God Arises

God arises. His enemies scatter, and those who hate Him flee from His presence.

-Psalm 68:1

Do you see God arising?  We pray, “God arises!”, as a declarative prayer.  He is arising, and we bless what we see the Father doing (John 5:19) just like Jesus.

“God arises”, is a statement of truth; like saying, “God is on the move”.  We are not petitioning God to come, but we see that he is already here.  We are announcing that God is here, so that we can do something.

We see and do.  We do not just see and enjoy the sight, nor do we just see and learn, all in the thinking realm.  Real learning is in the participation.

I declare, “God arises”.  Do you see?  I will help you see if you do not see God arising.

Can you see, can you hear, and can you sense God arising?   If so, what do we do?

When we see God arising, we:

1. Repent.  Jesus message was not to accept him into your heart as your personal savior.  Jesus message was not to believe in the cross and what he did (would do) there.  Jesus message was, “Repent: for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand”.  To repent means to change, to change your mind, to change your purpose, to change your direction.  God does not give a catalog of sins we should stop doing, because ‘sin management’ has never been the message or God’s way.  Repent also means ‘reform’: Reform or die.  You must change and re-purpose your life or you will die: you are signing off on your death notice.  Many people are the living dead, because they refuse to repent when the call to do so has been given clearly.
2. Get out of the way.  There is a dance that reverences participating with God and in God, without ever taking God’s place of headship.  Jesus modeled how to be submissive to Father’s lead and rely upon the power of the Spirit.  He is the model for how to live and the only way to live.
3. Join in on what God is doing.  We get to participate with God in what God is doing in the earth.  We are co-missioned into God’s mission.  He calls us child, friend, and slave; and we get to learn how to enjoy life in those three roles or dimensions with God.  Jesus gives us authority and we need to know what it is and how it works and our responsibilities for and how we use our authority.

When God arises he gets himself between you and his enemies.  When God comes into a situation his enemies are exposed and must flee.  Selfishness and sinfulness in people will not stand or live in God’s presence either.

Every person that Jesus encountered, during his years of ministry, after he left the family’s business; had issues that came up, that Jesus had a word for, a key to help then unravel from selfishness, hopelessness, delusions, or misconceptions.  This same Jesus who preached the general “Repent!” message to all, had helpful counsel and instructions for individuals.  So, God calls us all to repent and he also has compassionate, loving, care filled counsel and instruction for us as individuals.

When God arises we do not want to delude ourselves to think, “God is on our side”.  It does not work that way, because “Repent” means that we all surrender to being on God’s side, realizing that God is the king and we are all his subjects.  Some people have not realized this or taken action to bow to the king yet.

If you have surrendered and have become a subject and child of the king, it means you are in the kingdom and under and on the side of the king.  The only other side is the side of God’s enemies.  People are either with God or with God’s enemies, even if they don’t know it.  When God arises, the enemy is exposed and must flee and the peoples who are not in the kingdom, under the king, but have been captives in the enemy’s kingdom, get to be delivered or set free.

And when God comes, people get to choose if they are in or out, get free and become king’s kids, or stay in bondage.

I declare, let God rise up!  God arises!  Up with God!

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-This post was previously published on 8/2/16

God Will Restore Your Lost Inheritance

“Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “since I intend to show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all your grandfather Saul’s fields, and you will always eat meals at my table.”

-2 Samuel 9:7

Many people have lost inheritances that God is going to restore.  

You have thought about it and you have also worked on coming to terms with it, as your history, your story. 

I believe that God does restore lost inheritances.  God’s kindness and graciousness knows no bounds with his children.  This is illustrated in the story of Mephibosheth, in 2 Samuel 9:

David asked, “Is there anyone remaining from the family of Saul I can show kindness to for Jonathan’s sake?” There was a servant of Saul’s family named Ziba. They summoned him to David, and the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?”

“I am your servant,” he replied.

So the king asked, “Is there anyone left of Saul’s family that I can show the kindness of God to?”

Ziba said to the king, “There is still Jonathan’s son who was injured in both feet.”

The king asked him, “Where is he?”

Ziba answered the king, “You’ll find him in Lo-debar at the house of Machir son of Ammiel.” So King David had him brought from the house of Machir son of Ammiel in Lo-debar.

Mephibosheth son of Jonathan son of Saul came to David, fell facedown, and paid homage. David said, “Mephibosheth!”

“I am your servant, ” he replied.

“Don’t be afraid,” David said to him, “since I intend to show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan. I will restore to you all your grandfather Saul’s fields, and you will always eat meals at my table.”

Mephibosheth paid homage and said, “What is your servant that you take an interest in a dead dog like me?”

Then the king summoned Saul’s attendant Ziba and said to him, “I have given to your master’s grandson all that belonged to Saul and his family. You, your sons, and your servants are to work the ground for him, and you are to bring in the crops so your master’s grandson will have food to eat. But Mephibosheth, your master’s grandson, is always to eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants.

Ziba said to the king, “Your servant will do all my lord the king commands.”

So Mephibosheth ate at David’s table just like one of the king’s sons. Mephibosheth had a young son whose name was Mica. All those living in Ziba’s house were Mephibosheth’s servants. However, Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem because he always ate at the king’s table. His feet had been injured.

This is the greatest illustration of grace in the Old Testament.  Chuck Swindoll said that.

Mephibosheth was about 5 years old, when his dad, Jonathan and his grandpa, Saul; were killed.  At some point, when he was little, he was accidentally dropped and both of his feet became crippled.

He was a special needs kid who also lost his dad and most of (all?) his family.  They died in the tumultuous war.  His grandpa was also in a civil war with David, his dad’s best friend.

It was unknown, in the years that followed his dad’s and grandpa’s deaths, if Mephibosheth was loyal to his grandpa, against David.

Mephibosheth was born into a messy time, with a good dad, but also had a disability, due to an accident.  If things had gone differently, he would still have his dad and be in the royal family.  But the reality was very different.

