Trying to Hide the Trash

I recently saw a house with a nice neat and tidy yard. The occupants were not wealthy but they kept their yard looking nice.  The yard was surrounded by a rock wall, but if you looked over the wall in the back of the property, you would see mountains of garbage.  It was left there to rot and for someone else to pick up.  It was stinky and looked very bad.

Many people try to do the same thing in their own life.  You meet them, they look great on the outside and the parts of them that you see and get to know seem very well kept and free from clutter.  But inside they have put up a wall over which they have thrown the trash that they wish no one to see.  This trash might consist of past hurts, past abuse, a secret sin, a bad attitude, etc.  The problem is that eventually this trash will begin to stink or pile up so much that it flows over into the neat and tidy areas.  Some of these people are just trying to hide the junk, and expect others to clean it up for them.  They hope that no one ever sees it or looks over that wall.  But you can only pile up so much trash before it is visible to everyone and can no longer be hidden.

The good news is that there is someone that can clean it up or help us clean it up.  No matter how neat and tidy we try and make ourselves look, this person can see through that wall to the trash behind it.  Jesus is that person. He wants to clean us up.  He doesn't ask us to take out the garbage before He comes to us, He says that He will accept us as we are and help us clean out the trash.  He has a giant trash bin waiting to fill up with our trash.  1 John 1:9 tells us: "But if we confess our sins to him, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong."  He will take our trash away from us.  But firs we have to let Him and be willing to let him see behind the wall. 

This does not just apply to unbelievers; it applies equally to believers as well.  Many believers try and hide their trash and often do a great job of it.  But eventually, if we want to move forward in God and grow past the stage we are at, we have to confess that sin to Jesus and allow Him to take the trash out from behind the wall.  It makes no difference what the outside looks like if we are filled with trash on the inside.  God's desire is that we be filled with Him, with His Holy Spirit, not with the trash from our past or the sins that we want to hang on to.  God calls us to be Holy.  1 Peter 1:14-17 tells us: "Obey God because you are his children. Don't slip back into your old ways of doing evil; you didn't know any better then. But now you must be holy in everything you do, just as God -- who chose you to be his children -- is holy.  For he himself has said, "You must be holy because I am holy."  And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites when he judges. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of him during your time as foreigners here on earth."  The good news is that He is the one the helps us to clean out the garbage and He is the one that makes us holy. (Leviticus 22:32, as well as many other places).

I challenge you to look behind that wall you have erected and look and see if you have trash hidden there while trying to make every other area of your life look nice and neat.  It doesn't matter what is there.  God promises to make us holy and to make us holy.  He promises to forgive us.  Then just like the woman caught in adultery, He will say to you "'Where are your accusers? Didn't even one of them condemn you?'  'No, Lord,' she said. And Jesus said, 'Neither do I. Go and sin no more.'  Jesus said to the people, "I am the light of the world. If you follow me, you won't be stumbling through the darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life."  (John 8:10-12).

Jesus I ask that the one reading this will have the courage to look behind their wall and allow You to remove the garbage and make them holy.  Shine your light into their heart so that they can live a life worthy of Your calling and a life that reflects You and not their own efforts."

Stepping off the Cliff


Faith is something we often do not quite


understand or wish we had more of.  My wife and I teach at a Christian school but recently we have felt that God has been asking us to leave the security of that job to step off the cliff and watch what God would do.  No job prospects, a baby on the way, and more and more people at our house needing a safe place to live.  To the natural mind leaving the security of a paid job to a place of not knowing seems crazy.  Believe me it feels crazy.  But at the same time, not following God's leading seems even crazier.  We have had many confirmations that lead us to believe that we truly are hearing God's voice in the matter.  I would venture a guess that most people would not do this.  Yesterday we talked to our principal about the reasons we were not coming back in the fall.  She has been wondering when we would break this news and how she would react because she has seen it coming as well.  Today we told the school administrator of our intentions of not coming back and why and what was next.  He was in total agreement though sad with our decision.



