They took Him with them...

Have you ever been in a really bad storm, one that left you wondering what had happened to the place that you are so familiar with.  A storm that throws trees around like twigs and knocks down houses, and tosses cars from here to there? 

I have been very fortunate to not witness, with my own eyes, the storm in the midst of its reign, but I have seen the aftermath of horrible storms.  I have seen trees turned upside down, with their roots exposed.  The mighty tree that has been adhered to the ground for probably hundreds of years, toppled over like it was a mere limb.

What I can recognize or connect too about a storm, is whether it is a storm that is physically thrashing about, or an emotional storm, the turmoil and anguish, I think are all the same.

I know I have been in storms where hail, thunder, lightning and wind had all been so ferocious and fearful, that I would begin my thought process of a safe place to hide with my dogs and my essentials.  I know that I would also call on the name of Jesus in those times, but what I have just come to realize is, I called on the name of Jesus when the storm was already here. 

I reached out for Jesus when the winds were already raging and threatening. 

I was in the midst of the storm, when I would cry out for help.   I wonder why I never asked for help, or protection before the storm hit.  Maybe, when the sky was starting to look threatening or the wind was just beginning to pick up, why didn’t I pray then?

In Mark 4:36-41 we see the disciples doing the same thing with Jesus.

(36) And leaving the throng, they took Him with them, (just) as He was, in the boat (in which He was sitting), and other boats were with Him. (37) And a furious storm of wind (of hurricane proportions) arose, and the waves kept beating into the boat, so that it was already becoming filled. (38) But He (Himself) was in the stern (of the boat), asleep on the (leather) cushion; and they awoke Him and said to Him, Master, do You not care that we are perishing? (39) And He arose and rebuked the wind and said to the sea, Hush Now! Be still (muzzled)!  And the wind ceased (sank to rest as if exhausted by its beating) and there was (immediately) a great calm (a perfect peacefulness). (40) He said to them, Why are you so timid and fearful? How is it that you have no faith (no firmly relying trust)? (41) And they were filled with great awe and feared exceedingly and said one to another, who then is this, that even wind and sea obey Him?

Could you imagine being the disciples and watching Jesus sleep, peacefully during a storm of that magnitude?  Could you imagine the confusion that would bring to your mind?  I mean truly, here is the Son of Man, sleeping in the boat while the waves are crashing around you.  How is that possible, I would wonder, I don’t know about you, but it would certainly have me asking some questions, and maybe not thinking as clearly as I should be, because I would be in fear.

I wish Mark would have told us how long they waited to wake up Jesus, and if they were afraid too.  I wonder if they were just astonished with the fact that Jesus wasn’t bothered by the storm, or the water that was filling the boat.

You see there are many levels of questions and answers in these six verses, but to me the thing that stood out, was the grouping of words, they took Him with them.  You will find these words in verse 36.

I would think you have at some point, maybe not tonight, but at some point in your life, have thought if Jesus were here in the flesh, I wouldn’t have to deal with this.  If I was a disciple I wouldn’t have been questioning Jesus, and who He was, or why I am following Him.  No, I would never be like Peter and deny Him three times, never, that’s Jesus! 

I know I have said all of those things, and many more.  I have cast judgment on Judas, Matthew, James, Peter and John.  I have wondered how Thomas could doubt Jesus, when Jesus was right in front of Him… and then, I realize I carry a piece of all of these men inside of me. 

I am a doubting Thomas, and I would have to say that is my biggest struggle.  I have been Peter in my life.  I might not have vocally denied Jesus, but I definitely put Him at the bottom of my list.  I have been a liar, a cheat, a back stabber, a fake and have taken what was not mine, so I guess I really can’t wrinkle my face at the disciples for behaving the way they did, even though they took Him with them. 

You see, truth is, if you are a believer in Jesus Christ and have accepted the Holy Spirit into your life, you also take him with you! 

Ah… yes, we see how this comes together for our own lives, or at least a piece of it. 

We will all have storms, large, small, quick, and lengthy and some might devastate us and up root us like an old tree, or some might just come and blow some things around.  We never know the magnitude of the storm, but what we do know is that there will be storms. 

When a storm hits, like the physical one I had mentioned before, why did it take me so long to reach out to God.  Why did I need to see the physical manifestation of the storm before me, and feel threatened to react? 

I think, like the disciples, we never truly believe the storm, the lie, the threat; the disaster is going to happen, until it does.  We see the warning signs, we see the threats of here comes a big problem, but yet we don’t properly prepare for these moments in our lives.

Personally, I think it has to do with pride, and I think it also has to do with not accepting, verbalizing and then fighting back against satan, the one who is sending the attacks.

You see Jesus was super calm, peaceful and sleeping in the boat because satan does not bring fear to Jesus’s heart.   Satan is not a threat to Jesus, so He can rest calmly in the midst of a storm, while on the other hand, us, and the disciples are losing ourselves in fear, because satan is a threat to us. 

