Seeing the Wind

"But seeing the wind, he became frightened, and beginning to sink, he cried out, "Lord, save me!"" (Matthew 14:30 NAS95)

Observation:  How do you see the wind?  

Mmm... One can see the spray that the wind kicks up.  One can see the choppy waves.  And one can feel its force... but, how does one see the wind.  One doesn't.

Jesus said this about the wind:

"The wind blows where it wishes and you hear the sound of it, but do not know where it comes from and where it is going"  (John 3:8).

Honestly, we can see and hear the effects of the wind, but we do not see and hear the wind itself.  We can only feel it.  And it is by faith that we acknowledge that feeling as wind.

In the same way we can see and hear the effects of God's power but we do not always see and hear God himself; it is only by faith that we know He is working.

Why all this philosophy?  Because Peter put his faith in the wind.  Looking around at the waves, feeling their spray blasting against his face, the fisherman allowed himself to be distracted from Jesus.  He looked to his circumstances rather than looking to His Savior.  All He could see was: Wind.

Application:  What am I looking at, and believing in?  Does Jesus have my faith or does the wind have my faith.  I think of what James wrote to the church:

"But if any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all generously and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But he must ask in faith without any doubting, for the one who doubts is like the surf of the sea, driven and tossed by the wind. For that man ought not to expect that he will receive anything from the Lord, being a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways." (James 1:5–8 NAS95)

Prayer:  Lord make me a single minded man.  When I feel the wind, let me look to Jesus and not to the rolling waves.  Turn my fears to faith and my troubles to trust.  In every difficulty let me hear a call to prayer.  And when I'm tempted to speak doubt, teach me to talk faith.

The Night God Came to Dinner

During wartime, two groups of enemy soldiers arrived at the same house. Then a miracle happened.
BY: Adapted from a story by Rod Ohira

Fritz Vincken owns a bakery just outside of downtown Honolulu. He dispenses warmth and a smile along with hot buns and fresh bread to his loyal customers. Fritz has lived in the Hawaiian islands for many years now, and when he first arrived he was enchanted by the kindness and goodwill of the Islands' people. When asked, however, he admits that for him, the ideal of aloha was first learned long ago--when he was a lad of twelve.

The setting was on the other side of the world from Hawai'i, on a harsh winter night in the Ardennes Forest near the German-Belgian border. It was December, and two months had passed since Hubert Vincken brought his wife and his son Fritz to a small cottage in the Ardennes Forest for their safety. The family's home and its eighty-eight-year-old bakery in Aachen (Aix-La-Chapelle) had been destroyed in a bombing raid.

"We were isolated," Fritz recalled. "Every three or four days, my father would ride out from town on his bicycle to bring us food. When the snow came, he had to stop." His mother was concerned that their food was in very short supply, as the war seemed to be moving closer to their cottage of refuge.

By late December the cottage was no longer out of harm's way. German troops surprised and overwhelmed the Allies on December 16, turning the Ardennes Forestinto a killing field.

On Christmas Eve, Elisabeth and Fritz tried to block out the distant sound of gunfire as they sat down to their supper of oatmeal and potatoes.

"At that moment, I heard human voices outside, speaking quietly," Fritz remembered. "Mother blew out the little candle on the table and we waited in fearful silence.

"There was a knock at the door. Then another. When my mother opened the door, two men were standing outside. They spoke a strange language and pointed to a third man sitting in the snow with a bullet wound in his upper leg. We knew they were American soldiers. They were cold and weary.

"I was frightened and wondered what in the world my mother would do. She hesitated for a moment. Then she motioned the soldiers into the cottage, turned to me and said, 'Get six more potatoes from the shed.'"

Elisabeth and one of the American soldiers were able to converse in French, and from him they learned news about the German offensive. The soldier and his comrades had become separated from their battalion and had wandered for three days in the snowy Ardennes Forest, hiding from the Germans. Hungry and exhausted, they were so grateful for this stranger's kindness.

A short time later that evening, four more tired soldiers came to the cottage. However, these men were German.

