We transitioned from story time into our closing goodnight communion.

“Eva, you’re my favorite. I love you best.”

I say this to all my kids. It’s become a Clark family way to express our love. And its true, every time.

“I love you best too daddy” She responded and the game began.

“I love you to the tops of the trees.” I grinned.

“I love you to the tops of the tree’s and the moon, times a hundred.” She knows how to play.

“I love you to the moon, and stars, and universe and back, times a hundred and five.” I said as I gave her nose kisses.

She giggled, “I love you to the moon, the stars, the universe and back, times a hundred and ten!”

We continued for a few more beautiful minutes, each taking turns surpassing the last statement, a million, billion, gazillion, eternity, to infinity and beyond.

Many of you know the pure joy of this game. You have played it with your loved one. It never loses its wonder.

I don’t know if you have ever thought of it this way but this is a game of measurements. The stunning thing is, love is immeasurable. Every time Eva and I play this game we do our best to measure love and discover to our immense joy that it can’t be done.

Eva always ends our competition with an amazing statement. The first time she said it I was astonished by its brilliance. Now it’s become the phrase that suspends our conversation until next time…

“I love you bigger than the future…”

“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Eph 3:17-19)

I can’t imagine how Paul felt trying to describe a love that is bigger than the future – a love that surpasses knowledge. But I bet it felt a little like the game Eva and I play at bedtime.

Paul starts by using the language of earth. Its as if he is saying Christ love is wider than forever, longer than eternity, higher than a million, billion, gazillion, and deeper than infinity, times a hundred.

Paul invites us into an encounter with Gods love that we may be filled to the full measure of the fullness of God.

Measurements are the stuff of earth. To measure, we use words like wide, long, high, and deep – words like filled and fullness.

But once Paul has done his absolute best to measure the love of God, he shifts into the language of heaven. In the next breath Paul expands our revelation.

“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…” (Eph 3:17-20)

Paul essentially says, “I want you to be filled to the full measure of the immeasurable.” And just in case we might be tempted to apply measurements to the “immeasurable” Paul added, “beyond” and “all” as if to say, “Stop it, you can’t measure Love, He is bigger than the future”!

Measurements are something that make perfect sense on earth but are a foreign concept in heaven. Heaven sits outside of time, its infinite and operates in the economy of a love that is bigger than the future. I believe this scripture is an invitation to move from the measurable reality of earth to the immeasurable revelation of heaven.

And I would like to suggest that’s why Jesus came. Jesus didn’t live simply to reveal a destination, He showed us the foundation – our Fathers perfect love.

Jesus never lived for the immeasurable, He lived from it. Jesus demonstrated what a bigger than the future love could look like. And He invited us to know and live it like He did. Immeasurable was never meant to be simply a description of the destination, it’s always been His heart that it would be our foundation.

Need is measurable; it’s the stuff of earth. Love is immeasurable; it’s the economy of heaven. Love trumps need. This life is the only time we will ever be given the opportunity to live from heaven while on earth.

Thy Kingdom come…bigger than the future.

I pray it blesses!

The Father Never Turned His Back – 1

Do you know that there is only one time throughout the gospels that Jesus refers to God in first person as God? Every other time He referred to God as Father. Jesus was on the cross when this happened. In pain and carrying the weight of sin and death He cries out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

It was a cry of absolute anguish, one that many have interpreted to mean that somehow Jesus was, if but for a moment, abandoned, left to Himself, even shunned by His Father. I have heard this moment described by many as God turning His back on Jesus.

It baffles the mind to think that an always good and loving Father would do this – leave His Son to carry the weight of sin and death alone, abandoned in His darkest moment?

And…

And I would like to suggest that the Father never turned His back, He never left, or forsook Jesus, He never abandoned, not even for a moment. His love was just as good as it’s always been.

“When you all run away from me and leave me alone, I won’t be alone, because My Father is with me.” (John 16:32) This is what Jesus tells His disciples before going to the cross. That seems pretty clear, the Father wasn’t going anywhere. If that’s true, what do we do with Jesus anguished cry to God on the cross?

“My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” This is the pivotal scripture that is used to suggest that somehow God turned His face from His Son.

