Category Archives: foundation

Don’t Wish Your Life Away.

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When I was a child I remember thinking, I can’t wait until I am a big kid… then things will be good. When I became a big kid, ( I never was very big), in 6th grade, I couldn’t wait until I got into junior high and had my own locker. When I got into junior high I couldn’t wait until I got into high school, got my driver’s license, a car, a girlfriend, graduated, went to college, got my own place, got married, had children, etc. etc.

My perception of the best situation and circumstance always existed somewhere in the future, and it remained that way when I found Jesus. At the Pentecostal church I attended, we sang and danced to a song that was representative and perpetuated the thinking; “ I’ll fly away oh glory, I’ll fly away…” Someday (when this life was over) things would be so much better, when I got raptured out of this wicked world and stood in the presence of God. Religion teaches us that God is I WILL BE, instead of I AM. Religion says he is waiting for us to run the race to meet us at the finish line, instead of entering into our daily existence, running alongside us in abundant life now.

I was so thankful when 20 some years ago, I was exposed to Kingdom Now theology which broadened my understanding of a God who was participatory, available and interested. Over the last 10 years even larger sections of God’s people have entered into the Kingdom of God emphasis of “on earth as in heaven” (blessing, healing, deliverance, prosperity ) as relevant and available for today, but I still see that old time religion spirit that tries to place God’s power in the future-creating distance and delay. It’s subtly wedged into the charismatic and evangelical experience, almost everywhere I go. The prophetic words on Elijah’s list seem to be on a continuous loop of “what God is about to do”, (but never does) instead of what he has done and is doing. It seems like every conference is preparing the believer for the revival that is coming, instead of the resurrection life available now. Teachers promote (CD/DVD) their latest revelation on getting to the next level instead of our position of sitting with Christ in heavenly places (what level is higher than that?). Many believers are always getting ready but never entering in to the kingdom, because they believe their blessing and ministry and abundant life is in the future. It can begin NOW.

When the sister of Lazarus (Jesus’ friend who was dead) said “ I know my brother will rise in the resurrection” someday in the future, Jesus said “I AM the resurrection, NOW, not in the future. He demonstrated his kingdom was not limited to Chronos time, but was in fact Kairos time.

A miraculous life, a blessed life is a Now life. Any and every situation can be a Kairos (opportune, qualitative) moment. What we sometimes consider as detours, pit stops, transitions or something we have to push through in our lives are actually opportunities to experience the kingdom Now. Jesus taught the kingdom is now in John 4 (woman at the well). Samaria is not a pit stop, it is part of the kingdom. The disciples didn’t want to go to Samaria, they perceived it with racial and religious prejudice and a delay on their way to the place where the kingdom was to be established. What is your Samaria, the place or thing you think is keeping you from experiencing the kingdom? Is it money, marriage, health, conflict? It could be he wants to reveal his kingdom there. The deepest question on the disciples mind (Matt. 24) was “WHEN are you going to come into your kingdom”?, assuming a future date. They didn’t understand that Jesus was demonstrating how it worked NOW (the kingdom is like a seed) by planting the kingdom in the woman at the well. Many are still asking the same question today, “When will Christ return in his kingdom power”? And they are missing the kingdom that is operating now.

In John 4:35 after ministering the kingdom to the woman at the well Jesus says to his disciples, “Do you not say, ‘There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest’? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest.” – Rabbi Jesus is teaching his disciples, that the one seed he planted in Samaria will result in a harvest and that one seed means his kingdom is Now, even in Samaria.

Samaria doesn’t seem like it should be part of your journey. Jesus saw the harvest in Samaria ( his disciple Philip later was a major part of bringing in the harvest) by faith because of his absolute confidence in the seed planted in that one woman. In the parables, the kingdom is represented as a seed over and over and if a seed is planted, there will be growth and harvest. He is satisfied with just planting the seed without even seeing the harvest and he is asking his disciples to see the kingdom the same way. When you pray, when you are kind and loving, when you give, when you serve, you are planting a seed that will have a harvest, even if you never see it.

