Building On the Truth of Love

I had an interesting experience recently.  Someone asked me a question…how do you balance being on the path of spiritual growth and maturity and the other side of the situation that we are a bunch of miserable sinners.  I thought that this was an amazing question, and it zones in on what so many Christians deal with…their identity in Christ.  

My answer to this wonderful lady was this.  It depends on where your story starts.  Does it start in Genesis 1 where God made all things, including people (you and me) and pronounced it good?  Or does it start in Genesis 3 after the fall?  I prefer to start my story in Genesis 1 and believe that God’s original intent will be completed in me.  He will complete what He has started.  I thought she was going to cry.  She said that not in her entire life had she been told this…and it is right in the Bible.  

I also shared with her that in Christ’s time and the early church, it was understood that we were born saved and only could be lost if we chose that path.  During Augustine’s time, he initiated the doctrine of original sin…that we are born lost and have to work really hard and convince God that we are worth saving.  It isn’t in the Bible.  It came from a man.  When I learned this, I finally understood why I felt that there was such discrepancy between God’s word and what I heard from the pulpit at church.  All of Christianity has chosen to follow and teach something that came from man. 

Why does it matter?  It matters because of what it says about God.  Is He for us?  Or against us?  God didn’t have to be convinced to save us.  Jesus is the Lamb slain from the foundation of the earth.  For God so loved that He gave His only begotten Son.  Knowing the truth about this makes Scripture make sense.  It is this type of deceit that has done huge damage to the image of God and made the Scriptures seem incongruent.  

I was raised with a get-you god.  He has you under his finger just ready to squash you.  Lots of people have the same hopelessness about themselves that this lady had.  Her question was honest.  Why would I want to go on a journey of spiritual maturity and emotional healing just to find a mad, vengeful God at the end of that journey.  And another part of the scenario is this idea that we are hopeless and beyond redemption…we just never seem to get it right.  I met someone one time who used to visit with me on Monday mornings.  It was a real challenge.  She had been to church the day before, and each Monday she came in spiritually beaten up.  God’s name and identity had suffered a severe blow at her church.  She never could get to the truth of who she is in Christ because she never heard the truth about God.

I have said it before, and it is worth repeating the story of the woman caught in adultery.  Her story is ours.  She was set up and deceived…trapped in a plot that would be used to trap Jesus.  When her pre-planned exposure gave her accusers the opportunity of throwing her at the feet of Jesus and demanding her death by the law, Jesus/God stepped in.  Jesus stooped down and started writing the sins of the accusers in the sand.  He that is without sin cast the first stone.  Their sins had been revealed.  They had no right to accuse.  This story is our story in the Garden of Eden.  We were  set up, deceived, and tossed at the feet of God.  He stepped in and made a way for us to come out from under the condemnation of the Accuser of the brethren.  Then we have an opportunity for “go and sin no more.”  Every day we have opportunities for do-overs.  It is when we get stuck in these lies that we are unloved by God and hopeless that we just are not able  to have the courage for trying again.  

In the example of Jesus on the earth, we have a visual aid of “on earth as is in heaven.”  He is bringing us a walking, talking, living, breathing, loving example of Heaven’s love for us.  Go to the Red Words in the Bible and start finding the truth about God/Jesus.  Jesus said that if you have seen Him, you have seen the father.  Any perception that is not of this is a distortion of men creating God in their own image.  God is love.   Sometimes our own experiences of familial abuse at home and spiritual abuse from the church has given us an experience of being caught and tossed at the feet of a vengeful  god.  Sometimes I hear people say: I must not be living right because such and such bad thing is happening.  This is another distortion of truth that turns the relationship with God into a business transaction.  This is western man’s way of sorting things out..not God’s character at all.  

The gospel is called the good news.  The meaning of “gospel” is that "the enemy is defeated and a new king is in charge."  That is the message.  Not a bunch of doctrine.  We are to go and teach others that a new King is in charge…the Kingdom has been taken back.  Praise God.

Rejection and People Pleasing

I am watching the sun sprinkle through the trees.  It spills like diamonds on the multicolored leaves.  It is very happy looking.  I love trees.  I am energized by the sunlight.  God is painting Fall masterpieces, and it is giving us a glorious cathedral.  This morning I woke with a knowing.  God’s early morning tug at my heart was speaking to me about overcoming.  This issue was rejection.

