Consecration « Green P@stures

Archive for the 'Consecration' Category

Jul

The Passionate (Passive) Pursuit of God

Categories: Brokenness, Christianity, Commitment, Consecration and Crucified Life

When evangelist Gypsy Smith was asked why, at ninety years of age, there was still a fresh vitality in his witness, he replied, “Because I’ve never lost the wonder of it all.” I, too, pray for that same effervescent hope and glittery twinkle in my eye for my later years. Check that, I strive in Christ for it! I long to dwell in the secret place of the Most High and abide forever in the True Vine.

Far too many in the professing church today are hoping in a false security for all their eternal wants and wishes. Because they prayed a prayer, lifted a hand at a pastor’s behest during an invitation or filled out a decision card, they feel they are “in” and that’s all there is to it. There is no coming under the reign of Christ. They live as they good and well please. The Gospel of Heaven has replaced the Gospel of the Reign of Christ in the modern church.

When John the Baptist came preaching an “at-hand” Kingdom of Heaven, it was clear to him that a characteristic of a Kingdom citizen was one who was continually brought under the Lordship of the Son, the King of that Kingdom, Jesus the Christ.

“He must increase; I must decrease.”
(John 3:30)

The interesting thing about that passage is its Greek construction. The first phrase is a present active reality. “He must be increasing.” Simply put, the Baptizer knew this about the Kingdom economy: its citizens MUST be seen flourishing in the Life of Christ and He must be seen thriving and thrumming in them. The Good News is, this is not something we can work up on our own.

In the second phrase, the mood switches to the passive, morphing the words into these: “I must be BEING decreased.” I cannot break myself nor can I bring holiness to myself. It is the Lord’s doing.

Be forewarned. Those who would follow Christ are ripe for the anvil since we are all rife with self. Paul of the Damascus Road once shouted with his reed: “That I may know Him and the power of His resurrection (He must increase) and the fellowship of His suffering (I must be being decreased)…”

And still, still after years of hammering and hurting, scraping and scouring, being cast down, cast out and cast off, this hearty old apostle could say at the end of his days it had been “a good fight.” How can you kill a man who’s already dead?

When young Gypsy made Christ Lord of all His Life, it stuck. He made it his life’s pursuit to know Christ.

Eternal life is not gained by the mere lifting of a hand but with a life that abides in His Love (John 17:3). And it is a restful abiding, to be sure. Our work is only to yield (though that seems like hard labor in a prison yard at times as self is so unrelenting!). But His work is to deliver us all the way from Egypt and to Promise.

And one day, maybe a few hundred miles from this moment, or just a few perhaps, may we also turn to a would-be inquirer with glowing face and smiling eyes and give witness to a life well lived.

A life that, by God’s needful grace, never loses the wonder.

Sep

A Little More Gray…A Little Less Dead

By pasturescott 10 Comments

Categories: Consecration, Crucified Life, Hunger, Intimacy, Jesus Christ, Loving God, Prayer, Reign of Christ, Surrender and Worship

“He must increase; I must be being decreased.”
–John the Plunger, 1st century

“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.”
–Paul, mid-1st century

“Therefore we do not become discouraged (utterly spiritless, exhausted, and wearied out through fear). Though our outer man is [progressively] decaying and wasting away, yet our inner self is being [progressively] renewed day after day.”
–2 Corinthians 4:16, Amplified

The math is easy. Two thousand and seven minus nineteen hundred and sixty equals forty-seven. I did that without using my fingers, a calculator or calendars. When you get to be my age, you hesitate a little longer when someone asks how old you are. In a few years I’ll hesitate when someone asks my name but so far I’m good on that front.

Today I turned 47.

I hopped in the van this morning, headed for some TWG (Time With God) and as I locked my wheelchair into the driver’s side, I stole a quick glance into the rearview mirror. It may have been the way the sunlight highlighted the right side of my head but I had to do a double-take at the increased number of silvery strands that reflected back at me. Did it bother me? No, not one bit because I quickly referenced in my noggin the times that gray hair is meant to be a good thing in the Bible, even desirable.