"Now I was almost paralyzed with fear," Fritz recalled. "While I stood and stared in disbelief, my mother took the situation into her hands. I had always looked up to my mother and was proud to be her son. But in the moments that followed, she became my hero."

"Frohliche Weihnachten," Elisabeth said to the German soldiers, wishing them Merry Christmas. She then invited them to dinner.

But before allowing them in, Elisabeth informed them she had other guests inside that they might not consider as friends.

"She reminded them that it was Christmas Eve," Fritz said, "and told them sternly there would be no shooting around here." These soldiers, still mere boys, listened respectfully to this kind and mature woman.

The German soldiers agreed to store their weapons in the shed. Elisabeth then quickly went inside to collect the weapons from the American soldiers and locked them up securely.

"At first, it was very tense," Fritz said.

Two of the German soldiers were about sixteen years old and another was a medical student who spoke some English. Although there was little food to offer, Elisabeth knew that everyone must be very hungry. She sent Fritz outside to fetch the rooster he had captured several weeks earlier.

"When I returned," Fritz recalled, "the German medical student was looking after the wounded American, assuring him that the cold had prevented infection.

"The tension among them gradually disappeared. One of the Germans offered a loaf of rye bread, and one of the Americans presented instant coffee to share. By then the men were eager to eat, and Mother beckoned them to the table. We all were seated as she said grace.

"'Komm, Herr Jesus,'" she prayed, 'and be our guest.'

"There were tears in her eyes," Fritz said, "and as I looked around the table, I saw that the battle-weary soldiers were filled with emotion. Their thoughts seemed to be many, many miles away.

"Now they were boys again, some from America, some from Germany, all far from home."

Soon after dinner, the soldiers fell asleep in their heavy coats. The next morning, they exchanged Christmas greetings and everyone helped make a stretcher for the wounded American.

"The German soldiers then advised the Americans how to find their unit," Fritz said. "My mother gave the men back their weapons and said she would pray for their safety. At that moment, she had become a mother to them all. She asked them to be very careful and told them, 'I hope someday you will return home safely to where you belong. May God bless and watch over you.'"

The soldiers shook hands and marched off in opposite directions. It was the last time Fritz or his mother would ever see any of them.

Throughout her life, Elisabeth Vincken would often say, "God was at our table" when she talked of that night in the forest.

Fritz eventually came to live in Hawai'i and continued to carry this childhood lesson of brotherhood in his heart. He realized that being kind to one another and seeing beyond differences is a universal value, but he was surprised to discover that Hawai'i actually had a word for this ideal--aloha. When he thinks of aloha, he remembers that night long ago when everyone was welcome at the table.

Stretch Out You Hand

"And a leper came to Him and bowed down before Him, and said, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." Jesus stretched out His hand and touched him, saying, "I am willing; be cleansed." And immediately his leprosy was cleansed." (Matthew 8:2–3 NAS95)

Observation:  Five beautiful words!  "Jesus stretched out His hand."  Glory!  He is the one who heals with outstretched hand.  He is the one who parted the sea through the outstretched hand of Moses.  And He is the one who purchased our salvation with outstretched hands on Calvary's cross.  How I thank the Lord for the outstretched hands of Jesus.  

I once wrote a song about His Hands.  It says:

Hands that healed the lepar, and opened blind eyes

that lifted up the lame and brought the dead to life.

Father we praise You for the touch of His mighty healing hands...

Hands folded in the garden, and bound in the night

They were nailed to a tree, outstretched to bring us life

Father we praise You for the blood, that flowed from His healing hands...

Hands of forgiveness still reaching out today

Still touching the outcast, still offering grace

Father we praise You for the touch, of scarred but healing hands...

O how I need the touch of Jesus.  And I am so grateful the for the promise of Isaiah 59:1:

"Behold, the LORD's hand is not so short That it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull That it cannot hear." (Isaiah 59:1 NAS95)

Application:  Where do I need the touch of Jesus today?  

Prayer:  Jesus I need You to reach out and touch my mind.  Just lay your hand over my head and fill me with the thoughts of glory.  Fill me with thoughts of faith.  Teach me to talk faith!