Satan is a true, living, pulsing, threatening force that wants to end you, your relationship with Jesus, and all that you are.  Satan wants to keep you in darkness and in fear, and how would he go about doing that, by putting you in a threatening position.

Satan comes to kill, steal and destroy and nothing else.  He doesn’t come to mess you about to help you, he comes to destroy you, and anything good that is in your life. Oh, and he will blame Jesus for the destruction, while he is at it.

We need to be more aware of the fact that we do have an enemy roaming about like a lion, trying to destroy anything that we are doing in the name of God.  Anything good, feels good, is good, is helping another person, or advancing you in anyway is going to be under attack.  Satan is going to find that loop hole, and he is going to start chiseling away at you, your mind and your surroundings, hence the storm while Jesus was in the boat.

We are just like the disciples, where Jesus was right there, He was in touching distance for them, and within hearing distance for us, but yet, we allow our pride and ignorance take over, and before we know it the storm is threatening us and our safety, whether physical or mentally, it is something we are now afraid of. 

I believe that Jesus was so annoyed with the disciples, and sometimes us, because He has shown Himself to be true.  He has shown Himself to be loyal, to be faithful and to be extremely protective over His sheep, you and me.   So if He has shown us all of these things, why would we not call on Him, or rebuke the storm ourselves, at the first sight of danger?

I see Jesus’s side on this.  I would be upset as well, if my family or friends were in danger/need and didn’t call on me,  I would wonder why they didn’t ask for help, or why didn’t they come to me right away, I’d always be there for them. 

Jesus did His thing, and once again, tried to show the disciples, and us, that He is the first thing we need to reach out to when we are in trouble.  He is the first name we need to speak when we see a storm coming, and we need to do it quickly.  

When Jesus rebuked the storm, and told the storm to hush, He was showing us that He is the one in control, not satan.   Satan brought on that storm to bring fear to the hearts and minds of the disciples, that they would possibly perish in the storm, but the disciples spoke the name of Jesus, and He was there.

He was there for them, and He will be there for us.  You see in verse 36 where we see They took Him with them.  This is good for all of us.  We take Him with us wherever we go.  We take Him to bed, to work, to the gym, to the grocery store, we take Him everywhere.

We don’t physically need to see Jesus to know that He is there.  We know He is there because we asked Him to be there.  Because He loves us, and He is with us to protect us, comfort us and guide us into all truth. 

Next time you have a storm in your life, whether it be big or small, call on Jesus.  Take a moment to think of Him, and how He can help you in your time of need.  Just like Jesus silenced the waters, and brought immediate peace to the disciples, He will do the same for you. 

You can allow satan to send the storms and try to, kill, steal and destroy you or; you can do the right thing, and call on your Heavenly Father to come and calm the waters!! 

Sleeping and Rising... Sleeping and Rising...

I have never been interested in farming or gardening.   I personally have not found the joy in those things, but I am grateful for those who do.   Though Agriculture is not something I am interested in as an occupation, the wonder of it is intriguing to me.

In Mark 4:26-31 we see how Jesus is comparing the Kingdom of God to a farmer planting a field.

Mark 4:26 And He said, The kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed upon the ground.  (27) And then continues sleeping and rising night and day while the seed sprouts and grows and increases – he knows not how. (28) The earth produces (acting) by itself – first the blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear. (29) But when the grain is ripe and permits, immediately he sends forth (the reapers) and puts in the sickle, because the harvest stands ready.

We are all familiar with the mustard seed verse, and I am sure at some point you have heard of how Jesus uses parables to discuss the kingdom of God.  This time, as I was reading these verses, I kept thinking how it all comes back to faith. 

Faith to me is like the rain that the farmer needs to nourish his seeds into crops; and faith is what we need to allow God to nourish us into mature Christians.

In the first verse of Mark 4, verse 26 Jesus is saying that a farmer will spread his seed upon the ground.   I believe this is like us.  God will spread His seed, the word, on us.  We will be around people who speak of God, about God or we might even read about God ourselves, but that doesn’t mean our faith has come to completion, or has matured in Him.

Verse 27 we see that the farmer walks away from the seeds that he has thrown on the ground.  The farmer rests, and allows the earth to do its job to nurture, fertilize and grow the seeds that he has spread.    The farmers hope, desire and faith, is that the seeds will produce a harvest.    

You see that there is  a period of time that goes by, and the time is not mentioned.  There is no mention of the period of time and how long it is before the farmer sees the results of his planting.

This is, I believe, where we get into trouble, well at least I do.  The waiting, oh my, the waiting! 

This is the time where the enemy hits you hard.  This is when satan and his demons are asking you where’s God now?  What happened to the promises God has given you?  Why hasn’t anything happened?  God doesn’t love you?   These are just some of the things that satan tries to throw at me, while I am waiting for my harvest.

If we look back to verse 27 we will see what the farmer did, he continued sleeping and rising, sleeping and rising.  It says he did this night and day while the seed sprouts, grows and increases.  This is exactly what we are to be doing as well.

