Humbling Ourselves As Those Called by His Name

What do I do with what I've been handed?

At the beginning of 2017, I sensed God speaking to me about creating a play that would focus on pain and hope. Together with a small core team we spent much time in prayer and preparation developing it. As others joined, the creative expressions of art, song, spoken word and dance were used to herald “The Three Cries” in August 2018. 

         The following piece is what I wrote as Jesus’ pain and hope piece:

What do I do with what I’ve been handed?

Handed pain, shame, grief, depression, sickness, sin

That was not part of My plan.

So here I stand in heaven’s glory

Knowing someone is needed to redeem this story.

But the cancer of this earth has infected all

Eating them away from within. 

If left to themselves, in no time all will fall

Into life without hope and hope without life.

What is needed?

The seed of hope

That travels through the bloodline of a King

Who holds justice in one hand and mercy in the other.

Surely no one on earth could bear that weight.

This King must remove His heavenly crown 

And come down. 

Creator becomes the created; 

Divine meets human, human meets divine.

His upward glance would be to the Sacred Flame;

The Sacred Flame He still must be;

Burning perfect love on this earth ever so brightly.

Warmth to the downcast and the suffering.

His touch, His look, His voice… the seed of hope.

Those crying out 

Must find themselves drawn to His side listening with bated breath

To the promises that await them after death.

He too must groan, He too must cry

So humankind would not walk by

And say good-bye

To this King who couldn’t relate

To this broken world’s wretched state.

Yes relate

But greater still, He must swallow death’s pill like the rest.

Even so, that must not be the end of this King’s quest.

The created must hand the Creator the worst

From its’ table of atrocities for Him to eat;

Betrayal, abandonment, curses, all these must beat

And strip Him down to bare skin.

And through all of this they must think He could never win

The war against humankind’s soul;

Someone is needed to redeem this story.

I come to the garden where I have come so many times

before;

But this time I cannot help but implore,

The Sacred Flame to lead me any other way than to become

The sin, the cancer that has infected and disfigured humanity’s face

Into a gory disgrace.

I cannot describe the depths of my distress

As I press

Into the gravity of what I had come from heaven to do

Great drops of blood from my brow ensue.

Alone, I had come this far.

Alone, I would submit to the Sacred Flame’s will

Knowing that He would strengthen Me until…  

He had to turn His face 

For at that moment I would be humanity’s disgrace.

Was I willing to bear it?

Was I willing to share it?

When nothing I had done deserved it?

It’s NOT okay and someone must pay.

What do I do with what I’ve been handed?

I BECOME pain, shame, grief, depression, sickness, sin;

And I look deep within,

To the even greater depths of love burning in my heart.

And I rise from the dust and the ashes in which I have knelt

My face set like a flint 

I look evil in the face.

Like a lamb silent before the slaughter

I hand over… 

My wrists to those who shackle me.

My back to those who whip Me.

My ribs to those who fracture Me.

My cheeks to those who pluck Me.

My head to those who strike Me.

And press deep into my brow, thorns that slice Me.

My shoulders to those who heave a beam on top of Me.

My clothes to those who naked strip Me. 

My hands and feet to those who nail Me;

To wooden beams made from what I had made,

And I hand my heart to those who despise Me.

I suffer…

PAIN, EXCRUCIATING PAIN

SHAME, OVERWHELMING, HUMILIATING SHAME

GRIEF, OVERSHADOWING GRIEF

DEPRESSION, OVERTAKING, GRIPPING DEPRESSION

SICKNESS, DEBILITATING SICKNESS

SIN, DEBASING, DEGRADING, DEMORALIZING, ENSLAVING SIN.

BLOOD

BLOOD 

BLOOD

BLOOD

Inside and out, trickling, dripping, oozing, flowing, gushing like a torrent from every fibre of my human beingness.

BROKEN… POURED OUT… IT… is… finished. 

I glory

I glory in the pain I endured on the Cross, on which I had to die;

For if I had not, you would not have the chance to truly be alive.

You would never know that what you suffer, I have already gone before.

