In these lAst days.

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our Fathers by the prophets,  in these last days he has spoken to us by his son, whom he has appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world.  He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power.  

Hebrews 1:1-3

The advantage of age is wisdom (hopefully).  Wisdom that realizes you don’t know everything and there is always much more to learn.  I can’t think of this being more true than in my own personal relationship with my Heavenly Father, His son, Jesus Christ and His Holy Spirit.  

In the introduction to the book of Hebrews we find an expression of the Father and Son, that while we may know what the words say, the question we must ask is ~ how have these truths shaped me; spirit (heart), soul (thinking, choices) and body (disciplines)?  What personal revelation do I hold from these words that have conformed me to Him. 

“He has in these last days spoken to us by His son”

The word became flesh and dwelt among us....

The words I speak, they are spirit and life...

“Appointed heir of all things”

As the heir of all things, he has inherited me. 

Radiance of His glory, Express image of the father. 

As The sun gives off its benefits, so through Jesus we see the splendour of the Father. 

The world created by God through Jesus (spoken word)

And God said....

Jesus upholds the universe by the word of his power. 

His word holds all things in order, establishing their boundaries.  By refusing any portion of this word, our lives default into chaos and confusion.  

Jesus said eternal life was the fruit of knowing him and the Father and this must be our one daily pursuit; an ever increasing knowledge which transforms and conforms our lives. 

Whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ.  Indeed I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord.     

From G. H. Lang’s Epistle to the Hebrews, Lang writes, “It is upon the Person, offices, glories and supremeness of the Son that the writer now enlarges.  The uplifted Son is God’s centre of attraction for all creation...”

And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself. 

John 12:32

To yield to that attraction is to be withdrawn from all that is not of God.  This is salvation. To see Him as exalted is to overcome the world....to see him as the man in heaven is to have the heart detached from the earth and attached to heaven as its native, its eternal realm.  Christ is Gods Saviour for us, His supply for every need, His reservoir of every blessing.  All is in Him, nothing is apart from Him.  To Him, the Writer (of Hebrews) points.  Really to know Him will deliver the reader from every danger, and therefore he (the writer of Hebrews) expatiates upon the glories of the Son of God.”

It is these glories that we must come to know, to allow them entrance and preeminence in every sphere of our being so that we too might become a partaker of His divine nature, for we are to be found IN HIM, growing up in every way into HIM.

John wrote in his first epistle,

“Beloved, now are we children of God, and what we shall be has not yet been manifested; we know that if it is manifested we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is.”  Darby’s  translation 

This thought is two fold; the press to become, is now limited to our perceptions and knowledge and then, when He is revealed, we see him as He actually is.” 

Paul on the road to Damascus had no frame of reference for the Jesus He was to encounter. Was he Jesus the son of man, or was He Jesus sitting at the right hand of the Father.  The answer could be either, but the presentation, the revelation, in the moment was designed and suited for Paul’s need. While Paul didn’t then hold a full knowledge he held enough to move him forward, seeking and separated. 

Even so, our knowledge of Him and consequently our behaviour is shaped by what we know.  To fulfill our destiny this side of heaven demands an ever increasing knowledge.  As we feed upon the word, we must be mindful of always allowing Him to shape the reality of those words, knowing that we are limited by our own personal perceptions and knowledge. He holds an ever increasing revelation of Himself for those who pursue Him. 

As I consider these few verses from Hebrews, I’m aware of what I do know, but I want to see what it is that is beyond my current knowledge and understanding, to be able to come up higher and see Him as He is. 

May our hearts continually hunger to see and hear all He desires to reveal to us in these last days through His son.   

GRACE TO YOU

“.......Grace to you and peace from Him who is and who was and who is to come and from the seven Spirits who are before His Throne and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth ......”

Revelation 1:4-5

The Apostle John is writing to the seven churches in Asia from the isle of Patmos.  I am struck by his opening greeting, as he decrees grace and peace to each church.  I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed through the epistles how much this phrase, ‘grace and peace’ is used in the openings or closings.

HELPS WORD STUDIES notes ~

1. Next to "life" (2222/zōē), GRACE: 5485 (xáris) is perhaps the broadest (most inclusive) theological term used in relation to God in Scripture.  5485/xáris ("grace, divine favor") is the basis of every blessing as the Lord ever extends Himself to us.  God's grace comes to us unlimitedly  through Christ – "the way, the truth and the life" (Jn 14:6, Gk text).

I believe grace and peace must have been a foundational revelation that the early church was built upon.  

Here in Revelation, John reminds us just who these precious gifts come from and when he wrote 2 JOHN he added that they always come to us in truth and love. From Revelation, John describes our Heavenly Father as the one who is, reminding us that our Father is ever present.  God dwells in now.  Everything with God is a right now moment. As the one who was, John highlights, He was with us in the every moment of our past and as the one who is to come, He will be with us in the present moment in our future.  In other words, we are never, ever, without God’s help.   

Psalm  46:1.  God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

AMPLIFIED Hebrews 13:5-6 “.....for He [God] ]Himself has said, I will not in any way fail you nor give you up nor leave you without support. [I will] not, [I will] not, [I will] not in any degree leave you helpless nor forsake nor let [you] down (relax My hold on you)! ]Assuredly not!] 6. So we take comfort and are encouraged and confidently and boldly say, The Lord is my Helper; I will not be seized with alarm [I will not fear or dread or be terrified]. What can man do to me?”

God comes with His grace and peace. There are also seven spirits before the throne who release grace and peace.  Isaiah chapter eleven lists these Seven spirits and if we focused on those we would see how each one is powerful in its own right and would yield grace and peace when those specifics are needed. It is the Spirit Himself who strengthens us with might in the inner man and causes us to be strong in grace.  Then finally, John writes, grace and peace  come to us from Jesus Christ.

I guess my overwhelming thought in and with these powerful assurances, is why do we so often stumble in the midst of our crisis?  

I’d like to share with you the definition of GRACE from the Helps Word Studies ~

Xaris (another feminine noun from xar-, "favor, disposed to, inclined, favorable toward, leaning toward to share benefit") – properly, grace.  5485 (xaris) is preeminently used of the Lord's favor, freely extended to give Himself away to people (because He "ever leans toward them").

Key quotes

• R. Trench, "Aristotle, defining 5485 (xáris), lays the whole stress on this very point, that it is conferred freely, with no expectation of return, and finding its only motive in the bounty and free-heartedness of the giver (Rhetoric. 2.7). . . . 5485 (xaris) is unearned and unmerited..”

