Heart Tracks - No Fault Salvation

"Then David said to Nathan, 'I have sinned against the Lord.' " 2 Samuel 12:13....."No man ever enters heaven until he is first convinced he deserves hell." John Everrett....."We'd rather dwell on how far we've come than on how far we have to go. We don't like reminders that no matter how long we've been disciples, we are in need of great mercy." Chris Tiegreen

No Fault Insurance for cars first came on the scene for me back in the 1970's. It was a great idea, meant to enable insurance companies to more quickly pay claims without any litigation, and no matter who was at fault in the accident. It was a great idea....for insurance. I'm wondering if somehow we have now gotten to a concept of No Fault Salvation?

Have you noticed the reactions of people, both in the Old Testament and New when they were confronted with the reality of the Father and of Jesus Christ. Isaiah was undone, seeing himself as completely unclean before Him. Peter, with just limited understanding of who Christ was, bid Him to depart from him because he was "a sinful man." The simple fact is, we cannot come into His Presence and react in any other way than they did. I have come to see more and more that the closer I get to Him, the more unworthy I realize I am to be there. This is not negativity, and this is not condemnation. It is simply our human fleshly response to His holiness and glory. In His presence, I become aware of who I am, and what I am not. In His love, He shows me who I can be in Him. Who He made me to be. Such an encounter will lead me to confess what I am not, a turning away from that, repentance, and an entry into His welcome into the life He made me for. This is what He meant when He said that "Behold, all things are new." .......My point in all of this is that I'm not sure that's the current message we in the western church are proclaiming. I don't mean that we don't offer salvation in Christ, but it seems to me to be a kind of "No Fault" salvation. Made easy and quick....and all for our convenience. All one need do is agree to receive Christ.....and though unsaid, even unintended.....at no cost to ourselves. No fault in ourselves.

I'm not saying we need to beat people up over their sin, or demand that they be humiliated before all. But we need to proclaim Christ as He is and not as we would wish Him to be. He is the Lamb, and He is the Lion. He is Holiness itself, and in His Presence, we can do nothing but fall at His feet. In His Presence, we're exposed, but we may also be made whole. We are both confronted and invited. His light clashes with our darkness. In Him, we have a head on collision with the Father. Like Isaiah, like Peter, we're undone. Then, if we admit our helplessness to do anything about it all, He remakes us. It's a remaking that goes on through this life and into eternity. In fact, eternity starts now. We fully realize we're unworthy, and just as fully realize that He receives us and makes us fit for Himself and the Kingdom. We're at fault, fully lost, and we know it. But He's taken care of all the "litigation" on the cross. And our response is to desire to live a life worthy of Him, that turns from all that He hates, sin and all its destructive power, and embraces all that He is. He is not an add-on that we get by raising our hands in response to an invitation, or someone that we agree to accept, and on very reasonable terms. He is the risen Christ and upon seeing Him, nothing can ever be the same again. He is not just the Savior....He is Lord....the Holy Lord. We come to Him only by way of the cross.

No Fault Salvation? There is no such thing. Yet all that He is calls all that we are to Himself. Are we willing to step into such Light? It will cost us our lives.....and we will gain His. Do we come? Have we come.....really?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - High Places

"Solomon showed his love for the Lord by walking according to the instruction given him by his father David, except that he offered sacrifices and burned incense on the high places." I Kings 3:3

The other day the Holy Spirit confronted me, as He always does, with a direct hit upon my heart. I had been simmering in frustration over a few things, to the point that I was expending a lot of energy and attention to the problem. Now, I know where all of that can lead; a loss of peace and joy, and a void as to sensing His presence. I know the cost of allowing frustration, worry, fear, or any harmful attitude or feeling to have place in my mind and heart. But what He spoke to me, in His as always gentle whisper, was that I had allowed the problem to become a "high place" in my life. In effect, I was "offering sacrifice and burning incense" to something that was being allowed to have more of my attention and focus than Him. Just like Solomon.

