Finding The One

Then Barnabas went to Tarsus to look for Saul,  and when he found him, he brought him to Antioch. So for a whole year Barnabas and Saul met with the church and taught great numbers of people. The disciples were called Christians first at Antioch.

-Acts 11:25-6 (NIV)

Back when I was single, I was concerned about finding ‘the one’ that I would marry.  I have also been concerned about finding ‘the one’ job and ‘the one’ place to live.  Right now, I have been researching cars, looking for ‘the one’ car.

I remember when I bought a cassette tape, almost 30 years ago, about finding a spouse.  The Bible has a lot of practical advice, but not really the idea of finding ‘the one’.  In a sense, who you select becomes ‘the one’ and the two of you become one.

The Bible does not point us to personality tests or compatibility questionnaires.  It basically says, “walk with the Lord”, and “marry a believer”.

What about the other ‘the one’s’ in our lives: the one job, the one house and the one car to choose?

Are we guided by God and is there a plan?  Yes.  But there is a dance, where we make mistakes and encounter opposition and God re-guides us.

Apostle Paul is an example of a man that God had a plan for.  And that man did good and did bad.  Sometimes God guided and he did not follow.  Many times, he was opposed and kept walking with God and rediscovering the plan.

He walked with God through disappointment, broken hearted failure and just being wrung out.  But he became for us perhaps the number one theologian about Jesus and God’s plan of salvation.  His life’s message might boil down to ‘a man in Christ’.  That’s a pretty good epitaph.

What about the the one, perfect job?  Did you know that a high percentage of people hate their jobs?  Even many pastors say that they would do something else if they could, but they don’t see anything else they could do.

The scripture from Acts 11 is about Barnabas finding Paul and taking him to Antioch.  Paul was ‘the one’ who was going to be a prolific Apostle and was going to write a bunch of letters that would be inspired by God and make it into the canon of scripture.

Of course Paul was an amazing person and his life had massive impact.  But behind Paul and beside Paul, was this special man named Barnabas.  That was actually his nickname.  His real name is the very good name, Joseph.

Barnabas was such an encouraging person that he got the nickname ‘son of encouragement’ which is what Barnabas means.  He was Paul’s friend, mentor, liaison, voucher and reference.

Paul had about three years of a rocky, wild ride in his ministry, before being ‘benched’ by going back to Tarsus for nine years.  At the end of those nine years, Barnabas went to recall Paul and bring him to Antioch.  After about a year, Paul went on his first ministry trip, with Barnabas.

Barnabas was a gifted disciple, but he never exhibited a ‘me first’ or ‘I am the one’ attitude.  He was simply at the service of Jesus and allowed himself to be empowered and assigned ministry jobs including teacher, prophet and apostle.  He neither bossed Paul nor introduced him as ‘the new boss’.

 Paul made mistakes and was in sharp conflict with a couple of his apostolic associates later.  That did not disqualify Paul or make him ‘not the one’ to write New Testament letters.

Most of us have to choose a car, a job and a location to live.  A majority of people choose a spouse.  I know many people who have been married twice and a few who are like C.S. Lewis and past mid-life and are still unmarried.  

You can be fat and happy or unmarried and content.  You can be thin and unhappy or married and  discontented.  A word for the younger people: money, success, power or popularity do not make you happy.  Believe it or not, having a lot of any one of these actually makes you less happy.

Only God can give you happiness.  Remember the word, “Blessed are the poor”?  That does not mean you must have no money to be happy in God.  It does mean that money does not bring happiness.

You actually are positioned better to enter the kingdom if you are not wealthy.  Money is not the root of all evil.  The love of money is the root of all evil.

When I was graduating high school and had to choose a car, I did not know much.  Maybe I got lucky or maybe I got blessed and maybe my dad, knew something, and guided me.  I selected a Toyota.

It was outrageously reliable compared to all the cars I had seen in my family.  I had that car for about ten years.  I sold it with a quarter of a million miles on it for five hundred dollars.

Then, I tried to find the car that would be ‘the one’.  I thought I was wise in not choosing a German sports car, but ended up choosing a more sporty Japanese car.  I ended up having two of these, back to back, that both needed new engines ($$$) after only 50k to 75k miles of ownership.

After those, I actually considered a third try, but then opted for something more reliable, while still being somewhat sporty.  And that anonymous car is now over 200k and that is why I am looking for ‘the one’ again.