The pain of a life lived here on this earth has not gone away;

But as you take my nail-scarred hand I promise to stay

WITH you in the midst of suffering;

And have it turn into an offering,

Of hope for the downcast of soul,

Who need to know this is not the end of the story.

Life on earth… NOTHING… compared to life with Me in heaven’s glory.

Now come as you are and feel the Sacred Flame,

The One who calls you by name.

(The above video artwork was done by Carrie Job for “The Three Cries” after I described the imagery I wanted portrayed)

Ready or Not Here I Come (Part 2)

What many of you may not realize is that Passover began on Wednesday, April 8^th. Most of you will be familiar with Easter. That is what I knew about growing up in a Christian home. It was only much later in life that I came to the understanding that Easter and Passover are not the same. As I wrote in my book “The Treasure Within – Searching Beneath the Surface” Church history explains that when Emperor Constantine tried to merge Christianity with Paganism, it sounded great to followers of Jesus because he was legalizing Christianity. He outlawed Passover and declared Christ’s death and resurrection to be celebrated on the Sunday following the first full moon after the vernal equinox. This is the spring festival of the pagan fertility goddess, Ishtar, also known as Eastre. 

Church leaders and prophetic voices around the world are saying that this year’s Passover will be like no other save the first one in Exodus. Even Jews in Israel will be shut up in their homes this Passover as was the case when they were preparing to leave Egypt. And here we are around the world locked up in our homes. 

What is interesting when you read the account of the first Passover is that in verse 11 of Exodus chapter 12 it reads in the KJV: “And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste; it is the Lord’s Passover.” There is that “gird” word again. The Lord through Moses was commanding the Israelites to gird themselves; to prepare themselves for action; for a hasty departure out of the land of Egypt on their way to the Promised Land. 

What He instructed them to do for the Passover was to not eat leavened bread. Leaven meaning yeast. Because they had to leave in haste there was no time to allow the bread to rise. Later in Scripture leaven or yeast symbolizes sin. The Feast of Unleavened Bread starts the day after Passover and lasts seven days. This feast shows Yeshua (Jesus) as the sinless, unleavened Bread of Heaven. The Feast of Firstfruits  is  two days  after  Passover  and  as  described in 1 Corinthians 15:20, Christ is the Firstfruit of those raised to eternal life.

At the first Passover, God instructed Moses to tell the children of Israel to take a lamb for each household, to kill it, and take some of the blood and put it on the doorframes of their houses. The motion they used when applying the blood to the doorframes replicated the Hebrew letter meaning “life”. They were to roast and eat the lamb and stay in their houses as the angel of death flew over Egypt. In every house that did not have the blood of the Lamb on its doorframes, the firstborn child died. 

The blood of the lamb protected the children of Israel from God’s judgement in the same way that Yeshua’s, the perfect Lamb of God, blood covers those who have accepted His sacrifice on the Cross and cleanses them of their sins. 

Sin is a plague. It is what brings death to our spirits. As it says in Hebrews 12:1, 2: “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

According to this scripture sin is a weight and is what so easily ensnares and entangles us. It keeps us from girding ourselves and running the race set before us. Just like God instructed the Israelites to remove leaven from the bread, may we be reminded that He is instructing us to remove any sin that is so easily entangling us from our lives.

My favourite devotional writer is Oswald Chambers. I’ve been reading his devotional “My Utmost for His Highest” for virtually the past 30 years. It challenges me every time I read it. These questions are taken from today’s devotion and I thought worth passing onto you in light of what I’ve been sharing.

“Are you prepared to let the Spirit of God search you until you know what the level and nature of sin is in your life – to see the very things that struggle against God’s Spirit in you? If so, will you then agree with God’s verdict on the nature of sin – that it should be identified with the death of Jesus? You cannot “reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin” (Romans 6:11) unless you have radically dealt with the issues of your will before God.”

Ready or Not Here I Come

About a week before the worldwide lockdown I was doing my daily devotions and read these words spoken by Jesus in Luke 12:35, 36:  “Let your waist be girded and your lamps burning; and you yourselves be like men who wait for their master, when he will return from the wedding, that when he comes and knocks they may open to him immediately.” 

