The Taker

 “He said to her, ‘Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.’” – Mark 5:34

I heard speaker and author Ann Voskamp say, The greatest gift Jesus gives you is all that He comes to take away...The weight of what He takes away.

We love Jesus the Giver. We don't want to hear about Jesus the Taker, yet He is a Taker, and praise His name that He is. Especially if we will dwell on all that He has taken from our lives that has been a great weight for us to bear. That which caused us great pain and suffering.

The Scripture from Mark has to do with the woman who had a constant menstrual bleeding which rendered her unclean under Jewish law. She had suffered the affliction for 12 years. Jesus took that away. Scripture is filled with so many things that Jesus "took" from people; blindness, lameness, leprosy, even demonic possession. For those who have truly believed upon Him, He took the weight and burden of our sin upon Himself and removed it from us. He took our guilt and pronounced us forgiven. He has taken the sentence of death from us and given us His gift of Life. Yes, His greatest gift to us is in that which He takes away.

Still, as true as this is, there are multitudes who may have believed upon Him for salvation, but have never allowed Him to take away the shame, the condemnation, the fear, and so many other afflictions that the devil is overjoyed to lay upon us. Maybe you are part of that multitude today. Maybe you are living in the place of despair, hopelessness, sorrow, and depression. Perhaps you're enslaved by attitudes of unforgiveness, bitterness, or the effects of abuse and neglect.You may be healthy in body, but sick and lame in your spirit. He came to take such things away, to relieve us of the weight of all of it, but He will not take it by force. We have to give it to Him. We have to release it from our hands, our grip, into His hands. Can you do so? I know it's so hard. You've held onto it for so long. Release it, Surrender it. Let go of the burden of the weight. Be free. Let Jesus the Giver also be the Taker. He will only take that which is killing us by inches, and He'll replace it with life. His Life. Full, free, abundant life.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Wonderful

 Wonderful grace of Jesus

Reaching to all the lost
By it I have been pardoned
Saved to the uttermost
Chains have been torn asunder, giving me liberty
For the wonderful grace of Jesus reaches me.   From the Hymn, Wonderful Grace Of Jesus....."We can't underestimate sin or overestimate grace." Paul Tripp

I recently heard of a person who'd just completed a rehab program for cocaine addiction. They were almost the same age as myself. As I contemplated that, I was overwhelmed by the wonderful grace of Jesus.  You see, I could have been that person. I was that person. What delivered me from that same fate was the grace and mercy of God. Along with that realization came this; I would not have reached the age of that one because I know, beyond any doubt, I would have died long before. My lifestyle would have led me ever deeper into the captivity it held me in. I'm convinced I would never have reached the age of 40. Oh the kindness, the mercy, the seeking grace and love of God that pursued me until it finally laid hold of me. I can never repay the debt of love I owe, and I am so thankful that He doesn't require that I should.

Knowing this, I believe it deeply important to address Tripp's quote about underestimating sin and overestimating grace. Being addicted to a life of getting high, pursuing pleasure, seeking my own good and caring little or nothing for others did not make me more in need of Christ than someone who did none of those but still walked through life apart from Him. We are all born into the vast lostness of our sin. None of us can deliver ourselves from that state. This was why Christ was given to us by the Father. It's why He came; to take the penalty for our sin upon Himself, and offer, through faith and trust in Him, His saving grace. We cannot ever overestimate the wonder and power of His grace.

I believe His grace was always pursuing me, even from childhood, but my first consciousness of it came in my college years when I encountered a young, one time "hippie chick" whose life had been transformed by her faith in Jesus. I could not deny the transformation, and I was impacted by the light I saw in her eyes. His grace continued to pursue me a year or so later when I was walking past the small building where all the "Jesus Freaks" met. I stopped on the sidewalk to gaze at the open door. A young, long haired guy with a joyful smile invited me to join them....but I declined, continued on my way....but His grace pursued me.

Over the next five years, as my life got ever darker, His pursuing grace got ever stronger. Finally, when I had nowhere else to hide, He laid hold of me in the dining room of the home I grew up in. He had me through His grace and He has kept me through His grace. The wonderful grace of Jesus, greater than all my sin.

Do you know His grace? I don't believe you really can until you know your sin. You may not be a drunk in an alley, or an addict on the street, but if you don't know Him, then you are no better off than they are. If you don't know Him, or His grace, my prayer for you is that you would, that you will. May His grace open your eyes to your need, and to Him. Know that His wonderful grace reaches me, and you, and saves to the uttermost.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Grateful

 Gratitude comes hard to us. Mainly because we're such an entitled bunch....even in the church. We think good things, blessings, are our due. It's what life, or from a Christian perspective, God, should be giving and doing for us. When it seems like He's not, gratitude has little if any place in our lives. How blind we are.

I remember very well the first Thanksgiving after the disaster that would take my marriage and family and sidetrack my ministry. I was living on a bleak church campground, far from my family and isolated from most of those I'd call friends. Darkness was abounding everywhere around me, and knocking at the door of my heart inwardly. All I could see was what was wrong. Looking upward, to Him, was so difficult. I felt comfortless, but He would show me, as He has so often, and will faithfully continue to do, that He was with me, abounding in grace towards me.

Thanksgiving was only a few days away, and I had no idea of what I would do. I expected to be and was prepared to be alone. He had other ideas. In the area lived a pastor and his family. I'll be honest and say I'd never really known him well, and even thought him more than a little odd. He attended the small fellowship I was attending, and after the service, he approached me and asked about my plans. I told him I had none. He invited me to come and be with him and his family. I accepted, with a mixture of gratefulness and trepidation. As I said, I thought he was a bit odd and I'd no idea what to expect. What happened as I joined him, his wife and his son, was that I was with a family that loved each other deeply, and made me feel welcome. They were very gracious and I was very glad to have been invited. God had shown up in the darkness with these three flames of light. It was a small thing, but He showed me that even in the deepest pit, He is present, He is working, and I can be filled with gratitude that He is.

