Blog

God performs astonishing miracles, like creating the world, unleashing plagues on Egypt through Moses, dividing the Red Sea, and providing manna and quail for the Israelites. In Jesus’ day, the humanity of Jesus was empowered to work extremely amazing works, including raising the dead. The stereotype of Him being a sensationalist seems plausible, but is it correct?

Is it possible that the Spirit, not the Father, is the sensational one of the Trinity because of His role in performing miracles? However, the Holy Trinity operates as a single entity. The Spirit acts in alignment with the Father and Son’s plan, not as a defector.

To put Him in the box of being a sensationalist would be a very serious mistake. I am reminded of Elijah, who, by the Spirit, performed striking miracles such as drenching a sacrifice with water and then summoning heavenly fire to consume it. Following that, he annihilated 450 prophets of Baal and outran the king’s chariot to Jezreel, a stunning display that would profoundly affect anyone.

After those recent sensational experiences, while standing on the mount of the Lord, God sent multiple sensational signs of God, yet God was silent in them all. Finally, in a non-sensational moment, God whispers to him a prophetic word. I find God’s ways with Elijah made a profound statement we all can learn from. The fact is, God certainly will work through sensational things, but never should we stereotype God’s ways. We must also understand God also works and speaks to the unsensational. If we limit God’s voice or actions to the sensational, we will miss important messages He wants to say to us.

I find it interesting when Jesus ministered; yes, He certainly performed sensational miracles. He also repeatedly told those He healed not to tell anyone. When a crowd began to gather, He would quickly heal to avoid the publicity—the very opposite of how we work with the miraculous today. Sadly, too often we confuse God’s presence with our emotions and desires for the supernational.

In Mark 4:26-29, Jesus points out there is no sensational action when grain grows. The Almighty’s knowledge dictates when He will use noticeable means and when He will operate with great subtlety to achieve His objectives. It is utterly foolish to think we can limit God to only the sensational acts. Too often we attempt to fabricate God’s sensational acts with our loud, pulsing musical style, construction design of buildings, etc., when He will do whatever He needs to do without our fabrications, no matter how well-intended they may be. Truth is, He may interpret our fabrication efforts of His presence as “unauthorized fire” and bring His judgement instead of blessings.  We must not presume that the latest fads, however attractive or unusual, are righteous in His eyes, no matter how we defend our choices. It’s important to recall that God focuses on our hearts, not our outward accomplishments or social standing. He stands as the sole leader for our families, churches, and national movements. We should humbly follow His tender direction.

Tragedies can manifest in countless ways, affecting both physical and non-physical entities. They are capable of causing suffering, destruction, and distress. One particularly sad event that recently grabbed my attention took place at a very influential church in Northern California. To sensationalize the supernatural, they highlighted an individual who appeared to have the divine gifts of prophecy and word of knowledge. He achieved international recognition following their promotion. The gravity of this tragedy was immense, as it both slandered God’s reputation and devastated thousands.

The most upsetting part is that the Holy Spirit offered protection that would have prevented this tragedy. Peter encountered a sorcerer (false spiritual performer) named Simon in Acts 8:9-23. Simon had built an extended reputation for astonishing all levels of people in Samaria with his practice of ‘black’ magic.

The God’s Spirit used Philip to stir up a spiritual revival among the Samaritans. “Even Simon (the sorcerer) himself believed, and after being baptized he continued with Philip. And seeing signs and great miracles performed, he was amazed.” Acts 8:13 ESV.

Because this revival was so profound, church leaders in Jerusalem sent Peter and John to help disciple the new believers. When Simon (the sorcerer) realized the Spirit of God was transferred by the laying on of hands, he asked Peter if he could buy that ability so he too could lay hands on people and they would receive the Spirit. Peter discerned Simon’s evil spirit and sternly rebuked him. Simon was silenced.

When Barnabas and Saul (later named Paul) launched their first missionary trip, they too encountered a sorcerer with an evil spirit. He too quickly discerned the evil spirit in the man and cast out the demon. Again, he was silenced. I point these illustrations out so you can clearly see that among Paul’s list of spiritual gifts, he lists “…to another prophecy, to another discerning of spirits …” 1 Corinthians 12:10 KJV. This divine gift allows leaders to identify authentic prophets and those with genuine words of knowledge. The leaders, for reasons unknown, neglected that gift and instead elevated a man who mined social media for personal data, leading people to believe the information came from the Holy Spirit. Severe damage to thousands of lives occurred.

