Are We Ready For Eternity?***

        

The Holy One calls to me this morning. The Holy Spirit was sent by our Lord to lead us into all Truth.  I came to the realization only recently that I have not, over the course of my life with the Lord, asked Him to do what He was sent to do.  I have not specifically prayed that the Holy One lead me into all truth. 
 

I hear myself pose the question, “Do I have to ask Him?”  When we consider that free will is part of our design, I believe there must be a “willingness” on my part to co-labor and co-operate with my indwelling counselor.  I believe that in our relationship, there is still a measure of freedom to ignore, defy, or deny His ruling authority.  That is what makes up the process of sanctification (being set apart and made Holy) and it requires our co-operation and the surrender of our will.

I now have a standing prayer that the Holy Spirit lead me into all truth.  It is different than asking for specific wisdom in given situations that the Lord has said if we ask for it, we have it.  To be led into all truth has been like a major overhaul of the mind.  The thoughts of God are so much higher than ours and yet He is willing to share what He knows we can and are willing to handle.

To be led into all truth, we must be willing to go there.  Many actually fear truth.  Truth may hurt.  Truth may be hard to swallow.  Truth may crack our precious self-image or contradict our long-held beliefs. But once we get past all that resistance, truth does set us free.

Today the message of the Holy Spirit comes to me loud and clear: “The truth must be spoken regardless of who chooses to believe it”.

The truth and issue of Eternity is pressed on my heart and has been swirling in my mind.  The Lord directed me to pray that His people will have a greater sense of eternity in this age than ever before.  I responded with my usual “curious George” OK but WHY?  Why is it more urgent in these days? 

His answer comforts my mind and confirms his promise.  “For all the generations since the beginning of earth time, man has lived between the boundaries of birth and temporal death.  Only 2 escaped the death experience: Enoch and Elijah.  But this generation of my people will not all face temporal death nor have time to process what death and facing their own mortality does provide.  In the blink of an eye, they will translate as they are: people of eternity; children of the Eternal Father and they need to be ready.” (Enoch: Gen 5:21-22   Elijah: 2 Kings 2:11)

The Kingdom of Heaven is the Eternal Kingdom of our Sovereign Creator God.

Whether you believe in the Kingdom of Heaven or not you are part of its vast expanse.

Whether you believe in the Creator God or not you are part of His creation.

Whether you believe in His word (the Bible) or not, it applies to everyone ever born.

And whether you believe that God sent His one and only Son, Jesus to reconcile the relationship between the Creator and His created or not, the provision for our reconciliation has been given for all mankind to accept or reject.

In every issue, what we choose to believe does not alter what is:  Truth IS Truth.

Even if a lie is believed by most, a lie will always be a lie.  Even if truth is denied by some, truth will always be truth.

In these days we will be presented with lies by the one Jesus said is the “father of lies”: Satan the adversary of Truth. This is why Jesus sent His Holy Spirit of Truth to indwell His people.  Jesus does not want us to be deceived.  We, God’s people, have no excuse for being deceived because Truth dwells in us and He is here to lead us into all truth.

Lies destroy trust…We have an enemy who hates the Creator and knows the Kingdom of Heaven.   The way for the enemy to assault the Creator is to destroy His crowning achievement: Humans made in the very image of God Himself.   

How better to hurt the heart of the Creator than to destroy the object of His affection.  To sever the relationship, Satan attacks us with lies about our Creator.  Satan is the “Prince of the power of the air” and operates from the spirit realm.  He plants lies in our ears that misrepresent God and are designed to cause suspicion of God’s good intentions toward us.

If a person is of the “intellectual” type the enemy will bring fine sounding arguments to debate even the existence of God.  Emotionally vulnerable types will be challenged with lies about God’s love and their worth.  Many who fear rejection will reject Him first to defend against the potential pain.  Power people will hear how surrender to God will interrupt their control over life and circumstances that they can manipulate.  Satan is an ancient and supernatural enemy but a created being none the less and will never be equal in power to the Creator.

Truth sabotages the Saboteur and sets the captives free to live in a loving and trusted relationship with our amazing Creator God.