The pipe of blessing as seen on my walk today.

Right after that I went for my morning prayer walk along an irrigation canal.  It has always been dry with no hint of water.  Today as I walked, I saw a trickle of water coming down the canal towards me and I wondered where it was coming from.  As I rounded a corner, I came to a gate that was supposed to stop the water but it was allowing a small trickle through to the other side.  Still further around the corner I suddenly heard the sound of rushing water.  I saw a water pipe approximately 12 inches in diameter gushing water into the ditch from a well a long side the canal.  Suddenly God spoke clearly.  "Now that you have stepped off the cliff, this represents the flow of provision that I have for you.  This flow of provision is not just financial and job related but also many other things.  Not only that, the trickle coming from the other side represented the overflow to others.  Because you have been obedient, you will be taken care of from My well and be able to bless others from the trickle, which will be in a different direction from where I have called you to."

My first thought was one of awe and wonder.  Had I gone down the canal earlier I would have missed this picture.  But the fact that I saw this right after stepping off the cliff has huge spiritual meaning.  Now I can't say that I am any less anxious, but I know I can say with confidence that God will provide.  It may not be in my time, but in His time.  People will call us crazy for leaving the security of a job that supports us, but when God speaks we MUST follow.  It might not always look like the sane thing to do but it is even more insane to tell God no. 

You may be wondering why I have just told you this.  My point is that when God says go, do not hesitate.  Follow His leading and do what he says when he says it.  In this way you will receive a blessing that far outweighs the fear of stepping off that cliff.  Be brave.  Be strong. "For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, to give you a hope and a future." (Jeremiah 29:11).  Take that step off the cliff if that is what God is asking you to do.  Just do it, and see what God will do. 

Priorities

Recently I heard a young person say this: "My Priorities are Jesus, Dorito Tacos, and homework."  As soon as this was said I knew it wasn't true.  How?  I know this person well enough to know by how they live.  This person said this in the middle of a group of leaders at youth group at church.  My first thought was "Hmmmm, well how you live your life sure doesn't show that.  You do all sorts of things that counteract that statement.  It might be your deep desire, but your desires and your actions do not match."

After pondering this awhile, I wondered how many of us are like this.  We say one thing, but our actions do not line up.  They did in the Old Testament.  Many times the Israelites said that they would give up everything to follow God and do exactly what he says.  But then you look at the very next chapter and sometimes the next verse and you see something different.  They turned their backs on God and did evil, worshipped other gods, offered their children as sacrifices to these gods.

This makes me wonder why we are like that.  What makes us say one thing and do another?  Why don't our actions and words match up?  To be honest, there is  no easy answer.  We can see God at work in our lives, see miracles and healings and still go out and turn our backs against God and His perfect way.  Our hearts want both the power of God and the things this world offers.  Jesus himself tells us "No one can serve two masters. For you will hate one and love the other; you will be devoted to one and despise the other..." (Matthew 6:26).  We can tell this by looking at the example of Israel.  They tried to serve God and Idols and themselves, but in the end they served only themselves offering only lip service to God and the idols.

So what is the solution?  WE MUST STORE OUR TREASURE UP IN GOD, IN JESUS!  If we don't, we will end up serving our own fleshly desires.  We must allow the Holy Spirit to change our desires to match God's.  This is not easy and does not lead to an easy life.  It is very difficult and sometimes lonely.  But we if we want to serve God and God alone, and allow Jesus to the center of our lives, me must allow Him to change our hearts to resemble His.  We must also recognize that God will not make us want to love Him, that would make us robots and free will is lost.  We must freely choose to offer our lives, our words, our actions to Him and allow Him to transform us no matter the cost. 

