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The Way to Change
I want to explain why I have been using the word way so much recently. I, sometimes, will put quotes around the word Christian, because in today’s society being a “Christian” is like wearing a union badge. If you belong to the CAW/UAW, you are respected because they are feared. You don’t have to change, your employer has to change. Being a Christian is different, or at least it is supposed to be, but we come up with thousands of reasons why we don’t have to change, One of those excuses happens to be the love of God. I say, “How dare anyone, use the love of God, as an excuse to slander and misrepresent Him?” The line has been drawn for me. It has been a long time since I have called myself a Christian because I do not want to be lumped in with those who talk the talk, and don’t walk the walk. I know that sounds brash, but you might just need to hear this right now to be convicted to change the way you represent Jesus.
The Way
How did the disciples of Jesus Christ get this designation, The Way? John 14:6 tells us Jesus called Himself the way, the truth and the life but to what? He continues to say, “No one gets to the Father except through Him.” He is the Way to the Father, the Truth of the Father, and the Life of the Father. The Bible uses way to describe a travelled way, road or path, or as a metaphor for a course of conduct, a way of thinking, feeling, or deciding (hodos is the Greek word used: G3598). In other words following Jesus. Following Jesus to wherever He leads you will result in a change of way but if I am not seeing change in you then I can guess you are not following His way. He shows you “the way” then waits for you to follow. If you don’t follow there will be no other way for you to go. It is His way or the world’s way. You can change while you are in the world but all of your change will result in promoting self which will end up being thrown into the Lake of Fire. Trust me, I know my worldly works will be thrown into the fire, too. When I choose the way of the world, I am choosing the Lake of Fire. When I choose His Way to the Father, I am choosing the New Jerusalem. You can read about the Lake of Fire and the New Jerusalem in Revelation 21 & 22.
Change for the Way
As I’ve said, you cannot follow Jesus without making change or you are a “Christian” in name only. If you are following Jesus the Christ, you are of “The Way” and changing every minute of the day, every day you follow Him. 2 Corinthians 5:17 calls us a new creation. The God of all creation makes us a new creation. He renews us day in and day out. This is the change to expect and we should be the first of the witnesses to it. It is painful and will disrupt your current life but the new life you gain is like none other. If you are not seeing change in yourself, you must ask yourself if you actually are following the Way to the Father. Answer truthfully, otherwise you will never be changed by the Way. If you are afraid of the pain involved, walk through it with another follower who knows your anguish, but you will do the majority of it with Jesus. There is no one else who will understand 100% of your anguish or plan except Him. We think because they are “Christians” they understand but we are in for a rude awakening. They do not for two reasons, they either are not a true follower or they are not supposed to understand. You are following Jesus on your path not theirs. He is creating a new Way for you to get to the Father that no one has traveled before. You are a NEW creation not a carbon copy of another creation.
The Way is New
Remember the reactions to the words Jesus spoke to the Jews? They were so new to them, they reacted violently in word and deed. Jesus was killed for this new stuff He was teaching. Not too many people like new because new means change. New means learning. New means different. We want the same and to be rewarded for our sameness but do not be fooled, you are not staying the same. You are not the same today as you were yesterday. Life happens and it hauls us along the path. Our choice is to go with the world to its new place or go with Jesus to ours. Our new place has been prepared for us before time itself. No one will have it except us. It is irrevocable, no matter how long it takes us to submit to our plan. The change we are required to make will get us to that new place. It will be the way we are to go alone with Him so we can serve His people to glorify Him.
Change your Way
I know how scary it is to drop the world. I tried to hang on as well. It seems comfortable. It seems peaceful. It seems well, but it is not. When you change your way to His way you will see how uncomfortable the world actually is. You will see how chaotic it is. You will see how ill the world is today. It is perishing and I do not want you to perish with it. All things are going to be made new including the world. Do you want to be a part of that? Let yourself become clay in the hands of the Potter. Let Him mold you His way, to the new you that you secretly long to be. The way to change is already paved for you, all you have to do is follow. Start by praying for God’s vision for your life then follow it, love it, and live it.
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My Father Who Art in Heaven
Her Father
Father’s Day is coming and Leola doesn’t have one to regale with gifts and pleasantries. Her earthly father passed away in 2001 from the damage inflicted by a stroke the year before. She wasn’t a Christian then but was getting close. In just a couple of years she will be saved by the calling of her Heavenly Father. She is not sure if her earthly father is with her heavenly Father but she does know she will be. Her Father who art in Heaven has called her from the death into life. The sun is shining this morning because of Him. Her hope is secure because of Him. There is no father on earth who can promise the hope He can.
