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Monday, November 7, 2011

Heaven is Not My Home

Do you remember when you were a kid,
Life was simple, love was unconditional...

And heaven looked pretty darn boring.


I always had a difficult time separating my image of clouds and harps from my perception of heaven. And no wonder. That's what I was taught to believe as a kid; heaven is a place where you go sit on a cloud, maybe fly around the tree of life a few times with your new wings(?) and play your harp all day long. Boring!

And that isn't to say I don't enjoy music.

But I've come a long way since then, as has my perception of heaven. A while back I began asking myself some vital questions like, why do I have this boring perception of heaven? And why would God make such an altogether boring place for me if it's supposed to be my own paradise? 

And then I thought, why do I even see heaven as the ultimate goal? Why is heaven so high up on our list of places to get? Okay, sure. I get that all too often when we say heaven what we really just obscurely mean is an eternal life with God, but I'm talking about the place. Heaven. The throne of God. The residence of angels.

So you might be saying something like hey, slow down a minute, what do you got against heaven?

Nothing.

But. A lot of Christians today are missing some great news--even greater than heaven--because they didn't quite get what the Bible really says about heaven--or rather in some instances, what the Bible lacks to say about heaven. You see, I believe a lot of Christians are thinking the same thing I did. Heaven? Boring!

And I've heard people talk about their problems with a boring heaven.

How could God be so unjust that he would create such a place for us?


The truth is, God didn't make heaven for you. Oh sure, we all get that verse where Jesus says he's going to go make a place for us so we can be where he is, and that's probably a good part of where people get the idea that heaven was made for us. But I believe it is wrong.

Let's look at that.

"2There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am." -John 14:2-3 [NLT]

We know Jesus is talking about heaven. Do we know how long he is talking about? In verse three he says we'll always be with him; "You will always be with me where I am." But do we know that heaven is where he will always be?


Let's start at the beginning.


God on his throne had an epiphany;

26 Then God said, “Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us. They will reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, the livestock, all the wild animals on the earth, and the small animals that scurry along the ground.”

 27 So God created human beings in his own image.
      In the image of God he created them;
      male and female he created them.


 28 Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.”
                          -Genesis 1:26-28

You know the story, you've heard it time and time again. But did you ever get just what God entitled to you when he called you a human and placed you on the earth? Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it... Reign! Rule! Establish the earth! God made you for the earth. But furthermore


God made the earth for you.

Wow. 

Do you still think he's got heaven all laid out for you?


Something in me wants to burst out - 'Hear me roar' - change the world. Before having read John Eldredge's book, Wild at Heart, I wouldn't have understood it, but now I do. That deep heart-longing is there because that's what I was made for. That's the nature God placed inside of me. I am Adam's son. I was created to inherit the earth.

I don't even know how to describe properly how amazing that picture is for me.


I'm excited. 


But we've still got this thing where Jesus said he was going to heaven to make us a place. We also have a vague concept of a thousand years of life in heaven, and that's what we'll take a look at right now.
The Thousand Years
 1 Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven with the key to the bottomless pit and a heavy chain in his hand. 2 He seized the dragon—that old serpent, who is the devil, Satan—and bound him in chains for a thousand years. 3 The angel threw him into the bottomless pit, which he then shut and locked so Satan could not deceive the nations anymore until the thousand years were finished. Afterward he must be released for a little while. 4 Then I saw thrones, and the people sitting on them had been given the authority to judge. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded for their testimony about Jesus and for proclaiming the word of God. They had not worshiped the beast or his statue, nor accepted his mark on their forehead or their hands. They all came to life again, and they reigned with Christ for a thousand years.
 5 This is the first resurrection. (The rest of the dead did not come back to life until the thousand years had ended.) 6 Blessed and holy are those who share in the first resurrection. For them the second death holds no power, but they will be priests of God and of Christ and will reign with him a thousand years. -Revelation 20:1-6 [NLT]


When looking at the book of Revelation I think it vitally important that the context be well-explored. So here's a context. The earth is desolate, there are left both righteous and unrighteous dead, the unrighteous have just been slaughtered by the host of heaven's armies.

And then Satan is seized.

And the righteous are brought to life to reign in heaven beside God and judge. But John is quite specific. God hasn't resurrected every righteous person on the earth, after all further on in the chapter we see the rest of the dead brought to life for judgment. John says that those God chose for the first resurrection were those that had been beheaded for testifying Jesus the Christ. From what he says there seem to be others put in place to judge--perhaps these are the righteous remnant that did not die on the earth--but he is not clear, and perhaps didn't know himself just who they were.