Misfortune upon misfortune seemed to be Mephibosheth’s fate.  Despite these, he found a wife and now had his own son.  When David summoned him, he might have imagined that this is it, he was about to be executed, since he was Saul’s heir, and his son was about to become fatherless, just like he was.

But that is not what happened.  Instead, David reinstated Saul’s lands to him, ordered a group of people to work that land for him, and gave him a place at his table (the king’s table) permanently.

Reversal of fortune is what we call this.  Probably totally unexpected.  Kindness given, grace bestowed.

In this chapter, we have this word ‘kindness’ three times.  It is in Hebrew, hesed, meaning ‘loyal love’.  This word is also used in Lamentations 3, where Jeremiah talked about just how bad things are, but then remarks that in the middle of this grief, that God is still good, dependable, and worthy of putting our faith in: 

Because of the Lord’s faithful love
we do not perish,
for his mercies never end.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness!

-Lamentations 3:22-23

This is what happened to Mephibosheth, encapsulated in 2 Samuel 9:7:

• “Don’t be afraid”, David said to him, 
• “Since I intend to show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan”. 
• “I will restore to you all your grandfather Saul’s fields”, 
• “And you will always eat meals at my table”.

Four things, four points of interest to note here.

Don’t be afraid.

• God wants us to fear not.  Be at peace and be still.  You are not being punished.  What Mephibosheth went through was not punishment, but misfortune.  When God moves in your life, do not be afraid.  God loves you.

God is the kindest person you will ever meet.

• God is kind and invented the concept.  Whatever you have been through or was taken from you, God’s kindness has you covered.  God has been kind to you and is going to show you his kindness in a big way, when he restores your lost inheritance to you.

God restores what is lost.

• This is a theme throughout the whole story arc of the Bible.  And this particular story emphasizes that again.  How and when God will restore and in what way, I can not say.  But what I can say is from the Bible, is that God restores.  Expect it and look for it.

To have table fellowship daily is one of the best parts of restoration.

• This reminds us of Jesus story of the two sons.  The one asked for his inheritance early and squandered it.  When he came home, he realized that being with his father was the greatest reward and that his real inheritance was bigger than he imagined.  And the second son, who stayed home, lived with his dad and took him for granted and did not know how loved he was and what a treasure that sharing life and meals together was.

Something to think about is that God does not ‘make it go away’, as in putting us in a time machine, or turning the pages back and giving us a different history.  Instead, God redeems the bad things and restores us in relationship to him and restores the inheritance that was taken or jilted from us in misfortune.

Mephibosheth still had the disability and he still missed his dear dad.  But he was given back his life and got a new living, from David.  And he did not have to fear anymore.

He was about 5 years old when he lost his dad, and went into seclusion.  He became a nobody.  From royal family to pauper.

He may have been about 20 years old when David summoned him.  15 years had passed.  Despite the misfortune, he married and had his own little boy.

He had managed to find some joy perhaps, after so much loss.  How do you think he felt about God?

God is kind.  God is gracious.  This is a story of God’s kindness and graciousness.

David loved Jonathan and I imagine he missed him.  I think he never had another friend that he loved so much.

And David was loyal.  He remembered who loved him before he had power.  He wanted to do something for someone, in the name of his friend, Jonathan.

God really cares and notices our loyalty to him and to each other.  Loyalty is a big deal.

Mephibosheth suffered losses that were no fault of his own.  He was in a certain family, and that family suffered losses.

His dad had been very loyal to David.  Mephibosheth’s inheritance was lost when his dad died.  David gave that inheritance back and gave Mephibosheth a permanent place at his table.

I believe that God is going to restore our inheritances that were lost.  Because God is kind and gracious.

And I have seen God do it.

God is kind.  David illustrates or puts on display God’s kindness.

The highest type of kindness, that is the kindness of God that we want to emulate, is spontaneous and self-motivated.  God’s kindness or godly kindness in us, is based on who God is.  God in God and God in us.

We are not kind to people because they earn it or have shown themselves somehow to be good candidates for it.  Kindness is gracious.  We are kind and gracious, because of something internally in ourselves.  It is internal and self motivated.

God is kind because God is kind.  I am kind because God is kind.  And I want to have God in me, influencing me to be kind.

This is what Jesus was saying when he said, “Be merciful, because your Father is merciful”.  We, who have experienced God’s mercy are to be merciful to others.

David echoes God, in his actions towards Mephibosheth, in his kindness.  This is our lifestyle as well, to echo God.

The best basis for benevolence is the experience of the mercy of God.  Human organizations like charities that come to mind, that are not based on God’s mercy are not the best.

Some people will be indifferent to your lost inheritance.  They will be content for you to stay in obscurity or in hiding from your destiny.  You might even be ‘blessed’ with friends like Job had, who tried to reason out how Job must have brought his misfortune upon himself.

Or you might be married to someone who totally does not get you or what God is doing in your life, like Job’s wife, who urged Job to, ‘curse God and die’.  And remember when Sarah was eavesdropping on the Lord speaking to her husband and cracked up, laughing at the absurdness of them having a baby, at their age?  These stories are actually very encouraging, showing that God works with weak people and loves them and puts his faith in them.

God is kind.  God is kind because God is kind.  And God is kind to us because of who God is.

David not only reassigns Mephibosheth’s inheritance to him, but gives him a place at the royal dining table.  He is given the inheritance and promoted to a new level of relationship and intimacy with David.

It is the same for us with God.  God restores our lost inheritance and gives us an intimate relationship with him.  He does not just give us gifts, but ‘he does not leave us as orphans’ and takes us to live with him.

But wait, there is still more.  The inheritance re-assigned to you comes with provision.  Your inheritance comes fully staffed.

This is what happened to Mephibosheth.  A crippled man, with a wife and a small child, was not just given a large farm estate.  David also assigned a group of people to work it for him.