What I've learned, what I know, is that in this fallen and often darkened world, He has infinite ways to "show up" with the Light that is His Son, Jesus Christ. Sometimes it's in the form of people, at other times in material, emotional, and spiritual ways. He doesn't leave us comfortless. He doesn't leave us in despair. He gives us evidence of Himself. He gives us a reason to take another step in the faith journey. He gives us His Son. Over and over again. And we can be grateful.

In your life there may be pain, loss, and sorrow. These things are real....but He is more real. And because He is more real, we can rejoice, we can praise Him, and we can be thankful. The chorus goes, "Give thanks with a grateful heart." May we do so this day, and every day. Within the darkest clouds lies His greatest Light. Look for it. Expect it. And when it comes.....be glad, and....give thanks.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Friends

A question was asked in one of my devotionals today, did I know that Jesus was my Friend? I could immediately answer that yes,  I did. I have not doubted that for many years, if indeed I ever did. He has proven it to be so countless times over. Jesus Christ is my friend, and I am thankful beyond words. But then, after answering that question, another came to mind. One that impressed me deeply enough that I had to write it down in my prayer journal. It simply says, "I know that Jesus is my Friend, but to what degree am I His?"

Friendships in the days we now live in are pretty transitory. And shallow. Few are long lasting. The fact that we live in a highly mobile culture is part of the reason, but I think the truth is that we often see friends as those that can help us, or at least help make our lives more enjoyable and rewarding. If that ceases, we simply move on to other, new friends. That this happens in the world is no surprise, but it is found almost as often in the church, which is our shame. I think to some degree, all of us have been guilty of this. 

So, I go back to the question I asked myself; what kind of friend am I to the Lord Jesus? He knows I see Him as my great friend, does He see me as His? What reasons do I give Him for doing so? When we think of what is entailed in true friendship, loyalty, consistency, self-sacrifice, even the laying down of our lives, how much of any of that is involved in our friendship with Him? Fairweather friends are always looked upon with disdain because we know they aren't friends at all. Yet, in our walk with Him, are we more fair weather friends than we are real ones?

Those who come to Christ have been given the greatest gift in all the universe; friendship with the King of kings. None of us are worthy of that, but I think that truth escapes us. I don't think we realize or dwell upon the honor He gives us and how little we value it. He places a value upon us we're not worthy of, yet in return, too often we treat His friendship as having little value at all. How we must grieve Him.

I write this today so that we might all ask ourselves these questions. Scripture says that He is a Friend who sticks closer than a brother. How closely do we "stick" to Him? May it be for me, for you, that when our faces come before Him, His heart is warmed with the knowledge that we are friends who never leave His side or walk away from Him, for that is surely who and what He is to us. He has called us His friends. Looking at the way we live and relate to Him, how are we responding to that honor?

Blessings,

Pastor O 

Stepford God

 There's a classic movie from the 1970's called The Stepford Wives. It's the story of a community of husbands who come up with a way to control their wives, making them into their idea of what a woman should be. They turn them into beautiful robots. This leads me to a question for each of us; have we, you and I,  been trying to "create" our own Stepford God?

Before answering, we might want to consider some things. We call Him an awesome God, but we also use that word to describe anything from potato chips to the latest Hollywood blockbuster. We sing and talk about the wonders He does and the miracles He works....until the time comes when we really need one. Then, instead of believing for one, we begin to look for solutions that we can touch, see, and understand. We talk about a Kingdom not of this world, but we rarely seem to be in touch with it. We agree that He is a God of mystery, but we aren't very comfortable with that. We actually prefer a God we fully understand and have some, much control over. We want a God who comes with an easy to comprehend "How To" manual. Know this; there is no such God.

In His Word, Almighty is often used to describe Him, but that's not really the original language. Lord of hosts is the original translation, in the Hebrew, The God of angel armies. The God of armies who fights for His people. He is a God who comes and stands with you, fights for you, literally crushing every obstacle, mountain, and enemy that stands before you. A God who, as spoken in Hosea, breaks through gates of bronze and cuts through iron bars. As Hosea 12:5 says, He is the Lord, the God of hosts. The Lord is His name.

Os Guinness said, Many Christians seem to be atheists unaware. We who profess to be believers scoff at those who say there is no God, but we have to be asked; in our day to day living, facing difficulties and impossibilities, coming up against mountains, giants, and enemies of our souls in our marriages, families, lives, and ministries, do we bear witness that we have true faith in an Almighty God? In the Lord of Hosts?

The One who is unbeatable, undefeatable, greater than all? Or do we seek solutions, answers, remedies in our own strength? And if we do invite Him in, is He god with a small g, a god we can control? One who will act like we believe He should? Are we really just atheists unaware? 

He's the Lord. The Lord of Hosts is His name. Is that what He really is to you and me today? Is He really the God who can break down any bronze gate, cut through any iron bar? A God who will be all His name says He is, and in fact, be infinitely more? What's in a name? With our God, EVERYTHING!

Blessings,
Pastor O 

Restored

 I came across a kind of paraphrase/definition of Jeremiah 30:17. It moves me deeply. God is a Restorer of what is broken. In your moments of deepest pain, He is already working to heal, to rebuild, and to make you whole again. Powerful, and so true.

One thing among many that is true for all of us is that we are born broken into a broken world. Broken by sin. Sin that affects us all, from the inside out. We are both victims and participants. We are captives, and we have no power in ourselves to make ourselves free. The evidence of this is everywhere. None of us are unscathed by this reality. Yet there is hope. Hope that has as its source, Jesus Christ. He is the Life that conquers death, the Light that pierces the deepest darkness, and the hope that crushes the most crushing despair.

All of us need to receive and experience the truth of Jeremiah 30:17. Where is brokenness laying hold of your life, your marriage, your family? Where is the pain, the suffering? Where are the wounds, the deep, festering wounds? What has been destroyed, seemingly beyond repair? Where do you feel like your life has been shattered into thousands of different pieces? Where are you feeling like just giving up?

