Nicodemus

"The man's face clouded over. This was the last thing

he expected to hear, and he walked off with

a heavy heart. He was holding on tight to

a lot of things, and not about to let go."

Mark 10:22, The Message

I have recently discovered that I am Nicodemus...or the rich young ruler, not sure which one yet. Not literally of course, but I do have the same problem with Jesus that they did. Nicodemus was a devout Jew who wanted to follow Jesus, but found that he also wanted to keep his reputation, his lifestyle and his stuff. 

The film series The Chosen illustrates this perfectly. Nicodemus was a Pharisee* who'd spent a lifetime studying Scripture and teaching his people. Teacher of Israel was more than just his job, it was his role in a tight-knit community and ultimately, his identity. When he meets Jesus he's intrigued. Soon he's convinced that this is indeed the Messiah, the hope of Israel, the one he and his fellow Pharisees had read about, prayed and longed for. Yet he is troubled. He correctly sees that following Jesus will likely disrupt his life. Like the rich young ruler (or the average American), he lived in a comfortable home, had enough to eat, nice clothes to wear. He had a respected profession that made a living for his family and gave him status. He had plans and expectations for his life.   

The most poignant moment in one episode was when Jesus personally invites Nicodemus to follow Him. Over the course of several scenes, he weighs doing just that. In the film at least, it becomes clear that he does believe and wants to follow, and we grieve with him when it becomes evident that he can't quite let go of his lifestyle. Near the end of that episode we see Nicodemus behind the corner of a nearby house, weeping bitterly as the disciples prepare to set out with Jesus, without him. Belief was not enough to cause him to follow. It was a powerful moment, all the more so because I could see myself in it. 

The struggle is real: I have long told Jesus, You have my heart. I did not realize I was subconsciously adding, but don't mess with my status, my rights, my bank account, or my things. I did not know the extent to which I was holding onto MY riches. I am Nicodemus, rich and comfortable, fat with the goods of this world. I am the rich young ruler with a lot to lose if I unreservedly give myself to God. That man desired to more fully live for God; Jesus knew what was holding him back. Jesus told him, "Go, sell all that you have and give the money to the poor. Then all of your treasure will be in heaven. After you've done this, come back and walk with me." (Mark 10:21 TPT)  Please understand, Jesus wasn't being mean. He loved that young man. He wasn't condemning wealth or setting up a model for welfare. He was giving him an opportunity to see himself clearly so change could occur. God grant that we all experience that moment of clarity, because we cannot see where we're bound unless He shows us. When we ask for more of God, we can be sure He will show us where we don't have room for Him. And sometimes we too go away sorrowfully, because we aren't willing to give up our riches (whatever they may be). 

Many of us have been praying hard for revival for years, leaning into prophetic words given, reminding God of His promise to bring revival. But I'm realizing that my concept of revival is inadequate for the current reality. I have realized that my desire for revival has been wanting Him to revive me without messing with the parts of my life I've reserved for myself. Ouch! But seeing is part of the remedy, it is when we truly know and confess our need that He comes and fills it. Our need makes us candidates for God's help, and do we ever need God's help. 

We need revival that breaks the yoke, expels demons, draws the lost and the prodigal. We need revival that empties jails, closes bars and transforms society as well as people. We need revival that prepares the church for the second coming of Jesus. Exciting meetings and a bit of refreshing are simply not enough, transformation is what is needed. Transformation begins when the church sees herself and mourns. It begins with repentance.

This is a Nicodemus moment. The body of Christ is being invited to see that we are not rich, we are wretched, miserable, poor, blind and naked. Jesus already knows this. He isn't angry. He isn't demanding we get our act together. He is tenderly calling His beloved Bride to mourn over her lack, confess her emptiness, and ask for a baptism of fire. Empty of ourselves and leaning on Him, that is how we follow. That is the only way we can follow. He asks us to empty our hands, take in His presence until we are overflowing, then rise and go forth to do exploits. 