It’s a tragedy when church leaders neglect a gift freely given by God to safeguard believers. They instead promoted a false prophet to advance their cause. After discovering his actions, they failed to alert the unsuspecting faithful about the charlatan. Be sure to ask God for wisdom and the ability to discern before believing someone who claims to receive messages from Him. Please know, God does truly give incredible spiritual gifts to help us.

Isaiah wrote in chapter 11, a prophecy about the coming Messiah’s millennial reign. I am repeatedly amazed at God’s patience and promise to Israel, considering their perpetual rebellion against Him. It was in the foggy certainty of prophesy God inspired Isaiah to write these words in chapter 12.  “In that day: I will give thanks to you, O LORD, for you were angry with me, that you might comfort me. 2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and he has become my salvation”. Isaiah 12:1-2 ESV.

Those words most of us quickly identify with, yet what exactly do they mean? They are very easy to repeat when all is well in our daily life. But are they as easy to proclaim when we are facing serious adversity? When the apostle Paul pleaded with God to remove his “thorn in the flesh”, he felt the need to ask God three times, which shows some uncertainty. Finally, God responded, saying, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” 2 Cor.12:9 ESV. What was He actually saying to Paul with those words?

If I correctly understand God’s response, He was telling His most dynamic servant, ‘Sorry, Paul, you are going to have to live with your ‘thorn in the flesh’. He certainly wasn’t saying He was going to remove it! So, what might that have meant about Paul’s trust in God comforting Him? God told Paul the thorn he was frustrated with had a specific purpose, a good purpose which gave that frustrating thorn great value to him. This appears to be how Paul understood God’s words. “To keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited” — very interesting.

Through his interpretation, Isaiah’s verse, “… I will trust, and will not be afraid,” gains new significance. Paul’s perspective gives Isaiah’s words an interesting twist, especially since Paul was facing challenges then. This now signifies a trust that not only reduces fear but also empowers him, even to the point of singing, to overcome his hardships. I can so identify with the strength Paul reports it gave him. Though I’ve faced trials since God took my wife to be with Him, I’ve discovered His strength is sufficient, and it has offered me fresh perspectives on His nature and my response to His will. I can say I’ve continued to learn to know Him better as well as to better know the weakness of my flesh. Now, I honestly can’t say ‘thank you’ enough for His decision! I have repeatedly stated that we must trust Him based on who He is, not just on what He may or may not do in our situation. Joseph wasn’t jumping for joy after he pleaded with Pharaoh’s cupbearer to get him out of prison, and it didn’t happen. We can rely on God’s character and wisdom to possess more than just healing or comfort to shape us into His likeness.

Do you know enough about God to declare that He would never hurt you or anyone else? It is quite common to look upon Him as a mender of broken hearts and one who binds up our wounds.  Indeed, He certainly is that, and we certainly want to thank and praise Him for that. But whoever thinks that is all He comprises is selectively cherry-picking verses in the Bible. If that is you, you have a lot to look forward to discovering the God of the Bible.

The patriarch, Jacob, encountered God, was blessed, yet left that experience walking with a limp where God had touched him. (Gen. 32:30-31) Do you limp where God touched you?

Some would retort by saying Jesus stood in for us and was wounded for our transgressions, bruised for our iniquities. We certainly can praise and worship Him for that. But if you noticed, transgressions and iniquities both refer to sins or failures. Salvation doesn’t erase our innate characteristics such as independence, pride, greed, selfishness, and abusive tendencies.  How does He work with those things to help us grow into the fullness of Christ?

Does God only have forgiveness, miracles, and untold blessings in His toolbox when chiseling unhealthy human habits or wrong ideas off His children as He makes them into the likeness of His Son?  The Bible teaches He uses pain and hurts to chisel off all the characteristics that make us look and behave more like the culture of the world. He has untold tools in His toolbox to lay bare the innermost secrets of our hearts, to challenge us to be stronger and have a love for Him like Jesus’ humanity had for his Heavenly Father.

When Jesus asked Peter, “Do you love me?” (John 21:15-17), do you think that question made his emotions jump for joy? No, they grieved for him. It even stimulated self-defense. Has the Lord ever grieved you? In my own life, if I had never experienced His grieving, correcting, rebuking, or discipline, I would know very little of Him.

