Freedom to Burn

“18 “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me,


    because of which he has anointed me


to proclaim good news to the poor.


    He has sent me


to proclaim release to the captives,


    and recovery of sight to the blind,


to send out in freedom those who are oppressed,

19     to proclaim the favorable year of the Lord.” (Luke 4)

So here we are, freed by the blood of Jesus from our sin.  From our slavery.  From our blindness.  As Hebrews puts it, “but now he has appeared once at the end of the ages for the removal of sin by the sacrifice of himself.” (Heb 9)  “The end of the ages,” sounds kind of cool.  Like, it’s all done or something, right?  Nothing to do now but keep checking the sky for the contrail of his white stallion. 

Well, it’s been all done now for two thousand years.  So I guess we better figure out a way to amuse ourselves down here while we wait for the end of the end of the ages.  Paul says, whoa there, Baba Looey!  Before you get all “sin boldly,” on me, listen up,  “13 For you were called to freedom, brothers. Only do not let your freedom become an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another. 14 For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, namely, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” (Gal 5)

Well, that’s all very nice and lovey dovey, Paul.  Sounds a bit like the world’s “Who Needs God?  Just Be Nice!” motto; but why?  What’s the point?  We’re saved.  We’re in.  In the words of the great theologian, Larry the Cable Guy, why go fishing when you got shrimp?  Brother Pete, the fisherman-turned-fisher-of-men, tells us why, “9 But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s possession, so that you may proclaim the virtues of the one who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light, 10 who once were not a people, but now are the people of God, the ones who were not shown mercy, but now are shown mercy.”… “16 Live as free persons, and not using your freedom as a covering for evil, but as slaves of God. 17 Honor all people, love the community of believers, fear God, honor the king.” (1Pet 2)

Y’know, the more I read the Bible, the more it seems like it’s one guy telling one story through about six thousand years and one thousand, one hundred and forty-six pages.  Weird, hunh?  Take f’rinstance, that’s one word where I come from, the passage from Luke four.  It’s Jesus quoting Isaiah sixty-one.  Ike goes on to say in it, “And they will be called oaks of righteousness,


    the planting of Yahweh, to show his glory.

4 And they shall build the ancient ruins,


    they shall erect the former deserted places.


And they shall restore the devastated cities,


    the deserted places of many generations.

5 And strangers shall stand and feed your flocks,


    and foreigners shall be your farmers and vinedressers.

6 But you shall be called the priests of Yahweh,


    you will be called servers of our God.”(Is 61)

Priests again.  The Tabernacle and the Temple were “a sketch and shadow of the heavenly things,” a lampstand in the middle of a “a nation of priests.”  A lamp pointing to the True Light.  A lamp pointing to the sacrifice of Jesus coming at the “end of the ages.”  Jesus has come and made us, little ol’ you and me, into “a royal priesthood, a holy nation.” 

As Moses in Exodus 34, “28 And he was there with Yahweh forty days and forty nights. He ate no food and drank no water…”  Guess he was literally living on every word of God.  “...and Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone because of his speaking with him.”  God is doing something in us.  “17 Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. 18 And we all, with unveiled face, reflecting the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory into glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.

4 Because of this, since we have this ministry, just as we have been shown mercy, we do not lose heart, 2 but we have renounced shameful hidden things, not behaving with craftiness or adulterating the word of God, but with the open proclamation of the truth commending ourselves to every person’s conscience before God. 3 But if indeed our gospel is veiled, it is veiled among those who are perishing, 4 among whom the god of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, so that they would not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God. 5 For we do not proclaim ourselves, but Christ Jesus as Lord, and ourselves as your slaves for the sake of Jesus. 6 For God who said, “Light will shine out of darkness,” is the one who has shined in our hearts for the enlightenment of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” (2Cor 3-4)

We have a ministry we are being transformed to accomplish!  Like the blind man in Mark ten, Christ has opened our eyes and now we see His Light.  So what do we do now?

We do what the blind man did...  “And immediately he regained his sight and began to follow him on the road.” (Mark 10) We walk in the Light.  We keep our eyes on Him!  We follow. We do what we see Him doing. We listen.  We obey and He will make us lamps, temples, priests, a holy nation!  Reflecting His glory!  Little earthenware vessels, fed by the Spirit, bearing a small fraction of the True Light, the All Consuming Fire!

