The Priestly Order: Part 2

January 29, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

“In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation, being designated by God as a high priest according to the order of Melchizedek” ~ Hebrews 5:7-10.

As I consider our next portion of this subject, verses 7-10 above seem to proof-text Christ’s priesthood. In order to discern what I mean and get a picture of His High Priestly role, we need to compare it with verses 1-4, which outline the qualifications for those called to the role of high priest.

“For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins; he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness; and because of it he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself. And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was” ~ Hebrews 5:1-4.

Comparing these things with our first verses, here is what I find”

“For every high priest taken from among men is appointed on behalf of men in things pertaining to God, in order to offer both gifts and sacrifices for sins…” (vs. 1-4): compares with “In the days of His flesh, He offered up both prayers and supplications with loud crying and tears to the One able to save Him from death, and He was heard because of His piety. …” (vs. 7-10).

Jesus came in flesh to fulfill the priestly role of being “taken from among men” as one “appointed on behalf of men” to intercede in “things pertaining to God.” He fulfilled this role in many ways, beginning with prayers and supplications, not only for the people God sent Him to minister to on His behalf, but for Himself.

We are told in Holy Writ that He often went away by Himself for time with the Father, preparing Himself for the days and challenges ahead. And as He went to the cross, He wept before the Father with such anxiety of heart that He sweat blood with thought of the cross in His path, crying out, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from Me; yet not as I will, but as You will.” He sets the example for us when we face a CROSS-road. Jesus went through life as example to us, and He went to the cross on our behalf, fulfilling His High Priestly role. (See Matthew 26:36-46; Mark 14:32-42; Luke 22:39-46)

Next, in verse 1-4, we read that the high priest taken from among men is so appointed because “…he can deal gently with the ignorant and misguided, since he himself also is beset with weakness….” Of Jesus in verse 7-10 we are told, “…Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. …”

The High Priest must be able to relate with the struggle that is common to every person. They need to be able to deal with people with the degree of grace and understanding that comes from personal experience of the struggle our flesh brings to the equation. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve heard people say, “You can’t understand unless you have lived it.” Experience allows us right of passage to minister to the need of others. Therefore The Christ having experience of life as a person of flesh is a vital part of the requirement for His Priesthood.

I am struck by this statement concerning Christ, “…Although He was a Son, He learned obedience from the things which He suffered. …” Although He was God incarnate by the Father – Son relationship He had that is difficult for us to fully fathom, He “learned obedience” through suffering. That tells me He knew suffering. His deity as God did not protect him from hurting when He stubbed His toe, getting angry when He saw injustice, or sweating blood at the thought of His cross. His flesh was fully flesh, and He felt it. He learned through experience what it was like to be in these flesh-shells. To meet the requirement He had to learn by experience what it was like to deal with the flesh and remain true to the God-Head. Because of that experience, He has the ability to give compassion with understanding of our struggle.

Our role is somewhat reversed from His. He came as God and learned of the flesh and how to deal with the flesh while remaining in God despite the flesh. We come as fleshly beings and, once we receive the Christ and His Spirit that unites us with the Father, we learn how to know and understand this Immortal and remain in Him despite our flesh. Because Jesus chose to come and live in a flesh body, He understands our “despite the flesh” struggle, thus His Priestly role continues as He ever lives to intercede, standing in the gap before the Father on our behalf (Romans 8:33-34).

“…and because of it (his understanding of our struggle and his call to stand on our behalf) he is obligated to offer sacrifices for sins, as for the people, so also for himself. …” (vs. 1-4 – parenthesis added by author, reminder of previous thoughts added). “…And having been made perfect, He became to all those who obey Him the source of eternal salvation…” (vs. 7-10).

Jesus filled this role like no other in that He not only offered up a sacrifice, but He became the sacrifice, paying the price required for life with God on behalf of all flesh.

I never thought of it before now, but that would include covering the weakness He experienced in His own flesh. Though He lived in victory over His fleshly struggle, being perfect in all His ways, He still lived fully in human flesh. He kept the Levitical Law perfectly: That would include going with His sacrifice in hand on holy days throughout His life among us, thus He offered up sacrifice for Himself in keeping with the Law. Despite His deity, when called “good,” He replied, “No one is good but God alone” (Mark 10:18), so He apparently considered His own fleshly existence to be as frail and faulty as anyone else’s because of the weakness and struggle that flesh presents to living. So His sacrifice of His own flesh at Calvary could well fulfill the call of the high priest to offer up sacrifice “as for the people, so also for himself”.

“…And no one takes the honor to himself, but receives it when he is called by God, even as Aaron was” ~ Hebrews 5:1-4.

It just dawned on me, as I read here that Jesus was called to His priesthood just as Aaron was that God sent Aaron across the wilderness to meet up with Moses before he was placed as a priest over Israel (Exodus 4). Jesus, too, started His earthly ministry after 40 days of prayer and fasting in the wilderness. Just an interesting thought.

Our pastor instructed recently that the purpose of the 40 day fast is for one to come fully into the authority they have from God. Jesus had great power because He trusted Himself to God and trusted God to give full authority to His fleshly existence so that He could fulfill His call as Christ.

The High Priest must live in purity and work out of His full authority in God. In the second order of priesthood started by Aaron, a high priest entering the Holy of Holies, having any impurity in his life, fell dead instantly. But if he fulfilled the call of purification, he went in with full authority to do so in safety, fully empowered to fulfill his priestly role. Jesus fulfilled His High Priestly role by entering fully into His purification and authority in God, just as Aaron did.

All these things in play, God says of Jesus, “… ‘YOU ARE MY SON, TODAY I HAVE BEGOTTEN YOU’; just as He says also in another passage, ‘YOU ARE A PRIEST FOREVER ACCORDING TO THE ORDER OF MELCHIZEDEK’” ~ Hebrews 5:5-6.

Jesus is our High Priest. We need no other. He ever lives to intercede on our behalf, calling and empowering us to live fully for God with whole heart, and through Him we receive our purification from sin, being set free from its death and set free from constantly having to make blood sacrifice for sin.

Wow. There it is! I kept feeling that there was something more to this “order of Melchizedek” than I was seeing or being helped to see by commentaries read. Here it is!

Melchizedek was of the first order of priests. In that role we are not told of any sacrifice for sin being made or required. Then enters Aaron at the call of God: Through Aaron and the Levitical priesthood God sets up the second order of priests, in which blood sacrifice was required for the covering of sin and other issues given the people through Levitical Law. This order of the priesthood was set up by God for the purpose of providing a holy people out of which the Christ would come, the Holy Seed of God.

It was also set up for the people to have an intermediary between themselves and God. If you recall in the account of Israel’s experience in Exodus, the people feared God in an unholy way, being afraid of His presence and power, so much so that they feared relationship with Him. So they told Moses to talk to God on their behalf, refusing the personal intimacy God had for them to possess. I believe this is why God made arrangements for a priesthood to stand in the gap and intercede for the people: the second order being intermediary. (See Exodus 20:18-21; 34:29-35; 2 Corinthians 3)

In comes Christ, who fulfilled the role of High Priest perfectly, setting the example of godliness and calling all around Him to wholehearted, personal intimacy in their relationship with God as Father. Through His holy life and sacrifice, the full payment for sin is made, and we are back to the order of priesthood that no longer has need of the ritualistic cleansing of the second order. Jesus keeps us safe and covers us by His own blood sacrifice so we can enter into the very presence of God without fear: back to the first order of personal intimacy with God.

Beloved, through Christ we are of the first order of priests, the order of Melchizedek – set free to have personal relationship with Father-God! That is our topic of discussion for Part 3 of our focus on The Priestly Order.

Sanctification, The Priestly Order

The Priestly Order: Part 1

January 27, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings 2 Comments

Read Hebrews 5:1-10

“Christ did not glorify Himself so as to become a high priest, but He who said to Him, ‘You are My Son, Today I have begotten You’; just as He says also in another passage, ‘You are a priest forever According to the order of Melchizedek’” ~ Hebrews 5:5-6.

