God's Intimacy

Intimate is defined as, “marked by very close association, contact, or familiarity...marked by a warm friendship developing through long association”

It was in July of 2003 and ... Having a “testimony” became a buzz phrase at Gethsemane Church of Christ where we were serving as Music and Worship Minister. I recall a young man that had given his testimony with drugs, alcohol, and sex gone wild. Yet, he had found Jesus, quit his police job and now was going to do great things for the Kingdom by going to Bible College. Everyone was impressed and celebrated his new found faith. Our Senior Minister ask me to coach him and help him prepare a sermon to preach on a Sunday Morning. What? It was my job to preach for the senior minister when he was on vacation. Needless to say, my ego was a little bruised.

The young Christian chose the text of the Prodigal Son. He had a good, solid text and sermon. Yet, I was uneasy and feeling “moody” about it. God was doing something in me, that I was not even aware needed to be dealt with.

As the young Christian developed his sermon, I began to have feelings of being scorned. I had thoughts such as, I have never done the “bad” things he has done and I have never left God or the church. I do not have a testimony that people would even care to listen to.  A spiritual reality check was needed.

I found time and took a day in solitude and prayer to seek God's guidance. I discovered the text known as the prodigal son is truly about the Father. I did not have a wow-factor testimony. I am the older brother working and laboring for the father and striving to please my Father-God so that His Kingdom would grow and expand as He saw fit. I was also feeling left out because the crowds I served and loved was cheering a young man that had squandered all the years of labor in his early life.

God used this experience to love on me and demonstrate to me a new awareness of God's intimacy that truly amazed me then and still amazes me today. In Luke 15:31, God reveals His intimacy for those who do not wander away from the fold. The father tells his older son, “you are always with me, and everything I have is yours.” I heard the love in God's voice as I read the text over and over. Everything God has is mine for the asking. It is not a “maybe if” question, but a statement of intimacy.

The Father says, “You have always been with me and I love you my son, everything you can see is yours.” As the tensions melts between father and son, God looks into the eyes of His creation and says “how can we not celebrate, your brother has come home?” I was changed and I was being prepared for one of the hardest events I would ever be asked to face.

1^st John 3:16 states: “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.” Having an intimacy with God is not about having a testimony, but having a relationship. Intimacy with God is about loving the father and allowing the Father to return that love.

Do you know God's intimacy?

I Can't See From Here!!!

1 Corinthians 13:12, “For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.”

Although one’s personal horizon is limited, Jesus is higher than us. Having already experienced death and having risen again, Jesus’ vision extends beyond what any one person can see.

The spiritual principle is very simple. The higher a man goes, the farther a man can see. Jesus has ascended above highest heaven. He sees further than us all. He sees the abundance of God’s blessing that lies waiting for us, just beyond our personal horizon. He calls us to sail beyond our horizon so we may experience the fullness of God’s promises.

What prevents a person from responding to Jesus’ call to follow him beyond the horizon of what we can see? One thing is fear, of course. But another hindrance can be complacency.

We do not sail beyond the horizon of our own experience because we are too easily satisfied by what we have. Jesus's horizon states:

“Blessed are you who are poor,” Jesus says. “But woe to you who are rich.”

“Blessed are you who are hungry,” Jesus says. “But woe to you who are full now.”

“Blessed are you who weep now,” Jesus says. “But woe to you who are laughing now.”

This is startling and unsettling. What is blessed about poverty, hunger, and weeping? And what is so bad about wealth, being well-fed and happy? Is Jesus just threatening those of us who live with great abundance? How can this be when our very abundance is a gift from God, a very expression of God’s blessing?

Perhaps Jesus is giving us a warning. “Watch out! Don’t become complacent in the abundance this world has to offer.” Jesus may be saying. “Don’t let material blessing keep you from sailing over the horizon of your personal experience to discover the even greater blessing God has prepared for you from before the foundation of the world.”

What greater blessing can there be than a warm house, a refrigerator full of food, and a good hearty laugh? What greater blessing can there be than personal material abundance?

