As I sit down to write this blog, it is the Tuesday after Easter. On this day after His resurrection what was Jesus doing? He was beginning His last days on earth until His ascension. Scripture says: “…he presented himself alive to His apostles after His suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the Kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3).

The Denison Forum comments: “In this way, Jesus ended His earthly ministry the way He started it. In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus begins His public ministry with the proclamation, ‘Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand’ (Matthew 4:17);  the Kingdom of God and the Kingdom of Heaven both refer to the same reality. His announcement points to the fact stated across Scripture that God is the King of the Universe.”

The Psalmist declared, “The Lord reigns; He is robed in majesty” (Psalm 93:1). Note the present tense. Revelation 19:1 affirms He rules over all earthly rulers. As King Solomon noted, “The king’s heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord; He turns it wherever He will” (Proverbs 21:1).

Because God honors the free will which we are made in His image, He will not impose His kingdom on us…yet. He gives us the opportunity every day to choose Him as our King and Lord. But one day, the time for choosing will be over. Philippians 2:10 – 11 says: “…one day every knee will 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.”

Last Easter Sunday many around this world voluntarily bowed the knee to Jesus and recognized Him as the Lord God. Many others heard the gospel message either again or for the first time and they have this most important decision to make. The undecided need to choose Jesus for two reasons: (From the Denison Forum)

1. Humankind needs what only our King can do in our lives. We head each day into a dangerous future we cannot survive on our own. God gives His best to those who leave the choice with Him.

2. Our culture needs what Kingdom Christians can do in our world. St. Augustine advised us: “Love God and do what you will.” His logic is that when we love God, we do what He wants us to do and His will becomes our will. Success is therefore accomplishing what we want to do in serving Him as our King. And we become changed people who in turn will change the world.

The seeking of the Kingdom of God is the chief business of the Christian Life. It is what we were created for.

We discovered last week in Exodus 33 that one of the greatest leaders in human history was a sinful, murdering, fearful man, yet God chose Moses to lead His chosen people out of captivity. God chose Israel, God chose Moses and God has chosen us to be His instruments to “set the captive free”. God spoke to Moses “face to face” in this account (Exodus 33:7 – 11) and He has chosen us to do the same.

We discover in this account that Moses had a deep, personal relationship with God. It is worth a closer look to fully understand how he maintained this relationship which allowed him to be the kind of leader that God required. Take a moment to read this text again: Exodus 33: 7 – 11.

Moses was intentional about where he chose to meet with God. Hence, it is critically important that we find that place where we can consistently seek His presence. So we observe Moses INTENTIONALLY setting up a place to meet with the Lord. First15 comments: “We need an uninterrupted time and place to rest in His presence in order to live our lives with His Spirit, Word and love, as our foundation and fuel.” Where can you meet with God consistently? What time in your day can be uninterrupted? I know that you know…that without this dedicated meeting with God, we will struggle to remain free from the burdens, lies, and sin that so easily entangles (Hebrews 12:1 – 3).

We must believe that God longs to be with us just as deeply as He longed to be “face to face” with Moses. There is no end to His love for us. He created us for relational intimacy. There is no other path to the abundant purpose filled life He has called us to than a life lived in His presence (Hebrews 11:6). To fully grasp these truths just consider that He offered up His only Son as payment for a restored relationship with you!

Know that as you encounter God consistently and abundantly, you will draw others to worship and seek a greater relationship with your  heavenly Father. Exodus 33:10 says: “And when all the people saw the pillar of cloud standing at the entrance of the tent, all the people would rise up and worship each at his tent door.” You and I were created to encounter God “Face to Face”. So, living as God designed you, by consistently encountering His presence, will lead others to do the same. First15 concludes: “The best way to lead others to God is out of consistent encounters with Him. In encountering Him,, we naturally begin to become like Him and therefore reveal His heart in all that we do.” That’s really good isn’t it!

We read in Exodus of God’s faithfulness to lead, speak to, and encounter Moses. We read of Moses coming before his God boldly and asking for His hand in delivering and forgiving his people.” (First15 Devotional)  What kind of man was Moses that our perfect God would choose to meet with Him face-to-face?

