On one of the first warm nights last spring we were standing in the pastor’s kitchen in our shorts and flip-flops after a meeting.

“I keep having this dream about a concert,” Nancy said, “in the parking lot at the church. Over and over again I’m dreaming this. I’m getting the feeling that I’m supposed to be the one who makes it happen. In this dream, I even see myself on a stage as the emcee. And people from all the neighborhoods around us are there dancing and praising God and being touched by him. The more I talk to God about it, the more I’m sure he means for me to make this happen. But I don’t know anything about concerts. I’ve never organized anything in my life. I don’t talk in public! Who am I that God would want me to do this?”

The pastor and I encouraged her. “If you feel like God is telling you to do something,” we said, “then do it, and give it the best you have. God can make up for whatever strength and experience you lack.”

My encouragement, while heartfelt, was backed with little experience. In retrospect, I barely knew what I was saying to her.

Nancy was energized, and her vision for the event grew. She imagined a number of bands all singing praises to God, fun and games for children, and food for everybody who would come. She wasn’t sure where to start, and she could see she couldn’t do it all herself. So the pastor gathered the usual suspects, the people at church who seem to be involved with every event, and they started planning.

I really didn’t want to be a part of this. I’ve written before about how I felt like I had too much on my plate already, and I wanted no more church responsibilities. Yet somehow I got sucked into the planning meetings. The more we planned, the more I felt like we were off our rockers. Not only did we lack the experience to pull this off, but our church was shedding members – many of whom were the usual suspects in our planning meetings. Before long the planning meetings consisted of Nancy, the pastor, his wife, and me.

Weeks and weeks had gone by, and we were getting nowhere. We had set a date – September 26, six weeks away – and only one band was tentatively willing to participate. We had no stage, no sound equipment, nobody qualified to run the sound equipment we didn’t have, no food, no fun and games, and no firm plans to promote the event. And then I said it. I said I thought this idea was crazy. I said that we had a snowball’s chance of pulling this off, that we lacked the experience and sheer manpower to make this happen. I said that the only reason I was willing to participate at all is because Nancy believed God was leading her to do this.

Looking into Nancy’s face after I finished, it struck me at that moment that I could squelch the whole thing if I continued. So I backpedaled and raised a challenge. I said that when we met next, in two weeks, we needed to have at least three bands committed, food lined up, a stage and sound equipment rented, and promotions planned, or we should delay the whole thing until next spring. It seemed that if we didn’t have those things in order by then the event would be impossible.

And then God started to move. The things we needed seemed to start falling from the sky.

The concert was Saturday. We had four bands.

We had food. We bought some hot dogs, but a barbecue restaurant donated enough pulled pork to feed 100 people.

We had fun and games.

The company from which we rented but a little bitty stage donated their best stage, all the amplifiers and speakers we could want, a huge sound board, and three people to run it all.

And Nancy emceed, introducing the bands with great energy – and with the glow that comes from seeing God act, multiplying your efforts beyond your capabilities.

If that wasn’t enough, God even brought the weather. It rained all week before the concert, and the forecast for Saturday called for more of the same. The dark clouds hung around as a crew set up Saturday morning, sprinkling on them occasionally. Then fifteen minutes before the show, the clouds parted and the sun began to shine. The skies were blue all four hours of the show as a gentle breeze blew. Fifteen minutes after the show ended, the dark clouds rolled back in. As we finished cleaning up and putting everything away, those clouds started to spit rain again.

But the one thing God didn’t bless us with was a large audience. It was the only part of Nancy’s vision that didn’t happen. But several people from the neighborhoods around us did come and go throughout the afternoon, and we got to meet them.

I’ve learned that sometimes God’s measure of success is different from mine. Maybe God’s primary purpose for this was not to reach out to the community. Maybe God wanted to show all of us what he can do if we just follow his lead. If so, lesson learned. I am in awe of Nancy. I am in awe of God.

This isn’t the only way my involvement at this church, which is struggling to stay alive, has stretched me. Read more about it here.

When evening came, His disciples went down to the lake, where they got into a boat and set off across the lake for Capernaum.  By now it was dark, and Jesus had not yet joined them.  A strong wind was blowing and the waters grew rough.  When they had rowed three or three and a half miles, they saw Jesus approaching the boat  walking on the water, and they were terrified.  But He said to them,  “It is I; don’t be afraid.”  Then they were willing to take Him into the boat, and immediately the boat reached the shore where they were heading.  John 6:16-21.

 We aren’t going to deal with all of the other stories for now because I want to speak to John’s point instead.  John had to be aware of the whole story, since he experienced this incident, and for some reason he decided to leave out Peter’s part in it.  Also in another gospel, Jesus commanded His disciples to cross the lake, dismissed the people, then withdrew from sight until He saw the disciples struggling at the oars.

John decided to speak to the context of what happens next, I believe, because to him this is far more important.  Peter’s story probably got told and retold until some almost made a demigod out him, something John would have objected to quite strongly.  So John ignores Peter’s part and focuses on the fact that Jesus crossed the lake supernaturally.

