Light is Christmases very Nature

I was walking in the rain last night along lighted, beautifully decorated boulevards. There was something about all the lights that made it seem like Christmas to me even tho’ my Canadian biases missed the snow. I wondered what it was about the lights. And I remembered. When the angels appeared over the pastureland on the night of Christ’s birth, Luke tells us, “the Glory of the Lord blazed all around” the onlookers.
This “glory of the Lord … blazing all around,” was light of galactic proportions.
Go back with me to two “mountaintop experiences.”
The first was Moses’ encounter with the “glory of the Lord.” “Show me your glory,” he said to God.” “You cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live,” replied the Lord. “Then the LORD said, “There is a place near me where you may stand on a rock. When my glory passes by, I will put you in a cleft in the rock and cover you with my hand until I have passed by. Then I will remove my hand and you will see my back; but my face must not be seen.” So it was.
“When Moses came down,” from the mountain “he was not aware that his face was radiant because he had spoken with the LORD. When he finished “speaking to” the people, he put a veil over his face.” The “glory” of the Lord was radioactive! (See Exodus 33 & 34.)
The second “mountaintop experience” was when Jesus took with him Peter, James and John the brother of James, and led them up a high mountain by themselves.” There, on that mountaintop, Jesus was transformed before these men. “The appearance of his face changed …” It “shone like the sun.” “His clothes became as bright as a flash of lightning.” “Two men, Moses and Elijah, appeared in glorious splendor …” Have you ever tried to look into the sun?” It’s blinding! You can’t do it without protective lenses. How bright is a bolt of lightning frozen in mid-flash?
“We all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory …” wrote Paul the Preacher. This, he continued, comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” The Spirit of our Lord, who moved over the “abyss;” the nothingness of pre-creation, and stirred life into existence changes those who fix their gaze on Christ into a living replica of Him and they become what Jesus called “the light of the world.” His light, steadily growing in and on us as we behold his glory, is unavoidable. His light, John the visionary tells us, the light of God and the Lamb is the light of the “New, Holy City.” “The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light.” (See the Revelation 21: 23 & 22:5.)
The “glory” and “splendor” of the Lord is the “unapproachable light” of the galaxies! No light display of human origin can match it. But as I walked the boulevards in the rain I understood that those lights, tho’ faint reflections of the “glory and splendor of the Lord,” glowed and their lesser light bore a trace of the wonder which is the essence of Christmas …

Liquid Ambers

They’re everywhere!
Beautifully radiant with all the Fall colors of the Northeast. Rich crimson; deep amber; every shade of a frost-bitten Maple right here in Southern California. Their leaves are identically shaped and profuse. They make great mounds Kids love to dive into again and again!
But they aren’t Maples. Not even close! The Sputnik-like seeds they drop are infertile. In the Spring, Maple sap flows profusely through trunk and branch. Tap those crystal streams and you have that sweet liquid; the stuff of candy and the tastiest syrup there is! Later in the season Maple seeds flutter to the ground like motorless helicopters, fertile and ready to birth yet another Candy carrier; harbingers of life that rests beneath the frozen snows of Winter.
The trees we’re seeing again this Autumn/Winter, for all their imitations offer none of those fruits. The seeds are infertile. There’s no food in their stalks or stems. They are counterfeits; pretenders to something that cannot be. Lifeless, finally.
Jesus said, “I am the vine. Your are the branches. … If you abide in me and my words abide in you you will produce much fruit.” He is, He said, “the Life.” And when true “Life” courses through you, substance and authenticity emerge.
Oh there are many alternative ways of life offered. They’ve always been there. They’re colorful. They provide many pleasures. On the surface they appear to offer everything Christ promises. But they have no substance. Their fruit proves lifeless. The vitality and durability; the love and joy; the serenity and contentment are missing. True character cannot be found in them. They are counterfeit.

“Taste and see that the LORD is good.
Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!” (Psalm 34: 8)

Liquid

They’re everywhere!
Beautifully radiant with all the Fall colors of the Northeast. Rich crimson; deep amber; every shade of a frost-bitten Maple right here in Southern California. Their leaves are identically shaped and profuse. They make great mounds Kids love to dive into again and again!
But they aren’t Maples. Not even close! The Sputnik-like seeds they drop are infertile. In the Spring Maple sap flows profusely through trunk and branch. Tap those crystal streams and you have that sweet liquid; the stuff of candy and the tastiest syrup there is! Later in the season Maple seeds flutter to the ground like motorless helicopters, fertile and ready to birth yet another Candy carrier and harbinger of the life that rests beneath the frozen snows of Winter.
The trees we’re seeing again this Autumn/Winter, for all their imitations offer none of those fruits. The seeds are infertile. There’s no food in their stalks or stems. They are counterfeits; pretenders to something that cannot be. Lifeless, finally, for they have no substance and bear no fruit.
Jesus said, “I am the vine. Your are the branches. … If you abide in me and my words abide in you you will produce much fruit.” He is, He said, “the Life.” And when true “Life” courses through you, substance and authenticity emerge.
Oh there are many alternative ways of life offered. They’ve always been there. They’re colorful. They provide many pleasures. On the surface they appear to offer everything Christ promises. But they have no substance. Their fruit proves lifeless. The vitality and durability; the love and joy; the serenity and contentment are missing. True character cannot be found in them. They are counterfeit.
“Taste and see that the LORD is good.
Oh, the joys of those who take refuge in him!” (Psalm 34: 8)

Some Thanksgiving fun With Luke ...

Jon's, Larina's, Jonah's and Luke's Thanksgiving has been a fun time ...

Thought you'd like to share a bit of that fun ...

I Lost a Friend this Week

This past Week I lost a Friend!
He was 15 years old. Many – if not most – who knew him would say he’d enjoyed a lot of life in such a short time. I agree. I knew him and spent quality time with him through all of those years.
Early in our Friendship it became clear that he was a cut above the ordinary. He was strongwilled but teachable. He was an exceptional Friend and re-defined loyalty. He had a way of making me feel like I was a “big deal!”
We did a lot of things together. Sometimes they were stressful and demanding. No matter. He had inexhaustible energy and tireless capacity to find the fun no matter the rigors.
Because we have a lot of young Children in our lives it was inevitable that he would be exposed to them. I wondered how he would respond to them. Would he be jealous of them? Would he be as rough with them as we were with each other? At times I wondered, “Would he be impatient with them if they took advantage of the ‘teddy bear’ disposition he showed when they came by?” I was so proud of his way with them.
My life is full and I was often unable to hang out with him. Never did I feel his disappointment. When we were able to connect it was as if nothing had changed; like no time had passed since I’d left.
15 years are not a lot of time really. But this guy never let me down. Oh there was once. A hot female was flaunting her stuff and I saw trouble. The circumstances were clearly dangerous. We both recognized that I knew better than he did when drastic action was called for. This was unfamiliar territory. Would he respect my insistence that he ignore her overtures? With only slight hesitation he took my advice, turned his back on her, and agreed to leave that stuff for other times and places.
The last coupla years have been tough for him. His vitality has waned. In terms of pure numbers 15 years are not that many. But for him they were too many. Finally last Week it was apparent that his quality of life had deteriorated to the point where we would be disrespectful of this noble Friend if we employed heroic measures to preserve his life. Hard as it was, with lumpy throats and tearfilled eyes, we let him die.
Will we see him again?
To be truthful, I don’t know.
This I do know. His patient loyalty has a Heavenly quality. Until we’re with Jesus we will never meet anyone more peacefully content. Often as I marveled at his capacity for fun I thought about Christ’s insistence that “joy” is what people who hang out with him experience. My Friend was affectionate in a way that made you feel most important. He was gentle. He redefined “faithful.” And he always walked the line we’d agreed was best for all concerned. My Friend lived a truly “good” life!
If dogs get to Heaven Caleb will be there!
And I will be thrilled to see him and be with him forever!

Larina's Day - Nov. 13

Larina has suffered from nausea again today but, for the second day, without vomiting. For these 2 days she's not had to be hospitalized for re-hydration.

This nausea has been something she's dealt with throughout her 2 previous pregnancies. The difference this time is that blood issues lead to the stroke. She is recovering from more of the paralysis suffered as a result of that. But there's a lot of rehab yet ahead for her. Things like sensation, left side awareness, fine motor function, normal speech patterns,have yet to be fully restored. And there is concern about vulnerability to life threatening bleeding in the damaged region of the brain due to the high dosage of blood thinner being injected daily.

Thank God with us that she's had 2 days without vomiting.

Pray that this will continue and that the nausea will cease and desist!

Pray that there will be no critical bleeding nor further clots moving into her brain ...

And pray for Jon & Larina's financial situation. They have "catastrophic" Health Insurance which means they have to satisfy a high deductible before Insurance Payments for Medication and Procedures begin. At the present time they've had to cover thousands of dollars in medication costs alone ...

Our Lord's intervention is absolutely necessary!!

Your prayers are invaluable!

Jim, Shirley, Jon, & Larina

An Unfolding Family Story of Challenge and Faith ...

