The Opposite of God

HOW MOST PEOPLE SEE THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GOD AND SATAN

 

 

 

THE WAY IT REALLY IS

What is the opposite of the word, "God?" There is none. The dualistic belief that God and Satan are counterparts to each is an insult to Elohim - the One who created and sustains all that exists. When Emmanuel came into this world in a manger, the world was given "good news of great joy for all people." Our God has loved us with an everlasting love and has given Himself to us as an assurance that we eternally belong to Him and nothing can change that fact. Not even Satan himself.

Are We Forgiven By God Even Before We Ask?

“But I say to you who hear, Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you” (Luke 6:27).

These words of Jesus tell us how we are to treat those who reject and oppose us. Nobody would argue that this instruction only applies if our enemies first ask us to forgive them. No, we are to act this way even while they are behaving with contempt toward us.  That’s what Jesus taught. The clear teaching on the subject confirms, “by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head” (Romans 12:20). So we are to love,  and bless people whether they accept it or not. We aren’t to wait for people to ask for forgiveness before we extend it.  We forgive because it’s who we are as those joined in union with Christ. Forgiveness is an expression of grace. It is an undeserved and unilateral experience.

If you accept that the Bible teaches we are to forgive people even before they ask, consider this question: Has Jesus already forgiven those who reject Him even though they haven’t asked? Or has He given us instructions to do something that He won’t even do? Of course, the answer is that He has forgiven everybody.  God was in Christ reconciling the world to Himself, not counting their sins against them.

Does that suggest that everybody enjoys that forgiveness and walks in harmony with Him? To answer that question, consider this one: If you forgive somebody who has done wrong to you but they still reject you, does that mean you haven’t really forgiven them? No, of course not. You have forgiven that person regardless of his response to it. However, unless he receives your forgiveness,  that does prevent him from experiencing the benefits of your forgiveness. The same is true with mankind and God. We have all been forgiven but unless we receive it we won’t experientially know its benefits.

“But doesn’t suggesting that all are forgiven mean that everybody is going to heaven? No, it doesn’t. People don’t’ go to heaven because their sins are forgiven. They go to heaven because they trust Jesus Christ.  Sin doesn’t keep people out of heaven. Sin has been dealt with in totality by the cross. Only rejecting Jesus Christ and His work on the cross can do that.

The proclamation of the gospel is the proclamation of the forgiveness of sin, not a promise of the potential for forgiveness based on us and what we do.

One thing is certain: Jesus didn’t tell us to love our enemies while He won’t love His own. He has loved and so we love. He has forgiven and so we forgive. Thank God, grace doesn’t require an invitation. Instead, it rushes right into the place where it is needed simply because of love.

What I've Been Reading Lately

Paul Gray sent me a copy of his book, The Fish Net Experience, the story of Ronnie Self, a jazz musician who experiences success but is plagued by doubts and internal accusations. Self lands a job at the Grace Hotel where he meets a mentor who teaches him the true meaning of living by faith in the grace of God.

The book is part fiction and part autobiographical. The author's own life story is an unusual but exciting story of how our Father works to lovingly bring us to Himself. Gray's own history flows from a night-club owner to his role today as a local pastor. He founded and led jazz group, The Gaslight Gang and performed on national TV, radio and toured the United States. 

While playing five nights a week for three years at the Vista Hotel in downtown Kansas City, Gray came to realize that his business and musical pursuits had left him spiritually empty. He started getting to know Jesus Christ simply by reading a Bible and asking God to speak to him. The rest is His-Story.

The Fish Net Experience and its story of Ronnie Self's journey to the Grace Hotel and to the grace of God will encourage you about your own life and about the lives of others whose lives you want to see transformed by His grace. I'm very happy to recommend it and know you will be encouraged by reading it, as I was.

Randall Arthur sent me a copy of his newest book, Forgotten Road. I first was introduced to his books years ago when I read, Wisdom Hunter, a great novel that addresses the issue of legalistic Fundamentalism.

Forgotten Road is the story of Cole Michaels, a Nashville recording artist who gains "the American Dream" only to experience catastrophe and abandon his faith. After his son is killed in an accident and his wife commits suicide, Cole begins to drink excessively. He then makes the mistake of driving his car, leading to the death of a young mother and her daughter.

While serving in prison, Cole meets Chaplain Duke Parker and, through his ministry, finds his faith restored. When he is released from prison, he chooses to forsake the pathway of fame despite a multimillion dollar hit song. Instead, he takes to the road on his motorcycle with a group of friends, generously meeting needs and blessing others from the income his hit album produces. 

There are twists in the book that will draw the reader forward in eager anticipation. The story is a strong voice reminding us that our lives are grounded in Christ and challenging us to avoid the trap of materialism that is so prevalent in our culture. I recommend this book with enthusiasm.

........................................

Right now I'm reading, Who Switched Off My Brain by Dr. Caroline Leaf. I've just begun the book and so far, so good. The book addresses the importance of taking charge of our thoughts and ridding ourselves of toxic thinking.

But The Bible Plainly Says . . . !

Did you know that the original Greek and Hebrew texts of the Bible didn't use punctuation? Translators and editors of all modern versions have added that. Consider this example from a modern situation to see why there are so many people who have different opinions while all saying, "I just believe what the Bible SAYS!"

An English professor wrote the words: "A woman without her man is nothing" on the chalkboard and asked her students to punctuate it correctly.

All the males in the class wrote: "A woman, without her man, is nothing."

All the females in the class wrote: "A woman: without her, man is nothing!"

Believing what the Bible *says* isn't enough. That's why we all grapple at times with what it *means.* It's not enough to argue, "But the Bible SAYS!" The real issue is, "what does it mean by what it says?" And therein lies the discussion!

Fishing And Faith

I love being around water. In fact, it's a part of my most treasured memories. In my mind, I can go back even now to the 1960s, lying on an feather stuffed matress . . .

