Surrendering the Spirit

 The Lord Jesus Christ went up the mountain and left the multitudes behind. Somewhere in the mountain, He found a place to settle down. There He waited, and watched as those people who were truly commited to hearing the message He had were gathered at hand, these were the disciples, the 12 and probably members of the multitude who were committed. Then He opened His mouth and began to speak. The first thing He said was, "The poor in spirit are blessed, because the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs." (Matthew 5:1-3) Wait, hang on, what does it mean to be poor in Spirit? That doesn't sound good, but the Kingdom of Heaven does sound good. That is God's Kingdom, and you can think of Heaven as the capital. The Lord's Kingdom has it's own way, and it's God's way, it is the only Kingdom of any eternal value. Earthly kingdoms really only matter in the way they interfere with or help with living in the way of the Kingdom of Heaven. It is important to establish here that I am speaking of a way of living, ie, living the way of God's Kingdom, for this is a more pure and natural way for the christian to live than the sin managment way. If for example, you embrace generosity as a Kingdom way, then you will not be greedy. If you focus on not being greedy, your results will be mixed at best, or you might just be greedy. So, to be poor in spirit is a Kingdom way then, for Jesus said, the Kingdom belongs to those who are poor in spirit. What does it mean? Let's learn together.

 Jesus was serious about the word He used for poor. If my Bible is accurate, the word He used speaks to being like a beggar, reaching for, begging for, it leads you to think of one destitute and desperate. The word spirit can be used to refer to a breath, as in maybe a breath of life, the rational soul/mental disposition, an attitude, or an angelic/demonic being. Here in this context it seems it would refer to the inner part of a person, the inner life, the defining nature or attitude and as part of the inner life, the identity of the person. It is that unexplainable something in a person that makes them eternal, and causes them to desire to worship something, or someone, and all do it, they may worship science, or intellect, or material things, or the Lord, or some other god. It creates the differences that keep humans from ever being animals, it causes humans to think, imagine, and look higher and ask things like, "Why are we here?" instead of just asking like an animal, "What's for lunch?" 

 So, let's think of spirit as identity in this specific context. Let's consider the possibility that being high in Spirit is selfish. Self-ish. Someone who is focused on self, their person, identity etc. Now, to clarify further, soul in a person is generally the heart, or where the feelings, mind, and will are. With what you are about to read, consider that yes there are soul influences here, For example, if we feel things from our soul, the question then is, what do we do with those feelings, do we react in such a way that preserves, protects, values ourself? Or do we not have a "self" of our own? 

 Your author struggles with church services when he is expected to sit on a chair/pew and do nothing but listen to another take on some theology he has heard 1000s of times, and if none of the worship songs move him, that makes it worse, it's on those dry days that I am tempted to pull out my smartphone and read something that stimulates my mind and peaks my interest. This is a red flag to me that I might still have to much spirit. It's when I cave in to these things, that I am physically demonstrating an excess of spirit. I manifest selfishness, and convey that church is supposed to humor or entertain me. My person/identity/life is important and I need you to make this time sitting here worth my while. (This is not intended to say smartphones are wrong and that church meetings are all good and never boring, let the Lord show you if their is a meeting you should respectfully leave or if your just being to spirited on a case by case basis.) When I am lacking in spirit, I take on the posture of the sponge, whatever the Lord wants to fill me with, I will leave dripping wet in it, for my spirit is poor and dry without Him. The person who is poor in spirit is not bogged down with needing stuff from other people to fill him, he doesn't have a "life" or deep seated attitude or push to be someone going somewhere apart from what he is filled with. He is the empty vessel for the Lord to fill. So, the Lord looks for these empty vessels and gives the Kingdom to them. These empty vessels go to the Lord, because where else would they go? All the things that pull us away from the Lord have to do with ourself. Our own spirit that needs to be stroked, maintained, groomed, polished, fed. 

