|City on a Hill - Writings for Refuge

No matter what earthly post I might be responsible for today, I have a heavenly assignment to carry out. The "great commission" is the "great permission" to represent the kingdom of God. To bring heaven wherever my feet might land today. If I will ask Him, Jesus will help me see how He uses the mundane obligations in my life to open up doors for me to walk through in the exciting assignments He has for me. If I can get my vision to agree with His, my job WILL be exciting today, and I will impact people for Jesus' kingdom! Just writing this changes how I feel about heading into the world today! The key to carrying out my real work today is prayer. Prayer for God to send laborers (me, not just others), prayer for the sick, and verbal orders to cast out the enemy wherever I see him at work. In Luke 10:1-24, Jesus appoints and sends 70 people to go into the towns, find a house to live in, and start a base of operations to heal sick people and cast out demons. The fi

I want to be a man that can walk through any situation confident that God will not let me sink, but so often, the wind and the waves distract me long enough to let fear get a grip on my heart. Once I start letting fear do the talking, my heart gets restless, and I start going through my options. To trust in anything but God is a plan to prolong the struggle. The whole point of living is to allow the One with all the knowledge, love, and power...the one who individually fashioned my heart with a plan and a purpose in mind...to restore my spirit, mind, and eventually my body, back to Himself...forever. If Romans 8:28 is really true, that God works ALL things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose, and God is really God, knowing everything and powerful to change anything, then the truth is no matter what circumstance may say, I have it made as long as I choose Him like He has already chosen me. So the point of living really is to learn to walk by faith

Joel 3:16 The Lord also will roar from Zion, And utter His voice from Jerusalem; The heavens and earth will shake; But the Lord will be a shelter for His people, And the strength of the children of Israel. God has promised to shake everything that can be shaken. In His mercy, He will stir up the earth to allow man to be awakened...to choose Him as their safety if they might. It is His hand moving in power that reflects His great mercy. God does not change. His eternal love is in perfect agreement with His infinite justice. There isn't a justice-seeking God of the Old Testament, and a loving God of the New Testament. There is God, and He does not change! God's plan for the earth and mankind, spelled out through the entire Bible is one of bringing back together what the enemy, in partnership with people, separated. God made us to be with Him, but mankind's rebellion at the invitation of the enemy separated our family. Jesus came to make all things new, to bring everything in

When people asked Jesus what was the single most important thing they could do to be in agreement with God, this was His answer: Mark 12: 29 Jesus replied, "The most important commandment is this: `Listen, O Israel! The LORD our God is the one and only LORD. 30 And you must love the LORD your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.'31 The second is equally important: `Love your neighbor as yourself.' No other commandment is greater than these." Wholeheartedness for God, making Him the object of our attention, the dream of our heart, target of our time, and the beneficiary of our resources, is what Jesus said should be the most important trait in those whose desire was to agree with God. The second, to love those we come in contact with, friend or enemy, like we love ourselves, Jesus called "equally important." God wants us to love Him with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength because God loves us with all of His heart

There is a fulfillment of prophecy happening right now that very few notice. It is an aspect to Jesus' plan to return that is described throughout the Bible, Old Testament, and New, that most people have never heard of. It is one of the most exciting truths of Jesus' return that you can actually watch happening right now. Often, when I talk about it, people look at me like I'm crazy! That is ok. If you have never heard about it, it seems like such a bizarre notion, but it is currently taking shape all over the earth, on every continent...it is the rising up of the "new song." Psalm 98:1 Oh, sing to the Lord a new song! For He has done marvelous things; His right hand and His holy arm have gained Him the victory. 2 The Lord has made known His salvation; His righteousness He has revealed in the sight of the nations. This "new song" refers to a global worship movement, but the worship is really a prayer and worship movement. It is prayer set to music. The B

God is committed to you. He has chosen you as His partner, and He leaves it in your hands to choose Him. He will never force you into salvation, or more of Him, but if you want either, He is ready to start leading you. We respond to Him with our words. Once we respond to Him, we step into an adventure, and a process. The adventure begins as you start to live out the good plan He has for your life. It is a plan for greatness with Him in His kingdom (if it doesn't feel or look like that to you ask Him to show you how this is true). The process is Him leading you in a way that makes you more like Him: faithful, obedient, humble, compassionate, drawing on God's power to change the world around you. The process takes time, and the adventure unfolds. There is a villain in this true adventure. His name is satan, and he has already lost. In fact, Jesus completely disarmed him at the cross, but being true to his character as a thief and liar, he still pretends to be in control and steal

