GOD'S TRUE FREEDOM

“I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse.  Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, loving the Lord your God, obeying His voice, and holding fast to him, for He is your life and length of days…’ (Deuteronomy 30:19,20).

It seems like human beings spend a lot of time and money fighting for freedom, the world’s freedom, like it is something to be captured and grasped; which then makes it not freedom but possession. There is nothing purer than God’s freedom.   It is different than the world’s freedom because God’s freedom does have laws, precepts, commandments and rules.  There is a Way that is right.  I experience God’s Way to true freedom as having boundaries, not barriers, choices not chains, service not slavery, and obedience not oppression.  Being yoked to the One who was with God in the beginning, who made all things, who is Life itself, and the true light which enlightens everyone, is the only Way to true freedom.

God’s creation contains an inner order; I can observe that in nature.  All created things have that inner order within them that obey without thought or question.  My squirrels are not organized externally but inwardly they all know how to build nests that survive the worst of weather conditions; they know how to jump from tree to tree, branch to branch, knowing which ones will hold them; they follow their inner squirrelness that God created them with and continue to be a delight to me as I watch them out of my window morning after morning, year after year.  The same is true of every other creature.  They all do what they were meant to do according to their own kind; to their inner life order.

I believe God created human beings in that same way, with an inner life order according to His image and likeness.  When I am obedient to that order I am truly free to be me.  When I throw that order off and start doing what I think best because of what the world has whispered in my ear, I end up like a squirrel trying to live in the ocean.

Because God is God and wants His creation to freely love Him, obey Him, and commune with Him, I have the ability to choose how I live.  God is clear as to the responsibilities I am accepting when I choose Him.  He is also clear as to the consequences if I choose to reject Him. Those consequences are eternal so it is important that I seriously consider the choice I make not out of fear but out of love for true freedom.

Religion needs to be a source of Revelation not a source of restriction.  Its message is one of hope, of true freedom.  True freedom comes from following not fighting, yielding not yelling, resting not rebelling.  True inner freedom overpowers outer oppression.  The crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus is the demonstration of that power.  Religion needs to be the voice of God as He invites all who will listen, Come, follow me…Come, BE FREE.

LIVING OUT MY BIRTHRIGHT

There is never a moment when I am apart from God.  He is the very Life within me. God breathed live in the human being.  God deals personally with every human being, which is absolutely amazing when I think of how many of us there are, have been, and are still to come.  John writes of Jesus that “He was LIFE and the LIFE was the light of men.”  When I look into a child’s eyes, especially a baby, I see that light, still as bright as if it was straight from God’s Presence and glory.  It is so clear to me that the life of God is within them as they innocently come into this world.  The Spirit shines out onto everything and it is sacred, as all life is.

I was born innocent, but eventually the dust of time, circumstances, and events grows thick and settles onto this flesh I am contained in.  The Spirit is still there but gets covered over and somehow that connection is interfered with by the things of the world.  I forgot where I came from and wondered around trying to find something I knew I was a part of and usually carried my search into all the wrong places.  God searches for his lost sheep and when he finds them the Spirit without quickens the Spirit within and they make the connection once again. “To all who did receive him, and believe in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.”  It is my personal choice to accept this original birthright, squander it, or reject it altogether.  When I choose to accept it I commit myself to live out the responsibilities that come with it.  On Palm Sunday, 15 April 1973 I chose to accept it.  At times I squandered that birthright just as the Prodigal son did in Jesus’ parable.  Thankfully, like that son, I found my way back, returning in repentance, and finding my Father’s open arms welcoming me home; no condemnation, just celebration.

God will not force himself on anyone.  Paul tells what happens when people reject their birthright, when they reject God.  “God gave them up to the lust of their hearts; God gave them up to dishonorable passions; God gave them up to a debased mind.”  God gave them up to the life they wanted to live, doing what they wanted to do.  God gave up His Son to give us life.  But He will not force Himself on anyone who chooses not to receive, believe, and accept that Life.  Out of love He accepts the choice made to live one’s own life, just as the father in the parable let his son go. But the cost is great if one is not repentant and return to the Father.  The spirit is diminished and dies.  I believe this grieves God’s heart.

