St. John of the Cross

For contemplation is nothing else than a secret and peaceful and loving inflow of God, which, if not hampered, fires the soul in the Spirit of love…

St. John of the Cross

Wisdom, come here!

After a quick reading of Proverbs 2 and some meditation on Isaiah 40, I’m realizing that I need a massive spiritual overhaul to even begin to walk in the the light of wisdom.

Sages and scholars from ages past and present will attribute the ability to think, act, or prepare for the future as being wise or at the very least, not being completely stupid. Riddles and stories meant to portray wisdom and its effects will most likely involve an ant because ants are known for their teamwork and ability to sustain themselves through winter due to preparation during summer months, when provisions are abundant.

But biblical wisdom goes above and beyond. Though all would agree that timely preparation and the ability to foresee and plan accordingly is an aspect of wisdom, the idea of the wisdom of God is so cross-current and backwards to our natural disposition that the writer of proverbs says it must be sought out, like silver and gold. What makes heavenly wisdom so completely different from earthly wisdom?

All through the word of God it is made clear that wisdom from above comes by having a mindset from another realm. Wisdom of God is rooted and springs from another time, place, reality, and age. Biblical wisdom differs from earthly wisdom because it is not of this age or place. Pulling wisdom from another realm into the here and now makes that wisdom seem so contrary to itself because we cannot grasp living life contrary to how we want to. But that’s exactly what the writer of Proverbs said wisdom is, living like you’re from another time and place.

Are there any wise among us?

What does love really look like?

I don’t think anyone really doubts that our western mindset and paradigm of love is slightly skewed. If I could find a more descriptive word to use than “slightly” I would; horribly, terribly, sadly, painfully, extravagantly, etc. There you have it.

The media, arts, and every form of entertainment available have all given the general public a “castle made of sand” concerning the concept of true love. Glitz, glamour, passion, and ideals are the earmarks of love in the west. The painful thing about all this is that it is all formed and molded from a concept of beauty that is worldly. What the world calls good is usually just bad with nice packaging. Think about it, every romantic movie I’ve ever seen is based on what the main character gets out of the prospective relationship. It has nothing to do with real, gritty, sacrificial service to another for the betterment of the other, which is how love is portrayed in the life of Christ in the gospels.

Sadly, when it comes down to differentiating between the world’s standards and the church’s on this point, it’s a little hazy. Everyone is longing for love, it is THE stream of human emotion, and it’s supposed to be that the church stands as a beacon of light to cast that light through the shadows of wrong paradigm and misguided belief. But the church and the world tend to have the same guidelines concerning love. We tend to follow Hollywood instead of the Cross. It’s no big surprise though, Hollywood pays a lot better…..on this side. Jesus knew differently, He knew that real love, when given away, cannot decrease. It’s like the singer said, “love is the currency of heaven forever.” The more you give, the more it grows.

Man, I wish there were more people who challenged the world. Man, I hope I can be one of them!

Are you burning yet?

The Lord loves incense. God did not create mankind as vessels of service only. Lest we forget, we cannot do anything apart from Him animating and moving us by His own life, which is our source. So, why would we venture to believe we could offer any work or activity that could ever be considered complete or good enough in and of itself?

Oh, how we need the breath of God’s spirit upon our lives. A life offered for service must first be burning with the incense of love. Work, apart from the aroma of infatuated desire for the Beloved, is as filthy rags.

I believe that God the Father is restoring the incense ministry similiar to what the Levitical priests operated in during Old Testament days. Instead of merely outward and physical incense though, the new priesthood, ones who love the dwelling place of the Lord, will burn inwardly with a living flame of love. Levitical priests in the O.T. tabernacle and temple only offered the purest pressed olive oil for burning in ministry service. This pure oil was used because it gave off no smoke or soot so as to not bring any defilement into the temple. Similarly, God is raising up vessels to burn His light and fragrance through, to burn clean and bright with no excess or compromise.

Our Christian activity may very well be good and appropriate but are we on fire with love? It’s not enough to be a vessel for the use of burning just anything. We must be a vessel and provide the pure oil of living love. Are we burning and if so, what are we burning? To stand, minister, and burn is the chief operation of God’s people. How much then should we ensure quality fuel and extravagent sacrifice for Him whom we so much want to minister to!?

Staying faithful through hardships doesn’t equal faithfulness in favor.

Many of us, in fact, all of us at one point or another, have faced hardships. It is a thread woven into the fabric of all human experience. Since the fall of Adam and Eve, struggle has embraced our race like a long lost acquaintance who, no matter what the circumstances or present prospects, is ready to invite himself over for dinner or for a couch to sleep on as he passes through to another destination. We will all have hardships, it is a fact of life.

Many will say that to be faithful and steady in the midst of this is what proves your strength and endurance. While this is true to some extent, my personal belief is that staying steady in hardships is only half the battle on the road of sanctification.

To me, it is more a matter of how you can handle favor and blessing that more accurately qualifies whether or not you indeed are patient in persevering. Why? I think it’s because the human heart is deceitfully wicked. We are far more prone to pride, disbelief, impatience, selfishness, etc., etc., when things are going good for us, simply because when things go good for us, they go our way and our focus easily becomes ourselves and what we want.

Though being patient and enduring hardship will mold in us one of the greatest gifts that the Holy Spirit gives to men, humility, the real arena of testing and refining comes when favor comes. Weakness is natural for all people and it comes as surely as the rising of the sun. Strength however, can only be restrained by a meek and lowly heart and when favor provokes our strength to operate, only the truly humble will choose not to display it for the sake and well being of others.