate plan for humanity has never been derailed and God's ultimate plan for our personal lives will not be derailed either.  Jesus said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you", and that applies even on the days when we may not see Him at work.

The dark days of the Tomb ended when the crucified Savior emerged in His rightful role as the glorious King of Kings.  The freeze frame of that moment in history is absolutely stunning and lest we become apathetic or discouraged in the day-to-day trials of life, the promise of His present resurrected life and future glorious return has been written. 

In hope, we need to prepare the way of the Lord and not wring our hands in despair at what is happening around and to us.  As the dark days of the tomb held the suspenseful but glorious end to "death" for all who believe, it also holds our hope for some off-the-charts wondrous God resolutions to the trials we may be facing on earth as well. 

Remembering that God did His greatest work in the dark days of the tomb has provided us with a reason for our hope-filled hearts to await His appearance in all the challenges we may face here on earth. 

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?
           
    

Then Along Came Jesus

The Holy One call to me this morning.  He wakes me up with a sweet peace and the sense of His Presence.  Since a recent day was spent confronting the demon of fear and finding yet again, in a deeply personal way, that the Holy One never left me, today I can look back and rejoice for another testimony of His grace and mercy.

His wisdom comes as He tells me, "The end of your testimony is fixed.  I Am He Who will never leave you nor forsake you, but each person's testimony is a unique pathway to that end."

I need to settle into the word I have just heard.  It is a hope-filled word since it speaks of a fixed end that the Lord is in control of.  God's Word and His promises are like that.  His thoughts and His ways are so much higher than mine (Isaiah 55:9) which means I may not always understand what He has arranged for me outside my comprehension of the circumstances that touch my life.    However, I can trust that I will end with a good testimony of His unfailing love.

God's Word is truth and while we can read the historical accounts of His intervention into this world He created for His beloved humanity, I see how society and not His Holy principles change over time.

I realize in an odd way the trust that God placed in His people and know He is asking us to trust Him as  well.  From the prophets of Old Testament days, God trusted men to deliver His word and exhortations as they lived lives that were different and even more difficult than those they were commissioned to deliver the Lord's messages to.

The ultimate trust in humanity was on display when God wrapped Himself in flesh and came to the earth through a very special woman called Mary.  Jesus came to earth and entered into the human arena of His creation to bring the truth about God as a loving Father.

Old Testament history recorded His Sovereign authority and Holiness, but Jesus came to convey His love and desire for relationship with every person ever born.  Jesus took the image of God out of the ethereal and gave us a flesh representation we can humanly relate to. The mercy of that action is mind blowing to say the least.  But it proves beyond any and all doubt that God wants us all in a personal relationship and was willing to wrap Himself in flesh to accomplish that end.

What more could He do to reach out from His Heavenly place than to appear to humanity in a way and a form whereby from man's end a true relationship could take place?  The disciples experienced Him.  They walked with Him.  They talked with Him.  They struggled past the rejection of thought that questioned His Deity and came to accept the insane idea that God would actually walk among men.

Before Jesus came, the Law and the Prophets established His Sovereignty and authority but in a very distant way.  Abraham and Isaac and Jacob along with a few others each experienced God personally in their own way. We interpret the accounts of God's interaction in the Old Testament more like the burning bush of Moses and the epic event of the Red Sea parting in supernatural displays of His power. 

Then came Jesus.

I wonder if the Scribes and Pharisees became resentful because Jesus was so personal.  He knocked them off their long held religious axis. They thought it preposterous that God would become flesh even though the Holy Scriptures they studied and embraced promised such a coming.

Our relationship with Him is now personal.  His life, death and resurrection changed everything relative to man's understanding of God.  The Holy Spirit is the bridge Who now connects us with the Trinity.  He is the Counselor Jesus declared He would send when He returned to the Throne of all power and authority. 

Through the indwelling Holy Spirit, we are connected with the person of Jesus and never have to live in the fear of God or in the doubt of His unconditional love ever again.  Once rescued from the sin nature and penalty that we were born with, life in our God ordained purpose carries us along forming testimonies as we go.