We hear so much more about God’s tender love that we have been lulled to sleep on easy believism and cheap grace. We hear much more about accepting Jesus’ payment of salvation than surrendering the control of our daily lives to Him. Just getting in the door of the kingdom of God requires each person to surrender their own kingdom to God’s kingdom. God desires individuals who will embrace hardship and follow His path, mirroring Jesus’s thoughts, actions, and reactions. He looks for those whose hearts say to Him, I love you, God, and want to be your love slave as Paul and others saw themselves. The Christian life is not all about us; it is about glorifying our God. Remember, “For the Lord disciplines the one he loves, and chastises every son whom he receives.” Hebrews 12:6 ESV.

Ironically, the better you know Him, the greater faith, love, and trust in Him you will have.  He is no longer a god made in your likeness. He is majestic, yet desires to share Himself with you.

Is God good All the time? Absolutely, but… is His goodness always in sync with how our obsession with comfort and nearsightedness defines goodness? God created us to enjoy life and have the highest sense of well-being when are most conformed to the image of Jesus Christ. “For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers.” Romans 8:29 (ESV)

It is fascinating to find that God’s way with mankind is to honor and protect their freedom to choose their destiny. When the rich young man asked Jesus what good deed he needed to do to have eternal life, Jesus first pointed him to following the 10 Commandments. When the young man retorted that he had been careful to do that from his childhood, Jesus fingered the nerve that exposed his gross misinterpretation of how God thinks. What is also noteworthy is the fact that Jesus made absolutely no effort to attempt to restimulate the man’s interest in it. He respected a human’s decision as He historically did with the early Hebrews and with us today.

Suppose a person thinks they know God’s love and grace but does not take the time to read the rest of what the Bible says about His righteousness and truth. Their minds impulsively jump to a conclusion and create a false expectation about what God said or what He will do. For example. If someone ‘cherry picked’ the verse “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.” Hebrews 11:6 (NKJV), they could falsely imagine God is going to “reward” them with whatever they are dreaming about.

It brings us pleasure to expect His rewards if we share His thinking regarding such issues, but we must read what it goes on to read “of them who diligently seek Him”. Can we really presume we are diligently seeking Him by going to church, making contributions, and doing acts of service. Unfortunately, God doesn’t think in terms of bartering or earning His rewards through good works of any sort. He eagerly rewards those who seek to know Him more intimately. Such a heart seeks out more of His ways by reading other parts of His Word, which reads, “even when you ask, you don’t get it because your motives are all wrong—you want only what will give you pleasure.” James 4:3 (NLT2) Isn’t this the same principle that occurs in a marriage relationship or any relationship. It happens all the time in the news media or sales work, which almost always creates false expectations, which end in conflict.

Neglecting to study His Word and listening for His Spirit to personalize it to you will naturally result in unhealthy expectations. A solid interpretation of the Bible produces obedience, unity, and righteous living. The lack of it produces false expectations and unrighteous behavior.

It is very dangerous and unproductive to reshape God into our own image, one who thinks as we think, wants what we want, and does what we want. Is your mental image of the god in your mind more akin to yourself than to the God the Bible describes?  If the god in your mind is significantly different, what do you sense you need to do to think more as He thinks? I am energized when I receive another revelation of God’s ways. It makes me feel closer to Him. This is one of the ways He rewards those who diligently seek Him.

If you were going to throw a big party, who would you invite? Would you be very selective, sort of selective, or would you invite any and everyone? Would you invite those who are dying, those who disagree with everything, narcissists, or ‘extra grace required people’? My guess is that you would at least be sort of selective, but…

Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount, especially in the Beatitudes, appears to invite any and all to be in the kingdom of God. But was He really? He also said, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16 (NIV) Doesn’t that restrict the invitation to be only to those who believe in Him? Why did He say to the same crowd, “But I warn you—unless your righteousness is better than the righteousness of the teachers of religious law and the Pharisees, you will never enter the Kingdom of Heaven”? Matthew 5:20 (NLT2) He also said, “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3 (NIV), as well as, “For the gate is narrow, and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few.” Matthew 7:14 (ESV)

Jesus’ invitation was for a particular group of ‘whosoever’ (John 3:16), making Him both exclusive and inclusive. I find it very interesting that Jesus didn’t tell people what to do as much as He laid before the people the most generous invitation to enjoy abundant life and left it up to each person to decide if they really wanted it. He predestines all those who choose His way to become like Jesus. (Romans 8:29) He doesn’t tell each person what he or she must choose to do. That is how much He loves ‘free will’. He ‘puts the invitation on the table’ to leave or pick up.

