04-27-13 Eternal Life

Jude 17-23 "But, dear friends, remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ foretold. They said to you, “In the last times there will be scoffers who will follow their own ungodly desires.” These are the people who divide you, who follow mere natural instincts and do not have the Spirit. But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life. Be merciful to those who doubt; save others by snatching them from the fire; to others show mercy, mixed with fear—hating even the clothing stained by corrupted flesh."

Jude's a good read. It's only one chapter. You can read a whole Book of the Bible in about 10 minutes, if that. There is still a lot of good 'meat' in this Book, though, so I didn't want to pass it up.

Prophetically, Jesus was talking about the end-times and how there would be people who don't believe in Who He is and mock Him and us. That they will try to divide us, which stands to reason - their father is the devil, because that's who they follow by following 'their mere instincts'.  We either follow the One or we follow the other.

I like and I don't like at the same time the next few lines though.  'Build yourselves up in your most holy faith'... and 'keep yourselves in God's love'... and 'as you wait'.

Sounds like work, doesn't it... build, keep, wait. Coming to Christ and making in Saviour is easy, inviting Him into our hearts is easy - we just ask and He comes - we repent and He forgives us. Making Him Lord, well, maybe sometimes we throw that title around too much. Is He really Lord of our lives?

Lord: One having power and authority over others;

         a ruler by hereditary right or preeminence to whom service and

         obedience are due;

         one of whom a fee or estate is held in feudal tenure (ownership but

         letting another have an estate or position in His service);

         an owner of land or other real property.

According to Merriam-Webster's online dictionary.

Basically, making Him Lord of our lives is giving Him our lives.  In exchange He gives us His Life living and breathing inside of us and in the end, everlasting Life with Him and Father and Holy Spirit on a new earth and seeing a new heaven.

So, we build up our faith, by reading the Word - by listening to testimonies of others, by listening and doing what the Lord tells us to do. It's taking one step at a time with Him and doing the next thing He tells us. It's actually Jesus building our faith in Himself, but it's our privilege and duty to do what He says - and little by little - our faith begins to grow.

Keeping ourselves in God's love may be a little harder as we go through our days. 'Things' try to get in the way. Work may be busy and we become frustrated or overwhelmed. Traffic may be snarled. The kids may be loud and obnoxious when we really need some peace and quiet. So, just how do we do this? I'm not claiming to the answer to this one. All I know is if I start to feel something contrary to the Word of God, I can sort of 'step back' into God - Who is ALWAYS RIGHT THERE and rest for a moment.  Take a deep breath or two or ten!  Ask God to bring His peace and calmness. When I start feeling impatient, as soon as I recognize it, to bless the other person with whom I'm lacking patience with... or to realize that it's GOD'S timing not mine. 

If He says we can keep ourselves in His love, then there is a way to do it... we grow in it as we learn to accept His love and love ourselves and others.

Lastly, wait.  This may be the hardest task of all. We live in a society that doesn't like to wait for anything. Like I was just writing about being impatient, when God tells us to wait, we really have to exercise self-control and at the same time give up control to Him.  In this case, as in most, we can wait in eager anticipation of the reward that He is bringing us.... eternal Life. We are only a breath or a vapor on this planet. We really don't live very long - even if we reach 103 in perfect health.  What's that in the realm of eternity, but a blip - a blink of an eye. 

We can't even fathom eternity. There's NOTHING to measure it against. But we'll be there living the perfect Life that God intended for us... pure, clean... I mean, can you even imagine not ever having an impure or negative thought?  I'm sure we'll have a lot questions, but I think for the first 1000 years or so, I just want to sit in the courts of Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit - God - and just look at Him/Them.  I don't think I'll be able to close my mouth for at least that long in the awe that I feel right now just thinking about it. 

We cannot even fathom what He has prepared for us... He says that.  1 Corinthians 2:9-10 says, "But as it is written, Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God has prepared for those who love him. But God has revealed them unto us by his Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, yes, the deep things of God." In my opinion, He really has only revealed the smidgen of what we can with our present finite minds. Oh boy, we are going to have the time of our Lives living in His Life.  Talk about 'the Good Life'!

I know that people from over the world read this blog. I can see what countries, but not names or anything (don't worry).  Even if I never meet you here, I surely hope to meet you there with the Lord.  THAT is my desire... eternal life with all of the Family of God.

One True God - Mark Harris

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QJtPKRMmttU

04-26-13 Life in the Spirit

Romans 8:5-6 "Those who live according to the flesh have their minds set on what the flesh desires; but those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires. The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace."

