Advent 2 - Mighty God - Isaiah 9:6

What do you want God for? Before Pentecost the disciples thought they had the ultimate tool to get what they wanted. Jesus could do anything and if they could get him to behave according to their plans and wishes, meeting their needs and fixing their problems, making them powerful and successful-wow! It is the twisted attempt to make the Mighty God your servant. The 'prosperity gospel' is the same twisted / distorted message today. God will make you rich, healthy, successful if you know how to manipulate His promises and use His name. The real gospel picture is the Mighty God becoming a baby. Vulnerable, helpless, powerless-dependent on a Jewish teenager and her young husband. The real gospel is the Mighty God taking a towel and washing the feet of a group of ragamuffins, among whom sits the betrayer. The real gospel is the Mighty God laying down his life via the cross to open a new and living way to the heart of the Father. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not about God making me rich and powerful, but about God making me like His Son. The Mighty God is about heart transformation. Isaiah states this in 1:18-though your sins be as scarlet, they will be white as snow. A stain so deep no human effort or agent can remove, only the blood of the Mighty God. What do you want God for? The words of Thomas Chisholms' hymn, 'O To Be Like Thee' should reflect our heart's desire. He is able! •O to be like Thee! blessed Redeemer; This is my constant longing and prayer; Gladly I’ll forfeit all of earth’s treasures, Jesus, Thy perfect likeness to wear. •O to be like Thee! O to be like Thee! Blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art; Come in Thy sweetness, come in Thy fullness; Stamp Thine own image deep on my heart.

Advent 1 : The Little Guys

The Eternal King of Glory steps out of eternity into time and the first stop on the trip is a stable with no name parents and angels breaking the news to a group of no name shepherds. Nobodies in that culture. People with no voice, and no clout. In the opinions of men, they didn't count-but they counted with Almighty God. The Great Shepherd reveals himself to the lowest and the least. Jesus did not come to win an election. He did not come to hold an office or get a title. The shepherds whose report would have been looked at with question and rejection. Joseph and Mary whose story was ridiculous. Later on in the story the empty tomb is first witnessed by the women. Again, the Lord is not trying to impress, He is not trying to convince or make His case. Beyond the rise and fall of the powerful and mighty of men stands the person of Jesus Christ, whose Kingdom is without end. Two cheers for the little guys. Praise God for having no concern for human labels-He looks at the heart. He lives to transform the heart of man into His temple. Paul captures this concept in 1 Corinthians 1...not many of us were/are. Christ is the wisdom and power of God and the shepherds had enough faith to believe it; even as they knelt before a baby boy. On this first Sunday of Advent, three cheers for the little guys and gals. Whosoever will may come...

Tragedy

In the last few weeks two young men have left this world in an abrupt manner. Both of these young men have crossed my path in life. One was 31, the other 21. Young and alive, both deaths were a surprise, a sudden and pain filled interruption to the families. Tragedy comes across our path in various ways. We view the tragedy of the cyclone in the Philippines and we moan, but it is distant for most of the world. The tragic death of the two young men brings tradedy to my front door because of my connection with them. The fragile reality of life is often forgotten or ignored until tragedy triumphs over the routine of everyday life. The 'God' questions always surface during such times. Where, why, why didn't, etc. Our futile attempt to make sense of tragedy is a reflection of our lack of understanding concerning life. Statements are made concerning tragedy that put labels on God and makes God seem unreasonalbe. "God needed him more than we did." "God is punishing people for their sinfulness." "God knew something that we didn't know and put an end to it all." These statements make the tragedy more tragic. We attempt to deflect the horror, the pain, the unanswerable questions and pin them on a false notion about God. We are playing pin the tail on the donkey with the eternal God. We definitely are blindfolded, and it's impossible for us to comprehend or explain and in such an hour it would be wise to be silent. "Be still and know I am God." In the hour of tragedy let us practice being still. Let us give up the trite sayings and elementary explanations and declare that we are in pain and we don't know and we are going to wait before the Lord for His grace and healing. God didn't 'take him', and God doesn't 'need him' more than we do. God is...let's stop hanging labels on Him that make us feel better. We live in a sin cursed world, a world of death, dying, tragedy, and selfishness. Until the new heaven and earth come into being, this is the home of unrighteouness, suffering, injustice and death. I am thankful God is...

