The Ladder of Perfection

"Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect." (Matthew 5:48)

We read this verse of scripture but do we really believe it?  How can anybody be perfect but God?  Perfection is high idealism and can not be achieved in this life.  And then there are the Bible commentators that go to great lengths to show that the Greek word for perfect really does not mean perfect, it means something else.  It means spiritual growth which is attainable even if it is un-measurable.  Or how about your life is complete in Christ?  Christ is perfect and your not.  Or Christ has done it all so we don't have to strive for perfection? 

The problem is we dumb down the hard sayings of the Bible to where the Bible loses both its power and its influence.  Either we are to aim for perfection or we don't.  We either settle for the sinful life or we aim high for the perfected life.  Since living a perfect life is impossible in the flesh, the only way this can be accomplished is by the Spirit of God.  Only God can give us the power to walk a life of perfect obedience and love.

To put it another way, God wants us to live as citizens of heaven on earth.  We are to be heavenly men and women here on planet earth.  The only way this can happen is by God giving us his Holy Spirit every day in such an abundance that we begin to live and breath in the kingdom of God even when we live in enemy territory.  I am currently reading a great classic by Saint John Climacus called The Ladder of Divine Ascent.  I have just read the first three steps of thirty steps and I can not even learn much less get the first three steps.  I am like a new born baby that has to learn how to walk by Daddy God's help all over again because I have let so many people of the world influence my walk for Christ.

The First step is renunciation of the world.  Most Christians will give up on step one because they think this is an impossible task.  No one can do this and they are right.  No one can do it without God's help but unless we humble ourselves once again and come to God as helpless children, the kingdom of God may be farther away than we think.  I have to die to self, crucify my flesh and worldly desires, and be totally devoted to Christ.  Only God can give us the power to do this.  Only Christ's Spirit can form us into perfect humans as Christ was the only perfect man who ever walked this earth.

Many years ago I had a dream.  In this dream I was climbing a high mountain hanging onto a rope where there were people in front of me and behind me.  As far as I could see, the rope went into the sky and disappeared in the clouds.  I heard a voice from heaven say, "cut the rope."  I thought this was crazy.  If I cut the rope, every one below me will die including myself.  The voice said again, "cut the rope."  I finally resigned myself although I did not understand, that I was going to die along with every one else behind me.  When I cut the rope, I found myself crying over the Scriptures.  I read these verses in the Bible, "always carrying about in the body the death of the Lord Jesus so that the life of Jesus may be manifested in our body" (2 Corinthians 4:11).

And then I understood, it is only by dying to self and pride that we can truly live the God empowered life by God's Spirit.  It is only by carrying Jesus death inside us that we can give Jesus life to others.  My flesh could not understood that but my spirit now finally does.

Let Nothing Offend You

"If you are not hungry for God then you are full of yourself"

God knows us better than we know ourselves.  I am also learning that Jesus is shattering all my illusions about myself.  I am not as smart or strong or as invisible as I think.  Jesus will not leave me alone and that is a good thing.  God in Christ is reshaping us for heaven. 

My oldest son delivers medicine to sick people.  One older man who had a stroke told my son that he can't remember anything hardly anymore.  The thing that was really bothering this man was he had allot of scripture memorized and it was killing him inside that he could not remember the Bible anymore.  My boy told him, "God knows you know His word in your heart even if you can't always remember it with your mind."  I know my boy, he's not that smart either.  He simply chose to be a vessel for God that day and the Holy Spirit gave him just the right words to brighten an older man's life that day.

One of the things that God is trying to teach me and I am failing miserably at is not to be offended at anything.  It's one thing to be offended by the things that break the heart of God but usually our pride is offended in some way which only shows how pride is still a persistent problem.  Jesus said in John 16:1, "These things I have spoken to you so that you should not be offended."  Do we really believe that?  Until I get more of God in me, I will continue to be offended.  Until I am full of God's love as my pride is emptied out onto God's altar, I will be offended.  God is taking me to a place where there will no longer be offenses, only His love.

I love the way Psalm 119:165 says it, "Great peace have they which love God's law (Word) and nothing shall offend them."

Don't Be Late

"Don't be late for your own funeral"

My whole life I have run hard and fast for the Lord.  Many times to find out that much of my hurried running had more to do with keeping up with the traditions of men when it comes to the church rather than the gospel of Jesus Christ.  I have also had a strong tendency to be late when it comes to meeting my friends and sometimes even making meetings.  "Don't be late" or "You're always late" are words I have heard most of my life.  But God is taking me deeper and farther and I'm finally learning to slow down, breath easier, and walk with Christ rather than run in the flesh.

It almost feels like God has been working overtime on me when it comes to my own impatience, pride and false expectations.  I used to hate this purifying process but all I know now is I badly need it and I just want to be obedient to the Lord.  Rather than some great inconvenience or chore, it is a tremendous blessing and gift from heaven.  I also sense God is taking me in a different direction for the future.  Here are some powerful words God is speaking to me today from Habakkuk 2:2-3,

"Then the Lord answered me and said, "Write the vision and make it plain on tablets (write it down).  That he may run who reads it.  For the vision is yet for an appointed time;

But at the end it will speak, and it will not lie.  Though it tarries, wait on it; Because it will surely come, it will not tarry." 

I love the way the NAS version says "record the vision. It is time to write your visions and dreams from God down.  The NIV says it like this, "so the herald (preacher) may run with it.  It's time to run with God by His Spirit.  The NLT says, "So that a runner can carry the correct message to others."  Are you carrying the correct gospel message to others?

God has been telling me that its time to write.  It's a new season with a greater vision that I could ever think of or imagine.  The appointed time it just around the corner and for those who have eyes of faith, I am coming to the corner and even though I can not see around it yet, I come with anticipation and great expectation.

For now I am to wait.  It will happen and it will happen in a brief moment.  It will come about suddenly.  The best part is God is never late.

When God Shows Up

"When shall I come and appear before God?" (Psalm 42:2)

1.  I appear before God every time I come to Him in prayer.
2.  I appear before God ever time I submit myself to God's Word.
3.  I appear before God every time I enter into a season of fasting and seek God's face.
4.  I appear before God every time I lift my hands up to worship God.
5.  I appear before God every time I get still to hear God's voice.
6.  I appear before God every time I tell the good news of Jesus to others.
7.  I appear before God every time two or three are gathered together in Jesus name.
8.  I appear before God every time I partake of Holy Communion.
9.  I appear before God every time I really look at creation and everything around me for I see God's hand every where.
10.  I appear before God every time I am broken and contrite in spirit because it is not I that comes before God but God who comes and appears before me.

You Will Be Amazed by Heaven

"There are three things that will amaze us about heaven. 
The first is you will be amazed at who is there.
The second is you will be amazed at who is not there.
Lastly, you will be amazed that your there."

People have so many questions about heaven.  Who will be there and what will people be doing there?  What will life in heaven be like?  So the question of today is what is God the Father doing in heaven?  God the Father is always taking in Jesus as His Son to make you into God's son or daughter.  What is Jesus doing in heaven?  Jesus is always preparing a place for you in heaven.  What is the Holy Spirit doing in heaven?  The Holy Spirit is putting heaven in you on earth so that you will be ready for heaven.  Any questions?

