Tag Archives: spiritual growth

Heaven Pt. 162: Bigger Than

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Thunderheads over the Lower Lake, Killarney

Thunderheads over the Lower Lake, Killarney

I lift up my eyes to the mountains—
    where does my help come from?
2 My help comes from the Lord,
    the Maker of heaven and earth. Psalm 121:1,2

Have you ever climbed a mountain? I have. What I can’t believe about mountain climbing is that there are people who actually do it for fun. I remember climbing this one mountain ( I remember it because it was the only mountain I ever climbed). I remember looking up to see the peak. I remember making my way up the steep thigh-killing trail, my breath tearing out of my lungs in great gasps.

I kept saying to myself “just a little further and you will have made it. The top is right around the corner!”

I remember coming out of the trees on that summit only to discover that what I thought was the top was just an outcrop masking the view of the real peak which was some half mile up in the distance. I think I wept.

Mountains are like that: tricky, turn-coat, hiding their bigness in the clouds and aiming to steal your joy at every turn of the path (sorry mountain climbing lovers I just calls ’em likes I sees ’em). The truth is if we keep our eyes on the mountains we will lose hope pretty quickly. Honestly, if you’re looking at the mountain and it seems to big for you to climb you’re only seeing the half of it. The real mountain is worse than you know.

But there is HOPE. You won’t find it looking at the mountain though. Hope is found in the Lord. He’s the maker of Heaven and Earth and He is bigger even than your mountain. Never forget to factor God in on your mountain climbs. He’s the greatest asset you have and He is the only reason you are going to make it up and over whatever mountain stands in your way. As Scripture says, “It is God who arms me with strength
    and keeps my way secure.
33 He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;
    he causes me to stand on the heights Psalm 18:32,33

If God should think the mountain is to big for you to climb He will help you move it straight out of the way. “Truly I tell you, if anyone says to this mountain, ‘Go, throw yourself into the sea,’ and does not doubt in their heart but believes that what they say will happen, it will be done for them. 24Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours” Mark 11:23,24

Let me encourage you, stop looking at the mountain. Start looking at the God who is bigger than…

The Heaven posts are a devotional study through the Bible using the word “Heaven”. To find other Heaven posts go to my Pastor Wrinkles page above and click on the “Heaven posts” drop down.

1% Requires 100%

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1I love you, Lord, my strength.

2The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;

my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge,

my shieldb and the hornc of my salvation, my stronghold.

3I called to the Lord, who is worthy of praise,

and I have been saved from my enemies.

4The cords of death entangled me;

the torrents of destruction overwhelmed me.

5The cords of the grave coiled around me;

the snares of death confronted me.

6In my distress I called to the Lord;

I cried to my God for help.

From his temple he heard my voice;

my cry came before him, into his ears.

7The earth trembled and quaked,

and the foundations of the mountains shook;

they trembled because he was angry.

8Smoke rose from his nostrils;

consuming fire came from his mouth,

burning coals blazed out of it.

9He parted the heavens and came down;

dark clouds were under his feet.

10He mounted the cherubim and flew;

he soared on the wings of the wind.

11He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him—

the dark rain clouds of the sky.

12Out of the brightness of his presence clouds advanced,

with hailstones and bolts of lightning.

13The Lord thundered from heaven;

the voice of the Most High resounded.d

14He shot his arrows and scattered the enemy,

with great bolts of lightning he routed them.

15The valleys of the sea were exposed

and the foundations of the earth laid bare

at your rebuke, Lord,

at the blast of breath from your nostrils.

16He reached down from on high and took hold of me;

he drew me out of deep waters.

17He rescued me from my powerful enemy,

from my foes, who were too strong for me.

18They confronted me in the day of my disaster,

but the Lord was my support.

19He brought me out into a spacious place;

he rescued me because he delighted in me.

20The Lord has dealt with me according to my righteousness;

according to the cleanness of my hands he has rewarded me.

21For I have kept the ways of the Lord;

I am not guilty of turning from my God.

22All his laws are before me;

I have not turned away from his decrees.

23I have been blameless before him

and have kept myself from sin.

24The Lord has rewarded me according to my righteousness,

according to the cleanness of my hands in his sight.

25To the faithful you show yourself faithful,

to the blameless you show yourself blameless,

26to the pure you show yourself pure,

but to the devious you show yourself shrewd.

27You save the humble

but bring low those whose eyes are haughty.

28You, Lord, keep my lamp burning;

my God turns my darkness into light.

29With your help I can advance against a troope ;

with my God I can scale a wall.

30As for God, his way is perfect:

The Lord’s word is flawless;

he shields all who take refuge in him.