So we’re done, right?  Got this lamp thing licked.  Yep.  Once we say this…

…this thing we’ll say tomorrow, God willing.  Meanwhile, what’re you waiting for?  Shine already!

C'mon baby, Light my Fire!

“5 And this is the message which we have heard from him and announce to you, that God is light and there is no darkness in him at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with him and walk in the darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.”  (1John 1)

Saturday it seemed so clear.  Lamps were the church.  Yesterday it seemed lamps were the Temple.  Jesus’ quote in Luke eleven says our eyes are lamps.  So which is it?  Are lamps churches, temples or eyes?

As with so much in the Word, the answer is, “Yes.”

A lamp is a vessel, fed by oil, bearing a flame to cast light in darkness.  If oil is the Spirit and light is Jesus then a lamp is a vessel, fed by the Spirit, bearing Jesus to cast light in darkness. 

Jesus is the Light.  The old covenant, the Tabernacle, the Temple and the Prophets all had the same job, “7 This one came for a witness, in order that he could testify about the light, so that all would believe through him. 8 That one was not the light, but came in order that he could testify about the light. 9 The true light, who gives light to every person, was coming into the world.” (John 1)  The old Testament sacrifices did not take away sin, they merely pointed at the one who would.  The light coming into the world could be seen in microcosm in a lamp, on a stand in a holy place.  This is what Israel was, a Lamp to the world so that all may see God through them!  Their nation, their camp was a lamp lit path to Yahweh shining in a dark and fallen world.  All their laws, all their purity, were signs to the world and them that God was really real and could be found in the people of His covenant.

But they turned their eyes from the Light and hungered for the darkness around them instead.  They became blind slaves, lost and scattered, sheep without a shepherd torn by wolves and lions.  Dead.

But Jesus!  “10 He was in the world, and the world came into being through him, and the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to his own things, and his own people did not receive him.” (John 1)  The true light came, exposing all which had hid in shadow before.  He said to us, “17 Because you are saying, “I am rich, and have become rich, and I have need of nothing,” and you do not know that you are wretched and pitiable and poor and blind and naked, 18 I advise you to buy from me gold refined by fire, in order that you may become rich, and white clothing, in order that you may be clothed and the shame of your nakedness may not be revealed, and eye salve to smear on your eyes, in order that you may see.” (Rev 3)  Jesus was kinder to those who were humble because he could be.  You do not have to tell someone they are blind when they are painfully aware of it.  With the proud, he had to actually steer them into wall to make them “see” they could not see.  Jesus’ harshness with the Pharisees was actually love!  The Light attempted to show each one of us our blindness!  And we politely listened, respectfully disagreed and then barbarically slaughtered him.

Which is exactly what he knew we would do.  When he opened our eyes and we saw our nakedness, we were ashamed!  We tried to stamp out the flame of life exposing us and our sin and instead it consumed our sin and then the fire really spread!  Jesus sent the Holy Spirit, in the form of fire and wind, to his little stand of lamps.  They in turn went out immediately and set fire to the world!  “16 For we did not make known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ by following ingeniously concocted myths, but by being eyewitnesses of that one’s majesty. 17 For he received honor and glory from God the Father when a voice such as this was brought to him by the Majestic Glory, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” 18 And we ourselves heard this voice brought from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain…”

Pete refers to the Transfiguration, “28 Now it happened that about eight days after these words, he took along Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. 29 And as he was praying, the appearance of his face became different, and his clothing became white, gleaming like lightning.” (Luke 9)

Even though he witnessed Jesus in all His shiny glory, Pete thought he had something even better than one old faulty memory of days gone by, “19 and we possess as more reliable the prophetic word, to which you do well if you pay attention to it as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, 20 recognizing this above all, that every prophecy of scripture does not come about from one’s own interpretation, 21 for no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men carried along by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.” (2Pet 1)  Lamps!  Fed by the Holy Spirit!  Glowing weakly in comparison to the one whom they are but small copies until the Morning Star is revealed! 

