A Virgin Will Be With Child

We all love to experience the wondrously “impossible” coming true for us — the dream come true!     It’s hopeful to hear Luke 1:37 say, “For nothing will be impossible for God”.     And then, when Jesus says in Matthew 19:26,  “With men this is impossible, but with God  all things are possible“,  we really listen up.

Jesus’ birth was the fulfillment of many different prophecies dealing with His lineage, where He would be born, and the condition of His humble poverty.     The prophecy that people might tend to consider the most miraculous is found in Isaiah 7:14.     There, the prophecy embedded in history states,

Therefore the Lord Himself will give you a sign:  Behold, a virgin will be with child and bear a son, and she will call His name Immanuel.”

The Hebrew word for “virgin” here refers to a young woman of marriageable age — one who is veiled or private.      It refers to one who has not been out and about.     All that was true of Mary, the mother of Jesus.     And so, we read about Mary’s reaction to the angel, Gabriel’s  announcement that she would become the mother of  “the Son of the Most High” , in Luke 1:26-35,

Now in the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a city in Galilee, called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph,  of the descendants of David; and the virgin’s name was Mary.     And coming in, he said to her,  “Hail, favored one!     The Lord is with you.”

But she was greatly troubled at this statement, and kept pondering what kind of salutation this might be.

And the angel said to her,  “Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found favor with God.     And behold, you will conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and you shall name Him Jesus.     He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David;  and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; and His kingdom will have no end.”

And Mary said to the angel,  “How can this be, since I am a virgin?”

And the angel answered and said to her,  “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you;  and for that reason the holy offspring shall be called the Son of God.”

The “Son of God“?     This does not seem possible.     But, Mary was devout in her faith in the LORD, who had promised a Messiah.     And, Isaiah had made another curious prophecy about the Messiah.     In Isaiah 9:6-7, he reveals,

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us;   
And the government will rest on His shoulders;   
And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.   

There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace,   
On the throne of David and over his kingdom,   
To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness   
From then on and forevermore.   
The zeal of the LORD of hosts will accomplish this.

The zeal of the LORD of hosts can accomplish the seemingly impossible, for all things are possible with God.     God’s zeal is for us.     God’s zeal repeatedly shows us throughout His word that He is the Almighty and His love for us is true.

If we want a real Christmas miracle in our hearts, we need to turn to the Lord in His word and look at all He has done for us in Christ.     We need to examine how God fulfills all His prophecies in His time and exactly as He foretells it.

As we see God’s love and power in the Christmas story, we know for sure that we can entrust our whole lives into God’s loving hands.     Because of God’s love in Christ we can well afford to live according to God’s word.     We no longer have to be afraid of the taunting and mocking of the world.     We no longer have to be afraid of the pressures and threats and sufferings in this world.    

It is as the apostle Peter writes in 1 Peter 3:14-16,

Even if you should suffer for the sake of righteousness, you are blessed.    And do not fear their intimidation,  and do not be troubled,  but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts,  always being ready to make a defense to every one who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you,  yet with gentleness and reverence;  and keep a good conscience so that in the thing in which you are slandered, those who revile your good behavior in Christ may be put to shame.

That is exactly how Joseph and Mary had to be as they faced those around them, pregnant and unmarried.    Whatever the gossip might have been, Matthew 1:24-25 records,

And Joseph arose from his sleep, and did as the angel of the Lord commanded him, and took her as his wife, and kept her a virgin until she gave birth to a Son, and he called His name Jesus.

Life can be complicated, but when we live in the Lord, He will work all things for our good.     Therefore, we can say,  “Hallelujah!     My Lord, all things truly are possible with You.    Nothing is impossible for You.     Let me live to Your glory, like Joseph and Mary did.”

Love,   
Margaret

A devotional to glorify the LORD of lords and King of kings…

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When Jesus did His first temple protest early on in His ministry as recorded in John’s Gospel, the disciples it says remembered a Scripture which says “zeal for Your house has eaten me up.”

Well in ‘proper’ language it says “consumed” which isn’t bad but I like “eaten me up” because I like to think about what it would look like for zeal to come along and eat me up.

