|City on a Hill - Writings for Refuge

John 14: 22 Judas (not Judas Iscariot, but the other disciple with that name) said to him, "Lord, why are you going to reveal yourself only to us and not to the world at large?" 23 Jesus replied, "All who love me will do what I say. My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them. 24 Anyone who doesn't love me will not obey me. And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me. Jesus said those who love Him obey Him. It is easy for me to mis-hear what Jesus is saying. Because the enemy wants me to hold myself to a false standard, I can think Jesus wants me to build Him a better Tom to get more near Him...that is not what He is saying. What Jesus said was that our obedience was a measure of our love. Like a thermometer...a thermometer doesn't make the temperature warmer or colder, it tells you what the temperature is. My obedience doesn't change my status with God in and of itself, but it

Whatever thing you are worried about today, God saw it before you did. Whatever you are anxious about, He already knows the outcome. In the book of Romans, God says the most audacious thing: "I promise to work out everything for the good of those who love Me and are called according to My purpose." What a broad and amazingly hard-to-keep statement! But this is the thing: YOU can be the proof of that statement. That promise is actually an invitation to every person who has ever lived or ever will live. God would say: let me prove through YOUR circumstances that I never lie! You WANT to be the proof of God's promise. When the creator of all the universe, the Author of power and love, wants to be prove His goodness and ability to turn scary looking things to awesome demonstrations of His power, you really want to be the volunteer! The conditions of the promise are these: love God and do your best to line up with His purposes...agree that what He says is true really is true.

God wants me to hear his voice. He delights in talking to me. He wants all of us to hear his voice, and God is always ready to talk...but he leaves the start of the conversation to us. When God made Adam and Eve, He spent time with them face to face. The apostle Paul said that He made us to be family. God's idea of family is all about loving and talking...being together. When sin separated us from God, we could no longer be with God face to face. Not because He is too good to be with us, as some have taught, but because as Moses said, the brightness of His holiness would actually kill us. He loves us too much to let us see Him in our fallen bodies! But God still wants to spend time with us. The way we can be with Him for now is talking to Him. When we talk with God we give Him the only thing we can...the thing He truly desires from us...our attention! The more we talk to Him, and listen for His responses, the more we start to see Him again, only it is not with natural eyes, but wit

God's love is different than our love. The strength of His love is unimaginably greater than ours. God's love is "unfailing." Before I made my first choice, God loved me with unfailing love. Before you uttered your first word, God loved you with UNFAILING love. His love is in perfect partnership with unfailing faithfulness, unfailing righteousness, and unfailing care. His perfect love doesn't depend on your performance. He isn't waiting to love you. He totally loves you, just like you are, no matter what you have done, right now. You don't need to build Him a better you to get His love. Our response to this love, when we really encounter it, is obedience. Jesus said if we love Him we will obey Him. He deeply cares about obedience because of love. Like I care about my children's obedience. A good parent doesn't make rules to control their kids, they set boundaries to protect them from what harms, steals, and kills. My son Luke easily forgets that th

Psalm 23:6 Surely your goodness and unfailing love will pursue me all the days of my life, and I will live in the house of the LORD forever. When I walk in a right relationship with God, HIS blessings pursue ME! I don't have to hope for His blessing, or contend for His blessings, they actually chase me down. When God sends something to chase you down, you can't stop it! I can't get away from His blessing! Walking in a right relationship with God takes some effort, though. It takes a searching of our own spirit, and a willingness to be searched by God. To listen to where He is leading us...to allow Him to correct us. The message of grace has gone out powerfully into the church in america. So much so, that most of us pursue grace more than holiness. There is grace for all of our mistakes, for sure. And we are saved by grace alone. Period. Nothing we could do could earn us salvation, and we accept it as a free gift to us (although salvation was very costly to God). But to purs

The Kingdom of Heaven is sparkling with fascinating places to explore. It is vast, beautiful, exciting, and complex. It is full of priceless treasure there for the taking. Things like wisdom, revelation of God's plans for you, insight into His word, will, and ways. Fascination with Jesus is there, and so is love for others. Humility can be found there, and the strength to resist sin and darkness. Growing in the authority of Jesus' name is possible there, too. Not to mention anointed prayer and worship, and spending time in God's presence. I picture the Kingdom of God as sparkling with beauty, green with life, and warm red with fiery desire for the things our heart is just wired to experience. Every pleasure in the natural realm is a counterfeit of the true pleasure in the Kingdom of Heaven. The first Apostles knew this. They saw the kingdom as more real than the temporary fallen natural realm. That is why they were so happy to endure persecution. They knew Jesus, and they k

