Survival?

 "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they?"  

Matthew 6:25-26

Some years ago I wrote down a prayer based on what Jesus was saying in the above verses. I think it really fits for this coming year, for every year. It is my prayer for myself and for you.

"Father, deliver us from our survival mentality, living from hand to mouth. Awaken in us a desire to live by Your will, as Your child, in Your love." 

Too many of us live in survival mode. We just hope to make it through a day, a week, a year, with as little difficulty and pain as possible. We're hoping to get through, to survive. We don't really openly say this, but our "spiritual body language" betrays us. It comes out in our attitudes, our thoughts, and our words. We sing about victory in Jesus, but we too often don't really expect that, and we rarely live in it. We talk about being "more than conquerors," but most weeks we feel like the world and life have run over us.

We speak and preach about being "children of the King," but live more like orphans. We worry about never having enough, and always fear that our resources are on the verge of drying up. We live hand to mouth in our own strength, instead of heart to heart in His. We think that this is just the way of things in this fallen world. His promises of abundance are true and we believe them, but we see it is a future promise, realized in eternity. We struggle to believe that eternal life begins now, as do the riches He promises, and those riches are far more about our spirit, emotions, and minds than they are about dollars and cents. We can live richly even when our bank accounts might be showing more zeros than anything else.

For you, for me, for all of us, may He awaken in us a desire to live richly in Him.To realize who we are in Jesus Christ. To have as our experience each day, living in His will, as His children, in His love. To know this, to live this brings the faith that overcomes the world. We really do live as "more than conquerors," and not as hand to mouth survivors. This is the life we were created for in Christ. May we live it out fully in this coming year. 

Blessings,
Pastor O

New Song

 1Sing to the LORD a new song;

sing to the LORD, all the earth.

2Sing to the LORD, bless His name;

proclaim His salvation day after day.

3Declare His glory among the nations,

His wonders among all peoples.

Psalm 96:1-3

How does one sing such a song in the midst of this fallen world? A world filled with sorrow, pain, and suffering? As I look around the landscape of my life and the life of our church fellowship, I see wreckage and suffering everywhere. Loved ones lost to death. Families being torn apart. Marriages ending. Children rebelling, walking away from their families and from God. How can anyone sing any "song" other than one of hopelessness in the midst of all that? For me, for us, I think the answer is found in Scripture, as all answers are; Mr Redeemer Lives! He has not left us at the mercy of all this. He is with us. Fully, completely WITH US!

The enemy of our souls, through an unbelieving world will ask, If He is real, why does He allow this? This is a fair question if we seek to absolve ourselves from all responsibility for the existence of evil, which we do. Sin, and all the spiritual, emotional, and physical wreckage that flows from it, first entered humanity through the sin and disobedience of Adam and Eve. The human race has been tainted by it ever since and is unable to break its power. God, in His love, made a way out by sending His Son, Jesus Christ, to be the antidote and pathway to freedom and life for all who would believe and follow Him. This does not mean that all who believe would be free from all pain and suffering. We are not. We still live in this fallen world, but our lives and eternal hope are not bound up in this it, but in Him. We are born again unto a Living Hope in Jesus Christ. Nothing in this fallen world can touch or diminish that. We are not victims in the midst of this world, but overcomers. Eternal life is at work in us right now, and in the midst of all suffering, the joy of the Lord is our strength. We have a hope that the deepest and darkest sin cannot extinguish. That is why, in the midst of the darkness, we can sing the new song. He is the Light and the Life that overcomes sin and the world system it operates through.

I rejoice today in the new song He gives me. This day and every day. It isn't dependent upon how I feel or what is happening. It's rooted in Him. It allows me, even in the deepest darkness I have or can experience, to declare His glory and His salvation. To bless His name, and sing of His glory before all the earth. I don't discount the reality of suffering. It's real. He is more real. This world and its suffering are passing. He is eternal. He is forever. My destiny isn't found here. It's found in Him. My Living Hope. Because of that I can sing the new song. Oftentimes with tears in my eyes, but the song grows greater and deeper, along with my hope.

We're in a new year. Only He knows what lies ahead for us. In whatever comes, He invites us to sing His new song. By His grace, I intend to. Will you, by His grace, sing it as well?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Insane

In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life. I Timothy 6:19

We're on the verge of another new year. The question for each of us is, will this year take us deeper into Him, or further away? I think that for the next few writings, I'll try to address this.

In my prayer journal, in reference to I Timothy 6:19, I've written, "May I (we) take hold of the life that is truly life." That is my prayer for me, and it's my prayer for you. Jesus Christ offers us life. His life. Abundant life. Full life. It's up to us as to whether we receive and walk in it or not.

