INTENTIONALLY INTIGRATED

I believe that intentional living is important for a satisfied soul.  It is too easy to let life slip away like sand slips through the fingers.  I work with goals in mind and I write with outlines in mind.  The goals and outlines are the methods, not the meaning to my life or my work.  I spent many years being rigid and ruled by the method and that affected the meaning and the meat of what I was trying to accomplish.  I have learned to be flexible with my methods, leaving empty space for the Spirit to flow through my plans so they integrate and become consistent with God’s plans for me.  Life got a bit easier and much more fruitful.  Once the foundation is firm the growth can be free.

As I said earlier, during Orientation week at camp I used Goals to build a firm foundation for the successful summer I envisioned for the campers and staff.  I wanted these Goals integrated into every activity and every interaction the staff had with the campers.  The four Goals became a daily mantra so that they would become internalized in each staff member and not just written in their Staff Handbook somewhere on at home on a bookshelf.  Every day I would run the drill…Goal 1-Love Camp; Goal 2-Learn new skills, activity and life skills; Goal 3- Learn to be in a group; Goal 4- Learn to be a leader.  Throughout the day we would go from one activity site to another, not only being trained for that activity, but also spending some time talking about how the Goals could be manifested and worked out at each activity .

The Goals were intentionally integrated into everything we did at Camp, not only in the activities but in our interactions with one another, from me, the director, to the staff, to the campers.  It made for a successful Camp season, but more importantly, it made for successful people coming out of our Camp program and living successful lives as they grew into responsible people in their communities and in their world.  I keep in touch with generations of our Camp people and it makes me proud of the work we did as I hear about who and what these people have become.

I am not a camp director anymore but I still live my life the way I led Orientation week at Camp.  I set my vision, I create my goals, and then I intentionally integrate those goals into all I do and all I am as I walk through this life.  It makes a full life for me, one with true meaning.  Every morning I run the drill…Goal 1- Love God; Goal 2- Learn new skills and life practices; Goal 3- Learn how to live with and love others; Goal 4- Learn to be a good steward of all that God has given me.  I live to hear God say, “Well done faithful servant.”

High Ideals…High Praise…Keeps me on the High Road to Life

HIGH IDEALS & HIGH PRAISE -> HIGH ROAD TO LIFE

The week before Camp opened was Orientation week for the staff.  This was work week; preparing the facility and preparing the people who would be taking care of 400 kids throughout the summer.  I would begin the week with my vision of what I wanted the camp season to look like and what I expected from each member of the staff.  I believe that once people know their place in the world they have entered, once they are given the tools to work with, and once they see what their work is suppose to accomplish, they will become invested in the process of the program and will do their best to help make it a success.

I am not a “dummy down” advocate.  I put forth high ideals and then work hard to have them realized.  I believe people feel good when they have accomplished something worthwhile, especially when the work is difficult, especially when they may fail at first and then get up again and keep trying.  There is something in the human psyche that wants to hear “well done”, first from ourselves and then from others, especially those we are working for.  High ideals and high praise keep folks on the high road to success, both internally in their self esteem and externally in their every day dealings with the world around them.  It isn’t about empty pride and arrogance; it’s about working hard and knowing you have produced something good. 

That seems to be a pattern God puts forth.  After He created the world He stood back and declared it “very good”.  When Jesus was baptized and beginning his mission on earth, God spoke from heaven, saying He was “well pleased with His son”. Jesus completed his mission while hanging on a cross, and said “It is finished”.  The work was done; the goals were accomplished; life was ready to be lived in fullness and abundance by Jesus as he returned to his Father, and by those who believe in him and follow in his ways.  His ways are not easy; they are high ideals and will be met in the end with high praise, “Well done faithful servant.”

I started our first Orientation meeting by telling the staff what I wanted the last day of camp to look like.  I wanted every camper and staff member to love camp; I wanted every camper and staff member to have learned new skills, both activity skills and life skills; I wanted every camper and staff member to know how to live well with others, in a group, in a community; I wanted every camper and staff member to become good stewards of all they had learned and experienced over the summer and to grow into good leaders, in their schools, communities, and the world.  These were high ideals to be sure, but goals that could realistically be met.

I worked at this camp for twenty-five years.  I was around long enough to see the fulfillment of year upon year of these high ideals being implanted in generations of campers, as they grew into being staff, and parents, and responsible citizens in their communities, and in the world.  High ideals and high praise keep folks on the high road to success in life.

NEXT TIME IT WILL BE DIFFERENT

My mother made beautiful ceramic manger scenes for each one of her kids.  As I put it on display every Christmas I am reminded of those who gathered to welcome the birth of Jesus into the world.  Mary and Joseph enjoyed the company of angels, three wise men from the East, shepherds from the nearby fields, and of course the animals who were sharing their space with this new family.

This year, for some reason, I noticed the people who in my mind should have been there, but weren’t.  No one from the religious leaders of the Jewish people were there; no priests, Pharisees, or scribes from the temple made the hour journey from Jerusalem to come and see if what the wise men from the East had said was true; that the long awaited messiah, the king of the Jews prophesized in the Scriptures had been born in Bethlehem.  The chief priests and scribes had just read the Scriptures to Herod and yet none of them came to see if it was true.  I find that odd, but it does reveal the state of the religious system in Jerusalem.  Not only did it have priests, Pharisees, and scribes who were not interested in the plans and promises of God, but it had a king who was threatened by this child, who sent out an army to kill this child and to make sure he was dead, slaughter all the male children two years of age and under.  No wonder Jesus felt compelled to go to those of Israel first and cleanse the temple when his time had come.