This is our thousand years. And it doesn't even sound like everybody's there, does it.

Let's skip forward.
The New Jerusalem
 1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared. And the sea was also gone. 2 And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever.”
 5 And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.” 6 And he also said, “It is finished! I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End. To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life. 7 All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children. -Revelation 21:1-7 [NLT]


Wow.

What a view.

God's home is now among his people. Heaven meets earth. I can just imagine Jesus had just this glorious image in his mind when he said to his disciples you will always be with me where I am. Can you picture it? It is far too glorious to even comprehend.


That is what you were created for.

Not for glittering clothes and clouds and harps. I heard someone say once that they simply hated that image. Once again, boring. No, it is a renewal of our inheritance in the garden of Eden; a renewed commission to govern, rule and reign God's new creation. And again, God didn't create us for the world; if he had then it would have been simple enough creating a new human for the earth. No. He created the earth for mankind, and that is why he made a new earth and not a new mankind.

I say made.

Jesus already started. He went to heaven to begin a new creation--the new heaven and earth--waiting to be revealed when all has been made right. That's what he was talking about when he said he was going to prepare a place for us. Not a golden-plated cloud-kingdom, a new earth. Full of discoveries and adventures and opportunities to govern and reign. An earth including all the wild places that take your breath away.

A Paradise.

And the best part? He lives with us. God dwells with us. And that was God's intention in the beginning, to dwell with Adam and Eve in the garden - community - to be with them. He says look, God’s home is now among his people! He will live with them, and they will be his people. God himself will be with them. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain. All these things are gone forever. (Rev 21:3-4)

A Paradise.

Thursday, September 8, 2011

The Real Heart of Worship

John 4:24 [New Living Translation]


"For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth."



What is true worship?

That question seams to be one that's pretty high up in discussion in church these days right alongside 'What genre of music is "Right" or "OK" for Christians to listen to?'

Turn if you will and take a look at John 4:21-24. In this passage Jesus is talking to a Samaritan woman. For a little background, this woman brought up a heated issue of her day--the correct place of worship. (You can find her question in John 4:20) The Jews believed that everyone had to worship in one place, but the Samaritans believed that another place, where their ancestors had worshipped, was the right place.

21 Jesus replied, “Believe me, dear woman, the time is coming when it will no longer matter whether you worship the Father on this mountain or in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans know very little about the one you worship, while we Jews know all about him, for salvation comes through the Jews. 23 But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for those who will worship him that way. 24 For God is Spirit, so those who worship him must worship in spirit and in truth. -John 4:21-24

So what makes worship? Is it the music... the words of the song... the style? Let me make a definitive statement to say, I believe all those things are great. But I believe the 'worship' sessions we have today whether it's singing and dancing to fall-on-your-face-in-awe, these experiences belong better under the category of praise.

Praise is how we express our love of God in music, art, or similar modes. These forms are not necessarily (or specifically) worship. Art is expression. Praise is expression. Are you catching my drift? Music and singing is great. But understand that though worship can include music, it is not limited to it or defined by it, not by any means.

Worship is something I think of as a little differently. I can worship with a song, but that is only a very minor picture of worship. Worship means giving my life. The woman at the well asked a question regarding acts (or rituals) of worship; things that could easily be compared to your half-hour of music before service, but in answer Jesus gave her a picture of a different kind of worship, this worshipping in spirit and in truth.

Jesus said soon it wouldn't matter where you worship; the physical details would soon be unimportant, but that worship would become something different. It's a compatibility thing I think. Jesus explains that since God is Spirit, true worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth.

Think about that for a minute.

Since God is Spirit, true worshippers must worship in spirit and in truth.

Huh. So what does that mean?

It doesn't sound like Jesus was talking about your half-hour-before-service-worship-time, does it.

Now I'll be clear; corporate praise/worship/whatever-you-like-to-call-it is great. It really is, and there is huge power when the church of God comes together to worship him. But I think Jesus was talking about more than that.

And so, dear brothers and sisters, I plead with you to give your bodies to God because of all he has done for you. Let them be a living and holy sacrifice—the kind he will find acceptable. This is truly the way to worship him. -Romans 12:1

'This is truly the way to worship him.'

So what is the real heart of worship?

Sacrifice.

Jesus made the greatest act of worship when he carried his cross to calvary and died for humanity; he gave himself as a worship offering.

That's ultimate.

Most of you probably won't be asked to sacrifice in quite the way that Jesus did. But worship means giving--devoting--your life to God as a sacrifice. Do you want to worship in spirit and in truth? Offer your life. Don't worry about physical acts of worship such as singing, playing music or dancing. A lot of us don't feel like we have the ability for those things. But if you would give your life, the rest comes into play. When you give your life, corporate praise sprouts from it. When you give your life, worlds are changed and hearts are touched. When you give your life, you've found the kind of worship your Father finds acceptable.

