Live Loved My Friends

I was just meditating on the relationship we are invited into in Christ. I think God so thoroughly enjoys us… and as much color, flavor and fragrance as He brings into our lives, it is returned to Him through His bride - you and me.

The more security and love He is able to impress on us, the more color we add to His creation.

His dream is for a bride in all of her glory – a bride that dwells in His love, beholding Him, abiding in Him, abounding and flourishing in Him until we are inevitably changed. This change is about reflecting Him but with our own unique color, flavor and fragrance. As the sunrise, mountains, cool springs and oceans reflect His glory, so too you and I are His reflection and as the word says His joy and delight. As much as we enjoy a sunset, He enjoys us. Oh the joy of living in His presence, dwelling in His favor. This is our ultimate quest and privilege. The source and the culmination of every thing we were created for.

He is my Father, the best of all fathers. And if you want to know my father all you need do is look at the life of His Son. If anyone has ever painted a picture of Father God, it was Jesus. He was the exact representation of Father God’s nature. Jesus was Gods expressed love in the form of a man.

This was not the God often perceived through legalistic readings of the old covenant; the kind of a God that you were afraid to piss off lest He smite you. This was a different, approachable, in disguise, man you could have coffee with, eat with, laugh and cry with, God. He was a man like us, yet so other than us. Born in obscurity, without pomp and circumstance, known for his illegitimate birth by a peasant girl, yet pure as the wind driven snow - and good, amazingly good, wise and kind.

He was not loved for his affluence. He was not followed because He was politically or religiously connected or powerful. He was poor and unassuming. But He was love. He came because He was love. He was filled with the compassion and empathy of a hopeful but wounded father. He came to heal and restore the damage in our hearts and in our perception of Him brought about by the fall…the sin, shame and the fear.

In the fullness of time He came. For the poor and the broken He came.

-That He might show the world what God the Father really looked like.

-That He might restore you and me to our original created value; that which He dreamed of before we were formed in our mothers womb - before the world was made…our individual color, fragrance and flavor.

-And that He might return us to His heart, the fellowship and the unbroken community of Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the community of heaven.

In the fullness of time He came, the fulfillment of promise. Angels announced His arrival singing, “Glory to God in the highest!” Seers and wise men recognized His entrance.

Poor shepherds celebrated His birth. And the bridegroom says come…

“He has come, as legs for the lame, the widow a mate, the orphan a name. He has come with love in His eyes, sing all you earth, the Messiah has heard our cry… Hosanna, Hosanna, Halleluiah, Heaven’s due has kissed the earth, HHHeaven’s King is majesty on high.”

Stay Thirsty my Friends

Live loved my friends

Merry Christmas!

Is God Good or what?

Is God Good?

Always?

What about the tsunami in Indonesia?

What was He thinking when he slammed the gulf coast with Katrina?

I am sorry, I have a friend who is confused and actually believes that...that Katrina was an act of God. He believes from scripture that a wrathful God is mad at sinners and to satisfy His need for justice throws tantrums like Katrina. What kind of a role model is that? (FYI- I am personally convinced that Satan is the author of Evil.)

He E mailed me to let me know that my other friend who believes that God isn't mad at sinners was off track and was a false teacher, some one I should avoid. Now, knowing he was confused about the God I am learning to trust and my friend, I felt it my duty to help bring him into the light. Never the less after plenty of scripture quoting back and forth we had to call a truce. This confusion wasn't going to be solved at least initially on grounds of intellectual prowess. He is fully convinced that I am in the dark on this subject. ( FYI- I do believe the bible, I also believe there is a crying need for a much deeper revelation of our God of Justice and the part we are called upon to play as believers in righting the wrongs, injustices and the evils in our world...a lot like the call on spider man... The part we are to play in ushering in the kingdom in the here and now. I just think my friend is starting from the wrong premise and thus has come to many wrong conclusions.) But it has got me thinking about the number one sin of man, the sin of unbelief, the sin that is the mother of every other sin, the sin that makes God mad.

As you can see from my blog I am still immersed in Ephesians and I got to chapter two where it states "We were dead"....in a dark and dirty world ruled by the prince and power of the air, the prince of darkness. We lived by the passions of our flesh and minds, disillusioned in the cesspool of self indulgence, under the influence of lies and in the down ward spiral of a world awry, without hope ...children of wrath...wrath reserved for the prince and his pinions. True story.

