Taking A Blogging Break

All my wonderful friends, readers and commenters...as some of you know, back in late July, I acquired a new job at an absolutely wonderful company, all to the gracious generosity of God.

Since then, I have been (happily) busy with work, relationships, and other. I simply do not have the time, like I had in the past to keep up with posting blogs.

Thus, I am taking a break from blogging. I am not sure how long this little season will last or when or if I will start back up. I hope you all can understand. Feel free to keep in touch with me, via email, if you'd like.

As well, absolutely feel free to read any or all of my previous posts. There are quite a few (500 or so).

Many blessings to you all!

A Joy I Can't Convey

There is a special Joy I have found, a Joy I cannot quite convey. An ever present peace and calm that sooths my soul throughout each day. It warms my heart when I am cold and tired, it makes me smile in spite of sorrow; it settles me when fear is at hand, it relieves my pain both physical and mental.

It comforts me no matter where I am, no matter what evil comes my way, no matter how much adversity is piled on, it still comes shinning through. Like a light in the darkness, it can not be erased, like a song in the forest. Its melody is captivating, like a gentle touch. It is entrancing.

Never before have I experienced anything like this. Never before have I been given such a Gift. Yes, times are hard and trials are many, but something deep inside has changed. Even in the midst of chaos and worry, Papa has given me a joy that is beyond anything I can explain, and I am forever grateful for this Gift.

I cherish it more than I can explain, and I will not let it go. It has been given to me and because so I can’t help but want to share it with others. It is pure, it is perfect, and it is not of me. It is the Joy of my salvation, Papa’s continual sanctification, and my Relationship with God that Jesus has given me.

“Though you have not seen him, you love him; and even though you do not see him now, you believe in him and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the goal of your faith, the salvation of your souls” (1 Peter 1:8).

I am eternally thankful, eternally grateful. I will praise the Papa Jesus Holy Spirit with all my heart and soul. I will endure these challenges and know that His Love and mercy has set me free to live with a Joy that conquers all. I will share this Joy with all who have ears to hear.

“Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality” (Romans 12:12-13).

There will still be pain, and there will still be sorrow, there will still be loss, and things can still be taken away. Yet, I will have Joy in my God. Because I know He will always be with me, I know He will guide me, and I know He has saved me from my Old Sinful Nature.

“You have made known to me the path of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand” (Psalms 16:11).

I have been given a gift; a gift I could never earn, a gift I will never deserve, a gift I can never repay. A gift that was paid for with a cost I can not comprehend: A gift of salvation, a gift of joy that endures even in these, the toughest times of my life. I can’t even imagine just how much more joy there will be when all these trials come to an end.

“But the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23).

Jesus, please keep doing a work in me. Papa, I give all praise to you!

“Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete” (John 16:24).

What are your thoughts?

My "How-To-Guide" to Relationships (Not!)

As I was driving around town, switched my dial to a well-known national Christian music radio station and heard a "promotion" with a preacher-type stumping for his brand new book on how to live the Christian life.

"Follow these ten steps, and you will be on your way to living the life God wants you to live!" "10 steps to success!" "4 principles for better living!" "12 Principles for living the Christian life!".

Now, I have heard a million other such men and women preach and teach the same type of thing over-and-over. It is a common Protestant Evangelical thing to teach the "principles" upon which to build our lives.

I have heard so many similar things all before and honestly, the underlying message I believe they exude is that they reduce Papa Son Holy Spirit to a simple set of principles. Again, there is nothing inherently wrong about teaching Biblical principles, but when we divorce those principles from the person of God, we end up with just another Religion based on our own ability to accomplish some task. A Religion of vain magic.

During the New Testament times what were the Pharisees "principles" for success?

"Follow these Ten Commandments (plus about another 306 tacked on for good measure) and you will live a Godly life!"

Yet, Christ came not to abolish the Law, but to fulfill it, and we no longer live as those subject to the Law, but in Loving Relationship to Christ. Yet, for some unknown reason, we insist upon placing ourselves under the Law, but we do it in such a way as to appeal to a Protestant Evangelical mentality of defining the essential Principles.

There are definitely some principles which can help us along in our Christian lives, but Papa is not one of them. He is much, much more than a principle or ideal! Father is a Person of definite character, as Jesus, and His Nature whom we must strive to serve through the obedience of submission.

We serve not a principle, but pursue a relationship with a Living and Loving God. We have all been made Sons of God, and as His children we live out a relationship of renewal and regeneration. Let us cease to treat our Christian lives as a set of principles, guidelines or commandments and begin to seek the relationship of son and daughtership with Father and brother and sisterhood with Jesus Christ.

What are your thoughts?

Is the Bark Better than the Bite?

Have you ever gone to pet someone’s dog and next thing you know, it bites or nips you? Fortunately, I have only had it happen to me a few times. For me, most times, it happens so quickly that we do not see it coming. We stick our hand out to pet the dog and snap, there it is. It is a scary thing when it happens.