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

Identity of Authority

What's your identity? Is it a small slip of plastic in your wallet? Maybe a license, birth certificate, Care Card...

What is your identity of authority in Christ? What does that even mean?

Before I go any further we're going to learn a small lesson from the renown Spaniard, Inigo Montoya [The Princess Bride].

For a brief history. Inigo's father Domingo was a swordmaker. He was commissioned by a man with six fingers on his right hand, Count Rugen, to make a sword to accomodate such a feature. Inigo's father put his heart and soul into the commission, but when the Count Rugen returned he refused to pay the originally agreed price, therefore because the Count did not properly recognize Domingo's talent (not because of money) Inigo's father refused him the sword. Upon the refusal, Count Rugen killed Inigo's father. Young Inigo challenged Count Rugen to a duel and of course was easily overpowered. Rugen let the boy keep his life and the special sword, but left him with two scars to discourage further bravery. Inigo then devoted his life to the art of fencing from the time that he was 12 years old in order that he might one day avenge his father. He becomes a legendary fencing Wizard (a level above Master) but does not find the six-fingered man again.

Now a much older Inigo, discouraged by his failure to his father, took to alchoholism and spent some time in bad companies where he had a few adventures on the side. Finally, drunked and depressed, his good friend Fezzik finds him and revives him to his senses. Through a long line of events Inigo finds Count Rugen. He says to Rugen, "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father; prepare to die!" However, Count Rugen still overpowers Inigo, leaving him supposed mortally wounded. Count Rugen stands by, but after a struggle in himself Inigo forces himself back up, gaining strength rapidly as he repeats over and over his greeting to Rugen: "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father; prepare to die!"


Inigo knows three things. He knows who he is, he knows the crime and the punishment, and he knows that it is up to him to serve the indictment.

Inigo has an identity of authority with his father.

And the more that he recognizes that identity, the stronger he becomes.

Sound familiar?

Here's the identity. He is Inigo Montoya, the son of Domingo. The crime is eternal separation from his father and the punishment is death. "Prepare to die!" His father gave him this identity, and with it Inigo gains the victory. He wasn't strong enough to defeat Rugen on his own, even in his best condition, let alone after Rugen had wounded him. But in the identity of authority his father had given him, Inigo went on to kill Rugen and take his victory.

So where is the parallel? For those of you who haven't picked it up yet, I'll explain. You have an identity of authority from God your father too, just as Inigo had from his father. You are a child of God, and there are many Count Rugens out there. I don't mean that there are six-fingered humans waiting for you to take your revenge on them. Rugen is a symbol of evil. He is every man's demon, he is the deceiver Lucifer, roaming about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. And it's up to you to hold authority over him and allow the strength of your Father to withstand him. Only in recognizing the identity of authority you have in Christ Jesus can you stand against him.

21 It is God who enables us, along with you, to stand firm for Christ. He has commissioned us, 22 and he has identified us as his own by placing the Holy Spirit in our hearts as the first installment that guarantees everything he has promised us. -2 Corinthians 21-22 [NLT]


Remember that this authority comes from Christ who defeated death and Satan on the cross.

19 Look, I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy, and you can walk among snakes and scorpions and crush them. Nothing will injure you. -Luke 10:19 [NLT]

It is when we know our identity of authority that the powers of darkness begin to move at our command.

But what happens when we can't see it anymore?

Inigo was blinded by failure. He spent his life preparing to exact revenge on a man that he could not find again and he feared he would fail both his father and his quest. It was at this point that he took on a new identity: failure. It was a false identity, but circumstances which he found himself in caused him to change his self-image. He lost sight of his identity of authority with his father and therefore he lost sight of his purpose. He became depressed in his failures and turned to drinking. He was found by the criminal and trouble-maker Vizzini who offered him some sort of purpose and because he was a desperate mess he took it, an unwise decision that would only carry him further off the course of his purpose.

What is it that blinds you from your identity? Rejection... loneliness... addiction... fear? When you lose sight of your identity you lose sight of your purpose and your authority. You lose sight of your destiny. Inigo became depressed and turned to drinking; what have you turned to? It is a hobble - a scheme of the enemy to keep you from fulfilling your calling. Count Rugen had nothing to worry about while Inigo was a hopeless depressed drunk - he was in no condition to even use what he had been equipped with to complete his quest. But when he saw again his identity, Inigo took back up the sword of his father and found his destiny.

