Tag Archives: Lord

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Less of Me

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John 3:30 (NIV), “He must become greater; I must become less.”

We pray, “I just want more of You,” and we sing songs that say, “More of you Jesus.” Why do we do that? It sounds so spiritual and maybe it makes us feel like we are really trying. Possibly we mean we want to experience more of Him in our lives, or most likely we just don’t understand that He already gave ALL of Himself to us. He has already given us everything. How much more could He give?

Romans 8:32 (NIV), “ He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all–how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Emphasis mine)

How much is all? Does all include all of Jesus? All of God? All of Heaven? You bet it does. Let’s look at this parable that Jesus told us.

Matthew 13:45-46 (DRB), “Again the kingdom of heaven is like to a merchant seeking good pearls. Who when he had found one pearl of great price, went his way, and sold all that he had, and bought it.”

Who is the merchant? God is. Who is the pearl (one pearl) of great value or great price? I am, ok, you are. We are, but still it says “one” so He did it for each one of us individually. This is important because the Liar will try to tell you that “lots of people would sacrifice their lives in exchange for dozens, or hundreds, or thousands of people. Nothing personal for you in Christ’s death.” But, get this, He died for you. Just you. Me, just me. If anyone of us would have been the only one, He still would have willingly given His life in exchange for us. He paid the ultimate price, Matthew says he “sold ALL He had” to purchase us. How much is all?

So we can’t get more of Him. There is nothing more to give, He already did. We can’t get more of His love, presence, grace, mercy, or any other gift you want to name here. He gave it all! On the cross, before time began, before Adam was created, before you were born, He gave it all. Out of time, outside of our Calendar, not just 2000 years ago. He paid it all.

So what do we really mean when we say “More of you?” We should be saying what John the Baptist said, and I am trying to practice what I preach, “Less of me.” We can’t get more of His presence, but we can spend more time in it. We can’t get more of His love, but we can accept more, allow more of it to rule and reign in our hearts. We can’t get more forgiveness, but we repent more often and ask the Holy Spirit to search our hearts. We can experience more of Him by putting Him first in our lives and putting ourselves second. Less of our wants, less of our plans, less of our whining and complaining, less of our stubbornness, and less of our self-righteousness. We can experience the “Fullness of God.” It isn’t impossible. How does that happen?

Ephesians 3:19 (AMP), “and [that you may come] to know [practically, through personal experience] the love of Christ which far surpasses [mere] knowledge [without experience], that you may be filled up [throughout your being] to all the fullness of God [so that you may have the richest experience of God’s presence in your lives, completely filled and flooded with God Himself].”

When we practically, through personal experience, know, really know, His love. This knowing is not head knowledge. It is the difference between recognizing the love of your life as someone you read about or heard about, and becoming one flesh with them. Knowing. Intimate. When we know that, then, we get the richest experience of God’s presence in our lives. “Completely filled and flooded with God Himself”. I love that. I want that.

Don’t you?

What is your prayer?

“Less of me.” Amen.

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Rest

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Matthew 11:28-29 (NLT), “Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls.”

My spirit is confident in the finished work of Jesus. Yet, I still find myself feeling overwhelmed at times. Have you ever had one of those days when you feel like a hamster on a exercise wheel going round and round and not getting anywhere? Or maybe you thought you had finished your “to do” list only to find a million other things that need to be added? Maybe you are burdened with a big mortgage and not sure how you can make the payments. Sometimes it feel like you are a beast of burden that has an iron yoke around your neck. Possibly you are weary of work, any work, all work, work, work, work…

There is rest.

We aren’t under the Law any more, but there still remains a “Sabbath” rest for God’s people. The good news is that it isn’t a one day a week rest, it’s a full time, all the time rest.

Hebrews 4:9-11 (AMP), “ So there remains a [full and complete] Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has once entered His rest has also rested from [the weariness and pain of] his [human] labors, just as God rested from [those labors uniquely] His own. Let us therefore make every effort to enter that rest [of God, to know and experience it for ourselves], so that no one will fall by following the same example of disobedience [as those who died in the wilderness].”

