Sometimes we live in darkness. We suffer and it’s hard. We mentally accept God’s grace and His love for us, but in our heart we remain untouched. Pain saturates everything it seems. We seem to go through the motions, but deep down we’re convinced that we’ll never find the light that so many claim to have.
Since I have a disability I realize I learn things others won’t grasp. I’m learning to embrace the waves that push me to the rock–the Rock of ages. I suppose when I meet Him I’ll understand why it had to be so.
My hope is real. Heaven is home. My pain will be healed.
There is a language of heaven spoken, and those who have suffered speak a dialect of that. Just as someone from Georgia communicates English, their dialect is obvious. The same for those who live in pain. We speak the same, but differently.
Pain sometimes saturates our lives.
We live with something that is persistent, and our hope is a day when it’s all over. Psalm 88 becomes our Psalm. Nothing here is sugar-coated. It is raw and unabridged. It puts our pain under a microscope. That Psalm is entirely yours.
“For my soul is full of troubles, and my life draws near to Sheol. I am counted among those who go down to the pit; I am a man who has no strength,”
Psalm 88:3-4
“I am certain that I never did grow in grace one-half so much anywhere as I have upon the bed of pain.”
Once I was punched in the face while preaching. At the time I was an evangelist with SOS Ministries in 1987. I was leading a group to Haight/Ashbury St. in San Francisco. I remember it was really busy, and it was a good team, and they were excited to take their church to the streets.
Haight/Ashbury was the place the “summer of love” kicked off, it peaked in 1968. It has a certain sense of notoriety, and even in 1983 it still had a dubious reputation as a center of the counter-culture. “A cult a day is born in San Francisco,” a pastor friend once shared with me.
Normally the neighborhood where I took a team would direct me on how to preach. Tonight especially I focused on God’s love for sinful people.
That message seemed appropriate for this place, especially on this street. God loves these people very much.
A young man came forward. He told me that he was a backslidden Christian, and his father was an Assembly of God pastor. He had run away from home. Suddenly he began to weep. The entire team seemed to lean forward and I know they were praying earnestly for him. It seemed to me that he was teetering on the brink.
His punch however came unexpectedly.
His fist hit me square in the nose. My eyes began to water. Oddly enough he took a step back and began to really cry out. My team wasn’t quite sure how to respond, but I hoped they prayed even harder. I sort of gasped and tried to shake it off. Someone must have called the police.
The Holy Spirit was very much present, both convicting and comforting each of us.
One or two minutes went by and suddenly he stopped sobbing and he became really angry. He took a step and then tried to kick me in the stomach, but I dropped the mic and caught his foot. I was ready for him this time.
About 20 minutes went by before SFPD showed up and asked if I wanted to press charges. I thought for a bit, but deep down I knew that wasn’t the will of my Father. Maybe I should of, I don’t know. But I thought about my own sin and couldn’t judge no one.
The Father was reaching him while teaching me!
God loves His prodigal children very much, He understands the guilt and shame (and frustration) they feel. The Father however is always watching and waiting. He works through life’s circumstances to lead them home. Each belongs to Him. He continues far past what we think is possible. He will never give up.
“We know what real love is because Jesus gave up his life for us. So we also ought to give up our lives for our brothers and sisters.”
1 John 3:16
I suddenly saw a “wounded” brother, very confused and quite angry. Not with me, the team, or the music–but with God who created him, and died for him.
At that moment in time, I just happened to be God’s love for this prodigal.
“With joy you will draw water from the wells of salvation.”
Isaiah 12:3, ESV
One of the clearest explanations of a believer’s salvation is a well of clear sweet water. A well is a combination of effort and grace. A well must be dug, but it’s nothing without water. It’s work but it’s grace. You can dig 1000 feet, but without hitting water it’s all in vain.
The walk of a disciple depends on the Holy Spirit. When we’re filled with Him, our life becomes supernatural. Without the presence, we stagger through the arid desert, and that means desperation. We get terribly thirsty when we can no longer draw from the “wells of salvation.”
And of course, there is a twist when our enemy attacks.
Our wells must be protected. We dare not get complacent. The Word takes us back to when the sworn enemy, the Philistines came against Isaac, but not with spears or chariots. They had a tactic, and it seemed to work surprisingly well.
In Genesis 26, we can read how it all goes down.
“So, the Philistines filled up all of Isaac’s wells with dirt. These were the wells that had been dug by the servants of his father, Abraham.”
Gen. 26:15
Isaac’s wells are filled with dirt. They’re unusable, and the water was no longer available to water his flocks. Now water is everything. Without water, Isaac was forced to move to another location. His flocks needed a well.