We dare not wait to see what happens in November, as if politicians are bringing the Kingdom. God is shaking the kingdoms of the earth now, tumbling support systems, exposing fault lines...not because He's mad, but because He loves us so. It is His kindness that strips away those things we've relied upon, exposing our idols--not to shame us, but to prepare us. For revival is coming...the sort that will shake the earth, display the power and glory of God, disturb those in authority and terrify demons. Revival that propels workers into the harvest field with the gospel of the Kingdom, signs and wonders following. Do we really think that comes to a church settled on her lees? Comfortable in her normal? Content with old wineskins? Beloved, we are destined for so much more, but we will not get there by pulling up our bootstraps and trying harder. We will only overcome by leaning fully on Jesus.

So I confess my weak and partial 'yes' and rejoice. My weakness qualifies me, for He chooses the weak things, the foolish things, the lowly things to more fully show forth His glory. I choose Him and want to keep choosing Him. I want to see His beauty, feel His presence, witness the glory of His coming kingdom. I want blind eyes to see, prayer meetings that provoke earthquakes, the lost saved, prodigals returned, to hear demons shriek as they leave. I want to see a Bride, heart fervent, abandoning all for the joy of knowing Him and making Him known. To be filled like that, I must first be emptied of my way. I see the example of Nicodemus and the rich young ruler and confess I am just like them. Rather than turn away, I want to be among those who are His no matter the cost, so I say yes, even knowing it is incomplete. 

The best thing we could learn in this crazy season is that we cannot go forward without complete dependence on God. My strength, my resources, my will, my social standing are nothing weighed against Jesus. Hah! Less than nothing! My hope and expectation are in Him. I am His, therefore He will not only rescue, He will keep and sustain me. My confidence is not in my commitment, it is anchored deep in my faithful King. He will lead me if I will follow. If I keep my gaze on Him, He will baptize me with His fire again and again, until my heart is no longer divided...until I am fully His. Maranatha!

I don't want to be offended when it's all coming down.

Baptize my heart with your fire, desire

Once again you're going to shake everything that can be shaken

Jesus, Desire of the Nations,

The only safe place is in the center of the flame

The only safe place is in You

Baptize my heart with your fire, desire.

I want to be for you, not against you. 

I want to be with you where you are.

I pledge my allegiance to Jesus

I pledge my allegiance to the Lamb

Misty Edwards, "Baptize my Heart"

*The Pharisees were the devout religious of their day. They believed and studied the Word of God, they attempted holy living, they ran worship services for the faithful. Of all the first century Jewish sects, their theology was closest to what Jesus taught. Jesus rebuked their hypocrisy, not their devotion to the Word of God.

Back

Back. Back to the beginning, to the fundamentals, to the way things used to be. Back to the basics. Back to the good ole days which usually prove not to be so good, once we take a closer look. Back to normal, which wasn't that normal. Back to first love, which would be much better. For years believers have yearned for a return to the days of the book of Acts. What they are longing for of course, is not going back to pit toilets and mud-daub houses, but the excitement of daily salvations, the sick healed, the dead raised, prison doors--both spiritual and literal--opened and chains loosed.

Back. Jesus is coming back. We don't know the hour or the day, but it's hard not to think that we are at least in the beginning of that season. In Matthew 23 Jesus said He won't return until Jerusalem welcomes Him back. Revelation 19 says He is coming back for a Bride made ready, spotless, united, and mature; a congregation of lovesick worshippers who will cover the world with the message of the Kingdom before the end.

The high priestly prayer of Jesus in John 17 is His call to unity. This is not a Council of Churches unity in which all denominational and cultural differences are compressed into a bland, homogeneous, politically-correct sameness. The God who created us with such distinctiveness could not possibly have wanted us all the same. His intent in making us so different was surely to weave a vibrant tapestry; the gifts and callings of each group contributing to the beauty of the Bride. The unity Jesus calls us to is not sameness, but oneness in Him. Devotion to God that burns and purifies and draws us irresistibly to Him, aligning us to one another in the process. Red and yellow, black and white adoring together the One who made us different to be a blessing, not a curse. A unity that takes us back to what we were in the beginning, beings designed for communion with the Holy.

