Monday, December 26, 2011

The Banquet Table- The Feast Awaits Us

"As you wait attentively in My Presence, the Light of the knowledge of My Glory shines upon you. This radiant knowledge transcends all understanding." December 25th- Jesus Calling,  (Devotional) by Sarah Young.

Several years ago, I received this vision while running. In light of the marvelous gift to us of our Lord and Savior Jesus, I thought it appropriate to share with you. As I was running that day the sky seemed to open up and on the canvas of my mind I saw the banquet table spoken of in the 23rd Psalm. "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup runneth over." -Psalm 23: 5. No verse encapsulates the blessing of our relationship with the Lord more completely!

The table was huge with many chairs on each side. It was abundantly supplied with every kind of sumptuous food imaginable. Fruits and vegetables, meats of all kind were placed upon the table. At each place setting there was a plate and a chalice awaiting it's invited guest.

It was as if I were a spectator looking on with a view of the entire room. I noticed two great doors at the end of the rectangular banquet hall. The doors were giant extending from floor to ceiling. So heavy they appeared that no man could open them. The doors would open periodically and I sensed that people were entering however I could not see them. It was then that I noticed the doors were being opened by two angels. One positioned at each door to grant entrance to those coming into the room.

As I looked to the floor, to my surprise, I saw the people who had entered the room lying on the floor. Seemingly unaware of the great feast prepared for them. They entered the great banquet hall only to choose the floor.  Not only were they on the floor but they had brought with them what appeared to be bags of food. Bags filled with rotten apples and bananas, rancid meats, decaying vegetables. Why had these people chosen to enter in and bring with them their own rotten food?

As I looked at the table again, I noticed the Lord sitting at the end of the table in the place of the host. His eyes had tears in them as He viewed His people in the great hall choosing to sit on the floor when the feast had been prepared for them at the table. Then slowly I began to see people rising from the floor and taking their place at the table. Choosing to leave behind what they had brought with them and coming to the table to partake of the feast prepared just for them. This was God's best!

As we celebrate the birth of our Lord, we also celebrate what His coming represents to us. He is the Shepherd spoken of in the 23rd Psalm. He is the One who prepares the table before us in the presence of our enemies. The One who anoints our head with oil. The oil that signifies the outpouring of the Holy Spirit. The oil which refreshes and invigorates us to engage more freely in His service.

This year choose to joyfully receive what the Lord has prepared. He has prepared a feast of prosperity, provision and protection. The feast awaits!

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

God's Timetable


As a Christian, we have to remind ourselves on a regular basis, of things like,... 
my schedule is not my own. So often we forget this. Like when we were in New York City this past weekend. Alan and I were going to a church service which required our taking the subway. When asking for directions a man came over to help us. He quite earnestly gave us the best directions he knew. He even followed us down into the subway to look at the map making sure we understood the connections.
Alan had brought two of our books with us. One for the pastor at the church we would be attending but who was the other one for, I wondered? When I mentioned giving the extra book to the man that had helped us, Alan agreed. We sought him out at the station. When approaching him we introduced ourselves, told him we were pastors and that we would like to give him one of our books for his kindness. Upon taking it, he told us about himself. His name was Jay, he was 31 and he had just gotten a new job where he’d learned how it felt needing directions. His job was in sales and he had to deliver his products.
Being from Brooklyn all his life, he had trouble finding his way much beyond the New York City area that he was now servicing. He had just bought a GPS to use in his car. Alan boldly asked if we could pray for him. Jay responded affirmatively. Then Alan asked, ”what do you want Jay?” Jay said to do well in his new job and a good wife. So we began praying these things for Jay then and there. I could hear people walking past us and was aware that something very atypical was happening in the New York City subway. When we finished praying, we realized that something supernatural had also just happened. Something indeed was different about Jay. He was radiant. Glowing.  All smiles. He was encouraged. And so were we. 
Our schedule had been hijacked... by God no less. Even though we realized there had been a quicker way to get to our church service and we would now be late, this was definitely on God’s radar. It was a divine appointment. God loved Jay very much and He was going to do some things in his life. Jay was never going to be the same. It feels so good knowing you are in accord with God’s plan. I have thought and prayed for Jay a great deal since being home and we expect to hear from him again... either here or in the here after!