Grace is the presence of God coming to us in the fullness of all He is, leaning towards us to share His unlimited benefits.  Moses understood this when he prayed in Exodus chapter 33....

                    “If Your presence does not go with us, do not lead us up from here.”

How much better would we be if our day started with this same cry, with His assurance given to us as it was to Moses.  

“My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest.

As I write this, my heart is strengthened and assured, we have no situation in life that we are not able to face and overcome because of His grace.  His very presence is ever leaning towards us with all He is.  WE HAVE HELP and all things are possible with God. 

Patient endurance

  I, John, your brother and partner in the tribulation and the kingdom and the patient endurance that are in Jesus, was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus. 

Revelation 1:9

TRIBULATION - 2347 thlípsis – properly, pressure (what constricts, rubs together in a narrow place that "hems in"); tribulation, focusing on internal pressure that causes one to feel confined (restricted, "without options")./thlipsis brings the challenge of also coping with the internal pressure caused by the tribulation, especially feeling there is "no way of escape" because "hemmed in." HELPS WORD STUDIES

Two thoughts I’d liked to address from this verse are “partner in tribulation” and “patient endurance”.  

I’m finding these are days that are demanding “patient endurance” with a greater dependency on the Holy Spirit work to produce His wisdom and His fruit in and through our lives. 

I find it interesting that John writes about the partnership he has with others who are “in tribulation” and reminds them first, that this is common in “the kingdom” they share.   

The kingdom of God suffers violence .... thus the need to endure hardness as good soldiers of Christ Jesus.

Through many tribulations we must enter the Kingdom, strengthened and encouraged as disciples, to enter in through faith...Acts 14:22.  Not seeing, yet believing, we consider the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing to the glory that is to be revealed in us.  We continue to hope for the unseen, and wait for it with patience....(Romans 5.19-25)

The Apostle John reminds us that he too was a partner in tribulations that we all experience in life and from Jesus ~

“.....in me you may have peace, in the world you will have tribulation, but take heart, I have overcome the world”.  John 16:33

The proper response to the tribulation is patient endurance, not an effort to avoid.  While we would all love to never suffer hardships and pain, there are things we never learn or develop in our lives without the conflict of pressure.  

Ellicott’s commentary notes that this patience brings experience because it is in Jesus.   It is not patience that is looking and waiting for Jesus. It is not the patience of Jesus but patience that draws its life and energy of endurance from Him.  

The apostle Paul wrote in Php 4:  ~ 

     11Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content :12  I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need :13  I can do all things through him who strengthens me. Literally ~ infuses strength into my inner man”. 

Romans 5:3 Paul’s reminds us “but we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance” and we are exhorted from Romans 12:12. Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. 

If Jesus had to learn obedience from the things he suffered don’t you image there are things that we too will learn and develop while going through our own particular adversities? 

I love Johns greeting to the churches in Revelation 1:4 where he writes ~

“ Grace to you and peace from him who is and who was and who is to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of Kings on earth. To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priest to his God and father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen. Behold he is coming with the clouds…”

A good reminder to live with the awareness of our need for patient endurance through these days.  

I AM THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE

 I am the Way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father except through me.

John 14:6

Have you ever wondered how Jesus came to these I AM revelations? I sure did.  Commentaries are divided about when Jesus held an understanding of his Divinity.  Some are adamant that he was born man, yet fully God, omniscient from birth.  Others discuss, and my personal belief, is that Jesus discovered himself, just like we do……. though he were a son, learning obedience, choosing to suffer the limitations of humanity in order to be touched with the feeling of our infirmities, with the need to discover himself through the prophetic words and personal encounters with God. 

We know In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. [John 1.1]; and the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, [John 1:14].  No one has ever seen God; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared Him [John 1:18].

Jesus from some point lived with wisdom and revelation about His identity and purpose from his place of deep and intimate union with His Father.....

And he said to them, “Why were you looking for me?  Did you not know that I must be in my Fathers house?    Luke 2:49

“And Jesus increased in wisdom and in stature and in favour with God and man”.  Luke 2:52

....and knew His life was ordained to be the way for mankind to be reunited with God as a Heavenly Father.  The highlighting factor of today’s verse, is that no man can come to Father without believing this specific revelation about Jesus Christ......

 I AM the way, the truth and the life. 

God’s goodness is seen in His provision as He gives Jesus as THE way back into relationship with HIm.  Did you notice Jesus isn’t A way, A truth, A life?  ‘A’  would indicate multiple paths  to each of these things.  He declares that He is THE ONLY WAY to any of these spheres. Mankind continues to seek many paths but God made only one.  It is in yielded surrender to God’s Way, receiving His Truth that His Life begins working in an individual. 

Jesus is The Truth.  As the reality of God in the earth, we beheld truth in its purity.  That’s why His life is the light of men.   There is nothing obscure about God.  There is no darkness in HIM,  no variableness, no shadows. It is impossible for God to lie and because God is pure, unadulterated truth His words are THE truth.  He came that we might know HIS truth and by believing THE truth be made free.

There are many truths in the world today but, again, Jesus is THE truth that every other word and reality must be measured from.  All things are held by the “word of his power”.  

“The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge;  the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.  For I have not spoken on my own authority, but the father who sent me has himself given me a commandment - what to say and what to speak.   And I know that his commandment is eternal life.  What I say, therefore, I say as the Father has told me.”   John 12:48-50

And finally, as we saw last week, he is THE life, that every man longs for, seeks after and finds in Jesus Christ.  

No man comes to the FATHER except through HIS way, HIS truth and HIS life...found in Jesus Christ. 

I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE

Jesus said to her,  “I am the resurrection and the life.  The one who believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.  Do you believe this?”  

John 11:25-26 ESV

Probably the greatest promise we have from Jesus is the one assurance we have about life. This life as God has it, is both eternal life and quality of life here and now.  Jesus said the thief comes to steal kill and destroy, but I am come that you might have life (Zoe) and have it more abundantly.

 zōē – life (physical and spiritual).  All human life (2222/zōē), and all creation, is derived.  None is "self-standing," all comes from (is sustained by) God's self-existent life.  The Lord intimately shares His gift of life with people – creating each in His image which endows them with the capacity to know His eternal life.”  Helps Word Studies

Once again we have the revelation that all God life begins and ends in Jesus Christ. In the beginning of Johns Gospel we learn that Jesus as life is the light of mankind.  It requires his life and light to dispel every place of darkness. Zoe is the Greek word for life. God’s life (2222/zōē) is inextinguishable, indestructible, and inexhaustible and through it creates and sustains all things (Jn 1:3).

