THE FEAST OF CHRISTMAS

THE FEAST OF CHRISTMAS

     The first Christmas after I received the baptism in the Holy Spirit fell one month after my father died. It was the worst holiday ever. Our family was in grief and none of us felt like celebrating. I cried everyday. During this time, I was under the delusion that my new experience with God had failed to reward my "faith" with a gift of healing for my father. I found myself questioning the very roots of my faith. I angrily told God that He could forget about me serving Him. If He couldn't see how hard I had tried to believe for my father's healing, how could I trust Him for anything else?
    Something inside me kept going in the direction of God anyway. I decided to make handmade Christmas cards. Instead of the usual tribute to Mary, Joseph and the baby Jesus, I drew a picture of Jesus on the cross on each card. I deckled the edges and burned them with a candle. I chose an anonymous quotation from a teaching I had recently heard, "Christmas is the invisible God becoming visible in such a way that we may behold His glory; Christ, the far away God, becoming Immanuel. As Immanuel, Jesus is light coming to our darkness, life coming to our death, health coming to our disease and all the fullness of God coming to our emptiness."
     I made envelopes for the cards, sealed them and sent them on their way. Nothing of what I quoted in that card seemed to be true. My father's death when he was only 58 had drowned out any "heavenly " choir, and I couldn't feel anything but the gloom of a future without my Pop.
     He had been a bright spot in my life, always showing me unconditional love. He had a down-to-earth sense of humor. I remember him cooking chili in the fall and doing silly dances by the stove just to make me laugh. He never walked through the living room where I was sitting without pinching my cheeks and saying, "Your daddy loves you." Recovery from his death seemed impossible. I had always loved Christmas, but I could not imagine celebrating it again.
     The harsh and beautiful terrain of life here on this earth is designed to teach the disciple to trust. Every single person meets the same challenges in diverse circumstances. We all suffer loss, change, illness, deaths of those around us and the helpless feelings of being unable to change horrible situations into favorable outcomes.
      The only way to survive in these times is by learning to celebrate the goodness of God in the small and hidden places. While God was changing the hearts of the children of Israel in their wilderness season, He taught them to celebrate with feasts. Slaves did not feast; those days had been another day of cruel labor for them. On days of feasting, you were not allowed to do anything but rest, eat and enjoy the company of friends and loved ones. Everyone HAD to, no exceptions, no calling in sick. All excuses were cancelled. No one was allowed to be absent. It was the Law.
      God knew something about them that they didn't, that imposing feasts would cause them to remember His miraculous intrusions into their lives. They would remember the times that they submitted to the feasts with heavy, grieving hearts and the times where celebrations were acts of pure joy. The celebrations would trigger memories of both, and they would gradually learn that throughout a life of fluctuating circumstances, He was always there, and He could be trusted, no matter what.
      I hadn't realized it then, but sending out those handmade cards that Christmas in the face of my father's death was a desperate act of feeble trust. I didn't believe in myself, but He saw that I believed in Him. He saw a tiny shoot of frail faith that He had planted in me peeking above the soil of my grief. He knew then that it would eventually grow into "all the fullness of God" as He nurtured the gift of Himself in me.
      Every year when I take out the boxes of ornaments for the Christmas tree, I wonder if our family will all be together again next year. But I also remember that God, my Father, has caused everything in my life to enhance my relationship with Him. He is trustworthy. What He is "going for" in my life can only happen with all the necessary ingredients of human experience wrapped in God's love. In a lifetime of Christmases, He remains the faithful, constant center.

THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT FASTING

THE GOOD NEWS ABOUT FASTING - 

For part 8 of THE LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES, see melindafish.blogspot.com

How you treat God says everything about Who you believe He is. Since Christians do not live under the Old Covenant but the New, our understanding of Him grows in a continuously unfolding knowledge of His grace and love. He is a loving, tender-hearted Father. He is not an abstract Force who wants to remain a mystery; He has spared nothing because He wants to know you. He has every hair on your head numbered---even the ones that fell out! To Him you are His Precious baby, and He wants to "pinch your little, fat cheeks."

I used to fast frequently and at great length for periods as long as 40 days back when I didn't know His love like I do now. Forgive me if I say that I have outgrown the practice. I never understood it really and dreaded the periods when I thought He wanted me to display my devotion to Him through it. I participated in it when I thought that it would help God hear me and answer my prayers. I never realized He cared about me so much, that He had affection and love for me and knew my weaknesses and was somehow "nuts" about me, anyway. 

For me to go on a long or even a short fast would be an insult to our relationship. It would be as though I suddenly forgot Who He is and His eagerness to answer my simple prayers. I've long ago found out that as far as the devil is concerned, "My Daddy can beat up your daddy, and He already has!" He has already subdued the Enemy and is currently "spoiling His house." I don't usually panic anymore when the tower of Siloam falls or the Romans do something else stupid or immoral. God knows it all and loves them, too. He sent Jesus to show them He does, even though they haven't seen it. Maybe they will, if I just love them.

