On Earth as it is in Heaven

I have often heard people ask the question, "If God is so good why did he create the devil?" Often when they ask the question they do so with a smirk as if the question itself somehow disproves God's existence. The answer to the question is simple: God didn't create the devil. God created Lucifer, who was a beautiful angel in heaven who evidently was musically inclined and was in charge of worship of the Lord. He chose to rebel against the Lord through the use of his free will along with a host of other angels. After this point he is referred to as the devil, or Satan (which means adversary), or the evil one, or the enemy, etc. So, Lucifer created the devil, not God.

To have love we must have the freedom to choose it. Love is an act of our will, not our emotions. Where this ability to choose love exists, the ability to choose evil must also exist. God doesn't allow evil, we do, because He gave us "dominion" over the Earth. See, there is a big difference between God being sovereign and God being in control. Just because God is sovereign (supreme; top of the food chain) doesn't mean He is in control of everything that happens on Earth. I am sovereign over my lawn, for example, but if I tell my 6 year old boys to take care of it I will likely end up with a bunch of weeds unless they come to me for instructions. If a person believes God literally controls (or ultimately allows) everything that happens on Earth, they will have a very perverted view of God. This is Satan's #1 goal - making people believe God (who is love) is doing the things that Satan is (who is evil). If God is really in control of everything that happens here, Jesus certainly wouldn't have told us to pray, "Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven." In Heaven, God's will is being done. On Earth, not so much. On Earth, God's will is only being done to the degree we are stepping into our identity as His sons & daughters and "ruling over the Earth and subduing it" by establishing the Kingdom of God (Reign, or rule of God) on Earth as it is in Heaven.

"For the creation waits with eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed." - Rom. 8:19

Dreaming with God

When I was a kid in Sunday school I remember learning about all the miracles that Jesus did. I remember being riveted by the stories of healing, deliverance, multiplication of food, walking on water, knowing hidden details about people and things like that. The teachers taught us that Jesus was able to do these things because He was God - because He was God the Son - a member of the Holy Trinity. But they always seemed to skip over the verses where Jesus referred to our ability to do the same things as Him. Verses like this:

"Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father." - John 14:12

If Jesus could only do miracles because He is God, then why did He repeatedly tell us that we can do the same things? Not only the same things, but "greater" things?

So I did a little searching. The Bible says in Philippians that "though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men."

In other words, Jesus willingly emptied Himself of His "God-ness" while He walked the Earth. Not His identity as the Son of God, but His 'MoJo' - He willingly made Himself in the likeness of a mere man, emptying Himself of His divine power. That is, until He received the Holy Spirit at His baptism, much like how the Bible says we receive the Holy Spirit when we are born again.

After receiving the Spirit He often would withdraw into solitary places to be alone and pray - the first time was a 40 day fast in the wilderness. It was almost as if He was getting to know the Holy Spirit all over again - this time as a man - learning to perceive the Spirit as a man - learning how to be led by the Spirit as a man. And then it hit me - Jesus was modeling for us what it looks like to be led by the Holy Spirit. He was, as a man, showing us what we are capable of when we are fully submitted to the Holy Spirit. Are you kidding me?! He was teaching us how to walk in the miraculous? We are really able to do this?

"But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, to those who believe in His name: who were born, not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God." - John 1:12-13

The Bible also says in Romans 8 that "those who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God". That's why we can do the "same and greater works" as Jesus - because we are also sons & daughters of God, with the very same Holy Spirit. There is no difference - "we are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal. 3:28) ! We are the bride and He is the Bridegroom - the two become one flesh!

That's why Jesus told us to "heal the sick, cleanse the leper, raise the dead and cast out demons" - He told US to do it, not ask Him to do it - because we are also sons & daughters of God with the "same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead" (Romans 8:11)! His hands are our hands! All we need to do is believe who we are! God knows who you are! Satan knows who you are! Angels know who you are! Demons know who you are! It's only YOU who doesn't know who you are! We are royalty! Don't skip over those verses - it's who you are! 

That's why! Jesus isn't just God, He is your big brother! Close your eyes and imagine what God has planned for you - let Him imprint His dreams for your life upon your mind. Imagine what you are capable of with God in you. You can do "ALL things through Christ"! Dream with Him - go off into the wilderness and get to know Holy Spirit. Talk to Him! He loves you. You are His son. You are His daughter. He has a massive inheritance for you, the debit card is in your back pocket and the keys to the Kingdom are yours! 

