Rise & Shine

Fear and perfectionism will rob us of joy.

Shame and a religious spirit will keep us hiding.

God wants us free to feel joy in His presence and shine His light through us.

Our wounds cause us to sin.  Sin causes us to die inside.  It cripples our potential.

Let's die to sin and live in love.

Rise and shine.

The Wrestle

I have wrestled with God,
and do you know how He wrestled me down?
With love.

Two Kingdoms

This morning during my drive to drop off my youngest at playschool I had some very interesting thoughts going on. I'm not sure how it got started, but I began to think about how humans are hosts to spiritual beings, spiritual beings who want authority in the earth, but can only get it through an alliance and agreement with a human being. Truth is stranger than fiction. Why can't these beings just take what they want? Because the earth was given to mankind by God.

We abdicate our authority when we make agreements with the deceiver, Jesus Christ got it back for us, but we have to believe the keys exhist before we can use them. What we believe makes a world of difference. When I asked Jesus to come into my life and be my Lord and Saviour, I became His human host. This is why the Bible refers to the Church as the Body of Christ. When Jesus came into my heart and life He began to clean up any resident darkness, and so over the years, as I've surrendered to His process, I've become lighter as He cleanses this spiritual house that is me. The opposite happens when we let darkness in through agreements we make with the things of the kingdom of darkness.

During Jesus' ministry on earth He delivered some people by casting out the dark spiritual beings they were hosting. In one such story they begged Jesus to let them go into pigs, since they had to come out of the man at Christ's order. I gather that a pig host is better than no host, but the pigs rushed into the water as a result, and drowned. Eventually, the kingdom of darkness leads to death, sometimes slow, sometimes fast. Since God loves the world, He sent His son to deliver it from the kingdom of darkness. All who invite Him into themselves and submit to His transforming power, will prove it in increasing measure, by coming out of agreement with the kingdom of darkness and destroying the spiritual work, and thus the physical destruction, caused by that dark kingdom. We are to do this by loving people.

God is love. Satan cannot love. Not real love. If we cause factions and strife, if we make judgements and condemn people based on judgements, we have missed our true calling. If we need to be right, we've missed it there too. Wrong exists. It touches everyone, it hurts, it's painful, it's frusterating, especially if someone you love is being hurt. We are to protect the innocent. We are to set the captives free, to release the prisoners of darkness. We do that by shining the light of love and truth. The truth is Jesus, not a philosophy you smack people with. Jesus shed His blood for us. That is truth. When we invite Him in, we invite the dominant spiritual power of light to overtake the darkness, from the inside out.

Eternalizing Priorities

Finding myself swamped and surprised once again by this phenomena that happens at the end of each calendar year, I decided to ask God how I should organize my time (kinda wish I'd asked 3 weeks ago!).  I thought it would be a delayed and complicated response, perhaps taking months, or years, of transformation into another personality type...

But no.  The answer came immediately and as I was praying.  In fact within my prayer was the answer.

"Does it have eternal value?"

I grabbed pen and paper and listened.


1)  Is God asking you to do it?*
2)  Does it have eternal value?
3)  Is it a need?
4)  Does it bring you life?**

If not, let it go, because you can't, nor should you, try to do it all.


Those who care about you will understand.  Those who don't understand, don't care about you, they don't know how, because they don't know how to care for themselves.  Caring for ourselves is the first step in loving our neighbor as ourselves (the second commandment, which is like the first and greatest commandment to love God).  When we are cared for, we will understand how to care for others in a way that brings true life to them, and us, at the same time.  This is not selfishness, but awareness that we are human and need care, it's when we go beyond what we need that we become gluttons for self-gratification.





*God does not contradict His revealed word (Holy Bible), so everything we think we "hear" from Him must line up and pass the test of scripture.

**True life is doing what is truly good for you, this includes healthy rest and recreation (excercise, hobbies), being inspired by beautiful art, dating your spouse etc.

Own It.

Have you ever wronged someone?

Of course you have.

Did you realize it at the time?

Most likely not.

Did you realize it later in life?  Whether an hour, a week, or 2 years, or 10 years later?

When you realized what you had done, regardless of the other person's part in it, what did you decide to do?

What would Jesus do?

Would He have shunned the humiliation of the cross because we denied Him, to save our own behind?  To save face?  To not be inconvenienced?

No.  He went to the cross.  Because He loved God, His Father.  For the sake of the future.  Your future, His future, our future.

Taking ownership of our wrongs and doing the right thing, regardless of another's part in it, sets us free.

There is no guarantee that the others involved will accept our gift or act in any way upon it, but I can tell you this:  Your heavenly Father will be pleased with you and release you from any tendrils that clung to you from your past wrong that are choking you or tripping you up in the present.

Wherever it is possible, wherever we are aware (and God will know when you're pretending to be ignorant, and really it won't help your life to go on like that), let us right our wrongs.  It may be that all we can do is confess it to God and ask His forgiveness.  It may be that He will provide opportunity for us to speak with apology to those we've wronged.  It may be that we are able to do more than apologize, we may even be able to correct the wrong.

Whatever we can do, let us own our wrongs, for the sake of others, for the sake of ourselves, for the sake of the future.

Love,
M

Why Is Noah Always Naked?