Humanity’s understanding of the Truth about our Creator God impacts where we will spend eternity.  Our job as Christians is to share the truth about our God, His Son Jesus, and the Holy Spirit.  And to correct any and all misrepresentations of Him and His love.   It is imperative for His people to know Him so we can share what we know. 

It is also an imperative that we live our lives in such honor of our Lord that He can and will make a distinction between those who serve Him and those who do not since the testimonies are the real deal in most people’s lives. 

Living as if the rapture of the Body of Christ could happen at any moment keeps us focused on eternity and if we are focused there, we might be better servants here. 

The Holy Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?          

Why Forgiveness?***

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  His Presence and His soft voice gently pulls me out of my sleep.  I am thankful for these days when the world is spinning out of control, to be reminded that He is still in control.

I have always hated waking up to an alarm clock.    I find that if and when I need to set one, I stay up half the night anticipating that annoying and shocking announcement that a new day is about to begin and I need to leap into it while still half asleep.  They are well named “alarm” clocks due to the way my body responds with a rapid heartbeat and a knee-jerk reaction.

There are days when the Holy Spirit sounds the alarm and calls for a rapid response but today is not one of those days.  Today He speaks to me about forgiveness (or my lack thereof).  Lately He has been counselling me about my anger or righteous indignation as I prefer to call it, and He has repeatedly told me that Vengeance is His and He will repay His enemies and mine. (Roman 12:19) But that I have a responsibility to wait and in the meantime to live according to His commands of which forgiveness is a top priority. 

In keeping with His directive and my struggle with forgiveness, He brings a gentle request: “come now and let us reason together” Isaiah 1:19.  With the not too subtle reminder that “though your sins are like scarlet they shall be white as snow; though they be like crimson they shall be as wool.  If you are willing and obedient you shall eat the good of the land”.

I know that His thoughts are so much higher than mine and His ways who can fathom?  So when He chooses to share them, I need to be all ears and have a pen and paper handy. Forgiveness is a gentle subject because it usually involves deep pain and the need to be made whole. 

The Holy Spirit encourages me on: “I call My people to forgive.  To forgive is to release the offender from the debt owed for the offense.  Forgiveness is a conscious choice to lay down your expectation and demand for repayment.  Are you willing?”

I begin to understand the Truth behind the command.  Unforgiveness is holding a person to the requirement of compensating me for their offense.  The problem with that is in most cases the offense is a violation of our heart or person hood.  And there is nothing the offender can do or pay to compensate for the damage done. 

Looking at those who have offended me or the ones I love, I see the truth in His words.  There is no way the offender can make up to me for the damage done by their “evil” actions.  They cannot give me back the years of emotional heartache, the relationships damaged by covenant breaking, the honor lost to character assassination, through bearing false witness or gossip untruths or the horror and humiliation of private confessions made public.  No amount of money can buy those things back or reset integrity in the mind of others swayed by lies. The debt they owe is one they could never pay me to offset the damage they did.

The Holy Spirit joins my deep meditation and confirms my conclusion, “They cannot ever pay out the debt or restore you but I can if you will let Me.  If you will release them from the debt I will compensate you for what was stolen or destroyed.  Since they cannot re-pay you, let Me”.

The Lord’s peace floods the room and my heart.   My “right” to expect accountability and compensation for damage done must be surrendered as an act of my will.  Such is forgiveness.  But as I do, the Lord makes it clear that He will bless me in ways that cannot be measured. From my Lord, lost years and honor can be restored, lost love can be replaced, as well as lost fortunes. 
  

Today I chose to forgive those who have sought to do harm to me or my family.  Today I choose to release them from debts and obligations to me.  Today I choose to let go of my enemy and take hold of my Lord.

His Divine reason over rules all my carnal objections.  Forgiveness makes perfect sense to me now.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him? 

The Never Ending Story***

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  Widowhood provides some interesting challenges and requires adjustment in order to accept the changes it brings. 

Having lived through a divorce earlier in my life, the devastation of being betrayed and alone, dealing with the loss of what I thought was to be a lifelong relationship was offset by my younger age and the thought that I could move on and still find happiness and purpose again.