My two sports cars were so much fun to drive and I miss that, but I don’t miss the cost.  Life is a balance of enjoyable thrills within your budget.  I have an advice book where the author says you should own a convertible at least once in your life and I can think of three older men I look up to who have owned and ridden Harley Davidsons motorcycles.  Did you ever see the picture on the Chuck Swindoll book, where he is on a motorcycle, with his wife?

I did find the one person to marry and to have a family with.  And I am confident about the car thing.  I know that if I am careful, I can own a car for a year and then resell it with no trouble.  The job, career, calling, ministry, vocation thing is more complicated.

In a sense, I am doing my dream job.  When I was a kid, I had my own audio equipment: tape decks, microphones, radio transmitters and receivers.

And I also had a movie camera and learned to shoot and edit film.  I made a music film to a Toto song in high school and another film to a Tears For Fears song in college.  I also made a short film about the end of the world.

From the end of high school through all my college years, I had many opportunities that knocked to work in making commercials, television or film.  But I had no vocational mentor or coach.  I just had a couple of conservative, electrical engineering career path guys, who supported me in whatever I was going to choose.

And what or who I chose is what or who chose me and that is God.  Out of my life that was in chaos, confusion, fear and a longing for meaning mixed with broken hearted unhappiness came a hunger for God.

In my strategic time of the end of high school through the end of college, with all the dreaming and deciding on what to do, as I made the transition into adulthood; God intervened in my life and drew me to himself.

There are many other details I can’t go into now, on how I came to live where I live and work where I work and about the church I joined for about 14 years, and what I learned and inherited and what was developed in me that I posses today.

And after getting settled into my life with God and having a place to call home and a job, I did want to find the one to marry and a better job or a job that was a ministry job where I could do something more kingdom oriented.

I actually tried out two other careers or jobs and did them at the semi-pro level.  That happened before I got married.  I could not push the river.  I did not find her and even though the chorus said, “just pick one”, I felt like I had not found the person that I had been looking for and that God was going to send me.

God actually gave me a word, a prophecy; a promise verse that was about Janine.  That verse kind of says that all women are not equal in how they live or choose to live their lives and God will give that woman to the man who receives her from him.  I also had an additional prophecy, promise or word about my future that I wrote about, called ‘two-ten in the afternoon‘.

The clue or lesson I have learned in my search for ‘the one’ is my life is God.  The search for ‘the one’ comes out of and goes through and back to how God is ‘the one’.  God, worshipping God and serving God is ‘the one thing’.  God has always and will always be the one for me.  

I have discovered that God has a destiny, calling and inheritance for me that is developing and coming.  I chose that scripture about Paul and Barnabas because God calls and recalls and uses encouraging people in his calling and recalling.

What was Paul thinking and feeling when he went back to Tarsus for those nine years?

I think that whatever happened to Paul in those nine years was very important and had to do with his internal spiritual formation.  I believe he shared his faith and evangelized.  I don’t know if he taught people or had disciples.

Being a Barnabas and finding the Paul’s is an awesome ministry and so important.

The last thing I will say is that all of life is an in-between time and we are often in transition.  You can ruin the time you are in now by sentimentally looking back or discontentedly looking forward.  Remember that, “This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it”.

Not recognizing transition is when ‘good’ becomes the enemy of ‘best’.  The old order gets in the way of the new order.  It is the wineskin that Jesus talked about.  God has new things, new assignments, opportunities, relationships and responsibilities to give us that require new structure.  The new structure has God’s design for that new assignment, in you and for you to serve him.

God has our best for us and we have to let go of the good, to receive it.  Paul had those three rocky years and then went to the sidelines for nine and then was called back up.  God never forgot him and Barnabas got to be God’s representative to get Paul back into what was going to happen.

Imagine the ridiculousness of if Paul never left Tarsus and just stayed there.  He instead was open to change and reforming his call.  That is a good example to follow.

Are we guided by God and God has a plan.  But there is a dance, where we make mistakes and encounter opposition.  Then God re-guides us, renews us and recalls us.  We will have opposition, but we keep walking with God and rediscovering the plan.

The path to the one is in and through The One.  That is the overarching, chief plan of radical union with Christ.

