Wow!  It has been quite some time since I have posted on here, and there could be pages of updates I am sure.  As I mentioned in my last entry I spent a couple of months at the beginning of the new year writing a book about identity, which was an extremely fruitful time for my spirit.  Since that time, I have been spending the bulk of my time working at Scott’s lawn-service, as my friend Aaron puts it, rebuking weeds!  This job has also been extremely blessed, as for the first time in my life I have been able to memorize mass chunks of scripture.  Obviously, my writing has taken somewhat of a back seat during this season.  Much of my reflection and processing has been done through song-writing, something new I have dabbled with.  Baby continues to grow and Brie and I anticipate the day of arrival with eager hearts!  The next months promise to be a great season of transition.  God has some big things up his sleeve.  We continue to grow in the miraculous, and the realm of the Spirit, and have been blessed with a couple prophetic words from others as we prepare for what is ahead.

Anyway, I wanted to take some time to reflect briefly over a very undeveloped thought that was subtly percolating in my spirit this past weekend as Brie and I went camping.  The thought is centered around 1 Corinthians 3:11-23, and we shall see what we can make of it here:

“For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ.  Now if anyone builds on this foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become clear; for the Day will declare it, because it will be revealed by fire; and the fire will test each one’s work, of what sort it is.  If anyone’s work is burned he will suffer loss; be he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire.  Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?  If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him.  For the temple of God is holy, which temple you are.  Let no one deceive himself.  If anyone among you seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.  For the wisdom of this world is foolishness with god.  For it is written, “He catches the wise in their own craftiness”, and again, “The Lord knows the thoughts of the wise, that they are futile.”  Therefore let no one boast in men.  For all things are yours: whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come – all are yours.  And you are Christ’s, and Christ is God’s”

Peter tells us the second chapter of his first epistle, “Therefore, it is also contained in the scriptures, “Behold, I lay in Zion a chief cornerstone, elect and precious, and he who believes on him will by no means be shamed.”  This is the same foundation or cornerstone Paul is talking about in the Corinthians text above, namely, Jesus Christ.  Jesus has been laid in Zion, as the beginning of something great!  I would tell you that it is, “Mount Zion, the heavenly Jerusalem, the City of the Living God.  Thousands upon thousands of angels in joyful assembly, the church of the Firstborn, whose names are written in heaven.” (See Hebrews 12)  This is God’s finished product, his agenda, his to-do list, Mt. Zion, his glorious city.  I looked at the end of the Bible in Revelation, that’s how I know!  Now salvation is equitable to being one of the firstborn whose names are written in heaven.  As God declares, if you believe in Jesus, the cornerstone of the city, you will not be shamed.  Perhaps another time I will go into greater detail about what I think it biblically means to believe on him, but I’ve got to limit myself.  I’m already getting stretched here! 

The Corinthian text clues us in though on a biblical reality beyond salvation.  God certainly wills that none shall perish, and that all will be brought to repentance (See 2 Peter 3) because he loves all people equally.  However, not all have equal favor in his eyes.  Some will certainly perish, but more than that, not all will receive the same eternal reward.  Our work will be tested on the day of judgment, and what we have built well, will be to our favor, and what we have built poorly will be to our loss.  There is a lie of false grace, a misuse of grace, rampant in the church, that says it does not matter what I do in this life as long as I am not sinning.  In some circles it is used to excuse sin as well, but that is a different matter.  What I am talking about, is the statement that looks something like this, “I can go ahead and continue doing ______, because as long as I do it for God’s glory he will be pleased.”  This in and of itself is not necessarily untrue.  I can certainly work at Scott’s and please God.  However, we must learn what pleases him.  Hebrews 11:7, or something like that tells us, “And without faith it is impossible to please God, because in order to come to him, one must believe he exists, and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him!”  So God is pleased with, and REWARDS those who earnestly seek him.  People hungry for his presence please God, but what else is God serious about.  MT. Zion, his church, his everlasting city, his KINGDOM, is what God is working toward.  That Kingdom essentially is his presence, but Kingdom-builders please God.  So what pleases God? Seeking his presence in building his Kingdom, his City, his Church, Zion!

