A Kiss from the King

Last week, I was helping a little kindergartener write about "Sleeping Beauty," which the teacher had read to the class. Studying his semi-decipherable kindergarten writing, I asked him, "What does it say?" He proudly replied, "The princess got a kiss from the king!"

Now, I don't normally promote sexist fairytales, but my kinderbaby's confidence in the king's kiss got me thinking. Women aren't meant to wait around for a human man to marry so that their lives can begin. However, as the Church, we are the bride of Christ--that's plain, black-and-white scripture. Although it's wonderful, human love cannot wake us up into our true identities, give us eternal purpose, or complete us. (Sorry, Jerry Maguire.) BUT, a kiss from the King--a life-altering encounter with the all-consuming, blazing inferno of Jesus' love--can and does do those things. In fact, it's the only thing that can.

I think, as the Church, many of us are asleep, still waiting for a kiss from the Beloved that has already come.

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith--that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:14-19)

That's Paul's prayer for you, Beloved. Yet a great many of us are anesthetized, like the needle-pricked princess in the story. We check the church box on Sundays, then go home and live just like the world for the rest of the week, as if Jesus never said anything that He said. We don't realize that, all along, this was the plot of the evil villain. If he can get us believing that the life of the early church no longer exists, that we are not empowered by the Holy Spirit to affect supernatural change, that the things of the world are far more attractive than an intimate walk with Christ, then his work is done. He doesn't even have to attack us.

Even more of us have a beggar mentality when it comes to prayer. Like Oliver Twist, we approach God as though we were walking up to the big, intimidating pearly gates to knock and cry out, "Please, sir, I want some more." We think we have displeased Him with our sin, and that we have to make a bargain with Him or beg Him for our basic needs. I heard a pastor say this, and I'm going to steal it: a human father would be insulted if his daughter came up to him and cried, "Please, Daddy, take care of my basic needs. Please give me food and water. Please give me a roof over my head." How much more is the heavenly Father's heart broken when His children come to Him as beggars, thinking they're displeasing and disgusting to Him, bowing their heads in shame, when He has already forgiven our every sin on the cross?

Can I rock your boat a little bit more? Sin isn't even the biggest issue to God. Yes, He hates it, because it hurts His children. But if you read through the entire Old Testament in one day (which I doubt very many people have done), you would notice that, whenever God sent a prophet to the Israelites, His biggest complaint about them wasn't that they infringed upon the Law, but that "they don't know Me."

If they had known Him, living in true, deep, meaningful, vulnerable intimacy with Him on an individual level, they wouldn't have had a sin problem in the first place. Separation from Him is what causes sin.  God's desire is that we would know Him, and He made a way for us to do that through His Son. With the Old Testament prophets, we get a shadow of New Testament reality: it is no longer your sin that separates you from God, but your separation from God that causes you to sin.

Did you catch that? The more time you waste believing you're a sinner, the more you will separate yourself from the Lord because of your shame. That separation breeds distance from the only One who loves you with a passionate love, and that distance breeds more sin.

As a believer in Jesus, YOU ARE NOT A SINNER. You have been REDEEMED. Redemption means all parts of you--even those places you have been, those sins you have committed, that make you cringe. The ones you don't even want to think about. He has forgotten them. They have been nailed to the cross (Colossians 2:14).

If you're offended by this, good. The gospel is offensive. It was so offensive to the religious people in Jesus' day--those who supposedly knew the Father--that they killed Him.

If you are shocked at what I'm saying, then I must be doing my job right.

Beloved, beloved, beloved: you are IN CHRIST. And is Christ a sinner?

Ok then.

You are worthy to approach God as a son or daughter not based on your own spotless record, but based on Jesus. What He did was enough.

My heart burns to see the Church wake up to believe this: Christ is enough.

No "buts."

Can you imagine what the world would look like if we prayed like we had the authority of sonship?

Believer, the Lord wants you to approach Him with confidence, because His eyes roam the earth, looking for those who can get beyond themselves enough to truly love Him (2 Chronicles 15:9, John 4:23-24). We have died with Christ, and we have been raised and seated in heavenly places with Him (Ephesians 2:6). We pray from the throne room, not to the throne room.

