Fences

I went for another walk last night.

I wanted to walk to the bridge over our pond, but I took the long way around. I chuckled to myself as I thought how “taking the long route”

was definitely symbolic of my own life. As I got nearer to the pond, I also got nearer to the barn gate between me and the pond. I could see the pond, I could see where I wanted to be, but there was a fence there, between me and the place I was trying get to.

When I got to the gate, I stood there for a minute, my heart heavy with the thought of how many souls are just like this in their spiritual life. They see the bridge, they see that place of freedom, but they just keep standing at the gate. They just keep building fences. Last night, as I climbed over the barn gate, I wondered why I stood at my own spiritual gate for so long before realizing that just because fences don’t move, doesn’t mean that we can’t. I wondered why it took me so long to realize that all those fences between me and spiritual freedom weren’t put there by God, but by me. 

When Jesus began His ministry, both religious and political people saw Him as dangerous. Jesus was dangerous to fence builders and fence maintainers, because Jesus came to remind people of the Father’s heart— a Father Who desires for His children to be free. Jesus came to give mankind greater revelation to words written on scrolls—  to explain to us their deeper meaning, and to fulfill them. 

He came to set the captives free— whether captive to sin, or captive to religion, or even captive to themselves— for Whom the Son sets free, is free indeed. 

(John 10:9,10) I am the gate. If anyone enters through Me, he will be saved. He will come in and go out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come that they may have life, and have it in all its fullness. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.

(John 8:24,31-36) “That is why I told you that you would die in your sins. For unless you believe that I am He, you will die in your sins.”.. So He said to the Jews who had believed Him, “If you continue in My word, you are truly My disciples and you will know the truth, and the truth will make you free…Truly, truly, I tell you, everyone who sins is a slave to sin…So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed.”

(1 Tim 2:3-7) This is good and pleasing in the sight of God our Savior, who wants everyone to be saved and to understand the truth. For there is one God and one Mediator who can reconcile God and humanity—the man Christ Jesus. He gave his life to purchase freedom for everyone. This is the message God gave to the world at just the right time. And I have been chosen as a preacher and apostle to teach the Gentiles this message about faith and truth…

Jesus Marveled

Jesus marveled. Imagine being the person who caused Jesus to marvel? 

In Matthew Chapter 8, we are given the account of a Roman centurion’s encounter with Jesus Christ. The centurion asks Jesus to heal his servant. But when Jesus agrees to go to the centurion’s house to heal the servant, the centurion replies, “Lord, I am not worthy to have You come under my roof. But just say the word, and my servant will be healed.” 

The centurion explains to Jesus that he understands how authority works, and he not only recognized, but also had utter trust in the Lordship of Jesus Christ. And we are told, “..when Jesus heard this, He marveled and said to those following Him, ‘Truly I tell you, I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.’” Brothers and sisters, Jesus said this “to.. those.. following.. Him.” He said this to His disciples. He said no one in all of Israel had demonstrated such faith. Let’s think about that for a minute.

I think this encounter has far deeper implications than what I usually see it used to teach (i.e. miraculous healing, demonic deliverance). This encounter with the centurion was after Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, when many were “amazed at His teaching” and “large crowds followed Him.” Many followed Jesus and were amazed at His teaching, many saw His miracles (Matt 5:23-25), but by our Lord’s own words, none of those people—alas, even His own disciples up to that time— possessed a faith so utter and so complete in His Lordship, in which He could marvel. 

Oh Lord, open our eyes to any blindness within us so that it may be said of us: “I have not found anyone in Israel with such great faith.”

(Luke 18:7,8) Will not God bring about justice for His elect who cry out to Him day and night? Will He continue to defer their help? I tell you, He will promptly carry out justice on their behalf. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He find faith on earth?

(1 Peter 1:7-9) [Trials] have come so that the proven genuineness of your faith—of greater worth than gold, which perishes even though refined by fire—may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed. Though you have not seen Him, you love Him; and though you do not see Him now, you believe in Him and rejoice with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for you are receiving the end result of your faith, the salvation of your souls.