I know how I feel when I look into the eyes of someone I love and care about and they say to me, “Frankly, I don’t care what you or anyone else thinks.  I am doing what I want to do; it is my path to walk and I choose the path I want.”  It grieves my heart because in their eyes I see only darkness and a void emptiness.  The light is gone, extinguished by their own breath.

It is God’s business to determine the final condemnation and judgment for this refusal of the birthright.  But I know there is no celebration in the Father’s house for any lost soul.

I, like everyone, am God breathed; but I am far from perfect.  But I believe that God isn’t as concerned about perfection as He is about presence.  He created us to be with Him, to dwell with Him, and commune with Him.  How can anyone choose anything else?

PREPARING A PLACE FOR US

For five years I worked on the Operations Team at Pendle Hill, a Quaker Retreat Center in Wallingford, Pennsylvania.  The mission of that Team was to provide “radical hospitality” to the people who visited there for rest, reflection, and workshops.  We prepared the space where people could be free from providing basic necessities of their physical lives and focus on meeting their spiritual needs with little or no distractions.  We cooked their meals, cleaned their rooms, and made them as comfortable as possible.  We worked hard so they didn’t have to; we ran quickly so they could walk slowly.

I loved my job.  I worked with and met some truly wonderful and amazing people who influenced my life and provided some wonderful memories.  One of the greatest lessons I learned was the importance of preparation. This lesson has done me well in my personal life, physically, mentally, and spiritually.

Preparation for anything I do is the key to its success.  It is the process of building a good foundation from which to safely build everything I do on.  It generally takes the most time, attention, and work; it generally is the work that is unnoticed, unacknowledged, and unappreciated.  The house cleaners, sou chefs, cooks, and maintenance people remain hidden in the background, behind closed doors; or in Downton Abby language, downstairs from the upstairs.  Of course, this is true in other places as well.  The training an athlete does, the drudgery of playing scales a musician does, the hours of study a student does seems insignificant to the trophy won, the concert performed, or the degree earned.

The person I am in my mind, soul, and spirit, is the result of preparation.  Just as a garden will remain barren if the soil isn’t cultivated and the seeds are not sown, so I must work to prepare a life to my liking.  I cannot reap what I do not sow.

As I grow older I become more reflective of my years that have past by me.  At times I can feel worthless because of my inability to do as much as I could when I was younger.  But if I look again with a perspective of seasonal living, I see that now is what I prepared for; the days I walked quickly allow me now to be fulfilled by walking slowly.  Years of conquest of every idea about God have now led to a greater sense of communion; years of exploration have now led to enjoyment; years of filling have now led to fulfillment; years of struggle have led to simplicity; years of preparation have led to Presence, both with God and with my true self.

I see God as One who honors preparation.  In the beginning He prepared a place for me to live; His creation.  When I got lost God prepared a way back to Him; the crucifixion of His Son.  In the end He will do something new, something Jesus left this earth with the promise to prepare a place for me to dwell with him forever. 

I love to wonder about what kind of a place he is preparing.

I WRITE BECAUSE...

I write to find my voice

Like digging in the dirt to find treasure

Like digging in the sand to build a castle.

I write to find my voice

That is hidden deep inside.

I feel like I am drowning in a sea of voices

That come crashing wave upon wave

On my ears and mind.

I write to find the refreshment from the

Fountain of Living water

That is deposited gently and quietly

On my soul and spirit.

The other voices are important

They can bring knowledge

But my voice is crucial

It brings life.

GOD WORKS IN MIGHTY & MYSTERIOUS WAYS

When Jesus was born it was in a stable because there was no room in the Inn.  Angels heralded his birth which brought shepherds to see him.  A star in the sky led wise men from the East to come to see him.  Other than those announcements no one would have known the Word of God had come to earth. After the invited guests left he went into obscurity; unknown, no one special, just a good boy who followed his father’s trade as a carpenter, waiting for his appointed time to come.

