Rose Colored Glasses

I've often been asked by many mothers and wives, "How do I get my child/husband/person-who-is-tormenting-me to see and understand that what they are doing/thinking is wrong?"  And my answer is usually, "You don't."  That is the job of the Holy Spirit because most of the time, people are oblivious to ingrained behavior.  A prideful person is not capable of seeing their pride.  A habitual liar lives in their own reality, thus trying to make them see that they are a liar is futile.  The self-righteous are abysmally blinded to any avenue of humility because they already believe they are on it.  Some of the most prideful people I know, pride themselves on their "humility."  The pathological liar prides himself/herself on being a "straight-shooter."  The self-righteous pride themselves on being the "last bastion of faithfulness" to God's word.  You can't convince someone of their error when they are incapable of perceiving it. 

We need to see how ugly we are.  We need to gaze in the mirror at our hideous reflection and contemplate our wretchedness.  Unless you realize the degree of your human depravity, you cannot adequately appreciate the degree of God's mercy and grace for His impartation of righteousness through Jesus Christ.  We need to understand and fully embrace how inadequate we are.  We need to fully embrace our lowly status as creatures that have been made by a Creator.  We are creations, and fallen ones at that.  We need to face the depths our ignorance and the degree of our flaws.  We need to stand and examine our true reflection, before it is filtered by the face of Christ, so that when we contemplate His great sacrifice for us we give Him the worship He deserves.  One thing is for certain, as you truly grow in knowledge of God, you become more and more aware of just how wretched of a creature we truly are, and how great Christ's love for us was, for Him to die for us anyway. 

The lack of accurate spiritual vision in the pews today is staggering.  The degree of contrived humility from the pulpit is even worse.  One thing is for certain, if you think you know, you don't know.  Spiritually blind people think they know.  Those who are truly wise understand that they know nothing.  The truly wise never contemplate their own wisdom, because they are too focused on their fear of God.  A.W. Tozer said, "No man has truly repented until his sin has wounded him near to death, until the wound has broken him and defeated him and taken all the fight and self-assurance out of him and he sees himself as the one who nailed his Savior on the tree."  For us to even begin to exhibit the wisdom of God and have any degree of understanding, we must first be small and helpless in our own sight.  We must first sit in the dust and mourn our ignorance.

When Jesus admonishes the Church of Laodicea, He not only admonishes them for their lukewarm faith, but also their spiritual blindness and pride.  This is one of the most soul-rattling verses in Scripture to me.  The other one is when Jesus says "Not everyone who says to Me 'Lord, Lord', will enter the kingdom of heaven" (Matt 7:21).  Jesus tells people who call Him "Lord" to depart from Him, because they never truly knew Him.  People who knew enough to call Jesus "Lord" are told to go away because they were utterly blind to their spiritual nakedness.  This is both horrifying and humbling to me.  In their pride, those in the church of Laodicea say, "I am rich..." and have a false sense of security in their perceived spiritual wealth, "I don't need a thing..."  And Jesus brings down the hammer of truth to crush their illusion, saying, "You do not realize that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked" (Rev 3:17).  Unless you have ever realized that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked, then I would seriously contemplate whether you have truly encountered the real Jesus of the Bible.  We come to Christ to be saved from our wretchedness, pitifulness, poorness, blindness, and spiritual nakedness because He is the only One Who can deliver us from our true condition.

There are things about you that other people can see but you can't.  There are things about God and things in Scripture that you don't rightly understand.  This is true for every single one of us.  Every single one of us is blind to something, because it is a testament to our shared fallen condition.  When I first started out in ministry, I was on fire for God.  Then, as I grew in understanding of Him and relationship with Him, that fire consistently dwindled until He had completely snuffed it out.  The fire I started out with had to go, because it was my fire, not His.  And anyone who thinks they are the exception to this rule, only proves the truth of Jesus' warning to the Laodiceans.  God had to snuff out my fire and let me sit in darkness for a little while, to test my heart and see what I would do.  Would I hold on in faith, even though it was dark and I couldn't see?  Even though He didn't turn out to be what I had imagined He'd be?  Even though I wouldn't serve Him the way I had imagined I'd serve Him?  Even though I couldn't see any way out of that darkness?  Even if when He lifted me out of that darkness, my job was to scrub feet?

