Reflections of What is Above!

The more I read about Jesus in the New Testament, the more I cannot help but fall deeper in love with God.

"Jesus saith unto him, Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? he that hath seen me hath seen the Father; and how sayest thou then, Shew us the Father? Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me? the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works." ~John 14:9-10

Jesus, while on this earth, operated out of His humanity and in perfect surrender and yielding to the Father, perfectly expressed Him to mankind. When you see Him doing something, or speaking something, He was expressing the Father to us. Like a picture of a landscape near a body of water. The image that you saw on the surface was a direct reflection of what was above!

I remember a time in my life when I looked at the Father as this "Divine Employer" who was ready to write me up if I did not work my tail off for Him. It was a muddy reflection.

I would sit in weekly staff meetings at the church where I worked and cringe inside when the previous Sunday did not have the "Right amount of offering come in" or "not enough visitors in the front door" or "You are not working hard enough to keep people in their place" and it was always expressed to the assistant pastors that we were not working hard enough or making the right amount of "Connections" with people.

I would see men who worked very hard, belittled to the point of tears by a sharp and destructive tongue over their "poor performance" and would think of the words of the prophet Ezekiel in chapter thirty four.

"And the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel, prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord GOD unto the shepherds; Woe be to the shepherds of Israel that do feed themselves! should not the shepherds feed the flocks? Ye eat the fat, and ye clothe you with the wool, ye kill them that are fed: but ye feed not the flock. The diseased have ye not strengthened, neither have ye healed that which was sick, neither have ye bound up that which was broken, neither have ye brought again that which was driven away, neither have ye sought that which was lost; but with force and with cruelty have ye ruled them. And they were scattered, because there is no shepherd: and they became meat to all the beasts of the field, when they were scattered. "~ Ezekiel 34:1-5

It was sad because if success and blessings were determined by the dollar amount cleared between Sunday School and church or by the number of heads in a service then where was God on those days where we did not work hard enough? He was only blessing when things were good? The reflection was anything but true. God was presented as a muddy riverbank who was only pleased when results were good.

I remember the day that I discovered that there was not one thing that I could do to make God love me any more than He already did. I sat there in my office and just cried because I had taken my first step down the section of trail that God had used every event and circumstance in my life to lead me to. He began to teach me about His clear reflection!

I would read how Jesus reached out to individuals in their individual needs and just be blown away that if He (Jesus) was expressing the God of the universe, then He (Jesus) proved that God noticed us as individuals with individual needs.

He reached out to a blind man in his need of sight and used that circumstance as an introduction between the blind man and a Holy God. In other words, "Your need was allowed by God to help you see His presence and nearness in your life. He has used this need to help you become closer to Him".

He used the wall of silence to help a deaf man hear.

He used a wall of illness to help a woman with an issue of blood step up to Him.

He used the wall of paralysis to help a man come through the  roof to meet Him!

He used the wall of death itself to become a step for all of us.

Jesus came to introduce us to God. He came so that we could be RECONCILED to Him!

Then I read a passage that I had literally heard misused my entire life.

"For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost." ~Luke 19:10

I say misused because it was always used to motivate me into acts of service for Him. If Jesus was truly sent a as reflection of God to man then I needed to read the verse that came before this one.

"And Jesus said unto him, This day is salvation come to this house, forsomuch as he also is a son of Abraham." ~Luke 19:9 

Jesus had just met with Zacchaeus and as always, anytime Jesus meets someone a choice and opportunity to change is given.

He was making the statement in verse nine to emphasize verse ten's reference to Ezekiel 34. His people had been scattered by priests that had put themselves before the mission. It happens to this day because the flesh walk can be doing good things just as much as bad things. (See World War "Z" in Me)

They had destroyed and ran off people because quiet honestly, it was the easy thing to do. Just run them off and run them down and God's people then, just as today, began to become prey to the beasts of the field. They had displayed a muddy river bank reflection.

Jesus's statement that day was absolutely powerful! God was sending the message, "The men who were paid to represent me showed a horribly disfigured representation of me to men, so I am going to send a true reflection to them."

Zack was a tax man that Jesus encountered and when God, through Jesus, reached out to this man it brought to mind one of the most beautiful situations in the Bible of God personally reaching out to another tax man.
 

And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him." ~Matthew 9:9

Did you read that???

Let me underscore it because I missed it the first time too!

And as Jesus passed forth from thence, he saw a man, named Matthew, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he saith unto him, Follow me. And he arose, and followed him." ~Matthew 9:9

Jesus saw Matthew. So? He saw everyone right?

Matthew was the son of Levi. Historians and biblical scholars tell us that Matthew was of Levite ancestry. The Levites were the tribe of Israel that were not to own property because they were to be God's ministers in the sacrifices of the tabernacles and the temple. It was the custom and duty of a male child born into the tribe of Levi to become a rabbi and fulfill those requirements. The only way to not do this was to fail the tests of the priests or just decide to walk away from your lineage. Why would someone do that?

