Who is Jesus Anyways?

I am currently looking into who Jesus actually is. I’m in a group that is exploring what the bible really says about the God-Man and as I delve deeper into the subject I’m beginning to realize that most of my thoughts about the man that I love and serve and have given my entire life to….are based more on culture and tradition or even human sentiment than the actual truth of the person.

There are things that I know Jesus is not. And this is where my thoughts start; He is not the Father’s errand boy. Jesus isn’t the guy who did the will of the Father because no one else would or because He had to make His Father proud or to avert the Father’s wrath. Though there are elements of these realities that may have aspects of truth, Jesus was and is God himself. Jesus is the image of the Father and the fullest expression of His heart. He is the co-equal, co-creating, co-nature of the Father, or as the saints of old have said, He is the only Begotten Son of the Father. He is equal and like Him in every way because He is Him in every way.

Also, Jesus is not superhuman. And my head just exploded. What does it mean to be fully God and fully man? It is difficult to say both aspects with clarity at the same time, so I’m just focusing on the “fully man” part. You want to know what this makes me think of? Poopy diapers. Really, Jesus was a baby and did all the things babies do. Which just makes me think of how much He really does delight in His creatures, that he would become one. And though poopy diapers is in no way the best description of what it means to be “fully man”, it is a thought provoker on the topic that is helpful in moving us out of stuffy traditions that may be hard for the common person to relate to. By the way, Hebrews says that He became like us in every way just so He could relate to us as we are, hence my boldness in saying that He needed to be changed as a kid.

I’ll stop here for now just because I’m getting the sense that this will be a series of posts with much meandering along the way, bunny trails in abundance as it were. Feel free to weigh in on these matters as well. One thing is for certain, we could spend years searching and mining these ideas and thoughts and I may just well do that. If there is one thing that is wise time management it is searching out who Jesus is.

I’ll leave now with this thought from saint John, the so termed “disciple whom Jesus loved”: “And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose even the world itself could not contain all the books that would be written. Amen.” John 21:25

How do we spend?

There is a currency that only grows when it is given away.

Its value never decreases and it cannot run dry.

No one can serve it and another. Because this currency rules all.

It cannot be saved, exploited, laundered, faked, neglected, stolen, or compromised. His way is wealth and His wealth is love. Love can be spent like no amount of money could ever dream.

Will Jesus find faith??

The mandate of a messenger of the mysteries of God is not to explain but to proclaim. True faith regarding the person of Jesus is the object of the Fathers pleadings through the voices of apostles and prophets. Faith that is embraced through the wisdom, arguments, equations, reasonings and philosophies of men is not ultimately real and true faith. It may be a belief sure enough, about something that may or may not be attributable to God, but it stops short of actual belief in God.

When it comes to attributes or ideas about God it is good to believe whatever may be true about Him but it is another thing altogether to believe in Him, regardless of our understanding or misunderstanding the fullness of His character. Albeit, knowing His character and ways helps us to know Him but it does not necessarily cause us to believe in Him. Belief has an element of love, real and evidential love. We may believe He is full of mercy but we must go on to the understanding and the belief that He in and of Himself, is mercy. There is an element of blind faith here that must be settled.

Even Jesus said, “Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen and have believed.” Seeing is not necessarily believing. At the end of the day we may have all the facts about God himself but love compels us to agree with and love those facts for in doing so we love God Himself, thereby exemplifying the nature and fullness of true faith. We do not see in order to beleive but we believe in order to see. In other words, we love so that we may be loved. Love can only be freely given when that love is unhindered by what ifs! Faith, similarly, can only be fully expressed when it is ok with the what ifs! The portion of believers is to embrace God’s person regardless of our understanding or thoughts about God’s ways. Once we embrace His person then all paradigms come slowly into perspective and align themselves appropriately. This is, after all, the inside, upside down kingdom.

The dilemma and the remedy…

There is trouble stirring in the middle east. The trouble is the rage of the nations towards the Lord and towards the Jewish people. Psalm 83:2-4 says, “Behold, Your enemies make a tumult; and those who hate You have lifted up their head. They have taken crafty counsel against Your people, and consulted together against Your sheltered ones. They have said, “Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation, that the name of Israel be remembered no more.”

The present situation with political leaders in Islamic nations is almost the exact same as these verses. I wonder if these leaders know they are practically quoting these scriptures to their own condemnation.

But the Lord has a remedy and a solution for the rage of the nations. It’s gentiles. The prophet Isaiah saw it yet to come and prophesied this realtiy of gentile intercession for the nation of Israel; “I have set watchmen on your walls, O Jerusalem; they shall never hold their peace day or night. You who make mention of the Lord, do not keep silent, and give Him no rest till He establishes and makes Jerusalem a praise in the earth.” (Isaiah 62:6-7)

There is a prayer movement sweeping the earth right now. Small town churches, inner city congregations, messianic Jewish communities and global ministries are taking up the call of intercession for Jerusalem because of the zeal of the Lord of Hosts for Israel’s destiny to function as a light to the nations and a diffuser of the knowledge of the glory of God. As a church, it is our destiny and function to provoke Israel into their destiny by praying and fasting on their behalf. We are to lay down our lives in prayer for this nation to move into its prophetic destiny and the fullness thereof. Start praying church.

Last days

North Korean threats of nuclear missiles, unrest in the middle east, Iranian presidential outrage, America basically saying “enough” with Israel, Russian president calling for one-world currency, global economic collapse, possibility of Federally legalized abortion in the U.S, homosexual agenda being pushed harder and harder by media………sounds like the end of the age to me.

