The Pain of the Prophet: True Prophets vs. False Prophets

The Pain of the Prophet: True Prophets vs. False Prophets

There is so much that is tossed around in
the name of the prophetic today. That which
is truly prophetic is in a class by itself.
It is called total identification with
the heart of God.

The true prophet is birthed for a season of
calamity and lives set apart unto God.
His or her life is watermarked with pain,
for a prophet sees what will happen
if people cannot hear and obey God.

A prophet lives alone upon a hill, looking
for danger, for the first wisps of smoke
that spell only one thing: "Fire!" He
calls first for the fire of God to enliven
and purify through repentance. Unheeded, his
calls for fire will bring warning of the
fire of God that will burn in judgment.
The prophet, therefore, carries a message
that few would want to hear unless
they care for the state of their souls,
even their eternal lives.

One can ignore the cry of "Fire!" but
that does not make the fire cease its
burning or enable the prophet to cease
his commission. Indeed, for a prophet
to be proved right, a certain judgment
must fall, a sure chastisement administered,
a corrective work applied. If this is
not painful to the prophet then he is
not a true prophet and lacks the heart
of God for true restoration.

There are myriads of prophets who like
to pronounce gloom and doom, but which
of them has the heart to bear the pain
of interceding for a genuine repentance?
A true prophet must desire, above all,
that his or her clarion call will bring a
genuine return to God. It is easy to rail,
it is agony to stand and watch and call
people who are not listening back to
the Father.

It is a fearsome and holy task to enter
into the very heart of God as He calls
His people back to Himself. The
heart of the prophet must echo forth the
eternal love of God. There can be no
joy at the idea of judgment coming, even
when it appears inevitable, even when
the prophet himself is harmed or stoned
or even killed in the process.

God does not wish to punish. He takes
no pleasure in judgment. He does not
wait and watch for wrongdoing in
order to find pleasure in chastising
waywardness. A prophet MUST have this
tenor of heart or he does not stand
for God.

Consider Jonah. He understood God,
he understood the prophetic role,
but he did not have the heart of God.
He understood quite well that for God
to reap a family of restored hearts,
that he would have to be proved wrong.
And if the people of Nineveh did not turn to
God, Jonah should find no pleasure
in their chastisement.

Job failed on both points: he was not
willing to be proved wrong for the
sake of another. He was unwilling to
bear a message of judgment unless it
ended in judgment. He did not want mercy
to intervene for it would make him
appear lesser in the eyes of others.
He did not have the heart of God.
One gets the impression that he preferred
that the people be judged so he could
be proved "right." With "right" like that
I would hate to see what wrong might look
like.

How many prophets have this kind of
heart? How many prophets are unwilling
to bear the pain of their calling
because they are not able to identify
with God as He ever so patiently waits
for His people to return to Him?

God does not ask of a prophet something
He does not endure Himself. People
constantly accuse God of allowing evil
and not putting an end to suffering.
God waits and waits for us to return
to Him. If He was a God who delighted
in meting out punishment, the earth
would be devoid of human life for
all of us would have been destroyed.

That which the prophet speaks should
call people back to God. What becomes
of the prophet, what his reputation
is, what accolades or resistances
are thrown upon him, should matter
not one whit to him: it comes with the
territory of being a prophet.

The words of a prophet are born and
spearheaded out of his or her own
repentance, they are to be ministered in
humility. The true prophet takes no
pleasure in being right. For "being right"
is about words and reputations and
and pride. A true prophet must
bear great pain in a hidden place.
He must live and die for the
kind of reconcilation that Jesus
lived and died for. It is not
for the fainthearted.

The true prophet must be a deaf
and blind servant of the Lord.
The prophet who truly sees must
be blind to all that would
stop him from his mission.
The prophet who truly hears must
be deaf to the reasonings of man,
to the hurtful taunts that will fall
upon his ears, and the painful rejections
that will fall upon his life. He must
be able to accept the pain inflicted
on his heart by those who do not see,
or worse yet, do not want to see.

He must have one prayer:
"Father, forgive them, for they
do not know what they are doing."

This kind of pain is part and parcel
of the prophetic call. That is the
hard part. The glorious part is that
those prophets who identify with
the heart of God, get the heart
of God planted forever within
them. The medium becomes the
message. The prophet becomes
the priest. A heart of stone
is replaced with a heart of
flesh, and that heart is
a redeemed heart, made in
the image of the heart of
Jesus. That would make it all
worthwhile, wouldn't it?

So to all those true prophets
who happen upon this article,
to everyone who thinks
they have a prophetic message,
search deeply to see whether
you are able to administer
it with the heart of God.
You will know the answer
by the amount of pain that
surrounds its delivery. Let us
trust that you will share the
joy of watching the Lamb
receive the fruits of His
labor. Anything less is just not
good enough.

Loving God With Your Every and Last Breath!

"I love You, O my God, and my only desire
is to love You until the last breath of
my life. I love You, O my infinitely
lovable God, and I would rather die
loving You, than live without loving You.

I love You, Lord and the only grace I ask
is to love You eternally....My God, if my
tongue cannot say in every moment that I
love You, I want my heart to repeat it to
You as often as I draw breath."

--John Vianney

photograph taken in Colorado Springs, Colorado

prayer
John Vianney
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Good Jesus, Hear Me

Soul of Christ, sanctify me.
Body of Christ, heal me.
Blood of Christ, drench me.
Water from the side of Christ, wash me.
Passion of Christ, strengthen me.

Good Jesus, hear me.

In your wounds shelter me.
From turning away keep me.
From the evil one protect me.
At the hour of my death call me.
Into Your Presence lead me,
to praise You with all Your saints
for ever and ever

--Anima Christi, fourteenth century


photo taken in Robinson State Park, Agawam, MA

Anima Christi
Holy Communion

Standing for God When You Are Falsely Accused

Did you know that your soul is a battleground?
Did you know that we are all eternal billboards
for either God or the Devil?