It makes me think about the present condition here in America, politically and religiously. In the weeks prior to Christmas we have seen a new Freedom From Religion Foundation going around and “protecting” the public spaces from mangers scenes or any signs of religious significance.  We have “speech police” guarding what we say to one another, making sure that “Happy Holidays” and not “Merry Christmas” come from our mouths.  We have the gods of greed and materialism keeping their worshippers occupied and very busy from Black Friday thru Christmas Eve.  And then to add to all of that busyness we add the Churches preparing and rehearsing for their programs and pageants to entertain the masses of folks who feel obligated to attend Church once a year. It seems that it continues to be as it was on that first coming of Jesus into the world; there is no room for him anywhere.

As I sit and ponder the manger scene my mom made, and I think of some of my close friends who follow Jesus with all their hearts, I find myself comforted. Just like that first time there are those who are watching and waiting.  There are those who know he is coming again and they ponder that in promise in their hearts.  This next time there will be room and there will be people watching and waiting for him who will welcome him.  That is the Christmas I will celebrate.

GOD IS ETERNAL NOT TRENDY

Isaiah 58:11,12

Traditions and ritual are important to me because they mean something to me.  The world seems to want to dismiss them, as does the church.  They say they become old and brittle, empty forms and not part of a progressive growth plan.  New and better becomes the driving force as the old is discarded.  Now the youth of our culture and churches are redefining and revisioning everything and demanding that we oldsters either adapt and adopt the new ideas or get out of the way so the culture and churches can move forward and be relevant to the world.  Under the guise of political correctness we are bullied into submission by new laws and new ways; in the end we are silenced and the old ways become the new evils in the world.

John records in his Gospel that when the Word became flesh, “he was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.  He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him” (John 1:10).  The culture and the religious system weren’t looking for him, even though the Scriptures they taught from clearly said he was.  Perhaps they chalked that information up as mere tradition, old news and irrelevant to their life in that day and time.

There were people in the culture and in the religious system who knew of the ways of God and looked for the promise that had been written about more than 400 years earlier.  They knew and remained true to their watching and waiting.  It was what Zechariah had been praying for.  It was what Elizabeth, Mary, and Joseph had been aware of and were waiting for, though maybe a little bit surprised that they would be a part of the promise being fulfilled.  Simeon and Anna knew.  Even the Wise men from the East knew to be looking for this to happen.  All of those folks were aware of the Story, had probably heard it many times, over and over, but kept it fresh in their minds and souls, which kept them righteous, blameless, humble, and in favor with God.

If traditions, rituals, and stories become meaningless and irrelevant perhaps it’s not them but the people who are the problem.  From early on God told His people to love Him with all their heart, soul, and might and to carry His ways and promises in their hearts.  “You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up…Then take care lest you forget the Lord” (Deuteronomy 6:7,12).

Are fathers and mothers doing that for their children today?  Is the church doing that for its people today?  There is no need to revision or redefine.  There is a need to repent for forgetting God and all His works and promises done just for us.  Knowing God, His ways, and His promises will keep us righteous, blameless, humble, and in favor with God.  If we are not those things it is because we have made God irrelevant in our lives, and have discarded His ways.

If I find traditions boring, irrelevant, and meaningless, I am the one who needs to change.  God alone is the vision of enlightenment.  God and His ways are relevant to every age.  God and His ways are meaningful in every way.  God is not trendy; He is eternal.  His steadfast love and His mercies are new every morning in every age.  Great is His faithfulness now and forever

Seek Don't Settle

One too many times

I settled for the flesh

And sacrificed the Spiritual

To meet my soul’s needs

As I saw them.

I settled for happiness

And sacrificed joy

I settled for lust

And sacrificed love

I settled for attention

And sacrificed intimacy

I settled for the temporary

And sacrificed the eternal.

One too many times I settled

And felt the empty void in my soul.

One day all that changed

I sacrificed the flesh

And sought the Spiritual

I sacrificed the happiness

And sought the joy

I sacrificed the lust

And sought the love

I sacrificed the attention

And sought the intimacy

I sacrificed the temporary

And sought the eternal.

On the day all that changed

I felt the complete fullness in my soul.

TELL ME THE STORIES OF JESUS

“You become a combination of the five books

you have spent the most time with in your life. 

Choose wisely.”

This was a statement posted on facebook that interested me.  It made me think about the many books I have read in my lifetime, but the few I would say I spent time with.  The five are: 1. The Bible 2. Walden, by Thoreau

3. Journal of a Solitude, by May Sarton, 4. Wintering, by Diana Kappel-Smith

5. Return of the Prodigal Son, by Henri Nouwen.  All of these books are non-fiction, tell true stories, and are personal journals or memoirs of life transformation. 

I like real stories about people’s lives.  Even as a kid I liked reading biographies of heroes and famous people.  I sometimes enjoyed fiction such as Nancy Drew, Little Women, and Fairytales, but simply being entertained seemed short lived to me.  I wanted real examples, real mentors to follow after.  I wanted to know how these people managed and lived their lives.  I still enjoy listening to people share the stories of their lives, the good stuff and the bad stuff.

I think that is why I love to read the Bible.  Even as a kid I loved hearing and reading the stories of the heroes of faith in the Bible.  As I got older I found it interesting to read how people in those olden days dealt with life situations and following Jesus as he interacted with people and how those people responded to that interaction.  It made God and Jesus a very real part of my life.  It is the story of God’s interactions with individuals that formed my faith early on in my life and continues to do so now.

