Heart Tracks - Name-Droppers

       Matthew 7:21 "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven."........"Are you a religious name-dropper?"  Eugene Peterson

      I realize that it's very easy to become legalistic in our faith lives, but it may be even easier, so to speak, to be labeled as such by much of the western church.  I know that we can take a scripture and build a kind of "law"out of it, a law devoid of His mercy and grace, but there are just far too many scriptures that cannot be softened, and many of them were spoken by Jesus Himself.  The above scripture is surely one of them.
      I have to say that my spirit is deeply troubled by all I see of those who proclaim His name so often with their lips, yet deny Him even more often with their lives.  I'm willing to risk being labeled both judgemental and legalistic for saying that.  Let me say that I also believe deeply in the mercy and grace of the Father.  I have a friend who likes to say that the one prayer we can be sure that the Father will answer is the one prayed by the tax-gatherer in the Temple, "Lord, have mercy on me."  He is a God of unlimited grace and mercy, but He is also a God who is pure and holy.  A God, a Father, who calls us in Christ, to a life of purity and holiness.  Not just in outward behavior, but in inward condition and reality.  Indeed, unless the inward is our reality, the outward is nothing more than show.
     The question Jesus asks in Matthew 7 is as relevant, powerful and convicting now as it was then.  His Words always are.  It's a question that to some degree will be spoken into our hearts on some level each day.  Are we calling Him "Lord" while all the time seeing to the carrying out of our own wills in opposition to His?  Do we want to walk in "our way" or "the way," His way, of which He clearly says in the Word, "there is no other way."  At least no other that will lead into the Kingdom of God.  There are various interpretations of what Jesus fully meant when He said that no one could enter into His Kingdom unless they did the will of the Father, at least as concerns eternity.  But there can be no denying that it is impossible to live in and out of Kingdom life apart from living in, abiding in, His life and will.  To call Him Lord, while living a life in opposition to His will for us is to live a lie.  There is no way to soften that.  If we don't wish to have His will in our lives, than the clear truth is that we don't really wish to live or have His Kingdom life either.  Our lips may say we do, but our lives say we don't.
     I close with this prayer Peterson wrote in his devotional, One Year With Jesus, "Lord Christ, when I use Your name, keep me honest so that I am expressing a relationship with You and engaging in a response to Your will.  I want my whole life, not just my mouth, to speak Your name." It has been said of some politicians, that if their lips are moving, they're lying.  Sadly, it may well be said of many who profess to be His as well.  May not only our lips, but our lives speak His name to a world that needs to hear, see, and know Him, through a people that call Him Lord.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Even if.....

      Things were looking bad, very bad for Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.  Nebuchadnezzar, king of the mightiest nation on earth, Babylon, had commanded that all in his kingdom bow down to a golden idol of himself.  The aforementioned three Jews, refusing to recognize any God but the One true God Jehovah, would not.  Nebuchadnezzar then threatened them with a horrible death by burning in a furnace.  A threat he would make good.  Their reply to him was, "O Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you.  If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God whom we serve is able to save us. He will rescue us from your power Your Majesty, but even if He doesn't, Your Majesty can be sure that we will never serve or worship the gold statue you have set up."  

