The Call

The Prophet Isaiah was called by God in one of the most beautiful and awe inspiring ways in the Bible. Read his account and imagine yourself in Isaiah's place:

"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw the Lord, high and exalted, seated on a throne; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him were seraphim, each with six wings; With two wings they covered their faces, with two they covered their feet, and with two they were flying. And they were calling to one another; 'Holy, holy, holy is the LORD Almighty; the whole earth is full of his glory.' At the sound of their voices the doorposts and thresholds shook and the temple was filled with smoke. 'Woe to me,' I cried. 'I am ruined! For I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lips, and my eyes have seen the King, the LORD Almighty.' Then one of the seraphim flew to me with a live coal taken with tongs from the altar. With it he touched my mouth and said, 'See, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away and your sin atoned for." Isaiah 6:1-7

Breathtaking. Frightening. Awesome. Humbling! What is even more mind-blowing, Isaiah's God is my God! With the same power and holiness He is high and exalted in my life. He is seated on the throne now; just as He was in Isaiah's time.

I realize I don't ask to experience God in His most powerful holiness in my everyday life. He is my friend, my comforter, my Father, my Solid Rock, my salvation. He is all these wonderful, holy things. But how often do I walk hand in hand with the LORD Almighty? How often do I see Him seated on a throne, high and exalted? How often do I pray, "Show me Your Glory, God?" The answer: not enough.

All these emotions of unworthiness came to the surface of my heart as I read a Muslim woman's testimony this week. Latifa was praying to God, "Show me! Show me the way! Show me. If Jesus Christ is the true way, show me."

I was so blessed by her bold prayer. I cried as I continued to read how she was at the beach with some Christian friends and they asked her to partake in Communion with them. They asked her to read from 1 Corinthians 11. This is what happened:

"As I was reading', Latifah recalls, 'I was in the spirit. I was transferred to the Upper Room. I could see Christ. I could sense Him saying, 'This is my body broken for you.' I don't know how I looked. Everyone disappeared. Time stopped. I was there with Christ, with the awesome presence of his holiness. I started looking at my life with his eyes. Suddenly, my life, with which I'd been content, looked terribly dirty. I wanted to run away. Then I heard him say, 'Eat. I came not for you to run away, but, on the contrary, for you to come close to me." (Daughters of Islam, Miriam Adeney)

Tears welled up in me from a deep place as I thought about Isaiah and Latifah. They both reacted the same way in the presence of God's holiness. Isaiah cried, "Woe to me!" He immediately saw his uncleanness. Latifah immediately saw how "terribly dirty" her life was. Isaiah thought he was ruined! Latifah felt she had to run away. But God is the same today as He was in 740 BC. God responded in the same spirit to His children, thousands of years apart from each other! Isaiah was cleansed and his sins were forgiven. Latifah was told to "Eat" at the communion table. She was told to come close to Him. 

Such Grace. Such Holy, Holy Grace.

We must see how worthy God is to see how unworthy we are. We must understand His mighty power to understand His grace. Our God, with His robe filling the temple, being worshiped by seraphim, their voices shaking the thresholds as they cry, "Holy, Holy, Holy is the LORD Almighty.' This true God. He could wipe us out. He has every right to leave us dirty and unclean. We are sinners. He is sinless. How dare the unholy enter the presence of the Holy! Only by the blood of the Lamb. While Jesus was hanging on the cross, Matthew 27:50-51 reads.

"And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice, and yielded up His spirit. And, Behold, the veil of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom."

The veil was torn the moment Jesus gave up His spirit as a ransom for us. We can enter into the temple with confidence. 

Only because our holy, powerful God is good. He is always good...forever holy and always good.

So, this week I am praying for the boldness to pray like Latifah and Moses. Moses declares to the LORD in Exodus33:18, "Now show me Your glory." I pray that I have a passionate heart to see God seated high and exalted every day. Isaiah's God is my God, too. He is sitting on His throne, waiting for me to enter into the temple. At His feet I will be cleansed. At His feet I will be loved.

