phaneroo

Colossians 3:3-4

3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

What does it mean that our lives are now hidden with Christ? The only way to truly understand this verse is to read it in the context of our dying and being raised with Christ. When Jesus died on the Cross over 2000 years ago, we died with Him. This is an incredible mystery and an astonishing truth! But let’s go deeper here… What does it mean to have died?

For me, this is difficult to wrap my brain around. I mean, I’m obviously here typing this. I walk around. I eat. I sleep. I breathe. I’m “alive” right? But the truth is, I also died. It is quite the paradox! How is it that I died with Christ on the Cross, yet am still here, living and breathing today? I don’t have all the answers. But to me, to have died means that I have no life in and of myself. It means that any strength of my own ceases to have power and will not bear any real or lasting fruit. My being dead means that anything I do apart from a revelation of Christ in me is powerless; it’s all dead apart from Him! Conversely, any life that may result from anything I do only comes from Christ in me (whether I realize it or not). My life is hidden with Christ. My motivations, my actions and my activities will only bear fruit if they are rooted in a revelation of Christ in me. This is why Colossians 3:1- 2 tell us to set our hearts and minds on things above. We set our minds and hearts on things above because if we fail to do so, we will not live; we will not see life. Our life is hidden with Christ and the only way we’ll find it is in and through Him! It follows then that being alive means only one thing: Christ. And any life that is expressed through me is now an expression of my union with Jesus.

I love Colossians 3:4. It says that when Christ - who is our life - appears, then we also will appear in glory. Nearly every commentary I’ve read says this verse is referring to Christ’s second coming. Some translations go so far as to even translate this verse using phrases like "Christ’s return” or “second coming”. Maybe it is referring to Jesus' second coming? But if it is only referring to a future event, then setting my mind and heart on things above has no power for my life right now. If this verse is only referring to a future event, then Paul is only asking us to “hold on” by ourselves and operate out of our own strength until Christ’s second coming. But we know that Paul is not asking us to operate out of our own strength, so it follows that Christ appearing can’t be limited to just being a future event. It is a now event that has power and effect on our lives right now!

Throughout Scripture, we see that God is calling us to live a life that bears fruit for Him. And since our life is hidden with Christ in God, we know that the only way for us to experience, express and produce life now is in and through Him. That’s why Paul exhorts us to set our hearts and minds on things above in Colossians 3:1-2. Paul wants us to really live! Colossians 3:4 says that when Christ – who is our life - appears, then we will also appear. Christ’s appearing is a now event and one that occurs often. For each one of us, it can occur daily. It can even occur multiple times in a day. We see in Scripture that Paul himself had multiple encounters with Jesus (Acts 9, 2 Cor. 12) and I'm certain that he had many more encounters with Jesus than are documented in the New Testament. Remember that Paul said in Galatians 1 that he wasn't taught the Gospel by any man, but that he "received it by revelation from Jesus Christ". This is an example for for all believers. We must continually receive from Jesus Christ, just like Paul did. In doing so, we will really live!

For us to really live, we must receive. And for us to receive, Christ must appear to us. The Greek word translated “appear” in Colossians 3:4 is “phaneroo” which means, "to make manifest, visible or known that which has been hidden or unknown". Other sources define "phaneroo" as meaning, "to make actual and visible; realized". It makes sense then, that when you read some of the more literal translations of Colossians 3:4 (Darby, Young's) they use the word "manifest" instead of the word "appear". This seems to be a more accurate translation and breaks us out of the kind of thinking that limits us to merely “holding on” until Jesus returns at His second coming. Having a better understanding of the word “phaneroo” and looking at multiple translations, I see this verse as being more about Christ manifesting in our lives today than it is bout Him coming back in the future. Even further, I believe this verse is talking about Christ becoming known to us in our present day circumstances, right here, right now. We will know Christ as we set our hearts on things above. Christ will be realized in our lives as we set our minds on things above!

What a wonderful privilege it is that we can know Christ and that He will manifest in our lives daily and intimately. Even further, as we know Christ, as He is manifest and realized in our lives, then we too appear with Him in glory. Remember that Paul is always speaking in the context of our death and resurrection with Christ. As we remember our death and resurrection with Christ and He is made known to us, we will consequently see ourselves in Him and Him in us. When we see ourselves in Him and Him in us we will naturally begin to live out of this truth and express it in our daily lives. This is what it means for us to appear in glory. To appear in glory means Christ manifesting Himself in and through us as we live our daily lives. We appear in glory when Jesus is realized, demonstrated and expressed in our lives. So, as I focus on my union with Christ, He manifests Himself and is made known to me in a real way. This reveals to me who I really am and enables me to express His love and life outwardly.

- I focus on my union with Christ (set my heart and mind on things above)
- He makes Himself known to me (He appears)
- Myself in Christ becomes known to me (I appear)
- Christ in me is expressed in my life. (Glory!)

Where can I see this happening in my life? You know, just yesterday I was confronted by temptation. Temptation was yelling in my face trying to get me to act out of alignment with who I really am. I could feel the pressure of it in my body and on my emotions. In the face of all this, I picked up my Bible and read Jeremiah 1. As I did so, there wasn’t any verse that stuck out to me. I only had the hope that by somehow focusing on Christ and His Gospel things would change. Well, that’s exactly what happened. I focused on Christ and His Gospel and He showed up. He spoke to me and told me who I really am. He told me that I'm not someone who would do what I was being tempted to do. Jesus Himself told me and when He spoke I heard it and it resonated in my soul and spirit. I knew who I was and acted accordingly. Temptation was no longer an issue.

