It's a magical world

So, I'm reading a book, this morning.  And I understand how that might confuse you, but bear with me.

I'm reading a history book about Ireland.  They are discussing St Patrick, and here is this little poem, and a commentary about it:

I SEE his blood upon the rose

And in the stars the glory of his eyes,

His body gleams amid eternal snows,

His tears fall from the skies.

I see his face in every flower;        

The thunder and the singing of the birds

Are but his voice—and carven by his power

Rocks are his written words.

All pathways by his feet are worn,

His strong heart stirs the ever-beating sea,       

His crown of thorns is twined with every thorn,

His cross is every tree.

This magical world, though full of adventure and surprise, is no longer full of dread.  Rather, Christ has trodden all pathways before us, and at every crossroads and by every tree the Word of God speaks out.....  In this tradition, there is a trust in the objects of sensory perception, which are seen as signposts from God.

Um... yeah.....   what he said.  

Kislev

As the sun goes down Sunday Nov 3, we say goodbye to Cheshvan and welcome the new month of Kislev.  Kislev is the 9th month of the spiritual calendar, and the 3rd month of the civil calendar.   It comes quite early this year, usually Kislev spans the end of November and deeper into December.

Kislev marks the onset of the winter seasons, and is the 3rd month of the rainy season in Israel.  The days are getting shorter, and the darkness is getting longer this month.  As the darkness moves in, there’s a tendency to embrace despair.  When dark times come upon us, for whatever reason, it’s easy to focus on the darkness.  When we backslide in finances, or health, or relationships, we focus on the slide we are on.   The fact that we are falling isn’t so bad, it’s that we don’t know how far we will fall, and so we despair, thinking the fall will never end.  Once we hit bottom, it’s not so bad, because then we can start to climb back up, and the progress is positive.  But until then, we tend to lose hope.  Our future is hidden, uncertain.

But God called forth light from the darkness, and it is in our darkest times that he responds with light, hope, and His presence.  During these dark days, we are asked to search the darkness for His light.  We are to look for His promises, His presence, and His embrace when it seems darkest.

And when we do that, God does what He always does.  He responds.

The 40 days and nights of rain that caused the great flood of Noah ended this month.  And so as the rains end, we can expect to see a rainbow.  A reminder of the promise of God to never forsake us.

This year (2013) we have a special coincidence between the US civil calendar and the hebrew calendar.  Thursday Nov 28, or the 25th of Kislev, is Thanksgiving here in the US.  It is also the first day of Chanukah.  On the 25th of Kislev, the Maccabees liberated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. The victorious Jews repaired, cleansed and rededicated the Temple to the service of God. But they found only one small vial of ritually cleansed oil, the rest had all been defiled.  But they lit the Menorah anyway, giving thanks for what they had, and worshiping with what they had.  Miraculously, the one-day supply burned for eight days until more oil arrived.  Today, for 8 days, jews celebrate with a feast that God’s provision never ends. When we bring forth what light we have in the darkness, God will always respond. 

Some say that this is a month of dreams as well.  That this is a month we should trust fully in God, and sleep well.  And as we sleep, we will have dreams and visions.  It seems fitting.  Jacob, for example, was a man whose greatest visions came to him when he was alone at night, far from home, fleeing from one danger to the next.  When he escapes Esau, afraid for his life, he sleeps alone with only a stone for a pillow, and dreams of a stairway to heaven.  Later, when fleeing Laban, and terrified again of his brother Esau, he leaves to be alone and wrestles all night with a stranger that renames him Israel.  These events happened when he was in that ‘slide’, when he isn’t sure how far he’s going to fall.  He’s not at a starting point, or a destination, he’s in transition.  A scary place.  And in that place, God meets him, and defines him and sets him on a course that will define a nation.  His destiny is defined in those dark places.  And so is ours.

So, as we walk through Kislev, when you have a dark moment, find some time to be alone, and light a candle.  Let God’s rest come over you this month and embrace his shalom sleep.  This month God will answer you in the darkness, and his dreams and visions will propel you into your new future. 

Cheshvan

Friday October 4th, we finally say goodbye to Tishrei.  Tishrei, a month of celebrations and festivals, the holiest days of the year, and the month where our destiny and identities are confirmed, comes to a close at sundown on Friday.  And so begins the month of Cheshvan.

Cheshvan is the 8th month of the year.  Historically, the flood began on the 17th of Cheshvan, and ended the following year on the 27th of this month.  On the following day, the 28th of Cheshvan, Noah brought his sacrifice to God and God swore never again to bring a flood upon the earth to destroy all mankind, and then revealed the sign of His covenant with the world, the rainbow.  The first temple was also completed on the 17th of Cheshvan. 

