revealing revelations

the 7 churches has many lessons to teach us. Ephesus, Symrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, Laodicea (ESPTSPL) are our brethren in Christ and may stand for one of us, one of our churches or one aspect of us that seems to manifest at the time. We can plummet its depth and breadth when we divide the factoids to unravel what things are most important to God and our Lord.

1. At the very core and essence is our First Love, which is also our height and glory. It is our first love, ideal, clearest , fire hot, passionate, fundamentally pure and essential..that which we may have forgotten but the Lord has not. First love ought not be a memory but a living reality, fanned by a deepening loving fun-filled enriching relationship with the Lord Jesus that continues on day by day through worship, prayer and quiet devotions. This is the interface , the link that binds us, abides us to the Lord and his life blood – this is the first place and repeatedly so, that the enemy plants the 4 Ds : distraction, despair , discouragement, danger. This is why the most complete church in Revelations received no less rebuke – the inner life was missing. We lay the first foundation, the core of our spiritual being.
2. The 2nd level is the things that God particularly commends : Hate of false teachings (hat lead to idolatry and sexual immorality), be faithful in suffering and hardships, Increasing deeds and service, clean clothes, the keeping of His word and enduring patiently. Things that are important to us , as we see, may not be as important to God. His ways are not our ways. We build truth and doctrines in us, strengthen the ability to endure suffering, build patience as we pray through difficulties, keep on doing good works and faith works, keep his word and wear clean wedding garments for the wedding of the Lamb.
3. the 3rd level is the things that God especially detests : tolerance confused and mistaken as love among brethren; sleepy, weak and dying christians ; lukewarm, blind (ignorant) and boastful successful Christians ; Christians with great but empty reputations. We who are of the true circumcision , who worship by the Spirit of God and who put no confidence in the flesh will do well to remember that there are many who live as the enemy of the cross of Christ ( not Christ per say but the cross of Christ) whose god is their belly and who glory in their shame. What we glory in may be shameful to the Lord. The unifying key seems to be that the Lord is no longer their focus, their aim, that which fills their minds and heart.
4. the 4th level is the things that God mentions but did not elaborate : deeds, hard work, perseverance, love (not first) , faith, and service. These are important but they must never be pursued without the core and the other areas at level 2 and 3. Faith without works may be dead, but works without faith is have not even begun to enter into life. Begin with faith and then from a life of faith, work out your own salvation because God is at work in you both to will and to work for His good pleasure.
5. the 5th level is the things that do not even matter to Him : being poor and having little strength.

Lord I want to remember what you remember

and forget what you have forgotten :

my first love

and my sins

respectively

and build my life in terms of your priorities

not mine.

Strengthen.what.remains

Strengthen What Remains is a command. a command from The Lord, The Father. Receive it as it is. Do not read beyond what it means clearly.

Strengthen What Remains is focusing on the positive, the living, the spiritual life. It focuses on what you have is your hand now, not what you have lost or not have.

Strengthen What Remains is not condemning in spirit except pride falls from a pedestal hidden in the corner of the heart. You thought you were better. It hurts.

Did not God say ” No discipline seems pleasant at that time but painful. Later on it produces…” a Promise : it will produce.

Hebrews 12 highlights a Christian’s many bumps in life

• Hindrances to our work : the little distractions, time robbers and foxes
• entangling Sin : snakey, insinuating. subtle , enslaving, enticing sin
• the long Race is a run. It takes perseverance and effort. it is not a downhill cruise.
• the Cross : enduring the practice of carrying the cross, suffering as we deny ourselves and live for God. This is the Struggle against sin, sin within.
• the Shame : the misunderstanding and silent mocking of people who do not understand God’s call on your life. some may be your friends and relatives.
• the Opposition from sinful men.
• Resisting sin and the enemy.
• the Lord’s Discipline and Rebuke. it hurts because it is your Father
• Hardship in life .

again I say the answer is not navel gazing or hole digging.

Fix your eyes on Jesus.

remains

I am distraught. I read revelation 3 and it feels like God speaking the words ” Strengthen what remains” into me.Hauntingly

I cannot escape its truth.  At first the heart rises because it recognises

the Master’s voice, heard so long ago. faraway. Then the reality of truth meeting the asphalt

sets in, grips me

like a claw constricting my heart.  You are dead.

almost but so what. The dead and the dying. Only there remains for me – a reputation

of being alive, a memory of deeds incomplete before a complete God

the Father and just a tiny sliver of green emerging , His finger

beneath the pile of rubble, it lingers

much like Nehemiah’s rubble. my spirit

alive ,  is still breathing – half alive half dead on the ground. dry bones. Come

close and feel

the warm moisturized air that exudes

from my passages. It is about to die . It is not about to live.

