The Flow

 37 On the last and greatest day of the festival, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, “Let anyone who is thirsty come to me and drink. 38 Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”[a] John 7:37-38

........."Do I manifest the essential sweetness of the Son of God, or the essential irritation of 'myself' apart from Him?"

Oswald Chambers

In my prayer journal I've written the question, "What flows out of us; rivers of living water, or rivers of anger, bitterness, hopelessness, and despair?" There is always a "river" flowing out of us, what does mine look like, and what does yours?

Every river begins with a source, and that is the first place we must examine. Who and what is our "source?" What is it from which our lives, our being flows? I see there being only two possibilities; from our "self" or from Christ. The latter brings life, His life. The former only death. As an old chorus goes, the River of Life "brings refreshing wherever it goes." Can we ask ourselves a direct question here? Do our lives, our presence, mine and yours, bring a refreshing into the situations in which we find ourselves? Does our presence, anchored in His Presence, bring calm, joy, hope, peace, wisdom, and all the components of the fruit of His Spirit, in those places? Places, sometimes difficult, to which He's led us? Or, does our presence add to the already volatile circumstances we're in? Do we help fuel the anger that is already present? Do we add our bitterness to that which is already being expressed? Do we attack the character of one who is already suffering such attacks? Do we take a "hearsay" about a person or situation and pass it on with our own personal "touch" being added to it? If we're really honest with ourselves, there are places where we've done all of that to some degree. Rivers of pure, living water are to be flowing from our lives, but too often, what flows is a mixture of His purity and our carnal attitudes.

I remember that growing up, it was common from time to time that the faucets in our house would sometimes yield water that was brownish in color. It was because cracks would often develop in the pipes bringing water to ours and other homes carrying dirt that had gotten into the water flow, either from the cracks,, or from work being done on them. In any event, no one drank that water. Always, we waited until the impurities had been washed out. Eventually, the clear water flowing from the nearby reservoir, visible from our house, would expunge the filth, It was an ever pure source. In the life of a believer, "impurities" will always seek to find their way into our hearts and minds. If we are truly joined to Him as our Source, we can depend upon His ever flowing water of Life to constantly wash them away. However, if we are looking for other sources for our life and well being, the result will always be a mixture. Pure and impure, and no matter how we want to look at that, the bottom line is that what flows from us brings as much death as it does life, and sadly, oftentimes more.

Early in my ministry, I remember visiting a family that had left our church some years before I had arrived. As I sat at their table, I listened to them relate some of the reasons why they no longer attended any church at all. They remembered as children, teens, and even as adults, hearing others in the family, those who had given glowing testimonies about the Lord while "in church," spend the entire ride home harshly criticizing the pastor, or expressing jealousy, anger, or unforgiveness against another in the church. They saw it as hypocrisy, and it was, for hypocrisy is always the result when our lives flow with a mixture of the pure and impure.

Far too many professing believers are living lives that are made up of a portion of His Living Water, and a greater portion of "water" that is polluted with death. Just as the dirt tainted water of my childhood was undrinkable, so are our lives "undrinkable" to those around us. How much of our lives are so because of the pollutants we have allowed into them? In Scripture, the River of God is spoken of, and how it flows from the throne of God, bringing healing with its waters. It's Source is God Himself, and the effects of His flowing waters will always be healing and wholeness. Christ was and is the supreme Agent of His healing and wholeness. As His people, we are to be as well. Are we, are you and I, such agents? Or, are we adding to an already heavily polluted world?

I mentioned that you could see the reservoir that served our community from our house. It's still there, and still visible. This is what the church, you and I, is to be to a world in desperate need of His water of life. A visible church, connected to the Source of water of Life, and a vessel through which that water, that river flows. In the midst of a sin polluted world, we have tolerated our various pollutants long enough. May His River of Life flow through us, our fellowships, His Church, bringing life and refreshing wherever we go. That's what His Living Water does. May we never ceased to be filled and to flow with that water.

