Christian Liberty

Worshiping the Creator not the Creation!

2012-02-07T13:07:00.000-10:00

"They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator--who is forever praised. Amen." --Romans: 1:25 --NIV

"'Love the Lord your God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence.' This is the most important, the first on any list. But there is a second to set alongside it: 'Love others as well as you love yourself.' These two commands are pegs; everything in God's Law and the Prophets hangs from them."--- Matt 22: 37-40 -- MSG

"See, I set before you today life and prosperity, death and destruction." -- Deut 30:15 -- NIV

And so you ask, where in the world am I going with this. Let me share...

Yesterday, I spent the whole day reading an owner's manual for the new cell phones we just purchased. Cell phones are really a great assist in our day to day lives regarding all sorts of communication; text message to hubby and kids, email between friends and business associates; photos of grandson shared, video conference with daughters and 7 month old grandson as he matures through his infancy. Then there is of course the practical aspect, a phone to make calls with and access to the internet to do research. Most phones come with this as stock nowadays but each brand and each new operating system is a little different. Setting up the new phones so the phone is user friendly takes a bit of time.

I went to bed last night to do my nightly reading and decided to spend some time in one of my favorite Bible books, Romans. I started in chapter one..made it through chapter two. Put my head on my pillow and began my prayer. Only, my chats with God are decidedly more about self examination as I lay prone before HIM open and transparent knowing that my words and actions must be truthful. As I thanked HIM for the lovely day my day flashed in my mind and I felt as though my light was under my bed; my talent had been buried; and basically that I had indulged in a day without honoring my God, my Lord and my best friend, Holy Spirit! I did not worship them in any way! I DID spend a lot of time with my cell phone. Thus the discipline I began this article with in Romans..."...served created things rather than the Creator..." I did not justify my time, my behavior nor my lack of faithfulness to HIM. I realized that my conscience would not be assuaged until I did worship HIM.

Why Matthew 22 and the 2 commandments? Because it is the formula for a clean conscience! Loving God with our whole heart, whole soul, whole mind and whole spirit does not allow time to 'love my cell phone' with any part of that commandment. I don't mean to say that I worshiped my cell phone in the traditional sense of the word but so much time spent on it and none spent in prayer, in thanksgiving, in intercession, in petition until the 11th hour when my head hit the pillow is not a whole heart...it is not a whole mind... I was reminded that I must love others as myself and myself loves God and God completely. Yet we fall into time tunnels where we are so focused on 'things' or as the scripture aptly states 'the created things' we forget that they are not to occupy such a part of our day as to close out the CREATOR, God!

Lastly, as I processed my self examination I realized I had broken a few Godly principles... I had put my cell phone before the face of my God! I realized that while I was not induced to bow down and worship it I was also not induced to bow down and worship God! I realized that I have always before me the opportunity for life or death depending on how I behave.

Not wishing to bury my 'talent' but to take what wonderful gifts from the Holy Spirit I have been ever so blessed to possess, I am writing this article for publication. It is not only my confession for having spent so much time unfocused on the GOOD/GOD in my life but also the penance I am blessed to perform in writing something that is not only applicable to myself but perhaps for many who daily go about their business preoccupied with 'stuff' and 'things' and forget until their head hits the pillow they have not had fellowship with the Holy Spirit; have not sung praise to the Father and have not respected the Lord in our lives by forgetting where 'two or more are gathered in my name there also I am' and in this home there are always two gathered in HIS sacred name! Yesterday, I chose 'death'; today, life. Our faith is certain in the blessed blood of our Lord and Master, Jesus. Our everlasting life is promised if we believe in the sacrificial and propitiatory value of HIS spilt blood. The promises of Psalm 91 are there for us to remember by reading them often...we must first make God our rock, our fortress our secret hiding place...when we venture out on our own to spend the day with 'things' and forget that our Father in heaven is present with us always in the person of the Holy Spirit how can we honestly be so rude as not to acknowledge them.

May our Christian spirit and life not be stuck in a bushel basket under our bed but out in the open on the hill to light the city! May our understanding of the manual for man, the Bible, be the LIGHT that illuminates our foot path and the LIGHT of World, the Lord Jesus, provide brightness for all our pathways! May we honor the talent given to us, even if only a single talent, or, perhaps one with many, by using that talent for Good, for GOD! Yesterday, I hid my talent hoping not to lose it...proverbially speaking...; today, thanks to GOD I am blessed with using it to share with you, the reader, that if the words touched your heart, mind, soul or spirit that you too may find the JOY of a spiritual readjustment from the awesome heavenly massage therapist, our GOD! Remember, our Best Friend, Holy Spirit is with us always; try not to forget HE is there! I am chagrined and pray I will not soon forget the lesson of 'worshiping and serving the created things instead of the Creator'. AMEN!

In conclusion I leave this, one of my favorite scriptures: "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if [there be any] wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting." -- Psalm 139:23-24 -- KJV

Tongue Twisted?

2010-12-13T22:10:00.002-10:00

As I read the first few chapters of Exodus and came upon this portion: "Then Moses said to the LORD, "O my Lord, I am not eloquent, neither before nor since You have spoken to Your servant; but I am slow of speech and slow of tongue." -- 4:10 it occurred to me how unbelievably impossible this would be for anyone except perhaps a 'sales person'!

Put yourself in Moses' place. You are out tending your flock of sheep and all of a sudden in the middle of the desert a bush spontaneously combusted; but not just catches fire seems the fire is unable to consume the bush. Then, as Moses approaches out of curiosity he hears a voice tell him to come no closer without removing his slippers because it was holy ground! Okay, heat stroke maybe? Too many days with sheep and no human to talk to?

Then, after this interesting discussion with God, the HOST, Moses learns of a new assignment in life. Imagine if you will the many career changes for Moses. He starts off a Hebrew, raised by the royal Egyptian family. Well educated, a statesman, dual identity with the Egyptian adopted family and his natural Hebrew family. He serves for a time for the Egyptians and then commits a crime and flees his home. His journey takes him into a strange land and he is befriended by a man who so likes Moses he offers Moses a daughter in marriage. So, Moses settles down, gets married, has a family, has a shepherding business and then he has his 'burning bush' experience. Now, his new boss, God, 'I AM', has decided to have Moses use his staff to herd HIS people from captivity to deliverance. But first, he must deliver a personal message to the Pharoah. "Let my people go!"

After Moses hears of his new assignment, like any of us would, he starts breaking down the big picture through a series of perceived challenges which may impede certain success. For instance, on whose authority does Moses make such a demand of Pharoah? Think about it. Moses was asked by God to go to the most powerful man of Egypt and tell him to let his entire foreign work force go with absolutely no compensation, excepting of course his life should he obey! But, frankly, that was not part of the plan. After Moses points out what he is certain is obvious issues to God with God's plan, God addresses them with what in essence is 'no worries'! Moses comes up with his last objection: lack of confidence in his ability to deliver the message.

For many people, speaking before a stranger, especially someone of importance, is difficult enough to do when they have their own agenda. But imagine Moses having no such agenda but now must deliver what will seem a foolish demand and he is just not feeling it. He contends he is unable to speak, to do the message service.

