Nameless, Faceless Love


Venturing out from behind our Four Walls to a place at first unfamiliar to us, we found our Saviour waiting among the lost, inviting us to join Him in the Journey.
We offer no names and no faces.
Only His.
Nameless, Faceless Love.



Nameless, Faceless Love's authors live on every populated continent of the world, remaining nameless and faceless so that God might receive any and all of the glory.

Sunday, July 29, 2007

No Shortcuts For Butterflies

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Billy and Susie could not wait. They had watched the caterpillar create its cocoon, and now racked with suspense as they beheld it every day, waiting for the butterfly to emerge.

Able to wait no longer, Billy had an idea. “Susie,” he said, “We will help the butterfly! Let’s get some scissors and cut the cocoon open for him. Don’t worry, we’ll be careful.”

After much convincing, Susie agreed and they proceeded to get a pair of scissors and oh, so gently cut open the cocoon. Inside lay the butterfly they had so longed to see. Their eyes lit up the moment they could see his wings, and soon the wings began to flutter. It was only a few minutes, however, that they knew something was desperately wrong.

The butterfly wasn’t flying. It was as though he couldn’t. He just laid there flopping around and, soon thereafter, their beloved butterfly died.

What Billy and Susie didn’t yet know, and we as believers sometimes forget, is that butterflies will die if you cut open their cocoon. Why? Because God made it so that it is the struggle of them constantly flexing their wings against the walls of their cocoon that strengthens their wings to the point that they can fly when they emerge. Without that struggle, they are helpless, weak, and will soon die.

Sometimes we ponder why God might allow us to feel trapped within situations and even seasons in our lives. Why is it taking so long for this to end? Why can’t I immediately break free from this as I have from other situations in my life in the past? Why is this struggle so hard?

Perhaps our Heavenly Father has purposed to bring about a great transformation in our hearts and lives, to through it change us to be more like His Son and our Lord Christ Jesus. Perhaps we need to struggle to strengthen our wings for this new season. Perhaps the struggle that what we perceive to be so hard is actually a new life being born.

Jesus entered the cocoon of the grave for us all, and emerged as the Savior and Captain of our souls. He's been through it. He knows what it's like. So don't hesistate to ask him for His help.

Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let's not let it slip through our fingers. We don't have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He's been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let's walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help.
Hebrews 4:14-16

Don’t try short-cuts. Put away the scissors. And keep flexing those wings. In just a little while, you’re going to need them to fly.



Below is a time-lapse video of a Monarch butterfly emerging from its cocoon. Look familiar? View the end result.







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Friday, July 27, 2007

Jesus: Grace and Truth

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The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.
He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him.
Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God—
children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' "
From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

John 1:9-17

Jesus brought grace and Truth to us. A grace and a Truth that were a vivid manifestation of how deeply He loved us.

When we study the word truth and its roots in this passage, we find that it means a truth that reveals that which even might have been formerly hidden for whatever reason, including unwitting ignorance.

[225-aletheia- truth, from 227-alethes true (as not concealing), and from 1-a not (as a negative particle) and 2990-lanthano- to lie hid, unwittingly]

Jesus came to us as the Truth that would reveal itself in love. His was not a hurtful Truth, but a liberating one.

Perhaps Peter felt at a loss when a Carpenter taught him how to better fish, or when a Master told him that he would betray Him three times. But that momentary sadness would give way to a life-changing revelation. These Truths were a vivid manifestation of how deeply Jesus loved Peter, and it changed Peter’s life.

The word grace means, especially, God’s influence upon our hearts and His reflection in our lives.

[5485-charis- graciousness, (as gratifying), especially the divine influence upon the heart and its reflection in the life, including gratitude.]

The grace of God, embodied in Christ Jesus, is not like any grace we will ever know. It is a life-changing grace.

Grace and Truth.
Witness a woman caught in the act of adultery, and brought to be stoned:

And the scribes and Pharisees brought unto him a woman taken in adultery; and when they had set her in the midst...
John 8:3 (KJV)

Those about to stone had set her “in the midst” and were preparing to kill her when Jesus approached. Most of us know the rest of the story, with Jesus saying to them, “You who are without sin cast the first stone,” but it is the end of the story that is most stirring.

When all her accusers have dropped their stones and left, God’s Word gives us an amazing revelation of grace through Jesus.

And they which heard it, being convicted by their own conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, even unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.
John 8:9

This woman who was set “in the midst” of all these accusers was left standing alone with Jesus and yet God’s Word says that she was “in the midst.” In the midst of what? The next 2 verses tell us.

When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?
She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.

John 8:10-11

Neither do I condemn thee.” Grace.
Go and sin no more.” Truth.

This woman, just as we have so many times and will so many times again, stood in the midst of grace and Truth, a grace and a Truth that were a vivid manifestation of how deeply He loves us.

Truth and Grace.
We all have been sorely in need of that kind of grace and Truth over the course of our lives. We needed it before we became His disciples and we’ve needed it afterward, as well.

We’ve needed the kind of grace and Truth that our Lord Jesus Christ afforded this woman, and that which He gave to Peter, too.

Peter, having already received from Jesus the saddening Truth that he would betray Him three times, now finds himself standing before a resurrected Christ in John 21.

How Peter must have felt. He loved Jesus so much. Jesus had changed his life. He was so sure he wouldn’t betray Him, and yet - when it was all said and done - he had betrayed Him just as Jesus said he would. One wonders if He could have even looked Jesus in the eye. Peter stood spiritually naked, helpless and ashamed before the Truth.

But, because of Jesus’ deep love for Peter, that’s the moment when Truth’s partner Grace showed up.

Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love Me, Peter?,” to which he replied, “You know I do, Lord.”

Three times Peter denied Jesus.

Three times Jesus asked him, “Do you love me, Peter?”

Three times Peter said, “You know I do, Lord.”

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:8

Jesus has brought grace and Truth to us because He loves us so deeply. It’s the kind of love and grace and Truth that will change your life.

Today, it can change your life again.



Below is a video presentation of one of the most beautiful songs ever written, How Great The Father's Love For Us by Stuart Townend. You will find that this song truly embodies His love and grace and Truth.

Click on the arrow in the middle of the movie screen below to play this video.







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Thursday, July 26, 2007

What Do We Do With The Children?

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One of the biggest questions for many in the Western Church is "What do we do with the children?" Most of those believe that shipping them off to Sunday School to hear Jonah and the Whale 2000 times before they're 18 years old isn't the answer. Most of those also know that it's wrong at its core that they're trying to determine how to best "incorporate children into church," when Jesus simply said "Let them come to Me." What Do We Do With The Children, then?

The Eastern and Third World Church, by and large, practice the simplicity in this matter that Jesus commanded. The Eastern and Third World Church generally don't separate the concept of church and life, and they approach raising children in the faith in the same manner. Just as parents do not abdicate responsibility for their children's education when they send them to school, neither does "the church" bear the primary responsibility for our children's spiritual upbringing. That rests with the parents. Daunting as that challenge may sometimes be, it holds the promise of a shared journey in which child and parent alike become a mutual blessing in truly learning from God through one another.

Our friend Hamo from Perth, Australia, vividly shares this simplicity in a recent post, telling about a revelatory experience with his daughter, Ellie. Hamo writes:

"It was a short time ago that it dawned on me just how vital our input and role modeling is to the children we raise. On a Monday morning after making the kids breakfast I let them know I was going to spend some time in my study ‘talking to Jesus’. They have seen me do this each day and it is just part our routine now.

