Category Archives: Our Spiritual Process

Escaping to Bearing It

14 Thursday Nov 2013

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Ceases to pray

 

Do you remember Jesus’ three-fold warning to His disciples as they entered the Garden of Gethsemane? “Pray that you enter not into temptation.” Jesus didn’t say temptation could be avoided. He said they should pray to not enter into the temptation which was coming. What temptation? Luke doesn’t record the disciple’s failure. Everybody knows what it is… it was prophesied in the O.T. and recorded in Matthew 26 and Mark 16.

The disciples all scattered and fled the Lord when He was arrested. It was sin to them because they each, to a man, pledged to go to death for Jesus. For the first time in over three years, they were no longer following Jesus, the Lord of their life. Each man exited his process with God and lost hope.

This story is not just about denying the Lord. Yes, denying the Lord is big, but the larger problem is what exiting our process does to our inner man.

  • When we exit God’s process we lose hope.
  • When we exit God’s process all our words from the Lord come crashing to the ground —- all dreams, visions, hopes, and promises.
  • Everything abruptly ends.

It is like committing spiritual suicide. This is Satan’s ultimate goal when he tempts us. He desires to crush us and to snatch away our hope right before our words are birthed. Satan loves performing spiritual abortions.

I believe this is why all except one disciple died a martyr’s death. Look at Matthew 26:31-35 and Mark 14:31 & 50. All the disciples vowed the previous evening to die for the Lord.  They all failed to fulfill that promise. Their boasting wasn’t just empty platitudes. They meant what they proudly stated. Later in life when the same temptation came to deny the Lord and run, they each fulfilled their promise. Early church history confirms it. Jesus had other plans for John. (John 21:18-23)

According to scripture the Lord always provides for us a way of escape and to bear temptation’s grasp.

 

No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it. I Corinthians 10:13

 

Jesus made it out of the garden of Gethsemane with His process intact.  From a fleshly perspective, it appeared as though Jesus was trapped and the disciples escaped. In reality, the disciples were ensnared and Jesus alone escaped temptation.  Outward circumstances are not a reliable indicator of spiritual realities. Jesus’ prayer in Gethsemane was not a prayer of hopelessness and defeat. It was a prayer of surrender to His Father’s will.  In surrender, Jesus found the strength to continue in His process and overcome.

The truth is the Lord always wants His children to walk in victory. Three times the Lord warned His disciples about being in caught in temptation’s snare. This warning went unheeded. Most of us operate just like the disciples… we believe we can handle it…only to find we can’t. The good news is the Lord provides a way of escape. This doesn’t mean the road automatically turns into Easy Street. It does mean we will be able to bear what is about to transpire…with God’s help.  The key is being able to discern God’s path. This is why Jesus exhorted His disciple’s to pray.

God is not trying to keep His will from you today. He is trying to get you to understand and walk in truth. Take the time to get to know His best for you this week. Temptations are coming… wouldn’t it be great if you avoided those old pitfalls instead of falling head forward into Satan’s snares?

 

Blessings – From God’s Incubator,

Pastor

 

Why Prayer Is Still Important When We Know Circumstances Will Not Change

31 Thursday Oct 2013

Posted by in How to Receive an Answer from God, Luke, Our Spiritual Process

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intimate with God

 

Lets face it…  there are going to be times when prayer will NOT change what’s going to happen. God is still God and we are still His servants. No matter how much we pray, the outcome will still be the same. So, why pray?

The reason for keeping our prayer life current despite the circumstances was exemplified by Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. Three times Jesus asked His Father to change His circumstances…. three times He was denied a more favorable outcome. (Luke 22:39-46) It was far better for you and me that God denied His request. So why pray then… because we still need something from God. Our prayer then becomes more of a confirmation of the known will of God.

A minister noticed a young boy kneeling off to the side of the room after youth group and praying very fervently. As the preacher came within earshot of the boy, he was surprised to hear the boy saying: “Tokyo, Tokyo, Tokyo.”

After the boy finished his praying the preacher approached him and said, “Son, I was very pleased to see you praying so devoutly, but I couldn’t help but overhear you saying something like ’Tokyo, Tokyo, Tokyo.’ What was that all about?”

The boy replied, “Well, I just finished taking my geography test in school, and I have been praying as hard as I can that God would make Tokyo the Capital of France.”

Maybe you too have been in a place like this.  Is God really going to change the capital of France to Tokyo?  I don’t think so. Prayer is a powerful tool, but the outcome will still be the same. So do we continue in prayer when we know the outcome will not change?

 

39 And He came out and proceeded as was His custom to the Mount of Olives; and the disciples also followed Him. 40 When He arrived at the place, He said to them, “Pray that you may not enter into temptation.” 41 And He withdrew from them about a stone’s throw, and He knelt down and began to pray, 42 saying, “Father, if You are willing, remove this cup from Me; yet not My will, but Yours be done.”

