Heart Tracks - Maze Runners

 "Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to His cross and crucified them there. If we are living now by the Holy Spirit, let us follow the Holy Spirit's leading in every part of our lives." Galatians 5:24-25

There's a popular book and movie series out called, I believe, "The Maze Runner." I know little or nothing of the book or movie, but I think I know a good bit about Mazes. I've been running them for a large part of my Christian life. I think it's a good bet that maybe you have as well.

I was with a friend recently and his words, soaked in the Spirit, gave me the leading for what I write today. He said that so much of the church is trapped in running a maze. We are constantly looking for something that "will work." We go up this aisle, hoping that we've found a route that will get us to the result, the goal that we have in our mind and heart. Almost always, we end up running into a dead end. When that happens, we go down a new aisle, also one that we think will get us to where we want to be. Bam! Another dead end. And then another aisle.... and then another aisle, and then......Even if the aisle does get us to where we want to be, the final result will still be a dead end. Why? Because as my friend put it, when we're results and goal oriented, we are not Source oriented. And when that is where we're living, even if we get what we want, we are not getting the fullness of Him. If we're getting Him at all. That is the ultimate dead end.

When we have locked our eyes on the results we want to achieve, the goal we want to reach, they are not set upon Him. So spiritually, we keep running in a maze, always trying to get out of it, but continually running into one dead end wall after another. There is a simple yet mighty solution, but with all of our focus on the result and the goal, we never see it. The solution is to get our eyes off what we foolishly believed is the prize, and upon Him who alone is the Prize above all else. Christ. We stop looking at the walls of the maze, and look up into the face of Him who is right there. Why is it that we find that so impossible to do? Could it be that we cannot, will not willingly nail all those "desires", good though they may be, to the cross? Leaving them there. Trusting Him with them. All of them. Then, and only then, will we fully hear His voice, sense His Spirit, and follow His lead. No more running into walls. No more slavish pursuit of results and goals, but a full hearted pursuit of Him. We no longer live for the reaching of the result, which is almost always tied up in what is really just appearance. We live for the Person and for the appearance of this Person and His purpose for our lives.

This is all foolishness to the flesh, and it's why the flesh will always be more comfortable chasing about in the maze. The heart and life that is crucified with Him will run after Him alone. And that life will never "hit the wall." It will just go on getting deeper, wider, higher in Him. We are no longer maze runners. We run with Christ. Where and with who do we run today? In a maze race we can never win? Or, racing with Him, knowing we will never lose? No one who runs with and in Him can ever lose.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Cracked Cisterns

 "For My people have done two evil things: They have forsaken Me - the fountain of Living Water. And they have dug for themselves cracked cisterns that can hold no water at all." Jeremiah 2:13......"If we've believed and trusted Him for full healing and wholeness, the 'cracks' in our lives will always allow our strength and confidence to 'leak' out.' " Beth Moore

Have you ever noticed how a crack in a plate or cup collects dirt, and no matter how hard you try to get it out, there remains a darkness over and in that crack? All our efforts to make it clean and whole fail, and while we can do some cosmetic things to cover it up, the crack, and the dirt, remain. It's a good picture I believe, of how many in the church today, and many churches as well, are living out their lives.

I don't think a lot of us would feel we should be included in the harsh and cutting words of the Father in Jeremiah 2. We probably don't feel that we've forsaken Him, or that we are rejecting His Living Water. But are we willing to submit to the searching of His Spirit in order to discover to what degree we really might be doing so? What unhealed cracks continue to exist in our lives, our families, and our church fellowships that we have succeeded in "covering up" so they are not visible, at least on the surface? How much "dirt" continues to find a home there, affecting every aspect of those lives, families and fellowships? 

Pastor's think that moving to a new church will make everything better. But they take their wounds, their cracks there with them, and are dismayed when what happened before happens again. Churches rid themselves of one pastor, and then believe that all will be better when they get a new one. And it is, until the same problems they had with the last leader emerge with the new one. The cracks, and the dirt within remain. And the water of His strength and Life leak out. It's the same with relationships, marriages, jobs, and our walk with Him. The cracks remain, and they continue to allow His Life to steadily drain out, and a people and Church that is to be marked by His healing wholeness, isn't. We're cracked and broken cisterns and we can never hold the water of His Life for very long until we come face to face, our face to His, with this truth.