Acts 2 details early believers living in unity, sharing all things, meeting from house to house as they figured out how Yeshua's resurrection deepened and expanded their Jewish faith. So going back to the book of Acts means a return to the origins of our faith, before the Gentilizing, before the persecutions, inquisitions, and crusades. Back to when Israel knew Messiah had come. When they saw the Torah with new eyes and began to understand God's heart for the nations. When they knew their sins were forgiven, God's promises would be fulfilled, Yeshua would return, and His justice would reign. Back to following 'the Way' for the joy set before them, no matter the cost.

For believers, back to the beginning would be the remnant of Israel worshipping with the remnant of the nations; together again as they were in the infant church--One New Man, interdependent, united, standing beneath the banner of Yeshua, the promised Messiah of Israel's God. Take us back, O Lord. Back to the original design, the plan You made that cannot be improved upon. Incline our hearts to Yours O God. Revive and restore hearts of fervent love and submission that we might go back, back to the origin, the foundation of Jesus upon which our house must be built. Then united, we will turn to the abundant harvest fields in preparation for Your glorious return. Come back soon lovely Jesus!

Conspiracy

Conspiracies...almost daily a new one pops up. Covid-19: naturally occurring virus, or government funded conspiracy? Cash shortage: real, or conspiracy to permanently move to a cashless society? Black Lives Matter: social-justice organization, or pawn of intellectual elites conspiring to destroy America? What's up with China's 'Safe Cities' product?* And what about the UN? Rumors are everywhere and we can wear ourselves out trying to get the right intel so that we can decide where to stand, what to think, what to say, what to believe.

So let's get right to the point--yes, it's all a conspiracy...of course it is. The devil lost his bid to be god of this planet and has been conspiring to take over ever since. From the beginning we have been hated, lied to, warred and conspired against. Beloved, there are sides here. Choosing one over the other has consequences. You were not saved for membership in the First Church of the Undisturbed, you were inducted into a kingdom at war.  When we chose God we chose to become the enemy of His enemy. Ever since the Garden, the forces opposed to God have conspired to destroy what He loves.

The Bible is full of conspiracy stories because the stories are about people, and people have proven to be willing to do anything to get what they want. Generals conspired against Kings. Kings conspired against other kings. Political leaders conspired against Daniel, and against Mordecai and Esther. Religious leaders conspired to kill Jesus. For those so wired, pandemics and social upheaval are not tragedies, but opportunities to advance an agenda. While we complain about masks and statues people who believe they are better qualified to control our lives than we are, are quietly leveraging this crisis into remaking the world order. On the United Nations own website it says Covid-19 is an opportunity to "steer the world" towards its goal of a one world utopia.** Go to the site. Look at it yourself.

So we are clearly in a battle, but not against our government or competing experts. Our enemy is neither another race, nor another political party, nor the police (or even the U.N.). We are being provoked to rail against the system, but a better system is still just a human system. We have a real but unseen enemy who knows his time is short. He is working overtime to keep us fearful, angry, and against each other. He wants us running after causes, running after information, running so hard and so fast that we don't have time to think or pray. He wants us running in terror or rage down any path except the one that leads to God.

Don't fall for it! Take a breath. Take several. Step back. Good information is important, but in this battle information has been weaponized so we must have discernment. Definitely get information, but look at sources yourself rather than accept what others have concluded. Pray. Decide for yourself whether something is accurate. Ask our Father for revelation about the big picture. Our enemy uses physical agents to do his work but he is not physical. So our remedy must be spiritual too, truth from an unimpeachable Source, direction from the One who knows where we're going.