If you want to fast, go ahead. Maybe you will wear yourself out, too, and just fall into His love and be able to trust Him to run the world and pillage the kingdom of darkness today. He has everything under His control. I hope so, because the grocery man needs your support! 

LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES, PART 8, "OUT FASTED"

LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES, Part 8

"OUT FASTED"


  One of the books I read in the first few months after receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit was called, GOD'S CHOSEN FAST, by Arthur Wallis. Since the author was from England,(and the English have cool accents) I thought he must have known what he was talking about, so I devoured it eagerly.  One morning I noticed that I was eating a doughnut with the book in my lap. Doughnut crumbs were strewn across my lap defiling the cover of the book, which must have been a prophetic sign of what I'm about to share.
Doing things halfway is not me. I tend to live by the motto, "If a little is good; more is better," so I don't usually approach anything with less than full commitment. In fact, the word, "compulsive," comes to mind. The same was true with my approach to fasting. I was fascinated with the possibility being able to give up meals and see God open doors for me. The thought of obtaining favor with God by doing something that required a sacrifice was appealing. Besides, it would be a good discipline and cause me to lose weight.
I started off with a three- day fast. Other people who were well known in the body of Christ fasted regularly, or so they said, so I knew that if I wanted to excel in ministry, this was the way. Sure enough, I made it through my first fast with relative ease. I can't remember what I fasted about, but I began to give this new found weapon in my spiritual arsenal more and more devotion. I began to attach the outcomes of my prayer requests to the length of the fast and especially the type of fast I was able to do.
Serving God was serious. I knew that people were choosing sin and were ignoring God, especially other Christians who didn't seem concerned that the Church needed revival. I knew it was up to me to "press in" to God and show Him I meant business.
During this time, I was able to convince a few others to fast with me. Since my husband and I were the pastors, I knew that our congregation would be worthy of revival, God's vindication of sincerity, if we would just be more devoted to the spiritual disciplines. After all, the books I read indicated that revivals had happened only when people had sought God with prayer, but especially with fasting.
It was odd, but the more often I fasted, the harder it was to pray. Within only a couple of hours into a fast, my mind drifted to gutting it out to make it until the time I had reserved, usually 3 days, 7 days, 21 or 40. I became grumpy and legalistic, and while I was fasting, the messages I preached had an element of intensity to them.
            I read some books that talked about not just fasting once in awhile but about leading a "fasted" life. These were the spiritual "big guns," who made fasting a regular habit. Their books filled the shelves of the Christian bookstores and they spoke in hushed tones about a deeper Christian life. Whenever I felt insecure, or in a state of bewilderment, or whenever things weren't going smoothly in the congregation, I fasted. I never felt close to God during the fasts, but it didn't matter, I saw the hunger and the lack of emotional feeling as just another sacrifice. I knew God would one day vindicate the time I had spent devoting myself to spiritual discipline with the blessing of revival, church growth and fulfillment of prophecies that had been given to us.
         I was on a 40-day bread and water fast when a girl in the congregation remarked about how much time I spent fasting and how much weight I had lost. She didn't know that one day that same week I was walking through a store, looked in a mirror and noticed that the whites of my eyes were turning yellow. She went on to share about an article she had read in a Christian magazine by a woman who acquired anorexia nervosa under the guise of fasting. Her words ran through me like a knife. I didn't show it on my face, but I wondered for a second if this could be happening to me.
       This woman was the first person God sent across my path. The second was a young man in our congregation who began to take me seriously. He, too, developed a penchant for fasting and intense prayer.  Within a few months our congregation was in the throes of a division. The young man had developed a following. He strained at prayer for revival and out fasted me. Then he subtly influenced his followers to despise Bill and me. We weren't committed enough to the revival vision to lead. Something was wrong, and I needed to find out what it was...
(Part 2 next week: What God showed me about fasting...)

HEAVEN'S BUSINESS CARD

#7- BEWARE THE LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES

"...They (the Pharisees) love respectful greetings in the marketplaces and being called 'rabbi'..."

HEAVEN'S BUSINESS CARD

I was in the lobby of a hotel in Brooklyn, NY waiting for folks to pick me up for a church service when I spied a "fat" newsprint paper on the coffee table. I began flipping through it only to discover that it was a Christian newspaper. It was hard to find the news articles, because they were fighting for column space with the ads for church congregations and ministries. There was definitely a competition going on in New York City for who was the most prominent. Literally, every ministry identified itself with titles, each more elaborate than the next. There were bishops, bishops-of-bishops, apostles, prophets, prophets -of -prophets, archbishops and a new one I'd never seen before: judiciary prelate! (Uh-oh, now that's a serious Big Dog!)

It was difficult to figure out which one was the greatest. Who would want to share with others that you attended a fellowship whose " leader" was merely a common pastor. What if your friends attended the services of a bishop when you could only brag that your leader had not achieved that same high level of awe and wonder?