If it was the first of these two theories than I can understand. The tests that these young boys were given before they could be approached by a Rabbi to be mentored were unbelievably difficult and the work was tedious to say the least. It makes it so powerful because you could not approach a Rabbi to request mentoring, they looked at your scores and chose you. Here he sat in a despised position and The Rabbi approaches him and says, "Follow me!"

If it was the second of the two theories than it would be equally as powerful.We may find a clue in the book of the Bible he would later write. The word "hypocrites" appears more times in Matthew (twelve) than it does anywhere else in the Bible. Perhaps he saw so many people who were hypocrites -- people that said they loved God but proved otherwise by their actions -- that he decided he was finished with God.

Jesus came to show us the Father. The Father sees you and He sees me right now today!

Did you know that He knows exactly what it is that has caused you hurt last week?

He approaches us in the very place of pain and wounding to allow us to see with our own heart that He wants us just as we are. He wants us to be in His presence.

Be it a wound, pain, wrongdoing, injustice, quiet word, or even this blog post today. He is reaching out to you in a voice that is beyond audible to say, "I love you, and I am well aware of you and I want to be part of your life!" He is waiting to introduce Himself to you or reveal a better view of Himself to you, even through an allowed circumstance that causes you to look up out of desperation.

There have been more times than I am comfortable admitting that I have reflected the Christ in me as if He were a muddy riverbank, and that is to my shame. The choices that we make daily to surrender ourselves to the Father are crucial. Walk in the flesh or walk in the Spirit? That is up to us because there have been many times when I was able to offer a view that was a clear reflection. What will you be today? A muddy reflection that blurs and distorts the Father or a clear reflection of the one that is above? The best way to be a clear reflection to others is to take a moment before the day begins and look up!
 
Based on what I find in Jesus, the reflected God is well worth lifting up your head and heart to see!



Climbing with you,
~Dan

 

Your Certified Letter

He shifted the position in which he was sitting because the hard surface of the stone bench that he was chained to had begun to, once again, put his legs to sleep.

The light that had earlier in the day streamed through the tiny window of this pit, was fast becoming a precious commodity with which a man could see what he was writing.

He laid the ink stalk down for just a moment in order to rub his swollen hands together in an attempt to restore circulation to his wrists and fingers.
Looking back down to the parchment in front of him, he dipped the stalk into the stone blotter, and continued to scratch out...

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:"  ~Philipians 1:6

Paul, at the writing of this letter, was the prisoner of a madman.

Nero (15 December 37 – 9 June 68) was Roman Emperor from 54 to 68, and the writing of this letter to the church at Philipi dates to about 64 A.D.
Historians tell us that,  during his reign, Nero focused much of his attention on diplomacy, trade, and enhancing the cultural life of the Empire. Nero's rule is often associated with tyranny and extravagance. He is known for many executions, including that of his mother, and the probable murder by poison of his stepbrother.
He is infamously known as the Emperor who "fiddled while Rome burned" and as an early persecutor of Christians. He was known for having captured Christians to burn them in his garden at night for a source of light for his parties.

Paul is writing to the church and from all that we gather from this letter, there is nothing wrong within the church. I guess what makes this letter stand out to me so much besides the beautiful passages that are found within it are the contrasts that are going on in the background.

The circumstances that Paul is in directly contrasts with the people that he is writing to. Paul is Nero's prisoner, and the church is celebrating victory and freedom.

Yet here in the opening of the letter we find a passage like verse six.

"Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:" ~Philipians 1:6
 

If we go through this letter we will find some other interesting passages, but ampilfied in power due to the condition of the environment from which they were birthed. I know that you have read these passages before, but i would ask, in light of the background that has been set, that you would please read these words again slowly and let them sink into your Spirit. (Read them out loud and listen to them as you read them.)

"For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." ~Philipians 1:21

"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure."
                                                                                                      ~ Philipians 2:13 

"But what things were gain to me, those i counted loss for Christ. Yea doubtless, and i count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom i have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that i may win Christ, and be found in Him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith: that i may know Him and the power of His ressurection, and the fellowship of His sufferings, being made conformable unto death; if by any means i might attain unto the ressurection of the dead." ~Philipians 3: 7-10

"Not that i speak in respect of want: for i have learned , in whatsoever state i am, there with to be content. I know both how to be abased, and i know how to abound: everywhere and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." ~Philipians 4:11-13

Reading this blog post this today you may emotionally feel as though you are either on one side of this letter or the other. You may be in a season of visible victory and freedom of your mind, will, and emotions or you may be in a season of a prison like experience in those areas.

I want to encourage you to catch the essence of this letter. The Christian experience is NOT what is going on around the believer, but rather what is going on IN the believer.

"For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." ~Philipians 1:21

"For it is God which worketh in you both to will and to do of His good pleasure."
                                                                                           ~ Philipians 2:13

I read passges like 1:21, and 2:13 and I am challenged because God desires to give me the strength and opportunity to work out what He has placed within me and that is Himself! God provides us opportunities and the strength to reveal Himself to those around us TODAY!

