Shepherds

 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; I Peter 5:2

I think much of the emphasis on leadership in the church today has become unbalanced. I think the greatest harm has been in the diminishing of the role of the shepherd. The one who cares for their "flock," their congregation, their fellowship. Getting those who "follow" us to the point we believe we're to be has become much more important than caring for them along the way. Many who read these are themselves pastors and shepherds, as well as teachers, worship leaders, or in some ministry of service. I think some statements I've written down from Jamie Buckingham's book, "A Way Through The Wilderness," might speak to each of us. I think we'd all do well to contemplate the weight of what they contain....

"How can you tell if a man is a 'shepherd?' Look behind them to see if there are sheep who know their voice and are following." I think this is what distinguishes between the corporate style leader and the God called shepherd. A corporate leader can get people to follow from a variety of different methods, but I don't think that at the root of the reason for following is a relationship built on trust and love. Corporate style leaders can appeal to a lot of base and carnal desires in order to get others to follow. Carnal ambition can run rampant even in the church, and the temptation to use others to get to where we want to go can often be given into and oftentimes is. A true shepherd leads where their Lord is leading and moves at the pace their people can follow and that the Father sets. The well being of the people is tantamount. The people go steadily to where God is leading, but the shepherd is not only in tune to His voice, but to the condition and needs of their people. The people sense this, trust this, and know of the sincere care of the shepherd/leader. The shepherd/leader is first and foremost a servant to those they lead. The only agenda they have is God's. Those that follow know this, trust this, and follow because of it. If we're in a leadership role in His church, which kind of "leader" do we most resemble? What would those we are charged to lead and shepherd say about us?

"The leader cannot enjoy the luxury of living like a follower. Leadership encumbers." I remember one of my pastors during my Bible College days saying that in whatever I would ask of my people, I had to be the first one to be seen undertaking it. Whatever sacrifice I expected of them had to first be experienced by me. Too many leaders are more interested in being served and attended to than to be found laboring alongside those they're called to shepherd and lead. It is the leader who must be in tune with "the Way." Followers trust that this will be so, and so they don't spend a great amount of time wondering about the accuracy of the way. The shepherd/leader must. This is best seen in the way Moses led the people out of Egypt. He cared for all the needs and situations of the people, but it was the desire of his God, not his people that he sought. Followers don't think too deeply about the way they are going, but the shepherd/leader can never lose sight of it and has to be completely in tune with the Father during every step. Leadership encumbers, and it cannot be borne alone. It must have the power and presence of God. That comes only from the fruit of deep intimacy and complete obedience.

"God honors the man or woman who does what needs to be done regardless of the cost." The most visible target for a group of followers/sheep is the one who leads, the shepherd/leader. It didn't take me long in ministry to discover this truth. Being second-guessed, criticized, even accused, is all part of the cost. Leading people who think they can do better is also part of it. Staying faithful and obedient to the voice of the Master Shepherd will cost everything at times. Even when every voice in the "flock" runs counter to it. You cannot use force or coercion. You must exercise trust in He who leads you, and patience with those who may question or even rebel against you. Only God, as I have found so many times, can enable us to do so. But if we will, He will honor it all before the journey is done. If we trust Him. If you find yourself in the costly place today.....trust Him, love them, and lead on in surrendered obedience.

Just a few thoughts on Shepherds. I have needed to be reminded of them by His Spirit more than I care to admit. I hope they speak to you. They continually do to me.

Blessings,

Pastor O

Marah

"When they came to Mara, they could not drink its water because it was bitter." Exodus 15:23......"Beside each bitter Marah grows a tree that makes the water sweet.....Yet somehow turning the water from bitter to sweet seemed to be God's second best." Jamie Buckingham

We don't like the taste of bitterness. Even Jesus confessed He didn't want to drink the "bitter cup" placed before Him. We have a very hard time believing that the bitter can be made sweet, especially in the way that Buckingham goes on to explain in his wonderful book, A Way Through The Wilderness.

I first read this book more than 35 years ago, when I was walking through my own wilderness. It blessed me so deeply then, and it is blessing me anew as I re-read it now. I had forgotten some of the riches held within. One of them is how Buckingham addresses the bitter waters of Marah.

