Devoted to Jesus

As I continue to walk and grow in the intimate knowledge of the Lord Jesus, I realize what a powerful figure Mary of Bethany is in human history.

There's a lot I could share on this but will keep it brief this week and touch on three simple realities about Mary:

• First, she had obviously been so captivated by the Man Jesus that nothing could budge her from the place of being at His feet. (If you look very closely at her life, you begin to get a little idea of the enormous pressure she fhad to stand up under in order to stay in this place of full devotion and dependence on Him - there was societal pressure, religious pressure and personal pressure.)
• In response to her insistence on being wholy devoted to Him as First Love, MANY have been impacted and empowered throughout history; to this day, her life continues to inspire lovesick worshipers to stand under the massive pressures that want to stifle and distract one away from pure devotion to Jesus.
• Jesus defended her position and continues to do so today. In the end, all true followers of Jesus will go Mary's way rather than her going the way of others.

The beauty of Mary is that none of this was on her agenda. She simply wanted to be near Him and listening to Him as much as possible and ended up being a powerful figure in human history, esteemed by Jesus as one who approved the one "needful thing" and who persevered in that one thing.

Blessings on you this week - even our weak gestures towards seeking after Him with all our heart counts as beautiful in His eyes, so be blessed as you struggle for the one needful thing - Jesus!

A Praying Church

In Mark 11:17, Jesus says, "Is it not written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations'? But you have made it a 'den of thieves.'"

It's obvious that the Church, most particularly in the west, has drifted so far from being a praying Church that we no longer have a grid for what that means. Studies show that pastors and Christian leaders in America spend hardly any time in daily seeking of God and show that the people in the Church spend even less.

The great news is that God spoke clearly through the prophet Isaiah, who Jesus quotes above, and prophesied that His house (composed of both Jews and Gentiles) will be a house of prayer for all nations. In other words, God's people will be characterized by prayer, seeking after Him with a lovesick heart.

Because of the strong prophetic words in Scripture about the end-time Bride and her holy longing for the Bridegroom, we shouldn't find it surprising that the Holy Spirit is raising up a prayer movement that is yet in its infancy and which will grow to such an extent that the whole Church will become a "house of prayer for all nations."

As I watch and listen to many people these days, I'm struck with how determined God is to bring us into our full identity as His Bride, filled with first love for Jesus and a fire that no floods of opposition can extinguish. One way in which I see His relentlessness is that He is letting us taste the fruit of our independent efforts; we see on all sides the crumbling of family and ministry structures within the Church, even dedicated Christian homes and ministries. We are all part of a cultural Christianity that is wreaking havoc on American believers.

I believe that God is watching over us carefully, and from His heart of jealous love, He is opposing our methods and programs and attempts to make things work. He wants to intervene in our desperate affairs (whether that be family issues or ministry issues, etc.), but He can only intervene to the extent that we wait on Him in loving prayer, seriously asking and contending in prayer for His intervention. He will have a praying and devoted Church, and so He waits and waits until our pain becomes such that we will seek Him with all our heart. (Wholehearted seeking of God (Jer. 29:12,13) has implications that are not appealing to our drivenness as a people.)

The Lord says in Isaiah 64:4 that no one has seen a God like our God Who works for those who wait for Him. The weight of working is on God while the weight of waiting is on us. As long as our primary posture is that of working, causing God to have to wait, then we won't experience the joy and breakthrough of His life and power into our hearts and into our circumstances. Our hard work (i.e., striving on our own to make things work) holds God at bay even though He longs to work on our behalf.

God wants us to partner with Him in work, but that must come out of a place of utter dependence on Him, and as fallen and sinful humans, we don't get to that place easily.

I believe the Lord is waiting for His Bride to reach a point of such recognition of the futility of our methods and strategies and systems that we will stop many of the things we are doing to find the time to cry to Him corporately; the financial crises all around us is His kindness towards His people to awaken us to His ways and His wisdom. He will convince us that He is all-wise and chooses the weak ways (prayer and fasting, etc.) to confound the worldly ways of accomplishing His purposes.