We know from the Biblical accounts that Moses was a sinful, murdering, fearful man. Yet our God did choose to meet with him “face-to-face” and speak with him “as a man speaks to his friend.” (Exodus 33:7 – 11). Take a moment and read through this passage for a bit of context.

A recent article from First15 provides some insight into their relationship. “We read of Moses coming before his God boldly and asking for His hand in delivering and forgiving His people.” Let’s take a little time over the next couple of weeks to unpack Exodus 33. The lessons learned can lead us into more consistent and impactful encounters with the living God; a goal that every INTENTIONAL man of God aspires to attain.

Toward that end, First15 comments: “Picture the cloud of God’s presence descending from heaven in a way that everyone could see. Place yourself in that tent, hearing Moses talk with God, seeing the glory of God face-to-face with a broken, sinful man. What a picture of God’s heart for us! If Moses could enter into the presence of God, surely all of us can. If Moses could speak with God face-to-face, surely we who have been bought with the blood of Christ can. If God would encounter Moses, speak to him, and guide him, He will surely do the same for each of us. In humility, let’s learn from this man who so faithfully encountered and followed God.”

Closing this week: Just as Moses boldly entered into the very presence of God in spite of his past and present failures, we are reminded in Hebrews 4:16 to enter boldly into His presence to “find the grace to help in time of need”

Does your faith ever feel…dull? Recently, I was reading a devotional from InTouch Ministries entitled Forward by Faith. (Many of you remember this wonderful ministry of the late Charles Stanley). The author shared: “Obedience is often uncomfortable, sometimes difficult, but staying the course always leads to blessings.”

There is a wonderful reminder of this truth in Genesis 12 where the Lord speaks to Abram giving him his marching orders to set off to the “Promised Land”. In this account I was reminded that our FAITH can be dulled when we are focused on our own comfort rather than God’s plan. At the outset, Abraham did not fall into this trap as he obediently traded the familiar for the unknown and received many blessings in return.

The author goes on to comment: “Living by faith is the correct response when God calls us to move forward, and His call can come at any time, regardless of our age or position. Abraham was 75 when he began his journey, whereas David was still a boy when he was anointed as king (1 Samuel 16:11 – 13). And Paul, at the height of his power and strength was en route to arrest Jewish believers in Damascus when he encountered the Lord (Acts 9:1 – 6).”

Following God will also include times of testing. Abraham, like all of us, had some successes and some failures in his faith journey. The initial call to leave his country was met with strong belief and immediate action. As a result, the Lord promised a great blessing for him and his descendants. But a famine brought a different response…a sojourn down to Egypt, deception about his relationship with Sarah, and chastisement from Pharaoh. Our response to God matters.

INTENTIONAl men of God are hyper aware that obeying the Lord can be uncomfortable. But faith will keep us moving forward in obedience. It helps us to stay the course and experience the blessings found in our relationship with Him.

Lots of VERY interesting things are transpiring in our world. Lots of “Wars and Rumors of War”. Lots of “Gathering of nations” with common objects specific to Israel (Ezekiel 38) war.  Lots of odd things happening in the Land of Israel like the gathering of 170 some odd birds of prey staging perhaps as the “clean up crew”. Foxes have appeared on the temple mount, fish have been seen in the dead sea. Lots of signs pointing to the near return of our Lord and Savior. Is the Church age about over? What an amazing time to be alive!

The last two weeks we have been examining some passages from Philippians chapter 2 concerning the humanity and Deity of Jesus. Scripture is clear throughout, but again affirmed in Philippians that Jesus was, and is who He claimed to be, and all of Scripture affirms and is thereby worthy of our worship. In Him we find unshakeable peace and joy in the midst of the chaos of this world.

Two weeks ago we spoke of His Incarnation (vs 5 – 7) noting that He was born like us, grew up like us, was tempted to sin like us, and then suffered like us. We referred to this as “unprotected humanity” as He took on this incarnate state. He did by surrendering His Deity, which we referred to as “undiminished Deity”. 