These words were highlighted to me and I paused to reflect on them. I was familiar with the term “girded” but sensed I needed to be reminded of its meaning. Back in Biblical times, long robes would be worn. They proved very cumbersome when wanting to run, or do hard labour or fight in a battle. So the term “Let your waist be girded” or “girding up the loins” was in reference to the practice of gathering the bottom or hem of the robe, lifting it up and tucking it into one’s belt or girdle so the knees and lower legs were exposed and consequently one would be more mobile.

In Hebrew the verb “to gird” is azar, which does not just mean to fasten, but to encircle and make safe. This word comes from the root asar, which means to lock up, as in a city that is encircled or surrounded by a wall. When one girded himself in those days, it wasn’t just to run faster but to lock up his entire being.

As I continued reading in Luke throughout the following days, I came across more of Jesus’ words in chapter 17 that reiterated the same theme of readiness. Here Jesus is telling his disciples much the same as He did in chapter 12 about His second coming. One of the definitions of “gird” in Merriam-Webster’s dictionary is “to prepare (oneself) for action.” Jesus is highlighting to His disciples that they need to have their “waists girded”, readying themselves for His return. It’s been thousands of years since Jesus said this and He has clearly not returned - YET, but His Words still hold true for us today – “Let your waist be girded”. We are to prepare ourselves for action. 

During a lockdown it would seem contradictory to prepare for action when we aren’t physically moving around as we are used to. For me, it goes beyond physical movement to a spiritual awakening of the heart. Our preparation for action, I believe, is in prayer. Praying like we haven’t before for people across this world to come to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ. John 3:14-17 says in NKJV: 

“And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.”

What an amazing opportunity we have for us as believers to prepare ourselves for the promised return of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ and for us to pray for others to be prepared to meet their Maker.

The lockdown is an opportune time to be less busy and more occupied with what occupies the heart of God and that is souls. My 87 year old spiritual mum would often say to me that  one way to view the word busy is Busy Under Satan’s Yoke. I have also read that the Chinese character for “busy” is comprised of two components; a symbol for a “heart” and a symbol for “dead”. Thus, to be “busy” is to be “heart dead.” In Luke 19:13 when Jesus is sharing the Parable of the Minas He says “Occupy till I come” in reference to the nobleman leaving instructions to his servants as to the wise use of the resources that he left them until his return. 

As disciples of Yeshua are we using this lockdown time wisely? Just as one of the meanings of “gird” says, “to encircle; to make safe; to lock up, as in a city that is encircled by a wall” are we encircling others with our prayers? Are we encircling our families, our community, our neighbourhoods, our cities, and our leaders with our prayers? Are we occupying the otherwise disturbed atmosphere with hope, healing, courage, grace, Shalom? Are we “locking up” our entire being in the Prince of Peace during this “lockdown”?

The Now and the Not Yet

“I don’t understand,” one of the young ladies I disciple commented as I shared with her what I believe God spoke to me many years ago that had not yet been fulfilled. She went on to ask, “Why would God tell you something and then make you wait? I’d rather He didn’t say anything and then I wouldn’t know that I’m waiting.”

It wasn’t as if that thought hadn’t crossed my mind at one point in time, but in all my years of waiting for the fulfillment of promises I was beginning to understand that He is after far more than results. For God, the building and establishing of relationships far outweigh results. He isn’t a result-driven God, but solely relationship-driven. And not only the relationship between Himself and His children, but His children learning to relate to others and to ourselves. 

The word “waiting” comes from the same Latin root, ‘pate’ that “passive and passion” come from which means “to endure.” Waiting is both passive and passionate – a vibrant and contemplative work. It’s the time when light shines into our hearts exposing wounds, issues of our hearts – when we discover who we are and who we aren’t meant to be. It’s an opportunity for us to discover more fully who God is and who we are in Him. 