And the Lord would say, “My house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations.”

I wonder why?

Heaping vanity upon vanity…

That’s what we do in the west. Life to most Americans equals living from moment to moment, tangible experience to tangible experience, all the while striving to feel more, to sense and taste and touch more. Our whole lives revolve around the physical world. But we were not only made for the physical. We were made as spiritual beings and cannot be satisfied with the flesh. It is impossible to be happy with things.

Of course I’m not saying anything new. Wise men and sages from times long past have said and re-said the same thing. It has been written in chronicles of ancient history, passed down from song and story and is even written on the human heart. The idea that the American dream proposes is, to say it bluntly, anti-God. The accumulation of wealth and riches is idolatry at its highest and most despicable form. There is no spiritual freedom in the American way of life because our so called “freedoms” are nothing more than sensual addictions.

The highest form of freedom in the kingdom of God is not in possessing but in poverty of spirit. Voluntary giving is the way of God. The idea that America is a Christian nation, to me, is confusing. We are so much more cultural than we are kingdom. I feel as if God’s mercy is upon us as we struggle through this recession. God is touching the wealth of this nation to reveal where our heart really lies. Can we be unoffended, knowing that He is sovereign and that in His sovereignty He is allowing the economy to be troubled?? Instead of reasoning and warring for our way of life to continue as it is, why don’t we submit to the troubles and change how we spend our time and money?

Prayer

Lord, you have been gracious and full of lovingkindness through out the ages. Today, as we come to You, reveal yourself again as that which You truly are. And keep our minds fixed upon You, lest we lose our way and miss Your glory. Be so kind as to help us come to You and to recieve from You what is truth. Allow us the blessing of being transformed by Your life, guide us by Your Spirit. As this world continues to mock and blaspheme Your wonderful name, we pray, find the reward of Your sufferings in us. We are Your friends and we desire that You might find a resting place in us. We delight in You gracious Father because You have delighted in us.

Food for thought / Returning to the simple things

Man, eventually, makes things really complicated. What actually got me thinking on this was food. Yup, food. Man can make sugar. Through science we make sugar and have been making it for some time. God makes sugar too. God makes plants that make sugar actually. Man makes chemicals that make sugars and these kinds are generally really bad for you. Some are even cancer causing. So man makes chemicals that make pills and medicines that try and heal. Follow me here; man wants something, man makes something, man suffers the consequences, man deals with the effects, man responds according to whats in man’s heart. This begs the question, why can’t man settle for what God gave in the first place?? Because man wants it different than God intended because man is fallen, proud, and so very not humble. Weird that food made me think about this but to me it just points to the great and deep reality that sin permeates everything right now. We have no idea how far we have fallen. So today I’m going simple. Trusting the Lord, receiving what He gives with gratitude, and believing His word. If there is one thing simple and certain it’s God’s goodness. This is my compass today. I may possibly even eat healthier too.

The immutability of God that necessitates the repentance of men…

When thinking about the unchangeable nature of God as creator it is helpful to remember that any description of God will fall short of His actual character, for all that He is He is eternally and boundlessly, which is contrary to the languages we may use to try and describe Him. Our words fall short every time simply because of the heights of His glory. There is no language pure enough and complete enough to capture His essence, therefore; “Be still and know that I am God” remains the best of commandments for mortal man to obey concerning His person-hood. Silent awestruck adoration is the only appropriate response in this case.

Nevertheless it behooves us to endlessly explore Him, regardless of our inability to grasp Him completely in our pea brains, because He has made us to do so……because it gives Him pleasure. Men may grow tired, bitter, angry, lovesick, awestruck, humble or mad when it comes to knowing God and pursuing Him but God will always find pleasure in man’s attempt to love and know Him. And whatever conclusions we may draw about Him, do not really explain Him as if He were explainable. The only thing our searching can do is draw us closer to Him or propel us farther from Him. The soul is as a giant rubber band, stretching toward the good or stretching toward the bad as it pertains to our response of the truth. God’s person is affected neither by the praise or the cursing of man. He is in Himself what He is and no outside influence will change Him. Mostly, this drives men to hate Him because sinful, fallen man cannot relenquish the pride that says that man is the most important thing in the universe.

In saying all this there is a lesson to be gleaned that may form how we forever relate to God. There is one thing necessary in approaching Him, it is worship. Worship is not only exalting in who He is but praising what He is. And in praising the what of His nature we must therefore confess that He is above and beyond our nature, this is a declaration of our repentance. As A.W. Tozer says; “In all our efforts to find God, to please Him, to commune with Him, we should remember that all change must be on our part.” As we approach God the immutable we are left with two options, humble submission or embittered rage.

Missouri thunderstorms = God’s glory

Last night we had the worst/best thunderstorm of this spring. I woke up to a crack of thunder that felt like it was in my back yard. I shot up in bed with lights flashing from the lightning strikes outside, it looked like a disco ball in my bedroom. About every two or three seconds there would be thunder that literally felt like it was on top of the house…..low rumbles that shake your gut. There was even some rain being blown in through the window that landed softly on my head and reminded me that having a roof over my head is probably the best and most comforting thing in a storm like this.

As I sat there in my room I immediately began thinking about the fear of the Lord. A thunderstorm in late spring is similiar to the dread of the fear of the Lord, where its miles away and yet it feels like its on top of you at the same time……its dark and yet peels of light are breaking forth all around. This is nothing other than a picture of the glory of the Lord. As terrifying as it is, it is so fun to be around and watch. Yet again this proves that all of creation points to and exemplifies the beauty of the creator.