Widowhood after 31 years of marriage was like looking at a bleak end of a dark road.  Thankfully the Holy One has been with me so long and knows me and I know Him.  He is the light of life who illuminates the dark places and comforts my human emotions.

I am thankful for His steady Presence that gives me stability when my world starts to rock and roll. Thoughts of eternity become ever so important when death takes a loved one or when we feel that there are more years behind us than those ahead in our earthly journey.

This morning the Holy Spirit speaks to my heart with His encouraging words, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.  You live with Me, even now, as and in your eternal life” . 

He takes me back to His written word to confirm His spoken one.  John 10:27-30, “My sheep hear My voice and I know them and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of my Father’s hand.  I and MY Father are one”.

John 14:15-18, “If you love Me you will keep My commands.  And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever…the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive because it neither sees Him nor knows Him but you know Him for He dwells with you and will be in you.  I will not leave you orphans I will come to you.” 

What a gracious statement of the Lord’s “Omnipresence”.   

As a believer in the One God sent to rescue me, I take all that He says about my eternal life to the bank.  Since eternity is my life “term” and life for me will never end, I can look at the hours, days, times and seasons from a different vantage point and perspective and see that the events of this life are just part of a wonderful never-ending story.

How different would we approach life if we really believe that truth and begin to act accordingly.  There is so much to learn.  There is so much to experience, not only here in our limited flesh body, but also beyond, when, with a glorified body that is matched to our immortal saved soul, we will actually live in complete unity with our Creator.

 

How different might we live here on earth if we really settle into our outrageous inheritance and the legacy from our Savior and Lord: Jesus the Christ.

And what of the personal relationship that we have available through the Holy Spirit from the very moment of our Salvation?  He completes us.  With the Holy Spirit I am whole, not perfect but whole.

Perfect is like being “flaw-less”.  Whole is being made complete.  Before salvation (being saved, being rescued) we are missing an integral part of our self.  We are each amazing but not complete.  We are each unique and wonderful but not complete. 

We are like a jigsaw puzzle with a missing piece; without the Holy Spirit we can never be finished.  Once we “find” Him and move to the point where we surrender to the One who in reality “found” us, we are complete and ready to go out into the world of people as His ambassador.  We are then able to accomplish the tasks that our Creator God and Heavenly Father assigns to His Beloved.

Jesus said, “Apart from Me you can do nothing” and yet He said, “with Me nothing shall be impossible for you”.  Along with His promise to “Never leave us” we can take life and all the craziness in a peaceful and leisurely pace with Him in the lead. 

Looking past the limits of this “life” which before the Cross was death, we can come together with our endless purpose which is to spend eternity in creative fellowship with the Sovereign Creator God Himself. 

  

And what about God being glorified in our lives?  When we come to wholeness and are made complete in the arrival  of and melding with the 3^rd Person of the Godhead, (our indwelling Holy Spirit of Jesus Himself), we validate God’s creative genius in our design.

Humans are the only ones in the entirety of God’s amazing created universe who are made in His image.  Angels, while celestial, beautiful and quite powerful, were not created in the image of God.  Every animal while amazing after its own kind, were not created in the image of God.

Humanity is the crowning glory of God’s creative genius and as we come to what I call “Trinity unity” in relationship with Him in His way, He is glorified.  I am beginning to realize that it is not just what we do by His Spirit within that brings Him the glory He desires; it is who we are…… made complete by His Indwelling Presence that brings Him the ultimate glory as Creator. 

   

His plan for us once we are made complete is to rule and reign with Him.  We are not to compete for the Throne as did Lucifer AKA Satan, but to enjoy the privilege of relationship and wield the authority of our King as His servant but more to the truth in relationship, as His sons (and daughters).

 

Looking long range and not to the sort term trials here, I realize we are being groomed through lessons in submission here to rule and reign with Jesus throughout eternity.  Like a general who has to come up through the ranks and begins his military career as a lowly private.  We are raised up to leadership as we exhibit loyalty to the structure of Divine authority and follow the commands of our Captain. 

