On Fire

“I baptize with  water those who repent of their sins and turn to God.
But someone is coming soon who is greater than I am—so much greater that I’m not worthy even to be his slave and carry his sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire."
Matthew 3:11

You have a beautiful custom home that is just perfect: 4000 square feet, media room, granite counters, professional chef's kitchen, beautiful master suite and bath ... there's just one problem-it is engulfed in flames and you have just 60 seconds to grab what you value most-what would you take?

Now apply this to your entire existence: not just your house and all it's stuff, but your life; your entire paradigm. In contemplating this scripture :" He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire",  Abba is clearing speaking to us: I am igniting you and now, right now, choose rightly the things that are most valuable.
Fire has many purposes: Illumination, refinement, purification, and as His holy fire burns in each of us, it accomplishes all this and more.
When we surrender, He comes..."But who can endure the day of his coming? Who can stand when he appears? For he will be like a refiner's fire or a launderer's soap."
Malachi 3:2

Pearls/Garage Sales 209

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. 
When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it. "

Matthew 13:45, 46

"The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. 

The great street of the city was of pure gold, like transparent glass." 

Revelation 21:21

I have been thinking lately, meditating on the true value of knowing Jesus, and all that entails.
The metaphor of the merchant- those who are seekers of things of value, the Pearl-Jesus himself, and finally the realization that His real true worth outweighs the value of everything else.
The rich young man in Matthew 19 could not recognize that he was face to face with that Pearl, so tightly was he clinging to his stuff. I am sure that he recognized, perhaps too late, that all the things he valued that held sway over him were worthless in the end. Many of us live in a materialistic consumer oriented, western society of relatively rich men and women who are clinging so tightly to their stuff, that many would not be willing- let me restate that-are not willing- to get rid of them in exchange for the Pearl.
Paul found it, counting everything else as loss, he recognized that it wasn't an even trade!
The life he walked away from, and the things his contemporaries treasured was really just garbage.
His prayer for the Ephesians and for us?

"I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength" 

Ephesians 1:17-19

Jesus is our all-in-all.
The twelve actual gates of the New Jerusalem are each one enormous pearl, a metaphor for Jesus as the Gate. Without receiving Him, without selling off every other part of the idolatrous paradigm  to invest in the Pearl of great price we cannot enter in, cannot begin to know the incomparable depth and riches of the revelation of the knowledge of Jesus.
Beloved, is it time for your garage sale? 

Stirred and Shaken 153

He called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out evil spirits and to heal every disease and sickness. As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy,drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give... I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.
"Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.
And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” "
Matthew 28:18-20

I am having my tables turned over-again, and I will try to explain here what I'm feeling.
Two weeks ago I was given a book entitled Radical, by Pastor David Platt, which I highly recommend.
I must confess that I feel both encouraged - and indicted.
  The premise is that we are commanded to make disciples, that we are not here to accumulate material wealth, the American dream- that God's purposes for us are clear. I was unprepared for the depth of the challenges that are put forth, which are right out of the Word....that all believers are to be missionaries,whatever their harvest field is.  We are not here to fulfill an empty American dream that has linked the Gospel to amassing stuff while the world is full of those who have not heard the Gospel, who are sick and hungry, and dying without ever having a chance to know Jesus as Messiah.
I am sold out, love sick for Jesus, don't care about excess accumulation, and we have always been givers, share the Good News often, but I still have children still to raise, and a responsibility to  support my family, and dealing with recovering from a long hospitalization ...my struggles are dealing with the feeling  that I could do more...that I need to do more to share the Gospel, to make disciples, to be more and more radical. So I ask God as I continue to be stirred and shaken: Lead and guide me, empower me with your Holy Spirit, help me not to fear the unknown or be tied to stuff that may be holding me back.
I don't know if you have had any of these questions, but I am confident that as we move forward seeking Him that he will direct our steps towards radical biblical Christianity

