Remembrances/A Letter To My Father

“Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you. 
Exodus 20:12

Yesterday was October 22, and being the sentimentalist I am, I remember important dates. I find that I don't have to write some dates onto my calendar, they're just engrained into my consciousness. October 22 is such a date-the anniversary of my father's passing.
Below is a letter I've written to my father:

Dear Dad,
It's hard to believe that you have been gone 24 years. I am so thankful that you lived to be 82, and considering that you were 50 when I was born I consider myself blessed that I had you for 32 years.
I have some great memories of you, Dad, remembrances I cherish: the horseplay at bedtime when you tickled me till I couldn't breathe... you carrying me to bed when I was a little boy when I feigned falling asleep in front of the TV... the scent of your cologne...your amazing cooking when you were home. Your career managing restaurants kept you very busy and I didn't get to spend a lot of time with you when I was young. I find that I took your life span for granted, that somehow I never really considered the inevitability of your passing. I had so many questions I wanted to ask you, but I can't now. I knew that you wouldn't live forever. You had a couple bouts with cancer, but I did not rearrange my schedule in order to spend more time with you, especially the last 2 years.
I wanted to know so much more about your life but the opportunity never came. I wanted to share with you  the changes that Yeshua had made and continued to make in my life, and I know that you saw how different I had become, but time slipped away. I know that you did not understand my decision to believe in Him but you still loved me.  I was a newlywed and my job required many of my hours.
Although I wish that I could go back and do things differently I can't.
Today I choose to be thankful.
I thank God for you, for the love you gave me, and for those positive qualities I received as your son. I choose to embrace, cherish, and honor my memories of you. Today I only know in part, "seeing through the mirror dimly" as Paul said,  but one day "I will know and be fully known", and in that day I look forward to seeing you again.
I love you,
Hugh

Daily 184

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
Galatians 2:20

When I received Jesus as my Savior, I came just as I was, and He received me that way, covered in all my filth, brokenness, and corruption. I had no idea what it meant to be crucified with Him; I didn't understand what it meant to be baptized into His death. I thought that I'd just be able to put on the "saved and born-again coat" spotless and white, over the soiled personage of who and what I was, and that would suffice. 
His sacrifice, His effort, all to my benefit, yes, but I thought that I'd just coast along.
In the beginning of my walk, I thought just Jesus got up on His cross so I didn't have to, Praise God. Yes, He paid the ultimate penalty for me, but early on I had no idea there was a great transformation that would be required. 
He loved me so much He wouldn't-couldn't-let me stay the way I was(Romans 12:2).

"Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily,and follow Me."

Luke 9:23

I didn't understand that there was a cross, custom-made with my name on it, if I were to follow Jesus, I would be required to pick it up daily. Luke 9:23..there it is...the term daily, not occasionally when I felt like it, no-it is written just like the dosage instructions for an important medication. If I wanted to follow Him then I had to carry my own, just as Jesus had.  Only room for one.
My natural fleshy nature has to die if my spiritual man is to thrive. 
The process prescribed is not elective, it cannot be transferred or allayed. 
My cross...daily...
Maybe I'm stating the obvious here. 
To most of us the Scripture I am referencing here are well known, as we nod with acknowledgement. 
No pain no gain, we say.
Yet how many of us can gladly carry their own crosses as if to say through every painful experience, "Thank you Lord, may I have another..."
I know that in and of myself I can't; I'm just being honest here, but thankfully the weight of it is offset by the easy yoke that He has promised to give me to lighten the load.

No Questions 179

"For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. 
Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known." 
I Corinthians 13:12 NKJV

I was having this conversation with my daughter the other day about one of God's saints, Corrie Ten Boom. I have been posting a few of her quotes lately on my Facebook;
I mentioned that I can't wait to meet her, that I have so many questions I want to ask  her.
As I said this I thought about all the others I can't wait to meet.
My Father-God, and the Son, let me not forget Holy Spirit, and all those in the great cloud of witnesses.
Holy Spirit showed me that there would be no need to verbally ask-
we will just know all of it!
Think about that: we will know and be known-instantly.
All of life's mysteries...the answers to all of the hardest questions here, such as the untimely deaths of those we loved and valued. The difficult times and circumstances that directed our paths as we journeyed through our earthly lives...we will have an ah-ha moment that will be like a supernova exploding. All of it driven by the furious love of our Father who always purposes all things to work together for good.
So, with this in mind I find myself at a greater level of peace knowing there will be only answers and revelation when we are finally face-to-face.