But this was not how it all started. In the beginning of time, in a place called Eden, a wonderfully happy, orderly and purposeful place, the snake convinced Eve and then Adam through Eve that possibly God should not be trusted....that He may not be Good, Wonderful and Loving...that He may have a strong back hand.

Prior to this question being posed, God and man enjoyed the best of friendship, the most fulfilling of occupations, the finest of wines and the deepest communion imaginable. They were secure, inseparable and intimate. This one question with its insinuation of mistrust caused a domino effect that forever changed the coarse of history. For the first time the Loving God of all creation was viewed through the prism of mistrust and fear. And Adam and Eve hid themselves from God. To this day that one lie prevails in our hearts, actually the same theory that Satan proposed to Eve, that maybe God should not be trusted... The lie that ultimately cost us our place of intimacy and friendship with an amazingly good God. The same lie continues to haunt us all. Maybe we aren't loved. Maybe we are all alone in the universe and maybe God isn't good after all. From there we leave the entirely good God premise and are left to interpret our lives in the view of a non existent God or a distant God, or a God with a bad attitude. The picture of a God emerges who is full of wrath, pissed off and angry, a vengeful God barely holding back His hand of judgement and torment ready to be poured out on the seedy minions spawning across the face of the earth.

He is a liar! Not my friend... my friend is just confused.

I mentioned that I am still learning... to trust. Brenan says "some where along the way in the life of the maturing Christian, faith combined with hope grows into trust. Based on the lived experience of God's relentless faithfulness, a confidence blossoms that God is with us to continue and to finish what he started."

Ephesians 2: And you He made alive, who once were dead...Children of wrath. BUT God, who is rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in trespasses made us alive together with Christ. (By grace you have been saved), and raised us up together and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus. Why? So that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His KINDNESS towards us in Christ Jesus.

In the third chapter as in the first chapter he prays "that we would be strengthened with might by His Spirit in the inner man, that Christ would dwell in our hearts through faith (These were the promises Jesus gave us the night He was betrayed) and that we being rooted and grounded in LOVE would comprehend with all saints what is the width and length, depth and height, to know the LOVE of Christ which passes knowledge....that we would be filled with all the fullness of God."

I am still trying to comprehend this amazing truth. "God is crazy about me." And if I am reading it right, believing that and being rooted in that truth is the beginning and the ending of confidence and trust for every and in every situation I am faced with... and for every opportunity and challenge God places in front of me as His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works .

I am loved by my creator. He is my relentless redeemer and amazingly GOOD all of the time.

"And though this world with devils filled should threaten to undo us, we will not yield for Christ has willed His truth to triumph through us".

God is Good and You and me?...We are the antidote for a world gone awry.

His dream.

Before the earth was created I was chosen. I am the result of a dream He had.....alright, along with you, but it's more fun to talk about me. It is also essential that I put this in first person or I am afraid the truth of it and the impact or power of it will be lost....and I don't want to lose another day of promise. By the way all of this is fruit of the promise that I wrote about, that was given to me the night He was betrayed.

I have high jacked the apostle Paul's prayer and am using it on me. I hope you are OK with that. Lord open my eyes, give me a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Jesus and open my eyes. Enlighten me to understand three essentials. First- Let me know the hope of your calling... let me grasp what you were thinking about the night I was conceived...the dream that you had and the great plans that so excited you. What were you dreaming God on the day when you formed me and thought about me before the world was created? and the day you unveiled me to your world? and what are you dreaming for me today? Second- Show me the riches of the glory of your inheritance in my sainthood. You are my inheritance. That was confirmed and guaranteed on the day I was purchased, the day I believed, the day I was sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise. Now Lord let me see what you got out of the deal. You got the riches and the glory of me. I was the prize you won, for the price you paid. Show me Lord what your inheritance in me looks like. And then thirdly... Open my eyes to the exceeding greatness of your power in me to accomplish every thing you hoped for when you dreamed me into existence and to become the rich inheritance that you were awarded. God let me know the power available when I believe, the same power that raised Jesus from the tomb and then positioned me in Him far above all principalities and powers in this age and the age to come at the right hand of the Father.

