What Is Your Will In Christ?

 If you're a true, active and committed follower of Christ Jesus, then the reasons for the observance of Christmas Eve and the celebration of Christmas should be well known to you. The Prophet Isaiah predicted it hundreds of years before it happened as the Lord gave him knowledge of its impending... "For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. He will reign on David’s throne and over his kingdom, establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. The zeal of the LORD Almighty will accomplish this." Isaiah 9:6-7 (NLT) And an angel of the Lord declared His actual arrival... " For a child is born to us, a son is given to us. The government will rest on his shoulders. And he will be called: Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, E

 One of the more common features of American Christian churches is the time set aside for the musical worship of our God. And I wouldn't dare to attempt to take anything away from that worthy practice, but while we might sing ... would we be focusing on the music ... or the words? Does music and singing automatically worship the God of the universe just by following along with the words and lifting our voice in chorus ... or does real worship require a little something more? Is it a mere musical performance or the attempt to convey our deepest convictions to the Omnipotent King Of The Universe? Do we think about the meaning of words - both before and as they pass from our lips? Do they have personal meaning and the intent to relate something from deep within our own hearts? Where is the wellspring that would truly honor God found? It's found in the wonder of true courting relationship. When Jesus Christ returns for His bride, everyone - all people everywhere, both believers and

There exist as many stories as there are people that have ever lived, which are then multiplied by an endless number of experiences over the varied expanse of years in which they occurred, but only a few of them are truly worthy of the retelling in the end. Only a few will truly matter - the rest will disappear in an instant, like smoke before a gale, never to be told or heard again, worthless at their conclusion. Of all that we could tell of the story of our lives - the innumerable experiences, the encounters, the hardships, glories, victories and defeats, only a very few life stories will be deemed worthy to survive the final cut to be published by the ultimate author and editor of creation. From that time to the end of eternity, those will be the only stories fit to be retold and celebrated among the host of heaven's angels - to be told and retold countless times with undiminished enthusiasm, wonder and praise. Those few surviving stories will be those naming the God of creation

"O LORD, what a variety of things you have made! In wisdom you have made them all. The earth is full of your creatures.  Here is the ocean, vast and wide, teeming with life of every kind, both large and small.  See the ships sailing along, and Leviathan, which you made to play in the sea.  They all depend on you to give them food as they need it.  When you supply it, they gather it. You open your hand to feed them, and they are richly satisfied.  But if you turn away from them, they panic. When you take away their breath, they die and turn again to dust.  When you give them your breath, life is created, and you renew the face of the earth.  May the glory of the LORD continue forever! The LORD takes pleasure in all he has made!  The earth trembles at his glance; the mountains smoke at his touch.  I will sing to the LORD as long as I live. I will praise my God to my last breath!  May all my thoughts be pleasing to him, for I rejoice in the LORD. ..."  Psalm 104:24-34 (NLT) So..

"Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it."   Proverbs 22:6 (NKJ) My mother was a passionate and marvelously industrious soul. She worked hard and was a continuously creative problem solver, a sincerely caring friend, and a genuinely loving heart. She wasn't perfect by any means - she faced struggles with her humanity as we all do, but in honest thought I've come to recognize that what made her so special was her reflection of Christ's heart and spirit. Above all else, it was that heart and spirit that made her joyful, beautiful and left many with a favorable and memorable impression of her. It's an impression that wasn't lost on her son. I lost her presence on earth some time ago and I've had time to reflect on the characteristics that stood out in her, were attractive, and what it was that made her seem special to many who knew her well. I came to realize that it was her love for Christ and the essence o

"If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the LORD..."  Jeremiah 29:13-14 (NLT) God's granted me a lot of grace and a lot of time to get to know Him. And from the time that I received my first King James bible at eight years old, curiosity has led me down a path of discovery that's spanned a number of decades. It was a struggle at first - trying to understand the old English of that first bible, but I found it hard to put it down. I came to have  a dreading fear of God from so many troubling passages of scripture that I'd read, but was conflicted because there were so many other passages that spoke of love and kindness that I'd read as well. What did it all mean? Who is this God? Could I ever be good enough? I needed to know... Because I was reading with a child's eyes and understanding in my discovery quest and without more mature guidance as I read, I came away from some of those long reading interludes with only

