Rooted

On January 19, 2022   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Ephesians 3: 17

And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God’s marvelous love.

This verse is the very thrust of this ministry. Our slogan is “Intertwined with Jesus.” I pray for you to be so interwoven in the fabric of Jesus and of God’s love that you can no longer discern a separation between you. Your thoughts are His thoughts, His are yours. I pray for His heartbeat to throb in all of our chests.

Truly, today’s Word of the Day is a thematic continuation of yesterday’s. Seek God so that He may be found and when you continue to seek Him, daily, you become more and more intertwined with Him. Finding Yahweh is not a one-time thing. It is daily pressing in and demanding more and more of Him. Never be satisfied. Always ask for more of Him. That is what He wants of you. He wants you to live in Him and to allow Him to live in you.

All the little things of the day are part and parcel of the life lived in Christ. I know some people think it is funny that I pray when I grocery shop, pump gas or ride my bike, but that is where life happens. So, if God is to be intimately intertwined in all of life, then He will be at the board meetings and the dinner table. He helps with the laundry and the cleansing of our souls.

I pray that the tendrils of your heart will become inextricably intertwined with Jesus and will, indeed, root themselves in the rich soil of God’s love.

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Revealed in You

On May 26, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

John 14: 21

The one who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will reveal Myself to him.

I admit it; I am motivated by that last phrase, that Jesus will reveal himself to me. So, I back into the rest of the verse. If I want Jesus to reveal himself to me, then I must, first, have his commandments, and second, keep them. Keeping them means doing them. Well, what are Jesus’ commandments? When I began my Bible journey back in the 80’s, I began by reading the gospels with particular emphasis on the words written in red. And yes, I like the red letter Bible because Jesus’ words are in red, but truth be told, he is the Word so every word in the Bible is Jesus. Anyway, I started in Matthew but also read a psalm and a proverb each day. After that, I stayed in the habit of reading the Old Testament and the New. The One Year Bible is a nice tool for getting a bit of each every day.

Before we can keep Jesus’ commandments, we must know what they are. Watching how he acted and hearing his words instructs us. Doing his commandments is different. Most of us begin through an act of our willpower. And, for most of us, that is doomed to failure. The way to do his works and follow his commandments is to give ourselves over to him. The book of John talks about living in and with the trinity. I meditated on that book for a long time and still am. Jesus told us that it is not by our strength, but by our surrender that we live to Christ and show the Father within us. It sounds easy but it is the hardest thing in the world. We must die to self and put on the new self which is Christ in us.

When we let go of doing things of our will and design; when we let him intertwine with us, then he is revealed, and it is glorious. So, interestingly, the more you let go, the more you get. Not only does Christ love you but he is able to show you his love. He is able to express himself and his love to you and through you.

We must know the person of Christ, but all the study in the world will not help you to know the love of Christ and see him revealed. There are plenty of folks who have Bible knowledge but do not have the love of Christ flowing through them. That comes by putting our egos on the shelf and letting him be Lord. It comes through meditative surrender which is a function of trusting Jesus and courage. Some people are too afraid of what they will see in themselves if they ever get quiet enough to let truth arise. Jesus is truth but he is also life so where there is truth, there is life. When we allow him to speak to our hearts, he is able to express his love to us and that, in turn, is seen by the world as we naturally keep his commandments.

Let Jesus bless your heart today. Let him speak to you and reveal himself to you. He is the glory of God and he lives in you. Wow, that is amazing!

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Intertwined

On May 3, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 147: 10       NIV

His pleasure is not in the strength of the horse, nor his delight in the legs of the warrior; the Lord delights in those who fear him, who put their hope in his unfailing love.

I don’t know that I have ever seen this verse so clearly before. We see what we are able to see, what our hearts are prepared for. I accuse God of adding things to my Bible that weren’t there previously. It is amazing how you can read the same passage year upon year and then, all of a sudden, there is something there you have never seen before. I suppose that means I am ready to hear this passage. Let us hope I am ready to share it as well.

God has continually had me teaching on being intertwined with Him, see our logo above. It is a representation of us intertwined with Christ. What is so important about this scripture is not only that we are expected to live in this intertwined existence but also that our Father is delighted with those whose trust isn’t in their own strength, but rather, in His.

Intellectually, we all agree that leaning on the Father’s wisdom and strength is the right and proper thing to do. It is the smart way to live life. The problem arises when faced with a new challenge or project. Our first reaction is not always to stop and consult the Father. Usually we get in our own heads about what is needed. Sometimes that immediately translates into activity, still failing to pause and consider. It is not that we don’t believe. It is simply a matter of habit. We are accustomed to jumping into action. It doesn’t make us bad people, but it does show why we need the power of transformation in everyday life.