     Scripture tells us that the three were indeed thrown into the furnace, and that the king himself saw them walking about in the fire, joined by a fourth, who he said, "looks like a divine being," for it was.  It was the very Presence of Christ with them.  They emerged unhurt, delivered.  It was a glorious deliverance, and there is so much teaching in this, but it is not their deliverance that I want to dwell upon, but rather, the words of faith and trust they spoke prior to being thrown into the furnace of death.  Telling the king of their complete trust in His ability to save them, but showing an even deeper trust in proclaiming, "but even if He doesn't......"  These are words spoken with the same faith and trust seen in Job as he proclaimed that "though He slay me, yet will I trust Him."  My question for each of us is, what will be our response to Him if, in the midst of our greatest trial or need, He doesn't do that of which we ask?  Can we live, in Him, in the place of "even if?"  There are so many who find themselves living with Him in the place of "if only."  We would give ourselves to Him wholeheartedly "if only" He would do all that we ask, or fill us in on all the details of the journey He calls us to.  If only He would do all that we require, we would gladly give to Him all of our hearts.  If only is an easy place to live, but it is the place of denial.  Denial of Him.  Many can live there, but there are so many less who are able to live in the place of "even if."  We will be His completely, follow Him fully, worship Him only, even if He doesn't seem to meet what we feel our are deepest needs, or bring about the deliverance or healing we cry out for.  Even if this is our reality, we will not turn back from Him.  We will not give ourselves to something else, something that is not Him.  In the "even if," we will worship Him, and Him alone.  Even if He does nothing, He will still have our everything.
     I am so thankful for the many "fiery furnaces" He has delivered me out of.  He gave grace to trust Him there, but He gave, I think, an even greater grace to trust Him in those furnaces that He did allow me to "burn in."  Those places where He did not do those things my heart longed for Him to do.  A grace that enabled me to trust Him, worship Him, even when He didn't save me from the flames.  Flames that I found only served to burn more of the dross from my life.  That may be the greatest gift He gives us when He doesn't give us what we ask for.  A better us, but more, a better, deeper realization of Himself.  We win, are delivered, even when it seems we are not.  Delivered into a deeper place in Him, winning a more abundant life with Him.  Abundant life is ours, even when He doesn't.....So much dross remains, which means more furnaces lie ahead.  By His grace, may we trust Him,

.......even if.


Blessings,

Pastor O
     

Heart Tracks - Joy Unspeakable

      "God whispers in our pleasure and shouts in our pain."  C.S. Lewis   "I will praise Him in the pain, though the mystery remain."  Jennifer Rothschild  There are so many things we seem unable to understand in a walk with Him.  Pain is one, and joy is another.  We don't understand why the first is in our life, and even more, why He would allow it.  Rarely do we see Him in it, and even more rarely do we feel we can have any joy, His joy, in the midst of it.  We know that we're to be overcomers, that we have "victory in Jesus," but we don't feel like overcomers, and our lives don't look to be victorious.  The only thing that seems real is the pain.  The pain from the death of a loved one, the break-up of a marriage, the on-going sickness of a mate or child.  There are the daily disappointments of life, both large and small, and all the frustrations that go with them.  There is the appearance of failure, in our relationships, our jobs, our ministries.  Pain, be it excruciating or just a dull presence, is there, and seeks to steal all joy from us.  Maybe it has stolen all joy from us.  Yet we read, hear, that we are to "rejoice always."  How?  How may we live in His joy in such painful and hard places?

     I came across something Watchman Nee wrote that I think speaks deeply into this.  He said that when he first came to Christ, it was his belief that to be a Christian was to walk through life with a constant smile upon his face, to never shed a tear, or feel even the slightest fear.  To do so meant he was not victorious, that his relationship with the Father was flawed.  In response to those "ideas" he wrote, "But the Christian life I soon learned is very different. It is a paradox of power in weakness, joy amid pain, faith triumphing in the presence of doubt.  When the Christian is strongest in the Lord, he is most conscious of inability;  when he is most courageous, he may be profoundly aware of fear within, and when he is most joyful, a sense of distress readily breaks upon him again.  It is only the 'exceeding greatness of the power' that lifts him on high"  There lies the key I think.  It is choosing, moment by moment if needs be, to live in the "exceeding greatness" of His power, of His life.  We live in a fallen world, and pain, loss, sorrow, are all very real.  The glory is that the joy of His Presence is even more real.  Writer Margaret Feinberg spoke of how the pain of her treatments for breast cancer were so intense as to drive her to her knees at times, yet that in those times, she received the fullness of His power and life, and so, His joy.  The pain was real. He was more real.