Let not my confidence ever become ugly arrogance. It's only by sheer grace that I live at all. My life is not my own, nor was it given by my own hand or earned by some self governed right. It was given by the breath of the One who created me for His own pleasure of Fatherhood and it is due Him still as He wills it. It's to Him that I belong. Evil might kill me, but it should know that it can only kill me to let me begin to truly live in fullness, the life for which I was created, and that the blood of this body would be a stain on evil's hands for which my Father's vengeance would exact payment while I sit at His feet. I don't have fear for tomorrow or for what circumstances any government or the dreadful in humanity might impose against me because my path is beyond their reach. I'm in their sight for now, but my provision is my unseen Father's endless storehouse and my place set on high, sheltered in a cleft of the immovable rock.  My rescue is always set a

I posted something on a social site this morning, but my thoughts around it wouldn't leave me. That usually happens when there was more to be said that I didn't say. So here it is... Have you ever wondered why God dealt so harshly with the nations that He told Israel to destroy in the Old Testament? I think that particular subject gives some people a little trouble when it comes to their personal understanding of God, but I think at least part of the answer is found here: “When you enter the land the LORD your God is giving you, be very careful not to imitate the detestable customs of the nations living there. For example, never sacrifice your son or daughter as a burnt offering. And do not let your people practice fortune-telling, or use sorcery, or interpret omens, or engage in witchcraft, or cast spells, or function as mediums or psychics, or call forth the spirits of the dead. Anyone who does these things is detestable to the LORD . It is because the other nations have done

The sum of mankind's greatest knowledge, wisdom and understanding merely reaches the very edge of the vastness of that belonging to God. God could easily speak to mankind in riddles too far beyond man's ability to grasp, but our Creator's not a vengeful God consumed with a hope of destroying all of mankind that He created, so carefully and lovingly, with a desire to share life with. He's a loving and endless Creator taken with an opportunity to offer forgiveness toward what He holds dear - but He's also completely righteous, completely holy and completely just. This means that He can't tolerate uncleanness or sin and that justice requires punishment for failing to meet those same standards. Given that, God offered failing mankind a way out. He sent His own Son to suffer and die, taking our punishment, and then raised Him back up to life again. Through this God now offers a simple message of hope with a choice - to repent and embrace His offer of forgiveness - ac

So much information is available today on just about any subject that a mind could wander to. Some are writing about this, others about that, but the writing and the talking are available in voluminous mountains to assault the minds of the word weary masses. The exhausting expanse of words being used to describe the world's social, economic and moral demise defy their numeration, but to be sure, they're fodder available for the propagation of helplessness, depression, anxiety and feelings of utter worthlessness. ...But think for a moment; If  you or I were in the presence of a horrific power that had every reason necessary to justify destroying us in the most unimaginably terrifying and excruciating way and we were it's focus,... what would our approach be? Would we disregard and ignore it? Or would that power become our primary focus - towering above all of the world's senseless din? Such is our current fate... but also found in it... is our only source of hope. We'

"Samuel did not yet know the LORD because he had never had a message from the LORD before. So the LORD called a third time, and once more Samuel got up and went to Eli. “Here I am. Did you call me?” Then Eli realized it was the LORD who was calling the boy. So he said to Samuel, “Go and lie down again, and if someone calls again, say, ‘Speak, LORD, your servant is listening.’” So Samuel went back to bed. And the LORD came and called as before, “Samuel! Samuel!” And Samuel replied, “Speak, your servant is listening.”" 1 Samuel 3:7-10 (NLT) Whatever people may say, be assured that God's still speaking to people. He loves the people that He's created and wants to be involved in their lives - to make both them and their lives better and to share a relationship with them. But what does God sound like when He speaks? Would we hear Him if He spoke to us? Would we recognize Him if He came near? God spoke much to Elijah... "“Go out and stand before me on the mountain,” t

"For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable."   Hebrews 4:12-13 (NLT) I continue to find it disheartening that so many people take issue today with what God has said and has given us so invaluably in scripture. The fact that they do says something ominous about the current state of society.  Among those people there are some that have taken on themselves the authority to divide scripture into two categories - determining for themselves what to believe and apparently casting the rest as error as though there is some that's not to be believed. For them I pose a terrifying quandary: If you've decided that you can disbelieve some of it, how can you know that you can count on any of it

