Cherokee Legend

Here is a powerful story from the legend of the Cherokee Indian youth's rite of passage.

His father takes him into the forest, blindfolds him and leaves him alone. He is required to sit on a stump the whole night and not remove the blindfold until the rays of the morning sun shine through it.

He cannot cry out for help to anyone. Once he survives the night, he is a man. He cannot tell the other boys of this experience, because each lad must come into manhood on his own.

The boy is naturally terrified. He can hear all kinds of noises. Wild beasts must surely be all around him. Maybe even some human might do him harm. The wind blew the grass and earth, and shook his stump, but he sat stoically, never removing the blindfold. It would be the only way he could become a man!

Finally, after a horrific night the sun appeared and he removed his blindfold. It was then that he discovered his father sitting on the stump next to him. He had been at watch the entire night, protecting his son from all harm.

We, too, are never alone. Even when we don't know it, God is watching over us, sitting beside us. Just because you can't see God, doesn't mean He is not there.

I will never leave you or forsake you.

"And the survey said!"

Last week I was exercising my gift of "remoting" -- surfing through the 800+ channels on Direct TV -- when an episode of Family Feud caught my attention.

The question given to the contestants was,

"Name something you usually find at church."

There were 6 possible answers. Care to guess what they were? If you guessed "singing," you got the #1 answer. Other answers included, "collection plate" (#2), "praying" (#3), and "sermon" (5).

If you're counting, that leaves 2 answers. After 3 XXX's passed the question to the other family, the new clan had one try to "steal" the money. They couldn't come up with a correct answer either.

Trying to guess the answers to #4 and #6?

If you're thinking "communion" ... or "baptism" ... or "fellowship" ... you get a big X.

Nope, none of these. The final answers were "dozing off" (#4) and "going to the bathroom" (#6). The final answers may not be too spiritual, but you'll find them both in almost every church on any given Sunday.

I am thinking that the answers may not be in the right order. It seems to me that the "sermon" should have been before "dozing." I think you can figure out why. Note: when people nod in church it doesn't mean they are agreeing.

Did you notice anything missing? Worship didn't make the survey.

Okay, you could argue that singing, giving, praying, and preaching are all intended to be expressions of worship, and I would whole-heartedly agree. But is it possible to sing ... to give ... to pray ... to listen to a sermon without worshipping?

Jesus observed the ostentatious display of Israel's worship with its elaborate ceremonies and high rituals -- He wasn't impressed. He said ...

Well did Isaiah prophesy about you, saying: "These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips. But their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me ..." (Matt 15:7-9).

They said the right things and performed flawlessly, but their worship was a farce. It was a show -- impressive to most, except the One who sees the heart. We can sing from our diaphragm, pray from our lips, give from our hands, and listen with our ears -- and do all of this in grand style -- but true worship proceeds from the heart.

What is the indispensable essential in our worship? We must worship Him in spirit and in truth.

Good answer!

"Total" Commitment

Christians frequently talk about "total commitment." Ever wonder why we find it necessary to add the word "total"? Is there such a thing as "partial" commitment? I think not. If it's partial it isn't commitment, and if it's commitment it can't be less than total.

If you're wondering what commitment looks like, ponder the words of a young African pastor who was martyred for his faith in Zimbabwe. The following letter was found among his papers after he was murdered.

I'm a part of the fellowship of the unashamed. The die has been cast. I have stepped over the line. The decision has been made. I'm a disciple of His and I won't look back, let up, slow down, back away, or be
still.

My past is redeemed. My present makes sense. My future is secure. I'm done and finished with low living, sight walking, small planning, smooth knees, colorless dreams, tamed visions, mundane talking, cheap living, and dwarfed goals. I no longer need preeminence, prosperity, position, promotions, plaudits, or popularity.

I don't have to be right, or first, or tops, or recognized, or praised, or rewarded. I live by faith, lean on His presence, walk by patience, lift by prayer, and labor by Holy Spirit power. My face is set. My gait is fast. My goal is heaven. My road may be narrow, my way rough, my companions few, but my guide is reliable and my mission is clear.

I will not be bought, compromised, detoured, lured away, turned back, deluded or delayed. I will not flinch in the face of sacrifice or hesitate in the presence of the adversary. I will not negotiate at the table of the enemy, ponder at the pool of popularity, or meander in the maze of mediocrity.

I won't give up, shut up, or let up until I have stayed up, stored up, prayed up, paid up, and preached up for the cause of Christ.

I am a disciple of Jesus. I must give until I drop, preach until all know, and work until He comes. And when He does come for His own, He'll have no problems recognizing me. My colors will be clear!

At Calvary

Looking back to the hill of Calvary, these things by faith I see ...

A crown of thorns, splattered with mud,

A soldier's spear, fresh-tipped with blood.

The tears of a mother's age-old grief,

And tears of joy shed by a thief.

A sponge filled with vinegar, a broken reed,

Three rusty nails for which no need.

And tossed to one side is the sign they used,

"This is Jesus, King of the Jews.

A reed and a spear, a crown and a tear,

To remind the world that Christ died here.

But one thing more by faith I see,

At the foot of the cross ...