Called #164

"As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. “Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will send you out to fish for people.” "
Matthew 4:18, 19 NIV

"Paul, a servant of Christ Jesus, called to be an apostle and set apart for the gospel of God— "
Romans 1:1 NIV

How do you view yourself?
Do you ever feel like God can't use you because of your lack of diplomas and certificates, physical flaws or disabilities, or an unremarkable resume?
In the Old Covenant, God used people who were stutters, prostitutes, and wimps, and  when I think about  how Jesus picked the Twelve, I am always amazed. He didn't go to the Sanhedrin or the cohenim (the priesthood), or rabinical schools like Gamaliel's, advertising:
"Wanted - 12  Disciples, Now Accepting Applications". He wasn't interested in fancy resumes, the declarations of the proud and the self-aggrandizing. He was looking at the hearts of men, and He found what He was looking for in Simon called Peter, Andrew, John, and the others.

"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus."
Acts 4:13 NKJV

They did not have credentials or titles,  just pure hearts, willing to drop everything and follow Him.
Although Paul was highly credentialed, (a Pharisee from the tribe of Benjamin, Gamaliel-trained, etc) this is not what he identified with. He wanted to be known as "Paul, a servant of Messiah Yeshua", counting everything else as garbage (Phil. 3:8).
Jesus is no respecter of persons, which is not to say that He doesn't respect each person as a person but it does mean that He has equal consideration and love for every one, regardless of their list of credentials, or lack of credentials.
I am blessed to be associated with a kaleidoscope of people and personalities in different walks of life, and the different ministries we are associated with, and I see among these brothers and sisters a commonality: they, like Paul, don't flaunt their credentials, because they know and understand that "the eyes of the Lord are run to and fro across the earth"... they possess pure and surrendered hearts, abandoning all else, for the highest calling...all servants and bond-slaves of Jesus.

As we respond to His call with willing hearts it is then that He qualifies and enables us to do extraordinary things through the Holy Spirit,  just as He did with twelve "ordinary"uneducated blue collar men. 

Truth/Decisions 181

"Beloved, do not think it strange concerning the fiery trial which is to try you, as though some strange thing happened to you; but rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy."
I Peter 4:12, 13 

My goal is to always be real and transparent-truthful and honest-in my writing, and I consider myself a victor and an overcomer. But I would be less than truthful to say that my state of being is always '4 stars and 2 thumbs up".
So in this spirit of transparency I want to share a bit:

The truth is that I'm not always as farsighted, visionary, and joyful  as I'd like to be.
The truth is that sometimes I feel like Elijah- slaying my "enemies" and running in the spirit so powerfully that I overtake my better equipped adversaries, but then find myself shaking like a leaf and high-tailing it to some hiding place ( but not THE HIDING PLACE) inside myself, trying to flee pain, fear, and anxiety..
The truth is that sometimes it is downright hard to "rejoice to the extent I am partaking of my Messiah's sufferings", hard to deny my "self" , hard to see past the pain that takes my breath away.
The truth is that sometimes I can't get out of the way of my own sense of suffering, which is most noticeable when the words, "Thank You, Lord" , seem to be missing from my vocabulary.
The truth is that I am just a flawed and weak man.
The truth is that when I forget that there is a direct correlation between suffering and the certainty of what's coming when His glory is unveiled  I lose sight of the fact that joy and gladness trump trials and suffering.
The truth is that when the conscious decision is made to realize and understand that suffering in this life as a follower of Yeshua our Messiah cannot be viewed as strange or unusual; He never promised a rose garden, and even if He had we must understand that roses bushes have thorns.
A greater revelation comes when I consciously deny myself, and praise and thanksgiving flows from my heart in place of groans and tears.
Suffering is meant to be transitionary, and when it comes it should be a reminder of the future glory that every moment that passes brings us closer to the everlasting experiences that "eye has not seen, nor ear heard".

Beloved, remember that although we will deal with weakness and trials, it is God's will for us to walk in a strength not fueled in or of ourselves, but fueled by the greatest joy-the joy of the Lord.

For with God all things are possible.

