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Daily Meditations

Revelations from REVELATION [chapter 5]

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One of the elders, however, spoke to me, “Don’t cry,” he said. “Look! The lion from the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, has won the victory! He can open the scroll and its seven seals.” Then I saw…a lamb. It was standing there as though it had been slaughtered…~REVELATION 5:5-6

One of the details in Revelation that I never paid close attention to is here in these two verses. And it has huge implications.

First, just a little bit of context. John sees a scroll sealed with seven seals in the right hand of Yahweh sitting on the throne (this throne room vision began in chapter 4). A mighty angel asks if there’s anyone worthy to open it and undo its seals. The answer is: nobody in the universe is able to open it. At this John bursts into tears thinking no one can know the will of God or carry out His plans against evil which are contained in that scroll. But then one of the twenty-four elders tells John not to cry because look! the Lion of Judah/Root of David (Messiah) has conquered and can open the scroll as well as its seals. But when John turns to get a look at this fierce lion of power and majesty, he sees…a little lamb. Not only that, but it’s been slaughtered–yet still standing.

Here is the detail I never really pondered: John hears that the Lion of Judah is worthy, but he sees a slaughtered Lamb. What’s up with this sacred shapeshifting? And not only that, but the Greek word John uses for lamb here is “arnion” which is diminutive and literally “lambkin.” John uses arnion 29 times in Revelation, all referring to Jesus except for one (13:11). Aaaaand, arnion-lambkin is used only one time elsewhere in the entire New Testament, in John 21:15, and there it refers to Jesus’s followers.

What’s the significance?

John is giving a completely new conception to his readers.

John is redefining what victory looks like.

“God’s victory is won through suffering and His triumph is achieved through sacrifice. The Lamb is indeed as powerful as a Lion, but his power is exercised through what he suffers for the sake of others.”, says Professor of New Testament Craig Koester. Contrary to what many modern readers may say, John was not writing in some elaborate code to hide Jesus’s identity, he was revealing Jesus’s character. Remember, the word “revelation” means disclosure, not super secret code. (And if John was indeed writing in code, he needs to brush up his game as he gave a major spoiler alert in Revelation1:1!)

God’s kingdom is built through the self-giving sacrifice of Jesus–this is how the Lamb “conquers.” The theme of chapter 5 according to commentator G.K. Beale is: “Christ as Lion overcame by being slaughtered as a Lamb.” And don’t think for a second that this Lambkin is weak–it takes more strength than we can imagine to willingly submit to and walk into what He did for the sake of all of us. The way of the Lamb is not weakness, but strength beyond strength as we understand it, complete and perfect power (symbolized by the Lamb’s seven horns later in verse 6) . By contrast, the way of the dragon and Babylon is violence and exploitation which in the end, is pathetic and weak.

What might this mean for us today?

So back in chapters 2 and 3 in the letters to the seven churches, each message had a part towards the end which said basically that the one who conquers will receive an eternally extravagant reward in the end. For example, in the letter to the church in Laodicea, “This will be my gift to the one who conquers: I will sit them beside me on my throne, just as I conquered and sat with my father on his throne.” Conquering, according to the book of Revelation, is to remain an allegiant or faithful witness to Jesus Christ to the end, no matter how hostile the environment may become towards being such a witness. The words most used to the churches were “works” and “resilience” or we might say perseverance and endurance. Conquering, in the kingdom of God, is simply remaining faithful to Christ and absorbing whatever suffering may come as a result of that.

This is what victory looks like as John is redefining it for us here.

It does not look like crusades, conquistadors, or colonialism.

If I were a Baptist preacher obsessed with alliteration, I would say:

“In Revelation 5 we have a new Conception of Conquering! A new Paradigm of Power! And a new Vision of Victory!”

But since I’m not, I won’t.

I’ll close with some words by Scot McKnight from his new and very helpful book Revelation For The Rest Of Us which just came out last month:

Being an allegiant witness of enduring works is about the public expression and embodiment of the lordship of King Jesus.