But beware; even in the midst of battle Inigo momentarily lost sight of his identity. He was wounded and faced that first demon of fear and failure which had taken him from the quest in the first place. Even at this point Inigo could have taken up that old identity of failure and given up and bled to death - but he didn't. He got back up on his feet. He reminded himself of his identity of authority (who he was, crime/punishment, authoritative action) "Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father; prepare to die!" and he overcame Count Rugen just as we must do.

So again I ask, what is your identity? Where does it come from? Do you find a false indentity based on circumstances around you, an identity which misdirects you from your purpose? Or do you take your identity from your Father who made you in His image--an identity of authority?

9 For God saved us and called us to live a holy life. He did this, not because we deserved it, but because that was his plan from before the beginning of time—to show us his grace through Christ Jesus. -2 Timothy 1:9 [NLT]

12 But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. 13 They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God. -John 1:12-13 [NLT]

Friday, August 19, 2011

The Demons at Home

The demons at home....

You know what I'm talking about; those nagging people, habits, home details... the things that make Home the last place you want to be. Everybody has them stashed away--those things that make their very own safe place undesirable.

I have my own 'demons' at home. For years I've been saying, "If only I could move into my own house, get far away and live on my own and..." be it nagging family members, depressing living qualities, or just plain bad habits.

The Prodigal Son must've had a few demons hidden away in his closet, unsatisfied with life on the farm as he was, and he did what for years I longed to do; took what belonged to him and left. He got along alright for a while, but the fact is he had no business stepping out to face the real world while the demons at home were left unconquored.

No matter how you look at it, the demons in the closet and the monsters under the bed have got to go. I've tried running away from mine many times, that or simply ignoring the growing fiends, but the truth never changes. So what are you waiting for? This is your life; are you who you want to be? Are you ready to run off the farm lock stock and barrel, or perhaps there are things under your bed that you've been ignoring? Bad neighbours? Difficult family members? A livingspace in chronic disorder? Then perhaps it's time that you unlocked a few doors, pull a few monsters out into the light and change a few habits. Are you unsatisfied with where you are? Then remember that where you are at and what you have is where you have been placed and what you have been given. You have been placed here with the authority to live as you were created to live and you cannot conquor the world till you face your own castle.

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Did He Really Just Say That?!

A week before I had (if not somewhat bitterly) borded a bus to make the last leg of what had been an 8 hour journey stretched out over the course of a 9AM-to-8PM day. If I had not known where I was going perhaps the journey would have been more enjoyable. Perhaps if I had not been accompanying the 15-year-old female 9th-grader in the seat ahead of me it might have been more restful. But regardless, I was being driven quite literally down a road I did not want to go. Part of me resented it, part (the part which I hid under my seat) actually wanted to go, but the rest and most of me was just terrified of what lay at the end.

The bus rolled in at 8:45 PM and we waiting a moment before joining the small departing surge. Very quickly my four travelling companions who had boarded the bus along with me discovered their respective hosts, as did I. I was greeted by a much younger looking couple than what I had certainly expected who introduced themselves as Warren and Rosanna--the teacher giving my two core classes, and his wife--and welcomed me cordially to the lake-town. They would provide my accomodations for the next week; a week spent full of long, exhausting days and activities, A.K.A. - School.

That's right. For one week I had been given an opportunity which I had never before seen in my lifetime; the opportunity to go to a real school and take normal classes. Having been homeschooled K-9 and after that enrolled in an online, 100% government-funded "Distributed Learning" program for my sophomore and junior years of highschool, I had only ever in my lifetime seen the inside of a school building for every reason OTHER than schooling. But now was my opportunity to get the real deal--or as real as it gets in a small Adventist-Christian school.

To my small surprise the days went by relatively quickly and my motivational levels skyrocketted (seeing as I had only four classes in an eight-hour school day and two spares not including extra time before classes begun; I certainly had nothing else to do) I wasn't about to go anywhere near the other students, besides, I had classes to catch up on and homework to get done. If they wanted anything from me they were just going to have to work for it, and boy did I make them work.

Of course, most didn't even bother; that was no surprise. I separated myself just far enough so that people could sense my invisible wall, and stayed just close enough that they might see over it every so often and see the creature self-housed and self-loathed inside. Yes, I played as difficult as they come. I was the quiet mysterious type--the one that continues on even after the game has become old and obnoxious, and I still wasn't quitting.

