God and Moses

And the Lord said furthermore unto him, Put now thine hand into thy bosom. And he put his hand into his bosom: and when he took it out, behold, his hand was leprous as snow (Exodus 4:6)

One reluctant cat
I am laughing, after just having read Exodus 4:1-11. If you don't own a Bible, and you do have the internet, you can read this for yourself. God is giving Moses his work order, and Moses is one reluctant cat. When I think about having a direct conversation with God, how Moses had this type of relationship with God Almighty, I am astounded and amazed, that he would argue with His creator. Then I think about me, and how willing I am to do the same, each time I forget to remember that I am powerless, while God, is all powerful! 

Moses is afraid of public speaking, he is afraid people won't believe him, and he asks God to find another man to do His bidding, despite God turning a staff into a snake, a healthy hand turned leprous and back again, and a promise to turn water into blood.

The point here, is that we can do nothing by our own strength and everything with God working in and through us.

And the LORD said to him, Who hath made man's mouth? or who maketh the dumb, or deaf, or the seeing, or the blind? have not I the LORD? Who makes him deaf or mute? Who gives him sight or makes him blind? (Exodus 4:11-12).

God empowered when we submit

I have to chuckle again, because Moses remains reluctant, and aren't we the same dear reader? I mean we get excellent instruction, we get our marching orders, we are equipped and then, we stutter start, doubting ourselves, our capabilities, our calling... and rightly so! We can do nothing powerful from our own strength:

I can do all things through Christ who strengtheneth me (Philippians 4:13)

It is our ego and pride, that prevent us from performing-and it is performance that is problematic! The self-consciousness that accompanies being centre stage, is about how we believe we will be perceived, rather than how we can glorify God, by doing what He asks of us: we are, after all, so very self-absorbed by nature.

And he said, O LORD, send, I pray thee, by the hand of him whom thou wilt send (Exodus 4:13)

Well this is not good dear one. Moses is so frightened, that he asks God for a replacement. No guts, no glory? Not really. God is merciful and gives us ways to complete the tasks He assigns. He will take our human frailty and obstinance, and get the job done regardless of our unbelieving attitudes; He does, however, get irritated with us:

And the anger of the LORD was kindled against Moses, and he said, is not Aaron the Levite thy brother? I know that he can speak well. And also, behold, he cometh forth to meet thee: and when he seeth thee, he will be glad in his heart. And thou shalt speak unto him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do. And he shall be thy spokesman unto the people: and he shall be, even he shall be to thee instead of a mouth, and thou shalt be to him instead of God. And thou shalt take this rod in thine hand, wherewith thou shalt do signs (Exodus 4:14-17)

Gods anger burned against Moses. Have you ever gotten red-hot-burning-mad dear reader? Have you ever felt so hot under the collar, that you wanted to hurt someone because they went against all that you believe in, hold near and dear, and would die for even? What did you do with yourself in that state? Did you give yourself full permission to attack, vent, explode, retaliate? Look again at the above verses, at how God handled the situation.

God lets us know He is in charge
I like the fact that God asked Moses to put his hand inside his cloak and it came out leprous. I see in this one simple act, God letting us know who is in charge. Nothing and no one, is beyond His power, and He can and does, do with us what He wills. It is no consequence to Him, when we disregard or disobey, He will still, get the job done, even with unwilling participants. It is contentious to argue with Him, and we run the risk of His disapproval when we do.

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge: but fools despise wisdom and instruction (Proverbs 1:7)

God offers
God makes us offers all the time. He knows what abilities we have, and do not have, and He tells us, you can do this, not because you are oh so astoundingly awesome, but because I AM. What He asks of us, He will equip us for, in the doing. You don't have to worry, wonder or doubt, He has every bit of the plan covered, with or without our willingness.

So, what has He asked you to do, to say? Are you saying no to Him dear reader? Still? Are you sure you want to keep that up? He is, after all, God, you know! 

