THIRD HEAVEN RANCH

I think the quote below is a good PS to what I shared in my last post.  Do you know many people who feel and act this way?

This is an excerpt from a word by the late David Wilkerson:

The law is not intended for the person whose obedience springs out of a desire to please God. He is not concerned about what is legal or illegal, what is permitted or forbidden. He has only one criterion: “What does my Lord desire?”

You can lay out all the law before him — all the rules, regulations and prohibitions — and he will say, “You don’t have to tell me not to do those things. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt my Father. I love Him! I’ve already forsaken the world and its lusts to go after Him whom my heart desires.

“Show me what He wants, not just what He forbids. I want His heart’s desire to become my actions. I want to know His mind and obey it. Sure, I love His law. But that’s for the lawless, for those who haven’t come into a knowledge of intimacy with Christ. I have another law at work in my heart. It’s the law of love, one that says, ‘Lord, what can I do to please You today?'”

Such a person isn’t moved by threats of hellfire, or even by rewards. He needs no prophet to shake him, no warnings of judgment. He is in love with Jesus and his obedience to God’s Word is a natural outgrowth of this love. It is as natural to him as breathing.

I want to be the person he describes.  Is that your heart’s desire too?

I’ve been pondering this statement in Scripture for a few days and thought I’d share some of my musings…

Luke 18:8b ESV  Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?”

I think this is such a  sad question considering the world we live in because I’m afraid I know what the answer would be were He to return today.  Our entire walk with the Lord, in my opinion, boils down to one question….do we believe?  The word believe in Scripture is in no way a shallow belief, but one of complete trust and total reliance on.

• Do we believe God is who He says He is?
• Do we believe that God CAN do what He says He CAN do?
• Do we believe that God WILL do what He says He WILL do?
• Do I believe I am who God says I am?

Designed by the 'Author and Finisher of your faith'!

Those questions are partially adapted from Beth Moore’s ‘Believing God’ Bible study that I did back in 2004….a study that really changed my life and walk with the Lord.

Although I have always had a strong faith since I was saved (at age 24), Beth’s study changed me as I made a conscious decision to ‘believe God’ and to trust Him…even when I didn’t understand my circumstances…or circumstances in the lives of others.  I have never once regretted this decision.

I really do believe He can and will do what He says but I feel most of the time I’m in the minority.  I tell myself the Scripture promises there is a remnant of true ‘believers’ out there, but personally, I only know a few.  It seems most are satisfied with being ‘a nominal Christian’ as opposed to ‘a wholehearted, sold out lover of Jesus’.  My heart is simply to see believers who love Jesus with their whole hearts and who want to serve Him above all else.  And my heart grieves for those who look for reasons to ‘go their own way’ and say it’s because of their ‘freedom’.  I absolutely believe we are free because of Jesus and I thank Him daily for this; but at the same time, why are we all not burning to live a holy life….simply because we love Him?  He loves us so much more than we can even begin to comprehend and I picture Him at times weeping over America much like He did over Jerusalem.  After all, were we not a nation ‘founded on God’?

I see even those who were once so  ‘on fire for God’ now barely holding their heads up and drowning in doubt and unbelief.  Why is this?  Francis Frangipane says that “unbelief is perhaps the most widespread sin tolerated by Christians today.”

Yes I know, ‘satan walks around like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour’ but for believers, is he not a defeated foe?

Colossians 2:15  (NIV84) And having disarmed the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.

I personally think the problem is two-fold:  First, we just don’t really believe He is a defeated foe! (remember…complete trust and total reliance on)  We often choose to ‘believe’ satan’s lies over God’s truth.  Remember satan is excellent at deception and at times, he can convince us he’s not defeated….but again, do we believe him, or Jesus who has disarmed the ‘powers and authorities’ and ‘made a public spectacle of them’ and has ‘triumphed over them’?!!

The other part of the problem is the ground in our lives WE GIVE to satan through our disobedience – particularly and especially pride and unforgiveness.  Again, if we believe God, there is no place for either in the life of a believer.  And the best part…..God gives us the strength to walk in humility and forgiveness if we will only allow Him!

Do I ask these questions because I think I’m perfect?  No!  But I have given Him permission to ‘conform me to the image of Jesus’ because my heart loves Him so.  Is this the way you feel?  If not, why not?

My faith in Him led me to quit my job to spend more time with Him (with no savings and nothing in reserve but only a sure faith that He was leading me).  He promised me when I stepped up to ‘cross the Jordan’ that He would provide.  {I need to add here that it took me 5 years of ‘making sure’ He was leading before I actually took this step!}  And what did He do, but let me keep my job, working from home in another state, on a reduced schedule that meets my need (and His!) for more time with Him, and also ‘gives me this day my daily bread’.

