"Precious", "Word of God", "Spice"

"Precious", "Word of God", "Spice"? What do these 3 words have in common? I am so glad you asked. This morning as I laid in bed enjoying my final moments just relaxing in God's presence I saw, in the Spirit, the word "precious," in quotation marks with a small "p." Then immediately what came to mind was the "Word of God" then the word "spice." Yes, I thought it was odd, too, but I've learned to just be patient. God was teaching me something, and I wanted to share it with you. To make this easier, I'll deal with each word, or group of words, separately then but them together and share what I believe God was saying in "precious" "Word of God" "spice."

"Precious"

When we think of  the word "precious" several images or thoughts jump into our minds, precious jewels, precious coins, and yes, precious people in our lives. And what are the some of the qualities of something precious? Rare, valuable, delicate, unique even. All of these are correct. Webster's dictionary defines precious as "of high price or great value; very valuable or costly; ... highly esteemed for some spiritual, nonmaterial, or moral quality; ... dear, beloved; ... affectionately or excessively delicate, refined or nice; ..dearly beloved person, a darling; ... extremely, very; ." There are a few more but there are the main ones.
But for the purposes of this discussions, let's focus on the 'high price, great value, costly, highly esteemed for some spiritual nonmaterial or moral quality. This last part of the definition is new to me. Isn't just amazing how it fits the subject matter. I am sure you know where I am going with this. Yes! The next words, "Word of God."

"Word of God"

The "Word of God" comes in more than one form. The words from God's mouth which created the world and everything in it from the Genesis 1. The Word of God that became flesh, Jesus Christ, (John 1:14). The Word of God, the Holy Bible, the Word of God as uttered through others, His ministers in various forms whether apostle, prophet, pastor, teacher, or evangelist or any believer for that matter. The promptings of the Holy Spirit can come in the form of words so that we know how to respond. All of this is, you guessed it, "precious." There are times when the word of the Lord is rare, the true Word of the Lord. But it always has great value on natural and spiritual levels. Could it be that there come be coming a time with it will once again be rare, like a precious jewel? Perhaps. That's why we should be getting as much of His Word in us so that we can live it. Especially, if one day we will not have as free access to it. I am not only speaking of the Holy Bible but other forms the Word. May it never be so. Next, the word "spice."

"Spice"

Now how does the word  "spice" fit into our current discussion. Well, again, let's see the definition of the word "spice". We find such words in the definition as: "seasoning, preservative, ...aromatic odor or fragrance, ... piquant interesting element or quality; zest." It's also something used to prepare or season. Don't you find it amazing that the Word of God is all of these things. It seasons or prepares us for life here now and that which is to come. It preserves us as we live out our life here on earth. It adds flavor to our otherwise bland lives. It adds zest so that we can live the abundant life Jesus, the Word, tells us He brings us in John 10:10. As we walk in obedience to God His Word adds the flavor of heaven to everything we do in alignment with Him. In Matthew 5:13-16, Jesus tells us that we are the salt and light of the earth. Salt is a seasoning, particularly a preservative. He reminds us that we ought to be salty and shining our lights. But He did not say salt, it was "spice." Spice is fragrant whereas salt is not, at least that is not the main characteristic of salt. Spice is aromatic and less common than salt. It changes the scent in a room. Like Spice, the Word of God changes everything it's applied to to bring in alignment with His Kingdom. Think of vanilla, cinnamon, anise, cumin, curry, saffron. Yum! Spices can also tend to make us hungry. We need to have more  hunger for the Word of God.

"Precious Word of God Spice"

And while each on of these words or group of words have individual meaning, we can see what the Lord is teaching us. The "precious" "Word of God" is the Spice of our lives. The means the Word of God in whatever form it takes should never be taken lightly. His Word is a precious spice adding value to everything it is allowed to touch. The wonderful thing about a spice is that just a trace often goes a long way. That doesn't mean to not spend as much time hearing and doing His Word, but it does mean there is no need to be a Bible "basher" especially in sharing our faith with others. We don't need to beat people over the head with our Bible quotations but to always operate in wisdom at the leading of the Holy Spirit. If we were more doers of the Word and not just hearers only, we'd be more effective ministers of His grace and love. God was speaking volumes to me in those five words. Yes, I needed it. And five being the number of grace, He graced me with a wonderful message this morning about how precious His Word is to my life and yours, and how we can use It to flavor everything we say, do, and think. Apply that "precious Word of God spice" liberally and see what happens.

I hope this has encouraged someone to heed, hunger, and live the Word of God more in it's written and spoken form. And, of course, to share Him with others. 

God bless you as you continue this walk of faith. 

Shalom.

Message "in" the leaves? The functions of the Divine Trinity

This morning after as I fixed my breakfast, my mind ran on a friend to whom God was revealing so much during a period in her life, she found it overwhelming, so she asked Him to stop. He did. And I am not sure if she ever entered another similar season. I hope so. Perhaps this is not the exactly the same, but I am determined to never ask God to stop revealing Himself to me. I love that He makes Himself available and "discoverable" at all times. The Bible tells us "It's the glory of God to conceal a matter, but the glory of kings is to search out a matter." (Proverbs 25:2). Why does He hide it? So we can seek it out. How do we seek it out? By seeking Him, the One Who concealed it. That a definite win-win! 

So perhaps it was no surprise that as I sat in the warmth of the sun's rays, which were streaming through the my bedroom window, eating my breakfast, He spoke a pretty simple message to explain in human terms the functions of the three Persons of the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. But first, a few remarks about what led up to this “message”.

