Discussing the Personhood of God on Sunday mornings recently, we have explored several key aspects of His Person including His Presence, His Name and His Glory.  Next we will begin talking about His voice.  God is a person with a voice, and He uses it to speak forth His Word.  One of the many purposes of His Word, which proceeds from His mouth, is to communicate with us His thoughts, His ways, His will, His heart.  In the Bible, we see God communicating with mankind from the beginning of the Creation account in Genesis, all the way through to the final words of Revelation.

God reveals Himself to us through His Word in several ways.  First there is the general revelation of Himself spoken through the voice of creation.  For example, “The heavens are telling of the glory of God; and their expanse is declaring the work of His hands.  Day to day pours forth speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.”(Psalm 19:1-2)  Since the creation of the world, “His eternal power and Divine nature” are clearly revealed and understood through what He has made (Romans 1:20). 

Secondly, there is a special kind of revelation that comes directly from His written Word communicated in the Scriptures.  “No prophecy of Scripture came about by the prophet's own interpretation.  For prophecy never had its origin in the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit.” (2 Peter 1:20-21)  All Scripture is “God-breathed” which means it had as its origin the actual words that flowed forth from the very mouth of God.

Thirdly there is another kind of special revelation in the coming of God’s Son, the Word, in the flesh.  “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. . . No one has seen God at any time; the only begotten God who is in the bosom of the Father, He has explained Him.” (John 1:1,18)  When Jesus Christ came to earth, He revealed God to us by being “the radiance of His glory and the exact representation of His nature.” (Hebrews 1:3)

Through these three forms of revelation – God’s creation, the Scriptures and His Son, Jesus Christ - God has revealed Himself to us, and has made known His universal plan to reconcile mankind with Himself.  God has spoken and, in so doing, He demonstrates His personhood and desire to communicate as a person with those persons who have been created in His own image.

Relationship doesn’t stop there, however.  God didn’t stop talking after the six days of creation.  He didn’t cease to communicate with us upon the writing of the last page of the Bible.  He didn’t stop revealing Himself 2,000 years ago with the departure of Jesus from the earth.  Day after day, God continues to speak volumes to us through His creation.  The written Word of God is living and active, able to pierce, discern, judge, nourish, consume, shatter, teach, rebuke, correct, train.  It speaks daily to those who have eyes to see and ears to hear.  And often we treat Jesus, the living Word, like the women at His tomb.  In the words of the angels, “Why do you seek the Living One among the dead?” (Luke 24:5)  That is an extremely probing question.  Now at the right hand of the Father, Jesus is building His Church and He continues to speak as the Head of His Church.  He is “the One who walks among the lampstands” (Rev. 2:1) and speaks forth His Word to His people.

God is a communicative God.  He continues to reveal Himself and to communicate with us His thoughts, His ways, His will, His heart.  The question remains, then, “Is anyone listening?”

Walking together with Him!

Scott

April 23, 2008    In Step - Little Faith Great Faith

 There is little faith, and then there is great faith.

Little in the sense of “how much” faith we have, never seems to be an issue with God.  Jesus said that faith the size of a mustard seed (which is very little) could move mountains.  However, little in the sense of “what kind” of faith we have definitely elicits God’s commentary.  When Jesus rebukes His disciples for the “littleness” of their faith, He is addressing the quality of their faith and not the quantity.  He is not referring to the amount of faith they don’t have, but rather to the poverty of the faith they do have.  It is this kind of “faith” - the impoverished kind that bows its knee to every excuse, reason, difficulty or crisis that comes along - which we must leave behind and, in its place, embrace a greater faith.

Littleness of faith consigns us to being defined by the dangers and difficulties we encounter along the way.  Great faith insists on being defined, rather, by our destiny.  Little faith allows us to be paralyzed by our problems, while great faith pushes us forward through the problems.  Little faith chooses to see the opposition.  Great faith focuses on the opportunity to walk with God no matter what.  Little faith only looks at the natural realm.  Great faith chooses to see the bigger picture of the spiritual arena, what can be seen and heard beyond the natural realm.

As our faith grows, we then move forward in a progression the Bible calls “from faith to faith.”  That is to say we begin our relationship with God by faith, and we continue in that relationship by faith.  As we received Christ the Lord by faith, so we are to continue to live in Him.  This is a faith that keeps moving on to greater and greater heights.  We continuously experience new levels in our journey of faith that each previous experience opens up for us.