The Bible says that before you were born, God saw all of your days, and He has a plan for you that is good. Like any journey, the journey God planned for your life requires provisions...food, water, strength, times of hard work and times of rest. You would never try to walk a long distance without food, and God has special food for you to walk out His wonderful plan for your life. Jesus Himself ate this same food everyday, and He said it was just as important, even more important, than breakfast, lunch, and dinner: Matthew 4: 4 But Jesus told him, "No! The Scriptures say, `People do not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.'" God has a planned diet of revelation for everyone who has decided to undertake the journey mapped out for them. Each word of God packed for me has exactly what I need day by day to keep moving into the fullness of life God has always intended for me to reach...but this is the problem: I am so tempted to live by what

Living for God is different than believing in Him. Being wholehearted for Jesus is different than having a sincere love for Him. Giving Him everything is different than giving Him a lot. For thousands of years, the world waited for Jesus to come. Then, one day, He arrived. For 33 years He walked in a regular body just like you and I, and then, on an April afternoon, He was crucified. At that moment, the long awaited salvation of mankind became real. There is another promised day. The day Jesus returns "riding on the clouds of heaven." Jesus told us what to look for, and those signs are appearing in an intense way. Angels told Daniel what events would transpire before that day, and they are actually happening right now. An angel told John what would happen in the last 7 years leading up to that day, and for the first time in human history, all these events are coalescing in a way that makes the Revelation prophecies foreseeable in the not too distant future... Just like John t

Jesus was 100% committed to your success before you were created. He saw you and all of your days before you were born. His thoughts about you are precious thoughts, and He is constantly thinking about you. Because He made you, you captivate and fascinate Him! Psalm 139:13 You made all the delicate, inner parts of my body and knit me together in my mother's womb. 14 Thank you for making me so wonderfully complex! Your workmanship is marvelous—how well I know it. 15 You watched me as I was being formed in utter seclusion, as I was woven together in the dark of the womb. 16 You saw me before I was born. Every day of my life was recorded in your book. Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed. How precious are your thoughts about me, O God. They cannot be numbered! When I read this in Psalm 139, I think of my own kids. I was committed to them before they were even born. As I watch them learn to walk and laugh and develop into who they are, I delight in seeing them matur

Some days when I wake up, I am tired or distracted, and I don't feel like talking to God. Even though in my mind I know that talking to Him will feed my heart what I need to get moving in the right direction, reaching for Him can SEEM like it will require so much energy. There is a resistance in the world to talking to God...to feeling like He hears me and that it really matters...but it DOES really matter. David was one who God set up as a model to show us what knowing God really should look like. David knew that it "takes God to love God." David didn't always feel like he was on top, or in the right place with God, but what he did know was that asking God to help him move forward in their relationship was the key. Even if I don't feel like my words are powerful, they really matter to God. He loves my weakest reach for Him. It is actually the weak request to hear God, the one that seems so pointless, that creates the space for God to respond so powerfully. Becaus

Matthew 11: 28 Then Jesus said, "Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light." Jesus said we all wear yokes that pull the burdens of this fallen world. He said the world's yoke is very heavy and hard to wear and pull, and that His yoke is easy and light. For years I found His yoke not easy or light. Often, it seemed to be quite heavy. Trying to live my life in the light of His commands seemed frustrating or irritating often, and even impossible at times. Then I realized something: I wasn't all the way in His yoke. The kind of device Jesus was talking about was designed to allow an animal to pull a lot of weight easily. The yoke made the work easy, but it was a very inflexible piece of wood. If it wasn't on right, it would hurt the an

Jesus has a whole plan to come back to earth and set things right. By His perfect life and unjust death He has won the right to rule everything in love. He has shown Himself to be perfect in love and mercy, justice, and sovereignty, wisdom, and strength. He is glorious and His victory is sure. In His mercy, He has included us in His plans. Whether you think He is returning soon, or in many years, you are part of His plan to return that He is currently walking out... So often, I lose sight of the fact that His plans are so much more important than my feelings. When I don't see the intricacies of His plan in my actual life, I start to think the situations I am in with the people around me are about me. I start to allow my temporary and constantly changing feelings to determine how I react to others, rather than see God has orchestrated every relationship in my life as part of His plan. I let myself get hurt, or angry, or judgmental when the people close to me hurt me, or resist me, m