(Matt 7:21-23) Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name drive out demons and perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you workers of lawlessness!’

(John 6:40) For this is the will of my Father: Everyone who sees [beholds, perpetually gazes upon for the purpose of analyzing and comprehending, experiences in a way that leads to discernment] The Son and trusts [relies upon, entrusts themselves to, places confidence in, abides in] Him shall have eternal life, and I shall raise him in the last day. 

Never Alone

I went for a walk last night, out to the bridge over our pond. 

As I met with the Lord and contemplated many things, I looked out and saw one of our ducks alone out on the water. I thought to myself, “Lord, sometimes I feel like that.” Sometimes I feel like I’m alone in the water, just paddling around by myself, trying to understand this great, big world. Trying to understand how it all fits together, and where I fit in all of it. 

Sometimes I feel the weight of smallness, as I gaze around at the whole of creation that seems to swallow me up. Sometimes I feel wary about the seeming encroaching dusk and fading light. I think to myself, “It’s coming, and there is absolutely nothing that any of us can do to stop it. Because the sun must set, and the dark night come, before we rise on the wings of the dawn.”

As I looked at the solitary duck and contemplated all my deep thoughts, I suddenly realized the duck was not alone at all. I suddenly noticed the duck’s reflection in the water and as I looked, I could now see two ducks instead of just one. And I thought to myself, “Oh Lord, that is like us! We are never alone when we are a reflection of You.” Where we are, there He is also. Always. 

And that is what I want to share with you today. Those who reflect the image of the Lord are never alone. Where we are, there He is also. Always. 

(Psalm 139:8-10) If I ascend to the heavens, You are there; if I make my bed in Sheol, You are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle by the farthest sea, even there Your hand will guide me; Your right hand will hold me fast.

(Heb 13:5,6) Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, for God has said: “Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence: “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?”

(John 14:1-6) “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe in Me as well. In My Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. And you know the way to the place I am going." “Lord,” said Thomas, “we do not know where You are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

The Branch

 

This is you. And this is me. Without Christ in us, we are all dead branches.  

A couple years ago I was weeping and praying on the barn steps and the Spirit told me to open my eyes, and asked “What do you see?” And I said, “A branch.” Each day after that, when I would sit on the hay loft steps and look out the barn window, this branch was always dead-center in my vision. One day after a storm, it broke off and I picked it up off the ground and brought it inside my barn, and to this day it sits on the dusty work counter right in front of me whenever I come out here to pray as a reminder. 

It reminds me of when God told Moses to have each tribe of Israel to place a wooden rod, which is essentially a dead branch, “in the tent of meeting in front of the testimony, where I meet with you.” God was tired of their grumbling and bickering and He sought to resolve it by showing the people that it was He and He alone Who chose His servants and caused them to bear fruit. On that day, every tribe of Israel was symbolized by a dead branch, and the only one that had life in it, didn’t come from itself but from God’s own hand. 

It reminds me of when God told Ezekiel to get two sticks and bind them together, to show the Israelites that it is He who unites us, it is He Who gathers us together and makes us one in His hand. It is He Who establishes us and Who makes us His holy eternal dwelling place. It is He who will do what no human can do: make us all one mind and one heart in Jesus Christ, our King and Lord forever. 

It reminds me of the day that the Lord asked Jeremiah, “What do you see?” And Jeremiah responded, “I see a branch.” And it reminds me of the next thing that God told Jeremiah after he saw the branch, “You have observed correctly,” said the LORD, “for I am watching over My word to accomplish it.” 

And I think that is a very good reminder to us all. 

(Zech 6:12,13) And you are to tell him that this is what the LORD of Hosts says: ‘Here is a man whose name is the Branch, and He will branch out from His place and build the temple of the LORD. It is He who will build the temple of the LORD, and He will be clothed with majesty and will sit and rule on His throne. And He will be a priest on His throne. And there will be harmony between the two.’

