Why Won't He Talk to Me ?

A very wise and precious friend asked an important question recently:

I'm glad for those of you who are receiving revelation. OK, I'm going to be brutally honest, and very vulnerable. My hope is if there is any response, it would not be condemning or "preachy".   Lately it's been very quiet. He has given so little revelation, which is better than none, to be sure. Things between God and I have been painful for several months actually. It's hard to go back to Him for fellowship when I feel He's let me down time and again.  What I have heard are the slightest whispers, which I cling to.  Yes, He takes us through different seasons in our relationship with Him, and I have seen a few unique styles of communication as He has matured me.  I'm sure that this is another maturing process even still.  But it's still so very painful...
How do you handle no response at all to your questions?

At the risk of being obnoxious, I gave my friend this answer.

I am so delighted that you know that you are loved enough that you can take the risk of being honest. What is especially nice is that it is clear that you seek not only to be honest with us but also honest with yourself. I know what you mean as you write. I have also been there. My term was "the silence is deafening." Meaning to me I could hear so little I sometimes thought I had lost my ability to hear. I would like very much to have a nice spiritual pill that I could give you to make it all feel better. But, I know as much as you would like to feel better, it is infinitely more important to you that you be restored to clear and steady communications with Papa God.

What I was forced to learn during those periods in my life cannot all be put into words. But, the one thing that helped me to endure the process is this. The desert is God's training, testing, and purifying arena. There are a couple of truths about the desert. First, no matter which way you look it all looks the same. So during the desert times one feels like there is no clear direction to go. The second, no matter how much stuff you brought out into the desert with you, you do not have enough to survive until you get to the other side. Thus, you must have grace just to survive.

One thing about God is also important to our desert tourism. God has never brought a person into the desert that He did not also carry him through to the other side.

I have talked with Papa about you. He is very clear that He will carry you through this time. And, He tells me the time will come when you will look back and give thanks for this season.

You have heard enough from Him in the past to know He is absolutely committed to you. He has plans for you. Plans for good. You have been called and anointed to some specific purposes as you serve the sons of God in the community.

I know it is tough. Hang in there. We will be asking Father to teach you gently.

I thought you also might like to hear this response.

What do you Impart?

Have you noticed that the most significant things the Holy Spirit recorded through the writers of the Gospels were not what Jesus taught?  Far more attention was devoted to the things He imparted than to His teachings.  We are told of His frequent impartation of healing.  He imparted to His disciples an anointing by the Holy Spirit.  He imparted peace not as the world gives peace but His personal peace that is never dependant on circumstances and no one has a right to take away.  He imparted revelation to His disciples.  Truly He is a teacher.  But even more He imparted things to His disciples that they could receive in no other way.

In other writings the Holy Spirit shows us the practice within the early Church of things being imparted from one believer to another.  We see examples of the laying on of hands not as a ritual or ceremony.  Rather this was a time when the life of the recipient was empowered with an imparted anointing of one sort or another.  This was viewed as an important component of Church life.  Paul writes to his disciple Timothy about the things imparted to Timothy that have equipped him to serve and do battle.

And yet, in modern institutional churchianity we observe that such impartations are extremely rare.  We see great emphasis on preaching and teaching.  This emphasis seems far greater than what appears in the operations of the early Church.  Today we see more use of spiritual gifts as tools to bring in people and contributions than as impartations of long term benefit to the children of God.

Why do we observe such change in the dynamics of ministry within the Church?

It appears to me that these changes may be directly related to a much more obvious and fundamental change that has taken place.  In modern churchianity there is great emphasis placed on getting more members for the congregation.  Ironically, this is so important that we are even justified to entice members of another congregation to leave that one and come to our congregation.  We try to build seeker friendly congregations that will entice even the most casual visitor to want to come back and join our congregation.  We give wide spread praise to the leaders who have built the largest congregations.  We push aside or ignore to death the persons who make waves that might make people in the congregation less comfortable in our group.  We work diligently to build our group even at the cost of other groups and non-conforming individuals.

In the larger view, we idolize making converts all around the world.  We stir up the enthusiasm of our group by soliciting money from the members to support missionaries around the world who send us back statistics about the amazing numbers of people who “come forward to receive the Lord” at their meetings.  We measure the success of groups in terms of the numbers of its members and converts.

Jesus, however, intentionally spoke to the world in parables so that they would not understand what He was saying.  He asked recipients of His impartations to not tell anybody.  He seemed to desire operating in ways that would avoid more attention and larger groups.  He intentionally said things that offended large numbers of people.  He was not recruiting the rich or famous to give Him support or publicity.  When given the opportunity to perform a stunt that would give him the whole world as His audience, He said “NO.”

Instead, Jesus became the leader of a ragtag group who were described as a group of ignorant uneducated fishermen.  He undertook not the building of a big organization but the building up of about a dozen disciples.  He did not seek to become noticed by everyone.  Rather, He undertook to become a very close friend to only a small group of men who came to see the anointing of God in Him.  When He got to the end of His ministry He made two particularly noteworthy statements which summarized His own view of what He had accomplished.

The first of these two was made to the Father in His prayer.  He reported to the Father that He had kept the ones whom the Father had entrusted to Him.  It was very clear that His focus was on the few names on Father’s list.  He had no apparent interest in expanding Father’s list of about a dozen.  Rather, He was committed to impart to this small group the things He received from Father.