Did you know this statement from Jesus was an echo of Jesus earthly forefather? Jesus was quoting the poet king David from Psalm 22. As Davidic psalms go, Psalm 22 was fairly standard. David wrestled through life’s mountaintops and valleys with the raw authenticity that makes him an Old Testament favorite. This psalm also settled on the one revelation that made David a man God absolutely loved, ‘a man after His own heart’. “Goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,” that was David’s core value, his life’s message.

As I have already noted, in Psalm 23 (See Blog) David could follow God, find himself in a valley, and never put it at Gods feet. David believed that God only had goodness and love for Him.

What’s amazing is that in Psalm 22, several verses after “My God, my God why have you forsaken me,” David writes, “He has not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; nor has He hidden His face from him; but when he cried to Him for help, He heard.” (Psalm 22:24)

Its amazing to me that Jesus points us to a scripture that ultimately determines that God doesn’t hide His face, or “turn His back.” In fact, it’s quite the opposite, “but when he cried for help, He heard…”

The Father didn’t turn His back, He was still the always good Father, even in Jesus darkest moment.

The Father Never Turned His Back – 2

I saw Mel Gibson’s movie The Passion; I was overcome by the physical abuse Jesus sustained. I grew up in church; I was taught how the horror of my sin, every sin from beginning to end, was placed on Jesus at the cross. I have been amazed by His love, that He would go through the physical torment and experience the horror of sin where He had never known sin. These were the realities He was facing while praying in the garden of Gethsemane when an angel from heaven appeared to Him and strengthened Him. “And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.” (Luke 22:44)

But there is something I had never seen that has ravaged my heart in these last years.

While the physical pain is a part of the story and can’t be overlooked, I think the greater reason He was in such anguish, the reason He sweat blood, is because He knew He was about to experience something much worse and more terrifying than physical pain. Jesus, for the first time in His life, the first and only time, would be unaware of His Fathers presence.

Think about it, Jesus hadn’t taken a breath without the wonder of His Dads presence. Every thought, every experience, every heartbeat was immersed in a revelation of His Fathers always good love. Jesus lived in the lavish revelation of His Dads presence. Jesus lived in the sureness of His Fathers love; He lived consumed by His Fathers heart. That kind of intimacy is profoundly stunning.

Can you imagine an existence like this? It’s my life’s one ambition and it was Jesus reality. Can you imagine your very existence being love and then having it ripped away, inaccessible, and replaced by fear, doubt, insecurity, self-loathing, hate and every other by-product of sin?

Jesus is in a garden and He asks His Father if the cup can be removed from Him, “Is there another way Father?” (Paraphrase). And I would like to propose, without belittling the physical sacrifice Jesus made, that the origin of Jesus distress was in the understanding that for the first time ever, He would be separated not from His Father, but from an awareness of His Father.

The Son, who only did what He saw His Father doing, would not be able to see His Dad. The Son, who only did what His Father did, would not be able to feel His Father. The Son, who was in the Father and in whom the Father dwelled, would not be able to know His presence, His love, His goodness. And this was a horror Jesus could hardly bear. But He did it anyway, because God is love.

Jesus made Himself as a sin offering, for your sin and mine. He took it all on Himself, past, present, and future. Sin, the lie that separates us from the revelation of our Father, from unhindered access to perfect love, was cloaked over Jesus like a second skin.

God hates sin, it’s true.

But while Jesus became a sin offering, He never stopped being the Son. To suggest that the Father’s disgust for sin somehow caused Him to abandon His Son is to suggest that just this once, sin was bigger than love – it’s ridiculous.

And yet its what I believed most of my life, that for just a moment, the Father had to excuse Himself because mans sin and Satan’s power was just too much for Him to bear; for just a moment, a good Father abandoned His Son.

It’s the exact opposite!

Jesus, cloaked in the horror of sin, a perfect offering on our behalf is overcome. And in that moment He cried out like David, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me.”

And in that moment the Father stood over His Son, He hadn’t left, abandoned, turned His back, or scorned His Son. He was there. He knew His Son couldn’t know it, couldn’t sense it, couldn’t feel His always-perfect love. But He was there, loving His boy, proud of His Son, sharing His agony, but confident in Love, because God is love.