One thing I know, is if it came and ate me up, what would be left? Any of me? Or just zeal, relaxing its jaws and licking its lips as it thinks about what to do next with the energy it has just received from its latest meal? I like to think about the fact that when zeal came upon Jesus, it totally consumed Him, this intense passion and fire just engulfed Him so that all that was present doing the work that day was holy zeal. There’s not an ounce of fleshliness getting in the way saying “hmm, maybe I should just go easy here for a bit.”

Here’s the thing about zeal, is I see it a bit like fuel. We all need fuel in our lives, the fuel of the Holy Spirit. But I think too often we can be guilty of striving to attain the results that previous people have had, using the means people have had – but we’ve lacked the fire and the passion and the fuel of the anointing oil that they had. It’s like trying to drive to a place someone else did, using the same car as they did, but without anything in the tank.

And in such cases it is always a real battle, a real push and struggle to get anywhere. You might be doing all the things that another great man or woman of God did, and yet some reason it isn’t working for you, there’s not the same results coming about. Why? Because they were driven by something that they had allowed to come and eat them all up. They weren’t running on their own steam. They were drinking from the fountain of everlasting life, and were burning with the fire that never dies.

Our commission is to spread the gospel of the kingdom to the ends of the earth, and according to the Gospels this is done through the means of ‘word, works and wonders’ – demonstrating the kingdom as well as declaring it, through healings, miracles, signs and wonders. This kingdom is one of which it says “there will be no end to the INCREASE of the increase of His government and of peace” (Isaiah 9:7, my emphasis). But let us not miss what it is that lies behind this mission, what fuels and drives it, how it is accomplished: “the zeal of the Lord of hosts will accomplish this” (Is 9:7). How can we expect to carry out the mission that we have, unless we are consumed and awakened by this zeal? He is ready to impart His zeal, but let’s be ready to receive it in such a way that it will eat us, consume us all up, so that nothing of us, our flesh, is left behind, that we are utterly sold out to the purpose of seeing the kingdom come to earth, so dependent upon the success of this mission that if it fails we will seriously feel it.

Just a last point on that note. Too often we give ourselves natural, earthly backups, cushions or safety nets, so that if a mission or something doesn’t succeed in the way we wanted it to then we can remain comfortable because, well perhaps it wasn’t God’s will to heal, or well we had a good time together anyway even if no one got saved and no lives got transformed.

When Jesus sent out His disciples, however, there was none of that. He told them (Matthew 10 for reference) to take no bag, no bread, no money, no staff, only one shirt, one pair of sandals – in short only just enough to keep their backs covered, and no more. This put them in a place of utter dependency on God and on His supernatural provision to come through, and do consider that without it, they would have been helpless and the mission would not have been able to go on for very long!

I think it’s when we’re in the place where we have removed all safety nets, all comfort zones and cushions that God is most pleased and ready to come through, because we evidence the fact that we are a people of faith amidst a world of unbelief. If we’re carrying around the baggage of our cushions and safety nets, why should He come through? It’s like we’re saying to Him, “we trust You – but just in case You don’t come through, don’t worry about us, we’ll be alright.”

He doesn’t want that! I believe He’s looking for a generation of His children who will cry out and understand saying, “Lord if You don’t come through we’re going to really mess up here! We’re going to look foolish as the people who trusted You and we’re not going to be able to survive much longer!” This is what He is looking for, and for you who are reading it I hope you are ready to take up the challenge.

It’s time once again for a generation to sell themselves out for a cause, to live in a way where it’s all or nothing, to take up their crosses and follow Him not for the sake of sacrifice itself but because there is a cause so great that it is worth going through death for – through death, and into resurrection and its power.

Beer Zeal has officially begun! Stick around for reviews, thoughts, and all the pride you could want for beer. Pull up a chair and let’s get going.

Here’s to new beginnings!

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And keep checking back because I have a bunch more of these coming.