The name Mephibosheth means ‘dispeller of shame’.  Dispel means to make disappear.  Perhaps this was Mephibosheth’s destiny all along.

There was a lot of shame in being in the family of Saul.  He was very dysfunctional and acted crazy.  Like a rageaholic.

You might have an inheritance that you lost, that was supposed to come to you, from dysfunctional persons.  Maybe even a rageaholic.  To be raged at or to see someone in your family rage is shameful.

Growing up, while trying to process and understand what happened with your grandpa, who failed on an epic level, might give you some shame.  If you grew up in a dysfunctional family, you might identify with this.

God heals our shame.  That’s good news.  Jesus came to heal up our shame.

Mephibosheth does not have to be ashamed anymore, and you won’t either.

This story also illustrates how God loves the fatherless.  We are all fatherless in a sense and get adopted into God’s family, as His children.  But God particularly loves people who are orphaned.

He does not love them more, but there is more to love.  Deep wounds, deep healing, from deep love.

God is huge on covenants.  Covenants are very important.  David made a covenant with Jonathan before Mephibosheth was born, to be loyal to him, no matter what.

David missed his friend and his heart was tugged by that love and desire to do something loving and kind in his memory.  That is what started the ball rolling that resulted in Mephibosheth getting these blessings.  Covenant love.

This is illustrated in our lives today when we show kindness to our friends children.  Especially when our friends die and their kids come into some hard times.

I remember my dad’s best friend, who tried to help me, because he loved my dad so much.  I really had no idea at the time.  But now I realize.

I was just a young man.  And he loved me, because he deeply loved, and honored my dad.  Wow.

His name was Gus.  He had a beard.  I first met him when I was very young.  I asked Gus if I could touch his beard.

Gus loved me and took an interest in me, because he loved my dad.  I had no idea at the time, except I liked him back.  He asked me to dinner one time, when I started working in Los Angeles.  He came and met me at a Sizzler.  He wanted to help me.  He was so kind.

God is kind.  God remembers.  God takes notice of when we have our inheritance lost.  God restores things to us that were lost.  And God provides for how it will all work.  He does not leave us as orphans.  And he gives us a permanent spot at his dining table, where we can continue getting to know him and his family and ask questions and become known.

God restores.  God is kind.  God is gracious.  And he dispels our shame.  Just look and you will see.  And it will happen to you.

Hail The New

Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.

-Isaiah 43:19

God is doing something new.  You can miss it.  God is providing a way.

God is doing something.  But to experience it, we must see it.  If our eyes are shut or we do not look, we will not see it.

God is active.  We first have to get our minds around the idea that God is always on the move.  God is not just the God of the past.

God is also not just the God of of the past and of the future.  God is the God of the present.  He came and is here now.

God is doing something.  We should be looking for what God is doing today.  We are too often fixated on what God did and will do.

God is doing something today.  He is doing something new today.  He is not changing the past, but doing something new in the present.

God has always been actively working among people to help them.  Before Christ, God’s people got in trouble, faced enemies and fell into sins.  God both saved people outside Israel, bringing them in and also worked with Israel in bondage, getting them out, when they had lost their way.

The context of Isaiah 43 is a message to Israel, who is in Babylonian bondage.  God is going to show the whole world, again that He is the Savior and the one God.

God is going to deliver his people from their sins.  And God’s initiative comes from himself and not because of anything good in the people.  That grace, love, favor, mercy and kindness was true of God in ancient times and is still true today.

We need to see the new thing. We need to hail it. The new is here and we need to give it recognition.

The word says:

Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert.

-Isaiah 43:19

The idea that I see in this verse is that God does new things for our benefit.  He does the new things because God is active and creative.  He moves to move us closer to him, his mission and for his glory.

We can miss it.  The first word, ‘look’ means ‘pay attention’.  The old King James says, “Behold”.  It means ‘see’ or ‘watch closely’.  There is a ‘preacher-ism’ or a phrase preachers say that is, “watch this”, and it means, “listen carefully to what I am about to say”, or “pay attention”, or “listen up”.

We are more distracted than ever.  We have to make an effort to see what God is doing.  We have to make an effort to see it and hear it.

Do you know that song that says, “Did you hear the mountains tremble?”  The point is that you can easily miss it, if you are not paying attention.  A friend of mine came home one day and put a blanket over her tv to remind herself to give her attentions to God more.

The thing that God is about to do and is already beginning to do is like making a way in the wilderness and streams in the desert.  The symbology of this means that God is going to do something that seems impossible and is impossible, but for not for him.

Being at the end of your rope and being tempted to feel hopeless means you need God and that is super good.  Being upset about things not working in your life and having tension and lack of peace about things is a good thing because it means you need God.  You need God’s move, God’s way and God to make a way for you where there seems to be no way and to provide sustenance for you where there is none.

The problems and the ‘it does not work’ and signs or pointers to God giving you a gift of a new way.  We want to be in the place of contentment in Father’s lap, being his kids and being taken care of by him.  We do not want to be in the place of proud, smug self-satisfaction that says to God, “I’ve got this”.

The message is that God is alive.  He is here now.  He is on the move.

God is doing a new thing.  Creating, renewing, revitalizing and refreshing has always been God’s business.  The question is, “Will we avail ourselves to God’s continual renewal?”

God is making a way by doing a new thing.  Same God, same Jesus and the same Holy Spirit; but a new to you way that will be a way where the way seemed impossible and sustenance where there seemed to be none.

Will you take God up on the offer?  Will you pay attention, look and see?  Will you lay down your preconceptions and prejudices and let God show you something and bring you into something New?

Will you let God move?  Will you let God change things in your life?  After you see it, will you walk into it and drink from it?

Will you let God be God?  Will you let your heavenly Father take care of you and lead you?  Will you serve Jesus by letting him lead you in a new way than the way you have walked before?

Jesus is still calling to his disciples, “Follow me”.  Will you follow him into the unknown, off your map and out of your comfort zone?  Will you let him save you and keep you, renew you, wash you and comfort you?