 A lot of christians today love Jesus, but their lives are not lined up with the Kingdom way. Why not? The spirit is not poor. It goes something like this, "Yes, I get it, I sinned, and I still do, the Lord is just but so kind and full of grace. So He died for me, I accept this gift and I love Jesus so much for what He did. I will happily go to church for a few hours every Sunday and dutifully clap and cheer at the word grace. However, please don't preach some of these other uncomfortable things that Jesus said, I might have to call you religous, legalistic, or talk about context to make it stop. See, those things interfere with my life and way." This line of thinking frustrates me, for this person will never experience the actual joy and fulfillment of repentance and drawing closer to the Kingdom way. This is a person who loves grace, and I feel like laying to them the charge of worshipping or idolizing the grace of Christ rather than Christ Himself. This person has a big spirit, a need to polish/wax/feed/dress and generally babysit his spirit for 6 days and tithe a few hours to the Lord as a thank you for the free grace. Often times the things he does are good and noble things, but missing the point completely when done from his spirit instead of done from an organic place of being filled of the Lord. 

 Now when I write about the hypothetical man in the previous paragraph, there is a certain older brother syndrome that wants to gnaw at me, and wants me to look down on him, and judge him as lesser. This something wants me to use him as a case to bolster my own place and identity. Shall I agree with this? God forbid, that is another aspect of having to much spirit. It goes something like, "I will carefully read and grasp the truths of God's word, and through the power of my discipline, I will be the best person, the best christian I know." This isn't an organic act from the Lord, this is idolizing good works! This is yet another way to feed/clothe/polish and exercise our own spirits. Far be this rich-spirited living from us. 

 The idea of being poor in Spirit can be thought of as a way of saying, unselfish, or the opposite of selfish. For, your identity in your own self is not something that you seek to protect, it is something that is poor in comparision to the desire to let the Holy Spirit in. The question could be framed this way then: Is my spirit poor enough that the Holy Spirit is allowed to take the reins over from my spirit in my life, even to the point of my very own identity? Is my spirit poor enough to allow the Holy Spirit to spread out and renew my mind, will emotions, and my whole soul? Is my spirit poor enough to allow the Holy Spirit to then keep spreading and even inform the way I treat my body, even down to the things I eat, drink, and wear? If your spirit is so poor, that the Holy Spirit takes the reins in all these areas, your identity will change, your identity will no longer be, such and such good religious person, or this high powered businessman, or this "very funny life of the party" girl. You may very well do and be known by those things in life by people on the outside watching who don't really know what's inside, but your identity will be son/daughter of the only true God, a sold out disciple in the Kingdom way, all things else are second to this. Is this ok? If so, keep reading.

 What then is the answer/antidote to rich/high-spiritedness? Well, you can try to squash it and sit on it, but you'll find in that exercise, another "to much spirit syndrome," where you are willing yourself to goodness to carve for yourself an identity as a better person. So, it goes back to that emotional, messy, painful, and yet shockingly simple procedure known as surrender. If you want to keep your own high levels of spirit for now you may stop here and revisit once your ready to let it go. I want mine gone though, this chapter has convicted me. If you are still reading, then I assume you want to surrender it to the Lord as well. So let's surrender it to Him, Lord Jesus, I thank you for all you have done for me, and today, I see that I have yet to much of my own spirit. Lord, you can have it, take it out of my glass, I cannot make it go away, I can only medicate it and squash it, so I ask you to take it by whatever surgery it takes, in other words, I surrender, again. I thank you Lord for what You are going to do. 

The Ministry of the Blacksmiths (Part 2)

 My newfound blacksmith friend at men's encounter had no great enthusiasm about the story I wrote in part 1 yesterday. He couldn't stop talking about the story you are about to read, his passion for it moved me, so after some time of reflection, I feel it to. I would never claim that this is his story or mine, and he does not want me to give him credit for it. This is the story of a loving Lord and a faceless blacksmith from somewhere back there, waaay back there. I to have become enthralled with the story. I agree with my blacksmithing friend that this is the better story, even though I am still much more enthused about part 1 than he is. He seemed to find part 1 a little awkward and embarrassing when I told him about it in person. So what you are about to read is the part that he is passionate about. 

 There was a cost brought about by your free will and the Lord's justice. The penalty for sins that needed to be paid. The Lord wanted relationship with you, and He wanted it to be from your free will, and yet the Lord is righteous, and just. When you chose to walk in ways contrary to the Lord; something needed to happen to take that sin off the table. In other words justice was needed, for the Lord is just, the sin needed to be removed, that's a divine order of creation; for the Lord does not have sin with Him in eternity.  