It was four o’clock in the morning and my granddaddy is leaning over me trying to coax me out of the bed where I slept. As a child, I was a hard sleeper, especially at that time of the morning. "Get up son, we’re going fishing!" 

Sleepily I stumble to my feet and put on my clothes. That would be the last time he would ever have difficulty getting me out of bed to go fishing with him. I was about to meet a mistress who would capture my heart for a lifetime.

We drive the ninety minutes from Savannah, GA to Pomona Lake. My cousins, Eddie and Mike, are crammed into the front seat with my granddaddy and me. The back windows in his blue Plymouth Valiant are rolled down. Bamboo poles wrapped with lines and adorned with red and white floats stick out of the car. The back seat is filled with trot lines wrapped around square wooden frames. There is a big galvanized tub in the trunk of the car to bring home the treasures we will pull in from beneath the still waters of the lake. An adult man may earn a lot of money in his lifetime, but one has to be a young boy to possess this kind of wealth.

After arriving at the lake and setting our trot lines in the water, we return to our campsite at the water’s edge. The crickets, frogs and katydids who welcomed us a few hours earlier are now hushed by their anticipation of dawn. In those ephemeral moments which are neither night nor day, we four sit together on the dock talking and laughing and waiting for the sun.

Our conversation might appear to be superficial to the casual observer, but something is happening at a deeper level that took me many years to understand. In that isolated setting at those moments in time, we shared our lives together. It was communion pieced together not through words, but a union forged by three young cousins receiving unconditional love from their granddaddy. We had nothing to offer in that context except our childlike ability to receive from a man who found great joy in sharing himself with his offspring.

That interaction pictures the essence of our walk with Christ. It isn’t the rote prayers we mindlessly recite which connects us to God. Nor does our religious activity join us to him any more than three boys trying to fish bound them to their granddaddy. It is the willingness to simply receive his unconditional love. There will be both words and actions, but the essence of the relationship is in our receiving all that He offers.

We had no resources to offer our granddaddy when we fished. We ran over trot lines with the trolling motor. We tangled our fishing lines. We turned over the minnow bucket. We dropped his reel into the lake. It was quite obvious that our granddaddy just wanted our company, not our abilities. (That’s how it is between God and you.)

With the rising of the sun we boarded our little fishing boat and with the help of a small trolling motor inched our way toward the trot lines. We were seldom disappointed when we checked the lines. "Look at it! It’s a big as a baby!" my Granddaddy exclaimed as if were the first time in his life he had seen a big fish.

Four decades later, I still smile about it - not the big fish, but his response to sharing the experience with us. I’m sure he wouldn’t have reacted the same way if he had caught the fish while he was alone. He took pleasure in our joy while himself being the catalyst, if not the very source of our joy at that moment.

I have come to discover that same quality in my heavenly Father. He often takes me to the place of blessing, sets me in the right place to be blessed, baits the hook, tells me to pull in the blessing and then becomes deliriously happy right along with me as I enjoy the benefits He has provided! On days I don’t catch any fish, nothing changes between Him and myself. Catching fish may be my priority, but just being with me is His.

I didn’t know in those days that God was beginning to teach me about Himself through the water, my granddaddy and my cousins. Of the four of us, two have since gone on to heaven, but I’ll never forget the elements of an authentic life that began to be gently laid within me in those days.

I must admit that the days of youth are gone. Now I’m a man rushing toward the 60 year mark. I battle lower back pain and an expanding waistline. Many years have passed since the intuitive insight gleaned at that lake has become actual knowledge in my mind, but the matrix for understanding unconditional love was partially formed there. Thanks, granddaddy.

Will you pause as you finish this article and reflect on the great love your heavenly Father has for you? You bring Him great pleasure. What He wants more than anything from you is just you!  Don’t worry about how many fish you catch or how many times you knock the minnow bucket over in the boat. Those aren’t the big issues to Him. He just wants you to enjoy being with Him. Your Father has an exciting journey awaiting you, so just relax and enjoy the day He has planned.

To Be Like Jesus?

Back in the day when I tried to be like Jesus, I felt like a spiritual failure most of the time. It was a caricature of me trying to be Him.  Then a time came when I realized I don't have to try to be like Jesus. It's too draining. Besides, I am like Jesus. I am one with Him. We live in union.

That reality suggests something even harder to conceive: Jesus looks like Steve too. Jesus living out life through a 58 years old guy, who in this single week has been a physically challenged, Sarah McLachlan loving, James Bond Watching, Mannheim Steamroller concert attending, groaning, complaining and feelings scared guy, then laughing and loving and trusting God.

The way I am hardwired - my humor, personality type,my love for words, both thinking about them and profusely expressing them, my mix of sometimes gentle encouragement and sometimes bowl-you-over "prophetic opinions," my deeply pensive moods and my times of laughing with my wife, children and grandchildren until we're all crying.  It's just me. It's just Him. Although I drop the ball on my end sometimes, we make a good pair. Jesus/Steve: Now Appearing Together Daily.

No, I don't have a Messiah complex. Just some insight into an eternal reality that is just as true or you as it is me. It's true of you. IT IS TRUE OF YOU. Own it. Really, act like it's real (because it is) and watch what happens. I dare you to write me after a month and tell me you don't see a difference. It will be a good difference too. An understanding of identity and union that will blow your mind and change your life. Sound New-Agey? Well, it sort of it, but not the way you might think. The better description would be New Covenant. Or to quote the Apostle Paul: "Christ in you, the hope of glory"

It Is Thanksgiving And I Am Thankful

 

Yes, I am thankful. I am thankful for…

A loving God whose ways are so far above my thoughts and understanding that I never tire of exploring His depths. I can say with honesty that at this point in my life few things actually lift me to a place of transcendence anymore. Sometimes great music will do it. Occasionally, a good play or film can do it.  However, there are many times I often literally feel the thrill of citizenship privileges in His kingdom as revelation that produces overwhelming transcendence settle into the space within my spirit and mind. It is at those moments more than ever that I realize I am not created for this world. It really is just a stopover.

