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Like many things these days, the enemy has seemingly stolen the tools required to grow in our knowledge of
God. The principalities of this earth have stolen the rainbow, attempting to redefine the meaning and purpose of the rainbow from being a promise from God, to being a symbol of people who typically reject God, mostly reject Christianity, and desire to corrupt people into believing they are not made in God’s image or likeness. They have stolen sex, turning it from a beautiful gift from God for 2 people in covenant with Him into a casual thing anyone can do (and typically done without a covenant with God). They have stolen dance, from being an expressive form of worship into a degrading form of sensuality. They have stolen our born again identities, now grooming our children by telling them they can be born again with the help of doctors and medicine (and omitting the necessity of Holy Spirit). They have stolen the purpose of fellowship, correction, and accountability. They have even stolen science- God is omniscient, meaning He has omniscience. Quite literally, God is ALL-Science, and yet today, they are trying to make science anti-God. Meditation is another that has been stolen. Many Christians are under the impression meditation is a bad thing to do or practice, and are unaware that God calls us to meditate on His Word daily: 1) I will meditate on your precepts and fix my eyes on your ways. – Psalm 119:15 2) Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous works. – Psalm 119:27 3) I remember the days of old; I meditate on all that you have done; I ponder the work of your hands. – Psalm 143:5 4) …but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night. – Psalm 1:2 5) Keep this Book of the Law always on your lips; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful. – Joshua 1:8 As you can see, there are quite a lot of scriptures telling us to meditate on God and His Word. There are 5 reasons to meditate on His word that I can think of, and I would like to share them with you. Meditation has enormous benefits for our growth in God, and when we do meditate things happen: some mountains move, some cloudy things become clear, and I have also found that some things that aren’t exactly normal or natural for me before I meditate seemingly become critical for my life afterwards. 1 st - Meditating on the Word of God helps us to refocus on God, fixing our eyes on His ways and words. So often, we get distracted by the chaos and circumstances that affect us negatively and we take our eyes off of Jesus (just look at Peter when he was walking on the water). Meditating on the Word of God and His character aids us by helping fix our eyes on Him again. Meditating on the Word even helps us find clarity on what we ought to be praying for. It is so easy to lose focus, and one of the benefits of meditation is that it truly helps us refocus on God. 2 nd - Meditating on the Word of God helps us to learn and understand what God is speaking to us and doing for/in us. The more we meditate, the more we hear from Him, since we are refocused on Him, and the more we hear from Him the more we gain understanding about what God wants from us, as well as for us. Meditation not only refocuses us on Him, but clarifies what God is currently doing in us so that we can actually align ourselves with His will and plan. Without meditation, our focus and understanding are both quickly lost to God, and we become consumed with the storms around us. 3 rd - Meditating on the Word of God helps us to remember all God has done for us and through us. It is all too easy to get so wrapped up in our present situation that we can’t see or recall our past (the incredible things God has done), or even if we do remember we tend to belittle or simplify it. What used to be a powerful testimony, filled with gratitude, suddenly feels like a small thing that was taken out of context… all because the storm we are facing is so overwhelming. Meditation on God’s Word actually cleanses our lens so we can recall the wonderful goodness of God. It is in the meditation that Jesus calms our storms, brings peace and joy to our soul, and gratitude begins to flood the dry caverns deep within us. For example, David’s Psalm 8 is a beautiful result of Meditation. 4 th - Meditating on the Word of God helps us to worship. Meditation is a part of worship. Once we have gained focus, heard what God is speaking, and remembered all God has done for us, we find our hearts have been prepared for Worship. This is why Psalm 100 tells us we enter His gates with thanksgiving in our hearts and we enter His courts with praise. When everything in our lives seems to be going wrong, if we would get still and make time to listen to God and meditate on His word, my goodness the transformation that comes! I find that meditation is most powerful when I am not necessarily right with God. He points out my eyes are not focused on Him, He reminds me of what He has said, what He desires for me, and He reminds me what He has done and who I am. What happens after that, I