As I read this story again, it struck me how in obedience to God many times we will find the wind against us, the pathway growing rougher, slick or tough to navigate, then Jesus shows up just as we are about to give up.  He walks into the situation supernaturally and takes over, bringing peace where there had only been frustration, insecurity, fear and doubt.

We don’t usually recognize Him when He arrives on the scene because He always does so outside our expectations or ability imagine.  Walking on the water to the disciples was an extreme way to get their attention and solve the problem, wouldn’t you say?  Yet this is the method He chose to reach them.  To us His method is supernatural, to Him it ain’t no thang, because He created the substance and could command it to do whatever He wanted from it.  We look for help in one way and He sends it in another, which usually means we don’t recognize it as “help” when it arrives because its outside our experience or what we understand as normal.

Jesus walked on the water to the disciples, though He could just as easily grabbed a boat and rowed as well.  I guess walking was faster.

Two miraculous events in a row should have been enough to show the disciples and all the others who Jesus is, but it wasn’t.  His followers still struggled to believe or have faith; the multitudes remained driven by the desire for a circus act instead of the God of heaven coming down to their world to change it.  What follows Jesus crossing the lake on His own is the real point of John even mentioning the story.

The next day the crowd that had stayed on the opposite shore of the lake realized that only one boat had been there, and that Jesus had not entered it with the disciples, but that they had gone away alone.  Then some boats from Tiberias landed near the place where the people had eaten bread after the Lord had given thanks.  Once the crowd realized that neither Jesus nor His disciples were there, they got into the boats and went to Capernaum in search of Jesus.  John 6:22-24.

It sounds like they wanted to find the Lord; it sounds like they were searching for the Master, but they weren’t.  I’m pretty certain many of those who had stayed on the opposite shore were either Pharisees or some sort of leaders in the Jewish world for later in their dialogue with Jesus John refers to them as “the Jews” to set them apart from the common people.

The penny dropped, they saw with wonder another impossibility jump out at them out of nowhere and those that could grabbed boats to cross the lake.  These people had stayed the night at the place where Jesus fed them, hoping to crown Him king, hoping for another miracle, and I think realizing they didn’t really need to go back to work and their homes because Jesus could supply the food to keep them alive and well.

The point is they realized there was no possible way Jesus could have crossed that lake without a boat, and since they saw the disciples take the only boat available without Him in it, they knew something was up.  Jesus withdrew up into the mountain, yet since this region doesn’t have a lot of trees, He would have been visible to those looking for Him unless He found a cave to hide in—which the story doesn’t suggest, so we must assume they kinda’ knew where He was in general.  When He turned up gone with no way to travel toward the disciples, they concluded something even more spectacular had happened while they were asleep and determined to find out just what went down.

People search for truth for different reasons.  People come to Jesus for different reasons—some of them honorable and sincere, others with selfish motives.  I can’t tell them apart all the time but Jesus can.  The disciples reluctantly obeyed their Master, remaining in God’s will by doing so.  The crowd, however, wasn’t seeking God’s will, they were going after the meal ticket.  The disciples witnessed an even more astounding miracle than the one just before it because they were in the path of God’s purpose for them…struggling, for sure, because the elements were against them completing their task, but still obedient.  The crowd didn’t care about God’s will or Jesus’ purpose for being on earth, they only saw what was in it for them:  healing, food without sweat or working themselves to the bone and deliverance from poverty, if Jesus became a king who conquered their oppressors and enemies.

All of us come to Jesus out of self-preservation and self-interest.  How we continue in His presence, however, tells the tale of our hearts.  The disciples were no better than the crowd in most ways because they looked at the world in the same light and with the same skewed vision for their future.  What made the difference was their willingness, however reluctant it might be, to obey the Word of the Lord.  Their faith might be small and weak, but it was never the less placed in their Master.

The church where I attend is dying.

Neighboring farm families who settled in northwest Marion County founded North Liberty Christian Church in 1839. Their names are on the gravestones around our building.

The congregation has has its ups and downs in 170 years. We’ve built two log cabins, a brick church, and the current brick-faced cinder block building on the spot where those farmers first met, growing to at least 250 members. Yet in 1877 our doors closed for 11 years. And about ten years ago we suffered a destructive split, followed by several years of factions fighting for control. This nonsense has cost us dearly; our membership has dwindled to about 70. Our offering doesn’t cover expenses. Too many members are burned out and apathetic.

I’ve been at North Liberty for five years. God brought me here, I think, to get through and then heal from my divorce. But then he had service in mind for me, and has laid any number of things before me to do in this congregation. I’ve done everything I think God has asked me to do and many more things that I saw that needed to be done. I’m pretty involved. But deep in my heart I have been hoping God doesn’t ask me to step up any more.

I watch a small handful of people in our church who are involved in everything. It seems to me that they are desperately trying to keep the place together. They are exhausted, but they keep at it like soldiers on the front line who have been fighting continuously without a break. I don’t want to be one of those people. I have enough going on in my life outside the church, including a demanding job, taking care of a house and yard essentially alone, and trying to raise my children under circumstances that I wish were much better. I want to have time for my hobbies, such as my road trips and this blog, for the joy and restoration they bring. My life is full. Please God, don’t put any more on my plate.

