Heart Tracks - Deliberately

 "And there was a woman in the crowd who had a hemorrhage for twelve years. She had spent everything she had on doctors and could still could find no cure. She came up behind Jesus and touched the fringe of His robe. Immediately the bleeding stopped. 'Who touched Me,' Jesus asked. Everyone denied it and Peter said, 'Master, the whole crowd is pressing up against You.' But Jesus told him, 'No, someone deliberately touched Me, for I felt healing power go out from Me.' "

I'm wondering; when it comes to my heart for Him this coming year, who will I most resemble? The crowd or the woman? It's a fair question. How will I answer? How have I been answering?

It's clear that there were a large number of people surrounding and pressing in on Christ. Surely some of them were curiosity seekers, wanting to get a glimpse of this man they'd heard so much about. But just as surely there had to be many more who truly wanted to receive something from Him. They were all touching Him in some way, so what was it that marked the touch of the woman, that made hers so different? I think the answer lies in what Jesus said. "No, someone deliberately touched Me." There were many seekers surrounding Christ, yet the woman's seeking differed from them all, and Christ immediately senses it. Could it be that though she, like so many around her, longed for healing, or deliverance, or some other deep need, she longed for something more? Something greater. Could it be that she longed not only for His help, but for His heart? For Christ Himself?
Could it be that all the others longed to lay hold of Him for themselves. She longed to lay hold of Him for Himself. Could it be that more than she longed for His blessing, she longed for His Life? Could it be that though she didn't want to leave this encounter without a healing, she also didn't want to leave it without Him? I think that this may well be what set her apart from the crowd. Does it set you and I apart as well.

Far too much of my life in Him has been spent in what a friend calls "results oriented" praying and seeking. I have a result, an end, a goal in mind that I wish for Him to bring about. I go after that end with all my heart. It is set on the result. It is not set on Him. I am content, though I may be unaware, to go away from Him with what I want, but without the fullness of His Life, which is the result He always desires for us. Even when it so often not ours. I want to touch Him, yes.  But it is not nearly so much to lay hold of Him as to lay hold of His blessing. I am far more like the crowd than I am the woman. Might you be as well?

Jesus told her that her faith had made her well. I believe He meant and gave something far more than a physical healing. He made her whole. I think her deliberate touch of Him caused Him to know that she sought something more than a result. She sought Him, and in the midst of a crowd filled with countless desires, He knew the difference, and He responded to it. Does He see and know that same difference in you and me? Will we go on just a part of the crowd that always wants everything from Him but Himself? Or, will we seek the wholeness and fullness that is found not just in His hand, but in His heart? All of us will be seeking in this coming year. Will we seek with the desire of the crowd or the woman? The result, or the Person? Will we just crowd in on Him, or seek Him.....deliberately?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - In The House?

 "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." John 10:10

Is there a "thief" in your "house?" How long has he been there? How long will he remain there? Do you even know that he is there? If so, do you know that he can be thrown out of there?

The words of Christ in John 10 have spoken to my life almost from the beginning of my walk with Him. They do so because I have experienced the effect of both the presence of the thief, and the wonder of His abundance. The thief, satan, has found openings in my life in too many ways to count. He has found ways into my thought life, my attitudes, my words, and my actions. Likely he has done so with you as well. He's gotten into the "house" of our soul and wreaked his havoc. We know first hand of his ability to steal our joy, our hope, and our future. We have experienced his ability to kill our dreams, and destroy our marriages, families, relationships, even our ministries and fellowships. This has always happened because in some way, we have left the "door" to our lives, our relationships, ministries and fellowships open to him so that all he need do is simply walk in and create chaos. The solution then is to make sure that the open doors are shut, and shut tightly. The problem is, we don't seem to know how, or in some cases, really want to do that.