Life always and only belongs to the Lord. He gives life and breath to all.  We derive life from God but only He possesses life in Himself.  Life that is without beginning or end (Jn 1:1-4; Rev 1:8) And The Lord shares His life . . . "abundantly"  (literally "all-around").

Jn 10:10: "The thief does not come, except to steal and kill and destroy.  I came so that they [believers] could constantly have (experience) life (2222/zōē), and could continuously have (experience) it all-around ('encircling,' 4053/perissós)." Helps Word Studies

Jesus as the resurrection and the life comes to impart this God life, Zoe, by delivering mankind from his sin nature.  

Jn 3:16: "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life (zōē)" (NASB).

Jn 5:26: "For just as the Father has life zōē) in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life (zōē) in Himself" (NASB).

Jn 14:6: "Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life (zōē); no one comes to the Father but through Me'" (NASB).

 For as by a man came death, be a man has come also the resurrection of the dead.  For as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive. 1 Corinthians 15:21-22

 The very foundation of our Christian faith is Jesus Christ crucified, dead, buried and raised again by the power of God.  This resurrection life is imparted into the believer as he receives Jesus as lord and believes that God has raised Him from the dead.  The believing one passes from a state of spiritual death, which is separation from God, into newness of Life through his believing and the life he now lives is lived by faith in the Son of God.  

“Because if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  Romans 10:9

As the Resurrection and the Life Jesus imparts new beginnings and new life into those who believe on Him.  

Therefore If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new and all things are of God.... 2 Corinthians 5:17-18KJV

“We were buried with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.”  Romans 6:4-5

Jesus is still the resurrection and the life.  The one who believes on him, though he die, shall live and everyone who lives and believes in Jesus shall never die.  

Do you believe this?”  

I AM THE GOOD SHEPHERD

I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own and my own know me.

John 10:14

COVID has given us all opportunity to re-evaluate our personal relationship with the Father. Many of us find ourselves re-aligning our lives. We are experiencing new and greater depths of God as He continues to reveal Himself as the I AM that I AM. This time of personal communion and intimacy and perhaps, refocused awareness of His Majesty, is preparing HIS church for her greatest hour to be His manifest glory in the midst of the darkness. 

From John 10, Jesus, in declaring himself as the good shepherd, once again, manages  to brings a divide into the minds and hearts of the people.  Jesus said, “the words I speak are spirit and truth” and just like then, his words can not be grasped with a natural understanding.  His words must impact our heart before they reshape our thinking.  Natural man first “hears” and sifts through by reason. However, it can only be by faith that understanding can come.  We must be willing to embrace the words of Jesus as truth before they transform our minds and life.  

I think the revelation of Jesus as the Good Shepherd is one of the most intimate insights of the Fathers care for His children. His unfailing love and faithfulness to the people He chose continues in the provision of Christ as a Good Shepherd.

He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes. Isaiah 40:11

1 Peter reveals Jesus as the Chief Shepherd (over every grace gifted one) and Overseer of our Souls. Called the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, Jesus must hold the awareness first hand of what it means to be a sheep, and then one who provides a righteous care for those sheep He is given. 

For the Lamb in the Center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will “lead us us to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’”  Rev. 7:17

As The Good Shepherd, Jesus would have had understanding from scripture about what “good” actually meant.  Jeremiah declared the Good Shepherd as one who holds the very heart of God and feeds his sheep with knowledge and understanding. 

“And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD…”

These promise from God, that He would raise up shepherds over them to tend them, so that they would no longer be afraid nor dismayed, nor go missing, must have given definition to Jesus’ walk. 

Just as Psalm 23 must have provided insight and instruction for Jesus, we see event after event in the Gospels fulfill these scriptures, naturally and spiritually.  With the Spirit of the Lord abiding upon Him, Jesus begins his care with proclamations that bring His abundant life.  His works were and are still performed from a heart of compassion, as he heals, feeds, delivers and gathers multitudes.

All these scriptures reveal the heart of a Father towards His people by the provision He gives us in the Lord Jesus as that Good Shepherd.

I am the Good Shepherd. I know my own and my own know me. 

John 10:14

COVID has given us all opportunity to re-evaluate our personal relationship with the Father. Many of us find ourselves re-aligning our lives. We are experiencing new and greater depths of God as He continues to reveal Himself as the I AM that I AM. This time of personal communion and intimacy and perhaps, refocused awareness of His Majesty, is preparing HIS church for her greatest hour to be His manifest glory in the midst of the darkness. 

From John 10, Jesus, in declaring himself as the good shepherd, once again, manages  to brings a divide into the minds and hearts of the people.  Jesus said, “the words I speak are spirit and truth” and just like then, his words can not be grasped with a natural understanding.  His words must impact our heart before they reshape our thinking.  Natural man first “hears” and sifts through by reason. However, it can only be by faith that understanding can come.  We must be willing to embrace the words of Jesus as truth before they transform our minds and life.  

I think the revelation of Jesus as the Good Shepherd is one of the most intimate insights of the Fathers care for His children. His unfailing love and faithfulness to the people He chose continues in the provision of Christ as a Good Shepherd.

He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart. He gently leads the nursing ewes. Isaiah 40:11

1 Peter reveals Jesus as the Chief Shepherd (over every grace gifted one) and Overseer of our Souls. Called the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, Jesus must hold the awareness first hand of what it means to be a sheep, and then one who provides a righteous care for those sheep He is given. 

Rev. 7:17 For the Lamb in the Center of the throne will be their shepherd. He will “lead us us to springs of living water, and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.’” 

As The Good Shepherd, Jesus would have had understanding from scripture about what “good” actually meant.  Jeremiah declared the Good Shepherd as one who holds the very heart of God and feeds his sheep with knowledge and understanding. 

“And I will set up shepherds over them which shall feed them: and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, saith the LORD…”

These promise from God, that He would raise up shepherds over them to tend them, so that they would no longer be afraid nor dismayed, nor go missing, must have given definition to Jesus’ walk. 

Just as Psalm 23 must have provided insight and instruction for Jesus, we see event after event in the Gospels fulfill these scriptures, naturally and spiritually.  With the Spirit of the Lord abiding upon Him, Jesus begins his care with proclamations that bring His abundant life.  His works were and are still performed from a heart of compassion, as he heals, feeds, delivers and gathers multitudes.