My 6 year old daughter Ellie, asked ‘Daddy can I talk to Jesus with you some day?’

‘Sure honey’ I answered. ‘Finish your breakfast, grab your Bible and come in!’

I began wondering what to do and how to teach my 6 year old daughter to speak to Jesus...
"

A quiet smile and a nod of the head to Hamo for this post and to Terry for making us aware of the beautiful song in the video below, entitled My Father's Chair by David Meece.

Read the rest of Hamo's wonderful post.







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Tuesday, July 24, 2007

Follow Me, and I Will Make You Fishers of Men

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In Matthew 4:19, Jesus said, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.

There are certainly pockets of resistance, but in large part the Western Church is mired in mediocrity and lukewarmness. There is little fire to publicly live the Gospel in demonstration of God’s loving power. Much of the Western Church - institutional, house and para - has left the prison house of sin and bondage only to be imprisoned yet again, and more desperately so, in a prison house of religion.

Jesus said, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”
“Follow Me.”

Not “Receive Me as Lord, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Not “Go to church, and I will make you fishers of men.”
Not “Pay your tithes, and I will make you fishers of men.”

All of the above are absolutely necessary, but they have nothing to do with being fishers of men. To be a fisher of men, you have to follow Jesus.

The word “follow” in this verse is not translated as “follow” anywhere else in the Bible. It is unique to this verse. In this verse, the word “follow” is a combination of two separate Greek words; deute which means come here! (the exclamation point is literally there) and opiso which means to the back.

Jesus was saying “Come here to My back!” emphatically and urgently. With an exclamation point, even. Again, Jesus wasn’t talking about getting “religious.” He was talking about a life-changing, intense turn toward Him.

Many Christians simply do not follow Christ. They show up on Sunday. Some “feel” God and some don’t. But with many, any effect from that church service has worn off by about Monday noon, if not Sunday afternoon.

Feelings aren’t the point. Following Jesus isn’t about following good-feeling emotions. Following Jesus is about following Him in spite of overwhelmingly negative emotions.

Peter followed Jesus, and look what Jesus said to him just before He ascended. In John 21:18, Jesus says....... (Click on the "Read More!" link below)Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdest thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not.”

In today’s English, Jesus was saying: “When you were young, you dressed yourself and went where you wanted to go. But when you become mature [follow Me alone], you will stretch out your hands and I will dress you, and take you places where you don’t want to go.”

As harsh as this may sound to some, this is what it means to follow Jesus. To throw away not only the living of one’s life in this world. but to throw away the perception of one’s life in this world. You see, it is our fleshly perception of and fleshly love for this temporary, earthly life that seeks to trick us, and trap us, and hinder us, and if possible even prevent us from following Christ.

But we must crucify that fleshly love of our lives in this world. This is what Jesus instructed us to do. In Galatians 5:24, the Word of God tells us that .....“they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.” In Mark 8:35, Jesus says, “For whosoever will save his life [in this world] shall lose it; but whosoever shall lose his life for my sake and the gospel's, the same shall save it [eternal life].” And again in John 12:25, Jesus says, “He that loveth his life [in this world] shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.”

..........all that we may gain Life. Zoe life. God’s eternal Life.

So we see then that it is only when we “throw away” this temporary, earthly life that we can truly follow Jesus.

This is a main reason why much of the church is not fishing effectively, and has lost its spiritual vibrancy. Too many of us are not following Christ.

Following Christ means letting Him dress us - letting Him determine how we look on the outside to other people.........and You’ll remember that Jesus made Himself of no reputation (Philippians 2:7), so watch out! He probably won’t be aiming to make us look “good,” either.

And, following Jesus means going where He says to go and doing what He says to do there - no matter what the consequence - even at the expense of our very lives (Revelation 12:11).

Even when, and especially when, we’re “fishing.”

Now when he had left speaking, he said unto Simon, Launch out into the deep, and let down your nets for a draught.
And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net.
And when they had this done, they inclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.
And they beckoned unto their partners, which were in the other ship, that they should come and help them. And they came, and filled both the ships, so that they began to sink.
When Simon Peter saw it, he fell down at Jesus' knees, saying, Depart from me; for I am a sinful man, O Lord.
For he was astonished, and all that were with him, at the draught of the fishes which they had taken:
And so was also James, and John, the sons of Zebedee, which were partners with Simon. And Jesus said unto Simon, Fear not; from henceforth thou shalt catch men.
And when they had brought their ships to land, they forsook all, and followed him.

Luke 5:4-11



Click below to view a very interesting presentation - complete with fishing boat, pole and tackle - of the scriptural message shared in this post.







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Monday, July 23, 2007

Expressions Of Your Love

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And hope does not disappoint us, because God has poured out his love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom he has given us. You see, at just the right time, when we were still powerless, Christ died for the ungodly. Very rarely will anyone die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:5-8


Expressions Of Your Love

A symphony of color
Painted on a western sky
The thunder roars and the rain it falls
Over fields, over streams, over us,
You're over us...

CHORUS:
Expressions of Your glory
Expressions of Your heart
In all You are
You speak to us
Expressions of Your love

A message sent from Heaven
Walked among us as a man
The Son of God and Light of the world
Love divine, crucified, (and) made alive,
You're alive...

Oh Jesus make me
An expression of You (play video)






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Sunday, July 22, 2007

Sheath A Sword, Heal An Ear

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In Revelation 13, the Word of God describes the rise of the beast and his power throughout the world. Revelation 13:7-10 tells us:

7 And it was given unto him to make war with the saints, and to overcome them: and power was given him over all kindreds, and tongues, and nations.
8 And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.
9 If any man have an ear, let him hear.
10 He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.


Verse 7 shows us that the beast will be given power, with God’s approval, to make war against and to overcome the saints (meaning to capture and execute them for their faith in Christ Jesus).

Verse 8 tells us that, some believe because of the great fear that this will instill in the people in the world, they will worship him, the beast.

Then, in Verse 9, God says something that should always make our ears stand up when we read it in God’s Word. If any man have an ear, let him hear.

Even when Jesus preached, and when He preached the very deepest spiritual concepts, He would say the same thing - If any man have an ear, let him hear. The Apostle Paul did the same thing after Him, preaching the deeper spiritual things of God, saying I speak as to wise men.....

If any man have an ear, let him hear tells us that what is about to be said can only be understood through the Holy Spirit......in other words, with spiritual ears. So, let’s listen carefully. (Click on the "Read More!" link below)


Based upon what is shared in Verse 7, He says He that leadeth into captivity shall go into captivity: he that killeth with the sword must be killed with the sword. Here is the patience and the faith of the saints.

Quite simply put, God is saying that, in the midst of this great attack against the Body of Christ, we are not to take any attacker captive, and we are not to kill any attacker. In fact, He is stating that, in the last days, this non-violent approach toward enemies and adversaries - even as they may be killing us - is a sign of the true saints.

Here is the patience and the faith of the saints, He says. Here is the patience, meaning “cheerful or hopeful endurance” through (via the root) “staying under” the mighty hand of God.

Here is the patience and the faith of the saints, He says. Here is the faith, meaning “specifically, reliance upon Christ for salvation.”

These are those who know that they are saved through Christ Jesus and have learned to stay beneath God’s protecting hand to their very last breath. They have learned that they are not to rise up with force against the beast and their enemies and their adversaries, even if it may be in their last moments on earth.

We need only look to Christ’s very own life for the confirmation of the words written here.