Dear LORD Almighty,

Show me. Show me your glory. Teach me to want Your presence above all else in my prayer life. I only want You. I want to see my life through Your eyes. I want to have a deeper understanding of your holy grace. Give me a deeper understanding of Your holiness. Set me apart for you. Amen.

by Jenna Masters

Demolish strongholds

"For though we live in the world we do not wage war as the world does. The weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world. On the contrary, they have divine power to demolish strongholds. We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ." 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

I was hurt by my best friend this week. Deeply.

This was not an instance where she forgot my birthday or was insensitive about my children. She looked me straight in the eye and told me she hated me. "I love you, but I hate you so much," she seethed.

I cried all night. I cried for two days after that. I have been replaying the "courtroom questioning" in my head like a broken record:

"Do you really believe God cares about you?"
"Do you really believe in the Old Testament stories?"
"Do you honestly believe that God could fit two of ALL the animals in the world on a boat?
"Do you really think my mom has a new body and is in heaven?"
"Do you really believe God had a son just to kill him?"
"How can you believe in Jesus?"

And then the verdict came with a pointed finger:

"Everything you believe is ridiculous."

Isn't it interesting my Bible study just happens to be studying Isaiah and the prophesies of Christ right now? Isn't it interesting that my Bible study question the night before this happened was, "How would you explain that Jesus is the promised Messiah to someone who doesn't know the Bible well?"

I gently spoke to my friend of prophesy in Isaiah and as far as my theology classes would allow. I would've been under the table sobbing and nervous if it weren't for the presence of the Holy Spirit in me. The conversation lasted for two hours. As we walked out, her words jumped on me like a heart attack: "I love you, but I hate you so much."

Living in America, it is hard to pinpoint major times in my life where I have been "persecuted" for my faith. As I sat for two hours being verbally whipped for my "ridiculous" beliefs, I felt God with me. I felt Him whispering two main things while I prayed for wisdom and for the Holy Spirit to pour down onto the restaurant.

First, God impressed on my heart: "Where is your fruit, Daughter?" I wanted so badly to lash out and tell her how blinded by the world she had become. I wanted to tell her how she was hurting me. I felt ME rising up in my stomach  trying to escape out of my mouth. At the same time, I felt God asking me to allow HIM to rise up in me instead. "Show her My fruit, Daughter. Show her the fruit of the Spirit I have given you." I was to respond to her hate with His love. I was not to "wage war as the world does."

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Galatians 5:22-23

Second, God confirmed in me: "This is demonic. This is persecution. This is what it means to stand for Me." God wanted to evidence his good fruit in my words, but He did not want His truths watered down with niceties to be accepted by my best friend; I was to stand firm in Him. I was to stand firm in His Word and truth; because "the weapons we fight with are not the weapons of the world." I was not standing firm against my close friend; I was standing firm against Satan. Every time she questioned what I believe..."Do you really believe...", it felt like she was loading her gun, ready to shoot depending on my answer. God gave me a picture of all His children around the world, literally at gunpoint. Not just abroad, but even at a Community College...in the United States of America!

Persecution is ugly and heartbreaking. Persecution is also an honor and a blessing.

I drove home so hurt...the ME was rising up. I got home and my husband wrapped his arms around me as I sobbed, "I can't believe she hates me like this. Her words were vile and so hateful."

My husband prayed over me and said, "Oh, Honey. She doesn't hate you. She hates GOD in you. Darkness cannot stand the Light."

"If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you." John 15:19

I never thought, in this verse, the phrase "the world hates you" would be replaced with "your best friend hates you." Someone you love, hating Jesus in you, cuts much deeper than an undefined "world" hating Jesus in you. A best friend is so personal. But, our God is so personal, too.

This is a reality check for me. Only God knows the hearts of people. And God cares about each and every heart there is on earth.

