Luke 10:21 ASV In that same hour he rejoiced in the Holy Spirit, and said, I thank thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou didst hide these things from the wise and understanding, and didst reveal them unto babes: yea, Father; for so it was well-pleasing in thy sight.

If only you could control everyone with whom your child comes in contact. As soon as there is any interaction with others at school, on the playground, or at friends’ houses, there is an opportunity for them to begin seeing things from a different point of view. They may seem to be wonderful little creatures with happy faces and pure motives and actions until, magically, there is some objectionable word used or some errant behavior displayed that was never there until they were around ‘Judy’ or ‘Johnny’. Their perceptions, how they see life, and their ability to do right have everything to do with who they’re seeing. The choice of friends will have everything to do with the choice of right and wrong.

I had this friend who lived in the house right across the alley from us in Castle Rock. He was a charming young man whom I looked up to and from whom I was a given a perspective that was quite different from that which I’d been given in our home. He showed me how to emulate smoking with the smoke from matches. I went with his family to the pool hall on Main Street. (just wasn’t the type of place we would normally frequent) From him I also learned how to fail at putting out a fire in the vacant lot next to the church and how to hide while the Fire Department put the fire out. I’m sure there were additional words, attitudes, and behaviors that were shown to me as a result of the moments spent with the neighbor boy, and I’m sure there were a great many of them that would never have been learned if my Dad had been there with us. Somehow his presence always seemed to make things look much different. It still does.

So what is it about babes that qualifies them to see certain things that cannot be seen by the ‘wise and understanding’, and how is it that Jesus directed in Matthew 18:3 for us to become as little children? It would seem that acquiring wisdom and understanding were the reasons for partaking of the fruit in the garden and the only way Adam and Eve could have come up with this notion was by hanging out with the neighborhood snake. What took them from their childlike innocence and stripped them of their ability to behold God in His glory had everything to do with who they were beholding. Even though God knew what they were up to and could see their actions and the motives of their hearts, somehow their focus on the serpent and his enticing words caused them to lose sight of their Father’s face. Their ability to choose correctly was greatly altered by their newfound maturity and they completely lost sight of the higher ways of God’s heart. If somehow they could have kept His image before them their encounter with temptation would have left them no less innocent and still completely childlike.

I’m so grateful that there is a way back to the innocence, that there is a rebirth that makes the Father’s face and His presence and His ways visible to even those of us who have left physical childhood long ago. In seeking His face early, in keeping it continually before the eyes, there is an awakening of those eyes to those things that will only be seen by those who are His babes, His children. When the neighborhood faces rise with propositions of various considerations, the pure fixation on the face of the Father will preserve the purity and innocence provided in redemption and keep the eyes clear to what He desires to reveal to His children.

Especially since 9/11 there is a stringent security process through which you must pass in order to be a passenger on a commercial flight. Special scanning machines look through cases, clothes, and even mettle to determine the nature of the content within. Why is this so necessary? Because the criminal intent of a passenger can be subverted if what he has concealed in his luggage can be seen. My brother-in-law works for Homeland Security in the Tulsa airport, and he said that color codes represent various densities and shapes as objects pass through the scanner. He showed me a picture of one bag that had contained a loaded pistol of a woman that claimed she had just forgotten to remove it upon arrival at the airport. You could clearly see the pistol’s shape outlined in a color that set it apart from the other objects in her carry-on.

For every unrighteous activity there is an available screening process that is guaranteed to subvert its action. For those whose desire it is to be free of destructive and unholy behaviors there is an option to have all that is concealed within our luggage revealed in the sight of our Father. Although He already sees all and knows each of our hearts, when this is realized and brought to light in the wonder of His presence, there is an opportunity for His security to remove and destroy all those things that are deemed dangerous. Even those things we might have overlooked or just forgotten will be readily brought to light in His sight and made to be unacceptable not only to Him, but to us. While every flight taken without screening has great risk of evil actions, the one that has gone through the screening and removal procedure has very little potential for danger. Where the heart no longer conceals any dangerous substance, and where it has been allowed to undergo the Master’s acceptance or rejection, there will be a safe, joyful, and peaceful passage to our place of productivity in the Kingdom.

The continual place of worship, where an awareness of the Father’s screening is a passionate choice for every moment, is the way to holiness and righteousness for this day. Actions originate in the heart and where their substance is revealed in its shapes and colors, the Father’s acceptance will impact and greatly affect them. May His seeing expose all potential danger in the heart and may our passage be one without mishap to the place of righteousness where the fruit is all good.