During worship last Sunday, I was in the balcony at the sound board. The fellow who has done that for us the past few years has moved on with his family to another church. I was always his backup, and so now the job defaults to me. Nobody else can do it. I was not particularly happy to gain one more assignment, especially one that keeps my sons and I from worshiping with the rest of the congregation below.

I woke up on the wrong side of the bed that Sunday morning anyway and had just come from the Sunday school class I taught, one I thought I was prepared for but through which I stumbled as though I’d never seen the material before. So I was feeling good and grumbly up there in the balcony, where I didn’t want to be anyway. I was just going through the motions, and was paying only enough attention to punch the right buttons on cue. Then a song, one that we didn’t even sing that day, started playing in my head.

I’m trading my sorrows
I’m trading my shame
I’m laying them down
For the joy of the Lord

I’m trading my sickness
I’m trading my pain
I’m laying them down
For the joy of the Lord

Yes, Lord, yes, Lord, yes, yes, Lord
Yes, Lord, yes, Lord, yes, yes, Lord
Yes, Lord, yes, Lord, yes, yes, Lord, Amen.

I’m pressed but not crushed
Persecuted not abandoned
Struck down but not destroyed
I am blessed beyond the curse
For his promise will endure
That his joy is going
To be my strength

Though my sorrows may last for the night
His joy comes with the morning

The song was distracting and I wished it would go away. And then my mind got stuck on the chorus, all the yes, Lords. By the 30th or 40th chorus I was seriously considering humming “It’s a Small World” to myself to shake this song – and suddenly I became aware that answering God’s call was the theme of that day’s worship in both song and sermon, which I thought I had not been paying attention to. And I felt that God was making sure I heard it.

Okay, Father, so you reached me. You told me through the circumstances of my day and through the actions of my mind that you want me simply to say yes to all you ask. You suggested through it that what you ask will not be more than I can bear. I can do it, Father; I will do it. Whether I’m to see this congregation die or see its spirit rekindled, I know you want me there doing the work you’ve set aside for me. I know you know my situation, and I’m going to trust you to meet my needs.

There’s quite a story behind how I came to this church. Read all about it. See how this church moved from rural to urban here.

As they led Him away, they laid hold of a certain man, Simon . . . , and on him they laid the cross that he might bear it after Jesus —Luke 23:26

If we obey God, it is going to cost other people more than it costs us, and that is where the pain begins. If we are in love with our Lord, obedience does not cost us anything— it is a delight. But to those who do not love Him, our obedience does cost a great deal. If we obey God, it will mean that other people’s plans are upset. They will ridicule us as if to say, “You call this Christianity?” We could prevent the suffering, but not if we are obedient to God. We must let the cost be paid.

When our obedience begins to cost others, our human pride entrenches itself and we say, “I will never accept anything from anyone.” But we must, or disobey God. We have no right to think that the type of relationships we have with others should be any different from those the Lord Himself had (see Luke 8:1-3).

A lack of progress in our spiritual life results when we try to bear all the costs ourselves. And actually, we cannot. Because we are so involved in the universal purposes of God, others are immediately affected by our obedience to Him. Will we remain faithful in our obedience to God and be willing to suffer the humiliation of refusing to be independent? Or will we do just the opposite and say, “I will not cause other people to suffer”? We can disobey God if we choose, and it will bring immediate relief to the situation, but it will grieve our Lord. If, however, we obey God, He will care for those who have suffered the consequences of our obedience. We must simply obey and leave all the consequences with Him.

Beware of the inclination to dictate to God what consequences you would allow as a condition of your obedience to Him.

Oswald Chambers

I’ve become more and more convinced that Trusting God is foundational to my faith.  As I continue to study and use The Peacemaker by Ken Sande with my reconciliation clients and combine it with Trusting God (Even when life hurts) by Jerry Bridges, I have come to believe that we have to understand God before we can trust Him and we have to trust Him in order to really obey Him.  This makes sense when I think about it from a personal perspective.  Those people that I trust in any substantive way are those I know well enough to understand their priorities and values.  Without this level of understanding, I just can’t be comfortable they will protect that with which I entend to entrust them.  We have to understand God the same way before we can really trust Him. 

By trusting God, I mean that we are willing to truly turn over to Him and His care all those people and things that are most important to us.  But even more than that, I mean being willing to truly obey God from our hearts, for it is our hearts that God desires most.  Without trusting God, it is difficult to truly obey Him from our hearts because so often what He calls us to is counterintuitive.  As Isaiah 55:8 states, “…neither are your ways my ways, ” declares the Lord.  The more counterintuitive the direction, the more important our trust in God becomes.  When we truly trust Him, we can follow His direction with confidence regardless of what the world might have to say.  More next time about the understanding that leads us to trust.