How did they earn these titles? Did the higher ranking ministers have knowledge that God held secret until you achieved this level? Or was it the size of one's congregation that mattered? Who recognized these folks and why? Or did they just wake up one day and start calling themselves with a new title, have new business cards printed and then follow up with an ad in the newspaper like the one I was reading. And what is the ultimate title? But more importantly, who cares? 

Why did any of these people feel the need to do this? Weren't they supposed to be serving Jesus? He clearly said, "I am among you as one who serves. " He never identified Himself with a title of any kind. He was firm that he didn't want any of His followers using titles, particularly "Father." He did not take the privilege of identifying Himself by anything which would exalt Himself over anyone. Why not?

He represented His Father who wanted to close the gap between Himself and mankind. Jesus was the ultimate Undercover Boss. He cleverly " disguised " Himself as a normal person in order to complete His Father's assignment, closing the gap sin had created between mankind and His Father. Intimidating people by insisting on receiving honor from them would have only  widened the gap. In the same way, as an ambassador of the eternal Gap-closer, our job is to literally take the hand of anyone who will listen and put it in the hand of Jesus, God the Father's only "business card."

Titles are merely symptoms of hierarchy, part of a sinister plot to disarm the Body of Christ of humility. This form of the leaven of the Pharisees has found its way in to every denomination and organization in Christendom, and it has been infecting us for centuries. It uses the weakness of man's inability to trust God and wait for Heaven's vindication. Rather than wait for God to bestow honor in eternity, hierarchy imposes its man- created pecking order based on carnal competition. It causes strife as people vie for position by serving man, rather than serving Jesus. Hierarchy demands obeisance as men lord it over each other. At the root is the fear that one cannot really trust God with a level playing field. Instead, the person must elevate himself so that others will take notice. Besides, waiting for God to show people who you really are may take too much time. You might die before people recognize your greatness! Then what?

No wonder that Peter, who witnessed the sufferings of Christ, admonished those who wanted to elevate him because he and John had performed a miracle of healing at the Gate Beautiful. Instead of allowing men to bow before him, Peter said that it was not their own power or piety that made the crippled man walk. It was Jesus, the Name above every other name. Paul later said the same when he performed a miracle that caused people to bow before him, "Rise up; I, too, am just a man!"

I wonder what would have happened had people who were in awe of the miracle of healing bowed before some of the folks running ads in that "Christian" newspaper. They may have been baptized in a flood of business cards.

One time I heard a preacher ask, "Why are there only 24 elders in heaven casting their crowns before Jesus?" Answer: "Because God could only find 24 who were willing to take their crowns off!"

When Paul wrote, "I will not have anyone credit me with more than he sees in me or receives from me," he was saying, " If God allows you to see Jesus in me, so be it. But until He takes the blinders off, I will remain in disguise with the same costume Jesus wore, that of a normal guy, just like you."

IT IS WHAT IT IS AND IT AIN'T WHAT IT AIN'T

BEWARE THE LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES-#6 "Sounding the trumpet before you!"

IT IS WHAT IT IS AND IT AIN'T WHAT IT AIN'T

Are you suspicious of promotion? I'm not sure where we got the idea that the Lord is waiting for us to promote Him. There is a big difference between telling somebody something in a real context of joy and excitement and trying to fake joy and excitement, especially to obtain money or leverage. One is genuine and the other isn't. It has an ulterior motive.
One of the worst ways is playing to the media in order to sell yourself...uh...your ministry to the public. I come from the Bible Belt where billboard ads for church congregations and evangelistic ministries line the freeways. Each one usually has a slogan: "We are the Church In the Know, On the Go, Yo-ho-ho, Hidey-ho!" Why do we need to do that? The religion biz is rife with promotion and exaggerated advertising. But when you suggest to folks that your ministry is the greatest thing since Jesus walked the earth, no wonder people are disappointed when you show up. Then you have to pull an even bigger ruse by living under that religious mask.
What is wrong with being a normal person?
Everywhere I go, I always say to the Lord, "I'll know I'm on the right track if somebody here tells me, 'You're real.'" Transparency exposes the real truth that you are who you are, nothing more. It is the way to live when you are secure in the love of God. There is no longer any need to hide behind spin and clever exaggeration. You are normal just like everyone you are talking to. You have struggles like everyone else. The same joys, sorrows, fears and funny faux pas are as common to you as they are to everyone else. In fact, they are all points of identification with other folks you meet.
The trouble is that we somehow feel we need to hide our points of identification because we just feel awkward and unlovely. When you start to feel that way, remember that the guy in front of you is a normal person, too. One of the best ways to drop the wall between you is to reveal one of those points of identification. There is almost nothing about the way I live that I believe is a sacred secret--other than my passwords! Why should it be? I am just like you, peering out from a head that talks and a heart that feels.
Besides, if I share my struggles, maybe you will feel like there is no reason you need to hide, either. I am willing to become vulnerable to you in order to become friends with you, but better still to let you know that it's ok out here in the Light. If Jesus can love me, with my faux pas, He is likely to be able to love you, too.
The need to be known as something other than a normal person says that you think more highly of yourself than you ought. Have you ever met someone who over dramatizes themselves? Behind all that fluff is a scared little person who needs to come out of hiding and know the rest and peace of living in the light of God's love.
One of my favorite sayings is, "It is what it is, and it ain't what it ain't." There is no need to promote yourself as though you wear a halo. You are not a product and your "ministry" is not supposed to be, either. It's just you in there, ok? Your congregation is no better than anyone else's because it's full of regular people.
If you want to walk in the freedom of God's Kingdom, you will have to give up the fake you and just be who you are: a normal person who needs no other business card than the same one the Apostle Paul had, "I am who I am, by the grace of God." And the ego-bustin', verse, "I will not have anyone credit me with more than he sees in me or receives from me." That is just another way of saying, "It is what it is, and it ain't what it ain't!"