Blessings,

Pastor O

Unshakeable Realm

 "When God spoke from Mt. Sinai His voice shook the earth, but now He makes another promise: 'Once more I will shake not only the heavens but the earth also.' This means that the things on earth will be shaken so that only eternal things will be left." Hebrews 12:26-27

Commenting on the above Scripture, British preacher T. Austin-Sparks asks, "What have we got, that being unshakeable, will remain when He does shake the heavens and the earth?" Throughout history, God has brought shakings not only upon the world, but even more, upon His own people, His church. In these shakings, and we are in the midst of some of the most intense ever seen in our lifetimes, just what is it in our lives that will still be standing after the strongest of them? What in our lives is truly unshakeable? Our faith and trust? Our commitment to total obedience to Him? Our complete heart surrender? Our obedience in taking up our cross and following Him? All of these and more will be shaken. What we have professed and confessed will be tested. Who and what our true dependence is upon and faith is placed will be shown. Who we're really living for, and what we're living for will be exposed. If it isn't Christ, the shakings will reveal it to be so, and all that which has taken His place, despite what we say, will fall. Our only hope, and our place to be, is in the Unshakeable Realm. With Him, in Him.

I had a conversation not long ago with one who strongly professes their faith, and yet whose witness, and I don't say this in judgement, has not seemed to live up their confession of faith. I asked them if, when the Lord comes, in whatever manner He chooses to come, will they be ready? Without hesitation, they replied, "Oh, I'm ready. I know I'm ready." I pray they are, but I know this; that confession is going to be put to the test. The true foundation upon which they live is going to be shaken, to the very depths. Only what is eternal, only that which is Christ, can survive the shaking. That's when they will find if they truly are ready or not. That's when we will as well.

We are part of a generation of believers that have allowed so much that is not Jesus Christ to infiltrate our hearts and spirit....and our churches. Consciously or not, we have constructed far too much of our lives and ministries upon sinking sand, all the while believing that it was actually rock. Christ rock. Solid rock. The only Rock. Nothing, not the most violent and destructive force this world can muster, can move that Rock, or the one who stands upon it. That Rock is Christ. That Rock is eternal. That Rock is the cornerstone of His eternal Kingdom. When all else has faded and disappeared, that Rock remains. His shakings will reveal what our lives, marriages, fellowships, and ministries have really been built upon. All but that which is Christ will fall into ruin.

The apostle Paul wrote much about a life hidden in Christ. He could write of it because he lived it. Paul, who lived a life of near constant outer chaos, at the same time lived a life of perfect rest in Him. So shaken had been his life that all that was not of Him was gone, and only his foundation of Christ remained. Chaos around him could not affect the peace within. Such is life in the unshakeable realm. In that realm I want to live. On that foundation, I want to build. What realm do you find yourself today? Be assured it will be shaken. Your life and mine will be shaken. Only what is of Christ, what is eternal will remain. What will remains in us?

Blessings,

Pastor O

Authority

 "Jesus came and told His disciples, 'I have been given complete authority in heaven and on earth." Matthew 28:18..."And I have given you authority over all the power of the enemy." Luke 10:19

There are few subjects in the Bible more misused, misinterpreted, or simply not known by the church than the authority of the believer. Where it has been taught, it has often been presented as a means of getting the result we desire in prayer by a means some have called, "name it and claim it." Those who promote this don't seem to ever see the great amount of flesh and selfishness that can be involved in it. It certainly twists the meaning of Christ's words as in context, He meant the authority to be used in the advancing of His Kingdom, and most especially, advancing against the kingdom of darkness. Selfish desire, or even the achieving of good intentioned desire was not the thrust of it.

More than the flawed teaching on authority is the lack of teaching and understanding of the believers authority within the church as a whole. I have not heard many sermons on it, or mention of it in the many prayer gatherings I've been involved in. Perhaps this is due to the lack of teaching and preaching on the subject of hell and the demonic power of the devil. It's not so much because there has been an outright denial of their existence, though some do, but that we have somehow come to believe that their power is not to the degree once thought. In short, they're there, but they're not that great of a threat, and sin is not that great of a problem. We choose to concentrate on the Father, the Son, and sometimes, the Holy Spirit. I say sometimes because in many churches, the Person of the Holy Spirit is rarely mentioned, let alone His ministry to the church. I agree, we can never elevate the activity of the enemy and his ways above the character, activity, and ways of our 3 in 1 God, but it was with wisdom that Peter advised us to not be ignorant of the ways of the enemy. That he constantly seeks ways and means to destroy His church and His people.We need to know and recognize this activity and this spirit, and we need to know the power we have to use against him. We need to know and walk in the authority that we have in Christ. Jesus stated flatly in His trial before Pilate that neither Pilate, or the empire he represented, had any power over Him. Neither has the enemy, and all the various means he uses to come against us, have any power over us. The authority that Christ walked and ministered in has been, by His own words, given to us. Not for the advance of our personal kingdoms and wishes, but for His. Always for His.

