Heart Tracks - The Alabaster Jar

36 When one of the Pharisees invited Jesus to have dinner with him, he went to the Pharisee’s house and reclined at the table. 37 A woman in that town who lived a sinful life learned that Jesus was eating at the Pharisee’s house, so she came there with an alabaster jar of perfume. 38 As she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears. Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them. Luke 7:36-38

It is believed that the woman who made this act of sacrificial worship was Mary Magdalene, the former prostitute. The perfume within that jar was expensive. It would likely have been the entire sum of what she owned. It was certainly the most precious of her possessions. She had already believed upon Jesus as the Messiah, and there is no indication that she had any expectation of a return from Him. She simply gave all she had as an act of devotion and worship. And that act filled the house with the scent of the perfume. Jesus said that what she had done would be remembered forever; not just upon the earth, but throughout eternity. It makes me wonder, what acts of worship that we offer are worth His remembering.....or anyone's remembering for that matter?

Most professing believers are willing to give....usually out of their surplus. What they think they can afford, or what they think is found acceptable. Up to a tithe, and maybe a bit beyond. Rarely do we "break" our alabaster jar of what we believe precious and pour it all out to Him. Someone asked if we shrewdly calculate what we can afford to give Him without actually giving up anything of ourselves? Do we, as Oswald Chambers stated, "shuffle our feet" in the light of that question?

Everyone's concept of what they deem to be precious can be different. Whatever is contained in our "alabaster jar," can we freely offer it up to Him? I have in my prayer journal this question, written long ago. I don't remember the source, but it asks, "When was the last time we did something we'd never done before, or would do for no one else, but did for Him, simply as an act of worship?"

What do you carry in your alabaster jar that is precious beyond anything else? It can be anything. Dreams, desires, wounds, betrayals, hopes, plans, relationships, goals, and most of all, ourselves. Can we break the jars we hold these in, release them to Him, and pour them out upon His feet.....in trust, and in worship? The offering of that which we have always held as most precious, to Him who has become precious beyond what words can describe.

Whatever is your "alabaster jar," do you offer it, all of it, to Him? Or, do you hold it all back, and give to Him something less valued, something more "affordable?" Are your, our, offerings of worship unforgettable to His heart, or tainted by the reality that we hold to something else believed to be more precious to us than Him?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - The Chain Gang

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13....."Joy is being able to walk through the valley of the shadow of death and have the peaceful assurance that Jesus walks with us." Thelma Wells

In The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, as Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli Gloin approach the hall of the King of Rohan, a land slowly being overtaken by the darkness emanating from the evil realm of Mordor, Gimli remarks, "You'll find more joy in a graveyard." I wonder, when unbelievers encounter we who say we believe in the Lord of Life, are their thoughts similar? Should it happen that someone not acquainted at all with our particular fellowship entered in for our weekly worship, might they think the same? Evangelist James Robison said that too many Christians live and look like they're members of a chain gang. To what degree do we fit that description on most given days?

Jesus promised that in Him our joy would be full. The Old Testament abounds with references to the joy of the Lord. The book of Nehemiah declares that "the joy of the Lord is your strength." Joy is one of the beautiful fruits of the Holy Spirit. It is His will and desire, even command, that we live in and experience His joy. So why do so few of us have that experience?

Perhaps it's because we confuse happiness with joy. Wells says that "Happiness is natural. Joy is supernatural." Happiness is dependent on circumstances and emotions. Joy is the fruit of abiding in Christ. In my prayer journal I have written, "Do we just cope with life, or in Christ, rise above it." The joy of the Lord gives us the strength to rise above the sorrows of life. I don't say that we will not be touched by them. We will, but the sorrow, if we are truly abiding in Him, cannot touch our joy. Even in the tears, in the valley of the shadow of death, the joy of His Presence is with us, and in us. We are touched by sorrow, but we are not held by it.

There are few things more tragic, or more grieving to His Spirit, than a joyless child of the King. Such a state should be unheard of in a believer, but it is not. Too often we do look like members of a chain gang. I know because I have lived in that state myself. Whenever I have allowed circumstances, sorrows, distractions, anything, to lure me from my abiding in Him, my joy recedes, and worry, fear, anxiety, hopelessness, despair, take it's place. I've allowed myself to be made a member of the enemy's chain gang. Yet, if I will turn to Him, abide in Him, His joy and peace becomes my joy and peace, and the chains are soaked from my ankles and wrists.