I have always tended to look at the experience there as God making the bittersweet. I think we all do, but Buckingham brings out a point almost all of us miss, and in truth, wouldn't much care to experience. We need to remember that it was the Lord who led the people to Marah. He knew the water was bitter, yet Buckingham writes of how he believes the Father wished for them to drink it anyway. Why? For what purpose?

The people had long been held captive in Egypt. They had gorged themselves on its food. Their systems were filled with all kinds of disease bearing bacteria as a result. The waters at Marah contained a great amount of calcium and magnesium. They would have acted as a means of cleansing the people's systems through purgative ways. They had brought bodies infested with all types of parasites picked up in Egypt. Yet they grumbled at the bitterness of the waters. As Buckingham writes, "They'd refused the bitter cup, and missed God's best purposes for their lives." The Israelites missed the truth of that. How often have we?

Scripture says that the Lord tested them at Marah. He had promised them that if they followed and obeyed Him, they would not suffer from the diseases of Egypt. It was His intention that they drink the bitter cup of the magnesium heavy water and be free of those diseases. They refused, and in His mercy, He made the water acceptable, but they moved on, still susceptible and victim to the diseases brought by the bacteria and parasites they carried. Someone said that He not only wanted to get the people out of Egypt, but He also wanted to get Egypt out of the people. This is still His primary means of bringing us out of the polluted world culture we're born into. How much do we, like the Israelites, fight against it?

God means for our wilderness to be a means of preparation. The bitter waters of Marah were to prepare them for what was yet to come in the journey, making them stronger and more able to bear the journey. They missed His desire for them in that. Buckingham writes, "The promise of a people without disease had to wait for a generation who listened carefully for the voice of the Lord and did not grumble at His commands." Which generation do our lives most clearly resemble?

If you have not yet come to the bitter waters of Marah in your journey, you will. What will you do? Will you demand that He make the "water," the circumstances of the journey sweet, or will you allow Him to bring you His best through the drinking of the bitter cup? The choice, and the results that come with it, is ours. What will it be? If you've missed it before, take heart, for as Buckingham writes, "He continually leads us back to the waters of Marah where our crusty spirits may be broken - that the Spirit of God may enter."

Blessings,

Pastor O 

Hidden

 "For you died to this life, and your real life is hidden with Christ in God." Colossians 3:3...."There is a place of holiness in the seemingly insignificant." Jenny Papapostolou

Recently I listened to a young woman named Jenny Papapostolou speak about a book she'd written titled "Sacred Smallness." It was about her journey through a ministry that went almost totally unnoticed by those around her. The significance in this is that she was the granddaughter of two very famous and visible Christian workers. Two people celebrated and admired in Christian circles. She grew up in that atmosphere, and upon her entering into what she felt He was calling her to, she admitted thinking that the renown that they enjoyed would be enjoyed by her as well. It was not. She admitted that when she had attended a conference, no one there knew who she was, and how deeply this had cut into and exposed her pride. In that place of "hiddenness," she began to discover her "place of holiness."

As I listened to her, I jotted down in my prayer journal, "What does it really mean to be "hidden in Christ?" I think when most of us answer that we focus on our safety in Him, about how the enemy cannot really harm us there, but I think it means so much more than that. I think that for some, being hidden in Christ means that they are unseen by everyone but those few to whom they have been sent. They are anonymous laborers for Christ. They go about ministering in desperate situations, far from the spotlight, given no recognition, and that is enough. It is enough because they have been freed from the lust for success, applause, and a pedestal. They are Kingdom footwashers, and I think they are His choicest people. I think in them, He finds His greatest pleasure.

As I listened to this young sister go on, she told of the ministry she felt he had called her to in Greece. A ministry to unwanted and unloved orphans that were found everywhere there. There was no glamor in it. It was not experiencing explosive growth or drawing the attention of Christian media. She was simply touching and changing young lives through Jesus Christ, and doing it one life at a time. Then she said something that both blessed and pierced my heart. She said, "Your life (ministry) doesn't have to be big to be beautiful in the Lord." She had found that beauty in Him, and with it deep contentment and fulfillment. Why is that so hard for us who call ourselves His servants? Why do we need the affirmation of what the world calls success in order to "feel" such fulfillment? Why, if He should place us somewhere that we're "hidden" from the eyes, applause, and recognition of others, that more often than not, we feel resentment, and determine to find a way out. To find a better, broader, and more rewarding "ministry opportunity?" Why do we hunger for the pedestal, and shun the towel and bowl of the footwasher? Why can't we believe there is Kingdom greatness in the hidden place and life? Why have we never experienced that there is a place of holiness in the insignificant place?