Last week we mentioned that He is revealed and then fulfilled His “rescue mission” of all humankind by the shedding His blood for us on the cross and then resurrecting from the grave. This fulfillment prophetic Scripture demonstrated (Romans 5:8) His unmatched and unconditional love for us all His death resolved our sin problem as nothing else could (1 Peter 2:24).

This leads us to a conclusion:

3. He is worthy of our exaltation!  In vs 9 – 11 we observe the following:
a. His resurrection – out of the tomb with a new body (lowest place)
b. His ascension – seated now at the right hand of God (highest place) with a new name (Lord Jesus Christ). 600 ish times throughout the Bible, Jesus is referred to as LORD. In Acts 4:12 we hear that His name is the “saving name” and the “supreme” name.

What does each human being need to do with this information in light of the shortness of our days? The question is not if all humankind will name Jesus as LORD…it is when and in what manner? We have the opportunity to do this now by faith with a joyful and grateful heart, or in fear as the sentence of eternal separation from His presence and all that it entails is pronounced on the day of judgement!

Last week we considered the importance of a passage in Philippians chapter 2 as it relates to having unshakeable joy through the challenges of life. The key is understanding the true nature of Jesus Christ, i.e. Fully God – Fully Human. When we begin to grasp this truth we understand that only our God is worthy of our Worship. 

Philippians two demonstrates with certainty the deity of Jesus as well as His Incarnate state. We noted in vs 5 – 7 that Jesus surrendered His deity (emptied Himself of it) to take on the form of a servant so that He could experience all that it means to be human. (Undiminished deity – Unprotected humanity).

The second reason why He is worthy of our Worship is discovered in vs 7 & 8 where the text informs us that God came to die for our transgressions. In the four gospel accounts, Jesus’ 33 years on the earth can be examined as follows demonstrating the why of the crucifixion:

We have 4 accounts of Jesus in the gospels referencing His first 30 years.
We have 85 accounts of Jesus in the gospels referencing His 3 years of ministry. Of those 85 accounts, 1/3 concern His final week on earth; and 1/2 of those concern His final Twenty Four hours of life.

It begs the question: “What kept Jesus on mission to save us? Take a moment to read Romans 5:8; John 3:16!  He had to die to resolve OUR sin problem (1 Peter 2:24).

Next week I want to unpack the last reason why we Worship Him and can experience enduring joy as we journey through this life!

Exalting the name of Jesus! Philippians 2 is a call to “Be like Jesus”. INTENTIONAL men of God fully understand that we were created to be like Him (Genesis 1:26). The more we get to know Him, the more we desire to reflect His image and in doing so we exalt His name. As we get to know Him better we discover again and again throughout the Word that Jesus is Lord; Creator God, and Savior of all humankind.

As we examine Philippians chapter 2 we see the Apostle Paul demonstrating the deity of Jesus in two powerful ways. In fact verses 5 – 11 were originally a poem or song used by the early church to affirm who Jesus was and is and is to come. It affirms what He did for us and continues to do for us as His dear children.

This week I want to unpack the first way in which we discover the nature of the Lord Jesus Christ:

1. His Incarnation. God came to earth in the form of the Christ child – Jesus. He came in the flesh, hence the term incarnate (carnivore or flesh) (vs. 5 – 7). We discover in these three verses that Jesus is GOD. In John 1:1 – 18, the Apostle John also affirms the Biblical claim that Jesus is GOD.

The name Immanuel (Old T) spelling or Emmanuel (New T) specifically means GOD WITH US!  The reference in Philippians 1:6 that Jesus existed in the “form” of  God but emptied Himself of that form to assume the “form” of a human male was God’s way of demonstrating that He would experience all that is common to man. Verses 6 & 7 reference Him becoming a servant. This meant that in becoming human he laid aside all the privileges that were His as God, i.e. His omnipresence, omniscience, etc; On the Mt. of Transfiguration Jesus provided for us a glimpse into His other nature (Matthew 17:2).

Some examples of His common human experiences:

1. Born like us: Well…except for that virgin deal! (Isaiah 7:14; Matthew 1:22 & 23)  
2. Grew like us…i.e. stages of development: (Luke 2:52)
3. Tempted like us: (Hebrews 4:15)
4. Suffered like us: (Matthew 26:38)

Undiminished deity – Unprotected humanity!