All our efforts to make it better are doomed to failure. There is only One who can take the cracked cup of our lives, our families, marriages, and fellowships, and make the cup anew and cleanse the dirt within. It starts and ends with face to face honesty with Him. We confess. We repent. We are forgiven and cleansed. There is no person, relationship or fellowship that will not find this to be true, or Him to be faithful. And when it happens, we are no longer cisterns, but deep wells of His Living Water. The woman who was marked as unclean by society by her ongoing bleeding, was willing to come out of the shadows and into the open in order to be whole. Are we?

Isn't it time that this were so in our lives, our families, and our fellowships? It surely can be. The question for us is, will it be? Remember the famous line from the movie "A Few Good Men?" Jack Nicholson's character stated flatly, "You can't handle the truth." Can we? Until we can, the cracks and the dirt remain.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Plan B

 "I cling to your Word. Lord don't let me be put to shame.....I faint with longing for your salvation but I have put my hope in Your Word. My eyes are straining to see Your promises come true....restore my life again, just as You promised." Psalm 119:31, 81-82, 107

The 119th Psalm is a long cry of desperation. Have you and I ever really known such desperation? Really known it? We may have felt desperate, but in our hearts and minds, was there still some part that thought if He didn't come through, we would somehow find a way out of it all? I'm not so sure but that a great deal of our prayer is of this type. We may not be conscious of it, but the attitude is there. We take something to Him, and feel that we are seeking Him alone, yet lurking in the background is "Plan B." What we'll do if He doesn't answer us. Or more correctly, doesn't answer us in the way and time that we think He should. We may feel desperate, but not so much that we're not also at work on a way to bring about our own deliverance using the means at hand. After all, He helps those who help themselves, right? What? That's not in His Word? He never said any such thing? How could this be? I mean, everybody has a Plan B don't they? Plan A is that we look to Him, but we've always got at least partial sight on plan B too. If God won't deliver us, we'll just have to find a way to deliver ourselves. This is the reason so few of us really behold His glory in not only our desperate situations, but our day to day living as well. We're geniuses when it comes to putting together Plan B's.

I've a friend who says that sometimes, the last impediment to His miraculous breakthrough into our lives and need is our willingness to surrender the possibilities of what we could do to make the situation better. To rescue ourselves. I believe we, the professing church, are being brought to this place....and at high speed. The disintegration of our culture is accelerating. We have found many ways to hide from that fact, even deny it, but it is happening anyway. The situation is not getting desperate, it is. All the props we've been depending upon are being literally kicked out from under us. The foundations we've built are collapsing. Sinking sand is all around us, and in too many cases, underneath us. Our ability to control things lessens by the day. But we do retain control in one place; and that is the choice of who we will depend upon in this day. Who, and what will be our Foundation, our Hope and Help, and our Deliverer and Savior? Him, or that which is not Him.

When all we have to cling to is His Word, it's then we'll find that it's only His Word that can bring us out and into His Life. When we fall to our knees before Him, we will find it the quickest route to His lifting us up and out of the mire. The way up is down. The way out is to allow Him full reign within. And despite the world's best efforts, we'll never be put to shame. We may grow faint, but He'll strengthen us. Our eyes may strain to see the fulfillment of His promise, but we will see His salvation. The time and place will be His to choose, but He will do so. He will restore. He will rebuild. He will renew. As He defines it, and not us. All just as He promised. Can we, can you, surrender all the Plan B's and look to Him who is not a plan at all, but a Person. A Person who has promised. And His promises still are, and always will be, "Yes and Amen."

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Faded Flowers

 "The truth is, a kernel of wheat must be planted in the soil. Unless it dies it will be alone-a single seed. But its death will produce many new kernels." John 12:24.........."My true disciples produce much fruit. This brings great glory to My Father." John 15:8

A good friend shared an interesting and enlightening insight today. We were talking of how so many "works" for Him begin with great success, blossoming and producing a beauty wonderful to behold. Then, in so many cases, the work seems to wither, and seemingly die. Here is where his insight really spoke, for it is when such happens that we think the Father has somehow abandoned or forgotten us. We wonder where He went, and what happened. This can be true not only in works of ministry and service, but in marriages, relationships, in endeavors of every kind. What my friend speaks of is something our eyes and minds of flesh can so easily miss, and so, we give up. We never see the full picture, and especially the end picture that the Lord has in mind.