find, is absolutely transformational. I find healing there, and my automatic response to that is I cannot contain the desire for worship. In short, meditation leads to true Delight. And those who delight in the Lord receive the greatest rewards… 5 th - Meditating on the Word of God helps us to learn how to apply the Word. In Joshua 1:8, we read the reason for meditation is “so you may be careful to do everything written in it.” Meditation doesn’t just heal our relationship with God, but it also corrects our actions, desires of our hearts, and our character. I have found quite a few places throughout the scriptures that tell us we must not simply hear or know about the scriptures, we must do what it says. It is critical for every one of us to know what God requires of us, not so that we look good or so people like us, but so that God gets glorified. Some of His commands are very difficult to do. Some are scary. Some are overwhelming. I have found the more I meditate on the Word, the more clarity I gain on how to do what God asks of me. Some things appear to be very difficult, but once we learn how it is easy. For example, the first time I tried to ride a bike, it was very hard. I fell over and crashed. I remember trying to learn in the alley behind our house in Taft, TX and crashing on the rocks as my dad was running after me to try to help. But when I learned HOW to ride, how to keep my balance, nothing could stop me from riding. The same principles apply to driving a car, building a cabinet, fixing plumbing, working on a car, making friends, and so many other things. Once we learn how to apply what we know, the actions aren’t very difficult. Meditation, according to the Bible, is the key. And above all, all of this MUST be done WITH Holy Spirit. It is only HE who can bring the Word to life, and who can teach us all things. So today, take some time to meditate with Holy Spirit over the Word of God. Take some paper and a pen, and be ready to fill up your sheets of paper with notes from the best teacher. You will find such refreshing as He heals your eyes, your thoughts, your heart, and your actions. Bless you…
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“Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the Kingdom of
Heaven. Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.” – Matthew 5:10-12 What a mouthful. I find it interesting that this passage is both romanticized and avoided at the same time. I mean, we definitely romanticize this as an idea… “blessed are you when you get persecuted, because you have been found worthy of the Gospel. How amazing. It’s such a great honor!” But how many people do you know that are really, truly being persecuted for living such a bold lifestyle, proclaiming the Gospel, putting Jesus on display, living in true righteousness? We don’t. We see people being picked on for being Christian, but what does it mean to be persecuted for righteousness? When things get truly hard, do we lose faith, or are we encouraged and excited about it? Matthew 5:12 says to rejoice and be glad! Too often we, as Christians, don’t count the cost for living out a lifestyle of righteousness. We think about and imagine the cost for being a Christian, but rarely do we truly live righteousness out. Like I said, it’s romanticized but not lived. What is the difference between being a Christian and living righteously? Well, I would say being a Christian looks like going to church on Sundays, maybe letting people know you pray and are available to pray for them, being kind to people, being a good person, etc. When we say we are Christians, we typically describe that by explaining all things that are done person to person. But living righteously, I believe, means walking as Jesus walked (see 1 John 2:6). It isn’t enough to claim a belief system. There must be action inside you. Also, there must be JOY. Joy isn’t easily come by. You can’t simply desire to be more joyful, and poof! You are… Psalm 16:11 tells us joy is a gift from God, and it comes from abiding in His Presence. Joy is a product from living in close proximity to God, not in theory, but in absolute reality. Psalm 30:11 says, “You turned my wailing into dancing, you removed my sackcloth and clothed me in joy.” See? It’s Him. He gives us joy. We don’t just choose joy. We actually choose to be close to Him. His presence nearest us produces something in us. This will result in JOY, obviously, but it will also produce sparks from within us that will consume what is around us. We will bear fruit, and that fruit will be righteousness. We will reflect His Righteousness! We won’t just be peaceful or kind. We will begin to look and act like God on the earth, to the people around us. When we do this, persecution will definitely come, and you won’t like it very much, but then you will know that returning to God’s presence will fill you with joy and gladness. No one enjoys persecution. But His presence heals our hurts, as well as taking away our habits. The problem is too often, we Christians in the West try to make a shortcut. Instead of removing things that aren’t of God