YOUR LOVE

HUMBLED BY YOUR MAJESTY

I STAND IN AWE OF YOU

THE NECTAR OF YOUR SPIRIT FEEDS MY SOUL

I LOVINGLY ADORE YOU

MY PRECIOUS LORD AND KING

LET THESE EYES OF MINE CONTINUE TO BEHOLD

YOUR LOVE

LET ME BEHOLD YOUR LOVE

SO EXALTED BY YOUR GRACE

I STAND ON HOLY GROUND

THE FRAGRANCE OF YOUR PRESENCE

COVERS ME

I YEARN SO MUCH TO KNOW YOU

OH LOVER OF MY SOUL

LET THIS HEART OF MINE CONTINUE TO BEHOLD

YOUR LOVE

LET ME BEHOLD YOUR LOVE

IF NEVER MORE I STAND SO GRACED

TO FEEL YOUR PRESENCE, SEE YOUR FACE

THIS GREATEST GIFT YOU COULD IMPART

WILL ALWAYS SHINE AND TOUCH MY HEART

YOUR LOVE

LET ME BEHOLD YOUR LOVE

WITH CHAINS OF LOVE YOU GRACE MY PATH

HOLDING ME FAST THROUGH LIFE AND DEATH

OH LORD PLEASE LET YOUR MERCY COVER ME

CHANGED BY YOUR LOVE, AMAZING GRACE

AMAZING GRACE TO RUN MY RACE

RENEWED IN LOVE MY SPIRIT IS SET FREE

YOUR LOVE
LET ME BEHOLD YOUR LOVE

HUMBLED BY YOUR MAJESTY

EXALTED BY YOUR GRACE

THE NECTAR OF YOUR SPIRIT

COVERS ME

I LOVINGLY ADORE YOU

AND YEARN TO KNOW YOU MORE

LET THESE EYES OF MINE CONTINUE TO BEHOLD

YOUR LOVE

LET ME BEHOLD YOUR LOVE

BUT ONE THING IS NEEDED

Mary:  “But one thing is needed, and Mary has choose the good part, which will not be taken away from her” (Lk. 10:42 NKJV).  Mary appeared three times in scripture, in three     different episodes of life, and on each occasion she is sitting at the feet of Jesus (Lk. 10:39; Jn. 11:32; 12:3), bearing the brunt of someone’s harsh words for her single minded devotion to our Lord.  Mary was a person of one thing - passion for Jesus - who prized every minute in the presence of an audience of one.  In a sense this passage paints a comparison of our soul and spirit.  Martha, representing our soul, is “worried and troubled about many things”.  Our soul is never at rest and always distracted by the natural realm.  These distractions are not always “bad things” in and of themselves” as in   this case where “much serving” had distracted Martha from intimate fellowship with Jesus.  Remember, “good” is always the greatest enemy of “best”:  Martha wasn’t out hitting the local pub; she was serving food to Jesus and His disciples.  But she was “distracted” from the “one thing that was needed”, and missed out on the “good part”.  Mary, representing our spirit, wants to abide in the presence of God with     passionate, single-minded determination. This is the “one thing that is needed”, the “good part” - passionate, whole hearted, intimate devotion to our savior.  But we must willfully choose to be a person of one thing, refusing to allow our soul to distract us from the wooing of the Holy Spirit.  In all her fussing about, Martha never realized that Jesus could have easily “created” dinner - the miraculous is never far behind passionate intimacy.

GOOD IS ALWAYS THE ENEMY OF BEST

THE LORD KNOWS THOSE WHO ARE HIS

In 2 Cor. 1:22 God has “sealed us” and given us the “earnest of the spirit.”  In Ephesians 1:13 “having believed,” we are “sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise.”  In Ephesians 1:14 the Holy Spirit is described as the “earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession.”  In Ephesians 4:30 we are “sealed for the day of redemption” by the Holy Spirit, where the word “redemption” literally means “deliverance to Jesus at His coming.”  And 2 Timothy 2:19 states, “The solid foundation of God stands, having this seal: The Lord knows those who are His.” The word “earnest” (gr., arrhabon) means a down payment or security deposit guarantee made by a purchaser and is in common usage in real estate transactions (i.e., earnest money).  The word “sealed” (gr., sphragis/sphragizo) means to mark indicating ownership, security and destination.