This passage of Hebrews is deep and wide to me and I do not pretend to fully understand this truth. I have mulled over it for days now during a busy season on the home front with writing it hindered. Pondering the beauty of this passage I see three topics to cover concerning this Priestly Order. We begin today with seeking the Lord to understand the designation of Christ as “Priest forever, according to the order of Melchizedek.” He is now the High Priest through whom we go to the Father. But what is the significance of this “order of Melchizedek”?

Melchizedek is found in Genesis 14. Abraham rescued Lot and all those with him who were taken in a raid on Sodom and Gomorrah. Upon his return with the people he saved from captivity, he met with the King of Sodom and with Melchizedek, the King of Salem. Melchizedek means “king of righteousness.” Salem means “peace”. So Melchizedek, who was a priest to the God Most High, was called king of righteousness and king of peace, being a likeness of the Christ. To Him, as thank-offering to God, Abram gave the first tithe.

Hebrews 7 tells us concerning Melchizedek that he was “Without father, without mother, without genealogy, having neither beginning of days nor end of life, but made like the Son of God, he remains a priest perpetually” (vs. 3). And vs. 11-17 instructs us that, like Melchizedek, Jesus is priest, not in accord with Levitical Law, “but according to the power of an indestructible life”. In this order of priests, Jesus’ heritage is beyond comprehension, and He is designated High Priest forever, having been raised again to newness of life that is eternal with the Father.

Melchizedek was a man designated by God as priestly-king of God Most High before the Levites were even on the scene of life and Levitical Law put in place: thus he is from the first order of priest. Jesus was born to a virgin, of the house of Judah, heir to the throne of David – not Levi, thus He, being a man, is designated by God as Priestly-King of God Most High, who says to us, “This is My beloved Son, with whom I am well-pleased; listen to Him!” (Matthew 17:5).

The birthright of Jesus the Christ is laid out for us in Scripture. He is King of kings through the lineage of David, birthed through God as Lord of lords, designated by the Father as Priest forever in the order of Melchizedek. Next post we look at His Priestly role.

(References: Hebrews 7; 1 Timothy 2:5; Genesis 14; Zechariah 6:12-13; Isaiah 11:5-9)

Contentment, Godly Principles, Harmony, Practicing His Presence, Relationships

Pondering Tempest’s Calm

January 26, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

“He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, ‘Peace, be still!’ And the wind ceased and there was a great calm” ~ Mark 4:39, NKJV.

“Peace, be still.” That is the phrase coursing through my mind as I think on this past weekend. A family we greatly love was in for a visit. We were so excited for their arrival, and so exhausted when they left. What exhausted us?

The male head of that family is a man of hot temper. He loses his temper easily, being gruff of speech and very impatient with much frustration coming from his tone of voice and mannerisms. As a result, there was constant fussing among them, bad attitudes in kind from the others of that family, and I felt it within myself at times. Scripture instructs us to avoid men of hot temper, and this rippling of the waters of peace is why we are so warned.

“Do not associate with a man given to anger; Or go with a hot-tempered man, Or you will learn his ways And find a snare for yourself” ~ Proverbs 22:24-25.

It was exhausting to experience; I can’t fathom living in that day after day. Oh, wait! Yes I can.

As I ponder this issue, I remember my younger years and some days since, when my own temper flared in like manner. I too was raised in a home by a hot tempered mother. Thankfully, as I discovered that temper within myself when my children were young, God worked with me to change my ways.

I learned that such temperament is often a bad habit that can be retrained. Learning a new way where temper is concerned begins with “Peace, be still.”

When my children were little and I found myself sounding too much like my mother, I began seeking the Father for a change of temper. “Peace, be still” is the first step revealed to calmer waters of existence. “Be still and KNOW that I AM GOD” (Psalm 46:10-11). I learned to draw near to God and let Him have control of my temper.

Selah ~ Pause and CALMLY think of that.

I learned to send the kids to their room or sit them in a chair or simply say, “be quiet for a bit”, giving me some time with the Lord to calm down. Disciplining when my temper is flared is never a pathway to peace and cooperation. I may elicit obedience with my temper, but not obedience that is coupled with a right attitude. You know what? Heart attitude is vital to true obedience; and we teach our children obedience to God by the way they obey us.

My husband learned to practice this with me and, in doing so, helped me to change my temperament. When an argument rises between us, he will go out to work on some project giving us each time to cool off. Later we can sit calmly together, being able to truly hear what each has to say, and we can come to agreement without arguing and yelling. The important thing is to make sure we come back together to deal with issues in need of attention. Neglecting to do so can breed bitterness as the problem continues unchecked.

Time out allows me not only to get my temper under control, but it also allows me to rightly evaluate the situation. Sometimes I might realize that the real problem is that I am overly tired to the point that kids being kids is that proverbial straw on that proverbial camel’s broken back. That is truer of me now that I am older and no longer used to having children around. I have to be very careful that my being tired does not cause me to sound off in ill-tempered fervor. If that is the case, the time out itself often fixes the problem. I talk to the kids about mom (or now, “Meeme”) being overly tired and in need of them to do something quiet that will allow me to rest. Voila! Peace is restored and we are in good relations again.

At times when a real issue needs to be dealt with, time out calms me enough so we can discuss the issue in ways that allow us to come to an understanding of the right and better way of things. Discipline (training in righteousness) dictated by calmer minds helps the child and parent or husband and wife adjust their way of thinking and doing. When my temper is under control, I am better able to listen to them and understand what they want or need; and I am better able to express my will and reasoning to them in ways that foster cooperation. With a child, when spanking is in order, it is better done in love with reason when calm is the driving force.

Dealing with a child when frustrated and hot tempered breeds frustration and rebellion in the child. It is what scripture refers to when it says, “Fathers, do not exasperate your children, so that they will not lose heart” (Colossians 3:21 ~ this applies to mothers as well). Children – and mates for that matter – who are always assaulted by ill-temper and a bad attitude become people of ill-temper and bad attitude. It is exhausting to live that way because it is like fighting the wind. You know not where and when ill-temper will come, how fierce it will be, or how long it will last. One wind rises up a clashing wave of resistance that hits another and another until the seas of our lives are rolling so hard that destruction is imminent. Scripture rightly warns:

“An angry man stirs up strife, And a hot-tempered man abounds in transgression” ~ Proverbs 29:22.

Temper usually comes when we demand our own way, often unreasonably. It is a god-complex that is sin, demanding always to be in control without thought of God and His ways, and without practicing love toward others, caring for one’s own needs and desires over those of others.

There is hope for us as we learn that “A hot-tempered man stirs up strife, BUT the slow to anger calms a dispute” ~ Proverbs 15:18.

A hot temper is a bad habit that becomes a snare to all touched by it, robbing of strength, energy, love and relationship. But it can be overcome as we “seek first His righteousness” (Matthew 6:33). When we choose to take a time out with some deep, calming breaths, forcing our mind and heart to be still and know God, seeking Him for wisdom, He calms and quiets the storm within just as He did that stormy sea. When we are calm, we then have the capacity to see, hear and know truth, and we can speak wisdom with peace that not only trains up those who hear to walk in righteousness, but it trains them in how to deal with their own temper issues.

Josh McDowell said it well, “Rules without relationship lead to rebellion.” But relationship spawned out of peaceful waters will produce cooperation that calms the tempest. Which do you want for your relationships?

“Peace, BE STILL!”

Adequacy, Assurance, Power, Practicing His Presence, Sanctification, who I am in Christ

Pondering ONE

January 22, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings 1 Comment

Jesus, in the Lord’s Prayer found in John 17, prayed, “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one; I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me” (vs. 16-17).