A CALL TO PRAYER! From Pastor Jim

11.09.2010 Update

Follow this link Jonathan's provided
- http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=1573708595058&ref=mf

11.06.2010 Update

Family, Friends, Companions in Service to the King of Kings,

Here is the most recent Update from Jon. He posted it online to us and his 2 Brothers on the 4th …

“Yo...
So word from the Dr's this morning has Larina coming home on Friday the 12th. Counting the days...
She is making great progress though. Yesterday she rode a stationary bike for 12-min and today for 15-min. She also walked yesterday and today for a few minutes at a time without any stability issues. She even took a few steps on the stairs yesterday in PT. And just this morning she was able to squeeze my hand with her left hand. That is a huge sign of progress.
Overall she is starting to really hurt for home. She is also starting to come to grips with what just happened so she is very emotional. It's not the most uplifting scene here, most of the people in the stroke unit are very old, so please pray that we can create as positive a scene as possible for her.
The blood pressure issue still remains. It runs about 90 over 60 on the average. If ours was at that level we would be passing out every time we tried to stand up. So please pray for a healthy rise there.
Beyond that the big risks haven’t changed; bleeding at the stroke site, more clots, and the ever present pregnancy symptoms that have always rained down on her. And on that note...
On Tuesday we were praying in her room for guidance regarding the pregnancy. At this point we know the risks but have gotten a few different recommendations on how to handle those best. We were literally asking God to come into the room and speak directly to us about what to do ...
Then a little while later he did just that. No (emphatic expletive deleted) .
Our Dr. here, Dr. Kazmi, is a good dude. Extremely well respected and a survivor of childhood polio. When the polio vaccine came through his village in Pakistan they missed his house. He walks with crutches to this day.
So this Dr. comes in and tells us that, 1) Larina's BP is too low for the procedure which would be required if, in fact, it is determined that the pregnancy must be terminated to spare Larina’s life. Simply too high of a risk. And 2) that he feels it best to take a step back, reconvene with the hematologist and neurologist and high risk OBGyn Dr., so that we can get everyone on the same page about the risks, the treatment plan for managing those risks, and then make a final decision based on that.
Larina and I were both stoked to say the least. This was clearly God stepping in. The Dr. was positive about not only her recovery but also about managing the risks moving forward... while pregnant.
That is all for now. I think you know all the things to be praying for and thanks for doing that.

Later... Jonathan”

Friends,
The pregnancy continues to pose a threat to Larina's life! Pray that our Lord will give everyone, involved in the "reconvening" the Dr. is proposing, His wise discernment as to how they can actually "manage the risks moving forward while Larina's pregnant ..." Jim & Shirley


11.03.2010 Update

Our Praying, caring Friends, Family, and Fellow Followers of Jesus of Nazareth,

The procedure which we’d hoped would take place today was postponed because Larina’s blood pressure was too low.

Apart from that she continues to progress. She's learning to eat solid foods despite the paralysis on the left side of her mouth. She’s been able to shuffle to the Bathroom with the aid of a Physical Therapist. She can sit up in a wheelchair. She’s able to interact with her Sons and is quite the Mom they remember with that vivacious fun loving personality.

While the blood issues – fluctuating pressure … clotting – continue to pose a serious threat there are daily signs of progress. She does faint periodically because of the low pressure but the therapists managing her rehab have assured her and Jon that this is something which happens with patients recovering from Stroke …

Your prayers are more important than anything else that’s being done and we are EXCEEDINGLY GRATEFUL to all of you for this now 10 day vigil!

Jim & Shirley (who’s in Maine w/ Jon, their Family, & Larina’s Mom, & Brother)

My Fellow in Faith and Ministry, Ken Kennedy sent this to us and I found deep comfort in it!

http://www.andiesisle.com/ThisBlessingIsForYou.html


11.01.2010 Update

Friends, Family, Fellows in the Service of Jesus our Life Master …

Here is a message from our Son, Jonathan.

“To the many who have been praying for Larina,

I want to start getting people on board for a very specific prayer time for Larina. I don’t know when it will be exactly yet but Wednesday or Thursday Larina will be undergoing a critical procedure. In preparation for this procedure she has to come off of all blood thinners for 24-hours. This will be a high risk window for her of further clotting. At that same time since she has been on thinners for 8 days now her risk for bleeding during or after the procedure is high. Either problem would be a very significant issue.

So my goal, once I know the exact day/time of this thing, is to have people praying specifically for her at that time. We want as many of you as are able, to pray in that time window, once we know it, that this surgery will, as suggested by our Medical Team, greatly increase her recovery outlook and equally decrease her chances of a future stroke episode.

I will follow up later with the timing of this. But I want it to be a super strong movement for her. We’re told it will be about a one-hour time block. She needs this physically, emotionally, spiritually, and in more ways than even I probably know.

Stay tuned for more details...

Jonathan”

I will keep you up to date on the schedule of this procedure so y’all can be part of that “super strong movement.” But once we’ve scaled this mountain with Larina and her Family I will no longer be sending out this form of communiqué. I am concerned about over-loading your e-mail boxes. I will simply post updates, until Larina is fully healed, here at DestinyLifeHappenings.

Once again THANK YOU! all of you, for this most generous Weeklong vigil! Our God has used your remarkable response and tireless attention to give us a whole new sense of the scope of His love and the Family into which He’s adopted us!!

Godspeed to y’all …

Jim & Shirley


10.30.2010 Update ...

Friends, Family, Fellow Christ-followers,

Your attention to our Kids has been overwhelming and so GREAT a BLESSING!

Larina was moved, today, from the Maine Medical Center where she’s been for a day short of a Week. She is now in the New England Rehab Hospital. Starting tomorrow she begins an intensive rehab schedule.

She has, personally, asked for “strength, perseverance, focus, and patience for what is ahead.” What makes it hardest for her, in this new location, is that Jon will not be able to stay in the room with her past the 9:00 PM end to visitors’ hours. She has a roommate who’s been through what she’s experiencing and is now about to be discharged. Her story has a most positive outcome. We consider this another arrangement our Life Master has made!

There are other wonderful bits of news today. Larina sat up for an hour. She’s eating soft food. The paralysis has affected the swallowing mechanisms and she cannot chew. They are also monitoring her food intake in case food particles inadvertently slide into her lungs. Still the fact that she can take food in and keep it down is a major step along the recovery line. Because of the great demand for energy foods and high caloric intake, while her body fights on several fronts to achieve full recovery, her being able to eat and process the food is huge!

Jonah, their oldest Son, has been quietly observing all that’s happening with his Mom. Today he “came out of the shell” and was, as Jon put it, “super talkative,” and his animated self with his Mom. She was clearly comforted by this!

There is another MAJOR procedure to be undergone next Week. Pray that our Lord will guide, protect, and empower her for that challenge as well as that which the rehab poses!

May our Heavenly Father bring blessings to all of you … blessings as abundant and enriching as those we’ve experienced because of your concern, and prayers!

Jim & Shirley


The Initial Cry for Prayer 10.24.2010

Yesterday, October 24, Shirley & I received the sort of news Parents never want to hear! Our Son, Jonathan, who lives in Portland, Maine, called to tell us that his Wife, Larina, had been rushed to Hospital due to a Major Medical Emergency! In a shaking voice he urged us to pray for her. Recently he had called to tell us that they had learned Larina was pregnant. That news had a cautionary caveat to it. She already has two great Sons, Jonah 6, and Luke 3. Both were born at a very high cost to her. In short she suffered from “morning sickness” for most of each pregnancy. And Jon was telling us that this pregnancy was starting out with even greater difficulty. Within 36 hours of the conception she had to be taken to Hospital due to severe dehydration, low glucose, and serious migraine headaches. Yesterday’s first call was followed by the grim announcement that Larina had suffered a stroke! The initial picture Jon painted for us was devastating. Her left side was paralyzed. She was staring into space seemingly comatose.

Over the next few hours hundreds of people were called to prayer. You, who are our destiny: Life! Directors, know that the planned Board Meeting became a prayer Meeting in which we called on the Sovereign Lord for healing. Shirley began looking for some way to gather airfare and get to Maine to assist Jon in this hour of crisis. Larina’s Brother called from her Family’s Home in Portland, Oregon to ask for prayer on his Sister’s and Parents’ behalf. In the course of the conversation he offered to pay Shirley’s fare as he was planning to do for his Mom.

Today, Shirley and Carol – Larina’s Mom – are putting Jonah and Luke to bed so that Jon can be with Larina. And we know this about Larina’s and the Baby’s condition. EMTs and Hospital Emergency Staff worked with skill and were able to complete the procedures necessary for Stroke Patient’s within the critical window of time. Larina is still paralyzed on her left side. She can lift her left arm. Her left leg is strong. Her speech is clearly impaired. But the clot has been dissolved and at 5:00 AM tomorrow a tube in the primary – Femoral – artery will be removed. This procedure is delicate and must be completed without causing any bleeding which would be a major setback. The attending neurologist’s report is that rehabilitation will, quite likely, be achieved though it will take some time. All of this is good news for us as we pray for healing and full recovery. Equally encouraging is the report that the Hospital’s Team who analyze the health of Babies in critical situations such as this have concluded, after testing and an ultrasound, that the Child is not in any danger.