Two directives from His Word come to mind in this. First, Paul wrote that we are to "take very thought captive to (the presence of) Christ. We can only do this when we are consciously living in His Presence. Vague awareness will not suffice. That kind of "walk" is a literal devil's playground. We live in His Presence through conscious choices and a day by day abiding and cultivating of His Spirit and Presence in our lives. It is not difficult to bring every thought to His Lordship when we are conscious of His Lordship moment by moment because we are abiding in Him....moment by moment. This takes spiritual discipline, and in our spiritually lazy western church culture, discipline is an unpopular term.....Secondly, we need, as did David, to invite the Lord at all times to "search our hearts" for the presence of anything "evil" or "wicked." Our problem here is two-fold. What He deems evil and wicked is markedly different from how we define it. John Wesley said that anything that seduces our heart from Him, anything, for us, "that thing is sin." Evil and wicked. Such things can be so deeply rooted in our minds and hearts that only the searching of His Holy Spirit can uncover them, and expel them. As long as they remain, they are open doors for the enemy to enter in through. How many open doors remain in our lives and hearts today?

Beth Moore said that there are some things in our lives that need to be told, "No longer!" No longer will these things remain so that we continue to be oppressed, beaten down, and held captive. No longer will our lives be pillaged.....stolen from, destroyed, and killed, by an enemy who has no spiritual right to do so, but does do so simply because we allow it. Has the time come for us that we will no longer allow it? Will we today, say to the thief, "No longer?" Is the thief in your "house?" Are you ready to throw him out? Surrender, fully surrender the house that is your heart and life to Him. Yield to His full Lordship and abide in it and His Life that comes with it. The pillaging will end and the abundance will be full. And the devil is no longer, "in the house."

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - The Gift

  "I bring you good news of great joy for everyone. The Savior-yes the Messiah, the Lord-has been born tonight in Bethlehem, the city of David." Luke 2:10-11....Thank God for His Son-a gift too wonderful for words." 2 Corinthians 9:15...."The Son of God became a man to enable men to become sons of God." C.S.

Lewis

I often see bumper stickers and such that read, "Keep Christ In Christmas." I understand the meaning of these and the very good intentions within. I also know that we can easily lose focus on what Christmas is really all about, that we can lose sight of Him in all the glitter and glitz of the Christmas season. Still, I have come to realize this great truth; no matter what the enemy, the world, or even a lukewarm and apathetic Church may do or say, Christ cannot be kept out of Christmas, or anyplace else in this world or beyond it. He can be rejected, denied, defied and ignored, but He cannot be removed. We don't need to keep Him in because He never left. We can give Christmas a multitude of different names, but His Name and Person continue to reign supreme anyway. The bright Morning Star that is Christ continues to shine more brightly than all others no matter how much anyone might try to obscure Him. Christ is Christmas and Christ is everything, everywhere, every time.

Paul wrote in 2nd Corinthians that He is a "gift too wonderful for words." He goes beyond every word we could ever use to describe His glory. All of them together fall infinitely short of describing His Beauty and Wonder. A beauty and wonder that can and will come to us in any and every place, no matter what is happening around or within us. Paul could write what he did because he had experienced the wonder and beauty of Christ in every place in life. In abundance and in need. On the mountaintop and in the valley of the shadow of death. In all places, he knew Him to always be the gift too wonderful for words. Do we?

This will be the 35th Christmas in which I have walked with Him. I have walked with Him through times when I felt such happiness and joy that I could not contain it. I also walked through this time with darkness surrounding me and assaulting my very soul. I have walked through these, and seemingly, through all the emotional and spiritual places in between. In them all, He was there. Not just reigning beside me, but within me. Rejoicing with me on the mountaintop and weeping with me in the valley. He could not be kept out and would not be kept out. Yes, I could have denied Him, rejected Him and tried to send Him away. But He would have remained. I may have refused His help, but I could not be rid of His Presence. I didn't have to keep Him there, He was there. He will remain there. I don't need a bumper sticker to know this. Neither do you. We just need to know Him. Do we?

The Gift of Christ has been given. Have you received Him? If you never have, what stops you from receiving Him now? He is here, right at your heart door. If you have once received Him, maybe you need to receive Him anew. Let the glitz and glitter of this world, as well as its darkness and shadow be removed from your line of vision. When you do, there He is. Receive Him.......anew and afresh. He who is the Gift too wonderful for words. Receive Him......and be speechless.