(Num 17:7-10) And Moses placed the rods before the LORD in the tabernacle of witness. The next day, Moses went into the tent of the testimony; and behold, the rod of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted and put forth buds and produced blossoms, and it bore ripe almonds…And the LORD said to Moses, “Bring Aaron’s rod back before the Testimony, to be kept as a sign against the rebels, that you may put their complaints away from Me, lest they die.”

(Ezekiel 37:20-23) Hold before their eyes the sticks you have written on then say to them, Thus says the Lord GOD: Behold, I will take the people of Israel from the nations among which they have gone, and will gather them from all around, and bring them to their own land. I will make them one nation in the land, on the mountains of Israel, and one king will rule over all of them. Then they will no longer be two nations and will never again be divided into two kingdoms. They will no longer defile themselves with their idols and vile images or with any of their offenses, for I will save them from all their sinful backsliding, and I will cleanse them. They will be my people, and I will be their God.

(Jer 1:11,12) And the word of the LORD came to me, saying, “Jeremiah, what do you see?” And I said, “I see an almond branch.” “You have observed correctly,” said the LORD, “for I am watching over My word to accomplish it.”

(John 15:5) I am the vine and you are the branches. The one who remains in Me, and I in him, will bear much fruit. For apart from Me you can do nothing.

You Are Free

I find it remarkable that the first words of God to mankind were, “You are free…” (Gen 2:16)

I also find it remarkable that as we look back over millenniums of human existence, we see our intrinsic longing for freedom bound in a cycle of gaining it, only to lose it again because of self-enslavement. We will spill rivers of blood trying to gain freedom, only to lose it again through over-governance— over-governance that we permit by our own free will, until that will begins to feel the tightening grip of enslavement around its throat again.  

When we look back over history, we see the church does the very same. The blood of Christ was spilled to set us free, yet as each successive century passed, the church became more and more enslaved through over-regulation. Then, the blood of reformers was spilled to remind us of our freedom, only for factions and movements to spawn across the landscape working to rob us all over again. Alas, the cycle continues because such is the curse of a creation that tries to make its own way— whether by politics or religion— because both equally enslave— one enslaving our outer man, the other enslaving our inner. 

Little children, Christ in you longs to reign freely and Christ rules over everything. He that is in you is greater than anything in this world. Christ longs to draw you upward, out of the darkness of your mind. Satan thrives in that darkness, working to keep you fearfully walking that tightrope, constantly focused on self—“don’t lean too far or you’ll fall off!” If Christ be in you, then beloved you are free. You are no longer enslaved to sin, the chains of your enslavement have been broken. Thus, there is no reason for any of us to live in a self-made cell. 

Today I want to remind you of God’s first words to mankind, “You are free to eat from any tree in the Garden…” Any tree but the one that enslaves us: The Tree of mankind determining what is right and wrong through our own reason— knowledge of good and evil not rooted in the heart of the Father who desires our freedom, but in the heart of man who will always inevitably enslave.

(Gen 2:16,17) And the LORD God commanded him, “You may eat freely from every tree of the garden, but you must not eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil; for in the day that you eat of it, you will surely die.”

(Gal 5:13-15) For you have been called to live in freedom, my brothers and sisters. But don’t use your freedom to satisfy your sinful nature. Instead, use your freedom to serve one another in love. For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” But if you are always biting and devouring one another, watch out! Beware of destroying one another.

(Luke 4:17-19) And the scroll of the prophet Isaiah was given to Him, unrolling it, He found the place where it was written: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, because He has anointed Me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent Me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor.”

Unto Us A Son Is Given

Sometimes I feel like we’ve made Christianity into a mine field. 

Step here, but not here or you’ll get blown to smithereens. Walk this path, but not this one or you’ll lose a foot. Watch out for that spot or…oops, you got too close. If you had only understood that a little better…if you had only seen this a little clearer…if you had only…

It seems strange to me that the more I grow in comprehending my Maker and His work of sanctification in me, the more I become aware of just how truly wretched we are and how far we fell from grace... and just how hopeless mankind is without Christ in us… and that if God doesn’t do the work in us, it will never get done. For all intents and purposes, sanctification seems to be me growing in appreciation of the sheer magnitude and value of God’s grace. 