Please pray that the tube to be removed tomorrow morning can be taken out without causing any more bleeding. Pray that Jon will have the kind of help he needs long term to care for the boys while he works with Larina in her rehabilitation. Pray also that our Father will put an end to the extreme nausea and migraines and allow Larina to bring this Child to term without any further complications.

Literally thousands of people in the US, Canada, Norway, England and beyond have been praying for this little Family.

We will provide updates as we receive them.

Gratefully,

Jim & Shirley


Update 10.26.2010 …

Your response has been overwhelming and it’s with delight that I write this update on Larina’s condition.

The tube has been removed from the Femoral artery and there’s been no bleeding! The pain caused by the removal was excruciating but she was strong through the entire ordeal. She is now out of Intensive Care and in a much quieter Room where she can rest. She’s been able to engage in conversation and though she is sometimes slow to gather her thoughts this is most encouraging.

Praise the Lord with us for these milestones reached …

Our greatest concern, now, is that she be healed of this condition that causes constant nausea and migraines. She needs the resources to continue the recovery and rehabilitation. Coupled with that is a pregnant woman’s body’s propensity to produce excessive numbers of blood clots. And, with 1/3 of the right hemisphere of her brain damaged by Stroke, Larina does not need more of those. So the medical solution is to administer “blood thinners.” They pose a risk of bleeding in the damaged regions of her brain. In short, she needs more of our Lord’s direct intervention and healing.

Pray that the pregnancy will become friendly to her and that no more medication, with the ever present and dangerous side effects, will be needed.

Pray that Our Father in the Heavens all around us will give Jon and Larina wisdom for the tough decisions they face. And pray that Shirley and I, and our Family, along with Larina’s Family, will be directed by Him regarding what our part should be in the recovery.

Our Lord specializes in turning the tragic into triumph … May we have “eyes to see” how He’s doing so, among Us … Here … Now …

With deep gratitude!

Jim & Shirley

Update 10.27.2010

The list of people who are responding with assurance of thoughts and prayers continues to grow! And we are deeply moved by the groundswell of love and faith on behalf of our Kids!

Shirley is in Maine with them and told me that Jon’s and Larina’s boys, particularly Jonah the 6 yr. old, are openly expressing sadness at what is happening with their Mom; which they can only interpret as an inexplicable distance. They need an Angel visit. Remember Jesus said that “their angels in Heaven always see the face of my Father in Heaven.” (Matthew 18: 10)

I was able to talk with Larina by Phone this morning! Her voice was strong. She was completely lucid and quite emotional. We prayed together. Shirley, who was in the Room with Larina, told me later that she was deeply moved. Shirley also told me that Larina is experiencing some sensation in her formerly senseless left hand. She was able to have her boys visit in her new Room. An emotional scene indeed!

We are still praying for accelerated progress in Larina’s recovery from all of the side effects of the Stroke. We are also praying that her bodies propensity to manufacture excessive numbers of blood clots will be arrested. Further, we are praying for an end to the migraines. All of these things draw down resources which are needed for her own recovery and the nourishment of the Baby … Shirley said the Child’s heartbeat is strong even though he/she is only 1 cm long and just 8 Weeks old.

Our God is an AWESOME GOD! We are watching a miracle unfold these days and the Dr. told them today that if the swelling in the injured regions of her brain is appreciably reduced within 7 days they will know she’s turned the corner.

Our God has taken care of that Sir!

He’s glad to oblige!

May you be blessed in proportion to the enrichment your concern and prayers have released in us!

Jim & Shirley

Update 10.28.2010

The road today has been a combined scenic ride through a land of miraculous vistas and inspiring glimpses of Grace interspersed with some dark, even shadowy tunnels, and spirit dampening rainfall …

Larina’s boys got to see her again and Luke, the youngest, couldn’t stay away from his Mommy … crawling into her lap … smothering her with kisses and laying his head on her tummy … Jonah, the 6 yr. old was quite pensive. Shirley said that she saw the Larina we know and love in that time w/ her Sons! How like our Lord to show us His healing is progressing by demonstrating that He’s not allowed any compromise of her delightful personality!

She has begun the rehab process and went through a regimen of procedures which were indicators of what is ahead. She will be moved to the Rehab Facility in a coupla days for 2 Weeks of rigorous movements and repetitious exercises which will reactivate, or assign to other regions of the brain, functions that were managed by now damaged/disabled regions. Jon said she’s going at it with vigor and determination. She is, after all, herself, a Pilates Instructor!

The dark shadowy parts are the remaining threats to Larina’s well-being. These are things that are, still, life threatening. Her bloodstream remains cluttered with clots. These could take her life! The prescription of “blood thinners” and even greater doses of these meds also poses the threat of bleeding in the damaged regions of her brain. This too is highly dangerous! In ongoing analysis/diagnosis it’s been discovered that Larina has a hole in her heart. It has most likely been there since birth. Most of the time it’s not something to be too concerned about. But, when a woman is pregnant and producing more than normal numbers of blood clots, this hole which regularly emits clots, becomes more than just a negligible presence in the body. The Medical Team is truly caught in a web of conflicting conditions and clashing solutions … The Creator and Sustainer of Life is desperately needed on that floor … in that Room. Pray that these conditions will be treated with Divine solutions and Miraculous treatment!

Our Kids need a real life experience of what Paul prayed for … genuine “strengthening with our Lord’s strength, by His Spirit, deep in the core of their being.” They need “Christ living in them as they trust Him,” and a keen understanding of “how long, and high, and wide, and deep His love for them is.” They need to be “filled with all the fullness of God.”

Pray that it will be so!

Gratefully, Jim & Shirley

When Where You Meet Becomes Home ...

“Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear.” (Ephesians 4: 29)
When does a building become a Home?
Paul is telling us.
He uses a word, and 2 phrases to describe the quality of life among Christ’s Followers. If, in fact, these qualities characterize our life together then they represent the atmosphere in which we live. They determine whether or not someone would be at Home in such an environment.
“Edifying,” is not a word we use much anymore. The Greek term – Paul writes in Greek – is the word from which we get the English word “edifice.” And yes: it has to do with buildings and building. Conversation, in this House “where God lives by His Spirit,” is edifying. It builds up a person. It’s constructive. It’s helpful. It is genuinely kind. We are mutually inspired by the company we keep.
What goes on among Followers of Christ “fits the occasion.” You have a sense that things are appropriate. Everyone is comfortable. Folks feel like they’re cared for. Hospitality is in the air.
People who spend time with Christ’s Followers sense “Grace.” “Each word” of our conversation is “a gift.” (THE MESSAGE)
“Constructive,” “hospitable,” “graciously” generous: When a house is filled with people who take each other seriously; who feel better because they’re there; who treat each other graciously that house has become a “Home.”
A man once told me about his experience in a Recovery Group. He said, “I felt like I’d come ‘Home.’”
Oh! May the places we meet be “Home” to those who are there. A company of people who inspire a sense of worth and purpose in one another. People who really do care for each other. People of authentic Grace whose generosity dispels any doubt about whether or not you’re welcome. People you can count on!

Delightfully Durable People ...

“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In him the whole building is joined together – each piece properly fitting into its neighbor (Phillips) – and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by his Spirit.” (Ephesians 2: 19 – 22)

Have you ever watched a house being framed?

From the lumber bolted to the foundation to the peak of the roof it is a vivid demonstration of structural interdependence. Vertical pieces of lumber form the walls. These are held together at specified distances from one another by horizontal lengths of lumber. Different length nails hold them in place. Metal braces are used to reinforce critical joints in the structure. Wood sheeting – paneling – along with diagonal lengths of lumber provide tensile strength for the walls. The roof frame is often pre-engineered trusses. This complex network of lumber in variable lengths gives strength not only for the building’s cover but the outer walls to which it’s fastened by metal braces. Over open spaces, such as windows and doors, headers – support beams – are fastened to bear the weight of additional stories, and the roof. Headers are also used to bear the load over open sections of the living space.

Paul uses this intricate model as an illustration of our “interdependence.” Just as the components of a structure are different from one another so we are diverse. For any problems we face together there will be a variety of opinions as to how we should meet those challenges. Not only are our opinions unique. We have varying strengths. Contrary to popular opinion these distinctives are not a sign of disunity. They’re evidence of an invaluable diversity. God’s creation is infinitely diverse. Why would we expect bland sameness in Communities of His Children?

A well constructed building is flexible. This is especially important in regions where storms and earthquakes can add to normal stresses. As we are “fit together” by the Spirit of God in us, a Grace like Our Father’s, is built into the structure. Understanding, deference, and patience with each other allow for the kind of adaptability that prevents us from breaking up and falling apart.

Structures that are well built are durable. Not only can they withstand the stresses of disastrous sudden events. They survive the “wear and tear” of time. For us so much of life’s strain does not come from those heroic moments when we’re called to be strong in the face of catastrophe. We’re more often worn down by the 24/7/365/52 “same old same old.” We are most durable when, over time in the mundane, we learn to see the extraordinary in the ordinary.

