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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I Am . . .

On May 21, 2021   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

John 14: 6

“I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”

We may think of this as a simple verse. It is well known also. I wonder, though, if it has profound depths that we don’t always see.
Imaging being one of Jesus’ disciples. You are sitting together after supper and he says, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life.”  What would you think? One of my first questions is, the way to what? The better question would be, the way to whom? Jesus is the way to God. We know no one goes to God apart from Jesus. What we may lose touch with is that part of Jesus’ mission in the earth was to connect the Father with His people. He doesn’t want us to have a great relationship with him because we are “Christians” and fail to have a great relationship with our Father.

What about the truth? What did Jesus mean by that? Were his disciples perplexed? He is all truth and in him is no untruth, no deceitfulness. What an amazing statement that is. You do not have to question his motives or his words. What he says, literally, is gospel. Any word Jesus has ever spoken is absolute in its veracity. The other side of the coin is that no lie has any part in him. No, untruthfulness, deceit, fraud, cheating, treachery or duplicity has any part in him. He is whole in his honesty and forthrightness.

“I am the life.” He is eternal life, yes, but he is also the air we breathe right now. Because he is the life, we know he is alive. If he was not alive, nothing else could have life. I often wonder if the world began to die those three days he was in the grave. Did the life begin to seep out of the earth? Another thought, he said he came here to give us abundant life. Okay, if he is the life, then he came to give us himself in abundance, right? He is to be found by us and absorbed, breathed, and lived.

Well, perhaps it is a simple verse but it sure is amazing to ponder.

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I Am

On October 8, 2020   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Exodus 3: 14

God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM”; and He said, “Thus you shall say to the sons of Israel, ‘I AM has sent me to you.’”

We are still learning so much about who (and what) God is. When Moses asked Him who he should say sent him, God said, “I AM.” I get the sense that this was a hard question to answer. The answer is so obvious and so encompassing that there aren’t words to say it. You’ve been in the same position. When something just “is” then it just is. It is hard to express the very being of it.

God’s answer is so huge, I AM. In that simple answer is the complexity of the universe. It is both simple existence, Newtonian Physics and Quantum Physics. It is the very state of being and the substance there of. In that one small statement, God revealed to Moses the very essence of life and matter. I am that I am. I am Me, the substance of being, the actual substance of all things which have ever been created. I am the substance of all matter. In God, in the “I Am,” was the answer to the questions not yet asked. I Am means I am the source of being.

In other words, God said tell them that the very existence of the universe and all that the earth and all celestial and earthly bodies are made from sent you. The state of being and all matter have called you this day to follow Moses to a land free of bondage. God is energy. The slightest particle of who He is, when released into any environment is light and life. “For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself,” (John 5: 26).  That is exactly why Jesus revealed himself as both life and light. He is part of the Father. God is not only the creator, but He is also creation. He is the big bang. He released a small bit of Himself and the universe began expanding. Light came into being.

If you think about the verb “to be” you begin to get the sense of who God is. He is the verb to be. I just am. There is so little else to say. I am the source of all being; the beginning and the end. This concept is as huge and as simple as possible. I hope I have been able to explain enough of my perception to start you wondering. If so, a fun exercise would be for you to look for the number of times Jesus said, “I Am.” You might be amazed. Remember, any word which is in italics in the Bible was added by the editors. Take your pencil and line through the italicized words and look at what you have. It is astounding!

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Breathe

On June 15, 2020   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Psalm 104: 29 – 30

You hide Your face, they are dismayed; You take away their spirit, they expire and return to their dust. You send forth Your Spirit, they are created; and You renew the face of the ground.

You might not know it to just read these two verses, but they contain a couple of insights into the Divine Trinity and creation. In order to show the revelation which is contained here, let us first read this passage from a different translation. “When you take away their breath, they die and turn again to dust. When you give them your breath, life is created.” That rendition is from the New Living Bible. Did you see what happened between the two translations? The word “spirit” changed to “breath.” If you check the footnotes in any of the translations, you will find the other word footnoted. So, what does this mean?

There are several revelations in this. First, and probably most obvious, is that God’s Spirit, i.e. the Holy Spirit, is the breath of God. Now, if we were in church together, I could do a three-week series on that alone. What does it mean that breath is synonymous with God’s Spirit? A beginning point to answer that question is that every place in the Bible where you see breath or Spirit, you can, and should, mentally exchange the words. When you see that God “breathed” on something, you should hear, “Holy Spirit.” Somehow the Holy Spirit of God was involved in what was going on.

Second, God’s breath is life. We see that from these two verses, but it is evident from the creation story as well. “Then the Lord God formed man of dust from the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being,” (Genesis 2: 7). So, it was the Holy Spirit of God which gave human beings their life. That is exactly what these two verses say. If we have the breath of God, the Spirit, then we have life. If the breath departs, so does life.

