Piggy Back Rides

I used to love a piggy back ride when I was a kid, and my kids do too. It's a hug and a free lift, all in one. But, you have to admit it is the ultimate in laziness, and a bit risky as well, because if the one you're riding on falls, you're going down with them.


I've lingered in the book of John for the last week. I love how the Bible comes to life, and brings new meaning, even after reading the same passages time and time again. I read John 7 and John 8 (you can click on it to read it in it's entirety). Just to sum it up, it was the time of the Feast of Tabernacles. One of the most important of the Jewish festivals. Everyone went up to Jerusalem to celebrate. (Makes me think of Christmas and Easter...when people, who all year long have had nothing to do with God, show up at a building, and pay honor to the God of their ancestors out of some sort of obligation.) According to the Jewish tradition, it is a seven day festival that celebrates the bountiful harvest, and ends in the day of the "Great Hosanna", a time when they pray for the Messiah to come. Jesus went up secretly, but it's impossible to hide the Light in darkness. Soon, he was teaching in the temple, and the whole crowd was there. The Chief Priests and the Pharisees were listening, and becoming more angry with each word Jesus spoke. After all, they were the only ones who were only supposed to teach the Book of the law (the part of the Bible that had been written and the religious laws that accompanied it up to that point in history).

How fitting it was that Jesus chose this last day of the festival to go to Jerusalem. He was an answer to their many devout prayers that day, for the Messiah to come, yet they didn't even recognize Him. How many times have we prayed and prayed, and the answer came right away, and we didn't even see it, because it wasn't the answer we expected or wanted. Thousands, I am sure. But that's not what jumped out at me. What leapt off the page was how the people spoke to Jesus, and the way He responded to them. The Priests and the Pharisees (the most religious people of all at that time) spoke to the Son of God as if he was a lunatic. Can you imagine being face to face with the incarnate God, and having the audacity to insult Him, mock Him, and disregard Him? They were the elite of the Jewish religion. They were the "mature" of the faith. They had the Mosaic law written on their foreheads. Yet, in all their piety, with all their head knowledge of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, they had no revelation of their own, and were completely ignorant as to whom was standing before them. They had a "piggy-back" religious experience. Abraham knew God. Isaac and Jacob were intimately acquainted with the Lord. The Jewish people of Jesus’ time studied their forefathers religiously, yet did not really know God. The faith of their fathers was such a powerful faith, that they could feel it, and were caught up in it. Unfortunately, when those descendents died, all that remained was the past encounters with God, and the laws they were forced to follow. These testimonies were powerful, but were never meant to replace the daily revelation that God wants all his people to experience. The freshness of the presence of God was replaced by the staleness of tradition, religion and law. It is a religious spirit that is sent to distract us from knowing God. To give us a false sense of security that we are just fine, because we are doing what we were taught. How crafty of Satan to use yesterday's faith to trick us into thinking we know God. Even though I grew up in a Bible believing, Pentecostal church and home, I had a "piggy-back" faith when I was little. My parents had experienced God in miraculous ways, and I remember my Mom daily in her Bible, getting fresh "manna" from heaven. She was a prayer warrior. She knew God. I only knew the God of my Mother. For many children, this is the case. It is our job as parents to teach our faith, and live our faith in front of our children. Then when they grow up, that relationship that they have watched for years should launch them into having their own, personal relationship with God. I never made that transition, and when I became an adult, and was faced with serious sin and problems, and I had no real power for myself. Having faith in someone else's faith doesn't work. I had to come to a place in my life where I desired to know God for myself. I finally did, when I was 22 years old, and what a difference it has made in my life!

In many churches today, that same spirit of religion is alive. It is no respecter of denomination. Catholic and Protestant, Baptist and Pentecostal alike. If the people are following the faith of someone else, and have no personal encounter with God for themselves, they are left to lean on tradition and rules. After all, the "church" is not a building or a denomination, but rather a group of people who know God. The buildings that we go to on Sunday are just a place for the Church to gather together. Lately, I have encountered many well intentioned people, who are filled with this religious spirit. I, at times, have to struggle to keep my walk with the Lord fresh, and battle to stay in His presence daily. When I feed my spirit with God's word and His presence, I know God more and more. I call myself a Christian, which means that I am striving to be Christ-like. How can I be like Christ, if I don't really know him? My deepest desire is to know Him.

Stirring it up

Here was my reading this morning from John 5:1-6

Some time later, Jesus went up to Jerusalem for one of the Jewish festivals. Now there is in Jerusalem near the Sheep Gate a pool, which in Aramaic is called Bethesda and which is surrounded by five covered colonnades. Here a great number of disabled people used to lie-the blind, the lame, the paralyzed. One who was there had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, he asked him, "Do you want to get well?".

So, I got this picture in my mind of all these people lying around this pool of water. Probably some were crying out in anguish. Maybe some were downcast, and depressed. Inevitably, some were likely to be there purely out of curiosity, to see if what they had heard about the "healing pool" was true. I imagine that there were family members of the afflicted as well. If you read a little further, we see that when the waters were stirred, people could enter and receive their healing. Can you imagine the excitement of these people? They were probably shouting, and leaping for joy. So, when Jesus spoke to this man, and said "Do you want to get well?", it seemed like an odd question. The man was obviously lame. According to the scripture,he had this condition for 38 years. He was there at the pool. Of course he wanted to get well, I thought. So why, then, did Jesus ask this question? I have learned that when Jesus asks a question, it is worth reading a few times. Jesus doesn't ask questions so He can learn something new about us. He is God, and He is all-knowing. Jesus asks questions to allow us to see what the condition of our heart is. When we have to formulate our answer, it requires us to do some soul searching.

