Grace Found Me!

Grace As A Teacher/Trainer

Have you ever considered that one of the greatest teachers in your life is grace?

I am not talking about a woman named "Grace". I am talking of God's grace. When Paul wrote to his young protege, Titus, he told him that God's grace had appeared to every man as a teacher. The word means "to teach, to train, to discipline."The result of that teaching is that we learn to live godly lives and avoid lust in the here and now (Titus 2:11).

So, grace is a teacher and the aim of the grace lessons we are taught is to live the way God wants us to live while learning to turn away from the ungodly and lustful desires that arise within us. We learn to live more disciplined lives. And God will release grace to discipline us--to train us.

Therefore, it should not surprise us when we navigate through seasons of our life when we are intensely confronted by unbridled passions, wrong desires, and ungodly thoughts that God requires us to finally face them. I do believe the way we face them is optional. If we are pliable and listening, it will go much easier with us. If we are stubborn and cling to our old patterns of dealing with things, then the heat turns up. Yes, our choices can affect the way the teacher will teach the class on a certain subject.

When we are thrown into the ring with the ungodly monsters who lurk in the shadows of our lives just waiting for an opportunity to rule us, it can get very bloody and messy. Why doesn't the teacher stop the fight? Maybe, just maybe, the fight is part of the lesson...

-being in the ring and pummeled by your soul's ungodliness can remind you of your wickedness and weakness in every area that Christ does not rule.
-a fight for your life can also bring to the surface what really matters to you when things are reduced to the very basics of life.
-tumbling on the canvas struggling with your soul can also flip-flop your attitude toward the teacher. You start remembering what the teacher said. You realize that is why the teacher said "such and such" and did 'such and such".  Verses flood your mind. Dreams you had now begin to gain light and make sense. Words that loving friends tried to share with you also confront you.
-Inside the ropes with the enemy one on one, you get a glimpse of just how evil and ugly he is. His charm is gone. What he promised means nothing now. The deception is broken off your mind as you smell his stinking breath and struggle against his slimy sweat. He is grotesque, ugly, vile, and mean. Though he had operated in the unseen, now you can see him for what and who he really is. You not only lose the desire to listen to him, but you rally your heart to defeat him at all costs. Another thing that happens in the ring when it all comes down is that the audience loses its appeal to you. The proud bouncing around you did as you expected to show the crowd how it is done, vaporizes. When you are gasping to breathe, and your heart is pounding on the inside while the enemy pounds you on the outside, you really don't give a rip about what the crowd is saying. The charm of being their champion is gone. They have seen your weakness. You are exposed. You realize they will look for another champion. You just want to survive and learn the lessons of the defeat in the ring.

Yeah, grace is a teacher. In all the struggles of the season of the great fight, grace is there teaching, just waiting for us to listen and apply. I am just sorry that often grace has to allow my own soul to be subdued so that I will start hearing again.

When the fight is over, grace shifts the mode of teaching. When the crowd is roaring, booing, and talking about the great defeat, grace comes to the center of the ring where you have been knocked out and begins to provide what you need to get back on your feet.

Grace lays out the recovery plan....

-You don't need to fight for a while.
-You don't need to do any interviews.
-You don't need press conferences.
-You need to rest.
-Get your mind back in right order.
-Let your emotions be healed.
-Let you body rejuvenate.
-Do not try to train anyone else till your back on your feet.
-Let others help you and take care of you.

You also realize that the nature of things is for people to want a winner to cheer for. When it is no longer you, then it will be someone else. You realize like never before the kind of people that grace uses to help you when you have been knocked out. You grow to appreciate those who are still in your corner after you lost the title fight. You recognize people you never noticed before because they are there when you are down wanting to help you up.

You also feel like never before when someone else gets the stuffing beat out of them. Whether or not it was their fault. You realize the power of forgiveness as people forgive you for doing what you knew better to do. They know you knew better than to fight with your guard down. They know you did not train sufficiently before the fight. They forgive you for thinking you were ready when you weren't.

The day will come when you will begin to train again. There will be another fight on the horizon. Grace will prepare you for the next bout. The difference is, this time, you are much more eager to hear what Grace has to say as well the folks who were there with you after the ten count. The result of each fight is we have a deeper appreciation for our trainer, Grace and we live more godly lives.