The woman at the well is commonly used as an example of how to evangelize, but the larger context is that Jesus purposed to go through Samaria to continue teaching his disciples on the kingdom. He was on his way back to Galilee from Judea and went to Samaria in response to a confrontation with the religious leaders who were quantifying his ministry and popularity. In Samaria he broke down every social, religious and political barrier by talking to a woman and a non-jew with a sketchy past and present. He goes to the woman who was drawing from Jacob’s well in Samaria (the past) and who was looking forward to Messiah ( the future), and revealed he and the kingdom is NOW. He was so confident in the seed, the ground it was planted in didn’t matter. He was demonstrating to his disciples and the religious people that God’s kingdom grew wherever the seed was planted. It didn’t even require the fertile soil of Israel or even morality. He demonstrated that in his kingdom, he has a plan even for the people that the religious (or even you and I) don’t necessarily approve of, understand or like. The seed works regardless. She dropped the water pots ( her past) and was refreshed by the living water, Jesus who Jacob’s well was pointing to for all those years.

Why does God seem closer, more present when we are in trouble? He is a very present ( NOW) help in time of need. Conflict, trouble, lack can be a kingdom NOW moment, not a pause on the way to the kingdom. If you perceive your divorce, bankruptcy, sickness, addiction as a kingdom Now moment, you will plant a seed in that Samaria, rather than go around it or wait for the future or the circumstances to change. Jesus wants to be present with his kingdom in that place, even if others don’t get it. Then God will give the increase and the kingdom see will produce a harvest. Will you trust the seed to do its job, even if you don’t see the harvest?

 

Mike

photo credit: ecstaticist via photopin cc

Bi Polar God?

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God is not your drunk, bi-polar stepdad. 

If the God, most of us believed in was an earthly father,  the neighbors would call CPS and we would run away; in fact, we do run away and hide.  At the very least, the doctors would determine God as one of the most extreme case of bipolar in the history of the diagnosis.  Preachers and teachers tell us over and over how good he is and we try with all our might to believe it; to reconcile his forgiveness and mercy with the judgment they preach in the same breath. We grovel in the corner praying, waiting for the hurricane they told us he sent, to pass us by so we can live a little longer before we join him in heaven.  We self reflect after the twin towers judgment wondering what we did or didn’t do to deserve it. Like a video game character we are just trying to survive and get to the next level. We never know if he is in a good mood or bad mood and the mood swings are so severe, we don’t chance asking him for anything at least not with any confidence.

At least Jesus understands us and has our back, since he is both God and man. He protects us from his pissed off Father like a big brother tells you to hide when dad has been drinking. Dad is mad and he wants blood, better run and hide! The experts tell us the heavenly Father’s goodness is like the prodigal father’s goodness; beyond our understanding and at the same time his justice requires punishment for the rebellious, desert trials for the faithful and eternal punishment and torture for those who lived 70 or 80 years and didn’t get a chance to hear about his Son or who didn’t confess that last sin before they got into the car wreck and died.  We don’t run boldly to his throne of grace, if we believe in his sovereignty he took our baby, or gave us cancer or allowed us to be raped.  How can we love a God like that?  How can we love a God we are afraid of? How can we love a God who goes to great lengths to save us and then flips a switch like Norman Bates to attack us all for our own good? We cannot trust a God like that, let alone a human being like that.  Our inability to trust is because we have been presented with a completely distorted view of God, one who is unsafe, unpredictable and unreliable, like a puma ready to pounce.

The preachers wonder why people don’t buy into their mission and programs and line up to volunteer. No amount of seeker sensitivity, childcare, greeters, relevance, Starbucks coffee or great music ministry will penetrate the average person’s mistrust of the bipolar God.  As long as people believe God is responsible for their pain, they remain reserved.  They sit on the edges and watch from a distance staying out of the range of the whip.  Why should they share their faith with other people too when they are not sure themselves if their faith even works for them and they can’t explain it to themselves let alone another person, the bipolar nature of God.

