Looking for Jesus - March 27, 2016

Matthew 28:5 - The angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; for I know that you are looking for Jesus who has been crucified."

Many today claim they are seekers after truth. Of these, some will say they are looking for something to believe in. Others might say that they've looked in churches or synagogues and they just can't find God. For these and all hoping to encounter truth, finding God and His Son the Lord Jesus Christ may be as simple as not where they look but how. Has the heart been tenderized so that humility fuels the search? Or, is it an intellectual endeavor that seeks persuasion of the mind before a so-called rational decision can be made? Looking for Jesus will generally result in a jaded outcome if powered by the mind. However, an honest search for Him through the heart will always result in finding Him and His Father above (Jeremiah 29:13). Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus gave their love not just to a "good" man nor to a woman's son, but to their Lord and Savior. Through this awakening of His true identity, they would find Him to be so much more after his crucifixion than they could possibly understand before that fateful day.

Matthew 28:1-15 juxtaposes presumably two or more Roman guards and two Israeli women in mourning. The scene in the garden that morning might have been as simple as one guard coming to relieve another at first watch. The women coming to the tomb would have been of no particular significance to those who might have beheld them in the early dawn light. However, the extraordinary exchange after a sudden earthquake undoubtedly made the guards take notice, not only of the supernatural manifestation taking place, but also the honor the angel bestowed on these women. Matthew 28:4 tells us that the guards shook with fear when they beheld the angel. However, the heavenly being had not come to speak to them but to the lowly, mournful women. God's word through this angelic being is first one of calming to those grieving the loss of their Lord, and most poignantly to not be afraid. The scripture is very clear that the angel spoke to the women exclusively, and not to the soldiers. Fear was an appropriate response for the guards and one they should have embraced in a long term manner. They would have been much better off had they seized the moment for its true significance, as we shall see. However, the angel first comforted and then consoled by revealing to Mary Magdalene and Mary the mother of Jesus that God knew why they were at the tomb. That even in their extreme loss and seeming desperation, they had still sought out the love of their lives though their longing seemed hopeless. They had quite literally thrown off any expectation other than spending time mourning their loss over the broken body of their crucified Lord. But then the miraculous transpired! The angel announced that indeed Christ had risen and that He would meet them in Galilee (Matthew 28:6-7). As stated in the following verse (Matthew 28:8), the women held on to their fear with obvious reverence over what was happening while also the scripture tells us that they had great joy! What a marvelous turn of events as they hurried off to report these things to the disciples!

However, what of the guards? What was their response to being witnesses of the greatest event ever to happen to humankind? While the scripture is not clear, other than they were fearful at the sight of the angel, we can surmise their state of mind and heart by their final decisions regarding their angelic visitation. While Matthew 28:4 is the only verse describing the soldier's reaction at the tomb, their report and responses to the Jewish hierarchy is most telling. Matthew 28:11 tells us that the guards merely reported "all that had happened" to the Sanhedrin (Jewish Council). The events that follow are not surprising in light of the denial of the Pharisee rulers of Jesus' divinity. Instead of seeking and looking for Jesus themselves since they had first-hand information that He had indeed risen, they chose instead to gloss over it and deny this momentous event. They rationalized with their minds the consequences of admitting their wrong in crucifying the Savior of the world, and decided that the best thing to do would be to act like it never happened. Sadly, we read that the guards also joined in the Jew's complicity by taking a bribe and agreeing to say that they had fallen asleep while His body was stolen away in the night (Matthew 28:13-15). Having witnessed an empty tomb and an angelic proclamation, they disavowed their own integrity and sought Him not. They could have just as easily forsaken their post and followed the women to Galilee, but it was not to be. They had reasoned with their minds and allowed their covetous hearts to remain hard rather than allowing God to tenderize their hearts in the moment.