When Jesus died it was on a cross, nothing out of the ordinary for those who had disobeyed the rules of the day.  He did not die in obscurity or unknown.  He had left his mark on people across the spectrum of society. Pilot, the ruler of Rome, publicly acknowledged him as King of the Jews on the sign he put upon the cross.  A Centurial in the army acknowledged him as the Son of God as he watched him die.  Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews who had met with him early in Jesus ministry, now had become a follower assisted   Joseph of Arimathea, also a Pharisee and member of the council, a good and righteous man who had now become one of his disciples.  These two men fearlessly and in public went to Pilot and secured his assistance to give Jesus a proper burial.  And of course the women who had followed him, one from birth to death had remained fearlessly loyal in his presence.

Jesus touched individuals, relating to them face to face.  A small group of individuals who loved Jesus and faithfully followed him would grow into a worldwide acknowledgement of this man who died for all their sins.  The seeds he planted in a few would grow into multitudes.  He came to earth as nothing out of the ordinary, taking the form of a servant, being born into the likeness of men. (Philippians 2:5-8)  He left earth a victor over sin and death.  He will come again as the one who is glorified and sits on the throne of God in His kingdom.  He is returning, not to stay, but to come for those who receive him and believe in his name, to take those who are children of God to the place that he has prepared; where there is always room in the Inn for whosoever will come; where his Father dwells, and rules over His creation as it was from the beginning and now shall ever shall be.

There are life lessons in the events of those days that changed the world.

One was for his disciples, the ten who had abandoned and deserted him in his hour of need; who ran and hid in fear.  After all those years of being with and learning from their Master, the disciples were helpless, powerless, and useless at his death.  Their pride and arrogance was finally broken.  They now knew experientially that without him, they are nothing.  Finally they became who they were meant to be and would be able to do the work that God through His Spirit would lead them to do; the work Jesus had trained them to do, but could only be done by broken men.  They had now been crucified with Christ.  It will be no longer they who live, but Christ who lives in them.  That lesson is for all who follow Jesus as well, as Paul points out in Galatians 2:20.

Another lesson for all who follow Jesus is that one should never despise small and seemingly insignificant moments and events; they have the potential to grow like the mustard seed or spread like leaven.  One quiet word, one small deed; one may never know what great and abundant fruit they may bare; so be faithful and hopeful, always aware that it is God’s Spirit working, and His Spirit works in mighty and mysterious ways.

ONE OF GOD'S GREATEST MYSTERIES

“In the place where he was crucified

There was a garden.”

John 19:41

The juxtaposition of a beautiful garden and a place of utmost horror is difficult to imagine.  Yet they both are places where death occurs. Can anything good come from death?  Yes…life comes from death.  It is one of God’s greatest mysteries.

In the garden every plant that grows started with the death and burial of a seed.  On the hill of crucifixion every soul that now lives free started with the death and burial of Jesus.  The power of resurrection overcomes the powerlessness of death.  It is one of God’s greatest mysteries.

I try so hard to be good, to be true to my calling, to be a disciple of Jesus, to walk in his ways; but I continually fall short of my desire.  Someday I will learn the lesson of the seed and the cross.  Only death of the life I work hard at leads to the life he hopes for me.  I can not do it; he can and will.

It is one of God’s greatest mysteries.

Jesus could do nothing on the cross; but the power within him overcome the sin within me and made me free.  Jesus could do nothing buried in the grave; but the resurrection power within him made me alive in his Spirit.  It is one of God’s greatest mysteries.

“In the place where he was crucified

There was a garden.”

BEYOND RELIGION-BACK TO NATURE

When all is said and done, it’s all said and done.  “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.”  God masterfully created everything necessary, capable of growth and reproduction as well as maintenance systems to keep them going.  Nothing more was needed except the care and attention he asked from the human beings He also created.  Simple obedience to the ways that already were placed into being was all that was required; no redoing, no revision; simply listening and obeying God, the Creator of it all.  That one simple thing was the one thing human beings chose not to do and continue to choose not to do.

The first humans were created their authentic selves, given their purpose in life, and placed into a perfect environment in which to grow into who they were created and meant to be.  But for some reason they wanted more and jumped at the first chance to be something more.  They destroyed the simplicity of being and were forever forced into the task of doing.

The Word of God became flesh and dwelled among us.  There are many reasons that human beings have attached to that act of God.  Those reasons become fodder for scholarly discussions, doctrinal debates, and divided loyalties.  At one time I enjoyed these mental gymnastics; I don’t find them enjoyable anymore because they remove my mind, heart and soul from being filled with God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit, the community of the Trinity that I love being in the company of.  I enjoy the conversation I find in that place.

