a child of god
this is the way, run in it
I love this picture of unity, of intent together, of going on a God adventure - together.
Exodus 13, the people of Israel have just been released by the hand of God from Pharaoh/bondage/slavery - following signs and wonders and resistance and great fear and danger. And they set out on their wilderness journey, following God, who led them with a pillar of cloud by day and a pillar of fire by night; everyone went, and they even took Joseph's bones with them, as he made them swear to do - because he knew, he believed God when He said to him (as He said to Abraham and Issac before him) that He would bring His people into the land He promised them. I want to do this, too. Follow God on a God adventure, with the people He has brought together for that step of faith. What would that look like? The big adventures, the big steps of faith, always are preceded by the little steps of faith. God loves obedience. He loves faithfulness, for He is faithful. I love stepping out with Him and for Him, even though sometimes it feels a bit challenging. It's ok, because He is with us, with me, in it. And He loves us, His people.
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I'm reading in Acts at the moment, and in Chapter 2, we see God's Pentecost Suddenly unfold. We are so familiar with this passage, I am so familiar with this passage, that I was surprised to see new aspects in it this time round. He gave me a God light-bulb moment in His word.
The disciples were being obedient! I love that! They were obeying Jesus, their Lord's, last words to them, "...to wait for what the Father had promised , 'Which,' Jesus said, 'you have heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now' " (Acts 1:4-5). So the disciples had seen Jesus being taken back up into the sky, through the clouds, to heaven, and told by some angels that Jesus would come back for His own in just such a fashion, and they had then obediently gathered together in Jerusalem and were waiting. Waiting and praying. And God brings a suddenly. We love it when God breaks in and does something we can't do, when He comes in power and lives are changed and we feel His presence in a way we don't always. We wait and we pray for suddenlies, when God gives us a promise and we wait and pray for it to happen. This one, though, was BIG. It was so BIG that the sound of a huge rushing wind that came down from heaven, "a violent rushing wind" the word says, not only was it heard and felt by the disciples, but the people who lived around them heard it. Verse 6 says that "when this sound occurred, the multitude came together (outside)" to see what had happened! The disciples not only heard and felt the wind of God, the Holy Spirit, but something like tongues of fire distributed themselves on each one of the disciples. And then the word says, "and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues" (other languages), as the Spirit was giving it to them to speak (vv. 2-4). And the baptism of the Holy Spirit takes place on Jesus' disciples, sent by God the Father, bringing God the Holy Spirit to fill His believers with power and supernatural gifting to preach the gospel to those around them. This was the start, and it required a suddenly of God, of the activity of the Church for the Kingdom of God. For the disciples, and for some of the crowd, this was an amazing act of God, and they believed. Sadly, for others, they didn't believe but made fun and mocked the disciples, refusing to believe the evidence before their eyes and ears. This is our job now, as the Church, as believers in Jesus, carriers of the Holy Spirit of God. As we allow Him to move in power through us, as we are obedient and wait and pray, and then act when God provides the right moment - speaking out the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ which does not change, for He does not change, people have an opportunity to believe in Him, or not, as they choose. Jesus said, "I am the way, the truth and the life, no one comes to the Father but by Me" (John ). And the bible says that Jesus is "the same, yesterday, today and forever" and that He will come again for His own, the people who say yes to believing in Him. This requires accepting the fact that we are sinful people by nature, that we have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God, and that we need a Savior. Jesus, who did not sin ever, died for the world, for us, so we could say yes to Him as Lord and Savior, and be part of God's family. I know that a lot of us know this already, but it is our testimony and it is the truth. We need to speak it out where God provides the opportunity. I need to speak it out where God gives me an opportunity. And we can be faithful to wait and to pray for God's suddenlies - where He does break in and open a door. What does it take to get our attention? When God chooses to reveal Himself to us, individually or as a group, how many of us will stop what we are doing to look? to really look and want to know what God is saying or revealing?