     Jennifer Rothschild lost her eyesight at age 14.  The Father never told her why, but He also never stopped speaking into and moving in and through her life.  In the mystery of "Why?" she could and did praise Him.  In her loss, she received the fullness of His joy.  C.S. Lewis who wrote the classic, "A Grief Observed," knew and experienced that though the pain of loss spoke so loudly, that the comforting voice of the Father in Christ spoke even louder. And with that voice, came joy.  Not an escape from the circumstances, not some kind of euphoria, but the all consuming joy and sense of His Presence in the midst of it.  This was the "all joy" of His Word.
    Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4, "But this precious treasure - this light and power that now shine within us - is held in perishable containers - that is, our weak bodies.....Through suffering, these bodies of ours constantly share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen"  We do feel the pain of life, but if we will yield to Him in its midst, we will also experience the wonder of His glory, and "joy unspeakable."  In our time of pain, whether it is upon us now, or yet to come, may we enter in the unspeakable joy of the Lord in its midst.  A joy greater than all our pain.

Blessings,

Pastor O  

Heart Tracks - Going To See......What?

       In Matthew 11, Jesus asked His listeners this question concerning their interest in John the Baptist, "What did you go out to see.....?"  That question has been finding a place in my spirit as concerns my, our, reasons for, interest in, going to both the Lord, and His "church."  Why do we go to Him?  Why do we "go to church?"  What is it we're after?  What do we expect to see?  A blessing?  A show?  A social event?  Jesus obviously thought this was a legitimate question to ask.  Can it be any less legitimate that He ask it of us today?

     Lots of people are "interested" in Jesus Christ.  As I heard it put, interest in Him does not make for a life lived in Him.  Many things may have our interest.  They don't have our heart.  Could Jesus very well be just one more of our "interests?"  Someone we're willing to invest some time in, perhaps even to the point of going to a place, "church", where we can hear songs sung about Him, and hear men and women talk about Him?  It can interesting.  He can be interesting.  Very interesting.  But too many never have any more than an interest, and interest in Him will never transform a life.  And no matter how many efforts we might undertake to make Him interesting enough to others, all will fall short because only the power, life, and grace of God in Christ can take a person past interest into real knowledge and experience of Him.  Has that ever happened to you, or, are you still living in the place of interest?  Interest that may be fading by the day.
    When that question is asked of we who would consider ourselves true believers in and followers of Christ, how do we answer? Week after week we "go to church."  What are we going for?  What are we seeking to experience?  What do we wish "to see?" Are we there because it's what we were brought up to do?  "It's Sunday.  I, we, need to be in church." Are we there because the atmosphere is generally positive, and we like the feeling we get from that?  Are we there because the social support system and friendships are highly valued by us?  Are we there because the church helps us establish good values and morals in the midst of a culture sorely lacking both?  Are we there because we like the preacher, the worship leader, the programs?  None of these are bad things, but none of these are Christ.  None of these ever will be.
     I think the answer to Jesus' question is found in Luke 1, when Zechariah, father of John the Baptist gives this prophecy concerning his son.  "You will prepare the way of the Lord.   You will tell people how to find salvation through the forgiveness of their sins.  Because of God's tender mercy, the Light of heaven is about to break upon us, to give light to those who sit in darkness, and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace."  Jesus told His listeners that there was nothing John did that could bring any attention to Himself.  Nothing bombastic, or stimulating to the senses.  He just pointed people to the burning light of Christ, trusting in the power of the Father to bring to them a sense of need for the forgiveness of their sin, and the fullness of the hope of the Kingdom.  In this day of the cult of personality in the church, and all the special effects we think we need in order to "do church," I think we have strayed far from this.  We are to be the manifestation of His Light, pointing people to Him, wherever we are.  We offer no show, no perks, and no lure, and we don't need to, because we offer Him in all of His fullness. We are no longer curiosity seekers, or even regular attenders, but fullhearted pursuers of His Life.
     So, today, each day, Jesus asks us, "What have you come to see?  If it is anything but Him, we may likely find it, but will have missed Him, and so missed everything.  If we have come to behold Him, His Life and Light, He will pour both out upon and into us.  Why are we here?  What have we come for?  Will we receive all He longs for us to have?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Nominal?

        Nominal: Existing in name only, not real or actual; hence so small, slight,as to be hardly worth the name.  Quite a definition.  Can we dare allow His Spirit to probe our hearts as to what degree it may define our relationship with Him?  

