Our Pursuing God

While pursuing God is of utmost value after we become aware of His presence and give our lives to Him, we need to remember it was His pursuit of us that initiated our relationship with Him in the first place. 

Scripture is filled with examples of God’s pursuit of people. Jesus met Paul on the Damascus Road. The Lord called out to young Samuel in the night. Moses heard his calling spoken from within a burning bush. Jesus asked 12 unlikely men to leave behind what was known to follow Him into an undefined future. 

What if the politician we have been told to hate or the violent rioter for whom we might have deep disgust, all of a sudden, were met by our pursuing God? Would we have the capacity in our faith to believe, or would we struggle as the Early Church did with Paul’s conversion?  Our problem is exacerbated when we continually listen to or read opinions from voices that do not believe in redemption, only condemnation. The sights and sounds coming through our computers, smartphones, and televisions are continually confirming and validating our limited understanding of God's love, especially as we move deeper into the current Presidential election cycle and the possible confirmation of a new Supreme Court Justice.

 

God pursued all of us who now know Him. Without His pursuit, we would not have a relationship with Him. The Lord is actively pursuing all those we gave up on and those we might now call enemies of the good. Dismissal, in any form, is never the heart of God. It shuts the door on the possibility of hope and reveals that we do not fully understand the transforming power of God’s love. 

Only God has the final say on what is taking place in the heart of another person, no matter what the evidence of their life might display. His pursuing love is always greater than the dismissals and negative proclamations we issue when someone does not measure up to our standard of what is right.

Disarming Verbal Snipers

Beginning in late May, someone has been shooting at vehicles traveling on Interstate 5, the main north-south freeway that travels along the west coast. The shootings are taking place on a 70 mile stretch of freeway in the area where Jan and I live. The shootings have only been bullet strikes to vehicles until yesterday when the sniper’s bullet struck a woman in her shoulder. We would appreciate your prayers. This person needs to be brought to justice sooner than later.  

Like all forms of violence, escalation is always possible because violence seeks to increase its presence when not confronted. Just as the freeway sniper has now escalated the deadly potential of his/her acts of violence, so it is with anything in life. Restraint, not the freedom to do whatever an evil desire demands, is the mark of an emotionally and spiritually healthy person.

While a freeway sniper is a real concern for the safety for those of us who live in southern Oregon, so are the contributing words and actions we might add as kindling to the burning fires of emotion now aflame in our culture. Like the progression of the mindset of a sniper firing at innocent motorists, so it is with us when we respond to cultural stimuli without the restraint of the Spirit’s presence.

I understand much of the frustration happening in this emotionally charged pandemic-election cycle-economic downturn social distancing-wear your mask culture. We want to fire off our disgust at someone. We may start by taking aim at the nearest moving vehicle of dissent, but at some point, our unrestrained words can escalate and become a deadly projectile that creates an outcome of harm, not healing. Words do matter. They can be as fatal as a bullet.

 

Today, take a break from what riles you. Walk away from your computer, TV, or smartphone screen and breathe. Bend down and smell a rose, or walk through your neighborhood and say a warm hello to everyone you meet, or simply stare out a window and dream about something you stopped dreaming about when all this craziness first started. 

When we take time to do these simple things, we interrupt the flow of our thinking and our focus shifts. We are able to redirect our thought process and become more willing to put down the weapons of our dissent. This gives the Lord time to speak to our angst and recalibrate our thinking. Under the influence of His love, a renewed sense of hope and trust will come to wash away our need to fire off comments at every passing opinion of which we might disagree. 

Alone for a Reason

Some of you find yourself standing in a lonely place. You are in that place because you heard a word from the Lord and walked into its revelation.  That act of obedience has moved you in a new direction, not of your choosing. 

 

Previously, you followed the developing events of life, as many still do. It was easier then because you moved with a group where you experienced support and consensus. Now you seem to stand alone. You see the movement of culture and the transitions taking place in the Church from a prophesied future. It seems odd and frankly, a bit uncomfortable.  

 

The events that will take place to confirm what the Lord has revealed will bring clarity and answer some of your "why" questions. God is at work in the lives of those making their way to the revelation you carry. Give this process time to develop. The Lord is working on the hearts of people and adjusting their worldview.

 

You have been called to this lonely place to make announcements of hope as the culture and the Church move into a new and yet to be explored future. Hope will be the only safe pathway to lead people to that future where they will arrive, having experienced transformation and reformation. 

Words polluted by fear, angst, and despair will not lead people into the future God has planned. He has entrusted you with a message of hope that people will need to hear as they move through the unfamiliar terrain of change and transition. 