Is the joy and peace of Christ yours today? Or, do you labor through life manacled to the enemy's chain gang? You have but to turn to Him, renounce the chains, be they of sin, circumstances, or the attacks of hell, and behold Him to cause them to fall at His feet and yours. And know, anew, or for the first time, that the joy of the Lord is indeed your strength.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - The Skull

"They came to a place called Golgotha (which means 'the place of the skull). Matthew 27:33

Many have said that the great battlefield every believer faces is that found in the mind. The battle is between whether we receive His Truth or the enemy's lies. One or the other reigns in our minds. Which one reigns in yours?

Jesus said that from the beginning, Satan was a liar, that he is the father of lies. In his first encounter with our human ancestors, he weaved lies in with half-truths. He has been doing so down through the ages. He does so today. Those who have been ensnared by those lies are also captive to them. Many have been set free in their hearts, but remain in bondage in their minds. Some fully, others partially, but really, all of us on some point or matter. The enemy's lie is always rooted in the character of the God we say we trust in. He has seemingly endless angles from which to attack us in this. They can range from the trustworthiness of His promises, to His ability to bring them to pass, to His desire to really want to help us. We are born into this world as a fallen race. Christ the Redeemer was sent by His Father to break the curse of sin and its power, and to dispel all the lies we have believed to be true. He did this at the cross, and the key to understanding this can be found at that cross.

Jesus was crucified at Golgotha, "the place of the skull." At the top of that skull shaped hill, with His cross driven squarely into it. Think on that picture for a moment. The skull encases the brain. It is in the brain where our perception of what is true and what is a lie is found. The cross of Christ literally penetrated that skull like hill. His cross, and all that it signifies also penetrates our own "skulls" and the brain within if we will but receive the fullness of that work. In His crucifixion and resurrection Christ brought the promise of freedom and victory. Truth triumphs over every lie, even the deepest and most destructive that we have believed. The work of the cross not only captures our hearts, but our brains as well....if we'll but receive it.

It is recorded that at the cross, a soldier pierced his side with a spear, and that water and blood flowed from the wound. Someone said of this that "the water of His Word washes our mind and His blood breaks all the power of sin over our minds." For so many, His blood has covered their sin, but they have never allowed the water of His Word to wash and cleanse their minds. Someone said that we cannot take a destructive (lying) thought out of our mind. It can only be replaced by a more powerful (truthful) one. This happens when we allow our minds to be washed, cleansed, of all the lies we have received and believed. Scripture says that He speaks words of "Spirit and life." At the cross, the Truth, His Truth, penetrated the domain of the Father of lies. In His resurrection, the pathway into the fullness of His Truth was laid open to us. Isn't it time for each of us to enter into that fullness, to exchange every lie we have believed for the Truth that He has spoken? 2000 years ago, at the place of the skull, Truth broke all the power of the lie. Have you entered into that Truth in all it's fullness? Where are the lies still lurking, sending out their poison? The power of the lie, all of it was broken at the cross. His Truth now reigns. Receive it that it may now reign in you.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Sacred Wounds

"From now on, don't let anyone trouble me with these things. For I bear on my body that scars that show I belong to Jesus." Galatians 6:17...."Wounds become sacred when we give them to God." Ruth Graham

There are many certainties in life, and one of the most daunting is that we will not escape it without wounds. Oftentimes deep wounds, agonizing wounds, wounds that change the very course of our life. What that course turns out to be will be determined by what it is we do with our wounds.

I don't want to diminish the pain of anyone's wounding or loss. I certainly know the extent of my own. However, something I have observed, and fallen prey to myself, is our holding onto that pain and the wounding that accompanies it. It becomes something we don't want to let go. Someone said that we can get past that which we can't get over. That means that there is always a memory of the pain, but that we don't "live" there. It doesn't hold us captive. More, we can make a kind of idol of that wound, staying in that place emotionally, spiritually, and sometimes, even physically. I've always felt that Abraham's father, Terah, did this concerning the death of his son Haran. Terah had intended to take his family to the land of Canaan, but stopped at a village with the same name as his son, Haran. He never left. He never arrived to where it was he was supposed to go. That village became an idol to his loss. Where might we have done the same...over a lost loved one, marriage, relationship, ministry?

