Sitting on the Rock

The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

Psalm 18:2 KJV

This is such a powerful scripture because David seemed to be shouting out his personal ownership of the blessings of God. God had delivered him from the unrighteous hand of Saul, and it must have been hard for David to contain his emotions. Eight times he used the word "my" in this scripture. In the Scripture the number eight is the number of new beginnings. David knew when God preserved his life that He had given him a new beginning.

David not only claimed ownership of the rock of salvation but the rock of salvation claimed ownership of David. He went into great detail in this scripture, explaining all the aspects and personality of the rock of salvation. The rest of us can claim those same benefits.

When I was twelve years old I too had a rock experience with the Lord that would prove to be prophetic of my life calling.

In 1947 my mother, my step dad, and I lived on a river bank in central Texas in a 12 x 14 foot tent. We were not any poorer than many other folks were at that particular time. My step father earned very little money working on one of the local ranches. However, with all the fish we would catch and the squirrels we could shoot, we lived pretty well while enjoying the simple life.

One day I walked down the dirt steps I had hewn out of the tall river bank, walked across the shallow river to the other side, and sat down on a big rock. I was looking back across the river at our little simple dwelling-when I had an experience that would set the course of my life.

The Spirit of the Lord came and stood in front of me and began telling me what I was to do. I seemed to know Him without ever having met Him. I was not afraid...and for some reason I had an unusual peace. My only response to Him was, "Yes Sir"... which is still my only response to Him. He did not have a solid form as a man. He seemed to be a clear yet cloud-like form which was overwhelming to me. It was then that the Lord called me into the ministry and gave special instructions to me as to what I was to do. After His instructions to me, He vanished and left me sitting on the rock. I sat there for a while wondering how much a bashful twelve year old boy could do when he did not even go to church, much less have a personal relationship with God? It never crossed my mind to not do what the Lord told me, because I was always obedient to instructions that were given to me. I sat there for a while thinking about what had just happened. I finally got up and walked back across the river and up the hand-hewn dirt steps back to our tent.

Even though it was several years before I was miraculously saved, I never lost sight of my rock experience. As a matter of fact, after getting up from the altar where I gave my heart to the Lord, I immediately went about doing what the Lord had called me to do while I was sitting on the rock.

I suppose many people could tell of their own rock sitting experience...and should. Each rock sitting story is different from the other but makes no less of an impact. All of us should shout our testimony with David...

The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.

If it has been a while since you have shared your own rock sitting experience with someone, why not do it today?

Father,

Thank you for a man like David, who was not afraid to shout out his love for You. I too am not afraid to shout out my love for You and what You have done for me. I no longer live in a tent on a river bank, yet I remain thankful for the experience of those days and especially for my rock sitting experience with You.

Amen.

Fathers/Instructors

For though ye have ten thousand instructors in Christ, yet have ye not many fathers: for in Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the gospel.

1 Corinthians 4:15

As I was reading this scripture the other day I saw the term 'many fathers' in a different light. The word 'fathers' implies that there could be many different father type influences that are needed in our development.

In this scripture Paul is making reference to the multitude of schoolmasters, tutors, and governors in Corinth who were instructors. Among them were a great number of doctors, wise men, Scribes and Pharisees who pretended to instruct in Christ, but without a father's heart. Paul seems to imply that the instruction can only be complete through the fathers influence.

Paul also seems to show the difference between instructors and fathers. Every father should be an instructor, but every instructor is not necessarily a father.

I believe the qualifier for being a true spiritual father in Christ has to do with ones own personal relationship to Christ. This relationship does not necessarily have anything to do with age or education, but rather depth and purpose.

I remember a man that was not much older than me and yet he had a profound impact on my life. Every time I was around this man I would always leave better than when I came. He seemed to challenge me to be better without saying a word. It has been fifty years since I have seen this man but I still think of some of the things I learned from him. I never told him what a fatherly influence he had on my life. At that time such a thing would not have made any sense to me.

My friend taught me how to be strong and yet not overpowering, meek but not weak, understanding but not compromising. I learned to serve others by watching him masterfully deal with people with a variety of needs. He was humane but never shaken, committed to a full day of work but knew how to enjoy a Sabbath rest. He dearly loved the Lord and expected Him to be with him every where he went. He also had a genuine love for the welfare of people.

These are some of the standards I learned from my young father. I have tried to apply these standards to my life over the last fifty years. I have also tried to pass them on to those who follow me.

