A foundational question to ask...

"Who do you say I am?"

So who DO you say Jesus/God/Holy Spirit is?
Have you thought about it?
Not in the perfect answer (though if that IS your answer then great and so be it =) ) sense, but in a personal-I-can-give-specific-examples sense.

Because this is FOUNDATIONAL to how you live your life. And as you ponder and think and raise examples to yourself and keep thinking and pondering, something inside you changes. Because as you look at WHO God has been in your life, something fundamental in you changes to realize perhaps, that God IS your provider. And you worry that bit less, and you ponder some more and more, and you find that more and more true. And so you worry even less.

Your actions betray your beliefs. And your beliefs will determine your life. So answer this question which Jesus put to the disciples daily:

"Who do YOU say I am?"

The book in between...

There's a book in between Malachi and Matthew. A book spanning 400 years (so people estimate) and one which says alot about God. One which has no words written in it and yet is very important. For those looking no, there's no actual book there, but in between, on that page in most Bibles which says 'New Testament', for 400 years, God kept 'silent'. Nothing was written in the Bible during those 400 years. So was God really silent, did God really do nothing? How could God abandon His chosen people for 400 years? Or did He? There's a big difference between waiting ON God and waiting WITH Him. God didn't sit on His bum and go: "Ho hum, We'll just let them suffer for 400 years and then We'll do something." God was waiting. For what? Perhaps if nothing else, for Joseph and Mary to finally be born and bethrothed. For John to be ready to be born. In that 400 years, God was probably still preparing for the coming of Jesus in His human genealogy. Just because God doesn't say anything doesn't mean that He doesn't care. And so we learn, to wait, not alone, but with God, not ON God, but with Him, not trying to move His hand, but waiting in His arms, not squirming and yelling, but in quiet and content trust. Dad, I'm really NOT good at waiting, but teach me and help me to abide in You, knowing that You WILL move, and that You ARE for me. Thank You for loving me, I love You too.

What's in a name...

one thing I've been learning is naming before numbering, but not without it (from Peter McHugh). The principle is simple, Daddy is interested in your identity first before what you do. Thus you are before you do. Perhaps I could put it this way, prophecy before fulfilment. Or, dare I say it, title before function (GASP! Please don't anyone kill me, I will clarify this ><*). What does it mean? It means that the way Daddy functions and is, is that He gives each one a vision, a destiny, an identity BEFORE He expects (I'm not necessarily sure this is the right word) results. That is, who we are is not based on what we do, what we do comes from who we are. Example one - My new favourite Bible character: Gideon. Why? He's a chicken wuss. No, really, I mean it. He IS a coward, or perhaps, he was, until God worked and changed him. He wusses when God first calls him. He wusses in tearing down the altar of Baal. He wusses when the townspeople come to get him. He wusses when God sends him out, and he wusses AGAIN just as he is about to fight the Midianites. Why do I love Gideon? Because I see alot of me in Gideon. =P There IS a part of me which is afraid to do all these things which God calls me to do, a cowardly part of me which doesn't want to step out. Why do I love God even more? Because He STILL uses Gideon, and more than that, He helps Gideon along the way. I mean, really, Gideon gets to test God like 4 times before doing anything and God accepted that, God even initiated the last test (the one before fighting the midianites) and made provision for Gideon should he be afraid. But even more than that, God gives Gideon a new identity, God CALLS OUT of Gideon his destiny: Judges 6:12 - When the angel of the LORD appeared to Gideon, he said, “The LORD is with you, mighty warrior." That was the LAST thing one Gideon's list of things that he would be called, but God called out Gideon's identity MIGHTY WARRIOR. God looks at us for what we are called and have the capability to be, not what we are now! Which leads me to prophecy. If God was interested in performance, prophecy would be so different. So often prophecy is about who we ARE and who God sees us to be, to encourage us that HEY! THIS is who you are. Prophecy calls us into our identity, NOW. God doesn't wait until we've done what we 'needed' to do before sending a prophet and going: "Oh, good, you've now become a great leader." God sends a prophet before and says: "You ARE a great leader." And from that vision, from that identity, then we start to do the things which great leaders do, knowing that this is how God sees us! And so...... title before function. Now, I know, I know, we always teach that you function as a leader first before you get the title. But perhaps, that is a teaching which needs to be clarified as we teach it. A title is not something that you EARN. It is something that you are. What we really mean is that you need to recognize first YOURSELF, that you are a leader, from there you act like a leader, and THEN at the right time, a, hmmm... official title is given. What we really mean is this: a true leader isn't a leader because of a 'official position' a true leader is a leader because God has called them to be and they believe they are one regardless of whether or not there is an 'official title' given. This ended a loooooooong way from where I thought it would, but, yeah... Father, let me live from a place of identity, and not from performance, I pray and ask this in Your Name Jesus, amen.

How DOES one reconcile this?

Mat 22:37
Acts 9:31

The Love of God, and the Fear of God. There IS a reason why I'm picking on 2 NT entries, and that's primarily because some perhaps might think that the Fear of the Lord is some OT concept which is not appicable under the Covenant of Grace. Nup. The NEW TESTAMENT church lived in Fear of the Lord too.