This is a clean break from religion. There aren’t any rules here, just an encounter with Someone who changes me and changes the way I act. These encounters are crucial to me really living life. Truth be told, I have no life apart from these encounters with the living Christ. My life is hidden in Jesus and I can only find life by encountering Him. To live daily, I must encounter Christ daily.

Things Above

I've been pondering a lot of things in Scripture lately, but one thing that has stuck out a lot is Colossians 3:1-4 where Paul tells us to set our hearts and our minds on things above.

1Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is seated at the right hand of God. 2Set your minds on things above, not on earthly things. 3For you died, and your life is now hidden with Christ in God. 4When Christ, who is your life, appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.

What are these "things above" that Paul is telling us to set our hearts and minds on? For me, the first few things that come to mind are angels, clouds, pearly gates, golden streets and blue skies. Some loved ones who've passed away even come to mind. Is that what Paul wants us to set our hearts and minds on? Probably not. As I think further on this, the thought of heaven comes to mind and I start thinking of the book of Revelation. I see elders and saints bowed before Jesus, angels and creatures worshipping the Lamb. I see a glassy sea; I hear thunder and singing. Maybe this is what Paul wants us to set our hearts and minds on? Maybe. That's not too much of a stretch. However, if I take another look at these verses, I see that Paul is speaking in the context of our death and resurrection with Christ. In verse 1 Paul talks about how we were raised with Christ and in verse 3 he reminds us that we died, and our lives are now hidden with Christ. Even just a few verses earlier in chapter 2 verse 20 Paul again references our death with Christ. It’s obvious then, that our death and resurrection with Christ is the context that Paul is speaking out of. Truth be told, our death and resurrection with Christ is ALWAYS the context Paul is speaking out of. Even further, our death and resurrection with Christ is ALWAYS the context that we are to be living out of!

So… in light of my death and resurrection with Christ, I must set my heart and mind on “things above”. As I read verse 1 again, in the context of my death and resurrection with Jesus, I think to myself, “The truth is that I was raised with Christ, so it follows then that if I set my heart on where Christ is, then I would consequently see myself there too, because I was raised with Him.” Paul reiterates this reality in Ephesians 2:6 where he tells us that “God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus”. With this in mind, I’ve concluded that what Paul is really saying in Colossians 3:1-2 is this: “See yourselves as in Christ. Let your heart and mind be guided by the truth that you’re in Christ. ”.

The surrounding verses, before and after, all talk about conduct and how to behave, but the right conduct and right behavior that Paul is talking about here is merely an expression of who we are in Christ. Paul isn’t giving us more rules to follow. What he’s really doing is showing us that right conduct and right behavior are actually manifestations of Christ in us. When Paul tells us to set our minds on things above and not on earthly things, I believe he’s getting at something much deeper and more powerful than simply saying, “Think about Jesus and the good things of heaven instead of thinking about money, pleasure and material possessions.” Paul actually takes it to a whole other level and urges us to see ourselves as having died with Christ and also resurrected with Him. When we do so, right conduct and right behavior will follow and who we really are at our core will be revealed.

The word “things” is funny to me (if you say a word enough times, it will inevitably start sounding funny). Anyways, it’s easy for us to hear the word “things” and think of items and possessions. But “things” are also events and activities (like “things to do”). I believe that the “things above” that Paul is telling us to set our hearts and minds on are the things of heaven, which all point to Christ and Him crucified. This is obvious when you look at Revelation 5, where we can see that every item and every activity in heaven worships the Lamb freshly slain. Consequently, if we remember that we were raised with Christ and are seated with Him in heavenly places (Eph. 2:6) we can know that as we set our hearts and minds on the things above, as we see the Lamb seated on the throne and freshly slain, we will also see ourselves with Him and in Him!

This is important because the only way that we can truly understand ourselves as Christians is if we see ourselves in Christ. And if we understand and know who we really are (righteous and holy in Christ) then we can be (act like, express) who we really are. Paul is saying that we must believe that we’re in Christ and he urges us to set our hearts and our minds on the fact that we’re in Christ so that we can express the life and love of Jesus here on earth. If we fail to see ourselves in Christ, we slip back into religion and regulations. The “things above” that Paul is calling us to set our hearts and minds on lead us into the actions of Christ, where we accordingly see ourselves in Him and Him in us. Conversely, if we focus on “earthly things”, they will only mire us in the actions of men which “have an appearance of wisdom… but lack any value in restraining sensual indulgence” (Col. 2:23). Paul wants us to focus on what Jesus did and is doing as opposed to whatever is going on around us here on earth.

Setting our hearts and minds on Christ and our placement in Him will change our lives in a real, tangible way that will affect our relationships and empower us in our daily living. As we set our hearts and minds on Christ and our placement in Him, Christ in us will appear in our lives. Right conduct and right behavior will manifest as we live our daily lives!

After meditating on this passage and looking at my life, the Lord has revealed to me that the times when I struggle with sin the most all have one common theme: my heart and mind are not set on the things above. I can think of two specific (yet broad) instances where this occurs. Instance One is when I get really obsessed with something. To be honest, there are times when I just get so focused on something that I forget about everything else; even to the point where I get a little negligent as a father and husband. Not good. Instance Two is when I get really bored or lazy. These times are pretty much times of self-focus where my mind and heart are set on my old self (who I was before I died with Christ) and the desires of my old self. Some days I just start off on the wrong foot and end up believing lies. As a result, I usually begin complaining and moping around the house which unfortunately leads to me chasing a false sense of fulfillment by eating, acquiring or doing some thing. In both of these instances, it’s clear that my mind and heart are set on earthly things and I am obviously not operating out of the place where I see and know that Christ is in me and I am in Him. I am grateful that the Lord is showing me these patterns in my life. In addition, I am also encouraged, because the Lord has shown me that as I have let Christ and Him crucified be the focus of my life, both Instances One and Two occur a lot less than they used to. Praise Jesus!