Daily Meditations

Revelations from REVELATION [chapter 4]

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“You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things and by your will they existed and were created.” ~REVELATION 4:11

In chapter four John is treated to a vision of the heavenly throne room. And oh what a sight it is! He sees a throne with someone seated on it with the appearance of a jasper stone or a carnelian. We are to assume this is God of course, and notice that John compares God to nothing human, but rather precious stones for this person beyond comparison. Carnelian had a reddish tint to it which may indicate a fiery appearance.

There’s a rainbow around the throne looking like an emerald. This is a sign of God’s splendor as the rainbow in Ezekiel 1:28 was. It may also signify the mercy of God vis-à-vis the flood promise. As far as having an emerald appearance, that could be a sign of new creation–things are different now.

Around the throne are twenty-four elders who seem to represent all of God’s faithful witnesses, as well as God’s Divine Council which is mentioned several places in Scripture.

Flashes of lighting, rumblings, and thunderclaps are coming from the throne which hearken the reader to the Mount Sinai law-giving event. Yes, this should be somewhat terrifying simply because of who and what we are seeing.

Then seven lamp stands which are the seven spirits of God, burning with fire. Many think this represents the Holy Spirit or possibly the angels of the seven churches from chapters two and three. Fire designates the presence of God–think pillar of fire in the OT.

In front of the throne a sea of glass, like crystal. The sea represented chaos and danger; it’s where the beast comes from and where evil dwells. Perhaps this shows that the chaos and danger have been stilled and quieted before the throne of God..?

Right around the throne are these four living creatures, full of eyes, the first looking like a lion, the second an ox, third a human, and fourth an eagle in flight–each with six wings. These are a combination of creatures we find in Ezekiel 1 and Isaiah 6. They’re constantly praising God with no rest. These four creatures likely represent all of animate creation doing what they’re made to do.

Then we come to the end of the chapter where the twenty-four elders fall before God and throw down their crowns at the throne–a common Greco-Roman practice of showing obeisance–and they say:

You are worthy, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things and by your will they existed and were created.

Does it get any more epic than this?!?

This chapter’s last verse has always meant a lot to me. First of all because my dad gave this verse to me to memorize about thirty years go when he was taking me thru a discipleship curriculum. Second, because of how all-encompassing it is, how grand of a summary statement we are given in it.

A couple of notes on the language and style: “Lord and God”–Kyrios kai Theos in Greek–was how the emperor of the time, Domitian, demanded to be addressed. John here is saying, “Look buddy, there is one person and one person only deserving of that title, and it sure as heaven ain’t you.” None of these power-mongering and violent leaders could ever come close to claiming they made the world that they so desperately sought to control.

The other interesting note is the odd structure and order of saying that all things by God’s will “existed and were created” as opposed to “were created and exist.” Every single commentary I looked at was in full agreement that the meaning being conveyed is that everything as we know it existed before it was created. Mind bender. It all existed in the will of God before He brought into actual being. I wonder if this is sorta like a song in your head that you end up recording, bringing it from your mind into a tangible form for others to enjoy. This is a fitting analogy I guess since God spoke the universe into being. Or perhaps it was more like He sang it into being, like Aslan with Narnia. This is even more fitting if the scientists are right about string theory, and the most fundamental constituents of the fabric of the universe are indeed nano-tiny strings vibrating at just the right frequency attuned by Yahweh. Fun to think about.

All this to simply say that God is worthy of constant praise because of who He is, for creating everything we know, and sustaining it by His unfathomable power at each moment. When we are praising God, we are fulfilling our function for which we were made. With the picture of the four living creatures representing all of nature, and the elders representing all of God’s faithful, we see nature and humanity in ceaseless praise of their Creator. We could also say that whenever we are doing that for which we were made, we are worshipping God.

No matter what is happening, God is worthy of praise. In any circumstance, our design is to give God that praise. There is tremendous power in this–kingdom of God power, because there is the flow of creation in good order. My mom died January 1st last year—still I praise God. October was by far the worst month of my life–still I praise God. We do not praise God only when we feel like it, or to lift us up and get a high, tho that may come, but we praise God at all times because He is God who created everything that exists; it’s all gift, and His love endures forever.

