RETURN TO THE SOURCE IV

FOUNDED & ESTABLISHED BY JESUS

When God met with Moses on Mount Sinai He was establishing His Kingdom.  He saw the Israelites, these slaves that He released from Egypt’s rule as His treasured possession, as a kingdom of priests and a holy nation that would look to Him as their God, would obey His voice and keep the covenant He would make with them.  God remained true to His vision of these people and the covenant He made with them.  The people failed again and again throughout the coming generations.  Prophets came as messengers from God and they went unheeded by the people who continued to fail to live into and up to their part of the covenant.  Finally He sent His Son to renew the covenant He had made with the Israelites and to invite all people to be included into the kingdom of priests and a holy nation that would look to Him as their God, would obey His voice, and keep the covenant God made with them.

Jesus did not organize God’s treasured possession into tribes and denominations.  He was an organic living being offering himself to be in relationship with him, with God, and with one another.  Jesus did not establish God’s people into institutions.  He expects us to establish our hearts by looking to him as the founder and perfecter of our faith.  Men and women can be founders of groups and institutions, gathering, organizing, and establishing those who follow them.  Only Jesus can perfect our faith by strengthening our hearts by grace and establishing our hearts in God, who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

The organized or intuitional Church must never replace or remove the organic relationship God has with His people through the work of Jesus Christ.  Religion must always remain a living and organic relationship with God.  Jesus must never be replaced or removed as being the True founder of our faith.  As it was in the beginning is now and ever shall be. Amen!

RETURN TO THE SOURCE III

FUEL FOR THE FIRE

The disciples had spent three years living with Jesus, being taught and trained by him.  The listened to his teachings first hand, learned how to pray, ate with him, and fellowshipped with him, and yet when the rubber hit the road, they all failed him.  Judas betrayed him, Peter denied him, and all of them except John deserted him at the cross.  So what was the good of all that teaching and training?  Even Peter was hopeless and decided to return to his life as a fisherman.  But then something happened that changed everything for the disciples and for the world.  “The day of Pentecost arrived; they were all in one place…tongues of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them.  And they were filled with the Holy Spirit.” 

They began to proclaim the mighty works of God; they began to speak forth the words of Jesus that they had listened to for three years; they began to explain the divine plan that God developed for the salvation of the world, so that people could be reconciled with the God whom they had forsaken.  The flame of the Holy Spirit ignited the fuel that had been carefully laid by Jesus for three years in the hearts and minds of these disciples.

Both the fuel of the teaching and training and the flame of the Holy Spirit were absolutely necessary to prepare them for their message and mission to the world.  If the disciples had not been taught about the mighty works of God or about God’s plan for salvation and reconciliation, what would they have to share to others when the Spirit ignited them?  All they would have at their disposal would be some good fishing stories, advice on tax collecting, and other personal experiences or observations.  These might have been entertaining and interesting, but hardly life changing.

Good spiritual disciples and practices can be helpful but they are insufficient in transforming lives or in having a deep relationship with God.  They are like the log, tinder, and kindling laid for a good campfire; they look good but lie there worthless until a match lights them.  But equally insufficient is simply sitting with occupied minds expecting the flame of the Spirit to descend and enlighten one.  That is like holding a lit match and then watching it burn out because it had nothing to ignite; a momentarily bright but fleeting enlightenment. 

The campfire needs the fuel and the fuel needs the match.  Then the campfire will be sufficient to do its thing; cook a meal, provide heat for the brisk night, provide light in the dark, and provide a welcoming place for kids to gather together to sing songs, tell stories, and simply sit and enjoy the space and time.

The community needs the fuel of the teachings, the prayer, the breaking of bread, and the fellowship just as those disciplines and practices need the flame of the Spirit.  Then the people gathered together to worship will be sufficient to do their thing; love God with all their heart, mind, and strength, be light and salt to the world, and love one another, enjoying and being enriched by their time gathered together. 

QUERY

Am I personally providing fuel in my heart, mind, and soul for the Spirit to ignite so that I will speak of the great works of God to encourage others and be light and salt to a dark and tasteless world?

RETURN TO THE SOURCE II

TEACHING

God honors tradition.  He is very clear that He wants those who love and follow Him to walk in a tradition of faith that goes back to the very beginning of time.  Teaching and revealing Truth are two of the ways that God encourages His children to carry on that tradition of faith in their lives and in their walk with Him.