"And Lloyd He made alive who was dead in trespasses and sin...BUT God, who is rich in mercy because of His great love with which He loved me, even when I was dead in trespasses and sin made me alive together with Christ for by grace I have been saved and raised me up and made me sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus so that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness towards me in Christ Jesus ...for I am His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared before hand that I should walk in them ...to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by me to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places....Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly, abundantly above all that I can ask or think, according to the power that works in me, to Him be the glory in me and in you by Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever..."

Christ in me and I in Him

Oct. 1 09
Hey....I want to do a little boasting.
Can you see me now? I am hidden. The crazy thing is that I have been hidden in Christ for most all of my life to date and didn’t really know it. This wonderful truth has just now found me? What a pearl!
This amazing miracle actually happened when I was five years old. I had no idea it was so transformational. I proceeded to live the next 54 years doing my best to live for Jesus, but missing the mark on a regular basis, trying very hard on most days, but with little evident transformation. (compared to what Jesus looked like). I am amazed that I have made it this far in my life without understanding this most wonderful piece to the puzzle. If I could have a redo of my life I would jump at the chance, but on the other hand my redo is now. May the rest of my life be given over completely to living from my truest identity which is in Christ. God truly has saved the best till last. Now I was basically a good kid, and most people would say that I have been a fairly descent person. But with so little actual understanding of what had really transpired in my new birth experience, I have lived a relatively mediocre Christian experience. Jesus made a promise that my life would look a whole lot more like His. In fact He said that I would be doing the works He did and even greater works. He promised peace, His peace, “my peace I give to you” and His Joy, “my joy will remain in you and your joy will be full”. Let me list some of His promises to His bedraggled group of followers and to me the night He was betrayed.
- Where I am going you can’t come but you will follow afterwards.
- I am going to prepare a place for you in Father’s house
- I will come and receive you to myself that where I am there you will be also.
- I am the way to the Father, the truth about the Father, and the life of the Father.
- You will know the Father. He that has seen me has seen the Father.
- He that believes in me, the works that I do will he do and greater works than these because I am going to the Father.
- Whatever you ask in my name I will do…if you ask any thing in my name I will do it.
- My father will give you another comforter, that will abide with you forever, the Spirit of truth
- He will be in you.
- I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you.
- You will see me. Because I live you will live also.
- At that day you will know that I am in my Father, and that you are in me and I am in you.
- You will be loved by my Father, and by me, and I will manifest myself to you.
- My Father will love you and we will come and make our home with you.
- The helper, the Holy Spirit, will teach you all things, and bring things that I said to your remembrance.
- Peace I will leave with you, my peace I will give to you..
- I am going and I am coming back to you.
- Rejoice that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I.
- Abide in me and I in you. He who abides in me and I in him bears much fruit.
- If you abide in me and my words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it will be done for you.
- You will bear much fruit, glorify my Father…so you will be my disciples.
- As the Father has loved me I have loved you. Abide in my love
- I have spoken these things that my joy may remain in you and that your joy will be full.
- You are my friends. I no longer call you servants but friends.
- All things that I have heard from my Father I have made known to you.
- I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit would remain
- Whatever you ask the Father in my name, He will give you.
- You are not of the world. I have chosen you out of the world.
- When the helper comes, the Spirit of truth, He will testify of me and you also will bear witness.
- These things I have spoken that you should not stumble.
- It is to your advantage that I go away, for if I do not go the helper will not come, but if I depart, I will send Him to you.
- When He comes He will convict the world of sin, righteousness and judgment
- He will guide you into all truth.
- He will tell you of things to come.
- He will take of what is mine and declare it to you
- All things that the Father has are mine therefore I tell you He will take of mine and declare it to you
- You will see me because I go to the Father.
- Your sorrow will be turned to joy.
- Your heart will rejoice and your joy no one will take from you.
- Again whatever you ask the Father in my name, He will give you.
- Ask and you will receive that your joy may be full.
- The time is coming when I will tell you plainly about the Father.
- The Father Himself loves you because you have loved me and believed that I came forth from the Father.
- You will be scattered but these things I have spoken that in me you may have peace.
- Be of good cheer. I have overcome the world.
And then you will notice that He prayed for me, Yes He did. He prayed for His disciples but He also prayed for me, the one who would believe on account of their preaching. He prayed that I would be one with Him. “that Lloyd may be one in us, as You Father are in Me, that he also may be one in us, that the world might believe…and the Glory that the Father gave Me would be given to him that he might be one just as We are one. I in him, and you in Me and that he may be perfect in one that the world may know”…..He prayed “Father I desire that Lloyd Clark also whom you gave me may behold my glory which you have given me…and the love with which you loved Me may be in him and I in him.”
Believe it or not, that’s the truth.