43 Now an angel from heaven appeared to Him, strengthening Him. 44 And being in agony He was praying very fervently; and His sweat became like drops of blood, falling down upon the ground.45 When He rose from prayer, He came to the disciples and found them sleeping from sorrow, 46 and said to them, “Why are you sleeping? Get up and pray that you may not enter into temptation.”  Luke 22:39-46

 

I don’t think Jesus was praying so much for His circumstances to change as much as He was praying against the circumstances changing Him. We know from the Gospel narratives that Jesus warned and instructed His disciples to “Pray that you enter not into temptation.”  This warning was given three times. The disciples fell quickly into temptation’s snare… Jesus walked away from the temptation to exit God’s process.

When did this “cup” become so important to the Lord. Jesus had never mentioned having to “drink from a cup.”  Let me abbreviate here… Drinking from the cup meant Jesus was choosing for Himself to stay in God’s process every step of the way.  No deviation.  The “cup” was shorthand describing Jesus’ process. I believe also this “cup” was the Father’s language to His Son.  Yes, it can be found it scripture. But in Jesus’ mind it described everything He would be going through in the next few hours. I am sure Jesus had prayed about it numerous times. The cup might not speak to you, it might not speak to anyone…. but it sure spoke to Jesus and described precisely what He would be enduring.

Have you ever noticed how I sign the end of my blogs? For the past few months I say…”From God’s Incubator.” Now, this means absolutely nothing to anybody else…but to me, it means a lot. It describes what I am going through. One word reveals everything.  Where did I get it?  From my wife… no, but she heard it from the Lord. We have prayed about our incubator on numerous occasions. It is interesting. When God speaks, you start talking like Him!

Why is all this important? Because when you grow in the Lord, it is not about you simply following orders. There is a greater level of obedience. Eventually we each need to grow to a level of choosing for ourselves to be obedient. We stop talking about “God making us do things.” Instead, we are obedient to His word because we want to obey. The Father wants more from us than blind obedience. He wants us to choose His will for ourselves. Every parent longs for the day when their children want to brush their teeth, take a bath, and clean their room on their own. Jesus wasn’t simply going to the cross because God wanted Him to go… He was choosing the path of the cross… Himself.   

Listen, all Jesus had to do was slip off about 30-40 feet, or even less, and crouch down to pray. No one would have even found Him there. He could have said, “Well, Father, I was there but Judas and his gang didn’t see Me… so I was going to do Your will, but they missed me.” You say they could have caught Him later, but then Jesus wouldn’t have been crucified directly before the Passover.  Jesus made sure that Judas’ crew found Him. He basically delivered Himself into their hands. Why? Jesus drank for Himself the cup His Father placed before Him.

In closing, there is a verse of scripture that has always troubled me.

13 No temptation has overtaken you but such as is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide the way of escape also, so that you will be able to endure it.  I Corinthians 10:13

 

This verse proves once again that prayer isn’t ALWAYS about changing our circumstances and fixing our problems. Sometimes God’s escape plan is being able to endure what is coming our way. Prayer then, is about laying hold of God…

  • laying hold of His strength,
  • laying hold of His comfort, and
  • laying hold of His Will in our lives.

Prayer is just an affirmation of what we know is already true. Jesus prayed three times for His circumstances to change… all to no avail. In the end, when all of His close friends abandoned Him, He had the comfort of knowing He was in the center of God’s will. Jesus’ prayer life confirmed it.

More next time…

 

Blessings – From God’s Incubator,

Pastor

 

 

When Jesus Takes Over Your Temple

17 Thursday Oct 2013

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old cross - new cross

 

Jesus spent the last week of His life on earth occupying the Temple. He kicked out the money changers and set up shop. Everyday He would teach in the Temple and spend the night at the Mount of Olives. Like the Passover Lamb, the people of Jerusalem could examine Jesus for faults.  The religious leaders tried unsuccessfully to entrap Him with trick questions.

During those days of examination, the religious leaders wanted to know, “Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?” (Luke 20:2) By the way, things haven’t changed much in two thousand years. People still ask this same question, except they state it this way… “Who gives you the right to tell me how to act and live.”

How did Jesus answer this type of question? The easy answer would have been… “I am God and what I say goes.” He would have been justified for doing so… but He didn’t choose this avenue. Instead, He brought up John the Baptist’s ministry. At first glance this makes no sense. Why bring up John? He was beheaded by Herod. Jesus did so because it was a question about authority. These leaders were rejecting Jesus’ authority for the same reason they didn’t believe in John’s authority.

Here is the point – If we cannot discern God’s movements in the most basic of ways, what makes us believe we are ready for deeper revelations. The truth is that no one can give another person a revelation beyond what the Lord has already provided. This is why it is impossible to grow, hear, or discern deeper truths without first growing up in simple truths. This issue of authority was something everyone appeared to discern from Jesus’ ministry. All the Gospels recorded how the people marveled at Jesus’ authority. “He spoke as one having authority.” Discerning authority or sensing it….should be an easy task, even for a beginner. When the chief priests and religious leaders continued to challenge Jesus’ authority, He resorted to communicating truths via parables.