How can you write a letter with such passion and resolve Paul? You are imprisoned right?

I firmly believe that Paul discovered that both the prison and the pulpit were both the same: Opportunities provided by God to diplay Himself to the audiences that both of those extremes offered.

What is going on in your world today? Who has God allowed you to be surrounded by today? May I submit to you that God has allowed both of the answers to those two questions for the express purpose of displaying Himself and He has given you the strength and the ability to do so!

 I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." ~Philipians 4:13

Easy? No. God never promises that life is going to be easy, but HE does promise that life, lived through Him, is possible!

Climbing with you,
~Dan

World War "Z" in Me!

 

It seems like everywhere you turn we are bombarded with the topic of “Zombies”. The idea of the walking dead is everywhere and our culture has become very fixated on this to the point that it has become iconic in some cases. I am not an expert on cultural topics by any means, but it would seem to me as if over the last twelve years that this topic has gotten bigger and bigger. Nearly every third movie or television show coming out to the public is about this topic and I am seeing more and more window clings, and clothing with this phrase, “Zombie Life” or even "Zombie inside".

What is a Zombie by definition?

ZOMBIE: By West Indian origin the term refers to a corpse that is animated in the search for signs of life by which it itself may obtain life.

This is one of those moments when you have to ask for eyes to see what is plainly in view. Why would our society become fixated on this idea of the dead trying to find and consume life? If this is not a reflection of where we are as a nation, or where we are as a people I am not sure how much more audible God has to get for us to realize that “His Life” is being sought and not able to be identified.

If the definition of a Zombie is someone who is dead looking to find life, than I would like to submit to you that we are surrounded by just such a scene. It is not limited to what most Christians would term “The World”. They are in our churches every week and in some cases, they are even in our homes.  In fact, let me tell you about a Zombie that I used to personally know!

 

He walked into the church auditorium that day more dead than alive. By the proper definition you could say that he fit the description of a Zombie. Someone who was lifeless that was doing everything he knew to do to find life and feed off of it.

He was easily overlooked by the greeter at the front door who gave him a bulletin and a friendly smile to match the warm and friendly handshake. “I guess he did not strike me as someone who needed anything more than that.” The greeter would say if you would ask him about the Zombie that had just passed him in the doorway.

He found a seat in a familiar place because he had made it a point to sit in this spot every week. Yes, this Zombie went to the church every week because as I indicated at the beginning of this post that he was dead on the inside and he was desperately seeking life.

He looked for life in just about every venue that claimed to offer it. Fitness clubs, the social scene, shopping, working, family, and literally every kind of sport and hobby he could find. It was life he was after and in fact he was not alone in this quest of life. He knew so many other Zombies that he began to think that everyone was this way.

He tried church because in church they all carried a book. They lifted up the book and cheered and waved it while they talked about how great the book was. They told of others in the past who had the book and about all of the great things that they had done while carrying and waving the book. They talked in length about what it meant to have the book and how important it was to carry the book with pride. They had special conferences every now and again about the book and brought people in who were experts on the book to preach and teach about the book.

“The book was life” they said, so this Zombie eagerly got a book but this Zombie soon found that no life came from owning this book. He took the time to learn how to wave it, and open it when they preached out of it, but still he found no life. He learned how to cheer chants and sing choruses about the book, but life could not be found. He asked about how to find the “Life” that the book talked about and he was directed to a special class to attend. He was told that if he attended that class it would help him to learn how to serve the one who wrote the book and in that service he would find “life”!

 

This Zombie was very happy because NOW after all of his searching for life to fill his lifeless shell he just knew he would be complete!

He jumped right into the special class with everything that was in him, because deep down inside he knew that if he did not find life soon, he would die completely.

He learned very quickly all of the things that he needed to do in order to be a productive member of his church and all of the things to do that would help others see value in him. It was a lot of things to do and he began to tire quickly. He was told he needed to take better notes at the book conferences and he was told again about others who held the book before him and he was reminded again of all the great things they did while holding the book.

 He was inspired, and he rededicated himself to the one who wrote the book and was determined to do everything he could do in order to find the “life” talked about in the book. He worked tirelessly to be valued because he was told that “Life” was in being valued. His performance determined his acceptance and his acceptance in turn determined his value.

Sadly, even though he performed to his level best he knew deep down inside that he had not come any closer to the “Life” that was mentioned in the book. The Zombie sat down one day and picked up the book of the one he had worked so hard to be valued by, and he began to read for himself what was inside the book.

That day changed everything!

He read in the book something amazing! He read that in the beginning God made man in His image for the express purpose of being in the presence of God! He read how on that day man was given “Life”! He saw how God desired to know him and that was even before there was anything he could ever do to be noticed or valued by God! He saw that he was created in God’s image and that because God chose to create him with a soul, that God placed value on him!

