Goose Bumps, Tears and Sensations

Coming down the mountain was always the hardest part of going to church camp. It was so hard that the speakers and directors starting preparing us for the shock from the very beginning of the services. It was easy to be a Christian and be a young adult at the same time at camp. There was nothing but people similar to you, who shared your beliefs all immersed in the presence of God for the duration of the time at camp. You felt God all around you, especially in the services and study times. When you went down the mountain back to your normal life, you managed to keep that feeling for a little while, maybe even a few days, but it started to diminish quickly and it was hard to maintain. Didn't God exist at the bottom of the mountain? Or did the higher elevation keep me closer to Him and therefore His presence stronger all around me? Or the real question--was I chasing a feeling or longing for the same experience I had at camp. I wasn't looking for God, I was looking for how I thought God made me feel. I was chasing the experience I thought was God in my life.

It is funny, not really funny but peculiar how some will say that everything is fine when they are in church, that they fell like they are sitting in the presence of God then when they leave the sanctuary they don't feel that way anymore. We sing a few songs, maybe even raise our hands, listen to a preacher challenge our lives with the word of God and then we are done. We think we have met God because we went to church. We feel like we met God because we got some goose bumps as we were singing. We met God because we started crying during worship or it seemed like the pastor wrote that sermon for my life. If that is the case we are not going to church because we want to meet God, we are going to church so we can have an experience. If we are basing the presence of God on goose bumps or tears then we have seriously missed the mark. If we go to church and leave saying that we just didn't "feel it" today and use that to gauge the presence of God, then we are in more dire straits than we can ever imagine.

Only when we get to know God, know Him intimately, desire to know what is on His heart, can we begin to understand that feelings, sensation and experiences have nothing to do with His presence. It is about our willingness to not only seek the power of His hand, but to desire to know what is on His heart and what He has to say to us. When we quiet down and stop murmuring our requests and issues to Him long enough to hear what He has to say then we will know what the presence of God feels like. When we get out of our own way or take the God out of the box we have put Him in then we will know what the presence of God is all about. It is then we will see Him move the way He wants to move to accomplish what He has purposed to accomplish. He might even see fit to use us, if we will only listen long enough to let Him.

Be Blessed and Be a Blessing!
Mike

Special Because Why?

There is so much in the book of Daniel that is just screaming to be learned. The messages of the Old Testament are just as relevant today as they were when they were happening. The next lesson comes from the third chapter. The king has received his dream and the interpretation of it from God through Daniel. He has been told that his kingdom is the greatest then and among all the kingdoms to follow his in time. He is more impressed with Daniel and his ability to hear God than he was with the message. He did not reverence God and follow Him as most would. Instead He focused on the dream. It was almost as if he believed that he was something special to God because He singled him out to help fulfill His purpose. I have been guilty of this. I began to minister in the church when I was 12 years old. I was spouting off prophecy and words of wisdom that I knew nothing about. I was such an anomaly that the preachers and pastors would treat me differently. I definitely felt like I was something special because not everyone was doing what I was doing. Just like Nebuchadnezzar I was a tool that was being used—no better than the next tool, just suited for the job. I am extremely careful now to understand that without Christ I am nothing; able to do nothing of my own accord in His kingdom. As a church, as a people we need to quit looking for the title with the status and just start doing the job.

God I thank You for the work You have called me to do. I know Lord that with Your anointing and blessing I could do nothing on my own, I worship You with my Life. Amen