After many years I came to the conclusion that there is a father's anointing that God Himself puts on us as He would any other anointing. Any man can be fatherly, but that does not necessarily constitute a father's anointing. Being around one who is fatherly may be a great comfort when you are in need. However being around one with a father's anointing could effectively change your life as did my friend's influence changed my life.

One of the purposes of the father's anointing is found in Malachi 4:5-6 where it talks about the restoration and purpose of the father's anointing. Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the LORD:

And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.

Even thou Paul did not see many fathers in his day I am confident we will see many men with the father's anointing in our day. This may be a good time for all the father candidates to begin to cry out for that very special father's anointing.

Father,

I thank you for this season and the promise of an anointing that will restore relationships and families. Help us Lord to desire to be a part of the ministry of mending and "restoring the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to the fathers."
Amen

THE STRANGER IN THE BANK

But when God, who set me apart before I was born and who called me by his grace, was pleased to reveal his Son to me so that I might proclaim him among the gentiles, I did not confer with another human being at any time…

Gal 1:15-16 ISV

It's easy for me to thank God while reminiscing about all the father figures He's put in my life.

I suppose one of the dearest men that I have had the privilege of meeting over the years was an ordinary man…yet he had a profound impact on my life. He is best portrayed by his humility and sensitivity to the Lord.

He taught the adult Sunday School class in a small church—but there was nothing small about his love and commitment to the Lord. He was the Godliest man I have ever had the privilege of meeting. He was also one to emulate when it came to trusting the Lord in each area of his life.

In order to do this story justice, I must start at the beginning.

One day while standing in a bank line waiting to cash a check—I turned just in time to see this man turn and look at me from another line. After a short glance he turned the opposite direction—bowed his head and began to weep for me. God had showed him that I had a call on my life, but that I was lost.

At that point we had never seen each other before. After cashing my check I left the bank and went home.

For the next three weeks the image of this man was continually on my mind and in my thoughts. I could not sleep at night for seeing his tears falling on the marble floor of the bank. I did not know that at the same time this stranger had three weeks of sleepless nights as well.

Three weeks later I woke up on Sunday morning with a real urge to go to church. I got in my car and drove to the closest church, but I had a sense that God said "No, not this one." I then drove from church to church and each time I stopped, I sensed the Lord say "No, not this one." After a while I had driven all the way across town and was now sitting in front of a little church with what seemed to be a light all around it. I seemed to have the sensation of being pulled to the front door. I got out of my car and went inside and sat on the back row next to the aisle. I only sat there for a moment when everyone began to go to their Sunday School classes. As I followed the people my age into a classroom, the first person I saw was the man in the bank. He was the Sunday School teacher and was standing in front of the chalk board. When he saw me he turned (as he had in the bank), and bowed his head and began to thank God for answering his prayer. That morning I accepted Jesus into my heart.

I soon moved from that town and have not seen the man since. He will never know the profound impact he had on my life. As a result of his prayers, I was birthed into the kingdom of God. I am sure by now this dear man has gone on to be with the Lord. However, I am still making deposits into his spiritual bank account with the men and women I birth into the kingdom. Thank God that this same kind of passionate praying still works today.

After all these years I often think about this humble man. I still have that deep desire to be as effective as he was. Even though I have traveled all over the world (he never made it far from his home), I have come to the conclusion that it is not how far you go but how effective you are. He was effective!

Father,

Thank you for allowing me to start my Christian life by seeing humility and passion for the lost at its highest possible level. Help me to be an example to others as this wonderful spiritual father was to me.

Amen!

My Trip to Heaven

I know a man in Christ, fourteen years ago (whether in the body, I know not; or whether out of the body, I know not; God knoweth), such a one caught up even to the third heaven.

And I know such a man (whether in the body, or apart from the body, I know not; God knoweth),

how that he was caught up into Paradise, and heard unspeakable words, which it is not lawful for a man to utter.

2 Corinthians 12:2-4 ASV

Mary (the mother of Jesus) must have had many such special moments because the Bible said that she hid them in her heart.

Some years ago I had several unbelievable experiences over a period of about a week that would forever change my life. I, like Mary, hid those experiences in my heart for years without ever sharing them. I suppose the reason I did not share them was because they were such intimate experiences with God and I was not sure anyone else would understand them.

One such experience took place one night when the Lord came into my room and took me to heaven. I could see my spirit leaving my body laying there on the bed. I continued to be lifted up until I saw the roof of our home and then the street and then the city and so on. All of this took place very quickly. I could not see the one who was lifting me up because he was always behind me.