     A.W. Tozer wrote, "I cannot understand how anyone can profess to be a follower and disciple of our Lord Jesus Christ and not be overwhelmed by His attributes."  We are overwhelmed by much in life.  To what extent are we overwhelmed by the beauty, majesty, and holiness of Him?  What is the degree of our awe and wonder?  I can still remember the time, many years ago, when the truth came to me that the closer I got to Christ, the more unworthy I was to be there.  I fear we know little of this awe, this wonder, and I believe too many of us are closer to the definition of "nominal" than we are to that of disciple.  There may be many who presently seek to define our lives, including ourselves. The only definition that matters however is His.  What is His definition of our relationship with Him today?
     Yes, we each walk at our own pace with Him, but it is a pace that is set by Him, not us.  Oswald Chambers called it "walking in the stride of the Father."  Are we matching His stride?  Are we, as scripture says, "following hard after God."  The picture of that is to be so pressed into Him as to be indistinguishable from Him.  Is that you?  Is that me?

     Matthew 6:33 reads, "But strive (seek) first for the Kingdom of God and His righteousness....."  Eugene Peterson asks of us, "What evidence is there in your life that you seek first His Kingdom?"  What is the evidence?  That we go to church regularly? That we tithe, pray, go to Bible studies, listen to Christian music, engage in good works?  Paul said that we could do all of these, but if we were without love, an overwhelming, passionate love for Him, we were nothing more than empty gongs.  Psalm 42:1, "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for You, O my God."  The nominal life thirsts for the things that are passing. The Christ centered life thirsts for Him....and in Him finds satisfaction for that thirst.  What are we really thirsting for today? Security, provision, protection, position?  We become obsessed with these. We are obsessed with these.  We become nominal pursuers of Him, and passionate pursuers of these.  Which, and who are we pursuing right now?
    Josh McDowell wrote a compelling book about the reality of Christ titled "Evidence That Demands A Verdict."  As to the reality of His consuming Presence in our lives,  what is the evidence?  What is the verdict?  In our lives, our relationships, our homes and families, and in our church fellowships, what is the evidence, and what is the verdict?
    

Blessings,
Pastor O

      

Heart Tracks - He Broke Through

     As a newly converted believer back in 1980, I was deeply moved by the lyrics and music of a Keith Green song, Your Love Broke Through, because they spoke so clearly to exactly how He had revealed Himself to me in my own life.  The entire song is powerful, but one line by itself seemed to speak everything to how He was able to lay hold of a man, myself, who had been living in deep darkness, delusion, and deception.  That line went,

                                                              Like waking up from the longest dream, how real it seemed,

                                                              Until Your love broke through

                                                              I've been lost in a fantasy, that blinded me,

                                                              Until Your love broke through

     35 years later, those words have not lost their power for me, or became any less true.  Indeed, they are more true than ever.  And I grow more thankful each day that in that dream, that fantasy, that life I thought was life and was lost in, yet seemed so real, that in that place of darkness, His love broke through.....to and for me.  That truth grows more powerful for me by the day.  As it does, my burden for all those still trapped in that fantasy, and I believe many of them sit in the pews of our church fellowships, grows as well.  Yet at the same time, my hope in Him, for them, grows too.  I know that if the love of the Father in Christ can reach the heart and life of a young man trapped in the darkness of drugs, worldly philosophies and ideals, and the deception and delusion that they hold, than that great love can do the same in them, no matter where they are found.
    We truly live in a day when the Bible says "good would be called evil, and evil good."  Our culture has embraced darkness, and we see it reflected not only in our favorite entertainments, but in the daily reporting of what we call "news."  So many are lost in a fantasy that has blinded them, both in and outside of the church.  Those who live as citizens of the world cannot help but adopt the value system of that world.  Yet so many of His people, who would claim citizenship in His Kingdom, find themselves living, choosing, seeing and thinking in just the same way as those who make no claim of Kingdom life.
    Recently, a good friend shared of how many in his family, family that would claim to be His followers, lived in just as much fear and dread of death as those without Christ.  Despite, in most cases, a lifetime of hearing His message of life and hope, that message had never penetrated their heart and being.  They could no more see Him, His Hope, His eternity, than those without Him.  This world was far more real to them than His.  In truth, the fantasy was not the lie of this world, but the promise of the Kingdom of Heaven.  They, like so many, continued to live in a dream that seemingly had no end.  They are not alone.  I think that there are a multitude of professing believers who are far more comfortable in and with the world system than they are the Father's.  It's not only comfortable, it's more real.
    In the midst of all this, Isaiah 58:8 speaks, "Then Your light will break through like the dawn, and you will heal quickly."  Break through.  The deepest darkness, and the greatest deception and delusion.  None of them are greater than He.  He pierces all darkness, bringing His light and life, and with them, His healing.  This world will seek to entice us to believe its fantasy.  Seek to keep us living in that "long dream."  All the while, His love seeks to pierce that delusion, that fantasy, and bring healing and sight.  More than 35 years ago, He broke through mine.  To whatever degree the fantasy may hold you, would you have Him break through to you?  I remember so clearly my crying out to Him while held in the grip of darkness.  He broke through.  Cry out for His love today.  Right now.  He will break through......to you.  Wake up from the dream.