The second statement was made to His disciples.  This was the small group of men who had seen Him intimately for years.  They saw it all.  They saw Him with the crowds.  They saw Him when He went off to squat by the side  of the path when hiking through the countryside.  They saw him match wits with the religious leaders.  They watch while He poured out love on prostitutes and commuted the correct sentence of an adulteress.  Having watched how He treated His family, His finances, His taxes, His relationship with the Father, these men knew Jesus intimately.  It was these men Jesus looked in the eye and told, “If you have seen me you have seen the Father.”

But, churchianity is lead by men who are continually seeking public acclaim and at the same time trying to avoid intense personal scrutiny.  These organization men are absolutely brilliant and extremely effective at building larger and larger organizations with more and more money and influence.  They are continually answering questions that no one is asking.  At the same time they perpetually refer to someone else people who have real questions about the difficulties they encounter in life.  They are good at organizing the delivery of Christmas turkeys.  But utterly inadequate to deliver us from our own evil that lies within us.

Why this disparity between conduct our greatest leaders and conduct of Jesus?

Much of the change lies in our change of the tasks we have accepted and undertaken.  Jesus, after giving us an example so that we would understand what He meant, commissioned us to “make disciples.”  It was these disciples that He asked us to teach and baptize.  Modern churchianity, however, has commissioned itself to make members.  It has undertaken to teach whoever it can get to listen.  Jesus, on the other hand, specifically did not ask us to build His Church.  Indeed, He gave to Himself the task of building His Church.  He chose to give the Church His personal touch by placing each member in the Church in just the spot that pleases Him.  Moreover, He gave rather stern warnings to men who would lead the Children of God astray, to move them out of the place in which He put them.

Why then in the system do we see a virtual complete absence of true personal disciples?  It is because members of a large club I lead require almost no personal sacrifice compared to what is required to disciple just one man.  The organization takes on a life of its own.  Disciples require me to continually die to myself and my own desires.  The leaders of the club system suffer burn out because they operate in their own strength.  Disciple makers are sustained by the Spirit of the Lord who is continually flow both through them to their disciples and through their disciples to the servant disciple maker.

So, what is required to be a disciple maker?  First and foremost it is important to realize, while one can teach what he has not experienced, he can never impart what he does not have.  The man who has not been a disciple can never effectively be a disciple maker.

So, if I want to be a disciple, how do I find a disciple maker?  Initially I must acknowledge that discipleship is a relationship.  So the search can only be among the people with whom I have some relationship.  Among such people, look for five specific things:

1.     Look for someone in whom you see the character and person of Jesus.

2.     Look among that group for someone you trust enough to reveal your inmost personal secrets and failures.

3.     Look among that smaller group for someone who has vision for what you personally may become in God’s plan for you.

4.     Of those, find the ones who are disciples and in effective relationships.

5.     Finally, choose one of these and ask if he/she will watch over and disciple you.

Let us return to the way of Jesus.  Let us go and make disciples and impart to them the Spirit and life of the Lord.

Leaders or Servants - How Do We View Ourselves ?

My good friend,  Chip Kingsbury posted the following on the Facebook Group, Kingdom Village.  I found it so compelling that I wanted to share it with you.

What does the world say a leader is?

 Jesus told us clearly in Matt 20:25-28. The leaders of the world:
1. “lord it over them” (See Acts 19:16)
2. “Exercise authority over them”
3. “Call themselves benefactors” Luke 22:25

The oppressor seeks to look like a benefactor, having a respectable image. He does this to prevent the oppressed from resisting. So long as the oppressor appears kind, reasonable, and of benefit to the people, the oppressed just accept this type of leadership as “good.” Some might even believe that the oppression is really good for them since the oppressor really means well.

But what does Jesus say?
• “It will not be so with you”
• “Not so with you”
• “But you are not to be like that”

So it seems (to me anyway) that we:
We are NOT to LORD IT OVER, but to be accountable to those whom we serve;
We are NOT TO EXERCISE AUTHORITY OVER, but to be one who serves;
We are NOT TO CALL OURSELVES BENEFACTORS, but to be humble vision setters.

Instead of holding followers accountable to themselves, biblical servants are to be accountable to the Lord and their followers.

Biblical leadership separates leadership from authority.
Leadership: Brings vision, Sets goals, rallies the people, pulls people together, brings unity
Authority: Choice, decision-making, accountability must rest with those whom we serve.

I challenge each of us who considers ourselves to be leaders, to "Make the road by walking." Choose to separate leadership from authority. Refuse to follow the well worn “ancient” paths of despotism, dictatorship and rulers.
• Instead, establish accountability structures where you and all others leaders will be accountable to those whom they serve.
• Provide vision, dreams, and ideas.
• Pull people together, bring unity to disarray,
• And then go to those for whom you have done all of that. Ask them:
How am I doing?
Where do I need to change?
What have I missed?
What needs to be done differently?
How must I change?

It is not easy to be a servant leader – it means giving up power and authority, and putting those things in the hands of God and those you serve.

Can we take up the challenge?

A Friend's Question Answered

A few days ago a friend asked me about a particular Scripture passage.  This was quite a surprise to me.  Literally it has never happened before in my memory.  Initially, I was a little overwhelmed.  I had no particular reason to believe that my ides about the passage would be any better than those of anyone else.  But, Father would not let me ignore the request.  After I read what the Holy Spirit gave me to say, I concluded that you all might also find it interesting.