Some of you probably remember a song by Otis Redding called “I’m a changed man”.  Now I’m not going to sit as an interpreter for the writers of this song – in other words I’m not going to speculate as to what had changed the man in this song, but a portion of the lyrics certainly capture a powerful sentiment that every Christian should be able to sing.  Listen to a segment of the song:

Now I’m a changed man

I’ve been baptized

And I’m a changed man

I’m a brand new guy…

All right let me sing it[1]

In Genesis 35, Jacob was singing about becoming a new man.  It seems clear that based on the events of this chapter, and in particular the response Jacob made to God, this man had finally had some sort of epiphany; it seems that he had finally come to the realization that God deserved his praise and obedience.  We get a sense of this dramatic change without even considering Jacob’s actions.

For instance, take into account the dramatic difference between chapters 34 and 35.  In the last chapter, God was never mentioned – not once.  It was essentially a Godless chapter that highlighted the profound wickedness of men when they forget about God.  Chapter 35, however, is overflowing with references to God.  The name “God” itself is used 10 times, but it is embedded another 12 times in the words Bethel, El-Bethel, Israel, and El-Shaddai.  That is zero references to twenty-two references.  Something has changed.  Something has changed in Jacob.

As we observe the changes in Jacob’s life at this point, it will prove helpful if we do so with constant reference to Paul’s teaching in Ephesians.  In this epistle, Paul directly challenges us to take up the life-altering work of the gospel in our lives and deliberately live it.  He says quite plainly that we are new creations[2] because of Christ; therefore, our lives following new birth should be profoundly different than they were before.  Listen to how Paul says it:

Ephesians 4:17-24 – “Now this I say and testify in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds. ¹⁸They are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart. ¹⁹They have become callous and have given themselves up to sensuality, greedy to practice every kind of impurity. ²⁰But that is not the way you learned Christ!— ²¹assuming that you have heard about him and were taught in him, as the truth is in Jesus, ²²to put off your old self, which belongs to your former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desires, ²³and to be renewed in the spirit of your minds, ²⁴and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness.”

The difference between chapters 34 and 35 provides a great picture of Paul’s teaching, for the apostle teaches us that if we have heard the gospel of Christ and been born again, or born from above[3], then our lives will be marked by a definitive change in behavior.  To use Paul’s words, we will “no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds” (17).  Rather, through Christ our minds will be renewed and we will be able to put on a new self, one that is “created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness” (24).[4] Although we have seen snippets of this change in previous chapters, it floods onto the scene in chapter 35.

Even though a profound change became visible at this point, we know that Jacob was still a man; we know that he still sinned.  However, through the many different events of this chapter we thankfully see a man that is different – his thinking seems clearer, his drive seems more focused, and his faith seems stronger.  This is what Paul was getting at in Ephesians.

Taken as a whole, chapter 35 is essentially a compilation of several events: (1) Jacob’s obedience to God as he prepared his family for their move to Bethel, (2) God’s gracious provision as he made their transition safe, (3) God’s appearance to Jacob and his reiteration of the covenant to him, (4) Jacob’s worship of God at Bethel following God’s departure, (5) Benjamin’s birth and Rachel’s death, (6) Reuben’s sin with Bilhah, and (7) Isaac’s death.  So from a broad perspective of redemptive history, this chapter records the end of Isaac’s generation and the official transition to Jacob’s generation.  This is why it is so important that we finally see a great change in Jacob, for the torch was being officially passed to him.

Full Sermon Manuscript – Genesis 35

[2]2 Corinthians 5:17

[3]John 3:1-15

[4]Ephesians 2:10

If we obey God only when it makes good sense to us or when we happen to have a similar inclination, that is not really obedience. This can be compared to a child whose father insisted on an eight o’clock bedtime. On the first night, the child felt drowsy around seven thirty, so he obeyed his father. “How wise my father is to send me to bed at eight,” the child thought.

The next night, though, he did not feel tired. He could think of no rational reason for going to bed so early. The eight o’clock bedtime mandate seemed arbitrary and unnecessary, so he chose to ignore it.

It is not obedience if we only obey when it suits us to do so.

FFoZ

From the book God Calling (www.twolisteners.org )

April 10 – Pride Bars the Way

Obedience is one of the keys unlocking the door into My Kingdom, so love and obey. No man can obey Me implicitly without in time realizing My Love, in his turn responding by love to that Love, and then experiencing the joy won of the beloved, and the lover.

The rough stone steps of obedience lead up to the mosaic of Joy and Love that floor My Heaven. As one on earth who loves another says, “Where you are is home,” so it is in relation with Me. Where I am is My Home — is Heaven.

Heaven may be in a sordid slum or a palace, and I can make My Home in the humblest heart. I can only dwell with the humble. Pride stands sentinel at the door of the heart to shut out the lowly, humble Christ.

“And whatsoever we ask, we receive of him, because we keep his commandments, 
and do those things that are pleasing in his sight.” 1 John 3:22

From the book God at Eventide (www.twolisteners.org )

April 5 – Redeemed

Agony and heartache, pain and loneliness, such as no human being has ever known, were the price of your redemption.

Truly you are not your own.

You are bought with the price. You belong to Me.

You are Mine to use, Mine to love, Mine to provide for.