I was pondering about Job, feeling his pain
as he sought to make sense of inexplicably
difficult events in his life. To Job's credit
he was a stickler for the precision of
reading the small print in the Divine-human
contract. So often we see those
"I have read and understand the rules" clauses
on the internet before downloading something.
We click "yes, we understand" when we haven't
even read the clause, just to get what we
need in a hurry. Think about that for a moment!

Job, however, was not that kind of man. He read
every word. He understood the rules.
He hadn't broken any of them and if he, or his
family had, he had done all the things necessary
to repent for them.

So dear Job is bewildered when terrible things
happen to him. He has questions for God.
Legitimate questions. Honest questions.
Questions that will make him a man by
way of face-to-face encounter with the
Living God. Job is good on paper but
not so good with encountering God (but
apparently still better than anybody
else at the time.) All that is about to change.
Job had the kind of questions, born of extreme
pain, that people don't usually have enough courage
to ask. People who end of asking these questions
get answers, but don't come back looking
or acting at all the same way they went in.

Job's soul was in deep torment, the kind
that sends someone just over the brink of what
they can handle. He checked and double-
checked, but he still did not understand.
He had done everything he should at his end:
that left God's end. And everyone knows
it is unwise to accuse God of being dodgy.

His friends said, "Don't even go
there!" His friends said, "No matter
what you say, you are a sinner."
His friends said, "Stop whining
and admit you are guilty". His wife
said, "Start whining and just let
God kill you." God, during all this,
is silent. If that doesn't make you
feel alone in the universe then nothing
will.

Job was falsely accused. There is
the blatant kind of false accusation
that comes from outrageous lies
being spread about you. Then there are the
subtle whispered accusations that can
make you crazy with their insidiousness.
Furthermore, unbeknownst to Job, there
is Satan falsely accusing Job in the
heavenlies. Thank God the accuser of
the brethren has been thrown down.
The matrix of accusation, however,
still remains.

The bewilderment of trying
to discern what has happened to
him, with the added misunderstanding
and accusation of his theologically
challenged, bible thumping comrades,
is like salt poured into an almost
inconsolable wound. His world was
destroyed and he did not even
have a good explanation as to why.
He could not explain what he feels
to be God's actions. So in his
darkest hour a wedge is
driven in between God and Job.

That wedge is not unrelated to a bet
with the devil that God agreed to! Stick
that in your theological pipe
and smoke it for awhile.

If you think that same wager
is not in some form actively battling
over your life today, think
again. Much has transpired
theologically since these events
in the book of Job happened.
Jesus has won the victory over the
wages of sin. We who are Christ's,
are hid with Him in God. The Holy
Spirit resides in the heart of
the believer empowering, counseling,
comforting, guiding. The
Enemy has been defeated. But
all that can sound like more
bible-thumping in our darkest hours.

Always, our chance to choose God over
the Devil stands before us. When
its your turn to cast your vote,
with a gale force wind blowing against
you, every truth we have read in books,
even good ones, even the Good Book,
can seem very far away. You still
have to choose. Our lives are still
a billboard for one side or the other:
for God or the Devil.

False accusation in some form will
cross your life. I am not telling
you it might. I am telling you it will:
whether it be at the hands of
enemies, well-meaning friends,
or the plotting of demons. It may be
one of the hardest things you have
to bear because well-meaning "Job's
friends" will come to you, and
plant subtle or not-so-subtle
hints into your mind. Hints along
the line of "Did God say?" or
"We have this feeling" or
"God told me to tell you" or
they will offer you a mish-mash of
every religious reason they have
ever heard to account for
your pain. You will begin to
doubt yourself. You may begin
to doubt God. And a wedge can
begin to grow between you and Him.

Pressure brings out the most
amazing things in us. How quickly
we are tempted to stop the
dance of praise to our God, and
roll up the banner of adoration
to our Christ, when something
inexplicable befalls us.

We see something bad has happened
and we rightly sense that God
has allowed it, but we do not understand
His reasons in allowing it. Perhaps
it is our interpretation of
the idea of "allowing it." Do
we really think that God doles
out suffering and uses the devil
as His excuse? Please do not
hurt His heart by thinking that!

It is in the midst of our pain
that we are most open to these most
destructive whispers of the devil,
of his cohorts, of our well or ill
meaning friends, or our own hearts.
The pain of others not understanding
and the the pain of 99% right and 1%
absolutely twisted demonic lie of the pit
can swivel our minds until we do not know
who or what we are.

This pain will bring out the most tortured
suggestions and we will HAVE to go to God,
with fear and trembling,
because this is where we
will find rest and this is
exactly where God wants to
bring us: into a closer
encounter with, and understanding
of, Himself. He wants us to be free of the
torment of fear and dread and uncertainty.

Know that something important is
at stake. What you do with your
dose of false accusation is on display for
God and the Devil, angels, saints, demons,
and a whole cloud of witnesses.

The stakes are this: every evil
force is trying to get you to
believe a lie about God and
get you to use the pain of being
falsely accused to strike out
and, in turn, falsely accuse God.
The devil hates God more than he
hates you and is trying to use
your pain to get you to hurt God
and, of course, destroy yourself.

The devil is a master of
non-sequiturs. He will tell
you a bit of truth and follow
it with the most damnable lie.
He will tell you that God is love,
but that loving pond scum like
you is not included in the love clause.
He will tell you that while
God is strong, he is ultimately
stronger. He will tell you that
while God has always kept His
promises, there are some He
might not be able to keep, because
you know, He has overspent on
His credit card and can not
make good on His promises. He will
tell you that while God says He
is good, what He has allowed
to happen to you is not good no
matter what way you frost it.
All of this and more will come
to get you to accuse God.
And make sure you hear this
part in case you started to
doze off: the arguments will be
tailor-made to your weakness.