Reading that passage in my younger years, my mind and heart always went to thought of the church being made one together in Father and Son. But today, in light of my pondering, I see something more, something deeper. I see in this passage the prayer for each individual that makes up the “they” of the church. As we each, individually, come into this unity Jesus speaks of, we are perfected in that unity, and yes, together we come closer to each other for a more unified body of Christ, the Church. But it begins with our individual relationship with the Father.

What led me to these thoughts?

I am at a place in my walk with Father that amazes my heart when I experience its reality. I am coming more and more into the realization of the Eternal.

Don’t get me wrong. I still struggle in areas of weakness of flesh. But more and more I am experiencing the perfecting power of His sure Presence. And as more and more I surrender to this unity with Him, this reality of His sure presence with and in me, trusting in Him, less and less is my struggle to conform to the transforming power of His Person with me. And as more and more I surrender to His Presence working in and through me, greater and greater is the increase of this peaceful, trust, increasing my assurance of His faithfulness to complete the work He began in me. He is faithful who will also do it.

And more and more, as I realize His presence with and work in me, less and less is the distance to the eternal. My now is no longer limited by time and space. It is empowered by Him who is all in all, beyond comprehension, boundless His dimensions. More and more I trust the words He places within me to encourage another, and I speak them with greater assurance and boldness of faith, realizing He is in them. More and more I trust Him to lead my steps and orchestrate my day, and I follow more surely without question of actions resource, knowing He will bring the faithful work to produce His desired results in His perfect time. Less and less does fear of failure or fear of being rejected hinder my walk with, in, and through Him. Surrendering more and more to meld into His reality, I find more and more of the real and true “me” He created me to be, and I am set free to know eternity with Him today.

Jesus sat the example for us with professions like “Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless it is something He sees the Father doing; for whatever the Father does, these things the Son also does in like manner. For the Father loves the Son, and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing…” (John 5:19-20). Then in John 14:10: “The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works.” We, too, can know and do the Father’s will, following His initiative, and speaking His words, as His eternal presence is made real to our earthly existence.

As sons and daughters of the Father through the Christ, the same love is there for us, ready to show us all things He Himself is doing. “I and the Father are one,” Jesus said, then prayed in later text, “The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one” (John 10:30; 17:22). He is talking about our here and now existence. Not just our heaven-bound, future reality. He is talking about our unity with each other as we come into our unity with Him, making us ONE as He is ONE.

More and more I see people who are whole heartedly seeking the Father, coming more and more into the reality of this unity that removes all separation from the Eternal. Our “now” is just a momentary instance within our eternal. Our “now” is not separate from the Eternal, it is partner with it. And the produce of our now existence being made one with the Eternal will be seen in the earth and in our eternity with Him as we enter His presence more and more until end of days comes.

How much easier it is to live godly in the now when the Eternal is real within us. When we realize our partnership with God through the Christ; when we understand our lives as being an extension of His own, Him at work in us to continue His work in the earth, bringing about all His good purpose and plan: with that realization the Eternal then comes to live within each individual of us and we see His hand move mountains as His power pours forth through our willing hands and feet, mouths and heart’s beat.

Sound charismatic? Sound New Age? It’s not. It is the living God and Father responding to the heart-cry of His Son as prayed for us by Him before His final translation to Glory at the right hand of the Father. If we are saved through Christ now, we are saved for all eternity, and our eternal existence is partner with our now as we surrender to His initiative. I’m not perfect in this unity yet, but I am growing in it and it in me. God, living and well within us, freeing us from the mortal so that the immortal can thrive to the glory of His name. Many, seeing this eternal reality springing forth in the lives of others, question its varsity, just as they did in Jesus’ day and ministry, because they do not understand its truth and they fear what they fail to believe.

Truth is found in the truth, beloved. Want to know the truth of what I am professing today? Dig into the Word of God, asking for His initiative to be made evident. It is truth that helps us to know truth. And it is truth that contrasts the false.

In every false religion that is functional and able to progress, there is an element of the truth that is stolen by the deceiver – that enemy of God at work to make the distortion of it palatable, leading many astray. We do not discern the false by studying the false. We discern the false by knowing the truth. Studying the false to try to learn of the false can cause one of two things:

* We can grow to believe the false and partner with it when we do not have understanding of the truth.

* We can grow to fear the false and become judgmental of people who practice truth we don’t understand because of a distorted focus on the false and failure to grow in our own understanding of the truth.

Want more of the eternal that God desires we possess? Chase after knowledge of the truth found only in Him, doing so without fear of believing Him and taking Him at His word. He contrasts the truth that is His from that twisted by the lie and used to deceive, helping us to find His truth perfected within us, drawing us more and more into the Eternal that influences and equips our righteousness and lifting us up to all He desires we be: the Eternal colliding with our now existence. That is power at work in God’s eternal beings, His sons and daughters, making us lights to lead many to freedom found only in the truth of Christ and unity with Him.

“…He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak on My own initiative, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father is in Me; otherwise believe because of the works themselves. Truly, truly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do, he will do also; and greater works than these he will do; because I go to the Father” ~ John 14:9-12.

ONE: it is an eternal principle: Jesus in the Father who is in Him; them in me and me in them, and us in one another with Him, empowered and equipped by this Eternal for the greater works of God in our here and now existence. Great things come to ONE, Eternal with God, fulfilling His purpose in the earth.

Today is the first day of our eternity, beloved. Come into the Father with me and let us be busy about the Father’s business, having His power for salvation, before time runs out for those in need of this Eternal connection.

Godly Principles, Practicing His Presence, who I am in Christ

Pondering The Lord, God of Heaven’s Armies

January 14, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

“Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live! Then the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will be your helper, just as you have claimed. Hate evil and love what is good; turn your courts into true halls of justice. Perhaps even yet the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will have mercy on the remnant of his people” ~ Amos 5:14-15, NLT.

I love the wording of this verse in the New Living Translation. Of course, it is beautiful in any true translation, but this one captures my heart as I think on “The Lord of hosts”, “God of Heaven’s Armies”. It brings me to restful, peace to think of our God, fighting for us as commander of the Angelic hosts of heaven.

We are encouraged, “Do what is good and run from evil so that you may live! Then the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will be your helper, just as you have said.”

In scripture, righteousness is defined as true living; and sin or evil is called “death”. Death separates oneself from God; life walks in unity with Him.

Every evil we face has a spiritual component to it that most often requires a spiritual response. When we choose to do good and fully follow God, He gives His angels charge concerning us, to fight the demonic forces behind the evil that seeks to destroy us.

Most often, the things going on in the earth are a picture image of what is going on in the heavenly realms. When we choose the good of God’s desire, God works to bring good to us in the spiritual realm. When the good of the Spirit is our influence, we choose the good of God’s desire.

Satanic forces influence the hearts of men to actions contrary to God using the wisdom of the flesh, this world, and demonic whisperings to deceived hearts. Such battles require angelic forces to deploy in response. When we choose good, recognizing and fleeing from evil influences, we have the assurance of God’s help. These armies of God fight the demonic forces so that the message of God can reach our hearts and influence our good.

I believe this war on terror is such an instance of evil’s influence on mankind. Only as we choose the good and fully follow God’s lead in this battle will we see victory. And that victory must be aided by His angelic forces coming against the demonic forces that influence and use the evil we see.

“Hate evil and love what is good; turn your courts into true halls of justice. Perhaps even yet the Lord God of Heaven’s Armies will have mercy on the remnant of his people”

Goodness and justice are our spiritual weapons against evil. These weapons of our warfare loose God’s mercy toward us and move Him to take action on our behalf in whatever evil we face. But the definition of what is good is not ours to determine. It is dictated by God, requiring us to come into agreement with His desires. We must seek to know His heart on the issues before us if we are to do the good that flees from doing evil and moves the hand of God on our behalf.

Good is to do the will of God in the way of God to the glory of God.