We all know people like the Roman guards. Many of us were once like them. Some of us may yet be. God has more than once encountered such as these in a supernatural, spiritual manner and yet their hearts remain hard to God's patient wooing. Many have dutifully shown up at church, week after week, and have listened to countless sermons on the resurrected power of Jesus and have left unchanged. They, like the soldiers, have not been looking for Jesus with their hearts but have been casual observers while God is in their very midst. All around them, God is saving, healing, encouraging, loving others yet they overlook the divine and the supernatural God because they are so self-absorbed in their own rationalizations. Their minds have allowed them to disseminate and "report" on what they have seen in a carnal manner, telling themselves that God may be moving in others but He can't or won't in their lives. As their minds and intellect report to their own Pharisaical heart, this hardened corrupt beast full of the nature of sin will blaspheme and deny the resurrection power of Jesus Christ every time. The unyielded heart will always be at enmity toward God. It is no wonder the Pharisees and the Roman guards did what they did in Christ time, just as there is little doubt what those will do who don't look for Jesus with all their heart. They are doomed to be casual observers as the soldiers, selling their souls for an opportunity to appease those in power over their lives. Beloved, if you are one of these that only knows Jesus from a far -- if you are one that can "report" on what God has said about Him yet you have not pursued Him, there is still time to change. Don't be like those who sought the approval of men but rather look for Jesus until you find Him. Decide right here and now, that life lived without the fullness and joy that only Jesus Christ can give is a wasted life -- it's nothing more than a sold out life to sin and eternal damnation. For only as we look for Jesus shall we find Him, and only as we search with our whole heart will we encounter the greatest, deepest, fullest relationship known to humankind. Blessed be His Name forever!

Lord Jesus, we all must come to the tomb of despair to look for You as the risen Lord. Let us not come with the evil beast of intellect, but let us come with open, tender hearts. There we will encounter the blessed assurance of Your resurrection. Lord, give us eyes to see as we look toward You and Your mighty saving power. In Jesus' Name, Amen!

Your Barefoot Servant,

Rick

Seeing Jesus - March 20, 2016

John 12:20-21 - Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, "Sir, we wish to see Jesus."

Seeing something whereas just hearing about it can totally change one's perspective. Most of us have undoubtedly heard the analogy of attempting to explain the Gospel to someone that doesn't have "ears to hear or eyes to see" -- that it is like trying to describe a sunset to a person that was born blind. Hearing about it is totally inadequate to the visual experience. While we can truly experience sensory delights through our hearing such as a loving voice of a mother or a melodic cantata performed by an accomplished ensemble, the visual experience coupled with the auditory enhances the experience ten-fold.

No other malady in the New Testament drew more derision as did blindness. In John 9:1-3, Jesus' disciples question Him regarding being born without sight. The disciples asked, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be born blind?" Jesus answered, "It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents; but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him." Later in this chapter (John 9:34), we find the Pharisees mocking this man who received his sight from Jesus saying, "You were born entirely in sins, and are you teaching us?" There was a clear understanding from these texts that those born blind were considered as outcasts from the grace of God and excluded from His love. Undoubtedly, that is why John the Apostle dedicated an entire chapter to this important life lesson regarding who was truly blind and who truly could see. Jesus told the Pharisees that were following Him, at the end of this chapter (John 9:41), that ... "If you were blind, you would have no sin; but since you say, 'We see,' your sin remains." However, there is an important distinction to make regarding who truly sees and who doesn't.

In Isaiah 6:1, the prophet had a vision that would forever change his life. "In the year of King Uzziah's death, I [Isaiah] saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted, with the train of His robe filling the temple." The first words out of the prophets mouth were not, "Wow, this is incredible, God! I need to go tell that corrupt and rebellious nation Israel what an awesome and glorious God you are because I have truly seen who You are. Maybe I should start a TV ministry or write a book?" No, the first thing that Isaiah dealt with was his own understanding of his utter sinfulness: "Then I said, Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts." (Isaiah 6:5) A few verses later, we hear from the prophet again when he volunteers for the prophetic ministry that the Lord God has destined for Isaiah. A true vision of who God is will inevitably change the beholder, for God will never reveal Himself to someone who is not ready for the revelation and for the calling to follow. (Even Jonah, although he at first resisted, heeded the calling after the revelation of who God wanted him to fulfill to the city of Nineveh [see the Book of Jonah]).

