Beautiful Jesus Reflectors

Saints.

As we start a new year, I would like to encourage you toward intimacy with Jesus through a couple of stories from the Bible about Zaccheus, Peter, and John.

Please read the story of Zaccheus in Luke 19:1-10 (NIV).

“Jesus entered Jericho and was passing through.  A man was there by the name of Zaccheus; he was a chief tax collector and was wealthy.  He wanted to see who Jesus was, but because he was short he could not see over the crowd.  So he ran ahead and climbed a sycamore-fig tree to see him, since Jesus was coming that way.

 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zaccheus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”  So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.
 All the people saw this and began to mutter, “He has gone to be the guest of a sinner.”

 But Zaccheus stood up and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord! Here and now I give half of my possessions to the poor, and if I have cheated anybody out of anything, I will pay back four times the amount.”

 Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because this man, too, is a son of Abraham.  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”

I want to point out that Jesus noticed Zaccheus—he directed Zaccheus to spend time with Him. Let’s remember that during Jesus’ time on earth, not unlike today, tax collectors like Zaccheus were despicable. Even so, Jesus valued this man--He engaged him.

Secondly, let’s notice how Zaccheus changes to beautifully reflect God after he encounters Jesus. Robert S. McGee in his book, The Search for Significance describes it this way.

“During dinner, Zaccheus experienced the unconditional love and acceptance of Christ. As a result, he became a different person. His self-concept was radically changed from a swindling, loathsome, tax collector to a person who knew he was loved by God. His actions reflect this dramatic change. He pledged to repent of his sins and repay fourfold those he had swindled. He also promised to give half of his possessions to the poor. Through Christ, Zaccheus developed a new self-concept, new values, new goals, and new behavior.” p106

Let me remind you of another scene in the book of Acts 4, where Peter and John are seen by the Temple Guards and Sadducees as “having been with Jesus.”

Acts 4:13,
“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.” (NIV)

The religious leaders saw a supernatural confidence that radiated from Peter and John—they saw the confidence of the Most-high creator God in them because Peter and John had been with Jesus. Zaccheus reflected God through his repentance and humility. Peter and John reflected God through their unexplained confidence. In the same way, we each reflect the grace and power of God uniquely. Again McGee summarizes,

“We are marvelously unique, created to reflect the character of Christ through our individual personalities and behavior. In a different and special way, each believer has the capability to shine forth the light of God. No two will reflect light in exactly the same way.”  p108

I pray that as a prayer community which is part of the family of Christ-followers, that each of us will beautifully and uniquely radiate the presence of the Father because we have been with Jesus.

Blessings, Steve

Are You Too Busy to Pray?

Saints,

I know who you are. You are Christ-followers who have been drawn by the Spirit to cry out to the Father. You have a history with God--He has used you as His vessel of blessing, healing, and encouragement. You deeply desire more...more zeal, more fire, more stirring, more surrender, more unity, more salvation, more healing.

In short, you are not content with the status quo, church-as-normal. You yearn. You ache. You have a “holy-discontent.” The truth of the matter is you have responded to the call of the Spirit to engage in warfare--to impact his kingdom.

Let’s get to our point for today. Are you too busy to pray? No, you can’t give the church-culture answer like, “Well, I pray on my way to work” or, “I pray while I brush my teeth.” In case your wondering, I have every right to ask this question, because I know about what I’m talking about. For I have been “too busy to pray.” I know when the Father draws me toward prayer. It is an invitation to join Him in kingdom work. It is an honor, a privilege. Yet, I have become less than wholehearted toward intimacy with God that results in His name glorified--His kingdom impacted. How about you?

May I offer some practical advice? If we “feel” like we are too busy to pray, our feelings are lying to us. Our perspective is off. I submit to you that the real truth is that intimate connection with the Father is actually a top priority (John 17:21-23).  You know our Savior’s example. His ministry began with prayer, it ended with prayer. He prayed alone, He prayed all night, He prayed with others. He prayed out loud. Jesus knew the war we are in. He knew the way to engage in this war is through prayer.

I ask you to pray that every moment of our lives which the Father gives, to be engaged--engaged in Christ, in the eternal.