What we see here then is that not matter what we are doing, if we aren’t doing that, it is indeed worthless!  Jesus has enlisted us as builders of His city upon Himself as a foundation, and our work will be tested by fire at the end of time!  I fear that much of the church is going to see a haystack of their life go up in flames to find the small nugget of gold that was their worthy works.  I am determined to have God help my clean up my mountain of Gold, by burning the few stray pieces of straw, wood, and even silver that somehow worked their way into the pile that is my life.  We need to get eternally minded!  If you spend your entire lifetime working for what you think is a great cause, but that never touches the heart of heaven, or adds a single beam to the structure of the eternal church, than you will be destitute for eternity!  The church has got to stop using grace as an excuse to stay a part of mainstream America.  The writer of Hebrews applauds those, “Who were tortured and refused to be released so that they might gain a better resurrection!”  Paul says, “I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it, but one thing I do, forgetting what is behind, and straining on toward what is ahead, I press on to take hold of the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus!”  Are you straining for a prize, are you living to gain a better resurrection?!

Man, I myself even thought as I grew in my understanding of grace, and the lavishness of our Heavenly Father, I would get a bit more easygoing in my zeal and fervor, but the opposite must indeed prove true!  I mean, “Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of god dwells in you?”  Peter lets us know that we have been given, “exceedingly great and precious promises, that you may be partakers in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lusts!”  The divine lives in us, and he by grace has opened the door for us to once again be partakers in his nature.  “God made man in his image, male and female he created them.”  (See Genesis 2)  It is grace that has allowed us to escape the corruption of the world, and start building for eternity works that will withstand the heavenly fire, but instead grace gets twisted as an excuse to stay in corruption, it is used as a “cloak for vice” (See 1 Peter 2).  Peter goes on to say, “For this very reason, in all diligence, add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, to brotherly kindness love.”  He later goes on to say, “For so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly, into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ!”  What does that word abundantly mean?  How can an entrance be supplied abundantly?  The answer, some will sneak into heaven, “as through fire,” and others will enter the great city through abundant celebration as, “master-builders.”  We see a glimpse of this picture in the parable of the minas.  The man who earned ten minas is given ten cities, the man with five given five cities, and the one with one has his taken and given to the one with ten.  Two interesting observations here, first of all – there will not be equality in heaven!  Secondly, there will neither be jealousy, nor is there the competitive difference we might see in earth.  In telling the story Jesus says about the one who got five, after he has already spoken about the one who got ten, “you also be over five cities.”  Why does Jesus say you also and then tell the man something completely different than he told the first?  To one he says you be over ten cities and to the other you also be over five?  Ten and five are certainly different quantitatively, but qualitatively, they are both eternal reward well earned, so he says, “you also.”