New & Old

He also told them a parable: “No one tears a patch from a new garment and puts it on an old garment. Otherwise, not only will he tear the new, but also the piece from the new garment will not match the old.  And no one puts new wine into old wineskins.  Otherwise, the new wine will burst the skins, it will spill, and the skins will be ruined.  But new wine should be put into fresh wineskins.  And no one, after drinking old wine, wants new, because he says, ‘The old is better.’”
-Luke 5:36-39 (HCSB)

Photo: Pixabay

There is an observation, that Jesus makes, and that observation is that sometimes, the old containers will not hold the new thing; and some people do not want the new thing, but prefer the old. 

God is a God of the new.  God does new things (Isa. 43:19).  Jesus brought about the new covenant (Jer. 31:31, Lk. 22:20, 1 Cor. 11:25, 2 Cor. 3:6, Heb. 8-10).  And in the second to last chapter of the Bible, the new heavens and the new earth and the new Jerusalem are described and God says, “Behold, I make all things new”.
 
He does not throw away the old, but renews it.  God also redeems, rebuilds, reforms, and restores.  God transforms people.  Transformed people function differently.  The new wine and the new fabric are the new or renewing work of the kingdom of God.

This parabolic saying about the new and old fabric, new and old wine, and the new and old wineskins  is also found in Matthew and Mark.  But in Luke, we have this last word, where Jesus remarks that, “And no one, after drinking old wine, wants new, because he says, ‘The old is better.”

Wineskins were holders of wine, like bottles, in ancient times.  New wine would expand a bit in it’s wineskin.  New wineskins were soft and flexible, allowing for expansion.  Once the expansion occurred, the skin would become harder.  If you tried putting new wine in old skins, the new wine would burst the old skins.  That’s what Jesus is saying.

Originally, Jesus was saying that his ministry was the new wine, which requires a new wineskin.  It will frankly burst the old.  He comments at the end that older wine does taste better to some people and they have no desire for the new.

We know that Jesus’ ministry in word and deed, was out in the open.  He walked from town to town, throughout regions, and ministered even in the temple courtyards.  His “new wine” was on display and flowing, yet some people watched and said, “no” to it.  And that is what this word is about, “the old is better”.

How does this apply to today?  If the wineskin signifies the holder of the wine and Jesus is dispensing new wine, we need new wine-holders.  But what does “new” mean?  Jesus inaugurated the new testament, new covenant over 2000 years ago. 

The big new thing, new wine, came in Jesus; so the old holder of the older wine was not going to hold the new wine in Jesus.  On a macro level, we have the old covenant, given through Moses, that we call the Mosaic Covenant; and then the new covenant, given by and through Jesus, called the New Covenant.

But on a micro level, we have a people, at the time of Jesus, who developed a system, a style, a way of life, or an institutionalization of how to live out their lives before God.  On the scene were rabbis, scribes, pharisees, priests, and synagogue rulers who were all functioning in a way, and in different ways, at odds with one another; that were their wineskin, metaphorically, to hold and dispense their expression of religion.

The person who says, “I like my old way.  I am very comfortable in it and have no use for new ways”, does not want the new wine.  Another side-note about wine, aged wine, is that it does not last for ever, but does go bad.  It has a shelf-life, like any food.

Jesus is not saying that fads and trends and novelties are where he wants us.  He is saying that it is not good to resist the new and be suspicious of it.  New will not fit in the old.  The holders must be renewed to hold the new and new is good. 

The test for the new is, “Is it true?”  Is it true to the scriptures, not to just how we’ve always done it or believed it.  Are we willing to be renewed, refreshed, and revived?  Some of us need rebuilding.

The reformation was and is about getting back to the authentic Christian life that we have wandered from, with our traditions, that are our wine holders and dispensers.  The reformation was incomplete under Luther and his friends, but continues today.

Jesus is reforming, restoring, renewing, reviving, and rebuilding his church.  He is still doing the kingdom, with people and building his church.  This is the new wine today.  Our customs, traditions, and well-meaning religious activities often can not handle or hold Jesus’ authentic ministry of the kingdom, so we oppose, resist, and reject it.

The New Testament scriptures brilliantly give us this account of people coming into Jesus’ authentic life in their lives and working it out together.  I believe there are so many stories and words about the folks who were religious and claimed to follow God and the Bible, yet opposed Jesus and his church, because we would need to see and know about falling into that trap, that is as easy to fall into and be captured by today and it was when Jesus lived, as a man.