The Holy Spirit which Christ promised is the first installment, first portion or foretaste, of the manifold blessings to come, of our inheritance in Christ Jesus. It’s just a taste, a snippet of what Daddy has prepared for us, signifying Christ’s love and commitment to us, and the guarantor of our inheritance in God’s kingdom. Having believed, we are marked with the ownership of God, His righteousness, secure in His promises and destined to be with Him.  This mark (seal) is more than just an identifier; it is the essential component of our relational dynamic with God. Reconciliation, the cross, reestablished access to God. The imputing of God’s righteousness enables us to come into His presence without getting fried, making communion now and forever possible. We are cloaked like a coat, clothed with His righteousness, sinless in His sight, sinless but not perfect.  The down payment has been made, the Holy Spirit has been “deposited” in our earthen vessels to secure the purchase transaction with God and guarantee our inheritance in His Kingdom. Notice the reciprocal nature of the word “earnest”; it guarantees the purchase, ownership, to the buyer and guarantees the purchased item an inheritance in its new owner. The Holy Spirit has clothed us in the very righteousness of God, giving us access into the King’s presence – the King’s scepter is always lifted for us – and marked us as God’s purchased property until Christ’s return to claim and pick up His own.  And the foundation of God’s promise is firm and strong (i.e., “sure”, gr., stereos) providing this security to us, “The Lord knows those who are His.”

THEREFORE, COMFORT AND ENCOURAGE ONE ANOTHER WITH THESE WORDS

SUFFERING

A clear understanding of the role of “suffering” in the Christian life is important. The ancient goldsmith refined crude gold ore by bringing it to a liquid in a crucible, under intense heat. The impurities which float on the surface were skimmed off; when the goldsmith could see the reflection of his face clearly mirrored in the surface of the liquid, he knew the content was pure gold. The Apostle Peter had this imagery in mind when he spoke of the “fiery trials” of the saints. Paul and James likewise admonished to count the joy and rejoice in the perfecting work of trials and tests, what Jesus called the narrow gated “difficult” way to eternal life in Him. Christian suffering may take on many forms but come it will for we are called to adversity:

Whether it comes in the form of rebukes, chastening and scourging which accompany Sonship, the reining in of our wayward will … Whether it comes in the form of trials and tests of faith which are the divine accompaniment and godward impetus of becoming Christlike … Whether it comes in the form of persecution and tribulation because of a Christlike nature …Whether it comes as the natural consequence of sin, reaping what we have sown … Suffering will come!

Suffering’s source is satan who lives to inflict pain on humanity, but, just as in the time of Job, God, who is absolutely sovereign over all, establishes the conditions and sets the limits of satan’s attacks. Suffering is described by many words in scriptures: difficulties, sickness, persecution, troubles, hardship, adversity, distresses, affliction, tribulation, etc., all words translated from the Greek “thlipsis”, to crush in the wine press of life. Suffering may be of a physical, emotional, financial or relational nature, or any combination thereof, and may be swiftly metered or lingering. These are the Potter’s, sculpturing tools used by a God of love to transform our nature into His. God never wastes anything, especially suffering and pain, but uses it to our very best benefit according to His eternal purposes … the testimony of the Cross. Suffering burns out the dross in our nature, makes for humility, purifies and increases our faith, induces spiritual mettle, and enriches our lives, drawing us ever godward into Christlikeness. And like the goldsmith of old, God keeps us in the smelting furnace of His love until He can see the reflection of the face of the Lord Jesus in our lives. God is not so much interested in how much work we do for Him, as He is in how much we resemble His Son. This is the sanctifying work of the Holy Spirit, preparing us for eternity with God while teaching us to kneel and kiss the hand that sometimes hurts.

NO ONE SHOULD BE SHAKEN BY AFFLICTION AND SUFFERING,

FOR YOU SHOULD KNOW THAT WE ARE APPOINTED TO THIS

(1 Thess. 3:3)