In Matthew 26:47-54, God’s Word says:

47 And while he yet spake, lo, Judas, one of the twelve, came, and with him a great multitude with swords and staves, from the chief priests and elders of the people.
48 Now he that betrayed him gave them a sign, saying, Whomsoever I shall kiss, that same is he: hold him fast.
49 And forthwith he came to Jesus, and said, Hail, master; and kissed him.
50 And Jesus said unto him, Friend, wherefore art thou come? Then came they, and laid hands on Jesus and took him.
51 And, behold, one of them which were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck a servant of the high priest's, and smote off his ear.
52 Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword.
53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?
54 But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?


In Verses 51 and 52, the correlation between this passage and the aforementioned passage in Revelation is quite clear. One who was with Jesus seeks to protect through physical force the literal body of Christ, and attacks the high priest’s servant, cutting off his ear. Jesus’ immediate response is two-fold and telling.

First, Jesus said unto his follower who attacked the servant Put up again thy sword into his place: for all they that take the sword shall perish with the sword, the exact same statement made in Revelation.

But secondly, we see Jesus do something magnificent in Luke’s account of the very same events, in Luke 22:51:

51 And Jesus answered and said, Suffer ye thus far. And he touched his ear, and healed him.

“Just let me do this”, Jesus asks the very soldiers who will lead Him to His trial and eventual death. And He reaches out and heals the ear of the high priest’s servant.

Then, in Verses 53 and 54, Jesus again turns to His follower who attacked the high priest’s servant and says:

53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels?
54 But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?


The point here is clear. God could have saved Jesus, but He chose not to because His will was that a greater good that would be accomplished through Jesus’ death. You see, Jesus HAD eternal life! And so do we.

Jesus knew, and we now know that when we “die,” God’s Word promises that we will spend eternity with Him. But there are many around us who, if they died today, would spend eternity in hell and the lake of fire.

Do you think that the high priest’s servant knew that Jesus was something special? You bet he did. Ears don’t just heal themselves, do they? And everyone who saw that miracle knew that Jesus was special, too. Everyone there who might have “had ears to hear” now had the chance to live another day and possibly becoem His disciple.

Because Jesus didn’t fight back and attack, because He didn’t call down angels to destroy His attackers, but rather He reached out to heal His attackers, accepting that His own death was God’s perfect will......others lived another day to have another opportunity to receive eternal life.

We must come to understand our own attackers, enemies and adversaries in the same manner in these last days. We have eternal life. Many of them do not. And we must seek to manifest the love of God like Jesus did, even toward those who would ultimately kill us.

A note in closing:

The Lord led me to share what I have shared here with my two sons, then ages 4 and 5. Every day, they would ask me to share the same story again, soaking in the wonder of Jesus’ love for mankind, even in the face of a horrible death.

Some time after I had begun sharing this with them, my sons and I were discussing the meaning of “trespassing” on someone else’s property. They asked if someone who might come into the downstairs of our home in the middle of the night would be punished with a jail sentence, to which I responded “probably."

My youngest son was thoughtful for a few minutes. Then he said, “If some bad men came into our house in the middle of the night, I would come downstairs and ask them to please leave."

My instinct was to say “Well, son, you should let Daddy take care of that so you will remain safe." But something just told me I should do otherwise, and I instead asked him, “Why, son?"

“Well, Dad”, heh said, “I would ask them to leave right away before the policemen come so they don’t have to go to jail."

You see, my young son got it. He understood the heart of Jesus in all of this. There is eternal life, and eternal “jail," and our desire to see everyone escape that horrible sentence and enter into eternal life must supercede all concerns - even ourselves.

With a constant awareness of eternity, we will be able to sheath the sword of vengeance and extend the hand of healing, because our own lives have already been saved - by Christ.


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Saturday, July 21, 2007

Every Member Brings: Part 7 (Conclusion)

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This is Part 7 of a multi-part series of posts entitled Every Member Brings.



Part 7: Conclusion

We have spent some time looking at the Biblical concept of every member bringing, expressed in 1 Corinthians 14:26. We have looked at the spiritual portrait of us presented by God’s Word, but reality may not immediately, or ever, take on the appearance of this spiritual portrait.

The many members of the Body of Christ who are one are also human. That fact will always affect how we manifest this spiritual portrait in actual practice. Those who have walked in this for years know that. They have lived it, and are living that reality today.

Some people may not agree with what has been shared here; this study tends to get a very marked response from those who read it. Some people may consider this a “lightweight presentation” of God’s Word, and still others might consider it “out of reach” for today’s believers and impractical. That’s OK. Some may not agree because they reject the concept of eldership outright, or conversely believe that it should remain in place as it is today. And that’s OK if they feel that way. Some may never feel comfortable facing their fears and bringing forth what God has placed within them. They may never speak a word in gatherings. There may be many other responses, and that’s OK, too.

Coming to the place where we, as God’s people, begin to walk in this way of living and worshipping is not a tidy proposition. The Journey is based upon both individual and group learning, with the Word of God learned and lived through God’s Holy Spirit by individual members and the whole Body alike. It is a marked by shared mistakes and failed attempts, jointly experienced deadlocks and exhilarating breakthroughs. And that’s OK.

This same Journey, regardless of how each of us may or may not as individuals begin to embrace and live this Biblical spiritual portrait, produces in us a spiritual growth that is the hallmark of a genuine and spiritually growing spiritual community. Daily, we all grow to be a little more like Christ because of God and Him in those around us. Seasons characterized by giant leaps, or by baby steps, or by seeming setbacks waiting to be overcome through Christ Jesus are all OK. It’s all part of the Journey.

God loves us as we are, and He loves us enough not to want to leave us that way. As much as is within us, we must grab His hand and the hands of those around and embark on this Journey together. We must simply and in sincerity be who are in Christ and live the Journey day by day.

This spiritual portrait that we see in 1 Corinthians 14:26 gives us a picture of who we can be as a Body through Christ Jesus and God’s Holy Spirit. It establishes a Truth from God, and dispels a lie from satan.

We are not a boat full of holes, brethren, as satan would have us believe. If we see boards on the Ark that need more sealer lest we leak, or more pegs lest we come apart, it is not because we are falling apart. It is because He is still building us. He has but a little left to finish, and then it will begin to rain.

If we look at the horizon, we can see that there are clouds that are growing dark for this world. It is not growing dark for God’s children, though. Our path grows brighter and brighter until the last day, God tells us in His Word. The day will someday come, perhaps soon, when it will begin to rain. We, however, need not fear nor strive, for we are safe and sound upon the Ark of our salvation, Christ Jesus.

In God’s Word, we read of Nehemiah, who instructed his workers to work with a trowel in one hand and a sword in the other. Let us do likewise, serving in the Kingdom of God by making disciples with one hand through God’s Word, and with the other hand lovingly standing against the enemy satan who seeks to divide us.

We are one. Let us, with His help and one another’s, manifest it.

12-13 You can easily enough see how this kind of thing works by looking no further than your own body. Your body has many parts—limbs, organs, cells—but no matter how many parts you can name, you're still one body. It's exactly the same with Christ. By means of his one Spirit, we all said good-bye to our partial and piecemeal lives. We each used to independently call our own shots, but then we entered into a large and integrated life in which he has the final say in everything. (This is what we proclaimed in word and action when we were baptized.) Each of us is now a part of his resurrection body, refreshed and sustained at one fountain—his Spirit—where we all come to drink. The old labels we once used to identify ourselves—labels like Jew or Greek, slave or free—are no longer useful. We need something larger, more comprehensive.

