Newness of Life

Not one of the Lord’s good promises to Israel failed; every one was fulfilled.” Joshua 21:45 God’s word comes in seed form. Seeds are not impressive. The are not very useful either, unless they are planted. The Bible says that God’s word always accomplishes it’s purpose. It never fails. It is Life. It is Spirit. But seeds cannot grow without remaining in good soil. The parable of the seed illustrates the three things that can prevent the word from maturing from a promise into experiential reality: forgetfulness, distraction, and offense. Just this morning as I was getting comfortable with my bible and journal, I recalled something the Lord had shown me in the word weeks ago, but I had completely forgotten it. This time I wrote it down and purposed to keep it hidden in my heart by meditating on it often. Next I have to face the dizzying array of distractions, cares, and pleasures that draw my attention away from God. When my attention and/or desires are drawn away from Him, his word ...

There is no such thing as blind faith. My faith in God is based on my experience of God. “Faith leads to experience, and experience to hope…until his love is shed abroad in our hearts.” The love of the Holy Spirit shed in our hearts is the greatest of all rewards. Sweeter than honey. I first came to believe when I felt the Holy Spirit tugging at my heart at the age of nine. Yes, felt is a dirty word in religious circles, but I felt Him in my spirit. I answered, and shortly thereafter I had my first experience of God‘s love. Jesus hunted down faith like a hound dog hunts his prey. With laser-like focus he moved through the towns and villages seeking a faith target. He sought someone with whom he could engineer a God sized encounter. He wants to reveal God to us in three dimensional space. After healing the blind man he said,  “Go and tell what has happened to you.” Go and show them as evidence that God is good. God is alive. Before raising Lazarus...

Thinking of late how He is always speaking to my heart, my inner man. That if I will go down into that secret chamber, the closet of my heart where I alone dwell without any distractions or thoughts for others or fear of man, I will begin to hear Him much more clearly! Cultivate a quiet heart, free from anxiety, fear, and doubt for the Lord speaks quietly to your inner man and we must be listening to hear Him. I want to shout this from the housetops because our culture is in danger of losing the quiet, peaceful, reflective place due to too many distractions. Remember that the first trial for the seed of God’s word is simply to find a space to fall and there to remain undisturbed. How can the seed remain if we are so easily distracted from some God-given thought, word, conviction, or revelation? We lose many seeds when we fail to maintain a quiet heart without which we cannot grow deep roots of faith and obedience. Lord, give more grace!

“For thus saith the Lord, that after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place.” Jer 29:10 This evening the good Lord reminded me that in His perfect time, He will perform his “good word”. For the Israelites, it was seventy years of captivity and then He would bring his promised deliverance. I was really struck with the fact that God has alloted a designated time frame. God had not forgotten his promises, and he was not doing things in an arbitrary manner. He had a purpose that required a certain amount of time. Seventy years were allotted for them before God performed his promises to them. This verse comes directly in front of a very well-known and recited verse that has given many hope in the midst of a painful wait. The famous verse of which I speak is Jeremiah 29:11: “ For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you...

A few months ago I was reading Isaiah chapter 11 when I began seeing some things in a new light. I had read this chapter before a few times but failed to see what I saw this last time. Below is my attempt to articulate the beauty of God's holiness that washed over me as I marinated in this scripture. As most things of the spirit, it transcends language because our human language is too small to communicate such realities. But I tried! Isaiah 11:2 “And the spirit of the LORD shall rest on him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and might, the spirit of knowledge and of the fear of the LORD- and he will delight in the fear of the Lord.“He will not judge by what he sees with his eyes, or decide by what he hears with his ears…” Can you see it? I see it anew, afresh, by the Spirit of God, the beauty of righteousness and holiness filling this earth. Can you imagine a world where “no harm is done”? This is the manifest wisdom of God, that by His Spirit working i...

"Have you brought us out here to die?" the Israelites moaned to God as they wandered in circles in the wilderness. Everything was so glorious when he led them out of Egypt with signs and wonders and an outstretched arm. They were in awe of his mighty power and deeds and excited about what was to come (I would think). But then comes the desert, thirst, confusion, waiting by the mountain for some old man to come back down with instructions. What? We went through all of that for this? And the tempation is to run back to Egypt where life was at least predictable, familiar, even fun. Wilderness temptation. I am coming to see that this wilderness temptation, the sense that God has abandoned us, or that we that have been following a mirage, is a major area of testing in our spiritual progress. And it can last a long time, much longer than we expect. But we can take heart, because God leads us out to take us in. And yes, I ended a sentance with a preposition, but what an excellent pr...

Heidi Baker came to our church this past weekend and told a story. God impressed Heidi to purchase a boat in order to journey to nearby Islands to share Jesus with them. She obeyed, as she usually does, only to find herself and her team shipwrecked in the middle of the Indian Ocean. "God told me to buy a boat, and it sunk" she said.  Minus their boat, that night they were attacked by a hoarde of African fire ants. Next day, hungry, tired, and boatless, they stood on the Island worshipping and thanking God for his provision. From there things only grew worse. They decided to stike out in a raft and promptly began to sink, at which time a man with a boat covered in poop rescued them. Their relief was momentary, however, because shortly after getting into the boat, the motor blew out. They were finally rescued by six naked Muslim fishermen who hoisted the sails and sailed home to safety. As it turns out, all six men gav...