God's field

I want to be a fertile field that God has planted.  The land does not determine what is planted upon it---that decision belongs to the tiller of the field; nor does the land determine the times of growth and blossoming---that decision belongs to its Creator.  The land remains obedient and quiet, hoping only to be cultivated and productive, not overrun with weeds and snakes.

Come, Follow Me...

Jesus did not say He would follow us around, but that we needed to follow Him.  We need to be attentive to where He is going and to what He is doing. For He is at work even now, if we but had eyes to see and ears to hear.  It is He who establishes the kingdom of His Father.  We can do nothing of ourselves, but only what He tells us to do.

Surprise!

There is nothing boring about God.  He is forever and everyday new, like the rising of the sun.  As the sunrise never ceases to amaze and surprise us, so God daily surprises those who love Him with new revelations and new understandings.  Daily, He calls us out of darkness into His marvelous light, and daily He rescues us from the power of that darkness, forgiving our iniquities and sending His word to heal us body and soul.

Who is Jesus?

John the Evangelist knew Jesus from the time he (John) was about 15 years old.  What did he, as an old man, believe about the One he knew as "Jesus"?

Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.

...though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him.

No one has ever seen God, but God the only Son, Who is at the Father's side, has made Him known.

Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life.

For this reason, the Jews tried all the harder to kill Him; not only was He breaking the Sabbeth, but he was even calling God his own Father, making Himself equal to God.

Just as the Father raises the dead and gives them life, even so the Son gives life to whom He is pleased to give it.

...that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father.  He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.

I am the Way (halakah), the Truth, and the Life.

The Word was with God and the Word was God.

If we accept the testimony of John, who died in exile for the sake of what he believed, we will have to acknowledge Jesus as "My Lord and My God," in the words of Thomas.  Jesus, Who rebuked Satan with the words, "The Lord is God, and Him only shalt thou worship," would not have accepted Thomas' words unless they were true.  Everywhere else in Scripture, when men fell down to worship angels or other men, they were told to arise, that the messenger was but a servant of the Most High.  Jesus, however, accepted the words of Thomas as factual:  "You believe because you have seen, but blessed are they who do not see and yet believe."  What more do we need to believe Him?

The Listening Heart

Reading the Word of God teaches us to hear the Word of God speaking in our hearts.  And once we hear His voice within, all other voices become silenced to us.  We hear people speaking, but their words have no effect unless they are confirming in us the words we have already taken into our hearts.  Like Mary, the sister of Martha, we sit at the feet of Jesus and listen.  His is the only Voice we desire to hear.

The Freedom to Pray

What a gift has been given to us in the presence of the Holy Spirit within us!  We can enter into fellowship, or communion, with God Himself whenever we want, without elaborate ceremony or sacrifice.  We can receive wisdom and instruction and direction in all things---eternal and temporal---as we wish.  We can be helped in prayer, in understanding, in right action, in truth, in the very peace of God at all times.  No longer does our relationship with God depend on our own efforts, but only on His desire to bring us into all truth.  If we are but willing to listen and be directed, He Himself will give us everything we need for life and holiness.

Many years ago, I was teaching a young Muslim girl who challenged me on my religion and beliefs.  I tried explaining as well as I could, but she had trouble comprehending my thoughts.  Finally, I said, "Well, we won't agree on this, but we can agree that we both have one Father in heaven, the same God, the God of Abraham, our father in faith.  Why don't we pray together to that God?" 

She hesitated a moment and then said, "Yes, but first we must bathe all over so as to be clean in approaching God.  Then we must put a rug on the floor so as not to be in contact with the contaminated earth.  Then we can pray."

My excitement was uncontainable as her words made an impact on my consciousness.  For the first time, I fully realized the Gift of God---the presence of the Spirit of Jesus within us!  We no longer had to perform elaborate rituals to please God or to get His attention!  We could turn at any time to our Father (Abba), whether we were dirty or clean, crawl up into His lap, and talk to Him, knowing that we are welcome despite our "dirt" and imperfections. 

Dina's beliefs made me know and appreciate the freedom we have in Christ Jesus as children of the Father.  No longer do we come by the offered blood of sheep and goats, but by the shed blood of Jesus.  The Father, seeing His dying Son, and hearing His words, "Father, forgive them...." cannot help but accept us as His own flesh and blood. 

The Work of God

Like Paul, who became frustrated with the Greeks who demanded proof, we resolve to know nothing but Christ Jesus and Him crucified.  What does this mean, except to acknowledge our helplessness and total reliance on the work of the Holy Spirit? 

As Jesus was nailed to the cross and taunted by those who felt superior and more blessed than He, we also surrender to our own inadequacy to promote and establish the reign of God:  Father, into Thy hands, I commend my spirit.  What is impossible for the flesh to accomplish is possible in the realm of the Spirit of God Who made all things and Whose power controls all events.