The good news is that you alone have
the chance to determine what
your eternal billboard will say.
"I am my Beloved's and He is Mine,";
"God is light and in Him there is no
darkness at all"; "The Word of the Lord
is righteous,and everything He does is Good."
Wouldn't you love to have something
like that burning forth from your soul for
all the universe to see? How wonderful to see
the lights of the righteous burning brightly
amidst a dark night!

I ask you: "what if some unseen hand
could pull back the curtain and show you
your audience?" Would it change
how and what you are thinking?
Would it help you refocus
your eyes on your innocent
and good Lord? Would it help
you cast down the false accusations
that you may be developing
toward God?

Anselm said, "I do not understand
so that I might believe,
I believe that I might understand."
There are things too great for
us, wisdom to high, things we
are not privy too: they need
not keep us from childlike
trust in God. This is not
blind belief: it is unadorned faith, faith
best born and proved in the darkest
night of the soul. God has showed
us too much of His love for our
hearts to really doubt Him.
One day it will all be clear.
I don't want for one minute to
have a history of doubting God's character
when the going gets unpredictably
tough and painful.

What is the redeeming value
of every dark and painful thing?
Through them we have the opportunity
and the impetus to encounter the
Living God and to have a vital
and active faith. They push us past our
human resistance to run up the road,
a road often not well traveled, and often
not well lit, to our Lord's house,
there to be caught up in
loving arms of our good Father.

Our creeds and dogmas have a lot of
truth, but they can not
give us encounter with God,
they can only bring us to the place
where we jump off to meet God.
Meeting God is fearsome enough, so often
it is pain and discomfort that
push us past our comfort zone
so that we decide to go to God directly
and stop listening to what people
say about Him. That journey can actually
mean the start of real faith,
not the destruction of it.


Although all the way up the road the
Devil will be taunting us with lies like
these: "He'll turn out to be the Wizard of Oz";
"He'll fry your socks off!"; "He's too far
away for you to reach Him."

Pay no heed. God is all that He says that He is.
Go see for yourself. Just be prepared to have
your notes blown out of your hand and your hair
to turn white when you hear God's answer. And
make no bones about it: God will answer
us when He is ready to and not a minute before. While
you are waiting, trust His goodness. It will make
having to put your hand over your mouth in shame
just a little bit easier when He finally speaks.

And when you do see Your Lord and his good intent
for you, your billboard will glow with
praise of God.

You, yes, small, little, you, have an important
eternal vote to cast! Your life can and does
stand for God or the Enemy. There can be quite a bit of
opposition when you get nearer to the polls.
Souls are won and lost in that battle. Never forget that.
You have a vote the devil wants. Make darn well
sure he never gets it. Even over your dead body
he cannot steal your vote for God once it is cast.
Hallelujah!

Know too, that Your Lord has already walked this
way ahead of you. He is not asking for you to
do something He has not already done. He has cast
His vote in favor or His Father, and He has endured
great and unreasonable pain because of false accusation.

Be comforted by this: if you are falsely accused,
Someone has been falsely accused before you. Your
Lord knows what it means to swallow that cup and
drink its dark dregs.

The world has a bigger grandstand than you know.
Even now the crowds are gathering to watch what
you will do.

Stand with and for God. There is no greater meaning your
life can have.


false accusation
faith in difficult times
Job
Anselm
belief in God
spiritual warfare
the purpose of life
free will

Oswald Chambers: Though He Slay Me, Yet Will I Trust Him

We have the idea that God rewards us
for our faith, it may be so in
the initial stages; but we do not
earn anything by faith, faith
brings us into right relationship with
God and gives God His opportunity. God
has frequently to knock the bottom
board out of your experience if you are
a saint in order to get you into contact
with Himself. God wants you to understand
that it is a life of faith, not a life of
sentimental enjoyment of His blessings.
Your earlier life of faith was narrow and
intense, settled around a little sun-spot of
experience that had as much of sense as of
faith in it, full of light and sweetness;
then God withdrew His conscious blessings
in order to teach you to walk by faith. You
are worth far more to Him now than
you were in your days of conscious delight
and thrilling testimony.

Faith by its very nature must be tried,
and the real trial of faith is not that
we find it difficult to trust God, but
that God's character has to be cleared
in our own minds. Faith in its actual
working out has to go through spells of
unsyllabled isolation. Never confound the
trial of faith with the ordinary discipline
of life, much that we call the trial of
faith is the inevitable result of being alive.

Faith in the Bible is faith in God against
everything that contradicts Him - I will
remain true to God's character whatever
He may do. "Though He slay me, yet will I
trust Him" - this is the most sublime utterance
of faith in the whole of the Bible.
--Oswald Chambers

Photo taken in Colorado Springs, Colorado

Oswald Chambers
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Oswald Chambers: Pious Fraud or Bond Slave of Jesus?

A BOND-SLAVE OF JESUS

I am crucified with Christ; nevertheless
I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me.

These words mean the breaking of my
independence with my own band and surrendering
to the supremacy of the Lord Jesus. No one can
do this for me, I must do it myself. God may
bring me up to the point three hundred and
sixty-five times a year, but He cannot put me
through it. It means breaking the husk of my
individual in dependence of God, and the emancipating
of my personality into oneness with Himself, not
for my own ideas, but for absolute loyalty to Jesus.

There is no possibility of dispute when once I am
there. Very few of us know anything about loyalty
to Christ - "For My sake." It is that which
makes the iron saint.

Has that break come? All the rest is pious fraud.
The one point to decide is - Will I give up, will I
surrender to Jesus Christ, and make no conditions
hatever as to how the break comes? I must be
broken from my self-realization, and immediately
that point is reached, the reality of the supernatural
identification takes place at once, and the witness
of the Spirit of God is unmistakable - "I have been
crucified with Christ."

The passion of Christianity is that I deliberately
sign away my own rights and become a bond-slave of
Jesus Christ. Until I do that, I do
not begin to be a saint.