All these scriptures reveal the heart of a Father towards His people by the provision He gives us in the Lord Jesus as that Good Shepherd.

I AM The Door

I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture." -John 10:9

God has put eternity into our hearts that we might seek to know Him.  We all have a spiritual void we are trying to fill and Jesus is the ONLY answer.  

There is only one way into this place we call the Family of God. We all want a loving Father.  We all long for security, value and acceptance and God in His infinite love and wisdom has made the way for every individual to find and accept His provision.

“I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved,”

Jesus declared Eternal life comes from knowing the only true God and Jesus Christ whom He has sent.  He who has received the son has received the Father.  If you have not received Jesus as the Fathers gift, the door that He has set for us to enter through, we will not find entrance to God as Father.  

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.  

Eternal life speaks to two things- a quality of life as well as length of life. It doesn’t matter whether you believe it or not, it’s better for you if you do, but just because we leave a physical body does not mean we are gone.  We live forever as a spirit, absent of our natural body.  We are either unified with God as our Heavenly Father or condemned to darkness awaiting judgment with the devil who will be dammed, with His family, for all eternity. 

There is no other way to enter into the place of communion and fellowship with God other than through the door He has set. 

Jesus said I am the door, If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved.

We can never lose sight of the reality that Jesus is THE gift that the Father has given to us.  And “if he has freely given us Jesus how will He not with Him, through and by Him, freely give us all things”. There is no other name given under Heaven whereby men can be saved. No man comes to the Father except through the son, Jesus. 

"I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture." -John 10:9

I am the Light of the World

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."  John 8:12 

From the beginning of creation we find two forces at work on this earth.  Genesis tells us the earth was with out form and void.  The Hebrew word paints this picture of something that has been destroyed lying in chaos. Many scholars think this is what happened when Lucifier was cast out of heaven.  Genesis 1:2 begins the scenario with God stepping in to redeem the destruction and His very first act is to send light into the darkness.  The Book of James calls God the “Father of Lights”.

The parallel from the New Testament in John chapter one shows us once again, the redemptive work of our Heavenly Father creating a gift of salvation and deliverance for mankind. The Father of Lights gives us the gift of life and light through His son Jesus Christ. 

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.  

Jesus is the true light, who gives light to every one.  The light of the gospel reveals the glory of Christ who is the image of God.  Darkness works to blind minds so they will not see and believe.  But God who said, Let light shine out of darkness has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  Our vision is not diminished or distorted. The Psalms remind us; “The entrance of thy word giveth light…” 119:130 and “it is you who lights my lamp; the LORD my God lightens my darkness. Ps. 18:28.

Once we were dark, but now we are light in the Lord, created as children of the Light who have been called out of darkness into His marvellous light. As we look for a revealing, a greater understanding of the knowledge of him, we find that as light there is no darkness in Him. This is what makes Him pure and without blemish.  James tells us God has no shadows, no variations.  As partakers of His divine nature and having become children of the light, we are to abide in the light to shine the light, walk as children of light exposing the works of darkness.  For when it is visible, it is the light that continues to illuminate the darkness. 

Just as God from the beginning of creation separated the light from the darkness and Jesus came to expose the darkness, we too must work the works of Him who sent us while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. There will be a day when our time here on the earth to do His work, illuminating and shining, will be over.  

From the book of Revelation, the New Jerusalem is illuminated by His very presence.  We will no longer need a sun for His face is like the sun shining in full strength. May we allow the light of His presence, as we behold Him, to so permeate our being that our light is the pure and true reflection of Him. 

I am the Light of the Word

Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying "I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life."  John 8:12 

From the beginning of creation we find two forces at work on this earth.  Genesis tells us the earth was with out form and void.  The Hebrew word paints this picture of something that has been destroyed lying in chaos. Many scholars think this is what happened when Lucifier was cast out of heaven.  Genesis 1:2 begins the scenario with God stepping in to redeem the destruction and His very first act is to send light into the darkness.  The Book of James calls God the “Father of Lights”.

The parallel from the New Testament in John chapter one shows us once again, the redemptive work of our Heavenly Father creating a gift of salvation and deliverance for mankind. The Father of Lights gives us the gift of life and light through His son Jesus Christ. 

In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  He was in the beginning with God.  All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made.  In him was life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome it.  

Jesus is the true light, who gives light to every one.  The light of the gospel reveals the glory of Christ who is the image of God.  Darkness works to blind minds so they will not see and believe.  But God who said, Let light shine out of darkness has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.  Our vision is not diminished or distorted. The Psalms remind us; “The entrance of thy word giveth light…” 119:130 and “it is you who lights my lamp; the LORD my God lightens my darkness. Ps. 18:28.

Once we were dark, but now we are light in the Lord, created as children of the Light who have been called out of darkness into His marvellous light. As we look for a revealing, a greater understanding of the knowledge of him, we find that as light there is no darkness in Him. This is what makes Him pure and without blemish.  James tells us God has no shadows, no variations.  As partakers of His divine nature and having become children of the light, we are to abide in the light to shine the light, walk as children of light exposing the works of darkness.  For when it is visible, it is the light that continues to illuminate the darkness. 

Just as God from the beginning of creation separated the light from the darkness and Jesus came to expose the darkness, we too must work the works of Him who sent us while it is day. Night is coming when no one can work. There will be a day when our time here on the earth to do His work, illuminating and shining, will be over.  

From the book of Revelation, the New Jerusalem is illuminated by His very presence.  We will no longer need a sun for His face is like the sun shining in full strength. May we allow the light of His presence, as we behold Him, to so permeate our being that our light is the pure and true reflection of Him. 

I AM the Bread of Life.

Jesus said to them, I am the Bread of Life, whoever comes to me shall not hunger and whoever believes in me shall never thirst.   John 6:35

As ‘I AM’ revealed himself to Abraham as THE Reward, the one who brought Him out to give Him a land to possess, we see Jesus as the Word made flesh, demonstrating and declaring, I AM the bread of life. 

Not only did Jesus naturally take little and multiply to feed the five thousand, we find the next day these people seeking Jesus again….”not because you saw signs but because you ate your fill of the loaves”.   

In this moment of supernatural display the crowd recognizes “This is indeed the Prophet who is to come into the world” but only seek him because “they ate their fill of the loaves”.  Jesus is NOT offended by this and takes the opportunity to reveal Himself in a greater dimension, I AM the Bread of Life.  