Leola used to be upset at her earthly father for not taking care of himself during his time on earth. She is without him today because of that yet today she is reflecting on her Heavenly Father and how she can talk to Him daily. She did not talk to her earthly father daily nor weekly for that matter even though he lived just miles away. The Father has taught her more than her earthly father ever could because he can never know her heart. The Father searches her heart and cleans it. His goodness brings her into repentance. His discipline grows her. His love teaches her to love. She sometimes questions how she lived without Him in her dead life but as she looks back she can see she never did. He has been with her from the day she was born. She understands she was predestined to be called to His purpose therefore her life has always been under the Wings of Love. He has ordered her steps and numbered her hairs for her whole life. She was created to live in this time by her Father who art in Heaven and she is eternally thankful to Him!
Ephesians 5:20 tells us to give thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ. How fitting we should thank the Father through Jesus, His Son, for everything even for the time we were not saved from hell for all of our times belong to Him. It is during that time we were subject to the absence of the Father that makes us appreciate His presence today. Even though my father is dead I am subject to my Heavenly Father who shows His love toward me each and every day of my life. I offer myself as a gift to Him on this Father’s Day and every day because He created every single one of them. So I will pray to Him from Matthew 6;
Our Father who art in heaven,
Hallowed be Your name.
Your kingdom come.
Your will be done
On earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread.
And forgive us our debts,
As we forgive our debtors.
And do not lead us into temptation,
But deliver us from the evil one.
For Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.
The Father
Leola is reminded of how the Lord taught His disciples to pray. It is all about giving thanks to the Father who is in Heaven but is also here. His closeness will never go unnoticed by Leola. She can do nothing for Him without Him. Her righteousness vanishes when He does. Her soul falls apart when she cannot see Him. How she loves the Father more than life itself! He gave her life for His glory. He gave her work for His Son. He is forever the lover of her soul and she will do anything for Him. The Father has proven Himself to be faithful to her therefore she will dedicate her life to Him, over and over again. Psalm 103 speaks her heart perfectly, Bless the Lord, O my soul and all that is within me bless His Holy Name. Her soul still baulks against it, in its selfishness, but she does it anyway. She is beyond grateful for His presence in her life therefore she will bless the Father, O her soul!
Our gratefulness toward the Father in Heaven is paramount to our thankfulness for what we have and who the Father has placed our life. If you find yourself critical toward people and things look deeper into how you feel about the Father. When you are of the belief the Father is holding back His favour, you will be critical of everything He has given you. Remember He has chosen you and loves you as much as He loves His own Son. You can turn your thinking around by just blessing the Father one time each day. Your Father who is in Heaven is in love with you and wants to be your Father. He wants you to say Happy Father’s Day Father but more so He desires to prove to you He is a good Father worthy of praise.
Mediation verses this week: Matthew 6:9:13; Psalm 103
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Who Will Teach Me to be Mature?
When I first started improving my life skills my biggest question was who will teach me? I didn’t have many quality life skills because I didn’t pay much attention to having them. I wanted to pay attention because I was at my wits end. I had absolutely no idea how I was going to learn how to manage my life better without a mentor. I looked around and it was clear that a lot of people my age where in the same boat with me without a paddle.
When I started seeking answers God was available to answer my questions. I had so many questions that I couldn’t even sort them out myself. My difficulty was I asked the wrong persons and I was asked the wrong questions. I sought people to answer my question to no avail and all the while God was teaching me two very important commandments from Him to me! The first one is I am His child and He will raise me up and the second is like it, He will teach me!
The Father is My Father
When I was walking in the world I was lost and alone without mentors or real friends who could guide me through all of the mazes of my life. My body was in control so I was going to and fro looking for something to fill it. When I started to ask the questions I started getting better at asking and better at listening. The Words of God were starting to penetrate my soul and I was becoming more sensitive to the Holy Spirit as He relayed information to me from the Father. One of my biggest problems I discovered is I felt like a nobody – invisible. This is still an issue for me but God has planted in me a piece of information that I cannot forget. I am His child! John 1:12 tells me that when I accept Jesus Christ I am adopted as a child of God. Me, an orphan, a branch with no fruit, a harlot, an adulteress, a poor person, a tax collector, is a child of the Father! The Father is my Father! You can certainly understand how hard it was to believe but the Father kept enforcing it until I believed it deep in my soul. With that knowledge came the understanding He would raise me up as a child of God into whatever it is that He wanted me to be and I would get there by no other means. I finally asked, “Who is going to teach me because I need someone to teach me?”
