A Seed Dies to Live

I haven't written on the blog for several weeks and I was wondering what the Lord was doing, He reminded me of John 12:24.  This verse says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit."  I believe the Lord gave me the idea of starting the blog and there was even some vision for it but I believe it has come to a death.  There is no despair in this because God is the God of resurrection.  I believe this vision (seed) must die for God to make it all He wants it to be and for Him to get all the glory.  To be perfectly honest there are times I have written in the blog that I have thoroughly enjoyed and other times it was a burden.  I am excited now because I can let go of this blog ever being something I wanted it to be, no more pressure, no more disappointment if people don't read it, and no more need to for me to try to get people to read it.  I dedicate this new blog to the Lord and His purposes for it, I am not sure if He will rename it.  I will let Him write through me what He wants to be made known, if I share from my life it will be under His leadership.  The end result is His, I seek to simply enjoy Him expressing what is on His heart through me.  So good bye and Hello.  If you happen to read this and are led to pray for what He is doing through this blog it would be much appreciated.  My wife and I were just recently discussing how we don't "pray" as much, simply because the old idea of constantly begging God for what you need has passed.  In His grace we are beginning to act on what we know, that God has not withheld anything even His own Son.

In His Awesome Love,
Bret

Accepted by?

I am convinced we all have a pathway for finding love and acceptance that has nothing to do with what God has accomplished for us through Christ.  As I listened to one author who is a scientist, she said we were created to be loved.  I believe we don't just need love and acceptance, to be loved and accepted is life.  Therefore in our families growing up we all seek to become the person we believe will be loved and accepted, yet ironically when this false self is loved it is empty because it is not the real person.  There is a deep-seated fear in every person that goes back to the beginning, in Genesis 3:10 Adam voices this fear "...I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid myself."  When I asked one friend what he believed righteousness was, he said to stand before God naked and unashamed.  Attempting to obey the Law would mean that I put on a self-righteous mask, whereas being accepted with worldly friends means that I wear the mask of being like them, or I attempt to hide behind the mask of "everything is fine" afraid people will see the sadness or disappointment in life.  I believe one of the most powerful ways we seek acceptance and love, was the pattern of hiding we learned as a child.  As I reflect on my life I realized that the mask I often hide behind is the "being right" mask which changes like a chameleon based on who I am with.  Just as long as I avoid the dreaded rejection but quietly missing an opportunity to connect with another person from my true self.  Yet as I lift my eyes to look at Jesus I see a human being who willingly endured rejection to be His true self, love.  There is a courage that comes from the Holy Spirit that is required for us to walk in our true identity and really connect with others.  I am amazed when I walk away from talking with a friend who is a believer, when I am able to be my true self then both of us receive a grace.  Being my true self always means that I get an opportunity to display my humanness, let's face it humanity is always messy.  May God Spirit give you the courage to be the true you today.

In His Grace,
Bret

Entering His Presence

As I was reflecting on the promise the Lord spoke to my heart that He would give me heavenly sleep, I was struck that through my struggle with sleep that God's purposes for everything in our lives are higher than ours.  As I focused on receiving His peace, I was reminded of the Scripture in John 14:27 where Jesus promises to give us His peace which is not like the world's peace (circumstantial).  Then the Lord reminded me of Romans 5:1, where Paul declares under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit says that "...we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ...".  This peace with God means that we can enter into the peace that Jesus enjoyed with the Father as a son, we are also declared as sons (He being the first begotten son).  As I meditated on this truth while I fell asleep I woke in the morning reflecting on the reality that Psalm 100:4 states, "Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name."  During this Thanksgiving the Lord has highlighted the importance of thanksgiving not because it is a "have to" but that through thanksgiving we enter His gates and into His courts with praise.  I cannot help but think about the reality that everything in the Old Covenant was an outward symbol of the inner reality to come through the New Covenant.  So the New Covenant believer is equivalent to the temple and Paul declares our bodies are the Temple of the Holy Spirit, our body is the outer court, our soul is the inner court, and finally our spirit is the location of the Holy of Holies.  When we are touched by God at the level of our true identity, then we have entered the Holy of Holies.  I find that it is very easy to stop short of this divine encounter, coming away from studying His Word or reading a book but experiencing emptiness inside.  I desire to learn God's path for entering His presence, so that I can get to the point of continual revelations and divine encounters.  In Matthew 4:4 the Word says, "But He answered and said, "It is written, 'MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'"  The Greek word here is rhema which means the spoken or revealed Word of God, as opposed to the written Word of God (logos).  Encountering Jesus means that we are changed because we see through the eyes of faith who He is but then we also see who we are (2 Corinthians 3:16).  I don't know if I am the only one that has difficulty getting all the way to a divine encounter, I get discouraged or disappointed rather the joyful expectancy of faith.  I pray that my journey encourages you to go deeper with the Lord in our oneness with Him.