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Collaborating with the Lord

Collaboration. Co-laboring. In marriage, collaboration is important because husbands and wives need to work together.... to be on the same page.... be in harmony and unity...as a team. However, what couples so often forget to do,  is to allow God's Holy Spirit to be at the center of the equation instead. How it should happen, is couples seek God first, then begin to dialog together as to how they believe God is leading them. "Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you."

We quite often run out ahead of God leaving the protective covering He has provided for us. Doing this frequently leads to our disillusionment with the mission we feel He has placed within our hearts. Running ahead of God can be mistaken for running with God. Yes, maybe God did give you a good idea, but did you let Him finish His thought or did you finish it for Him?

There is a great passage of scripture upon which we have meditated for years: Proverbs 16: 3 AMP - "Roll your works upon the Lord, commit and trust your way unto Him and He will cause your thoughts to become agreeable to His will and so shall your plans be established and they shall succeed."

In your marriage, have you done what this scripture suggests? By allowing His thoughts to become our thoughts, we get the whole revelation of what God is trying to communicate to us. But it doesn't happen overnight! It takes time and careful meditation upon His word and listening for the Holy Spirit's wisdom regarding our situation.

Years ago we received a prophetic word regarding our ministry together for married couples. That we would be involved in instructing and guiding couples, leading them into God's will for their relationships. We received that word with gladness however it took many years for the fulfillment of that word. During those years God was at work in us causing our thoughts to become agreeable to His will. Now He has firmly established His plans in our hearts and we are fully engaged in doing His work.

Co-laboring is a "Third Cord" concept. We must train our minds to invite His Spirit into every aspect of our life; especially our thoughts. His ways are so much higher than ours that sometimes our minds get in the way of being able to grasp the significance of His thoughts. However, with time and careful attention to Him and His Word, we get the revelation He is communicating to us. The magnitude of His thoughts overwhelm our natural minds. As we invite the Spirit, His thoughts become our thoughts and we can see what was once hidden from us.

Here are some active steps to take to begin the co-laboring process:

  • As a couple, come together in prayer seeking God's insight and wisdom. 
  • Dialogue between yourselves as to what you're hearing from God.
  • Spend time meditating on His Word as it relates to your situation. 
  • Expect God to speak and receive confirmation from Him.
  • Walk patiently in faith, thanking Him that His perfect plan will come to pass.




Saturday, December 10, 2011

Restoration Spirit!

Jamie and I recently ran into a couple that we had counseled for several months back in the Summer of this year. They had been through some tough times together and he had recently lost his job due to a corporate downsizing. Their relationship had gone from bad to worse and they needed help.

Thankfully both of them had reached the point where they were ready to listen. If you counsel couples, you know what I mean! We've met with so many couples as I'm sure many of you have that are just getting their ticket punched prior to finalizing a divorce. One or both of them agree to come for a meeting just to say "there I've done it, it didn't work and now I'm leaving".

We counsel based upon the power of the Holy Spirit only and not with human wisdom. So during our first meeting we sensed that there were some significant hindrances from there backgrounds. He had come out of a household in which his parents never fought but stuffed everything. His father would simply walk away whenever there was a disagreement. She conversely had come from a home in which her parents fought incessantly. They basically never resolved disagreements but would follow each other through the house arguing. You see the problem when those two styles of conflict resolution meet.

The issue was really rather simple to resolve once the Holy Spirit had revealed the root cause of their problem. They were following the patterns set for them by their parents. In this case we were able to help them break the cycle of her aggressive behavior towards him and his "turtle" behavior of going into his shell. Communication was key in this as we helped them to communicate the way they felt without resorting to their past pattern of dealing with each other.