I will never forget the last day, the first portion of which I spent hanging around this large group of people in the home of one of my prior teachers. I hated it. How it is possible to be surrounded by so many people, yet still feel completely and terribly alone I will never understand. Sure they were nice enough people. But to how many of them did it really matter that I was there? I was just another face. I will never forget that teacher; she saw through my guises and my walls all week long. She said it like it was just the fact she'd been studying all week rather than a question; "You don't care much for big groups of people, do you." And I knew she saw more than I wanted to reveal.

That night special activities were planned in the gym; games. It was all kicked off by a truth vs lie game and ended in table games and volleyball. But in the middle of it all a time of prayer was had while we, having remained in groups from a previous activity, were asked to have a short prayer time with each other. The teacher whose house I had had the unseamly displeasure of three hours in surrounded by people, joined my group and broke the ice with her own prayer, followed by a popular local 12th-grader next to me. I will never forget his prayer and as he spoke I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

Did he really just say that?!

He had thanked God--specifically mentioning me by name--for the opportunity for me to be there that week and spend time around them. I melted. WHAT? Had all my walls failed me? Why should he say a thing like that? How could he know who I was? I had vowed ever after never to share my true feelings over that moment with anyone, but in that moment all my walls fell with a terrific crashing, and I was broken to the core. I suddenly wished that I had kept better guard. I suddenly didn't want to leave, wanted to say I would come back in the fall. I suddenly realized that somewhere in this place that I had fought against for so long, that I had built walls against for months, someone wanted me.

That night after the following volleyball game I left, aware that the following morning I would take the 8-hour journey back home and try to return to daily life as I had known it a week before. I almost wished I didn't have to go, but for the protection of my fragility I pulled down the plexiglass dome over myself and left iron-faced, passing no one a glance as I went by. Still fighting. But although my defences had only been breached for but an instant, the few words spoken behind my walls would continue to affect me time and again afterward.

Wednesday, May 4, 2011

His Public Offer - Max Lucado

His Public Offer

“All of us became part of Christ when we were baptized.” -Romans 6:3
We owe God a perfect life. Perfect obedience to every command. Not just the command of baptism, but the commands of humility, honesty, integrity. We can’t deliver. Might as well charge us for the property of Manhattan. But Christ can and he did. His plunge into the Jordan is a picture of his plunge into our sin. His baptism announces, “Let me pay.”

Your baptism responds, “You bet I will.” He publicly offers. We publicly accept.


 [I did not write this; it is reposted from here]

Monday, April 25, 2011

Glorified by Impurity

10 Create in me a clean heart, O God.
Renew a loyal spirit within me. -Psalm 51:10

What a beautiful picture; a sinner at the foot of the cross, bent under a burden of sin, receiving redemption and freedom. For those of you who don't know, the picture above is from one of the most touching scenes of a cartoon remake of John Bunyan's The Pilgrim's Progress. Here is Pilgrim, come to the cross. He's struggled on and on with this weight of sin on his shoulders. But at the cross, his burden falls off his back and into the grave which he deserved to be his own.

A week or so ago God spoke to me about purity. As some of you know I have struggled a very long time in the area of purity. This particular day I was feeling quite discouraged, having just fallen down under my own burden of sin, and I was talking to myself, beating myself up over this incident. But then God told me something quite clearly and it was this: "I don't want you to be pure for Me; I want to be Pure for you."

And it hit me. Why am I striving toward a goal of purity? Why am I trying to be pure for myself--for others? Only God is Good and only God is Pure. He is the source of all purity. Just as Paul wrote to the Colossians:

27 ... And this is the secret: Christ lives in you. This gives you assurance of sharing his glory. -Colossians 1:27b

Christ lives in you. You can't do it for yourself. I can't do it for my self. I can never be pure enough. Christ lives in me. 'I want to be Pure for you.' For years I have believed that I had to deal with my struggle, that it was my responsibility to make myself good. But look back at Psalm 51:10; David doesn't say, 'God help me make my heart clean, help me be loyal to you.' No! David says, (paraphrased) 'Father, it's impossible for me; remake my heart, no don't just remake it, create it all new. Put a loyal spirit in me to follow your will. You do it, I can't' The sad reality is that my prayer has been self-empowerment--'help me to do...'--rather than divine enabling--'I can't do this, Father, do it for me'

I lived by 2 Corinthians 12:7-10 for a long time, but I missed the point completely. I stayed focused on God not taking away Paul's thorn when I should have been focused on the reason why: God's grace and glorified strength.

God's Purity is glorified in my impurity.

So what part of your life is to God's glory?