God's Pleasure

Twice in Ephesians 1 Paul references "God's Pleasure". (1:5,9). The Almighty God takes pleasure in forgiving His choice creation. He takes pleasure in adopting us into the family, blessing us with every spiritual blessing, and giving us the Spirit to witness with us that we belong to Him. The Father took pleasure in giving the Son to be the sacrifice of atonement for mankind. He takes pleasure in welcoming the prodigal home, in setting the leper free, in delivering the demon possessed. Christ manifested this pleasure in the many acts of compassion, power, and mercy He displayed during His ministry. Christ was pleased to offer the woman at the well living water. He took pleasure in setting Legion free from the hoard of demons. Jesus said the Father loves, takes pleasure, in giving good gifts to His children. We don't need to beg, fret, fear, or bargain with our Father, we must trust. He is gracious, compassionate, slow to anger, and abounding in love. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Want To

I was reading Oswald Chambers and he stated that Jesus lives to change our 'want to.' This is the heartbeat of the gospel. From a self centered existence to a life that is submissive to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Want to is the bottom line. Desire is king and when push comes to shove, if our heart has not been transformed, we won't want to follow Jesus. May our 'want to' be transformed so that our heart's desire is to please Jesus Christ. Awakening to each day with a single agenda, to live a life worthy of Christ. There is a list of things that can rival that desire. May the desire of our daily journey be Christ centered. It is a high calling, an awesome privilege, and a great responsibility. The sanctified, Spirit filled life is at the heart of having a different 'want to.'

The Father's Love

How deep the Father's love for us...He calls us to Himself. It is an invitation to intimacy. That unity of hearts that brings the shalom of God into our daily existence. That closeness that drives fear and uncertainty away. It is an invitation to relationship, to life, hope, peace, joy. A holy God inviting sinful man to come home. An invitation to leave the pig pen and sit at the Father's table and eat the Father's Bread. The Father waits to welcome the prodigal. The Father's love is the crucified Son reaching out His arms to embrace the world. As Wesley stated, "Amazing love how can it be that Thou my God should die for me?!" The Father calls us to himself, accepting us as we are and invading our emptiness with Himself. The woman at the well, Zachaeus the tax collector, the woman caught in adultery, Nicodemus the religious one, Saul of Tarsus, Judas Iscariot-all were called by the Father, all were loved, all had the opportunity of life.

A Prayer

The following is a prayer from Henri Nouwen and his book, A Cry For Mercy. May its simplicity and beauty be encouragement to you. "I call to you Lord, from my quiet darkness. Show me your mercy and love. Let me see your face, hear your voice, touch the hem of your cloak. I want to love you, be with you, speak to you and simply stand in your presence. But I cannot make it happen. Pressing my eyes against my hands is not praying, and reading about your presence is not living in it. But there is that moment in which you will come to me, as you did to your fearful disciples, and say, 'Do not be afraid, it is I.' Let that moment come soon, O Lord. And if you want to delay it, then make me patient. Amen." Let us continue to pray, He is listening. He is closer than we know-Thank you Jesus!

Joy

Recently I heard a freind say, "I know nothing about joy and have no joy." This individual is a believer and knows the Word of God, but senses they are missing a primary gift of Christ's presence and provision. In John 15 Jesus speaks of His joy being in us and our joy being full. Maybe one of our sources of frustration concerning joy is attempting to manifest it in our life through a feeling. H.Nouwen says this joy is a sign of new life. For Christ's people we awaken to this newness every day-outwardly wasting away but inwardly being made new (2 Cor.4:16.) For Jesus this joy was a result of being one with the Father and doing the Father's will. We have the same privilege. This joy is independent of circumstances and finds its source in relationship. The fruit of the Spirit is joy-a result of His presence in us. Going back to John 15, Jesus exhorts us to 'abide/remain' in me. The relationship is the source of joy. This joy is a result of being loved by others and loving others(Jn.15:17). This is the joy of knowing it is well with our soul. It is the overflow of the witness of the Spirit that we are children of God, loved by God, cherished by Him. Too often we work to attach joy to objects and circumstances. Joy cannot be purchased. Neither can peace, hope, life-these are gifts of God in Christ to those who believe. These are 'spiritual blessings' that flow out of the Spirit within. David cried out, 'restore the joy of your salvation' (Ps.51). The Christian has the joy of being alive in Christ and dead to sin. We feed this joy by abiding in the vine, walking in obedience (harmony) to Father's will, and remaining humble in heart. Joy, like salvation, is a gift. We must learn to be receievers of all Christ has provided for us. Stand on His promise, "I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete (Jn. 15:11)." "I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow (Jn 15:11 NLT)!" Claim your joy in Christ-refuse to allow the thief to steal this gift.