Not By Might 269

“If you love me, you will obey what I command. 
And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever– the Spirit of truth. 
The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. 
But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 
I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 
Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. 
Because I live, you also will live. 
On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you. 
“All this I have spoken while still with you. 
But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, 
will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you."
John 14:15-20, 25, 26

So he said to me, “This is the word of the Lord to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the Lord Almighty. 
Zechariah 4:6 

"It's the real thing" - Coca-Cola slogan

I can't do anything in my own strength.
By myself, operating on my own, I'm just floundering about,
just barely treading water enough to keep my head above water.
In myself all I can think about is-myself.
Without Jesus, without being filled and empowered by the Holy Spirit who is my Comforter, Teacher, Director, Reminder, there's only the daily grind as motivated by the concept of "self": what will I eat, drink, wear, sleep, earn, buy, sell, live- my strength and power is as nothing.

To be filled with the Holy Spirit is the only way we can fulfill our purposes and find meaningful abundant life in Jesus the Messiah- without Him we can't even remember what Jesus told us (Jn 14:26). So why are so many Christians wary and fearful of allowing themselves to be filled with the Spirit?  Yes, it will be different, and even unpredictable at times because we hand over the "helm" of our lives to the Holy Spirit. We learn to hear the voice of the Lord through the Spirit:
"This is my way, walk in it.", not the voice of the accuser who wants to keep us captives.
We learn to move from the comfort zone, and we are enabled to love those who we may have despised, judged, or hated, as we realize how we are furiously we are loved, even when we despised ourselves.
Beloved, if you are filled with the Holy Spirit praise the One who fills you, and pray for the filling of those who are not. To those who are not yet filled, fear not, release the false sense of control you have  to God who is sovereign and desires to fill you up with the good stuff, the real thing, His Holy Spirit.

The Power of Weakness 291

"But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me."

2 Cor. 12:9

A tremendous storm, the result of a combining of 2 storm systems, was bearing down on the eastern seaboard of the US. We had family there, my daughter and her family, as well as brothers and sisters  in Jesus. This storm was being billed as the "storm of a lifetime", and had the potential to cause great damage and loss of life, these predictions based on natural meteorological assumptions, and discount what the God of the universe is capable of. 

When a furious storm arose on the  Sea of Galilee, his disciples who were so afraid and not understanding yet of the sovereign power of Jesus, the Son of God on whom the Father had bestowed all His authority, cried out for deliverance because they ran out of options!
I am sure they tried rowing, changed  the sails,  but finally in their weakness they called on the anme of the LORD.

There are so many situations in our lives, natural and supernatural, where we cry out to the Lord in our weaknesses when His power is perfected in our manifold weaknesses-grace.  
I am reminded by the words of the Messiah: “I am the vine; you are the branches. 
If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. "

John 15:5. 

Beloved, let our first response, not our last, be to call on Jesus in every situation, not relying on our own resources or strengths. He calms every storm, brings us through tumultuous trials;
He is the solid ground, the Rock, we must be built upon.

Haunted By Failure #168

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.
But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.”
 But he replied, “Lord, I am ready to go with you to prison and to death.”
 Jesus answered, “I tell you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will deny three times that you know me.”
Luke 22:31-34

But he denied it. “Woman, I don't know him,” he said.
 A little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.”
“Man, I am not!” Peter replied.
 About an hour later another asserted, “Certainly this fellow was with him, for he is a Galilean.”
 Peter replied, “Man, I don't know what you're talking about!” Just as he was speaking, the rooster crowed. The Lord turned and looked straight at Peter. Then Peter remembered the word the Lord had spoken to him: “Before the rooster crows today, you will disown me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly.
Luke 22:57-62

