The Favor of the Father’s Face – Shine

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“The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face shine upon you…”

Numbers 6:24-25

Brilliance! Is the word I would use to describe the reflection of the Colorado sun bouncing off the freshly fallen snow high in the Rocky Mountains. This blinding scene was recently shared this with a group of couples on a retreat. Together we discussed the Goodness of God as our Father as well as experiencing a spectacular visual while hiked through fluffy white snow, which spectacularly radiated heat from the sun. Our senses soaked in the Father’s creative glory as it shone on us.

How the heart of your Father wants to bless you and anoint you will the brilliance of His shining face of love that will transform every part of your being with His presence. The Father’s glorious face is seen best in Jesus, “The Son,” who is “the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of His being…” (Heb. 1:3). The Father sent His Son to shine on us with a love that forgives, heals, and brings us into His Heavenly presence and crowns us with authority as His very own sons and daughters.

Scripture also reveals that our Good Father & His Son have left with us the gift of the Holy Spirit, who is the very presence of God taking up residence in our hearts and shines forth His glory and love (John 14:15-21). Those who look to Jesus, who is the glorious face of God the Father, as their Savior and Lord, have been invaded by the blessed gift of the Father shining on them and in them through the Holy Spirit.

This weekend we had the chance to pray over a couple that are seeking direction from their Good Father for the future. As prayers ascended the face of the Father descended through His Spirit and as we finished you could tangibly see the brilliance of the Father’s face in the countenance of this couple. In fact someone later said to me, “Did you see her face shine after the prayer time?” Amazing and true!

My prayer for 2017 is for the blessing and favor of the Father to shine on His sons and daughters in such a brilliant way that they glow with the presence of the Father’s Glorious Face. Just think about the transforming power shining sons and daughters would have on broken families, churches, communities, and cities. When the Father’s face and favor fall on His children their will be a powerful attraction to His light as we reflect His glory as the new snow reflects the blazing sun.

So right now look to heaven and ask the Father to “Bless you” with a fresh revelation of His face through Jesus His Son and prepare your heart to Shine!

 

The Favor of the Father’s Face – Faithful

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As Patty and I walked along a Southern California beach the day after Christmas with some friends we paused to watch the sun bid farewell as it dipped into the vast Pacific Ocean. The setting sun brought me back to a time several years earlier where I sat on the beach only a few miles away reading Habakkuk 2:14:

For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD as the waters over the sea.

In my spirit I sensed the Lord saying to me one day you will be part of a ministry called Oceans, which will make known the Father’s love all over the world.

As I watched that glorious sunset on December 26 I wanted to shout out praise to a Faithful Father who keeps me in His forever arms of love. It has been exactly two years since we stepped out of the boat and onto the water to start Oceans Ministries. Even though my faith can be weak at times the Father is always present to reach down and grab me when I sink and restore me to His loving face. Oceans can testify to the incredible Good, Good, Father who opens doors to ministry and His hands to abundant provision showing His glory and goodness.

As 2017 begins will you join me in pursing The Favor of the Lord’s Face. I know for some 2016 has been filled with pain and heartache and you have felt like you are about to go under the stormy waters. But take courage my friends you have a Father who is big enough to pull you out and bless you with the Favor of His Loving Face. Our Good Father gave us this Priestly Blessing from Numbers 6:24-27 that I believe will help us see more clearly over the next few weeks His Good and Glorious Face.

The LORD bless you and keep you; the LORD make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the LORD turn His face toward you and give you peace…So they will put my name on the Israelites, and I will bless them.

This is the heart of your Father, He desires this truth more than you can imagine, to bless you with the smile of His love. He places dreams and visions in your heart, which He has the power to carry out for His glory through you. He has given you His Son Jesus as the ultimate testimony of His goodness to you and through Jesus to show you the glory of His Face. I want to shout out to you as I did that day on the beach how Faithful the Father is! He will keep you in His loving arms and He will never let you go.

I want to live into the blessings from my Father found in Numbers 6, and I pray that you too experience the Favor of your Father’s Face in ways you have never experienced before. Look by faith into His glorious Face.

Returning to the River

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I love Tuesdays! It is a day where I get thrown back in the River of God’s amazing grace and float along watching the Father’s Kingdom unfold. Tuesday mornings I hang out with my friend Steve, who runs a ministry called Parker Task Force. Steve is a full time volunteer, leading about 150 other volunteers that serve the poorest and neediest in their community. They give away food, financial assistance, wise counsel, and a whole lot of love to people craving it. Steve and I try to spend time praying together but are often interrupted by Rotary members bringing money and gift cards, high school students coming to serve, church folk dropping off food donations, and an overwhelming responsibility for those coming in to seek help.

In the midst of all the commotion one can sense Abba’s love flowing, immersing volunteers and clients alike into the River of Heaven’s grace and mercy. Before I leave Steve walks me through the aisles and fills boxes with food and toiletries that are delivered to the harsh streets of Colfax for young women who sell their bodies in order to survive. As I load my trunk with the supplies, I think of the power of God’s grace and how it flows through people willing to give their lives away for God’s Kingdom. Those boxes represent people’s gifts given of time, talent, and treasures so others can be loved and blessed. The people serving are conduits of God’s love flowing through His children to other children created in His likeness.

Check out the powerful prophetic picture of a River flowing from the temple.

