Can We [The Church] Not Stay Awake?

I have some bad news and good news for Christians. The bad news is that the condition of the church as a whole in these present, last days, is lukewarm and falling asleep, if not completely in dreamland. The good news is that Christ will be returning, mid-air, for His bride, The Church, anyway.

Some people believe there will be a last pouring out of God's Holy Spirit on everyone (Joel 2:28-32), before the Rapture. I hope and pray the world experiences that. However, if you read that full prophecy, I believe it has not been fulfilled in its entirety. In addition, Peter thought that prophecy was being fulfilled in his day as he gave a speech. He explained to the crowd in Jerusalem that the Holy Spirit's ministry of the disciple's speaking the Gospel in all the different languages represented in the city at the festival that year was the fulfillment of the Joel prophecy (Acts 2:14-41). 

Perhaps this Last Outpouring of the Holy Spirit has many occurances and one of them is future at The Church's Awakening alluded to in the Parable of the Ten Virgins (Matthew 25:1-13). 

Many, if not all, Biblical scholars note the virgins in this telling by Jesus represent The Church. Not just one, three, five or seven virgins, but all ten virgins compose the church - “At that time the kingdom of heaven will be like ten virgins who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom." We also know from reading this that half of them are wise and half foolish because of the presence or lack of oil in their lamps, which represents The Holy Spirit's wisdom, covering and ministry in the believer - "Five of them were foolish and five were wise. The foolish ones took their lamps but did not take any oil with them. The wise ones, however, took oil in jars along with their lamps." 

I find Peter and Paul's soon expectation of Christ's return interesting in light of the huge hint Jesus grants them and us down through the ages that - "The bridegroom was a long time in coming,". The promise to return by Jesus like a theif in the night (Rev. 16:15) speaks to unexpectancy by us or Christ's eminent return. The promise by Jesus to come soon or quickly describes the method of His coming (Rev. 22:12). Here, I believe we get a sense of the time elapsed before The Rapture - "a long time" (in fact, two thousand plus years).

After Jesus declares that the bridegroom will be a long time in coming, He then says, "and they [the ten virgins] all became drowsy and fell asleep." Notice that not one, not three, not five or seven, but all of the virgins, all of the church - falls asleep. 

Where else do we find that we cannot stay awake with the Lord in Scripture? One instance is in the most crucial time of Christ's ministry, The Garden of Gethsemane, praying before The Trial and Crucifixion (Matthew 26:36-45). Another time has supposedly come and gone in the age or dispensation spoken of in Revelation 3:1-6 where the church was so asleep that God considered it "dead". And the complacent, lukewarm age of the church that Christians are supposedly in now according to Revelation 3:14-22 may well as place us back into slumber.

However, returning to the sleeping virgins - all the virgins/church awaken at the arrival of the groom. Then they trim their lamps and proceed with the amount of oil or Holy Spirit wisdom, covering and ministry they have - “At midnight the cry rang out: ‘Here’s the bridegroom! Come out to meet him!’

“Then all the virgins woke up and trimmed their lamps." The foolish ones said to the wise, ‘Give us some of your oil; our lamps are going out.’

“‘No,’ they replied, ‘there may not be enough for both us and you. Instead, go to those who sell oil and buy some for yourselves.’

“But while they were on their way to buy the oil, the bridegroom arrived. The virgins who were ready went in with him to the wedding banquet. And the door was shut.

Besides the description of The Last Days in Matthew 24, the culture of the season in 2 Timothy 3:1-5 and the lukewarm state of the church in the last days pictured in Revelation 3:14-22 - another sobering thought is that fifty percent of the virgins, half of the church is ready for the Bridegroom's Return. Not a good statistic. This stat is backed up by imagery provided by Christ on this very topic of The Rapture when He describes twice, "Two men will be in the field, one taken the other left. Two women will be grinding at the handmill, one will be taken and the other left." (Matt. 24:4o-41) Fifty percent imagery, very interesting.

With these numbers there is no wonder why Jesus commanded then and commands believers now to "watch and pray" - “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know the day or the hour." (Matt. 25:13). This is not a suggestion or recomendation. However, it is an order that can be either followed or not. The command is a state of alertness. It is a condition of active waiting. Will we be found serving the Lord when He returns with a loud command/shout, the voice of the arch angel and trumpet of God? (1 Thess. 4:16) Jesus says that Christians should be faithful and wise with what God has blessed them with for the extension of the Kingdom - "Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time? It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns." (Matt. 24:45-46) Can We [The Church] Not Stay Awake?