I went from living in constant fear of sinning, of making a mistake, of getting it wrong, to coming face to face with the fact that my faith in Christ includes my faith that the Holy Spirit is fully capable of performing God’s sanctifying work in me despite myself. I went from being oblivious to sin, to conviction of sin, to obsession with the realization that sin is everywhere in everything, and found myself crying out to God all over again…”Save me!”

Beloved, Christianity is not a mine field. Christianity is trust in Jesus Christ as the Son Who came to take away the sin of the world. The One Who came to call us out of darkness and into His marvelous light. Christianity is the good news of the gospel which announces that unto us a Son has been given, unto us a child was born—God manifested in the flesh to bear the cost of our crimes and the burden of our iniquity. He is our wisdom and our salvation. He is the Light of the world and the Lamb Who was slain…

“And He will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the increase of His government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on the throne of David and over his kingdom, to establish and sustain it with justice and righteousness from that time and forevermore. The zeal of the LORD of Hosts will accomplish this.” (Isaiah 9:6,7)

And that is truly something to celebrate. 

Grace On The Witness Stand

We have put grace under suspicion. 

We have placed it on the witness stand to testify in defense of itself. We have placed a crown of thorns upon its head and mocked it with our own righteousness. We have called as our witnesses  those who have misused it, misunderstood it, and maligned it as proofs of its dubiousness. We prosecute God by His own word, implying that His grace is insufficient when we draw people to put faith in our own teachings rather than drawing them to deeper faith in Jesus Christ. 

Prophecy of Messiah said that the light would shine in the darkness, and there is no greater darkness than the human heart. No greater illusions dwell in any realm than that of our own understanding. We are sick beyond cure, yet God gave us the cure by being born a man who lived a sinless life, and who died to impute that sinlessness to us through His atoning blood. There is no other righteousness to be found among mankind, than that of God’s own Son— Jesus the Nazarene. 

After all these years of being a Christian, of journeying and learning and teaching and seeking, I sat on the barn steps yesterday and gazed out this window with tears streaming down my face and said, “I accept Your righteousness, because I have none. I accept Your grace, because I need it.” May I never place a crown of thorns upon the head of grace and mock it with my own notion of righteousness. 

In this time of testing of hearts, may we remember that our hearts are purified not by how much we get right, but by trusting in and relying upon the only One who got it right. 

(2 Tim 1:9,10) He has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time began. And now He has revealed this grace through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the gospel..

(2 Cor 4:6,7) For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. Now we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this surpassingly great power is from God and not from us.

(Luke 1:76-79) And you, child, will be called a prophet of the Most High; for you will go on before the Lord to prepare the way for Him, to give knowledge of salvation to His people, in forgiveness of their sins, because of the tender mercy of our God, by which the Dawn will visit us from on high, to give light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, and to guide us to the path of peace.

Hello Self, Goodbye

I try to take the path that leads to You

But I keep running into myself

The road forks one way, and then another

I take each ever-narrowing way

But inevitably, when I round the corner

There I am standing in the way

“What are you doing here?

I thought you were gone

You are blocking my path

To the eternal dawn”

“I’ve always been here,”

I hear myself say

“You just didn’t know it 

Until today”

Over and over 

Through each twist and turn 

I run into myself 

In each lesson learned

I cry to the Lord 

As He helps me to see,

“How much of myself 

Could there possibly be?”

He said, “Self is the one

Who ate from the Tree

You must crucify all

Leaving only Me”

“How can I do this?

Oh Lord, what do I do?

All I see is myself 

But I want to see You!”

“Child, you run into yourself 

Because I’m cleansing your heart 

You have been called and chosen

You have been set apart 

Keep walking these paths 

As I cleanse every one 

And one day you’ll find 

You’ll see only My Son”

 

(2 Cor 3:18) And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into His image with intensifying glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.

(Matt 16:24,25) Then Jesus told His disciples, “If anyone wants to come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for my sake, you will find it.”