and getting close to Him (hopefully you are aware the closer you are to God, the more He burns out of you and off of you), we try to simply act like Him, or even worse we try to add Him to our lives in a way that benefits us. Christians that live in parts of the world that suffer true persecution count the cost for following Jesus, daily. They consider Christ to be worthy of any and every price. To know Him, to spend time in His presence, and to read His words are literally everything. The cost doesn’t come close to the reward. It isn’t romantic to them to suffer. His presence is romantic. There is nothing better, to them, than looking into the eyes of their Beloved. But here in the West, Christians too often see Jesus as a benefit, or bonus, and not as a cost. Here, we tend to see Jesus as an add-on that upgrades our lives. And, of course, if the upgrades don’t come soon enough, or aren’t beneficial enough, too many people just walk away, or even worse blame Him or create doctrine around how He doesn’t always do what we ask… as if God ever says “no”, or “not right now.” We serve and love a God who first loves us, and He desires to have intimate relationships with each and everyone of us. I am my beloved’s and He is mine. Is there anything more beautiful? So let me ask you two questions: 1- How much has Jesus cost you? Maybe you’ve paid a heavy price for following Jesus and living righteously. Maybe is been mostly about you and your benefits. Maybe your relationship with God is more about you than it is about Him… Today is a good day to change that. 2-Are you filled with Joy in the midst of the heavy price of following Him? The best way to get Joy is to get close to Him. As you can see, the remedy for a lack of joy is the same as changing your relationship from a selfish one to all about God. If you are anything like me, this has been an enlightening blog. I hope it has touched your heart, and that it has given you fresh perspective. It’s time to count the cost, to see the beauty of His love, and to invite His presence to dwell powerfully within us. Bless you… “Blessed are the Peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.” – Matthew 5:9
This is one of those impossible Beatitudes we often nod at and totally ignore. The way I often hear people interpret this sentence is more like, “Peacemakers are good, and we as Christians should strive to do that.” The way I see it applied is more like, “If someone is kind to me, I will keep the peace. If they don’t, surely Jesus doesn’t expect me to let them walk all over me.” Something definitely gets lost in translation, and certainly Jesus set the bar quite high. What does it mean to be a peacemaker? Well, it is someone who is actively making peace wherever they go. I have a couple of thoughts: 1) There is a huge difference in peacemaking and peace keeping when we are applying them to our lives. Keeping peace assumes there is already peace. A peace keeper is simply someone who makes sure nothing goes haywire. But a peacemaker is someone who finds areas where there is No peace and they heal the situation. 2) As you see, when we put peacemaking into an applicable practice it becomes quite an intentional, ACTIVE effort. A Peacemaker is not a passive person. They are not simply being nice to keep people from getting upset with them. They are purposeful, looking for problems between people that need to be healed (whether in their own life, or between others). The Peacemaker MUST initiate healing and reconciliation- and this cannot be done by avoiding people. A peacemaker doesn’t avoid conflict… (did I mention how difficult this Beatitude is??) 3) Peacemakers must seek True Justice. Truth is required in their life (and not just a little. They NEED truth). You cannot create peace without love. Love is the essential element to creating peace. I find it to be beautiful when I contemplate the Peace Jesus left with us. It was filled with Love. Is ours? Love requires truth. Have you ever met a loving person who was also deceptive in all their dealings? No. Love and Truth are so closely related they can’t be separated. So for you to make peace, you must be a person who loves and knows truth. In order to heal relationships, loving them is required, and not just a theory of love, but a real, tangible practical knowledge of love. In other words, the more you practice loving, healing and reconciling relationships, and making peace, the more you experience God’s love in your own life. It’s beautiful (and to be quite honest, it’s relieving) to know I don’t have to have Love and Truth completely perfected in order to imitate God (yes, Peacemaking, loving people, speaking truth, healing wounds, reconciling relationships… these are things God does that we are called to imitate). Isn’t that a relief? 4) Peacemaking is essential for the Body of Christ. How can we be Children of God if we can’t get along? How can we have problems inside our families left undealt with, and still think we are somehow walking in righteousness? It’s preposterous to think that way. Reason being, We are a family in God. We are connected to each other, and God has set up His Kingdom in such a way that we are to all work together. “12 The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts; and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. 