"We put our hope in the LORD. He is our help and our shield. In him our hearts rejoice, for we trust in his holy name. Let your unfailing love surround us, LORD, for our hope is in you alone." Psalm 33:20-22 (NLT) If you're truly God's child, take a moment to ponder my questions... With all that's happening in the world to put our peace to the test, to shake our confidence and to attempt to inject worry toward our hidden concerns, isn't it good to know that above and through it all, we have a shelter for our protection and an access to an endless source of provision? Is there anything more calming to the soul, more strengthening to the spirit, or over-all refreshing than for us to find ourselves wrapped in the surrounding presence of our God's Holy Spirit? Is anyone a more worthy defense and protection for us - an undefeatable and conquering champion, than the God who reigns omnipotent and supreme over everything that exists? In all of our lives and even

"The LORD says, “I was ready to respond, but no one asked for help. I was ready to be found, but no one was looking for me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am!’ to a nation that did not call on my name."" Isaiah 65:1 (NLT) Wherever we live, we live in a sick nation, an ill society and among a broken people. The big question I find so compelling to answer while men argue politics, fight for position and possession, and even counter each other contentiously and obsessively over what God Himself has said...                                   ...is why? The answer's not hidden. It's not sealed away in some dark vault left under an impenetrable guard. It's been in front of us the whole time, emblazoned forever in the permanence of eternity as a moment that God's patience was tried sorely by His very own creation, because...                   ...We've forgotten who God is. I'm sure many would argue that point in an effort at self justification, though I do n

We often stop to think about our own circumstances - our own wants and needs. Our own desires are continually within a hairs breadth of our current thinking... How often though, do we give any thought to what Jesus wants - to what He's allowed Himself to desire with a costly passion? Do those thoughts guide the response to Him that we're living out? When Jesus began His ministry in human form on earth it was with the desire to please His Father. He knew what He wanted and He already knew beforehand what it would cost Him. The price was very high, but wrapped up in that desire to please His Father was another desire also - because what the Father loves with such passion, the Son loves passionately as well.  As Jesus ministered to the people that came to hear Him along with the others that He encountered during those 3 years of His adult ministry, He demonstrated His love for His Father by His obedience, but He also demonstrated the love that He had for people. It was and is a ge

Easter is once again approaching and as usual my thoughts about it drive me deeper - beyond my normal desire to touch the reality of what Christ has done, not only for me, but for all that will come to Him. A part of that for me springs from an advantage of not only having read what the bible says, but in having studied the history and culture of the people and time surrounding Christ's feet touching the earth in human form. Delving into that reality makes me long even more to find deeper intimacy with the God who sent His only Son to spare the likes of me... because He loves me and you so much. It creates a desire to reach past the concerns of this life, to pierce the veil of humanity and touch the eternal reality - the heart of the God who created us. The quotation of one of the most popular verses in scripture often leaves out a a couple of following verses that are key to finding that intimacy with Father God. That verse is Jeremiah 29:11  "For I know the thoughts that I t

This is not for everyone, but to those that it speaks to... To people still sitting on the outside - those without the understanding or the experience of true relationship with the God of heaven, much of what I've said in the past from this small, pitiful soap box must sound like utter foolishness and maybe even pure fantasy. For them I'm sorry... not for what I've said... but for them - for what they're missing. The beauty, the passion, the freedom and the majesty escapes them. I settled on a phrase a long time ago that relates to the difficulty that some of those people that I've mentioned above struggle with and among them you would sadly find some who call themselves Christian. That phrase goes like this: "A world that must see in order to believe will never experience what must first be believed in order to be seen." To have the humility and faith to take God at His word - to believe unshakably that what He's said is true, begins to open a door to

There's a whimsical song from the early 1960s about a young man who had trouble in the romance department, so he went to see a gypsy. The gypsy in the song knew exactly what to do and mixed him up a bottle of Love Potion #9. In the song, that potion made him start kissing everything in sight and as you might imagine, it didn't end well for him when he came upon a police officer... It was a humorous musical offering, but the interest in real love and the desire for romance in a relationship has been an enduring one. Over time, the songs, books and movies written about stories that involved love, love letters and communication that lead to romance are almost innumerable. So many relationships alleged to be matches "made in heaven" and so many other stories of love unrequited and broken hearts. They're interesting to so many in part because being truly in love with someone is a powerful thing and something that seems to fill a part of an inherant need in us. Of cours