(Heb 10:36-39) You need to persevere, so that after you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. For, “In just a little while, He who is coming will come and will not delay. But My righteous one will live by faith; and if he shrinks back [turns away], I will take no pleasure in him.” But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction. We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.

[Poem in the photo by Steven James]

Are You Willing?

Are you willing? 

So many voices. So many teachers. But underneath all that din is a still, small voice that simply, yet continually calls out, “Are you willing?” I find it remarkable that at a time of great division among Jews, when many factions and movements had begun to splinter within Judaism, God sent one voice to them. Only one voice calling out in the wilderness, preparing the way of the Lord in men’s hearts. 

The voice calls out, “Are you willing to come out of your sin?” If your answer is yes, then you come out but you feel it necessary to cling to something for safety, and that life preserver is religion. It makes us feel righteous and safe. Then the Lord asks, “Are you willing to come out of your religion?” If your answer is yes, then you let go of your life preserver and turn inward. Your focus becomes your inner man as God begins to deal with you in the intimate place, bringing you to the full depths of comprehending how truly broken we are. Then the Lord asks the surprising and perplexing question, “Are you willing to come out from yourself?” And we realize that no matter what path we take, we will always arrive right back at the foot of the cross. 

Oh, the gentle, yet heart-piercing call of the Lord, “Come higher.” The respectful, yet agonizing if/then statements, “If you will…then you must.” Always calling, always drawing, always bringing us out of whatever place we have settled so that He may keep us at the foot of His cross. Always reminding us that to be right with God, we must believe in the One Whom He has sent, and then grow in knowledge and understanding of the fullness of what that actually means. 

And we only do so by answering the one, true voice He has sent and His continual call, “Are you willing? Are you willing to accept the cross?”

(John 6:26-29) Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, it is not because you saw these signs that you are looking for Me, but because you ate the loaves and had your fill. Do not work for food that perishes, but for food that endures to eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you. For on Him God the Father has placed His seal of approval.” Then they inquired, “What must we do to perform the works of God?” Jesus replied, “The work of God is this: to believe in the One He has sent.”

(Acts 16:29-32) Calling for lights, the jailer rushed in and fell trembling before Paul and Silas. Then he brought them out and asked, “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus and you will be saved, you and your household.” And they spoke the word of the Lord to him along with all those in his house.

(John 10:27-30) My sheep listen to My voice; I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life, and they will never perish. No one can snatch them out of My hand. My Father who has given them to Me is greater than all. No one can snatch them out of My Father’s hand. I and the Father are one."

(Eph 4:4-6) There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called; one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.

The Word Of The Pool

What is pouring out of you?

Several days ago I read a devotional passage by Amy Carmichael, the image and lesson of which has stuck with me. She wrote about a time when she felt like she was running short of love. She had read a letter that was hard for her to answer lovingly, so she went away into the forest to pray about it and as she contemplated being short on love, she watched a pool beneath a rocky ledge as it filled with water from the rocks above. There was always an inflow of water through the deep, rocky channel above it, so the pool was always overflowing. 

She said, “Never for one minute did the water cease to flow in, and so never for one moment did it cease to flow out; and I knew, of course, that the water that flowed out was the same water that flowed in. The pool in the hollowed-out rock had no water of it’s own, and yet all the year round there was an overflow. God hath not given us a spirit of fear, but of love. If love flows in, love will flow out. Let love flow in—that was the word of the pool. There is never any need for us to run short of love.”

The was a time in my walk with the Lord when the Spirit began pouring into me, but what came back out was muddy. There was too much of myself in it— my attitude, perspectives and presuppositions. Technically it was water, but it wasn’t fit to drink. And even though it was truth, there was no beauty in it to draw someone to the Lord. That irresistible nature of the Holy Spirit was not present, only the letter of His word that was presented in my own shadow. 

I had yet to learn the word of the pool— “Let love flow in”— for there is never any need for us to run short of love. 

(1 Tim 1:4,5) Don’t let them waste their time in endless discussion of myths and spiritual pedigrees. These things only lead to meaningless speculations, which don’t help people live a life of faith in God. The goal of our instruction is the love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and a sincere faith.