You were never alone. The Lord has been standing with you and speaking through you. Take heart. Your lonely place will soon be populated.

We Are Being Setup

We are being set up by God. This set up will bring us to the end of human reasoning as a way to correct the problems currently facing our world. In that place of realization,  God and His love will become our only viable option.  We are being set up to no longer rely on or be satisfied with outcomes created apart from the will of God. Live expectantly! The setup has begun.

Our Ever-Faithful God

The Lord is saying that He is about to turn history on its heels, changing its direction to align with His will. When all our best efforts fail, and when we have doubts about our future, never forget a merciful God is at the helm of all things. He will not be found unfaithful to His promises no matter how dire or desperate our unfolding history might appear.

Discerning Preference and Conviction

Learning to discern the difference between personal preference and conviction is an important distinction to make. Personal preference is something we all have because we have been uniquely created and live within different lifestyles and social environments. We can yield the ground of our personal preference when we encounter a divergent opinion and not be compromised morally. Conviction is different. It holds fast to our understanding of truth and does not waver. Both preference and conviction must be handled with grace and wisdom, or relationships can be destroyed, and a mission can be aborted prematurely.                                                                     

It is too easy to mistake a preference for a conviction and draw an emotional line in the sand and miss the fact that different preferences and viewpoints are actually an invitation for dialogue, not distance. Truth is what should empower all we do, not our emotions, no matter how passionate those emotions might be convincing us of the rightness of our position or worldview. Our undisciplined emotions can redefine a preference and turn it into a conviction, and that is where a lot of our problems find their origin. 

Lord, help us know the difference.

Catch a Memory

Take a moment and recapture a fond memory. It is a healing exercise. I just did, and a strange and beautiful peace entered my mind pushing aside some of the concerns I have picked up of late. 

As a young boy, I remember going fishing with my dad and riding in his little aluminum boat on Lake Berryessa in California. Dad had an old 2-cycle outboard motor that coughed and chugged us across the glassy surface of the lake at the break of dawn, leaving in our wake a tendril of blue exhaust smoke. Our fishing poles stuck out from the boat’s bow like a ship's masthead with red and white bobbers bouncing up and down. My brother and I sat in the front seat, shivering in the cool early morning air that passed by our pink cheeks. As the boat motored toward our favorite cove, we were anticipating the first tug of a fish taking the bait and submerging our bobber. Dad was at the stern, running the outboard with a Camel cigarette hanging from his mouth. My brother and I exchanged glances with each other and then back at dad. He was smiling. He loved to be with “his boys.”  Those were simpler times with a lot less life clutter to process.

Today, reach back in time and grab a simple memory. Linger in its remembrance for a few moments. Like the power of a testimony, a simple memory can cross time and bring the same joy into the current moment that was experienced when the event first took place. These are gifts from God. Unpack them with joy.

In Flew a Ladybug

This is a photo of two of my favorite females. Jan is holding our new puppy named Ladybug. The pup is the result of a romantic encounter between a Labradoodle mom and an Australian Shepherd father. This photo was taken a couple of weeks ago. I like it because Jan and Ladybug had just finished taking a nap together, and all was all quiet on the puppy dog front – for a moment.

The name Ladybug came after wanting to name her Lady but felt she was something more. My daughter Anna commented one day as we entertained our new puppy’s name, “She reminds me of a little ladybug.” An hour after Anna made that comment, the yet-to-be-officially-named puppy and I were sitting outside in her kennel enjoying the sunshine when a real ladybug flew out of nowhere and landed on my right arm. Once the ladybug had my attention, it flew up and off my arm and made a few orbits above my head, making sure I got the message and then flew away.

God likes to confirm the little things in life, like the naming of a puppy. For those whose image of God is of a distant and distracted father who cares little about such things, I pray those dear souls could see Him in a different light. 

Today, look for the ladybug kind of confirmations that visit our lives on a daily basis. They are messages from a loving Father who wants His children to know that His eye is on the sparrow, little puppies and anything His children love.

Joy to the World

Yesterday, while on a hike, I found myself singing Christmas carols. It was an out-of-the-blue kind of experience. While I sang the carols, I began to feel lighter and emotionally free. It was a pleasant sensation.

This morning, Jan shared with me a couple of articles written just this week by prophetic voices regarding the topic of Christmas. The Spirit is saying something.  In this season of isolation where increasing levels of frustration and anger are manifesting, we don’t have to let the negativity of the season affect the moment. We can import experiences of joy, like singing Christmas carols in April, into a season filled with despair and literally shift our attitude and hopefully, the environment and relationships around us.