A little background:
God had blessed Isaac in the middle of a severe famine. Genesis 26 explains the wealth of Isaac. What he planted he reaped 100-fold. His flocks multiplied, and all because of the Lord’s favor. (Gen. 26:12-14)
The account tells us that the Philistines were envious and jealous. They coveted his wealth. They hated Isaac, and that was filling up the wells of water with dirt. (Some suggest that these wells would be purposefully contaminated with rotting animals.)
The water-rights were constantly being challenged out of jealousy. At least four wells were filled up by the Philistines. Their efforts were disturbing but quite effective.
I’ve been thinking about my own “well.”
I know the enemy hates me; I’m certain of that. He wants to destroy me. My well of salvation is Satan’s target. I guess he works on shutting it down, and even works on contaminating my well.
The last two weeks I’ve started to doubt my salvation. Being 65 now I think about death and standing before the throne and being judged by the Lord. I hear the whispers of the accuser and I get frightened.
But I somehow keep standing.
I then think of God’s promises. And that’s when I break out my shovel and keep my salvation open. I regularly need to do this. I have encouragers who speak into my life, (if I listen).
God’s supernatural power is given, and I discern the enemy. I must keep my salvation open and full of water. I need a good shovel.
The living water of God will never run dry. It fully satisfies my thirsty soul.
“Whoever believes in me, as Scripture has said, rivers of living water will flow from within them.”
“But his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”
Psalm 1:2
In Psalm 1:2 the Hebrew word for meditation is hagah. In this Psalm we have a contrast between the blessed and the “not-so-blessed,” and it commands that as Jesus’ followers that we process the reality of this to become blessed by our Father.
In Psalm 1:1 the word blessed is used, and actually just in the book is Psalms alone blessed is used 51 times. The word has a very simple and concise meaning: “to be happy.” I really don’t think we can minimize how important it is to be happy.
In 1:2 we read hagah or meditate. That Hebrew word is a little bit more complicated and it seems more nuanced than “blessed.”
Hagah, or meditate means:
to chew a cud like a cow
to growl like a lion who is eating an antelope
to moan or groan
to talk to oneself, or mutter or whisper
finally, it can mean to muse or imagine
Yeah, it’s an interesting word and I suppose all of these meanings are to be factored into meditation [hagah]. It seems that these five definitions shape the different meanings that go into our understanding.
Using the above definitions, this is how it might look:
sometimes I regurgitate the word like a cow chewing its cud
at times I attack it like a lion
I moan and groan as I wrestle with it, seeking for a handhold
thinking about the passage I talk to myself about its meaning
I imagine being there, sometimes it’s like I’m a “fly-on-the-wall”
When we come to God’s words, the Bible, we are required to assimilate all that the Holy Spirit graciously gives. When He gives us something from the Word we must apply it to ourselves. You can do this through any of the 5 definitions I’ve given.
The Holy Spirit is the One who ignites His Word into our hearts. He makes us glow for His glory.
“This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.”
“They stand before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands,”
Rev. 7:9, ESV
We fail to grasp the essence of grace and its significance.
When we speak about grace, we must define it. First, grace is a free gift and kindness from God that people do not earn or deserve. When we appropriate grace as believers we understand that it gives us the power and gifts to live biblically and faithfully. We see that grace is given for both salvation and service.
Sometimes we forget this. I wonder sometimes if we’re ‘allergic’ to God’s grace.
We fall into the trap of work and legalism! I often lose sight of my true identity before a holy God, as unmerited favor tragically tries to become merited favor. This is not biblical; it is a distortion of the truth!
OK. What about repentance? We must understand that we’re called to renounce our sin and utterly turn from it. You are called to live holy and free. When Jesus met the adulteress who was about to be stoned, He forgave her, but He also commanded her:
“Jesus stood up and said to her, “Woman, where are they? Has no one condemned you?” 11 She said, “No one, Lord.” And Jesus said, “Neither do I condemn you; go, and from now on sin no more.”
John 8:10-11
The whole incident was grace, and this woman was receiving the unmerited favor of Jesus. She deserved death, she should have been stoned. But the first thing after her salvation was to live differently. This was a command to turn away from the sin which was going to destroy her.
I’m amazed by this grace.
Remember the thief hanging on the cross, consider the prodigal son, or the tax man Zaccheus. All three intrigue me as they found favor without meeting our own definition of repentance. Salvation seems to come by grace through faith alone.
Perhaps grace includes both faith and repentance? I must think about this more.
Brennan Manning compassionately comments on God’s grace:
“Because salvation is by grace through faith, I believe that among the countless number of people standing in front of the throne and in front of the Lamb, dressed in white robes and holding palms in their hands.