Talk faith, pure, sacred, holy faith. Bear no discouraging testimony, for this pleases the enemy. Talk of the goodness of God. Have we not enough at every step to praise him for?  {The Upward Look 329.4}

Talk faith, pure, sacred, holy faith. Bear no discouraging testimony, for this pleases the enemy. Talk of the goodness of God. Have we not enough at every step to praise him for?  Manuscript 1151. 

Yes Jesus, stretch out Your hand and touch my lips this morning.  As I stand before Your people, may the words I speak be words of faith.  May they be words of hope and of courage.  Speak through me Jesus.  Speak encouragement.  Speak blessing.  Speak joy.  Speak salvation.  

Lord I pray the prayer of the apostles this morning:

"Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus."" (Acts 4:29–30 NKJV)

Yes Jesus... grant me boldness in the face of the enemy's threats.  And as You allow me to speak with boldness, may you stretch out Your hand to heal, may You stretch out Your hand to lift up the broken, may You stretch out You hand save.  We need Thy hand Lord Jesus.  We need Your touch.  

Stretch out Your hand just now!  Amen!

No More Stuff!

This week our family got an email update from our friends Mike and Sara Hawthorne who are serving at The Mission at Natuvu Creek, a medical mission station in the islands of Fiji. (for more info go to: www.missionatnatuvucreek.com) The Hawthornes have been at Natavu Creek since September.

In January of this year, they came to Alamosa and shared how God was leading them to sell their 35 Acre Ranch in Masonville, CO, and move with their six children to Fiji to become Jesus' hands and feet for the Fijian people.

The following is from one of Sara's latest letters in which she tells about receiving a large storage container of their belongings 2 months after arriving in Fiji:

Great cheers and excitement greeted the colossal, red metal box, as the truck carrying it pulled in next to the bus stop on our property.

As the rain gently fell from the sky, the doors to that well traveled container, which left Colorado ahead of us in the middle of August, were opened and its ingredients unloaded. A large group of hard-working men arrived to help us with this daunting feat. Mike climbed up and started to pull out the first of our earthly possessions. Mattresses, couches, shovels, and all the works were handed down an assembly line until I would point each item to the direction of its new home. Many hands made for a quick process, and we were completely unloaded within a few hours.

However, the monumental task of the day was still ahead of us. We had to remove the container from the truck, without the help of any heavy equipment. A crane was supposed to arrive to pick up the container, but a communication break down left us with no choice but to pray and brainstorm. In the end, the men tied the container to several coconut trees, and the driver pulled forward with the container crashing to the ground, miraculously upright!

This experience brings me to one of my lessons learned. No more STUFF! It was a bit embarrassing to unload box after box, and have all of our new friends working hard to help us, when the truth is that they live very simply and contentedly with very little. One man asked us if we were moving the whole state of Colorado to the Mission. He was joking, of course, but if he only knew how much STUFF we had already gotten rid of.

As we were preparing to move to Fiji, downsizing, and getting rid of many things, I looked at shopping in a whole new light. Every purchase was carefully examined, and prayed over with the question of 'do I really need this?' I encourage many of you to ask this question when you are at the store. Especially with the holiday season approaching, does your Aunt Sue need you to waste money on something she doesn't really need?

Friend, Sara's point is well taken. Why not give a little more to charity this holiday season and a little less to the ones who really don't need anything? Why not stop by Milagros and choose a gift from La Puente's Alternative Giving Menu? Or how about emailing Sara (sonshineranch@gmail.com) to find out how you can support The Mission at Natuvu Creek? Or pick a favorite charity of your own, send them a donation, and then put a card on your Christmas tree addressed to your loved ones telling them that you gave in their honor. As Sara said well: "Invest yourselves in things that last. You will never regret it!"

Blessings,

Jim Moon, Pastor

Alamosa SDA Church

Constant Contact

""You will be hated by all because of My name, but the one who endures to the end, he will be saved." (Mark 13:13 NAS95)

Yesterday I was on the phone with my friend Steve and he shared this incredible quote from Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing with me:

Live in contact with the living Christ, and He will hold you firmly by a hand that will never let go. Know and believe the love that God has to us, and you are secure; that love is a fortress impregnable to all the delusions and assaults of Satan. "The name of the Lord is a strong tower: the righteous runneth into it, and is safe." Proverbs 18:10. (Thoughts from the Mount of Blessing, p. 119). 