That brings me back to my original question. What does it mean to be hidden in Christ? Does our answer contain anything of which I've written, and this young woman has lived? If we are ministers of the Kingdom, we talk a great deal about our calling. Usually, we feel we have a calling to some great thing or work. Greatness. Bigness. These are key ideas. Jenny Papapostolou said this about "the call of God." She said that our primary calling is "to say 'Yes' to God." Yes, to wherever He calls us to and places us. Even in the hidden place, where no one knows us or where we are but Him. Would you go there? Would I? Or do we seek the pedestal?

Blessings,

Pastor O

Background Music?

 "Anyone who wants to come to Him must believe that God exists." Hebrews 11:6....."God drifts to the back of our minds, and before we know it, He's an idea, a quiet piece of background music to our lives." Chris Tiegreen

Practical atheists. I first heard that term some years back, and it described how so many professing "believers" were living. They're still among us. Maybe we're, maybe you're among them. Perhaps not full time. He can be real enough to us in the crisis, but in our day to day experience and awareness of Him.....not so much. He really is relegated to "background music" in our day to day reality.

For such Tiegreen writes of their connection with Him, "He doesn't exist in any way that's meaningful to them. And that doesn't lead to any kind of meaningful experience with Him." What that means is that in our day to day thinking, choices, and consciousness, He's no more real to us than He is to someone who doesn't believe in Him at all. We are indeed, "practical atheists."

This truth invites His searching of our lives and actions. Do we really order our lives and ways before Him? Do we truly seek His guidance, His heart, and His will? Does the thought of what pleases Him ever enter into our choices and desires? Do our lives actually reflect that we rely far more upon our strength, our wisdom, and our intelligence than they do His? Is He nothing more than a Sunday morning God, which means He is really no God to us at all?

The thing about background music is that you hear it while not really hearing it at all. We can function quite well without the melody or notes making any impression upon us. We have a vague awareness of it, but it goes no further. It has no impact upon us beyond that. Is that also how it is with the Father and us? Is He just a faint melody living in the background and nothing more? 

I have often conversed with people who flatly state their belief in Him, but who, when confronted about His will and purpose for their lives, begin to tell me about "the real world" they live in. In other words, His ways do not fit into what they see as the true reality. He's a nice idea, One they tip their hat to, but it ends there. Their awareness of Him ends when they reach the church parking lot, or when they walk out the door of their home each morning. He's little more than background music, and too often, He's not even that.

How vital is our relationship with Him? Is He on the fringe of our life, or at the center of it. Is our belief in Him a powerful witness and testimony in the midst of an unbelieving culture, or are we practical atheists, every bit as unbelieving as the culture we profess to have come out of?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Random Questions

 I thought I'd share some random questions from my prayer journal today. I don't remember just where they originated, but ultimately, I'll credit the Holy Spirit.

"How much of what we do in "worship" distracts rather than focuses?"  Scripture says that we're to worship Him in "Spirit and in Truth." Can we honestly say that everything going on in our corporate gatherings is centered on that directive from the heart of Christ Himself? Can it be so with all the add-ons that we have to aid the visual and emotional experiences of "the crowd" are really focused on Him, and not the preferences and desires of that crowd? Jack Hayford once said, "We must differentiate between the sound of praise and the noise of people." Those are sobering words. Many equate "noise," no matter how melodic, with being a response to His Presence. How often is it? How much time does a worship leader spend trying to "warm up the crowd," and set the table for the morning message? None of this is meant to detract from the sincere desire in many fellowships to really worship the King. But we would do well to allow Him to search us for the areas where we've given in to the devices of the world culture that seeks a crowd rather than a body of worshipping saints. Where might it be so in us?

"Has the blessing become the enemy of the Blesser?" I think it was T Austin-Sparks who wrote of the scene in Song of Solomon 2:8-9 where the bridegroom is gazing at his bride through the latticework. She is in her room, alone, satisfied with the blessing that fills her life, while all the while he is longing for her, and yearning that she would equally desire him. How much of a picture might this be of us and the Lord? Where have we become satisfied with His good things to the extent that we are very content to enjoy them apart from Him? Where does His longing for us, for you, go unmet because His blessings are desired above Him? Someone asked that if all of our heart's desires have been satisfied and yet in that, we did not have Him, would we still be content and satisfied? Would we? Would you?