I believe that God speaks to me through nature and through the Scriptures, all of which are God breathed and inspired by Him as a way to commune and communicate who I am to Be and how I am to Be in His world.  I believe that Jesus lived the lessons that he wants me to learn so that I can be who I was created to be and do what I was created to do from the beginning of time.  So paying attention, observing, and obeying his life, his words, and his works have become the Way, Truth, and Life to me.  It is not a duty or discipline; it is a delight.

I love to just sit and watch nature.  It is all so faithful and true to its design.  There is an exact flow and pattern to it.  It simply IS.  Silent, still, not striving or stressing to be or do anything else than what it was created to be or do.  Left void of human interaction, it exists in a state of perfection.  It simply obeys the laws and principles that God spoke them into being with.  That to me is its lesson for me; that and the pleasure of its presence.

As I observe the life and listen to the words of Jesus I see the same thing.  I see the example of a human being living faithful and true to its design.  There is an exact flow and pattern to his life.  He simply is who he is; I AM.  He is silent and still, not striving and stressing to be who others thought he should be; not striving and stressing to be anyone else other than what he was sent to do.  His life on earth reveals to me that to simply obey the laws and principles of God, the Creator and Father of all He created is the only sensible and reasonable way to live; it is the only way to truly experience the pleasure of His Presence.  That to me is not a duty or a discipline; it is a delight, my delight.

God Is Finished- Man Remains Undone

It is human nature to control, to conquest, and command lordship

It is God’s nature to create, commune, and communicate Lordship

God breathes life into Being

Humans destroy life to know how it works

Growth comes out of solitude and stillness

Manufacturing comes out of noise and need to progress

God is able to rest because He is finished

Humans continue to stress and strive yet remain undone.

GOD'S LAW HAS BEEN FULFILLED IN JESUS

Matthew 5:17

God’s Law has been fulfilled in Jesus

It is opportunistic not oppressive

Provides boundaries not bondage

Rest not restriction

Leads to freedom not fear

God’s Law has been fulfilled in Jesus

God’s Law has become the I AMs

The Bread of life

That nourishes me

The Light of the World

That enlightens me

The Good Shepherd

Who protects me

The Resurrection and Life

That enlivens my soul and spirit

The Way

That guides me

The Truth

That teaches me

The life

That breathes within me

The True Vine

That I grow from

The door

I walk through

Into the Kingdom of God.

RELATING TO GOD & TO ONESELF

Luke 18:9-14

Joseph Ratzinger had some interesting thoughts on the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector that have caused me to ponder.  He states that this parable demonstrates two ways of relating to God and to oneself.

“The Pharisee can boast of considerable virtues; he tells God only about himself, and thinks he is praising God in praising himself.  The tax collector knows he has sinned and cannot boast before God, and prays in full awareness of his debt to grace.  The Pharisee does not really look at God at all, but only himself.  The tax collector sees himself in the light of God, so he knows he needs God and that he lives only by God’s goodness.”

It is so easy to be the Pharisee in this story.  It is so east to boast of all the good things I do, keeping my eyes on what I am doing ‘for God’ and seeing myself in good light, pleasing to God.  It is so easy to rest on my laurels and how mature I am in the Lord.  It is so easy for that to lead me down a path that no longer needs God, because I believe I’ve got it all together now.  I have been down that path many times before I knew God and it always led to a dead end.  Jesus confronts people on that path in Matthew 7:21-23 when they proudly said, “Lord, didn’t we do all these great things for you?” Jesus told them to get away from him and called them workers of iniquity.  Paul knew he could boast in his virtues that he lists in Philippians 3:4-11, “A Hebrew of Hebrews, righteous in the law, and blameless.”  Those virtues lead to a dead end and he came to know they all counted for nothing compared to knowing Christ Jesus as Lord.

Shining the spot light on me and what I do for God is empty praise, unfulfilling to the soul, and leads to futility.  Looking at myself in the light of God, the light that enlightens all people shows me how much I need God in my life and in everything I do.  It all comes from Him in His goodness and grace; it is full of life and leads to fruitfulness not futility.