More good news, the work that we do is to enter into His rest.

What? I know it doesn’t make sense, but seriously a lot of what God asks us or tells us to do doesn’t. Work to rest? A paradox. Just like a Lion is a Lamb, the Sinless One became sin, God is Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. How about this one, we surrender to get victory. We give up to get it all. I could keep going but you get the picture. Our minds are limited to our five senses. What we can see, hear, feel, taste, and smell. Our body is bound by time, and laws of nature. That’s why we can’t use our minds to figure God out. We walk in and by Faith.

When we understand, a heart understanding, who God is, who we are, and what our place is in His plans, we can be confident that no matter how bad things look, how bad we mess up, how many bad choices we make, His plan doesn’t change. It takes off all of the pressure. We do go to work. We apply ourselves at our jobs, but they aren’t our source, God is, heaven is. It’s not us that has to change the world. We just do what God says, and He changes hearts. The pressure isn’t on our great witnessing, or lack of it. It all hinges on just getting in a right relationship with the Father and letting Him use us however He sees fit.

Just like peace isn’t the absence of war, rest isn’t the absence of work!

Both are conditions of the heart.

We can be at peace and rest in confidence that He loves us.

So, on those days that I feel harassed or overworked it’s because I forgot the most important “work”, fellowship with Him. Not lip service, not fast-food ordering up blessings, not praying for my four and no more, but taking time to share and to listen.

Honestly, starting your day with acknowledging Him as Lord and master, telling Him how much you love Him, and allowing Him to reciprocate, will make your day go so much smoother. Not perfect or stress free, just 99.9 percent better.

Try it.

Rest… In Daddy’s arms.

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Sleeping Beauty

 

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(Sleeping Beauty, Thomas Spence)

Ephesians 5:14 (NIV), “This is why it is said: “Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.”

In 2003 I read a book titled, “Access Granted” by Joshua Fowler. For me this was the beginning of changing the way I thought about Christianity. Now it was only a beginning and a very small one at that, but the bible tells us not to despise small beginnings. Since that time I have gone through some stuff that challenged my new beliefs, However, God is so good that no matter what came my way, no matter what I read, or what I heard from the pulpit, He was confirming a whole paradigm shift. This continued to change the way I saw God, how I saw myself and how my life as His daughter ought to be, and it is changing the way I see others and the world. Now, thirteen years later, the Holy Spirit continues to bring me deeper in this revelation of who I am in Christ.

Recently, as a congregation, we have been covering “Who We Are In Christ,” “Our Rights and Responsibilities as Sons of God,” and “Discipleship.” Our Senior Pastor, Dr. William Hohman has written several small books on some of these revelations. Then a few weeks ago, I had a pastor, Mel Wild, ask me to review his book, “Sonshift”. I follow his blog on the internet and I knew that he was experiencing this new wave of God, so I agreed. Through this book, I have an even greater understanding of what our life should look like as Christians.

I am thrilled that God is moving in His Church. He always does and His timing is perfect. This is the generation that will change the world. This is the generation that will bring Heaven to earth.

Here is a quote from the preface of “Access Granted”: “I am encountering people who are hungry for more of God and His blessings…They are determined to press beyond the norm into the supernatural character, power, and order of God. And they are willing to step over the Jordan and pay the price for their promised land…I am concerned because I am also encountering those who think they know it all they’ve been there, done that, and bought the t-shirt. Instead of using their wisdom and experience as a platform for new revelation and exploits, they are stuck in a rut. They don’t realize that they are old wineskins… Why should you allow God to shake up your world, change your thinking, and lead you into your promised land? Because He wants you to obtain your inheritance in theis earth, so you can carry His name to a lost and dying wolrd. Your harvest is ripe!…It is time for you to open your heart to the new wine and reap your harvest. My prophetic word to you in this hour, “Become anew wineskin for the Lord.”