My life has been a life of incredible contradiction, actually schizophrenic, sweet water and bitter coming out of the same stream. Paul’s explanation in Romans seven was very descriptive of my unattractive Christian experience. I lived most of my life in the sense realm, feeling my way through, praying for help and direction, asking for God to meet my needs, and watching Him provide. God has been there all along the way healing, leading, providing, loving and caring. I have wonderful God stories and really have lived a blessed life for the most part, five wonderful children who all love the God I serve, and to date five beautiful grand children. What else could I want? I have always been restless. I hate repetition. I want more, hunger for more and am generally discontented. I am a great starter and a poor finisher because I am a dreamer, always believing that the new will be better than the old and is worth the reach. It has taken me onto mountaintops of ecstasy and into valleys of despair. It has actually been quite a ride. Ask my wife. She is pure gold. But listen, this piece is the pearl and it is amazingly powerful. How could I have missed it?
This was the promise Jesus made the night He was betrayed and the rest of my reading of scripture continues to confirm it. I am hidden in Christ, with Christ in God. I am a new creature in Christ and who I am in Christ is huge. A world removed from who I was in Adam. This is the amazing story of Grace. Grace recreated me, restored me to my original value, gave me every advantage possible to man, favored me in God’s son, adopted me into His family, authorized me to respond to all of life’s challenges from heaven’s view point. I am accepted in the beloved. I have a place at the table, I am very special and I have heaven as my destiny but also at my disposal. My calling now is to live my life from heaven’s vantage point, bringing heaven to earth, May His Kingdom come, His will be done on earth as in heaven.” I have been translated out of the kingdom of darkness into the kingdom of His dear son. I have been born again and I am in the process of being transformed into something completely other than who I was, a completely new creation, old things past away , all things have become new. I am no longer Elmer’s and Adam’s son. I am now the son of God. My DNA has been changed to the DNA of Christ. The Holy Spirit lives in me. He is the proof that all of this is true. After all He is the Spirit of truth.
The sacraments of baptism and the holy communion are symbolic of the new life I have been given. The old man is dead and buried. The new man has risen with Christ and is now seated with Him in heavenly places. The participation in the bread and the wine are the reminder of the expense Jesus paid and the value of this reality, my new position in Christ.
From this vantage point of being hidden in Christ, all of life is now doable. Every part of it…the bad and the ugly as well as the good. Discouragement, fear, despair, and sin no longer have dominion over me. I have obtained a position of authority in Christ from which all of my life now flows. Christ in me is the hope of glory. My calling is to live my life as an authorized version of Christ, (as many as received Him, to them He gave the authority to become son’s of God), expressing His love, His kindness, His wisdom, His righteousness, His healing and His mercy into my world, supernaturally empowered by the indwelling Spirit of God. Now between you and me, I know that this is completely beyond the realm of possibility for Elmer’s boy Lloyd.. But this is the miracle of His life in me and my life in Him. This is my new identity, my new reality in Christ. Now, it is no longer I that live, but Christ living in me and the life that I live in this body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. It is no longer my responsibility to battle with sin. It is no longer my responsibility to bite my lip and live selflessly. My responsibility is to abide in Christ, to draw near to Him and then to live out of my new identity. When I live from earth to heaven I am getting to the point that I just expect to fail. But living from heaven to earth He wins in me and so I win. No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man- BUT- God is faithful who will not allow you to be tempted beyond your ability (your new ability now that you are in Christ). We have a vantage point from which we are privileged and expected to live and to love, joyfully, peacefully and victoriously.
If you miss this piece to the puzzle of your life, I think you will miss something extra ordinary. You may live a good life, even have some great God stories. Paul prayed in the book of Ephesians that the eyes of our understanding would be enlightened, that we might know what is the hope of His calling and what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints. I believe that the truly attractive Life Jesus promised is only found in Him when we are convinced of who Jesus is and who we are in Him, that He not only loves us but lives inside of us, changing us into His image so He can live through us for the benefit of those around us.
Now I know that even though I haven’t had this truth in my noggin it has been at work in me from it’s inception, that day when at five years old Jesus moved into my heart. He has been faithful over the coarse of my life and in His timing has just now let me in on this pearl that has been hidden from me to date. I have a friend that say’s God hides things for us, not from us. I am curious now to see if He can expedite His plan of redemption in my life now that I have a little more insight into what he is doing. You just wait and see. Keep tuned for more of the miracle of Christ in me...or better yet dive in yourself. You don't need my permission to put your name where I put mine.
My name is Loyd Clark and I approve of this message.