Strengthen what remains

even though it is half dead and dying and ugly and tattered. There is still life,

still life. and I cry at the diagnosis.

Still the road ahead I clamber. So little life and in my tired weariness,  I dread

the tomorrows of trying

strengthen that which is dying.

I am a doctor giving CPR to my spirit who is fracturing, ebbing

away. powerless , misunderstood , grieving

like giving up. I feel like all these years of trying and striving

have become nought –  no avail. God no

has not come nor has he seen the pain. I have stumbled in my service and pursuit of Him. I am imperfect. My deeds are incomplete.  stumbling

A gargantuan litany amasses  before me. Here am I again fallen and weak, part shell and part dead. hearing the trumpet

call Wake Up! Be alert  Be watchful!

Strengthen, make firm , establish

It remains !..alive beautiful, of the Spirit, living,

Remember what you have received , Hold On,

• Repent

I dread these words. But would I rather …” Better is one day in your courts than a thousand

elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents

of the wicked. ” Remembering

I would rather hear the voice of my Lord (healing truth) than  sweet words of the lying disease called satan

Speak  Ruach as Samuel said,  your servant is listening.

the gate

this gate has no keeper

just anxiety resting there, a foot in the space

Satan’s playground , my mind falters

the focus is off, my fixation on Christ the Son and Jesus  it slips

and time robs the two days and I have been living unwell

uncentred, unmoved in the spirit –

just the earth and swift feet doing and doing. walking on the earth

Not on water.

the gate is now exposed, ha ha , my folly , my anxious companion

whispering the little things that go wrong, what ifs and what nots

the shield so well worn in my youth becomes a Saul’s armour

in my age of faith ; I , like Peter, the only other water walker

forgot to gaze at the Solutioner,  big waves even little laps break my balance

water walking is worse than tight rope walking – the latter you aim for balance

the water walk you walk and you have no input except to believe

that your friend Anxious is spurting out anxiety

Get rid of that friendly foe. close the gate. the weak link

the little foxes, the entangling hindering voices that take away the joys

the heights of God in you brought out amid shouts

“Faith overcomes, Fear undermines”

and I rest as I run.

the art of saying NO

It is not , as I have found, the shining coin on a dirt strewn path,

not the ability to say yes to God , that is not where the poverty of spirit lies

not the ability or desire of wanting God and good things of the soul

I have plenty. going forward may be the stumbling block for some

not me, I have a storehouse of good intentions and verbal declarations.

What I lack , like to young rich ruler, is a silent closed door praying

kneeling where I meet the Father and commune with the Lord, drink till drunk

the Spirit wine. the consistency and daily eating of the body of Christ

the blood I only partake but once

every two or four weeks. I need the regular, the mundane, the undecorated

life without fanfare, in the trenches – to be inundated with divine life . Away

from the madding crowd: with God alone

no fig leaf. two chairs and a tea table set in a garden.

and unrushed ears and lingering time

drunk with the Spirit. dream the dreams of God.

What I need ; the ability to say NO, The shout Silence! Be still!

to the mountain of distractions I call out and pressing calls I refuse, ever

evolving needs and wants of a bored life

of the needy body and hurting soul, the spirit got forgotten.

NO to the little foxes and lesser wholesome activities , still the butcher slices away, the circumcision of the unnecessary, distilling of the pure oil of need

NO to deadness and sin’s alluring whispers

NO to discussions , my excuses and defensive arguments

blaming stress and offenses done to us. No to whys I cannot do it..

I want the power to say No, not just YES

to bring the battle to the denial of the flesh , carrying of the cross

wooden cross, where the battle lies

Sometimes, the battle is above the earth, the realm of the flying spirits

where dreams and possibilities activate, perspectives that open eyes and minds

the struggle is not flesh and blood, the soulish struggles

the emotional wounds and weakened wills, yet sometimes it is

of the flesh and blood coursing through the veins, arteries

for it is still the physical door that the spirit paints its potrait

it is still the NO that simplifies and purifies

my body. my disciple.