Joshua Fowler is referencing the parable in Luke 5:36-38. Let’s take a look at that.

(NASB), “And He was also telling them a parable: “No one tears a piece of cloth from a new garment and puts it on an old garment; otherwise he will both tear the new, and the piece from the new will not match the old. And no one puts new wine into old wineskins; otherwise the new wine will burst the skins and it will be spilled out, and the skins will be ruined. But new wine must be put into fresh wineskins. And no one, after drinking old wine wishes for new; for he says, ‘The old is good enough.’”

God is doing something NEW. Maybe not new to Him, but it is certainly new to us. Sure there may be a few who got this years ago. God always has a remnant, those who just seem to be able to surrender to His love in such a way that they get revelation on seemingly a daily basis. Good for them! Now it’s our turn, Amen. We can’t keep being the old us, doing the same old thing, and thinking in the same old way. That’s the old wineskin. That is brittle, inflexible, and other than holding the old wine, it is useless. But I want new wine, how about you? There needs to be a shifting. My friend Mel calls it a “Sonshift”.

Malachi 4:5-6 (HCSB), “ Look, I am going to send you Elijah the prophet before the great and awesome Day of the LORD comes. And he will turn the hearts of fathers to their children and the hearts of children to their fathers. Otherwise, I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

Luke 1:17 (NIV), “He will bring back many of the people of Israel to the Lord their God. And he will go on before the Lord, in the spirit and power of Elijah, to turn the hearts of the parents to their children and the disobedient to the wisdom of the righteous—to make ready a people prepared for the Lord.”

This scripture was about John the Baptist, but it is being fulfilled in a greater way to us right now. The time is ripe.

“I believe we are seeing today a unique day in the body of Christ. I believe we’re living in a day unprecedented since the days of the apostles. We’re living in a day where God is revealing Himself to us as Father. And because the Father is love, His love is becoming available to us like it hasn’t been for 2,000 years. And as that love is coming, it’s turning our Bibles upside down, inside-out, back to front. It is turning our Christianity, up upside down, inside-out, back to front. It is, for the first time, putting us in the place where we can enjoy our life more than sinners.” –James Jordan, Fatherheart Ministries

This is the generation.

“The Spirit said, ‘I will change the understanding and expression of Christianity on earth in one generation.’”- Mike Bickle, Founder of International House of Prayer

In “Sonshift,” Mel Wild uses the parable of the Prodigal Son, to show us that it wasn’t just about one son, it was about two sons who both were a type of “orphans by choice”. Their father wanted the best for them, one rebelled and wanted to do things his own way, while the other had a slave mentality and was working away with an attitude, just waiting for his dad to die so he could get his inheritance. How many of us, who have accepted Jesus as our Savior still live as if we were orphans? Mel calls those “spiritual orphans.”

Here is an excerpt from the book: “The truth is, Jesus came into our orphaned world and introduced His Father to us in order to show us how to live in His Father’s house. He did this so we could be reunited with Him, right now and forever, no longer orphans but sons and daughters. He told us He would do this by sending the Holy Spirit so that we could live just like He did when He walked the earth- abiding in our Father’s house and “proving” to this orphan world that our Papa’s purpose for them is good and acceptable and perfect. Beloved of God, this world has no mental grid for the Father’s love, and the only way they’re going to know it is to see it through our lives.”

Jesus came to show us the Father. Up until this point people just didn’t understand who He really was. He had been relating to them in a way that they could understand, as a parent to a toddler. You can’t really reason with them, you just have to set some boundaries and then enforce them. Praise God for Jesus’ shed blood. For now God can relate to us as mature sons and daughters. We can see His true identity and purpose as well as our own.