QUERY

Do I look at myself with a spot light shining on my human endeavors and achievements or in the light of God that shines on His goodness and grace that comes from a loving relationship with Him?

Is my heart humble creating a hospitable environment for God and Jesus to come and dwell within me and to shine out from me in what I do?

A SACRED ARISTOCRACY

I am missing something in the world today.  While I am an informal person there are times I appreciate formality.  I can get too sloppy, and to familiar and something seems to get lost in that.  As I watch Downton Abby or Sense and Sensibility there is something in me that relates to all that formality and pomp; it seems respectful and noble act with good manners towards one another; to treat others well; to take time and energy in making everything beautiful and according to standard.  I never would have thought that would attract me, but it does.

Back in my hippy days I was on a committee that advocating getting rid of the dress code in public schools in my county.  Years later, as I looked at how kids dress and carry themselves in school, I regretted being apart of that decision.  I saw a correlation to how people dressed and how people acted.  Just last week I watched a highly respected Bible scholar addressing seminary students; he was an older man and was wearing a tie; the students slouched in their chairs and looked like they were on a picnic at the beach; it bothered me.  Is it just because I am getting old, or is it something more?

There is a flippancy towards God and sacred things that I once thought was ‘cool’ but now find offensive.  This started when I went to church with my mom a week before she died.  She knew her time was coming and asked me to take her to a traditional church service.  I took her to a church that said it had both a traditional and a more casual service.  We walked into the traditional service and everyone was dressed in ‘beach attire’, there was a surf board on the altar and the sermon was about how Jesus was a ‘beach boy’; and this was the traditional service! My mother was disappointed and I, as cool as I am, was appalled.  They have gone too far; we have gone too far.  

God wants an intimate relationship with His people.  Intimacy increases respect and a sense of honoring one another; it is sacred knowledge of one another.  Folks have become casual with God, bringing Him down to our level.  The Word of God became flesh so that He could be one with us, not one OF us.  He came to elevate people to a high calling, not dumb down to the lowest common denominator.  Intimacy is the highest form of respect for another; it is a precious treasure that should not be abused and taken for granted.

God is God; He is high and to be lifted up; He is to be honored, respected, and given His proper place as Lord and King.  He came to earth to be one with us but only stayed for thirty three years.  Throughout eternity He will dwell with His people, but will be on a throne with His Son and we will be His people, in an intimate relationship with Him, face to face with Him, but we will continually bow, serve, and worship Him.  I believe it’s time to start practicing now for the Aristocracy we will come to know and love for eternity.  

THE KINGDOM OF GOD

          On the throne in the Kingdom of God

Sits God and the Lamb

They are the temple

They are the light

The glory shinning thru

The lamp that is the Lamb

His servants will worship Him

His servants will look upon His face

His name will be on their foreheads

They shall reign forever and ever

From the throne of God

The river of life-giving water flows

On the banks the tree of life grows

Producing its fruit in its time

The fruit of the tree of life is given

To those who have washed their robes

And enter the city through its gates.

THE PROPHETIC VISION THE WORLD NEEDS TO HEAR

The Word of God became flesh and made his dwelling among us; the true light, which enlightens everyone, came into the world.  He is the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world.  He received his approval from God the Father, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased”.  He was tested in the wilderness and ready to fulfill his mission and proclaim his message.  “Repent, for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand.”

This is the prophetic vision the world heard from Jesus at his first coming; it is the prophetic vision that must be heard and maintained until he comes again.  Repentance, a washing of ones robe is necessary to produce a mind and heart that are open to the instructions of how then we shall live in the Kingdom of God now and when it comes in totality and glory in the end of times as we know them.

As servants of God His people are dictated to silent acquiescence.  There is no open or free dialogue.  When one knows and loves the True God this is not a problem.  God knows best because He is God and knows all.

“God is in heaven and you are on earth;

Therefore let your words be few.”