A Prayer of Remorse

"Forgive me God for I have sinned,
I continue to think things evolve around me when they evolve around you.
Please help me to be silent before I speak.
To be quick to listen and slow to speak.
Help Me O Sovereign Lord to renounce complaint and only lament in my own sin.

Remove within me stubborn pride which is always hiding below the surface.
My greatest enemy and snare is myself.
Annihilate unbelief, pride, and sloth from my life.
Thank you for reminding me constantly of my errors and for giving me sanctified afflictions.
Make me lowly in spirit and always desperate for you.

Clouds of darkness surround me and my counsel is foolish to others.
Make me so dissatisfied with the world that I am only satisfied in you.
Trample down my self so I may be transformed into your likeness.
Remove my failures, backslidings, and secret faults far away from me.
Clothe me with your beauty and completely captivate my soul.
Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me."

The Unbearable Light Weight of God's Glory

"Just as the rising of the sun does not extinguish the stars so the resurrected Son does not extinguish the glorious light of God in earthly bodies"

I can not endure the weight of God's glory (Kabod) but because in Christ, God carries it for me, I can press on.  God's shoulders the heaviness of His Presence and makes it light for those who surrender all to God.  In this I find I am nothing and God is everything.  God wraps our life in divine mystery and holy paradoxes.  Who can know the ways of God but by the Spirit of God.

Jesus is both clothed in mystery and paradox. 
*Jesus is both the suffering wounded Savior and the victorious Risen Lord.
*Jesus is both the peaceful grace of God incarnate and the wild confrontational prophet of God's truth.
*Jesus is both the silent sacrificial lamb of God and the ferocious roaring lion of Judah.
*Jesus words both comfort and give peace as well as confronts and rebukes.
*Jesus is the only perfect man lowly and humble in Spirit as well as bold and courageous in action.

How can we carry the death and life of Jesus in our body so carelessly and comfortably?  I tell you a mystery, God's love is both hidden and revealed.  I am set free by the cross of Christ and I am a slave to the cross of Christ.  The cross is where I feel the depths of my sin and the cross is where I feel the depths of God's love.  All I want to hear is the voice of My Beloved.  I am overwhelmed and overjoyed whether God speaks love to my heart or rebukes and disciplines my soul.  I love his caresses and His rod.

All I see is God's goodness and my sin and weakness.  God's love draws me inward so I can give to others outward.  My poverty of spirit is my treasure and my weakness displays God's strength.  God continues to purify my soul and I feel indescribable peace as well as knowing I am a man of unclean lips.

A Baptism of Snow

"Every dazzling flake of snow reminds me of the beauty and power of God's mercy"

I am in wonder and awe at the heavy snow falling outside my window.  For every drop of residue reminds me of the cleansing power of God's love.  Every white snow flake reminds me that God remembers my sins no more but God still remembers me.  I want to shout praise for every snow flake that falls down from heaven.  I am being refreshed and renewed in a baptism of glistening white.  As the snow glistens in the sun, so does the love of God today shine in my heart.

The snow today is like a sign and wonder from heaven.  A season of white forgiveness.  A season of God's grace and love in abundance.  As the snow piles up and up, so my heart is full of gentle peace.  Calmness is everywhere and God's footprints are everywhere to be seen by those who have eyes of faith to see.  One of the things God is teaching me in this new season is to delight in the cross.  I have always believed in the cross but I have never delighted in it before.  God is filling me with pure love as he kills my sinful flesh.  In the cross of Christ I am being lost in God as God is detaching me from the things of the world and the death of my pride.

"O blessed Cross,
I surrender myself to the crucifixion of self. 
Every snowflake that drops from heaven is a sign of your love and mercy.
May each snowflake represent the great drops of blood of Jesus that washes away our sins.
May each snowflake be in the shape of the cross that delivers our soul from death.
May each snowflake that falls be like a baptism if ice and fire, of the coldness of this world
and the fire of God's great love."

What is a Naked Man that You are mindful of Him?

"What is man that you are mindful of him?" (Psalm 8:4)

We will all stand naked before God.  Naked I came in the world and naked will I leave the world.  We see raw nakedness throughout the Bible.  Adam and Even were naked in the garden.  Isaiah was naked in the wilderness.  Jesus was stripped naked on the cross.

God desires we have a naked faith that is completely exposed so that God can dethrone the Self.  Everything unrighteous must be stripped bare and left exposed for God to crucify it.  For the cross of Christ to annihilate it.  Nakedness precedes clothing.

We are to take off the clothes of the world much like Lazarus who died but Jesus raised him back from the dead.  Lazarus was bound and all tied up and dead inside.  Jesus set him free as he wants to set you free.  There can be no more hiding, no more cover-ups, no wearing the enemy's uniform anymore.  No wonder the Devil knows what buttons to push in our lives if we are wearing his clothes.  The Devil wants to steal our joy and rob you of your inheritance.

We are also like Esau who opted for instant gratification and sold his birthright for worthless things that ruin us in the end.  It is only when we are fully naked and exposed that Christ can unveil Himself to us.  When Christ is unveiled then his beauty which was hidden now becomes revealed.  The question of man in Psalm 8:4 is really about Christ and the new man that Christ wants us all to become.

But there are other scriptures that speak about being mindful.  Matthew 16:23 says we end up following Satan just like Peter did when we are more mindful of the things of the world rather than the things of God.  Hebrews 2: 5-8 quotes Psalm 8:4-6 and then goes onto say that the only way man or you is made perfect is through suffering (v.10).  The only way to grow in Christlikeness is to enter into suffering just like Jesus did.  It is in suffering we are most exposed, vulnerable, and where our faith is stripped bare and naked.

For when we are completely naked before God with raw faith, miracles can happen.  What was difficult may seem easy.  What seemed like an impossibility becomes possible with God.  Your filthy dirty rags of self-righteousness does not even cover your private parts.  You are only left with shame and humiliation when you try to cover and clothe yourself.  But all that is changed when God clothes us in Christ's righteousness.  For we can not even see ourselves anymore but only the grace and beauty of our Risen King.

A Prayer at 4:00am

"Dear Lord Jesus,
Teach me today how to so delight in you that I find my rest in you.
Help me to see the troubles and pressures of the day are nothing to knowing  you.
Show me how to live where I am and not try to be somewhere else.

Teach me how to trust you more and feast on your faithfulness.
Your banqueting table is full of wonders and delights.
May I only think good thoughts and do good to others today.

Remove my anxious thoughts and calm my soul.
It is only in stillness I can hear you.
Lead Me Lord Jesus into your presence and help me to walk by your Spirit.
Hold me very close with one hand and hold the enemy far away with the other hand.

Make me young by your Spirit and completely crush my old flesh.
Keep me empty of myself so your Spirit can make me full.
I am completely yours.
Amen."

Spiritual Torrents

"Plunge into the river of God and be prepared to be swept away"

I have been reading spiritual classics and some of the great mystical writers who prayed and lived in such a way that makes us look pale in comparison today.  I have been reading people like Meister Eckhart, Madame Guyon, Theresa of Avila, Catherine of Siena, Francis of Assisi, and Elder Porphyrios to name a few.  They challenge me every step of the way on my spiritual journey in how much I am not like Jesus and how radically in love they are with Jesus.