Him

One of my favorite scriptures is the prayer of Paul in Ephesians 3:14-20. Verse 20 is the peak of the prayer as Paul declares that Christ is able and His people should not doubt His ability to transform them into His image and implant a new heart within them. Verse 20 begins, "Now unto Him". That's really what life is all about, "Him". That is what the gospel is all about, "Him." That is what each day is to be all about, "Him". A subtle confusion works its way into our lives concerning two critical areas of life: *Who we think we are vs who God is *What I want vs the will of God. In each of these the center is off. It has shifted from "Him" to me. When that happens life does not work, and we struggle to put things together according to what we want. It is the picture of our world around us-what mess. It is a man-centered mess. We have forgetton that it's "Him" not us. We have rejected His will for our ways. In another passage Paul states, 'whatever we do in word or in deed, do it all in the name of Jesus (Colossians 3:16).' Now unto Him...let that be our daily focus.

Failure

Failure is a word that arouses emotions of all types within each of us. I just talked this week with a friend who is swimming in the sea of failure. It leaves a bitter taste in your mouth, and a haunting in your spirit. Scripture is replete with stories of failure. From the murder of Abel, to the denial of Jesus by Peter, failure finds its place in the markings of history. The failure of Adam and Eve in the Garden paved the way for rest of us. King David failed to remember who he was and made choices that piled failure upon failure. King Solomon prayed for wisdom, then failed to utilize that wisdom to follow God's directives for the king. Judas Iscariot failed to trust in Christ and found himself overwhelmed with his own failure. Praise the Lord for grace. Praise the Lord for His patience toward us-He does not treat mankind as our sins deserve (Psalm 103:10). God's mercy and grace to us does not negate our responsibility regarding failure. King David was responsible for his sins. Peter's failure led to tears of repentance. I believe the Lord wants us to move forward from the failure. Satan would seek to establish a stronghold of shame, false guilt and doubt at the point of failure. The Lord would have us to move forward in faith, confident of His amazing grace. Hebrews 10: 39-we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed. 2 Peter three speaks of 'looking forward'. The ability to fail forward is the result of the Good Shepherd who walks before us, with us, and behind us.

Jesus Is

During this month I have been privileged to fill pulpit for a church in Amarillo. Together we have jumped into the first chapter of Revelation with its extraordinary description of Jesus Christ. Our tendencies in life often get us into trouble. We have a tendency to look for other solutions, listen to other voices, follow other persons, instead of fixing our attention completely upon Jesus Christ. John is calling the early church to focus all their attention upon the One who holds the keys of death and hell. The early church was presented with the reality of persecution on a daily basis. The Roman Empire, the voice of Caesar, the godless masses and their unending noise all created a challenge when it came to focusing on Someone they had never seen. Jesus is the Faithful Witness, the Firstborn from the dead, the ruler of the kings of the earth. HE IS the one we must give all attention to. Let's build a new tendency into our daily journey-the tendency to look first to Christ, and only to Christ. That tendency will bring strength, peace, and courage to the daily challenges. John was calling the early church to faith. He is coming again and we will not be in the crowd that mourns (Rev. 1:7). We will rejoice as the end to all that brings sorrow and destruction, death and mourning are vanquished.  P.F. Bresee (founding leader of the Church of the Nazarene) said it well, 'nothing to the left, nothing to the right, Jesus only.'  Get up in the mourning and say it with conviction, "Jesus Is!" Then live it out each day with a renewed sense of hope and joy.

Waiting -The Perfect Activity

Oswald Chambers is one of my favorite tutors. In his devotional, 'Still Higher For His Highest', he states the following regarding the challenge and call of waiting on the Lord. (June 21).