High places in the Old Testament, were sites, established by the peoples whom the Israelites displaced in His promised land, that were given over to the worship of "other gods." Gods who, the Father Himself said, were not gods at all. Yet these high places remained a snare to the people throughout their history prior to the Babylonian captivity. Though the people continued to worship Jehovah God, they also added the worship of these "gods" of the high places. A practice that led to their eventual destruction and captivity. It also led to Solomon's own eventual downfall. It will surely lead to ours as well. We ask "How? We have no such sites. We offer no such sacrifice and incense." Not literally perhaps, but we do nonetheless. I have. I did. So have you.

Whatever we allow to take our hearts and minds away from being centered on Him becomes to us a high place. Anxiety, fear, anger, bitterness, unforgiveness, and pride, certainly fit that description. But so do goals, desires, success, comfort, and the pursuit of what we call "the American Dream." All of these and more end up pointing our hearts to that which is not Him. We are in a sense worshiping, offering sacrifice (of our time, emotions, attentions and heart) and burning incense (our devotion) to something or someone other than Him. That may not be our intention, but it's our result even so. Solomon very likely never intended to have his heart drawn away from the Father. It all started as something that he hoped to appease his foreign wives with, but the end was the same. Though he never lost His love, he did lose the fullness of His presence and power. It was his ruin. It will be ours as well.

John Wesley said that anything that pulled our hearts away from Him, "that thing to you is sin." Strong words. True ones as well.
Do we just disregard them, because after all, we live under grace, not law. So did Wesley....If God so despised the high places that He ordered the people to destroy them all, would He despise them any less today? Neither the kings or the people could ever completely bring themselves to do this. To some extent, they remained, and always to their harm. This is why he hates them so. They, and the false "god" they represent always bring us harm. They have to be torn down. Will we have them come down?

In the midst of His confrontation with me, there was no condemnation, but His message is clear. The high places must be brought down.....voluntarily by my will to have it so, and supernaturally by His grace and power to do so. I want no high places, and I want the ones that do exist, usually in disguise, exposed and removed. I don't want my heart to belong to anyone but Him, not even in some small part. Some of them go harder than others, but they must go. How about you? Where are the high places you've been hanging around? To what have you offered sacrifice and incense? Will they come down?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Filled

"Be filled with the Spirit...singing and making melody with your heart to the Lord." Ephesians 5:18....."When the vessels were full.....she said unto her son, 'Bring me yet a vessel.' And he said to her, 'There are no more vessels.' And the oil stayed." 2 Kings 4:6...."The oil of God's Spirit flows according the measure man has prepared for God." Watchman Nee...."Have you ever heard people say they are experiencing a dry spell in their Christian life? What are they saying? Are they saying that the Lord ran out of water?" Henry Blackaby

In Ephesians 5, when Paul calls his hearers to "be filled with Spirit," the Greek translates to "be being filled." As Nee writes, "Allow yourselves to be continually made full." This is not a "sometime thing" or something that happens after an especially good worship experience. This is a way of life. It is to be our way of life in Christ. Is it?

There is no judgement involved here, but Blackaby's questions must be answered. I have certainly had dry spells in my walk with Him. You have as well, but were those times, are those times, a result of His having no water, no oil to provide us? Or, are they due much more to our not, for whatever reason, allowing ourselves to be made full? Have circumstances, feelings, or a myriad of other things, kept us from the place of experiencing the reality of His Spirit filled life? Jesus told His disciples that He had food to eat that they knew nothing about. What do we know about such food, such water, such oil? What do we really know about the ministry and presence of the Holy Spirit in our lives and in His Church? Could it possibly be that the most missing Person in our day to day lives as well as the corporate worship of the Church is the Holy Spirit Himself? It's only the empty vessel that may receive the oil. How empty are the vessels that are our lives and that which is the Church?