Man does not understand the infinite Love of the Divine. Man teaches that as I bought him, so he has to serve, obey, and live for me.

He fails to understand that because he is Mine, bought by Me, it is My responsibility to supply his every need. His part is to realize My ownership and to claim My Love and Power.

From the book God at Eventide (www.twolisteners.org )

April 1 – The Time Of Resurrection

Spring brings its message of Hope.

Not only does it proclaim the Truth that Nature arises from her time of decay and darkness to a new life. But, My children, it surely speaks to the individual, to nations, to My world, that the time of decay and darkness for them too can pass, and that from conflict and storm, disaster and sin they can spring to a new and gladdening Resurrection-Life.

But Nature obeys My Laws. It is by her obedience that the quickening of new life is succeeded by the beauty of Risen Power.

So, only as man obeys My Will and works according to My Divine Plan for him can harmony follow chaos, peace follow war, and a reign of Love succeed one of conflict and carnage.

From the book God Calling (www.twolisteners.org )

March 28 – Evil Mountains

Faith and obedience will remove mountains, mountains of evil, mountains of difficulty.

But they must go hand in hand.

“Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only.” -James 2:24

From the book God at Eventide(www.twolisteners.org )

March 25 – Sift Your Motives

Walk in My Ways. Follow the path I have bidden you tread.

Humble yourselves before Me, and keep My laws, so shall you have perfect peace.

I am with you to give you the needed strength. Go forward unafraid. Grow in Grace, and in the knowledge of Me, your Master and your Friend. Count all the learning of earth’s wisest as nothing compared with the wisdom that I, your Lord, would show you.

Love and learn. You have much, very much to do for My Kingdom. So seek to become perfect. Sift your motives. All that is unworthy cast aside, uproot its inner growth.

You are freely forgiven. Forgive freely, largely, wonderfully.

From the book God Calling(www.twolisteners.org )

March 20  – Help from Everywhere

Your foolish little activities are valueless in themselves. Seemingly trivial or of seemingly great moment, all deeds are alike if directed by Me. Just cease to function except through Me.

I am your Lord, just obey Me as you would expect a faithful willing secretary to carry out your directions. Just have no choice but Mine, no will but Mine.

I am dependent on no one agency when I am your supply. Through many channels My help and material flow can come.

“I delight to do thy will, O my God.” – Psalm 40:8

From the book God at Eventide(www.twolisteners.org )

March 19 – Your Resolutions

“By the obedience of one shall many be made righteous.”

Obedience is the keystone of your arch of worship. On it depends your Love and Power.

Through that archway shall many pass into My Holy Place. Once therein their questing souls will pass into My Holy of Holies. Is it too much to ask of you obedience that this may be accomplished?

Do not fret that your life is lived in lowly places. It is not to be lived to impress this earth-plane, but to be so faithful and obedient that those for whom you desire much, shall have THAT much impressed upon them on the spirit-plane.

That much, and more, than you can desire for them

From the book God at Eventide (www.twolisteners.org )

March 5 – “Share Share”

I am your Lord. Obey Me in all. You are being surely lead into prosperity and true peace.

Let many share in your every gain. There must be no hoarding in the Christ-life. Not what you can gain, but what you can give. Keep your eyes fixed on Me. Seek to know My Will. Share. Share.

I am a Risen Lord. You cannot live with Me without partaking of My Risen Life. My Kingdom is sharing.

I must share all I have with My followers. So you, too, must share all that I give you — material and Spiritual Blessings — with others.

What do you do when God asks you to do something you’re just not too excited to do? Nike ads might say it best, “Just do it!” However, that’s not the entire truth. Yes, God wants us to be obedient but he also wants us to want what he wants. In other words, he wants us to do what he has asked not like Eeyore but more like Tigger.

Now I must admit that sometimes I follow the Lord reluctantly, not expecting much good to result.   But in some ways this is progress compared to where I have been, when I was only interested in doing things my own way.  And I believe God honored those times of  “Oh, okay I’ll do what you want.”

However, I know that God is thrilled when I am excited or at least open to what He has for me.  I may not be bouncing up and down, super excited like the high school kids at basketball games.  But at least I am willing and waiting to see what He wants me to learn or experience.

Being a risk taker has its advantages sometimes and sometimes God wants us to be willing to step off the edge.  And here is where being a deep thinker can work against you.  Sometimes ignorance is bliss.  When I overthink and envision all that could go wrong or try to count the cost, I’m sunk.  I’m better off just playing stupid (in the eyes of the world) or just trusting God (in the eyes of the saintly inclined).

Don’t you just love Tigger and Eeyore? Yes, they can both be annoying.  Yes, I have those days when I identify more with Eeyore and everyday my body betrays me and my ability to bounce is limited  a little more physically. But my mind and spirit are not limited unless I choose to limit myself.  So today I will try to be more like Tigger and less like Eeyore.

Who would be Biblical equivalents of Tigger and Eeyore?  Comments, please.

From the book God Calling (www.twolisteners.org )

January 14 – Mighty and Marvelous

Glad indeed are the souls with whom I walk. Walking with Me is security. The coming of My Spirit into a life, and the working are imperceptible, but the result is might.

