And So There I Was...Dying...

So then, death is at work in us, but life is at work in you. - 2 Corinthians 4:12

I've been watching practical transformation in my own home and amongst the members of the Church on Rogers Street.

It's fascinating and it's inspiring!

Many of us have had to adjust to things about our economy, our work, our career paths and even our foundational expectations. We have been in deep valley's. We have gone on emotional roller coaster rides that no earthly roller coaster can compare to. Our cores, our foundations, our relationships...everything about our lives, or lives of important people in our group have been shaken.

We were forced into this internal and external labor and being forced into hard places gives us a whole new perspective on life. Career paths, bank, savings, and retirement accounts, "things" we once valued, no longer hold the same attraction and attachment to us. And, all those things that people used to quip were most important, family, friends, our heritage in our children, they have become big things. That which we cannot take with us into eternity has actually begun to fade.

Have you been experiencing this or watching someone else you know go through and conclude that the world truly should not and cannot hold us in it's grip?

When you are in the midst of it you get a glimpse into the hard places of others. Our "hard places" in America are hardly at all yet that hard in this time. They do not rival the hardship of the Great Depression and that hardly holds a candle to what occurs in third world countries. Does it? Nonetheless trials keep us from having a shallow view of the hardships of others and allows us, like brothers-in-arms, to identify with them. Since this is a transitory time we can also observe those not having the same calamities befall them speak of such trials from no experience and often judge others who have had such hardship. I now have seen the superficiality of Christian experience that often permeates shallow believe and receive kids of brothers and sisters in Christ.

Our kinship with pain means that those going through the fire do not need to explain; they merely look at one another with mutual respect and admiration for their common experience. They know that death has worked a special thing in them. In 2 Corinthians 7:10 Paul talks about two types of sorrow. One leads to life. One kind of sorrow, earthly sorrow, leads to death. This is even deeper than that in many ways but this death leads to life in others because of the hard places God has taken them through and as they watch life triumph over the death working in us.

It is virtually impossible to fully appreciate any valley experience while you are in it. However, once you have reached the top of the mountain, you are able to appreciate what terrain you have passed through. You marvel at what you were able to walk through. The valley of the shadow of death has yielded more than you ever thought possible. You are able to appreciate the beauty of the experience and lay aside the sorrow and pain it may have produced.

Death works in you for a greater purpose. If you are in a place like that today, please know that your Heavenly Father is producing something of much greater value than you will ever know...it is ultimately the greatest triumph of all...life, eternal life of Christ in others!

I remain...

InHISgrip,
~J~

The Greatest Light in Our Personal World Is...?

Do you suppose, O man—you who judge those who practice such things and yet do them yourself—that you will escape the judgment of God? Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance? But because of your hard and impenitent heart you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God’s righteous judgment will be revealed. - Romans 3:3-5

As I grow older, ya know, just plain older; but also as I mature in faith I have become more concerned with what separates those who have a false sense of security in Jesus than I am worried about those who rightly and properly understand why it is they are bound for eternity with God. I hadn't thought about this much until I began, once more, reading John Piper's book Desiring God. In the book Piper makes a strong case for the joy of salvation that Christians properly feel emanating out of them from a shift in the primary focus on their love and affection. Who do you love most? Piper scripturally argues that if your foundational love; from which all other affection is drawn from; the source of all your love or happiness is your love of God then you can wrap your heart, mind and soul around your correct assumption that you know Jesus Christ as your personal Savior.

So what then is the wrong love focus? How might you wrongly assume the happiness you get from being saved is false hope? What then might it be that gives us a counterfeit sense of, "I am saved?"

In a recent message to his church John Piper spoke these words,

Millions of nominal Christians have never experienced a fundamental alteration of that foundation of happiness. Instead they have absorbed the notion that becoming Christian means turning to Jesus to get what you always wanted before you were born again. So, if you wanted wealth, you stop depending on yourself for it, and by prayer and faith and obedience you depend on Jesus for wealth. If you wanted to be healthy, you turn from mere human cures to Jesus as the source of your health. If you wanted to escape the pain of hell, you turn to Jesus for the escape. If you wanted to have a happy marriage, you come to Jesus for help. If you wanted peace of conscience and freedom from guilt feelings, you turn to Jesus for these things.

In other words, to become a Christian, in this way of seeing things, is to have all the same desires you had as an unregenerate person—only you get them from a new source, Jesus. And He feels so loving when you do. But there’s no change at the bottom of your heart and your cravings. No change in what makes you happy. There’s no change in the decisive foundation of your joy. You just shop at a new store. The dinner is still the same; you just have a new butler. The bags in the hotel room are still the same; you just have a new bellhop.

I believe Dr. Piper is right.