The prayer movement arising in the earth is God's strategy for this hour to lead us into our identity as a praying Church, a house of prayer for all the nations. May the Lord breathe upon us and awaken desire for Him above all else.

Lord, I'm very grateful for the fact that You have not given up on Your people and that Your jealousy over us will fight to strip us of all that we have come to hope in that is not You. Come, Holy Spirit of God, don't relent in pursuing Your Bride. Raise up the prayer movement all over the earth and call Your Church into Her full identity as a praying Church for the sake of Jesus! Amen.

God bless you this week - may you experience His affection for you!

Divine Perspective

(A word about the month of August: I'm going to continue sending out random thoughts through the summer and then in September, we'll start the book We Would See Jesus by Roy Hession.)

Psalm 73:17 "...I went into the sanctuary of God; then I discerned..."

If ever God's people needed perspective and discernment, it is today. And the need for this will increase as the pressures of the end of the age increase. I find this true in my own life, and it is underscored by hearing from many others as they struggle to flourish in the midst of the increasing chaos, anger, and pressures of this age.

There is no other place to get divine, heavenly perspective apart from the real presence of the Lord.

Psalm 73 is about eternal perspective; the psalmist openly makes his complaint in the first part of this writing and admits his anger and pain over what he observes in this life, which is that those who don't care about God seem to have life easier than those who are intent on walking in the ways of the Lord.

Although the Scriptures leave no doubt about the reality of suffering in this life for God's people, there's something in us that wants to have it all now - the fulfillment of everything now. I think the Church in America is particularly conditioned in this way because of our worldview that seeks for "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness" now in this land; because we don't have an eternal perspective on fulfillment in the next age, we are surprised and offended with God when things don't go well in this age.

The New Testament saints lived for another age. (II Cor. 4:16-18) They studied and believed all that Jesus taught about a future and a hope beyond the present and arranged their lives around that reality. This empowered them to rejoice in difficulties. In the average American church our sermons and programs are mostly given to working at and ensuring that we have a good marriage, a good family, a good job, a good ministry in this life, with no vision for the countless years we have ahead of us and what God has for us to be and do forever.

Obviously, our focus in the Church on improving things in this life has not produced strong families and ministries but rather broken homes and self-absorbed ministries. C.S.Lewis once said (in response to the idea that to be heavenly minded is to be of no earthly good), that it's actually the reverse. He said that it's for lack of focus on eternity that we live such miserable lives now and contribute so little to this age.

And so the psalmist found his way into the presence and heart of God and there he gained eternal perspective. The "sanctuary" of God speaks of God's manifest presence; there we, like the psalmist and all children of God in all ages, touch reality; first of all, we encounter the reality of the one real God, transcendent and sovereign in His leadership of human history. Then we touch the reality of what matters above all else in this life: intimacy with this transcendent One - "Whom have I in heaven and there is none on earth that I desire besides You...for me it is good to be near God."

In that place of intimate communion and union with the sovereign King and Lover of my soul, I gain perspective on all that is happening around me. There I "discern" what's real and what the final outcome will be; to keep perspective I must have a lifestyle of continual seeking His presence and hearing His viewpoint.

As I have shared before and will continue to share, I believe the worldwide prayer movement is clearing the way for the Bride to desire and cry out for the return of the Bridegroom and is one of the key means by which the Holy Spirit is breaking open the heavens so that His people can experience more of His manifest presence, and in that place, we gain eternal perspective.

Spirit of God, awaken hunger within us to be with You, close to You, to experience Your real presence and to live seeking You so that we may be a people living for another age, empowered to know in You what is really happening around us; save us from being subtly sucked into the mind of this age and from evaluating what's real through worldly eyes so that we can rejoice in suffering and bear witness in our joy of a transcendent life in God through Christ Jesus.

God is with you!

No Created Thing Can Separate Us

I've been taking some vacation days lately and enjoying not having to be somewhere at a certain time (at least not as often as when I'm fully engaged in the calling of God on my life); this has been a good time for me to experience in a new way the unconditional love of the Lord for me in the sense that I can step back and, in the midst of not doing "ministry", I can bask in His affections for me as a beloved daughter of His and further break off lingering and lurking deceptions that my significance to Him comes from all that I'm involved in.