Jesus then sets a standard, 

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give to you.  John 6:27 

How much of our relationship with the Godhead centres around our personal basic needs?  While meeting all our needs is His desire, our relationship is designed to be so much, much more.  Knowing Him as a provider is the invitation to discover Him as the provision.  It’s the appetizer if you will before a full course meal that is destined for each of us.  It’s the holding of the supplier who himself holds the supply.  

 The crowd is looking for a way to secure a natural never ending bread supply.  I have to ask myself, where do I do the same thing?  What do I want more than enough for so I don’t have to trust for a daily supply?  

It is in the midst of these moments that Jesus reveals Himself as ‘I AM’ the Bread of Life.

I am the living bread that came down from heaven.  If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever.  And the bread that I will give for the life of the world is my flesh.  Whoever feeds on His flesh and drinks His blood has eternal life and finds the place of abiding with Him.  For His flesh is true food. 

We understand feeding upon Him isn’t a physical act, rather a spiritual one.  Jesus explained to those who were offended at this teaching; it is the Spirit who gives life, the flesh is no help at all. The words Jesus spoke were spirit and life.  

This is where we start from………

Man shall not live on bread alone, 

but on every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.   

Every answer I need in life is found in His truth “I AM the Bread of Life.”  Jesus is the provision for life and is life more abundantly, since he is Living Bread. He desires for us to feed daily.  

Jesus said,  Do not be anxious about your life!  We don’t work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures to eternal life.  We strive to know HIM.  Our fellowship and relationship with Him is our exceeding great Reward.  

But Who do you say I am?

Now when Jesus came into the district of Caesarea Philippi, He was asking His disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” 14 And they said, “Some say John the Baptist; and others, Elijah; but still others, Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” 15 He *said to them, “But who do you say that I am?” 16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” 17 And Jesus said to him, “Blessed are you, Simon Barjona, because flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but My Father who is in heaven. 18 “I also say to you that you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it.

Matthew 16:13–18

In the midst of every crisis, the question I’m answering is, “But who do I say Jesus is?”

Just as the disciples had to come to know and believe, we also must follow in the same footsteps.  John’s Gospel says these things were written so that we could believe.  Jesus said if you have seen me, you have seen the Father and He said the Holy Spirit would be given to us, to reveal Jesus to us.  

We know that Jesus is revealed to us through the Word as the Holy Spirit breaths on it and births within us a “revelation”.  We hold this AH HA moment seeing something we have never seen before.   This revelation grows and becomes ours as we engage with His Presence.   As we keep our eyes upon Him, we feed upon the truths we have been given.    

It is through beholding The Truth that we are transformed into His image by the Spirit, from faith to faith and glory to glory.  A greater revelation leads to a greater glory.  Jesus said to know him, to know the Father, was eternal life.  To be filled with the Spirit of wisdom and revelation IN THE KNOWLEDGE OF HIM was the Apostle Paul’s prayer.  

1 John 3:2 (ESV): ...but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.. not as we think He is but as He is in truth and purity. 

I love His Presence and my relationship with Him is not complete without a foundation of who I see Him to be from His word. This is why it is paramount for us as ministers to make sure people never lose their love for His truth and know that they must, not only build into their lives time with Him in His Presence, but for themselves, READ THEIR BIBLES! 

The bottom line is this - if I know Him as the Christ, the Son of the Living God, I hold a revelation that builds His church that Hell will not conquer.  Oh, Hell will challenge us, but if it is truly a “revelation” that I hold; something I have beheld and learned and believed, it becomes the bedrock of my unshakeable foundation. 

From the Gospel of John we have scriptures that reveal Jesus as the I AM.  I would like to walk through these various scriptures over the next few “Good Word’s” and see what the Holy Spirit reveals to us all, hopefully in a greater measure than we currently hold. 

Again, a greater revelation yields a greater glory and we all desire to see Jesus in the fullness of His glory that we might know Him in ALL of His FULLNESS.  

So let’s look to the next Good Word with Jesus declaring from John chapter six, I am the Bread of Life….

Pursuing Presence

Ephesians 3:13-21 

The Passion Translation. 

As I began to write about being consumed with the Fathers heart from Paul’s prayer, I found I couldn’t say it any better than the Passion Translation......

The Apostle Paul prays for hearts to overflow with our Fathers love ~ 

“So I kneel humbly in awe before the Father of our Lord Jesus, the Messiah, the perfect Father of every father and child in heaven and on the earth. And I pray that he would unveil within you the unlimited riches of his glory and favor until supernatural strength floods your innermost being with his divine might and explosive power.

Then, by constantly using your faith, the life of Christ will be released deep inside you, and the resting place of his love will become the very source and root of your life.

Then you will be empowered to discover what every holy one experiences—the great magnitude of the astonishing love of Christ in all its dimensions. How deeply intimate and far-reaching is his love! How enduring and inclusive it is! Endless love beyond measurement that transcends our understanding—this extravagant love pours into you until you are filled to overflowing with the fullness of God!

Never doubt God’s mighty power to work in you and accomplish all this. He will achieve infinitely more than your greatest request, your most unbelievable dream, and exceed your wildest imagination! He will outdo them all, for his miraculous power constantly energizes you.

Now we offer up to God all the glorious praise that rises from every church in every generation through Jesus Christ—and all that will yet be manifest through time and eternity. Amen!”

May our hearts grow to overflow in His extravagant love for all.

Snake Bites

Make a fiery serpent and set it on a pole and everyone who is bitten when he sees it shall live.  Numbers 21.8

This past week, I had an interesting experience as I intently focused upon the majesty of Jesus. As my attention was fixed upon Him, I was totally unaware of anything else.    When my thoughts shifted, I become aware of a pain in my back that had been bothering me for some days, and immediately was prompted by the Holy Spirit of the above scripture.

Let’s consider the word “sees”  from verse eight .  This word speaks to revelatory seeing. We understand the serpent was a type and shadow of the sin Jesus became for us.  Anyone bitten was to be healed as he “sees”.  A personal revelation of Jesus offered as the lamb slain from the foundation of the world, becoming sin, and His flesh being the bread that gives us life is the first step towards healing. 

Verse nine ~

So Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on a pole. And if a serpent bit anyone, he would “look” at the bronze serpent and live.