REALITY CHECK: God, in true character, inquires of Moses who made his mouth? His tongue? Who makes blind and deaf and their opposites? Moses concedes God's point, God could make his mouth work and provide the words, no argument there. BUT, perhaps the true impact of the bigger picture begins to take its toll on Moses for he finally begs: "O my Lord, please send by the hand of whomever else You may send." -- 4:13

May I impose upon you, the reader, to just put yourself in Moses' position. During this intercourse between God and Moses, to make a point of the power Moses would go to Pharoah with, he has his shepherd's staff turned into a snake and back to the staff again; and, he is directed to put his hand in the folds of his garment and when he withdrew it found he had leprosy...and then it was healed. Imagine, the burning bush, God's voice, the staff to snake to staff, the hand with leprosy and without, and the instructions to take his shepherd self to see the Pharoah and tell the Pharoah to 'let God's people go!'

What would be going through your mind? How would you respond? This is just the first 4 chapters of Exodus. Exodus, a book filled with so much information, so many examples of faith and obedience to God, of struggle, of disappointment. So very valuable to each of us, every word written in its entirety. Have you read it lately? Why not pick it up and put yourself in Moses' place and determine how you would respond, given his circumstances. We all know how it all turned out but still, he was simply a man and was asked to do mighty things for God! As it began, a reluctant servant but as it continued a more than capable leader and intermediary between God and the Hebrews.

Be ready for your wilderness experience...it all starts with a burning bush, God's voice and an unthinkable request. When it happens, remember: When God gives you a vision, HE will give you the provisions. AMEN!!

Thanks be to GOD

2010-11-26T12:06:00.005-10:00

T’is the season to be Giving: Thanks that is.

Perhaps I’ve been more sensitive to it more than years passed, but it seems there has been a concerted effort to put more emphasis on the ‘giving’ part of ‘Thanksgiving’. Sadly, some of us have moved so far from the Christian nature of ‘giving’ [charity] than we should and have need of these timely reminders. While having secular sources emphasize the need for exercising charity is a reminder as Christians we should be drawing our Charity from our relationship with God. Charity never fails! [1 Cor 13] God taught us through his WORD [Jesus] and Word [Bible] about charity. Some scriptural reminders about ‘giving’ follow:

“…in everything by prayer and supplication along with thanksgiving [eucharistia {Greek} Thankfulness; giving of thanks] let YOUR petitions be made known to God;” [Philippians 4:6b]

“To the end that my glory may sing praise to You and not be silent. O LORD my God, I will give thanks [Hiphil {Hebrew} to give thanks, laud, praise] to You forever.” [Psalm 30:12]

I’ve been reading Job these past few weeks. I am reading it slowly, trying to understand Job [the book] and its relevance to our overall Christian life. More on this later, but for this, out of it all, Job winds up humbled. But is it part of the humbling process to give ‘thanks’?

The opening words of Job attribute a pure ethic/ pure morality to him in the Hebrew term ‘tam’ for ‘perfect’ but the words ‘thanks’ ‘thank’ ‘praise’ are not found in Job. It seems the account is so very reminiscent of ‘human’ nature. Though he was a moral/ethical man it is obvious his discipline wrought some havoc on him. How many of us would survive this grueling event in our own lives and immediately coming through it, even if all was restored to us, feeling led to give thanks? He lost much. He lost kids, friends, time, and a momentary loss of face. When we read the account many ask, for what? Yet, one thing that is also human nature is to look for the positive in any situation, even if after the fact. In Job’s case, if nothing else, perhaps the most important issue that arose from his ordeal was the better developed relationship with God; perhaps a deeper sense of humility which is a close kin to moral and ethical purity; perhaps a heightened awareness of ‘appearance based judgment’. From God’s perspective HE said this about Job after it all: “For I will accept him, lest I deal with you according to your folly; because you have not spoken of Me what is right, [kuwn [Hebrew] in this instance meaning ‘fit’.] as My servant Job has.” [Job 42:8b]

As it turned out, because of Job’s moral and ethical purity, we see a reversal of roles. We see God praising Job! While the Bible is silent on ‘thanksgiving’ from Job after his ordeal, we know he was so conscientious before his ordeal that he used to make a sacrifice to God for his kids in the off chance they’d not done it themselves for mistakes they may have made. Those of us who know anything about human nature would quickly understand anyone who had this as a habit before his ‘discipline’ would understand there to be no doubt that Job would very much give thanks to God.

The moral question I supposed now: Do we wait until we have been tried as was Job to begin to initiate thanksgiving to God for our manifold blessings? Do we lose all that we have before we appreciate it more fully? Do we place more store on the ‘things’ ‘people’ ‘relationships’ in our lives than our ONE relationship with God? Do we speak of God in terms that are not ‘fit’? Do we live lives that are not morally and ethically pure? Do we need to be humbled?

What is more humble than to fall to one’s knees and give thanks to God? Even if it is not possible to fall/get down on your knees literally, is it not time now to initiate THANKSgiving to God? Each of us must clearly define/articulate that for which we are led to give thanks. There is no time like now?

May your Thanksgiving be truly filled with giving THANKS and to God. May it also be filled with the special family time as our family and friends are blessings for which we give thanks to God.

Called To God

2010-11-02T12:32:00.004-10:00

It is my goal, God willing, to begin a series of topics that will explore the depth of several scriptures related to those below. For this post, I would just like to have the information up and for your consideration. Please pray and look up these passages. Read the surrounding context. Meditate over what Paul is saying to us in both Romans and Ephesians. Let the Holy Spirit teach you.

When you read this what comes to your mind. Please, do not skim through it, please pay attention:

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.” –Romans 8:28-30

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved.”—Ephesians 1: 1-6

The last few words in this scripture in Ephesians answer questions that are relevant to the Christian identity.

Ø What

o We were chosen in Christ

Ø When

o Before the foundation of the world

Ø Who

o We were predestined for adopted sons by Christ to God

Ø How

o According to the ‘good pleasure of HIS Will!

Ø Why

o To the praise and glory of HIS grace

o By which HE made us accepted in the beloved

Do you find yourself objecting to any of this? Do you find an exception to any of this? How do you see yourself in this?

Babes as to Badness

2010-08-12T00:15:00.004-10:00

The writer Paul is attributed in 1 Corinthians 14 as saying: "... be babes as to badness;" [vs 20]

It is an election year; the world is becoming more and more difficult to navigate; economic depression is taking its toll and daily we are faced with stressors that truly impair our desire to follow the Biblical quote above. When Jesus mentioned someone who is faithful in least is faithful in most -- it calls to mind the times in our lives when no one is looking or hearing -- and how we behave or manifest our faithfulness in those times. Are we really babes as to badness? Are we still shocked at stuff that is said and done by people in real life, on the television, in the movies, what is written in the books, and yes, even spoken by the Church either via their people or their signs?

I have been thinking lately upon 'civility'. Here is the a little clip from the online thesaurus:

Definition:	niceness
Synonyms:	affability, amenity, comity, compliance, courtesy, decorum, politeness, propriety, respect, tact

Do you see a common theme here? Courtesy? Respect? Polite? Tact? Where are we seeing that nowadays?

