But God...!

The other morning, in my prayer time, I was listening to a praise and worship minister introducing Kristene DiMarco and her team for a praise and worship session at Bethel Church in California on YouTube when I heard him say something that caught the ear of my spirit.  He said that his grandfather used to say that the two most important words we need to know from the Bible are "But God", found in Ephesians chapter 2, verses 1-10, specifically verse 4. When I went to look it up in my Bible App NIV translation, the words were both there, but not together like he was saying it, as in "But God said..." or "But God will..." or "But God has..."etc., if you know what I mean.  So on a hunch, I pulled up the KJV translation on the Bible App and sure enough, there it was! I then checked the NKJV translation and a couple of other popular translations and they, too, had the phrase as spoken by the minister.  As I studied and listened for God's thoughts on the two word phrase and the verses of Scripture they were embedded in, the implication of its importance became more obvious and overwhelming to me. You see, we as Believers have that special phrase, those two important words, to fall back on no matter what we are facing, or seeing, or hearing, or experiencing or hurting from in this world, because God is faithful to His children...His Family.  Those words are our truth retort when facts seem otherwise; and they are a triple whammy, if you will, because under the Trinity of God, we can also say "But my Father" and "But Jesus" and "But the Holy Spirit", if you know what I mean.  Then, the Holy Spirit led me to a YouTube song to back up what He was showing me, and it's intensity and emotion overwhelmed me...Just blew me away, as I realized the truth and strength of those two words: "But God...".  Here is that video...Hope you will take just 5 minutes to listen and let your spirit get a hold of this message (PS: you might grab a tissue or two):

Larnelle Harris - But God (Live)

Folks, let's lock on to stuff like THIS and we'll be alright!

A Sunday Night Experience With God

So last night I had an urge to walk down to a Sunday Evening worship service at the local Baptist church near my hotel in downtown Georgetown, Exuma, Bahama. Since I didn't have my Bible with me (too big to carry on longer trips...rely on Bible app normally) I picked up the Gideon-placed Bible from the drawer of my nightstand and headed out. When I got there for 7pm service, the church was locked up tight and there was no one in sight  (actually, the town pretty much rolls up the sidewalk on Sunday...there was hardly anyone out and about almost all day on the normally busy Main Street through town). I turned around to walk back to the hotel when I heard what sounded like a beginner band  playing and a small group of people singing coming from a little further down the road. As I walked toward the sound, I determined it came from the second story of a building I often passed that houses a small appliance repair store and a small snack shop. As I got closer, I could make out strains of "Alleluia" and "Hallelujah" in the singing, so I decided to climb the stairs and go into the upper room. The rudimentary sanctuary consisted of  a section of white plastic chairs (mostly occupied) on my right side (facing the alter) and several rows of church pews (none occupied) without kneelers on the left side with a single aisle down the center to a raised makeshift platform/alter with a podium and microphone in the middle front. There was a congregation of about 30 Bahamians (mostly women, teens and pre-teens, and a couple of men) standing and singing freestyle praises, some with there hands raised. On the alter platform was a band consisting of a young, ten-ish aged boy playing drums and trying to carry the beat with beginner's drum sticks, a man playing an electric keyboard, a man playing a badly tuned guitar and a woman with a pretty voice leading the praise and worship service; and, to give you a better picture of the dynamics, I need to tell you, they were all black, so I noticed there were a few surprised glances from the git-go when I walked in. I took my place in the last pew on the left, by myself, lifted my hands and started singing Alleluia with everyone else.

Then, some amazing things begin to happen!  I knew I was in trouble, so to speak, when they began singing a hymn in what sounded like French or Creole, which meant they were probably either from or related to the Dominican Republic or Haiti (there are many in the working and service class in the Bahamas). It was a big Uh-Oh moment for me when the woman leading began to pray in Creole or speak in tongues for a bit, and I had no idea what she was saying. That's when I started asking God what has He gotten me into and what and am I supposed to do about it...and yes, praying in tongues myself for an answer. That's when the first amazing thing happened: The leader called on a young preteen girl from the congregation to come up to the front and lead a song...She began singing, in English, "What A Mighty God We Serve"...I kid you not! (Keep in mind, they don't know what language I speak...there are many tourists from across the globe who come to the resorts here.) Needless to say, I was blown away!  Then, the singing stopped, the girl returned to what seemed to be her family behind me, and the man playing the keyboard came to the podium.

He first appeared to making a couple of announcements to the congregation; then, he turned to me and asked in French and then English what language I spoke. I responded with "English" and he welcomed me to the service (in reasonably good English with a French accent) and asked me if I would stand up and give my name and tell a little about myself and where I was from. Some of the congregation seemed to understand what I was saying, but he interpreted for them after I was through. They then took up an offering, which the Holy Spirit had me contribute to; then we stood and sang one more song in Creole and sat down for the sermon. It was at that point that I was asking the Holy Spirit pretty intensely what to do here...should I stay or should I leave quietly so that the pastor would not have to be concerned about me or having to interpret his sermon for me.