Blessings and a most joyous Christmas to you,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Whose Influence?

  "So I advise you to live according to your new life in the Holy Spirit. Then you won't be doing what your sinful nature craves." Galatians 5:16

Most of us know what the term "DUI" stands for; Driving Under the Influence," usually of alcohol or drugs. To be charged with this is a serious matter, and means that everything about the person was impaired, totally influenced, by the alcohol or drug they used. I recently heard pastor and writer Robert Morris make an interesting analogy for this in the spiritual realm. We are all living under the influence of something and someone. The question for us then is; under whose influence do we live?

We are all born into this world with a sinful nature. One that the Apostle Paul says, "loves to do evil." That nature which is rooted in our flesh, rebels against that very idea and truth. We refuse to believe that we have a bent towards wrongdoing, and more that we are powerless to do anything about it. The only hope and remedy for us is Jesus Christ and His Life imparted to us through His Holy Spirit. Whatever your particular "branch"of the Church may call it, entire sanctification, baptism of the Holy Spirit, the fuller and deeper life, this experience alone will allow us to enter into a life marked by the fullness of His Spirit, and then to live and walk according to His Spirit, leading, and Life. We will live, make choices, follow impulses, and harbor thoughts and attitudes that are either under His influence and Spirit, or of the enemy and his spirit working through our flesh. Therefore our lives are marked by LUI's, "Living Under the Influence." What do our LUI's reveal about us and the influences we follow?

How important is all of this? Of late I've had several writings focusing on the extent that the western Church has come to depend upon our natural abilities and intellect. It is almost like we have relegated the supernatural life to a kind of spiritual "museum." It seems like we who say we are a Holy Spirit empowered Church, have become afraid of the power, fullness, and freedom that is ours through that very Spirit. This has made us not only dull to His voice, but ignorant of the workings of the enemy through his. The devil loves it this way, for as the scriptures say, "he prowls about (us) seeking whom he might devour." He looks for his openings, and he will exploit them every time. As James Robison put it, "The devil stalks us like a wolf, and when he sees a weakness or an entryway, he attacks us like a pack of wolves." He has us under his influence, and lures us away from Christ's. We can see the truth of this through the patterns of our lives. Where we have  victory, and where we do not.

We are living under the influence today and again, the only question for us is whose? The only pathway to a life lived in and under His is that which leads to His cross. To our full surrender to His Lordship and Life. And a day by day acknowledgement and yielding to the power of His Life that can be found nowhere else. Our refusal to do so fills us with doorways for the enemy to exercise his influence and control, over us.

We like to speak much of our freedom. The only real freedom for us is found in surrender to Him. It makes no sense to our flesh. And if it makes no sense to you, then you have answered the question as to who influences and controls your life. Aware of it or not, someone holds the reins of our being, and it is not us. Yes, we have free will, but either His Light, or the enemies darkness works its influence upon our will. Who works theirs upon you today?

Blessings,
Pastor 

Heart Tracks - Now Appearing!

  "In the future there is reserved for me the victor's crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge will award to me on that great day - and not to me only, but also to all those who have loved and longed for and welcomed His appearing." 2 Timothy 4:8

On movie marquees, it used to be common to see announcements proclaiming a certain movie as "Now Appearing." I've a friend who says that our lives should be so deeply fit into Him, and His to ours, that we should be living announcements of His appearing to the world around us, through us. James Robison said something to effect that not only do we look forward to His glorious appearing, but that He longs for His glory to appear in us. Is the longing of Christ's heart being realized in your and my life today? What's "Now showing" in and through us right now?

Much is made of the "carbon imprint" being made on the world's environment. Yet, what thought do we in the Church give to the "Kingdom Imprint" left upon this world by our lives and witness? Jesus said to those who were His that "The Kingdom of God is within you," meaning His very Life. A Life that held forth all the wonder and glory of His Kingdom. Having this Kingdom Life goes far beyond doing "Jesus things." It is infinitely more than imitating His Life. It is the very fullness of His Life. A fullness of His Life that shows up, appears, in and through us. A Life that draws people to itself. A Life that leaves an eternal imprint. A Kingdom Imprint. Are our lives, and the lives of our fellowships doing so today? It is a good thing to be known for our good works, but it is a glorious thing to be known as putting forth the manifest Presence of Christ in our midst. A Presence that is not only before us, but within us. A Presence so mighty that it seems near impossible to resist. A Presence and appearing we long for, and He longs to bring to us.