We think we know, but we don't know.  We read verses like, "The greatest among you shall be your servant," and we think we understand, but we don't really understand.  We take that verse and try to put our vision onto it of what a servant should surely look like, what we think our "role" as servant should surely be.  We say, "Thy will be done, Lord," as long as it is acceptable and reasonable.  As long as we don't have to die.  As long as we can be the person we think we are.  But that is only vanity.  It is vanity wearing rose-colored glasses and a veneer of faith that calls Jesus "Lord" but has no true knowledge of Him.

I advise you to buy from me gold refined in the fire, so you can become rich; and white clothes to wear, so you can cover your nakedness; and salve to put on your eyes, so you can see.  Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline.  So be zealous and repent. (Rev 3:18,19)

It is rare indeed for anyone to die for a righteous man, though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God proves His love for us in this:  While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Rom 5:7,8)

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure-- who can understand it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve. (Jer 17:9,10)

So if I, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another's feet. I have set you an example so that you should do as I have done for you. Truly, truly, I tell you, no servant is greater than his master, nor is a messenger greater than the one who sent him. If you know these things, you will be blessed if you do them. (John 13:14-17)

Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. (Matt 23:10-12)

The Nail Of Restoration

                         Nailed

            Driven through, piercing

     It pins me down and holds me here

Writhing on this cross, crying out in pain

He does His work, while keeping me near

             Setting free, releasing

                        Restored

There are things that God allows in our lives because they act as a nail which keeps us pinned to the cross.  Nails are painful and bothersome. The pain from the nail continually draws our eyes toward it.  Over and over we look at the nail and the bloody wound.  Over and over we contemplate being pinned down by it.

We ask God, "Why have you driven this nail through my hand?  Father, why would you wound me this way?"

And He answers, "Because this is the same way I wounded my beloved Son to set men free."

When we bear the wounds of Christ, we walk in the power of Christ to set men free.

"In that day," declares the Lord of Hosts, "the nail driven in a firm place will give way; it will even break off and fall, and the load hanging on it will be cut off, for the Lord has spoken." (Isaiah 22:25)

And now for a little space grace has been showed from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a nail [which secures us] in His holy place, that our God may lighten our eyes, and give us a little reviving in our bondage. (Ezra 9:8)

The sayings of the wise are like cattle prods and well fastened nails; this masterful collection was given by one shepherd. (Eccl 12:11)

Then Jesus told His disciples, "If anyone would come after Me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake will find it." (Matt 16:24,25)

Broken Tables

The legs of My tables of fellowship are broken

And cannot stand

The legs are broken

And my tables lean

They lean and the food slides off

And does not stay

No fellowship can be had

At these broken tables

No meals can be shared

No bread and wine of My presence

Can rest upon them

Come into My house and look

It is filled with broken tables

Broken tables where no one sits

And the food slides off onto the floor

Where it is eaten by dogs

My house is full of dogs and broken tables

Where are My people?

My people have left

Because they cannot sit at broken tables

Even if I give them food

It cannot sit on a broken table

And slides off onto the floor

To be eaten by dogs

In frustration

My people have wandered off

In search of food

Lest they eat from the floor with the dogs

Pray for these broken tables

Pray for the legs of these tables to be fixed

So that they may stand

Yes, so that they may stand

And hold My food

I have food for My people

I have many tables in My house

But they are broken

And need to be fixed

Pray for the bread of true fellowship

To be restored

That My people will return to My house

To sit at My many tables

And eat the abundance of My bread

And be filled

Moses placed the table in the tent of meeting on the north side of the tabernacle outside the curtain and set out the bread on it before the Lord, as the Lord commanded him. (Ex 4:22,23)