“So where the River flows everything will live.” Ezekiel 47:9

This glorious prophecy points to Pentecost and beyond when the Holy Spirit was unleashed on the followers of Christ and they jumped into the River of God’s gracious gifts of love to be given away to bring healing and salvation to the nations. The book of Acts displays a church splashing the world with the River of God’s grace and bringing the healing power of God’s Kingdom to earth. What turned the world upside down in a few hundred years was not big church buildings, budgets, or butts in the pew. It was people giving away the grace given to them through the Gospel in word and deed. History points to the fact that the most fertile ground was among the poor and the needy. They soaked in the River of God’s love, were transformed by it, and then empowered by the Holy Spirit flooded the nations with the River of life that was evident in their lives. The love of God flowed through them!

Every Tuesday I get a prophetic picture of the River of life and the call to jump in again. Just like in the book of Acts I believe God is calling His people, “the church,” to let the River flow in and through us. Revival is going to happen among the poor and the needy of our world and you and I are also poor and needy. I want to be apart of those who find the River, jump in and become powerful witnesses to the grace of God in their lives. What a prophetic picture of what 2017 can be like!!

 

 

 

 

A Christmas Wish – A Revelation of the Holy Spirit

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I hate to admit this but after years of hearing Christmas songs sometimes they have become so familiar that I’m not fully engaged when I sing them in a church service. I know you are thinking I have a “ba humbug” spirit, I need some Christmas counseling, and you may be correct. But this past Sunday it was different. Our family was visiting church with some friends and as the praise team was leading a Christmas Classic I was overwhelmed. I can’t fully explain it-it was as if every word flew off the screen, captured my mind, and flooded my heart with a heavenly zeal.

After the service as we drove to a family Christmas gathering we all testified to a similar experience. In fact it wasn’t just the Christmas songs, it was the powerful word preached, the intimate time of communion that followed, and the closing songs and prayers that left me in tears. It was one of those services where you wanted to stay and soak in more of the presence of God. The whole service was a wellspring of grace to my thirsty soul.

Through the last few blogs I have been praying Ephesians 1:17-23, daily asking for first of all a greater revelation of the Father’s gracious love, (vs. 17). Secondly a deeper understanding and hope of the glorious inheritance that belongs to us when Christ returns (vs. 18). And now the third request from vs. 19-20.

…and His incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of His mighty strength, which He exerted in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms.

Paul is praying that the followers of Christ know the great power of the Holy Spirit that lives in us. The gift of the Holy Spirit reveals the Father’s love to us in Christ Jesus. The Holy Spirit plants deep in our hearts the deposit and hope of our glorious inheritance. What we encountered this past Sunday was a church filled with the Holy Spirit making old songs new and taking the Word of God as well as the Lord’s Supper and turning them into intimate encounters with the living God.

Today we need to be daily crying out for a fresh move of the Holy Spirit in our lives. We need to know the same power that raised Jesus from the dead lives in us and seats us with Christ Jesus in the Heavenly realms. We need the Holy Spirit so that we can live like Christ and do the same things Christ did when He walked on the earth. We need to follow the example of the disciples who would not move and do ministry until they were filled full and overflowed with the Holy Spirit.

Sunday we walked into a simple church overflowing with the Holy Spirit and we praised God for the great Christmas gift we received that day. Join me with daily crying out for a fresh revelation of the Holy Spirit in our day. Merry Christmas!

A Christmas Wish List – A Revelation of your Inheritance

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My good friend Nick is a serious road biker and way back when I was in seminary and he was in medical school he got me hooked. Recently he came out to visit his parents in Colorado and they invited Patty and I over for dinner, as soon as we arrived he escorted me to the garage and told me he had a surprise. My mouth hit the floor in shock as he presented to me one of his racing bikes- red ribbon and all. This is no ordinary bike; it has all the best components and is so incredibly light I can easily curl it with one arm. I quickly took it for a short spin and laughed in amazement, as I was totally caught off guard with such a gift!

That night the black, racing bike, made it into our home and found a nice warm place in my office. I’m itching to get on it except for the fact that winter hit hard and cold in Colorado. So I get up in the morning drink my cup of coffee, have my devotions, and glance over at the bike every now and contemplate the day when spring arrives and I can actually get on the saddle and see what she’s really like.

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I know you are thinking what does this have to do with the Christmas Wish List and the three prayers from Ephesians 1:15-23? I’m glad you asked, check out verse 18, the second prayer request by Paul for the believers in Ephesus:

I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, in the riches of His glorious inheritance in the saints.

The great apostle is praying that the followers of Christ would have the spiritual eyes to see their “glorious inheritance” that belongs to them. In Christ we are rich, we inherit a Kingdom as Peter says “that can never perish, spoil or fade – kept in heaven for you” (1 Peter 1:4). So Paul is praying for us to have a living hope, which is mindful of the glorious future around the corner when Christ returns again.

Back to the bike! Everyday I see it propped up against the wall and I find myself day dreaming of when it will be sunny and 70 degrees and I’m flying around the reservoir. I can picture myself gliding around on this awesome new ride with ease, and looking pretty cool :). Spiritually speaking our Good Father has given us the Holy Spirit, who Paul says is “the deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God’s possession,” (Eph. 1:14). The Holy Spirit points me to the promises of the Father, He makes the Word come alive and I can see glimpses with my spiritual eyes what is ahead. Even when things are spiritually dark and cloudy, I have the “guarantee” of the Spirit showing me the eternal Son and the glory of His coming Kingdom, where I will ride with Him for all eternity.

As I view the bike in my office, I get excited for the day when Spring will come and I can peddle to my hearts content, so too the Holy Spirit gives us glimpses of the most glorious day to come, when we will inherit and live in the eternal Kingdom of God.

My Christmas prayer for you is that you might be filled with an overflowing hope as the Holy Spirit gives you a revelation of your “glorious inheritance” that will soon be yours.