14-18 I want you to think about how all this makes you more significant, not less. A body isn't just a single part blown up into something huge. It's all the different-but-similar parts arranged and functioning together. If Foot said, "I'm not elegant like Hand, embellished with rings; I guess I don't belong to this body," would that make it so? If Ear said, "I'm not beautiful like Eye, limpid and expressive; I don't deserve a place on the head," would you want to remove it from the body? If the body was all eye, how could it hear? If all ear, how could it smell? As it is, we see that God has carefully placed each part of the body right where he wanted it.

19-24 But I also want you to think about how this keeps your significance from getting blown up into self-importance. For no matter how significant you are, it is only because of what you are a part of. An enormous eye or a gigantic hand wouldn't be a body, but a monster. What we have is one body with many parts, each its proper size and in its proper place. No part is important on its own. Can you imagine Eye telling Hand, "Get lost; I don't need you"? Or, Head telling Foot, "You're fired; your job has been phased out"? As a matter of fact, in practice it works the other way—the "lower" the part, the more basic, and therefore necessary. You can live without an eye, for instance, but not without a stomach. When it's a part of your own body you are concerned with, it makes no difference whether the part is visible or clothed, higher or lower. You give it dignity and honor just as it is, without comparisons. If anything, you have more concern for the lower parts than the higher. If you had to choose, wouldn't you prefer good digestion to full-bodied hair?

25-26 The way God designed our bodies is a model for understanding our lives together as a church: every part dependent on every other part, the parts we mention and the parts we don't, the parts we see and the parts we don't. If one part hurts, every other part is involved in the hurt, and in the healing. If one part flourishes, every other part enters into the exuberance.

1 Corinthians 12:12-26 (The Message Translation)


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Friday, July 20, 2007

Every Member Brings: Part 6

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This is Part 6 of a multi-part series of posts entitled Every Member Brings.



Part 6: It Must Be Done For The Strengthening of the Church

Next, 1 Corinthians 14:26 goes on to say:

What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done.....

God is a loving God. Does He forgive when we err? Absolutely. But does He require obedience of us? He does. Does this make Him unloving? Hardly. God knows that obedience to His Word and will bring righteousness, safety, peace and blessing. Our God loves us SO much, and wants the very best for us!

Together, we can work as one to be obedient to the instruction God gives us in 1 Corinthians 14:26 and see righteousness, safety, peace and blessing spring up among us!

And finally, 1 Corinthians 14:26 tells us:

What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.

We see God’s ultimate purpose in having every member bring a a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation - the strengthening of the church.

In these days, the church and its individual members are being attacked worldwide in a way not seen since the days of Acts.

We need to be strong, and we need to be one.
We need to be one, and we need to be strong.
And we must remember that our strength lies within our oneness with God and one another.

We intimately know the wiles of the devil, for he has sought to use them against each of us since the day we received Christ as our Saviour and Lord. This comes with the territory. There are Christians, however, that are more intimately familiar with satan’s attacks than they are with God and one another. Whatever our spiritual state, this is a day to draw near unto God and with one another as never before.

And it all starts with every member bringing.......what God gave them to bring today.


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Thursday, July 19, 2007

Every Member Brings: Part 5

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This is Part 5 of a multi-part series of posts entitled Every Member Brings.



Part 5: The Spiritual Buffet

There is one other thing that I am will share on this topic of The 5 Courses. It is the concept of the spiritual "buffet." This is what God intended the gatherings of His people to be - spiritual buffets that were supplied by Him, for His glory, through the entire church and for its edification.

Corn here, salad there, roast beef there, pie over there, fresh water there, bread over there. You get the picture. A spiritual buffet.

But how would you feel if you went to your local buffet-style restaurant, paid your money, got a plate and approached the buffet - only to find that each and every container on the buffet held corn? Most of us like the taste of corn, even love it. And it’s nutritious, as well. Nothin’ bad you can say about corn. If you had to, you could live on only corn and water.

This "boring" buffet - with corn as its only course - is too often what man has created in today’s church. The pastor or assistant pastor or teacher speaks almost every week in most churches and, anointed and “nutritious” as it may be, it is only corn.

Many in the Western, and especially American Church, have tried to integrate big sound systems and multimedia screens and church outreaches for every concievable "group" of believer, all with the purpose of "making church interesting" and "drawing people to God." There is nothing in God's Word that says that big productions are inherently wrong. The book of Acts tells us of three thousand people becoming disciples of Christ in one day. That's a big production.

There is a vibrant and growing number of house churches and para-church ministries throughout the world. The popularity of their focus upon "simplicity and intimacy" has been chronicled by the media. There is nothing in God's Word that says that smaller groups are inherently wrong. The book of Acts tells us that the Church began in this fashion.

But if we, whether in larger church settings or smaller, whether in institutional church or house church or para-church settings, are still serving up "just corn," we have missed something vitally important about God's way of doing things. We have forgotten that God's Word is clearly trying to tell us that "what's interesting" and "what will draw people to God" is God's people jointly sharing a manifestation of Him and His Son and His Holy Spirit.

True Biblical community as evidenced in the book of Acts and 1 Corinthians 14:26 and lived out in whatever church size or form, lifts up Christ. As such, it presents people with something that - if they have eyes to see - they can't take their eyes off of.....Christ Himself.

And when He is lifted up, He tells us, He will draw all men unto Himself.

Would you go back to a buffet that only offered corn to eat? No. It is for this same reason that people - in droves - are switching churches or leaving the church altogether.

Don’t get me wrong. Perhaps some of us in the church meant well. Perhaps some of us looked at building the church on a practical level, and that’s where we got into trouble. The church is not a practical organism, it is a spiritual organism.

Perhaps some of us looked at building the church on a professional level, like a successful company, and that’s where we got into trouble. The church is not a professional organism, it is a spiritual organism.

And sadly, perhaps still others of us looked at building the church on a personal level, seeking to build our own Kingdom to give to God, and that’s where we got into trouble. The church is not a personal organism, it is a spiritual organism, and God created it to give to Himself.

We are not called to build the Church. Jesus said that He would build His church. He told us to make disciples of all men. And the best way to disciple is that way that Christ Himself did; by sharing His daily life with those whom He was seeking to disciple.

That is why every member bringing when they come together is such a powerful thing. What is experienced there and is shared there is a spiritual product of God's work in and through His Church, an ordained response to what He is doing in the hearts and lives of each member and amidst the community of believers as a whole. When this happens, there is nothing more worshipful, more praising unto God, more laden with glory for our Creator and Father.

God has created us in oneness to provide a buffet that is representative of our Heavenly Father, a feast of the Holy Spirit beyond human measure, a banquet that is fit for the King.


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Wednesday, July 18, 2007

Every Member Brings: Part 4

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This is Part 4 of a multi-part series of posts entitled Every Member Brings.



Part 4: The Five Courses

Next, we reach God’s explanation of the 5 courses of this spiritual meal that He desires to bring to His people through His people.

When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation.
1 Corinthians 14:26

A Hymn

A hymn, as defined here in its original Greek meaning, refers to a Hebrew psalm. The significance of this meaning, as opposed to a meaning like “a song,” etc., is this:

~ The Psalms of the Bible are almost always praise directed toward God.
~ Psalms do not necessarily rhyme.
~ Psalms do not necessarily have musical accompaniment.
~ Psalms are simple songs, sung as a person might pray it in a prayer of thanksgiving.

This shows us that the term hymn is not referring to the “shows” that we sometimes see during "worship" in many churches today. Remember, God’s Word in this verse says “every member brings,” not “those who have been called to the ‘worship team’ bring” or “those who have signed up to sing a guest song bring.” God says that every member brings.