The Spirit of Truth

The Spirit of truth.

The Helper, the mentor, the promise and the guarantee of every thing Jesus, living in us….in our bodies.

Our bodies, His temple, His HOLY place. The same Spirit that raised up Jesus from the dead doing that in us....quickening us. How amazing is that? It was His PROMISE. “I will send another Helper, the Spirit of truth, who will be with you and in you, who will take of mine and reveal it to you, who will lead you into me, the truth, the life, the way….and into the community that we, Father Son and Holy Spirit share. This is so spectacular that you will not even miss me when He comes. You will not be orphaned. It is better that he be here than me in person. In fact if I don’t go He won’t come. It is so for your best! He will guide you into all truth, He will take of what is mine and reveal it to and in you. This is going to be way cool.”

That was the promise Jesus made to the bedraggled, weary, forlorn, confused disciples the night he was betrayed. And that night He took care of everything. He was made to be sin for us. He purchased our Redemption with blood…and accomplished on our behalf every thing necessary for Life and Godliness. Brenan Manning call’s the cross His signature. Love beyond measure. He died and was buried and the earth groaned. Sadness and sorrow enveloped the land. Darkness crept in and Satan rejoiced thinking he had won the day.

…But there was a promise.

This is so cool. Jesus knew the Spirit of Truth. But bigger than that He believed… and died in Faith. “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abides alone, but if it dies it will produce much fruit”. These were His own words. He believed that the Holy Ghost (the good ghost) would come and He chose to prove that what He had said was more than theory. This was the test, the proving ground. This was the day that all of the ancient’s had foretold, the culminating focal point in all of history. Jesus trusted His father and put to test the theory. He became the test pilot for all of mankind. Satan with held none of the vilest weapons in his arsenal. Mel Gibson’s The Passion depicted it well. But Jesus had a bigger promise, the person called Holy Ghost. In an amazing act of faith and love He offered up His body. The torn and broken body of Jesus was then removed from the cross and placed in a tomb.

But just as He had promised, the Holy Ghost ( the amazingly good ghost) appeared on the scene and went into that tomb and quickened Jesus body. WOW! And He arose from the dead conquering all of hell on our account.

It is said that he humbled himself and became obedient unto death, even death on a cross. He believed the promise and took the promise to the ultimate test and became a living demonstration of the power of the Holy Ghost.

He appeared over a period of time to His disciples and then left them with this instruction “go and wait for the promise of the Father “which you have heard from me…you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now”

And then, our moment in history arrived. Just like He promised, He came. Who? The Holy Ghost (the good ghost), and with Him, everything Jesus.

It say’s in the story called the Acts of the early disciples that on the day of Pentecost, the disciples were all in one accord and in one place and suddenly there came a sound from heaven as of a rushing, mighty wind and it filled the whole house where they were sitting and there appeared tongues of fire upon each of them and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began speaking in different languages as the Spirit gave them utterance. How cool is that? It is very interesting that from that day onward the disciples did not speak of the good old days of when Jesus was here among us. They didn’t sit around and reminisce of better days. They looked at each other with disbelief, “He is here! He has come!” What Jesus had promised in their regard was fulfilled that eventful day and is fulfilled in us the moment we receive the promise of the Holy Spirit. He is the Spirit of truth, the Spirit who makes Jesus real in us and brings us into the fellowship and community of the trinity, the spirit who is at work in our lives as truth, the spirit who is daily in the process of transforming us into the image of Jesus,” until Christ be formed in us!”