Yes there is a cost involved.  It might cost us what we want.  It might cost us friends, money, fame, power, and even family, and could quite possibly be a lonely life.  But the rewards of following wholly after Jesus are well worth it.  We trade in a few years of ease and comfort for an eternity in His presence and the opportunity to speak with Him face to face one day.  Some say their priorities are Jesus, then other things, but what do their life choices show?  Look at your own life.  Do your choices reflect a desire to follow after Jesus 100%?  Or do they reflect a desire to follow your own desires?  It is a struggle we all have to face.  Count the cost.  What are you willing to pay to truly rearrange your priorities to put Jesus as #1?  Are you willing to lay down your life and desires and plans for the perfect plan that comes from God?  I pray that you choose Jesus, but will also respect your choice not to if the cost is too high.  I just ask that you are not like the individual at the opening of this piece that says Jesus is their number one priority when in fact it is obvious from how your life that it is not. 

Jesus help us all to follow you by laying down our rights and our freedom to pick up Your plan.  Help us to lay down our fear, our selfishness, selfish ambitions and blindness to truly take up our cross and follow you.  I pray that you will not have to say to any of us when we see you face to face to go away because You never knew us."

The God of Me?

  After watching a video regarding "Wrong Worship"  I have a few thoughts.  The YouTube video entitled "Wrong Worship" which was a pre-sermon illustration, while funny, hits the nail squarely on the head.  It is a commentary on many of us during worship.   After watching it several times, it seems that the attitudes the skit was portraying was one that is common to all of us.  It is focused on "ME."  If we were able to get into the thoughts of people as they worship on Sunday morning, night, or whenever we worship, the thoughts that would be heard would often times have a self-centeredness about them. Such as, thinking about lunch, or the horrid voice behind us, or the way the new clothes  or haircut we are wearing and wondering if others are noticing us.  Now before you get to critical of this, we have all done it.  Yes, even I have.  I catch myself all the time thinking about me, how am I sounding?  Is someone noticing that I am raising my hands or seem to know the songs well?   Oops I hope no one heard that terrible note I just sang.  Does that person in front of me think I sound great? 
     Where does this come from? Why is it all too common?  If we look at history, even Adam and Eve where guilty of this.  Eve, when tempted with the fruit of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, was thinking about herself, and what she could get out of it if she ate the fruit and what would the snake think if she didn't?  Adam thought of himself and blamed Eve for thinking of himself.  Now I know the Bible does not say this specifically, but isn't that what all of us would do?  Then we read a little further in Genesis and we find Cain and Abel offering their sacrifices.  Cain was angry at God and his brother because he did not do what was asked of God.  (Genesis 4 implies that God had given them specific instructions for bringing offerings to Him).  God even warned Cain but his thoughts remained on himself and so he killed his brother out of anger.  When God pronounced punishment on him, he said "It is too much for ME to bear."  King David looked at Bathsheba and wanted her for himself, not thinking of his other wives or of Uriah, Bathsheba's husband.  Peter was thinking about himself when he denied Jesus.  I can imagine him thinking "What would these people think if I say I know Jesus and say I am his follower?"  What is it that made Lucifer fall from heaven?  It was thinking about himself and trying to get ahead by becoming like God or trying to surpass Him.
     Don't we all fall in that trap now and then?  Look around you.  That car just cut you off at the light or who sped around you not caring.  Someone grabbed that last package off the shelf from behind you as you were reaching for it.  You watch as someone at the restaurant complains that their food is not just perfect for them.  You over hear someone say they earned it so why not?
     Jesus asked us to die to ourselves.  Luke 9:23 says “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me."  This means that we cannot put ourselves in front.  We must think about what God wants from of and how we can serve and honor Him.  That is what we are made for.  But it is that free will, given to us by God that does not make it easy to do so.
     So back to worship.  God wants our worship and even craves our worship.  But when we sing a song that is worshipful and our hearts are not in it, we are not truly worshipping, but just singing a song.  As Jesus told the Samaritan woman at the well, "Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.” (John 4:23-24).  This verse is a not so subtle reminder that only true worship is that which is not about me.  Easy to do?  From my own personal experience, not always, and most of the time, not at all.  Hebrews 13:15 says" Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that openly profess his name."  It is through Jesus that I can truly offer praise and our worship to God. And it is truly a sacrifice on my part most of the time.  When I do offer that sacrifice of praise, I get more than I expect and God comes near.  It is when God comes near that I am truly blessed and fulfilled, and it had nothing to do with me at all.  It has been and always will be all about the God of the universe who made me.