Don't get mad at me. Blame the Bible.

To bring it back around to kissing (after that totally unplanned tangent of passion...ahem...#sorrynotsorry....), take a look at the story of the prodigal son in Luke 15. The Prodigal is kind of pitiful. Even after he wastes his entire inheritance in sin, he only decides to return to his father because he wants a meal that's better than what hogs eat. As Christians, many of us come home to Jesus for the same reason: we have a preference for something better than what we have, and we still don't properly understand our identities. The Prodigal goes home as a beggar, intending to strike a bargain with his father: "Hey, Dad, if you feed me, I'll work for you."

Examine your own heart. Do you ever approach God this way?

I think we all do.

But note what the father does when he sees his son approaching from a long way off: he runs to him and kisses him. And before his son can even try to bargain with him, he slaps him with a royal robe and ring and kills the best calf for a feast.

Can you imagine the son's thoughts? Does he still believe that he is worth something to his father only through what he can do? Does he believe he is really forgiven? Does he accept his father's mercy with gladness? Or is he ashamed to wear fine clothing? Is he angry that he isn't allowed to work to regain favor?

Do you see where I'm going with this?

The truth is, the son has gotten a kiss from his father--a kiss from the king. And (at the risk of sounding weird) our King, Jesus, wants nothing more than to be that close to you--close enough for a kiss.

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me (Revelation 3:20).

You're not a beggar who is cowering at the door of the palace, too afraid to knock. He is knocking on your door. He wants you.

Sleeping Beauty had no part in her own awakening other than to respond--involuntarily--to the love of the king. And, if you're a bride who knows who she is, you will rise to do the same with joy and confidence.

Testimony Spotlight

Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights; I have put my Spirit upon him; he will bring forth justice to the nations. He will not cry aloud or lift up his voice, or make it heard in the street; a bruised reed he will not break, and a faintly burning wick he will not quench; he will faithfully bring forth justice. He will not grow faint or be discouraged till he has established justice in the earth; and the coastlands wait for his law.--Isaiah 42:1-4

Hello, everyone. It's about time to continue my series of testimonies. The one below was graciously provided by my friend Katie of Northern Virginia. (I have to specify NORTHERN because it is very important to her.)

I have watched this girl's testimony unfold in person, and it is pretty amazing. I've only been a part of the journey for about a year and a half, but it has been going on much longer than that. And it's better than must-see TV. (SOOO much better....)

Have fun reading!

Katie, age 26

I was raised as an atheist, by an atheist, before I knew Jesus. To be honest, Jesus was never something I ever thought about or even talked about. It was so far removed from anything I knew that His name didn't ever come up. In fact, I can clearly remember being instructed not to discuss religion or anything close when I was younger. (I think this was an effort to protect us when we were younger and growing up - kids can be cruel when you're different.) Other than my grandmother taking us to church a few times (Easter twice and maybe Christmas?), I don't think I ever even set foot in a church. I managed to make it through high school without even knowing "the basics," to the point where when someone asked me who the Messiah was, I hesitantly guessed, "Moses?" When I finally did get to Bible study (not a Christian, just observing), I didn't even understand how the chapter and verse numbering system worked.

I wouldn't say I was first interested in the gospel, but in the people who claimed to be following it. It sounds cliche, but it's the truth - there was just something different about them. They weren't just the standard Christian hypocrites I'd come to expect. They were really walking out their faith and believing it whole-heartedly. It blew my mind. I didn't understand how such rational people - some of the smartest people I knew, in fact - could believe what I considered at the time to be a bunch of old fashioned brainwashing. 

I attended Bible study for about two years (during which time I started attending church as well), but very much from a distance. It was not something I was personally interested in, just intellectually curious about. It wasn't until I went to Thailand that all of it became real to me, at least the God part. To be honest, that was hard part for me - believing in God. Once I couldn't deny He existed, the rest of it fell into place (although I remember laying in bed, talking to Him many nights, saying, "Please God, I'll do anything but become a Christian.") I was really proud of the fact that I wasn't one of those "Jesus freaks." Luckily, God is great at teaching us how to be humble, and several weeks later, I became a Christian.

