Crucified

 My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Galatians 2:20....."The trouble with Saul (the king) was that he never gave up Saul...We are willing to give everything to God but ourselves....God gives us a new heart then says, 'Give Me your heart.' " Vance Havner

If someone asked you to explain what Paul means in Galatians 2:20, could you? If someone asked you to describe the result of doing what Paul did, could you? If someone asked if you are living in the experience of Galatians 2:20, are you? Do we really believe that this verse is applicable for us today, and if we do, why is it that it seems so few of us really walk in this experience? What keeps us from it?

Crucifixion was a horrible punishment, a horrible way to die. The suffering was beyond belief, and it had to have seemed like every part of the body was dying, and all at the same time. In His total surrender to His Father, Christ the Son willingly went to such a death in order that He might bring life from death, conquering the power of sin, and offering an open door back to the Father God that our sin has separated us from. Before He submitted to the physical death of the cross, He submitted to the complete "death" of His will, every part of His will. He was His Father's. This was and is what Paul writes of. Paul willingly chose to die in every part of his life. His will, his desires, his past, present, and future. He, like His Lord, was fully given over and surrendered to His God. As he wrote in Scripture, he was not his own. He was the "property" of His Father in heaven.

Physical crucifixion was a terrible and painful death. In many ways, spiritual crucifixion is every bit as painful. Maybe more so. In it, we bring ourselves, our whole selves to the cross of Christ. We submit to its power to "kill" everything within us that keeps us at odds with, in rebellion against God. At root, we die to the self-will that we might live in the fullness of His. Our flesh, that is, our fallen nature, despises the very thought of this. It insists on its way and will. It cannot be forcibly taken to the cross. It must submit to it. We will face no greater battle in our spiritual lives than this one. Who will rule us? Our flesh, our self-will, or His Spirit, and the living out of His will? Being in control is everything to us, which is why so many never want to yield to Him. Like King Saul, we are never willing to give up ourselves. As Havner says, we are willing to give Him everything....but ourselves. Our self-life is what is most precious to us. It doesn't wish to give up its throne in our hearts.

Yet, if we will, we'll discover all that is gained. As Havner writes, God gives us new life, a new heart. We're on board with that. We'll freely take all that He gives us in our salvation. But then, as Havner says, He brings us to the place where He calls, actually, commands us; "Give Me your heart." Here we stumble. We're overjoyed to receive Him as our Savior, our flesh rebels at the call to surrender to His Lordship. When the cross takes all the range of vision before us, we shrink back. And we keep shrinking. And we miss what He gives us at the cross, all the fullness of His Holy Spirit Life. We have to "die" that we might really live.

Christ died that we might live, and that offer of life is guaranteed in His resurrection. He conquered death in every form. When we submit to that same death of self, we enter into the fullness of that life, fully empowered by His Spirit. Some call it being baptized in the Spirit, others simply filled with His Spirit, but by whatever name, it is entering into the experience of His Holy Spirit filled and empowered life. He was the Victor over death in every way. In Him we become victors as well. We still face troubles, challenges, and hardships, but in Him, we have the power to persevere, overcome, and grow ever stronger and deeper in Him, as well as entering into an intimate experience of Him through our relationship in Christ. We experience, realize, what it is to have "victory in Jesus."

If you've read this far, can you go back and read those first questions I asked? How do you answer them now? How do you want to answer them? Where will you go from here?

Blessings,

Pastor O

1 in 5

 "He was seen by Peter, and then by the twelve apostles. After that He was seen by more than 500 of His followers at one time...." I Corinthians 15:5-6....."Do not leave Jerusalem until He sends you what He promised....in just a few days you will be baptized by the Holy Spirit." Acts 1:4-5...."We are often short of "apostles" who have seen the Lord and out of a warm heart, know how to tell others." Vance Havner

If you have any familiarity with Scripture, you likely know something of the day of Pentecost. 120 believers were gathered in one place. They were obeying Christ's command to "tarry" before God and await the promise of the outpouring of His Holy Spirit. For seven weeks they prayed, fasted, and waited upon the Lord. Then the Spirit came upon them. The outflow of His outpouring was wondrous. The believers went out into the streets among the people and proclaimed the risen Christ. So exuberant were they that onlookers thought they were drunk. Over 3000 were converted in a few moments due to what they'd seen and heard, and the Bible tells us that this continued to happen for many days and weeks afterwards. It was a wondrous time. So why have we had so few times like that since that day? God has not changed. Neither has Christ or the Holy Spirit. There have been revivals throughout history that swept nations and regions. The last one of any degree in this nation was in the early 70's when the youth of that time were swept up in what is known as The Jesus Revolution. I was one of them, though it happened as the movement was coming to an end. Why so little since? What is the church missing? The answer is found in what is always missing, has always been missing. It was even missing in the 1st century church.