This great Puritan was born the same year that the Pilgrim Fathers landed at Plymouth. His home was Elstow, near Bedford, in England. His father was a tinker and he was brought up to the same trade. He was a lively, likeable boy with a serious and almost morbid side to his nature. All during his young manhood he was repenting for the vices of his youth and yet he had never been either a drunkard or immoral. The particular acts that troubled his conscience were dancing, ringing the church bells, and playing cat. It was while playing the latter game one day that “a voice did suddenly dart from Heaven into my soul, which said, ‘Wilt thou leave thy sins and go to Heaven, or have thy sins and go to Hell?’” At about this time he overheard three or four poor women in Bedford talking, as they sat at the door in the sun. “Their talk was about the new birth, the work of God in the hearts.

They were far above my reach.”

In his youth he was a member of the parliamentary army for a year. The death of his comrade close beside him deepened his tendency to serious thoughts, and there were times when he seemed almost insane in his zeal and penitence. He was at one time quite assured that he had sinned the unpardonable sin against the Holy Ghost. While he was still a young man he married a good woman who bought him a library of pious books which he read with assiduity, thus confirming his earnestness and increasing his love of religious controversies.

His conscience was still further awakened through the persecution of the religious body of Baptists to whom he had joined himself. Before he was thirty years old he had become a leading Baptist preacher.

Then came his turn for persecution. He was arrested for preaching without license. “Before I went down to the justice, I begged of God that His will be done; for I was not without hopes that my imprisonment might be an awakening to the saints in the country. Only in that matter did I commit the thing to God. And verily at my return I did meet my God sweetly in the prison.”

His hardships were genuine, on account of the wretched condition of the prisons of those days. To this confinement was added the personal grief of being parted from his young and second wife and four small children, and particularly, his little blind daughter. While he was in jail he was solaced by the two books which he had brought with him, the Bible and Foxe’s “Book of Martyrs.”

Although he wrote some of his early books during this long imprisonment, it was not until his second and shorter one, three years after the first, that he composed his immortal “Pilgrim’s Progress,” which was published three years later. In an earlier tract he had thought briefly of the similarity between human life and a pilgrimage, and he now worked this theme out in fascinating detail, using the rural scenery of England for his background, the splendid city of London for his Vanity Fair, and the saints and villains of his own personal acquaintance for the finely drawn characters of his allegory.

The “Pilgrim’s Progress” is truly the rehearsal of Bunyan’s own spiritual experiences. He himself had been the ‘man cloathed in Rags, with his Face from his own House, a Book in his hand, and a great Burden upon his Back.’ After he had realized that Christ was his Righteousness, and that this did not depend on “the good frame of his Heart”–or, as we should say, on his feelings–”now did the Chains fall off my legs indeed.” His had been Doubting Castle and Sloughs of Despond, with much of the Valley of Humiliation and the Shadow of Death. But, above all, it is a book of Victory. Once when he was leaving the doors of the courthouse where he himself had been defeated, he wrote: “As I was going forth of the doors, I had much ado to bear saying to them, that I carried the peace of God along with me.” In his vision was ever the Celestial City, with all its bells ringing. He had fought Apollyon constantly, and often wounded, shamed and fallen, yet in the end “more than conqueror through Him that loved us.”

His book was at first received with much criticism from his Puritan friends, who saw in it only an addition to the worldly literature of his day, but there was not much then for Puritans to read, and it was not long before it was devoutly laid beside their Bibles and perused with gladness and with profit. It was perhaps two centuries later before literary critics began to realize that this story, so full of human reality and interest and so marvelously modeled upon the English of the King James translation of the Bible, is one of the glories of English literature. In his later years he wrote several other allegories, of which of one of them, “The Holy War,” it has been said that, “If the ‘Pilgrim’s Progress’ had never been written it would be regarded as the finest allegory in the language.”

During the later years of his life, Bunyan remained in Bedford as a venerated local pastor and preacher. He was also a favorite speaker in the non-conformist pulpits of London. He became so national a leader and teacher that he was frequently called “Bishop Bunyan.” In his helpful and unselfish personal life he was apostolic. His last illness was due to exposure upon a journey in which he was endeavoring to reconcile a father with his son. His end came on the third of August, 1688. He was buried in Bunhill Fields, a church yard in London.