I hear these types of statements all the time…”The Bible is too difficult to understand! Why doesn’t God just speak plainly? Why does God use parables?” If our current revelations and truths from God appear to be foggy, it could be we haven’t obeyed His last words to us. This is what Jesus was trying to communicate to the religious leaders. Had they believed in John’s message, they would have believed Jesus’ message. Since they rejected John’s word, He couldn’t help them understand His authority. Jesus told another parable and they shouted at the end….”May it never be!” (Luke 20:16)

When we reject God’s word for us, we enter into a cycle of never being able to understand God’s word. The religious of Jesus’ day actually believed God existed for the sake of Israel, not Israel for God. How do you view the Lord?

  • Does God exist to keep the Baptists going or do Baptists exist for God?
  • Does God exist to keep the Methodists going or do Methodists exist for God?
  • Does God exist to keep the Catholics going or do Catholics exist for God?

Plug your particular denomination in here….. Over 90 percent of Americans claim to believe in God, but what kind of God do they actually trust and know?

For each of us, the day must arrive when Jesus enters our temple and takes over. When we allow Him to do so, everything will change. If you are struggling to get there… reflect upon the Lord’s last words. It could be your obedience is lacking. The Lord can’t deepen His word until you become obedient. Don’t make the mistake of questioning His authority. We are His temple. The Lord doesn’t exist for us, we exist for Him.

 

Blessings – From God’s Incubator,

Pastor

 

 

Missing the Time of Our Visitation

14 Monday Oct 2013

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still the storm within me

 

…because you did not recognize the time of your visitation.” Luke 19:44

The word for visitation is an interesting word. It literally means “to relieve“. The Episcopalian denomination derives its name from this word. Jesus employed this word to indicate how the Father sent Him to bring relief and deliverance to the dark nation at a time when they needed it most. If you took a poll of the inhabitants of Jerusalem… I am sure everyone would have espoused in no uncertain terms how much they wanted heaven’s relief. Yet these same folks who wanted the Kingdom of God to manifest totally and absolutely missed it when relief came strolling down the street. In fact, they not only rejected their relief, they crucified Him. It is ironic how most people want relief until it looks like Jesus!

Why Do We Miss God’s Visitations?

Jesus was not implying that people are unaware of God’s purposes. Everybody was watching and waiting for a move of God. They still do. Jesus told people on several occasions the Kingdom was already in their presence. (Luke 17:20-21) They were aware of Jesus’ claims and were witnesses to His miracle-working power. So, why did they miss God’s visitation?  The same reason we miss God’s movements today. We fail to discern God’s purposes ahead of our own needs. The people of Jesus’ day could not detect Jesus’ purpose because they had their eyes solely on their immediate circumstances. God’s higher purposes simply made no sense.

We are no different today. When you personally experience a trial or hardship, your eyes focus squarely on your circumstances… all you can detect is what is wrong. Your prayers revolve around obtaining God’s deliverance from your circumstance…. anything differing other than direct deliverance is obviously not from God. This is why we have a tendency to call some things “bad”, which are actually God’s good and vice-a-versa. When we examine our circumstances without the knowledge of God, we will miss God’s will and plan. The folks in Jesus’ day were looking for the purposes and plans of God. Their problem and our problem is we interpret God’s will in light of our present circumstances and problems. The people of Jesus missed their visitation and so will we.

I happens like this… You are going through a hardship and you begin to pray. As you pray it becomes, “Lord, deliver me. Lord, get me out of this place. Lord, move. Lord, fight for me.”  Your prayer is never, “Lord, mold me. Lord change me. Lord, grow me. Lord help me to grow bigger than my problem. Lord, allow me to suffer more that You might be glorified through my life.” Bottom-line, our desire is for God to change our circumstances, instead of discerning God’s purposes and asking God to change us.

A few years back I was in a spiritual battle. The demons were tearing me up. Prayer about this attack brought no success. I finally wised up and asked God why He wasn’t doing anything about the demonic attacks. He said plainly, “I am not going to do anything about them. You do something about it.”  I was floored. I reaffirmed to the Lord that they were winning and He needed to help. He said, “I am not going to do anything about demons. They are your problem and you have to handle it, yourself.” It was like He was telling me to shut-up and stop praying about demonic activity. I was now mad at God and the demons. I could have spit nails. What a fine situation. God was leaving me alone to fight demons all by myself. Does all this sound mean to you? It sounded mean to me.

I finally got my eyes off myself and started thinking about what God said. He said, “I had to handle the situation myself.” I turned to the Word. The Word states over and over again that all believers have power over demons. I had never rebuked demons before, but I was in such desperate shape. As soon as I took authority over the demons they fled with lightening speed. I felt like a spiritual Hercules! It was only later that the Lord spoke further. He said. “Don’t pray about things I have given you authority over. I have left the devil and His demons around for you to beat up and take authority over. Take your authority.”