Mary had it exactly right when she said, "Let it be done unto me according to Thy word"---Thy purpose, Thy plan, Thy power, Thy judgment, Thy provision, Thy resources, Thy energy.  She did not say, "Let me do it," but "Let it be done..."

Can we be as pliable and yielding to the work of God in ourselves?

On planting and reaping

Thy kingdom come....

This is our vision---but all we have to work with is a seed.  Like Johnny Appleseed, we go about planting the smallest of seeds everywhere, while in our minds, we see a flourishing kingdom---we see great trees bearing wonderful fruit--peace, joy, thanksgiving, goodness, acknowledgement of the Father in heaven, contentment and good will on earth. 

Like Johnny Appleseed, we do not get to watch the seeds grow, nor even to know whether they sprouted at all.  We plant a seed and move on, leaving the growth to God, Who makes all things grow in their own time.  As St. Paul said, "Neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything---it is God who gives the growth."  And we must acknowledge with Jesus the parable of the sower:  not all soil is prepared to receive and nourish the seed falling on it.

Still, we pray, "Thy kingdom come..."  and still, we agonize over every seed, watching for signs of growth.  But Ecclesiastes tells us that we cannot understand the work of God, the Maker of all things, so we must "sow [our] seed in the morning, and at evening, and let not [our] hands be idle, for we do not know which will succeed or whether both will do equally well" (Ecc. 11)

Seek and Find

If we learn anything at all from the shepherds in Bethlehem, it is that God Himself will bring good news of peace and joy and deliverance to men of good will everywhere.  The shepherds came to Jesus because the Father drew them there.  Maybe as He grew, Jesus heard the story from Mary and was later able to say, "No one can come to Me unless the Father draw him."

All men of good will, on whom the favor of God rests, will eventually come to Jesus, though they may not know Him by name.   Those who seek other gods will refuse to acknowledge Him.  So the question is, "What are you seeking?"  "What do you want?" 

The pure of heart will answer, "The kingdom of God."  Others will say, "We want to build a tower for ourselves that reaches into the heavens."  God Himself is a tower and refuge to those who seek Him.  And those who seek Him will find the Son He sent.

Reading the Book

We must learn to "read the book" that is written in God's heart.  It is not enough to study the Bible; we must also communicate with the One Whose wisdom preserved the written form for all generations.  Without the Spirit of God within us, our minds refuse the light of wisdom. 

The Bible, like the Koran, has been used as an instrument of torture and destruction.  So we need to humble ourselves in prayer that we might hear the spoken word of the Lord---the rhema---as we read the written word---the Logos.
Even the devil can quote Scripture for his own purpose.  But the reason Jesus---the Living and Active Word of God---came was to destroy the works of the devil.  He came to speak the words of God to those who yearned to hear the voice of God:  and those who are of God hear My Voice. 

If we draw near to Jesus, we will hear the Words of God, for He said, My words are not my own; they belong to the One Who sent me.

Thy Kingdom Come

What are the things for which we can pray with full assurance "in the Name of Jesus?"  That is, the things we know Jesus would pray for in us and with us?

Thy kingdom come---the things that belong to the kingdom of God:  joy, peace, contentment, fulfillment of all God-given desires, food for our bodies, clothes for our nakedness, freedom from all fear and anxiety (Be not afraid); deliverance from evil; beauty and safety; "none of the diseases you knew in Egypt" (Deuteronomy); a good place/ land in which to dwell in safety (Deuteronomy); family (Your children shall be like olive plants around your table); unity and experiential knowledge/ relationship with the Father.

We should never hesitate to pray for the concrete realization of the kingdom of God.  Moses died on the mountain as his people entered the Promised Land; Jesus died in agony that we might also enter the concrete/ actual kingdom of God and live in peace and safety.

The second letter of Peter says that God's divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness.  We can with confidence pray that others, too, will receive what God has promised---that all barriers to their receiving be removed, that all evil be destroyed from the face of the earth, that healing will take place "as it is in heaven," where "He will wipe away every tear." 

If we read Deuteronomy, we will know the will of God for us; let us not hesitate to ask for those things in the Name of Jesus, who has inherited as elder Son the kingdom of His Father.

Kindling the Fire

There is nothing conterfeit about the Holy Spirit, though the world and the Satan would constantly deceive us, saying, "Here he is;" or "There he is."  His grace is truth and genuine repentance and holines.  In Him there is no shadow or turning.  He freely gives whatever we ask in prayer.  And He reminds us of all that God wishes to teach us.  He cannot fail, for all things are under His power and control.  He is the beginning of all worship and the end of all worldliness and untruth.  He enters into holy souls and makes them friends and lovers of God.