To set our hearts and minds on things above is to recognize our death and resurrection with Him and to see ourselves seated with Him in heaven. When we do so, Christ will appear in our lives and love, joy, peace and righteousness will be expressed in our conduct and behavior!

To be continued…

God's Plan

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about God’s plan for my life. At one of my Cross Immersion groups a few weeks back, the Lord revealed to me that God’s plan for my life isn’t for me. God’s plan for my life is for Him. God’s plan for my life isn’t a series of events that culminates in me somehow being exalted, admired or me having it all. God’s plan for my life isn’t that I would do several great things or even one great thing. God’s plan for my life is this: That He would be glorified and revealed in whatever situation I find myself in. God’s plan for my life isn’t about blessing me; God’s plan for my life is about glorifying Him.

It’s so simple, yet also quite offensive. In the past I had thought that God wanted me to do great things and that His plan for me was for everyone to end up noticing whatever greatness I achieved – of course God would receive glory too because I was getting glory and I would acknowledge Him and everyone would know that I’m a Christian so He would get glory by default. Pshh… whatever…

God’s plan for my life has nothing to do with me ending up somewhere or me ending up doing something. It isn’t that I would write songs that everyone would sing. It isn’t that I would have a home that’s big enough for a family. It isn’t that I would have a car or that I would make enough money to live a comfortable life. God’s plan isn’t about me, or how I am perceived (by myself or others). Now I’m not saying that those things won’t occur or that God doesn’t want those things for us. But all those things are peripheral to God’s primary goal and plan.

I was reading Philippians 1 last night and verse 20 really stuck out to me. I read it and God said to me, “This is my plan for the lives of my people”. In the Holman Christian Standard version of this verse, Paul states:

“My eager expectation and hope is that I will not be ashamed about anything, but that now as always, with all boldness, Christ will be highly honored in my body, whether by life or by death”

God’s plan is that we will not be ashamed about anything. Whether we’re a stay-at-home dad or a rock star, God’s plan is that we would be so engaged with Christ in us that shame is never an issue. Later in Philippians Paul talks about how he has learned to be content in all things. He can be rich or he can be poor. He can be well fed or hungry. He is content in all things because he engages with Christ in him. And while being content Paul simultaneously highly honors Christ!

Christ isn’t honored by our achievements or possessions. He isn’t honored by what we do nor is he honored by what we end up doing. Christ is honored when we believe Him. Christ is honored when we follow the Holy Spirit. Christ is honored when we rest in His finished work on the Cross. To be honest, I think that there is less that actually honors Jesus than we think.

This revelation has been quite freeing for me. Inside I feel a whole other level of freedom from the world’s expectations and judgments. I never have to be ashamed about my title or lack thereof. I don’t have to be ashamed that I don’t make a lot of money. I don’t have to be ashamed that I never signed a professional recording contract. At one time those things were the goals of my life, but such is no longer the case. I have one goal now, one plan; and it is God’s. God’s plan is that I encounter and engage with Christ in me regardless of whatever situation or circumstance I find myself in. That’s it. That’s all. Nothing more, nothing less.

Thank You Jesus for this freedom!

Focus Training

Since, then, ours is so high a destiny, we must -- we MUST pay fuller attention than ever to the truths that we have already heard, and never drift anchorless away from them (Hebrew 2:1, A. S. Way)

Focus is a problem universal to the human race. Every single day while raising my three boys (which is something akin to having a litter of bouncy lab puppies) I would have to help them focus. They would be continually running through the house in their super hero costumes, climbing over the couch cushions of their latest fort or deep into lego world. How I remember their eyes bright and alert, full of the imaginations of their own heads trying to slow down enough to focus in on my face.

“My son” I would say, “Look me in the eye while I’m talking to you.”

“My son, look at me! Now focus. Ok, now what did I just say to you? Please respond by saying ‘Yes Mom’. No, no, look at me when you say it . . . wait, stop don’t run off I’m not done speaking to you!”

It was a continual daily, sometimes hour by hour interaction. Even getting dressed was a chore. One bedroom was a particular challenge in that one of my sons could see himself in the mirror from almost anywhere in the room (a mirror is the ultimate distraction). Pete and I found the only spot this was not possible and called it “the dressing corner”. Otherwise he’d still be in his p.j.’s to this day.

Now they are older. But still we have rules about focus. No cell phones while driving. The headphones of their iPods only plugged into one ear only while in the house so that they can hear if someone is talking to them. And here is the biggie: No “multi-media-ing” (Which is a term we made up to describe using the computer, X-box, iPod, TV whatever all at the same time). Sheesh! The challenges of modern technology!

You see distraction or learning to focus --- is a universal problem. Listen again to the writer of Hebrews as he pleads with us to focus. He says

. . .we must, we MUST pay fuller attention than ever to the truths that we have already heard and never drift anchorless away from them.

Why? Because our destiny depends on it!

So, now that I have your attention - let me ask you a question: What truths are we supposed to focus on? Will any truth do? Or was there something specific he wants us to focus on?

The whole book of Hebrews is about where you are looking & what you are listening to. Over and over it keeps pointing your eye back to Jesus and the first three verses of the first chapter. If you read the book as a whole you will find the words “consider, look, listen, hear . . . . Its all about the senses. Your senses are the lens by which you perceive and interact with the world around you. They need to be trained, like my lab puppies, with firmness and patience.