After leaving the earth I then began flying over the New Jerusalem. It was beautiful even though I was never allowed to set foot on the streets. I was only to be escorted over the city for the purpose of showing me how close the city was to completion. I was shown the roofs of the dwelling places and that they were almost finished and ready for occupancy. I was captivated by seeing the city from my perspective. I was also captivated by the fact that all of the dwelling places had steeple type roofs that were being completed. I was informed that they would be finished very soon and that I must minister with urgency knowing that Jesus would return unexpectedly.

After the trip to heaven I was then returned to my body. I first saw my city, then my street, then my house, then my body and then my spirit was placed back into my sleeping body.

Since that time I have had more of an urgency in my spirit than ever. Everything I do in the kingdom regardless of how small-I do it with a spirit of urgency.

The message of this experience was not only to change my life, but to establish a sense of urgency in these times. Since that time, I have continued to learn many other lessons that keep developing in me more of a heavenly purpose. The heavenly pattern that God showed me is for the kingdom at large.

Such was the case when God gave Moses the pattern for the Tabernacle. The Tabernacle that Moses built was only a type and shadow of that which is in the heavenlies.

The unfinished roofs that God showed me in heaven were also a type and shadow. I am quite sure that God does not have construction workers as we think of them in heaven. However the things that God showed me were so I could understand that His expectation of me was no less than that of Moses with the Tabernacle. I was to use this experience for the glory of God and to bring others into hope driven by passion.

What I saw in heaven was breathtaking and I agree with Paul in 1Corinthians 2:9, "… Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him."

Father,

Thank you for allowing me to go to heaven. Since that time I have been faithful to the urgency of the hour and knowing that time is shorter than when I first began. Even though that experience happened many years ago I am no less excited about my call and purpose than I was then. My time clock is different than yours, but you are always on time and I praise you for it.

Amen.

Don't Eat the Apple

It seems to be in the nature of man to be impatient with the process of God. Man is rarely satisfied with where he is in life and he certainly does not like the word "wait." In man's mind the interpretation of the word "wait" is never.

The first sign of impatience was evident in the Garden of Eden with Adam and Eve. Impatience seems to be the result of misdirected ambition. God gave us the anointing to be ambitious when He told us to rule the earth. There is nothing wrong with being ambitious in the context of wanting to please God. That lines up with 2Corinthins 5:9 where it says "Wherefore also we make it our aim, whether at home or absent, to be well-pleasing unto him".

However, Satan came along and saw an opportunity to invert our Godly ambition into impatience. Impatience usually has to do with self will as well as the judging of God's timing. There has always been this idea in man that if he could get to the next level (whatever that is), he could be more useful to God.

Eating the apple seemed to be a good idea in order to take man to that next level, so he ate the apple. Mankind was of course deceived by Satan. The root of impatience is to attain something without paying the price. Consequently mankind is prone to fall for the old 'apple' trick.

I remember seeing a For Sale sign on this beautiful farm in East Texas which had a gorgeous one hundred year old two-story house. I really wanted that farm. Somehow I justified in my mind that I could serve God better if I could add a retreat center to my ministry and this would fit the bill. I began to pray and God said "No, not now". I reluctantly said, "Okay Lord I am willing to wait". However a few days later the banker called and said that he would do the deal for me with nothing down and no payment for a year. I thought maybe God changed His mind-so I bought the farm. I began to pour thousands of dollars into restoring the farm and property and preparing it to live in for my dream ministry. However, it wasn't long before the bottom fell out of the market and money was short and the value of the farm dropped by a third. I ended up selling the farm for much less than I paid for it and lost thousands and thousands of dollars in the process.

My repentance for the sin of presumption and impatience was deep and sincere. Even to this day I am still sorry for letting myself be deceived like Adam and Eve.

It took years to financially recover from my act of impatience even though my forgiveness was instant.

Since that time I've tried to be a good father example of wait to the impatient ones who are following me. However after having said that, the lesson of waiting seems to be a life journey rather than a destination.

Father,

I thank you for teaching me that all my reasoning and jumping ahead of You is an inverted ambition and is the outworking of impatience. Forgive me for this sin and help me to be a better example to those who follow me who are also tempted by Satan to eat the apple. Help us all to be God led and ambitious for Your will.

Amen!

You Are Not That Good

(Ecclesiastes 7:20 Message Bible) There's not one totally good person on earth, Not one who is truly pure and sinless.

No matter how hard one tries to be righteous, Romans 3:10 tells us, "There is none righteous, no, not one." Isaiah 64:6 even goes so far as to say that "all our righteousness are as filthy rags." When you stop and think about this you may even wonder...why bother to try if your righteousness is no better than "filthy rags."

