I was recently standing in line at a pet store here in Clovis to pay for cat food when I heard a large cat - the 'MEOW' was big - over by the window. I looked over expecting to see this large feline and was surprised to see not a cat at all but rather a large, beautiful, colorful bird - perhaps a macaw, maybe a parrot - sitting next to a cage with some small cats - just 'meowing' away. As I turned and smiled at the cashier, she laughed and said, 'That silly bird thinks he's a cat!' As I walked away the thought struck me, in terms of my spiritual life, though I have preached Christ and taught Christ and sung Christ and gone to church and given money and proclaimed myself to be a follower of Christ's for much of my life, and though no one is perfect and we are all legitimate works in progress spiritually-speaking, am I truly authentically Christ's right now - or am I a bird playing like I'm a cat? If we all are to be free from the charge of hypocrisy, if we all are to be healthy and whole - and holy - branches abiding in the Vine Christ Jesus - then we are all - through the Holy Spirit's power - going to have to continue to keep our eyes on Jesus. Commenting on Colossians 2:2-3:

"My purpose is that you . . . may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that you may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. NIV"

Andrew Murray shares:

"Expect from Jesus most confidently whatever. . . you may need for a life to the glory of the Father. In all that concerns your spiritual life, abide in Jesus as your wisdom. The life you have in Christ is a thing of infinite sacredness. It is far too holy and high for you to know how to act it out. It is He alone who can guide you to know what is becoming your dignity as a child of God. He will help you understand what will hinder your inner life, and especially your abiding in Him. Do not think of it as a mystery or a difficulty you have to solve, whatever questions come up regarding the possibility of abiding effectually and uninterruptedly in Him, and of really obtaining all the blessings that come from it. . . you must trust Him! Never think that Jesus has hidden away the riches of wisdom and knowledge, as in a treasure chest without a key or of your way as a path without a light. Jesus, who is your wisdom, is guiding you, even when you can't see it.

"Father, please, make me real today, make me true today, cause me to keep my eyes on Jesus today - whatever today may bring - that I may remain in Jesus today. In Jesus' Name, Steve"

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We have a friend, who I'll call 'Jane', who is going through horrendous physical problems these days. I was counseling her husband, who I'll call 'Bill', the other day and he made the point that, though Jane is a believer in Jesus and loves Him and wants to serve Him, some days she feels so bad and out of it and the pain is so severe, that she doesn't think about prayer, she doesn't think about faith, sometimes she even has trouble thinking about God. I shared with him that its especially in times like this - when God knows exactly what we are going through, not judging us or berating us for our weaknesses, but lovingly and mercifully holding us to Himself - that God's mercy, grace, and power are ours. Andrew Murray shares:

"Abiding in Jesus is not a work that needs each moment the mind to be engaged, or the affections to be directly and actively occupied with it. It is an entrusting of oneself to the keeping of His Eternal Love, in the faith that He will abide near us, and with His holy presence watch over us and ward off the evil, even when we have to be most intently occupied with other things(like pain and sickness). And so the heart has rest and peace and joy in the consciousness of being kept when it cannot keep itself."

Praise God for a Savior Who never leaves nor forsakes whatever our condition might be!

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'Thank God, a life of victory is sure for those who have a knowledge of their inward ruin and are hopeless in themselves. But, who, in "the confidence of despair" have looked to Jesus, and, in faith in His power to make the act of surrender possible for them, they have done it in His might, and now rely on Him alone every day and every hour. Andrew Murray'

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I recently attended a retreat where the speaker shared with us a prayer-affirmation statement that she has been praying on a daily basis since 1968. I like it, need it, and am now praying it myself:

'I believe with Christ living in me through the Holy Spirit, recognized, trusted and obeyed, my life today can be happy, restful, and strong. Deliberately, I surrender my life to him and trust Him to do the mighty work within of cleansing and empowering. I believe also that God will manage my affairs today if I hand over the control to Him. I do that now and refuse to take anything back into my care. In this faith, I go out into the day with quietness and confidence as my strength.

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Commenting on 2 Corinthians 2:14 NIV: "But thanks be to God, who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.' E. Stanley Jones writes:

"This passage implies that God always leads us in triumph provided we stay in Christ. This raises questions: Aren't Christians often defeated? Do they not often go down in disaster? The answer is no, not if they stay "in Christ," for staying in Christ is the victory. When you stay in Him you manifest a spirit which cannot be defeated, for the manifestation of that spirit is the victory. Jesus went down in defeat at the cross, but at the very moment of defeat he manifested a spirit which was the victory: 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.' That spirit was the victory amid defeat. So if you manifest His Spirit amid your defeat, you are led in triumph - for that Spirit is the victory, the victory that overcomes the world! When a Roman persecutor said to a Christian who was in the tyrant's grip, 'What can Jesus do for you now?' The man replied, 'He can help me to forgive you.' That forgiveness was the victory!"

