The Fearful Goodness of Good Friday

In Hosea, we receive an interesting prophetic picture of the soon-to-be-released goodness of God in redeeming a truly wretched, sin-loving bunch. In fact, this “latter” goodness is presented as something “to be feared.”

We read in Hosea 3:5,

"They shall fear the LORD and His goodness in the latter days" (NKJV).

How can something like God’s goodness bring us to tremble? Simple—it’s absolutely awe-inspiring when considered in context to Who God is and who we are:

• Consider Who the Father is—Holy, perfect, blameless, majestic, glorious.

• Consider who we are—wretched, sinful, at enmity with God, and yes, murderers of the very God Who came to rescue us.

• Finally, consider the glorious exchange Paul describes in Ephesians 2: We were then by nature children of [God's] wrath and heirs of [His] indignation…”But God--so rich is He in His mercy! (Eph 2:3-4, AMP).

There are many roads I could travel down with this topic, but really, I want to focus on the terrifying goodness of God as expressed through His extravagant forgiveness.

Satan has an agenda for us. He seeks to corner believers with his lies and convince us that the sin in our lives alienates us from the love, presence, and yes, forgiveness of God. He wants us to believe that in order to “get right with God again,” we have to… fill in your personal blank. Do penance in our heads. Feel bad enough to become good enough again to be received by God. Or worse of all, travel down this road long enough, ascribing to these lies so often that we ultimately believe: “God doesn’t want me anymore. I’m a screw-up Christian. I just keep missing it.”

Works will not redeem you from this line of thought—revelation will. Period. Lift your eyes to the cross and everything it represents. Satan doesn’t want our minds going there, so let’s really bend him out of shape and BOLDLY behold the cross and the Man, Christ Jesus, nailed front and center. Do you know what His presence there tells me? His forgiveness and mercy are extravagant beyond comprehension.

He died an outcast. His people rejected him. His own disciples abandoned and denied him. Surely even his mother was engaged in mental gymnastics, hoping he would bypass this “cup” of suffering. Let’s face it—God came to the earth to redeem us, and what did we do? We killed him. If that’s not evidence for the total depravity of man, I don’t know what is.

Now here’s the kicker—If you and I literally killed God (which we did with our sin), and He still declared, “forgive them…” do you really think what presently we “deal with” sin-wise now places us beyond His mercy? I think not.

Behold the Man upon the Tree this Good Friday. Look upon the One we pierced—I know it’s confrontational and uncomfortable—but beyond the confrontation with our sin is the most explosive revelation of mercy one could ever receive.

Medicate upon the Savior through this dynamic worship anthem. He truly deserves all of the praise.

"...and the Stars"

Astronomers estimate that there are about 100 thousand million stars in the Milky Way alone. Big number, eh? Initially, it almost sounds kinda fake. I mean come on. “A hundred thousand million” might as well be a “Shlabadabado-illion.” Ah, but bare in mind that this estimated calculation represents the star population of merely one galaxy.

Outside of the Milky Way, there are millions upon millions of other galaxies as well. Consider it for a moment. Millions upon millions of other galaxies beyond the Milky Way galaxy-a sphere man has merely scratched the surface of-and each one brims with an estimated 100 thousand million stars.

Now observe Genesis 1, verse 16,

"And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars." (ESV)

I was simply blown away last night as I considered the implication of how the stars’ creation is recorded in the Genesis account. More or less, populating millions upon millions of galaxies full of thousands of millions of stars is considered a mere sidenote to our Great God. “…and the stars.”

Got it?

Now consider this. The God Who placed a practically infinite amount of stars in the universe-effortlessly-is the same Glorious Spirit that dwells with and within you and I.

Let’s not be like Sarah and brand the miraculous laughable. Remember the Creator God who effortlessly and yet meticulously placed the countless stars in the heavens? Yeah. This same God has promised, Sarah, to supernaturally touch your dead and barren womb and bring forth the child He Himself pledged to give you.

Is it any wonder that He responded to her appropriately:

"13 And the LORD said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh, saying, ‘Shall I surely bear a child, since I am old?’ 14 Is anything too hard for the LORD?" (Genesis 18:13-14, NKJV)

When faced with the impossible, let’s consider the One who didn’t consider creating the stars a big deal.

