Turn To See

John 20:15-16 “ “Woman, why are you crying? Who is it you are looking for?” Thinking he was the gardener, she said, “Sir, if you have carried him away, tell me where you have put him, and I will get him.”Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She TURNED and said to him in Aramaic,“Rabboni!” (which means Teacher). “

Is it possible that the thing you are crying over is actually over and you don’t know it yet?

It was so with Mary Magdalene.  She had reached such a high point in her grieving and was so immobilized by it, that she couldn’t even recognize the Man in front of her to be the One who she was crying over. Jesus, the Risen Lord, stood in her sight as the living proof of the invalidity of her grief and yet Mary could not reconcile it with what she was seeing with her eyes. Are our eyes so clouded with tears that we cannot see that our prayers are being answered, are we mourning over unfulfilled promises, when they are in fact, fully-fledged out and asking us “who is it you are looking for?”

We can get so overwhelmed by what we see or know in the natural that it becomes impossible for us to comprehend when the supernatural occurs, even if it has been promised to us by the infallible word of God. Such was what happened with Sarah, that when she considered her body that had lived out its natural purpose and the age of her husband, she laughed at the promise God gave Abraham, that He would surely bless them with a son within the year (Genesis 18:11-12 “Now Abraham and Sarah were old, advanced in years. The way of women had ceased to be with Sarah. So Sarah laughed to herself, saying, “After I am worn out, and my lord is old, shall I have pleasure?”“).

It’s a natural reaction, right? ….Well, should it be?

Mary crying at the grave side, is such an obviously expected behavior, that it should have surprised her when she was asked why she was doing it. I believe that Jesus was calling her attention to how she was perceiving what was happening around her, just as the Lord addressed Sarah’s hidden laughter (Genesis 18: 13-14 “The Lord said to Abraham, “Why did Sarah laugh and say, ‘Shall I indeed bear a child, now that I am old?’ Is anything too hard for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, about this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son””). You see, we are called to be spiritual beings. But when we try to process things as natural men and women, there is a gap in our understanding which can result in our perceiving things of the spirit incorrectly or partially and emoting to the confusion we see rather than the confirmation that it is  (1 Corinthians 2:14 “The natural person does not accept the things of the Spirit of God, for they are folly to him, and he is not able to understand them because they are spiritually discerned.”)

YOU CANNOT SEE THROUGH THE FLESH WHAT CAN ONLY BE SHOWN TO THE SPIRIT

Please look at this image below:

What God speaks to us can look like this if we try to understand it in the natural. Just like an encrypted email can only be opened by the recipient who has the password given to him by the sender because of the confidentiality that he enjoys with him, the heavenly secrets can only  be accessed by the children of God who commune with Him in spirit and in truth. God is Spirit and He made us to be spiritual beings who discern things in our spirit and not in our flesh. He gave us the Holy Spirit to aid us in this endeavor. (John 16:13 “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth,…”) The real question is: Are we sometimes anxious, depressed, angry, fearful, doubtful or weary because we have been trying to reconcile the very real challenges we are going through with the promises of God based on our human interpretation and failing ? If we have, then we need to know that there is a disconnect in our life with the divine, because THE DIVINE CANNOT BE COMPREHENDED AT THE LEVEL OF THE HUMAN; NO MATTER HOW INTELLIGENT THE SAID HUMAN IS.

It is our own fleshly knowledge that veils our hearts. This veil is manifested as the grief in Mary’s heart that she wished for the body of the crucified Jesus while standing in the presence of His resurrected self and it is manifested as the defeat in Sarah’s heart that she dismissed the supernatural blessing as impossible. I wonder if we too are looking into an empty grave while the Lord is calling to us. I wonder if we too are standing behind a DOOR and listening to what God is speaking, instead of  meeting Him face to face (Genesis 18:9-10 “They said to him, “Where is Sarah your wife?” And he said, “She is in the tent.” The Lord said, “I will surely return to you about this time next year, and Sarah your wife shall have a son.” And Sarah was listening at the tent door behind him.”) Our spiritual eyes can be opened wide enough to believe God only when we are truly facing Him. It was when Jesus called our her name that Mary TURNED to Him and realized the risen Lord (John 20:Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!” (which means Teacher).”)

2 Corinthians 3:16-18 ”  But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit“

When we turn to the Lord, we are are truly unveiled and guess what: not only is our understanding about spiritual truths clarified but we are freed from disappointments caused by our fleshly interpretations and our very countenance begins to reflect His glory. No more weeping in grief or laughing in disbelief, just boasting in the goodness of God, unveiled in Christ Jesus.

GOD BLESS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robed and Postioned for Favour

Esther 5:1-2 “On the third day Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, in front of the king’s quarters, while the king was sitting on his royal throne inside the throne room opposite the entrance to the palace. And when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, she won favor in his sight, and he held out to Esther the golden scepter that was in his hand. Then Esther approached and touched the tip of the scepter.”

The favour of God cannot be earned or learnt but is a free gift (Romans 9:16 “So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy”). While it is available to all of us in His kingdom, the favour of the King of Kings is availed not by what is done but by what is donned, not by the passion we have but in the position we take. It was the royal robes and the place that Esther took in the presence of the King (both of which queen Vashti had refused to do and was banished),that caused him to identify her as his queen and hold out his golden sceptre to her. Quite similarly, the only thing that causes God’s children to gain His audience is the vestment we put on and the boldness with which we enter His inner sanctum.