I am convinced that submission to the ruling authority of the indwelling Holy Spirit is the ultimate goal of our difficult days here.  Our wholeness is made evident as we allow the Spirit to over-rule our flesh responses to the challenges we face here on earth.

The fruit of His Spirit is: Love, Joy, Peace, Patience (Long suffering)  Kindness, Gentleness, Goodness, Faithfulness and Self-Control.  Our challenges/trials will come against each or all of these qualities providing a boatload of opportunities to allow the Holy Spirit to respond.  He is called the Spirit of Truth so we can expect that we will be challenged by lies and deceptions in contradiction to God's Word as well. 

  

Earth life post salvation is “Training for Reigning” and while on some days the learning curve is steep, there is no reason for the anxiety that the world feels to rob me of my peace.  Accepting the gift of Eternal life through Jesus Christ is the beginning of our never-ending story.

I praise my Jesus that He is with me and that today, no matter what it holds, is just another chapter in my personal never-ending story and an opportunity to bring Glory to His Name.

The Holy Spirit is Calling.    Can you hear Him?     

Why? **

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  In the intrigues of life on this planet earth we have so many questions but the most vexing one is just a simple, “Why?”

When things make no sense to my human assessment of evil’s cruelty it’s time to allow the Holy One to take over and direct my thoughts. 

“Will you trust Me in the “whys” of life so I can take you to the greater things?”

The Holy Spirit leads me in this time of meditation back to His Word and the account of a man named Gideon.  In Judges 6-8 the story of Gideon’s life and purpose as a “mighty man of valor” begins with him threshing wheat in a wine press in order to hide it from the marauding bands of Israel’s enemies. 

Hard times and great fear had come upon his people.  The children of Israel lived under the continuous threat of being plundered and being left with no resources to survive so they took to life in the dens and caves of the mountains in the land of their enemies.  They had to thresh their wheat in a wine vat where no one could see or they risked the loss of their diet’s mainstay due to the thieving Midianites who came against them.

Judges 6:7-10 tells us that as the people cried out to the Lord, He sent a prophet to remind them of their illustrious history with the One True God and how the Lord had delivered them from the hands of all who had oppressed them. Then in Vs 10, we read, “Also I (The Lord God of Israel) said to you, “I am the Lord your God; do not fear the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell.  But you have not obeyed My voice”.

An angel then appeared to Gideon and said, “The Lord is with you mighty man of valor”. 

Then began the “why” question; “Gideon said to him, “Oh my lord, if the Lord is with us why then has all of this happened to us?  Where are all His miracles that our fathers told us about saying, Did not the Lord bring us out of Egypt?  But now the Lord has forsaken us and delivered us into the hands of the Midianites.”

For most of us facing hardships in life as Christians, we are wondering if not asking the same thing.  “Why, if you are with us, is all the heartburn hitting our lives?”  Where are the mighty acts of Divine intervention that we have read and been told about in Your Word for those who are called by Your Name? 

Gideon’s conversation with the messenger angel of the Lord continued and Gideon was essentially drafted into the Lord’s plan for the deliverance of His people.  Despite all his self-doubts, the Lord saw in Gideon what Gideon did not see in himself: a faithful warrior heart.

We read about the “fleece” of Gideon,  where the man wanted (and needed) more confirmation of the calling on his life at that moment  We will do well to remember that Gideon lived before Jesus sent the Holy Spirit to dwell inside of every believer's heart so a fleece was more of an acceptable way to discern and know God’s will back then

The interesting thing to my mind is that the Lord did not give an answer to the “Why” Gideon personally asked in the beginning but spoke to him about his part to play in the circumstances they were in.  I can see that when resolution comes to the problems I face, the “Why” questions fade in the Glory of God’s Divine intervention.

The mystery of Holiness waits for the “conditions” on the ground to be right for Divine intervention to be executed in resolution to our temporal problems. The nation of Israel endured and survived, by however a slim margin in their view, until Gideon was raised up to save Israel from the hand of the Midianites. Once Gideon was convinced that his calling was from God, the Lord told him what to do and Gideon obeyed his commands.