Hunger, as it applies to food and many other areas of life such as fellowship, knowledge, leisure time, and productivity can be a strong motivation towards what is necessary in life. However, it can also open up areas of vulnerability, where something of great value is willingly offered in exchange for the filling of that hunger. This was seen in the case of Esau who came home from a hunting trip so hungry that he was willing to give up the most valuable thing in his life, his birthright. The 34th verse of Genesis 25 says that he actually despised his most valuable possession because of hunger, something that a simple bowl of porridge would fill. Jesus, on the other hand, was surely way more hungry than Esau could have been, and yet He was so full of the Holy Spirit that the temptations to fill His natural hunger were ineffective. He was already full with a huge meal that annihilated any other appetite He might develop. He could never be persuaded to part with His most valuable possession for the enticements of a few gratified appetites. There was a fullness He had from His relationship with His Father that disabled all other hungers.

There is no need for us today to part with any treasure that’s been given to us by our Father God. Rather than letting our enemy take advantage of any part of our life that has a voice of hunger, there is an opportunity every day for the feasting at the table provided for us in God’s presence to eliminate all other hungers and thirsts. In worship and in the reception of His Word into our hearts there is a great filling up that will refuse any giving in to the temptations our enemy might present. Whenever we find ourselves in a condition that, by earthly reasoning would justify compromise, there is a way of escape in God that will be a most pleasurable experience of continuous grazing and uninterrupted fullness. Where He has filled, there is no room for another.

Col 3:1-4 (ASV)

I met a man yesterday in a neighborhood close to a very large church we’ve enjoyed attending from time to time. I was impressed by the man’s personality as he warmly welcomed me to his home and treated me with what appeared to be sincere appreciation and consideration. While I did some work for him, I was wondering if he might attend the nearby church as he seemed to display a joy and appreciation for life that would well represent a child of God. When I did later ask him about this, though, he immediately revealed to me that he had some major challenges to his ‘faith’. As a child he had been a part of a religious organization who’s leader had, by abusing some of the other children, completely disrupted his ability to believe in anything that man had represented. He asked very passionately, “How could this be allowed to happen?”

Though there has been an experience with God, a transformation made, and maybe even a position of ‘leadership’ attained, there still remains this variable of ‘how’ as my new friend expressed it, and ‘if’ as Paul presented in the second and third chapters of Colossians. How can someone be anything other than holy and without blame if there is indeed a God and they would represent Him, and if one has been risen with Christ, then shouldn’t there be corresponding actions? To be born again, it would seem, is not just a single choice that forever changes all subsequent actions and behaviors, but it is rather the first of a lifetime of choices that will either reflect the face and image of Christ or some other identity that is far below the place where He’s seated at the right hand of God.

Where something is ‘sought’ there is a demonstration of passion and desire, and from what Paul has indicated this is something that can be set. There is an opportunity given to each of us to either allow our hearts to be taken by things that are above in Christ or things that are below and by this ‘setting’ there is an ability and capacity gained to actually act the part rather than just errantly bear the name. The initial belief in Christ that is followed by a confession of Him as Lord is a wonderful experience of rebirth, but to actually ‘be’ in Christ is an ongoing choice that will be directly demonstrated in Godly actions. Anything that’s already been attained spiritually or mentally will be rendered meaningless in every subsequent moment where another lower thing is sought, resulting in an action that raises the questions of ‘how?’ and ‘if?’. The reality of what it means to be in Christ will never be altered by those who would claim to be there and act differently, and yet the testimony and ability to walk in its power, authority and freedom will only be well represented in the lifestyle of the one who has set their mind and affections on higher things and allowed their behavior to be transformed by this fixation.

Every moment in worship has its reward in life and every setting of passions and desires will be directly reflected in a life that demonstrates what it really means to be in Christ- doesn’t really matter who you are or what you’ve already done- it’s a choice of the moment.

25 For he that doeth wrong shall receive again for the wrong that he hath done: and there is no respect of persons.

Col 3:25 (ASV)

Judges 2:1-2 KJV  And an angel of the LORD came up from Gilgal to Bochim, and said, I made you to go up out of Egypt, and have brought you unto the land which I sware unto your fathers; and I said, I will never break my covenant with you.  (2)  And ye shall make no league with the inhabitants of this land; ye shall throw down their altars: but ye have not obeyed my voice: why have ye done this?