Cup your ears, have a good listen, get your work order and get the job done.

Go on now, don't leave His work for you, up to someone else:

For it is God which worketh in you to will and to do of his good pleasure (Philippians 2:13) 

Fire and Prayer

Therefore wait ye upon me, saith the LORD, until the day that I rise up to the prey: for my determination is to gather the nations, that I may assemble the kingdoms, to pour upon them mine indignation, even all my fierce anger: for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy  (Zephaniah 3:8)

Man made Paradise
I wonder, about a place called Paradise, in California. According to the latest early Sunday morning reports, 80-90% of homes in Paradise have been incinerated (my word): they have literally, gone up in smoke. The fire came quickly upon the city and the people living there, causing mass destruction. The mayor is quoted as saying "We do intend to rebuild; it's going to be a process--a lot of hard work, a lot of coming together" Paradise Mayor Jody Jones.

He alone is God,
The elements are Gods dear reader. I sit with the morning sun shining in on the lovely front room in my house, cozy and warm on the inside, crisp and cool, November air on the outside. Am I immune to the threat of fire? Yes, currently, I am. Have I prayed for weather to be abated, for Gods hand to cover my home, my city and surrounding area, my loved ones and community members, why yes I have, many a time. Do I believe God has protected me and my own. Yes, yes again, I know He has. 

What I also know is this: He alone is God. He is in charge of rain, driving wind, fire, and the earth that we live on top of quite comfortably most of the time, and rather petrified some of the time, as in running for your life from a fire that licks at your heels...

Dismantled in a matter of seconds
When it comes to be subjected, being subjects of the Sovereign, it would be wise to admit dear reader, that what we build with our own arrogant and tiny minds and hands, He can dismantle in a matter of seconds. What it takes us years to accumulate, to create our own Paradise, He demolishes in a matter of hours. Rebuild, recommit, re, what?

Mother Nature, mean and kind witch
Is God mean? Are we little ants? Does He come with a wicked grin, and with one swish of His mighty hand, wipe out the little man made mansions and self appointed King and Queen castles we have built? Or is it Mother Nature, that mean spirited and often kind hearted witch, that just randomly does as she pleases, while we scramble to reclaim what she so cruelly flattened within our clear and helpless sight?

Prayers of the righteous
Warnings dear reader, there are warnings in The Bible, one after another after another after another: it is getting worse. "It" will continue to get worse: because man has this crazy idea that they can create a Paradise on earth, and reject the one who created them to worship Him, and Him alone. None of us are immune. I heard a mom whose son was murdered say: I don't want prayer or good thoughts, I want gun control. This is my point, dear one. You and me, we have perceived control, and nothing more. It is the prayers of the righteous that are powerful and effective:

Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much (James 5:16)

This woman has it all wrong dear one, and my question is, do you too? In her devastated emotional state, she angrily insisted that prayers and good thoughts would not help her. She was correct on this front, if the point is that the prayers and thoughts will not resurrect her dead son, or save her from the fact that she feels helpless in the battle, and could not save him herself. The problem is her grasping for man to make it right, protect her, prevent atrocities: it is man that is the threat, with charred and blackened unrepentant hearts. She is turning in the wrong direction, she turns toward the fire instead of rushing away.

Prayer heals

Be consumed by the fire of faith

... for all the earth shall be devoured with the fire of my jealousy. Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much (I spliced these verses together).

God is not mean. God is just. He wants you to be consumed and consecrated. He wants each of us to be on fire in faith. We will see much more destruction dear one, it is prophesied and, God is no liar.

Open your Bible, buy one if you don't have one. Attend church. Join a Bible study. Do something for yourself and your family, that leads you to God, to Truth. It is our souls, not our physical bodies, that are in jeopardy.

If you haven't yet, thank God today for all of your blessings. They come from Him and He sees you, from His heavenly Paradise. Secondly, do pray, for those in need, their homes and lives changed forever by fire, and murder. It is our prayers, offered up to God, that are fragrant, powerful and effective. One day soon, it will be me, it will be you, that needs the prayers of many.

