Jesus Loves Me this I know

This past Sunday night in service, our Youth Pastor brought to our attention something I didn't know. Something I had never seen before.

I believe, and have said on many occasions that the Bible is a treasure chest. You can skim from the top, reading only on the surface and be blessed. But if you take the time to study-to really dig in prayerfully and search the Scriptures you will find even more beautiful, powerful nuggets of truth that will transform and edify and equip you.

I have read the parable of the Prodigal Son countless times. It is a beautiful story of God's love and mercy toward those who have in one way or another squandered His inheritance. Who have turned their backs on His wonderful plan of salvation in pursuit of the temporary pleasures of this world. We see God's love captured in the welcoming embrace of this father. A man who had been treated so unkindly by his son, yet the joy he expresses at his return holds not one trace of bittenerness or unforgiveness. The Bible describes how the son comes to himself and realizes the error of his decision. He then heads for home, and "when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him." (Luke 15:20)

The father's love and understanding toward his son is moving.

A portrait of grace.

Just the way God is with us when we mess up. Imagine the joy this father felt when he looked into the distance and saw the figure of his son walking toward home. It isn't difficult to picture him running toward his son and gathering him up in a warm passionate embrace.

That's what "fell" means. It's a funny Greek word "epipipto" which means to embrace with affection or seize with more or less violence; to fall into or upon.

Did you know that? I didn't.

And here's something else I didn't know. The part that really got me. If you have a trusty Strong's Concordance you can look up any word in the Bible, find out how many times and where it is used and, of course what it means. Well, that same word "fell" is used two other times in the New Testament.

(Act 10:44) While Peter yet spake these words, the Holy Ghost fell on all them which heard the word.

(Act 11:15) And as I began to speak, the Holy Ghost fell on them, as on us at the beginning.

I don't know about you, but this absolutely thrills me! In fact it downright blesses my socks off! I don't know....I guess we think of God's Spirit falling down from the sky or something but this! This describes the Holy Ghost falling on us as the passionate embrace of God! A divine hug! He seizes us passionately and possessively making us His own!! WOW!!

Just a couple of weeks ago when I was blessed to be near a lovely lady upon whom the Holy Ghost fell....that is exactly what I had been thinking as I watched. God was wrapping her in a loving embrace. You could FEEL it!

And on that beautiful, comforting note I am heading off to bed...thinking

Jesus loves me this I know :-)

Bent Out of Shape

Today I met a woman who for eighteen years suffered with a terrible spirit of infirmity. You've probably already guessed that I met her in the pages of Scripture. In fact, I've bumped into her several times over the years but this morning I saw her in a way I've never seen her before. She is described as someone who was "bent over and could in no way raise herself up." The Greek word for infirmity "astheneia" means a feebleness of body or mind indicating an inability to produce results. Have you ever felt that way? So weak in your mind and emotions that you can't raise yourself up? Bombarded with thoughts and memories that are pressing down with such force you can't think straight. I mean, really, how many times have we said to ourselves or to someone else, "I can't think straight!!". Bent over emotionally and spiritually-you're not able to look up or ahead...just down.

Sounds despairing, doesn't it?

And it might be....

It could be....

If we don't encounter Jesus. The lady I read about came to where He was, and that's what we must do. In spite of our infirmity we must find our way to Him through the avenue of prayer and in the pages of His Word. In His presence, He will touch us as He did that woman in Scripture. And like her, we will be made straight and glorify God.

Believe it!!!

Even the Gadarene demoniac, a man possessed by a legion of demons-twisted and bent out of shape in the worst of ways-deemed hopeless by everyone else...was found clothed and in his right mind and sitting at the feet of Jesus.

Cry out to Him, "Lead me, O Lord, in your righteousness because of my enemies; Make your way straight before my face." (Psalm 5:8)

And he will answer you," I will go before you and make the crooked places straight; I wiill break in pieces the gates of bronze and cut the bars of iron. I will give you the treasures of darkness and hidden riches of secret places, That you may know that I, the Lord who call you by your name am the God of Israel." (Isaiah 45:2-3)

Isn't that amazing! His words to Cyrus are His words to you. Whatever your infirmity...no matter how great the darkness in your life...Jesus will give you treasures where you least expected to find them.

Ask...Seek...Knock

"And I say to you, Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you." Luke 11:9

I get it that God's thoughts are not our thoughts and His ways are not our ways. If we could know everything there is to know about Him and figure out every aspect of His plan for our lives...well...we wouldn't need Him much, would we? Still, our human nature loves to be in the driver's seat of life -and to foresee all of the twists and turns that lie ahead. We want to know the 'why' the 'where' and the 'how' of every situation. But that's not happening anytime soon for the child of God to whom God has said, "You walk by faith and not by sight."

