Epiphany: the Revelation of Jesus

This season in the Christian calendar is called Epiphany. (This season in the Colorado calendar is called "shiver"!) 'Epiphany' comes from the Greek word which means 'revealing or manifestation.' It refers, broadly, to the various ways Jesus Christ was revealed to the world, beginning with his birth, presentation at the temple, and so forth, even as far as his first

Marvel-ing at a True Super-hero

When I was a lot younger, I read the comics and watched TV shows like Superman and Batman (not always with the permission of my parents) and marveled at the strength of these more-than-humans and their ability to stay calm in almost any tough situation. Now I see Marvel(tm) comics or see the ads for movies with Hulk, Thor, Captain America and the others and I realize these fantasies

"Ministry in the Spirit"

Lately I've seen several large churches advertising a "school of supernatural ministry" -- they even seem to have that exact title everywhere. I know people who have attended them, who report good results in their lives. And since this is Pentecost season, I've been studying and praying over the descriptions in the Bible of the Holy Spirit working in peoples' lives to do God's will. But after reading the life of Jesus and the book of Acts, in particular, I have to ask a question

Compassion and Miracles

Jesus was the Son of God. He performed many miracles during his ministry, healing people and driving out demons, even raising the dead on several occasions. Some analyze these stories to discover the kind of faith that was needed, or how well people knew who he was. The detail that strikes me about all of Jesus' miracles is

Connections

It's simple, says the little package.  Just plug this adapter into your computer, install the software and you can connect up to seven devices to your computer.  Cool, I thought.  The adapter plugged in just fine, the software downloaded and installed (eventually) and the little blue light came on.  Then the whole process ground to a halt as I tried to connect a device.  Over and over.  Isn't it wonderful, I reflected, how technology can save us time, and simplify our lives?


It's a good thing we don't have to go through all that with God.  Our connection with him, through the Holy Spirit, has all the best features:

• always-on  John 14:16, "And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you." (Compare, by the way, that the Holy Spirit came and went from time to time in the Old Testament; his presence was not yet permanent.  Judges 3:10, 1 Sam. 10:6, 1 Sam. 16:14, etc.)
• automated connection Acts 2:3-4  Then, what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them. And everyone present was filled with the Holy Spirit...
• high-bandwidth  John 14:17,  "He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth."  John 16:13, "When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all truth."
• secure Eph. 1:13-14  ...When you believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession—to the praise of his glory. 
• error-correction Rom. 8:26-27   "And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will."
• restores dropped connections  Rom. 8:15-16, "So you have not received a spirit that makes you fearful slaves. Instead, you received God’s Spirit when he adopted you as his own children. Now we call him, “Abba, Father." For his Spirit joins with our spirit to affirm that we are God’s children."  

Rather than relying on technology, we can be happy that we have miraculous, secure and eternal connection with God through his Spirit who lives in us and leads us into the will of God.  Let's surrender to his sure hand, letting him guide us into right living, teach us more about our Savior, and live his supernatural life in us!

The Other Side of the Boat

It had been a long night and the seven men in the small boat were exhausted.  It was time to row back to shore and clean their empty nets.  They were already discouraged from the events of the last week.  They had all followed this new rabbi, Jesus of Nazareth, for three years and then the whole thing had been a bust -- the Romans had crucified Jesus and the brave among them had watched him die.  The last three years were a waste, so it seemed, so they were back to fishing for their livelihood, and now it looked like that wasn't going to work either. Bummer!

A voice came to them from on shore, a hundred yards away.  "So you got skunked, huh?  Try throwing your nets off the other side of the boat."  They looked at each other as if to ask, "What difference would that make? It's only a few feet!" but then they gave it one more try (fishermen do that a lot). Suddenly the net was full and it was all they could do to stay afloat with the load hanging over the side.  Eyes wide, they all realized this was no accident.  "It's the Lord [Jesus]!" said John. 

Once again Jesus showed his power -- now, after his resurrection -- to these guys who were so slow to believe.  He had called them to follow him, and he wasn't giving up on them just because they were discouraged.  He told them to try again, a little differently, and suddenly they succeeded.  Fellow disciples, it's the same today.  We can work until we're exhausted, get discouraged and think nothing is ever going to give results.  Then the Master calls out, telling us to try again, to try something just a little different than our 'proven methods.'  Our first challenge is always hearing him when we're 'busy working'.  Then there's the challenge of being discouraged -- thinking that, surely, trying again isn't worth the effort.  But the Master calls us to follow, not argue.