A similar quote is found in the book Ministry of Healing:  

Nothing is apparently more helpless, yet really more invincible, than the soul that feels its nothingness and relies wholly on the merits of the Saviour. By prayer, by the study of His word, by faith in His abiding presence, the weakest of human beings may live in contact with the living Christ, and He will hold them by a hand that will never let go. (Ministry of Healing, p. 182).

My wife is currently going through the Beth Moore study When Godly People Do Ungodly Things, and one of the points Ingrid has wrestled with is the idea of being sealed by the Holy Spirit.  Beth concludes that Satan may harass those who are sealed but that ultimately they belong to God and there is nothing the Devil can do to take them from the Lord's hand.  

However, today's text says that it is the one who endures to the end who will be saved.  In other words, those who do not endure will be lost.   It's not that the devil takes them from God's hand, but that they choose to walk away from the hand of God.  Yes, when we receive Christ we find shelter from Satan, but temptation is about the devil seeking to lead us step by step outside that shelter.  Thus, those who do not abide in Christ will be cut off and thrown into the fire as John 15 tells us.  

Yes, when we confess Christ with our mouths and believe with our hearts the promise says: "we will be saved" (Romans 10:9).   But "will" is the critical word.  As long as we continue to confess, as long as we continue to trust "we will be saved."

To be sealed by the Spirit of God means that we have been set apart.  We are now a part of those destined to be saved.  But that doesn't take away the fact that we must endure until the end.  King Saul received the Spirit of God, but because He didn't endure, eventually the Spirit of God left him:

""Then the Spirit of the LORD will come upon you mightily, and you shall prophesy with them and be changed into another man. "It shall be when these signs come to you, do for yourself what the occasion requires, for God is with you. "And you shall go down before me to Gilgal; and behold, I will come down to you to offer burnt offerings and sacrifice peace offerings. You shall wait seven days until I come to you and show you what you should do." 

Then it happened when he turned his back to leave Samuel, God changed his heart; and all those signs came about on that day. When they came to the hill there, behold, a group of prophets met him; and the Spirit of God came upon him mightily, so that he prophesied among them... 

Now the Spirit of the LORD departed from Saul, and an evil spirit from the LORD terrorized him." (1 Samuel 10:6–10; 16:14 NAS95)

O friend, the key to security in Christ, the key to assurance of salvation is this... Confession and Connection.  True assurance, an assurance without presumption, is choosing to live in contact with the living Christ.  As long as we are connected we may be confident.  Our confidence and assurance isn't from our confession alone, but from our confession combined with our connection to Christ.  If we abide in Him we will bear much fruit.  And one of the fruits we bear is assurance of salvation.  

Prayer:  Lord Jesus, I choose you again.  Today Lord, let me live in connection to You.  Be my vine, that I might bear Your fruit.  Let Your strong hand hold me close and never let go!  Amen!

 

His Dwelling Place

""But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you. "And He, when He comes, will convict the world concerning sin and righteousness and judgment; concerning sin, because they do not believe in Me; and concerning righteousness, because I go to the Father and you no longer see Me; and concerning judgment, because the ruler of this world has been judged." (John 16:7-11 NAS95S) 

Observation:  At the Rocky Mountain Conference Pastors meetings on August 3rd, 2008, Martin Weber shared a fascinating concept.  He suggested that our greatest treasure as Seventh-day Adventist Christians was the message of the Heavenly Sanctuary.  This is not a particularly new suggestion.  However, the why of the sanctuary message that Martin gave was very fresh.  

"How many of us would think of preaching forgiveness without the cross of Christ?"  Martin asked.  "Then, why do we preach the Holy Spirit without the resurrection and ascension and inauguration of Christ in the Heavenly Sanctuary?"