Saints, we have been given every spiritual gift in heavenly places in Christ Jesus. This includes the gift of right perspective to understand that deep connection with Jesus is true life.

“May the Father take us all deeper in relationship with Him. May He use us in each others’ lives to grow deeper in prayer. May we actively come to Him with surrender--absolute surrender to invite the Spirit to lead our prayer.”

Praying for the Father to deeply unify and stir, even infuse His church with His zeal!

Feel free to respond to this posting. 

Steve

Praise God! He is Always at Work

Saints,

Praise God! He is always at work. 

Our church family recently hosted a play presentation from Times Square Church, It was a modern day setting of The Cross and the Switchblade. God transferred Nicky Cruz, a gang warlord on the streets of New York, and consequently, thousands of others from the domain of darkness to the Kingdom of Light. God compelled a simple country preacher to reach New York gangs. Even more amazing—God still uses this story to rebuke, convict, encourage, inspire Christ-followers as well as draw new believers to Jesus. 

After the presentation a dear older sister in Christ asked me what I thought about David Wilkerson. “Was it that David was some kind of a “special” Christian or is it possible that all Christ-followers can be used by God to produce fruit like that?” I have not been able to get this question out of my mind—it has caused me to wrestle in the spirit. I thought, “God must have somehow anointed David in a special way. I don’t seem to have that.” Have you ever compared yourself to someone else like this? If so, it may have left you feeling inadequate or somehow incapable. It seems our beliefs are truly connected to our feelings and actions. So, what do we believe about this question? 

I want to suggest two Bible passages as a possible answer to this question:

First in John 15:5, Jesus shared,

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (ESV)

And, secondly, in John 15:16, Jesus declared,

“You did not choose me. But I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” (ESV)

Obviously David Wilkerson was a special follower of Christ—one who God used in a mighty way. Even so, please let me encourage you. We have the same Holy Spirit that inspired, even “drove” David Wilkerson! Yes, the same Holy Spirit that compelled Peter and Paul. And so, it seems we arrive at the same question, “If this is true, what do we do?”

May I suggest an option? I believe that David Wilkerson’s actions flowed out of who he was in Christ. He was a man who loved Jesus. David lived a surrendered life. Jesus drove his life. How did this happen? Let me suggest that as David connected with the father more deeply, (remember, as an example, he stopped watching TV to spend a few hours in prayer and reading the Word.) two things happened. First, The Spirit convicted him of sin and error in his life. Then secondly, The Spirit began to reveal, even infuse God’s passions into David’s heart.  Please see pages 117-119 of The divine Intercessor, by Gary Wilkerson. 

As you can see, this older sister’s question got me wondering. We know that grace, faith, and surrender all play a role in abiding deeply with Jesus.

Father, thank you for men and women of Christ whom you use to inspire us. We ask for intimacy with you that transforms our thoughts, even our thoughts about who we are in you. Take our lives. Wash our pride and sin away. Radiate your “REAL” love to this world through us. No pretense, no institutionalized religion, no self-reputation, no resisting your grace in any way. We ask this in the name and through the character of Jesus, Amen.

Please feel free to comment on these devotionals. I hope that our community and team-spirit will grow as we discuss these thoughts together.

Desiring more of Him,

Steve

We Have the Same Holy Spirit

Saints,

Praise God! He is always at work. 

This past week our church hosted The Cross and the Switchblade play from Times Square Church. This is the story of how God transferred Nicky Cruz and consequently, thousands of others from the domain of darkness to the Kingdom of Light. Even more amazing—God still uses this story to rebuke, convict, encourage, inspire Christ-followers as well as draw new believers to Jesus. 

After the presentation on Saturday night a dear older sister in Christ asked me what I thought about David Wilkerson. “Was it that David was some kind of a “special” Christian or is it possible that all Christ-followers can be used by God to produce fruit like that?” I have not been able to get this question out of my mind—it has caused me to wrestle in the spirit. I thought, “God must have somehow anointed David in a special way. I don’t seem to have that.” Have you ever compared yourself to someone else like this? If so, it may have left you feeling inadequate or somehow incapable. It seems our beliefs are truly connected to our feelings and actions. So, what do we believe about this question? 