After all the festivals and Holy days of Tishrei, it seems odd that Cheshvan has no festivals.  It is in fact, the only month in the year with no holidays or special events.  In Tishrei, we were flooded with divinely appointed days to embrace God and prepare our selves for the new year.  Tishrei is the 'head' of the year and all the functions of the head are engaged during the month.  Intellectually, emotionally, and spiritually we are filled during Tishrei.  All of our senses are engaged as we feast, dance, sing, blow shofars, worship with abandon, and embrace our God as He embraces us.   

In fact many compare Tishrei with a wedding, where we accept the proposal of our Lord (given during Elul when the King comes to our field), and culminating in the wedding of Yom Kippur and the wedding celebration, or honeymoon, of Sukkots.

Tishrei effectively fills our heads and hearts, and prepares us for the year, by engaging all the senses.   It is quite the contrast that Cheshvan, a month that has no festivals, is often associated with the heel of the foot.  The heel is the least sensitive part of the body.

Cheshvan, being the 8th month of the year, is a month of new beginnings.  It is traditionally considered to be a month set aside for the Messiah.  It is said that the Messiah will inaugurate the 3rd temple during the month of Cheshvan.  

So, what is so special about this month?  

We are fully packed and prepared for the year ahead thanks to last month.  So, this month, we reach out and take the hand of our new (or renewed) Husband (our Messiah) and begin our walk (on our heels) into the new places He has set destined and prepared for us.  Now we begin our walk with Him to our promised lands of this year.  It may seem mundane after the festivals to simply walk hand in hand with someone, but there is a powerful romance at work here.  As anyone who has a sweetheart can tell you, sometimes there is nothing better than just walking together holding hands.

So, this month, don't be discouraged as you walk though a quiet 'mundane' month with no festivals.  Instead enjoy the quiet time of just being with your beloved as you walk together toward your destiny.  Search for those moments you can share with Him, and let him share His moments with you.  And most of all…. enjoy the romance.  

The Month of Tishrei

The Month of Tishrei

During the month of Elul, we spent our days preparing ourselves to re-align ourselves with God.  God joins us in the field to help us align during that month, but now, as we enter Tishrei, God seals us in our destiny as we reconnect with Him.

Tishrei is the 7th month of the year, and within Tishrei we have the holiest days of the Hebraic calendar.  This is the month where we are restored, renewed, and reconnected with ourselves, our destiny, and our relationships.  It is linked with the tribe of Ephraim whose name mean to be fruitful and multiply.

The first of Tishrei (Sept 5, 2013)  is Rosh Hashanah, which means "Head of the Year".  It is the anniversary of the creation of Adam and Eve and also the anniversary of the binding of Isaac.  Rosh Hashanah thus emphasizes the special relationship between God and man: our dependence upon God as our creator and sustainer and His place as our absolute sovereign God.   Each year on Rosh Hashanah, the work we did in Elul to prepare us for what God wants for us is submitted before the throne when “all inhabitants of the world pass before God like a flock of sheep,” and it is decreed in the heavenly court “who shall live and who shall die . . . who shall be impoverished, and who shall be enriched; who shall fall and who shall rise”   But this is also the day we proclaim God the "King of the Universe".  It is Coronation Day and we recognize and re-emphasize God's sovereignty over us and the world.  During this time, we recognize our own personal creation, and our personal creator.  And so, on Rosh Hashanah, God does a work in us and we reaffirm our God is our God, and we receive God's identity and destiny for ourselves for the coming year.

Having re-established God's sovereignty on Rosh Hashanah, we have 10 days of awe as we recognize His absolute sovereign power.  We walk in trembling faith during these days as we move towards the holiest day of the year, Yom Kippur (Sept 14, 2013).  This is the day it is said we are closest to both God and the quintessence of our own souls.  Yom Kippur is the Day of Atonement, "For on this day He will forgive you, to purify you, that you be cleansed from all your sins before God" (Leviticus 16:30).  This day is a solemn fasting day, yet an undertone of joy is evident throughout this day.  We have joy because we can express confidence that God will accept our repentance, forgive our sins, and seal us for a year of prosperity and life in Him.  During the Hebrew day, there are 5 prayer services, a confession of sins 8 times, and a recitation of Psalms throughout the day as well as several other solemn services, all focused on recognizing our need for forgiveness, and God's willingness to forgive us.  The closing service climaxes with the resounding cries of "Hear O Israel.. GOD IS ONE!" and then we break into song and dance. The evening after Yom Kippur is a joyous festival, celebrating God's forgiveness of us.  On Yom Kippur, we are reconnected and realigned fully with God as we should be and as He desires.