13 For we were all baptized by [3] one Spirit into one body-- whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free--and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. 14 Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. 15 If the foot should say, "Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 16 And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. 17 If the whole body were an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body were an ear, where would the sense of smell be? 18 But in fact God has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. 19 If they were all one part, where would the body be? 20 As it is, there are many parts, but one body. 21 The eye cannot say to the hand, "I don't need you!" And the head cannot say to the feet, "I don't need you!" 22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has combined the members of the body and has given greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it.” – 1 Corinthians 12:12-27 It’s pretty clear we are not supposed to be independent people, independent churches, independent denominations, etc. We are all supposed to be working together, helping each other. In this, we must rebuild our relationships with each other in order to walk in the righteousness of God. Now, I know that each of us has been given His righteousness, and it comes from Grace through our Faith in Jesus. I’m not talking about whether we are righteous in this post. We are. We are righteous. Jesus made us His Righteousness (see 2 Corinthians 5:21). However, what I am talking about is whether or not we are walking IN His righteousness or not. I don’t believe it is possible to walk in the Righteousness of God and yet not be actively making peace with everyone in our lives. And this is very difficult… impossible without God. But if He is calling us to this ministry of reconciliation and peacemaking, we must be encouraged in knowing He equips those He calls. So, remember Jesus’s words… “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give you. I do not give as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not be afraid.” – John 14:27. “If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone” – Romans 12:18 God is with you. He is for you. He has blessed you. He has equipped you. He has given you His peace. Now go and make peace. Bless you… I have a good friend who teaches the greatest vengeance God can dish out is to take away all the
evil Satan has done in this world. I wonder how if we realize that… The greatest vengeance God can bring isn’t to smite our enemies, or to bring worldly justice against people who are constantly unjust in their dealings. Instead, the vengeance is when God removes every inch of ground the enemy has to stand on. The Best vengeance is when God uses the people who have been closest to the devil, when He turns them into His children and then raises them in such a way that they become His greatest weapons against the devil. That is the greatest vengeance. When Jesus began His public ministry, He quoted Isaiah 61 as an announcement: “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach the good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”- Luke 4:18-19 I find it extremely interesting that Jesus didn’t read the rest of the passage from Isaiah 61. If He had, it would have finished with, “and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn.” Some would speculate that He stopped because these are two different things: 1) Year of the Lord’s favor, 2) Day of vengeance of our God. That’s interesting. I can see why they believe that. Maybe they are right, maybe they are wrong, I don’t know. What I do know is Isaiah’s version doesn’t stop at the day of vengeance. Instead it stops at “comforting the mourning.” Apparently, when Isaiah heard God say it, the day of vengeance was a day of comfort. As a matter of fact, Isaiah mentions the year of favor multiple times throughout his prophetic book. For example, Isaiah 49:8-13 talks about it. This is what the Lord says: “In the time of my favor I will answer you, and in the day of salvation I will help you; I will keep you and will make you to be a covenant for the people, to restore the land and to reassign its desolate inheritances, to say to the captives, Come out, and to those in darkness, Be free! They will feed beside the roads and find pasture on every barren hill. They will neither hunger nor thirst, nor will the desert heat or the sun beat upon them. He who has compassion on them will guide them and lead them beside springs of water. I will turn all my mountains into roads, and my highways will be raised up. See they will come from afar- some from the north, some from the west, some from the region of Aswan. Shout for joy, O heavens; rejoice, O earth; burst into song O mountains! For the Lord comforts His people and will have compassion on His afflicted ones.” This