Thoughts on Blessing

My wife and I had a discussion with Linda a few days ago about birthdays and how to relate to them. She had written a piece on her blog about it and I expressed some of my misgivings about the traditions and expectations that surround the event.

I have often wondered why we make such a big deal out of birthdays anyway. I'm not saying we should or shouldn't, I just wonder why, what the underlying motives are. It even seems more logical that we should celebrate the day of conception more than the birthday. After all, birth is simple a transition from one environment to another. Conception is when one actually comes into existence. It seems that is far more eventfully important than simple a change of position. Of course, times of conception are not only usually difficult to trace back to but are also surrounded with circumstances that almost no one wants to talk about especially in public. So maybe that is one reason it is more convenient to focus on the day of birth.

Birthdays are also usually much more prominent in the mind of women than they are for men. I suspect that is partly so because mothers are so intimately and painfully involved in the process that culminates nine months of very close companionship. It tends to make a much deeper impression and memory for them than it does for most men. That may be why mothers have little trouble remembering birthdays.

We have been learning that there are at least seven very significant times in a persons life when they need to receive a blessing. A lot of time needs to be spent elaborating and explaining what that word even means. One of the best resources I know right now is Family Foundations (found in my resource page). In short, blessing means empowerment to prosper and an impartation of identity. This identity is the unique one God created for this person and reinforced by important people in their lives. Cursing, the opposite of blessing, is of course the exact opposite. It is imparting a negative identity, messages of worthlessness and shame that discourage, dishearten and disempower one for life.

When this is understood it is clear what God's desire is for every one of us. Jesus stated unequivocally, "The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy (curse). I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly (bless). (John 10:10) Our role as parents, friends and even siblings is to reaffirm and remind each other of the identity that God wants to draw out of us that will reveal His glory. This is how we bless each other. And this is also how we can bless God.

The first time of blessing in life is at conception. When two people come together in harmony with the Spirit of God in themselves and celebrate the intimacy that God designed for them to share in marriage and conceive a child in the image of both God and themselves, the new life is infused with a blessing that will make a radical difference for the rest of life.

The second important time of blessing is at birth. It is at this time that the child joins not only his parents in person but all the community of family and friends. Everyone celebrates the visible addition to the joyful community that makes up families. Each person brings their unique perspective of blessing to the child and to the parents empowering the family to thrive and strengthening them for the struggles ahead. Again, identity is imparted in a powerful way to the child and an unseen energy and strength is imparted into the soul of that individual.

To understand just a little of the effect of blessing, just consider the Jews as a culture. They have been practicing blessing in their families for thousands of years. It is no accident that on the whole Jewish people are generally more prosperous and influential than any other group of people in history. It is because they have followed the ancient principles that God built into human design and they are enjoying the benefits. But blessing is not restricted to Jews anymore than being a fully alive human is restricted to Jews.

In my ponderings about birthdays I have wondered if a person might be better served if they used this day to bless others in various ways. Jesus said it is more blessed to give than to receive. I guess I haven't come to any hard conclusions or profound insights on this idea. But the traditions of expecting gifts, cake and parties and the total obsession of wanting all the attention certainly has produced a lot of selfishness on the part of many children that is similar to the self-obsession surrounding Christmas. That is a whole other topic that I certainly don't want to get started on right now.

So I sat down this morning and opened the devotional book and was startled to read the scripture for today. “The Spirit of the LORD will rest on Him, The spirit of wisdom and understanding, The spirit of counsel and strength, The spirit of knowledge and the fear of the LORD.” (Isaiah 11:2) It reminded me strongly of the specific blessing given to me both times that I attended an Ancient Paths I seminar. “And the spirit of the Lord will come on you with power, and you will be acting like a prophet with them, and will be changed into another man. And when these signs come to you, see that you take the chance which is offered you; for God is with you.” (1 Samuel 10:6-7 BBE) The Lord impressed me both times that this was His word, His blessing that in some way reveals something about my true identity and my future. When I first glanced at the text in the devotional I had to look again because it was so similar to the second. And what added to the significance was that this is my birthday.

It was like the Lord wanted to give me an affirmation and a reminder of who I really am to counteract the constant assault of lies from the enemy and from the world around me. As I have read further in the book Wild At Heart this struggle is becoming much more exposed. I am receiving many very important insights from this book and recommend it to anyone who wants to perceive more clearly what is really going on within and around us.