Now, balding? That’s another matter altogether. I’ve moved from a hair brush to just moving some hairs around with my fingers. Soon I’ll just need a washrag. God is pretty much silent on the subject, too. Some people’s hair he numbers. Others (like me), He puts an asterisk beside.

(Total is pending.)

Sometime after my two older sisters came to be, my Mom suffered an unfortunate miscarriage. Had that child been born, I may not be here today. So, in celebration of this auspicious day in my life, come along with me into the courts and inner chamber of the Maker of Life. I’m SO glad to be alive! Even though I can squint and see fifty, and though flecks of gray are gaining momentum, I rejoiced today that with each passing year, I’m a little less ’dead’. I’m so tired of carrying about this body of death that every turn of the calendar means I’m getting that much closer to putting on immortality!

Please indulge me for yet another entry into my prayer journal:

My Father, God and King,

This is the life! Early Fall, temperatures are becoming more civil…the color of the world even seems to have changed into richer tones…and I’m here with You on my birthday, looking forward to Your Presence to hold me and reveal more riches and the richness of Your grace and Life. Show up, Lord! Speak to me. Let me hear from Your Throne and heart; I invite You to tarry with me here this while. Walk with me and expound Truth to my ears and heart that I might gain a fuller revelation of the Son of God and may my heart BURN—burn on and burn out—for You.

Overwhelm me with waves of mercy, grace following grace, glory to glory and faith to faith. Baptize me in Your deep, deep waters and bury me in them that I might rise in power with You. O God! Fill me to fullness! Complete me! Finish Your work in me! May Christ be fully formed in me…pull me into Yourself that I might come to the complete measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ with no vestige left of Scott-the-old-man. I want You. I long for You. I can even say in this moment that my soul aches for You—please don’t let this ache go away! Bubble up through me, O Living Water! Fill me up to overflowing. I worship You.

My…

Faithful God.
Wonderful Friend.
Caring Shepherd.
Loving Companion.
Patient Counselor.
Ever-present Helper.
Constant Hope.
Loyal Defender.

I feel deep pools rising up within me. Look at me when Your eyes look to and from on the earth because I’m raising my hand so You can spot me. I’m here, looking at You, beholding You. Come to me, O One Who reigns! I owe my whole life to You and bathe in Your grace. Take me deep into Your waters but as they rise to find their level, raise me with them.

I’m not after counterfeit and make-believe or manufactured holiness or any ‘virtual’ oasis in this desert. I want You to reign in me and through me. I can’t wait for the day when Your Kingdom truly comes in all its fullness to me and completely shatters and displaces all the flesh and mortar kingdoms of my heart. I long for the day when You reign supreme and there is no rebellion, hypocrisy or conditional love in me. I cry for the day when Your radiance is so seen in me that “I” become transparent—yea, removed—that all that is seen is divine glory, and the fragrance of Christ so permeates me that all stench is removed. When LOVE pours out of me in measures only known in Heaven.

Thank You for life!

Thank You for bringing me into existence that I might feel Your Touch, love and redeeming grace. Thank You for allowing me to be “in the story” and for giving me a place in it where I can demonstrate Your Life and not be stumbling around in the darkness along with the whole of humanity. Praise You! I love living and today is an opportunity for me to tell it to my heart…

I’m a little more gray today but a little less ‘dead’, too. Each passing year gets me closer to removing entirely this body of death and to be fitted for the garment You are tailoring for me. I only ask for fabric that breathes, that is porous enough to more readily, quickly and noticeably display Your glory abundantly throughout eternity…“Not unto me, O Lord. Not unto me. But to Your Name I give the glory—“ (Ps 115:1)

A little more gray. A little less dead.

Today, as I look forward from this place in the time I have left, I recommit myself to these things:

·         A little more death, a little less me
·         A little more praise, a little less indifference
·         A little more surrender, a little less selfishness
·         A little more patience, a little less judgment
·         A little more intention, a little less waste
·         A little more passion, a little less paralysis
·         A little more glory, a little less relevance
·         A little more love, a little less self-protection
·         A little more fasting, a little less indulgence
·         A little more worship, a little less preoccupation
·         A little more pilgrimage, a little less Egypt
·         A little more faith, a little less rationalism
·         A little more poor, a little less rich
·         A little more listening, a little less noise
·         A little more God, a little less theology
·         A little more risk, a little less resignation

Thank You for my life, Lord. It’s Yours. Thank You for Your Life, Lord. It’s mine.