I am sure it was hard for the Lord to watch me suffer… but I needed to know the truth. I first had to get my eyes off my circumstances and look to the truth. I would have missed my visitation had I kept my eyes on myself and what I was going through.

The people of Jesus’ day desired deliverance from oppression. Jesus came to deliver them from oppression and the bigger problem of sin. In their desire to escape their immediate circumstances, to have their own brand of peace, they missed the fact they were in the very presence of the Prince of Peace. When we desire our own “brand of deliverance” we will miss God’s visitation. If you are waiting for God to provide your own personal brand of deliverance, you will be waiting a long time. The Lord wants to give us Himself… He is the Prince of Peace. He is all you need.

 

Blessing – From God’s Incubator,

Pastor

 

Why Hanky Faith Will Not Work

08 Tuesday Oct 2013

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Unworthy Conception of God

 

A certain nobleman went into a far country to receive for himself a kingdom and to return. So he called ten of his servants, delivered to them ten minas, and said to them, ‘Do business till I come.'” Luke 19:12-13

 

It was Jesus who instituted the first “Occupy Movement“. Except He didn’t instruct His followers to sit around and stink until someone paid them to leave. No, the Lord gave each an allotment of wages, talents, gifts, and abilities and told them to “occupy or do business until He returned.” The word here for “occupy” is pragmateuomai. It means to be practical or pragmatic with what the Lord gives. What the Lord gives each of us to use in this life varies from person to person. In the end, I believe we all have something of value to give back to our generation. In other words, if our faith and beliefs do not have any practical application to our life and to the life of other people… then what use is it. If you don’t use it, you will lose it.

The interesting thing about this story is that time did pass. The Master did eventually return and want a return on His investment. Two of the three individuals did invest what the Lord gave them. The third man didn’t lose his investment. He simply hid it in a handkerchief. I call this “hanky faith”. It is a do nothing type of faith. It is the false belief that if you do nothing relatively wrong, then you are doing right. Listen to the third man’s words…

“Sir, here is your mina (investment); I have kept it laid away in a piece of cloth. I was afraid of you, because you are a hard man. You take out what you did not put in and reap what you did not sow.” Luke 19:20-21

 

This man is in serious trouble. He makes matters worse by opening his mouth. Not only has he failed to make an investment with the Master’s money, he insults and blames the Master for his personal failures. He accuses the Master/King of being a “hard man“. Yet, the Master just richly rewarded the two previous individuals for making wise investments. He further attacks the King’s character! He claims the King had so intimidated him that he was afraid to act… so he just hid his investment.

 

Hanky Faith Does Not Impress God

There are many today who believe that if they simply do nothing wrong, they will gain entrance into the kingdom of God. This parable of Jesus corrects this type of thinking… according to the Lord, doing nothing means gaining nothing. If you think that you are going to impress God in the end by telling Him about all the things you did not do….you are in for a surprise. God will not be asking about what you did not do, He will be asking about what you did with your life. The Lord desires a return on His investment in your life.

Someone once said, “The Christian life is not to be lived in the negative column of the ledger; it is to be lived on the plus side… the positive side of life.” There are a lot of people who feel very superior to other people because they do not do what other people do… while at the same time they have never thought about getting busy doing something good for the Lord. They sit at home with a pious posture and folded hands criticizing others. Their lives never register positively on the world in any way. If you ask these folks what they believe… they will start off by telling you what they don’t do and what they don’t believe.

Hey listen…. Being critical is not a spiritual gift. If you are not doing anything, don’t stand back and criticize someone who is doing something, even if it isn’t perfect in your eyes. Critical people never attempt to serve God by helping someone else. It never occurs to them to get up off their “blessed assurance” and go out to visit someone who is lonely or help someone financially. But they sure feel called to be critical of people who look, act, or talk differently… and call it religion and faith. It never dawns on them to love, help, and pray for others outside of their doors.

Unfortunately, we define the Christian life in negative terms. Christianity cannot be defined by recounting what it is not. Believers are called to believe. We sometimes hear people remark, “He is a Christian man. He does not smoke, drink, curse or chew and neither does he run around with girls who do.”  But Christianity is not a matter of what we do not do, it is a matter of what we do. If the only way people can tell that you are a Christian is by the things you do not do, then you need to take a second look at your life.

When Jesus Christ returns as King and you stand before him, He will not say, “Well avoided, good and faithful servant.” He will say, “Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!” (Matthew 25:21).

 

 It is a Matter of Trust

You are not going to be rewarded by God for avoiding sin and doing nothing. His rewards only come to those who faithfully work at using their God-given abilities to make a difference in this world. Please notice the Master displayed great trust in His servants. God is a Sower! He gave them His own resources — He did not keep checking on them. He did not stand over them and watch their every move. He didn’t even leave instructions on how they were to invest. Here is the rub with God – He trusts us enough to not interfere. Wow! If we need further instructions… we can ask!

As Rick Joyner echoes…. “It is the best and worst thing about God. The best thing about God is that he gives us freedom. It is also the worst thing about God…. He leaves us to our own devises. We can live life any way we choose, but we also know that there is a day coming when we will have to give an account of what we have done with our lives.”