THE WATERING HOLE: WHO IS GOD

Church today is viewed as a watering hole, a welcome natural oasis out in the desert that feeds a huge variety of natural life.  In this analogy Christian’s are the animals, the desert is the world and the church is the watering hole, the source of life itself, and without it we are dead.  Like a real watering hole things get a little crowded, and there’s a pecking order about who gets to be in the prime spots at the water’s edge.  The fittest and strongest will fight their way toward those prime spots while the weak ones, the marginalized, hang around the outer edges and find themselves easy prey for wild predators, the two legged kind.  If this seems to be carrying the analogy to far, then consider the fact that approximately 97% (average) of the people who walk into a church and make a commitment to Christ are gone within one year.  There are two wrong messages here, that the local church is the hope of the world and that Christianity is all about life lived within the walls of the church, a life full of the church, a life full of church-based activities.  Social religiosity is safe and comfortable, so we can feel good about ourselves and look forward to more church and more water to quench our spiritual thirst.  Is Christianity really supposed to be a faith lived out in isolation?  Is it really supposed to be carried out behind closed doors?  Is the main aim of the church to encourage people to be better at attending meetings?  Is it all about going to church to get?  And who is God? - How fresh is the water in the hole?  When we focus only on the water in front of us, when we forget the context of our lives in the world, we become far less useful in the fight - oh yes, don’t forget about the fight, the spiritual war being waged for the souls of mankind and our role beside our warrior king.  This message that Christianity is all about church (small c), about life lived within the confines of a building, doesn’t match up with the Bible model.  Formalized Christianity has drawn the church away from its’ divine charter as the launch pad from which believers (i.e., not pastors) obeyed the commands of Matthew 28:19 - to “go make disciples” and Matthew 25:31-46 to “help the poor, the sick, the oppressed.”  The church has usurped the role of God, pretending to be the water hole.  God and only God is the water hole - the source of life itself.  Jesus and Jesus alone is the hope of the world.  And we, the believers, need to be the Church (big C), to a lost and dying world.

SLAVES

We are all slaves
We choose our masters
Choose wisely
*   *   *
Lifestyle patterned after the world
Mind set on earthly things
Habitual domination by spirit of this age
Progressive process
Disobedience, rebellion, hostility against God
Relational separation from God
Strongholds of demonic influence
Look like the world
Walk like the world
Fruit of unrighteousness
*   *   *
Lifestyle patterned after the Kingdom
Mind set on things above
Habitual domination by the Holy Spirit
Progressive process
Intimate relationship with God
Stronghold of obedience to Christ
Look Christlike
Walk in Kingdom power
Kingdom fruit that glorifies God
*    *   *
Stop living, thinking and acting like the world
*   *   *
Start living, thinking and acting like Kingdom people
By the renewing of your mind
*   *   *
Then you will understand, test, and approve God’s will,
His good, well pleasing and complete will for you
*   *   *     
SET YOUR MIND ON THINGS ABOVE

SOVEREIGNTY IS SPELLED “G-O-D”

"God is able to do what He pleases with whomever He chooses whenever He wishes." (Chuck Swindoll) And I would add, no matter how much they whine. Satan attacked Job’s health, wealth and family, using sickness, human atrocities and natural disasters, but could do absolutely nothing without preapproval from God.  Job knew it was God who had loosened the leash of satan, and looked past the delivery truck to the one who owns the truck: “The Lord gave, and the Lord has taken away…Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not accept evil…Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.” Although satan is referred to as the ruler or god of this world, prince of the air and cosmic power over darkness, he is a pretender to an imagined throne where God establishes the scope and limits of all his activity; he cannot even sneeze without permission. During our Saviors’ temptation satan offered to give Him authority over all the kingdoms of the world if Jesus would worship him. Strictly speaking this is true for sovereignty putting them self into subjection to someone transfers their sovereignty. But the “old liar” is lying here. He did not have the authority to give authority over the kingdoms of the world to anyone, only to take this authority from Jesus if Jesus chose to relinquish it in submission. For scripture repeatedly tells us God rules and controls the kings and kingdoms of man who are like grasshoppers to Him, and predetermines the times and boundaries of nations. Satan is real and full of hate, but he is not sovereign over anything.

God is sovereign over all satan’s power including his delegated world rule, angels/demons/evil spirits, sickness and disease causing power,  life-taking power, mind-blinding power,  persecution, temptations to sin, strongholds and spiritual bondage, hand in natural disasters, and use of nature and the earth. Satan was decommissioned as an archangel, cursed as a serpent and imprisoned on earth as the pseudo-prince of a temporary world system, powerlessly awaiting eternal doom. His domain is the air, the polluted atmosphere surrounding the earth, and his greatest defeat was at his own hands when he crucified the Lord exactly in accordance with God’s pre-creation predestined plans. The idea satan has dominion over the earth is wrong. “The earth is the Lord’s, and all its fullness, the world and those who dwell therein”: All power, dominion and authority have been given to the Son, who is, even now, seated at the right hand of the Father in the heavenlies, “far above all principality and power and might and dominion … in this age … God having put all things under His feet.” It’s a completed fact! The roaring lion is still walking about “seeking whom he may devour.” He has to “seek whom he may” attack for he cannot attack without God’s permission, the divine “hedge” is still in place. God is sovereign over all that was, is, and is to come. Nothing escapes His sovereignty, nothing is left to chance, and nothing is left to satan!  Failure to recognize God’s sovereignty creates a dichotomous quagmire as we attempt to rationalize responsibility for God’s speed bumps, ignoring the simple truth that God allows both good and evil. God has the ball, no one can steal it, and He never fumbles.