No wonder Jesus said, "I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and what would I but that it be kindled."  When the Holy Spirit comes, it is to re-create what has gone cold, to renew what has been stolen, to awaken the newness of divine life in the hearts of those who will respond.

Why cannot we also cry out with Jesus for the kindling in our own hearts and in the hearts of those we love?

Cry in the Wilderness

You are the One Who sees me!  You are the One Who hears me!

(The cry of Hagar in the Wilderness)

What a profound theological statement---and coming from a woman, a slave, an "outcast," the least important in the Biblical account of Abraham and Sarah and the slave-girl.

Almost 40 years ago, when my children were babies, I was asked the question, "Who is God to you?"  My answer then was that You were the God of my past, occasionally of the present, but not the God of my future.  At the time, I could look back over my life and see where You had been for me.  Sometimes I was aware of Your Presence in the moment, but then I could not trust You for the future.  I was worried and anxious over what was to come, especially when hearing predictions of famines and earthquakes coming from "seers" like Edgar Cayce.  I worried for the safety and health of my children, for whether we would have enough money, for my own ability to cope.

What I failed to see then was what David said in the face of Goliath:  The Lord who delivered me from the paw of the lion and the paw of the bear will deliver me from the hand of this Philistine.  In other words, the God of our past is the God of our future also.  He does not change; He remains forever our shield and our very great reward.  I can trust Him for my present need and for my future need.  He is the One Who sees and hears me, and He is the One Who will never forsake or abandon me. 

You have become for me the God of my future, as well as the God of my present.

Weighing the Balance

We rejoice in having the resources to help our children in their need.  It is not a burden to us, but a joy, to be able to provide what they need when they need it.  So too is God's attitutde toward us.  We often think we cannot "burden" God with our petty requests when there are so many others with greater needs than ours.  But the determining factor is not the greatness of the need---it is the relationship we have with our Father.  The world outside my family has a much greater need than do my own children, but I do not refuse my children's requests on that account.

Before you call, I will answer, says the Lord.  He hears the cries of those who call upon His Name.  And Jesus said to the Father, I have given them Your Name--  Abba, Father-- The Provider, the Source, the Helper, the Advocate, the Paraclete---the One Called upon to stand beside us in our time of need.

God does not weigh our requests in terms of how important they are in the balance of the universe, but in terms of how important they are to us, and in terms of our relationship with Him:  Father to child; Friend to friend; Teacher/Mentor to student; Savior/Redeemer to helpless sinner.  If we do not allow Him to wash our feet, provide for our needs, give us joy and salvation, we remain dirty, in need, and helpless forever. 

He has even made it easy for us to ask, because He has already placed everything in the hands of His Beloved Son, and the Son has given everything He has to those who call on His Name.

Contentment

Like a weaned child on its mother's lap, so is my soul within me.

I cannot pray, and I am content.

I cannot read or absorb insights or understandings, and I am content.

In the Presence of God, nothing need be "talked about."

Everything is well.

Everything is understood.

Be Still and Know that I am God....

To be still is to trust that what we need will be provided at the time of need---we lack nothing, for God Himself is our provider:  if we need words, He will provide; if we need bread (with or without gluten), He will provide; if we need encouragement, He will provide.

It is a great adventure to "see if this is true," to ask God for what we need and then to wait.  And He is so encouraging to our first feeble attempts to trust Him that it is almost as if He's just been waiting to show us how reliable He is.  And it is so much fun to watch HOW He supplies our needs; He is never dependent on what little resources we have, for according to Scripture, "He owns the cattle on a thousand hills."

But we need to learn to ask with confidence, for James tells us that if we ask without confidence, we will receive nothing.

On Evangelizing

When Jesus looked at people, He saw them as hungering (or not hungering) for the living God; when He met the woman at the well, He saw her thirst, not the fact that (1) she was a woman, and (2) a Samaritan (part of a different belief system and thus "less than" the Jews), and (3) a "sinner" and thus an outcast from the social structures of the village.  She came to the well at noon, when she'd be sure the other women had already filled their jars and departed, so she wouldn't have to endure the stares, the gossip, and the scorn of "respectable" folk.

Humility is seeing each person as on a quest for the living Presence of God, not measuring their "wrong doctrine," but realizing that whatever we have has been given to us and thus can also be given to them.  To each of us has been given a measure of the Spirit of God, and the Spirit Himself will lead us into all truth. 

Isaiah says, "The arm of the Lord is not too short to save...." that is, no one is out of reach of God's love and mercy.  I have often read that we should speak to God about men before speaking to men about God.  And Jesus said that no man could come to Him unless the Father draw Him.  Let us be sensitive to the work of God and keep in step with His mercy, not provoking or arguing about doctrine, but trusting the Spirit of God to do His work in those we love. 