A man who’d lived for more than 80 years was standing in the Waiting Room of a Medical Clinic. The receptionist asked him if he’d like to be seated. He said he was anxious and preferred to stand. A Physicians’ Assistant asked what he was anxious about. He said he had another appointment. She looked at his Chart and realized she could attend to him. She invited him into an Examination Room and quickly took care of him. As she finished she asked him about his next appointment. Enthusiastically he told her that he would be meeting his Wife for Lunch proudly noting that they’d had lunch together for many, many years. Knowing him and his Wife the Assistant said, “But your Wife has Alzheimer’s. She doesn’t even know who you are anymore.” “Ahhh!” he replied. “But I know who she is.”

Delightfully durable people are those who know, tirelessly love, and respect those with whom they’re “fit together,” as the “House in which God lives by His Spirit.” They are the kind of people a person can count on.

Interdependence ... mutual respect ... steps on the path to peace ...

“As God’s prisoner, then, I beg you to live lives worthy of your high calling. Accept life with humility and patience, making allowances for one another because you love one another. Make it your aim to be one in the Spirit, and you will inevitably be at peace with one another.” (Ephesians 4: 1 – 3 Phillips)

The worthy life of a person called to “follow” Christ is a life of “love.” And for most of the rest of his letter Paul writes about virtually every aspect of our relationships with one another.

“Accept life with humility … .” This is personal. It’s about “me.” That Paul would begin with advice on how to relate to oneself is revealing. He obviously understands our propensity to be begin there. But he doesn’t condemn us for that. He instructs us. Our view of ourselves, he explains, must be humble. Humility, for Paul, was not about self-deprecation. He is not teaching us to “put ourselves down.” He is encouraging us to begin our living day-by-day with a “sane estimate of our own importance.” (Romans 12: 3) Wisely he reminds us that this must be done with “patience.” We’re not the center of the Universe, so demands we put on ourselves to live as though we were; driven to “change things we cannot as well as things we can,” will only frustrate us and those around us. At the same time we’re not insignificant. To be “patient” with ourselves is to be “gracious” with “me;” to “cut ‘me’ a little slack.”

If we learn to “make allowance” for ourselves, recognizing the “Grace” our Lord has shown us, we will find it more natural to offer the same to one another. It’s when our importance is properly measured that we can freely give way to others.

“Make it your aim,” is another way of saying, focus on what matters most. For Christ-followers “unity in the Spirit,” matters most. It is, after all, what Jesus prayed for on the night before He was crucified. (See John 17:11, 20 & 21.) The “Spirit of Truth” is “with” all of us. He is “in” all of us. It makes sense that He would be working to bring us together. So, as we submit to His influence, we’ll be drawn to each other. It even makes sense to our finite minds that His influence in one of us will have different emphases than in others of us. He is “infinite.” The mind of God knows no limits. It stands to reason, then, that I will know “the Truth,” more completely when I’m learning what He’s saying to you and others as well as to myself. This interdependence and mutual respect for one another as “the dwelling place of God in the Spirit,” will, inevitably lead to “peace.” We’re filled with the same “Spirit.” He’s guiding us. He is our “strength.” We’re finding a deep sense of security and certainty as we learn to trust Him. When we realize that this is a mutual experience within our Community we begin to feel safe with each other. We realize we’ve found not only a “person” we can count on. We’ve found “people a person can count on.”

"... no matter what happens it can be well with us!"

“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock.” (Matthew 7: 24 & 25)

Foundational people; strong, stable, solid people are people who do what Jesus said they should do. He assumes it is so when He speaks of “everyone …” here at the end of lengthy teaching about “the Kingdom of Heaven.” He assumes so when He commissions the eleven. “God authorized and commanded me to commission you:” He said. “Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28: 18 – 20)

It’s unfortunate that I have to insist on this. But not all Bible Teachers believe it is so. Some teach that “we’re not perfect, just forgiven.” Others tell us that the principles Christ taught are for a “millennial kingdom.”

Jesus used the “present tense.” He is teaching about life in a Kingdom which He said is “now accessible to everyone.” (Mark 1:15 Willard Paraphrase) Jesus believed; personally experienced; and taught that when God rules in a person’s life, by the Holy Spirit in them, they will live this way. This “blessed” life will be the privilege of any and all people who “repent and believe.” Unlike the “hyper-religious” “pretenders” of His day, these “solid people” would have changed hearts. Jesus, quite simply, expected such a transformation in those who were “born of the Spirit.” (John 3: 6)

As our hearts are made over we are progressively changed. We love each other more perfectly. We even love those who “mistreat us.” We become the sort of people who wouldn’t even think of taking advantage of another person. Our piety is a personal thing between ourselves and “Our Father who sees the secret hidden places in our hearts.” We are people who, as Dallas Willard explains, “put their lives together in such a way that, no matter what happens, it is well with us.” We are focused on what’s important despite the chaos that often threatens to overwhelm us. We inspire confidence in others. Our real life is a demonstration of what we say we believe. Just as Jesus said it should be: our lives, veritable “beacons,” enlighten the world around us. People see “goodness” in us and give the “glory to our Father in Heaven.” We increasingly prove to be “people a person can count on.”

We All Need Somebody to Lean On ...

“Together, we are His house, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets. And the Cornerstone is Christ Jesus Himself.” (Ephesians 1: 20)

We must never forget that we are “together,” in these “Heavenly” experiences. Many of the Christ-followers Paul dealt with were Jewish. Some of them insisted that Gentiles could only be accepted into this new Community – the Church – if they complied with all the requirements of Judaism. Paul adamantly insisted that Christ has “reconciled both – Jew and Gentile – to God by the sacrifice of one body on the cross … And it is through Him that both of us now can approach the Father in the Spirit.” (Ephesians 2:16 -18 Phillips)

No one has greater privilege than another in this “Kingdom.” Oh, I am the King’s “house.” His “Spirit,” “the Spirit of Truth,” is “in” me. But He’s “in” you too. We are “His house,” “together.”

This metaphor, the imagery of our being God’s house, is more than just a young concept. Paul’s reference to Christ as the “cornerstone” – the most important stone in the foundation on which this “house” is built – is taken from the Psalms. An ancient songwriter wrote, “the stone which the builders rejected has become the capstone …” (Psalm 118: 22) Not only Paul, but Matthew, Mark, Luke, and Peter each take this to be a reference to Christ the foundational Person in the Kingdom of God.” (See Matthew 21: 42; Mark 12: 10; Luke 20: 17; Acts 4: 11; 1 Peter 2: 7.) Jesus Himself took the idea that He is the foundation of His Church and gave it a whole new meaning. He told Peter, “… you are Peter, and on this rock – Petra – I will build my Church, and the gates of Hades, will not overcome it.” (Matthew 16: 18) So there would be no confusion – no tendency to make Peter more prestigious than all other Christ-followers – He said to a multitude of people; potential members of that invincible Community, “everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had it foundation on the rock.” (Matthew 7: 24 & 25)

Like the “apostles and prophets,” we, “trained” in Christ’s teaching and by His example; guided and empowered by the “Spirit of Truth” within us, become “foundational people.” We become stabilizing influences. In his book, “The Great Divorce,” C. S. Lewis calls heavenly people “Solid people.” And so we are. More than a metaphor, we become, here and now as well as there and then, stones in the foundation of the Church. Yes, Christ is the “chief” stone. But He has chosen us to be, like Himself, “people a person can count on,” “someone to lean
on;” “foundational;” “strong;” “stable;” “solid” people.

A Person Can Count on this Kind of Love

“Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.” (Ephesians 5:21)

For several paragraphs of this letter Paul has been writing about the “life worthy of our calling.”

These instructions are pivotal words about the quality of a Christ-followers life. They are central to what he’s trying to get across to us. Our relationships are high priorities to Paul.

It makes sense that they would be. Jesus was his Teacher. And He – Christ Himself – lived a life of “sacrificial love.” Furthermore, He told His followers on the night before His final, magnanimous act of love, that it would be “by this” that all people would know that they were His “followers.” Their identity as Christ-followers would be confirmed, Jesus said, in that they “love one another.” No wonder relationships matter to Paul.

Our love, he explains, is characterized by “subjugation.” This is a strong word. We tend to be uncomfortable with it. We humans have fought long and hard against slavery. And this word implies servitude. But he’s chosen it on purpose. It literally means “to subordinate.” It’s a Greek military term meaning to “arrange under the command of a leader.” Outside the military context, it was understood as a “voluntary attitude of giving in, co-operating, assuming responsibility, carrying a burden.” Christ-followers are their “Brother’s or Sister’s Keeper.” As the song says, “He ain’t heavy. He’s my Brother.” One woman, who had just experienced this love as a newcomer to the fellowship of Christ’s followers, described life there as her “initial experience of the kindness of Christ.” Jesus was right. His brand of love is a persuasive thing.