5 days later (Sept 19, 2013), we enter into perhaps the largest feast of the year.  The Feast of Sukkots.  Sukkots is known by many names: The Feast of Sukkots, Feast of Tabernacles,  The Feast of Ingathering, (Ex. 23:16, 34:22) "The festival of the seventh month" (Ezek. 45:25; Neh. 8:14) "At the end of the year when you gather in your labors out of the field" (Ex. 23:16), it is also designated as "the Feast of the Lord" (Lev. 23:39; Judges 21:19) or simply "the Feast" (1 Kings 8:2, 8:65; 12:32; 2 Chron. 5:3; 7:8).  The festival of Sukkot is the most joyous of the three biblically mandated festivals. In the holiday prayers, each festival is given its own descriptive name: Passover is the "Season of our Liberation," Shavuot is the "Season of the Giving of our Torah," but Sukkot is described simply as the "Season of our Rejoicing"!

During Sukkots we remember God's kindness and reaffirm our trust in His providence by dwelling in a sukkah, a temporary shelter.  For 7 days, all hebrews live, and feast, and celebrate in Sukkahs.  This is in remembrance of the 40 years in the Sinai Desert prior to the Hebrew's entry into the Holy Land, when miraculous "clouds of glory" surrounded and hovered over them, shielding them from the dangers and discomforts of the desert.  The talmud says "The sukkahs were the clouds of glory that surrounded and protected us."

In the times when the Holy Temple stood in Jerusalem, there was a grand Water Drawing Celebration. Unique to the holiday of Sukkot is the mitzvah to offer a water libation on the altar. This water was drawn on the evening beforehand, amidst great fanfare, singing, reveling, and even acrobatic stunts performed by the time's greatest sages.  If the sages were engaging in acrobatic stunts, you can begin to imagine the level of joy and laughter surrounding this feast.  The talmud says "one who has not witnessed the Festival of the Water Drawing has not seen joy in his lifetime!"  It is God's commandment for us to enjoy this feast, and we should take that commandment seriously!  

For these 7 days, we feast with friends and family in the Sukkah, and we enjoy and re-establishing our relationships and the heritage we come from.  Families discuss the ancestors of their faith, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, David, and others, and reaffirm their relationship with their heritage and with each other.  

There is a theme throughout the month of Tishrei, and that theme is the theme of reconnecting with our root sources.  First we reconnect with ourselves as we recognize our creation and receive God's identity and destiny for us at Rosh Hashanah, then God reconnects us with Him as He cleanses and re-unites us with Him during Yom Kippur.  Then we reconnect with our family and heritage and affirm our worldly relationships during Sukkots, as well as reveling in the love of God.  The joy of them all spills out into our lives with joy and celebration.  This month is not unlike the woman in Mt 9, who reached out to touch the hem of Jesus.  Because of her bleeding, she was unable to walk in her destiny, she needed a touch from her God for healing.  Because she was bleeding she was considered unclean and unable to connect with her family as she should.  She reached out to God and touched Him, and in so doing she reconnected with her identity with herself and became hale and whole, and her relationship with God was firmly established, and her relationships with family were restored because she was no longer unclean.  And so, this month, we have a the opportunity to reach out and restore ourselves, to be the people God ordained us to be.  Reach out to your God and receive all that He has for you this month, and let him seal you in Him for this coming year. 

The King is in Your Field!

August 7th, 2013 in the Hebraic calendar marks the 1st of Elul.  This is the 12th month of the Civil year (which begins at Yom Kippur), and the 6th month of the ecclesiastical year (which begins at Passover).  It is linked with the hebrew tribe of Gad, and is a key month of preparation for the high holy days of Tishrei (next month).  

This month follows Tamuz and Av, the 2 months which contain some of the greatest low points and greatest sins in Jewish history (the sin of the Golden calf, the sin of the spies, the falling of the temples, etc).  And if you understand God's heart, it's no surprise that this month is a reflection of God's mercy.  Elul is about cleansing and repentance.  Sin causes pain for us all.  Not just for us and those around us, but it pains God's heart as well.  The hebrew word T'shuvah, is a key concept for this month.  It's often translated as repentance, or apologizing for sins.  But T'shuvah means more than that because repentance isn't really enough.  If we have hurt someone, ask yourself this:  Does saying "I'm sorry" take away the pain?  The answer of course is no.  Yet T'shuvah is about taking away the pain.  T'shuvah represents re-uniting the will of God with those mistakes in our past.  It's about restoring that which was broken especially the brokenness of our hearts.  Through God's grace this month, we have an opportunity to realign our broken hearts and lives with God's intended destiny for our lives.  God will give you special insights into restoration this month.  But this is not just a spiritual journey.  It's also physical.  