The Father Never Turned His Back – 3

In the moment Jesus hung between two thieves He couldn’t see, touch, hear, or know His Dad. When Jesus became a sin offering He was cut off from His awareness of His Father. He had never been separated from His awareness of His Father, ever. And in the suffocating anguish of that moment, Jesus echo’s a prayer from His earthly forefather David, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

It’s a horrible moment, a moment where hope hangs in the balance; a moment where eternity holds its breath.

And in the agony of that moment the Father never turned His back, He never left, His love never soured, His goodness never faltered, His light never darkened.

And then humanity is given the most stunning act of faith that has ever been, “Jesus called out in a loud voice “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.” When he had said this, he breathed his last.” (Luke 23:46)

The greatest act of faith that was and will ever be – “I can’t see You, I can’t know You, I can’t touch You, I can’t hear You, but I believe that You are my Father, that You will never leave or forsake me, that You are Love, that Your love is perfect, that You only have goodness and love for me. And “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit.”

“Father,” Once again, He called Him Father.

Jesus stepped past His feelings, past His circumstances, He pressed through the devastating, very real sense of separation He felt and called Him Father. Jesus believed that His Father was still there. He couldn’t sense His Dads presence but He was still convinced His Dad was there and that His Dads love was greater than what He was feeling. “Into Your hands I commit my Spirit.” That’s faith – pure, true, world changing, life saving faith.

In the moment of absolute horror, “When everyone ran away from Him and left Him alone, He wasn’t alone, because His Father was with Him.” (John 16:32 narrative paraphrase). Jesus stepped past what He was feeling, His last statement revealing that like David, who wrote “nor has He hidden His face from him; but when he cried to Him for help, He heard,” Jesus believed His Dad was there.

The Father never left or abandoned His Son. The Son just lost His awareness of His Dad. He experienced, like David did in his psalm, the feeling of being abandoned, but it wasn’t reality. The truth is “that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them.”

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. 2^nd Corinthians 5:17-20

I would like to suggest that faith believes His love is always good. I would like to suggest that we exist to believe, to know, to experience His always perfect love. I would like to suggest that the Father has never, nor will he ever turn His back on His kids.

Scott and I leading worship for Sunday Night at DreamHouse Church.

It had been a while since I had really given myself to this art form. I was a little reluctant at first, wondering if this was even me anymore. Years of surrendering this passion had left me cautious and… hopeful. You see, music was once a haunting obsession, it defined me. I was a singer songwriter like Jesus was the Son of God.

But that was many years ago. And there has been many surrenders to His perfect love from then to now; many discoveries of who my heavenly Father is and how He see’s me.

One day, not that long before I found myself in Scotts little church studio (which I think is a great name for a studio by the way), God reminded me that He has always seen me as a singer songwriter. It was a wonderful thing to remember and a hopeful thing to believe.

Scott and I started with a melody I had written nearly ten years earlier, but soon the song took on new form. Scott presented a beat, this was a new one for me – no live drums. It worked! I grew less timid and more sure. We sang mumbled melodies to each other. “Thats good!” I said, more than once.

Scott pushed record, an hour passed. A killer bass line was added, keys, and then guitar. “That’s good!” I said again, it was. I sang the lyrics, some nearly ten years old, some only 10 minutes. Then Scott tracked his vocals. Another hour passed and then another. I was immersed in a pastime filled with new promises.

Scott tracking guitar for When the Sun Disappears

“How much fun was that” I thought on my drive home. I was surprised and satisfied.

In the days that followed, my world of husband, dad, and pastor expanded… singer songwriter – old familiar clothes that fit like new.

Over the following weeks Scott added his wonder to the song. I am blown away by how it turned out.

Thanks Scott for being a catalyst friend. I have a feeling it wont be the last time we pull out our guitars together.

I present to you “When The Sun Disappears”.

