Freedom

And here is another:

As we push forward striving for the goal, the yoke of the world comes upon us to try and make us slow, to keep us from attaining what has already been given, and then He comes...and makes a trade gives us His yoke so we no longer need to slave, for His yoke is freedom and fullness of life and though we strive we don't have the strife...the negativity of the world that wants to hold us back has been broken off of us and now we are on the attack!!!!  

The Beginning

This is something I wrote a while back.

The Beginning
as i sit in the sunshine preparing for bed a flow of words starts to stream into my head a reminder of a gift long ago wasted a gift that was tainted with the darkness of my youth but now as the Light has burned that darkness away there's a stirring of something I thought was buried to stay...this time will be different I hear in my sprirt becasue as the flow starts the enemy will fear it he will run he will flee he can not stand against me becasue of the power of Jesus and the dominion HE has given me...His Word is a light that illuminates my path no longer do I have to suffer from the enemy's wrath...why??? do you ask ...because I have been set free at last free from my sin and free from my past as long as my focus remains on my Lord, I will move forward, forward to the goal He has set for me

The Stuff Dreams are Made of

So the other day I had a saying that kept running through my head it was “This is the stuff that dreams are made of”.  If you are a fan of old movies you may recognize this as a quote from Humphrey Bogart in The Maltese Falcon, but what many don’t know is that in the movie this was actually a misquote from Shakespeare’s The Tempest; which actually says “This is the stuff that dreams are made on”. So anyway let’s get back to what was going through my head; “This is the stuff that dreams are made of”. This was followed by “your dreams grow out of the desires of your heart.” So then I think “what’s the difference between a dream and a desire, and just what is stuff?”

So… just what is stuff I guess the best way to describe stuff is that it is in fact stuff. It’s matter; it’s tangible, there is good stuff and can be bad stuff. This is what Merriam Webster Dictionary says about stuff: 1) materials, supplies, or equipment used in various activities 2) material to be manufactured, wrought, or used in construction 3) fundamental material : substance. Ultimately if it wasn’t for GOD there wouldn’t even be any stuff.  In Genesis it says that He spoke and created stuff where there was no stuff, so all stuff is GOD’s stuff.  And all of the stuff that He spoke into existence 7k-10k years ago is the basis of all the stuff we have today. When He created us He used His stuff and made us in His image, then He breathed life into His stuff.  Part of Him making us in His image is that He made us to be creative, so we have the ability to make stuff too.  There is a difference though, He gave us the ability to make stuff out of the stuff that He created, but we are not able to make stuff out of no stuff. This is one of the things that separates us from GOD. When we come together and create in unity we are more powerful and stuff has greater potential. And because of His breath in us when we speak our words have the power to affect stuff, to shape stuff, move stuff, build stuff up or tear stuff down.

Matthew 17:20 (NLT) “You don’t have enough faith,” Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.”

Next is dreams, dreams are important many times GOD will speak to us in our dreams, in his first great oration Paul reminded the people that the prophet Joel said that “old men would dream dreams”.  Sometimes dreams can be weird and make you think twice about whatever you ate the night before.  But these aren’t the dreams I’m talking about here.  I am talking about our waking dreams, the things that consume our thoughts; they are our goals, the things we want to achieve in life.  It could be where we want to live, what our careers will be, a place to go visit, a ministry idea, a relationship. Good ol’ Merriam Webster says: Dream = a: a strongly desired goal or purpose b: something that fully satisfies a wish. Many think that dreams come from the head, I disagree I say they come from the heart. Your heart contains the well spring of life that feeds your dreams and gives them life and the fulfillment brings joy. When dreams are realized and accomplished we are able to use that as a milestone or marker in our lives that we can look back upon as a testimony to how far we have come and of the things that GOD has done on our lives.  It also lends to the heritage of those that come behind us, our children and grandchildren and the generations to come.

Psalm 37:4 (NASB) Delight yourself in the LORD; And He will give you the desires of your heart.

Finally we get to desires; you may say dreams and desires are the same thing but I don’t believe so. Believe it or not I looked up desire on the Merriam Webster website too (do you see a pattern here?) Desire = 1) conscious impulse toward something that promises enjoyment or satisfaction in its attainment 2) Longing, Craving.  To me desires speak of passion and the development of a fierceness that drives you to attain your dreams, especially the dreams that come from the deep places of your heart. Your desires are stirred up in your heart, we then realize these desires and in their realization stuff starts being formed this stuff is the basis for our dreams.  In our creative abilities we take this stuff that is being formed and we speak life into it, we declare its existence and its outcome.  Our desires give us the passion to speak the stuff of our dreams into something that we can obtain.