How have we used what God has given us? God’s trust is God’s test. He gives us complete freedom and then watches what we do with it. He guides us but never forces us. That means we are responsible for the choices we make.

 

Blessings – From God’s Incubator,

Pastor

Obtaining a Blind Man’s Faith

03 Thursday Oct 2013

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aflame with the fire of God

 

The story of blind Bartimaeus reminds me a lot of Lazarus, the poor beggar who sat outside of the rich man’s house everyday begging. Lazarus had a meager existence. No one really cared about him. His medical care consisted of dogs licking his wounds. Bartimaeus was a beggar too, but blind. Both had the daily routine of begging others for sustenance. In Jesus’ time, beggars were at the bottom of the social ladder, only slightly more important than dogs.

 

Faith Doesn’t Need Eyes – Faith Comes By Hearing!

Blind Bart couldn’t see, but as with many blind people, he had a keen sense of hearing. On this particular day, he could tell from the rumble of the mob that “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” No doubt, Bart had heard of Jesus. Perhaps he heard about how Jesus healed people, even restored sight to the blind!

Even though Bart couldn’t see Jesus with his own eyes, he believed based upon what he had previously heard. He didn’t just believe Jesus was in his city: he believed Jesus had the power to change his life. So he cried out, “Jesus! Son of David, have mercy on me!”  (Luke 18:38) The term “Son of David” was a term reserved for the coming Messiah, the King. It was a title of Divine Power. Bart was confessing Jesus was more than a mere rabbi or teacher–He was the King! Bart had more insight to Who Jesus really was than almost any other figure in the New Testament! Wow!

Faith Accesses God

Faith is the first step everyone must take to receive mercy from God. Faith is not just believing God exists, it is acting on that belief. Real faith causes your heart to leap and your mouth to open in confession. This is why I like to read and re-read Romans 10:8-11.

8 But what does it say? “The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart”—that is, the word of faith which we are preaching, 9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; 10 for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. 11 For the Scripture says, “Whoever believes in Him will not be disappointed.

 

These verses remind me how I accessed the Lord with faith the very first time. They also remind me that I can access the Lord over and over again with that same faith. I call it working my faith muscles. The more I work them, the larger they grow.

Bartimaeus is a great picture of people in the 21st century. We have never seen Jesus with our physical eyes, but we have heard about Him. Faith then comes by hearing… It is not just believing facts about Jesus, it is trusting Him with our whole life. When people ask me “how do you know Jesus is real?” I know He is real because I have met Him and He lives within me. In fact, I have talked to Him today. He is not just some historical figure, another man of religion who died long ago… Jesus is alive and I have a relationship with Him. Like Bartimaeus, I was blind before I met Him but now I see.

The Good News was Jesus wasn’t too busy to take time out to minister to old Bart. He was just a week or two away from sacrificing Himself on a cross for the sins of mankind. I am sure there were hundreds of people vying to get Jesus’ attention, but one lone beggar crying out in faith caught the Lord’s heart. Faith will access God every time.

You may think that in the larger scheme of things you aren’t very important. In comparison to the entirety of the cosmos, our planet is just a small rock circling a minor star.  You are just one of over eight billion human beings sharing space on the third rock from the sun. In spite of this, you are of such great importance to God, that when you call out to Him, He pauses to help you!

The mighty sun burning 93 million miles away provides the gravitational pull that keeps all the planets in orbit. Yet that same sun will still warm your face on a cold day as if it had nothing else to do. Likewise, the creator God who keeps the entire universe running will stop and answer your cry for help as if He had nothing else to do. God isn’t distracted by the millions of other voices. He always has time for you.

 

Blessings – From God’s Incubator,

Pastor

Beware of Religious Gatekeepers

02 Wednesday Oct 2013

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the decision makes you

 

What if I told you there are people, even well-meaning people, out there preventing you from receiving God’s best. These folks are not hidden, unscrupulous, vicious individuals skulking around dark corners. They are some of your closest friends traveling the road with you. The problem is the noise they make.  It is the rabble from their wake. They never shut-up long enough for you to hear or be heard. God has a word for you today … and everyday. Some of His messages are more important than others. There is a high likelihood you cannot hear God’s revelation for the confluence of voices surrounding you. This was exactly blind Bart’s problem. Yes, he was blind. But his biggest problem was the crowd.

 

35 As Jesus was approaching Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the road begging. 36 Now hearing a crowd going by, he began to inquire what this was. 37 They told him that Jesus of Nazareth was passing by. 38 And he called out, saying, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” 39 Those who led the way were sternly telling him to be quiet; but he kept crying out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” 40 And Jesus stopped and commanded that he be brought to Him;  Luke 18:35-40

 

This company of onlookers following Jesus was like all the other crowds surrounding the Lord. Except…this bunch was preventing this man from connecting to his destiny! His new eyes were passing by on the road right in front of him. Bartimaeus was just five minutes from being able to see. In the middle of this crowd were some nay sayers attempting to keep old Bart from seeking the Lord. Jesus’ disciples attempted the same thing with children just a few verses earlier. What do disciples know? The Kingdom belongs to children and blind men.