Who knows? Jesus knows. Jesus knows because he sees beyond the horizon of our personal experience. The risk is that “you who are rich,” and “you who are full,” and “you who are laughing now” may grow complacent.

What a shame if we who have grown complacent spend our lives sailing in a small little narrow circle within the limits of what we know. What if we ignore Jesus’ call to us to sail beyond our horizon? What if we never sail beyond the horizon of what we know, to discover the spiritual abundance of which we could never dream?

Jesus calls us to dream beyond our limited vision and horizon...He call us to care, to give, and to love. So, let us seek to see beyond our limited view.

You know I love ya, Don

Seeking the Mission Impossible!!!

“[Ask, Seek, Knock] “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.” Matthew 7:7-8 NIV

This morning in worship service, we talked about the power of the Holy Spirit. We ask and seek, yet, we do not truly ask for what God is seeking in us. In the above Matthew text, we see Jesus telling us to ask and seek, and the door will truly be open. R.A. Burridge is his book, "Imitating Jesus" states, "Since the Gospels are a portrait of a person, they must be interpreted with a biographical focus upon their subject, Jesus of Nazareth." So, if Jesus is telling us to "ask" and it will be given and "knock" and the door will be opened, it seems reasonable we should....so in view of what Jesus is and what is revealed in His biography...what are we asking? where are we knocking?

A Christ-follower who truly desires to serve the Christ "he/she" loves will discover Jesus and the "person" Jesus is by briefly discovering the biography of Jesus' character in His compassion, His sacrifice and His love for people. Jesus' character was about a driving purpose. That purpose was to live a life of compassion, heal the sick and hurting, and give of his life. Jesus' sacrifice was all inclusive for a fallen creation. He was and is our sacrificial lamb. He was the holy, spotless lamb that was given in our place so that death could be removed forever. Finally, Jesus' love was and is still pleading our case so that we might not stand trial for the death we deserve. He was willing to take on our punishment because of His love for us.

Could it be that we do not have the faith to truly ask or knock. This is not about a wealth gospel, but truly in serving the God we profess to love and want to serve. Yesterday the statement was made, "when we seek the spiritual we forget to seek the One who specializes in the impossible." I could not agree more. God will reveal himself to us in service when we are in prayer and seeking His kingdom. It is then we discover the true nature of Jesus and then we want to give of our hearts, minds, and strength in connecting people to Jesus.

Thus, we seek and knock from the truth of love, redemption, and sacrifice by appealing to the God of mission impossible. We appeal to the God who specializes in the impossible. God is able to bring everything to perfect completion.

So, let me ask you,
"What are you asking and to whom are you asking?" "On what door are you knocking?"

I seek His kingdom so that we might all experience the impossible. Won't you join me? You know I love ya, Don

Glimpses of Truth...high above the earth!

LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. Psalm 8:1

Welcome August 2011. My desire and prayer for this month is, "Open My eyes that I may see, glimpses of truth God has for me." I don't travel by plane very often. When I do, I never grow tired of looking out the window of the airplane. Since most of my flights are to and from the same cities, the landscape I see is not unfamiliar, yet I have trouble recognizing the landscape from such a different view. Now matter from what view, sunrises and sunsets are never the same, particularly when viewed from the air, above the clouds.

As I think about clouds and how different they look from the air, it occurs to me that I am not physically designed to see clouds from above. I am able to because, through the achievements of modern aviation, I can go where I was not intended to go and see the earth from a different perspective, more like God's perspective.

Through His marvelous grace, I realize that when I fight my daily battles on earth and cannot see past them or deal with them effectively, I can step back and try to look at my life from God's perspective. He is like a strong jet seen from above, and ALSO very intricately involved in my life. The best of both perspectives. Then I perceive my situation differently -- sometimes as different as clouds look from above. God knows the overall scheme of things. From God's perspective, the particular battle I am fighting may not be so big after all...in fact I may be winning a new level of blessing and growth greater than I could even ask for.

"Dear Lord, open my eyes and may I see you and may other see you in me. Amen"

You know I love ya, Don