Can you dare to believe the truth of Jeremiah 30:17. Can you dare to believe that He is the Restorer of even the most broken things? Can you dare to believe that in the deepest pain, the most intense suffering, He is there, applying His healing balm? Can you dare to believe He can bind up every wound, every broken heart, marriage, and family? Can you dare to believe that even in the most hopeless of situations, He is your hope, that despite appearances, He is at work? That He will heal, rebuild, restore, and make whole? 

I cannot give you timelines or details. I cannot tell you what His restoration will look like. I can only tell you that what He promises in this verse is true and it is real. I have experienced it. So have countless others. So can you. Dare to believe Him. Dare to receive Him in the fullness of His promises. He is the Restorer. He is the One who makes all things new. Let Him be the One who does so for you.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Burning Bushes

 One day Moses was tending the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro,[a] the priest of Midian. He led the flock far into the wilderness and came to Sinai,[b] the mountain of God. 2 There the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a blazing fire from the middle of a bush. Moses stared in amazement. Though the bush was engulfed in flames, it didn’t burn up. 3 “This is amazing,” Moses said to himself. “Why isn’t that bush burning up? I must go see it.” Exodus 3:1-3

The late pastor and author Jamie Buckingham, writing about the wilderness experiences of our spiritual lives said, "The tragedy of our wilderness experience is not that we have to go through grief and suffering, but that we often miss the blessings from burning bushes - the things through which God speaks." That is a powerful statement. None of us look for the wilderness, and in fact, we usually want to do anything to avoid it, or once in it, get out of it. Yet there are wonders there if we will have eyes to see and ears to hear.

Moses, once a prince of Egypt, was now a humble shepherd walking in the backside of the desert. We can only imagine what must have been going through his mind about his situation. Foremost would have to be, where was God? We often tend to get so focused on the desert we're in that we lose all sight and sense of Him. Our ears grow deaf to His voice and our eyes dim to His Spirit. The enemy will use the desert to try to convince us He has abandoned us, forgotten us, that He cares nothing for us. As we yield to those suggestions we become hardened to His Presence. The reality is that for everyone He leads into the wilderness, He has a "burning bush" that will be unique to us alone.

If Moses had been consumed with bitterness and anger over his situation, he either would never have noticed the burning bush, or if he had, would have been so consumed by his circumstances that he would not have bothered to go over to it. If that had been his response he would never have experienced and heard the voice of his God. He never would have become what the Father was using the wilderness to mold him into. Moses wouldn't have, and neither will we. J.D. Walt said, "Everything that happens is not God's will, but He has a will in everything that happens." However it may be that we have ended up in the wilderness, He is sovereign there and He has a will and purpose for us. It will be for our good and for His glory. He will use the wilderness to take us deeper into Himself and higher in His ways and life. He will bring us out, and when we emerge, we will not be the same. We will be stronger in the power of His life, but this will only be so if we see the burning bush and turn aside to see and hear what the Lord will say and do through it.

If you're a follower of Jesus Christ, there is a wilderness awaiting you and more than one. Maybe you're there already. Burning bushes will be placed specifically for you. Will you turn aside for them, or in bitterness bemoan that you are there, bombard Him with complaints and pleas to get you out of it? If so, you'll miss His burning bush and the door He will open through it. If you're in the backside of the desert, keep walking. Keep trusting. Keep believing. He has a burning bush for you, and a way not just out of the desert, but into the fullness of His life. He never ceases to bring beauty from ashes, or green meadows from deserts.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Passing By

Two blind men were sitting by the roadside, and when they heard that Jesus was passing by, they shouted, “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on us!”  Matthew 20:30

What I'm writing today isn't new, but it's always fresh. It's always real, and it's always beautiful. Today, in your life, my life, everyone's life, Jesus is passing by. What will you do with Him? Will He keep going on, or will you cry out to Him for His presence, His wholeness, His healing?

The two blind men had likely spent a great amount of time sitting beside that road, likely begging money from those who were walking by. Obviously they'd heard of Jesus, of His works and ministry. Were they waiting for Him, hoping that on this day might be the day He would come by, see them, and give them their sight? Or maybe this was just where they always sat and though they knew who He was, never believed He'd actually come by them, or if He did, that He'd even notice them. In any event, when they did hear that He was near, they called out to Him with all their being, with all their need. They were not going to miss Him. Maybe they had before, but they would not on this day. They called, He came to them. He asked what they would have from Him. They wanted their sight, and He gave it to them. What would have happened had they not called out. We can't be sure, but I think He would have kept on going by. Jesus responds to our faith in the midst of our need. That's why so many of us miss His passing by.

We are all, in our own way and need, sitting by the side of the road. We sit there with our pain, our grief, our loss. We sit there with our crippled lives and souls. We sit there in our sin. We sit there in our desperate need for Him. He knows this. It's why He's there in the first place. Scripture says that He came to "seek and save that which has been lost," but He will never force Himself upon us. If we're willing to let Him keep going, He will. How many times have we let Him do so, all the while holding tightly to our pain and need? Will we do so again....today?

Someone said that we don't invite Christ into our lives, He invites us into His. With each passing, He does so. He invites us into all His life, to experience the fullness of His life. What will we do with that invitation? What will you do? Do we continue to sit beside the road, crushed by our need and pain, or do we give it all to Him, along with ourselves, and be healed, restored, made whole? We have that choice in His constant passing by. What choice do we make? What choice do you make....as He passes by you right now?

Blessings,
Pastor O

 

His Glory

David asks in the 24th Psalm, "Who is this King of Glory?" All of us should ponder this question, but I don't think most of us do. We're much more likely to dwell upon our problems, needs, and situations. As we do, their "presence" in our lives grows, and the reality of His glory becomes less and less. All the while, He calls to our hearts and invites us to come to Him, to discover Him. To know Him. 