I was around 17 years old when God spoke to me that I would be a missionary while watching a movie about a missionary doctor in the Belgian Congo. In no time I got involved in short-term summer mission trips that confirmed this assignment. After completing four years of University I was sure I was ready to head on out and change the world. Little did I know that God would take me through a painful journey of changing me (Note: the journey of change won’t stop until we see our Lord face to face) before He ever released me to change the world! Sixteen years after receiving the missionary call, I became a full-time volunteer staff member of my mission organization. Any regrets for having to wait so long? No, just thankfulness for Abba’s Sovereign oversight. I suppose that is hindsight speaking but I definitely see that I wasn’t ready when I thought I was.

My thoughts go to Abraham and the promise God gave to him and Sarah that they would have a son and through that son a nation would be born and blessed to be a blessing; hard to believe when their childbearing years were in the distant past. Ten years later, in Genesis 15, the word of the Lord came to Abram saying, “Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your exceedingly great reward.” When I read this I was reminded of another meaning of the word “wait.” It means to bind together; to twist together like a chord; to become one. It’s in our waiting that we become one with God and He becomes our “exceedingly great reward.” 

Undoubtedly, there is a process of getting there that isn’t pleasant at the time. It’s the struggle of living between the now and the not yet; the cross and the resurrection. Or as Selwyn Hughes said, “I’m still learning to live in time and eternity simultaneously.” Therein lie the tension and the struggle - in the waiting. Will we continue to hold on to our faith in God? Even to the point of having the faith of God! Will we trust Him where we cannot see Him? Can He trust us to put our hand to the plough and not look back? Will we faithfully represent Him and His character in the midst of the silence? Will we allow Him to become our “exceedingly great reward” over and above the object of our waiting? All questions that are worthy of being asked and answered – by you, by me.

“Let the darkness of delay discipline your soul in the patience of the saints, in the promises of God, who will not suffer His faithfulness to fail, in the presence of the Saviour by His Spirit, in the provision of needed grace from nail-scarred hands.” V. R. Edman

Living Regret-Free

So it’s my Birthday today and I’ve been thinking – not unusual for me! Interacting with hundreds of University students, many of whom I’m discipling and mentoring in leadership, I like to ask them “What is the best teacher?” The majority will respond, “Experience.” I would have said the same before being exposed to the leadership teachings of John Maxwell. His take on it is that the best teacher is evaluated experience. Reflective thinking is essential to turning experience into insight. Evaluated experience helps us to know what to continue doing and what not to do. I’m a firm believer in reflective thinking. I’m tending to do more of it in my latter years seeing that I don’t have the time or energy to not learn from my experiences and turn them into insight that will help guide me the remainder of my years. Way too old to be haphazard and unintentional! 

I’ve heard it said that life is lived forward but understood backwards which makes me ask myself, “Do I have regrets? And if so, how can I ensure that I rectify those and don’t continue living that way?” If we asked the more elderly amongst us we would hear them express sadness, or disappointment over something that has happened or been done particularly in areas of loss or missed opportunity. We would probably hear many of them say, “I wish I hadn’t spent so much of my life worrying. I wish I had forgiven more. I wish I had cared less about what other people think. I wish I had lived up to my full potential. I wish I had faced my fears. I wish I’d stopped chasing wrong things. I wish I’d lived more in the moment. I wish I hadn’t worked so hard. I wish I'd let myself be happier. I wish I'd had the courage to be true to myself and not what people expected of me…”

Is it possible to live a life that is regret-free? As a person devoted to Jesus Christ, who definitely left this earth leaving behind no regrets, yes, I believe it’s possible. Jesus lived regret-free because His mission was to hear what the Father said and do it. It’s also possible for us when we take seriously our relationship with Jesus by making the Word a priority in our lives, and not just reading it, but obeying it. Living regret-free means being faithful to the person of Jesus Christ. It is realizing that He knows us better than we know ourselves so we trust Him. It means submitting to His will and His ways. 

Living regret-free doesn’t mean living perfectly, but making imperfect progress. Here are some ways that I’ve been learning to live regret-free, albeit making imperfect progress.