The Scripture passage is found in Joshua 5:2-12.  If your Bible is not handy, you can paste that reference in Google and it will find it for you.  My response to my friend (with a little added tidbit) was:

As to the passage from Joshua, one can say a number of things:

1. It is an interesting historical incident in the travel of the people of Israel from Egypt to the Promised Land.

2.  If we accept that this trip by Israel is an OT type descriptive of the journey from sin to salvation to santification and empowerment in the lives of children of God in the Kingdom of Grace, then we can deduce a number of additional ideas.

3. First, one must note that the entire book of Galatians (together with other passages) make clear that fulfillment of the ritual of circumcision is not a requirement in this Kingdom.  Thus, to the extent we are looking at circumcision, we must be clear that we are looking at its significance not at the act itself.

4. In that light, we see that these events occur between the time of the crossing of the Jordan and the time of the Battle of Jericho.  Correlating to the Kingdom journey, between the time of being baptised in the Holy Spirit and the time of being sent into the first tearing down of the works of satan.

5. We also see that this event is immediately before, virtually simultaneous with the transition from survival being dependant on the miraculous feeding by God to the time of being empowered to routinely be able to produce food for the nation themselves.  Thus, given that we are told by Jesus that our spiritual bread is every Word that comes from God, we see that the event precedes very shortly the Church being able to hear God for themselves rather than being dependant on daily miraculous revelation.

6.  So in summary we see that there is a direct connection between a.) our ability to hear God and our empowerment to defeat satan and b.) our entry into the state of being circumcised spiritually.  So, what is this spiritual circumcision which is so crucial to our development?

7.  It is pretty much universally agreed that the act of circumcision both physically and spiritually is an act of putting flesh to death and separating it from the rest of our lives.

8.  But, we need to understand that this is not the death of all the flesh.  It is the death of a specific part of the flesh.  It appears to me that which part of the flesh must die is extremely important.  This part of the flesh is directly associated with three significant functions: a.) reproduction; b.) recreational sex as an expression of marriage; and, c.) elimination of significant daily occurring toxins from the body.

9.  The spiritual corrollaries to these physical functions would appear to be: a.) bringing forth of new believers as members of the family of God; b.) frequent repeated affirmation of our healthful connection in covenant relationships; and, c.) being cleansed from the dangerous little things that crop up in our daily walk in the world.

10. One other thing is interesting to note about this particular circumcision.  It was a circumcision that was for the whole new generation of the nation. 

11. So, what is the Kingdom life corrollary to this circumcision ?  Although I do not think that my answers are necessarily complete, I have reached some conclusions about that.  I would certainly be interested in hearing additional revelation if you have any to share.

12.  Thus, I see the following specific elements in this spiritual circumcision:
a.) The death to self that comes when we stop viewing ourselves as independent individuals and begin viewing ourselves as members of the living Body of Christ who belong to every other member and thus are responsible for how our lives affect theirs. 
b.) The death to self that comes when we accept entry into a covenant relationship in which we choose to disciple ourselves to another son of God.
c.) The death to self that comes when we become willing to die for the sake of another person's salvation.
d.) The death to self that comes when we become willing to admit our faults and failings to another son of God so that he/she might be one who washes our feet, i.e. the process of cleansing away that which is splashed on us as we walk through the world.

So, if you are:
struggling to be clear about hearing the Words God is speaking to you about what is going on around you;
finding that you simply do not have the power to tear down the works of satan in the lives of others;
finding that you have no pleasure in closely connected relationships;
finding that noone wants to know the Jesus who lives in you;
feeling sick in your soul because of the pressures that come from day to day life;

I urge you to consider taking up your cross to die in these four specific areas of your life.

His, thus Yours,

Stuart

Overarching Purposes of God

God has purposes on many different levels.  He has purpose for every Word He sends forth. He has purpose in specific events. For example, a man was born blind so that God’s glory could be shown.  He has established specific purposes for you to accomplish during your tour on the Earth.  He has distinct purposes for your generation and for the generations of your disciples. {We will look at these sometime soon.}  And, He has overarching purposes for the Church, for Mankind, and for the Creation.  It is these larger overarching purposes that we want to consider today.

Taking the Scripture as a whole, we see that God’s purpose for creation was to develop an appropriate bride for the Son of God.  For those who see types in the Old Testament this purpose is alluded to in the story of Abraham (the Father) sending Eleazer (the Holy Spirit) to bring Rebecca (the Church) as a bride for Isaac (the Son).  The qualities of the true Bride can be understood in the context of this purpose.  She must voluntarily choose Jesus.  She must participate in her preparation.  She must love Him above all else. These are just a few of the things to be seen in this eternal purpose.  The realm of time and space together with satan and all of his demons can now be seen as tools for the carrying out of this purpose.  These things all function to equip and test the Bride such that she might reach and know when she has come to the point of readiness.  It is then that she will join with the Holy Spirit in calling Jesus to come for her.  I encourage all who are interested in this purpose to read Paul’s more expansive explanation of the purpose, the plan, and the process of fulfillment set forth in Ephesians chapters 1 through 3.

Within that great and overarching purpose, God has a special purpose for the Church as a part of her preparation to be the Bride.  That is to be conformed to the image of the Anointed One.  Jesus was very aware of this subsidiary purpose and emphasized it to us.  He said that He is sending us into the World in the same manner that the Father sent Him into the World.  In the same vein Jesus instructed us to love one another as He, Jesus, has loved us.  Over and over again He became our example to follow.