“Here, is the lens by which to perceive all reality,” cries the writer of Hebrews, “Don’t loose sight of if or you will begin drifting anchor less, hopeless, driven and tossed by the waves.”

Lets look and listen now to that central truth that he was speaking of: Turn over to Heb. 1:1-3.

By various partial revelations, under various forms of appeal, did God in past ages speak to our fathers in the persons of His prophets. But now, as the age in which we live draws to its close, He has spoken to us in the person of His Son. He has made Him the heir who takes for His inheritance the universe. Nay more, it was through His agency that God created all cosmic systems. He is to God as the rays are which reveal to us all we know of the sun: He is the Image that bodies out for us the essential being of God. It is He who bears on to its goal all God’s universe through the Word which is the conducting medium of God’s power. He achieved the cleansing of the world’s sin, and then sat down on a throne a the right hand of the Majesty Divine in the high heavens (Heb.1:1-3, A.S. Way)

First of all lets focus on the fact that God is still speaking through His Son, Jesus. An accurate translation that reflects the aorist tense of the verb would be: “He began speaking and is still speaking to us through the person of His Son. Let me ask you this. In light of this verse, what is Jesus saying to you?

This week before your Cross Immersion Group take a half hour and interact with the Holy Spirit about Heb. 1:1-3. Take your current day, your worry or challenge of the moment and look at it through this lens. Perhaps you are struggling in your finances, in your body, or in your relationships. What is Jesus saying to you from this throne? First of all you need to focus on the clues already there in the verses. Who is He? Where is He? What has He done? Then ask Him for specifics - How does who is He, where He is, and what He’s done impact your circumstance? What is the reality of your circumstance that goes beyond the surface of what you can see with your natural eyes?

Focus here. Don’t drift away. Herein lies your destiny for today. Herein lies the destiny for your life, your family. Herein is the anchor for your emotions and projections of the future. Here in will be your joy as the bright radiance of His person fills your eyes!

The Lamb is in the House

"Jesus, Turn all my water into wine"


Two Sunday’s ago, I heard my spirit man speaking this statement to Jesus: "Jesus, Turn all my water into wine." It was a statement of faith in the Son of God; yet my own mind had no idea what it meant. Even though I didn’t understand it, I just knew the statement was from heaven, so, I spoke it out loud: “Jesus, Turn all my water into wine.”

I thought perhaps it was for something big, like. . . debt relief, or. . .financial restoration. Seems like that is on a lot of people’s minds these days. That is a big one. On the “Life on Earth” scale, I would say that aside from H1N1, financial crisis is on the world’s stage. So, my mind just sort of threw that heavenly statement I was hearing about water and wine toward something I could get my head around on short notice, and I resolved to just fling it at our finances, hoping God would come through.

I woke up today, grabbed my coffee, and opened my Bible. “Jesus,” I said, “Open the scriptures to me. I don’t want to go into my Monday without you ordering my week. Live your life out in me this week. I don’t want chaos and disorder and feeling like I’m two steps behind all day like I did last week. Come and bring the order of heaven to this house today. Bring revelation.”

I started to journal the things God had already been speaking to me. Sometimes it was just a simple phrase, or maybe part of a scripture, but He had been speaking and I needed to take a look into what He was saying. Sometimes, He may speak a simple phrase to me, and I am tempted to say, “wow, cool prayer, Jesus,” and then just leave it there. Obviously, there is a problem with that response. Jesus was opening a window of revelation to me and I just took a glance and said, “nice window.” -- However, Jesus actually wanted to invite me to the window, open it for me, and give me a view into the scriptures from His perspective in heavenly places that would blow my mind.

So, sensing that I may have “missed something” in that whole “water into wine” bit he gave me that Sunday, I took his nudge to open the scripture this morning and started to look for the story of the Wedding at Cana.

I had two things going on as I looked for the verse. I had the temptation to write the whole story off as something I’d already read and therefore wouldn’t find anything new. On the other hand, I had Jesus inside of me FULL of expectation that I would definitely find something new and just needed to keep my heart open to receive. When I really looked at my heart response to the temptation of “writing it off,” I sensed that I just had a lot of questions about the story that I had never stopped long enough to ask. I probably breezed through the story, didn’t get why Jesus stuck it in there, and then moved on. I “missed the window.”

So, I found the scripture in John 2, read it, and then wrote down my questions with each statement that puzzled me. I approached the throne with my pen and journal with boldness and asked my questions to Jesus, knowing He REALLY wanted to open the revelation in the story for me.

First question that puzzled me: “Why did Mary ask Him to turn the water into wine?”
I mean, Jesus responds to her so clearly, “Dear woman, what does this have to do with you and to me?” It obviously wasn’t the time or season for him to respond with a public miracle from heaven. He seemed to be correcting her; yet Mary turns directly to the servants and says, “Do whatever He tells you to do,” and then she stands back in full expectation for Him to do something awesome. HUH???

In my mind, I’m thinking, either Mary was over-zealous for her son to show off his miracle-working power, or she was a responder in distress and really felt overly-obligated to come up with a solution for a problem that didn’t involve her and she asked her son to fix it, because maybe he could do a miracle or something. I’m thinking this, but I wrote down my question anyway.