"Can we say 'God is good' when life is not?" This is a heavy duty question. We've likely all been in a gathering where the worship leader or pastor shouts out, with our joining in, "God is good all the time, and all the time, God is good!" We may join in on that, but where are hearts and our beliefs really at when we do? Do we really believe He is good when our lives are not? Does our thinking on that rise and fall according to the outward conditions of our lives? If we have not settled this issue, then when life does take a turn into darkness and pain, bitterness, resentment, and anger against Him are waiting at the door of our hearts for entry. Something that you and I have got to "nail to the cross" is our belief and trust in the goodness of God. A belief and trust that is not based on our circumstances but His Word and promise. We may quote Romans 8:28 freely, that He works all things together for our good, but how deeply do we really believe that when all things just get progressively worse and more painful? Job, in the midst of his deep suffering cried out, "Though He slay me, yet will I trust Him." At some point, that has got to become our cry as well. It's best if we decide that it is so before such a time does come upon us. Has that become your cry yet?

Just some random questions for us today. What are our answers?

Blessings,
Pastor O

The Other Side

 14When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus. 15Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” 16Jesus said to her, “Mary!” John 20:14-16...."In the place of despair, Jesus calls to us from the other side of the cross." Jack Hayford

There are not many of us who can truly understand what the disciples were feeling and thinking in the first hours and days after the crucifixion. Their beloved Lord was gone, taken from them. And it was so final. He was dead. What is more final than that. Despair was what they all felt. It was certainly what Mary and those with her were experiencing that morning as they went to the tomb. It was deepened, if that were possible, when they discovered that the body they had come to wash was gone. All Mary could do was weep. Sometimes, that's all we can do as well. I've been there. Maybe you've been there too. Maybe you're there now.

It is such a great tragedy that so many people who are living in that place are living in the place of no hope. It's an even greater tragedy when among them are found the people of God. In Christ, we are born into a Living Hope, but we seem to so easily forget that. Mary and all the disciples had. Have you? If we have, we need to hear and take to heart not only the words of Jack Hayford, but even more, the words of Christ Himself. He'd told the disciples, and Mary, that He would be taken from them, but that it would not be permanent. He'd promised that He'd not leave or forsake them. They'd forgotten that. Mary had forgotten that. Then she heard the voice of Jesus. A voice she instantly recognized when He called her by name. A voice that spoke to her from the other side of the cross.

I've known the place of the dead end, the place of no way out. I know the panic of despair, of hopelessness. With all glory to Him, I also know the place of His hearing His voice calling my name. I have heard Him call to me from the other side of the cross. In those places of seeming hopelessness, I still do. He never ceases to call to us in the place of despair, from the other side of the cross. The place of His resurrection. Not from His death, but from His risen life. Have you heard Him? Can you see Him? He's there, breaking through all the black clouds of despair and hopelessness. They cannot hold Him because death could not hold Him. They cannot hold Him now.

Wherever you are today, in your marriage, your family, relationships, finances, livelihoods, ministries, He calls to you from the other side of the cross. He calls your name, and with that call comes the instant wonder of His peace and joy. He's alive. He knows where we are, and no matter how desperate, He assures us that He has already overcome all that is against us in that place. That place cannot hold Him and it cannot hold us. I have this as the testimony of my life and am one of seeming unending numbers who do as well. May it be your testimony as well. In the place of despair, He calls to you from the other side of the cross. Hear His voice as He calls your name. Be lifted up from that place as He calls your name from the other side of the cross.

Blessings,

Pastor O

Passion

 And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength. Deuteronomy 6:5....."I want to love God more than any person in my generation." A.W. Tozer

There are countless songs in the church today that tell of how much we love God. How much we love His Son. Yet, I have to wonder, just how deep is this love for Him that we profess? How passionate is it really?

In a devotional that contains the writings of A.W. Tozer, he tells of the 18th century missionary to the Delaware Indians, David Brainerd. Brainerd was a passionate lover of God, and because of that, a passionate lover of those to whom he'd been sent. Tozer says of him, "He had such a passion for God that nothing else could satiate his heart. He would kneel in the snow and be so lost in worship, prayer, and intercession that when he was through, the snow would melt around him in a wide circle." So great was the depth and passion of his love.

