The Gate-Keeper.

In this past Sunday’s sermon, Brother Dan shared from two narratives: Jacob’s dream in Genesis 28, and Jesus’s calling of Nathaniel at the close of John chapter 1. In both narratives, we see that the presence of God is marked by the activity of ‘angels ascending and descending’—a sign that God’s commands in heaven are being brought to bear in the earth.

In John 1:51, Jesus alludes to Genesis 28. Jesus is our Rock, the One on whom we rest; and He is the stairway, the One from heaven who came down to the earth; and He is the gate of heaven, the only One through whom we can experience the miraculous.

We, as children of God, are called to be His agents in the earth. We follow the example of Jesus, who remained in constant communion with His Father, and whose ministry bore evidence of that intimate relationship.

Jesus told Nathaniel, “You will see angels ascending and descending on the Son of man.” If the spirit of Jesus dwells in us, then we ought not be surprised when others bear witness to the activity of God that occurs when we are present. My prayer for us is that we will always be positioned to function as a gateway to the great things of God—whether through our testimonies, our giving, our prayers, our words of encouragement, our warnings to the impenitent, or our response to persecutions.

Below are the narratives, which I encourage us to read and meditate on for today. Blessings and peace to you.

Genesis 28:10-17

Jacob left Beersheba and set out for Harran. When he reached a certain place, he stopped for the night because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones there, he put it under his head and lay down to sleep. He had a dream in which he saw a stairway resting on the earth, with its top reaching to heaven, and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. There above it stood the Lord, and he said: “I am the Lord, the God of your father Abraham and the God of Isaac. I will give you and your descendants the land on which you are lying. Your descendants will be like the dust of the earth, and you will spread out to the west and to the east, to the north and to the south. All peoples on earth will be blessed through you and your offspring. I am with you and will watch over you wherever you go, and I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.”

When Jacob awoke from his sleep, he thought, “Surely the Lord is in this place, and I was not aware of it.” He was afraid and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God; this is the gate of heaven.”

John 1:47-51

When Jesus saw Nathanael approaching, he said of him, “Here truly is an Israelite in whom there is no deceit.”

“How do you know me?” Nathanael asked.

Jesus answered, “I saw you while you were still under the fig tree before Philip called you.”

Then Nathanael declared, “Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the king of Israel.”

Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”

All Scripture references are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Receiving Line.

During this past Sunday's sermon Pastor Sam quoted some verses from John chapter one:

"He was in the world, and though the world was made through Him, the world did not recognize Him. He came to that which was His own, but His own did not receive Him. Yet to all who did receive Him, to those who believed in His name, He gave the right to become children of God." (John 1:10-12, NIV)

As we continue our meditations on the love of God, we are reminded that our best response to God's love is to receive His love. And, our receipt of this love is marked by our belief in Jesus, the One who God sent.

Pastor Sam shared a story about a tightrope walker who received accolades from the people watching the show, but who got no volunteers when he asked for one of the spectators to join him on the high-wire for part of the tightrope-walking act. Perhaps that is where some of us stand. We say we understand that God loves us, and we say that we believe He can do amazing things, yet we have not taken hold of His hand. We have not become active participants in His work. We have not placed our full trust in Him. In other words, our lack of response is an indicator of our lack of love.

Our pastor shared Dr. Gary Chapman's research in this area: in love relationships, we reciprocate love in terms of what the lover understands. God's love is shown through His giving of Himself to us through Jesus, completely, at incredible cost. How do we reciprocate? By giving our lives to God through our faith in Jesus, completely, no matter what the cost. Pastor Sam referenced Romans 12:1-2-- verses that are not typically read in a discussion of love, but verses that make perfect sense in a discussion of the God-kind of love.

"Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice-- alive, holy, and pleasing to God-- which is your reasonable service. Do not be conformed to this present world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may test and approve what is the will of God-- what is good and well-pleasing and perfect." (Romans 12:1-2, NET)

To give our lives over to the One who gave His life for us: this is love.

Christmas, Spirit: What A Gift.

In yesterday's sermon, Pastor Sam completed his series Human Stories in the Divine Drama. The final person we studied in the Advent narrative is Jesus.

Our pastor spoke of his own challenge, while in school, of accepting the fact that Jesus's story is one of humanity. The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14). Yes, Jesus was fully God, but He was also fully human.

My blog post is a little later than usual today, because I was very sick throughout the night. But, gladly, my illness is helping me to better understand the profundity of the gospel of John. The Greek word, sarx, is one which refers to our flesh in its weakness and corruption. Pastor Sam gave us a sense of the grossness that sarx is. It is the human body, open to disease, sores, and excruciating pain. It is the human mind, subject to the most shocking temptations. It is the human heart, that Scripture informs us is deceitfully wicked (Jeremiah 17:9), an out-of-control liar resident at the core of our being. Humanity is a gross, sick, twisted, stinking race. We, on our own, have nothing good to offer.

Praise God, we have been rescued! Jesus has come. He came to us in humanity. He chose to dwell among us in the earth: to live, die, be buried, to rise again. He chose to be hungry, thirsty, tired, beaten, mocked, ridiculed. God chose to exalt Him, so that the world might worship and adore Him. He is God. "I and the Father are one": it is the testimony of our Christ, confirmed by His Spirit, that gives us hope.