Saint Francis was so humble and bowed to authority that when he saw corrupt Bishops, all he could see were spiritual leaders who were like the very icons of Christ to him.  Many of these saints dealt with maladies and health issues that somehow drove them closer to the cross of Christ which they joyfully embraced.  Saint Theresa was denounced from the pulpit by a priest and all she did in response was laugh. Why?  Because why would a priest waist his time denouncing a nobody like her?

I realize how prideful, how comfortable, how selfish I am to these saints.  And even they would say don't look at them, look to Christ who is the only perfect one to measure your life by.  So God is flooding my soul with beauty, awe, and wonder.  God is immersing me into deeper waters of His life giving river of eternal life which it feels like one will drown or die, which is exactly the place God wants one to be.  God is taking me by the hand and like a father to a small child, is beginning to teach me all over again what it means to walk by faith and not by sight.  What it means to suffer and what a tremendous gift it suffering actually is.  God is pushing me into the darkness and night of the spirit where his waves and torrents are so unpredictable and purifying to the soul.

Where this all is leading me I do not know?  All I know is there is no going back.  There is no more hiding because there is no where to hide anymore.  There is no more crawling because God's pace is so much more violent and swift that unless one hangs onto God for dear life, one feels like they are literally going to die in the process.  Who said God is safe lied.  Who said God cares about your comfort zone because He doesn't.  Who said God will never give you more than you can handle did not speak the whole truth.  When we are honest, we have all seen God give more than people could handle.  It is only with God in it we can handle it at all and that seems to be the part we forget.

The tide is rising . . . The moon is full and judgment and mercy is just around the corner.  All I know is without God, I can not stand.  Without God I can not walk or even limp my way through life anymore.  Without God I will fall, I will drown, I will fail.  But with Christ, we have already defeated the enemy even when the enemy tries to come at us like a madman and sweep everything away in violent torrents.

How (Not) To Read The Bible

"The secret of knowing the Bible is you don't know how to read the Bible"

When we think we know and understand the Bible, when we think we have mastered it and should be a teacher to others, this is a grave deception because God's Word is to master us and not the other way around.  Here are some things God is teaching me in how to read the Bible;

1.  Read the Bible in small parts and not large chunks.  Eat God's Word slowly.  Don't digest it too fast or it may give you indigestion.  Don't overeat because that is unhealthy.  If you learn the Bible by spending a longer and slower process on one book of the Bible, you will know that one book better than the little you know about the whole Bible.

2.  Read the Bible in community and not just alone.  Let the Holy Spirit be your tutor and teacher but remember that Jesus meets us where two or three are gathered together.  Read personally but don't neglect to read the Scriptures in community.  God Word is written in community and needs to also be studied in community.

3.  Read the Bible spiritually and not just literally.  The literal is the surface reading of the Bible.  But God wants us to go deeper like deep sea diver looking for lost treasure in the ocean of truth.  There are two spiritual sides to truth so don't just look at one side.  There are fleshly eyes where we read the Bible with self-love and there are spiritual eyes that read the Bible through the lens of God's love.  We should appreciate the literal but never stop there on your spiritual journey.  This is a starting point and God wants to take us all much deeper into the world of the Spirit and the world of heaven on earth.

4.  Read the Bible slowly and not quickly.  We do not gain biblical understanding by reading the Bible on the run or in a hurry.  Take the Bible in slowly and carefully.  Meditate on God's Word and slowly marinate in it as it immerses you into its own world.  If we read too fast we may miss what God's Word and Spirit is trying to reveal to us.

5.  Read the Bible with your imagination and not just your mind.  The mind wants to exercise human logic, reason, and uniformity but the Bible has so many more dimensions and layers to it.  We need to not just ask questions of logic of the Bible but we need to imaginatively enter into its story and let that story shape and direct our lives.  Learn to feel what the story is saying.  Imagine yourself in the story.  How does that perspective change what you see?  How does the Bible change how you see?

6.  Read the Bible with your emotions and not just your will.  Take the Prodigal son story for example.  Do we identify with the younger or older brother?  And what about the Father?  Do we identify with being a Father?  What's is it like to love a child that has gone out into the far country?  What's it's like to feel the Father's pain when his children does not appreciate how good they really have it at home?  When we enter into the Bible with all our heart, mind, emotions, and soul, then reading the Scriptures goes from being a duty to turning into a delight.

7.  Read the Bible out loud and not just in silence.  Read the Psalms out loud while walking or standing.  Sing the Psalms as a prayer to God or as a love song to God.  Read God's promises and shout them out.  There will always be times of silence in reading and reflecting on Scripture but there are also wonderful moments to read Scripture with your own voice while you hear God's voice which sounds allot like your voice, but tells you things you would never tell yourself.

How (Not) To Pray

"Pray as you can, not as you can't"

How do you pray?  Is your prayer life growing or do you find yourself asking for the same things over and over?  Jesus gave a warning concerning vain repetition.  Are our prayers more focused on our needs or on others? 

Are you being changed by prayer?  Do your prayers take you to the throne room of God or does it seem like your prayers are barely getting past the ceiling?  When it comes to prayer, the first thing we need to understand is we do not know how to pray.  The secret of prayer is the more we pray, the more we know we don't know how to pray!

Prayer is not so much telling God what we think but its God telling us what God thinks (God's thoughts) and therefore praying them back to God.  Prayer is not a wrestling match to get God to do something but its surrender to the Holy Spirit to get us to do something for God.  So when it comes to prayer, here are some prayer exercises to help us along the prayer journey.

1.  Pray with your mind and pray in the Spirit.  The mind prepares us and gets us ready to listen and hear from God.  Prayer in the Spirit is listening to God's heartbeats, God's emotions, God's voice speaking to our conscience.  When we cease our activity, God often begins to speak to us through the silence.  For some, praying in the Spirit may also be speaking a prayer language.  An unknown tongue which is like God's prayer language with unconscious words of our mind or the deep stirrings from our own spirit.  The only way we know what these words mean is unless the Spirit of God interprets them for us.

2.  Pray with your emotions and pray in silence.  We think everything must begin with words and ends with words.  Sometimes the best prayers are saying nothing and simply letting your unspoken emotions pour out to God and then God pours his emotions and peace and love back into us.  Pray and if necessary, use words.

3.  Pray with your heart and pray with your gut (intuitions).  The heart is the seat of your emotions and your gut instincts is often where your inner most spirit speaks to God's spirit.  The heart is what God desires most from us where we give God our utmost love and attention.  Our gut or intuitions is often where the Holy Spirit nudges us gently and quietly to do things and go to places we would never choose on our own accord.

4.  Pray with images and pray with icons.  One of the ways we can enter into God's presence through prayer is by our visual senses.  A picture or image can paint a thousand words.  A Picture or an image of being in heaven and worshiping God with God's angelic army can bring tremendous strength and peace.  The Puritans said the only way to make it through the day was to spend at least 20 to 30 minutes a day in heaven.  Picture yourself around the throne of God in heaven worshipping with all the angels.  Also praying with the use of icons can help us focus on Christ and his earthly and heavenly life.  Pictures can help us center our attention on the cross of Christ and the resurrected life God wants us to live.