That's when the next amazing thing happened: As the man playing the guitar put down his instrument and approached the podium (turned out he was the associate pastor...the pastor was in Haiti visiting family), I heard a small commotion and whispering behind me, but did not turn around to investigate so as not to appear ogling. The next thing I know, the young girl that sang earlier walked behind me to the other end of my pew, entered and came and sat down right next to me (I mean "touching" next to). The pastor began to speak and she turned to me and said, "He says to open to Matthew chapter 7, verse 7...I will interpret for you."  Wow, can you imagine...I can't even describe my surprise! I introduced myself to her and she told me her name was Jessica...she then shook my hand, and began to interpret the preacher's sermon, which lasted for the next hour and a half!  She spoke in a hushed, clear, concise, confident voice with a slight smile and bright eyes...I can't tell you how my spirit felt as I new the Holy Spirit was speaking to me through that little girl. When the preacher repeated himself, as they tend to do, she shared some personal info with me; she told me she is 11 years old, and that she was there with her Mom and 2 older sisters (teens). Occasionally, when she would interpret a point the preacher was making I would ask her "Do you believe that?" and she would reply, "I sure do!" She stayed with me until the end of the service (9:45pm: Whew, that's what I call having Church.)

There were a couple of other things that happened that I may share with y'all at another time and place (like at one point a lively dialogue occurred about one of the preacher's points that I was able to contribute to) in the interest of a little brevity, and because I'm so excited about sharing this little "God is good...all the time" story.  At the end, everyone came by and shook my hand and asked me to please come back (mostly in broken English). I asked Jessica if she ever interpreted before she said "no sir." When I asked her why she came over to help me and did her mom or someone send her, she said, "No sir. When you introduced yourself and said you were a born again Believer, I just knew in my heart I was supposed to do it." Man...Out of the mouths of babes!

Finally, at the end I asked her to ask her mom if it was OK if I got a selfie with her and another with her and her mom, the preacher and the worship leader, and they all agreed. I have attached them for your viewing.  By the way, if you haven't looked up Matt 7:7 yet, it reads "Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you shall find, knock and the door will be opened to you." Amazing, right?

The Focus of Faith

Recently I was listening to an excellent teaching tape with my wife and friends on faith, fear and expecting supernatural results to our prayers when needed by a very good teacher and preacher. A little bit later, when my little group launched into a question and comment session, I clearly heard the Holy Spirit prompting me to ask out loud this peculiar question:  Other than when He prayed for the Father to spare His life before the Crucifixion, can anyone give me some - or even one - Scripture references where Jesus petitioned the Father to specifically provide for His earthly, human needs and wants...Or taught His disciples to do so?  As the question hung out there like some kind of doughy dumpling, I myself realized that I did not have an answer for that interesting challenge.

So let me ask you this (I would appreciate your opinion if you have time), other than in the Garden before His crucifixion and death, did Jesus ever pray for Himself and His needs and wants? For instance, did He petition the Father for food or clothes or housing or money or transportation? Can you refer me to any of the Gospel scriptures where He makes these kinds of requests.  I’m not testing you or being facetious or preachy when I ask this...I am truly searching for guidance on this issue, because if we expect to walk as Jesus did on this earth, and THAT is our commission, then this is an important area we need to know about, and not just speculate or guess about. The reason this question comes up to me is that it goes directly to the question about what is prayer and how do we do it; because if we are walking like Jesus did and if we are expected to do  even greater things than He did, as we read in the Gospel of John, we need to understand God’s support system for our ministries, to include our personal needs. It would seem that the more that we get lined up with the way Jesus walked in His ministry, the more effective and successful our ministry walk will be.

One of the reasons I bring this up is that I think that we often spend most of our prayer time petitioning God for the things we need and want for ourselves, our families, our relatives and our friends than we do petitioning Him for guidance, direction and resources to accomplish the purpose He created us for...and, believe me, we all have that purpose! God assured me a long time ago, when I was writing The Prayer Directed Life, that when we are working to accomplish the purpose He created us for using our faith, He will move Heaven and earth to remove any obstacle or barrier that would stand in the way of our efforts; I can tell you that He has demonstrated that for me over and over again.  Actually, that goes directly to Jesus’ command in the Gospels: “Seek first the Kingdom of God and righteousness, and all the rest will be added onto you.” (Recall that the “Kingdom of God” is not Heaven; it’s God’s way of doing things:  And “righteousness” is not about being a good person; it’s about being in right standing with God...being a born again child of God.)

