It Has Always Been A Matter Of The Heart

Today I was hanging out with James. I think he would have been an interesting man to hang out with in real time. The brother of Jesus, the head of the Church council in Jerusalem and a man who worked hard to balance the gospel of grace with the observance of the Law of Moses. As I hung out with him today I discovered something new, or I should say, I re-discovered something I may have set aside for a time.-

As I read through his letter I was struck with the same thing we are all struck with, how simple he put forward the need to live the scriptures daily in all our coming and going. But just like the Law he wrote about, it is easy to boil his writing down to a bunch of does and don’ts that end up producing nothing of any value. But take note, from James we discover that there is a wealth of very simple and practical living that comes from one single correct position from which we live outwards.

Let’s start with his very famous statements on the tongue. I am sure you and I both have heard many sermons expounding on the need for us to tame our tongue. The fact is, James said the exact opposite. He stated that it was impossible to tame the tongue. It cannot be done, was his argument. He did not write about the dangers of the tongue if we don’t get it under control, but instead that the nature of the untamable tongue is destructive if the source is bitter water. His focus was the source, not our effort.

Take a look at it again and you will realize that everything he wrote about focused on the source. He stated that it was not possible for a spring to produce fresh and bitter water; it is either one or the other. In relation to the Royal Law of “love your neighbour as you love yourself”, he was stating that the tongue cannot both praise God and curse a person because, as we know, if we say we love God and hate a neighbour we are a liar. Bitter and pure water cannot come from the same source. So look deeper.

The real focus of James’ letter is about the purity of the source of all our words and actions. In a portion where he is calling people back to faithfulness, he states that Father longs for our faithfulness and then he tells us how to correct the source of our words and actions:

“Come near to God, and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners. Purify your hearts, you double-minded. Cry out in sorrow, mourn, and weep! Let your laughter become mourning and your joy become sadness. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” (James 4:8-10)

The letter is not about trying harder to be righteous. It is not about our effort at all. It is about relationships. Basically, hang out with Jesus and he will rub off on you. The things of which James writes is as powerless as the Law if the source is not found in our humble relationship with Jesus. Come near to God and he will come near to you. The fact is he is always near but we are not aware of him unless we are looking for him.

Motivation is not the key. You might have the right motive, to do good, but using the methods of the world and not the methods of the Kingdom found in our relationship with Jesus, and all that it will produce is bitter water. Motivation does not change the source. Only an intimate daily relationship with Jesus will make sure that it is pure water that flows from our words and actions. The only one who can do anything about you is you. And the thing you must do is draw near to God.

Are You A Victim Of Fraud?

I was out for my morning walk this morning. It was a beautiful, frosty morning, probably the coldest morning this Fall season. I was dressed in layers with a beautiful new tuque and some great gloves. So, of course my phone rang, somewhere under all those layers.

Normally I don’t answer my phone when I am out for my walk because this time doubles as my conversational time with Father. But this morning I felt compelled to respond because I am waiting for several important phone calls, and besides, it could have been my wife. Unfortunately it was none of these.

After digging down through the layers to find my phone, you can imagine my disappointment when I heard an automated message telling me that VISA had identified two fraudulent charges on my account and I only had to press one to cancel them and speak to their agent. Having had this same message before I promptly hung up. Then I heard the Spirit.

The Spirit loves to use all kinds of occasions to make a point with me. As I put my phone away he asked me, “What if it’s true?”

I chuckled, “I know it’s not true.”

“How do you know it’s not true?”

“Because I know this is not how VISA works.”

“How do you know this is not how VISA works?”

“Because I have read their policies and I have had past experience.”

“So why do you listen to the enemy’s fraud?”

Wait! What?

He left it there for me to consider because I knew what he was talking about right away. The enemy is always committing fraud against God’s children. The Garden is just an example of what he has been doing throughout the history of humanity. He promises to us what we already possess and he tries to trick us into thinking we are opposite of who Father says we are. You know those lies. His great desire is to separate us from Father.

Those lies are those disturbing thoughts that wake you up in the middle of the night. They tell you that there are charges against you on Father’s account. There aren’t. They have all been removed by the blood of Jesus. Yet, those seeds are enough to start a stream of doubt that we allow to become a river that undermines our incredible relationship with Father through Jesus. They convince us Father won’t provide, or forgive, or heal or any of the many things he has promised us.

How do we protect ourselves?

