Remove! O Mountain of Self Desire

Thank you for taking the time to stop and look this way for a couple of minutes. My hope in my writing and in your reading of these weekly diatribes is that somehow we will allow Jesus to love us more. Without His love continually flowing through us, we begin to lose touch with what really matters as we race through this life... What really matters?

“For I was hungered, and ye gave me meat. I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me.”

Isn't it amazing how we can go through days, weeks, and maybe even months without learning something new about Jesus; and we are content? Doesn’t that bother us? (This has been pinching at my soul for awhile). How can I truly grow in Christ if I have no desire to learn about Him?

There may be some of us, right now, getting ready to flip the “off” switch on one more of these irritating weekly diatribes because they are of little use to us, and take time away from other activities. I truly understand. I know that words can be a real pain in the neck, especially if we have to slow down to think them through; BUT THERE IS A LARGER ISSUE AT HAND... ONE THAT TOUCHES THE VERY HEART OF GOD.

“Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we Thee and hungered, and fed Thee? Or thirsty, and gave Thee drink? When saw we Thee a stranger, and took Thee in? Or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we Thee sick, or in prison, and came unto Thee?”

There is a song that says “I want that mountain, I want that mountain, where the milk and honey flow, where the grapes of Eshcol grow” … it tries to sound out the desires of a Kingdom minded saint. It attempts to bring a challenge of a joyful response to obediently going in to claim the victory of the promised land. Jesus doesn't negate this desire in the coming of His Kingdom, but tries to have his followers refocus their desires from “stuff” to “people”… via a “faith as a grain of mustard seed” that tells mountains to remove (found in Matthew 17).

There is a “mountain” of self fulfilling desires that gets in the way of our seeing the eternal value of people. This mountain can begin to move. As His Word quickens us, we can begin saying “Walk away mountain of my desire” and “be positioned for the service of others!”. Since Jesus died for “people” and not for “stuff”, we should remove our focus from our planned path of progress, and begin seeing people for what they really are... Souls who will spend eternity in either Heaven (by faith in Christ) or in Hell (by ignoring or rejecting Him). They need to know that Christ alone died and arose for them, and that He alone is coming again for them. In the mean time He wants them to know His love for them ... through us (For without Him they are lost).

“And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Insomuch as ye have done unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” Matthew 25:35-40

Pray for strength for Amy's tender heart(and her son Jacob) as she administers chemo to cancer patients; for Ashley, a young realtor, as she is trying to get back to fellowship though wounded by “church leaders”; for Jo, whose 41 year old son/husband/father of 3 remains in a coma since an accident in January; for Bill's integrity as a Deputy Chief/ firefighter in a large city ; for Bob as he has no use for Jesus because of historical scars blamed on God; for Henry as he heads home for a little rest with his two dogs (as a first year college athlete trying to find his place in the world). You don't know these people and neither do I, except for the moment that God pulled me aside to spend with them this week. He gave me the opportunity to to break with them and share the love of Christ. Stop and pray for them ... they need Jesus, just as we all need Jesus.

Oh, if only we would open our eyes and our hearts to all the opportunities ... to connect people around us to the heart of our loving God; then the mountain of self desire would move, and the daily desire to know Him would grow stronger.

“O that there were such an heart in them...” Deut. 5:29

HLFA,

Jeff

Duck! Here Comes that Flying Tree Again.

I passed by the strange beach side lot again … woe!!! The grassy mound of dirt was now in the corner of the lot instead of right in the middle. The position where the Mulberry tree had been growing in the lot was now nothing but a gaping hole in the ground. As I looked over the fence toward the beach, there stood that wonderful tree of healing, and it was growing like crazy right on the beach. What a miracle! What ? A miracle … no way!

 

I anxiously scanned the beach for a sign of hope that the “elder statesman” of alien faith had actually achieved what his heart had desired. There was no sign of the old gentleman, but my eyes caught something man-made swaying in the wind... (to be continued).

 

OK, if you weren't paying attention at the last visit, the beginning of this continued story will just about have you jump ship early in the reading (say what?). Maybe or hopefully I might reel you in, to find the real you out, and challenge you to find a real miracle in you. 

 

SIDE BAR: I don't know if we will ever get it at the pace we are rocketing our way through this life while trying to acquire good knowledge in the midst of the haste. With the increase of speed of information, the demand for faster response time, and drone-like zip filed quantitative data; the quality of the information we gather is something we will rarely question, let alone stop and truly find lasting enjoyment within its parameters. Some of us to date, pass over these weekly diatribes due to the intensity of the verbiage or the illegitimacy of some of the poetic license-ship on the grammar (or hideous spelling errors combined with missing words and phrases). Sorry, my major in college was Pastoral Theology not English Literature & Grammar, and my focus was God's Word... and my passion drives me on.