It is also very interesting that it is humans, even so-called ‘believers’, who tell others what they must believe and condemn them if they don’t see it their way. Isn’t that a form of mind control when we leverage condemnation or judging others to coerce people to do what they want done, even to become a Christ follower. Does that show respect to whoever you are telling them what they need to do? Do you value and respect their right to decide what they want to do? When you invite them to be saved, or do you value only what you believe to be true.

This door swings two ways.

Someone said, I already know more of what the Bible says than I practice. Knowing is not the same as doing. The sign above my office quotes Benjamin Franklin’s, ‘Well done is better than well said.’ How is it that we can condemn those who choose to continue to live a destructive lifestyle when they know better, when we know so much more than we practice? Could it be that is why Jesus said, “Judge not, that you be not judged.  For with the judgment you pronounce, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.  Why do you see the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye?  Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when there is the log in your own eye? Matthew 7:1-4 (ESV)

I am SO, GRATEFUL for God’s mercy!! Aren’t you? But I must remember,  you must as well, that His mercy is selective too. The LORD is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18 (ESV) Who ends up coming to Him is not based on His invitation; it is based on how the person invited responds to His invitation.  We must respect them enough to accept their decision. We can’t cherry-pick just the verses that make us feel good. We must look at the bigger picture in God’s Word.

I’ve been intrigued with the Biblical use of the word ‘authority’. As I dug deeper into its meaning, I found that, in general, authority fundamentally is a blend of power derived from a mix of traditions, personal influence due to personality, etc. and legal structures. Positional authority is perhaps the most commonly referred to. While different vocabulary is used, charismatic-based authority, though not verbalized as authority, yet wields a dominate influence in our day-to-day life. Traditional authority seems to have been losing its influence, especially in our more recent emphasis on the woke mindset. Unfortunately, its political intention is to destroy the lives of both genders, all races and, if possible, those of every age in order to brainwash people’s minds so that a new age of controlling others can emerge.

Though its use in the Bible varies, it usually means the ability to speak or act. This comes from having been entrusted with that power or authority. When the Bible uses the word authority to describe what people sensed when Jesus taught, it takes on a unique meaning.

When Jesus was only 12 years old, Luke 2:46-49 reports how He somehow became separated from his parents in the crowds during the Jewish feast of Passover. When they realized he wasn’t with the group who was returning home, they returned to Jerusalem only to find him in the temple. There He was, shocking the well-learned Jewish doctors and leaders with His amazing understanding and questions. More often than not, a reader bypasses Jesus’ full humanity and interprets His questions and answers came out of His deity. But is that a correct interpretation? We must remember John later twice refers to Him clearly saying, “… I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by himself. He does only what he sees the Father doing. Whatever the Father does, the Son also does. John 5:19 (NLT2) and “I can do nothing on my own. I judge as God tells me. Therefore, my judgment is just, because I carry out the will of the one who sent me, not my own will.” John 5:30 (NLT2) He is explicit that the knowledge He was stunning others with was not of Himself, so His knowledge must have been flowing out of the Spirit of God dwelling within Him.

Is it possible the Holy Spirit empowers someone to speak, while others feel the Spirit but wrongly credit the speaker? Could it be what the crowds called authority, in contrast with the Jewish teachers, in reality was simply that His words were anointed by the Holy Spirit. Paul seems to allude to this happening when he had spoken to the Corinthians. He described in 1 Cor 2:1-5 that he was not with enticing words and man’s wisdom but was of the Holy Spirit.

If true, we don’t have to be scholars or great with words to share life-changing truths. I’ve pondered if that is what Paul was saying when he wrote that we have the mind of Christ. (1 Corinthians 2:15-16) I know from personal experience that both when speaking publicly and when counseling, I’ve been surprised at words of wisdom that have come out of my mouth that I had never thought of before that moment. I suspect there is a type of authority each of us can have that has not come out of our position, charisma or tradition. It is an authority that comes when God’s Spirit uses our mouths to speak His words. However, that does not mean we can blame the Spirit of God for inspiring us to speak unkind words or abuse others. Yes, the Bible says God can use a donkey, so we can’t use Him using us to imply we are spiritual. We must be careful to allow what we may say reflects the character of God—the fruit of His Spirit.