Prospero:

Our revels now are ended. These our actors,

As I foretold you, were all spirits, and

Are melted into air, into thin air:

And like the baseless fabric of this vision,

The cloud-capp'd tow'rs, the gorgeous palaces,

The solemn temples, the great globe itself,

Yea, all which it inherit, shall dissolve,

And, like this insubstantial pageant faded,

Leave not a rack behind. We are such stuff

As dreams are made on; and our little life

Is rounded with a sleep.

The Tempest Act 4, scene 1, 148–158

Saul’s Conversion and Hearing God

Acts 9: Saul’s Conversion and Hearing God

During my journey through the Book of Acts I read through Chapter 9 a couple of weeks ago, I thought that I had posted this blog already but after talking with my friend Tony I discovered I missed it. So here it is.

The first part of this chapter deals with Saul and his conversion experience. While the conversion is important there are some other things that really stood out to me.  One of them is the difference in how God spoke to both Saul and Ananias, and their subsequent reactions. The other is how God used this situation to change Saul’s vision and perspective.

Acts 9:3 As he journeyed he came near Damascus, and suddenly a light shone around him from heaven.

·         There was something significant about the light. During those days people didn’t normally travel at night, this means that when Saul and his men had this encounter with Jesus it was during the day.  The light that came from heaven was so bright that it could be seen during the light of the day.

·         It would also seem that the light had some weight to it, it carried the heaviness of God’s glory.  Evidence of this is that Saul fell to the ground because of the presence of the light.

Acts 9:4-9

Saul even though he was a Pharisee and knew the letter of Law and the Scripture, did not immediately recognize the voice of the Lord. Even though he was knocked to the ground under the heaviness of God’s glory the recognition still wasn’t there. But when Jesus spoke and identified Himself, Saul did not question Him as He knew it was Him. Then Jesus set Saul up for some changes.

·         Jesus questioned Saul’s mission

·         Jesus identified Himself and expressed His pain that was caused by what Saul was doing.

·         Saul turned his heart to the Lord’s

·         Jesus removed Saul’s vision, so that it could restored with a new vision that came from Him

In verses 10-19 we are introduced Ananias and his ministry to Saul.

Acts 9:10 Now there was a certain disciple at Damascus named Ananias; and to him the Lord said in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”

This verse shows that unlike Saul, who was a religious leader and scholar and didn’t recognize God’s voice, Ananias immediately knew Who it was that was speaking to him. This tells me that Ananias had, had previous conversations with the Lord and that he knew His voice. More evidence that Jesus and Ananias had a relationship was that Ananias questioned Him on His instructions.

Acts 9:13-14 Then Ananias answered, “Lord, I have heard from many about this man, how much harm he has done to Your saints in Jerusalem. And here he has authority from the chief priests to bind all who call on Your name.”

At some level he was saying, “Don’t You know who this guy is and what he has done? Really? You really want me to go and see this guy? Are you nuts?”

Notice that Jesus didn’t strike down or even rebuke Ananias for this questioning.  The fact is that Jesus knew exactly who He needed to talk to, to get the job done, vs. 10 said “there was a certain disciple” He knew why He picked Ananias; He knew that he would be obedient to His request.  My guess is that he had a proven track record of doing what Jesus asked him to do.  The short version of Jesus’ reply to Ananias is “I have chosen Saul to reach many and he will suffer many things for My name’s sake.” (vs.15-16) I can almost guarantee that what Ananias heard in Jesus’ reply was “I have chosen him” and “he will suffer”, regardless he was obedient and went to Saul.

Assumed Expectations: So it says in Acts 9:17 And Ananias went his way and entered the house; and laying his hands on him he said, “Brother Saul, the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road as you came, has sent me that you may receive your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.”  Nowhere in the recorded conversation between Jesus and Ananias do He tell him to get Saul filled with the Holy Spirit.  However this is what I like to call an assumed expectation.  It was such a normal part of the conversion experience in those days.  People accepted Christ, were filled with the Holy Spirit and baptized in water. There were no special new believer’s classes that had to be attended and sometimes all three happened simultaneously in the same day even.

So here is a re-cap of Saul’s conversion experience:

1.      He was on the right road on his way to do the wrong thing

2.      He encountered Jesus and his vision was removed

3.      He accepted Jesus

4.      He fasted and prayed for three days

5.      Ananias cam and laid hands on him

a.      He received his sight and gained new vision

b.      He was filled with the Holy Spirit

c.       He was baptized in water

6.      Shortly after his conversion he started preaching Christ instead of persecuting the Church

Birthday blessing and so much more....