Seeing God or Jesus is paramount in order to become truly His in this lifetime. Many will be in heaven who have never truly experienced seeing God as Isaiah did, or as those who walked with Jesus in His lifetime. However, even as the Greeks who desired to see Him (as stated in the opening scripture), we should all desire to see Jesus in this lifetime for that is the thing that will truly change us for the life to come. God is overjoyed when a sinner comes to salvation and embraces the justification that His Son bought for the entire world by His shed blood. Luke 15:7-10 states that there is joy in heaven over one sinner that turns to the Lord and accepts His free gift of salvation. Beloved, there is so much more than merely accepting His wonderful gift and hoping that this takes care of our "fire insurance" premiums! There is so much more than merely escaping hell and waiting for Glory in the "sweet by and by"! The writer of Hebrews tells us to ... "Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord." (Hebrews 12:14) Sanctification or "to be set apart for His purposes" is not implicit of just the life to come, but is available to us all here on earth. There is opportunity for us all, through obedience to His Spirit, to be set apart for His pleasure while we wait for His appearing (whether we die or see Him in the sky!). We should all desire to give ourselves totally to Him in this lifetime, not only to partake of His nature (see the fruits of the spirit, Galatians 5:22,23) but for no other reason than He is worthy of our love and adoration because He gave us everything -- that is, the death of His Son for our redemption. Our utmost desire should be that of those who sought Jesus in ancient Jerusalem, "Lord, we desire to see you!" Only as we truly see Him will our lives be changed and readied for Glory in the "sweet here and now"!

Lord Jesus, we want to see you ... to be changed by You in Your magnificent presence. Even as Isaiah was changed in a moment of revelation, give us the "spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of You". Enlighten the eyes of our hearts that we may truly behold your majesty. Then, send us forth to change the world for which you died. In your glorious Name, Amen!

Your Barefoot Servant,

Rick

Hide and Seek - March 13, 2016

Colossians 2:3 - [Christ] in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge.

It is often painful for new believers to one day experience the seeming absence of the Lord in their lives. Everyday, up to this point had been filled with His closeness and His presence. There had been a rich fellowship between the child of God and their Creator. On that particular day when the Lord seemed to vanish out of their heart and mind, it left the believer gasping for spiritual air. They had been blind-sided by something that had never occurred to them -- that their sweet fellowship would end. The irony of this situation is that God has never been closer to the believer than at this time, and He is desirous to show His child the deeper meaning of the purpose of this seeming isolation.

God never withdraws his presence without reason. Once we have deliberated that it is not sin and that we are walking in obedience to Him, then it is our privilege and honor to seek Him out once again. God will often withdraw in order to see how much we desire Him and how far we will go to seek His presence. God knows that if He leaves us in a state of sublime love and fellowship with Him that we will never grow beyond this depth of love and will most likely begin to take for granted what love we know in Him. He has given each of us the desire, along with the tools, to become "treasure hunters" of the divine order. There is nothing God wants more than when we "feel" isolated from Him but to "dig" for the treasures of His Son. Simple prayers such as in Colossians 1:9 allow us to "mine out" the true riches: "... to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding ...". I challenge all who are reading this and who are feeling isolated from God to pray Colossians 1:9-10 several times daily for a month. I assure you, God will open up a truer understanding of who He is and His divine will for those who seek Him. I cannot promise that you will have greater comprehension of God's wisdom in how He plays a game of hide and seek with us. However, I will say that there will more peace and joy around understanding that it is God's way of dealing with those He loves.

There is not a book in the entire Bible that better illustrates this coming and going, this ebbing and flowing of the bride and the bridegroom's love then the Song of Solomon. Although this book is the story of Solomon and his Shulammite bride, it is clearly the celebration in metaphor of Christ and his bride, the church. This short poetic book of eight chapters embodies the heart of the Lover, the Lord Jesus Christ, as He woos his bride in a series of comings and goings that culminates in a secure and lasting relationship that is enthralled in mutual love. At one point, the bride (the church) becomes complacent when the bridegroom (Christ) is seeking her fellowship (Song of Solomon 5:1-9). She refuses to arise from her bed when he is calling. To her horror, she next finds that her lover has departed and she must then seek him out. In her seeking, she encounters the watchmen (symbolic of the Holy Spirit) who actually buffet her and appear to abuse her. However, when one truly understands the role of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer, we know that He is the one who disciplines us "as sons" (Hebrews 12:6) and wounds us faithfully as "friends" (Proverbs 27:6); (Job 5:17-18).

