Grace is almost too good to be true but IT IS absolutely true!

Recently, I was drawn to a verse in Jonah that I wanted to mine for its gems. As I started to find a whole lot more, I was amazed again how magnificent the Word of God is in its simple depth. Jonah is an amazing story obviously shadowing the then future resurrection of Jesus Christ. With its 3 days/3 nights in the belly of the whale incident, it sits as a sparkling jewel amid the Old Testament records. It is the story of salvation, not only for Jonah and Nineveh, but it is a type for us to read and think about.

7 When my soul fainted within me I remembered the LORD: and my prayer came in unto thee, into thine holy temple. 8 They that observe lying vanities forsake their own mercy.9 But I will sacrifice unto thee with the voice of thanksgiving; I will pay that that I have vowed.Salvation is of the LORD. 10 And the LORD spake unto the fish, and it vomited out Jonah upon the dry land.

The world is full of 'lying vanities'. Psychobabble, politics, self-interest and secular humanism opine at us daily dropping the veil of unbelief wherever they can gain access and distort or even remove our view of a compassionate, loving and willing God.

I am thrilled by the beauty of the Word and how God has protected it through the ages. There are many precious gems of truth sitting in the tiny book of Jonah. Just being in it a couple of days has generated fellowship, dialogue and joint amazement with other people who have reflected back more light off the facets of the same jewel.

Prayer Is The Answer Itself!

Thank God that God has provided an open door to His heart. We can communicate directly with Him heart to heart! Thank God that communication to him is not through text messages, emails, twitter and Facebook. Cyber communication has many pitfalls. Just look at all the quotes and conversations that appear on Facebook alone. Sometimes posts seem inspiring, but may still contain what I call the 'complaining' effect that when the 'Post' button is pushed it unloads something negative on all who read it.

Communication on a human level is tough. God is a great listener. We can talk to Him and we don't have to worry about being misinterpreted. Have you ever poured out your heart to someone and gotten frustrated because he/she didn't understand what you were saying.  The more you try to explain, the deeper trouble you get into. I have worried about being misinterpreted and wanted to fix it, but the older and wiser (hopefully) I get, the more I realize that this too is what prayer is for. I have grown to love praying for people I have trouble talking to or don't understand. Prayer is the greatest action you can do for someone else and for yourself.

8 Trust in him at all times; ye people, pour out your heart before him: God is a refuge for us. Selah. Psalm 62:8

Sometimes, and I have said this many times before, we feel like we are boxed in; that is the way of the world. When David was hiding in a cave away from Saul, his prayer was that he might praise God's name through it all. The situations we find ourselves in today may not involve a Saul problem, but a maybe its a dilemma that seems like there is no answer.

7 Bring my soul out of prison, that I may praise thy name: the righteous shall compass me about; for thou shalt deal bountifully with me. Psalm 142:7

Difficult things tend to make us feel very defective, David's psalms expressed the same feeling. David was a man after God's heart so despite his shortcomings, David trusted God. That is our job too!

Sin

In Genesis 4, God had an interesting discussion about worship. Cain brought an offering to God and Abel did too. Cain's offering was not a blessing to God and Cain got irritated. A response like Cain's defeats the whole purpose of showing God how much one loves and reveres Him. God addressed the issue at hand:

5 But unto Cain and to his offering he had not respect. And Cain was very wroth, and his countenance fell. 6 And the Lord said unto Cain, Why art thou wroth? and why is thy countenance fallen? 7 If thou doest well, shalt thou not be accepted? and if thou doest not well, sin lieth at the door. And unto thee shall be his desire, and thou shalt rule over him. Genesis 4:5-7

God asked Cain why he was downcast and mad.  It was a logical question. If the whole reason for an 'offering' is to show appreciation for God, why would Cain explode about this. God said 'sin' (actually the first use of the word 'sin') is lying at the door. There is indication that the (namely Eve) believed Cain was the man from the Lord.  Could Cain have developed some religious pride about this and thought he was something he was not? The whole thing humiliated him and he was angry. God lovingly explained to Cain that evil repercussions were around the corner and he would need to get a handle on dealing with his heart. Cain didn't do that, but allowed pride and jealousy to get the worst of him.