My first reaction was panic and dread. How would I tell my parents? How would I tell my family? A lot of people have these really emotional encounters. For me, I felt sick to my stomach and like I'd done something terrible. But I stuck with it. It wasn't a decision I made lightly and it wasn't one I would have made without being ready to fully commit, emotions and feelings aside. Six years later, I can clearly say it has been the best decision I ever made. But it was an uphill battle for awhile there.

For a long time, there was a lot of "box checking" - I read my Bible, I went to church, I went to Bible study, I prayed at night. Check, check, check. It wasn't until I found a church two and a half years later that really introduced me to how Jesus and the Holy Spirit could truly transform your life that I began to understand what had first caught my eye in those friends from college. That "something different" turned out to be the Holy Spirit and His amazing ability to free us from ourselves. It was the first time I think I can actually remember being told that I didn't have to struggle through things, that I wouldn't always get knocked down by the devil. I had power and authority from Jesus, and it was for freedom that He set me free. I was a new creation, and one seated up in Heavenly places - not stuck here with all the craziness and soul-sucking of day-to-day life.

I went to a conference in June of 2014 called Power and Love up in New Jersey. I'd seen a few of the speakers on YouTube/online before, but I'd never witnessed someone getting healed in person. While there, a girl was cured of blindness in one of her eyes. She came up to the front, crying. It's moments like that that complete wreck your normal life. I'd always believed in my head that the Bible was true, but suddenly my heart was on fire for it. I couldn't NOT be part of what God wants to do here on earth. It put a lot of things in perspective.

Can I get a witness? Oh yeah...I just did. This is a small picture of the larger story of Katie's journey to freedom. She could probably write a book about all the amazing ways the Holy Spirit has brought her out of darkness and transferred her to the kingdom of light. (Couldn't we all?) And now I'm proud to report that Katie is definitely a Jesus Freak. #jointheranks #everybody'sdoingit #nohighliketheMostHigh (The hash tags are for you, Katie.)

Just one more story that shows the heart of Jesus. Thank you, Katie, for sharing.

For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery. (Galatians 5:1).

King

I was what they call "raised in church," but it took me a long time to realize who Jesus was.

I mean, like any children's pastor's kid, I knew that Jesus was "the way, the truth, and the life" (John 14:6), but I think that throughout my childhood, I had only a vague understanding of what that meant. As a third-grader, even a highly-churched one, I really only understood Jesus as the Savior...which is, of course, a foundational truth. I didn't really get it yet that Jesus' main objective was not rescuing us, at the last moment, from the grasp of that big mean monster, the devil (who actually does not have authority to put people in hell...or really any authority at all). He actually had a much bigger plan than that.

Jesus' mission--as He stated Himself--was to simply do what He saw His Father doing and bring heaven to earth. His assignment was to lay aside this sin nonsense so we could be reconciled to Him, and then to call us into the real business: restoring the world to a beautiful, heavenly order.

For a long time, I only really saw Jesus on the cross. It has only been over the past few years that I have begun to look into the empty tomb. Yes, He died; but He didn't stay dead. He rose again. And not only did He rise, He brought us back to life with Him. He is no longer a suffering servant; He is a powerful king.

We in the Church should no longer be third-graders worried only about "getting saved." Yes, that's important, but it's only the beginning. We should move into greater maturity and adopt a kingdom mindset. But in order to do that, we have to catch a revelation of who the King really is.

If you're struggling to understand the identity of Jesus, just read about Him in His own words as He addresses the churches in the book of Revelation (chapters 2 and 3). In the letters that He dictated to John, He introduces Himself in these ways:

 Fear not, I am the first and the last....
I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades....
...him who holds the seven stars in his right hand, who walks among the seven golden lampstands...
...the first and the last, who died and came to life....
...him who has the sharp two-edged sword....
...the Son of God, who has eyes like a flame of fire, and whose feet are like burnished bronze....
....him who has the seven spirits of God and the seven stars....
....the holy one, the true one, who has the key of David, who opens and no one will shut, who shuts and no one opens...
....the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of God's creation....