Will you step into the place of discipleship where you know him and he knows you?  Your savior is coming to save you in your life right now, in the problems you are facing.  He is Christ, Emmanuel, God with us.

Prepare the house of your life for his coming to make a way for you.  Decorate your house for a celebration of God’s gift to you.  Begin to be glad with great joy that God is coming and already here, to make a way in your life.

See what God has already done for you and be thankful.  Get your heart ready to receive more.

Listen to the joyful and thankful people in your life tell their stories of what God has done for them.  Let them encourage you.

Let go of your past.  Let go of your disappointments.  Release any bitterness.

Do not define your life today by the failures and missed opportunities in your past.  Do not wallow in your misfortunes.  Instead, see every liability or negative on your sheet as a place where God is going to move.

Cultivate a revelation of God as being beyond your wildest imagination and dreams, in his goodness and love for you that he will show you.  God’s very nature is kindness: love and generosity.  If you have a very low or small revelation of God this way, look and even stare at him to get it in your heart just how good that God is.

Share the goodness of God and let your stories be an encouragement to others.  The life is meant to be lived with God and with one another.  Whether you have one friend or confidant or many, share your story.

The whole life is about God’s story and then our stories and sharing them so that we can know and be know, love and be loved and then share, share and share some more.

On the new road, the new way and in the new thing from God, there will be opposition from people and from the dark spirits.  There will be bad weather on the new road, guaranteed.  Regardless of the push-back, keep walking, keep believing and keep worshipping with your life, giving thanks in all circumstances.

The opposition is a sign that you are indeed on God’s path and that God is with you and you are with God.  Sing aloud to God on the new path when the enemy opposes you, and find a partner or partners to sing with and give the enemy a hard time back.

Here is the song that inspired me for this message:

2017: Double For Your Trouble, Strength To Strength & The Call To Consume From God

Happy New Year!  I believe that this is going to be our best year yet.  Whether you are under ten or over ninety, I believe that is true.  My wife said to me, “You always say that!”

Yes, I believe every year is a good year; but I believe this one is going to be a very good one.  I went to bed on the 31st, with a smile on my face and I hope you did too.

I also know that people are suffering, and I know that God comforts people who are hurting and going through all sorts of losses and trials.

I do not believe in denial.  Our Lord Jesus is familiar with suffering and acquainted with grief.  He is our Savior in the blues as well as in the celebration.

Three Words for 2017

Double For Your Trouble

Because you got a double dose of trouble and more than your share of contempt, Your inheritance in the land will be doubled and your joy go on forever.

-Isaiah 61:7 (MSG)

God is going to give us a double blessing for the trouble that we went through.

Watch for God to fill up the losses and overflow them with double joy.

What we lost will be given back double.

From Strength To Strength

Happy are the people whose strength is in You, whose hearts are set on pilgrimage.
As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a source of springwater; even the autumn rain will cover it with blessings.
They go from strength to strength; each appears before God in Zion.

-Psalm 84:5-7 (HCSB)

In 2017, we will go from strength to strength.  We were strengthened in 2016.  We will build upon what we gained and go further in 2017.  

2016 was not a wasted year, but a good year where you were strengthened.  In 2017, God will build upon what He built in you in 2016.

January 1, 2017 is not a repeat of January 1, 2016.  You are different.  God strengthened your life in 2016.

You are a pilgrim, on a journey.  You are not where you were one year, 5 years or 10 years ago.  You may still have some of the issues, problems or unfulfilled dreams; but you are different

God is going to build 2017 on what He built in you in 2016 and 2015.  What God built in you will give you the foundation for what he now wants to build.

The pilgrimage or journey that we are all on is towards God.  God gives us all passions, desires, callings and destinies to fulfill, birthrights and inheritances to receive and assignments to serve in. 

In whatever we do, including the high calling/assignment/ministry of making babies and raising children, we do it all to the glory of God.  Making money or publishing writings, doing art, creating community, being a friend or gaining status is only fulfilling if the core aim of our lives is God: knowing God, being known by God, being loved by God and loving God.

We will not find rest, joy or fulfillment in anything unless we first are centered in the pursuit of God.

And the strengthening or building up of our lives to hold more and then give more blessing only comes to us as we go towards Elohim, the plural God.  The blessings that really satisfy only come to us, as we are in Christ.

The mountain of God is the destination of our life’s journey.  As you journeyed in 2016, God strengthened you.  In 2017, God will strengthen you more.  And you will know God, Elohim, God plural, more: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

Come Drink, Buy and Eat For Free!

Come, everyone who is thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!  Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost!
Why do you spend money on what is not food, and your wages on what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and you will enjoy the choicest of foods.

-Isaiah 55:1-2 (HCSB)

We just got done buying, giving and receiving gifts for Christmas.  Some of us now have gift cards or cash to spend.  I think that God has a different kind of consuming and buying that God wants to offer each of us in 2017.  And it is described in Isaiah 55:1-2.

I spend a lot of time shopping, but I don’t call it shopping.  I call it research.  Over the summer, I wanted to buy a couch or a bed or a day bed or a couch with a hide-a-bed.  I may have spent 100 hours or more researching this.

I can tell you that if you want a couch that you can also sleep on that is not junk, you are going to be spending about a thousand dollars, minimum.  I opted for a very comfortable bed, that subs as a couch (like king David’s couches), with a hardwood frame; that came in under five hundred dollars.

I did most of my 100 plus hours of research (shopping in disguise) on-line, but furniture stores are pretty amazing.  You could spend a small fortune at one.  We went to Ikea last summer and had brunch; but we thought the prices were high.

So, I bought a table saw and plan on making my own furniture over the next year or two.  We need more bookcases and I am going to learn how to make windows.

One Saturday, I got all the grocery ads together, and I circled all the best deals that I wanted to purchase.  We get about 8 to 10 ads and I narrowed my stops, based on the ads, down to 4 or 5 stores.  You have to work out a map and get the perishable stuff last, unless you bring an ice chest, which I know some people do.