 So the Lord saw all this, and He had known that this would come. He had prepared for such a reality. The Lord saw all people, and somewhere in ancient time he saw a man, and He knew what this man's descendant would do, would He spare his life? He had the power to strike him dead. He could so easily pull back His protection and allow the man to be taken out by the destroyer. He let this man live, but down the line, one of his great-grandsons is being watched by some fearsome wild beast. The Lord sees, and he knows what will happen down the line, will He let the wild beast attack? In the spiritual realms the Lord lives in, He hears the destroyer goading the wild beast, to kill, destroy, and consume. The Lord lifts a finger and motions the beast to remain still. All unaware, the man walks on. This cycle repeats over an over, through the generations of this family, the Lord, always decides to hold back the destroyer and preserve the line, and so it is many many years later....

 The Lord is now a man, a human and yet also the Lord, He has come physically in the form of the son, Jesus Christ. The mysterious man's family line has been preserved all this time, and now the Lord watches as the 3rd mystery man featured in this story heats iron over the coals, and over those coals he beats out 3 crude, cruel spikes. The Lord looks at the spikes, and sees that each one is slightly different, each one is scarred by the trials brought on by the hammer in the forming that made them. The Lord knows exactly what they are for, but He turns himself in. The Lord knows that because of sin, new scars will be on the spikes, they will be smashed under the weight of the hammer, and scars will remain with those spikes for the rest of their existence. To put it precisely, the scars on the back under the smash of the hammer, are because of sin. The Lord has decided to come and pay the cost personally, and so, the nails are hammered into Him. It hurts tremendously, in ways that cannot be imagined. However, the Lord decided to redeem His children, He had created them in His image, and yet each one was unique and special, each one was fashioned in different ways, not only physically, but their souls, that part that serves as the command center, feelings, mind, will etc. were all different, because of trials, and sin. Yes, even though it was terrible torture, the price was worth it to have that relationship back, and so that day, the Lord died, and He died for the blacksmith. 

 You are the blacksmith, I am the blacksmith, we are all the blacksmith. The physical blacksmith physically created items to put the Lord on the cross, but so did you. Paying the price to get relationship, involved dealing with the sin. You created some of the sin around here, so did I. Now what? Well, the road is clear, because that brutal toll has been paid for you to turn from the sin and go back to the Lord, but, you have a choice to make. If you make that choice, the Lord will meet you. During this story, I deliberately used the name of Lord to refer to Jesus Christ, and the Father watching from above simultaneously, let us never forget that Christ is the Lord, there is no case where the Father is cruel justice, and Christ is loving mercy, apart from each other, they are one Lord who value mercy and justice both, so that day, the Lord, in ways we cannot explain or understand as humans, simultaneously, experienced the pain of feeling abandoned, losing a son, and being tortured, crucified, and unjustly murdered. In some way I definitely cannot understand, the Holy Spirit aspect of the Lord must have suffered to. However, the Triune Lord is firmly convinced that it was worth it. He has in all time past present and future been correct in all His judgements. In Holy Spirit form He is looking for a home in you, to live in relationship with you. 

P.S. This is the gospel of salvation as I understand it. I really have no clue who the blacksmith was and what his family went through in the generations before him. However, if you imagine a little, you must know that there was surely something like this going on in the spiritual realm not? 

The Ministry of the Blacksmiths (Part 1)

 It was at Men's Encounter in Missouri where I first learned to appreciate the ministry of the blacksmiths. For more information about Men's Encounter, go here: https://encounterministry.org/mens-encounter. 

 There was an exercise that we were asked to participate in, we had a checklist, and we checked off all the sins we could remember, past and present. Then we took the list and nailed them to one of 3 crosses at the front of the room. It was meaningful, we realized, this was what Christ had done. He had taken our sins on himself, and allowed himself to be nailed to the cross, now it was up to us. Would we repent from the sin, which means to turn from, and receive Christ? Later that weekend, we each got one of the nails that we used, and I looked at my nail. I saw that it was actually fashioned in the same way as a roman spike, the same type that Christ would have been crucified with, but much smaller. Small enough to fit in your pocket. Looking closely at the spike, it was clearly hand made, in fact all of them were. They had little blemishes, and hammer marks on their sides, mine was slightly crooked, but all this just added to it's charm, and made it unique. Anyway, whoever had made these nails, now needed to go hammer out a bunch more, because 950 of them were being taken home, by the 950 men.

