I love to express what I feel called to say. Writing helps me to open up my heart and do that. I hope that what I write helps you in some way. I hope it makes you think, encourages you, or inspires you. If it challenges you or if you disagree, I hope you know that I respect your right to have a different point of view.
By revelation John, one of Christ’s disciples exiled on an island for His reliance on the risen Jesus, saw “the seven golden lampstands” and Jesus gloriously standing in the midst of the seven lampstands while holding seven stars in his right hand. Then Jesus told John, “The seven stars are the angels (messengers/lights) of the seven churches (ekklesias/town hall meetings) and the seven lampstands are the seven churches (ekklesias/town hall meetings).
John was born and raised a Jew. When John states that Jesus was in the midst of “the seven golden lampstands,” I think John was describing the 7 branched menorah lamp that continually burned in the Jewish temple. Although the 7 branches are united and draw oil from the same source, they represent 7 (the fullness) of Christ’s ekklesias/town meetings. The seven stars are seven lights (7 messengers/angels that Jesus is holding in His right hand (submitted fully to His authority) that will fill the seven town hall meetings/ekklesias with His glorious light by shinning in the hearts of those present who will each one put the light of Jesus that is shining within them on the lampstand by speaking from the heart as prompted by the Spirit during Christ’s town hall meetings.
What is “unconditional” love? Although God disapproves of your poor choices that accumulate bad consequences and guilt, He always cares about you! To compassionately disapprove of someone’s harmful actions is to demonstrate true “unconditional” love. To approve of people’s bondage to self-focused desires, is not being loving.
God cares enough to explain to us the consequences of harmful choices and to warn us against making them. His love always includes His disapproval of destructive choices. Although He respects free will, He sets loving conditions (boundaries, laws, and government) to protect people from the chaos of our rebellious feelings, desires, and thoughts.
When we become deeply aware that God loves with enough love to allow us the freedom to reject Him and to cause Him extreme pain, our heart is touched. Our guilt becomes unbearable as true love for God rises up within us and causes us to want to respect and obey His commandments (His protective boundaries). Yet, although our efforts can establish outward compliance to God’s will, they alone cannot align our inner thoughts, desires, and feelings with God. Like Paul, we realize, “O wretched man that I am.” We understand that we need rescuing that goes far beyond self-effort and/or a one-time religious decision.
Then we can behold the amazing love of the Lamb of God and His redemptive sacrifice on the Cross. Then we can begin to experience truly unconditional love that empowers us to see and be set free from our desire to get off God’s track and dive into the muck of inner corruption. Then we can experience Christ’s ongoing presence within us to lovingly lead us by His Spirit and to be our hope of glory, not just in the afterlife, but in the present moment. When we take personal responsibility for the guilt we feel, we’ll be willing to ask for and receive forgiveness and healing.
When people sound a gong And declare that wrong Is now right And if you don’t Sing their song And go along With their behavior They say you hate them, Then society’s in for a long Dark night.
Hype hampers the perception of truth. Honesty is heroic. Hype is heads toward hypocrisy.
Following your own desires and feelings isn’t the hype it pretends to be. Hype tries to make fake feel fresh baked. “Hype-iness” isn’t happiness!
Hype is propaganda partying. It hates any truth that disrupts it. Hype is a horrid substitute for hope. When you’re “caught” up in the hype, you’re no longer free.
Hype makes people hyper. Truth makes them think. Hype addiction keeps the phone in sight, the TV on, and the earbuds in.
Living on a hype plane Is an emotional strain That can pull you Down the drain!
The hype trap Will sit you On the lap Of deception!
Dare to step Beyond the hype And take a swipe At opening the pipe Of humility and truth.
People see your hype But God sees your heart. Learn to be the type That will drop your hype And open up your heart.
When hype is followed Lies are swallowed.
The more hype That goes viral The more society’s In a downward spiral.
People like hype Because they hope That it will wipe Their problems away.
Community Is heart unity. Let Jesus Unite your heart With Himself And with others.
When life’s problems storm your stable, the risen Jesus will keep you stable in the storm. Let Him replace your hype with heroic hope!
God gave humanity government in order to maintain social order, ensure domestic tranquility, and prevent chaos (which is even more harmful and destructive to people than corrupt and cruel government). Christ-followers’ first loyalty is supposed to be to the risen Jesus and after that to the government where they live. When that government (or anyone else) demands disobedience to the living Jesus, a Christ-disciple is called to humbly and respectively disobey while peacefully submitting to the consequences.