Sometimes we don't really know what is in our heart, until we come face to face with a direct question. Everywhere Jesus went, He "stirred the waters". He loves for us to see what our true feelings and motives are. For only then, can we see our need for adjustment. The other day, Luis made a pot of coffee, and on my way out the door, I quickly poured myself a cup. I added my cream and milk, and it looked delicious-I mean I could taste it, even before I tasted it...I love my coffee! But when I took a spoon and started to stir it, I realized that there were coffee grounds in the bottom of the cup. blah! What seemed delectable, became detestable after I stirred it up.


"Do you want to be well"? It takes more than just showing up. That man at Bethesda showed up every day. But that specific day, Jesus gave that man a clear set of instructions: "Get up! Pick up your mat and walk". If that man had chosen to stay on the ground, he probably would have been there until he died. God wants to give us a clear set of instructions for our life as well. He wants to give us direct revelation for our lives. He does not want us to rely on communicated information from some other source. He wants us to hear it straight from Him. Showing up is vital, but it is just the first step. We need to be alert. We need to have an attentive ear. We need to be willing to act. We need to be obedient to God and His word. We need to be willing to let go of what is comfortable, what is familiar, what is culturally accepted. We need to decide once and for all that the culture of heaven is more important than our western counterpart. The culture of today doesn't allow for this. The world screams, "Be tolerant!", while God says, "Be holy.". This generation is very different from the generations of the past. There is little regard for authority. The concept of right and wrong has been severely skewed. God has become an afterthought, if He is even a thought at all. We have become a "me" culture. In general we are takers rather than givers with servants hearts. I heard a Pastor say recently that "this generation is the most reckless generation yet. The music is dark. Everything about the culture of today is hopeless. There is no vision for tomorrow." The previous generation, dropped the ball, and decided not to pass the values instilled to them by the generation before. Consequently, the generation of today is left to find their own way, with no moral guide. A path that is dimly lit, at best. So we, as followers of Christ are also called to stir the waters. Not in a hostile way, but humbly. We should live different, sound different, act different, react different than the culture around us. We should stick out like a sore thumb, but the church today, in general, has developed a highly effective camouflage, to the point where they are nearly invisible. God desires us to "want to be well". He wants us to be effective. He wants us to used by Him. He wants to lead us and guide us by His Spirit. He has not turned His back on this generation, we have turned our back on Him. He is stirring the waters again. I want in!

Hosanna

I see the king of glory
Coming on the clouds with fire
The whole earth shakes
The whole earth shakes

I see his love and mercy
Washing over all our sin
The people sing
The people sing

Hosanna
Hosanna
Hosanna in the highest

I see a generation
Rising up to take their place
With selfless faith
With selfless faith

I see a near revival
Stirring as we pray and seek
We're on our knees
We're on our knees

Heal my heart and make it clean
Open up my eyes to the things unseen
Show me how to love like you have loved me

Break my heart from what breaks yours
Everything I am for your kingdoms cause
As I go from nothing to
Eternity

(Hosanna-Hillsong United, Austrailia)

Who I Am

God spoke something to me when I was driving today. He said,

"Until you begin to fully see yourself the way I see you, you will never be as effective as I want you to be. When your perception of yourself is less than My perception of you, you will not be free to completely flow in my Spirit. You will still flow, but with apprehension and with insecurity. When you embrace yourself the way I see you, only then can I flow through you unhindered."

So, when I got home, I began to say, OK Lord, how do you see me? A flood of scriptures entered my head, starting with

I am the head and not the tail, the top and not the bottom. (Deuteronomy 28:13)
I am fearfully and wonderfully made. (Psalm 139:14).
I am a new creature. (2 Cor 5:17)
I am filled with power, with the Spirit of the LORD, and with justice and might. (Micah 3:8)
I am strong in the Lord and in his mighty power. (Ephesians 6:10)
I am the apple of His eye. (Zechariah 2:8)
I am the child of the Most High. (Luke 6:35)
I am loved by God and nothing can separate me from His love. (Romans 8:35)
I am chosen by God. (Ephesians 1:4)
I am forgiven and my sin-debt is paid. (Colossians 2:13-14)
I am strengthened for all tasks to which God calls me. (Philippians 4:13)
I am never alone --- God will not leave me. (Hebrews 13:5)

I could go on and on, but what a great start!

The world is so busy telling us what we are NOT, convincing us if we just did this or that, or bought this or that, THEN we would be fulfilled. If we only looked a little thinner, darker, blonder, sexier, then we would truly be content. We are constantly trying to measure up to the latest supermodel, top notch job, flashy car, thinking that is what is going to bring us contentment. In the church, the religious spirit rises up today, just as it did in Jesus' time. Remember what the word says, "There is nothing new under the sun". (Ecclesiastes 1:9). The minute you stand up, and declare who you are in Christ (according to what God has spoken in His word), all the hairs stand straight up on the backs of the deeply religious, and a, "Who do you think you are" attitude rears it's ugly head. Satan does not want us to understand and become who we are in God's eyes. Because when we do, we will walk in a holy boldness, powerful and mighty in the strength of the Lord, and we will be used by God to destroy the chains and shackles that have bound ourselves, our loved ones, and all those around us. We will take back ground that he has stolen. We will boldly speak the word of God, bringing thousands into forgiveness and right relationship with their Lord. 

I have been asleep too long. It's time to be who I was created to be. It's time for you to be who God has created you to be.

Be the real you.