Genuinely being born again, saved, and a part of the new birth in Jesus Christ has the affect of changing our fundamental desires. Where I once desired my own selfish wants and needs primarily, I now simply wish, regardless at the cost to me to glorify my great God.

For each of us the question becomes this, "Am I loving God because He made me a big deal and did a lot for me, and in my future even more if or am I loving Him because I realize the magnitude of what He has done for me though I deserve not one bit of it?" Perhaps another way of saying it would be, "is my love of God founded in Him or founded, in some manner, in me?"

Those who desire to honor God might say it better than I and I am trying to get my arms around it but the core of this seems to be that I need to understand God did all He did for me so that His glory would shine forever. I need to get that into my heart. This is not about me primarily. It is about Him fully. There is verse after verse that point out the ways in which God reveals His great love to us for His Glory and His Own sake!

Check these verses out:

• Luke 2:10-14 is the manger story and ends this way, "... glory to God in the highest!" (We get a savior and God gets the glory!)
• Isaiah 43:6,7 commands God's prophets to bring forth his children with the end reason, "...whom i created for my glory."
• Ephesians 1:5, 6 tells us through the giving of His Son God adopted us back into his family. Why? "...to the praise of His glorious grace."
• Psalm 79 essentially says that God pursues us for His Glory. Verse 9 resounds, "Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of Your name; deliver us, and atone for our sins, for Your name’s sake!" I might get a benefit but my God ultimately gets something far superior-GLORY. This is how the truly saved might pray.
• John 17:24 and this is how Jesus prays when speaking about this very subject of our right standing and salvation with God. Check this out: Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory that you have given me because you loved me before the foundation of the world.

Jesus wants us with Him. To be sure He has and will yet do many things for us (Check out the book of Revelation sometime to see what is, in small part, yet to be done for us...HUGE!) but what is our joy and our happiness? ... to see His glory!

This could go on and on but I point these out to express that the love of God is meant to lead us back to His glory and His honor and our praising Him and it is an end in itself and that is how the born again, he saved, the truly blood washed see their salvation. Where once I had no desire to love on God now I cannot help but see how everything points back to Him that is good, right, pure, peaceful, loving and full of His glory.

So what's in it for you and I? Well I think you can probably answer these questions yourself; at least partially. I've already made this way too long but here is a short list and you look up the scriptures to validate it:

• I receive eternal life because He receives the glory
• I receive riches beyond this worlds count because He receives the glory
• I receive His purpose for me in this life because He receives the glory
• I receive His personal direction and instruction because He receives the glory
• I received and continue to live in His great love through Jesus Christ because in His having given that to me He receives the glory

This is truly the short list...judge angels, joint heirs, ruling and reigning, it goes on and on doesn't it...and for it I weep for joy and bow down and worship the great God of all because He deserves all honor and power and glory for ever! God gives us so much and loves us so much and makes so much of us because in doing so, in the way that only He can do it true and fulfilling love, God's love and loving God is regenerated.

Don't let all God has done and will be done for you become the reason for your love of God. Don't make some aspect (love, wisdom, freedom, power, healing, gifts, etc.) become the reason for your love of God or others.  We can love Him because He first loved us, gave His Son for us and now, by opening up our eyes of understanding, allows us to glory in the unfathomable love that is our God.

I remain...

InHISgrip,
~J~

The Fullness of Salvation - Just What Is Full to You?

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade-kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God’s power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith-of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire-may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and even though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls. I Peter 1:3-8

Last year the Church on Rogers did a big study on the Book of Peter. Peter’s epistles are stunning in their clarity, forcefulness and their last days focus. I would actually suggest in their focus on eternity and the idea of eternal life. And, my loved ones, those things are very different from one another. I love Peter! I am not sure I am a "Peter was the first Pope" adherent (some historical facts mess it up for me) but I am of the school of thought that indicated that Peter was one of the two or three most significant of the apostles; a true leader of the movement to which I am a follower.

Lately, since it has been such a big part of my thinking as I have had dialogues to many who were on the fringes of faith I have been studying the idea of belief and salvation. Within first and second Peter we, as the current Church can learn well from his words recorded in Scripture on this topic.

In the passage above Peter is declaring the glory of our new birth, what we would call our “salvation experience”. “In (God’s) great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope . . . into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade” (v.3-4). In recounting to us the experience of our rebirth through Jesus’ resurrection, Peter connects it immediately with eternity. And, in doing this for us Peter enlightens us to several things:

1. The fullness of our salvation is not just in being saved from sin and hell, and being viewed by God the Father as a new creation, though these are all true and wonderful. A "more" complete understanding has the regenerated/saved man or woman with our ETERNITY beginning when we are reborn. The magnitude of this is not shown in time. It is shown by emphasizing that the riches we receive will always contain their full value..."never fade" is not a term we consider when we count the cost in buying good and services and products here on earth. To be sure we value solid, long-lasting, great warrantied products (Yugo or Mercedes?) but the inheritance a newly birthed believer receives has unending, never fading and always "worth everything" value!