Have you ever been haunted by past failures? I have, in fact, just today I was.
Faced with some decisions and looming tasks I have been charged with completing, I found myself besieged by the accuser. I found myself listening to that voice, reminding me of so many things I have fallen short in, the "would'ves, could'ves, should'ves", personally, professionally, academically, spiritually...reminding me of my weaknesses, how a lack of  college degrees and accreditation make me worthless in the professional world. He whispered to me as I sat home convalescing and on leave from my job that I am a lousy provider, a lousy father, a poor excuse of a husband, that I will never be able to fulfill prophetic words spoken into my life....
In the middle of the devil's diatribe against me, though, the Holy Spirit broke through, reminding me of Peter's life-yet again:

Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: “Fellow Jews and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. Those who accepted his message were baptized, and about three thousand were added to their number that day.
Acts 2:14, 41

I identify with Peter because  he was a weak, fumbling, double-minded clod (BHS-Before Holy Spirit) who failed miserably at the moment of truth.
Is Jesus enough?
Is He worth it all, even when our very lives may be at stake?
He was able to do nothing on his own,  denying Jesus and finding himself eye to eye to the Son, whose expression didn't say - "see I told you you couldn't ", but instead a reassuarance that said',"You can do all things as you abide in Me". I thought about Peter being cut to the heart after hearing the rooster's crowing, his running away, and going back to his fishing career, for a few days, but the haunting, his failures, satan's sifting, never escaped his thoughts. Somehow though, he finds himself in that upper room in Acts 2, and we read about a Peter transformed, and the Comforter patches the cracks in the broken vessel Peter was, and forgetting what's behind him, he and the other disciples and many others move forward and turn the world upside down.
Beloved, I am not, and you are not a failure because if Jesus Christ, the hope of glory, dwells in you, we have His promises, and are enabled by the Holy Spirit- if He dwells in us. It's not by strength or might, but by His Spirit...We need to make sure there is room in our hearts for the Spirit of God to abide there though, and that means everything else has to go.
Unconditional surrender are the only terms the Holy Spirit will accept;
cast off  lies and accusations of the past and fulfill the only Plan that matters:
GOD'S.

Ordinary to Extraordinary

 "Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water”; so they filled them to the brim.
Then he told them, “Now draw some out and take it to the master of the banquet.”
They did so, and the master of the banquet tasted the water that had been turned into wine.
He did not realize where it had come from, though the servants who had drawn the water knew.
Then he called the bridegroom aside and said, “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now.”
This, the first of his miraculous signs, Jesus performed in Cana of Galilee.
He thus revealed his glory, and his disciples put their faith in him. "
John 2:4 -11

The first recorded miracle that Jesus performed was the well known transformation of water into wine at the Cana wedding banquet. As I read through this in John 2 today it occurred to me that at this first event the Lord used this as a sign post as Jesus moved forward fulfilling God's mission, and the point is that the Lord takes ordinary things such as water and transforms them into wine. The banquet master declared this wine to be extraordinary! This is His business though, is it not?  It sounds preposterous to  natural minds that He would use spit and dirt mixed into mud to heal deafness and blindness, ridiculous that 5000 men plus women and children could be fed with a handful of fish and loaves, that 12 riffraff street guys could be used to turn the world upside down, and yet this is exactly how He operates.
Beloved, if we know this is how Jesus works, then we need to know how He sees us, that we are each extraordinary to Him! We are each works in progress, as He transforms us and refines us, esteemed  by the Lover of our souls as worthy vessels for the Holy Spirit to dwell in.

Keys to Emancipation 208

"This is what the Lord says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into captivity.” 
Jeremiah 29:10-14

The 11th verse  of Jeremiah 29 is well known, much more so than the verses before and after. The prophecy deals with restoration from slavery as we seek-and find-Him, bought from the physical captives in Babylon, and the spiritual captives we can often become.
We often step right up to the shackles, so willingly allowing those manacles to  bind us to a variety of prisons and captivities. But freedom is the place we dwell when God, whom we seek with all our hearts, brings us back from self imposed imprisonment. I realize that I must constantly seek after my Magnificent Obsession, because otherwise I stand in the doorway of a prison cell.
The spiritual implication to me here is that the place we dwell, where we stand, without seeking and finding our Father constantly  is the place of captivity. We are either walking in freedom or locked away in some form of prison. The Holy Spirit, not the things of this world, nor worldly wisdom, nor vain imaginations, brings truth and freedom, to be filled with the Spirit brings deliverance, and in His presence is fullness of joy. With the joy of the Lord is our strength, so I finds all of these principles to be connected: in His presence is freedom-restoration- redemption- deliverance-joy- strength- forgiveness ,and above all-love.

