Distraction = Destruction

Our Young Marrieds small group is reading a book, His Needs Her Needs by Willard F. Harley. Its preface tells about Harley’s early encounter with a friend whose marriage was in trouble and came to him for advice. The friend’s marriage ended in divorce anyway so that sent him on a journey to discover what counsel could have made a difference in the outcome. His answer theorized that if you could associate “a feeling of love, to a person”, then that could be the difference.That is a great concept. Many have called it the best marraige book ever written with over one million copies printed internationally in over 15 years.

As Christians, we automatically associate those same feelings of love with our heavenly Father. “A feeling of love with Abba Daddy.” The Bible is the number one most printed (over any other publication) in the entire world. The Bible is revered as the inspired Word of God. Yet, why is the world currently in a downward spiral? That is the question that has me troubled. Morals, values, character, leadership, government, marriage, the family unit, etc.

What is the first commandment? (Jesus)“Hear, O Israel, The Lord our God is one Lord; And you shall love the Lord your God out of and with your whole heart and out of and with your whole soul (your life) and out of and with your whole mind (your faculty of thought and your moral understanding) and out of and with all your strength. This is the first and principal commandment.” -Mark 12: 29-30 AMP. 

He is a jealous God because he wants you to have THE best and your obedience of Him is what avails Gods best for you. A practical application of this, is to respect God and those in authority over you. The other gods have become the distraction of the one true God. There is a reason that this is the first commandment. It is because God knows any other god (lower case) will side track us (ie: power, money,  people, objects, hobbies, ablity, etc.). The enemy uses them as distractions. Distraction will take us down a path of destruction. There are scriptural references that attest to that. And that is no theory. It is Truth.

Jer. 25:6; 35:15, Luke 4:8.

Navigator

We have been asking the Lord to show us how to relay the person of the Holy Spirit to individuals in terms so that they can understand. One day He simply replied, “Navigator.” Upon thinking on this, I kept coming back to the GPS (navigation) system in cars and on cell phones. The “nav” system works as a compass based on a map. The Holy Spirit works as a guide (navigator), based on God’s Word (The Bible), hence the expression, “the Bible is a guidebook for life.” 

Alan and I were in New York over the holidays. When Alan returned our car into the rental office, he had to walk back to the hotel. He used the “nav” system, on his new phone for the first time, following the map to get back to the hotel. A few days later we were getting in our last few hours before catching a cab back to the airport. Bags already awaiting our return in the lobby office, a cab had been pre-arranged to pick us up at the hotel at 3:30 pm to take us to the airport. Getting maximum enjoyment while in Brooklyn, we cut it a bit close in returning to the hotel. 

Upon realizing our dilemma of possibly not making it back in time, we kept asking people on the street how to get back to our hotel. We were frantic. I’d had a muscle injury in my leg before going on the trip, so I was nervous about re-injuring it by walking faster than my leg was ready to go. I was being pressed to hurry. We did get back in time. 

Later, however, we realized we’d had the capability to find our way back, all along. We had not yet gotten accustomed to using this new feature available to us. The map had been right there in Alan’s pocket. The “nav” system. All we needed do was USE IT! How many times have you, in a moment of panic, reacted without realizing what you needed (or something comparable), was available to you all along? If you’d just had the pressence of mind and taken a moment to recognize it.

The Holy Spirit is like that too. He is already there (within us), poised and ready to help. All we have to do, is Power up. He is the POWER; our Empowerment, our Compass, our Guide, our Helper, even our Navigator. Just as you tap onto the screen to summon the “nav” feature on your cell phone, so do you tap into the power of the Holy Spirit by simply asking Him for His help. When we get accustomed to using this supernatural empowerment available, it becomes second nature to us.

That empowerment can’t be much use or help to us if we don’t not use it. As Christians, we need to use this precious, God-given gift of the Holy Spirit. He is there as Navigator to get us through the stormy waters of life; marriage, work situations, financial decisions, parenting, and other relational issues, etc.  “But when He, the Spirit of Truth (the Truth-giving Holy Spirit) comes, He will guide you into all truth (the whole, full Truth). For he will not speak His own message; but He will tell whatever He hears from the Father and He will announce and declare to you the things that are to come.” -John 16:13 AMP

After the Storm

It's Winter in Alabama or at least the calendar says it is so. However the temperature seems more like Spring and with that warmth have come the storms. Last Monday morning early there were a bought of tornados here in Birmingham. Areas north of us were hit extremely hard with whole neighborhoods being heavily damaged.

One of the couples in our church whose home was damaged live in that area of town. On Saturday I went to help them do whatever was needed to begin the process of recovery. Arriving there was like traveling through a war zone. What were houses now looked like huge piles of sticks with trees scattered all around pushed over by the high winds. The tornado had mostly spared their home but had removed most of the trees in their wooded yard.