“But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I go, I will send Him to you.” — John 16:7

“And it was about the sixth hour, and there was a darkness over all the earth until the ninth hour. And the sun was darkened, and the veil of the temple was rent in the midst.” — Luke 23:44-45

“And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. They also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven. Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.” — Acts 1:9-12

“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly there came from heaven a noise like a violent rushing wind, and it filled the whole house where they were sitting. And there appeared to them tongues as of fire distributing themselves, and they rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit was giving them utterance.” — Acts 2:1-4

lyrics

Honey know you can’t come this way
And I know it won’t be easy oh
Honey know
Wait and see and please be patient
All creation’s groaning for it’s home
I’m your home
I’m your home

Chorus:
All of us here
Winter to spring
All of our seasons
And all of our dreams
All of our stories
The wonder of kings
All of our glory
When the sun disappears

I’m gonna go where I’ll know you’ll follow
I’ve sent a fire to burn inside your soul
to know your home
You’re gonna run with the Sons of Thunder
Taste and see the love of Father oh…
You’ll know

I see the night erased when the sun disappears
I see the kingdom come when the sun disappears

(repeat chorus)

Whoa see the sun
whoa see the sun
Whoa see the sun
whoa see the sun
(voiceover) see burning Son
(falsetto) Higher, higher
(voiceover) I want to run with the burning ones…I want to run with the burning Son
See the Son

credits

I believe that every insecurity we face is birthed in Fatherless-ness. Our insecurities are the direct result of misunderstanding our heavenly Fathers nature. The greater we know our Father and His love, the more sure we become in our own identity. It was Jesus view of, and relationship with, His Dad that released Him to fully be the Son.

While I was born into a crisis of identity, the moment I said yes to Love, the moment my heavenly Father was revealed, is the moment I stepped into my new identity. I have been discovering my Father in greater measure ever since and the more I know Him the more confident I become as His son.

I’m convinced that our sureness in our identity is found in believing in the absolute goodness of our Fathers love. This journey we are on, this story we are living, has its breath in that revelation. It is through encounters with our Father that we are released to become the full expression of his sons and daughters in the here and now. I believe it’s why we exist, to know our Fathers love and become sure as His sons and daughters. We are loved and becoming love. The crisis is resolved!

What’s that mean? Well, for a start, whether our natural father or mother is amazing, destructive, or non-existent, there is available to us a relationship with a perfect loving always-good Father. And as we become more aware of His perfect love for us we are set free to live like Jesus did, sure as sons and daughters.

Like Jesus, we can know our Dad and live as the evidence of His love. When we know our Heavenly Father we become transformed into good earthly fathers and mothers. We become good brothers and sister, good neighbors, good co-workers, good sons and daughters. We become world changers, living in miraculous fashion, discovering the wonders of His Kingdom in every area of  life.

A Matter Of Trust

“Simon (Peter) I’ve prayed for you in particular that you not give in or give out. When you have come through your time of testing, turn to your friends and give them a fresh start.” (3)

Peter gave the typical Peter response: “I will, even if the other disciples don’t.” Then Jesus, just after telling Peter that he is praying for him to keep faith, says the craziest thing “…before the rooster crows you will have three times denied that you know me.” (4) Essentially, “Hey Pete, you will deny me, you will fail me.”

What?!  It’s hard for me to wrap my head around this. It seems cruel and it feels cruel. Why set Peter up to fail? Jesus was already going to the cross.  Wasn’t it already painful and confusing enough for Peter? Wasn’t the test big enough just to be a disciple of Jesus during this time? Why add to the trauma?

In the midst of writing this, with tears in my eyes, I asked God to please show me why this was necessary.  I feel He gave me this revelation – Jesus wasn’t expecting Peter to understand or even “pass” the time of testing. Whether he passed or understood was irrelevant; it was simply that he experience and endure, and learn to dance.

“Never give a man a sword who can’t dance.”

- Celtic proverb

I believe Peter had to have this painful testing experience. It was an absolutely essential part of his story. It was never about his understanding the situation. It could be said Peter failed during his time of testing but it wasn’t about his success, it was about his experience. Jesus already knew Peter would deny Him. Yet the experience was essential to Peter’s journey. His ownership of that experience from denial to redemption was what allowed him to be life to his friends.

After Jesus has risen from the grave and all was said and done, He met with the disciples out on the beach. Jesus and Peter went for a walk and then Jesus asked Peter the same question three times:  “Do you love me, Peter?”

I think you could also phrase the question this way, “Peter, can I trust you with a sword?”

Peter can only respond, “Yes Lord.  Lord you know I love you.”