The Tree - In Scripture (Part 2)

When Jesus spoke about Himself saying, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me." (John 14:6) - He did not use the article a for a way of life among many or a truth among many or a life among many. Jesus used the article "the" which is definitve in meaning only - only way, only truth and only life.

However, God still gives the choice to accept and believe this exclusivity to us. Should we believe in Christ as our personal Lord and Savior, then we can receive His example, His emphasis not to be wishy-washy or indecisive with our faith. He shot straight from the hip about who He was and what He was about. When we are aligned with Christ by faith, we should be the same. David and Jeremiah encourage all believers when choosing The Way, The Truth, and The Life to send down and out our roots and be grounded as a tree to The Stream of Living Water - Christ Jesus. 

In Psalm 1:1-3, David says, "Blessed is the one...whose delight is in the law of the Lord, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers."

This is an "If...Then" statement without saying "If" or "Then". Instead, the words "Blessed is the one..." is substituted for that condition of If...then to be met. In other words, if you take delight in the law of the Lord and meditate on his law day and night - then you will not only be blessed, but you will be like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers. 

Jeremiah 17:7-8 adds a little bit extra to this image. He says, 

“But blessed is the one who trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”

Jeremiah has some changes, uses other words and contains additional details. Instead of "delight" and "meditate" that David used, Jeremiah uses "trusts" and "confidence". Jeremiah keeps the tree being planted by water, but adds that the tree "sends out its roots by the stream."  He says the tree "does not fear when heat comes;" - a possible add on statement, because the next thought, "its leaves are always green" can be equated to David's - "whose leaf does not wither". Jeremiah's words of - "It has not worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit." - balance nicely with David's - "whatever they do prospers" and "which yields its fruit in due season".

Anytime a message is spoken twice in Scripture you better perk up and pay particular attention. Here we have God using two different people, two different descriptions, from two different backgrounds to communicate a message - the result of Abiding in Him - The River or "stream".

Notice a tree does not have legs for mobility, it only has it's seed for multiplying and fruit for sharing/influencing. A tree is usually a stable, dependable structure that provides a home for some, in its branches, and shade for others underneath its span/reach. 

I am not saying that we as Christians should not be a Traveling Tree. On the contrary, we serve a supernatural God, with a supernatural river that we as supernatural trees can draw whatever we need - wherever we need. The River of God is supernaturally accessible to believers throughout their life wherever they go. Proximity is the key. Staying in God's Word and Spirit, The River, and keeping up our relationship with Him through consistent, if not constant prayer, will maintain our "root system". Wherever believers are the benefits for them and those around them are enormous as they stay near and connected with Christ, The River of Life.

The Tree - In Scripture (Part 1)

"Do you think trees are beautiful? You’re in good company. God loves trees, too. By highlighting every sentence containing a tree in the first three chapters of Genesis, you can get a pretty good sense of what God thinks about trees. Nearly a third of the sentences contain a tree.

Genesis 2:9 declares that trees are “pleasing to the eye.” This aesthetic standard does not waver throughout the Bible. Whether God is instructing his people on how to make candlesticks (Exodus 25:31–40), decorate the corbels of the temple (1 Kings 6), or hem the high priest’s robe (Exodus 28:34), the standard of beauty is a tree (and its fruits). If we were to examine the most comfortable seat in a home today, odds are that it faces a television. In heaven, God’s throne faces a tree (Revelation 22:2–3).

In Genesis 2, God makes two things with his own hands. First, he forms Adam and blows the breath of life into his nostrils (verse 7). Then, before Adam can exhale, God pivots and plants a garden (verse 8). It is here, under the trees, that God lovingly places Adam, giving him the job of “dress[ing] and keep[ing]” them (verse 15, KJV). The trees have their only divinely established tasks to accomplish. God charges them with keeping humans alive (Gen. 1:29), giving them a place to live (Gen. 2:8), and providing food to sustain them (verse 16).

Strangely enough, Scripture continuously portrays trees as things that communicate. They clap their hands (Isaiah 55:12), shout for joy (1 Chronicles 16:33), and even argue (Judges 9:7–15). What makes this pattern especially odd is that creatures that obviously do communicate — such as fish or birds – are virtually mute in the Bible. 