If we look outside ourselves we can raise the eyebrow and point to incidents of the lack of civility in our society and world. Yet, when we look inside ourselves how do we measure up? Are we babes as to badness in our own minds and speech? In our deeds? Do we set the example that may also set the tone in any setting we may be part of?

The Dog Whisperer, Cesar Milan, speaks about how the pack leader has to be 'calm' and assertive. Why? Because that energy is generated to the rest of the pack. When people come together the leader sets the tone as well. Is there chaos? Is their crudeness? Is there respect? When we are taking the lead in being babes as to badness, by default, for the time we are together with others, we are also creating the same circumstances for them. For that time they too are babes as to badness. Many times you hear from people 'I so enjoy myself when I am with you. You make me laugh. You are so great at putting into words what I am thinking.' It is refreshing for people to be with someone who truly emanates a sense of innocence, childlike behavior when it comes to badness. Conversely, when you are in the room with someone who is out of control behaving erratically and who shows no respect or courtesy life becomes a struggle.

When I was growing up my mother used to remind me 'pretty is as pretty does'. You can use the same concept and say 'goodness is as goodness does' and it is an outstanding standard to always achieve to.

Would it not be great if all of a sudden civility would be the bellwether of the future? We cannot expect that. Actually, if we are honest Christians we know with each passing day and the decay of our civilization we are seeing the prophetic fulfillment of statements about how it would be when that time in God's Creation when God would step in, in a very big way, to once again 'reset' the earth. There will be a time when being babes as to badness will be very difficult because everything in our world will be Topsy-turvy and it will be everyone for themselves. But, now, while it is in our control to do so, developing the integrity of being faithful in least and seeing its direct correlation to being 'babes as to badness', we can carve out for ourselves a small space of sanity where we both exude and accept respect -- civility, and know that God's Kingdom WILL COME!

Homework: While showering today, why not think about some way you can be a babe as to badness and exhibit respect, tact and courtesy.

Character building with God

2010-06-30T13:04:00.003-10:00

The proactive message of Jesus

Who among us is not aware of the message of the Lord replete with all the wisdom for interpersonal relationships? Yet, sometimes, we view HIS words as ‘historic’ or we respond in ‘reaction’ when hearing the Holy Spirit dropping scripture into our mind for prayerful consideration. Firstly, if you contemplate the scripture beyond your Church services or Bible study, then you should be applauded! But if you do -- you understand the relationship and responsibility of your consecration via your baptism both by water and Spirit. As you contemplate the WORD and understand its application in every facet of your life, do you allow yourself to enjoy the excelling peace that comes with it? Here are a couple of character building thoughts from Jesus’ mouth.

“So if you are standing before the altar in the Temple, offering a sacrifice to God, and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there beside the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.” [Matthew 5:23-24]

All things, therefore, that YOU want men to do to YOU, YOU also must likewise do to them; this, in fact, is what the Law and the Prophets mean. [Matthew 7:12]

The first citation addresses the person’s sanctimony who may feel ‘right with God’ because they went to Church or Bible study and ‘offered’ God some of their time while embattled with another. Jesus instructs us if while we are at Church, Bible Study, prayer closet, praise and worship service, whenever we ‘offer a sacrifice to God’, if while we are offering we remember someone has something against us we must make it right and then come back with a clean conscience before God. Remember, God said: “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.” [Romans 13:8]

The second citation manifestly indicates if you want to be treated nicely, be nice. If you want to be treated with respect, respect. If you want to be well regarded, regard others. Earlier in the same chapter of Matthew Jesus shared the best possible relationship and comportment counsel, especially for those you regard as close as a ‘brother’.

In the world today it is difficult to navigate the waters of doublespeak. Society has spared no effort to create language that means one thing to one person but quite another to someone else. Dissembling speech is contrary to the advice above and is cautioned against in Proverbs 6:12. How can we be free of ‘accusation’ – a standard of leadership -- as is called for in scripture if we allow froward speech to come from our heart, soul or spirit via our mouth?

As we move into our prayer closet to be one on one with the Grand Designer of Life let your hearts be free of discord, your soul be free of perverse intent and your Spirit be free of contrivance that you may continue on your eternal journey of ‘renewal’ both in heart and Spirit.

In closing: Please remember Jesus confidently established in Matthew 19:26: “…with God all things are possible.” When you fully understand the gravity of those 6 words you will know “…the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.”

Homework: Think upon the words and attitude of King David as he invited God: “Search me, O God, and know my heart; Try me, and know my anxieties; And see if [there is any] wicked way in me, And lead me in the way everlasting.” If you can stand the scrutiny and confess your dependence on God then this homework is self explanatory.

Faith - the definition

2010-06-09T13:34:00.003-10:00

The Spirit of GOD guided the following words to be written and preserved for us to read many centuries later: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. " [Hebrews 11:1]

Can you let your mind ponder this? Another version of the Bible says this: "Faith is the assured expectation of things hoped for, the evident demonstration of realities though not beheld." How and what does one exactly hope for with assurance with no evidence of which is not necessarily manifest? I have pondered the first part for some days now. The greek for the word 'assured' or 'substance' according to the Greek Lexicon:

1) a setting or placing under

a) thing put under, substructure, foundation

2) that which has foundation, is firm

a) that which has actual existence

1) a substance, real being

b) the substantial quality, nature, of a person or thing

c) the steadfastness of mind, firmness, courage, resolution

1) confidence, firm trust, assurance

So let's look at those words again: "Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. "

Faith = foundation of what we 'hope' for. What is the foundation of that faith? The rest of Hebrews 11 gives an itemized accounting of different familiar instances where people from of old were asked to do or believe in something we would consider 'out of the box' and where there was no recollection or knowledge of said action or belief having any 'foundation' in actuality. Yet, time and time again, from the request for Abraham to sacrifice his son Isaac to Elijah's raising the dead long before Christ, we see what seems impossible is done as requested. Writing of Hebrews is attributed to Apostle Paul by some and it is my opinion they are correct. My reasons may be fodder for another post, but for this one suffice it to say just reading Hebrews 5 and 6 and the 2 Corinthian letters in the Bible reflect the same circumspect author. Paul was surely one who was called upon to think outside the box though clearly the 'light' went on in his mind when he encountered the Lord on the road to Damascus.

Paul enumerated the various accounts of faith inspiring people of the past to build a body of evidence in how to define 'faith'.

I ask you, if you move a switch and a light comes on and vice versa, and you do it often, is faith at play? Is it really? If you look outside and see the sun each day, is that faith at play? Seems to me once you have lived long enough to see and understand the sun will come up then it is just knowledge from empiric example. But, when you read in the Bible there is a time in the future the Sun will be darkened; or, in the past the Sun was said to have stood still for a day, then it requires faith to believe what you know to be truth -- the sun comes up and goes down -- could be altered in any way. Yet, we are asked to believe in God's Word and clearly one of the things that is said to come to pass in the future is the Sun, the Moon and the Stars will be darkened. Not that there will be some occlusion but they will be darkened, in other words, total and absolute darkness! That is a scary contemplation. There are many today who could not even imagine total darkness. To pray for such a time to come 'in faith' seems counter intuitive. Yet, Christians often find themselves praying for God's Will to be done and such as it is God's Will includes all that is recorded as an eventful future when God's wrath shall be poured forth.