Psalm 37:18 The Lord knows the days of the upright, And their inheritance shall be forever. 19 They shall not be ashamed in the evil time, And in the days of famine they shall be satisfied. The Lord knows my days! That means every secret choice I am faced with, He knows what I choose. Every choice I make for obedience that I think no one is watching, it is being observed by the One who’s opinion really matters. He wants me to choose righteousness now, because the intensity to choose evil is increasing. It is only getting harder to choose righteousness, and He knows building a secret history with Him of success will keep me close to Him! The secret choices I make are more powerful than the ones in full view of the world. It is easier to have integrity when everyone can see me...but when no one knows, my choice for integrity MOVES God's heart even more! He delights in our choices when He is our only motivation. If you have kids, you know what I mean. When you overhear them choosing o

When God formed you, He formed you with a plan and a purpose. You are not a random occurrence, everyone was formed with a divine plan and purpose in mind. Only you can be who you are to God. No two people, even twins, are exactly alike on the outside, let alone the inside. Only you have a heart like yours. Only you can respond to God the way you do. God's plan for you is part of His kingdom. His plan for you is important to Him...for Him. He is committed to you not missing it. The devil distracts us by accusing us of missing it. God will not let that happen. But He is so loving. Even though HE has a stake in your plan coming to fruition, He doesn't force you into it. In fact, He will let you go on living your own plan if you like. It is possible to be saved by Jesus' death and resurrection, and still never step into the fullness of His plan for you..how tragic to miss this truth, because God's plan for you perfectly matches the desires HE placed in your heart. There are

One of the most amazing truths of the Bible is that those who are saved, are saved by grace alone. Salvation is based on a legal transaction between God and man, and the Son of Man, Jesus, paid the price for all of His brothers and sisters willing to trust in His payment, and follow Him into life. God's grace saved us, not our ability to follow God's law. The enemy hates this fact, and if given an opportunity, He will distort it in order to lead us away from God again. We want to guard against taking "God's grace in vain."God's grace shouldn't be a license for me to live a careless lives. It's just the opposite! God gives me grace to obey Him. I think about my own sons. When they make a mistake, I want to correct them with the least intense means to get the result that will help them be good men. I try to show mercy, or grace. If I show grace to one of my sons, and he appreciates my mercy, he will at least try not to make the same mistake again. He mig

Psalm 42:7 Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls; All Your waves and billows have gone over me. 8 The Lord will command His lovingkindness in the daytime, And in the night His song shall be with me— A prayer to the God of my life. Deep calls unto deep at the noise of Your waterfalls...that phrase stirs my heart! The book of revelation describes Jesus' voice like "the sound of many waters." This passage in Psalm 42 is saying the more I encounter Jesus, the more I see of who He is, the more I want to see. The rest of this passage is describing God's wholehearted love for me. It says day and night I am before His face. There is a principle in these simple sentences that has the power to change my entire life: it is that when I see how committed God is to me, it will change my heart about giving Him everything. The Bible says day and night, God is continually thinking about ME, keeping me before His face. God is completely committed to me...God is completel

A little over 2000 years ago, twelve men were given a front-row seat into the transition of one age to another, they were the only ones who knew the death of Jesus would instantly transform mankind's position with God. This is the most joyful news that a human being could have ever heard. The guarantee of eternal life with the loving creator of everything! Jesus' twelve disciples were the only ones who knew what was about to happen the night of Jesus' arrest. That night (John 15-16), Jesus told them some of the most glorious truths ever heard by human ears: that when He went to heaven He would send God, the Holy Spirit, to live inside their spirits! That the Spirit would communicate to them everything Jesus wanted them to know! That, if they remained in Him, they could ask the Father for what they desired and He would do it! That they could from now on talk directly to the Father in Jesus' name! These things were all brand new promises. Until that day, no one had ever h

You are alive, like a tree. The soil you plant yourself in determines how well you grow. Just like a tree, you need light. The Bible says in John 1 that Jesus is the source of our "life light." A tree reaches for the light with its branches. The higher or wider a tree reaches, the deeper its roots grow. When you reach for more light, more of God, your roots in God grow deeper, too! When something blocks the light to a tree, it send its branches out for more light. Trees will grow in all sorts of strange ways just to get more light. We are supposed to be the same way in our relationship with God. The Bible says God gives "food to the hungry" (Psalm 146). If you reach for more of God in your life, you demonstrate your hunger to God. That is when you get more. God created everything with words, and John 1 says Jesus is "the Word"...He is the one who, at the Father's desire, spoke everything into existence. In His kingdom made with words, you reach for mor

Jesus has plans for the Church. In fact, Jesus' main plan is for the church to walk in complete agreement with Him. To be so united that when the world sees us, they will know Him! A lot of people have given up on going to church. Because people can be so hard to get along with...because I can be so hard to get along with... it is easy to become frustrated with church. If I approach church from a me-first perspective, it will eventually make no sense. At some point the music won't be that great, or my kids won't think it is much fun, or someone will offend me, or I won't be as important as I think I should be...church is ripe for disappointing you if you don't see it like God sees it. When I evaluate church in my own wisdom, it makes little sense. If I know God, why can't I just talk with Him at home and do the things He reveals to me? Thankfully, God calls my wisdom foolishness, and He says what looks like His foolishness is wisdom! I can't turn my back on