Paul bore on his body the scars of a life lived out in Christ. Many were his losses and wounds. He saw all of them as testimony that he belonged completely to his Lord and Savior. Beth Moore said something to the effect that if we give them to Him, Jesus will write His name upon our wounds and scars. His signature not only marks us as His, but is a testimony to His healing. As Ruth Graham says, when we surrender our wounds to Him, they become sacred. Sacred wounds. They become so because they are signed, in love, in His blood, with His name. But only when we give them freely, willingly, to Him.

It is said that the only wounds and scars that will be seen in heaven will be Christ's, the mark of both His crucifixion and resurrection. And by the power of His wounds, all trace of our wounds will be gone. Yet on this side of eternity, we still bear them. How will we bear them? As captives or conquerors? Do we live in them, make idols of them? Or do we surrender them to Him and see them made sacred? Sacred wounds. Is that what ours are?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Two Voices

"I know very well how foolish the message of the cross sounds to those who are on the road to destruction. But we who are being saved recognize this message as the very power of God." I Corinthians 1:18.....'The enemies tactics are limitless, but his intention is plain; Get the Christian off track. He wants us to mistrust Jesus and start making decisions based on fear and anxiety." Christ Tiegreen

In my prayer journal, I've written down a question that cannot be avoided by any professing believer; "Who's louder; The Truth of the cross, or the lies of the enemy?" I believe this is a question that needs to be answered definitively by a once for all choice, but also daily as that choice will be tested by the incessant attacks of the kingdom of darkness and death.

The Word says that "All the promises of God are 'Yes and Amen.' " Satan's ploy will always be to "get us off track," to, as Tiegreen says, "get us to mistrust Jesus." When this happens, we do base our choices, decisions and direction on emotions and feelings. He will apply such pressure as to make what we're feeling to be more real than what He is saying. It's a simple but effective plan, and it is working in the lives of so many who confess a faith in Him, but give witness to deep seated unbelief in Him. Today, any day, is that plan working in you and me?

It's been said that Satan shouts in the darkness while God whispers. Ears that are not attuned to the heart of the Father will never hear the whisper. Only the shouts will register, and the actions and choices that follow will be rooted in the lies within the shouting. The shouting will tell us that we have to do something, that we must act now, before it's too late. The shouts will speak every kind of lie, and all of them based in the ultimate lie that Christ cannot be trusted, that His words aren't true, at least in the particular situation we face. We only hear the shouting because we've never learned to discern His voice, His whisper, in the secret place of intimacy with Him, with His heart.

Tiegreen writes this, "If we let circumstances constrain us, Satan will manipulate them indefinitely, stringing us along our whole lives in uncertain, fear induced steps...Do not negotiate with the terrorist when he threatens." The terrorist of our souls will threaten us all the day long. The giant Goliath stood before the Israelites shouting threats day after day while they cowered in their tents. David, a young shepherd armed with only a sling, shouting at the giant, who'd been speaking in the voice of the devil, "You come to me armed with sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel." The army of Israel had forgotten that. The giant's shouting was louder than their God's truth. It was not so for David, who not only knew that "secret place," he lived there. He slew the giant and he won the victory. So shall we if reject the shouts and lies of the darkness, and embrace the Truth of the Lifegiver, the Truthgiver. Two voices come before you today. That of the author of lies, and the voice of the Author of Truth and Life. Which do you hear? Which do you live by?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - The Plate

"The churches of Macedonia...first gave their own selves to the Lord." 2 Corinthians 8:1,5....."Modern Macedonians give money, but the early Macedonians first gave God the Macedonians." Vance Havner

The above Scripture and quote make me think of two stories that greatly impacted me. The first was told by Sheila Walsh about a young man in the Scottish village she grew up in. He was known as "Wee Jimmy." Wee Jimmy was known throughout the village as a thief and troublemaker. One night he slipped into a church with the intent to rob it of the night's offering. As he waited on the back row, the Word being preached pierced his heart, and at the end of the service, responded to the invitation and gave his heart to Christ. He then faithfully began attending all worship services. A few weeks later, as the offering plate came to him, he asked the usher to place it on the floor beside his seat. The older gentleman softly told him that it was fine if he had nothing to give, but Wee Jimmy persisted, and finally, the usher placed the plate right beside his seat. Jimmy then stood up, and placed his feet in the plate. This was his witness to all that he was offering to God, not part of his money, goods, or himself. He would be the offering. He was the offering. Like the Macedonians, Wee Jimmy gave God the offering of himself; all of himself.