One student a year who hears God's call would be
sufficient for God to have called this College into
existence. This College as an organization is not
worth anything, it is not academic; it is for
nothing else but for God to help Himself to lives.
Is He going to help Himself to us, or are we taken up
with our conception of what we are going to be?

Oswald Chambers

Hudson Taylor: Do Your Work Through Me

"I used to ask God to help me. Then I asked if I might
help Him. I ended up by asking Him to do His work
through me." ---Hudson Taylor


photo taken in Ledbury, England

Hudson Taylor

"God Loves to Vindicate the Confidence of His Children" : The Legacy of George Mueller

What makes for extraordinary faith?

Having reached some sort of apex of disgust
and dissatisfaction with everything mediocre,
I have, of late, come before the Lord asking
Him to search me out and to instruct me as I
am loathe to go one step further in the land
of lukewarmness.

There is so much glib talk of faith, and
so much perversion of what faith is really
all about: a hundred fleshly traps trying
to lure us into a comprehension of faith that
is merely mental, or a hedonistic use of faith
which will only spend the spoils on our flesh.

What is the real thing?

Scripture tells us, "Without faith it
is impossible to please God" (Heb. 11:6)
so a lot is at stake.

I think faith hinges on a couple key
points: 1) that God exists, a good
God who loves us and wants to show
Himself to His children in His great
goodness.(Jer. 33:3, John 15:15). Faith
tells me I can lean my full weight into
Him without fear (Rom 10:11);
and that 2) He answers and rewards those
who earnestly seek and believe Him
(Hebrews 11:6).

If you listen to what is out there
being preached about faith and how
to work God like a slot machine, er, I
mean have it, it is so strongly
smelling of human flesh that I'm surprised
that God has not lost His temper. Really.

What I have often seen is that
characteristic human tendency to
try and avoid the hard work of
relationship and try to just
use faith to get "things." The
old "sneak in the back door and
steal the pie off the table" trick.
That might be ok for a dog, but
it is beneath our dignity and
calling as children of God.

When people talk about what they
are believing for, it often has a cold
tone to it, like the prize is what they
have their eyes on, and the prize
is a thing, however needed or wanted,
and not Jesus Himself. No wonder that
sounds a little cold, it IS cold.
Cold enough so that soon the prize
becomes "my precious": that elusive
desired object that will turn a man into
a golem, or worse.


Of course popular opinion sees no reason
why God should not answer my prayer just
like I want it answered, exactly on my
time schedule, only to satisfy my desires,
and with no perseverance on my part.

Of course.

How silly to think the true nature of
faith might be otherwise. We can have
"relationship" another time. Call me
next month, we can "do lunch" with God.

It makes my stomach churn.

But as with all things, I am
beginning to think we can also err too far
in the opposite direction. I tend
toward the "Abandon everything to
God" camp. That camp leans more toward
the notion that all we need is to do is
have faith in God's character and submit to
what comes.

The trick is keeping that truth
correctly on biblical course for
it can morph itself into a kind of
passive disdain for great leaps
of faith. "Abandon" can have
two aspects: abandoning all
rights to steer my own course,
control my destiny, or put myself
in the place of God. These are great
ways to abandon. Sitting around
waiting for Jesus to come and
letting others do the work
that God has called His Body to
do in the earth is not so much
the idea behind abandonment.

The trouble with abandonment,
or abandonment improperly
understood, is that it can
leave me inactive. Inactive enough to verge
on wasting my life and time. Inactive
enough for it not to be biblical faith,
or biblical abandonment, at all.
Abandonment should not make me paralyzingly
passive and reluctant or afraid
to press into God's best and highest

So how do I have an extraordinary
faith?

What I think God is after
is this: He wants us to watch and
wait and sit with Him for
a long time, day in and day out,
until we begin to know Him and
what He would want and what He
would do. (I assume the reason
that faith is one of the things that
will remain (cp. I Cor 13:13) is that
we could watch God for all
eternity and still not take Him
all in! There will still be plenty of room
for faith in eternity because there
will still be plenty of God to watch.

Yet, here and now we can begin to
know Him, just as we would
a spouse, or close friend, or
relative whom we have lived with
for a long time.

By sitting with Him we begin to know
Him, and know what He values, and how He
will respond. So, correspondingly, what
we ask for and how we ask for it also
develops along with that. So I can be
at a stage where I ask amiss for
everything, like a kid in a candy store,
or I can move to a place where I do not ask
for anything because I can't be sure if its
the "right" thing.

Both are errors.

Early in our faith walk, God
might answer us in broad sweeps,
just to let us know that He answers,
but as we go along, He refines
our faith (i.e. how we hold
our active beliefs toward God)
by making our faith more
precise (i.e. our prayers
do not get answered so quickly
because we have to "get the
math" right). Earlier we might
get by with 2x2=5, gee,
close enough, but God can't let
that go on and grow us up like
a good and proper Dad would.

It wouldn't be right for the
Architect of our faith letting
us try and build a house with
our times-tables all out of whack.

But back to passive and active faith.
This week, I saw this quote, in some
form or another, in several places.
It was referring to George Mueller,
the Englishman who believed God for
the modern day equivalent of more than
$150,000,000 to supply the needs of
untold orphans.

Here is the quote: "God loves to
vindicate the confidences of His
children." I like it tweeked a little
more to: "God loves to vindicate the
confidence His children have in Him."
It subtly puts the emphasis a little
more on how worthy He is, and a little
bit less on our confidence.

The truth is that He is worthy of
ALL our confidence. George Mueller
was able to believe that God wanted
to give him the resources to take
care of untold thousands of children
in need. What gave him that kind of
boldness? It was his confidence that the
care and compassion he had for
orphans came straight out God's
heart and was in line with God's
desire to help and bless untold
needy children!

I am sure that Mueller did not have
the faith to believe for that kind of
money all at once. He persevered
with God. He looked to God. What God
wanted came to him as he had relationship
with God day in and day out, in rainy
days and sunny days alike. He had to keep
believing for the needs that arose. It
wasn't a one time thing. A lot of difficult
things pressed against him, but he kept
believing in who God is and had confidence,
great confidence, that He provides.

