The Source of All

"In Him we live." (Acts 17.28)

If only our eyes could see it Now, as we will see it Then.
     If only we could perceive the dimension of the Infinite.

Here where Suffering, Pain and Loss has been the daily portion of countless lives through endless generations, 
     how great is the revelation of the Answer to it all.

The Life which is in Him is the Answer -
     He is the Completion of  all that is Incomplete,
          the Wholeness of all that is Broken.

If God Himself is the Answer, then whatever lack I have, is a lack of Him.

How would it be if we could strip our lives of everything unnecessary, 
and all our lives be lived Reaching Out to the Life which is in Him?
     How would it be if all our prayer were about finding Him?

How would it be if we ceased to pray, sing, and praise in an effort to produce something from outside ourselves - faith, emotion, etc. and instead released an Expression of something within ourselves - 
     a lifting up of God's Name, 
          or a  lifting up of our Need to Him.

The hours of our lives slip by, and for long enough we have drunk from the same little cups.
There is a river of Life beyond all our experience, and God invites us to come, 
to drink, and Live.

Spiritual Warfare ... New Creation

"The thief cometh … to destroy: I am come that they might have life." (Jn. 10.10)

We look around us and  hear speak of "spiritual warfare" and the destiny of nations,
     and somehow it all seems hollow,
          and so far removed from reality.


In these days I was confronted with a person,
     born to limitations,      
        raised to limitations,
             lacking in opportunities,
                  lacking in life formation.

This is a person facing a life changing decision from a place of utter weakness.
And as he makes his way forward he stands before an enemy whose sole purpose is his destruction.
     Does he have a way to victory?
          Does God have a way to victory for such a one?

Jesus says, "I am come ..."
     "I am come  - that they might have ..."
          "I am come that they might have - Life."

It is a new Life, in a New Kingdom.
It is a place where the bondages this earth has placed upon us are broken.
It is a place where we are free to possess an inheritance in the Kingdom of God.
It is a place where the gaps in our lives are filled.
It is a place where the damage done by the enemy is swallowed up in the power of a New Creation.

Can we see it?
We are all in a spiritual battle, 
and this is the greatest battle we will ever face - 
the battle to find the dimension of Life which God offers to us.

This is why the enemy tries with all his might to persuade us that what we see in the Bible is impossible.
This is why he seeks to make us believe that it is foolish to give up our control of our petty destinies and take a step in trust to God.

God would make us "complete in Him," (Col. 2.10),
     His Life our Life,
          His Light our Light,
               His resources our resources, to live and to walk, in His fullness.

Broad Dimensions

"I saw the Lord," said Isaiah. (6.1)

My father used to say, "None of us have ever seen revival."

We would not be far wrong, if we said in any gathering, "None of us have ever seen God."

There is a snatch of a Christmas song in my mind right now.
     It says, speaking of the annunciation to Mary and the birth of Jesus,
          "How many angels are singing His name?"

It got me thinking of the dimension of God.
     How many angels?
     What is the dimension of His Kingdom?
     ... of His Power?
     ... of His Love?
     ... of His Mercy? 
     ... of His Salvation?

How great is His purpose ?
And His ability to bring it to pass?

What are the obstacles of our lives before Him?
What are the obstacles of all our world before Him?

Eternity is but a faint reflection of Him in its Limitlessness.
     There is no end to its Length of Time.
          There is no end to its Breadth and Fullness.
               There is no Depth that it cannot reach,
                    nor is there a Height which can limit it.

Zephaniah (3.17) says, "The Lord thy God in the midst of thee is Mighty."
Isaiah (25.9) says, "This is our God ... we have waited for Him."

We don't need to settle for the limitations of this poor world around us,
     nor for the limitations of a church which has lost its sight.

             Let us look and find in Him fullness to overflowing.



 

We Must See

It has been said of saints of past centuries that were 
     conscious of living with heaven opening on their right hand 
          and hell opening at their feet.
That is to say they were conscious of how very close the spiritual worlds, both good and bad, were to their immediate existence.

As I write I would like to only emphasize the world of God,
but I must also cry out in warning against spiritual forces seeking to drag us away from God.

Paul speaks of those who, "comparing themselves among themselves are not wise" (2 Cor. 10.12)
The measure of anything depends on what we compare it to - 
the hills around us seem high unless we have seen the mighty mountains of the world.

 Today there are so many self-anointed, and self-appointed  "apostles" and "prophets."
(Some of them must also fancy themselves "tax collectors" as their preoccupation seems to involve separating the children of God from their cash.)

...We hear them speak of the tremendous moving of God around the world, 
at a time when all moral indicators are in free fall,
and "gross darkness" covers the nations. (Is. 61.2)

We hear talk of unleashed blessing and purpose,
when the world stumbles in darkness and those who lead the nations, 
are adrift without light and without answers.