I'm not sure just how a great part of the Church views the coming of a Holy Spirit awakening today. Judging from much of what I see on a lot of social media, it does not seem to be in the forefront. It seems something relegated to another time. Yet I still vividly remember being a young believer and hearing the account of an upstate New York "revival" in the mid-19th century. Word came to a neighboring town of how it appeared that a great awakening had come to the next community. Indignant, a group of men banded together, mounted their horses, and rode out with the purpose of disrupting it all. I still remember clearly the preacher reading the account of how the closer they got to the community, the greater was the sense of His Presence. How men, so shortly before filled with anger and rage, were being overcome by His Spirit, weeping in brokenness and repentance, so that the end result was that when that group of "vigilantes" reached the town, they were all of them converted. Simply by His mighty Presence. Such is the glory and power of His appearing. Paul and the early Church longed for this. As I heard that account all those years ago, I longed for this as well. I still do. Do you?

For us, it really comes down to the matter of appearance. Who and what is appearing in our lives and fellowships today? Our flesh and life, or His Spirit and Life? One or the other will appear. By one or the other we will be known. Which will it be? The One.....or the other?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - The Avalanche

 "But Jesus told him, 'No! The Scriptures say, people need more than bread for their life; they must feed on every Word of God.' " Matthew 4:4...."Heaven and earth will disappear, but My words will remain forever." Matthew 24:35

I don't know which I'm more of; grieved or angry. I saw an online article and a following discussion dealing with things within a denomination that are dividing it's members and that the writer believed may possibly bring about a split. Both in the article, and in almost all the comments that followed, what stood out was that all the "solutions" were centered on what men and the flesh could do to solve the problem. It was clear that they were seeking intellectual answers for what is most definitely a spiritual issue. Nowhere was there reference to, as one friend pointed out, the immutable Word of God. Neither was there mention or recognition of the Sovereign power and will of the Father, or His supernatural and almighty working through His Word. I believe it was Charles Spurgeon who said that men give lip service to the sovereignty of God, but live in the full belief in the sovereignty of men. In short, we say we trust that all things hold together in Christ, but we live in the belief that they really hold together in us. More, we have lost the reality that the Church does not belong to us, it is His and I think He will once again powerfully show us that this is so. Someone said that Christ is being lost in the Church that bears His name. This is painfully true in the 21st century western, American Church. I think it was Larry Crabb who said that we have reduced the mystery and wonder of who He is and what He has spoken to what our rational minds can understand and accept. This is more true than most of want to admit.

I heard Beth Moore speaking on all of this and how she fears that the power and authority of His Word is slipping away in the western Church. How the attitude is "We just want to be loving." She said that when we begin to dilute, even do away with the full authority of Scripture, we do not just start down a slippery slope, but are caught up in an avalanche. As for being "loving," as she put it, "Without His Word and it's literal power in our lives, we don't even know how to love."

I see an increasing arrogance growing within the Church. Somehow, many of us are feeling that we're too enlightened to just believe Him and what He has said. Somehow, we of the 21st century western Church know more, see more, than the 2000 years of godly, Spirit filled and led brethren that have come before us. This is, at root, pride, and I believe that this will bring us face to face with a God who hates that pride, all the while loving us....and loving us enough to confront and deal with it. And He will deal with it.

In what we call third world, underdeveloped countries, the power of the Gospel is bringing forth the working of mighty miracles. Incurable diseases healed, lives literally being brought back from the dead. It takes place among those with little education, but a great belief in the Person and Word of God in Christ. When did we last see such in what we in the west call "worship." When did we last gather together even expecting that we might?

