Heart Tracks - The Dance

"Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." Galatians 5:25....."God calls us to come and dance with Him, not looking at our feet, but into His face." Lisa Harper

Believe it or not, I took a few dance lessons back in my 20's. I clearly remember how in the beginning of the lessons, I would self-consciously be looking at my feet, and thus having very choppy and uneven movement. Gradually, as I relaxed, and concentrated on my teacher and her lead, I began to be able to follow her steps and put forth something that looked almost natural (Her words, not mine). I think this can be a very apt description of what our walk, our dance, with Him is meant to be, but too often isn't, and for the same reason so many of us are clumsy in our dance steps with Him.

If you've ever watched some of the past Hollywood masters of the dance, Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly, and their equally skilled partners, what they do seems almost effortless as they glide around a dance floor or stage. They appear to be almost one in their movement. So should it be with us in our walk, our dance of life with and in Him. But it usually isn't. Too often we move as if we've got two left feet, and our greatest skill seems to be that of tripping and falling over ourselves. Our focus and concentration is upon "us," how we're doing, what we look like, and not upon Him. Rather than being so in tune with His heart and mind that we move in step with Him, we're left wondering what it is He wants us to do, how He wants us to do it. Where He wants us to go, and how He wants us to get there. We're looking at our feet. We're not looking into His face. Small wonder we so easily get out of step with Him.....again and again and again.

Someone has said that in His presence, we see ourselves as we are, but in His face and heart, we will see ourselves as we can be in Him. In our walk/dance with Him, it is His purpose to lead us to become all that He has purposed us to become. Our part is to follow His lead in order to get there. To allow ourselves to be held in His embrace as He skillfully takes us through each intricate step in the journey. We all begin as amateurs with two left feet, but if we will hold onto Him, steadfastly gazing into His heart and face, our skills will grow, and He will take us, in step with Him, to where, who, and what He means for us to be.

In that dance studio in Pittsburgh, I remember how terribly self-conscious I was that first time, worrying about how I looked to the others that were there. Yet, as my comfort level increased, I began to not notice them, and only notice my teacher. Everything seemed to become natural. So it will be, must be, with the Holy Author of the life dance He invites us all to. Do we come? Do we dance with Him, in step, as He takes us where only He can lead? Looking into His face, and not at our feet.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - It is Not You

"For it is not you who will be speaking - it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you." Matthew 10:20

Jesus spoke the above words to His disciples when He told them that one day they would be confessing Him before kings and rulers. For a group of men who all came from simple and mostly anonymous backgrounds, this was a daunting task. There are few if any who would not be intimidated by such a task. His assurance to them was that they needn't be concerned as to what it is they would be saying. They need only rely upon their Father, who, through His Holy Spirit, would give them the right words to say, in the most effective way, and that they would be words anointed and empowered by His Spirit. After Pentecost, these men, and those who walked and ministered with them, spoke and preached the words that turned the world upside down. Words that eventually toppled empires and transformed cultures. Words that still do the same today.
Words that are His words, coming from His heart. Words that He chooses to speak through vessels like you and me. And when He does, the experience is unforgettable.

I believe I have always looked to and relied upon Him to fill and direct not only my heart, but my mind and lips as well in the proclaiming of His words and thoughts. But never more so than just a few days ago when at the Memorial service for my brother, I was given the opportunity to share the words, thoughts, and heart of Christ to a room full of people who almost to a person, had never before heard the truth about this Man/God Jesus. Who it was who sent Him, and the work of grace He accomplished for them at Calvary.

In the crowd were people of every persuasion. In addition to high powered executives and corporate salesman, there was a Hindu couple. There was also a Jewish couple, with the wife having a grandmother who was a Nazi concentration camp survivor. I knew beforehand what the makeup of my listeners would be, and like the disciples, the task was a daunting one. So, I prayed, I prepared, and when the moment came, I spoke. And that is when I learned anew, the truth and power of His words in Matthew 10. Just as real and alive now as they were then.

I don't really remember a lot of what happened. I had notes, but I couldn't seem to follow them. I spoke, but I don't really have much remembrance of what I said. Truth be told, I thought this had to be one of the worst "jobs" of preaching I had ever done. But it was at the end of it all that the Lord taught me what I had always known, but needed, as we all do, to learn anew; it is not me. It never is. It is Him. It is always Him.

I won't go into what the "results" of it all were except to say that the fruit of it was definitely proof of the power and presence of His Holy Spirit. The words spoken back to me proved that His Spirit had moved powerfully upon the hearts of all who were there. I believe He is still moving upon them. Deep seeds were planted in countless hearts. Seeds I believe will bear fruit. And He did it not because of me, but in spite of me. I was not up to the task, and that is the key; we never are, but He always is. In a day when the Church has come to so rely upon its own wisdom and work, we must, we have to, learn this anew. The unbelieving world is desperate not for new and better methods, but new and better preachers of His Word and Life. New and better men and women who can be and are, vessels of His Life and Power.