Let us never forget, on this Remembrance Day, who Sovereignly rules, jealously. 

Low Hanging Fruit

Delectable
I love the image of low hanging fruit. It is luscious to think of pickable pears, appealing apples, scintillating citrus, all within reach. I recall picking plums in Italy: my mouth waters at the thought of those ripe yellow flavour packed plums. That tree was planted for me. That is how I treated the fruit of its labour: I ate with abandon. The tree dripped its prize and I drank deeply

Personifying fruit
I think of the health of a tree. How a healthy tree, will produce healthy and abundant fruit. A sick tree simply cannot do this, and the resultant fruit can grow, but in a distorted and abnormal fashion, a semblance of itself: something short of what it could be, but somehow not looking like its fully potentialize(d) fruit brothers and sisters, cousins, uncles and aunts, and ultimately, its great great grandparents. Of course, we, you and I, both know that I am personifying fruit, dear reader: I am not the first to do this, I follow in mighty leader footsteps.

For a good tree bringeth not forth corrupt fruit; neither doth a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. For every tree is known his own fruit. For of thorns men do not gather figs, nor of a bramble bush gather they grapes (Luke 6:43-44)

Rotten or edible?

Unresolved issues
This theme of low hanging fruit came to me as I thought about unresolved issues, the kinds we all have as individuals. These unaddressed soul wounds, are a lot like heavy hanging rotten fruit, over ripe and no longer palatable, let alone nutritiously fulfilling. 

Can you see this too, dear reader, people sagging with the weight of a past, their own or that of a fellow fruit, I mean relative, rotting them from the inside out? I don't know about you, but I will be damned, yes, this devoted Christian woman referenced damning, if I ever become the type of person that does not process my pain, so that I never become rotten

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart bringeth forth that which is good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart bringeth forth evil: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh (Luke 6:45)

Look at your heart
So here is the challenge and the work:

• You look at your heart, right here, right now, and ask yourself, what is in there? Once you have done this, ask yourself:
• What comes from my mouth? 
• Is what comes from me alive and affirming, or is it rotten and unworthy of consumption? 

If what you say edifies another, gives them hope and reason to keep going, living, loving, trying, then you are a tree of life to others dear one. Dare I say what you are to others when the opposite is true? Must I fill in the blanks here? 

Unresolved family tree issues, problems, habits, rituals, modes of being that are unhealthy, unsavoury, repulsive, and death inducing, must be addressed, so that the fruit of your labour can produce life affirming deliciousness, that all can see and experience in your loving presence. 

We cannot hide
We are known dear one. We cannot hide from the many eyes that follow us to and fro. We each get to decide: every day, in every way. 

Are you yummy, or just plain old rotten? 

Relationship Repellant

There is a modern day expression that I find less than appealing when I hear it: It is what it is...

You must purposefully decide
On the surface, it would appear that this is a reality check way of saying, if I can't change it, I must accept it. While this may be true about grass being green and the rain falling when you plan on going to the beach, I find it to be an appalling form of checking out of responsibility and accountability when applied to human choices, behaviours, attitudes, mindsets, and the real life results that manifest from purported choices, behaviours, attitudes and mindsets. While you and I can do nothing about the grass or the rain, we certainly can be held to account for our behaviour, and the intentions that underlie our actions. We are, after all, more than capable as human beings to think, process, choose, and even predict plausible and probable outcomes when we purposely decide what we will think, then say, and then do.