The Radical

"Jesus entered the temple area and drove out all who were buying and selling there.
He overturned the tables of the money changers and the benches of those selling doves."
Matthew 21:12

If I asked you the question: "Who would you say is the most radical person you can think of?", would you say Jesus of Nazareth?
After all, we live in a so-called Christian America, and in many parts of this great country there are more churches than gas stations. This is the age of the mega-churches, where feel-good messages are preached by silver tongued preachers, who can't wait to get the ushers' reports of hopefully increased attendance.
But did Jesus count the attendance metrics, or anything else, to gauge His success?
Many of our churches are no different in spirit than the courts of the money changers.
"These people honor me with their lips but their hearts are far from me..."
Jesus is not an icon, but an iconoclast, the ultimate radical.
He came to do the will of His Father, hating the religious spirit that has always been prevalent.
He did not care about the opinions of contemporaries, no;
He came to overturn conventional thought and customs.
We are called to follow, to imitate Him, not to try and squeeze him to conform to a twisted American Dream where we aren't worshipping Him at all, but ourselves. We are called to be radicals, like Jesus, only greater, and because we can drink from the same chalice He drank from we are called to pick up our own crosses daily, to crucify the lies of materialism.
Our "normal" Christian lives aren't meant to be normal at all by worldly standards.
Beloved, are you ready to have your tables overturned?

Transparency 213

"The man and his wife were both naked, and they felt no shame."
Genesis 2:25

"Then the eyes of both of them were opened, and they realized they were naked; so they sewed fig leaves together and made coverings for themselves.
He answered, “I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid.”
Genesis 3:7, 10

Adam and Eve were transparent before the Lord before the Fall,
their physical nakedness is also a metaphor for a great truth:
there is nothing in any of us that is unseen by our Creator.
Fig leaves, clothing, lies, or other facades cannot hide anything about us,
our true condition, from a Holy God. We often try to cover things up, throwing up a smoke screen that fools some, maybe even most people, but the One who made us knows the condition of our hearts that drives every thought and action, and we remain naked before Him.
We can run, but there is no hiding, and yet so many keep trying to obscure what He knows-
and what way down deep down inside each of us  knows:
we desperately need Him and whatever the problem is He is the only answer.
It is only when  we stop running and hiding,
and admit we are laid bare before the Uncreated Creator,
confessing everything He already knows, can real life begin.

No Casual Snacking/ Diving Deeply

"But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his likeness with ever‑increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. "

2 Corinthians 3:15-18 

Jesus said, "Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness for they will be filled.":
I pose a question to you:
If you were on the way to a banquet would  you first stop at a fast food restaurant and gorge on junk food, when the greatest pleasures are awaiting?  
 I see a connection between the scripture in 2 Cor. 3 , turning to God, hungry and thirsty, as the veil begins to be parted by the Lord, our Father and Bridegroom, who so desires to impart revelation and relationship to us. He does not desire us to casually "snack" on tidbits from Him, no, He desires that we move from glory to glory, fueled by that hunger, going deeper and deeper, not skimming around on the surface, not even in the same place in Him that we were in yesterday. 
Are you hungry beloved? There is a banquets that has been set for you ! Skip that "junk food" that surrounds us in the world and dive in.