My Oceanic Sojourn

This Saturday, I arose at the break of dawn (Larry’s “break of dawn” is 7:15am) to join my Dad and some family friends on a deep sea fishing excursion. Oh, the adventure that would soon greet me!

We headed out at around 8:30am and voyaged through the ole Jupiter inlet. Amazingly enough, there were 30-40 commercial fishing boats floating around, trying to snatch some “triple tail.” Now, I pride myself on being somewhat of a Cousteau-in-training and yet, I had never seen or heard of these inlet dwellers. Apparently, they’re tarpon-esque and great for eating.

Then came our first steps towards “going ocean.” It was quite choppy, but such a beautiful day! I thoroughly enjoyed our “way out” into the sea, as the ocean spray collided with my face and the smell of the salty sea air embraced my nostrils. I’m not much of a roller coaster enthusiast, but I will say that violently jerking up and down as we glided over (and through) the wake was most exhilarating.

All in all, our day at sea was non-stop action and adventure. Whether it was beholding the majestic leatherback turtles making their way towards shore (to lay eggs), watching schools of shiny Mahi Mahi zoom by the boat, or my exposure to the incredible technology innovations that has emerged since my “days” of fishing with a rod, reel, bobber and rubber worm, the trip was most enjoyable!

Ah, but those who have participated with me in previous oceanic outings surely know that beneath the beautiful blue lurks the menacing deep sea demon (i.e. seasickness). That sucker hit about two hours into the trip and man, was it torturous. Everyone was having a grand time reeling in their catch while I looked to the sea, pondering: Would being consumed by a shark be preferable to this? Fortunately, throwing-up helps (as does Dramamine, so I’ve been told). One hurl changed everything and I was, more or less, back to normal (after about an hour and a half of trying to preserve my pride).

When all is said and done, there’s nothing like the thrill of the catch and being able to bring home some fresh, wild Sea Bass or Snapper (which will cost you a pretty penny at your local seafood restaurant). Be advised, though, that fishing is aptly named “fishing.” It would be called “catching” if the majority of the time was spent reeling in those aquatic acrobats. Such is not the case.

(note: The photos are illustrative; they are not the actual pictures from my trip)

Praise Him Because He's Unshakeable

Very quick thought. I implore you, don’t embrace the flighty, good-intentioned but deadly-wrong idea that God changes or shifts based on our situations, seasons or circumstances. That may sound like an ear-tickling, emotion-massaging comfort, but it is a deception that can be extremely costly, namely if we embrace it in the midst of tribulation.

Right now, I don’t need a God who falls apart when I’m going through stuff. Sadly though, one too many folks are “teaching” and writing “Christian” self-help books about this overly emphatic Jesus Who is so “in touch” with our junk that He too collapses under the pressure. After all, we need to make Him relatable right? That’s what people need…right? No.

Does He emotionally relate to us in our distress? Absolutely. However, rejoice in the Truth that He is the unchanging, unshakeable God and that He desires to release an unshakeable kingdom into an all too shakeable planet Earth. Stand on His unshakeability in the midst of your shaking and instead of looking for a “Savior” who simply allows us to savor our circumstance, let’s seek the One Who pulls us out of the ash-heap, sets our feet upon a Rock, and collides His unshakeable world and will with ours producing the miraculous.

Rejoice in His unshakeableness!

Take comfort in the following Truths as I do,

“For I am the LORD, I do not change…” (Malachi 3:6, NKJV)

“Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows.” (James 1:17, NIV)

A faith-building testimony of the power in Jesus' Name

I don’t know why we as a church—both individually and corporately—have all but forsaken the glorious practice of testifying. Maybe it’s because we’ve been deceived into believing that the supernatural invasions that produce testimonies are ultimately all about us and improving our quality of life on earth. Wrong. God has been instructing me on this subject quite a bit lately, so allow me to briefly share our personal experience and His purpose in producing a testimony.

You may or may not know this but in early February my wife and I voyaged to a pastor’s conference in Jacksonville (for my work). Unfortunately, while we were there, Mercedes came down with a rather nasty flu bug. Ah, let’s call it what it was—swine flu. I cannot make light of her bout with the illness. It was so intense that it landed us in the Jacksonville emergency room until 3 in the morning.