"This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth. For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all people." I Timothy 2;3-6 (see also I John 2:2)

God works in all the details of our lives to prepare us for HIS good works. He cares so deeply about us. He cared enough to use my Bible study to prepare me for spiritual battle! He cares deeply about my best friend. He gave Himself as a ransom for her. He knew she was lost and hurting way before I did. He saw the demons whispering lies into her heart as she watched her mom die of brain cancer.

He and His angels have been in combat over her salvation while I casually texted her about what she got on sale at Target. This was a wake up call for me! People are dying and going to Hell everyday. And I'm not just talking about an undefined "people" or "world" going down the tubes. This is happening in the lives of our friends...our neighbors...our family!

Who is God asking you to go to battle for...in His mighty power? Who has God given Himself as a ransom for in your life, who doesn't know Him yet?

God wants to use us. He graciously invites us into His epic salvation story. The other night, I had the honor of engaging in spiritual warfare over the heart, mind and soul of my best friend. God had gone before me to prepare the way. God was with me when I felt evil spew out from across the table. This conversation was a much, much bigger deal than me getting my feelings hurt. This was not about me at all. Satan would like me to sit in that pain and anger. But, Satan does not win the war. This battle is not over!

In the meantime:

We are called to hope. (Ephesians 1:18-21, Ephesians 4:4, Psalm 25:3, Psalm 33:20-23) We never have the right to pull the plug on hope. We never have the right to stop praying for someone's salvation. Think of Paul (before meeting Jesus on the road to Damascus).

We are called to know the Word of God. (2 Timothy 3:16-17, Matthew 4:4, Romans 15:4, Hebrews 4:12, I Timothy 4:13). The Word of God is the only offensive weapon listed in the armor of God (Ephesians 5:10-18). Since God has given us a weapon to use in this world, we have a responsibility to wield it responsibly and effectively. Commit to studying the Word of God.

We are called to be co-laborers with Christ. (I Corinthians 3:9, Matthew 9:37-38, Ephesians 2:8-10). God does not have to use us...but He wants to. This is an honor and a calling. There is work to be done. The LORD asked Isaiah: "Whom shall I send? And who will go for us?" Isaiah's answer: "Here am I. Send me!" (Isaiah 6:8)

We are called to pray. (I Timothy 2:1-6, Romans 10:1, I Thessalonians 5:17. James 1:5, Matthew 5:44) If we desire to be true followers of Jesus, prayer is essential. Jesus prayed in Gethsemane, "Yet not as I will, but as You will." If we want to know the will of God, we best be taking the time to humbly ask and listen for it. If we want to fall more in love with Jesus, we need to spend time with Him.

The morning after the battle, my Bible study question for the day directed me to read Ephesians 6:10-18...the inspiring message to put on the armor of God! Amazing! God had written an overarching theme throughout my story. 

God prepared me for battle through studying the Word of God.
God comforted me after the battle through studying the Word of God.

Dear LORD,

Thank you for Your Word. Thank you for the freedom to study it. Empower us to take up the sword of the Spirit, which is The Word Of God. Let us hold tightly to your word and bravely dive into spiritual battle over our loved ones. God has placed them in our lives for a reason. Remind me daily that you gave yourself as a ransom for all. Give me the urgency to pour Your extravagant love over others, so that they might come to know how beautiful You are and be saved. 

Amen.

by Jenna Masters

The Sacred Place of Pain

"A time to weep and a time to laugh. A time to mourn and a time to dance." Ecclesiastes 3:4

I tried to write down words today, hoping to somehow convey the sorrow and grief of losing a child as I reflected on the untimely passing of a beautiful young woman, who was so dear to me, and the tragic loss of an even younger girl in a car accident. My heart was gripped with sadness as I was reminded of another...the second one, the twin, who once was, and no longer is, in my own child's womb.

I am naive and humbled to even consider such great heartache, yet I believe God might allow us to enter this sacred place of pain, for love is magnified where sorrow is embraced, when tears pour down and nothing comforts but the One who has entered that place with us. Even if it's just for a single moment, when God's indescribable love eclipses the shattered heart, that holy space that He has allowed is bearable and good.