Robbing God

It is a tremendously awesome feeling to be used of God. It is so exhilarating to feel God’s power at work though you as you are preaching or praying for someone. When you see the person you are praying for starting manifest their healing or you see that someone is the audience is being moved by the mere words you are speaking you can’t help but say “WOW!” As the people of God whom He chooses to use, we have to be very careful abut taking what belongs to God. By that I mean to say that we need to be very conscious of the fact that we are just the vessel of the power and not the power itself.
It would be very silly of us to revere the plug of an item as the power source of all of our electrical toys. After all it is the thing we see working. We know that when we plug it into the wall socket our toys work. The plug is merely the conduit for the electricity that gives our toys power and functionality. When we are working for God we are merely the plug, He is the power source we plug into. Just as we need to make sure we recognize His ability in us and give Him His due praise, we need to make sure that those who see the same miracles and power of God at work in us give Him His praise.
Growing up we used to see a lot of power charismatic preachers come through our church. It was easy to be awestruck by all the wonderful things happening and to ascribe them to the man or woman doing those things. The really good ones would always give the praise to God before, during and after their ministry. The not so good ones would run the stage and make their exits like they were rock stars.
These thoughts are inspired by my next lesson from Daniel. After Daniel had ministered to the king his dream and the meaning of the dream, the king fell down before Daniel and worshipped him. He ordered an offering and burnt incense be made to Daniel. Daniel was quick to say that he could not have done it without God and that it was God who had chosen the king as a recipient and Daniel as the messenger. Daniel was quick to say this several times. He wanted nothing of what belonged to God.
We shouldn’t want any of what belongs to God either. We were made to praise Him, not take His praise.

Father, let me always be used by You that You might always be glorified in all that I do and those around me might see Your power and love. Amen

Taking a Stand

Faith is a hard thing to have sometimes. We are asked to believe in God in every situation without question, yet we do not know how the situations are going to turn out. We are taking blind steps towards the unknown. We can be assured that the outcome will be God’s will, but we can never be certain that it will be desirable or favorable to us. God has asked us to take a stand for what we believe and that sometimes means taking a stand when it is not the cool thing to do. That stand while adding to our reward in heaven can have disastrous effects here on earth. It could cost us friends, family, relationships, jobs, and a host of other things. Daniel chapter 3 12, 16-18 show us just how dangerous that stand we take can be.

They were instructed to bow before the golden statue of Nebuchadnezzar and they refused. They had first made the choice to not defile their bodies with the food of the king and now this. They were not in danger of losing their lives before in the diet situation but now they were. They had made their decision based on the fact that they would not compromise what they believed in. Any deviance from those beliefs would water down their testimony they had established. If they bowed before the statue it would all but erase their devotion to the power of God they had demonstrated in their new homeland; but to not bow before the statue would mean certain and immediate death. There had to be a thousand reasons that they could have generated amongst themselves to make bowing before the statue seem alright. There was one reason not to bow before the statue that kept all the other reasons to bow at bay. That reason was that if indeed they did bow they would be turning their backs on the God that they believed in and defile their own undefiled faith.

If God calls you to do something for Him that would involve taking a stand that could cost you a lot, if not everything, could you? It is hard to think of something so severe in our liberal and accepting melting pot of society that would indeed cost us that much. What if you were a missionary in a foreign land where being a Christian could cost you your life, would you risk it to reach the people? If you work for a church, would you risk standing up to your pastor if you felt he/she was compromising your faith? Would you risk losing your job for your beliefs? Or would you water down your faith to keep status quo? All food for thought.

Father I thank you that I have You to have Faith in. I pray that I will always take a stand when You call me to. Amen.

Giving God What Is His

"It is said that Alexander the Great was standing and
watching Diogenes and after awhile asked Diogenes
what he was doing. When asked, the older man
answered, 'I am searching for the bones of your father,
but I cannot determine the dust of your father from the
dust of the slaves.'" (ref?)

As I am focusing on the 2nd chapter of Daniel this really painted the picture of the last point I found. In the end when we are done with our life here on earth and we go to be with the Father, I want to hear "well done..." I dont want to hear that I robbed God of some of His glory here on earth because I was the vessel He chose to use and I did not give Him the Glory. I never want to rob anything from God. I remember a time when God used me to give a message to one of my pastors. I had to tell her that it was not about her and that she was robbing God of His glory. That was one of the hardest word I ever had to speak. When I am invited to preach I always tell people that it is not me. I make it known that I never would have chosen to be a preacher. but God called me. Any good that comes from it needs to be directly attributed to Him and not to me. I NEVER WANT TO TAKE WHAT IS GOD'S!!!! Just the thought of having to answer for that gives me chills.

Daniel makes sure to give God the glory for interpreting the king's dream. He does this several times. He, too, wants to make sure that God gets what is His.

Father I thank you for all that you are using me for. I give You all the glory for it all now and forever. Amen.