Sunday, April 3, 2011

The Wheat and the Weeds

Matthew 13:24-30 (New International Version, ©2011)
The Parable of the Weeds
24 Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. 25 But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. 26 When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared. 27 “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’
28 “‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.
“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’
29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. 30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”


Did you just catch that? I read this and I had stop right there and process it and say, 'Did he really just say that?!' So you might be saying now, 'Hold up! I answered 'no' to the first question! Anyway, what did he say?' Well maybe you ought to read that parable over again?

When I read this parable I realized something. The Sons of God, being represented by the wheat, were already planted and the sower of the good seeds--the Son of Man--knew the wheat from the weeds, and what's more, he planted the wheat originally. What does that mean? It means God knows exactly who is to be saved, and he knows who isn't.

But wait. What does that mean?

That means God has it all figured out. When He says 'move', you better move. It means that from the begining He ordained those who are saved, it means that there are some that he saved, and there were weeds that were already lost--that he knew were lost--that from the begining he knew that no matter what he could do, the sad reality was that they would never turn to him even if he tried for all of eternity.

'Okay,' you say, 'so why didn't God just destroy those people? Couldn't even a just God do that since he knew they would never turn?' But take a look at verses 29 and 30 again:

29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

The just God could have destroyed those people--he did it in Noah's day. So you say, 'Why would he do it then, and not now?' Look at the earth then, and look at it now. The Bible states in Genesis 6 that the earth was full of wickedness. But in verse 8 of that chapter the writer tells us that "Noah found favour in the eyes of the Lord"--Noah alone--he and his family, his sons and their wives, were the small remnant of those that could be saved. And so they were.

So what about the earth now? Noah's remnant was all of 8 people. There are 6.5 billion-some people on the earth today, and how many of those are God's remnant? And so I ask you, was it easier for a just God to show 8 questioning, unknowing human beings a dillemma of his wrath, or would it be easier to show hundreds of millions of questioning, unknowing human beings an even greater wrath? Now, I don't know the real reason God hasn't wiped all the wickedness away, I can only speculate, but the parable does tell us one thing; that if the harvesters were to pull out the weeds before the end, the wheat would be damaged and uprooted. For out of the flood God took Noah and his family, out of Jericho God took Rahab and her family, and out of Sodom he took Lot and his family, but were it for even ten righteous people, he would have spared even the wickedness of Sodom and Gomorrah. [Genesis 18:16-33] And for a billion he has spared even the wickedness of the earth.

29 “‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them.
30 Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’”

[The Parable of the Weeds Explained: Matthew 13:36-43]

Thursday, March 31, 2011

Look Up to the Cross

Isaiah 53:3-4 (New International Version, ©2011

[3] He was despised and rejected by mankind, a man of suffering, and familiar with pain. Like one from whom people hide their faces he was despised, and we held him in low esteem. [4] Surely he took up our pain and bore our suffering, yet we considered him punished by God, stricken by him, and afflicted.

Look up to the cross. Who did you see there? Just another man... a common criminal receiving the wrath of God? Just another zealot? No. On that cross hangs the Son of God, the "Firstborn of all Creation." On that cross is God in flesh, and why? Because the zeal that holds him there is the same zeal which holds you to his heart now. It was not nails or soldiers that held him there but love--strong, pure, true love. Even after we despised him, rejected him, spit in his face... even after the very face of his father was turned from him, he chose his cross.

Look up to the cross; who do you see there? Just another man... a common criminal? No. On that cross hangs the Savior and Lover of your heart, fullfilling His perfect act of love for you.

Monday, March 28, 2011

One Way

1 Timothy 2:5-6 (New International Version, ©2011)



[5] For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, [6] who gave himself as a ransom for all people. This has now been witnessed to at the proper time.

How many different roads are there out there? How many different ways does the world offer? Sex, drugs, parties, righteousness by works... there are alternate directions every way we turn. It all comes down to one central idea; the idea that you're just fine without God.

The world offers many roads, but God only offers one, and it is straight and narrow. There will be hills on this road; it will go up--sometimes very steeply--but only up. And at the end, the throne of God. It is the only road which will take you to the Father, and this road is called Jesus.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Make Me A Servant

[135] Make your face shine on your servant

and teach me your decrees. -Psalm 119:135 

Depending on how long you have been my reader, you may remember a post I wrote almost a year ago called Servitude. I suppose I couldn't dream of having actually had readers back then, so check out my April 2010 archive for it. This is a personal revisit.