Wrestling with Daddy

My boys ask me all the time to wrestle with them. Really what it consists of is them jumping on my back while I make monster noises and ensuring no one gets hurt (except me!). It's funny - my boys know that I'm much stronger than them but they like for me to pretend anyway.

I got to thinking that is how God must interact with us. He desires to enter into intimate relationship with each of us but He is like a "consuming fire" so He needs to restrain Himself quite a bit to make sure no one gets hurt. What is so wildly amazing about that is that He actually does it. He does it out of love and a deep longing to be intimate with us. He restrains His strength for the sake of having intimate relationships with His children. 

Generally speaking I think the church as a whole thinks they are "too cool" to wrestle with their daddy. They think they have outgrown it. They want God to drop them off down the block so their friends don't see their Father. This must really hurt Him - kind of like when kids come into their teenage years and all of the sudden don't want anything to do with their parents. The parents desperately want to talk to them about what is going on in their lives, their challenges, their fears, etc. but the obstinate teenagers don't think their parents would ever understand. 

Jesus told us to become "like little children" and that His Kingdom belongs to "such as these". I'm pretty sure this is why. God's children like to wrestle with their Daddy.

Giants

God gave the Israelites the promised land - a land "flowing with milk & honey" - yet the land was full of enemies - giants - which had to be physically driven out before they could take possession of it. Why? Why promise something so great only to have it infested with enemies?

Relationships are based on trust. God is a relational being who deeply desires to share his divine nature with us - that was the plan from the beginning and it has never ceased being the plan. He wants co-laborers (2 Cor. 6:1), co-reigners (2 Tim. 2:12), co-heirs (Rom 8:17) and partakers of His divine nature (2 Pet. 1:4). He wants friends. He wants powerful friends like Himself. "Let us create man in our image..."

When I was teaching my boys to ride their bikes, I would run behind them with my hand on the seat, holding the bike up as they rode along. They would always look back at me to make sure I was still there - to make sure I was still holding the bike up as they peddled along. Seeing me behind them gave them confidence. But after a while I would let go of the seat and just run behind them. Why? Because it's only after letting go that they could really learn to be a bike rider like me.

"Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you." - Deut. 31:6

The reason why is to build our trust. He leaves giants in our path so we learn how to trust & perceive Him. Soon we start to learn that the giants in front of us are never bigger than the God in us. I think God chooses to use us to fight the enemy because He knows that victory is much sweeter when everyone has some skin in the game. What was true for the Israelites is true for us today. The only difference is that today there are no physical enemies to drive out, for "our battle is not against flesh and blood." The Promised Land was "a shadow of things to come" - a shadow of something much more real - something much more significant. And it's happening now. See, almost everything that happened in the Old Testament was a shadow of New Testament realities. Not a shadow of something that we are waiting for, but something that is happening now. The old interprets the new. If we're not careful we may miss it. 

"Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature." - 2 Peter 1:4

Reign as Kings

"But very truly I tell you, it is for your good that I am going away. Unless I go away, the Advocate will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you." - John 16:7

It's interesting that Jesus said the Advocate (the Holy Spirit) "will not" come to us until after Jesus returned to the right hand of the Father. Jesus didn't say the Holy Spirit "could not" - He said the Holy Spirit "will not". So, why not? Why did the Holy Spirit want to wait until after Jesus returned to the Father's side?

I think we can shed light on this question by understanding how Jesus reveals the Father to us, and how the Holy Spirit reveals Jesus to us. We can only know the Father through the Son, and we can only know the Son through the Spirit.

So, if we know that the Holy Spirit reveals the Son to us and forms us into His image, why was it better for the Spirit to wait until after the Son returned to the throne?
I believe it's because "as He is, so are we in this world" (1 John 4:17). Not as Jesus was, but as He is. The Holy Spirit is a real-time link to the heart & mind of Jesus. That's what makes the relationship possible.

See, the Spirit doesn't want to make us into how Jesus was as a suffering servant on earth - that's not who He is anymore. The Spirit wants to make us into how Jesus is now - King and Priest with all authority. Jesus is now "seated in heavenly places" (Eph. 2:6) as our king and high priest. That's why Jesus said, "It is good for you that I am going away." That's also why the apostle Paul calls us a "royal priesthood" - because just as Jesus is (right now), so are we in this world. Jesus is a royal priest to us, and we are royal priests to the world. As He is, so are we.