In a church world with its focus on numbers, slick presentation, and the need to be "relevant," may we once more become simple vessels of a mighty message. I want to be such a vessel. Not only when standing in a pulpit, but when standing in line at the grocery, greeting my neighbor next door, and with whomever I encounter in my day to day life. Not for the purpose of saying I made a convert, but that through me, and you, He transforms a life. Living a life that trusts Him at all times, to give me words to speak, a heart to love, and a Life to share. May He raise up such a Church. May you and I be such a people.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Come Meet A Man

The woman left her water jar beside the well and went back to the village and told everyone, 'Come meet a man who told me everything I ever did. Can He be the Messiah?' So the people came streaming from the village to see Him." John 4:28-30

What desire might you have that would be so overwhelming that you would leave everything in order to see it fulfilled? I expect most of us could come up with a long list of such things or people. A question: Would any of them be Jesus?

In the dry and arid land of Samaria and the middle east, water was life. The woman was at the well in order to draw forth that which would sustain her life, though as the world measures things, her life at the time did not seem like much of a life at all. In the midst of the day to day sameness and sadness of that life, she encountered Jesus Christ. Jesus has such a way of encountering lives in just this kind of place.

Conversation ensues. Jesus begins to reveal that He knows even the innermost secrets of her life. Indeed, He seems to know her better than she knows herself. In their talking, He brings from the deep, inner parts of her heart, the yearning within for something far more than the "water and bread" of this world. Samaritans were a mixture of both Jewish and other Semitic peoples. Though despised by the Jews, they too shared an expectation of the Messiah one day coming for them. As Jesus so skillfully probes her heart, she expresses this expectation to Him, to which He replies, "I am the Messiah."

We all, whether we're conscious of it or not, are seeking a Messiah. Peter told his listeners in the book of Acts, "The Messiah you are looking for is Jesus." This Messiah, this Jesus, meets us in the most unexpected places and ways. And He does so not only with those who have never known Him, but to those who profess that they have. Somehow, though we may have confessed to have received Him, we continue to seek satisfaction from the bakeries and wells of this world...and miss the fullness of His Living Water and Bread of Life. And in doing so, the hidden longings for Him go on. They must be awakened. Have they been awakened in you. Is He really and truly the One that you would leave all in order to have? Can you lay down your earthly "water jar" in order to drink of the water of His Life? Have you really encountered the Man who knows everything you have ever done, and everything you could ever desire...and is the fulfillment of that desire? If you have, it will show. If you have, you will share. If you have, we have, we will make Him known. No water jar will be enough. No water jar will hold us back.

Come meet a man! Have you met Him? Do you know Him? Psalm 27:8 reads, "My heart has heard You say, 'Come and talk with Me,' and my heart responds, 'Lord, I am coming.' " Has your heart heard Him? Do you come to Him....right now?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Tell Us Who You Are!

"The disciples of John the Baptist told John about everything Jesus was doing. So John called for two of his disciples, and he sent them to the Lord to ask Him, 'Are You the Messiah we've been expecting, or should we keep looking for someone else?' " Luke 7:18-19....."Tell us who You are,' they demanded. Jesus replied, 'I am the One I have always claimed to be.' " John 8:25

Knowing just who Jesus is can be, and is, a lifelong journey. Countless ones never do find out. Sometimes, too often, many of these are ones who would profess to be, who are, His followers. Why do we have such difficulty recognizing who He is? Why must He so often ask us, as He did Thomas, "Have I been so long with you, and yet you still don't know Me?" Lack of intimacy with Him is surely a great part of it. It's hard to know someone we spend so little time with. Unbelief is certainly another. Despite our protests, we can have a great deal of that as concerns Him. Still, I think many of us fall into the trap that John did; our expectations of Him have left us disappointed. John, who recognized just who Jesus was when he baptized Him, was now in prison. This did not fit in with what his expectations of the Messiah were. Sitting in his cell, his doubts increased. Thus the sending of his disciples to inquire as to whether Christ really was the long awaited Savior; or should he, and everyone else, "look for someone else?" You and I can identify, can't we?

As it did John, the life of faith will lead us into many unexpected places, many of them decidedly uncomfortable, and often dangerous. Places our flesh would not choose to be. Places our flesh are sure a loving Christ would not lead us to or allow. It's in those places we hear the whispers of hell that suggest the Jesus we have been following has betrayed us, and is not at all who He claims to be. Those whispers begin to sound a great deal like the accusations of the unbelieving Pharisees in John 8, "Who is He really," they ask. Yet, if we will listen, we will hear His still small voice in reply, "I am who I have always claimed to be." Those same two words were also spoken to Moses when he encountered God at the burning bush and asked who He was...."I Am," was His reply. It still is to all our questions. The great I Am will always be so, and He will be so in the Person of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. He is fully who He claims to be....not who we think He should be.