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"I find that while faith is steady nothing can disquiet me, and when faith totters nothing can establish me. If I ramble out among means and creatures, I am presently lost, and can come to no end. But if I stay myself on God, and leave Him to work in His own way and time, I am at rest, and can lie down and sleep in a promise, though a thousand rise up against me. Therefore my way is not to cast beforehand, but to walk with God by the day. Keep close to God, and then you need fear nothing. Maintain secret and intimate acquaintance with Him, and then a little of the creature will go a great way. Crowd not religion into a corner of the day. Would men spend those hours they wear out in plots and devices in communion with God, and leave all on Him by venturesome believing, they would have more peace and comfort." Joseph Eliot

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Once again I recently encountered the age-old question: 'Pastor, really, why do we need church? Sure its great to get together and see each other every once in awhile, but really, can't I do business with God alone?' Well sure you can - and must - do business daily with 'God alone', but there is more to it than that. Dietrich Bonhoeffer shares:

"The prisoner, the sick person . . . recognizes in the nearness of a fellow Christian a physical sign of the gracious presence of the triune God. In their loneliness, both the visitor and the one visited recognize in each other the Christ who is present in the body. They receive and meet each other as one meets the Lord, in reverence, humility, and joy. They receive each other's blessings as the blessing of the Lord Jesus Christ. But if there is so much happiness and joy even in a single encounter of one Christian with another, what inexhaustible riches must invariably open up for those who by God's will are privileged to live in daily community life with other Christians! Of course, what is an inexpressible blessing from God for the lonely individual is easily disregarded and trampled under foot by those who receive the gift every day. It is easily forgotten that the community of Christians is a gift of grace from the kingdom of God . . . Therefore, let those who until now have had the privilege of living a Christian life together with other Christians praise God's grace from the bottom of the their hearts.

Jesus tells us that where two or three are gathered together in His Name He is there. Now if we happen to find ourselves stranded alone on a desert island He is there as well, Praise His Name. But how much greater the fellowship when my brother and sister and I can worship Him together as one body worshipping our Three-In-One Lord.

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Great words on a Monday - or any day, for that matter - from Dietrich Bonhoeffer:

'But now comes the greatest wonder that the world has ever known. In the very place where we have fallen away from God, where we have become dead and unreceptive to God, in our guilt, God's goodness searches us out, and is revealed to us again as the eternal promise of God, in Jesus Christ, which far surpasses all guilt and all life. Only the person who, in the darkness of guilt, of unfaithfulness, of enmity toward God, has felt himself or herself touched by the love which never ceases, which forgives everything, and which points beyond all misery to the world of God, only such a person really knows what God's goodness means.

The Apostle Paul put it like this:

'As for you, you were dead in your transgressions and sins, in which you used to live when you followed the ways of this world and of the ruler of the kingdom of the air, the spirit who is now at work in those who are disobedient. All of us also lived among them at one time, gratifying the cravings of our sinful nature and following its desires and thoughts . . . But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions - it is by grace you have been saved. And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.' Eph. 2:1-7 NIV

Great Good News to begin a week. Is it your good news?

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Do you know god? I am not asking whether you believe things about Him; but have you met Him? Have you known yourself for certain in His presence? Does He speak to you, and do you know that you speak to Him? . . . It matters not where you are as long as you know that this is possible, that Christ died to make it possible. He died "to bring us to God," and to this knowledge . . . O that we might know God! Begin to cry with Job, "Oh, that I knew where I might find him," and you will soon find yourself desiring, hungering to know Him. The most vital question to ask about all who claim to be Christian is this: Have they a soul thirst for God? Do they long for this?. . . Is their life centered on Him? . . . "That I might know him!" Martyn Lloyd-Jones

The Apostle Paul writes in Philippians 3:10 NIV - "I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the fellowship of sharing in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death." Can you imagine this: In Christ and because of Him we can actually, literally be, not just a servant, but a friend of God. (John 15:13-15) And God is the One who initiated the relationship. He not only loves us, He likes us. That is gracious, good news! But we have to accept this friendship - He won't push it on us. Have you met your Best Friend yet?

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