What if what God is showing us is something we don't want to see? How long does it take before we are willing to set aside our own desires or ideas to accept His? The LORD God Himself said, "My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts" (Isaiah 55:8-9 NLT). He is not saying this in a taunting fashion, to say we won't be able to get it or understand, or to make us feel feel bad. The amazing aspect of this passage in the bible is these verses 8-9 follow an incredible "come to Me, draw near to Me" section (vv.1-7) where God is begging His people to come back to Him, to return, to draw near, and listen to Him! God wants to share His thoughts with us, He wants to talk with us, He wants us to listen to Him - He loves us. He also knows what we really need. So when the Lord said to me, "Come up this mountain. I have something to show you." I said, Yes, Lord. Then I asked Him, ok, how do I go up this mountain with you, then? I'm beginning to understand from Him that it will be a process, and it will be a process of letting go, so I can climb that mountain, with open hands, empty hands, to see what it is He has for me to see. A group I pray with laughed with me and said, Franci, you have to pace yourself. It will take longer than you think, and there will be rest places along the way, up your mountain with God. You see, I like to run. I like to go fast, and I love a God adventure! Both feet in, jump when He says jump, but I think they are right. This will be a slower paced adventure with God, and it feels deep, deeper than anything I have done with Him before. I want to see what it is He has for me to see. I want to do this with Him. I love living life with God. There is nothing else like it. And I know there will be a bigger purpose in it - don't know what that is yet, but it will come. When Moses turned aside to see the burning bush, a miracle, a supernatural occurrence - a bush on fire but not being consumed - he saw, he drew near to understand it better, and he met God, Yahweh, the Great I AM, and Moses' life was changed. He stepped onto holy ground. It started with God setting that bush on fire to get Moses' attention. So the next time your spirit is stirred, and you sense God is trying to say something to you or show you something - stop. Stop what you are doing, and draw near to God. He has something for you to see or to hear and understand. Something that has to do with eternity, with your life with God. Don't pass it by. Our very lives can be given to God as worship.
You know how when you love and live with someone, you direct your thoughts, time, attention towards them? We spend so much time angsting over how people view us or feel about us - that all takes time and energy and spirit. When we have felt the love of God, the LORD God almighty, the only true and living God, whom this world saw and experienced in the body and life of Jesus and whom the world now sees through you and me who belong to God through Jesus (sobering thought, isn't it?), when we belong to God in that way, then our time and energy and spirit and heart and hope should be focused on Him, on God, on Jesus and God the Holy Spirit who comes to live inside those who believe in Jesus. We can live our lives in such a way that we live them for God. We can give Him our time and attention. When He wants us to stop and care for someone else, we do it, because He would have and His Spirit is prompting us to do the same. When He wants to spend some time with us at the end of the day, in prayer, in sung worship, in reading His word, the Bible, and learning from Him, we do it - because that is what sustains us in this life spiritually. We have to be fed physically. We have to be fed spiritually as well, and God and His Spirit and His Word is where we get that food. Jesus Himself said that this kind of spiritual food is better than physical food - and He knew what it meant to be hungry physically. Jesus quoted Deuteronomy 8:3 to refute the devil when he was trying to tempt Jesus into sinning in the desert, "But Jesus answered and said, "It is written, 'Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God.'" Jesus even puzzled the disciples when they came back with lunch to the well where Jesus had just been talking with the Samaritan woman, and He said to them, "I have food to eat that you do not know about" (John 4:32). He was talking about doing the work of God the Father was better than physical food, more satisfying to do kingdom work than eating, even though He was physically hungry. Do we know what it means to be hungry spiritually? Have you ever had a promise from God, a word from God that you were praying for and the hunger to see it come to pass grew as you waited and prayed for it? Once we have encountered God personally, spiritually, we want more - more of Him, more of life in Him. It is better than physical food, even though we need physical food. Even more do we need spiritual food! This is a biblical principle. Are we feeding ourselves in God's presence? Are we feeding the people of God we live and worship among with true spiritual food? Are we giving our lives - all of us - to God in worship? As His people, that is who we are and what we should be doing. And, it is better than anything else. The LORD God - Father, Son and Holy Spirit - He is better than anything else. |
Franci Ballwatching and working for the kingdom of God in Sutton Coldfield, Birmingham - UK Archives
January 2019
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