In a recent Daniel fast, one of my prayers (taken from Daniel's life) during and since that fast is that I would continue to receive revelation from the Holy Spirit about my status as God's "beloved" (Daniel 9:23). I know that I must have continual revelation and understanding of this all of my life. I will never outgrow my need to hear my Father's words of affirmation and affection, no matter how much I mature in Him.

So with this in mind, I want to close this posting with part of an email that just came to me from a dear friend who is simple in his love and devotion to God. It touches, at least in part, this theme of the unrelenting and unconditional love of God and is especially significant to me because of who wrote it.

"Why Jesus came to earth: To get fame, from you. You are his most precious treasure, he wants you as his best friend, his biggest fan. So may you know today, that nothing can seperate us from the very love of God, as scripture so elegantly puts it. It is because, God is so good and wants all the glory and the fun that comes with that for your happiness and for His. He doesn't want you living life alone and unknown, but known by the king, as Esther was, chosen for the king to be his queen. This message is that God wants us, whether any one else does or not, He does; He wants our autograph, to put it in his lamb's book of life. He knows us by name, knew us in our mothers womb, knows the hairs on our head. He thinks we are cool, in another words. For those that call upon his name and choose him, know him, and hear his voice, and he is so glad to call his very own, be one of the chosen. Be a friend of Jesus and famous for being a fan, full of the glory that comes by being in his presence. Amen."

Here at the Bethany House of Prayer we continually ask the Holy Spirit to reveal afresh and to a greater measure the love and affection of God for each of us and for all of His children. God bless you this week with His nearness!

Looking to Jesus

The Lord bless you!

This morning I was thinking of Romans 4:18-21 where the Apostle Paul, speaking of Abraham, says that he (Abraham) "contrary to hope, in hope believed, so that he became the father of many nations, according to what was spoken, 'So shall your descendants be.' And not being weak in faith, he did not consider his own body, already dead (since he was about a hundred years old), and the deadness of Sarah's womb. He did not waver at the promise of God through unbelief, but was strengthened in faith, giving glory to God, and being fully convinced that what He had promised he was also able to perform."

What a commentary on how Abraham walked with God! He took into account the utter impossibility that he and Sarah could have children, but he obviously didn't make that his focus of attention. Knowing well that the fulfillment God's promise was impossible, he fixed his eyes on the One Who had promised and not on the limitations of the humans involved.

We know, of course, that Abraham didn't walk this out perfectly when we read the details of the story in the Old Testament; but it's obvious by how the Holy Spirit edits the story in Romans 4 that from God's perspective, Abraham walked in faith.

There are a couple of simple lessons I'd like to encourage you with in this story:
1) Our weaknesses and inability to make God's promises to us come to pass is not an obstacle to God; in fact, it's the way He has set things up! The more impossible it is, the more He loves it and the more glory He will get when He brings it about.
2) In God's eyes, faith isn't about feeling strong and capable but about where we fix our attention. Abraham knew his limitations and utter inability to have the promised son and yet chose to fix his eyes on God Who had promised him a son and gave Him glory in the face of the impossible.

God looks for those who, in the most impossible situations, will insist on looking to Jesus and giving glory to God no matter what their emotions and circumstances scream at them. This is faith and God cannot resist true faith.

So be encouraged; look to Jesus who is both the Author (the One who birthed faith in us) and the Finisher (the One Who will bring faith to maturity in us) of our faith, and don't pay attention to the enemy's accusations against you when your emotions may not line up with the choice of your heart of give glory to God. One of the most effective ways of doing this practically is to enter into aggressive worship; if you have the gifts of a prayer language (tongues), that is a powerful means of exalting the Lord.

I'll finish with a little ditty that Corrie Ten Boom used to say:

"Look around and be oppressed;
Look within and be depressed;
Look to Jesus and be at rest."

Grace and peace to you this week in the Lord Jesus!

God, My Exceedingly Great Reward

Because of technology difficulties last week, I wasn't able to send anything out. Next week I will be out of the country so may not get a message out then either.