One (the Tree of Life) represented humanity’s connection to the divine and the eternal. The other (the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil) represented human agency – and possible rebellion. When Adam and Eve ate from the wrong tree, they tried to cover up their crime by undressing the very trees they were charged with “dressing” (Genesis 2:15; 3:7). Their next move was to run and hide behind them (Gen. 3:8). Chapter three of Genesis concludes with Adam and Eve being banished from the Garden. What is the Bible, then, if not a story of God meeting humanity’s need for a Savior to reunite us to the Tree of Life?

Without trees in the Bible, the waters of Marah would have forever remained bitter (Exodus 15:25), the Giant of Gath would not have been thrown off his game (1 Samuel 17:43), and David would have missed his call to battle (1 Chronicles 14:15). Deborah would have been without a place to judge Israel (Judges 4:5), and God wouldn’t have called his people to be oaks of righteousness (Isaiah 61:3). There would have been no almond grove (Luz, renamed Bethel, means almond tree) for Jacob to fall asleep in and dream of a wooden ladder that spans the gulf between heaven and earth (Genesis 28:10–19), and Job wouldn’t have uttered his famous line about trees and resurrection (Job 14:7). Most importantly, without trees it is impossible to understand the Fall or Jesus’ atoning death.

Nathaniel had forgotten the words of the prophet Isaiah: “He grew up before him like a tender shoot, and like a root out of dry ground. He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him, nothing in his appearance that we should desire him” (53:2). As Isaiah predicted, something great would indeed come out of a town named after a little tree: Nazareth!

Jesus is one tough carpenter – the kind that can heft two three-quarter-inch sheets of plywood on his own. He is hard to kill. From the moment he was born, his enemies set about trying to kill him. They tried to kill him as a baby (Matthew 2:16–18), stone him (John 10:31–39), and throw him off a cliff (Luke 4:29), but it didn’t work. Jesus could go 40 days without food, climb into the ring with the toughest opponent on the planet, and walk away a winner after three rounds (Matthe. 4:1–11). There was no point in trying to drown him – he’d walk away from that too (Matthew 14:22–33).

No, the only thing that could harm the carpenter from Nazareth was a tree. Why? Because he who is hanged on a tree is cursed (Deuteronomy 21:23, Gal. 3:13), not he who is stabbed, stoned, or burned. (Note that in Hebrew, the word for gallows and tree is one and the same.) Without trees, there is no resurrection, no Good News on Easter morning. The cross is really a tree of life chainsawed down by man’s sin. Yet Jesus’ blood caused a dead tree used as a Roman torture instrument to grow into the symbol of life everlasting – the Tree of Life. Jesus is the Tree of Life, and one day his followers will eat from the leaves of this tree and be healed (Revelation 22:2, 14)."

Source: https://www.ncfgiving.com/stories/what-trees-teach-us-about-life-death-and-resurrection-part-1/#:~:text=Other%20than%20people%20and%20God,(Proverbs%203%3A18).

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Song: He Made The Tree (Doyle Lawson and Quicksilver)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VFu4bkC5Cc

Lyrics

You made the life from the darkness
and the stars to out number the sands
you were born into the world a baby
and still held the whole world in your hands

you made a hill called Calvary
where you made a way for me
you made the man that drove nails in your hands
you even made the tree

you sent the rain and the sunshine
and the tree grew sturdy with time
and like you it didn't bend or waiver
as you bore the weight of this worlds sins and mine

Alone - Is A Lie

Alone? Who is truly alone? Nobody. A person might experience loneliness - the cause of isolation by another through something like rejection, but nobody is ever alone. First, God is omnipresent - everywhere. Second, God blessed us with a relationship with Him and each other. Thirdly, concerning any kind of circumstance, too much history has transpired to think that any one person is going through a situation that nobody else has experienced in some form or fashion. Paul states it like this in 1 Corinthians 10:12-13 - 

"So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can endure it."

This is not to belittle the challenge or experience you are going through, but to inform you and encourage you that while old problems surface in new ways, God will be there. The Lord's resolution might not be what you had in mind and when you thought He would act, but He said he would "provide a way out so that you can endure it".

God is the one who has been with humanity from the beginning. God made Adam, walked with him and charged him with certain responsibilities. Then, "The Lord God said, 'It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.'" (Gen. 2:18)

The word "alone" in the original Hebrew, bad, means properly separated; by implication a part of the body, branch of a tree. Adam was a third of the equation (he, God and Eve), a point on the perfect relationship triangle that mirrored The Holy Trinity. God took a rib from Adam, formed woman and brought Eve to Adam who now completed the other side of him; who was now not alone in kind. 