A Personal Note: Mikki (my wife) now has another neat blog site for expectant and new mothers. She is often asked about babies and child raising, so she will be sharing her life lessons on the subject with others. Check it out at http://www.Babyfor.Us

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Please forward this blog address to a friend and visit Eddie and Mikki's other sites, some of which are listed here:

http://www.GraceHouseMinistries.com
http://www.FirstBreathMinistries.com
http://www.MikkiLawrence.com

The Myth of Out Yonder Grace

God gives us grace in our time of need. We need to have a true revival of the meaning of Grace in all of our lives. God's grace is absolutely, exhileratingly, wonderful. What is grace?

God's power given to us to do God's will.
A gift from the Universe's greatest giver.
Something we do not have that we desperately need.
Divine ability that becomes humanly available.
Supernatural enablement to accomplish what is best for our lives.

Grace is for now!

When we live "out yonder" we miss right here--right now!

If we live all week just waiting to get back to a Sunday morning service we miss walking and experiencing the presence of God right now. All of our failures occur in the "right now" moments of our lives. How sad when we live "out yonder" in our minds while the rest of our being struggles in the "right now." Our flesh does its work "right now" and that is where grace is needed.

Grace is available on Monday morning to enable us to start another work week.
It is available on a Tuesday night to keep us from yelling at our kids.
It is there on Wednesday to help us refrain from participating in the latest gossip.
On Thursday it will show up to give us vision to see past a cutting remark made toward us to understand the hurt in the offender's life that needs healing.
When Friday comes, grace comes to empower us to capture and lock away lustful thoughts that tempt us to sin.
Grace also is given on Saturday morning to visit our neighbor who just lost his job to encourage and help.
It will even pop up on Sunday morning in the car on the way to church if it is needed.

Why would we settle for a 1/7th version of grace when we can live in 7/7ths of grace. The Holy Spirit transmits God's grace to us. He dispenses this power of goodness to us whenever and wherever we need it.

The "out yonder" mentality causes us to yearn for something to come. We think, when it gets here it will gloriously wonderful. All of our needs will be met. We will all be changed and our community will be transformed. I agree that all of this is great, except the part that uses tomorrow as an excuse to refuse grace for today. Whenever or wherever there is true revival, it is because God starts pouring out buckets of grace through His Holy Spirit. Revivals in the past have proven that sometimes this awesome power can cause strange reactions in people. But let's be very quick to understand, that when the awesome power of grace comes, the main thing that should be in evidence is that we love God and love people more.People start loving more at home, work, and play--not just doing more at church. Grace is a whole lot more about being that leads to doing. It is not doing that leads to being. Grace changes the heart and that changes the actions of the man. A pig can be taught to do tricks, but it is just a pig doing tricks. Now change a pig into a horse and that perk people's interests. You get the point!

I deeply regret my refusal to step into God's daily grace during this past season of my life. I found myself preparing for the "next" worship service and not worshiping in between worship services. The "tomorrow" kind of grace does not work. Grace is for the moment. Need by need. Temptation by temptation. Step by step. "Out yonder" living that doesn't lean into daily grace quickly deteriorates into living to be seen of men. We pretend all is well. We put on our "church" faces. We smile and praise God with our lips, but our hearts grow cold from the weariness of playing the game. Deep inside there is a gnawing sensation that something is wrong, but we suffocate it to get ready for the next event. We even become convinced that since being at "church" seems to be easier than living real life, that it would be good to be at church more. So we keep adding more and more opportunities to escape our daily world in order to "worship." But when we do this without grace, it becomes religious ritual that does not impart life.

Facade replaces reality.
Pride blinds vision. 
Appearance eclipses authenticity.
Hiddenness steals humility.
Depression comes and delight leaves.
Deception is embraced while truth is denied.

Missing the grace of now that is given by God can be very costly!

I have come to realize that the grace in time of need comes when we confess our need. Grace is given to the humble. Pride will blind us to our need of it. We listen to others appraisal of how strong and wonderful we are. We become proud within ourselves thinking we can handle it. We can contain our wrong desires. We will not allow them to get too far out of hand. All the while, they entangle us and we find ourselves ensnared. We become blind to truth and our pride blocks the entrance of grace. The grace to break us free in not there because of our pride. But praise the Lord, the moment we confess our need of it with a repentant heart, grace comes rushing to the scene. God gives grace to the humble.