5.  Pray with your imagination and pray with your soul.  God created us to have a sanctified imagination.  Imagine sitting in Father God's lap.  Imagine Jesus running to you and hugging and holding you.  Imagine your soul taking flight like an eagle circling the heavens by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Our soul's only comfort, only solace, only refuge is found in God.  Our inner soul is our love and heartbeat for God.

6.  Pray with the Scriptures and pray with the Psalms.  When people are unsure of their prayer life, the best way to be sure is pray God's Word.  The Apostle Paul's letters have prayers that can be prayed.  Personalize them and pray these prayers for yourself and others.  Notice Paul's prayers do not end in Jesus name.  We pray about all kinds of things that have nothing to do with Jesus and then end our prayers "in Jesus name."  Paul's prayers are about Jesus and somehow this is more what it means to pray in Jesus name than simply tagging the the end of our prayers with this phrase.  The Psalms is the church's prayer book.  Pray the Psalms with others but pray them.  Sing them, meditate on them and read them out loud as your own prayers.  Every emotion you feel is in the Psalms so pray.

7.  Pray with the Saints and pray the Jesus Prayer.  Read how other Christians have prayed through the ages.  Read the early church fathers prayers, the Christian mystics prayers, the dessert fathers and mothers prayers, the puritans prayers and the prayers of monks, nuns, hermits, poets, and any other lover of God.  Pray the prayer of Saint Francis and pray one of the oldest prayers of Christians through the centuries and that is pray the Jesus Prayer, "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me."  Pray it slowly, pray it often, pray it from the heart.  Focus on each word and pray each word as a prayer to God. Pray this with such passion and conviction that it changes you.

How To Train a Child For God

"Train up a child in the way he should go, and when we is old he will not depart from it"
(Proverbs 22:6)

One of the greatest areas of discipleship is to raise, train, and disciple our own children for Jesus Christ.  What I am afraid happens too often is we teach them about God rather than guiding and directing them into an experience with God.  Can fathers discipline his sons in love and not in anger?  Can mothers treat their daughters as sisters and not as their slaves?

At the end of the day, we are fooling ourselves if we think we did such an great job or even an awful job.  We take credit where the credit should be given to God and even good parents can raise their kids right and the Devil comes along and snatches them away through temptation and sin.  We sometimes forget that Adam and Eve had the perfect parent and yet they still created a mess of things.  So know that it is by God's power and not our wisdom that matters in the end.  Here are a few guidelines for parents:

1.  Let your child or children know that you too are also one under authority.  All authority comes from God and even parent's authority is delegated from above.

2.  Surrender your children to God for they are ultimately His anyway.  Anytime we try to posses tightly or hold onto too tightly, we will lose our hold in the end.  Let your children know that everything belongs to the Lord, even your family.

3.  Parents, bless your children.  Whether they are awake or asleep at night, pray God's provisions, God's protection, God's blessing on the lives of your children.  God can do more in five minutes what you can do in fifty years.

4.  Love your children with God's love.  Our love will grow impatient, it will grow weary, it will fail in the end.  Only God's unconditional love will meet the challenges of being a godly parent today.

5.  Model Christ in every way and in everything you do in front of your kids.  Surrender every attitude, every thought, every prayer, every deed that is done to the glory of God.

6.  Live truthfully and honestly before your children.  Admit when you are wrong.  Don't try to hide your faults or pretend to be something you are not before your children.  Your actions speak louder than your words so let your words and actions match each other.

7.  Parents, please do not show partiality in the treatment of your children.  Partiality creates jealousy and even hatred among siblings.  Often the child that is given preferential treatment is so spoiled and pampered that the favorite proves to be the scourge of the parents while the poorly treated one proves to be a comfort and support later in life.

"Don't Just Sit There, Stand!"

"God wants to rule over your heart"

Revelation 8:1 says "There was silence in heaven."  If we are going to hear the voice of God, if we are to enter into the abyss where there is nothing but God alone, then we must quiet our souls and cease from all activity.  God desires that our desire be for Him and Him alone.  God wants to purify us so that we can see clearly the way before us.  God's flame of His Spirit wants to melt your heart and cleanse our souls. 

None of us do this willingly or give our consent directly.  We all say we want to do God's will and give God permission to do whatever God wants to do and then God begins to destroy all our earthly inner attachments, obsessions, addictions, and conflicting passions.  God wants our soul to be totally fixed on Him so that we can be as the mystics say in "union with God."

People and churches focus on not being left behind in these last days we all live in.  Here is what God says must be left behind.  Our selfishness, our unrelenting activity and our carnal appetites must all die, be purged, destroyed, purified, done away with and left behind.  We can not go forward with God until we let go of the things holding us back from God.  It is only by leaving the one that we arrive at the other.

Our lives should be like precious paintings revealing the goodness of God.  What I find is we forget about God faithfulness too easily and strive for things that really do not have any lasting value.  We forget that God must destroy in order to build.  God tears apart to heal.  God breaks us so that we can be restored.  We sometimes think we are subjects of God's wrath when in reality we are objects of His love.

Scripture says repeatedly that the only fear we are to fear is God alone.  Why?  We are bound to our fears.  All other fears hold us captive and hostage.  The fear of death, the fear of failure, the fear of rejection, the fear of insignificance haunt all of us at times but they are all rendered impotent to the fear of God. 

God's perfect love takes our fear and transforms us into wounded healers.  And in the midst of God's Spirit holding us in the dark, we can even become fearless as we stand in complete awe and wonder at the One who created us and holds everything together.  Even when the world around us is falling apart, the only way we can stand it or stand at all is in Christ who gives us the strength to stand.  "So don't just sit there, stand!"

Prayer For the Day

"The secret things belong to the Lord our God . . . It is the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings to search out a matter." (Deuteronomy 29:29; Proverbs 25:2)

Lord Jesus,
Make my life a prayer to you in sweet communion.
May Your Holy Spirit quicken my spirit and keep me from my own contradictions.
Release your presence fully for greater fruitfulness.
The secret things belong to You so reveal Your heart and my heart.

Lord, Help me to give beyond measure.
To serve without limits.
To bless without recognition.
To love others lavishly with Your love Jesus.
Lord, help me to enter Your heavenly places.

May I lose myself in total abandonment in worship of You.
May I hold nothing back or keep anything from You.
Know my heart and lead me into the interior life with You
Consume me with Your Holy fire and consecrate Your servant.
Take me away in prayer to new dimensions with You.
Amen.

There is a Time for Everything

Meditations and contemplative thoughts on Ecclesiastes 3:1-8

Every moment is God breathed, every season is a time of God's purposes.