I shall see the prostitute from the Kit-Kat Ranch in Carson City, Nevada, who tearfully told me that she could find no other employment to support her two-year-old son.
I shall see the woman who had an abortion and is haunted by guilt and remorse but did the best she could faced with grueling alternatives; the businessman besieged with debt who sold his integrity in a series of desperate transactions; the insecure clergyman addicted to being liked, who never challenged his people from the pulpit and longed for unconditional love.
The sexually abused teen molested by his father and now selling his body on the street, who, as he falls asleep each night after his last ‘trick’, whispers the name of the unknown God he learned about in Sunday school.
‘But how?’ We should ask.
Then the voice says, ‘They have washed their robes and have made them white in the blood of the Lamb.’
There they are. There we are – the multitude who so wanted to be faithful, who at times got defeated, soiled by life, and bested by trials, wearing the bloodied garments of life’s tribulations, but through it all clung to faith.
My friends, if this is not good news to you, you have never understood the gospel of grace.”
“Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints,
19 and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel, 20 for which I am an ambassador in chains, that I may declare it boldly, as I ought to speak.”
Eph. 6:18-20, ESV
I am convinced that our most challenging work is learning to pray. Whenever we experience revival, whenever we rediscover our true calling and purpose for living, we do so by prayer. Prayer isn’t the way to get things, it’s how we change.
Prayer is the way we become like Jesus.
Satan’s primary focus is to destroy our prayer lives, he works to eliminate our communion with our Father. He detests that, and he and his demons (and the world system) work overtime to tear down our walk. The enemy concentrates everything on our prayer life.
This passage (v.v. 18-20) emphasizes several truths about prayer. If you take apart these you’ll discover how to shape and direct your ‘time on your knees.’ Notice the following.
There are four “alls” used in verse 18, and they must be understood.
All times
All prayer
All perseverance
All the saints
If we go further we see that the word “all” in Greek, (although it’s a simple adjective), gets used 1245 times in the Bible. It can mean:
all manner of
the whole or entirety
everything, or the totality of
completely
With this in mind we see that Paul stresses the complete effort of prayer and its focus. All the time, every kind, no matter what and for your brother and sisters in Christ need. It’s work, spiritual work. It seems that once we put the armor on (verses 10-17) we can stand in God’s own strength. It’s from that we start to learn prayer.
It’s not enough to wear your armor. There’s something you must do wearing it.
If we’re clothed in armor it’s pretty much for the exclusive purpose of prayer. Yes we must dress for war and protection, true, but its ultimate purpose is prayer and intercession. Don’t just wear it but pray out of it. It’ll be work, but you must do this, even if you sweat. You must strive in prayer, so much is counting on you.
You can make a difference.
The Church is counting on you. “Paul,” (symbolizing all pastors and elders, teachers and leaders), absolutely need your prayers. We need boldness, and we need grace and love, and only God can give it, if you’ll only intercede for us.
God will do nothing unless you start to pray. He’s waiting for you to ask. He wants you to intercede for others.
It will not be easy. The enemy wants to suppress your prayer life. He absolutely hates it. Satan wants to see you passive and dull and you cannot let him do this. You have a very critical part and place in God’s kingdom. Perhaps others are waiting for you, and perhaps you’re the only one who can step in the gap for them.
You’ve been given a part of God’s field to care for, you have your own sphere of influence. No one else has it, but you.
There many different ways to pray:
On your knees
walking
standing or sitting
vocally, or in your focused thoughts
with others, a group
using a prayer list, (very helpful).
“arrow” prayers, (those with 1-2 sentences that end up in His throne room).
using the Psalms or reading the many prayers in the Bible
(I know there are many more, but these are what comes to mind right now.)
There’s a “school” of prayer and the Holy Spirit intends to teach you.
Don’t play hooky. You’ll make mistakes or perhaps lose focus. The Spirit will teach you holy stamina. You might pray for one or two minutes at first, but it’ll grow and you’ll learn endurance. Remember though–you’re most like Jesus when you start to intercede for others.
Just maybe your sanctification will come when you start to pray?
“You need not cry very loud; he is nearer to us than we think.”
10 Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might. 11 Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil.
12 For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places.
Eph. 6:10-12, NASB
Paul tells us that discerning the cosmic forces of wickedness is now critical. If we choose to ignore his words and make them optional, we will become spiritual toast. We need to hear reality. We want to be told the truth. And the truth is that we’re neck deep in spiritual alligators.
Point blank: We were each born for battle. Every believer must wear armor.