It takes one kind of faith for Moses to lead God’s people out of Egypt; it takes another kind of faith altogether to lead them right into a trap (between the pursuing Egyptian army and the Red Sea).  It takes one kind of faith for Gideon to destroy his father’s altar to a pagan deity; it takes another kind of faith for him to muster an army of 32,000 soldiers in the face of impossible odds, and it takes an even greater faith then to reduce that army to 1% of its original size (300 men)!  It takes one kind of faith for David to kill the giant Goliath; it takes an altogether different kind of faith not to kill King Saul who had put a price on David’s head without a cause.  It takes one kind of faith for Peter to step out of the boat and walk on the water; it takes an entirely different level of faith to stay out of the boat.

Ultimately our faith comes as a direct response to God’s Word in our lives.  “So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).  If we want a greater faith, there must be a greater exposure to hearing the Word of the Lord.

Walking together with Him!

Scott

April 16, 2008    In Step - The Gathering at Hill Point

In a real sense here at Hill Point, we are experiencing a gathering.  In fact we are a gathering.  For years now God has been in the process of gathering together those of His choosing to be a part of His Kingdom expression, the display of His glory and a testimony to His saving grace.  “Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.  Let the redeemed of the LORD say this-- those he redeemed from the hand of the foe, those he gathered from the lands, from east and west, from north and south.” (Psalm 107:1-3)

Time is one of the key elements involved in this gathering.  Some people have been here almost from the very beginning of what God began in 1965.  Others came later on and became an integral part of the transition that has been taking place over the past few years.  Then there are those who have come only recently (like my family) and are just now beginning to appreciate what God has been orchestrating here over the last four decades.  And others still are on their way; those who will be gathered together with us in the days ahead, and who are destined to fill significant roles still to be revealed.

Variety is another key element in this gathering.  God is bringing together people from very different denominational backgrounds and experiences.  He is mixing up age and stage of life dynamics.  We represent those who are brand new in our faith, those who have been in a relationship with God most of our lives, and those who fall somewhere in between.  Some of us have lived and worked in the local area all our lives, while others of us have come from the “north, south, east or west.” 

In spite of our differences, however, those of us in this gathering also share some very significant spiritual common denominators.  Most of us have had a “wilderness experience,” going through some dry and thirsty times where we wondered what God was doing and where all this was leading.  We have been through dire straits that only God could have navigated us through successfully.  We have seen and testify to His uncompromising grace and mercy in our lives, and attribute where we are today to nothing short of His supernatural intervention in our lives.  We know without a shadow of a doubt that we are here in this place by God’s divine leading and provision for such a time as this.

So, we must never forget from whence we have come.  By God’s grace, may we always be mindful of His hand in bringing us along.  “It is He who has made us, and not we ourselves.”  Jesus is the One building His Church, and we are the living stones He places into position as He sees fit.  May we be looking forward with great anticipation for our connecting and uniting with those who belong, but have yet to arrive, at this gathering.  We must be ready and excited to hear their experience of the journey and, together with them, be a people in whom God’s Kingdom and Glory will find powerful expression in the earth. 

Walking together with Him!

Scott

April 9, 2008    In Step - Ten-Day Test Pt 2

Last week we discussed the importance of walking with God as the pathway to improve the quality of our lives.  As a means to jumpstart our walk with God, or simply to get back on track, we suggested a Ten Day Test patterned after the example found in Daniel chapter 1.  The time involved is manageable so as not to discourage anyone, but long enough to establish some basic habit patterns and to get some positive feedback that will encourage us to continue our pursuit of God.  This “test” essentially demonstrates an increase in our quality of life when we walk with God rather than walking through life by ourselves.

The ten-day period really focuses on two important aspects of walking with God.  The first focus is the need to be free and clear from anything that hinders our relationship with the Lord.  This is seen in Daniel’s resolve not to defile (pollute) himself.  This probably will be the longer of the two periods within the ten days.  In the Old Testament, ritual cleansing from defilement with something dead typically required a 7-day period of time.  Not that we are advocating a return to Old Testament ritual, but rather simply acknowledging that our flesh dies hard.  Yes, our “old self” was crucified with Christ, but it is in the “reckoning of ourselves dead to sin” that it seems to take longer for our flesh to surrender.  Establishing a pattern of behavior where we are not presenting the members of our bodies to sin but rather to God requires time and intentional commitment.  Ultimately, it will be the grace of God through faith that prevails here, and not our striving.  “And this is the victory that has overcome the world-- our faith.” (1 John 5:4).  “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Gal. 2:20)