Go to sleep

Talk to the hand, not my heart

Now, let us get crystal clear. You may be drugged dear reader! I am dead serious... I mean you are dead, seriously. You may be in a perpetual fugue state of unconsciousness, numbed by your own lack of accountability. You may be living, it is what it is, on the inside. You may also believe and live into the philosophy of I am who I am and I am never going to change, not for anyone; you remain the same in a homeostatic state of status quo. This is clearly a shame, for you and for everyone that lives within your gravitational pull. Your mode of being becomes relationship repellant because if you are what you are, you is what you is, while you stay the same and never move from your tiny spot on the map, everyone who is growing, learning, changing, advancing, will pass you by... this is a sad state, at first for the ones moving ahead and leaving you behind... but it becomes a perpetual purgatory for you, if you refuse to grasp the concept of true love in relationship. And here is the concept: You've got to give a little to get a lot. You've got to flex and meld and mold and shape yourself into something alive, awake, aware... you and I, we are what we are until God gets a hold of us and then, and only then, can we become someone spectacular to behold.

Wicked hearted
God asks for our participation in becoming more like him by stirring in us a desire to reach for heavenly heights by feeling, thinking, processing, searching, researching, asking, finding, course correcting, choosing, to be like Jesus. You have, heard of Jesus, right? That guy/god that never sinned, the one that lived perfectly as an example for wicked hearted people like you, and me? You read that correctly, you have a wicked heart. Look at yourself... what part of your life do you have bragging rights to? Isn't it time you woke up from your slumber and decide that today is the day you no longer accept your own sorry story of status quo?

Seeds sown in our yesterdays
Being accountable and responsible in relationship is all that matters in life. Here is our only reality-we all must pay the piper. Our intentions invariably show up in our words and actions and each day, we are rewarded for the seeds we have sown in our yesterdays... the choices are always ours, awake or asleep, alive or dead, heaven or hell.

It is what it is... or is it?

Fearlessness

There is no fear in love: but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth not is made perfect in love (1 John 4:18)

Fear and love are incompatible. Fear is torment-think of a bully harassing you endlessly. Love is perfect-think of love grabbing a hold of that bully by the scruff of the neck and tossing it out the door, on your behalf!

Fearless in Christ Tattoo
My son has a tattoo on his shoulder. It is Jesus' crowned with thorns head, hanging low, eyes closed. The portrait is his final It is finished statement of sacrificial love for an undeserving world of sinners, an unpopular term, since no one wants to admit to their own very dark and dastardly ways. There is an inscription in Hebrew under Jesus' head that reads Fearless in Christ. And my son is. This is what he sent me this morning, as a reminder of who he has become:

He only is my rock and my salvation: he is my defence; I shall not be moved (Psalm 62:6)

Contentment

Sacrifice made beautiful

This verse gives me a sense of the purest contentment dear reader. I am a mom and I love my manchild like crazy! When he was a little boy, excited to run to class when the school bell rang, I had to accept the facts: I am not going to be with him every minute of the day, keeping him safe and warm, dry and comfortable. I am not going to be able to defend him against the pain of loss, disappointment, hurt or even physical injury: in fact, he injured himself many a time under my watch! As parent, it is my job to watch and encourage him to learn and grow, get stronger from life lessons as an accountable young man and sometimes, watch him walk away... because he is not mine, he belongs to another.

Not moved
What I have learned is that God loves my son far more than I ever can or will, and thats a whole lot of love. What I have learned is that he is in far more capable hands when I entrust him to God. What I know, is that my son knows, from whence  he hails, and he knows that in this life, God is his rock, salvation, and defence: he is committed to not be moved from this foundational faith in God, on which he firmly stands.

Now, let us turn our eyes to you dear one:

• Is fear your tormentor?
• Is it wreaking havoc in your life? 
• Are you tired of feeling afraid? 
• Lastly, are you willing to give up this vestige, this old worn out coat of lies, and trust in love? 

The two, love and fear, which is torment, are incompatible

Why not try love, dear one? Love casts out all fear... God is love, to know him is to be made, perfect

And we have known and believed the love that God hath to us. God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him (1 John 4:16).

Someone

 Never feel alone

Do you know someone who is this to you, dear reader?

A salve, a balm, a hand that holds, a voice that soothes… 

Is someone this to you, dear one?

A reminder, a call to greatness, a gentle push in the right direction...