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
I Thessalonians 5:16-18 

Questions For The Potter 299

“You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.” 
Exodus 20:17 

Have you ever been envious of another's gifts, talents, ministry- their life- dealt with or perhaps dealing with right now-feelings of inferiority as you measured yourself against that person, and to your mind come up short? Have you ever lamented the fact that you are you and asked God: "Lord, why couldn't I have been that other person?Why couldn't I  look like them, have their gifts, their house, their cars & boats, their job, their wealth, their spouse, etc.?
You, the clay, asking the Potter why He made you the way you are?

"... And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured such opposition from sinners, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart."
Hebrews 12:1a-3

God, who is omni-everything, loves and values each of us most highly.
He doesn't make mistakes.
We are all running the race marked out for us, but on varied and unique tracks, paths that He has mapped out especially for each of us. These paths are illuminated step by step  ("Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path." Psalm 119:105 NIV). We see just far enough so as to not stumble, but not like headlamps on a car that illuminate way ahead. But additionally and more important  to remember is that because we each have our own journey, it is necessary that we not jealously compare our lives and the gifts God has given us, as well as our own races to those of our brothers and sisters, no more than Cain jealously compared his situation with Abel's.
Taking our eyes off of Jesus, and looking  jealously across the track at others who have different and varied gifts, is a dangerous thing.
So beloveds, let's persevere, and remain focused on Jesus, our prize.
In so considering the Author and Perfecter we will not weary, nor shall we lose heart. 

Unbound

Then Nebuchadnezzar was full of fury, and the expression on his face changed toward Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego.  Then these men were bound in their coats, their trousers, their turbans, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Therefore, because the king’s command was urgent, and the furnace exceedingly hot, the flame of the fire killed those men who took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego. And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. Then King Nebuchadnezzar was astonished; and he rose in haste and spoke, saying to his counselors, “Did we not cast three men bound into the midst of the fire?” They answered and said to the king, “True, O king.” “Look!” he answered, “I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire; and they are not hurt, and the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” 

Daniel 3:19-25 NKJV

The other day I read this passage for the umpteenth time, and I noticed something I never saw before: The bindings.
Bound at the orders of the king these 3 faithful men of God were thrown into the furnace. 

Not only were they protected by God from the heat and smoke, no bruises from falling down, but the bindings that they had been tied up with were disintegrated! Their oppressors watched in amazement as they walked freely with a fourth being whose appearance was so glorious that Nebuchadnezzar himself referred to him as "the Son of God". In the flames, the only things burnt off were the ropes that they had been bound with!

"Therefore if the Son sets you free, you shall be free Indeed."
John 8:36

Often times we must go through refiner's fires in order to have the various ties that have bound us burnt off. Sometimes these shackles are the doings of the devil and others, but more often than not it is us- we have stretched out our own arms, legs, necks and bound ourselves. You know what some of them are: addictions to drugs, alcohol, sex, being double minded, and struggling with unbelief to name a few....
Although we may have stepped forward for deliverance, been prayed over, etc. many times, until we are thrown into that superheated "furnace" nothing changes, and we already knew that it wouldn't ... We want to blame the devil for everything, but every time those ties are loosened we ourselves cinch them tight again.
Only when we realize that it takes the glorious revelation of Jesus our deliver being right there with us, walking with us that we can truly become set free and unbound.

Beyond the Boat/Comfort Zones

"And Peter answered Him and said, “Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water.” So He said, “Come.” And when Peter had come down out of the boat, he walked on the water to go to Jesus."
Matthew 14:28, 29 

We have all read this scripture where Peter joins Jesus for a stroll on the Galilee.
The scriptures tell us that the lake was tempestuous, with high winds that had kicked up whitecapped waves. The small boat with the disciples on board-without Jesus-was taking the brunt of it.
There are no comments of the disciples recorded here, but I am sure they were not very happy about Jesus making them head out to the other side of the Galilee (Matt.14:22) without Him accompanying them. I'm sure they may have felt stranded, abandoned. They were "up the proverbial creek with a paddle", or so they thought.
Out in the middle of that stormy sea, just before dawn, they see something, or someone-walking across the waves! Thinking with their natural, unbelieving minds they surmise it's a ghost, but then they hear the voice of the Shepherd! How could it be ? After all, aren't they in the middle of this body of water that has a 33 mile circumference? But Peter calls to Him: "Lord, if it's You, bid me to get out of ths boat (paraphrased) and come to you on the water!" Jesus says."Come!" and as his astounded companions watch, he throws comfort and convention to the wind, swings his legs over the side, fixes his eyes on Jesus and does the seemingly impossible.