"Blessed are the hungry, blessed are the thirsty

You said it, I believe it; I believe it, I believe it

Hunger is the escort into the deeper things of You

Deep is calling out to deep is calling out to deep

Yesterday’s depth is feeling really shallow

I’ve gotta go deeper, deeper, deeper still

And all Your waves and all Your billows crash over me

Pulling me deep, deep, deeper

From glory to glory, from strength to strength

From depth to depth, I want to fellowship with You"

You’re not so far away, it’s not too mysterious

You’re living on the inside of me, Your Spirit on the inside of me

Spring up, O well; spring up, O well; spring up, O well, within me

- lyrics from Misty Edwards, Soul Cry

The Secret To Rest 214

“Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.
Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart,
and you will find rest for your souls.
For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
Matthew 11:28-30

Stress and anxiety are two of the biggest contributors to poor health,
I dare say even killers in this world we live in.
Without a real understanding of Jesus, and what He nailed to the cross, the promises we have as children of God can be lost in translation, hopelessness, and unbelief.
The key of this passage is our need to come to him ...when we are exhausted from our struggles of trying to make it on our own, so burdened down with sin, unforgiveness, anger, jealousy , stuck in the quick sands of life, He alone gives us- He alone can give us the rest, the shalom, the joy that we need.
When we find this holy rest, casting off our burdens for His easy yoke, we come into a new place where we can learn from the greatest rabbi/teachers ever: Jesus and the Holy Spirit. To know Jesus is to know God our Abba Father, and these revelation does not come until we take on  Jesus' yoke, and daily pick up our own crosses.
Today beloved, jettison your burdens, and learn from Jesus: He is the secret of rest.

On Our Own/Perspectives 210

“Of what value is an idol, since a man has carved it?
Or an image that teaches lies?
For he who makes it trusts in his own creation;
he makes idols that cannot speak.
Woe to him who says to wood, ‘Come to life!’
Or to lifeless stone, ‘Wake up!’
Can it give guidance?
It is covered with gold and silver;
there is no breath in it.
 But the Lord is in his holy temple;
let all the earth be silent before him.”
Habakkuk 2:18-20

There is no denying that mankind has a propensity to make idols.
We live in a culture swimming in idols, where  those who have gone from "rags to riches" so-called called "self made men or women", where there is often tremendous toil, blood, sweat, sacrifices made to climb the rungs of the ladder of "success", to reach the pinnacle or acquire the focus of their idol, and realize the emptiness, the "Is that all there is?" 
Everything possible is often worshipped, except the only One who is more than worthy.
We idolize our idolatrous culture, and even pastors, priests, rabbis, and politicians can become idols, worship and praise being directed at them instead of God.
Let us remember there is only One who is worthy.
We are commanded, for our own benefit,  to love Him alone with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and strength, recognizing everything else is just a thing, a blessing if your perspectives are right, but let us be vigilant not to desire anything above an intimate relationship with The Lord, who is our all-in-all.

The Sovereign Lord is my strength;
he makes my feet like the feet of a deer,
he enables me to go on the heights.
Habakkuk 3:19

Real Armor 211

"I have a mustard seed and I'm not afraid to use it!"
- anonymous

"Then Saul dressed David in his own tunic. He put a coat of armor on him and a bronze helmet on his head. David fastened on his sword over the tunic and tried walking around, because he was not used to them.
“I cannot go in these,” he said to Saul, “because I am not used to them.” So he took them off. 
Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd's bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached the Philistine.
David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied. All those gathered here will know that it is not by sword or spear that the Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord's, and he will give all of you into our hands.”
1 Samuel 17:38-40, 45,47

In reading this classic well known Old Testament battle yet again, my eyes were drawn to the verse where Saul attempts to dress the shepherd boy David in his armor.  David, even as the youth he was, realized that Saul's armor, was actually a hindrance, he realized, trusted,  that only the Lord would cover and protect him. Everyone present thought that Goliath, who was huge, frighteningly powerful, and downright scary, would make quick work of David- everyone except David and the Lord Almighty that is. David had seen the power of the Lord at work too many times to ever doubt; bears and lions had been slaughtered with the bare hands of this faithful shepherd boy.