Right now, I think much of the church is feeling victimized. We have seen the havoc that has been visited upon our families through things like Covid, political and social turmoil, and the pervasive fear that so many are living in and under. We need to know, to have an awakening to the reality of who we are in Christ. Jesus went on to say in Luke 10 that He has given us authority and power to tread upon snakes and scorpions and not be harmed. The "snakes and scorpions" of the enemy are everywhere in our culture and have invaded our homes, our marriages, our children, our lives. We are not helpless against them. His Word tells us that they have been put under His feet, and as we are His Body, than under ours as well. Satan and His kingdom have been conquered. He may, as a friend of mine said, refuse to admit that, but he is defeated. He fights on, but it is a hopeless fight when he is pitted against a people who know who they are in Him, and the power He has given them....given us. All he can hope for is that we remain ignorant of that, and so leave ourselves open for his attacks.

There is one more point I must make here. If it is not our ignorance that keeps us from living in His authority, then it is very often our own refusal to submit to authority. We are living in a rebellious, lawless culture. There is a growing refusal to submit to any kind of authority. It has permeated the church. The church is filled with "wanderers." These are folks who have become disaffected at one church and left to find another. At root, so often, is a clash with and refusal to submit to the spiritual authorities of their previous church's leadership. Sometimes people do need to leave a church, particularly if it is led by those who abuse their spiritual authority, but I have rarely seen this to be the case. Most often they simply don't like what the leadership is doing because it isn't what they want to be done, whether the rest of the fellowship believes it is or not. For those who rebel against authority in this way, there can be no possibility of them walking in His authority. He doesn't honor rebels.

In what and where do you walk today? In shadowy ignorance, or in the realization of who you are in Him, in the power and authority of Christ and His Holy Spirit? Do you walk and live in submission, not slavish submission, but yielded to the spiritual authorities that are in place over you....or are you in rebellion? God has established a line of authority, and when we live under it, we are powerful in Him. All authority has been given us. Let us walk in it.

Blessings,

Pastor O

Chaff Or Wheat?

 25Large crowds were traveling with Jesus, and turning to them he said: 26"If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters-yes, even their own life-such a person cannot be my disciple. Luke 14:25-26

....."Our catch-all invitations gather up a motley mixture, a mixed multitude. Screen them with this "cannot" and see how much wheat is left when the chaff is gone." Vance Havner

The church in the last decade or so has become acutely aware of the need for real discipleship. It is seeking to respond, but to what, into what are we discipling them? Someone asked if we are making disciples or clones? Are we making followers of Christ, or adherents to our particular doctrines and theology? Don't misunderstand. I believe a strong understanding of correct biblical doctrine and theological interpretation is deeply important, but do we have more interest in getting people to agree with how our particular group understands it all than we are about making real Christlike followers, disciples of Jesus Christ? Are we more determined to make them Charismatics, Pentecostals, Wesleyans, or Calvinists, than we are that they become full hearted disciples of the King? I am a Wesleyan, steeped in the Wesley teachings on holiness, Holy Spirit filled life. I'm part of a denomination known as the Church of the Nazarene, but I knew long ago in my ministry that He was not calling me to make those He'd given to my care "good Nazarenes," but rather, effective, overcoming, spirit filled and led followers of Christ. In short, not people who first identified with a denominational group, but ones who first and fully identified with Jesus Christ.

Beyond this is an even greater question, as put forth by Havner. In our efforts at discipleship, how deeply do we stress the absolute need of surrender that's involved in it? How much does the idea of our crucifying the self-life enter into it? It's far easier to get someone to declare loyalty to a group than it is the crucified Christ. Speaking of the above Scripture, Havner said, "These words were spoken to a great multitude. We would be flattered by such a following, but our Lord immediately thinned His crowd." Thinning the crowd is the last thought on most of our minds, especially pastors, but what are we really most interested in; a crowd to be counted, or a Body, a Church to powerfully live out His witness? I ask that knowing clearly the tightrope all pastors walk on in choosing between the two. I walked it to some degree for all of my ministry. I think the spiritual state of the western church tells us it is past time to get off of it. We are filled with chaff but the Lord requires wheat.

I think one day we are all going to have to answer the question of what we most wanted to have; a church full of people, or a people filled with God? A church filled with people can offer an amazing amount of people centered things that appeal to individuals and families.....and the flesh. A church filled with Him offers first and foremost, Him. Are we offering chaff or wheat? Are we producing chaff or wheat?