We come to him poor, wretched, blind and naked and Jesus says, “55 “Ho! Everyone thirsty, come to the waters!


    And whoever has no money, come, buy and eat,


and come, buy without money,


    wine and milk without price!

2 Why do you weigh out money for what is not food,


    and your labor for what cannot satisfy?


Listen carefully to me, and eat what is good,


    and let your soul take pleasure in rich food.” (Is 55)

And when we come, Jesus asks,“What do you want me to do for you?” And the blind man said to him, “Rabboni, that I may regain my sight.” 52 And Jesus said to him, “Go, your faith has healed you.”  (Mark 10)  Our eyes are open now.  Our nakedness clothed in His righteousness.  Our debt paid with gold refined by fire.  We are free, rich, fed and healed!

So what do we do now?

"Is it dark in here?" asked Corey Hart.

“33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a bushel basket, but on a lampstand, so that those who come in can see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of the body. When your eye is sincere, your whole body is full of light also. But when it is evil, your body is dark also. 35 Therefore pay careful attention that the light in you is not darkness! 36 If therefore your whole body is full of light, not having any part dark, it will be completely full of light, as when the lamp with its light gives light to you.” (Luke 11)

So Saturday we skipped along the bunny trail to a place where it seemed like lamps were symbols for the Church, the Bride of Christ, shining in the darkness continually, fed by the Spirit, tended by a royal priesthood, a holy nation.  But when we tried to plug the definition back into Luke eleven we didn’t so much as skip, as trip.  There be a fatal flaw in my logicanator.  So let’s hit the self-destruct button, pick up the pieces and try again. 

What do we know about lamps without really even giving it much thought?  What do they do?  Give light, customarily when there’s no other source of light available.  Why is that desirable?  Cuz without light, our eyes become just soft plugs for a couple of holes in our heads to keep bugs out.  A valuable commodity to be sure, but it would have been far simpler to have just not had holes in the first place.  Light is necessary for seeing.  Which reminds me of a quote by C.S. Lewis, “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.”  Chuck’s quote reminds me of Saturday’s quote from Revelations…

“12 And I turned to see the voice which was speaking with me, and when I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man, dressed in a robe reaching to the feet and girded around his chest with a golden belt, 14 and his head and hair were white like wool, white as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame, 15 and his feet were like fine bronze when it has been fired in a furnace, and his voice was like the sound of many waters, 16 and he had in his right hand seven stars, and a sharp double-edged sword coming out of his mouth, and his face was like the sun shining in its strength.” (Rev 1)  Jesus, standing there, as bright as the Sun, shimmering with heat and flame.  Must have made those lamps hard to see.  Which reminds me of something an angel said once … “9 And one of the seven angels who had the seven bowls full of the seven last plagues came and spoke with me, saying, “Come, I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.” 10 And he carried me away in the Spirit to a great and lofty mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, 11 that has the glory of God.” … “22 And I did not see a temple in it, for the Lord God All-Powerful is its temple, and the Lamb. 23 And the city has no need of the sun or of the moon, that they shine on it, for the glory of God illuminates it, and its lamp is the Lamb. 24 And the nations will walk by its light,” (Rev 21)  Which again, reminds me that Jesus said, “I am the light of the world! The one who follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8)

Oh, we’re so close I can taste it.  No, I think I might be seeing it!  The key is the Temple.  Paradise, the Bride of the Lamb has no Temple in it for God dwells among His people. “16 Do you not know that you are God’s temple and the Spirit of God dwells in you?” (1Cor 3)

 “19 The sun shall no longer be your light by day,


    and for bright light the moon shall not give you light,


but Yahweh will be your everlasting light,


    and your God your glory.

