Intimacy 104

“There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus (Gal.3:28).”

Relational intimacy is that openness between God and His children as well as the restoration of that same openness between His children. Look closely at what Paul describes in the above verse regarding Jew and Greek. There humanity is defined by bloodline and nation. Slave and free is how humanity is defined socially and economically. Male and female…

Intimacy 103

As we continue our look at intimacy in a Genesis perspective, we see Adam and Eve lived open and pure lives in Eden. It seems death was the farthest thing from their minds (Gen.1-2).

First of all they had no idea of what the experience of death was. In fact before Eve was created Adam was warned about death but his lack of response indicates he might not have grasped its significance (Gen.2:17).

Second, the Lord knew that one problem stood out for man's…

Getting What You Want

You got what you wanted but did you get what you wanted?

The question was prompted by how we look back on our life's choices and decisions. So much of what we desire we're quick to interpret as a need which becomes a momentary distraction that turns out to be a momentary attraction prompting a momentary reaction to achieve momentary satisfaction. It's the old Adam and Eve thing, seeing the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they…

In All Things

“And we know in all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose (Rom.8:28).”

It is vitally important that we grab hold of this idea of 'all things.' This is a spiritual statement that intrudes upon our self-centeredness with exacting force, like it or not. Every single moment of our lives is known to God and those moments hold the 'things' Paul mentions. Each of us is a compilation of choices and decisions,…

Intimacy 2

Eph.2:1-3

Just when we were lifted up in the presence of the risen Christ and could grasp the significance of how mighty and glorious God the Son is, we are immediately catapulted into the understanding of our fallen human nature from which we have been rescued. Men lived by systems and institutions but not intimacy with their Creator.

“We were dead in our transgressions and sins when we followed the way of this world and the ruler of the kingdom of the air,…

Intimacy 101

Recently, two events got me looking at Ephesians 2 in a slightly different light. One was a discussion in our Mountain Men’s group. The other was when a plumber’s assistant who came to fix a leak aimed to convert me to become a…

Truth is Stranger Than Fiction

Actually we can change that expression to read “Truth is a stranger to fiction.” The life we live on this planet is fictional until we find that the truth is God Himself. The word becomes truth with a capital 'T.'  What we undo when we meet God in Jesus Christ is to reorient ourselves to truth being spiritual, personal and relational. When Jesus…

Getting the Most Out of life

Sermon on the Mount (Context)

The context of the Sermon on the Mount is spiritual poverty and its solution. It's stated in the first of the Beatitudes, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven (Mt.5:3).” That sets how we view and discover the riches of the whole Sermon from Chapter 5 through Chapter 7. Spiritual poverty is the root of all poverty---spiritual, emotional, personal, relational and physical. The Kingdom of…