When I think about when I have been faced with various "Goliaths", the difference in outcome has been a matter of faith. God is more than able to redeem, save, restore, and deliver, and there is a direct correlation between our faith and the outcome of our situations. Our protection is not man- made but God ordained. Salvation is from the Lord.

Less Is More

“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
John 13:34, 35

If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father's commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.
John 15:10-14

Hebrew is a very economical language. It has been estimated that a 100 page English language document would be about 1/3 of the text when translated into Hebrew.
As Jesus poured into His disciples on this  Passover, He had much to say. What was the most important message, most important instructions that He had for them? Twice He tells them...elaborating in John 15: "Love each other as I have loved you". Is there any room for gossip, lying,  coveting, anger, unforgiveness, selfishness, etc., when real love and all its manifestations rules our hearts, minds, and spirits?
I am reminded of these verses constantly, especially in the course of human relational dynamics. I have to confess that walking out Jesus' most important commandments isn't always easy. We suffer hurts, agitation, aggravation, disagreements, just like Yeshua did. He tells us..."anyone who has faith in me, will do what I have been doing" (John 14:12), and "greater things than these shall we do"...
Remember that Jesus said : on these two commandments hinges the Law and the Prophets, and He used his time economically, expressing the sum of the scriptures in all it's power and majesty as written in the verses above...
Less is more...simply love the Lord your God, and one another, furiously, and let this paradigm frame everything else. 

Joyful Tears 212

"His left arm is under my head,
and his right arm embraces me."
Song of Solomon 2:6

My prayer for each of us in the body of Yeshua is that you still weep in the presence of the Bridegroom,
Just as a new bride and bridegroom do, staring into each other's eyes as they declare their love and their vows, baptized in tears of joy as they are united in holy matrimony...

How can we not weep in the presence of the Bridegroom?
What is it that we allow to steal the joy of our first love, and all that entails?
Is it familiarity, indifference, a hardened heart, or busy-ness that causes us to take the joy of being in His presence so casually?
Beloved, return to your First Love- Jesus.

Mortar and Stone 139

"As you come to him, the living Stone–rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him– you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ."
1 Peter 2:4, 5

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13

"Did you learn to love? That’s what You will ask of me

Did you learn to love? Not about my ministry

Did you learn to love? Not about my money

Did you learn to love? Did you learn to love? "

- lyrics from Measure of A Man

Misty Edwards & David Brymer, 2011

What ties these three phrases together? The Word of God describes us as "living stones being built up into a spiritual house", but what holds the stones together?  It is love that is the mortar, and without it,  nothing  lasts or means anything. No ministry, no church, no teaching, no gift, no endeavor, no matter how noble your heart, means anything in the grand scope of things...if you haven't learned to love, and put it into action ( a picture is worth 1,000 words). What does love look like then? The Bible tells us that " God is love", The Father , Son, and Holy Spirit are the embodiment of love, and we are called and enabled to imitate Jesus. Jesus said : "Love the Lord your God with all your heart soul mind and strength", and "love your neighbor as yourself". Brothers and sisters, love one another, shepherds, love others before yourself, visit the sick, care for the single moms, widows, orphans , mentor and encourage somebody...

Jesus said "I am the Alpha and the Omega"-let us remember that our existence and identity  as children of God and co-heirs with Jesus, begins and ends with love

20/20

"Mary Magdalene went to the disciples with the news: “I have seen the Lord!” And she told them that he had said these things to her."
John 20:18

The disciples who lived with Jesus for three plus years had scattered after His crucifixion and were hiding fearing persecution from the corrupt Sanhedrin;  they had forgotten all that Jesus had told and taught them...but then here came Mary pounding on the door of their hideout, " open up, let me in...I have seen The Lord!"