There is nothing new under the sun as they say.  Our trials on earth are basically the same as for any other human but the Lord has a unique way to bring about His purpose in those struggles.  His purpose and His will is not to destroy us.

The Lord reminds me again today that He is about the strengthening of His people. He is about giving us testimonies of His Presence in our lives that we can in turn share with others.   The Lord draws us out of the places of our "victimization" in life and provides us with testimonies of His good will.

There was a man born blind back in the days when God walked in flesh among His created.  When the disciples inquired as to the cause and nature of the man's blindness, Jesus made His glorious point in John 9:1-4, "As he went long he saw a man blind from birth.   His disciples  asked him, "Rabbi, who sinned this man or his parents?"  "Neither this man nor his parents sinned", said Jesus, "but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in His life.  As long as it is day, we must do the work of Him Who sent Me.  Night is coming when no one can work.  While I am in the world I am the light of the world." 

The "Light" is truth.  Jesus is Truth.  He told the crowds who were following Him in Matt 5:14 as they listened to Him speak and accepted His word, that they too were the light of the world.   We who follow Him provide the testimony of His Light to the world.

This passage is loaded with Truth and confirms His personal word to me today.  This man born blind was in a place with a condition that facilitated a testimony of God's love and power and intervention.  The fixed end is a personal encounter with a personal God who brings a personal resolution to a personal problem.  The pathway of the blind man's life was unique to him.  How he came to be set up for that encounter took time and circumstances uniquely his own.  But just like in the life of this blind man, Jesus through our trials is providing personal testimonies for us to share. 

Testimonies of God's personal intervention are being written each and every day.  There are many life trials that we have had to face and even more yet to come so long as we have our feet on planet earth. The only question is about the unique pathway the trials will take us on to find the fixed end, and therein lies our testimony to the world.

The Holy Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

      

                

Encouragement In Repentence **

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  Processing takes time and this post began on the National Day of Prayer. He has a "catch" phrase for me to act so when He tells me to "run like the wind with the Truth", I gather up what I have been processing and take it to the place of sharing what He has spoken to me.   Today I heard that directive.

As I prepared to join with others in interceding for our land, I heard Him speak a caution that was actually an encouragement to my heart " Do not be like those in Malachi's day who said it is futile to serve Me". 

I realize it is a temptation with all the evil we see that is escalating around the world, to become discouraged and even question where the Lord is in all of this?  Malachi is the last prophetic voice to speak for the Lord from out of the Old Testament, before the first coming of Christ the Messiah.  In these times before His second coming, the conditions on earth are eerily similar among His people. 

Back then God's people were discouraged having been made to wait for the glorious establishment of God's promised kingdom on earth.  The discouragement led God's people to doubt His covenant love and consequently lose their hope.  They acted out their hopelessness like so many of us do, by going on "auto-pilot" in the demonstrations of their faith.  As their doubts gave way to questions, their hearts drifted into rebellion, and they began to charge God with injustice.

The people were persistent in their faithless rebellion, so God through the Prophet Malachi brought forth His indictment.  It seems as though the people (God's chosen people) were finding more ways to get around the Law of God than faithfully living in obedience to it. They never quite made the correlation between their disobedience and what unfolded as the consequences of their rebellion.  They chose to blame God for their circumstances and complain of their lot rather than repent for their accountability in the rebellion that brought the "judgment" they were experiencing.

To be clear, God does judge His people.  But the ultimate purpose in the indictment and subsequent penalty in God's judgment is to bring about a change of heart and actions that represented defiance of the authority of the One True God over His people.  As I follow the lead of the Holy Spirit and re-read the charges God had against His people in the day of Malachi, I find some of those charges could be accurately levelled against me today as well.

Some might say, "But for the believers in Jesus, there is no guilt nor condemnation".  While that is true the behaviors, we commit are a grief to the Lord and require repentance for the relationship to grow in trust and intimacy.  In a human relationship when offenses are committed, we cannot just say "well I am entitled to grace and forgiveness" and walk away without dealing with what grief those offenses caused.

