Dropping Out

I am amazed (in a sad way) about the number of people that have great experiences with God, who feel called to service, who at one point in time are full of passion and dedication, and then drop out. From non-scientific observations I think most of this occurs because of lack of real friendship (the type that encourages) and lack of something significant to do. Although living by faith is much harder than one might think. Being surrounded by things that do not look like they are working out is not the romantic picture that some think it is.

But what to do about those who are slipping away. Do we, or do I, own than any support or help? Is this life of God in Christ Jesus a solo act? Am I in any way obligated to those I don't even know?

I have a plan. It may again be one of those times when I fail at something rather than succeed at nothing!

More to come.

Alone

It is a most strange thing to be a human being. When we face some sudden or deep suffering, we mostly feel alone. Even in the midst of friends and family, comfort and edification, a part of our insides feels isolated and alone. It may be death or illness of a patent or child, it may be our own condition of anguish, or it may be the helplessness of helping one of our children through a very difficult place in life. We stand alone.

In no way am I denying the reality of the never ending presence of God, but even with His presence, we are alone. No other person feels our pain, has our thoughts and truly understands what it is that we are facing in those moments. Sure we can lean on one another as far as common experience goes. But it is not bad to be alone. We are made as individuals and as such there are some necessary times to be that, individual.

I suppose that some of us feel much less of this aloneness than others. People who are "people persons" tend to be more easily distracted from them selves, not completely, just seemingly more. Others who have some divine gifts of burden bearing, prophetic insight or compassion seem to feel much more of this "aloneness", yet have come to peace with it.

There is both pain and healing in this isolation. Pain in the reality that I must endure and go through this as a person. The call to go through this season as a person, as one who is just that, one. Healing in the same way. It is like the heart is called to become resolved through hidden isolation. Sure the health can be postponed or rejected all together by blaming, rejecting or denying the right and duty of being a person. I can look for a way to lives that seeks to avoid my person hood. None will.

I, for one, am sure there are many who feel mostly alone in life. Not is a sad or needful way. Just alone. When my parents suffer, friends, family, children all undergo hardships, even my ability as an intercessor does not resolve the isolation of the heart. It doesn't need to.

For if we can embrace it and not be overcome by standing alone, we will find greater clarity and peace. Even when the outer man or situation is in pain and suffering, there is an inner place alone, calm, un-distracted. In that place of great awareness the world, or sin or some natural or un-natural thing calls to us to get us to do something "not to be alone". Don't do that.

God comes walking into humanity, softly calling. Those who are not distracted will hear the sound. In that moment you will be in a position that I think few in our day find. The position of encountering God without distractions, but alone.

I have a friend who is not bothered by me.
He is not impatient for me to change
He has not assumptions that I will
He has given me the gift of humanity
And at times in that gift
I must be alone

How to become a better intercessor

Often when we pray for others the main thought life is seeking to find the right scripture or truth to apply to the situation. Often, this union of scriptures and circumstances are the result of our own personal experiences. What we want is to become people who can apply the heart of God to the heart of man. Avoiding our own judgments, no matter how good, is a desirable goal.
Now to this emptying ourselves so that Christ can be magnified comes the reality that most people of prayer are called to represent a certain stream of God. People are called to mainly see justice, mercy, healing or discipleship. This is not a complete list. But God in His wisdom created us to need one another and while we are to feel insecure in being “a part” we should feel insecure when we feel like we are sufficient ourselves.
This brings us to a foundational level of being in Christ that we need to develop.
Jesus said, "Are you still lacking in understanding also? "Do you not understand that everything that goes into the mouth passes into the stomach, and is eliminated? "But the things that proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and those defile the man. "For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders. "These are the things which defile the man; but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile the man."
(Matthew 15:16-20) emphasis added

When we pray for people we want to see what God sees and feel what God feels so that we speak what God would speak. This means we need to be delivered from the uncleanness of our own judgments and traditions. We do not want to accuse people of anger, lust, laziness or anything out of our natural perceptions. We do not want to be an accuser of the brethren.
The first step in overcoming this inward darkness is to admit that it is there and turn away for our own strength to the Lord. By increasing our humility and dependence upon God we build on the foundation that well last. In time, as our nature is transformed, we will find the burden of turning to the Lord is a great delight for us. We will love the very thing we thought was an added discipline.
Much more needs to be said about the inner life of people of prayer, but we can go a long way on building our house of prayer on His will and not our perceptions and judgments.

Others

One of the things I have experienced again and again in my life is the love of other people. It is almost daily that someone is kind, generous or just thoughtful toward me. This is somewhat upsetting because I feel humbled by such love. Even in the tiniest of events I feel unworthy. This, for me, is a just feeling. How great is the love of God to be shown through the gifts, sacrifices and blessings of others.

Over the last 20 years I have gone from the land of "needing no one" to the land of self-helplessness. Physically I use to be able to work 10-12 hours a day. I obtained a lot of self worth by my ability to help others build homes, repair cars, do landscape, move buildings, farm and a long list of other physical activities. Much of that is gone for me unless I experience more grace.