God was more than pleased to vindicate
Mueller's confidence in Him. We have
to put ourselves out there and have
confidence in God. In order to do that
we have to spend time with Him, we
have to watch Him and listen to Him,
and most of all OBEY Him. None of this
is passive, it is actually quite
active: the active work of faith!

From this we see God act in our lives and our
confidence in Him grows. As our confidence
grows we will be emboldened to watch
our corner of the world through
God's eyes and begin to believe
that His kingdom will come on
the part of the earth that
God has given us to tend with Him.

What if our ground is full of rocks?
What if birds eat the seed sown?
What if weeds choke the Word He
plants? What if robbers sneak in
and steal my goods? What if rascals
beat me up and leave me for dead?
The world is full of "what if's",
but faith is full of this: BUT GOD!

We must have confidence
that He can and will overcome all that
opposes His work and His Kingdom. Jesus said,
"You have not because you ask not."
He also says, "If we, being evil, know how
to give good things to our children,
how much more will God give good things
to those who ask Him?" (Matthew 7:11).

George Mueller wanted to show forth that
God answered prayer just as He did in the
Bible. He did not think it depended on
him, neither did he think that it would
just happen without his intercession and
faith. He pressed into the burden that
God gave him and He believed God. He did
not say, "if God wills." He was not unsure.
He did not believe for gold-covered sinks
for himself, but for gold to feed the
children of God. Moreover, he believed
God because he had come to know God.

The question is this: How can I show
forth my confidence in the Lord?
What exploits does He want me to
ask Him to accomplish? What ground
does He want to take back from the
Enemy with me? Whose life does
He want to impact through me? What
of His Son does He want to reveal
through my life? How will knowing
Him change everything?

Some will have a thirty-fold confidence
in Him, some a sixty-fold confidence,
and some a hundred-fold confidence.
But let us have confidence!

Look around your world. Ask the Lord
to let you look through His eyes. See
what He wants to ransom! See who He
wants to show Himself strong to!
See where His eye is gazing and go
there with Him! Believe Him! Tell Him
how sure you are that He is who He
says He is and will accomplish all
that pertains to His purpose. Press in
to know that purpose! God loves to
vindicate the confidence
of His children.

Do not have faith for things that
will fade away, or for things that
arise from your flesh, or
for things that have no eternal
consequence. Have faith for those
things that make the Heart of God pound
hard in His strong Chest. Have faith in
HIM! He is a God who does great and good
exploits and calls you to participate with
Him in those exploits! You will not be
disappointed. God is looking to vindicate
the confidence of His children.

George Mueller

George Mueller on Faith

"To learn strong faith is
to endure great trials.
I have learned my faith by
standing firm amid severe testings."
(George Mueller)

photo taken in Ledbury, England

George Mueller

Because of Love

It is as if,
You have just opened my eyes,
given me sight,
awakened my heart,
because of Love.

It is though I see,
suddenly You are all around,
there is no-where that You cannot go,
no place where I can slip from Your grasp,
because of Love.

It is as if, I can finally rest
at the bottom of the boat,
amidst life's wildest storms,
asleep in peace,
because of Love.

I have listened to a thousand
mad hatters, speaking tirades
of nonsense, but suddenly
I hear Your Voice alone,
singing deep within my heart,
because of Love.

I meet You behind and before.
I meet You above and below.
Inseparable Union: i in You.
And You in me.
In Christ! O glorious thought!
Because of Love!

Your chosen are
safer than we know.
You have hidden
Your Own so deeply within Yourself,
so far from any real harm, that
though we think ourselves lost,
we could not find our way
out of You:
because of Love!


O Joy, complete...
Because of Love!

O Storms of Life, is it not
you that drive me to seek a
shelter in the
Everlasting Arms,
there to lay against the
bosom of My Lord?
He sends those storms,
Because of Love.

O Wounding Pain, is it not
you that cause me to know
that from my God I am never
separated? He lets me
taste your depths,
because of love.

O Christ of God,
is it not You that wrestle
with me until dawn,
urging me to let go
of all the smallness
of heart and mind
that has ruled me?
You put my natural strength
out of joint,
because of Love.

You are hidden, deep within,
a Heavenly Gyroscope,
every upright in Your position,
deliberately disorienting
my natural bearings so
that You can take
greater pleasure in
plunging me deeper and
further into
Your boundless depths;

I place my certain wager
on Your endless Goodness,
because of Love.

No matter into what
depths I descend,
even doubting that
You can still retrieve me,
You always pull me
back to Your
very Heart,
because of Love.

How could those who
have loved You most,
known You best,
die joyfully as
martyrs, but
because of Love?

Because of Love,
I begin to see all this,
revealed to the
eyes of my heart.

O Immeasurable Love,
this I surely know,
In You I am held
closer than a child
is held
by its Mother.
I peek out of the
warm blanket of
Love you have wrapped
me in, united with You,

because of Love.

It is not that the
world is not the scene
of a great and tragic Fall.
It is.
It is not about wishing that pain
will never touch me.
It shall.

It is just a matter
of knowing
how eternally safe
You keep me,

Because of Love.

Because of Love,
I look to You.

Because of Love,
You hold me.

And I love you,
Because of Love.


God's love
safety in God

Can't Wait to See God!

If the mercy of God is so great
that He can instruct us, to our salvation,
even when He hides Himself, what a
brilliance of light we must expect
when He reveals Himself!
... Blaise Pascal, Pensées

photo taken in Colorado Springs, Colorado!

Pascal
Colorado Springs
the glory of God

Following the Lamb

“He who follows the Lamb cannot
expect to be understood by all.
There are ways in which the
believer must walk alone with
his God.” ~G. Steinberger~

photo taken in Colorado Springs, Colorado

abandonment to God
Colorado Springs

A Chance to Love

I went out for a walk with the smallest
dog and enjoyed the beauty of the fall
evening: looked into people's houses
as they cooked dinner, watched tv,
went about their lives. I always
wonder what another's heart feels like.