In saying and learning about acceptance before performance but no without performance, in understanding that love should motivate why I do what I do. Where does fear come in?

Part of me says that this is one of those mystery before mastery but not without mastery things. That in part, I WILL have to accept that you serve the Lord out of fear AND love. That I will never quite ever be able to figure this concept in words to explain it clearly, and it's one of those things that just... IS.

Is it wrong to serve out of reverent respect for God, certainly not. Is it wrong to serve out of love, also not. So how DOES it happen? To be honest, I don't really know. The Greek word for fear used here is phobos, from which we get phobia. Now there might be an alternate meaning which is: reverence for one's husband. But honestly, Saul still falls smack down to the ground and calls out Lord. John in revelation does the same and this is the disciple that Jesus loved k, if ANYONE was a friend of Jesus, John was. And Jesus has to tell John, Don't be afraid (phobou).
There is something about GOD which you just will have to reverently respect. PERHAPS interestingly John actually doesn't cry out that he has unclean lips aka a few peeps including Isaiah. So I don't know. Maybe this: Just because you can boldly approach the throne of grace, makes it not less the throne of the MOST HIGH GOD. To have love for someone in no way means that it diminishes your respect for that person's authority and wisdom. In fact, if you love someone, and you know that person well, all the more you should hold respect and reverence for who they are and what they have done. The fact is, I hold the opinions of Mom, Dad and Karen higher because I love them, what they think matters to me. One way that love is shown IS to have respect for someone.

So... perhaps this, and I have no doubt I will have to come back to this post again and again since me human and me like to swing one way or the other between love and fear. Love not in the sense of just cuddles and sugar high love, and fear not in the sense of He's gonna scorch me to bits in His holiness and lightning and thunder and glowy scary eyes (which all Three Of Them probably have anyway), but... a mature love which knows and understands and respects Who He is. One which views Him as greater, and yet has come down to have great, great intimacy with us.

Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit, help me in this. So often I put you in a box of how I should relate to You, sometimes not even giving You the due honor of relating multifacetedly with You. Please enable me to mature and grow in my relationship with all of You. In Jesus' name I pray, amen.

So why DO we give thanks for food?

Seriously, why do YOU give thanks?
Are you REALLY thankful?

Why should we even care to ask this? Well, quite simply, giving thanks for food is something which is so automatic, so INGRAINED, we just do it. I once had a comment that I ALWAYS started my thanks with the same words, and it's true!

BECAUSE it's so ingrained, we DO need to think about our motivation, or we could just be perpetuating an underlying lie. For instance, appeasement. If I don't give thanks, God will not love me. LIE! But if you DON'T think about it you reinforce this thought EVERYTIME you give thanks. Another - ritual. It's what I've always done, so do it lor. LIE! If you're doing it for the sake of doing it, you're basically also feeding to yourself that God isn't actually personal. After all, He doesn't care about these little prayers of thanks, when in actual fact, God is EXTREMELY personal.

So why DO we give thanks? I'll leave YOU to think about it. =)

Meditation Vs Brainwashing

Now that I have your attention =P

In the Bible we're often told to meditate on the Word, that is, chew on it, slowly, over and over, play it back to yourself again and again. Which really sounds like brainwashing ain't it? In fact aren't you just psyching yourself which is why things change?

It's easy to think that way, and in a manner, meditation IS brain washing, you're washing your brain of lies, and letting it soak in the TRUTH.

So in essence? The difference is the content. Meditation works because you meditate on the TRUTH. So if the enemy comes and whispers to you: "You're just psyching yourself, that's why it works." You can go tell him: "Well, you're just afraid because I'm sharpening my Sword." =)

Perhaps confusing post ahead...

Free streaming thoughts, so you have been warned. =P

Something which has always sort of nagged at me is how I generally pray to God the Father, not Jesus. And perhaps at a deeper level, I'm not really so sure I necessarily know Jesus all that well.

Now I don't mean academically, but, there is something of it that I KNOW Daddy, I kind of know the Holy Spirit too, but Jesus, hmmm... Not really, or perhaps, the Jesus which I really know seems to be just His human side. The Jew from Nazereth in history in skin.

Which I think (MY OWN OPINION!) is an issue, which I DO have to change.

If you don't know God and only know Jesus and the Holy Spirit, something is WIERD, cause Jesus says that if you know Him, you WILL know Daddy.

If you don't know Jesus and know God and the Holy Spirit, something's wierd too, cause salvation is ONLY through Jesus and, well, yeah, it's just wierd.

If you don't know the Holy Spirit and know only Daddy and Jesus, then well, you're missing out, cause you don't have power.

It's kinda like knowing someone who is a father, cricketer and piano player. They're ALL him, but you kinda can't really say you know KNOW him if you only know 2 aspects of him.

So well, yeah...

Jesus, I WANT to know you, to get to know you as ALIVE and as God. Please help me and speak to me. In Your Name I pray, amen.

P.S Paul knew all three, so that's good enough reason for me too also! =P

P.P.S If there's some major theological flaw in this post, PLEASE get back to me k all you regular readers (if I actually have any =P)