Message Of The Cross And The Crucifix

Posted on November 30, 2011 by

A couple of years ago, my mother gave a small metal crucifix.  She got it, when Anthony passed away back in ’93.  As I recall, it came with Anthony’s coffin and she wanted to keep it.  Years later, my mother gave it to me for she thought it would be a nice way to remember my younger brother.

For me, I appreciated what the crucifix stood for.  It is a sharp reminder of what Jesus went through, on my behalf.  I happily took the crucifix and purposed to hang it up, when possible.  I, also wanted to hang up a large Celtic style cross that I brought in Phoenix, AZ.

The day came and I proceeded to hang both symbols of my faith in my room.  I decided to hang them on opposite walls.  As I hung up the crucifix, the word “surrender” flashed in my mind.  I knew it to be from the Holy Spirit and paused to consider its meaning.  When I hung up the cross, the word “freedom” came to my mind.

After some more consideration, the following phrase came to mind:

“To have freedom; one needs to surrender”

What does this means? In my heart, I could tell that Jesus was asking me to surrender; just as He surrender himself.  As I thought this, Hebrews 12:2 came to mind:

2 fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

Jesus was calling me, to die to self.  I had to stop being “Mr. Independent” and be wholly dependent on the Father.  In this, I would achieve the freedom that I desired.  It is a freedom that comes from being in Christ.

For the record, I am still working on it and have a way to go.  What about you?  Are you walking in the freedom that comes from being in Christ?

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Where Is Your Hope?

Posted on November 29, 2011 by

Yesterday, I received news of a man suffering from cancer.  The doctors are not giving John, much hope.  In their opinion, John has about six months.  Thankfully, John and many of his friends know of a certain specialist.  Yes, I am talking about Jesus.

My friends and I are certainly praying and asking God to heal John and see him live well beyond what the doctors think.  I am looking forward to writing something about John surviving to the next decade.  Such is my own expectations of seeing John healed of cancer.

This morning, a question came to mind and I knew who was asking.  The Spirit asked, “Where is your hope?”  The question came in response to my inquiring about what to write.  My mind was also thinking of a young man named Chris.  The man is doing quite well for someone who’s supposed to be dead of cancer, four years ago.  I was also thinking of another friend who died; in spite of our prayers.

Where is your hope? Is it in the miraculous healings?  These were the questions I was being asked and I’m asking you.  Here is my response.  My hope lies in Jesus and not in the miracles Jesus is able to do.  Yes, I love it when Jesus heals someone like Chris of cancer; however, my hope does not lay there. It lies with Jesus.

Because Jesus is my Rock and fortress, I am not greatly shaken by the storms of life.  It is for this reason, I was only sadden when Rick died and not shaken or disappointed.  Like Rick, my hope lies with who Jesus and not what He does.

What of the signs and wonders, you’ve heard of?  What of the glory cloud reportedly seen at Bethel Church in California?  What of Toronto Blessings?  My hope does not lies in the spectacular moves that I hear of.

Though I would love to go and visit the Toronto Airport Vineyard Church and see it, for myself.  Yet, my hope does not lay with what is happening at John Arnott‘s church.  It lies within me.  It comes from knowing Jesus and through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

Would I have liked to have gone? Yes, I would like to go.  However, I can’t go due to financial reasons.  Yet, it doesn’t bother me for my hope does not lay with signs and wonders.  It lies with knowing Jesus and enjoying His presence.  It’s a presence that can be enjoyed anywhere.

Where does your hope lies?  Does it lay with who God, the Father is?  Does it lay in what God is able to do?  Where is your focus?

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It Is Time For A Diet!

Posted on November 28, 2011 by

What would happen, if you gave young children a choice between chocolate cake and a bowl of cereal?  It is likely that they would choose the cake.  At least, this is what is claimed in a joke by Bill Cosby.  I doubt that Bill Cosby would seriously give his kids, cake for breakfast.

Why? Let’s be honest.  Who does not like a good cake? I’d probably go for one with chocolate fudge brownie.  Wait.  Isn’t that an ice cream?  How is that, for a balanced diet?  Not!  If we ate like this then our body would be in big trouble.  Would you not agree?

The same can be said of our spiritual diet.  What is a spiritual diet? For me, my spiritual diet relates to my walk with Jesus.  From what I’ve seen, there appears to be three areas that can make up our Christian walk or a spiritual diet.

To continue with the food analogy, one could say that there are 4 types of spiritual diets.  The first diet consist of just reading Scripture.  For many years, I read the Word and struggled to understand what I read. It didn’t help to run into bible quoters who could quote Scriptures and yet not convey its meanings in English.