Blessings,

Pastor O

Heart Tracks - The Greatest Disability

      Nick Vujicic, a man born without arms or legs, said that, "Fear is the greatest disability of all."  Beth Moore once remarked that we need to, "Know the power that dread has over us."  Fear and dread.  These are two things that most, if not all of us live with to some degree every moment of every day.  They do disable us.  They do have seemingly unlimited power over us.  They are tyrants, jailers, and they hold us in chains.  We know that Jesus said seemingly numberless times that we are to "Fear not," yet this is a command we seem completely unable to obey.  Why? Do we consciously disregard Him?   Are we refusing to hear Him?  Is our unbelief that great?  I think the answer is both yes, and no.  Let's look a little deeper.

     All of us know how paralyzing fear can be, especially in the spiritual realm.  We are robbed of boldness, strength, and faith.  We're also made blind to Him in the midst of it.  It is the greatest disability.  How can we be free of it?  Can we be free of it?  This is not to mean that fear will never make an appearance in our lives.  We're human, and there are things that will happen that our first and human reaction to will be fear.  What we need to understand is that our reaction that brings forth fear can be overcome, completely, by how we respond to it in Christ.  The flesh reacts, but in the Spirit, we can respond.  So what is the key to all of this?
     T. Austin-Sparks said that "Freedom comes when we are satisfied in Him, and stop trying to satisfy Him."  Think on this a moment and see if we can realize that fear finds a "beachhead" in our lives right here.  We are afraid in some way that we are not pleasing Him, not satisfying Him, so we work harder to do that.  All the while there exists the fear that we're not pleasing Him at all.  Fear has a base to operate from, and then it reaches its tentacles out and works in more and more areas of our lives.  I think the majority of us are not truly finding our satisfaction in Him, and one of the great results of this is that we don't really know Him.  Therefore we're always trying to figure out what He wants from us, and so we're always afraid that we're missing it.  Fear is at work.  Sparks says that what is key is to realize just who and what we are occupied with?  If we are occupied with ourselves, then we will revert to "type," and everything in life will pass through our perspective and understanding, and along with this will come an ever deepening realization of how unable we are to control any of it.  We can do nothing then but live in fear.....of everything. When we are occupied with Him, we are then abiding in Him.  Jesus said that apart from Him, "We can do nothing."  Especially exercise any real control.  When we are occupied, abiding with and in Him, we not only know that we can do nothing, but we come into ever deeper understanding that He can do anything and everything.  We are living in the realm of "Nothing is impossible with God."  We live looking at Him, and not the things that threaten us.  Fear, dread, or any other bondage, cannot stand in His Presence.  They have to release us.  In Him, we are free.
     His Word tells us that, "Beholding.....we are changed."  If we live beholding ourselves and how everything around us affects us, then we will surely more and more be changed into people totally occupied with ourselves and how everything in life affects us.  If we live beholding Him, we will more and more be changed into His likeness, and more and more enter into His freedom.  We no longer try to be free, no longer try to please Him by our own efforts, but we are free and satisfied in Him.  We don't live in captivity to what's going on around us, but in freedom with He who reigns and lives within us.  The power of the greatest disability is broken.
    To what degree are we living under the power of that disability?  How much control are fear and dread exercising in our lives?  Jesus told us to "Occupy" until He comes.  We will occupy....and be occupied with, and by something and someone.  The question is with what....ourselves, or Him?  Beholding we are changed.  What and Who are we beholding?