 

 So, how did the nails get there? Well, a man whose name you don't know, and who doesn't really want me to make it about him had the Lord lay it on his heart, he did some blacksmithing with his son, and he cared about the Lord, so he strived to listen to him. He made some full sized nails, and then realized that making these small ones would be awesome as a ministry for Encounter. One day the Lord prompted him to talk to another man who he had never met about the idea. This man turned out to be a full-time blacksmith. They became friends and now, groups of friends gather and make nails for Encounter. For every Men's Encounter, and every Ladies' Ashes to Beauty, nails are made, by hand for everyone. Each nail is unique, and because it was nailed to a cross, each nail bears the hammer mark on it's back, for that's where it was beaten to hold your "sins" to the tree. 

 Many good things happened at this event, people were born again, but for me personally, the most meaningful thing was the nail. That crude little spike made the cross seem more real in my emotions, not just my mind. So, the nameless/faceless blacksmith who made my nail, made more of an impression on me, and ministered to me more than the named and known speakers. So, I know my blacksmith has a name and a face, I just don't know if I met him, I don't know who made my nail. However, if you look back at what I wrote about the chip, and about the seesaw, this is a real example of what can happen when you grab a hold of your calling, what it truly is about. Your calling is for the Lord, and it's not about what place, or position you hold, it is about who you are for the Lord in the place that you happen to be in. To my blacksmith brothers in Christ, if you are one of the ones making these nails, and you read this, thank you for the nail! That really ministered to me. To you, don't try to go be a blacksmith now unless that is your calling, that is NOT the point, the point is to be the person for the Lord He created you to be, you may very well be in the right place or position for this season of your life already. I wish so much that I could convey the depth of this truth to you, the difference between identity and position in regards to your calling. If it helps, reach out to talk in person in order to get more specific about your specific situation if you care to. I haven't attained, and I do still struggle with things, but I have experienced something in this whole "being for the Lord" posture, and it is wonderful. 

 In future parts we will look at other aspects of blacksmiths, and crucifixion spikes. For now, blessings.

P.S. The nails in the picture are not like the ones given at encounter, the nails they give are clean, fresh, (not rusty) and small enough to fit in your pocket. 

It's Time to Release the "Chip"

 The Lord working through free will of man, knew that there was coming a great famine. It would last for 7 years. So, he wanted, and found, a boy, who became a man who he had created to be a saviour (Lowercase s, manifesting the nature of the one and only true Saviour.) Joseph was his name. First though, the Lord had to save him, from his own brothers, from a "me too" situation, and from prison. All along the way, the Lord worked through the will of people to save his saviour.  The brothers, who put him in a pit then sold him as a slave in Egypt instead of killing him, the husband, who sent Joseph to prison instead of killing him for messing with his wife, the prison guard who trusted Joseph and the ensuing connections to the outside world that followed when he revealed his gift in interpreting dreams for some former Vip's of the king Pharoah. Then of course there was the nature of Joseph's own free will, to always chose the way of and trusting in the Lord. So it was then, the man stood before the king, interpreted his dreams, and there he became what amounts to the prime minister of Egypt. He collected before, and sold during the famine. He also saved the Lord's people, or as he saw them, his family. So, the Lord did the saving, but Joseph was the free man, empty vessel, who's will he was able to work through, Joseph was the saviour, the Saviour could use, and yet, he had no perceived, distinct calling and ministry per say, did he? 

 The Lord's people were in deep trouble now, there was a different Pharaoh, and he decided the children of God were a threat to Egypt's security, so he made them slaves. Yet they multiplied, so he did holecaust on their baby boys. There were heroic women, who loved, and would not kill. In the midst of all this, a helpless baby boy came, and the Lord looked on him, and the one true Rescuer said, "This is my rescuer, I will use him to rescue my people." First, the Rescuer had to save His rescuer. He did so through the indomitable will of his mother and sister, who made a basket and hid him on the river. He did so through Pharaoh's daughter of all people, he touched the chord in her woman heart, who loved the little baby. The rescuer was Moses, and he grew up. Then he decided to act on his initative and rescue one of God's people, so, he did, an Egyptian died that day. Then Moses had to rescue himself. He ran to Midian, and there he rescued some girls from some bullies. Time passed, Moses ran out of that youthful vinegar, and then the Lord came, and persuaded his rescuer to re enter the ring. The Rescuer, rescued his people, with the free will of His rescuer, dragging his feet at times, but, doing as asked, and yet, he had no perceived, distinct calling and ministry per say, did he?   