It so happened that compromise was tolerated in the religious (Spirit) life of Israel.  Hard times for sin way back when, brought the consequence they were living and rather than seek the Lord they apparently dived into more idolatry and worship of other gods either instead of, or in addition to, seeking and giving worship to the One True God of their fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.

Gideon’s first assignment was to tear down an altar of worship to Baal, that his father had erected and to replace it with an altar for their worship to the One True God.   For me, the reader of this story, I see the “why”, not in a direct answer but in what the Lord commanded Gideon do at the onset of his calling as a servant of the Most High and deliverer of Israel out of the hands of their enemy:  Take down the altar and stop the sinful worship of foreign gods. 

Idolatrous compromise had overtaken Israel and the Lord’s discipline of His people in allowing them to become a victim of the surrounding nations had them crying out for deliverance. There are interesting parallels of this story to our nation today. 

Judges 6:6 says, “So Israel was greatly impoverished because of the Midianites and the Children of Israel cried out to the Lord”.

For Believers in today’s world, who are followers of Christ Jesus, all the “why” questions we may ask are bound up in the eternal plan that the Lord has and they relate to His unique calling on our lives.  We are in the process of being made Holy.  We are being cleansed and purged of our unrighteousness and compromise is a flesh liability that we must not allow to corrupt our hearts and minds. 

It seems that in Gideon’s day, idolatry (Baal worship) was an acceptable practice and not seen as a problem until Gideon made his stand in obedience to the Lord.  

There is much to be gleaned from reading about Gideon and his calling and there is much symbolism to be applied to our lives today.  I find that I learn more about the mystery of Holiness when I stop asking “why?” and start asking the Lord, “what? …….do You want me to do with where I am today?”   

As He begins to show me and as I obey what I believe to be His directives, I see that following my Lord’s plan for me will eventually answer every “why?” or give me the peace to wait until I see Him face to face for the full and final answer.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?    

Before You Fling The Stone***

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  The battle rages and it is always for the hearts of humanity and takes place first in the mind.  The mental battle is the hard wrestle. 

Ephesians 6: 11-13 tells us, “Put on the whole armor of God that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the Devil.  For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.   Therefore, take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day and having done all to stand. Stand therefore having girdled your waist with truth….”

The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth.  He speaks from out of the darkness and my wrestle against the rulers therein. 

“Remember David.  He declared the victory before he sent the stone into Goliath’s head”. 

Most of us learn the Biblical account of David and Goliath early in our faith “training for reigning.”   The fact that we will and must face-off with Goliaths in our Christian walk is well known.  But today the Lord takes me back to the story of that victory to show me an important detail that is easily overlooked in the lead-up to the toppling of the giant in his life.

Hand-to-hand combat is not advisable against a giant of human flesh that is energized by the dark lords of the unseen realm.  David knew that truth, even though King Saul and the rest of the army of Israel thought that was the only way to defeat the enemy. 

I guess I can see the similarities between them and me when I think only in terms of flesh (carnal) weapons to use in the battle or “wrestle” against people or situations that represent the opposition to my Kingdom and my King.   Human anger even if it begins as “righteous” provides no victory over the darkness.

Looking back to the Word in I Samuel 17: 44-48, “And the Philistine said to David, “Come to me and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and the beasts of the field”.  Then David said to the Philistine (enemy), “You come at me with a spear and a javelin.  But I come to you in the Name of the Lord of Hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. This day the Lord will deliver you into my hands and I will strike you and take your head from you.  And this day I will give the carcasses of the camp of the Philistines (enemy) to the birds of the air and the wild beasts of the earth that all the earth will know that there is a God in Israel.  Then all this assembly shall know that the Lord does not save with sword and spear for the battle is the Lord’s and He will give you into our hands”.

David gave the victory speech not for his enemy alone, but for his fellow warriors as well. But today, it is the timing of it that I am called to see.  David made this faith declaration of victory before he sent the stone into the head of the enemy.

