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In God We Trust?

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2 John 5-6 And now I beg you, lady (Cyria), not as if I were issuing a new charge (injunction or command), but [simply recalling to your mind] the one we have had from the beginning, that we love one another. 6 And what this love consists in is this: that we live and walk in accordance with and guided by His commandments (His orders, ordinances, precepts, teaching). This is the commandment, as you have heard from the beginning, that you continue to walk in love [guided by it and following it].

It sounds so simple to obey the command to love. But in reality it’s easy to love the people we like or that love and like us. The difficult people not so much. I’ve been pastoring for over 30 years and I have had the “blessing” of being on the receiving end of all of the above. Practicing this command hasn’t gotten any easier but I can say that the Lord has given me some tools to help cope with the pain that comes from rejection, hurt, criticism and pain. What are some of those tools?

  1. Become like Jesus. That’s a simple but profound truth. It’s been said you can’t become an overcomer till you have been given something to overcome. The same is true of becoming like Jesus. If I am going to “become” then I will need to face the challenges that do not look or sound like Jesus. When I am challenged I am learning to see that as an opportunity to become like Jesus. In other words, I lean into the pain. John 4 states that Jesus had need to go to Samaria. Samaritans hated Jews. Thus you can infer from this passage that Jesus had need to be rejected. He knew He would grow through it.
  2. Pray to see the person or difficult situation as Jesus sees them (or it). In the Book of Genesis God goes looking for Adam and Eve after they had eaten the forbidden fruit. Adam tells the Lord that he had hidden himself because he was afraid; and I was naked. The Lord wisely asks, Who told you that you were naked? The enemy, the accuser of the brothers, is in the full-time business of reminding all of us that we are naked. God on the other hand covers our sins, nakedness, shame, and guilt.
  3. Release the person from your expectations. One of the weirdest passages in the Bible is found in John 2:24: But Jesus [for His part] did not trust Himself to them, because He knew all [men];…How can Jesus, Who loves all people perfectly, not trust them? 1 Corinthian 13:7 states that Love always trusts. I asked the Lord about this and He gave me a great answer. He reminded me of my children when they were toddlers. He asked, Robert did you love your children when they were toddlers? I said, Absolutely Lord! He asked, Would you have trusted them to drive your car? I answered, Absolutely not! He asked, Did you love your children less because you didn’t trust them to drive the car? His point was made. Jesus loves, and He always trusts – yet He has realistic expectations of what we are and are not capable of doing and being.

Chuck Swindoll author of, Make Up Your Mind, writes that: In the 1960s a teacher was given a roster showing the actual I.Q. test scores of the students of one class, and for another class a roster in which the I.Q. column had been (mistakenly) filled in with the students’ locker numbers. The teacher assumed that the locker numbers were the actual I.Q.s of the students when the rosters were posted at the beginning of the semester. After a year it was discovered that in the first class the students with high actual I.Q. scores had performed better than those with low ones. But in the second class the students with higher locker numbers scored significantly higher than those with lower locker numbers!

When we shift our focus, and expectations from others onto Jesus, He empowers us to do all the above. Which really is all about trust. Who do you trust? Isn’t it funny that we have trouble trusting Jesus and others? Yet, we trust ourselves – more than them – to protect us from being harmed or hurt. We say we Love Him. If love always trusts then our focus will need to shift from us – onto Him.

Athbhliain Faoi Mhaise Dhuit!

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Genesis 1:1-3 In the beginning God (prepared, formed, fashioned, and) created the heavens and the earth.2 The earth was without form and an empty waste, and darkness was upon the face of the very great deep. The Spirit of God was moving (hovering, brooding) over the face of the waters.3 And God said, Let there be light; and there was light.

At the beginning of the first books of the Bible there was a beginning. The title of this first book of the Bible originates from the Greek word “ginomai” which means to begin to be, or begin to be in a certain state or condition. It’s often used to mean to be born, but also to become something, start bearing fruit or the coming about of day or night. It may be used to mean to cause to begin, and thus to create or to perform, or even simply as to happen or to occur. (Abarim Publications, Etymology of Genesis) There was darkness but God spoke Light into existence and there was Light!

In the middle of the Bible, at the beginning of the dawning of a New Covenant – there was a New Beginning. There was still darkness, but God let there be Light and let there be His Word. His Word and His Light was there at the beginning and the middle. John 1:1-5 In the beginning [before all time] was the Word (Christ), and the Word was with God, and the Word was God Himself.2 He was present originally with God.3 All things were made and came into existence through Him; and without Him was not even one thing made that has come into being.4 In Him was Life, and the Life was the Light of men.5 And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it [put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it].