He is God, and He is man. Jesus has given us a great example. He made His dwelling place among us. He Himself was human, sarx, and in His sarx He chose not to sin. We, too, can choose not to sin. How? By submitting our sick human frames to the Holy Spirit of God. Throughout the book of John, we read of the power of Jesus to heal, teach, and deeply love. But then, in John chapters 14 through 17, Jesus indicates that it is the Holy Spirit who will instruct us in the ways of Christ. The presence of the Spirit is not simply for feeling good or speaking in tongues or running down the church aisles or for crying uncontrollably. He is here to teach us how to say no to sin and say yes to authentic Christian love, a love that dies to self.

So, the question resident in the book of Acts still echoes today, as it has for millennia: Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed? If you have not, then how will you ever become fully freed from sin and sinning? How will you know what Jesus wants you to say and where He wants you to go? Scripture offers no other course of instruction. It is by the Spirit of God that we become conformed to the will and desire of God.

God is ever ready to give. Are you ready to ask?

O Lord Jesus, You have called us to submit and keep submitting to Your Spirit, the Holy Spirit who causes us to live. Give us grace to always say yes to Your directives, for the sake of Your holy name. Give us wisdom to ask for the continuous infilling of Your Spirit, so that we might truly live. Amen.

Total Loser.

Nazareth?

Sometimes our background precedes us. People may hear that we were born in a certain place, or that we live in a certain neighborhood, and they may make value judgements based on our geographical location.

Can anything good come out of Nazareth?

Dr. Busic shared a profound insight with us this past Sunday: Nazareth is a place for losers.

The prophet Isaiah seemed to have picked up on this concept of the "loser" from Nazareth. Isaiah paints a stark picture of Jesus. It's a picture that we tend not to talk about, much less embrace. "He has no form or comeliness; and when we see Him, there is no beauty that we should desire Him. He is despised and rejected by men, a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. And we hid, as it were, our faces from Him; He was despised, and we did not esteem Him" (Isaiah 53:2b-3).

But this Jesus, despised and rejected, Jesus without form, Jesus with no beauty, this Jesus is the One we love! And we are so happy to be associated with the ultimate Loser, who gave up His Glory in order to save our wretched souls.

"Can anything good come out of Nazareth?"
"Come and see." (John 1:46)

I Saw You.

Nathanael saith unto Him, "Whence knowest Thou me?" Jesus answered and said unto him, "Before that Philip called thee, when thou wast under the fig tree, I saw thee." (John 1:48)

Oh, how is it that we live our lives without sensing the watchful eye of God? He sees us, "under the fig tree", in those moments where we are completely unaware of His presence and His knowledge of who we really are.

You true Israelite, in whom there is no guile. (John 1:47)
You true prophet, who I can count on to speak My word in season. (Jeremiah 1:5)
You mighty man of valor, whom I have chosen to destroy the Midianites. (Judges 6:12-16)

What is He saying about you?

Veni. Vidi.

Jesus saith unto them, "Come and see." They came and saw where He dwelt, and abode with Him that day: for it was about the tenth hour. (John 1:39)

In this past Sunday's sermon, Pastor Benji reminded us of two important points regarding the recognition of Christ:

We have to be willing to spend time with Him. This was a point reiterated on Wednesday night, as Reverend Gabbidon said essentially the same thing during the School of Prayer course. The Psalms speak of the need for communion with God (see Psalm 1), Jesus Himself lived a life of communion with the Father (see Matthew 14:23), and the lives of men like Daniel Nash, Charles Finney, and others showed the spiritual power that came as a result of the investment of hours alone in the presence of God.

We have to embrace Him as a person, not a concept. Yes, my friends, this raises the bar. How do we relate to the personhood of God? It's through Jesus. "The Word became flesh and dwelt among us" (see John 1:14). There is a relationship in place! Not some abstract notion of God-ness in the earth, but the real presence of the Spirit of Jesus, teaching us to love as He loved and to say no to ungodliness and worldly passions (see Romans 8 and Titus 2).

LORD God, You are my Lord. Do whatever it takes to cause me to come to where You are, and to work in the same way that You are working. I want to live like You.

LORD God, You are my Lover. Do whatever it takes to cause me to see You, and help me to reflect the image of Your goodness and glory in my relationships with others. I want to love like You.

R.A.B.-ble Rouser.

I am really praying that Pastor Benji does not get into trouble for speaking the truth with passion.

What did he say? In essence, he said:

If circumstances should be such that one has to make a choice between following the directives of Jesus Christ or remaining loyal to a particular denomination, then by all means follow Christ.

There is no sense in keeping tradition at the expense of revelation. How can I say that? We have precedence in Scripture. Andrew, a disciple of John the Baptist, was given a revelatory word: "Look, the Lamb of God!" (John 1:36). And, upon hearing that word, he skipped out of John's ministry and went, without hesitation, to follow Jesus the Christ.

Some of you may need to re-evaluate why you're doing what you're doing...

Brotherly Love.

This past Sunday, Pastor Benji spoke on John 1. We'll spend this week reflecting on some of the points he made concerning Andrew's role in introducing Peter to Christ, and the lessons we can incorporate into our own roles as witnesses of Christ to the men and women who are closest to us.

Prior to following Jesus, Andrew was a disciple of John the Baptist. That is, Andrew was on the leading edge of the new wave of ministry.

God was moving in the desert through a man named John the Baptizer, and Andrew caught the vision. He followed John.

John made a public announcement of the nature and status of Jesus Christ, and Andrew caught the vision. He followed Jesus.

And, in catching the vision concerning Jesus, Andrew "went and found his brother" (See John 1:41) in order to share the good news.

Have you caught the vision of what God is doing?
Have you shared that vision with your brother?