Well, I guess we are sticking with Holy Spirit today (of course, we should be sticking with Him everyday)...

Growing up some of us I'm sure have heard at some time or another, "Use your head" or "That thing on top of your shoulders is called a head, use it once in a while". We probably heard that mostly because we were doing something stupid and was caught. Or maybe we received bad marks on a report card when we know and our parents knew we could have done better.

We live in a society where we want what we want and we want it right NOW.  Our flesh has a bad, bad case of the gimme's - give me this and give me that.  Or it only gives when there is a reward to be gained or giving satisfies some fleshly need of acceptance or prestige... okay, let's stop for a moment and lick our wound ;)  But really, before Jesus was in our lives, most of us gave to get.  We needed some kind of satisfaction in it.  That, my friends, is how the flesh operates and would STILL operate if we gave in to it.

But no, we don't have to give in to our own fleshly desires that originate in our MINDS, anymore. They're not a part of us anymore. Oh, yes, they do try to rise up from the dead - but they have no life (sort of like all these zombie movies that have come out recently). They have no life, unless we give it to them. satan, lucifer  demons have no power unless we give it to them.  See a correlation?  satan comes to steal, kill or destroy... that's all. If we don't let him, then he can't touch us. Unless we have some sort of sin that is opening the door for him or some wound that we haven't been healed of (the enemy can piggy-back on hurts - as in a spirit of torment or even a spirit of unforgiveness).

The Spirit, He plays a whole new ballgame.  Once the pitcher throws us the ball (thinking that it's going to land where he wants it to land) and we slam it out of the ballpark (to his ultimate surprise). We can run the bases and come Home. Our MINDS are set on one purpose - to go Home and take as many with us as we can.

Slamming the ball out of the ballpark is telling the flesh, "N...O... NO". For the recovering alcohol, it can't have that drink, because that drink would lead to another and another and death.  It can't have a whole half gallon on ice cream every weekend. It can't have that cigarette - especially not having one for 6 years and the desire hits... hypothetically speaking. It can't have that new motorcycle.  Why can't it have all these... why does the flesh pout when it doesn't have what it wants? Because these things are not what Holy Spirit wants for us.

First Base is inviting Him in to empower us to run the distance of our lives. There's a couple more bases to run and the joy of having slammed the ball out of the ballpark can only last so long by itself. Since we can't run the distance of our lives by ourselves, then we need help... His help.

Second Base is listening for His Voice. Sometimes this needs training. Sometimes trial and error training, but there's an easier way. Ask the Lord what to do, where to go, how to do it, when to do it. Then be PATIENT for an answer (I envision you envisioning throwing something at me for using THAT word)... Most of the time, an answer comes right then.  We hear it in our spirits.  It's either yes, no, or maybe - which usually means WAIT.  Yeah, I hate those 4-letter words...

Third Base is doing what His Voice is telling us to do. Our flesh most of the time desires something that isn't going to be good for us - physically, emotionally, mentally, spiritually, financially, etc...  Holy Spirit/Jesus/Father wants only the best for us.  Look at Galatians 5:22-23 lists the fruit of the Spirit - actually read from verse 13-26...  He wants us to live in love, joy, peace, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, self-control, kindness, patience (forbearance). He wants our mind not to be governed by the flesh that will eventually die and decay.  He wants our minds to be led by the Spirit our of hearts that love Him and would do anything for Him, because He (Jesus) did everything for us.

Then we come Home into the waiting arms of Jesus. Who leads us to Father and we finally see Him 'face to face' and He's smiling. I don't know about you, but I like it when I sense that He's smiling on me or on someone I'm praying for. Then, with a voice like thunder, He says, "Well-done good and faithful servant, enter into My Rest."

That's the Spirit's desire - that's my desire. How about you?

Holy Spirit - Jesus Culture

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bf7nKgi8Dh4

04-25-13 Breath of Life

Genesis 1:26-27; 2:7,18,21-23  Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.” So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them. 

Then the Lord God formed a man from the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living being.

The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”

So the Lord God caused the man to fall into a deep sleep; and while he was sleeping, he took one of the man’s ribs and then closed up the place with flesh. Then the Lord God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.”