"For you created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well. My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me are written in Your book before one of them came to be. How precious to me are Your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand--when I awake, I am still with you." Psalm 139:13-18

"The LORD is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed." Psalm 34:18

by Dana Lange

Clearing Away The Stones

"I will sing for the one I love a song about his vineyard. My loved one had a vineyard on a fertile hillside. He dug it up an cleared it of stones and planted it with the choicest vines. He built a watchtower in it and cut out a winepress as well. Then he looked for a crop of good grapes, but it yielded only bad fruit." Isaiah 5:1-2

Isaiah passionately loved the LORD. He sang a song for the One he loved. What is most extraordinary about this song is that it recognizes the labor our God has put into our salvation. God did not just have a vineyard and bless it unconditionally with bountiful crops. First, there was work to be done to prepare the way for growth. "he dug it up and cleared it of stones...." God did this work, we did not.

There will be stones in our vineyard if we do not allow this work of clearing to be accomplished in our lives. Do you feel spiritually stunted? God is expectantly looking for a "crop of good grapes." What is He finding in your life.  Is it yielding only "bad fruit?" This may be the case for all believers at times in their lives.  But, will we be like Isaiah and turn our eyes to the Worker of the field? Will we recognize that only He has the power to remove the stones from our lives? We need to ask Him to do this. We need to pray for clear vision to see the stones. We need to pray for a humble spirit to ask our Father for help in removing them.

Some stones are not visible from the surface. Are we willing to dig into the soil of our spiritual lives and search for things seemingly hidden? We have a job to do, too. We are to be good tenants of the vineyard He has given us.

In Matthew 21:38-43, Jesus speaks again of a vineyard. After the tenants had murdered two of the master's servants, the master sent his son instead, believing they would respect him:

"But when the tenants saw the son, they said to each other, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him and take his inheritance.' So they took him and threw him out of the vineyard and killed him. 'Therefore, when the owner of the vineyard comes, what will he do to those tenants? He will bring those wretches to a wretched end,' they replied, 'and he will rent the vineyard to other tenants who will give him his share of the crop at harvest time.' Jesus said to them, 'Have you never read in the Scriptures: 'The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes?"

These tenants were rejecting the wrong stones. They were throwing out all the "Jesus" in their lives, selfishly reaping "fruit" for themselves. They allowed greed and hate to remain. If there are stones in our vineyard, I guarantee they are there because Satan has told us we "need" them. For some reason, we believe they are beneficial to us, that they will give us an "inheritance." The truth is, they will give us an inheritance, but it will not be one of life.  It will be death. Satan is a liar.  We only need one stone: The Cornerstone.

It is interesting to parallel these two pictures of vineyards in scripture. In Isaiah, the vineyard song speaks of stones that needed to be cleared away. In Matthew, Jesus speaks of the only stone that needs to stay in our lives. We must be keenly aware of what stones we are allowing to remain in our lives, and which we are rejecting. Jesus wants to remove all the stones that impede our spiritual growth. He then provides us with the cornerstone, the only stone we need to build up our spiritual house.

We can't forget what Peter said;

"You also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ." I Peter 2:5

What a beautiful picture Scripture gives us.

Where does this leave us? It leaves us with a stone inventory check. Is there a stone of greed in your vineyard? Ask Jesus to help you throw it out! Is there a stone of covetousness? Get rid of it. Is there a stone of resentment...unforgiveness...doubt There is no room for these stones. Give them a good send off in the powerful Name of Jesus! God knew we would have them. He has the power to clear them away by the power of the cross. We will not be put to shame! Praise Him! For in Scripture it says,

"See, I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone, and the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame." 1 Peter 2:6

by Jenna Masters

Carry Our Cross

And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple'  -Luke 14:27

Jesus is saying to me in this verse,  'Die to yourself, so you can live in Me. Follow Me'. Sometimes, it does not feel like I am being called to die to myself for His good purposes. Sometimes it just feels like there is a literal cross bearing down on my back.  It is heavy and full of splinters.  I carry it around town, forgetting the purpose of it. I forget to carry the cross up to the hill.  I forget that when I lay my sins down on it, He will raise me back up brand new.  Daily.  Every day He promises to make me new.  But I must carry my cross with purpose, and there are times I cannot do it alone.