31For who is God besides the Lord?

And who is the Rock except our God?

32It is God who arms me with strength

and keeps my way secure.

33He makes my feet like the feet of a deer;

he causes me to stand on the heights.

34He trains my hands for battle;

my arms can bend a bow of bronze.

35You make your saving help my shield,

and your right hand sustains me;

your help has made me great.

36You provide a broad path for my feet,

so that my ankles do not give way.

37I pursued my enemies and overtook them;

I did not turn back till they were destroyed.

38I crushed them so that they could not rise;

they fell beneath my feet.

39You armed me with strength for battle;

you humbled my adversaries before me.

40You made my enemies turn their backs in flight,

and I destroyed my foes.

41They cried for help, but there was no one to save them—

to the Lord, but he did not answer.

42I beat them as fine as windblown dust;

I trampled themf like mud in the streets.

43You have delivered me from the attacks of the people;

you have made me the head of nations.

People I did not know now serve me,

44foreigners cower before me;

as soon as they hear of me, they obey me.

45They all lose heart;

they come trembling from their strongholds.

46The Lord lives! Praise be to my Rock!

Exalted be God my Savior!

47He is the God who avenges me,

who subdues nations under me,

48who saves me from my enemies.

You exalted me above my foes;

from a violent man you rescued me.

49Therefore I will praise you, Lord, among the nations;

I will sing the praises of your name.

50He gives his king great victories;

he shows unfailing love to his anointed,

to David and to his descendants forever. Psalm 18

I suppose this chapter could yield a hundred devotional thoughts but the one thought that came to me as I read it today was that, in this spiritual battle we call life God does most of the work and we do a tiny bit of the work. In fact I would say that God probably does 99% of the work and we do 1%.

Here’s the thing, that 1% isn’t 1% of our capability. Accomplishing 1% of the spiritual battles of life takes 100% of our effort.

Spiritual battle is not God calling us into His throne room and saying, “Hey I just want you to rest a while. Take a load off. I’ve got this. Have a tall glass of lemonade while I do the work.”

This is God requiring all we have and it still only accomplishing 1% of the work.

Folks it is possible for you to give it all you’ve got and still lose the battle, because by yourself you are not enough. It is also possible for God to give His 99% and you still lose the battle. Because God requires 1% from you.

This is where so many people miss the victory. We miss it when we think God does the whole work while we do nothing. We also miss it when we think God does 99% and our 1% of the labor is really only 1% of what we have to give.

So many of us are standing around saying “I did my little part why didn’t that work?”

It didn’t work because your little part isn’t little! 1% may be a little part of the whole work but it’s still going to take 100% of what you have just to do that much. SO…

Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.  Gal. 6:9

Tired, Cranky and Greatly Blessed

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There’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing. ~Alfred Wainwright

There’s no such thing as bad weather, only unsuitable clothing. ~Alfred Wainwright

I have finished packing for today’s Special Touch Gathering. This afternoon after ministry I have to do some last-minute shopping before Winter Storm Neptune slides in with New England’s next foot of white stuff. I am also thinking I should refill the wood rings on the porch with wood from the wood stacks and I need to make sure the cellar door is clear to get the snowblower out tomorrow morning should we have church.

Like most New Englanders I am tired and admittedly a bit cranky. This year we have experienced  more snow in less time than ever before. We pride ourselves on being a tough, resilient lot but the air in my neck of the woods just now is filled with definite cantankerosity. People either have massive cabin fever or a burning desire to climb back into bed and not get up again until after Easter.

While this is the prevailing mood over our region, I realize it is just that, a mood and nothing more. While moods or emotions are powerful things they only have as much power as we give them. Frankly we are not supposed to give them much power. Moods are not meant to rule us. They are meant to guide us, inform us of current conditions so that we can then approach God for solutions in the Spirit.

Last year I met a missionary friend at a pastor’s conference. While the winter of 2014 was not quite as nasty as it has been this year this missionary had done quite a bit of travelling and ministering in very difficult circumstances.

I asked her, “I heard you have had a rough year of travel.”

“Oh it’s been absolutely terrible! One of my worst itineration years ever. The driving has been bad. So many services cancelled.” Then my friend looked around and noticed that others were listening in on our conversation.

“And I am so blessed!” She smiled with a wink and a nod.