What is all this? All that presents itself
as life, if not just a curiously wrapped
chance to love? No doubt our God who is
love made the world simply to love it.
Simply to have and to hold, to have a
place to put His love, and a chance to
have even the smallest slice of it be
given back to Him in return.

For all the times I don't understand why God
made the world, tonight I feel I might:
a mighty Love compelled Him to create
something to bask in His love.

We have a God who seems to have one answer
to every question: Love! We have a God
who seems to not offer any other options
when we come to Him with our questions: Love!
We have a God who seems to think that
Love is unconquerable and headed for sure
victory. Love? Love! Love! Love!

I stand under the waterfall of Love and feel
it pound against me. It seems more an external
force, pounding against my skin, pounding against
the big ball of all that is not love that
lives under my skin. My heart knows Love,
but does not. My mind knows Love, but does
not. I hope in Love, and do not. I trust in
Love and mistrust its abilities. I wait for
Love, and don't know if it is here to stay, or
has just sprinkled itself like rose petals
strewn at a wedding, a one night stand rushing
past us mere mortals to somewhere else.

And yet, there is a Love within, a buoyant
strong Love, a Love that sustains bullishly,
a Love that rises up fiercely, a Love
that will not let me go. That Love
is Love indeed, closer than a brother,
stronger than a mountain.
A love so close I might not see the Love forest
for the trees of bewilderment, pain, and
human distraction unless I choose to
look or unless Love comes rolling
into to my living room unannounced.
It does that sometimes. I heard from
a friend today and she was laying
down in the middle of a thunderstorm
and looked up to see a giant blue
ball of power and light suspended
in the room. Yikes! Love can roll
in like that when it wants to make
a statement. Fortunately for my friend,
it was only her tv that got fried.

I grew up amidst the Jesus People, singing,
"Love, Love, Love, Love, Christians this
is your call, love your neighbor as your
self for God loves us all. Love, Love,
Love, Love, the gospel in a word is Love."

Who knew what that really meant? But
it grabbed ahold of something inside of me
and has never let me go. Past all
my constraints, love has backed me into
a corner. No matter how I phrase my
questions, SomeOne answers "Love."
No matter what argument I put up, no
matter how weak I feel, how desperately
I push other buttons, only one message
is printed on the receipt: "Love"

Today, this very minute, each and every
minute, you and I have a chance to love.
Along the path of today I looked squarely
into people's faces, most were lost in
their own worlds. One person felt me
really looking as I walked past, she
glanced up quickly and her face was
full of life. She smiled at me. It
helped my soul. It was a chance she took
to love. I smiled back and we both
"got it."

A little boy sitting in his stroller,
kept looking at me. I smiled at him,
prayed for his young life, it was my
chance to love. I kept my heart open
when I would rather have shut it today,
a chance to love. I hoped in God when
I felt unsure, another chance.
I made the phone call, made several,
when I felt the need to be called
instead of call: love, love, love
love, Christians this is your call.

I prayed for all the people whose
prayer requests came suddenly to
mind like a flock of gulls descending:
God's call to love.

All these things I say not to
bring attention to me, but to
remind me, remind us, of how often we
have a chance to love, and how fleeting
some of those chances are. Oh, and
Dear God, I forgot the man at the
paint store, he seemed sad, please
take care of his situation, known
only to You.

I know I missed a few chances to love
today, but I will be looking again
tomorrow. I hope you will be
looking, too. Life is made up of
moments, it is the small choices
that may count more than the big
ones when it is all added up.

Take your chance to love, and
love heartily, love unreservedly,
love as God loves us. Love
in broad daylight or love
like a UPS man on Christmas
Eve: leave the love package
on the doorstep, ring the
bell, and run. Love does not
need to be promoted. It just needs
to be delivered. It will find its
mark. Leave it to God. God's love
will take us to a place where
we have never been, and that place
will be very, very good.



Where there is no love,
pour love in, and you
you will draw out love
--John of the Cross.

love
John of the Cross
the love of God

Are You in Love With Jesus?

The question is not: How many people take
you seriously? How much are you going to
accomplish? Can you show some results?
but: Are you in love with Jesus?
... Henri J. M. Nouwen

photo taken in Florissant, Colorado

Henri Nouwen
love of God
Florissant, Colorado

The Certainty of A Heart Abandoned to God

Let's face it. Most of us have days when
life's uncertainties press against us
and cause us to feel unrest.

Let's face it some more. We have little
to no idea what will happen next. And
amidst this uncertainty we, as Christians
with good intentions, seem to be
ubiquitously searching for what can
feel like the elusive will of God.
Is this Your will? Is that Your will?

The Moslems simply say "Imshah Allah"
(if God wills) and shrug. Who can
really know or fight against what
God will do? But we, as Christians,
need not be so resigned: we can know
God, and we can see the path we need
to take, even if we be fools (Is.35:8)

A few nights ago, in the midst of
an uncertain time, the Lord spoke to me
about the nature of certainty.

"Certainty," He said, "does not come
from successfully discerning
My will with regard to what
course of action to take."

"Certainty is the spiritual resting
state of a heart abandoned into
the good hands of God."

In this place we are not certain
about a date or a time, or a course
of action, we are certain of our
being held and kept by God. It is
in an inner certainty not connected
to circumstance or plan.

What are the components of this
abandonment?

Abandonment to God does not produce
uncertainty. I think we fear that
if we abandon ourselves to God
we will live constantly in a
state of uncertainty and confusion:
a continual fog of bewilderment.

When Abraham went out, "not knowing
where he was going," he was not
confused. He did not know where
he was going, but he was not
uncertain. His eye was
fixed on God, and his faith
apprehended and trusted Him.
It did not ultimately matter
where he was being led:
he was abandoned to a good God
who was leading him and that
was all that mattered.