For some, forever after may be terrified when a dog begins to bark and come towards them. These are the extreme cases. Their body seems to go into an automatic reaction. Their heart begins to pound, their pulse quickens, and adrenaline kicks in. Their thoughts begin to race and go ninety miles a minute. Panic sets in and fear takes over. That one instance of a dog’s behavior has now changed their reaction to mostly every dog. Their reaction to a dog barking has now become fear.

Have you ever reacted this way with Father? Not in fear, but in anger? Have you placed a request before Him, said a prayer, only to feel that He did not give you what you wanted? Have things ever happened in your life that have made you say "How could a loving God let this happen?"

Have you ever gotten angry at Papa because you did not get what you thought you wanted or maybe even, what you deserved? Then after that, every time something bad happened, your automatic reaction was to blame God?

Even in the strongest person with the most dedicated life to Christ, there are times the hand we are dealt feels wrong. We all have those times that what we are given to deal with feels unfair. Times where we can not understand Papa’s Purpose and it seems like He is just being mean.

Life at times is so unfair, it deals blows to us that are unexpected and painful. Papa did not intend for it to be this way. He intended for the Earth to be a sinless place of great beauty. A place where He could spend time with us in person. He only wanted to Love us and be Loved in return.

For that to be the case, He had to give us "Free Will," the ability to choose Him or not choose Him. However, instead of choosing Him, we chose Sin (Adam and Eve). In that choice things between man and God were broken. A sinless God could not have direct relationship with a sinful man. Papa could no longer be with us in person. However, He Loved us so much that He sent His Son Jesus to bridge the gap. Father sent Jesus to take the Sin and nail it to the Cross. He made a way to get back to Him by us believing in His Son.

The ugliness that is in this world comes, because of our own Free Will. Because we have the right to choose, some people choose not to love God. They choose to live their life in a sinful way which can lead to ugly hurtful things. In the process, sometimes the people around them get hurt, but not by Papa, by people. We are living in a broken world right now. There are circumstances that are not ideal in Papa’s eyes. We can rest in the knowledge though, that in the end He will rectify things.

Papa does not say that He will keep us from ever having any problems or hurts. He only says that through our relationship with Him, He will hold us close and carry us through them.

”Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me! For my soul trusts in You; And in the shadow of your wings I will make refuge, until these calamities have passed by” (Psalm 57:1).

When the people of Israel were discouraged Father reminded them it was Him that had carried them in the desert.

”Where can we go up? Our brethren have discouraged our hearts, saying, "The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to heaven; moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there." Then I said to you "Do not be terrified, or afraid of them.

The Lord your God, who goes before you, He will fight for you, according to all He did for you in Egypt before your eyes, and in the wilderness where you saw how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, in all the way that you went until you came to this place” (Deuteronomy 1:28-31).

It is in our trials and problems that we are able to see God most clearly. In those times, we are at the end of our Old Sinful selves, the end of our ability to do things on our own. We begin to call out to Him and see Him show up. It is in those times that we get to see miracles and amazing things.

We get to see the supernatural power of Father and know He is real, He is there. It is when nothing else, but Papa Son Holy Spirit can change things that He reveals Himself the most and His Light shines to others. In those times He tucks us under His wing and carries us through as He shows us His wonders.

He is a glorious God and even in our anger, He continues to Love us. I am so very thankful of that.

What are your thoughts?

A Lesson About Patience - From the Boat

Years ago, when I was going through a definite Stormy season, my patience level was pretty close to nil. All I could see were blowing winds and monster waves. Meanwhile, Jesus simply watched and waited, as I wrestled with God’s love for me, shame, guilt, anger, pain and fear.

"Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen" (Hebrews 11:1 NASB).

It certainly does not take much logic starting from this faith definition to arrive at its evil opponent, which many of us embrace from time to time. Now fear is the doubt that a positive outcome will occur, the conviction of things seen coupled with a good dose of worry and imagination. Can any of you relate?

Peter said to Him, "Lord, if it is You, command me to come to You on the water." And He said, "Come!" And Peter got out of the boat, and walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him, and said to him, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" (Matthew 14:28-31, NASB).

Isn’t that exactly what happened to Peter?

Peter got out of the boat in the midst of the storm with the assurance that he would be able to walk on water simply because Jesus commanded it. As well, Peter believed it even though every thing he could see would suggest otherwise. As long as Peter was moving towards Jesus, focused on Jesus, trusting Jesus (faith, Peter walked on water. This is powerfully good news for anyone who finds themselves in the midst of life’s storms.

As much as we like to later pick on Peter’s lack of faith in this incident, nobody else stepped out of the boat and I doubt 2,000 years later that few, if any, have by Faith in God, walked on water too.

However, Peter found himself in the midst of a wrestling match much like the ones we frequently find ourselves in today. In this corner of the world, we have the champion Faith. The challenger in the opposite corner is Fear. Faith is powered by Hope, Love and Grace. Fear is powered by doubt and the spirit of the Opposer.