A few specific aspects of the image of the Anointed One are brought to mind by way of illustration:

1.       He emptied Himself and made Himself a servant.

2.       He suffered and thereby learned to comply with Father’s plan.

3.       He lived with the expectation that He would lay down His life for us.

4.       He came to save not to judge the World.

5.       He acted to express His love while we were insulting Him.

6.       He never did what He wanted to do.  He did what He saw the Father doing.

7.       He never said what He felt like saying.  He only spoke what He heard from the Father.

8.       His purpose was to destroy the works of satan.

9.       He frequently set people free from whatever held them in bondage.

10.   He loved all people and discipled a very few of them.

If we will allow the Holy Spirit to move in us to make us like Jesus in these few things we will be starting to learn how to fulfill the purpose of God for us.

Purposes of GOD

In Acts we are told that David served the purposes of God for his generation then he died. 

What purposes are you serving?

There are of course the few intentionally evil people.  They are serving evil purposes and intentionally so.  But, those are unusual people.  None of us would think of ourselves that way.

There are many people going through life with no concept of having a purpose.  One of the reasons for the great popularity of Rick Warren’s Purpose Driven Life was that it gave many people their first vision of what it means to have a purpose.  Of course the many institutions of the “church” were delighted to capitalize on that well written book in order to get people to adopt the purposes of the institution as their own purposes.

Virtually all people for part of their lives and many people for essentially all of their lives move only to fulfill their own self-centered purposes.  Some for money and the things it will buy, some for power, some for sensuality, and some for the shear pettiness of being self-centered and never needing to consider any other people.

Sadly, because hearing God, prophecy, and prophetic ministries in the Church have been largely despised and dismissed as irrelevant for our intellectual society, many believers have no greater sense of purpose than the unbelievers who are outside the Church.

But, there are many men and women who have a strong sense of purpose.  Many of them are able to cite multiple Scriptures upon which they base their purposes.  Most of these would tell you in no uncertain terms that their purposes are the purposes of God.

Ah, but David …

David the Book tells us served the purposes of God for his generation.

“For his generation” necessarily implies that for other generations God had different purposes.  Nonetheless, virtually none of us have ever heard a robust discussion among believers concerning what are the purposes of God for this generation.  Indeed for most who have ever considered the purposes of God at all, we have gone along believing that the purposes of God, like the character of God, are the same yesterday, today, and forever.  So, when some leader or another has provided a statement of the purpose of God and given Scripture proof-texts for it we have simply accepted it with little or no real examination as to whether it is the purpose of God for our generation.

Most of the “church” system is based on fulfilling the purposes from past generations that have been adopted for the institution.   When the question has been raised as to whether these are the purposes of God for us, the answer has generally been the equivalent of, “that’s the way we have always done it.”  At times we have even sung songs extolling the virtues.  “It was good enough for grandpa and its good enough for me.”

But, I ask you.  Have you ever seriously sought to learn God’s purposes for your own generation?  Be warned!  This can get you into conflicts with the system.  But, ask yourself whether David would have been satisfied with fulfilling something other than the purposes of God for his generation. 

I can tell you with certainty: The purposes of God for each of the three generations now walking the Earth are quite different from each other and radically different from the purposes of past generations.

What are you going to fulfill before you die?

Hearing God

If we belong to Jesus, we have an absolute personal right to hear Jesus every single day. We have the right to hear him personally and not just hear him through some book that we read whether it’s the Bible or some other publication. We have an absolute right to hear him speak to us personally. How do I know that’s true? I know it because it’s right there in the red-lettered text. Jesus said that he is sending us into the world in the same way that the Father sent him into the world (John 17:18 & John 20:21). How did he describe how he was sent into the world? He said he never spoke a word except first he heard it from his Father (John 14:10).

Every single day Jesus spoke, so every single day he heard from his Father. We have a right to hear from God every single day of our lives. Anytime we want to hear from him, we just dial Jeremiah 33:3. It says, “Call to me and I will answer you.”  He will speak to us every single time.  Don’t believe cynical people who suggest to us that nobody can hear God.  If we’re not one of his sheep, maybe we can’t, but if we belong to God we can hear God. He loves to talk with his children. He’s delighted to do it.

It takes no special talent to hear God; it’s the guaranteed right of every believer. The problem arises when we need to distinguish between our Lord’s voice and the other voices that are competing for our attention. They all fall into three categories and we need to learn how to distinguish between them. There’s the voice of God, the voice of our own soul and the voice of the enemy. How do we determine if we are hearing God, hearing our own soul or hearing demonic voices? Well, let’s start with a fundamental distinction that will quickly give us a broad-brush test.  First of all, the spirit of man always seeks to preserve himself.  It is always self centered and endeavors to maintain control over the situation for the benefit of himself.  This voice talks to us about how to protect ones self against the risks that God might want us to take.

The spirit of Satan, on the other hand, is an accusing spirit and he is continually bringing accusations against us. He will make us feel bad, feel guilty, and feel afraid.  God never motivates his children with guilt. He never motivates his children with the fear of consequences.  He never terrifies or intimidates his children.  God motivates his children with love. When we’re in a situation and there’s a voice inside  that says, “I know, if I ask that question they’re all going to laugh at me. What a stupid question!  Everybody knows that. How could I be so ignorant in the basic things of the kingdom?  What a fool I am.” It should be obvious we are not hearing the voice of God. It’s the enemy who will always try to pull us down.