Is it scary for people to sing a hymn this way? By all means, YES! :-D One must first practice this scriptural principle at home, as we are instructed to do in God’s Word.

In Ephesians 5:19, God Word tells us that we should first be Speaking to yourselves in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody in your heart to the Lord... Then, later, God’s Word tells us in Colossians 3:16 that we are to Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom; teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord.

By practicing the singing of hymns at home in this manner, we become comfortable with this profound expression of thanks and ministry to God. Then, mixed with faith, we can step forward to minister to the church in "public" at gatherings (church services) in the same way.

A Word of Instruction

A word of instruction is, for the most part, a revelation of Scriptural Truth. Whether in the form of sharing one or two scriptures and sharing what God has revealed to you through His Spirit regarding those verse(s), or sharing word of testimony based upon the application of a revealed Truth in your own life, words of instruction are “meat and potatoes” to the church.

A Revelation

A revelation is best understood by looking at the original meaning of the Greek word. The term revelation means to take the lid off of something so that it can be seen. There are a number of ministries amongst the church which are revelation ministries, with prophecy, words of wisdom and words of knowledge, and Spirit-birthed testimony among them.

A Tongue

A tongue simply refers to speaking in tongues, be it in the tongue of man or of angels.

An Interpretation

A interpretation is the revelation, in the common language of the listeners, of a tongue.


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Tuesday, July 17, 2007

Every Member Brings: Part 3

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This is Part 3 of a multi-part series of posts entitled Every Member Brings.



Part 3: Everyone Brings

Note that in 1 Corinthians 14:26, God’s says When you come together, everyone has.... If you use your concordance, you will find that the term “everyone” means “everyone.” This simple Truth is of enormous impact upon the Body of Christ.

When God says “everyone has,” He means “everyone has.” Now, it is true that when we review 2 of the major reasons, previously stated in Part 2, that this scripture is not being accurately practiced in the church today:

~ Many people are afraid to, are too lazy to, or don’t believe that they’re able to effectively speak in front of the Church.
~ Some selfish elders lustfully and pridefully fear giving up “control” of church services - even temporarily - to the "common man."

....we see that one of the causes may be the people themselves. If someone is too afraid, too lazy, or too insecure, no one - including elders - can bring them out of their shell. By the same token, if an elder is too lustful, prideful or afraid to give up "control" of the church to God, then no person is likely to change their minds.

In the interest of Truth, however, it must be stated that the lion’s share of the responsibility for the accurate practice of 1 Corinthians 14:26 first rests with elders. If they have not served the Church by humbly helping them to live their lives, including corporate worship, in the manner that God commands within this verse, then they bear great responsibility when the church is not being effectually edified.

So, elders are first responsible to serve the Church by humbly helping them to live this scriptural model for the operation of the Body of Christ, and then to humbly train up God’s people within that to minister and edify.

Once these 2 things have taken place, now it is the responsibility of each believer to come to every gathering with the hymn, word of instruction, revelation, tongue or interpretation that has been given to them by God.

Note that I have not written that every believer is responsible to bring A hymn, word of instruction, revelation, tongue or interpretation that has been given to them by God. Rather, THE hymn, word of instruction, revelation, tongue or interpretation that has been given to them by God.

We must be careful not to get the cart in front of the horse when discussing and living out this scripture. 1 Corinthians 14:26 is not a laundry list to believers, to be used as a reference to “come up with something” to share at every gathering. It is a statement about what God will be causing to happen within us and then out through us when we, as individual believers and the Body of Christ as a whole, are walking in accordance with His will for our lives.

When we are in oneness with God, with our spouse, with our brethren and with God’s Word, a hymn, word of instruction, revelation, tongue or interpretation that has been given by God will already be upon our lips, from out of the bounty that He has placed within our hearts.

The result of these two scriptures (1 Corinthians 14:26 & Ephesians 4:11-12 ) practiced obediently and working in tandem, will be believers growing up to become like Christ Himself, and the church being strengthened through every member in oneness. And this is what every faithful believer so desires to see.


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Monday, July 16, 2007

Every Member Brings: Part 2

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This is Part 2 of a multi-part series of posts entitled Every Member Brings.



Part 2: In Tandem and As One

What then shall we say, brothers? When you come together, everyone has a hymn, or a word of instruction, a revelation, a tongue or an interpretation. All of these must be done for the strengthening of the church.
1 Corinthians 14:26 (NIV)

11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:

Ephesians 4:11-12

One of the most influential scriptures in the entire New Testament regarding the effective day-to-day operation of the Body of Christ is 1 Corinthians 14:26.

It is often overlooked or under-applied for a number of reasons, 2 major ones being:

~ Many people are afraid to, are too lazy to, or don’t believe that they’re able to effectively speak in front of the Church (and virtually everything detailed in 1 Corinthians 14:26 is in spoken or sung form).
~ Some selfish elders lustfully and pridefully fear giving up what they perceive to be “control” of church services - even temporarily - to the "common man."

1 Corinthians 14:26, is to be practiced in tandem with Ephesians 4:11-12, and thus does a mighty work of God amongst His church:

11 And he gave some, apostles; and some, prophets; and some, evangelists; and some, pastors and teachers;
12 For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ:


Ephesians 4:11-12 tells us that one of the elders’ primary purposes is for the perfecting (equipping / training) of the saints for 2 purposes; to equip / train them for the work of the ministry (evangelism, etc.) and to equip / train them to edify. Verses 13 - 15 tells us that the result of this equipping / training will be very positive and productive, namely that the believers will grow up to become like Christ Himself.

It is clear that we have each been given a special role in God's plan. Our special role, however, is one with the special plans that He has for the rest of His children. In some way, they dove-tail with one another. They fit. We, who are created by God for an individual purpose which is yet one with a greater plan, are not able to fulfill the the individual purposes of others as effectively as God intends.

God has not done this to create "classes" amongst a people whom He has called to be one. Rather, He has done this to create a myriad of ways in which He manifests Himself in this world, through Christ Jesus and in the midst of His people.

As such, those who are created by God to function as elders while being one with God's people and plan cannot fulfill the call of those who are not, and those who have not been called to function as elders while being one with God's people and plan cannot fulfill the call of those who are. No class distinctions. No lording over God's heritage instead of selflessly and sacrificially serving God and His people. No lazily leaning upon "people in charge" when we should be faithfully depending upon God and doing what He created each of us to do.

It takes everyone doing their part to accomplish the fullness of God within and through the Body of Christ, and it simply will not happen unless this scripture (1 Corinthians 14:26) is taught and practiced without fail.

This is the purpose of this series of writings....to take a close, loving look at what we will allow God to do in our midst when we obediently practice 1 Corinthians 14:26.


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Sunday, July 15, 2007

Every Member Brings: Part 1

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This is Part 1 of a multi-part series of posts entitled Every Member Brings.



Part 1: God's Desire For Oneness

God desires oneness. He desires oneness with us (Ezekiel 36:28), He desires that we have oneness with His Son (1 John 1:3), and He desires that His Son’s Body, the church be one with one another (1 Corinthians 12:12 - 26).

In Ephesians 4, God’s Word tells us that Christ Jesus sent elders to the Body of Christ - apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers - and then speaks of the result of their work for Christ amongst the church.

In Ephesians 4:15(c)-16, God’s Word says:

15 .....which is the head, even Christ:
16 From whom the whole body fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part, maketh increase of the body unto the edifying of itself in love.
In these verses, we clearly see God’s great plan for His people, that they - in oneness with Him and His Son and one another - would edify / strengthen themselves in love.