Focusing on God and doing things out of gratefulness for all he has done for us keeps us out of the soup. That means rethinking through something that is less than the best. Certainly a 'very wroth' attitude does not fit. It is an attitude that needed to be 'ruled' over. Cain rejected God's loving advice and turned another direction which ended up ruining his life.

The Rainbow and Gravity- Just to clarify

God's creation is truly to be admired (but not worshipped, I might add). A rainbow occurs when light travels through prismatic type matter such as glass or water.  Because light is made up of various wavelengths of various speeds, the light gets divided into its component colors to produce a rainbow. After the great flood in Noah's time the rainbow appeared and God told Noah that this would be a reminder of God's covenant with man. Today, just because a rainbow appears, it doesn't mean that something significant is going on, but it does remind us of God's heart in his creation. God wanted to bless man with the rainbow and every time I see one I get blessed because I am reminded of the heart of God to create something very beautiful to see and something incredibly technical by design.

Gravity is an amazing force. We are held to the earth through gravity.  The universe is held together by gravitational forces among other forces. We are protected by gravity. However if we get to the edge of a cliff and continue to walk, gravity can have some very harmful effects. We decide by our own free will to turn around and take the safe route. We can figure out how gravity works and its effect as we are awed by it great pull.

People have free will. That means they can decide whatever path they want to take. No one can force or push you to believe one way or another. Our ability to think is also a gift of God. He designed humans, not robots. The greatest path to abundance and true freedom, however, is in respecting the design of God which we can see and understand through His Word.

"Throw Everything at the Wall and See If It Sticks"?

"Cover all your bases", "Run it up the flagpole and see if anyone salutes it", "Go til you hear glass break", Throw everything at the wall and see if it sticks, are frequently used present day figures of speech. Each one of them pushes 'effort' which is not bad in and of itself, but put together and emphasized, frustration and defeat can show up pretty quick.

One of the first problems with these type of sayings is that they focus on what we do. If we are have the attitude that we are out to change the world with out even checkin' in with the creator of the world, we take on a monumental task that usually ends in failure. Life is so much simpler when we trust God. Trusting God is not a passive, inactive mind set. Actually it is very proactive, but not in the self-energizing category.

It is easy to tell from which mind set a person is coming from. Check out who gets the glory. When God gives us answers to things, He nails it! You can't help but get excited! The results are easy! The only reason we have difficulty is when we worry, push too much, and doubt. Don't get me wrong. Life is work, no doubt about it, but when we trust Him step by step it is like sailing. Yes we have to adjust the sails and turn the rudder. There is absolutely nothing passive about trusting God. it all hinges on doing this:

 5 Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. 6 In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths. (Proverbs 3:5-6)

Enjoy Joy

Have you ever felt like just being miserable and then couldn't do it? Have you ever tried to tell 'joy' to go away and leave you alone? Everybody has ideas about what 'holy spirit' is and how it affects us, but the fruit of the spirit tells all. Joy is one of those fruits. Fruit is something that is produced as a result of operation of the gift of holy spirit.

If you are chilly and someone gives you a sweater and you accept it by putting it on, you can't stop the feeling of sensing warmth. It is a similar analogy with the gift God has given us. God has given us something very precious. He has given each of us a piece of what He actually is!  (John 4:24) You can't see spirit (you can't see God) but you can see its action in something physical and see the results of its action.

Joy comes from within and it is from God.  It is individual.  In II Corinthians 1:24, Paul says:

24 Not for that we have dominion over your faith (individual and personal), but are helpers (sunergos- joint workers) of your joy: for by faith (individual and personal) ye stand.

II Corinthians is a great chapter on the comfort (paraklesis) of God. Jesus Christ talked about the comforter that would come after him:

16 And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter (parakleton), that he may abide with you for ever;17 Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.18 I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you.19 Yet a little while, and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.20 At that day ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.

22 And ye now therefore have sorrow: but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you. John 16:22

The Heart of Galatians

Recently, while I was reading Commentary on Galatians by Martin Luther, I ran across the phrase 'tyrants of men's consciences' when he was referring to the judgement and condemning attitude of some of the people during Luther's time. They were promoting intimidation to keep people in line with the religious legalism that was prevalent.

I was specifically reading about Romans 6:1-5 in the commentary. There is some puzzling language in those verses that look like contradictions:

6 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. 2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. 4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. 5 For every man shall bear his own burden.