In my walk with Him I have had so many expectations of who He is and how He should behave. Most of them were wrong. I have learned and continue to learn that to walk in His victory means I must surrender all of them to Him, except these; that He is God, and that He is a good God. That He is Christ, and that He is a loving Christ. And these claims will be proven as His Holy Spirit continually reveals more and more about Him to my heart and spirit. And to yours as well.

To John's question, Jesus replied, "Go back to John and tell him what you have seen and heard - the blind see, the lame walk, the lepers are cured, the deaf hear, the dead are raised to life, and the Good News is being preached to the poor. And tell him, 'God blesses those who are not offended by Me.' " John never left his cell, but there can be no doubt that Christ's words were enough. He had been offended, but he would be offended no more. He now knew beforehand, what Paul would say later, "I know who I have believed, and I am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed to Him.....until that day." And beyond that day. Can you? Can we?

Have your expectations been dashed? Are you hearing the whispers that He is not who He has claimed to be? Has He offended you? Has He been with you so long, and yet like Thomas, you still don't know who He is? Let the witness of His Life and Spirit speak to your heart. He will if you are willing to hear. I Am speaks to you. He seeks to persuade you. Are you persuaded? Do you know whom you have believed? Or, have you gone looking for someone, or something else?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - But God....

"But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in heavenly places in Christ Jesus." Ephesians 2:4-6

I recently heard a woman named Jen Allen speak of her lifelong struggle with feeling not good enough, not worthy enough, just not enough. She said her victory came when she finally realized that all of this was true. She wasn't good or worthy enough before Him, or anyone else for that matter. She never would be and neither will we. Her victory came, as will ours, when we come to know and walk in the truth that in Christ, we are made whole, new, and raised up. Seated with Him in the heavenlies. Oh, that we could even begin to understand the wonder of that truth. If we could, all of our striving to prove to Him, and everyone else that we are "enough," would end. Are we ready to begin to understand?

I love the book of Ephesians. In it, Paul calls us to a level of life in Christ that is beyond belief. A life that is "exceedingly and abundantly beyond all we could ask or think." The spiritual life Paul speaks of is available to all who are His, yet so few of us ever enter into it. The letter to the Ephesians was written to a body of believers located in present day Turkey. It's quite a contrast to the letters he wrote to the Corinthian church in Greece. In Ephesians, he challenges and calls the people to the highest life possible in Him. In the letters to the Corinthians, though he speaks of that life as well, much of it is written as a warning and a discipline to a body of believers who are living in carnality, flesh. One shows what the fruit of a life in the Spirit will be, the other, the fruits of a life lived out in the flesh. Far too many would be more at home among the Corinthians than the Ephesians. Which church might you and I find ourselves a part of?

I think it comes down to the life we're called to as opposed to the life we settle for. So many of us struggle with our wounded, broken past, our seemingly hopeless present, and our deep fear of the future. We look at our surroundings and circumstances, and then we look at ourselves. The end result of it all can only be despair. We are not enough. We never will be. This is when we must know the power of those two words...... "But God!" The Corinthians struggled to know and live in that power. The Ephesians longed for it. As His Word says, "We all fall short of His glory." But in Christ, we are brought into the very presence of His glory. Seated with Him in the heavenlies, which He means to make a reality in our lives in the here and now. That is the gateway to the abundant life promised by and in Christ. Whatever we have done, wherever we have failed, whatever we have suffered, the enemy's accusation against us is canceled by those two words, "But God....," written in the blood of Christ at Calvary. All that has been done by us or to us is rendered powerless by those words. Against the deepest darkness possible, His Spirit simply speaks, "But God....."

The whisper of the devil, our adversary, will always be that we are not enough. Not good enough, not worthy enough, not lovable enough, not acceptable enough. All true apart from Him, but a total lie for all those who are His. To that accusation is the Answer that covers it all....but God. But God, in Christ's mercy and love, makes us so. Makes you so. Have you heard those words? Have you received them? Have you heard the upward call that the Ephesians heard, or do you struggle on, striving to please Him, seeking to earn His love and approval, and wearing yourself out in the process? It's a dead end, and will always be so. To all the shouts of accusation from the devil in the darkness, the Holy Spirit whispers to our hearts...."But God....." Do you hear Him?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - What If?

"But He answered and said, 'It is written, Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.' " Matthew 4:4....."Someday someone will pick up the Bible and believe it and amaze the world." John Stott

There are those who say playing the "what if?" game is an exercise in futility. We must live in what is they say. I disagree. Living in the "what is" is a recipe for disaster in my thinking, particularly as concerns the church in the west.