Giver of every breath I breathe
Author of all eternity
Giver of every perfect thing
To You be the glory
Maker of Heaven and earth
No one can comprehend Your worth
King over all the universe
To You be the glory
And I am alive because I’m alive in You

It’s all because of Jesus I’m alive
It’s all because of the blood of Jesus Christ
That covers me and raised this dead man’s life
It’s all because of Jesus I’m alive

–“It’s All Because of Jesus”
The Altar and the Door, Casting Crowns

What about you? What do you need a ‘little’ more of? A ‘little’ less of?

Aug

A Prayer For This Day

By pasturescott 6 Comments

Categories: Christianity, Confession, Consecration, Crucified Life, Encouragement, Hunger, Intimacy, Jesus Christ, Prayer, Reign of Christ and Repentance

Occasionally (well rarely…er, never?) I will add something out of my prayer journal and post it for public consumption and that mood strikes me this day. A little context, if you please: my life has been a runaway roller coaster for several weeks now, running from meeting to meeting, imploding under the weight of protocols, agendas, procedures, tasks and deadlines. This push pace has fairly smothered me and I’ve begun to see life ooze from my very spirit.

Serenity Now!

I shared with a friend today that this is not the life I am wired for. At heart I am a cave-dweller, needing much alone time with the Lord in order to have order and integrity in my interior life. And so, even to the point of near rudeness to decline yet another meeting this morning, I “stole” some much-needed intimacy time with the One who, sadly, all too often gets shoved into the “to do” pile of my life.

To my delight, what I found in my holy ground place (my van, you recall) was not a miffed Potentate thumping His watch and pumping His crossed legs impatiently. He was not in a tizzy, giving the cold shoulder until just enough groveling had embarrassed us both. No, I found a Lover patiently waiting by, already coming toward me as I shyly crossed over the threshold, and just like that, we were in the moment.

Blessed Father,

I come to You to worship and praise the God of all gods and every living thing. I worship the One God who rules over all and is a Jealous Lover. The skies spread prostrate before You, the stars pulsate with the energy of Your love, the trees bow and wave to the King who rules, and the seas move in the rhythm of the One who sings over them.

You are God forever and none can compare to You. You are manna from heaven, water from the Rock, the Way through the wilderness, Rivers in the desert, the pillar of fire and cloud who goes before Your people to lead them to their Eternal Rest. You are the Eternal Shabbat and I call You Lord, Savior and Lover of my soul.

You are good and Your love endures forever! In You is ALL my soul should ever long for, pant after and need. The world and all its pleasures are passing away! All that is this “world” is opposed to You and if I am friendly with it, then I am against You. God, may this not be my enduring testimony but may I always and ever seek only after You and may the “One Thing” of my heart’s confession be to find You and be found by You. To live only for Your pleasure and awake in Your likeness.

Oh God! May Christ be fully formed in me! Oh, that I would come into the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ and that my inner man might be built up in You and may I be sanctified wholly, finished and completed and be found blameless!!!

As a bride adorned and festooned with the jewelry of righteousness (not her own), incandescent with the touch of the holy on me, wearing the fragrance of Christ, giving no doubt to all that I have been with Jesus, wrestled with You, not letting You go without Your breath to fill me inside. I declare in this moment of eternity that I want You to be my First Love without a close second. Woo me today. Seduce me and romance me! I am here, in my chambers, a virgin bride, kept and waiting for the Day of Your Arrival.

There is oil enough for the night—is there? I pray so. That’s why I come to this place of our meeting to express my heart’s yearning for You.

God, my Lord and King, I pray for ALL ties to anything that hinders me from running to Your embrace to be broken. ALL! I am so attracted and dis-tracted by passing pleasures and the siren calls of other lovers and I would not have it this way. This is why I cry for Christ to be fully formed in me—until I am so consumed by Your Life that I see through Your eyes, hear only Your voice, follow hard on Your steps and taste only Your wine and Your lips. Until I am heartsick for You, and have NO appetite except for Your Presence to linger always as close as my own breath.

