Weather

We have heard people say, "Everyone talks about the weather, but no one does anything about it!"  Perhaps nothing that effects our daily routine is more studied than the weather.  For some it is a lifetime occupation.  Extremes in the weather, floods, draught, tornadoes and hurricanes, receive much widespread attention; but even normal rainfall, winds, snow, and temperature are a part of our daily news.  Jesus mentioned our preoccupation with the weather predictions as being more important to us than the knowledge of God and of His Ways.

Our ignorance of God's ways is not because of lack of study.  As to the people Jesus was addressing this warning, study of the Scripture was a daily and lifetime occupation.  It was not the lack of study but of understanding the One they studied.  God's purpose in creating man and all creation goes "to the back burner" when words and thoughts are the motive for study.  Those who made up the Sanhedrin were so taken up with their own success in dissecting the Word, they missed the One Who is the Word.

There is nothing wrong with study--I love to wade into that water and even lose myself in it!  But never become so enamored with the process that you miss the relationship with the One Who loves you best!

Moon

I was viewing pictures of the "supermoon" rising Sunday morning and it was a time of worship.  Our God's creation so reflects His glory and purpose that it inspires worship of His mighty Love.  We, His Church and Bride, are the moon to His Son.  Exactly at the time predicted the moon rose in full glory to light the morning sky.  We, His church, are coming to full glory just as the prophets spoke centuries ago.  At the darkest time, we come to shine our greatest light!  All over the world, men of God are proclaiming the need to seek to become like Jesus and to love as He loves us.  Never has there been such a need for the church to reveal the Nature of God to a world bent on denying Him.  God will reveal His Power through nature, but the Church must reveal His love and forgiveness, His mercy and kindness. 

Humility that reveals God's love cannot be mimicked by Satan.  He may produce miracles and accredit them to gods that are not gods and so deceive people to draw worship to himself, but he cannot be Light or Love.  The wisdom of God is the cross.  When we, His Church, take up our cross and follow Him, we release the Light of His victory to shine and shatter the darkness.

Patience

     I want to start today with a very personal note.  Computer problems, health issues as well as several other problems have caused delays in this blog.  I know this causes discouragement in following it.  However, I will endeavor to post something each day if only a greeting or a Scripture for you to ponder. 
Today, I woke with a renewed concept of the patience of God to reach His goals.  It highlights the impatience of mankind and the insignificance of most of our goals.  But goals express much of our nature, dreams and abilities.  Some goals are birthed in young children and are achieved to be enjoyed through many years.  Others never seem to reach the height of their goal and settle for less.  But that too is part of our human limitation.  God knows no limitation.  The only limitation God reveals is that which He has imposed upon Himself for our sake.
     Some people stumble when science talks about something being billions of years old.  It is cause for our rejoicing in the wisdom, love and patience of our God.  Before anything was created, the only Begotten Son of God was crucified for us!  The wisdom of God to create man in His own image is beyond our comprehension.  If it took billions of years to come to the victory and triumph of our standing in His Presence to do His eternal will, it is still only a blink in eternity.  "In the begining" starts with God's expressed purpose to make man in His image.  Before anything was created, the Son was begotten.           Colossians 1:15-17 (NASB)  15 He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation.  16 For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things have been created through Him and for Him. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together.
     The indifference to God's purpose is revealed in the opinion of the church concerning sin.  Humanism has been expressed rather than the driving desire to become like Jesus.  Scrptures are used to justify the very existence of the group as a church, but the interpretation is far from speaking His Word to a hungry soul, yearning to hear His Voice.  Being a social benefit to a community has its own worth, but the church that Jesus birthed with His great sacrifice, has a greater responsibility to become the Light to the world's darkness that Jesus revealed.  God is patient for us to open the door to His knocking.  Jesus stands at the door of our heart.  He wants entrance to our deepest motives, desires and goals.  He wants our full attention and focus.  He knows the pull of the world on your thoughts and desires and He stand outside of that divided desire.  Only when we let Him inside to fill our spirit, soul and mind, will we be able to dine with Him.  Only when our desire for Him rises to match His desire for us, will we know the intimacy of true communing with Him.

Caring

I Peter 5:7(NASB)  casting all your anxiety on Him, because He cares for you.   This is a very familiar Scripture, appearing on cards, posters and bulletins.  It is easy to get familiar with the words and keep on worrying.  But basically, this reveals the very nature of our God.  He is loving, merciful, protective, and generously providing for our needs.  Jesus said He would never leave nor forsake us.  The Comforter was sent to be with us always.  If the Creator of all things is with us, what do we need fear?