Paul goes on to point out something even more important about our relationships. He says that they’re acts of worship; “reverence for Christ.” When we love another we are showing respect for their Creator. We are agreeing with God that it is “good” for them to be alive. We agree with Christ, who sacrificed His own life to salvage them, that they are valuable; infinitely valuable. We recognize that to care for another to the extent that we will serve them, even carry their burden, is to care for Jesus Himself. (See Matthew 25:40.) Our subjugation to one another is proof that we believe in the importance and power of his kind of “sacrificial love.” Such attention to one another springs from the awe and wonder we have as we see Christ shaping each of us in His image. We “revere” one another. In doing so we “revere” Him.

Such love is our highest calling. A person can count on this kind of love!

People a Person Can Count On ...

“As God’s prisoner, then, I beg you to live lives worthy of your high calling.” (Ephesians 4: 1)

Paul’s taken us to Heaven – the “real unseen world” that is our environment – and shown us how God sees us. Now he brings us back to earth and the time-bound realities we must cope with day-after-day.

He begins with a personal reference. “God’s prisoner,” is the credential he presents to give him credibility with his readers. He’s not Rome’s prisoner. No, our Lord, Christ is his Supreme Commander. He has been since that day when He appeared in blinding light and called, “Saul! Saul!” Under Christ’s rule Paul has travelled the Roman world establishing Churches in virtually every Province. But here, now, in his final letter to those Churches, he does not use these phenomenal achievements as his credential. Under Christ’s rule he’s now imprisoned. That’s his credential. The “suffering” Jesus is his Master. To endure pain and bondage with Him is the highest calling Paul could imagine. He saw it as the primary credential a Christ-follower could present.

Furthermore, to be “in chains” and still focused on his “high calling,” is the fabric you’d expect to find in a Christ-follower. Our Lord never lost focus. In the throes of pain no human can imagine the “Grace” of the Father was still unmistakably present. He prayed for His tormentors. “Father forgive them,” He prayed. “Truth” was not compromised in His prayer either. “They don’t know what they’re doing,” He prayed. He knew they were blind to what they were doing. They’d been seduced by the tempter and deceived into believing that Jesus’ claims were fraudulent. His compassion overrode the agony in His heart. The compassionate love of the Father still weighed more heavily on His tortured mind than the loneliness He felt in that darkest of all nights.

Paul, Christ’s Servant, never loses focus either. He can be counted on. His message is backed by his life. “Grace and truth,” the character traits of Our Father and His “only begotten,” will characterize this “prisoner.” We can “count on” his instructions for “life worthy of the highest calling.”

The You God Sees 11. Fully Restored, Magnificent, Regal, His Heir

“So don't let my present trouble on your behalf get you down. Be proud!

My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.

God can do anything, you know—far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams! He does it not by pushing us around but by working within us, his Spirit deeply and gently within us.

Glory to God in the church!
Glory to God in the Messiah, in Jesus!
Glory down all the generations!
Glory through all millennia! Oh, yes!”
(Ephesians 3: 13 – 21 THE MESSAGE)

The “You God sees” is His fully restored, indescribably magnificent, regal Child, heir to His Kingdom, and Vice-regent in all that is being accomplished across the Universe.

Unfortunately we are so time-bound and earth oriented that the “cares of this life” distract us and worry us so completely that we cannot see these “Heavenly” things.

Knowing this Paul begs the believers who will read this letter to not “let his present troubles,” get them down even if they were the result of his service to them. These “present troubles” were no small matter. He’s currently imprisoned and facing a most uncertain future. In an earlier letter he described things he’d experienced as a Servant of Christ and His Church. “I've worked much harder, been jailed more often, beaten up more times than I can count, and at death's door time after time. I've been flogged five times with the Jews' thirty-nine lashes, (39 because 40 would have killed him) beaten by Roman rods three times, pummeled with rocks once. I've been shipwrecked three times, and immersed in the open sea for a night and a day. In hard traveling year in and year out, I've had to ford rivers, fend off robbers, struggle with friends, struggle with foes. I've been at risk in the city, at risk in the country, endangered by desert sun and sea storm, and betrayed by those I thought were my brothers. I've known drudgery and hard labor, many a long and lonely night without sleep, many a missed meal, blasted by the cold, naked to the weather.

And that's not the half of it, when you throw in the daily pressures and anxieties of all the churches. When someone gets to the end of his rope, I feel the desperation in my bones. When someone is duped into sin, an angry fire burns in my gut.” (2 Corinthians 11: 21 – 29 THE MESSAGE)

Despite such excessive suffering and immediate danger Paul writes, “My response is to get down on my knees before the Father …” And his prayer is for all of us; the believers he knew personally; Christ-followers in his generation and the generations to come. His prayer is for us. It’s a prayer to our “magnificent Father;” the “God who can do anything … far more than you could ever imagine or guess or request in your wildest dreams!”

This prayer, as it’s quoted above, is one I urge you to pray for me and for one another! Pray it reflectively. Pray it routinely; even daily. The things Paul asks for are extremely important. When they’re granted we will “know” and live in the “truth,” which is Christ Himself. As Jesus Himself said, “… knowing this Truth we will be free.” (John 8: 32) Progressively more free from cares and worries that infect secular knowledge you will see yourself as the “You God sees.”

“Glory be to the Father; and to the Son; and to the Holy Spirit!”

The You God Sees 10 ... A Dwelling for the Divine

“… you belong now to the household of God. Firmly beneath you is the foundation, God’s messengers and prophets, the actual foundation-stone being Christ Jesus Himself … each separate piece … properly fitting into its neighboring piece, grows together into a temple consecrated to the Lord. You are all part of this building in which God Himself lives by His Spirit.” (Ephesians 2: 19 – 22 Phillips)

You! A “building in which God lives by his Spirit.”

This is the “You God Sees!” A place for Him to live.

Notice, Paul has said this before. He ended the 1st Chapter this way. “God has placed everything under the power of Christ and has set Him up as the Head of everything for the Church. For the Church is His body, and in that body lives fully the one who fills the whole wide universe.”

Jesus told his Friends that the “Spirit of Truth,” would be “with them;” “in them.” (See John 14: 15 – 17.)

Amazing! You! Occupied “fully” by the Spirit of him in whom “we live and move;” in whom “we exist.” (See Acts 17:28 New English Bible) By faith – a decision to “abandon all outcomes to Christ’s determination” – God Himself settles into you. At the very core of you, where the crucial decisions of life are made, God is now an active participant in the process. He is renovating your conscience. What matters most is changing. You are being restored. Still yourself, you are coming to resemble your Father and Elder Brother. You are becoming more and more like the God who created you! And you’re not the only one.

The major point Paul makes in Chapter 2 is that Jewish and Gentile believers “together” comprise this “place” where God Himself lives. There are no distinctions. The “Church,” those who’ve been “called,” and have responded, is a Community as diverse as the world. Every Christ-follower, wherever they lived, now live, or ever will live, is undergoing the same transformation you’re experiencing. Like you they are the person they were originally. But they too resemble their Father. Just as it is with you so it is with them. The “Spirit of Truth,” is now a partner in their choices. The results will be unique to them as they are to you. Together, you and your neighbor become facets of the magnificent being whose body you are. You think differently. You see from unique perspectives. Your mission, while a common thing, will take you to diverse places. Your accomplishments will not be alike. Their nature will be unique. Sometimes you’ll feel like he or she is doing greater things than you. At other times you’ll feel like your work is more significant. Still the resemblance to Jesus will be obvious in both of you. This, above all else, will reveal the presence of the Spirit in you. For, like our Father, His Son, and his Spirit, you and your neighbor – We – are “a Community” of “boundless love, knowledge, and power.”

This is the “You God Sees!”

The You God Sees 9.

“… how tremendous is the power available to us who believe in God. That power is the same Divine energy which was demonstrated in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and gave Him the place of Supreme honor in Heaven – a place that is infinitely superior to any command, authority, power, or control, and carries with it a name far beyond any name that could ever be used in this world or the world to come.” (Ephesians 1: 19 – 21 Phillips)

Wow!

This is lofty language! Especially for a guy who’s been chained to a guard; a soldier who could, very soon, escort him to a sordid execution.

What’s he thinking?

He’s thinking in a different dimension. Modern day physicists talk a lot about a multi-dimensional universe. They’re even suggesting that realities discernible only to mathematical formulae could answer the unanswered questions surrounding our existence. Such thinking is not new. Paul, living in the First Century, believed that “unseen dimensions” of our existence are just as real as those we can see, smell, hear, taste, and touch. He’s thinking about such things here.

Christ’s teaching is largely about a Kingdom; the “Kingdom of God;” the “Kingdom of Heaven.” Dallas Willard, in his book, “The Divine Conspiracy,” explains the broader meaning of “Heaven.” It is, he says, “the cosmos environing us.” This Kingdom Jesus teaches about is the “Kingdom of the Heavens all around us.”

We are surrounded. A real dimension of people, places, and things exists just beyond the reach of our senses. Jesus of Nazareth is there and He is the Supreme Commander. We are citizens of that kingdom. Though our senses provide us with very little information about it other than what Jesus and His followers, like Paul, tell us, our lives are powerfully influenced by what’s going on there.

In order for us to see ourselves as God sees us we must believe, despite hard 5 senses evidence to the contrary, that invincible power and irresistible authority exist in this “real unseen world.” We must realize that its agents are at work on our behalf, tirelessly bringing about things the Master has planned; things that are to our greatest and best advantage.