Jesus says, “Feed my sheep.” And with that commission, Peter was released to live his promise fully untamed. And with that commission, Jesus released an anointing on Peter that any believer would envy.

That day on the beach Peter learned that the sword Jesus had told them about was not an extension of his arm but rather of his heart. – That the power of his sword was not found in determination but in surrender.  It meant trading his self-consciousness for God-consciousness.  When you’re not self-conscious, you’re free to dance, forgive, serve, and love.

I believe God was cultivating a profound revelation of surrender in Peter. You see, the Peter from the Garden couldn’t be trusted to live untamed. He couldn’t be trusted to swing a sword until he understood brokenness, until he had become intimate with surrender, until he had learned to dance. God was building the foundation of His church upon the truth of surrender he was birthing in Peter.

Three days earlier, Peter boldly knew he loved Jesus. You couldn’t have convinced him otherwise. He was willing to murder for Jesus. A man who doesn’t know how to dance is a dangerous man, even if he’s a disciple.  He might just kill you.  However, now on the other side of the disillusionment, Peter not only loved Jesus in brash boldness but in pure brokenness.

And that is where our promise lives, within the marriage of surrendered and untamed.  Jesus said it is not by might and not by power, but by His spirit.

Amazingly, because of the cross, because of grace, we can fail Jesus and not be failures. In fact to think otherwise belittles what He did at Calvary. Outside of His grace we are not capable of loving Jesus. Inside of His grace we are not capable of failing him. We can get it wrong, but in believing get it right. We wont always understand the journey, and that’s the point.  We have to learn the dance steps of disillusionment.  God shatters our illusions until our hearts are in full alignment with His.  Then it’s our joy to run after Jesus and it’s His joy to work it all to His glory.

You see, the wilder God wants to use us, the larger His invitation of our surrender to Him. And God is thorough in His preparation of us when releasing His power and authority. God doesn’t think small. God’s plans for us are big. He has plans so big that to engage them we must step into a greater revelation of who God is. And for that, we’ll need a sword.  But first we have to learn to dance…

This drawing is from my good friend Joshua Fletcher about heaven coming to earth. He released it today (the same day I released this blog) As soon as I saw it, I wanted to include it in this post. Click on the image to go to Josh’s FB page where you can see it in more detail and read a description. 

The Kingdom of heaven operates from a different core value than earth. While earth revolves around the reality of need, heaven exists in the revelation of Love. Everything in the kingdom of heaven, operates, hinges, and moves in Love – it’s all about Love!

If you think about it, Love walked the earth in the body of Jesus. And while Jesus very much lived on earth, He very much lived from heaven. Everywhere Love went heaven invaded earth. What’s astounding to me is that every need that was presented to Love was met and fully answered, physically, emotionally, and spiritually, through the power of heaven – and it often looked miraculous. Love healed the sick, fed the hungry, and raised the dead.  Love trumped every need, every time.

Not only does need not exist within the nature of God, it doesn’t exist in heaven. I’m pretty sure we won’t need to eat there; I hope we get to, especially fajitas, but we probably won’t need to. And if we do, we probably won’t need money to buy food, and if we do, we can just use the gold that comes from the paving stones out in the street…

We won’t need to be healed in heaven; there is no sickness there. We won’t need to feel loved there, we will know and be sure in love – we will have become love. We won’t have any questions about why we exist there, the manifest Glory of God will make it very clear. But its a different story on earth.

As a good friend of mine, Andy Squyres, says, “Earth is the only place we can love God while experiencing pain.” We have the incredible opportunity to discover that even while need is very much a part of our lives, love wins. Isn’t that amazing? It’s such an eternal heavenly perspective! You see, there is no pain, sickness, doubt, or death; there is no need in heaven. How blessed are we, that during our short time on earth, God has provided us with the stunning opportunity to love in the midst of need. We have been given the greatest gift, to know Love in the midst of need, to discover that its a powerful love, a love that transforms, a love we can chose. Like Jesus, we can love in such a way that the kingdoms of this world, the ones that exist and revolve around need, become the Kingdom
of our God.