Well, testimony number one is that God healed my wife and supernaturally protected our unborn baby from the potentially dangerous effects of swine flu. The next situation demanding the miraculous was paying the rather costly hospital bill. Even though we have health insurance, it’s never fun (and convenient) to receive a bill for $700+

Here came my potential hurdle to seeing revelation made manifest. Like I said, God has been teaching me lately about the power of praying in Jesus’ Name, not to use it as a magic “name it, claim it” formula to get what we want from God, but rather, seeing God testifying to the invisible realities of His Kingdom in our midst through that Name and that Name alone. Kingdom dominion is not released through any other name under heaven as no other Name possesses Kingdom power.

So finally, after being a stubborn, “I’m not going to ask for directions or help” stereotype, I called upon the Father to release a financial miracle in our situation. We prayed specifically in Jesus’ Name, so that the testimony would authenticate the power in that Name, not necessarily just the cool thing He would bring about in our lives. Not more than three days later, I called our insurance company and behold, I discovered that we didn’t owe any of the money the hospital initially projected.

Cool? Absolutely! But remember a few things. First of all, a testimony is not about WHAT happens, but WHO is revealed. God healed Mercedes and provided for us, and that’s worth a hearty shout, but all the more exciting is what this testimony reveals about OUR Father: His compassion, His love, His concern for His beloved, and ultimately, His desire to deposit foretastes of glory on earth (that’s what happens when the miraculous collides with our realm). Secondly, a miraculous invasion is not about obtaining “health, wealth, and comfort;” it signals the reality that the Kingdom of God is near and is experienced only through the God-man, Jesus Christ (released through praying in His Name).

Finally, a testimony brims with prophetic, faith-building power. Other believers hear what the Father has done through the Name of His Beloved Jesus and those accounts build their faith in this miracle-working, Kingdom-releasing Christ. I share this for your encouragement. If God did it for us, He can and will do it for you! Just remember, it’s not about us getting something; it’s about Him revealing Someone and oh, how awesome it is to behold that magnificent Someone as He makes the Father’s Name manifest by coming through on your behalf.

The Blowing Wind of Prophetic Revelation

Last week, we attended a prayer meeting at our local Presbyterian church, and I do not exaggerate when I say that the wind of the Holy Spirit sovereignly and supernaturally blew through that place.

The word wind has actually been stirring in my spirit as of late. One particular passage that I have been hung up on is John 3:8, where Jesus dialogues with Nicodemus about the second birth. He likens the invasive, redemptive move of the Holy Spirit in a person to the nature of the blowing wind,

“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." (ESV)

I still haven’t mined this passage’s depths, but the Holy Spirit has revealed a few things about His movement and activity through this particular verse: The wind is God-originated and God-designated. In short, the wind is God, as it is the Spirit of God serving as the Messenger of the Revelation of God. He “comes out” of God and in turn, goes where God supernaturally directs. This verse reveals two aspects of God that tend to make the church nervous: He is both supernatural and sovereign.

Monday evening, this sovereign, supernatural wind of God blew through that prayer meeting and, by unction of the Holy Spirit, men and women began to prophesy. So often, I have observed the practice of prayer as one-dimensional, the currency of simply getting from God. Yes, we are to “ask” and make petition. God instructs it. However, there is a deeper, greater dimension of this sacred communication, where the one praying ceases trying to move God to do something and instead, God becomes the mover.

God releases prophetic insight into the spirit of the one praying, and rather than praying to God for something, that person starts praying from God about something. The person becomes a bold prophetic voice, for the things pouring forth from their spirit and ultimately out of their mouth are not “wouldn’t it be nice if God did this,” fantasies. They are prophetic realities that the Father desires to make manifest “on earth” through releasing the person, passion and power of Christ Jesus through his body (known as the Church).

Let’s enter prayer with prophetic expectation. Let’s step beyond prayer lists. They’re good. They’re necessary. But they are not the One Thing - Jesus is. Sometimes we act like what we say TO God is more important and deserving of emphasis than what God is saying… yes, to us... but what He’s saying TO us and THROUGH us is not all ABOUT us. Simply, it is all about God filling the Earth with God—first comes the “knowledge of His glory” and then BAM, then comes His manifest glory, and in the end, God receives all the glory. Period.