Made for Him,
Bret

Free Will

As I sat with a client who was beginning to see the fruit of his choice to trust his own way, which was not bringing peace to his family.  For some reason in the midst of this the Lord began to show me the amazing reality of free will, many of us wish we didn't have a choice because we seem to mess it up.  Yet without the amazing gift of free will, we would not be able to choose love.  God so valued our free will that He put two trees in the Garden of Eden, boy did we "in Adam" make a mess of this choice.  God could have put the Tree of Life as the only important tree in the Garden, yet He so valued us and we are created in His image that we needed to have a free will.  Since I grew up in a home where I learned how to play the victim role, you often feel powerless and helpless.  This is much different than what the Word says, "I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants..." (Deuteronomy 30:19).  God gives us the choice of life and death in the Garden of Eden we chose death (in Adam), Jesus chose earthly death to produce eternal life (for us) in the Garden of Gethsemane and now we again can have the choice of the tree of life, Jesus.  I am continually amazed at how much we want our free will but when someone doesn't do what meets our needs we put pressure on them to be who we want them to be.  It is a rare principal to honor people's free will even to the point you know you can get hurt, I am sad to say that much of our desire to have people change is so we won't be hurt.  It is a marvelous and overwhelming reality that I have a free will, that "in Christ" I do have a free will because I am dead to sin so it does have the power to control me any longer.  Free will is so powerful that out of reverence for how God set us free, we begin to have the desire to rely on and trust Him with our new free will because we know the damage of trusting the flesh to run life.  I pray that today you would see that you truly have been set free to make so many different choices but through seeing God's goodness have a desire to entrust your will into the Spirit's capable hands.

Free "in Christ",
Bret

Why is rest so hard?

After I have been led of the Lord to take a step back in counseling, counseling an hour less a day than I have been for the past 6 years I still struggle to rest.  I recently heard a message talking about rest and heard a familiar passage but in the Message version, "Are you tired? Worn out? Burned out on religion? Come to me. Get away with me and you'll recover your life. I'll show you how to take a real rest. Walk with me and work with me—watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you. Keep company with me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly." (Matthew 11:28-30)  I love the way this passage reads, especially "...learn the unforced rhythms of grace..."    There is a rest when we first come into Christ, realizing that our sins have been forgiven and tasting unconditional love.  This rest does not seem to sustain us over the long-haul because we need an even deeper rest, which is more of a rest for our soul.  Unfortunately there are beliefs, lies, and thoughts in my soul that seek to steal this rest.  As I have personally struggled with insomnia over many months, rest has become more important to me.  I have come to see how the lack of sleep not only steals energy but also steals joy, renewing, and creativity.  In our culture we have very little value for rest, we are a society of doers who thrive on continual achievement, progress, and unceasing activity.  Even the Body of Christ seems caught up with the latest programs, growth, and ever increasing information.  Yet if God values rest so much that after 6 days of creating the earth and all that was in it He rested, then rest must have some value beyond just giving back energy.  God was not tired after He created the earth, He is unlimited power, life, and love.  I believe we can only rest through our faith in the finished work of Christ because through this Covenant we are assured that all our needs will be met.  If you don't know that you are safe and your needs will be met how could you rest.  In the passage in Matthew it is even said "...Get away with me and you'll recover your life..."  Meaning that without rest our life will not be restored but slowly head the direction of death.  I am asking the Lord to reveal to me the value of rest, Jesus even talked about a type of rest apart from the Sabbath rest under the Law.  Since we now have the life of Christ within us, we are learning to cooperate with this new life.  We didn't know to be a forgiving person til the Holy Spirit revealed the power and freedom of this new way of living "in Christ".  I believe part of how the Holy spirit is going to reveal the value of rest, is through my own experience.  The rest that Jesus teaches about is not a rest of doing nothing, this is often attacked in our society as laziness.  The unforced rhythms of grace, is being available and in tune with the very life of God flowing in us and around us.  The Holy Spirit must be my guide into this rest because all I know is what I have lived, this rest also must be of a higher reality (Heaven).  I pray the Lord would speak to you about this rest and teach you His rhythms.