Daily Meditations

Revelations from REVELATION [chapter 3]

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Modern day photo of where Sardis was, including some citadel ruins on top of the hill.

Write this to the angel of the church in Sardis…You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up! ~REVELATION 3:1-2

The history of the city of Sardis is kind of interesting. It use to be one of the greatest and richest cities in the world, and a literal “city on a hill”–thought by its inhabitants and most others to be impregnable because it sat atop such incredibly steep, smooth cliffs. Yet it was conquered twice, around 547 BC and 214 BC, in the same way both times. Some determined, zealous soldier found a way up the cliffs by finding footholds in cracks in the precipitous rock in the middle of the nite. The soldier then led a group up the newly discovered difficult yet climbable route to find surprisingly at the top–no guard whatsoever! Sardis had become complacent, twice, and it cost them dearly.

The church at Sardis in the first century AD had also become complacent, relying on their good reputation while actually being a deadened community. Calling them “dead” connoted a state of spiritual and/or moral decay. They had been lulled into the complacency of the surrounding culture and are commanded to wake up.

The enemy is always at work to gain a foothold and lull us into complacency. Did you know that we are commanded in the New Testament to “wake up” or “watch” more than any other command? We drift from the Power that originally got us to a good place, then wonder what happened. We forget where we came from. We forget Who it really is we serve. We cease reflecting on the wonder, love, an power of the cross. Our trust in God’s ultimate control, Jesus’s constant care, and the Spirit’s supernatural empowerment wanes. Not because any of this is less true, but because we have steadily been coaxed to lessen our confidence and reliance upon ultimate Truth. We succumb to looking around at what the world points us to for answers, importance, life. “I show you the stone in my hand, you miss the knife at your throat.” *

It has been said that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty and eternal watchfulness is the price of salvation. This is not a nervous paranoia, but a confident guard.

A personal example: I found myself recently losing my patience more than before with other drivers on the road. And it hit me that it’s not just my getting older and grumpier, or that drivers have become exponentially worse over the last two years. I had forsaken some of my spiritual vigilance. I use to use the majority of my driving time for fervent prayer–adoration of God, intercession for those I love, blessings upon the other drivers, whatever healing might be needed for every pedestrian I saw walking….Not surprisingly, I was more at peace when I was practicing this, and was less angry at getting cut off and what not because I was focused on something greater. Before, I was being watchful for what God might be trying to teach and instill in me at any given moment, but had grown lax and become more attuned to other drivers’ transgressions and who might be wronging me–how dare they!

I now need to return to what I practiced before, to a focus on my First Love. This is much of the message of Revelation to theses seven churches, and to us.

Wake up. Watch. Stay alert. Remember who you are and who alone you serve. Return to your former practices which you have let slip away. Be on guard against complacency by maintaining focus on God and where God is directing you, not on what society, news, or pride invite you to focus on.

*Quote from Mon Mothma in the Star Wars series ANDOR

Daily Meditations

Revelations from REVELATION [chapter 2]

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You do, though, have this in your favor: you hate what the Nocolaitans are doing, and I hate it too. ~REVELATION 2:6

In chapters 2 and 3 we have seven messages to these seven churches in Asia Minor. This first message is addressed to the church in Ephesus. After some opening affirmations, then an area to work on, the risen Christ goes back to another compliment: “You do hate what those Nicolaitans are doing, and so do I.” Wow. You don’t get the Risen Christ talking about something He hates very often. What in the world is going on??