Not wanting to get off topic, discussing future or prophecy, but using this as an example of taking something like the rise and fall of the daily cycle of light both diurnal and nocturnal, which we fully understand and asking us to accept God's WORD that there will be a time in the future when for a time they will be darkened [Matt 24:29] is asking us to accept something in faith, or on the foundation that the same ONE who causes the sun and moon to rise and fall can cause it to go dark -- just as HE caused it to shine forth as light to begin with as recorded in the Genesis account.

Where am I going with this? Do you have something you are praying in faith for? What is the foundation of your faith? Is it an 'assured' foundation? What do you do with the part of scripture that says you may not see the evidence of your faith demonstrated?

It is just such FAITH which confounds the enemy, whoever and whatever that enemy may be! Your FAITH based on the foundation of God and HIS Son and HIS Spirit, though you may not see the realization of that for which you bear faith that protects you. Paul understood this kind of faith intimately. Remember, he lived a remarkable life and the last 3 decades of his life were simply unbelievable for any one man to have survived but for the accounts recorded and preserved for people down through time to bear witness. Remember, one develops faith by 'hearing' and Paul provides much for us to hear to reinforce our FAITH, most of which is about the ONE who provides us the foundation of that faith, Jesus the Christ.

Not wishing to speak in abstracts, but faith can be and must be actively employed in every aspect of our lives. Just as we believe our mother, father, husband, wife, brother, sister, son or daughter would never wish us ill and would always want the best for us, all the more as Jesus said would the Father in the Heaven, who is PERFECT. Whatever your need, circumstance or request, ask, seek and knock in FAITH. If you feel as though you lack understanding or wisdom in accepting this please feel free to engross yourself in research and prayer seeking to 'get it' so you can 'rest assured' in your faith.

Homework: What does faith mean to you?

From His Creation -- Romans 1:20

2010-05-24T09:04:00.004-10:00

"From the time the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky and all that God made. They can clearly see his invisible qualities--his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse whatsoever for not knowing God"--Romans 1:20

This morning, early, when the sun was midway between dawn and mid morning, and just after a heavy shower, I looked out upon the tree that sits right in front of my eyes and felt no other feeling than Praise to God! As I looked upon the tree, it looked as if God had tossed natural tinsel atop all its branches and flowers. As the drops of water lay gently atop one another the eye merged the droplets into a linear silver streamer. And within each drop along the streamer the sun's reflection was cast as a if it were liquid silver. How wondrous is YOUR Creation! [The photo above did not capture the glistening. I used my phone and was unable to capture what my eye saw.]

I am often reminded of this most wonderful Psalm: [Psalm 150]

Praise the LORD.
Praise God in his sanctuary;
praise him in his mighty heavens.

² Praise him for his acts of power;
praise him for his surpassing greatness.

³ Praise him with the sounding of the trumpet,
praise him with the harp and lyre,

⁴ praise him with tambourine and dancing,
praise him with the strings and flute,

⁵ praise him with the clash of cymbals,
praise him with resounding cymbals.

⁶ Let everything that has breath praise the LORD.
Praise the LORD.

How can anyone look upon the Creation of our God from the most expansive to the smallest seen only by God, and not be moved to PRAISE HIM. And if you break out in dance and song while you do it because you are so filled with joy at HIS creation, then by all means, PRAISE HIM!

We live in a world where images that inspire fear, sadness, anger, despair and anguish daily flood our minds from everywhere. But when we see something so beautiful as a delicate flower or a tree strewn with natural tinsel made of rain droplets, let us stop and take that beauty in. Let IT replace the despair and the fear. The very God who created the tiny drops of water collecting on a tree branch, limb or twig is the God that brings you the promises of Psalm 91 and the invitation in Isaiah 41:13: "For I, the LORD your God, will hold your right hand, Saying to you, 'Fear not, I will help you.' "

As you maneuver through a world congested with objects designed to distract you from the goodness that is God why not force your mind to stop and reflect on the beauty that truly is all around us and brought to us with no charge to us except to PRAISE HIM! The more instances of Praise you are moved to give in a day the more enriched your soul and spirit will be and the less affected the distractions will cause for you. Besides, who doesn't thoroughly enjoy gazing at the mighty wonders of the night time sky; feeling the power of the beautiful oceans; touching the soft pedals of a delicate flower; watching the antics of animal babies; smelling 'baby fresh' of an innocent new born or hearing the different pitches of a wind chime as the breeze caresses each of the chime components, or the sounds of a babbling brook, a gentle waterfall, the morning squabbles of birds in their nests? Linger there for a moment and let it wash your soul and spirit while it removes the 'news of the day'. Our Lord gave us sage: "So, never be anxious about the next day, for the next day will have its own anxieties. Sufficient for each day is its own badness." [Matthew 6:34]

Thank you Father for your MIGHTY CREATIONS...in your Son Jesus' unmatchable name!

Temperance

2010-02-05T10:58:00.006-10:00

But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law. — Galatians 5:22-23 NLT

As promised, this week we will look at Temperance and try to understand its nuances. The diagram above reflects the two branches of temperance; Gentleness and Sobriety. As we explore the two branches may we come to understand the blessed benefits of temperance!

Firstly: Gentleness has this sense:

1) moral goodness, integrity

2) benignity, kindness

Does it not soothe your spirit merely to read the words: ‘moral goodness, integrity, kindness’? How can it not. In a world where the opposite is more often our experience to think that just the words could soothe us says much. Yet, imagine if you will, if YOU were the embodiment of ‘moral goodness, integrity and kindness’? How would you affect the world around you?

For those of us raised in the 50’s, 60’s and 70's, we watched as images were promoted on the television that reflected what was believed to be examples of ‘moral goodness’ and ‘integrity’ and ‘kindness’. Who could forget Lassie and Timmy’s family? Who could forget the Walton’s and their intergenerational family dealing with the transitional mores as ‘moral goodness and integrity’ served as the guiding light to which they arrived during each conflict. As the years progressed the images we watched began lamenting ‘moral goodness and integrity’ had disappeared and was usually reckoned to ‘hard working’ ‘honest’ individuals as ‘good people’ who ‘work hard’ -- as if they were a species of human that was being migrated from the everyday prevalent norm to the endangered list. And now, today, they are referred to as ‘in the day’ or questioned as to ‘why they struggled so hard for their beliefs?’These same individuals are moved now from the endangered list to the ‘extinct’ list.

Yet, when we see examples of ‘moral goodness’ and ‘integrity’ we are heartened that such individuals still remain in this day and age as a reminder that we are not all lost. Their presence may be a faded light but we could follow it on our path back to ‘right’.

Where is gentleness today? Is there a place in our busy competitive lives for gentleness? Does it seem refreshing to you? This brings us to the second branch of Temperance: Sobriety

What is Sobriety? We have heard it often as it relates to those who have successfully engaged in a 12 step program. Sobriety is something protected moment to moment and with cherish. Some synonyms for sobriety are: abstaining, moderation, refraining, self-restraint, and soberness.