How about?

A call to arms, an inspiration, a revelation...

Lastly, is there someone who?

Lights the path, salts your soul, undeniably, irrevocably, faithfully, stands sentinel, never leaving your side...

The me that is supposed to be

I know Someone like this, and because I know Him, He has placed many someones just like Him, in my life. 

     

     When I am hurt, they are a salve and balm, healing agents to my wounded brokenness. They hold my hand and speak soothingly, comforting me when I need a kind touch and sweet words.

     When I need to recall who I am and why I am here, they remind me, calling me to my greatness, the me that is supposed to be. With a gentle push, I again travel in the right direction.

     When it is time to fight the good fight, I am called to arms, to equipping. Inspired words of revealed truth have me clothing myself: the belt of truth, the breastplate of righteousness, the shoes of peace, the shield of faith, the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the spirit. I become battle ready.

Lastly dear one, lastly... we need light, don't we, to see the path we are on? We need salt too, so that we do not lose our strength, or our flavour for life? And God knows, we, you and I, need this more than ever, Someone to stand sentinel, guarding us, lovingly by our side, forever and always, come what may? 

Someone watching, loving, waiting

I know Someone just like this, and you can too. I know many someones just like this, and you can too. We are never alone, even when we choose to be. There is always Someone watching, loving, waiting for you and for me, to see and accept their glorious gift of grace. 

Jesus is Someone, the Someone. You can know Him, like I do, and never feel alone again. 

     

HIStory

I AM

HIStory
In Christian circles, the word history is used thusly: HIStory. Speaking plainly, history is a reference to Gods story

Pick this idea up, here and now
When I think of Jesus' words, that he is the Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last (Revelation 22:13), I see that God, also known as The Author of Life You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this (Acts 3:15), created words that quite charmingly, and cleverly, point to Him in every way imaginable. Pick this idea up, here and now: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1)

It is impossible for you to not understand me
This, all of this, points us to a mind boggling revelatory concept... God is in the mix, in our midst, in the fray, in our day, in our genes, in our thoughts, in our essence, in our... everything. I speak to you as though you might very well understand what I am going on about. I am presuming and assuming, supposing and suggesting, that it is impossible for you to not understand me: not just my words, my meaning. Why oh why would God be called the Word, the Author of life, the First and Last unless of course, He has some kind of master plan, some coded come find me, and yet I'm not hiding, mysterious ways that only the hungry and thirsty for Him, discover? 

There is a blueprint dear reader, it is The Bible. All of the answers are in there, outside of you and me, waiting for us to trip upon the truth in astounding ways.

This is the covenant I will make with them after those days, saith the Lord. I will put my laws in their hearts, and in their minds will I write them (Hebrews 10:16).

Embarrassing inordinate self-absorption 
Right: his laws are put in our hearts, written on our minds. So here is the reason for this writing, in case you were wondering? I am all too human. I spend an embarrassing, inordinate amount of time thinking about myself. I can get preoccupied pretty easily with my here-and-now daily reality, and this is when my emotions take me for a rollercoaster ride. And then I remember to honour God, with my thoughts, with my attention, with my questions: how would you like me to serve you today Father? How can I make you proud this minute, Daddy? This is when the sun shines brightly in on me, heating my skin and warming my heart. 

You see dear reader, it is all about Him, loving us, knowing us, wanting us to be love in His world, making HIStory something worthy of who He is. If God loves you and I this much, it means it is about you, about me, about that guy or girl sitting across from you in the bus, in the coffee shop, or idling in rush hour traffic in the car next to you.

Let us make HIStory, together
HIStory, is about Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ was all about us. Think on this a moment. God is love (1 John 4:8). Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8). When you and I remain in love, remain in God If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you (John 15:7) we can never, ever fail!

Now, I have a proposal for you. Let us make history together. Let us make our lives about Him, the one and only true God of the universe. Let us make HIStory our story, today, shall we?

Are you in?