Do you ever struggle with that?  It can trigger feelings of defensiveness.  It can call out every fear and anxiety that we have.  I have done a lot of work around this issue of rejection.  We give away so much power to others as a consequence.  You might say we prostitute ourselves trying to avoid rejection.

As I talked to the Lord about this, I realized that even though I have done work all around the issue, I had not gotten to the core…a family inheritance.  Some would call this a sin of the father that has come down in the family.  I am OK with that.  It had to start somewhere.  We have a physical, emotional, and spiritual inheritance that we receive from birth.  I believe it is this that is the foundation of “sand” upon which we build this earthly house.  

At some point, we have to rebuild on the “rock” foundation with is the Truth in Jesus Christ.  This morning the sand of rejection  was replaced with the Spirit’s courage.  With that courage, I will be able to speak the Truth in love and never offer any of it for sale based on another’s opinion.  The Truth is about the love of God towards each of us.  

Do you ever find yourself a bit timid about talking about the love of God because someone might think you are a bit strange?  You have just sold yourself.  What we have to remember is that our Truth of the love of God may touch hearts.  It is when we move into the realm of man’s opinions about this or that…theology, doctrine, prophecy, etc. that we start arguing about the traditions of man.  

Jesus said that we can make of no effect the law of God by making it self-serving.  This is interesting.   It seems they knew how to manipulate the law even then.  This manipulation distorted God’s original intent in the law of love…love to man and to God.  God’s law is made manifest in giving the Beatitudes.  It is about His character.  It is about us taking on His image.  When Christ presented this information to the people, it was turning over many traditions of men that had replaced these principles.  These are the landmarks of character development.  

We have such a legalistic view of law.  These principles free us from that.  Only when we dress up our legalism in the righteous garb of the Pharisees, do we begin the use the “law” as something which becomes the traditions of men.  

How does rejection develop?  It is an energy that we become acquainted with when we did or said something someone else did not like, therefore, they labeled it and/or us as something unacceptable.  It can be full of shame,  It can create defensiveness.  There you have the stuff of life on this planet.  You see, if we left off the legalism of the traditions of men and focused on being people of love, this would disappear.  That is the ideal and far from the reality that we have in this world.  In the meantime, we have to learn the Truth that is based in the Rock…in Christ Jesus I am signification, secure, supported.  It does not include rejection.  Learning to walk in that truth is to turn away from people pleasing.  It is to understand that we are not going to make everyone happy.  We were not put on the earth for that.  We are to be one with Christ, and the oneness that is possible with others comes from others being one with Christ, and, therefore , we are all one with Him.  It is all about God!  What freedom we are offered.  Thank you, Lord.  

What Programming Are You Running?

I was listening to a presentation by Dr. Bruce Lipton, renowned cellular biologist, and he said that 75% of our thoughts are negative.  Wow!  He also said that only 5% of our consciousness is running our life; 95% of our programming is from the subconscious.  This is the stuff we were programmed with in childhood and received as programs from our parents.  This is why it can be so hard to overcome things that we have recognized as dysfunctional and harmful…they are actually automatic programs…we can also call them habits.

I had been struggling with something and did not really know what to call it.  The Lord used Dr. Lipton's words to give me greater insight into the situation as well as gave me some vivid pictures of where I picked up this programming.  I prayed about it and claimed God’s promises for release and redemption.  It made a great difference in me within minutes.  I realized that a type of weariness that I have been struggling with was coming from that.  I love it that God can so quickly set us free!

I am grateful, too, that what seemed like a random presentation was actually a divine appointment for freedom.  I had not realized that this thing had become not only a habit but was affecting my thoughts and beliefs.  I did not like this part of me, and I am sure my self-talk was doing me no good.  These self-destructive habits can make you feel physically weary and worthless.  

The Scripture says that a house divided against itself cannot stand.  Negative thoughts and habits very much create a house divided against itself.  We are a temple for the most high God.  Sometimes, He needs to step in and cleanse our temples because dysfunctional programming has created a den of thieves.  It is stealing our happiness.  That happiness glorifies God.  So, it is also stealing from God.

Let me encourage you to review habits, self-talk, behaviors that disappoint you, and any place that you just cannot put your finger on but you know if just does not feel right.  Take it to the Lord and ask Him to show you what is going on.  Listen.  Be ready for some truth encounters.  Be ready to receive freedom.