There were some within the church apparently following a dude named Nicolaus. (Early church historians say this is Nicolaus the proselyte from Antioch in Acts 6:5.) And it seems this group was advocating participation in the idolatrous culture of Ephesus–specifically, eating meat that had been offered to Greco-Roman deities, and “immorality.” Now Ephesus was pretty darn idolatrous. They were dominated by the cult of the fertility goddess Artemis, and her temple, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world, had thousands of priests and priestesses with heavy involvement in prostitution. They also had two temples dedicated to Caesar worship. A significant portion of the quite prosperous economy of Ephesus was dependent on trade associated with their temples. So the Ephesians’ resistance to accommodate the idolatry and assimilate with this highly immoral culture was no doubt pretty hurtful to themselves and, therefore, very commendable.

The immediate aspect of the Nicolaitans’ actions we notice worth hating is that this affront is coming from within the church; it is not an attack from without. William Barclay noticed, “To John the Nicolaitans were worse than pagans, for they were the enemy within the gates.”

The second aspect worth noting is their sin of assimilation or accommodations. Says Brian Blount in his Revelation commentary, “For John, persons who eat meat that has been sacrificed to foreign gods gives credence to the reality and lordship of those gods; those persons have therefore prostituted themselves to a foreign faith.” John harped on this half a dozen times in Revelation, pronouncing these idol-offered-meat eaters as guilty of spiritual prostitution, for they were in essence saying that it was necessary to give in to the empire and compromise in order to live the abundant life.

Whenever we succumb to the world’s system of economics, politics, or social practices that are in direct opposition to the Kingdom of God and Jesus’s ethics, we are aligning ourselves with a foreign faith since we are proclaiming that God, the Creator of the universe and Savior of humanity, is not enough, so we need something else for life. John says that things will get pretty rough here on earth, but we must resist acquiescence and persevere in Christ to the end. Remember, our real life is hidden with Christ in God. Our purpose is not mainly about living comfortably and getting ahead in the world.

A silly illustration to make a serious point:

Now it is quite possible that the Holy Spirit did indeed prompt you to buy that fog machine for Sunday worship. Who am I to judge? And if truly evoked from the Spirit, then you better get on with buying that fogger. But if not, you might wanna ask yourself why you’re going thru with it, because if it’s to have some sort of cultural relevance, or to attractively fit in with the world, well, you should read Revelation’s warnings carefully, and proceed wisely from there.

We must guard against the world’s culture influencing and infiltrating the church instead of the other way around. The gates of hell will not prevail against the church charging forth in spreading the Kingdom of God. But if you start adapting yourself to those gates of hell, then there’s nothing for them to prevail against, for you are pedaling the very false wares they are selling! If the Holy Spirit isn’t enough for people, diluting said Spirit sure as hell won’t be anywhere close to enough for satisfying the soul.

I’ve been a part of some amazing prayer groups and spiritual retreats that were so transcendently filled with the Spirit of Jesus that the thought of any worldly offering being as good or better is just…laughable. Why on earth would I ever exchange the love and presence of Yahweh for a sugary processed substitute??

I guess if I forgot where I came from–literally. The tenor of the warnings in these seven messages to the seven churches is basically to not forget what is most important, where you came from, or, as was specifically written to this church at Ephesus, do not forsake your first love. Return. Always.

I’ll leave you with yet another pithy summary from William Barclay worded so well:

The Nicolaitans were not prepared to be different; they were the most dangerous of all heretics from a practical point of view, for, if their teaching had been successful, the world would have changed Christianity and not Christianity the world.

Daily Meditations

Revelations from REVELATION [chapter 1]

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A revelation from Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what things must soon take place. ~REVELATION 1:1

Apokalypsis–The Greek word which opens this book comes from the verb apokalypto. Apo meaning away or away from, and kalypto meaning cover or veil. So it means to uncover, to reveal, to disclose. Thus our translation to Revelation or Apocalypse.

Interesting that the name of this book we find so confusing actually means an unveiling of necessary information, rather than a deliberate concealment of it.

Why so confounding then?

Well, part of that answer seems to come in this very first verse. The revelation is to show what must soon take place. Already we have our first of over 240 allusions to the Old Testament. The wording has its roots in Daniel 2:28-30,45-47 with the exception of the word soon. Daniel was writing (a few hundred years or so before Revelation) about what would transpire “in the latter days”, but John rewords it to say that these events will happen soon. John reiterates in verse 3: “the time is near.” What Daniel expected to occur in the last days, John is announcing as imminent, or beginning to occur now.