When we are in the waiting period, just as the farmer, we are to continue our lives as they were, before the promise was given, the prayer was prayed or the seed was planted.   Jesus doesn’t give us a set period of time here, because it’s going to be different for everyone and everything, but the behavior, the act of faith remains the same.

I really enjoy the last statement in verse 27, he knows not how.  The farmer doesn’t know how the seeds are flourishing, he just knows, believes, has faith that they are.  This for me is beyond difficult!!

That statement in verse 27, I believe refers to reasoning, understanding, allowing our minds to wander, to come up with a plan of attack or a solution to the situation.   This is where I allow the enemy into my mind, and where I need to do my strongest battle.  

We know that God works in ways we will never understand, even if He was to explain how everything worked and came together, we still wouldn’t understand.  Why is that? Because He is God.  His ways are higher than our ways, and His thoughts are higher than our thoughts. 

God works in the dark, in secret, and then reveals things to us in the light.  Just like the seeds that are being cultivated under the earth, in the dark, God is working for you in the dark, in His secret places.  

Though we want to know, we need not know.

This is extremely hard for me to let go of, and I fail miserably at this every single day!  I am a person who has control issues, stemming from my abusive childhood, so asking to trust someone, even God, is hard for me, but what’s harder is asking me to not understand how, when, where or why!

My faith grows in the not knowing.  My faith and trust grows in the times of the unanswered why, when, how, why or where.   In those times, God is asking me to just have faith in Him, and His word. 

To simply believe. 

And while that statement brings joy and hope to my heart, when I am faced with the challenge of just believing, and not trying to understand reason, or resolve the situation in my own way, I am in fear and circling my emotions, with the loss of control.

But we see what happens to the farmer in verse 28.  The earth produces by itself!  The earth produces, and produces to completion.  The seed first becomes a blade, then the ear, then the full grain in the ear.   Jesus is the earth in this verse.  Jesus produces, just as the earth has produced. 

Jesus took the seed, of His word and planted it into the heart of His child, us, and then produced a harvest from that seed.   This harvest can look like many things.  This harvest can be anything from a job, to healing, to wisdom, to patience, to a relationship repaired.   A harvest always looks different, feels different, and comes at different times, but a harvest is always delivered when you stand in faith that He will deliver on His word, or His seed.

Our relationship with God is often compared to the cultivation of a seed, from the farmer’s hands the seed travels and then returns back to the farmer’s hands in form of a harvest.  

We are daily filled with the word (seed) of God.  We are fed, nourished, ripened, fertilized and harvested from the words of God, and that’s how He intended it to be.

He intended for us to not see His work before us, but to keep His words before us, in us and on our lips.  We don’t need to know how the seed brings forth a harvest, all we need to know, is that it will!

I don’t need to know how God is going to deliver on His promises; all I need to know is that He will!  He will deliver because, I have faith in Him.  I have faith, that the Man I know, in my heart, in my mind and in my Bible, is a Man who cannot lie.  He is a Man who cannot mislead; He is a Man who will not mislead me. 

When I take the time to learn about the character traits of Jesus, of God and of the Holy Spirit, I am setting myself free from reasoning, controlling and handling every facet of my life.  I am acting like the farmer and I am sleeping, rising, sleeping, rising and know not how He does it, but just that He will!

 

Pursuing Him...

Are you pursuing God, or is He pursuing you?

This tug and pull that we are in with God, is very much like a relationship we enter in with the opposite sex, or the person we are inclined to date romantically.   It’s very familiar to the chase of dating.

I personally have never been good at dating, the chase or the “game” of it.

In Mark 1:36 we see one sentence in this verse, that once again, struck a chord with me.  It made me think this is what we are to be doing.

Mark 1:36 And Simon (Peter) and those who were with him followed Him (pursuing Him eagerly and hunting Him out).

Again, this resonates with me, because this is what I am supposed to be doing with God.  This is what we all are supposed to be doing with God.  We are to be pursuing HIM!!!  We are to be eagerly hunting Him out, and finding Him!

Wow.  Just Wow.

How could I have missed this?  How could I have not known, seen, recognized or paid attention to the fact that just as much as God is seeking me, I am to be seeking Him.

I know in the Bible we often see the phrasing that we are to “seek” God.  We are to Seek first the kingdom of God and all His righteousness, and then these things will be added unto me. 

But how foolishly of me to think this but I didn’t realize I was to pursue Him.  I didn’t realize they weren’t the same thing, until tonight, when I am reading Mark, and I see verse 36 and it’s like the light bulb went off and I thought, this is what I am doing wrong, I am not pursuing God.

I guess I shouldn’t really be surprised I am not pursuing God, I’ve never pursued a man before, but I guess that is going to change.

Could you imagine if this is what is stopping you, or me from entering into His calling for us?  That this is the one thing, one phrase, and one concept that satan was hiding from me that is keeping me distant from God.

I would hear almost every day, over and over in my head Seek Me, and I thought that I was and didn’t understand why I kept hearing it.  Now, I will say, in my defense the Seek Me did go away, when I began to diligently Seek Him.  If I go to long without having my time with God, I will once again start hearing Seek Me, and I know that God is calling me, and it’s been to long between our times together.