A great liberation has taken place with the intense bondage of a dominating government being escaped for the promise of complete freedom in a promised land. The price has been paid and the way has been made through the blood of Jesus to a place where no restrictions or restraints may ever again prohibit the liberty that is ours in Christ. To fully occupy this new domain, however, there can be no compromise whatsoever with the land to be occupied. To allow any of those old gods and old ways to remain is to errantly permit the existence of the greatest threat to continued freedom. At some point along the way any living opposition will become a thorn and source of great pain and disorder to the way of holiness that is the purpose, the intention and the possibility for the child of God.

There is this wonderful substance I love to consume call an apple fritter. It really should be good for you, too, because it does have apples and …… well, you know, it’s got good stuff in it- tastes heavenly anyway. The problem is that this wonderful pastry, along with many other food substances that get my mouth to watering have within them ingredients that will disrupt the health and functionality of this God-designed body. Over time if willfully included in my diet they will produce an excess amount of weight, cause problems with blood-flow, and present a welcome environment for cancer and other disease. It is so good to feel strong and healthy, but the only problem with these moments is that there can also be a feeling of invincibility and resistance to a condition that surely won’t have the same affect as it has in someone else. Just a little fritter here or a burrito there surely won’t be harmful to someone who is obviously so strong and healthy. The only problem is that any detrimental substance will begin to build up, take root and begin to establish eventual weakness and debilitating sickness. If strength could just be a motivation for further resistance to the destructive substance and ways rather than a motivation for compromise, it would never have to be compromised by the ‘little’ pleasures and passions.

Even more potentially destructive than my precious fritter is that attitude, that anger, that bitterness and that revenge that is allowed to remain in a person designed for holiness, righteousness, peace, forgiveness and love. It might seem they are small, especially in times when weakness doesn’t seem to be a problem. Just a little taste might not appear to be all that detrimental where strength is apparent, but if allowed to live and remain as a resident it will eventually grow to dominate and undermine any strength that once seemed invincible. Just a tiny bit of yeast will affect the whole loaf, and just a miniscule seed will grow to be a massive tree, so the least bit of unrighteousness allowed to remain will eventually bring diversion and failure to a life that was meant for God’s glory. With so much to be enjoyed in God today, may those things that will eventually cause heart failure be passed up for the purity of holiness and may those seemingly small tidbits of compromise be put in the garbage disposal rather than consumed and allowed to infest.

Just going for a walk?. Well there’s not really anything ‘just’ about going for a walk. When you go for a walk, and especially on a regular basis, you are about to experience a long list of health benefits that will transform and possibly save your life. Circulation and blood flow are given what they need in the action of walking, while breathing, state of mind, sugar levels, and weight are conditioned and maintained at healthy levels. To take a walk provides a great opportunity for adventure and the nurturing of relationships. Apart from the reclining life of one who is never bound for anywhere, the one who is taking the walk is experiencing so much more of what life has to offer. On a walk is where more than just thoughts and words are manifest, but the actual  motion towards a destination and hope.

While there is detailed mention of how long men lived and who they begat in the Old Testament, it’s interesting that uniquely in the description of Enoch is a reference to walking with God. There was something in walking that completely set him apart from all the other honorable mentions of Bible genealogy. He didn’t just know something about God, accumulated through written and spoken understanding. He didn’t just extend praise and worship in the sanctuary along with a full sanctuary of others. His relationship with God wasn’t confined to the discovery of what good could be personally gained from this association. There was a humility in Enoch and his relationship with God that enabled him to, with regularity, ‘just’ go for a walk with Him. Rather than moving through his life with a sense of independence and self-indulgence, by including God in every step through life there was the loss of his own life in a progression to where he would be completely ‘taken’ by God. By agreeing with, moving with, talking with and working with God on every stride of his life-walk he was lifted from the constraints and restrictions of this life to the endless health benefits and wonders of a heaven–life.

There is for each of us this day an opportunity for an adventure, a health, enhancer, an inspiration, and a victory in taking God with us on our life-walk. Though maybe never to be translated like Enoch, there will be in Christ an opportunity to leave the demands of earth life for the liberation and freedom of heaven– by ’just’ taking our walk with the Almighty God.

It all comes down to where you want to live. It can be where the lights are always on, the water comes out of the tap, everything is clean and well kept, and the temperature is maintained by heat or ac. Or, it can be where the opposite is true or threatening. You might think it’s all about the place and where you’re choosing to live, but the place of habitation really has much more to do with who you choose to hang with. The place just follows. Where the honorable is honored, the dwelling is well, but where the dishonorable is honored, the dwelling will fall or has already fallen.