I believe all of heaven is available now – all of it. We have access to the same heaven Jesus had access to.  He revealed that we could live in the same revelation of Dad that He lived when He taught us to pray, “Thy Kingdom come, on earth as it is in Heaven,: and so we can love in the same powerful, miraculous, heaven to earth, way Jesus loved.

I believe heaven is our home and not just for when we die. I believe it’s the greater reality from which we are designed to live here on earth, right now. What a privilege!

We exist to become sure in His love! The well done we get in heaven is directly connected to how sure we become in our Fathers love. And when we live sure, we have access to all of Him, including peace. I wrapped up this message by speaking on the peace that calms the storm and then playing my song Heavens Crush. This message has been burning in my heart for the last two years and I still feel like I only have the smallest grasp.

God doesn’t need us. Need is counter to His nature. And I would like to suggest that His greatest desire for us is not that we would need Him. Stick with me for a moment, hopefully I land this… 

I don’t think He created us so we would need Him. I don’t believe His end goal was to have a bunch of needy, desperate, starving sons and daughters. I believe that His desire for us is that we would know His love so that we could love Him… and then love like He does.

When Jesus came and lived among us, it wasn’t so He could set us straight on how much we needed Him. Need was obvious before Adam and Eve took their first breath and even more clear after they ate the forbidden fruit. The Old Testament is a tribute to need. Need was everywhere and it consumed us.

I believe Jesus came to reveal the answer – Fathers love. He came to give us access to Love; receiving and giving, beholding and becoming. Its always been about love. Why, because Love trumps need, love is the answer.

Need isn’t evil and I want to make it clear that God our Father is perfectly OK with need, He even taught us to pray about need, “give us this day our daily bread”. It’s a healthy part of our relationship with Him – in fact its even a part of our love language. That said, its not the destination.

When Madeleine was born, need was the language of her love. She needed Karen and I for everything and we revealed our love by meeting all her needs. But Maddy turned 1 and then 2 and so on. And as she matures into a stunning young woman, our relationship continues to evolve. No longer is need the only way we communicate. Need has become less the language of our love and naturally so. From a parents perspective, I will forever be OK with her need, I love her! But my greatest desire isn’t that she needs me, I want her love – I was created for it!

There is a beautiful foundational revelation regarding need. But as we mature in our Fathers love, we begin to understand that His greatest desire is to be loved.

Did I marry Karen because I needed her? Absolutely. But if my core value for Karen is that she meets my needs then we are in trouble real fast. If a relationship is built solely on needs met then it will collapse into a legal partnership, a business relationship, a sterile agreement to co-habitation, or an in-securing repetitive cycle of dashed hopes.

Marriage is meant to be a covenant of love. When love is the core value, the relationship is not about “what can I get,” it’s about “what can I give.” Whats amazing is that when love is the foundation need is met.

This is a radical thought but what if God really doesn’t want a relationship founded on need but instead on love? What if the direction He has given us to “Love the Lord your God…” is an invitation to let Him love us perfectly? What if “God is perfect love?” What if Love is meant to be the foundation of every relationship starting first with Him? What if He first loved us and we actually could only love to the extent that we know His love? What if Jesus death and resurrection was the foundational revelation that set us free from need and into a relationship with love? What if when Love is the focus need is always met?

What if need is not a reality in the Kingdom of heaven and we are called to live heaven here, now?

I believe our Father has given us all that He is so we can love in the same way He does. As we are transformed by His love, we respond to need from the richness of our heavenly inheritance – His love nature. Suddenly needs are not just met, they are miraculously redeemed. The reality of heaven transforms the reality on earth. Fear bends the knee and Love wins. These love moments become rally points for revival – testimonies of His nature.

We have been invited into a perfect love that grows and matures, that sets free and saves, that transforms and empowers, that releases Fathers DNA and expands His Kingdom on earth as it is in heaven. Heaven is both the destination and the foundation upon which we are to live here on earth and heavens revelation is love.

I believe we are all journeying into a greater revelation of Love that we would become transformed and empowered to release the need trumping power of Love here and now.

Blessings on the journey.

…If you would like to read more about Love and Need you can check out Need < Love

News. Scott and Charrisa Crowder are the pastors there and are amazing friends to us Clarks! We so love them and our whole DreamHouse family!