The royal robes represent the the bridal attire. For the church it is being robed with Christ Himself (Isaiah 61:10 “I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks himself like a priest with a beautiful headdress, and as a bride adorns herself.”) Just as Esther’s humble beginnings were exchanged for her royal apparel which was bestowed upon her by the King’s virtue, so also the Lord, our Bridegroom, purges our past with His Word and clothes us with His glory to make us presentable to Himself (Ephesians 5:26-27 “that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by the washing of water with the word, so that he might present the church to himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish.”)

There are occasions when the garment doesn’t appear glorious to the naked eye but it is given to us so that we are re-aligned to receive His favour (Genesis 38:14-15 “she took off her widow’s garments and covered herself with a veil, wrapping herself up, and sat at the entrance to Enaim, which is on the road to Timnah. For she saw that Shelah was grown up, and she had not been given to him in marriage. When Judah saw her, he thought she was a prostitute, for she had covered her face.”) But if we are confident that He alone is our robe then it won’t matter what it looks like from the outside because we will be the carriers of His favour from the inside that will one day be revealed openly (Genesis 38:25-26 “As she was being brought out, she sent word to her father-in-law, “By the man to whom these belong, I am pregnant.” And she said, “Please identify whose these are, the signet and the cord and the staff.” Then Judah identified them and said, “She is more righteous than I…..”)

The entry we have gained into the presence of God is but Himself. He is the gate, the door, the entrance and we take a favourable position in King’s sight because of entering through Jesus Himself (John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”) When we are found in His sight to be in Jesus- the entrance, we find His favour and are not subject to the punishment of death which might be the fate for everyone else according to the law (Esther 4:11 “All the king’s servants and the people of the king’s provinces know that if any man or woman goes to the king inside the inner court without being called, there is but one law—to be put to death, except the one to whom the king holds out the golden scepter so that he may live… ”) The children of God are not just allowed, rather are invited to come into His presence because Jesus both became and paid the entrance fee and went before us to receive us to Himself (Hebrews 6:19-20 “This hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast, and which enters the Presence behind the veil, where the forerunner has entered for us, even Jesus, having become High Priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek.”)

It is sometimes difficult to see ourselves as standing in a position of favour, especially when we can look compromised (2 Samuel 11:2-4 “Then it happened one evening that David arose from his bed and walked on the roof of the king’s house. And from the roof he saw a woman bathing, and the woman was very beautiful to behold. So David sent and inquired about the woman. And someone said, “Is this not Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam, the wife of Uriah the Hittite?” Then David sent messengers, and took her;..”). Bathsheba’s vulnerable position caused King David’s steps to falter for which she must have endured much scorn and revile, but God used her position to bless the lineage of David and through the fruit of her womb came the ancestry of the much awaited messiah, Jesus Christ (Matthew 1:6 “….David the king begot Solomon by her who had been the wife[a] of Uriah.”) What the enemy means for evil, God can and does turn it around for our good. He causes us to trade our ashes for beauty.

So let us drape ourselves with His righteousness and be posted in Christ and know that is just that which will cause us to be identified as His bride, and His golden sceptre of favour will be held out to us.

God bless

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Let Him Shine!

John 3:21 “But anyone working and living in truth and reality welcomes God-light so the work can be seen for the God-work it is.

When the spot light is not on what Jesus is doing then we need to hit the brakes at the stop light in what we are doing! It’s time to reassess…. Is it STARDOM we are after or God’s KINGDOM?  Let not our good works become the show-stoppers. We are called to be the entourage-setting up and campaigning for Jesus Christ,  our Lord, the Real Celebrity to take the centre stage. We need to LET HIM SHINE!! 

God bless. 

Praise in the Waiting

Psalm 71:14 “As for me, I will wait continually, and will continue to praise you.”

It matters greatly what we do while we are waiting for God to move our mountains and part our Red seas. When we choose to worship Him in our waiting we not only display our faith in His sure salvation but we also demonstrate our refusal to be cowed down by  the situations that stand tall against us (Daniel 3:17-18 “If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. But if not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.”)

To praise God in our waiting period is to literally wait ON Him and to do His good pleasure while putting our hope in Him unceasingly. Occupying ourselves with praising God and serving Him puts us in the perfect position to receive His answer to our prayer. When Zacharias was waiting for God to bless him and his barren wife with an offspring he continued to serve in the temple of God according to His priesthood. The bible records that it was during his service of burning incense (which is praise !) that he received the promise of a son through a divine encounter (Luke 1: 8-9, 13 “Now while he was serving as priest before God when his division was on duty, according to the custom of the priesthood, he was chosen by lot to enter the temple of the Lord and burn incense….But the angel said to him, “Do not be afraid Zechariah, for your prayer has been heard and your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall call his name John.”)

When the waiting gets tough especially in the light of all the action that is happening around us and everyone else’s lives that seem to be sailing smoothly by while we are still stuck in a rut waiting for God to lift us out, it can be really tempting to lash out at Him for keeping us in suspense while others are climbing up their ladders by leaps and bounds. At such times when praising Him may be difficult we are recommended to pause and get quiet before God (Psalm 37:7 “Be still before the Lord; wait patiently for Him and entrust yourself to Him; Do not fret (whine, agonize) because of him who prospers in his way,
Because of the man who carries out wicked schemes.”) The weakness of our flesh tends to expose itself in the form of complaints against God. So being still and getting quiet in the presence of God is actually a fast of silence until our confidence in God has a chance to builds up once again and the joy of the Lord comes bursting forth out of us as a shout of praise offering (Joshua 6:10 “ But Joshua commanded the people, “You shall not shout or make your voice heard, neither shall any word go out of your mouth, until the day I tell you to shout. Then you shall shout.”)

God Bless.