“Evil”, everything contrary to God, His will and His way, is the only thing in scripture that I can think of in which God calls us to hate. We do not hate the person given to evil. They are only a vessel of evil, just as we are only a vessel of Good. Even Jesus says, “Why do you call Me ‘good’? No one is good but God alone” (Mark 10:18). Thus we hate the evil itself, but we are called to love the person.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? If you greet only your brothers, what more are you doing than others? Do not even the Gentiles do the same? Therefore you are to be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect” ~ Matthew 5:43-48.

“Sons” or children of God look like Him. Father God is our example to follow when it comes to love, and if we are His, we will look like His child, being in His image. He loves because He is love and He can do no less. We are “perfect as He is perfect” when we love because that is who we are. His love is perfectly within Him, dictating His actions toward all mankind. Though He hates the evil produced by those who are “enemy” at the time of their evil and He comes against that evil that is standing against Him and the good He desires, He still loves the sinner enslaved by evil.

It is letting love be in us as it is in Him that produces the good that reaps the reward of His hand at work on our behalf to protect us from the evil desires of enemy forces. Love has nothing to do with the recipient of its affections. Love, true love that desires and does what is best for the one loved, cannot be bought with a price or lost with any evil done. Love is what it is at all times. It assumes responsibility for itself, being unconditional and incorruptible. We love God because He first loved us and He shows us the way of love as He lives and breathes through us. Therefore our love for God always chooses the good He desires even for those who stand in opposition to Him.

We always have God’s love, Him doing what is best toward us as He works to bring us into agreement with Himself and His perfect desires. Even in the midst of consequences for past evil done by us or to us, when we turn back to Him through goodness and justice, His hand moves to help us face evil’s consequences.

We have God’s help when we surrender to His good and run after righteousness and justice as He defines it. We accomplish good when we seek to be as God is in character, thought, motive, deed and action. We accomplish justice when we agree with Him who defines evil and its consequences, divvying out and taking the consequences earned by evil practices, but doing so with a nature of love that desires the good, even and especially for those we call “enemy”.

Today, I check my stance with God the Father. Today I pray the God of angel armies be with you as you continue to fight the good fight of faith in the love He provides through the moving of His hand of help and hope.

Choice, Humility, Sanctification

Pondering the Hard Places of Life

January 13, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings 1 Comment

I have learned much in my 60 years of life. God used many people to train me up. From my daddy, I learned faithfulness and frugal living. From Aunt Peggy and Aunt Shirley I learned how to care for a home. From Aunt Maxine I learned the importance of Scripture to daily life. From Aunt Edna and Uncle Bobby, I learned the importance of living those Scriptures through a faithful, Christian walk. In the power of His Spirit, God has used His Word to instruct me, His Church to build me up, and His people to encourage and help me. God uses many things in this life and in our situations in order to grow and mature us. Today my thoughts are on the hard places He takes us to for His purposes and our good.

Why am I thinking on such and side tracking from my pondering of Hebrews? Two reasons:

During what I call my “Prescription walk” I am currently listening to the book of Jeremiah. In it, over and over again, God uses Jeremiah to warn the people of Israel and Judah of His hand coming against them, sending them into captivity. Over and over they are told to give themselves freely to their captors or suffer destruction. With each warning comes promise that if they will willingly surrender to God’s will and put themselves under the taskmasters He is sending to enslave them, that in their time of captivity they will find their lives fully restored.

That’s one reason I am pondering our subject today. And these words catch my attention for the second reason.

I have a friend who is facing a very difficult decision, one in which he has to choose whether he will surrender himself to captivity, or fight to see if he can win his freedom. I don’t envy his decision one bit: in fact I grieve it for him and all involved terribly. Nor do I know the answer. Only God does. But as I think of his situation in light of the words in Jeremiah, this I do know:

In any situation we face where the choice is to surrender ourselves to go through a very hard place in life or fight to see if we can win our freedom, the opinion of God is vital. He knows which direction is our ideal soil for growth, maturity, service, obedience, and the glory of the Lord. He has a purpose in the mountains, and He knows which way will bring true freedom.

Sometimes God calls us to go around a mountain and avoid it at all cost. Sometimes He leads us to go over that mountain and defeat it by fighting our way to the other side. And sometimes He calls us to go through that hard ground to the other side, trusting His hand for us.

If we choose to fight when He says to surrender, we fail to trust His hand and His purpose, and we find ourselves actually fighting Him. So discernment of God’s will is vital. If we are called by Him to surrender to a challenge or enemy force, it is truly Him we surrender ourselves too. And God is faithful. He will see us through those difficult places and bring us through with greater understanding of who He is and how faithful He is to us who choose to trust Him. If we choose to fight when He says “surrender”, we may find ourselves facing the very terrors we fear.

In my times of surrendered trust in God, as He took me through the middle of my hard places in life, I found these reasons for His doing so:

Sometimes it takes the crushing things in life to remove those deeply imbedded, huge roots of sin that we often do not even realize we have. God is always at work to make us into the image of God, and if that means captivity for a time so that we can be made truly free, that is what He requires. Cooperation with Him is the only way to survive such experiences.

Sometimes there are things and people in our lives that we value more than God, making them an idol. God will take us through hard places in order to lead us to trust Him alone, to relinquish our idols, and to more fully bond with Him as our first, most vital necessity. These are the times He calls us to realize Him as our greatest desire above all else, choosing first His Kingdom and His righteousness. And once we make that choice, we find more of all the good things in life, only they are rightly prioritized, having no power to pull us from Him as the One possessing first place in everything. Having Him first and foremost as our greatest desire makes everything else taste sweeter.

And then there is the reason of His need of our special gifting and life experience to bring light into dark places. Sometimes our captivity is nothing more than a mission field and opportunity to bring Him glory.

Many of us have hard decisions to make from time to time. Before balking at a place that looks like enemy captivity that will harm and destroy you, stop to ask the Lord His opinion. Get His heart for the situation. Hear His promises for the call of the captive. If He is there, in the hard place before you with some purpose of His own in hand, your only choice is whether to surrender to Him there and have His help for the journey, or fight against Him where you are. Whichever side of the issue God is on, that is the safest place to be. Discern where God is standing; enter into His rest through faith-filled, believing obedience; and follow Peace to the pastures of His choosing.

“Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you” ~ James 4:10.

Hebrews, Sanctification, The Righteous Lot

Pondering Restful Pastures: 2

January 9, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

Read Hebrews 4

“To whom did He swear that they would not enter His rest, but to those who were disobedient? So we see that they were not able to enter because of unbelief. Therefore, let us fear if, while a promise remains of entering His rest, any one of you may seem to have come short of it. For indeed we have had good news preached to us, just as they also; but the word they heard did not profit them, because it was not united by faith in those who heard” ~ Hebrews 3:18-4:2.

Yesterday we looked at the keys found in Jesus’ example to us for living a life of obedience that leads to our entering into and remaining in the restful pastures of God’s provision. Today as I read Chapter 4, which continues the teaching on living in God’s rest, I am impressed with the connection obedience to God has with faith in Him.

Our level of obedience is directly related to the degree of faith we have to trust Him and take God fully at His Word. So when restful pastures elude us, the first place to look is to our faith: Are we fully believing God, taking His word to us to heart, and walking it out to completion with complete understanding of the intent of His Word?

I think to fully grasp this in a fallen world where trouble is promised to us and seems to rob of rest we need to discern this rest that God speaks of: what is God’s rest?

“For we who have believed enter that rest, just as He has said, ‘As I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter My rest,’ although His works were finished from the foundation of the world. For He has said somewhere concerning the seventh day: ‘And God rested on the seventh day from all His works’; and again in this passage, ‘They shall not enter My rest’” ~ verses 3-5.

Here is what I discern as God’s rest, beloved. God spoke and it was done, fully and completely, nothing of His intent lacking. So on the seventh day, He looked over all His works with the satisfaction of knowing it was complete. There was nothing more to be said, nothing more to accomplish but to enjoy the view and watch for the fruit to bear out of the finished product.

There are things He has spoken that we are waiting to see fulfilled in the earth through the bearing of the fruit of His Word, but when God speaks it, it’s intent is finished. We can take His Word to the bank knowing it is sufficient for every need and will bear fruit into our lives as we walk in faiths obedience.