So what will my birthday be like today? How will I relate to it? I don't know yet – ask me at the end of the day and I will know better. I think I will choose today to listen carefully for words of blessing from Jesus. I would hope to hear affirmations and positive identity messages from those who can see me from a different perspective than mine – which of course is anyone outside my skin. But I doubt I will go fishing for them. I hope they are more than just words of “happy birthday”, that they are specific reminders of attachments and value and connections. I hope that God will use me as a channel today to impart blessing and life in specific ways and times to others who are dying for lack of blessing. Because I am realizing more and more that when I am a conduit of blessing I myself am blessed and strengthened myself. Today my wish and deep desire is to experience joy (being glad to be together with people who really love me) in community in very tangible ways. Somehow I think that is what we all want. And that is God's desire as well.

Driving Lesson

This morning as I was driving to work I had one of those experiences that I usually only hear in a sermon. I found myself following a line of four or five cars going below the speed limit on a two lane road – you get the picture. It looked like the car in front was afraid to go any faster though the road conditions were not that bad. Of course there was no good chance to pass the whole line of cars so I engaged in internal dialog and discussed the situation with the Holy Spirit.

My natural instinct was to feel frustrated and impatient, but then I thought about all the instructions I have received over the past few years about such situations and how I should relate to others, even if I don't know them. I checked inside to analyze the condition of my spirit and unravel what was driving this natural compulsion. I realized that it was a desire for the person in the front car to go faster so I would not be inconvenienced. Looking deeper, I recognized that there was probably an addiction to force at work underlying this desire. It was time to adopt a new way of thinking at this point.

I decided that what I needed to do in place of indulging in complaining and impatience was ask for a spirit of peace. That would be facilitated by adopting an attitude of forgiveness for the slow drivers. This was a choice that I could make, to relax and remain in a non-judgmental mode. But it was a choice I had to make repeatedly as the urge to become impatient kept returning.

As I drove on down the road continuing this internal conversation, suddenly the whole line of cars slowed down and began to pull off onto the shoulder. I had to brake hard and quickly looked around to see if there was some serious problem up ahead that I hadn't noticed yet but I saw nothing unusual. Then I saw the answer. The line of cars was pulling into a cemetery where there was a tent set up for a burial.

As I went on down the road now unhindered by slow traffic I could almost see God's face, but He did not need to say a thing. I simply said, “I hear you, I think the point is obvious”. I then thought back over the last few minutes in self-analysis to see what I could learn. I realized I did not make all the wrong choices that I could have made. What I did remember was that knowing the circumstances is not important in choosing how to relate to others in situations like this. My attitude should not be based on knowing whether or not someone deserves my sympathy or consideration. I need to remain in peace and in connection with God irregardless of external irritations.

This may seem like a silly little incident. But life is made up of little lessons learned daily that go into building character and habits. So this was one more little lesson for me. And it reminded me of......

Salvation Revisted

We have long thought that salvation is about getting us to heaven so we can rest and be out of range of evil. Then we will be able to coast along in perfection because there won't be anyone there to cause us to do wrong. We will no longer need grace because we will not have any evil desires or impulses to resist. But for now, we have to strive hard to hang on to God's strength and by His power resist and overcome evil both within and without until we are safe on that distant shore. We have to fill our minds with lots of truth that will outweigh or expose all the wrong information that may still be in our minds. Or, if we have been in the church long enough some people actually have the audacity to believe that the only job left for them is to convince others of the truths of doctrine so they can come into line with what we know to be true. Since there is very little truth that we haven't heard repeatedly from the pulpit or in our writings, then our emphasis shifts from learning to teaching (or arguing) to spread the “gospel” to all the world. Pretty much the outline of the good, solid left-brain religion I was brought up in.

As I read My Utmost yesterday morning the realization began to deepen that our dependence on God will not cease when we get to heaven as we have subtly assumed but not necessarily taught. In fact, salvation is the relationship itself of learning constant dependence and enjoying continuous intimacy with our Creator and Lover. Our preparation for heaven is not achieving perfection of behavior and outward conformity or even a perfectly disciplined imagination. We are not using the plan of salvation just to get us out of the mess of sin so we can be independently wealthy and happy in the new earth in fellowship with other like-minded saints. Salvation is the experience of living in a vital connection with the Source of life which results in the symptoms of life growing naturally out of our lives. This process is called Salvation and the condition itself is called eternal life. That's why Jesus said we would enter into life eternal NOW when we believed in Him. (see John 6:54 & 17:3) Our intimate relationship with Jesus, our continual surrender to be governed by an outside Source of authority in that relationship is the essence of eternal life. It begins to reconnect us to the Tree of Life that we have been deprived of for millenia. And the same relationship that we experience and enter into here is the one that will continue for all of eternity while strengthening in deeper and deeper surrender, being swallowed up in the identity of God Himself.