Over the table of the Presence they are to spread a blue cloth and put on it the plates, dishes and bowls, and the jars for drink offerings; the bread that is continually there is to remain on it. (Num 4:7)

"For My name will be great among the nations, from the rising to the setting of the sun. In every place, incense and pure offerings will be presented in My name, because My name will be great among the nations," says the Lord of Hosts. "But you profane my name with your actions. By bringing contemptible food, you are saying it is alright to defile the Lord's table. And you say, 'What a burden!' and you sniff at it contemptuously," says the Lord Almighty. "When you bring injured, lame or diseased animals and offer them as sacrifices, should I accept them from your hands?" says the Lord. (Mal 1:11-13)

Now the first covenant had regulations for worship and also an earthly sanctuary. A tabernacle was prepared. In its first room were the lampstand, the table, and the Bread of the Presence. This was called the Holy Place. (Heb 9:1,2)

Jesus said to them, "Very truly I tell you, it is not Moses who has given you the bread from heaven, but it is My Father Who gives you the true bread from heaven. For the bread of God is the bread that comes down from heaven and gives life to the world."...Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. Whoever comes to me will never go hungry and whoever believes in Me will never be thirsty...I am the bread of life." (John 6:32-48)

"First let the children have their fill," He said. "For it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs." "Yes, Lord," she replied, "but even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." (Mark 7:27,28)

You are the ones who have stood by Me in My trials. And I bestow on you a kingdom, just as My Father has bestowed on Me, so that you may eat and drink at My table in My kingdom, and sit on thrones, judging the twelve tribes of Israel. (Luke 22:29)

Foundation Of Understanding

Who can truly serve You

Without drinking deeply of Your presence?

Who among us truly knows You?

The weight of Your truth is crushing

Your word is like a hammer

That shatters illusion

What You give me

Cannot be taken away

The treasure of heaven

Is unaffected by this world

Neither fire of hatred

Nor flood of error

Can topple God's pillar of Truth

It stands deeply rooted

Having descended into the bowels of the earth

It ascends to heaven

And sits at the right hand of the Father

The darkness cannot comprehend it

Fools cannot perceive it

The faithless cannot believe it

It is a pinnacle

That cannot be climbed by human effort

What God Himself reveals

He also gives understanding

Whom God gives understanding

Cannot be shaken

The heavens may be shaken

And the mountains crumble into the sea

But the foundation of understanding

Endures forever

The Lord by wisdom founded the earth, by understanding He established the heavens. (Prov 3:19)

It is He Who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom; and by His understanding He has stretched out the heavens. (Jer 10:12)

To Him Who made the heavens with understanding, for His lovingkindness is everlasting. (Ps 136:5)

It is He Who made the earth by His power, Who established the world by His wisdom, and by His understanding He stretched out the heavens. (Jer 51:15)

This is why it says: "When He ascended on high, He led captives away, and gave gifts to men." What does "He ascended" mean, except that He also descended to the lower parts of the earth? He Who descended is the very One Who ascended above all the heavens, in order to fill all things. (Eph 4:8-10)

See that you do not refuse Him Who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused Him Who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject Him Who warns from heaven. 
At that time His voice shook the earth, but now He has promised, "Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens." This phrase, "Yet once more," indicates the removal of things that are shaken--that is, things that have been made-- in order that the things that cannot be shaken may remain. 
Therefore let us be grateful for receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, and thus let us offer to God acceptable worship, with reverence and awe, for our God is a consuming fire. (Heb 12:25-28)