If God’s “divine” goodness isn’t at least better than my Step-dad’s than I am not interested.  We cannot trust someone who is loving and nurturing one minute and condemning and attacking the next; the bond will never form. If we are not convinced of God’s basic nature of goodness, we will blow a gasket trying to figure out his mood.  He is nothing like the immature earthly father you had, having to wait until he was in a good mood to ask money from him.  He is not human, he is divine and completely 100 % good; God is love.  The lie about his dual nature of Goodness and severity has been so pervasive and penetrated “religion” so thoroughly that when his nature is revealed for who he really is, it seems like it is too good to be true and the person declaring it is declared a heretic, peddling greasy grace. Many of us still think God responds to us based on our performance instead of Christ’s performance.  We are concerned with his judgment on us and our nation, when he has already made his judgment that we are righteous in Christ and co-heirs.  If the good news of the kingdom doesn’t sound too good to be true, then it probably isn’t the Good News. If there is something you have to do to earn grace or maintain grace, then it isn’t grace.  There is nothing you can do or not do that will make him love you any more or any less, everything else is just icing on the cake.

He is not putting us in trials to test our obedience.  We have already proven that we are not obedient, that is why he sent his Son, so that in Christ he could fulfill both sides of the covenant as God and man, taking our place ( John 3:16). Christ’s obedience is imputed to you. You are not under the microscope, you are seated with Christ (Ephesians 2:6-7). The Father is not out for blood , he didn’t kill his Son anymore than you would kill your own son. Christ endured the cross for the joy set before him (relationship with you) according to Hebrews. The cross didn’t make God forgive you, it just proved you have been forgiven from the beginning and that God desires to break down every barrier between you and him. Jesus said if you have seen me you have seen the Father.  In other words, their nature, heart, goodness and sacrifice is the same.  Trials and tests come, but not from God. In his mind Jesus passed every test for you already. Does God get good out of what the Devil intends for evil?  Absolutely, but that doesn’t mean he sent it. He teaches us through the prayer of Jesus in Matthew 6,  …deliver us from evil.  God does not partner in any way with evil or in doing you any harm so that you “learn” something in the desert.   We often times confuse the grace we receive in those situations as God endorsing it.  Anything the enemy does can be reversed on him to create more reliance and trust in the Father ( 2 cor. 1:9)

The bible ( Isaiah 5) declares a woe to those who call good, evil and evil ,good.  This is what has happened and why people say anything supernatural including healing is from the Devil and conversely destruction is from God.  Let me make it crystal clear:  God is good and the devil is bad.  Bad things that occur are from the enemy and everything good and life giving is from God.  Jesus said it this way;   “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly”. ( John 10:10).  We are considered “double minded” when we believe God is both good and evil and James says that we shouldn’t expect anything from God if we think this way (chapter 1). God doesn’t leave us alone to figure it out and to watch us struggle, but our faith and declarations of him as both good and evil, cancel each other out. To receive you must believe he is good, period.

..”If you don’t know what you’re doing, pray to the Father. He loves to help. You’ll get his help, and won’t be condescended to when you ask for it. Ask boldly, believingly, without a second thought. People who “worry their prayers” are like wind-whipped waves. ( James 1:5)

Don’t let anyone under pressure to give in to evil say, “God is trying to trip me up.” God is impervious to evil, and puts evil in no one’s way. The temptation to give in to evil comes from us and only us. We have no one to blame but the leering, seducing flare-up of our own lust.