Psalm 65 (NLT): What mighty praise, O God, belongs to you in Zion. We will fulfill our vows to you, for you answer our prayers.  All of us must come to you. Though we are overwhelmed by our sins, you forgive them all. What joy for those you choose to bring near, those who live in your holy courts. What festivities await us inside your holy Temple. You faithfully answer our prayers with awesome deeds, O God our savior. You are the hope of everyone on earth, even those who sail on distant seas. You formed the mountains by your power and armed yourself with mighty strength. You quieted the raging oceans with their pounding waves and silenced the shouting of the nations. Those who live at the ends of the earth stand in awe of your wonders.  From where the sun rises to where it sets, you inspire shouts of joy. You take care of the earth and water it, making it rich and fertile.  The river of God has plenty of water; it provides a bountiful harvest of grain, for you have ordered it so.  You drench the plowed ground with rain, melting the clods and leveling the ridges. You soften the earth with showers and bless its abundant crops. You crown the year with a bountiful harvest; even the hard pathways overflow with abundance. The grasslands of the wilderness become a lush pasture, and the hillsides blossom with joy. The meadows are clothed with flocks of sheep, and the valleys are carpeted with grain. They all shout and sing for joy!

So I celebrated my birthday this last week and one of my friends and former Bible college instructors, Dan Hammer, sent me a Scripture reference as a birthday blessing.  This Scripture was Psalm 65:11(NASB): You have crowned the year with Your bounty, and Your paths drip with fatness. I read this and was encouraged by it and thanked Pastor Dan, but then like we do so often it slid from memory. Then at church Friday night Amanda R. brought it up saying how it encouraged her, so I looked it up again this time in my Bible and not online. (Disclaimer: while I love online bible resources, biblegateway.com being a well-used one, when you look up a single reference you can miss a lot in the context.)  So I looked it up in my Bible and started looking at some of the contextual scripture and was even more encouraged.  As I sat down this morning to continue my journey through the Book of Acts, I felt the Lord prompt me to go back to Psalm 65.  I did my usual, “are You sure, because it has been several months and I have only gotten through Chapter 9?” like somehow He doesn’t know, but I had to be sure.  So here are the highlights of what I was getting as I read. I also want to throw out another disclaimer or whatever you want to call it; I used the NLT above because I like how it read, if you notice that any other references I am using after this point don’t exactly match to what is above that is because they will probably be out of the NASB of the NKJV, my preferred versions.

So to me this whole chapter, song, or poem (whatever you want to call it) is very encouraging. It is a declaration of God’s greatness, love and ability as a provider.  It also outlines the gospel message, starting with us being aware of our sin and Him providing us with forgiveness, which then allows us to come to Him and then He protects us, provides for us and we rejoice.  Verse 4 actually says that when He chooses us He causes us to come to Him in His holy temple.  How awesome is that?  Not only does He cause us to come into His house but He provides for us. 

One of the things about being in His holy temple that stood out to me is that there are many that call themselves Christians that still have the viewpoint of themselves that they are lowly sinners, worms even and they aren’t worthy.  Their taking this stance denies that work that Christ provided for their lives; even here in the Psalm it says that He forgave our sins so that we could enter the Holy Temple, He made it possible to enter into His presence. 1 Corinthians 6:19 (NASB) Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and that you are not your own?  For them to say they are still unworthy is a contradiction to the Scripture and if they indeed are still lowly sinners then the Holy Spirit would not be able to dwell within them. Isaiah 59:2 (NASB): But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His face from you so that He does not hear. It makes me sad that they limit themselves from receiving the fullness of all that Jesus has provided for them.

This Scripture also speaks of God’s control in tumultuous situations; it says that He can still the noise of the seas and the waves and the tumult of the people. It says in Psalm 107:28-30(NASB) Then they cried to the LORD in their trouble, and He brought them out of their distresses. He caused the storm to be still, So that the waves of the sea were hushed. Then they were glad because they were quiet, So He guided them to their desired haven. In Matthew 8:26 Jesus rebukes the storm and brought a great calm, and Philippians 4:7 He gives peace that surpasses understanding.

Most of the rest talks of His provision. He provides water and grain, and the hills are covered with flocks.  The waters flow from the mountain tops.  The abundance is found on the hills, in the pastures and in the valleys.  It is funny that we tend to strive for the mountain top experiences, but the life and sustenance is on the hills and in the valleys, that is where He provides.

Evidence of Fruit = Result of Obedience

I have been on a journey through the Book of Acts for the last couple of months.  As I have been going through it the progress has been slow, but very insightful.  Here are some insights from Phillip's work and ministry as recorded in Chapter 8.

The first part of the chapter talks about Phillip’s missionary journey to Samaria.  During his time of ministry there many miracles happened, demons were cast out and people were healed.  There were many that were baptized and came to know Jesus because of Phillips evangelistic efforts.  Due to the success of what was happening in Samaria, the apostolic leadership team in Jerusalem sent Peter and John to bring completion to the team in Samaria.