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For further reading:
Custom and Command by Stan Firth (paperback), or PDF
The Problem of Wine Skins,   by Howard A. Synder (1975, dated, but timely principles)
Bursting The Wineskins, by Michael Cassidy (1981, historical testimony of personal renewal)

Anchors Aweigh

The phrase “Anchors aweigh!”, means, “Bring the anchors up”, or “The anchors are free of the sea bottom and the ship is underway”(1).  It carries the idea that the anchors are no longer holding the ship in place and it can now sail.

Photo: Pixabay

Anchor occurs twice in the NT.  In Acts 27 and Hebrews 6.  In Acts 27, the anchors were used to keep Paul’s ship from being wrecked, in verses 29 and 30.  Then, in verse 40, they cut the anchors loose, when they were about to make a final run for the beach, and give up the ship:

After casting anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time loosening the ropes that held the rudders. Then they hoisted the foresail to the wind and headed for the beach.
-Acts 27:40

In Hebrews 6:19, it says that we have the hope of Christ, as the anchor for our lives.  Christ keeps up during life’s storms and anchors us, in himself, as we sail through life.

We have this hope as an anchor for our lives, safe and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain. 

-Hebrews 6:19

“Anchors aweigh”, which means to pull up your anchors and get underway, does not perfectly fit Acts 27 nor Hebrews 6.  But, what about Philippians 3, where Paul writes this:

But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and reaching forward to what is ahead, I pursue as my goal the prize promised by God’s heavenly call in Christ Jesus.
Therefore, all who are mature should think this way.
-Philippians 3:15b-15a

As we pull up our anchors and sail, we forget what is behind and reach forward, pursuing our goal of the heavenly prize in Christ.  This is how we think and therefore, function.  Paul says, in the next verses, that if you don’t get it, then let God impart it to you.

If the Lord says, “Anchors aweigh”, I think he is saying, “Be free”, and “You’re underway”.  When Jesus says, “If the Son sets you free you are free indeed”(John 8:36), I think he means it.  He also says to the healed one, “Go and sin no more”(John 8:11).

He sets you free, but you must go and be free.  He heals you, but you must continue in your healing.  We have responsibility for our well being.

“Anchors aweigh”, might mean it is time to begin sailing and you are in fact underway.  Leaving the port is exciting.  The simple truth is that when the anchors are down, you are stopped; but when the anchors come up, you get to go.

“Anchors aweigh” means that your time to go is here.  There is a time to stay, to anchor, to rest, to be hidden in the harbor, to make repairs, to take on supplies, to get your hull fixed, to get your sails mended, and to learn sailing in a class on land.  There is a time for all that, but then comes the time to sail out into the sea.

There is a time to move, to go out, to leave the harbor. When the anchors are pulled up, the ship is no longer anchored.  The boat enters a liminal space in-between “anchored” and “sailing”.  Are you in that space?

There is God’s initiative and our responsibility.  We’ve been filled and filled and filled, repaired, rested, rewired; taught it and caught it, seen it and dreamed it, heard it and spoken about it.  The anchors have been drawn up.  Now God is saying, “Your move “.

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1. Anchors Aweigh, wiki

Walking Before God

When Abram was ninety-nine years old Yahweh appeared to Abram. And he said to him, “I am El-Shaddai; walk before me and be blameless so that I may make my covenant between me and you, and may multiply you exceedingly.”
-Genesis 17:1 (LEB)

Photo from Pixibay

I looked up Genesis 17:1 in ten translations and looked at David Guzik’s commentary, and decided that I liked the Lexham English Bible the best.  In the LEB, we have, “Yahweh”, “El-Shaddai”, and “Walk before me and be blameless”.

Instead of Yahweh, most other translations have, “The Lord”.  I believe “Yahweh” here in this story is fitting, because that is God’s proper name, that means Lord.  Why not have the name, rather than what the name means?  And “The Lord” means the “I AM”(Ex. 3:15).

This verse starts out with Abram’s age of 99.  He is still Abram, without the “ha”.  These Yahweh encounters are going to result in a name change of  his name (Gen. 17:5); and his wife’s name (Ge. 17:15).

In the verses that follow, God tells Abram that he is going to multiply him and Sarai, which is what their new names, Abraham and Sarah, signify.  They were worried about addition and God wants to do multiplication.  The multiplication did not occur until the third generation, when their great grandchild, Jacob had his children, who became the 12 tribes.  From these 12, there would be millions and millions of people born.