MY SPIRITUAL HALLOWEEN MASK

BEWARE THE LEAVEN OF THE PHARISEES SERIES - 5- The Spiritual Mask

MY SPIRITUAL HALLOWEEN MASK

Receiving the baptism in the Holy Spirit over 44 years ago made such a radical difference in my spiritual life that it seemed like I had been born again -again! I suddenly felt the love I had always known I should have had for Jesus and for people, and I desperately wanted people to experience this love, too, whereas before it wasn't of much concern to me. 

However, after a few months, I wasn't having the impact I thought I should have, and I felt I had to do something about it. I assumed that I had to add something to the love that the Holy Spirit gave me for people. Perhaps, if I would just make changes in my outward appearance, people would notice that I had changed inside. I knew I had to look the part. 

I exposed myself to religious influences who were quick to define what a genuinely godly person should look like. They believed that the truly spiritual woman could not simply love people, but that spirituality had to be seen in one's external appearance. I realized that in order to fit in with that crowd, and more importantly, to stand out in that crowd, I had to give up make-up and earrings. After all, any focus on outward appearance was a manifestation of the flesh! 

Eradicating manifestations of "the flesh" ---- all the external ones, anyway, became my chief focus. A well- meaning friend reminded me that the word "cosmetics" came from the root word, "cosmos" which meant "world." Uh-oh, there was the culprit. I could better spend the 10 minutes it took to apply my make-up every morning in prayer and Bible reading. Jesus was coming for a spotless bride, and I was doing all I could  to make sure I didn't soil my gown! This was serious business! So, I hid my sense of humor and became intense and took myself very seriously.

Trust me, Honey, it wasn't beautiful and of course, had nothing to do with genuine spirituality, which God defines as love and the pure simplicity of knowing and walking with Jesus. Instead, I was following my own definition of spirituality.

How I looked was only part of the problem.  Spiritual pride crept in causing me to look down on others who weren't straining to the same degree I was. Exclusivity became part of the way I shared the Gospel. Everyone was welcome to come to Jesus, but afterwards, "Look out! Only a remnant who traveled the "narrow" road of holiness would be on "the platform" in heaven.

Then I wondered if maybe my voice pattern didn't sufficiently reflect the esteem for the "mighty, holy" God I served. I  began vibrating my voice when I prayed and fasting extensively to prove myself to God. I admired other women I thought were more spiritual than I was, so I imitated their speech patterns and carried a bigger Bible. By this time, my religious mask was intricately developed and plastered over my otherwise, joyful, fun-loving personality. 

Behind the mask I grew lonely and isolated. I couldn't relax. I worked at confessing faith to ward off sickness and ruthlessly resisted the temptation to doubt. I tried to get others to conform to my new standard of spirituality. If I felt that the congregation wasn't exhibiting the same level of enthusiasm about the "things of God" as I was, I would call people to prayer and fasting. We needed to "seek God," I thought. I didn't want God to bypass us when time for revival rolled around. Besides, God was worthy of devotion, no matter how much trouble it was. 

But the harder I strained, the less real I became. I was no longer a testimony to the awesome grace of God, but instead, I was denying the greatest revelation: Christ alive in the real me-not the fake me! Like Adam and Eve, I felt "less than" and had begun to cover myself with "fig leaves."

 The problem was my inaccurate perception of God, and He knew I couldn't really trust that perception of Him. He also knew that I did not have a mature revelation of His love which would make me come out from behind the "fig bushes" and have the guts to just be real. Finding the inner strength to be real is a work of God's miraculous mercy. Do you seriously think that being who you really are limits God's power?

God doesn't work from the outside in; He works from the inside out. Trying go ahead of God and conform yourself into His image only results in reflecting a distortion of Him based on your assumptions about Him instead of a revelation of His love and grace. Projecting a false image is part of the leaven of the Pharisees that Jesus warned His disciples about and mocks the genuine work of Christ. It is ok to relax. You can trust Him to make you into a revelation of His grace--even if it takes the rest of your life, and it probably will.