He talked of how so many fruit trees first produce lovely blossoms that everyone loves to behold. They are a joy to look at, and they draw the attention and notice of all who pass by. What we miss is that it's after the blossoms wither that the fruit comes. The true and real fruit is not to be found in the blossoms, beautiful though they may be. It is found in what comes after they have seemingly died. It is then that real life and fruitfulness comes forth.

Think on that. Allow Him to speak into our spirits on this. How many endeavors, relationships, marriages and ministries are given up on, walked away from, simply because the flower upon them has faded? The initial excitement has passed. The bloom is literally off the flower. We think all is lost, that failure is our lot.  We can be so deceived in this. I think most often that we are. We keep remembering the lost flower, and miss the "now" fruit. It is when the flower has faded that the true test of our trust and belief in Him will come. It's then we'll see how deep the roots of our trust go. How deep the roots of commitment to the work, the calling, or the person really is. In too many cases, the answer will be, "not very." We're captivated by pretty flowers, but our hearts wander and our vision fades when those flowers disappear. It's then that the hard work of trusting, obeying, believing, and waiting upon Him to bring forth the harvest enters in. The flowers are gone, but we continue to water the ground, till the soil, pull out the weeds that seek to choke out life. All the while we continue to believe the words that He first spoke into our hearts when He called us. And if we'll listen, He continues to speak now. We hold onto the vision He first gave us when we entered into it. This is maturity. We rejoiced in the flowers, but we have learned that the real food and nourishment of the Kingdom is found in the fruit that follows. That fruit has a season, and He will be faithful to bring it forth.

My friend made one other point and it bears dwelling upon. It may well be that we need to allow Him to define for us just what true fruit is. Our flesh always thinks it's in what can be measured and counted. I believe it is found in that which brings life. His life. It's the fruit of the Kingdom, and it will show up in ways far beyond the countable and measurable. It will not fade, but will be eternal. But I think to truly lay hold of it, to be vessels of it, we will, like the kernel, have to die. And in that death and the fruit that bursts forth from it, will be great glory for Him.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Silent Partner

"But I say, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh." Galatians 5:16

I've mentioned before that I keep a prayer journal. I do so not because I am so "super-spiritual" but because I am so prone in my flesh to not be spiritual at all. One of the prayers I have written down is based on the above scripture, and simply reads, "Father, may I at all times pray in the Spirit, speak in the Spirit, hear in the Spirit, and live in the Spirit." This is the only way we will not live in a manner that consistently sees to it that we carry out the desires of our flesh. Many of those desires will be good ones. The great problem for us lies in the fact that they are not necessarily God's desires. Watchman Nee asked the question, "How much of our work for Him has been based on a clear command from the Lord, and how much simply on the ground that it was a good thing to do?" There were many good things Paul wished to do. The Holy Spirit closed the door on all of them in order that he would go to where the Father wished him to be; in Macedonia and Greece. He saw a "wide open door for effective service." He also saw the "many adversaries" that would be against it.

I think we seem much more comfortable in the Church in the west with the idea of the Holy Spirit being a "silent partner" in all we do. This would be true even in those fellowships that say they are Holy Spirit centered bodies. Indeed, the consistent observation of those brethren from non-western cultures who fellowship with us is how much we are able to get done without the presence and power of the Holy Spirit. There are a number of books out right now from prominent church leaders saying that the voice of the Spirit ceased at the end of the first century of the Church. That the Lord has said all He needs to in His Word, and He doesn't need to say anything more. Now scripture is the final authority in all things, especially that which we hear in and from the Spirit, for He will never speak anything contrary to it. This is where spiritual discernment comes in. It's what Paul meant when he told us to "test the spirits" in order to discern what was and was not from the voice and heart of God. I would also add this to those that hold the view that He no longer speaks to us. In those same congregations, the people are regularly asked to "pray about" how much they should give to building programs, mission efforts, and special projects. Somehow the Lord finds His voice when it comes to money. I'm only partly joking with that.