Even when we examine the template for prayer that Jesus gave to His disciples in the Gospel of Matthew, traditionally called the Lord’s Prayer, we only see one line out of the whole template that concerns petitioning for our needs (nothing is suggested about petitioning for our “wants”): “...And give us today our daily bread...”.  Even that petition centers on “today”, not “tomorrow” or the future. Another thing that we might need to consider about that template is that it was given to the disciples before they became born again...they were literally just beginning to learn a new concept for prayer. And remember in Luke 16:13-15 where Jesus says, “No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon (money)”, and “For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination to the will of God.”? Does that not strike a clarion bell in your spirit? Does not the story of Lazarus and the rich man, told a little later in the same chapter, give you a little concern about using God’s gift of faith for our wants and desires? Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that God doesn’t want us to have things...even really nice things! The Bible shows God has always been a giver and a gifter to those who obey Him and seek His ways first! But here’s the question: In your daily prayer time, do you spend more time petitioning the Father for what you need and want than thanking Him in detail for what you have and the gifts He has given to you?

You see, I will admit to you that I came to the Lord partly through the attraction of the so-called faith and prosperity message; and I still believe important aspects of that message, especially as concerns the “faith” part, are still essential to a close and successful walk with God. After all, Hebrews 11:6 clearly says, “But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek HIM.”  That’s the truth of the “prosperity message” right there!  Seeking Him first exactly lines up with Jesus’ teaching to “Seek first the Kingdom of God and righteousness, and all the rest will be added on to you.”

Now, I do believe that there is an important caveat to the line of thought concerning this issue, and it is this: We absolutely need faith for all of this stuff to come together and work like it should in our lives as children of God; that is, we need unshakable faith, like that of a young child’s for the provision of its parents, that is convinced that Almighty God can use the supernatural and miraculous to provide where all else fails. Our faith needs to be strong, but more than that, it needs to be convinced that God can - and will - do all things, even the impossible to accomplish His will...For nothing is impossible for Him! The good news for us is Jesus said that all we need is faith the size of a mustard seed (if you don’t know how small a mustard seed is, Google it!) to operate in this area.

Finally, the one occasion I did find where Jesus told the disciples to pray for themselves was on the Mount of Olives after the Last Supper.  Here’s a couple of things that we all should probably take note of in the Gospel accounts of Matthew, Mark and Luke (John didn't cover this event) concerning the Garden of Gethsemane before His crucifixion: First, in all three accounts, Jesus asked His disciples to keep watch for Him while He prayed (note that He did not ask them to pray for Himself), and when He was through praying and came back to find the men asleep, He woke them up and admonished them to pray for themselves, that they not fall into temptation; Second, the Gospel of Luke notes that when Jesus was praying for His Father to spare His life, “an angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him.”(LK22:43)  Wow, did you know or remember that? If they can do that for Jesus, they can - and will - do it for us, as need be!

May I suggest that if you haven’t read and studied Matt 6:25-34, you really, really need to do that if you want to get a handle on this subject. I can assure you that when I finally began to get a hold of the meaning of this teaching, my faith focus changed for sure.

For American Christians: What's Your Citizenship Priority?

Have you ever walked down the side of a street while straddling a curb, or perhaps walked in the woods or a field while trying to straddle a narrow ditch or chasm? Didn't that make you walk funny and and feel unstable...sorta off balance?  Well, you know, that's kinda what happens when we Believers try to walk in both the kingdom of earth (Man's way of doing things) and the Kingdom of God (God's way of doing things) at the same time; our spiritual walk and our fleshly walk both become unstable, out of balance and frustrating...In other words, we walk funny. I believe that this is where the average American Christian finds himself in today's highly charged political environment; we are trying to be good citizens of two different worlds, and failing miserably at both.

Recently, when I found myself fretting, fuming. frothing and foaming way too much over the current Presidential campaign environment and political posturing, I decided to to ask the Holy Spirit for some much needed guidance on how to break free from the anxiety net that was closing in on me like a giant trap.  When vinegar turns to vitriol, it turns from being distasteful to becoming outright poison, and I was beginning to feel the results of that potion. As usual, when I began to listen for His answer, the Holy Spirit began to show some things in the Gospels and New Testament of the Bible that address this very subject, but that we seldom hear about from our teachers, preachers and pulpits in most of our churches today. Hear are some of what I believe are important highlights from some of the things He began to show me on how to deal with this situation; I hope that if you are experiencing some of that electioneering apprehension and anxiety, they help you as much as they have helped me:

• Can you give me even one example in the Gospels where Jesus ever got involved in the politics of His day? Can you recall Him ever protesting against abortion or the death penalty or government graft or political corruption or high taxes? Can you show me one place where He voted or held office or served in the military...Or admonished others to do these things? Can you point to even one social justice rally He attended or group He formed to protest global warming/climate change? Can you even find any example where He suggested or directed His apostles and/or disciples to become involved in these earthly endeavors? You see, the fact of the matter is you can't! In fact, that was one of the main reasons why Judas was angered enough to betray Jesus; he was disappointed that Jesus wasn't interested in leading a violent revolution to throw off the shackles of the Roman oppressors and right all of the wrongs of the day. The fact is that Jesus knew the only way to truly bring lasting change to the problems and ills of our world is to change peoples' hearts...One heart at a time; because until the hearts of men are changed, they will always be rebellious, disobedient, prideful and destructive, due to the sin nature they inherited at birth. 
• Do you recall what Jesus said in what I call the real "Lord's Prayer", the 17th chapter of the Gospel of John, concerning the citizenship of His followers? Here, let me remind you:  "I have given them your word and the world has hated them, for they are not of the world any more than I am of the world.  My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one.  They are not of the world, even as I am not of it."(Jn17:15-19) That's pretty plainly stated if you ask me.
• Speaking of politics, do you know what an ambassador is? You really should, because that is what Paul says we become when we become born again citizens of the Kingdom of God. 2 Cor 5:20 says this: "We are therefore Christ's ambassadors, as though God were making His appeal through us." Essentially, an ambassador is an official who is appointed to represent the interests of the country/world he or she is a citizen of to the host country where he/she is living or stationed. Although an ambassador may sometimes offer his advice or opinion to a host country's leaders and citizens about how they run their country, she never votes or participates in the leadership of the host country or entity where he/she resides. Think of it in terms of an American ambassador being assigned to a country like Russia or China; he/she would never assume to take part in there in there political process or try to tell them how to govern their citizens...that is not his what his position calls for.
• In Ephesians 2:19, it says this: "Consequently, you (those who are born again) are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household built on the foundations of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone." In other words, we are citizens of the Kingdom of God.
• In the 3rd chapter of Philippians, Paul says, "For, as I have often told you before and now say again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is on earthly things. But our citizenship is in heaven."(Php 3:18-20)  Are you beginning to see a pattern here...a priority of citizenship, so to speak?

In summary, Paul hit the nail on the head when he made this important statement: "Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things."(Col 3:1-2)

Now, please don't get me wrong:  If you are an American citizen, you certainly have the right to become involved in the political process and to vote in its elections, if that is your desire. But this country as a whole has pretty much turned its back on God's providence, provision and protection; indeed, true Believers and committed Christians are being demonized and persecuted from almost every segment of our society, especially the government and judicial systems...often with great vitriol and vindictiveness. And it's become quite obvious that as Americans abandon the Judeo-Christian values upon which the United States of America was founded, God is turning His back on us...USA. What we have to understand that voting only changes godless regimes, and until hearts are changed, our country's demise will only escalate, whether we like it or not.

You see, my brothers and sisters in Christ, I believe what the Holy Spirit is showing me is this: We Believers need to decide whether we are citizens of this world or ambassadors to it! As is, most Christians are "walking funny" because we insist on trying to be good citizens of both the kingdom of earth (Satan's realm) and the Kingdom of God (God's realm), and THAT just isn't going to happen; those realms are diametrically opposed to each other! And the fact that we get anxious, depressed and all upset about elections and the political process every time they come around is a good sign that we are not supposed to be involved in that process (unless of course, God specifically tells us to), for, please recall, the Bible consistently advises us to be anxious for nothing!(Php 4:6, 1 Pet 5:7)

I, for one, am through with the political system and electoral process of this country...and indeed, of this world. Instead, I chose my spiritual citizenship in the Kingdom of God over my flesh citizenship in the United States of America. My focus is going to be about changing hearts, not politicians and/or administrations.  As an ambassador for the Kingdom of God, I am going to be about allowing Jesus Christ, my Savior and my King, to work in and through me to change the hearts of mankind, one at a time. When enough of that happens, we won't need politicians and laws and governments to tell us what's the right thing to do...We'll know in our hearts.  If you are a Christian Believer, I hope you will join me in that endeavor?

THE GOSPEL MESSAGE AIN'T COMPLICATED

I am so tired of reading, watching and listening to the complicating of the Gospel Message that I think my head is going to explode! Sometimes I just want to open up my window and holler to the world, "IT AIN'T THAT COMPLICATED, PEOPLE, SO QUIT TRYING TO MAKE IT SO!" The more complicated we try to make the Gospel Message, the more complicated we make life in general...And the more screwed up the world becomes!

People, here's the thing: The Gospel Message has to be so simple that a person on their death bed or a child just obtaining the "age of reason" can comprehend it quickly and completely, in order to make his or her decision of whether to accept it or reject it in a reasonably short period of time. Jesus Himself emphasized this "simplicity" factor several times in the Gospels:

• "And he said: 'Truly I tell you, unless you become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven"(Mat 18:40)
• Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such at these."(Mat 19:14)
• "Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it."(Mk 10:15)(Lk 18:17)

Yet, isn't it amazing how we continue to do what Jesus does not want us to do...Complicate the Gospel! We create ceremonies, invoke prayers, establish procedures, teach restrictions, write books, teach drawn-out sermon series and establish codes of conduct, all with the idea of helping a person to become a born again believer in the Kingdom of God. Everyone of these things depend on some kind of action or work, and a way to judge whether this action or work is performed acceptably; yet Jesus said the only action required of us is to believe in Him and what He has done for us by accepting His life into ours; the rest is pure grace.