We always require that couples pray with and for each other in the counseling process and in this case we could see the power of prayer transforming their relationship. They told us that evening we ran into them of how it had been a turning point in their relationship. They were learning how to communicate with each other and understand the others point of view. The Holy Spirit was reconciling their broken relationship and deepening their love together.

It was great to get some feedback from them and to hear their story of renewal. The Holy Spirit is a restorer of the breach and is always ready to come and minister life to us if we will only ask Him and allow Him to work a miracle in our hearts!
Blessings,
Alan and Jamie

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Fearfully and Wonderfully Made




Fearfully and Wonderfully Made
We went to help celebrate my (Jamie) brothers 50th birthday last night. On the agenda for the evening there was to be a roast of my brother, Charlie. I had planned to share, but everyone was enjoying the festivities so well that it got late. Being that I was recovering from a sinus infection partnered with laryngitis we needed to leave when the clock struck 9:30.
It was a shame to miss that part because I had prepared to share about my brothers younger years.  Few there new him during his boyhood years, but so often it shows you a glimpse into things to come. That night someone by the fire pit asked me if Charlie was always as creative as he is now. God designs us perfectly and scripture says that “He even knows us before we were formed in our mothers womb.” So I will share about him...
My brother, Charlie, is a great guy. He is creative, gifted, innovative, funny, loves nature and life and has favor wherever he goes! How’s that for near perfect. He worked for Southern Living (maintaining and designing gardens, and was Garden Editor) while in high-school then after college and all of his career until the last two years where he has stepped out in faith and begun his own gardening business at the Garden Gallery (shameless advertising).
As a young boy, at some point, my grandmother (who did not live in our town) spoke to my mother, expressing great concern of Charlie not having enough male influence in his life. At that young age he was surrounded by three older sisters and an “at home” mother, but a father that was on the road a great deal of the time.
My mother, was creative in her own right, and coupled with a limited budget and not wanting to make a significant investment until she knew something was going to “take,” sent Charlie down the street where we had a neighborhood lake. He took a long stick, a string tied to it and small safety pin attached to the string. You got it, a home-made fishing pole. I don’t even think Charlie used bait! And guess what he came home with? In less than an hour there was a commotion at the front door and in come the three musketeers, Charlie and his two buds, Ray and Ted Blackston. And there on the safety pin, Charlie had a brim about two inches long. Wearing an ear to ear grin, up until that day, I believe it was the happiest day Charlie had spent on earth.
At a young age, he exhibited tendencies to being a “real” mans-man. But my mother being a peace loving woman, didn’t feel right about buying toy guns for her little boy to play with. So what did Charlie do? Got a clothes pin, clipped a long unsharpened pencil in it and used it as a gun! Running through the house saying pow-pow, we quickly learned that there was “built-in” innovation and determination in this little boy. 
Any season you go to my brothers house these days, you will see the most unusual things exhibited in the most unusual ways. Creatively and beautifully he brings together rustic and nature. It is an adventure just walking through rooms in his house just taking things in. He is fearfully and wonderfully made because of the time that was taken to develop him. By his grandmothers concerns, my mother leapt to action. The intervention, introduction and development had been executed in giving him the ability to see and function in the world creatively. 
It is the same with the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is there, scripture says, placed within us as a “down payment” when we become Christians. But unless it is developed or tapped into, we don’t experience it to the full. And as Charlie was determined, he pursued that “deep” need within him. Because it was in his DNA. The Holy Spirit is also part of our DNA as believers. We must be determined and pursue the Holy Spirit to fill that “deep” need that we have to find who we are, who we are to be and what the plan for life is. 
“A mans heart plans his ways, but the Lord directs his steps” -Proverbs 16:9
“And I walk at liberty, and at ease, for I have sought and inquired for [and desperately required],  Your precepts.” -Psalm 119:45 AMP