How do we deal with the situation when these fears and accusations try to take hold of us and influence our decisions? Well, we know that Jesus dealt with Peter rather harshly at one point. Peter came to him and Peter said, “Oh no! We’re not going to have to go to the cross.” Jesus turned to him and said, “Get thee behind me Satan” (Matthew 16:23). There’s a simple response when any Satanic, demonic voice begins to speak to us. Just say, “Shut up! I have no interest in you.”  Don’t we try to answer Satan.  Don’t try to argue with him because we won’t reason our way out of it.  Don’t do anything except say “Shut up! I have nothing to do with you.”

Accusations and fears are not what God is speaking into our lives. Self-preservation is not what God is speaking into our lives either. These two elements, accusations and fears, and self-preservation will always identify the voices as not coming from God. God speaks to us redemptively and lovingly.  He leads us into a place where we are putting our trust in his personal character. When God speaks to us, we will always have the experience of being loved.  He encourages us to trust Him -- to step out and do things we know would be impossible without His participation.

But, most important, NEVER accept the lie that you cannot hear God continually.

Love or Labor

I have noticed that many folks seem confused or undecided about whether they are walking in a labor of love or walking in a love of labor.  The dicotomy of views concerning John 14:23 seem to crystalize this confusion.  In that verse Jesus said, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. "

 A.     One very large group would have us interpret this verse to understand that the keeping of Jesus' word or obedience is the proof that we love Him.  That interpretation applied to the whole of the verse leads to the further conclusion that the keeping of Jesus' word or obedience is, also a precondition to Father's love and a precondition to the Father and Jesus coming to abide with us.  That reading of the whole verse, however, is inconsistant with all the rest of the Scriptures which reveal the unconditional nature of Father's love.  He so loved us before we ever knew about Jesus that He sent Jesus for us.

 B.     A much smaller group would have us interpret this verse to understand that it is our love for Jesus personally that is the source of our power to engage in the keeping of Jesus' word or obedience.  Without that intimate bond of love with Jesus, we simply are not able to choose to die to self in the ways necessary to walk out what Jesus desires.  Further, this close knit love relationship also leads to a fuller experience of Father's love and an experience of the abiding presence of both Jesus and the Father living in and with us.

So, you may ask, what difference would these divergent views make one way or the other ?

It is a matter of the efficacy of our focus and a matter of our ability to receive grace.

If I accept interpretation A. above, then I must continually be learning more about Jesus' commandments and work harder and harder to keep everyone to the last detail.  If I do not, then I will prove that my love for Him is inadequate and Father will not love me or live with me.  It will also become necessary for me to cut the book of Galatians out of my Bible.  Why Galatians ?  Because it revolves around the theme that any attempt on my part to please God by keeping a set of rules will remove me from access to His grace.

If, conversely, I accept interpretation B. above, then at any time I see myself not doing everything that Jesus wants me to do I may turn to deepening my love relationship with Him.  If I do that then: He will further empower me to keep His commandments; I will experience more of Father's love; and, I will experience more of Father's and Jesus' abiding presence in my life.  Because the one who has been forgiven much will love much, one key way to deepen the love is to remember how very much I have been forgiven.

Interpretation A. is self centered and leads to legalism.

Interpretation B. is God centered and leads to an amazing life wherein Father, Jesus, the Holy Spirit, and I continually abide in unity, blessing and serving each other in a healthful familial relationship. 

We see this same dynamic in our human relationships also.  We easily serve the people we love.  The more we love them the more we enjoy serving them.  But, it does not work the otherway around.  We do not easily love the people who are demanding that we serve them.  Indeed, most people come to resent such people.

Thus, we can see why people raised in a legalistic demanding environment often develop a deep resentment toward God.

By His grace, Father loves them anyway.

Coffee Anyone

As I sit here sipping my first cup of coffee I think of my friends scattered around the Earth.  It is always a joy to sit and chat with each of you.  The following is not original.  I found it years ago anonymously posted on the web.  If you know who wrote it, please, convey my thanks for a piece so precious that I must share it with my friends.

A professor stood before his philosophy class and had some items in front of him.

When the class began, wordlessly, he picked up a very large and empty

mayonnaise jar and proceeded to fill it with golf balls. He then asked the students

if the jar was full.

They agreed that it was.

The professor then picked up a box of pebbles and poured them into the jar. He

shook the jar lightly. The pebbles rolled into the open areas between the golf

balls. He then asked the students again if the jar was full.

They agreed it was.

The professor next picked up a box of sand and poured it into the jar. Of course,

the sand filled up everything else. He asked once more if the jar was full.

The students responded with a unanimous yes.

The professor then produced two cups of coffee from under the table and poured

the entire contents into the jar, effectively filling the empty space between the

sand.

The students laughed.

Now, said the professor, as the laughter subsided, I want you to recognize that

this jar represents your life. The golf balls are the important things - God, family,

children, health, friends, and favorite passions -- things that if everything else was

lost and only they remained, your life would still be full and fulfilled The pebbles

are the other things that matter like your job, house, and car. The sand is

everything else -- the small stuff.

If you put the sand into the jar first, he continued, there is no room for the pebbles

or the golf balls.

The same goes for life. If you spend all your time and energy on the small stuff,

you will never have room for the things that are important to you.

So, pay attention to the things that are critical to your life and purpose. Play With your

children. Take time to get medical checkups. Take your partner out to dinner.

Play another 18. There will always be time to clean the house and fix the

disposal.