Louie Giglio - Nature Singing to God

This video is so amazing I had to share it here.  After I finished watching, I started wondering what rocks sound like.  You will understand after watching.

The Phoenix Part 2

Almost every legend that speaks of the Phoenix describes the Phoenix with a gold head.  Gold represents holiness, tried in the fire, praise, and blessing.  It is interesting that this all in the head. 

If you think about it, holiness has to start in our head, or our thought life.  All action seems to flow from that.  If our thoughts are holy, then our actions will follow suit.  At the same time all our temptations and all of our trials (unless it is an illness) originate in our head.  And also when we praise others or pronounce a blessing over anyone or something, it comes from our mind, our head. 

Our thoughts must remain holy.  Our words must be full of praise and blessing, not because it makes us look good, but because God asks us to be.  Leviticus 20:26 says "You must be holy because I, the LORD, am holy. I have set you apart from all other people to be my very own." 

What does it mean to be holy?  It is defined as spiritually whole or sound; of unimpaired innocence and virtue; free from sinful affections; pure in heart; godly; pious; irreproachable; guiltless; acceptable to God.  That is a tall order when you put your mind to it.  It is not an easy thing to be pure in heart, or even spiritually whole for that matter.  If you notice the definition also says that to be holy is to be free from sinful affections.  In other words free from the want to sin, or the desire to sin,  a very tall order for anyone.  Since Adam we all are born into sin and even have the desire to sin.   It is not natural for us to be pure and guiltless, but yet something deep inside us wish and long for that kind of life.

In thinking of a pure or holy thought life, a few thoughts came to mind.  First if we are careful what our eyes see, for they can feed us a wrong, impure, unholy thought.  For example, we can hardly go anywhere without our eyes falling on something that feeds our mind for the impure.  I am particularly thinking about a particular store I was at recently.  Since it is spring and summer is fast approaching, this store prominently displays summer swimwear in high traffic areas.  You cannot go to any place in the store that you need to go to without passing by this display.  This store also places undergarments for both men and women in high traffic places.  They not only place it there but they make sure that the ones that are most eye appealing and most lustfully appealing to us.  What God showed me about this part of the store, unholy spirits hang out there and tempt people to think about impure things.  While they look appealing to our eyes, if we could see the spirits that hangout there, we would see a different scenario.  These spirits are not beautiful and would repel us if we could see them, but they are masters at seducing people into thinking unholy thoughts that remain in our minds long after we leave that section and even leave the store.  What I saw was the seductive finger that we often see in Hollywood movies except that finger was bony, gray, and very ugly.  There was also a cackling laugh associated with it, much like what we think of when we think of wicked witches in fairy tales.  We must be on guard as followers of Jesus to keep our minds free from those seductive spirits that attempt to make us be unholy. 

If you read my post on protecting the anointing, this is along those same lines.  We have to protect our minds from the influence of these images.  Once they lodge in our mind, they are difficult to erase.  Just like I have heard many times, you can't keep a bird from flying over your head, but you can keep it from building a nest in your hair.  We must protect our mind.  If we desire to be holy, even if the thoughts go through our mind, or our eyes see something that is impure or causes impure thoughts, we MUST purge it out of our mind through prayer and by turning from those things that can cause those impurities to flood. us.  It may feel like we are being tried in the fire when we purge our minds from such things, it is necessary in order to be holy and pure before God.