I am going to pursue Jesus.  I am going to eagerly pursue Jesus.  I am going to eagerly learn about Jesus, and who He is, and understand Him on a deeper level, and I am going to do it with a willing heart and mind. 

I know that I can get caught up in my own life, and the activities of the day, and before I know it, I am tired and ready for bed, and I don’t give God the time He deserves.   I think this is connected to the pursue Me idea. 

I know that in an intimate relationship, I want to be pursued.  I want to be chased, so to speak.  I want to have someone put in the extra effort it takes to get to know me, to get past the surface information, and really get to know me, and what is important and vital in my life.

I want to be pursued. 

I want to be the person’s best friend, champion, first thought and last thought.  I want to be the thing that makes him smile, and the thing that brings him joy.  I want to be pursued not only mentally, but emotionally and spiritually. 

I believe this is what Jesus is asking us to do.  Jesus is asking us to put Him first.  To be the person who occupies our mind, our time, our thoughts and our hearts.  I believe that Jesus wants to be the one thing that we can count on and we can run too whenever we need, and the only way to do those things, to come to that place, is to pursue Him.

I am sure that I am writing this more for myself than for anyone else, but to me understanding, or beginning to understand that Jesus wants me to pursue Him, is eye opening and possibly life changing for me.

I’ve often wondered how the disciples had such intimate relationships with Jesus, and as we see some of them had deeper relationships than others did, and I am willing to bet the ones that had a deeper relationship with Jesus, are the ones who pursued Him.

I know that Jesus has been pursing me for over thirty years, and the diligence He has put into knowing me, and showing me who He is, it’s time for me to start giving Him what He has already given me. 

We are told to pursue peace, to pursue happiness, pursue truth, well if we would just pursue Jesus, we would be pursing all of those things, because that is His character.  Those things we are to pursue are all found in the one thing that should be at the top of our list to pursue, and that is Jesus Christ!

Mark 1:36 reads And Simon (Peter) and those who were with him followed Him (pursuing Him eagerly and hunting Him out).

I am taking a page from Simon Peter, and I am going to start pursuing Him, eagerly!!

Appointed Time

I remember being in my teens and early twenties and feeling like time was standing still.  I remember looking at my watch and thinking how slowly everything seemed to move.  How slow moving my life was and how nothing seemed to be coming to me as I planned.

Now, I sit and an hour can pass me by in a matter of seconds.  Now, I can look at my clock and wonder how I came to the end of the day already.  I am not sure if that is patience or the curse of being young, maybe a little of both.

I haven’t executed patience, but I would like to think that I am better with patience than I was fifteen or twenty years ago.  To think that staying home on a weekend is my choice of recreation, over being out and spending time with my friends.

It is funny how time changes, once you are at the age to finally appreciate it, it seems to become elusive to you.  It seems to fall through your hands like sand, and the moments have now become countable by all the lines on your face, and the grey hairs on your head.

We wear time like a badge of honor but yet, when you are waiting for something valuable, for something from God, time can take you back to that teenager and feeling like a minute, sixty seconds, is actually sixty minutes.

I still deal with time, as we all do, but my understanding of time and my appreciation for time is different now.  But that doesn’t mean that my patience for what I perceive to be God’s slowness has diminished.

In Mark 1:15 the very first line caught me off guard.  The very first line made my stop reading and sit and think how time, the appointed time, still feels very slow.

Mark 1:15 And saying  The (appointed period of) time is fulfilled completed…  This is literally where I stopped.  I didn’t read any farther as I know time is an issue for me and God filled my head with the feelings I had as a young person waiting to be set free for the weekend. 

Appointed period of time.  Appointed Period of Time… APPOINTED PERIOD OF TIME…

We all know that to have an appointed period of time, means an exact time, a time that has already been determined and set.  A time that has been written down, confirmed and is not changing. 

God already has an appointed period of time for your healing, your breakthrough, and your deliverance, or maybe your lesson learned. 

God has that time written down in the transcripts that are our lives.  He knows that on such a day, and at such a time, this will happen and He also knows how painful it is for us to wait for that time.

I am sure that you are believing for something, waiting for something, hoping for something and surely praying for something, and if you are like me, the moments until the appointed time can be extremely taxing and long.

But what if we need all of those moments, seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months and years to be ready for the appointed time.   I know that personally I would absolutely hate for my appointed time to come and I am not prepared for it.   I would hate for the thing I am praying for ,so diligently, would come and here I am not ready to receive it.

What would I or we do then?  How could we go back and make sure we rectify that mistake?  We can’t because it’s an appointed time.  We know that God works in seasons, and He often refers to our seasons as a farmer refers to their fields.  There is the seed time, and harvest time, and then a lot of time in between.

There can be weeks, months, or even years, before a farmer yields a good harvest off of the seeds that he planted, and just like the farmer, we too have a seed time and harvest time, and just like the farmer, it can take an unspecified amount of time.