Ok...ok...we say....but we don't want that faith walk to last too long. We want God to step on the scene and do what we're asking Him to do... quickly.

But sometimes that doesn't happen. In fact...I know a few people who right now are long past what they perceived to be their due date. You know the day they expected God to deliver them or heal them, find them a job or bring their lost loved one home.They feel as dejected as when that unpaid bill arrives in their mail box with PAST DUE stamped in over-sized piercing black letters for everyone to see. Like an over-due pregnant Mom the heaviness and pressure of what they're carrying is becoming more than they can bear.

Is your miracle past-due?

Yesterday I had an edifying conversation with an elder I admire greatly. Presently, and for the past few months, she has been struggling with a health issue that has, for the most part, confined her to bed. A place she ususally wouldn't care to be except at night to sleep. Pain has been an ever-present companion. This coupled with limited mobility has presented a great challenge for my friend. A challenge of faith. But even more than this...a challenge of enduring faith. I'm sure you're thinking, "So, what's the difference?" And that's a tricky question. In God's eyes, I don't think there is a difference. Faith is faith. But for those of us who are still in the waiting room with the very real possibility that God's answer may be not now-that word makes all the difference.

I believe that faith is the main thing. I don't think we should EVER stop believing or ever give up asking, seeking and knocking in prayer. I see a kind of progression in the use of words here. It's like Jesus is telling us....teaching us....that faith is somthing that must be exercised and stretched in order that it may endure. Why didn't He just stop at "Ask, and it shall be given to you? Between those lines, I hear Him saying," Ok My child...what will you do if you aren't given what you ask for right away? Will you stop there? Will you give up? Will you lose faith? Or will you continue by seeking? The word 'seeking' adds a sense of longing to the asking. And if after seeking awhile and you don't find will you then knock? The word 'knock' means to strike with a hard blow or to affect in a specified way by striking hard. In other words when faith has had to endure for a prolonged period, rather than fading or wavering it becomes more passionate and persistent until finally the door swings open!

Remember in the 18th chapter of Luke when Jesus asks, "...when the Son of Man* returns, how many will he find on the earth who have faith?" (verse 8) Of course, this verse must be read in context and it is interesting to note that this verse is part of the story of the unjust judge and the importunate (persistent) widow. I encourage you to read the parable, perhaps even a few times...especially if you, like this widow are presently oppressed by some unknown adversary. She went to the judge and 'asked' for deliverence. But the judge was unmoved by the validity of her case.

LESSON: God doesn't respond to our situation. He responds to our faith in the situation.

The parable clearly illustrates that it was the woman's persistence that brought a decision in her favor. She didn't stop after asking. She continued to seek and to knock. The Lord explained to the disciples that if an unjust judge would act on behalf of a widow because of her importunity, how much more will He intervene on behalf of His people?

Don't give up!!!!!!!

Mindsets & Desperate Measures

The word "mindset" conjurs up an image of something locked in place. Something immoveable or unchangeable. Mindsets can work for or against us. In some cases, we can purposely set our mind to do something good. For example, having a mind-set focused on God and His kingdom, and on doing His will would be beneficial to our lives, and to the lives of those around us. But sometimes mindsets are fortresses of evil. Like the strongholds described in 2 Corinthians 10: 4-5. Mind fortresses have walls-thick walls, that can keep your nasty thoughts locked in and God locked out. If our mindset involves thoughts that are exalted in our thinking above what God says is true-we are in trouble. I speak from experience.

As a victim of sexual assualt I became enslaved to mindsets that, had they not encountered the truth of God's Word, would have imprisoned me forever. The strongholds in my mind were effectively tearing away at the fabric of my marriage and corrupting my thoughts in such a way that I had a skewed perspective about myself, men and about life in general.

Until....

Until my mindset met truth in all of its two-edged power! God's Word began to pierce through the darkness of those fortified lies and tear them down one by one.

But before that could happen, a desperation to be healed had to grip my heart and compel me to get to Jesus any way I could. I'd like to pause here to say that sometimes desperation doesn't look pretty or graceful. But desperate situations demand desperate measures. Remember the man who wasn't able to get to Jesus because of the crowds, and so they climbed on the roof-cut a hole in the tiles and lowered that man to the Lord. Now, pride could have deterred him from doing this. He could have been unwilling to draw attention to himself as they lowered him down in front of the multitudes. You and I can be the same way. That man was lame-he was unable to walk physically-but we, when we are in the grip of crippling mindsets are also unable to walk spiritually and emotionally.

How many of us are willing to push through until we get to Jesus in a way that those mindsets are totally healed and freed by the truth of God's Word? How many times will we climb out of our pew and walk up the aisle to an altar? And when we get there will we allow ourselves to cry out in desperate faith-not caring what the people around us think? How much time will we devote to lowering ourselves to our knees and praying? To picking up God's Word and reading with expectancy? To letting its truth penetrate through the walls of our mind fortress? And to diligently obey the truths that God reveals to us?