The generosity of God is beyond our comprehension.  Before man was created, provision was made for the continuing well-being of mankind.  Everything needed for food, clothing, shelter and contentment, as well as forgiveness of sin, were provided.  While we were "yet sinners, Christ died for us."  (Romans 5:8)  He has expressed His caring in so many ways throughout the ages, we see caring as part of His identity.  Since time began, there has always been those who sought Him and worshipped His loving care of them.  God has always loved all mankind, but with Abraham He cut a covenant and promised a nation and a Redeemer.  The nation, Israel, was to be ruled by Him and be under His protection.  They were to so identify with Him, that they would be a witness of His love, power and care.  Their witness would prove He was Almighty God, the Creator and Sustainer of all life.  But not willing to stand against all other nations to fulfill God's desire for them, they sought to be like all the other nations and have a mortal king.  Except for a remnant, they became like all the rest of the world and turned to idols and their own desire.  When Jesus came to our realm and manifested the Father, not even the ones who "followed" the law of Moses, accepted Him or even acknowledged He came from the Father.  His sacrifice birthed the Church, which was also hated by those who hated Jesus.  Until the Church drifted away from expressing the love and protection of the Lord, they manifested the Light and Power of the Creator and walked in His Love.  Only a remnant continued in proclaiming His love and provision; the rest sought to be like the world around them.

The word for caring is translated in some versions as "giving attention".  I sometimes use the word "focus" to convey caring.  The word "caring" conveys a dedication to observing the needs and desires of someone else as more important than your own, and a desire and ability to do something to meet that need with an attitude of joyful participation.  Mothers have to focus on the needs of their infants, caregivers have to focus on the needs of patients unable to express their needs, and God has proven He has a focus on our needs before we know or recognize them.  The "bottom line" of caring is an unselfish love and desire to meet the need even if it means personal sacrifice.  Caring for the needs of the unfortunate demands a generous spirit and a desire to express compassion.  Because we are created to be in His image, we are exhorted to have and express to all around us the Love and caring that He has shown to us.  The love and generosity of spirit to give care when it costs you dearly, is an expression that must come from His Spirit dwelling in us.  By this shall all men know we are His disciples!

Becoming Fervent

     I Peter 1:22 (NASB) 22 Since you have in obedience to the truth purified your souls for a sincere love of the brethren, fervently love one another from the heart,
     Kefa I 1:22 Orthodox Jewish Bible (OJB) 22 Having purified your nefashot (souls) by mishma’at (obedience 1:2) to HaEmes, resulting in ahavah shel achvah (brotherly love) without tzevi’ut (hypocrisy), have fervent ahavah (agape) for one another, from a lev tahor.
     I believe the secret of living in His Love (agape) so others see Him in you, is loving God.  Loving Him more than your own feelings, more than your own desires, than your own will and control, and more than your own comfort.  This is what Jesus expressed in His life among us.  He manifested the Father.  God is Love!  We marvel at His creative power so evident in all we see.  The knowledge and wisdom in the intricate and predictable nature we see in everything He created.  But we have never seen the Father for He is beyond our capability of beholding.  Only Jesus knew the Father, but the ignorance of mortality hid the revelation from those who thought they knew Jesus.  The Rulers of Israel, men of education and diligent study, were ignorant of the reality of the spirit plane on which Jesus lived.  Even the disciples who were taught by Him and who watched His manner of life, did not perceive the Father.  Unless the Spirit reveals Him, no one can perceive Him.
     In the 14th chapter of John, Jesus addressed this.  He revealed the path we must take to come into full maturity of love and revealed Truth.  John 14:15-20 (NIV) 15 “If you love me, keep my commands.  16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever— 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.  We have levels of love for God.  At any time, we feel we love completely, but love for God produces obedience to His Word.  As your loves grows, your obedience will also grow.  Love and obedience allows the Spirit to guide you and fulfill His ministry to you.  The Spirit is connected to the Father by always beholding His Face.  He reveals to our heart the commands of Jesus. 
Love and obedience leads us to yet another step forward.  21 Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”  The word keeps is as being pregnant.  The mother that loves her child will do anything to keep that baby safe in the womb until time for delivery, even if it means staying in bed for weeks at a time!  The one who loves the Lord and is obeying the Spirit's voice, will keep His Word until it comes to fulfillment and Jesus can reveal Himself, manifesting His Presence.
     This level of love leads to the connection to the Father. 22 Then Judas (not Judas Iscariot) said, “But, Lord, why do you intend to show yourself to us and not to the world?”   23 Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. 24 He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine, but the Father’s who sent Me.  Notice the change from commands to My word that we are to keep.   Our growth into maturity, as God intends for us, depends on our living response to Him and to His Word.  As Jesus emptied Himself to come to us, we must empty ourselves of our "self-life and image" to come to Him. 

Prayer

In the time that I have been involved with ministry, I have heard many say that they do not know how to pray.  Prayer is diffficult for there are many different ways to pray, but I am persuaded that God hears us when we approach Him.  All prayer is a covenant response even if we do not know anything about God.  The desperate person who cries out, "If there be a God, help me!" is heard.  Prayer is a communication with God.  It can be a love communication, an asking or seeking or desperate cry, a desire to sit in His Presence, a time of comforting someone who needs to know someone is in contact with God for them, or a silent waiting in His Presence for guidance and understanding.  For me, the most difficult prayer is what I call, Public Prayer.  It is often a "politically correct" prayer for the occasion and not a connection to God and I do not want to do that.  In our society, prayer is something to criticize rather than to give agreement.  My husband has had people come up to him and ask for a "copy" of his prayer because it had touched their heart.  (Most of such prayers are written up beforehand.)