But this week I'd like to briefly share on Genesis 15:1 where the Lord says to Abraham, "Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward."

God tells Abraham this before He makes a covenant with him related to the impact his life will make. It's as though God wants to establish His priority in Abraham's life: I am your highest Reward; the impact of your life is secondary to ME.

This word to Abraham, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, has for years been a key word in my life, helping me stay focussed and steady. I believe we need a revelation from the Holy Spirit of God's priorities in order to stay steady and unoffended in the midst of the pressure of unfulfilled secondary rewards. If the fulfillment of the good things that God has promised to me (whether related to people or ministry in my life, etc.) is delayed (which is most often the case), it won't cause bitterness in my heart because I have my primary/first Reward now and always! If He really is my primary Reward, then I can wait without losing heart or becoming bitter when He delays His promises in other arenas of my life.

His words and promises to me related to my ministry impact and relationships are very important to Him but are secondary in importance to His being my First Love and my Great Reward.

So what does it mean to have God as my exceedingly great Reward? It will look differently in each person's life, but there's no getting around the reality that it requires time and effort and intentionality. There must be an increasing desire and determination to press into knowing Him intimately, or all the secondary rewards will easily take over first place in our attention.

I believe we can ask the Holy Spirit for revelation of and desire for God's priority, and we can insist, as all the great men and women of God have done, on knowing Him intimately through taking time for prayer and intercession and the study of His Word, through adoration and worship, through fasting and giving, and through obedience to whatever He gives us to do.

He is absolutely committed to bringing us into the First Love reality with Him and so we can ask for His leadership in getting there. There is no "one size fits all" so each of us must develop a close relationship with the Holy Spirit in order to know how to grow in this. He is very patient but determined; when He finds a hungry soul, He begins to overcome the barriers and obstacles in order to get us to this place of His being our Great Reward...perhaps part of how He gets us to this is by withholding the fulfillment of the secondary rewards?? He cares too much about our well-being (which is defined by His primary place in our life) to spoil us! How I love His ways even when they are painful!

Lord, we bow to Your leadership and say "Yes" once again to Your wise and kind ways. Holy Spirit, open our eyes to the Father's priority and awaken desire to align with His priority. Thank You for Your faithful work of love; thank You that You will bring us to this place of First Love and will also fulfill all Your promises related to the secondary rewards in our lives! We love you...

Breathe on me, Breath of God

I'm very grateful for the Spirit of God, the Breath of God, by which I live and breathe!

As the pressures of life increase with the end of the age, I'm "fighting for breath" so that my inner life is awake and alive and in touch with the living God. I want to live my day out of a place of deep inner quietness, not from a place of drivenness and fear.

The good news in this is that God in Christ is infinitely more zealous about this than I am. He will never grow weary nor discouraged in His zeal over having all of me, and it is this reality that gives me hope. If it were up to my zeal and energy, there would be no hope.

Over the years the Lord has taught me to fear taking action when there is inner turbulence going on in me. I keep learning this again and again as the Lord leads me into new arenas and levels of serving Him.

This week I was reading in John 16 and when I read verse 33, the Holy Spirit quickened it anew to me: em>>"These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation, but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."

I was struck in a new way with the truth that only IN HIM do I have inner peace; by the same token, IN THE WORLD (dependence on anything but Jesus) I can count on being easily shaken in my soul. What the Lord has taught me over the years is that when I find my inner being in turbulence, I must pause and find out from the Spirit what is disturbing me. In doing this, He can pinpoint specifically what is causing the disturbance (in what way have I separated my heart and mind from the Vine?), and then I can deal with that specific issue.

And so I love the Holy Spirit and His beautiful and powerful ministry in my life - without Him I cannot remain in Christ; He is unbelievably faithful to get my attention. It then remains for me to respond appropriately to His touch.

Holy Spirit, come again and again and breathe on us Your life-giving Breath. We are "breath-less" without you and live suffocating lives unless You come in Your grace and power. Thank You for loving to do this for us. We love You! In Jesus' name, Amen.

Blessings on your week!