Next week we will consider His Crucifixion and Exaltation as reasons to exalt the name of Jesus and in doing so find joy everlasting!

I wanted to share with you two of my favorite Scriptures as they simply define who we are in Christ and what we were created for. These two verses speak to the value and purpose of human existence; two things all human beings desperately want to understand.

John 15:16 says: “You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit and that your fruit should abide (remain).” First15 devotional comments: “God created all of us with a longing to make an important and lasting impact with the intention of satisfying that longing in Him. He has a plan for your life that doesn’t belong to anyone else. You alone can accomplish the works set before you, and you won’t find true satisfaction until you do. Your heavenly Father has placed desires in you which He has plans to satisfy in magnificent and joyful ways. He knows for what purpose you were created and longs to lead you into a lifestyle of good works that will fill you with all the abundance of life available to you through Christ.”

What blows my mind about this passage in John 15 is that HE CHOSE ME to be on His team, and then equipped me to play a unique role in His Kingdom work. This leads me to verse number two found in Ephesians 2:10. Those of you who have been reading this weekly missive for years have heard me reference this passage many times: “We are His workmanship/masterpiece/poem, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.” Before we were even created, God fashioned us and equipped us to accomplish these good works (His eternal Kingdom Work). To be a chosen team member, and to be given a unique set of works to accomplish for the team is additionally mind blowing.

You were created to live a lifestyle of good works. I know that we struggle to be “that guy” day in and day out, but He is working daily to transform us into the very likeness of His son, Jesus. He has plans to transform you into His disciple: ready, equipped, and useful for every good and fruitful work. But, we must also be willing vessels. Take a few minutes to consider the following as a daily habit so that you are open to His transforming power.

1. Set aside a few minutes to be alone with God.
2. Ask the Holy Spirit to bring to mind anything in your life that displeases your Lord.
3. Now confess all that comes to your thoughts.
4. Write down on paper what comes to your mind.
5. Confess these sins, one by one, with a repentant heart.
6. Claim God’s promise to forgive all you confess (1 John 1:9) and forget all He forgives (Isaiah 43:25).
7. Then burn, shred, or otherwise destroy the paper.
8. And claim your Father’s grace.

Now you are ready for His ongoing transformation into the likeness of Jesus, and ready to engage in those good works you were created to perform.

Last week I ended our conversation with the most simple of questions: What is our purpose as Human beings? Of course INTENTIONAL men of God know that answer is just as simple: We discover the answer in Mark 12:30 & 31:  “Love the Lord your God with all of your heart, soul, mind and strength, and love your neighbor as yourself; there are no greater commandments than these.” James, the brother of Jesus describes this truth in James 1:27 where the Greek word Threskia is used to define “true religion” as Devoted Service to Him and others.

Our voluntary service to Him is to live an unspotted life from the affairs of the world. We do this by ever – drawing near to God (James 4:8). Which simply means pursuing an Intimate love relationship with Him. 

How do we do that? The following three Spiritual Discipline are crucial:

1. We must read His word where we recognize His promises, discover His love, and encounter His faithfulness.
2. We must pray so that we can have healthy two-way communication with Him.
3. We must worship Him at every opportunity. I would contend that our worship expresses our sincere gratitude for: His unfailing and unconditional love, His kept promises, and His enduring faithfulness.

Dr. Jeff Meyers, President of Summit Ministries shares the following as a way to daily assess our progress toward becoming devoted servants of the Most High God. Please spend some time today and in the days to follow, mediating upon and honestly considering your responses to these four questions.

1. What are my LOVES? What do I care about most deeply, based on how I use my time, talents, and treasures?

2. What are my LOYALTIES? Who or what gets the real me? What causes me to commit my time and energy?

3. What are my LONGINGS? If I continue where I have aimed, where will I end up?

4. What are my LITURGIES? What do I worship? What are the rhythms or habits of my life?

Next week I want to follow up with these questions with a simple Spiritual Inventory of progress toward relational intimacy with Him.