We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ.  1 John 1:3 NIV

I know that God is in me, that I love him and that he loves me.  I know he hears me.  When I pray I feel him listening.  It feels different from when I'm talking to myself, or imagining, or reflecting.  I feel God when I'm alone.  I hear him in the silence that surround me as I write.  I see him like we see the water that we see through when we are swimming in it.  As it is written, "In him we live and move and have our being."

I feel him in me.  A presence. The presence.  I don't ever feel alone or lonely...not really.  Sometimes in a room full of people I feel alone in relationship to them, but never with him.  I feel him in that room with me, and he seems "lonely" with me, as if he is just as unnoticed as I am. 


I'm telling you all of this so we can share our relationship with God with each other, or so that you will join me in my experience of God if you aren't having one.

Join me.
Write me.
We can experience God together, you and I.
Jesus makes this possible by his Spirit.

Life and death

The tongue has the power of life and death, and those who love it will eat its fruit. 
Proverbs 18:21 NIV

Someone you know is dead.  He is in heaven.  She is in hell. 
Words heard, accepted or rejected, determined which place they ended up after they died. 

Perhaps words you spoke. 

Our words birth or kill. 

Sometimes I think about people I know that are dead. 

I wonder what I said that brought them closer to or farther from God. 

I wonder about the impact I had on their lives by my words, or my lack of words. 

I wonder what impact I'm having on you.

What if my words are the last ones you will read? 

If so, I want you to know that God made you.

You owe your life to Him.

If you are not living for Him as you read, stop reading and give your life to Him right now.

If you are living for God as you read, stop reading, and rededicate your life to Him right now.

I'll do it with you....

"God, you made me.  I am yours.  I live for you and you alone.  I give my life to you."

We did it. 

We are ready to live, because we are ready to die, even if it's today.

The only real relationships

Whoever does the will of God are my brothers and sisters and mother.  ~The Lord Jesus

How do you define relationships?  Jesus defines them by obedience to the will of God.  He was so committed to this exclusive definition that he was willing to give this definition in the presence of his own blood family. 

Real relationships are defined by obedience to God.

If your father or mother disobey God, they are not your real father or mother.
If your brother or sister disobey God, they are not your real brother or sister.

Your real family are those who obey God, both now and forever.  We must believe and act on this truth if we are to be truly faithful to the Lord.

Hopefully, our blood relatives are also our spiritual relatives.  This is how it should be.  If it isn't, we can pray for our blood relatives to be born again.  Until then, we must cherish true relationships and seek out true relationships where we don't have them.  This is more than attending the same church gatherings.  It is unified submission to and obedience of God's will. 

What is God's will?

We must completely obey His Spirit, moment by moment, day by day.

Our family and friends are those who are obeying the Spirit at this moment.  This point is crucial, and I've experienced it's crucialness.  I first have to make sure I am obeying the Spirit at this moment so that others can count on me in a real relationship.  Then I have to make sure that my fellow believers are doing the same.  This is not being judgmental.  It's being real.  If you know you're obeying the Spirit, and you see the fruit of the Spirit in your life without question, then anyone who is opposing you is by definition in the flesh at that moment.  The converse is true.  If you know that a brother or sister is bearing the fruit of the Spirit, and you oppose him or her, then you are in the flesh at that moment.  This is why Paul says to the Galatians that if a brother or sister is in sin or at fault, those who are spiritual should restore them.  The spiritual believer has clear discernment, while the carnal believer's judgment can't be trusted at the moment.

Where are you at this moment?  In the Spirit or in the flesh?  The answer to these questions determines whether any believer can be in a real relationship with you right now.

Where are your friends or family at this moment?  In the Spirit or in the flesh?  The answer to these questions determines whether you can be in a real relationship with them right now.

So that you may know where you stand, if you want, pray this prayer with me:

Father God,

Thank you for your Spirit through faith in your Son. 

I submit to the Spirit right now. 

Help me to encourage my brothers and sisters to do the same

so we can experience the only real relationship possible,

relationships based on doing God's will. 

Amen.

Three characters in a play that I loved

When he came on the stage I couldn't take my eyes off of him.  He played a character tempting young boys to leave the path of righteousness to follow him on the path of unrighteousness.  He didn't say a word.  His motions and emotions were made known by his actions.  He mesmerized.  I watched him, proud of him, proud of my first born son.

***

I tall girl spoke boldly about the love of God shown to us in sacrifice.  She sang of his love in a clear innocent voice.  She led other dancers in a dance for his honor.  I was so very proud of her, my first daughter...a leader...a singer...a dancer...a child of God.