As believers, we must never be alarmed if the Lord is hiding His presence from us. As long as we know we are doing His will, then it should be accepted and embraced just as when we are basking in His presence and sensing His fullness of joy (Psalm 16:11). The Lord will continually draw us near, for a season, and then retreat where we feel isolated and without His constant presence. Rejoice, when that happens my beloved! It is your Father in heaven, who having carefully selected and called you, has begun the beautification process that will create an eternal bride for His Son. Count yourself worthy that He has first shown His love to you and then has "seemingly" withdrawn it. Know, then, that you are truly blessed of the Lord!

Heavenly Father, we are so thankful that you are making us beautiful in spirit, soul, and body to become Your Son's Holy Bride. We totally surrender to You Lord, as You continue to show Yourself through your presence and more importantly Your "seeming" lack of presence in our lives. For only as you hide and we seek, do we learn the depths of Your Son's greatest treasure -- His love for us! In Jesus Christ's precious name, Amen.

Your Barefoot Servant,

Rick

Lasting Impressions - March 6, 2016

Deuteronomy 11:18 - You shall therefore impress these words of mine on your heart and on your soul; and you shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontals on your forehead.

When something is touched, it is never the same. We may touch hundreds or thousands of things throughout a normal day. The change might be as slight as our fingerprint, or it might be much more profound. When we touch people, either literally or figuratively, we always leave an impression. Whether it is sub-conscious or consciously overt, we are continually changing those around us by our presence, by our words, and by our deeds. When we touch those we encounter with our words, we are either building them up or pulling them down. There is really no neutrality in what we say, for as Solomon states through the Holy Spirit in Proverbs 18:21 "Death and life are in the power of the tongue ...". There really isn't gray area in our speech -- either we are bringing healing or harm to those lives we speak into. Something that may appear neutral in our minds will always be perceived as positive or negative in either the conscious or the sub-conscious of the hearer. To explain it at a spiritual level; if our words are not born of the Spirit of God then they are born of our flesh.

God's words always bring life. Even when we may think that God is harsh and critical it is only our perception as tainted through our own flesh. If he wounds, it is only to ultimately heal. The Greek word "rhema", meaning the spoken word of God is literally a Divine Utterance that is given to provide specific direction to any given situation that an individual or an entire nation might need to hear. When God speaks, people listen, right? The Bible is full of examples including every prophet in the Old Testament that spoke forth the message of God. These are dramatic examples that might give the appearance that God only speaks in demonstrative ways to an "ancient people". In reality, God speaks daily to humans in our contemporary times and with the same clarity that He did to the patriarchs. We just need ears to hear.One example might be when a man or woman learns of their sin and its remedy. In John 16:8, Jesus said that He would send the Holy Spirit into the world to convict of sin, righteousness, and judgment. When conviction comes to a human life (which in itself is a gift from God), there is a stirring from this first impression that the Lord God through His Holy Spirit has begun to work in this soul. From this time forward, it is a matter of Divine Course that God will continue to impress on a man or woman's soul regarding their sin until there is a decision one way or the other. If the subject initially rejects the prodding of the Lord, He will continue to convict or "convince" this person of their need of Him. (Of course, there does come a time when the Holy Spirit can be "grieved away" from any further confrontation toward a human heart.) For those who surrender to the conviction of the Lord and who agree that they are indeed a sinner in need of salvation, then the Spirit can begin to have His way with this respective soul.

When a mortal accepts the grace of redemption and puts on immortality, the expression of the Divine Life should be manifested by the working of sanctification. To be "set apart for God's purposes" or to be sanctified is not the action or the responsibility of the believer. Sanctification, just like justification is merely something that only the Holy Spirit can perform in the human soul. Just as a person initially surrenders and obeys to His first impressions of sin's conviction, thereby resulting in salvation, so must we continue to surrender daily to the voice of the Lord as He woos us away from our own self-centered lives. The result is a glorious salvation -- our sanctification -- the opportunity to draw closer to Him every day. There is NO other fuel for this daily journey than obedience and surrender. Jesus said that "... if you love Me you will keep My words [commandments]" (John 14:23). Beloved, let us all follow His impressions to first love Him above all things. This manner of abandonment to the Person of the Lord Jesus will ultimately lead to His Divine Life expressed through our lives of obedience.

Lord Jesus, thank you that you speak to us daily. Thank you that you are leading us by Your impressions through the Holy Spirit. Continue to make and break us daily from our own ways and allow your Divine Life to be expressed in ours. In Jesus Christ's Precious Name, Amen.