From G.K. Beale’s commentary:

There is no doubt that John saw the resurrection of Christ as fulfilling the prophecy of Daniel regarding the inaugurating of the kingdom of God. This indicates that what is about to be written concerns not just the distant future, but what is before us here and now….Therefore, John’s book is a prophetic work which concerns the imminent and inaugurated fulfillment of Old Testament prophecies about the kingdom in Jesus Christ.

This book we call Revelation was indeed written to, and immediately for, believers around Asia Minor living in the late first century under Roman domination—a starkly different context than our own in 21st century America.

And this is one reason it is a bit odd to us today. Being the only apocalyptic book of the New Testament, it uses language and imagery pretty foreign to us, but not so much to its intended first readers. As William Barclay commented, “it uses all the familiar imagery. It may often be difficult and even unintelligible to us, but for the most part it was using pictures and ideas which those who read it would know and understand.”

Another reason for our deciphering difficulty is that all apocalyptic literature is necessarily cryptic because it is attempting to describe the indescribable, to paint the unpaintable. John, like a good artist or poet, is painting a vivid picture in order to startle, challenge, and call to action–to be dissident disciples of Jesus Christ under the cruel rule of Domitian who demanded Caeser worship.

It seems to me that much of the book of Revelation is to encourage believers to persevere through brutal Roman rule, recognizing Babylon when they see it, and to absolutely avoid any collusion with it. This of course applies to believers in every generation and culture, so it isn’t like we have nothing to glean from this fantastic book. And it doesn’t seem that everything in the book has already happened either. . .

Daily Meditations

Revelations from Revelation [introduction]

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Illustration by Evangelia Philippidis

For quite a while I’ve been thinking about seriously digging in to Revelation, doing a “deep dive” as they say. As you no doubt know, it’s a rather intriguing book–probably the most fascinating book of the Bible, according to most readers. Then, in early December, I felt that unmistakeable Pneuma-nudge to read thru this apocalyptic book by John. And that I did.

It felt like a really fresh read. It was exciting and, somewhat surprisingly, greatly encouraging! The overall zeitgeist I took from my reading of it was that no matter how bad it may look, Yahweh is ultimately in control, and does indeed win in the end. Therefore, persevere, stay faithful no matter how bleak or depressing the world may look or get, or whatever trials befall you; keep trusting in the One who made it all by speaking it into existence, for He, our Father, is always with us and will not allow His children to be plucked out of His hand.

I just love how twentieth century commentator William Barclay summarized Revelation:

It’s aim is to tell of the terrible events of the Day of the Lord which will precede the new heaven and the new earth, and to strengthen mankind for the trials which should come. There is much that is obscure in the book of Revelation, but one thing it does say with absolute clarity is that in any time of trial, God is with his people, and that in the end victory is sure.

Amen!

Now this book is not without its controversy, obviously. It has been notoriously difficult for a very long time. Way back in the fifth century Jerome said that Revelation contains as many secrets as words. It’s the only book in the New Testament which John Calvin did not write a commentary on. And did you know that Martin Luther, at least early in his career, did not even regard it as Scripture?? “I hold it,” he said “to be neither apostolic nor prophetic…My spirit cannot acquiesce in the book…Christ is neither taught nor known in it.” Dang. But years later Luther would write that Revelation provides assurance that “through and beyond all plagues, beasts, and evil angels, Christ is nonetheless with his saints, and wins the final victory.” Way to turn the ship around, Martin.

Some principal points to keep before us which may be helpful as we embark: Revelation has more allusions to the Old Testament than all other books in the New Testament put together. Therefore, one of the main keys for understanding Revelation is to understand how the Old Testament is used in the book. And as far as the 30,000 foot view, there are three main theological messages:

  • Willingness To Suffer For Christ Is The Path To Ultimate Victory
  • The Sovereignty Of God In Human History
  • The New Creation As Fulfillment Of Biblical Prophecy

So these are just a few of my personal revelations as way of introduction. I thought it would be interesting, and hopefully encouraging, to share something learned from each chapter as we take a look again at this mysterious last book in the Bible. (My goal is to do at least one chapter per week, maybe with some other short, non-Revelation reflections sprinkled in. We’ll see how it goes.)