In His Rest,
Bret

Adam's Leadership into Death

As I made some poor choices in my family and the Lord begins to work to clean up the mess, I believe God is giving me some revelation through this that will be helpful in the future.  As the Lord again drew me back to Genesis 3 and the pattern of "The Fall" I began to see another mystery start to be revealed.  After both Adam and his wife (later called Eve) ate of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, then their eyes were opened and they saw that they were naked.  Then they came up with this plan to sew fig leaves and make loin covers.  Where did this plan come from?  We don't know but when God asks Adam "Where are you?", it was Adam that says he heard the sound of God in the garden, and out of fear he says that hid himself.  Adam was not skilled in lying yet that would come later, so he is very honest that fear led him to hide and the woman says nothing about hiding.  Interesting.  So was Adam first to react in fear and hide himself, thus leading his wife and others into further deception?  I have learned in my own marriage the painful fruit of hiding myself and thus not letting my wife and children know me.  I made it a priority for my wife and children to feel safe to share what was going on in their lives, but if I am hiding I am not modeling what I am asking them to live.  I find that I am reacting to fear just as Adam did then turning around and expecting my family to be open and vulnerable.  I thank God that He put me "in Christ" and there is a new way to live, I am still in the process of having this new way revealed.  God announces the curses after the woman's confession and one of these curses is "Yet your desire will be for your husband, And he will rule over you."  The word for desire in the Hebrew is "tĕshuwqah" which means craving or longing, it seems to refer to an unfulfilled longing.  The word for rule over is "mashal" to rule, have dominion, or reign; these aren't exactly wonderful touchy/feely words of intimacy but one that infers control from fear.  I am just beginning to see what the patterns from the Fall are that have twisted the beautiful intimacy Adam had with God and then his wife.  As God reveals the shock waves of destruction that have gone forth from "The Fall", then I believe God will reveal more of what He has done "in Christ" to restore.  I want to experience this freedom first for my family and then for others.  I heard one person say you don't read The Word of God, it reads you.  As the Light of the Holy Spirit takes the Word of God penetrating into the thoughts, motives, and intents of the heart.  Intimacy takes risk but we were created for intimacy with God and intimacy with our spouses and others.  Yet we live in a culture that doesn't value intimacy but independence and control.  To have true intimacy with God and others means death to our masks, protections, hiding, and our false ways of living.  God in His Word holds up intimacy and oneness with Jesus as the abundant life.  I pray that this longing for intimacy with your Father and others would be stirred.

In His Amazing Love,
Bret

The Father's Song to you

I was reading a book called "In Heaven" by Dean Braxton about this man's experience of dying physically for 1 hour and 45 minutes then experiencing Heaven.  To be honest I am realizing I read way too many non-fiction books, craving the touch of God.  The desire God has put in my heart for Him is good but too often I go about thinking I am going to find Him in my way, rather than surrendering to His gentle leadings.  As I read one chapter in the book where Dean is describing the going ons in Heaven, he began to talk about the song The Father sings to each person that is unique and special to that person.  This song from the Father brings life to that person as it goes inside of them, I thought I wonder if I could hear the song He is singing to me.  Then the Lord reminded me of Zephaniah 13:7, listen to how the Amplified Bible states it "The Lord your God is in the midst of you, a Mighty One, a Savior [Who Saves]!  He will rejoice over you with joy; He will rest [in silent satisfaction] and in His love He will be silent and make no mention [of past sins, or even recall them]; He will exult over you with singing."  I was blown away to imagine that the Lord sings over me and rejoices over me in a personal and intimate way.  I had to hide the tears as I shared this with my men's Bible Study, this is the kind of love my heart had always longed for but believed was not all together real.  This quality of love that God bestows on us (1 John 3:1) is so out of this world that comparing His love to how we have been loved in this world only serves to lead our heart away from Him.  In Ephesians 2:6-7 we are told that "...and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus."  This is very important because since I am seated in "heavenly places in Christ Jesus" now than I can hear the song that the Father is singing to me.  My heart is bursting to hear this song that I may come alive even more with the Life (Zoe) of God.  As Dennis Jernigan pointed out about Zephaniah 3:17 (one of his favorite verses) that a song is very relational and that rejoice in the Hebrew means to rejoice and spin about.  God is that excited to sing over me, wow that is a lot to take in.  This really challenges all my cautious, religious, and safe type controls (fleshly).  I have never had anyone that excited or interested in me, except maybe my daughter when she was young and small.  Her running to me when I would come home from work (she was 2-3 years old), was a greeting that was better than anyone deserved.  The joy on her face as she ran to me, must be a slice of the reality of God's joy in welcoming us home into His arms.  To hear someone say that God loves you is wonderful but since it has been said so many times we tend to discard it easily, it is just information.  To see and experience the reality that God sings over us a unique song that penetrates into the deepest parts of our being and brings life is a whole new experience.  We as the Body of Christ need more revelation by the Spirit's work and less information.

Learning to Hear the Father's Song,
Bret