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Thanks for reading. I hope to continue to inspire and encourage you through my writing. Abadee-abadee-abadee…THAT’S ALL FOLKS!

Paul tells the Thesalonians that he treated them like a father would treat his own children. The words he uses are vivid and paint an incredible picture of what our heavenly Father has done for us:

…for you know that we treated each one of you the way a father treats his children – we encouraged you and comforted you and appealed to you to lead lives worthy of God, who calls you into His Kingdom and glory.

A father encourages:
This word encourage is embodied in the word picture of a father standing before his little toddler and encouraging him to come forward toward him. The father is in a place ahead of the young one and is calling his forward. The Father, in a similar way, has gone before us and continually calls us, encourages us, inspires us, motivates us to come after Him, to follow Him and approach Him.

A father comforts:
This word means to “come along side of”. This is exactly what God has done in sending His Son to us, to walk with us and experience all the same temptations that we face every day. He is not a distant God who does things from an ivory tower. He gets His own hands and feet dirty as He comes along side of us to walk and comfort us along the way. The Holy Spirit Himself is called “the Comforter” because He is with us all the time.

A father appeals:
This word can also be translated as “to charge” or “to give a witness”. This is the word “maryreo” or the word from where we get “martyr”, which in the ultimate sense is what bearing witness means. The word picture for this is of someone who comes in behind to push you toward your goal, even pushing so hard that they lose their own life. It is clear that this is exactly what Jesus did on the Cross, pushing the entire human race up to God, setting before them the high vision of living holy, righteous, and resisting sin unto bloodshed.

So here in these three words we have a God who is in front of us, calling us to Himself, beside us comforting us in our sufferings and behind us pushing us into our destiny! What an awesome God we have.

You have hedged me behind and before,
And laid Your hand upon me.
6 Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
It is high, I cannot attain it.

7 Where can I go from Your Spirit?
Or where can I flee from Your presence?
-Psalm 139:5-7

Warning: Contains purely opinionic material that is not meant to be taken too literally.

People sometimes criticize God’s design of the human body. I hear complaints most often about knees, backs and necks. Although I have yet to see any other option to improve the human design, I wonder if there might be a reason we were designed the way we were. Maybe our bodies are perfect refections of our relationship to God, full of weak spots and points of common misuse or injury.

Knees
Knees are probably the most problematic joints in the whole body. They are not to bend past a certain degree (although they are often made to) without risking injury. Knees probably suffer the most abuse as well, bearing a great burden and being leveraged in many different ways. If your knees go out, you’re stuck, you will not be able to move. They attach the biggest and strongest muscle group in the body (quadriceps) to tiny little toes that propel the body into motion.

I see the knees being a picture of the centrality and necessity of LOVE in a believer’s life. No matter how much power the Holy Spirit may give to you, there will be no forward movement of the Body if it does not flow through the channel of the love of Christ. Love bends the human soul further than a loveless soul could ever be bent. Love allows itself to be leveraged, bent, stretched, and to be burdened. But love is also easy to abuse and take for granted. It’s only when your knee goes out and you realize you can’t use it that you realize how much you need it. If you find yourself living a loveless life, you will be incapacitated in the Spirit, unable to move forward at all except you are reminded every step of the way of the lack.

Love is the ONLY thing that moves a person forward in God and it is the ONLY thing that moves the body forward as a corporate people.

Backs
When the back or spine gets out of alignment, vital nerves get pinched and it cripples the entire body. Without the spine holding us up, we would all be a bunch of spineless invertebrates, something like jellyfish that fill up and deflate according to whatever currents come its way.

I see the spine as a picture of the knowledge of God’s COVENANTS in our lives. If we simply believe that faith and love comes or goes with particular feelings or emotions, we will be as spinelessly useless in the Kingdom as a jellyfish tugboat. When our relationship toward God is based on ANYTHING ELSE BUT COVENANT, His covenantal faithfulness, He unbreakable promises toward us, we get out of alignment with His mercy and cut off the flow of His grace into our souls. But if we understand His covenantal nature, that He is a covenant-keeping God, the He cut a blood-covenant with us, that He promises to be very near unto us until the very end, it fills us with TRUE faith, faith that is more than a feeling, faith that is more than an emotion, but REAL FAITH – the trusting of God to complete and fulfill everything His Word says He will accomplish despite our weakness and brokenness.