Jesus made two separate but related important claims on which all of the Gospel Message is based: 1) For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life."(John 3:16); 2)"I am the way, the truth and the life. NO ONE COMES TO THE FATHER (and by default, Heaven) EXCEPT THROUGH ME'!"(John 14:6)

Here, then, is the Gospel Message, or as it is called in 2 Cor 5, the Message of Reconciliation, in it's most basic and simplest form:

Each person God creates is a spirit, who has a soul (generally defined as our mind, will and emotions) and who lives in a flesh body. Even Adam and Eve, who were created without conception as the parents of all mankind, were made this way.  Basically, the real YOU is a spirit who has a soul and lives in a body. One might say you are like an astronaut in his spacesuit; your body is your earth suit for the real spirit you with your soul inside. That explains why a dead body always seems to have little resemblance to the person when he or she was alive.

Each person is born with the Spirit of God as part of their being, but because of the disobedience of our first parents, Adam and Eve, the moment we become reasonably aware of the difference between right and wrong, good and evil (sometimes called "the age of reason", and make the decision to do (or even think of doing) the wrong or evil thing, we become separated from the Spirit of God.  Essentially, we become "dead" to Him, because we lose a righteousness that was based on His Being and establish one that is based on ours.  In effect, we become our own god, and the inbred pride, selfishness and wickedness of our spiritual heart begins its relentless corruption.  Unfortunately, only children who have not reached the age of reason and the mentally challenged are spared this process.

Fortunately, God, out of the goodness of His Being and His love for the Mankind He created, has provided a way for all people who have become separated from Him to be restored to that original relationship we had with Him...But it involves making a choice! That choice involves the pivotal question of the Gospel Message:  WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH WHAT JESUS SAID HAS CLAIMED?!  Remember, He claims in the 14th chapter of the Gospel of John that not only is He "the way, the truth and the life", but that He is also the only way to be reunited with the Father.  So, having made that claim, each of us has to decide if Jesus was A) Telling the truth, therefore requiring us to decide whether we will believe in Him or not; B) Telling a lie, therefore not to be believed or followed; or C) A crazy man, who was not in touch with reality, and therefore, certainly not to be trusted or believed.  If you believe in either B) or C), then you have rejected the Gospel Message and need read no further, because essentially, you have rejected the Christian's God and His plan for you and you are basically on your own.

On the other hand, if your belief is in A) - That Jesus is who He says is and that He is the only way to the Father and eternal life - Then Jesus says in John 3:16 that whoever shall believe in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  That is the basic Gospel Message...nothing more, nothing less.  When we place our belief in Jesus Christ we accept what He has done for ourself and all mankind, and our spirit becomes one with His Spirit as we become filled with the Holy Spirit; essentially we become "born again," a new creation in the Kingdom of God.  The Bible says in Romans chapter 8 that we become children of the Father, heirs to His Kingdom, and coheirs with our brother, Christ Jesus.  A Bible teacher I used to listen to named Bob George used to simply put it this way:  Jesus gave His life for us, so He could give His life to us, so He could live His life through us!

Consider this simple, but powerful, illustration of the redemption process:  Let's say that you have a relative who dies of cancer.  Let's also assume that you have the power and ability not only to heal people, but to also raise them up from the dead.  What are the two problems that you would have to deal with to restore your kin to life and good health? Here is the dilemma:  If you attempt to bring your relative back from the dead without healing the cancer, he would just quickly die again. On the other hand, if you heal the cancer but don't restore life to his body, all you have is a cleaned up, healed corpse with no life.  For your efforts to be successful, you would need to first heal the cancer and then restore life to the body (After all, isn't that what Jesus did when He raised up Lazarus?).  In the illustration, the cancer represents sin, the dead relative's corpse represents all of lost mankind and you represent Father God.  The Father sent His Son Jesus to Earth to die on the cross as punishment for the sins of all mankind (regardless of whether they believe it or accept it...check Hebrews 10), thus curing the "cancer"; then He raised Him from the dead so that He might provide life to our spirit when we believe in Him and become "born again" through accepting His Spirit into ours, thus restoring our original relationship with Almighty God.

So you become born again...Then what? Once again, I believe that just as we have so complicated the basic Gospel Message with religions, teachings, Bible studies, sermons, and etc. that we have also complicated and distorted the purpose for becoming born again, which really explains why Christ left His Divinity behind and came to live among us on earth as a mere man. We need to understand that we must become born again in order to understand and partake in the things of God, not the other way around; we will never understand the things of God on our own before we become born again because their is a veil over the hearts of nonbelievers.(2Cor 3:14-16)  You see, becoming born again not only restores our original, eternal, personal relationship with Almighty God in this world, and the World to come, but it also allows the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit to live through us to bring the message of reconciliation to all mankind before this world comes to an end. Jesus demonstrated for us how that works when He lived here on earth as a man. First, He told us in the Gospels that He said nothing but what the Father told Him to say and He did nothing but what the Father to told Him to do; then He passed the baton to His disciples by telling them, "Very truly I tell you, whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing, and they will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father."(Jn 14:9-12)

How did Jesus know what the Father wanted Him to say and do?  He LISTENED, early and often! That is what the prayer directed life is all about!