I'm not talking about living in a state of denial, though for many, that is their resident state of choice. The circumstances, obstacles, wounds, and heartbreak we face and experience are real and present. I'm talking of how we respond to all of these and to what degree His Word and words impact how we respond and how we live in the midst of them. Where we don't live in the captivity of what is, but in the power of what could be. This is where our asking "what if?" becomes all important. What if, in the midst of all the "tribulation" that Jesus said would be in our lives, we truly believed we could live as "more than conquerors" in the midst of it all. What if, instead of our focusing on what is, we set our eyes and hearts upon He who is greater than the sum of all that is against us, knowing that He truly is for us? Not passively for us, but as our Advocate? An aggressive Advocate working tirelessly on our behalf....in everything.

What if, in the midst of the darkness, we truly lived and believed that He is the Light that puts to flight all darkness? What if, in our spiritual blindness, we really believed that He gives us sight? What if, in our lameness, we believed He could and does make us whole? What if, in our confusion and disorientation, we trusted Him to lead us and make known to us the paths of life....in all places? What if, in every financial, material, physical, and spiritual crisis, we believed He really was our Source, our Healer, and our Sustainer? What if, when next we picked up our Bibles, we really did believe what He speaks? What if we believed He speaks to us even now? What if?

I think we are far more accomplished, even comfortable, with living in the realm of what is. We get a certain sense of control and familiarity. These will be lost when we enter into His realm of what could be, indeed the realm of what really is. This world, no matter how we cling to it, and no matter how at home we feel, is passing away. His Word abides, lives forever. What we think is, is passing. What He says is, is forever. Where do we wish to live? Where are we living right now?

May the Lord in this day raise up in this generation, a people who look to Him, who listen to Him, who really do live not by the bread of this world, but by and in the One who is the Bread of Life. May we not just carry Bibles filled with words, but may the Words within them carry us. They are Living Words, but only to those who believe. Are you and I among them? What can our lives be...if we are?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Living In The Watchtower

"I will climb into my watchtower now and wait to see what the Lord will say to me and how he will answer my complaint." Habakkuk 2:1

The prophet Habakkuk was living in tumultuous times. The people Israel were crumbling from within and facing destruction from without. Where was God in all of it? Why had He seemingly abandoned them? To all of that, the Lord simply replied, "Look at the nations and be amazed. Watch and be astounded at what I will do. For I am doing something in your own day, something you wouldn't believe even if I told you about it." Yet even in this answer, Habakkuk continued to question what God was doing. I think most of us find common cause in that. Too few of us do what he does next. Habakkuk sets his heart to hear from the Lord. He climbs his spiritual watchtower and positions himself to wait upon the Lord. Yes, he seeks answers, but more than answers, He seeks the Answergiver. How like, or unlike him are you and I?

We lack men and women with the heart of Habakkuk in these days. Whether it concerns what is happening in our culture, our churches, or our lives and homes, we are far more likely to seek to hear what men are saying than what He is speaking. We run to conferences, seminars, books and videos for words of wisdom and insight. We are very interested in what men may be saying, but all the while, the spiritual watchtowers remain empty. We are not looking or listening for what the Father is speaking at this time to His Church, this world, or us. We know what the church growth experts are saying. We're aware of what the cultural commentators are speaking, but where are those who are hearing from the Lord Himself? We have dialogue with one another, we network, we form breakout groups, but where are the ones who seek His voice, His face and His heart in all of it? We have hours of talk, minutes of prayer, and seconds of listening. In the time of Israel's Judges, it was said that word from the Lord was rare. I wonder at times if we are not dangerously close to the same today?

I've focused more on the Church, His Body, but this pertains to us as individuals as well. Are we really setting ourselves to "be still and know He is the Lord" in all areas of our lives? Who do we first seek in crisis and need? Our friends? Counselors? Oprah? Dare we climb our watchtower and seek His face alone, and with the attitude that we'll not leave until He answers, reveals, fills? Would that we'd desire to know what He is speaking as much as what He's doing. What He means to work within us through all of it, as well as what He seeks to reveal to us of Himself.

There's a great deal of pain, uncertainty and fear everywhere today. One or all may currently be at work in you. In all of these there is a message. There is the message of the enemy and there is the message of the Lord. The devil's message is a lie that he disguises as truth. Our flesh is only too willing to believe it. His message is Truth, and will always lead to life. When we live on ground level spiritually, we'll almost always hear only the lie. When we live in His watchtower we not only hear His truth, but will see it coming from the distance. The messages will come. How we hear them depends upon where we're standing. Where do you stand today?

Blessings,
Pastor O