Intentional Growth requires Help

John 14:18- "I will not leave you comfortless..." I want us to look at the word "comfortless"
in this verse. It is taken from the Greek word orphanos, which is where we get
the word orphan.

In New Testament times, the word orphanos described children left without a father
or mother. In today's world, the word orphan has exactly the same meaning. It refers
to a child who is abandoned due to the death or desertion of a father or mother.
Once orphaned, the child is deprived of parental care, supervision, and protection
- unless that child is placed in the custody of a blood relative or a new guardian
who assumes a parental role in that child's life.

However, in New Testament times the word orphanos was also used in a broader sense
to describe students who had been abandoned by their teacher. Just as children are
dependent on their parents, these students were reliant on their teacher to teach
them, to guide them, and to prepare them for life. But once the teacher abandoned
them, they felt deserted, forsaken, discarded, and thrown away.

In both cases, the word orphanos is used to carry the same idea, whether it refers
to children abandoned by their parents or students discarded by their teacher. It
gives the picture of younger, less educated, less knowledgeable people feeling deserted
by those they trusted and looked to for guidance.

Jesus was a spiritual father to the disciples. He knew they were completely reliant
upon Him. They couldn't make it on their own in the world without Him. This is why
He promised them, "I will not leave you like orphans." Jesus' words could be translated to express this idea:

"I will not leave you behind like orphans who have been deserted by their parents,
nor will I desert you like an unfaithful teacher who walks out on his students and
leaves them with no supervision or help...."

Jesus knew the disciples couldn't make it on their own in the world. That's why
He sent the Holy Spirit into the world to be their new Guardian and Teacher.
You can't make it on your own in this world either - but you don't have to, because
Jesus did not abandon you! He did not desert you, walk out on you, or throw you
away. When He ascended to the Father, He sent the Holy Spirit to care for you, to
guide you, and to teach you. Jesus did not leave you as an orphan in this world!
So meditate on this truth today, and let it sink deep into your heart: I'm not alone!
I'm not a spiritual orphan. Jesus has given me the Holy Spirit to comfort, guide,
counsel, and strengthen me in every situation of life!

One of, if not the most important key for intentional growth is a relationship with the person of the Holy Spirit!

Word for 2013

Word for 2013

I love the holidays but if it could have been without all the driving that would have been great. 27 hours  on the road is just a tad to much for holiday travel. I say that because with all the "road noise" (kids) and then family and more road noise and more family it is easy to miss the gentle whispers and nudging of the Holy Spirit, which is exactly what I heard the Lord speak to me and I believe to others for this next year. He said it was the "year of the ear," a "season for Samuels ear." 

In 1 Samuel we see that the nation was again in despair, the leaders were apathetic and the people were complacent and the priest's lived in sin and Eli wouldn't correct them. Israel was experiencing a spiritual drought. Eli (the High Priest) was a decent sort of fellow, even though his spiritual discernment was weak and his parenting was weaker. Notice that when Hannah was praying at the tabernacle in Shiloh, Eli was so unaware that he mistook the cries of her heart for being drunk and disorderly.

Notice also that here again Hannah is described as barren. In the Bible, this almost always foreshadows that something important is about to happen. So far Joseph, Samson and Samuel all share that distinction of being born of barren women.

Also consider the transitional role that Samuel is about to play. He is the last judge and the first prophet of Israel. He will usher in the nation's monarchial period by anointing not only the first, but also the second king who will rule over Israel. It is into this situation that God whispered. Of all the things He could have done (earthquakes, fire on a mountain, you name it, He is God) He chose to turn a nation on a whisper. The only problem with a whisper is you have to have an open ear and be positioned close enough to hear. It's not often we get the fire or voice like thunder. Often it's the still small voice. I believe we have entered into a season of "whispers."  I believe that you, our nation and myself our just one whisper away from change. 


1) An Open Ear

Just because we have ears it does not mean their open. Life, pre-set paradigms, people, all have a way of causing our hearing to dull over time. I like how the message translation reads in Revelation 2:7

"Are your ears awake? Listen. Listen to the Wind Words, the Spirit blowing through the churches.....' 

I believe that in order to have an open ear we need to take the time to listen. James tells us to be quick to listen and slow to speak yet somehow prayer has become a one way street where we speak so much more than we listen. It is hard to hear someone whisper when we are always talking. 


2) A Good Position  

There is a unique story in the gospel of Luke chapter 10. This story has been the subject of thousands of sermons and scores of books. It is the story of Mary and Martha. There is so much that one can look at, discuss and delve deeper into but for my purpose I want only to look at the fact that Mary "sat at His feet and heard His word." She was positioned for a whisper. 

While Mary was positioning herself to hear a whisper the word says that Martha was "distracted with all her preparations." The word "distracted" used here is the Greek verb "perispao," which literally means to drag around in circles. The word for "preparations," is the same word for "ministry." When we are born again, everything we do is ministry, it is spiritual. Life, ministry has a way of becoming a weight we drag around in circles and it seems that we are stuck going through the motions of life. Busy, but going nowhere. What's the answer? Ask Mary, it is the good part that cannot be taken away. It is positioning ourselves at His feet to hear a whisper that can change everything. 

A.W. Tozer once said, "there are occasions were I would would lay hours before before God without uttering a word of prayer or of praise and just gaze upon Him and worship." Tozer was a newspaper editor, pastor and business man yet He knew the power of a whisper. 

I have recenlty heard a poem which has now become my prayer, especially for the season I believe were entering...

                                            "Oh, give me Samuels ear,
                                               an open ear, o Lord
                                               Alive and quick to hear
                                               Each whisper of thy Word;
                                               Like to him to answer o thy call
                                               And to obey thee first of all."