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Heart Thoughts 4/28/10

Sometime ago, I heard a woman named Nicole Braddock Bromley speak about a book she had written entitled, “Breathe.”  Her choice of that title came about because of the sexual abuse she had suffered as a young girl.  She said that through so much of her life, she had felt that she had to keep silent about what she’d endured, that she had to hold it all in.  She said that whenever these awful episodes of abuse happened to her, she would hold her breath while it was happening.  That is also how she lived her life in the emotional, mental, and spiritual sense as well.  She was going through life holding her breath.  However, when she came to find true healing and freedom in Christ, she found that she could now, in all of these ways, “breathe.”  Her book, “Breathe” was the story of how she came to that freedom.

    As I think about her story, I wonder, just how close is it to so many of our stories?  No, we may not have suffered the same abuse or wounding that she did, but the deep hurts we have walked through may have left their mark.  They may well have caused us to walk through life “holding our breath” as well.  Physically, holding ones breath, not breathing, will result in a lack of oxygen reaching the brain.  If allowed to go on too long, it will result, in the least, with serious brain damage, and at the worst, death.
To hold ones breath too long in the spiritual and emotional realms will result in the same, except the damage can often go unnoticed, and the death?  Well, there seem to be many who though they walk about, are dead spiritually and emotionally.  They have lived “holding their breath” for so long, that they no longer are really living.  They are in effect, walking dead people.  They don’t know how to breathe.  Often, they don’t really know that they can.  Yet for all such as them, there is hope, and there is healing.
    As I contemplated this writing yesterday, the scripture that He brought to my mind was John 20: 21-22.  Jesus, having been resurrected, has gathered His disciples to Him, and is preparing to leave them.  The verses reads, “Peace be with you……then He breathed on them and said to them, ‘Receive the Holy Spirit.’ “  Now, I know there is a lot going on here theologically, but something I feel sure is happening as well, is healing.  Each of the disciples had just walked through what had to have been the most painful time in their lives.  The emotions, thoughts and feelings that they must have been experiencing are probably beyond description.  Into all of that, Jesus spoke, breathed life and wholeness.  Whatever their state had been before, it was changed when the Lord of Life breathed life and healing into them.
   So, how does that speak to you and I?  What areas of life might you be “holding your breath” in?  Where are the unhealed wounds and scars in your mind and spirit?  Where have you forgotten how to breathe?  Where might you need for Him to come, and breathe upon them, upon you?  LIke Bromley, have you been holding it all in, speaking of it to no one, not even to yourself?  To do so severely damages your spirit, and eventually, it will bring about, if not a spiritual death, certainly an emotional one.
Yet, there He is, offering His peace, His healing, His wholeness.  Will you receive it?  Will you breathe again?
 
Blessings,
Pastor O

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Heart Thoughts 4/20/10

     Acts 23 records Paul’s words as he makes his defense before the Jewish High Council in Jerusalem.  He begins that defense by saying in verse 8, “I am on trial because my hope is in the resurrection of the dead.”  In my notes, I wrote, “Our lives will constantly be on trial as to our belief and trust in the resurrection power of Christ.”  I wrote that a few months ago, and while I continue to believe that is true, I am seeing that our belief and trust, my belief and trust, have really been little tried.
    What has caused me to change my thinking has been my reading of a somewhat obscure book entitled “The Heavenly Man,” that’s the biography of Brother Yun, one of the founders of the Chinese house church movement which has experienced both explosive growth over the last 30 years, as well as intense persecution by the Communist Chinese authorities.  It is a book that has inspired as well as disturbed me.  Encouraged, as well as convicted me.  It has shown me a reality of Acts 23:8 that Paul certainly knew, and that Brother Yun and countless of his fellow believers know, but that I, and maybe you to, perhaps have never known……and I am only through 1/5 of the book.
   In a chapter I just completed, Brother Yun describes his capture in one of the western provinces of China, where he has gone to preach the gospel.  After being bound, beaten, and then led through town to the mocking of his captors, He is then thrown into a small room.  As he lay in the room, he heard the Holy Spirit speak to his heart saying, “The God of Peter is your God,” and he remembered how the Lord sent an angel to open the prison doors that had imprisoned Peter as related in Acts.  What then took place was a series of miracles that began with the ropes that bound him suddenly snapping.  He then walked out of the room and through a crowd in the courtyard, where it appeared that absolutely no one saw him.  He came to an 8 foot high wall, which had, at it’s base on the other side, a ten foot wide open septic tank.  He said the scripture that came to his mind was 2 Samuel 22:30, “With Your help, I can advance against a troop, with my God, I can scale a wall.”  He said he felt himself literally lifted above the wall, and landed past the open pit.  He fled into the night, where the Lord continued to guide him to safety.  At the conclusion of what was one of so many delieverances, the scripture that he quoted was 2 Corinthians 1:9, “But this happened that we might not rely upon ourselves, but on God, who raises the dead.”
    Brother Yun did not always “get away.”  There were instances where he spent great amounts of time imprisoned, and tortured.  In all of them, he found himself on trial for his hope in the resurrection power and life of Christ, but not once did that power fail him, for though his body might be imprisoned and abused, his spirit was free and reveling in the power and fellowship of Christ.  For him and his fellow believers, the trial of their hope is a daily reality.  Is it really so for you and I?