We are no longer the suffering servants we read about in the Old Testament. Our model isn't even the suffering Jesus of the New Testament. After all, the whole point of Him suffering was our redemption - not more suffering. We may endure persecution (in fact Jesus said we would), but suffering for sin, bondage, emotional pain and sickness was paid for on the cross of Calvary for all time. Our model is now the victorious Jesus - the glorified Jesus. We are sons & daughters who "reign as kings" in this world (Romans 5:17). 

Sometimes I think we get stuck in Old Testament ways of thinking of ourselves and we chalk it up to humility. But that is not humility.

Humility isn't denying who we are, it is serving others because of who we are. Jesus washed the feet of His disciples to demonstrate this. Real kings don't lord it over others, they serve others. We must not let the poor kings & presidents of the world taint our understanding of what true leadership is.

Humility, like faith, is about believing God and acting on it. God says we are: 

Kings (Rom. 5:17; 1 Pet. 2:9)
Priests (1 Pet. 2:9)
Sons & Daughters (Gal. 3:26)
Ambassadors of Christ (2 Cor. 5:20)
Ministers of Reconciliation (2 Cor. 5:18)
The fragrance of God (2 Cor. 2:15)
New Creations (2 Cor. 5:17)
Seated with Christ on the throne (Eph. 2:6)
Miracle workers (Mark 16:17-18)
Keepers of the Kingdom (Matt. 16:19)
Soldiers for Christ (Eph. 6:14)

See, our Advocate the Holy Spirit wanted to wait. He wanted to wait until the crown was placed on the head of King Jesus. He wanted to wait, to make us like the resurrected & glorified Lion of the present, not the suffering Lamb of the past. His work is now complete. It is finished. Now as He is, so are we in this world.

The God of 2nd Chances

It's amazing how people sometimes view God as angry - full of wrath and vengeance - as if he is some moody alcoholic who explodes at the first sign of spilled milk.


As if this all-knowing and all-intelligent being, who, with the breath of his mouth created humanity and our entire reality somehow 'snaps' and goes ballistic when we do things wrong.

Really? Do people actually believe God is like that? Do you act like that toward your kids?

It's a lie you know. 

It's a very intentional, specific lie that an extremely evil being wants you to believe because after all, who wants to draw near to an unpredictable, crazy father. Right?

When Jesus was here, people asked him all the time what God is like. Jesus found it best to tell little stories about his Father - stories seemed to be the best way to convey who God really is.

One of these stories is about a woman who lost one of her ten coins. In the story, Jesus is comparing the woman with God, and the coins are each one of us. The woman searches frantically, turns all the lights on, sweeps the floor, etc. She is desperate to find the lost coin. Finally she finds the lost coin and calls all her friends and neighbors over to her house to rejoice with her because she found it. At the end of the story Jesus says, "That's the kind of party God's angels throw every time one lost soul turns to God."

To really drive the point home, Jesus told another two stories which are very similar. One is about a lost sheep, and one is about a lost son. For more info, here are my <thoughts> on that one.

Don't believe the lies about God. He is all-loving, he is all-patient and if you're far from him he is frantically searching for you and waiting to forgive you - all you need to do is ask. Jesus gave his life for you to make that possible. Aren't you glad that's the truth about God?

He is the God of 2nd chances.

Resistance is Futile

It's kind of funny how we try to hide from God. Maybe we aren't trying to actively hide from God - maybe we just push our conscience to the subconscious. Whatever it is, it's kind of funny. For God, it must look like the guy in the picture when we try to hide. It reminds me of when my boys try to hide from me. They will put a blanket over themselves. I can still see the blanket moving. I can still hear them. I still love them.

Personally, I'm sick of trying to hide every time I sin. There is no point - it's hopeless even trying. I have found that the best thing to do is just turn around, ask Jesus for forgiveness and move on. This needs to happen right away - it is urgent. If it doesn't happen right away, I find myself in a downward spiral. My heart becomes desensitized to God's presence. I stop reading the Bible. I get a little calloused and it becomes harder and harder to turn around. The 'weight' of my sin bears down on my soul. Sooner or later something happens that causes me to wake up, but every time I wait I find myself wishing I would have turned around sooner.

Sometimes we wait waaaay too long. The danger with this is that if we wait too long, we risk falling asleep. Our heart becomes hardened - too calloused to sense God, who is Spirit. We become carnal - worldly - unable to see, hear or feel God's presence, even though it drenches us every day like we're standing under a waterfall.