Nee says that the oil flows according to the measure we have prepared the vessel to receive it. What's the preparation? Emptiness. Empty of self, of preconceived notions and expectations. Empty of ambition, control, mistrust.....of what the Word calls....flesh. Into such empty vessels, people, churches, will the oil, water, and bread of the Holy Spirit pour out and be given to. When we are continually empty of ourselves, and all that the self-life yields, we can then live out Ephesians 5 and continually be made full. When our yearning is for the oil of His Spirit, a yearning above all yearnings, we will be made full. When our thirst is for the water of His Life, and not the soda pop the flesh so craves, that thirst will be quenched. We will begin to know and partake of the food Christ speaks of. Food we once knew nothing of.....but now desire with all of our heart.

What might happen if in our lives, homes, and church fellowships, we ceased to gorge ourselves on the soda pop and junk food of the world and the flesh, and began to hunger and thirst for the Spirit and Life, the oil, water, and bread that the Father provides in Christ, through His Holy Spirit? He has no lack in His supply. The lack is always within us. It all starts with an empty vessel. Is that vessel you and me?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Heart Prayers

"Pray without ceasing." I Thessalonians 5:17......"Prayer is not an exercise, it is the life.....Jesus never mentioned unanswered prayer; He had the boundless certainty that prayer is always answered.....Do we expect God to answer prayer?" Oswald Chambers
I'm not sure that there is any more misunderstood and underused aspect of our faith lives than prayer. Some approach it as a kind of "genie in a bottle" that we just go to Him, "rub" our Bibles and the promises they contain, and then expect the Father to grant our desire. Others see it as an act of desperation, something resorted to when all our efforts avail nothing. There are those who feel it's a matter of convincing a very reluctant God to help us, and so the more (and louder) we cry out to Him, as well as get others to join us in the crying, we'll convince Him to help. Too many of us, maybe most, think of it as a kind of 50/50 proposition. Perhaps He'll help us, answer us, but we're not sure. Our expectations are low. We have secondary resources to fall back on in case we don't hear from Him. Expectations are always a huge problem, because in them, we dictate to God how we think He should and must answer. All of the above make prayer often an exercise in futility. Has it been so with you? Too often it has been for me. Why? When Paul exhorted believers to "pray without ceasing," how could futility ever be the end result of it all? Could it be it's because so few of us really understand what prayer is?
I've a friend that likes to say that the true, best, and real answer to prayer is to have a heart completely at rest in Him. This means that in the midst of our needs, which are many, the first and best answer to them all is receiving Him......His Presence, Spirit, and Life. Where He is, turmoil, anxiety, chaos and fear cannot be. Where He is, perspective changes.....completely. The eyes of our heart are upon Him, and not on the need, crisis, or emergency. We talk to Him, and He to us, from a place of peace, which then yields a surrender of the situation to Him.....and then produces a deeper trust and faith in Him. We are praying from a place of rest, not fear, or panic. From that place we receive abundant grace to walk through the area of need and trust Him to meet, act in, and walk us through it, according to His time and way. And from that place we often discover that what we thought was a life threatening need, wasn't. Or what we thought we must have, we didn't. We start to discover what Chambers meant when he said that prayer was not an exercise, but the life. It's not something we do, it's a life condition we move in. Prayer becomes like breathing. It's not just words spoken to Him, but a heart connection with Him. Our expectations in it change from getting Him to do what we want, what my friend calls "results oriented prayer," to an expectation of laying hold of the mind and heart of Christ, and He laying hold of ours. Heart prayers. It is not goal oriented prayer, but Person oriented. Which is our orientation?
When we begin to realize that what the Father most wants to give us in prayer is Himself, and that we may have that expectation fulfilled in Christ each time we go to Him, our prayer lives will be revolutionized. He is the One thing, and and all other things flow out of Him. When we begin to experience that we begin to know that all we need is in Him....and He will bless us with so many lesser things as well. He is Life. Prayer connects us with His Life. In prayer we receive the fullness of His Life. What greater expectation could we have?
Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - Trinkets?