2. Salvation is not just the moment we surrender to the calling of Jesus, and receive Him as Lord and Savior. That is the moment of decision. We have that as a beginning, but the fullness of our salvation comes “in the last time” (v. 5). In other words, what we enter into reaches it’s completion when Jesus returns to reign on the earth and create a new heaven and earth; a paradise that will be similar to the original but that will never fade or tarnish. In this last time God and man dwell together in face to face intimacy free from the curse of sin and free from intermediary things; we no longer will talk in metaphors, analogies, similitudes and parables about what that will be like. We will simply live within the Glory of God.

What Peter describes is the transformation of your citizenship. Our salvation changes our citizenship from earth to Heaven, setting us on a course of Life that is Eternal! This Eternal Life is God's quality of living, being, moving and seeing. As such, it sets our vision on a life that is WAY beyond a one year plan; a 3 year plan; a 5 year plan or ever a few decades, but one that stretches on forever and that has significance, adequacy, importance, passion and meaning! It should cause us to long for and love the day of Christ’s return, so that we can receive the fullness of what He paid for with His shed blood.

I have to tell you guys that what I just described is much different than the common Christian mindset that views salvation as a “get out of Hell free” card; some plastic-coated, round edged, business card sized paper that we place in our wallet or purse and go ahead with our lives as “usual”. Salvation, Eternal Life, began at a moment in time when it was obvious to us of our need and that only in Christ could we fulfill it. It is an ongoing process of change and maturity. It does not leave room for a, "life as usual" mindset. No! It calls us to rethink and "re-heart" EVERYTHING about the way we live as we focus on a life with and in Jesus Christ.

So, what happens now?

1. Regenerated & Revitalized Worship! “In this you greatly rejoice” (v.6). We THANK Him for saving our souls and we worship Him for inviting us into His Eternal Kingdom. We worship Him NOW because it is a precious gift of faith that we give to Him. We worship now because it recognizes His leading and calling and daily work in us. For, when He appears, our faith will become “sight”, and worship will be automatic!! Today, we make a CHOICE and it is this: I WILL WORSHIP WITH ALL OF MY BEING & WITH ALL OF WHO YOU ARE MAKING ME — and this blesses Him even more. Our short lives in this “tent” (our natural body) giving Him our daily praise and honor fulfills what is working in us namely our salvation.

2. Trials (v.6-7). I call this the "hassles of faith”. Paul called it “fighting the good fight of faith”. Peter tells us we WILL “suffer grief, in ALL KINDS of trials”. These are NECESSARY components to purify and strengthen our faith. Our natural inclination in trials is to doubt everything we believe. But, as we stand firm, with our eyes on eternity and worship Him in the midst of trouble, frustration, etc. — our faith becomes real. Faith that isn’t tested isn’t really true or trustworthy. Trials are a gift to strengthen us so that the faith we have has true SUBSTANCE.

3. We Love Him, NOW. We love Him now, knowing that we will see Him, soon. And, as we look forward to our Eternity with Him present, and give Him the gift of our voluntary love today, we're filled with joy that has no fully expressible measure in this earthly dimension (V.8). Why? Because as we set our heart and mind on the things that are Eternal; as we grow to realize Eternal is more than just a "long time", we actually begin to taste of the eternal pleasures of God and it happens in the sweet now and now for it is this realized joy, evoked from our current love and relationship with Jesus Christ and through Him with our Heavenly Father that gets us to a life well worth living!

I remain...

InHISgrip,
~J~

Flopping Over - Hands Lifted - Lord, I Give Up! (Again)

But He knows the way that I take; when He has tested me, I will come forth as gold - Job 23:10

He knows my name
He knows my every thought
He sees each tear that falls
And He hears me when I call - Tommy Walker

I was recently sitting with a business leader as he described a question he poses to Christians that work with him and partner with his business. "What if there were two doors to choose from; behind one door was the complete will of God for your life and behind the other door was how life could be according to your own preference. Which door would you choose?" My response to him made him pause. I don't like the choices. I want one door. The one He instructs me to go through is the one I desire to go through. I want that day to come. I want it sooner than later.

Most of us struggle with the idea of being led by God completely. Most of us cannot even conceive of such a thing. We are so far from God's leading our lives that it only makes sense within the hallowed walls of the building where we meet to hear someone encourage us to allow it to happen. It's a lot like reincarnation, a lot of people talking about it but we don't see anyone doing it. (Er...no, I do NOT believe in reincarnation.)

