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It is early in the day on a Monday—you’ve just woken from your sleep wrapped in your cloak—you and the other disciples, most still sleepy, all very hungry, start to realize that Jesus is nowhere to be seen. You had spent the night camped out a little distance from the main road; the only roof over your heads was the wide-spreading boughs of the tree above you. The morning breeze now faintly flutters its leaves; you and the others rise to go and look and find Jesus, wherever He happens to be.
It doesn’t take very long. He is just over the nearest rise, sitting and facing away in the direction of the western horizon. He, as so often in the early mornings, is perfectly still. You know that He is talking with His Father. Just the sight of Him there—so sitting and still and talking and, even, at times, smiling—is enough to make you wish for exactly what He has. So, today, you walk right up to Him. He opens His eyes; sees you. And, without missing a beat, you ask the following question: “Lord, John used to teach his disciples how to pray. Would you teach us how to pray?” Oh! how His eyes light up! how His lips take on the grandest loveliest smile you’ve ever seen! And looking you directly in the eye, and with the same beautiful smile, He says, simply: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as we also forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.
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As shared before, here are a few more of my Pointillisms -- these ones could be a mighty declaration over the week you're living (maybe even read them, over your week, aloud!)...
45.49 In Jesus, I shall never be condemned. 45.50 In Jesus, the Holy Spirit looses my life from death and the Fall. 45.51 In Jesus, the divide is bridged. 45.52 In Jesus, the former Law is already fulfilled within me. 45.53 In Jesus,—by His Spirit—I have His outlook ever available. 45.54 In Jesus, I presently have peace. 45.55 In Jesus,—by His righteousness—I am utterly, ultimately, alive. 45.56 In Jesus, my current life is contemporaneous with eternity. 45.57 In Jesus, I too am a son of God. 45.58 In Jesus, I too am an inheritor of the wealths of the Kingdom. 45.59 In Jesus, I am on display as one of His glories. 45.60 In Jesus, I am gloriously free—in order to free. 45.61 In Jesus, I know where this is headed. 45.62 In Jesus, the Holy Spirit is replacing my age-old spirit. 45.63 In Jesus, that Spirit translates my life, my thoughts, my prayers. 45.64 In Jesus, I have nothing at all to fear. 45.65 In Jesus, I have everything to hope for. 45.66 In Jesus, I am being made like Jesus. 45.67 In Jesus, I shall be sustained just as certainly as I was known; created; saved; called unto. 45.68 In Jesus, nothing separates this life from His life. This week, at Anchor, we meandered our way through John 10's “Good Shepherd” message, while looking back at some of David's most famous words, from Psalm 23. I think you'll enjoy the juxtapositions, section by section:
“The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want.” “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd will give his life for the sake of his sheep… I am the good shepherd, and I know those that are mine and my sheep know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father. And I am giving my life for the sake of the sheep.” “He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.” “I am the door. If a man goes in through me, he will be safe and sound; he can come in and out and find his food.” “He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for His name’s sake.” “[The shepherd of the flock] calls his own sheep by name and leads them out of the fold, and when he has driven all his own flock outside, he goes in front of them himself, and the sheep follow him because they know his voice.” “Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for Thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.” “Believe me when I tell you that anyone who does not enter the sheepfold though the door, but climbs in by some other way, is a thief and a rogue. It is the shepherd of the flock who goes in by the door. It is to him the door-keeper opens the door and it is his voice that the sheep recognise.” “Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.” “I do assure you that I myself am the door for the sheep. All who have gone before me are like thieves and rogues, but the sheep did not listen to them… The thief comes with the sole intention of stealing and killing and destroying, but I came to bring them life, and far more life than before.” “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me ALL the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.” “So there will be one flock and one shepherd. This is the reason why the Father loves me—that I lay down my life… and I lay it down to take it up again! No one is taking it from me, but I lay it down of my own free will.” My friends, let's go listen for, and follow after, our Good Shepherd all week long! At this week's Anchor, we considered a series of statements from the Feast of Tabernacles' message of Jesus, from John 7, and I want to share with you a few of my favorite takeaways:
Towards the end, Jesus says to the crowds, “I shall be with you only a little while longer and then I am going to him who sent me. You will look for me then but you will never find me. You cannot come where I shall be.” In this and the final statement to follow, Jesus not only points ahead at what is to come, but He also demarcates the differences between the “ways of the world and the flesh” and the glories of the “Way of the Kingdom and the Spirit.” Consider what He’s saying here of the world and the flesh: It is constrained by the construct of Time--“only a little while longer”—and of the distance between God and men--“I am going… but you will never find me.” Also, the world and the flesh, unchanged, unredeemed, cannot do anything to change the equation: “You cannot come where I shall be.” But what of the “Way of the Kingdom and the Spirit”? It is UN-bounded by time—eternal, everlasting, unchanging—and, thanks to the coming Ascension of Jesus, completely connected between God and man, Heaven and earth. And though, yes, we “cannot come where [He] shall be,” as we are, He is in the business of utterly remaking us so that it’s possible. How? Read His final statement, as John writes it: “If any man is thirsty, he can come to me and drink! The man who believes in me, as the scripture says, will have rivers of living water flowing from his inmost heart.” In other words, the world and the flesh are thirsty, uncertain where to go with their thirst, and desperate at the level of the heart for life, and for true living. But, in the Kingdom of Heaven, and by the Holy Spirit Jesus will offer to “any man” (note that “any”), we may drink to our fill, believing in Him--NOT in thirsty old religion—and, ourselves, become a river of living water for the world to come and drink from. Do you understand? By the Spirit He will pour out upon His friends and followers, we, His friends and followers, are meant to become the fountain of JOY, and of JESUS, for this world. Yes, all may come to you and I… in order to drink OF HIM! What an awesome, and humbling, honor! He works beside Peter’s mother-in-law in the kitchen, kneading dough, chatting comfortably of the rest of the things she is preparing for supper this night. He reaches out and takes a drink from a clay cup. She prattles on. Jesus continues to listen, smiling. * * * In the darkness, you hear Him chuckling to Himself in the stern of the boat, while re-fluffing His pillow. Both sounds are perfectly audible against the unnatural stillness of the waters. He only just finished hushing the storm. * * * Ideas of His: The colors of the sunrise; the smell of the lilacs in springtime; the breath of cool air off a brook in the morning; the cronch of new-fallen snow underfoot up in the high country; autumn breezes; the sound of a wind-tide lapping against a pebbly shoreline; your breath; your heartbeat; you. These, among so many millions and billions of others, were things He personally thought up. * * * Jesus enjoys your enjoyment of the life He created for you. He is also dissatisfied with your petty, untoward dissatisfactions. You must always mind your pleasure- and pain-points in all that you do—with Him and for Him. * * * His friendliness holds space for your great silences. He is content to walk alongside you, just being together.
Of this gospel I was made a minister according to the gift of God's grace, which was given me by the working of his power. To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places. This was according to the eternal purpose that he has realized in Christ Jesus our Lord, in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through our faith in him. (Ephesians 3:7-12, ESV) * * * "To have a share in any earthly inheritance, is to diminish the share of the other inheritors. In the inheritance of the saints, that which each has, goes to increase the possession of the rest." George MacDonald
Unspoken Sermons "The Inheritance" When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can flesh do to me? (Ps. 56:3,4, ESV) * * * “It is a law of the spiritual life that every act of trust makes the next act less difficult. Trusting becomes like breathing, the natural unconsciousness of the redeemed soul.” Hannah Whitall Smith
The Christian's Secret of a Happy Life It is the middle of a hot sunny afternoon in the far northcountry, far above the Galilee, and you are trailing tiredly behind Jesus with the other disciples. Red and gray rock walls rise up on both sides of the path. Thick foliage comes right down to the edge of where you’re walking. Somewhere, in the unseeable distance, there is the loud sound of a spring flowing. Just a hint of breeze is blowing, up in the treetops.