 

By Luke 17:5 … The disciples had seen so many miracles and had even performed some the miracles with the journeys of the Seventy(Chapter 10); BUT what pinched a nerve and caused them to cry out “increase our faith”... was not the inability to perform miracles, but it was the words of our Savior in verse 4 that dug deep into their entrenched need to control forgiveness . “And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.”

 

The strong need to control and to determine who was worthy of God's Favor was locked in a system that the disciples were already familiar with and that system of forgivenness ... demanded merit, value, worth and deep penitent action in order to earn pardon. This was not where Jesus was coming from nor ever will come from. When He spoke of forgiveness it was in total violation of the way man reflexively and intuitively wants to hold out accountability to his neighbor until true repentance can be proven with an undeniable display of totally spotless righteousness.

 

It became easier to “question someone's salvation” than it was to forgive them for an offense. AT the intersection of a repeated offence Jesus leads us once again to the grain of mustard seed size of a faith. This growing faith has the potential to tell a tree used for medicine to uproot itself and plant itself in the uncontrollable sea. True faith, earnest faith, doesn't hesitate to forgive when asked, and true forgiveness brings healing.

 

Now back to the beach! … Jumping over the fence, I turned to see a small sign waving in the wind (no doubt written with a shaky hand) that read, “The mound is moved and tree replanted … I have forgiven my brother who has never ceased in offending me. He needs forgiveness today and today I will not delay, I will not question his sincerity, I will face reality and I will trust my God.”.

 

You might walk away scratching your head a little but this is where living faith grows. It grows as we learn and extend forgiveness when we are offended. Today there are some of us who are holding the bitterness (of need for retribution) and the anger (of desire to payback) so close that it is becoming an unmovable mound and a fruitless medicine tree that is too stubborn to grow its fruit of healing. Let go! … Forgive, and forgive openly and without regret.

 

HLFA,

 

Jeff

 

PS. Forgiveness is Jesus' way. And He is the Way ... the Truth ...the Life. There is no lasting life outside of Jesus, and unforgiveness only hinders our knowing Him. Our depth of knowing is our liberty in living. Forgive and truly know Him.

Hey, Throw Me a Tree!

Okay! So he was wrinkly old and definitely a few fries short of a Happy Meal. Still, you almost had to feel sorry for him as he tried his best to prove faith wasn't bogus. His almost empty housing lot contained a mound of earth covered with grass, a scraggly old Mulberry bush and a great view of the ocean. This was his stage; and all that was needed to start the performance was for a passer-by to stop, show interest, and “the show” would begin.

It was almost pageant like as he would magically wave his hands as if trying to levitate something. First he would wave at the mound; and with excruciating facial expressions, he would command the grassy mound to move to the corner of the lot. Holding this position for awhile as if lifting an impossible weight, he would finally drop his arms and slump to the ground. “We will try it again later!”

The show would continue as quick as he could regain posture and catch his breath. Then he would brush himself off and start the process again, but this time aim the waving hands at the scraggly tree and command it to uproot and fly into the sea. The same excruciating look enveloped his face as he shook and trembled until finally he would surrender to the obvious, drop his arms, slump to the ground, … nothing had happened. “One of these days you will see!” “My mustard seed faith shall grow.”

Deep inside you this pageant can play out if you measure your faith against your ability to move mountains, or gauge your faith potential based on the flight of trees into the sea via the command of your voice. There are other options that partner with the superficial study of the Word. One is the ability to ignore scripture that seems impossible... “Just don't go there” … rather than asking, seeking and knocking. Another option is to find some theologian's thoughts from the past to plug into our cranium. Not that this is bad, but it could keep us from having to use our own brain cells to seek out an answer. The problem is that rarely will we truly study through passages that could potentially allow the miraculous to become part of our lives. (“Study to shew thyself approved unto God” … Study, study, study to place yourself beside the valued of God. … Why would we want to have Heavenly value in this God Needy World?)

Flying Trees into the sea at a command? Let's start there to begin the process of “letting the words of our mouths and the meditations of hearts being acceptable in God's sight”. (Psalm 19:14) Could the real mountains of vision and rooted “medicinal trees” be connected more to our ability to display eternity than to put on a good show? Let's start … “Hey, throw me a tree!” “Sorry … detach it from the roots first.” Now into the sea … the salt, the unknown, the turbulence, the fear, the uncontrollable need to TRUST.

Luke 17:5 - “Lord, increase our faith.” Was this request urged on because of an amazing miracle that the disciples saw Jesus perform? “Lord, firmly establish our faith.” Was this request prompted by an amazing revelation of the Kingdom? Both questions could be answered affirmative because of the sum total of events they had experienced to date, but the genesis of this question was more challenging than what we might think. It was in response to the challenge to Forgive! If offended … forgive!