Blessings,
Pastor O 

Heart Tracks - Nailed

      I heard a woman named Sarah Hagerty speak recently about a time in her life when she was fighting a losing battle with bitterness in her spirit. Like so many, she had embarked upon her married life with expectations that if she did right, life would be right.  She believed that the Father would bless her with the fulfillment of her deepest desires.  One of these was to have children.  Many children.  Time passed, and yet no children came.  She could not understand why.  The difficulty was increased by her observation of seemingly every other young couple in her church being blessed with children.  Many children.  She said she didn't begin to question the goodness of God, because she knew from His Word that He was good.  What she questioned was whether He was good to her.  How could He be, if her greatest desires were not being fulfilled?  His Word says He will give us the desires of our heart, yet her desire remained unmet.  I think more than a few of us have spent time in the same place as her.  The question is, are we still there?

    She said that things began to change in her heart when she read Proverbs 27:7, "A sated (full) man loathes honey, but to a famished (hungry) man, any bitter thing is sweet."  She sensed that He was speaking deeply into her life in the midst of her bitterness.  That the Father intended to use this unfulfilled desire, bitter on the surface, to reveal the sweetness of Himself in the midst of it.  That this place, a place she did not want to be, that frustrated the deep longing of her heart, could be, would be, a place of revelation of the wonder and beauty, and yes, faithfulness of who He was and is.  Just as the Lord had turned the bitter waters sweet for the Israelites in their wilderness journey, so He would turn the bitter experience of her journey sweet for her.  As He will for us if we will have it.
    She said that the Father began to take her ever more deeply into Himself.  She shared how one morning during worship, surrounded by all those young families with children, she saw a picture of the cross.  On that cross was nailed one word; "Family."  She knew what the Lord was calling her to.  She knew that He was asking her to surrender that deep, unmet desire for a family to Him, to nail it to His cross, to surrender that desire to Him.  And then trust Him that even if He did not bring about the family she longed for, He would reveal Himself to be sweeter to her even than that family.  That He would make her life sweet, despite the bitter circumstances she found herself in.  In obedience, she nailed her desire to His, and her, cross.
    What might you and I need to do the same with?  What do we need to nail to His cross?  Our deepest, yet unmet desire?  Our marriage, or desire for marriage?  Our mate?  Our children?  Our job, business.....ministry?  The past, future, or present?  What depth of bitterness is present in our lives because in some way, our desires for, or in these have gone unfulfilled?  He has not acted or answered.  Bitterness has taken root and grown.  Can we believe He will make the bitter, sweet?  Even if nothing outwardly changes?  Can we take whatever, or whoever causes us to doubt His goodness to us, and nail them to the cross, and leave it there?  Can we?
     For Sarah Hagerty, her journey took she and her husband to adopt 4 children from Uganda and Ethiopia.  Then, what she believed could never happen, did.  She gave birth to a child.  Out of bitterness, sweetness.  I cannot, and He will not promise that we will have all we want in our lives. There may be something we so deeply desire, something very good, that He doesn't give us.  Can we believe Him to make that bitter place sweet? Can we believe in His goodness to us even there?  At the cross, He will make the most bitter place or experience, sweet, if we will surrender it and trust it to Him.  He calls us to nail it to His cross there.  Have we nailed it?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Ruthless Pursuit

      "By perseverance, the snail reached the ark."  Charles Spurgeon   God's goal for the snail, and for every creature on the ark, including Noah and his family, was that they reach it.  Without doubt, each journeyed to the ark at the pace the Father created them for, and it was not the speed of the journey, but that they would get to where it was He called them to.  For sure, there were numerous distractions to be found along the way, but within them all, even the snail, was an overwhelming desire to find the rest and life that could only be theirs in the ark.  They would not be denied.  There's a lesson for us in that.