Let’s go back to the end of the Corinthians passage to close what is once again a disjointed rambling helping me to understand something not quite materializing in my conscious mind.  I would love to talk in depth about choosing foolishness, but I will spare that for the most part.  However, I will say, that I was just yesterday telling Brie how I remember the first time God got me with this verse, “If anyone seems to be wise in this age, let him become a fool that he may become wise.”  I looked at my life at that point as I was beginning college and realized that I was “worldly-wise” to perfection.  Since that time I have chosen foolishness for the sake of Christ, and am now beginning to taste the fruits of eternal wisdom!  To close though, Paul writes, “Therefore let no one boast in men.  For all things are yours: whether Paul or Apollos or Cephas, or the world or life or death, or things present or things to come, all are yours.  And you are Christ’s and Christ is God’s.”  The Eternal City of God is our inheritance, so our fellow-members of that city, Paul, Andrew Wiens, Martin Luther, Bill Johnson, all collectively belong to each-other.  Think of Romans 12 or 1 Cor.12.  We are one body, and thus all members of that body belong to each other.  Easy enough.  Our inheritance is eternal so the world, life and death all belong to us as tools and stepping stones to the eternal.  Again, easy enough,.  But then the last two, things present and things to come are ours.  This very moment of my writing, the next moments coming and the rest of my life, all belong to me, because I have power over how they turn out.   Again easy enough!  Notice what’s missing though: the past.  The past is not ours!  God has been teaching me tons over the past month in terms of understanding the relationship between the temporal and the eternal.  This is another chapter in that textbook.  When we live a  moment in the temporal it becomes eternal.  In fact, it was always eternal, because God foreknew it, but it has officially lost its power in the temporal once it has left.  It can indeed effect the present or future if we are wise, but it has been lost.  It does not belong to us.  I think of it as if every second that I live here in the temporal is immediately transferred to my eternal account.  Everyone has one, you don’t need to be a Christian to have one either.  That account fundamentally represents our lives, perhaps a large bank vault if you will.  And each vault has a door.  On the day of judgment if that door frame does not have the blood of Jesus Christ as the blood of Passover then everything in that vault will be destroyed no questions asked.  However, where there is blood, there will still be fire, to determine what is truly of value in each vault!  What remains is as heavenly reward, and it will all have originated from heaven.  No one will create something in the temporal to withstand eternal flame.  We will only be gifted the eternal to give it away, thus to receive it back again in eternity. 

So what is the point here?  We do not own our past.  God does!  It is locked up in an eternal vault, and it is only the present and future that belong to us. Thus, be free of your past.  If you know you have build up a bunch of flammable junk in your vault be free of it.  The way has been opened for you to be a partaker of the divine nature, and let me tell you when you live in the divine nature you will be stowing away gold with each passing second.  My prayer for well over a year has been that every second I live will have eternal value.  I am just starting to understand what that means.  Jesus Christ is the only man ever to live whose entire life stack withstood the flames.  Let us follow in his example!  He says, “I do only what I see the father doing.” Live to be able to say that about your life!

Submission

Interesting how in American culture submission is seen as weak.  Even many in the church see submission as a sign of weakness: an act of someone in a lesser role or who has lesser value.  This is mainly seen in a negative reaction to the verses indicating wives submit to their husbands (most directly stated in Ephesians 5:22) for women are not lesser than men.  No, they are not.  But women do have a different role in bringing the kingdom of God.

If submission was a weakness, I believe Jesus would have to be the weakest person who ever walked the planet.  Just take a look at these verses:

“During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.”                                                                                     -Hebrews 5:7

“So Jesus said, ‘When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am the one I claim to be and that I do nothing on my own, but speak just what the Father has taught me.  The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.’”

                                                                                                            -John 8:28-29

Jesus reverently submitted to the Father so much so that he did nothing on his own!  And I do not believe that Jesus was weak, but the strongest, wisest, most powerful man who ever walked the earth.  And we have his Spirit now living in us!  It is a spirit of power, love and submission for “apart from [Jesus] you can do nothing” (John 15:5b).

So as a woman of God in America, I can boldly state that I submit to my husband and want to submit more and more…especially as I see him submitting more and more to God.  Does that mean I am weak and can do nothing?  Absolutely not!  Jesus, while submitting, healed the sick, cast out demons, taught, prophesied, lavished love, grew in wisdom and favor and on and on!  I am not limited in what I do by submitting.  Rather, I am released to be the woman God created me to be!  And part of that is to reflect the church in my relationship with my husband.  What a glorious gift and honor; I am the Beloved Bride of my godly man and of my God King!  What really could be better?  So, do I lose my independence that is so treasured among women (and men)?  Absolutely!  I lost that the day Jesus made me his bride and in being so completely dependent, I have become more free than I ever was alone.  Free to live in peace, free to love, free to give, free to be all he created me to be: “So, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed” (John 8:36).  The reality of the Kingdom sounds so backwards from the cultural mindset of the world, but Beloved, once you step out of the bondage of the world, you also indeed will be freed to be a Bride of the King!  And a Bride of the King fully, freely and lovingly submits to her Groom…for the Groom has the best in mind for his love.  And what a mind this Groom has!