A place for me.

(Written by a U.S. serviceman in Germany. This poem has never been published.)

The David Company

More than once God has bypassed the religious elite at the temple to choose redneck fishermen in Galilee.

In the early Spring of 1906, a black minister by the name of William J. Seymour went to Los Angeles, California, to conduct a series of revival meetings. When he began the meeting with Acts 2:4 as his text and preached his first sermon on the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the people of the Santa Fe Street mission were shocked and offended. When Seymour returned for the evening service he found the mission door padlocked.

He was taken in by Mr. & Mrs. Edward Lee and eventually was able to conduct a cottage prayer meeting in the home of Mr. & Mrs. Richard Asbery at 214 N. Bonnie Brae Street. In need of larger quarters, he moved to 312 Azusa Street -- the site of the old African Methodist Episcopal Church. At the time it was being used as storage shed for construction materials. After much hard work, the building was made ready and services began.

The rest is history. Little did anyone realize “that 312 Azusa Street would one day be renowned as the center from which the most far-reaching religious movement of the 20th century radiated around the world” (William Faupel, The Everlasting Gospel, p. 191).

I am struck by the fact that God chose William J. Seymour to lead the Azusa Street revival and placed him at the head of the Pentecostal movement. He seems to have been the least likely candidate for such an appointment, especially in the light of men like John Alexander Dowie, Frank Weston Sandford, and Charles Fox Parham -- three prominent men who dominated the landscape of the emerging Pentecostal movement.

Who would have dreamed that out of all the people in the world to play such a significant role in the plan of God, the Lord would have chosen a poor, half blind, barely educated man -- a black man in a society deeply entrenched in racism -- as the catalyst for worldwide revival?

But this is not the first time that God has passed over Eliab and Abinadab to anoint David (1 Sam. 16:6ff). More than once God has bypassed the religious elite at the temple to choose redneck fishermen in Galilee. Paul said, “ . . . not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things . . . that no man should boast before God (1 Cor. 1:26-29).

I believe there is a hidden remnant -- a “David Company” -- that God is raising up. They are presently unknown, except among those in heaven and hell. They will care nothing for notoriety and fame; they will shun publicity and refuse to be exalted or promoted by men; they will live their lives for God, work for His glory alone, and serve in a way that only His eyes need to see.

They have been in training for years, faithfully taking care of their Father’s flock. Among them are those who have been passed over.

From the most unexpected places, God will raise up the most unexpected people to do an extraordinary work.

They will not merchandise His anointing or exploit His glory for personal gain, and He will use them mightily because He knows His glory is safe in their hands.

Perhaps I should refer to them as “The Seymour Company.”

Experiencing the Presence of God

A lot of people are asking a lot of questions about how to prepare for the days ahead. Should I buy gold? Do I stay in the stock market? How can I protect my assets?

There's nothing wrong with asking such questions. I have recently posted two articles that deal with the matter of preparation ("Don't Leave Your Cow in the Yard" and "God's Provision -- Our Responsibility").

I would not presume to advise anyone about their financial decisions. I have questions about that myself. But I will say this ...

the single most important preparation you can make is to draw closer to God.

Most Christians today are in the outer court -- that's where you'll find the fun, food, and fellowship. But in the days ahead, an outer court experience will not be enough.

Luke 24:13-27 records an interesting story of two disciples who walked on the Emmaus Road with the Lord, but did not experience his presence. He was near but they failed to recognize Him. Why? What caused their blindness to the presence of Christ? From their story we can learn how we often miss the presence of God.

They missed His presence because ...

They were overwhelmed with their problem.

Their dream world had just been shattered … their hopes had evaporated. They were on their way home after the most traumatic moments of their life. Their hopes had been nailed to a cross and buried in a tomb. Fixated on their pain and disappointment, they could not recognize Him though He was walking right beside them.

Have you ever had a moment when you were so overwhelmed by the gravity of your problems and the pain of what was hurting you … facing the reality that something you have dreamed of is never going to come true … so devastated by your disappointments and overwhelmed with confusion that you lost all sense of God’s presence and found it difficult to believe that He was near?

You’ll never experience the presence of God until you change your focus from your sorrow to your Savior ... and you don’t change your focus by what you feel, but by what you know.

They were ignorant of God's Word.

I could have used a nicer word than “ignorant,” I suppose, but Jesus used an even stronger word. He used the word “foolish.” In essence, "If you had understood the Word of God … if you knew what the prophets had said you would not be in this mess." Much of their confusion was rooted in their lack of understanding and misunderstanding of God’s word.

As they walked, He patiently taught them the Word of God, "beginning with Moses" (the first books of the Bible), through the Psalms and prophets, explaining what had been written of Messiah. Later they would say, "Did not our hearts burn within us while he talked to us on the way?"

I’m not going to say that if you read the Bible everyday and memorize scripture you will never have difficult times and moments of sorrow. But I will say that unless you have an experience of God that comes through the knowledge of His word, you will have a difficult time seeing Him in the pain and grief of your life.

The better you know someone the less explaining they have to do. The more we know God the less explanation we need. The closeness of your relationship with God is directly related to the depth of your knowledge of His Word. It is in the Word of God that I most often find Him.