This passage in Ephesians 6 stresses that there is something sinister, an organized force, something evil, a darkness that’s focused directly on us. Verse 12 unveils to us a veritable government of wickedness. Satan leads his demons out with the intention of confusing believers and destroying holiness.
We also need to understand that human beings have a terrible knack of walking in their sin, and also by being manipulated by evil forces. Human history bears this out. We have a lousy track record. Without the Spirit we will be lost and destroyed by our own darkness.
Christians are to see life very differently than others do.
Ephesians 6 teaches us to find strength in being connected with God, which is critical to walk through in this confusing darkness. By prioritizing our relationship with Him, we can draw upon His strength and a sincere faith to navigate through all of this.
Without intimacy there is no obedience and there can be no real victory.
You must come to him humbly and holy, and sit before Him and listen, learn and love. And that is the major step in true holiness. Being controlled by Him means when you need to, you can stand and deliver damage to Satan’s kingdom.
You’ll be leading angels in this terrible battle! They have their swords drawn and are quite capable. Remember that this is a spiritual war–not physical. Your attack must be fought on your knees. And angels, they’re watching and listening to you as you pray. They are God’s messengers to protect you.
Satan presses us hard through redirection and forgetfulness of who we are.
Without the humble intimacy that can only grow on prayer and Bible reading, we will be spiritually destroyed. We need the protection of the Presence. Please don’t forget this; you need Jesus more today than yesterday. You must come closer. He will help you.
You see, your only hope is in Jesus’ strength and intimate love for you.
We must reach for our power and grab upon this intense love. We can only become strong through our intimacy with Jesus. He shields us from the spiritual corruption that swirls all around us. As we draw to Him we become mighty, as we listen closely to the Holy Spirit, we will walk in true discipleship with Jesus.
You will hear Him speak clearly to you, perhaps when you actively push to do His will than your own.
“We are a long time in learning that all our strength and salvation is in God.”
“We must quickly carry out the tasks assigned us by the one who sent us. The night is coming, and then no one can work.”
John 9:4, NLT
To be quick means that we move very fast; being slow often implies a reluctance or a mental delay. To hesitate while doing God’s will for us suggests a degree of ignorance or stubbornness. Our quickness is to be seen while doing “the tasks assigned to us.”
Urgency should be woven into our hearts. We need to have wings on our feet, fleet, and alacrity. A “double eagerness” as we carry out His work. It should be of no surprise that God sets before us an itinerary of work He wants us to do. We have a schedule to keep work that needs us to be diligent and sure.
So many brothers and sisters sleepwalk through their salvation. They snooze when Jesus desires they “watch and pray” with Him.
Jesus was on a timetable. He communicated with the need to do it. He is in tune with the work of God and is involved in the urgency of his present moment. Jesus knows this, and he clearly communicates the need to do. We are not called to be manic for Jesus; we are expected to be alert and aware. And busy.
This is a cry for urgency to his disciples.
“The night is coming.” It is getting late. In response Jesus issues an order. Work at what the Father has assigned you. It is almost dark now. There is a “principle of spiritual velocity” calling us to an alertness and an awareness of needful things to do before “the time is up.”
In Acts 9 the disciples show a holy zeal in their day’s work. “We can’t stop speaking what we have seen and heard.” The Old Testament prophets carried this urgency–Jeremiah and Amos both declared to us this avidity placed on the believer. Jesus desires that we factor in this intense awareness of the approaching night.
“We should be holy people eager to greet our Lord when He returns, ready at any moment for the trumpet’s call, people of optimism, busy in evangelism, hands to the plow, eyes on the prize.”
I recently read about an evangelist in the last century. He had a watch made, and on the dial, he had a picture of a setting sun. And over it, the words, “the night comes.” Every time he looked at his watch, he would be reminded of the shortness of life and the need for the performance of his duty. That lesson should be transmitted to each zealous believer.
The key word I guess, in all of this, is zeal. Often the older we get the more this word becomes diminished, and distant. (I believe our Father understands this about us.) No matter what we do, He focuses His love on us. There will never be condemnation for us. But we can still waste our lives in a tragic way, which we will later regret.
But we have to ask ourselves this, will I just be an admirer, or can I become a zealous disciple of Christ?
The secret of the Christian’s passion is simple: Everything we do in life we do it as to the Lord and not to men.
The subject of “the pool at Bethesda” alludes to the Thorton Wilder play, “The Angel that Troubled the Waters.”
The play tells of a physician who comes to the pool of Bethesda, hoping to see the stir, and then be the first in the water, and healed of his debilitating depression. An angel appears and troubles the water. Everybody at the pool hopes to be the first one in and to be healed of their disability.
An angel appears and blocks a physician at the very moment he is about to step into the pool and be healed.
