Meditation: April 1

“Later a few religion scholars and Pharisees got on him. “Teacher, we want to see your credentials. Give us some hard evidence that God is in this. How about a miracle?” Matthew 12:38

Those who appear before men as authorities in relation to God’s order seldom recognize the fact that He refuses to restrict Himself to their expectations. Formulas and theorems of success do not work. He will withhold from them what they expected, but show forth the unexpected. These few that approached Him thought that He would be anxious to validate Himself before such an impressive crowd. But Jesus had nothing to prove. He was as sure of Himself then as He was when Satan tempted Him on the pinnacle of the Temple requesting Him to show off His divine powers. When we are asked to prove ourselves to be what we have been called by God to be, we must first recognize who it is that requires of us evidence. If not God by way of His Spirit, a prophetic word is sufficient. We live by what God has said and it serves as the basis for all He is now saying. If not by the Word of God, we become performance oriented. We must live by the Word and allow the Word to be given full expression through us. But never should we hide behind our credentials of education to prove our pedigree nor miracles to prove our power before men. It is God who wills and performs His work in and through us.

August 2016 Article: “The Shaking of Kingdoms”

Heb 12:27-29 The phrase, “one last shaking,” means a thorough housecleaning, getting rid of all the historical and religious junk so that the unshakable essentials stand clear and uncluttered. (28) Do you see what we’ve got? An unshakable kingdom! And do you see how thankful we must be? Not only thankful, but brimming with worship, deeply reverent before God. For God is not an indifferent bystander. (29) He’s actively cleaning house, torching all that needs to burn, and he won’t quit until it’s all cleansed. God himself is Fire!” (The Message Paraphrase)

God’s established authority, having been compromised, gives rise to resulting calamities that expresses violence within the heart of the rebellious. Sin is rebellion and is practiced by those who contradict God’s Word and is offended by His standard of absolute righteousness. Since it is impossible to measure up to His standard independent of surrendering to His Son, Jesus Christ, the futile search for alternatives merely lead to further frustration of the heart. The essentials stand clear and uncluttered regardless of contrary opinions among those who consider themselves too intelligent to trust the simplicity of God’s Word. Jesus spoke of the ignorance among His own people when He said, “If you had known, even you, especially in this your day, the things that make for your peace! But now they are hidden from your eyes.” (Luke 19:42b) The practice of sin blinds one from understanding or even having an interest in what works and produces a permanent resolve to the issues of our day. Therefore, more laws must be passed and further modified, increased military strength to regulate the inevitable, and a dependency upon the decisions of ungodly leaders leading to increased fears and ultimately hopelessness and despair. When His authority is violated, security and the people are threatened.

The closer we come to the return of Christ, the more the light of His glory exposes the intent of the hearts of mankind. The increase of warring factions is not coincidental. Injustice becomes the measure among those lacking an absolute standard. Unfortunately, most are not able to draw the line that connects decisions made on a personal and collective basis and the consequences that follow. God merely withdraws a small measure of His grace that allows people to have it their own way. Only God knows the end from the beginning. All of us have the right to choose what we will to do with our own bodies, what we wish to say, and where we wish to go, but we do not have the right to determine the consequences of our decisions. The prophetic Word is a warning to all; yet it is still be ignored today as it has throughout history!

There will come a time when there will be one last shaking. A shaking of our economy, a shaking of our educational, and economic systems, a shaking of our political system, a shaking among religious institutions; everything will be shaken. The shaking will take place as a means of exposing the futility of everything established where the Lord has been expelled. God is actively cleaning house! First, there must be the uprooting of the residue of rebellion that stands as a monument of man’s strength when he stands alone. Babel was incomplete and its structure was not secure—it represented confusion. However, God is erecting a Kingdom that cannot be shaken!  It is time for each one of us to examine ourselves and ask the question, “What are you building? Whose side are you really on?”  He is King of kings and Lord of lords, and the time is soon coming where are will eventually realize that the only thing that matters and will have a lasting effect are those things initiated and sustained by Him.

April 2016 Article: “From Death to Life”

God’s order is the opposite of our normal way of thinking. Human reasoning would have you to believe that death is the final act of nature, the ultimate sealing of one’s fate. Yet God looks at life differently and reveals Himself through nature. Contained within every created thing is the mystery of life, where one can clearly see His plan of redemption. First, death itself is redefined. The reality of death is sin; a life lived by those who are ignorant of life’s purpose. Sin is defined as “missing the mark.”  Their attempts to make life meaningful only add to their confusion and frustration. When life is lived arbitrarily without the knowledge of God’s original intent, nothing is left but to live life under the shadows of dreadful death. The fear of death becomes the obsession, since no one is able to fully describe what exists on the other side. Yet the magnetic pull of sin attracts one to what he fears the most and blinds him to the consequences. “The wages of sin is death.” Jesus beautifully illustrates salvation as an anticipated death. He first speaks of Himself and then how every human being might participate in His death.

“But Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified.  (24) Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain.  (25) He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.  (26) If anyone serves Me, let him follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also. If anyone serves Me, him My Father will honor.”(John 12:23-26)

He came to die in order for death to occur in all of us. His original purpose for our original design is hidden in the seed that fell to the ground and died. Once we fully identify with His death as the needful act on God’s part for what we deserved, then His life can be made manifest in us. No longer living in a mummified state of existence of selfish ambition and gain, but freed from grave clothes that bind one of free expression. Freedom is not merely the ability to do as one pleases, but rather to do what pleases God and finding pleasure in pleasing Him. The seed does not remain alone but reproduces after its own kind. Christ is experienced and made known in graveyards of politics, business, entertainment, education, and religion. When we influence every sphere of life with the fragrance of Christ, we will produce a passion and desire in the heart for something more than the mere lifestyles of the rich and famous. Oh, if people only knew how much they are missing by engaging in the exercises of competitive living and hedonism, they would rush in the direction of the only truth that can set them free!

With the fear of death removed and replaced with the promise of eternal life, one is able to give himself or herself completely to God and come to know Him as Father. Anything less than this is merely a pacifier in the mouth of a crying baby who will soon discover that there is no nutrition in it. It was merely placed there to keep him from crying. We don’t have to merely imagine that there is a God. He is more than willing to reveal Himself to each and every one of us, but a polluted heart full of envy, jealousy, and pride will shroud His image. When one wills to die to his self-life, He will kill him so that He might be resurrected to spirit life.  There is life after death…and to be very frank, the only life worth living is preceded by death. Come and die! Come to Jesus and live!