Let's remember that Covid-19, race relations, and civil liberties, though important, are subplots in a very big story. The Earth is not an experiment gone wrong, or a machine left unattended. God has been letting us, like petulant toddlers "do it ourselves." He has given us millennia to improve things without Him, but we have not made the world better, we've simply found more efficient means to hate our brother. God is not silent, absent or uncaring, just waiting for us to recognize our deep need and call on Him.

There is a remedy but it won't come through a new President, or a vaccine or better policemen. This shaking has revealed the futility of only seeking human solutions to problems that God alone can solve. We have information yet are not wise. We have leisure but are not free. We have money but are not rich. More programs, marches, food drives, masks and vaccines are band aids; what is needed is soul surgery by the Great Physician. God does care about the unrest and the fear and the anger and has the answer for the cry of the human heart.

The gospel of the kingdom has never been more important, nor Jesus's identity as Savior of the World more timely. God is calling us to carry His message to a world desperate for deliverance. But it's difficult to carry something when my hands are already full. So for saints as well as sinners the way forward goes right through the Cross. This season has caused me to question what I'm leaning on. Am I navigating through life using social approval as my compass? Am I trusting my civil rights to keep me safe? Do I love my stuff, my opinion, and my routine more than God? I want to take this moment to assess my focus. I want to empty my storehouse of the tarnished dime-store trinkets I thought so important, and wait for God to fill me with real, lasting treasure. Treasure He can multiply and I can carry to those around me.

Oh my friends, let's take time to seek the Lord! We need God; we need His perspective; we need His presence and power; we need His heart for the nations. Conspiracies do not confuse or confound Him. He has the information we need, plus the perspective to give it meaning. His love for us is fierce and unrelenting as well as tender and inexhaustible. He has the map for where we are going. We can trust His wisdom and His plan.

Do not be afraid. Seek His face. Get fresh oil. Maranatha!

                                    

______________ For more information go to:

*https://www.csis.org/analysis/watching-huaweis-safe-cities  More than 50 nations already use this product.

**https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/ What is the "Decade of Action"?  What is "Agenda 2030"?  

Watch and Wait

“Blessed is the man

who listens to me,

watching daily at my gates,

waiting at my doorposts."

Proverbs 8:34

The Golden Gate, Jerusalem

At the beginning of each year I ask the Lord for direction on how to pray for the new season. For 2020 the word was "Watch and Wait," though He didn't tell me what to watch and wait for. And then 2020 arrived...unfolded, turned inside out, and exploded! I soon discovered I was a card-carrying member of the "Ten Spies Club," hanging out at my house, watching the news in confusion and anxiety as giants roamed the land. Watching and waiting patiently for the Lord evaporated as I heard bad report after bad report. Then I remembered that God hadn't shown the Israelites the giants to drive them to despair but to Him...to afford them an opportunity to see God do great things beyond their imagination.

So I've been reminding myself to step back, take a breath, and watch and wait to see what the Lord will do. I've been encouraging myself to remember that what we see in the media, what we hear from dueling experts, internet influencers and all the other talking heads is not the whole story. "They" are telling us the giants are too big; that we are too small, too weak, and too afraid. That may be so, but we are also not alone.

God is with us. God is for us. God is moving. The gospel was preached at the very site where George Floyd was killed. People of all colors stood together, worshipping and praying. There were salvations and baptisms. That report did not make the nightly news. Watchmen for the Nations is just one ministry among many using this stay-at-home season to do recurring online gatherings with the body of Christ around the world. Over the past two months, I've celebrated Passover with believers in Israel, earnestly prayed with Christians in Morocco, Egypt and Jordan, worshipped with the Body of Christ in China, Japan, and Korea. Wept as Jewish and Arab believers honored one another and committed themselves to one another. Wept again as I listened to testimonies of racism, but also pledges of reconciliation and hope. Just yesterday I listened to the testimonies of young men who flew to Washington to minister the love of God to the spiritually starving who occupied downtown Seattle. Healings, deliverances and salvations followed. The Spirit is touching hungry hearts, drawing them to desire more of Jesus. Believers are rising...not to shake their fists at the world system, but to serve and bless and worship the Lord. To proclaim His beauty and worthiness. To affirm their membership in a kingdom that cannot be shaken, even as the world quakes and trembles.