Rationalizing the places of dysfunctional habits is to live in delusion.  This is not a happy place to live no matter how we have justified it.  It is a place of bondage…a place of being created in the image of man instead of the image of God.  A house divided against itself is not a place of victory.  I am so grateful for God’s intervention in our lives on a daily basis.  This is the dying daily that Paul talks about.  It is all about transformation…being that new creature.  Praise God for that grace that pursues us so that He can complete that which He started in us.  

Rescued Hearts

God is love.  He must have an object of love for His love to express.  When we look at the beautiful trees (I love trees), we can see, hear, feel His love.  It was on a tree that He evidenced His love by dying for us.  When you think about it, people often die of a broken heart because they do not have “the other — the object of their love” to share love with.  Our beautiful world is God sharing His love with us.  The Fall leaves are a love note and a promise from God.  In every stage of life, there is beauty and after a Winter’s rest, there is resurrection.  

The object of your love is not so much the issue as is the importance that there be an object.  God has put love in us.  It must be payed forward in order to thrive.  One thing that I have noticed lately is how many Facebook posts there are about animal friends among different species and the love response that happens among animals and humans when a rescue occurs.  We think that we have rescued the animal, but I am wondering if it is not some part of Divine intention in ourselves that has been rescued.  

In this time of high tech and low touch, there is something in us that wants to be rescued and, therefore, needs to rescue.  I am wondering if this is not our heart cry to find this oneness that we are to have with all things.  Love needs something and someone to invest itself with.  We have become so defensive and protective that we have walled off our hearts.  We protect our vulnerability instead of putting ourselves out there to love and be loved.  

I think this vulnerable love is the first love that is from God.  It is the first love that we are encouraged not to lose by becoming defensive and protective in our perceived battles.  That which you struggle against, you empower.  We look at what is wrong and seek to find the bad guy.  Our perception is usually based on something being different, dumb, or evil and what we might lose if we see things differently.  What a victory we would have if we put down our guns and started seeing through eyes of love.  We would see that there is nothing to lose and everything to gain and BECOME.  The glorious thing about rescues is that it is win win.  Thank you, God.

We Are One

Romans 12:5 —  so we being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

To me, this is so profound.  John 17 is Christ’s last prayer.  It is about oneness.  He is praying that we will be one with Him and the Father AS they are one with each other.  The only way we can be one with each other is if we are one with Christ and the Father.  I think that it is interesting that this is equated to a marriage relationship.

All through the scripture, Israel’s relationship with God is compared with an adulterous woman.  This means that their relationship was to have been an exclusive relationship.  God is a jealous God, and He does not want to share us with anything or anyone.  You can see this as severe or you can see this as precious.  As precious, it is expressing how much God loves us, and how He wants to be loved as faithfully in return.

How do we take this idea of oneness with Him and with each other and make it real to us.  God is love.  Love is other centered.  Brothers and sisters in Christ are one if they honor that blood relationship that comes through His blood and body.  So often, we turn the relationship into something that we do.  We cannot love like God loves.  We cannot be other centered because we are so invested in self and outcomes that magnify the self.  

So often, when we look at brothers and sisters in Christ, we see their shortcomings.  We see what they are not.  Our eyesight needs redemption.  This is only something that Christ can do.  The truth about this unredeemed gaze is that we are actually seeing what we dislike about ourselves.  It is really you and me that need redemption…from our wounds and dysfunctional beliefs that cause us to be out-of-relationship with ourselves.  From a place of criticism, we are actually saying, “Lord, thank you that I am not like that.”  This judgment means that we are LIKE THAT!

This morning in the chapel, I had a praise and worship song on…one of my favorites.  The words —I just came to see Your face — called me up to a higher place.  Our purpose for worship is to see His face…not mine or yours.  Who are we worshipping?  I thought about how many times we bring to God the list of what is wrong with ourselves and others.  While intercessory prayer is important, it should not take the place of time spent seeking His face.  And it does not need to be something that is a dressed up form of criticism and judgement (or gossip if praying with others).  