Ecclesiastes 5:1

REPENT NOT REVISION

“Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint”

Proverbs 29:18

It is disturbing to me to read the news these days; men and women being beheaded and killed in a far away land; three men being shot in the head in a land I call my home.  It gets beyond overwhelming to me and my spirit is grieved.  People just seem to be so mean and hurtful to one another.  There doesn’t seem to be any respect for one another and certainly a shortage of love and concern for one another.  Cruel and disrespectful words being spoken under the guise of free speech are hurtful to the people themselves but also cast a dark shadow on our so called liberties.  It is discouraging.

I try to remain in a positive state of mind, but at times reality does not allow that.  Somehow I think these things are the consequences of a nation that throws off God and a Church that is too concerned with itself and not the world.  Jesus said of the Church that he built, “the gates of hell will not prevail against it”.  Where has that Church gone in the midst of our revisoning and changing what Church is?  Have we adhered to his plan or are we continually creating church in our own image?  Our world is filled with a lot of words and platitudes to loving one another, but is our world a better place to live?

The Church is to be the light and salt to the world.  It is to hold forth the prophetic vision.  Where is that vision?  Jesus proclaimed the prophetic vision when he began his ministry here on earth.

“Repent, the Kingdom of God is at hand.”

He wasn’t asking people to revision his church.  He was commanding people to repent, and to put themselves under the governance of God.  When God’s people do that, God will add to their numbers, just as He did in Acts.  Then we will bring restraint to the evils done in the world and the True Church will reemerge as it was created to be by Jesus himself.

GOD'S MYSTERY & HIDDEN TREASURE

“May hearts be encouraged, knit together in love, to reach all the riches of full assurance of understanding and the knowledge of God’s mystery, which is Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.”

Colossians 2:2, 3

There is something intriguing and inviting about mystery and hidden treasure to me.  I enjoy reading a good mystery story; it engages me as I try and figure out ‘who done it’.  And of course who isn’t enthralled in the idea of hidden treasure?  I remember digging in the sand on the beach or dirt in the woods, hoping that I would find something special.

I like to think that God is a mystery and that there is something about hidden treasure in his being.  It keeps me engaged as I read the Bible or as I look at the beauty of nature.  I am glad that I don’t know it all because somehow I think that would be a very boring existence.

I have a very filling and personal relationship with God and I do know a lot; but I don’t know everything and I never will. But I will keep digging because it fills my soul with love and joy to find each and every little detail that I do discover.  That is why I continually read the Bible.  Every time I pick it up I discover something new. 

No matter how many times I have read a passage I still find a new little insight, or sometimes a big insight.  Just like you can never step into the same river twice, I cannot read a verse of scripture twice.  It is always different because I am different; I keep becoming more sensitive to the Spirit as he is speaking.  It continually amazes me.

IDENTIFY MYSELF!

In the end it’s all about BEING, not DOING.  As I meditate day and night on the law of God, it becomes my nature; it slowly absorbs into my mind, heart, and soul and it becomes who I am.  A tree planted by streams of water doesn’t do anything.  It simply IS a tree, nourished by its roots and bearing fruit, just as it was designed and created to do.  All is accomplished when I am nourished by having my roots dug deep, absorbing the living water from the river of God.

Jesus did out of who he was and he continues to be…I AM.  That is enough.

Anything I do is simply a yielding of the fruit of my relationship with God through Jesus.  “I am the vine. You are the branches.  The branches are nothing but dead wood if they are not attached to the living vine. 

Jesus fulfilled the law of God and the Prophets.  The law became a living being.  When I am nourished by my relationship with Jesus I absorb the law and it becomes my nature.  I don’t DO; I BE; I am.

The world is conscious of identity.  It offers the ability to categorize, label, judge, and evaluate one another.  People have told me I am difficult to identify; they are unable to put me into a category, put a label on me, or put me into a box. I am not that mysterious, I just don’t fit into any mold the world offers.

God is simple when He identifies Himself; “I am the Lord, your God.”  God is simple when He identifies Jesus; “This is my Son, with whom I am well pleased.”  My identity is simple; “All who receive him (the Word), and believe in his name (Jesus), he gave the right to become children of God…born of God.”  I share my identity with the “All who”.

This becomes the firm foundation of my identity.  I need no other; I desire no other.  It takes awhile to get to this Truth; it takes growing old and watching the flesh (that is thought to be identity) break down and decay.