God doesn’t transform us because we are bad and that is really important to understand. Instead, He is attempting to lead and teach us. Jesus’ coming has a great deal to do with integration with the Father. The Trinity comes to live in us, and Jesus wishes to teach us continual communion with them. He wants us to learn how to walk, step by step, day by day in their anointing and presence. Sounds good, doesn’t it?

God is pleased when we invest our lives in a continuous communion with Him. He does not delight in human strength. Instead, He wants to empower us with his strength. His plan is for us to be in constant communication with Him, even in our every breath. He can be that close to us so that at any moment, we can inquire of Him and receive answers and guidance. I like that. I hope you do too.

 

 

 

 

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Better than Sheep

On April 27, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 145: 21        TPT

I will praise you, Lord! Let everyone everywhere join me in praising the beautiful Lord of holiness from now through eternity!

Now here is someone who really loves the Lord! I bet you can guess who wrote it. If you guessed David, you are right. You can see one reason why God called David a man after His own heart. It was the love David showed Him. I find myself wondering how David developed such a strong affinity for God. The answer is perfect for a trying time of lockdown and isolation.

David was a shepherd. His brothers were older than he and were soldiers. While the brothers were off fighting the Philistines, David was home watching sheep. He spent many lonely nights with those sheep. All that time alone paid dividends though. He learned he was not really alone. He began talking to the one who was with Him, his God. In the lonely watches he learned to communicate with the Father, and he learned to wrap his life around the Father. He fell in love with Father and he also came to know the Holy Spirit, which few in the Old Testament can boast of.

When life hands you lemons, make lemonade. In this case, David turned loneliness into a close, intertwined life with the Lord. We can do the same. If you are finding yourself still alone a lot, talk with Dad. You could come out the other side of Covid with more than long hair and an extra couple of pounds. You could become a David, knowing and talking with the Father with ease.

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Indwelling Presence

On March 15, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 140: 13

Certainly the righteous will give thanks to Your name; the upright will dwell in Your presence.

Clearly there are two parts to this verse. I confess, it was the latter which drew my attention. The question this verse presents is, will the righteous give thanks and the upright dwell in God’s presence only in heaven or is this verse meant to suggest life on earth experiences. For it to have great attractiveness for me, it needs to speak of our human existence in the earth and I believe it does.

What is the epiphany of Holy Spirit inspired language about us giving thanks to God when we all move to heaven, or for that matter, where is the great revelation in exposing an afterlife spent in the presence of God? Those are great truths and good news, but the truly remarkable thought is that these two declarations describe life here on earth. We can also know this by the preceding language. Verse 12 reads, “I know that the Lord will maintain the cause of the afflicted, and justice for the poor.” There are no afflicted or poor in heaven, no need for God to justly defend them. Therefore, we know the author wrote about an earthly condition in which it is possible to live in God’s presence.

That is what is attractive about this verse, living, dwelling daily in His presence. The glory of God has been sent into the earth to dwell among men. But wait, the best is yet to come. Jesus described this Holy presence as the inhabitation of the Spirit of God within us. We are the temple of the Most Holy. I know that sounds like just a bunch of “church words” but if we are to think of them literally rather than poetically see what an amazing idea His indwelling presence really is. The Apostle Paul said that nothing could in any way separate us from the love of God. Well, I guess not if we openly allow the Spirit to integrate with us in a meaningful way. I mean to say, this isn’t a churchy experience as much as a daily one when we allow the Spirit to expand into every part of our being and our lives. This living in and with the presence of God can become as real to us as living with our families. For some people living with God became more substantive than their existence with people. I have read of nuns and monks for whom the reality of God’s presence was encompassing. I am not suggesting we must live as monks but rather use their lives as evidence that this God of whom we speak, Yahweh, our true Father, can and will live with us as much as we can allow. The more we grow spiritually, the more capacity we have for sharing our lives with the three people of Divinity. We can long for just a bit more every day and then, by the end of summer, we will have a SONtan from all the time spent in his presence. That idea warms my heart, partially because I know it is an ever-increasing possibility. Seek Him. Know Him and invite Him into your everyday existence.

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Messy Drawers

On March 4, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Matthew 23:27

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness.”