After learning that scandals are guaranteed to come, and that people focused on scandalizing others would be better deep-sea diving with a millstone; the disciples are given a peek into kingdom forgiveness. What … forgive those offending them? Forgive even if they produce SEVEN offenses a day? Doesn't appear to be a big deal to us, but the disciples are increasingly being offended as the group of them move closer to the Cross, closer to the ultimate scandal.

As the character of Christ is beginning to truly challenge their roots and their foundational vision (trees and mountains --- Luke 17 and Matthew 17), they see Him … they see real faith … they want to be established in what is at the core of this Jesus. They realize that a change is needed, and want to know what can be done to increase or establish a change that may take them from coddled faith to a“moving mountain” and “uprooted tree” challenging faith.

Our voices need to heard with His voice … “ Up-root us, disconnect us from the old ways, and replant us in the uncontrollable sea of trusting Thee with the outcome … miraculously forgiving those who often offend us”. Our faith is increased when we truly forgive our offenders. Forgiving the way Christ forgives is the grain of mustard seed faith that uproots the tree of traditional command and control forgiveness, and moves it into the sea of His trust.

What about salt spray and saline contamination of the tree? The Husbandman knows whats best for His planting.

“Throw me … a tree!” 

HLFA,

Jeff

The Man Upstairs?

Man, hotel rooms can be interesting when it comes to the concept of sleep (can be challenging). Just ask my wife! Ever thing has a sense of familiarity but also those things have a built in absolute strangeness. For instance: there are pillows and beds in the room, but they very quickly begin to act like wrestling opponents and evil machines of torture that rob us of much needed sleep. This disconnect may be because ... this is not "my" pillow nor is this "my" bed.

The light and sounds of the room are not anything like home. And the smells, hmmm... Fabreeze may be a cover up, but having the ability to truly refresh the room ...? (We are not so sure whose odors we are breathing in). And depending on where the room is positioned, we may end up with another dimension of discomfort ... “the man upstairs”. The things this "man upstairs" is doing and the sounds he is making above our heads can be downright disruptive and irritating. (No intricate details at this time, only to say --- it is 8:36 am and he is still stomping).

I have stayed in enough motel rooms (the first couple set the standard); that when someone starts talking about their relationship with the "Man Upstairs", I cringe a little because of the disruption that the "man upstairs" of my room has been throughout the years. I have a funny feeling that many who use the term "the Man Upstairs" hold distance and discomfort in their hearts toward God due to what they don't understand about what He is doing up there. Stuff happens, and because we don't really step out of our comfort zones to know Him ... we just continue to live with the irritation of "what in the world is He doing up there?".

Oh, if only our hearts would have a massive refocus. If somehow we would daily live in an addictive desire to know Him. If only we would be obsessive compulsive in our movements to close the distance between us and Him, instead of just leaving Him "upstairs" so that we have no need for accountable love.

The reality the actually exists is that there is a distance; but the flip side is He doesn't want it. "Come unto me, all ye that labor" ... He knows how we work, we must make the decision to come or there is no conscious measure of the distance closing. We need the movement toward Him, and it begins with an aching desire to get close to Him. Song of Solomon 2: 14 - "O my dove, that art in the clefts of the rock, in the secret places of the stairs, let me see thy countenance, let me hear thy voice; for sweet is thy voice, and thy countenance is comely". "LET ME SEE ... LET ME HEAR … what is upstairs!”

It is the little irritations and unasked questions that create distance via lack of trust and missed prayer opportunities. This relationship is fragile but only on our side ... He is only offended when we separate ourselves from His saving power. Song of Solomon 2:15 - “Take us the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines: for our vines have tender grapes”. Cherish your relationship with Him.

Oh to get to the “Day that Breathes” and to the “Day with no shadows” ... but for now, the "mystery" is the beauty of our Beloved. Like an amazingly noble antelope fleeing into the hills, He maintains the distance for our good and His glory. Song of Solomon 2: 16 – “My beloved is mine, and I am his: he feedeth among the lilies. 17 Until the day break and the shadows flee away, turn, my beloved, and be thou like a roe or a young hart upon the mountains of Bether”. (Bether is The Mountains of Division).

Begin, Today ... come upstairs, find that He is yours and hear Him say "You are mine!"

Happy Anniversary my Love! You inspire me to love Jesus, more.
Let’s continue together to know and to love Emanuel(God with Us) …more and more.

HLFA,

Jeff

The Hook of Power

Truly describing the “whirling” in my mind this week would probably have you all frantically flipping through the Yellow Pages to recommend a contractor that could build a padded room for these momentary “wall bounce” times. Often I throw myself into the rolling waves of "scriptural taught thoughts" mingled with statistics, world events, daily trivia and word curiosities that drive my heart to this moment each week. My heart’s desire is to unchain, unbind, unwrap, and unleash the children of promise; but with so much conflictive information blitzing our thoughts it is extremely difficult to challenge people to slow down for this moment (but please do so!). I did start to study - "The Hook" in Psalm 149!