The Father, speaking I believe through Paul, called His people to "Come back to Me and live." It is time to come back to Him as He is, and not as we would wish Him to be. Will we? Are we willing to live by His every Word? Will that Word be our life? Or have we just gotten too sophisticated and wise to do something so childlike as that?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - He's Real!

 "When they arrived they were greeted with the report, 'The Lord is really risen! He appeared to Peter!' " Luke 24:34...."The resurrection of Jesus Christ makes marks out of wounds." Beth Moore

Anyone who has truly been a follower of Christ has likely heard the statement that their "religion" or faith is just a crutch. That same person, if they truly know Him as their life source, will echo the words of the old song, "He's real, He's real, I know He's real." Why? Because as Moore also stated, no imaginary friend could have done, and continues to do in her life, what He had done for her. For her, for me, and I hope for you, no crutch could be so real, or do so much. This cannot be better seen than in the way He can turn tragedy and chaos into victory and peace. How beauty can come out of the ashes, and mourning turned into dancing. Pain and sorrow are real, but if we can trust and believe in the midst of it, we will discover that He is more real. In the midst of the greatest "realities" and sorrows of life, He is the greatest reality. Only those who have walked with Him through hell, darkness and death can know that He is the real joy, peace, and life that cannot be extinguished in any of those places, and indeed, triumphs over all of them.

Paul made the statement that he bore upon his body, "the brand-marks of Christ." This did more than mark him as belonging to Jesus. They were marks that went into the very core of his being, telling him, and all those around him, that the power and wonder of Christ were a reality. To him, and to all who would like him, trust and believe. 

You likely know the story of how, when Jesus appeared to the disciples the first time after His resurrection, Thomas, who was absent, doubted the report. He said that he would have to see and touch the wounds of Christ in order to believe. Teaching on this, Moore said that when He did again appear, He invited Thomas to do just that. When he did, Thomas exclaimed, "My Lord and my God." Those marks were the proof to Thomas of the reality of the resurrection. That's what Moore meant when she said that the power of His resurrection can turn every wound in life, no matter how deep and devastating, into a mark that proves in that life the power of His Life. That Christ came into a life, hopelessly lost, wounded, and dead, and by His Life touching theirs, brought healing, wholeness, and oneness with Him. This is the proof of the reality of His Life. Does this proof exist in yours and in mine? Do we bear such proof marks in our lives of faith? 

A friend was talking the other day about how everyone wants to see Christ, but that few of us seem to understand that the only path to really seeing Him will come through His cross. Through our going to it as well, partaking, as His word says, of the fellowship of His sufferings. It's there that we will see Him, and there that our wounds will be made whole. There that we will receive His mark upon our bodies and souls. At the cross we will not find a crutch, or an imaginary friend. We will find, receive, and know Christ. Then our hearts too will sing; "He's real, He's real, I KNOW He's real!" Do they sing that now? How really real is He to you and I today?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Rich Man, Beggar Man

 "Jesus felt genuine love for this man as He looked at him. 'You lack only one thing,' He told him,'Go and sell all you have and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow Me.' At this time the man's face fell, and he went sadly away because he had many possessions." Mark 10:21-22....."When Bartimaeus was sitting beside the road as Jesus was nearby, he began to shout out, 'Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!'....."When Jesus heard him, He stopped and said 'Tell him to come here........What do you want Me to do for you?' Jesus asked. 'Teacher,' the blind man said, 'I want to see!' And Jesus said to him, 'Go your way. Your faith has healed you.' And instantly the blind man could see! Then he followed Jesus down the road." Mark 10:47,49,51-52...."How much like the rich young ruler are you and I? Walking away from Jesus with full hands and an empty heart." Mark Batterson

