Light and Life

Colossians 1: 13 – 14

For He delivered us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

I wondered if we fully appreciate the truth behind this verse. This is an immense concept. Do we look over it lightly? Maybe it is too difficult to fully perceive.

The miracle that our Father wrought in Jesus’ life, death and resurrection is not only a great story, but it is the greatest news of the gospel. We have been translated into the kingdom of light from the kingdom of darkness. Jesus told us in John 8: 12 that he is “the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” We were legally under the authority of Satan, but Jesus broke that bondage. He went to hell and came out victorious and with the keys of death and hell (Revelation 1: 18). He broke us out of hell, and we became part of his victory, part of his inheritance. Because of Jesus’ victory over hell and the grave, we have become part of the kingdom of light.

Now this is interesting. Jesus then says that we are the light of the world (Matthew 5: 14). When we accept the gift of salvation and receive redemption, then we are translated out of the realm of darkness and into the kingdom of light. Then we actually become the light because we are in the light. Jesus is the light and we are in him, so we are the light in this dark world. This is pretty heavy but what this is really saying is that we are Jesus in this world. We are his body. That makes us his hands, his feet and his mouth. We have been saved from darkness and brought into the light so that light completely infuses us. We have become full of the very essence of Jesus if we are in him and he in us.

All of the power of hell and the grave has been broken off of us. We are completely regenerated in the life giving power of God. That new life in us has the power to break the bondages off of others as well. We have new life, a life of light and power in Christ Jesus. Darkness no longer has any power over you. That has got to be a reason to celebrate.

The Quiet Life

1 Timothy 2: 1 – 2

First of all, then, I urge that requests, prayers, intercession, and thanksgiving be made in behalf of all people, for kings and all who are in authority, so that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life in all godliness and dignity.

I had a meeting with another pastor at a coffee shop recently. We were discussing prayer when a gentleman at a different table interrupted us to ask why we are to pray for those in authority. The answer is here. It is so that we may live a tranquil, quiet life filled with godliness and dignity.

We are living in a tense time, and I know it is a challenge. The political climate has us divided. In addition, many people on both sides of the aisle are very sensitive. Thus, the third component to this stress is that many people don’t feel like they can say anything for fear of being misunderstood and suffering an acute reaction from a friend, family member or colleague. I understand that people are polarized, but there are places we can meet in agreement and that should be our goal.

One of these places of agreement should be in praying for our leaders and all people in authority. I have always held that to mean our pastors, our bosses as well as our city, state, county and federal office holders. Politics need not enter into this discussion. We are talking about spiritual matters here and attempting to follow our Lord Jesus.

Do you know why you are encouraged to forgive? It is not for that person who did wrong by you. It is for your health and well-being. Jesus taught this principle 2000 years ago but now we also have the science to explain why it is better for us to forgive than to hold onto the hurt.

The same principle holds true for praying for all our leaders and those in authority. Paul couldn’t have been more clear about the reason. It is for our own well-being, so that we may lead a quiet, peaceful life imbued with godliness and dignity. One of the points I wish you to glean from these two verses is that our Father, Yahweh, wants us to experience life as peace, godliness, tranquility and dignity. He doesn’t want you to live stressed out and anxious. Therefore, pray for those in positions of authority.

Finally, as you pray, please be clear to pray for people, not against them or about them. This applies to the people you need to forgive as well. We may have just reasons for telling God all about people’s faults and failures, but that prayer does not lead to peace and tranquility. We are instructed to pray for them. I know this can present a challenge and you have my empathy, but God wants only the very best for each of us so we must pray in the prescribed manner. Whether it is your pastor, the school principal or political leaders, pray they may be led by the Spirit of our Beloved. Pray they follow the light and never darkness. Pray they hold their congregations’, parishioners’, constituents’ needs and wants in the highest regard putting those they serve in higher place than themselves. Pray they make decisions in accord with the Word of God. You get the idea.

When leaders follow Jesus, we all win.