SOVEREIGNTY DEFINES GOD

 AND CONFRONTS OUR SPIRITUAL IMMATURITY

Scripture References: Job 1:21-22, 2:10, 1:8-12; Lk. 4:5-7; Dan. 2:20-21, 4:17; Proverbs 21:1, 16:33; Ps. 2:2-4, 33:10-11; Acts 17:25-26; Rev. 1:5; Matt. 8:29-32; Mk. 1:27; Lk. 13:16; Ex. 4:11; Job 2:4-10; Deut. 32:39; 1 Sam. 2:6; 2 Cor. 4:4-6; 1 Peter 3:17; Lk. 22:52-53; Jn. 10:17-18; Lk. 22:3-4; Acts 1:16, 2:23; Lk. 22:31-32, 2 Tim. 2:24-26; 2 Cor. 10:4-5; Job 1:12,16,18-19, 21; Mk.4:9; James 5:11; Ps. 135:5-7; John 1:17, 2:10, 4:6-7; Ex. 7-10; Ps. 24:1; Job 42:11; 1Sam. 2:8b; 1 Peter 3:22; 1 Peter 5:11; Lk. 22:31; Dan. 4:34b-35; Isa. 46:10; Lam. 3:37-38; Amos 3:6b; Proverbs 19:21, 16:33; Ps. 135:6; Eph. 1:11, 20-23; 1 Peter 5:8-9; Rom. 16:20; Acts 2:36; Ps. 139:16b; 1 Peter 4:11; Jude 24-25; Rev. 1:6; Heb. 1:3, 10-12; Matt. 28:18; Rev.13:8; 1 Tim. 6:15; 1 Chron. 29:12; Job 23:13;; Acts 4:27-28; Jn. 19: 10-11; Is. 40:22-24, 43:13, 45:6-7; Ps. 103:19; Job 42:2; ( Ps. 8:4-6; 1 Cor. 15:24-28; Eph. 1:20-23; Heb. 2:5-10, 14 taken together) Is. 45:6-7; Ecc. 7:13-14

IS GOD A RESPECTER OF PERSONS?

The Bible interprets itself, through context and related passages. There are seven passages where this precept is discussed and the context in each passage is either Salvation, Judgment or Rewards, which explains the intent of the precept. It makes perfect sense and accords with the whole council of God that Salvation, Judgment and Rewards would be universal precepts applicable to all saints. Except for these three areas, God is at liberty to deal with us differently, individually and uniquely. He created us as unique individuals with unique pathways of transformation, reflecting our uniqueness. We are born into different cultures and life situations having unique mixtures of attitudes, proclivities and personality traits,   have different innate interests and desires, are susceptible to different temptations, face different trials and chastening, have different callings and giftings, and drag behind a long train of unique and constantly changing life experiences. Jesus said the way to eternal life is difficult: Our uniqueness makes our confirmation into the nature of Christ uniquely difficult