Your Barefoot Servant,

Rick

An Enlarged Heart - February 28, 2016

Psalm 119:32 - I shall run the way of Your commandments, For You will enlarge my heart.

When we are saved from sin, many of us can ever imagine having the capacity to follow the first commandment in its fullness: You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. Though we are in love with Jesus and His wonderful gift of salvation, doubts appear when our fleshly natures start to rear their ugly head. Our lives seem desperately selfish and focused on our own interests once the spotlight of the Holy Spirit illumines our true nature. However, as we grow in the Lord, and are obedient to His leadings we also find our capacity to love increases and broadens. There really is no correlation to the broadening of our capacity to love with how we "feel" about our sin or how we react and languish about it. Rather it is a direct result of how our faith is released by obedience (to a greater degree), thereby helping us recognize the glorious gift of salvation that the Lord Jesus has bestowed on us. It is just something that we accept with gratitude. As our faith grows, our love grows also -- not just for the Lord but for his creation -- namely His greatest creation, humankind.

The Psalmist spoke deliberately in the opening verse regarding his desire to please the Lord in obedience. In many instances throughout the Word of God, the metaphor of "walking" is used to signify the way of one's spiritual traversing. Either the humble and upright will follow the path of righteousness, or conversely, the naive and simple will stumble down the road to destruction. However, running is a different matter as outlined in several scriptures throughout the Word, both in a positive and negative light. In Isaiah 59:7 it states that Their feet run to evil, and they hasten to shed innocent blood; while Solomon declared in Proverbs 18:10 ... The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it and is safe. As these scriptures suggest, there is a certain expediency in regards to running. It implies that there is an urgency to get to a desired location or end, as if there is a constraint that would be pushing the runner on to finish his or her course within an acceptable time. Solomon understood running toward the Lord as well as running away from Him. He is the quintessential example of someone spiritually "running" in extreme, diametric directions. In his younger life, he gave himself to the Lord and "ran" the way of His commandments to the point that his soul was "hyper-enlarged" with a heart of wisdom unparalleled in the annals of humankind. In later years, he allowed his heart and mind to become vacant of God's wisdom as he gave himself to "running" after the excesses of depravity. Throughout the book of Ecclesiastes, we find a man that had filled up an enormously large vacuum with the pleasures of this world. His conclusion, after he had turned back to God, was that "all is vanity" and that the wisest choice is: ... fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. (Ecclesiastes 12:13).

In reality, we will all pursue our passions at one pace or another. Some of us prefer to walk, while others of us are compelled to run. I have always been a "runner", but not in the literal sense. My running began years before I ever ran my first mile in 1990. Years before, I too was like Solomon and "sprinted" after carnality and the lust of my own flesh. I ran with such riotous ruin, honing and practicing disobedience with such vigor that if there were a priesthood for the damned I was certainly a tenured minister. My heart had become superfluously enlarged with every evil known to man. I was doomed, until I met Jesus. When the Lord gave me a new heart, he made it right-sized again. But then an amazing thing began to occur. With every victory, He increased both my faith and love for Him as he began His glorious work as the Author and Perfecter of my faith in Him. As time passed, He continued to bless me with more faith, more hope, and the crown jewel, His Love. In time, my heart once again started enlarging, but not with the excesses of disobedience. This time it was with His grace and the very fruit of His Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23).

Let us ask ourselves: What is my pursuit in life today? Am I walking after the "god of this world" and the lust of my flesh, or am I walking with the Lord God Almighty who is able to give me love, hope, and joy? I am convinced that if we are merely walking after the flesh and the devil or after the Lord and His righteousness, that we should be "running" in one direction or the other. For if a man or woman is running from God, they are more likely to fall as they run in darkness. THEN, there is hope that they will turn to the Most High. Conversely, if one is running with the Lord and with His commandments, there can only be one outcome -- a life and a heart that will be so enlarged with the goodness of God that they won't be able to contain it.

Lord Jesus, our Redeemer, help us to run the way of your commandments ... this day. Help us to surrender to you that you may do the work of the Master Surgeon and enlarge our hearts to give more, to live more, and to love more. In Christ Jesus' Holy Name, Amen!

Your Barefoot Servant,

Rick

His Servants - February 21, 2016

Psalm 119:91 - They [heaven and earth] stand this day according to Your ordinances, For all things are Your servants.