I find myself getting "out of the boat", maybe even being thown out of the boat,to be totally honest, out of the established comfort zone, jettisoned from my Egypt, my Ur... I'm headed down (or up) a new path that is directed by faith, not the convention or  wisdom of the world.
It is the voice of my Shepherd that guides me and I reach forward to grab hold of His hand.
Fixing my eyes on the Perfecter (Heb.12:2), I desire to do what Peter failed to do here...
he sank because He took his eyes off Jesus and let his worldly thought overwhelm him.
Jesus continues to tell me that nothing is impossible when He is with us and this is what I concentrate on. He calms my anxieties, squashes my fears, and  illuminates my journey step by step.
It is faith, not sight that directs me.  (2 Cor. 5:7).

Assurances and Fears/Amazing Grace

"You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. 
You know when I sit and when I rise; 
You perceive my thoughts from afar. 
You discern my going out and my lying down; 
You are familiar with all my ways. 
Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. 
Where can I go from your Spirit? 
Where can I flee from your presence? 
Psalm 139:1-4, 7 NIV

"Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling"
Philippians 2:12

The Holy Scriptures tell us that the Lord is omniscient, omnipresent, sovereign, and all powerful, halleluyah! If you are like me, you find these considerations to be very reassuring...but I must confess that at the same time they can be quite frightening. This means that He sees all of our trials, every situation, tribulations and triumphs. This also means that everything that I have thought or will think about, every action, every holy or fleshly thought, is laid bare before Him.  His grace is more than sufficient, but the very thought of my unholiness being on display before my Most Holy Magnificent God...can be unnerving to say the least. Now don't get me wrong; my love for God and the realization that Jesus paid the highest price to redeem me from sin and death, and the fact that I live, move, and have my being in Him through the Holy Spirit are driving forces. I am acutely aware though that He sees every trace of leaven, every speck of darkness, and He desires that we just be honest and real with Him. It makes no more sense to try to hide anything from Him anymore than when Achan hid golden idols under the floor of his tent, or Ananias and Sapphira lied to Peter  about holding back money. Let us be thankful for His amazing Grace that covers our mess-ups, and let us exercise this same grace abundantly with each other.

Striving and Resting 9

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; 
against such things there is no law."
Galatians 5:22, 23 NASB

I know of very few things that are more difficult for me to accomplish than waiting.
Waiting requires patience, and patience has not been a historically strong attribute of mine.
Waiting requires resting, the time and place when you can't do anything on your own.
I want things to happen my way, now.
My flesh often has already predetermined a desired outcome or decision,
and therefore I have crafted prayers in my heart that I want  to make happen, or so I think.
The trouble with that is rarely the outcome I have desired for past decisions the outcome that God had desired.
I can trace most of the problems I have brought on myself because I was unwilling to wait for the answer from my Father, and in so doing, I have created a striving.
In Galatians 5:22-23, notice that patience (NIV translation reads forbearance-) is sandwiched by the the other fruits of the Spirit. Patience places one in a position of waiting/rest...the balance of the fruits accompanying. Now consider replacing patience/rest with striving-the opposite position, and replace the other fruits with their opposites...you may well find yourself in an atmosphere where you are immersed in the bitter fruits of anger/hatred, unhappiness/depression, strife/quarrels, STRIVING, mean-spirited,  evil, unfaithfulness, harshness, reprobate mind/ selfish.  Ouch.
So, I find myself in a place of physical disability-unable to strive- where God has brought me, kicking and screaming, to a place of rest. Unable to force anything,  I hear Him say, "ssshhh", as a parent comforts a wailing infant,  as my spirit is quieted and I fall into His rest, knowing that whatever the situation, He's got it under control, and I am comforted by His inexhaustable grace, mercy, and love.
As the song goes: "He's got the whole world in His hands..."