This blog is a an adaption from my book The Open Table, An Invitation 

to Walk with God. I gave

this message on Sat night at DreamHouse and I was once again reminded of how good our God is.

If you enjoy the blog and want to hear more, check out THIS LINK to the church’s website where you can download my Saturday message. You can also download Scott and Charrisa’s messages. I recommend last weeks Kingdom Economy.

Becoming Sure

I think this journey we are on is like a story. I think all of us want to live a good story, one filled with love, wonder and promise; a story that is inspired, a story that one-day our kids will read to their kids.

I am convinced of two things; first, the best stories end happily ever after. And second, before they end “happily ever after,” they are filled with conflict and risk and sometimes even death…

Jesus lived the best story. His was full of wonder and friendship, mercy and grace – a true love story. It was also a story with conflict and risk, even unto death. And if there was a crisis in His story, it was a crisis of identity.  Not with Jesus, He never doubted who He was, but those around Him certainly did. If you think about it, the question of His identity followed Him everywhere He went.

I would like to suggest that the question of identity is not only the theme of Jesus’ story but it’s ours as well.  The good news is, Jesus was sure in His identity and because of this, we can also become sure in ours…

Jesus was actually born into a crisis of identity. As far as public perception was concerned, his birth was a little sketchy. His inception was miraculous. He was born of a virgin. The Bible refers to Him as “God with us” (Matt 1:18) and as “The Son of God” (Luke 1:31). However, that part of the Bible was unavailable at the time of Jesus as it hadn’t been written yet.

Most likely, Jesus grew up with the stigma of “bastard.” Outside of a few shepherds and some Wise Men who knew the story, His birth appeared scandalous as Mary conceived before she was married. But Jesus was not insecure. He knew who He was. He was sure in His Fathers love and in His identity.

We know this because of the one story of Jesus in His youth. When He was twelve, His family journeyed to Jerusalem. As they were heading home, His parents lost track of Him and for three days they searched the streets of Jerusalem.  They finally found Him at the temple. When His mother asked Him where He had been He replied, “Didn’t you know I had to be in my Father’s house” (Luke 2:49). Jesus was sure in His Fathers love and in His identity.

We don’t hear about Him again until He turns 30. The story is picked back up with Jesus baptism. The Bible says that when He came up out of the water, He was filled with the Holy Spirit. A dove descended and God spoke in a thunderous voice. And in case anyone was unsure, the Father made it perfectly clear saying, “This is my Son with whom I am well pleased” (Matt 3:17). At that moment it went public; Jesus was the Son of God. We heard it from an angel, we heard it from the child, and now we’ve heard from the mouth of God.

I would have expected Jesus to start his public ministry upon this proclamation, but instead, He is led into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. (Matt 4:1)

Forty days Jesus went without food or water. Three times Satan tempted Him and twice Satan went after Jesus’ identity. “If you are the son of God,” he challenged. But Jesus was sure in His Fathers love, He was sure in His identity.

If you keep reading the rest of His story you will find that everywhere He went, His identity was questioned and challenged; by the religious teachers, by entire towns and by government officials. And while all this is happening, Jesus is living a story of beauty and wonder. He is healing blind and def, lame and mute. He is raising the dead and making lots of food out of little food. He is walking on water and calming storms. He is releasing life to anyone who asks. Everything Jesus did confirmed He was His Fathers Son.

If the story of Jesus life had a battle, it was a daily fight for identity. If His story had an antagonist it was doubt, better known as unbelief. And each time Jesus was confronted with the crisis of identity, He chose to believe what God had said about Him from the very beginning. Jesus was sure in His Fathers love and He was sure in His identity.

Three years after Jesus baptism we read about how He rides into Jerusalem being worshiped. Finally, He is received by the people as He truly is – the King of Kings, love in human form, the Son of God. And for a moment in His story we exhale… and then…

Jesus is betrayed.

Only three days after His triumphant arrival to Jerusalem He finds Himself bound and standing in front of the religious rulers. His identity is officially questioned. Standing in front of Herod Jesus is asked, “Are you then the Son of God?” (Luke 22:70a)

And Jesus, knowing what lay ahead, knowing He faced a brutal beating and then a cross… And Jesus, sure in His Fathers love and sure in His identity, said, “You are right in saying I am” (Luke 22:70b).