God freed His people from the slavery of the world’s system when Moses led them out of Egypt.  God spoke to them and told them that they were to love Him with all of their heart, soul, and strength and they were to keep His words in their hearts always.  Then He told them to pass on their experiences with Him to their children.  “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” (Deut. 6:5-7).

God once again freed His people from the slavery of the world’s system when Jesus came and taught them about the Kingdom of God, died on the cross, and then rose from the dead.  Jesus told his disciples to, “Go and make disciples, teaching them to observe all that I commanded you” (Matt.28:19).

After Jesus returned to His Father, he sent the Holy Spirit.  “The work of the Spirit is to guide you into all the Truth.  He will not speak on his own authority, but whatever he hears he will speak…He will glorify me, for he will take what is mine and declare it to you” (John 16:13,14).  What he will share is from the Alpha and Omega, not something new and improved from human thought.

God reveals Himself, His eternal power and divine nature in all of creation that surrounds us daily, ever since the beginning of time.  “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the skies proclaim the work of his hands.  Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they display knowledge” (Psalm 19:1, 2).

God speaks to His children through the Scriptures.  The words, stories, and teachings in the Bible are “Inspired by God and profitable for teaching, rebuking, correcting, and training in righteousness” (2 Timothy 3:16).

It is simple and clear what the substance of our teaching is to be if we claim to love and walk with God.  It is to be the commands, the works, and the words of God; it is to be a declaration of a faithful and consistent God who has done great things for us; it is to glorify God and glorify Jesus through the work of the Holy Spirit.  There is no need for the new and improved thoughts of humans or ways of the world.  They may entertain, encourage, and even enrich us; but only the Way and Truth of God and His Kingdom can give us Life.  The Way, the Truth, and the Life of God never change or need updating.  They are faithful, consistent, and worthy in all time and seasons, from the Alpha to the Omega, the beginning and the end.

QUERY

What am I talking about when I sit in my house or walk by the way;

When I lie down and when I rise?

What are we teaching our children, the next generation,

And the one after that?

What message is being proclaimed and heard in our Meetings and Churches?

RETURN TO THE SOURCE I

TRADITION

The first seven chapters of Genesis sets the stage for the rest of the human history recorded in the Scriptures.  The pattern is consistent throughout the rest of the Bible.  It reveals the absolute faithfulness of God and the continuous waywardness of humans; the strength of the Spirit and the fragility of flesh.  God is the Alpha and Omega of all things; no updates, no new and improved changes. 

In the beginning God created the world and He declared it all good.  He made it simple and clear how to live in His world and how humans are to be with Him and with one another.  He also made it clear that He wanted these ways passed down from generation to generation so that the ways of God would be true from the beginning to the end of our time here on earth and would carry on in the Kingdom of God to come.  God was and is faithful and consistent, relevant in all time and space.

God seems to honor tradition.  He wants things carefully handed down from one generation to another.  He wants certain rituals preformed seasonally, year after year, generation after generation, as a way of remembrance.  He wants to dwell with His people, His creation, in faithfulness and consistency.  His mercies are new every morning but His love is forever steadfast.  In His sameness He is never stale but always fresh and new just as a sunrise is always the same but always fresh and new.

REPENTANCE, REVIVAL & RENEWAL

Success is deceptive.  Popularity is deceptive.  Crowds are deceptive.  Looking at the ministry of Jesus while on earth, from his birth in a stable to his death on a cross, it would not appear successful according to worldly standards.  He was popular when he performed signs and wonders but when he demanded difficult things like sacrifice and dying to oneself, people turned away and left him.  Large crowds welcomed him to Jerusalem, shouting “Hosanna”; a week later that same crowd gathered and shouted “Crucify him”.  Only two of his disciples stood watch with his mother when he was dying.  His disciples that carried out his ministry were also imprisoned and killed, except for John who was exiled.  Not the characteristics of a successful ministry at all. 

Yet more than two thousand years later there are followers of this man living their lives for him in every corner of the world.  His success was is not demonstrated in successful churches or even in Christianity, a religion named after him.  His success is in the individual hearts of those who receive him and believe in his name; who love him and walk with him in every day life, doing what he did and practicing what he taught; ordinary people in ordinary time; so one special living in a world of special no ones.  Simple people, who see the sacred in everyday moments and events, not deceived by the big and flashy things that the world offers.

