Him

Well, in my pervious blog I said I was writing on here more. I think I might have jumped the gun. =) As usual, we’ve just come out of an awesome gathering, this one for men. I’m always amazed by the Men’s Ramp…or Gathering (whatever makes you happy)….because I remember the spiritual effect my step-father had on me when he was a burning man. One of my fondest memories of my adolescent years actually happened with Jeff. I was working at Old Navy at the time (my first job). Jeff picked me up from work, and after talking a while, asked if I wanted to go pray at the church. I agreed, of course. We got to the church, and went to kneel at a, and I’m just being honest, pathetically built cross. But it was there that He came. I remember we began to weep and pray. Holy Spirit came, and we stayed for two hours. This was a school night by the way, mind you. We prayed for everything from family, to each other, to the church. But I’ve never forgotten it. It was one of those altar moments for me that I go back to when I feel like everything is faltering.

That’s why I love Men’s Gatherings. I looked around last night at the hundreds of men and saw hope…honestly. That’s the word I heard: hope. I’m so honored to be apart of this. To get to see all this beginning to unfold….it’s actually quite humbling. It’s hard to possess a haughty, prideful attitude when you’re getting to see the men, women, and children who are going to turn the nation, and the known world upside down. It simply makes you want to go lower and serve more.

I debated on what to write about it. There are a few main points in my life that the Lord is speaking to me OVER and OVER. I’M right now doing a character study on the man Barnabas. I’m still in the beginning stages, but even what I’ve read is amazing. Hopefully, in the coming future, I’ll be able to share. It’s definitely a story leading me to a life laid down for my brothers to step into their purpose. How awesome. More and more my heart is burning for true brotherhood.

HOWEVER, and now we come to the point of the blog, true brotherhood cannot be fully appreciated or practiced unless you have revelation of the One who created it to happen…the one who is Love. He didn’t just create the emotion of love, He is Love. It’s amazing how, when we read the Bible and find words of emotion, we simply attribute it to a carnal feeling we’ve felt all our life. That was a weird sentence…….let me give an example. In John 14:27, Jesus says He gives us His peace, not as the world gives. So, when we read from a carnal mindset, we assume that Jesus is going to give us something where we will never worry, never be fearful, and never doubt. No. The peace of God is found in one’s firm foundation of faith no matter what the circumstance says. It doesn’t dispel the fear or worry, it simply brings something greater to conquer it. I hope that makes sense.

Thus, His emotions, if you will, cannot be defined simply by our impaired understanding. They may manifest is that understanding, but it’s still not the same.

Anyways, rabbit trail. I come back to the point. The cry of my heart has simply been to know Him. It’s amazing, when you read scripture, how many outward manifestations we look for, but really, they’re all a product of a burning to desire to know Him….and to really know Him. I was work this past week, and as I’ve said before in past blogs, I’m blessed to have a lot of alone time. One day I was simply thinking about my job…which led me to think about the main guy that owns the factory I work for. His name is Bob Tiffin. Great guy. Seriously. I work for Bob. Bob had a dream many years ago, and now I’m apart of building his dream. Bob provides me with money, insurance, etc. I know what he looks like. I know what he sounds like. I know the effect it has on people when he comes into the room. However, in the midst of it all, I don’t know Bob Tiffin. I simply work for him.

See where I’m going with this? Jesus has been dealing heavily with me about the working life and the intimate life. I think we all find ourselves given over to the Martha mentality (Luke 10:38-42). We feel so justified by works. We think Jesus is going to like us better because of what we do. We feel like we’re good spiritually and in purity because of our outward actions. It’s the reason why, when we sin, we thrust ourselves headlong into serving at the church of helping or whatever. We want to do something that makes us feel justified, like our actions caused God to like us again. Listen friend, God hates sin….He gets mad at it. But His love never wanes either. It’s who He is. He is Jealous AND He is Love.

I want to know Him. Jesus said, in Matthew 7:21-23, that many would come having done the outward works of God, but they still we asked to depart, because they did not know Him. Jesus also said in John 17:3 that eternal life was knowing the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom He sent. Paul said, “…that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death;…”  (Phillipians 3:10). He also wrote, in Ephesians 1:17, “…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.” We want the products….the power of His resurrection, the fellowship of His sufferings, wisdom, revelation. However, do we want to know Him? That’s where it all flows from.

One of my favorite passages in the Bible is found in Psalm 45. It says, “For Thou has loved righteousness and hated wickedness; therefore God, Thy God, has anointed Thee with the oil of joy above all Thine companions.” (vs.7) I was praying one day, just telling the Lord that I wanted to hate wickedness, sin, all of it, and love righteousness. I was praying very passionately that day actually. I heard Him say to me, “Simply get a revelation of ‘For Thou…’” I can force myself to hate evil. It’s in my power to do so. It says of the Demoniac of the Gadarenes (not his real name, but for memories sake…) that he was able to break his own chains. However, tying what we talked about earlier concerning the emotions, it isn’t about trying to hate and love under my own definition, it’s yielding to and knowing Him that produces those true feelings.

I know this is long, and sounds a little too psychological. But hey, it’s where I am. All of this, amazingly, was played out long before the whole of humanity grew to millions of people…well, now billions. It dates back to the garden. Jesus was called the second Adam both in Romans and 1 Corinthians. Romans 5 says He was a pattern of the One to come. The first Adam was created to walk in the garden to commune with the Father. He did the work. he named the animals, etc. But God still saw fit for a helper…a companion….a bride. God formed Eve. What was the first thing that happened? It says that Adam knew Eve. This term, to know, isn’t cognitive, it’s actually means to be intimate with.

Jesus, the second Adam, has a Bride that He wants to co-labor with Him. He wants them to do His works and greater. He wants to flow through them to let His love touch and save a lost world. But ultimately, I believe, He wants a Bride that He can know. That will DESIRE to know Him, not just because of the product of it, but because it’s Him. The creator of the universe. The God who didn’t understand us, thus humbled Himself to come be like us for a time, that He may sympathize with our weakness. Let’s know Him, and let all the works stuff flow from the never dry fountain.

“When you said, ‘Seek My face, ‘ my heart said to You, ‘Your face, O Lord, I shall seek. Do not hide Your face from  me…’” –Psalm 27:8-9