They were slow to believe.

In other words, their faith was deficient. This is one of the consequences of their ignorance of the scripture. Since "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the Word of God" (Romans 10:17), it is understandable that their faith was weak.

In the course of my life I have stood with many people who have looked to me for an answer when I did not have one. I could not answer the searing question, "Why?" I have learned that there is a point when I simply must stand in faith without an answer -- "the just shall live by faith."

I stand in the simple faith that ...

God is too wise to be mistaken.

God is too good to be unkind.

When you don't understand ...

When you can't trace His hand ...

When you can't find His plan ...

Trust His heart.

Finally, they missed His presence because of ...

Their faulty preconditioning.

Mark writes only two verses about this story, but he provides incredible insight in just a few words. In 16:12 he writes ...

“Jesus appeared to them in another form.”

How often do we miss His presence because of our stereotyped expectations of God -- that He will reveal Himself in a particular manner? We become so preoccupied with our expectations, based on prior experiences, that we miss Him when He chooses to come "in another form."

Elijah was so intent upon the wind, earthquake, and the fire that he almost missed His presence. In the past God had revealed Himself to Israel at Horeb (Sinai) in this very manner (Ex. 19:18ff). Was Elijah trying to relive an experience of the past? Did he expect that once again God would be in the wind, earthquake, and fire as he had before?

As glorious as that past experience had been, God's intention for Elijah went beyond a rehearsal of yesterday's glory. He came to his servant in an unprecedented manner ... He spoke in the still small voice. The Hebrew text suggests that the "still small voice" was not a voice at all -- that God "spoke" in the silence.

What kind of heart must I have to hear God in the silence?

God often breaks the mold. He refuses to fit our definitions. He defies our modus operandi for the Divine. He sometimes reveals His presence in unprecedented ways. He may not come the next time in the same way He has come in the past. Will your faulty preconditioning keep you from seeing Him if reveals Himself in a different form?

Luke finishes this story with these words:

"They began to relate their experiences on the road and how He was recognized by them in the breaking of the bread" (Luke 24:35).

Christ always reveals Himself to those who will sit and commune with Him at the table of the heart.

God's Provision -- Our Responsibility

Are your eyes on the supply or the Supplier?

When Isaac asked his father, "Where is the lamb?", Abraham answered, "The Lord will provide himself a lamb" (Gen. 22:8). Moments later he retrieved a ram from the thicket and offered it instead of his son ...

And Abraham called the name of that place Jehovah-jireh ... (Gen 22:14).

The literal meaning of the Hebrew name Jehovah-jireh is "the Lord who sees." From the context of Gen. 22, it embodies the idea of the "the Lord who provides." He provides so completely because He "sees" so completely what is needed.


From the pen of Paul we read ...

And with all his abundant wealth through Christ Jesus, my God will supply all your needs (Phil 4:19, Today's English Version).

But God's promise to supply does not preclude our participation. Indeed, in most instances God's promise to provide is premised upon man's obedient response.

• God's provision of manna in the wilderness required the Israelis to gather it daily without hoarding, with a double supply on the day before the sabbath (Ex. 16:15ff).
• God's provision of water for Israel's army required the soldiers to put down their swords and pick up shovels to dig ditches (2 Kings 3:16).
• God's provision for Elijah required him to go to the brook Cherith and later to the widow's house in Zarephath (1 Kings 17:3-6, 9).
• God's provision of tax money required Simon to fish with a line in the lake Jesus specified -- looking in the mouth of the first fish caught (Mt. 17:27).

There are many other examples, but you get the point.

If you like maggot-infested manna and nothing to eat on the sabbath, ignore God's commands. If Israel's soldiers hadn't dug the ditches, there would have been no water. Had Elijah gone anywhere besides Cherith and Zarephath, he would have missed God's provision. Peter would not have found the coin for taxes in a bird's nest.

Even the verse cited above from Phil. 4:19, "my God shall supply all your needs," is not without conditions. From the context, note the giving of the Philippians. Their giving was ...

• Faithful: "... you sent aid once and again for my necessities" (v. 16).
• Fruitful: "... I seek the fruit that abounds to your account" (v. 17).
• Fragrant: "... the things sent from you, a sweet-smelling aroma" (v. 18).

Because of this, Paul says, your need will be furnished.

But perhaps the most important thing to remember is that in the examples cited above, the means of provision was a once-given-never-to-be-repeated commandment from the Lord.

The supply of manna stopped when Israel planted corn in Canaan and no literal manna has been seen since (though there is a preacher on TV who will send you "miracle manna" if you give him your name and mailing address; it looks like a Graham cracker in a baggie). Digging ditches to hold water was done only once. Ravens were never again commissioned to feed a hungry prophet. Widows have kept a few preachers alive, but not from a meal barrel and cruse of oil that never diminished.

It's not about digging ditches or going fishing. It's about waiting on God, listening for His voice, receiving His specific, personal instructions, and obeying His command. It's not about following steps 1-2-3 but about hearing what God is saying to you and then partnering with Him.

God's provision flows out of our relationship with Him.

The key to provision is knowing the Provider.