Why can we have grace anyway? Answer--Jesus. The grace of God is available to us on the basis of what Jesus has done for us at the cross. The cross paved the way for grace to come to us. We get God's gift of grace on Jesus' merits. We must live with the awareness that all that we enjoy as Christians is due Jesus. Only because of him, can we enjoy the amazing grace of God. As we press into Jesus, we press toward the one full of grace and truth.

The "out yonder" mentality that we need to have is the one that eagerly awaits the return of Jesus for his people. Why? Because when he comes, we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is. When the great One full of grace and truth comes, we will be forever changed to live in the eternal now! Until then, by faith, we receive his grace to help us in our time of need. And the time of need is always in the "now."

Do you find yourself denying today by looking out yonder somewhere? Get God's grace now! Humble yourself now. Pray right now. Confess your need now. Today is the day of grace!

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The Order of Grace

We have all heard that God is a God of order. This is obvious by one glance at a starlit sky on a clear night or a peek into a microscope at the micro-world around us and within us. With God's creative order in mind, what is the order for the expression of grace in our life? Let me explain the question a little more.

One school of thought seems to be that once we confess Christ, then we begin behaving in a new way and that causes us to be more and more spiritual. I will call this as others have the BELIEVE,BEHAVE,BELONG model.

I suggest that the true biblical model is BELIEVE,BELONG,BEHAVE. We confess Christ and experience the new birth into his spiritual family, then out the relationship we enjoy with him, we begin to demonstrate the family likeness.

Let's thing about the ramifications of these two views.

BELIEVE,BEHAVE,BELONG
This view certainly puts the pressure on the "believer" to perform, to act in a certain way, to know the lists of do's and don'ts. While it is true that believers should manifest certain character qualities in their walk with Christ, the heart of the question is the question of the heart. Why do we do what we do? I fear often the BELIEVE,BEHAVE,BELONG model causes people to be more conscious of fitting into a certain mold of their groups making than that of being like Christ.

It also can result in having groups of people all behaving like each other with certain outward actions. Yet, it is the heart that God is concerned about. It can become easy to look like the group by putting on the masks or putting on the show. Just keeping the lists up to date. In such a case, we become play actors and live by comparing ourselves to one another instead of Jesus. Sadly, this becomes the result of a foundation that is built upon BELIEVE, BEHAVE, BELONG. If you do not measure up--you are out! In other words, if your behavior is not in line with the lists, then you are no longer accepted. You do not BELONG.

Now let's consider the other view. BELIEVE, BELONG, BEHAVE.

Immediately, people will argue, "If you are accepted without regard to how you behave, then you will choose to live a life of sin." May I ask a very serious question? What does it say about a person's heart when they automatically assume that given a choice devoid of consequences, people would choose a sinful lifestyle over life with Christ? Such thinking demonstrates a "serve out of fear" mentality. Yes, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. It's foolish to think that is no accountability to our creator. The message of Scripture is that God desires relationship with us. He wants to forgive us. He yearns to see us transformed into the image of His own dear Son. He beckons us to come to Him as Father. The New Testament in particular undeniably calls us to relate to Him as our Father Who is in Heaven.

Yes, if you have rejected Him, if you have no regard for Him, if you have renounced any notion of serving Him, then you had better fear the wrath that is to come. The fear of this wrath should awaken repentance in the hardened heart. However, God is after these hard hearts with a burning love that desires intimacy and relationship with the very people who despise Him. Yet, the choice is theirs.

