Week 43 A New Declaration

Flowers are pretty things; each colorful variety distracting me to turn aside and look. Even something as mundane as a dandelion calls out to children seeking gifts for mommy.

The thing about flowers is that they are temporary, God’s performance art. Even the most stunningly beautiful varieties will give up the ghost, petals falling to the ground in dried shells of their former splendor. But when they pass on they also drop seeds into the earth. They must give up their glory in order to reproduce more glory.

Dandelions may be called weeds, but, oh my, are they interesting. The seeds are produced without pollination, resulting in offspring that are genetically identical to the parent plant. Now when a dandelion ‘dies’, it creates an ethereal display of ghostly seed-carrying parachutes. It uses the winds to carry its seeds through the heavens across the earth to finally land in fertile soil far away. The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit.

As we wrap up our meditations from “The Forgotten Way” recall all we learned of our Father and our position in His Family. Remember we have the mind of Christ, and are risen with Him. Remember that we are made in the likeness of God, restored to Him through Jesus, and have aligned ourselves with the Father by surrendering all that blocks our sight of our true self in him. Jesus called us to deny ourselves, take up our cross and follow him.

Just as a new dandelion is in the image of the original, so are we in God. Yet all this glory, beauty, hope and love is meant to be shared with others. We cannot share what we hold tightly. We must let go: of our offenses, rights, positions and possessions. Trust in the infinite completeness and goodness of our Dad to meet our needs as we let go in order to serve.

Then in our ‘death’ we spread the seeds of Hope until all things are changed, reconciled and become new.

Philippians 2:1-13

1 Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, 2 then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. 3 Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, 4 not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

5 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:
6 Who, being in very nature God,
did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
7 rather, he made himself nothing
by taking the very nature of a servant,
being made in human likeness.
8 And being found in appearance as a man,
he humbled himself
by becoming obedient to death—
even death on a cross!
9 Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
and gave him the name that is above every name,
10 that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
11 and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
to the glory of God the Father.
12 Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, 13 for it is God who works in you to will and to act in order to fulfill his good purpose.

I was thinking about the beautiful majesty of the Lord, as displayed in creation. We go on long walks to see the beauty of His holiness in the trees, on the ocean waves, sunsets, sunrises, majestic peaks and in the heavens. And so we should, for in the very beginning God created; and He said it was good. But what was the crowning achievement of all His artistry? The one piece that He declared was VERY good? He created mankind in His image, and His image He created them, male and female He created them, and He said it was VERY good.

So why do we always want to escape mankind to see his glory and majesty? Why can’t we see it in the creation that walks among us? Why can’t we see it in the mirror?

We fight to restore nature back to its beauty, save the whales, seals and turtles from extinction. But can we see the beautiful people who need to be restored to their Father through Christ? To the beauty of their original design?

Yes, there are times to commune with God by enjoying His creative environment. But what if we tried actively looking for the beauty in the only creation that was meant to be His image-bearer. What would we understand about His majesty then?

Psalm 145:5

5 They speak of the glorious splendor of your majesty—

and I will meditate on your wonderful works.

2 Corinthians 6:16-18

16 What agreement is there between the temple of God and idols? For we are the temple of the living God. As God has said:

“I will live with them

and walk among them,

and I will be their God,

and they will be my people…

18 And,

“I will be a Father to you,

and you will be my sons and daughters,

says the Lord Almighty.”

2 Corinthians 5:16-21

16 So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. 17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! 18 All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and GAVE US the ministry of reconciliation: 19 that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 20 We are therefore Christ’s AMBASSADORS, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. 21 God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Week 42 Finding Superman

“Let go of all you thought you were to discover who you truly are, and so walk this earth in peace and power as the son or the daughter of God.” (Ted Dekker, The Forgotten Way Study Guide, p.151)

In John 14-17 Jesus speaks of His Name, our oneness with Him, and the glory He has given to us so that the world may know that the Father loves.

All this loveliness is wrapped up in His Name. But what’s in a name? “That which we call a rose

By any other name would smell as sweet.” Right? But flowers aren’t people.

My Dad had a stroke one and a half years ago. While the Lord has done beautiful things to restore some things, his mental state (and the fact he is in assisted living) precludes handling his own money. So I have power of attorney and some joint accounts with Him so that I can pay his bills. As his daughter I can sign my name and it counts as his.

One day, after my brothers and I had a hard weekend cleaning out his house, he told us to celebrate the completion with a nice dinner out. When the waitress came with the bill and asked who to give it to, both my brothers pointed to me and said ‘Dad.’ I pulled out my joint-account card and paid. As ‘Dad’, I had authority to draw on his account, my brothers eagerly accepting Dad’s kindness.

Romans 8:18-25 speaks of how the earth longs for the Sons and Daughters of God to be revealed.