Take care of the golf balls first -- the things that really matter. Set your priorities.

The rest is just sand.

One of the students raised her hand and inquired what the coffee represented.

The professor smiled. I'm glad you asked. It just goes to show you that no matter

how full your life may seem, there's always room for a couple of cups of coffee

with a friend.

Putting in My Two Cents Worth

There are two things we can observe:

     1.  The Bible talks a lot about money. 

     2.  Most leaders in the system who talk about  money want some of yours.

Let's look,from God's perspective, at a few things about money:  

First and foremost, God does not need your money.  He has all He needs.  More over, He takes care of His children and they never go begging for bread.  Thus, it is rational to question what is going on when people who claim to be children of God representing Him come asking you for money.

So, you might ask, if this is true why does the Bible talk so much about money?  It is because our attitudes toward money reflect our spiritual condition.  Consider, the love of money is the root of all sorts of evil.  If you love money, you will be the source of evil stuff.  If you keep encountering evil events in your life, perhaps you should re-examine how you really feel and think about money.

Where a man's treasure is that is where his heart is also.  This principle gives us a valuable key to helping people identify the problem areas in their lives.  If you were to sit down and go through my check book or credit cards, you would learn about what is important to me.  If most of my money is spent on myself, you know one thing.  If most is spent on my children and grandchildren, you know a different thing.  In the same way, if most of the things a man owns are merely expensive toys, it shows one thing.  If most are conservative investments, it shows another.  None of these areas of the uses of money are inherently evil.  But, the pattern shows where the heart of the man is located.  When you want to know yourself better, looking at what you have done with your money is a good way to map the location of your heart.

Jesus, when in the Temple, watched what was done about contributions for the needs of the poor.  True religion undefiled is to care for the widows and orphans and strangers in our town.  He who gives to the poor lends to God.  God loves a cheerful giver.  Clearly, all these principles point to one truth about God.  He gets pleasure out of watching us take care of the truly needy people around us.  One of the most destructive things to happen in the history of the United States occurred when we the Body of Christ surrendered to the government the primary responsibility to care for people in need.  It has been destructive to the government, the poor, the legal system, the economy, and the Church among other things.  God has always desired for us to voluntarily take upon ourselves the personal responsibility to care for people.  Voting for the government to take other people's money to do what God called us to do is nothing more than a sophisticated mechanism for stealing.  At the same time we are despising the will of God.  So, on a practical level, do you have a bit of cash in the back of your wallet so you are prepared to share with people in need ?

Throughout the Scriptures, blessing from God has been poured out on people who voluntarily gave some of what God had entrusted to them in support of those who serve to build and maintain the House of the Lord.  Of course, today the House of the Lord is the Body of Christ.  In addition, the people of God made special offerings for buildings and things.  Notice, under the Law, the tithes went to people; the offerings went for things.  Now, of course, we are not under the Law.  Thus, tithing is not required.  However, in my life I have found going back to look at my giving is a great way to check of the practical levels of my love of the Lord.  When tax time comes around and I look at my giving in the prior year, I find an objective way to see.  Am I really as passionate in my love for Jesus as I thought I was ?  Love is not measured in dollars.  But, if I am giving less for the sake of the Kingdom of Grace than I would have given when I was under the Law, I have a need to ask myself, "Why ?"

So, we see patterns in the Kingdom for supporting those who serve, giving for things that are needed, and making provision for the impoverished ones around us.  None of this is intended by God to be a matter of compulsion.  If you only give gifts to your wife/husband when there is a holiday that requires a gift, how much are you really in love ?  God's desire for you is that you would find an attitude in your heart wherein you are delighted to share what you have with Him.

Do not become a surety for another man's debt.  The borrower is a slave to his creditor. Neither be a lender nor a borrower.  All these principles reflect God's desire that His people stay out of debt.  I have a dear friend.  He earns a good salary.  His wife has been well paid for years.  He is called by God to travel throughout the world to serve the saints of God.  But,  the two of them are so deeply in debt he can not see anyway that he could possibly afford to do what he is called to do before he turns 85 years old.  He is not an unusual person.  Frequently I meet children of God who have imprisoned themselves in so much debt that they cannot go to serve God's people.  Why do we do this?  When I was in debt it was for a very simple reason -- my unbelief.  I simply chose to believe that God did not love me enough to provide all the things I needed.  So, when I wanted something, instead of going to God I went to the credit card.  Sadly, I know many many men who worship their credit rating more than God.

These principles of kingdom finance are not important because God needs your money.  He does not need it.  They are important because in them you find keys to freedom and keys to your being the personal expression of God's character on the Earth.