Love and give unconditionally. Keep short accounts in relationships. Confess more. Be known. Be real. Ask for the gift of tears – a repentant heart. Don’t make assumptions (the lowest level of knowledge) that you know something or someone. Listen well. Show and tell that you care. Don’t finish a day without thanking, encouraging and blessing someone. Find out what you were called to, and made for, and do it. Take time with your heart – listening to it, guarding it above all else. Leave a legacy – ask yourself what and whom you are leaving behind. Push the pause button and evaluate so as not to do the same thing the same way expecting a different result. Be willing to change and readjust. Don’t get stuck in a rut – try new things and see from new perspectives. Honour, respect, value and serve others. Laugh at yourself. Encounter nature – hike - take walks – sit on rocks – lie on the grass – stare at the ocean and mountains. Look after your earth suit. Stop to ask someone’s name and the meaning of it. Live up to your potential. Know that there is always more. Do it afraid. Think about yourself less and pray for others more. Don’t stop learning from those around you – even children. Wherever you are, be there. Don’t live in isolation. Invite and don’t wait to be invited. Welcome challenges into your life. Turn off the TV, the laptop, and the cellphone and be still and know God and those around you. Be friends with silence. See the possibilities. Linger a little longer in the Word. Make His joy complete by letting Him live His life out of you. Enjoy the journey. Take the long way home and walk each other home. Go further with fewer. Believe in what God’s grace can do in someone’s life. Hold things, people, and the future loosely. Find out why you do what you do and get the help you need to change. Read a book. Bake a cake for someone’s Birthday. Celebrate others’ lives before they are gone. Live loved. Give your best to those who either cross your path or stay on it – go to heaven empty. Live with eternity in mind.

The Other Side of Why

I read this phrase somewhere recently and it’s had me asking the question, “What is the other side of why?” It baffles me that I didn’t come up with the answer sooner because it seems so obvious. For me “The other side of why” is “Why not?” I was giving an offering message at my church last week and I shared from Matthew 7:19-21. Jesus is making it clear, to His disciples and now to us that we are not to lay up treasures on earth, but rather in heaven. He further challenges His listeners that our hearts will follow our treasures. Many of us would question, “Why give?” of our time, treasures and talents. My rebuttal has become “Why not?” Many would say, “I can’t afford to give” and I again would respond, “You can’t afford not to.” 

Perhaps many of us are too afraid to look at the other side of why because it will expose where our treasures are and consequently where our hearts are. Who wants to find their hearts in a place of selfishness, or fear, or complacency, or apathy? It may be hard to believe that even though I’ve been a full-time missionary for the past 20 years I, too, have lived on this side of why. Yes I gave but often with conditions, reservations, unbelief that anything I was giving was making a difference. It’s taken some challenges along my journey to help me cross over to the other side of why and live in the why not give unconditionally of my time, treasures and talents. I read this quote by Oswald Chambers, my favourite devotional writer, a few months ago and it really struck me: “We are saved from hell and total destruction, and then we talk about making sacrifices!” Quite a rebuke! He who was timeless stepped into time, relinquished His treasures in heaven to join us on this decrepit earth, and gave all He had so we had something worth giving away. Truly it isn’t about doing Him a favour. Rather, it’s about freely giving away Who has been so freely given to us. It’s about making it our aim to be well pleasing to Him (2 Corinthians 5:9). 

There are plenty of opportunities out there to give of our time, treasures and talents. For example, the last few years I have given my time to participate in a spinathon where funds go to human trafficking victims. It helps to bring awareness to the community of the realities of these audacities happening in their own city and nation. Many would say, “Why do it as it’s just a drop in an ocean?” But the other side of why says, “Even a drop has a ripple effect!” 

Let’s live on the other side of why and start demonstrating the why not?

Why not reach out to someone today with a smile, a word of encouragement, a “Thank you”, an “I’m sorry”, a “Bless you”?

Why not pray for those who seem beyond God’s reach?

Why not send a whats app or facebook message or an email saying, “I’m thinking of you. How are you doing?”

Why not do some volunteering and invest in widows, orphans, the marginalized?

Let’s be as Jesus exhorts us in Matthew 5, “…be generous with your lives. By opening up to others, you’ll prompt people to open up with God, this generous Father in heaven.”