There is no doubt but that the “Pilgrim’s Progress” has been more helpful than any other book but the Bible. It was timely, for they were still burning martyrs in Vanity Fair while he was writing. It is enduring, for while it tells little of living the Christian life in the family and community, it does interpret that life so far as it is an expression of the solitary soul, in homely language. Bunyan indeed “showed how to build a princely throne on humble truth.” He has been his own Greatheart, dauntless guide to pilgrims, to many.

— John Foxe

 Zeal: Afflatus of Success

by: Wilbert C. Laforteza

“Zeal is the blood of success, sans it; it will drain a person into a quicksand of misery.” – Wilbert C. Laforteza

What moves a person into determination is the zeal itself. It drives a person into action…so anyone who believes in zeal triumphs even on the most painstaking and brain-scattering tribulations or treacherous adversities.

The toughest façade of every goal or ambition lies on a solid desire and action towards one’s realization. Really, zeal is of no doubt because it is a manifested equator of progress towards success due to its convincing and mandating power to trailblaze the path of a settled task, plan, goal, and ambition. Zeal is considerably the firebrand of life…it is important and lucid that it must be fueled with refined optimism – an action with positive point of views.

Some disregard zeal an asset for they are too reluctant to compete and struggle. Scads consider zeal is trivial and dispensable because they are fickle because they believe on what-come-may luck and it is a bane for them; their reason is that zeal is a sort of boo. Now, all of them who believe that zeal is a messy pot turns booby and will be futile in the end. Why and how comes? It is because they lack the knowledge that zeal is the dream’s pre-requisite towards realization. Many err on believing that zeal is dispensable but in reality, it is indispensable.

How can person gain zeal? The answer goes this way: it starts in the personal encouragement of one’s family members, the encouragement of friends, classmate, and colleagues, who can tickle the interest of the individual. The interest tickled will eventually empower the person to aspire. From that interest, it will develop the individual’s doctrine, values, and self-concept that will serve as the collective purpose that a person may be committed. Finally, the result for that formulated commitment will be a vibrant zeal…a subliming action to act for a cause!

Anyone who dreams for success must be inspired with zeal; for zeal is forever the stem of success from the life’s dawn to grim reaper.

Zeal: Afflatus of Success

by: Wilbert C. Laforteza

“Zeal is the blood of success, sans it; it will drain a person into a quicksand of misery.” – Wilbert C. Laforteza

What moves a person into determination is the zeal itself. It drives a person into action…so anyone who believes in zeal triumphs even on the most painstaking and brain-scattering tribulations or treacherous adversities.

The toughest façade of every goal or ambition lies on a solid desire and action towards one’s realization. Really, zeal is of no doubt because it is a manifested equator of progress towards success due to its convincing and mandating power to trailblaze the path of a settled task, plan, goal, and ambition. Zeal is considerably the firebrand of life…it is important and lucid that it must be fueled with refined optimism – an action with positive point of views.

Some disregard zeal an asset for they are too reluctant to compete and struggle. Scads consider zeal is trivial and dispensable because they are fickle because they believe on what-come-may luck and it is a bane for them; their reason is that zeal is a sort of boo. Now, all of them who believe that zeal is a messy pot turns booby and will be futile in the end. Why and how comes? It is because they lack the knowledge that zeal is the dream’s pre-requisite towards realization. Many err on believing that zeal is dispensable but in reality, it is indispensable.

How can person gain zeal? The answer goes this way: it starts in the personal encouragement of one’s family members, the encouragement of friends, classmate, and colleagues, who can tickle the interest of the individual. The interest tickled will eventually empower the person to aspire. From that interest, it will develop the individual’s doctrine, values, and self-concept that will serve as the collective purpose that a person may be committed. Finally, the result for that formulated commitment will be a vibrant zeal…a subliming action to act for a cause!

Anyone who dreams for success must be inspired with zeal; for zeal is forever the stem of success from the life’s dawn to grim reaper.

“You can’t stay in your corner of the Forest waiting for others to come to you. You have to go to them sometimes”
– Winnie the Pooh –

Is everyone born with the ability to ‘go get em’? Or do some people get a slightly larger helping when the fall from the Tree of Life? Either way, its a little bit if a conundrum… the propulsion to head steadily towards formulated plans, without hesitation or diversion, that some people seem pretty good at (say the Richard Branson’s of the world), compared to those that falter so much more in achieving what they want. What makes them so different from the Average Joe who finds it that little bit harder to keep plodding on in the face of adversity?