John Bevere reminds us of something we don't see and consistently miss. We're told that Jesus appeared to over 500 people after His resurrection. We're also told that before He ascended unto His Father, He commanded His followers to remain in Jerusalem in expectation of His pouring out the Holy Spirit upon them. 120 gathered together to do just that, but where were the rest? What of the 380 plus that didn't? Why weren't they there?

Maybe they started out to be but grew impatient with how long it was taking. Maybe, as they tarried, they began to think of all the things they should be doing but were prevented from by this gathering. Maybe the longer they waited, the more foolish it all seemed, even if the Lord had commanded them to do so. In any case, they weren't there. They weren't swept up in the miraculous wonder taking place. Certainly, no one was accusing them of being "drunk." If they were present at all, they looked just like everyone else who hadn't been in that upper room with the 120. This brings me to a question asked by the great preacher G Campell Morgan. "When was the last time anyone charged you with being "drunk" with your Christianity?" When was the last time we were so caught up in our faith and our joy in Him that we looked like "fools" before an unbelieving world? Vance Havner said, "We either become fools God's way or stay fools our way."

There are many who profess to follow Him these days, but we have few "fools for Christ." We have many who have professed to believe upon Him, but few who have truly seen and experienced Him. And of those who have, too many have allowed the distractions of life to divert their hearts from Him. As a result, they've missed His outpouring. An outpouring they need as much as the unbelieving world around them. How many of us are among them? Enough I think that an awakening has yet to really happen. We don't have many who are willing to let all else become secondary so that they may seek Him with all their hearts. So, the awakening tarries because we will not.

1 in 5, for whatever reason, missed what God had for them at Pentecost. 1 in 5 entered into the depth of intimacy and spiritual power that was theirs in Christ. What might that ratio be today in our various fellowships? How many of us know what it is to tarry before Him? How many of us hunger and thirst for His Spirit, for His presence, for His holiness? How many of us are willing to be fools for Him in our life and witness? Havner's quote is chillingly true. We will either be fools His way or remain fools in our way. Which is it for you and me?

Blessings,

Pastor O

Uzziah

 n the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple.

Isaiah 6:1....."Uzziah had to die before Isaiah could receive a fresh vision from God." John Bevere

Someone said that we become what we behold. Another said that to behold Him is to be changed by Him. There can be no doubt from reading the 6th chapter of Isaiah that a tremendous transformation took place in Isaiah's life and heart when he beheld the glory of the Lord. What was it that brought it about? Isaiah was not an unbeliever. I expect he was considered a devout man of God before this experience, but he wasn't the man he was to become. What was the difference? Can we believe that it was what Bevere points to? Did Uzziah have to "die" before Isaiah could really behold the God he'd always believed in? If it is, and I think in our hearts we already know it is, then we have to be asked this question; who, or what is it that is our "Uzziah? Who or what is it that keeps us from beholding Him as He is, and as He wants us to see and know Him? We can't avoid this question because each of us has our own "Uzziah," and that Uzziah must "die" if we are ever to see, behold, and become that for which He created us.

Uzziah had been the king. At times a very good one, and at others, particularly in his later years, one who fell short of that. He'd obviously occupied a large place in Isaiah's life. He occupied a central place in it. His death was traumatic. Isaiah must have had some kind of high place in the nation's affairs. He knew that this would have major consequences on the nation, possibly catastrophic ones. Uzziah had been a powerful king. What would happen now that he was gone? Uzziah had occupied a central place in Isaiah's thinking and consciousness. Now he was gone.....and now Isaiah would be able to see what the presence of Uzziah had been blinding him to....the greater, infinitely more powerful and glorious God of Israel.

Fast forward more than 2500 years, and we see that things have not changed in the lives of believers these days. We still have our line of sight filled with various kinds of "Uzziah's." People, things, goals, desires, hopes and dreams, that fill our vision, that are all that we see. They become more real to us than the God we say we believe in. We may have trusted the Father through faith in His Son, Jesus Christ, for salvation, but we rarely have lived out a lifestyle of trust and relationship with Him. When we face the troubles, challenges, and dangers of this fallen world, like the world, we seek first practical answers and strategies for coping, rather than His supernatural ability and presence for overcoming. As John Eldredge put it, "We've accepted the winter of this world as the final word, and have tried to get on without the hope of spring." I think something of this was in Isaiah's heart before the death of Uzziah. With his death, the possibility of beholding something, someone greater was right before Him. Something in Isaiah's heart desired something more, someone greater. With the passing of the limited, the practical, Uzziah, came the reality of the Almighty God he'd always believed in but never really knew. Where in our lives might we be living in that same kind of place?

So we return to the question: What Uzziah's, for there are likely more than one, have to die before we finally see the One who's always been there? How long till we finally see the face of God in Jesus Christ. So long as we cling to them, we'll continue to worship at their altars. But if we let go of them, let them pass from our hands and be yielded up to Him, our eyes will be opened, we will see, behold, and become what He's always intended for us.

I've been talking about our Uzziah's dying, but really, it is far more about us dying to our Uzziah's. To their power and hold upon us. When we die to that, we begin to live for Him. Be transformed by Him. Beholding, we are changed. His glory is always before us. Isn't it time for us to finally behold it?