“I am El-Shaddai”

God is standing in our future, with the provision we need to live there.  He said to Abraham, “I am El-Shaddai”, before he said to him, “Walk before me and be blameless”.  From David Guzik’s commentary, he writes that, El-Shaddai might mean “God who is sufficient” (Kidner), or, “I am that God who pours out blessings, who gives them richly, abundantly, continually” (Clarke), or, “It may have in mind the strength of a man’s chest (God Almighty) or the comfort and nourishment of a woman’s breast (God of Tender Care)” (Barnhouse).

It is a Biblical principal that where God guides, he provides.  Before God gives Abraham the promise, that was something Abe and his wife wanted more than anything; he wants to transform Abraham through a revelation of who he is.  Abraham gets an expansion of his knowledge of God.

He must be expanded, to receive what is coming.  And Abraham and Sarah’s relationship with God must deepen and widen.  The gift will come in the context of the relationship.  All authentic ministry comes from relationship with God.  All the benefits come from the benefactor, just like a good father who takes care of his child. 

God wants to transform Abraham into a person who knows God as El-Shaddai:

• God has everything you need and will give it to you.
• God’s blessings, in all dimensions, that he wants to pour upon you, are beyond measure.
• God is The Almighty, who cares for each one of his kids.
• God’s provision for us is also in his comfort and nourishing, tender care.

God does not just want to provide for us.  He wants us to know him as our provision.

We are missing it, if our eyes are just on the provision.  Remember that we enter his gates with thanksgiving (Psalm 100:4) and that it is God’s will for us to be thankful in all circumstances (1 Thess. 3:18).  We get caught up in thinking we do not have enough and wondering why God lets others have more.  Ironically, many of the people who have more are also in discontent.  Why?  Because the key is knowing God and letting him transform you, so that you see him as your provision.

What is your vision?  If you are a Christian, then God (Father, Son, and Holy Spirit) are your “pro”.  They are definitely professionals at what they do, but the “pro” here is short for “provision”.  They are the provision for the vision.

Abraham, when he was Abram; had a vision, a desire, and a destiny that God affirmed, confirmed, and prophesied.  That’s the good news.  The bad news was that it did not come to pass, for a long time.  And, he shared that vision and prophecy with his wife, who would be his partner in that destiny or vision coming to pass.

Can you imagine the thrill at receiving the divine affirmation and confirmation about your procreation, and then the disappointment, when it does not happen…  for weeks, months, years, and then decades.

What if the wait was because God was waiting for Abraham and Sarah to get something, about God, before God could give them what he promised? 

Abraham would be looked back on as “the man of faith” (Gal. 3:9), and as “the friend of God” (James 2:23).  His faith was severely tested and the friendship was stretched or refined by the fire of his suffering.  Sarai’s suffering was his suffering.

All those years went by and Sarai saw other ladies get pregnant and give birth and raise beautiful children, while she sat alone, barren.  Why on earth would God promise something, but not bring it to pass?  Can you imagine her faith and the strain on her relationship to her mystic husband who told her that God appeared to him and made these promises?

You might remember when Sarah laughed.  Well, Abraham laughed before that and it seems like he laughed even harder (Gen. 17:17), because he fell to the ground laughing.  I don’t think his laughter was joy, but was incredulity.  It is hard to imagine laughing like that when God is speaking to you, not in a whisper, but in a full on appearance.  I think that this is evidence of Abram’s friendship with God.

And God said to Abraham, “as for Sarai your wife, you shall not call her name Sarai, for Sarah shall be her name.  And I will bless her; moreover, I give to you from her a son. And I will bless her, and she shall give rise to nations. Kings of peoples shall come from her.”  And Abraham fell upon his face and laughed. And he said in his heart, “Can a child be born to a man a hundred years old, or can Sarah bear a child at ninety?”   And Abraham said to God, “Oh that Ishmael might live before you!”  And God said, “No, but Sarah your wife shall bear a son for you, and you shall call his name Isaac. And I will establish my covenant with him as an everlasting covenant to his offspring after him.
-Gen. 17:15-19

Faith is messy.  We believe, because after all, God is faithful.  But, we have doubts and we just don’t understand, and then when painful disappointment mixes in, it is a mess; but there is still faith.  It’s still real faith, because real faith has faith in the faithfulness of another.  We don’t have to understand it, for it to be real faith.