(Ps 45:10,11) Listen, daughter, and pay careful attention: Forget your people and your father’s house. So the King will greatly desire your beauty; Because He is your Lord, worship Him.

(Ps 50:1,2) The LORD, the Mighty One, is God, and he has spoken; he has summoned all humanity from where the sun rises to where it sets. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God will shine forth.

(Song of Sol 4:7-9) You are altogether beautiful, my darling; in you there is no flaw. Come with me from Lebanon, my bride…You have captured my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your neck.

Eternity In The Hem Of A Garment

Eternity in the hem of a garment…

As I sat in the barn yesterday, I wondered out-loud what it will be like when Jesus comes back. I wondered what it will be like when He’s standing right in front of me. Just thinking about it gave me butterflies in my stomach and I thought how strange it was that I should feel that way around the One to Whom I have poured out my soul day after day. The One Who has seen my birth and my last breath, and all moments in-between. 

I said out-loud, “Every believer will want to talk to You. Everyone will want Your attention and Your time and You will be thronged by billions.” Then I felt a sadness because I knew that I will want His time and attention also, but I’m a nobody among billions. And in that moment, I thought about the account in Mark’s gospel when Jesus was being thronged by the crowd and the woman touched the hem of His garment with longing in her heart. 

That woman was a nobody filled with longing, just like me. And even though Jesus was surrounded by a large crowed jostling against Him, it was the touch of her longing heart that caught His attention and stopped Him in His tracks. Her longing heart connected to the power that was within Him and Mark 5:32 says, “He kept looking around to see who had done this.” He sought out the nobody with the longing heart, and when He found her, “she told Him the whole truth.” She told Him her story and that would have taken some time, and Jesus gave her that time. Right in the middle of that crowd. 

On that day, the nobody with a longing heart found an eternity with Him in the hem of a garment. 

(Mark 5:30-33) …Turning to the crowd, He asked, “Who touched My garments?” His disciples said to Him, “Look at this crowd pressing around you. How can you ask, ‘Who touched Me?’” But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. But the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came in fear and trembling and fell down before Him and told Him the whole truth.

(Ps 131:1-5) You have examined my heart and know everything about me. You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways. You know what I am going to say even before I say it…You hem me in behind and before; You have laid Your hand upon me.

(Ps 139:16,17) Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be. How precious also are Your thoughts for me, God! How vast is the sum of them! 

Like A Child

And He said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven…”

I think we always tend to think we understand this statement, until the moment we realize that we don’t. Not really. I also think that our understanding of it can’t really be explained by one person to another. That’s because our understanding of it must come by the hand of God Himself. It must come from our own encounter with the living God— Jesus Christ—and His Spirit of truth Who reveals to us all inexpressible truths of His kingdom. 

As I grow in understanding of my Creator and Lord, I grow in understanding of just how much I thought I understood, but really didn’t. I am being shown, in grace-filled increments, how truly ignorant I really was and am. To say that it has been humbling would be a gross understatement. It has caused me agony of heart and it has tempted me to despair on many occasion, to which I have wept at the feet of my Savior, asking in genuine incredulity, “Who then can be saved?”

Brothers and sisters, if there is anything of eternal value that I may share with you at such a late hour in God’s plan for mankind it is this: become like a child in your trust in and longing for Him. Be willing to come down from the tower you have built with the bricks of your own understanding and humble yourself at the feet of your Maker, like a child on the lap of his father, seeking instruction from his lips with an unassuming and unguarded heart. 

“Let the little children come to Me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.”

(Matt 18:2-4) Jesus invited a little child to stand among them. “Truly I tell you,” He said, “unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever humbles himself like this little child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.

(Ps 131:1,2) My heart is not proud, O LORD, my eyes are not haughty. I do not aspire to great things or matters too lofty for me. Surely I have stilled and quieted my soul; like a weaned child with his mother, like a weaned child is my soul within me.