THE GOD IN THE NAVY BLUE ROBE

#4- Leaven of the Pharisees Series-Hypocrisy

THE GOD IN THE NAVY BLUE ROBE

Having a pet peeve may not be a sin after all. Jesus apparently had one. Over 13 times the Gospel writers mentioned it in the New Testament. Every once in awhile Jesus would warn the disciples, "Beware the leaven of the Pharisees!" He was talking about a contagious infection the Pharisees released into the spiritual environment, which could eventually turn the Gospel He preached into an unrecognizable distortion. The sect of the Pharisees took pride in keeping the ancient laws and traditions of their faith. However, under their example, the truth in love and mercy went somewhere. They replaced the important matters of heart with outward form and ritual. They were experts at preaching one thing yet doing the opposite. It was easier.

If the enemy can't keep you from salvation, his next best ploy is to make a Pharisee out of you. 

Are you preaching "grace" but live under fear of not pleasing God?

Do you preach rest in God's love, but live workaholism?

Are you preaching His Kingdom while building your own?

Are you living in bondage to secret sin while you are proclaiming the freedom of Christ's new creation?

Do the people around you know that you love them, or do you talk way beyond where you live?

When I was first filled with the Holy Spirit, I still had a lot more pollution in my heart than I do now. There were rivers of living water flowing out of me over a residual sediment of insecurity, fear and mistrust. My view of God was still undeveloped and distorted by everything from snatches of sermons I had heard to pictures in Bibles on the coffee table at home. One of these Bibles pictured God with a long, white beard, standing suspended in the clouds, surrounded by cherubs. He was wearing a dark navy blue robe and the scowl on His face told me that if I didn't go to Sunday school and church every week, I could forget going to heaven!

Your view of God is important, because that is the God you will serve. Your view of God will influence your decision making and either quench or stimulate your desire to know Him better. Because God is real, your view of Him must be based on how He has revealed Himself to you. Beyond everything else, the genuine revelation is the one the disciples talked about having in the New Testament. Jesus came to show us what God is really like. According to the writer of Hebrews, Jesus is "the exact representation" of the Father's nature. However, the modern day Pharisee is someone, usually a believer, who has not yet matured in God's overwhelming love. Because he doesn't know love, he doesn't know the real God. Instead his life reflects a distorted image of God, one who is legalistic, stern and difficult to please, like the angry one in the navy blue robe!

So what is the consequence of serving a distorted view of God? It is anger at being kept at a distance. Build up enough anger based on your failure to please such a "God," and you will live out hypocrisy, which is spiritual inconsistency. You will be preaching grace, but living works, preaching freedom in Christ, but living secretly in sin and a host of other wicked manifestations.

Unfortunately, a lot of folks in the BOC find themselves serving the god in the navy blue robe. It's time to open up to the Heavenly Father Jesus talked about and let go of every action, practice and belief that is inconsistent with Jesus' message of grace and truth. Begin by running everything through the filter of I Corinthians 13. Pay attention to the gentle nudge of the Holy Spirit within; or you will be serving the god in a Halloween costume, the angry one in the navy blue robe.

ARE YOU READY FOR HEAVEN'S SURPRISE?

#3 Series- "Beware the leaven of the Pharisees"

"Are You ready for Heaven's Surprise?"
(Before you read on, read the last blog. It's a satirical allegory called, "The Great Rice  Competition." See the following link: http://melindafish.blogspot.com)

Eighteen years before the Toronto renewal ever came, our friend, Elliott Tepper, prophesied in our congregation, "Prepare to contain the blessing!" We wondered what that meant because he went on to say, "Prepare so that you will not be like children playing with sand and watch it slip through your fingers."
That was forty years ago now. It was one of those words that lovingly admonished us, but we could not imagine what God meant.
About the same time, I was standing in my apartment one day in Pittsburgh looking in the mirror when the Lord said to me, "Be careful of kingdom building!"
I thought, "Ok, Lord, I will!"
But I wasn't sure what He meant. I just knew that the Kingdom was His, and I wasn't to set in motion anything that would compete with it.
I read a post on Facebook the other day where some eager beaver believer was admonishing the saints that revival was overdue and that the BOC(body of Christ) was ready. It was like someone had posted a sign on a tree, "The rain god is mad: bring out another bowl of rice!"
The story, "The Great Rice Bowl Competition," pokes fun at folks who scurry around getting things ready as though they are attempting to find the right formula to please a faceless god when all the time, they had not the slightest genuine clue that He wasn't a vending machine on high. Instead, God loves you more than you can imagine. He wants revival for you more than you do, but He fixes the time and season. It is not about following "Christian stars" who are  preparing to play host to the next blessing.
What we call "revival" is really a "momentary" intrusion of the raw, magnificent, unquenched Presence of God and His Kingdom into the world. The only receptacle for this blessing is the human heart, hungry enough to change. As in Jesus' parable of the Pharisee and the Publican, the only container is not a manufactured rice bowl or a "revival club," a well structured organization with the funds to promote it and the hierarchy to "preserve" it. It is a Divine gift for everybody who needs it.
The only way to prepare is to be so needy that you just want Him.