The one branch ‘gentleness’ seems to have no limit! In fact, the more one exhibits moral goodness, integrity and kindness the more endearing the person becomes. The other branch, sobriety, requires ‘self restraint, abstinence, and moderation’. Are these mutually exclusive? Are they interdependent? Remember, we are speaking of the ‘Fruitage of God’s Holy Spirit’ not some ‘self effort’. Remember, the preceding verses clearly show if left to our own devices, the flesh, we would do all things to our own detriment, which case has clearly been evinced in the world around us. Moral goodness, integrity, kindness, sobriety =Temperance, a FRUITAGE of HOLY SPIRIT. Looking now to the bottom of the graphic above we see Self Control is the embodiment of temperance.

Many in today’s world fully understand there is no ‘fleshly’ or ‘natural’ inclination towards self control. But are we lost?

Who has not heard the Serenity Prayer? “God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change; courage to change the things I can; and wisdom to know the difference.” The opening verses reflect a dependence on God and WISDOM in order to face or tackle the daily issues. Prayer!, the first step to counter our ‘natural’ inclination. The Fruitage of Holy Spirit will remind us we cannot go it alone, we must depend on God and the way we do that is by engaging God in our daily lives, moment by moment. Only God can grant you the Peace [serenity] that comes from identifying what your limitations are and to act accordingly…fix what you can, understand there are some things you cannot and of course reliance on God to assist you in identifying the difference between the two.

As we ponder this fruitage -- ‘temperance/self control’ which also includes two other fruitages, gentleness and kindness -- might we reflect upon our own level of moral goodness, our own integrity our own level of kindness.

Homework: When was the last time you were really struck with the level of someone else’s integrity, moral goodness and kindness? Did it cause you to reflect upon your own? It is good to pray for God to embue us with HIS HOLY SPIRIT and if we seek TEMPERANCE to pray through petition and supplication for our spirit to be refreshed with this important fruitage.

Next week we will look at the antithetical aspect of Temperance.

May God lift you and bring you the peace the surpasses all thought! --Phil 4:4-7

Fruitage of Holy Spirit

2010-01-29T11:15:00.003-10:00

“But when the Holy Spirit controls our lives, he will produce this kind of fruit in us: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Here there is no conflict with the law.”—Galatians 5:22-23 NLT

The preceding verses speak of the flesh’s pursuits which all stand in stark contrast to that of the Fruitage of the Holy Spirit. Have you ever sat and meditated on this scripture and allowed your spirit to identify the fruitage Holy Spirit has deposited in your renewed heart? Typically, a Christian will look at this list and humbly long for each of these to dominate their life. Perhaps it is because we have always agreed anything done by God must be done to the superlative degree and we are not incorrect for GOD is PERFECT. Yet, we are not. These words were not written FOR GOD but ABOUT GOD for HUMANS. Therefore, as we look a this we will temper the fruitage through our imperfect filter which tones down the unreachable heights we tend to believe all of God’s goals seem to represent.

You have no doubt experienced at least some of these if not all of them. If we allow our spirit to recall our lives before our believing and sanctified walk, or perhaps if like most our sinful nature has caused us to misstep and remember how our spirit rejoiced in the return to God? For me, it was ‘peace’. I had lived so many years falsely believing I must continue to ‘work’ for my salvation and that if I wasn’t ‘whole soul devoted’ or not ‘giving 100 per cent of the time’ to accomplish goals I did not set for myself but were set by my ‘church’ for me it led to being insecure in my ‘status’ with God. Would HE love me? Would HE understand my inability to measure up to the work I thought HE wanted me to do? Even if I missed the goal by an hour, I was stressed that I’d let HIM down and did not maintain the ‘vow’ I had made to ‘serve HIM’. I was captive to that belief for nearly 30 years before the ‘release’ preached in the ‘Good News’ truly liberated me as it was meant to do. When I accepted the Lord, invited HIM in, from that very moment, PEACE filled my life, my heart, my soul, my spirit! Interestingly, what happened within a few weeks was I innately noticed the stress was gone but I had so long associated the stress with God’s Spirit that I immediately began to doubt what I had done in accepting the Lord was the right thing to do! The old belief system lingering from years of inculcation had begun to manipulate my spirit with doubt.

God is good though! That doubt, those feelings, were now recognized as the foreign, the flesh and after prayer and study of God’s Word, I sat in my chair one day and realized what I was feeling was honestly ‘THE PEACE OF GOD that surpasses all thought!’ What a moment for joy [another fruit of the Holy Spirit] and faith [another fruit of the Holy Spirit] to be simply elevated both in my spirit and my soul!

I spent several weeks really meditating on the passage above together with the passage in 1 Corinthians 12-1-11 and the manifestation or ‘gifts’ of the Holy Spirit.

Do you believe you have them? Do you recognize them? Do you honor them? Do you allow them to work through you for the good of God and others?

Why not list the fruitages individually then one by one, identify how they are present in your spirit and manifest in your life to God, yourself and others? Do you have ‘love’, ‘joy’, ‘peace’, ‘patience’, ‘kindness’, ‘goodness’, ‘faithfulness’, ‘long suffering’, ‘self control’? Of course, to some degree you do but are they readily recognized by yourself? Why not take one like ‘patience’ or ‘faithfulness’ and pray, meditate and allow the Spirit of God to magnify them in you. Your heart, your soul, your spirit will know true joy and peace, that which comes from GOD, and it will be a ‘faith trigger™’

Faith Trigger™ is a term coined by myself in 1999 while writing my book ‘Faith Triggers’©1999. I will share the concept at a later post. But until then, why not focus a few moments of your daily worship on this one: “FAITHFULNESS”? It is a significant fruitage that enables us to be mindful of our ‘spirit’ walk and to assist us in ‘routine’ worship. Prayer time, study time, praise time, all times to worship and we truly want to be faithful to that goal. Yes, we fail at times to remember how daily we should include a discussion with our heavenly FATHER or to PRAISE HIM, but HE understands. Pray to remember! And if all else fails, why not ‘schedule’ time with God as you would any other important MEETING you have! I have a daily task reminder to spend an hour in praise and worship and it has been such a wonderful blessing!!

Next week the fruitage: Temporance

Homework: find a ‘fruitage’ appealing to you…find out if you recognize it in yourself; find ways to understand it Biblically and personally; make it a matter of earnest prayer.

Leave Evil Alone!

2010-01-11T10:28:00.001-10:00

”Never pay back evil to anyone. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do your part to live in peace with everyone, as much as possible. Dear friends, never avenge yourselves. Leave that to God. For it is written, "I will take vengeance; I will repay those who deserve it," says the Lord.”

Romans 12:17-19 NLT

Today’s message:

On a positive note…Or, do you think this is a negative presentation? I agree, some might view it as negative, but think about it.

If you were to leave vengeance alone, not pay back evil for evil, you move on, you leave ‘wickedness’ alone for someone else to deal with and someone by the way far more capable of a just resolution than any vigilante spirit we may possess.