20 Your sun shall no longer go down,


    and your moon shall not wane,


for Yahweh himself will be your everlasting light,


    and your days of mourning shall come to an end.” (Is 60)

Oh for the day God appoints “peace as your overseer,


    and righteousness as your ruling body.” And you “shall call your walls Salvation,


    and your gates, Praise.”   Oh for the day when we aim the windows of our souls at Him and they cease to be squishy bug-plugs and they become lamps!  Lighting all within us!  Filling us from brim to bum like luminaries or fireflies!  Oh for the day when we light up all around us and “they can see your good works and glorify your Father who is in heaven.” (Matt 5)

But 6 When the woman saw that the tree was good for food and that it was a delight to the eyes, and the tree was desirable to make one wise, then she took from its fruit and she ate.” (Gen 3)

“15 Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him, 16 because everything that is in the world—the desire of the flesh and the desire of the eyes and the arrogance of material possessions—is not from the Father, but is from the world. 17 And the world is passing away, and its desire, but the one who does the will of God remains forever.” (1John 2)

Then the light that is within us is not light at all.  When we want this world more than the next, when we want what we want and justify our desires, then “28 Yahweh shall afflict you with madness and with blindness and with confusion of heart. 29 And you shall be groping at noon just as the blind person gropes in the dark, and you shall not succeed in finding your way, and you shall only be abused and robbed all the time, and there will not be anyone who will rescue you.” (Deut 28)  And since Eve, this we have all done.  Since Eve took her eyes off of Yahweh and put them on her own lusts we have all been born blind.  And “32 From time immemorial it has not been heard that someone opened the eyes of one born blind.” (John 9)

But Jesus, he asks, “What do you want me to do for you?” (Mark 10)

Gotta Light?

“33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a bushel basket, but on a lampstand, so that those who come in can see the light. 34 Your eye is the lamp of the body. When your eye is sincere, your whole body is full of light also. But when it is evil, your body is dark also. 35 Therefore pay careful attention that the light in you is not darkness! 36 If therefore your whole body is full of light, not having any part dark, it will be completely full of light, as when the lamp with its light gives light to you.” (Luke 11)

Lamp on the lampstand.  Ah yeah.  I know this analogy.  Heard it before.  Jesus is the light of the world.  You are salt and light.  Your word is a lamp unto my feet.  Yep, light, light, light.  Heard it, got it, moving … wait.

Is Jesus the Lamp or am i?  What does he mean, if your eye is sincere?  How can my light be darkness?  Maybe i don’t understand this as well as I think I do.  Maybe there’s more here than immediately meets the lamp of my body.  Lord, if we may paraphrase Robin Williams in a prayer, illuminate whilst we ruminate. 

Light is everywhere in the Bible so let’s start with “lamp.”  Rule of first mention, what’s the first time anyone in the Word speaks of lamps?

“31 “And you will make a lampstand of pure gold; the lampstand will be made of hammered work—its base and its branch, its cups, its buds, and its blossoms will be from it.” (Ex 25)

Ah yeah, the Tabernacle.  The seven lamp lampstand in the Holy place.  So right off the bat we remember the Tabernacle is the sketch or rough copy of God’s heavenly throne room (Heb 8).  Position is important. “20 “And you will command the Israelites, and they will bring to you pure, beaten olive oil for the light, to cause a lamp to burn continually. 21 In the tent of assembly outside the curtain that is before the testimony, Aaron and his sons will arrange it, from evening until morning, before Yahweh as a lasting statute throughout their generations from the Israelites.” (Ex 27) A light shining continually, not in the Holy of Holies where only God can see, but in the Holy place where the priests go in and out, before the shewbread, fed continually, by sanctified priests, a special blend of olive oil.

Oil, while never explicitly explained in the Bible, is often taken to be a symbol for the office of the Holy Spirit.  It is used to anoint priests (Ex 29, Lev 8) and kings (1Sam 10, 16), often accompanied by the “rushing upon” or filling of the Spirit.  It is used to heal the sick (Mark 6, Jam 5).  The shewbread was made with it (Ex 29) and the lamps are lit with it.

So the lamp, a holy light, fed by the Spirit, tended by priests, burning in the darkness continually.  Hello, that sounds familiar!  Where have I heard of lamps that need to be trimmed in the darkness?

Proverbs 31 provides Lemuel’s description of a good wife.  “18 She perceives that her merchandise is good;


    her lamp does not go out in the night.”