Then Chris Tiegreen tells of the life of John Fletcher, a contemporary of John Wesley. He was a man known to be completely devoted and in love with his God. So in love that in the home where he lived and exists to this day, one can see the indentations from his knees on the floorboards of his bedroom, where he prayed. On the wall there can be seen the stains from his very breath as he breathed his prayers before his Lord.

Passion for Him so intense as to melt snow and stain walls. What do you and I know of such passion? Where in our lives do we display it? We testify of it, sing of it, even preach of it. Where do we live in it? We throw the word love around so loosely with each other. Our love can burn towards another one day and be gone the next. Perhaps this is because it was never love at all, but nothing more than lust. Maybe it's because we don't really know what love is, and never will until we truly come to know and love the One who is the Author of Love, Jesus Christ.

I'm convicted by the words of Tozer, used above. He wanted to love God more than any other man or woman of his time. Is there even a small amount of such desire in us? If there is, where is it displaying itself in our lives? Are we passionately loving Him when we have to be constantly urged to attend to His Word, to prayer, to even attending corporate worship on a regular basis? Is there passion in how we serve Him, with what we offer Him. Is there any real sacrifice in our testament of love? His love knows no bounds, but ours seem to have many.

We will never be able to work ourselves up to such love. It is impossible for our flesh. We must first be swept up in His love. Consumed by it. His Word tells us that He is a consuming fire. His love is a consuming fire. When it consumes us, it ignites us. His love becomes ours. The passion He has for us becomes the passion we have for Him, and for all that He loves in this fallen world. When that happens, snow, as well as a hard heart, melts. Such is the yield of a life consumed with a passion for Him. May it be my yield and yours as well. May His love not just be something we casually receive and take passing note of. May we live in all of its fullness, filled with all of its fullness. May it start in us today.

Blessings,

Pastor O

Saturate

 If you're a regular reader of these devotions or the quotes I post on Facebook, you'll know that Chris Tiegreen is a favorite author. I've gleaned many riches from his writings. Recently I came across one of his prayers which came in three parts. I thought I'd pass each part on to you and expand on what he asks for.

"Fill me with Your thoughts." Paul said that we are to have "the mind of Christ." That is, we begin to think, choose, discern, and walk in His wisdom and understanding and not our own. That means that we have a connection of such intimacy with Him that His mind becomes ours as well. We don't lose who we are as individuals, and we don't become mindless robots. It just means that in all our ways in relating to this physical world, we do so with His worldview. We see and understand what is happening before and around us as He does. We are not walking in the natural but the supernatural. We have a Kingdom worldview that is rooted in eternity and our thoughts are not under the influence of this passing world, but in His eternal Kingdom. If this sounds mystical to you, it's because it is. God said in His Word that, "My ways are not your ways." When we are filled with His thoughts and enter ever more deeply into His ways, our ways are not the world's ways. We're rooted in eternity and not this passing world. May we, in all things, have the mind of Christ, constantly being filled up with His thoughts.

"Acquaint me with Your ways." Spoiler alert: If you're going to seriously pray this, you're going to look odd in the eyes of this world. As I said above, He's already told us that His ways are most often on a collision course with the world's ways. He tells us to love our enemies. He tells us to not spend our lives in the pursuit of earthly treasure, i.e. "things" but to lay up spiritual treasure in heaven. Kingdom treasure. He tells us to esteem others as better than ourselves, which flies in the face of the "me first" mentality of every age. I could go on and on. The root truth is that when you truly enter His life by faith, you "know" in your heart that the life you've begun is completely at odds with the life you've been living. You begin a journey of discovery of Him and His ways. The way He loves, relates, sees this lost world and the human race held in the grip of sin. Jesus said, "I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes unto the Father except by Me." If you don't know this yet, trust me that believing it and speaking it will get you into much trouble with a world that is tolerant of everything except an absolute statement such as this. His proclaiming it earned Him the cross. If we believe and speak it, we will come to our own kind of cross as well. Jesus was not put to death because of good works and His miracles. It was for the message He brought to a lost human race that didn't want to hear about its true condition. They still don't, but if we wish to know His ways, we must know the Way in which He will lead us.