This does not mean we refuse to see the darkness. It does not mean we deny the reality of pain and sickness and injustice. Encouraging ourselves in the Lord isn't delusional optimism, putting on a brave face or wearing rose-colored glasses. Rather, focusing on Jesus and what He has said will adjust our perspective, keep our minds steady, focus our internal eyes on the horizon...where He is taking us. We must look reality in the face, then turn in childlike trust to our good God and rest in His character. We must look to Him for our response, not our political party, social justice warriors or even the local church. Reminding ourselves of our true citizenship and where we are headed will encourage us. It will also help us remember that we are part of something much bigger than getting back to normal. Normal is overrated anyway. The Lord of history is moving us toward the conclusion of all things, and He is preparing His Bride. God is revealing His heart for the nations, He is touching the lost, He is awakening His people. The Earth groans and convulses, the nations rage, lawlessness increases, yes that's true; all this He told us to watch for, while looking to Him to keep fear at bay. Trust and wait on the Lord. If we keep our eyes on Jesus, allow Him to comfort, encourage and strengthen us, we will move toward becoming the people God wants us to be. He will return for His Bride, one people united in their passion for Jesus, pouring out their lives in abandoned sacrifice because He is so lovely.

So watch the news, check the internet, listen to the theories, but all with a grain of salt (maybe several grains). Remember that Joshua saw the giants too but came to a different conclusion. His perspective was forged in communion with the Holy One. Look for the good that God is doing in the midst of darkness. Remember what God has done in the past to spark desire for Him to do it again. Revival is coming, expect more than exciting meetings with great music. Spend time with our great King. Soak in His presence. Let His love touch you. Ask for fresh oil. Gain perspective from the One we can trust not to lie or misdirect us. He is in charge of our rights and reputation, not the government. God is taking us somewhere, but to see it we have to focus and listen to Him. Watch and Wait. Listen with a heart prepared to obey.

Maranatha, even so Lord, come!

"You will be hearing of wars and rumors of wars. See that you are

not frightened, for those things must take place, but that is not

yet the end. For nation [ethnos, ethnic group] will rise against nation,

and kingdom against kingdom, and in various places there will be

famines and earthquakes. But all these things are merely the

beginning of birth pangs." Matthew 24:6-8

Unmet Expectations

Matthew 21: 8-9   “A very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road,

while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road.

The crowds that went ahead of him and those that followed shouted,

‘Hosanna to the Son of David!’ ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!’

‘Hosanna in the highest!’”   NIV

Those who lined the street, waving branches and making a carpet of their cloaks thought they knew what Jesus would do once he entered Jerusalem. For nearly 100 years Israel had been ruled by Rome, kept in check by military troops and puppet kings. The priesthood has become political and corrupt. But Jesus was different. He came with wise teachings and miracles--surely He had come to rescue His people from their terrible suffering. Surely He was there to overthrow Rome, sit on David’s throne, return Israel to her glory days, and make daily life pleasant for the people.

We know this because of what they did and what they shouted. Scripture taught that when Messiah came, the nation would celebrate the Feast of Tabernacles…hence the cutting of palm branches and shaking or waving them in the air, a Sukkot custom. "Hosanna to the son of David," they shouted, "Hosanna in the highest!" Hoshianna means save us! Son of David is a reference to the Messiah…whom the Jews expected to be a human man restoring the political kingdom of David. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord essentially means Welcome! So they were shouting, "Welcome King of Israel, take your place, save us to the uttermost!" Later in Matthew 21 the priests were upset about what the people were saying. They knew very well what the Triumphal Procession portended...what the people expected. They knew that, if He desired it, Jesus could lay claim to the throne and upset their carefully loaded apple cart. 