How many times have I said to God "I'm not sure what to do next!" Only to hear Him say "trust me." He says "trust me" so often to me I start to wonder if it is just my imagination ...thankfully, I have seen His hand move my situation enough times to know it IS Him, and this IS His way. Psalm 37 is a road map for those who aren't sure what the next step is. If you are genuinely interested in obeying God, but the enemy has been stirring up doubt and confusion in your heart, Psalm 37:3-8 was written just for you, and just for now! Here it is: Psalm 37: 3 Trust in the Lord, and do good; Dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness. 4 Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart. 5 Commit your way to the Lord, Trust also in Him, And He shall bring it to pass. 6 He shall bring forth your righteousness as the light, And your justice as the noonday. 7 Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for Him; Do not fret because

God has a history of coming through and accomplishing what He desires, when He desires it. The enemy's attempts to thwart God's plans have come up short 100% of the time. God is literally batting 1000. Despite this incredible record of victory, God's team wonders how it will all turn out for them. This is really a ridiculous...even unreasonable...thought God's team seems to entertain. With a winning record of "always" those who are members of God's team should be sure of complete victory in each battle. The amazing truth of playing on God's team is that He really only requires partnership...willingness. Apart from willingness, God requires that I bring nothing of my own to the field. God puts all the resources, direction, timing, skill, opportunity, and relationships together if I will just open my heart to Him, agree with Him about His plans as He reveals them, and make myself present for the game. Yet every team knows this: the attitude of all the pl

Proverbs 21:2 People may be right in their own eyes, but the LORD examines their heart. 3 The LORD is more pleased when we do what is right and just than when we offer him sacrifices. "The Lord weighs the heart..." How I want that truth to sink into my mind. When I read that, I am tempted to make it negative...but this is one of the most positive truths there could ever be! God see's all the nuances of my heart. Even the things I can't see. Because I am often surprised by the darkness lingering in my heart, it is tempting to think God is surprised by it too. God is surprised by nothing. One of the benefits of knowing everything is being surprised by nothing. The fact that God knows my heart and puts more weight on my desire for righteousness and justice than on sacrifice...well, this is everything I could hope for! Because the truth is: I really want to do what is right. Chances are, you really want to do what is right too! The Bible calls satan "the accuser.&quo

There is a "pleasant land" promised to me, if I will enter it. There is a hidden joy in agreeing with God about what my life should look like. But the joy is certainly hidden. Even though MANY have entered in, tasted unspeakable joy, and tried to report back, I had heard their words, but the joy was still hidden from me until I chose to walk into the place myself. Everything in the world is set against me really discovering the joy in the place prepared for me. The same enemy that said to Eve "did God really say?" Said to me "you can have it your way!" Once satan realized he couldn't keep me from wanting God, he set about convincing me I could experience God on my terms. The enemy of God began convincing me Jesus was an important part of a balanced diet. For years, I have wanted a lot of God in my life. By most accounts, I was quite fond of God, and I knew He loved me. I felt as though I was "all in." Honestly, Jesus was the most valuable add

Psalm 35:1 Plead my cause, O Lord, with those who strive with me; Fight against those who fight against me. Have you ever wondered why you personally face spiritual "resistance"? Have you ever noticed that even something as simple as making it to church on Sunday morning has the potential to be so difficult? Most people I know who are trying to follow Jesus face at least some resistance throughout the week. I notice more spiritual resistance (an increase in feelings like doubt, anxiety, irritation, anger, etc.) in those moments just before or just after I am doing the things God has directed me to do. Often I will feel opposed just before or after I am actually making choices to line my life up with the things I know Jesus cares about. Things like meeting with others, serving others I know, helping a stranger, praying, giving, reading my Bible...but I notice it especially before I am about to pray for, or serve, others. Knowing someone just needs someone to pray for them, and

What I am willing to trust Jesus with, He takes responsibility for. What I withhold from Him, I am responsible for. This is a simple principle that is harder to live out than it sounds. Trusting God, who I can't see, with issues that I can see often looks irresponsible. Especially looking from the outside in. This requires risk. I have heard some say that they spell faith R-I-S-K. God wants to build a history of trust with me now, so I am ready to trust Him with what is next. He wants to lead me in simple things, so I know the feel of His hand in mine, and the whisper of His voice in my heart, for the time when I need Him to lead me in the not so simple. There is a benefit for searching my life for the areas that I hang onto myself...the areas I have kept myself responsible for. I heard someone say recently that "Jesus knows how to lead you when you don't know how to follow." This is an amazing truth. The only requirement to be lead by Jesus is really willingness...ch