"Saturate me in Your Presence." I think this is my favorite part of the prayer. Jeff Deyo, former lead singer of the worship band Sonicflood, has a song titled "Saturate." In it he pleads to be saturated with the presence and Spirit of God. To be consumed by His presence. To be saturated is to have every area of an object filled with what it is soaking in. I want to be soaking in Him. Saturated in Him. As I walk through a day, I want to never wander away in my awareness of Him. In whatever way I may turn, I want to run right into Him. I want His presence to seep into every pore of my being. Saturate me O Lord. Saturate us....in Your presence.

May this three-part prayer be realized in our lives. Filled with His thoughts, acquainted with His ways, saturated in His Presence.

Blessings,

Pastor O

Prayers

 "Draw near to God and He will draw near to you." James 4:8

A pastor friend of mine wrote in the margin of a book concerning this verse, "Good news and bad news." I think I understand what he meant. It is very good news for our spirit and life that He comes near, because He brings with Him the infinite beauty of His life. It is bad news for our fleshly ways, because they cannot stand or go on in His Presence. So, in short, we need to understand what it is we ask for when we desire for Him to come near.

With that I thought I'd share a few more things from my prayer journal centered around this Scripture. They speak to me. I hope they speak to you.

"May I, we, live lives that attract Your heart, life, and Spirit." Scripture says that He is drawn to the humble but He resists the proud. God will always be near to those, attracted to those, whose hearts reflect His. When we live feeding our lust for control, the fulfillment of all our desires, and the achieving of what the world calls success, we are, consciously or not, resisting Him. He will never be drawn to such a life. Yes, He loves us, but He is far from us because all that we are focused on is at root, not Him. The self-life is on the throne of our hearts, which means that He is not. It is when we live a life that seeks His face, His will, His love, and have as our desire, pleasing Him, being His living testimony and witness to a dead and lost world, that He always draws near to us. He seeks fellowship, relationship, and intimacy. The self-centered life seeks what He can give, not who He is. He won't draw near to such a life because He can't. It is when we walk in a spirit of humility that He reveals Himself to us, We lay hold of Him as He lays hold of us. Good news for our spiritual lives and bad news for our self-centered ones. But the bad news turns to good when we finally realize what we have in Him. May we live in His good news each day.

"Holy Spirit, speak to me in the morning about the journey ahead. Prepare me for each day." Chris Tiegreen....His Word says that His mercies are "new every morning." How tragic that so many of us step out into the world each day having no idea of what they are. We don't step out into the day, the day hits us in the face at full force. It's true that we don't know the full content of what any day may hold, but He does, and when we have had our time of intimacy with Him before we enter into it, His Spirit speaks to ours and ministers most especially in those place where we need to be fortified against what the day holds. Every day is a journey. Most of us just hope to get through it. He desires that we grow deeper in Him in it. Most of us are unprepared for what any day may hold. In Him, we are not unprepared because He never is. He gives strength, wisdom, understanding, discernment in the midst of any and every day. These are only gained through times of intimacy with Him. In my last writing I wrote that He "overwhelms the overwhelming," but He can only overwhelm it when our day is saturated in His life and Spirit. Otherwise, we are every bit as overwhelmed by life as those who make no profession of faith at all. This is a terrible witness. Is it yours and mine?

"Though we can remember God's presence in the past and anticipate God's presence in the future, we can only practice God's presence in the present." Alicia Britt Chole....."This is the day the Lord has made. Rejoice and be glad in it." God's time is always now. His presence is always today. Where might we be missing Him? Where have all of our distractions, our busyness, our agendas, robbed us of Him? Where have we taken His presence for granted but failed to spend any time cultivating it? Where is His presence nothing more than a vague awareness of His being "around?" Where is it not even vague? Yes, He is in our past and will surely be in our future, but where is He for us today? Is our sense of Him a vital one, or a dull, barely registering one? Do we "practice His presence?" Just as one doesn't become a master musician, athlete, or surgeon apart from "practice," neither do we become intimates of Almighty God without much time spent in intimate relationship with Him. We practice His presence not just with our quiet times with Him, but all through our daily activities. He is always near to our conscious thoughts. We can slip right into easy communion with Him as we might when leaving one room of a house for another. Is it that way for you and me, or have we consigned Him to the past and the future, while missing Him completely in the now?