“All flesh is grass, and all its beauty is like the flower of the field. 

The grass withers, the flower fades when the breath of the Lord

blows on it” (Isaiah 40:6,7).

When the breath of God blows on me I will be face to face with God.  All my flesh will be blown away like dust and ash.  But I, the true I, will see His face and hear His Word, forever.

QUERY

The Word was made flesh for only three years of eternity.  How significant is the flesh and all that I do in the flesh, in the light of eternity?

WHAT ELSE COULD ANYONE WANT?

Psalm 19

Creation is beautifully arranged, running naturally, and dutifully completing its function to maintain life and growth on earth.  The divine order is impeccable and runs well without human intervention.  God put human beings in the role of dominance over His creation, not to change or control His handiwork but to attend and care for it.  We are a part of the handiwork, not detached and superior to it.  What happens to nature happens to and affects us.

God created an earth that was perfect.  He framed it with His laws, decrees, precepts, commands, and statutes.  The law is perfect, the decrees trustworthy, the precepts right, the commands clear, and the statutes true.  The awesomeness of God is pure and is worthy of all praise and worship from His creation.  When all of creation looks to, loves, and lives in the effective rule of God, all will be well.

Throughout human history people have chosen to transgress and trespass from the Way of God and all of creation has suffered the consequences.  Pride and arrogance is rooted deep in the heart of human beings, thinking themselves like God and able to make their own laws, their own ways.  It began with the first humans and prevails throughout history to today.  Through it all God remains faithful to provide all that is needed for life and growth; through it all He has remained faithful in His love for human beings; through it all He has provided a means for humans to return to their original place and function in His creation as designed.

The final means was sending His Son, Jesus Christ to earth, to direct our way back to God and to take our place in the Kingdom of God, the ultimate rule of God over all His creation.  Those who receive him and believe in his name are restored to their relationship with God, their Father and Creator, and choose to put themselves under His most effective Rule.  Under that Rule will come a refreshing of their soul, simple wisdom, a rejoicing heart, an enlightened eye, and eternal life dwelling with God in community with Jesus and the Holy Spirit.  What else could anyone want?

WALKING IN TRUE FREEDOM

John 11:38-44

There are great lessons in the story of the Exodus; it reveals a lot about human nature.  “The people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help.  And God hears their groaning and remembered His covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob” (Exodus 2:23, 24).  God used Moses to free these people from the control of the Egyptians and to lead them into a promised land of their own. After gathering these people and releasing them from slavery, parting the Red Sea and destroying those who chased after them, the people began their walk into the wilderness on their way to their own land of freedom.  It didn’t take very long for them to begin their grumbling once again; this time it was because they were thirsty and hungry.  God met those needs and then while He was talking with Moses up on the mountain the people started once again to grumble because Moses was gone for too long.  They gave up and had Aaron build a golden cow that they could worship, turning their backs on God and on Moses.

The Israelites grumbled while they were in slavery; they grumbled when God freed them as well.  Externally they were free; internally they were still in bondage to themselves.  Their external condition had changed but their internal condition remained the same.  They were enslaved and ruled by their fleshly wants, needs, and desires, so slave or free they were no better off.  So what was the point of their freedom?

The United States was built on freedom.  It threw off the tyranny of British rule and developed their own land of freedom; for individuals, groups, and corporations.  Freedom of speech gives people the liberty to say anything they want, helpful or harmful; freedom to own guns and to use them to help or harm others; freedom to govern our own affairs, including our bodies, in ways that help or harm.  Like the people of Israel, America’s early settlers were free externally in a new land but still in bondage to a soul in bondage.

A soul in bondage to the flesh is not free in any circumstance.  The soul must be freed in order for a person to be truly free.  That is why God sent His Son; to release the internal soul from the bondage of the fleshly self so that whatever the external circumstances, the person is indeed free.  With the soul no longer under the governance of the self, it now lives under the governance of the Holy Spirit.  Jesus does the work to free me but I need to learn to walk in that freedom.  Lazarus was freed from death but he needed to remove the grave clothes and put on new clothes.  This is what practicing the Spiritual Disciplines do for me; they don’t give me the freedom; they dress me in new clothes so I can externally walk in with consistency in my state of internal freedom.