I know personally that the battle is for the heart and mind of each generation.  I also know that the enemy of God is a liar and in our humanity we are vulnerable to his lies.  That is why we have been given the Holy Spirit of the Savior and why He is the One who will lead us into all truth.  That is also why the battle comes down to making the declarations of truth; first to ourselves and then to the world around us.

Notice how Goliath had intimidated Israel’s army.  He spewed his threats and used his size as evidence of his ability to defeat God’s people.   The devil uses the same tactics today, maybe not in the physical arena but surely in the Spiritual one and that defines the battle for the heart through the mind of all of us. 

Lies of the evil one must be contradicted and challenged.  That is what David’s declaration of victory was all about.   David declared faith in the One True God and what He said about the Lord was truth the enemy (and his fellow warriors) needed to be reminded of.  Back in the day God was making His Sovereignty known through Israel.  His chosen deliverance came through a young boy with a stone and a sling.  But before he let the stone fly, David declared the victory would come and by the Hand of God alone.  

That is what I must do today before I fling the stone.  I must stand and declare the Truth about our God and King.   The battles(s) belongs to the Lord God of all creation and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.  To Him be all the glory forever and ever and to his kids on earth we can and must take claim to the victory over the rulers of this dark age.   Evil giants are defeated by truth in the battle field of our minds.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?        

Find Your Joy***

The Holy One calls to me this morning. Thinking of last Sunday and the joy of gathering with those who share faith in Yeshua, I know Sundays are an important day in our week.  As Christians this day is not just a day to rest like God did during creation week.  For us it is also a day to remember and celebrate the greatest victory the world of humanity could ever know; the Resurrection of Jesus our Savior.  But Monday arrives and joy cannot be found. 

The Holy One speaks through the early morning brain fog and I hear a directive, “Find and maintain your joy”.

His words cut like a knife to circumcise my heart.  Obviously, there is something I am missing and a discipline I must begin to enact. Thus begins our back-and-forth exchange of unspoken thoughts.  The process of sanctification is anything but pretty.  It involves rolling up our spiritual sleeves and getting to all the corruption we don’t like to even think much less talk about.

The Holy Spirit continues and points out a sin pattern that needs to be corrected.    “Stop blame shifting your lack of joy over onto other people’s actions or the circumstances of life.”

First the flint knife and now the cold water that brings me to complete attention.

Despair seems to be widespread in these end times as hope for better days fades. And it is so true that we all have to battle for “joy”. There is a deep divide between joy and happiness.  Comfortable circumstances seem to be the criteria we all use to define “happy” but happy is not the joy of the Lord that is missing in so many of our lives today.  How can we be filled with joy when we are not “happy”?  Or can we experience one without the other?

Galatians 5:22 tells us. “But the fruit of the SPIRIT is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.”   I notice that happiness is not on that list, so then I must conclude that joy is not dependent on happy circumstances and happy circumstances do not define or limit joy.

Joy is the fruit of the Holy Spirit in my life.  It is the evidence of His Presence and it is His life within me that is my source for joy.  I must come to admit that I cannot manufacture my own joy.  It always gets mixed up in the self-driven pursuit of my “happiness”.

The Lord takes me back to His word and His model as where to look for joy.  Hebrews 12:2 says, “looking unto Jesus, who is the author and finisher of our faith Who, for the joy that was set before Him, endured the Cross, despising the shame and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

I must look to the Cross where Jesus died; the place of greatest suffering for any human body made up of flesh and bone.  For 6 hours one Friday, evil had his way with the Holy Son of God.  Evil used the Romans and the Jews to circumstantially torture the One we call “Savior”.   

Humanly speaking that was a most justifiable time to blame people and out of control circumstances for the agony He was suffering.  Yet we are told that our Lord Jesus was focused on the joy of what would ultimately come from the suffering and even as He despised the shame of it, He did not blame shift the reason.

Jesus kept to the mission which was to glorify His Heavenly Father and restore humanity back in relationship with our Creator God. Jesus looked beyond the people who nailed Him to the Cross and those who yelled “Crucify Him”.  Jesus looked beyond the evil that was tormenting and mocking His humiliation.  Jesus looked past all of that to the great eternal purpose and therein found His joy.