Now, I don't know very much about the stars thing, and there's a lot of theological discussion about the lampstands and whatnot, but all I have to say is, if somebody is holding a star--not to mention seven--in his right hand, he's probably a pretty powerful guy. And the inferno eyes alone would intimidate anyone, even without the two-edged sword. And don't forget all the keys. What with the stars and such, He must be very good at holding many things at once. But, you know, the Bible does say that "in him all things hold together."

In fact, let's just look at that passage, too.

He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him. And he is before all things, and in him all things hold together. And he is the head of the body, the church. He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent. For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell, and through him to reconcile to himself all things, whether on earth or in heaven, making peace by the blood of his cross.--Colossians 1:15-19

I think that pretty much sums up the totality of Jesus' authority. If it is not visible or invisible, He didn't make it. If it was not on heaven or earth, then it has not been reconciled to Him through Him.

Yes, if you are a believer in the gospel today, this guy saved you. But He did so much more than that. He bought back your sonship or daughtership, and He is now in authority over everything in your life--and that means everything. Unless your problems, storms, pain, sin, or failure are neither visible nor invisible, He is Lord over them.

Not only is He Lord over your life, He loves you with a fire that cannot be tamed. He doesn't use the two-edged sword to kill you, but rather to protect you. He opens doors that no man can shut, and He shuts doors that no one can open, in order to make the path clear for YOU. AND, not only that, but He shares His authority with you. What other king does that?

Jesus is not running around putting out the devil's fires. He is actually seated at the right hand of God, completely obliterating the devil with one breath of his mouth (2 Thessalonians 2:8). I like to think the breath comes from His laughter, so in love and in joy He is to have married us, the Church, His bride.

Happy Easter

And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, "Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here" (Mark 16:5-6).

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God....On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 11-13 &16).

For many, life is just a process of death. Every day, they move closer and closer to the finality of physical death. But the good news is this: for those of us who are alive in Christ, life is a process of constant regeneration and resurrection. Every day for us is a revival. We have "taken hold of that which is truly life" (1 Timothy 6:19).

This message is not just for Easter. Every morning when we rise, we should remember that, when Christ rose from the dead, we did too (Romans 6:4). In His resurrection, we also have a new name.

After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up, that we may live before him (Hosea 6:2).

Your new name is Beloved. Redeemed. Righteous. The message of the cross isn't crucifixion but resurrection.

And, if you're distressed about a world that is dying, here's some even better news:

The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us (2 Corinthians 5:17-20).

The Great Commission isn't about running around the world to "convert" people, build churches, and baptize as many people as possible as fast as possible. It's simply about reaching out a hand to a dying people, awakening them to the revelation that there is a Father who wants to be reconciled to them in order that they might live.

I could write a long time about Easter, about the cross, about the resurrection, and about what it all means. But today, just remember that there is a man who didn't stop at death. He rose so that you could, too.

Happy Easter!

Fruity Reflections

Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change (James 1:17).

I just went through a season when God kind of put me in rest mode, which to me meant "time out." I had a little trouble going along with it. I thought, "Ok, God, you brought me to Texas to do ministry. Here is a list of all of my skills: teaching the Word, administration, organization, leadership...it goes on and on. So, when are we going to use these? When?...Um....hello....Jesus.....?"

I had to rest, which is not an easy thing for a task-oriented person. Now, "in the fullness of time," so to speak, He's had me lead worship and prayer, and is opening more doors for those things.

Say what? That wasn't on my list. I thought I was cut out to lead small groups, plant churches, and serve the homeless. I am, but it seems that God has some ideas about where my life is going that are beyond my imagination. It seems that there are more gifts inside me than I thought.

We all have natural abilities--some of us may be good at sports, some may be naturally patient or gentle, some may be great at music, and some may be able to cook food that makes you drool. If you are a human being who is currently alive, you have gifts. Unbelievers have amazing gifts and are able to use them to achieve great and wonderful things, simply because God loves us and showers humankind with goodness.