In this month, it is said that "the King is in the Field."  Normally, the Hebrew calendar distinguishes two general qualities of times.  The "mundane" and the "holy".  For example, we have 6 normal days of the week, and a 'holy' Sabbath day.  We have regular days, and then we have holidays and feasts.  Elul is a haven in time, where these two sort of merge.  On Holy days we approach the throne, we come to God in His places, following his protocols.  This is not unlike when Esther came before the King, in that we put the 'mundane' away and go before him in holiness under special protocols.  But this month, the King leaves his thrown and comes down into our lives, and into our fields.  Instead of the farmer getting cleaned up and going to the palace, the dirty sweaty farmer finds the King walking in the field with him, and enjoying the work with him.  The King is coming into our lives to make our 'mundane' things Holy. During these days, we can approach the King in any way, about any thing, and He embraces us in all our messiness, and shares with us his smiling face, and appreciation for our work.  And so, our physical as well as our spiritual selves are aligned with His plans and purposes and blessed.  

But it's not just about healing either.  As always, it's about relationship and the passion that God has for a deeper more intimate relationship with us.  The 4 letters of Elul form an acronym for the initial letters of the key phrase in Song of Songs (6:3) "I am to my beloved, and my beloved is to me."  "I am to my beloved" represents our hearts desire to return fully to God, while "My beloved is to me" is reflective or God's desire to be united with us, and represents His mercy and forgiveness that allows that union to happen.  And this month He strives to make sure it's not just in a special way on some special spiritual celebration, but in our every day lives.  As the scripture says:  "A tower of might is the Name of God, into it shall run the righteous and become exalted." In hebrew literature, the "tower of might" represents the bride,  The tzadik, the groom, runs, with all of his might, to enter the "tower of might."  God is sprinting to be with you this month.

So, this month, let God into your Field. Show him your challenges and problems.  Show him your weaknesses and what you think are your strengths.  Don't hold back, but embrace the gifts of grace He brings you this month. This is the month He fixes all those problems that are holding you back.  His goal is to fix those problems, and then seal you into a whole state next month.  United with Him, and ready to leap to a new Glory next year.

Below are some key events that happened this month.  Consider the mercy of God in all of them.  He's always looking out for you and is ready to 'reset your clock' on any mistakes you have made in your life.  Notice that throughout this month, God is always creating new things and making right the mistakes of the past.  Through this, we are especially prepared to be sealed in the new when the new year starts next month.   

1 Elul - Moses ascends Sinai for 3rd 40 days (1313 BCE) - notice that even though the Hebrews screwed up bad with the calf, God took this month as an opportunity to get it right!

10 Elul - Noah Dispatches Raven (2105 BCE)

17 Elul - Noah Dispatches Dove (2105 BCE) 

23 Elul - Dove brings Olive Leaf to Noah (2105 BCE) - Noah searched this month for an end to the floods that were devastating everyone, and this month, he found an end!

25 Elul - The 1st day of Creation (3761 BCE) - Creation is what God loves to do!  What will He create in your life?

25 Elul - Jerusalem Walls Rebuilt (335 BCE) - Re-Creation is God's recreation.  He loves to rebuild/restore that which was broken back to it's wholeness.  He wants to do that with you too.  

Deep calls unto Deep

Why does God call us to the deep waters?


It's in the deep waters that the problems sink to the bottom where you can't find them.  
If you only play in the shallow waters, you can dig them back out of the shallow places and make them a part of your life again.  


God tells us to drop them in the deepest trench.  Then the most you can do is mourn their loss

Been away for a bit

It's been an interesting few years.  I don't think many people are paying any attention anymore to this site, but it's time I started putting stuff back up here on a regular basis again. 

God's been working hard on me.  I hope what comes out of it blesses you.

-Grand Imperial Pooh-bah

It's BETTER

I am currently on a road trip vacation with my family.  5 of us are trekking across the country in a van from Colorado up to Maine, around the Northeast, and then back home.

(yes, you may pray for me, and yes, Thank you!   I will wait for you to finish)

Late last week, we made a stop at Niagara Falls.  Except for my wife, who made a stop when she was a young girl, none of us had ever been there before.

It’s an impressive place.  On average, almost 4 million cubic feet of water fall over the crest of these falls every minute, and it’s hard to avoid recognizing the power of the nature God has created.  It makes you feel rather insignificant sometimes when you look at the world.  There are natural forces which can reduce decades or centuries of work by man and men to rubble in seconds.  And standing next to these falls, and looking over the edge, you get a feel for that power.

Of course, that wasn’t enough for MY family.  We wanted to experience MORE POWER.  (insert your grunts here)

So, we decide to take a walk at the bottom of the falls.   We put on our raincoats (FREE! with our tour tickets), and our water proof sandles (FREE!) and took the elevator down through solid rock about 170 feet to the cave of the winds where we could check out this wonderous place from below.  Down there are walkways where you can walk out and see the falls, and get a great perspective on them from below.   The last platform has a corner called “Hurricane Point”.  It has a corner that juts out very close to the rocky base of Bridal Veil falls.  Even though this is the smallest of the falls on the US side, the force of the water and air forced against you at this point is overwhelming.  If the platform was just a few feet closer, I’m sure injuries would be unavoidable.  When standing there the force of the water literally feels like a hurricane is blowing you away.   It’s loud, powerful and very windy and wet.

