Something spectacular happened on the Day of Pentecost in Acts chapter two. It is as if God showed up in a blaze glory and touched a people so profoundly and so deeply that the life transforming fires of God were set loose into human history.
The Day of Pentecost models for us in dramatic fashion that what God is doing in the world is not by might nor by power but by His Spirit (See Zechariah 4:6). The activity of God is not discerned at the end of a formula; it is a lived out reality rooted in the amazing life of Jesus Christ in a human being ~~ a living-out energized and empowered by the very life of God’s Spirit.
The Church is the supernatural creation of a Sovereign God who loves the world so very much that He let’s loose in it a community created, shaped, formed, empowered, energized and driven by His very life in that community. A community that tries to be a Spirit-filled community without the Spirit Himself in full control is a community that has no idea what it was created to be.
The Book of Acts reveals to us that without the abiding presence of the Holy Spirit in us, we are simply an exercise in futility. The work of God demands the presence of God, and the people who do that work must do it in a power that is greater than themselves. God uses people who are yielded to His life, committed to His purposes, open to His ways, filled with His Spirit, and passionate about His will. God is up to something spectacular in this world. It doesn’t end at Acts chapter two; it just gets started there.
Let the Church be the Spirit-filled, Spirit-controlled, and Spirit energized community of Almighty God. Let us listen for the voice of God, live in constant expectation of His breaking into the world again in fresh new ways, and let us live faithfully for the God who continually astounds by His Amazing Grace.
Saturday, May 30, 2009
Saturday, May 23, 2009
In the Christian Faith there is a teaching that says, “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son” (I John 5:11). The apostle John was so convinced of this that of his first letter he says, “These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life” (I John 5:13).
I am thinking of some words: Life, Eternal, Son, Believe, Know.” These crucial words bring clarity for us about the gift of God, and they remind us that in a world of conflict, confusion, anger, unrest, and violence that God is present. And, not only is God present, God is present with life-giving grace. The very thing we all long for is present in the presence of God among us.
In the Rule of Saint Benedict there is a great question that asks, “Is there anyone here who yearns for life and desires to see good days?” What a probing question and one to which, most likely, everyone on the planet would answer, YES. “Yes, I yearn for life; Yes I desire to see good days.”
For people who have come to know Jesus they would say that the yearning and the desiring have been met in Him. They would say, “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.”
It occurs to me that eternal life has more to do with quality than it has to do with quantity. The very life of the Sovereign God comes within the life of a very real human being and a quality, growing, developing, becoming relationship ensues, beginning now, and growing even into all eternity.
Embrace what has been given to you by God, become all that God would have you be, and be open to what God longs to do in your life. God has given you eternal life in Jesus, so go out and live it.
I am thinking of some words: Life, Eternal, Son, Believe, Know.” These crucial words bring clarity for us about the gift of God, and they remind us that in a world of conflict, confusion, anger, unrest, and violence that God is present. And, not only is God present, God is present with life-giving grace. The very thing we all long for is present in the presence of God among us.
In the Rule of Saint Benedict there is a great question that asks, “Is there anyone here who yearns for life and desires to see good days?” What a probing question and one to which, most likely, everyone on the planet would answer, YES. “Yes, I yearn for life; Yes I desire to see good days.”
For people who have come to know Jesus they would say that the yearning and the desiring have been met in Him. They would say, “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.”
It occurs to me that eternal life has more to do with quality than it has to do with quantity. The very life of the Sovereign God comes within the life of a very real human being and a quality, growing, developing, becoming relationship ensues, beginning now, and growing even into all eternity.
Embrace what has been given to you by God, become all that God would have you be, and be open to what God longs to do in your life. God has given you eternal life in Jesus, so go out and live it.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
The Bible says that God “loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to clear away our sins and the damage they've done to our relationship with God” (I John 4:10 The Message). God took the initiative and reached out to us with a love that drove Jesus to the cross. God is the One who acted; and, we have been acted upon.
God is love and Love expresses itself. Love cannot remain neutral, cannot stand on the sidelines uninvolved, can disconnect itself from the one it loves. So it is that God astounds the world by showing up in it, showing up so personally, so involved, so dramatically that He dies on a cross.
Today the followers of Jesus are called to love with a love that is pattered after the love of God in Jesus. “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (I John 4:10). It’s not just warm, benevolent, heart-felt feelings for one other, but real love. This kind of love in a person does not come out of human effort alone. In fact, the Bible says, “We love because He first loved us” (I John 4:19). It is the kind of love that loves its enemies, prays for those who persecutes it (Matt. 5:44), and regards others as more important than self (Phil. 2:3).