A loving wife with whom I have shared the most intimate matters of life for almost 43 years. We dated for three and in July will be married 40 years. I know her and she knows me. None but my Creator know me in greater authenticity and intimacy. Yet, like Him she loves me with a depth that nurtures fresh life into me at every moment. When she lays her hand on my head at night as we lie in bed, I feel the hand of Jesus. There is no other way to describe it. It’s miraculous. What did I ever do to get this woman???

Four children whose hearts are “after God’s own heart.” My oldest, Andrew, is compassionate, kind, wise and an avid student of eternal truth. He is the son I pray with when I want prayer. My oldest daughter, Amy, wanted to be a missionary when she was a child. Now as a mother of three, husband on one and friend of many, I’d give her my vote for “Missionary of the Year” any year, every year. Her transparency, vulnerability, authenticity and boldness for Christ is unrivaled by anybody I know. She is the child I talk to when I want wise input. My youngest son, David, is passionate, articulate, visionary and resolved to live the dream God placed in his heart.  He is the child I talk to when I want encouragement that makes me believe again. My youngest daughter, Amber, is gentle-hearted, caring, affectionate, and verbally affirming. She volunteered for Hospice just to have an outlet to show love. She’s the child I talk to when I need loving words.

My son-in-law, Cliff, is a wonderful gift to us. I think he's the best Dad I've ever known in my life. Much better than either I or my Dad were. And he loves my daughter more than his own life. What man wouldn't love a son-in-law like that. Son -in-law, huh? No, I'm not under the law on this. Cliff is another son in this family. That's just how it is.


Jessica - the new Mrs. McVey in our family. Married three weeks now to my son, David. I've loved Jessica since I met her. How can a man not love a woman who loves his own son so much? They adore each other like you'd think newlyweds would. Jess is a nurse and has the heart for it. And the best thing I love about her right now? She loves little fat babies. That's what she said. My son, David, agrees. That agreement points to a hopeful future for this old man who is ready for his fourth grandchild. (Right now only Amy and Cliff have children.)  Jessica is the kind of girl I knew David would marry - kind, gentle, caring, funny, emotional and madly in love with him. I look forward to a lifetime ahead with her.

And what man in his right mind can fail to acknowledge grandchildren? I have three who brighten my life more than they could possibly imagine at their ages. Hannah just turned 15 last week. She is beautiful – in every way. She has a great sense of humor and a wisdom that is beyond her years. From the moment I laid eyes on her when she was born, I find it impossible not to smile like I’ve won the lottery every time I lay eyes on her. Jonathan is twelve. With a mild form of autism called Asperger’s Syndrome, he is the quintessential boy with that challenge. Unlike some with his giftedness, he is very outgoing – extremely affectionate, very talkative, laughs at his own jokes even if others don’t and is completely hilarious without even trying to be. He gives great hugs and can remember where an insignificant item was placed two years ago. He is indeed a gift to our family. Jeremy is our youngest grandson. At eleven, he loves sports and is a seriously good baseball player. He pitches a mean fastball and does well as a catcher too. The highlights of our weeks are watching him play ball. He is an exceptionally bright child and is loving and articulate. The important thing to remember here is that I am not at all prejudiced about my grandchildren. Not all all.

My younger sister, Jan, is my only sibling and is the most authentic Christian I’ve ever known. Our parents are in heaven and I’ve known Jan longer than any other person still in this world. She is real, with no pretension at all.   She’s at one time an explosive bundle of laughter, compassion, love, poise, spirited opinions and mystical experiences which have forged her into a New Covenant “Jan the Baptist” who many aren’t sure wouldn’t actually eat wild locusts on a dare but are sure she’d be willing to be beheaded for the Christ she loves. I want to be more like Jan when I grow up, even though she is six years younger than me.

My friends are an eclectic group of people consisting of wild-eye-charistmatics and staunchy-liturgicals; rabid Republicans and dazed Democrats, millionaires and Medicaid recipients, people who shout “That’s right!!!” when I teach and others who whisper, “God, help him!” when they hear some of the things I say.

Some have moved in closer to me this year and others have become strangely quiet. Some I know well, intimately well. Well enough they could hurt me with others if they told everything they know.  They’ve seen me at my worst and still love and accept me. Some I’m getting to know better and enjoying it after meeting through ministry opportunities. We’re trusting each other more and more as time passes. Some are Internet connections but they truly are friends. They’ve encouraged me, prayed for me, written me in private and dialogued with me. I don’t know what else to call them but “friends” and I hope that word will have increasing meaning for them and me in the days ahead.

I’m thankful for my Grace Walk Team. These guys actually threw in with me to do something that from the beginning has run great risks. Their gospel and my gospel is the same gospel. They go with boldness, sharing with vulnerability yet boldness what God has put in their hearts. Contrary to what the public tends to think about people in ministry, they fret and pray and worry and trust and wonder and believe that their financial needs will be met. Just enough to pay the bills this month. They all, without exception have seen their personal income decrease this year, but here they are – ready to turn around and do it again this next year. There is no team of people involved in any ministry that I love or respect more. They aren’t only colleagues. They are friends, partners, and confidants. They are family.    

Yes, I’m thankful. In the ups and downs of life I’ve faced lately, it is this list of God-given assets that have sustained me. It is these who make me love, laugh, hope, believe and anticipate a future that can only be designed by Pure Love Himself.

Dead Cats

Martha then said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here,

my brother would not have died (John 11:21).

I recently read a story about a little boy whose pet cat was killed one day while he was in school. His mother was very concerned about how he would take the news. When he got home, she explained what happened. The little boy turned away and began to cry. "Don't worry," the mother said reassuringly. "He's in heaven with God now." The little boy whirled on his mother and with desperation and anger in his voice yelled, "What's God gonna do with a dead cat?"