It's interesting that when Jesus talked with the Samaritan woman about her sin (John 4), he touched the most sensitive spot in her life - "Go call your husband." Of course, Jesus knew she had no husband. In fact, he knew that she had five different husbands and that the man she was currently sleeping with was not her husband.

Why did Jesus strip open this woman's inner life like this? Because he knew that the quickest way to the heart is through a wound. I like what John Piper has to say about what happened next:

Now watch the universal reflex of a person trying to avoid conviction. She has to

admit in v. 19 that Jesus has extraordinary insight ("You're a prophet!"), but instead

of dealing with her guilt she tries to suck Jesus into an academic controversy: "O, so you're a prophet, well, where do you stand on the issue of where people ought to worship?" Verse 20: "Our fathers worshipped on this mountain; and you Jews say that in Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship." 

A trapped animal will chew his own leg off. A trapped sinner will mangle his own mind and rip up the rules of logic and discourse. "Why, yes, as long as we're speaking about my five husbands and my adultery, what is your stance on the issue of where people should worship?" Brothers and sisters, that kind of double-talk and evasive, verbal footwork is very common. And texts like this incline me to think that wherever I hear it someone is hiding something. If your conscience is clean reason can hold sway; if it's not, you will be instinctively irrational.

I find this true in my life also. When confronted with my sin I'm tempted to change the subject or revert to faulty logic. Why do we do this instead of just "manning up" and dealing with it? After all, we know that "if we confess our sins he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9). So, what's the problem? Why do we wait?

I don't want to wait anymore. There is no point in hiding. I don't want to become desensitized. I don't want to become calloused. I want to hear God. I want to see God. I want to feel God. But most of all, I want to know Him. We might as well keep the path to God clean and tidy - free from snares and stumbling blocks. If you run into one, throw it in the ditch. Confess it. Quickly! God is waiting with open arms.

Judged or Convicted?

There is quite a misunderstanding out there.

Somehow during the past couple decades, the distinction has been lost between being judgmental and telling the truth. I believe this lost distinction is the result of Biblical uncertainty which has infiltrated the minds of Christians - the idea that yesterday's Truth is no longer Truth for today. It's the idea that sins described in the Bible are no longer sins - that the Bible is no longer relevant. It therefore becomes more and more natural for people, even Christians, to say someone is judgmental simply because they believe sin is still sin.

Do you consider yourself to be a Christian but question the relevancy of the Bible? Do you like passages like 1 Corinthians 13 which talks about love being patient and kind but question other passages that talk about the problems of sin? If so, why are you a Christian? By that I mean, what passages compelled you to make a decision to follow the teachings of Jesus? After all, if you question certain passages of the Bible, how do you know those passages are relevant on which you're basing your faith?

If we take Jesus at his word - that he is literally personified truth - are people really being judged by Christians or are they being convicted by the Spirit of Christ? Could it be that they are confusing Christian judgment with Christ conviction? Could it be that the 'guilt' people feel from others isn't really guilt but rather the conviction of God?

I used to dread the word conviction. Whenever I thought about the word conviction I would think of a courtroom drama where the judge sentences a criminal to life in prison. But there is a huge difference between conviction and condemnation. Conviction is known in the Bible as Godly sorrow. God's Word tells us that Godly sorrow is what leads us to repentance (Romans 2:4). Condemnation tells you, "You are such a failure! Look at what you did!" while conviction tells you, "Come to me... and I will forgive you!"

Conviction is good. When we feel convicted by God, it is the equivalent of God reaching down to us and embracing us. It is God opening His arms and asking us to love Him as much as He loves us. It is God singling us out and calling us by name. "Jeff, I want the very best for you. I love you and I want to show you a better way."

Yes, conviction is a very good thing. Just don't get it confused with being judged by Christians. Most of them are only reciting the words of God anyway. :)

Temporary Guardian

Susie was upstairs getting dressed. Chase came up and said, "Owen took a cookie and ate it but I put mine back."  So they went downstairs and as they were walking downstairs Chase said, "Owen's gonna be in big trouble!" Susie looked for Owen in the kitchen and he wasn't there. She asked Chase where he was and he led her into the living room and pointed behind the chair where Owen was facing the wall and eating that darn cookie as fast as he could. He didn't have much to say for himself - his mouth was jammed full of cookie.

