psalm studies -- week 1

Week 1 -- The Joel 2 Mandate -- You Shall Prophesy

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a tragedy

The following quote was in an email I received this morning from Bound4Life regarding the reprehensible murder of abortion doctor, George Tiller:

"There is merely bad luck in not being loved; there is tragedy in not loving." ~Camus

My heart aches for this man who died with the blood of babies on his hands, and for his wife who was in the choir and witnessed his death. Who knows but that his murder robbed him of an opportunity to repent? Life is life, whether it is a child in the womb or an adult about to draw his or her last breath, and resorting to violence in protest should never be an option for those who claim to be "pro-life."

Paul really captured the heart of it in the "love chapter" of I Corinthians 13 when he said, "And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, "it profits me nothing." (1 Corinthians 13:3) I found myself examining my heart and my motives this morning. How many choices do I make in a day? What do I choose to wear? Do I speak to the other person in the elevator? Do I cut off that teenager on his cellphone in rush hour traffic? How thorough am I in the tasks I receive at my job? Do I thank the cleaning lady who comes in every morning to keep the office bathroom fresh? Do I even see her? How often do I do things out of guilt or necessity, caught up in the drudgery of everyday life?

Paul's message was that every action is an opportunity, and every action that does not stem from love is an opportunity wasted. Sometimes we get caught up in the mindset that God only sees the extremes--donating half the church building fund, staying up until 3:00 in the morning to organize a food drive, speaking from a platform to millions of people; but God weighs the heart on the smaller decisions as well. Let's make them count.

eyes to see and ears to hear

I've been contending lately for an increase in prophetic anointing in my life. With creation groaning in the birth pains of the end times, sometimes it's helpful to stop and remember the promise of a massive revival that is coming as well. I want greater discernment in dreams in the night. I want visions during the day. I long to see into the Spirit, even as Elisha prayed that the Lord would open his servant's eyes to see the chariots of fire surrounding them.

I love the gentle promise of Matthew 5:8: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. I don't believe this is just limited to the coming of the Millenial Reign of Christ, although I do believe it will reach its fulfillment at that time when we no longer "see through a glass dimly." But I pray even now for a spirit of wisdom and revelation in my life, to see and know the times, to press into seeing the Lord.

So much of "religion" has left a bad taste in our mouths with its lists of requirements. The truth is simply this--I am under grace, and nothing is off limits. I do not restrict my actions to make myself "worthy" of salvation. Nothing I do will ever manage that. The standard to which I hold myself stems from a longing to see God. I crucify my flesh, make myself of no reputation, forgive those who wrongfully abuse me, ignore potential offenses, love without expecting anything in return, speak about my faith even to those who do not wish to hear, guard my heart, filter what enters my eye/ear gates, and strive to be perfect even as He is perfect because I am lovesick, and starving to see Him.

What's it worth to you?

an experiment

Hello friends,

I'm going to begin teaching a class in a few weeks on prophecy and worship in the psalms, and want to be able to upload my notes for people to download if they so desire. This blog is just an experiment to see if I can figure out how to upload files in blogger. I'm attaching a study I did on the apostolic prayer Paul prayed over the church in Ephesians 1. You can find a list of key apostolic prayers on the IHOP website here.

God bless you all!

Apostolic Prayers -- Ephesians 1

'tis but a slip of a forked tongue

Today I'm thinking about a time when I discovered that someone was spreading her third-hand account of an event in my life to anybody who would listen. Hers were the most vicious category of rumors--the kind I couldn't just dismiss as a complete fabrication because they contained enough of the truth to stab through the heart. My emotions ranged from anger to pain at the injustice of the situation as I continued to learn of the depth, width and breadth of her gossip--which ranged from targeting random strangers to my closest friends.

I took some comfort from Romans 1, mentally chastising her as one filled with "every kind of wickedness" including gossip and slander. Faithless, heartless, ruthless...my angry heart ticked down the list with some glee. And with each "check" on my list, my own sense of self-worth grew.

And then, with reassuring predictability, the Holy Spirit turned the mirror of the Word on my own heart. "How many times have you carelessly spoken half-truths without searching out the whole story, Chrystal? When's the last time you envied something that wasn't yours? What was the last promise you failed to keep?"

I'll spare you the number of self-justifying, "but Lord" comments I made. The concept that He hates all sin equally still trips me up most of the time. The bottom line was simply that I had failed again at the charge He'd given me earlier to be quick to forgive and even quicker to judge myself. When James charged us to be swift to listen and slow to speak, he meant it.

I still struggle to love this person. I still often feel betrayed. But I'm challeged once again by the love the Lord has for us. It's an ongoing process, but it's better to take the low road and use words to encourage, exhort, and edify than for me to be exalted in my own eyes. I pray the grace to be humble over you as well. God bless.