After his conversion to Christianity in the late 1970s, Bob Dylan recorded his 19th studio album titled Slow Train Coming. After the album's release in 1979, many long time fans were horrified. What happened to their free-thinking, political and social activist? Had he really lost his mind by giving his heart to the Lord Jesus Christ? Believers (including myself) praised God that He had delivered yet another from the narcissistic "me" generation of the 1960s and 70s Side one of this controversial recording featured a song named "Gotta Serve Somebody". It won Dylan the Grammy for the best rock vocal performance by a male in 1980. Probably the most striking and gut-honest words in this song are in the refrain. Clearly, these lyrics speak about how none of our lives are our own:

But you’re gonna have to serve somebody, yes, indeed
Serve somebody
It might be the devil or it might be the Lord
But you’re gonna have to serve somebody

In response to "Gotta Serve Somebody", John Lennon wrote the song "Serve Yourself" shortly before his untimely death in December of 1980. This irreverent composition was Lennon's statement against all organized religion, especially Christianity. These two songs were testaments to whom and what controlled the destiny of these two men. Ironically, both were so-called seekers after truth, yet only one attained to a true understanding of what life is really all about. Only one of these two singer/songwriters found out the truth, and that is ... IT'S NOT ABOUT US!

We have been placed on this earth not to fulfill our own self-centered destinies, but to bring glory to the One that created us in His image. Psalm 119:91 places the center of the universe and all of creation back on the Creator. Additionally, it deemphasizes the creation as existing to be subservient to its Maker. It is a glorious revelation of who God is -- and who He is not. If you're not the Creator (which none of us are, of course!) than we are the created and we have a role in that creation, which is to serve the One who created us. This twists and turns and upsets the minds and hearts of those who cannot wrap their minds around the idea that God is who He said He is. These are folks that are unregenerate, lost and without hope of salvation unless they turn and repent of their lawless lives. Of all His creation, we are the only created things with free will that can lay our dark, depraved hearts before Calvary's Cross and accept His free gift of redemption. Likewise, we can spit in God's eye and continue on in our rebellious state to the gates of hell. All things in creation know their place -- except humankind. The irony of finding our place of servitude before Him on this earth equates to ultimately reigning with Him forever in the age to come. Even if others (such as Lennon) do not seemingly find that place of servitude toward God on this earth, they will still serve God's purposes in other tragic ways.

God's Holy Word tells us that certain scriptures were written as an admonition, or as a warning to us that we might not sin (Hebrews 3:12-19). The Word is full of examples of disobedience that God uses to instruct others in the fear of the Lord, not to do similarly and likewise perish. Just as the prophets and the holy men and women of the Old and New Testament are examples of servants of righteousness, in like manner those who have disobeyed and served themselves and their own sinful passions have become servants of destruction. These continue to instruct and serve us through their past wickedness, how not to behave. They may be servants of Satan and the flesh, but in the grand scheme of things they are serving God's ultimate purposes of showing His longsuffering and patience toward these vessels of wrath (Romans 9:22). We can never truly know His grace unless we know the power of sin. There are multitudes of the servants of darkness filling up the bowl of God's wrath. In reality, they are actually the catalysts for Him to release to us more of His grace. The fifth and sixth chapters of Romans tell us that "... where sin abounds, graces does abound all the more". God is not willing for any to perish but that all would come to repentance. Unfortunately, we know that many will not make that decision for God. (However, those who know His saving grace should continue to pray and seek the Lord for His mercy for others.)

As Dylan so simply stated, we WILL serve the devil or we WILL serve the Lord. It's all about OUR choice, at least in the beginning. In the end -- when all has been said and done -- we will see how God was just and loving to call all to repentance yet not all heeded the call. Those "without ears to hear" the loving invitation of the Father will continue to think they are serving themselves, living so-called lives of self-sufficiency. They are horribly deceived. The devil believes that these who live for themselves are truly his and he has robbed God of His precious possession. To some degree this is true, but only for the time being. On that last day, we shall all witness how even the self-serving really served no other purpose but to justify the righteous actions of the Lord Most High as He condemns them to their lifelong desire of isolation with "self". There will be no defiance on that day when He passes judgment, for all will know that His judgment is true. For we know from the scripture (Philippians 2:10-11) "... that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow, of those who are in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and that every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." To bend not the knee to Him in this life will only mean bent knees and a lost soul in the life to come. Oh, to be a gloriously redeemed servant in this life rather than a tragic, hopeless slave in the life to come! Should we not be living lives as His Servants now and serving Him and others in righteousness? For all will serve Him, one way or the other throughout eternity.