For much of the day, Jesus has been walking up at the head of the group, clearly thinking about something which He hasn’t yet revealed to any of you. His eyes are straight forward; his pace quick. And it is only after another long while—only when you arrive to a clearing, an upland meadow—that He suddenly turns and faces you with the subject of His rumination: this direct question: “Who do people say the Son of Man is?” In essence, He is asking the ultimate secondary question—the penultimate consideration for every human heart: What does humanity think of Me? There is a murmuring amidst you Twelve, standing around Him. Someone finally speaks up with a safe, soft answer: “Well, some say John the Baptist. Some say Elijah, others say Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” In other words, there is a great disparity of opinion about you, Jesus. Some say this; others say that. Imagine the look in the eyes of Jesus that ensues—a fascinating blend of both immense humility and almighty divinity—as He leans closer and asks, “But what about YOU? Who do YOU say that I am?” I believe it's no overstatement to say that, every moment of every day since the Incarnation, this has been the operative, the ultimate question begged of every human heart. Not for others, but for YOU, what is the definition of this Man? We know what Peter then says. But what do YOU, everyday, say with the reality of your life? What follows directly after, in Matthew's account, is a particular statement made to the particular disciple, Simon-called-Peter, and yet those next words of Jesus have a universal, even totalizing meaning for all who would believe. Standing there, on a path in the sunshine in Caesarea Philippi, Jesus is speaking to us even as He’s speaking the following to Peter:
Of late, I've been struck (yet again!) by the overwhelming qualities of the opening of Paul's letter to the Ephesians. So, for this week, I'm sending you three different translations of vv. 3-10; I want these to be a reminder of how great are our privileges in this Kingdom!
NIV: "Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will—to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves. In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us. With all wisdom and understanding, he made known to us the mystery of his will according to his good pleasure, which he purposed in Christ, to be put into effect when the times reach their fulfillment—to bring unity to all things in heaven and on earth under Christ." NKJV: "Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before Him in love, having predestined us to adoption as sons by Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the good pleasure of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, by which He made us accepted in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace which He made to abound toward us in all wisdom and prudence, having made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He purposed in Himself, that in the dispensation of the fullness of the times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven and which are on earth—in Him." Phillips: "Praise be to God for giving us through Christ every possible spiritual benefit as citizens of Heaven! For consider what he has done—before the foundation of the world he chose us to become, in Christ, his holy and blameless children living within his constant care. He planned, in his purpose of love, that we should be adopted as his own children through Jesus Christ—that we might learn to praise that glorious generosity of his which has made us welcome in the everlasting love he bears towards the Son. It is through the Son, at the cost of his own blood, that we are redeemed, freely forgiven through that full and generous grace which has overflowed into our lives and opened our eyes to the truth. For God had allowed us to know the secret of his plan, and it is this: he purposes in his sovereign will that all human history shall be consummated in Christ, that everything that exists in Heaven or earth shall find its perfection and fulfilment in him." My friends, let's go LIVE this GLORY all week long! 58.68 Faith is our silent speech that yet speaks.
58.69 Faith is our deathlessness; our present immortality. 58.70 Faith is our pleasure—which pleases. 58.71 Faith is our exit out of fear. 58.72 Faith is our inheritance, today, of what shall be ours forever. 58.73 Faith is our life’s great fruitfulness. 58.74 Faith is our vision out beyond our days. 58.75 Faith is our citizenship, our passport, unto The Other Country. 58.76 Faith is the ending of our shame. 58.77 Faith is our radicalism: our “Permanent Revolution.” 58.78 Faith is seeing; sight. 58.79 Faith is blessing; blesses. 58.80 Faith is foretelling; yet finished. 58.81 Faith is fearing; yet unafraid. 58.82 Faith is, and knows, its own reward. 58.83 Faith makes visible what it knew was never invisible. 58.84 Faith is making its way through. 58.85 Faith, looking backward, perfects its present. And knows it has nothing to fear from the future. 58.86 Faith’s atmosphere is its lineage of embodied belief, eg. the men and women who’ve known this Jesus before us. 58.87 Today is the whole race of faith and obedience. 45.74 We come to know Him so that others may come to know Him.
45.75 Beloved, we will be loved and be love. 45.76 Jesus still snares the steps of those who’d follow rotely. Then, falling, prone, He raises them up to follow Him. 45.77 How extravagant are our prayers for the world’s salvation? ie. How many brothers and sisters do we want? 45.78 Where we look for life is where we believe goodness lies. 45.79 Salvation: to believe that Jesus is alive—and say it. Thus the Word Himself enters the life; hope and salvation the heart. 45.80 We call on One who, possessed forever of the gracious heart of God, is ever inclining His human ear. 45.81 The tragedy is not that, seeking Him we will somehow not attain Him,—He has, remember, promised all seekers their finding of Him—but that so many seekers are simply seeking so many other things. 45.82 Choosing His grace, we find ourselves: chosen by Him. 45.83 Chosen by Him, we find Him: choosing to grace us. In honor of Pentecost Sunday at Anchor today, we used the combination of Matthew 15 and Mark 7's version of the same narrative to paint a picture of how "the spirit of religion" so often tends away from the heart of Jesus. In essence, we were asking: If religion looked like the scribes and Pharisees wrangling with Jesus over the ritualistic act of handwashing, what are the spirits of those infused by the Holy Spirit meant to look like? More simply, what would be the exact opposite of Matthew 15 and Mark 7, in the economy of Pentecost?
