Parenting For Wonderful Maturing

 

The Love Of The father

Parenting For Wonderful Maturing

John 14 Part 4,

Testimony of how God instigated my search for Him:

Sometime in late 1969 I was visiting my girl friend at her college, about 40 miles from where I was a student in another college.  When it was time to go home I put my sack of clothes on my back and stood by the road outside her campus and stuck out my thumb. In those days my primary mode of transportation was hitchhiking. Soon a car came along and stopped, not to give me a ride though, it was a police car. Knowing I had some drugs in the sack I threw it a far as I could. The officer retrieved it and of course found the bag of contraband and took me off to a cell at the trooper station. I told him a story that I had no idea what that stuff was he found, that maybe somebody dropped in my sack. Scared stiff as I sat in that trooper station’s small cell, I wrote down a bunch of thoughts. The one thing I will never forget writing was, “If there is a God, GET ME OUT OF HERE!” Soon the officer came, opened the cell, threw my sack of cloths at me and said, “Get out of here, kid; don’t let me see you again.” I don’t remember how I got to the bus station but I will never forget looking out the window of the Greyhound Bus as the stark reality of what happened flooded my mind. For the first time in my life I knew that God existed, that HE got me out of that jail cell and I felt like I owed Him something. Thus, my intentional quest to find God started that day.

I shared all that to ask you the question: are you seeking God or have you found Him? I recently heard some disturbing statistics about a high percentage of American people that consider themselves Christians yet deny the absolute truth of the Bible. They deny that Jesus is the only way of salvation and eternal life. They even deny that Jesus is God. I can understand making those denials, but I cannot comprehend how people who do so can consider themselves Christians. How can you say you identify yourself with the Christ if you do not know who HE is and know HIM personally? I grew up in a Jewish community and had never heard the Gospel. I only knew that as a Jew I should not pay any attention to Christian proselytizers. It was at least a year and a half or more of diligently searching until HE found me with a ready heart. Perhaps the most life altering thing, mind set changing thing that came with Jesus miraculously revealing Himself to me at a Christian commune was that I found ABSOLUTE TRUTH. Since that confrontation with HIS Manifest Presence, there has never been a question about Jesus being the Lord our God, the King of the Universe, and that the Bible is absolutely true. The Gospel is absolutely true whether you believe it or not. TRUTH IS NOT RELATIVE. Everything changes in your life when GOD shows you that Jesus is the incarnation of ABSOLUTE TRUTH and LOVE.

So, now you ask, what has all that got to do with the title of this blog? Do you remember your parent telling you to do something and you rebelliously asked “why?” You must remember the “Because I said so!” stern response. I loved my parents but I hated that response. I love my children, all mature adults now, but I am sure they hated that response like most kids have for generations. John 14:15, taken by itself, seems like that, but read on and we see that Jesus answered the “why” and the “how.” Please take a few minutes and read the following verses a few times from the Amplified Bible. Let the reality of the Father’s love sink in. It will fill your heart with the confidence of THE FATHER’S LOVE FOR YOU.

John 14: 15    “If you [really] love Me, you will keep and obey My commandments.

16   And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor - Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), to be with you forever

17   the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive [and take to its heart] because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He (the Holy Spirit) remains with you continually and will be in you.

18   “I will not leave you as orphans [comfortless, bereaved, and helpless]; I will come [back] to you. [AMP]

What Jesus said in verse 15 was not a stern, unexplained “Because I said so!” I think His tone of voice and body language was a plea of love. HE didn’t take up some easy way out of giving an explanation. NOR did HE try to bribe anyone with ice cream and cookies. Instead, Jesus made some great promises for our loving obedience to the Bible’s loving commandments. Verses 15-18 are simple, straight forward and a model for Simplistic Parenting that produces Wonderfully Matured offspring.

Let’s take a look at HIS loving promises to His instructions (that are conditional on obedience):

In John 14:16 Jesus promises to ask the Father to help us. He does this eternally as we see in the following verse Romans:

Romans 8:34   Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and HE is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.

In times past, the rod of correction was applied to the seat of learning. I’m sure there were mother’s pleading with father’s to “go easy on the boy” on the way to the wood shed. So much more, Jesus took care of the wages of our sins. HE paid the price. HE took the consequences for our sins. We learn quickly that there are consequences for our actions, but, there is a remedy:

1 John 1:9   But if we confess our sins to him, HE is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all wickedness. [NLT]

I am ever thankful for the promise of what Jesus is asking the Father for us. The Amplified Bible spreads it out so wonderfully. You may want to do a more thorough word study to uncover the meaning of each of the terms used in verse 16.