Undefiled and Infectious

I have been thinking a lot about the kind of ministry I would like to have. I have seen so much divisiveness in the church and the people it ministers to. There seems to be the group that wants to barricade themselves in their sanctuary and let only those in who make it past the front doors. Then they are wary of those people because of the backgrounds they come from. Some of them forget that they too at one point in their lives had a background that wouldn’t let them into their church. They talk about saving the sinners and once they introduce them to Christ they never let them forget the fact that they were sinners. Then there is the group that wants so much to reach the world and show it that Christians can be like them to. They want them to see that becoming a Christian doesn’t mean changing your style and likes. Some in this group go too far in trying to do this and you can’t see where they stop and the world begins. They offer a watered down version of salvation in that the title on the badge changes but the lifestyle doesn’t. They just become worldly Christians. Is there a happy medium that is happy without being compromising? Is there a less formal more outreaching Christianity that we can look to as an example in our modern times?

As modern as we would like to think that we have become, the bible remains true in that it says “there is nothing new under the sun.” We only have to look in it to find examples of men who have remained true to their convictions and callings in the world without being defiled. We can look at Daniel who in chapter 2 of his book saved the lives of all the wise men in the King’s Court. They were all in the order of execution issued by the king for being frauds and not being able to fulfill his request of detailing his dream. When Daniel says that he can do as the king wishes and comes through, he does not say that the other wise men were frauds. He does not tell the king that he and his friends are the only ones who should be spared since the magicians, sorcerers and other religious men could not perform what the king ordered. Instead he steps in on all their behalf and saves their lives because he can. Does he push his beliefs on others in the group after this saying that his is the only way to believe? No. In doing what he did simply it is how he believed, I am sure he opened the door to conversations about his beliefs with the others who were in the court. He was in the world, not affected by it and not changed by it.

Jesus was in the world. He was not affected by in it other than to have compassion on those around Him. He was not changed by it and it did not defile him. He walked with sinners; He ate and drank with them. Where the religious leaders of that time would say that He was defiled by allowing some of them to touch Him or be with Him, He was just showing them that they mattered in the eyes of God and to Him. He had compassion on them. As members of the church we need to not be abrasive and “in your face” with our beliefs. We need to move as the Spirit guides us and let our lives be our key to open the doors of lives that haven’t been touched yet. I can love a person who is living in sin but not love the sin they are living in. When you turn away a soul because of their sin you turn away the soul who needs to be reached. You confirm the stereotypes of Christians being the hateful, un-accepting hypocrites that many have made us out to be. When you reach out to someone who is living in sin and love them for being a person, but never confusing that compassion with acceptance of their lifestyle, and the person can see it is genuine, the opportunities to introduce them to the saving grace we know will come.

This is a long way to say that the fact that Daniel saved all of the wise men with his faithfulness to god and to his beliefs impressed me. He did not seek the credit with the king but was quick to ascribe all the glory to God. He worked as a whole with the other people of different faiths but never allowed them to defile his beliefs, but I am sure he infected theirs.

Father let me open to those who need you regardless of what they look like, like Daniel let my love for you be infectious. Amen.

Straight to the Source

In Daniel 2:2 King Nebuchadnezzar has had enough of his insomnia and his dream. He called on the people who were supposed to provide him insight into the spiritual realm. He called on his wise men, his advisors—sorcerers, magicians, conjurers, and the Chaldeans. These people were the learned among his advisors. These are the people he relied on when he needed information from the spiritual realm and guidance for his actions. He must have been let down by them several times because this time he did not reveal to them the dream he had; but rather he tested the abilities by requiring that they first describe to him the dream and then interpret it.

So often when we are faced with situations where we are in need of advice we call our wise men to help us—they are our friends, our mentors, professionals, whoever we can think can offer insight into what we are going through. What we need to remember though is that these labels they wear are ones that we have assigned them. They have no more insight into what we are going through than we do. They cannot predict the outcome or future circumstance with any more certainty than you or I can. We look to professionals to help us with our problems because we figure they are intelligent and studied up on what is facing us. That is partially true, they are professionals because they have completed a series of courses that merited them a degree. That degree does make them anymore intelligent that you or I. It does qualify them to be able to predict our future or tell us how we should proceed in any situation.