VERY windy and wet.

I’m thinking those raincoats (FREE!) were better at keeping the water IN, than out.

We all had a great laugh and enjoyed testing our weakness against the awesome power of the falls at Hurricane point. But my day was made when my daughter Elizabeth came running away from the point and screamed at me with all the joy of a little girl who had just enjoyed the greatest thrill ride ever, “THAT WAS BETTER THAN CHURCH!”

I had to laugh and quietly thank my God.

What else can you do when your kids are laughing and playing and recognizing the overwhelming scope of creation, experiencing once in a lifetime moments, and learning about how wonderous God is and the enormity of his creative works, and then your 9 year old daughter runs up to you to share her feelings, and she compares that with church!?!?!?!

No, she doesn’t compare it to a movie with awesome CGI.

Or a ride at an amusement park.

She compared it with every ‘normal Sunday’ at church.

Isn’t that what worship is supposed to be?   Moving in as close as you can to the amazing, overwhelming power of the creator, and letting that ‘blow you away’?  knowing that if you moved closer, you’ld probably get crushed by His magnitude?  getting drenched in His glory and coming away changed knowing that was a moment you will remember?

I am forced to conclude that just maybe, Jaima and I are doing something right.  Even if we aren't, God is.

What is a Christian?

‘No matter how many times you save the world, it always manages to get back in jeopardy again! 

Sometimes I just want it to stay saved, you know? For a little bit. 

I feel like the maid: “I just cleaned up this mess! Can we keep it clean …for, for ten minutes?!   Please?” ‘

– Mr. Incredible  (Bob Parr)

That quote is from one of my favorite movies, Pixar’s The Incredibles.  If you haven’t seen it, fix that egregious error and go rent it.  The movie is about a family of super-heroes.  Prior to getting married and having kids, Bob and Helen Parr defended the world as Mr. Incredible and Elastigirl, two of the world greatest Super-Heroes.    But for various reasons they get used to living as Bob and Helen and stop thinking of themselves with regards to their true identity.  They begin to think of themselves as simply their secret (weaker) identities.  They became ‘normal’, a guy who works in the insurance industry, a home maker, a Mom and Dad, both just trying to get by as they deal with the hassles of everyday life.  Tuesday is ‘left-overs for dinner’ day.  Every week, the same grind.

Eventually, Bob gets tired of living in the mundane (don’t we all?) and starts secretly doing secret hero stuff, but he does it behind Helen’s back.  Eventually, Bob’s desire for the active life of a “Super” leads him into trouble.  Helen discovers something is going on and then learns that Bob has lost his job, that he has an entire secret life of activities and trips she doesn’t know about, and suspects he might be cheating on her.  She gets focused on her pain, and is crying over a cup of coffee with her friend Edna.  It’s a great moment of self-pity for Helen.  A moment that we call can relate to.  She doesn’t know what’s happening, she just knows that she’s discovering that her whole ‘life’ is not what she thought it was.  Edna, being a good friend, is happy to let Helen vent her pain (we all need to do that with a friend sometimes), but eventually Helen wails “What am I going to do?” to Edna, a question which Edna can’t believe she is hearing.

Edna jumps on the table and begins to smack Helen over the head with a rolled up newspaper, determined to put an end to this pity-party.  To Edna, acknowledging the pain is one thing, but choosing to wallow in it and not deal with the problem is unacceptable.

“What are you talking about?!?” she cries.  “You are Elastigirl!  My God! Pull yourself together! (smack smack) What will you do?   Is…is…is this a question?  You will show him that you remember that he is Mr. Incredible! And you will REMIND him, who YOU are! Well!.. You know where he is… Go! Confront the problem! Fight! Win!    And call me when you get back, dahling, I enjoy our visits.”

THAT my friends is what being a christian is about.

It’s so easy for each of us to forget that we are more than just the weaker identities we live in every day.  Each of us sometimes forgets that we are God’s personally chosen hero.

We (yes!  Even you!) are tasked to save our part of the world from a wretched and powerful Super Villain and deliver it back into God’s heroic plan of salvation and redemption.  Each of us has been granted unique and special powers (gifts), and those powers are supernaturally magnified via the Holy Spirit.  We are the physical and spiritual embodiment of that a true Super Hero is.  We can change the course of mighty rivers, move mountains into the sea, raise the dead, fly on wings of eagles…. But we forget that.  We get lost in the daily identities we play every day.

But the christian walk is supposed to be there to remind us of what we truly are.  What we are sent to do.  We as Christians should remind each other, that we can never be truly happy until we are DOING what we were made to do.