Paul could speak such lofty language because He saw – with Faith eyes – a different Kingdom. He could say, like Jesus, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit,” in the moment of his death, and know, with absolute certainty, that the power of God uses death and darkness as the raw material from which to create life and light.

In the eyes of God you are immortal, irresistibly influential, and, ultimately, invincible.

The You God Sees 8.

“In Him – Christ – you also, who have heard the Word of Truth, the Gospel of your salvation, and have believed in Him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.” (Ephesians 1: 13 & 14)

You, if you “believe in Him – Christ,” have been occupied by the Holy Spirit. The “Spirit,” who “brooded” over the “abyss” as described in Genesis 1, is in you. A Christ-follower you have, in you, the same Spirit who descended and stayed with Jesus from his baptism to His resurrection and beyond. The “Spirit of Him who raised our Lord from the dead,” inhabits you. This Divine presence is, Paul says, a “guarantee” of something.

This is “legal jargon.” When you purchase something of value you’re generally required to make a “down payment.” Our Father, - “the one in the Heavens all around us” – has put a little different spin on it. He considers us, who are believers, His Children; His heirs; just as Jesus is. The gift of the Holy Spirit is His down payment guaranteeing that there will be an inheritance. This is remarkable! By simple faith in Jesus we become part of His Family. There’s no way we can kid ourselves into believing this is our right. We rejected God as Supreme in our lives every time we decided to do things our way instead of His. Still, His “Grace” alone, offered in Christ, gives us back full status as Children and the return of the Spirit into our lives. This is not business as usual. In the case of ordinary transactions the “down payment,” is the buyer’s assurance that he has the resources to complete the transaction when final payment is required. This transaction is the person – God the one who has what we need – giving us what He has for us before we even pay a cent; a taste, if you like, in advance. Isn’t it just like our Father to take the initiative like this?

So what is the “inheritance?” Jesus told His followers, “God has seen fit to give you the Kingdom.” (Luke 12: 32) It is the “Kingdom of the Heavens around us;” the “Kingdom of God;” which is the “Kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ;” “all things brought together under one Head,” – Christ. This is our, “the Church’s inheritance.” Every aspect of life in and with the Holy Spirit, now, is an “up close and personal” experience of life in Christ’s Kingdom then. “Walk with me, work with me,” Jesus urged. “Learn the unforced rhythms of Grace.” (Matthew 11: 29 & 30 THE MESSAGE)

With the Spirit; inhabited by Him, you have the privilege of
experiencing, “substantially now,” what this walk will be like, “ultimately then.” The “love,” you experience and live each day of your life with the Spirit is a touch of the love that will wash over you wave after wave when you stand face-to-face with our Lord. The “Joy” you have in fellowship with the Spirit will give you a craving for that “fullness of Joy” Christ promised; festivity after festivity; celebrations without end. The “peace that is beyond our ability to understand,” which the Spirit brings to us now, will be our experience then to such degrees that our stability is eternal. Unhurried, kind, good, gentle, reliable, stable; all qualities the Spirit is cultivating in us now, will be perfected then. And the more we experience them in limited degrees here, now, the more compelling our ambition to be, then, such people, in the ways our Lord is. And so we will be! The Spirit’s presence guarantees it!

The You God Sees 7.

“… we who first hoped in Christ have been destined and appointed to live for the praise of His glory.” (Ephesians 1:12)

Is your hope in Christ?

If it is you are a person of destiny. You have been appointed to a specific, magnificent position. God has commissioned you to “live for the praise of His glory.”

Think about this. We, ordinary, everyday folks inspiring praise for the glorious God dramatically revealed in Christ. Wouldn’t you think He’s inspired considerable praise on His own?

It gets more amazing. The original Greek word for “glory” actually means “reputation.” God has, long ago, determined to stake His reputation on His human creatures. And beginning with the first Christ-followers He appointed all believers to this mission.

This is an advertising campaign of dubious potential. We’ve already gotten our Creator very bad press. The third Chapter of Genesis is a laundry list of things gone wrong. All because we dishonored God and made Him look the fool for having made us.

But He’s sticking to the plan. As a matter-of-fact our “fall” is part of the plan. Earlier – vs. 6 – Paul says that our “destiny” is “to be for the praise of His ‘glorious Grace.’” God’s Grace is His love in action and we are the “billboard” on which it is to be dramatically displayed.

Jesus said something that clarifies how we can actually “make God look good.” “Let your light shine before men,” He said, “so that you give light to the whole world; they see the good things you do; and praise your Father in Heaven.” The “things you do,” are your light. When people see it, He says, they “praise your Father in Heaven.” This means that the “goodness” people see in you is readily recognized as God’s and not yours. We’re a lot like the moon. In its fullest phase it appears glorious. But we all know that it has no light of its own. It is reflecting another light. We Children of Adam and Eve, by our own choice, “live in darkness.” But “all of us, who are Christ's reflect, like mirrors, the glory of the Lord.” (2 Corinthians 3: 18)

To complete this mission, and realize our destiny, as the promoters of God's reputation, we must be sure that our attention is fixed on the “SON”! His reflection is the "you God sees" ... the "you" with whom He's pleased.

The You God Sees 6.

“God has allowed us to know the secret of His plan, and it is this: He purposes, in His Sovereign will, that all human history shall be consummated in Christ, that everything which exists in Heaven or earth shall find its perfection and fulfillment in Him.” (Ephesians 1: 9 & 10 Phillips)

There is a reason for our existence. Human history is not a cosmic accident! Life, as we know it is planned. God has a purpose and we are major players in its enactment.

Evidence for this is plentiful. Something innate to our nature reveals that we are to be a significant part of this drama. We hope for it.

God has created us in such a way that we’re attracted by our desires to things that are important to us. We’re hungry and want to eat because we need food. We’re thirsty because we need water. Our libido is the powerful force that stimulates the necessary desire to mate and procreate. We seek pleasure because “laughter is the best medicine.” Kind of “daahhh!” things wouldn’t you say? Well yes and no! These are statements of the obvious. But they are also principles that can be found in less obvious drives within us. One such drive is this longing to have a purpose. Most, if not all, of us have it. We want to make a difference. Just like hunger reveals our need for water so this compulsion confirms we need a mission.

Our frustrations in life come from our attempts to define and fulfill this purpose by ourselves. The materialist believes our purposes are fulfilled in the evolutionary process. Unconsciously we are being swept along on this stream of self-improvement reaching ever higher forms of existence without even realizing it and ultimately dying completely oblivious to it. Empire after Empire, in its rising and falling, has demonstrated the foolishness of such a notion. Christ, Paul is assuring us, will bring about our fulfillment. We will find our purpose in relationship with Him.

Look at the language. “(A)ll human history shall be consummated in Christ.” Our highest purposes as God’s creative Masterpiece are explained and achieved in Christ. That’s what “consummated “ means. The union of a man and woman in Marriage is “consummated,” in the intimate bond which, unlike any other form of intimacy, generates another human life and perpetuates our species. Likewise, union with Christ, as His Spirit enters us and bonds us with Him, generates in us supernatural powers which enliven us for the magnificent, timeless purpose which has been ours since God made us. We become – in this union with the Spirit of Christ – wholly the person we’re designed to be. More importantly, our purpose individually, and as the noble race we are, is fulfilled. Collectively – our uniqueness uncompromised – in collaboration with our Trinitarian God we realize His highest purpose: a universe of beings living like Himself – Father, Son, and Holy Spirit – in perfect, sacrificial love.

For us this is a dream; a vision that excites and stirs deep longings in us. For God it is present reality; the eternal “Now.” It is who you long to be; because it’s who you’re meant to be. It is “the You God Sees.”

The You God Sees 5.

“In Him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of our sins according to the riches of His Grace which He lavished upon us.” (Ephesians 1:7)

God’s Grace – His favor and good-will, lovingly, kindly, beneficently given – has been and is routinely lavished on anyone who will admit they need it and humbly receive it. The benefits are most certainly “lavish.” They are bountiful even excessive. There is no room here for thoughts of limits or “strings attached.”

Our Father paid a preposterous ransom! That’s what “redemption” is! Our sin indentured us. We became slaves to our cravings and delusions. The “enemy of our souls,” taking advantage of our “selfish ambitions,” made all kinds of promises. We “sold or souls” in the pursuit of dreams that became nightmares. But, with the “life blood” of the Son of Man we’ve been “ransomed.” With that all the claims the devil had on us have been declared “null and void.” Any protest he might make that we owe him – and he will – is mere falsehood; a lie! The guilt that often weighs you down is precisely that: devilish lies.

Furthermore, we have been “forgiven.” Christ’s prayer from the Cross “Father forgive them, they don’t know what they’re doing,” is answered for any and every person who believes He was praying for them and reaches with empty hands to receive the mercy it’s extending! Pardoned! Acquitted! The indictment against them is expunged! They are then and forever pronounced NOT GUILTY!

This is “lavish favor;” “bountiful loving kindness.” The only guilt we’re left with is what we insist on clinging to out of misguided notions that there’s something we must do to win God’s favor. Our pride will not let us accept something we haven’t paid for and therefore can’t believe we deserve.