I don’t think waiting is fun at any age, but waiting on a promise, I think that is even harder.   When we wait we should have the mindset of harvest.  We should be in a season of preparation and praise.  We should be thankful for the opportunity to be prepared for the harvest and use the time wisely to learn what God is showing us and changing us into so we can be ready for the appointed time.

What we need to know and accept, me especially, is that God has an appointed time for a reason.  He isn’t just making us wait, for the fun of watching us squirm.  No, He is making us wait to teach us how to wait on Him.  How to put our focus on Him and how to appreciate the time in-between.

Just as a mother has to wait nine months to meet her child, we must wait the appointed time to receive our blessing. 

There is a rhyme and reason to everything that God does, and will do, and it is up to us, to keep a hold of the vision that He gave us in the beginning and praise Him in the middle.

I have it on good authority, that if I praise God in the middle, in the times I hurt, in the times I have lost patience, and in the times it doesn’t seem like anything is ever going to happen, that I will see His face, His hand, and His blessing in the end.

So while the Appointed Time is not something that we love to hear about, or even think about, it is something that we need to be sure about.  Nothing is going to change God’s appointed time in your life, and we should be thankful and praise Him for knowing us so well, that He knows when it’s time for advancement and when it’s time for learning.

Appointed Time, we will all come to our Appointed Time, but how you wait in the middle, that will show you, who you are, and where you are with God, for your harvest that’s coming at its Appointed Time!

He will walk you through your wilderness!!

This past year has been one of the hardest and most challenging years of my life. I have had huge changes happen this year, none of which I have requested.  Here in a nutshell has been my year. 

I had an unexpected break up.  One of my closest friends, who wore many hats in our relationship such as mother, friend, confidant, colleague and Jesus friend, passed away, very unexpectedly.  I have lost my passion for a career that I have been very blessed to be successful in.  I have had medical issues, and recently, as in two months ago, was diagnosed with MS. 

As you can tell, 2014, has not been my best year, but if I am going to tell you all the bad things, I must tell you all the good things.

My break up has landed me right on my knees and facing God.  My break up has showed me that God has a plan for my life, and has drawn me closer to God than I have ever been before.  My break up has given me a purpose, where before I did not have one.

The passing of my dear, sweet friend, while this one is hard to find a positive in, I know that she is with Jesus and is telling jokes and decorating heaven.  My heart is at peace and my sadness is comforted in knowing I will absolutely see her again. I also have learned that I relied on her heavily in times when I should have been going to God.

While my passion for my job has been weaning, my ability to do my job hasn’t changed, and I thank God that He is still blessing me through my job.  I know and am accepting that I will not be at this job for the rest of my life, because God is opening other doors for me, He is giving me people there to help, in the meantime.  He is showing me ways to share Him with my co-workers, and seeing the many blessings in those moments.

My health, like my friends passing, I am still trying to peel back the layers of this onion.  I do know one thing, My God is a good God.  My God has brought me this far and I know that He will not forsake me and leave me alone.  I also believe, truly from the deepest part of me, He will take care of this disease, and I will either be healed completely or it will be in a remission state.  I know that this MS will not stop God from working in my life, and in the lives of others.

I would think by this time you are wondering why I just went on a rant about my life.  And the reason would be Mark 1:12-13.

Immediately the (Holy) Spirit (from within) drove Him out into the wilderness (desert).  (13) And He stayed in the wilderness (desert) forty days, being tempted (all the while) by satan; and He was with the wild beasts, and the angels ministered to Him (continually).

I knew there was a call on my life for the last three years, if I am being honest, but I never did anything to understand it.  I never prayed about it, never sat in God’s presence and asked about it, nope, I just went along my way.  

As we all know when God wants to do something in your life, He is going to give you only so much time before He makes you surrender.  He will do something, anything to get your attention, and that’s exactly what He did in my life.

I had decided at the end of 2013, in December, that I was going to really dive into this God thing.  I was going to give Jesus more attention in my life, and really try to understand what He was doing in me and around me.  This actually, as odd as it will sound, was inspired from my relationship at the time.  

His family is very connected to God, and their church, and I wanted what they had, and decided I am going to try and get it.

Around this time is when I noticed things, big things, like the things I have mentioned starting to happen.  Changes in me and around me were starting to take place and I didn’t understand at all what was going on. 

God had me doing things, saying things and reading things I never thought I’d do, say or read, and also was not allowing me to do things, read things, say things and watch things. 

I was changing… and quickly I might add.

So when reading Mark 1:12-13 tonight, I thought, this is me!  This is my life.  Just as Jesus had just been baptized in the Holy Spirit by John the Baptist, and was committing His life publicly to God, He is quickly sent into one of the fights of His life.

He was sent into the wilderness, where I have been for the last year, and I am sure some of you have either been, are there now, or will be in the future.   I am sure some of you thought, well I am going to go deeper into this being a Christian thing and deepen my relationship with Jesus and my life should be so much better for it…

WRONG… Well kind of wrong, not completely wrong, but about half wrong.