When God manifested Himself throughout history it seemed to be in three ways - (1) before His people, (2) alongside His people and (3) within His people. Before His people usually as The Angel of the Lord, an audible voice or speaking directly to the then leader of the Hebrew people. Alongside His people He came as The Christ, God's representation of Himself in flesh. Within His people God dwells by the power of the Holy Spirit after Christ's resurrection and ascenscion to Father God's right hand.

Today, the believer needs to hear, trust and testify to God's Presence and Provision displayed all around the Christian. This assurance will do wonders to comfort the anxious and falsify the notion of being alone.

God describes His word and presence in front of us as a lamp unto our feet and a light unto our path (Psalm 119:105). He supplies us with direction for our lives in the short-term - lamp unto our feet - and the long-haul - light unto our path.

He depicts Himself as one who protects on either side - "A thousand may fall at your side, ten thousand at your right hand, but it will not come near you." (Psalm 91:7) 

God also portrays Himself in at least two places as your "rear guard" - Isaiah 52:12 and Isaiah 58:8. 

Then in Deuteronomy 32:11-12, Moses poetically illustrates God as an eagle that hovers over its children. "...like an eagle that stirs up its nest and hovers over its young, that spreads its wings to catch them and carries them aloft. The Lord alone led him; no foreign god was with him." Even from above us the Holy Spirit is present and covers.

When relying on each other to keep loneliness at bay there is always room for improvement. The Holiday Season seems to hit people particularly hard. However, if we can at least buddy-up with someone or multiple people, then we will have made a great start at keeping loneliness and all its friends like depression - away.

There are always two and sometimes more individuals we can observe in society and certainly in Scripture that pair-up to help and compliment each other.

Batman and Robin, Obi-wan and Luke, Han and Chewbacca, Abbot and Costello, Sunny and Share, Bo and Luke Duke, Simon and Simon, Donny and Marie Osmond, The Wonder Twins, or you and your best friend.....make a great pair or dynamic duo. These are just a taste of life teaching us that when it comes to living, relationship(s) not "solo-ism" is the better choice.

Scripture supports this decision to have a close friend or friends in which you share life and maybe even your work. People like God and Adam, Adam and Eve, Moses and Aaron, Moses and Joshua, Mordecai and Esther, David and Johnathan, Elijah and Elisha, Paul and Silas, and Priscilla and Aquila - were Biblical examples of dynamic pairs. There are pieces from each relationship/partnership that I hope I have and will attain in close relationships of my own.

Sometimes there were more than two! Daniel had his friends...Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. The Disciples had each other. When the local churches started, they too had each other and shared a lot with each other, including their finances. There is strength in numbers. A small or large group of friends can be a great support group and takes some degree of pressure off the best friend relationship or mentor relationship one might have in addition to the group friendship.

Alone is hard, if not impossible in these instances. We were never meant to be alone, that is a fabrication of The Father of Lies. Paul strongly admonishes Timothy and any believer with blood family - "Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." (1Timothy 5:8) Then in Galatians 6:10, Paul speaks about the believer's spiritual family when he says, "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers." There is great difficulty in being alone and experiencing isolation or loneliness when at the same time one is tending/caring for the needs of his/her blood or spiritual families.

Not that solitary moments are not healthy for us now and then. Our own personal time balanced with our precious relationships are a must for a healthy us. Jesus exercised this personal time and even then He was never alone and neither are we.

All of creation can be sure of one thing, there is No Privacy. God is everywhere, sees everything and knows all. His numerous Holy angels are present also, executing God's will in every area of creation. I cannot speak to those who have passed on - whether they "look over the Banister of Heaven" and can view our lives here on earth. However, just the fact that God and His interested spectators are watching should be enough to warrant a lifestyle change or at least a pause to consider one.

When observing Christ's unattended moments we can see that His private life not only prepared Him for His public life, it matched it. His individual moments were spent in prayer and He prayed publicly for people also.

With no privacy granted to us from Heaven - do my alone moments truly match behavior in public that would bring glory to God? If I praise Him in private to His face, why not in public? If I proclaim to Him who He is to me in private, why not in public? If I pray in private, why not in public? As long as we still have the freedoms we have and as long as there are lost and struggling people needing to see a good life-example of a true Christian, then we must match up our private and public moments to show forth a level of integrity struggling to be seen. This journey, this lifestyle all starts with you and it all begins in your alone moments but it also means you are really, never alone.