And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them." ~Genesis 1:26-27

 

"And the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul." ~Genesis 2:7

The Zombie felt something stir within him that he had never felt before. Not even any of the great things he had done could compare with how great he felt to discover that God valued him just because he was breathing!

He read of sin and how it created an emptiness inside of man that nothing could ever fill and he could identify with that because he, in spite of all his trying, felt empty and lifeless. The sin caused a tremendous emptiness because the sin gave man an identity apart from the creator. Man and woman both were made in God’s image and believed a lie that there was something they could do to be more like God. Before the sin it was not God and man it was…”Us” together in fellowship.

The lie was, "Here is something you can do to be more Godly."

"For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil." ~Genesis 3:5

Man tried to invent ways to fill the emptiness all throughout that book and he read where God announced His way to bring man back to his original identity. The word that he read in the book was the word “Reconciled”, and it told how Jesus came and died on a cross as a substitution for the man’s sin. He read how through that sacrifice, the world was “reconciled” back to God! It was a simple matter of faith to accept that reconciliation.

"But not as the offence, so also is the free gift. For if through the offence of one many be dead, much more the grace of God, and the gift by grace, which is by one man, Jesus Christ, hath abounded unto many.     And not as it was by one that sinned, so is the gift: for the judgment was by one to condemnation, but the free gift is of many offences unto justification.     For if by one man's offence death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

Therefore as by the offence of one judgment came upon all men to condemnation; even so by the righteousness of one the free gift came upon all men unto justification of life. For as by one man's disobedience many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous." ~Romans 5:13-19

 

He read the book of Romans and the book of Hebrews! The whole book! Not just selected passages to apply to something someone wanted him to do to earn value to a God that already valued him.

Then the man continued to read the book and he saw how Jesus resurrected from the dead so that the Holy Spirit of God could now indwell man.

"But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you." ~John 14:26

"Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of God."     ~ 2 Corinthians 1:4

"Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you."    ~John 16:7

"To whom God would make known what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory:"~ Colossians 1:27

It went back to “us” again! He saw that his old nature was crucified with Christ and that by walking in the Spirit (His new identity) he did not have to fulfill the lusts of the flesh. The more the zombie read about God, the less the Zombie became interested in going through motions designed by men to create value among other men. The Zombie realized his identity in Christ and when that happened, The Zombie ceased to exist. Where the Zombie once stood, now walked a man who knew who he was in Christ and who he was to Christ! He had found LIFE!

"... I am come that they might have LIFE and LIFE more abundantly."~John 10:10b

It was not a just license to do whatever he wanted to do. The man discovered that his “Wanter” had changed and now it was about living out the God that indwells him!

 

It was no longer a list of boxes to check with the other zombies in search of a life they could never obtain by checking boxes, it was an inner joy that consumed him and he could not stop talking about this God that chose to indwell him!

He found he spoke constantly to others about this indwelling God and to please Him was to simply be who he was made to be, a reflection of the God within him!

The man discovered that God had given him unique gifts and talents with which to express God to others. He also read where God ordered the man’s steps, and that told the man that God allowed every person who crossed the man’s path to do so in order to express Himself to that person through the man. He discovered that every circumstance allowed in his life was an opportunity to choose God over every other option, even the ones that seemed to make more sense. He saw that life was a person and the person was Jesus Christ!

The man saw that the true definition of the FLESH was not limited to living like a rock star, but rather the flesh was: OPERATING OUT OF MY OWN RESOURCES AND STRENGTH.

All along he had been operating out of the flesh to do good things, but it was no wonder that he had found no joy and fulfillment in trying to live the Christian life.

He had been doing so many good things out of his own strength trying to manufacture "life" that it wore him out. He would see other Zombies working away feverishly to impress Zombie bosses and many times heard them even complain that it was a burden to "Have to do all of this stuff". This wasn't the "Life" Jesus talked about was it?

NO WAY! Only Zombie's eat the flesh!

That walk was generated by his identity being found in:
1) What Things I Have.
2) What Things I Do.
3)What People Think of Me.

That is what is called "The Zombie Flesh Walk" and it is completely opposite to "Walking in the Spirit".

Once the man found life, all he had to do was  yield himself to God so that the “True Life” could be lifted up wherever God took the man. This was the “Life” that the, at one time, zombie thought he would never ever be able to find.

I used to know that Zombie back when he was a Zombie, because that was me.

"... I am come that they might have LIFE and LIFE more abundantly."~John 10:10b

It really is that simple folks! Look around you. Could it be that God is reminding you every time you see this cultural shift manifesting itself that he wants you to realize that HE is LIFE?

 Or 

We each get to choose!

"I call heaven and earth to record this day against you, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: therefore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live:" ~Dueteronomy 30:19

 

Climbing with you,

~Dan

New Experiences with Dad

This past Wednesday I posted an entry called, "Wedding? Groom? Don't ask me I'm just the Bride" and it was probably one of the most difficult posts that I have entered on this site to date. It was difficult to write because it was difficult to receive. Once we receive something through God's word or through God's voice in our life we are faced with a choice as to how we will respond to what we have recieved.