Paul asked “ Do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost, who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? You were bought at a price, therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit which are God’s. I don’t belong to me. I have been purchased. I am owned by Him. I am actually His new creation, a unique piece of work, His workmanship, crafted by and filled with Him. Again “do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you? For the temple of God is Holy, which temple you are.” You want to know some thing. This is true beyond feeling. It is true regardless of how I feel or what I see in my life right now. It is true regardless of my circumstance. This is the truth made real by the indwelling presence of the Holy Ghost, (the good Ghost) He is the guarantee….the first fruit of our inheritance. He is in me and I am in Him. This is the promise fulfilled and it becomes more true every day. “Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is there is liberty. But we all with unveiled face beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image, from glory to glory just as by the Sprit of the Lord….therefore we do not lose heart. Even though our outward man is perishing, yet the inward man is being renewed day by day (transformed),”…for we walk by faith, not by sight. We are being transformed into the image of Christ! We are called to grow up into Him in all things. Jesus is our true potential. You and I have been chosen to Re-Present him in this world, the here and now and this is the work of the Helper, the promised Spirit of truth. Come Holy Spirit.

And What Does He Look Like?

Again go back to the promise. Every thing Jesus. LOVE!

Part 3

August , 16, 09

What a purchase! And what a price!

Created in His image, after His likeness, screwed up by the fall…redeemed by His blood, purchased by blood and brought back to my original value. How valuable am I? Worth the blood of Jesus! How do I know? Because when His blood was poured out on that cross, He was screaming in the loudest of voices “I love you” and I was being released into my full created potential. It was the most dramatic event in all of history….effecting my past present and future and releasing me into my fullest potential. But why did he love me so? Because I was created in His image and after His likeness. I am His original.

I am His great idea….born in this time, to represent a uniqueness in the deep heart of God that only I can express. He loved me and wanted me back. That is the basis for my value…why I am special, and so worthy of his blood. There is no one like me before or after that was created to express Him in the way that only I do.

Now I know that this isn’t my daily experience. The problem is that I have let my daily experience influence my doctrine. Instead of truth becoming my daily experience, I have chosen to believe my daily experience and have relinquished my true potential. I have been deceived into walking by sight. I have become a sensual Christian, interpreting life and living live in the natural, convinced more by my failures than the truth of my created value.

All of God’s promises had been relinquished and I had chosen to live the normal life of every other earthling...waiting for heaven and hoping secretly for the day He might show up in real time and space. I was doing good things and trying to be nice to the jerks, I mean the people in my world. Self centered, self indulged, mediocre, mundane, religious nut case, deceived into thinking this is my life.

I have heard the stories of God at work in the world and wondered why and how I missed out on all of the excitement, thinking God and life had passed me by. Occasionally I would get a glimpse of reality, feel His presence, feel loved and special, Kind of like the feeling of good sex or good coffee. That moment was great and I would swoon over the thought that I was truly loved only to lose that feeling in the tough realities of a shrinking economy, failing business ventures, a diminishing bank account, law suits and loneliness.

My life was all over the road. I loved God and knew I was loved, not really sure why but had been told it enough all of my life that it must be true. I wasn’t living in condemnation over my mediocrity, at least not a whole lot. I was trying not to be mediocre, reading the word, listening to men who I could see were living my dream life, wishing I had been in their shoes…wondering why I wasn’t… men that were not religious or building their own kingdoms but doing the amazing works of Christ in the here and now.

I began to read John 13 through 17 over and over and over for months, asking God to open it up to me. The promises Jesus made to his followers which included me were amazing but so beyond my experience. Why would He promise such things if it were not true. And if it is true, what piece am I missing that my life is so unreflected of what He promised. I have heard it said that God hides things for us, not from us. But why was He hiding so well and when would I find His answers.