Here is the point about crowds…. they have no concern about others. They really don’t care about what is happening around them until someone has the audacity to halt their parade. When they get the news that their parade is about to be stopped for someone other than them personally… this is when they get louder.

Every person in the crowd could have called out to Jesus on this occasion.  Only one audacious person was heard… blind Bartimaeus.  What did the crowd do?  They were audacious too, but not for Jesus. They sought to shut-up the one man crying out with all his heart for the Lord. They rebuked the seeker for being loud and boisterous.  Bartimaeus’ courage was met with a ferocious rebuke. These “gatekeepers” believe they know what is best for you and for Jesus.

Why is it that most religious folks and even non-religious folks don’t want other people healed, restored, or redeemed?  Everybody says they want the “good” from heaven to be passed around to all people.  But, in reality, the exact opposite is true.

The truth is we don’t want others to get blessed until we are blessed. We want the Lord to notice us first. It is like we feel the cupboard of heaven has limited supplies. God isn’t acting fairly unless we are served first. It is sad, but true. I think this is one of the reasons we feel uncomfortable in churches where some believers express emotions and worship passionately. Since we don’t worship in this fashion… no one else should either. Since we personally do not feel the urge to get passionate, neither should others. Since the blessings of God haven’t touch us personally, then no one else should be passionate either.

Someone wrote an article a while back on “why the other line at the grocery store always moves faster than the one you are personally standing.”  It really doesn’t but when you are in the line moving quickly, you really don’t think about all the poor stiffs sitting still. But, when you are stuck waiting, all you can do is think about why you are stuck and others are moving forward.  In other words, it is easy to fill victimized and never give serious consideration when others are stalled. We all have a tendency to over-exaggerate our own importance and rarely consider what others are going through.  Hey, if it is not happening to me, then it should not be happening to anybody. Right?

Not one person encouraged Bartimaeus to get louder.  They all told him to shut-up. We have all been yelled at or shouted down. This is why we too react like the crowd.  Religion even has the gall to say things like, “It is a sin to question God. It is wrong to plead, seek, and go after God like the blind man. It is wrong to be passionate!”

Wrong!!! The blind man proves it. It is not wrong to call out, to question and seek God like a mad man.  It might be socially and religiously unacceptable but it is never wrong in the eyes of Jesus. Blind Bart knew better on the road that day. He got louder.

We don’t like those who speak up, who leave the status quo, who refuse to keep quiet, who reject compliance as a way of life. We would rather have people shut up than say disturbing things from a genuine faith. So we tell people to be quiet…because in reality…genuine faith scares us to death. Since God has yet to answer us personally… He is not going to answer some unknown, blind man!

Have you gotten quiet? Have some of your friends discouraged you from seeking the Lord more passionately. Have they said something like… “It didn’t work for me, so it is not going to work for you. I tried praying like that but it didn’t work. God didn’t hear me, so He is not going to hear you. You should just settle down and get quiet.”

If blind Bartimaeus could speak to us again today it would be… “Seek the Lord with all your heart. Don’t listen to the crowd… get louder until the Lord hears you.”

 

Blessings – From God’s Incubator,

Pastor

 

 

Turning Bad Into Good

26 Thursday Sep 2013

Posted by in Luke, Our Spiritual Process

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God Is Good

 

Have you ever heard someone comment, “How can God be good when thousands are killed in disasters and tragedies everyday. I can’t believe in a God who would allow situations like this to happen.”

Let’s say they are right in their observation… and God isn’t good. Let’s take it one step further and say God doesn’t exist. Thousands of people are still going to die tomorrow from tragedies, accidents, and disasters. Blaming God or getting rid of Him doesn’t solve the problem.

How do we answer the dilemma?  If God is good, why do bad things happen?

The answer is – If an event isn’t good, then it didn’t have its source in God. In other words, He didn’t author it.  Yes, God is totally sovereign and He is in control. God allows bad things to exist in our world for reasons we will never be able to fully understand. Our problem is we use the wrong standard for goodness. People use their own standard for what is good and bad. Good is whatever is personally good for them and the world in which they live. When we blame or accuse God for the bad in the world we are basically saying, “I know better than God and my standard for goodness is higher than His.” Are you going to believe in God only if He acts like you want Him to act? You would be better off carving a god out of a piece of wood or chipping one out of a rock.

Many today have become their own standard for goodness. In essence, they are worshipping themselves and their own standards. Once this happens we will never be able to discern the true source of good and bad. We will remain blind.

As I was saying in the previous blog, the proof of goodness cannot be discovered in our experience or circumstance. Good can only be discovered by going to the source. God’s goodness doesn’t mean that bad things will not happen to you. We live in a bad, evil world. Jesus even warned His disciples that even more bad things would happen to them because they were followers of Him. So the absence or presence of bad doesn’t prove or disprove anything. The only ones who struggle over this issue are those who refuse to come under the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

The good news is found in knowing that God is good. He promises to take the very worst life has to offer, if we let Him, and create eternal good from it.