    I’m not saying that we need to suffer as he did, and as so many of our brethren in the persecuted church do.  I know there are many reading this who may well be going through a time of sorrow only they and the Lord truly know of.  What I am asking is, in our comfort loving, success oriented, safety and security obsessed culture, how deeply have we really had to place our hope in that resurrection power? 
How intense is our daily trial concerning our trust in it?
   One of the statements Brother Yun makes is that their constant need to be on the run from the authorities forced them to rely on the power, provision, and protection of the Father alone.  He said that had they been allowed to live a more comfortable, serene lifestyle, he doubted they would have ever have beheld the wonders and miracles of God.  How close to home might that be to you and I?
   I have written down in my notes, and it’s become a part of my prayerlife, that I not seek from Him a security He has never promised me.  By that, I mean a security that protects from all pressing need, that never knows want, or danger, or darkness.  I do that because so often, most often, that’s what I want, but it is not what He has promised me, or you either.  He has not promised me a safety and protection from any of that.  He has promised me a safety and security in Him that nothing can take away.  I believe I heard Joyce Meyer say, “If our security is found in something we can lose, than it’s there that we are vulnerable.”  Brother Yun knows what it is like to live “in the shelter of the Most High,” and his life bears the fruit of the wonder of it all.  I think the question is not so much does yours and mine, but will it?

Blessings,
Pastor O   

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Heart Thoughts 4/16/10

      While with my friend and prayer partner Bob Yarbrough the other day, he shared a story with me about the difficulties encountered by the test pilots seeking to break the sound barrier back in the 1950’s.  He said that after many failures, they were beginning to think it couldn’t be done.  It seemed each time they came near to it, the turbulence would become so intense that the plane seemed to be literally on the verge of completely breaking apart.  The tremendous shaking of the plane would cause pilot after pilot to cut speed, and thus preserve the plane, and their life.  One day however, there was a pilot determined to ride out the turbulent chaos, and achieve, and pass, the speed of sound.  The shaking of the jet plane was unbelievable, but he held course, pressed on, and broke through.  After the sonic “boom” was heard, the pilot, back on the ground, said he then entered into a time of perfect stability and quietness.  The life threatening turbulence was gone.  What remained was peace.  Bob’s meaning in the story was that this is much like what we will experience in our attempts to break through into the peace and fullness of Christ.
    There’s a scripture that I’ve written down and have been praying for myself and our fellowship.  It’s Colossians 1:9, where Paul writes, “We ask God to give you a complete understanding of what He wants to do in your lives.”  I’m not sure we understand just what Paul means here.  I think we too often focus on trying to find out what God wants us to do, when we should seek to know who He wants us to be.  “Doing” seems natural to us, “being,” not so much.  Knowing who we’re to be, will require breaking through to who and where He is.  For sure, there will be a great deal of “turbulence” involved before we can get there, and it’s this turbulence that time and again seems to frustrate us and turn us away from the barrier our flesh, and the world put up to keep us from Him. 
    If you were asked right now about what it is the Lord wants to do in your life, could you give a real answer?  I’m not speaking of personal goals, or vague spiritual ideals.  I mean specific works that He longs to see brought to completion in you.  I think to give a real answer will require a real knowledge not only of who He is, but who we are, and, who we are not as well.  Getting to that place will mean breaking through the barrier that seeks to keep us in the shadowlands, and in varying amounts of turbulence.  But, if we’ll press on, refuse to back off in our pursuit of Him, we can break the barrier, really enter into the fullness of His Presence, and discover a peace and wellbeing, not to mention a level of life this world and our own understanding can neve give us.
   I don’t mean to tell you that I have fully reached this place yet.  There’s still way too much turbulence involved in my pursuit of breaking through the barriers and into Him, but I’m determined to breakthrough into the “completeness” that He promises in this verse.  As there were many who were sure a half century ago that breaking the sound barrier couldn’t be done, there will also be many who will insist that entering into the kind of relationship with Him where peace, joy, abundance, victory, and all the other riches He promises us, can never really happen this side of heaven.  The testimony of His Word is that Christ broke all the barriers between the Father and us.  On this side of eternity, there is much turbulence that remains, but Jesus tells us to be of good cheer, He’s overcome all the turbulence.  In Him, we can too.