To be clear from the outset, what I’m not interested in is predicting the end of the world. I’ve been decidedly turned off from that nonsense ever since that pamphlet “88 Reasons Why The Rapture Will Be In 1988” circulated around my high school and freaked a bunch of people out. If my memory serves me correctly, the so-called “rapture” did not occur that year. There have been many dubious predictions since, complete with bumper sticker reminders.

What I am interested in is doing some excavating of this mysterious writing, reading it in context as best we can, and listening for what the Spirit of Jesus might want to say to us thru its interesting language and vivd imagery.

Let us wonder together. . . .

Daily Meditations

End of Year Impromptu Overnite Retreat at the Archabbey

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On December 30 I was riding peacefully in the backseat during our drive home from seeing family in Lexington Kentucky. I commented that it felt a little strange that I did not visit Saint Meinrad monastery this year, because it was the only year I hadn’t gone since first retreating there in December of 2011. Does the streak come to an end after twelve consecutive annual treks? That’s when our eldest, Gabriela, spoke up authoritatively, “You should go tonite. Just do it.” Wise words indeed! I considered it for approximately 3.2 seconds, and then made the phone call to reserve a room for that very evening. And how glad I am that I did.

It was exquisite driving through ever thickening fog at nite time for the final twenty miles of the three hour trip to the monastery. And those last eight miles winding through forest and farms was especially, eerily delightful. Upon pulling in to the guesthouse parking lot, you don’t know my elation at seeing only three other cars there–this is going to be solitude indeed! Walking around the campus later that nite, it had an almost spooky vibe as there was no other human to be found. Was I in a haunted religious ghost town? Are the spirits of the saints hovering around me? Have I seen too many movies? Probably.

As usual when I’m at this beautiful place of abundant prayer, I had an incredible experience of focused gaze upon Yeshua, and was blessed to receive, quite clearly, several “downloads” from Holy Ruach. By the end of this short (20 hour) retreat, I was given five charges to ponder on the drive home. These were:

•Let go

•Forgive yourself

•Deny yourself

•Write

•Life of Prayer

Let me just break each of these down briefly.

Let go of the small annoyances in daily life. In light of turning 50 in December, it’s beyond time to cease allowing myself to be bogged down with those minor grievances that I have little to no control over, and which do not really inhibit me from living a full life. So what if my youngest daughter leaves her dishes in the basement? So what if I see someone throwing their cigarette butt on the ground? These (mostly) innocuous actions are not worthy of my extended attention and energy; they only serve to steal my focus from far better places where it more appropriately belongs.

Forgive yourself for the little screw-ups each day that are gonna happen because you’re human. Like Brother Lawrence, confess every mess-up immediately to our gracious Lord, repent when necessary, and move on as if it did not happen—just as our God does. The enemy loves it when we remain (abide) in a state of self-focused deprecation, instead of abiding in Christ.

Deny yourself…something! I’ll never forget the time the Spirit asked me, in a somewhat playful yet sobering manner, “You don’t deny yourself anything, do you?” Wow. Conviction. I really don’t deny myself. For the most part I do what I want when I want. It’s good for your soul to not give yourself everything you want. It strengthens you to limit yourself.

Write to encourage others with thoughts, reflections, and gleanings from Scripture and life. Even if for just a few others, it’s valuable. There’s something quite efficacious about purposefully coalescing your thoughts into a legible form for others, for it fosters a particular crystallization of seemingly disparate ideas into a cohesive whole which reorients one’s center of view to a healthier and more life-giving perspective.