I have been thinking about that picture of the bride and groom just about all week long and it has set heavily on my heart. I am not sure how far down the aisle the bride is but I do believe she is getting closer to the altar than she realizes. I think it hit even heavier than it might have if it were not this week that I received it to share. There has been so much that has happened this week in our nation and even around the world that has made the reality of the bride and groom more applicable than ever.

I was doing some home renovations on the 4th and I had my ear buds in as I was demolishing one of our bathrooms. It needed some attention and what had started out as a simple step in the process of remodeling a bathroom, very quickly became a "Run for your life because this here wall is a comin down" shindig! (That is southern for " Major Demolition time")

I was taking a little break and decided to rest in one of our living room chairs where I could see my two oldest children playing in the back yard. I was listening to some music and just sitting there when I felt a little hand pat me on the knee. I looked down and it was my youngest son Blake.

My heart melted. I love that kid! He has me wrapped around his finger in a way that only the youngest child can. He was reaching up for me so I scooped him in my arms and sat him in my lap. He leaned his head back on my chest and just rubbed my arm as we sat looking out the back door. A few seconds had passed when he squirmed his body around where he could look up at me and then his eyes caught site of my ear buds. He pulled them out of my ears and just examined them because he had never seen these before.

I placed one of them in his ear and put the other one in my ear and turned on my music. His eyes grew wide and he just stared into my eyes and you could just see him processing this new sound directly in his ear. We sat there listening to music for quite awhile and that moment became "the moment" for me and I just got lost. There was a lot of good things and great times with the family that i experienced on the 4th but this will be registered as my favorite moment of the week.

Sitting together with my son as he got to experience something new.

Have you ever felt that way?

Just you and your heavenly Father sitting together as He introduces you to something new that will forever change the way you view this life, Him, and all that He will bring you to and through?

Jeremiah was a prophet that watched his people and his nation that he loved, fall into a God allowed captivity. He sat in a cave outside of the city and completely overwhelmed by what he saw began to write the book called, "Lamentations". It was a lamenting for God's hand of judgement and the reason that God had chosen to correct His children. It was in that time in the cave with his heavenly Dad that God allowed him to hear something that changed his entire viewpoint on the situation he saw.

It was as if God shared an ear bud with His child and the sound that Jeremiah heard that afternoon made his eyes grow wide and you can almost see him trying to process what he heard.

What did he hear come though the headphones?

It came out of his lips and was put on paper.

"It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not consumed, because his compassions fail not. they are new every morning: great is thy faithfulness. The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore will I hope in him." ~Lamentations 3:22-24

The thing that stands out to me is that you do not need to be in a situation that is life threatening to understand this or to see God's hand of provision. He remains faithful in the day to day operations of our life.

We miss out on what God speaks to us because many times we make no, or very little effort to listen in.

In the early thirties there was an insurance salesman in New Jersey that was really struggling. Financially as well as emotionally. He had at one time tried to work in the ministry but his poor health made him seek a desk job. He wanted to speak for the Lord where ever he was at and he decided to write poetry and songs. One of the songs that he wrote reflected his heartfelt sentiment of the God that he had determined to "Love Him and be loved by Him one day at a time". No significant things were done in man's eyes with the life of an ordinary insurance salesman by the name of Thomas Chisolm, but what he heard through God's ear buds he wrote down as well for the rest of us to hear.

Great Is Thy Faithfulness
Thomas Chisholm – 1925

Great Is Thy faithfulness, O God my Father!
There is no shadow of turning with Thee;
Though changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been Thou forever wilt be.

Refrain:
Great Is Thy faithfulness,
Great Is Thy faithfulness,
Morning by morning new mercies I see;
All I have needed Thy hand hath provided
Great is Thy Faithfulness, Lord unto me!

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest,
Sun, moon, and stars in their courses above,
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To Thy great faithfulness, mercy, and love.

Refrain

Pardon for Sin and a peace that endureth,
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide,
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside!

Refrain

Here was a man who did not live an exciting life as we would think of exciting, but rather just asked God to let Him listen in to something that God knew about that man often fails to recognize.

I want to challenge you today to just take some time to sit somewhere with your "Dad" and listen to Him speak to you about His mercies that are new experiences for you every day.

His compassion is overwhelming! His faith fullness is beyond fantastic!

I can promise you that if you accept this challenge, there are a lot of good things and great times that you will experience this weekend, but this will have to be registered as your favorite moment!

Dad is waiting and I bet you anything if you take the time to pat Him on the knee He will be more than ready to scoop you up and remind you of His mercy, faithfulness, and compassion for you.

Climbing with you,
~Dan

Wedding? Groom? Don't Ask Me, I'm Just The Bride!

I am not sure how to start this post because I think it sounds weird telling people that you had a "vision".