If we think deeply for a moment about it yes, most of us desire to follow God, but few of us will do it at any cost. We do not really believe that God loves us to the degree or that He provides that level of direction for us individually.

But there might be a great reason for this. How about this one; that we are willing to give Him complete permission to do as He wills in us.

If we desire to fully walk with our God, there is a cost. We may give intellectual assent and go along with His principles and do fine; however, if we are fully given over to Him and His will for our life, it will be a life that will have adversity and none of us are looking for more of that!

I'm not going to sugar coat this. The Bible is clear that humans do not achieve true, forever, God is please with me, the world take note of it, greatness without having their sinful will broken. Sinful will is me wanting what I want, when and how I want it. (Imagine stomping of feet, holding of breath and a red face here)

The process of giving our lives over to Jesus Christ is also known as the breaking of our wills. It is designed to create a nature change in each of us, not just a habit change. The Bible used circumcision to exemplify this. Circumcision is painful, bloody, and personal. I am not a personal fan of any of those things.

But if God has plans to greatly use you, and He does, in the lives of others, you can expect your trials to be even greater than those of others. Why? Because, like Joseph who went through greater trials than most patriarchs, your calling may have such responsibility that God cannot afford to entrust it to you without ensuring your complete faithfulness to the call.

By my recent experience God really loves me. And, apparently I have asked for a major measure of opportunity. (Although I am not recalling this...hmmm) He has much invested in you and I and it is in fact on behalf of others. He anticipates the day He can speak through your life to a greater degree than through another. The events of your life would become the framework for the message He wants to deliver using us as the amplifier.

Look guys, we need to stop fearing a bunch of stuff. We need to quit fearing His path for us. We need to stop fearing that the whole Christian, walk-with-God/Led-by-God experience is a fable. Enough! Geez! C'mon already! Embrace it. God is prepping us for eternity. We have plenty of time to walk in total abundance and bliss and what will be akin to perfection for then. Get with the program, the training is now and the need is in this world we are in and that need is NOW!

For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all - 2 Cor. 4:17

Let's believe God! Pray a prayer of surrender today...I will be on my end...and I remain...

InHISgrip,
~J~

Reflections: What God Sees in the Mirror of Your Heart

They will tell of the glory of Your kingdom and speak of Your might, so that all men may know of Your mighty acts and the glorious splendor of Your kingdom - Psalm 145:11-12

I have just spent 10 days at conferences with some of the brightest business minds. Two things came to mind as we went through sessions on systems, marketing, influence, and financial success. Those two things were:

1. We must all be accountable in order to stay the course

2. Test & Measure Your Efforts

So, it came back to me, how do you measure our effectiveness in God, or should we even be thinking like this?

The early Church, Peter, Paul, the other apostles, their converts, those guys n' gals, they turned the world upside down in that first century. What made them so effective in their compelling dissemination of the Gospel message?

Was it their theology?

Was it eloquent preaching?

Was it due to one man's influence apart from Jesus?

The Scriptures are clear as to what made the early Church effective. It is at the core of God's heart, and it is quite simple. Ya wanna know what it was?

God desires to reflect His nature and power through every individual.

And kids, let me tell you, when this happens, the world is dynamically impacted and eternally changed because those who reflect His glory affect the world.

We serve a God is is determined for the success of the race of humanity He created. It includes a plan that makes the central elements of success also the cornerstone of that success. What does this mean to you and I? It means He is a God who will not share His glory with anyone because no one else's glory creates and sustains vibrant life!

God sets up situations in order to demonstrate His power through them. He hedges His bets! But, if you have the winning hand why would you fold in favor of something less?

He has overseen the affairs of man since the day He created man and, well, actually even before then. His desire is to reflect His glory through you and me, so that all men may know of His mighty acts and the glorious splendor of His Kingdom and be drawn back into a child/Father relationship with Him.

The apostle Paul was all over this foundational concept. Paul said, My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit's power, so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power - 1 Cor. 2:4-5.

You wish to understand a clear cut method to know if you are pleasing God? Here is how you can know. If you do not see His glory being reflected through your life, then you need to ask why.

You will know why. If you ask sincerely the Holy Spirit will reveal precisely where He desires to lift you up and create victory within you that God's amazing and awesome glory can be reflected through you!

Join me today, a moment of thoughtful silence, asking the Father what do I give over to you Lord that will give you more space in my heart of hearts...together, arm-in-arm, let us march through the Gates of Hell, into the glorious presence of our Daddy in victory!

I remain...

InHISgrip (but slightly more broken)

~J~

Walking in the Ointment!