There is a time every day to be born anew in God's Spirit.
              There is a time everyday to die to self and sin.
There is a time for God to plant deep things within my spirit.
               There is a time for God to uproot any wicked or evil in me.
There is a time every day to kill the old man of the flesh.
               There is a time every day where God wants to heal and restore my soul.
There is a time to weep in my brokenness and need of God.
               There is a time to laugh at the wonder and beauty of God.
 There is a time to mourn with others in sorrow.
                There is a time to dance with joy in the Holy Spirit.
There is a time every day for God to clear away the rubble of my life.
                There is a time every day to gather stones and make my life an altar for God.
There is a time to embrace my pain and suffering.
                 There is a time to let go of my burdens and worries.
There is a time to gain the weight of God's glory.
                 There is a time to lose oneself in the presence of God.
There is a time to keep my soul close to God.
                 There is a time to rid myself of anything that keeps God at a distance.
There is a time every day for God to tear away my worldly attachments.
                 There is a time God weaves my life together like a grand masterpiece.
There is a time to be silent and know God.
                 There is a time to speak and shout praises to God.
There is a time every day to love God with all my heart.
                 There is a time every day to hate the things of this world that takes my eyes off God.
There is a time every day to be at war with the Devil.
                 There is a time every day to be filled with the peace of God.

The Cloud of Unknowing and Clouded Thinking

"Examine me, O Lord, and prove me.  Try my mind and my heart.  For Your loving-kindness is before my eyes, and I have walked in Your truth" (Psalm 26:2-3)

What we discover from reading the great mystics to our own life experiences are things like the more we learn, the more we know we don't know.  The more we love, the more we know how little we love.  The more we give, how little we do give.  The Mystics call this the cloud of unknowing where we know we don't know but pursue knowledge and love nevertheless.  But the more we are led by the Spirit of God and listen to God's voice, we learn much about ourselves and what comes from deep within us.  As we listen to God whisper to our spirit, usually through our conscience, it's not our voice but the voice of The Other.  To be filled with the Spirit of God is to be filled with dreams and visions from God.

The more I listen to the inner voice of God's Spirit, the more I realize how clouded and convoluted are my own thoughts.  I discover God wants to get closer even though my own thoughts and mind wants to wander away from God.  My highest desire is to be like God in Christ.  My soul is ablaze by the fire of the Holy Spirit.  I hunger, thirst, pant after the Living God.  My deepest yearnings long for deeper intimacy with my Creator.  God is reshaping me as I become more aware of the nearness of God.  If there is something God is saying to His people and His Bride the church this year of 2015 is "God wants greater intimacy with you."

Without God's grace, I will fall on mine own.  Without God's help I am nothing.  I am lost, asleep, and wandering about in circles.  Directionless and aimless unless the Holy touches me and reorders my steps.  I become one with God and in union with God when Christ through His Spirit leads me into the magnificent presence of the Father of heaven.  When the divine Trinity stares into my soul, I am changed and my spirit leaps for joy.

If I am going to break out of deception and the many ways the world lies to me, it will only happen when I think the very thoughts of God by having the mind of Christ.  When the Holy Spirit penetrates the deepest parts of my soul, everything is laid bare and exposed.  It is then I am able to see myself more clearly and hear God's voice more clearly.  The prophet Isaiah says,

"My thoughts are not your thoughts; nor your ways my ways . . . For my thoughts are above your thoughts." (55:8-9) 

My thoughts are so distant and different than God's thoughts but then God's Spirit of fire comes and changes my thoughts into His thoughts.  Keep your thoughts on God.  Picture yourself in the arms of your loving father.  Sit at Jesus feet and learn from Him.  Say the name of Jesus several times until you enter into another realm, where heaven intersects with earth.  Where the veil is torn away and you smell, taste, and touch heaven.  Cultivate the holy habit of thinking the thoughts of God by having the mind of Christ.

Understand that when you seek the thoughts of God the enemy will attack you.  Never underestimate the Devil who you are at war with.  Think higher thoughts and do things so impossible that unless God is in it, it will fail.  Every day is another opportunity to yield, surrender, and accept God's grace.  Let God's grace fill your cup to overflowing.

"Let Me In!"

"The only way to let a vampire into your house is to invite one in" - (quote from old vampire movie)

The only power the Devil has over our lives is the power we give to him.  We either invite the darkness in unwittingly or knowingly or we are deceived by the many subtle ways we allow the enemy and darkness to capture our souls. 

So here is my prayer on this Lord's Day of Sunday:

"My soul is wounded and broken, unmask any wickedness in me.
I am only as sick as my secrets so reveal all my secrets.
Destroy O God the dark quest within whose hidden presence
                    makes my life a living hell.
Remove my insecurities, weaknesses and any hidden hypocrisy.
Turn my heart towards holiness and make my heart an arrow
                    pointing to Heaven.
Where there are holes in my life, fill them with your presence.
Save me from the pride of life and the dark desires of my flesh.
In my brokenness, refresh me with Your Spirit.
In Your presence and Light let all darkness flee.
Amen."

Stop Running and Start Looking

When I was a teen, the preaching I heard scared the hell out of me.  I heard about the depths of evil and that I was evil.  I heard the threat of torture and the sure and coming great judgment of God.  I had already felt afraid, ashamed, worried, and bad about myself.  The preaching I grew up on was better at making me feel like I was a great disappointment to God rather than an outrageous merciful God who wanted to make me know I was greatly loved.

I tried as a young Christian to fix the cracks in my life but to no avail.  Slowly I begun to distrust my own ability and have learned to put my trust in God's abilities for my life.  My disappointments and brokenness turned into opportunities for spiritual growth and divine appointments rather than hard evidence that I was a failure in God's eyes.  I have a greater sense of freedom now to both confess my fears and insecurities as well look into the darkness of my own soul with God's illuminating light and help.

The one thing I really miss living on the East Coast is sailing.  I loved the way the sailboat glided over the water as waves splashed upon my body.  I loved the way the sail grabbed the wind and propelled us forcefully forward.  For many people, I think our lives have become so cluttered and full of focusing on the wrong things that it's like our spiritual sails are tied down.  We wonder when the Spirit of God blows why our boat won't move when the deeper problem is our soul has to be untied and free for God.

If you are physically exhausted and spiritually demoralized, your soul is probably tied down.  Sometimes it is this very place of coming to the end of ourselves that God can loosen our grip so that our sails can once again flow free in the wind and currents of the Holy Spirit.  If we continue to fill our lives with the stuff of the world and try to work out our spiritual lives on our own terms, eventually its all going to come crashing down or break down.  What are the things holding your life captive?  Do you recognize the presence and voice of God from within you?  Are you sick of hiding, pretending, averting, covering, and avoiding?  Then here is the word of God for you today:  "Stop Running and Start Looking."

Allow the Word of God to be a mirror to your soul.  Allow the Spirit of God to show you another reality that is beyond your intelligence, beyond feelings, even beyond your physical eyes of seeing.  Stop, look and listen to what God may be trying to say to you today.

A Mystic Looks, Loves, and Lives

"The philosopher guesses and argues, the mystic lives and looks" -  Evelyn Underhill

I have been doing a study on visions and dreams for this year and I love reading the stories, poems, and explorations of saints, visionaries, and mystics.  Mystics and saints are pioneers and explorers of the spiritual world.  They see things others do not see and know things that can only be known by the
Spirit of God.  I have known a few Christian brothers and sisters who have heard angelic choirs and even seen God's angelic army.  Some who have been transported to heaven and back for what seemed like hours was only minutes in the natural realm.  I have come to the place in my life where I would rather hear someone with a vision from God rather than an argument for God.