At the end of the Bible there was the Alpha and the Omega – the Beginning, the Middle and the Ending. There was no more darkness only the Word, the Light, and the Living Water. Revelation 21:5-6,22-25 And He Who is seated on the throne said, See! I make all things new. Also He said, Record this, for these sayings are faithful (accurate, incorruptible, and trustworthy) and true (genuine).6 And He [further] said to me, It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I [Myself] will give water without price from the fountain (springs) of the water of Life….I saw no temple in the city, for the Lord God Omnipotent [Himself] and the Lamb [Himself] are its temple.23 And the city has no need of the sun nor of the moon to give light to it, for the splendor and radiance (glory) of God illuminate it, and the Lamb is its lamp.24 The nations shall walk by its light and the rulers and leaders of the earth shall bring into it their glory.25 And its gates shall never be closed by day, and there shall be no night there.

Isn’t it curious that God’s beginning had an ending – but His Ending has a New Beginning in Jesus? You are a new beginning. There was darkness in your beginning – probably some darkness in your middle – but in the ending there is a new beginning waiting. In Jesus He writes our book. He is the Author and you are His letter. He is the A to Z, the Beginning and the Ending. Your life, and time on this earth is simply another chapter being written, and added to His Book. Question is what are you going to do with this new chapter being written? This new year – 2025?

There’s an interesting Irish New Year’s tradition involving people opening the back door of their house just before midnight to “let the Old Year out” and opening the front door to “let the New Year in”. While opening the front door at midnight, people would greet their neighbors and wish them a Happy New Year! Revelation 12:11 promises we overcome the accuser of the brothers through the Blood of Jesus and the Testimony that blood brings. Through His Blood we can let the old year out and close the door on it. Through His Blood we can open the DOOR and welcome the new year in. Why? Through His Blood we have overcome. Through His Blood we are forgiven, cleansed, healed and made new. Through His Blood we can forget what’s behind and strain towards what’s ahead – His New Beginning. Let’s join Jesus – Who is the Door – opening ourselves up to begin writing a new chapter with our Author. Let’s begin again anew. Let’s become something new, and start bearing the fruit of His Light in the darkness – til the Dawning of His New Day. He makes all things new!

Athbhliain faoi mhaise dhuit! Pronounced: ath leen fui washa ditch = Happy New Year to You!

Third Heaven Perspectives

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IN 2022 CBN shared an article about the transdimensionality of our universe. It states: Dr. Hugh Ross is an astrophysicist that uses science and scripture to show that God is not constrained by the time and space dimensions that we are. Humans operate within four dimensions of space and time which include length, width, depth, and time. When astrophysicists began studying String theory, they realized there were six additional small space dimensions, totaling 9 space dimensions and one dimension of time. The math on String theory looks promising and would result in 11 space-time dimensions. Dr. Ross explains, “The remarkable advances of research reveal a God who lives and operates in the equivalent of at least 11 dimensions of space and time. They show that God can create space-time dimensions at will and is not limited by any of his created dimensions. Therefore, God is transdimensional.

In 2 Corinthians 12:2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—was caught up to the third heaven. At that time the Jewish rabbis had a belief in three heavens: our atmosphere, outer space, and paradise or Heaven. Years ago I learned a phrase called “Second Heaven Revelation.” The inference was that the enemy operated in the second heaven, whereas God existed in Paradise or the Third Heaven. The challenge was to not see people from the devil’s perspective – but from God’s, Third Heaven perspective.

I recall the first time I heard Dr. Ross speak explaining extra dimensions of time: In a two-dimensional world a triangle cannot be a circle and a circle cannot be a triangle. But add a third dimension to the triangle and the triangle becomes a cone. In a three dimensional world a triangle can be a circle and a circle a triangle. He used this illustration as an example of understanding the Trinity of God. But the same can be applied to our perceptions of ourselves and others. Jesus raises us from the death of a two-dimensional existence – to the life of a multi-dimensional existence. The catch? He wants us to co-partner with Him in lifting others up to His multi-dimensional, level of existence. Not only does He desire our partnership – He longs for His Forever Family to begin seeing others from this perspective. Brad McClendon once said, If you are going to the Bible looking for flaws – How can you see Jesus? True discernment is looking for Jesus. See behind the prison bars. The Bible says Jesus is our Mirror. The accuser wants your focus on yourself and others performance – not the Mirror of Jesus.

Todays Challenge? Rise to God’s perspective and ask to see people as He sees them.