So Samuel took the horn of oil and anointed him in the presence of his brothers, and from that day on the Spirit of the Lord came upon David in power.... - 1 Samuel 16:13

I recall hearing these words of a country pastor at a David Wilkerson rally as a teenager (Anyone remember The Cross and the Switchblade?), "God desires that you always walk in the ointment!" I recall thinking to myself, "Ewwww!!! God!!! C'mon! - not that!" Well I have since learned there are differences between the ointment that my grandma used to put on everything that ached (and that made me wish I had no olfactory senses) and God's unique and unusual calling in the life of one of his kids.

The anointment or anointing is to be desired by Christians. God does have a plan for your life. It is that you lose it in His and that you do it when He touches you, gives you not only direction but power!

So the question is, how has the Holy Spirit of the Lord rested on your life? And a follow-up, can you recall when God's Spirit began demonstrating His power through you? When was it? Where was it? How did it express itself?

David knew the day the Spirit of the Lord began a special work in him. God's Spirit is different from most leaders. Instead of seeking power and control, He led, provided inner guidance, wisdom and direction in response to a felt and physical need. Instead of being a perfect person, the spirit revealed to David and David learned from mistakes and acknowledged them among those to the nation of Israel.

DAvid caught on. Do not place confidence in your own abilities. And he sought wisdom from the only real wise one and sage, the Lord God Almighty.

Because of his learned sensitivity to the leading of God on his life, this anointing, David never lost a battle. It was true that he failed God by sinning with Bathsheba and by numbering the troops after God told him not to specifically, but King David learned from each misstep. He took his medicine. Sin cost him dearly. But, the Spirit of the Lord never left David. The Holy Ghost never left because David was always tender, sensitive and had his heart and ear bent toward God. David's pride was never greater, in his human mind, than God's call.

So, as Vizzini says in the Princess Bride, "So, now it comes down to you and now it comes down to me." You, if you know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior you have a calling on your life. How are you responding? Tender? Sensitive to God's Spirit? You need to know God will not allow that Spirit to rest on us if we are prideful. If we seek to control outcomes and manipulate out of our need for power or yes, even our of our insecurity. Servant leaders are aware they're only a clay pot in the Master Potters hands. They serve a purpose. They are pliable. They don't value themselves more than they ought but realize that they do have eternal value as long as they stay in HIS grip.

King David's heart, though he was imperfect, belonged totally to His God. Today, with me, let's once more give God our all and commit to having a hearing spirit so the Great Holy Spirit of God may begin His job of leading us into all truth and the adventure of an eternal lifetime!

I remain...

InHISgrip,
~J~

Gettin' The Dough To Show!

A Lesson on Receiving What is Rightfully Yours

"But the Danites had difficulty taking possession of their territory, so they went up and attacked Leshem, took it, put it to the sword and occupied it..." - Joshua 19:47

As I read part of my devotional this morning a question cropped up in my mind. It was something like, "Lord, it seems that my inheritance is either slimming down from overuse or I don't have a clue what it is and it hasn't showed up yet. Which is it Lord?"

I'm sure you guessed it.

The Lord brought back to remembrance a verse, "Eye has not seen , nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him." - I Corinthians 2:9

Thank You Jesus...I have NOT received it...not all of it...not yet!

However, we can also glean this, our physical and godly inheritance and our forever eternal inheritance, in the mind of God are on a continuum. But we have to see with our spiritual eyes in order to embrace it and understand it.

Moreover, a bigger question might be this, what is the spiritual inheritance God has reserved for you? And is this gift received the way you do a Christmas present? What ever possessed us to think that?

Check this out. When God told the Israelites they were going to receive the Promised Land, it was not given to them on a silver platter. In fact, they would encounter 39 battles in taking the land God promised to them. It took a joint effort between God and the Israelites to engage and battle the enemy that maintained control of the land.

Here is what I came away with today as I read this first, God has given you and me an inheritance that has physical components and spiritual pieces. We need to understand how they connect.

Second, this bequest on God's part is given to family members. Israel was to receive it because they were God's kids. Are you one of His? Have you made certain of your relationship to God? Do you know Him as Lord of your life? It is those who are who get the goods!

Third, God's family is in a battle. In order to obtain the prize we must participate in the family trade and business which is confronting the enemy of God wherever he, it, they rear their ugly heads. The battles we fight are first fought in our hearts (Satan wants to control that so the rest of the territory you've been given is his without a fight). This is a spiritual battle to determine if God's Kingdom extends into your heart. Remember, the Kingdom of God is anywhere and everywhere that God is ruler. So is Jesus your Saviour and is He your King?

Fourth, a dear friend and mentor once counseled me after watching my life over a period and said, "John, part of your inheritance in the faith is relationships. Because it lies in relationships, that is the place the enemy has attacked you most." He then further taught me, "The enemy always attacks us at the gate through which we are to receive our inheritance. You must walk in faithfulness and obedience to His righteousness in how you deal with relationships." These were words of wisdom. I just recently found the piece of paper on which they were written. I have been up and down in this battle. But I tell you these words will now, again, as they were supposed to, guide my path. I can tell you he Lord has proven these words to be true in the past. My success in life and in Christ are somehow attached to these words.