He had made me recognize who He was to me
By the time I asked that question I was already being taught by the Father. I was going to church and listening to preachers more than I was actually reading through the Bible. I was tackling the Bible but not understanding. I was writing and teaching life skills workshops for the world; learning and using the Bible for answers but still not getting the Father was teaching me everything I knew. Each one of the workshops I wrote was Biblically based but secular in nature because I was still in the world. He continued to teach me without my full understanding. I was lonely and felt invisible. I was writing newsletters about what He was teaching me and losing friends. I was switching churches because the truth was compromised and losing more friends. In all this excitement it was becoming clear to me He had become my teacher. I would ask Him a question and He would send me to His Words for answers. I would read what He instructed me to read and be able to discern the times. He had made me recognize who He was to me – My Teacher!
He is My Father and He is My Teacher
It has been a long time since I knew that He was my Father and me His daughter but only a couple of years since I understood fully that He alone would teach me. I have learned from others but I become weary from listening to them and have to continue the study on my own in the Words of God. As a child of God we are to learn from God! (Psalm 119) There are jobs in the Body of Christ that we can learn from others but the Body of Christ belongs to God created in His image to take on His mind. We have only one Father and Teacher and that is Elohim. This puts us in a place of loneliness but that will pass because when we are in the secret place with Him our loneliness disappears and we cannot wait to be alone with Him again.
Be Presented Mature!
If you read these Words 1 Corinthians 2:9-16 you shall too understand revelation belongs to the Lord and everyone who teaches should be teaching in such a way that their students leave their tutelage and continue learning with the Lord. We are teaching to mature our students to present themselves mature to the Father (Colossians 1:28). I will present myself mature to the Father when the time comes because I have set my mind to it! Will you be able too present yourself mature? Have you become dependent on human teachers and not depended on the Father’ teachings? Do you know that the Father is your Father and you are His Child? Are you allowing the Father to teach you? Let us get into the secret place with the Father and learn from Him until we know who exactly is teaching us to be mature!
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It Goes Beyond Heaven!
By Kathleen Derbyshire
If we are lucky the Father will call us into Salvation when we are younger rather than older. Time is a factor for us! We know that anyone can be saved on his or her deathbed. Rumour has it Jeffrey Dahmer got saved before a fellow inmate beat him to death. We might say, “I have been saved for what seems like forever living a decent law abiding life and I will be sitting next to him at the bride’s supper?” How unfair is that? May I remind you of the story in Matthew 20:1-16. The workers were coming all day to work until the end of the day but when quitting time came the boss gave them all the same pay. Some of the workers were annoyed because they’d been working all day and thought they deserved more [paraphrase mine]. Salvation is the same for every Christian regardless of when the time of their Salvation. Jesus and the other writers in the New Testament talk about being in Heaven but God gives us Revelation.
The hope that we have is now about being with Jesus wherever He is. Now, it goes beyond Heaven. Revelation tells us a whole host of things are going to happen that I will let you discover on your own but what we want to concentrate on is when it’s all over. When all is said and done, what will happen to us, those who are saved? Revelation 21 and 22 tell us exactly what will happen to us Saints after the Lake of Fire is gone. John starts with Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea. So, everything that happens from here is after the devil and all the unbelievers are in the Lake of Fire. I want you to pay particular attention to the City. The New Jerusalem is where Jesus is going to live; the tree of life will be in the city. Remember the only people left are the Saints. When you get to chapter 21 verse 27 you have already read about how wonderful the City is going to be. 1500 square miles filled with light because the Lord will be its light.
The New Jerusalem is set on the New Earth and the saints are around to watch it happen then Jesus says something peculiar, But there shall by no means enter it anything that defiles, or causes an abomination or a lie, but only those who are written in the Lamb’s Book of Life. Remember the Lake of Fire is gone and only the Saints remain so who are these people who cannot enter the New Jerusalem. For this answer we need to go to Revelation 22:14-15 Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. Jesus makes it very clear who can enter and who cannot enter the gates of the New Jerusalem. Those who do His commandments while they are here on this earth will have the right to the tree of life and may enter through the gates into the city and those who do not are outside.
Are you going in or staying outside? I want to encourage you to be able to present yourself mature in the things of God so you can be inside. I want every woman I teach to learn and be able to apply what they have learned into their life so they may enter through the gates into the city. I know that each and every one of you can do exactly that because I am doing it and many other women are too. On this very day I challenge you to read the Word of God and ask Him to reveal to you what He is calling you to do. Learn how to do His commandments so you are walking with me and many other women into the New Jerusalem when it comes down to meet the New Earth.
