father – Page 4 – Cross Culture Church

Meditation: September 8

“He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.” John 16:14

The work of the Holy Spirit is to arrest our thoughts and energy and guide them in a new direction. He will give us an understanding of all things that belong to Jesus Christ. Beforehand our thoughts would wander and attach themselves to things that destroy the soul. Before He intervened there existed no passion to pursue Christ because His life to us had no appeal. Some would attempt to redefine Christ’s life and mission in order to pursue their own passions and goals. Their emptiness remained when the activity ended. There was no lasting effect to their experiences.

There is no contentment unless the Holy Spirit is completely in charge. He will not compete with the pettiness of selfish interests. He is committed to those things that please the Father alone and will not allow anything to get Him sidetracked. What we have learned and received of Christ is clarified and applied to the soul. As the Son did only those things that please the Father, so it is with us who are led of the Holy Spirit. We will sense His grief when our ways sway towards a different path. We will sense His pleasure as we maintain that course that He has prescribed. What a privilege we have to be led by the Holy Spirit! The Eternal reaches down into time in order to envelope the temporal in order to lift mortals to a new place and a new vision. Once we see with the Lord what He has always seen, we no longer wish to entertain ideas beneath the standard now revealed to us. Even when we drift in thought and action, the same Spirit reminds us of who we are. It is the knowledge of Christ that changes us. Once we have been changed, our contentment is with godliness. Those allurements are outside of us and no longer in us. His glory is our good and His pleasure becomes our peace of heart and mind.

30 Aug 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: August 30

Posted by Categories: Meditations

“The Lord has made bare His holy arm in the eyes of all the nations; and all the ends of the earth shall see the salvation of our God.” Isaiah 52:10

The Lord has crowned His kings and princes throughout the earth. His strength has gone out to both defy the power of the enemy and to undo the enemy’s work. There are those who bear the mark of royalty and are destined for the throne to rule and rein with Him. The Kingdom of God dwells among men! The question the world is asking is where is the mark or seal borne by those that belong to Christ? There appears to be no distinction between them and others; in fact, those who rebel appear to have the advantage over the faithful. The mark that they bear is within their hearts. Their passion for their King and the desire to see Him rule in righteousness separates them from others. They have an undying hope directed towards the future. Their faith is not wrapped up into small packages limiting them to temporary pleasures. They want the whole thing and will not settle for anything less. As Dr. James Stewart puts it speaking of the coming first of the Lord Jesus Christ, not simply of the emergence in Galilee of One whose power matched His pity and whose pity matched His power.” He came on the scene to destroy all the works of the devil and to do and establish the works of God His Father. Those who fully have His mark carry His passion. The time will come when the Lord Himself will manifest His strength among the nations and all eyes shall see it. Things are growing more rebellious today and the hope of many has been shattered by the crises facing the entire world. But the stage is being set for the Light of the world to shine with the backdrop of the darkest of darkness. Salvation will be distinct and sure. It will not be shrouded by the pipe dreams of the ambitious who only wish for themselves the best. True salvation will come manifested in waves of power and glory. He will provide the solutions to resolves our deepest problems.

01 Aug 0Comments 0Likes

August 2017 Article: “The Relay Race of Life”

Posted by Categories: Articles

In the relay race, the fastest starting runner has placed within his hands a baton. His assignment is to run with the swiftest of speed while carrying the baton, but knowing that there will be other runners awaiting his completed assignment to take over what began with him. When he releases the baton to the second runner, his assignment is finished but race is not over. He entrusts into the hands of another runner the stewardship of discipline and drive to win the race while knowing that its completion requires the help of future runners.

In this race of life, the baton has been placed in our hands. Who will be there to pass the baton to the next generation? Are you currently running the quality of race that you would encourage your children to continue after your demise? We are alive to make a difference and for that difference to last for generations to come. “Do you not know that those who run in a race–all run, but one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.” (1 Corinthians 9:24) We must live our lives as if the future depended upon us and our lives depended upon the Lord. If the life of God is to reach future generations, this generation must relay the baton to them.