 Me, I wonder if sometimes a slightly larger fuel injection wouldn’t go amiss? Or perhaps a pair of blinkers that might just aid my on my way. Funnily enough, I recently read that as well as the popular association with blinkers in the horse world, they are also ’small bright intensity enhancements’. How apt really - that by focusing on our intended goal it will also become brighter, more intense, until hopefully one day we’re smack bang on top of it and we’re blinded by where we’ve finally got to.

I find it hard to trace back the point at which the confidence took a bit of a battering, and when I started to be just that bit more reserved in what I hoped for, and what I thought I could achieve. I recognise now that a few setbacks and rejections can build, even though you push them to oneside. And thats when the rot can set in if your not careful, that borderline indifference where you realise you’re not entirely happily with the state of things, but seem powerless to alter things. So you just saunter alone for a few more weeks. Then months…..

At this point it is even more important to push through those feelings, and remind yourself that you’re not done yet. No way near. I started to ignore the niggle, that question about whether I could really do the things I wanted to do next. I started to focus instead on what I enjoyed doing admist hard times at work, and wrote down 3 things I wanted to get done by the end of the month outside of work stuff, regardless of how inconsequential they might be,  and put them somewhere I could be reminded of where I was headed. No way was this going to be my lot.

I love the example of George Dantzig, google him if you’ve time, who entering a lecture late at university copied down two maths problems from the board he incorrectly believed to be homework which he then went on to solve and submit. In fact, they were formerly unproved maths theorems being used simply to illustrate a point. The power of knowing no limits – imagine where we could end up with just a little more belief in ourselves.

I realised my energy would be better spent, not questioning why so many hurdles seemed to appear at times, but in figuring out a way round them. And my conclusion? It didn’t matter that I was still worried – that I hadn’t got it all figured out, I just needed to put my energy into doing it anyway. Looking towards those people that manage to seemingly make something out of nothing, I wonder what pushes them forward?

Psychologists and research would suggest several key characteristics. Given different names, but these seem to be a definite vision and belief about where they are headed supported by a realistic plan of how they’re going to get there- the building blocks. Next a sense of determiniation – they are passionate about where they are heading- the ability to surge forward despite knock backs, and a committment to pursuing what they want. Within that an ability to be flexible and creative- to find other ways around hurdles. The balance between being able to get on with others but not back down. And lastly support from those around them. Sounds so simple! Yet clearly not everyone has such an entrpreneural spirit, regardless though that doesn’t mean I can’t beg borrow a steal a little bit of that zeal!

In the words of Winnie the Pooh, don’t expect it to come to you, sometimes you have to chase after what you want. You have to be relentless, know that you deserve to spend time doing the things you are passionate about, and that this doesn’t have to be it.

All that you see here–the days will come when there will not be left a stone upon another stone that will not be thrown down. Luke 21:6

I was riding with my boss, Mr. Rolando Bacani, and we were going to work when he asked me, “Did you know what happened in New York?” Since we are in the Philippines, I had no idea about it so I said, “No.” My boss continued our conversation and told me that there was a massive power blackout in the Northeastern part of the United States. That was in August of the year 2003.  We were working on the power system operations side of the largest grid in the Philippines, Mr. Bacani as the Vice-President of the group is well versed on this kind of events.  He told me there was one time he was presenting in Malacanang Palace about minimizing the risks of blackouts in the Philippines, he was asked if the government invested large of money in the grid if it would eliminate blackout. He replied a flat NO to the inquirer. He said any man-made infrastructure is deemed to fail at some point. He elaborated whatever intervention(s) done or will be done will not prevent any synthetic system to succumb given some time.

And he concurs with Jesus. Jesus said anything that we see here will be thrown down. Everything that we can look upon will fall down.  A stone standing upon a stone will falter. Anything that is seen standing for now will kiss the earth.  And Jesus was specific, “All that you see….”