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A Mantra to get into His Will!
By Kathleen Derbyshire
Have you ever noticed that when things are going well our communication with God is so much better but when things are not so well it is hard to pray? I find my mind wondering back to my problem over again. I think about things that will help solve my problem rather than asking the Holy Spirit to give me the way to solve my problem. As a matter of fact I forget to ask Him in the good times too. Revelation is what I need more than anything else so going it on my own looks less and less useful. We know deep down that God’s ways are the best ways so we should just ask God!
Jeremiah 33:3 should be our mantra if revelation is what we want to solve our problems. I love this verse because it tells me how to get revelation. I am not looking for new information I am looking for information I do not know. I am looking for information regarding the salvation of my problems. I am looking for information regarding the building up of my character. I am looking for information to manage with the world and those who live in it. I’m sure that you are looking for the same thing. We need to know how not to make mistakes or how to recover from the ones we already made. This can only be done if we get revelation from the Father. Let’s pick this verse apart and add others to make sure we fully understand what revelation is and how we can utilize it to do what Jesus really wants us to do. In other words we need revelation to remain in the will of God.
Our mantra Jeremiah 33:3 says, Call to Me, and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.
Let us start with the simple but powerful words from our Lord ‘call to Me.’ He says this because He is the only One who can guide us in a direction that will result in solutions for our troubles. I wish that this was my first line of defense but it is not right now. I call on the Lord when I cannot figure it out on my own. My own strength is my immediate resource for issue resolution. If God has gifted you will administration and exhortation as He has with me you are nodding your head right now but if you have another gifting like mercy, compassion or helps you might go to God first and you are finger wagging me. We are all gifted differently and those giftings lead us in specific directions resulting in not really needing God to be productive BUT that is not what He wants from us. He wants us to call on Him because He is the one who knows what our future holds, what our past was and what our present status is. Psalm 34:17 says emphatically, the righteous cry out and the Lord hears and delivers them out of all of their troubles [emphasis mine]. All we need to do is cry out or call to Him to begin the process of Him hearing us and answering us.
Without the hearing He cannot answer us! Our biggest problem may not be the crying out part but the listening part. Three verses come to mind in this stage of our mantra, Psalm 91:1 and Psalm 42:7-8. The former tells us that we need to dwell in His secret place to learn how to hear Him. His secret place is a hard place to find and be inside of. We have to be persistent in looking and resolute in staying, which means we need to be determined to hear Him. My mind is a terrible place sometimes but that is where the secret place is. We can find a place on this earth that makes us happy and peaceful but the minute we leave it our peace and happiness disappear like a puff of smoke. In this secret place with the Father our hope, peace and joy remain and we carry it with us where ever we go because it is in us not in the world. This is also where that latter verse picks up. In the secret place Deep [God] calls unto deep [us] with the noise of His waterfalls. And all of His waves and billows go over us. If we are indeed in the secret place we will hear everything He has to say. We are being called into the deep with the Father and His deep will go over us resulting in us seeing the great and mighty things He needs to show us.
The vision of God for us is what we need to solve our problems. We want to see what He is doing in the World so that we can go in that direction. We need to see, He is doing His works on this earth, and whether we participate or not, His works will get done (Isaiah 55:10-11). All of our problems stem from being out of the will of God so when we are in the will of God we are participating in His works therefore outside of the problems we have created. When He shows us great and mighty things that we did not know it is His workings on the Earth. If we want to see His workings in Heaven look around because whatever is worked out in heaven is now on the Earth (Matthew 6:10). The great and mighty things are happening but we just don’t see them. If we want to see them then we must dwell in the secret place until we believe and trust in Him. Once this process is done He will give us vision of what He is doing, the things which we do not know.
Our mantra from now on should be Jeremiah 33:3 (HCSB). Our first defence with problem solving is to cry out to God and He will hear us and answer us! He will open our eyes to see what He is doing on the Earth today so we can go that way as well. All of this takes time as well as Spiritually enhanced problem-solving skills that we can only be given to us from the Father. He gives us revelation to go in His direction, which in itself is a problem solving skill that we must nurture in our secret place with Him. As we are called in to the deep His Words wash over us with the shadow of the Almighty. God has, over the years, Revealed in Me that getting revelation is a process every Christian needs to learn! I have enhanced my problem solving skills in the secret place and so can you! If you want to move into the will of God get into that secret place with God and see how He moves!