is a beautiful passage, isn’t it? Hopefully it gives more clarity for you about the year of favor. But did you see it? The last sentence… For the Lord comforts… but He comforts on the day of vengeance, doesn’t He? He doesn’t comfort in the year of favor- who needs comfort when they are being blessed?? Who mourns while they are in the downpour of blessings in His presence? When Jesus came, He wasn’t just a baby bringing hope. He wasn’t just God fulfilling a promise. He was destroying the work of the devil. He was light coming into darkness to remove its hold. And He didn’t just ask us to believe in Him… He is still asking us to become His light and to still drive out the darkness. The past few years have been pretty dark, haven’t they? Politics, inflation, health issues, pandemics, and our media platforms have flooded the earth with darkness: fear, anger, worry, anxiety, selfishness, laziness, apathy, greed. Darkness has grown bold and strong. But do you know what? It’s a new year. And there is a new hope. I’m not talking about hoping things will get better. People hope that every year… What if 2023 is a year where we stop looking for something that sounds good, and start partnering with God. What if we turned on the brights and flooded the darkness of this world with so much light that favor shined upon us? What if we stopped caring about our feelings and situations and just made a conscious effort to be the vengeance of God? What if we were the thing that God used- taking something that the devil thought was his, and instead punished him for all he has taken? What if we recovered all that we lost? What if we got our “stuff” back? Today is the day of vengeance. Today is the year of the Lord’s favor. Today. Bless you…  Father, the time has come. Glorify us, that we may glorify you as your Son Jesus has. As you have granted him authorities over all people that he might give eternal life to all those you have given him. May that authority reign here in Kingsville. May your Glory, Peace and Joy of Salvation flood this land and all the hearts of the people who reside here and even those passing through.
May your presented union with God through himself show us that we too can be unified with him and be one as He prayed,” Father, just as you are in me and I am in you.” Father May we be so depended in our union with you that the fruit of union with each other spring forward and bloom. That our voices will become one in praise like heaven shouting, dancing , and pouring out every ounce unto you and letting the Joy of our hearts be the very incense that fills the throne room. Father, the time has come. Amen “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God.” – Matthew 5:8
When I think about the Sermon on the Mount, I think about how God is really after our hearts, not actions. For example, Jesus taught us that murder isn’t what God is concerned with, but actually anger. Another example is adultery, because Jesus said in Matthew 5:28, “But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.” See? God is after the heart, way more than the things we do beyond it. Why? Why is God so concerned with our hearts and not with the sins we do? Simply put, because He knows that if He can purify our hearts, then everything else will fall into place. “For out of the overflow of the heart, the mouth speaks.” – Matthew 12:34(b). God is concerned with what we say, but He knows no one (besides God) can tame the tongue (James 3:8). That is precisely why God isn’t trying to manage our fruit, but our roots. He knows that the roots are what cause a tree to produce healthy fruit. My neighbor used to have an orange tree. Apparently, when she was a child, one of the kids planted an orange seed in the back yard, and it sprouted into a sapling. Her dad watered it and cared for it, and it continued to grow into a strong tree, producing oranges by the hundreds. But it got struck by lightning one night during a storm. After that, the tree changed. The fruit it produced didn’t change in number, but in quality. At first, only some of the oranges would come up sour. Over the years, the oranges that were produced by the tree became more and more sour, at greater frequencies. Eventually, all the oranges were sour, and even worse, they started growing these strange green vines inside them. It was like the tree was possessed by another plant, and these weird green vines would ruin the fruit. The dad could never bring himself to destroy the tree, so he tried and tried to fix it. My neighbor told me he would pour bags of fertilizer on and around the base of the tree in hopes that it would get stronger, but it never improved. When Kate and I moved into our house, we noticed the sickly tree. It wasn’t very big and produced about 20 oranges at a time. Usually, the oranges looked diseased, with black spots all over them. Eventually, the tree died. I know it was only a tree, but isn’t it amazing what transformation came from the lightning strike that made a good tree turn bad? And yet, Jesus told us in Matthew 12:33, “Make a tree good and its fruit will be good, or make a tree