Between Rocks and Hard Places/ Desolation 5

And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong. 
II Corinthians 12:9-10

I am in a very difficult spot; between the proverbial "rock and a hard place". 
Allow me to explain: After enduring a life threatening, extended illness that kept me out of work for more than 6 months I returned to work for about 4 months. I was so happy to return to a relatively healthy state of being with all it's busy-ness. Then the unthinkable happened... I injured my back.
So with a great deal of pain, two trips to the ER including another 2 day hospital stay over the last 6 weeks, I find myself unemployed, all my benefits terminated, no financial resources, and in need of surgery. There are so many questions swirling about - my mind  just has a great big cerebral "?", like the big question mark on the pole that grocery chain Trader Joe's employees carry about the store -and honestly, many tears of anguish, physical pain from my spinal injury, loss, and the realization that a chapter of my life is ending. 
A rock and a hard place.
But I have choices of what I allow in that space between rocks and the hard places. I can allow desolation to be a place of hopelessness and negativity (which are not thoughts from God but from the devil), or  I can realize that the place between the rocks and hard places is my Mt. Horeb, where both Elijah and Moses found renewal as they were stripped of all but His presence. It was at this desolate place that they thanked, worshipped and dwelled with Him. They were prepared for their greatest revival and exploits. New beginnings. Double portions. The knowledge that God has not forsaken or abandoned me, but has brought me here for times of intimacy and "FaceTime", just me and Him. My problem with being busy is that although I desire to keep Him first, and give the first fruits of my time to The Lord, I have a hard time keeping this commitment, and He is Jealous.
So I will treat this new season as a gift from God...I have no idea where I am going, but I know that He is with me, leading and guiding me, and He is God over everything, especially over my circumstances.

Hope and Faith

Hope deferred makes the heart sick, But when the desire comes, it is a tree of life.
Proverbs 13:12

“Hope itself is like a star- not to be seen in the sunshine of prosperity, and only to be discovered in the night of adversity. ”
― Charles Spurgeon

The definition of faith is things that are hoped for that are yet unseen. 
It is hope that drives what we call faith. We hope and believe for certain things and can rest in an assurance that is driven and given to us through God's Holy Spirit. 
Elijah was assured in the Spirit that rain would come even when he prayed under a hot and cloudless sky from atop Mt. Carmel, and as he prayed on in faith and hope the sky was filled with dark rain clouds, pregnant with promises.
Even when we don't yet see the fruit of His promises yet, we know that if He said it, we can believe it - there is hope and faith, working together.
We are strengthened. We are believers. God's Word is true.
Jesus said, "if it were not so, I would've told you so." John 14:2b
It is the devil who wants to rob us of hope and faith, leaving us sick and despondent, if we listen to his whispers of dark and doubtful things.
He incessantly tries to whisper to us, "did you really hear God say that to you?"
Do not listen to the lies of  the great liar, beloved!
Today, say YES and AMEN to God's promises...let faith and hope arise anew in each of us!

Reflections

"Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being." 
Genesis 2:7 

I began reflecting on why our Creator chose to fashion mankind in His glorious image from the dust of the earth. Why didn't He make us from something else, something precious and rare, perhaps gold or silver? No, He chose the most common, the dirtiest, the lowest stuff that is nothing more than cast-off material. He formed Adam and breathed His Ruach HaKadosh into him, and made mankind just a little lower than angels. But there was a Fall.
Without the Father's love, grace, mercy and the revelation of all that He is and has for us, that comes only with the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, what are we really?  
Before Jesus apprehends us, we are walking dead, not knowing that we aren't  really alive, never knowing what real love is, never even knowing why we truly exist.  We are just empty vessels,  a valley of dry bones. We strive to find purpose and meaning to answer the questions:
Why am I here? What is my purpose?
We are just fancy arrangements of dust, until His Holy Spirit changes everything in us.
By  Him, and Him alone, our hearts are transformed from stone to flesh.
We can live, move, and have our being, and able-no,  more than able, to reflect God's glory in all that we do, not because of ourselves, but because Christ, the Hope of Glory, lives in us.

Rerouting

"Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying,
“This is the way, walk in it,”
Whenever you turn to the right hand ,
Or whenever you turn to the left."
 Isaiah 30:21

"There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." (
Proverbs 14:12, 16:25 

Most of us are familiar with GPS or navigation devices these days. When we go the wrong direction or make a wrong turn, the device will quickly let us know by proclaiming, " REROUTING", followed by the new directions to get us back on track headed to our destination. The most sophisticated systems take into account  where the heavy traffic is and avoid it, and can be tailored to avoid certain types of roads, or not, even picking the shortest distance, or the fastest time to arrive. Sometimes the path we are directed towards is unfamiliar to us and is contrary to the way we would've naturally chosen.
The Lord lays out the best path for us, and gives us his Holy Spirit to lead and guide us, who speaks to us softly, whispering to us: " This is my way, the way that you should go."  Sometimes that direction may seem like the wrong way, but as we move forward trusting the Lord with all our hearts, and not leaning on our own understanding, we eventually see a great outcome. Without the Holy Spirit GPS we would just pick another way that may seem right to us but actually leads to a dead end. Hearing His voice and following Him requires that we spend time before Him in prayer and meditation, "presenting our supplications" and "being still and knowing that He is God".
If you hear that still small voice staying REROUTING follow  it.
There is no plan that is as good as His.