That's how we all feel sometimes, don't we? We know God has the situation in His hands, but from our perspective the outcome seems final and the whole thing appears to have a finality to it that is completely unacceptable to us. Despite the fact that we know it’s in His hands, we want to scream, "What's God gonna do with a dead cat?!" In other words, "Why did it have to end this way?"

Mary and Martha felt the same desperation when they buried their brother, Lazarus. Martha spoke for all of us during the times when our crisis doesn't seem to end with a miracle, but with a misery that screams despair into our emotions and thoughts. Martha said, "Lord, if you had been here!" Do you feel that way about situations in your life? Does it seem like there have been times when Jesus wasn’t in town when you needed Him the most?

At times it is impossible to understand the divine reasoning behind God’s actions or, more often it seems, His lack of visible action in our circumstances. In John 11, the Bible shows that Mary and Martha faced this very dilemma.

The text says, “Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." But when Jesus heard this, He said, "This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it." Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."

The reasoning of Jesus in waiting two more days before coming to Bethany makes perfect sense to us now, since we know the whole story. God received greater glory by raising Lazarus from the death than he would have by healing him. That possibility wasn’t one that would have occurred to these two sisters at all so how could it make sense to them? All they could see was that Jesus wasn’t coming through for them when they needed Him the most.

We all feel like these two at times, don’t we? You may have faced situations in your life where you have struggled to understand why your prayers about the matter seemed to be ignored. It seemed to you that, at a time when you most needed divine intervention, God was inactive.

In moments like that it is important to remember that your perspective is limited to what you can see at the moment. Mary and Martha couldn’t imagine how their situation could possibly have a good ending, but God had one in mind all along. You can be assured that the same God who raised Lazarus from the dead is fully aware of your problems.

From your finite understanding you too may not be able to imagine how your situation could possibly end well, but remember this: You don’t see things from the eternal perspective. Your Father does, so trust Him. He has not forgotten nor is He ignoring you.

There actually is an answer to the question, "What's God gonna do with a dead cat?" He may resurrect it. Dead things don't deter God. He can put life right back into something that is already dead. Hope isn't gone just because a situation appears to have ended.

God may not resurrect it, but may instead redeem it. In other words, He will use the disappointments and devastations of our lives to accomplish a greater purpose. We don't know what's good and what's bad for us. Only He does. What we do know is that our Father loves us. He isn't sadistic, but gently and tenderly loves us at all times. Never do we need to believe that more than when life makes no sense.

When circumstances spiral downward and God doesn't step in to change them, He can use the outcome in a positive way. We don't have to see how He plans to use it for that fact to be true. Faith means that we trust Him even when our senses tell us all hope is gone.

Our faith is in our God, period. Faith doesn’t require believing that we will get what we want. Instead, it knows that we get what God wants and it is being willing to accept that and rest in it even if our emotions and thoughts argue.

So, “what's God gonna do with a dead cat?” Whatever He wants. His role is to be in charge. Ours is to trust.

This blog is a devotional from my book, The Grace Walk Devotional, to be released by Harvest House Publishers Feb 1. To preorder the book and receive it in January, click here: www.gracewalkresources.com

Grace Walk Australia

Grace Walk Australia is off and running!! 

Learning To Live With Imperfection

We all have an ideal in mind concerning the things we do in life. We have been taught to be conscientious about what we do and to strive for excellence. There is certainly nothing wrong with that philosophy of living. It is admirable and serves as a good baseline for everything we do.

            There is, however, a dividing line between being conscientious and being a perfectionist about what we do. A person can be conscientious and recognize a job well done without it having to be perfect. Perfectionists always sees the shortcomings in a finished task, even if they are insignificant enough that nobody else would even notice.

            Sometimes there is a need for a person to adjust her ideal to a level that is more realistic in terms of the capability she actually possesses. Things can be good, even excellent, without being perfect. Learning to live with less than perfect is important for peace of mind because nobody ever achieves perfection.

            Even God doesn’t look at your lifestyle and expect to find perfection in everything you do. The Psalmist wrote, “For He Himself knows our frame; He is mindful that we are but dust” (Psalm 103:14). To put it another way: God knows that you are only human. Do you know that or do you place expectations on yourself to be superhuman and then feel frustrated when you see that you aren’t?

            A grace walker is one who finds fulfillment in having done her best, given the limitations that life imposes on her. When God had finished creating, He looked at what He had done and said, “It is good.” He wants you to be able to say the same about what you do. In fact, to be able to say so is a godly quality.

            Does it really matter if some things go undone or are postponed? Is it worth sacrificing peace of mind, emotional stability, and being physically exhausted in order to accomplish it all? Does it really matter that much when put into the perspective of the big picture? These are questions that merit serious consideration.

            Learning to live with results that are less than perfect may be an acquired skill that the Holy Spirit wants to teach you. The next time you look at a finished job and are tempted to nitpick and judge it through the lens of perfectionism, don’t be surprised if you hear Him say, “Let it go. It is good.” When you hear that still, small voice, listen and do it. In the long run, you will discover the grace of fulfillment instead of the guilt of self-imposed laws that condemn you over what you’ve done.

(This blog is an excerpt of my book, Wives Walking In Grace, to be published in 2013 by Harvest House Publishers)

Saint Sam

I am Sam. Saint Sam I am.


Would you, could you keep the Law?
I would not, could not keep the Law.
Does that seem odd?
Not to God.

Would you, could you not then go sin?
I would not, could not then go sin.
Would sin not win?
No, I’m in Him!

Would you, should you go to school
And learn to keep religious rule?
I would not, should not go to school
To learn to keep religious rule.

Won’t you go wild?
No, I’m God’s child!
But sin is stronger.
But I want it no longer.