The Bible is a wonderful book and can be read in many ways.  I believe it is inspired by God and is faithfully interpreted by the Holy Spirit.  I love to study it and find God’s Truth for my life.  I love to meditate on it and enjoy God’s communion with me.  I love to look at all of the stories of the individuals interacting one-on-one with God and Jesus and see how that interaction affects them.  Those interactions and responses become life lessons for me.  It’s not just relating events to me, it is creating a relationship with me; it’s not just communicating words to me, it is creating communion with me; it’s not just providing information for me, it is creating intimacy with me.  The Bible is God breathed as I am and therefore is full of life which grows in me the more time I spend with it.

I remember hearing a minister say, “I don’t want to hear what the Bible says to you; I want to hear what the Bible says.”  In my head I understood what he was saying.  I am aware of the relativistic world I live in and that the Truth of the Scriptures must be protected.  But if the Bible isn’t taken personally to people then what is the purpose of the Truth that it proclaims?  For me the Bible isn’t just a book filled with good and sound doctrine that relates and communicates the Truth.  To me it is also a book filled with stories of real life that brings people intimately into personal relationship and communion with God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  It is out of that intimate relationship and communion that I desire to know all I can about God and will read, meditate, and study the Bible with my heart set on finding Truth, treasuring and obeying what I find.

SAFE & SOUND FOREVER

Vulnerable: Capable of being harmed or injured; easily affected or hurt.

The last thing in the world human beings want to be is vulnerable.  We are quite good at building up our defense systems, both individually and nationally, to protest ourselves from being harmed or injured.  We build walls around us; we build walls within us, thinking that these will keep us safe and sound. The walls around us can always be knocked down by others bigger and stronger.  The walls within us that consist of defense mechanisms and a hardened heart will eventually destroy us from within.  Human beings are always vulnerable in themselves and can never be completely safe and sound.

When the Creator of all came to earth in the form of Jesus, he came as a new born infant, the most vulnerable of all creation.  He was born into a vulnerable situation, his earthly parents being forced to travel from their home, finding no room in the Inn, and forced to stay in a stable as their child was born.  Then they had to travel again to escape a crazed king who was threatened by this chills and was hunting him down to kill him.

Jesus grew into manhood in obscurity and when the time was right went out doing what he had been sent by his heavenly Father to do.  He went to those who were vulnerable and told them of a life where safety and soundness come only from receiving and believing in him and entering the kingdom of God.  This was blasphemy according to those ruling the Religious system of the day, so they hounded him as he walked and talked, finally hunting him down and taking him to the Political system of the day to be crucified and done away with.  He stood before the high priest of Jews and the governor of the Roman Empire physically bound and beaten, but spiritually not victimized and vulnerable but safe and sound in the hands of God.  “My kingdom is not of this world…You have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above” (John 18:36, 19:11).

The child of God may look weak in the eyes of the world, but we are really safe and sound in the hands of our Father.  The child of God may be vulnerable in this world, but this world is not our home, and there we are victorious; not because of walls or defense systems but because we belong to God.

Jesus’ ministry is to the weak and the vulnerable; to those whose walls of defense and hardened hearts have been torn down and broken.  He knows of our need for God and God will meet all of those needs as we hear His invitation to come to Him as our Father, our God.  Then and only then will we be safe and sound forever.

DIFFICULT DISCERNMENT

It is much easier to see good and bad behavior in those whom I do not know personally.  It is much easier to call what is evil evil when the behavior is so blatant it can not be labeled as anything else.  One of the ways of the enemy of God is deception; appearing as light when it is truly dark.  When situations are personal and involve people I love, the discernment become difficult.  Love can cloud and confuse my thinking.  It can cause me to defend rather than confront.  It can cause me to explain away truth and righteousness.  It can cause me to redefine sin and guilt to alleviate suffering.  No one wants those whom they love to suffer.

          “God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.”

Jesus spent his time on earth healing the suffering of human beings.  He healed the blind, the lame, the lepers, the deaf, and spoke to the poor.  He taught how to live the way we were created to live.  He taught us to know, to love, and to obey God, the One who created us.  All of this was done in Love, a love that ultimately was shown to us as he laid down his life for us. It was a love that released people from sin and suffering, not endorse it. It is this love that Jesus commanded we have for one another.

When the elders brought the woman who committed adultery to Jesus he did not say what she had done was ok; it was not.  Adultery is sin and the law requires death.  Jesus did not pardon her; he told the elders to proceed with the stoning, adding a condition that he who had not sinned throw the first stone.  Only he could have met that condition.  The elders left and only Jesus and the woman remained.  He had saved her from death and she knew it.  No one condemned her that day, even the one who could have.  He did not come to save people only from death.  He came to save people from the sin that entraps them.  He did not ok her sin.  He told her to take what he had given her and go and sin no more.  He gave her life, just as he gives life to all who receive him, who believe in his name.

This is the Truth God wants the world to know.  May the Spirit of God enlighten my heart and mind, and bring clarity and discernment to my thoughts and actions.  May I know what True Love is and express that Love to all I know and love.

OBEDIENCE IS A FRUIT OF LOVE

Healthy and fruitful plants grow best when they are well rooted.  A building will stand best when its foundation is firm.  God and the things of God are of a Spiritual realm and are therefore a mystery to the human mind.  God’s thoughts are higher than my thoughts; God’s ways are higher than my ways.  Try as I might I will never fully understand God or His ways. 