I want to suggest two Bible passages as a possible answer to this question:

First in John 15:5, Jesus shared,

“I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” (ESV)

And, secondly, in John 15:16, Jesus declared,

“You did not choose me. But I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you.” (ESV)

Obviously David Wilkerson was a special follower of Christ—one who God used in a mighty way. Even so, please let me encourage you. We have the same Holy Spirit that inspired, even “drove” David Wilkerson! Yes, the same Holy Spirit that compelled Peter and Paul. And so, it seems we arrive at the same question, “If this is true, what do we do?”

May I suggest an option? I believe that David Wilkerson’s actions flowed out of who he was in Christ. He was a man who loved Jesus. David lived a surrendered life. Jesus drove his life. How did this happen? Let me suggest that as David connected with the father more deeply, (remember, as an example, he stopped watching TV to spend a few hours in prayer and reading the Word.) two things happened. First, The Spirit convicted him of sin and error in his life. Then secondly, The Spirit began to reveal, even infuse God’s passions into David’s heart.  Please see pages 117-119 of The divine Intercessor, by Gary Wilkerson. 

As you can see, this older sister’s question got me wondering. We know that grace, faith, and surrender all play a role in abiding deeply with Jesus.

Father, thank you for men and women of Christ whom you use to inspire us. We ask for intimacy with you that transforms our thoughts, even our thoughts about who we are in you. Take our lives. Wash our pride and sin away. Radiate your “REAL” love to this world through us. No pretense, no institutionalized religion, no self-reputation, no choking of your grace in any way. We ask this in the name and through the character of Jesus, Amen.

Please feel free to comment on these devotionals. I hope that our community and team-spirit will grow as we discuss these thoughts together.

Desiring more of Him,

Steve

Sometimes it is Hard to Pray

Saints,

Let’s be real. There are times when it is hard to pray.

I love the Pixar movie Up. I can relate to Doug the dog. Doug has a gadget on his neck which translates his thoughts into human language—he can speak Mandarin, French, Spanish, or English all at a turn of the dial. It is fun to hear him speak “dog thoughts.” In one scene he is speaking about how loyal he is and how much he loves his master etc. Then, he suddenly turns his head and shouts, “Squirrel!” The dog completely interrupted himself. He was distracted. I can relate. Can you? Yes, especially when it comes to prayer.

This is one tactic I believe the enemy seeks to use in our lives—distraction. He may not be able to push us to give up on Jesus or keep us from speaking about our Savior. Even so, he may seek to fill our time with anything but prayer. It’s as if, the enemy’s mantra is, “Just keep them from praying!”

One timed I asked a missionary friend who was serving in Asia, (we are all on mission by the way—yes!) what role prayer played in her work? She stopped to think and then answered, “Prayer is the work.” She shared how she learned how to not say Amen… Her prayer was constant. She had grown more aware of the spiritual battle around her. She sensed the need for constant connection with the Father.

If we love Jesus, then our purpose is to worship and enjoy our Savior and be a conduit of God’s love to others—Jesus declares this in Mark 12:28-31. It is God’s battle. It is God’s plan. It is God’s purpose. It is God’s glory. It is God’s power. It is God’s results. If we think otherwise, if we think we can do it all on our own, then we deceive ourselves to believe that we can influence this eternal spiritual battle through mere advertising, marketing, project management, and business savvy—in short, by man’s effort.

So what are we to do? The answer is really more about “be” than “do.”

Though these words were written long before Jesus walked the earth, they still carry great truth.

Hosea 6:3,

“So let us know, let us press on to know the Lord. His going forth is as certain as the dawn; and He will come to us like rain, like the spring rain watering the earth.” (NASB)

Hosea uses an action word in this passage which paints the picture of “hunting” or “chasing after” God. You might be thinking that this sounds like a lot of hard work. Well, yes and no. No, it is not hard work in that we can’t work ourselves into connection with God—Jesus did this. And yes, in that, as Jesus said on the cross about His own work, “It is finished.” Jesus did the hard work. So what do we do? It's as if we cooperate with the Spirit as He drives us to chase after more intimacy with the Father.