I heard James Robison say recently in the midst of interviewing one of his guests, that he, "heard the Spirit speaking over their conversation." What he meant was that in the midst of their talking, He heard the Lord break in and speak into it all. He said that some might find this "spooky," but that it was his life in Christ reality to hear the Lord in such a way regularly. What struck me was that the Holy Spirit, so integral a part of our three in one God, would be perceived with fear by so many in His Church. So much so that we proceed in our walk, relationships and ministries with far more reliance upon ourselves and our own understanding, than in His leading. We don't recognize His checks or His voice, and so we miss both His open doors, and His closed ones.To our own harm and loss. He remains our "silent partner." We mention Him, but we don't walk in Him. We're not overly anxious for Him to "show up" either, unless it's in ways that allow us to maintain control. We build a lot of things, but they don't last.  In the end they're just wood and stubble. We miss that which is His silver and gold. If we doubt that, we can simply look at how many of those things we've built in our own strength have crumbled after the human architect of the building left the scene.

Paul wrote to two totally different fellowships; the Corinthians and the Ephesians. The Corinthians were a flesh centered fellowship, and though He spoke in love and encouragement, his words also carried His rebuke. To the Ephesians he wrote in exhortation of their going on in the life and fullness of the Holy Spirit. Through those letters, he writes to our own fellowships. Which letter is for us? Corinthians or Ephesians? Wood and stubble or silver and gold? Which are we really, and which do we really want to be? Are we living in Corinth or Ephesus?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Crushed....Again

"And when He had given thanks, He brake it, and said, 'Take, eat, this My body, which is broken for you; this do in remembrance of Me.' " I Corinthians 11:24...."God can never make us wine if we object to the fingers He uses to crush us with.....If we are ever going to be made into wine, we will have to be crushed, you cannot drink grapes."  Oswald Chambers

I'm vacationing here in Colorado Springs, but even in a time of refreshment, the hands of the Master Potter continue to shape me. That shaping is always humbling to my flesh, and all praise to Him that it is.  On my first night here, full of expectation of a great week filled with enjoyment, I "suffered" what in the scheme of things was an unexpected but very minor mishap.  It was no big deal, but I was upset about it, and allowed the enemy to steal my peace and joy.  Within a day or so, I was fine, but what was key was that I had allowed him to rob me of nearly 24 hours of the assurance, strength and sense of His presence.  I was humbled by that.  I have always described the consecrated, sanctified life as that of being broken and re-broken, surrendered and re-surrendered.  It is, but my flesh does not at all enjoy the process.  I suspect yours doesn't as well.  Just yesterday, I got His refresher course in this truth.

I was reading an online story of how 11 Syrian believers were first beheaded by ISIS, and then had their bodies hung on display for two days afterwards.  They were part of a ministry team, and one part of the team was a 12 year old boy, the son of one of the members.  The leader of their ministry group had pleaded with them to leave the area as ISIS militants approached their village. They refused, feeling they needed to stay and minister the love of Christ to the panicked residents. The team, comprised of both men and women, were there when the radical ISIS troops arrived.  They were beaten and tortured.  The women were raped. Witnesses to the brutality say that they met it all with prayers on their lips and faces that could only be described as portraying the serenity of His Presence.  All were given the chance to deny Christ, and all, including the 12 year old boy refused to do so.  So they all died.

When I read that, I was once more broken.  As Chambers writes, I was crushed.  Just a few days previously I had allowed my world to be shaken by the trivial, and for a moment, lost sight of my Lord.  These 11 brothers and sisters in Christ, one a mere child, faced the ultimate sacrifice with an assured faith in the One they lived for, and now would die for.  They would not deny Him, yet I, in a time of pressure and stress, did. No, I didn't renounce or turn from Him as a life choice. But for that time, by my allowing the present circumstance to cause me to lose sight of Him, did, in a sense, deny Him.  How many other times have I done so?  How many times have you?  How many more times will there be?