I did my big trip, to 4 or 5 stores, and saved a lot of money (groceries are expensive!).  But, it took me 3 to 4 hours.  And time is money and time is invaluable.  I never did that again and instead had to choose one store.

Now, our new thing, is that my wife and I go together, and shop as a team, and get to work together and spend time together.  Many years ago, my oldest mentor, who himself was divorced, told me that if you can work together, you can live together.  Before we were married, we renovated my house together, and it was hard, but went well.

I believe God wants to turn out attention away from constant, lengthy and continuous shopping and consuming, towards shopping for and consuming what is from God.  This is symbolized by the water, the food, the wine and the milk.  God wants us to be consumed with consuming from him.

God knows we need groceries, clothes, cars, furniture, appliances and shelter.  But shopping for and consuming stuff is not what life is all about.  Shopping and then buying and doing it over and over, stacking stuff upon stuff, is an obsession of ours, in our western culture.

God wants us to simplify our time consuming and costly and even idolatrous consumption and amplify our free consumption of what God offers.  Many us are so full of material that we have no room and no hunger for the goods God offers us, for free.

God is going to be having a sale in 2017.  We will want to go to God to drink and eat, and it is free.  We just have to take God up on this free offer and go and get it.

Think about your favorite material Christmas gift.  It was nice to get that and I imagine you are enjoying it.  I am going to enjoy that new wrist watch, that waterproof bluetooth speaker and The Passion Translation.

But the gifts that God has for me, the foods and drinks, metaphorically speaking, are ten, one hundred, one thousand, one million times: immeasurably better than any stuff or earthly food.  And it is all free.  All we have to do is come and get it.

The first word of Isaiah 55, which is some times translated “Ho!” or “Hey!”, is translated, “Come everyone”, in the version I chose.  It is a call to “Come and get it”, like a huge dinner bell or meal horn going off on earth.

Will we hear that sound, will we heed the call to come and drink and eat and get satisfied, for free?  To do so, we just have to take the time and make the effort.  And it is not hard, but it is not automatic and takes an effort to get up and go to God, to seek God and say “yes!”

After Christmas, there is a discontent, an aftertaste that is not the taste of satisfaction or contentment; for the material things we longed for and consumed.  Material things can be good, very good: like these Ugg boots I am wearing, that were a gift last Christmas.

Giving and receiving gifts is good and even wonder-full, and reminds us of the gift of Jesus.  But that is the “not only”, and the “also” is that God wants to give us gifts all the time, in all sorts of ways and in all sorts of things.

2017 is a year to receive from God, to be a consumer of God.  For sustenance and for our contentment.  

God wants to give us a foretaste so that we will have a taste for.  In other words, God wants to change our appetites to be consumers of God rather than consumers of stuff, consumers of entertainment and addicts of mood altering substances or experiences.

God wants us to spend more time shopping for what God offers.  What if we started spending as much time shopping for and consuming from God as we do other things?  What if we tried fasting from consuming stuff and practiced feasting on God?

What if we decided to give God 90% and hold back 10%?  The percentage is just a metaphor because our hearts are what God would like to have.  And our hearts are what we will give God, if we love God.

What does shopping for God look like?  If you have this question, it is a question, a quest for you, that will drive you on an adventure to find God and receive from God more and more, to your fill and unto and into a change of your appetites, in 2017.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

Footnote: 

The photo at the top is of a 1964 (I believe) Plymouth Valiant.  The Hebrew word for ‘strength’, in Psalm 84, is ‘ha∙yil’, that literally means ‘valiant’.

The Reversal

The nations will escort Israel and bring it to its homeland. Then the house of Israel will possess them as male and female slaves in the Lord’s land. They will make captives of their captors and will rule over their oppressors.

-Isaiah 14:2

What God has planned and wants to do is a complete reversal in the lives of believers who have been oppressed.  God not only wants to set people free who have been held down, held back, and left behind; but He also wants to put them in charge over those that they were under before.  God wants to take people from servitude to ruling.

God wants to restore his people to their place of rest.  God wants to take his people out of bondage and into a place of stewarding authority.  God is freeing his people, so that they may serve and disciple the nations who previously held them in bondage.

The same people who imprisoned believers and kept them locked in and locked down will become the helpers, guides, and rides to take them to their inheritances and destiny places.  The people of God will capture the people who once ruled over them and be served by them.  The people who were once our oppressors in their homeland or sphere will come with the believers into their homeland or sphere.

A great deliverance and reversal is coming, and when believers are set free, their captors will leave with them and become their servants.  In the awakening that is coming, believers who have been asleep will wake up to God, to their destinies.  When they wake up, they will get up, and they will begin to go towards where God has always wanted them to go: to their homeland, and they will take some people with them, who have not been believers, who will get saved and be discipled and serve the believers who had been in bondage among them.

A great revival is coming, where believers who have become dead in their faith, will be brought to life, raised from the dead or revived.  Their testimony will be so clear and so real, that their pagan or completely non-believing friends, neighbors, or coworkers will be astonished at the change from death to life in these living witnesses, as say, “I want what you’ve got and where you go I will go, so now I will follow you, even to the ends of the earth.”

This will be like the story, in Acts 16, of the Philippian jailer, who got saved when Paul and Silas were freed by the earthquake, and the jailer and his whole family got saved.  Paul baptized them all and they had a meal together.  The jailer served Paul by being the intermediary with the magistrates, for Paul and Silas’ freedom, as well as giving them hospitality.

God is going to set his people free who have been held captive.  And when He does, the people who been around their captivity, will willingly go with, gives rides, and take or transport believers into their promises and serve them their.  This is what is going to happen, again.  God has done this in the past and is about to do it again, because it is what God does.

