Joyful Consecration

What a privilege it is to consecrate myself to Him at the expense of everything else. To be misunderstood, to be used and abused, to be overlooked and unappreciated, to be poured out on behalf of others with no expectation of reward or recognition, only serves to conform me to His likeness in His death. Apparent failure is not my enemy, but a beautiful constriction in humility, a siren to deeper prayer. "It is good for me that I have been afflicted...I know, O LORD, that thy judgments are right, and that thou in faithfulness hast afflicted me." (Psalm 119:71,75)

On the front side of consecration there is immeasurable loss, but the reaping of reward is equally without measure. A bubbling, joyful expectation of resurrection power energizes me daily, looking forward to the hand of the Father coming upon me, when at last I hear the pleasure in His voice, "Well, done. Never lost faith, you. Come up here!"

In Christ

Paul the Apostle helps us understand the mystery of being "in Christ." He said "I know a man IN CHRIST... I will boast about a man like that, but I will not boast about myself, except about my weaknesses." 2 Cor 12:5. He knew himself in himself to be frail and sinful, but he moved in the power and ability that God provided. He intentionally, daily, stepped into the role, the Anointing, which was who God called him to be. "Paul, called to be an apostle of Jesus Christ [the Anointed One]...(1 Corinthians 1:1)
That is the image that God had of him before the foundation of the world, before sin marred creation.

TWICE RELATED, TWICE OWNED

A Jewish friend reminded me at Passover that we may not agree religiously but we all are bound spiritually in the human family. This is TWICE true.

We are all TWICE related through Creation and again through Redemption.

Jesus' death on the Cross was propitiation for ALL humanity (1 John 2:2). His prayer, "Father forgive them," was not just for the crowd but for the entire God-hating race. "They don't know what they're doing!"

So, each person is now a forgiven human spirit. The newborn, the church lady, the vandal, the serial killer. Each person, once lost, now purchased back, redeemed by pure Blood-sacrifice. We are all TWICE-Owned. Lost and found (2 Cor 5:19-20).

To accept this gift of scandalous Grace opens a purging flood of more and continuous Grace. It is to experience the ultimate Paradigm Shift from mere life to Abundant Life (John 10:10). It results in SOUL salvation.

Every dispicable offense of every depraved human has been forgiven, except one. On this one question hinges the final Decision of where each Soul will spend all eternity.

How are you with the Man on the Cross?

Understand, to despise, to reject such an overture of Unconditional Love is to become eternally unforgivable and worthless, uncreated in the mind of Heaven, and to be flung away from Open Paradise into a merciless chasm of eternal searing regret and loneliness, TWICE fallen, TWICE lost (Heb 10:28-31).

Jesus said (red letters), "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that WHOEVER believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.  For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved. He who believes in Him is not condemned; but he who does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that the light has come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil."John 3:16‭-‬19

Before we will ever be judged on our deeds, good or bad, the ONE question you will answer, under the penetrating gaze of Resurrected King--"Did you accept My Gift of Eternal Life?"

Eye Give and Take

Jesus, looking at him, loved him. Mark 10:9

When Jesus was loving him with his eyes, he was giving this man his full attention.

We can give with our eyes, or we can take with our eyes. Coveting and lust are forms of using our eyes for the wrong purposes, to take what is not ours to take. When we give or pay attention, we are connecting in a genuine way, demonstrating God's compassion. If we are indifferent or distracted, we are merely pretending to listen.

Our eyes can see into the soul of another through the eye-gate, if we are willing to focus our time and energy.  It is more than a quick glance of recognition. It is dialing down, sieving out every distraction, because that person, at that moment, is worthy of devotion of a portion of our day.

The more we practice, the better we can become at connecting with people in this way. The context of the verse above was a seemingly well-to-do young man who approached the Master, questioning. He outwardly had it all together, but Jesus looked into his soul and discerned a specific need, which He spoke to. A brief, yet deep encounter, because of the Lord's compassion for others.

Jesus is living in us, still willing to minister to others this way. We can carry Him to the need. We are His hands, His feet, His eyes.

One Righteous Man

“Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem; See now and know; And seek in her open places If you can find a man, If there is anyone who executes judgment, Who seeks the truth, And I will pardon her.(Jeremiah 5:1)

Really!!? For the sake of ONE man God will pardon the sins of a whole city? Abraham dickered with God (Genesis 18:22-33) over Sodom and Gomorrah and got Him to agree to pardon the city if He could find fifty, forty, thirty, twenty--TEN righteous men. That is where he stopped dickering, but according to this verse in Jeremiah, Abraham could have continued appealing to God's mercy all the way down to ONE righteous man (2 Peter 2:7-8) and God would have pardoned the city!  A well-known preacher is quoted as saying that if God spares America he will have to apologize to Sodom and Gomorrah. May I suggest that the goodness of God and the depth of his love and mercy is far deeper than even this great preacher knew!
Of course, the perfect fulfillment of this verse occurred when ONE beautiful man, enduring the scorn of the entire city, bore a heavy wooden beam the in the Via Dolorosa to Calvary. That one Man bought pardon for all of us and it is in His righteousness that we must trust when we appeal for mercy for our own sins and the sins of our nation.

BELIEVE In Ghosts?

Someone said, "Do you believe in ghosts?" I said, "Yes I'm speaking to a ghost right now. Another word for ghost is Spirit. You are a spirit and I am a spirit who lives in a body and has a soul. When the body dies the spirit leaves."

Sometimes a recent expiration will maintain a presence for a short time and then depart to another place. Normally, a "haunting ghost" is not a human spirit but rather a demon who has the capability of impersonation. Like all of us, they are territorial and want to inhabit a particular "house" or place that they can claim for a domain. Through fear and the power of deception they can gain entrance to human faculties.

I said that I believe in ghosts, but I am not afraid of ghosts. I have been in the presence of ghosts and experienced a fright or two, but quickly regained my composure and told the ghost that he has no authority or dominion over me or anything that is mine.

I am quite confident to speak in Jesus name and cast out any demon presence the way that Jesus did. Not only did Jesus cast out demons but he told his followers to do the same thing wherever they encountered satanic opposition.

There is no territory that we can relinquish when we understand the power of the shed blood of Jesus to redeem everything that was lost in the Fall. Every person born of a woman belongs to Him. Every square inch of real estate ultimately has been deeded to Him. The (true) Church been sent as ambassadors to reclaim it all for Him.

When the body of Christ begins to walk and talk and act like Jesus then we will know his return is near. Everything in heaven and on Earth will be joined in Him and those alien spirits who are restless until they can deceive the children of men through Ouija boards and seances, levitation, or flipping light switches and bumping things in the night, will be thrown into the Abyss, never again to haunt!

See Luke 10:17‭-‬20; 11:14‭-‬15‭, ‬17‭-‬26 wMs

Photo by Mikhail Vasilyev on Unsplash