I was struck today by the similarity and yet huge difference between the rich young man and the blind beggar Bartimaeus. I was also struck by how little we see of ourselves in these passages, especially as both rich man and beggar man. First off, few of us consider ourselves rich, even though here in America, we are stupendously so in comparison with the vast majority of the world. Yet one doesn't have to be rich in monetary things to have the same heart problem that afflicted the rich man. We can have little and yet cling to what we do have with all our strength. We may not have much, but our hands are full with what we do possess. And what we hold in our hands may not always be that which we can count and itemize. Our hands can be filled with our relationships, families, children, jobs, and especially, our ministries. Like the rich young man, we want to follow Him. We want the fullness of Kingdom life, but those things we consider to have greater value fill our lives while keeping our hearts empty. We walk away from Jesus still clutching those things. Saddened, knowing we are missing Him, but unable to release our treasures to Him. In response to the young man Jesus said, "It is hard for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of God." To lay hold of Kingdom life, we have to let go of that which is not life. That is hard on the flesh. Impossible really. Can we do that? Have we done that? Or, do we day by day walk away from Jesus with, as Batterson says, full hands and empty hearts?

Bartimaeus, the blind beggar, also wished for the fullness of His life. For him that meant receiving his sight. He desired sight with all of his heart, yet there had to be an equally and perhaps even greater desire for something more, for when Christ opened his eyes, he didn't just rejoice to be able to see, he rejoiced in that he could now see Christ....and he followed him down the road.....wherever that road was going to lead. We give lip service to admitting that we are blind beggars apart from Christ, but I don't think many of us really see ourselves as such. Rich or poor, we cling to our self-sufficiency and self-righteousness. We're carrying too much in our hands to admit we are nothing more than blind beggars in desperate need of Him. We want Jesus, but as I saw it put, we want lots of other 'thorny' things as well. As Christ said, those thorny things choke out His life in us. They blind us not only to Him, but of our deep need of Him. Do they choke and blind us even now?

Are you and I in our day to day lives really entering into the fullness of His Kingdom life? It's abundance, victory, and wholeness? Or, are the riches in our hands keeping our hearts empty as we strive to keep them full? Are we truly following Jesus down the road, or walking away, clinging to "stuff" instead of Him? The rich young man's riches caused his face to fall. The blind beggars lack brought to him real sight and the fullness of joy. In their faces could be seen either the lack or presence of His Life and Kingdom. When people behold our faces, what do they see?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - A Reputation

 "Write this letter to the angel of the church in Sardis......I know all the things you do and that you have a reputation for being alive - but you are dead. Now wake up! Strengthen what little remains for even what is left is at the point of death. Your deeds are far from right in the sight of God. Go back to what you heard and believed at first; hold to it firmly and turn to Me again. Unless you do I will come upon you suddenly, as unexpected as a thief." Revelation 3:1-3

I realize that there is disagreement in the Church as to how we are to apply the book of Revelation to it's life today. Still, regardless of where your "theology" fits into it's message, to deny that His Spirit speaks to the Church now through it all is the height of foolishness. What the Spirit says to the church at Sardis scores a direct hit on me as a pastor, an individual, and as a part of the Body of Christ. We disregard it to our great peril.

The "angel" the Spirit of Christ speaks to is the pastor of the body of believers found in Sardis. What pierces my heart here is the use of the word "reputation." For most of us, our reputations mean everything. How we are viewed by those around us carries tremendous weight. What the Lord is saying to the fellowship at Sardis is that in the eyes of the culture around them and even in the sight of other believers, they have the reputation of being centers of His Life. It would also seem to be the opinion of those in that church as well. What should shake us to our very foundation is that it was not the view of Christ. He saw a tremendous amount of activity for Him, but He did not see a body of believers rooted and grounded in Him. Think on that for a moment.

What do we generally see as being a church filled with life? Top of the line worship with high quality skills in musicianship and voice. Skilled communicators in the pulpit. Many and varied ministries that care for children, youth, singles, as well as home and care groups geared towards those with special needs. A ministry pointed toward reaching out to the community and drawing them into the fellowship. An atmosphere where there is a sense of excitement, of something "happening." I think that these are just a few of the things we'd define as a church with a reputation for life. I think that much if not all of these were found in the congregation at Sardis. All of them are good things. Very good. Yet none of them seemed to enter into Christ's assessment of them as to their being a true Life giving fellowship. How could this be? What could be missing?