When we have faith to believe God, even while waiting to see the fruit of His instruction and promise to us, obedience flows freely to complete the task with assurance of faith for the fulfillment of all things in Him. His Word is finished in us when our faith is complete, even while awaiting the fruit of it. So while waiting to see all He says come to pass, when we fulfill all obedience with faith, we can look over all that is before us and smile even in the midst of a storm tossed sea, knowing the produce of God’s word will be seen in due season.

“Therefore, since it remains for some to enter it, and those who formerly had good news preached to them failed to enter because of disobedience, He again fixes a certain day, ‘Today,’ saying through David after so long a time just as has been said before, ‘Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts.’ For if Joshua had given them rest, He would not have spoken of another day after that. So there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God. For the one who has entered His rest has himself also rested from his works, as God did from His” ~ verses 6-10.

Joshua did well in leading the people into the Promised Land, becoming one of our patriarchs of faith, but he fell short of full obedience in several areas and, therefore, did not succeed at leading the people to the promised rest. I.e.: they too frequently fell short of their call to destroy all God told them to, so their enemies remained in their midst to cause hardship for them, tempt them away from God, and hinder the rest God desired for them. The people of Israel suffer the consequences for this shortfall still today, as does the whole world set in chaos by terrorism.

We too often forget God’s instruction to us or fall short of understanding its intent: thus we fail to fully believe and take His word seriously, and fall short of full obedience with faith. Such half-hearted obedience is what keeps us from the rest God desires for us.

The other day I found my rest and peace greatly disturbed in the area of my struggle with feelings of rejection. I wrote several weeks ago about that struggle and shared all God instructed me with regard to that issue, and I have walked in great freedom and peace since then. But approaching a friend after church to share something with her, I was left feeling she was uninterested and like I was bothering her.

Now I realized she was tired and that I stopped her as she was heading someplace to do something. I too have trouble relating with others when my mind is set on a course. I realized this quickly and set it aside as a non-issue, but peace and rest remained disturbed within me.

As I asked the Lord why I was feeling such unrest, with that spirit of rejection rearing up anew, He instructed me again that He is the one who gives me favor with man. When He told my heart that, I discerned two things: I was failing to fully trust God’s promise to me in that moment and peace was hindered by lack of faith; and desire for favor with man can become a God to me if I am not careful to realize God’s instruction that I am to seek His favor, not mans.

“For am I now seeking the favor of men, or of God? Or am I striving to please men? If I were still trying to please men, I would not be a bond-servant of Christ” ~ Galatians 1:10.

The intent of God for me / us is to seek after His favor, not concerning self with pleasing mankind. Full obedience for me in this area is to keep focus on the favor of God, walking in it, and not concerning myself with favor from man. When I fail to fulfill the intent of God’s word through obedience to seek the favor of God alone, I leave the restful pastures and am disturbed and hindered by every appearance of the lack of favor.

“Therefore let us be diligent to enter that rest, so that no one will fall, through following the same example of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And there is no creature hidden from His sight, but all things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do” ~ verse 11-13.

God sees our hearts. He knows when we are truly and fully following Him in obedience of faith. And He is ready with His Word to help us discern what is hindering our remaining in the restful pastures of His presence and peace. Not only that, but He assures our hearts through Christ for those times when we falter and fall:

“Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but One who has been tempted in all things as we are, yet without sin. Therefore let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” ~ verse 14-16.

Jesus is the fulfillment of all things through God, beloved. He understands the fleshly, worldly, and demonic battle we are in and the weakness of our flesh, how easily distracted and forgetful we can be. He knows we are a work in progress this side of heaven’s glory.

Beloved, in Christ, God’s word concerning the work of Christ and Him crucified has completed His work in us already as far as eternity is concerned. But in our earthly reality where war with God’s enemy is in play, we are a work in progress. The blood of Christ has completed the work of our eternal cleansing. The Spirit of God is doing the work day by day of purging the sin from our earthly existence. Thus it is vital in cooperating with the purging work of the Spirit that we heed His promptings and follow quickly in obedient faith so as to experience today the restful pastures of God.

Jesus is fully aware of the reality of our weakness. Thus, because of the Word of promise fulfilled in Him, we always find grace when we, being reminded of His word to us, bow at the foot of His throne in order to rise and walk in full obedience of faith anew.

Unhappy in your marriage, beloved? Bow down and seek Him for His word for your relationship. Unhappy in your job, beloved? Bow down and discover what is lacking of faith filled obedience to God.

God’s word has fulfilled all its good will and purpose, and it bears fruit in the earth to become our reality as we walk in faith-filled obedience to the intent of God. Such living allows us to kick back with God at the end of each day and rejoice in the work well-done even while watching for the fruit of it.

Body of Christ, Hebrews, who I am in Christ

Pondering Our Privilege of Right to Restful Pastures

January 8, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings 1 Comment

Read Hebrews 2:14-3:19

Focal passage: Hebrews 3:7-11

“Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, ‘Today if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me, as in the day of trial in the wilderness, where your fathers tried Me by testing Me, and saw My works for forty years. Therefore I was angry with this generation, and said, “They always go astray in their heart, and they did not know My ways”; as I swore in My wrath, “They shall not enter My rest.”’”

Again today, I am in awe as I think on what God is speaking to my heart, beloved, and I pray I can paint the picture I see for you to capture as your own. It’s not new truth to me. It’s just the fresh winds of God’s breath reminding me of the fullness of His provision for us, which always produces awe of Him in me. So bear with me while we approach His glory.

Our chapter begins by pointing us back to chapter two:

“Since (Jesus) Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted. Therefore, holy brethren, partakers of a heavenly calling, consider Jesus, the Apostle and High Priest of our confession” ~ Hebrews 2:18 and 3:1.

Like sheep, beloved, we too easily turn to grazing on our heart’s desire and go astray from the pastures of the Good Shepherd where His provision and rest are found. Even the godliest of us have times of “going astray in their heart” and failing to know God’s ways. Temptation to stray from the pastures of God is common to mankind (Romans 3:10; 1 Corinthians 10:13. Link to Scriptures on sin’s death).

Scripture tells us that even Jesus, who came in flesh, was “tempted in all things as we are”. Yet He faced temptation without sin and became our example to follow on our journey to freedom from this death – separation from God. (Hebrews 4:15)

For us to realize the truth of Jesus’ temptation, we must realize that His flesh was fully flesh, like our flesh, responding to temptations just as we do. This being true, we must understand that when he saw a beautiful woman, for example, His physical hormones responded as any man’s would. But He did not give Himself to those fleshly impulses.

I believe the picture God is giving me today about our heart’s path to restful pastures is the reason for Christ’s success that makes Him our example to follow. Thus following the instruction of this passage, we “consider Jesus” as we look to find the solution to those times when our desire tempts us away from the restful pastures of God’s presence. The following passages hold the KEYs I see that leads to our victory:

“(Jesus) was faithful to Him who appointed Him, as Moses also was in all His house. For He has been counted worthy of more glory than Moses, by just so much as the builder of the house has more honor than the house. For every house is built by someone, but the builder of all things is God. Now Moses was faithful in all His house as a servant, for a testimony of those things which were to be spoken later; but CHRIST WAS FAITHFUL AS A SON OVER HIS HOUSE—WHOSE HOUSE WE ARE, IF WE HOLD FAST OUR CONFIDENCE AND THE BOAST OF OUR HOPE FIRM UNTIL THE END” ~ verses 2-6.

We are the temple of God, the body of Christ, being built up in Him. As such, beloved, we have full access to both the mind of Christ, who is the living, life breathed Word of God, and to the very heart of God, where the ways of His desire is made clear.

KEY: Jesus succeeded in walking in the righteousness of God by always maintaining the very heart of God within Himself. He has built us up into the House of God as the body of Christ, in which the very heart of God resides. When we “go astray from (our) heart”, this is the heart from which we stray.