 The rescuer was old, the Rescuer's people were in the wilderness, and the Conquerer wanted a conquerer to work through, that young man Joshua, who was not afraid of giants, and wanted to take the land, well, he had become old, wise, and humble, yes, so it was, the Conquerer had found his conquerer...and yet, he had no perceived, distinct calling and ministry per say, did he? 

 The young man projected an image of being wise, and mature, and yet he was not, and now he knows there is much more to learn, but more on that later. He had experienced enough to begin to realize that maybe there was some gifting there, some ability for the Lord to use him to help others know the Lord. He had been hurt by the church, but yet, he had worked through it, and he loved the church. He kept hearing that it wasn't enough, what he was doing was not quite enough. There was a something, a chip on his shoulder that kept saying these things, and this chip said things like, "You must seek after, and do something of value, there must be a ministry out there for you, or a position, perhaps you are to be a church pastor, perhaps a counselor, but something!" The Lord said, "Don't start anything, I will interrupt your current project when the time is right." The chip said, "What is the deal, you are being shelved, your not being used, kick your way out of this emptiness! DO something! GOGOGOGOGOGOGOGO!!!!" The Lord acted on a wise older man's freewill and used his physical voice and kindness. The man said, "Don't be a Moses, wait on the Lord." So the young man dug in, he pouted, he fussed, complained to his wife, but he braced his heels, and he waited, well sort of, he didn't wait very well unfortunately. Not with the best attitude, or the best kind of waiting, but he didn't do anything so stupid that you would notice. Then one day, the Lord said, "So, way back then, there was something that happened, and that something has seated in you as a chip on your shoulder in regards to you and your value, and you have to prove both to yourself, and to that chip, that you are someone to be taken seriously, not to be laughed at. Finally, you are ready to let me take that chip." The young man was broken, and he finally let the Lord take that chip after a battle, for some reason the young man argued with the Lord, even though the score is aproximately, Lord 4'000'000, young man 0, but when he went back to "normal life" he found out that his job mattered all along, and he saw that it wasn't what he did, but why he did it that made it all worth something in the Kingdom. It wasn't what he made, but how he served. It was all ultimately about the Lord, and he had been created to show the Lord's redemption to the people, in whatever way and place the Lord put him, and so it wasn't about place, or ministry, or calling to position, but about being, being the Lord's son, the Lord's vessel, to show forth the Lord, after all, the vessel comes empty with nothing of it's own, the Lord fills. 

 So, that person who used to have the chip is real, that person is your author. This is the bottom line, are there chips, or rather, lies, that are robbing you from your actual destiny? Your destiny isn't about any physical thing, it's about who the Lord created you to be, that permission to be the you the Lord created. Seek out the Lord's wisdom, in the burning bushes, the dreams, or in today's world, more likely, a trusted person to pray with you, to help you hear the Lord, speak to who you are and much more importantly, who He is. This is the capstone, the missing piece in last night's seesaw tirade, for without knowing who you are and who the Lord is, the serving gets pretty hard, and the will can only take it for so long. Last night was the first step, and that first step is to do the work for the Lord, but now, it is time to learn to do the work, the Lord's way. It is time to decide if you want to tell your brothers about your dreams, and kill an egyptian, or do you want to store grain and handle the Lord's miracle rod? So, I have left details about the chip a bit vague, intentionally, I want to protect and care about people in my life who I love very much. I am available to discuss details and clarifications privately though. 

Break the Stupid Rotten Seesaw!