     It may be that the greatest enemy of the heart of a believer is self-satisfaction.  We tend to want to look back on how far we have come, and in doing that, can fall prey to a smug satisfaction about it all.  Of this tendency Chris Tiegreen says, "We think we've stocked up on our Godward obligations and that He must be satisfied with us as long as we're satisfied with ourselves."  His call, like His grace, mercy, and love, is new every morning, and it  always calls us onward....and upward.  Along this same line Watchman Nee wrote, "The question is not how far we have gone since we started, but whether our hearts are still set on God's goal."  Are our hearts set on that goal?  Is yours?
    To live in such a way will require far more than a general, good intentioned desire for Him.  It will mean a ruthless pursuit of Him.  Yes, ruthless.  In Matthew 11:12 Jesus said, "And from the time John the Baptist began preaching and baptizing until now, the Kingdom of Heaven has been forcefully advancing and violent people attack it."  T. Austin-Sparks says this means that "we do violence to anything that seeks to keep us from Him."  This means that we ruthlessly remove from our lives anything that has come between He and us.  We do not go about our pursuit of Him in anything but an all out, full-hearted, way.  Are we in the midst of such a pursuit right now?  Or have life's distractions, disturbances,  and competing interests sapped us of our energy for Him?  If they have, why are we okay with that?

    Not long ago, I was looking at a local church's website.  I went to their "statement of belief".  The first thing it said was, "We value the word of God."  Valued.  There are many things we can value.  Is Christ and His Word now just one more to add to the list?  I doubt we will die, especially to self, for something we merely value.  We will for someone who has a place above all things, most especially ourselves.  Nothing will keep us from such a One.  Such a Christ.
    Sparks said this; "The Lord is able to look into the depths of our hearts and see if we mean business with Him.  He will know how far He can go with us."  How far can He go with you and me?  To the place where we feel satisfied, or He does?  Is our heart still set on His goal for us, the fullest measure of His life and power?  Does this day find us, you and me, on our way to "the ark," undeterred, undisturbed, journeying there with all of our hearts?  Ruthlessly pursuing Him?

Blessings,
Pastor O  

Heart Tracks - The Goods

      Acts 3 portrays the miracle of Peter healing the crippled beggar at the gate of the Temple.  The man, lame from birth, was apparently well known to those who were regularly in the vicinity of the Temple.  Asking for money from Peter and his companion John, Peter told him that, "I don't have any money for you, but I'll give you what I have.  In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk."  Peter then extended his hand and the man "jumped up."  He then began to "walk, leap, and praise God."  Scripture records of the onlookers that, "They were absolutely astounded......everyone stood in awe of the wonderful thing that had happened."

    T. Austin-Sparks asks of us 3 pointed questions as to this event and how it applies to our walk in Christ.  He wants to know first, are we, through the witness of our lives in Him, "closing the mouths of the scoffers?"  Surely in the crowd were many who had heard of the move of God that was happening in Jerusalem, of the relaying of the news that Christ had truly risen, and that those who were His followers, had boldly come forth and were ministering in His name.  Just as surely there had to be many who were at best, cynical, and many more who likely "scoffed" at the whole story.  With what Christ did through Peter, their mouths surely were closed.  They could do nothing but stand in awe of the witness of Christ in the lives of two men who they knew to be of very humble origins, yet who walked in the power of Christ.  Do we walk in the power of such a life?  Do we embody the resurrection life of Christ?  Do we, as Sparks puts it in his second question, "have the 'goods'?"  Are our lives much more than just words, information about Him, correct doctrine and theology, or, do we truly move in His resurrection life and power?  Do we indeed "have the goods?"
    This was a very great miracle done in His name by His people, but I think, particularly in our day, that there is an even greater miracle to be done through us, and this brings us to Sparks' third and final question.  "Do we embody, in our day to day living, His rest, peace, and strength?"  In a culture and world desperate for all three, do they see these in us?  Do they see us living from a place of deep rest in Him.  In a world in chaos, do they see us in living in and from His rest?  Or, do they witness men and women just as stressed out, anxious, fearful, and weary as they are?  Do they see in us, emanating from us, a peace that passes all understanding?  Lives that are not dependent on everything around them being at peace, but that live in undisturbed peace in the midst of a very disturbed world.  Do they have from our lives, the sense of His mighty strength showing forth through us?  Though not immune from the cares and struggles of life, they witness in us a power and strength that enables us to be overcomers in the midst of all of them.  The scoffers and cynics have no answer for those who live such lives.  Their mouths are closed.  They may refuse to believe, but they cannot deny.  Those they see truly have "the goods."