I knew the phone call I received was fraudulent because I knew the company’s policies, how they operate in this matter and also have personal experience. I have received phone calls from VISA to check on charges when I have been traveling in places that were not usual for me. Most of us have. So I know they do not use automated messages that tell me to press a number to get an agent. It is no different with Father.

I shouldn’t be able to fall victim to the enemy’s lies. I know my Father. I know his promises. I know how he operates. When he needs to bring correction he does not do it with disturbing thoughts in the middle of the night. He never calls me out. He always calls me up. When I have taken a misstep he reminds me who I am in Jesus. “Hey encourager, let’s consider this here.” “Hey man of prayer, let’s take a bit of time together this morning.” He always speaks to me by how he sees me, even in correction.

I also know that he never threatens me. He is not against me. When he does need to bring correction it is not to punish but to build up. His desire is to see me grow, to increase, to mature. If there is shame and condemnation it is fraudulent, from the enemy of my soul. He comes to steal, kill and destroy. I should be able to tell the difference and choose to listen to the one I worship and trust.

If you are one who gets disturbed by the frauds of our enemy, do yourself a favour, give it over to Father. Yes, report the fraud to Father and leave it with him. Don’t let it rob you of a single minute of your sleep or of your day. Know Dad. Know his promises. Trust what you have already experienced with him. 

Learning Kingdom Culture To Communicate It

About four years ago the Spirit told me to put more effort into my French studies. This might have seemed strange for people who knew me considering I had spent four years in Belgium and another 19 years in Quebec. But on my return to Canada I ended up in english ministry in Quebec, not requiring much french at all. I could get by In Montreal with my limited french. But here now the Spirit said “study”.

So I have studied, most days three hours a day, and my french has greatly improved. Then the Lord instructed me to join in with an apostle we greatly respected, joining my church in with his. This church operates in three languages but is primarily a french-speaking church. Ah, I get it Lord. He had been preparing me.

Language is key to understanding culture. My french is great now, giving me great comprehension of the spoken and written language. But to understand and to be understood are two different things, and so here is my weakness, being capable of understanding and struggling to express. But this is not about my struggle with french.

The KIngdom of God is a very unique culture, a culture far more powerful and important than any culture on this planet. We are not native to this culture but are instead adopted into it. We have the same challenge as any immigrant coming into our country's culture, they need the language to understand the culture so they can adapt to this new life.

Many a day, as I plugged away at my studies, I wished that my brain could be transformed into a french thinking brain. French is a wonderfully precise language that reveals the unique way of thinking of a french speaking person. To grasp it you have to let go of your own way of thinking which helps you form sentence structure. You have to let go of the old to grasp the new. This describes the Kingdom process as well.

Jesus warned us that the old had to go in order for the new to come. In the Kingdom this is both transformational and also a process. Unlike our differing cultures, the Kingdom makes it possible for our minds to be transformed to grasp and live according to Kingdom culture. It’s called “renewing”. Apostle Yvon Stabili has said that the only thing we need before Jesus is redemption and the thing we need after Jesus is a daily renewed mind. Scripture encourages us:

“Don’t be conformed to the patterns of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your minds so that you can figure out what God’s will is—what is good and pleasing and mature.” (Romans 12:2)

If we want to understand Kingdom culture we need to bathe ourselves daily in Kingdom language as found in the Word and to grow in our relationship with the Spirit who teaches us this culture. It is a completely foreign way of thinking and living. Love your enemy. Pray for those who persecute you. Honour leaders who may be against you. Give just because someone asks and give more than what is asked for. Pray and the sick will be healed and the dead will be raised. This is crazy talk from the point of view of the cultures of this world. Without the Spirit we could never make the transition.

My struggle with french is that I can live every day without needing to speak it. Almost everyone I know speaks english and when we are not forced to use something we often don’t. I need people in my life who cannot switch to english out of their sense of compassion. I need situations where I am forced to communicate in french. It is the only way I will improve. I need to get past my fear of imperfection, if you know what I mean. The Kingdom is no different.

The only way we will grasp the Kingdom is when we live the Kingdom. If we study it and even memorize it, there is no value to it. Scripture tells us to not just read and know the word but to live it. Do  the Word. Live the culture empowered by the Spirit and you will progress in the process. Do it. Just do it.