John 14:16   And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Helper (Comforter, Advocate, Intercessor - Counselor, Strengthener, Standby), to be with you forever

I made a bold, perhaps controversial statement earlier concerning relative versus absolute truth. The next verse describes the reason for the controversy. Acceptance of the absolute truth requires the revelation coming to a person’s heart from God. Personally, with the freedom from the wages of my sin and blessed hope of eternal life, this revelation set my heart and mind on a totally new, and wonderful, path of life. I sought and I found.

John 14:17   the Spirit of Truth, whom the world cannot receive [and take to its heart] because it does not see Him or know Him, but you know Him because He (the Holy Spirit) remains with you continually and will be in you. [AMP]

Verse 18 is the proverbial icing on the cake.

John 14: 18 “I will not leave you as orphans [comfortless, bereaved, and helpless]; I will come [back] to you.

Christians are connected to GOD the FATHER. We are not like helpless, hopeless orphans left alone in the street. Holy Spirit is our comforter so we’re not stuck in perpetual grief. Jesus is our helper; HE is the other set of footprints in the sand. HE helps us as HE holds our hand so we can walk on the waters of life with miraculous and exceeding joy. And the cherry on top of the sundae… HE IS COMING BACK FOR US.

In Conclusion:

The Christian life need not be complicated. Seek and you will find, it’s a done deal. GOD THE FATHER simply loves as HE expressed in John 3:16. As believers of the Gospel, Holy  Spirit is in us; we can get still and hear HIS heart beating within us, enabling us to stay in sync with Him. We mature in this relationship as we hope our children do also. Thus we hear so much of God’s Heartbeat. 

Prayer: 

Father, forgive us me for those times where we failed to love like you do. Help us to grow closer to YOU and reflect YOU to everyone we meet, in simplicity and TRUTH. As we to keep our hearts in sync with the TICK, TICK, TICK of your loving heart. Give us the boldness to manifest that love, not just by words and good deeds, but by going beyond the natural realm to do  same miracles Jesus did, and then some. May we be as bright lights of Absolute Truth and God’s love to the deceived and dying people all around us. AMEN.

WHAT ARE YOU DOING?

 

What Are You Doing?

God Has Greater Things for You 

John 14 Part 3,

Today I want to start out with some verses that are perhaps the most challenging verses for Christians to consider. The purpose of this “God’s Heart Beats For You” blog is for us to hear God’s heartbeat and stay in synch with What Makes Jesus Tick. When musicians play together they either use a metronome, follow the drummer or watch the conductor to stay together. fortunately for me, I've been playing solo for the last 10 years or so, freeing me up to just play by however I feel the song at the time. That doesn't work well when playing with others, Without synchronization the music is discordant. Likewise, God’s synchronization tool for our lives is the Bible and it records that Jesus declared,

John 6:63   It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.

I love that life, don’t you? Do you agree that we want our lives to stay in sync with the Master? If so, let’s look at this challenge, remembering that we cannot do what Jesus says using our carnal mind and flesh.

John 14:12   “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father.

Do you see a gap between these verses and what you experience in life? It sure bothers me when I do. If you say you have completely bridged that gap than you’re most probably wrong.

I do believe that the Lord anoints us to do what He did and greater things, and that He does answer prayer spoken in His name. Believers started to walk in such miracle power right after the Pentecostal outpouring in the upper room about 2000 years ago. There is no scriptural precedent for believers to ever stop doing that. Everything that started that day continues. Nothing was just for then and not for now. I also believe that God is no respecter of persons and all the gifts of the Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 12:4-11) are for every believer until Jesus returns. The manifestation of those gifts is according to God’s timing and place. The Spirit is like the wind and we need to flow with Him, NOT according to flesh, uncontrolled zeal, or our limited human intellect.

Some people get radically saved, baptized in the Holy Spirit and explode with the power, they are greatly used by God to heal, save and deliver. Sadly we’ve seen some stumble and fall. I’ve seen that these precious saints fell because they had no depth of character nor had they been sufficiently discipled. With no longevity of really getting to know the Lover of their soul and no commitment to a local church, they had a short lived honeymoon, there was no long term follow through of discipleship and the enemy drew them back into darkness. 1 Timothy chapter 3 describes the qualifications for ministry and this verse describes what can happen of someone lacks those qualifications and steps too far out in ministry.  