It may be humorous but It is also true. We are blessed. We may experience hardship. We may face trials. We may be tired of snow. We may be in pain from shoveling. We may find ourselves feeling troubled, sad, even cranky. Yet we are blessed. We serve a God of love who has some benefit for us even through the bleakest winters of history. Let’s not let tired and cranky steal from us the truth that we are greatly blessed. Acknowledge tired and take a nap. You will feel blessed. Acknowledge cranky and choose to do something that will pick you up. Acknowledge pain and pray for healing. Acknowledge the trial but don’t let the trial rule. Find a way to put the blessing in the driver’s seat of life. Choose that now!

Heaven Pt. 161: Unmoving

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For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven. Psalm 119:89

I admit it I am blinded by my culture to the things of God. There are pieces of the Scripture that I don’t get, I struggle with or I just plain don’t like. But that’s not because there is anything wrong with the Word of God. There is something wrong with me. There are pieces of me that are still tied to this old world and its systems.

The Bible says in Psalm 119:89 that the Word of God is “settled in Heaven.” The meaning of the word settled is -to be stationed or appointed to a particular place.  What the verse teaches us is that the Bible is fixed in a heavenly viewpoint. It explains Heavenly precepts. Since the foundation of our race and culture, our world system, its operation and its values have been diametrically opposed to that Heavenly viewpoint.

None of us come to the Kingdom of God out of a purely heavenly viewpoint. We come to the Kingdom out of the world system. That is why the only way to come to God is through repentance. Repentance is not just about giving up bad habits. It is about changing our minds. We have to change our minds about the way things work. We have to accept that much of what we have been taught is just straight up drivel no matter how much sense it might seem to make.

When my world-view comes into conflict with the Bible it is a signal that I need to repent that I need to change my mind. It is not a signal that the Scripture needs to be redefined to keep up with culture. The Word is settled in Heaven and in case you didn’t know that is the culture that will one day rule the Earth in totality. Its systems  never change. They are set by God and we don’t get a vote.

The Heaven posts are a word study through the Bible about the word “Heaven”. To read other Heaven posts go to the Pastor Wrinkles page listed in the search bar at the top of the page.

Even If?

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Recently I have been reading a book by Dr. David Jeremiah entitled, Agents Of the Apocalypse.

It’s not new information to me, but it is written around the characters of the Apocalypse rather than around the events of those days; So the presentation is fresh.

One of the events that Jeremiah mentions a few times in the course of his writing is the “Great falling away” that takes place before the rapture of the church. The good Dr. goes out of his way to dispel the thought that we might be in for a mighty end-time revival before the “catching away of the saints” which the New Testament mentions so many times within its pages. He states clearly that his belief is that no revival comes before the rapture. In fact he indicates that just the opposite seems to be laid out by the New Testament writers.

Because of the increase of wickedness, the love of most will grow cold, 13but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved.  Ma 24:12,13

Now, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together to Him, we ask you, 2 not to be soon shaken in mind or troubled, either by spirit or by word or by letter, as if from us, as though the day of Christ[a] had come. 3 Let no one deceive you by any means; for that Day will not come unless the falling away comes first, and the man of sin[b] is revealed, the son of perdition 2 Thess. 2:3,4

Now I have to admit that I am a little hazy as to whether these Scriptures refer to the time just before the rapture of the church or if they refer to the time the Bible calls the Tribulation.

BUT WHAT IF DR. JEREMIAH IS RIGHT? WHAT IF IN THE DAYS TO COME THERE IS NO GREAT REVIVAL? WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR MINISTRY?

One of the things I know about myself as an American is that I am truly results driven. I am culturally predisposed to gauge the success of my life in terms of measurable outcomes. My definition of a job well done is one that increases some item in my bottom line. But I am coming to realize that while that is how success is defined in America, it is not necessarily how it is defined in God’s economy.

God spoke to the prophet Jeremiah (not to be confused with Dr. David Jeremiah) and said,

“When you tell them all this, they will not listen to you; when you call to them, they will not answer. 28Therefore say to them, ‘This is the nation that has not obeyed the Lord its God or responded to correction. Truth has perished; it has vanished from their lips. Jeremiah 7:27,28

Jeremiah was called to prophesy, to minister, to give up his freedom and eventually his life for the nation of Judah. But he was told in advance that his ministry was not going to bring about any positive results such as national conversion, repentance or revival. To him was given the task of being a witness against a nation even though it would not change the course of that nation.

My Pastor likes to say, “God always has a witness. Sometimes that witness produces repentance and sometimes it’s just a witness against a person or group of people so that when they are judged by God they can never say, ‘I never knew… no one ever told me…'”

It’s great that God always has a witness. It’s kind of fun to be a witness when your witness is well received. But I have to admit  to be a witness when it yields no positive results can feel a bit like beating your head against a concrete wall.