If you see someone down, frustrated, and hurting, remind them of what the situation really is.  You might not always have to smack them with a newspaper, but show them that you remember who they are.  Remind them who YOU are.  Then, confront the problem.  Fight!  Win!  And then… have a cup of coffee and enjoy the fellowship of a good friend that will remind you that you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you.

Be Christ to them

Check out this one

Jaima has something special going on over at her site.  Check out her new post.  It's a goody.

WINDS OF CHANGE

Colorado tends to shift seasons quickly so this fall has been a pleasant surprise. The leaves fell and there was time to rake them into big piles for the kids to leap into prior to the next snow. The colors have been bright and vibrant, the weather unpredictable, and the hand of the creator has been unmistakable, whether in the brilliant sunshine or the fluffy snowflakes. God beckons to me in these moments and leads me to embrace the transitory existence that exemplifies the change of seasons.

This year, God seems to be talking to me in the fall moments. For the first time in many years, I am seeing the vibrant life in the harvest season. The leaves have turned brilliant hues of red and gold while the fiery sunsets have been filled with startling pinks and purples. The other night, I awoke to the howling of the wind. I could hear it shaking the house and whistling between the fence posts outside. And it seemed like God was saying, rise up and use the winds, set your sails, spread your wings to ride the winds of change to the new place I am taking you. It reminded me of the verse in Isaiah (40:31) where we are told to ‘rise up on wings as eagles’.

A few weeks ago, a word was given I church about Joseph in the pit and the caravan having been sent two months before. It was a clear word of much needed encouragement. A few days later, God started talking to me about the pit. Joseph would not have considered going in the caravan if he had not been thrown into the pit. Joseph had been content in his old life, despite the harassment of his brothers. If the brothers had not thrown Joseph into the pit, he probably would have continued to live in Hebron with his father. Yet God sent a caravan, and what his brothers meant for ill, God turned to good.

Joseph ended up in Egypt, honorably serving God. The bible says everything he undertook was successful because God was with him. Yet Joseph would not have chosen this path of his own volition. He would probably have never considered leaving home and going to Egypt. Nor would he have chosen to work for Pharoah’s commander of the guard. Yet there he was, bringing blessing to all he undertook. Yet even in behaving honorably with Potiphar’s wife, he ended up being thrown in jail. Another transition. But Yahweh was with Joseph and he found favor with the chief jailer. Eventually Joseph found favor with Pharoah, becoming his second in command.

What struck me was if Joseph had never been thrown in jail, he would have never had an opportunity to become such an influential force in Egypt. And if he had never been thrown into the pit, he would have never made it into Egypt in the first place. I can’t imagine Joseph was thrilled about being thrown into the pit – there was no water; and I am sure being sold into slavery did not feel like the favor of God was upon him, yet these challenges helped lay the foundation for greater purposes. Joseph needed to let go of the past and embrace the new so he could be present with God in the new place. He needed to be present in the moment with God in Potiphar’s house and in doing so, he brought blessing to himself and others. If he had spent the time bemoaning his fate and wishing to return home, he would not have been engaged with what God was doing in the present. God made sure Joseph knew the door to returning home was closed so he could move forward and stay engaged with God in the moment. When Joseph was thrown in jail, another door to a past life was closed, and in the transition time, Joseph continued to focus on God and live in the present. He blessed those in jail with him, which eventually led to his visit with Pharoah, and his opportunity to save Egypt and his relatives from a devastating famine.

All of which sounds great as a story. Yet in a place where all that seems familiar has been shaken and changed, I recognize the challenge of letting go of my expectations and allowing God to lead me to the next step. God has been about removing old places, people, jobs, and preparing for something new. The wind is starting to blow and God is bringing new things. Yet He does not seem anxious to share the big picture. In looking at the life of Joseph, I wonder if maybe we are in one of those transition moments where it is all about relying on God to guide the way as we would never get there on our own. So the question I hear in the wind goes something like – Will you trust me with the next step? Change is coming; good things are on the horizon. We have needed a season to release our hold on the things of the past and old comfort zones so we can embrace the new life God is walking us into. Yet, it requires us to keep our eyes on Him and to trust Him for the moment-by -moment directions. The big picture is too big for us to see from here and that is good news! My prayer as we approach this Thanksgiving is that we will all have the faith to mount up with wings as eagles to ride the new currents to God’s highest heights.

Temptation

Jaima's got a great article on temptation posted on her Blog.  Check it out.  A great read.

Temptation

TRUST

            Sometimes we encounter a season in our walk with God where He seems present yet our circumstances don't appear to reflect that presence.  This is where the rubber meets the road and the question God asks is "Do you trust me?"  It can be hard to trust God when a friend dies unexpectedly, you lose your job due to budget cuts, your child gets inexplicably hurt, or your savings disappear in a stock market crash or bank collapse.  All of these things are out of our control and they remove any illusion you have control.  Suppose all those events happen to you within the span of a few months.  Where do you go with your questions? 