Jesus carried His own cross, to his own death. But not alone. 

 "As the soldiers led him away, they seized Simon from Cyrene, who was on his way in from the country, and put the cross on him and made him carry it behind Jesus." Luke 23:26        

Why was this necessary?  Although Jesus was fully man, He was certainly fully God as well.  He could have carried His own cross without Simon's help.  He had all authority under heaven. This struck my heart. This display was not about Jesus' inability.  Perhaps God the Father allowed it because we needed a vivid picture of a biblical truth.

We need to understand we are not designed to carry our crosses alone.  Even the Son of God carried His cross with the assistance of another.  God did not have to do this, but we are not God.  The human body Jesus shares with us was exhausted from the torture leading up to this point. This made me stop in my mental tracks and ask myself, "Who am I inviting to carry my cross with me?  Who am I helping to carry their cross?"

We need to let godly people in under the weight of our lives.  Sometimes it is necessary to scoot over some and make room for another shoulder to under-gird a piece of the heavy wood. This is not shameful.  We are in good company if we think of Jesus, bloody and broken, sharing his load. If we do this, it will be harder to forget the purpose of the cross.  A godly friend holds us accountable.  A godly friend will remind us to walk up that hill everyday and die to our selfishness in order that we can live. Without people like this in our lives, we surely will collapse from the strain of carrying our crosses alone. We would wander around town, working much harder for relief then God ever intended.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         "Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ" Galatians 6:2

Simon from Cyrene was literally fulfilling this law of Christ, whether he knew it or not. The difference is, Simon was forced to carry the cross with Jesus.  When he saw Jesus struggling to carry the weight, he didn't jump out of the crowd and say, "Let me help you! Let me carry that for you!" And what of the disciples? What of all the followers Jesus had collected through His ministry? Not one jumped in to ease the load.  Some watched him. Some didn't even show up! Carrying the cross with Jesus was not on Simon's agenda that day. The soldiers "made him" clutch the cross.  Maybe, just maybe, his mind shifted from focusing on the heavy weight on his back, to the heavy heart of the man he was helping. Sometimes we have to get under the burden to understand the importance of it. Simon had to get under the burden to really look into the man's face. He placed himself under a cross that was not his own, and found Jesus there. How often do we willingly do this for others? Are we passive bystanders when we see others struggling? Are we even showing up?

As believers, we are not forced to carry each others burdens. We are blessed to carry each others' burdens. Because, when we get under the burden, we will find Jesus there, too.

The road to salvation is not scattered with lonely individuals struggling to carry their splintered crosses.  If that is what your road looks like, lift up your head from beneath your burden.  God has placed people in your life for His perfect purposes. Make room for them. He has placed you in others' lives for His purposes, too.

God used Simon in a beautiful way. Perhaps he was initially frightened when the soldiers approached him. Maybe he looked at Jesus and his heart was torn open. We don't know.  It is believed the Rufus mentioned by Paul in Romans 16:13 is Simon's son. Rufus was a believer, which is strong indication that Simon was, too.  When did this conversion happen? Again, we don't know. What we do know: his job was to get that cross to the top of the mountain with Jesus and let God do the rest...no matter the struggle.

Let us open our eyes! Let us not watch on the sidelines while our sister struggles! Let's get in there! Let us be a generation who willingly jumps in under our sister's cross. Let us be a generation which throws down our pride and creates space for others to love and carry us. When we carry each others' burdens, we are one step deeper into the redemptive wonder of God's love. When we carry each others' burdens, we are shoulder to shoulder with Jesus.

by Jenna Masters