Also, as part of the gold, praise and blessings must become a natural part of our speech which also comes from our head, our mind.  While it is natural for harsh words to come from us, it should not happen.  James 3 speaks of the tongue and the damage or the good it does.  He tells us in verses 9 and 10: "Sometimes it praises our Lord and Father, and sometimes it breaks out into curses against those who have been made in the image of God. And so blessing and cursing come pouring out of the same mouth. Surely, my brothers and sisters, this is not right!" So as part of being holy, we must also watch our tongues, being careful of what we say and how we say it. 

In order for the church to rise up like the Phoenix, we must have a gold head, protecting what goes in and goes out.  Father, I ask that all who read this will be spurred on to holiness that starts in the head and mind.  Convict where conviction needs to come, and encourage where encouragement is needed.  I also ask that You would make us holy.  You yourself even said in 22:32 "It is I, the LORD, who makes you holy." and again in 2 Thessalonians 2:13 "a salvation that came through the Spirit who makes you holy and by your belief in the truth."  I thank you Father that You desire holiness from us, and from that holiness flows true freedom to live as we ought, and not as we want.

The Phoenix

      

Over the past few weeks and months, I have heard a lot about the mythical Phoenix, both in prophetic words spoken to me and in my own time with Jesus.  I figured there must be something to this (sometimes I am not always the brightest) so I decided to study the Phoenix and see what I might find and how it might relate to us as Christians.  What follows is the results of that study and a prophetic word for the Church.


The Phoenix was said to be a solitary creature that harmed no one or anything.  It was said to be extremely gentle.   Many Middle and Far Eastern, Mediterranean, and European cultures have a Phoenix legend.  Its colors where of varying colors, depending on the culture the legend came from.  One legend says it was a scarlet color with iridescent wings and purple feet and blue eyes.  Another says it was plum colored with scarlet back and wings had a golden head and a tail of rose and ocean blue.  Yet another describes it as royal purple with a gold head and neck.  Another name for the Phoenix is Fire Bird. 


It is said that there is only one Phoenix at any given time.  It lives anywhere from 100 to 1000 years, again depending on the culture.  At the end of its life, it builds a nest of myrrh, laudanum, cassia, and nard (all very fragrant substances) and sings a beautiful song as it burns to ashes.  Then after three days (some legends say 9) a new Phoenix is born out of the ashes of the old one.  After a few days of growth and gaining strength in its wings, the Phoenix flyies away and the cycle of growth starts all over again.


Looking first at the colors of the Phoenix, we have red/scarlet which represents the Blood of Jesus, anointing, power , prayer, and the Spirit of the Lord.  Purple represents authority, and blue represents God's Glory, purity, and the River of God.  Gold represents Holiness, tried in the fire, praise, and blessing. 


Message for the Church in America:  The Church has risen to glory and Holiness in the past but in recent years has been very ineffectual in our society and our world in general.  I see the Church resurrecting from its own ashes into a new and more powerful body that effects change on the world in a tremendous way.  The picture of the Phoenix as the Fire Bird tells me that the Church will be once again ablaze for Jesus with signs and wonders following and bringing signs and wonders and miracles that will shake the world to its core.  It will be gentle, but yet fierce in its power.  The authority it will soon have will far and above be greater than what we see right now.  It will rise with Healing in its wings (the red/scarlet of the Phoenix) and with Holiness that has not been seen in quite a while.  Wisdom will also pour forth from the Church like never before.  It will rise in power that the gates of Hell cannot stop.  At the same time, many outside the church will either be drawn to the church or repelled.  It will look wonderfully attractive to some and to others look fierce and something to stay away from.  As more and more are caught on fire, more and more signs and wonders will be noticed and great miracles will come.  This reawakening is not man's doing but God's doing.  The Phoenix (the Church) is about to rise again from its own ashes into greater state of being than any time in History.