Is it human to want to get even? Absolutely

Is it superhuman to bless our enemy, really bless them? Not just mouth the words, maybe? Even if we mouth the words and believe them often enough they will become our hymn and eventually, a rewarding habit.

The angst we carry with us when we bear someone ill takes far more out of us than it will ever take out of the person deserving of God’s Wrath. If we can only accept that God is in a far better position to ‘see’ everything and ‘know’ everything then we will find that HIS justice is easily our justice and it is good to wait on HIM.

In the greatest evil ever perpetrated imagine the sense of righteous indignation God could have possessed -- yet HE turned that awful event in HIS life into a full blown blessing for all mankind! To many, having your son brutalized, tortured, humiliated in full public view and then murdered is the worst thing they could ever imagine and surely an event that would warrant vengeance, retribution, JUSTICE! Frankly, it is quite normal to feel all of those feelings. But, as God moved differently in the case of HIS own son’s heinous death we will eventually fare better if we were to leave the kind of Justice ONLY GOD could mete out to God. This is an extreme analogy of course, the day to day injustices rarely meet this sort of intensity, and for that we need give thanks to God! But, as in all things, to train to do your best for any trial or event, you need to build up your stamina and your arsenal of coping mechanisms by smaller contests, which is where the rising above the day to day battles for which you may want justice and letting God be the JUDGE of all builds the endurance necessary, God forbid, there should be something of the magnitude of above to deal with.

Who is not familiar with our Lord’s words in Luke 6: “Judge not, and ye shall not be judged: condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned: forgive, and ye shall be forgiven:.”

While it is truly a struggle to hold back the strong emotions attendant to injustice if we truly believe in God, truly believe in salvation through HIS Son, we will then understand as a child of God, ‘Father knows best!’

Today’s homework, no matter the injustice, be it directly related to you, or something you hear or see that emboldens your sense of injustice, please, PRAY about it; leave the injustice for God to correct!

Reflect on HIS manifold attributes, like for instance, Wonderful, Marvelous, Glorious, Righteous and Just. Let those wash through your spirit and soul as fresh waters replacing the injustice with faith and patience and joy in God. May God’s Peace be with you!

Supplement Your Faith with Virtue

2009-08-12T12:38:00.003-10:00

Lately ‘virtue’ has been rattling around in my head. Sometimes I take the message personally as a ‘reproof’ or ‘discipline’ from God that somehow I am lacking, perhaps even offensively so. On this topic I can admit, I am woefully lacking, sadly shallow but submissive as always to the correction from God our Father for HE disciplines the one HE loves. As I did my research and contemplated ‘virtue’ as used in scripture, as inspired by God, as spelled out by the apostles I thought perhaps it might be fun to share it.

First up, Peter speaks to the Christian:

May grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to [fn] his own glory and excellence, by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, [fn] and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. – 2 Peter 1:2-8

Ponder, how does one ‘supplement’ one’s faith with virtue? First, one would have to understand ‘what is virtue’? The Greek for virtue used in this particular passage of the Bible has the following meaning:

1) a virtuous course of thought, feeling and action

a) virtue, moral goodness

2) any particular moral excellence, as modesty, purity

Extract from www.blueletterbible.org, Lexicon

Definitions of moral excellence on the Web:

virtue: the quality of doing what is right and avoiding what is wrong
wordnetweb.princeton.edu/perl/webwn

Curiously, this sentiment is stated for us in scripture: “Therefore, if one knows how to do what is right and yet does not do it, it is a sin for him.-James 4:17

So, moral goodness must accompany our faith! Moral goodness is being able to recognize what is right, is doing what is right and conversely, not doing wrong. Wow! That is quite the challenge, or is it. It would seem from looking at our world ‘right’ has a sliding scale of meanings. Extreme examples of what some believe to be right while others believe it morally wrong, would for example be ‘abortion’ or ‘euthanasia’. We live in a society which has moved far away from the tenets of the Bible, tenets clearly outlined through out its pages with well articulated accounts of what is RIGHT. Is it up to us to define what is right or does God provide HIS take on right along with the admonition to ‘supplement’ our faith with virtue? Here it is:

Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things [are] noble, whatever things [are] just, whatever things [are] pure, whatever things [are] lovely, whatever things [are] of good report, if [there is] any virtue and if [there is] anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things. – Phil 4:8

That is quite a tall order…truth, nobility, justice, purity, love, encouragement, virtue, praiseworthiness. Can we tackle at least one for a little while just to get used to the feeling? How about truth? I am reminded of the movie “LIAR, LIAR” where the central character was forced to tell the truth at all times. Sometimes the truth was painful, sometimes comical, all times truth, at least as he saw it, and when it was over truth became a reality for him as it was promoted with positive reinforcement through improved relationships with those he interacted with, especially his son. Not that Hollywood is the model for emulation of what is right; simply the premise has some relevance in every walk of life we enjoy.

So let us plan this. Let’s plan on dissecting this couple of scriptures over the next few weeks and see where it takes us. As we are reminded by Peter’s words above, in order for us to be partakers in the divine nature we must supplement to our faith with virtue!

Contemplate: Nobility

Escape to the Shadow!

2009-07-02T00:36:00.002-10:00

The harsh shadows cast from the headlines seem filled in with scorching heat! Increasing taxes on everything when the economy has tanked so badly that many have no income, yet, they still must pay taxes on food and the necessities of life! The religious hatred that is spewed both in threats to foreigners and to their own citizens, the disquieting feeling deep within that the government here in America that has always been sort of ‘there’ is now dissipating and there is no one behind it with an appealing face. With the years indulging in self it seems fitting that soon enough it will be everyone for themselves as utter chaos comes to life with no constraint.

These are horrifying visions and realities but except for a small portion of souls on this earth, it has been the life routine for many around the world all their lives. The right to peaceful and quiet living does not exist in so many places and the shadow that looms over those souls is always suspect of yet another frightful moment in a long series of foreboding and terror.

With each passing day the shade we wind up in does not provide relief from the sun or hot winds.

There is ONE who casts a long and protective shadow. The Psalmist wrote this: “How precious is your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.” [Psalm 36:7]

What contrasting terminology ‘precious is your unfailing love, O God!’ to ‘I will wipe you off the map’!

Can I say it again? “How precious is your unfailing love, O God” What a powerful sentence! The shadow is used as a metaphor for protection, security, concealment. John, the apostle of Love wrote: “God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect.”[1 John 4]

Think upon God’s love, ‘how precious is your unfailing love, O God’. “All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of your wings.”

While we are faced with the ugly of news and events everyday and find ourselves grappling with the heat of a harsh world, meditate on how ‘precious’ and ‘UNFAILING’ God’s love is. All who live in love live in God and God lives in them. What a powerful statement! We MUST live in love. Staying under the long shadow cast by God gives us respite from the realities of a dying world and renews our ‘love’ in God and HIS in us. If we let that love vibrate out from within we can positively affect those around us and extend God’s shadow by one more being.

We have some dark, even darker times coming ahead of us. We likely cannot conceive of the fearful things we will experience, yet, if we scoot up way inside that long shadow and embrace the precious and unfailing love of God we will be like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, cast in a fire but emerging untouched even of the ‘smell’ of fire because of the ‘precious and UNFAILING love of God’!

