Thanks to my youngest brother, I was reminded once again of who I am... My Mother's "Pastor Son". Although Mom is now securely with the lover of her soul ...it is still her birthday and I will remain her Pastor. She would ask me each year on her birthday to uncover and teach her a spiritual truth in a way that she had never heard it taught before. She would remind me that as her Pastor it would be my responsibility and my privilege to perform this service.
Mom became a creative member of our small “congregations” throughout the years. Her respect, love and care for me as her Pastor was such an encouragement in some very dark times. For instance: Mom would honor me by sharing her dreams and desiring an interpretation of those dreams, which the Lord gladly would use me to encourage her fiery soul. She told me that when she got to Heaven that she definitely would put in the good word for me. Possibly she is the reason (for years now), that I wake up driven to this place of writing these HLFAs.
Our God is alive, and those with Him are too! He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Theresa Redding Lambe. Here you go Mom!
This week, I stood in the midst of the brutality of repeated beatings of my soul, and superficial spiritual skirmishes in the Kingdom due to a shallow command and control type of leadership response to the Word of God (Wow! What a mouthful). To put it in another light I will ask a few questions: Why is it that we constantly want to cheat ourselves of the unlimited blessings of God by our careless attitudes toward the reception of His Word? Why do we take out our frustrations then on others by using the Word to “whip them into shape”? It is so sad, that the term “Creator” seems to have become a word we can use to connect to God but from a vast distance. We somehow have little concept of the creativity that God has unveiled and endowed within us via his living Word.
Allow me to give you an example of His Creative encouragement by expanding a translation of a well known verse. This verse is used many times as a rod of correction instead of the hand of encouragement that it actually is.
James 1:22 - “But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.”
This verse was never meant to bludgeon us into Kingdom obedience, but it was to encourage us into a relationship with our Lord that will prove far more valuable and rewarding than a life of sinful choices with seasonable fading results.
Slow down and try this on your heart instead: James 1: 22 - “Hold on ...it is imperative that you are becoming creative makers, producers, authors, doers, artists, photographers, craftsmen, performers, poets of the living spoken Word, and not disinterested or disconnected hearers only, cheating yourselves of the blessing of the creative connection to the Word by letting the word seem cheap and boring to you”. (Read this prayerfully a few times)
Hey Mom … here it is! God didn't deliver us from the bondage and destruction of sin just to turn us over to spiritual slave traders, who would bore us while beating us into Kingdom come. He has welcomed us into a Kingdom of creative, rewarding, and loving service to Him and others, that blesses us way beyond the fleeting pleasures of a wasted life of sin. If any man has ears to hear …
Now creatively produce a beautiful poetic love endeavor worthy of the gift of the New Life given to you in Christ. Have at it Kids of the King!
Create a love portrait of Him in you.
HLFA,
Jeff