    How do you and I answer these 3 questions today?  One way or another, we will answer them.  Either by the closing of their mouths, or by giving "proof" to the attitudes of the scoffers and cynics.  Only the life truly living and abiding in Him will close mouths, and bring forth awe. Living in any other place will only feed the attitudes of the unbelieving.  I want to live with "the goods"  How about you?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - The Calling Card

      Watchman Nee said, "Without some foothold in us, satan cannot operate.  Hence his first tempting of us will be aimed at securing some ground, the next will be an assault from the ground he has secured.  One very large territory, perhaps the largest, that he operates from is fear. Fear is satan's calling card.  Whenever you accept his calling card, you will receive a visit from him."  I don't think it's a question of if, but when is it that we accept his calling cards, be they through fear, worry, anxiety, anger, unforgiveness, lust, and on and on.  I think though, that a case might be made that all of these are rooted in some kind of fear that pervades our lives.  Where might it be pervading ours?
    The "footholds" that Nee speaks of are what the Bible calls "strongholds."  These are territories that the enemy is able to establish in our thinking and the actions that flow out from that thinking.  In this age of reason, and dependence upon manmade solutions and definitions, I don't think we place much emphasis, if any on these. Though the science of psychology has its uses, I think we depend more upon it, much more, than we do upon the power of His Life and Spirit.  Depending on our understanding rather than His sets us up for defeat.  The foothold/stronghold remains established in our lives and as Nee says, he launches attacks against us from that place and places.  Thirty plus years in ministry have convinced me that his greatest foothold, the center of his attacks, do indeed come from the stronghold of fear in our lives.  This is not how it is to be in our lives, but for too many, it is.  Is it so in you?
    Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, "We are human, but we don't wage war with human plans and methods.  We use God's mighty weapons, not mere worldly weapons, to knock down the Devil's strongholds.  With these weapons we knock down every proud argument that keeps people from knowing God."  God's powerful weapon is the truth of His Word and Life as revealed in Christ.  A stronghold in our lives is a lie that the enemy has placed there and convinced us to believe is true.  He then operates against us in the power of this lie.  It is a spiritual thing and we cannot defeat it, destroy it, by human reasoning, plan, or method.  Yet like all of the devil's lies, it is powerless in the face of His truth.  His truth will "knock down" the Devil's stronghold, no matter how high or strong, every time.  Are you ready enough, desperate enough, to see them knocked down and destroyed in your life today?
     His Word tells us that "perfect love casts out all fear."  His perfect love brings forth truth into our hearts, minds, and lives.  Fear cannot stand in the presence of that love because it is His presence that crushes it and puts it to flight.  When we are living not some of the time, but all of the time in that love, the Devil is unable to establish a foothold of any kind.  When he sends the calling cards of his lies, we have the power to reject them because we recognize them for what they are, lies.  He has no foothold.  He establishes no stronghold.  This is freedom.  Is this freedom yours?
    You and I will receive his calling card in some form this week.  Will we accept?  Will we believe his lie once more?  Will fear in one of its forms shape us?  Or, in the power of His Life and Truth, will we reject the card, and see that stronghold demolished?   We live in a fallen world, and the enemy has been able to spend years of our lives building these strongholds of lies in our minds and hearts.  Yet in Him, they must and will fall. Are you ready for that?  Are you ready to "tear up" his calling card today?

Blessings,
Pastor O