Dallas Willard describes three insightful types of faith in God. He called the first Faith of Propriety (religious correctness, respectability, or ritualism). We might think of how Job’s initial faith was described by offering sacrifices for his children in case they sinned. Or that of Nicodemus, who, although a Pharisee, was attracted to Jesus while maintaining his rituals. Willard described the second level as Desperation (chaotic, unstable, confusion). Job maintained his own righteousness when his friends challenged him. (Job 32:1) He maintained it even when God confronted him. When God paused His questioning in Job 40:3-5, although befuddled, Job only acknowledged his lack of knowledge, not his spiritual depravity.

Willard calls the last level the Faith of Sufficiency (deep conviction, perhaps the faith of Christ (cf. Galatians 2:16, KJV), Philippians 3:9, KJV). Completely humbled by God’s questions, Job then confesses, “I had only heard about you before, but now I have seen you with my own eyes.  I take back everything I said, and I sit in dust and ashes to show my repentance.” Job 42:5-6 (NLT2) God’s questioning had brought him to a new level of trust in Him.

Likewise, every growing believer will pass through three levels of relationship with Jesus Christ, each in response to a unique invitation. The first is Jesus’ invitation to “Come to Me” (Mt 11:28). This is where we find rest and relief from our sins. The second is “Follow Me” (Mt 4:19), an invitation to a closer relationship of a leader/master and servant. The third is “Abide in Me” (Jn 15:4), which depicts a conscious awareness of His presence on a regular basis. This is the deepest relationship any human can have with Jesus, that of victorious Christian living. Brother Lawrence best relates this abiding in his book, The Practice of the Presence of God. Both Jesus and Dallas’ descriptions point to the coveted relationship level with God.

But how can this pinnacle be reached? Separate from living in harmony under God’s heart, our nature-imposed objectives go awry. The social and individual chaos of human desires sees to it. I’ve found that Solomon’s words offer the most effective way to live in harmony with His heart. “Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding.  In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths.” Proverbs 3:5-6 (ESV) To be transparent, I honestly thought I was trusting Him more than my own understanding—and I’m sure I intermittently did so. Without Connie and through several very painful experiences, the Holy Spirit has been showing me I default to trusting in myself, and I cannot afford to continue this pattern. I must seek the actualization of depending entirely upon the “mind of Christ”. (1 Cor. 2:16) The Psalmist describes this when he wrote, “Whoever goes to the LORD for safety, whoever remains under the protection of the Almighty, can say to him, ‘You are my defender and protector. You are my God; in you I trust.’” Psalm 91:1-2 (TEV)

Jesus’ call to abide in Him is not living like a monk or attending perpetual Bible study groups. Rather, it’s simply persistently endeavoring to integrate into one’s daily lifestyle, Jesus’s teaching of the kingdom of God. Of course, you can’t integrate them all at one time. But, it could be accomplished by teaming up with several friends to examine Jesus’ words about the kingdom and how each concept could be creatively integrated into your lifestyles. Doing this as a team could be an enjoyable way to grow into the full stature of Jesus Christ. (Eph. 4:13) Speaking from experience, the more I practice this, the more content and grateful I am.

Jesus’ words, “For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter the kingdom of heaven. Matthew 5:20 (NIV) is hard to grasp. The Pharisees and teachers of the law appeared righteous to some today. Some people’s thinking may be due to how we define righteousness today, with a focus on actions. How could someone be more righteous than the scrupulous Pharisees? What if we were to change the meaning of righteousness? What’s the potential impact of that?

The Pharisees and other Jewish leaders flaunted their giving, praying, and fasting to appear righteous. Suppose we redefine spiritual disciplines; like fasting, Bible reading, praying, giving, and other such deeds — not be acts of righteousness, but to be acts of wisdom. Would that alter the definition of genuine righteousness? Jesus condemned them for their obsession with those actions. Those practices, in the end, are only wise actions that lead to righteousness. Think about it, is it righteous not to strike someone back or is it a wise response to an abuser? Jesus wasn’t righteous because He prayed to His Father. Prayer was only the tool He used to talk to His Father, which led to His humanity being righteous. Dieting doesn’t automatically make a person lose weight, but it is a wise strategy for losing weight. So then, what is a righteousness that exceeds that of the Pharisees?