Why is this so important? Well, first off wouldn’t you like all those promises of God, that are supposed to be “yes and amen” evident in your life? Me too! And secondly, we want the orphans of this world to find their true Father, the one who loves them more than they can understand, but who long for him anyway. They might not even understand what is missing from their lives, but when they see it they will know it. It’s just like us when we have a food craving. Frequently I don’t even know what I want, so I go to the fridge and take a look. When my eyes light on that one thing, I know it. If it is a true craving and not just “feeding my emotions”, after partaking I can say, “That hit the spot.” What I mean is it satisfied that craving, that empty spot was filled. That’s the way it will be with the world. On the other hand if I go to the fridge and it is empty… I am going to go look somewhere else. Our fridge needs to be full.

Let’s allow God to change us! Only God can really change us from the inside out, true, but we have to allow it. He never forces us, ever. Let the Potter mold His clay. The outcome will be such a beautiful vessel, such a blessed life, that others will want the same. The harvest is ripe, time is quickly running short. Now is the time. No more delay, no more excuses, and no more procrastination. God’s work is finished, now it is our turn.

We are the true “Sleeping Beauty” but God’s word to us today is “Awake, awake, oh sleeper!”

Isaiah 60:1 (KJB), “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee!”

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Just Call Me Barabbas

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“I was sentenced to die for insurrection and murder. I was a vengeful rebel who refused to obey. While confined to a cell, waiting for a gruesome death by the hands of the Romans, suddenly I was removed from my cell and set free! When I asked in confusion, ‘Why have I been liberated?’ The reply was, ‘Someone else has taken your place. Now my name will be remembered forever.”

Most of us are pretty familiar with this story. If I asked you who this person is, you’d answer, “Barabbas” and you’d be correct. I have read the story of the day leading up to the Crucifixion of Jesus too many times to number, in several different versions, but for some reason this week when I read it again in Luke’s account something new hit me like a ton of bricks.

Take a walk through this account with me.

Jesus has been betrayed by one of His friends, one of the twelve, and has been on a whirlwind tour of Jerusalem. First to the Sanhedrin, then to the Roman Prefect, Pontius Pilate, next to Harod, Tetrarch of Galilee, mocked and beaten at each stop, now we pick our story back up at the Praetorium with Pilate. This juggling act was due to the fact that neither leader could find any blame in Jesus. No reason to put Him to death. Neither one wanted to anger the people and cause a riot. In fact the bible tells us that they became friends that day. So in the end, despite his wife’s warning, Pilate does as the religious leaders demanded and he released Barabbas and crucified Jesus.

In the past whenever I read this passage I have had a plethora of emotions. Sometimes I am just saddened by the horrible treatment of Jesus, other times I am so angry at the religious Jews for their self righteous vindictiveness, or I am greatly irritated with Pilate for not listening to his wife and for caving in to the demands of the crowd. Usually when I get to the point of Barabbas I think to myself, “Wow that wasn’t fair,” or “What ever happened to him?” But this week when I read it again, I got to the part where Barabbas is released and it dawned on me… I am Barabbas!

Luke 23:18-25 (NIV), “But the whole crowd shouted, “Away with this man! Release Barabbas to us!” (Barabbas had been thrown into prison for an insurrection in the city, and for murder.) Wanting to release Jesus, Pilate appealed to them again. But they kept shouting, “Crucify him! Crucify him!” For the third time he spoke to them: “Why? What crime has this man committed? I have found in him no grounds for the death penalty. Therefore I will have him punished and then release him.” But with loud shouts they insistently demanded that he be crucified, and their shouts prevailed. So Pilate decided to grant their demand. He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, the one they asked for, and surrendered Jesus to their will.”

History doesn’t tell us what happened to Barabbas, I checked. I can’t help wondering what did he do with his life once he got this second chance, this unexpected pardon? Did he change his life or did he go back to the same old- same old?

You dear friend are also Barabbas. What will you do now that you have been set free?

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Their Last Supper

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Luke 22:14-16 (NIV), “When the hour came, Jesus and his apostles reclined at the table. And he said to them, “I have eagerly desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer. For I tell you, I will not eat it again until it finds fulfillment in the kingdom of God.”