So, my very dear friends, don’t get thrown off course. Every desirable and beneficial gift comes out of heaven. The gifts are rivers of light cascading down from the Father of Light. There is nothing deceitful in God, nothing two-faced, nothing fickle. He brought us to life using the true Word, showing us off as the crown of all his creatures. ( James 1:14-17)

What about all the judgment and death in the Old Testament?  The simple answer is we are in the New Covenant. The revelation of God was limited and partial in the O.T. and I wonder if everything anthropomorphically attributed to God as judgment was actually judgment and not some form of mercy or have another explanation. For example, I wonder why Jesus preached to those in the grave/ Sheol (O.T. Saints) according to I Peter 3:19 if they weren’t extended mercy even after death. Everything that happened in the Old Testament has to be viewed through the lens of the cross and God’s desire that all things be reconciled unto him ( 2 Peter 3:9). Let me answer it as best I can by quoting Colossians chapter one which says that Jesus is the express image of the invisible God.  He is the most complete representation of the Father there could be in human form. There is no higher expression of God and he desires to be in union with us, we are partakers of the divine nature,(2 peter 1:3) not test animals in a laboratory.  Jesus  himself said “No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known”  ( John 1:18) Whatever revelation of God Jesus gave us trumps all previous revelation and forces us to reevaluate the Father through the cross.

Pray this prayer with me:  Father I am not afraid of you, you are good and your plans for me are good.  You are the most perfect and good example of a caregiver that I could ever imagine.  You have thought of everything and provided for my every need.  When something bad happens to me because I live in a broken and fallen world that your kingdom is expanding in, I know it is not from you, but from what has been set in motion at the fall and because of the enemy of my soul. You sent Jesus so that I could have abundant life, not trial and tribulation and when I do find myself in troubles you are my deliverer, my strength and my shield.  Speak to my heart and mind revelation concerning your goodness.  By your Spirit reveal yourself to me anew through your word and by experience.  Break down the lies and false structures in my mind that interpret your heart toward me as anything but perfect and loving.  In Jesus’ name amen.

 

(this post will be moved into the Encountering God permanently)

Lust Or Desire

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The word lust is usually used in conjunction with the topic of sex, but the word lust simply means “strong desire”. Why do we have strong desires and why are they different for different people? I am not tempted to wear a dress, but some men are. This may seem obvious, but I want to submit that one application is we have a strong desire for the things we believe are lacking in our lives at a conscious or unconscious level, whether we truly lack it or not. Adam didn’t desire a fig leaf or an animal skin to cover him until until he felt he was no longer covered by God. A starving child desires food and will steal from the store to meet that desire if his parents don’t feed him. People strongly desire or lust after approval and acceptance and intimacy ( from God and people) and knowingly or unknowingly will do any number of things to get it, even violating their own values. It isn’t the sex the man is looking for in the multiple affairs it is the lack of acceptance and intimacy he perceives with God he desperately “Desires” to meet. I smoked pot every day for 2 years because I felt a lack of peace and I desired peace.

When we try to meet those needs independent of God, the strong desire leads to sin and then death according to James 1:14-15 and we become enslaved to the desire instead of resting in the provision of God. We take from others what God has already given us, when we operate in the rejection of the orphan spirit. The concept of rest and trust is interweaved throughout the bible and is promised to the Son or daughter of God. People rest in their inheritance if they believe they are sons and daughters or they reap and sow in the field.if they feel like orphans and unaccepted.

The bigger the lie we believe, the stronger the desire to meet it. Whether its the young person who joins a gang for the sense of family he never had or the teenage girl who gives her body away because of her desire to be loved or the boy who takes it from her so that he fulfills his desire to be a man. If we don’t live in the revelation of our acceptance/adoption into the family of God, as believers our strong desire for intimacy with God will cause us to do all kinds of religious works and activity even though we have the promise that everything we need has been given to us in Christ and his gifts are perfect or complete ( James 1:14). The only work required by God is to believe in him ( John 6).

As difficult as it may seem to believe, God promises that all that we need in this life is available to us through Christ. If we really believe God has our back then we escape the trap of our lust or strong desire ( based in a fear and lack mentality)leading us away from him. Instead his desire and ours is a mutual indwelling.