Here are bits and pieces of this week's swirl ---
(Bear with me for a moment as you peek into my mind, Oh Boy!):
Wave One of the Swirl: From II Kings 19 (one Angel) and Matthew 26 (12 leagions of Angels), I considered a doomsday total of 185,000 x 6,000 x 12 = 13,320,000,000 people “waking up dead men” allowing for a one night angelic destruction potential of our current population of 7 billionish people (no problem to wipe the globe clean in one night).
Wave Two of the Swirl: A God who is "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance" so He offers Power-filled praises, and a two-edged sword alternative to global annihilation (hopefully someone will listen).
Wave Three of the Swirl: A "hook" that can end a conflict with the choice of catching a untamable sea monster or a common fish with a coin filled mouth - Job 41 and Matthew 17.
Wave Four of the Swirl: Thoughts of our God who has planned, that in His Invisible/Visible Kingdom, He will pour His love to and through our "occupations" - "I know your works"Rev. 2-3 - mentioned 7x.
Wave Five of the Swirl: And passing thoughts of what was left of an "Andes" after dinner mint left on the steps to the third landing of a five story motel(what?), that I passed 5 times in taking the stairs instead of the elevator. What does a tossed aside mint have to do with it? Here we go into the swirl!

Jesus has command of Heaven's Angels, who are poised and waiting for a signal from the King for vengence or deliverance, while the Servants of the King carry the alternative response. According to Psalm 149, the Saints have the honorable authority to let their high praises and God’s spoken Word (the two-edged sword) to be the determining factor that executes vengeance, punishments, chains and fetters, and/or offers forgiveness and deliverance upon the people of the world. We seemingly have no idea of this power of “life and death” that has been linked to the speech of the Saints. Be careful your words carry power... they can chain or set free. Look to the Cross, the Crux, the Hook!

Those who stand in the conviction that "the Hook" is directly connected to the Cross (and the Cross is the Scandal to end all scandals) stand strong. They stand strong ...
… in that the Cross shouts the Love of God louder than any and all disruptive offences,
… in that the Cross can cover all the stains of sin by the effectual washing of Jesus’ life giving blood,
… in that the Cross is "the hook" that can drag away the enemy to destruction.
...  in that the Cross is "the hook" that can produce the perfect satisfactory payment for any conflict.
… in that the Cross can fully raise to life all those whose wounded and broken hearts agree that
 Jesus is ALL in ALL, and Jesus is in you and Jesus is in me (He is the only Answer for the lost soul).
Without Him We can do nothing.

Job saw the uselessness of a hook to catch the sea monster known as Leviathan, but Peter in Matthew was brought to realize that to render unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s and unto God that which is God’s … allowed Him to hook a small fish to handle a world connected problem ... taxes. The Tax collectors (Jesus said … “Lest we offend them”) should receive the paymant of our Tax. It is not wrong to connect with the world where we are responsible to the world. That is our connection to walk the cross to the lost.

We all start in a "swirl", and we all need "the hook". All of us started this day by carrying our past. Many of us treat the things that we decide to carry with us, as our reason to have the right to be disappointed and bitter as we launch into another day. Others of us will begin by trying to live in the blissful denial that we have never been offended. (The next statement is sarcastic) There are a few of us that have the perfect ability to forgive, forget and move forward with an open armed approach to every offence … telling ourselves it is for our good and for God's glory. I am sorry to announce this, but we all are in the swirl of life caused by the fact that we are still on this side of Heaven.

Our vision of living for Him can be like a dropped Andes mint in a rarely uses stairway of a motel. Too many, because it touched the ground and could be soiled, kick it into the spider webbed filled corner of a 3rd story motel stair landing, and leave it there. Too many of us will just walk past it without a thought. Please, dump the pious act that “everything is ok”, you are making the kingdom look ludicrous. Your moments of discouraging connections are really the ingredients that make you truly valuable (if you haven’t kicked them to the corner like the Andes mint).

Now here is the conclusion to the swirl --- Listen up Children of the King! You carry amazing power within fragile earthen vessels. This power can set men free and can stave off the tide of destruction.. Trusting Christ is not just something we do to secure a residence in Heaven, but it is an active acknowledgement of the power to walk with Jesus daily. “We die daily” and “we live daily” in Christ, and the life we live can be abundantly filled with deliverance of souls. John 15:5 – (Jesus said) “I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit: for without me ye can do nothing." 

The key … the Hook ... abide in Him.

Who ever would have thought that a discarded Andes Mint could cause such a stir?

HLFA,

Jeff