1 Timothy 3:6   Not a novice, lest being lifted up with pride he fall into the condemnation of the devil.

The Great Commission is to make disciples. Jesus took His disciples through three years of discipleship, and then they had to wait four months until the Day of Pentecost when they were endued with power when the Holy Ghost baptized them. It was after that that they started doing “the works that I do… and greater works than these.” Those of us who have walked with the Lord for some time, have received the Baptism in the Holy Spirit, have been discipled and stay in the Word, have the responsibility to follow through with the discipleship process for the young believers. His love compels us to be sensitive to Holy Spirit, to always obey His direction. Only then we will be doing what Jesus did and more so with no fleshly effort or self-glorification. This will build the bridge over that gap between what Jesus said and how we live no matter what we see. HALLELUJAH.

The challenge doesn’t end there, it is intricately woven into our prayer life. These verses specifically define that the Father desires to be glorified in the Son and that one way that happens is in answering prayer.

John 14:13   And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.

14   If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

Repetition = emphasis. The first thing is that we must ask in Jesus name. That is not just a magic phrase added onto the end of a prayer that will magically force God to answer what we want when we want it. When you say anything in someone else’s name you are speaking what that person told you to say. That person either requested, or ordered, you say it and it is in that person’s authority you speak. The other part of the equation is the motive of our asking, “that the Father may be glorified in the Son.”

This brings us to the question, What power, what authority, does Jesus have and what does He want us to do with it? I am sure you are very familiar with the “prime directive”, the “Great Commission,” the “Church’s marching orders,”

Matt. 28:18   And Jesus came and spake unto them, saying, All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth. 

19   Go ye therefore, and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost:

20   Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you always, even unto the end of the world. Amen. [KJV]

Praise God! He doesn’t lead us to go out into the world with only great words to say. He sends us with the power to do what He did, as you just saw in John 14:12. Jesus did so many supernatural, wonderful things for people that had great and eternal consequences for them. If you are reading this you probably have experienced some in your own life. Your testimony of that to others is incredibly significant. We need to pray for “Devine Appointments” to share Jesus with people, in word, by our lives and by the power of God doing miraculous things through us that demonstrate His great love for them. To be truly effective in such a life style we must have our hearts in sync with God’s, we have to walk in the Spirit, constantly listening for the leading of His still small voice, having that inward knowing of the metronome of What Makes Jesus Tick.

Prayer: Father, we pray for an abundance of Devine Appointments, for times of interaction with people where we share YOU with others. Move Lord, do miraculous things through us, Your people, that will draw multitudes out of darkness into the Light as we see You do “things and greater things” through us. Amen.

Your chance to follow up: We live in a day when, more than ever before in our history, we need to share our portions of manna with each other. All who follow this blog would be greatly encouraged if you would take a few minutes to briefly share some personal testimony of what Jesus did in or through you. Whatever media you are reading this blog in, the intention is for it to be a forum, a place of interaction, not just my teaching.  Please also be sure to click the Like button, emoji a thumbs up and Share these posts, it means a lot.

 

GOD'S GREATEST DESIRE: THAT WHERE I AM, THERE YE MAY BE ALSO

That Where I am, There Ye May Be Also.

John 14  Part 2, Jesus and the FATHER are One

The last blog focused on battling against worry  (see https://lnkd.in/d6HwhYV if you’ve not read it). It brought your attention to the 20 times where Jesus uses the word FATHER in John 14. So much repetition indicates the supreme importance of HIS relationship with the FATHER. It was HIS lifeline during HIS time on Earth. It was the source of HIS breakthrough in the many adverse situations. Jesus set the example of making the effort to get quiet in the FATHER’s presence and listen to the tick, tick, tick of the FATHER’s heart. The clock spring is the love of the FATHER for the Son and for people. Grasping this reality will bring great peace to our hearts and allow God to put HIS love for people in our hearts too.

John chapter 14  starts out with a most encouraging two part verse,

John 14:1   “Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in ME.

To rephrase, you are not to let worry get to the heart level!! Please don’t cross the line from concern worry, it’ll soon become panic or lead to paranoid behaviors. 

The Promise and God’s Greatest Desire for Mankind:

In these verses, as we’ve often seen, Jesus sets a stage for what He is about to say or do.

John 14:2   …I go to prepare a place for you.