 
Blessings,
Pastor O
 

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Heart Thoughts 4/14/10

     Erwin McManus, in one of his books, said this, “God calls us to believe things we cannot see, become someone we’re not, and accomplish feats clearly beyond our ability, and then holds us accountable for all of it.”  In other words, He not only calls us to believe the impossible, but to live it as well.  In fact, He doesn’t just call us to that kind of life, He commands it.  It’s His expectation that it will be the way we live.  Is the life you and I are living today, meeting those expectations?
     Ephesians 3:20 may be on the most quoted, yet least lived out scriptures in the Bible.  It reads, “Now glory be to God, by His mighty power at work within us, He is able to accomplish infinitely more than we could ever dare to ask or hope.”  Now, I don’t think you’d find many professing followers of Christ who would say they don’t believe those words.  Yet, is the reality of those words really taking place in their lives, and if not, why not?
     I think a great part is our reliance upon the words, “He is able to accomplish.”  We place great emphasis upon His role, and feel our role is that of just passively allowing Him to “take care of business,” be it the business of the Kingdom, or the day to day business of our lives.  The Lord will do great and mighty things while we snuggle down in our lounge chairs and sofas and cheer Him on.  We pray fervently for the Lord to move, while we are unmoving.  We don’t want to leave our various comfort zones in life.  We want Him to do the impossible, but we want Him to do it without disturbing our carefully built, peaceful lifestyles.  We want a God, a faith, that produces great and wonderful things, but at no risk to ourselves.  We want to enter the promised land without ever having to cross the Jordan. 
   The deep truth of Ephesians 3:20 is that He will do wonders in and around our lives, but it will be in accordance with “the power that is at work within us.”  This power can never be experienced while living in a comfort zone.  It knows nothing of a passive, risk free lifestyle.  It’s a power that comes from walking in the footsteps of Jesus, through our own personal wildernesses, through ever growing challenges and yes, opposition, and through danger filled places, and through, and beyond, our own personal cross.  It is that life that will be called to believe what can’t be seen, become what we knew we could never become, and accomplish things clearly beyond our own abilities.  It is the life that will behold Him to do “exceedingly abundantly beyond all we could ask or think.”  It is a life of power and purpose.  It’s the life we’re called to.  Is it the life we’re living?  Is it the life you’re living?  Or, are we, are you, living on the sideline, in your comfort zone, waiting for Him to accomplish the great things you’ve heard about, yet have never seen?  We know what His expectations are.  Are we realizing them?

 
Blessings,
Pastor

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Heart Thoughts 4/7/10

     One of my favorite professors at the Bible College I studied at was Dr. T.C. Mitchell, a small, witty, and mighty man of God.  He was one to say a number of provocative things, but one exclamation I well remember is his speaking of believers propensity to take trips to Israel to visit the Holy Land.  He wasn’t speaking against this, but he did say that one didn’t need to go there to see or stand on holy land.  He said that wherever a follower of Christ found himself, that place, for he or she, was holy land.  I have never forgotten his saying that, but I think, sadly, I have too often forgotten its truth in my day to day walk, and in my daily service and worship of the Lord.  Maybe you have too.

     You may be familiar with the story of Moses and the burning bush in Exodus 3.  Perhaps so familiar that, like me, you miss it’s deep meaning in your everday life.  Moses, a former prince of Egypt, is now tending sheep on the backside of the desert.  He had been there a very long time.  For a man who had grand dreams of leading his people out of captivity, it had to be quite a letdown emotionally, and even spiritually.  He certainly wasn’t faithless in his duties, but it could well be that he may have felt that his chances of being used by Him, or accomplishing anything close to his dreams, were gone.  He may well have seen himself as still following the Father, but truly, the backside of the desert had to be the most forgotten place in the Kingdom.  Maybe that’s where you feel you are right now.  Maybe it is where you are now….on the backside of your own hot, dry, barren desert.
     It was in this very desert that God appeared to him, called to him, and commanded him in verse 5. “Take off your sandals, for you are standing on holy ground.”  If Moses felt where he was was forsaken, forgotten,  and held in low regard by the Father, the Lord’s words shatter that deception.  God called that place holy ground, sacred ground in His eyes.  Do we really think that it is any different for our own desert place?  What would happen, if, as Dr. Mitchell said, we really started to see any place we stood as holy land.  His land.  Made sacred by His Presence?  It may well transform the land itself from desert wilderness into a land of frutiful bounty.  For sure it will transform us, and how we approach that land, and in how we stand upon it.
    I think we sometimes make it so easy for the devil to make us feel weak and insignificant.  If we do find ourselves, as did Moses, in a prolonged desert time, we can so easily slide into thinking and believing that though He knows where we are, where we are is not a place He often comes….or wants to.  The reality is, He is there, and because He is there, where we are is holy ground.  His holy ground.
It’s not a place we’re to resign ourselves to, a place where we just endure, and pray that it be over as soon as possible, but a place He calls holy.  And, if we begin to treat it as such, we may find, as did Moses, it may well be the gateway to entering into the fulfillment of those dreams we may have thought lost.  More than that though, is that it will revitalize, no, transform how we look at the places we are at, regardless of how the landscape around us appears.
   What’s your backside of the desert?  A difficult ministry?  Job? Neighborhood?  Family situation?
Life?  What can happen if you, we, really begin to see that place as holy ground?  His ground?  It is you know, even if it is the backside of the desert.

Blessings,

Pastor O 
 

     
     

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