Moving Mountains

I stand with my arms hanging at my side

I gaze upward at the massive, hulking mountain

It is obdurate, silent

Its arrogant defiance perversely majestic

Tier after tier

Of jagged rocks and craggy ledges

Accumulated over time

A collection of sorrows

Arranged in an anthem of ignorance

Each jagged rock and craggy ledge carefully

And strategically placed by the enemy

A stronghold of woes

A fortress of vanity

I stand with my arms hanging at my side

I gaze beyond the mocking, haughty summit

I am immovable, steadfast

My relentless hope furiously ablaze

Foothold after foothold

Among the jagged rocks and craggy ledges

Exposed and laid bare

A disassembling of strategy

Unarranged by a chorus of truth

Each jagged rock and craggy ledge graciously

And persistently overcome by faith

A stronghold of woes

Laid waste by a fortress of victory

"Behold, I am against you, O destroying mountain, you who devastate the whole earth," declares the Lord.  "I will stretch out My hand against you; I will roll you over the cliffs, and turn you into a charred mountain. They will not take from you even a stone for a corner, nor a stone for foundations, but you will be desolate forever," declares the Lord. (Jer 51:25,26)

Afterward the disciples came to Jesus privately and asked, "Why couldn't we drive it out?" He replied, "Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Matt 17:19,20)

"Have faith in God," Jesus answered. "Truly I tell you that if anyone says to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and has no doubt in his heart but believes that it will happen, it will be done for him.  Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand to pray, if you hold anything against another, forgive it, so that your Father in heaven will forgive your trespasses as well." (Mark 11:22-25)

The Measure Of His Presence

I've been trained by the church to think that "measurable response" means "right."  That how many people show up, or how many people positively respond, directly relates to where God is working and is present.  Our concept of how to "do" church is very much anchored in our results-driven culture.  We want measurable results and we covet encouraging responses.  But when we look at the example of Christ, we see something quite different.  We see God quietly and consistently working behind the scenes, for the most part, imperceptible to the masses. 

He announced His birth to a small group of lowly shepherds-- a group of simple, working men who were so insignificant, that Scripture doesn't even bother to give us their names.  Then, He spent the next 30 years on earth......doing what?  Well, the Bible really doesn't say.  The only thing we know about those 30 years is that Jesus schooled some priests in the temple when He was twelve and that He "continued to grow," and became strong in spirit and increased in wisdom, and the grace and favor of God was upon Him (Luke 2:40).  God Himself walked around on earth for 30 years, and most people were none the wiser.  I find myself wondering how many people stood right next to God during His time here on earth and didn't even know it?  If you had asked any religious leader during the time of Christ where God was, they would have said He was with them in the temple.  But the truth was, God was out among His people.  He was doing all the things that the religious leaders weren't willing to do, because it brought them no recognition.

When Jesus finally began His public ministry, we see Him consistently doing things and working in ways that have very little "measurable results."  We see candid conversations, we see secluded teaching areas, we see menial and obscure.  We see a man who only wanted to be where God was, Who only wanted to go where God said go and interact with who God said to interact with, and for the most part, God led Him to situations and people that would be lost to history if they had not been recorded in the Gospels.

Jesus said, "The Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner" (John 5:19).  Jesus compared the work and presence of God to leaven that remains hidden in the flour as it works imperceptibly (Matt 13:33).  Jesus often received little, if any, encouraging response.  He said what the Father told Him to say, and then quite often He simply moved on.  Like a sower casting seeds of truth that would sit and incubate in the soil until it was time for growth.  I often think, if Jesus and the prophets had based their obedience on people's reception and their encouraging response, they would have quit before they even began.

We have to be willing to do God's work, God's way.  Which means we have to be willing to wash feet in obscurity, doing what the world deems as menial tasks.  That is how God determines the purity of a person's heart and motives.  That is one of the things Jesus meant when He said the greatest among you shall be your servant.  Because the person who perseveres in dutiful obedience to God even when nobody is looking and nobody is encouraging them, evidences the purest motives and purest heart (Matt 6:1-6, 16-18).  Those who are willing to do whatever God asks them to do, regardless of the seeming impact or productivity level....or encouraging response.  We cannot draw our encouragement from people's response.  That is the way of the world.  First and foremost your relationship is with God and His response is the only one we should seek.  We must draw our encouragement from whether we are being obedient to God or not.  The greatest work of God is through incremental impact and He accomplishes that type of impact when we are obedient to the simple, seemingly insignificant things He asks us to do (Matt 25:35-38).  That is what true ministry looks like.