Okay, yes, but there was somewhere else, somewhere more familiar.  Jesus.  When in doubt, the answer is always Jesus.  Jesus tells the parable of the wise and foolish virgins… “25 “Then the kingdom of heaven may be compared to ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. 2 Now five of them were foolish and five were wise. 3 For when the foolish ones took their lamps, they did not take olive oil with them. 4 But the wise ones took olive oil in flasks with their lamps.” (Matt 25)  There’s that oil again.  Wives, virgins, the Bridegroom.  Jesus and King Lemuel are speaking of the church.  Whoa Nelly!  Church…church…I’ve heard of churches and lamps before too.

“12 And I turned to see the voice which was speaking with me, and when I turned, I saw seven gold lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands one like a son of man,” … “16 and he had in his right hand seven stars, and a sharp double-edged sword coming out of his mouth, and his face was like the sun shining in its strength.” … “20 As for the mystery of the seven stars which you saw in my right hand and the seven gold lampstands—the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches.” (Rev 1)

Lamps are Churches, a holy light, fed by the Spirit, burning in the darkness continually.  Awesome!  If we throw in Peter’s description of the church as a “royal priesthood, a holy nation,” (1Pet 2) we got this licked!  So now we know what lamps are.  Back to Luke…

“33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a bushel basket, but on a lampstand, so that those who come in can see the light.”  Yep, Christ has lit the Church up and he’s putting it on a stand for all the world to see.  See?  It works.  “34 Your eye is the lamp of the body. When your eye is sincere, your whole body is full of light also. But when it is evil, your body is dark also.”  So your eye is a church and …it… is…shoot!  Thought we had it there for a second. 

Whelp, “105 Your word is a lamp to my feet


and a light to my path.” (Ps 119)  Obviously we haven’t hiked far enough down this rabbit trail so back to the Word…on Monday.

No, Your Other Right.

Five second review: Mankind made in God’s image.  God is love.  Love is submission.  Mankind snubs God, chooses to be god.  Mankind submits to devil.  Devil abusive husband.  Mankind is doomed. 

But Jesus!  (If I can do it that quick, kinda makes you wonder why these things are four pages long, doesn’t it?)

In a wedding, the Bride stands on the left, the Groom on the right.  Why?  Is it a left over from when the man needed to have his right hand free to fight off would be “suitors”?  Was that line about, “If anyone knows of any reason these two should not be married, let him speak now or forever hold his peace,” often followed by a duel or general melee in the sanctuary?  I’ve been in a few weddings which could have done with this brand of livening up, to be sure.  Cool as it sounds though, I’m skeptical.  I think it has a lot more to do with this…

 “30 I will give thanks to Yahweh exceedingly with my mouth,


and in the midst of many I will praise him,

31 for he stands at the right hand of the needy,


to save him from those judging his life.” (Ps 109)

The Garden of Eden was a wooing.  It was a courtship.  It was a romance novel.  Will she choose the safe, loving, devoted hero or the smooth talking, wild, dangerous fellow?  When we chose sin over God given glory, we took the hand of the devil and how he must have laughed as he slapped the cuffs on us and stuck an iron ring in our nose!  Since then he has lorded over us and yet our desire has tragically been for him. 

Unless he can lie to himself Satan knows he is doomed.  He consoles himself with hurting God.  He can’t do it directly so he hurts the ones God loves.  Us.  The ultimate hurt, the ultimate knife in the guts is when he stands before the throne, our chains in his fist and recounts our treason, our adultery, our sin before our Holy Father, Our Righteous Judge, Our Husband scorned.  “This is what they are!  They have taken your image and twisted and cut and butchered it into mine!”

But Jesus breaks the power of sin, “14 Therefore, since the children share in blood and flesh, he also in like manner shared in these same things, in order that through death he could destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and could set free these who through fear of death were subject to slavery throughout all their lives.” (Heb 2)  In the place of our accuser, Jesus becomes our advocate! 

“7 And there was war in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. 8 And they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them any longer in heaven. 9 And the great dragon was thrown down, the ancient serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world. He was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.

10 And I heard a loud voice in heaven saying,

“Now the salvation and the power


    and the kingdom of our God


    and the authority of his Christ have come,


because the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down,


    the one who accuses them before our God day and night.