Just a few thoughts and prayers for this day. May they take root in each of us.

Blessings,
Pastor O

3 Prayers

 I've recently written down in my prayer journal, three prayers from writer Chris Tiegreen. I think they're very appropriate not only for the new year, but for the days we are living in.

"Please overshadow my fears and worries with Your strength." The Bible says that "in the last days, men's hearts will fail them for fear." This fallen world has always been a fearful place to live in, but perhaps never more so than now. Institutions that we have always trusted are being exposed for their corruption. It seems like some new disease is being reported each week, and the flames of fear are always being fanned by a media held in the grip of the enemy. Wars and rumors of wars are always increasing. And many shout "peace, peace," but as the Word says, "there is no peace." Fear may be the most pervasive feeling in our culture today. Yet in it, there is One who calls us to Himself. One, who in His Presence, all fear must fall. In His Presence, fear, anxiety, stress, and every other assault upon our rest in Him are put to flight. The key is for us to live in His Presence. To live in such intimacy with Him, that that which is not of Him can have no hold on us. This kind of intimacy yields a steadfast confidence and trust. In the darkest unknown, we know Him, and we press on. May every fear and worry we might experience this year, this day, be overshadowed by the reality of Almighty God. He is worthy of our trust.

"May we know by experience that an encounter with God is the antidote to whatever it is we dread." We dread so many things in this life. Loss....of things, homes, finances, marriages. We dread what "might" happen. Dread paralyzes us, steals our courage, robs us of our peace and hope. It, and its cousin, fear, cannot stand, cannot maintain its grip in the midst of our encountering God. These encounters do not have to be of the "fire and thunder" type. They can be simple daily, even moment to moment encounters with Him through prayer, the reading of His Word, the claiming of His promises, all of which result in the laying hold of our hearts by His. Too many of us face each day without such times with Him. We never really encounter the One we say we love and follow. So, He seems a distant figure to us, instead of a present reality. Yet He invites us constantly into His presence. He invites us to live there. In such a place, dread and fear lose their grip. We're held in the grip of His life. May we this day, and every day, be held in the grip of His love and life.

"May the only thing that overwhelms me in the coming days be the Presence of God." Something I've liked to say and pray is that "God overwhelms the overwhelming." We are overwhelmed by so many things these days. We live on the edge of chaos all the time. So many of us are living in the midst of it. We don't know what to do, where to turn, or where to go. Sadly, this is true of so many who say they know Him. So many of His people are overwhelmed by the circumstances of their lives. We need a fresh visitation of His presence and His reality. In His Word, He said many times, "I am God Almighty! Is anything too difficult for Me?" The conditions of our lives give clear testimony to the fact that we do think much is too difficult for Him. It will remain so until His Presence, His manifest Life takes hold of us. When we are overwhelmed by Him, we can never be overwhelmed by anything or anyone else. May we each day, so seek Him and His Presence that we are overwhelmed by His Life, His Love, Power, Strength, and Courage. When that becomes our reality, we will find that He does indeed, overwhelm the overwhelming.

Just three prayers I thought I'd share with you. May they become yours where needed this year.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Regrets

 Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead,  Philippians 3:13......"Let us cease dragging old, dead things with us into the new abundant life that Jesus' birth, death, and resurrection made possible."....."We believe that the manger was full. Do we equally believe that the tomb was empty?" Alicia Britt Chole

Phippians 3:13 may be the most used and preached Scripture for the new year across the face of the western church. Yet, how successful are we in living it out? How many of us can really "forget" what has gone before? How many of us remain chained to the works, deeds, and effects of the past? How many of us live with regrets that are so potent that they hold us in their grip and affect our day to day living and relationships? Regret can choke the very life out of us.

I don't believe Paul was either telling or expecting the Philippians to literally forget what had happened in their lives, but he was exhorting them to grow past the effects of what they'd lived through, especially as concerns their own personal failures and sins.As Chole writes, when regret has its way with us, "anticipation empties, dreams flatten, and hope is suffocated. We can learn from the past, but we don't have to be tormented by it." So many of us are. We think of choices we've made, actions we've taken, sins we've committed, and the oftentimes destructive results that have come from them. We should have a godly sorrow over such things, but it is never His will that we remain in the chains of that sorrow. The devil can use even our godly sorrow against us, tormenting us with constantly replayed memories of what we've done, or what we've missed, or the road we should have taken. The regret can become so heavy that we become spiritually and emotionally disabled. We cannot press on. We cannot strive to lay hold of what He has for us because we can't let go of what is past. We know that we're forgiven by Him, but our regrets keep us from forgiving ourselves. 