The indictment starts with the issue of blemished sacrifices.  We do not offer sacrifices on an altar to atone for our sin since the blood of Jesus and His death paid the price we could not muster. But there is still the issues of the sacrifice of our self-life.  Could it be that giving the Lord the "left-overs" of our time, energy, and gifting are like unto the blemished sacrifices offered in the days of Malachi?  The Lord deserves our best and He notices when we do not give it.

The priests were mentioned next and warned about violating their sacred trust and covenant calling as messengers of God.  His charge to them was that they turned away from true instruction and by their foul teaching caused many to stumble.  They were indicted for not following God's ways but were bending the law to show partiality in matters of the law.  Judgment within the Body of Christ gives one person a pass in mercy for what another person must pay to the last farthing for in having committed the same offense.  We look at motives for one and actions for another which speaks of partiality in judgment.    

Then comes the indictment over the people.  They intermarried women of the surrounding pagan nations in violation of the Lord's command against such inter marriage.  These marriages opened the door to the idolatry and worship of foreign gods that would corrupt the nation and break their covenant loyalty to the One True God.

The same can be said of us in the current day Body of Christ.  Against the command to not be unequally yoked, we choose to marry non-believers who have no relationship with our Jesus.  The resulting consequences are progressive and while we may or may not manage such a relationship well, we open the door to heartache trying to live in two different worlds.  

In Malachi, the issue of divorce and breaking the marriage covenant is provoking to the Lord who said, "I hate divorce". In today's society, divorce statistics are shockingly high and said to be much the same within the Church as among those in the world around us.

His warning is as vital to us today as to those who lived in the days of Malachi, "So guard yourself in your spirit and do not break faith with the wife of your youth", for the Lord is seeking godly offspring: children raised in the admonition of the Lord.

The indictment continues and speaks of His desire and will for men who will bring offerings in righteousness.   The Lord did not mince words when He said that His judgment will and must begin with His own people. We are the ones who represent Him and our increasing apathy for Holiness in the lives we live in the world of today has netted us the consequences just like it did for the nation of Israel under the indictment spoken by Malachi.

Judgment was coming against "sorcerers, adulterers, and perjurers, against those who defraud   laborers of their wages, who oppress widows, and the fatherless and deprive aliens of justice" but do not fear the Lord. 

The word of the Lord reminded them then and us now, "I, the Lord do not change" so we who are His people are not nor will we ever be destroyed, but our life of rebellion must stop.  "Return to Me and I will return to you", says the Lord Almighty".  Malachi 3:7

Then He lays out the road by which the nation can return.  In today's terms:

Stop robbing God because it is through the resources that He has given to us that the Gospel is spread around the world.

Stop saying things the Lord deems as harsh against Him.  "You have said it is futile to serve God.  What did we gain by carrying out His requirements and going about like mourners before the Lord Almighty?  But now we call the arrogant blessed. Certainly, evil doers prosper and even those who challenge God escape." 

I have a great appreciation for the Old Testament.  I actually appreciate such clear warnings and I have found that for every spoken penalty for rebellion, there comes an encouraging promise in repentance and a blessing for obedience.  Vs 16, "Then those who feared the Lord talked with each other and the Lord listened and heard. " How gracious and merciful is our Creator God and Lord.  "A scroll of remembrance was written in His Presence concerning those who feared the Lord and honored His Name."

God has promised that He will show us to be His possession and we "will again see the distinction between the righteous and the wicked between those who serve God and those who do not".

Waiting is the hard part, and it is in the waiting that discouragement hits and we are tempted to give up and give in.  The Lord's counsel today is my caution against that temptation.  I choose to take it to heart and let the waiting have its perfect result: A detection of weakness that needs to be strengthened in my faith walk with the Lord.

The National Day of Prayer needs to start with confession and repentance of the corporate sin since all of us may be accountable for having betrayed our Lord's directives.  While we understand that we have escaped the ultimate judgment of Holiness, the age of Grace is not an excuse to let depravity rule our lives.

Repentance is still required in our love relationship with the Holy One.  Today I realize the encouragement in repentance.  I need to ask His forgiveness for the doubts that may not make it past my lips but yet still represent what causes Him grief within my heart.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?