In Verse 16, God says that the whole Body of Christ is fitly joined together and compacted by that which every joint supplieth, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part. What a wonderful vision of oneness!

In this passage, the term fitly means to lay [like “laying a foundation”] joints together in union, with the example being given of a chariot that is well fit together (the word together implying a profound level of union). Wow.

And here we thought us "regular folk" were only supposed to give “praise reports” or “announcements” or such at church, right? Who knew that the Holy Spirit desires to see every member - through what Spirit-inspired sharing they bring to each gathering - lay the joints of the church together in union like a chariot is fit together? The church - a chariot of God? It is an eye-opening revelation, isn’t it?

The term compacted means, in essence, to drive together into unity. This driving together, much like Noah hammering the first Ark together, brings the joints (members of the church) together in a way that there can be no space between them - no leaks, no separation, no division. How wonderful that we can, through simply sharing what God has placed upon our hearts to share, be part of building the Ark of the last days - the Body of Christ awaiting His return.

The term supplieth means to contribute, with its root meaning to furnish while beside. Here again, this oneness, this being “beside” one another shows God’s loving plan for oneness in the church.

And finally, according to the effectual working in the measure of every part shows us that each member of the church (each “part”), in their own measure (their role and contribution as assigned by God through the Holy Spirit), does this work and must do this work.

The result? What God has always wanted. Oneness. Oneness. Oneness.


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The Nuisance

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We were the only family with children in the restaurant. I sat our son in a high chair and noticed everyone was quietly eating and talking. Suddenly, our son squealed with glee and said, “Hi there.” He pounded his fat baby hands on the highchair tray. His eyes were wide with excitement and his mouth was bared in a toothless grin. He wriggled and giggled with glee.

I looked around and saw the source of his merriment. It was a man with a tattered rag of a coat, dirty, greasy and worn. His pants were baggy with a zipper at half-mast and his toes poked out of would-be shoes. His shirt was dirty and his hair was uncombed and unwashed. His nose was so varicose it looked like a road map. We were too far from him to smell, but I was sure he smelled. His hands waved and flapped on loose wrists. “Hi there, baby; hi there, big boy. I see ya, buster,” the man said to our son.

My husband and I exchanged looks, “What do we do?” (Click on the "Read More!" link below) our son continued to laugh and answer, “Hi, hi there.” Everyone in the restaurant noticed and looked at us and then at the man. The old geezer was creating a nuisance with my beautiful baby.

Our meal came and the man began shouting from across the room, “Do ya know patty cake? Do you know peek-a-boo? Hey, look, he knows peek-a-boo.” Nobody thought the old man was cute. He was obviously drunk. My husband and I were embarrassed. We ate in silence, all except for our son, who was running through his repertoire for the admiring skid-row bum, who in turn, reciprocated with his cute comments.

We finally got through the meal and headed for the door. My husband went to pay the check and told me to meet him in the parking lot. The old man sat poised between me and the door. “Lord, just let me out of here before he speaks to me or our son,” I prayed. As I drew closer to the man, I turned my back trying to sidestep him and avoid any air he might be breathing. As I did, our son leaned over my arm, reaching with both arms in a baby’s “pick-me-up” position. Before I could stop him, our son had propelled himself from my arms to the man’s. Suddenly a very old smelly man and a very young baby consummated their love relationship. Our son in an act of total trust, love, and submission laid his tiny head upon the man’s ragged shoulder.

The man’s eyes closed, and I saw tears hover beneath his lashes. His aged hands full of grime, pain, and hard labor-gently, so gently, cradled my baby’s bottom and stroked his back. No two beings have ever loved so deeply for so short a time. I stood awestruck. The old man rocked and cradled our son in his arms for a moment, and then his eyes opened and set squarely on mine. He said in a firm commanding voice, “You take care of this baby.” Somehow I managed, “I will,” from a throat that contained a stone. He pried our son from his chest-unwillingly, longingly, as though he were in pain. I received my baby, and the man said, “God bless you, ma’am, you’ve given me my Christmas gift.”

With our son in my arms, I ran for the car. My husband was wondering why I was crying and holding our son so tightly, and why I was saying, “My God, my God, forgive me.” I had just witnessed Christ’s love shown through the innocence of a tiny child who saw no sin, who made no judgment; a child who saw a soul, and a mother who saw a suit of clothes. I was a Christian who was blind, holding a child who was not. I felt it was God asking “Are you willing to share your son for a moment?” when He shared His for all eternity. The ragged old man, unwittingly, had reminded me, “To enter the Kingdom of God, we must become as little children.”

Author Unknown

[A nod of the head and a quiet smile to sunshine for life for first making us aware of this writing.]


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Thursday, July 12, 2007

Why Is It So Hard For Me To Forgive?

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Early in my Christian walk, I made a disturbing discovery. Though I had become a disciple of Christ, I found that I was not immediately able to walk like Jesus did.

It showed up most profoundly in my ability to forgive.

I would sincerely “try” to forgive, but I seldom was able. It was such a struggle for me until one day when, during prayer, I received a revelation of the Truth about forgiveness and me.

Trying To Forgive
Our Lord asked me, “My child, do you want to know what I see when you’re trying to forgive someone?”. I didn’t really understand, but I said yes. And then, as I prayed, He showed me a picture of me, flexing like a bodybuilder, muscles tight, body shaking - TRYING to forgive.

It was funny and not funny at the same time. I saw how silly I looked trying to do that which God had commanded me to do. And - for the first time - I saw that I was trying to do it through the force of my own will. It was clear to me that my feeble attempts would never result in real forgiveness.

Our Lord told me what I had already read in the Bible and what had already been preached to me from the pulpit - that forgiveness was an “inside job.“ It was the forgiveness of God in us, working through us, that changed hearts.

And so, hearing nothing new, I sheepishly asked our Lord a dangerous question. “Well, if I already know these things You’ve told me, Lord, why is it so hard for me to forgive?”. His answer changed my life. (Click on the "Read More!" link below to read further and hear a great song about forgiveness)
“Oh, I see.”Jesus reminded me of some profound lessons that He’d taught me early in my walk with Him - lessons about how we think and communicate. our Lord had taught me that we basically are “seeing” when we think. Seeing in our minds, that’s all.

Try this exercise, and you’ll see what I mean. Don’t read down the page right now. Close your eyes and clear your mind of everything. Then open your eyes and look here again.

OK. What is the VERY FIRST thing you think of when you hear the word:

Scroll down now










Disneyland.










Was is Mickey Mouse? Goofy? The Matterhorn? Space Mountain? It’s A Small World? The Parade? These are some of the most popular answers to this question.

But no one sees the word “Disneyland” written on a page when they think of Disneyland. No, we get a picture in our minds that we’ve stored away in the past that means “Disneyland” to us.

We don’t think in words. We think in pictures.

And this is how we seek to communicate with one another, as well, if you’ll think about it. When we converse with someone, we’re trying to get them to “see” what we’re “seeing”. Isn’t it interesting that when someone finally understands something you’re saying, that they sometimes say “Oh, I see............”

How Many Times?
So Jesus reminded me of these lessons that He’d taught me. And then He dropped a bombshell my most recent attempts to forgive a man I’ll call Mike. Mike had acted in a very condescending manner toward me, and had spoken very harshly to me in a recent conversation.