The second word “look” from verse 9 means, to look upon, pay attention to, consider, to look intently at.  So this is so much more than a race to the pole see the snake and live, this is a focused determination, in the midst of chaos you have to stand to focus your attention on this snake.  I heard a preacher paint a picture of the chaos in this setting.  Snakes loosed in the camp, everyone running around, moms screaming, children crying, people dying, soldiers killing snakes: Pandemonium. In the midst of which one had to “hold” the revelation that this pole, with a snake on it, would heal you IF you looked on it intently.  

Can you imagine the pressure to stand and stare at a snake with that crazy scenario taking place?  Can you imagine the fear and panic that had to be overcome to do that? Yet it was required to focus, consider and look intently upon this serpent (sin).

One ‘seeing’ produces a hope for salvation and healing, the other works genuine repentance as sorrow fills the heart over the evil committed.  Both benefit healing and life. 

Today, we have the same offer for healing.  Jesus Christ crucified, has born our sicknesses and carried our diseases and by his stripes we were healed.   We are to live from this revelation and as we look at his cross, death and resurrection, understand all He has provided.

As we behold him, there is freedom and we live.    

The Last Hour

Children, it is the last hour, and as you have heard that antichrist is coming, so now many antichrists have come. Therefore we know that it is the last hour.  1 John 2:18 ESV 

I don’t know where you stand about last days theology but I believe that not only are we living in the last days, Acts 2:17, but as the Apostle John writes he was living in the last hour, I am therefore confident that we are now closer to the return of the Lord than any other generation.   

We know from scripture no man knows the hour nor day of his coming but we are given signs and told to be found waiting and watching for his return.  

John’s gospel chapter nine verse 4 tells us that Jesus said:

“We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.”

And from John 4:34 we read:

“My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to accomplish his works”. 

In Matthew 24 we read a sequence of events regarding the last days, which Jesus tells us, are the beginning of the end.  It’s not the end, just the beginning of birth pains.  As a woman who has given birth, I have an understanding of the process we go through in labour.  This knowledge gave me confidence, along the way, to know of a certainty that delivery was getting close. Just so, we as believers are able to look at these signs and determine the seasons we are in.  

And in this season of these last days Jesus said;

 “This will be your opportunity to bear witness”. Luke 21:3 

This season is our season filled with opportunities to bear witness.  In the book of Revelation, Jesus is called the “faithful witness”.  We know Jesus was faithful to reveal His Father in every dimension of his activity while on the earth up to and including His death on the cross. This too is our opportunity to be His faithful witness. 

Should we be less than His expression? Should we not be busy about our Fathers business, working while it is day?  Should we not have our lamps full, and be found watching with expectation?  

God is doing a mighty work in the world today as trust is being shaken from every conceivable place humanity could place it. Governments will fall, nations will fall, and the money will fail.  Jesus has declared it. The bible tells me so. When earthly systems fail, mankind seeks a saviour. 

And we are those who hold the words of life. Jesus lifted up, draws all men unto Himself.  

Lift up your eyes and look on the fields the fields for they are white unto harvest. John 4:34

We know this is the last hour and we must be about our Fathers business.    

Darkness is not dark to you.

“Even the darkness is not dark to you the night is bright as the day for the darkness is as light with you”…. Psalm 139:12

We all have seasons of ‘darkness’; the uncertainty as we wait on God for instruction, direction, wisdom and our next steps clarified. The psalmist finds his comfort in the omniscience of God.  He is the one who 

Who has known the mind of Lord? The depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable His judgements and unfathomable His ways! 

Even knowing that we have the mind of Christ and that the wisdom of God is formed within us, does not mean we hold absolute understanding and clarity in every moment of every season.   We wouldn’t need God the Father, Jesus the word or His Holy Spirit if we held all the fullness of Gods mind.  

Sometimes our pursuit to know can create frustration of soul leading us to discouragement and over much introspection.  This is never the purpose of God. Learning to quiet our soul as a weaned child is absolutely necessary for hearing the Lord. Jesus said, in John’s gospel, I have things to say that you can’t bear right now.  

While we wait, we are always to carry on living and operating from what we do know.  Much of our waiting is preparation for hearts and minds submitting and yielding; a shifting of wills and motivations for the doing.  Repentance may be required for disobedience. These all position us to receive, to hear and see to obey.  Such are these days.

 To break out of the darkness, I have to make choices.  Jesus said life comes to us as we know the Father and His son, so I choose to put Him first.  I choose to Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. I choose to look unto Jesus who is the author and finisher of our faith.  I choose to follow Him, the true light, who lights my candle and enlightens my darkness.  I choose Him. 

There is great comfort in knowing, that for our well being, He does reveal all we need to know to move forward in every circumstance.  The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.  He leads in paths of righteousness for His names sake. He sends His word  healing and delivering us from all destruction.  He will show us things to come.  We can ask and He will answer.  These are all promises assured by a loving Father.     

There is nothing hidden that will not be revealed.  Nothing covered that is not exposed.  Darkness is as light to our Father and the thing that I absolutely love is, His light shines in the darkness and the darkness has never, will never, overpower His light.   May His light illuminate every corner of our lives today bringing wisdom and peace to heart and soul. 

As iT is in heaven

Your kingdom come Your will be done On earth As it is in heaven 

Matthew 6: 10

We pray for the kingdom of God to come, for his will to be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  This can only occur as we find faithful, committed, believers willing and obedient to the purposes of God. 

The first and last rebellion that took place in heaven came about over one of Gods created beings, Lucifer, choosing to exalt himself in an attempt to be like God.  Leading this wilful revolt, he managed to influence and draw with him a third of the heavenly host.  We learn from the book of revelation that Lucifer, now called Satan, was cast down to the earth and now makes war with the saints.  Jesus told his disciples, “I saw Satan fall from heaven like lightening.” When Jude writes concerning “the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority but left their proper dwelling.....” it gives me serious pause to consider the gift of choice, I.e. free will that has been given to Gods creation in heaven. 

......As it is in heaven....

As we consider the work “in heaven”, we see the will of God carried out by ministering spirits willingly serving at the pleasure of our Lord.  I wonder what would happen if the heavenly host decided not to say HOLY HOLY HOLY LORD GOD ALMIGHTY.  I wonder what would happen if the angels decided they didn’t want to go where they were being sent or do what they were assigned to do?  I wonder what would happen if the Holy Spirit didn’t want to teach, lead, or guide into truth?  What if Jesus didn’t want to be “the way”?   If Satan could lead a rebellion, they all apparently have a choice.  What is it they see in heaven that holds them in this place of willing obedience? May I suggest it is only as they behold the awesome majesty and glory of Almighty God, observe His love and His works that the purity and righteousness of heaven consumes their very being and holds them in unified oneness. 