God is perfect in the attributes He has selected for Himself. If you think about power, by nature of who He is, God is the most powerful being ever...otherwise, He would not be God. The same is true of love. Since He has selected love as one of His attributes, He is the most loving being ever. Generosity is also one of the attributes He has chosen for Himself: Luke 6:38 Give to others, and God will give to you. Indeed, you will receive a full measure, a generous helping, poured into your hands—all that you can hold. The measure you use for others is the one that God will use for you.” When perfect love and perfect generosity cross paths in a parents heart, an immature kid probably won't see either attribute well! My kids think they know what they want, but often, love prevents me from fulfilling their every desire. God is no different. His display of generosity is measured in order to create the best for us. He is like the wealthy parent who wants to make sure their kid isn't h

The Bible says people are made of three parts: body, spirit, and soul. Your soul is your heart, mind, and conscience. Jesus said when you confess and trust that He paid the price for your sins, and you turn from your sins to the best of your ability, He sends the Holy Spirit, the third person of the Trinity, to live in your spirit. Your spirit is made perfectly righteous, otherwise the Holy God of the universe couldn't live there! The tricky part of this is that i don't FEEL perfectly righteous, because my soul is separate from my spirit. We need to move the power of the Holy Spirit from our spirit into our soul. We do that by faith, by recognizing that the Genesis 1 God, who created everything from nothing, actually lives inside of us... When we feel anxious, we thank the Holy Spirit for the perfect peace already inside of us and ask Him to move peace into our heart. When we feel impatience, we thank Him for perfect patience already inside of us and ask Him to move patience fr

I believe that the Lord would say to those who wonder when He will break in...or fulfill the dream He has placed in their heart...those who patiently wait on Him: Who am I? Aren't I the Author of power and love. If you have placed your trust in Me, no scheme of man, or power of the enemy, or even lack of insight on your part can thwart what I intend to accomplish. Know my love for you, but more importantly, know that for the sake of my own name, for my own exaltation, I will uphold and bless those who make Me their only plan. Would I abandoned anyone who trusts in Me as their Source and their Reward? Have confidence in who I am, and I will show you that your confidence is not misplaced. Psalms 57:1-5 Have mercy on me, O God, have mercy! I look to You for protection. I will hide beneath the shadow of Your wings until the danger passes by. I cry out to God Most High, to God who will fulfill His purpose for me. He will send help from heaven to rescue me, disgracing those who hound me.

God has plans for me, and He has plans for you. He has whispered them in my ears over the years, glimpses of what I hope for. He has refined the vision of what I desire, and brought me closer and closer to His desire for me. The plans God has for you were formed before you were born. Free will requires that we have a choice in whether or not we want His plans or ours. Often we choose a mix between the two. I get a glimpse of what is available to me, and rather than wait for the One that knows the whole plan to work it out, I begin striving in the direction of where I think He and I are heading. God gave a parable to Isaiah about this. He likened it to being a farmer. God, the author of wisdom, doesn't constantly plow the field (us). If we will let Him, He knows perfectly how to prepare, plant, grow, and harvest what we desire. But only He knows how to grow the harvest that will satisfy the desire He has placed in my heart. Preparing the soil, applying the right amount of water and

Song of Songs 6:5 Turn your eyes away, for they overpower me. Your hair falls in waves, like a flock of goats winding down the slopes of Gilead. God fashioned you exactly like He intended you to be. He doesn't make mistakes. He loves the way you are. This is true about how you look, but more importantly, how you think and love. Your body, which will eventually be replaced, is important to Him, but your heart and spirit, which will last forever, are much more important. Only you think the way you do. Only you respond to Him the way you do. You are His favorite. One glance from you captures His heart. God wants us to have confidence in this truth. It is one thing to believe it is true with your mind, and a completely different thing to know it and feel it in your heart. I am asking for confidence in this truth!

Song of Songs 4:8 Come with me from Lebanon, my bride, come with me from Lebanon. Look down from Mount Amana, from the peaks of Senir and Hermon, where the lions have their dens and leopards live among the hills. Jesus is calling you up to the heights of mountains with Him. He has plans for you that will satisfy the dreams of your heart, if you will let them. But, He says there is a problem with mankind's heart...impatience. We sense the dreams He has placed in us, and we want to get to that as quickly as possible. Short cutting every nuanced step of His plans for us. It is like the difference between really good cooking and really bad cooking. A trained chef uses the same ingredients, recipe, and equipment that I use, but what the chef makes tastes delicious. What I make is so much less than what it could be. The chef knows all the secrets of preparation, the nuances of timing and spices...how to draw the flavor out of every ingredient, and to blend them all to make the perfect ex