The king saw the wise men before him for what they were—perpetrators. They claimed to have insight into the spiritual realm and into the meanings of dreams. Yet without the knowledge of the dream they could not interpret it. Much like the modern day shrinks of today cannot tell you what a dream means until they know the content of it. Who is to say that the substance of your dream has the same symbolism as the substance of my dream? When the king saw the uselessness of the wise men in his court he ordered them all killed. What use were they to him? My point is this—we all run to the people we have deemed to be the wise men in our lives when we need a fresh word or a sense of direction. Why do we run to the people who are in the same boat we are. We need to run to the run to whom all of our dreams and visions should be held captive to. We need to go to the source of all inspiration and the one who in infinite in the amount of wisdom He holds. It wasn’t until Daniel intervened and went before God that the truths of the king’s dream were revealed. Daniel went to the source, sought out God’s wisdom and God was faithful to meet Daniel with what he was looking for.

Father let me always come straight to You for what I need. Amen.

Refuse to be Defiled

I am studying in the book of Daniel and I am stuck on something that I cannot get past. Daniel made the choice to not be defiled. He chose to remain pure and true to what he believed. How awesome is that. We are faced with so many things in a day that challenge what we believe as individuals. We are faced with decisions constantly that beg us to compromise what we stand for. Many times we find ourselves not avoiding the risks involved but weighing them and managing them. It has become increasingly harder to draw a line in the sand and say we will not cross. We are looking for our own ways to cross the line without changing the labels that we wear and subjecting ourselves with the changes that come as a result to the crossed line. Daniel made the choice to not defile himself. We could say that times were different back then. The choices they were faced with weren't as gray as ours are today. Things were much more black or white and right or wrong. To a degree I would agree with that. We live in a generation and a society that has all but erased the lines between right and wrong. We have added degrees to the principles of right and wrong. We have blended the white and black into varying shades of gray. But still they were faced with things that appealed to the basest human need--food. They had been stolen from their homeland and seemingly abandoned by the God they believed in; they were presented with delicacies the king himself was feasting on, but it was contrary to the diet the law laid out for them. Feeling abandoned, confused and hopeless still they refused to be defiled. When Jesus started his ministry and went into the wilderness, as a man, He neglected His flesh for forty days by fasting. When the fast was over satan came to Him and tempted him with things again that appealed to the basest human desires--food and power. Being tired, weak and hungry and offered the things that could end all of that, Jesus refused to be defiled. The world has painted its morality system gray. We need to search for our white and black. Once we find the line that stands between the two, we need to choose what side we will be on, dig our heels in and refuse to be defiled.

Message to Me...

There are times when I feel my faith being challenged. I find myself questioning what I actually believe. I find myself speaking what I claim to believe all the time. Sometimes I have been forced to actually reconcile my words with my actions. You have heard people tell the same fictional story so many times that they actually forget the fact that it is not true. I speak of the wonderful things of God and of all His miraculous abilities, yet when it comes down to it, do I still believe in what I say? I pray for people to be healed, yet deep down do I believe that they will be? Am I a worthy enough vessel for God to work through? Is there someone else that could have a better result, because of their character or their faith? If it were someone else who had been captured from the king of Judah’s court and not Daniel and his friends would there have been a different outcome in the story in chapter 2?

I know I believe in healing, I have seen my mother healed several times, and recover when she should have died. I have seen ways made in people’s lives where there should have been no way to be found. I do believe in His miracles and furthermore I believe we are called to do even greater miracles than He did while He walked the earth—I count on that! I believe that God uses every situation that we walk through for our benefit or for someone else’s like he did in both Philemon and Daniel. I believe in the faithfulness of a God that says He will be faithful to complete the work he began in me. While I am no where close to being the man I was when I started my discipleship walk, I am no where near the man I will be when I go see my God or when He comes to get me. I am ok with that.

A work in progress,
Mike

Favor for Faithfulness

Daniel found himself in different surroundings being forced to subscribe to different beliefs and teachings. While the world tried to transform him into something that he was not, he maintained his heart and his spirit true to his fear of the Lord in which he was raised with. How easy it would have been to forget God and all that He had done for His people. Some would even say rightly so—after all He did allow them to be conquered and taken into captivity. Some would argue that Daniel would be a fool not to forget about God and acclimate himself to the ways of the Babylonians; he was in the inner circle being educated and fed like a royal himself. Daniel held strong to his beliefs and to the God who had blessed him, despite the fact that same God allowed him to be enslaved.

