The first time the universe heard the uttered words of God, it was not His voice calling out for there to be joy, peace, or even love. The voice of the Sovereign, the Divine, gloriously uttered these words first:
Having traveled extensively around the world, I’ve had many opportunities to witness a number of different religions in practice. For example, in Panama I worked with an animistic tribe whose people manufacture small, wooden dolls and set them around their house to ward off evil spirits. In India, I experienced the chaos of Hinduism where an entire society is committed to going to great and insufferable lengths to honor millions of gods. In nations like Sri Lanka and Vietnam, where Buddhism is prevalent, I witnessed entire families sacrificing what little they had to their ancestors in fear that, if not appeased properly, they would be reincarnated in unfavorable ways.
There are countless reasons to be joyful.
Deep inside, we know this. Even in difficult or painful seasons, most of us can reach into our hearts to find things to be thankful for and things that are still good. Secular and religious sources alike will often encourage people to “count their blessings” or make a “gratitude list” in order to keep discouragement from getting the best of them.
For the Lord would say, “You feel at times you do not have the strength to get through your day. At times, you are so stressed and you feel, ‘Lord, I just want to come aside, but my life and everything around me feels like a swirl. I feel like I live in a swirl.'” But the Lord would say, “My children, I will put you in the eye of the storm.”
Have you ever been in a hard season that seemed like it would never end? These times might be referred to as desert seasons or valleys or dark nights of the soul. Call it what you will, there is no poetic label you can use that makes it any more pleasant when you are going through it.
Undoubtedly, the greatest gift any of us will ever receive is Jesus, the gift of God’s own Son who came to dwell among us. The many aspects of this gift are mind-boggling–the fact that Jesus was willing to lay aside His deity to take on the form of a man, or that this precious gift to mankind was planned from the foundation of the world–so it is no wonder that many of us struggle to fully grasp everything this gift means for our lives.
A few years ago I had a dream that I’ve never been able to forget or shake off. In the dream I was standing alone, admiring a small, white feather slowly circling around me. The tiny feather started below my knees and made a wide spiral, moving upwards, coiling around my body until it was in front of my face.
Darkness can be so intimidating. It tries to grip our hearts with fear when we are small children, the terror of the unseen lingering far into adulthood for many.
n October 21, 2014, during our worship in Succat Hallel, I saw a vision of a huge black dragon that was circling in a menacing manner above the Temple Mount here in Jerusalem. Each time it breathed fire from its mouth, violence was released on the Temple Mount. But I knew this time it was planning something really much larger. Suddenly I saw in the heavens two words: “NOT NOW.” Then a huge foot descended from heavens and pinned the dragon to the ground.
Central to our identity in Christ is that we are children of God. First, we are born again unto salvation through which we enter into eternal life (see John 1:12, 13; 3:16; 1 John 3:1). And second, we grow by the spirit of adoption through which we become mature sons and daughters of God (see Rom. 8:14-19; Gal. 4:5-7). The Greek word used in John 1:12 and 1 John 3:1 is teknon, and refers to a child or newly born believer. In contrast, the Greek work huios used in the passages in Romans 8:14-19 and Galatians 4:7 denotes a mature, adult son who is an heir to his father’s name and authority, his possessions and his responsibilities.