But the Bible says to run the race,
It also says I’m under grace,
But you must run!
But to run is fun.

Does your church have a steeple?
No, the church is the people.
Do you say your prayers each day?
I walk with Him and always pray.
Do you witness to the lost?
I simply glory in the cross.
What about daily Bible reading?
I just follow the Spirit’s leading.

But aren't you scared that He’ll be mad?
No, my God is always glad.
Even when you commit a sin?
He still loves me even then.
Even if you shame His name?
He still loves me just the same.
When you have lied?
That’s why he died.
When you fall down?
He is my ground.
When you’re two-faced?
Even then I’m graced.

I must get off of my treadmill,
Trying to climb this religious hill,
You can stop. It’s not a test.
Life in Him is just a rest.

And you’re sure that won’t insult His name?
No, my friend. That’s why He came.
I want to know Him like you do,
Well, He knows you through and through.

And you say He loves me just this way?
Then I’m going to trust in Him today.

Congratulations, my dear brother,
You’re going to see there is no Other,
Who loves you like He always will,
He took you off that tiring hill,
And now you'll finally know His rest,
That’s how we live life at its best.

You will learn and see in time,
That life in Him is so sublime,
This is not religious talk,
Welcome to the grace walk.

Steve McVey, 2012
Yeah, like you’d want to steal this.

Vertigo Needs to Go

Thanks again for the prayers of so many of you who read my blog. I deeply appreciate it. I'm hoping now that my March, 2013 appointment at Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, TN will be moved to an earlier day.

I thought the low blood pressure and high heart rate was bad, but this Vertigo thing trumps it all. A few have written me that they had Vertigo for weeks or even months. Wow! I don’t know how you stood it. After two minutes I whimper like a puppy and want Melanie to stroke my hair and whisper, “Poor baby.” And I want her to sound like she means it too.

My intent isn’t to drone on about my symptoms, certainly not for the sake of gaining sympathy about the physical challenge I’m facing right now. I’m being honest about this journey for another reason. The reason is because I know I’m not alone. Others are hurting too.

In some corners of the charismatic world (not all), a world where I have precious friends, there is the belief that it’s wrong to even talk about symptoms. The idea is that the problem is somehow empowered by the simple acknowledgement of its existence and exacerbated by the mere mention of any details.

I don’t claim to have a perfect understanding of the subject of healing but I do trust completely in The Healer. Contrary to what my Evangelical tradition taught me, I do believe that healing is inherent in the finished work of Christ on the cross. In a paradoxical way that I neither understand nor can explain, I do believe that I am already healed in the same sense that I believe I am seated with Christ in the heavenly places at this moment. (see Ephesians 2:6) I can’t connect the dots between Reality and my experience, but I believe it.

That is what I do believe. What I don’t believe is that healing is so fragile and vulnerable to my misspoken words that I can blow it all to smithereens by saying the wrong thing. Don’t get me wrong. I believe words are important. My own wife teases me at times about invalidating words somebody else has spoken in my presence. I do think there is power in words, but I don’t share the view of some that I must constantly be protesting, “I’m not receiving that! No, I am healed! There’s nothing wrong with me! Ugh, ugh . . . no way. I’m rebuking and renouncing and rejecting and resisting and reprimanding these lying symptoms! I’m gonna bind this and loose that! Yes, sir!” 

Believe me when I say that I’m not mocking anybody here. I promise. What I am saying is that this kind of thing strikes me as fear based more than faith based. I’ll admit I could be wrong, but it reminds me of the old movie scenes where somebody is whistling in the dark because he’s afraid but doesn’t want to show it. If I believe my Father truly loves me and believe that my healing is bound up in that love, I don’t feel a need to constantly to talk like the guy “who lives in a van down by the river.” Many won’t get that statement, but if you do, you know exactly what I mean.

When I’m dizzy and somebody reminds me that my dizziness is a “lying symptom,” what does that mean? I’m still dizzy. It’s not in my imagination. When I was in the hospital, some suggested that the reason the doctors couldn’t find anything was because “there [was] nothing wrong with [me.]”  So would they have had me get up to walk out and fall down in the floor? Or did they believe if I just got up to walk out that this time my blood pressure wouldn’t drop and I wouldn’t pass out?

No, that’s not my understanding of how it works. My view is that I trust my Father. Period. My faith isn’t in my faith and its strength. My faith is in my God and His goodness. Mr. Faith lives inside me and I trust Him and His faith, which is my faith. I have surrendered my body to Him, a living sacrifice. He can do as He will.

I know this approach doesn’t fit with the doctrine of healing some hold, but it’s where I am. One man emailed me yesterday and told me that I’m still a baby with a lot of growing to do. He’s right about that, but I still think I’m right about this. My faith is in the One who holds my life and my future in His hands. I’ll trust Him, fully believing both that He is a Healer and that I’ve got a problem right now. Don’t ask me to reconcile it. I can’t, but please don’t try to reconcile it for me either. It doesn’t help me nor change my situation. What I most appreciate these days is the loving encouragement that so many have offered. They have wisdom to know that compassion must always precede counsel or else their counsel is sterile.

Some critics of Jesus said, “We played the flute for you, and you did not dance” (Matthew 11:17). Forgive my boldness in comparing myself to Jesus in this way, but I’m not dancing to somebody else’s music. I have to dance to the tune I hear and the song I hear right now is a soft tune of simple trust not a blaring song of brazen statements.

I’ve heard from many people over the past few months that find themselves in a condition of chronic health challenges. My heart goes out to them more than ever before. If you’re one of those, don’t feel like something is wrong with your faith. If you trust your Father, that’s all you need to do. Indeed, it is all you can do. Don’t let well-meaning people put guilt on you about your degree of faith or put questions in your mind about why this is even happening.