Being a Christian, and having a deeper relationship with Jesus, isn’t as easy as you think it’s going to be, and why is that?   Because you have to be cleanse of you first.

When you commit yourself to a deeper relationship with God, He is not going to allow you to be the same person that you were when you entered into the relationship, He’s going to change you, and it’s going to hurt!

Now, that’s the truth!  It will hurt! 

But all the work, the tears, the changing and the healing will bring you out on the other side, out of the wilderness of tears, work, lack of sleep, healing and changing, a new person, a changed person, a person ready and able to help other people.

You see, I have found that the reason why I am losing my passion for my job, the only job I’ve ever wanted to do, is because Jesus has given me a new assignment.  He is preparing me for another calling, and the dissatisfying feeling with my job, is God changing my desires. 

He’s preparing me for the promotion.

We have to fight, war and fight some more, when we are in the wilderness times of our lives, but the peace that should be there, is that Jesus not only has done this and succeeded, but He is doing it with you again, right now. 

He is directing your steps through your wilderness, which by the way, doesn’t have to look anything like mine.  Your wilderness will be tailored just for your needs and for the work that God is calling you to do.

In verse thirteen we see that Jesus battled with satan, but was also being ministered to by the Angels.  This is very much like our lives.  We have horrible, life changing things happen in our lives, that we don’t expect or prepare for, but in the same time and space, God is doing a new thing.   He is sending the Angels to minister to you.  To keep you confident in what He is doing and the changes that are happening.

You see God will not strip you clean of yourself overnight, He is a gentleman, and will do it bite by bite.  He will ease you into the changes, so that the pain is less severe and at the same time, He will show you His goodness and mercy.  He will share Himself with you in ways that you have never imagined and they will get you through to the next moment.

The Grace of God not only saves you from Hell and destruction, but it holds your hand while you are in the wilderness of your life.

Mark 1:12-13 should give us hope, that if Jesus could do it, and He did, and come out victorious, than so can we!  Jesus conquered His wilderness, and with His help we can conquer ours. 

We can come out of a bad year, a bad month or a bad season and know that the Angels will be there to minister to us continually!!

 

He will wipe your slate clean!!

We all know the story of Peter in the Bible. Where Peter denied Christ three times, and the hook phrase is that it all happened before the Rooster Crowed.  We all know that story. but have we ever taken a deeper look at that story, and more importantly compared it to your story?

In reading Matthew 26:55-75 you see that story play out.  You see how Peter allowed, all of the things around him, his surroundings, and his emotions get the best of him.

We know Peter to be a deep lover of Jesus.  To be a stringent follower of Jesus, and in fact one of the first disciples.  We know that Peter had a heart for God and believed before he was told, that Jesus is the Son of God.  Peter was one of the first to connect to his spirit, and allow his spirit to deepen his relationship with God, and with Jesus.

Peter, I think is the one anyone would want on their team and I believe that Jesus was very proud of Peter.  Though He knew Peter had faults, but none that couldn’t be overlooked by his teachable heart.

I am sure that Peter was just as amazed, surprised and shocked as we were to find out that he would betray Jesus three times, before the rooster crowed.  I am sure that Peter was certain he would never do such a thing, or even think it, so Jesus must be confused about this one. 

Peter, I am sure, even up until the rooster crowed, was probably grieving inside and amazed that the words denying Jesus even came out of his mouth.  We know that the things in our hearts end up coming out of our mouths, so where even inside of Peter was this denial of Jesus, this rejection of the Man he loved so very much?

I think the truth is hidden in the package.  Peter is a man, a human man.  Peter is able, just like you and me; to sin, lie, be confused, be overwhelmed by our emotions and speak without thinking.  Peter just like us, speaks to protect himself when placed in fear of the unknown.

You see Peter, and the rest of the disciples, were leading a pretty interesting and courageous life, but at the same time pretty cushy, they were following Jesus, so they could expect to be protected, to be shielded and to be safe, while following and learning from Jesus.

They knew that Jesus would meet their needs emotionally, physically and spiritually.  They knew they had nothing to fear, until they did. 

I am positive that when Peter, James and John went with Jesus to pray in Matthew 26 they were confused and probably a little worried to see Jesus in such a state of anguish.  Jesus told them that He was deeply depressed and needed to be alone to seek the Father.

Imagine how that felt to these three men who are used to seeing Jesus as the strong stoic type.  Here he is depressed, saddened and frightened by what lies ahead of Him.  

I am sure just like Peter, any one of us can recall a time when we also denied something or someone out of fear.  We were unsure of what was going to happen to us, and all we knew to do in that moment was save ourselves, and that’s exactly what Peter did.

Now, I am not saying that what Peter did was right, but I am saying, we can learn from what Peter did.  We can learn that when you are put into a high stressful, high fearful and emotionally charged moment, you are not going to be speaking from the overflow of your heart, but from self-preservation.