Blessings,

Pastor O

One Person

 As He was getting into the boat, the man who had been demon-possessed was imploring Him that he might accompany Him. 19And He did not let him, but He said to him, “Go home to your people and report to them what great things the Lord has done for you, and how He had mercy on you.” 20And he went away and began to proclaim in Decapolis what great things Jesus had done for him; and everyone was amazed. Mark 5:18-20

The verses above come at the end of one of the most beautiful acts of Jesus. He had led His disciples across a lake going to the land of the Gerasenes. In the course of the trip, He encountered a life threatening storm, as well as the cries of fear and panic from the disciples. When they arrived on the other side, the first person they encountered was a demon possessed man who was living among the tombs of the dead, a graveyard. He was a danger not only to himself, but to those living around him. Countless times the residents of the area had tried to chain him, but each time he broke his shackles and ran amok once more. When the man saw Jesus, he ran to Him, fell at His feet, and begged Jesus for mercy. Jesus immediately ordered the demon to leave the man, as well as asking for its name. He replied, "Legion, because there are many of us inside this man." Immediately, the man was delivered, and Jesus provided him with clothing. When the local residents arrived, they found the man they'd all feared "in his right mind, and sitting at the feet of Jesus."

What happens next, I have read countless times, and have never noticed the depth of meaning before John Bevere gave insight. Insight that he had himself had not seen until the Holy Spirit revealed it to him. As Scripture says, after delivering the man and directing him to tell all about what God had done for him, Jesus and the disciples got back into the boat and went back across the lake. Jesus had undertaken a troubled journey and endured what went with it, all for the purpose of ministering to just one man. One man who was seen as being totally worthless to his surrounding community. One man who was a danger to all as well as himself. One man who all around him would have welcomed his demise, who they'd gladly be rid of. One man that Jesus came to save and deliver. One man.

Dwell on that for a moment. One man, seen as having no worth, no life, and no hope. Trapped in deep demonic activity. One man who no one saw except as a huge problem. For him, Jesus came. Such is the grace of God. It will always seek us out, one by one. It will find us, wherever we are, even if that place is among the tombs of this world. His grace and His love will seek us out in our hidden, unseen, and hopeless places, and bring deliverance. Salvation. Life. He did it for one man that nobody wanted. Friend, what would He do for you?

One man, living among the tombs. Forgotten, despised, alone. Maybe you know something of that kind of life. Maybe you're living it right now. While no one else took notice of the demon possessed man among the tombs, Jesus knew exactly where he was. He knew exactly what he needed. He crossed a lake to reach him. Just as He crossed an eternity to reach us. To reach you. You, me, us. We are all one person, and for each of us, He comes. What do we do when He does? Do we run away, and try to continue to hide among the world's tombs, or do we come out? To freedom. To life. To Him.

There is no tomb so desolate, so removed, so dark and hopeless, that He cannot bring deliverance from. Whatever brought you to that place, be it the workings of the enemy or your own actions, none of it can hold you when He comes....if you'll but come to Him. You, one person, coming to Him....just as He has come to you. Come out from the tombs.

Blessings,

Pastor O

Low Places

 And He began speaking a parable to the invited guests when He noticed how they had been picking out the places of honor at the table, saying to them, 8“When you are invited by someone to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honor, for someone more distinguished than you may have been invited by him, 9and he who invited you both will come and say to you, ‘Give your place to this man,’ and then in disgrace you proceed to occupy the last place. 10“But when you are invited, go and recline at the last place, so that when the one who has invited you comes, he may say to you, ‘Friend, move up higher’; then you will have honor in the sight of all who are at the table with you. 11“For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted.” Luke 14:7-11

For some reason, the Spirit brought this passage of Scripture to my mind today. Maybe it's for me. Maybe it's for you. Maybe it's for all of us.

No matter how much we may deny it, there is something within us that always seeks the high places. It's true in the world, and sadly, just as true in the church. True humility doesn't really exist apart from the empowering and filling of His Spirit. Someone said that we will see how much of a servant's heart is in us when we are treated like one. Paul said that he knew how to be abased, that is, treated as though he were nothing. He also said that he knew how to be content when he was treated as such. Paul knew that his value and dignity were not tied to what he was doing or how people saw him. It was linked into what the Father said He was and the dignity and value the Father bestowed upon him. That kind of knowing can only be realized through a crucified life. I expect that's why so few of us "know" it.

For most of us, when Jesus tells us to not seek the high place, but take the lesser place, I think our attitude is that we'll obey in that, but I think we harbor a belief that the low place is only temporary. It's not where He intends for us to stay. We expect that eventually, He'll elevate us to that place of honor. But.....what if He doesn't? What if the lowly place He puts us in is the lowly place He keeps us in. What then?