Consider the words and logic of those combined passages, but in their exact inversion: And Jesus was approached by followers and disciples intent upon His Way. They had noticed how He Himself walked in freedom before God and man. Jesus would eat, He would go to market, He only considered important the arrival of the Kingdom of Heaven. So His followers and disciples put this question to Jesus, “How should we remain free with your freedom?” Jesus replied, “My friends, I myself described you perfectly when I once stated, ‘If you are faithful to what I have said, you are truly my disciples. And you will know the truth and the truth will set you free!’ If you listen to the voice of my Spirit—who will ever live within you—you will be faithful to what I said… which is freedom!” Then He went on, “It is wonderful to watch you following the Way of the Spirit: this is my own life extended through yours! For I said to you, ‘Follow Me’—and this is how you do it! What an extraordinary display of my everlasting life—through yours!” Then He turned toward the crowds—those not yet knowing of His Way—and said to them, “Watch these, my friends, living out my Way. For I have chosen to place my Spirit right there within them—right inside the inner lives of these followers—and it is this Spirit which makes them clean. They are free now… and you may be free too.” Later, we His disciples approached again and asked, “Do you really mean that we are to walk in the freedom of following only your Spirit?” Jesus replied, “Every branch which abides in me, the vine, shall be nourished; shall be strengthened; shall produce my exact fruit. You will never-ever be alone. And, you are meant now—everyday—to be a guide to your fellowman: show them the Way home.” We asked Him to explain Himself further. “Oh!” He laughed, “you are so dear to me! Can’t you see that your greatest inheritance is receiving of my Spirit; that never again will you be anything less than heavenly to me? For my very Spirit will go into your heart and make you ever more like me; you will be made pure; you will learn to bear my fruit in your everyday life. What will flow forth from you will be extraordinary, uncommon—just like Me—and the world will get to meet me by getting to meet you. From my Spirit within will flow love, generosity, life-giving, purity, kindness, goodness, truth-telling, brotherliness, open-handedness, encouragement, humility, and wisdom! All this goodness will flow from me, through my Spirit, unto you—you will follow my Way and show the world what I am capable of!” "What is there left to say? If God is for us, who can be against us? He that did not hesitate to spare his own Son but gave him up for us all—can we not trust such a God to give us, with him, everything else that we can need?
"Who would dare to accuse us, whom God has chosen? The judge himself has declared us free from sin. Who is in a position to condemn? Only Christ, and Christ died for us, Christ rose for us, Christ reigns in power for us, Christ prays for us! "Can anything separate us from the love of Christ? Can trouble, pain or persecution? Can lack of clothes and food, danger to life and limb, the threat of force of arms? Indeed some of us know the truth of the ancient text: ‘For your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter’. "No, in all these things we win an overwhelming victory through him who has proved his love for us. "I have become absolutely convinced that neither death nor life, neither messenger of Heaven nor monarch of earth, neither what happens today nor what may happen tomorrow, neither a power from on high nor a power from below, nor anything else in God’s whole world has any power to separate us from the love of God in Jesus Christ our Lord!" (Romans 8:31-39, Phillips) Your sense of walking through life alone is your wrongest sense. Jesus hems you in, both behind and before.
Remember: Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Is. 41:10) For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Rom. 8:38,39) The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. (Zeph. 3:17) And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Helper, to be with you forever, even the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, for he dwells with you and will be in you. (Jn. 14:16,17) It is the Lord who goes before you. He will be with you; he will not leave you or forsake you. Do not fear or be dismayed. (Deut. 31:8) Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid. (Jn. 14:27) The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (Ps. 27:1) My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Ps. 73:26) (And I could keep going and going!) We are not important enough for what has already been done for us. Thus “Faith” is the heart’s command to the intellect to cease its self-important strivings—to, at once, surrender. It is telling all circumstance I will heed you not; it is commanding emotion Stand at heel; it is reminding one’s will You are in subjection to the One who has already bought you.