I hear the churches calling for revival, waiting for that big event to stir people up and relight the fire in their hearts.  I have experienced those events and they are exciting…for a while.  But then things return to normal and life goes on; the fire dies down and we look forward to the next revival, the next event, the next show of God’s mighty work.  My hope no longer lies in that pattern.

I want stability, consistency, and sustainability in my every day walk with God.  Following Jesus I have found that daily delight of His Presence that keeps me in a constant state of repentance, revival, and renewal.

         

“Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the

           gall.  My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me.

           But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope.  The steadfast

            Love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end;

            They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness, O Lord.”

Lamentations 3:19-23

Stunning signs and wonders occur every day, everywhere around me, that cause an inner revival and renewal in my soul daily.  From sun rise to sun set God’s creation reveals God and His eternal power to me, if I take the time to see it.  Life is upheld by His hand moment by moment; in the nest of baby cardinals in the tree outside my window; in the garden of fruits and vegetables growing tall and plentiful in my back yard; in the rain that falls; in the sun that shines.  It is all there revealing His Presence and reviving my soul.  These are the gifts given to me; to the one who often fails; to the one who wanders away occasionally; to the one who gets caught up in the me, myself, and I way too often.  Time after time my cry is, “Lord be merciful to me, a sinner.”   AND HE IS!

            REPENTANCE IS THE THRESHOLD TO GOD’S PRESENCE

As I look back over my life

At the afflictions

At my wanderings

The wormwood and the gall

I used to see it as a pile of garbage

Worthless and wasteful

Useless and rotting decay.

In the eyes of the world I was nothing.

But in the eyes of God, my Father

 I was everything

In the eyes of God

I was wandering, not worthless

I was lost, not a loser

I needed help

I needed life

And He sent His Son.

In my repentance I have His Presence

In His Presence I am revived

In my revival I am renewed

In my renewal I have new eyes.

As I look back over my life

I see a compost pile

Turning the worthless and wasteful

The useless and rotting decay

Into a humble heart

Into a sacred soul

As I see that in me

May I see that in others.

BOUNDARY REMOVED

“The curtain of the temple was torn in two, from the top to bottom.”

Matthew 27:51

When God looks down upon His creation He is a lot less divisive than we human beings are.  He doesn’t see the artificial boundaries we have constructed; He doesn’t see the many religions and denominations we have developed.  He sees two divisions of people; those who received and believe in the name of the Word that became flesh and dwelt among them, and those who reject Him.

God sent His Son into the world to save it, to take away the sin of the world.

That sin is separation from God, that comes from disbelieve and disobedience to the rule and authority of God over His creation.  This resulted in a boundary being made between God and the people He created in His own image, to be the bearers of that image.  God created with a plan in mind but humans thought they could do better.  The boundary was made.

Throughout history God has been working to remove the boundary and restore the relationship.  God sent His Son into the world to do just that.

Those who received and believed in his name were given the right to be born again as child of God, born of God Himself, not of blood, the will of the flesh, nor the will of man.  Born again and given life, the true light that enlightens one, and the fullness of grace.  At Jesus’ death n the cross the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom, and free access to the holy of holies was given to everyone who chose to receive it.

BEYOND PROSPERIOUS

“Do not love the world or the things in the world…

The world is passing away along with its desires,

But whoever does the will of God abides forever.”

I John 2:15-17

The truth that God so loved the world that He gave His Son, who taught people not to love the world, would tell me there are two different meanings of world being spoken of.  The world that God created in the beginning and the world we have made.  All that God created and breathed His breath upon was good, very good.  All that man made will pass away; it has no substance.  It may be bog and flashy; it may look to be successful and productive; but it isn’t sustainable. Whatever is not of God’s Word and God’s will is doomed to disappear.  This makes me think twice about those who preach “Prosperity”, earthly rewards, and favor from God and man.

Jesus grew in favor with God and man.  He had nothing; no home, no successful ministry, no ritzy wardrobe, not even a grave of his own to be buried in.  Yet he was favored by God.  Those who followed Jesus as his disciples were favored, blessed, and remembered to this day.  But they lived meager lives, were cursed and killed, or in John’s case exiled.  They certainly were not successful or prosperous by today’s worldly standards.

God loves His children and will give only His best; He promises to give the desires of our hearts.  This makes for the potential of a very prosperous life.  But for me, something else is at work here.  I find that my desires change the more time I spend in God’s Presence.  They grow very simple, into one thing…being with Him in His Presence.

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus;

Look full in his wonderful face.

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of his glory and grace.”