 I do not have much experience with "visions" so can I just use the term "dream"? Although I am pretty sure that I was awake when I saw this, I have also staunchly insisted that I have never heard myself snore so do with this what you will. All I know is that this dream or vision was so real it has stayed with me all day long and has affected my behaviour in how I have interacted with others.

Have you ever had a dream that was so real that it was almost palatable? I mean you were able to smell the surroundings as well as touch and taste? Usually i have what I would call "normal dreams" and sometimes I have had dreams that i could swear were so real that, depending upon what took place in that dream, I would wake up sad, angry, happy, or even shocked. This was none of those.

I really struggled for a minute about posting this dream or not, but I decided to post it because I think you were in it.

Last night I had a dream that we went to a wedding.

We?

Yep. I say "we" because whenever I looked at the person in the car with me as "we" drove to the church "we" were talking and your face kept constantly changing. It was like I was looking at everyone I ever knew and the voice and expressions you used were a smooth blend of everyone that I have ever interact with. Weird right?

Anyway, we drove up to the church for the ceremony and there were cars everywhere. The place was packed and people were making their way in as we walked up the sidewalk. It was a beautiful day for a wedding and we were dressed very well. The sky was blue, and lazy white clouds quietly made their way to their destinations at a slow and casual pace. Birds were singing and if you were going to get married, this would be the perfect choice for just such a day.

When we got into the church we were not asked who were were there for but rather shown right to a seat. I looked around the beyond full auditorium and was shocked at the diversity of people there.
It was as if some people had never been to a wedding before by the way they loudly talked and others were laughing and greeting each other and it was obvious that they were there to see this event intentionally.

Some people were dressed in fishing clothes and I heard them say that they were going to the lake as soon as the wedding was over. There was a man and woman right near the back that looked as if they were homeless , they had a tent at their feet and that was a tip off I guess, and I wondered how they knew the bride or groom. I saw a co-worker of mine that I knew and thought, "This really is a small world". I was a little bit stunned to see TV cameras in the balcony and thought to myself, "Wow! This thing is going to be seen by the entire world!"

Then everyone quieted down as some soft organ music began to play and the mood suddenly shifted to "Wedding Mode". The door to the left side of the platform opened and the minister stepped out. He made his way to the front with comfortable familiarity and faced the people gathered. Then the groom came out and quietly stood in the most incredible tuxedo I had ever seen. He stood quietly with his hands clasped in front of him, and you could not help but be drawn to his eyes. His eyes just sent an overwhelming sense of peace.

It was as if the building were completely empty. He stood there with his gazed fixed on the doors in the back of the church auditorium as if he could see her, his bride, right through them.
He was in love and it made me feel, just looking at his eyes, as if any love I had ever had was non-existent and selfish.

The music played and people were fixated on the groom and they were also captivated by the way he looked at that back door. I found myself really looking forward to seeing the look on her face when those doors opened and she saw how intensely he was anticipating her and the love that was conveyed in those eyes.

The music began the familiar wedding march and the doors opened and EVERYONE turned to see the bride. The light from the windows in the foyer spilled into the aisle and was so bright that it made the auditorium lights appear nonexistent. She emerged from behind those doors into the room and she was stunningly beautiful!
Her dress was the most beautiful and amazing gown that I have ever seen and the color was off the charts white. It was not just white, it was a dazzling white that almost hurt your eyes to look at it. Her hair was perfect and the fragrance from the flowers she carried filled the room.

Every eye was on her now and the cameras followed her carefully as she made her way into the opening steps of the aisle.

When the doors first creaked as they began to open I looked quickly back at the groom and his eyes never wavered, in fact they were beginning to mist up with tears of joy, and then I looked at her face to see her expression when she saw him.

She was looking down at her hands. No, she was looking down at her nails. She began to speak and her voice certainly did not match her appearance. It was harsh (Like the girl from the TV show the Nanny). It was annoyingly loud and she was complaining about the way the manicurist botched up on her nail finish. She looked around at all the people and seemed to remember that this was her wedding and blushed as she tried to compose herself.

The older, distinguished, and quiet person leading her down the aisle touched her elbow gently and gestured her direction back towards the front and the waiting groom that had still not stopped looking at her with intensity. She paused by the couple with the tent at their feet and demanded to know who they were and why they were there. It was really very rude, and as they fumbled to present an answer to her she reached down and snatched away the fabric of her dress that they almost touched as they were humiliated beyond belief by her shouts of anger.

The older man beside her gently reached for her hand again and appeared grieved by her behaviour. She shrugged his hand away and whirled to face the front, never one time acknowledging her groom. He stared with love and even through all of this, his eyes never left her.

The people that were there to watch the wedding were uncomfortable by her behaviour and I have to admit, I could not wait for this to be done so I could leave.

When she got to the front and finally noticed her groom. Her eyes met his and instantly she was filled the true realization of the love that I had even felt when I saw his eyes. She looked around in shock as if it was a sudden surprise to her that this was actually her wedding and she began to cry very hard and very loudly. She looked at the older man beside her and sobbed as she pointed to the groom, "Who is that?"