Could you do the same? Could you love God after He took everything away from you and allowed you to be captured by your enemy? If you asked me that question about 5 years ago the answer would have been an emphatic “NO!” Today I think it would still be hard. I know now that God has a plan for everything that happens to me in life, both good and bad. I know God enough to know that what I know about Him and His ways are not even close to a complete picture of Him. I guess it comes down to faith and just how much you have and what shape it is in. Daniel refused to be defiled and was willing to be put to death before he allowed his captors to defile him. Though he lived in the world of the Babylonians he maintained the truths of his home and didn’t allow them to be corrupted or altered in his heart.

The world tries to make us into things that we are not. It paints pictures of the perfect life and the way it should be lived. A lot of the time though that perfect life is not congruent with the way we are called to live through Jesus’ teachings in the bible. Sometimes the callings that we have on our lives are in direct conflict with the things of this perfect life and prevent us from having both. What do we choose? In my life I wanted the perfect life—the big house, nice cars, and all the money. I didn’t care what I did as long as I had the perfect lifestyle. I wanted to be a part of the “haves” instead of the “have-nots.” I discovered along the way that “having” meant compromising what I believed in, what meant so much to me. I began to become jaded and found less and less time to serve God so I could get more. I had to make a choice—to “have” or to “have not.” Having what the world says you should have to be in the perfect life isn’t all that is look like. It cost me more spiritually and in my heart than I could ever imagine. I think Daniel knew that as well.

Daniel refused to be corrupted and to defile the faith that he held so dear. Because of this God honored him and gave him favor, both in His sight and in the sight of man. It is the favor for faithfulness trade off. I have never been so happy since I have chosen the path the God wants for me. I may not be rolling in the rich life of the world, but I am storing up my treasure in heaven and having my every need met here on earth.

Father I thank you for your faithfulness and for your continued favor with all those I come in contact with that Your will might be done through me. You are my only choice. Amen.

The Choice

The book of Daniel continues to prove itself a book full of life lessons even in terms of discipleship. After Judah was captured Nebuchadnezzar called his “chief of staff” and told him to get the brightest, strongest and best looking (?) men from Jehoiakim’s house and teach them to be his advisors. Daniel was among these as were 3 of his friends (Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah) who would later become to be know as Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego. They were taken apart from the rest of the captives, given Babylonian names, given the Babylonian education, and they ate from the king’s table and from his cellars. Essentially what they tried to do was brainwash these young men into forgetting their culture and into becoming Babylonian. They wanted to make them into Babylonian elite. They changed their names from names that all represented a quality of God into names that celebrated the Babylonian Gods. They fed them food from the king’s table which was far from the diet and food practices that was allowed under their law they had grown up with. They tried to educate them into becoming Babylonian.

This is important because as Christians this is exactly what the world tries to do to us. The world tries to educate the belief we have in God out of us since its science cannot prove his existence. The world feeds us from its table of self gratification, immorality, lawlessness. It tries to change our name from that of being of the family of God into one that celebrates itself. While there is nothing wrong with a secular education or the learning from the secular world, there is something wrong with it when it starts to negatively impact and influence on your faithfulness to God. Daniel and his friends were faced with just that decision.

Daniel had a choice to make: would he give in to the opportunities the king was presenting him or would he remain faithful to the practices and the God he had always known. Verse 8 of chapter one said that Daniel made up his mind that he would not be defiled. That is an important point to look at. We simply cannot hide in a dark corner and hope that the world will not notice us so we will not be subject to its influence. Rather we need to stand out in the world and stand up and announce that we choose to not be defiled by the world we are surrounded by. Defilement is a choice. Its like being in a pool. You can be in the deep end of the pool and even under water. You are completely surrounded by water but it is not penetrating you. The water does not enter your body until you open your mouth or unplug your nose and let it in. The world cannot defile us or influence us until we let it inside our mind, heart or spirit.