Jesus responds to such Belief: “I assure you, I delight in this posture! Those who entrust themselves to me will be gathered from every generation, from all corners of the earth, to sit at the Banqueting Table with me, my Father, and our Spirit. The Kingdom belongs to those who will believe in me; I am the great Within to those who are without. “Come and live! Your belief is your ‘Yes!’ to all I have already done for you.” In other words: Our Faith is our experience of His healing. (from Mt. 8:5-13) The daily word of Jesus to our restless, anxious, reckless, feckless, prone-to-wander hearts, spirits, minds: “Now don’t be afraid, just go on believing!”
When the world, or life, or circumstance, or our deceitful human heart proclaims hope dead: “Now don’t be afraid, just go on believing!” When the troubles of others seem to eclipse our own; when we feel ourselves insignificant in the economy of God: “Now don’t be afraid, just go on believing!” When we feel as though the enormities and exigencies of human existence swallow up the meaningfulness of our lives: “Now don’t be afraid, just go on believing!” When the annoyances and busynesses and frictions of our day-by-days annoy, overwhelm, rub our belief the wrong way: “Now don’t be afraid, just go on believing!” When the reality of our freedom becomes a long-lost memory—or a victim of our now-rigid orthodoxies: “Now don’t be afraid, just go on believing!” When our past will not allow us proper experience of His present presence: “Now don’t be afraid, just go on believing!” When personal tragedy strikes: “Now don’t be afraid, just go on believing!” When mundane normalcy numbs: “Now don’t be afraid, just go on believing!” Lord Jesus, would you whisper again to my restlessness, my anxiety, my foolishness, my waywardness with your wonderful words of old: “Now don’t be afraid, just go on believing”? Today, I am listening. (from Mk. 5:21-36) “God’s high freedom in Jesus Christ is His freedom for LOVE. The divine capacity which operates and exhibits itself in that superiority and subordination is manifestly also God’s capacity to bend downwards, to attach Himself to another and this other to Himself, to be together with him. This takes place in that irreversible sequence, but in it is completely real. In that sequence there arises and continues in Jesus Christ the highest communion of God with man. God’s deity is thus no prison in which He can exist only in and for Himself. It is rather His freedom to be in and for Himself but also with and for us, to assert but also to sacrifice Himself, to be wholly exalted but also completely humble, not only almighty but also almighty mercy, not only Lord but also servant, not only judge but also Himself the judged, not only man’s eternal king but also his brother in time. And all that without in the slightest forfeiting His deity! All that, rather, in the highest proof and proclamation of His deity! He who DOES and manifestly CAN do all that, He and no other is the living God.” Karl Barth
The Humanity of God “Christ Jesus said: 'I am the Vine, ye are the branches.' In other words: 'I, the living One who have so completely given myself to you, am the Vine. You cannot trust me too much. I am the Almighty Worker, full of a divine life and power.' You are the branches of the Lord Jesus Christ. If there is in your heart the consciousness that you are not a strong, healthy, fruit-bearing branch, not closely linked with Jesus, not living in Him as you should be—then listen to Him say: 'I am the Vine, I will receive you, I will draw you to myself, I will bless you, I will strengthen you, I will fill you with my Spirit. I, the Vine, have taken you to be my branches, I have given myself utterly to you; children, give yourselves utterly to me. I have surrendered myself as God absolutely to you; I became man and died for you that I might be entirely yours. Come and surrender yourselves entirely to be mine.'” Andrew Murray
Absolute Surrender For the last few months, I've been positively stuck on the words of Colossians 1, and I want you to join me in that "stuck" spot. Consider the overwhelming progression of theological concepts (and Heavenly realities!) offered to us by Paul, here:
"Now Christ is the visible expression of the invisible God. He existed before creation began, for it was through him that everything was made, whether spiritual or material, seen or unseen. Through him, and for him, also, were created power and dominion, ownership and authority. In fact, every single thing was created through, and for him. He is both the first principle and the upholding principle of the whole scheme of creation. And now he is the head of the body which is the Church. Life from nothing began through him, and life from the dead began through him, and he is, therefore, justly called the Lord of all. It was in him that the full nature of God chose to live, and through him God planned to reconcile in his own person, as it were, everything on earth and everything in Heaven by virtue of the sacrifice of the cross... "For I am a minister of the Church by divine commission [as are we too!], a commission granted to me for your benefit and for a special purpose: that I might fully declare God’s word—that sacred mystery which up to now has been hidden in every age and every generation, but which is now as clear as daylight to those who love God. They are those to whom God has planned to give a vision of the full wonder and splendour of his secret plan for the sons of men. And the secret is simply this: Christ in you! Yes, Christ in you bringing with him the hope of all glorious things to come." (Col. 1:15-20, 25-27) 'The victorious Christian neither exalts nor downgrades himself. His interests have shifted from self to Christ. What he is or is not no longer concerns him. He believes that he has been crucified with Christ and he is not willing either to praise or deprecate such a man. 