I’m not trying to ‘toot my own horn’ here, but I am saying He honors our faith because I want to encourage you in your faith.

Again I share one of my favorite verses:

Jeremiah 32:27 (NIV84)  “I am the LORD, the God of all mankind. Is anything too hard for me?

Do you believe that?

When He comes, will He find faith in you?

Selah.

It’s hard to unlearn things that are so much a part of me…those tapes that play in my head telling me how I “ought” to act and what I “ought” to do to earn God’s love. Slowly but surely I am learning to rest in Him. I am learning to go where He leads….not where all the other voices are telling me to go. This can be a lonely road because many times we have to walk it alone. But then….we’re never really alone when we have Him. And doing it His way is always the right way.

1 John 4:16 (NIV84)  And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him.

Lady Banks Rose

I read the following devotion today by Sylvia Gunter and it is an excerpt from her book, Prayer Essentials For Living In His Presence, Vol. 2.  The included prayer was based on Ezekiel 37.  I have been praying for Selma, AL for some time now, and although this prayer was geared toward praying for a person, I found it appropriate to pray over the city of Selma.  As you will see, it would also be perfect for any out of control situation in your life.  I hope you will be as blessed by it as I was!

I read this in a devotion by Neil Anderson recently and it prompted some thoughts:

1 John 2:14

I have written to you, fathers, because you know Him who has been from the beginning. I have written to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one. 

First John 2:12-14 describes three levels of Christian growth in relation to sin. The first level is compared to “little children” (verse 12). Little children in the faith are characterized by having their sins forgiven and possessing a knowledge of God. In other words, they are in the family of God and have overcome the penalty of sin, but they haven’t grown to full maturity. 

The second level is “young men” (verses 13, 14), those who have overcome the evil one. These are aggressively growing believers who are strong because the Word of God abides in them. They know the truth and how to use it to resist Satan in the battle for their minds. They are no longer in bondage to uncontrollable habits, and they have resolved the personal and spiritual conflicts which keep many Christians from experiencing freedom in Christ. They are free, and they know how to stay free. 

The third level is “fathers” (verses 13, 14), those who have developed a deep personal knowledge of God. Their faith is securely founded on a close, intimate, loving relationship with God which is the goal of our spiritual growth. What about your faith? Are you a “child,” a “young man” or a “father”? Is it your daily goal to grow to maturity in your faith? Have you overcome the evil one?

I ask as he did, “Where are you in your walk with the Lord?”  Are you satisfied to be a ‘little child’?  Are you going to stay a young man (or woman), or push on to the maturity of a father?  These are important questions!  Don’t ‘settle’ for less than His best for you which is ‘Christlikeness’.

I want to share with you something I’ve been pondering and I would appreciate your thoughts or comments.  Here’s the series of events that led to this thought process.

You may recall this picture I had on my post Believing God.

This cross was made from an oak tree about 2 years ago and has been standing at the entrance to the two houses on this hilltop ever since.  Although you can’t tell in the picture, it’s about 12 feet tall.

An interesting thing happened on the Thursday before Good Friday.  We had a really strong storm blow through about 12:30 pm on that day.  It only lasted 30-45 minutes and we had 1.6 inches of rain in that amount of time along with about 10 minutes of hail.

It was interesting however that we didn’t have a ton of limbs on the ground as we usually do after a bad storm.  However, we did have something else on the ground.

I was amazed that the cross was the only thing that fell….and fell face down, purple drape and all.  Wouldn’t that make you ‘pause, and calmly think about that’?  Maggie even fell as if dead at this unusual phenomenon! 🙂

On Easter Sunday morning, my friend I refer to as the Horticulturist went for an early morning walk with Jesus that began in the dark of the night.  As she began her walk, she gathered the purple drape from the fallen cross and held it to her chest as she reflected on what He had done for her through His death, burial and resurrection.  She walked and talked with Him as she watched the sun rise on that Easter morning.  During that time, He assured her of His love for her.  As she turned to walk back to the house her eyes caught a glimpse of something white on the ground that shone out among the gravel on the dam of the pond.  Here is what she found: 

You may not be able to tell in the picture, but this is a rock…..a heart shaped rock!  Wouldn’t you feel incredibly loved and cherished if that had happened to you?  And no, for any skeptics out there, that kind of thing is absolutely NOT a coincidence!!

I had already been meditating on the cross falling.  It might not have had such an impact on me if it had not fallen on Easter week.  But it did and I began to think about something I’ve not pondered before.  Why is ‘the Cross’ the symbol of Jesus’ love for the Christian community….and not the empty grave?  Or a heart?  Or something else?  Why the Cross?