For those who have repented and declared that they believe in Him and desire to serve Him, His invitation is come and drink from my waters of life freely. God's heart is so big. He loves His kids with an unquenchable love. Once we turn to Him in faith and repentance--WE BELONG! This is the New Testament message loud and clear. John 1:12 says that those who receive him they become authorized children of God. The Spirit of God comes to live inside the person who believes in Christ and begins to move the human heart to relate to God as Abba or Papa! Believing is followed by belonging. Once you belong, the there is a shift. God begins to father you. When you sin, you are corrected (chastened). This is proof of His love for you. The Bible clearly teaches that the person who is not disciplined by Father God does not belong to Him (Hebrews 12). In other words, once we belong to the family, we have a Father who is perfect. He does not fail in His fathering. He knows exactly what needs to be done in order to bring us to repentance. If we persist in our resistance of His desires, then He increases the discipline. Believe me, I understand more clearly than ever how this works. He will allow us to taste the bitter dregs of sin in order to exterminate wrong desires within us. He begins with a gentle rebuke at our wrong thoughts, but He will get the paddle out and allow us to hurt if need be. Such suffering is evidence of His love of us as a child. The loveless parent allows their kids to what they want without consequence. We learn when we meet with pain because we have violated true love. The relationship we are to have with God has to be rooted in love. His perfect love casts out all fear.

We BELIEVE, BELONG, and then through maturing in Christ and being disciplined by a loving Father, we begin to demonstrate Christlike behavior. This is the fruit of the Holy Spirit being cultivated in our lives.

If, however, we focus on teaching people how to simply look like a Christian instead of learning what the real life process of maturing looks like, we will become religious minded just focusing on externals instead of learning to be motivated by love. God is motivated by love toward us. For God so loved the world, that He gave His Son! He is moved by love to cultivate and establish relationship.

How can it be that the church could become a place that tends to turn away the people that God has chosen to turn toward? If we choose to simply focus on what we can see, the externals, we may very well miss what God is after, the heart.

My wife and I have embarked with a small group of other people on a journey to learn more and more about the true nature of the grace of God. I am convinced that is necessary to have a foundation that rests upon BELIEVE,BELONG AND BEHAVE. If we are not secure in whom we belong to, then we will become enslaved to fear and bound to tormentors in our lives.

Please don't be confused with whether or not a person can leave God's family. I have been in ministry over 25 years and know of very few people who have ever renounced Christ. I know of a bunch of people, who have struggled trying to live the Christian life. In almost every case, their struggle was rooted in some form of fear. What they needed to be freed, was a greater revelation of God's love for them.

In my own life, it seems that my struggles always come back to barriers that keep me from fully receiving a full revelation of God's love.

Hummingbirds and Grace

I have always been fascinated by hummingbirds. I am amazed at their ability to hover. They are lightning fast in their movements. And of course, they are so tiny and beautiful. Recently I went to a friend's house and entered hummingbird heaven. They had a dozen or so feeders and what seemed like hundreds of hummingbirds. They were buzzing the feeders like bees around a hive. I asked my friend questions about his feeders and returned home to give it a try myself. That was about two weeks ago.

Now our yard is beginning to buzz with hummingbirds. I started with one feeder. However, I noticed that one little hummingbird had taken control of the whole feeder. I witnessed many times another hummingbird trying to swoop in and get a good drink of nectar only to be chased away by the self-appointed guardian of the stash. I did not realize these little fellows were so territorial. I thought, "There's more nectar in that feeder than that one little bird could drink in a year." Yet, he refused to share out of the abundance he discovered. Can you imagine what all the birds were thinking? They had never discovered a "flower" with so much nectar. It was an endless supply of the good stuff. But day after day, the little guardian stood his post.

I found myself feeling sorry for the other birds that tried to get a drink and couldn't because of the nectar cop. I decided I would buy more feeders, so yesterday, Elliott (my 15 yr.old) and I went to Lowe's to buy a couple of more feeders. I was excited to see what would happen.

I placed one of the new feeders about 20 feet away from the existing feeder. The other one I placed on the opposite side of the house right outside my study window where I am sitting typing this blog. Let me testify....

Right now as I type I look to my right directly out the window less than eight feet from where I sit and I can see Sergeant number two. Sure enough, he is sitting there and I have already seen him chase other thirsty members of the hummingbird community away from his feeder. Obviously, he has decided that this side of the house is his. He is a beautiful little bird just sitting there chasing away the competition and flying down periodically to enjoy a big swallow of the good stuff. He actually has the fancy feeder complete with a place to perch while you drink. It is the Hilton for Hummingbirds. It is all his....until....another bird proves it can't be pushed around shows up and takes over his perch.