If this sounds too simplistic or like an attempt to ignore reality, you are missing the point. Faith is supposed to overcome the restrictions of this life that want to rob us of our joy or tell us something cannot be done. There is nothing simplistic about it. It is a spiritual act empowered by faith. The sanest thing I did yesterday was to sing Christmas carols in April on a mountain trail out in the middle of nowhere.

Jingle your bells!

God is Reframing Our Future

Many times, I will see something just before I begin to write. This morning, I saw frames like the kind of frames that surround a photo or work of art. The frames were approaching a date shortly when we will emerge from this time of isolation. Each frame has a life it will encompass and a date when the reframing will take place.

Most of us have written something in the margin of a book or a Bible. As we read along, we jot down thoughts and observations in the margins of the text. There is actually a term for this: “marginalia.” 

Marginalia originally described the intentional designs in the margins of Medieval illuminated manuscripts. The margins of these manuscripts were filled with beautiful patterns and images in gold and silver that helped “illuminate” the text. 

God will be reframing many of our lives in the coming days. He has written on these new frames – the marginalia - His desire for the next season of our life. The new frame will make our lives come alive with fresh clarity revealing the original intent of the Artist. 

This season has not been a wasted or lost time. Each painful loss and disappointment will be captured by God and transformed into a hope-filled marginalia text that will reveal the creativity of His redeeming power. When you emerge from this time, and your new frame is placed over the image of your life, you will become a masterpiece of God fit for a place of honor in the most prestigious gallery.

Increase in Decrease

The Lord is doing a work of increase in this time of decrease. While the garment of your patience has become frayed and threadbare, and you feel naked and exposed, the Lord has been crafting something new to clothe your thoughts and emotions. He will not waste your sorrow. As you come to Him in this strange and unfamiliar time and cry out in your pain and confusion, the Lord will create a new and stronger garment from the sacrifice of your praise and worship. It will become an insulating shield between your vulnerability and the raw elements of this exposed and separated time. He promised to never leave you or forsake you. The Lord is about to confirm that truth to you in a very personal way. What God has promised will not return empty of fulfillment. 

A Father's Blessing

I've held off releasing this blessing written by Jan for a few days waiting for the right time. I sense today is the right time. Some have had challenging relationships with their earthly father or a father figure. Others are trying to help someone get healed from the wounds of a broken father relationship. I believe hearing the words of this blessing will become a healing salve of the Spirit. These words of blessing will confront the lies embedded in the painful wounds of neglect and abuse. Knowing and receiving God's love is the first step toward healing and restoration of any broken relationship. 

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A Father’s Blessing - Genesis 28:3-4 & Psalm 139

David the Psalmist has a clear picture of the Father’s heart and I turned his words into a Father’s blessing. I also included God’s blessing we inherit through Abraham to Jacob and to all His people of faith (Galatians 3:5-9).

In the Name of Jesus Christ,

may your spirit and soul and body

believe the value your Father

places on you; may His understanding

of you bring you wonder and strength.

Listen to His heart for you—

receive the Father’s blessing:

My hand of love is upon you, imparting

a Father’s blessing to you.

I cherish you constantly;

every single moment I’m thinking of you!

I created you in love, by Love, for love:

I formed your innermost being—

carefully and skillfully shaping you.

My desires for you and your destiny

are more than the grains of sand

on every shore!

I saw who you were created to be

before you became you;

the number of days I planned for you

were already recorded in my book.

I thoroughly know you—

I understand your thoughts

and perceive every movement

of your heart and soul;

I read your heart like an open book.

I know the words you are about to speak

before you form a sentence;

I know every step you will take

before your journey even begins.

When you arrive at your destination,

I am there waiting for you.

I’ve gone into your future to prepare your way;

I follow behind you to spare you

any harm from your past.

I bring light into your night—

there is no such thing as “darkness” with me;

the night is bright as day,

with no difference between the two.

My presence is everywhere.

Never imagine that you could be here

and I somewhere else;

it is impossible to be separated from me.

Wherever you go my hand will guide you,

and my strength will empower you.

May you multiply and be fruitful

and your descendants with you.

May you inherit the land I give you.

May all the generations after you,

and all the families of the earth

be blessed through you.

No Longer

A significant transition takes place in our relationship with God when we longer see ourselves as working FOR God, but WITH God.