So, Abraham could have laughed hysterically, when God again made his promise and gave him the prophetic word; and still be a man of faith.  Notice also that God named his son Isaac, which means “laughter”, right after Abraham laughed hysterically.  On the spot, God took Abraham’s incredulous laughter and incorporated or transformed it into joyous laughter in the more specific prophecy about the promise that would be fulfilled soon.

It is also notable that Abraham and Sarah had a godly marriage, that Peter references in 1 Peter 3:1-7.  Sarah never went to her place of prayer and got words from God about her destiny of being the mother of Isaac, that we know of.  Instead, God gave her words through her husband.

She was subject to her husband.  Subject does not mean “sourced”.  God was her source.  Her husband was her loving leader.

“Walk before me and be blameless.”  

There is a saying that, “The secret of your future is hidden in your daily routine”.  The Bible teaches that a happy life, a content life, comes from wholeness.  That life comes from walking before God, who is our Father, our provider, and our all-sufficiency.

You can be rich or poor, an owner or a renter, fertile or barren, sick or well, on the mountain top, or in the arid desert.  You may be highly qualified or a simpleton.  But the question is, are you walking before God?  Or are you going your own way?  Are you letting God meet your needs or are you doing it for your self?

“Walk before me and be blameless” (LEB, ESV, NET, and NKJV)

“Walk before me faithfully and be blameless.” (NIV)

“Walk with me and be trustworthy.” (CEB)

“Serve me faithfully and live a blameless life.” (NLT)

“Obey me and always do right.” (CEV)

“Live entirely before me, live to the hilt.” (MSG)

“Live in My presence and be blameless.” (HCSB)

“Walk before me habitually and be blameless” (Young’s)

Our physical walking is daily and many times daily.  Our walk with God is the same.  We may walk to the curb to get the mail or we may walk from the parking lot to our destination.  In out walks, short and long, we encounter people, situations, and choices.  It is in those places of living that we walk with God.

Our walk with God is not divorced from all of our run-of-the-mill, every-day encounters; but is completely wedded to it.

I think that “blameless”, means, “with integrity”.  I think the idea is wholeness.  God is after wholeness in us.  Playing the part of “Christian”, but not really being one in how you live in private, is not wholeness.

Salvation is an event and a process.  The walk is a continual walk.  We get more sanctified, we get more fruitful, we get more wise, we get more freedom, and we grow in grace.  If you do not embrace the process, the journey, your pilgrimage, and walking before God, through life; then you will not grow or mature spiritually.

Our basis for this walk is not our selves.  God is.  We must do things, but he empowers us to do them.  We must be good, but his goodness gives us that ability.  We take up what he has given us.  That is what Paul means by, “The life I now live is by the faithfulness of the Son of God” (Gal. 2:20).

Seeing The Other Side of The Mountain

The Bear Went Over The Mountain by yancy9, CC BY 2.0

For now the winter is past; the rain has ended and gone away.  The blossoms appear in the countryside. The time of singing has come, and the turtledove’s cooing is heard in our land. The fig tree ripens its figs; the blossoming vines give off their fragrance. Arise, my darling. Come away, my beautiful one.

-Song of Solomon 2:11-13

Some of us have been waiting for springtime for a very long time.  We have been in a sort of hibernation, waiting for our wintertime to be over.  I believe it is finally that time.

The winter has finally passed.  You will no longer complain about a distant God, but now have a voracious appetite for the Bible, to read God’s written words.  You will hunger for and desire to feed on the word of God.

We have been like a bear in hibernation, who was looking forward to spring.  We would awaken and venture out of our caves, again and again, only to find thick winter clouds obscuring the other side of the mountain.  Then, we would go back to our cave and hibernate some more.  We would keep getting the grace to awaken, but we could not see the other side of the mountain.

There was not enough sun shine for us to see, because of the cold clouds.  We have believed that the mountain was there, but our vision was obscured by the winter clouds.

Then, again, we had the grace to wake up, once more, and things were different.  The winter was now over and we can see the other side of the mountain.  We went back and demolished our winter den and have been heading for the other side of the mountain.