Father I thank you for Your guidance and Your strength. I pray Lord that I would be aware constantly of the influences that surround me and always aware that I may be here now, but this world is not my home. Amen.

You Brought It On Yourself

The first two verses in Daniel speak volumes to my heart already. The first verse describes the capture of Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar. The second verse tells us why. This happened because God wanted it this way. This is not something that god allowed to happen or that slipped past Him without Him knowing—God caused this to happen! God gave the land of Judah, its king, its holy relics and the Jewish people (His people) over to a King that did not serve Him, in fact King Nebuchadnezzar worshipped other Gods. This was hard to understand why God would do this to His own. The thing is that His people were not acting like His people. They had been sinning against Him as individuals and as nations for a long time. He had sent the prophets to warn them and to bring them to repentance and they refused. Most (close to all) of the kings of both Israel and Judah sinned against God and led their nations in sin against God. Because of the sinfulness and refusal to repent, God judged them and disciplined the nation of Judah with captivity to Babylon for 70 years.

The first thing that popped out to me was that when we veer off the trail God has for us, He lets us know. He nudges our spirit and when that doesn’t work He brings people into our lives to help us remain accountable to the walk we have started with Him. When we continue to walk on our own, we do so at our own risk. Another prophet even said “woe to them for they bring judgment on themselves” (paraphrased of course). Some people wonder why God allows things to happen to His people. I understand it here that sometimes He does allow it to happen, but there are also times that He causes it to happen. As humans we discipline our own children, why should Father God be any different?

Along those lines it is interesting that God would use someone who was at war with His principles to judge and discipline His people. What I understand from this is that God will use whatever tools He has available to Him. In another prophet’s book in the Old Testament, King Nebuchadnezzar is called God’s servant, because though he was evil God still used him to accomplish His will for His people. God will do what it takes to get His people to return to their first love. It’s amazing that he could love us that much and be that jealous to go through such lengths to keep us close.

Father I pray that I will continue to be faithful to your calling and to your will for my life. Amen.

Who Turned On the Light?!?

Today I am starting a new study on the Book of Daniel. I am so reluctant to get into the Old Testament because I often get lost with all the “so-and-so begetting you-know-who” in the “third year of the reign of what’s-his-name” and stuff like that. The only reason I am even looking at this particular book is because a prophet told me that God was going to speak to me out of it. I know God should speak through all of His word and I am sure He does. But there are honestly times when I feel like I am just reading and not studying because I just don’t get it. And since I am using words like “honestly” I might as well come clean and say that I have not even read that book since I was a kid. There are so many great stories that I used to hear in Sunday School when I was just a pup. So I opened up the Bible (well actually I pulled it up since I use like 4 different versions on my laptop) and I read the intro and chapter 1. I was a little leary because right away there is the “third year of king whose-it’s reign.” As I continued reading through the chapter, it was almost as if someone turned the light on in a dark room. That little homie nudge of the Holy Spirit was there as if to say “See I told you so!” Sure enough the principles just started popping off the page. God is awesome!! He really does have a fresh word for all of us and will meet us just where we are! As I process my thoughts I will post them—so much to digest just in the first chapter!

Faithfulness and Questions Answered

Reading the book Philemon this time with some understanding and with a deeper, more committed walk with Christ really opened it up to me. When you read God’s word with the intention of learning something or seeing what the Spirit has to say to you that day, as opposed to just reading for the sake of reading, you are bound to meet God in your study time and have Him reveal the lessons you need. That is exactly what happened to me. I went into this study wondering if it was truly possible to be like Jesus and to walk this earth with God like qualities. In this book I see that the answer to both of those questions is yes. Paul was just a man like any man today. He was someone that was converted to Christianity after being one of its biggest detractors; yet he came to be one of its leading founding fathers. In the book of Philemon we see that the God in him became the God-like qualities through him. In the book there is the sinner, the savior and different facets of the grace of God. There is reconciliation and redemption. Though they all have spiritual connotations and bases, they were all brought about through the physical actions of and obedience to God by a man.

Father I thank You for showing me the principles in Your word. I pray that my life demonstrates Your principles more and more with each coming day. I praise You for Your faithfulness. Amen.