When we look at Jesus' first coming, we see that only a scant fraction of His time was spent teaching in the synagogue.  Jesus didn't hang out with the religious leaders.  Jesus ministered to the people who were looking for something they weren't getting from the religious leaders.  Jesus sought out the wandering sheep who weren't "worthy" of interest by the religious leaders.  We must direct our prayers in such a way so that we ask God to put us wherever He is truly working....and we must be truly willing to go there. We must pray for God to put us in whatever secret place He is building a relationship with someone.  Whatever wandering, hungry sheep that can be scavenged from the ruins of the religious landscape.  We must pray like this because we should resolve in our heart that we don't want to be involved in anything God's not in.  We should come to God and say, "I don't want to be a part of any 'measurable response' that is void of any measure of Your presence."

"When Jesus came to the place, He looked up and said to him, 'Zaccheus, hurry and come down, for today I must stay at your house.' And he hurried and came down and received Him gladly. When they saw it, they all began to grumble, saying, 'He has gone to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.' Zaccheus stopped and said to the Lord, 'Behold, Lord, half of my possessions I will give to the poor, and if I have defrauded anyone of anything, I will give back four times as much.' And Jesus said to him, 'Today salvation has come to this house, because he, too, is a son of Abraham. For the Son of Man has come to seek and save that which was lost.'" (Luke 19:5-10)

"And He also went on to say to the one who had invited Him, 'When you give a luncheon or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your rich neighbors, otherwise they may also invite you in return and that will be your repayment. But when you give a reception, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind, and you will be blessed, since they do not have the means to repay you, for you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.'" (Luke 14:12-14)

"My flock wandered through all the mountains and on every high hill; My flock was scattered over all the surface of the earth and there was no one to search or seek for them." Therefore, you shepherds, hear the word of the Lord:  "As I live," declares the Lord God, "surely because My flock has become a prey, My flock has even become food for all the beasts of the field for lack of a shepherd, and My shepherds did not search for My flock, but rather the shepherds fed themselves and did not feed my flock...I am against the shepherds, and I will demand My sheep from them and make them cease from feeding sheep. So the shepherds will not feed themselves anymore but I will deliver My flock from their mouth, so that they will not be food for them....I will feed My flock and I will lead them to rest," declares the Lord God. "I will seek the lost, bring back the scattered, bind up the broken and strengthen the sick." (Ezek 34:6-16).

Beholding The Furnace

I said, "I want to see You Lord.  Reveal Yourself to me as You truly are"

So He took my hand and began to lead

As He walked along, I followed

We walked many paths

Winding in one direction

And then another

All the while, hope filled my heart

In anticipation of the wonder

That I would surely soon experience

Surely soon, I would behold His glory

Surely soon, delight would fill me

As I gazed upon His true form

As we neared the end of the path

I knew, just ahead, all I had anticipated

Was just within reach

But to my dismay and horror

At the end of the path

Lay a rejected, rough-hewn cross

I cried out, "My Lord, this is not what I was expecting!"

He said, "My daughter, to know Me is to suffer"

I pleaded, "Is there any other way?"

He answered, "No. You must die"

I must die

I must be broken of my own understanding of myself

I must pass through the furnace

Because that is the only way

To see Him as He truly is on the other side

And behold Him in all His wonder

"The refining pot is for silver and the furnace for gold, but the Lord is the tester of hearts." (Prov 17:3)

"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone, but if it dies, it bears much fruit.  Anyone who loves their life will lose it, and anyone who hates their life in this world will keep it to life eternal.  Whoever serves Me, must follow Me, and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor them." (John 12:24-26)

"You fool! What you sow does not come to life unless it dies." (1 Cor 15:37)

"I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, Who loved me and gave Himself for me." (Gal 2:20)

"In the same way, those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples." (Luke 14:33)