Criticism is a counterfeit for intercession.  Intercession lets you stand before God in the gap for someone else.  God already knows where we all need healing.  He does not need us to be the accountant.  He needs for us to ask for His intervention for others.  We need to ask if there is something that He wants us to pray.  We need not think that we know God’s will either.  I was praying for someone for health and the Lord said that I could not pray that because the poor health was result of poor choices.  He said He could not condone that by granting health.  I asked God what I could pray.  He said that I could pray that the person get an understanding about the dysfunction driving lifestyle choices that brought sickness.  That was really eye opening to me.  This is why we see so so many prayers for healing going seemingly unanswered.  If He heals us today, He will have to do so again in two weeks because we did not face the truth encounter that the sickness was trying to give us.  

We have been raised to think that sickness is from outside of us…we are a victim of our bodies.  We are taught to believe that healing comes from outside of us…in the form of someone else’s prayers or the medical profession.  Again, we are victim to doctors or the prayers of others and the whims of God.  Not true.  

Now, what I am not saying is that if you are sick, it is your fault.  It may be,  but it does not have to be.  Do not let self-hate kick in and victimize you.  See and hear above that.  If you feel that, remember that condemnation and guilt come from Satan (the accuser).  Conviction comes from God and is empowering.  Even though I could not pray for healing for the person, God told me what I could pray…truth about the reason they were sick and empowerment to help.

What has this got to do with oneness?  We are called to be intercessors.  We need to do it from a place of love.  We all have wounds and need prayer.  I can focus on the wounds or I can focus on the God who heals wounds.  He has already taken care of the wounds in the work of the cross.  God stands beside us.  He says that He needs our help.  The life is in the blood.  The answers are in the blood relationship of oneness.  He needs our prayers for others because He works through invitation.  Remember, He stands at the door and knocks.  He is waiting for us to open and invite Him into the situation.  God is love.  I just came to see Your face.  It is seeing His face that allows us to look with love and come from a place of love when we see the faces of our brothers and sisters. 

Stay in the Power of Your First Love

Matthew 6:33 — But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and His righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.  

In the previous texts, we are told what “all these things” are.  Verse 25: take no thought for your life, what you shall eat or what you shall drink, what you shall wear.  The question from Jesus is: Is not the life more than meat, and the body more that raiment?

In Revelation 2:4, the counsel given to the first church, Ephesus, was…nevertheless I have somewhat against thee, because thou has left thy first love.  I put these two together because having the first love would guarantee that we are primarily invested in seeking first the kingdom of God.  

Ephesus had lost their first love (Jesus Christ) in the effort to fight against a group called the Nicolaitans.  All their energy and time was going into this fight.  This group had infiltrated the church bringing in falsehood and conflict. 

There are some lessons for us to learn.  The good work of the church can be harmed in the fight with evil and what is not right.  I will say it again: I would rather be known for what I am for than what I am against.  You basically strengthen what you fight against.  How much of our time and attention is the negative getting because our battle is with evil?  Read the red words in the Bible, and you will see that Jesus spent time on living and walking a higher path.   

Are we seeking and promoting the kingdom of God (the red words)?  The kingdom is not only above, it is within, and it is God’s work of grace.  Read the “kingdom” parables and you will see that it is all about God’s work.  Often we miss that point and even turn those parables into something about us.  The treasure in a field (the world) is about the work of God sending His Son to give everything to get that treasure (you and me).  Look at these parables and you see the heart of God towards us.  If God in heaven “fought” evil by pursuing love and truth, do we think we are safe doing it any other way?

The Ephesians were told that God Himself hated the Nicolaitians.  Given that, the counsel to the Ephesians was that in the battle, they had lost their way…they had lost their first love, they were not seeking first the kingdom.  You can lose your first love while doing battle against evil.  Important lesson!

The greatest victory that evil can accomplish is to victimize God’s children through the deception that “we are doing this for God.”  Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness…this gives us the priority, and God has given us the path as an example.  

The power of the battle can be so deceiving.  We think we are doing something special for God, something powerful, something that is saving others.  If this were true, God would not have chastised Ephesis for battling evil.  Even if we do not understand it all, we must walk in His wisdom in this matter.  We are told that we will  be taken before powers.  We are not even to worry about what to say.  It will be given to us what to say.  

Another scenario of a different nature…we are told that we are to be always ready to given an answer to those WHO ASK for the reason for the hope of glory within us.  

Two situations:  One is out of our control.  One is very much in our control and is giving an answer to those who ask…we do not have to beat anyone up with truth.  In its time, the truth compels people to ask.  This is not really about doctrine.  It is the lovely Jesus the compels people to ask.  Keep talking about your first love.  That is how God wins through us.  Praise God.