I heard Francis Chan speaking on the Scripture picture of Jesus standing and knocking at the door of our heart, seeking entry. He said that it would be the mark of insanity if he were to turn Him away. It would, but huge numbers of people do just that. Every day. Every. Day. Jesus Christ offers life. Eternal life. Life that begins the moment we receive it. Many receive Him as Savior, but they never receive Him in the fullness of His life. They never allow themselves to be swallowed up by His life. They keep trying to manage life in their own strength. All the riches that are found in Him are offered to them, but they refuse. It's "insane" that anyone would do so, but they do. Do you?

Paul exhorts us this Scripture to "take hold" of this life. It requires an action on our part to do this. We must reach out to lay hold of it. Why don't we? We don't because to take hold of His life we have to let go of ours. This requires equal parts of surrender, trust, and obedience. We surrender our confidence in ourselves, trust in His leadership and ways, and obey His directions as He leads us. And He always leads us more deeply into His abundant life. As Chan said, it's insane that we should refuse Him...but we do. Maybe this past year, in some ways, maybe all ways, you've refused Him. He's still standing there....knocking, offering His life on this day, in this new year. Will you draw near to Him, or further away?

It will continue to be my prayer for you, me, all of us, that we will not miss Him in any part of this new year. That we will hear His knocking, open our heart doors to all that He is and offers, and take hold of the life that is truly life. Will we run to that life....or will we run further away from it? Can you hear Him knocking?

Blessings,
Pastor O

 

And Forever

 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.  Hebrews 13:8

I believe I've written before of my first Christmas Eve while I attended Bible College in Colorado. My roommates had both left to be with family or friends. All of mine were too far away to get to, so I was alone in our apartment. Yet I wasn't. We'd gotten a small tree and I'd bought some ornaments and lights to go on it. I attended a Christmas Eve service at our church, and then went home to that apartment, that decorated tree,     and to Him.

I'll never forget that night. I experienced Him in a way I never had before in my short time walking with Him. I played some albums from Jesus Music people like the 2nd Chapter of Acts and Keith Green. As I listened to the lyrics, so filled with His presence, and gazed upon that tree and its sparkling lights, I experienced Him in a way I still can't really describe. It's among my most cherished memories. Last night, Christmas Eve, it was 45 years to the day since it happened. 

I had received a gracious and warm invitation for Christmas Eve this year, and I intended to take part. As the time came to leave, I just had a sense that I needed to remain in my home....with Him. To have fellowship with Him just as I had 45 years ago. I yielded to that. In my tree lit room, I played music from the very same albums from that night all those years ago. I once again listened to those powerful lyrics. I gazed upon those lights, and once again, I had a deep, rich fellowship with Him. He ministered to me. Like, yet unlike how He had that night in Colorado. He was the same, yet He was somehow different. I experienced Him far more deeply. You see, He is unchanging, yet if we will really walk with Him, He will take us to depths in Himself that we never knew were there. He is unchanging, but I was not the same man I was in Colorado. He is unchanging, but He is forever changing us. As He does, we discover riches in Him we never knew were there. This Christmas Eve was not the same as that one more than 4 1/2 decades ago, but He was still beautiful, still mighty and majestic, and still more real than anything else in this world. I was 30 years old that first Eve. Now I'm 75. His mercies continue to be "new every morning," and every moment of every day as well. 

I'm sure I missed some great fellowship at that gathering, but I don't regret it because I didn't miss Him. He revealed to me once more, new wonders of Himself. And I learned once more that He will do this with me, with us who believe.....forever.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Let's Go

 When the angels had returned to heaven, the shepherds said to each other, “Let’s go to Bethlehem! Let’s see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”  Luke 2:15

It's Christmas Eve, and I don't have anything earth-shaking to write today, but I do have a few things on my heart. I'll try to put what it is into words.

I've always loved the role of the shepherds in the Christmas story. Shepherds were outcasts in Jewish culture, yet it was to them that God chose to reveal the birth of His Son. They, simple, likely rough men, were the first to hear the angelic proclamation.

I can only imagine what the experience must have been like. A heavenly host proclaiming in what had to be the most beautiful singing and praising they, or anyone would ever heart. They had to have been both awestruck and dumbstruck. Then, the message delivered, the angelic host disappeared.

The shepherds didn't spend time discussing what had happened. They said as one, "Let's go and see this great thing that we have been told about." And so they did. They were not going to miss the wondrous event. An event a fallen world was groaning to see come about. Nothing would stop them. They would see this child that God had told them about.

The shepherds had likely been very involved in the business of keeping their sheep. Watching over sheep is not an easy job. Who could blame them if they were distracted, weary, emotionally on edge. Yet none of that mattered. They had to see the promised Messiah. They wouldn't be kept from Him.

Bring all that to our lives on this day. Christmas can be a very distracting, wearying, emotionally draining time. We can see everything and yet see nothing. We can see all the trappings, but we don't see Him. The glitter, the tinsel, the gifts, the families, the food. All of it can overwhelm, and all of it, no matter how good, can keep us from Him. How might it be keeping you, and me, from Him?