"To wait upon God is the perfection of activity...resting in the Lord is the patience of Godly confidence."

He builds further thought around the passage in Isaiah 30:15. A stunning passage in itself, calling Israel to submit to the enemy and trust the future to the Lord God Almighty. The response of many in Israel to this directive was to fight, and run and hide and be destroyed. Those who 'waited' upon the Lord for His working and His restoration following His judgment of Israel's sin, found salvation.

The perfection of activity...I am an activity junkee. Always having to do something. Through the years I have setteled some, but it is still easier to be doing something than waiting on 'whomever' it might be. Oswald is stating the obvious...there is nothing more important, nothing that carries such power for renewal and restoration, nothing that opens the door of the mind for insight and understanding, nothing that increases faith, enlarges vision and empowers obedience like waiting on the Lord. Going into His presence with undivided attention upon His Person is the activity I most need. The willingness to lay aside my agenda and focus upon His holiness. The willingness to 'be still and know God'.  The willingness to 'shut the door of the closet' to get alone with the Source of all life.

Isaiah stated it well...'those who wait upon the Lord will.... (40:31).

It could be a dangerous thing to pray-Lord teach me to wait, totally confident in Christ

Congratulations For What

In the last couple days the news media made a big splash about a current NBA player declaring that he was homosexual. His 'coming out' was heralded as a great step forward for professional athletes everywhere. Our President even called to 'congratulate' him?????  Congratulations for what? The Scriptures are clear that homosexual behavior is one of many perversions of human sexuality. How confused we have become in our culture when we embrace and celebrate that which God's Word declares is sin. If you haven't seen it, YouTube Louis Farakan's response to Obama's support of same sex marriage. A Muslim leader, someone I would consider rather radical, comes in on the side of God's Word. In his message he states, 'who cares what society says...God says it is sin.'
God's Word states that 'righteousness exalts a nation but sin condemns any people (Prov 14:34).' It also states, "woe to those who call wrong right and right wrong (Isaiah 5:20)."
Dare we say this is a tell tale sign of the 'last days?' The last days for America as we know it as we reject the authority of God's Word and embrace the sinfulness of selfish mankind. This is not time for congratulations, but for weeping and repentance. This is time for every preacher of God's Word to take inventory and refuse to preach peace and safety when destruction is coming upon us as a nation, and as a church.
Homosexuality is a sin like stealing, gossip, adultery, lying, hate, etc. It is sin, and the church of Jesus Christ in America is at a crossroads and must decide if she will follow the way of the culture, or embrace God's Word as the source for right and wrong. We are not haters of homosexuals, but believers in God's Word.
The low state of affairs is revealed by the voice of our nation calling to congratulation the individual on their sinful lifestyle.

Who Am I? (Good Friday)

The cross is startling, repulsive, essential, holy, revealing. The passion scene of our Christ revealed many different elements of sin, selfishness, humility that can exist within the human heart. The brutal treatment of Christ revealed the putrid reality of sin that ravages mankind. In the scene around the cross we see the betrayer in Judas. How tragic that Judas never found his way to the foot of the cross, but destroyed himself in the final act of selfishness. How tragic that he was so close to Jesus for those years, and yet so far away. We see Peter who is the great denier. Bold and brash, but ultimately humiliated and isolated. Praise God he came to the foot of the cross in repentance and the Pentecostal fullness propelled him forward to a life of great fruitfulness in Christ's name. Coming to the cross there is one more person we need to see. The community called her a 'sinful woman'. Whatever all that means, her reputation reflected a lifestyle that was less than exemplary. But she came to Christ, humble, quiet, broken, thankful, apparently knowing something about Jesus that Judas and Peter still didn't grasp. Broken and spilled out has become the description of her worship. She worshiped. She was filled with awe and wonder of this Jesus who had loved her like she had never been loved. Sacrifice, extraordinary, reckless, totally oblivious to what anyone else was thinking, she did what the Lord said was 'beautiful.' A small picture of the 'beautiful' act that Christ exemplified with His perfect sacrifice. Who am I at this Easter season? The Father is seeking worshipers. Do I know what the 'sinful woman' knew about Jesus?