What was wrong?  Did I have the Holy Spirit dwelling inside of me?  Yes, I received the free gift of the Spirit when I came to Christ and repented of my sins.  There was just one problem.  The Teacher was sitting right there ad I neglected to ask for help.  Oh, the foolishness of thinking that I could understand, on my own.

A diet that does not include talking with the Father about what I read, is a recipe for pride and trouble.  What did I accomplish?  I puff up myself and had little fruits to show for it.

Don’t misunderstand me.  I firmly believe in the reading of Scripture. In 2 Timothy 3:16-17, Paul says this:

16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness; 17 so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.

Scriptures does have a rightful place in the life of the believers.  It is an essential part of our spiritual diet.  However, I am not supposed to read Scripture alone. I needed to know, how to apply the wisdom found in Scripture to my life in the 21st Century

As with any diet, there needs to be a balance in what we eat.  I love reading the Word; however, I needed to learn how to be lead of the Spirit.  To do so, I would need to be with fellow Christians who are better at it than I.  I am not claiming that they were perfect; they are not.

What of diet #3?  The third diet is better known as “service”.  Yes, we are called to serve or do good work. We’re not called to sit on our butt and do nothing.  The problem is, when service becomes performance driven and about ourselves.  First, it is not about you or me.  It is about the One we serve and call Friend. 

In everything we do, there is a need for balance.  It is not good to major in any of the three areas I’ve mentioned: Scripture, being lead of Spirit and serving.  To serve wisely, there is a strong need for the other two.  Without proper balance, we are heading for serious trouble.

What is diet #4?  Have you not been reading?  Did you not catch the hints?

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Commit Your Blog Post To God And See What Happens

Posted on November 26, 2011 by

Don’t you just love it when planning one thing and it turns out otherwise?  Here is what I am talking about.  On Friday morning, I had an idea for what to write.  It is based on the Proverbs 16:3:

3Roll your works upon the Lord [commit and trust them wholly to Him; He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will, and] so shall your plans be established and succeed.

I got the above verse from the Amplified Bible.  While reading, I got excited and prepared to write a story about committing my plans to God. After praying and committing the idea to my Father, I proceeded to write.

Guess what?  My proposed story morphed from a blog post on committing plans to one about rejoicing and giving thanks. It made for a nice day after Thanksgiving story.  What happened? Where did my proposed story go?

Here is what occurred.  I committed my planned story to God, the Father and trusted him for help. The Holy Spirit directed my thoughts to line up with the Father’s will.  It seems that my Father had a better plan. 

In the end, I followed through with God’s plan and published two stories. The first is on rejoicing and giving thanks; it was followed by the current post.

I would love to encourage my fellow bloggers to try it, for yourself.  Commit your blog post to the Father and see what happens.  Please remember, it is not about you or what you think.  It is about what God desires to say through you.

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An After Thanksgiving Message

Posted on November 25, 2011 by

I trust that you had a wonderful Thanksgiving Day feast, yesterday.  I had a nice time with my own family.  Oddly enough, Thanksgiving is not about the turkey; though it is a great part. :)   It is about giving thanks to God, for what the Father has provided.

In 1 Thessalonians 5:18, Paul tells us:

16 Rejoice always; 17 pray without ceasing; 18 in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.

It is easy to rejoice when it is a clear blue sky and all is well.  It is easy to give thanks to God when there is money in our bank account, we are perfectly healthy and not surrounded by trouble.  Alas, we do not live in such a perfect world.

It is worth noting who the human author is.  Paul was not living the good life. Was not Paul arrested and thrown in jail, more than a few times?  Was he not under house arrest when writing this? Yet, Paul is exhorting the readers to give thanks in everything.

Though I haven’t gone through what Paul and others have experienced; nevertheless, I have my own stories to share.  Years ago, I came across the above Scripture and other similar ones. I was challenged to rejoice and to give thanks.

At the time, I gave no thoughts to what Paul, Peter and James were going through.  I was too wrapped up in my own problems to give any considerations to what I read.  I naively sought to compare my experiences with theirs.  What a foolish teen, I was!

Thankfully, the Father had a hold on my heart and would soon change my attitude.  Yes, I did have a rough life; however, Jesus helped me through those rough times and will continue to do so.  Through the Holy Spirit, I learned how to rejoice and give thanks in everything.

Yes, this includes my disabilities.

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Who’s The Pharisee, here?

Posted on November 23, 2011 by

Some time ago, I visited the site of a very conservative church in my area.  I’ve already heard of these guys, from friends.  Because this church was too conservative, I had no desire to go; however, I did wanted to be fair.  Not surprisingly, they had a web site and naturally I could listen to previous messages.