Learn of Me. Kill the self. Every blow to self is used to shape the real, eternal, imperishable you.

Be very candid and rigorous with yourselves.  “Did self prompt that?” and if it did, oust it at all costs.

When I died on the Cross, I died embodying all the human self. Once that was crucified, I could conquer even death.

When I bore your sins in My own body on the Tree I bore the self-human nature of the world. As you too kill self, you gain the overwhelming power I released for a weary world, and you too will be victorious.

It is not life and its difficulties you have to conquer, only the self in you. As I said to My disciples, “I have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now.”  You could not understand them. But as you go on obeying Me and walking with Me, and listening to Me, you will, and then you will see how glorious, how marvelous My revelations are, and My teachings.

I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ 
Jesus our Lord, I die daily.  1 Corinthians 15:31

“My expectation comes from the God who made heaven and earth”…wrote David.

How often I become enmeshed in the snare of waiting “for” things to happen and forget that I am to wait “on” God.  Waiting for is a trap of never-ending frustration.  Waiting on God is contentment and peace as I lean upon Him.

Inactivity, you say.  I will never realize my dreams, achieve my goals, gain success?  On the contrary, I will do all those things in God’s timing and grace.  Waiting on is an active participation in the work of God’s plan for my life.

God gives us a plan or a dream.  We take the ball and run.  We’ll be right back, we say to God, just watch my dust.  And what do we get, dusty, disillusioned and faint-hearted.  God waits on us to come back, head down in defeat, heart broken.  He takes us into His arms and says, “Well, poor little one, now let’s do that dream, fulfill that plan together.

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Been thinking lately about women and how they relate to love/emotions.

I think many women do one of the following:

1)Fall in love with an idea – create an image in their minds of the perfect or almost-perfect person for them, go around looking for those qualities, then as soon as they see one or two of them combined think that the whole package is there, and so fall in love with an ideal instead of the actual person they’re fixating on.

2)Fall in love by default. They haven’t found the right person yet or the person God has appointed for them hasn’t yet appeared in their lives and so, unable to curb the longings and stifled emotions of their heart(for women were made for loving) they find an outlet for these emotions in someone close to them, one of the men in their lives who happens to be close to them or is always around or for one of a myriad of reasons comes to their attention at the right time. Proximity breeds intimacy, they say, and it’s true, and a heart full of any or all of the three L’s – longing, loneliness, and love – breeds falling in love, often in completely inappropriate ways/times or with the wrong people. Women’s emotions are often like a pool – they spread outward unrestrained from us and suck in whoever they happen to lap upon or find within radius. We put out feelers, unconsciously or not, and those waving feelers inevitably find someone and then we find ourselves attached to them almost without knowing how or why.

Often, of course, the two overlap and women take that idea of a man they have and insert it bodily on top of some male in proximity, wanting him to be “the one” since the right person hasn’t appeared yet.

We’re so often satisfied with less than what God has for us. We settle, and we give our hearts, souls, and minds(and sometimes bodies) away to men whom we’re not meant to give them to – pour out all that condensed, stifled passion in the wrong place, wrong time and to the wrong person – and it’s a tragedy.

“I charge you, O daughers of Jerusalem,” says the Shulamite,”by the gazelles or by the does of the field, do not stir up nor awaken love until it pleases.” Until it pleases – until it pleases God. And what God gives us as a gift will always please us because it’s the best thing for us, the thing best designed to bring us the greatest joy and sanctity. And it should not please us unless it’s what God has ordained. I think that most of the time we can tell the difference, in our heart of hearts at least, particularly if we’re really seeking God.

I’ve always been encouraged/admonished by this verse, but confused by the metaphor in it. Why “gazelles” and “does of the field”? Why does the Shulamite swear by/deliver such a strong admonishon based on such obscure/confusing imagery? Then it occurred to me tonight to ponder what sprang to mind when I thought of gazelles and does. And the first thing that sprang to mind was flight – the image that I immediately associate with gazelles and deer is of them running, fleeing lightly and very rapidly on their tiny feet away from hunters or rocks falling or whatever it is that deer flee from. Deer are easily startled and they run very fast. They’re also(particularly gazelles) delicate and fragile and beautiful, and their speed and instinct to flee is the only thing that keeps them alive, that keeps them safe. You see where I’m going with this. We should be characterized by flight, by keeping a distance. At the first sign of inappropriate love in our hearts or tangents toward a particular person we should flee(mentally and spiritually and if necessary physically) in the opposite direction. We should strive to remain free, to remain safe. We should be as easily sparked to flight as does of the field, running to protect something precious – our God-given sanctity and purity/passion until the right one comes along, the one God has given to us. Let us kick up our heels and leave behind our wayward dreams and hopes, our hopelessly longing hearts, and the men our desires cling to, and run the race God has given us to run, in grace and faith as women. Let us maintain our freedom, our singularity of heart. Keep running until the man God has ordained finds you, until the man comes along who, seeking after God, finds you, and the God in you.