First and foremost, in order to understand what's written here, you have to look at the context. In Galatians 5, Paul continued to lay out the flesh vs spirit problem the Galatians were having. They were into performing according to the flesh. In the later verses of Galatians 5, he lists the fruit of the spirit which are products of the operation of holy spirit in people's innermost hearts. Galatians 6:1 starts out and closes with 'Brethren'. This book is written to brothers and sisters in Christ.

Another thing to keep in mind is that God didn't put the chapter breaks in His Word, man did. If we look at verses 25 and 26 in the previous chapter and verse 1-5 of chapter six it reads:

25 If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. 26 Let us not be desirous of vain glory, provoking one another, envying one another.1 Brethren, if a man be overtaken in a fault, ye which are spiritual, restore such an one in the spirit of meekness; considering thyself, lest thou also be tempted. 2 Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.3 For if a man think himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. 4 But let every man prove his own work, and then shall he have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. 5 For every man shall bear his own burden.

With all that in mind, the apparent contradiction starts to untwist. We help one another with burdens ('baros' - like an overloaded ship that presses downward). We fulfill the law of Christ by loving one another and helping one another. We remind each other of the power and love of God that lifts the load. In verse 5, we read that we carry our own burden ('phortion' - like a ship that is carrying cargo, its proper invoice weight. A ship travels better with a certain amount of weight that prevents being tossed to and fro).

If someone is overtaken with a burden we help because we know that we at times deal with overloads and this happens in life. We walk by the spirit rather than by the flesh knowing that is the only way to help.  The only boasting that goes on is about God and what He is able to do.

Living Without The Fear of Making a Mistake

There is an old saying "Yard by yard life is hard, inch by inch it is a cinch!" I'm sure this pertains to the handling of life's problems that come along, rather than taking aim at planning and organizing the calendar way far ahead of time.

Fear is a very real feeling. I'm talking about the sick to the stomach, tossing and turning, creepy kind of fear. It can't be cured by hiding, denying, talking louder, fighting, bravado, or even chocolate! It is replaced by power (Ephesians 3:20), love (Romans 5:5) and a sound mind (safe and balanced mind) II Timothy 1:7:

For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.

That is why the 'pause that refreshes' is so vital. God has given us access into His rest and that is where we want to be. When something presents itself and distorts the perception of safe and balanced, it is time to take time. When we stop the roll of the moment and not allow ourselves to be pushed, we seize the moment, give it to God and handle one step at a time. One step at a time is the best way to let it all lay out otherwise we will get a pile of 'who knows what' that gets bigger and bigger!

We all make mistakes, its OK. It's nice to have a few people around you that don't hold your feet to the fire, but true peace comes from God who has definitely got your back if you let Him. Sometimes we can get so lost- oops! I mean found! in His peace that as we can pick up the pace of life without blinking an eyelash! Sometimes we can't, but He still love us and so-o-o patient!

The Law is Perfect

God's law is perfect. Anything God does is perfect. It is man that is imperfect; not the other way around.

3 For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh: 4 That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit. Romans 8:3-4

No one ever (except Jesus Christ) has ever lived up to the every jot and tittle of the law. Jesus understood that sin in the flesh was something not authored, promised or provided by God  (condemned- meaning not in any way useful to God in His love for mankind). To be in the flesh was to live from the seat of the self, instead Jesus lived unto God in the spirit.

Everybody born has soul (mental, emotional) and a body. From the time of birth man continues to learn and develop habits that contribute to the soul as well as the body. Upbringing, education, and experiences, heredity and emotions all are inputs that define the carnal or fleshy nature. The flesh in and of itself is not sinful but it can be useful to the the adversary of God. The flesh nature can be pushed into making comparisons, gossiping, seeking power and status over others and destruction. It can harbor pride, resentment, depression, jealousy and immorality.

When a person receives the spirit of God (Romans 10:9-10), a third dimension is added and man becomes body, soul and spirit. That spirit is a gift from God. It is power, it is love and it is a sound mind. We have the opportunity to walk in the spirit. The spirit can rule over the soul, as the soul provides for the body. It is in understanding this relationship that man can truly walk with God and be free of all the impediments of the fleshy nature and actually glorify God and walk in His power.

Fellowship with God

The flow of words in Romans 8:14-17 reveal much about our relationship with God and how he communicates to us, especially verse 16. I used to think when God talked to people, He thundered or spoke with a voice that sounded like He was in an echo chamber. Those were the days I thought He was pretty scary.  God is spirit and it is through spirit that He can impress or lead anyone in an uncomplicated way.