(Ecco 1:18) For with much wisdom comes much sorrow, and as knowledge grows, grief increases.

Sight For The Blind

Despite it all

Save me, Lord

Show my feet where they should go

In my struggle and my strain

Let it all not be in vain

Despite it all

May I endure the pain

To be set aright 

With You again

I feel so ignorant 

No one can help me beyond this cliff

This cliff of myself 

This cliff of human understanding

I peer over the side

But all I see is fog

I sit on this cliff and weep with longing 

My feet dangling like a child’s 

Over the edge of a chair 

Feet dangling in the temptation of despair 

I know that You dwell somewhere beyond 

Somewhere deep in the cloud

I want to be there with You

I want to dwell within the veil 

Away from all the things “Not You”

All the wrongness and delusion

But how do I separate myself from myself?

Oh God, I want to be free!

Child you are free

You are separated 

You are with Me

But Lord, how can this be?

I am blind

I cannot see

Child it is this confession 

That draws you near to Me

For it is those who say they are not blind 

Who are truly the ones that cannot see

(Isaiah 42:6,7) I will keep You and will make You to be a covenant for the people and a light for the Gentiles, to open eyes that are blind, to free captives from prison and to release from the dungeon those who sit in darkness.

(Psalm 146:7,8) He executes justice for the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets the prisoners free, the LORD opens the eyes of the blind, the LORD lifts those who are weighed down, the LORD loves the righteous.

(John 9:35-41) When Jesus heard that they had thrown him out, He found the man and said, “Do you believe in the Son of Man?”.. “Lord, I believe,” he said. And he worshiped Jesus. Then Jesus declared, “For judgment I have come into this world, so that the blind may see and those who see may become blind.” Some of the Pharisees near him heard these things, and said to him, “What? Are we blind too?” “If you were blind,” Jesus replied, “you would not be guilty of sin. But since you claim you can see, your guilt remains.”

(Luke 18:40-43) When he had been brought near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord, I want to see,” he replied. And Jesus said to him, “Recover your sight; your faith has made you well.” Immediately he received his sight and followed Jesus, glorifying God.

Letter Or Principle

This is my cat, Rudy. 

His whole world is the inside of our home. He has no idea that his whole world is just a small portion of a ten acre farm. He knows nothing of towns and counties and states and countries and continents and planets and the universe. His entire existence revolves around what is contained within our house. The rules that apply to him here are pursuant to his experience and existence within these walls. 

Rudy isn’t supposed to jump on the counter and he isn’t supposed to claw my furniture into shreds, and those are good rules. But if Rudy were to leave this house, the letter of those rules wouldn’t apply to him anymore because countertops and furniture aren’t out there. However, the principles behind those rules would still apply to Rudy. The principles of self-control and being considerate and respectful would carry on past the doorway of my home, out into the wide unknowns of wherever Rudy may travel. 

In my quiet time with the Lord this morning, I pondered how this relates to us.  I pondered how Old Testament laws that applied in one context but not another, were based on spiritual principles. I pondered how spiritual principles reflect moral absolutes, which are themselves eternal, because the standard of human morality is based on the character and nature of God Himself, Who is eternal and unchanging. I pondered how laws are a good thing in their proper context, but it is the spiritual principle behind them that is eternal, not the law itself. 

Then I wondered how many of us, even now, may be clinging to the letter rather than the eternal principle. I wondered how many of us truly understand that the Lord is bringing us somewhere far beyond the doorway of our limited experience, into a vast unknown where only the eternal dwells and all that is not, is left behind.

(2 Cor 2:6) And He has qualified us as ministers of a new covenant, not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.

(Col 3:1,2) Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things.

(1 Cor 15:53-56) For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality…then the saying that is written will come to pass: “Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O Death, is your victory? Where, O Death, is your sting?” The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law.

(Heb 7:11,12) So if the priesthood of Levi, on which the law was based, could have achieved the perfection God intended, why did God need to establish a different priesthood, with a priest in the order of Melchizedek instead of the order of Levi and Aaron? For when the priesthood is changed, the law must be changed also.