"This life is in His Son. He that has the Son has the life." 1 John 5:11......"He has only one gift to meet all our need: His Son Jesus Christ." Watchman Nee

We like gifts. It's natural to our life. At her last birthday, as my little niece waited to celebrate her party that night, I recounted to her all that would be there,, cake, ice cream, family....."and presents," she was quick to add. Birthday's, Christmas, anytime at all, we look forward to getting gifts. We don't grow out of it. How sad that in the midst of it all, even we who say we are His, miss out on the greatest of all gifts, Jesus Christ.

Just as we tend to focus on "presents," gifts, we also focus on our needs, and we're not shy about sharing them with most everyone, especially the Father. We have financial needs, relationship needs, physical needs, and spiritual ones. Like children going to see Santa Claus, we either have them written down, or memorized, and when we get onto Santa's lap, we pour them out. No one ever went to Santa to inquire to his well being, or spend any time with him personally. Getting the list out, having him receive it, and then leaving with a childlike belief that he'd take care of the rest was the way it went. There's little difference there between the visits to Santa and how we treat with the Father. We never thought at all on whether Santa had more to offer than "goods" and it is much the same with God. We know Jesus Christ is His gift to us, but we too often see Him merely as the means of getting the "goods" we feel we need in life. The "goods" may be good, but they are devoid of Him....of His Life....of His Son. In our seeking of trinkets, we miss the One Gift....the Pearl beyond price. The One in Whom every longing and need is met. Jesus.

There have been so many lesser things that I've sought in this life. Both as a man, and as His servant and son. There have been many things that I thought I must have in order that my life, my ministry, my walk with Him, be made complete and full. Yet just as the toy the child so longed for and had to have at age 6, is now in the family yard sale at age 7; so too were many of the things that I felt I must have, and He graciously gave. And all the while, the goods choked out my awareness of my deepest need for the Best. For Christ. For His fellowship, intimacy, presence....His Life. The good gifts, even when from His hand, are not life. Christ is Life, and it's our pursuit of many things that keep us from the One thing. Trinkets being sought over the priceless. Much stuff over the One Son.

Do Nee's words resonate in our hearts? Do we live as though it's all about the trinkets, or all about Him? Do we think that we have many needs, or do we realize that we have only one....Christ...and from Him will flow the meeting of all the lesser ones as well? Do we prepare today to jump up on the lap of Santa/God, or do we enter into the rest, joy, and wonder of the arms of His Son.....the One Gift? And here is what's best of all. The Gift of Jesus has already been given. We need not beg. We need only to receive. Let us receive....with gladness.... Trinkets or Gold. Which do we seek? Which do we really want?

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - The Distant Country

"The younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country, and there squandered his wealth in wild living." Luke 15:13..."God's favorite word is 'come!' " Robert L. Sterner

Are you a "prodigal?" In Luke 15, Jesus tells the story of the prodigal son who demanded of his father his inheritance. At root was something much more than a desire for his father's wealth, which he believed he had coming to him. I think an even deeper wish was that he be able to get completely away from his father, his influence and control. This is shown by the fact that when his father gave it to him, he immediately left to live in a distant country.......Now, you and I read all this and most likely don't see any connection between the prodigal and his father. At least not now. Maybe in our past, but not today. Weren't we in church just this past weekend? Didn't we join in with the singing of the hymns and choruses? We even placed a generous check, in our estimation, in the offering plate. It may even have been a full tithe. Sometime in the coming week we'll be in a small group somewhere. We'll even have devotional time this week, when we can make some room for it. We haven't left our Father. We're not living in a distant country.......are we?

I have found in my life that I can end up living in a distant country from Him and not really be aware of it....or at least willing to admit it. I can be doing all of that which is listed above, and more, since I'm a pastor and preacher by calling. I can do it all and still be living, at least in part, in a distant country....away from the fullness of my Father.