 The Breath of Life. Close your eyes for a moment - no, after you read this line, silly ;) think about Jesus or Father and breathe in slowly and deeply... maybe a few times. Hopefully that gave you some kind of experience... even a little bit of something from the Lord. If not, practice - it'll come :)

So, our Magnificent Father God Almighty - Maker of Heaven and Earth - created man and woman in His Image.  That's what it says in Genesis 1.  Genesis 2 tells us how He went about it. 

He formed a man from the dust of the ground - must have needed much water to do so (wonder if that's why our bodies are made mostly of water).  Man would've been no more than a clay statue, BUT God breathed into his nostrils His very breath of Life. Interesting He breathed into his nose, I suppose Adam's mouth was closed.  Not to mention God would've been the first One to invent CPR - if He opened Adam's mouth, He would have had to pinch his nose shut and breathe His Life into Adam to start His heart!

I wonder in amazement how it might have felt when Adam awoke breathing the very Breath of God. Let alone being perfect living being.  Like a newborn full-grown man... looking at everything around him and being so much in love with His Creator, His Father, His Daddy.  And what about the air in the Garden of Eden - was it not also the very breath of God?  He was everywhere.  There was no pollution; the air, the water, the soil - everything was pure and clean. 

Animals weren't afraid of man and man wasn't afraid of animals.  They must have talked because Eve didn't seem surprised that a serpent was talking to her.

The Breath of God. 

After Jesus resurrected from the grave and appeared to His disciples, in John 20:21-23 Jesus said, “Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” And with that he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive anyone’s sins, their sins are forgiven; if you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.”  We repent of our sins and are set free from bondage, we become cleansed and born again. To receive the Power for Living this life of ours comes from the very Spirit of God.  The Breathe of the Life of God lives IN us!

Or let's go to Revelation - from the first Book to the last.  Revelation 11 talks about the two prophets who were struck down dead for three and half days.  Verse 11 says, "But after the three and a half days the breath of life from God entered them, and they stood on their feet, and terror struck those who saw them."

I think about running trails and just being amazed at nature and the air is just different (no exhaust fumes for one thing).  But it's quiet and I've learned to appreciate the creation of God in a new way.  I'm sure the air is more oxygenated because of all the trees and foliage, giving off oxygen. Maybe that's why the Bible mentions trees several times... just a thought.

So, how about it.  Why not ask the Holy Spirit to come and breathe new life into you.... even if you have already received the Holy Spirit into your life, your heart.  Ask Him to reveal anything you need to get rid of inside, repent and then ask Him to re-fill you with His Spirit... then wait for Him.  He'll show up.  He always does.

Breathe Into Me - Red
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gcEyO-XqAw

 

 

04-24-13 Life is in the Blood

 

Leviticus 17:10-14 “‘I will set my face against any Israelite or any foreigner residing among them who eats blood, and I will cut them off from the people. For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one’s life. Therefore I say to the Israelites, “None of you may eat blood, nor may any foreigner residing among you eat blood.” Any Israelite or any foreigner residing among you who hunts any animal or bird that may be eaten must drain out the blood and cover it with earth, because the life of every creature is its blood. That is why I have said to the Israelites, “You must not eat the blood of any creature, because the life of every creature is its blood; anyone who eats it must be cut off.”

 

Sounds to me like the Lord wanted to get across the point that the blood of every living creature (that means humans also) is in their blood. Blood is living. It contains white blood cells that fight off infections and all that garbage; red blood cells that bring oxygen to the parts of the body that need it; plus some other things. Without blood, any living creature dies.

 

Some cultures or cults believe that drinking the blood of the creature will give them it's life - it's power - make them somehow better or stronger or inherit their spirit (which is usually not the dead animals' or persons' spirit at all, but a demonic entity).  Some cults want just that - the power of the demonic.  But we know that there is only One who is All-Powerful - the Most High Almighty God!

 

Let's look at the Last Supper.  Matthew 26 records, "Then He took a cup, and when He had given thanks, He gave it to them, saying, “Drink from it, all of you. This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins.”

 

In Leviticus - the blood made atonement for the people's sins.  Blood for forgiveness and restoration. Life for life.  In Matthew, Jesus is saying that the wine represented His Blood of the covenant.  As Charles Spurgeon says in his sermon on the Blood of the Covenant "There is beauty enough in Jesus to make him forget our deformities, merits enough in Jesus to swallow up our demerits, and efficacy sufficient in the atoning blood of our great High Priest to wash away all our transgressions."  Jesus gave His Life for us, so that we would not die in our sins and be under everlasting judgment, but reconciliation with God, our Father.  The Holy Lord's Life - His Blood - for our lives.  His Blood for our blood.