Brothers and sisters may I suggest that we take time to come to our father in undistracted prayer and say like Daniel said in Daniel 9:3,

Father, here I am. You have done the work to enable me to be here in your presence. You first loved me--now I love you. Just like Daniel, I now "turn my attention to You." Lord, show me how to pray. Please lead this prayer time.


Father, You began the work and You are faithful to complete it. We surrender. We offer ourselves as intercessors. Please fill us with your Spirit of intercession—lead us to pray as You will. Help us to pray--we choose to press in.

Desperate for more of God, Steve

What Do We Bring to the Word of God?

Saints,

 

We are greatly impacted by the culture (let’s define culture as a combination of our national and family heritage) we live in. It is only natural for us to view the Word of God through our cultural lenses. For example, we could ask ourselves…

 

Where was I raised?

What type of religion have I experienced?

What kind of world-view do I embrace?

What work ethic do I follow?

Who do I model my life after?

 

What is interesting to me is the incredible diversity each of us would answer these questions. How would my Iranian friend Babak answer them? How about Tim raised in Arizona? What about “Maria” from Russia or “Gustavo” from Brazil, Bic from Viet Nam, "Mo" from Saudi Arabia, or Luke who was raised in Cameron? How about you and your friends—how would they answer these questions?

 

Just in case we’re thinking that our cultural bent doesn’t really make a difference, let me share an example which would help at least American culture readers see how we might view God’s Word with a cultural bent. If you are not from America, please try to think of a similar situation in your culture. This is an example from Grasping God’s Word by Duvall and Hays, p 92-93.

 

First, carefully read Romans 13:1-7, then read the following excerpt from Duvall and Hays.

 

With this passage in mind would it have been wrong for you to participate in the Boston Tea Party of 1773? In protest to a new tax on tea, American “patriots” dumped tons of someone else’s tea into the Boston Harbor. Was that a Christian thing to do? Or suppose you were one of the Minutemen on the route between Concorde and Boston on April 19, 1775. Should a Christian aim, fire, and kill the soldiers that represent the government? Does this not conflict with Romans 13? Or perhaps the larger question should be asked: Was the American Revolution undertaken in disobedience to Romans 13:1-7? Keep in mind that the revolution was more about economics than religious freedom. Remember too that when Paul wrote Romans, the government in Rome was much more oppressive and tyrannical than the British government under King George III ever was. What do you think?

 

If you are like me, your American heart is “stirred” by words like these. Even so, I share this only to illustrate that we bring as Duvall and Hays call it, “Preunderstanding” to God’s Word.

 

So, take a deep breath and please continue reading—there is a point today. I believe the rugged individualistic mentality embedded in the “Western-culture” psyche can lead us to approach our faith in Christ along these lines:

 

1)     I am a sinner, I need Jesus’ blood to wash away my sins

2)     I receive the forgiveness of Jesus and my sins our forgiven

3)     Now, out of gratitude and love I will serve Jesus and seek to improve myself

4)     Thank you God for helping me to be a better person, I will now do my best to serve and love you

 

At first glance this may seem logical, but there is a problem. Notice the emphasis on “I” and “me.” This line of thinking might reduce our Lord Jesus to merely some kind of “self-improvement” method. The truth is, however, there is nothing in our self—our flesh which pleases God (Romans 6:23). In the beginning, yes God saw that His creation was good. Even so, After Adam and Eve chose self and pride and consequently “set” us all on the same path of pride. We all became broken. We all need to be fixed.

 

As part of this fixing, the death of Christ washes away our sin—please see Romans 6: 1-11. However, a deeper truth follows. The cross of Christ kills our old self. We cannot come to Jesus and in our hearts say, “Thank you Jesus for cleansing me from sin—for clearing my record, for helping me out. I’ll take it from here. I got it.” No, Jesus’ work is so much better—it is complete.

 

These are very “churchy” words. What do they really mean? Well, if you are like me, you see that the father wants to take you deeper in knowing and following Christ. Yes, a walk that begins with a cleansing from sin, but then a deeper walk—a life of truly living in Christ, not living absorbed with self. We become new creatures—Christ-infused, love-propelled, Spirit-driven, Bible-absorbing, people-loving, God’s kingdom-obsessed worshipers. The problem is that we cannot make this change, the Father does.  The Father implants both the desire and the power to live this way—in Him, in His Holy Spirit (Gal 2:20).