I receive the Spirit of Prophecy bulletin daily from Bill and Marsha Burns, and this morning as I was suffering from self-inflicted insomnia I received this word for the day:

THE TRUMPET by Bill Burns -- 3/14/11:


In the pattern of My word I have shown you the way. My call to you will be to come and walk upon the River of God where it is full to over flowing. And wherever the river goes it will bring life. Wherever you go, with the flow of that river, you will experience the fullness of My kingdom in manifestation upon the face of My creation. So come. Let Me take you deeper. Come on; don't stay where you are. I'm giving you opportunity to be more than you've ever been before, says the Lord.
SMALL STRAWS IN A SOFT WIND by Marsha Burns -- 3/14/11:

Examine yourself to see if you are in faith. Confront fear and unbelief and overcome, for you are My people of faith. And if not you, who? Rise up and demonstrate My kingdom. Be who you are in Me, says the Lord, and do not be afraid. Stir yourself up in your most holy faith, and let My Spirit have His way. Jude 1:20 But you, beloved, building yourselves up on your most holy faith, praying in the Holy Spirit.
To be completely honest I brushed it away. I have spent a lot of time over the last few months looking for ways around God, though I wouldn't have admitted to it before. But hours after I received this I broke down, shut everything down and crumpled to the floor in a fit of physically wracking sobbing. All I could do was weep, I didn't even know what to say. I'd like to say that it was some big enlightening experience, but it wasn't. I cried, laid on the floor, cried some more. It wasn't a moment of divine peace but of divine conviction.

I didn't rightly know what to say to God. I asked him to show me what following the flow of the river looked like in my life, and the simple, yet grindingly truthful words of this song came to me.

Make me a servant, humble and meek
Lord, let me lift up those who are weak
And may the prayer of my heart always be
Make me a servant, Make me a servant,
Make me a servant today...
I lay there on the floor, not caring to get up, by now I had already been awake most of the night but I was quite suddenly wide awake. I just lay there and sang that song to God over and over. Make me a servant.. Even when I don't want to serve make this the cry of my heart: make me a servant. Humble me, cause me to be meek.  
Titus 3:3-7 (NIV)
[3] At one time we too were foolish, disobedient, deceived and enslaved by all kinds of passions and pleasures. We lived in malice and envy, being hated and hating one another. [4] But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, [5] he saved us, not because of righteous things we had done, but because of his mercy. He saved us through the washing of rebirth and renewal by the Holy Spirit, [6] whom he poured out on us generously through Jesus Christ our Savior, [7] so that, having been justified by his grace, we might become heirs having the hope of eternal life.
I'm not at peace, I'm not content. I haven't had some amazing, breathtaking, awestriking experience. I am humbled; I have had a glimpse of where I've been for the last six months, and where God wants to lead me through it all. I've seen how many wrong paths I've stumbled onto looking for some way around God. I've realized anew how much I have encouraged this depressive state of the enemy which holds me back from the Fullness of God, and I am utterly berieved and broken of heart and spirit.

Make me a servant.... Make me a servant.. Make me a servant today...

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

What Do You Do?

What do you do when the things you cherished greatly in your life are taken away? Shock, anxiety, separation...

"It's just time to go our separate ways."

I couldn't believe that she was actually going to walk away from me. I was angry and confused, but much more just hurt. She had been one of the greatest impacts on my life over the last three-and-a-half years that I had known her. That's right, nearly four years. Plenty of time to get acquainted and then some. She was not only a mentor/life coach to me, she was like an older sister. The influence she held on me was huge.

"Yes, she is really going to leave you."

I was stunned when God confirmed that to me. I thought maybe I could sort it out, correct the misunderstanding - the more I tried, the worse it got. Hurtful words and blame volleyed both directions. I just couldn't believe it, I didn't want to believe it! I didn't want God to take her away, but I knew it was going to happen.

"All I wanted was to tell you all about it."

I had just come back from a life-altering experience with God and I was more than enough ready to make up for my wrongs. I was so excited to tell her about my experience, to celebrate with her about what God had done in my life. But instead I came back to more hurt and judgement. From the friend who had walked with and encouraged me to go to eternity with God came condemnations for self-righteousness and piety. All I wanted to do was tell her about it.

"God I've already lost a friend!"

She was the second I had parted ways with that very month, both quite close friends, though my friendship with her had been much longer. I couldn't understand why God was doing this, and now at a time when I had become distant to alot of lesser friends, why did this happen?

"You wouldn't have done it otherwise."

I always heard that some friends are only meant to be together for a season, but when the season was over, I didn't want to let go. It didn't seam like a right way to separate ways. But several weeks later God explained why it had to be that way. He called me to chase after him. Sometimes we cross paths with others on the same journey, but he called me to chase Him. It was time to continue on to another season in my life, a season where some people could not follow, but I wouldn't have been able to let go of those people on my own.

"If I could go back in time..."