God sets you free to go into your destiny.  And the people who were there around you, who were part of the system, the tribe, the people, who held you back, and did not recognize you as a son or daughter of God, will suddenly become your servant and serve you, and take you to your place of promotion, destiny, calling, and promise; and not only move you there, but live there with you, as your servant.

Big Rain For The Burnt Out People of God

You, God, showered abundant rain; You revived Your inheritance when it languished.

-Psalm 68:9

Big rain is coming.  I was going to say, be prepared, but that’s not right.  The word is, be encouraged.

We, many of us, although we have faith and are filled with hope and joy, contentment and gratitude; are tired.  We are weary.  The word that many modern translations use, in this verse is ‘languished’.

To languish is to suffer, because you have been forced to remain in an unpleasant situation.  You might feel abandoned, neglected, or forgotten.  Plants languish from lack of water and people languish in prison, from lack of living.

People get weary, even in doing good.  There are a wide variety of causes of weariness.  Many people, including me, are weary and languishing.

The good news is that God sends refreshing, reviving, and restoring rain to his weary people, his languishing people.  It is what God does.  Watch for it, and expect it

It is notable that God just does it for his people, when they are tired, weary, burnt out, or languishing; and not after we have done something.  All we have to do is be in the faith.  You are either a person of faith or not a person of faith, either saved or not saved, in the vine or tree, or not.

I say this, because we can become so weary and depressed that we get the crazy idea that we have to perform somehow and are missing it, to get God’s attention or blessing.  The truth is though, that God welcomes us as we are.  He just requires us to have faith or believe in him.

The coming abundant rain will be for you: 

• restoring
• refreshing
• confirming
• establishing
• reviving 

This big rain is about to be showered down on God’s people, who today are weary and languishing.  It is coming and is going to have a ‘rags to riches’ affect on your life.  Be encouraged, God is coming to you.

You will dance in the rain and everything will change.

God Arises

God arises. His enemies scatter, and those who hate Him flee from His presence.

-Psalm 68:1

Do you see God arising?  We pray, “God arises!”, as a declarative prayer.  He is arising, and we bless what we see the Father doing (John 5:19) just like Jesus.

“God arises”, is a statement of truth; like saying, “God is on the move”.  We are not petitioning God to come, but we see that he is already here.  We are announcing that God is here, so that we can do something.

We see and do.  We do not just see and enjoy the sight, nor do we just see and learn, all in the thinking realm.  Real learning is in the participation.  

I declare, “God arises”.  Do you see?  I will help you see if you do not see God arising.

Can you see, can you hear, and can you sense God arising?   If so, what do we do?

When we see God arising, we:

1. Repent.  Jesus message was not to accept him into your heart as your personal savior.  Jesus message was not to believe in the cross and what he did (would do) there.  Jesus message was, “Repent: for the Kingdom of heaven is at hand”.  To repent means to change, to change your mind, to change your purpose, to change your direction.  God does not give a catalog of sins we should stop doing, because ‘sin management’ has never been the message or God’s way.  Repent also means ‘reform’: Reform or die.  You must change and re-purpose your life or you will die: you are signing off on your death notice.  Many people are the living dead, because they refuse to repent when the call to do so has been given clearly.
2. Get out of the way.  There is a dance that reverences participating with God and in God, without ever taking God’s place of headship.  Jesus modeled how to be submissive to Father’s lead and rely upon the power of the Spirit.  He is the model for how to live and the only way to live.
3. Join in on what God is doing.  We get to participate with God in what God is doing in the earth.  We are co-missioned into God’s mission.  He calls us child, friend, and slave; and we get to learn how to enjoy life in those three roles or dimensions with God.  Jesus gives us authority and we need to know what it is and how it works and our responsibilities for and how we use our authority.

When God arises he gets himself between you and his enemies.  When God comes into a situation his enemies are exposed and must flee.  Selfishness and sinfulness in people will not stand or live in God’s presence either.

Every person that Jesus encountered, during his years of ministry, after he left the family’s business; had issues that came up, that Jesus had a word for, a key to help then unravel from selfishness, hopelessness, delusions, or misconceptions.  This same Jesus who preached the general “Repent!” message to all, had helpful counsel and instructions for individuals.  So, God calls us all to repent and he also has compassionate, loving, care filled counsel and instruction for us as individuals.

When God arises we do not want to delude ourselves to think, “God is on our side”.  It does not work that way, because “Repent” means that we all surrender to being on God’s side, realizing that God is the king and we are all his subjects.  Some people have not realized this or taken action to bow to the king yet.

If you have surrendered and have become a subject and child of the king, it means you are in the kingdom and under and on the side of the king.  The only other side is the side of God’s enemies.  People are either with God or with God’s enemies, even if they don’t know it.  When God arises, the enemy is exposed and must flee and the peoples who are not in the kingdom, under the king, but have been captives in the enemy’s kingdom, get to be delivered or set free.

And when God comes, people get to choose if they are in or out, get free and become king’s kids, or stay in bondage.

I declare, let God rise up!  God arises!  Up with God!

God Will Revive Us

You, God, showered abundant rain; You revived Your inheritance when it languished.

-Psalm 68:9

Are you discouraged?  Has your journey been long?  Have you been under siege?  Have you been betrayed, disappointed, or just hurt by people you thought were friends?  Are you heartsick from the delay of your hope?

God wants to revive, refresh, restore, confirm, sustain, strengthen, perfect, and establish you… again.

Are you weary, weak, parched, exhausted, tired, and languished?  Languished means, “to continue for a long time without activity or progress in an unpleasant or unwanted situation.”  You may feel languished, but maybe you are dormant, like a dormant volcano.

God takes action to care for those who are his.  God takes the initiative.  He initiates.  Our God is an active, moving God.  God will revive the languishing ones who are His inheritance.

We usually think of inheritance and something that we get, but the deepest meaning of inheritance is something we give to God.  We are God’s inheritance and he takes care of us as his.