I believe that we are living in one of the most intense times in all of human history. The events we are witnessing and experiencing daily were described in great detail thousands of years ago. Daniel 11 described a conflict that erupts on the earth involving Syria, Egypt, Russia, Israel, a revived Roman-like empire, and Iran. It is simply astounding that 2600 years later, these are the countries in our headlines daily. Jesus described the world scene at the time Daniel described: Luke 21:10 Then he added, "Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. 11 There will be great earthquakes, and there will be famines and plagues in many lands, and there will be terrifying things and great miraculous signs from heaven. 12 "But before all this occurs, there will be a time of great persecution. You will be dragged into synagogues and prisons, and you will stand trial before kings and governors because you are my followers... ... 20 "And when you see Jerusal

When God made Adam and Eve, He created them to be with Him as a family. He made me to be in His royal family. He gave the realm of the earth to man to rule in partnership with Him, as a father would share His possessions with His sons and daughters. Because of God's commitment to love, there had to be a choice for rebellion...the tree of knowledge of good and evil. There was only one choice for rebellion in the splendid garden. When Adam and Eve chose rebellion, it separated them from God. Because of His bright holiness, they could no longer be in His presence without dying, the separation of God touched everything, and the garden was defiled. God's desire never changed, though. The Bible says that He never changes. He longs to be a father to His kids. He said through His prophet Jeremiah that He longs to hear you call Him Father. To put His arms around you and give you the land again. This is the epic story of the Bible...how God had a plan to restore your family relationship

Revelation 3:16 But since you are like lukewarm water, neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of My mouth! 17 You say, 'I am rich. I have everything I want. I don't need a thing!' And you don't realize that you are wretched and miserable and poor and blind and naked. 18 So I advise you to buy gold from Me—gold that has been purified by fire. Then you will be rich. Also buy white garments from Me so you will not be shamed by your nakedness, and ointment for your eyes so you will be able to see. Warm is a temperature most people find comfortable. It is the perfect balance between hot and cold. For many, the idea of a good life is a “warm” life. The Mr. Miyagi way of life…”balance in all things, Danielson.“ The American experience, while amazing in its liberty, has come with a price: menu fatigue. There is so much available to us in life. Even for the poorest among us, our country offers so many choices for food, clothing, entertainment…so many places to direct our ambi

There is so much God wants to do in my life. Every longing and dream He has placed in my heart He longs to fill….but He patiently waits for my agreement. Like I am waiting for my sons to see that I know what I am talking about! The dignity He has placed in people…in our free will. It is truly astounding. Our agreement matters. He won’t force His will on us. He may hem me in out of love, but He refuses to force me to choose His way or see things His way. Jesus didn’t create us to serve God as workers or soldiers, but to live with Him in the closest way. He placed Adam and Eve in the garden to spend time with them, to give them purpose and meaning in partnership with Him. In their agreement with Him was the promise of a full life forever. A father and His sons and daughters, living lives of meaning and purpose, in an abundance of resources and love. Like the wisest of dads, God knows how to lead me into a full and meaningful life... a life of true accomplishment and purpose. Like any imm

God cares about what we feel. Whether it is opposition we face, or if we are misunderstood, our loss, our pain...the Father cares so much about these things that He records them forever: Psalm 56:8 You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book. When Jesus' friend Lazarus died, Jesus knew He was going to go and raise him back from the dead. He knew that the people there would see the power of God in a way the earth hadn't seen since Moses led the Israelites out of Egypt. He knew Lazarus was not only going to be ok, but he would have an experience that would take him to a new level of understanding of who God is. Even though Jesus knew all these things and could see the glorious conclusion of the story, the Bible says the most amazing thing about how He felt when He saw the sorrow of His friends, Martha and Mary: John 11: 33 When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep ange

Psalm 89:15 How happy are the people who worship you with songs, who live in the light of your kindness! God's kindness never stops. God's kindness is perfectly complete. By definition, there is nothing, and no one, more kind than God. He has chosen kindness and mercy as one of His traits. The light of His kindness never stops shining. It is up to us whether or not we stand in the light. In my yard there is a light, parts of my yard are lit up by it, and other parts of my yard are not. If I stand in the dark, it isn't because the light is off, it is because I am not "living" in its presence. God created us to live in His light. He never intended us to be without Him, but He also created us free...really free...so free we could choose to not live in His light. A lot of the time we live in darkness, fear, jealousy, worry, depression, anxiety...you name it, when we don't have to. If these things are an attack from our enemy, we have the authority to send them awa