When Christians (as often happens in countries) begin to obey their government (or their desires) ahead of the Headship of Jesus their “salt loses its savor” and the light of Christ in them is hidden from those who most need to see it. Their proclamation that “Jesus is Lord,” is revealed to be mere words for them. Then their fellow citizens begin to see the Gospel as just religious hype. No Christian should ever say “My country first!” Wherever we live as Christ-followers, let us boldly proclaim (and demonstrate by our lifestyle), “Jesus first!”
If you won’t continually cultivate nourishing thoughts, feelings, and desires in your heart, deceitful and destructive ones will grow naturally. The thoughts, feelings, and desires that compel and control you are the ones you have cultivated within you. To keep your heart from wilting with worry cultivate it with hope!
A Christ-follower is a heart-cultivator improving the soil of his heart so it can grow and flourish with the fruit of God’s Spirit. Make your heart a greenhouse for God’s Spirit, not a warehouse of deception.
To cultivate continual awareness of the presence of the risen Christ requires much more than a daily dose of devotional literature. It’s an every moment thing. In a society filled with aggressive weeds it takes great courage to resist them and to cultivate God’s seeds in your heart.
The happiest people are cultivators who weed bad seeds from their heart and nurture it with Christ’s compassion, humility, and hope. To grow the fruit of God’s Spirit, cultivate your heart.
Cultivate your heart! It’s time to start To cultivate your heart. Where it is closed Let it be exposed. Where it’s stoney Remove all that’s phony. Pull out all of your weeds To make room for God’s seeds. Life’s only real security Is to cultivate Christ’s purity In your heart.
If you will persistently cultivate God’s will within your heart You will grow to celebrate A harvest of the fruit Of His presence.
The word “ekklesia” (translated as “church” in almost all English Bibles) is a political term. It was the proper name of the town meeting in ancient Greek cities where all citizens were considered equal, and anyone could speak out in the assembly. Jesus said that He would build His town meeting (ekklesia) on the rock of revelation (Spirit-given insight and awe) not on human organizational or theological understanding. Christ’s town meeting creates an environment of open, Spirit-led sharing (1 Corinthians 14:26) where Jesus can be the present, active, and hand-on Head personally directing His gathered body so it can literally demonstrate “the fullness of Him” and be His light in human societies. (Ephesians 1:23.)
When the light that shines in members of Christ’s body is dimmed by weeds of religious tradition, fleshly desires, deceitfulness, human insecurities, and other things, a nation grows dark. To reverse that trend requires Christ’s light bearers begin to cultivate in their own heart the ingredients listed in 2 Chronicles 7:14.
The essence of Christ’s ekklesia is to cultivate an environment where hearts are willing to be cultivated, exposed, and healed. To believe that your desires change reality Is a delusion. Wanting something doesn’t make it true and doesn’t make it right.
Human governments are temporary. The risen Jesus is the now and eternal Lord. They’ll be no national flags in Heaven.
Government establishes and maintains social order. Jesus changes hearts. Government protects people from physical chaos. Jesus protects people from the inner chaos of hopelessness and despair. Government works by making and enforcing laws. Jesus works by healing hurting hearts.
Because Jesus works in human hearts most of what He does is unknown until we open our heart to each other. If you don’t tell what Jesus is doing in your heart, you’re hiding some of His most powerful miracles from other people. Openly and humbly talk about what Jesus is doing inside of you much more than you talk about government. Then you will give people real hope for lasting change that heals both individuals and nations and goes infinitely beyond social order and patriotic pride.
Cancel corruption. Open your heart to radical honesty and sincere humility.
What a miracle when God opened up the Red Sea! What a miracle when you let God open up your hardened heart! Jesus builds His kingdom by opening hearts and connecting them to Him and to each other. It may not feel safe to open your heart to Jesus and to people, but it’s powerful! Take the risk!
The most important story people can tell, the most beautiful song they can sing, is to share what Jesus is doing inside them. The more we tell people what Jesus is doing within us the more they can see His glory instead of us. My favorite thing to share with people and to post on social media is what Jesus is saying and doing in my heart!
People often don’t want to hear what I hear Jesus telling me. Sometimes I don’t even want to hear it. It’s easy to be more concerned about preserving cash flow than about telling the truth.
When an open mic and open hearts come together it’s powerful! Jesus isn’t afraid of an open mic! Neither should you be.
A microphone open to God’s Spirit is powerful! Ordinary people are allowed to reveal their heart to one another and to share what Jesus is saying and doing in their life. One open heart leads to another as people speak as prompted by the Holy Spirit and waves of spiritual life flood the meeting. The presence of the risen Jesus fills people with awe. The open mic is watched over by a few mature Christ-followers who discretely oversee what is said and done and are ready to lovingly correct anything that isn’t aligned with Scripture and with God’s Spirit.