Romans 8:14 For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, they are the sons of God.
15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.16 The Spirit (God) itself beareth witness with (summarturei) our spirit (gift of holy spirit), that we are the children of God:17 And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with (sunklēronomoi) Christ; if so be that we suffer with (sumpaschomen) him, that we may be also glorified together (sundoxasthōmen).

Notice the Greek words in parentheses. They start with the same root word 'sun'( 'sum') which means: with, in association with , intimate relation with, or a fellowship with. There is another more common word used for 'with' in the New Testament. It is the greek word 'meta', but 'meta' is not as tight a relationship as 'sun'.  I have heard the word 'sun' described as 'two rivers that flow into one'.

The beauty of spirit of God in tight relation to our own spirit is thrilling. It is followed by 'heir, heirs of God and joint-heirs with Christ'! When a word is repeated like this it places added emphasis on the word.

 John relates a similar message in I John 1:3.

3 That which we have seen and heard declare we unto you, that ye also may have fellowship with us: and truly our fellowship is with the Father, and with his Son Jesus Christ. I John 1:3

Because we are joint-heirs with Christ, we can also be subject to the persecution suffered by Christ as anyone who has stood for God and His son has readily experienced, but that also means the glory is to be shared too. We can joyfully work through pressure and opposition knowing that we are strengthened by the His spirit in connection with our spirit. All of chapter 8 of Romans reflects this. It is a great chapter to read in its entirety, but verses 32-37 sum it up beautifully.

32 He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?
33 Who shall lay any thing to the charge of God's elect? It is God that justifieth.
34 Who is he that condemneth? It is Christ that died, yea rather, that is risen again, who is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.
35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?
36 As it is written, For thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.37 Nay, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him that loved us. Romans 8-32-37

It is simple to apply this as there are so many opportunities every day that call for its application. Everyday there is pressure and we can decide to give in to it or trust God as He works in our hearts.
There is great joy experienced when decide to trust God (I John 1:4).

Oh! Press on!

Even the sound of the word 'oppression' bears down. Last night we experienced an huge storm. Prior to its arrival the air felt thick and burdensome. This morning everything has cleared. As I went out for a walk, I was surrounded by the light, lifting music of the birds, the glistening of drops on leaves and nice gentle breezes. The air smelled clean and fresh!

In Isaiah 54: 14ff there are some pressure-relieving verses as to the effects of oppression:

Isaiah 54:14 In righteousness shalt thou be established: thou shalt be far from oppression; for thou shalt not fear: and from terror; for it shall not come near thee. 15 Behold, they shall surely gather together, but not by me: whosoever shall gather together against thee shall fall for thy sake.16 Behold, I have created the smith that bloweth the coals in the fire, and that bringeth forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy. 17 No weapon that is formed (yatsar) against thee shall prosper; and every tongue that shall rise against thee in judgment thou shalt condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is of me, saith the Lord.

I have been looking at verse 17 for a while and the word 'formed' intrigues me. It is the Hebrew word 'yatsar' meaning an act of taking things already in existence and squeezing and pushing them together to get the desired results. This is an action verb for how things are put together to exert a force, good or evil. Everything around us exerts a force. A force for evil presses down, a force for good lifts. Depression is a result of a downward movement, freedom is a result of lifting. 

Force, in physics, equals mass x acceleration, in other words there is more than one component to a force. A system is a group of components that work together. Weather operates as a system or a group of systems. In order for a tornado to form or a bird to fly, a series of things need to happen.

When something begins to bear down on us, God is the best source of relief. He knows exactly how this world works. Both the blacksmith and the waster were given choice, therefore even though God created humans and spirit beings, they in of themselves can cause pressure. Ultimately God knows the component parts of the systems involved in their actions.

Ephesians 6:11 Put on the whole armour of God (knowledge, righteousness and believing provided by the manifestations of holy spirit), that ye may be able to stand against the wiles (methodia- methods in reference to the systems of the world) of the devil.

We have choice too. We can choose to pray or not to pray. We can choose to look to God or away from him. We can choose the worldly guilt-ridden package of imperfection or truly accept perfection in the Lord that effectively and graciously lifts our heart.