The secret things belong to the Lord and will always be a mystery to me.  But for some reason God invites me into a personal relationship with Him and makes Himself known to me.  I may not understand but He makes it possible to know Him.  He reveals Himself to me in the life of His Son, Jesus; He reveals His eternal power and divine nature in the things He has created, in the world in which I live.  The secret things that He does reveal to me are mine to know so that I might do the things necessary to be with Him.  His law is the soil I must plant myself in so that I can grow healthy and strong.

Obedience to God and His ways create a firm foundation where I can come to know the fruit of the mysteries of God; where I can listen and learn the Truth that is spoken by the Holy Spirit; where I can live a life that is pleasing to God and purposeful to me.  Obedience is not a duty, it is a delight; obedience is not a burden, it is a blessing; obedience is not a function, it is a fruit.  Obedience is a fruit of love.

 I obey God because I love God.  I obey God not simply as a command, but as a choice, a choice in response to the love He has revealed to me time and time and time again.

GOD WITHIN US MAKES US ONE

“that they may all be one, just as You, Father, are in me, and I in You, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that You have sent me”.

Father, Son, and Holy Spirit are one, but distinct and separate.  They work together, glorify, and love one another.  They are under one authority, God’s.

Our love for one another is each of our own oneness with God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit within us.  Our love comes not from looking at each other but from looking and loving God within one another.  Those who love me love who is within me and visa versa.  I recognize that in another just as the baby in Elizabeth’s womb recognized Jesus in Mary’s womb.  Spirit to Spirit.

Monsanto’s methods of uniformity are not God’s way of unity and oneness.  God lives within His children but we are not God.  He dwells within us and with us and He is our God.

BE AWARE BUT NOT AFRAID

My litmus test for any “spiritual” claims is the question that Jesus asked his disciples.  “Who do you say I am?”  The answer must be as theirs was; “You are Jesus Christ, the Son of the living God.”  Any other “spirituality” is the spirit of the antichrist and not only denies Jesus but does not know God the Father.  That spirituality is not eternal; it is dust in the wind, waterless clouds, fruitless trees, wild waves of the sea casting up the foam of their own shame, the spirituality of people living in their own dreams and sensibilities.  That spirituality is empty and meaningless, unable to transform death to life.  It is a lie that the enemy of God has been propagating from the beginning of time, dressed up in the robes of self righteousness and lacking the power of the Presence of God.

The Scriptures warn of the uprising of false prophets and false teachers in the last days.  They are here and they are plentiful.  Those who follow Jesus and walk with God are to be aware but not afraid.  In the darkness God will bring the Light.  In the beginning He said let there be light and there was.  In the dark days of Herod a star arose, visible to all who were looking.  In these days the light will come again; the true light which enlightens; the light that will expose the false and excel in the Truth. 

God’s children are to hold onto hope, following the examples of Zechariah, Elizabeth, Mary, Joseph, Simeon, and Anna, who with their own eyes “saw God’s salvation that He has prepared in the presence of all people, a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to His people Israel.” (Luke 2)

A SAFE SOUL FOR THE SECRETS OF GOD

One of my favorite Christmas carols is “Mary Did You Know”.  The song wonders if Mary knew that her son was truly the Son of God come in the flesh.  The Scriptures tell us that she did indeed know who her son was, as did Joseph, Elizabeth, and Zechariah.  The wise men knew, the shepherds knew; Simeon and Anna knew as well.  These humble people knew the secrets of God and yet kept silent, pondering them in their hearts.

Jesus knew who he was and grew up in obscurity and obedience to his parents until the time came to reveal himself and begin the work his Father had sent him to do.  It’s hard to imagine living with that knowledge and remaining silent for thirty years.  It speaks to the humility of Jesus and the humility to God that the people around him possessed.  It speaks to the trust in God that these people possessed.  This was God’s work and it needed to be left in His hands to bring it all about in His timing. Too often I proclaim when I should patiently ponder.  Too often I speak when I should be silent. The work I want to have done in me is to have a hospitable heart, eternal eyes, and a safe soul for the secrets of God. 

Too often knowledge becomes power and leads to pride.  So many people claim to know what God wants, what God says, and what God is doing in the world today.  My ears become saturated with lies and opinions and fail to hear the truth.  The world is filled with false prophets and false teachers.  The church is filled with false prophets and false teachers.  This is not new.  It was addressed by Jeremiah (chapter 23), by Malachi (chapter 2), and by Paul in many of his letters. 

False prophets speak their own thoughts, words, and dreams.  They satisfy the itching ears of those who want to suit their own passions and turn away from listening to the truth because it is too hard and offends their sensibilities.  The people hear what they want to hear so those who are speaking and teaching give them what they want to hear so they are not offended or God forbid, convicted.  The words promise prosperity and eliminate sin, suffering and most importantly, the sovereignty of God.  The words promise a freedom based on feeling good about oneself.  The words promise a peace based on passivity and assimilation into the ways of world that surrounds them.  What is promised is rooted in lies and is a world built on sand.  It will not stand the tides and tempest of time and will fall, like all others of its kind fell.

Following Jesus and walking with God is difficult.  It includes suffering, a daily battle with sin, and a total submission to a sovereign God.  It is not an easy walk, especially in a world that sees me as foolish and unenlightened.  But I stand in good company.  Those who knew how hard it was but did not turn back, they knew HIM and stayed the course.

          “Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of eternal life.”

(John 6:60-69)

These disciples were not perfect, but they knew and believed the One who was.  As they stayed their course the Holy Spirit would come to indwell them.  The Holy Spirit is the Spirit of Truth.  The Holy Spirit speaks the secrets of God to those whom he indwells; to those with a hospitable heart, eternal eyes, and a safe soul for the secrets of God to be pondered in.