Some examples: John the Baptist spent 30 years in the woods eating bugs, followed by a three month local ministry before losing his head. Stephen, the newly appointed deacon, was stoned to death before he could get new business cards printed, while Phillip, Stephen’s classmate in the first class of deacons had a long impressive ministry, raised four godly daughters, and became the first, and so far the only, flying deacon. The Apostle John, whom Jesus loved more then the other disciples, lived to a ripe old age dreaming of heaven; all the other apostles were tortured and killed while in the prime of life.  The Apostle Paul suffered far more than anyone recorded in scriptures, was denied healing by God, and was beheaded in prison, while Jesus’ friend Lazarus was raised from the dead to a long and peaceful life. God blinded one man for thirty plus years to demo His Glory, and blinded Pharaoh’s heart, leading to his destruction. Jesus healed only one person out of the “great multitude of sick, blind, lame and paralyzed” at the Pool of Bethesda. And then there is Hebrews 11 where the great faith-life of Able, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, … etc., is juxtaposed with others whose likewise great faith-life was demonstrated with torture, scourging, imprisonment, stoning, destitution, affliction, and tree-saws through the body. Enoch lived a blessed life, literally walking with God for three hundred plus years then was transported home by God bypassing death. That sounds a little biased if you’re the one who has a date with a tree-saw! God does not treat His children all the same: We are all called to adversity but the specifics and degree differ widely, due to our uniqueness and God’s plans for us. The good God brings from bad will always outweigh the bad, producing patience, unswerving endurance, faith, godly character and integrity, joyful confident hope  in eternal salvation, and radiant agape love, releasing the strength and power of God in our lives. Sounds like Spiritual Maturity. Conformance into Christlikeness is not produced through a life of Health and wealth. Paul understood this to the point of literally rejoicing in infirmities, troubles, suffering, hardships, afflictions, persecutions, in a nutshell adversity, referring to them as momentary “light afflictions” that produce for us a vast transcendent eternal glory. We only see a cloudy half-picture of what God is doing in us and through us in others, in allowing adversity to draw us Godward. This purposeful intentional God demonstrates His goodness by His laser-like focus on our transformation, never deviating from His plan, loving us too much to leave us the way we are. “You shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.”                              

JESUS: THE ONLY ANSWER BIGGER THAN QUESTIONS

A missionary is killed when a 4x4 board catapults through the windshield of her bus, a financial reversal leaves a retired minister homeless, a pastor is electrocuted in his church baptismal, a worship leader is killed on a ministry trip, leaving behind ten young children, a pastor’s five year old daughter has cancer, a worship leader’s son accidentally drives over and crushes his toddler brother, a quadriplegic minister accidentally paralyzed twenty years ago now has cancer. These are examples of the millions of real life difficulties that Christians face daily. Whether physical, financial or relational, adversity knows every saint’s address. Bad things happen to Godly people, you can count on it.

 These roads, like all roads, lead to the cross. “It was the Lord’s will to crush Him (Jesus) and cause Him to suffer.” Picture this: The world’s greatest lover commits history’s most heinous event on history’s best and only sinless person, who just happens to be the very object of His passionate love. Why on earth would we expect a life free from suffering? We do not know why God chose to cloth Himself in weakness and suffering to overpower all opposition in accomplishing his eternal purposes, or why He endowed mankind with limits and suffering, subject to sorrows, pain and death. Perhaps Good does not draw one to God as forcefully as Bad. Perhaps man’s stubborn independence, willful self-centeredness and casual love affairs with the world require something more forceful then Good to produce lasting transformation. Perhaps Self’s preoccupation with Good breeds a sense of entitlement. But we do know God keeps His own rules, exacting nothing from man that He has not exacted from Himself. He lived as flesh, born in poverty and acquainted with sorrow and grief, and died in tortured disgrace, deserted by His greatest love, His Daddy.

The Atonement somehow tore God apart. The Cross exceeded the worse human suffering, exposing the Godhead to rejection and pain of cosmic proportion, exceeding human capacity for pain as infinitely as God’s knowledge and power exceeds man’s. In this qualitative sense, Jesus endured the agony and anguish of hell itself: Sweating blood speaks volumes, capillary walls blowing out from emotional intensity, blood oozing from divine pores. God, the maximum Good, is personally acquainted with the maximum Bad. Isn’t it remarkable the omnipotent creator God, sovereign of all, would create a world where no one suffered more than He. When we begin to fathom the foreboding terror at Gethsemane, the denigrating spectacle of the Trial, the torturous brutality of the Beatings and Scourging, the excruciating pain and mental anguish of the death march to Golgotha, and the lonely horror of Love’s utter abandonment at the time of its greatest need on the Cross, we will refrain from ever questioning God’s understanding or His love. Rather than question His “allowings” in our life, ask instead, “Lord, Why did you do that for me”? Only a God of wounds can speak to the wounded. Never doubt God cares -- see the blood, scars and savage brutality -- He cares and suffers still, suffering with us in our suffering.

There will always be raging storms in our sea of life, we should know we will all get the opportunity to walk on water, more often than we would like. Why? Jesus: The only answer bigger than all questions. Jesus is God’s answer to why! But, know this: We serve a sovereign omnipotent God who is totally in control and personally guarantees the mysterious hope of Good coming out of all the Bad things His children endure. No power in heaven or earth can “make straight what He has made crooked”, restrain or thwart His purposes. He never fumbles the ball, or the flight of a 4x4, never! 

GOD NEVER FUMBLES ANYTHING