For by him were all things created, that are in heaven, and that are in earth, visible and invisible, whether they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers; all things were created by him, and for Him and he is before all things and by him all things consist.  

 Col. 1:16-17

On earth as it is in Heaven.....

This fascinates me because here on earth we struggle with our will being submitted to His.  We murmur, we fuss, we drag our feet, or we just flat don’t do it.  We are moved by our thoughts, feelings, emotions and circumstances.  Our eyes looking at everything besides Almighty God, creator of Heaven and earth, our Father in Heaven, Jesus, King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the word made flesh, and His Holy Spirit.

It is recorded in Hebrews 10 about Jesus on earth, “behold I have come to do your will O God”.   Psalm 40 adds the word “delight”... to do your will.

Jesus said of his own personal relationship with His Father “my food is to do the will of him who sent me”.  These statements are filled with heart and choice that show us how his Kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven..... heart, choice and obedience. 

When tempted in the wilderness, Jesus chose to live by every word that proceeded from the mouth of God.  “Present your bodies which is your spiritual service”  from Romans holds a strong choice and a profound standard.  We must be willing to make the same choice through any temptation, understanding, like Jesus that life is gained by choosing to obey every word that comes from the mouth of God. 

On earth as it is in heaven looks like perfect oneness, total unity and harmony with heavens pursuits.  

These are days to choose wisely whom we “will” serve. 

The Prodigals

“......the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey into a far country and there he squandered his property in reckless living.”

Luke 15:13

KJV reads “wasted his substance”

This past week, David and I joined a national day of prayer hosted by Redleaf Prayer Ministries  focused on  the “Great Commission” from Matthew chapter 28.  We prayed for hearts to hold the desire of Jesus to seek and save the lost, to see opportunities before us, and boldly proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.  One specific hour was dedicated to this week’s thought: the prodigals. 

The story Jesus relays in Lukes gospel about the prodigal son shows us a young man who had an inheritance, a blessed home life, well provided for, yet squandering his inheritance.  Interesting to note he is not a prodigal because he left home.  He is a prodigal because he squandered his inheritance.  Something I had never considered until David pointed it out.  The word prodigal is defined as “spending money or resources freely and recklessly; wastefully extravagant”.

I began to think about the us as children of God, given this great inheritance through Jesus Christ and wondered how God viewed my stewardship of all the great blessings He has bestowed upon me. Have I taken the blessings of God only to consume them upon myself; doing my own thing?  Would He think I was wasteful?

I’m sure the Father hoped the son would take his inheritance and use it for good.  

God is a flow, a river of life giving water designed to be flowing into and out of us.  He works in us that He might work through us.  One of the hardest lessons I learned as a believer was how to be a resource God could use. “Yes Lord” was not a ready answer for me. Many opportunities given were rejected until I came to a place of understanding that I am Gods resource here, now, on this earth.

We might think we’re doing pretty good, but God’s view of our stewardship is the question we are considering as we move forward into these new days.  

Do we live in our Fathers house solely for the benefits He gives to us or have we learned to come and go, spend and be spent at His pleasure and purpose?

Coming out of this season, we’ve all had the opportunity for much introspection, never for the purpose of condemnation but evaluation.  What talents have been committed to us?  Are we using them as they’ve been intended or have we squandered them?  

For clarity’s sake the parable is about what the son squandered, which means “to waste (something, especially money or time) in a reckless and foolish manner”. Even the son who stayed in the house, was seemingly unaware of all that was his to use.  Is it any wonder the admonition to wake up, put off every weight, keep our lamps full, redeem the time, are all words, in one degree or another, being heard prophetically across our nation?  

We are all aware of living in a significant moment in the timing of God.  We are present in 2020 on purpose.  We are vessels that have been worked by the hand of God and fitted for the masters use, prepared for such a time as this.  

Each of us have been given an inheritance in Jesus. We have a place in our Fathers house and all that He has is ours, not to be consumed on our own lusts but resources that are to be freely given since they have been freely received.  

As we come forth from the places of isolation, may we, in wisdom and understanding, righteously dispense the inheritance we’ve been given and glorify our Father. 

Christ glorified not himself

Hebrews 5:5

“So also Christ glorified not himself to be made an high priest; But he that said unto him, you are my Son, today have I begotten you.  6: As he hath also said in another place, you are a priest forever.....”

While we can see here, and from other scriptures, Jesus did not seek man’s approval and never endeavoured to glorify himself in any way;  we do see in these two verses, that  Jesus did believe what the Father had spoken to him ~

“You are my Son.  You are a priest forever.”

Each of us learn to believe the realities of who we have been made In Christ Jesus while learning that it is only in Him that we have any place of significance.  

He was made sin for us, who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him.  

We have nothing and are nothing outside of our position in Christ.  Jesus is the one who holds all blessings and as our lives are unified in him, with him, we have access to the blessings.   Ephesian’s chapter one highlights these truths ~

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing ....

.....He has blessed us in the beloved......

....in Him we have an inheritance 

Jesus said : All authority is given unto me.... any power we have access to is because it has been delegated to us.  The name of Jesus is not a signature on a blank check for us to use indiscriminately, but rather a position we operate from in His name.   In other words,  if Jesus we’re here this is exactly what He would do,  this is exactly what he would say.  Jesus said of himself, I only do what I hear, see, my Father saying, doing.  Jesus’ admonition to his disciples from John 15 was ......

“APART FROM ME YOU CAN DO NOTHING” 

We are not designed to be independent of the Father,  Jesus or His Holy Spirit.

The danger of religion is the pride it breeds in thinking we are something  special outside of Jesus, and while He makes all things beautiful, and we are precious and valuable in His eyes, the reality of our new birth is an identity established “In Christ”.

Therefore if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation; created for His purposes to continue His will and His works on this earth. 

Your Kingdom come,  your will be done, is a heart felt desire to be vitally unified with our Father, His Son, and His Spirit, so others seeing us simply see the express image of Him, through us.  

What do we have that we have not been given?  Our boasting is in Him.  

I am among you as one who serves

“A dispute also arose among them, as to which of them was to be regarded as the greatest.  And he said to them.  The kings of the gentiles exercise lordship over them and those in authority over them are called benefactors.  But not so with you.  Rather, let the greatest among you become as one who serves.  For who is the greater, one who reclines at table or one who serves? But I am among you as the one who serves. You are those who have stayed with me in my trials, and I assign you, as my Father assigned to me, a Kingdom, that you may eat and drink at my  table in my kingdom and sit on thrones judging the twelve tribes of Israel.”