But read the next verse in James: Of his own will he brought us forth by the word of the truth, that we should be a kind of firstfruits of his creatures (1:18).

If you're a believer in Christ, this pertains to you. You don't create the fruit. You are the fruit.

I think a lot of times we like to take inventory of our own talents (ever taken a "strengths and weaknesses" quiz?) and then create a 5-step plan of how we are going to use our gifts. We even do this in the church. We start to classify ourselves according to our "strengths" and "weaknesses," attempting to find identity in how we are different from other people as well as "what we can achieve for God's kingdom" through our own efforts.

This is a dangerous mindset, because (as innocuous, even benevolent, as it seems), it gives place to the sneaky lie that what Jesus did on the cross was not enough. It encourages us to view ourselves as useful to God rather than loved by God.

Yes, we do have natural gifts, and we humans can "use" them to do pretty darn amazing things. Just check out all the non-Christian nonprofits of the world, all the humanitarian organizations, all the peacemaking officials. However, while we can all "use" our natural gifts, they are really able to work when we allow the Spirit to work through us in them. If we do, we don't just sow temporary, earthly seed--which can still be good; but, in the Spirit, we sow eternal seed, which bears fruit that never dies. It can't grow old, be corrupted, or be forgotten. It lasts forever. And we don't just construct or create fruit; we generate it, and then we become fruit, because the Creator of All Things is doing everything.

Read Galatians if you don't believe me. It lists "the fruit of the Spirit" in chapter 5. Note that it doesn't say, "the fruit of your spirit." It says "the fruit of the Spirit." This is not a 5-step plan for you to increase your fruit. It's a one-step plan: love God because you believe what He says about you. The beautiful flower you become out of that relationship can't help but bear His fruit.

Jesus said, "You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide, so that whatever you ask the Father in my name, he may give it to you" (John 15:16). What a redemptive thing: what Adam and Eve destroyed through ingestion of a temporary fruit, God restored to eternal fruitfulness through His own firstfruits, His only Son. What they chose to destroy, He chose to restore.

I don't want to get into Armenianism vs. predestination or any type of fruitless (no pun intended) discussion. I just want to point out the fact that, if you believe in Him, Jesus chose you first when He gave up His life for you long before you were born. Like branches on a tree, we don't really choose to bear fruit. If life is in us--"the way, the truth, and the life"--we just naturally do.

I was asked by a small child yesterday: "When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up?"

Of course, I wanted to be a mother, but besides that dream, I wanted to be an author. From about third grade and through college, I wanted to write novels. One way that I am most like my Father is in my unbounded imagination and strong desire to create, especially stories.

I used to think that I would like to live in a hermit hole and write novel after novel, but now I'm not so sure. Maybe I will write a novel one day; maybe I won't.  All I know is that now my own life is more exciting than any story I could dream up myself. That's because the author is the Creator of All Things, the creator of creativity. His imagination is wild.

And I'd much rather take part in His story than live in the Shire of my own reclusive artistic identity and fear of reality (to use a literary reference). So, right now, He has me blogging--telling His story, which is, as I said, way more exciting than anything I could come up with.

I'm not saying that if you want to write novels, you're an artistic snob. If that's your dream, go for it! It may one day be my dream again as well. All I'm saying is that, right now, I want all of my gifts to be committed fully to His purposes, because what He has in mind for them is bigger than what I can think of (no matter how imaginative I am). It is more important for me to listen to what He has planned for my talents rather than recognizing them and then charging on ahead myself, trying to "use" them to bring Him glory in my own plans.

Can I tell you something? Jesus is pretty glorious. He is seated at the right hand of God. He doesn't really need our help to bring Him glory. All He really needs is for us to surrender all of ourselves to Him, and then He can bring Himself glory through the fruit that we become by His Spirit.

Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ. For this I toil, struggling with all his energy that he powerfully works within me (Colossians 1:28-29).

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them (Ephesians 2:10).

I think He's got this taken care of.

You're a beautiful work of God, and He is a potter who sings while He works. You should appreciate His workmanship and relax under a steady, glorious hand.