My Desire (5-14-12)

My deepest desire really is peace.  I came to that realization today: peace and security.  Sometimes I think that I really desire a cool experience with the presence of God or to have my relationship with Him look exactly like someone else’s because I allow the spirit of comparison back into my mind.  However, when it boils down to it I really have a deep need for security and a peace that flows from the knowledge of that security. 

Jesus knows that.  Huh.  Crazy how these past many many months have been rooted in peace.  Even when I’ve wanted him to be crazy in expressing his love for me when I am in his presence, he knew I really needed and desired and craved peace.  It was only because all these other people I loved and knew were having different experiences that I wanted those other experiences.  I wanted to know that his presence was real…and oh, it is!  That peace is so real and so deep and when I’m there I’m truly satisfied.  It’s when I analyze and examine and compare that I become dissatisfied.  Just look to me, my Lover is calling.  Just look to me. 

I think most women really need and desire this peace.  Men too, but how I have been struck by the need for it in women.  Only in deep, abiding peace of the Spirit are women beautiful and alluring!  I found two women in Luke on whom Jesus also knew they needed peace, the peace of his presence, his love, his affection. 

The first woman is found in Luke 7:36-50.  It is the well-known story of the woman who anoints Jesus feet and yet I was shown new insight into this incredible story in my time with the Lord.  It all has to do about visualizing how these people are positioned.  Where is the woman in relation to Jesus?  I always imagined the woman sitting before him, but in verse 38 it says that the woman is behind Jesus: “…and as she stood behind him at his feet weeping, she began to wet his feet with her tears.  Then she wiped them with her hair, kissed them and poured perfume on them.”  She enters anonymously, humbly, not even seen by the one whom she is worshiping.  Even more importantly though is the verse 44 where Jesus turns to see the woman: “Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, ‘Do you see this woman?’”  Do you see this woman?!  Jesus truly sees the woman beyond the surface, beyond the sin that the Pharisees so quickly pointed out.  He sees a woman deeply in love.  She came anonymously and leaves known!  Jesus turns to her; Jesus sees her.  She came humbly and leaves exalted in Jesus’ words.  She came with love and leaves forgiven.  But the last thing Jesus leaves this woman, for her faith, is peace: “Jesus said to the woman, ‘Your faith has saved you, go in peace.’”  He turns to her to pour his blessing of forgiveness and peace into her life! 

When we come to Jesus, he wants to bless us in many ways and not least of all with his peace!  Peace is so crucial to him!  He sees our need for it, desires to grant it and bless our lives with it.  Will we not receive it in faith?  Jesus has turned to us!  Look deep into his eyes, dive deep into his presence, and receive his everlasting, surpassing of all understanding peace! 

If you are not convinced of the significance of peace in this passage, the next passage of Luke 8:40-48 is of another woman Jesus turns to!  It is of the woman who has bled for years with no cure and manages to touch the hem of Jesus’ cloak and is instantly healed.  Instantly healed.  The woman is already healed.  Jesus knows that and still seeks her out…despite his urgent call to heal a very sick little girl.  He questions who touched him, who it was that received the power that flowed out of him.  It wasn’t an angry question, but an urgent, eager question.  Why?  Because Jesus wanted to give this woman something beyond the physical healing that was received instantly.  His only words to this woman were, “Daughter, your faith has healed you.  Go in peace.”  The woman knew she was healed; she told so Jesus herself.  Jesus wanted to bless her with his peace!  Jesus sought her out to give her peace!  She came anonymously and leaves known!  Jesus turns to find her; Jesus sees her.  She came boldly and leaves healed.  She came with faith and receives peace. 

Women (and men too!), receive his peace!  You may feel anonymous, but you are known!  You may feel lowly, but you will be exalted in his love!  You may feel insecure, but he is waiting to be your security and grant you his peace!  Go in faith and be more than healed.