Greek Gods 

Acts 14: 11 – 15

When the crowds saw what Paul had done, they raised their voice, saying in the Lycaonian language, “The gods have become like men and have come down to us.” And they began calling Barnabas, Zeus, and Paul, Hermes, because he was the chief speaker. The priest of Zeus, whose temple was just outside the city, brought oxen and garlands to the gates, and wanted to offer sacrifice with the crowds. But when the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it, they tore their robes and rushed out into the crowd, crying out and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men of the same nature as you, and preach the gospel to you that you should turn from these vain things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them.

One thing that bothers me is when people blame God for the bad things that happen in life. In fact, I take great exception to it because that is my kind and loving father of whom they speak. I really get perturbed when I hear Christians doing it. I was speaking with our Father God about it and He showed me why this error so frequently occurs. Primarily it is a lack of teaching and our cultural inheritance that leads us to making this mistake. Therefore, if you blame God when bad things happen, it is my fault for having not taught you better. When the rest of the world does so, it is likewise because they have not been taught correctly. There is a foundation in our culture and our education system that leads us to this conclusion so we must be educated in truth in order to overcome this error.

When you read the New Testament, especially the Pauline epistles, it will place you in good stead to realize that those writers were writing to a population very different from us. Now, that is not to say that those truths don’t stand in our culture, not at all. That Christ redeemed us from the curse of the Law is applicable to all times, cultures and populations. However, it will increase our understanding greatly when we put Biblical text in context and understand to whom the authors are writing.

As you know, the New Testament was written in Greek. The Greco-Roman culture was the context of the New Testament writings. We are, in many instances, the heirs of Greek learning and culture. I don’t wish to say that is a bad thing. There is much that we have gained from the Greek model. What you should understand, however, is how it affects your faith. And when you understand the environment in which Paul and the other writers lived and wrote you can gain a keener perspective on their writings and how the Greco-Roman culture continues to influence us today.

So, to get directly on point, in order to understand why people blamed God for the bad things that happened in life all those many years ago and why people still do it today you have to first appreciate their understanding of God and the spiritual realm. Only the Jewish people believed in a monotheistic God. Everyone else had a god for every aspect of human life and experience. If you look up Greek Mythology you will be amazed by the number of God’s and sub-Gods they had. Also, we must understand that what we now call mythology was their belief system. Honestly, while they didn’t know THE god, Yahweh, and they certainly didn’t understand all the players in the spiritual realm, they did have a realization that something was going on. For example, they had a God of the air. His name was Aether and he was the primeval god of the upper air. Ephesians 2: 2 tells us of this air god, “You went along with the crowd and were just like all the others, full of sin, obeying Satan, the mighty prince of the power of the air, who is at work right now in the hearts of those who are against the Lord.” They also had a god who was king of the heavens. This was Zeus. The ancients understood that there were spiritual beings influencing and affecting their lives, which is more than I can say for most of us. They believed that there was a spirit of sickness, one of madness, whose name was mania, as well as a spirit of well-being.

Now, while we don’t adhere to this religious structure, we have inherited a great deal from the ancient Greeks including philosophy, government, language, architecture and much more besides. Even their gods have found their way into our culture and language. Do you know what “Nike” means? Nike was the goddess of victory. So, the next time you lace on a pair of Nike’s think of that. There was Typhon from where we get the word typhoon and if you have been watching the news about the devastation in the Philippines then you can probably guess what Typhon was the god of. He was a storm giant. And Hypnos was the god of sleep. So, you see, there is a great deal that has been passed down to us from the ancient Greeks.

In our enlightened state we know that there is but one GOD. He is Yahweh, the great I AM. What they understood, though, that we have failed to grasp is that there is a superfluity, a virtual cornucopia of spirit beings. They understood that there were benevolent spirit beings and malevolent beings. Because we know that there is only one GOD, we have attributed all of the acts of these other spirit beings to the one God. And that is why otherwise intelligent, enlightened Christians can be so wrong in identifying malicious actors. We have failed to reclassify all of those other minor “gods.” And I would like to add here, this is why education is important. In studying Greek mythology we can see ourselves. We do not study Greek Mythology, or Roman or Norse in order to find God. We know the one true God. He is our Father. But, in studying the Greeks we can see how we have failed to account for all of the spiritual beings that they knew of but mistakenly called Gods.