Gatekeepers/ Fatherhood

Then the Angel of the Lord called to Abraham a second time out of heaven, and said: “By Myself I have sworn, says the Lord, because you have done this thing, and have not withheld your son, your only son — blessing I will bless you, and multiplying I will multiply your descendants as the stars of the heaven and as the sand which is on the seashore; and your descendants shall possess the gate of their enemies. In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”
Genesis 22:15-18

Why have you despised the commandment of the Lord, to do evil in His sight? You have killed Uriah the Hittite with the sword; you have taken his wife to be your wife, and have killed him with the sword of the people of Ammon. Now therefore, the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised Me, and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ Thus says the Lord : ‘Behold, I will raise up adversity against you from your own house; and I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel, before the sun.’ ”
II Samuel 12:9-12

This weekend I attended an Encounter Weekend workshop. In one of the sessions the speaker spotlighted Abraham's willingness and obedience to God  even to sacrifice his son, Isaac, the angel of the Lord stopping Abraham's hand as he began the downstroke to kill his beloved son, against King David's sin of adultery with Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah, and subsequent murder of Uriah, and all the adversity, intrigue, rape, perversion, near overthrow of his kingdom by his son, Absalom, (who's very name meant "Father of Peace"), death, darkness and a kingdom ultimately divided and conquered.
Abraham's descendants were blessed because of his faithfulness, but David's descendants paid a heavy price because of his shortsightedness, even though David was forgiven.
I began to reflect on my (our) personal responsibility as a father(s) to be a gatekeeper and guardian both of my (our) current generation(s) and those to follow. My (our) sins would be visited on my (our) descendants to the third and fourth generations and possibly even to the tenth generation, but so will my (our)obedience..."obedience is better than sacrifice..." 1Sam 15:22.
In the light of such impact my actions are guided by viewing the big picture. choosing today to obey God and unleash supernatural long reaching blessings on our families, those who follow us, who in turn will be empowered to obey the Lord, becoming gatekeepers, and in turn, setting up a supernatural chain reaction of blessings not curses.

Trials and Joy 186

"My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials"
James 1:2

"The Lord is my strength and my shield; My heart trusted in Him, and I am helped; 
Therefore my heart greatly rejoices, And with my song I will praise Him."
Psalms 28:7

We all know James 1:2... When trials come that we are to count it all joy, right?
We all nod our heads affirming this.
We read it and say that we understand it, right up until that moment when the trial of trials sucker-punches us right in the face.  We struggle even to catch our next breath,
so devastated at that moment that tears and cries of anguish haven't  come yet.
Debilitating fear and the uncertainty of the future can immobilize,
if we do not acknowledge and activate a promise and great spiritual acknowledgement:
THE JOY OF THE LORD IS OUR STRENGTH!
I know that Daniel laughed in the lion's den, Paul never ceased to rejoice in the Lord- ever!
Enduring stonings, shipwrecks, put on trials, scourged,
these men of God had caught the revelation of God's great love and power, and God's great promises.
Trials are meant to bring joy, and joy releases supernatural strength!
Remember this beloved, and as I write this,
I too invoke these principles of promise for supernatural strength in the face of  natural weakness.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. 
Romans 8:28, 31, 32, 35-39 NKJV

Transitions/Moving Day 185

I wrote this from my hospital bed today.
It seems that some heavy lifting I did while trying to hoist a couple 50lb.bags of mulch from my wife's van caused a re-injury to previous  damage to my lower back.
Apparently I'm not 29, 39, or even 49 any more.
The plain facts of mortality.
The older I get, the more I grow in maturity in Jesus as I seek after Him.
It comes, though, with the realization that my body is aging, wearing out.
Everyday is a day closer to my  'moving day" when I will finally be "clothed in my heavenly habitation".
I must decrease so that He must increase...in every conceivable and inconceivable aspect,
in every facet of my earthly life.

