Archives for November 2010

I had the opportunity to host a radio show with Duke and the Gang. I love the fact that Duke, Pastor Chuck, and Ven can talk about the things of God for three hours — that’s how long the show is. Yes, it really is! Tonight we touched on something that has been resonating in my heart and spirit for a long time. In II Timothy 4:8, Paul says that God will give the crown of righteousness to “those who love His appearing.” My question is do we really LOVE his appearing. That means “Do we want Him to come more than anything else?” I know we think, “What about the lost? What about my family members? What about the Jewish people who don’t know him yet? What about that remote tribe?” Here is the point: when seeing Him and wanting Him to return becomes the goal, the focal point, THE mark of the prize of the High calling, then our desire for the salvation of the lost is motivated by that goal, and that focal point will propel us forward to do all that we can in our lifetimes to bring it to fruition. That’s where Paul was! He traveled the way he did because seeing Yeshua was His goal. He witnessed the way he did because he loved the Lord’s appearing. He debated with great minds about the Messiahship of Yeshua because He wanted Him more than he wanted anything in this life.

As I drove home from the radio station, I thought of the immensity of God’s heart that says, “All you have to do is want ME and all your other wants will fall under that umbrella. You cannot really want people saved to the nth degree apart from wanting Me because that is what I want.” That’s the cry of our Abba’s heart! When we want what He wants all of our wants will be realized especially since He gave us the reason & the impetus to want in the first place!  Believe it or not, we cannot “out-want” God!

Abba, forgive us for our ignorance. We did not even realize that wanting you to delay your coming until we saw our loved ones saved was a presupposition on our part that we know better than you do. We did not know it was pride. Thank you for your heart, your love, and your great patience with us. Help us to get about the business of longing for our heart’s desire above all else — our Bridegroom’s appearance. We love you! Amen.

Today marks the end of Shabbat. It is the first day of my 30-day walk with the Father. It was so easy to see you today, Abba: We sang songs to You. We gave our gifts to You. We broke bread and fellowshipped with one another. We had conversations about You all day long. But I saw you in a deeper way as well.

A man today talked about how God deserved praise — more praise than the shouts given at a football game. He had a deep awareness of the awesomeness of our Father — very much like Moses who descended the mountain to discover that the Israelites had erected a golden calf and called it the God who brought them out of Egypt. Imagine Moses’ deep pain when he realized that the God with whom he had communed on the mountain was being replaced by a god of metal. Imagine this man’s inner travail when he realized that athletes get a more rousing praise than the one who is the Author of Life. This man tried to hold back the emotionalism — his body responding to his words, his emotions chorusing, with his spirit, the greatness of God — but in his voice the Only True God sanctioned the truth of His words. Our God is worthy to be praised! He alone is God! He alone deserves praise!

I saw you today, Father, wanting your people to know your worth, wanting your people to praise you — for you knew that the praise was not solely for Your benefit . . . but for us — we need to praise You. When we do, we are most human and fulfill the reason for which You created us. And when we do, we are most divine — interacting with the holy. Thank You for allowing me to see You today, Abba.

I believe that God interacts with His people on a daily basis. He desires to do that. Sure, we should see Him when we open our eyes, or dress ourselves, when we arrive at our destinations safely, and greet our family & friends. Yes, these are miracles we take for granted and we SHOULD give thanks to God for them. However, if at the end of the day, we cannot pinpoint a certain moment where there was a Yeshua-experience just for us, we have missed Him. I am going to start a series in which I detail those Yeshua Moments in my life and I hope you do the same. Let’s practice His presence. Let’s consciously choose to see Him in everything, everywhere! Here’s the point–“The more we focus on what He IS doing, the more of that He will do in our lives. If we focus on what He is NOT doing, He will NOT do anything–and it is not that He is Not doing anything, but that is all that you will see.” So let’s practice the presence of our God for the next 30 days and record them so that our spirits can be alive in Him. Let’s help to build one another’s faith and awaken our spiritual pores to the living Presence of our Abba. Come on! Let’s walk with the Father!

Do you believe that you are the only one who can worship Adonai the way He wants you to? Well, you are the ONLY one who can be you! No one can worship God the way you can — so WORSHIP Him! Paul said this in Ephesians 3:8, “Although I am less than the least of all the Lord’s people, this grace was given me: to preach to the Gentiles the boundless riches of Christ…” Paul realized that he was the only one who could do what Paul could do because he was given the grace to do it. You have been given the grace to do only what you can do. I encourage you to DO IT! Be empowered as you do YOU!