Eureka! It's Love!

Both Romans 8:31-39 and 1Corintians 13 talk of God's love for us. You know, I have been complaining for about 2 years now that I don't feel anyone loves me, and I'm already 30something. I see what they do for me and how they treat me; I can identify the markers of their "love". But for my whole life, except for those brief, halycon days with my first beloved, I felt nothing. And for the last two years, it has been torturous.

And for good reason! God was starving me in order to prepare me for the revelation, the feast of all feasts, and it is this: That nothing can separate us from the Love of God that is in Christ Jesus, our Lord.

Now I know. I know that love is everything. Every psychologist's couch would be empty; the shopping malls would be sparsely populated; every book would be left unsold except the Bible and indeed remain dumb. My blog would also be obsolete. Love songs on the radio would be ignored, for "in vain the firstborn seraph tries to sound the depth of love divine." If it cannot do it, how much less the unsaved mortal? This is the secret: God loves you, unconditionally and for all eternity.

Knowledge would be deemed useless. Who needs to know more things where Love reigns? And you cannot separate Love from Jesus and the Father. The Devil doesn't want you to know this. The world does not want you to know this. All of Acadame doesn't want you to understand this, for its doors, its revenue, its plethora of vain publishings and research would disappear forever. Love triumphs over all.

Instead we'd walk purposefully to our neighbour's, our enemy's, our estranged relatives', our soup kitchens, our brethren to put our faith into practice. Societies would be changed. And despite worldly, demonic resistance, our hearts would be changed forever.

Let us then be faithful to the call of God's love. Let Him love you. Feel it. Cherish it. Praise Him who is the King of love who stoops to pick us up from our mire, who snatches us out of the fire of Hell.

You Know, O Man, What Is Good. And What Does The Lord Require Of Thee?

It is only in our most desperate moments that we cry the cry that God swiftly answers, for it is that cry that is most disinterested, urgent, and heart-rending. God is merciful and knows how to give good gifts to His children.

If there is a lesson I must and desire most exquisitely to learn is that of loving mercy. It is exquisite not for its luxuriousness or for its idleness, but rather for its prized quality that surpasses all qualities in human to human relationship in the Lord. It is, or should be, our most common and yet coveted interface.

Why do I say this?

God has said in the OT to love mercy (Micah 6:8). There were only three things required of Man. Love mercy, do justly, and walk humbly with God. Not any sacrifice of enormous proportions could satisfy God's requirement for the redemption from our sins.

When the Lord Jesus Christ came to earth, He said to the Pharisees, "Go, and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,'" (Matthew 12:7)

Mercy is what the Good Samaritan did for his enemy, a Jew, when robbers attacked and left this Jewish man for dead.

I have commited recurrently the sin of wishing ill on my enemies. So, I am writing this entry as much for myself as for you, dear Reader. I have struggled with unforgiveness since early in my childhood, but most markedly in the last 20 years. Yet how does Jesus show mercy to me? Recently, He has put in my mind's eye a picture of Him riding on a donkey's foal, and intimating the verses of a prophet, "Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King comes sitting on the foal of an donkey." (John 12:15) He has also been teaching me that HE is gentle and humble at heart, that we can take up His yoke upon us for His yoke is easy and His burden, light; and we can find rest unto our souls in Him. He graciously impresses this upon my consciousness despite the enormity and abomination of my curses against my enemies. I am as evil as any convict, as thieving as any robber, as deceiving as any apostate; yet, God impresses His presence upon me, lets me feel guilty and horrible in the aftermath of my sins. Like the wayward sheep whose legs were purposely broken , and carried on the Shepherd's shoulders until all healed, I hobble lamely and quickly to His side and bleat. He hears and gathers me up into His love-worn arms. He holds me. I am sorry again, but comforted and safe.