I heard my friend, Malcolm Smith, say in a teaching one time something to the effect that when he was in the hospital somebody asked him, “Malcolm, what is God doing in this?” His answer was, “He’s being Jesus in a hospital bed through Malcolm Smith.” Yes, that’s it. In our weakness, His strength is perfected. Some corners of the church don’t like that. They’d rather rebuke weakness, failing to see that it is actually a precious treasure that brings the strength of our loving Jesus into a sharper focus than we could ever otherwise see.

I don’t like this situation. I don’t like it at all. There have been days I’ve gotten up and said to Melanie, “No! This thing is not going to have its way with me today.” Then I take a shower, step out huffing and puffing and about to black out. So I lie back down and say, “Okay, but maybe I’ll rest first before I show it who’s boss!”

There have been other days when I’ve felt discouraged. I don’t do well with a slower pace. Yeah, I know I’ve written chapters in books about that. Maybe I should go back and read them myself. But still, I want to get up and out! I have places to go and people to see and things to do!  Apparently, my Father knows that’s not true. At least, not today.

There have been moments when I’ve felt depression. I’ve wondered if this is my “new normal.” I’ve heard haunting voices about the possibilities of what they may tell me when I get to Vanderbilt Hospital. I’ve been told enough to know that, humanly speaking, what the doctors here hope for is that the problem is manageable but they also have said it could be a precursor to something terminal. Thank God, I know my life transcends the human perspective and rests in His providence. Nevertheless, I have had “what if?” moments. I have no fear of death. None. Zero. When I lay on the ground outside on April 15, coming in and out of consciousness and the paramedics could find no pulse, Melanie asked, “Are you afraid?” “Of what? Heaven? NO!” I answered. That was the truth.

I wouldn’t want to leave the woman I love though. Or my children. Or grandchildren. That’s how I think some days. Not often, but sometimes.

So, here I am – “the grace guy” as more than one pastor has called me when introducing me – sitting or lying around wondering what the heck my Father is doing right now. I’ve asked but, so far, He hasn’t told me. So I wait. So I trust. So I hope. This is where all the teaching I’ve done through the years is revealed to be genuinely true or just talk. It’s true. I know that.

Thank God, I don’t feel a need to prove anything to anybody. I am comfortable just to be me. My friend, Craig Snyder, sometimes says, “I’m old and my back hurts and I really don’t care.” That’s a good place to be, don’t you think? I’m there with him, and with others. If God gives me a lightning bolt healing experience that jolts me to my feet with a shaka-laka-ding-dong touch from heaven, I’ll love it. I’ll probably write about it. Maybe even call the book, “Shaka-Laka-Ding-Dong.” But if not, I’ll come through this in His way and His timing. Either way, it’s all Him.

Grace In The Trench

As many of you know, I've faced a real health challenge since I was rushed to the Emergency Room in April after passing out on my patio at home. For the past two days I have again dealt with a severe case of Vertigo - the sensation that you've been thrown into a washing machine and are watching the world around you spinning. It is absolutely miserable.

I was up all night last night, vomiting and watching my bedroom spin like a top. I went to sleep a little before nine this morning and am just now waking up at 1:00. Thank God, the world is standing still! :)  The words of prayer and encouragement from so many of you from around the world have helped to walk me through these past few months. People say that Internet connections are impersonal but I've learned it doesn't have to be that way. I've made some friends here who I loved before we ever set eyes on each other. I look forward to meeting those of you who I've not seen in person yet.

Vertigo is only one of the symptoms I've had since I was rushed to the hospital in April. Many of you know that my other symptoms have been a sudden drop in blood pressure accompanied by a sudden increase in my heart rate (which causes me to black out) and severe fatigue. Until this episode, I 'd dealt with the other symptoms but hadn't had Vertigo in several months.

I've seen teams of doctors over the past months and they all agree that my "condition" is Autonomic Failure but nobody knows what causes it and the meds aren't handling it as well as they should. (Yes, they have tested me for the thing you're wondering about :) AF can be caused by many things, from the manageable to the terminal. For those who've asked why I'm being sent to Vanderbilt Hospital in Nashville, I'm going there because they have an Autonomic Center. Doctors send people to Vandy from all over the U.S. because the doctors there have seen practically any disease that can cause AF. The medical people here in Atlanta believe they should be able to give me a definitive diagnosis and I'm praying that's the case.

Because so many people are sent to Vanderbilt, my appointment isn't until March, 2013. However, a doctor in Florida who has been impacted by my ministry has put in a call to a key person at Vanderbilt to try to get my appointment moved to an earlier time. That's what we're praying will happen. Needless to say, this whole thing has become very, very debilitating to me.

Thankfully, I've been able to keep up the Sunday Preaching program and with my writing. I thank God for that because those two things have helped me to not feel completely disconnected from "the outside world" these days.

I'm not felt one second of fear about this. I have a wonderful family and friends who I see and talk to frequently who are a real grace-gift in my life. I find tremendous encouragement right now from them as well as from reading theological books (right now, it's Frank Viola/Len Sweet's book, "Jesus: A Theography), listening to music and meditating on my Father and the things His Spirit is teaching me, and... ready for it... watching Doc Martin on Netflix :)  (Melanie said, "I can't believe you're watching this. You don't watch anything on TV anymore!) 

As any human being would do, sometimes I find myself allowing my thoughts to drift to the future with "What if?" questions but overall I live in this moment. The biggest frustration for me is that I'm a Type A personality who is used to a very active lifestyle and finding myself at a place right now where I can't "go and do" like I'm used to is something I hate. The Apostle Paul learned "to be content in whatever condition I'm in." I haven't quite gotten there yet.

Finally, why do I post all these personal things publicly? It's not because it's my nature to do so. Truthfully, as a local pastor for 21 years, I kept personal things private for the most part. But when I began to understand grace, the Holy Spirit showed me that it isn't a book or pulpit or camera that is a man's platform for ministry. It's his life. Grace is best seen in the day-to-day ups and downs of living in this world.