All this leaves me wondering, am I willing to leave behind my understanding of success and my desire for personal triumph for the kingdom of God? What if serving God faithfully in this generation does not produce a great end times revival? Am I willing to serve as a witness faithfully EVEN IF it does not produce the fruit of repentance and revival I desire? Am I willing to be faithful to the end and spend all my strength for Jesus EVEN IF the only result is a great falling away?

How about you?

An Offer I Couldn’t Refuse

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In response to The Daily Post’s writing prompt: “Race the Clock.”

So the daily post has given us this assignment today…

Here’s the title of your post: “An Offer I Couldn’t Refuse.”

Set a timer for ten minutes, and write it. Go!

Several years ago I was asked to come and sing for a group of people at a local visiting nurses dayhab unit. I went and sang.

They liked me and so they invited me back. They liked me the second time and so they asked me if I would begin coming once a month. I agreed and went to sing hymns on a monthly basis and did this for two years.

Over the course of those two years my schedule began to fill out exponentially. It was becoming harder and harder to keep the commitment to my monthly hymn-sing at the VNA and so I approached God about it.

“God you know how busy I am.” I complained, “This hymn-sing is nice but I am not seeing any real fruit from it and I just can’t justify continuing when there are so many other more productive pursuits I could be involved in. God I am going to quit after this next concert. But if you want me to stay you will have to do something to make me stay.”

I went to the concert, set up my piano and sang my heart out feeling fully liberated that at the end of the day I would be handing in my walking papers.

We were about three-quarters of the way through my set when suddenly one of the elderly ladies in the room stopped the concert and asked, “Hey you are a pastor right?”

“Yes I am. ” I replied (they had been calling me Pastor J since day one but God chose this day to make it all sink in).

“You know most of us in this room don’t get to go to church anymore.” She said. “Would it be possible for you to bring us communion?”

The activities director blanched a little. But I had to ask, “Is that possible?”

I fully expected an unequivocal “No!”

What I got from her was a, “Let’s vote.”

The vote was taken and everybody wanted communion.

It was an offer I could not refuse. I had my next marching orders from God. Today I have a team of three which brings communion to 35 individuals at this venue. We started another off-campus service with another team two towns away and last month two of us started bringing music to a third day program two miles up the road from the VNA where it all started.

You never know where fruit from ministry is going to pop up!

Be the Church

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The crucifix at Kylemore Abbey

The crucifix at Kylemore Abbey

Gandhi was once quoted as saying,

“I like your Christ, I do not like your Christians.”

and you know sometimes I can understand his point of view. There are moments when, as Mr. Gandhi stated,

“Your Christians are so unlike your Christ.”

There are days when it is hard to love the people of the church. There are days when it is even hard to be a part of the church. There are days when as Christians we are tempted to chuck it all and go the Christian faith alone. Here is the thing though, Christianity is a team sport. To “go it alone” as a Christian is akin to trying to play basketball or soccer (football for those of you outside of the U.S.) by yourself. IT DOESN’T WORK!!!!

Chris Tiegreen has said,

“Blood is thicker than water….the Spirit is thicker than blood.”

And Matthew Henry has written,

“When we take God as our God, we take His people as our people.”

For better or worse when we accept Christ we are adopted into a family and that comes not only with the blessings of eternal life in Heaven but with the responsibility of loving and working with the rest of this humongous family we call the church.

The Apostle John wrote,

“Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. 10 Anyone who loves their brother and sister] lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble. 11 But anyone who hates a brother or sister is in the darkness and walks around in the darkness. They do not know where they are going, because the darkness has blinded them.” I John 2:9-11

Now some of you will say, “Well I don’t hate the people of the church. I just don’t want to have anything to do with them.”

I have to point out that functionally there is little difference between those two things. You are called not just to “not hate” the church. John calls you to “love your brothers and sisters in the church” and that means being involved with them.

I get it. Family is hard. Church is hard. But in the end we are are called to it. In Heaven you will be a part of the church so you might as well practice being a part of it now no matter how hard it might be.

Things Are Not What They Seem!

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In the shadow of the cross

In the shadow of the cross

Things aren’t what they seem! From everything…most of us can see, it appears clear that “the kings of the earth” are where the action is; theirs is the clout that makes things happen; theirs are the actions determining the course of history….

No things are not what they seem! Contrary to their own inflated opinion that crew does not hold the riens of history….they are being ruled. That ruler…already has won the decisive victory and established his control….God’s is the real power clothed in apparent powerlessness; Evil’s is apparent power which is really powerlessness. Things are not what they seem! Jesus is Lord— and that not only of us… who accept his lordship but of everyone else, up to and including the kings of the earth.-

Vernard Eller