Jesus never said what was involved in being a "casual Christian." He didn't because He never had a concept of such a condition. He only knew what was required in being His disciple. One who could say with Paul, "(for me) to live is Christ." Christ first, last, and all. Which do you and I most resemble? Which does your fellowship and mine most consistently produce?

Blessings,

Pastor O

I AM

 "God replied to Moses, 'I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: I AM has sent me to you.' " Exodus 3:14

Moses had been tasked by God for what he saw as an impossible mission; to lead the Israelites out of their slavery in Egypt, the most powerful kingdom in the ancient world. The obstacles to doing that were immense in his eyes. Yes, he'd just seen the Lord appear in a burning bush, a bush that was not consumed by the flames. A miracle. Yes, he heard the voice of God speaking to him from those flames. Another miracle. Still, the call of leading the people out of their slavery would involve a multitude of obstacles, and not even the burning bush or His voice convinced him that he could succeed. Why would the people listen to him? Why would the Egyptians? What would he tell them as to why he'd even come? That's why the Father replied with His words from Exodus 3.

Henry Blackaby has some powerful insight as to what God was saying in "I AM WHO I AM," and that the "I AM" was sending him to them. Blackaby says God was saying to Moses, "Moses, I'll be whatever you need me to be...If you need miraculous signs....then that is how I'll express Myself. If you need Me to interrupt nature and part the Red Sea, then I'll demonstrate Myself in that way. I will be your provider and your strength."

We are so often just like Moses, and not just as concerns His calling to ministry tasks, but as concerns every aspect of life. We look at our circumstances, our impossibilities, and we ask God, "how?" We believe in Him, but we struggle to believe the God we say we believe in. We come up with a long list of "what if's." What if this unexpected roadblock comes up? What if I lose my job, my health, my mate? What if the worst that I can imagine actually happens, what then? In all of these, the great I AM speaks to us as He did Moses. He tells us that whatever our need may be, in whatever the danger we find ourselves, whatever the size of the mountain or giant, He will be to us in that place, exactly what we need Him to be. He is an infinite God, and He has an infinite amount of ways to deliver us, save, and bring us through and home. He will be whatever we need.

What is it that you need Him to be for you? Can you dare to believe that He'll be exactly what you need there? I love the lyric from an old Jesus music song, "I AM is speaking to you. Stand still and see what He's going to do." When I AM speaks, it is. There is no limit to the means He will use to fulfill His purposes for you. For yours. For us.

God spoke and all things came into being, including us. He spoke all of it through His Son, Jesus Christ, in whom, the Word says, all things hold together. He rules over all, in the natural, and in the supernatural. In Him, there are no limitations. We cannot be prepared for everything. Indeed, we are rarely prepared for most things. He is, and in Him, we have this assurance; in the unexpected and the unknown, He is our known, and we can expect Him to be all and whatever we need in every place. So, we really can stand still and behold what He will do.

Blessings,

Pastor O

The Best Part

 "You will show me the way of life, granting me the joy of Your presence and the pleasures of living with you forever." Psalm 16:11....."We are so activity oriented that we assume we were saved for a task we are to perform rather than for a relationship to enjoy." Henry Blackaby

Here's a question that cannot be given a snap response: How much pleasure is there for you in your "relationship" with Him? Does that word even have a place in what goes on between you and your Creator? Duty, obligation, task, even ministry, these words easily come to mind, but pleasure? Where do we really have it in our walk with Him? Can we even say we truly walk with Him?

The quote from Henry Blackaby very likely applies to a large segment of the church, particularly pastors, missionaries, evangelists, and others who would be thought of as "full time ministers." Yet it isn't limited to them. It applies to all of us in some way. We're saved to serve we say, and there is truth in that, but we are first saved that we might really know Him. Know Him in the depths of our being. Know ever deepening aspects of His character and ways. Psalm 16:11 says just that, that He will show us the way of life. His way and His life. Yet our first response is most often not what have You called me to, but what have You called me for? We ask Him what He wants us to do, when He wants to show us all that we are to be. Neglecting the second part will cause us to eventually burn out as we concentrate on the first.