Now please don't misunderstand me or place words in my mouth here: I am NOT saying that once we become born again everything becomes easy-peasy and that we will instantly understand all the things of God and how to live and walk in the Christian lifestyle; believe me, the fact that the Bible, assembled over thousands of years, is a pretty thick "owner's manual", instructional book and historical document is not lost on me.  In fact, becoming born again, and thereby receiving  the Holy Spirit in our life, is just the beginning of a life-long process of training and instruction in living the Christian lifestyle and understanding God's specific purpose for life on this earth.  After all, it took Jesus 30 years before He "returned to Galilee (from the dessert) filled with the Spirit..."(Luke 4) to begin His life's ministry.  But the fact is, the ability to receive revelation knowledge and understand the things of God is impossible without becoming a child of God by having a born again relationship with Jesus Christ; we do that by simply having faith and believing what He has said about Himself. The old adage that says, "Every journey begins with a single step," certainly applies here.  That act is a simple "yes" or "no"... And THAT's the uncomplicated truth!

Thoughts On "God Is Love"

Back in July of this year, I was looking through our local newspaper (the Courier-Journal) while sitting in my dentist's office when the political cartoon on the editorial page (see panel below) caught my eye. Now before I go on, you should know that I do not subscribe to or read the newspaper on a regular (or even occasional) basis; I swore off of the newspaper, especially our city's, a long time ago, so unless I'm waiting around somewhere and one happens to be available among the reading materials, I just don't ever read them. But this panel caught my attention...and piqued my spirit! As the day went on, I couldn't get it out of my mind, because I knew in my spirit that something was very wrong with this message, and that it was going out to hundreds of thousands of people with no challenge to the veracity of its content. The next morning, during my prayer time, I felt like the Holy Spirit was telling me that the reason I just "happened" to come across this particular cartoon was because He wanted me to respond to it with a letter to the editor, the content of which He would provide. I wrote and emailed the letter to the newspaper; a copy of the letter can be found under the panel below.  Amazingly, it was published, in its entirety, in the Sunday(largest circulation day), Aug 2nd edition; the following is a link to the original article:  Letter | Lesson on ‘God is Love’

Letter | Lesson on ‘God is Love’
Agape love is relationship between God and human, not human to human, writer says

View on www.courier-journal.com

Letter | Lesson on ‘God is Love’
10:03 a.m. EDT July 29, 2015
Given the generally overwhelming bias of your paper, this response will probably never see the light of day, butI hope you will please relay it to your editorial cartoonist, if he is at all interested in presenting the truth aroundthe statement "God is Love."

With all due respect to your editorial cartoonist's religious beliefs, the panel he drew for your newspaper's July 23, 2015, edition indicates that he is less than knowledgeable of the source and meaning of the phrase "God is Love." Perhaps he will allow me to enlighten him with some truth about that phrase.
The New Testament of the English translations of the Bible comes from the Greek language. In the Greek, there are four words/uses for the word "love":
1) Storgē - empathy bond, as between family group members;
2) Phillia - friend bond, as between very close friends;
3) Erôs - erotic bond, as in the sense of "being in love" or "loving someone", and the sexual passion involved therein (as between the two men depicted in his cartoon panel);
4) Agápē -unconditional love God has for His children, those who believe in and receive Him. Agape love is the relationship between God and a human or humans, not human to human. Agape is the ONLY type of love involving the Spirit of God, and is where the term "God is Love" originates. It is also the type of reciprocal love demonstrated when a person asks God to direct their life and actions, as in the actions of the clerk the cartoon attempts to vilify.

Perhaps it would be more helpful to the rights of the gay community if he would devote a panel to comment on the incredibly barbaric practices by Islamist countries of stoning gay couples and throwing them off buildings without parachutes if they apply for a marriage license; seems "Allah Akbar" sure doesn't translate to "God is Love" under that religion. But then, that might take more courage than he might care to muster.
Thank you for your time and consideration.

Mark McLeroy
The Prayer Directed Life Ministries

Now, since I knew brevity and succinctness were key to having a letter to the editor be considered for publication, please allow me a few moments here to expand upon the teaching I believe the Holy Spirit gave me to write, especially in regards to "Agápē" love and the often misused and/or misunderstood term "God is love". Let's begin by taking a look at where and how the term "God is love" is used in the Bible.

There are only two references to the phrase "God is love" in the Bible; both of them are in the same chapter of the same epistle of the New Testament, 1 John, often referred to as the Love Epistle, because the word "love", in its various forms, is used 43 times in this epistle (32 times in the section 4:7 to 5:3), with most of those translated from the Greek term Agápē.