My daughter invited my wife and I to a meeting in Nashville where we heard a man speak who actually scared me some. He actually believed what he was teaching. It was like he had become the message. He wasn’t sermonizing. I was some uncomfortable with his delivery, humor and confidence. But I was desperate and my spirit was responding more than my mind. At the end of his speaking he provided an opportunity for unbelievers to respond and give their lives to God. To my embarrassment, I was the first one standing and then my wife stood immediately beside me. We were the only one’s standing. My spirit was crying out “YES, YES, I WANT THIS”. I was so surprised and we were making such a spectacle of ourselves. It was awkward and uncomfortable and I kicked my self the rest of the day.

But that day God gave me a new set of glasses, and little by little I began to gain a new perspective on every thing Jesus.. Circumstances have changed some. We are still in a tight place in many regards but little by little our eyes are being enlightened to the wonders of his word. Paul actually prayed this for me…that the eyes of my heart would be enlightened, that I would know the hope of my calling and the riches of the glory of His inheritance in me. I am finding the Helper, the Spirit of truth, our mentor, breathing afresh on familiar texts and illuminating what He accomplished for us and in us on that dark day in History… the day of such paradox. A visual of failure and embarrassment, suffering and sorrow, yet the pivotal point in all of history from which every good and perfect plan of the God of the ages finds it’s fulfillment in the earth and in and through our lives….yours and mine.

Part 2

August 7-09

Could we say that Jesus spent His three years with the disciples showing them what the Father was like and giving them a taste of the Kingdom, heaven on earth…imparting destiny and illustrating for them how God imagined and intended for man to live on the earth?

I believe so! It was the riskiest of adventures born out of love. If there was no chance of failure it would not be said of Jesus that He was tempted in all points like us. But even more interesting is the risk he took with leaving the unfinished kingdom business in the hands of rookies, ordinary human earthlings like the disciples. He placed all of His hopes, dreams and aspirations in them and ultimately in you and me … the riskiest of ventures ever made. It was a venture like no other before or after… risk beyond measure. Paul say’s we are God’s field, His building, His workmanship. He calls us His holy temple and His inheritance. And he purchased us, invested every thing in us, paid with the blood of His Son. Talk about going out on a limb. What a purchase and what a price.

They were His dream team. They were to become his antidote for every thing wrong with this world and if Satan had any insight he would not have crucified the Lord of Glory because in so doing Jesus brought His dream into the realm of possibility, Something so completely absurd, illogical and impossible was now in the realm of possibility through His death and resurrection.

Every thing He shared in His last words was to prepare them for the change’s He was about to accomplish inside of them …. Beyond their wildest imaginations. No knots were tied, no plans were completed, no guarantees of safety, only some amazing thoughts and introductions to subjects that they were chosen to become a part of… His amazing plan was still in it’s formative stages. They were to be the key players in the plan of the ages. It was their story now and ultimately our story NOW.

Talk about confidence in your team. He was completely at ease with the team He had chosen and continues to be in His choice of each of us.

In the big heart of God there is a vacuum with your shape in it. We already know that there is a God shaped vacuum in your heart but before you became you, you were already in God’s heart. He dreamed you into existence. You are no accident. You were created in his likeness and after His image. You have incredible value to Him. I am getting ahead of the story.

The night he was betrayed He met with his disciples for dinner and a movie. He was trying to broach the subject of His leaving. John records ”Where I am going, you cannot come right now but you will follow after”. They were confused and grieving over His comment. Peter and the rest reaffirmed their commitment to Him. Peter boldly declared that he would die with Him if necessary and he meant it as he proved later in the garden when he drew his sword in the presence of armed soldiers. ( He was aiming for the throat and got the guy’s ear.) Jesus was clear “you can’t come with me, you don’t have the ability to follow me…you are incapable and I am OK with that, in fact Peter you will deny me three times before the cock crows….but don’t worry about it, do not let your heart be troubled and don’t be afraid because I am going to fix the problem. I am going to Fathers house. In his house are many abiding places. In fact if this were not the truth I would have told you. Peter I am going to prepare a place for you so that you can come and be with me where I am. It isn’t possible now but I am fixing this thing once and for all. There are many places in Fathers heart, one for each of my created son’s and daughters and tonight Peter I am preparing a unique place in Father’s heart with your name on it.” WOW.

And then, he begins an open ended discussion with them hinting at difficulties lurking in the future but completely confident that they were going to be OK, and better than OK.