The biggest stumbling block to speaking a new language is our fixation on perfection or our fear of mistakes. We must be willing to learn as a child learns, living daily in imperfection until things fall into place. This applies in a big way to  Kingdom culture. Father is not afraid of our imperfections, it is part of our growth. He wants us to listen to his voice and step out to live this culture, being daily renewed and living according to his heart. We have to become like children to see the Kingdom which means we move forward as children, knowing we have a lot to learn and mistakes to learn from.

So, let’s not give up. Let’s encourage each other to press on through our learning and growing so that someday we will be better able to communicate the heart of Father through all that we do.

“But we aren’t the sort of people who timidly draw back and end up being destroyed. We’re the sort of people who have faith so that our whole beings are preserved.” (Hebrews 10:39)

There Has To Be More To It

 Not many of us have faced a lot of “valley of the shadow of death” seasons in our life and yet I dare say we have all faced “valley” moments. I have had my share of these and I have to admit some of them felt like the shadow of death. Life is not always easy or fair.

As followers of Jesus there is an expectation that we will keep these moments to ourselves or just pretend they don't exist. I think this is because too many of us believers don’t want to consider the hard questions about our faith. It’s supposed to be all butterflies and daffodils, isn’t it?

It’s not often a lack of faith that finds us in those valleys. What we have to consider is that life is found in the valleys. The mountain top seasons are fantastic and have a breathtaking view that gives us perspective and breathes new life into these old bones, but growth, real growth is found in the challenges of those valleys. Not that Father has planned those valleys but he has planned for them and he never misses an opportunity to help us grow.

Valleys with road maps are great but most don’t have them. Most of them include loss in one form or another. Some of them are so dark you don’t know which way is up any more. These are those moments that you cling to the Lord and make declarations based on the promises you have experienced in the past. Psalm 91 comes to mind:

“I say to the Lord, ‘You are my refuge, my stronghold! You are my God - the one I trust!” (2)

These are the moments you try to climb into the Word, you surround yourself with worship, you write out your prayers, have long discussions with the Lord or whatever “you are my God - the one I trust” looks like to you. For many of us it is the “moment by moment” clinging to Jesus because everything else is shifting and he is the only thing solid in our life. But that is only the beginning place of the valley. Father has more than this in mind for us.

I was in conversation with Spirit the other day and he was pointing out a few things to me about the valley experience and one of them was that quality of trust matters here. This desperation clinging is an okay beginning point but he has called us to a greater relationship than clinched-eyes clinging. Through another preacher he reminded me of  1 Thessalonians 5:

“Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks in every situation because this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (16-18)

Those three activities are not mere valley activities but are relationship growth activities for all seasons. These are what we do because they are the fruit of who we are, and after entering the valley and regaining our senses we can act on who we are.

Rejoice. Not just on the mountaintops but in the valleys as well. We rejoice because of who Jesus is and who we are in him. We rejoice because he has never failed us. We rejoice because he is good and that goodness never changes. It is the reason Paul told the Philippians to rejoice in the Lord always. It was so important that he repeated himself, Rejoice. After the desperate “cling and declaration”, rejoicing is the next step and demonstrates that you are living what you are declaring. We do not rejoice in our circumstances but in the One who has promised never to forsake us in those circumstances and who has said he is the solution. 

Pray continually. This is the ongoing reminder that you are in Jesus and Jesus is in you. It is a reminder that he is involved in every detail of your life. It is great to discuss every detail of your life with him, your opinions, your dreams and desires. It is an open and honest conversation with the one who knows your heart and mind, the one is for you and not against you. It is a conversation throughout the day, a continual conversation.

Give thanks in every situation. That is powerful. That means in everything, always find the reason why you maintain a life of thanksgiving. This is a powerful weapon against the enemy in that valley because he is there to destroy you by discouraging you, to separate you from Father. But when you set your mind on things above, thanksgiving is a natural expression in dark times, Consider what Paul said to the Colossians.

First he told them to look, seek out, the things that are above:

“... look for the things that are above where Christ is sitting at God’s right side.”

And then he tells them, once they can “see” these things to set theirr thoughts on these things:

“Think about the things above and not things on earth.”

The enemy will try to keep our eyes fixed on the things of this earth because they are death to us, depressing, filled with false hope, and promising to give us what we already possess in Jesus. 

Rejoice always, Pray continually, Give thanks in every situation.

Because I can say he is my God and that I trust him in this valley, I can also move past desperation into fruitful relationship. This is very fertile ground, even if it is uncomfortable at times. How much better to go through it laughing, dancing, shouting with joy in the presence of my King.