bad and its fruit will be bad…” and he connected that statement to this one, found in the very next verse, “… out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” God isn’t in the business of managing fruit. He is in the business of making bad trees into good trees. God is a lot better than we tend to think. Colossians 1:22 tells us Jesus has already presented us as “holy, without blemish, and above accusations.” If Jesus has done that, then we must be good trees. Isaiah 61:4 says, “They will be oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord, for the display of His splendor.” How beautiful is that? I find it incredibly reassuring. I don’t always feel like a righteous oak tree, and I don’t believe I’m the only person that feels that way, but these scriptures help remind me that how I feel doesn’t matter nearly as much as what He says about me. God is truly about our hearts and is patient with us when we forget this key truth. In the 6th beatitude, we see a beautiful statement. Before we can really look at the Word again, let me just remind us all that it is God who purifies our hearts and not us. This is key to the message. “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.” You see, what separates us from other groups- and what makes Christianity not a religion is that it isn’t about behavior. All religions are about how to please God, how to get closer to God (or gods). But Christianity is about how God has gotten close to us. It isn’t about what we do because it is ALL about what He Has Done, the great things He has done. God doesn’t want us to behave. What I mean by that is He didn’t make you and me because He wanted us to behave. He made us in order to know Him and to fellowship with Him. It’s all about relationship with Him. No other scripture better encapsulates God’s heart for relationship with us than Matthew 5:8. If we allow God to work in our lives, if we allow Him (through the washing of His Word- see Ephesians 5:26) to cleanse our hearts, and if we allow Him to get close enough to truly transform us (see Romans 12:1-2) then we will truly see Him. He pursues us, not the other way around. Secondly, note that it doesn’t say blessed are the pure in action, but instead says blessed are the pure in heart. God doesn’t judge the actions of men, He judges the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). Also, Jesus didn’t say those that say a prayer to get to Heaven will see God. It is only those that allow God to finish a work. It really requires getting close to God, and nothing else works. So, take some time today to talk to Him. Give Him permission to move in your life. Allow Him to have control of your thoughts and emotions. Let God lead you. Don’t just think about Him. Read your Word, allow it to change your perspectives on situations in your life. And be filled. Bless you…  Yesterday was heavy day for me. I woke and was ready to seize the day, but felt like a dark cloud rolling in- I was feeling all the feels, frustration, disappointment and sadness. As I was talking outload to myself I said, “I am not allowed to make any big decisions today,” because they would be emotional choices. As I went into worship I cried and cried releasing everything that I “thought” I had given to the Lord. How often do we go before the Lord laying our burdens down at his feet and go back and pick them right up? Being in His presence truly is everything, though at times I let the lies that tell me His presence isn’t for me hinder our relationship. Later that evening, when I got home, I knew that I had to get into His presence no matter any lies or feelings. I began to pray and speak sweet words to Him, and out of my heart I began to sing a song. Getting lost with Him made me realize the list of prayer request and questions I had was nothing because He was the answer to all of them. After a while He took me to 2 Peter 3 and verse 9 stood out to me saying:
“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” I was blown away in the reassurance that He is for me and has me, and how could I, for a moment, forget that. His love for us is mighty and so is His patient. No matter what is trying to stare us down or take us down He is right there before us, after us, and everything between. We must at all times remain steadfast in who He is. Not letting anything get in the way of our relationship. He tells and reveals all to us beforehand, holding nothing back from us. Later in chapter 3 verses 17 and 18 Peter wrote: “Therefore, dear friends, since you have been forewarned, be on your guard so that you may not be carried away by the error of the lawless and fall from your secure position. But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and forever! Amen” I love that it calls our relationship with Him a “secure place” meaning well-kept and protected, but that we must keep our guard up and not give ourselves up to lies of the enemy. And that secure place is where we grow in grace and knowledge of Him! He has made a place for us to dwell with Him for the days before and between the days He comes back. Let us not forget and always hold on to Him.  Last week’s blog we talked about the desire of my heart to know God as his bride and all that Intel’s. In the end of the blog I shared a poem by Eric Gilmore of Gods response to us. Today I want to take a look into how not only does He