So what will remain standing? All that is unseen. The unseen will not be thrown down. The unseen will not fall down.

God. God’s forgiveness. God’s mercy.  God’s hands. Faith in Christ. Repentance. Hope in God. Love for God and others. Dependence in God. Zeal for His house.

And what does this tells us? Look for the unseen. Believe in what is unseen. Cling on Who is unseen.

Make a choice today. Seen or Unseen?

Standing in the hallway waiting to start
Family and friends that you never have met
Milling around with awkward lonely heart
Waiting till crystals on tables are set

It’s served before the main course of the meal
It is an amuse bouche if in one bite
Saying it in French gives it extra zeal
Small appetizers early in the night

A four square inch napkin and pinky raised
Maybe a cocktail in one of your hands
Spear through a piece red meat that’s been braised
Shrimp on crushed ice that’s been cleaned of beach sand

Help yourself to one two three four or five
While you are waiting it keeps you alive

“Do all the good you can, in all the ways you can, to all the souls you can, in every place you can, at all the times you can, with all the zeal you can, as long as ever you can”  Wesley

What a call for the church to be about spreading a knowledge of Christ with great zeal for God’s glory and a love for the nations of the world.

One of the passages of scripture from my own personal meditations that has had the greatest impact on me in recent weeks is Romans 10:1-2 where Paul says about his kinsmen, the Jewish people: My heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. For, I bear them witness that they have a zeal for God, but it is not according to knowledge.

What struck me here is that it is possible to have a zeal for God and be lost. A zeal for God and lost – perishing! “My heart’s desire is that they be saved,” he says. So they are not saved. Why? They have zeal for God. They are, in fact, part of the chosen Jewish people. But he prays that they would be saved. What’s wrong? What’s wrong with their zeal? And Paul answers: It is not according to knowledge. True knowledge is necessary for salvation. They have zeal. But it is not rooted in knowledge.

Now zeal – the passion of the heart for God – is important. Jesus said to love God with all your heart, and all your soul, and all your mind (Matthew 22:37). He said that lukewarm people will be spewed out of his mouth (Revelation 3:16). And just two chapters later, in Romans 12:11, Paul will say, “Never flag in zeal, be aglow with the Spirit, serve the Lord.” Literally: “Boil in the spirit.” Zeal is important.  But without knowledge it does not lead to salvation.

- John Piper, “Let Us Draw Near to God” (sermon on Hebrews 10:19-22)

Here is a prayer from Pastor Onesmus.  I love his zeal and conviction.  May we catch it!

Lord, take a look at my hand.
Take a look at my heart.
Mold it and refine it and set me apart.
I want to run to Your altar to catch the fire,
to stand in the gap for the lost world.

Give me a heart of compassion for the world without vision.
Then I will make a difference giving to the world
the vision that drives me.

My heart, my cry, my prayer, my passion
is to see nations bow down and worship God,
that with one mighty voice, every knee must bow down,
and every tongue must confess that Jesus is LORD,
to the glory of God the Father.

Amen.

By Pastor Atukwatse Onesmus
(REPEMU International)

PRINTABLE CARD AND BOOKMARK

As I read, I thought that this prayer needed keeping!

So, using this image, I have made a printable card and bookmark in PDF format. You can download it, then print, laminate (bookmark), fold (card), cut and trim. The file includes the card in 2 sizes (1 medium and 2 small), and 4 bookmarks on an A4.

Print them as many times as you like and share with friends. (Instructions are included with the download.)

Also, if you have a fundraising cause, you could make multiple copies and sell them for your cause.

PAY WHAT IT IS WORTH TO YOU.

You will find this file in REPEMU’s Lulu shop.

Instead of charging for the download and have to pay commission on the sale, we have chosen to provide it free with a donation. That way, all the funds go to the cause, and you can pay what it is worth to you.

VIEW & DOWNLOAD
PRINTING INSTRUCTIONS
DONATION VIA PAYPAL

The funds will go towards REPEMU’s Farming Project.
We need to start planting in December.
Thank you for your support. God bless you!