I know something of the tyranny of regrets. The memories of the life I once led, the awful things I did, the people I hurt, and the destruction I wreaked have all been used by the enemy to try and cover me with shame and condemnation. It is then that His Spirit has to remind me anew that I'm forgiven in Christ. That I'm no longer the person I was. The old has passed and the new has come. His Scriptural promise that His mercies are new every morning comes alive in and for me. Yesterday is gone, today is the day the Lord has made. I WILL. by His grace, rejoice and be glad in it. 

The tomb is empty. The resurrection and abundant life in Him are realities. His blood forgives, cleanses, and covers. It washes over and breaks all the power of the past. Let us, as Chole says, stop dragging old dead things with us into His new day, new life, and new future. What has been done by us has been done. It is over. What has been done by Christ on the cross and in the resurrection has been done, and its effects are still being done. Let them be done in you and in me every day of our lives. Leave the old dead things behind. Stretch forth to lay hold of all the "new" He has for you, for us this year. He has made all things new. Let us step into that.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Candles

 In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.  Matthew 5:16....."A candle should burn until it is all consumed; likewise a man's testimony should continue until his death. If one's candle light is to live on, then it needs to kindle another before it is completely burned out." Watchman Nee

Among many tribes and people of bygone centuries, was the practice of keeping an "eternal fire." Even if the people were nomadic, they would take some part of the fire where they'd been camped and move with it along to their next site. The fire was always burning, and in this way, because of the ongoing connection, it was "eternal." The warmth, security, and light it gave off was eternal. So must it be with the people of God. We have been given the Light of the World in Jesus Christ, and in and through us, His Light is to shine on, from generation to generation. However, this is easier said than done.

Light that is not shared will always be in danger of going out. Light that is not shared is actually being hidden, and Christ sternly warned His disciples to not conceal their light "under a bushel basket." Yet, we are not only tasked with letting His Light, which is our Light, shine before all men and women, we are also expected to live in His Light so that we "kindle" His Light in others. This is where the words of Watchman Nee come in.

Fire consumes. Scripture says that "Our God is a consuming fire." The Light that comes into our hearts through faith in Christ also consumes. It burns within us, and it is meant to kindle a fire in the hearts and lives of those who behold it. I can personally testify to this reality. The Light and fire that showed and burned in the lives of people I encountered eventually ignited the birthing of that Light and fire in my own heart. I first beheld it in the eyes of a young girl I knew in college. I remembered her as a fellow "partier" who, like me, lived to get high and have fun, all the while slowly wasting away spiritually. When I encountered her after about a year of not seeing her, I saw a young woman alive with life and His Light. It showed in her countenance, but even more so in her eyes. It impacted me and her witness stayed with me. It was the same some years later when I connected with another friend who'd lived just as hedonistic life as me. I beheld the Light of Christ in Him. I couldn't deny it. The kindling that had begun with that young girl, continued with him. Eventually, that kindling erupted into having His Light and fire enter my own heart and life through faith in Christ. Now it is my deep desire to let the Light I have been given shine before all that He brings into my life path. I want to be one who "kindles" a hunger for His Light and Life in others, just as those two already mentioned, and so many more have kindled His life in me. I want to be a "candle" that burns brightly for as long as I am here, kindling a fire as my testimony, carrying that fire, His fire, wherever I go. Do you have this desire as well? Or will you allow the cares, concerns, and many other "interests" of life, stifle the fire and light He has placed in you? Will your light be hidden? Will your candle go out?

In this coming year, more than ever, we, His people, must be candles that shine in the ever growing darkness. Candles that shine so brightly that the darkness shrinks before us. Candles whose light is so inviting that it kindles in the hearts of others a hunger for that light. A hunger that eventually brings them into that light and life, and they become candles themselves. I don't know how much longer my candle will burn on this side of eternity, but I want to burn brightly, and I want to kindle a fire within the hearts of those I encounter. May it so for me.....and may it be so for you as well.

Blessings,
Pastor O