Necks
The neck is the most vital yet unprotected area of the body. It’s much easier to kill someone by attacking their neck than it is their head or chest. The neck carries and turns the head, the most concentrated place of experience-oriented organs. It carries the message from the head to the rest of the body. If you get a break in the neck, paralysis of the whole body, of all 4 limbs, is inevitable.

The neck is a picture of our WILL. God has given us this precious and vital gift of free-will so that He may have a company of voluntary lovers. Yet the area of the will is the most attacked place in a believer’s life. A believer’s life in God is most easily killed through the will – whether it’s self-will of decisions energized by unclean spirits, it’s the will that separates the desires of the Head (the will of Jesus) with the actions of the Body (the good deeds of the Church).

Father, may our love increase more and more for You and for our neighbors. May our trust be placed fully in Your covenant-keeping nature, not in anything that we can muster up ourselves. May our wills be submitted to the will of your Holy Spirit, quick to respond and joyful to submit to Your perfect leadership, in Jesus’ name AMEN

Under His control, the whole body is being fitted and held together by the support of every joint, with each part working to fulfill its function; this is how the body grows and builds itself up in love. -Ephesians 4:16

I had a quick dream where Bob Jones (a current prophetic voice in the church) was speaking to my family around a round-table and told me that there were 7 things that quenched the prophetic spirit. There were 7 doors around the perimeter of this room and he took me into two of them. (I actually think I went into them all but I only remember 2 of them…sorry)

Door #1 – In this room was a news broadcast and he told me that news programs quench the prophetic spirit.

This sounded far-fetched for me, a news junkie, who always likes to keep up with what is going on around the world. But we read in Philippians 4:8 to “focus your thoughts on what is true, noble righteous, pure, lovable, or admirable, on some virtue or on something praiseworthy.” The news is definitely not any of these!

The news propagates the testimony of the devil and of unrighteous mankind. The essence of the prophetic spirit is the testimony of Jesus! (Rev 19:10). If we fill our minds with the slime that spews forth from humanity’s brokenness and Satan’s raging hatred, we can only expect very little of the testimony of Jesus to flow from us.

I think that it was more of a preoccupation with the news that was being highlighted. I do not think it’s wrong to watch the news, but hey, we’ve got the Holy Spirit. We have access to divine intelligence and He will make sure to tell us what we need to know. I don’t want to know any more than I have to.

Door #2 - In this room was a bunch of violent video games.

In the same way, we fill our minds with violence and the spirit of murder (anger) in the name of entertainment and venting aggression. What about those certain systems that have come out now that actually require that the player move their bodies and wave their hands to make their characters on the screen respond? Now we have an entire generation that is learning the actual movements of the hands that it takes to sneak up from behind somebody and break their neck! One more step between virtuality and reality…broken down.

Well, sorry to rain on people’s parades. I personally like the news and video games. But I have been much more careful about what I fill myself with after I had this dream.

In my barrenness, I believe in faith that You are my fruitfulness. As I sow seeds of the Spirit, I expect to receive a harvest of the Spirit in due time. I cannot expect it the next day any more than a farmer could expect his seeds to bring forth a harvest the day after he sows them. Natural harvests take their cues from the spiritual law of sowing and reaping. I do my part – faithfulness, trusting You and showing compassion. You do Your part – you bring the increase. Whatever I sow in weakness (everything!) I will reap in power. I can do nothing of my own unless I stay tapped into Your sap of life found by abiding in the Vine of Jesus Christ by the Holy Spirit. Enlarge my territory. I want to glorify you by bearing much fruit that will last forever. Move my tent pegs. Prepare me for the increase You long to bring to me in Jesus’ name AMEN

Galatians 6:7 Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. For he who sows to his flesh will of the flesh reap corruption, but he who sows to the Spirit will of the Spirit reap everlasting life.
2 Corinthians 9:6 But this I say: He who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
1 Corinthians 3:6 I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase. So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God who gives the increase.
1 Corinthians 15:42 So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption, it is raised in incorruption. It is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness, it is raised in power. It is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body, and there is a spiritual body.