My whole life, I’ve been familiar with the idea that to worry was wrong. The reason being that in the Christian life, to worry meant that trust was not being placed in God, and if trust was placed there a lack of faith was the only reason worry could enter the picture. Cognitively, this is a simple concept. Even those who don’t believe in God would surely agree that the Christian logic towards worry makes sense if only among themselves. However, in practice this idea loses some of its simplicity. Once responsibilities get numerous or more weighty, worry seems like a necessary component of life. To not worry would seem as not caring about important matters. Wrestling with this basic complication to the simple Biblical concept has proved to be a very valuable lesson in my life recently. One I suspect I will learn over and over again, as life progresses and brings new complications to the table, and as God pulls me closer to Himself.

The heart of the idea that worry is wrong comes from Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:25-34.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. [NIV]

In my life I’ve been worried about a lot of things, both very important and very stupid. I’ve come to realize that there is both a wrong and a right way to be concerned or, for lack of better words, worried about certain things, and that it takes a clear Biblical definition of what worry is to know the difference. In order to do that I’m going to post the six New Testament occurrences of μέριμνα (merimna), the noun form or worry, and the nineteen occurrences of μεριμνάω (merimnao), the verb form. For those concerned about proper interpretation and not taking scripture out of context, which you all should be, I will address the context of certain passages where necessary for clarification of what I’m saying, but will leave the extensive reading for your personal enjoyment. Feel free to fill me in on any disagreements. After posting the verses I will address what I feel to be the obvious implications for a Christian understanding towards worry, how it should affect all our lives, and how it has specifically affected mine.

The one who received the seed that fell among the thorns is the man who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke it, making it unfruitful. [Matthew 13:22]

…but the worries of this life, the deceitfulness of wealth and the desires for other things come in and choke the word, making it unfruitful. [Mark 4:19]

The seed that fell among thorns stands for those who hear, but as they go on their way they are choked by life’s worries, riches and pleasures, and they do not mature. [Luke 8:14]

Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap. [Luke 21:34]

Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. [2 Corinthians 11:28]

Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you. [1 Peter 5:7]

Simply from examining the noun form of worry in the NT, you see a profound reality take shape. The parable of the sower and the seed makes its way in all three synoptic Gospels, which point to worries of this life being the reason that God’s Word becomes unfruitful and preventing spiritual maturity. These are people who have received God’s Word and His truth, but because they were more worried about other things, job, family, friends, status, their maturity was cut short and the idea in these passages seems to indicate that they turn away all together. Materialism is the idol that becomes god in these peoples lives. How many Christians are there in this situation? Sadly there are many, especially in our churches. Luke 21 addresses the end of the age, and warns against worrying for materialistic things again, with the mindset that the end could come, so be careful not to put wrongful stock in the concerns of this life.

Now in 2 Corinthians 11, Paul shares his history of being persecuted for the faith, and says the icing on the cake is his worry for the churches he’s planted. This is a legitimate concern. This is not sinful worry about greedy materialistic desires. Even so, he finishes the passage by saying “Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?  If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying” [2 Cor. 29-31]. This is the end to a tirade against false teachers in Corinth, when Paul purposefully goes on about all he has been through to show his authority to judge their situation. But he ends by pointing out the fact that this highlights his weakness, and by extension the strenth of God. 1 Peter is a great summation of how a Chritian deals with anxiety, all our worries must be cast upon Christ, the sinful ones in order for repentance and the legitimate ones to prevent sinning. Before making anymore conclusions, let us move on to the occurrences of the verb worry in the NT.

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? So do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own. [Matthew 6:25-34]

But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. [Matthew 10:19-20]

‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’ [Luke 10:41]

When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say. [Luke 12:11-12]

Then Jesus said to his disciples: ‘Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat; or about your body, what you will wear. Life is more than food, and the body more than clothes. Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds! Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? Since you cannot do this very little thing, why do you worry about the rest? Consider how the lilies grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you, not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today, and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it. For the pagan world runs after all such things, and your Father knows that you need them. But seek his kingdom, and these things will be given to you as well. Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will not be exhausted, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. [Luke 12:22-34]

I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord’s affairs—how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife—and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord’s affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband. I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord. [1Corinthians 7:32-35]

But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. [1 Corinthians 12:24-25]

I hope in the Lord Jesus to send Timothy to you soon, that I also may be cheered when I receive news about you. I have no one else like him, who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ. [Philippians 2:19-21]

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. [Philippians 4:6]

There are a great number of overlapping themes and theological points to be made in these passages. However, focussing on worry alone, there seems to be a clear way to see both sinful and sinless types of worry. Sinful worry has to do with doubting God’s ability, whether consciuosly or unconsciously, to meet your basic physical and spiritual needs. It is also a worry that leads to despair and depression. Sinless or Godly worry is in relation to the spiritual welfare of others and in relation to obedience to God. “Seek the Kingdom,” it says in Luke 12, or more plainly stated in Matthew 6 and as quoted in a popular hymn, “Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added unto you.” Worry is a sin when it has replaced seeking God’s Kingdom and His righteousness. Godly worry, or more accurately stated in English, Godly concern is tied to seeking His Kingdom. It is being concerned with the things God is concerned about, being sensitive to the things that He is sensitive to. It is letting your emotions give way to the same things that cause God’s emotions to give way. The only way to know what God is concerned with is to know the Word and to listen to Him. Hence, my belief that listening to God is the foundational precept and practice for Christian living.