In truth it was for their best he was leaving because if He did the helper, the Spirit of truth would come and take them to places that would have been near impossible for them to go.. (I am using the word near because only a few characters in history to date had come close, Enoch, Moses, David and a few others)

He talks about the Father, how in seeing Him they had seen the Father….that getting a good look at Him was the exact same thing as looking at the Father,

That out of this oneness with Him and His father they would be now able to see, do and live beyond the realm of possibility.

That the intimacy of the unique community of the Father Son and Holy Spirit was theirs to enjoy and that they would never be alone again no matter what they felt.

That Love was the language of heaven and heaven on earth and that they would learn to speak the language fluently.

That the Helper was the Spirit of truth. That truth is stronger than every feeling of fear, loneliness, despair and discouragement and is the over riding denominator of every circumstance

That Difficult times would come which could not effect their cheer because of what he was accomplishing and that nothing would be impossible to them.

That joy would be the side benefit of intimacy in their relationship

That the Holy Ghost, the good Ghost was now their helper and mentor and would continue his input by opening up the nature and likeness of God to them experimentally.

And that ultimately Jesus was praying for them, believing in them and would accomplish through them every thing that He had started in His brief three years of ministry.

All of this was just the beginning of their story and ultimately our story, yours and mine.

We have just begun the biggest adventure of all time.

A few years back I remember hearing of a girl who had just won 100 million dollars in the state lottery. When being interviewed she was asked what her plans were. She said that she was going to buy her and her family a brand new double wide.

We have an inheritance in Christ of which most of us have no comprehension. Eye has not seen nor ear heard the things that God has prepared for us. But he will reveal them to us by His Spirit. We have won the biggest of this world’s lotteries… Beyond your imagination. Let Jason give you a peek into the potential that is now yours as a son and daughter of God. The earth is groaning in travail awaiting your manifestation….your maturity…your growing up into Him in all things….your transformation.

Part 1

Today I am at the bottom looking up….have been here for the past couple of weeks, actually since I realized that my hearing of God appears so very impaired…and my hopes continuing to go up in flames. Bad choice of renter for our MS home, bad choice of door display area for doors (after all of the expense and hard work we closed it down this past week) ….after what appears to be 5 years of poor choices, most of which I felt at the time were God’s best choice with the options presented. All of which have left me very skeptical and cautious at investing in any future options, hopes and dreams. I used to be able to say I am right at least 50% of the time but I am afraid my average has deteriorated. Depression wants to come over me like a wet blanket…the Word of God seems distant. I still believe He is good and I want to believe He sees me and cares… like the foot prints in the sand story.

Romans 8 – No Condemnation…because the law of the spirit super cedes the law of sin and death….actually making me free…for what the law tried and failed at because of my weak flesh God took care of through His death… so the requirements of the law could be fulfilled in me by His Spirit living in me…the same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead. No matter the effort, we cannot make a difference out side of his Spirit living in us. We who have been adopted into His family are now children of God and have a daddy in God who has made us his heir along with his first born by placing his Spirit in us. From this vantage point of special privilege and favor as family and joint heirs with Jesus, suffering with Him is also our privilege that we might be glorified with Him. We find ourselves groaning with creation waiting for the glory of God to be revealed in us and through us…and the Spirit who lives in us helps us persevere through our daily disappointments and troubles, interceding for us according to the will of God so that we can be assured that all things will work together for good to those who love and are loved by God. The glory will be revealed in us because whom he fore knew he predestined to be conformed to the image of his son, the first born of many brothers.

What shall we say then to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? All things are ours in Christ. If God is for us who can be against us? We are more than conquerors through him who loves us. Who or what can separate us from his love? Nothing!!!

He will finish what he started. I will be OK because I am so loved by God! I am so worthy of the blood of Jesus. Predestined for Glory! Creation itself will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. We were saved into this hope, a new creation in Christ. We hope for what we do not see… we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

Full Circle

“Be diligent… and rest…. everything else is manipulation”

Each day has enough trouble of it’s own…. and for each day grace is available.

I will stand…. having failed at standing… His Spirit lives in me.

I will hope…having given up …His Spirit lives in me.

I will dream again…bigger than before….His Spirit lives in me.

I will love and be loved again today.