Your Barefoot Servant,

Rick

Precious Possessions - February 14, 2016

Psalm 116:15 - Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His godly ones.

When reading this verse, one must be careful to remove all morbidity from what God is seeking to reveal. David's theme throughout this psalm is thanksgiving for deliverance from death. On one hand, he is grateful to the Lord that his life has been spared. Yet, on the other, he also knows that God welcomes the godly man or woman into the heavenly realms with arms outstretched in love. Physical death is not be sought in this life as a Christian, but it is to welcomed when we know our life has been spent for Him. There is a deep sense of knowing in the heart of the redeemed that God the Father looks upon His children that pass from one life to the next as His most precious possession. The scriptures tell us in Luke 15:10 that ... "there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents". The love, joy, and expectation is just beginning when a sinner turns from sin and believes. The climactic eternal conclusion will be when the Father says, "Well done, good and faithful servant. Enter into the joy of your master." (Matthew 25:23)

While it is unfitting and morbid to actually long for physical death, God puts a yearning within the heart of every true believer to experience another type of death even as he or she lives upon this earth. When one dies to carnality and the deeds of the flesh, then the rebirth of the Holy Spirit within our spirits can truly manifest. To be truly free from sin is nothing less than having dealt a death blow to all that controlled our lives before accepting Christ as our Savior. Even as His godly one's physical deaths are precious in His sight, so also does He delight when those who are called by His name renounce the things of this world and seek His face and His glory. This "living-death" while on this earth that brings true joy to the soul (and also to the Father's) is only a prelude to what we will experience in the life to come. For only to the degree of sanctification or "setting ourselves apart for the Lord", will we truly experience the depths of His love and joy.

Paul experienced such a depth of sanctification and oneness with Christ on this earth that He longed for the ultimate experience of oneness with Christ by giving up his life on earth to be with Him. Paul stated in Philippians 1:22-23 that he was hard-pressed from two different directions -- one, to stay and help build up the church, and two, that he might depart to be with the Lord. Paul was one of those unique believers that had experienced so much death to self on this earth that his spirit and soul longed with an intense fervor to be with His Lord. The apostle had become so much "one" with Jesus Christ that it seemed totally unnatural to be partakers of the earthly body any longer. Everything within him cried out for his own mortality to take on immortality and to be with the Love of his soul. For truly, that which we love will have all of our thought and desire. As our passions for things on this earth endure, we become more and more identified with our longings. The longer I am married to Rebecca, the more I love her and wish to please her. In retrospect, the more someone is "married" to lust or greed or pride or any any number of other things, the more they become like their object of affection. (One may look no further than J.R.R. Tolkien's example in the "Lord of the Rings" series as a fitting example. Gollum was consumed in body, soul, and spirit for his love of the ring of power which he named "his precious"!).

God's will for each and everyone of us is quite simple. As stated in I Thessalonians 4:3, Paul writes that "... This is the will of God; your sanctification ...". Only by death to ourselves and our old nature can we truly experience the Lord's will for our lives. As long as we continue to play around the periphery of sinful behavior, we will never experience the depth's of love and joy in this lifetime that He desires for us. Why would we want to wait for physical death and immortality with the Father to experience this wonderful life that He has for all who would but humble themselves in this lifetime? The pursuit of sin will continue to leave that "God-shaped" vacuum in all that would consider their rebellion against God as their privilege and right. There is only One that can give true life in this age and the age to come. He gave His life nearly 2,000 years ago that we might have life and have it more abundantly. All we need to is accept and identify with His death, burial, and resurrection, for Paul stated in Galatians 5:24 that "... we who belong to Christ have crucified the the flesh with its passions and desires". Once we accept Him and His marvelous gift, our death to sin becomes a wonderful expression of His life through us. It is only a foreshadowing of when we step beyond the veil of this earthly life into the presence of His glory. The "precious possession" that we have cared for in this life will only bring delight and joy as our Father welcomes us into His heavenly realm.

Your Barefoot Servant,

Rick