All throughout the Bible there are indications that the people of God are being formed into a united “dwelling” place, a building, a sanctuary for God to dwell in. Salvation is not turning us into gods who will take over heaven. Salvation restores us into eternal life which is being swallowed up into the body of Christ that God is assembling to be fully revealed at the great wedding day at the end of the millenium. (see the Great Controversy overview)

Weakness of Law

Last night I was reading a court case about a man attempting to get a birth certificate because he had completely lost all memory of his history and identity through an accident. He had looked for months for someone who might know him and fill him in on his past and appealed to every official he could think of to help him but no one could solve his problem. He was trapped in legal limbo because he could not get a job or leave the country without first getting a birth certificate to prove his identity. But he could not get a birth certificate without finding someone who knew him or producing paperwork proving his identity. The only paper he had was a card from the hospital where he awoke with his presumed name, age and possible place of birth. Since he had lost all memory of his life before the accident he could not verify any of these facts. He appealed to the court as a last resort to give him an identity and a birth certificate so he could function in society and get a job to support himself.

As strange as the case seems, what struck me even more profoundly as I read this case was the underlying, unchallengeable presumptions implicit in the arguments that the only solution to his identity crisis had to be uncovered in the immense maze of legal opinions and laws based on literally centuries of legal code and court actions. Any sensible person even with a hard and callous heart could look at his case and see what other human beings should do to help him. But society is so completely committed and entrenched to the system of relating to each other only under the rule of ridiculously complex legal codes that it is impossible to perform one simple little request that would allow this man back into a functioning place in society.

To me, this case is a classic example of the failure of the whole concept of law as part of the unholy trinity. It reveals that we have set up law in place of God. This belief insists that every decision for every situation must be condensed into a legal code or opinion that becomes not just a guideline but an enforcement on humanity from this time forward. It is a counterfeit to being led by the Spirit. It is counterfeit wisdom. It assumes that the accumulated decisions of men over time are of greater weight than the wisdom that God wants to impart through His Spirit to those who will live from their heart. Sin's illusion that humanity can achieve perfection through collective formulas that are in turn forced on everyone around us is fatally flawed. It is the ultimate “living from the head, or intellect” in place of living from the heart. It is much of the make-up of the “beast” described in the book of Revelation.

As addiction to law is expanded to smother out the last few remaining pockets of “heart-livers” on the earth, it will be asserted that its long-promised goal of a perfect society under law is almost within reach. In the urgency to rush to the finish line it will be decided that the last remaining holdouts who have chosen to prioritize living from their heart and placing their allegiance in God instead of law must be eliminated from society so that there will be no dissenters to the grand utopia of perfection under law. Since force is the foundation for the counterfeit trinity of law, kingship and economics, then force is the logical means to accomplish its perfection. This is the final deception that is fast closing its last few loopholes in its final push to rule over the whole earth.

We can see the outline of this development in current politics and war, the caustic tone of the media and the blind obsession for fame and money permeating nearly everything and everyone around us. The unholy trinity is not just a theory through which one can interpret history, it is a powerful reality that fully intends to lock the whole world and every last person into its vice grip by either deception or force. The book of Revelation prophecies that anyone who refuses to submit to its demands will be evicted from its benefits by being cut off economically in the earth. “He also forced everyone, small and great, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on his right hand or on his forehead, so that no one could buy or sell unless he had the mark, which is the name of the beast or the number of his name.” (Revelation 13:16-17 NIV)

While there are many beliefs about what constitutes the various elements of this important prophecy, it is absolutely true that this prophecy is about to be realized. Notice the element of force. This is the trademark of the unholy trinity, the counterfeit government set up in opposition to God's way of relating to His people under the family model. Also note the two options presented under the system of accepting “the mark”. You can have the name in your forehead, which is fully embracing internally the identity emanating from this beast, or you can have the number, which implies the idea of living by formulas in place of living from the heart and being led by the Spirit.