My soul-spirit. His.

The record

I record. the seed is now budding

salleh simon and perhaps promise of more

rejoice. I see like elijah

a tiny speck of cloud on a cloudless sky

Run!

fixated on Heb 12.2

the word is fix

not look, not glance

not the brief and occasional

not the presidential survey of faces and throng but the lasting unequivocal

fixed gaze , transfixed and unvaried, not distracted by cows that dot

the bohemian landscape, beaconing the uninitiated to revelry, a shaded tree

noise of the passing bands and cries of pleasures, and frustrated

still life seated on platforms waiting..

Fixed on a person, not dogma, not principle centred not driven

Fixed on a personal relationship now, not past not historical

locked gazes between Him and me, me looking as he looks back

It is good. I am at rest. The howling winds and rushing branches, declining

dusk

do not weigh my tired feet heavy I run

He smiles, He beckons come on , he reaches his hand towards me

he calls my name

Run freely, joyfully, the wind of the spirit is enveloping my torso and dries my sweat

Run peacefully knowing the run is not only for today

Run as he my saviour looks approvingly, gracious love and comes on a gentle path

and feeds a tired soul.

I fix my eyes on You O Lord and I am beginning

to see the race marked out for me.

a soldier’s DO IT

A Iranian militant

now a christian, a child of God, visionary, pastor

cries as he shares the conversion experience, touches the core

of me, my own I have forgotten and slipped into oblivion now recast

fresh like yesterday, the day my heavy sullen burdens fell off and rose a new

living entity of me. Love so easily forgotten until we miss it. we don’t think

of it . we lead loveless lives. work work work. results results results

but the man in pink goes on and His God so real i can hear my God

same God speaking. God God God. in me. ALIVE.

4 scenarios

A sower sows seeds and get 4 different results:

• no result (seeds stolen away)
• positive result , not lasting(shallow roots)
• positive result, not lasting (things crowded)
• positive result, lasting, fruitful.

I figure  that if desire to gain one convert in 2010, I should be prepared to share with 10 people and not just share with 1 person and expect a 100% result. Farmers don’t think like that.  Not every seed will take root. There will be obstacles to the harvest.

1000 seeds sowed may result in 500 plants but each plant may bear 10 times more seeds; hence 5000 seeds.

So in 2010, let’s put on the hat of a farmer.

1.look to the seasons

2. prepare the ground and water supply

3. sow the seeds.

( step 2 and 3  are the hardest work)

4. Don’t be afraid of hard work.

5. Believe that the seeds carry the promise and potential of life

6. Watch and pray for seedlings.

7. Watch for shallow victories and growths; deepen the roots.

8.  Watch for weeds that crowd out Christ and joy in them.

9. Water regularly.

10. Stay on the farm. Can’t be a farmer from the city. Or as Heidi Baker says , ” sit with the poor”. It reminds me of Ps 1 where we are warned not to sit with scoffers.

Sit with God today. Sit with the poor in spirit today. Hear their concerns. Lord hear mine and let be a farmer for you. 

He who goes out weeping,
carrying seed to sow,
will return with songs of joy,
carrying sheaves with him. Amen

this is personal

Lord if I end this year with a growing ministry among my patients , seeing come to you in faith and experiencing new life, I’ll be happy contented fulfilled. Churches like to talk a lot about community penetration yet it seldom goes beyond giving mooncakes or old clothes. Take a leaf from cross cultural missions. What would one do? set up medical social services? live among them, eat with them, visit places where they hang out , relax and work?

Thank you Lord for a burgeoning ministry in my patients. This year I want to move beyond good medicine and caring to home visits, personal sharing and reaching to the fringes of society. How? Ps Adelaja suggests that Christians frequently sit and wait for people to come to them yet the great commission tells us to go out..He recommends that we embrace hard work in reaching out.

Lord I shall start this year with hard prayer. because I believe that we need to listen first to you before we plunge in; end up with feet in our mouths. I need to see what my Father is doing and co work with him. because I know pray is work and prayer works, removing spiritual invisible barriers. because I know spiritual work is not just man’s manual work. Ps 127 says unless God builds the house..we do it in vain.

God, Lord, Father, this week I start with cleansing the body,  mind, will and emotive soul and spirit. This month I will (and please help me) pray and sow much prayer. and like a trained unconcealed arrow, press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me; Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

prayerfully