I was in full time ministry for 37 years. I pastored three churches. I was fully willing and desiring to go to all three, but I don't think I was actually intending that I stay there. I think, lingering in my heart and mind was the attitude that I would exceed in what was a lower place, and then be promoted into a higher one. I think there was the lingering thought that my achievements would be recognized, and He'd call me to a higher place. I think this is a common attitude in ministry, all types of ministry. It's a killing attitude. It's an attitude that I believe the church fosters. I've been to minister gatherings where it seemed more like a sports awards ceremony rather than a gathering of His shepherd/servants. And I'll admit that I wanted the award as much or more than anyone else.

As I said, I pastored three churches, the last after He had restored my ministry that had been seemingly lost when my marriage collapsed. It was a church plant....the lowly place. I remember that my attitude was I'd spend 5 years in the work, see it grow, and then move on to a better place. Maybe not that blatant an attitude, but it was there. The first few years went according to plan. We grew quickly, and people were noticing. Then, in the 4th year, all began to change. Where we had planted the church was a highly transient area. People moved in and out all the time. Suddenly, my congregation was moving out, going to other parts of the country for their profession, but few were coming in to replace them. The growth stalled, and though we continued to reach new people, we never had the kind of growth we had at first again. The low place was still the low place. This was where the Father began to break me of my pseudo-servant heart. The place I had intended to stay at for 5 years turned into 27. I never did achieve the high place, but I achieved something so much greater. I came to know that the low place isn't the low place at all. Not to Him. I began to see that success and failure wasn't a matter of what I achieved for Him. It was a matter of being faithful. Of, as someone said, "doing the best I could, with what I had, where I was." When we do that, the low place is a high place, regardless of what the opinions of the world or the church are.

I close with a memory of a phone call I once received. The couple had come into the area and were looking for a church. The wife told me of all the ministries they'd been a part of, and how they wanted to "serve." She then asked what the size of our fellowship was. When I told her, I could immediately sense her disappointment and disinterest. She wasn't looking for a place to serve. She was looking for an audience.....a large one. She wanted a platform, a stage. She didn't want the bowl and towel of a servant. How much like her are we? How willing are we to stay in the low place....if we know that's what is not only His will, but what is pleasing to Him? The stage, or the bowl and towel; which are we really seeking?

Blessings,

Pastor O

You Alone

Simon Peter answered, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You [alone] have the words of eternal life [you are our only hope]. John 6:68

Amplified Bible....."The Christian is called to a life of holy longing." John Eldredge

What I write today may fly in the face of the beliefs that some hold, particularly as concerns addictions. I base what I write upon His Word, and what I have experienced and continue to experience as I trust in His Word. In no way do I demean various recovery programs. They serve a real need, and I help minister in one here at our church, but I believe there are root truths that we must know and live out in order to have full freedom from those things, whatever they may be, that seek to hold us in chains.

John Eldredge, in his book, "The Journey Of Desire," has written some very challenging words. "To live in Christ is to live with an ache. Every addiction comes from the attempt to get rid of the ache." If this is true, and I believe that it is, then a great part of our culture is seeking counterfeit means to get rid of the ache. We were created for intimate fellowship with God. Adam and Eve lived in this fellowship. Their sin broke it. The fulfillment they were created to know was lost by it, and they have passed that loss down to all the human race. We are born fallen and separated from Him, while also experiencing a "holy ache," a longing for the fellowship that has been lost and which we were created for. As a result, though we are not conscious of it, we spend our lives looking for some way to fill that emptiness, and they are all illegitimate and at best, only mask the ache and longing. This is what gives rise to addictions and the number of things we can become addicted to are nearly as vast as the universe. Drugs, alcohol, sex, food, relationships, sports, TV, entertainment, clothing, jobs, religion, and yes, ministry. For the one who identifies as a believer, the last two may be the most deadly of all. Religion is at root what men have created in order to explain God. God created not religion, but relationship. In the fall, that was lost, and humankind has spent huge amounts of energy through man made religious systems trying to get back to Him. We have tried so hard in this that the majority have missed the means, the only means He established for that relationship to be restored; Jesus Christ alone. We work very hard at this and all the seemingly infinite other means of filling the void. All of them fail. As Peter said to Jesus, "Where can we go? You alone have the words of Life." Despite this truth, we have tried innumerable other "places," addictions, to go in order to find life, and all they do is steal life, not give it.

I think I know something of both addiction and of the holy ache. I spent huge amounts of energy trying to satisfy the ache, and all I received in return was bondage to the various kinds of things I became addicted to. None of those things ever gave more than momentary relief and a false satisfaction, and all of them left me more lost than before, and with an ever deepening longing. I spent a great deal of time in Eldredge's journey of desire. All the paths led me nowhere but into deeper longing and deeper darkness.....until I met the King, Jesus Christ.

Here's where so many who come to Christ stumble and struggle. It's true that all things are dealt with at the cross of Christ, but we must continue the journey, all the while living at the foot of His cross. All the counterfeit desires need to be brought to it, nailed to it, and then we die to them. At the cross, we see the futility of all of them, and the all-encompassing ability of Christ to fill in our hearts what they never could. The reasons that we embraced these counterfeit desires in the first place can be buried very deeply in our spirits. At the cross, all of them are surrendered to Him, whether we know them or not, and at the cross, He destroys their power over us, and fills the emptiness that they never could.