Angel: “Drawback, physician, this moment is not for you.”
Physician: “Angelic visitor, I pray thee, listen to my prayer.
Angel: “This healing dear physician, is not for you.”
Physician: “Surely, surely, the angels are wise. Surely, O Prince, you are not deceived by my apparent wholeness. Your eyes can see the nets in which my wings are caught; the sin into which all my endeavors sink half-performed, cannot be concealed from you.”
Angel: “I know.”
Physician: “Oh, in such an hour was I born, and doubly fearful to me is the flaw in my heart. Must I drag my shame, Prince and Singer, all my days more bowed than my neighbor?”
“It is your very sadness that makes your low voice tremble into the hearts of men. The very angels themselves, cannot persuade the wretched, and blundering children on earth, as can one human being broken on the wheels of living.
“In Love’s service, only the wounded soldiers can serve. Drawback.”
Later, the person who enters the pool first, and was healed rejoices in his good fortune, then turns to the physician before leaving and says:
“But come with me first, an hour only, to my home. My son is lost in dark thoughts. I — I do not understand him, and only you have ever lifted his mood.”
“Only an hour… my daughter… since her child has died, sits in the shadow. She will not listen to us, but she will listen to you.”
The play pierces me with this line— “Without your wound where would your power be?“ That thought causes me to look at my many weaknesses with an entirely different perspective.
Paul’s teachings offer us a powerful revelation: it is through our weaknesses that we can authentically minister to others, just as Jesus did by going to the cross. This priniple slowly permeates my understanding, and emphasizes the reasons behind my weaknesses.
Paul boldly declares that it is the very things we perceive as weak that have the potential to cultivate strength and truth within us and to others. It is my sincere hope that the ministry of alaskabibleteacher.com will impact lives by declaring this.
I hope so anyway. Please pray for me. I desperately need it.
I first encountered this excerpt in the book, “Abba’s Child: The Cry of the Heart for Intimate Belonging,” by Brennan Manning. The book is a worthy read, and worth finding if you can. The play is based on the biblical verses of John 5:1-4, however, it changes the end of the parable. The play is fictitious.
“For a whole year they met with the church and taught a great many people. And in Antioch the disciples were first called Christians.”
Acts 11:26, ESV
Some have suggested that the word “Christian” (grk. christianos) was meant as a slur or insult. It meant little Christs, or mini-Christs. Perhaps that was the best the unbelievers came up with. They identified believers in Jesus and slapped a label on them that was supposed to mock and demean them.
But guess what? The early Christians loved it!
The disciples very quickly adopted it as a great explanation of their new identity. It became a badge of honor. The early Church of disciples became known as little Christs. This now identified them, and they wholeheartedly embraced this new nickname.
From all that I’ve read I see Antioch as a pretty interesting place. It was a city of almost 300,000 people and it had some major Roman temples, and amphitheatres. The city was fully entrenched in the economy and military of the empire. Antioch was regarded as the eastern capital of Rome.
After heavy persecution in Jerusalem, Christians moved north and made Antioch their home base.
This verse (Acts 11:26) tells us that Paul spent a considerable amount of time there teaching the church. After a generation or two, Ignatius of Antioch took over leadership of the Church. By 390 AD the city had almost 200,000 believers!
I’m not sure why, but the word “Christian” is only used 3x in the N.T. (Go figure?) Just maybe the letters of Paul and Peter predated the new label? IDK.
“Every Christian is to become a little Christ. The whole purpose of becoming a Christian is simply nothing else.”
C.S. Lewis
To be a mini-Christ is a pretty profound calling. I think of the 12 being sent out by Jesus to heal and announce the arrival of His kingdom in a new way. In essence they duplicated Jesus’ ministry. (Matthew 10:5.) The more we know Him, the more like Christ we become. (Matthew 11:29.)
Now don’t get me wrong, we are definitely NOT little gods. No way! We are simply broken people who battle sin and must be filled with the Holy Spirit constantly. (Acts 13:52.) In no way, shape, or form are we anything more than human.
And yet we also are little-Christs!
His Spirit comes when, in our neediness we make room for Him in our hearts and minds, and simply ask in faith. Your faith must be humble, and never ever, be proud or arrogant. We are called to reveal the heart of Jesus to an unbelieving world.
Persecution, in its different intensities, will also be present for mini-Christs. Jesus repeatedly warned us to expect it.
“I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”
John 16:33, ESV
So where do we go from here? Mother Teresa once said, “Calcuttas are everywhere if only we have eyes to see. Find your Calcutta.” It’s probably closer than you’ve ever imagined. Open your eyes and receive the reality of being a little-Christ sent out into this world.