3   And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also.

4   And where I go you know, and the way you know.

In verse 5, below, Thomas is confounded by what Jesus said. To paraphrase, he’s saying, “What are you talking about, Jesus?” Notice how Jesus redirects the conversation, drawing attention to the higher priority in verse 6.

        5   Thomas said to HIM, “Lord, we do not know where YOU are going, and    how can we know the way?”

6   Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the FATHER except through ME.

Verse 6 answers so many questions and makes the Gospel so simple a little kid could get saved just hearing it. So many people who don’t accept Christ hang onto the false teaching that there are many ways to God, but this verse definitively nails that lie. Of great significance is the way Jesus lovingly emphasizes the necessity of our getting to know the FATHER. It reminds us of God’s great desire for mankind as expressed in John 3:16. We should always be asking the Lord for wisdom to be able to redirect conversations to the basic fundamental of relationship to God the FATHER through the Son. I have nothing against honest, intellectual debate, but we never see Jesus argue. HIS declaration in verse 6 should end doubtful disputations; people accept or reject what HE says but there’s little left to discuss if they reject it.

Let’s back-up a little in order to see more of this emphasis on our coming to the FATHER. Look back at verses 2 and 3. They beg the question, “Where was He going?” We see the answer in a few places after the Resurrection. Among them is:

In Peter’s first sermon right after the outpouring of the Holy Spirit began-

Acts 2:32   This Jesus God has raised up, of which we are all witnesses.

33   Therefore being exalted to the right hand of God, and having received from the FATHER the promise of the Holy Spirit, He poured out this which you now see and hear.

Then just before Stephen was stoned-

Acts 7:55   But he, being full of the Holy Ghost, looked up steadfastly into heaven,  and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing on the right hand of God,

56   And said, Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of man standing on the right hand of God.

So we see where Jesus is preparing a place for us to be with HIM. Hallelujah!!! This is the greatest desire of God’s heart, “that where I am, there you may be also.”

The rest of the chapter shows the supernatural, intellectually incomprehensible, reality of the Trinity and what a relationship with GOD the FATHER is all about. Our finite brain cannot grasp an infinite GOD, but we know HIM because of the faith that came when HE knocked on the door of our hearts and we invited HIM in and let Him sit on the throne of our hearts. Look at Philip’s struggle trying to comprehend what Jesus was describing of HIS connection with the FATHER-

John 14:7   “If you had known ME, you would have known My FATHER also; and from now on you know HIM and have seen HIM.”

8   Philip said to HIM, “Lord, show us the FATHER, and it is sufficient for us.”

I am sure that, due to my engineering brain, I would have reacted like that too. Jesus goes a step further-

John 14:9   Jesus said to HIM, “Have I been with you so long, and yet you have not known ME, Philip? He who has seen ME has seen the FATHER; so how can you say, ‘Show us the FATHER’?

Don’t you just love it when Jesus short circuits limited human reasoning? yet HE can say, “He who has seen ME has seen the FATHER”

This verse challenges all disciples of Jesus with these questions:

§  Do people see Jesus in us?

§  Do people hear HIS voice when we speak?

§  Do people sense the supernatural Presence of the Holy Spirit when we’re around, or when they visit our churches?

There’s a great old book that shows the process involved to move toward an answer of “Yes” to all of the above. You can download a PDF, “The Release of the Spirit” by Watchman Nee, with a study guide, for free at https://thechurchincupertino.net/Watchman_Nee/Books/The%20Release%20of%20the%20Spirit.pdf

Check out the nutshell description from the preface:

The author strongly recommends to all the servants of Christ that they learn a most fundamental lesson in their Christian experience; namely, the breaking of the outward man for the release of the inward spirit. Work which is out of the spirit is alone the work of God. And only through the breaking of the outward man can the Holy Spirit freely work.

The Lord’s response to Philip, in John 14:8 above, shows the completeness of the connection of The FATHER and the SON. They are so intertwined that they are one.

The following verses are just mind blowing and critical to keeping our hearts in sync with God’s. The SON is in the FATHER and the FATHER is in the SON.

Prayer:       FATHER, continue to draw us closer to You, cause us to hear and reflect Your heart to people. Help us to yield to Your power that releases Your Spirit through us. Teach us to discipline our lives to take time to spend with YOU alone, with the Word, daily, so that You make the Word flesh in us.

For further study: Watch this young man’s 16 min. You Tube video teaching, from the Hebrew, about the intertwining. You will hear God’s heart’s desire for oneness with people. My friend Joe Taverna's son will bless your socks off. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=41hc2zPAddc&t=5s