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Reorienting to God

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In 1977 the entire Chesapeake Bay froze over. The U.S. Coast Guard sent vessels to break up the ice in certain places. In an article from the Chesapeake Bay Magazine, titled: Ice Heroes – A Maryland Pilot’s Firsthand Account of the Historic 1977 Bay Freeze, states: The news reported that the Chesapeake Bay was shut down. Except it wasn’t. Not for the Bay Pilots. From Dec. 24, 1976, through Feb. 28, 1977, there were hundreds of ship movements, and cold was the order of the day. From the Bay Bridges south 100 nautical miles…navigational aids were nonexistent or useless. The weight of the ice, plus wind and tidal currents, pushed the buoys underwater or moved them markedly off station…..There was no GPS in 1977. Without buoys, pilots used radar range and bearing off specific points to navigate their ships. Just as importantly, the pilots employed their own ice marks, such as lining up a flagpole with the corner of a house, or a stand of trees with a dip in the land behind. This “old School” method was very effective in enabling the pilots to move ships when other mariners wouldn’t consider it.

The NLT states in Isaiah 40:12 Who else has held the oceans in his hand? Who has measured off the heavens with his fingers? Who else knows the weight of the earth or has weighed the mountains and hills on a scale? In other words, our Father – God Almighty, is so big that He holds the oceans in His hands and has measured off the heavens (outer space)…WITH HIS FINGERS?! Scripture clearly states He is Omnipresent. In other words, He is everywhere. Yet, Scripture teaches that all who call on Jesus’ Name to be saved, have the Godhead come to reside within them.

Presently our church has partnered with the Way Church to fast and pray this week. Why do we fast and pray? It’s the same reason that the Bible has over forty different Scripture referencing seeking God to find Him. You fast to position yourself before Him to seek His Presence – to reorient your life to Him. Like the Chesapeake Bay pilots you position yourself to find your bearing, or your mark, in order to navigate the icy waters of this life. But here is a profound question: Since God is everywhere, and He is so enormous, and He lives within us – How big does our ego, pride, and self-centeredness have to be in order to not be connected to Him? How big does our lofty impression of ourselves have to be that we don’t think we need to seek God? It’s an interesting fact that demons long to live life through humans. What is it about living in us that makes them comfortable? What is it about our nature that feels like home? Have the icy mountains of our self-sufficient pride cast such a shadow, and is so immense, that it eclipses the enormity of God?

Acts 17:27 in the AMPC translation states: So that they should seek God, in the hope that they might feel after Him and find Him, although He is not far from each one of us. This passage is referring to pagans. People who haven’t even seen their need to trust in Jesus. Yet, American Christians are quite content with ignoring Him. We won’t take the time to seek after Him to find Him failing to recognize we have drifted off course. We have failed to see the landmarks because of the icy bay of our heart.

Revelation 3:19 records the rebuke and exhortation of Jesus to the Laodiceans. Jesus reminds us: Those whom I [dearly and tenderly] love, I tell their faults and convict and convince and reprove and chasten [I discipline and instruct them]. So be enthusiastic and in earnest and burning with zeal and repent [changing your mind and attitude].

Where is the “ship” of your life really? Is it frozen in religious traditions, and spiritual routines, divorced and void of connecting to the Living God? We pray, we fast, we seek – to bring the “Mountain of Me” to bow before the Most High God; to humble ourselves before Him by positioning ourselves to be reoriented, and re-centered in Him. We seek to find Him – not us. We are the generation of Jacob – that seeks His face. (Unless you are not of His born-again generation). The Jacob generation seeks to draw near to God in order to obtain the blessing of knowing Him.

Where Am I?

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Deuteronomy 1:2 It is [only] eleven days’ journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh-barnea [on Canaan’s border; yet Israel took forty years to get beyond it]. AMPC

A helicopter was flying around above Seattle when an electrical malfunction disabled all of the aircraft’s electronic navigation and communications equipment. Due to the clouds and haze, the pilot could not determine the helicopter’s position and course to fly to the airport. The pilot saw a tall building, flew toward it, circled, drew a handwritten sign, and held it in the helicopter’s window. The pilot’s sign said “WHERE AM I?” in large letters. People in the tall building quickly responded to the aircraft, drew a large sign and held it in a building window. Their sign read: “YOU ARE IN A HELICOPTER.” The pilot smiled, waved, looked at the map, determined the course to steer to SEATAC airport, and landed safely. After they were on the ground, one of the passengers asked the pilot how the “YOU ARE IN A HELICOPTER” sign helped determine their position. The pilot responded “I knew that had to be the Microsoft building because, the response they gave me was technically correct, but completely useless.”

Horeb is another name for Sinai. The etymology of the Hebrew word for Sinai means “thorn” and its root means “to pierce.” On the other hand Horeb means to “dry up, lay waste, or sword.” How did Mount Sinai, the “piercing” get to be Mount Horeb, to dry up, lay waste, and to be the place of the sword? Israel made some choices along the way that set them on this course of trajectory. What were the choices they made? When God gave them the invitation to have a relationship with Him, they rejected that and asked instead that Moses be their mediator. Through that choice they received the Law. Unfortunately the Law without the Pierced One is simply a sword that cuts and divides. But when you wed the Sword with the Pierced One you not only have direction for your life, you have the Life-Giver Himself. He brings the Sword of God’s Word to Life and as Psalm 2:12 exhorts: Kiss the Son [pay homage to Him in purity], lest He be angry and you perish in the way, for soon shall His wrath be kindled. O blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are all those who seek refuge and put their trust in Him! Why is that significant? Revelation 1:16 …and from His mouth there came forth a sharp two-edged sword, and His face was like the sun shining in full power at midday. Day or night, you don’t have to ask for directions – for He is the Light and He is the Way. How can you lose? You can lose by ignoring the Pierced One, the Way, and the Truth of His Sword. That choice turns an eleven day journey into a forty year death march. Over the years I have learned that if it feels I am going around in circles then its time to look up the Way admitting my lostness. Through that moment of clarity I have confessed, I know You are wanting me to learn through this. I know this is a test. So what do I need to do to pass this test and quit going around the mountain? Could that be the answer? We’ve been ignoring the Pierced One and the Sword of His Word and so we have lost our way. Could it be that this is the reason there are over 60 references in the Bible regarding seeking the Lord to find Him? Which is really odd when you think of it. God is everywhere. (Which is a pretty big target) Yet we keep losing sight of Him over and over. Why is that? Could it be that our impressions of ourselves (self-centeredness) is so immense; that the mountain of our ego is so large that it eclipses God in importance? Now that is something to think about. This is why you and I get lost, and lose our way.