That transition takes place when we no longer see ourselves a - 

sinners, but as saints fully redeemed

servants, but as friends of God

orphans, but as sons and daughters

This change of insight into our true identity will radically upset the spirit of religion that desires to control us with a lesser image of ourselves than how God sees us. It will also challenge our understanding of God's love and require that we step out of the cell of a broken identity into the freedom of a new creation.

The Checkmate of God

This morning in prayer, I saw an image of the Lord seated at a chessboard. The chess pieces were ornate and represented the nations of the earth. I looked to see who His opponent was and realized he was so insignificant in comparison to God that I could not even see his head above the tabletop. It appeared as if no one was seated across from the Lord. The enemy’s lack of significance did not allow him to play the game with any hope of final victory.  Each move he made could not stand up against the wisdom and power of God’s strategy. Patiently and peacefully, the Lord continued to move each chess piece around the chessboard, according to a plan none of us can fully understand or comprehend the complexity of its design.

This life and the affairs of humanity are being orchestrated by the hand of God, not by evil. None of what we see taking place on the world stage is without a righteous and merciful outcome. When things make no sense or people issue warnings that the sky is falling, wait in expectation for the next move of God. His hand is always making a strategic play at just the right time that will checkmate the most elaborate plan of hell.

Surviving a Spiritual Free-for-all

I was talking to someone recently and shared with them whenever God begins to move, there will always be a mixture of opposing spiritual forces. This is what took place in Acts 16 between Paul and a fortune teller. Paul confronted the demon speaking through the woman, and she was set free. As a result of their actions and the cultural turmoil created by their obedience, Paul and Silas were arrested, beaten, and thrown into prison. 

God is all-powerful, but that does not mean when He first steps onto the stage of a circumstance, all the dark performers will automatically depart. They must be confronted, or they will continue to speak just like the fortune teller did in Paul's day. When God begins to bring wholeness to an individual, a family, or a nation, His presence will expose and dislodge embedded deceptions. It can look like a spiritual free-for-all until a matter is settled by a demonstration of God's power. 

If you find yourself in the middle of a spiritual free-for-all, find out where the Spirit is moving and follow Him. He will be faithful to show you the way forward through the debris field. 

Our Capacity To Do Battle

God is increasing your capacity for spiritual warfare. What worked in the past will not be sufficient to engage the battles in your future. This increased capacity is a work of God, not a capacity you can produce.

When I was a cop, one of my fellow officers got in a shootout with an armed robbery suspect. It was a hot July night, almost 100 degrees. My friend saw a man dressed in a heavy wool coat and a watch cap driving through town casing stores. The unusual attire caught the officer’s attention so he followed the vehicle. Like many criminals, the suspect provided a minor equipment violation that allowed the officer to legally make a car stop. 

When the officer approached the vehicle, the suspect bailed out of the car with a semi-auto 30-06 rifle and began shooting. The officer returned fire with his revolver as he ran backward, attempting to find cover behind his patrol unit. One of the suspect’s rounds hit the doorframe of the police vehicle fragmenting and wounding my friend. At that point in the gunfight, the officer had fired the last round in his six-shot revolver.  That last round hit the suspect in the upper thigh, and the gunfight was over. 

I was a department training officer so I grabbed some time to debrief my friend on the shooting. I asked him what he would do differently. His immediate response was, “I would want more bullets.” Back in those days, cops carried six-shot revolvers, not autoloading pistols that officers carry today with magazines holding almost three times the number of rounds as a revolver. The higher capacity of modern handguns is a far superior fighting weapon compared to the limited capacity of the revolvers we carried back in the day.

Having enough capacity to stay in the fight is critical, not just on the streets, but in our spiritual lives. When we put on our spiritual armor, we are actually putting on the Person of Jesus Christ, not a skill we learned at a workshop on spiritual warfare. When God increases our ability to fight the good fight, He is increasing our capacity to know and reveal Him in the challenging situations of life. He is our capacity.

The next time hell opens fire on you and those you love, ask the Lord to increase your understanding of His power and presence in your struggle. That is your most trustworthy battle weapon and defines your capacity to do battle. What God reveals to you at that moment will never run dry, leaving you facing the enemy alone and outgunned. 

Premature Labels

I once knew a young man who was trying to find his voice in the faith community. He was sharp and possessed great potential. I believe he had and still does have a calling on his life. Then he made a turn. He turned toward judgment, the premature kind that immaturity is drawn toward. The young man discovered an affinity with those who create labels of judgment and feel it’s their mission to label people and churches with whom they disagree. It was sad to see. He did find his voice, but the sound he was making did not represent the heart of God.