Crippling mindsets require desperate measures.

You do not have to remain a prisoner of your thoughts forever!

"You shall KNOW the truth and the truth SHALL make you free." I want to talk more about the 'knowing' a little later....but I promise you....it works! Don't give up!

Oh....and when you get desperate.... and you get to Jesus...and you experience healing...guess what happens then?

"And the whole multitude sought to touch Him." Luke 6:19

Don't be afraid to do whatever it takes! Cast off your pride and get real with God! And remember that the people who may be looking on will also be compelled to touch Him and find healing for themselves!

Follow Me....

If I asked you to follow me in my blogging efforts, would you? And if so-why?
What would compel you to read what I have written? What makes people follow other people? Ok, I know the reasons are multiple-but sometimes I get to wondering if we ever take the time to ask ourselves the right questions. I mean about why we do the things we do. It's important. It really is. We can't follow anybody blindly-not even Jesus. Oh, I know it's a faith walk and we don't know or see everything when we follow Him, but that doesn't mean we come after Him blindly. He said so Himself.

"And he said to them all, If any man will come after me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow me." [Luke 9:23]

Just before He lowered this verbal boom, He had wowed the multitudes and His own disciples by feeding 5000 people with only 5 loves of bread and 2 fish. Now that is impressive! And Jesus certainly knew that miracles and healings would validate Him as the prophesied Messiah.Still-He took the time to let His disciples know there is a cost involved in following Him.

It's a given that we should be wowed when He reveals Himself to us in salvation and through His mighty works. We have laid hold of life that is life indeed! We have found the reason for our existence and discovered the hope of a glorious eternal reward. But He wants us to know that following Him means walking and living against the mainstream current of the world we live in. And that is not easily done. Because every single one of us is born with a nature that naturally gravitates to that mainstream pull. We all want to go with the flow. But Jesus is telling us that following Him means denying our natural urges, impulses and desires. In other words-our self life. Taking up the cross means deliberately choosing to live the kind of life He lived-the way He did. To be as He was when He was in the world. Sometimes it's easy to say "yes" to self-denial when it's put forth in a general way. It's when the cross comes to bear on our individual lives and things get more specific that the battle really begins. Things like careers and relationships.

How many of us really thought we would have to give up our so called right to plan or choose, and to have to recognize His lordship in literally every area of life?

Jesus clearly says that we cannot call Him, Lord and not do the things He has told us to do. Yet this is the case with many who call themselves Christians. I don't say this in judgement but with the deepest sense of yearning to encourage everyone, along with myself to examine ourselves to see if we really are in the faith.

Geoffrey O'Hara wrote these stirring words:

"You call me the "Way" and walk me not,
You call me the "Life" and live me not,
You call me "Master" and obey me not,
If I condemn you, blame me not,
You call me "Bread" and eat me not,
You call me "Truth" and believe me not.
You call me "Lord" and serve me not.
If I condemn you, blame me not."

Jesus said, particularly of the last days, that many would come in His name-but they would not be His. If we are reading and studying His book then we know that there is a counterfeit church/Christianity growing up right alongside the true church. We can only recognize the counterfeit by knowing & understanding the original blueprint (the truth) and being intimately acquainted with the Master Designer. When the disciples asked what would be the sign of His coming, He began His discourse with these words, "Beware, lest any man deceive you."

I don't want to be deceived.

The Bible clearly warns us that endtime deception will be so great that even the very elect may be fooled. Much of what is called Christianity in the 21st century is crossless. It has become a form of godliness that denies the power of the cross. It doesn't demand cross-bearing in the lives of its followers but has instead shed anything that might offend or make people uncomfortable in their chosen lifestyles.

But Jesus said, "Take up your cross!"

This involves:
-The opposition of loved ones
-The reproach of the world
-Sometimes forsaking family and home and
the comforts of this life.
-Proclamation of an unpopular message
-Attacks from established religious leaders
-Suffering for righteousness sake

Of course, this list isn't exhaustive-but it illustrates the point.

And let's be honest. We instinctively recoil from a life of cross-bearing. Our minds are reluctant to believe that this could possibly be God's will for us. And this is precisely why it becomes so easy for people to follow a voice that is not telling the whole truth. But Jesus said, "If ANYONE desires to come after me." No follower is excused or exempted.

This has been weighing so heavily on my mind because I am finding more and more that people are pushing off the hard-sayings of Christ as being negative and not necessary. And I believe that when we start doing this we are on dangerous spiritual ground.

I want to be told the truth and I want to tell the truth. In the end nothing else is going to matter.