The most immediately threatening addictions in my life were dealt with when I came to Him, the most damaging being drugs. Yet there were others, buried deeply in my heart and mind that needed to be rooted out, dealt with, healed, and me being made more whole in the process. I found more and more freedom in Him. I still am, but there is one "addiction" that changed my life more than all the others, and that was my constant search of finding love. I thought it could be satisfied if I could just meet the right person, especially after suffering the devastation of divorce. Yet I never could, so I just kept searching....until my search led me to where I needed to be all along...at His cross. In that place I surrendered the search and the longing for love in return for the fullness of His love. In that, the power of the search and the longing was broken, and the fullness of His love set me free. I had always known that He loved me, but for the first time, I was fully experiencing that love.

This is what must happen in all of our addictions. We must know beyond doubt that we can be free, fully free, in Him. Our dependency is not in a group, a program, or anything else. It is upon Him. We can do all things, including being completely free, in Him. We can because He's the One who makes it so. If we can believe that we can receive that. Can you, we, believe it? If not, where will we go? He alone has the words of life. His life.

Blessings,

Pastor O 

Believers?

22“It has often thrown him both into the fire and into the water to destroy him. But if You can do anything, take pity on us and help us!” 23And Jesus said to him, “ ‘If You can?’ All things are possible to him who believes." Mark 9"22-23...."There's a reason we're called believers. We're supposed to believe God." Chris Tiegreen

Someone said of the Jews of Christ's time that, "they didn't believe the God that they said they believed in." How often are we like them today? How often do we not believe the God we say we believe in? How often, in the midst of the crisis, the need, the trial, do we find ourselves giving in to doubt, fear, and unbelief?

In the Scripture from Mark 9, a father has brought his demon possessed son to Jesus. His son had long been tormented by a demon who literally caused the boy to throw himself into fires. He had come to Jesus, which indicates that he did have some degree of faith in Him, but his question shows that he shared many of the same doubts that we can find ourselves harboring. So overwhelmed was he by the degree of severity of his son's condition that his faith was also infused with unbelief. He asked Jesus that if He could heal his son, would He? Jesus' answer was a gentle rebuke that likely all of us have felt before, and may be feeling now. He simply said, "If I can?" When it comes to His power, His authority, His infinite ability, Christ commands us to harbor no "if's" It needed to be implanted in the father's heart, and ours as well, that "all things are possible to them who believe."

Missionaries who have served in what we would call "third world areas" have said that they cannot tell a great deal of what they have witnessed God doing in those places to western listeners. So miraculous are His doings that we in the west would be very incredulous, and in some cases, outright scoffers. Why is this? A great part of the answer is found in that we have been conditioned by our culture to depend upon our own rational thinking and reasoning. We are so dependent upon our natural senses and instincts that we struggle to accept accounts, supernatural accounts, that cannot be explained by rational thought. That kind of thinking has infused the western church. All things are possible to him who believes, but trusting upon such a promise is extremely difficult for those who have a limited range of possibilities in their thinking. So many of us in the church have placed distinct limitations upon what we believe He can and will do. As a result, we've become primarily dependent upon the same things the world has. Science, medicine, government. All have a place, but all are subservient to Almighty God. We, the church, need to break free of this bondage. There are no limitations and boundaries concerning what our Father can do....except those that we place upon Him in our faith. We believe little so we experience little.

Chris Tiegreen writes, "We need to pray audacious prayers that would embarrass us if God didn't answer them." How many such prayers have you and I prayed of late? The Apostle Paul spoke of being willing to be seen as a fool concerning His belief in the power and might of his God. Too few of us are so willing. We don't want to be ridiculed by the unbelievers, so we adopt a degree of unbelief ourselves. And like the people of Christ's hometown, we see few miracles because of our unbelief.

May we, the church, take up Tiegreen's challenge. May we dare to pray such audacious prayers, tempered with His wisdom, discernment, and understanding of course. We cannot ask Him to do something when the root motive is our own selfishness, but when we know and are feeling His leading to pray for something that may seem beyond impossible, may we boldly do so. In other lands where the church has few resources, amazing things are happening and explosive growth is taking place. Those coming to Him have a simple faith that believes He can do anything. Here, where our resources are so abundant, we see so little growth, and even fewer miracles. May it no longer be so. The need is desperate. May we be believers who believe Him. May we truly believe that all things really are possible when we believe the God we say we believe in.

Blessings,

Pastor O 

The System

6Jesus answered, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. John 14:6....."The great challenge is, 'Do I know my risen Lord? Do I know the power of His indwelling Spirit?" Oswald Chambers

I don't remember who said this, but I have it in my prayer journal. It goes, "We've been taught a system; prayer, church attendance, Bible study, good works. We know Him in a way, but not as the Living God." To echo John 14:6, we know Him in a way, but not as The Way. And we suffer greatly because of it.