HOW MAJESTIC IS GOD'S NAME

Psalm 8

Beyond obedience, beyond the words in the Bible, beyond my spiritual disciplines and practices, beyond my knowledge, is God’s love for me.  Beyond religion and spirituality is God’s desire to be in a relationship with me.  God so loved the world that He sent His Son to redeem, forgive, and deliver His people who were living in the domain of darkness, away from His Presence, and transfer His children into the Kingdom of His Son.  Why?

“When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers,

  the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,

  what is man that you are mindful of him?”  (Psalm 8)

God didn’t see us as worthless sinners.  God saw us as worthwhile human beings that He had created for wonderful work to do for Him.  God’s original plan for making human beings was that we would reflect His image in the world and be people in His likeness.  Humans were given responsibility to care for the works of God’s hands, all that He had lovingly created.  He crowned them with glory and honor and wanted them to be fruitful and multiply, filling the earth, reflecting His glory and honor, and majesty.

Human beings failed but God did not change His plan or the way He saw His people.  He paid the cost of the death of His Son Jesus on the cross because He saw us worthwhile and worthy of the price.  That can only bring us to tears of humility and to a place of never ending love and worship of a majestic and awesome God.

BEYOND OBEDIENCE IS LOVE

Psalm 27:4

It is not enough to obey the Laws of God.  I need to go beyond obedience and work to become a person who desires to obey God in all I do.  In the parable of the prodigal son the older son did everything right but in the end he was more distanced from his father than the younger son was.  The older son stayed home with his father out of duty.  The younger son returned to his father out of repentance and submission.  Both sons had the love of their father. The younger believed and received it; the older son did not even see it and rejected it. 

It isn’t what I do as much as it is who I am that in important in God’s eyes.  Obedience out of duty, without a gracious heart and submitted will is not enough.  I must go beyond obedience and become a person whose will desires to love God more than myself.  Then obedience will be the fruit of that love.

I remember years ago at my job we had someone come in and do a workshop on Compassionate Conversation.  We learned skills on how to speak kindly and compassionately with one another.  For awhile we practiced what we had learned but over time we forgot the steps we learned and went back to our instincts.  So the workshop was brought back again, and again in the years to come.  I remember thinking we were doing it wrong.  If we were compassionate people we would simply speak to one another compassionately.  So we needed to address becoming compassionate people, not just learning skills of compassionate conversation.  I am not sure there are workshops for that because that is personal work and takes wanting to be something other than I am.  That takes more than learning skills and exercises; that takes self sacrifice.  As they say in Oz, “That is a horse of a different color.”

Military commanders in this world demand obedience.  God desires His children to love Him with all our hearts, minds, souls, and strength.  When I do that obedience will be a fruit of that love.

RELIGION & SPIRITUALITY-THE TWO ARE AS ONE

A plane is a means of getting from one country to another.  A car is a means of getting from one city to another.  A boat is a means of getting me from one side of the lake to another.  I want a well constructed plane, car, or boat, maintained to keep it in good working order and able to accomplish its objective.  But the focal point of my journey is not the vehicle but on my destination.  The vehicle is important but it is the means to the end, not the end itself.

My religion is my relationship with God.  My spirituality is the fruit of that relationship.  My religion sustains my spirituality.  My spirituality sustains my religion.  The two create one boat to get me to the other side, from this world to the kingdom of God, where God dwells.  Time spent working on and maintaining the boat is time well spent; but it is only the means to the end, not the end itself.  Mending the nets, plugging the holes in the boat, tuning the engine, and other maintenance is crucial, but it is all for the purpose of growing my relationship with God and being faithful to his will for my life.

It is easy to get all caught up and consumed by the maintenance of the boat, the mending of the nets, and miss the reason and purpose for it all.  I get caught up and distracted by what I am doing and lose sight of the One I want to get closer to. When my boat comes into shore God will be glad to see me, not my boat.

The temple was not the end all and be all.  The Bible was not the end all and be all.  They are simply ways to the One who is the end all and be all.

I am tired and weary of fighting and arguing about religion and spirituality.  I simply want to do what I need to do to be in God’s Presence here and in the kingdom to come.