I’ve never  had the privilege of hanging out at the White House, (although my sister just went there this last week) but I’m sure there is a certain standard that’s required for people to even get through the gate leading up to the house. This may vary somewhat based upon who is occupying the office of the President at the moment, but generally thieves and unruly people with any kind of criminal record or appearance thereof will have a difficult time getting anywhere close. It is an awesome structure in itself, but what has really set it apart from any other structure that might even be larger or more extravagant is the person who occupies it, the President. There has even been a certain aura left be each of the Presidents that have occupied it as they’ve been honored for their office or position. To really hang out there for more than just a paid tour, it will have something to do with your relationship and associations. You may have some acquaintances from a group that engages in sinful or unlawful activities, but in order to go to the White House, it will need to be that you aren’t grouped together with those that would bring dishonor to the one who is the reason for its existence. There will have to be choices made throughout life that will cause you to either be gathered together with the mischievous and dishonest sinners that are prohibited from entering the home of the honored, or qualify you, by your associations, to be a part of a group that is seen as acceptable, safe and worthy.

To abide in the Secret Place of the Most High and to love and appreciate His habitation will first of all require redemption and mercy. No matter how close to perfection we are, it will always fall short of the pure holiness that is required, and we’ll ever be in need of the amazing grace that will qualify. However, for those that would actually live in the place of His presence there will have to be a choice of Him over other associations in life that dishonor the King. Entering His courts will require praise, but it will also demand a departure from living with those that are directly opposed to His nature and His righteousness. Touching the world is one matter, but living there and loving it is another. Where there is greater love for the Honor One, there will be a desire to be there in His congregation, honoring and worshiping Him at the gathering time. Where you’ve chosen to be and to live will always be a significant indicator of who you’ve chosen to honor. To honor and fellowship with Him is to honor and fellowship with those who are also seeking to please Him. His house is a full family house where every member is there because of Him and a choice of Him over any other restricting association.

While all that extra stuff is actually serving a very useful and helpful function, for the person attempting to ‘pop the hood’ and look for a problem, it is so much more difficult now than back in the day when it was just the motor and a few other essentials. Now, if this ‘check your engine’ light starts shining, indicating some unseen problem, it’s virtually impossible to discover what is causing that light to be so persistent. Though there may be no obvious performance issues, there is still a legal problem, because you’re not supposed to get an inspection sticker until that light goes out. You can start blindly changing this or that, hoping to somehow accidentally fix it, but really the only and the easiest way to remedy the problem is to just break down and visit an automotive repair shop. There they have this nifty computer that will plug into the car’s computer and diagnose the exact cause of the warning light’s activation. Fear of other things possibly waiting to be discovered by the auto shop may make this a less than desirable option, but in the end, for the car to function properly, connection to the computer will be required. Even the seasoned mechanic will not pretend that he knows enough on his own, but just utilize the power of that machine he paid so much for.

It can be frustrating when warning lights go off, indicating that something is wrong somewhere and in some way to which you’re totally oblivious. How could this action, behavior, attitude, reaction even be possible in the life of someone who’s given their life to God? You might try to figure it out yourself- somehow put a stop to it by blindly trying this or that, but in the end there really is only one answer, going to the One who knows exactly how we’re put together and letting Him plug into us. Rather than stay away from and fear what may be discovered inside, it’s possible to savor and appreciate everything He’ll do for us while we’re plugged in to Him. I love the verses that precede this 12th one. They talk about the extensive virtues, attributes and abilities of God and how each one of them can have a direct effect on our state of being. Who would even consider self-repair or DIY when allowing Him to get inside will do so much more than turn off the error light; He’ll equip and enable us to function at peak performance levels, fulfilling our greatest purpose.

Getting plugged in is so much better than just staying away and attempting on your own what only He can do. Why fear anything else that might occur while there in Him? The very best will never be known by anyone trying to figure it out from the outside. You just have to let Him plug in, diagnose and do what only He can do- completely restore to optimal functionality.

Psalms 19:7-11 KJV
(7)  The law of the LORD is perfect, converting the soul: the testimony of the LORD is sure, making wise the simple.
(8)  The statutes of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart: the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes.
(9)  The fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever: the judgments of the LORD are true and righteous altogether.
(10)  More to be desired are they than gold, yea, than much fine gold: sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
(11)  Moreover by them is thy servant warned: and in keeping of them there is great reward.