There is God. He is a triune being, as are we, and shows Himself through the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. There are angels and they are the benevolent, kind, helpful spirits. You probably know and understand that. Then, there are malicious spirits which are demons. Now here is where too many Christians stumble. For some reason we don’t seem to want to recognize the existence of demons. I know for a long time I didn’t want to. There are at least two reasons that I can offer for this phenomenon. First, I think that the idea of demons just scares people. It shouldn’t since Jesus has given us authority over every demon from hell but there is another problem there. We are not being taught about our authority. Secondly, I think that Satan has done an amazing job of keeping himself and his employees under the radar so to speak. The end result is that when something bad happens people ask, “Why did God do that?” Unlike the ancient Greeks they don’t even acknowledge the effect of the evil spirits. Knowing that there is but one God we have been fooled into thinking that there is only one actor in the spiritual realm. So, while the ancients sometimes look foolish to us, they have some insights too and we would benefit from their experiences.

God is good. He is always good. There is no evil or darkness in Him, and He only wants good things for you.

Anxiety and Peace

Philippians 4: 6 – 7

Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Which do you want, anxiety or peace? I know everyone wants peace, but I find fewer and fewer people are living with the peace which passes understanding than any other time in my adult life.
I remember some stressful times. Although I was very young, I realized something major happened when JFK died. I could tell by the adults’ actions. I grew up with the Vietnam war. That was pretty challenging. It was the first time a war came into our living rooms each night. It was the real beginning of the news cycle drama because it was much more impactful seeing the news than reading about it. Things changed because of television. Were people anxious? We didn’t talk about anxiety.

Fast forward many years and the rhetoric around our lives became about stress. We began living in a state of elevated stress and learned that stress is the single greatest factor impacting our health. Still, not many people admitted openly that they were over-stressed though we did begin to embrace episodic stress. We called it being “stressed out.” This condition was understood to be temporary and there was not much sympathy and very little support for the stressed-out person. We live in an entirely new era now. This is the Age of Anxiety and it’s a real thing.

I met a young woman last week who is most definitely stressed out. Interestingly, minutes after meeting she admitted to being challenged by anxiety. As she spoke, it made quite an impression on me. First, when I was younger, if we suffered from anxiety, we probably wouldn’t have known what to call it and once we did, we wouldn’t have admitted it. This woman is not even 30 years old and yet her life is being dramatically affected by anxiety. It probably is a good thing that the younger generation is open to talking about anxiety so they can get support but it struck me as unusual.

The sad news is that she is not alone. Many young people are reporting anxiety issues. It isn’t just young people either. Those who are older and thought they knew how to cope with stress are finding themselves overwhelmed. Truly, we are living in an epidemic of anxiety.

How are we to manage this overwhelming level of stress and anxiety? The good news is that the Apostle Paul knew a bit about anxiety too and Praise God, he has given us the answer. You won’t be surprised that Jesus is the answer because he always is. Just to anchor our thoughts and our hearts, I want to suggest that Paul received this answer from Jesus himself through prayer and communion with Christ. Let that be your guiding light.

From that point Paul taught that unimaginable peace is available even under the most dire circumstances. However, I warn you, this peace does not come without an investment. I wish I awoke every morning and peace settled over me regardless of what I have done with my time. No, Paul’s revelation is clear. Perfect peace is the result of prayer, petition and thanksgiving. When the stress levels rise and people and situations start getting to me, I know I need more time with Christ. I need to pray more and I need to be in his presence.