I believe the three different times we read that Peter denied Christ are the three times that Peter was afraid for his life.  I believe after witnessing Jesus being taken forcefully away from the disciples, and then watching the rest of them flee, Peter was scared.

I believe that when Peter watched them beat, hit, punch, spit on and whip Jesus, Peter was scared.  I also believe that when they sentenced Jesus to death, for doing exactly what Peter had been doing, Peter was very scared.  

All of these emotions, feelings and worries led Peter to speak in a way or manner, even he never imagined he would speak, and he denied Christ.  His best friend,  His Savior, His Teacher, His Mentor, His Provider and the Son of God. 

Can you think of a time when you have done something so bad, or something like this and the pain you felt immediately after.  The pain was so much, that you wanted to invent a time machine to erase the words that had slipped from your mouth, without even filtering through your brain.

I can think of many!                                               

We all can, if we are honest. 

And just like Peter we can’t take them back.  We can’t change the words or actions and make them not happen.  We can’t erase the pain that they caused or repair the fractured hearts that happened in the aftermath.  

All we can do is cry, just as Peter did. 

There are many lessons to be learned from this story of Peter, and the two that stand out to me is, you can never underestimate the power that fear has on you, and the enemy is truly out to kill, steal and destroy.

Personally, I think this was satan, all three times, feeding Peter the words to say to deny Christ, in the hopes that Peter would be finished in serving God.  I believe that satan wanted to do whatever he could to separate Jesus from Peter and Peter from God, but you see, just as we have all seen, and experienced so many times, satan’s trick failed.

Peter did what we all would do in his place, he wallowed in his sadness.  He hung his head in shame, and then didn’t show his face to Jesus when He went on the Cross. Peter did what we all do when we are afraid, he ran.  He ran from himself, from his feelings, from his friends and reverted back to the person he once was. 

Peter went back to fishing!

Have you ever had someone run on you out of fear?  Have you ever run out of fear? I’ve experienced both and both are equally as damaging and painful for both the person running and the person left behind.

The wonderful thing about this story is we can learn from Peter. We can learn to be on guard in those times when we feel overly confident and smug, but also those times when we are extremely insecure and vulnerable.

We are always open for attack from the enemy, but he comes harder, I think, when you are weakened.  When you are vulnerable, or over secure, I think you can expect to see satan try to wipe you out.  He tried with Peter and wasn’t successful! 

Now, we all know why he wasn’t successful and that’s because of our Hero in this story, Jesus.

Jesus shows us exactly how we are to respond to situations like these when they occur in our lives. 

After Jesus was resurrected from the Cross, three days later, He rose again, and upon being seen he directed Mary to go tell the disciples and Peter!

AND PETER!!

You see, Jesus shows us that forgiveness is the only way to match denial.  Forgiveness is the only way to beat anger, rage, lies, denial and the master of all those things, satan.

When Jesus said go tell the disciples and Peter, He was wiping the slate clean.  He was saying to Peter you are still the man that I called and still the man I am calling today.  You are still my friend, and I am still very much with you and teaching you.

Jesus is saying and doing the same things for us today. 

Jesus is saying go tell the disciples and YOU.  There is nothing, no-thing, you can do to make Jesus not love you.  You can deny Him three times, like Peter did, but He will still love you, and still give you another chance.  Jesus will always be standing outside the door asking for you, knocking for you, calling for you. 

Jesus will always be saying go tell the disciples AND YOU…  He’s here waiting for you, be like Peter and come to Him and allow Him to wipe your slate clean!

Your bridegroom is coming!!

My two closest friends are as opposite as you can be.  One was 23 years older than me, and my other best friend is four years younger than me.  They have some things in common.  Both of them are married, both have families, both of them have made decisions in their lives that they wish they could have changed, but truly, don’t we all. 

My two closest friends are part of my family.  They are everything to me.  They are the ones I go to for support, understanding, encouragement and just to talk, but what’s funny is everything from the way we communicate to what we do together, is completely different.

My older friend, she was more like a mother figure to me.  She saw me and made me hers, without my agreement I might add.  We would talk on the phone every day multiple times a day and discuss everything there is to discuss.  I could tell her secrets about myself that only God knows. 

My younger friend is actually my closest friend in the world.  We are tight, but there are things about me that she doesn’t know and I wouldn’t even know how to begin to tell her.  The dynamics of our relationship are different, not any better or worse but different.

My older friend she was always late.  I mean chronically late.  To the point we would schedule a time to get together and have dinner or just talk, and I knew I had twenty-five to thirty minutes to spare before she would arrive.   My older friend passed away this year, and I can tell you now all the times I would get so angry waiting for her, well, I’d wait for her for hours now, without one complaint. 

She ran late with everyone though, not just me, she was always running behind doing something, or most likely doing something for someone else, and lost track of time.  But I will say this about her, I would be angry with her for letting me wait once again, but that quickly would subside because her company was worth the time.

My other friend, wow, she is early and usually ten to fifteen minutes early, so with her I do my best to arrive exactly on time or even a couple minutes before hand.  I know with her I need to tell her if I am running behind, or even if something in my day has changed.  Now, I don’t need to do this because it causes friction or problems between us, but because I know she is always early and I want to respect her time.