It has never entered into the minds of any man at any time in history what it is that You have prepared for those who love You and those who wait for You. My most ecstatic dream cannot compare to what really lies ahead for the ages to come. My greatest desires will be completely and fully satiated in You. The deepest longings of my heart will find their answer only in You. The deep well You are digging in my own heart is waiting anxiously to be filled with that wellspring of living water that springs up unto eternal life. Heaven is not a state of mind. Heaven is a literal place – and I’m going there, whatever it takes. I have no good thing apart from You for You have searched me and known me and know exactly what I need to live a life of fullness and satisfaction. Come to me, my God, open my eyes to the hope of my calling in You, to the things You have set aside as my inheritance that only I can obtain, and only through You, in Jesus’ name AMEN

Isaiah 64:4 For since the beginning of the world Men have not heard nor perceived by the ear, Nor has the eye seen any God besides You, Who acts for the one who waits for Him.
1 Corinthians 2:9 But as it is written: “ Eye has not seen, nor ear heard,Nor have entered into the heart of manThe things which God has prepared for those who love Him.”
Matthew 25:21 His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord.’

I’m nothing but a blob of clay, helpless to make anything of myself unless a hand from outside touches me, presses me, pushes me and stretches me. I would simply be spinning in circles if it wasn’t for Your hand that was patiently and continually lifting me and molding me into the very form and vessel of glory and honor You have ordained me to be. I see the tender heart of the Father softening the clay with the tears of delight that He weeps over each and every vessel He handcrafts. I am Your workmanship – Your ultimate masterpiece. You have formed me just as You desired, fulfilling the blueprints that were in Your mind before the foundation of the world. You have thrown me in the furnace of affliction and fired me. You have glazed me with unique and beautiful colors that set off my value and usefulness. I am destined to be set apart, holy unto the use of the King, established and shown-off in the house of my God. Take me. Break me. Mold me. Make me everything that brings Your pleasure in Jesus’ name.

Ephesians 2:10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
Isaiah 29:16 Surely you have things turned around! Shall the potter be esteemed as the clay; For shall the thing made say of him who made it, “ He did not make me”? Or shall the thing formed say of him who formed it, “ He has no understanding”?
Isaiah 64:8 But now, O LORD, You are our Father; We are the clay, and You our potter; And all we are the work of Your hand.
Romans 9:23 that He might make known the riches of His glory on the vessels of mercy
Isaiah 45:9 “ Woe to him who strives with his Maker! Let the potsherd strive with the potsherds of the earth! Shall the clay say to him who forms it, ‘What are you making?’ Or shall your handiwork say, ‘He has no hands’?

Never has 40-days seemed so long in my life. It seems like an eternity and yet, when I think about and look at You, Abba, there You are still, the everlasting God who never tires or grows weary. Nothing phases You, nothing wearies You. 40 days is actually nothing, in all reality. Here is my petty attempt at doing something a little more zealously just to get more of You, trying to fulfill the vision You have over my life that I would be wholehearted and abandoned to You in love. And there You are, the One who never gives anything less than Your best, Your all – and that You do ALL the time, you never NOT do it that way. You’ve been loving and calling the human race to Yourself with al Your might and all Your strength and all Your mind and all Your heart for thousands of years now and here I am at day 33 – a heap of wet rags. That’s OK, though, Father. I do not put my trust in my patient perseverance but in Yours. You are slow to anger, rich in kindness and patience. You understand my weak flesh and You have sympathy toward me. Patient endurance is the order of the day. Reveal to me how patient You are, the long-suffering, the suffering long You show toward all of Your creation. How long did You wait from eternity past to begin Creation, to create for Yourself a being that You could share Your glory with? How long did You wait to reveal Yourself in the Person of Your Son after that? How long did You wait for men’s hearts to respond to Your beckoning? How long did You wait for me to respond? How long are You continuing to wait until Your So receives the glory that is due His name? You are patient. You wait for the response of voluntary love and will not awaken it until it pleases. Touch my heart, place Your finger of rest and patience upon me, that I would trust You in the timing of the coming to pass of Your plans in Jesus’ name AMEN