The first reference is 1 John 4:8, which says, "Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love."  Now there are several things we need to know about what is and isn't being said in this scripture:

1. The two uses of the word "love" here refer to the agápē type of spiritual love of God's nature, not to the storgē, phillia and erôs types of human love found in Man's nature;
2. The use of the word "know" here is defined as being of the "nature of God" or having a relationship with Him, not in the sense of knowing about God in an intellectual sense. The only way we can "know God" in this sense is through Jesus Christ living in us through the Holy Spirit (this is what Jesus describes in the 17th chapter of the Gospel of John, and John describes in the rest of chapter 4 and chapter 5 of this epistle, among other places);
3. The Scripture does not infer that whoever loves others with the human types of love (storgē, phillia and erôs) "knows" God, or that God is even in those types of love. It certainly does not infer that if there is any type of "love" taking place then God is in it;
4. Where it says "God is love" it is not inferring that love is the sum total of His Being; elsewhere in this very epistle it also says that "God is light" and "God is spirit". In other scriptures it says that God is: holy, powerful, faithful, true and just.  Love (agápē) is part of God's nature, not His sole existence.  You see, nowhere in the Bible does it say "Love is God"!

The second reference is 1 John 4:16, which says, "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him."  Once again, all the references to the word "love" in this verse translate from the Greek word "agápē", according to my Concordance and the study Bible I use.  Here is what I believe we need to know about this scripture

1. The only way we can "know (experience relationship with) and rely on (rest in) the love (agápē) God has for us" is through the born again relationship with Jesus Christ. Jesus clearly tells us, in no uncertain terms, that He is the way, the truth and the light, and that NO ONE comes to the Father except through Him.(Jn 14:6) 
2. Just one verse before this scripture (4:15), John says "If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God." What this whole chapter is clarifying and confirming is that when it says "Whoever lives in love lives in God..." it means whoever lives in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit, who expressed the ultimate, unconditional agápē love by being the atoning sacrifice for the sins of all mankind, lives in God, and God in him/her. Only then are we capable of loving our fellow human beings with the agápē love God has for us, and only when they have THAT love living in them can they reciprocate to us, to others and to God Himself.

Now here is the kicker about all this "love" talk that we need to understand:  If God is love, and we know He is (among many other things), then that kind of love must be a) Spiritual and b) Eternal (that is, no beginning and no end) like God Himself, and therefore, be completely different than the type of love we know here on earth as humans (and between humans). In other words, the human types of love described in the Greek words "storgē", "phillia" and "erôs" all have a beginning and an end, and are all connected with our human bodies and emotions, which, of course, are temporal. But only "agápē" love is the eternal, unlimited, unconditional love that is of and from the Spirit of God, and only through knowing Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior, are we able to experience and share THAT kind of love.

To me, a really important and interesting thing about all this is that the Holy Spirit chose to have the New Testament Scriptures written in the Greek, which, unlike most other languages of the time, actually had different words for the different types of love so that when it came time to translate those words, one could tell the intended use of the word by the term it was translated from, rather than creating confusion by lumping all types of love into one word (as is done in the Anglican English) and letting everyone try to figure out what the intended meaning of the word was as it appears in various scriptures. In other words, we don't have to try and guess what John or any of the other Scripture writers were intending to say through there various uses of the word "love" in their writings...We can simply verify it through a good Concordance or study Bible!  "Well then," you may say to me, "how can anyone who doesn't know the Greek language understand the New Testament Scriptures; or for that matter, how can anyone understand the Old Testament and the Gospels without also knowing the the Hebrew, Aramaic and Latin languages? In fact, how can anyone understand the Bible without being some kind of linguist?" The answer is simply this: Almighty God is not trying to hide the meaning of His Word and Scriptures from you; after all, it's sort of your owner's manual when you become born again. In fact, remember what Jesus told Satan in the dessert: "It is written, 'Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God!'" The Bible tells us in 2 Cor 13 that there is a veil over the eyes, minds and hearts of those who are not part of the New Covenant. It says in 2 Cor 13:14 that "It has not been removed, because only in Christ is it taken away." 2 Cor 13:16 puts it this way: "But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away." In other words, when we become born again, the Holy Spirit will begin revealing the things of God to us, including His Word, the Bible, as we seek Him and the truth. In fact, you might say that this piece the Holy Spirit has given me to write for you and myself is a good example of how that works!

Finally, please know that I am not dissing or dismissing the importance of those other three human types of love; I believe that all human love certainly have their basis in Agápē love since God created our souls (our minds, wills and emotions) and our bodies with the capacity and ability to engage in actions, words and thoughts to express love and endearment for each other in its various human forms.  But the human love that we share among and have for each other is only a shadow of the complete, eternal, incomprehensible and unconditional Agápē love that Almighty God has for us, and that can only be experienced through His indwelling presence in us along with His Son, Jesus Christ, through the Holy Spirit. Unfortunately, in our typically prideful and human fashion, we have taken this wonderful gift of God and redefined it according to what we want it to be, rather than what God intended it to be...What began as an absolute, we have made relative.  And when we humans start defining love according to what we think it should be, rather than what God says it is, He will not bless it or be a part of it, for I assure you, God is not about to change His definition to coincide with ours.