It is raining on the mountain Jude 1:12 When these people eat with you in your fellowship meals commemorating the Lord's love, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you. They are like shameless shepherds who care only for themselves. They are like clouds blowing over the land without giving any rain. They are like trees in autumn that are doubly dead, for they bear no fruit and have been pulled up by the roots. There are so many teachers now teaching about health and wealth. What they say sounds good, and if you look hard enough, you can find a verse to support just about any idea. Wisdom and truth are self supporting…self-evident. They are known by what they actually produce. Are you in the valley hoping on dark clouds full of what you need that promise to blow your way and rain it down on you? Is it the promise that if you give the winds will shift the rain to you? Pour a little more of yourself into it and heaven will open? Are you crossing your eyes in focus for heal

I have been noticing lately how intense one area of world news will get, and then it seems to calm down, then another area will flare up, and then calm down. If you consider the headlines over the last few months, it seems like the story builds and builds, and then weirdly subsides into the background. If you think about the stories of the last few months: Euro collapse, Greece riots, Syrian conflict, Iran's nuclear weapons, the Arab spring, Earthquakes, the US (and global) drought and its implications...I could go on for a few more lines! Each of these stories ebbs and flows into the news cycle. Just when it seems like something big might happen, the story quickly fades into the background. If you watch, there is a pattern to it. It sways from natural disaster, to economic disaster, to world conflict, and then back around the horn. Always building, but then seeming to go away. You might attribute this to sensationalist reporting, but there is an agreement in the cycle to what Jesu

Daniel 10:12 Then he said, "Don't be afraid, Daniel. Since the first day you began to pray for understanding and to humble yourself before your God, your request has been heard in heaven. I have come in answer to your prayer. 13 But for twenty-one days the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia blocked my way. Then Michael, one of the archangels, came to help me, and I left him there with the spirit prince of the kingdom of Persia.14 Now I am here to explain what will happen to your people in the future, for this vision concerns a time yet to come." There are two realms of existence: the natural and the spiritual. The Bible says that when God created the earth, the natural and spiritual realms were joined together. Man spent time in the Garden with God. The Bible says that Jesus' plan and current work is preparing the natural earth to be re-joined to the supernatural spirit realm (Rev 21). Until then, there is a veil that usually keeps those of us in natural bodies fr

Worry and fear, which are generally lies about our future, assault our minds on a daily basis. It is easy to imagine the worst outcome of a situation, and then train our eyes on that outcome. Hoping to avoid our worst fear, we actually focus our gaze on that exact fear. There is a principle in life that is easily tested: you go where you are looking. When I was in college, I worked my way through most of it mowing lawns for a commercial lawn company. One thing you had to learn right away was how to mow in a straight line. One day, the owner of the company stopped by a job I was working on, and was obviously disappointed by the straightness of my lines. I was watching the front wheels of the mower, and trying to run alongside my last line. In my own limited experience, I was trying to pattern each new line off the first. Barney, my employer, taught me something that day that I will never forget. It is true in nearly every aspect of life, whether it is driving, working, playing golf, mar

There is a difference between waiting on the Lord, and just waiting out a situation. For the majority of my life, I have understood how to wait out a situation, looking forward to the day when a tough season would be over, to the day when I could breathe easy and be happy because the hard time of waiting had passed. The older I get, one thing gets clearer and clearer: a person could literally spend the majority of their life waiting for things to change! There is nearly always something challenging in my path. Over time, the challenges have changed, but I can honestly say very few times have they been absent. God's intention isn't always to make my life easy, but it is ALWAYS to make it good. My definition of good is shallow and incomplete, like my kid's definition of good food. If you asked my son Luke what would be good for breakfast, he would probably say ice cream! Yes, in its time and place ice cream is good, but you can't live on ice cream. God's definition of

Psalm 91:1 He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High Shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. 2 I will say of the Lord, “ He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust.” When we are in God, we are in a safe place. He is our fortress. You can own a fortress, but not live, or abide, in it. So how do we abide in God? Psalm 91 tells us how to remain in the strong tower of God, under the "shadow of His wing." In our relationship with God we "abide" by talking to Him, making Him our first choice, not our last resort. Nothing is beyond His sovereign reach, but He generally intervenes as we seek Him out. In vs 4-6 the Psalmist says: ... His truth shall be your shield and buckler. 5 You shall not be afraid of the terror by night, Nor of the arrow that flies by day, 6 Nor of the pestilence that walks in darkness, Nor of the destruction that lays waste at noonday. We step into our "Fortress" also by agreeing with His truth and not letting