Therefore, not only is God with us from the beginning, globally surrounding us with His presence, but He creates us for relationship and fills our life with relationships, with the opportunity of more relationships to come. There is no escaping God's presence, we were meant to harmoniously commune with Him and each other and know that Alone - Is A Lie.

The Rewards of a Pure Life

I have always believed in integrity. I have certainly not been the best example of it at different points in my life, but only One has lived the perfect life - Christ Jesus. However, this does not mean I do not keep integrity as an integral part of my life - on the contrary, integrity or being "pure of heart" as Scripture refers to it is a major daily goal of mine that I pray is shown.

One of the definitions of integrity is soundness, like the soundness of an object or dependability of a person. This aspect of integrity is a result of an excellent foundation - Jesus Christ. The Lord's life was and is the perfect example of integrity-living. When using myself or anybody else as a foundation or measure for integrity, my purity of heart and benefits thereof will not be there.

There are rewards or major benefits for seeking the pure lifestyle. Matthew speaks about being able to see God as a reward for having a pure heart (Matt. 5:8). David says the right to ascend the mountain of the Lord, stand in His holy place, receive blessing and vindication from Christ - all begins with purity of heart (Ps. 24:3-5).

David says in Psalm 51:10, "Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."

When I researched the word "pure" in Psalm 51:10, the definition supplied was clean and fair in a chemical, physical, ceremonial and moral sense. That word was Tahor (tawhor) in the original Hebrew. The root of this word, Taher (tawhare), is a great word that sums up the challenge of purity for the believer - uncontaminated.

Take notice of some things in this very humble and important prayer of David's. First, David requested of the Lord two things, "a pure heart" and "steadfast spirit". In the first request, David did not have any of what he asked God concerning, therefore his appeal to "create" in him a pure heart. The second request of a "steadfast spirit" David had at one time because he asked God to "renew" it "within" him. The point is David was willing to humble himself and request of God that which he was in deficit on both accounts.

I pray that I am a man of integrity now and always. A man whose daily goal is to seek, gain and maintain a pure heart and steadfast spirit - not only for myself and as an example for others but for The Rewards of a Pure Life.

ETERNAL INFLUENCES

One way or another, in some form or fasion - all of us influence the people in our lives. The impact could be a second or it could be forever or anywhere in between. But our development and the development of those around us is no accident. Chance has no place in purpose. In a plan, an experience can be odd or different but not random.

Also, claiming nature or nuture as the winner of character creation is difficult. Both nature and nuture have a direct intent on shaping our soul. Our surroundings work hand-in-hand with relationships to mold us. While balance of respect between one's environment and one's relationships is the ultimate human condition, relationships with others seems to favor our attention and care.

Author, Brian A. "Drew" Chalker stated in his poem Reason, Season and a Lifetime - "People always come into your life for a reason, season and a lifetime. When you figure out which it is, you know exactly what to do."

Life is all about relationships and the impact thereof. No matter whether you consider yourself a drop-in-the-sea impact person or a Billy Graham or Paul of the New Testament type influence - you are still effecting them in some manner. I guess it boils down to - do you care to send the very best?

Continuing on in his poem, Mr. Chalker explains how the first person that comes into your life, the one with a "reason", usually performs his/her task and then leaves your life - a short-lived encounter.

The second person mentioned is the seasonal individual. The time frame could be The Summer or a season of difficutly or celebration that he/she moves into your life and then they are gone.

The third relationship is a Lifetime. Family and best friends are just a couple of examples here. The quantity of years has been explicit in Brian's poem of purpose in relationships. However, as I asked earlier - what about the quality of our impact or influence? 

We will always have an Audience of One - God. Beyond the Lord's watchful eyes, whether there is only one in your life or many, our influence should be the positive one that stirs hope, encourages change and lends a helping hand in the process.

Considerate people are considerate because they stopped and considered the ramifications of being in a bad situation that is being presented before them and then choosing to do unto others as they would have done unto themselves.

It is good to reflect, regroup and realign the purpose and intent of one's plan of life to that of God's. In doing so the rewards to us and for those we influence are eternal. Now, my prayer is I and my fellow Christians will impact the world for Christ, not only for a short span, nor a defined season but a lifetime.