When we see Palm Sunday in its Jewish context we better understand why the people were so completely confounded and dismayed when Jesus was arrested only a few days later. His arrest meant there would be no king, no rebellion to send the Romans packing, no relief from their suffering. Many who shouted for Jesus’ coronation on Palm Sunday, screamed for his crucifixion later that week. Because Jesus did not meet the people’s expectations many missed the coming of their Messiah.

We nod our heads wisely...we know this story. Those poor Jews, who couldn't see Jesus even though He was right there in front of them. They misunderstood Him and what He intended. But how many times have I missed Jesus? How many times have I had expectations that went awry, lost my composure and then blamed God? I am so like the people in the stories, hard-headed, hard-hearted and wanting my way. I'm so confident that my understanding is the right one that God Himself could stand by the side of the road holding a detour sign and I'd drive blithely past, sure it was a mistake. But when God provides a detour it is wise to take it, no matter what it looks like.

We are just days away from Easter, a day we celebrate our living King. This year we will celebrate that day separately, amid uncertainty and fear... definitely a detour from what we expected. We find ourselves in an unplanned sabbatical, a surprise departure from regular routine. Our calendars have been cleared, our agendas cancelled. We have time on our hands and nowhere to go. We have been given a pause, a time-out, a silence into which God can speak. 

In Revelation 3 Jesus admonished the faithful in Sardis that they weren't quite the vibrant believers they thought they were. He tells them to wake up and strengthen what remains. He wasn't being mean. They were His, He loved them. But they had fallen into a dangerous complacency and didn't realize they were sliding away. Warning them to wake up and change direction was a mercy--a mercy we have now been given. During the lock-down I have been dismayed at how much like everyone else I am. I've been worried, but mostly worried about myself: that my life has been disturbed; my plans upended; shocked that I don't love the way I thought I did; ashamed that I have so little of Jesus in me. Like the church in Sardis, this is not who I thought I was. I am seeing that there is a difference between answering an altar call for Forerunners and actually being a Forerunner.

And that is exactly the point. A detour is inconvenient, but also an opportunity to go in a different direction, to see different scenery, to have a different perspective. In order to change I must first know that change is needed. I don't know I am asleep until I wake up. Wake up and strengthen what remains. God didn't send the virus but He is using this season as an opportunity to take stock, not of our toilet paper supply, but of ourselves.

Because Jesus loves us so dearly He wants us to see our lack so He can fill it. He wants us to hunger, so He can feed us. He wants us to collapse with weariness so He can strengthen us. Tribulation is not punishment but a wake-up call. He wants none to perish. For the gospel to have maximum effect it must be delivered by a people fully alive, filled to overflowing with the light of the risen Christ. He wants love-sick followers wholly given to Him, because that is the only safe way to go through increasing trouble. He will lead us, but we must follow His lead. Believers around the world are fasting and praying for God's intervention in the pandemic. They are rightly asking for protection, healing and restoration. I am asking for that as well, but also that we would not miss God's detour sign. Let's use this time at home to quiet ourselves and spend time with Him. Let's avail ourselves of His willingness to give more to those who ask for more. More of Him in us means joy unspeakable and full of glory, as well as deliverance for the world God loves. This serious season is one in which a shaken world is looking for answers and help. I am asking myself, do I have the answer or not? The best we can offer a world gone mad is Jesus. This forced sabbatical is an opportunity to sit at His feet and drink deeply of His presence; to give ourselves anew to Him; to ask our glorious Bridegroom to reveal Himself to us; and to run deeper into wholeheartedness.  This is a season the enemy means for harm, but God will use it to fill His followers with oil. Oil for a fire so fierce that nothing can put it out. But we have to ask for it. We have to ask for more of Him. Come soon, oh glorious King!

“At the time my coming draws near,
heaven’s kingdom realm can be compared
to ten maidens who took their oil lamps and
went outside to meet the bridegroom and his bride.
Five of them were foolish and ill-prepared,
for they took no extra oil for their lamps.
Five of them were wise and sensible,
for they took flasks of olive oil with their lamps."
Matthew 25:1-4 The Passion Translation