Mercy is the bridge between enemies. Jesus is our bridge between us and God, the Father. Needless to say, then, Christ is merciful. Let us accept His love and salvation and subsequently show all humanity the goodness and mercy that Jesus Christ the Messiah has put in our hearts, knowing that we are no better than they, and that Jesus has forgiven us. And then, you know the old hymn sung first by King David: Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me, all the days of my life.

Love, true and complete love from God, does not fail. Where there is this love, there is no fear.

"And Jesus answered him, The first of all the commandments is, "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength." This is the first commandment. And the second is like this: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these. And the scribe said to Him, Right, Teacher, according to truth You have spoken, that God is one, and there is no other besides Him. And to love Him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love the neighbor as himself, is more than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices. And seeing that he had answered intelligently, Jesus said to him, You are not far from the kingdom of God. And no one dared to question Him any more.(Mar 12:29-34)
"Then one of them, which was a lawyer, asked him a question, tempting him, and saying, Master, which is the great commandment in the law? Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets." (Mat 22:35-40)

Silver and Gold? The Panacea for A Broken World?

Say "Gold" these days and it conjures up both the panic of the stock market disaster and the reassurance of precious metals as "safe havens". For me, "silver and gold" as metaphors for lots of money seems to be all I think about when I try to find a solution for my struggle with a disabling illness. Somehow, it's human nature to think that if there is any problem, however emotionally wrought, throw money at it.

Such was the state of the beggar as Paul passed his way. The beggar was disabled; he had no use of his legs. Up until then, he thought money was the answer. Paul turned around and said, "Silver and gold have I none, but what I have I give to thee; in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk!" What can we learn from this?

Personally, I always thought that if I had enough money, I'd be happy and the pain of my disability could be assuaged. I kept looking forward to infusions into my income. But as far as GST cheques and special occasions can carry me, more money, in reality or dreamt of, doesn't address the problems of disability. Only healing can.

Can Jesus heal in 2009? Yes, I believe He can and wants to. While we think in this economy that buying gold (if you can afford it...I can't) will save us in the uncertainties of life, the Holy Spirit is beckoning us to come to Jesus and to trust in Him. He wants to heal us in the whole; he wants to make us wholly healed. Does this take away our obvious physical/intellectual disabilities? Honestly, I think He is able and wants to. If we, like Elijah, pray earnestly, and believe, the blessings of God can rain down on us. But will my disability be healed? completely? Yes, I believe He will heal. Did He not say, Let it be done according to your faith? So if we dream big, ask big, have great faith, will He not answer? Yes! So I expect healing--complete, lasting healing.

Money is good only in how it relates to other people and meets necessities. We give money to charities, buy our children food, clothing and education, pay for a roof over our heads, entertain friends and visitors, showing gratitude. Money doesn't solve illnesses or problems that begin in our rebellion, it does not increase faith, and it does not buy us love. It only goes as far as our hearts go. In the end, it is the spirit of the individual that counts for something. Gold will rot our flesh in the last days. That is God's warning.

Coming into The Light--Living with Transparency

Contiguous to believing in Christ to save us of our sins is the coming into His Light, that is, the only true light. What do I mean by this?

What I discovered when I hid my sins even though I confessed His name verbally is that I felt torn between the good in Christ that I wanted to attain, and the need to shove my sins deeper into my pocket so that hopefully no one could see the stain. For I wanted to avoid confession, true repentance, and most of all: exposure. So, as what Jesus spoke of to Nicodemus, so have I also shunned the light because my deeds were evil. I was a condemned woman because of this, such was the verdict. It wasn't until I was willing to come forward into Christ's light and be willing to be exposed, with the faith in Him that He would work out all my reparations according to His loving-kindness, that I then became a free woman. I stopped fearing because now I trust Jesus Christ. He did not die for nothing.

