God of the Unexpected

Greetings All,

   Just wanted to reflect on the "God of the unexpected" as I believe that this is how God usually operates and how I have come to experience Him again in this holy season.
   You see, Jesus was born in the most unexpected of ways, to a virgin, in the most unexpected of places, born in a stable and placed in a feeding trough. People had no idea that this was how God was going to send Messiah into the world or that this was to be the beginning of the greatest life ever lived. God is, and always has been, the God of the unexpected.
   We are all familiar with the expression of "when you least expect it, expect it."  I think it is fair to say that that is often how God does things. The Scriptures often refer to "the fullness of time," and as time passes people often forget and stop expecting. Then, POW! God does something totally unexpected, and yet promised, and, if we recognize that it is God, we are overwhelmed with the goodness of God.
   One of my favorite worship songs has a chorus that says : Waiting in expectancy, surrendered to Your sovereignty, I'm hungry for true intimacy, Lord, for the things of Your heart. And I often wonder if it is true that we are "waiting in expectancy." You see, most of what God does that is unexpected has been foretold in the Scriptures that He will do. Whether it is of the prophetic fullfillment or of the essence of His character being brought to bear on a life, we always seemed surprised that He would be so good to us, and the things He does come as so unexpected, primarily because we stopped expecting, and we stopped being surrendered to His sovereignty and we stopped hungering for true intimacy and seeking His heart, that we miss the point. The point is that He has told us that He has a plan for us, to prosper, not to harm us, to give us hope and a future. He has said that He will meet our every need according to His riches in glory. he has said that He will heal us, that He will come to us, that he will never leave us nor forsake us. And yet, we are surprised when He does all this and more. We forget that God is true to His Word and that His Word does not return unto Him void, but that it accomplishes every purpose for which He has sent it. He heals, He reconciles, He restores the years the locusts have eaten, He sets the captives free, He does what He says He will do, and we act as if it is unexpected. The onlt thing that might be unexpected is the how He might do it. His ways are not our ways and His thoughts are not our thoughts, they are higher than ours. God will often take, even, the follish things of this world in order to confound the wise. But if we are looking and holding on to His promises, then we ought not be surprised when He moves in our life and does what might be conceived as the unexpected.
   So my question to you in this wonderful season we call Christmas is this: Are you seeking after the things of God? Do you know the God of the unexpected and do you wait in expectation, that in the fullness of time, He will do what He has said He will do?
   I pray that you all have a very merry and very blessed Christmas.

Because of Jesus,

Pastor Jeff

Cultural Rantings

Good Morning,

   If you don't live in NYC or some such similar place and you don't surf the web news each morning like I do, you might miss some of the more interesting developments that arise that show the true condition of our culture. A culture, by the way that we keep looking to to try to have them fix things. This will never happen. Our culture is so messed up that we need an overhaul of the whole system or we need to look to a different source for our hope. As you may have guessed, I believe the answer is in the latter part of that previous statement. Just today I have read of two cultural items that I find appalling and that I believe if we keep going after and allowing may cause the falling away of many.
   First, the conflict that is going on in our nation's capital over the issue of repealing "don't ask, don't tell." Our officials are in conflict over the effect that this law would have and are now attacking one another rather than sticking to the issues.
   Secondly was a billboard posted by the Lincoln Tunnel in NYC. It depicts the traditional Christian scene of a Christmas card: Wisemen coming to the place of the manger under the Star. The caption reads "You KNOW it's a Myth - This Season, Celebrate REASON!" Of course it is posted by American Atheists who consider themselves to be "reasonable since 1963."
   What is amazing to me is that they can't even see that our culture has literally been going to hell in a hand-basket since their "reasonableness" has been thrust upon us in form of public policy since 1963.
It is not so much that I am personally threatened by either of these items, it is just that we are so ignorant of the effects that these issues have on us spiritually that we sleep through the presentation of these matter and let things slip away from us without recognizing the detrimental effects they will have on our country, our practice of faith and for the future of our children and grandchildren and more.
   In the Scriptures, numerous times we read about things that will effect those "afar off." God has promises and principles in place that are meant to bless and protect and we, culturally, are attacking almost everyone of them. The enemy is subtle in his attack and he has until the end of time to tear away at the things of God.His purpose in the tearing away at the things of God is to destroy and devour.
My question for you is this. Do you see it happening? Do you notice the subtle changes that are destroying the fabric of faith and practice in our country? Do you feel the effects or are you in a spiritual slumber?