I want to be clear about one thing here. Although I believe that any time you spend in the Bible or in any kind of prayer is food for the spirit and wonderful, I find when the stress levels are rising, I need something more. Maybe you are this way too. I need to really slow down my heart and mind and look for Jesus. I need to hear him speak to me. I need him to minister to my spirit. I need to feel him in my heart. Fortunately, we have learned many skills over the years to facilitate intertwining with Jesus. Let me share a few.

When I need to calm my body or my mind, I always begin with breath. Recall that the Holy Spirit is the breath of God and the very breath in us (See Words of the Day Breathe, and Creative Breath). Meditation is certainly one of the best ways to connect with God and to calm an anxious heart (See Breathe, Meditate and Breathe, Meditate Part 2). I also recommend journaling, writing down your To-Do list, exercise, yoga and EFT.

What are your favorite ways to calm yourself?
Share your secrets below.

Reliance

Psalm 33: 18 – 19

But the eyes of the LORD are on those who fear him, on those whose hope is in his unfailing love, to deliver them from death and keep them alive in famine.

When you rely on the Lord, when your dependance is upon Him, He is faithful to defend you, protect you and to meet your needs. This scripture says the Lord keeps His eye upon you. What does that mean? If you have children, there have undoubtedly been many times when you kept a watchful eye over them. Why? Was it not so you could protect them or intervene should something threatened their well-being? Sometimes the greatest potential harm to children is themselves, such as putting objects in their mouth they shouldn’t. Parents watch and move to correct potentially harmful situations. So your heavenly Father does for you. The reason it is important for each of us to recognize this is because it alters our sense of confidence and hope. If you actually believe the Father is watching over you, you are also likely to enquire of Him more frequently and approach life and the world with greater confidence. We can have hope in His unfailing love. Although this does not seem like an earth-shaking revelation, I believe it is a key difference in how some people can tolerate stress better than others. They are truly plugged into the Father’s presence daily. When stress touches them, they recall His presence around them.

There is another crucial message in today’s passage. Verse 19 reveals that Father is present to deliver us and meet our needs. Keeping us alive is just that, meeting our need. Therefore, those people who have a continuing awareness of “God with them” understand that Yahweh provides for them. Famine needn’t rule in their house because the Lord God does.

Admittedly we are living in stressful times, but we have a God, indeed a Father, who is watching over us each minute. This passage encourages us to depend on Him, to put our hope in Him and to live under His protective gaze. We mustn’t, like some children do, run away from the cover of His protection. Instead, we are to depend on it, to lean on it. There have always been times of trial. The best thing we can do when faced with them is to draw closer to the Lord, trust in Him and pray with an earnest heart.

If you feel you need help connecting with God in your heart and with your awareness, take advantage of our coaching at Ivey Ministries.org.

Feast day

John 6: 63

It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life.

This text is best read in context so, I have put the passages in a link below for you. It is very rich with many ideas and messages flowing from it. I am only going to deal with one small portion though, intending to convey the importance of the words that Jesus spoke. I would, however, comment that Jesus’ words are not only those found in red type but rather that Jesus’ continued to speak through Paul, Peter, James and John. Indeed, he is the Word, the whole Word meaning the entire Bible, as the first chapter of John tells us (John 1: 1,14).

Jesus said that the reason for his coming is so that we might have life and that more abundantly (John 10: 10). In today’s passage he said that life comes from the Spirit. It is from the Spirit of God that we have life. Then Jesus went on to say that the words he spoke are life and are spirit.

It is not difficult to conclude, therefore, that in order to have the abundant life that Jesus came to give us we must pay heed to the words he spoke. Moreover, it seems a fair suggestion that if his words are actual life, then it is wise to read them more than once.