Prayer is very important because it is a covenant response.  Jesus often spent His nights in prayer, alone with His Father.  Paul said we should pray without ceasing.  We are exhorted to pray and not faint or grow weary.  James said we have not because we do not ask.  James 4:1-3 (J.B. Phillips New Testament)  But about the feuds and struggles that exist among you—where do you suppose they come from? Can’t you see that they arise from conflicting passions within yourselves? You crave for something and don’t get it, you are jealous and envious of what others have got and you don’t possess it yourselves. Consequently in your exasperated frustration you struggle and fight with one another. You don’t get what you want because you don’t ask God for it. And when you do ask he doesn’t give it to you, for you ask in quite the wrong spirit—you only want to satisfy your own desires. 

This is why covenant understanding is so important.  The basic reason for making a covenant is to protect and provide.  Both friends of covenant are protected by the structure of the covenant.  God is love.  Out of His great love He has provided all things for us to reach His goal of man in His image.  When we lose sight of the goal, we lose our connection and begin to set goals for ourselves.  Jesus walked in total submission to the Father's will.  He did not seek His own way but yielded Himself to do only what the Father was doing.  When we walk in that same submission to our Lord, we know peace and fulfillment.  We pray in the manner that the Spirit leads for that moment.  Because our submission to Him assures that connection, we pray without ceasing.  The stress around us does not break the connection, even when we feel the stress.  We know His love holds us.  This is the basic reason why prayer is so difficult.  When we do not have the realization of how great is His love and how complete and powerful is His love toward us, we strive to reach Him and persuade Him to hear us!

Where Do We Go From Here?

The Scriptures are full of references to God's command to "go" forward in obedience to His word.  God's people are not stagnant but obediently following as He leads.  I remember my father exhorting to never be content with your knowledge of, and your obedience to, God's Word, but always seek a deeper relationship to Him.  It is easy to see the leading of God when He led His people out of Egypt and brought them to the promised land.  A cloud leading the way would seem to be an easy way to follow God.  But He led them many times to places that tested them, and there, they complained.  But God has a "finish line", a goal to be reached.  I want to point out two areas of completion that we need to have in our focus.  One is for His people as a whole and one is for each of us as individuals.  Each is a cell in His Body, but a cell that is "renegade" or unhealthy, is cause for sickness in the body.  The example of Achan's sin at Jericho that caused a halt in the victorious progression of taking the city of Ai, is a lesson for us today.  One group, allowing the coveting of success with the world an excuse for disobeying God's Word, can cause a downward slide to compromise with our human nature and no longer strive to bring it to the cross.  God's blessing is no longer with us to victoriously reveal God's power.
There are two verses that speak to us to "go" forward to the goal God has set.  Hebrews 6:1-3 speaks to the church to press forward to the maturity of total restoration and beyond to resurrection power.  John speaks to each individual in I John 2:5-6 and reveals God's purpose for each of us to walk as Jesus did as a man in God's image.  This perfection is not for some far off time, but now.  Jesus walked connected to the Father and has opened the door for us to walk connected to Him.  We can be connected to the Father through Jesus.  We can do the works He did and go on to greater works as the Father reveals.
Becoming one with Jesus Christ in a relationship that is like His relationship to the Father, is the beginning of our progress to becoming like Him.  When our spirit is born anew, a door is opened to us.  The opportunity of becoming like Jesus is ours.  Unfortunately, many are led down the path of "religious obedience" to man's idea of being acceptable to their church.  Anger, rebellion, hate, unforgiveness, judging and criticizing, being unmerciful, pride and gossip are human expressions still allowed if "dressed up" as religious expression.  The emphasis on the ritual and outward appearance do not change the inner man.
Jesus said "take up your cross and follow Me."  The cross is the means of death.  Our human nature must die and the anointed Christ nature become ours.  When Jesus said you are the light of the world, He did not mean our ritual or church membership.  Only if Jesus, The Light, shines in us are we the light.  When the world sees the bickering, hateful expressions, unforgiveness, criticism and pride, they are not drawn to you.  Only when they see God's love and mercy shining, and forgiving arms reaching out, are they drawn to Him in you.  When a whole group of people express the love of God and His forgiveness in their daily lives and in every situation, are others drawn to that group.
The early Church were witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus.  They lived His victorious Life and were witnesses of the Love and Power of God.  Their "church" was not designed to draw people to their place of worship by energetic programs, designer buildings, and a way of life that was acceptable to the world around them.  They offered the New Birth of their spirit, a sure way to martyrdom, and union with God for eternity.  They did not dress up the sacrifice or the cost.  God is enough.