"For we know that if our earthly house, this tent, is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed with our habitation which is from heaven, if indeed, having been clothed, we shall not be found naked. For we who are in this tent groan, being burdened, not because we want to be unclothed, but further clothed, that mortality may be swallowed up by life. Now He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who also has given us the Spirit as a guarantee. So we are always confident, knowing that while we are at home in the body we are absent from the Lord. For we walk by faith, not by sight. We are confident, yes, well pleased rather to be absent from the body and to be present with the Lord. "
II Corinthians 5:1-8

Someday in the future, at a predestined time known only to my Father, I will be present with the Lord. This of course means that I will be absent from my earthly body, just as all who have gone before me, and those who will have their own "moving days" after mine.
Not a morbid thoughts, rather glorious ones as we consider beholding Him in all His glory!
How exciting, beloved!
So the next time you are faced with sickness, aches, pains, & tears,
remember that we are headed to one Neighborhood, to mansions crafted for us by our Shepherd/Carpenter, where illness,anguish, tears, and fears are banished.
Joy and love are standing orders in this Place of Endless Worship.
Rejoice in The Lord!

The Quest 312

"As the deer pants for the water brooks, So my soul pants for You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God; When shall I come and appear before God?" Psalms 42:1, 2 

My days are spent in one of two modes: either I am in the presence of  my almighty Father/Abba, or I am in search of Him. The difference in the modes? My heart. Am I striving in my own strength, or resting in His? Am I looking at my circumstances at the moment, or am I gazing into His face as I sit in His lap. Am I feeling the palpitations of my own stessed out heart beat, or feeling the steadiness, love, and power of His?
"Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me, And Your right hand will lay hold of me." Psalms 139:7-10 
So I choose the path that leads to the fullness of life. My quest is Jesus and all that He is.
The promise of abundant life-joy, a realization that He is right here with me, that His hands are holding me and guiding me. In the remotest parts of the earth and the remotest corners of my heart..."Let his left hand be under my head And his right hand embrace me." Shir HaShirim 2:6
Jesus said: "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful. John 14:27
Beloved, my prayer is that the greater the search, the more fervent the quest and hunger for Jesus, the greater the presence and in dwelling of His fullness in us all.

Head Over Heels/Compulsion 311

"... that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height— to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:17-19

"We love Him because He first loved us."
I John 4:19

Recently I had an opportunity once again to share Jesus with a close relative.
The objections popped up over and over as my wife and I tried to explain why it is that we believe.
The usual questions arose: how can we know for sure there is a God?
How can God allow terrible things to happen to innocent people, what about aliens,
if there is a God how do you know we have the right "religion"?
"But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned." I Corinthians 2:14 
I was compelled in our discussions to keep coming back to my testimony and the very thing that won my heart and soul: that God loved me and knew everything about me even when I thought of myself as a lost cause, with a love so furious that He sent His only Son to bear the penalty I (we) deserved, making a way for me (us) out of hell and into eternity in heaven.
I was aware of all his questions, all his issues, because I was in the very same place, BC- before Christ- but every pre-BC paradigm has been overturned- "for the love of Christ compels me" (2 Cor.5:14a). It is my prayer for him, and for every other "pre-believer",  that they would be seized by the revelation of God's love, falling head over heels in love with the Ultimate Lover, and be compelled, drawn and driven, receiving all that God has for them.
Come quickly Lord Jesus!

Church in Unlikely Places 192

"For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
Matthew 18:20

I had a praise and worship session recently with a brother and sister in the Lord in an unlikely place: my showroom office. I am not at all unaccustomed to having"church" anywhere and everywhere, but how breathtaking when He chooses to just show up!
These friends came looking just for a car, or so they thought…it was a divine appointment.
There was laughter, testimony, praise, prayer, and tears as we fellowshipped about spiritual things, and testified about things the Lord is done, and is doing even now.
Jesus told his disciples: "For where two or three gather in my Name, there I am with them."
There is no better purpose or reason to gather together than under the banner of Jesus.
In Him we are meant to live, move, and have our being-living epistles, living stones…
each of us an important addition branching out from the Chief Cornerstone.
Take any and every opportunity to gather, beloved, exalting His Holy Name-
as there is no "inappropriate" place or time for events such as this.