But we are undeserving! Yes it’s a hard pill to swallow. Still it’s true! And, yes, God loves us anyway!

Swallow your pride. Let go! Let God redeem you! Abandon any future effort to be worthy. Let Him perform the “makeover” that exceeds all “makeovers.” Let Him make you “worthy;” a “New Creation;” the “Image of God restored;” “changed from one level of glory to another into the resemblance of Christ.” There are no limits! “No eye has seen … No ear has ever heard … No heart has imagined the things God has in store for those who love Him!” Now, “God by His Spirit has brought it all out into the open before you.” (1Corinthians 2: 9 & 10)

This, the result of His “lavish Grace,” is “The You God Sees.”

The You God Sees 4.

“… to the praise of His glorious grace which He has freely given us in the THE ONE He loves. In Him we have redemption through his blood; the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that He lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.” (Ephesians 1: 6 – 8)

What is this “Grace” that gets so much mention in 1st Century conversations about Jesus?

Simply, it is God’s favor toward us. Favoring us He shows good-will toward us. He’s loving and kind. He gifts us. He is bountifully beneficent with us. He is “lavish” in His generosity with us.

Often, when people try to explain this immeasurable – over-the-top – love, they will add phrases like, “undeserved;” “unmerited.” For example they will say, “Grace” is “undeserved favor.” This nuance is not present in the Greek work “charis,” from which we get “Grace.” “Grace,” in the sense of the Greek word Paul used, is “favor,” and those things which characterize such “good-will.” It's focus is on God; His favor toward us; and His determination to deal with us extravagantly.

Certainly we are undeserving. But God values us anyway. The decision to sacrificially love us and rescue us from our “free will” gone awry was made before ever a word of Creation was spoken. Grace pervades the Cosmos and always has. It is in the heart of God – Father, son, and Holy Spirit – to favor one another. That same favor is extended to humankind.

The undeserving aspect of God’s Grace toward us is necessary for us to grasp. We are unworthy. God loves us anyway. In another letter Paul writes, “Very rarely will anyone die for another man – even a righteous man – though for a good man someone might possibly dare to die. But God demonstrates His own love for us in this: while we were still sinners Christ died for us.”(Romans 5: 7 & 8) “While we were still sinners;” utterly and completely undeserving. At precisely that moment, when we were – everyone of us – fallen, broken, unworthy, God performs the most dramatic act of Grace ever to be witnessed. This is His favor being played out despite our unworthiness. His love overlooks the wretched condition of the beloved and loves him or her anyway. We cannot ignore this.

A few years ago I was asked to perform a Graveside Memorial Service for a Woman who’d been married to a Jewish man. She was Christian. Her Husband had been dead for some time and her believing Family of origin had arranged for a Christian burial. They asked me to conduct the Service. They were completely surprised and shocked when several of her Husband’s Family showed up. There’d been no response from them when notice of the woman’s death was sent out; not so much as a word of sympathy or regrets. There was an Adult Son from her Husband’s previous Marriage. With him was a much younger and immodestly dressed Wife. Later – inconsiderately later – the Son's Children arrived. They were ostentatiously wealthy and let it be known that they were part of the “Entertainment Establishment.” One young man in particular was insolently flagrant about his importance. I’d already begun the Service but he ignored me as he greeted his Dad and demonstrably hugged his Stepmother. I spoke of Grace in the Service explaining that we must understand it’s unmerited, yet freely offered to those who acknowledge its cost to God, and their need of it. After I’d offered the final prayer this outspoken young man said, in a loud voice, “Unmerited!? How do you like that Dad?” This highly indulged young man wore his status symbols like a “sandwich board.” He was somebody! He didn’t need “Grace.” Nor did any of his elite Family and fellow “glitterati.”

We, Children of Adam and Eve, will never taste the bountiful “Grace” of our Heavenly Father until we recognize it’s something we can’t do without. THANK GOD! His love takes care of that. “(T)was Grace that taught my heart to fear, “ John Newton wrote in the song “Amazing Grace.” Over 4 hellish weeks he’d been driven to the brink of death in a storm at sea. The ship was badly damaged. There was little food left. Their vessel, outfitted for the tropics, had been carried into the North Atlantic by the tempestuous winds. He knew he would die in those icy waves. When, miraculously, they came near the Irish Coast Newton bowed in amazement that God would so obviously save “a wretch” like him from certain death.

Grace really is that “Amazing”! We know we’re “Miserable Offenders.” God, uncompromisingly Graceful, sees us as invaluable; worth whatever it costs to rescue us!

The You God Sees 3.

“He chose us in Him – Christ – before the foundation of the world …” (Ephesians 1: 4)

“He chose us in Him.”

This idea of God choosing “us” is not simply a figure of speech. It’s an important fact. Paul repeats it five times in the first 3 Chapters of this letter. God “destined us in love to be His Sons through Christ,” he writes in verse 5. “(He – God – purposes, in His Sovereign will, that all human history shall be consummated in Christ … .” (vs. 11) “(W)e who first hoped in Christ are destined to live for the praise of His glory.” (vs. 12) “We are his … Creation, in Christ Jesus to do those good deeds which God planned for us to do.” (2: 10) In Chapter 3 he writes about “the plan in the mystery hidden for ages by God who created all things …” (vs.9) All of this, he asserts, is “according to the eternal purpose which He has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (3: 11)

We are living “destiny”! God has –always had – a plan. His purpose is being carried out through Christ and those who follow Him.

This is high voltage!

It’s what King David wrote about – often sang – in Psalm 139. “All the days I was destined to live were prepared before I’d even lived one of them.” He was overwhelmed by it. “How invaluable to me are your thoughts … incomprehensible …” “Such knowledge is too lofty for me to attain.”

Several years ago a man I’ve always known and loved deeply helped me understand just how lethal such information can be. He said, point blank, “What if you’re not chosen?” Then he said. “I believe I’m one of the rejects!” I struggled to reason with him but could not convince him that the plan of God includes sacrificial love for any and all who will believe it is being offered to them.

Never, since then, have I had more than a casual conversation with this man. By his choice we’ve lived estranged. I’ve prayed for him. But I do not know what he’s done with God’s offer of love.

Such knowledge is “too lofty for us!” It’s potentially harmful. It’s harmful to the person, like my Friend, whose “fear of God,” is actually “distrust” of God. But it’s especially lethal in the minds and hearts of the “religious elites,” who speak glibly of the “elect.”

Yes! “Many are called … few are chosen. (Matthew 22: 14) But that “choice” is God’s and God’s alone. Finite beings that we are, we lack the knowledge required to make such choices. Many of the biblically correct, religiously precise people alive in Jesus time came to the conclusion that He was not “chosen.” We incomplete, often ignorant Children of Adam and Eve need only know 2 things about one’s chosenness. First, our destiny as a race, is defined by “love.” “God loves the world …” Secondly, “God is not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to repent. “ (2 Peter 3: 9) He – God – “… now commands all people, everywhere, to repent.” (Acts 17:30) As far as we humans know any and every person we encounter, Christ-follower or no, is loved and hotly pursued by a God who passionately cares about their destiny and died to salvage them. To wonder whether they’re “chosen” before we offer them God’s mercy is dangerously presumptive!

The You God Sees 2.

“He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him.” (Ephesians 1: 4)

Before ever a word of Creation was spoken God’s plans included you! In conference the Father, His “only begotten Son,” and His Spirit determined that the Son would become human. Regardless of what it would require, He would elevate any and all humans, who recognized Him as the “Hope” of their race, to the status of “Chosen.” He would empower them to live faultlessly by the Father’s standards.

“In Him” all of this is possible!

When the Father looks at His Son with pride He also sees someone else. He sees every human person who believes, as He does, that this “Son of Man” is the “Supremely Chosen;” “THE ONE.” He, “the Anointed,” has brought all believing humanity with Him into the Royal presence. The Father sees them as “Chosen” with His Son. He hears the Son’s plea on their behalf. Acknowledging His advocacy the Father pronounces them “morally faultless.”

This is the “You God Sees.” A “beloved Child with whom He is very pleased”!

The You God Sees ...

“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places …” (Ephesians 1:3)

“Blessed … blessed … blessing.” What is this “blessedness?”

Dallas Willard explains that it is “the highest state of well-being we humans can experience.” The Greeks used the term to describe the “blissful existence of their gods.” “Bliss, the dictionary says, is “complete happiness;” the conditions you’d expect to find in “Paradise.”

Paul, Christ’s Ambassador to the 1st Century Roman World, is the writer of this letter “to the Ephesians.” He’s obviously ecstatic. We might think he’s having a good day. It seems a bit overstated. Certainly life as we know it has its moments of “bliss.” But “every” form of “complete happiness”?