The second story is one I heard of taking place in a worship service in a poor Chinese village. It was customary during the worship to pass around a large sack, into which the villagers would place whatever they could, chickens, farm goods, and so on. When it came to one woman, she had absolutely nothing countable to give; so she gave to Him all that she could. She stepped into the sack, and by doing so gave witness, just as Wee Jimmy had, just as had the early Macedonians, that she gave to Him herself....all of herself.

How do we fit into these stories? Do we find it easy to write a check, make a pledge, to give a portion, while holding back the rest? Do we ever, as the "plate" comes to us, step into it? When the "sack" comes before us, do we pull it over ourselves? Just how far, how deep, does our offering to Him really go?

In Jesus Christ, the Father gave us His all. What do we offer in return? In Jesus Christ, the Father gave to us according to His riches, which are infinite. Why do we tend to always give to Him out of our own. I remember an older pastor once telling this young pastor to not fear asking too much of my people, "They'll never give too much." Cynical? Perhaps, but the Wee Jimmy's and the Chinese villager are too rarely found in our churches. We'll give up to a tithe, sometimes even more. Rarely will we give all of ourselves, our time, resources, talents, lives, to Him. His plate and sack will come before us today; what will we put into it....a portion.....or all that we are? We may avoid them today, but they'll come again tomorrow, and the next day after, and beyond. What will we put into them?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - The First Question

"I only know that in every city the Holy Spirit warns me that prison and hardships are facing me. I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me." Acts 20:23-24...."What would you do if the Holy Spirit told you your future would be full of prisons and hardships?" Chris Tiegreen...."The first question we must answer is, have we determined beforehand, that no matter what He requires or asks, our answer is 'Yes?' " Francis Chan

The questions that Tiegreen and Chan ask pierce our hearts with an inescapable reality. They cut to the core of our being. They ask us if even should He reveal to us that following Him would involve sacrifice beyond anything we thought possible, even the loss of everything, would we still follow Him? Even if the following meant severe hardship, prison, even death? In short, if in the call, He placed the cross, His cross, and the death it calls us to before us, would we still come? Would we still follow?

These questions clash with the usual picture given of what it is to "come to Christ." We like to emphasize all the great things that go with entering into the saving relationship with Jesus Christ. We're told that He has a "wonderful plan for our lives." Good things, abundance, provision, relief, all these lie ahead of us. We just need to enter in and the desires of our heart will be ours. Prisons, hardships, a cross, these are not usually mentioned as being part of the package.

To Peter, Paul, and others in the Bible, Jesus clearly told them much of what lie in their future. Death and hardship would be the cost of following Him. He told them that to follow Him wholly would mean they would share in His suffering. He was clear on that with them. He is clear on that with us. He's told us it would be so. So why are we so shocked when hardship and suffering do come upon us? Didn't He tell us it would be so? He did. It's just that we who are to be His voice, are His voice, have chosen to leave most, if not all of that part of His invitation out. Prisons, hardships, suffering, and a cross do not have mass appeal, and we want to appeal to the masses. The cross has always offended, and though we may fully display it in our churches, we rarely do so in our message and witness. So we are ill-prepared for what it is to truly follow Christ. When they come, too often, we go....as far from them as we can get.

To Paul and Peter and others, Jesus gave some details on what lie before them. For most though, He doesn't. He just tells us that to follow Him fully will require the losing of our lives, sometimes literally, but always spiritually. He tells us that there will be suffering, and if we have not settled that first question as to whether we will go with Him anyway, we can be sure that when suffering comes, we won't continue on with Him. In John 6, we're told that most of His followers turned away from Him when He made this very demand. He asked the remaining disciples if they too would leave Him? Peter spoke for all; "Lord, where would we go? You have the words of eternal life."

How do we answer Chan's first question? It cannot be taken lightly or avoided, and it is asked of each of us. Have you already settled on the answer, or, as Oswald Chambers puts it, "Do you shuffle your feet?" The old hymn goes, "Though none go with You, still I will follow." If everyone, simply everyone turns back, will you, will we, still follow?

Blessings,
Pastor O