When my first-born daughter, Emma, was a toddler, someone had given her a plush, fabric book about Noah's Ark. The book came complete with a six-inch, sewn Ark and three-inch, sewn and stuffed animals, and Noah. They all had a spot of velcro on them, so you could stick them on the pages of the book, when called for, in the story. Noah was dressed in a blue robe, a cloth with a band on his head, and he had a whitish-grey beard. You could stuff them all inside the Ark, it was cute; Emma loved it.

One day I found Noah laying on the floor among the toys, but missing his blue robe. I kind of laughed to myself, remembering the story of Noah, in his tent, after the flood (when he had imbibed in one too many grape-pepsies from his vineyard, and passed out, disrobed). I decided the Noah doll should not stay that way, and so found his robe and tried to put it on him. Not easy. Not easy at all. Probably why he wasn't re-dressed by the child that disrobed him. I wrestled with this ridiculous thing for longer than I care to admit, but finally, he was decent again. I felt very satisfied in having persevered and done the right thing, despite the challenge of it. Noah was now acceptable again.

Flash forward a few years and child number two (another baby girl, Anna) comes along and also discovers the delight of this fabric book set. A few months ago I noticed Noah made it onto the bathroom floor, and again, no robe. This, of course, was not right, so I set about to fix it. Again I struggled and wrestled until after, like, forever, Noah was successfully clothed. Feeling very satisfied with the reward of my labors and finally being done with such tediousness, I carried on with my day.

A couple of months go by and guess what? Noah. Again. On the floor. No robe. Now I'm thinking, what is this? In a rush, I try to robe him again, but I really didn't have time... or patience, so I gave up and tossed him, half dressed, into the toy bin. Another couple months go by and Noah has found his way back to the bathroom floor, completely robeless once again. This time, with a little laugh under my breath, I wondered, why is Noah always naked? I left Noah where he was and carried on with life. For weeks, Noah lay on the floor. I stopped noticing his nakedness. I accepted his presence on the bathroom floor. I did move him back to the toys now and again, but he always made it back to the bathroom. I no longer tried to dress him. I just accepted him the way he was now.

Every now and then, when I would see him again, with a little laugh under my breath, I wondered, yet again, why is Noah always naked? I was kind of joking, but my spiritual antennae was beginning to pick up on something now, like there was something significant in all this. I asked God if He was trying to tell me something, but again I left Noah where he was and carried on with life.

The other day, after noticing naked Noah still on the floor, I talked about it to Emma, my eldest (now 8). I asked her why Noah was always naked. She said that Anna (age 2 and a half) undresses him, and that she tried to dress him for her, but Anna protested loudly, so she left him undressed. Emma's theory was that Anna didn't like Noah's robe, it wasn't her style. No doubt she'd prefer a tutu of some sort, but whatever it was, Noah's blue robe just wasn't cutting it for Anna.

This morning, as Noah greeted me in his usual birthday suit, I started getting pieces of insight about this scenario. I began to remember the Bible story (Genesis 9: 20-27) and how there is much significance in the piece about how Noah's sons respond to his nakedness. Nowhere does it say that God judged Noah for getting drunk on the fruit of his vineyard and passing out naked in his tent (it does say in Gen. 7:1 that Noah was a righteous man in his generation, in God's eyes). However, the son that sees his father's nakedness and goes to tell his brothers brings a curse on himself and his descendants. The brothers whom he told, decide to go into the tent backwards, with a robe stretched between them, their faces averted, so that they didn't gaze on their father's nakedness, and cover him. This resulted in bringing a blessing on themselves and their descendants.

There are people, both in the World and in the Church who seem to think that pointing out other's areas of nakedness is ok. They fail to see the plank in their own eye. They don't deal with their own issues that cause them to “gaze” at others and commit sins that are a hundred times worse than being found naked. What is in your heart? It is a worse sin not to cover each other's nakedness, than to be found naked. It is so much worse, that you are treading the dangerous territory of bringing down a curse on yourself and your descendants. Repent. Quickly. We are not called to expose nakedness... “Love covers a multitude of sins...”, but to love:

Proverbs 17:9 He who covers and forgives an offense seeks love, but he who repeats or harps on a matter separates even close friends.

1 Peter 4:8 Above all things have intense and unfailing love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins [forgives and disregards the offenses of others].

God is not an accuser, He is Love. Satan is an accuser. Do not be tempted to accuse, to uncover, and to expose one another. If you're struggling with a situation, seek God's wisdom for your life. Perhaps you are uncomfortable, because of what resides inside you, seek healing. Perhaps you are to move into a new thing and the discomfort is a signal to move. Go to God looking at yourself, not pointing your finger at another. You will find what you need in His presence.

God will forgive the foolishness of our youth as we repent; in regards to spiritual things, don't remain a foolish youth.

Grow up. Be gracious. Do unto others as you would have them do to you. When you blow it, we all do at times, repent. Apologize. And grow. And be blessed.

1 Corinthians 13:7-9

Amplified Bible (AMP)

7 Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening].

8 Love never fails [never fades out or becomes obsolete or comes to an end]. As for prophecy ([a]the gift of interpreting the divine will and purpose), it will be fulfilled and pass away; as for tongues, they will be destroyed and cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away [it will lose its value and be superseded by truth].

9 For our knowledge is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect), and our prophecy (our teaching) is fragmentary (incomplete and imperfect).

Noah was like we all are, buck naked at times. His sons are an example to us in how we can choose to respond to that nakedness in each other.

Noah will always be naked.

We all have skin showing.

How will you respond?