 “seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. 4For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust ( strong desire). 2 Peter 1:3-4

I find it tragic that many believers today are still trying to please God by following Old Testament practices and believe all the promises are conditional, depending on their behavior. That is opposite of the good news of the gospel, which declares we don’t have to fulfill the law, Jesus did it for us. We are in him! Our acceptance is unconditional, the price has been paid. No amount of service, prayer, giving or worship can increase or decrease our status.

“Whatever God has promised ( in the O.T) gets stamped with the Yes of Jesus. In him, this is what we preach and pray, the great Amen, God’s Yes and our Yes together, gloriously evident. God affirms us, making us a sure thing in Christ, putting his Yes within us. By his Spirit he has stamped us with his eternal pledge—a sure beginning of what he is destined to complete”. 2 cor. 1:20-22

All desires right or wrong point us to our true desire, the desire of all nations. ( Haggai 2:7) For many of us including myself that were addicted and led astray by our desires, that is where all desires eventually lead.

 

 

The Branding Iron

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The construct brimming full of material to build with morbidly excited the demonic workers. The frenzied hellions kept their most widely used tool in the corner of the construct.

The human mind.

A branding iron stood encases in a heavily protected vault guarded by an impressive ogre of some stature who held the key. His task was to ensure that each tempter assigned to this construct utilized the branding iron to stamp every piece of work added to the structure.

The brand had an interchangeable head whereby plates with different words could be added and removed. They were more than mere words though, feelings and emotions attached to the words to give them power to change the shape of the construct. Words like

orphan, lust, violence, rejection, addiction

When the branding took place the life of the word transferred it’s energy through the whole construct like an electrical current.

The base or foundation of the construct was stamped with separation (from God and people). That was the bedrock lie that served as the failsafe that allowed them to build if “the other crew” ( God’s angels) destroyed any of their work. The angels worked just as feverishly during shift changes to deconstruct and rebuild. They had their own branding iron and their own life giving words that sometimes shook the enemy edifice down to the foundation.

ADOPTION

WHOLENESS

PEACE

ACCEPTED

FREEDOM

Both crews were assigned and determined to build in the same location, the human mind. This real estate was the most valuable in the universe and both teams realized the eternal value of the structure being built. They continuously strategized to make their mark permanent.

2 Cor. 10: 3-5 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. 4 For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, 5 casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ,

What’s being branded in your mind?

Jesus Take the Wheel(s).

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Most of the time, the way God speaks to me is through his word. His written word (logos) becomes a living and experienced (rhema) word when the Holy Spirit illuminates it. Sometimes however, natural circumstances have a very spiritual application and speak to me just as powerfully. The Bible does teach that all things created in the natural have a spiritual blueprint and origin. For example, the tabernacle of Moses on earth represents heavenly truth and reality and the details of the tabernacle have very specific symbolism. Rain is blessing from God, wind is the Spirit of God, a crop harvest speaks of people coming into the kingdom. Humanity made in God’s image creates the same way. Something that is an idea first becomes reality later, like airplanes and cars.

Sometimes God speaks to me about my life or my marriage or journey through the vehicle of my car ( pun intended). I have a red 2003 Infiniti G 35 coupe that I have driven over 100 miles a day over the last four years and it now has over 190,000 miles on it. It still looks and drives great, but a peculiar phenomenon began taking place about two years ago. The oil light was coming on every week to ten days and I had to begin adding a quart of oil regularly, every second or third fill up at the gas station. There was no oil leaking anywhere, the car was just consuming it and burning it and my mechanic told me that some cars just burn more oil as they get older. Within the last year it has increased to two quarts every week to 10 days, still no loss of power, no leak and nothing else wrong with it ( except a window that sticks sometimes).