Out of Barren Wombs & Wilderness Comes Fruit

Out of the barren wombs grew the seeds of promise

Out of the virgin womb grew the Son of promise

Out of the wilderness came the people of God

Out of the wilderness came the Promise of God

Out of dark came light

Out of death came life

Out of nothing came everything

Out of now came eternity

All at the hands of God

All from the hands of God

All by the hands of God

All in the hands of God

HOW IS THAT WORKING FOR YOU?

The people are unfettered.  The boundaries and restrains are gone, done away with in the name of freedom and personal rights.  Godly morals and principles are obsolete and irrelevant.  So dear world how is that working for you?

If there are no restraints for the ones who break the law why should there be restraints on those who enforce the law?  If there are no restraints on those who speak lies why should there be restraints on those who speak hatred?  We have not evolved into enlightenment, we have dissolved into darkness.

The breath of God gives humans life from dust.  The breath of God breaths on the works of man, void of His Spirit, and they wither away, returning to dust.  Human beings believe themselves to be God and no longer in need of that external force.  God, that eternal force that makes all life work well will not stay where He is not wanted and will quietly withdraw.  He will not be missed by those who didn’t receive Him or believe in Him when He came the first time.  But those who did receive Him and believed in Him will miss Him and will wait.  Next time when He comes He will take His own to dwell with Him forever.

It Is A Mystery But It Is True

God is one, but not alone

The Son and the Spirit make up the One God

They are one and not divided

But they are three in one.

It is a mystery but it is true.

The Son and the Spirit are subject to God

They act only in and through Him

They speak only what they hear from Him

They do only the work He has commissioned

All three must be present in the Presence.

In time and season the Son manifested the Father on earth

In time and season the Spirit manifests the Son in the hearts

Of those who believe in His name and receive Him

When time and season end we will dwell with God forever

And we will know the three in One first hand.

GOD'S WORK IS RELEVANT AND SUSTAINABLE

I Peter 1:24, 25

The work of God is sustainable.  It is not a good idea that just pops up and gains attention because it is new and now.  Things that are relevant to this culture will not be relevant to the next one, or the one after that.  It may be good for now but later it will be considered irrelevant, obsolete, and in need of change.  That is the way of the world.  It is always dissatisfied, looking for something bigger and better, never content and continually striving to outdo one another; always seeking ways to fill the void but never finding fulfillment.

          “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…And God

           saw everything that He had made and behold, it was very good.”

          “In the beginning was the Word…In him was life, and the life was the

           light of men, the true light, which enlightens everyone.”

The work of God is sustainable because it is eternal.  It isn’t new and now; it is forever.  It is relevant for all time and every culture.  It is eternally relevant to all of creation.  It is eternally relevant to each and every individual throughout all time and circumstance.  The ways of the world may be divided up into different eras and cultures, but the Way of God stands firm in context, from beginning to end.

          “I am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, who is and who

           was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”

The work of God that is sustainable throughout eternity is this; “That you believe in him whom He has sent.” Jesus Christ.  Anything or anyone other than that will fade away and wither like the grass.  Anything or anyone other than that will succumb to the rain, floods, winds, and will fall apart.

Cultures come and go; good ideas come and go; all of life’s worldly circumstances come and go; but the Word of the Lord remains forever.

         

GOD WORKS INSIDE OUT

I Thessalonians 2:13

God’s work in me is internal.  The Holy Spirit is sent to live within me, to make my soul a hospitable place for the Father and the Son to come and dwell within me.  It is beyond my thinking but somehow I know it is true.  I see the results of this full house indwelling everyday, in little things that I do, the way I think, and the feeling that I have.  This fruit is not of my doing.  It is something that is being worked within me, growing silently within me.

This growth is not something that happens instantaneously.  It is being worked and seasoned.  I can’t explain it, but I am experiencing it, day by day.  It is a working within the secret place of my soul and I treasure both the work and the fruit.  It transforms information into inspiration, head knowledge into heart knowing, teaching into treasure, and the flesh of the self into the fruit of the Spirit.

It is God’s Word working within my soul, forming me into who I was created to BE.  It is working at making me BE what I am meant to DO.

THE ANSWER IS CLEAR

We live in times when God is hated, denied, considered irrelevant, or simply ignored.  And yet, we act shocked at the daily news reports of the violence in the world.  Nations fight nations, people fight people, dignity and respect are denied to many labeled unworthy, the needs of many people are considered irrelevant, and the cries of the poor and needy are ignored.

The Bible is not only a testimony of God and the world He created.  It is also a record of human beings and the world we have created and continue to create.  From the beginning until the end the Bible reveals the conflict between God’s nature and human nature; God’s wisdom and human wisdom; Spirit and flesh; between those who believe and obey God and those who don’t.

God’s sovereignty and love for His creation is faithful and true throughout the whole book.  But so is mankind’s hatred of God and inhumanity to mankind when left to its own devising. The culmination of that hatred and inhumanity was the crucifixion of God’s own Son on the cross.  Human beings acting in their own human nature and human wisdom condemned and killed a man they found no fault in; a man they pronounced as innocent.

How much more vivid a picture could there be?  How much more vivid a lesson could there be?  Some had eyes to see and ears to hear.  Many did not and in their own human nature and wisdom turned on those who did and acted with great violence against them.  All but one of the Apostles were murdered and all of those who believed in God were forced to live under the terror of persecution.  But that is not the end of God’s sovereign and redemptive plan.