'Yet the knowledge that he has been crucified is only half the victory. “Nevertheless I live; yet not I, but Christ liveth in me: and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me, and gave himself for me.” Christ is now where the man’s ego was formerly. The man is now Christ-centered instead of self-centered, and he forgets himself in his delighted preoccupation with Christ. 'Candor compels me to acknowledge that it is a lot easier to write about this than it is to live it. Self is one of the toughest plants that grows in the garden of life. It is, in fact, indestructible by any human means. Just when we are sure it is dead it turns up somewhere as robust as ever to trouble our peace and poison the fruit of our lives. 'Yet there is deliverance. When our judicial crucifixion becomes actual the victory is near; and when our faith rises to claim the risen life of Christ as our own the triumph is complete.' A.W. Tozer
Man: The Dwelling Place of God "Remember not the former things,
nor consider the things of old. Behold, I am doing a NEW thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert." (Isaiah 43:18,19) _____________________________________ "For behold, I create NEW heavens and a NEW earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness." (Isaiah 65:17,18) _____________________________________ And He who was seated on the throne said, “Behold, I am making all things NEW.” Also He said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. The one who conquers will have this heritage, and I will be his God and he will be my son.” (Revelation 21:5-7) Christ is the Morning Star, who, when the night of this world is past, gives to his saints the promise of the light of life, and opens everlasting day. - The Venerable Bede 8th C. * * * The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned... For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. - Isaiah 9:2,6-7  James Tissot, La nativité de Notre-Seigneur Jésus-Christ, 1886
At this same time Jesus said, “O Father, Lord of Heaven and earth, I thank you for hiding these things from the clever and intelligent and for showing them to mere children. Yes, I thank you, Father, that this was your will.” (Mt. 11:25,26, Phillips) * * * * “For it is good to be children sometimes, and never better than at Christmas, when its mighty Founder was a child Himself.” Charles Dickens
A Christmas Carol Despite the fact that they are One, perfectly mutual in their self-understandings, perfectly aware of the mind of the Other, perfectly in-sync in every conceivable way, I want us to imagine a conversation between the Lord Jesus and the Holy Spirit prior to the mass indwelling you and I know as the first Pentecost. This would be some time in the ten days between the Ascension and that morning...
“Spirit,” Jesus says, “unless they are born of water and of You, they cannot enter into our Kingdom. You must cause them to be born all over again.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “for the thirsty have come to You and, believing in You, they have drunk. Now I will go to them and be the flowing rivers of living water that will flow out from their hearts.” “Will you be their constant help?” Jesus asks. “I will,” returns the Spirit. “I will be with them forever. I will abide with them--within them—they will never not be with You; I will carry Your very Spirit into their spirits.” “Will you teach them?” asks Jesus. “I will,” responds the Spirit. “I will teach them anything they wish to know. I will bring to their remembrance everything You’ve ever said to them. And I will be their living peace.” “And what of the ones who do not know me?” Jesus asks. “To them I will bear witness,” the Spirit says. “How will You do that?” asks Jesus. “By bearing witness from within those ones who are Ours,” the Spirit replies. “Their lives, filled with Me, filled with You, will convict the world of its sin, show Your righteousness, and point away from judgment. The lives of Your friends will be just as Your life.” Jesus is quiet a moment. “My friends…” He says, softly. “I miss them already.” “Oh, but you need not!” the Spirit laughs. “For I will be with them, guiding them always unto You—unto the Truth—and I will whisper to them everything You want them to know. Whatever I hear You saying, I will say to them. I will glorify You by taking what You are, who You are, and pouring it into the inner lives of those friends of Yours. Nothing that is Yours will not be theirs.” Jesus smiles. “Well, in that case, shall we begin?” If Jesus Himself is both the King of the Kingdom of Heaven and also the Kingdom Personified, it bears telling what sort of King and what sort of Kingdom He is.
Jesus is:
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