It is often said that we in the west know little of real persecution, though trust me, that is rapidly changing.  Still, in our self-absorbed culture, both secular and church, we view every inconvenience to a good life as devastating.  We're thankful that our Lord Christ gave up His Body as broken bread and poured out wine for us.  We just don't wish to do the same for Him.  We're thankful He was crushed or us, but we've no desire to be crushed for Him.  Such an attitude was unknown to those 11 brethren in that remote village.  Does this crush us, or, do we just go on about the business of securing a good and prosperous life and so are untouched and unbroken by it all?  

Broken and re-broken.  Surrendered and re-surrendered.  Do we really want to live such lives?  All who say they are His will be brought to the place of that choice.  When we are, how will we choose?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Thoughts - Whose Heart?

"Six days before the Passover ceremonies began, Jesus arrived in Bethany, the home of Lazarus - the man He raised from the dead. A dinner was prepared in Jesus honor. Martha served, and Lazarus sat at the table with Him. Then Mary took a twelve ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard and she anointed Jesus' feet with it and wiped His feet with her hair. And the house was filled with fragrance. But Judas Isacariot, one of the disciples - the one who would betray Him - said, 'That perfume was worth a small fortune. It should have been sold and the money given to the poor.' Not that he cared for the poor-he was a thief who was in charge of the disciples funds, and he often took some for his own use. Jesus replied, 'Leave her alone. She did it in preparation for My burial. You will always have the poor among you, but I will not be here with you much longer.' "......"Mary used what she had to adore Jesus; Judas used Jesus to enrich himself. Mary is led into a life of devotion that is beautiful. Judas is posted as a warning of letting money (or success, prestige, recognition, pleasure, or anything else) get between us and God." Eugene Peterson

Most of us would be aghast as the suggestion that there might be anything in our hearts that even remotely resembled the heart of Judas. But is that really so? Can we dare to sit in His Presence and allow Him to search out the real motives in relationship with and following of Him? How much of our walk with Him is really about adoration, and how much of it serves the purpose of enriching ourselves? We can be pretty fuzzy on that. The truth can be easily blurred. What are our real motives? Judas talked of feeding the poor. The Word says he didn't really care about the poor, only of adding to his own finances. He didn't have mixed motives when it came to Jesus. The problem for you and I is, we so often do. I have never knowingly come across anyone in the Church who has the heart of Judas; total self-interest. I have come across some with the heart of Mary; total devotion.  Most have had hearts like mine.  A mixture. A heart that adores, while at the same time has more than a little self-interest involved. Many would say and teach that this is our lot, but I don't think so. So many like to quote Paul's words of struggle in Romans 7. It seems like they have never read on to Romans 8. We don't have to live with the mixture, with divided hearts. We're not just invited to enter into the fullness of His Life and Spirit, we're commanded to.  Have we? Have you? Alicia Britt Chloe asks the question, "Is Judas in the house?" Where, in the house of our hearts, might he be lurking? Where in our jobs, ministries, relationships, and especially our relationship with Him, can he be found? Where are the motives of our lives being filtered through the mind and heartset of Judas? It's a piercing question. How do we answer it?
Today, in whatever our place in Him, whose heart is most on display? There may be much good that we wish to accomplish, but along with that lies a deep desire to "enrich ourselves" as well. This may be especially so in ministry. We want to see people come to Him, we want to see fellowships grow. We want to see healings, peoples lives made whole. We want to see Jesus lifted up. At the same time, there lurks within us a desire to see "us" lifted up as well. Recognition, position, advancement. Mixed with our adoration is a great dose of desire for our own enrichment. We want to worship Him, and at the same time use Him to advance our agenda. How true is this of us today? How true is it of you, and of me?

Let us seek the heart of Mary, of true worship and devotion. Let us surrender that hidden desire to enrich ourselves, and die to it. It's a desire that will never stay hidden for long. Let us come to Him with lives and service that are a true fragrance of Christ wherever we are. It only happens and pours out from a heart of true worship and humility. The heart of Mary. It never comes from the heart of Judas. Whose heart is really in us today? What amount of mixture is there? Let the "nard" that flows out of us be pure. Is Judas in the house? Isn't it past time to evict him?

Blessings,
Pastor O