            God whispers, "Do you trust me?"  Trusting God is not merely acknowledging Him to be God despite our circumstances.  He calls us into so much more.  He wants us to run to Him with our questions, our confusion, our concerns, and still trust His heart towards us.  When a number of things have not gone as you had hoped and you go through a season of loss, where do you go to get answers?  We can talk to friends and spouses and receive encouragement and support but not necessarily answers.  When Job talked with his friends, they lectured him and said he must have done something to either open the door to calamity or deserve God's punishment.  Yet that was not the case.  God was working something new in Job and for His kingdom.  Numerous prophets in the Old Testament did exactly what God told them yet ended up thrown in prison or exile.  The apostle Paul went from prison to shipwreck to prison.  Are we to believe those instances are some kind of judgment from God against Paul?

I think not.  Instead, these stories detail how God allows challenges to build something more powerful and more significant in the believer.  He continues to use seasons of delay, loss, and discouragement to perfect His purposes.  In such a season, we are forced to reconcile our false notions of Christianity with reality.  Do we think being a Christian will assure us of an easy life?  Let's examine that thought - did any of the followers of Jesus really live an easy life?  They were stoned, jailed, crucified, persecuted, and hunted.  Who would want that kind of life?  Do we believe that if we are Christians everyone will like us?  The Apostle Paul could not even get along with his own disciples, sending at least one to serve with others and having several quit altogether.  Do we believe everything we lay our hands to will be blessed and we will reap riches just because we are believers?  Jesus called the rich young ruler to sell everything he owned and follow Him.  Despite calling people to a harder life, Christianity spread like a wildfire even while those spreading the message met horrible fates.  Why?

Because God was at work – for His kingdom and on behalf of His believers.  Old thought systems and strongholds were being torn down so a new system of life could be established.  Could it be possible God uses the same principles with us when we encounter hardship?  When in the pressed places, we can more easily recognize our brokenness.  It also becomes apparent our efforts are insufficient.  We need God to work on our behalf and we more readily grant Him access.  The challenge now, as then, is to recognize what forces are truly at work.  When bad things happen for reasons out of our control, our first enemy is fear.  We recognize control is an illusion and where do we turn?  Do we turn to God?  That is the first step of faith.  God whispers, "Do you really trust me?"  The next relates to whether we choose to acknowledge God is in charge of our circumstances or if we will fall back on our own understanding.  We say we want to walk out on the water like Peter yet many times, like Peter, we fall back on our own understanding and start to sink in the waves.  We must choose to keep our focus on God or our circumstances.  Fear prowls nearby and growls at our uncertainty.  Who will be God here?  My own finite understanding or will I loose God to move beyond my limited perceptions?  Again, God asks us, "Do you trust me?"  And the question goes to the very heart of the matter.  Do we REALLY trust God?  Do we trust God to do better than what we ask for?  Will we really go where He leads or do we want Him to respond in the manner we want and refuse to listen to anything else?  When the answer to a healing prayer is 'no', do we still trust God?

The fundamental question God comes to us with is – "Do you trust me?"  In our pressed places, we have the opportunity to allow God to reveal and free us from false perceptions and remove strongholds.  We simply need to choose who will be God here, - God, fear, or our own understanding.  Make no mistake, one of them will rule in this land.  Fear will assail you repeatedly to keep you from moving forward in the plans God has for you.  Our own flesh will rise up and insist on rational plans for escape from the pressed place.  And God will whisper, "Do you trust me?"  The whole process is about freeing us to move into the new land.  Remember Joshua and Caleb who focused not on the giants in the Promised Land but on what God said.  To move into the Promised Land, we have to surrender our earthly perceptions and choose to align ourselves with God more closely.  Many times we want the promises of God but refuse to go through the transforming faith walk.  The Promised Land is out there but we can only occupy the new place by trusting God.

So when God whispers, "Do you trust me?" He is really calling us into battle.  The battle over faith and over the heart of God.  Will I walk on in faith, trusting God's plan, despite what the circumstances scream?  Will I give in to fear or move forward in spite of it?  Shakespeare sums up the battle well in the play Henry V – "Once more into the breach, dear friends, once more …"

Keys to successful travailing-

1.                                Recognize the limitations of our own understanding and do not rely on it. 

2.                                Make NO negative agreements about anyone else's motivations or the state of their hearts – particularly towards you.

3.                                Do not dwell on the past.  Focus on the next step in front of you.

4.                                Spend more time in worship and reading the Bible than normal.

5.                                Listen for similar messages from different sources to see if God is trying to say something.

6.                                When fear comes, and it will, choose to set aside your emotions for the time being and re-approach the subject when you can re-focus back on God.