respond but how he first initiate it all and his desire for us. “I have loved you with an everlasting love” - Jeremiah 31:3 “We love because he first loved us”- 1 John 4:19 See scripture is filled with Gods heart desire for us to know Him and walk with me. The bible isn’t about us discovering ourselves or a behavior modification it’s about us discovering the many facets of God again: He is the ever changing, yet ever-the-same kaleidoscope. We see this very desire in Jesus prayer in John 17:20-26 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me. “Father, I want those you have given me to be with me where I am, and to see my glory, the glory you have given me because you loved me before the creation of the world.5 “Righteous Father, though the world does not know you, I know you, and they know that you have sent me. I have made you[e] known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.” Jesus’s prayer is for those who follow him may be drawn into the life of the Trinity. The Father (God) sends the Son (Jesus) to us precisely so that the Son (Jesus) may draw all humanity into the relationship that exists between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Let that sink in for a minute! The creator of the universe has done everything for us to know and commune with him. That is wooing at its finest. He will have his bride (us) when we realize that “I (we are) am my beloveds and his desire is for me” (songs of Solomon 7:10). We have been invited in and all we have to do is receive it. In Matthew 22 Jesus talks about a parable of a wedding banquet that is prepared for his son. It says that everything is prepared and invites are sent out but no one pays any attention and they go about their business. This can’t be us! He has sent us our invite and is consistent with calling us, desires a relationship with us and loves us. He has made the first move, can we respond?  When I first got saved and was begin to really surrender and pursue the Lord I had one thing in my mind and heart. It was to know what it meant to be a daughter of Christ. It started in 2019 when this journey began and I knew this was where the Lord had and wanted me, because he is a communicator. But here lately I have been in a place of yearning to know Him in the way of being His bride. Throughout the bible it’s mentioned of Him (God) coming back for his Bride (body of Christ) and describes His second coming as a marriage supper.
Revelation 19:7-9 Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready.” It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous act of the saints. Then he *said to me, “Write, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’” And he *said to me, “These are true words of God.” There are so many facets of God: He is the ever changing, yet ever-the-same kaleidoscope. As we say yes to Him daily and walk hand in hand we can’t help but to discover more of him. He is our friend, brother, father, King, Lord, Helper and so much more. Here lately the kaleidoscope of God has ever so slightly shifted and I’m beginning to see the Bridegroom He is. As many things are still unknown to me this I do know so far: I Love the Lord, Jesus, and He loves me. My heart is crying out to him, wanting more of him alone. Reader: Do you feel the ache of your heart cry? Or have you grown only knowing it in your head but not knowing it in your heart? Or is this all weird to you, to think of him in that way? If your answer is yes to all these, as mine were too, know that it’s ok, cause He sees you and He is calling to you. Will you pick up and answer? Here is a poem by Eric Gilmour that shows what our heart cry can sound like and what God’s heart cry is in response: Your heart cry seems to be “Marry me Please, be all to me I cannot be what I need to be I have not ears to hear nor eyes to see I’m broken by sin in me Distance from the real joy and peace I have internal wars that never cease I’m buried in life’s mysteries I’m blinded to holy mysteries I’m outside of your victories I want to love you now endlessly So come and rescue me My love, Come marry me” With this heart cry, the Lord turns around to us. “Marry ME Let me be all to thee None can be what I can be Giver ears to hear and eyes to see Thrill your soul with ecstasy Fill your heart with joy and peace Make internal war to cease Bring you into My victories Lift you above like’s miseries Take you into my mysteries Love you now and endlessly And marry you eternally.” I love how this poem shows God in response because that is who he is. He always listens, response and is always with us(Isaiah 43:2). Today ask yourself what parts of the kaleidoscope you are looking at and tell God, then wait for his response. “Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.” – Matthew 5:7