So, as much as I can, I try to be transparent about my personal life in an attempt to say: "This is how grace looks. It doesn't shine with a bright luster on a perfect life. It is best seen in the brokenness, the pain, the doubts and the struggles of life. Grace can't be seen in religious professionals who attempt to project that we're all grinning our way to glory-land. The strength of grace is best seen in the trenches, amidst the mud of misery and mystery. Grace reaches down to where we are and doesn't always lift us up out of our situation, but rather holds and hugs us right where we are. Grace knows where I am and where you are. He was tested in every way, like us. So, having been here, He knows how to guide us through it until we find ourselves on the other side. In the meantime, the Gentle Hug of Grace sustains us with the certain sweet assurance, "I will never leave you or forsake you." And oddly enough, at times like this, that assurance is enough.

Facing Fear

It is often popular in mainstream Christianity to suggest that it is wrong to ever feel fearful. That faulty perspective has compounded the problem of fear in many people by adding feelings of condemnation to the feelings of fear they already have. Now they have two problems instead of one. 

 It is ridiculous to think that we won’t ever experience feelings of fear in life.  While it is true that God has not given us a spirit of fear (See 2 Timothy 1:7), don’t think it won’t show up on your doorstep anyway.  The question is, “What are you going to do with it?”

Listen carefully to this statement and take it to heart: It is not a sin to have feelings of fear come upon you. Again, the focal point isn’t whether or not you ever feel fear. You will. Sometimes we think, “I shouldn’t feel this way.” No, feelings come involuntarily because of circumstances we face. Feelings of fear are normal in certain circumstances. The issue at hand is deciding how you will handle it when it comes.

When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemene on the night before His crucifixion, you will never convince me that He didn’t experience feelings of fear. What else would cause Him to sweat blood and ask His Father, if there was any way, for Him to take away what was to come? The pivotal moment in the biblical account of Jesus in that garden was the way he faced his fears.

Jesus faced his fears, then acted in faith. He didn’t succumb to them. Instead, He moved through them toward the Divine purpose the Father had for His life. He refused to give in to feelings of fear and, instead, moved forward.

Our greatest threat is not fear. The greatest threat is inactivity because of fear.  You will feel fear at times. The question is “will you face your fears and move through them, trusting God as you go forward with knocking knees or a nervous stomach.

General Norman Schwarzkopf once said:

What is bad is when you allow that fear to turn into panic, and you allow that fear to petrify you to the point that you cannot perform whatever duty you have to do. That's the thing that's wrong with fear. But there's nothing wrong with being afraid. And true courage is not not being afraid. True courage is being afraid, and going ahead and doing your job anyhow, that's what courage is. 

The Apostle Paul once wrote, “I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling” (1 Corinthians 2:3).  When Paul faced the daunting assignment to go to Corinth and establish a church, he felt fear, but he acted anyway. Courage is acting boldly in the face of fear.  That’s what Paul did. He faced his fears and then acted bravely.

When Moses led the people of Israel out of Egypt, the time came soon came when they faced a threatening situation.  After Pharaoh released them, he changed his mind and sent his army to chase them down. The Jews quickly found themselves trapped, with the Red Sea in front of them and an army quickly closing in from behind them.

The people immediately were gripped by fear. They cried out, accusing Moses of bringing them out into the wilderness just to die. They were horrified at what they believed was about to happen. I can imagine them crying out to Moses, “What are we going to do? What are we going to do?”

Note how this great leader responded: he immediately said to them, “Do not fear! Stand by and see the salvation of the Lord which He will accomplish for you today . . . the Lord will fight for you while you keep silent.” (Exodus 14:13).  His was an impressive response, don’t you think?

However, the next verse tells the rest of the story. “Then the Lord said to Moses, ‘Why are you crying out to Me? Tell the sons of Israel to go forward” (14:15).  Never has the Bible given a more honest picture of leadership by showing us this behind-the-scenes look at what really happened.

Robert Lewis Stephenson once said, “Keep your fears to yourself, but share your courage with others.” To his credit, that is apparently what Moses did. He did the right thing outwardly by telling Israel not to be afraid, but then he leaves them, and must have gone behind a rock and cried out to God, “What are we going to do? What are we going to do?” To paraphrase God’s answer, Moses was told, “Why are you giving in to your fears? Get up and take the people forward!”

So he did and you know the rest of the story. Pharaoh’s army was swallowed up and Israel reached their destination on the other side of the sea. In a situation where the people and the leader felt great fear, they chose to face their fears and move forward in faith and, as a result, their objective was met. They reached the other side.

Nobody has ever successfully moved forward in life that has not had to face their fears and determine to move forward in spite of them. Don’t wait until you feel no fear to move ahead or it will never happen. Every new endeavor is embedded with the potential for being afraid. If you wait until you feel courage, you may never act.

You Father has not given you a spirit of fear, so don’t allow it to become your companion. Because of God’s Spirit in you, there is no sensible reason to ever give in to fear. You can face them because you have an omnipotent Father who loves you and who has already written the plan for your life. The Bible says “the days of my life [were] all prepared before I’d even lived one day” (Psalm 139:16, The Message).

We have a loving Savior who gave Himself so that we might experience life to the fullest degree possible. He said, “I came so that they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of!” (John 10:10, The Message) Make no mistake about it, His desire is for you to experience life to the fullest.

We have a guiding Spirit who dwells within us, giving direction to our thoughts and actions as we move through our day. To think that the Holy Spirit is disinterested in what we do discounts His great love for us. Of course He is interested and is attentive to our every need as we live our lives.

Do you feel fear about certain situations? Welcome to the human race! However, you don’t have to surrender to fear. Instead, face it and then move ahead with confidence that your Father will guide you each step of the way.