THE GREAT RICE BOWL COMPETITION

#2- Series-"Beware the leaven of the Pharisees!"

    Jesus' pet peeve was none other than the leaven of the Pharisees. The New Testament records thirteen times Jesus telling His disciples to "Beware the leaven of the Pharisees." They, knew what He meant, do you? In the following story, this toxic, hidden substance gradually takes over an entire community. It is a message for the body of Christ today. Can you tell how it happened?

           THE GREAT RICE BOWL COMPETITION 

   It all started very innocently, really. It hadn't rained in a long time. No one knew why until one day someone noticed a sign on a tree, "The rain god is mad; bring out another bowl of rice!"
Members of the community clustered around the sign and then scattered to their homes to collect bowls of rice to place at the base of the tree. There were different sizes, shapes and colors; but the next day there were still no rain clouds on the horizon.

   Then someone suggested that the rain god had preferences. In the past, the rain god seemed to operate best if the rice bowls were lined up a certain way. The people were relieved that some student of history remembered this fact and rearranged the rice bowls in the historically appropriate order.

        After awhile when there was still no rain, someone else suggested that perhaps the bowls themselves were the problem. Members of the community formed a committee to reflect on what it would take to make the bowls more pleasing to the rain god. What could it be that was withholding the blessing of rain? The committee met practically every day and finally finished its report. The report concluded that it was both the size and the color of the rice bowls but more likely the fact that there just weren't enough of them that offended the rain god. No one was sure yet which color or what size or how many would bring the favor of the rain god, but they decided to experiment to find out.

   The committee named themselves the Great Rice Bowl Committee. A place on this committee was the crown of prestige in the community. The Internet was abuzz with their names, and whenever a citizen of the community saw a member of the Great Rice Bowl Committee ( hereafter designated the GRB Committee or simply The Committee), he stared wistfully at him wishing he, too, could have a place on The Committee. After all, it seemed that The Committee knew what the rain god liked and what he didn't. They "knew" things that the regular members of the community didn't know, particularly the secrets of The Committee's inner sanctum, which involved the next program on the agenda to try pleasing the rain god.

            Soon the members of the GRB Committee decided to please the rain god with an event. The Committee proclaimed that on a certain day there would be an event called the Great Rice Bowl Competition. Whoever made the best bowls in the greatest number and in the color the rain God preferred would win. The reward for winning the favor of the rain god would be a seat on the GRB Committee. Now any citizen of the community, even one who had been previously marginalized and thus unknown would now be able to advance to a coveted place of prominence in the community on the GRBC!

   That was the day the once peaceful community exploded into a frenzy. The members of  the community divided into clubs. Each GRB Committee member had his own club filled with members who were dedicated to producing rice bowls according to the wishes of their favorite member of The Committee. Each citizen of the community wrestled with the decision regarding which club to join. It was a hard choice because a community member could raise his standing in the community by joining the "right" club. The word on the street was that it was dangerous not to join a club. One might not be seen as a team player or trustworthy because he wasn't in a club. Besides, how would he hope to communicate with the rain God if he wasn't in a club?

   The clubs took names corresponding to the shape of their rice bowls to differentiate themselves: Square, Round, Oblong, Hexagonal, Trapezoidal... Each club challenged the others by increasing its goal. The worker in the club who could make the most rice bowls - for the rain god- would win an intra-club award. Preparing for The Great Rice Bowl Competition occupied everyone's time almost exclusively!

   Then someone had the idea that perhaps it would please the rain god to have Great Rice Bowl Factories, particularly if having fewer bowls than another club would increase the disfavor of the rain god. Each club had its own factory which produced as many rice bowls as it could, after its kind, in the manner the club believed would best please the rain God. Within a short time, The Committee issued a proclamation:  Everyone was required to produce his rice bowl in a factory if he wanted to compete. It was easy to tell which bowl came from which factory because each factory had its own style and also its own stamp.  (The GRB Committee members, of course, did not need to make rice bowls so they were exempt from this rule.) Each committee hired marketing executives to publicize the glories of their particular shape of rice bowl in order to attract more club members who would then make more rice bowls.

    Everyone wanted to please his or her favorite member of The Committee. Clusters of club members grouped around their favorite committee member learning all they could about rice bowl manufacturing, but more importantly, about how to function on the committee if they happened to win the competition.

   All this was not cheap. The community poured funds into their rice bowl clubs to support the Committee members and their respective factories. One could only dream of having his own seat on the Great Rice Bowl Committee and his own club to do his bidding.

    The Committee members had everything now: prestige, power and the money with which to buy anything they wanted personally, but especially to build more factories. Now when they walked down the streets of the community, everyone bowed to them and greeted them with their titles: Great Bowl Master of the Rain God. Although it still wasn't raining, no one seemed to notice.