Apparently we have a different view of righteousness than the Lord has. Our view of righteousness often has to do with all the things we avoid doing. Whereas the Lord's view of righteousness has to do with what He did for us that we could not do for ourselves. This concept puts a different slant on righteousness.

There is something in mankind that makes him prone to base his righteousness on the "law of do's and don'ts." No matter how much he understands the effect of the cross he still wants to help God out by his good works.

The interesting thing in most cases is that man is not even aware of his religious actions. According to Matthew 23:5, he just wraps his "righteous robes" around himself and "broadens the phylacteries" on his forehead. For those who are not familiar with the term "phylacteries"...it is a little box full of scriptures that the Pharisees tied to their foreheads.

As a young preacher, I had an experience that still remains fresh in my mind today. There was probably no one who tried harder to live a more disciplined life before the Lord than me. I was a part of a holiness denomination that had a long list of things you must avoid doing if you were going to be holy. I followed that list to the letter of the law as far as I knew. My desire was do everything in my power to fulfill Romans 12:1 where it says "I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service."

One day while having coffee with a good friend, he told me how much he and his wife appreciated me. He said I had always been there for them when they needed prayer and counsel. However, he proceeded to tell me that he was somewhat perplexed as to why I did not think as much of our friendship as they did. He said we have always told you all of our problems and you have never told us any of yours. He then followed that with the statement that still rings in my ears to this day and that is, "You are not all that good."

My loving the Lord was never in question but perhaps my 'Holiness List' was. Perhaps my friend understood the above scriptures more than I realized.

It has been many years since that day at the coffee shop with my friend, but our conversation is as fresh in my mind as if it happened this morning.

I am sure I never had a "Phariseeistic attitude" with a "phylactery" on my forehead, but if that was what came across to my friend then it was a reminder to me to be aware of a self-righteous spirit. After all "There is none righteous, no, not one."

Father,

My prayer is for those who try hard to be righteous and to walk in Your favor. Help all of us Lord to relax and enjoy the journey in life as we follow You. Thank you Lord for what You did for us that we could not do for ourselves.

Amen

Keeping Score

(John 4:1-3 Message Bible) Jesus realized that the Pharisees were keeping count of the baptisms that he and John performed

(although his disciples, not Jesus, did the actual baptizing). They had posted the score that Jesus was ahead, turning him and John into rivals in the eyes of the people.

So Jesus left the Judean countryside and went back to Galilee.

Keeping score is one of the most divisive acts I know of. In the case of our text the Pharisees were actually keeping score of who had baptized the most people-Jesus or John. One would think it would not make any difference as long as people were being baptized. However, that is not the way score keepers look at things.

Score keepers look at things differently than most people. As a matter of fact I have never seen a score keeper who actually confessed to being a score keeper. Their confession is that they only want things to be right and see that nobody else is being taken advantage of.

Every family seems to have a score keeper and that usually means that they are the self appointed ones to police the rest of the family's actions.

There seems to be certain characteristics of a score keeper that are unique to them. For example, you never seem to win an argument with them…because they are usually more relentless than everyone else in the family. If a family decision needs to be made-their opinion is usually the one you go with. It is not worth all the "I told you so" comments for years to come.

My own siblings have all gone on to be with the Lord, so I now feel free to use one of my sisters as an example of a score keeper. Otherwise I would be getting into a heap of trouble. Speaking of trouble-the last thing you ever want to do is to get in trouble with the family score keeper. My sister had the rest of us so well trained (or scared) that it got to the point that she did not even have to say anything. All she had to do was just show up and the rest of us would straighten up and start smiling and doing what we could to please her. When she was around we were always on our best behavior. No liberties were taken and her opinion was always asked and usually agreed upon. We even seemed to sit up a little straighter in our chairs when she was around.

I do not remember any of us ever saying anything derogatory about her while she was around. We would always wait until she left before saying all of those derogatory remarks about her. We even sort a whispered while saying all of those nasty things for fear she might hear us. I am sure it was fear that made all the rest of us smiling hypocrites.

In God's eyes I wonder whose sins are the worst, the score keeper Pharisees or the smiling hypocrites who gossip behind the score keeper's back.

Perhaps this is what Paul meant when he said in Romans 3:10…"There is none righteous, no, not one."

Father,

Forgive us for the sins that we commit against one another in the disguise of being righteous. Help us to see more clearly that our own peculiarities are many times an offence to others as well as to You. Help us to seek Your righteousness and honesty as we deal with others in love and humility.

Amen.