I close by saying, may it be that in the midst of this season, we don't lose sight of Him. May it be that in each of us will be a driving determination to "see" Him, to worship Him. To just dwell in His presence. Fathers and husbands, mothers and wives, heads of families and heads of ministries, may our heart cry be like that of the shepherds. "Let us go to see this Savior, this Jesus. May nothing keep us from Him. May He not be lost amidst the glittering tinsel. May we come before Him, kneel before Him, and worship Him. Let's go. Let us not delay.

Blessings,
Pastor O

True Worship

 I've a question for you and for me as well; When was the last time you truly worshiped the Lord? Many of us would point to the last time we attended a church service. For many believers, that may not amount to more than once or twice a month. Others will say that they see worship as a lifestyle, that they worship Him in their thoughts, words, and actions each day. That's a correct assessment, but then we're led to another, deeper question; What is it that constitutes true worship? Is it being moved by music, an anointed message? Is it being impacted by what we've seen, heard, or read? All of these can be a part of true worship, but all of them can be present, and yet we may not have truly worshiped Him.

In my prayer journal, I have written down what Henry Blackaby says are the elements of true worship. He says that true worship results in repentance, obedient submission, and a desire for holiness. We can experience all of what I outlined above and yet not really have worshiped Him at all. We can be impacted emotionally and mentally by all of it, yet we are not changed or transformed by any of it. To truly encounter Him, to truly worship Him will bring about inner change and transformation. The degree may differ in our encounters, but the constant is that we will not emerge from any time with Him as the same person we were before we came into His presence.

If we just look at what we call corporate worship, the gathering together of believers for the purported purpose of meeting Him in worship, how much of Blackaby's elements of worship are taking place? Repentance, submission, and holiness are not words frequently used in a lot of churches. We put a great deal of emphasis on the presentation, lighting, sound, visuals, and atmosphere. These are not wrong in themselves, but these alone will not confront a person in the depths of their need. Only a hunger for the Living God, as He is, not as we would wish Him to be, will effect the transformation that He seeks to bring in each and all of us. He is an Almighty and holy God. We're not going to encounter Him through props.

These are just some thoughts and questions that I have today, even more for myself than for you. I think we would do well to contemplate them. May we take these questions, and the elements of worship listed by Blackaby before Him, and ask Him if what we have been offering Him is really worship. Worship that is centered upon Him, not upon us.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Realistic

 Christmas can be a magical time for children. It certainly was for me. I recently wrote of the time my grandmother put me to bed on Christmas Eve, telling me to listen for the sound of Santa's sleigh bells on the roof of our house. I drifted off to sleep, sure that he would come, sure that the sleigh would land above my head. I was a true believer.

Now, from the perspective of my "wise" adulthood, I can see all the ways that such a happening could never take place. Why would Santa land on a roof that had no chimney? How would he get down from a roof that even my father didn't care to walk on? How could a sleigh and eight reindeer fit on the roof of our modest little home anyway? Then there was the question of how one man could cover the entire earth, knowing the location of every child, and all in one night? It was impossible, yet, none of this interfered with my childlike faith. I simply believed.

I once listened to a woman who ministers mainly in Africa, in what are commonly called "third world countries." Here she had seen countless numbers of miraculous healings and countless more lives being transformed by the saving grace of Christ. The people she ministered to simply believed that the Lord and Savior she told them about could do all that He said He could. She said, "All children believe God can do miracles, until some adult tells them He can't" Has this happened in your life. We all come to the knowledge that Santa isn't real, but have we also come to the place where we no longer really believe in the wonders and miracles of God? We may know He once did, but do we believe He still can and will? Have we become too sophisticated, too secularized to believe that He can still make the blind to see, the lame to walk, and the dead to rise? Not just figuratively, but literally?

His Word says, "I am the God who heals you," but in sickness, who is it we first turn to, the Doctor, or Him?

In His Word we read how Jesus fed 5000 with just a few loaves and fishes, but how much sleep have we lost, how much anxiety have we gone through, wondering how we'll get through the month? Some of us, maybe all of us, once believed He'd do such miracles for us, but "other voices" began to whisper into our spirit. They told us we needed to be more "realistic." Yes, God can move in miraculous ways in the Bible, but that was then, this is now. Now He's chosen a more reserved role in this world. We may not actually say this, but it's the way too many of us live and believe. 

Do you still have the faith of a child? If not, where has it gone? Why has it gone? Who was it that first told you such things weren't really possible? Are you ready to once more have the heart and faith of a child? A heart that believes what it's told by a Father whose love for that child knows no limits. Are you ready for Him to show up in your life, moving in the miraculous? Are you ready to once more be a child, His child? All things really are possible.....for the one who believes.

Blessings,
Pastor O