At this point many people may immediately exit onto a sidetrack of arguing about what constitutes the correct interpretation of these words thereby missing the whole point here. In fact, they will jump into their favorite formula and quote their favorite authors to prove their correctness and justify their conclusions. But is this not a demonstration of more formula-based living and thinking? I'm not suggesting there is no right or wrong way to look at this most important passage. What I am saying is that the spirit with which we come to it may be even more of a problem than the conclusions that we end up with. It may be the classic example of desperately looking everywhere for the cause of our distorted vision while ignoring the lenses we are looking through which are the cause of the distortion.

He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant-- not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life. (2 Corinthians 3:6 NIV)

It is the spirit that gives life; the flesh is useless. The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life. (John 6:63 NRSV)

But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code. (Romans 7:6 NIV)

Transfiguration

I've been thinking for some reason about what happened on the Mount of Transfiguration and how Peter acted during that experience. I am starting to realize that one of the reasons Peter's comments were so hopelessly out of place is that he was living primarily in a religion of the head and the transfiguration was an event almost completely oriented in the heart. This is why Peter was at a complete loss as to how to act or what to say and ended up with a bunch of blather coming out of his mouth that was immediately embarrassing even to himself.

Peter, like most of us, had not yet learned to live from his heart. He was in training and once in a while he could synchronize with what Jesus was doing, but most of the time he would just blurt out whatever he thought was important and often make a fool of himself. This incident was certainly no exception.

But then I remember how Jesus related to Peter even though He knew what Peter was like and often even got Jesus into hot water. I am amazed at the patience and compassion with which Jesus always related with Peter even though Peter was so clumsy and spiritually inept many times. Jesus believed in Peter and saw his heart. He was drawing out the real Peter from deep inside that even Peter did not know about yet. He always included Peter when only three were selected on various occasions to accompany Jesus at crucial moments. And even though Jesus knew ahead of time that Peter would stick his foot in his mouth on the Mount, he took him with Him up the mountain to experience what few men have experienced in the history of the world.

The event of the transfiguration was not about putting on a show to impress three of His followers and convince them that He was indeed God. The reason for this crucial event in the life of Jesus was to strengthen His heart and dramatically increase His joy strength and capacity to be able to go through the intense conflict of the final events just in front of Him. Joy is being happy to be together and the strength that is derived from that experience. In this moment Jesus brought together the family of heaven and His family still on earth for a few minutes of very intense joy that is almost, if not completely, only an experience of the heart, not an intellectual exercise. Moses and Elijah did not come down to inform Jesus of vital information that He would need for His time of trouble. They came down to reassure Jesus of their support as representatives of both heaven and humanity. The three disciples were included as current and future representatives even though at the time they were clueless as to why they were there.

The transfiguration was a visible demonstration of what the kingdom of heaven is all about. It was a foretaste of the unity and glory that God intends for all of His family. It was shared with His disciples to break the stranglehold of formalism from their minds and cause them to think radically outside the religious box that they were so used to living within. And after the Spirit filled them at Pentecost and they looked back on this event from the perspective of the final events of Jesus life on earth and His ascension to glory, it all began to come together and make much more sense in their minds. Then they were starting to make serious progress learning to truly live from their hearts like Jesus had demonstrated before them for three and a half years.

Yes, they still had issues that came up and prejudices to overcome and blind spots to be unmasked. But they had made a distinct shift from a head religion to a heart spirituality that soon shook the entire world. And until it became contaminated with error and selfishness a few years later, the power of that heart-based spirituality compelled by the mighty power of the Holy Spirit was an unstoppable force that swept over the entire civilized world.

Sometimes I think I act like Peter. Oh, I may not be as bold and outspoken as he was, but I am certainly capable of speaking religious talk while disconnected from my heart. I often soon regret many things I say and advice that I give or offhand comments and criticisms that so easily slip through my tongue. More and more I find myself trying to hold my tongue while trying to perform an internal check to see what my current motives are and the condition of my spirit. Very often I realize, sometimes too late, that my spirit is quite selfish and hasty and eager to make myself look better in comparison to others. I come across as condescending or patronizing. And always, my motives have at least some degree of self-interest mixed in to even the most noble motives that are prompted by His Spirit. I am never completely free of bias or prejudices no matter how hard I strive. I realize more clearly that without total dependence on the untainted merits of Jesus' motives and character alone to recommend me to heaven, I am a goner for sure.

But the wonderful good news is that every one of us have been freely supplied with more merit and righteousness than we could ever use or need. If we will accept it, claim it and believe God wants us to have it, we will be transformed by it. In doing so we will become participants in the transfiguration ourselves. The glory of God and of all heaven will infect us and emanate from us and attract others to the beauty and truth about God.