Passion Week Passion

The call of Christ is to be passionate about following Him. Christ was passionate about following the will of the Father. The bottom line for us as followers of Christ is this...we must be madly, passionately in love with Jesus Christ. The intimacy, depth of this relationship must be the fuel in the fire that presses us forward each day. This compulsion is from within. God loves us and His love in us fuels a fire of devotion and passion that compels us to want to walk in truth, obedience, holiness. His love compels us (2 Cor. 5:14) to live a life worthy of Him who called us out of darkness into His marvelous light. Jesus said, 'if you love me you will keep my commandments (Jn.15:14).' We are not driven by fear of punishment or eternal damnation. We are not driven by the law. We are driven from within out of the new heart given to us when we trusted Christ. It is a heart overflowing with love for the One who loved us and gave Himself for us (Galatians 2:20). The Spirit filled life is the life of love enthroned with the human heart. This love removes fear and brings the power to pursue Christ on a daily basis with a passion and purity that brings a fulfillment the world can never provide or produce. He has written His law on our hearts, it is the law of holy love.

Radiant Wonder

Radiant Wonder is a phrase A. W. Tozer uses in the introduction to his classic, "The Pursuit of God." He states it is a wonder that should accompany faith in Christ but is generally missing in the church today. That lack is really a loss of Christ's manifest presence. (Ravi Zacharias has an excellent book on the same topic, "Recapture the Wonder)." The loss of wonder can be traced to man becoming enamored with himself. How distressing an boring when the measure of greatness is how much money, what office you get elected to, what kind of car you drive, etc. The psalmist lived with radiant wonder as he was in awe of creation and the handiwork of Almighty God. We lose the awe when we fail to truly come to know Christ and merely exist with a form of godliness. We lose the radiant wonder when pray becomes perfunctory and being in communion with the living Christ is non-existent. Radiant Wonder is the direct result of knowing Christ. It flows out of a hunger and thirst for knowing Christ. Radiant wonder follows the impulse to pursue God for God's sake-an impulse that our Creator plants within us. Part of revival is reviving the wonder in the heart of the church. The wonder of God's love for us. The wonder of Christ's sacrifice. The wonder of freedom in Christ. The wonder of the witness of the Spirit. The wonder of our Father in heaven who loves to give good gifts to his children. The wonder of eternity and a new heaven and new earth. The wonder of His presence everywhere, everyday. This loss of wonder parrellels the loss of our first love (Revelation 2:4). Lord God Almighty, put a divine discontent in our hearts that will give birth to a holy desperation to seek your face until your rend the heavens and do a new work among us-that would be wonderful.

Sin Sensitive

Some follow Jesus with the concept that they sin continually, not able to help or stop the dark side of their person. Certainly we are always short of being perfect like Jesus Christ. We can always exemplify the fruit of the Spirit in increasing measure; however, to say that Christ's people live a life of sin is to defy the power of the Holy Spirit and the fact that Christ's people are dead to sin (Rom. 6). The power and hold of sin has been broken. We have a Divine power to enable us daily to walk in obedience to the Lord (2 Pet. 1). With every temptation there is a way of escape (1 Cor. 10:13) Let us look at sin from the perspective of rebellion against God, the refusal to obey a known command and refusal to submit to His authority. Let us stop sinning!

Christ's people must cultivate a sensitivity to sin-especially in our culture where 'do as you please' is the order of the day. In our culture where pleasure is king, where every person is supposed to be allowed to do what they want, to even be 'stupid' as our new secretary of state recently stated, Christ's people need to be aware of the deceitfulness of sin and guard against it. It can become a way of life to rationalize sin and disobedience, and blame it on whatever. It can be easy in our culture to allow our 'better' behavior than our culture to become the standard. Our standard is Jesus Christ and being holy in all behavior (1 Pet. 1:15).

Charles Wesley's great hymn, "I Want a Principle Within' is worth your time.  Verse one reads, 'I want a principle within of watchful, godly fear, a sensibility to sin, a pain to feel it near. Help me the first approach to feel of pride or wrong desire, to catch the wandering of my will, and quench the kindling fire."

John and Charles Wesley's mother gave this definition of sin to her son John.