Who is this King of Glory? Finding the answer is a lifelong journey, a journey that requires all of our hearts to complete. When we do, there are rich discoveries waiting for us. Coming to know Him is coming to know life. The yearning for this in our hearts doesn't originate with ours. It originates with His. He craves intimacy with us. He wants us to know Him....deeply. "Deep calls unto deep," as Scripture says. 

David, writing in the 27th Psalm says, "My heart has heard You say 'Come,' and my heart replies, 'Lord, I am coming.' " Today, right where we are, His heart calls to ours, inviting us into His wonder and presence. Not for a quick prayer or a few verses of Scripture. He calls us to come and dwell in His love, His goodness, His mercy, His forgiveness, and His healing. To discover anew, or perhaps for the first time, the beauty and majesty of His glory. Yet few of us hear Him call. Why?

Psalm 24:7 calls for the gates and doors to be lifted and opened, that the King of Glory may come in. This is why we don't hear or respond. The "gates and doors" of our hearts and minds must be opened to Him. Gates and doors that we have constructed to protect ourselves, to keep us from hurt, to keep us from life. The gates and doors we've erected to keep people out are also keeping Him out. They must be opened in order that He and His glory may come in. He could break them in, but He won't. These doors will only open from our side.

There's huge risk involved because we will embark upon a journey with Him that is filled with risk, danger, and vulnerability, but it will also be a journey filled with Him, with His life. It is a life more than worth every risk and danger we could come upon. A life worth living. A life that not only beholds His glory but is swept up in it, becomes a part of it. It's the life we were made for. 

Chris Tomlin wrote the song "King of Glory" with this lyric; There is one God, He is Holy. There is one Lord over everything. There is one King, He is Jesus, King of Glory, strong and mighty......Who is this King of Glory? He is the Father. He is Holy. He is Lord. He is King. Over everything. He is Jesus....He is yours and He is mine, and His heart calls upon ours to know Him. To risk it all for the surpassing joy of knowing Him. To do so we must open our gates, tear down our walls, and open our closed doors. Risky indeed, but it will be worth it all. He stands on the other side of your doors and walls, calling to you. All you need to do is open the door. Do you dare?

Blessings,

Pastor O 

Fool's Gold

 Mark Buchanan, in his book, The Rest Of God, tells the story of his wife's grandmother, who lived in British Columbia. This part of BC was the gateway to the Yukon, where a large gold strike had taken place. Gold had been found in her region as well, right near the home grandmother Alice lived in.

Alice loved to garden, but in the midst of her garden was a large stone, so large she couldn't remove it. Trying to make the best of it, she set to work polishing it, smoothing it, seeking to make it look like it at least fit in the garden. She was using sandpaper, and as she worked she noticed something that astounded her. She saw a thin dusting of gold on the stone. Gold! With excitement, she rubbed even harder and more gold dusting appeared. Joyfully she worked and more traces of gold were accumulating. Her heart soared. She was going to be rich! Stopping to rest, and wiping her brow, she noticed something different about her wedding ring. The upper side was fine, but the underside was reduced to just a few strands of gold. She had sanded it away. The gold she thought she'd found was only filings from the ring. As Buchanan put it, "It was the remnants of her heirloom. It was her treasure reduced to dust. It was all fool's gold."

How much of our life has been wasted chasing "fool's gold?" What has been lost to us in the pursuit of that which in the end was nothing more than dust? How driven have we been in chasing things that may not even be real, or once found, give us no fulfillment at all? How much of life do we live on the "fast track," filled with busyness and activity, but in the end yield nothing but dust? 

The Chinese use two characters in coming to their word for busyness. Heart and killing. Busyness kills the heart. Is it killing yours, exacting a cost you'll never be able to pay? Are you exchanging the riches found in Christ for the dust of this world? Have you been chasing after what you thought was the abundant life but find you are losing your life in the chase? Is all of it killing your heart?

God has much for us to do, but none of it involves busyness. Whatever it is we do, we must first spend intimate time with Him. Someone said that it is hard to see or hear Him when we live life on the run. Psalm 45:10 says, "Be still and know that I am God," while Psalm 34:8 reads, "Taste and see that He is good." To do either, we must stop our obsession with the dust we think is gold. We simply dwell with Him and in doing this, we discover what true riches really are. 

Have you been a dust chaser? Is your treasure in HIm being rubbed away by the pace you seek to keep? Is your heart slowly dying because of it? Stop! Be still. Know Him. Experience Him. He will restore your life, your real treasure. He will make you to live again. Let Him have your attention. Let Him have you.

Blessings,
Pastor O

The Knock

"Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in....." Revelation 3:20....."The picture of Jesus standing outside the door of His own church is tragic." Chris Tiegreen

We've all seen the little cards with the portrait of Jesus, standing at the door, which represents a human heart, seeking entry. We love the picture, but most of us miss the true meaning. We see it as an evangelistic portrait, that of Jesus entering into the heart of the lost soul. That's partly true, but it is not the heart of lost, unbelieving people the portrait represents. It's His seeking entry into His lost church. A church that somehow has drifted from Him, leaving Him standing outside of it, while He seeks entry into what is already His. A church that is His, but that has on so many levels, forgotten Him. It is indeed a tragic picture.

Friends, we are the church, and the question must be asked of each one of us; where have we left Him outside of our hearts? In what areas has He become unwelcome? Where is He seen as an intruder, not an abider? We've likely heard some form of the illustration of the homeowner who always has at least one room of their house that's off-limits to any visitor. One room that no one is invited to see. One room where all the trash that they want no one to see is kept. Where is our "one room" in our hearts? Where does He stand, gently knocking, seeking entry, and being steadfastly denied?

We need to expand the question beyond the individual and onto our fellowships. Fellowships that make up His Body, His church. What areas of the church is He not invited into? What topics are off limits as concerns our preaching and teaching. Off limits because they may offend. Where might there be matters of sinful behaviors and patterns that aren't addressed because if they were, people may leave, growth may be stymied, finances choked? Where might He be knocking, but as elders and leaders, we aren't listening, and He keeps gently knocking, standing outside the door of His own church?

