Following the Father – To the River

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Baptisms have always been a highlight and the other week I preached at a church where three adults from China were baptized! The testimonies captivated the service and it literally seemed that time stood still as each one shared the miraculous interventions of God’s grace in their lives. It was as if the water that covered these new believers in baptism flowed out into the congregation with waves of heaven’s joy as the Father’s presence flooded the room.

When you look at the life of Jesus and the critical event that launched Him into ministry you have to follow Him to the Jordan River where His baptism took place. There in the wilderness John the Baptist baptized Jesus. John preached repentance. John called people to jump into the flowing river as a symbol of their sins being washed down stream.

John was humbled that Jesus wanted to be baptized by him and in a way this story is one of “show and tell.” You recall that elementary school activity where students took turns bringing in something that was of value and shared why for fellow classmates. After Jesus’ baptism the heavens opened up and the voice of the Father could be heard from above. Jesus was “showing the Father” to His followers. Jesus was sinless and was not in need of baptism, yet Jesus insisted on going under the Jordan River as all the others stood in line. He did this to show others the way. Through this act of baptism He “showed us” how we are to turn from sin. Sin keeps us from a love relationship with the Father. Sin holds us in bondage. Yet, through the act of baptism Jesus “was telling us” that He would take the sin of the world on His shoulders and He would do so at the cross. There are sins were and buried forever in the grave. And because of His resurrection we would hear the voice of our Abba Father!

As I witnessed the three baptism that Sunday I was reminded how I daily need to follow Jesus to the river, plunge under Calvary’s stream, and die to self in order to open my heart and my mind to the voice of my Father. Jesus demonstrated this to us in word and deed. This is clearly stated in Luke 9:23-25

If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will save it. What good is it for a man to gain the whole world and yet lose or forfeit his very self.  

This morning before I wrote this blog I went down to the river and jumped in again. I confessed my sin and my need for a Savior. Daily I need to have my sins washed away and die to my self-willed life, so that I can hear my Father’s voice; a voice that brings true life. If you haven’t done so yet today, I encourage you to walk down to the river and jump in and let Jesus bring you up and out so that you can hear from your Abba Father.

Following the Father – Like

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A few years ago while taking a group of high school students to Africa a group of them thought I needed to be on the social network Instagram, so I could stay updated with what was going on in their lives. Most of you know how it works, but just in case you don’t, the whole idea is to post a picture and message on Instagram and then it goes out to anyone who has this app and has requested to follow you. Through this communication you are able to peer into the lives of the people you follow, see where they have vacationed, people they hang with, and whatever interesting and sometimes crazy things they want to reveal. Once you “see it” you have the opportunity to tap a little red heart that indicates you “like it!”

Instagram is just one of the many ways social media keeps people connected or in some cases addicted :). We live in a society that spends hours a day looking down at their phone not wanting to lose touch with their social network of friends and certainly don’t want to miss out on any relevant posts, all this got me wondering what if God the Father had an Instagram to communicate His heart to us, how many of us would follow Him or like what He posted? I would hope He would have around 2 billion followers adding to it daily and at least a billion likes each post.

But in all reality He has given us something better to communicate His heart and that is His Son Jesus. The Bible says He is the very image of the invisible God:

The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being sustaining all things by His powerful word (Heb. 1:3).

Jesus is the Father’s Instagram post to communicate His heart of love to each of His followers. For the next several blogs I want to remind you how Abba Father communicates through Jesus to us and how Jesus shows us how to hear the Father’s voice. Those who pay attention to the voice of the Father as Jesus did will experience the Father’s Spirit, which leads to a glorious transformation.

As a pre-teen Jesus made knowing the Father His number 1 passion. In Luke 2:41ff we read about the 12 year old Jesus leaving his mom and Joseph to spend time at His Father’s house right after the Passover. In fact it took the family 3 days to find Jesus after they realized He wasn’t with them on the journey back home to Nazareth. You can imagine their anger and relief when they found Jesus at the temple. An upset Mary likely was quite upset as you can imagine but notice Jesus’ reply:

“Why were you searching for me?” He asked. “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house?” (vs. 49).

At an early age Jesus made hearing and knowing the Father His consuming passion. We too should adjust our hearing so that it begins with an all out search for the Father, a search that places all else secondary compared to finding and following the voice of the Father and claiming His heart for us. My prayer is that you will join me on this journey of Following the Father!