This is what I sensed Jesus say to me in response to my question, “She knew He could do it, because it had been revealed to her ahead of time who He really was. She identified Him as the Son of God. It had already been revealed to her. This was her life, knowing this fact. She walked everyday with this revelation. She couldn’t separate it out from her every day life experience. He was with her when she woke up, with her during breakfast, with her in housework, and with her in the walk to the market, with her in changing diapers, and with her when she met Joseph at his wood shop to tell him about a debt they had to pay. He was with her when she shopped for a new pot for her kitchen and was with her when they read the scriptures as a family in evening. He was with her when she went to bring bread to a sick neighbor, and He was with her when she went to the temple to worship."

Now, in John 2:3, here they are together at a wedding in Cana, and a crisis presents itself to the kitchen staff. Mary catches wind of the problem and turns to Jesus. “They have no more wine!,” she says to him.

Now, see, this is the same Jesus that was with her in her kitchen yesterday when she ran out of eggs for the dish she was preparing, and he offered her a simple solution of heavenly wisdom so that she could finish her task. This is also the same Jesus that probably shocked the family during ‘family cell’ at the age of 9, when he opened the scriptures to Mary and explained what God was actually trying to say to them. This is the same Jesus.

So here they are now, together at a wedding, and there is an earthly crisis of “no wine.” Her life was not like most other lives in her day. Her life was constantly interrupted by the “unearthly” presence among them. Jesus was Holy. He had to be different than his brothers! He must have been like an alien in his household. But God had revealed Jesus to her when she conceived. She knew Him before he was known. So her life was lined with heaven’s solution. It was common place for her to reach for an unearthly solution in small and large crisis’ of life. Heaven’s solution was in her house. The Lamb was in her house. Therefore, there was a solution for everything in her life-grid. The Kingdom of Heaven was more than near to her, it was her life as she watched it unfolding in her home. So, she was so familiar with Kingdom activity in her household, that to solve an issue in public was naturally to turn to the One God had sent for the solution.

Here’s My Next Question: “Why did Jesus say to her ‘What is that [no wine issue] to do with you and to Me?”

Jesus inferred a couple of things in this statement as I studied the scripture references for the language He used. He was saying in essence, “why is this our problem, woman? why is this your and my business?” and he was also saying, “why are you asking me, my time/season of performing public displays of miracles and wonderworks has not come yet.”

Now I know that Jesus doesn’t ask questions for which he doesn’t know the answer, so as I’m reading this story, I banked on the fact that this question was purely for Mary’s benefit and the benefit of the hearers to reveal Jesus and the character of the Father to everyone. So, I almost sense a grin inside of Jesus as he asks this question to his mother—this woman so used to the Lamb in her house.

I sense him smiling inside, knowing that she’s “Got It.” She has got it in the sense that her common life and spiritual life, and earthly tasks and everyday stuff have become completely infected with the life of God in her midst. Oh yeah, this is THEIR business alright. This is their ordinary daily encounter. She is unable to separate her life from the Lamb of God. He is grinning, because this is why He has come. This is heaven’s solution for man, sent to the earth in human form, sitting at the table in Cana with Mary and the disciples at the wedding, and Mary gets confused about what is public ministry and what is private life when it comes to needing a solution. Her private life experience leaks into her public experience, and she reaches to the Lamb of God for a solution. Of course Jesus is grinning about this!

Mary didn’t know how to separate out her relationship with Jesus anymore, in regards to public and private life. This was her life-- to reach to God for help, wisdom, assistance, understanding, provision. Mary, sitting in this crowd in Cana, was holding something very precious in her womb again. She is holding a life of knowing that God sent his only Son as a solution for all man’s needs. All of man’s needs. The whole Lamb for the whole of man.

She was an alien among men at this point. She had a secret life with God that had begun to leak into every part of life-- to the point that her response in this public place of a wedding in Cana becoming the same as the response she would have had at home—“Oh, . . . there’s no more wine? Well, just ask the Lamb.” This response was common place to her now.

This made me laugh out loud! I then imagined Mary, in her home, stirring a pot of cake batter that is sitting on the kitchen fire pit. I could imagine Jesus resting his head on his hand while seated at the table next to her, watching what she is doing. I imagined her hanging out with Jesus, preparing to host her in-laws for a birthday party and her desiring everything to be just right. She isn’t all stressed about it, though, because Jesus’ presence and peace just brings a sense of order in her life. She is actually enjoying the work of preparation.

Suddenly she realizes that she needs a cup of oil for the cake she is baking, and all she can find is a cup of vinegar. Knowing she is in crisis now, even though seemingly small to the average teacher of The Law, she looks over at Jesus, who is sitting next to her smiling as he watches her cook. Mary, smiles back, thinking to herself, “well, he did this with the laundry soap yesterday, hmmmm, could he really turn this vinegar into the oil I need for this cake?” So, she hands him the cup with a grin. And to her amazement, Jesus hands her back the cup, which is now brimming with the oil she needs for the cake. They both smile and laugh and Mary shakes her head in wonderment. I can imagine her saying “You never cease to amaze me!” Such a sweet relationship of dependence growing as Jesus grew up in her house. The Lamb in her house, hovering over her very menial tasks of baking and cleaning, wanting to partner with her in all things.

This whole encounter brought my mind back to a verse I read yesterday in 1Peter 2. Verse 21 says,

“For even to this were you called [it is inseparable from your vocation]. For Christ also suffered for you, leaving you [His personal] example, so that you should follow in His footsteps.” [AMP]

When I read, “it is inseparable from your vocation,” I felt God revealing to me the life Mary was experiencing in oneness with a life of the Lamb in her household. It is inseparable from any part of our lives. Public and private alike.