Spiritual Splenda

Ah the wonders of modern man --

Years ago, before my broad mind and narrow waist had swapped descriptions, I was an officer in the U.S. Coast Guard.  When the ship was underway I often stood watch on the Bridge of the ship as the Officer of the Deck.  In that position, I was the senior officer awake and watching over the ship.  It was my job to see to the safety of the ship and ensure we did not get involved in an accident.  Needless to say, it was not acceptable for me either to leave the Bridge or to fall asleep on watch.  But, these watches usually followed long days of working at the routines of maintaining the ship, conducting searches for people lost at sea, or repairing aids to navigation.  Each of us junior officers was expected to keep up with the day time work of the ship, stand a watch during the daylight hours and again stand the watch during the night.  This was simply what had to be done.  It was not heroic.  It was just life on board a Coast Guard Cutter.  And, it was exhausting,

During those long night watches, one of the relished privileges of the Officer of the Deck was to ask a crew member to bring a mug of coffee to the bridge. On those long nights I needed the caffeine of the coffee to help me stay awake.  But, I also needed an energy boost - something to raise my blood sugar.  Thus, I learned to drink my coffee with plenty of milk and several spoons full of sugar.  Some years later while in law school  I was again staying up late into the night.  And again, the caffeine was essential.  But, I was married and my lovely bride pointed out to me that my waist line was expanding rapidly.  It was not rocket science to figure that all that sugar was bringing about true growth in my life.  Ah but, I had learned to like my coffee sweet.  I could not stop the coffee.  So, I started the use of Sweet and Low, a saccharine substitute for sugar.  Years later I learned that saccharine is carcinogenic.  Not wanting cancer I switched to Equal.  After a while it was rumored that Equal causes brain damage.  So, I switched to Splenda.  Splenda and Equal were especially nice because they came in packages combined with other thigs so they actually looked a lot like sugar.  I could put them in the sugar bowl on the table and noone would know the difference.

Is it not a wonderful thing ?  Based on the science of modern chemistry I could still get all the caffeine I wanted with no sacrifice.  I never was required to give up my sweet loving sense of taste.  I never was required to learn to like my coffee rich and strong and black without sweetness.  Cup after cup I can get that creamy sweetness I love without having to sacrifice anything to keep my weight under control.

During the first generation of the Church, the beloved apostle John, Jesus closest buddy during His stay on the Earth, gave us a clear warning.  He said in his 1st century letter that already there were antichrists functioning in the world.  Throughout all my early development I understood this to mean that there were people who were arguing against men believing in Jesus as Lord.  But the Lord challenged me to look again.  So I went back to the Greek and looked at the word.  Sure enough the English word antichrist was not even a translation it was a transliteration of the Greek word with the English word simply being made up of the English equivalents of the Greek letters.  So, what was God asking me to focus on ?  I went back to the Greek word, again, to find out what it came from.  It is simply two Greek words pushed together.  Anti and Christ are put together to form the word.  Well, I knew that Christ meant the anointed one and referred specifically to Jesus the anointed man, the Son of God.  It seemed to me obvious that Anti meant anti that is something that fights against or opposes.  But, the Holy Spirit insisted I look it up.  I was shocked by my discovery.

This word Anti has a somewhat different meaning.  When I looked in the Greek dictionary I discovered that the first meanings of Anti have to do with a substitute that is used instead of the other.  The more literal meaning of the word transliterated as Antichrist is substitute christ or impostor christ.  This brought about a whole new revelation for me.  I suddenly realized that part of what John was warning the Church about was this.  Even in the first generation of the Church already we were finding substitute anointed ones - substitutes for or impostors of Jesus.

Now if instead of sugar in my coffee my wife had substituted a bitter thing like strychnine I would not like it or want it.  And even if I was silly enough to drink it, anyone who watched the result would never choose to imitate me.  My sugar substitute needed to taste sweet.  And, if it was a poison, it was essential that like saccharine it work slowly over a long period of time.  Noone else could be sold something that killed me quick.  They would have to see me keep using it and appear to enjoy it.  Slow poisons are still poison but they are far less noticeable.  They remain marketable even while they do their work.

So, what looks like Jesus, tastes kind of like Jesus but, unlike the Bread of Life it has zero calories ?  It has no nutritional value at all.  What is it that masquerades as an impostor of Jesus ?  Now, to pass as an impostor it must look like folks expect Jesus to look.  It must be able to go into life's sugar bowl and look right.  And to pass as an impostor it must feel like Jesus is expected to feel.  It could not be like strychnine instead of sacchrine.  What is that ?

Is this not what every religious organization is working toward ?  Does not every group seek to give us an experience that looks and feels like we expect Jesus to look and feel ?  What is "seeker friendly" about portraying a Jesus who desires and deserves that I would give up all my personal desires and be willing to die in order to follow Him ?  Oh, many of them portray making great sacrifices, especially sacrificial giving.  But, very few portray that Jesus already made the great sacrifice and all my righteousness is as filthy rags.  Most of the "good and Godly" religions have noble codes of conduct for men to follow.  But, the conduct is in reality only practicing the form of Godliness while denying the real power of it.  Virtually all of them hold weekly meetings to which the faithful are expected to come.  In those meetings, most commonly, the faithful have an emotional experience they are taught to believe is worship.  They hear someone preach to them  a lesson that usually has no practical application in modern life.  And, they are exhorted to give their money in support of the organization.  Then they go home.  All that standing in stark contrast to the things the Bible teaches us are intended to happen when the saints meet each other. 

Now some of us have realized that the first organization we came to is really carcinogenic.  It is so far off the path of Jesus that it is giving us spiritual cancer.  What have we done ? Usually we vote with our feet, we move on to another better organization.  We go from Sweet and Low to Equal.  But, more often than not we eventually learn that the new group also is toxic somehow.  Then we move on again.  We move from Equal to Splenda.  But the problem with our new group is not that we have learned it is toxic.  It is simply that by its very design is has no real nutrition for our spirits or souls.  It makes us feel good.  We are not required to give up the sweetness we found in religion.  It all looks and feels right.  But, it just does not give us enough Spirit and Life to sustain us. 