Luke 21:19 By your patience possess your souls.
Psalm 37:7 Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for Him;Do not fret because of him who prospers in his way, Because of the man who brings wicked schemes to pass.
Ecclesiastes 7:8 The end of a thing is better than its beginning; The patient in spirit is better than the proud in spirit.
Romans 2:7 Reward eternal life to those who by patient continuance in doing good seek for glory, honor, and immortality;
Colossians 1:11 strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy;

I was taking a walk with our son who is only about 2 years one day. Without thinking, I bent over plucked an extra-long stalk of grass that was growing in the yard of an abandoned house. I kept on walking and took about 10 more steps.

When I turned around to see how my little guy was fairing, I saw him running to catch up with me, grimacing and carrying a confused look on his face. I noticed that something was dangling out of his mouth but had to wait until he got closer to make out what it was.

Apparently, he had seen what I did and proceeded to do exactly what he perceived I had done. He plucked up a blade of grass and shoved it into his mouth, mildly gagging himself and wondering why it didn’t taste any better.

It was both cute and sobering at the same time. It took no longer than half-a-second for me to reach out, pluck and plop in my mouth. But how easily young ones pick up the simplest activities, much less the more habitual ones. It makes me shudder to think of children who grow up in households where alcohol, smoking, perversions and filthy language are the norm. The wet concrete in their souls is taking the shape of their containers and is being written on by every action, every word that they experience in their small environments.

It’s a serious reminder as to the authority God has entrusted into His people to be examples of His character both to a dead and groping world and to our own children:

“Imitate God, as His dear little children” -Ephesians 5:1

Salmon are known for their great migration from the ocean to their spawning grounds, the place where they were hatched, that sometimes require traversing a distances over 1,000 miles. It is a journey littered with hardships and adversity requiring an incredible amount of determination and perseverance.

We hear a lot about what is called the “Christian walk” but I want to draw attention to it in a different way for a moment.

There is a current of our culture that aims to sweep us away from everything that is God – the experience of God and the knowledge of God in a personal way. The current is swift. The expressions and tastes of the current vary greatly. It is pleasurable to the flesh. It is perpetual and relentless. And it always takes us away from where we want so desperately to go.

Sometimes we can get a little disheartened when we see most of the church just being swept away by this current, not resisting it and barely noticing that they’re in a current at all. Other times we can get a little heady and prideful when we make a little effort to resist the tides of the times and see that not everyone else is doing the same. But we must understand this:

Simply swimming up-stream does not guarantee us anything. Even if we swim against the current, if we don’t swim at a faster pace than the current, we will not get anywhere. It takes a hefty amount of violence to swim all that distance against the tide – it would take a hefty amount of violence to get there at all, with or without a current! (When was the last time you traversed a few thousand mies on foot without stopping to get anything to eat?)

Jesus was explaining the ministry of John the Baptizer, this crazy social outcast and wilderness-wanderer in the following quote:

“From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and the violent take it by force” -Matthew 11:12

What the violence Jesus was speaking of here, I believe, was John’s violent inner swim up the river of his culture of the day. He was not at all going to get swept up in the all the political games, the religious jockeying for position, the rat race for money. He knew the call of God that was on his life and he knew what he had to do it order to fulfill it.

God is raising up an entire generation of John the Baptists, forerunners who will, with the same spiritual violence, take back from the realm of darkness what rightfully belongs to God’s glorious kingdom. They will refuse the good in order to get the best. They will deny the permissible in order to get more of God. Technology does not sway them. Current events do not shake them. Pressures and denunciations will not alter their convictions.

God give us grace to live in the wilderness. Strengthen us with Your might in our inner man to wage violent warfare against everything that keeps us from knowing and experiencing You, encountering You in our daily lives. I don’t want to swim only fast enough not to get swept away. I want to get HOME! Empower us to swim Swim! SWIM! upstream until we rest in Your glory. in Jesus’ name AMEN