A life of prayer is meant for you to be lived, particularly in those “in-between” moments of life, like when you’re doing those tasks you don’t really want to be doing, at the places you’d rather not be, or (like in “let go” above) seeing people commit those annoyances which so get under your skin. These are the times I have found it especially important to pray, and to use that time specifically to intercessionally pray for others. I start with my immediate family, then move outward to extended family and close friends, beginning by praying for general blessings over them, working my way to the more unique needs of each individual. This I have found extremely helpful towards getting me away from thinking of myself too much, or from my dislike of whatever current undesirable situation I might find myself in, and preserve me from falling into grumbling and complaining. Also, it helps people from far away.

This has been a more personal reflection, I know, but I pray there is something encouraging and useful here for you.

Daily Meditations

No Wash, No Belong

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“I’m not going to have you washing my feet!” said Peter. “Never!” “If I don’t wash you,” replied Jesus, “you don’t belong to me.” ~JOHN 13:8

Whenever you’re not allowing Jesus to wash you, you’re not really His disciple.

In that moment, when you’re going at it on your own, going your own way, or following the logic and thinking of the world, instead of as first priority allowing Jesus to lead you and shape you and guide you, you are not His disciple. For a disciple is a follower, a student. Who are you a student of?

There is that washing of regeneration which converts your heart and mind and opens your eyes to who Jesus is, and then there are the ongoing washings of renewal which we need continually throughout our journey; for we can easily become sullied from the dirt of the world and eventually find ourselves in a quite unhealthy state, following another master and belonging to someone or something other than Jesus.

When you allow someone to wash your feet, it is like the ultimate submission to their servitude. It is no small task to submit to the Creator of the universe to be your servant. In fact, for some it proves too difficult. Sometimes, like Peter, we are way too “humble” to let the Lord serve us. But just think about the cross for a moment and realize how ineffably giving our Lord really is! How often Jesus wants to tend to us, to our wounds, and we deny Him the blessing.

How does this look? One way it plays out for me personally is these very writings. When I submissively ask Jesus what He would like to say, and humbly listen for His Spirit to speak, many times He serves me by giving me wonderfully divinity-drenched words which I could not come up with on my own. Thanks be to God.

Daily Meditations

Daily Foot Washing

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“Someone who has washed,” said Jesus to him, “doesn’t need to wash again, except for their feet. They are clean all over…” John 13:10

Peter refuses, at first, Jesus’s offer to wash his feeties. But after Yeshua tells him that if He doesn’t wash him he doesn’t belong to him (an interesting thought for reflection itself–for another day), Peter responds basically with, “Well alrighty then! Not just my feet-get my hands and head and everything!”

Jesus’s response to this exclamation is really interesting to me. You can read it in the verse above.

In meditation upon these divine words, this is what I heard: You’re already clean because of your trust in Me; you don’t need to completely start over every day. You just need to let me wash the dust of the world off your feet that accumulates each day from walking in it. Otherwise you become susceptible to disease and sickness.

Without some form of daily renewal of your mind, the world’s thinking and priorities will indeed attach themselves to you.

This renewal can of course look a thousand different ways. For me it looks like sitting in silent nothingness, allowing Jesus to speak whatever He has to say to me that particular day, and set the record straight again on what is true about GOD, myself, and the world, and show me what are the lies I’ve heard that need to be discarded. Without this silencing of the many shouting voices vying for my attention, I simply cannot hear the beautiful voice of Jesus’s Spirit whispering to me.

Articles, Daily Meditations

Turks & Caicos Sunrise Sermon

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Looking out over the North Atlantic Ocean at Extreme Point in Providenciales, Turks & Caicos Islands

The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day.

PROVERBS 4:18 [NLT]

Hello there! It’s been a while….like 9 months. I pray this reflection finds you at peace in your heart.

We just returned Sunday from a most fabulous week in the jaw-droppingly beautiful Turks and Caicos Islands. What I observed there from Papa Yahweh was so meaningful to me, that I could not not share some of it. Our first morning on the island I woke up before dawn in order to see the sun rise over the ocean. It was so mesmerizing and exhilarating, that I got up early for the next six days, no matter how late we were up socializing the nite before, to witness this cosmic event of divine artistry from our infinitely talented Creator.