The system the unknown author speaks of is real. Most who have come to Him and to His church have been exhorted to do exactly what he says. We're encouraged to pray, be regular in our church attendance, read our Bibles, and do good works as a way of life. All of these are good and all should be lived out, but not as a regimen. Not as a result of living out a daily checklist. We can do all of these consistently and still be living a dry, empty spiritual life. We know Him in a way, but we don't know His way. We don't know Him.

Elsewhere in my journal I've written that in our discipling of people, we need to lead them into the experience of hearing and responding to His voice. The still small voice of His Holy Spirit that dwells within each of His people. Too much of what we call "discipleship" has centered on the system spoken of above. We teach them what they must do in order to be "successful" believers. In the carrying out of it all, we rarely ask ourselves the questions posed by Chambers; do we know, really know our risen Lord? Do we know and live in the power of His indwelling Holy Spirit?

More than anything else, God longs for us to know Him. Intimately, deeply, and in ever growing ways. Systems don't have that as their core value. Consciously or not, they set up a legalistic faith that tells us the way to Him is by doing all the right things and taking the right steps. Rich relationship with and in Him is not the object. Taking all the right steps is. We use all the "tools" for knowing Him, but we never really come to know Him. We've checked all the boxes but there is dry rot in our souls. Our prayers are directed at Him, but too often never lay hold of Him. Our study of His Word yields head knowledge, but that knowledge rarely takes hold of our heart. We do good works, but not from an outflowing of His love, but from a sense of duty that tells us it's what we ought to be doing. All of it is empowered by our flesh and not by His Spirit. We're doing things in His name, but we're not living in the power of His name. The result is often both boredom and burnout in our experience....because we're not experiencing Him.

I've written in my journal this small prayer; "Awaken our hearts Lord. Open our eyes and hearts to all that You are and all that we can be in You." If your faith life has been wrapped up in a system rather than a Person, that simple prayer might be a good place to start. I can guarantee you that it will be answered, so deep is His desire for relationship with You. Would you pray it? What have you got to lose.....other than a system.

Blessings,

Pastor O 

Dangerous Safety

 37“He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. 38“And he who does not take his cross and follow after Me is not worthy of Me." Matthew 10:37-38 "There will be no cowards in heaven." Francis Chan

I'm not really sure if those already in heaven can look upon what is happening in this world. The Bible does speak of a great crowd of witnesses beholding us, but that may be directed more towards what will be happening in the very last days. In any case, if those who have gone before us, particularly those who lived out their witness at great danger and risk to themselves and their loved ones, do they wonder at how we in the western church so value our safety and comfort? I think we're particularly obsessed about our safety. Many of us fear to venture out to the grocery store without asking Him for "traveling mercies." We feel the Lord must be committed to keeping us safe, and that He would not only keep us from danger but refrain from ever allowing us to be placed in the midst of it. This is pretty astounding when the testimony of Scripture, of the church through the ages, and of millions of brothers and sisters in areas outside of the west is just the opposite. Not only are many of them living at great risk to their personal and familial safety, but they are living in places that the Lord has sent them. He has placed them in the path of danger. This conflicts with much, if not most of western theology.

I had a wonderful professor at the Bible College I attended. He and his wife answered God's call on their lives to become missionaries to several locations in Africa. In their decades on the field, they buried two of their children. Children that almost certainly would not have been lost had they never left America. When I heard him speak of it, I heard his voice of pain and loss that was overlaid with his total trust in and love of His God. They had followed Christ out of the relative safety of this land to be exposed to a very unsafe area in comparison, especially as concerns health. He often spoke of how he hoped that the Lord would one day allow him to write a book on suffering, but as he said that I remembered how his face would glow with the joy and presence of His Lord. In truth, that man and his precious wife who had lost so much, gave forth a witness of what it is to live in the joy of the Lord. I had never seen, still have not seen, anyone else who shined with such joy as they. In fact, they had left the mission field because the wife had contracted cancer, and after a long battle with it, the Lord called her home. I was at the memorial celebration, where that same man, mourning the loss of his wife, still shone with His glory on His face. They both knew what it was to live their lives, to serve Him, in the fullness of His joy and life. In the midst of anything and everything.

I remember watching a western movie centered on pioneers heading to the west. As they neared their promised land, the leader remarked something on the order of that there were no cowards among them. The cowards had long ago given up and turned back. This reminds me of the great chapter on the biblical heroes of faith spoken of in Hebrews 11. Of Moses the writer says, "He thought it was better to suffer for the sake of the Messiah than to own the treasures of Egypt.....Moses kept right on going because he kept his eyes on the One who is invisible." Such is the call for we who are called to be the modern pioneers and heroes of the faith. He doesn't promise us our version of safety. He does promise His, a dangerous safety. There will be risk, sometimes very great. There will be danger, oftentimes intense. Many will turn back at that. Back to the fading treasures of Egypt, and the safety they believe that is there. Some, His pioneer heroes, will press on, facing the dangers, hardships, and snares, keeping their eyes upon the One who goes before them. I want to be found among them. Do you? Will you be? Or do we turn back?