But how can we know that
once we have, in our estimation
thrown caution to the wind, that
we are being led by God and not
by our own waywardness?

The answer is through a pure heart
and by obedience. We can have
a certainty in our Father, not
the self-assuredness of fools,
but the clear-eyed vision of the
pure in heart. Jesus tells us
the pure in heart "shall see God."
Nothing muddies their vision,
all the debris is cleared away,
there are no mixed motives, or
agendas, but a unified gaze
upon the fullness of God.

That is certainty. If the heart
is not polluted, the eye can see
clearly, and knows where to step.
Even a fool cannot miss it!
Following this way of obedience
and purity is a road that
leads to holiness. The road will
move you along toward where you
need to be.

Abandonment to God is not a mindless
stagnation. We need not fear
sitting and waiting even when we
need to sit and wait. For in
God there is never inaction.
There is active action when we
are busy doing our Father's outward
business, and there is inward
action, even found in silence,
when God is working deep in the
depths of our spirit.

The world values doubt. It seems
childish to have a faith that
rests in an invisible God.
The world values uncertainty:
to be certain seems naive or
unlearned, it is fashionable
to doubt. The certainty of
faith is something that the
world cannot know or even
fathom, therefore it cannot
know its value.

When we understand that a pure
heart leads us to a certainty
in God, we will value it and
cultivate it all the more. Purity
of heart is the condition,
even the eye, by which we see
and know. When our heart is not
polluted, our eyes can see clearly.

The proverbial log in our eye
that Jesus speaks of does not
come from a tree falling on
our head, it comes from
sin in our hearts. In the
opthamalic field there is
a test called a "visual
field" test. Light is
systematically flashed
over the field of your
vision to see where you
have blind spots and
vision loss.

What of our spiritual
vision? What causes our
sure gaze of God to become
dimmed? For when we lose sight
of Him, I can guarantee you
that uncertainty will immediately
invade.

We must guard our hearts, we
must come to God daily asking
Him if there is anything that
is clouding our vision. And
then we must obey what He tells
us. It is no good to go to
the repair shop and find out
what is wrong with your car
if you are not willing to
have it repaired.

How was Jesus so certain? How
did He know just what to say to
people? How did He discern the
thoughts, needs and intents of
their hearts? He could see things
for what they were because His
own heart was pure. He could
speak with certainty because
He could see things in the clear
light of God. In one moment
He is kind to outcasts, in the
next He is dismantling a whole
religious system that had set
itself up against God. How was
He so sure? The certainty that
comes from a pure heart of
obedience was at work in Him.

There are two verses that come
to mind: "He that comes to God
must believe that He is and is
a rewarder of them that diligently
seek Him" (Rom. 1:17). Here is a key to
abandonment: believe that God
exists, and that He rewards those
that seek Him. Here is your first
lesson in certainty: throw
yourself upon Him, believe
that He hears and answers.

The second verse is this: "I know in
whom I have believed and am persuaded
that He is able to keep that which
I have committed to Him until that day"
(2 Tim. 1:12).

You will never be certain through a
mental process, it must be a heart
process of faith, stemming from
a pure and obedient heart.

Believe that He is able to keep you.

Do not be afraid to start the process.
or continue the process, even when
you know that both your purity and
your faith need work. Faith puts
its confidence not in its own
ability or prowess, but in the One
to whom it looks.

In these uncertain days, a sure
certainty of the faithfulness of
God to lead and keep you, can be
a most precious gift. Do not
fail to avail yourself of it!

assurance
abandonment to God

I Put My Hope In God

You may also make the mistake of thinking
that you will be better able to bear
your trials if God will only grant
you inward consolations.

Remember that God knows what is best
for us...If we go astray at the beginning
and want the Lord to do OUR will and
lead us as our desires dictate, how
can we build on a firm foundation?
--Theresa of Avila

photo taken in a neighborhood in Colorado Springs,
what a sweet work of art!

Theresa of Avila
inner consolations
abandonment to God
Colorado Springs
hope
God's will

Called to Adore: the Beauty of Adoration

Called to Adore: the Beauty of Adoration

One of my favorite Christmas carols
is “O Holy Night.” I love the lyrics
“fall on your knees, O hear the angel’s
voices, O night divine, O night, when
Christ was born.” Last Christmas I
wanted to put this song on my blog so
I listened to all the versions of it
available on-line. Pavaratti’s verson
was magnificent. Another’s version was
homey. Still another version was inspiring,
and another’s sweet. But none captured what
I was looking for: one full of adoration.
Adoration like the magi might have had, or
Mary looking down at her new-born Baby.
Adoration at seeing the Heavenly Son of
God take on the humility of human flesh
and come to earth.

Adoration is a holy word, or should be.
One set aside for God alone. There are
two great passages of adoration that come
immediately to mind : one a microcosm, one
a macrocosm.

The macrocosm of adoration is this :

“After this I beheld, and, lo, a great
multitude, which no man could number, of
all nations, and kindreds, and people,
and tongues, stood before the throne,
and before the Lamb, clothed with white
robes, and palms in their hands; 10 And
cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation
to our God which sitteth upon the throne,
and unto the Lamb. 11 And all the angels
stood round about the throne, and about
the elders and the four beasts, and fell
before the throne on their faces, and
worshipped God, 12 Saying, Amen: Blessing,
and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving,
and honour, and power, and might, be unto
our God for ever and ever. Amen. (Revelation 7: 9-12).

Here are angels, mankind, elders and beasts
adoring God together. Here is the adoration’s
destiny and completeness!


The microcosm of adoration is this:

And she stood at his feet behind him weeping,
and began to wash his feet with tears, and did
wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed
his feet, and anointed them with the ointment
(Luke 7:38).