Please extend God’s shadow to include one more weary soul. Point them to the Love of God, the precious, unfailing, love of God so as we all live in that love of God we grow perfect! AMEN!

We may not be able to stem the tide of evil and darkness that is sucking the life out of this planet but while evil towers over us our God will eclipse evil with HIS own Shadow. Have faith.

Contemplate how cool it feels to the bare foot that has just run across the hot asphalt to land upon a cool shaded place. God is Good!

Fear Not!

2009-06-23T01:44:00.003-10:00

North Korea threatens to launch a missile towards the quiet vacation destination of the Hawaiian Isles. There, where paradise calls the sun-loving to its white sand shores, N. Korea’s sinister government has set its cross hairs, fixed!

Iran’s government, allegedly ‘theocratic’ [meaning god run/head], has declared war on their neighbor, Israel, vowing to annihilate them entirely. The ‘godly’ leaders permit a rain of acid laden water to fall on thousands of Iran’s young people who have gathered to demonstrate their sentiments about a bogus election and the hierarchy ruler.

A jihad against the west has been ongoing for some 2o years with peaks and valleys in assaults and strategic planning. Thousands have died for religious differences, pitting tribal culture against personal independence.

Somalia, Darfur, Afghanistan, Iraq, Mexico-U.S border: where acts of violence and full disregard for persons and property is wide spread.

There has been much discussion for the past few decades that people in western countries have grown calloused, cool, or immune to incidents of violence. They say a correlation is drawn between the number of acts of violence viewed as ‘entertainment’ -- either in the form of movies, television, or now gamers – and the human response to real violence.

The human spirit is such a fascinating entity! It sequesters itself in the routine of its being, lurking in the dark shadows of the character who would practice death in a virtual world, donning an alter ego in avatar’s form while also engaging a background program designed to startle the mind with bits of information assaulting one’s cognizance -- pricking it to consciousness as real life news of violence in foreign lands is reported. There is an ethereal nascent nudge of the mind by the human spirit towards the innate capacity for empathy, yet the inkling is so unfamiliar it is disquieting, usually excused, ignored. But with the increased level of violence encroaching on the human spirit in each of us and at such loud decibel levels with IED’s and Bombs, rockets, missiles, rapid weapon fire and shouts of crowds, it is increasingly more and more difficult to deny. The more insecure, more vulnerable we become with this encroachment, the more our natural self begins to respond. Fear is just beginning to dawn on the horizon of the western world. It comes in waves of assaults upon all that freedom, security, independence and individuality offers and in all who have been born to such privilege. It leers in the purple shadows of the morning light knowing the fertile ground it will inhabit in those holding fear as a notion. The human spirit is growing weary ignoring the signs of turbulence growing in the turbid first waves of the hint of fear’s approach. An ominous sensibility quakes resolve and confidence with each report of threat and mayhem. As the body receives this frequency of fear, adrenaline seeps into the blood and moves the body to a state of preparedness: raising the internal threat level to peak awareness. The rapidity of the reports of horror leaves no time for recreation, causing a weakened state of being with fear as the driving force.

There comes a time when the human spirit acknowledges its own capacity for stress management and defers to the ‘SPIRIT’ for back up. It is here where our ‘faith’ acts as a salve to quiet the mind and emotion of the fear. It is here where we remember the Lord’s exhortation as he finished telling his friends the future; a future which seems to be more our reality with each passing minute. After telling them some would live in a time of such momentous terror he says this: “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.” [ Luke 21:28]

What is probably the most amazing quality of the human spirit is its capacity for ‘hope’ and its unquenchable ‘belief’ in salvation, even if only in the person or form of a ‘white night’-- an obvious synonym for ‘Savior’.

As we hear of ‘reports of war’ and hear of reports of perverseness in the guise of religion, or ‘name’ of God, we draw peace from the Prince of Peace. We draw on the Forever Father, Mighty God, whose confidence lives on through our Spirit as we recall the WORD OF GOD!

“LIFT UP YOUR HEADS; YOUR REDEMPTION DRAWETH NIGH”! Fear Not!

Contemplation: How might you rise to the ever looming challenge of fear?

Happy FATHER'S Day

2009-06-19T11:49:00.004-10:00

Here in the U.S., Sunday, June 21st, will not only mark the beginning of Summer, the longest day, or Summer Solstice, this year it is also Father’s Day! We are privileged to live in a time when such a notion is nationally observed, to ‘respect, admire, give tribute’ to our dads. But what of ABBA?

Our Lord gave us a clue in prayer, as it were, when HE said this: “Pray like this: Our Father in heaven, may your name be honored.” [Matt 6:9] In this context you could add ‘privilege, distinction’ to respect, admiration and tribute.

The Lord, building kinship between the ‘father here and the Heavenly Father concept’ said this: “If you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him." [Luke 11:13]

What can we do as children for our Heavenly Father? The Bible is filled with gift ideas from of old that were offered to God so the concept of offering a gift to our Heavenly Father is surely not out of the question. What if you are stumped as to what you can give?

Here are some ideas:

"Here is my final conclusion: Fear God and obey his commands, for this is the duty of every person." [Ecc 12:13]
"But the time is coming and is already here when true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and in truth. The Father is looking for anyone who will worship him that way." [John 4:23]
"The Lord your God is one; so love the Lord God with all your passion and prayer and intelligence and energy.'" [Mark 12:30]

By now, you have clear ideas on what gifts you can make to your Heavenly Father. You may say: “These are everyday things we should be doing!” Correct! We should, however being sinful we do not always do as we should. Just as in life, we do not always obey our ‘flesh and blood’ dad either. But, on Father’s Day, most of us make every effort to please him as we know he would be pleased. So, if we cannot remember daily what we should be doing, perhaps out of respect and admiration we should make every effort to DO what few things our Father requires of us as HIS family. Think about ‘passion and prayer’ -- what can that prayer be? To remember to try and do what is expected of us daily, with HIS help? And if we ask we know HE will answer.

“You can tell for sure that you are now fully adopted as his own children because God sent the Spirit of his Son into our lives crying out, "Papa! Father!" Doesn't that privilege of intimate conversation with God make it plain that you are not a slave, but a child? And if you are a child, you're also an heir, with complete access to the inheritance.” [Gal 4:6,7]

On Sunday, cry out “PAPA, FATHER” and honor, admire, respect HIM as your heart is so moved!

Contemplation: What can I do to HONOR my FATHER?

The Cool Mist of God

2009-06-13T22:34:00.002-10:00

Have you ever stood just off to the side of a waterfall and felt the cool mist or spray that floats up and out from the fall? Many times, hiking to see a waterfall leaves you in need of a bit of refreshment. While it can be said, the mist rising off the falls is from God that is not the point of this article. What is the point?

‘Seasons of refreshing’ or ‘times of refreshing’ as Peter put it to the crowds gathered at Pentecost shortly after the Lord ascended to heaven. Refreshing would be theirs if they converted and then had their sins blotted out. The Greek word used for ‘refreshing’ in Acts 3:19 is: anapsyxis and means “a cooling”.

