Fresh Eyes

Thinking we have the final world on correct doctrine is pride. Only he who is the way, the truth and the life has the final word on not only doctrine, but everything else as well.

At one point, I very much wanted to do things the way the first century believers did them. Then I decided since they had been around way longer, to find out about the Jewish spiritual practices and follow them. I've now gone back to the beginning before sin so totally corrupted the world to find out how God originally set it up. All was simple, oh so lovely and right.

It didn't take sin long to reveal it's ugly face. One chapter after the fall we see Cain killing Abel. There have been wars and rumors of wars ever since. Power hungry, greedy people lording it over other people. We won't see any of this taking place in the Kingdom. The King of all kings rules and reigns in righteousness.

May we see things from the Father and Son's prospective, a Kingdom focus and not simply an earthly one. A wise saying encourages us with these words: Always remember your present situation is not your final destination. The best is yet to come.

Have a blessed holiday. January 5th we will be leaving Wisconsin for a couple of weeks in Florida. Yesterday it was 75 degrees in Pensacola where we are going.

FRESH EYES

Heavenly Father,

Help me to see,

With fresh eyes,

From your prospective,

Not my fleshly,

Flawed reasoning,

Stuck in a rut,

Bound by tradition,

Final word attitude,

Pride,

All stinking thinking,

Only you know it all,

Have the final word,

Help me love truth,

Be eager to discover it,

Develop relationship,

Honest communication,

Nothing hidden,

Done for show,

But to express my love,

Gratitude,

Make you smile,

Protect your heart,

Let me see,

Beyond the present,

Have an eternal vision,

That sees with fresh eyes!

Holy Passion

May each and every one of us reading this poem have a red hot passion for the things our Master is most passionate about. What are those issues dearest to his heart? Holiness is one thing. Other areas include family, relationship or ever greater intimacy with each of his people, responsibility or seeking to know and do his will and not just talk a big Spiritual talk, but letting our walk match our talk. Their are undoubtedly other areas our Messiah and also the Father are passionate about. The two are one in their desires. They long to bless you with life's true riches, which are all the holy desires they are so passionate about. Seek them as to what they are and they will show you. Ask them to infuse you with their passion in these areas. They long to do so.

HOLY PASSION

What excites the Father?

Is he passionate about?

Family for one thing,

That lives to serve him,

By serving each other,

He yearns for relationship,

Ever deepening intimacy,

Seeking not only his hand,

But also his face,

Longing to protect his heart,

Trusting him to protect ours,

Which he longs to do,

He honors holiness,

Of thought, word, and deed,

Total surrender to his will,

Learning to lean,

Experience his faithfulness,

Even in the darkest hours,

Laughing and weeping with us,

Sharing his deepest longings,

Listening as we share ours,

He desires ever greater oneness.

Brothers and Sisters

In a few days I turn 65. I was lonely and prayed for the right guy to spend my life with. God in his goodness gave me all I ask for and more. It's time for another blog spot.

If you aren't up to speed on what's going on in the Muslim part of the Middle East, it's horrible. In Egypt, churches are being burned, believers are being tortured and killed. Genocide of  Christians in Egypt, which has the largest Christian population and dates back to the time of the gospel writer Mark, who was the first evangelist to Egypt, Iraq which has the second largest number of believers (very close in number to Egypt), North Sudan and more places is taking place even as I write. Whatever these people's denomination and style of worship, they are our brothers and sisters, an essential part of the Savior's one body. We need to support these brothers and sisters in any way we can. First of all with our prayers, then alerting other believers and soliciting their prayers for this tragedy, and thirdly whatever else God lays on your heart. We dare not harden our hearts. For more details on this tragic genocide of horrific proportions, go to the Blaze, with Glenn Beck.

BROTHERS AND SISTERS

Our brothers and sisters,

The Christians in Egypt,

Iraq,

Sudan,

Wherever they are found,

Persecuted for their faith,

Tortured,

Killed,

Their churches burned,

Our family members,

Whatever their denomination,

Style of worship,

Unique parts of one body,

One faith,

One baptism,

One Lord and Savior,

Each part is essential,

When one part hurts,

The whole body feels pain,

Cries out for healing,

Hardening our hearts,

Ignoring their plight,

Brings continued destruction,

To all believers.

Protecting God's Heart

For several years now, I have been slowly learning Hebrew. I've mastered the alphabet which is fascinating, but little else. In the Hebrew, every letter started out as a picture (pictogram).  For example, the first letter Aleph was a picture of an ox or bull. While each letter is a number, it also has a meaning. The first letter of the alphabet is aleph which is number one and means first, strong.

The combined meaning of the individual letters give you the meaning of the word. For example, God or El contains the letters aleph which means first, strong and lamed (the twelfth letter) which means leader. Unlike other languages, Hebrew is written from right to left. Also, in the ancient or paleo Hebrew, there were no vowel markings, only consonants.

In a most fascinating book,with a chapter on each letter of the Hebrew Alphabet, the author under aleph talked about the concept of protecting God's heart. As we grow in intimate relationship with God, we progress to the level of wanting to protect God's heart. While we never stop needing and seeking his hand or face, we also desire to guard his heart. Sin has caused his totally loving heart unimaginable grief. To the point of having to send his only Son, the person dearest to his heart, to die for our sin. Oh the width, and length and depth and height of El's unfathomable love for us  which surpasses knowledge (Ephesians 3:14:21).

PROTECTING GOD'S HEART

As God's children,

Learning to trust,

Know our provider,

Our all in all,

We seek his hand.