Cultural shifts do not just happen by chance. They reflect the mood of preceding generations. If the Word of God is established in the hearts of our children, the word will produce righteous seed. When that seed is cultivated and become widespread, a shift in momentum occurs. Rather than a movement away from God’s divine order, there are standard-bearers raised whose voices and lifestyles will serve as the conscience to the nation. Evil can then only go so far since the Holy Spirit within God’s people will hold the barrage of evil in check. It is easy to look at how corrupt this generation has become. But what if the voice of truth was completely removed? There would be nothing to regulate the flow of evil and course of corruption. I applaud those brave mavericks of the past who went against the cultural norms and upheld the standard of righteousness at all cost. Many paid with their lives because they refused to relent on their quest to defend the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. Now we stand at the relay point where as another generation must take what we have for many years carried. Not to merely keep in step with us, but as finishers whose spiritual development and skills must prove to be an improvement leading to perfection. “The least in the kingdom are greater than he” speaking of those who would come after John the Baptist.

The triangle of God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit is committed and fully engaged in the work to which the finishers are assigned. As Charles Wesley said in his song, “To serve God is to serve this present age our calling to fulfill. Oh, may it all my pow’rs engage, to do my Master’s will!” What better gift can be offered to the world but resolute and determined word of correction and rebuke followed with an affirming message of love. Society must first recognize that the world’s way is wrong before it can hear the right message. The triangle of truth touches all angles producing a complete unit; God, other, and self. I am reminded of King David as recorded in the Book of Acts, chapter 13 verse 36. “Now when David had served God’s purpose in his own generation, he fell asleep; he was buried with his ancestors” … New International Version. He served God’s purposes within the context of his generation. That is the only time allotted to us. It is the only God given task assignment to us. Then he could rest with his ancestors knowing that no more could have been done by him. He could then pass the baton to future generations.</p)

11 Mar 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: March 11

Posted by Categories: Meditations

“Blessed is he who takes no offense of Me.” Luke 7:23

The offense that occurs among men is the contradistinction between His deity and His humanity. Some would view Him as not being human enough to understand man’s dilemma and the challenges that all men face, while others would reduce Him to being just a man, the son of a carpenter. Then there are those who view Him as being an impostor who proclaims to be God. The paradox of His life as being fully God and fully man is the reason for many taking an offense to Him. But blessed is he who has received from the Holy Spirit the revelation as Peter received, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” In this statement, both His deity and humanity are genuinely and fully expressed. Flesh and blood cannot make this known. Only the Father in heaven can reveal this to us thus positioning us to receive the revelation of the Father through our surrender and obedience to Him.

10 Mar 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: March 10

Posted by Categories: Meditations

“Whither shall I go from Thy Spirit?” Psalm 139:7

When we are born of the Spirit, the Spirit remains with us wherever we go. He is there in those moments when we feel alone and abandoned. He is there when our hearts drift in directions that would be far removed from the warmth that comes as result of meditation and deep contemplation on His goodness towards us. Our reluctance to draw closer to Him does not affect His pursuit of us. His Spirit is wooing us in our darkest hour to deeper levels of intimacy with the Son of God. Only Jesus can reveal to us the love of the Father that will provide stability and purpose for our lives. He was that voice of conscience convicting us when we were wrong. He was that voice of encouragement pressing us forward when we had the opportunity to do right. The Spirit is both our Comforter and our Guide. He alone can reveal to us the One who is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

08 Mar 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: March 8

Posted by Categories: Meditations

“Every one who confesses Me before men, I will also confess before My Father who is in heaven.” Matthew 10:32

