Words for those who follow Jesus

I have written parts of this over the last few years; but the desire to finish it is based on a new work God is doing in my life. And I would hate to miss out on what God is doing.

There have been 2 different things God has been talking to me about over the last year or so.

One is the word new. Several months ago, David McLain and I started studying out scriptures that had to do with God doing a new work. We felt like God was getting ready to do a new thing; and we were trying to get a handle on it.

The other word was about God asking me to use old giftings I had not used in a while. To get out the guitar and start singing praises to Him. The word was that God was going to give me a time of rest, but that during it, I was to use my old giftings.

I was listening to a Pastor teach on PS 92 which is a psalm of the Sabbath. In other words it is a psalm that was sung at the ending of a week, or the beginning of a new one, depending on how you look at it.

A psalm to be sung during times of change, during times of transition. The verse that stood out was verse 10

10 But my horn You have exalted like a wild ox; I have been anointed with fresh oil.

This verse gives me two promises. One is that He will give me Strength, as horn and wild ox are a symbol for strength, according to Jewish tradition. And the second promise is that He will give me a fresh anointing.

If you are doing a new work you need a new anointing. Not that there was anything wrong with the old anointing, but if it is a new work, it can’t be done with the old anointing.

Two weeks after God gave me this word our worship pastor left and I was the new worship leader.

There has obviously been a fresh or new anointing on me as I have lead worship. And I have not been able to get away from the idea that this anointing might be for other areas. I have always been a good teacher; however it has always been verbally, not in written form. Now I am thinking about writing again because I don’t want to miss out if the anointing extends to this.

I’m not sure what to do with it. Do I try and blog it put it on my space? I just don’t know.

What I want to write about is John 13-17 and the other parallel passages. My reason is as follows...

The other day my daughter Rebekah and I were watching a show called 7th Heaven and in it the dad, who is a pastor, found out that he had to have open heart surgery. The reality of his own mortality hit him. He was getting a second opinion on his surgery when the doctor asked him how his family was taking it. And he admitted that he hadn’t told them. The doctor encouraged him that he had to tell his family.

So he called his wife at the house and said “we are going to have a family meeting.” But when he got there he could not bring himself to tell them. He wanted one night, one normal night before he told them, so they went bowling instead. During the remaining time he made sure to tell each one of his children how much he loved them. He gave them words of encouragement. He tried to help each one with the problems they were facing.

I could so identify with the story. Now for me it wasn’t anything as serious as open heart surgery, it was just a back operation. But at the time there was a lot of stuff going on.

I had been on prescription pain medication for about a year, and that doesn’t help you have a positive outlook. My father-in-law was dying from terminal cancer, and it seemed each week I lost another thing that I considered normal in my Christian walk. First it was teaching because I won’t teach if I am on pain meds. The drive to church was about 40 minutes and at 20 minutes the pain became unbearable, so going to church became harder.

Then I couldn’t play in the band by the time I got the pain to a level I could handle because my fingers didn’t want to work. Finally the Lord stopped giving me words. My life seemed to shrink in on me. There became less and less that I could do or even care about. But I could really mean it when I sang…

“When the darkness closes in Lord still I will praise!”

Then as the surgery got closer I began to think about my own mortality. What happens if…? I went around and had those conversations with my kids, my wife, and my friends. Telling them everything that I wanted them to remember should something happen to me.

It was about this time I started studying out John 13-17 and a thought came to me. What if an angel appeared at your bed tomorrow morning and said “in 24 hours you will die” how different would your life be from normal? How precious would every word be that you would speak to your loved ones?

And I realized that Jesus knew he was about to die.

His words in the upper room carried that kind of impact.

It was a reader digest condensed version of everything he had been trying to get across to his disciples over the last 3 years. The words Jesus speaks here are unique because there were no unbelievers or new converts around. It was just His committed disciples.

Jesus knows that it is the last time before he goes to the cross that he could share with them. He wanted to remind them of the things they will need to know after He is gone. I believe that for the believer, no for the committed disciple, this passage is one of the most important in the Bible.