Now, on the other side of the mountain, it is spring, and we can begin to see the river, that we will cross to the other side of, into our destinies, on our life journeys.  Spring is now here for many people.

Do you know this song?

The bear went over the mountain, the bear went over the mountain
The bear went over the mountain, to see what he could see.
And all that he could see, and all that he could see
Was the other side of the mountain, the other side of the mountain
The other side of the mountain, was all that he could see.

The bear went over the river, the bear went over the river
The bear went over the river, to see what he could see.
And all that he could see, and all that he could see
Was the other side of the river, the other side of the river
The other side of the river, was all that he could see.

nobody, nowhere, nothing: no problem

Sing, O barren one, who did not bear;
break forth into singing and cry aloud,
you who have not been in labor!
For the children of the desolate one will be more
than the children of her who is married,” says the Lord.

Isaiah 54:1

If you’re a nobody, if you seem to be going nowhere, if nothing seems to work; then celebrate.
Human nature celebrates human ingenuity, born winners. But God likes to take “failures” and make then fruitful.

This verse is spoken to the people of God in transition. God is saying, be encouraged, it’s a new beginning time and I’ve got great plans for you. This word is spoken to people who want God’s best for themselves and it hasn’t worked out. They are discouraged. Did you know that God not only has plan B when plan A doesn’t work out, but he also has plan C, D, E, F; and on and on. God is not a perfectionist. God is not discouraged when we fail or when others fail us. God doesn’t pack up and go home when the enemy wins a round in our lives. So, worship God!

cross over

Attention, Israel! This very day you are crossing the Jordan to enter the land…
Deuteronomy 9:1a

There is a time to cross over, a window of opportunity so to speak. Timing is everything.
If there’s a time to go, a time to strike, a time to act; what do you do before that window comes? Prepare. Be prepared. Get ready.

Here’s a key point about transition that is simple, yet profound: You have to fully leave in order to fully arrive. If you don’t fully leave, then you can not fully arrive, at your new destination, because part of you is still “back there” or you’ve brought some of the “back there” to the “here”. What’s sad and what you don’t want is to be in a new place with your old stuff. Grieve the loss and be healed.

Suddenly for you

Now the angel of the Lord came and sat under the terebinth at Ophrah, which belonged to Joash the Abiezrite, while his son Gideon was beating out wheat in the wine press to hide it from the Midianites . Judges 6:11

Ophrah was an obscure Benjamite town, in the promised land, where an obscure man named Gideon lived. In Ophrah, the people of God had pretty much walked away from their roots and were engaging in pagan worship with noticeable idols and alters in their town. In this seemingly God forsaken place that seemed forgotten by God and defeated by darkness; suddenly the angel of the Lord shows up and calls out Gideon. Gideon responds to what the angel says and he’s off into a new life. Gideon is the person that the story is about- what happened to this nobody. But the lesson for us is God’s intervention in human affairs. Gideon did not study or intern to become a leader. He didn’t build up a network and find money to do good. Gideon was just trying to survive in a terrible time. Gideon literally had nothing but God. And what of God he had was invisible. The angel didn’t go door to door with him. God was with him though and that did it. This obscure, afraid for good reasons, guy; became this wild risk taking humble warrior leader, almost overnight, because God really called him and equipped him.

My point is that……………… it can happen to you! Be surprised and go with it.

Cherry Blossom

Behold, I am doing a new thing;
now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?
Isaiah 43:19a

The Cherry Blossom tree blooms only once a year in the spring. Each flower only lasts for two or three days. A group of trees can have it’s blooming period last up to 14 days.

Some thoughts I have are that when “opportunity knocks”, you have to respond quick. “Suddenlies of God” happen and you’ve got to respond. You’ve learned to wait and wait.
Suddenly, what you’ve waited for is here and it’s Carpe Diem time!

liminal

Liminal is a word that means “threshold”. To be in a liminal place is to be in an in-between place. You’ve left one place and you are not yet at a new place. A rite-of-passage can be a liminous place. A liminal place is a place where your identity changes and you feel disoriented. You are opened by the circumstances of your life and are given the opportunity for change, growth, and transformation. When a group of people are in a liminal place together, such as when a group of people face crisis or disaster; social classes, previous prejudices, or ranks do not matter. Everyone is in the same boat.

The places of growth and rich revelation in the Bible are often liminous times. These are times of change and disorientation. Much of Abraham’s life was liminal, for example.