THRILL of HOPE - Day 15

“The thrill of hope, a weary world rejoices…..”

We are 10 days away from Christmas.  These blogs have been a blast to write and I trust they have strengthened our view of Father through Jesus.  He is a good Father that has always been reaching toward us.  All along His heart has been for us.  Jesus never came to create a holiday.  His Incarnation wasn’t so we could get a day off work or have a “black Friday” and save tons of money.  Jesus became the visible presentation of Father’s heart.  Jesus is the revelation of God with us, Emmanuel.  The nations of the earth get to rejoice.  They get to return to joy over and over as we ongoingly recognize He is with us.  He never left.  Even after all the mess and denial and rejection, and turning away we did, He wouldn’t relent in coming toward us.  Nothing we do will hold Him off.  He can’t be held back.  Hope was set in motion since before creation.  Hope is the unconditional assurance Father’s goodness prevails.  So before the Trinity even created, His goodness was set to prevail regardless.  Because of that we are those that are bold and rise in the earth to unveil that goodness and unlock glory.  This hope is the thrill His sons and daughters get to enjoy and live out.  No matter how dark the night, a Star shines.  No matter what death decree is enacted in a land, He preserves life.  Even if no one is making room for Him, there will be a breakthrough that sends the unexpected ones to be part of His revealing.  We are not at a loss.  We are not chasing hope.  Hope is here.  We live the thrill of never staying in ashes, but always assured beauty is emerging.  He came into humanity to reveal Father’s heart.  

Jesus said to pray His will be done on earth as it is in heaven.  We can recognize that the instruction was to invite the heart (will) of Father to be done in this realm.  At the moment when Jesus was asked to pray, He caused the most amazing revelation.  He said “Our Father”.  There it is!  When He was 12 He stated He was about His Father’s business.  The Father was causing the earth to see Him as Father.  

Today, we are those looking to see more of Father.  To know Him and not just about Him.  To embrace the thrill of hope that happens for sons and daughters.  We are bold enough to celebrate for the rest of our life. 

THRILL of HOPE - Day 14

“The thrill of hope, a weary world rejoices…..”

I’m having a Guest Author for today’s post.  Brian Orme is a new friend.  I am really enjoying the revelation he shares and his heart to remove the orphan nature.  He lives in Southern California and leads an awesome ministry.  He posted this on his Facebook the other day, and I really liked it.  I felt it had the heartbeat we are sharing in the THRILL of HOPE series.  See what you think. 

// Silent Night? //
By Brian Orme

At this point, I am sure you have heard the classic Christmas tune, Silent Night. This beloved song has crossed the ear drums of millions of people for many years. 

Yet, this song is not really accurate with what kind of night it was when Jesus was born. In Revelation 12 we see a very different picture. It's not a description of soft star light bringing a golden glow in a stable while the farm animals sway humming a hymn.

Jesus' birth was not a silent night. It was an act of war. While some heard the cries of a newborn baby, darkness heard the shouts of war. There is just something powerful about infants and their praise. In fact, Psalm 8:2 says, "Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. The stable wasn't a silent night, the caverns of darkness were being silenced.

The domain of darkness was crying much louder than baby Jesus was. Divinity collided with humanity that night. Son of God. Son of Man. The last Adam arrived.

We are now seated with Christ in full dominion. It is our birthright to walk in authority. Jesus was given ALL authority in the heavens and earth, so there is none left for any demon. Any manifestation of evil powers is the exercising of illegitimate authority. Demons don't bust down doors, they can only walk through open ones because they are so weak.

We don't have to get to the end of the "Book" to see that we win. You can read much earlier in the Epistles, we already won. We are SEATED above darkness. A posture of leisure, resting in the utter triumph of Christ over all evil. We can stand firm on earth when we realize we are seated in the heavenly realms. 

Next time you hear Silent Night, you may envision a different scene.

THRILL of HOPE - Day 13

“The thrill of hope, a weary world rejoices…..”

Isaiah 9:6 tells us a child was given.  John 3:16 says the Son was given.  John 17 tells us of Jesus saying He’d ask Father to give us the Counselor.  These gifts were from Father to reveal to us who He is.  It’s one thing to know ABOUT God.  It’s totally different to KNOW God.  The gift that was given from Father was the gift of knowing Him.  He gave us His heart.  He gifted us the availability to know Him as He is instead of how we might perceive.  This gift was stated by Isaiah when he proclaimed we would be getting Emmanuel (God with us).  The Father gave so we could know He is with us.  He didn’t want us living in the deception that He is far off, somewhere else, just lording over us, or pushed away from us by our wrong deeds.  All other gods have the concept of the god being detached, off in the distance, angry and needing appeased.  Father didn’t want to us to think He was the same way.  So He gave Jesus.  

We may need to think through the word “gave,” because our English word “gave” is connected to the understanding that prior to what was given, we didn’t have it.  If I give you a new car, it’s not too hard to understand that prior to my giving it to you, you didn’t have it.  This can frame our minds to have a hint of an idea that if Father gave Jesus it’s like Jesus wasn’t there before.  Most would recognize He is eternal and He always was.  So when Father gave Him to us, it wasn’t the gift of something that wasn’t here.  We didn’t have a true revelation of Father before so, in that sense, the gift was something that wasn’t there prior.  But Jesus wasn’t over there and then came here.  He wasn’t off over the rainbow and then came into earth.  When He “came”, it wasn’t an arrival.  It was a REVEALING.  He didn’t show up here and then at the ascension leave here.  He’s always been here and always will be.

It is His love giving us the truth about Him so we might be free.  Deception is the core bondage.  Deception can always be traced back to “wrong view of God, and wrong view of self”.  Father’s gift was the truth about Him so that deception could no longer control us and steal from us.  It wasn’t a gift of something that just arrived or wasn’t there before.  It was a gift of what has always been; the gift is He is good.  Always has been, always will be.  That is where hope came from and what hope provides.  Hope is the unconditional assurance Father’s goodness prevails.  It’s the truth about Him and it liberates our hearts and minds to proceed with boldness because we are free from fear.  His perfect love has cast out fear.  The gift of revealing Himself was perfect love that breaks the hold of deception which tells us that He is mad, angry, off somewhere in a distance waiting for us to mess up, or is far away and we are waiting to be with Him.  Father gave us the Son to show us the true presentation and description of Himself.  Father gave us Spirit to counsel us through the deception like a friend that stays close always reminding us about who Father is and what He is like.  Father gave so we could know Him….. what He’s like, what He feels, what He thinks, His motives, His nature, His interests, His enjoyment, His ways, His smile, and even the depth of His eyes.  We can’t perceive or comprehend all there is of Him, but He did show us the measure that can take us to our limits.  We get to live our life unwrapping this gift.