While the first period of the test focuses on being free from anything that hinders our walk with God, the remaining few days focus on being filled with God’s Spirit and His Word.  If all we do is focus on getting rid of what does not belong, without also focusing on receiving what does belong, we create a void - and Satan loves to fill up a void.  Jesus taught that when an evil spirit leaves a man, and his “house” is then swept clean, put in order and yet remains unoccupied, the evil sprit will return with seven other spirits and the last condition of that man becomes worse than the first (Matt.12:43-45).  So we must also focus on receiving the Living Word of God and the filling of His Spirit, with the expected result that the quality of our lives will have been changed for the better.

Daniel illustrated this focus when he said to his Overseer after the ten-day test “Let our appearance be observed in your presence,” and he challenged the man to compare him and his three friends with the appearance of the other young men in his group.  He fully expected after the test, that their appearance would clearly surpass and outclass all the others.  Daniel was willing to bet his life on the fact that walking with God would not only free him up from things potentially harmful to his life, but would also fill him up with “God things” that would reap tangible and positive results.

One other note is that we must not dictate to God what kind of results we expect Him to fulfill.  Just because Daniel was faithful in this ten-day test did not mean he received a “get out of jail for free” card.  He still remained in the custody of his foreign captors in a far-off country for the majority of his life on earth.  But he did experience an amazing, “empire-transcending” life as he walked with God on his earthly journey, recorded and witnessed on the pages of Scripture for all time.

Jesus said His mission in coming to earth was that we “may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).  This Ten Day Test is simply a tool to help us get back on track, walk with God and enjoy an abundant life the way He meant for it to be lived.  If you began this test last Thursday, this Sunday (13th) will be your evaluation day.  If you begin this test tomorrow, the following Sunday (20th) will be your evaluation day.  Your evaluation is between you and God, but I would be encouraged to hear from any of you willing to share your experience and testimony.

Walking together with Him!

Scott

April 2, 2008    Ten-Day Test Pt 1

Walking with God is just that – a walk.  It is not a one time event that we can point to and say that we’ve “been there, done that.”  Yesterday, either I walked with God or I didn’t.  Today, I am walking with God or I’m not.  Tomorrow, either I will walk with God or I won’t.

When the Scriptures speak of people like Enoch or Noah saying “He walked with God,” this is a summary statement of the overall characteristic of that person’s life, and not just a reference to a single moment or event.  In fact, it says in Genesis 5:21-24 that Enoch became the father of Methuselah at the age of 65, and then he walked with God for 300 years!  Clearly this is a summary statement that characterized his life as a whole.

When we read such a testimony of an Enoch or a Noah, it can be quite intimidating and cause us to feel inadequate even to think of obtaining a similar reputation in our own lives.  And so we feel defeated even before we begin.  But as the old riddle says: “How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time.”  Walking with God clearly is accomplished one step at a time.

Then the question arises, “How do I get started?”  I want to suggest a lesson from the life of Daniel that we can apply any time we are ready to start - or start again! - walking with God.  Simply put, it is the same Ten-Day Test that Daniel used in his own life.  To begin with, Daniel 1:8 says that Daniel made up his mind (purposed in his heart) that he would not defile (pollute) himself.  This meant he was going to “go against the grain” and choose to take the road less traveled.  There must be a decisive moment where you say “I can’t keep going like this.  I want to respond to God’s invitation to walk with Him.”

But that first step needn’t be “a giant leap for mankind!”  Daniel proposed a Ten-Day Test with his overseers which you can read about in Daniel chapter 1.  The genius of this test lies in its simplicity.  The length of time involved is short enough not to discourage anyone, yet it is long enough to establish some fundamental habit patterns and to see some immediate positive results which encourage you to continue your pursuit of God.  This “test” basically is designed to prove an increase in your quality of life when you walk with God rather than walking through life by yourself.

The Ten-Day Test can be started any time you are ready to respond to God’s inquiry from the opening days of creation: “They heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden . . . and the Lord called to Adam and said, ‘Where are you?’”  You see, even when we walk away from Him, God still wants to walk with us.  He stepped down to earth so that you and I could walk with Him in high places.

May we be known by reputation as those who walk with God!  Why not start today!?!  At the end of ten days from now, on Sunday April 13, ask someone who knows you if they notice anything different about you.

Walking together with Him!

Scott