Blessings,

Pastor O

The Lie

 The poor, deluded fool feeds on ashes. He trusts something that can’t help him at all. Yet he cannot bring himself to ask, “Is this idol that I’m holding in my hand a lie?” Isaiah 44:20

I heard evangelist James Robison say some time ago that he believed that our present generation was "drunk on a spirit of delusion." We in the church can say we see the evidence of that in the world, but do we see it in the church? In ourselves? Do we recognize where we're "feeding on ashes?" Where we're trusting in that which "can't help us at all?"

The right hand is always seen as the symbol of power. In the spiritual realm, what we "hold" in it is what we see as our source not just of power, but of value, of what we hold most precious. It can be an almost endless array of things. Material and financial abundance. The desire for a happy, comfortable life. Success in our profession, especially ministry, and simply the overall drive to succeed. Many of the things, both tangible and intangible, are not in themselves bad things, but they are things that can easily take the place of Christ. They become what we trust in. They become what is precious to us above all. This is what had happened to the people of Israel. They never pushed God completely out of their lives. They merely pushed him into the corner. Most often a very unseen corner. They lived like He wasn't real. Like He wasn't there. They fed on ashes, but they were blind to that truth. Can we dare to allow Him to expose where we are doing the same?

In my prayer journal, I've written, "Lord, what am I holding onto that I have made more valuable to me than You?" It's a prayer that I need to keep central to my life, because there have been times, too many, when I have allowed other things to be more precious, more vital to me than He was. It wasn't intentional, and oftentimes I wasn't immediately conscious of it, but it happened, nonetheless. Usually, it centered around my pursuit of a rewarding relationship with someone, or my pursuit of success in my ministry. I was allowing both to be the source of my worth and my identity. When that happened, the reality of who He was faded into the background. Like the Jews, I didn't force Him from my life. I merely shunted Him aside. I was feeding on ashes. I was holding onto a lie. I had lost sight of the truth that all of my worth, all of my identity is centered on not who I'm with, or what I've achieved. It's the realization of who I am in Him, and all that I have in Him. Everything else is passing away. Everything else becomes ashes. The delusions and lies we believe keep us from seeing that, until He breaks in upon us to show us how true that is. What we do next will determine everything. Will our eyes be opened to the emptiness of what we hold to, or will we keep the lie in our grip?

Who and what are you holding in your hand? What do you grip, and what is gripping you? What is the lie you look to and depend upon? Israel found that what they'd been looking to could not help them in their great time of need. They'd trusted in a lie. What lie might you be trusting in right now. Whatever it might be, for you and me, may our eyes be opened to see not just the lie, but the One who is Truth itself. May we hold fast to Him, as He will surely hold fast to us.

Blessings,

Pastor O

Labels

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 2 Corinthians 5:17

The circumstances of author and speaker Christine Caine's birth are tragic. She was a foundling who never knew who her parents were. On her birth certificate, under the space for parents, was written, "Unknown." Under the space for Name, it was written, "No Name." Caine said that from the very beginning, she was born under a label. Unknown, Unwanted, Unnamed. She said that although she was adopted as an infant, she knew the circumstances of her birth, and the result was shame. The shame was increased when, as a young girl, she suffered sexual abuse at the hands of male members of her adopted family. She said it was only through the renewing, transforming power of Jesus Christ that both the shame and the labels she had carried from birth were removed. 2 Corinthians 5:17 was made real in her life. Her testimony aligned with the wonderful lyric from the old hymn, "I've a new name written down in glory, and it's mine, Oh yes it's mine."

There are so many today living under labels and shame. Sheila Walsh has said that there is a huge difference between guilt and shame. "Guilt tells me I've done something wrong. Shame tells me that I am something wrong." Praise the name of Jesus that we can find freedom in Jesus Christ from both. Forgiveness for the guilt of our sin, and healing over the burden of shame. Where do you need such in your life today?

So many are being crushed under the weight of shame. The one behind it is always our enemy the devil, working through people, systems, and religions. Yes, even Christianity. Jesus Christ has never been about dead religion. Religion is about men's ideas about who God is and how to reach Him. It usually comes attached with a list of rules and regulations that must be followed in order to be accepted. If you fall outside the lines, you suffer rejection and humiliation. I experienced this as a young boy. My family was never very regular in church, but for a time, we did attend one. I was there enough to get to know some boys who were also in my grade school class. When my family fell off from our church attendance, I can remember the sting of shame I felt when those same boys would berate me for not being in church. Even at that young age, they were practitioners of religion, but not partakers of the life of Christ.