That is when I woke up. I have to tell you that as I sat up in bed I was so filled with sadness about what I had just seen and experienced. I say it was a dream, but it was the most "real and vivid" dream that I believe I have ever had. It was as if it happened between the space of opening my eyes this morning sitting upright in my bed.

I have been thinking about this all day long and since the person who was with me at the time was glimpses of you I wanted to share it with those I interact with. I am guessing that you were meant to see this dream as well. This may cause some of you who have been reading this blog to question my sanity, but I am very glad that I shared it with you anyway.

I would like to give you the thoughts that came as a result of this dream and see if you got the same thing.

The bride is symbolic of the Church.

"Let us be glad and rejoice, and give honour to him: for the marriage of the Lamb is come, and his wife hath made herself readyAnd to her was granted that she should be arrayed in fine linen, clean and white: for the fine linen is the righteousness of saints." ~Revelation 19:7-8

"I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall be joyful in my God; for he hath clothed me with the garments of salvation, he hath covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decketh [himself] with ornaments, and as a bride adorneth [herself] with her jewels." ~Isaiah 61:10


The groom is symbolic of Christ.

"Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it;"    ~Ephesians 5:25

"That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish." ~Ephesians 5:27

 
The older quiet man at the side of the bride is symbolic of the Holy Spirit.

"Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you. " ~John 16:7-8

The people who showed up to see this event would be symbolic of the world.

They were watching this one sided celebration of love with amazement and disgust at the same time. Amazed at the powerful and evident love of the groom for His bride, and disgust for the brides speech and behaviour and overall disregard for the groom, the guests, and the event that was a pivotal part of her own life.


"Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet." ~Joel 2:16

This goes beyond the term, "Well there is no such thing as a perfect church" as our defense mechanism when our authenticity and love are in question. This is more in the stratosphere of ,"We are missing the mark completely".

Are we as the bride so concerned with the nails, dress, and who is in attendance that we completely miss the groom?
Will we find ourselves snapped into reality very soon to the fact that , "Hey this is your wedding day and you have no clue who the groom really is"?

The world and country we live in is changing at an alarming rate and if you have the eyes to see into the things that are going down it is exciting and yet a bit scary how connected everything really is with an "Impending wedding".

Do you think maybe that their might be a bigger picture behind a challenged defenition of marriage? Is it a call to the bride to fully understand who she is? Could it be a message for those with ears to hear, that we as the bride, have lost our identity in the fact we are in fact a bride to an overwhelming concern with things that do not matter?

If you turn on the TV and you see the words, "Marriage attacked" do you get irate and miss the fact that God is calling us as the bride to make ourselves ready?

Think about it for a minute. How does a bride get ready? She sits down in front of a mirror (In our case the perfect law of liberty) and looks herself in the eye and says, "I am a bride of_______? " She makes herself ready by understanding who she is, and who she is to the groom.

The church as we know it is shifting and it will be forced to leave the comfortable status of Non-profit , money making "Organization" and go back to the original title.

 

"Organism"

Persecution introduced the church and persecution is going to see the church to the wedding altar. We pray for revival and yet post critically about how much we hate God's introduction towards revival through those He allows into the position of introduction to "Revival 101".

I believe that the Holy Spirit is grieved by the behaviour of the church and how she has brought disgust to those that watch her interactions with the guests, the ceremony, and more specifically with her Groom. 
She has become, for the most part, more concerned with her dress and getting the "Best deal" on her nails to notice Him or the least of these. She throws out a smile to the homeless but after all, "God helps those that help themselves right?". News flash bride, Benjamin Franklin said that, not God. It makes me more sad than anything else that the size of our buildings and the way we steal Walt Disney's welcoming tecniques to "sell Jesus and our programs" determines our success as a bride.

The fastest growing religion in America is "NONE". At least that is the answer that is written on the survey cards. Do we really need to waste the brain matter wondering why?

There is so much for me to try to process from the dream that it may have been too soon for me to share it with you, but honestly I had to tell someone. The demographic of this blog is predominately Faith based and it seemed to be something relevant.

If there could be a challenge at all in any of this it would be for you and I to just stop for a minute and just ask to see the Groom again. To stop and remind ourselves who we are to Him, what that means in the big picture.

 Ask the Holy Spirit to point us in the aisle's direction to Him and Him alone.

If we looked toward His eyes now before we reach the end of the aisle, wouldn't it be better to be filled with the realiztion of His love now than at the altar?

Wouldn't it be better to be filled with His love before the manicure and the dress distract us from the shabby couple with the tent at their feet who came to the wedding at the invitation of the Groom? 

At the altar nothing else matters. Car payments, building carpet color choices, antics of other members...It's all gone then and either you will be able to say to the Groom, "I have been waiting for this day for so long and I love you with everything that I am!" Or you will be looking around crying saying, "Who is this?".