Yesterday we pointed out in our pondering of our authority in Christ that Jesus always walked in His authority. How did He do that? Let’s take a peek:

When Jesus was called to fast in preparation for His earthly ministry, Satan tempted, “If You are the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” In response, Jesus kept the heart of God by remembering the Word of God: “It is written, ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that proceeds out of the mouth of God’” ~ Matthew 4:3-4.

KEY: Jesus always held in the forefront of His mind the word of God as His spiritual weapon of choice against the whiles of the enemy of God: an enemy that includes the wisdoms of the flesh, the world, and the demonic (2 Corinthians 10:3-6; James 3:13-18).

This enemy is alive and well today, hard at work to lead God’s people astray. In following the example of Christ, the mind of Christ is ours to possess and access as our first line of defense, grabbing hold of the Living, life giving Word and wielding it with deadly accuracy at the head of that which comes against us to tempt us away from God (1 Corinthians 2:16).

Matthew 4:1-11 is the most common passage used by preachers whose teaching I have sat under when talking of Jesus’ way of handling temptation. Hebrews 4 tells us that Jesus was tempted in all things as we are. Though I have heard pastors use Matthew 4’s temptation account to say that His temptation there covered “all things”, the question of a student in one of my Bible studies tells me we need to show His temptation more clearly than that. She rightly observed that the temptation Jesus faced in His wilderness experience did not touch a lot of the things that led her to be tempted. As I sought the Lord for a response to this students inability to see Matthew 4 as an account of Jesus being tempted in “all things” as we are, God revealed to me how Jesus’ entire life journey reveals His temptation and shows us how to remain in the Heart of God in our own journey of facing the tempter. For example:

When Jesus wound up by a well alone in John 4 and a woman of ill repute showed up there with Him, his flesh had opportunity to be tempted to sin, and I sense in the Spirit that this was the intent of Satan. No one was there. He could have taken advantage of the situation to feed His flesh. But what kept Him from it? I believe we get a glimpse in the words of this passage that reveal His heart for the situation:

“Meanwhile the disciples were urging Him, saying, ‘Rabbi, eat.’ But He said to them, ‘I have food to eat that you do not know about.’ So the disciples were saying to one another, ‘No one brought Him anything to eat, did he?’ Jesus said to them, ‘MY FOOD IS TO DO THE WILL OF HIM WHO SENT ME AND TO ACCOMPLISH HIS WORK. Do you not say, “There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest”? Behold, I say to you, lift up your eyes and look on the fields, that they are white for harvest’” ~ verses 31-35.

KEY: Jesus always maintained the heart of the Father for the work He was to accomplish, having His purposes in mind, holding it as the most needed food for life.

I could go on to talk about the times when Jesus was tempted by the push of the people to make Him King or to throw Him off hills to an early death rather than face a cruel cross: opportunities refused by Him who (KEY) trusted God’s timetable and His way. We could talk of the temptation to act the Pharisee by refusing to dine with sinners or be touched by them so as to please the spiritual leaders of the day, but Jesus countered that temptation by (KEY) remembering that it was for these He was sent. As the Apostle John said, the whole world could be filled with the books we can write of all Jesus did while He was here on the earth, setting the example for us.

The point to our discourse, Beloved, is that we fail to enter the rest God provides for us when we go astray in our hearts. We do that when we fall to the desires of our fleshly heart and fail to realize that we have the very heart of God beating within us in the power of the Spirit, through Jesus, the Christ.

God is always at the ready to direct us to His desires through the mind of Christ that is ready to breathe the Living Word into our being. He, the Living Word, is the Bread of Life, feeding every pore of our existence with right desires that accomplish God’s purpose, having knowledge of His ways.

Realizing these things equips us to remain in our right Heart, being a people after God’s own heart, believing in Him and desiring Him above all else. Believing God, taking Him at His word, living and breathing His purposes as fed by His very heart beating within us is the KEY to keeping our heart and remaining in the restful pastures He provides for our fulfillment.

“They always go astray in their heart, and they did not know My ways”. This does not have to be the truth of our reality when we realize the Heart that beats within us, and hold tight to the KEYS that feed us truth and righteousness. Only believe!

Assurance, Body of Christ, Hebrews, who I am in Christ

Pondering Subjection-Authority

January 7, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

Oh wow. I am seeing something in chapter two of Hebrews this morning that I have knowledge of in my head, but I think that knowledge is about to take deeper root and move about 18 inches south of my brain. Bear with me a minute and pray I can get there.

To begin, this passage tells us that “For this reason we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, so that we do not drift away from it” ~ Hebrews 2:1. Now the author is talking about our hearing the whole truth of God sent through the Christ, but it prefaces that call with “for this reason.” So let’s take just a second to review “this reason.”

In chapter one, we see that Jesus is the Word of God, not only revealing its power, but revealing the life that is in the very real and living Word of God. The Word is a person, it is Jesus. Therefore God’s Word is living and active, sharper than a double-edged sword even today because Jesus not only was, but He IS. That Word is given to us with all the power it possesses. When God speaks His truth to us in a personal way, it becomes our own, passing to us the responsibility for its use and the authority to walk it out with power, assurance, and boldness.

Jesus, having fulfilled all God’s good will and purpose, is lifted to the throne of God’s Kingdom, having full authority as King of kings and Lord of lords. He has a name that makes Him greater than any other of all God’s creation because He fulfilled His purpose in accord to the Word of God. What was the purpose He accomplished? Off the top of my head:

He brought the Word of God, imparting to us the full message of God He was charged to bring.
He corrected all false teaching and understanding, giving us not only the letter of the Law, but its intent of Heart.
He did not come to destroy or do away with the Law, but to perfectly fulfill it, setting the example for our obedience.
In fulfilling the Law, He set the example we are to follow, not only showing us how to live a life that honors and glorifies God as the One and Only, but showing us how to walk in the fullness of our authority as a child of God, possessing His power for all things.
He paid the price of sin, being the perfect Lamb of God, so that through Him, we may believe and receive the inheritance of salvation.
He took His seat at the right hand of God, receiving unto Himself the full authority of King of all God’s Kingdom and all His creation, being empowered to impart to us His power for life and living that belongs to us as the heirs of promise.
He ever lives to intercede on our behalf until His return, which is soon, and very soon.

Having these facts under our proverbial belt, beloved, now we come to verses 5-8:

“For He did not subject to angels the world to come, concerning which we are speaking. But one has testified somewhere, saying, ‘What is man, that you remember him? Or the son of man, that you are concerned about him? You have made him for a little while lower than the angels; You have crowned him with glory and honor, and have appointed him over the works of Your hands; You have put all things in subjection under his feet.’ FOR IN SUBJECTING ALL THINGS TO HIM, HE LEFT NOTHING THAT IS NOT SUBJECT TO HIM. BUT NOW WE DO NOT YET SEE ALL THINGS SUBJECTED TO HIM.”

Here is what I know and have known for a while: Adam and Eve had full authority from GOD, who subjected all the earth to them, but they did not walk in the authority God imparted for them to possess. Thus came the fall of man as sin entered in, bringing death to us. Death came because we did not realize and walk in the Living Word to possess the authority we had for life. So instead of subjecting the world by possessing the authority God gave mankind, we fell to being subject to the laws of nature. Death entered, and we surrendered to that taskmaster. Then in walks Jesus (verses 9-15):

“But we do see Him who was made for a little while lower than the angels, namely, Jesus, because of the suffering of death crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things, and through whom are all things, in bringing many sons to glory, to perfect the author of their salvation through sufferings. …Therefore, since the children share in flesh and blood, He Himself likewise also partook of the same, that through death He might render powerless him who had the power of death, that is, the devil, and might free those who through fear of death were subject to slavery all their lives.”