If you serve Him today, are you experiencing joy and pleasure in it? I don't mean the satisfaction of feeling you're doing a good job, but are you experiencing a pleasure in the serving that comes from the experience of the joy in knowing Him? In the spiritual disciplines of prayer and Bible study, do you see them as things you have to do, or opportunities that you get to have and that bring you closer to and deeper in Him? We all have things, hobbies, people, jobs and ministries that bring us pleasure. Do we have more pleasure in any and all of them than we do in Him? There are professing men who can watch hours upon hours of football each weekend, but cannot stay focused in a worship service beyond 15 minutes. There are professing women who can spend great swaths of time socializing and talking with friends, but have no idea of how to talk to Him. Every moment of every day He runs to us with open arms, and too often, most often, we don't notice Him. We walk right by Him.

Romantic movies and novels often speak of how lovers enjoy the pleasure of each others company. Is there anything near that in our relationship with Him? If not, how can we say we have a relationship with Him? And how can we be so hardened to His love that we don't even realize how we grief His Spirit with our neglect?

I think we've heard the story of the two sisters, Mary and Martha so often we no longer hear its message....if ever we did. Jesus was invited to dinner at their home. Martha threw herself into the preparation. Mary sat at His feet. Martha, exhausting herself, complained to Jesus that her sister was doing nothing. Jesus told Martha that she was exhausted, burnt out, over so many things, but that one thing was needed above all others; time and fellowship with Him. He told her that Mary had chosen that, the "best part." More than a well prepared meal provided by Martha's work, Jesus wanted Martha herself. That was the best part. Martha missed it that day. Where are we missing it today? He offers us the best part of Himself. Where are we settled for something so much less?

Blessings,

Pastor O

Left Alone

 And the crowd began pleading with Jesus to go away and leave them alone....Mark 5:17

Since the Garden, humankind has spent far more time rejecting Him than coming to Him. After their disobedience, Adam and Eve sought to hide from Him. It has so often been our first response since. When He displayed His glory before His people Israel in the wilderness, they withdrew from His Presence, and begged Moses to be their representative to Him so that they would not have to come close. In the scripture from Mark, Jesus has just delivered a man possessed by so many demons that his name was Legion, "for there are many of us in him." He then sent them into a herd of nearby pigs, which promptly ran, en masse, over a cliff and drowned. The people from the nearby town were so terrified that they came out and asked Him, begged Him, to leave. To leave them alone. How tragic that we, the object of His love, spend so much of our lives running and hiding from Him. Even to the point of asking Him, demanding of Him that he "leave us alone." This is at least somewhat understandable in the case of an unbeliever. In our fallen state, a holy God terrifies us. But we who profess to love and follow Him, can so easily do all this as well. Where might we be doing it right now?

One of the sad truths that I've observed is that so many of His followers have somehow already determined just how far, and how deep thay are going to go with and in Jesus Christ. They are willing to give, go, and serve....up to a point. They want to grow in their relationship with Him.....to a degree. They want to identify with Him, but not so much that they are set apart from the culture they live in so as to be thought of as "fanatics." They welcome Jesus as Healer, Deliverer, Savior and Friend, but not a friend who intrudes too deeply upon and into their lives. As Chris Tiegreen puts it, "The question we must all consider is how much intensity we will accept in our relationship with God?" He is intensely passionate about us, expecting entrance, full entrance, into every area of our lives. He has no interest in shallow relationships. He is a "no holds barred Lord," and that can be, is, uncomfortable in the extreme for so many. So...we run...we hide, and yes, when He gets too close, we even ask Him to leave us alone. Where are we doing that right now?

Someone said that He "picks on things" in our lives in order to bring them to the surface and deal with them. Rather than submit to this, we seek ways to avoid Him, hide from Him. When this proves impossible, and it always will, we end up, in many ways, telling Him to leave us alone. When we do, He'll honor the request, but destruction is always the sure result. Those things He picks on are all "infections" that have the power to grow to such an intensity that they can, and almost certainly will, "bring us down." He's willing to be very intense indeed in order to save us from that.

What things has He been picking on in your life? Not in an accusing, condemning way, but with His still small and persistent voice. What has been lurking in the darkness that He seeks to bring into the light? What wounds are festering, attitudes harming, habits and addictions crippling and killing? Over what do we continue to tell ourselves, "It's not that bad," and so withdraw a little further from Him? Where have we gotten so weary of it all that we've simply asked Him to leave? In what part of parts of our lives, have we evicted Jesus?

The Holy Spirit passionately pursues us. Such is the depth of His desire for us. Yet He will not violate our wishes. If we, with our words and actions continue to demand He back off, that He leave us alone, He will. In the end, it will be to our eternal sorrow that He has done just that....left us alone.

Blessings,

Pastor O