The thing that amazes me is that God never gives up.  He sends the Holy Spirit to continue the work, to show us the Way, to offer the life we were created to live, not by our human nature and wisdom but His nature and wisdom.  He sends His Holy Spirit to guide us into all Truth, the Truth that glorifies His Son Jesus Christ and leads us into the Kingdom of God where we will dwell with God forever.

May we have eyes to see and ears to hear, to know and understand that human nature and wisdom lead to destruction and death but God’s nature and wisdom lead us to Life everlasting.

At The Right Time He Will Stand

The waves are growing stronger

There is a storm brewing

I feel their spray as I walk on the deck

I see the signs that surround the boat

There is a storm brewing

And it’s coming soon.

My mind remembers the story

Of another storm

When His disciples walked in terror

While their Master slept

Their fear subsided and their faith grew

As He stood and calmed the sea.

So as this storm comes in strong

And the waves begin to overpower the boat

I will not fear their strength and might

I will look to my Master asleep in the boat

And know that at the right time

He will stand and calm the sea.

MY ONLY RESPONSE

It is the care for the soil and the quality of the seed that will produce a good crop for the farmer.  It is the care for the soul and the quality of Word that will produce a good life for the child of God, the one who has believed and received the Word who became flesh and dwelt among us; Jesus.  He came to give us life and that we would have it abundantly.  He came to give us Eternal Life so that we would not perish.

God came to earth in the flesh to be known, to be believed, to be received.  He came to proclaim the Gospel of the Kingdom of God.  He came to heal every disease and affliction among us.  He came to teach us to live the life we were created to live, in the beginning when He created us and breathed His life in us.

Knowing all of that my only response can be to follow Him; to lay down my plans, my needs, my wants, my life, and follow Him; to love Him; to listen to Him; to learn from Him; to be all that He wants me to BE.

Good Soil Produces a Godly Soul

When my heart grows dull

When my ears can barely hear

When my eyes are closed

I will not see God as He is

His sown seeds of love, joy, and peace

Will fall on barren soil

And will not grow.

Barren soil where the seed can’t germinate

Packed down and rocky so no root can grow

Filled with thorns of the cares of the world

Filled with thorns of the deceitfulness of riches

The sacred seed is chocked and cannot produce

God cannot find a hospitable heart

To come and dwell in.

Good soil will produce a Godly soul

It is broken up and unpacked

So roots can grow deep and strong

It replaces the cares of the world with hope

It removes the thorns of deceit with trust

Opening the way for God to come

And dwell within.

A Godly soul consists of

A heart that is hospitable

Ears that hear and understand

Eyes that perceive a clear vision

Of who God really is

And welcomes Him to come

And dwell within.

OBEYING GOD IS A DELIGHT NOT A DUTY

I make it my hearts intention to keep God’s commandments, His rules, His statutes; I do this in the bad times because I need His help; I do this in the good times when my heart is lifted up because that is when it is easiest to forget Him.  It is not easy to obey God.  Often it means saying no to what my body, mind, and soul want to do.  But the more I remain true to my intention, the more I find that what God wants for me is far better than the empty cravings this human body, mind, and soul wants for itself.

Keeping God and His Way ever before me becomes stronger as I walk in obedience to Him.  Any other way looses its luster and becomes a poor and weaker choice.  Following God by keeping His commandments, rules, and statutes becomes a delight, as it was meant to be, not a duty like it often is presented.

Obedience brings light to every step, to every choice.  It keeps the eternal vision clear and inviting.  As Brian once wrote, “When a man finds heaven, hell don’t matter any more.”  I still stumble at times, but there is always a hand to help me up.  My choice is very clear to me, even in those moments of uncertainty that tempt my humanity.  “I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me” (2 Timothy 1:12).

IT ALL STARTS WITH LOVING GOD

Deuteronomy 6:1-7

It is my sincere belief that if people are taught and shown how to truly love God and be devoted to Him above all else in their lives, they will do the works of God as a fruit of that relationship.  This is His world.  He created it and lovingly attends to it.  He knows how everything is meant to be.  He will guide and direct His human creation in the ways they are to be and how they can best care for and attend to all He has made.

Building our own towers, our own golden calves, and our own cisterns has never worked.  Why do we continue to think they will?  I have done much of this self directed construction, creating many Ishmaels in my own understanding and wisdom, only to find them empty and powerless to do what I thought they would do.  It is only when I exhaust myself and humbly come to God with my empty hands, no plans or blueprints for Him to bless, that I see His work and my small part in it all.  When I become irrelevant in the eyes of the world, my eyes are opened to the world as God sees it.

It starts as all things start…In the beginning God.

Who Will Recognize His Next Coming?

After 400 years of silence from God

400 years of no voice from the prophets

The angel came to the righteous and blameless

To those who obeyed the commandments of God

To those who were humble and found favor with God

And the angle broke the silence and spoke the words

Of Promise they had been waiting for

Immanuel is to be born

The consolation of Israel has come

God’s plan of salvation is now here

For glory to God’s people Israel

A light of revelation to the Gentiles

Redemption for all has come

The time of waiting is over

The vision is fulfilled.

To whom was this vision first announced?

What were these people like?

To Zechariah and Elizabeth

Both righteous before God

Walking blamelessly in all the commandments of God

To Joseph, descendent of David, a just man

Who would not put Mary to shame

To Mary who found favor with God

Humble and knowledgeable of the works of God

To Simeon, righteous, devout

And anointed with the Holy Spirit

To Anna who remained in the temple

Fasting and praying

Who recognized this child

For whom he would become.

Who will have eyes to see

Who will have ears to hear

Who will recognize the next coming

Of God to earth?