It’s Jesus’ last Passover meal with His followers. He knows that His hour has come. He tells the twelve to “eat His body and drink His blood,” and almost as an afterthought, “But the hand of him who is going to betray me is with mine on the table.” He, again, explains to them that “He must die”. Of course they spend the next few minutes asking each other, “who would do such a thing?” Then suddenly they are arguing over who will be the greatest. (v. 24)

Instead of getting angry with their change of thought, He tells them that they should follow His example and be a servant. Jesus even goes farther and tells them that they will be sitting on thrones and judging the twelve tribes of Israel (v. 28-30)

Then Jesus takes the time to warn one particular disciple.

Luke 22:31-34 (NASB), “Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.” Peter said to him, “Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.” Jesus said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.”

I think Jesus uses Peter’s given name to point out a weakness in him. Peter, a rock, is going to be sifted, shaken. Yet there is hope for Peter, for Jesus has pleaded in prayer for His friend. Jesus knows Peter will deny Him, but He encourages Peter to “repent and then, strengthen your brothers.”

I love and hate the story that we commonly call “The Last Supper.” I hate that one of His own betrayed Him. I love that He is so patient and caring with His followers. I am sad that He had suffering ahead that no man could have ever endured, yet He chooses to spend the Passover with these flawed men. We all acknowledge that this is Jesus’ last supper before His death. However, it was also their last supper. That night those twelve men ate their last supper under the Old Covenant, under the law of sin and death, under the law of performance. Every supper eaten after that day was eaten under the New Covenant, under the law of love and liberty!

Romans 8:1-3 (KJB), “ There is therefore now no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath made me free from the law of sin and death. For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:”

It is like a family who live a rough life, barely scraping by, sitting down to the last food in their cupboards. They are grateful for the watery bowl of ramen and a small cup of kool-aid before retiring for the night, only to wake up and find out that they are long lost cousins to the king. Suddenly they are royalty and are swept off to the palace to dine every night at the king’s table. They had eaten their “last supper” as peasants, in their old life, and now they feast with the king in their new life.

We would think them pretty foolish if they kept eating ramen noodle and drinking kool-aid for supper, wouldn’t we?

Then isn’t it foolish for us to still be arguing over who is the greatest, or trying to stand up to Satan and his “sifting” in our own strength? Why do we want to still submit to the law of performance, or worse yet try to force others to, when we have eaten our last supper there? We are royalty! We are kings and priests. We are children of God. We are seated in Heaven with Christ. We need to stop living under the Old Covenant and live under the New! It’s easier said than done, I know… but we need to repent.

We will never change anything (that’s what repent means, changing our direction) until we change the way we think.

They say it takes fourteen days to build a new habit. However, you won’t even try until you make up your mind to do something different than what you have been doing.

The night before you surrendered your heart to Jesus- you ate your “last supper.” It’s all brand new from there.

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Be an Heir Head

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Ephesians 1:4-5 (NLT), “ Even before he made the world, God loved us and chose us in Christ to be holy and without fault in his eyes. God decided in advance to adopt us into his own family by bringing us to himself through Jesus Christ. This is what he wanted to do, and it gave him great pleasure.”

Before God made this world we live in, he predestined us, or decided in advance to adopt us into His family! He didn’t walk into the orphanage and stroll past all of us who were raggedy, dirty, angry, bitter, and resentful just to pick that pretty little, perfect blonde girl. No, He chose us when we were at our worst. He chose us before we even knew our life was horrible, when we were content to live in rebellion and steeped in sin. He chose us before we ever heard His name. Why?

Because God is LOVE.

Ephesians 2:1:-10 (NIV), “As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our flesh and following its desires and thoughts. Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath. But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus. For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do,” (emphasis mine)

He is rich in mercy. He lavishes us with His mercy. No one has the compassion that our Father does. How many of us watch those commercials asking us to send money to those sad little ones with distended bellies, fly encrusted eyes, with tears running and think, “I need to do something!” God did! He saw us, abused by our true father, Satan, and living with less than His best for us. Those little ones on those ads didn’t choose to live that way, we did, and He still brought us up out of the mud into His home. Peasants adopted by the King! He made us a joint heir with His dearly beloved Son.