***

Tears filled my eyes as I watched a girl in red...dancing...smiling...free.  I looked at my wife, whose eyes were wet as well.  We were seeing what we'd longed to see, our first baby girl, dancing free, singing free, glad to be who God made her to be.  She belongs on stage, her smile bright and beautiful, her movements graceful and joyful.  The girl in red...my second daughter, filled me with joy.

The Asian boy who played Jesus

I saw a boy playing Jesus in a play; his character was called "the carpenter." 
To me, he was what Jesus would be like if he were a little Asian boy. 

He was quiet and confident; he said little, but what he said was true, focused, and powerful. 
He was humble and powerful, like Jesus. 
He led the other characters in the play by serving them, but he led them unapologetically. 
He commanded them. 
He said he could be completely trusted, that he knew where they were going and could get them there safely; he said this confidently, yet not arrogantly.  His confidence was not in himself.

The carpenter in the play focused on his father and his father's ways, his father's will.  His focus on his father was genuine.

He seemed real.  Sometimes people think the way Jesus would be wouldn't seem real in our daily lives, like he would be strange or nerdy or not socially skilled.  This little Asian boy showed them wrong.  I could see Jesus being himself on earth right now, being compelling and interesting.  I could see following him; I could see him in the boy who played Jesus. 

This little Asian boy gave me a glimpse of what Jesus is like.  He inspired me to give all who know me a glimpse of the Lord.

When to expect God's judgment (Part 1)

"When the laws regulating human society are so formed as to come into collision with the nature of things, and in particular with the fundamental realities of human nature, they will end by producing an impossible situation which, unless the laws are altered, will issue in such catastrophes as war, pestilence and famine. Catastrophes thus caused are the execution of universal law upon arbitrary enactments which contravene the facts; they are thus properly called by theologians, judgments of God." ~Dorothy L. Sayers, from "The Mind of the Maker" (italics mine.)

A woman ran a red light and hit a man in a van. 
She failed at her attempt to be at the same place as the man at the same time as the man. 

An impossible situation.

A collision.

The woman.

The man.

A witness to the collision told the police officer what happened.

"I was behind her.  I saw her run the red light and hit the man's van."

The law of the land and the law of creation had spoken to the woman, the cause of the collision.

From the law of the land, the judgment was this: 

She ran the red light, she hit the man's van, and she must pay for her damages and his.

From the law of creation, the judgment was this:

Two physical objects (in this case, vehicles)  cannot coexist in time and space. 

To attempt contradictory coexistence brings damage to one or both objects (or vehicles.)

***

The situation with the collision ends. 

The woman paid the man in the van. 

Justice came to the man.

Now comes a new situation, one directly connected to the collision. 

***

On the day of the collision, the woman's destination was to an operation where the woman would become a man. Her destination was a collision of the masculine and the feminine, an attempt at an impossible situation--the collision of creation and Creator. 

What will happen if she continues with this destination?

Lessons from Baymax about Purpose

Hello. I am Baymax, your personal healthcare companion.

Baymax knew who he was and what his purpose was:

• Who was he?  Baymax

• What was he?  A personal healthcare companion.

From his introduction to any person he served, Baymax focused on his purpose, and never lost this focus. We'll look at Baymax's persistent focus on his purpose by his quotes from the movie. 

Flying makes me a better care provider

Baymax measured everything he did by his purpose.  If it fit his purpose, he did it.  If it did not, he resisted it, as we will see.

I am programmed to assess everyone's health care needs.

Baymax knew he was programmed and he knew his programmer:  Tadashi.  He always acted in agreement with his programming, and thus with his programmer.

I am a robot. I cannot be offended.

This reminds me of of Jesus saying, “I do not receive honor from men.”  Why did Jesus say this?  Because He came to receive honor from God, not men.  Therefore, he did not receive honor (or dishonor) from men.  In the same way, Baymax’s programming did not make room for being personally offended because he did not exist for himself.

My programming prevents me from injuring a human being.

Hiro, Tadashi’s little brother and the present owner of Baymax, commanded Baymax to destroy Tadashi's murderer.  But Baymax resisted according to his programming. He would not and could not go against his programming, and thus he could not obey a command that contradicted who he was.

Are you satisfied with your care? … I cannot deactivate until you say, “I am satisfied with my care."

Baymax sought direct and clear objective feedback from the one he served as to whether he was achieving the goal of his purpose. He couldn’t rest until the one he served as a healthcare companion affirmed the fulfillment of his purpose: personal health care.  He couldn’t rest or deactivate,  which is a robot’s version of dying.

Like Baymax, we should know who we are according to our Creator, and we should only be and do what we were created to be and do.  We should measure everything by our Creator’s purpose for us.  This will give power to who we are and what we do.