 

Let’s look at this truth another way. As we read the Old Testament, we understand God is faithful and we are not. As we read the New Testament, we understand that yes, God is faithful, however, we have become new--faithful in and through Jesus Christ. This change is illustrated in the life of Peter. Peter as a determined man of action, pledged not to deny Christ. But, he denied Jesus three times as he struggled to follow Jesus empowered by self. Even so, see the difference in Peter in Acts 2—the old Peter “died on the cross” with Jesus and the new Peter was infused with the power of the Holy Spirit. The new Peter preaches a powerful sermon--God saves thousands. The new Peter cures a crippled man in the name of Jesus.

 

So what do we do? Dear friends it is time for us to ask the Father to take us deeper. The disciples lived for Christ. So now, we live for Christ. It is time for a true Holy Spirit empowered
Western-culture church to rise up and follow Jesus. We live for His kingdom, not our own.

 

Let’s consider this line of thinking instead…

 

1)     I am a sinner I need Jesus blood to wash away my sins

2)     I receive the forgiveness of Jesus and my sins are forgiven

3)     Jesus now completely transforms me into a new person—He lives in me

4)     Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the flesh, I live in faith in Christ who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

5)     Romans 6: 6-8, “Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin. Now if we be dead with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him.” 

 

In other words, we need God. We need Jesus. Let’s pray for ourselves and one another—for the faith-family of Christ…

 

Father, take us deeper. Forgive us for our self-oriented approach to serving you. Forgive us for in essence saying to you, “Thank you for helping me a little, I’ll take it from here.” Help us to understand true consecration—that yes our sin is washed away, but also along with that, You took away our nature of sin. We are new in Jesus. We want to live in complete surrender to this truth. Spirit, live in us, and truly take over. Jesus, have your way--Your will lived out in us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

 

Compelled to pray and desperate for God, Steve          

If Jesus Prayed…?

Saints,

If Jesus was fully man and fully God when he walked this earth, why did He spend so much time alone with the heavenly Father? Why did He make time for prayer? Wasn’t He already “very connected” to the Father? Wasn’t He already one with the heavenly Father? Why would He pray all night?

Please review the following passages which describe Jesus’ prayer life while He was on earth.

Hebrews 5:7 (ESV) “ In the days of his flesh, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to him who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence.”

John 17:20-21(ESV) “I do not ask for these only, but also for those who will believe in me through their word, that they may all be one, just as you, Father, are in me, and I in you, that they also may be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me.”

Luke 6:12 (ESV) “In these days he went out to the mountain to pray, and all night he continued in prayer to God.”

Luke 9:18 (ESV) “Now it happened that as he was praying alone, the disciples were with him. And he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?””

Mark 1:35 (ESV) “And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”

The truth is that Jesus went to a mountain for an entire evening to pray. He slipped away from the crowd and His disciples to pray. He got up early to spend time with His Father. Jesus needed and desired time alone with the heavenly Father.

So, at this point we could review these Bible passages which describe Jesus’ desire for the Father and His prayer life and put ourselves on a shameful guilt trip—or worse, we could point our fingers at others and try to shame them for their prayerlessness.

I don’t believe this is the best response to these truths.

Yes, Jesus spent much time alone with God the father. Yes, if we are truly honest with ourselves—we would have to admit that we don’t spend the kind of time alone with God the Father that Jesus did when He walked this earth. But saints, our response is not to shame ourselves or others to pray more. No, the best response to this apparent “prayer-discrepancy” is to ask the Father for the same desire that Jesus had to intimately connect with Him. Whatever compelled, or drew, or pushed, or encouraged Jesus to seek undistracted time with God alone—that is what we want. That is what we need.

Let’s pray for ourselves and one another…

Father, please give us the same desire to be with You that Jesus had. If Jesus needed time with you, we need time with you. Help us to want you more. Help us to want to be with you as much as you want to be with us. We ask this from You so that your name would be more glorified and Your kingdom would be more impacted in and through us. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen

Compelled to pray and desperate for God, Steve