May we, as individuals and as a Body yield to His searching knock. Even more, as we hear it, may we open the door. May we no longer be a part of a tragic picture.

Blessings,

Pastor O 

Everything

 "I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me." Galatians 2:20

I belong to a segment of the Body that holds this Scripture to be a central tenet of its theology. Indeed, I believe every part of the professing church does as well. How many of us really live it out? How many of us have really died out to our self-centered lives so that we now live fully for Him? I'd like to share three quotes that will hopefully shed light in each of our hearts today.

"Living sacrifices have to be willing to die." Chris Tiegreen....Romans 12 commands us to present ourselves as a living sacrifice to Christ. That means we live on the altar of sacrifice and we are His. Totally and completely His. Many can quote this verse freely. Too few of us can live freely in it. Why? Because we don't really want to "die" to our own desires and ambitions. We don't want to die to desire to control our own lives and surrender to His control. Many have come to His altar with the intention of surrender, but far too often, we quickly step off of it. We're not really ready to die. We love our ways too much for that. Therefore we can never live out Galatians 2:20.

"There is only one way to deny yourself. It's to give yourself away." Jesus called all those who would follow Him to deny themselves and take up their crosses and follow Him. In the ancient world, crucifixion not only killed you, you were completely powerless throughout the ordeal. All control was in the hands of the powers that had sentenced you to such a death. When Christ calls us to take up our cross, we cease setting the agenda of our own lives. We cease to lay any claim upon our own lives. All that we are is given over to Him. We have given ourselves away to Him, which is the ultimate denial of ourselves. Again, we know these Scriptures. Only too well. The cross He calls us to is not that smooth, beautifully crafted one we see in most churches. It is rugged, and it is blood soaked, with His blood and ours. If you've heard His call to take up your cross, to deny yourself, have you? 

"There's nothing they can take from us when everything we have and are already belongs to Christ." Our flesh will protect itself against anything that threatens it....especially Christ and His cross. We don't want to "lose" what we feel is ours by right. We don't want to surrender our possessions, our desires and dreams, our ambitions, and our will to anyone, even Christ the King. We fear losing these. The only way to overcome and defeat that fear is to surrender to Him. To give ourselves willingly to Him. When that happens, we begin to experience what Paul meant when he said that he no longer lived, but Christ lived fully in and through Him. Paul said that when he surrendered to Christ, the world's interests (control) in him died, and his interest (longings for it) died as well. 

So what's keeping us from living out what these men and what Paul himself spoke of? Someone said that we want just enough Jesus to get us to heaven, but not enough Jesus to change us on earth. This is truth, and this is the reason we run from the cross and the self-denial and death to our wills and the living out of His. Great numbers within the professing church are found in this group. Are you? He calls us to the cross. Do we run from it, or to it?

Blessings,
Pastor O

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 A young brother stirred my heart last evening with something he said. He was talking of his love of the Old Testament and how much we miss by its neglect by so many in the church. He pointed specifically to the High Priests role of coming into the presence of God in the Holy of Holies in the Temple on the Day of Atonement. On that day he would represent the people and their sin before God and seek His cleansing and forgiveness through the sacrifice he offered. Only the High Priest could come into His Presence and only once a year on that day. The actions of the High Priest were representative of the future work of Jesus Christ on His cross, offering Himself as the sacrifice and opening the door not only to our sin and sins being forgiven, but of giving all who believed upon Him free access into the presence of the Living God. 

This is mind boggling if we dwell upon it, which most of us don't. We have no real understanding of the honor, blessing, and privilege He has given us through the sacrifice of His Son Jesus Christ. Think upon it. Before Christ, only one man had access into the presence of God, and that only once a year. The Holy of Holies was where God dwelt in His Temple. A thick curtain separated it from the rest of the Temple. So sacred was it that when the High Priest went in, he had a rope around his waist so that if he should die while within, the other priests could pull him out, for none of them had access to His Presence there. All of this changed when Christ died upon the cross. With his death, that curtain was literally torn, and not by men, but by God. This was symbolic that no longer was only one person allowed into His presence, but all people who believed upon Jesus Christ now had free access to the Presence of Almighty God. From the least to the greatest, there was no distinguishing between them with Him. By faith, we are welcomed into His Presence. Welcomed by the shed blood of Christ the King.

I know I'm failing to even come close to describing the wonder of all of this, that a completely Holy and perfect Father should welcome someone like me, like you, covered with the filth of our sin into His presence. Someone who openly rebelled against Him, denied Him, blasphemed Him. Welcomed because by our faith in Him, our sin has been cleansed. Not just welcomed, but loved to the extent that He wishes us to linger long in His presence, abiding in intimacy, being nurtured by His love and life. Words fail to describe the beauty of all of this, of the honor and blessing He gives us. It grieves me as to how little we honor Him in return, and how much we take for granted in all of it. How little we recognize not only His sacrifice, but how unworthy we are in ourselves to even be there.

I think of Wesley's lyric, "That God should love a sinner such as I, how wonderful is love like this." Do you know this wonder? Have you ever? May we each just stop and meditate on the glory He invites us to by faith, and all that He sacrificed that we might come at all, and all of it because of what Jesus Christ accomplished upon the cross. As the old hymn goes, "I can never repay the debt I owe." I can't. He did. Glory to His name forever.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Refrigerator Art

Something that is very common in most homes in our culture are kitchen refrigerators bearing the artwork of the home's children. Little ones bring them home from school or from their rooms to present as "gifts" to the mothers and fathers they love. If we're honest, just about all of these offerings are pretty bad. They're just scribblings on a refrigerator door, but they're treasured by the parents who receive them. They love them, and they want their child to know that, as well as any who would visit their home. There is teaching here for how the Father sees the offerings of His children that are given to Him.