Webster’s dictionary defines mercy as “compassion or forbearance (not enforcing due payment) shown especially to an offender or to one subject to ones power.” Basically, mercy is when a person has compassion and decides not to collect what is due. For example, if you were late on rent, mercy would be when the landlord decides to not evict you, and could even grant you more time to come up with what you owe. Blessed is the person who grants mercy to others, because they will be given mercy. Hosea 6:6 says God desires MERCY not sacrifice, and for us to get to know Him, instead of giving burnt offerings. James 2:13 says “mercy triumphs over judgment.” Luke 6:37 tells us to not judge but to forgive (show mercy). Micah 6:8 tells us to seek justice and to love mercy. In Deuteronomy 15, God tells us to forgive someone’s debts after 7 years. What that means is if someone borrowed from you, give them 7 years to pay you back, and at the end of 7 years whatever they haven’t paid is to be forgiven and forgotten. That is literally Mercy in action… having compassion and forbearance toward someone. Why?? Why does God care so much about us being merciful? Why does God put such an emphasis on His children being merciful? There are 2 main reasons I find in scripture to help us understand God’s desire (almost obsession) for getting His children to be merciful. The first reason is He is merciful. One of the most famous sermons ever quoted or mentioned in American history was preached in 1741, by Jonathan Edwards: Sinners in the hands of an Angry God. As much as that sermon did to bring an awakening to this country almost 300 years ago, I sometimes wish I could help people understand the damage this sermon title did for the image of God in this present generation… Listen, I am not saying it’s a bad sermon at all. It is in fact a beautiful sermon about the mercy of God, about how the only thing that keeps sinners from falling into hell is God’s mercy. But the title makes God seem like He is an angry old man with lightning bolts in His fists, ready to destroy everyone on the planet. If we don’t know the content of the sermon, we get a very twisted picture and image of who God is… Far too many Christians preach about the anger of God, never seeming to realize He has constantly pled for His children to be merciful. Matthew 18:23-35 is a beautiful section of scripture where Jesus again talks about the necessity of mercy (especially 32-35). Aren’t the red letters beautiful? Check this out: “I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. Shouldn’t you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?” Wow. God loves mercy, and expects us to have mercy on others. Why? Because He is merciful, and He expects us to be like Him. Ephesians 5:1 says, “Be imitators of God.” The second reason God wants us to be merciful is a little less obvious, but is still found in scripture. The entire book of Galatians was written with the intention of correcting a group of believers who were being convinced that it is more important to follow the Law than it is to be led by Holy Spirit. Let me say that again: God told Paul to write to a group of His children in order to correct a wrong belief- God would rather we be led by Holy Spirit than do good things that He wrote in the Law. And at the very end of the letter, God put something very powerful on Paul’s heart. “Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are of the Spirit should restore him gently. But watch yourself, or you may also be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ… the one who sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life… Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers.”- Galatians 6:1-10 (1,2,8,10) Did you catch it? I told you, it’s a little bit tough to see. Being merciful fulfills Christ’s Law- entirely. When we are merciful to others, believers or not, we are truly fulfilling the Law of Christ. Not outwardly, in a way that impresses others, but inwardly, in a way that blesses God. If you’ve ever wondered how to bless God, I can give you a few different ways: worship Him, love Him, evangelize to people- sharing His love for people, and Be Merciful. I believe mercy builds people up in Christ. When we are given mercy, it draws us closer to God and to the person who gave the mercy. When we give mercy, it brings us closer to God and to people. Love builds us up in Christ (Ephesians 4:16). Lastly, Jesus didn’t just tell us to be merciful. He said we will be blessed because when we give mercy, we will be given mercy. The reward for being merciful is we will receive more. We give what we have, and we gain in return. The more we give, the more we get. Pour out what you have, give it away, bless people. In return, others will give to you. Even better, God will pour out into your life. It may be blessings that prosper you, financially or whatever you need… but even more than those temporary things, God will bless you with Righteousness, Peace, and Joy in Holy Spirit. There isn’t anything better than that. Bless you |
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July 2023
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