A simple definition of “adoration” is telling
God much how much we love Him. But that
“telling” is not really about words, it is
an inward action of the heart toward God:
a noticing and a heartfelt, heartful
acknowledgement of something that we inwardly
and gratefully experience of God’s nature and
character. It is not just a compliment
thrown in God’s direction or a little “thank you”
but it is something that opens our
heart and causes it to flow unreservedly toward God.

In the woman’s case in Luke’s gospel, tears flowed
out bringing forth the adoration that was in her
heart. It was not just the outward act that was
the adoration; it was an inward opening of heart
that caused the outward act to
have its power.

In true adoration inward feeling seeks expression
in outward manifestation, thus, when one truly
adores God, it may often lead to raising one hands,
falling on one knees, bowing, prostrating oneself,
and other offered acts of love born out of praise
for God’s good nature and bounty toward
the sons and daughters of men. Adoration is a
self-abasement before our Good, Holy, and
Incomparable God. It acknowledges happily:
“There is no-one like Him!” What can we do
but fall down and adore?

Jesus said, “They that worship the Father must
worship Him in Spirit and in truth” (John 4:24)
and the first commandment implores us to Love
(adore) God, with all our mind, soul and
strength (Deut 6: 5). Adoration is spiritual,
it is true, it is wholehearted and whole-bodied.
It is something like an inward hill melting like
wax at the Presence of the Lord. It is not something
that can be faked, but it is something that can be
cultivated.

How can shall we then cultivate it ?

The first thing we can do is bring ourselves to
an inward awareness of our Lord.
Our thoughts are often distracted, but if we take
a few deep breaths and inwardly put our
attention upon Christ, we will soon be aware
of His absolute beauty and loveliness.

Even if we feel distracted we can call out to Him
gently, “Lord Jesus, I adore all that You are!”
The Lord loves His children to express their love
and adoration to Him. He loves to love them back!
Perhaps we can use a bit of scripture to help us
adore Him:

“Ps 84:2 My soul longed and even yearned for
the courts of the Lord; My heart and my flesh
sing for joy to the living God.”

Ps 87:7 "All my springs of joy are in you."


Take the scripture and pray it simply toward God.

Or perhaps we can look at nature and see the mystery,
awe and wonder of who He is reflected there.
I am a photographer and often get “god-smacked’ when
I get behind the lens of a camera and frame something
of God’s wonder in the world. This is not God, is but
a mere reflection of Him, a mere work of His hands,
what must the Real One be like?

See if you can focus all of your sweet inward feelings
toward God into a few words that you can offer to Him
in adoration. You do not want to be too wordy, you want
rather to express that which lays deepest in your heart.
Sit with those feelings of adoration and they will bring
you quickly to the throne of God.

Keeping a soft heart and practicing an awareness of God
will help greatly. Turn toward Him for He is ever near,
and ever worthy of our adoration.

Think of a time when you have experienced adoration
toward God? What brought it about?

How did it affect you?

As an exercise let us offer adoration to God through

1) love for Him which spontaneously arises in our heart

2) the use of scripture

3) noticing the glory of what God has made in nature.

O come let us adore Him, Christ the Lord!

adoration
prayer
praise

The Prayers of Children, the Glory of Morning

(prayers by second graders in Ohio
no wonder children are special to God)

I am a Gift from God.
I am full of Happiness.

Angels are Beautiful.
We love Miracles.

God has Wisdom.
God is the Holy Lord.

Jesus loves us always.
Jesus Loves everyone of us.

We Believe in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.
We have Faith in our family, and they have faith in us.

Please let us have Patience, Holy Spirit.

God, help us to be nice.
God, help us to Protect the poor.
God, we Wish to be good friends and good neighbors.
Holy Spirit, watch over the homeless and the sick.
God and Jesus, Bless us.
God, Have Mercy on us.

Thank you God, for Forgiveness.

photo of morning glories taken in
Colorado Springs, Colorado

Colorado Springs, Colorado
prayer
prayers of children

If you are a Christian, you can expect folks
to criticize you, but you ought to live so
nobody will believe them.

- Anonymous

photo taken at Painted Mines, Calhan, Colorado

(right click on the image and open in larger window
to enjoy!)

Colorado Springs, Colorado
Calhan, Colorado

On No More Onward Christian Soldiers

Attention, all onward Christian soldiers:

I have it on good authority,
that you should report to the
retirement office.

Only one Soldier is needed for
the war,

and He has already won the battle!

Your services are required,
but as lovers and not fighters.
Put down your arms,
or use them to wrap
around others needing affectionate aid.

Rumors have circulated that you
are needed to fight fiercely on
the Spiritual Battlefront.

Where that front might be located
has been distorted by Enemy Intelligence
or should we say, Counter-Intelligence.

To your prayer closets dear retirees,
To worship, praise and adoration,
To wonder and dancing and celebration.
To love.

The Allies have won: Father, Son, & Spirit.
Do you know why?
Because they are One!
Lovers Three united in Love's purpose.

Come out for the victory parade!
Admire our Victorious Soldier of Love.
Throw your beads of admiration at Him.
It is better than Mardi Gras!

Throw whatever you have at Him in your
delirious happiness! He has a great
sense of humor and will not mind
being hit by the army boots you will
no longer need!

But Beware!

You might be surprised
at what He will throw back at you!

Better duck now!

His Love will level your misconceived
fighting spirit to the ground,
and give you a
new perspective, along
with a new face,
not to mention the insurance check for the damage
done to the armor on your little bunker,

after He has given it a great kick.

You have been trying too hard,
Living in a cement closet with
only a place for your gun to poke out.
Eating MRE portions as if they were
food.

Come now. Let it all go.
Be all you can be: Love God, love
man, love your enemies. Such soldiers
have lots of rest & recreation.

God will do all the fighting necessary.

You are in good Hands,
Relax, I have taken a look,
His muscles are quite large.

"Thou hast a mighty arm:
strong is thy hand, [and]
high is thy right hand."
Psalm 89:13