11 And they conquered him by the blood of the Lamb


    and by the word of their testimony,


and they did not love their lives until death.” (Rev 12)

And so much more than an advocate!  He is our King, our Lover, our Husband!  “6 And I heard something like the sound of a great crowd and something like the sound of many waters and something like the sound of powerful thunder, saying,

“Hallelujah!


For the Lord God, the All-Powerful, reigns!

7 Let us rejoice and be glad


    and give him the glory,


because the wedding celebration of the Lamb has come,


and his bride has prepared herself.

8 And it has been granted to her that she be dressed in bright, clean fine linen (for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints).” (Rev 19)

In the place of the husband of our choosing, who wanted to dehumanize and kill us and drag us into his doom, we are restored to our true Husband who wants us to share in HIS glory.  The one who pursued us even when we had slapped his face, stolen his gifts and run away!  Who bought us with is own blood and body, who gave up everything for us because he loves us!  This is the husband who holds our right hand tenderly, carefully, lovingly now.  This is one we should do anything for!  No request should be too great.  There is no duty, no commandment, for our hearts should be leaping to anticipate what would make him smile!  Look up Hephzibah!  Your Prince has come!  Take his hand!

Who's on the Right Side?

What do the following two verses have to do with each other?

“14 And he was expelling a mute demon. Now it happened that when the demon came out, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowds were astonished. 15 But some of them said, “By Beelzebul the ruler of demons he expels demons!” 16 And others, in order to test him, were demanding from him a sign from heaven.” (Luke 11)

“16 To the woman he said,

“…And to your husband shall be your desire.


    And he shall rule over you.” (Gen 3)

Stumped?  Fuggeddabowdit.  I wouldn’t know either if God wasn’t good. 

The answer is: right hand.  See it?  Both verses are about who’s at your right hand.  Amazing isn’t it!  It’s like those 3D puzzle posters, the ones you stare at till you go cross-eyed and then the image pops out at you.  Which I think were invented merely to give writers like me a helpful analogy to a great many situations.  You’re still staring cross-eyed.  You don’t see it, do you?  Zawlright.  I’ll be your tour guide on a little Biblical safari.  Pin on your Junior Explorer badges and hop into the Wayback machine.  First stop, Eden!

The Trinity chooses to make a people to love.  A people made in the image of God, who is Love; Love: submission to the other for the good of the other.  We are designed from the start to fully submit, to purposefully suborn our will to someone else’s, for our own good and for theirs.  But so it’s not forced, so we’re not slaves, so it would be genuine Love, God gives us a choice… “life and death I have set before you, blessing and curse. So choose life, so that you may live, you and your offspring, 20 by loving Yahweh your God by listening to his voice and by clinging to him, for he is your life and the length of your days…” (Deut 30)

And choose we do.  We choose…poorly.  We choose to make ourselves god.  We release the hand of our Father, our Brother, our Lover, our Husband for the first time and take the hand of the Serpent (they had hands then), the devil, the adversary… our accuser.  For we cannot be God.  We were made to submit and thus, even the act of choosing independence, choosing our own will, cannot be done without making that choice our master just as God says to Eve.  It’s not a curse; it’s a statement of fact.  It is not a question of “Will we worship?”  We will.  It is what we were made to do.  It is our primary focus and drive.  Not procreation.  Not survival.  Not self-betterment.  Love!  Worship! 

And like it or not, there are only two choices.  God is good.  God is love.  God is righteous.  God is holy.  Only God.  All else is lie.  All else is evil.  All else is the domain of Satan.  So, in short, either we choose God or we choose Satan.  There are no other choices.  And since our mother Eve chose Satan, it became our baseline.  From then on we have been born with a cloven hoof held tightly in our fist.  From then on, God’s work has been to free us first of our spiteful master so He could restore us to our rightful place.  But where is that?

Bopping ahead to Luke 11 and the crux of time.  Jesus is in the business of freeing slaves.  And business is booming!  Those who sensed the lies of their tyrant have come to Him and are being saved.  But those still in love with the lie, those whose pride has blinded them…

“20 Ah! Those who call evil good and good evil,


    those who put darkness for light and light for darkness,


    those who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!

21 Ah! Those who are wise in their own eyes


    and have understanding in their view!” (Is 5) 

These are those David speaks of…

“4 In return for my love they accuse me,


though I am in prayer.