"Take this rule: whatever weakens your reason, impairs the tenderness of your conscience, obscures your sense of God, or takes off your relish of spiritual things; in short, whatever increases the strength and authority of your body over your mind, that thing is sin to you, however innocent it may be in itself." (Suzanna Wesley)

Encouraged

This evening I had the privilege of preaching on the subject of encouragement. The crowd was small, but I believe we all agreed that discouragement is a great tool of Satan. Discouragement becomes a shackle on our spirit that drags us into despair, murmuring and complaining, and generally leads to a negative mind set. Satan continues the onslaught until we make the choice to look up and be encouraged by the truth of who Jesus is, what He has done, and what He has promised to do. When David showed up with the cheese and crackers he found the army of Israel discouraged by Goliath. They were fearful and discouraged. They were stuck in limbo-incapable of making an advance and winning the victory. David was surprised at their discouragement and announced that he knew Almighty God was able to deal with the situation. They scoffed, mocked and tried to kick him out of the camp. Instead David proved God to be true-He is mighty to save. The giant that was causing discouragement was easily disposed and a great victory ensued. Hebrews sounds the call to encourage one another, and to be encouraged by the incredible redemptive provision made in Christ. More than conquerors is the truth of who we are in Christ. The truth is that Christ reigns and is coming again. Let's shake the shackles of discouragement off and in the name of Christ shout Hallelujuah-Christ lives! Shine the light and let the whole world see, were singing for the glory of the risen King!

The God Who Works

Philippians is one of my favorite sections of God's Word. The calling to be like Christ permeates the message Paul sent to these early pilgrims. The great promise in 1:6-He who began this good work in you will bring it to perfection / completion-all that HE wants it to be. Do I have that desire? Am I wide open to the Spirit's leading and sanctifying? Am I a selective learner, or is becoming all He desires me to be is my primary desire? He will carry on His work until we are conformed to the image of His Son. He is bringing many sons to glory (Heb 2:10) and I must desire to be one of His Sons. This theme of 'God working' is picked up again in 2:13.

His working is according to His purpose. Not according to my taste, or comfort. Not according to my wants and wishes that can easily become full of self interest and vain conceit (2:3). He wants me to shine like a star in this dark world (2:15). He wants me to be pure and blameless, to have the attitude of Christ, to be the humble servant who has one response, 'Father your will be done.' 

God is looking for willing pieces of clay. The sanctified, Spirit filled life, if it is nothing else, must be the life that is totally consecrated to His purposes. A life that is a living sacrifice, wide open and full of desire to be absolutely His.

The old hymn/ poem speaks it well

Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart; Naught be all else to me, save that thou art; Thou my best thought, by day or by night, waking or sleeping, thy presence my light."  (E. Hull).

The confidence of allowing God to work is liberating, invigorating, joy filled.

2013

Wow! Y2K was a long time ago. The Mayan calendar didn't mean a thing. The predictions of the May date a year ago came and went. We are slow learners. We can't figure God's story out at the end of a pencil or with a fancy calculator. We can't figure God's story out by checking the pulse of Israel every ten minutes. We can't figure it out by forecasting the place of Iran, Iraq, the USSR (that's dated) or any other earthly kingdom. There is a great difference between God's timetable and mine. Understanding that God is not slow, that He is patient and His patience always has a redemptive purpose, is a key to my own trust in His Almighty power (2 Pet 3:9). About a decade into pastoral ministry it was 88 reasons why the rapture is in 1988. The Christian bookstores couldn't keep the book in stock. Then it became 89 reasons why the rapture is in 89. Rapture what? Christ is coming again is our message. Live like you are dying, because we are. Live like Christ is coming again and we are accountable-He is and we are! Christ said to pray, watch, stay awake. When He comes He expects me to be about the Master's business. He expects me to be holy in my behavior. He expects me to be expecting Him! A popular book/movie some time ago was "eat, pray, love." Let's reframe the challenge. Let's commit ourselves to pray, watch, and love. I am grateful for a new year. There can be a freshness about another January 1...then I remember April 15 is just around the corner :). For His glory let us live. E. Stanley Jones states, "If my Redeemer is alive, then I, the redeemed, must live as though I were alive." We are! In Him! Forever!
-Let's make it count for Him...Have a blessed year!