It is too easy to prematurely define people and their motives before we fully understand their reasoning or life-experience. We use our current understanding of truth and reality to craft our premature labels. We have seen this take place in the history of science, medicine, and health habits. The Earth was once considered to be flat. Germs were an unseen and unknown threat, and the benefits of healthy eating and exercise were not yet understood. Those premature positions created labels crafted from premature judgments made before a fuller understanding was realized. 

The most dangerous labeling of all takes place in the area of faith. Be careful with labels. Only God knows how to properly label an individual or group who live outside the context of our current experience or level of comfort.  God’s labels always have a redemptive element. Most of the time, ours do not. When we become a self-appointed label maker, we step into the dangerous territory of accusation.  That is the devil’s favorite playground.

We're Pregnant!

Women who are pregnant possess a unique beauty. They are carriers of new life and the life they carry illuminates something in their expression only seen during pregnancy. I remember when Jan was pregnant with our children. She has always been a stunning beauty to me, but there was something unique in her presence that captivated my heart, even more, when she carried our children.

I remember Jan reaching down with both her hands and clasping her baby bump holding it like someone holding a precious package. She would look down at her bulging tummy and smile then look up at me. That is also the image of someone who knows they carry a promise from God.

When we are pregnant with a promise, we aren’t supposed to look and act like a skinny model on a runway functioning as a human clothes hanger in heels. We should carry ourselves in faithful expectancy like a woman on her due date. Spiritually pregnant people move through life differently than someone who is not pregnant. The promise carried by an expectant person changes how they walk through life, the spiritual food they eat, and the postures of life they assume.

If we know we are pregnant with a promise from God, we should live like the spiritually fertile person we are and not give off the impression of barrenness. Some of you are deep into the gestation process of your promise. Soon you will feel the contractions of the birth. Carrying the promise has not been easy, but to the rest of us, you have exuded an extraordinary beauty that only comes from someone who knows they are spiritually pregnant with a promise from God. 

Our Worst Enemy - God's Chosen Instrument

Look across the landscape of your life and ask, “Who is the least likely person I know who might become a devoted follower of Jesus Christ?” This is a question the first believers in Jerusalem would have no problem answering. They would have said, “Saul!” Saul, who would later become Paul, was eager to kill believers to squash what he perceived to be a band of rebellious apostates. He went house-to-house dragging believers from their homes in chains. He continued his rampage until he had an encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus. Jesus described Paul to Ananias as “my chosen instrument.”

More than ever before, I realize the ills of our culture and the struggles resulting from human brokenness will only be remedied by an encounter with the risen Christ. No amount of good deeds, political correctness, or strained agreement can accomplish this kind of transformation.

Today, when you hear the voice or see an image of a person you perceive as an enemy to all you hold dear, ask the Lord to meet them on their personal Damascus Road. That kind of prayer only comes from a heart living and responding to life under the Lordship of Jesus. 

Perhaps one reason why we see so much angst and division in the world is that we have forgotten the admonition of Jesus to pray for those who we perceive as our enemies. Some of those individuals are God’s chosen instruments who will be used in astounding ways to advance His Kingdom. 

Honor Boxes

For the last 20 years, I have driven past a small sign announcing homemade jams for sale. Just off the main road sits a small table at the end of a dirt driveway where homemade jams and jellies are for sale. I passed the table as I have always done, but this time, I turned around and went back. It was time to find out what was on the table.

When I got out of my car, I saw a small wooden table where jars of pumpkin butter, apricot, and berry jams waited for customers. Each jar was decorated with a little bow since it was Christmas time. On the table was a handwritten note announcing the cost of the items along with a small box to place your money. No one was there. I bought several jars and dropped a twenty in the box.

The most impacting thing I saw on the table was a small box with a slot where you could deposit your money. I named it the “honor box.” 

Every transaction of life has an honor box somewhere. While the last thing on my mind would be robbing from what I perceived to be a little granny making jam, there are areas in my life where passing the honor box test might actually be a challenge. Maybe it is discovering something a speaker or writer used from a book or article I wrote quoting me verbatim without giving me credit for original authorship.  It can happen when I pretend to listen to a conversation waiting just long enough for my turn to interrupt and give my two cents worth of input, not really hearing what the person was trying to express. My list of honor box failures goes on.

Every person has honor boxes lining the path of their life. Most of these are not recognizable by others. They are placed in the private moments of our life-experience where no one but God is watching.  They resemble an unguarded jam stand.  We can take advantage of the honor they offer if we have not allowed God to have His way with our character. Like the honor box at the roadside stand, each honor box requires that we make a deposit before we move on. Those deposits or the lack of them will direct the course of our life.