Now, I think that is easy enough to accept and understand at a basic level, but let’s take it to the next level. If a person has life, then doesn’t that mean he/she has a measure of the Holy Spirit? Besides which, Jesus is the life, so it is not a far reach to say that every living being has a measure of God’s Spirit, albeit, not in the fullness thereof. This does have a tendency to set our theology on its head, especially a theology of favoritism. It, on the other hand, explains why God thinks of us all as His children, even before we are saved. Whatsmore, today’s passage speaks explicitly of animals acknowledging that God gives them breath and life and feeds them by His own hand. So, through this we come to understand at a much deeper level how God views the earth and all of its creatures.

I am not saying that there is no difference between animals and humans. God does not call the animals His children nor has He given them authority. None the less, there is a wee bit of His own spark within them which is how they have life. We know this from today’s verses which speak specifically of God’s breath, the Holy Spirit. Second, I am not saying that we all have the Holy Spirit in the same measure. If you read the verses on the Holy Spirit you will see there are also different measures of “life.” This passage does not refer to the spiritual, newborn life, or even Spirit-filled life. It speaks to biological life of both humans and animals. So, don’t use these verses to overreach. They mean what they mean but don’t confer meaning beyond the text. They should bring enlightenment without us having to jump off a bridge. What they should speak to us is that we all have a bit of God within us giving us life. Some of us have come to know God personally; others have not. None the less, we are all brothers and sisters. We need to be gracious and inviting towards one another. We are blessed that we have been given truth for which we give the Lord praise.

Lastly, what I hope you will take out of this verse is the absolute connection between God’s Holy Spirit and breath. When you pause to take a deep breath, I hope, in your mind, you will connect that breath to God’s Spirit. Think on drawing more of the Spirit down into your lungs where that breath will be absorbed and distributed through your body. Let the breath of God increase in your being. And when you exhale, perhaps you exhale out injury, sickness, anger, or unforgiveness. Let the Spirit bring you revelation in and with your breath and find your stillness and peace in that breath. Shalom!

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Shake Up

On August 27, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Matthew 27: 50 – 53

And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two form the top to bottom, and the earth shook; and the rocks were split, and the tombs were opened; and many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised; and coming out of the tombs after His resurrection they entered the holy city and appeared to many.

Try to wrap your mind around all of this for a moment. We generally accept that Jesus arose from the grave and appeared, in the flesh, to his disciples. Sometimes I think we don’t make enough out of that truth but at least there is general recognition of it. How about the rest of the manifestations? Don’t they boggle your mind just a little? How is it that when Jesus gave up his spirit, the earth reacted so violently?

I know, the unbelievers will chalk a great deal of this story up to a natural earthquake. I have no doubt the earth quaked. That’s kind of the point. Why, though, did it shudder? The answer, I think, is because the life force which had sustained it ever since it was created was yielded, released. For a brief time, Jesus was not the life (John 14: 6) and the earth trembled in response. The life, for a brief time, went out of it.

What about the veil in the temple? That is such a poignant fact. The veil separated the Holy of Holies from the rest of the temple, and indeed, the rest of the world. Symbolically, this represents the reality that no longer is God hidden behind a veil from the ordinary person. The veil has been pierced, rended and ultimately abolished. Because of Jesus’ sacrifice, God is available to every person without the need of an intermediary. Was it coincidental that the veil in the temple was torn in two when Jesus gave up his spirit? I wouldn’t agree that damage of that sort is a likely result of an earthquake.

But lastly, surely no seismologist would argue that bodies coming back to life and arising from their graves is an expected consequence of an earthquake. These people entered the city and appeared to many people. It is surprising to me that we don’t make more of this amazing consequence of the life of Jesus. He is resurrection life and those saints are the proof of it.

The world shook when Jesus gave up his breath. Never before in the history of the earth had there been a moment without “the life.” Jesus’ release of his spirit shook the earth to its foundation, literally to its core. Many who did not previously believe, including the soldiers who participated in the crucifixion, were instantaneously converted. Of course, the news of this Jesus spread throughout Asia. This was a big deal.

I think we forget how big this event was. It is so far away from us in time and experience that we have lost the measure of its importance. Jesus’ death, quite literally, shook the world. But hold on to your hat because he isn’t done. He is coming back and he is going shake up the world again. Many, so called, unbelievers will recognize the truth of his deity and will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

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Life and Peace

On February 6, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Romans 8: 6        NIV

The mind governed by the flesh is death, but the mind governed by the Spirit is life and peace.

I am sure we all want life and peace. Jesus said he came to the earth to give us abundant life (John 10: 10) and I certainly do not want to frustrate his purpose in my life. I am equally convinced that you want the peace of Christ flowing through your life along with the abundant life he brings. I wish, sometimes, there was nothing I had to do to position myself for all the blessings of the Father. Unfortunately, that is not the case.

Our Father has blessed us with every blessing in the heavenly realm (Ephesians 1: 3). How, though, do we have all that blessing manifest upon us routinely? As to peace and life, Paul answers that question for us today in this verse from Romans. Our minds must dwell on the things of the Spirit rather than on the things of the body or of the world.