Jesus is saying, “if you show the world that you know Me, I will show you that you belong to the Father.” Only Jesus can make it known to us that we truly belong to the Father; He is our pathway into the knowledge of His love. The reason is, He knows intimately all things concerning the Father, but His will is to make known to us what He knows. None can reach the grand and mountainous heights of knowledge on their own. All need Him to raise us to a greater level of understanding that never can be found on our own. We are then “found in Him” as the Apostle Paul states it, “No longer on a quest of trying to find ourselves but rather found in a new and glorious place in Christ with His visibility and no longer seeing things as we once saw them.” He gives a peek into glory and we see the Father in Him. To see Him is to love Him and to love Him is to have knowledge of His love. May we grow in that knowledge and increase in His love.

28 Feb 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation:February 28

Posted by Categories: Meditations

“Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them.” Mark 11:24

The condition of the heart qualifies one for answered prayers according to the will of God. He brings us into compliance with His will in order for us to see with Him what He sees, thus desire the same things that He desires. Only then is it possible for us to enter into the very prayer life of Jesus. When the Holy Spirit controls our passions and desires, the Father who always hears the voice of His Son will also hear Him speak through us. This should be our passion to reach that place of faith where there is nothing in us other than the will to fully please the Father. Then we can ask what we will and it will be granted to us.

20 Feb 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: February 20

Posted by Categories: Meditations

“Why do you seek the living among the dead?” Luke 24:5

The pronouncement of the two angels at the empty tomb is the challenge to this generation. We need answers. This is a desperate time for so many in searching for real answers. People are getting tired of pacifying words that merely delay the imminent failures that they have grown so accustomed to. Some are wishfully thinking that some semblance of life may yet remain among the tombs of yesterday’s shattered dreams. They have dug their stakes and set up their tents in graveyards rather than in the place where new life is blossoming. Jesus was once there but only for a little while. He was carried there because no life was within His body. Now it is as empty as those who attempt to live their lives without Him. But now as being resurrected, He has moved beyond where men were able to place Him. He is where He has decided to be. Now is the time to meet Him where He chooses to reside. He is among the living. Those who have spirit-life within them and a will to do His Father’s will, their life takes on its truest meaning. Only there one can find true joy and peace within their souls.

18 Feb 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: February 18

Posted by Categories: Meditations

“Sit here while I pray.” Mark 14:32

When Jesus was facing the most agonizing moment in His life, He needed to be alone with the Father. He was away from the multitudes with pressing needs thus seeking Him out for assistance. Now He was with that small select group of disciples with whom He felt the liberty to be transparent. Yet His instruction to them was to sit as guards rather than participate with Him in that moment when He needed to talk to His Father. There are times when we need to pour out our hearts and express those deep feelings with God that only He is to hear. It is because only He is able to understand what we are not always able to fully articulate in words. On other occasions He would teach them to pray and corporately approach God as “our Father.” Now He wanted to speak to His as “My Father” because no other could understand the deep longings of His heart other than the One who knew Him best and love Him the most. We too need some alone time with God. Out of those times we are able to cultivate an intimate and personal relationship with Him.

16 Feb 0Comments 0Likes

Meditation: February 16

Posted by Categories: Meditations

“From now on, whatever you request along the lines of who I am and what I am doing, I’ll do it. That’s how the Father will be seen for who he is in the Son. I mean it. (14) Whatever you request in this way, I’ll do.” John 14:13-14 (MSG)

Out of the personhood of Jesus, He does what only He alone is able to do. It is the character of Christ to love unconditionally. Every act was an act motivated by love and an expression of love. His objective is to free those who have sought the authentic but have settled for a substitute. Too many seekers have succumbed to merely settling for a level far beneath the level established by Christ. Therefore the requests are restricted to their limited understanding. The only prayer that the Father is obligated to answer is the prayer of His Son, as His passion burns deep within our hearts. He honors His Son through hearing His prayers through yielded vessels whose lives are fully engaged in the works of Jesus. They are His sons brought to glory. Through them, the works of God continue.