It's human to desire that all that is listed above be found in a church. They should be. But I think what Jesus saw in the midst of it was that they were doing all of it with hearts that had drifted far from Him. The church was a well oiled machine, but machines are not alive. They move and are active, but they have no soul. Without realizing it, a living body can become the same. Sardis had crowds. Sardis had ministries. Sardis had a name. Sardis did not have life. His Life.

The question we have to ask ourselves, whether we are the "angel" of our fellowship, a leader in it, or a member of it, is, are we, in the midst of all we do, really producing Spirit filled followers of Jesus Christ? Are we overcoming the world both within and without by the power of His resurrected life? Is real transformation taking place in the lives of the people, and are those lives marked by maturity, victory, and wholeness? Are we trying to take flesh, and by our efforts, make it better flesh, or are fallen, lost lives being laid hold of by the power of His Life and made new? Completely new. Have we drifted from the "first things" into just doing church things? Have we become so enamored with our reputation among men that we no longer really know, or care what our reputation with Him really is? Can He even speak to us about it? It starts with the "angel" but the speaking goes on throughout the entire body. He's speaking. Are we hearing?

He speaks today as to our reputations.  What does He say about ours? What is our reputation.....with Him?

Blessings,
Pastor O
 

Heart Tracks - Appearances

 "Nevertheless I tell you the truth: it is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you." John 16:7..........."Nevertheless" is an important Gospel word: it is a pivot from the way things appear to the way things are, in Christ. It is a transition from our partial understanding to the Spirit's complete revelation." Eugene Peterson

I am becoming more and more disturbed by comments and statements made by well meaning, and perhaps some not so well meaning brothers and sisters. Statements that are so dogmatic in their content that they will tolerate no disagreement from any quarter. As someone said, it is imperative that we belong to the "right club" within the church. We in that club are right, and everyone else is wrong. My sense of it all is we are depending far more upon our own intellectual understanding of His Word and teaching than we do upon the direct revelation of the Holy Spirit. We must have correct doctrine and theology on the essentials of the faith, and especially the final authority of scripture, but most of our conflict, even warfare, is a result of arguing about non-essentials. And we can be extremely unloving in our disagreements, resulting in labeling, and even name calling. All the while, I believe Jesus weeps, and, I think, feels no small amount of anger. I think it is time, past time, for the Church, you and me, to hear Him speak a new "nevertheless" to us.

When Jesus spoke the above scripture to His disciples, He was telling them that He was leaving them. They didn't understand any of His reasoning and were brokenhearted. They saw and sensed only the appearance of it all. He would be gone....they thought. They could not see or understand what He was following that statement with; that He would be sending them the Comforter, the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, who would not only be with them, but in them. He was promising them an even greater companion than His physical presence, but they couldn't see it. They lacked discernment and understanding. That would not come until they were baptized in the fullness of His Holy Spirit at Pentecost. It will not come to us until we experience it as well. When we do, we will no longer live by appearances and our own understanding. We will not live by the power of our intellect, but by the power of His Spirit. We will not live with information about Him, but revelation from Him. We'll discover that truth and reality are not based upon what appears to be, but on what He has spoken and revealed.....and continues to speak and reveal. We discover that His Word is alive and not static. Growing and unfolding within us in ever deeper ways. Never making itself void, but always taking us beyond our intellectual limits. It's a mystical and supernatural experience, and our staid, western intellects struggle with that. So we live by our senses and our natural reasoning. Knowing what He has said, in our minds if not our hearts, but not what He is saying now. We're leaning upon our own understanding, but we never seem to realize it.

Can it become less important for us to be "right" in all these debates, and most important that we know and hear Him? Can we believe that there may be areas of life, doctrine and theology, where we may be at least in part, wrong? Can we make the move from living in the natural, to moving in the supernatural, and know that this doesn't make us "weird?" Can we dare to live in a realm that depends upon really having the eyes, mind, and heart of Christ? This is frightening to the flesh, but very welcoming to Christ. Will we live in the place where our flesh is most at home, or where His Holy Spirit is? What's our answer as concerns our lives, homes, and fellowships? Do we live by appearances, or by His appearing and speaking to us through them?

Blessings,
Pastor O