Fifth and finally I realized that our inheritance in Christ Jesus is different from one another. Part of that is our physical state. It includes our work, family and our ability to create wealth and distribute as well as many other things that happen here and now. It extends into eternity if I read the prophecies right. So the question becomes what is the spiritual inheritance He has reserved for you? And more importantly since we want to receive all that God has for us, what areas of your inheritance must you take possession of in an act of faith and physical action?

The enemy of your soul does not want you to take possession of what is yours. Part of this participation means you put on the whole armor of God and realize the battle is primarily spiritual. Put on your armor (Ephesians 6:11-18) and begin walking in obedience into the areas God has called you to possess. With me today let us take hold of what is our and possess our possessions! I remain...

InHISgrip,

~J~

Live In Our Pain – Freed Into Our Destiny – Which Will It Be?

Then the Spirit of the Lord came upon Jephthah - Judges 11:29a

We've all heard stories of individuals who have prevailed over extreme hardship to rise to the top or to have full, complete triumphant lives. Many of them had horrible lives during their childhood years. If you have lived at all you have either been or known children of alcoholics, orphans who never have parents, loss of parents to a fatal disease or calamity, childhood diseases that created twisted bodies - these are all difficult conditions to surmount.

Jephthah was such a man. He was born to a “godly” but faulted man named Gilead. Jephthah was the result of his father's adulterous encounter with a prostitute. Gilead's wife, who had bore more sons, decided to reject Jephthah, and drove him away from their home saying, "You are not going to get any inheritance in our family because you are the son of another woman."

Imagine the rejection this young man felt as he was cast away from his own family.

There was a silver lining in this instance…at least at one level. This experience taught Jephthah to become a hardened warrior. He would be in a street gang today. His fortunes changed however. As he matured his reputation grew as a warrior. This was so true, so much so that when the Ammonites made war on Israel, the elders of Gilead went to Jephthah and asked him to be their commander. Jephthah had to fight off those feelings of rejection from previous years.

"Didn't you hate me and drive me from my father's house?" he responded.

Yet, ultimately love of God and country prevailed. He overcame his hurt and pain, and responded to the call God had on his life. Jephthah freed himself of his prejudices and did not allow his mistreatment rule his life and rob him of greatness and honor before God.

We all have heard the story of the caterpillar to butterfly. If we were to help the butterfly when it is coming out of larvae stage and move it from the cocoon, the butterfly would not be strong enough to survive. It is the struggle of freeing itself that prepares the butterfly to become strong enough to fly; to become what it’s destiny provides. Without the struggle in the cocoon, it could not survive as a butterfly.

The Lord prepares each of us in dissimilar ways. We need to learn to understand the struggles of our brothers and sisters. It is maturity. It is part of the freedom that comes with loving another for no good reason other than within our heart their true value is revealed to us. Some of our childhoods seem to have been harsh. It seems a loving God missed a stroke since we were born into a seemingly loveless start. Ah! But did God miss something? Or, did He know our struggle would make our life an instrument in His hand if we will follow Him with an upright heart. He does make all things beautiful in His time if we are willing to be patient.

This week the Church on Rogers Street is studying two little verses Galatians 5:1 and verse 13. It’s about “free.” Are you ready for it? Freedom is just a moment of surrender away. Oh sure. You may have to come back again and surrender AGAIN. But we will start today. You expect God to heal and Jesus to be the Great Physician of a hurt heart. He is and He will. Give over that pain that has stymied you. It’s time. I remain…

InHISgrip,
~J~

Can A Drip Really Count

Man is like a breath; his days are like a fleeting shadow - Psalm 144:4

Indeed, You have made my days as handbreadths, and my age is as nothing before You; Certainly every man at his best state is but vapor – Psalm 39:5

…Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow. For what is your life? It is even a vapor that appears for a little time and then vanishes away – James 4:14

When my oldest son J.R. was about 6 we were on an airplane and leaving out of Orange County airport. Our departure took us out of the Pacific Ocean and down the coast for a bit. It was a moment when I think we were both struck with just how immense the ocean was. He was enamored by the water until a moment when he turned to me and said, “Daddy, I have to pee.” Of course as a good dad and a typical male, I just burst out laughing and then led him to the restroom closet (remember, it’s an airplane). He went and did his duty, came back and the ocean was gone of course. He then confessed that when we were at the beach he in fact had a similar need while in the water. We were quiet for awhile and then he said, “It wasn’t that much. You couldn’t tell.”