Yet my inability to do good for others has not lessened the good He does to me through a great many other people. Thank You! I am glad to be a part of the lives of so many who are willing to deal with my issues and bless me with theirs.

What is the one most important thing about ministry and service to others?

The single most important thing besides Christ Himself, is love. In Romans 9:3 we read that Paul was willing to lose his life, both in the natural and for eternity, so that his people would no longer be separated from Christ.
I have often heard a great number of leaders and servants tell about their devotion to Christ Jesus. I have head of their stories of great works and success. Yet most of these have never lost their lives, they have only gained a greater reputation, more wealth, bigger fan club, TV, radio and internet following.
At the same time there are those who become as “one with no reputation” and fulfill every desire of God for them. The second serve out of obedience motivated by love. The first do out of trying to earn righteousness based on works. They are in danger of not even entering eternity themselves. (This is not intended to be self-righteous judgments as if I have the right plan. It is intended to be a call of compassion to the body of Christ for the body of Christ. Some need to decrease so that others can increase. All of God’s children need a place in the body).
The point is not how successful you are, but how loving you are. God is the one who both gifts and calls. If you do great things that you were never called to do, you have robbed another member of the body of Christ, disobeyed God by not doing what He called you to do and sought to establish a righteousness greater than grace. While in America self success is rewarded, it will not be in the Kingdom of God. It is God’s plan that we follow Him together. He is the head. And while we love leaders and those with divine authority just as much as we love the homeless, the socially challenged, the poor, the uneducated and our enemies; we do not serve success. We serve the Lord.
So what is the motivation of your heart? Do you want to write a book, lead worship, fast and pray so that you increase in your significance? Do you want to defeat the world by self promotion of your godliness? That won’t work. The only place to stand is in God’s calling of you (Rom. 9:11). You cannot make your own way, for He is already the way.
Please note that this does not mean that we do not strive, labor, work, study, increase in wisdom and education. But we do the natural things of improvement because we love, not because we are seeking to be lovable or significant. We work hard at our calling and work hard at joyfully staying within its limits.
Take it from a guy that has sought for years to be something. The more you run away from the simplicity of devotion to Christ Jesus, the more you run into frustration, trouble, critical spirits, being judgmental and false righteousness. Enter the rest of the Lord and give up the rat race.

Why has there been so much emphasis on loving God and God loving us?

The short answer is that we are going to need it. God in His wisdom stirs the hearts of men and women to prepare for His coming and what is yet to come. It is one of the results of the Holy Spirit leading us.
In what is yet to come, followers of God will need to know (experientially) the love of God. Those who desire to remain true to Christ Jesus will need to have a love of the truth in them that comprehends the circumstances of daily life. Man tends to look at God with a judgment from man’s perspective. It is a part of our present condition to play the judge. It even seems strange to act in such a way as to not be the judge, decider or evaluator of life and events.
Without a real ongoing experience in the inner man of the love of God, we are led down the pathway of false judgments. Our passion can be turned to anger, our desires to lust, and our dreams to depression.
At some level, a truthful relationship with God will result in knowing the love of God for you. In the reality of “who God is”, you will encounter a love, faithfulness, reliability of God for you. God does not place you at the center of all He does, but the reality of His nature being love, results in actions and words that reflect that nature. The result is that you are loved – always.
Yet it would be incorrect to stop there. His love for us leads us to discipline, harmony with His will, and agreement with His nature by the transformation of our nature and a willingness to lose our life in His service. This is the reflection of “if anyone would come after me let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me daily”.
The intimacy movement of the last decade has been divine preparation for people called to go through what is yet to come. We are being prepared to have His nature and Spirit in all we do, even when it is not easy. Most of the world has been doing this for quite some time now. But our turn is at the door.

Spiritual Warfare

Spiritual Warfare

One of the things I am amazed at is how deep the ways of God are intended to go. You know how you make a peanut butter sandwich by taking the peanut butter and spreading it on the bread. When God makes us new, His intent is to make us fully infiltrated with the nutty butter. The character of God and the humanity of man are to be one new thing.

This took on an unworldly reality to me as I discovered that Jesus did not revile against Satan in the wilderness temptations. Jesus dealt directly and truthfully with Satan, but he also did not belittle, mock, ridicule or scream at him. Jesus did rebuke the good old Godly boys of His day, but He treated everyone, even fallen angles, with God like character.

I have been trying to love my enemies. Now I get to mature until I love even God's enemies. I choose to love them, not because they are deserving of that love but because God's nature is to love and I want to be like Him.

So now is the harder part. If I am to love all that God has created and my fear of fallen angles is to be turned to faith, hope and love; then what about politicians, governmental leaders, those in earthly authority and those who are leading in a direction that I don't want to go. In the "ways of God" humility and compassion far outreach the outburst of anger that we have tended to use.