As a young believer in The Lord, I  recall hearing a song by Ken & Jeanne Veltz called, " Lamb of God", and (some of ) lyrics that were rhema words to my spirit years later were: "they looked at Him...but they never really saw Him. This simple but profound line impacted me so hard...in my spirit I was making a familiar drive in a wealthy part of town where there are gigantic churches, one after the other, with edifices and properties in the tens of millions of dollars and the words played on the strings of my heart again: "they looked at Him, but they never really saw Him...
Jesus' greatest desire is that we would really see Him, and know Him fully, as we have been fully known,(1 Cor. 13:12) free of encumbrances, idols, and distractions...He furiously desires to be first, not any other place in our lives except that preeminent place. Unless He is first, our vision will be obstructed , blocked  partially or maybe totally, we will not be able to fix our eyes, locking our vision on all that He is - The embodiment of Love, Grace, Mercy, and Majesty...so much more
Today focus on Him without distractions, strive for 20/20  Jesus vision.

Presumptions

"So is my word that goes out from my mouth:
It will not return to me empty, 
but will accomplish what I desire
and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. 
Isaiah 55:11 


I have been writing this devotional for almost two years,  the genesis and origin is quite simple: The Lord told me to. I responded initially by saying, "But Lord, I'm not a writer! In fact I don't know what I am, or what my calling is!"  The Lord responded by telling me: " Just write what I tell you to write, do what I tell you to do, say what I want you to say."
I was obedient, but over this time I have struggled with occasional bouts of pride, (like I have anything to do with this work) which the Lord promptly has dealt with, but my real struggle has been  with the issue of presumption. I have wondered, "Does anyone really read this blog? Is it impacting anyone? Why should I even bother posting it, or sending this post to this person, or that person?" I must confess that sometimes I have not been obedient and have second guessed -presumptuously and incorrectly if anyone is out there, is anyone impacted? It is a matter of trust; when divinely instructed, we must trust the Lord with all our hearts, persevere and do what we are supposed to be doing and do not listen to the whispers of the enemy who wants to discourage, kill, steal, and destroy.
I say these things as both a confession and an encouragement ;  do not shrink back or make presumptions. We sometimes just don't have any idea just how much our efforts are impacting others, or who they are impacting, so keep your "hands on the plow, and don't look back" (Luke 9:62 paraphrase).

"It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.”With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, 
Therefore we do not lose heart. 
Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 
So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."
2 Corinthians 4:13, 16, 18 

Splitting Hairs

“Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me.
“But you ask, ‘How do we rob you?’ 
“In tithes and offerings. You are under a curse—the whole nation of you—because you are robbing me. Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, that there may be food in my house. Test me in this,” says the Lord Almighty, “and see if I will not throw open the floodgates of heaven and pour out so much blessing that you will not have room enough for it. I will prevent pests from devouring your crops, and the vines in your fields will not cast their fruit,” says the Lord Almighty. “Then all the nations will call you blessed, for yours will be a delightful land,” says the Lord Almighty. 
Malachi 3:8-12

In the Sept. 23, 2012 issue of the The Christian Post the front page article on the topic of giving stated that Christians are now giving less than ever : 2:43 %. The article further states that if it were 10% there would  be at least another $172B !
Here's the thing : according to this scripture, one of the reasons this nation is deluged with droughts, wild fires, one disaster after another, is directly related to  so many Christians have a wrong understanding of giving! Most people think the resources they have been entrusted with actually belong to them, which they don't- we are but stewards, and our hearts control the pursestrings and tell the whole story. I hate to be so blunt here but those who tithe little to none- throwing crumbs at the God of the Universe- shows where your heart is- you simply are not trusting God. The secret is that when we let go and trust Him for all things, becoming  extravagant givers from our hearts-giving out of need and not abundance, not necessarily to a church, but perhaps directly to someone they know is in need, without the benefit of a tax deduction or other personal benefits-that our alms are seen by the One who examines our hearts, and He will not be out givens, ever. Consider the boy whose few loaves and fish fed 5000 when handed over to the Messiah... The widow who Jesus observed putting all she had into the offering...the widow who heeded Elijah's request to use  what she had to feed him first, and then the promise of abundance, even when there was no natural remedy.
How do you treat the resources that God has entrusted to you, beloved?