The building is packed, and the world is watching and they are looking to see if this thing called "In Love with God" is really true. They flood the airwaves and the culture with the best counterfeit of their defenition of "Love" and "God" that they can offer, but they know better than anyone that it is only a straw man. Is it possible for a bride to return a fraction of the love given by her groom?

The Wedding day is coming.

It will be sooner than we think!

"Lest coming suddenly he find you sleeping." ~ Mark 13:36

Climbing with you,
~Dan

Why Should I Listen To You Anyway?



Would you like to guess the identity of this guy?

I will give you a hint.

He is not the newest cast member on "Duck Dynasty". His name was Herod, and he had more in common with us than we would be comfortable to admit.

You see he was given the opportunity to hear God's voice before he was given the opportunity to meet Him.

WHAT???

Herod was a guy who had a thing for wives. More to the point, Herod had a thing for other people's wives. Specifically his brother's wife so as you could imagine this was an awkward time at family get together events. Add to this awkwardness the fact that Herod was a man of money and power, he could take what he wanted by force and no one could stand up to him. At least that is what he thought. Herod was a tremendous example of the flesh.

Flesh can be utilized to accomplish things that are good just as easily as it can be used to accomplish things that are bad because the definition of flesh is simply this; Living my life and operating out of my own resources or strength. This is why we find some being told to depart after they had "Done so many good things in God's name." You can do good things FOR God in your own strength and out of your own resources. A good identifier of the flesh is to ask why you are doing something for God or even for yourself. Do I find my identity in A)What I have? B)What others think of me? C) What I do? These are all good indicators of a flesh walk instead of a Spirit walk.

The flesh will always be introduced, at one point in time, to the Christ ; and we will be forced to make a choice. Operate in the flesh for our own glory or operate in Christ for His glory?

God did for Herod what God does for anyone He created who thinks that the flesh is the way to live. He speaks to them about how He created us to live differently and He lets us make a decision based upon what we have heard.

God chose John the Baptist to be His "Voice" in the wilderness. 

For Herod himself had sent forth and laid hold upon John, and bound him in prison for Herodias' sake, his brother Philip's wife: for he had married her. For John had said unto Herod, It is not lawful for thee to have thy brother's wife." ~Mark 6:17-18

Herod heard God's voice in an "Beyond audible" form through John the Baptist. It was voice that He chose to shut up in prison and ultimately shut out by having John executed.

"But Herod the tetrarch, being reproved by him for Herodias his brother Philip's wife, and for all the evils which Herod had done, Added yet this above all, that he shut up John in prison."  ~Luke 3:19-20
"And immediately the king sent an executioner, and commanded his head to be brought: and he went and beheaded him in the prison, And brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel: and the damsel gave it to her mother. " ~Mark 6:27-28

This was now a step beyond just a refusal to "See God", this was a refusal to "hear" God.

One day Herod gets a message that Jesus was standing in the receptionists area and He was being "Detained" for the express purpose of meeting Herod. Notice what happened in that appointment when Herod had a chance to finally "See God" in his life.

"And when Herod saw Jesus, he was exceeding glad: for he was desirous to see him of a long season, because he had heard many things of him; and he hoped to have seen some miracle done by him. Then he questioned with him in many words; but he answered him nothing. And the chief priests and scribes stood and vehemently accused him. And Herod with his men of war set him at nought, and mocked him, and arrayed him in a gorgeous robe, and sent him again to Pilate." ~Luke 23:8-11
Why didn't Jesus speak? Herod was not interested in hearing God before when He chose to speak through John, why would he be interested in hearing God speak now?

Last Sat and in some previous post's I have written on this topic of listening to God's voice. This can be a bit controversial because there are a lot of people who have already decided that God does not speak in ways that they can hear and that is a shame.

His voice is beyond audible!

It can almost be deafening at times because He is not a God whose greatest hits were played way back when. He is ALIVE today and He longs for us to see that!

I will never forget the day that I "discovered" something that I had known my whole life. It was Proverbs 3:5-6.

"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths." ~Proverbs 3:5-6

The words I discovered were the words: "Acknowledge" and "Ways".

Acknowledge: Search for, or Discover.
Ways: Everything I do, Everywhere I go, and  Everyone I meet

In other words, if I search for or discover God in everything I do, everywhere I go and in everyone I meet I will discover God's voice in all of that? Is it really that simple?

I had started a new job this past April and I was a little apprehensive and as I drove to work on that first morning I asked God from the cab of my truck, "Daddy, I know you opened this door for me and that you are more than able to help me. I just need to know that you see me."

 No sooner had I prayed this when this truck drove through the intersection right past the front of my truck. Above Audible!

 

Is it really that simple?

It truly is. If you take the time to acknowledge Him you will discover that He has been broadcasting His voice all across the airwaves of your life. I want to challenge you not to miss God's voice this morning. If you hear Him prompt you to do something even though it defies logic, DO IT! Do not shut God's voice out. He longs to be heard by you and He longs for you to see His ever present hand in your circumstances.

Climbing with you,
~Dan