So many of us are perfectionists, at least to some degree. We want what we do to be well received. We can also be our own worst critics, disparaging our works and efforts far more than anyone else. To us, they just don't seem good enough. I think that this can be especially true as concerns what it is that we do for Him, give to Him through our work in His Kingdom. I know it has been so for me. Whether it's a sermon preached, a lesson taught, a ministry performed, I too often have thought, with ample help from the enemy, that none of it is "good enough." Yet this is not how the heart and eyes of the Father see it. To the world, and even to some in the church, they may just be "scribblings on a door," but to Him they are precious. When offered to Him from a heart of love and worship, they are offerings and works comprised of silver and gold. Father God displays them with a heart overflowing with joy and love for the one who has given it to Him. He doesn't look at the skill level of the one who brings the offering, just at the heart and its motivation to lay it all before Him.

I remember a teaching by my theology teacher at Bible College. He used the example of a small child with dirty hands who brought their father a glass for cold water on a hot day. The child's face beamed with love for their father, but the cup of water was tinged with soil from their dirty hands. Yet the father never noticed the dirt. He was focused on the love of his child, and he drank it with joy. So it is with God. They say beauty is in the eye of the beholder. When it comes to the eyes of Father God, all He sees is beauty in those things given to Him in love and worship. He doesn't see the human imperfections and limits involved, just the love behind it all.

Scripture says that whatever we do for Him, we're to do it with all our might and being. If we do so, whatever we give Him, no matter how humanly flawed or imperfect it may be, will find its way onto His "refrigerator door," and one day, when we come before Him, it will be seen by all. May we not forget that, and may we never cease to bring Him our scribblings, done with hearts and hands of love.

Blessings,
Pastor O

 

The Challenge

I've underlined a verse in the 4th chapter of Acts. Maybe you have as well. Underlined, but too often overlooked, even forgotten in the depth of its meaning. It's after the resurrection of Christ and Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit came upon the church. The disciples have been ministering and the church is exploding. The Jewish religious leaders, who thought they'd dealt with the problem by having Christ crucified, are alarmed beyond words. They have two of the leaders of the church, Peter and John brought before them. Verse 13 says, "They recognized them as men who had been with Jesus." 

I wonder; how deep did the recognition go? Was it a recognition based merely on their having been seen in His company? Or, was it a recognition that came from their seeing in Peter and John's eyes, countenances, and spirits, the very same attributes they'd seen in Jesus Himself when He'd stood before them not long before? That question leads me to another, deeper and more convicting one; what do people recognize about me as concerns my relationship with Jesus? Is it based on them also seeing me "in His company?" I'm a pastor. I go to church. I read the Bible. Most people who know me at all know that. In that sense, I too keep company with Him. But do they see something more? Do they see in me what they would surely see in Him? His heart? His character? His life? Do they recognize me as having been with Him because of these? Do they recognize you for the same?

It's not difficult to be recognized as having been with Him when we leave a church service, a Bible study, or a prayer group. We've been at our best and in the best of situations there. What are we like at our worst, and in the worst situations? What is seen? What are we recognized for? How often are we found to be "beyond recognition?" No, we're none of us perfect and we all have a generous portion of flaws, but how easy is it for us to use our all too human frailty as an excuse for living in ways that make us unrecognizable as followers and lovers of Jesus? In our relationships, under pressure, when faced with deep and unmet needs? In the place of hard choices, places that call for deep sacrifice? In His call for us to take up our cross, fashioned in the likeness of His, and follow Him to our own Calvary?

The world has always had the right to examine the church, to examine you and me. Seen in His company perhaps. Seen as looking at Him, but not looking much like Him. As they do, can we bear up under the question of just what is the "Jesus recognition level" in our walk? When we stand in the midst of tough choices, hard places, and deep challenges, who do we look like? What are we recognized for? What do they see and more, what does He see? Challenging questions that need to be asked and answered. Our culture grows ever darker. People are desperate to see those who've truly been with Jesus and who look like Jesus. Not our idea of Him but His. It's a challenge. Will we rise to it or run from it?

Blessings,

Pastor O 

His Presence

 In Scripture, we are told we have full access to the Father through our faith in His Son, Jesus Christ. In fact, we're told that we can come "boldly" into the throneroom of God. It's a wonderful invitation, but I have a question; Why are we coming, and for what and who do we come?

Along with His invitations, so many issued by Jesus Himself, are promises. Many promises. Promises to find rest, strength, peace, joy, deliverance, provision, and the fulfillment of our life needs. This brings the above question into a deeper focus. Are these things, these promises fulfilled, representing what are our deepest desires? I ask this because of something I once read by Larry Crabb. A simple statement really, but for me, a deeply convicting one. He wrote, "Come to Him because you want Him." First and foremost, we want Him. Not the promised rest, provision, healing, or answer. Wanting these is not wrong, but wanting them more than Him is. Indeed, it is sin. Subtle sin, but sin nonetheless. Jesus said, "Come unto Me, and I will give you...." We have fallen into the trap of concentrating on the "I will give you," and bypassing the coming first unto Him.

In II Kings 19, King Hezekiah receives a letter from the King of Assyria promising Judah's destruction. He took the letter to the Temple and "spread it out before the Lord." God responded in a mighty way and the Assyrian king's desire was never fulfilled. For years, so much of my prayer life has consisted of doing the same. Coming into a need or needs, lists I'd composed, and like Hezekiah, I spread them out before Him. Now, none of this is wrong. We do need to bring our needs to Him, but slowly and subtly, these lists can come to take precedence over Him. I wasn't first coming to Him for Himself, though I was blind to that. I was coming first of all because I wanted the blessing of His answer. He so often met the need and desire, and richly, but I was missing what I most needed and what my starving soul most desired. Him. Just Him. His Presence. 