God gave all to mankind, but mankind fell to the lie that there was “more and better” to be had; that God was somehow holding back from us and keeping us from having it all. So separation from God and from His authority and power entered into our lives, death, bringing us to a meager existence indeed. Fear of death took hold as powerlessness ruled, subjecting us to slavery to sin, robbing us of all God’s ideal best for us. Thus Jesus came in flesh of man, contending with all its weakness, but rightly possessing the full authority of the Word of God. Setting the example for us, He subjected all things to Himself, as was intended by God from the beginning, fulfilling the perfect will of God, thus becoming for us the sacrifice that frees us from death.

“For assuredly He does not give help to angels, but He gives help to the descendant of Abraham. Therefore, He had to be made like His brethren in all things, so that He might become a merciful and faithful high priest in things pertaining to God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people. For since He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered, He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted” (verses 16-18).

Because of Christ, we who hear His Word are standing at the threshold of eternity. When we enter into the Kingdom with and through Him, we again stand as a people charged to subject all things to the authority of God’s Word. Through the practice of that faith, death no longer has a hold on us. We can let go of fear of death, no longer walking in separation, and receive the power and authority of God as one with Him who rules over all things through Christ. We fully partner with Him to rule through obedience to Him who subjects all things under the feet of the Body of Christ, of which we are.

The question is, will we receive and walk in the power we have to possess? What fear holds you back, beloved? Receive the Word implanted and walk in the authority of God by way of the Help He supplies through Christ, the mediator.

“For if the word spoken through angels proved unalterable, and every transgression and disobedience received a just penalty, how will we escape if we neglect so great a salvation? After it was at the first spoken through the Lord, it was confirmed to us by those who heard, GOD ALSO TESTIFYING WITH THEM, BOTH BY SIGNS AND WONDERS AND BY VARIOUS MIRACLES AND BY GIFTS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT ACCORDING TO HIS OWN WILL” ~ Hebrews 2:2-4. Bear the fruit, beloved.

Exact Representation, Hebrews, Sanctification

Pondering the Angelic

January 6, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings 2 Comments

“And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power. When He had made purification of sins, He sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, having become as much better than the angels, as He has inherited a more excellent name than they” ~ Hebrews 1:3-4.

Jesus is the manifest presence of God come in flesh for the purpose of sanctification.

Manifest ~ Easily noticed or perceived; obvious; plain. To show plainly; reveal or display. To prove beyond doubt. Of a disembodied spirit: to appear in visible form.

Yesterday’s blog mentions the fact that Jesus is the Word of God, the Message of God sent to accomplish all of the Father’s purpose. He is the Messenger of God revealed in the Old Testament as The Angel of the Lord, manifesting the presence of God in the earth, the visible proof of the invisible God.

In the New Testament, this manifestation is named Jesus, the exact representation of the Father. When Philip asked, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us,” Jesus replied, “Have I been so long with you, and yet you have not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’?” (John 14:7-9)

Jesus is the manifestation of the Father in the earth, exactly representing Him and His interests in every way. Jesus is The Angel of the Lord, the Living Word of God, a true and clear Manifestation of the Father in skin. And here in Hebrews, we see Him given the righteous scepter as King over the Kingdom, anointed with the oil of gladness above His companions, the angelic hosts of heaven included.

Angels: manifest spirit ministers, are seen throughout scripture. The Angel of the Lord was the manifest presence of God, sent to His people for the purpose of imparting to them the Word of His will in their hour of need – He was always recognized as God standing before the person He was sent to. Many other angels are mentioned in scripture, being also God’s creation with a purpose to fulfill. But Jesus, having fulfilled His purpose, is lifted above all God’s angelic hosts, given a name above all names as King of all God’s creation.

Here in Hebrews we are instructed of the reality of God’s angelic hosts. They are said to be winds; God’s ministers that go out as a flame of fire…having power from God. And they are ministering spirits, sent out to render service.

We live in a day when many are enamored by the thought of angels watching over us. And they do watch over us, being given charge to guard all the ways of those they are sent to minister to (Psalm 91). According to Hebrews 1:13: angels are sent into the earth to render service to those who will inherit salvation. Salvation is inherited by those belonging to God through Jesus, the Christ. They are servants of God charged with the care and service of us who believe. As such, they are not to be worshiped by us, for these, too, were created by God to be His worshipers, worshiping God as God and Jesus as King through service, praise, adoration, and honor.

God is teaching me a lot about these ministers in life, revealing how He gives them charge for my care, and how He gives me authority to call on them to fulfill their charge.

As I have shared before, I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, a diagnosis given to a group of symptoms with an etiology yet to be understood. Since the true cause is unknown, there is no real treatment. The only treatment is to deal with the symptoms.

The enemy of God often uses this disease process to hinder God’s people and hold them back from life and living. I have often felt it to be as much a spiritual battle as a physical one.

Recently God used the story of Lazarus to instruct me with regard to my struggle with fibro. The words, “This sickness is not unto death, but is for the glory of God” drew my heart to the fact of this being true of my Fibromyalgia. Then the Spirit instructed me to start speaking as Jesus did when Lazarus came forth, “Unbind him and let him go!” Only I was instructed to say, “Unbind ME and let ME go.”

At first that was hard for me to do. I kept wanting to say, “Jesus says for you to unbind me…”. Then God told me that He has given me the authority to speak the command as representing Him, and I am to do so boldly. So I do.

To begin, I thought I was saying this to the demons or the sickness. But then the Spirit asked me, “Darlene, who was I speaking to when I said that concerning Lazarus?” Jesus was speaking to His companions there with Him.

As I discerned that truth, I realized that 1) I do the same when I share with others who pray with me for my release from the bonds of Fibro. But 2) when I am alone and speak the command against a flare, I am speaking to the Spirit of God who has power to set free, and to the angels of God who are given charge to fight the enemy in the spiritual realm.

I seldom have a flare these days, and when I do, my faith in God for this weapon given me to wield in the Spirit has greatly increased. I see very fast results as the Spirit and the angels so charged deliver me from this enemy that would bind me.

The angelic hosts are not for us to worship. These are brethren in the fact that they also are God’s created beings with us. And in the heavenly kingdom of God, they are the army of God that fights the enemy of God known as the demonic forces, and they are charged with our care. We can call on them to fulfill their charge in the power and authority of God’s Spirit. And we do so in the name of JESUS, the name above all names who is seated on the throne of God’s kingdom, charged as overseer of all His will and way.

Jesus, the manifest, exact representation of God: He set the example for us to follow. We are called to be His representatives in the earth, just as He represented the Father. And we are to do so with power, in the authority He gives.

Even the angels of God show their understanding of this truth when they are sent with God’s word for a person and that word is shunned. I think of the time Gabriel came to Zacharias with word of the birth of John. Zacharias, being small in faith, couldn’t believe his eyes or his ears as this angel stood before him telling him he would have a son in his old age by a barren wife, just as experienced by his father, Abraham. He questioned the validity of the word. The angel did not run to God and say, “He didn’t believe me. What should I say?” He stood on the power of God’s word, in the authority of his charge from God, and he handled the problem:

“I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news. And behold, you shall be silent and unable to speak until the day when these things take place, because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled in their proper time.” ~ Luke 1:19-20.

Beloved, all of God’s created beings are intended to be His manifest presence in the earth, being the exact representation of His nature, bringing Him glory. When we said “I do” to Jesus as Savior and King, the image of God was restored to us fully in the Spirit and is being manifested day by day as we surrender to Him. Therefore, when people are with us, they should have a God encounter. When we speak, we should hear His voice and speak His words with the authority He gives us.

The angels also watch for the manifest presence of God in us, and they are here, charged by God, to help us achieve that goal. Being His witnesses in all the earth and making disciples is accomplished as we represent Him in all His glory, will, and way, being one with Him in the Power of the Spirit so that He is seen and heard in the earth. This is our calling and equipping in the name of Jesus.