That example is very mild I know, and religion is not the only part of the culture that seeks to put shame upon us. In fact, so twisted has our culture become that shame is heaped upon any who fail to keep to what some would believe to be the right and only view. We chastise and ridicule those who disagree with us. It is rampant in the culture and it has found its way into the church. Nothing crushes our spirits like shame does. As Walsh says, it tells us that we are, at root, something, someone, who is wrong. Which means we are not right. Not right with others, and not right with God. We end up living under a label, and feeling we are exactly what the labels says we are; Unwanted....Unknown.....Unnamed. Yet all of these have been dealt with at the cross of Christ. Have they been dealt with in you?

At the cross, every damaging and destructive label can be erased. Is erased. At His cross, by faith, the labels we have been given are cleansed from us. We are made new creations in Him. The old has passed, and all things really are new. What we have been called, we are not called by Him. What we have been, we no longer are in Him. Instead of living in and under the burden of a label, we can now live in and under His name, and the new name He has given us. Jacob, whose name meant "Deceiver," was given by God the new name of Israel, which meant the one who strives to take hold of God. Simon, who was bold in his talk, but cowardly in his actions, seen most in his denial of Christ, was named Peter, the Rock, by that same Jesus. The shame of his betrayal was removed by the words and work of Christ. So it can be for you and me. Has it been so? Would you have it so now?

Christine Caine found the newness of life and identity through her faith in Christ. The deep wounds she carried over the circumstances of her birth, and the abuse she suffered as a child, were healed and she was made whole by the resurrection life of Christ. Her labels were gone, and a new name and life had come. If it hasn't come for you, would you have it now? Paul said that "there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus." The shame that we carry constantly whispers condemnation into our spirit. No matter the root of your shame, be it what you've done or has been done to you, bring it to Him. All of it to all of Him. Be new. Be free. Be thar now.

Blessings,

Pastor O 

Invincible

 "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." Genesis 50:20...."The more I gaze upon the Lord, the more faith-filled and expectant I become. How could it be otherwise?" Michael Brown....."Thy will be done!"......is affirmation of the invincible." Vance Havner

The words spoken in Genesis 50:20 are those of Joseph, son of Jacob. Joseph, the favorite of his father, and hated by his brothers because of it, had been sold into slavery to Amalekite traders and eventually sold as a slave to the Egyptians. His brothers saw it as an excellent way to be rid of him without actually killing him. This began a decade long journey for Joseph in the growth of his faith and character. It was a journey that led him from being a household slave, to being held in a prison, and eventually coming to the attention of the Pharoah, and being raised to the office of what we consider that of Prime Minister. Events carried on that led to a great famine upon the land that reached even his family, and his brothers, in Canaan. They came to him for food, and through the unfolding story, he eventually revealed to them who he was, their brother Joseph. They were stunned, and they were fearful. Joseph had the power to destroy them. Instead, he told them that their plans, which were meant for his destruction, had been controlled and directed by God for purposes far above and beyond what any could have known. Through David's position, not only would countless Egyptian lives be saved, but the lives of his entire family. It is a powerful lesson in the sovereign might of God. It gives meaning to the quotes of both Michael Brown and Vance Havner. Through all those years, Joseph kept the eyes of his heart upon his God and His promises to Him. As a result, in every temptation to give up, his heart was fortified with a deeper faith. He lived in expectation of His Almighty God being just that; Almighty. We see too the truth of Havner's words. When we pray that His will be done, and trust that it will be, the work of the Father will prove to be invincible. Joseph knew, through what God had promised him, what His Father's will was, and he trusted that nothing, not all of his circumstances together, could prevent that will from unfolding. His will was invincible.

This is the kind of faith the Father not only wants us to have, but expects us to have. It is the kind of faith Jesus spoke of when He ministered on earth. It is a faith that trusts in the hand, heart, and mind of God, even when circumstances seem to point against any of His promises or His will coming to pass. It's a faith that trusts in the sovereign power and authority of God over all things. It's a faith that believes that even when the worst that could happen to us, does happen, we can hold on to Him. We can believe and trust Him. We can believe that what the enemy may mean for our harm, He will work to our good. I don't know that God desired the actions of Joseph's brothers, but I do know that He used the results of those actions to make Joseph into a man that He could entrust His will for to come to pass. He used Joseph's sorrows to shape him for His own glory, and for the good of two nations.

Joseph, before he revealed himself to his brothers, had demanded they bring his younger brother to him from Canaan. When his father Jacob was told this, he was stricken with fear that he might lose his youngest son, Benjamin, just as he had lost Joseph. "Everything is against me," was his cry. Where do you and I feel something of the same in our lives? Where do we feel like the entire world is falling in upon us? Jacob could not foresee that soon he would be reunited with his son Joseph. Soon, the terrors of the famine would be over. God was sovereignly at work, in control, and for a good beyond all he could imagine. It is no different for us. Suffering is a part of living in this fallen world, but His expectation for us is to keep gazing upon Him in it, obeying, following, trusting in His goodness. If we will, we will see His perfect will in it all unfold, and we'll see that His will is invincible. And when we live in its fullness, so are we.

Blessings,

Pastor O