Unless we see with the eyes of the spirit,
and feel the call of the Spirit of God within,
it is easy to run after the promise of a cost free experience.

If, as Faber says,
"There is no place where earth's sorrows, 
are more felt than up in heaven,"
how can we live, as children of heaven, so unaware?

I think a major part of the problem is that we have never really known, 
in our churches, or our lives, the glory within,
"as when the melting fire burneth." (Is 64.2)

The good news is that God is still God,
His Word and His purposes abide,
and His power is sufficient to fulfill.

The promise is still of God's revelation, (not man's) to the hearts that seek Him alone. (Jer. 29.13)
If we press on we will find a revelation of a fullness beyond anything the mind can imagine, or dream.

The wonder of the drawing near of God is that, 
     beyond all our measures He carries us, 
          and quickens us, in the realm of His Spirit.
And 'amid the clamor of ten thousand voices we know Him, and amidst the thunder of the universe we hear the slightest whisper of His voice.'

Turned Around

As time moves on things change - sometimes beyond recognition.
When I was a child it was common to hear the phrase, "a fallen world."
     The phrase is not so common now, 
          and with the passing of the phrase there has been a passing of awareness. 

Our lives need a God-given awareness of the state of things, and the pathway forward. 
What is God's message for us today and how does it come to us? 

It is hard to accept a message of judgement,
     but it is easy to accept a message of blessing.

The Bible prophets were austere men with an unyielding message,
men whose lives were weighted with tears and marked by rejection.

Today we seem to have a bunch of prophets with an ever ready smile, and a message of cheer - delivered to a cheering people.

The Bible prophets walked in pain and anguish.
     The modern prophets are feted with laughter.

The Bible prophets showed a way back to God through the bitterness of repentance.
     The new prophets encourage us to just believe more and to receive more.

The old prophets message was about giving God His due.
     The new prophets talks about receiving,
           and finding ever greater portions,
                handed out from a God Whose only purposes our increase.

God's message in the Old Testament was to the Meek, the Brokenhearted, and to those who were Bound. (Is. 61.1)

This is the starting place:
Meek, because conscious of what we are, and conscious of what we are not.
Brokenhearted, because we know that we are incapable of finding the answer.
Bound, because we are utterly incapable of delivering ourselves.

We hear so much talk about bringing God to people,
     but we don't hear so much talk about bringing people to God.

"Back to God" is the message for this hour.
     He, and He alone, is the sum of all our needs.
          As individuals, as families, as peoples, and as a world, 
               unless we find God, we Gain nothing and lose everything.

God's word endures unchanged:
"I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones." (Is 57.15)

Reviving is the end and contrition is the path.
The Infinite God dwelling within - 
     there is nothing greater, 
          nothing more glorious to be found by mortal man.

Faith's True Path

Our experience while living in this world leads us to abbreviate processes.
For instance we form a judgement about something and, without questioning, allow that to install itself in our minds as the foundation from which we judge everything else.
We do it in our daily lives only to find out, perhaps years later, that the ground of our judgement was mistaken, and all our conclusions were untrue.

We do it too in our spiritual lives when it comes to God's word.
Often we read a passage and form a superficial appraisal of its meaning;
or we unquestioningly swallow what we have been "taught" to be the meaning.

See this verse, "Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith." (Heb. 12.2)
It is easy to look at this text and infer that the faith spoken of is our soul's salvation.
     Let us widen the context:
          Let us look not only at our soul's salvation,
               but at faith for every area of our lives. 

Faith is not something which is between us and the object of our faith.
     Faith is between us and the One Who brings to pass the thing believed. 

Two things happen in this process:
     Jesus honors our faith and brings to pass the thing believed.
     And looking unto Him we are transformed.

The lives of the great men of God have always been lives built on this kind of faith.
They were lives built on a great relationship with God.
     There is no other way.

Abraham, Moses, David and the prophets in the Old Testament,
Paul and John and others in the New Testament,
were all men with a close relationship to God.

Down through the history of the church the same holds true,
From the early martyrs, through the reformation and on to Mueller and others
the great have been those, who through looking unto Him, knew their God.

Peter saw Jesus - and walked over the waves.
Peter saw the waves - and began to sink.

Today so many things combine to try to apart our eyes from Jesus.
There are so many voices calling us to believe 
     that things once considered sin are now no longer sin,
          that broken, rancid, and discredited theories concerning the government of man's world are now miraculously true and valid.

Today these things churn at our feet and tower over our heads like the waves of the sea seeking to engulf us.

Many have spoken of a new revelation of Jesus which awaits the church in the last days.
The new revelation is a further unveiling of the original revelation.
It is a revelation of Jesus as the Author and Finisher.