Now, there is nothing inherently evil about most religious organizations.  They are much like other organizations (Lions Club, Rotary Club, Moose Lodge) .  They all do the best they can with the limited revelation they accept.  What is the problem then ?  It is this.  Jesus did not send us forth to build organizations and churches.  He sent us to disciple men.

Disciples walk in close knit relationships.  Disciples are close friends who trust each other.  Disciples genuinely love each other.  Disciples follow someone in whom, after very close examination, they see the real character of Jesus.  Disciple makers always have time for the disciple.  Disciple makers always have vision for the disciple.  Disciple makers never feel senior to, better than, or above the disciple.  Disciple makers never minister for the purpose of making money.  Genuine discipleship relationships are the Hallmark of the Church Jesus is building and preparing to be His Bride.

So, who are you following ? Jesus or an imposter ?  The real Bread of Life or just another pack of spiritual Splenda ?

Beware the Leaven of the Pharisees !

Beware the Leaven of the Pharisees!

Jesus warned us twice in a single paragraph of the New Testament; he said, “…beware of the leaven of the Pharisees…” (Matthew 16). Watch out for the leaven of the Pharisees. Now we all know that leaven is like yeast and it’s something that gets into a lump of dough. I want you to see something about the Pharisees that I think will help you understand why Jesus was warning us about them.

In the 9^th chapter of John Jesus healed a man who was born blind. After the man had been healed, he was brought to the Pharisees, who then interviewed him stridently. The man’s answers really were pretty simple. He said, “I don’t know; I just know that once I was blind and now I can see!” The man really got them very upset when he said, “Why are you asking me all these questions? Do you want to become his disciples too?” With that, they threw him out. He met Jesus after the Pharisees threw him out. As they were speaking, the Pharisees also came out and overheard the conversation.

The Pharisees understood the implication of what was being said and they became absolutely furious! They said “WHAT! Are you suggesting that we are blind too?” Then Jesus gave them two answers. The first was self-evident. He said, “If you were blind I could heal you.” He’d already proven that he could do that because he had already healed the man who was born blind. The second answer he gave was this: “…because you say that you can see, your sin remains with you.”

“Because you say that you can see, your sin remains with you.” Upon hearing his answer to the Pharisees, we can understand that Jesus wanted to warn us about something in our lives that would cause our sin to remain with us, rather than being cleansed by his blood.

“Because you say that you can see, your sin remains with you.” Being certain that they already knew the truth, the Pharisees were unable to receive the revelation that Jesus had come to bring.  Be careful about believing in your own ability to see things. Recognize the real risks involved with thinking that you already know what God wants to show you.  None of us has ever seen the revelation of Himself that He wants to give each of us today.

Turning back to the 6^th chapter of John, we find a story about Jesus feeding the five thousand. He crossed the lake and showed up in Capernaum. When he arrived, the Pharisees came out and greeted him very respectfully. In essence, he replied, “You’re not talking so nicely to me because you saw the miracles. You’re talking nicely because I gave you a free lunch.”  You can always get a crowd if you offer a free lunch. We’ve got so many church organizations that are working at being seeker friendly. You can always get people to come if you give them what they want.

These Pharisees challenged him to present them with a sign so that they could believe in him. Jesus said, “the bread of heaven is he that has come down and brings life.”(John 6:33)

“Feed us this bread” responded the Pharisees.” Jesus capped the conversation by saying, “I am the bread of life.” Why did they not receive that idea?  Because, they already had a clear, certain understanding of what the Bread of Life was. It was what Moses fed their fathers in the wilderness for forty years. They could cite Scripture proof texts on point. They were standing face to face with the one person who was the revelation of God, the very bread of life that came down from heaven, but they could not recognize him. They could not accept him because he didn’t fit their scriptural model of the bread of life from heaven. They could not receive this revelation because they already knew otherwise!

As Pharisees, we believe that we can see and that our understanding is correct because we have scriptural proof-texts to support what we see. Yet the Spirit of God is moving among us to show us revelation after revelation, if we will only allow him to challenge our traditional belief systems. However, he cannot show us a more profound truth as long as we believe that we already see. God wants to show you some things. He wants to show you things at a depth that goes well beyond what you already envision. As we proceed, avoid the pitfall of weighing and evaluating everything against previously established conventional beliefs.

Wow ! Level Wisdom

A personal friend of mine who has a desire for privacy wrote the following, addressed to the Lord.  I simply could not have expressed the concepts better.

I started reading Proverbs today because I could definitely use some more wisdom. Solomon, when told that he could have anything he wanted, asked for a discerning heart. LORD, I really want that.

As I was reading Chapter 1, this application stood out to me: ‎"God is more than willing to pour out His heart and make known His thoughts to us. To receive His advice, we must be willing to listen, refusing to let pride stand in our way. Pride is thinking more highly of our own wisdom and desires than of God's. If we think we know better than God or feel we have no need of God's direction, we have fallen into foolish and disastrous pride." I was reminded of how I push You aside a lot when it comes to taking care of others. I assume responsibility and wonder what I can do for them. I never looked at it as pride because I always felt inadequate to do much of anything. But it sure does look like pride to me now.

So many times I have asked you what You would like me to do for someone, and I often hear you say that You want me to let You take care of it.  I never really like that answer, as You know. But after reading one of Papa Stu's blogs the other day and listening to You, I realize that unless You are leading me to do something I need to just be still. Please forgive me for my pride, and for the ridiculous number of times I have pushed You away.  I'm really sorry.