The question is, for each of us, what is 'the other side of the boat?'  Perhaps it's a different approach to a relationship; taking the painful steps to learn budgeting and money management; forgiving someone (again!); walking the few steps and daring to open up to a co-worker or neighbor about your faith in Jesus; or something else equally difficult, that Jesus is asking us to do. 

The disciples received a boatload of fish.  What is Jesus wanting to bless you and me with, if we will follow?

On the Shore of the Red Sea

Exodus is a very cool book: full of stories of God's power, his peoples' inability to understand him even though he made it plain, and some 'excellent adventures' to borrow the title of a slapstick movie. Plagues, miracles and wonders, new kinds of food, burning mountains, the whole panorama of the new and unusual.

One story that always gets me is what I call "Standoff at the Red Sea" in chapters 13 and 14. First, God puts the Israelites into what my military friends would call an indefensible position, stuck on a little stretch of beach between the mountains and the sea. The whole Egyptian army, out for revenge for all those plagues, is boiling down on top of them. The Israelites, of course, blame Moses for the whole thing (starting with, "I can't keep my campfire lit next to the ocean!") and he spends some time complaining to the LORD about them.

The LORD comes back with something nobody would have predicted: he opens up the Red Sea for them. They stand there gawping for awhile, then because the Cloud moves into and through this new channel, they go across too. Probably shaking in their sandals the whole way and stopping the kids from picking up seashells. Then, just to sew it all up into a nice package, the LORD lets the waters come back over the Egyptian army; that'll show 'em!

I've sat in that spot, between the mountains and the sea with something or other coming at me like a Mack truck, more times in my life than I can remember. It's almost gotten to the point of being routine, except the circumstances keep changing. And, yes, I spend my time complaining to God about it. And inevitably, something happens that I didn't know was out there and couldn't have engineered to save my life (which is sometimes the point!).

Sooner or later, we all face illness, job loss, death of a loved one, financial problems, housing problems, or a thousand other problems we can't solve. Thing is, the same LORD who knew what the Israelites were facing also knows what you're up to. He is just as faithful to deliver you as he was to deliver them. And he is just as capable at parting your Red Sea as he was theirs. Now, the solution may be just as hard to step into as theirs was, but you can usually tell it's from him because nobody else could have done it. It may not be the solution you'd have chosen, but it will fit his plans to a T.

And when you step forward into his solution, whatever it is, he may show you a really pretty shell to keep, just to remind you that he loves you.

A Gift for You

Most of us like receiving gifts, whether for a special day or (maybe especially) for a non-special day. Besides God's gift of salvation, given to everyone through Jesus Christ -- see Romans 5:12-19 as one powerful passage -- what is the best gift he could give us? Jesus said that the Father desires to give us Holy Spirit, in Luke 11:13 -- "So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him?"

God keeps on giving. The Father sends us the Holy Spirit through the Son; the Holy Spirit, in turn, has specific gifts to give every one of us. In 1 Cor. 12, many gifts are listed: wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing, miracles, prophecy, discernment, tongues and interpretations, helps, administrations; and appointments to ministries such as apostles, prophets, and teachers. (Other 'gift lists' are in Romans 12:6-8, Ephesians 4:11 and 1 Peter 4:9-11)

That means that God, who knows everything and everyone, has given you -- yes, you -- certain gifts or abilities. He wants each of us to understand which gifts we have and how we can put them to use in the world around us.

How do you know which gifts you have? There are several ways. You can take a 'gifts quiz' that helps point out areas of strength or passion. You can make a list of ways in which you've contributed in your family or community, or at work, and that list would start to show where your gifts are. Your friends and family could tell you if you have the list right, if they've seen you do things effectively (doing something well is a good indicator of a gift; it's like making it through the first round of American Idol, versus being booed off the stage).

And whatever gifts we have are to further the work of God, not for our personal gain. Paul says again in 1 Cor. 12:5, "There are different kinds of service, but we serve the same Lord." And to make sure we get the point, he follows these lists with 1 Cor 13, the Love Chapter; because loving is a lot more important than being important.

May God lead you to understand and to use the gifts he's given you, for his glory to increase.