It didn't have to end like that, we always say 'If I could go back in time and do it again...' I wish I could go back and do it again, at least make things right before God led her out of my way. But the past is the past and cannot be changed. This winter would have been four years since we met, I don't regret any other time with her over the three-and-a-half years we shared. I wish that somehow, we could have remained together as friends, but I hold to the hope that what now is will not be forever. For now, all I can say is, "Fare well, Sister..."

"Farewell."

Monday, March 7, 2011

Know My Heart

Psalm 139:23-24 (New International Version)


[23] Search me, God, and know my heart;
test me and know my anxious thoughts.
[24] See if there is any offensive way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting.

What a bold prayer David prayed; he gave the god of the universe permission to look into the secret place in his heart and to change his way. He gave God the key to his heart and said, 'here God, check up on me. See what's there, and change what you don't like.'

But here's what I find interesting. Take a look at Psalm 139 as a whole. It's not a long chapter, so take a minute and read all the way through. I took special note on the first and second verses:

[1] You have searched me, LORD,
and you know me.
[2] You know when I sit and when I rise;
you perceive my thoughts from afar.  -Psalm 139:1-2

David doesn't just want God to look at his heart once. David wants God to have active knowledge of and access to his heart. In these first two verses he sets us straight right off; God already knows him. Throughout the chapter he describes the fullness of God's knowledge and presence, and in the last two verses he asks God to continue knowing him.

So what does this have to do with me? I read this passage and had to ask myself, 'Are you will to give God full, undenied access to the secret place of your heart--not just today, not just yesterday, not just for 24 hours--for good?' How about you? You know what I'm talking about, you know what's in your heart, will you pray the prayer? I know that is what I long to do.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Verse of the Day

[1] If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. [2] If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. [3] If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing. -1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

Heart Focus

“[Thanksgiving and Prayer] We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing.” - 2 Thessalonians 1:3


"My name is _____. I am seventeen years old."
"I grew up in a Christian home. I regret my baptism in June '04. I met both my first best friend and Jesus when I was thirteen. My life has been/still is a real piece of work."


"God allowed things to happen in my life. By age 11 I was hopelessly chained to first masturbation and later pornography. 2 Corinthians 12. I have spent years learning that God paid for what I have done and will do. Not to say that it is OK.. But God has used my failures to strengthen me, and he continues to do so."
"IT'S ALL ABOUT HIM."


"I'm alive today to testify to the Living God. I am alive today to be a burning light. I'm alive today to die to myself and lose it all. ♪I've got a plan to lose it all♪ that's right. I listen to Switchfoot. Yeah Baby. I'm here to forget about Me and sit at Jesus' feet. I'm here to tell you that NO MATTER WHAT you are going through, NO MATTER WHAT YOU'VE DONE or ever will do, JESUS SAVES. IT'S ALL ABOUT HIM."
Who is it about in your heart?
 
"Turn your eyes upon Jesus"
 
Do you really want to focus on you? Do you want what you do to  matter? Do you want it to matter every single time you screw up (and you will screw up)? Do you want to live by the law which condemns, or by Grace which sets free?
 
This morning I took an hour out of my day. No classes till noon--sinch. I spent that time worshipping, fixing my eyes on Jesus, sitting at his feet. Nothing else matters. NOTHING. Not even your pitiful ideas about doing something 'for the kingdom' cause guess what guys, you can't do it. Guess what else. All that God has called you to do is to be his child. Sitting at his feet, focused on his face, trusting him, loving on him. The work is God's business, yours is to be His.
 
Did I miss something?
What's your heart focus?

Monday, January 24, 2011

Rise Up O Children

                                    Psalm 15 (New International Version)
A psalm of David.

[1] LORD, who may dwell in your sacred tent? Who may live on your holy mountain? [2] The one whose walk is blameless, who does what is righteous, who speaks the truth from their heart; [3] whose tongue utters no slander, who does no wrong to a neighbor, and casts no slur on others; [4] who despises a vile person but honors those who fear the LORD; who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind; [5] who lends money to the poor without interest; who does not accept a bribe against the innocent. Whoever does these things will never be shaken.


Rise up daughters! Rise up sons! Awaken O children, now is the time. Now! Do not fear the lion or heed the bear. Whoever does these things will never be shaken! Rise up and take your place with the eagles, for they soar on the wind of the Most High. Awaken and take your place among the mighty. Come out of this place you have been in. Awaken O warrior! Rise up!

[1] "Then the Lord spoke to Jonah a second time: [2] “Get up and go to the great city of Nineveh, and deliver the message I have given you.” [3] This time Jonah obeyed the Lord’s command and went to Nineveh..." -Jonah 3:1-3a