 

 

Following the Father’s Voice, Kirstein Interview

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I had the blessing of interviewing Lindiwe & Peter Kirstein back in June, the soon-to-be directors at Beautiful Gate Care Center in Lesotho Africa. Their story of following God’s voice to become directors is amazing. I pray that you will be inspired as well to follow the voice of Abba Father in your life.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 19:39 — 36.0MB)

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“Dynamos of Praise”

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East Colfax is one of the darkest streets in the Denver area. The crime rate in this section is off the charts. It has long been a hang out for drug dealers, pimps, prostitutes, and those stifled with severe poverty living in dozens of run down motels. Last week my wife Patty and I joined a ministry called “Jesus on Colfax” led by a pastor friend Shawn Sikkema, we handed out food and offered prayers for any takers living in two motel complexes.

Together we ministered to addicts, wayward sons and daughters, those with mental illness, health issues, ex-prisoners, and others who for one reason or another found themselves calling a motel home. Jesus truly was on Colfax that night.

In the midst of this battlefield for the mind and soul was a powerful light found in room 15. John and Juanita lived in this unit for the past two months and as the door opened Juanita boldly uttered, “The LORD is Good!!!” Pastor Shawn warned us about this room, he told us that once we met this couple we would want to come back every Tuesday. He was spot on with this prediction, as a spirit of joy flowed out of Juanita fueled by a heart anchored in the worship of her Savior Jesus Christ.

John and Juanita are “unofficially ordained” as the pastors of their motel complex and are quick to offer loving prayers for the others, their prayers are filed with truth and compassion. We too were grateful to be recipients of their blessed words. Before our conversation ended Juanita broke out in praise that filled East Colfax with a fresh invasion of the light of King Jesus. As we departed room 15 with the joy of Jesus and some big hugs one of the residents a few rooms down shouted out, “You all are having much too fun!!” He couldn’t have said it better, in one of highest homicide areas in Denver we did “church” and it was a blast.

As we left we were reminded by Juanita what a gift praise is and the dynamos or explosive power, that flows from it to overcome the darkness and bring a “breakthrough” of Heaven’s Light. When we praise our Father no matter how dark our situation we flood the area around us with the dynamos of the Holy Spirit and His light will overtake the darkness for the glory of His Kingdom.

I will extol the LORD at all times; His praise will always be on my lips. My soul will boast in the LORD; let the afflicted hear and rejoice. Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt His name together. Psalm 34:1-3

What a challenge for each of us to call upon the Lord in prayer and praise!

 

 

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“Breakthrough”

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Hiking the 14,000-foot Mount Democrat meant that we must arrive early at the trailhead in order to beat the predictable afternoon thunderstorms. My son had planned this climb for sometime; he figured it was a great way to end the summer before everyone headed back to school, and a great motivator to keep his dad in shape. As adrenaline carried us up the first few miles we noticed the mountain beginning to disappear as a cloudbank rapidly rolled in. As we plodded upward people started to rush downward sharing that they heard thunder and we should get off the mountain ASAP! We looked at each other and determined to go a little further and than decide. As we made it to a place called the saddle the weather got worse and we discussed what to do next.

Earlier that morning while driving up we talked about an email I recently received from a friend who shared how God was bringing about breakthroughs in his life after a long season of dark clouds of suffering. Perhaps it was because of that conversation we located a small wooden shelter to huddle in for protection and waited for a breakthrough and hoped this was a good idea. While the cold whipping wind swirled around us I built a small prayer altar from nearby rocks. After about 20 minutes we noticed the clouds lifting and the mountain was in view again. As we meandered to the closest ledge a glorious rainbow broke forth which energized our souls. We had our breakthrough and continued the climb, when we reached the summit the view was glorious and any struggles with the hike were quickly forgotten.

While on that mountain God gave us a picture none of us will ever forget. Truth is all of us have faced spiritual storms filled with dark cold clouds where God’s presence seems to vanish. And yes the thought of turning around and finding a familiar shelter in our spiritual walk has happened on more than one occasion. One hiker, who made a U-turn down the mountain, said to us, “Time to turn around, get a beer, sit on the couch, and enjoy the Olympics.” But as you read Scripture time and again the spiritual mountain climbers who kept going in the midst of the darkness in time experienced seasons of powerful breakthroughs!

The greatest of all climbers was Jesus, He crawled His way up Mount Moriah climbed on a wooden cross and waited out the horrific storm trusting in His Father for a breakthrough. On the third day the ultimate breakthrough came as darkness fled from the glory of a resurrected Savior who became King! And He offers the same powerful breakthroughs to all who are willing to put their hope and trust in His promises in the midst of their own individual storms.

For some reason I have heard the word breakthrough numerous times over the last few months. I’m holding on in prayer that our Abba Father is about to break forth in a powerful way for His waiting children. His beloved children who have not turned back in the storm but are holding on in faith for a mighty breakthrough to shine the way up to the places He is calling us to climb and showing us a fresh revelation of His glory and grace. Keep holding on for the coming breakthrough!

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