7.                                It is okay to grieve what has been lost but not to dwell on the 'what ifs' or 'if only's'.

8.                                Choose to believe God is for you and He is working on your behalf regardless of how things look or feel.

Questions:

1.              Take yourself to a time when things were out of control in your life and you were unhappy.  What kinds of questions went through your mind? Did you get any answers?  If so, what were they?

2.              How do you reconcile the fact that many of Jesus' disciples met untimely ends?  What expectations do you have for what life, as a Christian should look like?

3.              Do you trust God's heart toward you?  Why or why not?

4.              Can you remember a time in the past when the future looked bleak yet everything turned out well?  What happened?  Do you see God's hand in that process?

5.              Has your life progressed as you expected?  Have there been any unexpected events?  If so, were they good or bad?  In looking back, can you see if God was there?

What are you carrying?

And they carried the ark of God in a new cart out of the house of Abinadab: and Uzza and Ahio drave the cart. And David and all Israel played before God with all their might, and with singing, and with harps, and with psalteries, and with timbrels, and with cymbals, and with trumpets. And when they came unto the threshingfloor of Chidon, Uzza put forth his hand to hold the ark; for the oxen stumbled. And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Uzza, and he smote him, because he put his hand to the ark: and there he died before God. – 1^st Chronicles 13:7-10

It’s tragic that Uzza died in this episode. He had lived with the ark for 20 years with his father Abinidab, and he and Ahio were clearly familiar with it. It seems odd that he would be punished because he was simply trying to help when he thought the Ark might fall. But perhaps the real question in this story is “why did the Oxen stumble?”

These oxen could easily pull the Ark itself. The Philistines sent the ark, along with golden offerings, back to Israel on a cart being pulled by milk cows. The cart could also easily carry such a load as the Ark. David made sure to build a NEW cart to carry the Ark back and it’s not unreasonable to assume that David had engineers who were capable of designing a cart that could carry the weight of the Ark.

It’s quite simple to design a vehicle to carry any specific item, but it’s quite hard when you aren’t sure of the weights the item itself will contain. But we often forget that while the ark was being moved, Israel as a nation was busy bringing praise to the Lord. Psalms 2 points out God is enthroned on the praises of his people, which means it’s very likely the Glory of God was seated on the Ark while it was being moved. And so, even though the Oxen could easily pull the Ark alone, it’s very likely they were unable to pull what the Ark carried during this trek, that being the Glory of God.

Oxen are not designed to carry such a load, and as a result, they strained to pull the ark and inevitably stumbled. This led to Uzza’s death. It’s not a matter of strength; it’s a matter of design. It’s a well-known fact that if you try to carry or pull a weight with a vehicle that’s not designed to carry that weight, you create a dangerous and often deadly situation. If you doubt this, just try to pull 10,000lb boat behind a 67 Volkswagen and see how comfortable you feel driving that car. The Volkswagen CAN get it moving, but it’s not designed to pull that load.

The charge of carrying the Ark and the rest of the holy utensils was given to the family of Kohath, of the tribe of Levi (Numbers 4). In other words, it is the Priests of God that are ordained and designed to carry the Glory of God. When Uzza died, David had the Ark carried into Obed-Edom’s house, and a month later, David had it carried by the priests all the way to Jerusalem and both of these transfers happened without incident.

Through Christ, this charge is now extended to not just the Levites, but to each and every one of us. As a Christian you are also ordained as a Priest of the Most High, and you can carry the Glory of God with you everywhere you go.

Man is the only creature designed to carry the Glory of God, and in fact it’s the only thing that God asks us to carry. He tells us to ‘lay our burdens down’, not to pick them up. But too often, we pick up burdens we are not designed to carry, and as a result, we create dangerous situations either for ourselves or for those around us; who, trying to help, might end up like Uzza when we stumble. If we are carrying a load we are not designed to carry, it is inevitable that we will stumble at some point. But if we carry the load we are designed to carry, we find that his ‘yoke is easy and his burden is light’. It’s not easy because it’s small and puny in size and weight; it’s easy because we were designed to carry it.

Our duty in life is not to try to ‘resolve’ or ‘manage’ the situations we find ourselves in, but rather to carry the Glory of God into those situations. Then God, not us, can bring His purposes and His resolutions to the situations we find ourselves in. Our questions that we ask of God need to change from “God how do I fix this?” to “God how do I bring your Glory into this place?”

Questions to ponder

1. What are you carrying that you are not supposed to carry? Do you find it hard to put it down? Why?
2. Do you think to bring the Glory of God into your situations? Why or why Not?
3. Do you try to bring your own strength to your situations? How’s that working for you?
4. How comfortable are you with God dealing with your situations ‘His way’ instead of ‘your way?’ Why?
5. Do you sense the presence of God in your daily life working on your behalf on the issues before you? How does that make you feel?