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

Advent

I have always enjoyed the season of Advent; those four weeks set apart to meditate on the first coming of Jesus. Advent means 'a coming into place, view or being,' so it is the perfect time to remember Jesus' arrival in human history as a helpless infant. Everyone loves babies; they are cute and cuddly. They are also non-threatening; they write no manifestos and make no speeches. They don't march or do causes. Examine any manger scene, the baby Jesus just lies there limply, without so much as a Pampers on—pretty harmless stuff. It is easy to reflect on and sing the praises of baby Jesus, asleep on the hay. Even the world—except those allergic to even the most innocuous religious expressions of Christmas—mostly tolerates baby Jesus. 

But Jesus hasn't been a baby for a long, long time. 

The man Jesus makes conclusive, polarizing statements about His identity. He directs how we should live—meddles even. He tips our sacred cows. His statements about Himself demand a response. He's politically incorrect and intolerant, with His claim of being 'the only way'. His promise that He will return, destroy all that hinders love, and rule this planet as absolute, undisputed King places Him squarely at odds with the world and its systems. It's much less controversial to stay focused on His humble birth, to keep Him in that manger.

Of course there is absolutely nothing wrong with spending this season reflecting on Jesus' first advent—we should express love and gratitude that He came, lived among us and died to save us. Without His first advent, there would be no resurrection, and no reason for our faith, no expectation of anything higher or better than this world. But low-born Jesus is also our coming King. He asks His disciples to remember not just that he came, but that He is coming again. He asks that we be ready. Like a watchman vigilantly guarding his house against burglars. Like a pregnant woman, excitedly awaiting the day her baby arrives. Like a Jewish bride in ancient times, eagerly waiting for the day her bridegroom completes his preparations and comes to take her from her father's house, into his own.

So it's good to remember that He's coming again, especially at this time of the year when everything around me insists that celebrating Christmas is okay, as long as I keep it about gifts and parties and baby Jesus. Baby Jesus only. But King Jesus is the One returning, with fiery eyes and an implacable determination to return the world to what God intended from the beginning. A place where God may walk among us; where we will see Him face to face. A place of unhindered love and intimacy, where we creatures may finally and forever live with our Creator. A place of eternal glory. 

As 2019 draws to a close, I want every manger scene to be a reminder, not just that Jesus humbly came as a weak, human infant, but that He's coming again as all-powerful King. As I remember and honor Jesus' appearing, I am asking God to refresh my desire to watch for His re-appearing. This beautiful, terrible, broken world is passing and will pass away. Soon and very soon we will see our King, our glorious Jesus, high and lifted up, His train filling all the earth. Every eye will see Him, recognizing Him as King and God. What a privilege it is to see and know Him now. 

May this Advent reaffirm your trust that what He has promised He will do; renew your resistance to the pull of this world; and refocus your life on Jesus. May He shorten the time and strengthen the saints to walk out His love to others.  Merry Christmas. Maranatha! (Oh Lord, Come!) 

“[Jesus] who testifies to these things says,

‘Yes, I am coming soon.’

Amen. Come, Lord Jesus.”

Revelation 21:20-21

Family Reunion

A summer event gathering family from across the country has had me thinking about God's upcoming family reunion. Ours was a mini-family reunion, but the one that happens in the book of Revelation will be on a scale no one has ever seen. You have to search for it in the midst of the trumpets, earthquakes, angels, battles and all, but Father God will also be gathering His family during that turbulent time before Yeshua returns for His Bride. That's what the Bride is--a family of believers drawn from every tribe and nation. We use a wealth of language to identify the body of believers: chosen, Bride, children, joint heirs, commonwealth of Israel, people of God, grafted in, adopted--all terms that enrich and expand God's original idea of a family living together with Him in paradise.

It is through Jesus the Jewish Messiah we are adopted into the family of God. We Gentiles are Ruth to the Jewish Boaz, invited into the salvation story written by Israel's God. Our savior is Jewish, our Scriptures were given through Jewish authors, our apostles were Jesus' Jewish disciples. In the earliest decades, believers were overwhelmingly Jewish. The thousands saved at Pentecost were Jews who'd come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Shavuot. So it's pretty clear our adopted family is Jewish, yet most of that people group is missing from our midst. Our family is incomplete and the final family reunion won't happen until the whole family is ready. Jesus will not return for an incomplete Bride, so He waits patiently for His house to fill.

The unbreakable promises God gave His original covenant people can only be completely fulfilled when they take their place in the family of faith, releasing greater riches when they do (Romans 11:12). God will certainly restore them--He has said He will. We who enjoy the benefit and richness of the new covenant have a vital part to play in welcoming them back. Our part is to live so in love with the Jewish Messiah that we make the Jewish people jealous and curious, drawing them back.  "And if they do not persist in unbelief, they will be grafted in, for God is able to graft them in again." Romans 11:23. That is what our Father does, takes what the devil has broken and makes it new again. He finds what's been lost, restores the damaged, heals the wounded, revives the dead. Israel's calling was to invite the nations to worship Israel's God. Now we who believe are called to invite Israel, through their Messiah, back into full family relationship.

As Pastor Don Finto says, "Your elder brother has fallen, will you help him get up?"  How do we do that? We can ask Father to fill us with love for Jewish prodigals. We can prepare for the upcoming family reunion by investigating God's olive tree. We can ask the Holy Spirit to shine His light on attitudes toward the Jewish people that may not reflect the love of Christ. We can pray, become informed, assist and stand with the Jewish people. We can acknowledge and grieve the wounds the church has inflicted on the Jewish people, making it difficult for them to 'see' their own Messiah.

All Israel shall be saved is a promise that seems impossible, but don't we serve the God of the impossible? I want to be part of His plan to show the Jewish people the loveliness of Messiah. I want to say ‘thank you’ for the grace I've received via the Jewish people. The gospel is the power of God, "first to the Jew." (Acts 13, Romans 1:16 and 2:10). So I want to financially support Messianic ministries in the Land which daily bring the gospel to the Jewish people. We have an elder brother who has become estranged from his spiritual family--I want a part in God's plan to entreat him to return!

The reunion invitation has been given. We've been asked to save the date even though we don't know the date exactly (definitely a God thing). In what time remains, God help us prepare for the best, biggest and most amazing family reunion ever! 

“And now the Lord says...

It is too small a thing for you to be my servant to restore the tribes of Jacob and bring back those of Israel I have kept. I will also make you a light for the Gentiles, that my salvation may reach to the ends of the earth.” Isaiah 49:5-6

Amen!

Olive trees in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jerusalem, Israel

...and in this way all Israel will be saved." Romans 11:26