The things on the list had taken His place in my heart. My needs and desires had become idols, but I couldn't see that. Idols will always blind us to Him. Have your needs and desires, your lists, become idols to you? When you come to Him in prayer today, for what will you be coming for? The blessings that come from His hand or for the beauty of His Presence that flows from His heart? His invitation to come lies before us all. I expect we will come, but how, why, and for whom will we come?

Blessings,
Pastor O

The Departure

 In the last two weeks, I have witnessed the passing of two great saints here in our church. Both were mighty in the Lord and living testimonies to His grace and strength. Both had lived long and active Kingdom lives. Both are now rejoicing in His Presence. Both are testimonies to Paul's words in 2 Timothy 4:7, "The time of my departure is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith." Like Paul, these two lived out this witness.  Are we? We all will have our time of departure from this passing realm. What will be our testimony?

We tend to see this Scripture as one that pertains to the elderly. Certainly, as I well know, as we age, our time in this earthly realm grows ever shorter. We cannot stay here. We will be leaving. What will mark our passing? What will be our witness? Amidst these questions looms a greater reality. None of us will choose the time of our departure. That's in the Father's hands, and it is never limited to the old.

Our age in this matter is irrelevant. What is not irrelevant is the life witness we will leave behind. Young or old, can we proclaim as did Paul and so many saints before us, that we have fought the good fight of faith, that we ran the life race He set before us and all the way through, kept the faith? We'll each be called to account on this. What is our life testimony to this point saying? 

Someone said that only those who live with eternity in mind have any power to tell others about it. I fear that too many of us live as if we are never departing this realm. That this earthly realm is what is real to us and we cling to it. As a result, we've dropped out of the race He's called us to, having never really begun. We never really fought the good fight of faith because we're too busy making a life for ourselves here. Yes, we "believe" in God, His Son Jesus Christ, and His Holy Spirit, but it's far more a mental agreement than a living and growing relationship with Him. Paul's eyes were never off of the eternity and God that was His true home. Nothing in this world could hold him. How much of it holds us? How much of it holds you?

I am now in my 75th year. The last 46 of those years have been spent walking with my Lord Jesus. I know that my own departure draws ever nearer. I desire that my own testimony will be that of Paul's, and the two wonderful believers who have gone to be with their Lord. The accolades of this world and even the church will be meaningless. All that will matter is if He agrees that it is. More than all else, I want to hear His "Well done, good and faithful servant." Our time of departure is in His hands. How we live out our lives in Him is in ours. Beloved, may it be that when our time comes, we too may see that we've fought the good fight, have kept faith with Him, and finished the race He set before us. Someone said that where we spend eternity depends on what we do with Jesus Christ, but how we spend it depends upon how we live for Him. May we live well, very well, for Him.

Blessings,
Pastor O

The Agreement

 Galatians 5:25 reads, Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit. Keeping in step with the Holy Spirit is something every believer should have as their priority, particularly in these days of ever growing deception. It's very easy to get out of step with Him, and so many  of us do. Maybe some part of our lives is out of step right now.

Walking in step with Him doesn't come naturally and it will come about as a result of our daily choices. In the Gospel of John, Jesus said, I am the Vine and you are the branches, telling us that we are to abide in Him. This is a choice. It can't be done from a distance. It requires intimacy. When we fail to abide in intimacy with Him, the result will always be chaos and confusion, and eventually a drifting into unbelief.

How do we so easily get out of step with Him? A great deal of it is because we tend to base everything on what we're seeing, feeling, and experiencing in the moment, instead of on the the truth of what He's said and promised. John Eldredge in Walking With God puts it this way; We don't believe the Scriptures because they don't seem to align with what we're feeling right now.....People are clinging to their unbelief because that's what they're feeling in the moment....we're not at that moment experiencing what God says is true. So, if we're not feeling it or seeing it right now, it must not be true.

It will come down to our choices. Will we believe that what God has said is true, or will we believe what the enemy is saying in this moment is true? Either answer will involve agreement from us. We choose who it is we will believe. Our choices will then reveal if we are walking in step with the Spirit of Truth or completely out of step with Him as we follow the lie, and the lie will only grow more powerful in your life. Where do we walk right now, in the steps of the Father and His Holy Spirit, or in the crooked and destructive pathway of the enemy and his lies?

Both the Father and Satan are constantly issuing invitations to us. God invites us to agree with Him and believe, while the enemy invites our agreement with him and be deceived. The Lord's invitation most often comes with no frills, readily seen benefits, or emotional appeals. Just a bold calling to believe and trust Him. The devil's invitation will always be accompanied by a bombardment upon our emotions and reasonings, and an appeal to use our heads and be realistic. We'll agree with one or the other and eventually, it will become our life pattern. What's your life pattern today? Are you moving in step and in harmony with the leading of the Holy Spirit, or in the disharmony and missteps of the enemy? Just who is that you're agreeing with?

Blessings,
Pastor O

The Darts

 We hear much but know little about spiritual warfare. Much of it, as Rick Renner says, seems like 

Christian Voodoo," with all kinds of formulas and even rituals to use against the enemy. Many exhort us to come against the high places of the enemy, but Renner says, "The high place we need to be most concerned about is the space between our ears." I think he's right. That's where the real spiritual war is waged. and it's there that the battle will be either won or lost.

In Ephesians 6:10-18, Paul exhorts us to "Put on the whole armor of God." Though we may be familiar with that passage, we can be totally ignorant about what is being said. A great part of that is that we don't know much about the culture and setting that Paul wrote these words in. Paul was speaking of ancient weaponry and few of us have much knowledge of that, and the impact of what he's saying is greatly reduced. So is its power to give us victory. In verse 16 he says, "In every battle you will need faith as your shield to stop the fiery darts aimed at you by Satan." These darts were quite small and did not appear very threatening as they came towards the soldier. However, they were designed to explode in flames upon impact, and were deadly to an unprotected warrior. This is why his shield was central to his protection. It's no different in the spiritual realm. Much of what the devil throws at us appears insignificant in its approach. A word or words spoken to us. A thought, memory, temptation, or lie. Then they hit our brain and explode in deadly fire, seeking to spread throughout our spirit. It's a fire that can kill if we lack the faith/shield to deflect it.