Now back to the other side of the house....

Things really got interesting when I placed the other new feeder 20 feet away from the original one. I thought I could keep them close enough together to watch both of them easily. I thought maybe since Sergeant number one had his own feeder he would leave the other one unguarded.

Boy, was I wrong!

 He quickly demonstrated that he could keep all the other would be nectar seekers away from both feeders. I moved it farther away.....He proved he could still go the distance. Though it required a lot of energy, he was still doing a pretty good job of keeping both feeders to himself. However, he was unable to have much perch time. He was extremely busy keeping other hummingbirds from getting a drink. Occasionally, while he was chasing birds away from feeder two, one of the other sneaky feathered friends would buzz by feeder one and steal a drink. I found myself cheering for these birds who were able to finally taste the sweet nectar for themselves.

Then I decided I would really put Sergeant one to the test. I moved the new feeder about 60 feet away. He continued to try to keep his thirsty neighbors away, but it was too big a job for such a little guy to handle. Finally, he flew back to his original post and sat with his feathered back to the other feeder, as if to say, "If they are going to drink, I don't have to watch!" I was proud that I had put him in his place.

But the action was not over. As a matter of fact, things were really heating up now....

What followed was an amazing sight. In a few moments there were at least a dozen hummingbirds all feeding from the four portholes on the feeder. I don't know where they had come from. I had not seen them before, but obviously they were close by. It was as if they were just waiting in the shadows for one of those feeders to be freed up from Mr. Nectar Monopolizer.

In and out, back and forth, up and down....they all enjoyed the sweet nectar. You could tell that a few of them were trying to display some dominance, but it was to no avail. There was plenty for all of them and all of them were drinking away. I called Mikki to the window to watch it with me. We were astonished by what we saw. It was such a beautiful sight. Plenty of nectar for everybody!

So I have three feeders. Two have been taken over. One is still free for everyone. Don't know how long, but for now, I am sure they feel like they have found hummingbird heaven.

What has this to do with grace? You can easily do the math on this one.

We all are like one of those birds.
There is plenty of grace for everyone.
People are hungry for grace.
Often we fight to keep others from getting it.
People flock where grace is freely given to all.
It often takes more energy to guard a feeder than it does to manage a crowd where everybody can drink.
We should all realize God will always keep the feeders full.

When it comes to grace, give and it shall be given is the Divine order of the day. One struggle is keeping a feeder free from the birds that chase other birds away. The greater struggle is not becoming that bird!

Addendum--I had just published this blog when I looked back out at the feeder. The yard was covered with black birds. They had converged upon our yard. There were hundreds and hundreds of them. Of course, the little hummingbird had left his post. We have lived here over four years and I have never witnessed this in our yard. Other places, yes, but not here like this. Coincidence? Or is there a message in it? Our true battle is not with other hummingbirds. It is with the "blackbirds" that will not be satisfied until there are no feeding places or feeders or nectar or even hummingbirds. The enemy of our souls cannot stand for us to have access to grace.

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Grace House (New Ministry Site)
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Mikki's Site
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Sermon Player - Grace House

Grace in the Air!

Yesterday morning we experienced a grace gathering at our house. We call it a grace gathering because it was a gathering for people needing and hungry for the message of grace. We are looking for a permanent location which we will call Grace House. It was absolutely wonderful.

An open air meeting on a beautiful morning.
A soft breeze bringing a cool wind.
The smell of doughnuts and pastries mingling with the aroma of freshly brewed coffee.
The chirping of birds in the background.
The sound of crunching gravel as cars turned off the highway and started winding down our long driveway.
The sight of people walking up the road and grassy hillside with a Bible in their hand and their kids in tow.
The chatter of conversation as people greeted one another and exchanged hugs.
The sounds of laughter, chuckles, and children shouting.
Watching Charlie work the crowd. Charlie is our hyper-social dog.
Blossoming flowers providing some specs of brilliant color and beauty.
People unfolding lawn chairs in the shade.
The sound of worship being released.
It was like a Biblestock event.
People under trees with their hands in the air.
The beautiful melody and rhythm of music and love given to God.
Lines of people coming to receive communion.
The broken bread given.
The bread dipped in the cup.
The realization of the cross.
Teaching given on Early Church Realities.
A restored broken struggling preacher starting again.
A pattern for the new was shared.
Children grouped outside learning about Jesus.
Little kids in a room having a blast working with their hands and being loved.
Teenagers across the road in a basement learning about being champions.
Lots of fellowship to go around for everybody.
Relationships being formed, renewed, deepened.
People receiving prayer.
Tear stained faces.
Grateful smiles.
Informal, very casual, but truly meaningful.
People reluctant to leave.
People planning lunch together.
We all knew we wanted to do it again and that things would never be the same.
Adventure was in the air.
Love was in the air.
Grace was in the air.