Why is the world in a mess? Humans, like our first two ancestors, are in rebellion against the present reign of God. We resist and reject His authority as King and follow our own desires, opinions, feelings, and thoughts instead.
Here are four common styles of heart protection from Jesus’ “Parable of the Sower.” 1) Hard heart: Shutting down your heart to try to keep from being hurt. 2) Shallow heart: Living superficiality to avoid facing the more painful aspects of life. 3) Crowded heart: Cramming your heart full of empty thoughts, feelings, and desires to distract you from life’s troubles. 4) Pure heart: Keeping your heart humble, eager to turn away from all that’s wrong, hungry for righteousness, and obedient to God.
Regularly participating in a Spirit-led open mic meeting empowers Christians to clean out and purify their heart. Unfortunately, allowing Jesus to be the person in authority in a worship meeting is a rarity.
The body of Christ is a spiritual structure, not an organizational or physical one. It grows and spreads by people humbly connecting heart-to-heart as they are led by the Spirit. The body of Christ is built on spiritual authority coming from the presence of Jesus actively working in and flowing through various members of the body as He personally directs them.
Here are better questions than “Where do you go to church?” Where are you involved in:
A Christ-controlled community?
A Spirit-led get-together?
A listen-to-Jesus meeting?
An obeying-God’s-Spirit assembly?
A Jesus encounter group?
A Holy Spirit huddle?
A gathering under God’s direct command?
A Jesus-led support group?
As Christ-followers, we don’t need to affirm that our sins are gone. The Pharisees were famous for proudly doing that. We need to demonstrate that our sins are gone by humbly and gratefully living in Christ’s power and victory over them and continually guarding our heart that we don’t get deceived by and entangled with them again. Christ-followers need to show the reality, love, and power of the living Jesus by our daily lifestyle, not just to proclaim it with words.
The first man and woman hid from the moment-by-moment awareness of the presence of God. Most of their descendants do too.
The “opportunity of your life” isn’t a great open door that comes once in your lifetime. It’s the opportunity of being alive day by day.
Christianity’s far more Than religious ambiance For an audience In an auditorium.
Jesus revolution
Is birthed by awe
Not by analysis;
By revelation
Not by administration;
By inner light and insight
Not by religious rite;
By a tide of humility inside
Not by spiritual pride;
In the heart, not the head.
It's not a Christian audience;
It's people who experience
The risen Jesus day and night.
Dry bones will arise
Whey they sincerely look
Into Jesus' eyes.
Behold the Lamb of God!The radiation
Of inner revelation
Is a much better solution
To anxiety and stress
Than self-medication,
Ongoing sedation,
And reality rejection.
For revitalization
Let Christ shine in you!There's no outward solution
To the intrusion
Of identity confusion.
Only an infusion
Of light and insight
Can end the pollution
Of inner illusion
And bring about
A freeing conclusion.Be an inner goalie.
Refuse to let
The devil's shots
Enter your heart.
True love listens with the kindness and tenderness of an open heart that truly cares. True love humbly shares in and bears other people’s pain. Self-protecting love falls far short of the vulnerability of true love.
Love-phobic people know that it is frightening to open your heart to others, to care deeply about them, and to let them care about you. They know that love involves vulnerability and can easily be hurt by disappointment and heartbreak. Love-phobic people often run from and/or use blame or resentment to distance themselves from the people who love them the most.
Love-phobic people demand unconditional approval of their words and behaviors. If they don’t get it, they accuse others of being unloving. They define love as big warm blanket-approval that embraces and applauds their desires, feelings, and actions. They consider an unwillingness to applaud their choices as unloving.
Love respects people and their right of disapproval. It doesn’t get defensive, disappear, or shut down because of disagreement. True love knows that the people who love you continue to care deeply about you even when they don’t approve of or agree with your words or behaviors.
True love is sacrificial. Because true love continues to care about people no matter how much it has been hurt by them, it is beyond mere human ability. Divorce demonstrates how human love can come to an end and disintegrate into open disdain and heart-felt hostility.
True love is supernatural. It requires an ongoing experience of and awareness of God’s love that isn’t based on approval of your thoughts, feelings, desires, and behaviors, but cares deeply about you no matter what!
On the stillness Of backwater I see bugs That walk on water. In the darkness Of the night I see bugs That shine a light. I get to see God’s miracles When I embrace Receptivity And make room for Jesus to speak to me.
Continually make room In your life To freely receive God’s gift of grace. Work to replace Your pride with humility. Get out of God’s way By bringing every thought Captive to Christ. So you can behold Him And give Him space To do His work In and through you.
Free Gas for Your Think Tank -- Short Reflections, Lasting Encouragement 