Yes, it's funny I know. But it kind of reminds me of Adam & Eve in the garden. They ate of the forbidden fruit and then hid from God. I'm really proud of Chase for putting his cookie back and telling Susie about what he did. It makes my heart melt!

It's hard to always be 'on' in our parenting. We get tired, we get frustrated and sometimes we're just upstairs getting dressed. But the fact is, we can't trust our children to do the right thing until they get older.

Galatians 4:1-7

As long as children are underage they are subject to guardians and trustees until the time set by their fathers. So also, when we were underage, we were in slavery. But when the set time had fully come, God sent his Son, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship. Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, "Daddy, Father." So you are no longer slaves, but God's children; and since you are his children, he has made you also heirs."

It's interesting to me that the Bible refers to the Ten Commandments (the Law) as a temporary guardian for us, until we come of age. When we are born as babies, we are born under the Law - we are under both God's Law and our parent's rules. Our parents set the rules and we are expected to follow them until "the time set by our fathers" which is normally around the age of 18. 

Around the age of 18, we are expected to leave our parents and apply what we have learned in the outside world. Do the rules cease to exist? No, they don't. However, we are no longer subject to them - we are no longer under them. Do our parents still expect us to follow them? Probably. But the rules are no longer enforceable. They have fulfilled their purpose.

Or have they?

Do we really stop breaking the rules when we turn 18? I know I didn't. The rules didn't transform me into a law-abiding citizen. I needed to be transformed from the inside out.

I believe God gave us this earthly example to illustrate a heavenly reality. On Earth, we "come of age" when we reach maturity and can start making intelligent decisions on our own. In the spiritual realm, we "come of age" when we use this new decision-making ability to be born again into a new family that doesn't need rules, because it has Spirit.

John 3:6
"How can anyone be born when they are old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely they cannot enter a second time into their mother's womb to be born!" Jesus answered, "Very truly I tell you, no one can enter the kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit."

By trusting Jesus, "God sends the Spirit of his Son into our hearts." This Spirit doesn't weigh us down with rules but instead transforms us into the rules. He doesn't change the rules, he changes us! The ironic thing is that becoming the Law sets us free from the same Law. We move from slavery to freedom by becoming that which we thought was oppressing us. Crazy! God sure has a way of turning things upside down.

Even though I walk through the Valley of the Shadow of Death

The tragedy in Connecticut doesn't make sense. People ask questions such as "How could this happen?" or "What was his motivation" or "Where did he get the guns?" and the questions are only met with shrugging shoulders, shaking heads and pale faces.

One thing people do seem to agree on is that this was an expression of evil. Or, should I say "Evil".

Evil is real. No one doubts that, especially after something like this. Children are dead. The killer looked them in the eyes before pulling the trigger. It is unthinkable. It is unimaginable. It is, Evil.

But, it still happened. Someone got out of bed, loaded some guns, drove to an elementary school, walked in the door and methodically went room-by-room shooting children and teachers.

Children, normally petrified by small scrapes and skinned knees, witnessed the blood of their friends spill out in pools before them as life left their bodies.

Unthinkable.

Unimaginable.

Evil.

Evil is real. The disease of Evil takes many forms, morphing from lust into jealousy into deception into hatred into idolatry into murder - and in it's most pure form: the killing of innocent children.

We often don't notice Evil until it's pure form shows its grotesque, repulsive face. Evil's "lesser" forms are so prevalent that we have become desensitized to the warning signs - we can no longer see or hear or perceive the Prince of Darkness drawing closer. Even worse, we pass blame onto gun control or mental illness or poor security at schools. Meanwhile, Evil is vindicated - roaming freely through our neighborhoods.

It is often said that Satan's greatest victory is convincing the world he doesn't exist. If we don't acknowledge the enemy's very existence, we are defenseless. It's like walking blindfolded onto the battlefield. Without the eyes to see, slaughter is inevitable.

But Evil does have a very big weak spot. 

Jesus.

Evil is no match for Jesus Christ, the Good Shepherd. The Prince of Peace.

Evil dreads His very name. The smallest hint of Jesus' presence sends Evil screaming.

And the prayers of those with His Spirit? Flaming arrows.

"For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms." - Ephesians 6:12 

Tragedies like this don't make sense because it's unnatural - unearthly. We lack the language to describe it because it is beyond us - above us.

That is, unless we're looking up. 

Come, Lord Jesus.