 

Krona Pengar was a conservative businessman in nowhere according to the elites but yet somewhere in flyover USA. He had some sense of God, and some clarity of God's ways, but he really wanted money. So it was that this attitude radiated to his customers. They came to look at his unique thingybob. He was the only establishment in all of somewhere of 20'000 people that carried this specific thingybob. However, half of the would be customers where a little put off by Mr. Pengar's attitude. They walked out empty handed with no thingybob. They went to elsewhere, another small town just to the north to get their thingybobs, or they ordered them online. Problem was, our man Pengar "needed" "his" money. So he thought about it, and talked to different aquaintances and got a grasp of the problem. He decided to think of his interactions as a seesaw. On one end was the thingybob and all the things around it, the way in which it was presented, the service after the sale, the experience of the customer in the store etc. On the other end was the customer's money. So, if the customer entered the establishment with the seesaw balanced, our crafty businessman saw his role as weighting the service end of the seesaw. In so doing, the money would inevitably slide towards him. The scheme worked, 85% of Pengar's walk in traffic walked out with less money and a thingybob in hand. He became a millionare. Big money for someone living in Somewhere, Flyover. When Pengar was old, and living on his millions, he looked back in life, and tried to put his finger on something of significance he had done, something of lasting value. He had won the millions for his children, but they hadn't made him happy, so what thing could do for his children of any real value? How would the millions fill that something inside, that void, that desire for value? In dismay, he realized, that he needed to figure out something of value with the millions, for that was all he had.... He wished for a chance to start over....and so it was, and so it ended.  

 So, in the Kingdom of God, we live by a different policy, by a different life, a different way. What do I mean? Policy is the Lord's will, not my will. Life is the eternal kind, with the Lord, not the earthy rat race until we die kind. The way is the Lord's way, not the comfortable way. So it is that we should not assume that the free market seesaw driven by greed is the Lord's way, will, or policy. (Not to say the free market is not the Lord's way to exchange goods and services, I tend to think maybe it is if it were completely free of abuses and evils.) I am pretty sure that when you study the uniqueness of each person made in the image of God in the ways they are gifted, and the way the talents were distributed in the parable Jesus told, that any form of centralized government that collects and distributes wealth the same regardless of work put out as we see in communism and socialism is very far from God's policy, way, or will. 

 So let me set this up a little here. In Matthew 6:24-26 we see where Jesus speaks of God as one who will supply your needs. In 2 Thessalonians 3:10 Paul and friends say, don't want to work? Shouldn't eat either. Oof. Then in Colossians 35 we see where Paul went on a long row about putting off all those things of the world, like malice, anger, foul language etc, and how instead you put on things of the Lord, like mercy, kindness, humilty etc. Then he says something interesting, whatever it is you do, do it from your heart, to the Lord, not to men, so, basically, serve. We serve a Lord who has given this earth's humans a free will to violate His ways continually and make a terrible mess out of things. Don't believe me? Well, I started to give you examples but then my conservative politics began to show so I stopped. ;) Anyway, so it is, free will, earth not living in the Lord's way, because of it, and yet the Lord, sovereign, all powerful, promised to provide. Then there is the way of the Lord. One who came born in a barn, washed feet, actual dirty feet, yeeeuck! His first miracle as a man was in the background serving role, making wine, if your prudish, you can call it grape juice, but it was wine. Then, with angels watching who were on His side, holding weapons more powerful than a million nukes He decided to let Himself be stripped naked and die. So it is, the Kingdom way is the unvarnished, unpolished, dirty, sloppy, serving way. To love others, not to be loved. Not to be clean, but to clean. Not to be clothed, but to clothe others. Don't get me wrong, I want you to be loved, clean, and most definitely dressed, but I am desiring that we see a priority in the serving department, for the Lord. So it is, that the Kingdom way is that we take our seesaw, and we break it, and then we walk away from it. Your customer, is the person in your life that the Lord has sent to you to serve. That's it. The fact that his money ends up in your pocket is a simple reality of the Lord keeping His promise. You see, the Lord, working through free will, is still keeping His promise, the seesaw is His. He knows how to work it, your seesaw is a little thing, it's rotten, full of greed. Break it. If you don't, you will short circuit the Lord's way. When a machine short circuits, it blows a fuse, pops a breaker and needs to cool off, or, it burns out. Have you ever blown a fuse at someone? Have you ever needed to sit and cool off in your heart? Have you ever faced burnout? That was probably your seesaw causing a short circuit, and you were trying to work like a machine so you could feed yourself. The current got to hot for you, for the Lord should have the seesaw, He can use it properly. Keep it simple, serve the people in your life for the Lord. Maybe it sounds like I'm saying, get after it, serve harder, do better, sorry, not the intent, the Lord's way is less pressure, less stress because, no worry. It is not the work that causes the screws to tighten in your soul, it is the worry.