I am ever Your Shulammite, struggling to turn from Solomon’s overtures because love—real love—is found in my Shepherd Lover. Solomon is relentless and greedy. He has a harem and wants to make me “one of many” but You are in pursuit of me and will spare nothing to lay hold of me, breaking even Solomon’s bewitchments and enticements so that I remain single-eyed for the True Lover of my soul.

“Arise, my darling…” You say.

“Come away with Me!” You call.

Lord, please find that place in my heart where is a sincere desire—a protected secret place—where I want and will to go away with You and truly leave all this far behind…Woo me today. Seduce and romance me! I pray You will not turn away and leave me for Solomon’s consumption.

You are a great, high and holy God! You are ever near to the cry of Your servant and faithful to accomplish all that You’ve begun and with all that Your servant cooperates with You to do. DO ME, Lord! Baptize me in the deepest waters You have! I want this old man to die away! For good! I want him to be belly-up and bloated in the Red Sea along with Pharaoh and his hapless army.

God, my King, do this and draw me into the reality of such a conquering of myself. I repent, Lord, of my own self-rule and taking the Throne when You alone have the right to rule. Reign over me, over my life, over my family! And over all I am attracted to…Reign, O Lord!

In Jesus’ Name, amen.

Aug

Lights On During Fog

By pasturescott 24 Comments

Categories: Christianity, Church, Consecration, Deception, Discipleship, Hypocrisy, Intimacy, Jesus Christ, Kingdom of God, Ministry, Preaching, Reign of Christ and Worship

I’m sitting here watching a preacher on television, looking dapper in his nice pin-striped suit and colorful tie, offering well-traveled principles on how to get the most out of life. One of the points he has just made is “Learn How To Travel In The Fog” meaning, of course, when life is uncertain, there is One who is always certain and can be trusted, so follow His lead with the eyes of faith.

Good reminder to be sure.

The trouble is, when he made his point, the corresponding words that flashed on the television screen were slightly different. One little word was altered which changed the meaning completely. The person in the multimedia department who was responsible, and for whatever reason, flashed the words: “Learn To Travel In A Fog”. I’ll bet they wished they had caught it before it went to broadcast!

That seems to be the general atmosphere among the church scene of the 21st century. We yawn our way through Sunday and sleep-walk our faith throughout the week. Cobwebs grow along the cavernous chambers of our hearts. There is no bite, no vim and vigor and little passion in our love affair with Christ. What love affair? We’d rather keep it on the down-low, not wanting to turn it into something that will raise eyebrows or elicit exclaims of “what’s happened to you?” We prefer, many of us, to keep the thermostat on 75; not too hot, not too cool. Just right. Cozy, even.

I’m not posing that we look to emotionalism as being the savior of the church. Lord knows we have churches that pump up the jam, jump and shout amid lasers and stage lights and still have no more effect on cultural transformation than how a frog’s hopping in the woods would cause someone in town to turn his head worried over tremors and earthquakes. Whether the fog is on the stage or in the pews, no matter.

I am positing, however, a return to a high view of God. His being transcends all and if we lift our eyes above the fog, we will see Him. Tony Evans, pastor of the Oak Cliff Bible Fellowship in Dallas, said he went to his neighborhood Wal-mart recently to shop for a few items. He didn’t want the hassle of long lines so he left his house early to avoid the hubbub but when he arrived, the parking lot was full. Groaning and not a little puzzled over why so many would be out shopping so early, he went inside to discover the reason: there was a store-wide clearance sale.

While waiting in one of those cursed long lines, it dawned on him that this is how most people approach their commitment level with Christ. If you can get God at a reduced price, they’re all for it. Keep God cheap and they’re in. But offer me a God at retail, or worse, an inflated price, uh, no thanks, I’ll just sleep in.

Say what you want about the Puritans, I have a strong appreciation for my forebears concerning the esteem to which they raised and praised God. It sounds out-dated I know, but they feared Him something fierce! Sure, at times they went a little overboard with the language of we humans as low-down dirty worms and worthless, but they really knew how to exalt the Almighty to the highest place and give Him His due honor.