   Finally the day arrived for The Great Rice Bowl Competition. Who would win? Which club would finally see the rain fall out of the sky and into their bowls of rice? The citizens of the community hadn't been able to sleep.That morning each citizen of the community gathered with his or her club to display their rice bowls to the community and present their rice bowls before the rain god. Any club member could win. His corresponding club would receive a prestigious award. Imagine being the Committee member whose factory and rice bowls actually caused the rain to fall! Their rice bowls would become the receptacles for the rain guaranteeing them eternal prestige and unlimited funds.

   A hush fell as the members of the The Committee walked in front of each elaborately crafted display. The Committee members whispered to each other, pointed to different bowls and cocked their heads knowingly as if to suggest their favorites, sure that the rain God would affirm their selections.

   The moment arrived. The judging was finished. Now the members of the Great Rice Bowl Committee prevailed upon the rain god. Their voices thundered loudly and vibrated in a distinguished manner as sweat appeared on their brows. After a awhile, they stopped.

    That's when it happened. Suddenly, lightening flashed, thunder cracked and a voice from above laughed and said,

   "I am not now and never have been a rain god!...And I don't eat rice--much less in bowls."

   The entire community quaked in shock! This divine revelation was almost more than the community could stand! The Great Rice Bowl Competition had all been for nothing. The rain god, or whoever He is, wasn't concerned about the color, the shape or even the number of rice bowls anyone produced! By then it was clear: The Great Rice Bowl Committee didn't know any more about what He wanted than anyone else! They ran to their homes to hide. That was when the community abandoned the clubs, the factories, the Committee and the notion that God wanted bowls of rice. It wasn't long before the Great Rice Bowl Committee dissolved. 

   Everything went back to the way it was before the community first noticed the sign on the tree.

            Then it started raining--on everybody all at once!
   Now the community lives harmoniously without the Great Rice Bowl Committee. 
   (However, a BOLO (be on the look out) has been issued for information leading to the arrest, capture and conviction of whoever posted that blooming sign on the tree in the first place!)

******

   




Sent from my iPad

It's About Your Smell

     Is your idea of ministry full of effort? Are you using expressions like "pull down" and "press in" to describe accomplishing a "spiritual" agenda? If so, what are you saying about  your relationship with God and even God Himself? A vocabulary that does not reflect the truth that His yoke is easy and His burden is light may even be a symptom that it is laced with the leaven of the Pharisees, and exemplifies another kingdom, one of your own making. It frightens the well-meaning saint into a turmoil of works such as 24/7 prayer meetings and long fasts with noble-sounding goals. But you cannot serve the living God with dead works.  Trust me, I know. I tried. At the end of that path was a dead end. I became weary and heavy-laden to the max! I had to repent, turn 180 degrees and go back the other way. It wasn't until I stopped trying that I found Him. 

The problem with all my masquerade of faux spirituality was that I was actually demonstrating a kingdom alien to His, while I ignored the real truth: His Kingdom was already alive in me and releasing Him to other people was "no sweat." As I gradually learned to cease spiritual striving, He lifted the cover for me on a walk of grace with Him. The walk of grace is hidden from the spiritual striver. I never meant to be proud, but I had to learn that walking with Him is born of a humble concept of my weakness and complete trust in His strength. 

    I remember studying in countless places in the Old Testament hidden prophetic shadows of the coming new Kingdom, operating under a New Covenant. One of those places is in the ceremony prescribed in the Old Testament for the consecration of the priests. Back in the day, that ceremony included stripping the priest, washing him with water, and then clothing him with priestly linen garments that would not produce sweat. The High Priest anointed him with blood and oil. Sounds very spiritual so far.

But then came the annoying part ---- waiting! Where? In the Holy Place, the doorway of the tent of meeting, in the tabernacle, representing the Presence of God, Himself--for seven days! In that compartment, just outside the Holy of Holies, rested the golden lamp stand made of one large piece of solid gold, which had been beaten into the form of a central pipe with branches resembling almond bulbs and blossoms. It was the only source of light in that room. A priest would pour the oil into a center shaft and it flowed into the other branches. Then he ignited the wicks in the tubes with a fire that came from the altar. When Jesus said, "Abide in Me and I in you as a branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it abides in Me," (John 15) These nice, Jewish boys, knew what He was talking about.

In the compartment where the new priest sat, the light of that lamp stand illuminated a table with twelve fragrant loaves of freshly baked unleavened bread representing the twelve tribes of Israel, who were then the only people of God. The altar of incense in front of the veil emitted a cloud of smoke from the burning of a unique recipe made of priceless compounds.  When they burned, the fragrance was "out of this world." There was no perfume on earth that could resemble that smell. The incense altar stood in front of the veil separating it from the Holy of Holies. That veil would be there until the day Jesus died on the cross. 

So then what understanding was the newbie priest to glean from 7 days of sitting there? Listen in on a conversation with God while a newbie priest gets a clue:

          "Lord, I love my new priest's outfit. It really sets me apart from everybody else! I've got my anointing. I'm all ready to start serving!" 