Hebrews 2:3 asks, "How shall we escape if we neglect so great a salvation?" I think too many have reduced this great salvation to a small and powerless one. How can that happen? It happens in our minds, in our thinking, in what we believe. That salvation is meant by God to be our unbeatable defense. The 17th verse of Ephesians 6 says, "Put on salvation as your helmet." A soldier's helmet protected his head....and his brain, the place where his thoughts and beliefs dwell. The best equipped warrior will not stand if he goes into battle believing himself already defeated. Indeed, he IS already defeated. This is the case with too many of us. Is it the case with you?

Today and everyday, we'll all be in spiritual battles. The Father has given us in Jesus Christ, all we need to overcome and defeat every attack by the enemy. He has given us a great salvation. Where are we, where are you, neglecting it? Instead of overcoming, are you being overrun? Are his fiery darts exploding upon you, seeping into your mind and heart? The battle is the Lord's, but He's called us into it alongside Him. In Christ, we are, as Renner says, "dressed to kill." We have been given a great and mighty salvation. Let us walk in it with Him.....dressed to kill!

Blessings,
Pastor O

Inheritance

 "The Lord is my Shepherd, I lack nothing." Psalm 23:1....."He is everything you need Him to be, but only what you allow Him to be in you." Chris Tiegreen

I believe the church is filled with those who are living far beneath their privilege in Christ. They have heard sermons, teachings, even seen demonstrations of who He is, what He does, and what He can be for them, yet they have experienced little or nothing of the reality of it all. Might you be one of them? We have also heard that when we have Him, we have everything we need, yet so many profess to have Him and yet feel overwhelmed by their needs. Are you one of these? How can we profess to know and walk with the One who is the Lord of all things and yet feel so empty, needy, and powerless?

I am now in my 41st year of ministry and one of the great heartaches of that ministry is witnessing so many of His people walking through life in exactly the place I speak of above. They profess to know a Lord who saves, heals, gives joy and peace, strength and hope, and one in whom we have all the riches of the Kingdom of God. A.W. Tozer said that he knew that one of the great regrets he will experience when he stands before his Lord is that he will see all the vast and infinite riches he had available to himself in Jesus Christ, and yet he lived out his life more as a pauper than as an heir of the Kingdom of God. I think his words are true to some degree for all of us. To what degree are they true for you?

The reason for all of this is found in the above quote from Chris Tiegreen. He really is everything we need Him to be in our lives, but He is only that to the level that we allow Him to be who He is for us. Healer, Restorer, giver of hope, joy, peace, and an abundant life. All of this is true. He will be these for each of us, but only to the degree we allow Him to be. To the degree we believe that He will be. The only limitations there are to the Lord Jesus Christ are the ones we have placed on Him.

This reminds me of another writing I saw in the wonderful devotional, Streams In The Desert. A man dreamed he was in heaven, and Jesus was revealing all its wonders to him. They came to a door and he asked the Lord what it led to. Jesus opened it to him and he saw within a room filled with wonderful and glorious blessings for his life on earth. They had been intended for him, but he had never received them because he had either not asked for them or believed he could have them. I wonder how large such a room would be for you and me?

I am not saying that we'll have a trouble free life of ease and happiness if we have entered into His Kingdom. Indeed, we will have a cross to bear, but we will also have been adopted as sons and daughters of Almighty God and heirs of that Kingdom. We are not orphans and we are not paupers, so let us cease living like we are. Lay hold of the riches we have in Him. Take title to our inheritance in Him. Freely He has given, let us freely receive. The riches of the Kingdom of God are ours.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Which Kingdom?

 I once heard a man pray, Father, may I be host to the Christ Spirit and not hostage to the spirit of the world. There are two paths before us. Will we be "hosts" to all the fullness and life of Christ, vessels of His Spirit and Life, possessing His mind and thought processes, or will we be hostage to the thought processes and value system of this world? A world we're born into but commanded to come out of. Commanded!

We like to think in terms of His calling or inviting us, because it leaves the matter in our hands, with no sense of urgency. A command is either obeyed or disobeyed. We'll be either obedient, or disobedient. That's a little too black and white for our flesh. We're more comfortable thinking it's more His suggestion, and that He'll be OK if we choose to ignore. Disappointed perhaps, but it passes. He is understanding, isn't He?

We may not be so blunt in how we actually put it all, but this is what we tend to do. How many times have we said that we heard Him speaking to us on a matter? If He's speaking to us once, His expectation is that He doesn't need to speak it again? To the degree we're hosting His Holy Spirit, He won't need to. To the degree we're held hostage to a fleshly spirit, He will. 

Philippians 2:5 reads, Let this mind (spirit) be in you that was also in Christ. The only way we can do this is to yield to that mind and spirit. When we do, that is when we truly begin to grow into the ways and image of Jesus Christ. We live, choose, respond, and act in the Spirit of Christ. We process everything through His understanding and not our own. Instead of our all too human reactions to the unexpected, unusual, and unloving, we take our thoughts about all of it into His Presence. In His Presence, He shows us what's real and what isn't. Where the source of it all is from Him and where it's from the darkness. We see things with His discernment. We are able to see beyond the surface of things. We see what is really happening and hear what He is saying. This is our taking every thought captive to Him instead of every thought taking us captive to the darkness, where we become hostage to the enemy who is behind it all.

In Christ's ministry and conversation, He always looked to see from which kingdom the words, thoughts, and actions were coming from, the kingdom of hell or of heaven. He looked to see which kingdom was being advanced. Each day, in our choices, words, and actions, which kingdom are we advancing? In our day to day lives and ways, which kingdom are we helping to grow? One or the other will consume us. One or the other will either lift us up or throw us down. One or the other. Which one for you and me?

Blessings,
Pastor O