When I read the bible I sometimes find it incredible that throughout the gospel accounts (the first four books of the New Testament) there were so many actions that Jesus did that either were prophesied in the Old testament or reminded people of a saying or phrase from the Old Testament.

One of these phrases is found in John 2:17. Jesus had just been on what I can only describe as a holy rampage! He had walked into the temple only find people buying and selling different things. This got Jesus mad because they had derailed from the purpose of why the temple was built (as a home for God to dwell). Instead of the temple being a  ‘holy’ place it had become a place of corruption and deceit!

After Jesus went on his holy rampage which included whipping the animals out of the place, turning over tables and emptying the cash registers onto the floor his disciples were reminded on a verse found in Psalm 69:9. This verse says, ‘Zeal for my house will consume me’.

Jesus was a man whose life and thoughts were consumed with the house of God, or the place of God. He realized the need for a place where God could dwell. I don’t think he was so mad about the physical temple, but about the hearts of the individuals buying and selling int he temple.

This zeal drove Jesus to do something beyond human comprehension, a sinless life and a sacrificial death. The great news for us is that very same zeal that was in Jesus desires to find a place in our hearts and minds. If we just embrace it and use it for the good of God then we can impact the world in a way that also will be beyond human comprehension.

So I ask you today, what is the thing that is consuming your thoughts? If it is the house of God or the place where God dwells you have in you the ability to change your world and the world around you for good!

I am quoting the following in full from Michael Patton linked here: http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/blog/2009/11/what-to-do-when-you-cannot-die-for-christ/

The blog is an extension of “Reclaiming the Mind Ministries” who put out some good resources for studying and learning the bible.  Check them out: http://www.reclaimingthemind.org/. I wanted to quote the blog entry in full because I really resonate with what he is saying and think it is very important to keep in mind for all Christians.

You know what it feels like: you are on fire; you are ready, willing and able; you don’t need any more sermons on Rom 12:1. You are a living sacrifice; you listened to Piper’s “Doing missions when dying is gain”; you are ready to die. You are ready to die for Christ, the Gospel and whatever other mission God puts you on.

Here I am Lord; I am ready.

Problem: there is no altar. Well, not like you thought. If it exists, it does not exist in the glory of your perceptions. You pray continually for God to show you his direction.There has to be a place for me in his army.

Here’s what you do:

You decide to become a missionary. You talk to your wife and your family about quitting your job and becoming a full time missionary in Africa. Why Africa? Just because. You wife thinks you are nuts and your children don’t understand. All attempts to infect her with the desire to die have the opposite effect. But you are not about to question yourcalling. In your spiritual high, you place some distance between you and your family, believing that it is the Lord’s will. Discouragement has yet to set in.

Or maybe . . .

You decide to start a church. Your passions will be realized as you minister in your local community, transforming all those around you with the preaching—expository preaching—of the word of God. You are sick of the churches that would not know the Gospel if it hit them in the knee cap. You are going to be the lighthouse on a hill. You don’t really know what to do so you get on Microsoft Word and make a flier. You put a nice Bible graphic that you found from Google image search on the flier, along with the announcement of the new Bible study that is going to be held at your friend’s coffee shop.

The day comes. Hundreds of fliers have been handed out. Two people show. One is your wife. The other is a nice young girl who just broke up with her boyfriend and had nothing else to do that night. It’s past time for the Bible study to start and you look outside in hopes that someone else will show. Someone pulls up and leaves upon the realization that they might be the only ones there. You attempt to teach the Bible study, but the disappointment of teaching two people when you hoped for 30 to 40 takes the wind out of your sails. All you want to do is go home and cry.

Or maybe . . .

You decide to go to seminary, but don’t get accepted.

Or maybe . . .

You start with a small missions endeavor, but you don’t get the funds.

Or maybe . . .

You start with a bang, but then it fizzles and no one is as anxious and excited as you are.

What do you do when you try . . . I mean really try to die for Christ, but he won’t let you. What do you do when you are on the altar and you don’t die, but your are getting really sunburned?

This is to those of you who feel called to do something big for the Lord, but it never happens.