Over the weekend, I heard some Christian girl group from the UK sing about Jesus as being their “sunshine”, all the while dancing and looking worldly and seductive; and though the sound was catchy, the lyrics were so nebulous one could easily think they were singing about a boyfriend. We want to package Christianity so close to the world’s comfort level (“keep Him cheap”) thinking that will hook them when all it does is muddy the waters a good deal more. Christianity then gets so assimilated into all other religions and worldviews it has lost its potency.

Ah, but go to the airwaves or workplace and herald Christ as the Almighty, omnipotent, transcendent Lord, the only way and only hope for mankind, then heads will turn and the fog will clear. Our culture is saddled with many gods, none of which can save the human race. We, the people of the only true God, must get God out of the bargain basement and elevate Him in our lives, our homes, and our weekly places of worship.

Who wants to fall in love with “Sunshine”? No, beloved, but I certainly can swoon and blush at the thought of creation’s Creator fighting and conquering all enemies just to win me for His Bride! And to think He’s coming for me—any day now!—makes me want to be ready and clear-headed.

Though I’m dark You say I am lovely
Though I’m poor You say I am beautiful

Somehow my weakness has overwhelmed You
Somehow my weak glance has stolen away Your heart

That’s reason and motivation enough, wouldn’t you say? Oh, and if you catch me napping, remind me of these things. And if I look like I’m in a fog, do me a favor and slap some sense into me.

Jul

How Free Do You Wanna Be?

By pasturescott 10 Comments

Categories: Christianity, Church History, Commitment, Consecration, Crucified Life, Discipleship, Encouragement, Faithfulness, Intimacy, Jesus Christ, Kingdom of God, Loving God, Obedience, Reign of Christ and Surrender

“Master, to whom would we go?”
(Peter, 1st century)

Imagine a slave being given his freedom. Now imagine that same slave telling his master, “No, Master, I love serving you! My place is here with you. May I stay?” When the novelty of Christ wore off on His audience and His popularity waned, particularly when it dawned on them that His mission was not to come and make us feel better about ourselves but to make us holy, He watched a steady stream of “wanna eats but not wanna bes” walk away from Him and hitch a ride onto the wide road. We’ll just find somewhere else to take our business to, they sniffed.

When nary a soul remained He turned and saw His ragtag band of wannabes (save one) standing pat. “I’m not going to make you stay, fellows,” He offered. “You may leave anytime you wish.”

I can visualize Peter grouping The Twelve together in a sort of huddle and the subsequent whisperings, sometimes strained but mostly quiet and orderly. Then, I see as the small clutch of disciples breaks and they watch as Peter approaches the Master. “Lord, we’ve talked about it and pretty much all of us agree: where else could we go? You have the words of life. May we stay with You?”

In the Old Testament, when a slave of Judah was granted their Jubilee pardon, and one decided to stay put in his master’s household, he (or she) would place their earlobe against the doorpost of the master’s house and with a hammer and awl, the master would open a bloody hole in that part of the ear and after inserting a gold or brass or silver ring, the slave was his for life. By choice.

I take you now into the Upper Room on a melancholic Passover evening in Jerusalem’s first century, not too long after the aforementioned conversation. There we find thirteen men lounging around a table laden with the customary lamb, the herbs, the wine, with Jesus as its head. Judas is on one side and John is at His breast. The arrangement is quite telling. At Jesus’ back is Judas. At His front, near His heart, is the beloved disciple. Now, don’t miss this: John’s earlobe is pressed against the Master who has called himself in John’s gospel—and in his gospel alone—the Door. The picture is too good to miss. Here is John, by choice through intimacy, intentionally making himself the Master’s bondslave.

I’m not sure if this was ever attempted but I wonder what it would say of a slave if he or she was to tell their master, “Not just this ear, Master, but my other one as well. I want everyone to see, from all angles, that I belong to you and desire Your reign over me.” I could see an impetuous Peter, a doe-eyed John or a decisive Paul doing just that.

That’s freedom’s cost: a bloody ear. So how free do you wanna be?

One ear or two?

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