When a person comes to “believe the love which God has for us” (I John 4:16) and begins to live in that love, it shows forth the fact that God has taken up residence in that person’s life. And, when God has taken up residence fear is overcome by His presence, confidence is instilled by His presence, and love becomes a way of living. And, when love becomes a way of living the world can see that God really is an awesome God, worthy of their lives.
In this world, if we are going to err, let's err on the side of God’s outrageous love. It will bring a smile to our Father’s face and it will establish great credibility in our testimony.
God is love and Love expresses itself. Love cannot remain neutral, cannot stand on the sidelines uninvolved, can disconnect itself from the one it loves. So it is that God astounds the world by showing up in it, showing up so personally, so involved, so dramatically that He dies on a cross.
Today the followers of Jesus are called to love with a love that is pattered after the love of God in Jesus. “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another” (I John 4:10). It’s not just warm, benevolent, heart-felt feelings for one other, but real love. This kind of love in a person does not come out of human effort alone. In fact, the Bible says, “We love because He first loved us” (I John 4:19). It is the kind of love that loves its enemies, prays for those who persecutes it (Matt. 5:44), and regards others as more important than self (Phil. 2:3).
When a person comes to “believe the love which God has for us” (I John 4:16) and begins to live in that love, it shows forth the fact that God has taken up residence in that person’s life. And, when God has taken up residence fear is overcome by His presence, confidence is instilled by His presence, and love becomes a way of living. And, when love becomes a way of living the world can see that God really is an awesome God, worthy of their lives.
In this world, if we are going to err, let's err on the side of God’s outrageous love. It will bring a smile to our Father’s face and it will establish great credibility in our testimony.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
The faith we hold so dear expresses itself in one dynamic way – LOVE. “We know that we have passed out of death into life, because we love the brethren” (I John 3:14). Faith is active, not passive. We reveal we have faith not by saying we have faith but by living a life of Christ-like love.
I John 3:16 teaches, “We know love by this, that [Jesus] laid down His life for us.” What drove Jesus to the cross? LOVE. What led Him to the ultimate act of self-denial and sacrifice? LOVE. And, we love Him because of it, don’t we? But there’s more. The verse doesn’t stop with what Jesus did for us. It continues by saying, “And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”
Faith isn’t faith until it loves. Faith without the works of love is shallow and, quite frankly, debatable. Faith with Love is a powerful, creative, and imaginative force for God. A few people of faith, expressing that faith through divine love can let loose an influence that has all of heaven behind it.
And, what does it mean to lay down our lives for the brethren? Better yet, “Whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?” Don’t tell a brother or sister in deep need that you have faith; instead, find a way to reach into her or his life with the resources you have, and show her or him your faith by the act of Christ-like love flowing from your life into them.
Until faith is at work in love it sets, shriveling up on a shelf somewhere, talking a big talk but re-crucifying Jesus by it’s silence and pride, oblivious to the fact that the counsel of God is “Let us not love with word or tongue, but in deed and truth” (I John 3:18).
I John 3:16 teaches, “We know love by this, that [Jesus] laid down His life for us.” What drove Jesus to the cross? LOVE. What led Him to the ultimate act of self-denial and sacrifice? LOVE. And, we love Him because of it, don’t we? But there’s more. The verse doesn’t stop with what Jesus did for us. It continues by saying, “And we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.”
Faith isn’t faith until it loves. Faith without the works of love is shallow and, quite frankly, debatable. Faith with Love is a powerful, creative, and imaginative force for God. A few people of faith, expressing that faith through divine love can let loose an influence that has all of heaven behind it.
And, what does it mean to lay down our lives for the brethren? Better yet, “Whoever has the world’s goods, and sees his brother in need and closes his heart against him, how does the love of God abide in him?” Don’t tell a brother or sister in deep need that you have faith; instead, find a way to reach into her or his life with the resources you have, and show her or him your faith by the act of Christ-like love flowing from your life into them.
Until faith is at work in love it sets, shriveling up on a shelf somewhere, talking a big talk but re-crucifying Jesus by it’s silence and pride, oblivious to the fact that the counsel of God is “Let us not love with word or tongue, but in deed and truth” (I John 3:18).
Tuesday, May 05, 2009
“Shout…Sing…Say;” three great words about knowing God. “Shout joyfully to God all the earth… Sing the glory of His name… Say to God, “How awesome are Your works” (Psalm 66:1-3).
Four more great words: “Come … See… Bless… Sound. ” The call is, “Come and See the works of God…Bless our God, O peoples, and Sound His praise abroad” (Psalm 66:5 and 8).
What a great way to live: Shout… Sing… Say… Come…See…Bless…Sound.” We don’t have time for petty things; we’ve a God to glorify. We dare not major in minors; we’ve a God on our hands who is “awesome in His deeds” (Ps. 66:5). We don’t have the ego-driven luxury of littleness; we serve the God who “rules by His might forever” (Ps. 66:7).