Obedience Is Key

Sometimes I think that God does things in ways that are more difficult than I would do them. I know that seems crazy, but don’t we all second guess our bosses sometimes? I am never bold enough to tell Him He is wrong or that I won’t do what He is asking me to (we know where that got Jonah!). One of the reasons I don’t do that is because I have seen Him do things His way so many times that it often has a better outcome than what is expected. Take for instance the story of Philemon. In the last verses of the book Paul tells Philemon that his obedience to Paul’s request will refresh his heart and make him happy. God could have just refreshed Paul’s heart and gave him joy. Instead He took the long way around involved more people and situations. He allowed Onesimus to run into Paul after he had stolen from Philemon and ran away from his house. Philemon ends up serving the Lord and becomes a servant not only to Philemon but now also to Christ. Paul sends Onesimus back to Philemon’s house as a newly saved brother in Christ so Philemon receives not only his servant back but also a new trusted brother in the family of God. For added benefit to both Philemon and to Onesimus, Paul offers to pay Onesimus’ owed debt to Philemon personally on Onesimus’ behalf. When Philemon obeys Paul’s request to receive Onesimus back into his house then Paul’s spirit gets refreshed because he has made peace in an otherwise tempestuous household. Through this peace and Philemon’s obedience Paul’s spirit get refreshed, he is happy and all of them offer praise to God. You see there is so much better that came out of the situations when God is in charge, as opposed to just going straight to the end result. The whole result was contingent ton Philemon’s obedience to Paul’s request. Philemon could have denied the request and taken his due penance from Onesimus (his life for the theft); however Paul was confident in his forthcoming obedience.

In our own lives we need to be conscious of the fact that our actions and obedience to the gentle (and sometimes not so gentle) nudges of the Holy Spirit could make the difference between refreshing a brother or sister’s spirit and God receiving His due glory from a situation or not. It is hard sometimes to be obedient, especially when our flesh gets in the way. How hard is it to walk up to someone and apologize when we know that we were not the one who was wrong? When we do that though we become the peacemaker; we refresh the spirits of those who the situation involved and the ones who were watching it. Through our obedience to making peace God gets praised. Anytime we act in obedience to the Holy Spirit, God gets the praise and the Glory from the outcome.

Lord let me always be sensitive to what You want me to do, whether or not I know the outcome or think I can do a better job. I thank you for all the lessons I learn from You. Amen.

Inside Out

Coming near to the end of the book of Philemon we see that Paul is actually a picture of Jesus Christ in the story. In verses 18 & 19 Paul continues in his letter to Philemon on behalf of Onesimus, the slave that stole from him and then ran away. In these verses Paul writes to Philemon to tell him that anything that Onesimus owes him to charge it to Paul. He writes that he will indeed pay Philemon personally and without ever having a thought of either him or Onesimus owing him anything in return. WOW! There is a whole to be said of a person that will write a letter of recommendation for another person because they are essentially putting their name on the individual and their abilities. It is something completely different when someone believes in or loves and individual so much that they assume their debts and pay them on their behalf. That is exactly what Paul did for Onesimus. He considered Onesimus family now and treated him like a son. He loved him so much that he wanted to make sure that he had a fresh start in the family so he offered to pay any debts that he owed to his master Philemon.

I said that Paul in these verses in particular looks like Jesus because that is exactly what He did for us. God loved us so much and wanted communion with us that He sent His only Son to reconcile us back to Him through Jesus’ death and resurrection. How many of us are able to say that, even in our walk with Christ now, we would do the same thing Paul has done? Paul acted like Jesus in this particular situation; he acted like God would have responded to the situation. He did this for one simple reason—he had God in him. I would venture to say that at this point in his ministry Paul had more God in him that he had himself.

Mercy is a hard to gift to practice if you weren’t born with it. It is not a hard gift to learn however since we all have been extended mercy when we accepted Christ. When we sit and think about it, who are we to withhold mercy from one when we have benefited from it? Doesn’t it make us hypocrites to benefit from the same thing we refuse to give to another? I am coming to see more and more the proof that our words and actions are nothing more that reflections of our hearts. We might as well be living inside out.

Father I thank you for all that you have given to me. Soften my heart and help me to see everything through Your eyes before my eyes corrupt my view. Amen.