We are the called ones who are chosen.  We have surrendered to the King and become his subjects.  We are disciples in that we are life-long learners who carry the teaching of God, now in Christ, into our whole lives and throughout the world.

His inheritance is our lives that have been transformed.  His inheritance is the gift of our lives that we have unpacked and worked out in Christ.  His inheritance is the life that he gave us that we give back to him in a life of thankful worship.

There is refreshing, reviving, renewing, re-establishing, and confirming that comes from God, sovereignty.  It is like coming into a downpour of rain, or receiving an unexpected gift.  We can position ourselves to receive it, and we should.  We can seek God’s touch and gifts, which we ought to.

Another encouraging thought from this verse, is that God will do it, because he cares and he takes care us us.  That is what the psalmist is saying.  He did it and by implication, he will do it again, because that is his nature.

We might not know how or when God will refresh us, but the song here tells the story that he did it and therefore it is his nature to do it.  The message is that God is good, and since we are his, his inheritance, he is a good father, a good steward, and will see that we need to be confirmed again and brought out of languishment.

I am very happy about these words and take them as a promise, because God is the same today, as he was in the eyes of the psalmist who wrote this.  I am living in expectation of God renewing, reviving, recalling, refreshing, and re-establishing me and every believer that I know, in this time and season.

Perseverance is so important and this word encourages us to keep on.  In the meantime, I need to get my rest.  We can get overtired when we do not rest.

Sometimes, when we are discouraged, because of the long wait, the battle weariness, or the heart ache from disappointements; we do not rest.  We get restless and that makes us worse off.  The antidote is rest.

The big refreshing rains are soon.  We need to be and stay encouraged that God is coming with rains.  We need to come to Jesus and walk with him and find  rest for our souls as we wait for the rains.

I am encouraged by what Psalm 68:9 says.  I am expectant and I am believing that God is coming with rains of refreshing.  Today, tomorrow, this week, and next; and until and then even during God’s refreshing; I will get my rest, so that I can enjoy, receive, and be here for the long run.

For today, in believing what God will do, and more importantly, who God is; I will rest and get my rest, taking care of my rest and letting God take care of the rest.  Sounds funny, but the point is to let God be God and live out my belief in the loving Father by calming my soul and resting in Christ. 

The way I get to that thought from this verse is the “You”, “You”, and “Your” pronouns.  It is all about God and God’s nature to care.  And God calls us his inheritance.  We are his and he cares about and takes care of what is his.

Knowing that and getting that gives me pause to let that continue to be a revelation to me.  In turn, I  believe it and live accordingly.  And that leads to resting in Christ today, as I await the outpouring.

Resting, like waiting, is active and full of faith (faith-full-ness).  I do want to get my sleep and I do need to take a day of rest.  But I also live and work productively, from my rest.

I am rested and blessed and live resting in the beloved of God.  And I do this, even when I am in need of being revived and am feeling majorly dormant.

Some of us have been languishing in prisons.  Some of us have been hibernating.  Some of us have been on the back side of the desert.

All of these (us) need reviving, renewing, re-estblishing, and confirmation from the Lord.  And he is going to do it.  Be encouraged and begin to cultivate expectant faith while resting in the beloved today.

Ephesians 3:20

Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us—

-Ephesians 3:20

Ephesians 3:20 & 21 is the doxology (glory saying) of the first half of the book of Ephesians.  The first half of Ephesians is theology: dogmatic and kerygmatic  (incontrovertible principals and preaching) that are indicative.  The second half of the book is application: ethical, didactic, and parenetic (moral principals for behavior, taught encouragingly and persuasively) that are imperative.  The proclamation of what God has done is the indicative, followed by the exhortation, which is the imperative.

Ephesians 3:14-21 has been called the highlight of the whole book, as is John chapter 17, the highlight of the Fourth Gospel: “the reader is shown that praying stands above reasoning, even theological”.(1)  

For this reason I kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named.

I pray that He may grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened with power in the inner man through His Spirit, and that the Messiah may dwell in your hearts through faith.

I pray that you, being rooted and firmly established in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know the Messiah’s love that surpasses knowledge, so you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us— to Him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.

Paul gives us oxymorons to describe what God does for his children, when he writes that he wants us to know Messiah’s love that surpasses all understanding.  That is an oxymoron.  It is similar to Philippians 4:7, where Paul that the peace of God surpasses all or every thought.  “Praying stands above reasoning, even theological”, says Markus Barth.  In Ephesians 3:20, Paul says that what God will do is above and beyond all that we can ask or think, which comes about the the power that works (is exerted) in us.

To him who by the power exerted in us is able to outdo superabundantly all that we ask or imagine— (Barth’s translation)

The Holy Spirit works irresistibly in the saints of God.  He is the power that creates the ability for the superabundance to take place.  Paul says that he desires that we may know all of God’s love and the Messiah’s love.  But there is so much that we cannot contain it – it is beyond our ability to contain, and yet we are to be filled to overflowing with what we can contain, always desiring more.

In similar fashion, God has answers to our prayer requests, beyond what we can think or even imagine, that takes place through his dynamic power that works in our lives, because we are Father’s children.  This brings glory in the church and Christ Jesus, through to all generations and forever.

Some have suggested that dreams are the place where God’s plans, ideas, or intentions are shown to us.  Dreaming is part of the last days ministry (Joel 2:28 & Acts 2:17).  In Psalm 126:1, the author says that, “When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.”  In other words, what God did was so good, it was like a dream (come true!).

God has an inheritance for all his children that is like a dream come true.  There is treasure in heaven, but God is all about bringing heaven to earth now.  There are warehouses of supply in heaven that God is eager to shower down on his children on earth.

Ephesians 3:20  is a prayer, penned by Paul, from God, for Christians:

Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us.

“Now”, means now.  “To Him”, means God.  “Is able”, is timeless, referring to God’s ability.  “To do above and beyond”,  means God’s superabundant provision for the saints.  “All that we ask or think”, refers to our desires in prayer.  “According to the power”, refers to the power of God in each believers’ life, probably in and through the Holy Spirit.  “That works in us”, is the power of God working in our lives.