He still walks over all, and "Looking unto Jesus" is still the one and only great Answer to All, and Forever.

Against the Lord...

"No other gods before Me" (Ex. 20.31) 
... comes at the beginning of the commandments.

"Hallowed be Thy Name" (Mt.6.9)
... comes at the start of the Lord's prayer.

But at the beginning of the psalms comes the phrase, "against the Lord" (Ps. 2.2)
- it speaks of earth's counsel and earth's purpose.

Things come into focus as we judge everything from the standpoint of its meaning for the Kingdom of God.

Isaiah speaks of those who "please themselves with the children of strangers."
(2.16), or as another translation has it, who "covenant with strangers."

One thing was to welcome the stranger who chose to come to Israel - like Ruth, who left her world with its rules of conduct, and its gods, and declared her unalterable commitment to the people and the God she chose ... "There will I be buried." (Ruth 1.17)
     Another thing was to accept the stranger and his values with him,      
          causing God's people to cease to be a separate people. (1K. 8.53)

The story is repeated among us:
Now, woe to the one who does not consider strange values to have the same standing as his own - 
no matter how abhorrent, perverse and destructive those values may be in the sight of God.

We live in a world where nothing has more value than anything else,
and where to believe otherwise is considered a mortal sin.

We live in a day of so much confusion,
and so much mixture,
where beliefs decided by ungodly men are thrust upon us without our permission.

While the "church" is tragically following the example of the world, 
we need to learn again that God is still a God of separation.
     God's people are still to be a people separated from the values of the world,
          no matter what the earthly crowd may exalt as right,
               and no matter what the earthly crowd may condemn as wrong.
Friendship with the world is still enmity with God.  

Separation is at the beginning of the road that leads to God.
One of God's first works was to separate the light from the darkness.
There could be no mixture or else there would be no real light.

Let me say that again: There could be no mixture or else there would be no real light.

So too in the spiritual realm - 
"God is Light. and in Him there is no darkness at all." (1Jn. 1.5)

The values of the Kingdom of God are our values, 
     not the opinions of a darkened world, 
          nor the ideas of a church which has mixed the Light with darkness. 


The road to God is a walking in the Light, 
     and a separating oneself from darkness,
           whenever and however it shows itself.

This is God's path before us, "like a shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day." (Pr. 4.18)

Where...?

"Where is the way where light dwelleth?" (Job. 38.19)

God's question to Job is the question beyond all questions.
     God's Life is the light of mankind. (Jn. 1.4)
          God Himself is Light. (1 Jn. 1.5) 

Only Light can bring us to Light.
     Only God can bring us to God.

The measure of Light within us cries out for more Light.
The soul seeks to escape the imprisonment of darkness,
and cries from the surrounding death, 
for a light and a life which beckons us on in God.
God is our never ending need.

Life sometimes seems very complicated, but really there are only two possibilities, only two worlds - 
     a world of Light and Life,
          and a world of Darkness and Death. 

     Jesus came to "reconcile all things" (Col. 1.20,
     to make right all that is not right.

There is a hurt of longing in God.
There is a hurt of longing in His children. 

The emptiness of this world,
     and the emptiness of our lives,
          can only be filled by God.
               Until God fills, the emptiness hurts, and hurts.

Who is God? What can God do?
How can my life, my experience, my lack, be reconciled with the Life of God?

It is longing which will bring me to God.
     It is the measure of my longing which God will fill.

It is a longing for the healing of this world's hurt which will enable us to reach the need of the world.
The dominion of the enemy will not be overcome by our strength so much as by the outpouring of  the weakness of our insufficiency before God.

The more we come to Him, the more we find in Him, the answer to all our needs.








 

My Lord

"My Lord and my God"  (Jn. 20.28) - it was the confession of a new dimension for Thomas.
     The words were the expression of a life-changing-moment. 
          Death was no longer the end - there was infinite life beyond.

We read it, but Thomas experienced it.
     After the doubt, came the revelation.
          After the emptiness came the fullness.
               After insufficiency came sufficiency.
                    After all the loss came the resurrection of hope.
                         After an utter ending came a limitless beginning.
          
Thomas met a greater world than he had ever dreamed.
His vision was no longer on "things" but the Creator of all things. 
In that moment of sight came an instantaneous birth of all that had died.

It was a revelation of Life;
     but more than that, 
          it was a revelation of the Infinite -
               the realm of God which is beyond all measure.

It was a revelation of infinite Love, infinite Mercy, infinite Power.

This was the moment when Darkness was changed into Light,
     when Doubt gave place to Faith,
          when Death became Life.

               The Old world of his doubts had passed away, 
               and the New extended without limit.