Then, Verse 9 in 1Peter 2 says,

“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a dedicated nation, [God’s] own purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”

So, I am hearing this verse say that we are a people that are special, purchased, and setting forth public and private wonderful deeds and displays and virtues of Jesus. We are those whose lives are completely one with the Lamb in our homes.

Here’s My Final Question about the Wedding of Cana: “Why did Jesus say, ‘It isn’t my season or time yet?’”

I sensed God answer my question this way:

He knew the timing for the Glory of God to be revealed publicly, and it had not yet come upon Him; HOWEVER, . . . Here’s this woman! What does he do with HER??? I mean, she already knew Him as He was known. She already had the Lamb in her house! She already knew the solution God sent for the big and small things of life. . .
--a broken handle on her cooking pot
--or a decision about their taxes
--or the death of Joseph
--or how about a wedding that ran out of wine!

The “solution” had so leaked into every-day life for her, that she couldn’t separate Jesus out from private and public. Therefore, He stretched forth His hand and released a wonderous deed (1Peter 2:9). She knew this Way! She didn’t need it modeled like the disciples were about to learn over the next season of life. She already knew. What could He do? She already knew Him, identified Him as the One God sent. He had to respond to that, even if it were out of season.

She was in season already! He had been revealed to her by the Father, through angels, so she could carry Him, give birth to Him, and she and Joseph could guard the revelation with God’s own strength, wisdom, and angelic assistance during and after Jesus’ birth. She watched Him grow in her home—amazed I’m sure, at his behavior and words. He was Holy. That had to look different than the other children. She watched the Lamb operate in her house in everyday things, and then on Sunday, she watched him operate with the teachers of The Law in the temple.

The Lamb in her house had become her life. He leaked into every part of life –the common and the uncommon practices—cooking, vacuuming, building a door at a bank, going to the grocery store, writing computer programs, attending Sunday service at church, selling cars, ordering food at a café, picking up items at the hardware store, fixing a tractor on the farm, and BAM!—Mary and Jesus find themselves at a wedding in Cana—and the SAME Jesus that gave her the idea for the next ingredient for the stew she made last Thursday, and the same Jesus that gave her heart the strength to endure Joseph’s death, was the same Jesus she reached for to solve a public crisis and He has to stretch forth His heavenly solution, in her everyday revelation, to solve her request and He changed that water into wine.

SWEEEEEEET.

How does this impact my life?

Well, first of all, it takes the pressure off me to perform miracles. Whew! I stood up to join the ministry team in praying for people needing healing yesterday and felt no pressure to do anything but be a child of God and believe in the One God sent for everything. I felt totally different than I usually do. The old dynamics were not there. I didn’t even put healing in a different category than trusting Jesus in Tony’s job. (my vocation is not separate 1Peter2:9)
This keeps the playing field of what is “church life activity (miracles, signs, deliverance, whatever)”—all level for me. Sometimes in the past, I have run into a wall of performance anxiety in church, in regards to someone needing obvious deliverance or healing, but then, at home last week, I leaned over to Jesus while I making a meal for guests and asked Jesus what to put in the potatoes next. I fully expect him to tell me to throw a little rosemary on the potatoes. And He did! Why shouldn’t I fully expect him to heal knees with fire from heaven on Sunday morning??—especially, when HE suggests it? HA!
This also keeps Jesus in my everything, not just my “Sunday thing”. This also keeps angels working with me just for the normal stuff of life, because I’m drawing from heaven’s solution all day, not just in the uncommon situations in public ministry or missions or something that might seem to be more notable. Nothing is more notable than when the Lamb is in the house. This means that He has become my life.

Cast Out the Slave Woman and Her Son!

Morning light was filtering through my kitchen curtains, bread warming in the toaster and the coffee maker gurgling to life while my oldest son and I were discussing the recent developments in his film career. We were marveling at the continued divine favor that is resting on his life and looking at a current situation. Though the situation on the surface looked like a missed opportunity, Ben was expressing complete peace and confidence in the sovereignty of God. He was marveling at the difference between himself and others in his sphere who were bound by anxiety, trying to impress people, frantically trying to “be in the right place at the right time”.

“You know, Mom,” he said cheerfully, “sometimes I think I don’t worry enough.” We chuckled together.
“It’s because you don’t have the pressure of the ‘self made life’, son.” I replied, “You are receiving a career from heaven out of relationship with your Father.”

And because you are sons, God has sent the Sprit of his Son into our hearts, crying, “Abba! Father” So through God you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son then an heir. Gal. 4: 6-7 (RSV)

Because we have been crucified with Christ and are living a life of “no longer I, but Christ, living in us” we have to reorient our understanding of how to live. It is no longer by our works, trying hard, achieving by natural means. We are no longer supplying God with use of our natural gifting, asking Him to bless our striving for success. We are no longer trying to curry favor with Him by the performance of “godly Christian disciplines”.

I do not nullify the grace of God; for if justification were through the law, then Christ died to no purpose. Gal. 2:21 (RSV)

No, we have been place within the body of Jesus Christ in His death and been completely judged and punished for all our sin and imperfections. Now, we are raised completely righteous, in total favor with our Father! Nothing, can cause me to gain MORE favor than the favor I have received on Christ’s behalf. Nothing. No fast, no hour in prayer, no quota of tracks handed out or verses memorized, no number of self inflicted stripes on the back. Nothing. Our favor does not come from the Cross + plus our good works. Our favor is complete. Our Lord said, “It is finished” as He absorbed the last of our judgement. Now, our job is to enjoy, explore, and worship with the whole of our beings as we enter into this complete unity - oneness with Christ. And as we enjoy knowing and experiencing Him to receive the life that our Father has prepared before hand that we would walk in.