Who has not watched a movie or read a book for the second time and seen something that they did not see before? Surely everyone has experienced that. The same is true of reading the Bible. Sometimes I jest with Father that He has managed to sneak things into my Bible while I slept. I can read something many, many times and then go back and read it again and swear it has changed. I see something totally new. Of course it is I that has changed. I suppose the Bible is much like the proverbial onion. We understand it in layers. Perhaps as the layers are stripped off of us, we are able to understand the deeper meaning in the Bible. In any event, there is such richness in the Word of God. It is life to those who partake of it. We are to consume it as the bread sent from heaven the same as the manna from heaven fed the Israelites while they were in the desert. It is life and sustenance and none of us will have life, much less rich, abundant life without routinely feeding on this bread. In this case we want to be fat; fat on the Word of God. The more of the Word we put in us, the more of the life of God will be poured out on us and in us.

As a culture, we do not read as much as we once did. Reading the Bible has fallen to the wayside too. However, it truly is important to feed on the Word. Everyday can be a feast day if you choose. Celebrate today with a double helping of the Word of God. You are going to be blessed by what you find in there.

Additionally Read John 6: 59 – 65

The Red Sea is Divided

Exodus 14: 15 – 16, 21

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward. And as for you, lift up your staff and stretch out your hand over the sea and divide it, and the sons of Israel shall go through the midst of the sea on dry land.”

Then Moses stretched out his hand over the sea; and the Lord swept the sea back by strong east wind all night, and turned the sea into dry land, so the waters were divided.

So, my question is, “Who parted the Red Sea?” Was it Moses or was it God?

Throughout Biblical history God has raised up people through whom He could move. Or perhaps it is more accurate that He has searched and found a person of faith through whom He could work. God waited for Moses to be ready. Why didn’t God free His people Israel 30 years earlier? He needed a person He could work with.

Now, I am not saying that God cannot intervene directly in the lives of people but if you look at the historical record you will see that is not His typical method. In Genesis, God gave the earth to mankind and He has respected that this is our planet. He has, by His own decisions and His covenant with mankind, limited His direct involvement in the affairs of men. So many times people wonder why God has not taken some action or another. There would be the answer. He has given this earth to us and He gave us the authority to govern it.

It is important for us to understand that God has given us a role to play in this earth. It is not true that our only job is to pray for Him to move in the earth. That is a great thing to do, and I wish that everyone prayed daily. The truth is, though, that the sea did not part until Moses raised his staff. You see, God combines His power with our obedience and faith and creates a miracle. We need to see that we are a vital part of the equation though. Even Jesus could not perform miracles where there was no faith. We see this in the book of Matthew where it reads, “And He did not do many miracles there because of their unbelief” (Matthew 13: 58). Even Jesus was limited by the doubt and unbelief of the people and He was walking there right in their midst. How much more is this true today?

So, there are two issues here. First, our own unbelief can shutdown the miracle of God and secondly, God needs a person through whom to work. We have sat on the sidelines long enough waiting for God to fix all our problems. He has been awaiting us just like he waited for Moses. He said to Moses, “Why are you crying out to me? Stretch out your hand.”

I know this is hard to hear and may run afoul of some our Christian traditions but Jeremiah 23: 28 says “Let him who has My word speak My word in truth.” That means we cannot hide the light under the bushel basket any longer. While it is a great deal more comfortable to sit by and wait for God to perform, the truth is that there is a job for us to do. We have been joined in a partnership with God almighty. It is called a covenant. The battle is won and the problems overcome by the combined authority of us and the Lord. It is the tandem acts of the Lord and us that carries the day as was revealed in Revelation 12: 11. We have something to say. And if we are not saying it and if we are not reaching out our hand where and when instructed, then the sea shall remain undivided.

This post is not supposed to stress you. It is meant to be empowering. Each of us has our own “Egyptian horde” chasing and harassing us. We all need a miracle in some aspect of our life. We’ve been taught that prayer is asking God to fix our world. We’ve, thus prayed, and sometimes been disappointed. What would have happened had Moses not raised his staff. Yes, pray. Please! Ask the Lord, your God, to reveal to you your role in dividing the sea. Ask Him to give you revelation into your situation. Have a conversation with Him about what you can do and for His Almighty help. Pray, also, that he might raise up a Moses in the land.