Don’t give up your zeal. This is the hardest thing to do. The first two illustrations given above are reenactments of my life. God is not setting you on a 100 meter dash, but on a long distance run. I love new Christians who are set on giving their lives up for the Lord. But I am so saddened when I see those who had such a zeal reenter their old life with great discouragement, wondering why the Lord did not use them. God will use you. God is using you. But he does not move as quickly as we like. Keep the zeal and passion, but let the Lord set the pace.

Ministry is not the de facto solution to satisfy your intense craving to die for the Lord. Remember, you are a living sacrifice. Living sacrifice. Don’t be surprised if you live. Don’t be surprised if you live a life that is rather ordinary, not making a significant impact every direction you turn. Don’t impose such a goal upon the Lord.

Be quiet and tranquil. The Lord will show the path in your tranquility. Paul tells the Thessalonians to “make it your ambition to lead a quiet life and attend to your own business and work with your hands” (1Th 4:11). Ouch. But impacts are never “quiet.” I want to make an impact. I want to stir things up. I want to drop a bomb on the world leaving behind the sign of the Trinity! The problem is that your bomb could be the very antinomy of God’s plan. Your bomb could be you getting off the altar. God will direct you.

I have just watched a very dear friend who had so much zeal for the Lord, so much passion to follow him, so much desire to die that he now sits, divorced, estranged from his wife and family, with his head in his hands wondering why the Lord gave him a spiritual cement job.

Your passions may open the doors you expect and they may not. But you are to sit on the altar, no matter where you are or how God leads, and be a living sacrifice. Chuck Swindoll once said that the problem with living sacrifices is that they keep crawling off the altar. Get back on the altar.

What do you do when you cannot die for Christ? Live for him.

This is a quirky idea that might or might not work.

In Kingdom of Ice you NAME EVERYONE. If someone appears in the game (weapon forger, armour dealer, poet, lover, anyone) you make sure they have a name.

Every character has a New Moon (personal relationships) and a Full Moon (professional relationships), and they can record a set amount of names in each.  Certain feats and class abilities let you record either more New Moon or Full Moon entries.

Demons cannot maim, kill or possess these characters, so long as you have Zeal.
Alternate Idea: Demons cannot maim, kill or possess these characters, so long as you have Zeal and have spent time with them recently (this session or last).

Once you lose all your Zeal and become Weary, the demons can maim, kill and possess these characters, as long as they are listed on your New Moon and Full Moon.

What this might achieve: Creating the tragic Zeal–>Weariness slide that Polaris has, creating characters with anchors and lovers and such, encouraging people to play within the city, interacting with others.

The problems with this idea: It’d encourage people to make NPCs they didn’t mind losing, or it’d drastically discourage people from using Zeal ever. It’d externalize the Weariness effect.

OBSOLETE! Zeal and Weariness have been re-imagined in the “You Always Hurt The Ones You Love” post.

One of the cool things with Polaris is the slide from Zeal into Weariness. I don’t want to introduce a new resource track (4th Ed is already full-to-the-brim with different things like Stances, Healing Surges, Action Points, etc, etc), but instead toggle how an existing one works.

My current thinking is to give every class [A ____'s Zeal] and [A ___'s Weariness] as class features, and use Action Points as the sliding currency. An example, for the Knight (whose role is defender, and trademarks are taking damage to increase attacks, and using demon’s powers against them):

A Knight’s Zeal
You start the game with seven Action Points (3 for a one-shot), do not gain more when you reach a milestone, and do not lose any during extended rest. You may spend an Action Point to replace an Attack Roll result with a 20, against any Demons of Blood & Flesh.

A Knight’s Weariness
When you have zero Action Points, your Will and Reflex Defenses are reduced to 10. When at zero, you may show callousness or apathy towards one of the people to gain an Action Point.

***
So, there is no great flip from Zeal to Weariness, where you never have any Zeal ever again.
Instead, when you run out of Zeal, suddenly you need to start doing some messy stuff, betraying the people, in order to get more Zeal.

The idea here is that hitting 0 isn’t a punishment that you suffer for the rest of the game, but rather a hard choice: you can get more action points later, are you willing to suffer the consequences now in order to get that mighty fun reward?

Also, I think certain monster attacks will suck away Action Points (as well as Healing Surges).