Now if it was me (and of course it’s not) I don’t think I’d want the ‘torture chamber’ of my death to represent my love to others.  I wouldn’t want to be remembered by the most painful and degrading event in my life, even if it was done out of a heart of pure love.  I’m in no way attempting to minimize the importance of the Cross……I’m simply talking about the ‘symbol’.

You may say, but that’s where He showed His love for us in that ‘while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us’.  Yes, that’s true, but what I’ve been thinking is the Cross was only a culmination of a LIFE where Jesus made daily choices to bow His knee to His Father in obedience.  I think those daily choices were maybe an even bigger representation of His love because of the consistency—the day-in, day-out choices that enabled His life to BE the perfect sacrifice on the Cross.  If He hadn’t done that, there never would have been a Cross!!

When Jesus gave the Horticulturist a heart shaped rock to represent His love, I thought…. ‘for me’, I repeat ‘for me’, I don’t want the Cross to be the symbol that represents His love for me any longer.  I’m still not sure what I think about the whole ‘Christian symbols = idols’ controversy anyway.  But if I have something hanging around my neck or on my walls to represent Jesus’ love for me, I want it to be a heart, or His Word….not a Cross.

This is certainly not a ‘rule’ as I think it should apply to everyone.  It’s just some of my thoughts for you to ‘Selah’.  And while I’m at it, let me just throw in one more thought for your consideration….

For years, I’ve had a doormat at the entrance to my house that says, “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord”.  I’m sure you’ve seen one before.  But here’s my new thought….should we really be wiping our feet on the Word of God?  Why did I never stop to think of this before?  Personally, I don’t think I should…..where’s the respect in that, even if my intent was good?  So the mat is gone as a personal choice to honor the Word, not wipe my feet on it!

I’ve asked the Lord for years, “What do we do in our culture that is perfectly acceptable but wrong in Your eyes (much like multiple wives in Biblical culture)?  It’s hard for us to see anything as sin when ‘everyone’ says it’s ok.  But I believe He’s showing me some things….not because He’s legalistic, but because I asked!

Selah.

I’ve been thinking a lot about the word “Selah”. You may have noted I put it at the end of several of my posts. I’ve been surprised as I’ve written to hear that word in my head at the end like it was just supposed to be there.

I looked it up today and the word is used 71 times in Psalms and 3 times in Habakkuk. Strong’s Concordance gives this definition: suspension (of music), that is, pause.

The Amplified Bible translates it this way: Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!

Why am I thinking about this word used randomly in 74 verses in the Bible? I think it’s because I’ve noticed something that really is alarming when you ‘pause and think about it’—Christians don’t seem to think enough. We tend to blindly take whatever we hear from TV or radio teachings or the pulpit as Truth without ever thinking about what we heard (or examining the Scriptures to see if what we heard was Truth – see Acts 17:11). Or on the flip side, we quickly rule out teaching that doesn’t ‘sound right’ because we’ve never heard it before, or because it doesn’t fit with ‘how we were raised’. How do I know Christians do this? Well, for one thing, I watch and listen to people. And for another, I did it myself for years! 🙂

So here are some thoughts for consideration….

We don’t take time to think because there simply is no time to think. Most are so busy just making it through life and the details that consume us that we’re just too tired to think deeper thoughts.

We don’t want to think about anything because then we might have to do something (like search the Scriptures) and we just don’t have any more time!

Or if we do have a small amount of free time, we choose to find other things to do rather than think.  We prefer ‘mindless’ tasks like watching TV or reading books where all turns out great in the end rather than focusing on the One who holds all meaning to life.

I talked to one friend who said she was so strictly taught to respect her elders, particularly the pastor, she never even thought to question what she heard him say.

Technically there are as many reasons as there are people but my challenge to you to day is to ‘think on these things’ (see Philippians 4:8). To really think about something needs to be an intentional act…not a random and infrequent event!

Thinking is not always an easy thing….it often raises more questions. For example, as I’ve paused to think about the word ‘selah’ I’ve raised more questions:

Why is it used only in 2 books of the Bible? Why is it used where it’s used in the Psalms? Why is it used in Habakkuk….most people have never heard of Habakkuk, much less read it! Why is it only used in chapter 3 of Habakkuk?  One thing I did notice in Habakkuk is that he brought his questions to God. If he had questions, that means he was thinking! Are you?

I’m sure somewhere someone has written a book on the word ‘selah’. However, I just don’t think I have time to read it…..

Selah!

Doesn't this look like a wonderful 'thinking spot'?