 

And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.  Romans 8:28

 

This verse doesn’t say “all things are good“. All things are not good, but God can cause “all things to work together for good.” When we allow God to set the standard for good, then it doesn’t matter what happens. Circumstances and situations may get extremely difficult for us. But God’s goodness can be discerned even in the middle of evil situations.

I don’t always know what “good” God has in mind when He allows tragedy, heartache, and disappointments to come into our lives. But I am not in charge and I am not God. I can ask Him and He may answer. But I am not in charge and I may never know. My job is to trust in the Lord’s leadership. I have discovered that the worst thing to do in difficult circumstances is to consult other people before I consult the Lord.

Romans 8:28 reminds us all of what we need to know. “God causes all things to work together for good.” I may not be able to see how God is working for good… I may not be able to feel God working for good… I may not even understand how God could work out some terrible situations for good. If God says He will, then He will. It is His job. My job is to continue to love Him and stay in my calling as His child. God always knows what is best.

The greek word for good is agathós.  It means what is inherently (intrinsically) good; as to the believer. Agathós describes what originates from God and is empowered by Him in their life, through faith.

Did you catch this? If we cannot intrinsically believe God is good, all the time, everywhere, in everybody, and especially towards us personally… then how can we ever, ever, ever pray and believe in faith towards Him. We cannot! Believing in the goodness of God is an absolute necessity. If you want to radically change your prayer life today, set God as your permanent standard for goodness. You will see Him and His Kingdom in a whole new light.

 

Blessings – From God’s Incubator,

Pastor

 

God Is the Standard for Goodness

25 Wednesday Sep 2013

Posted by in Luke, Our Spiritual Process

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Foundations are shaking

 

Did Jesus really mean that no one is good but God alone?  I think He did. This means that no one, absolutely no one knows what is good, and conversely no one knows what is bad… outside the Lord telling them. Yet we hear people inform us of what is good and bad all the time.  People say, “So-in-so is bad and so-in-so is good. Why doesn’t God do something about ______ bad things and why doesn’t He do more _____ good things.”

If believers are not careful they will even fall prey to thinking and speaking like this. Eventually, not discerning good from bad will affect your belief system.

 

What if I told you that you personally don’t know good from bad, would you believe me?

 

 What Is Actually Good? 

How then do we determine what is “good” … and what isn’t “good”?  You probably already have a belief system in place to process goodness. The best way to know goodness is to use Jesus’ system.

 

And someone came to Him and said, “Teacher, what good thing shall I do that I may obtain eternal life?” 17 And He said to him, “Why are you asking Me about what is good? There is only One who is good; but if you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”    Matthew 19:16-17

 

Jesus wanted this rich young ruler to teach Him the standard of good. The young seeker was like most people. He thought the good life consisted of good things, good circumstances, and good feelings. In other words… if it was good to him personally, then it was good. He had been earnestly keeping most of the Ten Commandments from his youth. Like most people I know, he thought by keeping these good commandments he was good enough for heaven.

According to Jesus – Good is defined by source (God) not by experience.  Follow my logic here. Anything that is good, comes from God because God is good. If it is not from God, then it isn’t good. If something isn’t good, then it didn’t come from God. It doesn’t matter how good it looks… how good it feels… how good it tastes …. if it doesn’t come from God, then it isn’t good.  Also, if it isn’t good, then it didn’t come from God.  Can you agree?

Most of us can look at these last statements and understand that this is how it ought to work. The Bible says, “God is good.” Jesus confirms God is good… Therefore, only good can come from Him. But, our experience and circumstances betray how we really process goodness.  This is how we really process goodness.

Spinach didn’t come from God but chocolate did. There will be no spinach in heaven. Spinach is a result of the fall of man. It is a part of the curse God placed upon the ground. As a result, people in hell will eat spinach and people in heaven will consume boat loads of chocolate.  How did I come to this conclusion?  I am being facetious of course, because I don’t like spinach. In fact, I might even be allergic to it. Conversely, I love chocolate… all chocolate. It is good. It tastes good and it feels good in my mouth. In fact, I love just about all things dipped in the stuff. The truth is (as much as I hate to admit it) spinach is good for you. It even provides a spiritual lesson for us today.

Here is the point: Good is not determined by experience, it is only discerned by discovering it’s source.  I may have had a bad experience with spinach, turnips, and cauliflower but that doesn’t determine whether they are good or bad. Goodness is determined by its Creator, not by any experience. In reality, chocolate tastes good all the time. Chocolate makes me feel good in limited quantities. In fact, chocolate has a soothing attribute about it which makes many people happy, happy, happy.  But a steady diet of only chocolate wouldn’t be good for me.  Why? Experience is not the gold standard for goodness.