Having fallen in love,

We desire relationship,

Long to serve God,

Cause him to smile,

We seek his face.

As intimacy deepens,

Often without words,

We feel God's heart,

His hurts and joys,

And long to protect it.

Eat Your Frog First

I don't know what you most dislike doing, but I have a hard time getting motivated to exercise, especially lift weights. Having bad osteoporosis, my chiropractor says walking isn't enough. In order to build bone mass, I have to do weight bearing exercise. For years, I've used a doable program, by Miriam Nelson, Ph.D. "Strong Women Stay Young." It was first used on nursing home patients. Some of them were in wheelchairs. I lift wights twice a week. Nelson says you need to do it either two or three times a week for maximum benefit. More than that will not give your muscles time to heal the little tears. I have my own dumbbells and also leg weights. When I read the advice about eating your frog first this is what came to mind. 

EAT YOUR FROG FIRST!

What do you most dislike doing?

Put off as long as possible?

Don't procrastinate,

Save it for last,

Eat your spinach first,

Save your dessert for last,

Do your ick jobs first,

Get them behind you,

Enjoy the satisfaction,

Knowing there completed,

Do your yum jobs later,

Look forward to them,

Enjoy working on them,

In other words,

Eat your frog first.

Responsibility

What a bummer. I just lost my first draft of this. So here it goes again. For some time now, God has been teaching me about what he loves and hates. One of the character qualities he loves is responsibility, while its opposite laziness is detestable to him. Laziness as well as excuses concerning laziness are sin. So is procrastination.

For years instead of being led by the Good Shepherd, I was driven by the enemy. Our precious Savior isn't most concerned with speed, but with obedience, desiring believers develop an ever deepening relationship with him and learn to discern his voice from the voice of the enemy. We are to let the peace of God rule in our hearts and not rush into an action we don't have his peaceful knowing that it is the right course to pursue. 

We are not called to be human doings, even in getting out the gospel, but human beings, who have our priorities in order and know our Lord's seasons for our lives. There is a time to work and a time to rest. Without down times we burn out. That is why taking one day a week to cease from our everyday labor and fellowship with him and other believers is so important.

Also opening our day with prayer for wisdom concerning our daily activities and his anointing on them is most important. As we continue through the day, we need to seek guidance concerning the moment by moment decisions we have to make.

The eternal kingdom will be simple, lovely, pure and right. We are a three part being consisting of body, soul and spirit. Clutter in any one of the three indicates clutter or unresolved issues in all three of them. Clutter overwhelms, steals our peace, prevents us from hearing God's voice most accurately and being the most effective in all that we do. Excessive belongings or stuff which is never satisfying is usually a counterfeit for the truly satisfying relationships with our Master and other believers that God intended to fulfill us.   

Our Messiah is preparing us to rule and reign with him eternally. In order to merit such responsibility, we have to prove ourselves trustworthy while on earth. As  they are the truest indicator of the thoughts and intentions of our hearts, our actions really do speak louder than our words. God doesn't call just anyone his friend, but only those who are willing to do the work necessary to develop an ever deepening relationship with him.

RESPONSIBILITY

For years,

God has been showing me,

What he loves,

Also what he hates,

He detests laziness,

But loves responsibility,

God's kingdom is coming,

Soon it will be here,

Believers are being prepared,

To rule and reign,

With the King of kings,

There is no higher honor,

To be trusted with authority,

We need to act responsibly,

Obey God's commands,

Have our house in order,

Be cleaning out our clutter,

Simplifying our lives,

Developing relationships,

With him,

And set apart believers,

Not substituting stuff,

The unsatisfying counterfeit,

For the satisfying real thing,

Stop making excuses,

For our laziness,

Learn to discern his voice,

From the enemies,

Refuse to be driven,

But rather be led,

Knowing the seasons,

The time to work,

And the time to rest.

When God is In Control

In the stoic German household I grew up in, emotions such as crying were frowned upon. Instead you were tough, took matters into your own hands and did what was necessary to fix the situation. More often than not my stinking thinking caused me to mess things up even worse. Having developed an ever deepening relationship with my Good Shepherd, I've found out that I don't have to put on a tough facade and that it is OK to cry. Boy, did I shed a lot of tears for a while. Since he is all knowing, there is nothing I can hide from him anyway. Nor would I want to. The enemy is the one who beats you up with your sins, the Savior forgives and restores relationships. Over the years, I've learned to trust again. 

Even with the best of intentions, sinful humans that we all are, we will at times fail each other. Not so my Messiah, who promises to never leave or forsake me. The testimony of my life is that in the way and measure that I've needed him my Jesus (Yahshua in the Hebrew) has always been there for me. He's never rushed me faster than I am able to go. Healing and setting free is like pealing off the layers of an onion. One layer at a time the onion is pealed, healing tears and all, and as our flesh dies, we become an ever more brilliant reflection of the Master.  

When God is in control no matter how nasty it looks, everything is in control. God's past faithfulness produces assurance as to his future provision.

WHEN GOD IS IN CONTROL

When God is in control,

Though it may not seem so,

Our flesh may protest,

Things look bleak,

Everything is in control,

Our all in all,

The all powerful one,

Who is all wise,

Perfect love,

Knows what's best for us,

His timing is flawless,

Waiting can be tough,

Our flesh detests it,

Wants too fix it,

Get it over with,

But only makes it worse,

But the God who sees,

Leads us step by step,

Changing us into his image,

The promise keeper,

Never leaves or forsakes us,

Provides our every need,

When too weak to walk,

Our Good Shepherd carries us,

Uses every trial for good,

Turns each test,

Into a testimony!