There really is something to intentionally absorbing the glory of God’s creative wonder–especially a wonder as magnificent as a T & C sunrise. An epiphany hit me some years ago that “in the beginning” God made everything to reflect Him, His nature, the spiritual journey, and the nature of life. (As opposed to it being we clever beings coming up with ingenious comparisons all on our own.) Some of these are fairly obvious, and some are even spelled out in Scripture for us, i.e. Vine and branch, the Spirit being like wind, trees planted by rivers, etc. And some reflections require a bit of work, observation, pondering, seeking…. I have found that the more time and narrowed focus spent in this holy excavation, the more memorable and long lasting is the truth which is revealed and implanted.

One of the first aspects I noticed  from this sunrise sermon was how difficult it was to actually grasp a sense of the change occurring before my very eyes. So I began staring at just one part of one cloud to try to capture even the tiniest difference being made above me, but after about ninety seconds I could not tell what had changed, even though the sky had grown a bit brighter and more beautiful. My eyes would then be drawn away from my focus spot and over to a new streak of pink and salmon that had pierced a dark cloud like a flame thrower shooting through the middle of the nite. “Oooohhh,” I exclaimed aloud, even though I was sitting by myself. And the Wind (Pneuma) whispered to me, “This is how it is with your journey toward Christ. As you inch ever closer, and it is quite important that you progress in this daily, you will typically not see the transformation in real time, but one day you may suddenly notice a wonderful shift in you or even those around you where you were not even looking.” As the wisdom goes, it is better to practice something everyday for fifteen minutes than for an hour and a half once every two weeks. The sun simply keeps peeking over the horizon, rising without stopping, and before you know it, it’s daytime. “Just keep swimming.” How important it is to draw closer to God every single day, putting forth concerted effort to grow in Christ likeness by placing ourselves in the direct rays of the Spirit’s divine energy.

Another aspect I saw in these mornings was that obviously everything got brighter–all around me became illuminated. The closer we draw near Jesus, the clearer the path becomes; we’re not groping around in the dark wondering what the right thing to do is. Also, our reflected light will fall upon more and more people around us, as we “rise”. But what I had not really thought of before was what became more difficult, and eventually impossible, to see. The stars–those things farthest away from me. Pneuma whispered into me again: That which is farthest from your center, your divinely appointed purpose, will fade away as you journey down the path of righteousness. And those closest to you, which you have overlooked due to your self-focus, will be illuminated, and their needs easier than ever to see. If you keep maturing, becoming a little holier than you were yesterday, eventually selfish desires will dissipate into near nothingness. The beauty of Jesus, absorbed more and more, overtakes and swallows up the allure of pleasing yourself, just as the sunrise overtakes the nite sky. Like abstaining from the processed sugar of say, Mountain Dew, you will gradually lose a hankering for it, and it may even become quite nasty to you. (But you must always be on guard against temptation!)

A really cool sidenote is that on about the fifth day after listening to Yahweh through His sunrises, I was reading one of the Tozer books I brought with me, and saw in it the verse above, Proverbs 4:18. It was so ridiculously fitting, that it was like Jesus Himself was giving me the most affirming hug of my life. “I’m here with you, enjoying this too! I’m so glad you’re seeing this.”

The vivid awesomeness that is the sunrise over the ocean is simultaneously energizing and calming. It starts your day most appropriately, and can even sustain you throughout the day, though you may need to take a moment or two in the afternoon to reflect in your heart upon the tranquility of that morning experience. How easy it would be to sleep in one day and miss this incredible gift, then another, until we start to forget the beauty that was once so deeply inspiring to us. Whether through laziness, or the anesthesia of the world’s stupid ways, we can find ourselves having missed the greatest part of the day, and then recognize we are merely laboring under that Sun which desired to be with us in peace and quiet a few hours ago. Oh how vital it truly is to return to our First Love, to the beauty of the most perfect love shown on the cross, every day.