I chose to listen to a relatively recent message and it was on Matt 16:11-13:

11 How is it that you do not understand that I did not speak to you concerning bread? But beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and Sadducees.” 12 Then they understood that He did not say to beware of the leaven of bread, but of the teaching of the Pharisees and Sadducees.

As I listened, there was an uneasy feeling that came.  “What is the pastor warning about?”  ”Why do I feel like there is an agenda?”  These were the questions that came to mind.  I have had the pleasure of being in a couple of conservative churches and seldom had my antenna go up.

One could ask, “Who’s the Pharisee, here?”  What do I mean by this?

Who are the Pharisee?  The Pharisees were the ultra conservatives of Jesus’ time.  They were the proud disciples of Moses and they were strict observers of the Law.  The Pharisees were not known for mercy, compassion and grace.

They were no friends of Jesus or the Apostles. Though the actual group had died out; their descendants live on.  Today, we would call them, “the religious right”.  Just like their ancestors, they are very legalistic about Scripture and sin.  Like their forebears, they tend to forget the value of love, compassion and forgiving others.

This story is not about a specific church; hence their name is not mentioned.  I have seen this, elsewhere.  I grew up, as a nominal Catholic.  As a kid, I could recall seeing the offering plate passed around.  From what I recall, the Catholic church never gave any guidelines about what to give.  You just put the money in.

In my adult life, I did visit a couple of Catholic churches in Phoenix. Yet, I do not recall any sermons or sales pitch to give.  If there was one, I totally missed it.  By contrast, I received a total education about tithes and offerings when I went to some Protestant churches.

I was being told, “Do not rob God! You are to give your tithes and offerings.” Wait a second!  Am I suddenly under the Law?  Am I supposed to go from freely giving to obligatory giving? I don’t think so! 

I thought the Catholic church was supposed to be the ones with all the rules and regulations.  Are you seeing the irony, here?  Who are the Pharisees in this picture? Yes, the Catholic church does have a reputation for rules and traditions.  However, it seems they chose to let the issue of money be between the person and God.

To be fair, I would like to share about two churches.  One is a moderately conservative church and the other is moderately liberal.  The leaders and members, of each church, are humbly and imperfectly seeking to follow Jesus.  For them, it is not about rules and regulations.

Yes, Scripture is important to both and so is walking in love, mercy and compassion.  Is it easy? No, it is not easy.  It is both challenging and rewarding in the long run.  This is part of what it means to be a follower of Jesus.

Who are the disciples of Jesus, here?

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I Am Not Qualified! Oh?

Posted on November 22, 2011 by

In Exodus 4, Moses is given the mission of a lifetime. The Father just told Moses, to go and deliver an important message to Pharaoh. The king of Egypt was to let the children of Israel go.  This is no small task that the Father gave Moses.  At first, Moses did ask some reasonable questions; however he wasn’t overjoyed with the coming mission.  Here is what Moses said:

10 Then Moses said to the LORD, “Please, Lord, I have never been eloquent, neither recently nor in time past, nor since You have spoken to Your servant; for I am slow of speech and slow of tongue.” 11 The LORD said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him mute or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the LORD? [Exodus 4:10-11]

I, for one don’t blame Moses for being scared and looking for a way out.  Only a fool would walk into Pharaoh’s court without God’s help. Did you notice how Moses try to list the reasons for not being qualified?  What did the LORD say about this?

12 Now then go, and I, even I, will be with your mouth, and teach you what you are to say.” 13 But he said, “Please, Lord, now send the message by whomever You will.” [Exodus 4:12-13]

In the end, Moses did go into Egypt with the help of his brother, Aaron.  Though he was afraid and a poor speaker, Moses did do what God has asked him. I will leave you to read the rest of Exodus to learn what happened.

Today, it is very easy to say, “Moses is an exceptional case.”, “He had the right training.” or “He spoke great in that movie!”.  Truth is, there is nothing special about Moses.  He was an ordinary man, who did something extraordinary.  In the end, Moses trusted God to be right there, for him.

It is easy to fall into the trap of claiming, “I am not qualified!” I can certainly come up with a few for not writing these blog posts. However, this is not what my Father is asking me.  He is not asking about my qualifications.  It is my heart that God wants.  A heart that is open to what the Father wants to do.

It is worth noting Jesus told the disciples, something quite similar in Matt 28:19-20:

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Like Moses, these guys were ordinary people. There was nothing special about them.  What about you?  What is holding you back?  I know that fear can do a number on me.  Yet, I know that Jesus is with me; as He claimed.

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