“You are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; for you once were NOT A PEOPLE, but now you are THE PEOPLE OF GOD; you had NOT RECEIVED MERCY, but now you have RECEIVED MERCY. Beloved, I urge you as aliens and strangers to abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against the soul. Keep your behavior excellent among the Gentiles, so that in the thing in which they slander you as evildoers, they may because of your good deeds, as they observe them, glorify God in the day of visitation” ~ 1 Peter 2:9-12.

Hebrews, Power, Prophetic Word

Pondering The Living Word ~ Power for Life

January 5, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings 2 Comments

“God, after He spoke long ago to the fathers in the prophets in many portions and in many ways, in these last days has spoken to us in His Son, whom He appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the world” ~ Hebrews 1:1-2.

Hebrews is an awesome book, filled with word pictures that explain the Christ in detail, instructing in all He accomplished on our behalf, and giving meaty promises we can cling to for a life of peace and power, assurance and abundance. Many credit Paul for its writing, but I lean toward John as the author because he is the one most often to point out Jesus as the Living Word of God.

Today, as I read these first verses, my heart is full of the Power of God’s Word found and exhibited in Jesus, and passed on to us. As I read God’s word, it inspires my faith, strengthens my hope, enlightens my path, and empowers my efforts. God’s Word is our authority for life.

Here and in verses 9-10, the author points us to the fact that Jesus was the Word that Spoke and caused all things to come into existence. That point takes us back to Genesis 1: “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. Then GOD SAID, ‘Let there be light’; and there was light” (vs. 1-3). With the spoken word, God caused all creation to come into existence. He speaks, and it is done. He watches over His word to perform it, always! Scripture inspires me to believe that His Word is as good as His Presence with us. We can clasp hold of His instruction to us and walk in the authority of His reality, present and effective through us.

John 1, speaking of Jesus, tells us, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being” (vs. 1-3).

God’s word instructs us that His word is alive. It is a person, Jesus, the Christ. And in the power of His Spirit, it is living and active still today (Hebrews 4:12).

My heart is aflame with this truth today. Jesus is the Word. He is the Angel of the Lord who brought God’s word to those He was sent to in the Old Testament account of God’s interaction with mankind. He is the Word sent to us after 400 years of silence, bringing a new covenant of redemption to our reality. The Word is still living and active today in the power of the Spirit, teaching us truth: convincing of sin (what is a wrong path), righteousness (what is a right path), and judgment (giving ability to discern consequences for our choices) – (see John 16:8).

The thing that breaks my heart is when I see people reading God’s Word as if it is an archaic book that is no longer relevant to life. Seeing them read it as if God is not a big enough God to protect its translation through the ages, keeping it righteous and maintaining its integrity and application to life at any age. If God is not big enough to protect His word; if He is not powerful enough to make it relevant to our lives today, He is not big enough to be God.

You want power for life? Seek the Spirit of God to breathe life into you as you read His word. Seek Him to enlighten the eyes of your heart so you hear the Living, Life giving Word as He sent it to be, filled with power that is relevant for you today. Read God’s word, not as an archaic history book we are required to know, but as one inspired by the Word that lives and breathes truth to us, and you will receive power for life more abundant and full.

“And He is the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature, and upholds all things by the word of His power” ~ Hebrews 1:3a.

The Living Word of God is still alive and well today. When we press forward with His Word as our guiding light, the power of that Word will reveal itself to us as the living and active power of God, bringing all He speaks into existence. “Only believe!” (Jesus, Mark 5:21-42)

Announcement

21 Days of Prayer and Fasting

January 5, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings Leave a comment

Living Worshipers Rally Point invites you to join in as we unite in Spirit for 21 days of prayer and fasting. See the details at http://livingworshipers.org/events/new-years-prayer-event-and-challenge/.

Also watch for blogs titled January 5-26 Prayer and Fasting … which will give food for thought as we pray together: http://livingworshipers.org/.

who I am in Christ

Pondering Church, Body, Bride – Setting Sights on Intimacy with Christ

January 3, 2015 Darlene's Ponderings 1 Comment

Today I am pondering our position in Christ as the people of God. As I do so, I recognize three pictures of our position that we find expressive of us in Scripture: Church, Body and Bride.

As the Church, we know that a building does not a church make. We can have buildings used for the purpose of gathering, but it is not a church until the people come into it. And wherever the people gather, whether in a building designated for such, around a dinner table with family and friends, or on an isle at Walmart, we are the church, called and equipped by God to encourage the Body of Christ, equipping that Body to function as it is intended to by God. A church can only be a church where two or more are gathered in the name of Jesus.

The body of Christ is the collective of the whole of all who are His, saved by grace through faith, and surrendered to Him for the work He has planned before hand for each of us to do. Collectively we work together in the world to accomplish God’s purpose and to fulfill His ministry as light to the world, drawing others into His saving grace. We are His hands, His feet, His mouth, His spleen. Each individual member of the body has its function, but we need one another to be all God desires and fulfill all He planned. We are the body. One malfunctioning part can hinder the whole, and without the help of all, one is hindered. Thus Body and Church are dependent upon each other or we are not Body and Church.

Finally, we are the Bride of Christ. But as I ponder our relationship as Bride, I am struck by the individuality of that. Though we all make up His Bride together, our relationship with Him is dependent on our individual relationship with Him. I cannot make you a Bride and increase your intimacy with Him. It is up to you; and mine is mine alone.

I don’t know if this makes sense, but what I am seeing is this: The work of the Church is to build up and equip the Body, all working together to accomplish this. The Body is made up of all who are Bride to Christ, each individually part of the whole, all needed for full and proper function of that called “Body of Christ”. But each who are “Bride” must come into their own personal relationship with God in Christ.

We can come together as the Church and help the individual grow in their relationship with the Bridegroom, but being Bride is a personal choice and a personal, completely individualized journey for each one called “Bride”. And only when each individual of the Bride comes into their own as Bride can they function fully in their role as part of His Body and His Church.

Question: How real is God to you? How alive is His Word to your Spirit? How PRESENT is His Spirit of Power in your understanding and function? If we struggle in any of these areas, we have not yet come into our own as His Bride, able to fully and intimate relate with Him. As we come into this New Year of life, I pray the heart of Paul for us today.

“For my determined purpose is that I may know Him, that I may progressively become more deeply and intimately acquainted with Him, perceiving and recognizing and understanding the wonders of His Person more strongly and more clearly and that I may in that same way come to know the power outflowing from His resurrection which it exerts over believers, and that I may so share His sufferings as to be continually transformed [in spirit into His likeness even] to His death, in the hope that if possible I may attain to the spiritual and moral resurrection that lifts me out from among the dead even while in the body.” (Philippians 3:8-11, AB)

In marriage, the two become one flesh. That is what this heart of Paul says to me. I want to know Him more intimately and personally with every breath of every day. Through knowledge of Him comes my resurrection to life made new, full and abundant every day; life not bound by time, but empowered by the eternal.

Such intimacy knows the heart of the Beloved, rejoicing when He rejoices, grieving when He grieves, and giving one’s all: one’s own life to see all His desires fulfilled, thus suffering in likeness to His Own. Such intimacy with the Beloved makes it possible for me to attain to the spiritual and moral resurrection that lifts me out from among the dead even while in the body. I transcend this mortal when vitally united with the Immortal.

This level of intimacy requires of us the dying to oneself Jesus spoke of when He instructed, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me” ~ Luke 9:23. It is the death Paul speaks of in Galatians 2:20: “I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.”

Are you there yet, Beloved? Are you acutely aware of your position as Bride and sold out to “one flesh” intimacy with Him?

I have come a long way, baby. But I am not there yet, not fully. Come join me in 2015 as we seek to grow in our intimacy with Christ, to be one with Him individually so we can have power and provision needed to be the Church and fulfill our role as part with them in His Body.

“Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. Let us therefore, as many as are perfect, have this attitude; and if in anything you have a different attitude, God will reveal that also to you; however, let us keep living by that same standard to which we have attained” ~ Philippians 3:12-16.

Darlene's Ponderings

Monthly Archives: January 2015