I like what this man wrote in The Pulpit Commentary (1889):

Two things make us strong in prayer – a deep sense of need and a strong hope of supply. Perhaps we shall hardly venture to ask some blessings, but we ought to consider that we are either to approach God on our own merits or on the merits of Christ. If we pray for blessing on our own merits, we can hardly be too stinted in our asking; but if on the merits of Christ, we ought not to disgrace God by asking little things on such a wide basis of encouragement. We have, in fact, got a carte-blanche put into our hands by Christ, saying, “Ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you.” We are to ask up to our power of thinking, and far beyond it; for “God giveth liberally and upbraideth not?” “Prove me now… if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” (T. Croskery)

Ephesians 3:20 in parallel translations from biblehub:

New International Version
Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us,

New Living Translation
Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

English Standard Version
Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us,

Berean Study Bible
Now to Him who is able to do infinitely more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us,

Berean Literal Bible
Now to the One being able to do exceedingly above all things that we ask or think, according to the power working in us,

New American Standard Bible
Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,

King James Bible
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Now to Him who is able to do above and beyond all that we ask or think according to the power that works in us–

International Standard Version
Now to the one who can do infinitely more than all we can ask or imagine according to the power that is working among us—

NET Bible
Now to him who by the power that is working within us is able to do far beyond all that we ask or think,

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
But to him who is more than almighty to do for us and is greater than what we ask or imagine, according to his power that is active in us,

GOD’S WORD® Translation
Glory belongs to God, whose power is at work in us. By this power he can do infinitely more than we can ask or imagine.

New American Standard 1977
Now to Him who is able to do exceeding abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us,

Jubilee Bible 2000
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,

King James 2000 Bible
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,

American King James Version
Now to him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,

American Standard Version
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

Douay-Rheims Bible
Now to him who is able to do all things more abundantly than we desire or understand, according to the power that worketh in us;

Darby Bible Translation
But to him that is able to do far exceedingly above all which we ask or think, according to the power which works in us,

English Revised Version
Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us,

Webster’s Bible Translation
Now to him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us.

Weymouth New Testament
Now to Him who, in exercise of His power that is at work within us, is able to do infinitely beyond all our highest prayers or thoughts–

World English Bible
Now to him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,

Young’s Literal Translation
and to Him who is able above all things to do exceeding abundantly what we ask or think, according to the power that is working in us,

Markus Barth’s translation:

To him who by the power exerted in us is able to outdo superabundantly all that we ask or imagine—

______________________________________________

1. Markus Barth, Ephesians 1-3, Anchor Bible Commentary, p. 377

Your Loss and God’s Compensation

Nevertheless I tell you the truth, it is good for you that I go away.  For if I don’t go away, the comforter will not come to you.  But if I go I will send him to you.
-John 16:7

Photo: Pixabay

Could there possibly be an upside to Jesus leaving the disciples?   During the last supper, Jesus was saying goodbye to his friends.  Jesus was ministering to their soon to be lost personal fellowship with them.

He is saying that in their loss of him, they will get the Holy Spirit, who will be the comforter.  Jesus promises to personally send the Spirit when he is gone.  And the Spirit of God is called the comforter.

I believe in divine compensation.  The compensation for their loss of Jesus being with them all the time, in the flesh, will be the comforter, the Holy Spirit, being with them.  And Jesus will send him.

Have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit by Jesus?  John the Baptist said that Jesus would baptize his followers with the Holy Spirit and with fire (Matt. 3:11 & Luke 3:16).  After his resurrection, Jesus last words, before his ascension, was that his followers would receive power when the Holy Spirit would come upon them, and they would be witnesses to the ends of the earth.

The comforter is also the power for witness.  Evangelism comes out of rest.  The comfort of God and the explosive power of evangelism are two sides of the same coin.

He comforts us and empowers us to witness.  Witness comes through comfort.  These are inseparable.

The comfort is not so that we cloister ourselves off from others and from the world.  The comfort empowers us to witness to the world and evangelize.  I rest in him and then go in his power.

And this is directed by Jesus.  He sends the Spirit to comfort us and from that comfort we are empowered to witness.  If you only think we have the Bible and each other, you are missing out on the key ingredient for fellowship with God and witness to the world.

A Christian without the Holy Spirit is like a car without gas, a house without electricity, or living without water.  You can’t get anywhere, you can’t see in the dark, and you dry up and die.  The Spirit of God is not just a belief but the key ingredient to the Christian life.

How do you think Christ is in you, so that you are and live as a Christian?  It is by the Spirit.  The Spirit of God makes us like Christ.

This is all true, whether we experience it or not.  But when we do not participate, anticipate, and walk with and in the Spirit; and desire to be filled, we lose out and go our own way.  We can be religious, do all sorts of good things, try to think good thoughts; but miss out on intimacy with God, from the comforter who comforts us and empowers us to be Jesus’ witnesses.

Earlier I mentioned the principle of divine compensation.  With every negative, there is a gift attached.  This is from Isaiah 61.

When bad things happen to you, God compensates you:

-A crown in place of ashes.
-Oil of joy in place of mourning.
-A mantle of praise in place of discouragement.
-Rebuilding.
-Restoration.
-Renewal.
-A double portion instead of shame.
-Rejoicing instead of disgrace.
(Isaiah 61:1-7)

If you just lost a love one, God is comforting you.  The comforter is here.  God will compensate you for your loss, because that is what Father does.

The bigger your loss, the bigger your compensation.  Wait for it, look for it, receive and open the gift.  Unpack it, thankfully receive it from the Father (James 1:17).

Loss is loss.  We grieve and mourn.  But God brings something good afterwords.

In our losses, God has something good he will bring after it.

By the way, God does not cause all loses, but does allow them.  Many loses are not God’s will, but they happen.  This does not mean God is weak or does not care.