There are so many ways for us to take up residence in that country. Discouragement and disappointment rank high. So do offenses taken, which slowly lead us into simmering anger, bitterness and unforgiveness. Worry, anxiety, fear, all of them make great paths to get there. So does busyness, self-pity, and an ability to see everything, everywhere, but Him. All of these and more can slowly, or quickly, move you and I into the distant country....even though we have not physically moved a step. Even though outwardly, nothing has changed in our routine. And maybe it's because we have allowed our walk with Him to deteriorate into routine that opened the door to the distant country in the first place. Whatever the reason or cause of that first step, we've left the country of our Father, at least in part, and dwell now in that distant country. Where the riches we once knew in Him are being squandered, to the point that sometime....soon, they'll be gone. Then spiritually, and likely emotionally and physically as well, we're in the pig pen....with the prodigal.....eating pig food......Might you, in some way, be there right now? If so, can you hear the heart of the Father saying, "Come home?" He told Israel that from the beginning, He had been their home. It is so with us as well. He calls us to come home from the far country we've wandered to. Do we hear today? Do we come home today?

So I close with the question I started with: Are you a prodigal? Has your heart wandered to the far country, though you maintain the outward routine? As Sterner says, His favorite word is "come." He extends it to you now. Come home. To Him. Leave the distant country for His country. A country that never left you. Come home to the land you were created for.

Blessings,
Pastor O

Heart Tracks - When He's The Dream

"In the last days God said, 'I will pour out My Spirit upon all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, and your old men will dream dreams." Joel 2:28, Acts 2:17

In my last writing, I wrote about when our dreams die. In this one, I want to speak about the Dream that never will. The above scripture was preached by Peter upon the pouring out of His Holy Spirit at Pentecost. He quoted from the prophecy made by Joel hundreds of years before which predicted this event. It's a beautiful passage but there is something in it that is so easy to overlook. Sons and daughters prophesying, and young men seeing visions is readily accepted by us. Such things seem to belong to youth. But old men (and women) dreaming dreams? Old age is the time for reflection, looking back, is it not? The future belongs to the young, not the old....isn't that so? No, it isn't. Not in His Kingdom. In fact, it may well be that the best and greatest dreams are dreamed by the old, and I say that not just because I find myself among them.

I think this is so because as we grow older, we grow, or at least should grow, closer to and more aware of Him than ever before. Perspective changes. What we think truly matters changes. We begin to see that many of our "dreams" were not really His dream for us. And He definitely has a dream for us. He initiated it when He created us. He put it into our heart and then set about seeking to bring it to fruition, to reality. If it is not being realized in us, I think it's because we have spent so much of our time and energy pursuing much lesser dreams that originated with us, and not Him. The beautiful thing is that even years spent pursuing the wrong dreams cannot stop Him from bringing about His dream in us. If we'll have it. If we're willing to share in it. When that happens, we are then able to pass that dream along to those who are to come after us. So many of whom are pursuing the wrong dreams themselves.

What I'm finding out in my own walk is that the dreams I now dream are all centered on Him. He, Christ, is the dream. It's so much less about me and so much more about Him. John the Baptists words, "I must decrease so that He may increase" become more real all the time. It's not about my realizing my goals and achievements. It's about laying hold of Him and receiving all of Him that I am able to. It's about realizing that when that starts to happen, the dreams change, and it becomes a case of sharing that dream with others. Others of every age and gender. What I once thought of as great dreams, seem so small in comparison to knowing Christ as He wishes to be known. Paul wrote of how he longed to "apprehend that for which Christ had first apprehended Him." Of laying hold of all that Christ first laid hold of Him for. Paul's dream was not just to take the gospel to the gentiles. It was not just to establish churches throughout Asia Minor. It was to know Christ and the power of His resurrection. All he did flowed out of that dream. And it is still flowing to us 2000 years later. The dream for Him was Christ alone. That dream remained alive in him in his prison cell and before the executioner's sword. It's a dream he sought to pass on to all who came after him. Is it a dream that has taken hold of you and I?

I find myself dreaming that dream more and more. Part of that dream is that in some small way, through these writings, and whatever ministry is for me today, those who read and hear will lay hold of that dream, that Christ, as He and His dream lay hold of you.......Everything changes when He becomes the dream.

Blessings,
Pastor O