Our Lord asked me, “My child, how many times did Mike say those things to you?”. “Well, once, Lord,” I replied. “And how many times do you need to forgive him, if you truly forgive him from your heart?,” He asked. “Once, Lord,” I responded.

Then our Lord said to me, “My child, you’ve been playing this event OVER and OVER in your mind. You’ve been remembering what you saw, what you heard, and how it felt - AGAIN and AGAIN. And every time you replay it in your mind, it feels like it did the first time.”

“My child,” our Lord continued, “Mike only said those things to you ONE time, he only hurt you ONCE, but because you’ve played it over and over in your mind, you feel like he’s done it 40 times. You’ve added 39 offenses to his account, My child, 39 times that never really happened, and yet you have not forgiven him for the first, real offense.”

“This is why it is so hard for you to forgive”.

“Whether it is forgiving another person or forgiving yourself, My child,” our Lord said, “It must be done in two ways. It must be REAL. And it must be REAL FAST,” so that that the enemy and your flesh will not tempt you to add sins to another’s account which they did not commit.

God’s Word, God’s Forgiveness
So why is it so hard to forgive? Because we REHEARSE the matter over and over in our minds before trying to forgive.

Psalm 77:11 - 12 tells us what kinds of things we should REHEARSE in our minds:

I will remember the works of our Lord (not man‘s):
Surely I will remember Thy wonders of old (CALL them to mind).
I will MEDITATE also of all Thy work, (REHEARSE it in our minds)
and TALK of Thy doings (not our offenders’ doings ).

Philippians 4:8 - 9 tells us:
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

And on forgiveness, the Word of God says in 2 Corinthians 2:7 - 9, 11:
So that contrariwise, you ought rather to forgive him [who has offended], and comfort him, lest perhaps such a one should be swallowed up with overmuch sorrow.
Wherefore I beseech you that you would confirm [give evidence of] your love toward him.
For to this end also did I write [to you], that I might know the proof of you [what is really in your hearts], whether you are obedient in all things.
Lest satan should get advantage of us: for we are not ignorant of his devices.

And in Romans 15:7:
Wherefore, receive ye one another, as Christ also received us to the glory of God.

And finally in John 8:9b - 11, one of the most beautiful portraits of all of our Lord‘s forgiveness:
.....and Jesus was left alone, [with] the woman standing in the midst.
When Jesus had lifted Himself up, and saw none but the woman, He said unto her, “Woman, Where are thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee?”.
She said, “No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee.......”.

One of the most beautiful songs ever written about Peter's encounter with Jesus when he asked Him about forgiveness is Whiteheart's Seventy Times Seven. Don't miss this! Please listen to Jesus' words as they are sung into your heart.






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22 Years and a Million Miles

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"I need to tell you what I was really doing before I met Jesus, my wife," I said, terrified that she might walk out of my life when she heard the whole Truth.

I went on to tell my wife of the full extent and every detail of my past addictions to drugs, alcohol, pornography and my habitual lying. She knew much of it, of course, but not the extent to which these bondages had controlled my life until 6 months before when I had finally and truly surrendered my life to Christ.

She sat on the bed, looking me in the eye as I shared who I had become over the years since my childhood, and since the first time we had met some 9 years before. When you're asking someone for forgiveness for such grave injustices, such dark sins against them, you look at their face intently. You're looking for any twitch, and facial expression that might indicate how they're taking what you're saying. But my wife just looked at me calmly and listened to what I was sharing. Her countenance never wavered.

When I was finished, I said, "I truly believe that this is everything, and I need to ask you to forgive me." She looked at me as I will never forget, and I realized before she ever spoke that she had truly and from the bottom of her heart already forgiven me. She said... (Click on the "Read More!" link below) "My husband, I never prayed that you would stop doing any of those things. I only prayed that you would come to know Jesus, and that you would walk with Him for all of your days."

She then showed me computer disks that contained her daily prayers, prayers that she had typed into her computer as she prayed, prayers she offered on my behalf every day for almost 7 years. I read on the screen and saw that she had prayed exactly what she said she'd been praying for all those years. And I was stunned by the magnitude of her faith in God, and of her forgiveness for me.

And so, surrounded by a love like that, I took the hand of my wife and walked with her and Jesus.

Yesterday, we celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary, but it is not the date of our wedding that we celebrate. My wife and I celebrate 22 years and a million miles.

We celebrate the Journey which He first purposed for us before the foundations of the universe. We celebrate the lessons learned together, the wrongs forgiven each other, the moments experienced as one, and 22 years and a million miles that we have shared with Christ and one another.

We celebrate living in a present moment that is the product of every step of that Journey.

We celebrate the knowledge that, for as long as we have breath, we will never be divided from one another. For God has allowed us to live within a temple made one out of two by His Holy Spirit. No one else treads there but us and God. No one else is allowed. Ours is a sacred bond lived out in a sacred place.

Looking back, we realize that the degree of the cloistered, spiritual intimacy that my wife and I share is directly proportionate to the "miles" we have walked together. Every mile has had a price and a blessing. Every mile is etched with vivid meaning and color upon our collective memory. Every mile speaks to us from within that collective memory as a testimony to His grace and mercy, and to the love which He alone has placed within us for Him and one another.

And so, I share with you today that, being one with Him and with her, I am the very least of this equation. Deserving nothing, I have been blessed beyond compare by both of them, because they desired to give to me. Deserving rejection, I have been made one with both of them, because they desired it to be so.

I give testimony of that love to you this day with these words. I have those words for you.

But toward my God and my wife, the capability of words passed long ago. The capability of words has faded with the miles, melting away into something fearfully wondrous in its depth and magnitude.

For them, I no longer have any words.

Rather their deep looks into my deep, and they just know.

Today, look again, my wife, and know.


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Tuesday, July 10, 2007

You Formed Me In My Mother's Womb

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Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out;
you formed me in my mother's womb.
I thank you, High God—you're breathtaking!
Body and soul, I am marvelously made!
I worship in adoration—what a creation!
You know me inside and out,
you know every bone in my body;
You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit,
how I was sculpted from nothing into something.
Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth;
all the stages of my life were spread out before you,
The days of my life all prepared
before I'd even lived one day.

Psalm 139:13-16






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Monday, July 09, 2007

And Blossom As The Rose

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Isaiah 35

1 The wilderness and the solitary place shall be glad for them; and the desert shall rejoice, and blossom as the rose.

2 It shall blossom abundantly, and rejoice even with joy and singing: the glory of Lebanon shall be given unto it, the excellency of Carmel and Sharon, they shall see the glory of the LORD, and the excellency of our God.



(Click on the "Read More!" link below)

3 Strengthen ye the weak hands, and confirm the feeble knees.

4 Say to them that are of a fearful heart, Be strong, fear not: behold, your God will come with vengeance, even God with a recompence; he will come and save you.

5 Then the eyes of the blind shall be opened, and the ears of the deaf shall be unstopped.

6 Then shall the lame man leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb sing: for in the wilderness shall waters break out, and streams in the desert.

7 And the parched ground shall become a pool, and the thirsty land springs of water: in the habitation of dragons, where each lay, shall be grass with reeds and rushes.

8 And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it; but it shall be for those: the wayfaring men, though fools, shall not err therein.

9 No lion shall be there, nor any ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found there; but the redeemed shall walk there:

10 And the ransomed of the LORD shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.


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Jesus: Melts the Frozen Heart

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I was sitting in the waiting area of a local establishment this morning, and my eyes were drawn to the windows of the entryway. The outside of these windows were covered with a gray sheet of ice about 1/2 inch thick, left over from the cold night before.