In a nutshell, I believe Agápē love is this:  God loves us not for who we are, but in spite of who we are...And He will love us all the way to the grave!  But life after the grave, eternal life, only comes when we personally acknowledge that love by believing in His one and only Son, Jesus Christ, who paid the sin debt of all mankind and overcame death, that we might live forever in God's Agápē Love!

Offered in Jesus Name

Is The Bible The Word of God

Recently, my wife and I had an interesting discussion with our adult son, who is a born again Christian (as are we), about the validity of calling the Bible (or the Scriptures) the "Word of God." Since I often find my own arguments and explanations to be less than adequate in reasoning with someone about the things of God, I asked the Holy Spirit in my prayer time to help me to write a note to my son to address this issue on both an intellectual and spiritual level. Here is the resulting letter:

"Mom and I very much enjoyed our discussion with you concerning whether or not the Bible is the 'Word of God'.  Mom is always saying 'Iron sharpens iron', and your questions and points concerning this subject causes we as Believers to have to reevaluate our beliefs and position on this important foundational matter.

Since your intellect is pretty much on a different level than ours, and my apologetic skills are pretty much still in the infancy stage, I wondered if you would consider watching a couple of short videos of Ravi Zacharias answering questions concerning the integrity, validity and accuracy of the Bible in general? They don't directly answer your challenge, but they do provide important points to use when discussing issues concerning the Bible, especially with non-Believers. Here are the links; one is 8 minutes and one is 9 minutes:

                               Why the Bible? Ravi Zacharias at the University of Illinois  

				Why the Bible? Ravi Zacharias at the University of Illin...
				View on youtu.be	Preview by Yahoo

Ravi Zacharias Q & A How Do We Know the Bible is True

				Ravi Zacharias Q & A How Do We Know the Bible is True
				View on youtu.be	Preview by Yahoo

But in my opinion, the crux of this matter comes down to three important points:

1) In terms of its spiritual value and content, the Bible will never be comprehended by non-Believers...essentially, the non-spiritual, or those whose spirit is dead to the Spirit of God; to them, it will always be seen as a literary endeavor comprised of prophesies, teachings, illustrations, stories, etc. But the fact of the matter is that the Message and meaning of the Bible must be revealed to the born again Believer by the Holy Spirit; recall that in the Gospel of John, chapter 14, Jesus said that He would send the Holy Spirit to His disciples and followers (Believers) to "teach you all things and remind you of everything I have said to you" (essentially, revelation knowledge). Then, it becomes like the illustration of sitting in a chair:  If I present you with a chair to sit in, you may believe that chair will hold you if you go sit on it, but you don't actually express your faith in that belief until you go sit in it, without reservations about its structural integrity, partly because you observe its design...and partly because you trust me not to provide a defective chair for you to sit in.

2) One of the big mistakes we make in studying the Bible is that the Gospel Message is interpreted from the Scriptures, which implies that we can use reasoning to decipher that Message. The truth is, the Scriptures must be interpreted according to the Gospel Message, which is written on our heart the moment we accept Jesus Christ into our life as our Lord and Savior and receive the ministry and message of reconciliation (2Cor 5). When we become born again, a veil drops from our eyes (2Cor 3:14-18) and we begin to better understand the things of God, including His Word. This also helps to explain why to unbelievers the Bible seems to contain a lot of contradictions and conflicting statements.

3) I think that before we can discuss the question of whether or not the Bible is the Word of God with anyone they need to answer the question, "What have you done with Jesus?" What do I mean by that? Jesus flat out declares this statement: "I am the way and the truth and the light. No one comes to the Father except through me."(John 14:6)  If we chose to deny that statement, then Spiritually we are dead as a hammer, and what is said or not said in the Bible doesn't really matter in the long run anyway. If we do believe that statement and accept the salvation and rebirth provided by Him, then we begin to see how often He relied upon and referenced to the written Scriptures of His time in His earthly ministries of teaching, healing and deliverance, thus confirming the validity and authority of not only the written words of God, but also the divine inspiration process to produce them.

So you see, although my Bible may not physically contain the statement "This book you are holding is the Word of God", the Spirit of the words it contains shout loudly and gleefully to my Spirit  that it is!  Hopefully, it will to yours as well!

Again, my Wonderfully intelligent son, thanks for the discussion and the push-back; it helps me to comply with Peter's challenge in 1Pet 3:15, which is a very important part of our earthly ministry. Let's do it again some time!

Love, DaD

Mark McLeroy
The Prayer Directed Life Ministries
www.theprayerdirectedlife.com "