Awaking at 4am Monday morning to the sounds, they had made it into the hallway from their bedroom before the tornado struck blowing out windows. In a few seconds the storm had passed leaving them unharmed but traumatized emotionally. Looking at all the damage around their home, it was a blessing to learn that no one had received serious injuries just scratches, bruises and terrifying memories of the storm.

As we began to work clearing debris there was a group of people helping. I asked them how they knew our friends. Interestingly they told me they didn't know them at all. Just a group of people helping someone else who was in need. As I looked around the same thing was going on at other homes. People helping to cut down damaged trees while others brought food and water to those volunteering.

There were officials of course but mostly volunteers. It was so encouraging to see church groups and neighbors, people helping others through a difficult time. It's something we need more of in these trying times. People helping others without asking anything in return. It's a spirit of mercy and compassion, something God given from the Father of all mercy. Zechariah 7:9

Adoption Spirit

We are in the middle of a time of prayer and fasting for the new year and seeking God's direction for our church, the Inverness Vineyard. In our prayer times, the Lord is pouring into us much wisdom and a new and deeper understanding of His wonderful love, grace and mercy for us. He intends for us to be conduits of His love, mercy and grace to a world of lost, depressed and desperate people.

As we are being filled up with Him, we look for people upon whom we can pour out His anointing. Out of our inmost being will flow rivers of living water. The very life blood of Christ which transforms us into His likeness! Paul speaks of the adoption this way in Ephesians: "He chose us [actually picked us out for Himself as His own] in Christ before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy (consecrated and set apart for Him) and blameless in His sight."

As I was about to pray yesterday during lunch a co-worker came into my office asking some questions about her sons ability to remain under her medical plan. As we were talking she began to pour out her heart and brokenness about her son who was in rehab for addiction to alcohol and drugs. She loves him so much and was so distraught over his inability to free himself from addiction.

She told me that she and her husband had adopted their son as an infant and that he simply could not understand why his birth mom had chosen to give him up for adoption. The Lord was speaking to me through this situation of His Spirit of adoption that He actually chose us when we were in the middle of our sinfulness and lostness.

As I was praying with her, we prayed for the Spirit of adoption to infuse their son with the understanding of the love that his adopted mom and dad have for him as well as the love of his heavenly Father. That love would transform him enabling him to free himself from the past and unlock the chains of addiction that have bound him.

Today, invite the Lord to come into your heart and permeate your soul with His Spirit of adoption to free you from the past and any sins that have bound you. He is able and He is willing to do it!
Blessings

Tower of Babel

Since being involved in marriage ministry, we have a very different perspective on lots things including the story of the Tower of Babel. 

The story goes like this... “At one time the whole world spoke a single language and used the same words. As the people migrated eastward, they found a plain in the land of Babylonia and settled there. They began to talk about construction projects. “Come,” they said, “let’s make great piles of burnt brick and collect natural asphalt to use as mortar. Let’s build a great city with a tower that reaches to the skies - a monument to our greatness!” - Genesis 11:1-4 (bold italics for emphasis)

Wow. Did you catch that? “A monument to OUR greatness.” What in the world were they thinking? They were thinking that they no longer needed God because they were god. “Pride comes before the fall.” Upon reading this, we realized how similar a parallel this is to the marriage relationship. Husbands and wives process and communicate in such different ways. At times (and for some, most of the time!) there is difficulty relating between man and woman; husband and wife. Why do you think that is? It is because God wants us to understand our extreme need for Him in our relationship with our spouse. And His Holy Spirit is there to help us understand and relate to one another. That is why the Holy Spirit, the Third Cord, is so necessary. The Bible tells us, “God blesses those who realize their need for Him...” - Matthew 5: 3. So that means, He (God) can't bless us if we don't realize our need for Him. Right? Without faith it is impossible to please Him.

Did you know that the Bible instructs us on ways in which God will hear us? “The righteous cry out, and the Lord hears them; He delivers them from all their troubles.” - Psalm 34: 17 (bolded for emphasis). That is why He intervened on behalf of the Babylonians. They were behaving in an unrighteous manner. “Anyone who obeys God’s law and teaches them will be great in the Kingdom of Heaven” -Matthew 5: 19. We know that “obedience is greater than sacrifice” -1 Samuel 15: 22. It goes on further to say in verse 23, that “rebellion (the opposite of obedience) is like divination and arrogance like the evil of idolatry.”  Choosing rebellion over obedience is a vile offense to God. Do you see how the Babylonians were trying to make idols of themselves? 

We can learn from their error as we cry out to God in humility, submitting to His authority and instruction from the Holy Spirit. He is our counselor and guide in troubled times Blessings!