Actually Paul’s in prison as he writes this. He’s under “house arrest” in Rome. There are Roman soldiers guarding him. Some historians suggest that he may have been chained to one of the soldiers. He’s allowed to receive visitors. He can go about his work as a Preacher and Writer. But his future is precarious. Things aren’t going well for Christians in Rome. Still Paul sees himself in a completely different light. He sees himself as God sees him. He knows our “Lord, Jesus Christ” is now resident in “the Heavenly places.” The Son of Man, who conquered “death,” and the “evil forces” who’d been bent on His destruction, is now reunited with Father God. The “joy” His conquest acquired is now His reality and the certain experience of everyone who trusts Him.

Paul knows this. His faith assures him that no present circumstance, grim though it may be, can alter his spiritual, heavenly condition. Christ has demonstrated that you can be dying the most barbaric death in human history and winning your greatest battle at the same time. He who “for the Joy offered Him, endured the Cross, ignoring the momentary disgrace,” has proven that true “Joy” is certain for those who follow Him.” (See Hebrews 12:2)

Paul a soon to be executed prisoner in Rome; you in the midst of your ordinary day-to-day life; are, as God sees it, residents of “the Heavenly places.” Nothing can take away your “Joy.” You are “well.” For you “every kind of thing is very well.”

Spirituality ... TRUE Spirituality!

“As Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him, he said, ‘Here is truly an Israelite. There is nothing false in him.’"
Nathanael asked, "How do you know me?"
Jesus answered, "I saw you when you were under the fig tree, before Philip told you about me."
Then Nathanael said to Jesus, "Teacher, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel."
Jesus said to Nathanael, "Do you believe simply because I told you I saw you under the fig tree? You will see greater things than that." And Jesus said to them, "I tell you the truth, you will all see heaven open and 'angels of God going up and coming down’ on the Son of Man." (John 1: 47 – 51 New Century)

“Spirituality:” what is it to you?

In a day when vampires top the charts of books to read or movies to see and Harry Potter’s wizardry captures the imaginations of millions it has become just about anything a person wants it to be.

It’s always been that way.

Nathanael was amazed by Jesus’ clairvoyance and ecstatically declared Him to be Divine, and the King Israel had been hoping and praying for since the days of David. Jesus response is telling. “You think that’s something? You’re about to see far more impressive phenomena! With me you will see Heaven open. You will see angels ascending and descending around the Son of Man.”

The phenomenal is about to be displaced by the Celestial! A man will live a “Heaven bathed life.” For the first time since Adam man and God will work together up close and personal for the entire duration of a human life.

With only one exception Jesus called Himself the “Son of Man.” As He did so He confirmed that He is the “Hope” of humanity; the “Anointed;” “THE ONE!” Read His story as told by the New Testament Biographers and you will see the Divine living in flesh. One drama after another; wisdom beyond the human; commanding storms and schools of fish; paying taxes in paranormal fashion; raising the dead; sending shock waves through the nether world by His command of the demonic; this Man is the One we’ve been waiting for!

Something greater than all of this is happening though. It involves you the Christ-follower. Jesus preached that His coming inaugurates a true spirituality. Luke explains this in his book about Jesus. Responding to His detractors Jesus declares, “if it’s God’s finger I’m pointing that sends the demons on their way, then God’s Kingdom is here for sure.” (Luke 11 THE MESSAGE) “The Kingdom of God does not come visibly – with signs to be observed – … because the Kingdom of God is within you.” The “rule of God is now accessible to all.” (Mark 1:15) The Son of Man has inaugurated a collaboration between God and humanity that will last forever. Heaven has been opened. Followers of Jesus “will receive power when the Spirit envelopes and fills” them. (Acts 1: 8) “Whoever believes in me will do the same things that I do,” Jesus said. In fact, “Those who believe will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father.” (See John 14:12.) From His restored place on the Throne of Heaven He gave the Spirit of God to His Followers and His union with Heaven became theirs.

True Spirituality is you, a human person, filled with God’s Spirit, in partnership with Heaven, now living your ordinary, day-by-day life extraordinarily, influentially.

The Vicarious Self 11. What are You Thinking When You're Not Thinking?

“Do not eat the food offered to you by a stingy man. Do not crave the delicacies of a miser, for as he thinks in his heart so is he. ‘Eat! Drink!’ He says to you and you’re flattered by all the attention. But his heart is not with you. He’s fretting over what it’s costing him to feed you.” (Proverbs 23:6&7.)

What are you thinking about when you’re not thinking?

If you’re reading this you probably are using a computer or some sort of device that gives you access to the Internet. You’re likely familiar with the process of installing software or “apps.” Usually, at some point during the process you’re given a choice between a “default,” and “custom” version of the product. The “default” option is the easiest. The designers/manufacturers have decided what will best meet the needs of people using their product and programmed it accordingly. Click “default” and the product will work the way they think is best for you. With the “custom,” option you are presented choices and get to decide how you want the tool to serve your purposes.

I was talking about this with a group of people recently. One woman said, “I just choose ‘default. I don’t want to be bothered with all the details.”

Is this the way you approach thinking?

What are your “default” thoughts? How do they affect your heart? What are you thinking in those mindless situations of your life? Do you worry? Are most of your “unthinking” thoughts anxious? Do you see a neighbor’s new car and think, “It must be nice?” Do you replay the putdowns and denigrating things you’ve heard until you’re incorrigibly self-deprecating? Dr. Amen, the “Brain” guy says that we all have “ANTS” in our brains. These Automatic Negative Thoughts are universal and universally damaging.

It will certainly be a bother. But you have a choice. You can “customize” your thinking. Your “default thoughts” can be re-programmed. Dr. Amen believes and encourages it. So does Scripture.

“As he thinks in his heart, so is he,” the Wise Man says.
When you choose to think well your heart – what matters most to you … the direction of your life – is well.

John tells us that when Jesus appeared He was like His Father, “full of grace and truth.” Son of Man that He is these qualities had to be developed in Him. As a young Jewish boy He studied the Scriptures. By His Bar-Mitzvah (See Luke 2) He was impressively familiar with them. There are compelling reasons to believe He had memorized most of the Sacred Writings of His people. He was a true “Psalm 1 man.” He found delight in every word of Scripture because He knew it was His Father’s word to Him about the meaning and purpose of His now human life. He “meditated on it – thought about it - day and night.” His life became fruitful. He grew to know the right course for His life because God had “charted the road He was to take.” He simply followed the Scriptures. He was convinced they were His Father’s map.

“THINK GREAT THOUGHTS!”

Or, as Dr. Amen says, “Once you learn about your thoughts, you can chose to think good thoughts and feel good or you can choose to think bad thoughts and feel lousy. You can train your thoughts to be positive and hopeful or you can just allow them to be negative and upset you. That's right, it's up to you!”

Of all people you, a Child of God, can train your thoughts to be positive and hopeful! God – your Father – has spoken to you! Meditate on what He’s said! Think about it day and night! In time, even when you’re not thinking, you’ll be thinking what your elder Brother thinks … TRUTH!

The Vicarious Self 10 ... Your Mind Matters!

“… full of Grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

When you read that Christ, like His Father, is “full of Grace and truth,” do you feel any preference for one of these over the other? Do you find the “Grace,” you see in Jesus especially heartwarming? Are you inspired by His affirmation of God’s favor? Does it give you a surge of hope to have this confirmation of the Father’s beneficence? Do you feel loved and worthwhile just knowing this? There’s no doubt about the difference between these two aspects of our Lord’s character. “Grace,” a “Matter of the Heart,” is a term of endearment. “Truth,” in contrast, is more the stuff of the mind. It’s about reasoning, grappling with hard questions of what is “right,” and “wrong.” If popular opinion means anything “Grace,” is, in fact, preferred. Jesus messages of love have broad appeal. His insistence that we must “forgive,” if we expect to be forgiven, is not so popular. Many simply overlook it, celebrating the mercy that welcomes them and folks with shortcomings like their own, while descrying the foibles of others, demanding their exclusion from the Heavenly community. We like it when Jesus says to a woman condemned to death by a group of hypocritical men, “I don’t condemn you.” We’re not sure what to do with the rest of the story. It ends, you’ll remember, with His command, “Go and sin no more.”

Truth can be painful. For one thing, it confronts us with our “sin.” We are something less than what Our Father created us to be. For another, truth calls for change; change in the way we look at ourselves; change in the way we see God Himself. Change is difficult and often painful. So we tend to avoid it and the “truth” that calls for it.

Unfortunately, if we want the Life Christ offers, we must have “truth,” as well as “Grace.”

There’s an ancient Proverb that says, “as a man thinks in his heart so is he.” The Bible’s wisdom is that, at the core of our being, in the deepest regions of ourselves – our spirit – heart and mind interface. What matters most to us – our values, our will, our heart – determines the sort of person we are becoming. Mind – our thoughts and feelings – feeds into the heart or spirit and profoundly influences what we want more than anything else. Often it’s not clear which comes first, the thought or the will. One thing is clear. The mind matters.

A new book, “The Me I Want to Be: Becoming God’s Best Version of You …” written by John Ortberg, affirms how much your mind matters. “Becoming the best version of you … rests on one simple directive. "THINK GREAT THOUGHTS!"

“Grace,” and “truth,” … You can’t have one without the other! Until your heart embraces the truth you will never become the “TRUE YOU,” the “Vicarious Self” your Creator designed you should be initially and now seeks to restore.