This verse reminds me of someone I once knew. His desk was immaculate; no folders, papers or files upon it, contrasted to my own which currently has multiple books, composition books, a calendar, pens (plural), a folder and a pad. I can still see a little of my desk but his showed more wood than anything else and each item; pen cup, etc. was precisely placed. One day, though, I got a glimpse in his desk drawers. It was pandemonium. There was no order whatsoever.

That is the way Jesus saw the Pharisees. They had their public (visible) personas worked out to the last detail. They wore robes, attended the feasts, gave offerings, made their tithes and said their prayers. Inside, though, they were rotten and full of bedlam. Their religion only went skin deep. In the private times of their lives, in their private thoughts and ambitions, they did not serve the Lord God. Religion was, for them, a public expression rather than a private one. This distinction is, of course, of first importance.

Jesus has invited us into the private realm of life. He offers his assistance and presence in our private lives and invites us into the intimacy of his life. Think about the Apostle John reclined on Jesus’ chest. Is this the Lordly relationship the Pharisees sought? No wonder it was hard for them to recognize him as their Messiah. And just think what it would have meant to their existence had they received and accepted him. Walls of isolation and separatism would have to be shattered. Formalism would have to be abandoned. Could a Pharisee transform enough to lay his head on Jesus’ bosom? Could he surrender that much of himself?

Jesus destroyed the protocols becoming a friend and brother. He changed the way we think of ourselves in the larger landscape of “religion.” He is gentle but longs to occupy all the private corners of one’s life. We can appreciate how uncomfortable that might make a person. He didn’t come demanding to be worshiped as a king, though he had that right. He came requiring much more. He asks for our lives; for our lives to be intimately wrapped around his and he offers himself as our lover. Wow! It is a bit much to wrap your head around, but it has the sweetest aroma about it. It calls us forward, even into the uncomfortable.

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Righteous Life

On August 10, 2020   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 112: 1 – 6

Praise the Lord! How blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who greatly delights in His commandments. His descendants will be mighty on earth; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches are in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. Light arises in the darkness for the upright; He is gracious and compassionate and righteous. It is well with the man who is gracious and lends; He will maintain his cause in judgment. For he will never be shaken; the righteous will be remembered forever.

Today’s passage shows the characteristics and benefits of a life lived in reverence to the Lord. It describes the life of the person who loves the Lord. Blessing and prosperity adorn his life and he is prosperous in all his ways. It also shows his personality traits, traits which are gained through living enamored with God.

The person who loves God is a righteous person. That does not mean he is holier than thou. It means he is in right standing with God. Our righteous standing with God is part of the miracle and part of the mystery of Jesus’ victory. If I boast in my righteousness it is only because of what Christ has done for me. Though we didn’t earn it, that righteousness entitles us to a benefits package. I think it has a price too. We are to trade our life in the world, and any benefits it may have, for a life in Christ. We give up our place in the world for a life in him. It appears as a sacrifice but once you have transitioned you realize that you gain far more than you give up. I find this is a process. We are beginning to glimpse the great joy and benefit of living in Christ. The more we give up of ourselves, the more we gain. That is just like our Father. His kingdom makes no sense to the worldly mind.

This life in Christ has a transformative impact on our personalities. Now, that will cause some people great consternation. “Do you mean I have to give up who I am to be in Christ?” No, not really, and then, absolutely yes. The laying down of our lives becomes a pleasure, a freedom rather than a sacrifice. And truthfully, you are not giving up who you are but rather the imperfected you in exchange for the glorified you. You will still be you but the 2.0 version, and then 2.1, etc. You are evolving, transforming, coming out of your chrysalis as the beautiful butterfly which was always in your DNA. This transformation is reflected in today’s passage. Please look at this language again, “He is gracious and compassionate and righteous, . . . [he] is gracious and lends.” You can measure your level of transformation by this quote. As the transformation takes place, you will find yourself more generous, compassionate and gracious. It strikes me that graciousness is listed twice. The repetition must have significance.

I was just thinking about how we bless and care for others and Father blesses and cares for us. The blessing must flow downstream. Jesus wants us to live intertwined with him so that he can take care of us and has told us that we are not to have care about our own lives. We are to care about others. Once our minds and spirits are free from worrying about ourselves all the time, and thinking about ourselves, then we are able to hear the Lord communicate with us about the needs of others. It really is a great joy to be used of God to bless someone else. It is an honor to be trusted with even a small fragment of Jesus’ ministry.

Blessed is the person who loves and reveres the Lord. Blessed and to be envied is the one whose life is intertwined in the Christ. May it show in our actions. Let God’s name be lifted up and praised because of the generosity and caring of His children.

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