Mystics have such a deep love for God that their knowing is beyond knowledge.  Mystics have such a passion for truth that they perceive and see the same reality around them at a whole different level of experiencing and feeling.  My own spiritual life is becoming more mystical as I get still, listen to the mystical intuitions of the Holy Spirit within my own life.  Sometimes I am overwhelmed with joy and peace and other times I am in intense fear and trembling of the Holy.

If there is a direction for Christian writers, poets, and theologians for the future, I would hope it would be in this direction of wonder, mystery, ecstasy, beauty, and developing what I call a sanctified imagination.  Going deeper into the mystery of the Trinity should lead us into a new vitality in our Christian discipleship and faith.  Learning both from the glory of beauty and the depths of pain should teach us greater meaning of Christ's passion, suffering, and entering into a cruciform lifestyle.

What is even more surprising and amazing is when we begin to see in the dark and find light from God we have never seen or experienced before.  We enter into the humanity of Jesus and the divinity of Christ in ways we never thought possible or could ever imagine before.  Self-surrender becomes a lifestyle and communion with God becomes part of our life like breathing.  It is only when we empty ourselves from all the false images of the intellect that we free our own imprisoned spirit.  When we do this, nothing satisfies us but God and truth.  We get glimpses of heaven as well as discover our true selves.  The true mystic knows oneself and is becoming more like God.

When God's Spirit penetrates our spirit then everything becomes naked and exposed.  We feel calmness even when there is strife all around.  God's goodness permeates our soul to where we have such gratitude and aliveness in everything we do.  Chores for others become acts of kindness rather than duties to be tolerated.  Mystics learn to embrace both paradox and an all embracing simplicity to life which seemed so complicated and frantic before.  The mystic knows by shutting out the world and shutting in God is true happiness and bliss.  The mystic enjoys the benefits of heaven knowing full well this is only a foretaste of what is to come.

Wounded By Love

"There is one thing, O Christ, that I want, one thing I desire, one thing I ask for, and that is to be with You"  -  Elder Porphyrios

An amazing life and book to read is the life and wisdom of Elder Porphyrios.  He speaks about once we have been wounded by the love of God, we will be transformed into the likeness of Jesus who knew all about suffering.  Today I reflect upon how God has us enter into the sufferings of others.

I spent this morning at the Nursing Home and visited with an elderly crippled man who was a Korean war veteran.  He spoke of wisdom ancient and past and then told me the story of how he served one day in the Korean war.  He was drafted and his first day was his last day because the war ended the next day.  What a story of God's grace.  I love the wit and wisdom of the older generation.  Their life stories and history.  I love their character and persevering spirit.  I've always thought when an old person dies, we lose a valuable treasure that is irreplaceable.  We lose a storehouse of wealth as if a library has burned down.

We started a contemporary worship service on Sunday nights and I love how the teens are beginning to come and participate.  One teen may share their burdens or prayers with us.  Another teen dances for the Lord and another wants to paint inspirationally during the worship.  I love the youthful zeal these young people bring to our evening worship service.  The Eastern Orthodox are also trying to start a church in a nearby town.  We need many more churches started so I am enthusiastically excited of the possibility of an Eastern Orthodox Church nearby.  Often one has to drive for an hour or more just to find the closest one near you.

So later in the morning, the Eastern Orthodox priest led us in a word about suffering and what it means to enter into Christ's suffering.  If there is one common experience we all can relate to it is suffering.  The season of Lent is coming up and this is a time of prayer, fasting, preparation for Easter, and learning a little more about what it my means to suffer.  It's one thing when suffering is forced upon us but its quite another to voluntarily give yourself over to suffering.  Even suffering can be a means of God's grace touching our life and taking us deeper on this journey of faith in community.

When I was leaving the house, a little boy who never even came in the room nor do I know even how he knew my name cried out with a loud voice across the room, "Chris, don't leave . . . Chris, don't leave."  I was transported back in a flash of a powerful spiritual experience I had many years ago when I sensed God telling me over and over, "Why do you want to leave my presence?"  Here was this little boy I did not even know or recognize calling out my name desperately like it was a life and death matter.  I turned towards him and he ran to me and said "I must kiss you before you leave."  I reached my head down while he outstretched his arms and grabbed my neck and kissed me on the check.  It was like Jesus had reached down from heaven and kissed me on the cheek.

I am humbled and amazed at the ordinary miracles God gives us everyday and some that simply do not hardly ever happen.  So I enter in today the ancient prayer of "Lord Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.  Have mercy on me.  Have mercy on me."  I enter into this season of prayer like a little child!

A Prayer at Night

O Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, have mercy on me.
Take me to the cross and strip me of every false pretense and self-righteousness.
Awaken Your warrior Spirit in me to unite me with Yourself.
Melt my heart with the fire of your love.
Establish Your truth in me and heal my soul.

I kneel before You so I can walk by Your side.
Even when its dark You are my Light.
May every breath I take in be with ecstatic praise of You.
Teach me Christ's righteousness so that I may live near the cross.

O God of unsearchable Greatness,
May I be more thoughtful, more zealous, and more watchful of You.
Occupy the throne of my heart.
manifest Your mighty power in my life and in those around me.
Give me spiritual perception to see your angelic realm.

Keep me close because I can not keep myself.
May I share your rich blessings to those around me.
Trample the powers of darkness and lead me into your heavenly presence.
Your name is excellent, Your compassions unfailing, and Your mercies so tender.
I stand in awe of You and tremble at Your Word.

Thoughts from a Warrior Poet

"The Lord my God will enlighten my darkness. For by You I can run against a troop, by my God I can leap over a wall." (Psalm 18:28-29)

David was a man after God's own heart.  He was also a warrior and an poet.  If there is something God wants more today are people who have a heart after God like David.  Despite David's weaknesses and failures, God used him in mighty ways.  David was a man who was often armed for battle and was on the frontlines of the battlefield.  David was also a songwriter and a poet.  Some of his greatest psalms were written during dire and uncomfortable situations.

God is still looking for warrior poets.  People so sensitive to their own sinfulness and sensitive to the God's Spirit promptings that they don't hesitate when God reveals and breathes on them.  To be a warrior poet is to be a man or woman who posses a sanctified imagination that takes flight like and soars like Eagles.  To be a warrior poet to dream God's dreams and have visions of the greatness of God.  Where God so invades one's heart that one seems possessed by another world.

We are to live in God, breath in God, and sense God's greatness.  Even though God may seem hidden at times God is also everywhere.  Can we like King David read the Scriptures, sing the psalms, and get so lost in worship that heaven seems closer than earth?  Even ours prayers are utterly dependent upon God for we can do nothing without Him and Him alone.  What is difficult for us is easy for God.  What is impossible with man is possible with God.  It is only when God opens our spiritual eyes that we can truly see.  It is only when God removes the veil over our heart that we can truly receive God's all sufficient grace for the moment.

God Goes to Work

"Every past experience is preparation for some future opportunity" - Mark Batterson

No matter what our past has been, God redeems our past and even uses it to help others going through similar things.  We look and judge things from the outside but God looks within and knows us from the inside.  God sets us free from our past but God also wants us to be free of our imperfections and insecurities.  Unless we die to ourselves daily and surrender everything to God, we will continue to be trapped in our past mistakes.