Likewise, you can never determine whether what you are going through is either good or bad by how you feel or by what you are experiencing…. never!  If feelings, experience, and circumstances are your guides you will miss goodness every time.  The only way to know whether something is good or bad is by knowing who authored it.

Paul and Silas were in jail. Peter and John found themselves in jail too. By all objective assessments, jail was bad.  But no… they considered it good and rejoiced.  This explains why most believers simply collapse in trying circumstances… they are only looking for a chocolate experience.

This is why most believers do not know how, why, and what to pray for in difficult circumstances. They pray for “bad” things (chocolate) and neglect praying for God’s “good things” (spinach).   They never take time to discern something’s source.

 

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning. James 1:17

 

Every good thing has God as its source. God only produces that which is good. We might use it for a bad purpose (marijuana, cocaine, alcohol) … but goodness is determined by its source, not by experience.

Today, ask God if what you are going through is from Him. Stop attempting to discern your circumstances and problems. Our call as believers is to discern the Lord and the Lord’s will. Psychics and mediums strive to interpret circumstances. Believers seek the Lord. Only the Lord can teach us whether something is good or bad. He also knows how to take the bad in life and make something good out of it.  More on this next time.

 

Blessings – From God’s Incubator,

Pastor

 

Is God Really Good? 

24 Tuesday Sep 2013

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No Opinion of God

 

A young man tried to call Jesus “good” one day. We don’t know his motivations. Maybe he was flattering the Lord or maybe he honestly saw Jesus as being good. Jesus didn’t let the compliment sit. He corrected him. In all of Jewish history no rabbi was ever called “good“.  This title was reserved for God and God alone. In the English language “good” and “God” are interchangeable. It is the extra “o”.

Jesus wanted to know why the young man called Him “good.” Jesus has a way to get to the heart of any issue. I don’t think Jesus was denying His Deity… He simply wanted this young man to give further thought on what he just said. Have you ever called something “good”, but knew in the moment you were making an over-exaggeration? The noun good in modern vocabulary gets tossed around far too often. It really doesn’t mean much anymore. Jesus was basically saying, “If you want to call Me good, then you must be willing to call Me God. If you will not call Me God, then you can’t call Me good!”  In other words for Jesus, knowing God as being truly good was serious business. Jesus knew if a person knew God, they also knew good. If a person couldn’t discern good, it meant they didn’t know God.

 

In your estimation… has God always been good to you?  Are you willing to call Him good, right now, in all things?

 

The “goodness” of God is one of the first and basic lessons we learn.  Unfortunately, it doesn’t stick to us throughout our life.  We have to relearn this lesson time and time again… I know I have had to start over. Your first prayer over meals was probably something like this… “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food.” Did you ever learn the chorus: “God is so good, God is so good, God is so good, He’s so good to me?”

We are told things like this as children and then the hard realities of life kick-in and we begin to wonder if God is really good. The Bible constantly reminds us of God’s goodness. But just because the scriptures speak of something often, doesn’t mean it seeps down into our innermost being.

Here is the point… Continually being able to discern God’s goodness can prove to be difficult for many people. Sometimes we don’t see, detect, or even discern the goodness of God in certain situations, especially when something bad happens to us personally.  When we experience a heartache, a tragedy or disappointment … it appears as though God isn’t so good. Why? Good is not happening to me!

  • If God is so good, then why do tragedies happen?  
  • If God is so good, then why did my dad die of cancer or my mom develop Alzheimer’s? 
  • If God is so good, then why is there so much suffering in the world, right now? 
  • If God is so good, then why do bad things happen to “good” people?  
  • In fact, why does bad even have to exist?

Let me say, it is easy to see bad. I can have a thousand good things happen to me in one day and only focus upon the one bad problem. As I type this blog, it is 77 degrees and feeling nice… but I know I haven’t thanked the Lord for any of the good things He has given me today. Part of our problem is we spend too much of time complaining about the bad things around us and never spend a nanosecond  thanking the Lord or rejoicing over the good we know He provides. If you are one of those people who can only discern the “bad” issues of life, you have larger issues which need addressing. True discernment detects both good and bad… and discerns the source.

I am going to discuss this more in my next blog but if you struggle with discerning the good and bad of life… maybe it is time to start over and get a clearer picture of God. You need an update! Your files have become corrupted. If the Bible is correct and God is indeed good, then no one can know true good without Him. He is our definition. He is our compass. He is our Northern Star. If we don’t know Him or understand Him, then we cannot truly know what is good. If we don’t really understand good, then we cannot detect bad either.  Sound crazy?  Stick with me because I believe this is one of the major reasons most believers don’t get immediate answers to their prayers…. they inwardly doubt the goodness of God.  Yeah, Yeah… they say God is good, they sing it, and they even speak and teach it. The problem is …. inwardly they doubt it!  In other words, they don’t believe in a good God.  Nothing will cause your prayer life to sink, stink, or come to a crashing halt like doubting the goodness of God.

Hey, you either pray to a good God or you don’t. It is this cut and dry. More next time.

 

Blessings – From God’s Incubator,

Pastor