My window faces a college campus, particularly the front lawn of the main building. I saw this lone figure walking back and forth on the snowy ground. it seemed quite odd so I contemplated whether to call security to have them keep an eye on him or just continue watching. I decided to watch. At one point he seemed to be fanning the flames of an invisible fire to keep his hand warm, then he threw a snow ball and walked about 50 yards, then back to the spot. He walked around the same general area for a while. Then something else caught my attention. It was no longer on the individual. I noticed the wind began to blow leaves almost in a definitive line. And I wondered if this was a coincidence. Here I am quietly sitting in the window eating my breakfast. My very distant thought was "Surely, they won't blow in this direction! Well, guess what happened?  The leaves started to move in my direction, some crossing the street and ending up right below my window, while others took flight and floated up to my eye level. It was the strangest sight to see leaves headed toward you from about 75 yards or more away. You may not think that strange but I thought it was fascinating! Was it just random or was God trying to capture my attention?

It may seem random to you but it was enough to capture my attention. And immediately after that episode, I began to think on the Trinity. And in my spirit I know the Holy Spirit was downloading something seemingly quite simple and perhaps not even original. But it was to me; so I am sharing it with you. He was speaking about the functions of the three Persons of the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit.

Of course, it is neither an exact representation, nor am I trivializing the subject matter. But God knows that we all need to understand and have relationship with each of the Persons of the Trinity. Together, They are Godhead; Individually, they are each equally God, never varying from each other, and always in perfect unity. And another thing you will notice about the Trinity from Scripture, is that each Person defers and holds Another to be the One to give attention to. For instance, God the Father focuses on God the Son and gives power, authority, and direction to God the Son. God the Son asked God the Father to send God the Holy Spirit, the Helper, to His (the Son’s) followers, those who obey His commandments. So the Father did. 

 In John 14:15-18:

"If you love Me, keep my commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper that he may abide with you forever- "the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you."

The Father always says 'yes' to His Son when He prays. Now, God the Holy Spirit takes direction from God the Son, Who receives it from God the Father. Sound confusing? Let’s get back to the large corporate structure.

THE CORPORATE STRUCTURE OF THE DIVINE TRINITY

God the Father can be thought of as the Chairman of the Board of the entire universe and beyond. I often think of Father God as the ultimate Traffic Cop. He decides who goes where, what and when. He heads everything sending His Son to save the world in John 3:16. 

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him [the Son] will have not perish but have everlasting life.”  

This is the first Scripture my mom taught me as a kid. So Father God does the sending. Further, in 

John 20:17, after His resurrection, Jesus tells the disciples not to cling to Him as He had not yet ascended to the Father.  He then continues in saying, “Go to your brethren and say to them, I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God.”

So we see The Board of Directors is made up of God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. All are very necessary to the running of the universe. God the Son can be likened to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the universe, responsible for overseeing the execution of the Board’s directives, and the management of Its “employees.”  The Father has given the Son all of the authority with which to carry out those directives. However, the Son does not have authority over the Father or for that matter over the Holy Spirit. The Father directs Them both. However, by the Father’s direction, the Holy Spirit takes direction from the Son for the benefit of the  sons and daughters of God.

God the Holy Spirit can be likened to the Chief Operations Officer, Who oversees the day-to-day functions of the Divine Company. He is the Helper, mentioned above, He enables us to carry out the will of God. Notice the Persons of the Trinity are the Chiefs; therefore, there are managers who carry out the day-to-day ‘tasks” in submission and report to the Chiefs. These managers are the ministers of the Gospel. That's each Christ-following believer. That means the ministers who are responsible to carry out the day to day tasks are fully resourced to do so. And if there is ever any lack in resources, all the minister needs to do is to use his faith to withdraw from God's infinite supply.

So we see the reason heaven needs neither a bank nor a CFO is because there is really nothing to regulate when the resources are infinite and eternal.  A bank is needed to regulate a finite amount of financial resources. Those who are faithful followers of Christ make withdrawals to do His will and to care for our needs by our faith that He is good to His Word at all times. Our faith in Him regulates or ability to withdraw from His infinite storehouse. [As an aside, faith does not exist outside of faithfulness] Doubt, however, robs us of that certainty and we often suffer for it. Doubt locks down the bank account while faith opens it up wide. Doubt causes us to be tightfisted and unfaithful with what God has given us. Friend, we can always trust in His goodness. Intimate connection to the Source, God the Father, administered by God the Son via God the Holy Spirit is all we need to have all we need at all times.

Now, some may take exception to my Corporate characterization of the functions of the Godhead. But that is what the Lord gave me this morning for the ones knew needed it to be "explained" in this way. Whether, you are in Corporate America or a stay-at-home mom, one of the greatest "jobs" in the world, this applies. I am not in Corporate now but I love how He took an experience and showed me how to apply it. Clearly, there is so much more the Trinity. But today, we are understanding more about the functions of all Three Persons. And the bottom line is, we need Him at all times and we need to be able to relate to the Three Persons of the Godhead. The Three in One.

Understandably, as humans, with only partial use of our brains, it is impossible to fully comprehend God with our minds, regenerate of otherwise. You and I must each experience Him and know Him in our eternal and potentially infinite spirits. In John 4:24, God describes Himself to us: "God is Spirit, so those who worship Him must worship in spirit and in truth." So if God the Father is Spirit and God the Holy Spirit is Spirit, that means two-thirds of the Godhead is Spirit. Food for thought. Until the next blog post... 

God bless you!