Was your conversion and subsequent repentance of sin a refreshing experience for you? Did you feel ‘a cooling’? Invigorated? Recharged? Revitalized? Some may say yes because each person’s conversion is different than the next. But if you say no, is that a wrong answer? NO! Actually, in context, this passage is merely a portion of a larger speech Peter gave to a lot of folks who were not already part of ‘The Way’. They were told IF they converted and had their sins blotted out the refreshing would come from the presence of the Lord. Some years later the Lord had his beloved friend, John, write down this invitation: “The Spirit and the bride say, "Come!" And let him who hears say, "Come!" Whoever is thirsty, let him come; and whoever wishes, let him take the free gift of the water of life.” [Rev 22:17] Then there is this wonderful visual: “Anyone who drinks the water I give will never thirst—not ever. The water I give will be an artesian spring within, gushing fountains of endless life." [John 4:14]

Are you feeling refreshed yet? Do you see the simile between water - refreshing and the ‘mist of God’?

What do you do to refresh? Or, what is refreshing to you? If you live somewhere hot, is it going somewhere with a nip in the air? A chilled fresh strawberry? Standing atop a mountain and gazing over the earth? Playing with your pet? Diving into the lake in early spring? Riding a motorcycle with the wind in your face? A hobby? Grandkids? The ‘refreshing’ from Christ’s presence is ‘a cooling’.

Most people describe the world as a harsh place. Life is tough. People seek escape it is so unpleasant. Yet the simple truth is turning to Christ, repenting of our sins, those are the two things we must do, that and if we are thirsty, drink of Christ’s waters freely.

The things we do to refresh ourselves are only momentary. They work, but only for a little while. We will be refreshed for all eternity when the time has come for Christ to return. During the harsher times when the worst of this world is tough to handle if you cannot indulge in a moment of refreshing to sustain you perhaps in your mind’s eye you can picture yourself standing on the side of the water fall and the mist falling gently upon you, refreshing you. Then, while you are there, remember the invitation? Come, takes life’s water free! In the words of Revelation: “Yes! Come, Master Jesus!”

There are many faith triggers™ in life. One could be the next time you are in need of refreshing and you find yourself refreshed you remember to thank God for HIS promise: When it is HIS time ‘seasons of refreshing’ will be your EVERY day of life. We can thank God for the gentle mist that settles lightly on our skin. Thank HIM too that HE is so awesome HE created the powerful waterfall and from it the gentle spray. What an awe-inspiring God!

Point of contemplation: How does your love of God refresh you?

A Jubilee of Liberty

2009-06-11T19:51:00.005-10:00

Liberty Pole Post is pleased and blessed to launch our "Christian connection". Our country’s values are rooted, even entrenched, in Christian principles and values. The 17th and 18th century pilgrims and early settlers arrived, firmly committed to their faith. Our founding fathers in their wisdom understood with independence comes individualism, on every level, including religion. They built into the constitution our right to “FREEDOM of religion”. No further definition was given beyond these words: “Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof…”

Our site is a gathering and broadcast destination. Liberty Pole Post is positioned to announce when Liberty is being denied or eroded in our great nation on every level through editorial commentary. We have added what is the obvious component, our Spiritual/Faith OutPost where respite and refreshment will be available for those who are distressed, discouraged, parched, fragile, weary, and exhausted from taking the beating the current government is daily dishing. We offer a kind WORD, reminder of what is ‘real’ and ‘good’ in life, through faith, especially in Christian principles. As on the ‘national’ side, we are not partisan to a particular ‘denomination’ but instead look to the Bible as the touchstone for guidance as revealed through the Bible. “To the ones chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, with sanctification by the spirit, for the purpose of their being obedient and sprinkled with the blood of Jesus Christ: May you have more and more of God's special favor and wonderful peace.” [1 Peter 1:2] Please partake and be filled with the Goodness of God.

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When’s the last time you felt like dancing about or running in joy because of your liberty in Christ? When’s the last time you felt ‘free’ of every encumbrance to thrill in your Christian freedom.

The Hebrew word for liberty is: dĕrowr and has the meaning of: a flowing, free run, liberty.

Freedom is part of the concept of liberty as it relates to the Bible. Who is not familiar with these words: “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." …”Therefore if the Son makes you free, you shall be free indeed.” The word used in this scripture for ‘free’ is: eleutheroō and is Greek. It translates into this:
1) to make free
2) set at liberty: from the dominion of sin

Have you experienced the utter abandonment of all things for joy when a young child lays eyes on a parent returning from an absence, short or long? Their joy, their love is free --to flow, run -- to their parent. Imagine how we will be when we behold our Lord? Christ gave us FREEDOM from all that holds us to our natural life. Christ is the author of LIFE, LIBERTY and the Pursuit of Happiness by HIS life’s existence and model and HIS death’s and resurrection’s triumphs. No doubt we will run to HIM with utter and absolute abandon of the fear and bondage we daily submit and subject ourselves to in our natural world, for the FREEDOM and LIBERTY of our Spiritual/Spirit world.

Until that day, how do we reconcile our Christian freedom and liberty with our natural liberty? How do we fight for our inalienable rights, the natural rights bestowed upon us by nature’s God: LIFE, LIBERTY and Pursuit of Happiness? How do we fight here, now, in the natural world while clinging, to what is fine in our Spiritual world? By recognizing that to have either we must first have and understand the first, Christian Liberty/Freedom. A Christian must simply employ the renewed ‘new mind and heart’ given when we accepted Jesus as the Lord of our life. Once done, it is our faith that continues to build on that joy. Did you know? Joy is a fruitage of the Spirit of God [Holy Spirit] and is manifest through you by Holy Spirit?

Here in our natural world we live our Christian Liberty through its principles. We honor those principles by loyalty to them at all times in all circumstances. We do not shrink back when we see others denied their liberty and we do not turn a blind eye when manifesting our JOY IN CHRIST brings with it harsh condemnation by those without Christ. We do not return like for like but we carefully exercise our freedom by teaching, disciplining, by manifesting our Freedoms in such a way as to make them desirous to those without them. We are not the sort who will abuse our Freedoms, our liberty, by lording it over others.

If we are denied our freedoms our Christian liberty through oppressive government or dictatorial edict, we do so only as to its natural demonstration and not as to its Spiritual manifestation. We are Jubilant in our Christian Liberty and Freedoms in whatever place, under what ever rule, in what ever circumstances and through what ever trials, because Christ experienced them all and was FREED from death’s grip -- blazing the way for us.

Be FREE! Dance around if only in your mind in the Joy of Christ. Just for a moment, close your eyes and let your mind and heart indulge your faith and belief in YOUR Christian Liberty. Do not let the cares or concerns of the natural world horn in on your joy. Take as long as you need to enjoy your FREEDOM. It is yours in Christ. Picture yourself running to meet HIM, the joy and absolute liberty you feel. Our Faith is to be an active faith not one of mere intellect, a topic for discussion, or, relegated to a synonym for a church we may attend. Each time we experience an awesome event, or feel that tug at our hearts which is connected to our well of tears, it is a faith trigger™ and increases our faith, releases our joy and builds on our CHRISTIAN LIBERTY!

Point of contemplation: How are you FREE indeed!?