There is one more word to consider ~~ REJOICE! “Let us rejoice in Him” (Ps. 66:6). No time for diversions or distractions. We’ve got more important things to do ~~ Shout… Sing… Say… Come… See… Bless… Sound… Rejoice.
God is afoot in our world and what God is doing is worthy of our full loyalty, support, and commitment. He is at work and His deeds can only be described as, “awesome” (Ps. 66: 3 and 5). We can fight Him or we can join-up with Him. He has given us that choice. Regardless of our choosing, however, His deeds are still “awesome.”
Let us be named among those who join-up. May we be named among those who shout and sing and say and come and see and bless and sound and rejoice. What is it the old Hymn says:
Four more great words: “Come … See… Bless… Sound. ” The call is, “Come and See the works of God…Bless our God, O peoples, and Sound His praise abroad” (Psalm 66:5 and 8).
What a great way to live: Shout… Sing… Say… Come…See…Bless…Sound.” We don’t have time for petty things; we’ve a God to glorify. We dare not major in minors; we’ve a God on our hands who is “awesome in His deeds” (Ps. 66:5). We don’t have the ego-driven luxury of littleness; we serve the God who “rules by His might forever” (Ps. 66:7).
There is one more word to consider ~~ REJOICE! “Let us rejoice in Him” (Ps. 66:6). No time for diversions or distractions. We’ve got more important things to do ~~ Shout… Sing… Say… Come… See… Bless… Sound… Rejoice.
God is afoot in our world and what God is doing is worthy of our full loyalty, support, and commitment. He is at work and His deeds can only be described as, “awesome” (Ps. 66: 3 and 5). We can fight Him or we can join-up with Him. He has given us that choice. Regardless of our choosing, however, His deeds are still “awesome.”
Let us be named among those who join-up. May we be named among those who shout and sing and say and come and see and bless and sound and rejoice. What is it the old Hymn says:
Rise up, O Church of God!
Have done with lesser things;
Give heart and mind and soul and strength
To serve the King of Kings.
Have done with lesser things;
Give heart and mind and soul and strength
To serve the King of Kings.
Saturday, May 02, 2009
Once-in-a-while it is good to revisit our foundation. It is good to build altars where we can return and worship and remember. The apostle John helps us in this process.
In I John 3:5 and 8, John reminds us of just who Jesus is. John says Jesus “appeared in order to take away sins…to destroy the works of the devil.” Who is He? He is the One who meets us at the deepest needs of our lives and destroys the destroyer there.
In I John 3:1 John reminds us of how much we are loved by God and what that love means. He says, ‘See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God.” Who are we? We are children of the One true God who destroys the destroyer.
In I John 3:7-8 John reminds us that we can live above the destructive forces of the enemy of our souls by practicing a righteous life in Christ. We don’t have to practice unrighteousness. The One who is righteous lives in us and brings out that kind of life in us.
In I John 3:2-3 John reminds us that we are headed somewhere, and that somewhere is a place where we will be like Jesus because we will see Him just as he is. This approaching date and place is so profound to us that John calls it hope. This hope is so important to who we are and how we live that it becomes a steadying compass that ever reminds us that we’re not home yet, but that the hope we have in Jesus is leading us there.
We are on a magnificent journey of all journeys. The grace of God meets us at every turn, and and at every turn we know the future will be better than the past because it is leading us to a day and time when we will see Jesus face to face. On that day I John 3:2 tells us that “we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”
Hope you are enjoying the ride.
In I John 3:5 and 8, John reminds us of just who Jesus is. John says Jesus “appeared in order to take away sins…to destroy the works of the devil.” Who is He? He is the One who meets us at the deepest needs of our lives and destroys the destroyer there.
In I John 3:1 John reminds us of how much we are loved by God and what that love means. He says, ‘See how great a love the Father has bestowed on us, that we would be called children of God.” Who are we? We are children of the One true God who destroys the destroyer.
In I John 3:7-8 John reminds us that we can live above the destructive forces of the enemy of our souls by practicing a righteous life in Christ. We don’t have to practice unrighteousness. The One who is righteous lives in us and brings out that kind of life in us.
In I John 3:2-3 John reminds us that we are headed somewhere, and that somewhere is a place where we will be like Jesus because we will see Him just as he is. This approaching date and place is so profound to us that John calls it hope. This hope is so important to who we are and how we live that it becomes a steadying compass that ever reminds us that we’re not home yet, but that the hope we have in Jesus is leading us there.
We are on a magnificent journey of all journeys. The grace of God meets us at every turn, and and at every turn we know the future will be better than the past because it is leading us to a day and time when we will see Jesus face to face. On that day I John 3:2 tells us that “we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.”
Hope you are enjoying the ride.
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