You’ve all heard this verse before, but I wonder how well we hear it. This makes sense, of course, but it is much easier said, and agreed upon, than actually done. The world and all its pleasures are before us daily. We live in the world and must interact with it. It can be a challenge to live in the world and yet not be part of it. It is hard to interact with the world all day and at the same time keep our minds on the Spirit. None the less, that is the way to peace and life.

One hears a great deal of talk these days about intentionality. It means to be purposeful about the minutes of our day rather than blowing about with the wind. It means to make some determined choices and let those guide our day rather than just bumping along from one stimulus to another.

If, when we awaken in the morning, we immediately turn our thoughts and hearts to the Lord, it is much easier to stay in that place with him and with the Spirit all day. You can actually stay linked with the Spirit all day, even when you have to go to work, do the shopping, pick up the kids, etc. All the tasks of life are easier when you stay connected with God’s Spirit.

Notice that the mind is governed, or ruled, either by the flesh or the Spirit. What are the things of the flesh that attract us? Well, it is all the things of the world, isn’t it and things our body wants. It could be sleep, food, television, wine, social activity and more. None of these things are bad, are they? God is not trying to deny us these things, but it can be a question of priority. Are these things which gratify the flesh the focus of our attention? Are they more important to us than the things of the Spirit? The verse says that when our minds are ruled by these things, it is death. When our minds are governed by the Spirit, we are always led to life and peace. That sounds nice. So, we need to learn the skill of focusing our minds on the things of the Spirit and then staying connected there even as we travel through the world. The Spirit will always lead us into blessing. He will always show us the way of peace and life. We have only to fix our minds on him and he will bring us love, joy, peace, life and the blessing of God. That is a good plan. So what are you thinking about today?

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It’s Your Choice

On January 31, 2019   /   Word of the Day   /   Leave a comment

Deuteronomy 30: 19           NOG

I call on heaven and earth as witnesses today that I have offered you life or death, blessings or curses. Choose life so that you and your descendants will live.

Are you familiar with this verse? I want you to be. It is so very powerful and can change your life. In fact, this is a great one for you to meditate on. The piece of it I wish to highlight today is the word “choose.”

God has offered us life. He has offered us blessings. Death and the curse entered the earth in the Garden of Eden. So, both life and death and blessing and the curse are out there for the choosing. The interesting aspect is that we get to choose. I always smile when I read this verse because I hear it this way, “I have given you the choice between life and death, the blessing and the curse. Let me give you a hint. Choose life and blessing.” It is like God is trying to clue us in on which one to choose. It seems ridiculous at one level. We should be smart enough that He does not need to give us a hint and yet, it is a forebearer of a truth. We often make the wrong choice. We choose death instead of life and the curse instead of the blessing. Why would we do that?

Let me ask you a different question. Supposing you rather have life and blessing, how do you make that choice? What mechanism is in place for choosing? That is the main issue, I believe. Do folks know how to choose life? In how many ways do we choose the curse instead of the blessing? I believe most Christians do not realize there is a choice, how to make the choice, or how they are making the wrong choice daily.

One of the most poignant events in the Bible is found in the book of Joshua. As the book opens, Moses has just died. He, who was the liberator of Israel, who led them for years through their long sojourn, who importuned God for them, prayed for them, taught them, and cared for them, is dead. Now what? Shall the nation of Israel fall apart right there, having never crossed over into the promised land? It is a climactic moment is Judeo-Christian history. It could have all ended right there, on the wrong side of the Jordan. Instead, God appointed Joshua to be the leader of His people. How would you like that job, following in Moses’ footsteps? It must have been pretty frightening for Joshua. God took him aside, though, to give him the secret of success, to be his coach and mentor. God told Joshua, “Only be strong and very courageous; be careful to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right or to the left, so that you may have success wherever you go. This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it; for then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous! Do not tremble or be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go,” (Joshua 1: 7 – 9).

I know that was a long quote but you need to see it all. Right here God gave Joshua the choice to fail or succeed. He even gave him the crib notes for the test. In other words, God didn’t make success a mystery. Success or failure lay at Joshua’s feet so God showed him the path to success. He gave him all the secrets. That is what God does.

Here is my point. Father wants us to succeed so He has given us the cheat sheet. “Here are all the answers,” He says. All we have to do is use them. How many points do you find in the quote from the book of Joshua? I counted seven. The real question is, how many of them are we doing. This is how we choose life and blessing. Joshua didn’t have to take God’s advice. We know he did because he enjoyed success and led the nation of Israel into the promised land. He chose blessing. He chose life.

Here are two of the big seven. One, do not fear. If we live in fear, we fertilize death and curse. Second, and this is a really big one, meditate in this Word day and night. When we meditate in the Word, we are actively choosing life and blessing.

This passage from Joshua teaches how to choose to live in the blessing. We need to follow where the Lord is leading. We need to communicate with him so that we see his ways generally and the specific path he points out for us. We can choose to be blessed. We can choose the abundant life Jesus said he came here to give us. I think if you will follow the advice God gave Joshua, if you will learn how to commune with Jesus and actually do it, that you will find yourself in overflow of everything good. Please, choose life, choose the blessing. It’s your choice.

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