Not too long ago, I had a very vivid dream and I knew it was from God. I don’t have to struggle to remember any details because the truth of it imprinted on my spirit. The feelings, smells, imagery and meaning were very surreal and emphatic. I recall it today as clearly as six months ago when I had it. The dream involved my car parked in the parking lot of a very large state park with forest and mountains all around me. It reminded me of the northwestern part of the United States. Like in all dreams, in this one I had a purpose, mission or assignment, I knew what it was, but I was afraid to do it. I knew that I had to get out of the park before it closed, but my car was severely low on oil, the light was on and if I drove it without putting oil in, I knew there was going to be permanent damage. In the dream I was very aware that there was danger outside if I decided to get the quarts of oil in my trunk. It felt like one of those teenage horror movie scenes, I was being watched by an enemy or enemies that were waiting to attack me once I stepped out of the car and yet I had to get the oil or I was stranded and surrounded. The dilemma was hanging over me like an ominous blanket of fear and it was more than just a car problem, I knew this decision had far reaching effects on my life, my marriage and ministry.

It was dusk and getting darker and I was at the crisis point. In the dream God told me in my mind that I had to put the oil in if I wanted to go anywhere. He was explicit to not drive the car without it. There was no other choice, I had to do it quickly and I was assured I would not die, God would protect me. Even with God’s assurance I hesitated for a moment before I bolted out the door and opened the trunk and hood. Immediately at my side was a little hillbilly boy of about 10 years old who said “we are gonna getcha” as he pointed to what he suggested were people hiding in the forest. God’s Spirit highlighted his size and demeanor to me. He was not as big and smart and powerful as the fear led me to believe. I yelled at the little Ozark mountain boy who was a long way from home, “get out of here” as I took a feigned step toward him and he scampered away. I put the oil in, closed the hood and realized that he was the one out of his element, not me.

I woke up asking God immediately what it all meant and the revelation came instantly. The oil represented my need to filled with the Holy Spirit. The car represented my purpose, vocation and ministry and my means to get there to fulfill it. The car was in a wide open space, but parked and not going anywhere and it was getting late. God made me to understand that the wide open space represented a large opportunity that he had made available to me and the darkness represented a limited amount of time to take advantage of it. The hillbilly kid represented the enemy who didn’t belong there and who uses fear and deception to try and bluff us out of our obedience to God’s will and call, in this case to be filled with the Spirit. God was saying face the fear and take authority over it, I am with you. You can’t get to where I want you to go without the oil. Now every time I put oil in my car in the natural, I am reminded of that truth.

Within the last week I had to change all four tires on my car and one of them twice. Tires represent the foundation for the car, the point at which the tires and road meet determine if its a smooth or bumpy ride. Spiritually speaking, the foundation of my identity and the ease with which I would be able to get to the places God has called me to go to. I had driven for the last year or 36,000 miles with seemingly no problems at all, even though the tread was being unnoticeably worn down by the road of life. My car was out of alignment and because of that my tires had uneven wear. From the outside they looked fine, but the inside walls had worn down to the steel belting. I was completely unaware of the problem until I had a blowout on the freeway.

I drove to pep boys on the skinny little spare from my trunk and put two brand new tires on the rear because the front tires appeared to have more tread. Two days later I got up to go to work at 5 am and noticed one of the brand new tires was completely flat. Upon further inspection there was a large piece of metal stuck between the treads and the tire was trashed, irreparable and had to be replaced (again).

With the two new tires ( renewed foundation and identity), I noticed how my front tires were completely out of balance as I drove. I stopped to look and one of them had a nail in it, really? It wasn’t losing air so I continued to work and happened to park in such a way that the front wheels were turned just enough to see not only was there a nail, but steel threads were exposed on the inside of both front tires. I drove to a used tire store to get some re-treads and finally asked God, “is there another car message here”?

No dream this time, but the still small voice inside said yes. Your identity and purpose is under attack because you are going somewhere. Even the new tire ( proper foundation and identity) is under attack. The enemy is doing everything he can to throw you off, to slow you down. It’s not anything you can see externally, but its very subtle ( i.e. the nail) and deceptive ( inner walls of tire). Even though you have learned to keep oil in your engine, that is not enough to get you to the destination I have determined. You need thick tread, a firm foundation of identity for the long journey, and you need to be in alignment so your tread does not wear uneven and cause a blowout.

So what’s your car telling you?