One of the greatest discoveries is how God helps us know who we are while freeing us from who we are not.  God knows our DNA and our destiny which is hidden in our history.  Our strengths are often hidden in our weaknesses and the challenges we have overcome are our opportunities for growth.  Every divine appointment God has for us is a another season of preparation.  Unless we stay close to God and understand what season we are in, we will not understand the outcome or place God is taking us.  God is doing all the work but it feels at times like we are exhausting ourselves to death.

Our lives are like big action movies with epic stories.  The best movies are not the ones with the most action necessarily but the ones with the best character development.  Usually the main character has to overcome some great obstacle or difficulty or face some grave fear or injustice.  What we discover not only in the movies but in life is the worst circumstances can sometimes produce the best character.  God is more concerned about our character than our failures.

What God is teaching me is my self-confidence has to be crucified and what he replaces it is with holy confidence from Him.  May God defend me from my own self-sufficiency, spiritual blindness, and hardness of heart.  May God deliver me from being so entangled in the world that I forget to be wrapped in the Holy Spirit.  I am coming to the place where I don't really think much of hell or heaven but simply ask God to so fill me with His love, enter into heavenly worship, seek union with Christ that is seems like paradise on earth. 

In spite of my illnesses and weakness, God is renewing my inner man and spirit day by day.  Sometimes I sing prayers out loud and sometimes I am simply silent and feel God's presence and peace wash over me like waves of the ocean hitting me continuously without end. 

All I know is I am wounded by God's love and that in itself is enough!

Prayer of Consecration

Consume me with your holy fire O God!
Consecrate my heart and make me clean.
I need your righteousness everyday.
Without your Spirit, I can do nothing on my own.
I can't even love as you want me to love without your love.

Renew me in your purifying presence.
Awaken my heart to the sights and sounds of heaven.
Release your warrior Spirit within me to set captives free.
Anoint me with your Holy Spirit so I can do your will.
Make my prayers like sweet smelling incense like a sacred aroma.

Take me by the hand and let me drink deeply from the well of your Spirit.
Unlock the secrets of my heart so that nothing is between us.
Heal my damaged mind, emotions, will, and spirit so I can be completely yours.
Take me once again into your river of love and heal my soul.
Thank you for going before me even before I pray.

May I eat daily at the King's table as you prepare me in your highest service.
Lord, let me drink deeply from your cup of love and have communion only with you.
Keep me away from deception, lies of the enemies, and anything that would hinder me.
Lead me in your path of righteousness and may it always be for your name sake.
My cup overflows with your grace and goodness.

Dare We Enter the Holy of Holies?

"My Beloved is Mine, and I am His" (Song of Solomon 2:16)

The modern church has lost so many ancient spiritual practices and an understanding of life which is both a sacrament and a means of grace for God.  One of the books I just started a Bible study on is the Song of Songs (or Song of Solomon).  I mean when is the last time you read this book of the Bible? 

For some people it is too erotic in regards of the intimate language in the love relationship of the King and his bride.  For others it is too deep, too poetic, and too symbolic to understand its deeper spiritual meaning for so many Christians, this book of the Bible is either ignored or simply avoided.  Not so in the early church much less for Jews.  This is one of the most spiritually enriching books of the Bible for those who have spiritual eyes to see.

Jewish wisdom tradition identifies three areas of worship for the temple and therefore there are three areas for the believer to enter into God's presence.  There is the outer court, the inner court, and finally the Holy of Holies which only the High priest could enter once a year.  We now know Jesus has broken down the walls and is our new high priest and invites us all into the holy of holies, the direct presence of God through his Holy Spirit (Hebrews 7-10).  Ancient Jews said that the book of Job is where we enter into the outer temple court.  The book of Ecclesiastes is the entrance way into the inner temple court and the Song of Songs is the entrance way into the Holy of Holies.

What we find in the Song of Songs is a very spiritually deep and enriching book about the King Jesus and His love for His bride, the church.  The whole book is a love song between the Messiah and His bride.  The bride desires to be a life-long true companion of the King and the King wants to purify His bride and capture and captivate the bride's heart. 

This is by far the hardest and most difficult Bible studies I have led because all of us, including the teacher has to ask God at times what the deeper meaning of the verse is all about.  Without the help of the Holy Spirit, this can not be Bible study as usual.  A great dependence on God and the Spirit's illumination is the only way to gain a deeper appreciation and spiritual understanding of this book. 

I believe every person studying this book can gain wisdom and spiritual insight of not only who they are as God's son or daughter but God as the great lover of our souls.  God invites us all to feast at his great banqueting table and dine with His Son King Jesus.  Once we leave behind reading the Bible through fleshly eyes and an over reliance on the literal and physical, then we begin to see things we have never seen before in the Bible through spiritual eyes as we begin to see things by the Spirit's help through God's eyes.  Once we learn this spiritual way of reading the Bible, we can read the rest of Scripture in a deeper and fuller way.

When we gaze on the beauty of Christ and the glory of the King of Kings, we will never be the same.  What satisfied us before will not do anymore.  What we focused on before does not interest us anymore.  Our gaze is fixed firmly on Christ our Lord and King.  We discover in the Song of Songs not only how far love goes for us but we also discover how God desires and wins our hearts for eternity.  God invites all but only a few dare to enter in (Matthew 20:16).  When it comes to reading, meditating, and contemplating the Song of Songs, will you read it?  I dare you!

Meditations from the Heart

I am deeply loved by God. 
I am one of a kind 
There is no one else like me.
I am precious in God's sight. 
He designed me and delights in me.

God has made me free, beautiful and holy.
I am fully loved and fully alive!
God wants me to live by love, not fear.

My soul is the place where God finds His space in me.
My soul waits for God and finds rest in God.
My friends ask me . . . 
My real friends challenge me with one question:
"How is it with your soul?"
What will be your answer?

Deep calls to Deep

"O my God, my soul is cast down within me . . . Deep calls to deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; all your waves and billows have gone over me." (Psalm 42:6-7)

The cry of the human heart is our soul are tormented and crying out in pain more than we care to admit.  We feel overwhelmed by our circumstances and the flood of life keep hitting us over and over again.  In the midst of the pain and ache of the soul is the Spirit of God that speaks to our spirit.  God is calling us to go deeper into the hidden life with Christ.

We are like Israel where Jesus curses a fig tree which represented Israel's barrenness, we are not as productive or fruitful for God as we wish we could be.  When Jesus and his disciples walk by the fig tree later, it  withered from the roots up (Mark chapter 11).  This is a parable of our own souls when it comes to not cultivating the soul spiritual's nourishment and growth.  Our spiritual lives dry up and blow away from neglect and damage we inflict upon our minds and bodies which all effect our souls.

Our spiritual lives and roots need to be guarded and protected.  Unless we cultivate the inner life with God, everything can seem fine on the outside where in reality we are withering spiritually from within.  Sometimes we simply expose our roots to unhealthy things that leaves them vulnerable to decay.  It is only God's pure love that strengthens our spiritual roots as well as birthing new life in them.  God is desiring to pour out His Spirit into our lives but first we must empty ourselves of everything that hinders our life with Christ.  God's want to steady our hearts with His heart and consecrate our lives for readiness for work in God's kingdom.

