metanoia

The world is shifting, tilting, off kilter and yet so many people are living vicariously, dangerously and oblivious to what is truthfully happening in the spiritual realms and in some cases, in the world. And yet, many of us, as believers, know that these are times for putting on our armour to do battle with the enemy and fight on our knees in prayer. When I refer to the fundamental shift of how a person sees something, I am talking about metanoia.

As believers, God requires complete metanoia from us; believing in God’s truth, living our faith and not just paying lip service by saying we are religious. It’s not good enough to say we are a “good person” or “I believe in God.” Even the demons believe that!

“Repeat a lie often enough and it becomes the truth”, is a law of propaganda and sometimes known as the “illustion of truth” which was evident during the Nazi regime. In our daily lives, misleading others by “telling the truth” has actually been developed into a new term that phychologists use called: paltering. Almost twenty years ago, Bella De Paulo, a researcher found that the average person lies at least once or twice a day. Some lies were kind, such as telling another person their haircut looked good, when they really thought differently. Many lies were told so often that people quit noticing they were lying. It is difficult to spot a misleading "fact", so when we hear something that sounds true, we tend to believe it.

Satan, the devil, is the king of liars and even though it might seem easier to lie than tell the truth, consequences could ensue. We continue to struggle with this temptation. Lying often leads to mistrust, hurts and even more lies. Be warned: if you hear a fact that doesn’t sound right, use discernment and trust your intiuition because what you might think is the truth, may be deceptive. See things differently.

The Lord detests lying lips,
but he delights in people who are trustworthy. Proverbs 12:22

drift

I know that for those of us living in Canada, we have experienced snow; not to mention growing up on the prairies and watching the drifts blow across the roofs, the streets and our roadways. But I’m not speaking about the cold recesses of winter winds and rivets of snow covering the earth. I’m referring to the drifting away from God. And there are lots of ways we do it.

As we “float along” on the daily sea of life, things are good when the water isn’t turbulant and we are anchored in the harbor. But when our eyes stray from the shore and we look beyond that vast expanse of water, we can be mezmorized and out of our element on the open sea.

I remember a time in Mexico when I was floating on my boogie board and relaxing as the waves lulled me and I basked in the sun oblivious to the fact that when I sat up to check my bearings, I was no where near my towel site! I had drifted away without even realizing it.

As Christian believers, we are in this world, often drifting along as we get caught up in the currents of our culture, but we need to be anchored to our faith in God. We spend time being sure of that because our spiritual lives are secure and depend on it. When we end up in the storm, in a world that is out of our spiritual element, we need to pay closer attention to who and what we are anchored to. When we get tossed about with the wind and the waves - the latest trends, politics or news; we know that we can hold to something solid. When we become lackadaisical and not caring about our spiritual health, we can drift off course so easily.

And so what do we do to stop ourselves from floating aimlessly on a sea of doubt or fear? What are some ways that we can be sure not to drift away in our faith?

Stay anchored to the Word for one. Daily reading of scripture gets us into God’s Word. Secondly, stay connected to the direct line of prayer to God. He hears each prayer and He knows our wants and needs and is able to do more than we can imagine. Finally, hold fast to the anchor of our faith - Jesus. He is truly the Way, the Truth and the Life. No man comes to the Father but through Him. To have Him as our friend and Savior; to have a personal relationship with Him, and to know that He loves us despite anything we have done is security. Anchor your soul.

We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf. He has become a high priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek. Hebrews 6:19-20

obdurate

Out here in the forest, the trees are just shedding the last of their garments; the river has slowed to a trickle and the mountains in the distance are showing first signs of winter white. The peace surrounds us and wraps her arms around us. We long to stay in the silence, the moments of solidarity. It’s devotional time with arms spread wide to encompass the magnitude of God’s beauty and love.

Dr. Martin Shaw recently shared the story of a religious man named Kevin during the Lent season. Kevin was alone in contemplation and prayer with occasional visits to the forest. One day, he stretched his arm out the window when a blackbird landed on his outstretched hand. It was so content that it made a nest and laid eggs there. The world would say, “shake the bird off” but the mystic in us says, “what an opportunity to connect.” This is us. Two internals doing battle.

Kevin took the later choice which required patience and discomfort. He didn’t raise a fist, curse the bird or even complain. Kevin kept his arm outstretched until the chicks were hatched and ready to fly from the nest. Martin asks:

What have I kept my hand outstretched for? How many times have I snapped it shut? Withdrawn? Never once in my life have I felt saintly. You can draw this story with only a few words, but the depth and endurance of it keeps unfolding. Let’s hold the story in our palm like Kevin holds the blackbird, the simplicity and challenge of it. The blackbird was maybe God saying hello.

Jesus longs for us to place our hands in His - to give Him our very life. When the world tells us to grab for the goods and horde our experiences, all our “stuff” and even things that we cling to that are slowly destroying us, the Divine is beckoning us; calling us, “Come.” His voice is there - in the silence, in the middle of the night when I am cozy and curled in my comfort. I step from the darkness into the sound, light and life as He takes my hand and leads me.

When I am obdurate, stubbornly refusing to change my opinion or course of action, He gently guides me, is patient and waits for me to fly from my comfortable nest and open my arms to Him.

Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. What good is it for someone to gain the whole world, and yet lose or forfeit their very self? Whoever is ashamed of me and my words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of them when he comes in his glory and in the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. Luke 9:23-26

ruach

In our world today, we have become consumers. Consumers of information, material goods and food. There are thousands of bits of data that consume us every day. The Chinese have a belief about the “10,000 things of life” and those who study eastern philosophy understand that the Tao gave heaven and earth and everything else gave the 10,000 things.

On the other hand, Christian believers understand that God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1-2, tell us that, In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. The Hebrew word for spirit, breath or wind is Ruach (pronounced roo-akh)

Ruach is the life force that surges through all things. God is the glue that holds us together. He’s the energy and life force that keeps our hearts beating every second. He’s the power of the Holy Spirit living in us that makes us speak an “awe” moment. God is the source of all we know to be and the forgiver and savior of all of us as fragile, sinful men and women who populate this planet. God is the Alpha and the Omega.

The world wants fireworks and millions of followers on social media. The world wants the sensational, the loud and the noticeable. Front headlines, top ratings and instant fame. God breathes His spirit.

In 1 Kings 19, “the word of the Lord came to him (Elijah), saying, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” He answered, “I have been very zealous for the Lord, the God of hosts, for the Israelites have forsaken your covenant, thrown down your altars, and killed your prophets with the sword. I alone am left, and they are seeking my life, to take it away.”

He said, “Go out and stand on the mountain before the Lord, for the Lord is about to pass by.” Now there was a great wind, so strong that it was splitting mountains and breaking rocks in pieces before the Lord, but the Lord was not in the wind, and after the wind an earthquake, but the Lord was not in the earthquake, and after the earthquake a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire, and after the fire a sound of sheer silence. When Elijah heard it, he wrapped his face in his mantle and went out and stood at the entrance of the cave. Then there came a voice to him that said, “What are you doing here, Elijah?”

So, are we awake to His voice? What are we doing here on this planet? Are we sensitive to His presence? Have we given our hearts and lives to Him? We are divine creatures. He created us. Let’s awaken our hearts and be drawn into His presence. Let’s be alive in Christ! Let Him breathe His Holy Spirit in you.

propinquity

In the business world, the most important element for success is not what you know and how amazing your platform can be. Rather it is simply having a large network. Connections. It’s who you know and who they know. It’s all about propinquity.

The term was first coined in 1950 by social psychologists Festinger, Schachter and Back. In the Westgate Study, the psychologists interviewed college students staying in identical dormitory buildings. They questioned them about whom had they formed the closest connections. Apparently, proximity made a difference because students demonstrated that other students living one or two dorm rooms away were closer friends than any who were farther away. Growing up, many of us can relate to the fact that if family and friends lived close by, we would spend more time with them and be closer to them, not only physically, but emotionally as well.

This Latin word - “propinquity” - could refer to either kinship or proximity. It is the state of being dear or near. I like to think that Jesus is both. We are God’s children and have been adopted by Him and we are born again as Christians into the family of God. The Message tells us in Romans 8: 15-17 that:

This resurrection life you received from God is not a timid, grave-tending life. It’s adventurously expectant, greeting God with a childlike “What’s next, Papa?” God’s Spirit touches our spirits and confirms who we really are. We know who he is, and we know who we are: Father and children. And we know we are going to get what’s coming to us—an unbelievable inheritance! We go through exactly what Christ goes through. If we go through the hard times with him, then we’re certainly going to go through the good times with him!

As believers, Jesus is dear to our hearts, minds and souls and walks with us daily. And so, what are we doing with our connections - to God and others? Are we living with expectant adventure?

First of all, we need to accept Jesus as our Savior and we can draw closer to God. The spirit of the living God lives within us - that’s close! We only need to ask Him to fill us.

Because you are his sons, God sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, the Spirit who calls out, “Abba, Father. Galations 4:6

Studying the bible, worshiping and praising God are other ways to stay connected. Being involved with others through acts of service, bible studies or different activities keeps us connected as well. Having faith and trust in our Creator moves us along in our faith journey. We can be examples of Christ as we connect with others. Let’s work on that propinquity with Jesus too!

roar

I recently watched a video of a young bear cub being chased by a mountain lion. The cub was running for its life and the lion eventually had it trapped on a log on the river. As the lion swiped the little face, it suddenly stopped, even though the little cub was inching backwards across the log. Out of the air, there was a thundering roar behind the cub and it joined in unison as the mountain lion slowly backed away. Mamma bear was roaring!

The LORD will roar from Zion and thunder from Jerusalem; the earth and the heavens will tremble. But the LORD will be a refuge for his people, a stronghold for the people of Israel. Joel 3:16

God controls our destiny. He created and shaped us into what we are and who we are today but we have turned into a prideful ungrateful people. We go to church but have no personal relationship with Jesus. God is a jealous God and he forgives and longs for us to be protected, provide for us and return to Him. He is roaring!

Genesis 1 tells us that “in the beginning, God created the Heavens and the earth.” In Hebrew, earth is Aretz. The word is singular and finite where time and space can be measured. Shamayim, on the other hand, is Hebrew for heaven. This word is plural, infinite and we can’t measure eternity. To God be the glory. In Psalm 19, verses 1-2, even the heavens declare this!

The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.

And so, let us roar to the world that we are His! Let us declare HIs glory! Let us sing of His wonders! Let the world know that the God we serve roars for us!