This was not a moment when I should have been trying to swallow the drink my flight attendant had given me. Now it was my turn to go to the bathroom.

But J.R. was right. It wasn’t much. Just like our lives compared to eternity. They aren’t a lot. It is beyond time and includes all of time – eternity simply swallows up life.

If eternity is what we are being prepared for and this life is such a small thing, why then do we invest so much in temporal activity that is here today and then gone, burned up, useless in terms of forever? We know that the way we invest our lives here can have eternal impact. And yet…

It is the great paradox of Christian behavior. Knowing what we know we chose to build houses on sand and not on rock. We build and establish lives of straw and not steel.

I don’t have time today to massage this or sugar coat it. Here’s the deal: does your life have any component at all where you have eternity in mind? Do you have an overall ministry? Do you know what it is? Are you doing it? When you wake up of a morning are you greeting God and expecting to be used even in the smallest of ways?

Do you have an eye on eternity? That little phrase simply means we need to be about what God has called us to do. The motive of which is He leads in things that are eternal. Our being obedient to the mission ensures the value of our lives.

This overall seems like a bummer of a time. Everywhere. Anywhere. But hey…it’s just the world – Don’t let life hassles keep you from having an eternal impact on people you meet; the same ones Jesus loves. Don’t! Focus on the problem and Satan wins. He is master of the urgent, not the important; of the temporal and not the eternal.
Make today a day likes this:

Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain -1 Corinthians 15:58

I remain…

InHISgrip,
~J~

Good Friday - What It Is - What It Is

In just a few days the day known as "Good Friday" will be upon us. This is significant in a week that is called "Holy" to those of us who are Christians.

For those that are not Christians, Good Friday is the day Christians commemorate (like an anniversary) the death of Christ; the crucifixion of Jesus at a hill called Calvary (latin calvaria: skull). Some people recognize it by the name of Golgotha, the Aramaic version. Because there were so many crucifixions done there it was named Golgotha which means, "the place of the skull." That is how the Bible interprets it.

There are no specific rituals that are followed, except many Christians observe this day with prayer, fastings, and specific Bible readings that explain the events that led up to Jesus’ being hung on a cross. So why is it called good if it is the day that Jesus was killed? There are two ways to answer this question: from a theological perspective and from a translation-cultural perspective.

From a theological perspective, one can say Good Friday is called “good” because Jesus willingly gave up his life so humanity could have a relationship with God, commonly known as vicarious atonement. Vicarious atonement is the theological term. It means Jesus’ death satisfied the legal requirement from God to pay for the sins of mankind so we could once again have a relationship with Him. Jesus form of death took the penalty of sin for every human when He died on the cross. His death was a substitution for those who decide to accept it. Jesus hung in our place as He bore our sin in his body on the cross. In The Bible we get this meaning from a number of reading passages:

Mark 10:45 - For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many

Romans 5:6-9 - For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

Galatians 1:3-5 - Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age, according to the will of our God and Father, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen

1 Peter 2:24 - He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree (vernacular for a cross during that day - a gentler term), that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

From a translation-cultural perspective, interestingly, only in the English and Dutch language is Good Friday called “good”. In German, Good Friday is called Mourning Friday. It is called Karfreitag, (the kar part is no longer used) but it means mourning. Perhaps this is the right view from an earthly perspective. After all mourning is exactly what the disciples did on that Friday on Calvary – they mourned the death of their leader, teacher, friend and Messiah. In Israel, Good Friday is known as Big Friday probably because of how profitable it has become as Christian Pilgrims invade the land. In Malta, the Czech Republic, Poland, Greece, Bulgaria and several other countries and most of the Eastern Orthodox Church the day is called Great Friday. Finally, in Latin America, Spain, Italy and Spain the day is called Holy Friday and in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland it is called Long Friday.

Wherever you find yourself this coming Friday, I send you well wishes as we commemorate the death of Jesus and the life and relationship with God His death provides to those of us who believe. May you know that Jesus’ death was for all, there are no qualifiers, all means all!

And, only this can be said of Jesus, "whom to know mans life eternal!"

I remain...

InHISgrip,
~J~

Easters First Skeptic

As much as I personally love Easter, I know first-hand what it's like to a skeptic who is torn by its claims. I have one or two of these "infidels" in my life. One is my poorly aging brother. A part of him wishes to believe but another part simply can't imagine believing what He hasn't witnessed firsthand.

When we hearken back to the time of Christ we realize that Jesus' death had paralyzed and polarized even those closest to Him. The last week of his life starts with an amazing victory and shockingly ends in His gruesome demise before the end of the day on Friday. My guess it was all that the disciples, however many there were left, could do to gather in one place at the end of it all.

Jesus, the King, is dead. Long live the king?