Wow... what a thought!  I have always wondered about the practical implications of the sanctuary message.  I think Martin is on to something.  The sanctuary is significant because it is Christ's ministry in the Heavenly Places which makes it possible for us to be filled with His Spirit in our earthly realities.  He ascended on high that His Spirit might come inside.  He reigns above us and within us.  Sister White supports this train of thought:

Christ's ascension to heaven was the signal that His followers were to receive the promised blessing. For this they were to wait before they entered upon their work. When Christ passed within the heavenly gates, He was enthroned amidst the adoration of the angels. As soon as this ceremony was completed, the Holy Spirit descended upon the disciples in rich currents, and Christ was indeed glorified, even [BEGIN P.39] with the glory which He had with the Father from all eternity. The Pentecostal outpouring was Heaven's communication that the Redeemer's inauguration was accomplished. According to His promise He had sent the Holy Spirit from heaven to His followers as a token that He had, as priest and king, received all authority in heaven and on earth, and was the Anointed One over His people. {AA 38.3}

White, E. G. 1911;2002. The Acts of the Apostles in the Proclamation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ;AA;Conflict of the Ages Series, Volume 4;Acts of the Apostles . Pacific Press Publishing Association;Pacific Press Publishing Association

Some scriptures that tie into this thought for me are found in the writings of Paul:

"Do you not know that you are a temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you?"  (1Corinthians 3:16 NAS95S)

Individually, when I accept Christ as my personal Savior and Lord, I become a dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.  He intends my life to be a mini-sanctuary on earth; reflecting the glory of His grand sanctuary in heaven.  And where is the Most Holy place of this mini-sanctuary called me.  May I suggest it to be my heart:

"Therefore, brethren, since we have confidence to enter the holy place by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way which He inaugurated for us through the veil, that is, His flesh, and since we have a great priest over the house of God, let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water."  (Hebrews 10:19-22 NAS95S)

In the wilderness sanctuary it was the sprinkling of the mercy seat upon the Ark of the Covenant that began the process of making atonement and cleansing.  In the same way, cleansing must begin in the heart of a man.  As Jesus said:

"A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." (Luke 6:45 NKJV) 

Every good thing, yeah, every evil thing proceeds from the heart.  It is not what goes into us that makes us unclean as much as what comes out of us.  Our mouths reveal our motives.  What we say and what we do shows what is hidden in the deep recesses of our heart.  

Jeremiah wrote:  ""Can the Ethiopian change his skin Or the leopard his spots? Then you also can do good Who are accustomed to doing evil."  (Jeremiah 13:23 NAS95S)

Without a change of heart, there is no way we can do right.  Which is why God offers us this new covenant promise:

""Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah, not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. "But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. "They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more.""  (Jeremiah 31:31-34 NAS95S)

Did you get that?  God is going to write the law upon our hearts!  In the Most Holy Place of our being, He is going to inscribe His Most Holy precepts.  Just as the Ten Commandments were contained in the Ark of the Covenant, God is going to make us little sanctuaries, in which He places His Most Holy Precepts.

But how?  How does the law get inscribed upon us... Well, Ezekiel gives us insight into this reality:

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. "I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will be careful to observe My ordinances."  (Ezekiel 36:26-27 NAS95S)

Here is the link to the Sanctuary Message, the good news of the New Covenant, and our hope of holiness.  He puts His Spirit within us.  We become His sanctuary through the indwelling of His Spirit.  Our lives were created to reflect the glory of His Heavenly Sanctuary.  And we reflect that  glory as His Spirit dwells in our hearts.  All I can say is Wow.

But that's not all, not only do we reflect His glory individually as we allow His Spirit to dwell in our hearts, but more importantly, we reflect that glory corporately.  Check out this word from Paul:

"So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit."  (Ephesians 2:19-22 NAS95S)

Brothers and sisters, we are being fitted together, growing into a holy temple (sanctuary) in the Lord; a dwelling of God in the Spirit.  This reminds me of something Christ said:

""But an hour is coming, and now is, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth; for such people the Father seeks to be His worshipers." (John 4:23 NAS95S)

Corporately the Most Holy Place of all worship... is not a building or an auditorium, but where believers are joined together through the power of the Holy Spirit and in the authority of His word of truth.  In fact, all it takes for this Most Holy Communion is two:

 

""For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.""  (Matthew 18:20 NAS95S)

Where two are three are gathered in Christ's name, that is a sanctuary moment.  In case you doubt that, allow me to share with you an interesting little anecdote I came across in the SDA Bible Commentary:

20. In My Name.  According to the Mishnah (Aboth 3. 2, Soncino ed. of the Talmud, p. 27), "But [when] two sit together and there are words of Torah [spoken] between them, the Shechinah abides among them" (see on Gen. 3:24).   (Nichol, F. D. 1978;2002. The Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary, Volume 5;SDABC5 . Review and Herald Publishing Association).

How amazing is that... In the Jewish Mishnah was this saying that where two or three sit together and words of Torah are spoken between them, the Shechinah abides among them.  Oh Glory!  The Shechinah is what would show up in the Most Holy Place of the sanctuary above the mercy seat.  It represented the grand, glorious, and Holy Presence of God Almighty.  And Jesus, is saying... Where two are three are gathered in my name, I am in their midst.  In other words, when believers come together in the name of Jesus, then He dwells among us as the Shekinah glory of God.  Here on earth, we unite through the power of His Spirit, to worship, to pray, and to seek His face... His glory shows up among us... and we become His sanctuary in the midst of a crooked a perverse generation.  A light.  A beacon.  A community of hope amidst a world of despair.

I don't know how to find words for all this... All I can say is glory.  Glory to God that we are His dwelling place, that I am His dwelling place.  Glory to God that the sanctuary message is all about God dwelling with His people and in His people:

""Let them construct a sanctuary for Me, that I may dwell among them."  (Exodus 25:8 NAS95S)

Hallelujah, we are His sanctuary and He is our God.  The In-dweller.  The Spirit inside us.  Shaping, Making, Molding, and Using us for His glory. 

From Strength to Strength

"Do not be grieved, for the joy of the LORD is your strength." (Nehemiah 8:10 NAS95)

Observation:  The feast of tabernacles is a feast intended to remind God's people of a time when we lived in tents.  Of a time when we were led by the visible presence of God through the wilderness.  Of a time when He provided for our every need.  Of a time when we lived, not by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.  

The feast of tabernacles is intended to teach us:  "The Joy of the Lord is Your strength!"  It's not the house you live in.  It's not a permanent dwelling.    It's not the things you now posses or ever will have.   Rather it is the presence of the living God.  A presence that chooses to dwell with us.  A presence who choose to wander with us.  A presence that "shepherded Israel according to the integrity of his heart, And guided them with his skillful hands." (Psalms 78:72 NAS95) 

Yes our God is the God who chose to dwell with us, to tabernacle with us, not only in the tent of the wilderness sanctuary, but in the tent of flesh and blood.  

"And the Word became flesh, and dwelt among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth." (John 1:14 NAS95)

Application:  When I think of this God who became flesh.  Who tabernacled in my midst.  Who gives us the tabernacle experience to remind us that His joy is our strength... I think of the words spoken before his death:

""These things I have spoken to you so that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be made full." (John 15:11 NAS95)

""Until now you have asked for nothing in My name; ask and you will receive, so that your joy may be made full." (John 16:24 NAS95)

Through two things He wants to fill me with His joy.  Through His word, "the things He has spoken to me."  And through prayer, the things I would seek of Him... not according to my will... but according to His will and the glory of His name.  

Prayer:  O Lord Jesus, Speak to me and pray through me.  I shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.  And I shall not pray in my own strength, nor according to my own will, but by the power of the Spirit that raised Christ from the grave.  O pray through me Jesus.  Throughout the day.  Without ceasing.  Pray through me.  Make my life Thy Tabernacle.  Make my life Thy prayer.  And let Your will be done in me.