So why do we still live like the orphans in “Oliver Twist” or “Little Orphan Annie”? Are we like the Egyptians who had to be delivered from more than just slavery? Sure they were taken out of Egypt, but a whole generation had to die in the wilderness because they wouldn’t give up their lusts for more. Living as slaves taught them that someone else was responsible for them, they were provided for, if barely enough to keep them alive. They complained “we had cucumbers and watermelon back in Egypt”. They preferred to give up their freedom for some veggies and fruits or for a bite of mouthful of meat. They never recognized their freedom, or Who gave it to them. They never pressed in to get to know their deliverer, but instead sent Moses to do it for them.

We have been adopted. Are we living like our new Father or still expecting the abuse, or provision from our old one? Do we truly believe we are free? Free from our past, free from sin, and free to get to know the Father in the exact way that Jesus did? We have so much junk in our heads and not enough treasure in our hearts.

In the 80’s there was a term “air head” that meant someone who didn’t have a lot of common sense, or someone who had taken too many drugs and had nothing but empty space between their ears.

One of our associate pastors used this term for someone who truly believed they had been adopted by the Creator of the Universe, Almighty God, “Heir head”. I like that one better. Of course our heart has to believe it first before we can fill our minds with the fact that we belong to Him. That we can have what Jesus had, do what He did, and live in constant communication with our Father.

I Corinthians 2:9 (NASB), “ but just as it is written , “THINGS WHICH EYE HAS NOT SEEN AND EAR HAS NOT HEARD, AND which HAVE NOT ENTERED THE HEART OF MAN, ALL THAT GOD HAS PREPARED FOR THOSE WHO LOVE HIM.”

We might never be able to understand it, or wrap our minds completely around it. The good news is that we don’t have to! You don’t have to explain to a toddler why you love them, what you do for them, and how important they are to you. They just believe it. Mostly because of your words and actions towards them. What are the Father’s word and actions towards you? Read that verse again.

Then take a look at these:

Jeremiah 19:11 (NET Bible), “For I know what I have planned for you,’ says the LORD.’I have plans to prosper you, not to harm you. I have plans to give you a future filled with hope.”

Psalms 40:5 (NASV), “Many, O LORD my God, are the wonders which You have done, And Your thoughts toward us; There is none to compare with You. If I would declare and speak of them, They would be too numerous to count.”

Mark, Matthew, and Luke all tell us that “Nothing is impossible for God.”

So let’s summarize, God loves You, He has adopted you, you are a joint-heir with Christ, (everything He has is yours), He has great plans for you, and nothing can stop His plans except your refusal to be in a relationship with him.

Be an Heir Head!

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Book Review for “Emanate: Book Three White Road Chronicles”-Christian Fantasy

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Book three in the “White Road Chronicles”, “Emanate” is my favorite so far. I loved it. Great Christian fantasy, an allegory actually. Good storyline, characters are well rounded, several types of creatures and “beasts” are found in this story of the battle between good and evil and how even the seemingly most messed up person can make a difference. I give it five stars. No swearing or sexual content. The main character is a teenager, but most others are adults. There is violence and fighting, t Book three in the “White Road Chronicles”, “Emanate” is my favorite so far. I loved it. Great Christian fantasy, an allegory actually. Good storyline, characters are well rounded, several types of creatures and “beasts” are found in this story of the battle between good and evil and how even the seemingly most messed up person can make a difference. I give it five stars. No swearing or sexual content. The main character is a teenager, but most others are adults. There is violence and fighting, though nothing really graphic. I can recommend for teens and up. Though it has a Christian message and a story that follows the spirit of Christianity, it never mentions the familiar terms we use for God or Jesus. I think non-Christian fantasy readers would also love the book, just not see the true story.