So, what does that mean to me?  Faith is the substance of things hoped for and the evidence of things unseen.  To find my joy, I must look beyond the people who do evil and beyond the circumstances that weigh me down.  In faith I must look to Jesus while trusting in that Divine purpose for which I have been chosen to endure such people and circumstances and remain true to the mission:  To share the Truth about our Kingdom and our King with a lost and dying world.

Divine purpose to me means there is a reason for everything and I must glean that higher purpose out of the trials of life and the people through whom they come.  To blame evil people or the acts they do for my lack of joy is an insult to the Holy One who provides it. 

Faith and Joy seem to be intertwined.  Faith declares all is well because the Lord (not evil) is in control.  Joy is the feeling that follows the faith.  Perspective is the key to finding my joy.  Looking past what is evil to focus on the Lord's plan and His promise of the "good" to come will enable me to find my joy no matter what the immediate circumstance may dictate.  

I understand that this is a discipline of heart and mind and may not be acquired in a day, but as I continue to look to the Holy Spirit for His perspective, I will be able to see beyond the agony of today and see the ecstasy of tomorrow and like my Lord and Savior, therein find my joy.

The Holy Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?

                   

The Importance Of Marriage***

The Holy One calls to me this morning.  The mystery of our God is deeper than any of us can begin to fathom.  We have been given symbols and models of His Sovereign Being like His Divine order in the universe that humans have a hard time explaining.  There is the uniqueness of every human being so that there is no one like us in the world. There is attention to detail in the smallest of God’s creatures to the most massive and formidable animals that ever walked His earth.

In the Divine order of things, the Lord has provided structure and accountability, provision and peace.  He reminds me this morning of the importance of the institution of Marriage in this chaotic world we find ourselves trying to manage.

“Temporal Marriage is an eternal symbol and must be viewed in light of eternity”.

The Holy Spirit speaks to a great issue in our lives today.  Marriage is more than just a temporary contract to legitimize a flesh relationship between 2 people regardless of gender.  Marriage was ordained and given to us as a covenant commitment between a man and woman until death separates the flesh bond.  Marriage is a flesh union that makes two people one.   But even more than that, Marriage is a symbol that represents the unity between us and the Lord through the Holy Spirit. 

We need to take careful consideration as to how we honor and respect or dishonor and disrespect the institution of Marriage since it is a God ordained unit. Few are the messages we hear about the Sacred Romance we ought to be in with our Lord and lover, Jesus.  Few are the messages that remind us that Marriage is a Holy covenant and we are expected to uphold our vows to one another since it is symbolic of our love unity with God Himself.

At the end of time, Revelation 19:7 says, “Let us be glad and rejoice and give Him (God) glory for the marriage of the Lamb (Jesus) and His wife (the church) has come and His wife has made herself ready.

Biblical marriage is the place much like a rock tumbler where the rough edges of our character and personality are made smooth but in our “world” today we have a different perspective where marriage is a social contract that can be easily dissolved and re-entered with others for any and all excuses.  Marriage for many has become just a shell covering any and all lustful relationships and stands only until the pleasure is extracted and the relationship emptied of any self-edifying usefulness.

This may seem like a harsh indictment but the point of Holiness today is to stand against the compromised definition of marriage and hold to the undefiled definition and eternal symbolism of the marriage covenant.  

When two individuals get married and consummate that marriage, the two become one and that is physical unity.  Humans have been designed physically to facilitate that union.  That is the mystery of the marriage relationship.  It is mystical in that there is also a spiritual bond that is created and death is the only legitimate way to break that bond without excruciating heart pain.  Separation by death is another form of pain different than “divorce” or infidelity.

Our God is a covenant God and as His people, He expects us to live by our covenant with Him and with one another.  Love is a decision and marriage is a covenant so it is no wonder that God is grieved when we betray both. 

I wonder if we were asked to think more about the eternal aspects and symbolism of the marriage unit, would we be so OK with divorce?  Marriage is of tremendous significance to God’s people but only as we see it as the symbolism and in light of our eternal unity with Him.

The Spirit is calling.  Can you hear Him?