This Earthly Part of Eternal Life

I often wonder about the meaning of life

Especially this earthly part of eternal life

It seems like a bumpy detour on the road

Filled with potholes, debris, and many obstacles

So often I wonder about the meaning of

These short years in the flesh here on earth.

Being human in this body of flesh and bones is difficult

My movements are constricted and restricted

I can walk but I can not fly or soar in the heavens

I am out of my element, a sojourner in a strange land

I am away from my home where I feel safe and secure

What I used to know clearly is now a shadow of memory.

If I am here there must be a reason, a purpose to my being

My Creator is not frivolous in His thoughts or actions

He sent others on this journey and in that I find comfort

I am a stranger in a strange land but I am not alone

At one point in time He even descended and walked this earth

For a short time He restricted Himself to these flesh and bones.

He wandered as I wander; He suffered as I suffer

He yearned for home as I yearn for home; He wept as I wept

He walked as I walk but with one important difference

He knew why He was here; He knew the meaning of this life

This earthly part of eternal life.  He knew and He told me to trust

In time all will be revealed; in time I will know; in time…in His time.

Eternity

In the beginning I am what I am

In the end I am what I have become.

I came into this world with nothing

I will leave this world with nothing

Of this world

But what of the next?

In the beginning I came from somewhere

In the end I will return there.

So what was all this in between for

And what shall I leave behind

Of this world

And take to the next?

Will I recognize or remember me

Will what I know even matter

Will what I have dreamed of come true

Will what I have hoped for come to pass

Will I still know

What I have always known?

In the beginning I was what I am

In the beginning I knew what know

In the beginning and in the end

In this world and in the next

All is the same

No difference.

SPIRITUAL ORIENTATION

Matthew 28:19, 20

For months the news has been centered on people and their sexual orientation.  I am more concerned with a person’s life orientation.  Can I look in the mirror and say I am living a life that is pleasing to God?  Can I look in the mirror and say my life is Spiritually oriented towards God and all that He created me to be and do?  For me that is to be the focus of my time and energy.  It seems to me that this should be the focus of the Church of God in this day and time, when the salt and light that Jesus called his disciples to be is sorely needed.

Causes come and causes go.  Some are good causes and need some attention drawn to them.  But in the attention there must always be the true focus.

God loves everyone and desires to be in an interactive and intimate relationship with everyone.  Once that is the chosen life orientation all the other things will work themselves out.  That needs to be the focus of the message of the Church of God.  That needs to be the focus of my time and energy as a disciple of Jesus.  When the Church of God stays on focus the world will change.

TRANSFORMED INTO THE KINGDOM OF GOD

The cry that is heard from many activists today is “Change the World”.  It is not a new cry.  Down through the ages those who are opposed to oppression, war, and poverty have worked hard at bringing about change.  I honor and respect their work and have often marched with many of them.

As I grew older I began to notice that the vision was almost always about external change of the conditions that caused the unfair and unjust situation in the world.  It was the hope of change that filled God’s people over two thousand years ago as they awaited their Messiah and looked to Jesus as that fulfillment.  In Truth he was, but few received or believed in him; many were disappointed and eventually rejected him.

Jesus did not overthrow the oppressive regime of the Roman Empire; he did not eradicate poverty; he did not end wars and bring peace and stability to the land.  Jesus did not change the world, as declared by God as good.  Jesus did not change the world, that God so loved as to send him to it.  Jesus did not change the world because the world was not the problem.  Jesus healed and transformed people, one touch at a time.  Jesus transferred the rule of the world back to its original Sovereign; he brought forth the Kingdom of God that began in the beginning with God dwelling with His people and being their God.

Those who enter into God’s Kingdom will know no oppression; those who enter into God’s Kingdom will know no war; those who enter into God’s Kingdom will know no poverty.  They will be changed forever.

The Messiah has come and those who follow his leadership, who are inspired and impacted by his vision of the Kingdom of God in the present and still to come will discipline themselves in His Way, will be equipped with His power and Truth, and will live the Life they were created by God to live.

The Messiah has come and will come again to fully rule and reign.

Maranatha Lord Jesus

Maranatha

BEING EMPTIED TO BE FILLED

God’s method of preparing people for ministry begins by putting them in the wilderness, an experience of emptiness.   In the wilderness everything of self is stripped away and there God meets His called people, provided for them, cares for them, reveals Himself to them, and promises that He will lead them with His Presence forever. 

As a disciple of Jesus I must empty myself and be filled with Him, His Way, His Truth, and His Life.  It is then that I can enter into the Kingdom of God and be given my part in His message and my part in His mission.  It is then that I am equipped for the task of assisting others to be disciples of Jesus and help manifest the Kingdom of God here on earth.

It is interesting that the Military seems to understand God’s method of discipleship better than the Church.  However, while their method is good their execution is misused.  Their concept of power and control is mistaken.

Unfortunately the reaction to the poor execution and misuse of a good method is not to reexamine and go back to the original and make the corrections; the method is simply abandoned as being bad, destructive, and irrelevant.  All restraints are removed, all discipline is discarded, and all sense of eldership is eradicated.  Freedom is given rather than earned; freedom is given with no sense of responsibility; and so, we have today a world in crisis and chaos, on the way to destroying itself and ourselves with it.

Authority, control, and power are necessary elements of life on earth.  But it must be God’s authority, God’s control, and God’s power.  That’s how it was in the beginning.  That’s how it will be in the end.