The next day, I came to another discovery: That I not only needed to forgive my enemies, but that through faith in Christ, I could forgive them. Acknowledging that my sins were worse than theirs, I forgave everyone as quickly as my heart could move. I prayed for their salvation and their ultimate good, which is to know Christ Jesus as Lord. Armageddon is coming soon. People are being tested and sifted. Lives are being lost to disease and natural disasters and wars. What was I holding onto that was so evil in retaliation that made my sins 1000x worse than theirs to me? In knowing that God forgave everything I ever did, I forgave them of the pittance they owed me, with much humility and shame. How could I hold THAT over another pilgrim? And the world is full of pilgrims who have gone wayward. What gives me the right to hold my fellow slave in debt for a couple petty grievances?

Then tonight, I came to a revelation. I can hold to Christ's promise to be able to sup with Him and the Father when I answer the knocking that Christ was continually making at my heart. There is no need to work...only to repent. Forgiveness of others wholeheartedly finally allowed me to sense and accept God's love for me. Then when I had prayed for the healing of my past enemies and their salvation in Christ, I found the call to answer the knocking. Gladly I said a prayer asking that the Lord Jesus would come into my heart with the Father to sup with me. When I got up from my prayer, things around me seemed to be imbued with perspective. No longer did I see my writing subjects as an authority above me, but rather in Christ, I had authority over it. It no longer dominated me, but I saw it for what it was, lies and all. I was free. May Christ keep me in this freedom.

Christ is coming back...we see the leaves sprouting on the fig trees, the storm clouds in the distance. Where will you place your faith, Pilgrim? In gold, in humankind, in the Anti-Christ? Will having a single monetary unit placed on a computer nanochip stamped to our foreheads so that we can buy and sell truly save us? Man does not live by bread alone, but by every Word that comes from the mouth of God. Take Him seriously. Make sure you too are among those whom God will pen into His Book of Life. Mean business with God and He will save you. To them that overcome, He will give ... life eternal.

The Holy Spirit's Baptism by Fire

In John 3:5(NASB), Jesus talks about two baptisms that must take place before one can enter the kingdom of God. One is by water. This is almost universal in Christian churches. What is rare in today's churches is the Baptism by the Spirit. I think I can only count on three fingers those whom I've met amongst my circle who have had this baptism. And I am not one of those three.

The irony is that this lack is making many of us who call on the name of Jesus to live defeated lives, especially in North America where entertainment and addictions lead almost every XYZ-genner to what Tozer calls "the evils of postponed living". I am also guilty of this. "Tomorrow, I'll read my Bible. Today I'll enjoy a cuppa latte in front of the computer." We don't make Jesus our priority search; How do we expect to be filled with the Holy Spirit to overflowing? It is when we're tired that we must commit ourselves to the Lord, to obey, to rest, to set our hearts right before Him. What follows will amaze you. He blesses you with His presence, and gives you a verse from His Word. It is at that very moment of utter weakness that he builds in us character for eternity.

Today if you hear His voice, do not say 'No' to Him, Today. Many kings and princes of the past had fallen from reformers to victims of distractions and the dissolute life. Will out of your volition as much as you can and beg Him to help you. Then leave the rest to Jesus. He will see you through. He is faithful. We cannot do anything without His enabling, and that includes everything from developing good habits to the cataclysmic struggle to be free of the evil powers in the air that hold us captive. Have faith though, because through earnest prayer and faith in Him, He can and will change us from the inside out. A new creation! Everything is new! Our robes when washed in His fountain of blood is made white as snow! Take heart then, for He has overcome the world, as is written in the New Testament.

Many churches today fail to realize that they are merely functioning as a social club or theme park for nice, moral people. They don't preach the baptism by the Holy Spirit, because even the pastors themselves are unregenerate. How much more so the sheep! But Christ knows those who are His, those who hear His voice and run after Him. These He will keep until the final trumpet sounds when we shall be caught up in mid-air to meet Him.

Although the Holy Spirit's baptism cannot be forced, it can be sought after dearly and desperately. The important thing is to realize that "Jesus answered, 'Truly, truly I say to you, unless one is born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God.'" (John 3:5; NASB) [end]