Lord Jesus I claim the words of 2 Corinthians 5:1-5 as Your words to my heart this morning:

"For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven, inasmuch as we, having put it on, will not be found naked. For indeed while we are in this tent, we groan, being burdened, because we do not want to be unclothed but to be clothed, so that what is mortal will be swallowed up by life. Now He who prepared us for this very purpose is God, who gave to us the Spirit as a pledge." (2 Corinthians 5:1–5 NAS95)

Lord through this passage you are speaking to my heart and saying, mortality is a temporary dwelling place.  You are assuring my heart this morning that the infilling of Your Spirit is Your pledge to me of Your promise to swallow up this temporary tent in the eternal life of Your son Jesus Christ; that while I may take my rest in the grave for a short moment...  that when Your come in the clouds of glory... my flesh will be swallowed up in life... eternal life... everlasting life... the life of my dear Savior. 

O how I thank You for this promise.  O how I thank you for this assurance.  The blessed hope Lord is more glorious this morning because you are the one who has tabernacled among us.  The blessed hope is more beautiful this morning because you say to my heart: 

""Receive the Holy Spirit." (John 20:22 NAS95)  Receive the Spirit as my pledge, my guarantee to you, that I will take the temporary, broken, shattered existence of Your life here on this earth, and use it to prepare You for an eternal weight of glory.  Yes, I give You my Spirit as a pledge that my joy shall be Your strength forevermore.  Yes, throughout the ceaseless ages of eternity, you my son, shall sing my praise.  You shall go from strength to strength!

My Beloved

"Then He said to them, "How is it that they say the Christ is David's son? "For David himself says in the book of Psalms, 'THE LORD SAID TO MY LORD, "SIT AT MY RIGHT HAND, UNTIL I MAKE YOUR ENEMIES A FOOTSTOOL FOR YOUR FEET."' "Therefore David calls Him 'Lord,' and how is He his son?""  (Luke 20:41-44 NAS95S)

David's name means beloved.  So, "How is it that they say the Christ is David's son?"  Is it not in this?  That He is the Beloved of the Father, The Only Begotten, Full of Grace and Truth!  

O Holy Christ.  You are the Beloved One.  You are the Him who comes down from Heaven.  The Manna who became Man.  How can this be?  

I am reminded of Joseph's Song:

Joseph's Song

by Michael Card

Chorus 1

How could it be this baby in my arms

Sleeping now, so peacefully

The Son of God, the angel said

How could it be

Lord I know He's not my own

Not of my flesh, not of my bone

Still Father let this baby be

The son of my love

Chorus 2

Father show me where I fit into this plan of yours

How can a man be father to the Son of God

Lord for all my life I've been a simple carpenter

How can I raise a king, How can I raise a king

He looks so small, His face and hands so fair

And when He cries the sun just seems to disappear

But when He laughs it shines again

How could it be

O, even as I hold my own child, even as I ride with my 8 year old son to Durango this morning, I am reminded, this could have been God's son.  For He became flesh and dwelt among.  And we have beheld His glory.  A glory veiled in humanity.  Chris Rice sings of this veiled glory:

Welcome to Our World

by Christ Rice

Tears are falling, hearts are breaking

How we need to hear from god

Youve been promised, weve been waiting

Welcome holy child

Welcome holy child

Hope that you don't mind our manger

How I wish we would have known

But long awaited holy stranger

Make yourself at home

Please make yourself at home

Bring your peace into our violence

Bid our hungry souls be filled

World now breaking heavens silence

Welcome to our world

Welcome to our world

Fragile finger sent to heal us

Tender brow prepared for thorn

Tiny heart whose blood will save us

Unto us is born

Unto us is born

So wrap our injured flesh around you

Breathe our air and walk our sod

Rob our sin and make us holy

Perfect son of god

Perfect son of god

Welcome to our world

Prayer:  Welcome to my world Jesus.  On this very day, on this very morning, I wish You welcome.  I don't have a lot to offer.  I don't have a lot to give.  My world is broken.  It is fearful.  It is frail.  But I do have an empty heart.  I do have a place inside me waiting for it's King.  Waiting for the one who reigns on David's throne.  Will You not reign in me?  Will You not let Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven?  In my heart as it is in heaven?

O Let it be dear Jesus!  Let Thy will be done in me.  And let my world be brighter, fresher, more glorious... because You are welcome here.  

Come, Son of David, come dwell in me.  Be my beloved, that I might be Yours.