5 So they inflicted evil against me in return for good


and hatred in return for my love.

6 Appoint over him a wicked man,


and let an accuser stand at his right hand.

7 When he is judged, let him come out guilty,


and let his prayer become as sin.”

They have chosen to marry themselves to Satan.  Even though they, as Jews, were already married to God, even though God remained faithful to the wedding vows He made through Adam, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and Moses, they brought another lover into the bedroom.  One who promises much but delivers something totally different.  “31 The queen of the south will rise up at the judgment with the people of this generation and condemn them, because she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here!” Jesus warned.  And what did Solomon warn?

“13 For he who returns evil for good,


    evil will not depart from his house.” (Prov 17)

Or as Jesus puts it…

“24 “Whenever an unclean spirit has gone out of a person, it travels through waterless places searching for rest, and does not find it. It says, ‘I will return to my house from which I came out.’ 25 And when it arrives it finds the house swept and put in order. 26 Then it goes and brings along seven other spirits more evil than itself, and they go in and live there. And the last state of that person becomes worse than the first!”” (Luke 11)

Seven.  The number of completion.  In this life you start with a devil on your shoulder, in your heart, on your right hand.  Die holding onto that hoof and it will pull you down into hell with it! 

But Jesus…!

If you wanna kiss the sky...

“11 And it happened that while he was in a certain place praying, when he stopped a certain one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray…” (Luke 11)

Prayer.  It occurs to me the problem we may have with understanding this crucial activity of our faith is this:

We’re looking at it from the wrong side. 

We’re always trying to figure out how we do this or how we do that.  What should we say?  What shouldn’t we say?  Should we fast?  What’s it for?  Does pointing at the sky after a touchdown count?  Do I have to do it out loud?  Should I confess my sins first or start right off with praise and adulation?  Can I name it and claim it?  Does it not work if I doubt?  Am I allowed to ask to win the lottery?

All of these are… Most of these are legitimate questions.  Legitimate questions that miss the point entirely.

How does God view prayer?

I dunno.  He doesn’t talk to me personally like that but if the Holy Spirit is guiding me now, He might be saying this… “How many times I wanted to gather your children together the way a hen gathers her young together under her wings,” (Matt 23)  He might say,

“Arise, my beloved! Come, my beauty!”

14 My dove, in the clefts of the rock,


    in the secluded place in the mountain,


Let me see your face,


    let me hear your voice;


for your voice is sweet and your face is lovely.” (SoS 2)

“13 O you who dwell in the garden,


    my companions are listening to your voice.


        Let me hear it!” (SoS 8)

Since before time, since the moment the Father and the Son conceived of us, They have been yearning, aching, working to draw us into a real, right relationship with them!  Not from fear, not through religious rite, not coerced, not to transactional but true, unadulterated, unconditional love!  And we who are the Bride are to be bringing more and more to our Lover King.  To be showing the love we have been shown.  This is all the law and the prophets!  We are loved!  Though we deserve nothing from Him, He openly offers all!  If we would only melt into His arms.  This is what prayer should be!  Our asking to be melted.  Our asking to be transformed by this love!  Our asking to believe. 

Our need for bread?  This is our Father!  This is our Husband!  This is our Lover King!  Do you honestly think he doesn’t know our need?  Doesn’t care?  He who gave up His only Son so we might all be in Him.  He not only knows we need bread already, He’s burying us in it!  With twelve baskets left over!  He wants to bless us so we can bless!  He loves us so we can show that love to the world! 

“6 Is this not the fast I choose: to release the bonds of injustice,


    to untie the ropes of the yoke,


and to let the oppressed go free,


    and tear every yoke to pieces?

7 Is it not to break your bread for the hungry?


    You must bring home the poor, the homeless.


When you see the naked, you must cover him,


    and you must not hide yourself from your relatives.

8 Then your light shall break forth like the dawn,


    and your healing shall grow quickly.


And your salvation shall go before you;


    the glory of Yahweh will be your rear guard.

9 Then you shall call, and Yahweh himself will answer.


    You shall cry for help, and he will say, ‘Here I am!’” (Is 58)