 

I find it interesting that His is the only Blood that is permissible to drink - through the wine (or grape juice).  It's not just a symbolic remembrance of what Jesus did for us.  No, it's Life itself we are taking into us as we remember His death and resurrection.  It's resurrection power through the Body and Blood of Jesus.  There have been miracles of healing and freedom just from the simple act of communion.  There's no doubt in my mind that somehow Jesus/Holy Spirit is present during that time.

 

So, Life is in the spilled Blood of our Lord and Saviour Jesus the Christ.

 

O the Blood - Gateway Worship

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kC59rgmcu34

 

04-23-13 Living Water

Genesis 1:6-10 "God said, “Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it. And it was so. God called the vault “sky.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day. And God said, “Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.” And it was so. God called the dry ground “land,” and the gathered waters he called “seas.” And God saw that it was good.

 

Yesterday we thought about light being alive and The Light being Jesus Who is alive.  I was going to skip down the lane of Genesis 1 (I have lots of energy in the morning) to God creating the vegetation when the Lord stopped me and asked, "Isn't water alive?" Is it?

 

It made me think of Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman at a well.  He said in John 4:10, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water."

 

In Genesis, God somehow separated water from water - maybe dead water from living water?  Not sure.  But He did it - and later it was teeming with life so it must have provided life - so in my finite mind, that in no way understands the ways of the Lord, I would think the water was alive.

Water.  Without it we would die of dehydration.  We start out life with a 90% content of water.  Most elderly people are around 55% because we don't drink enough water.  Even if we did, it would help somewhat, but all the chemicals now found in water negates some of the benefits of drinking it.  But water in it's purest form - like melted from mountain snow far removed from cities and pollution - brings more longevity to life and some waters even have healing properties.

There is also dead water.  Stagnant water.  It doesn't move anywhere.  It's stays in one place - developing bacteria and all sorts of mess.  There may be creatures that have adapted to that kind of environment, but some of those waters, if we drank them, we could die (or at least get real sick).

The Bible speaks to us about physical living water in Zechariah 14:8 and Revelation 7:17.  It also refers to the Lord being Living Water (refer to Jeremiah 2:13; 17:13 and John 7:38).  

When we are baptized, we are baptized in water - as an act of obedience and a sign that we are truly giving our lives to Jesus.  The water represents a sort of death of our old ways and the beginning of our new life.  It's a cleansing of the soul - demonstrated by using physical water, but made alive spiritually through the power of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus is the Living Water.  He is our nourishment.  He is our refreshment.  He is the One who not only gives us Life, but sustains us as we 'drink' of Him - study His Word, listen to His Voice, do what He says to do, praise and worship Him.  He is pure Living Water.  THAT we can trust.

Deep Cries Out - Bethel Church
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ncGqFyGqTc

04-22-13 Life in Light

Genesis 1:3-5 "And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. God called the light “day,” and the darkness he called “night.” And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day."

Life.  When I think of the origin of life, I think of Adam and Eve.  Like, that's where it all started, right? Well... not really.

If we go back to Genesis 1, we read the creation story.  The very first creation of God was light.  So, let's think about this for a few minutes.  What is light? Without going too deeply into the physics of light, of which I know only about what I've read; light is energy. When we think of energy, we think of life.  Take a child, for instance, who seems to have unending energy - and us older ones, not so much. We see life in that child. It may even make us smile - or drive us crazy because we can't get them to settle down. 

But that is illustration is nothing compared to the speed of light. To the naked eye, light is instantaneous; but it's not. Light travels at 186,282 miles per second or 299,792,458 meters per second.  Now that's some energy!  We can't see in nanoseconds, so for us, it's instantaneous.  

Darkness, on the other hand, and we can even say 'death', is simply the absence of light or life. When we say that someone has passed away or even near death, we sometimes say 'the light has gone from their eyes'. 

We can also see this when sin (darkness) has entered a person. When we are filled with the Holy Spirit and staying close to the Lord, people who see us will sometimes tell us that they see us glowing. We have an energy flowing through us that spills out where others can see.  That is Life flowing through us and others see the Light of that Life. That Light and Life is Jesus! 

John 8:12 says it all, "When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”" 

There is no speed of darkness. Darkness is simply the absence of light. So if darkness is simply the absence of light on earth, then spiritual darkness is simply the absence of Jesus. 

So life actually began with God creating light.  Our lives actually began with The Light coming into our hearts. Let's let it burn bright so everyone in darkness can see.