I’m afraid there are too many Christians for whom some of these passages will make no sense, because they have never experienced following God and listening to Him that closely. What Christian will care that the Spirit of God will give them the words they need to say in life or death situations when they have never risked their lives or anything else for Him? What Christian will care about whether or not to get married and have their attention divided between worldly affairs and God’s affairs when no one has every shown or told them they need to ask God if, when, who and how to marry? What Christian will even know the danger of not seeking God’s Kingdom and His righteousness first, when their whole life their church and family have sought the righteousness of friends, political parties and their leaders, their country, and their favorite celebrities without distinguishing or even trying to understand the difference between what God says is worth caring about and what the world does?

I have discovered that Godless worry leads needlessly to despair, deep confusion, depression, idolatry, mediocraty, hatred, arrogance and many other sins. However, Godly worry leads to intercession, deep prayer, excellence, sorrow that leads to repentance, spiritual renewal, deeper faith, Godly kindness, harsh and theologically correct anger, and all kinds of love. Whether or not one is worrying in either way depends on if they are truly listening to God or not. I hope this is as helpful a lesson to you as it has been and is being to me. As I encounter further responsibilities and greater visions in life, I pray now for my future self, that I will then as now by God’s grace seek His Kingdom and His righteousness first. I hope you do the same.

Here is a previous writing from a time ago:

This morning I thought I was too busy to have a quiet time, but God had a different plan for me.  How much more we can be rewarded by obeying Him!  He wanted me to read 1 John 5.  So I flipped there and began to read verses 1-12.  The title is Faith in the Son of God.  I don’t know if you are like me, but I know that there are some areas of faith in God I need to work on.  And sometimes I think why do I not trust more…. He has never let me down and has even gone above and beyond to show me my answered prayers to give even a stronger accord.

“Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the Father loves His child as well.”  Once born of God, we no longer belong to the world but are now of God.  Our minds must be transformed to Kingdom thinking, which can be a long process.  Retraining the way we think often takes many repetitions.  

“This is how we know we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out His commands.  This is love for God: to obey His commands.  And His commands are not burdensome, for everyone born of God overcomes the world.  This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.  Who is it that overcomes the world?  Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.”  Wow..not that we are waiting to overcome the world, but that accepting Jesus we nowhave overcome the world.  Why are we still trying to live in the world.  Jesus has had the victory, it states that victory has even gone above that of faith.  What do you think that means?

It continues on to describe the testimony God gives of His Son and that His testimony is stronger than any testimony of man.  At the end of this section it is as clear as black and white.  “And this is the testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.  He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life.”

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I love to tell others about reading gems that I have stumbled upon.  Some years ago, I read Joy Dawson’s book, Forever Ruined for the Ordinary: The Adventure of Hearing and Obeying God’s Voice.  It was one of those “keeper” books — the kind you know you will read again, and even if you don’t, you still want to make sure it is on your bookshelf — just in case.  I not only kept it; I bought copies for all the special people in my life.  I don’t do that every day of the week.

So, why was this book so important to me?  It spoke to a deep hunger in my life to better understand hearing the voice of God.  I had been hearing God speak to me for years, yet I wanted more, and Joy helped me with that more.

She’s still helping me.  I picked up the book again a couple of weeks ago and reread it, and it has been a wonderful experience for me.  Joy covers such topics as hearing God is everyone’s privilege, conditions for hearing His voice, ways God speaks to us, reasons guidance is delayed, how to avoid deception, and how obedience relates to clear hearing of God’s voice.  She majors on encouraging her readers to ask God to speak before making even small decisions.  She also majors on assuring us that God’s character is so trustworthy that He will never let us down.

One of the most helpful sections for me was the one about deception.  She asserts that pride is always the trigger to deception.  We do not need to fear deception if our hearts are humble and teachable, because God will quickly correct our course if our hearts are right.  She explains how people get deceived, how to quickly get out of the trap if we are already there, and how to stay out of deception’s snare in the first place.

Joy emphasizes getting quiet before the Lord in order to hear Him.  (I guess this makes her one of the original ”soakers” before soaking prayer became popular.)  She exhorts her readers to submit themselves to the authority of their church leadership, if they want to hear God properly.  She talks a great deal about the fear of the Lord protecting us from operating out of a fear of man.  She comments, “[Being] totally submitted to the control of the Holy Spirit in the fear of the Lord … releases us from the fear of other people,” and, about the pressures to perform, “When you’ve chosen to be nothing so that He may become everything, you don’t sweat it.”

Whether you are just now setting out on the journey to hearing God’s voice,  or whether you’ve been on the path for a long time already, I highly recommend Forever Ruined for the Ordinary, by Joy Dawson.

Quotes from Forever Ruined for the Ordinary

Purchase at Amazon: Forever Ruined for the Ordinary

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