     As soon as it is understood that it has and will cost something, there is usually much less acceptance of the source of healing and deliverance – when the miracle is for someone else anyway. Though it was surely amazing to see the man once possessed by demons completely delivered, when confronted with the bill for this demonstration of Jesus’ power, it was unacceptable for this to take place any more. Jesus had to go. If they had only known that the very man they were expelling would soon lay down his own life (so much more valuable than the mere herd of pigs) for their own deliverance, their assessment of the event would surely have been reversed. As they look back on it now they must have a great deal of shame for the treatment and value they gave their own Deliverer. If only they could have seen the true value of the victory and freedom over what it cost them in a few smelly pigs, they could have shared in the victory with an embrace for the Conqueror rather than a rejection boot.

     It is not possible to hold on to those grunting valuables in our lives and experience the One who has come to give us something of such greater value. As the Spirit of God comes into our realm with liberating deliverance, some of those treasures may go running off into the ocean. It may appear that our very livelihood or way of living is being compromised, but with the disappearance of every swirly tail into the surf, there is an opportunity to more fully appreciate the magnitude of the treasure offered to us by the One still standing on the shore. Instead of quietly refusing His access to those certain areas that we thought were ours alone, we can embrace His replacement and welcome Him onto every other shore of our heart to displace anything else that would take oppression with it.

Growing up in the Behrman household there was always a sense of confidence that if something were wrong with anything around the house, Dad was not only more than able to fix it, but he most definitely would make certain it was remedied. It was something that I probably never realized or appreciated all that much then, but now, as a home owner, I look back longingly to that time when living with Dad meant having everything maintained and functioning. Every little drippy faucet and burned out light bulb would not remain in its state of ill repair for long- as long as he was around.

Even in the present day there is an added blessing to each of our homes every time Dad and Mom come to visit me or my siblings. It will not just be a wonderful time sitting around the table or the fireplace talking; Dad will most probably notice that broken board or hole in the sheetrock, and before their visit comes to an end, make it appear that there had never been a problem. Wherever Dad goes there is a mending that’s going to take place. There is a problem that’s going to get solved. Though he and Mom come to just hang out and find fulfillment in seeing their grand kids, they bring with them an attitude that insists on making our home a better place before they’re done.

God has prepared in us this place that is uniquely capable of bringing Him pleasure and rest. He longs for the fellowship that comes from just hanging out with His children and experiencing the joy that was set before Jesus so long ago. Although this is something that you would think He could just claim and occupy on His own, He insists on waiting for our invitation, for our welcome sign and invitation. He doesn’t just barge in the front door without ringing the bell, although He is on the front step continually knocking and desiring to come in.

Once our Father is actually welcomed in to abide in our hearts, though, He does so much more than just pull up a chair and watch Andy Griffith with us. Wherever He goes it isn’t just a presence that leaves things as they were when He arrived. As long as He’s in the house, things are being continually remedied, repaired and restored to their original capability and potential. Where our clothing revealed where we’d been- maybe a bit soiled from the substance of sin and failure, He provides us with the pure and impeccable clothing of righteousness. We’re able to go places we could have never gone in our old duds, and where the air may have been thick with oppression and fear, the atmosphere is transformed to that of joy and peace. When He’s allowed heart entrance our Father brings with Him the ark of His power, the demonstration of His ability to completely renovate the place and give it the protection and provision it needs so very much.

As each day dawns and as our hearts are exposed to and filled with the elements of earth living, there is ever a knocking at the door, even for the seasoned God residence. He is continually dependent upon the welcome  invitation, but given the reception as His presence is our choice, He comes in with an ability to not just notice everything that wrong or broken, but repair, refinish, and make everything right in the home of our heart. Although it is His face we seek and His glory that is our passion, with Him always comes the force of His mending ability and the enabling of our abode to realize our full potential and purpose. Things will never be as they were when He arrived. Those things that may have never even been noticed and as they just grew to be a part of the home’s ‘character’ will be removed leaving this wonderful perfection of His hand’s doing.

I love it when Mom and Dad are able to make it. I know it will be incredible just being with them, but as we’re being so gratified by their faces and words, there will be changes taking place as Dad grabs his tools and gets with it. So, the face of our Father is such a passionate pursuit and just sitting down to eat the bread of His word and drink from His water of life brings fulfillment in itself. There will, though, ever be something else going on in our hearts as the Father’s tools are working their magic and bringing brightness and rightness to the place of His rest.