O Happy Day And A Son of My Right Arm

Now the word of the Lord came to me, saying, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, and before you were born I consecrated you; I appointed you a prophet to the nations." Jeremiah 1:4-5

'

Asher Benjamin happy first birthday! We already see the signs of the Spirit in your life. May you fulfill all the prayers and expectations spoken over your cradle. May God give you his heart and a desire for his kingdom work and with it every good thing. May you give joy and happiness and receive it too. May God strengthen your arm to build up and not destroy. Blessings!

'

Yesterday Norelei Aulyn (Nora-lie/Aw-lyn) was born to Caelen & Samantha weighing 5.5 pounds. The little family is doing well. I will blog and have pictures when I get back from a family wedding in California.

Let go Your Heart, Let Go Your Head, Babylon

Thoughts have consequences. A problem in your thought life is like a tree falling on your property. You may deal with it yourself or you may call in someone to help. Words and actions that reveal problems in your thought life are like a tree on your property that has fallen across the road. Witnesses will gather to discuss what needs to be done and then go about the process of dealing with the issue. Now others are involved. The matter no longer rests solely in your hands. You have lost privacy and control of the situation.
'

I prefer to nip a thought problem in the bud as soon as possible. A naughty thought crops up and I begin to pray for the mind of Christ. Sometimes a seemingly neutral thought comes up and I pray for perspective on that thought and again the mind of Christ. What is the mind of Christ? ... It is sanity, clarity & soundness. It is wholesomeness and goodness. It is truth, justice, love, mercy and forgiveness. The mind of Christ will bring health to you body and soul.

'

But let go your heart, let go your head and you will join in the fall of Babylon. Babylon was the ancient civilization that God allowed to conquer his wayward people. The New Testament refers to this city as the great whore. She exists in defiance of God. The prophet Jeremiah instructed his people to bow their neck under this yoke. To settle down and live under this occupation. It is said that a people deserves the government they are given. Ultimately God would bring them out as he had done in Egypt. While in Babylon they were to be in but not of. They were still God's people in a difficult place. Ultimately they did not belong to Babylon. The suffering they experienced away from God and their homeland turned their Prodigal hearts back to their Heavenly Father. God chastened them but in love did not give them over to the ultimate destruction reserved for those who had replaced him with the world system .... Babylon. Yet through their suffering and captivity they shone as a light to the world leading others out of Babylon and into God's Kingdom.

'

The world's systems fall short of the glory of God. But they are placed there by God and we are instructed to obey them, to settle down and live our lives within these structures. These structures may be colonial in nature. Foreign and difficult. God is with us and the only grounds for civil disobedience is when the world system directly commands that we give it the place of God. This is the point that we cannot bend. This is the point where we must declare a separation and come out from her so that we do not share in the fall of Babylon.

'

Christ himself gave us an example of perfect love and submission .... who being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped but made himself nothing ... taking on the very nature of a servant being made in human likeness. and being found in appearances as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord to the glory of God the Father. ~Philippians

'

Philippians 2 was my wedding chapter and was chosen to be read at the weddings of each of my sons. Marriage is an authority structure established by God. At it's best, with the direction of the Holy Spirit, it reflects the glory of God. At it's worst it can be Babylon. As the woman submits to man and the man to God it becomes a picture of the relationship between Christ and the church. The man's obedience is to love his wife as Christ loved the church. If Christ the Lord of all lived a life of submission and service how can we do otherwise?

'

Submission to God and to authority is the mind of Christ and the beginning of sanity. Authority is not God but it is something good in it's proper place. It helps us to live ordered and sane lives. It is the remedy for chaos. We live under it as to the Lord. Submit your thoughts to the Lord. Submit your actions and words to the Lord and to the authorities that be .... letting go of heart and head has consequences. God loves you whatever your circumstances.