The sun was rising in the sky and began to hit the windows from the top down. As it did, the hard, cold sheet of ice began to melt, and the sun reflected off of the tiny drops of water.

Our Lord spoke to me as I watched this.

There are many cold, hard people in the world today. There are still areas in our own hearts that remain hard and cold. Through fear and past wounds and bitterness, hardness and coldness set in and freeze a place in a person’s heart, rendering it lifeless and gray.

But when the Son touches even a portion of a frozen place, it begins to melt, and the result is truly wonderful.

When the Son touches the frozen places in people’s hearts, that which was dim, rigid, and immovable becomes shining, fluid and flowing.

As I beheld that frozen window being transformed by the Son, I saw in the melting ice a bed of diamonds and a sea of twinkling stars. No ice could stand in the presence of that Son. Silently, slowly, inch by inch, the Son can change our frozen places into worlds of wondrous beauty.

Let the Son touch you today.


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Sunday, July 08, 2007

Prayer at 10,000 Meters

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Joy, Jocelyn and Jonathan over at Paving the Way have an interesting post about the importance of prayer in our lives. Enjoy.

I sat next to a serious Muslim on the flight to Dubai. Even before take-off, he was reading the Koran. After flying for 4 hours, he anxiously asked me to open the window shield. He needed to find out when the sun set [was]. And that’s time for his prayer.

Read more of Prayer at 10,000 Meters at Paving The Way)


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A Faith Forged In The Fire

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Dedicated with overwhelming love to my dear friends K and C, with whom I have seen Jesus walking in the fire.

There once was a man who was ship-wrecked on a desert island. All on board his vessel died but him, and he was all alone on the island.

He set about to build a small house and couple other small structures. He had to fashion tools of his own because he didn’t have any tools. And so he built his camp as best he could. He was not very good at it at first, and it required many lessons and many failed attempts until he was able to fashion structures that would stand up in the elements. When he was done, he realized that it was a good camp. There were a couple of things that he might have changed if he could have built it again, but it was a good camp, and so he settled in to the life that God had given him.

Every day, he would read his Bible out loud, from the book of Psalms. He did this for 3 reasons; to keep his faith strong, so that he would not forget how to speak, and so he would always remember what it was like to hear a human voice. Day after day, he read and he spoke those Psalms out loud, and he prayed.

The man had a sack in which he placed the few things that he would take with him from the island when and if he was rescued. The sack sat against a tree at the edge of the camp, waiting for that day. And so every day, the man spent his day reading and speaking the psalms of God, praying, hunting for food, and ever watching the water in hope of seeing a passing ship that might rescue him.

Early one morning as the sun was rising, when he was far up on a mountain hunting for food, he saw enormous billows of smoke rising from the direction of his camp on the beach. (Click on the "Read More!" link below)


As quickly as he could, he ran all the way down the mountain and back to the beach, only to find that his entire camp had burned to the ground. His tools were intact and his sack that was leaning against the tree at the edge of the camp, but the buildings had been completely destroyed. Smoke filled the sky, and there was nothing left of what he had worked so hard to build.

I imagine that it would have been easy for most people to become full of despair at that moment, thinking back on having been ship-wrecked, on the loneliness he experienced, on the hardship he had endured, and now the loss of everything he had built.

But this man wasn’t like everyone. He had a faith, and this circumstance had only served to strengthen that faith until it was stronger than ever before. Every day, he had been reading the Psalms and praying. Every day, he had read those Psalms and listened as God’s Word spoke out loud to him of how God will always be with us, how there are angels around us to protect us and keep us, how in good times and in bad, in life and even in death, our God will be with us.

And so he did not look at his circumstance through eyes of despair. Hard as it may have been, the man looked at his circumstance through the eyes of faith. He looked at the camp in ruins and the only things that remained - his bag and his tools - and he saw something amazing.

He saw that he still had the tools that he needed to rebuild a new life. Not only that, he realized that he had already learned most of the hard lessons that he would need to learn about how to build and how not to build. This time, he realized, he could build something that was nearly perfect, a better camp, a smarter camp, one stronger, one more secure, a camp that would never burn down again.

And so, yet early in that morning, he set about to begin his work with great passion and joy, and in no time at all, he had rebuilt the first building of the camp.

The next morning as he was beginning to work on building the next structure, he glanced out to sea, and what he saw took his breath away. At the very edge of the horizon, he saw sails. Heading straight for the island was a ship. Several hours later, that ship, the good ship Hope, anchored off the coast, and sent a landing party to shore.

As the landing boat approached the shore a half mile down the beach from his camp, the man grabbed his bag and ran down to meet them. He met them with joy, and told them of his story. The men on the landing boat were amazed, and they immediately developed immense respect for the man when they heard of his ordeal. He, in turn, had great appreciation for them, for they had come to him in the time of his greatest need.

“There’s just one thing that I don‘t understand, though,” the man asked the men of the crew as they were rowing back to the good ship Hope. “How did you know that I was here? How did you find me?”

“Why, we saw the smoke of your signal fire yesterday, coming up over the horizon,” they said. “It’s a good thing you made your fire that big, too, or we never would have seen it and come to your aid.”

And so the man realized that not only had his experience on the island drawn him closer to God, but that God had used the loss of all that he had built there to bring him together with those with whom he would share a deep friendship for the rest of his life.

This man’s faith had been forged by God in the fire.

Many people have lived stories that are much like that of the man on the island. The faith which they possess today has been forged in the fire, just as his was. In the midst of that fire, they have been reading God’s Word and praying. They have been hearing it in their ear, telling them of God’s earnest desire to be one with them, of His earnest desire for them to be one with one another, of His earnest desire that they might reach out together to help those around them who are yet in the midst of a fire. They have been sensing those words of God and those prayers building up their most holy faith as never before.

These things are gifts that can only come from God. He has given you another gift, as well. If you will pause and consider the circle of friends - I mean true friends - who stand around you, you will realize the precious gift from God that surrounds you.

All around you stand those who saw the smoke of your own fire rising above the horizon. They saw it and they came to you. For you, these people are like the crew of the good ship Hope.

In God’s Word, we read of Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego, men whose faith was forged by God in the fire. Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego were thrown into the fiery furnace by an evil king who demanded that they worship him instead of God. But they would not. And so the king had the fiery furnace heated to seven times its intended heat, so hot that the men who threw Shadrach, Meshack and Abednego - bound hand and feet - into the furnace died from the heat.

But when he heard no screams, the king walked to where he could see into the furnace and he looked in to see what was happening. “How many men did we throw bound into the furnace?,” the king asked incredulously. “Three,” the people around him replied. “Well, I see four men walking free inside of the furnace,” the king said with amazement, “and the fourth one looks like the Son of God.”

If we seek a simple and genuine faith, asking God to help us as we sometimes blindly find our way in that faith, He will be with us always. There will still be fiery furnaces in our lives, but if we trust in Him, He will accompany us every step of the way.

I have had the honor of sharing my life with wonderful people. I have seen some of them go through times when it was as if they were being thrown, bound hand and foot, into the fiery furnace. I have seen them set free in the midst of that fire. And I have seen One walking with them. When I have beheld them walking through their fiery furnace, I have seen Jesus.

We must remember this as we walk forward in this life.. We must remember that, as we trust in Him in all things, and we continue to read His Word and pray, as we continue to live the life that He has given us, He will be with us always. And when we seek and possess and live out a simple and genuine faith in God, even if it’s on a desert island or in a fiery furnace, people will see Jesus.


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