In the Kingdom of Heaven, I am not merely PJ or Pauline, I am Pauline bat Yahweh. Pauline daughter of the LORD of Heaven and earth. And in reading John, I have been given power of attorney to handle His affairs here on earth. The whole earth is waiting for ‘Superman’ and we, the people of His Name, are It.

Week 41 Enemies and Friends

Whoa… The following verse is hard to swallow. As a matter of fact I usually skim right over 26 to verse 27 (the ‘carry their cross’ part) as though that would be easier than hating my family. Maybe I don’t really get the full truth in what v27 means either.

Luke 14:26-27

26 “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. 27 And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.

Last week I was learning to love my enemies; this week I am learning to ‘hate’ my family and friends?! The only similarity I see in these two thoughts is that they both come down to trusting my Father’s Love for and through me.

On the one hand, FEAR of harm causes me to protect myself instead of loving unconditionally. I take up my cross when I let go of my rights to resist, attack and protect myself, in favor of His right to love my enemies (including even myself) through me.

On the other hand, FEAR of loss causes me to cling too tightly to a loved one instead of clinging to Jesus. I would be wrong to call my addictive clinging Love, but rather finding my identity in others instead of Christ.

Now I happen to know that perfect Love casts out all fear, so…

Still, that word, ‘hate’… actually that word in Hebrew thought is more like ‘hold of no account.’ In looking at Matthew 10, I get some clarity…

Matthew 10:37-39

37 Anyone who loves their father or mother MORE THAN ME is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter MORE THAN ME is not worthy of me. 38 Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it.

This isn’t a salvation message; it is a discipleship message. That means if I want to be His disciple, a good representative of Him on earth, I need to think in this way.

I can choose to cling tightly to my family, and hate the people who hurt me, but I will experience more pain in this life if I don’t let it all go. Not to mention the harm it will do them in the long-run.

I choose free-falling trust in Jesus so that I can freely release my enemies from my judgments and my loved-ones from my expectations.

Because His Right Hand, Jesus, has purchased my salvation, I will praise Him with the rest of creation.

May my new song rise with wings to the heavens.

Psalm 98

1 

Sing to the Lord a new song,

for he has done marvelous things;

his right hand and his holy arm

have worked salvation for him.

2 

The Lord has made his salvation known

and revealed his righteousness to the nations.

3 

He has remembered his love

and his faithfulness to Israel;

all the ends of the earth have seen

the salvation of our God.

4 

Shout for joy to the Lord, all the earth,

burst into jubilant song with music;

5 

make music to the Lord with the harp,

with the harp and the sound of singing,

6 

with trumpets and the blast of the ram’s horn—

shout for joy before the Lord, the King.

7 

Let the sea resound, and everything in it,

the world, and all who live in it.

8 

Let the rivers clap their hands,

let the mountains sing together for joy;

9 

let them sing before the Lord,

for he comes to judge the earth.

He will judge the world in righteousness

and the peoples with equity.

Week 40 Enemies and Friends

It does not matter who said it -Gandhi, Kahlil Gibran, Martin Luther King or Tevyeh- “An eye for an eye will leave everyone blind” is still a Truth. If Jesus came to give sight to the blind why do WE insist on causing our enemies’ blindness through vengeance, retaliation and self-justification?

At what point do we live out the words of 1Corinthians 13? Or take to heart Jesus’ beatitudes shared only a few verses earlier in Matthew 5? When exactly is the best time to humble ourselves as the Lord of the Universe did, if not when we are most tempted to exalt ourselves over someone else?

Jesus didn’t say it was easy to follow His path, but He did say He would be with us on our cross-bearing journey.

Matthew 5:38-42

You have heard that it was said, ‘Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.’ But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to them the other cheek also. And if anyone wants to sue you and take your shirt, hand over your coat as well. If anyone forces you to go one mile, go with them two miles. Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you.

Week 39 Giving is Receiving

As much as I give to the least person, I give to Jesus. In taking care of His business, He pays me back. He, Himself, will never be indebted to me. So I can take a chance on Giving extravagantly, as He does for me. I just can’t outgive God.

If anyone is poor among your fellow Israelites in any of the towns of the land the LORD your God is giving you, do not be hardhearted or tightfisted toward them. Rather, be OPENHANDED and FREELY lend them whatever they need. Be careful not to harbor this wicked thought: “The seventh year, the year for canceling debts, is near,” so that you do not show ill will toward the needy among your fellow Israelites and give them nothing. They may then appeal to the LORD against you, and you will be found guilty of sin. GIVE GENEROUSLY to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God WILL BLESS YOU in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be OPENHANDED toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.
Deuteronomy 15:7-11

Freely you receive, freely give.
Matthew 10:8

Behold, I (Jesus) am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to each one according to the merit of his deeds (earthly works, faithfulness). I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End [the Eternal One].
Revelation 22:12-13