Good morning, dear ones.
Rain is heard on the roof—welcomed as snow at higher elevations. I’d like to visit Timberline to play a little in that beautiful fresh snow. But I have so many other things pulling on me, I’d better resist. With or without rain, I plan to go out for my little old man jog after sending this.
I could not resist taking the basics of my composition from this date in 2014 and giving it a few changes. I liked it so much that I had a hard time believing that I wrote it.
Have a great day doing your thing. Hopefully it will be compatible with His Thing.
Love—Ray.
The mention of Jesus’ brothers catches my attention again. I sure wish I could have a talk with them. I love to hear stories of personal conversions—of the unique and varied ways the Holy Spirit of God leads people into personal effective faith—moving them from darkness to light. I would love to hear these half-brothers of Jesus describe their sojourn that led them into this fellowship of seeker-believers when they had so clearly rejected Jesus in their past. My own hunch is that Mary played a big part in their change of heart. For one thing, it’s inconceivable that she would have kept forever the truth of Jesus’ origins a secret and never find opportunity to spill all the facts before them. It’s possible she had done so only a short time before this gathering in the upper room. Whatever course their personal journeys took, the fact remains that they are here in this special meeting place—offering wonderful confirmation of their transformation—evidence that they were not only operating with HEARTS AFTER GOD, but also embracing the marvel that their own half-brother was in fact the Messiah—and Who also deserved their devotion and worship.
Here’s a big important question: WHY, OR FOR WHAT PURPOSE, DOES THE HOLY SPIRIT OF GOD LEAD PEOPLE INTO PERSONAL RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM? The answer emerges in my reasoning as being twofold:
Following Jesus’ resurrection, the disciples still struggle with dullness—they wanted clarity as to what seemed to still be uppermost in their minds—“When does the party start surrounding your conquering Kingdom? We can hardly wait! After all, isn’t that what the prophetic Messiah is all about?” In reply, Jesus quickly popped that balloon, giving no clarity as to the specifics of their question. But He did give crystal clarity as to their general purpose and responsibility. I judge that He said the equivalent of, “It’s none of your business!”—“’The Father is the one who sets the fixed dates and the times of their fulfillment. You are not permitted to know the timing of all that he has prepared by his own authority’” (1:7, TPT). In no uncertain terms, He now prescribes what IS their business—their God-ordained purpose and responsibility—“’But I promise you this—the Holy Spirit will come upon you and you will be filled with power. And you will be my messengers to Jerusalem, throughout Judea, the distant provinces—even to the remotest places on earth!’”(1:8, TPT).
In a day when a sound Bible-based sense of divine PURPOSE seems to be in short supply, our FUNCTIONAL business as Kingdom representatives is as urgent as it ever has been. That PURPOSE in itself is POWER—but not just any old power—it’s the POWER to carry and impart the transformational POWER of the Biblical Gospel.