For by grace you have been saved through faith; and this is not your own doing, it is the gift of God- not because of works, lest any man should boast. For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them. Eph. 2:8-10 (RSV)

This way of “receiving our life” rather than “making something of ourselves” is foreign to the world, to most of Christendom and to many of us. But now that we are New Creations (2 Cor. 5:17) we need to learn the new and living way to walk. Most of us have been raised in a world which teaches “the Lord helps those who help themselves” and the power of the “seven habits of a highly successful person”. From here many of us were saved into a mixture of “do-it-yourself”, self help and trusting God. What does that make? Look around. How much of your thinking about your life is balanced on what you can do for God with your skill-set, gift-mix, education or passion of devotion? I fasted and prayed for years for God to open the heavens in our region, only to find out Jesus opened the heavens 2000 years ago, and that there is no barrier in our region to the risen Christ. What I was doing was the equivolent to 2nd grade “busy work”. Now I am entering into what He has already done. Now, any open door before me relationally, I walk through --- both “spiritual doors” and “natural doors” as I receive my life from Him, in the meantime, I enjoy, experience and worship my Lord.

I want to take a moment and emphasize that this is not just about “praying for people in the market place”. This is about how to live life in its totality. All of life from when, where and how to turn in your lease car to healing the woman ahead of you in the line at the grocery store, to making vital career connections, to disciplining your children is a whole. Life is a whole. Our spiritual life not separate from our natural.

But . . . but does this really work?

Yes.

But only if you get rid of the slave woman and her son!

What?

How do we receive our life from heaven?

How do received our inheritance as sons?

This is what Paul is making every effort to teach the Galatian church who had begun so well, but got muddled up, confused, bewitched, bothered and bewildered and who in effort to fix the situation entered into MORE and MORE performance behavior. Have you ever been there? I have. Here is what Paul says to them.

“Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and one by a free woman.” (Gal. 4:22)

What happened here? Abraham had a desire and a calling to have children. This was natural. Then God came along and added a supernatural promise to this natural desire. He showed Abraham that not only would he have children but as many as the stars of the sky and sand of the sea! With this prophetic word he defined Abraham and opened up the deep recesses of the natural longing in his heart, coupling it with divine destiny. Then nothing happened. Nothing at all, for years! Finally Abraham decided to use his “skill-set” with another woman to bring about the promised life and destiny of being a father. I believe he did this with all sincerity. Though we look at it through the lense of history as an act of ignorance think about this: how many times have we tried to figure a way out or fix our own situation and asked God to bless our plan? Let’s look some more at what Paul is saying:

For it is written that Abraham had two sons, one by a slave and one by a free woman. But the son of the slave was born according to the flesh, the son of the free woman through promise. Now this is an allegory; these women are two covenants. One is from Mount Sinai, is bearing children for slavery; she is Hagar. now Hagar is Mount Sinai in Arabia; she corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.
For it is written, “Rejoice, O barren one that dost not bear; break forth and shout (or cry), thou who art not in travail; for the desolate hath more children than she who hath a husband.: Galatians 4:22-27 (RSV)

Under the old covenant (Hagar) the way to live was to work hard according to the flesh. Under the new covenant (Sarah) the way to live is to receive the promise. Look at that phrase, “Jerusalem above is free, she is our mother. . .” As one under the new covenant you no longer strive but you receive your life of promise from above, from heaven. This is the way the free woman lives she receives her life and provision from heaven, from the unseen. One minute she doesn’t show any signs of being pregnant and suddenly she cries out in the last stages of transition and pushes out the child of promise, the life of promise, the career of promise, the car of promise, the transformed teen of promise, the miraculous provision of promise. But there is a catch:

But what does the scripture say? “Cast out the slave and her son; for the son of the slave shall not inherit with the son of the free woman” So, brethren, we are not children of the slave but of the free woman. Gal. 4:30-31 (RSV)

For the new creation, the old system no longer works well. It doesn’t produce a harvest of blessing. You might say, I’ve tried trusting before and God didn’t come through. Well, if we have a mixture of Hagar and Sarah no one gets nothing. Why? Why not just let them all live together and give special favor to Issac? Because if you are relying on your own “do-it-yourself” methods you actually enter into the curse (Gal. 3:10). God is not going to bless that. He wants you to rest, delight in Him and receive from heaven all that He has promised you. What is this received from heaven bit? Look at this scripture:

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth; for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away . . And I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God . . . and I heard a great voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling of God is with men. He will dwell with them, and they shall be his people, and God himself will be with them; he will wipe away every tear . . . (Rev. 21:1-4, RSV)

Why does the slave woman and her son be cast out? Because God wants to dwell with us. That is the point. That’s what He’s always wanted. That’s why He created mankind and you in particular, to dwell with you! That’s why Jesus came to break down every barrier to that happening. Now, God wants to settle down over our lives with a heavenly city of promise which is comprised of all provision in every way primarily because He is dwelling in our homes, our lives. He wants us to receive from His open hand the gift of our day to day. He wants to be trusted and known in the process. This is the way the free woman lives! Receiving from the unseen realm through the veil into this realm with our tangible senses. So today, whatever your need large or small --- cast out the slave woman and her son, so that you can receive your inheritance for this day and know your Lord in the process.

What is in your hand?