As if that wasn't awful enough the next circumstance was just weird. Mary Magdalene see's Him alive! Now, prior to this the body of Christ disappears and with all the hoopla to ensure it went nowhere that was already weird.

Next it's Peter proclaiming he had seen Jesus upright. This, in a more vernacular term, freaked Thomas out! My guess internally he felt he could cut Peter some slack. The guilt Peter felt after denying the Lord; well, who could blame Peter for hoping it was all "OK".

Ya, Ol' Pete - he just needs some time to regather himself.

But then Cleopas burst into the house they are hidden in on Sunday night. What does he do? Oh, not much just claim he had walked—walked!—with Jesus to Emmaus that afternoon. Holy Schnikey! What got to Thomas was that Cleopas and his bud hadn't recognized Jesus the entire trip and then, at dinner, after which Jesus disappears into thin air they have a Homer Simpson, "DOH!" moment. THAT was Jesus!!!

All of these things excited the group. But Thomas only felt peeved. He missed Jesus too, but he wasn't going to let grief make him believe bizarre things. Jesus was dead and that is the stories end...or, was it?

So in all of this Thomas gets some time apart to think and rethink I imagine and, after whispering a discreet excuse to Nathaniel, he managed to slip out, perhaps to recompose himself.

Now, I am sure the quiet was refreshing. What Thomas did in the midst of a kind of spiritual/emotional chaos is very familiar to me. It is what I would do. I would just separate myself. However, in this instance, with those who you had grown closest to over the course of 2 or 3 years having had these experiences, I am just guessing that this walk wasn't as helpful as he had hoped. The Jesus sightings were beyond wild and yet, especially because the witnesses were credible, presented hope. But was the hope based on faith or fiction based on emotionalism?

You and I could only imagine what this walk brought out...the thoughts...the memories...the mustard seed of Thomas' own faith. As he thought this through I am sure he came to a place where the "facts," in fact, were now ambiguous. He was disillusioned. A part of him wished to believe Jesus was alive. This frustrated the skeptic in him who took pride in being a pragmatic man. There was that whole resurrection of Lazarus thing but Jesus did that. So, who was there to do Jesus?

Can you imagine the dilemma? Can you imagine those of your loved ones and friends today who are now over two thousand years removed?

Show me the body! his skeptic side shouted (as does theirs). At least Lazarus could be seen and touched in Bethany by any doubter. So if Jesus really was alive, why this hide-and-seek game? Wouldn't he just show himself to them all? And so it goes today as well doesn't it?

Thomas would believe if...if...if what?

When Thomas returned to the house four of his friends pounced on him, "We have seen the Lord, Thomas! It's all true! He was just with us! Where were you?"

Now what is going through Thomas' mind? How about shock, unbelief, isolation, regret for having left, and self-pity over feeling left out? Does that sound right?

In his heightened state of emotional and spiritual trauma he does what I would only imagine I would have done...he barked at them... "Unless I see in his hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into his side, I will never believe."

Most of his friends were dismayed. Peter smiled wryly.

The following eight days were long and lonely for Thomas. His friends were gracious. As far as we know, no one debated him. It was, their calm confidence in Jesus' resurrection that aggravated Thomas' growing conviction that he might have overstated his position.

Note: When you are faced with a great cloud of witnesses it tests your skeptics' faith. It should!

I am sure externally Thomas attempted to maintain an air of resolute intellectual skepticism, but inside he was at war. He was losing the war. You cannot have met Jesus and have been satisfied to believe that is all there was; that one encounter. He leaves you hungry for more of Him.

More than anything he wanted Jesus too!

And then it happened.

Thomas was pondering again the possibility that his unbelief had disqualified him and he had missed Jesus. Did God's Son reject him? If so, he knew he deserved it. Then, in this place, together with others and from the group came a gasp! He looked up and his heart leaped into his throat! Jesus was standing across the room looking back at him. "Peace be with you."

Thomas could hardly breathe. Jesus spoke to him, "Put your finger here, and see my hands; and put out your hand, and place it in my side. Do not disbelieve, but believe."

All objections and resistance in Thomas evaporated. And in tears of repentance, relief, and worship Thomas dropped on his knees before Jesus and exclaimed, "My Lord and my God."

Thomas, became the first Trinitarian by virtue of this statement. The others may have believed it but Thomas made it a fact! He made it biblical.

This is long isn't it? What's my point? Simply this: be patient and gracious with the skeptics in your life. We shouldn't assume their outward confidence accurately reflects their inward condition. Keep praying for them and share what seems helpful. Keep confidently and humbly following Jesus. Trust Jesus' timing. He knows best how and when to reveal himself to them.
After all, He caught you and I didn't He?

I remain...
InHISgrip,
~J~