Luke 22:24-30

Then Jesus told Simon, Satan has asked to sift you as wheat.

In the midst of this discourse, I note two interesting dynamics,   First, the eternal assignment given to the disciples and then Simon being sifted by Satan.

How can we escape the snare of the pride of life, the desire for self grandeur, seeking a name, a title, a position that elevates and glorifies us?  Jesus teaches it’s only by becoming a servant to all.  

This place of pride and self exaltation is probably the proverbial Achilles heal.  

From Matthews gospel we find a similar scenario.  James’ and John’s mother ask for her sons to have this exalted place at the side of Jesus when he comes into his Kingdom.  This creates indignation and offence among the others.   Jesus declares that those who desire to be first must first be servants.  Pointing to his own life he says, “the son of man has come to serve AND give his life as a ransom for many.”  

Putting others first always requires giving up your life in some fashion; whether it’s time or money, it costs us something to serve others.

Just as Jesus was tempted and tested when Satan offered him all the glory and power of the Kingdoms if he would bow and worship Him, we will find our lives tested to see if we are free from the pride of life or tempted to find another way to hold power, glory and honour by self exaltation instead of humbling ourselves to serve and worship only the Father. 

The proving and the testing comes and hopefully finds us yielding our lives in service for our Lord, fitted and useful for our eternal purposes.  I don’t think this is a one time deal.  Paul said in his letter to the church at Corinth, I die daily.   Humility is the only cure for pride.  I must decrease.  He must increase.  Serving is a very natural event that works to keep our hearts and minds checked.  

We must continually remind ourselves that anything we do possess has come into our lives by the goodness of God.  Jesus had nothing that had not come to Him except by the Father.  The works he did were simply the Father working through him.  He sought no glory from man but lived with a purpose to simply please His Father in all his doings and being.

Being seated with Him in heavenly places, is not only a profound privilege but a weighty responsibility, demanding our expression here on earth to be void of personal thoughts and agendas. 

My prayer as we live in these days of separation is for our hearts to hold humility and hunger to be servants.  May His Holy Spirit reveal to us any places of mind or heart that holds desire for mans glory or presses for promotion.  May every resource we have and use bring the glory to His name and work alone.

Amen. 

RIGHT WORSHIP

There are many right ways to worship God but right worship, Jesus said, must be done in spirit and in truth.

“God is a spirit and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth.”

John 4:24

There is no pretence before the Father.  He searches and knows the hearts and minds of us all and desires whole hearted devotion.  The greatest Commandment is to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength; which doesn’t leave a divided or distracted part of us doing something else.   

Worship is not a song, it is a position of heart, mind and strength separated to one who is worthy.  

Right worship, with many right methods, is from this right position first.  

The apostle Paul reminded us though the outward man perishes, the inward man is renewed day by day.  Our prayer for daily bread must look to the invite to come and feed upon Jesus first.  

Paul emphasizes the need for us relationally to be “perfectly joined in the same mind and judgements ”.  This can’t even begin without us first being “united” with HIM.  

The Psalms speak of entering His gates with thanksgiving and coming into His courts with  praise.   Jesus is declared from the New Testament as the door and the way.  No man comes to the Father except through Jesus Christ.  

As we approach our Father we acknowledge every good and perfect gift that has come to us through Jesus and we give thanks.  We acknowledge that we have no rightful place before our God except by the offering of His son, the blood that sits on the mercy seat speaking a better word.  We give heartfelt thanks and are humbled by our remembrance that WITHOUT Jesus we have nothing, we are nothing and we can do nothing.   But in HIM and through HIM we have Access to this throne of grace.  As we approach our Father we are assured of the place and position Jesus has given us to be in His very presence.  We come with praise and adoration pouring out from our hearts and mouths.  Who is like our God!  There is no other God but our God.  Holy,  holy, holy, Lord God almighty.  He alone is worthy to receive all glory.  All honour, all praise,  all power,  all might, all dominion is His.  He is just. He is pure.  He is righteous.  He is Almighty. He is All Sufficient.  He is creator of all.  He is breathe.  He is life.  He is love, Abounding, overflowing and He alone is worthy of our ALL.

Dear children, keep away from anything that might take God’s place in your hearts.

1 John 5:21 NLT 

Willful obedience

“Thy people shall be willing in the day of thy power...”

Psalm 110:3 KJV

NIV ~ Your troops will be willing on your day of battle......

NLT ~ When you go to war, your people will serve you willingly...

ESV ~ Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power.....

Freely and willingly are words that describe his church here and while willful simply means deliberate, full of will, or determination, somehow it gets a negative application in life.  

The legal section of the freedictionary.com gives this information concerning the word 

willful ~

“There is no precise definition of the term willful because its meaning largely depends on the context in which it appears. It generally signifies a sense of the intentional as opposed to the inadvertent, the deliberate as opposed  to the unplanned, and the voluntary as opposed to the                 compelled.

Our pursuits of God are to be intentional with planned deliberation that are always joyful and  voluntary, producing willful obedience to our Lord.  We don’t arrive at this place of planned deliberation, willful obedience, because we have to, but rather because we want to.  

Jesus is described from Isaiah chapter 11 with the seven spirits of God resting upon him., highlighting His fear of the Lord,  King James uses the phrase “quick understanding”.  ESV uses the word delight, “his delight was in the fear of the Lord.”  The fear of Lord flows from a heart that desires Him above all and this desire yields willful obedience because we desire to please Him.  

There is a pulling by the Holy Spirit, a steady reminder that we are not of this world.  Hearts being drawn to greater attachment to heavenly realities above earthly blessings.  A pruning, purging of the negative willfulness to yield to the necessary willful obedience needed for our next season. 

Neither yield your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin, But yield yourselves unto God, as those that are alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness unto God.  Romans 6:13

Our invitation is always one to come up higher, for heaven to fill our thoughts and affections, so we can join with Jesus and declare, “It is written of me, I have come to do your will.”  All wilfulness that hinders us from a place of deep commitment to the one whose we are must give place to willful obedience and this can only be birthed in and through intimacy. 

We are expecting and looking for a mighty move of God with demonstration of His power and glory in these days.  He’s looking for the faithful servant whose yielded heart has produced willful obedience that He can trust to use His power righteously and give the glory to Him.

                 “Your people will offer themselves freely on the day of your power....”