After Moses had been wandering the desert as a shepherd for 40 years, God confronts him. God asks him, “What is in your hand?” to which Moses replies, “A staff.” (Exodus 4) I imagine that Moses replied with the same tone and emotion as if he had said, “Nothing. There is nothing in my hand.” But God knew better. The staff was something – and as Moses had gripped that staff for 40 years, God had gently fathered him. As Moses held that wood (a symbol of the Cross that would later be the item extended outward as God’s people were led from bondage to freedom), in situations that seemed insignificant and situations that were terrifying, he was being changed, humbled, formed to be like God, and prepared for more. The 40 years were training for another 40 years in a desert that was to come. All the lessons of shepherding – care, service, and patience – had equipped him to lead an equally difficult people. The staff – Moses place of comfort, support and protection – is then thrown down at God’s command, becomes a snake and Moses fearfully reaches out to take hold of it. There was more in that staff than Moses had realized. The mighty power of God was manifesting in and around that staff. Moses had been trained, without knowing it, by the Great Shepherd Himself, and now Moses was being invited to see himself with new eyes and to see the how full and extensive the Father’s intimate training had been.

Over the last few weeks I have had this question churning around in my spirit, “What kind of training did King David have to be king?” I look at the Bible and I don’t read about a King School and it’s not like he was raised in a very kingly household. He was a shepherd. Maybe a good modern-day equivalent would be to say that he was an elementary school teacher, or auto mechanic or even a Starbucks barista. What he did was good. What he did was needed. What he did was valuable but it could be easily diminished and viewed as nothing. So where was this training to become this heralded and unequivocal king? I don’t see a formal training that he submitted to that helped him “achieve his destiny” or “unlock his potential.” I don’t see where he read, “10 Keys for Ruling God’s People.”

No, his training was right there in the field. Like Moses before him, David’s training

was intimate and it was right in his hands - it was near him. David was a tree planted in Bethlehem and in Bethlehem is where God watered and pruned him and it is where he grew (John 15). We get a clear sense that David knew that the Lord, his Deliverer, was with him in the field. David was being intimately fathered and trained. Time with the King, in worship and in praise, had reproduced a king in David. So much so that when we read David’s first conversation with King Saul, we are struck with how it sounds peer to peer. This is not a timid and unsophisticated shepherd boy – this is someone who has been raised to reign. Let’s listen in – and let’s get a snapshot of David’s training while we’re at it:

“David said to Saul, "Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him." Saul replied, "You are not able to go out against this Philistine and fight him; you are only a boy, and he has been a fighting man from his youth." But David said to Saul, "Your servant has been keeping his father's sheep. When a lion or a bear came and carried off a sheep from the flock, I went after it, struck it and rescued the sheep from its mouth. When it turned on me, I seized it by its hair, struck it and killed it. Your servant has killed both the lion and the bear; this uncircumcised Philistine will be like one of them, because he has defied the armies of the living God. 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." Saul said to David, "Go, and the LORD be with you." 1 Samuel 17:32-37

What does David say? I killed bears and lions. I have been trained for Goliath. “I seized the lion and bear by the hair,” and soon he held Goliath’s head by the hair. His revelation of the presence of God and what God was doing in that hidden season lead to a nationally televised God-moment that no other person in Israel had been trained to overcome – only David had received this intimate fathering.

As we continue to read about David’s life, we are stunned at all that God had unlocked in that young, ruddy boy. He was a king, a priest, a prophet, a warrior and a son. David “humbly accepted the Word planted in him” (James 1:21) and that Word – the person of Jesus Christ – manifested the beautiful Christ. We see this again when regarding the life of Joseph. Joseph’s expression of leadership in Potipher’s house and in the prison could have been easily diminished in his eyes as he longed to be understood and to be freed. Yet, in it all, he had been so sweetly humbled that he could be trusted by God to have all of Egypt under his authority. (Genesis 41) We see into the heart and revelation of Joseph when he shares with his brothers, “You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.” (Genesis 50:20) All of it was for good.

What is in your hand? And don’t say nothing! Are you employed, underemployed or unemployed? It is all being used for good. Are you single, married, married with children or married with 10 children? God is fathering you and God is using each relationship and relational dynamic – yes, the ones that feel good and the ones that don’t – for good. What are those bear attacks all about? God has a Goliath in your future and you being trained for the “saving of many lives.” What are these hidden years all about? If you can see it, the quiet and peaceful outworking of the Cross is at work in this season. The seed that has been planted in your heart is sprouting. Hold the staff and see that the Cross is more than you imagined – it is the power for those who believe! Can you see your own life now – where God has uniquely planted you and the people you have been surrounded by – it is all for good! Yes, you are in Detroit and it is good! Everything is working together to form you and to reveal the Son, the King, the Shepherd, the Priest in you. The hope of any such thing is only found in Christ the Son – Christ in us.

Oh, praise Jesus that we can save our time, our money and our energy. We don’t have to go running here or there to get this or that. God has come to us. Christ has made his home in you and in me. Now, God, in His miraculous majesty, is using each and every feature of our lives – our family, friends (or maybe some of them need to be ex-friends), work, home, marriage, the economy, everything – to draw out of us the Son. Nothing is wasted. Nothing is trivial. Every moment has value. Oh, Praise Jesus! The King School has come to you. The “training for reigning” is happening in your kitchen and at your workplace and when you are trying to balance your checkbook. At every moment Christ is on the scene. Then the Son says in our hearts, “Well done, my good servant! Because you have been trustworthy in a very small matter, take charge of ten cities.” (Luke 19:17) Our stewardship and understanding of this time – right now – is of the utmost value and importance. All the training we need for life, our true and substantial expression of the Cross, and all the work of the Kingdom is in our hands right now. And while we continue to hold the Cross, we too can say that we understand any difficulty we face. Yes, God has a huge plan, and everything that is at work in our life… “God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives.”