Jesus spoke to those who came to Him; many turned away and He watched them leave, not running behind them.  Those who came to Him without hunger, but only to argue their point of view and their "right" way of doing things received nothing from Him.  But those who hungered and thirsted for righteousness and goodness received that which they sought and were satisfied.

Blessing or Curse?

U.S. Slavery = The Civil War

6 million Jews = Germany's Destruction

8 million abortions = ????

"The blood of your brother Abel cries to me from the ground," God tells Cain.  The very ground (the source of our food) is cursed by shed blood:

They sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons.  They shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, whom they sacrificed to the idols of Canaan, and the land was desecrated by their blood (Ps. 106:37-38).

Can America's "fruited plains" survive the desecration of millions of aborted babies?  Our honey bees are disappearing from pesticides; our cities are flooding with 100-year waters.  Is Jesus even now weeping over America as He once wept over Jerusalem?

It is hard to see how God can grant us what He promised the Israelites who continued to acknowledge Him as God and hold fast to Him:

Blessings on the right; blessings on the left;

Blessings in the city and in the country;

Blessings on the fields and on the crops;

Blessings in the going in and coming out.

Instead, at least in our major cities, we often see the reverse, as told by Jeremiah:

Death has climbed in through our windows

and has entered our fortresses;

it has cut off children from the streets

and the young men from the public squares (Jer. 9:21).

Our hope is that God will preserve our cities for the sake of "ten just men," as He promised to Abraham in the case of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Wrestling with God

In many lands and in many ages, man has searched for God (Abraham Heschel).

In the Book of Genesis, "Jacob," whose name means "grabber, usurper, cheater" becomes "Israel," meaning "he who wrestles with God."

Israel is he who wrestles with the living God, and the Bible is a thousand years' illumination of that confrontation.  While the Greeks philosophized about religion, and while the Egyptians worshipped frogs, scarabs, and the sun, Israel was entering into a conversation, a living encounter, with God, who came to them, Who Himself began the conversation---always by calling man's name:

Abraham, Abraham

Moses, Moses

Samuel, Samuel

The history of mankind indicates that man would always reach into the heavens to "grab" the things of God---Prometheus stealing fire from the gods; the Tower of Babel; the Greeks, by philosophy; the Sumarians by magic; other cultures (Africa, for example) by spiritism (communing with spirits).

But in Israel, God reached down to mankind in an I-thou encounter with Jacob (the "grabber.)  Only in the boldness of that reality can man dare to "wrestle" with God.

Before God calls us by name, we are all only "grabbers;"  once we have heard His voice in our hearts, we become "Israel."  We enter into an on-going conversation with Him, and that changes our very identity.  No longer grabbing and scrambling for identity and recognition and power, we become receivers of all that we were seeking---because now we know the Source of all we wanted.

The men of Babel were seeking to "make a name for themselves;"  God tells Abraham: I will make your name great.

He gave to the Hebrews freedom from slavery and a land of their own, flowing with milk and honey.  He promised to make them "the head and not the tail," to preserve them in time of famine, and to make them lie down in safety. 

In the New Testament, James 4:2 says, "You have not because you ask not..."  and Jesus tells us, "Ask and you shall receive."  Evidently, nothing has changed in the 2000+ - year- history of God's encounter with man; He still wants us to "wrestle" with Him, to engage in on-going dialog with Him.  Jacob tells the angel, "I will not let you go until you bless me."  How many of us have the same courage and persistency---to wrestle with God?

On Fire and Light

We are no longer alone if we allow ourselves to be guided by the Holy Spirit.  Our life unfolds in response to Him.  As we dispossess ourselves, our being is possessed by God: the void is filled. 

God who is welcome, light, and warmth, transforms us, bestowing on us something of His radiance.  Those who are possessed by God resemble the burning log, which , St. John of the Cross tells us, little by little becomes white-hot.  Nourished by the fire of the Spirit, our life becomes fire.  Is not this the fire of which Jesus spoke when he said, "I have come to cast fire upon the earth..."

                        from Ways of the Spirit: the Spirituality of Cardinal Suenens.

First, the Spirit of God causes us to gaze steadily upon Him.  As we do so, our minds calm and peace enters in, not as the world defines "peace," but regardless of our circumstances.  As we steadily look at Him, we know that He rules the world and all matters are in His hands.  We also know that He loves us and will continue to care for us in all circumstances. 

He establishes within us His kingdom of peace and truth and justice, and because it is within us, it becomes manifest without:  Great will be the peace of your children.  Justice and peace will kiss (upon the earth.)  But first, it has to happen in the heart of the one who gazes steadily upon the face of God.  Once we ourselves are "on fire" with the kingdom/ rule of God, we can then "cast fire" upon the earth.