To be honest, my entire life has been a search for my Father, a journey into my identity. And I am becoming sure. Daily I come into a greater understanding regarding the fact that this faith journey I am on is about revelation. Its been a discovery of my Fathers always-good love, and who I am in Christ. I too have been at war with an antagonist and unbelief.

And all along the way my Father has invited me, and you as well, to believe – to believe that He is love, that His love is aways good, that He works on our behalf toward good and that we are His sons and daughters with a powerful inheritance. I am confidant that our faith journey is about daily deciding to be sure in His love and sure in our identity.

I would like to suggest that though we were born into a crisis of identity, the moment we invited God to be Dad the crisis was resolved. The moment we surrendered our life to Jesus, the moment He became Lord and Savior, the moment we received His love, is the moment we stepped into a new identity. Through believing, Jesus not only confirmed and revealed His identity but ultimately He won our identity for us as well. Jesus rose from the grave and forever answered that question for those who choose to believe and receive  We are sons and daughters of an always good Father. We are loved and becoming love!

Our Identity is found in believing in the absolute goodness of our Fathers love. This journey we are on has its breath in that revelation. To the extent we know this truth is to the extent we can engage this life giving adventure story. Like all good stories there will be mountains and valleys, there will be scary moments and wonder. And always it ends happily ever after. And that’s what I’m getting at. Following God is risky, absolutely. It might even lead to death. But because Jesus went first, we can be sure in His love and our identity and therefore know that our story always ends with a “well done” – always.

After the night was over I had a chance to fellowship with many of the leaders and listen as Mahesh and Bonnie shared stories of revival that would just make you smile. Mahesh felt like last night was a landing strip for revival in Charlotte. I agree!

Anytime the church deep and wide gathers in unity regardless of denomination to worship and invite the Holy Spirit to move, He moves!

The pastors were asked to pray for specific areas of life in the US. I was given the privilege of praying for our economy. This was my prayer…

Prayer for Our Economy

Father I thank you that your love is perfect. That you are the answer to every question that aches within the heart of humanity

I hold our nations economy up to You. I declare the abundance of heaven.

I break ties with the lie that says there is only so much; that for one to be blessed another must be cursed. I break the lie over America that suggests “resources are limited.”

I break the poverty welfare spirit off of America.

I break off entitlement, I repent for entitlement. I break off the victimization of a welfare gospel.

I thank you that heaven is not about “just enough,” that heaven is not a limited resource. I thank you that heaven is an infinite revelation of Your love.

We thank you for your love, we praise you for your love, we say yes to your love, we give you glory for your love…

Father I declare a heavenly outpouring, a revelation of all that is You. I thank you that “everything You have is ours” I declare America a home to that truth.

I proclaim a church of sons and daughters who are rich in their inheritance, rich in their revelation of Fathers LOVE. I declare the US to be nation filled to all the fullness of You.

I declare a Great awakening to your love.

And over our economy I ask for a Holy Spirit limitless generosity. I pray for a church that gives so we can give more. A church that is so sure in Fathers love that the nation must follow.

Come fill us, heart, soul, mind, and strength with the generosity of love.

I declare the US a nation that gives so we can give more.

Father I pray for our leaders to have an encounter with Wisdom, an encounter with the mind and life changing presence of Wisdom.  I pray that like Solomon our leaders would chose wisdom, that they would choose your presence.

I declare over our nation a covenant with Wisdom.

I release innovation in the areas of Science & Technology. I speak to new dreams, creative ways to establish heaven’s economy here on earth and here in America. I declare an open heaven over businesses small and large, an open heaven over our economy.

I break ties with the dysfunction of need. You are a good Father and you are the answer to every spiritual, emotional, physical, and financial need that aches within the heart of America.

I pray that we would see from heaven, and we declare tonight

Would you repeat after me,

We are believing for America:

• Jobs and better jobs
• Raises and bonuses
• Benefits
• Sales and commissions
• Favorable Settlements
• Estates and inheritances
• Interests and income
• Gifts and surprises
• Finding money
• Debts paid off
• Debts paid off
• Personally, Nationally, Debts paid off
• Expenses decrease
• Blessings and increase.

In Jesus name.