Ponderings

So, based on some recent conversations (at church and at Bible study) and wonderings of my own mind, I have a question to pose to those who might consider such things. How can we get further in our relationship with God and experience of God if we are so unwilling to spend the time with God in order to get there?
I find it very interesting that the testimony of Scripture is so clear about how and what and we search for some other means by which to come into these experiences and then we blame God or get mad when we find ourselves so far from experiencing the very presence of God that we claim that we seek.
God says that you will find Him if you seek Him with your whole heart, surely you will find Him. If His Word is true and the testimony down through the ages bears witness to the truth of the possibility of living in an intimate relationship with God, why is it that we don't believe that it is possible for us? Is it only because it is outside the scope of our experience? Is it that we don't want to look at ourselves to closely because we might not like what we find? Is it easier to express anger or frustration than it is to change our life direction and focus?  Is our pride so great that we don't want to admit that our pursuits have been wrong or that we haven't taken God at His Word so that we might have the experience of His presence? Why do we think it has to be so hard or by some other means than what God has said?
If only we would take Him at His Word and seek Him with our whole heart, if we would draw near unto Him, He would draw near unto us. If we would spend the same amount of time pursuing God that we spend pursuing the things of this world, you know sports, entertainment, money, sex, etc, we just might find ourself with the experience of the presence of God. Maybe it isn't the fault of the church or the pastor or the past or my failures or the thought that God doesn't love me. Maybe it is that we aren't taking Him at His Word and coming to Him in the prescribed manner to find what we are looking for.
There was a rich young ruler who came to Jesus and asked what he must do in order to inherit eternal life. It was his question, his pursuit. Jesus answered that he must keep the law and commandments. The young man said he had done all this, and yet he still had the question of what must he do because something was missing. He knew there must be more. So, Jesus told him he lacked one thing, and he told him what he must do in order to experience the more that he was seeking. The rich young man was unable or unwilling to do this one thing and he went away sad because he knew he wasn't going to experience the more that he was searching for.
How like us this parable is. We are searching for more because we are somehow dissatisfied with our condition, yet we are unwilling or unable to pay the price to experience that which we are searching for.
My prayer for you is that you may find that place deep within yourself that knows that if you take God at His Word, life will have the meaning that you are searching for, that you will become truly satisfied, that you will come to know God in ways that you have always longed for. Something inside needs to break. It may be pride, it might be fear, it could be bondage to the past. It could be any number of things, but be assured, until it breaks and you take God at His Word, you will never find what you are looking for. You will not experience that quality of life we call eternal life. You will experience a void that causes heartache until it is filled with the experience of His presence.
So, what is it that you seek? Are you going after the things of God? I hope so.

Pastor Jeff

First Time Things of God

So, many of my friends have told me that I need to write. One even said, "you're a writer, write." God has always given me plenty to say, but putting it out there in written form has always seemed like such a greater risk. I pray that there will be much that is shared here that is a blessing to you. It is my hope to be an encouragement to you and an exhorter for you to walk in the deeper places with God. As I start this new undertaking, I will endeavor to add only those things that God has truly laid upon my heart. I already have a pulpit, so this will be an outlet to share devotions and revelation that God has granted me that might be of benefit in some way to those who might read this blog. I will draw from Scripture, writings and devotions of those more learned than I, as well as from that which God has given to me in my time with Him. I hope it is worth your time. Don't be afraid to post in response to my postings, both here and on my website. Many blessings to you and yours. Thanks for checking in with us here. Come back often and tell your friends about this site. Don't forget to become a follower and let me know if you have a blog of your own.

Because of Jesus,

Pastor Jeff