Your Natural Habitat

For in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, 'For we also are His children.'
                ACTS 17:28

    Refuse to think of yourself as separate from God. Your relationship to Him is equivalent to the relationship of marine life to the ocean. He isn’t simply involved with your life. Your Father isn’t even in your life. He is your very life. It is your union to Him that defines you. Independence is an illusion that will keep you from experiencing life as He intends for you to know it. God isn’t outside you but lives in you and you in Him in this present moment.
    You are His child and have His DNA coursing through your being. He isn’t a spectator who watches you and stands by to offer His help when you need it. His life is the sustaining force and source of your being. He longs for you to experience the flow of daily living coming from His life within. Learn to see yourself living in union with your Father and believe that He will animate your thoughts, words and deeds as you go through your day.

All Is Grace

I couldn't sleep last night so I began to read Brennan Manning's new book, "All Is Grace." I became so engrossed in it that I read the whole book before turning out the light. If you're a fan of Brennan's books, as I am, I highly recommend

it. It's a touching story of his upbringing with an alcoholic dad, an seemingly-psychotic mother and Brennan's lifelong struggle with alcohol addiction.

Brennan's books have spoken more to me about our Father's love than any other author or teacher. Now, in his late seventies, he is totally dependent on his caregiver to take care of every need.

Here's the poignant poem that Brennan ends the book with:

Now there's no more crowds and no more lights,
still all is grace.
Now my eyes are wrapped in endless night,
still all is grace.
Now I pace the dark and sleep the day,
yet I still can hear my Father say --
"all is grace."

It was easy as a younger man
To squander in the far off land
Where sin was sin, like black is black.
But older brother sin is white,
this doubt that creeps me up at night--
"does Jesus love me still?"

Now I take my meds and hear the game,
still all is grace.
Now old friends drop in and bless my name,
still all is grace.
Now a prodigal I'll always be
yet still my Father runs to me.
All is grace.

 

 

 

One Mediator

For there is one God, and one mediator also between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.

                                                                      1 Timothy 2:5

            Jesus became a man to unite Himself with mankind and act as the conduit through which we enter into Divine Life. He has situated us in the embrace of the Trinity. Today, there is a man in heaven who mediates our earthly lives among the Godhead.

            In Christ Jesus, we will throughout eternity enjoy the experiences He has with His Father through the fellowship of the Spirit. That has been the plan from the beginning. The incarnation of Christ makes no sense apart from that plan. He is the One who has brought us back together with the Father.

            As the God-man, Jesus knows what it is to be human. He has lived in your world and faced the same pressures and temptations that you face. He also knows what it is to be Deity. He has eternally lived in union with the Father and the Spirit.

            He lives inside you now to mediate the life of God through your humanity. You are an expression of Him in your own unique form. You haven’t been deified but you do possess Him at the core of your nature.

            Live each day as one in who resides divinity. His divine life will act through you humanity to reveal the Father’s life and love to all you meet.

Prodigal Humanity

Recently somebody on Facebook posted this question:

Hi Steve. What is your 'breakdown' of the word Reconciliation? When we were reconciled to the Father, what did that encompass?

I guess what I'm asking is; what words (do you believe) are included under the Reconciliation banner? (e.g. forgiveness, redemption, salvation, righteousness etc.).

Thanks Steve. I appreciate you.

My response:

 Good question, Grant. Maybe this illustration will provide the best answer I know how to give: When the prodigal son (Luke 15) was in the far country, who had the problem? It wasn't his father. It was him. He needed to be reconciled to his father. The father's heart toward him had never changed at all but he *believed* his father's heart had changed. In fact, one might say that he was "alienated in (his) mind" (Col 1:21).

When was he reconciled to his father? The Bible says that he came home to his father with a prepared speech about how he badly he had sinned and that, if his father would just accept him, he would become his lifelong servant. (See Luke 15:18-19)

But when he actually got there, the father wouldn't even listen to the speech. Instead, he fell on his son, hugging him. Was the son reconciled to his father then? YES! Did he know it? No, because he still tried to give his silly, "I'm sorry. I'll do better" speech.

His father would *not* let the boy give that speech. He shouted over his son's attempt, 'Bring out new shoes! Put a ring on his finger! Prepare the steaks for a big barbeque! We're gonna party like it's 99!"

So the boy was reconciled to his father, but he hadn't yet accepted it, so he benefited nothing at this point. Despite the fact that it was "finished" as far as the father was concerned, the son had to accept/believe/receive in what his father had done. Namely, forgiven him, embraced him, and totally accepted him.

Because we know how the story progresses, we understand that there did come a moment when the son *did* accept his father's acceptance. He gave up the silly notion that he had to do something to get back into his father's favor. He finally simply *melted in his father's love and accepted his (the father's) acceptance.*

The Bible says that "God was in Christ reconciling the world unto himself, not counting their trespasses against them" Was He simply making it possible for the world to be reconciled or was He actually *reconciling* the world to Himself? Of course, it's the latter.

We have all been reconciled to the Father by the finished work of Christ. We are "in the hug" of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

However, nobody can personally experience/enjoy that reconciliation without believing/receiving it. That's why the Bible goes on to say (after telling us that God was reconciling us all in Christ) that we are to appeal to people to "be reconciled to God!" In other words, stop resisting your Father's hug and stop trying to impress Him with promises about how you're going to do better. Just stop and melt in His loving embrace! Accept His acceptance! THAT is when reconciliation is what our God intends for it to be.

There's nothing left for Him to do. He HAS reconciled us all to Himself. Now we appeal to unbelievers to "be reconciled" to Him by simply accepting the truth about the matter, namely that we are all "accepted in the Beloved" (Jesus).

What comes with reconciliation? The same thing that came to that younger son in Luke 15. The whole farm. But, as the older brother showed us, it means nothing unless you know it's yours, stop struggling to prove something or earn something and just enjoy what has been yours all along.