           "Where did you get that outfit? You didn't earn it, did you?" God chuckled as he saw the novice wince.

"No,  the High Priest gave it to me."

             "And how did you put it on? "

    "It was 'easy peasy;' I just raised my arms like I was giving up -- but you know this, don't you, Lord.

"Exactly, hold onto that thought. By the way, you don't know it yet, but you are still not ready. It's not about looking the part and just knowing the scriptures. And it's not about doing chores, either. You have to wait awhile! Calm down and get quiet."

"But I want to get started 'doing stuff ' for You," protested the young priest.

"You aren't ready. You need to learn to abide in Me. It's the only way to bear everlasting fruit."

          "But I have to plan the week and make some visits to pray for the sick, before I go to Intercessory Prayer!"

    "Shhhhh. Quiet!"

          "But ..."

          "You'll get it, if you wait long enough."

After a long while...

          "Why is it so dark in here?"

        "The only way to see is if I illuminate the place where you are! You can't serve me without seeing circumstances and people the way I see them. Just abide in Me!"

After another long while...

           "What's that smell?"

            "It's the sweet smell of my people resting in My Presence."

            "What people? I can't smell anything but incense."

A thick cloud of incense permeated the room.The newbie priest squinted until he saw twelve loaves of bread, lying peacefully on the table.

           "Oh, you mean the smell of My life burning in the fire of love for My People...Hang on. Wait awhile and you'll get it.."

Seven days later, after the new priest's frustration finally relaxed into peace, God spoke again,"Ok, you are ready to begin your priesthood!"

           "But Lord, I was beginning to love being with you in here. Besides, I can't do anything for those people unless I love them with your love. I can't see what I'm supposed to see, without You showing me. I want to live like this, in Your Presence...Can't we just stay here resting in your love?"

          "You are always welcome to rest with me. In fact, you must rest in Me.  It's where your real strength comes from. When you go out there, all I want is for the folks I love to catch a big whiff of that smell that has saturated into that linen garment you are wearing. They will know where you've been, and it will make them want to be with Me, too."

So before you keep on running to and fro about the earth trying to serve God in your own strength, sweating like any other human being and smelling like it, too, trust God enough to wait as long as it takes. It makes all the DIFFERENCE in the world!

           

             

  

     

      

 

Melinda is a seven-time author of books which have been published in a variety of languages. She is the former editor of an internationally published Christian magazine which had a distribution of 80,000 -plus eager subscribers! She is happily married for 45 years to Bill Fish who has been pastor of a fellowship for 39 years in the Pittsburgh, PA area. Melinda and Bill have two children who are adults and who are also happily married to awesome spouses. Their four grandchildren are adorable. None of these facts are relevant and do not define Melinda. 

Melinda loves people-well, some people,- and she loves to start conversations with strangers in the hopes of finding out useless information about them just to get them to talk! She also recharges her batteries alone or with very close friends with whom she shares common interests and perspectives. On many Monday nights she can be found at the local Panera "campus" with a circle of friends who have met for over ten years and who talk abou trusting God and abiding in Christ and "regular" snippets from each others' lives. These folks don't always agree, but who cares? It is just a pleasure to be with people who don't have an "agenda."

Melinda cooks, sews, cleans house, walks her dogs, Barkley and Daisy, and wonders often about what God must be up to today! 

Although she tries not to define herself by what she does or has done, it is difficult, because that's how most people define themselves. Why do we do that? Because people expect to hear something from our mouths that distinguishes us from other folks.  Am I really worth knowing, and to what end? And what does it mean to really know someone? Is it knowing their opinions about issues? Or their heart hurts or their hopes? Is it knowing them well enough to anticipate how they will react in various contexts? Do I really want to know someone for their sakes or am I wanting to know them because doing so may benefit me?

 Am I reticent to allow myself to be known because I really believe that if I am known to them, I am now vulnerable to them? What if they don't accept me, and I find myself alone and rejected?  Can I trust God enough to let myself be known to others without fear of what they may do to me? 

In order to be transparent, I need to live without the fear of being known. I can let myself be seen, including my mistakes and weaknesses. To live without this fear threatens anyone who fears being known, because it challenges them to a higher level of trust in God who ultimately gives us our true friends. Do people really know you or do they only know your mask, your wall of protection against your fear of being known. The more transparent I become, the more I can trust God to save my reputation. Becoming transparent allows another to be free, unencumbered as Adam and Eve were before they fell and became ashamed of being known.

When Paul writes, "Then I shall know fully, even as I also have been fully known," he reveals a secret: the more I am able to be transparent, the more I will know Him. It's going to happen when you see Him. In that moment, you will be like Him for you will see Him as He is. Why should I fool around with fig leaves? It only isolates me from people and from God who longs for a transparent relationship with me. He is calling me to a higher level of freedom and the key is transparency, a symptom of real trust.