Interestingly, God, who told the Hebrews how to worship (offer sacrifices, lift up hands when they pray, attend Holy Feasts, and the like), yet later had Isaiah tell them to stop doing all those things because it made him ’sick’. The church of Ephesus had learned from Paul, John and others who pastored them, how to do all the things they were commended for doing in Revelations 2. Yet Christ told the believers that they had left their first love of Him and if they didn’t make a 180-degree change in direction, He would remove their candlestick, which represented His presence among them. How can it be that in both cases, they were doing all that some might think to be the ‘righteous’ things, and they still would have been classified as not meeting His minimal requirements? What makes an action ‘righteous’ is the motivation of the heart.

If we look at the whole of scripture, we find God is not as concerned about what we do as He is in why we do those things. It is the motives of the heart that changes everything. Motives in the heart turn good deeds, including fasting, into righteousness. That means we can have good people in the church who have been faithful for many decades, yet have exchanged their intense passion to grow into the likeness of Jesus, for their cherished tradition, head knowledge, right doctrine, giving, raising their hands in worship, and sitting in the same seat at church, i.e., their rituals. Their attitudes towards others, including other believers in the church, reflect those of the Pharisees more than a reflection of Jesus.

Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” Matthew 18:3 (ESV) Little children depend more on what they sense inside, their intuition, than they do on their logic. As adults, if we can’t get our minds around a Bible principle, we don’t practice it. Does our tendency to lean on our own understanding inhibit us from accepting the Spirit’s whispers as we meditate on His Word?

When my wife died, she had no fear of going to Heaven. Yet she was wary of the mysterious process of dying. The unknown factor is sobering for all, save daredevils. Thinking or talking about death isn’t popular, particularly for those uncertain about the dying experience and the afterlife.

After sensing the Spirit of God was clearly leading me to become a pastor-at-large in a seminary in the Philippines, I was also wary of tomorrow’s unknowns. While I had no apprehension of where I will spend eternity, I was uneasy about how the life of a 79-year-old widower might look while serving at a seminary, serving 38 different nations with multiple cultures. I am not a cultural sociologist, so this is a glaring unknown to me.

It is in this context that I pondered the thoughts and emotions of Mary when the angel appeared to her and asked her about becoming pregnant and giving birth to a son of the ‘Most High’. No one knew how to prepare for that! As a teenager, in a culture where pregnancy out-of-wedlock was totally unacceptable, it could have been fatal for her. Bottom-line; she must have imagined social rejection. But she was ‘engaged’ to be married, so how would her fiancé respond to such a thing happening to her. She was both very courageous and totally devoted to God when, in-spite-of her misgivings, she said, “I am the Lord’s servant. May everything you have said about me come true.” Luke 1:38 (NLT2) Stepping into the unknown at a seminar in the Philippines would be a ‘cakewalk’ compared to the complications of becoming pregnant and giving birth to none-other-than the Son of God.

Given my insecurities, I could fully understand that Mary had to focus on an inner conviction of who God is rather than on the formidable uncertainties. I have drawn strength from reflecting on Mary’s total commitment to allowing her body to become the mother of God’s Son.

While surrendering all of one’s rights to become shaped into the image of Jesus is less foreboding than following Mary’s example, or even mine, it has distinct similarities.

People each possess a kingdom in which they control their actions, whether they think of it that way or not. We often think of a baby not having a kingdom but, mind you, babies have temper-tantrums because whatever they wanted wasn’t coming to them as they wanted. The rights of a teenager are often normally well contested. Irrespective of age, for a person to become a true Christian or Christ-follower, that person must surrender their kingdom over to God’s kingdom. That surrender of rights begins at conversion, but it is a continuous process, called sanctification, until they breathe their last breath. The more a person surrenders, the greater intimacy, and therefore divine joy and peace, that person has with God. Although only an early teenager, Mary showed serious spiritual maturity when she consented to becoming the mother of Jesus. I’m ashamed that it took so long for me to consent just to go to the Philippines.

This begs the question, how far can you see that you have come in surrendering your kingdom, your rights to control your daily decisions, to God’s kingdom, the kingdom of God? How have you recently responded when He made His last request of you? Do you sense you need to get back into His presence and surrender your rights to the unknown in your future?