My two wonderful friends came to my mind tonight while reading Matthew 25:5.  I had to smile while thinking about how God has blessed me with two wonderful people, but two who couldn’t be more different if they tried. 

In verse Matthew 25 we are beginning the story of the ten virgins and how five of them are foolish and five of them are smart and prepared.   But verse five jumped out at me and spoke the names of my friends to my heart. 

Verse five states While the bridegroom lingered and was slow in coming, they all began nodding their heads, and they fell asleep.

I believe that Jesus was/is the bridegroom in this example and that this verse speaks not only to the story but also to the fact that we will have to wait on Jesus, at different times during our lives.

Jesus doesn’t work on a clock that we can see, hear or feel. Jesus works on the perfect clock.  The clock that operates on Heaven time and the clock that most of the time we feel like it is dragging slowly by.

I am sure, if you are anything like me; it’s hard to wait on Jesus.  It’s hard to know that there are things that you are supposed to do, but you must wait on Jesus to begin them.  I think that’s why verse five was telling to me.  The verse states that the bridegroom lingered, and was slow in coming.

We know that Jesus is the bridegroom in relation to the church, and to our relationships with Him.  We know that He is the head of the church, and He is also the head of our relationships.  We should be following Jesus and not trying to lead Him.

So if you look at this verse from the context of Jesus being the bridegroom, then we see that He will linger and He will be slow in coming.  Jesus, it has been said, and proven, is never late, but He is never early either. 

He knows the beginning from the end, so He knows the perfect time to release something into your life.  He knows the time when all of the moments have come together and it is right for things to come together. 

We are the ones who have problems with Jesus’ time.  We are the ones that don’t understand His timing, or lack thereof, if you ask some of us.

I have said so many times, even so much as last week,  “let’s go Jesus!”  The thing that I have been waiting for you to bring to me, let’s get it going.  I have asked a million questions of why isn’t this time right?  What do I have yet to learn?  And if I have things to learn why can’t I learn them after receiving the promise?

A million questions I have, and only one answer do I receive, and that is Trust Me, Believe in Me, Seek Me.   The way that He answers might be different wording but each and every time He is telling me to wait on Him.   Jesus is always telling me to wait on Him. 

I get angry and frustrated with Jesus, just like I did with my friend when she was late, but just like with her, I get over it.   I have crying fits and moments of woe is me, but at the end, I get over it. 

It states in verse five that the virgins were nodding off and eventually fell asleep.  I think this can speak to us wanting to give up, or having moments like I described earlier. 

These are times when the waiting isn’t so easy.  These are the times when every single second that goes by is like someone peeling your skin away.  The agony of waiting one additional moment for your promise land, is torturing you, and you know that God knows it.

Waiting, waiting patiently, and with a good temperament can be extremely difficult to do, which is why just like the virgins, we fall asleep.  We take our eyes off the road; we take our eyes off of God and what He is doing in our lives.  We take our eyes off of the changes that have occurred in us or around us, all the little things that need to happen for you to enter into the promises of God.

We nod off to the small things,  the little things that God is stitching together to bring you, your bridegroom.  

Then as we see in verse six… Suddenly!

But at midnight there was a shout.  Behold, the bridegroom!  Go out and meet him!

Suddenly, not a moment to early ,or a minute too late, but suddenly.  I have said many times over God is the master of Suddenly!    But you see, He really isn’t the master of suddenly, He is the master of making it appear like suddenly.

It appears like nothing is happening because we have nodded off to the little things, in our time of waiting and then suddenly, the bridegroom is here! 

It isn’t lost on me either, that the bridegroom came at midnight.  He came at the end of a day but the beginning of a new one! 

Many times when your suddenly has come, when Jesus has answered your prayers or you are walking into your promised land, it feels like suddenly, when in fact, if we would have been awake, completely awake, we would have seen all the small things happening around us to make that suddenly appear.

We may think that Jesus is taking His good old time, but in fact, Jesus is working behind the scenes, on your suddenly.

I heard the other day, while I was watching a very well-known Bishop, that when you are waiting on Jesus to deliver on His promises, you will never see anything different with your natural eye sight, but up in Heaven, in the Spirit realm that is where God is working.  

The promise, the victory, the reward, the change, the promotion, the baby, the marriage, the house, the car, the child to come back to God, the healing, all of these things, we won’t see them come together, but they will come to those who believe.  They will arrive at the midnight hour, and we will be awoken with the Bridegroom is here! 

You will never see the webs that God weaves in the Spirit Realm to answer your one prayer.  You will never see how God takes one person’s mess, and gives them a message and deliverance in the meantime.  You will never know that the same person, who was waiting on God, is now the same person who is helping you wait on God.

Your bridegroom is coming, and so is mine, and if we allow Him to linger, and be slow in coming, we can be rest assured that every single second we wait will be worth the suddenly it delivers!!