God is calling deep unto deep and nothing can be the same.  God is calling forth new worship, new ministry, and new callings on our lives.  The perfect storm is coming like a whirlwind and the only ones who will be able to stand in that day will be those who have been made ready and perfected by God's Holy Spirit.   Jeremiah 23:19-20 says,

"Behold a whirlwind of the Lord has gone forth in fury---a violent whirlwind! . . . In the latter days you will understand it perfectly."

Are you ready for waves upon waves of judgment and glory?  Deep calls to deep as deep of creation calls to the deep of fulfillment. 

God is calling us to go deeper with Him as God draws the deep things from our hearts.

Heaven and Hell on Earth and what About the Afterlife?

"We look to a new heavens and new earth in which righteousness dwells" (1 Peter 3:13)

People tend to either know nothing about life here and now much less life or non-life after death or people act like they know whose in with God, whose out, as if there will no so surprises in the afterlife.  I believe we need a lot more honesty and humility when it comes to speaking about this life and the life to come.

In the Bible, God's fire stood before Israel and Pharaoh's army.  To God's people the fire of God was warmth, light, protection, and comfort.  To Pharaoh's army the fire was confusion, darkness and terror.  For Daniel's friends thrown in the fiery furnace, the fire did not touch them and the presence of God was with them.  The ropes that bound them were burned off but they were not burned by the fire.  But for Daniel friends captors, they were incinerated by the fire.  When we think of heaven and hell whether we experience that in this life or think about it in regards to the afterlife,  God's love gives light and delight to those who love God and it is darkness and torment to those who do not love God.

There are multi-dimensions to reality where the veil between heaven and earth may be more thin that people realize for those who have spiritual eyes to see.  Christians today get worried about apocalyptic images of the end of days and people who might end up in hell but fail to also heed the prophets and Jesus warnings against the self-destructive idolatry that takes place in the here and now.  We think of Hell as merely retributive but fail to see it as corrective because God loves all His children, even his wayward ones.

Can we read the Bible with new eyes to see what it truly says about our own souls.  The story of the rich man and Lazarus is a familiar one to some in Luke 16:19-31 but I am afraid we miss some of the deeper dimensions of the story while we focus on the wrong details of the story as if the story is about how the torment in hell works or what the final outcome looks like in the end.  Both are left more to our own imaginations rather than listening to Jesus main point concerning turning away from our idolatry and a strong hint at resurrection.

What this biblical story shows is what Jesus does in many of his teachings, it shows reversals in God's kingdom.  The rich man is rich in this world but poor in being rich toward God'  Poor Lazarus seemed like he is abandoned in life whereas in reality God is the one who holds his life together, for better or for worse.  The rich man fights God's process of the purifying fire and still does not have love or compassion for Lazarus much less sees his own self-centered delusions about himself.  Dare we look into the abyss at the condition of our own souls?  What will we find there?

We think we know the last word but do we?  This story of Jesus is not before the final end?  Who knows how far God's love will go or what will finally happen in the end, only God knows.  Just like the young rich ruler who walks away from Jesus sad because he could not become one of Jesus disciples because of his great wealth, is that the end of the story?  Church tradition and history tells us this man finally gave it all up and became a follower of Jesus.  The truth is until God brings the end about, we really don't know how the story will end since most of us are still in the middle of the story.  What we choose now has significant impact so choose wisely.

In the end, if the only reason your a Christian is to avoid hell, have you really encountered the risen Christ yet?  We follow Jesus because Jesus loves us and we love Him.  Our hope for the future is not because of anything we have done but because of everything Jesus has done on our behalf.  One of the things we don't know for sure is if people end up in hell or even annihilated or destroyed in some way, doesn't this allow evil in some sense to have the last word?  Is not the annihilation and destruction of God's good creation precisely the aim and goal of evil?  Is not the self-destruction of people made in God's image a victory for evil?  Maybe in some mysterious way love has the last word in these cases but should not the love of God still hold out hope even if by all appearances there seems to be no hope?

If Jesus taught us to love our enemies, then should we still not hold out love for those who are God's enemies?  I believe we misunderstand some scripture that is more about the coming judgment on Israel, Jerusalem and its temple rather than an eternal cosmic judgment for all time and for all eternity.  And even if some people resist God's love for all eternity, should not people filled with God's love pray for mercy and have a blessed hope for them because the heart of God is that none should perish but all have eternal life (2 Peter 3:9).

Find Balance in a World of Distractions

"The devil wins not if he makes you sin but if he simply gets you to take your eyes off God"

I've always said if its weird, unusual, or strange, its probably God.  God is always speaking to us in the details of life and sometimes we think the distractions are the devil in the details whereas it might be God trying to get our attention in the moment if we will listen?  God often speaks to us in the simple ordinary things of the day.  Some distractions are from the enemy to get us to lose our focus on God and some distractions is God speaking to us trying to show us a divine appointment or a course correction we need to make.  How many times did our schedule change all the sudden and we were not happy to find out later it kept us from some impending disaster?

Yesterday my youngest son was sick so I took him to the doctor.  And for various parts of the day, I dealt with my wife's car that had a damaged wheel.  I knew God was trying to show me something in all this but I was too frustrated in the moment to see it so I kept praying but kept missing it.  This morning, I opened up a new book I am reading which has a poem in it by Anne Morrow Lindbergh.  I laugh at God's timing and humor as he showed me what was going on yesterday which I could not wrap my small brain around at the time.  Here are some of her poetic words from her book:

"How to remain whole in the midst of the distractions of life; How to remain balanced, no matter what centrifugal forces tend to pull one off center; How to remain strong, no matter what shocks come in at the periphery and tend to crash the hub of the wheel . . . Perhaps a first step, is the simplification of life, in cutting out some of the distractions" (from her "Gift From the Sea").

I am dumbfounded and amazed at God's timing.  My wife's hub cap is shattered beyond repair and I was asking yesterday what did this mean?  I knew in my gut, my spiritual intuition, there was something more here God was trying to show me.  Some would say that's a weird coincidence but I know how God always shows up at the right time in the right moment.  So this morning was a holy moment for me.

God is showing me that I need to simplify my life.  This is a time to pray, to listen, to wait upon God.  We need to find both our focus and balance in the routines of life.  God is teaching me how to handle distractions when they try to divert my attention from God.  Surrender them, quiet your soul, and turn them to God.  God is also teaching me to recognize that little disruptions in life may be heavenly signals for me to look, listen, and regain my spiritual balance in an off balanced world.

God is calling me to slow down, simplify, focus on Him and seek balance between solitude and community, rest and work, the inner life and the outer life.  Beware of busyness, isolation, laziness, and burn out that robs our souls of their vitality and strength.  It does not do much good to take care of everyone else's souls if we do not take care of our own soul (Song of Songs 1:6b).

The only way I can find balance in life is to spend intimate communion time with God.  The only way I can find balance in this hectic world is to keep my focus and attention on Jesus.  The only way I can find balance on earth is to receive heavenly power from God's Spirit to give me strength and direction for every day.

The days are coming when we must be ready for the next great task the Lord has for it.  This will only happen when we have a clear vision and keep our life in balance and in step with the Holy Spirit.  God is calling us all to a simple life in Christ.  This means we are to have a singleness of heart.  When you do that God will share the secrets of His heart with you.