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Our Other Sites
Grace House (New Ministry Site)
Our First Breath Ministry Site
Mikki's Site
Eddie's Web Design Site
Eddie's Web Products Store
Eddies Reseller Store

The Grace to See

There's lots of ways to say it.

What we behold is what we become.
As a man thinks, so is he. Our focus becomes our future....and so forth.

These are true statements. So....what do we see? Look at what your looking at and get a glimpse of where you're going.

I find this to be true in the positive and the negative. Our eye gate is an entry point that allows outward realities into our minds. Job said, "I have made a covenant with my eyes not to look upon a young woman." Job realized he needed to have an inner commitment in his mind and heart in order to overcome the temptations presented to him through his eyes.

In a sense we have an internal "eye gate" as well. This enables us to use our imagination for good or evil. We "see" internally. We are able to see something that does not exist and then bring it into existence. Songwriters, architects, musicians, artists, builders, sculptors, and five year olds with boxes of crayons all prove this is true.

Certain spiritual gifts enable us to see and to know information from the realm of the spirit. And on rare occasions, our outward eyes may even be allowed to see spiritual realities. Remember when Elijah prayed for his servants eyes to be opened to see. He saw the mountains filled with angelic warriors.

So seeing is a part of our lives in more ways than one. What do you see?

The war is often over what we see? Jesus said if our eye is filled with evil our whole body is filled with darkness. What do you see?

Remember the three disciples with Jesus at the transfiguration? This was the occasion that Jesus was lifted up and the glory of God began radiating from him. Then Moses and Elijah appeared beside him. This was a little more than your typical Sunday morning church service. The disciples were able to see this and it tripped their breakers. But what did they really see?

Obvious answers--Moses, Elijah, Jesus, God's glory. Yes, yes yes...they did see those things, but what did they SEE. Sorry to sound confusing.

When this happened they all hit the dirt. Right response and it did not require thinking. But immediately Peter started thinking of a plan to personally capitalize on the situation. Let's build three booths! We may think that this was good thinking. How noble to want to stay in the presence of God's glory at the intersection where the past-present-future all converge.

Peter knew he was laying prostrate in a holy place. It was natural to want to stay. In was in his DNA. His forefathers had camped under the glory cloud for years. Yet--a word was released from heaven. This is my beloved son--listen to him. Then it happened, THEY SAW JESUS ONLY.

Not a personal opportunity to live in the glory.
Not a transcendent escape from the realities of life.
Not a place that is so smug and blessed that we forget about all the hurts and pains of those at the foot of the mountain who have not yet seen God's glory reflected in the beauty of His Son.

THEY SAW JESUS ONLY! In the midst of the manifestation God redirected their attention to His Son.

This is the temptation. To be given opportunity to experience a deeper revelation of God through His Son Jesus and want to somehow convert it to something that will perpetually benefit us personally. What if Jesus had taken on such an attitude? Think of it.... He would not have chosen the cross for our benefit.

Such self-centered thinking can seduce us into thinking that the kingdom is about the next spiritual fix, or high, or experience. We can become blinded to the fact that we have taken what was a manifestation of God's glory and converted into an opportunity for us to build a booth and soak on the mountain top.

The transfiguration was a huge experience.
It was a real experience.
It was a valid experience.
God chose to reveal Himself to those three guys in a remarkable way.
They were changed by what they saw. Peter was still writing about 20 years later.

It was an experience with a purpose, not a movement within itself.

What was the purpose?
What did God say? "
This is my beloved Son--Listen to Him!"
Then they saw Jesus only.