PREPARE FOR THE POWER AND PRESENCE

Jesus did not come down to earth to condemn the world or change the world.  He came to serve and to save the world.  His Presence and power transformed situations and people.  He transformed water into wine, bread and wine into his body and blood, broken people into whole people, and situations of fear into faith.  His Presence and his power continue to do these things, through us as we serve.

Transformation precedes change.  I would see my part in this as the one setting the table, creating a hospitable place, preparing the way for God to be present and manifest His transforming power, and then being there for the person or situation that has changed, to encourage and support as the change manifests itself.

John the Baptist understood his role.  He came to prepare the way for the One who would manifest the transformational power on the one to be changed.  He then knew that he must decrease in his position to the One who does the transforming, not gain in power and reputation by putting another notch on his belt for converting another sinner.

Loving God, loving ourselves, loving one another, and loving our enemies is a way of setting the table, creating a hospitable place, and preparing the way for God to be present and manifest His transforming power.  Let my life, my message, and my mission be that simple service.

GOD SO LOVED THE WORLD...SO MUST I

These days I am very aware of the true unity that people of faith will have to have in the days to come.  Our petty divisions with one another will have to cease.  We need to get on task and that requires building bridges not walls. 

“God so loved the world that He gave His only Son.”

This verse is used to show Jesus’ work in our lives.  But reading it today I was struck with the first part of the verse; God so loved the world.

The world was as much of a mess then as it is now.  People were as much of a mess then as they are now.  At one point in history God looked at that mess and decided to destroy it all, except Noah, his family, and the animals.  The world didn’t change much.  But this time God so loved the world He decided to save it.

For me there is a lot in this world not to love; a lot in this world I would like to see destroyed; poverty, was, killing babies, corporate greed, oppression, just to name a few.  But God had and still has a different way besides destroying everything.  He sent His Son to save the world by transforming the way people thought, believed, and lived.  We are called to follow in his footsteps; in the world but not of it we are to reflect God’s love to people; we are called to instruct not condemn.  Jesus helped people by teaching them to see differently, think differently, and live differently. I want to do that in my writing, my ministry, my life.  I want to produce conversation not conflict.

JESUS IS THE ALPHA AND OMEGA

I like the concept of Red Letter Christians; taking the words of Jesus as a guide for living.  But I believe in order to truly know Jesus, one has to know the full counsel of God, for that is who he is.  To understand Jesus as the fulfillment of the Law and Prophets, one has to know and understand the Law and the Prophets.  Jesus fulfilled them.  He did not replace them.

The whole Bible from beginning to end will manifest Jesus, who is himself the Alpha and Omega.  To neglect the conflict in the Old Testament because it doesn’t meet with one’s sensibilities or concept of God is to miss the full meaning and substance of Jesus and of God.  The Old Testament speaks to the consequences of people not doing well and suffering the result of the sin that was crouching at the door waiting to devour them, just as God spoke to Cain as a warning.  The Old Testament also speaks of the drive and desire of God who loves His people and rescues them again, and again, and again; eventually sending His own Son to die on a cross to rescue them once and for all.

Without all of that knowledge and background Jesus just becomes a good teacher with some good ideas on living life. 

IT'S ALL RELEVANT

I was pondering on the word relevant this morning.  I hear that word a lot in the many discussions about why “the God hypothesis” is no longer necessary in our 21^st century thinking, or why the churches must change the way they do things.  The goal is to make things relevant, useful, and meaningful to the world’s needs today.

I was looking out the window at my Tree that is glowing like gold.  This is an old tree and has been planted there, doing what trees do for many years.  It’s pretty much doing the same thing that all trees do, even the century old tree I used to sit under at Pendle Hill.  It’s pretty much doing the same thing that all of the trees in the ancient forests do, in the same way they have done since the creation of time.  But then most of nature is that way as well, when left untouched by human hands.  It’s how God made them in the beginning.  The sun appears every morning and disappears every evening; the oceans tides rise and ebb everyday; the rain falls and waters the earth.  Those things don’t change.  Are they still relevant?

My tree goes through the seasonal changes.  In spring the buds blossom and the leaves develop.  In fall the leaves turn beautiful colors and then die and fall to the ground.  The following spring the cycle begins again.  Every spring and fall are different yet very much the same.  The fruit of the tree may vary but the foundation of the tree remains the same; the paradox of being different but being the same.

There are things that can change without destroying the foundations and I believe the church needs to hear that more than ever today.  God is not a hypothesis.  God is the Creator of everything created and that needs to remain True as the foundation.  God is relevant, yesterday, today, and forever for the entire world.  Jesus is relevant, from the Alpha to the Omega for the church.  The foundation does not need to change to be relevant to the people.  The people need to change to be relevant to the Foundation.

There is a lot of building on sand these days that will be washed away with the first storm; and that storm is coming.  This world has become godless by choice, which is very foolish.  The picture that Paul paints of the people in the last days, that he warns Timothy about, is much like a picture of contemporary society.  “People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, unforgiving, slanderous, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God-having a form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Timothy 3:2-5).

It’s time for all who call themselves Christians and lovers of God to wake up and listen.  Now is not the time to turn away from the Foundations of the faith that Jesus taught and lived out. Now is not the time to turn our ears away from the Truth.  Now is not the time to be deceived.  Now is the time to turn to the God who is Relevant throughout all time, not out of fear but in faith and love.

Paul exhorts Timothy to, “Continue in what you have learned and have become convinced of, because you know those from whom you learned it, and how from infancy you have known the holy scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus” (II Timothy 3:14, 15).

There are many good examples throughout the centuries, of godly men and women who built on the foundation of the Rock and who knew God to be relevant in their lives.  I want to listen and learn from them.