The word used to identify Peter’s change of heart – frightened. Sounds like fear to me. He saw the wind (or the work of the wind and the waves) and thought “How can I do this?” He turned from Jesus to self. Peter turned from faith to fear. He began to doubt and he began to sink.

That is a pretty good description of what happened to me nine years ago.

Yet, let us continue with Peter, because there is even more good news in his story. He certainly could have tried to save himself as so many of us do, oftentimes just causing us to sink deeper and deeper. However, instead, he looked to Jesus and cried out, “Lord, save me!” I love how Jesus responded to Peter’s cry, "Immediately Jesus stretched out His hand and took hold of him" (Matthew 14:31).

We often skip right over that and go straight to Jesus’ questioning of Peter’s faith. However, I can look at this exchange and see that Peter’s cry of faith brought about his rescue by Jesus. If we, too, are in the midst of a raging sea and find ourselves sinking and drowning, are we going to look at the Man walking on water or to the men in the boat? Only an act of faith will cause us to cry out to the Man walking on water.

Once Jesus took hold of the sinking Peter, He said, "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" We can choose to look at that as a form of condemnation or a form of teaching, mentoring, discipline and Love. I choose to see it as the latter.

Almost a decade ago, during my own Storm, I came to a place where I fell on the floor and honestly asked Jesus, "Help me!" And He did. He Loved me and He carried me through that day and into the following ones. Yet, the first message I sensed from Papa Jesus Holy Spirit was much like what Peter heard, "Why did you doubt?’"

I saw it as a good thing. Papa is working in, with and through me as His daughter. Remember those Jesus Loves, He disciplines” (Hebrews 12). We are wise not to forget the following key fact regarding the shaping of our faith.

"Let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith" (Hebrews 12:1-2 NASB).

That Truth is found in the same chapter of Hebrews as the teaching on the Lord’s discipline. Coincidence? I think not. It helps me to remember that fear is a choice. We can choose NOT to have it. When we look upon Love Himself, His love will cast out all fear.

Have you been wrestling with faith and fear lately? If so, can you relate to this post? Does anything written here encourage you?

Mishandling Scripture

“Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a workman who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15).

I came across a blogpage with the following comment on it. I will not cite the author, as he wishes to remain confidential (I have his permission, however).

“I used to be a Religious Pharisee. I had an incredible ability to answer peoples comments and questions with a Bible verse. It seemed I actually lost the ability to simply have a conversation with anyone. I preached to everyone and it bore no fruit whatsoever. I knew what the Scripture said, but not what it meant. Any Religious zealot can grab a Bible, terrorize themselves and everyone around them, if they don’t understand the wonderful work of Christ on our behalf.”

His comment/statements reminded me of the example of those who “rightly divided the word of Truth” in the Scriptures and Paul’s handling of the Law. Paul was a “marked man,” because he interpreted the Scriptures they hung on to differently than they did. The Jews had the principles of Father committed to them, but because of their Religious nature they mishandled the intent of the Law.

They developed a zeal for Papa, but not according to Truth, to His Wisdom. Paul’s understanding of the Law is a classic example of interpreting the Scriptures by the Spirit of God. Both parties knew what the Scripture said, but only one knew what it meant.

Things have not changed much today. Far, far too many in Religious institutional Christianity see fallen Religious systems across the world mishandling the Scriptures and sometimes committing horrible atrocities in the name of “Christianity.” The consequences of this are very damaging.

I can understand unbelievers committing this error, but there are multitudes of well meaning Christian leaders who are leading people down the road to Religious bondage by not laying a firm understanding of the New Covenant in hearts of Believers.

I have heard people say we cannot understand the New Covenant unless we understand the Old. While I believe there is Truth in that, quite honestly I believe the opposite has more Truth-filled weight. Personally, when speaking to a non-believer or brand-new Believer, I would not encourage them to delve into the Old Testament AT ALL until they have read the New Testament much so that a New Covenant foundation has been firmly planted.

I have seen well-meaning leaders and siblings in the Body lead someone to Christ then hand them a Bible and teach them through the various Old Testament books, or not even encourage them to start from Matthew. Often in those cases, these new Believers start at Genesis and chronologically move forward. As well, I have heard people tell new Believers the best place to start studying the Bible is the book of Exodus.

This anomaly is quite telling, the Old Sinful Nature’s mindset can understand Law, every Religious System in the world is based on it to some degree. Grace, however, needs to be revealed an unfolded by the spirit of God. I have spoken to people who were trapped in Religious bondage attempting to keep all of the commandments, which is good ONLY if it is done in light of the righteous position we possess, because of what first has done for us.

The Key is the fruit will be an outflow of His Love and our Love for Him. I remember asking a few new Believers who were part of a Bible study I was in years ago, if they had ever red Paul’s letters, or knew the Gospels well, and they responded with “No, not yet. Should I have?”

Our Relationship and Life as Christ-followers is all about His Love, Grace and Truth.

“Do not be carried away by varied and strange teachings; for it is good for the heart to be strengthened by grace, not by foods, through which those who were so occupied were not benefited” (Hebrews 13:9).

What are your thoughts?