Everything else vanished. The outward manifestation of glory. The unveiling of their eyes. The presence of Moses and Elijah. The end result was that they saw God attest to the identity and purpose of His Son. He had Moses and Elijah to discuss with him his mission that lay ahead. The disciples had an awesome experience but Father God determined that they would come out of it with a deeper revelation of His Son and a greater desire to hear what Jesus said about things.

They had been taught to listen to Moses and Elijah--the law and the prophets. As much respect as they had for these men, they had to shift and put their focus on Jesus and what He said. What do you see? Or "Who: do you see?

We become what we behold. Since God's purpose is for us to become like Jesus, we need to make sure He alone is who we are beholding.

Is there a Moses in your eye gate?
Is there an Elijah in your eye gate?
Is there some great spiritual experience that has become your focus?
Is there a movement that has shifted your vision from Jesus to your pursuit of Boothville Church?

It is hard to walk with Jesus down into the valley where the hurting are waiting, if the desire of our heart is to live in our man made booths on a mountain top where there once was a great manifestation of God.

If Peter and his buddies had followed through on their initial plan, they would have found themselves on a mountain top deserted by Jesus who had gone back to the place of the hurting. I am sure they could have lived on the memory of what was for a while. But eventually they would have had to become so desperate that they started seeking Jesus outside their booths or they would have to continue to try to recreate their previous experience. However, the transfiguration did not come about as a result of their planning or even their praying. It was something God did that startled them out of their sandals. Yes it marked them, but thank God they allowed it to change them and they took the experience and hid it in their hearts as they went back down the mountain with Jesus to join the battle of every day reality.

The first reality they discovered was that even though they had been soaking all night in the glory of God they still did not have the faith to cast out a devil in a little boy. No matter what we experience, we all still have a whole lot to learn. The key is to keep our eyes on our teacher--Jesus. God help me and God help us to see Jesus only!

If we choose the mountaintop of yesterday, we may become so confused and desperate that we invent transfiguration type experiences or so bored we use our imagination to come up with something to excite us. How sad because walking with Jesus is the most exciting adventure possible. But it does require we keep our eyes on HIM and listen to HIM and follow HIM.

Of course the adventure is not always easy. The disciples found this out later. They had a difficult time following him when he headed to the cross. It was a mountain top experience of another fashion. Yet very much in the middle of God's plan and purpose. We all seem to resist going to this mountain. It is hard to even see it as a place of glory and worship. our natural senses are repelled by it. The goosebumps are gone and depression and fear come.

The disciples ran. Yeah they wanted booths again, not to worship in, but to hid in. When it was happening it made no sense. It did not clear up for them until they saw Jesus again. This is our lesson for today. In every thing we go through, look for the face of the resurrected Christ--our Lord Jesus. We are not seeing clearly until we see Him only.

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ANNOUNCEMENT--WE WILL BE HAVING A GRACE GATHERING AT OUR HOUSE THIS COMING SUNDAY MORNING AT 9:30 A.M. WE WILL BE SHARING SOME VISION AND ASKING YOU TO HELP US SEE JESUS AND HEAR WHAT HE IS SAYING TO US ALL. YES WE WILL HAVE SOMETHING FOR THE CHILDREN OUtSIDE AND IN OUR BASEMENT. THE TEENAGERS WILL BE MEETING AT JAN AND YANCY OWNBY'S WHO LIVE ACROSS THE STREET FROM US. WE ADULTS WILL MEET TOGETHER WHILE THE CHILDREN ARE IN THE BASEMENT.

THIS WILL BE A REAL INFORMAL GET TOGETHER IN ORDER TO GET A GLIMPSE OF WHAT IS FORTHCOMING. WE ARE STILL PRAYING ABOUT WORKING TOWARD A MORE PERMANENT PLACE TO MEET.

PLEASE BE FAITHFUL TO WHERE GOD HAS CALLED YOU TO SERVE. IF YOU FEEL IT IS WITH GRACE HOUSE, OF COURSE WE WELCOME YOU. IF IT IS NOT, WE DO APPRECIATE YOUR PRAYERS FOR US AS WE HEAD INTO THE UNKNOWN WITH GOD.

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