VS 14-17: Now when the apostles in Jerusalem heard that Samaria had received the word of God, they sent them Peter and John, ¹⁵ who came down and prayed for them that they might receive the Holy Spirit. ¹⁶ For He had not yet fallen upon any of them; they had simply been baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus. ¹⁷ Then they began laying their hands on them, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit.

There are a couple of things that stand out in this first section of the chapter.

1.       There are some that say that there is only one filling of the oly SpiritHHoly Spirit that happens at the time of conversion.  However, in this section of Scripture there is definite evidence of people coming into relationship with Jesus and being water baptized and then later being baptized with the Holy Spirit.  Here is proof that this can be two separate events.

2.       It shows that while the work of an evangelist is important, there needs to be other ministry partners that function in other levels of the five-fold to bring balance to the ministry.  Also that there needs to be relationship with the leadership that brings a level of accountability to the teams. Expanding the team with the other members brings strength and allows everyone to function in unity.

1 Corinthians 12:28:  (NASB) And God has appointed in the church, first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, administrations, various kinds of tongues.

Ephesians 2:19-20: (NASB) So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone

Ephesians 4:11-12: (NASB) And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of service, to the building up of the body of Christ

It is interesting that after Phillip had a victory in Samaria, the apostles were sent in to make a further difference.  The apostles, or apostolos in the Greek, were ones that were sent in after a military victory by the Romans. Their mission was to change the culture in the area that was just conquered to match the culture of the emperor.  Apostles in God’s Kingdom in this case were sent in to Samaria to help adjust the culture to one that aligned with The Kingdom. This also freed Phillip to go on to his next assignment.

The second half of chapter 8 tells about Phillip being sent via the Holy Spirit to minister to and evangelize the Ethiopian eunuch. This shows the diversity in Phillips gifting.  When he was in Samaria he was reaching the masses in a powerful way, performing miracles etc. However, with the Ethiopian he is ministering one on one; he is investing time and knowledge. He sat in the chariot and took the Ethiopian through the Scripture and showed him Jesus through the Scripture which led to his conversion and baptism. Some say that there is a correlation between the Ethiopians conversion and the spread of Christianity to and through Ethiopia. What is evident in both events is Phillip’s being able to function in his gifts and that he was readily obedient to the Holy Spirit’s guiding. In fact, after he finished baptizing the Ethiopian the Holy Spirit took him to Azotus and he continued to evangelize as God led him.

The moral of the story:

You can never underestimate the amount of fruit that will be produced when you are obedient to do what the Holy Spirit tells you to do, when He tells you to do it; and when you are fully functioning in your gifting and in your God given identity there is nothing you cannot do.

Clay.... where are you on the potter's wheel?

Jeremiah 18:1-6  The word which came to Jeremiah from the LORD, saying: “Arise and go down to the potter’s house, and there I will cause you to hear My words.” Then I went down to the potter’s house, and there he was, making something at the wheel. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand of the potter; so he made it again into another vessel, as it seemed good to the potter to make. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying: “O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter?” says the LORD. “Look, as the clay is in the potter’s hand, so are you in My hand, O house of Israel!

Part of the process in our walk with Christ is the working out of His destiny for our lives.  As the Creator of the universe He has the perfect vision and plan for our lives.  In Jeremiah 1:4-5 it says:  Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying:“ Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you;  I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” and in Jeremiah  29:11 For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the LORD, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope.  God has a perfect plan for our lives, like an artist that has a vision for His newest creation, so God has a vision of the end product that He is forming in us. We need to give Him full control of this process, we have a tendency to interject our own version of what He has planned for us which lengthens our time on the wheel. He knows exactly how fast or slow needs to be turning for the phase of creation that you are in, He knows exactly how much water to apply or what tool to use to imprint the unique design that He has in mind.  In verse 4 above it says that the vessel that was being created was marred.  The marring for flaws that come up don't surprise The Potter, He expects them.  When we first get on the wheel we have imperfections that need to be worked out,consequences that we are still working through from our past, unforgiveness, offenses, rebellion and wounds to name a few.  The Master Potter has away of recognizing these flaws and know exactly what needs to be done to work them out. We need to remember that God the Creator of the universe has a vision of where He wants us and what the end product of what He has in mind for us and know that His plan is the perfect one.  We need to trust Him and give Him full control of the process, the shaping, the working out of the flaws, the  healing, the speed (or lack of in our perception) of the wheel. So where are you on the wheel, in the process?  Are you giving Him full control of your life? If not.... it's time.   He wants to make you into a vessel of honor.

2 Timothy 2:21 Therefore if anyone cleanses himself from the latter, he will be a vessel for honor, sanctified and useful for the Master, prepared for every good work.