Matthew Study 14:22

"... Come!..."

Here is the second time these fishermen were panicked in the midst of a stormy sea. The first time Jesus was there with them, asleep in the stern. Things got so bad they woke him up and accused him of not caring if they drowned (yet he was with them all along).

At first, Jesus is nowhere to be seen. But then, after hours of struggle, he finally appears in the nighttime of their fear. The rescue comes this time - not from within - but from without. At first, the deliverance was unrecognizable because it came in a new way, a different way, a way that actually bred more fear - and required more faith - in their troubled hearts.

Jesus likes to mix it up.

It is I. These words of the Word, speaking into the heart of the boat, assuring the fishermen they had not been abandoned, must have been so relieving! It is I.

Then Peter - either in his fervency to escape the sinking vessel or his impulsiveness to be be with the One he so dearly loved (perhaps an undefinable combination of both?) - beckons to come out "with You" into the frothing tempests. Sometimes God calls us deeper into the storm that we might meet him there; yet, I suppose, all storms are tolerable when we see Jesus in the midst of them.

Come! Peter bails out and makes a bee-line for the Lord, standing like a ghost in the wind and waves. The closer he gets to the miracle, the more he begins to rationalize the logistics of that same miracle. His mind "wavers" (literal Greek meaning) in the waves and he cries to be saved. Jesus lifts him from the depths and - I believe - speaks encouragingly to him, there on the sea.

You were awesome! You were doing do well. Dude, you were walking on the water! Why did you loose faith? And, lovingly taking him under his arm, walked Peter back - back through the doubting tempests of that same storm - where both stepped into the water-filled hull of the boat. Only then did the wind cease.

God is always testing, always stretching, always seeking to bring our faith into new realms where we are forced to cry out to him, the Author and Finisher of our in Faith. He knows that it is impossible to please God without faith and trains us accordingly. There is something in the cry that both breeds humility and dependancy - two things that Jesus is compelled to respond to.

Miracles are merely stepping stones to the One who waits in the midst of the storm.

Matthew Study 13:55

".... is this not the carpenter's son?..."

The Life of Faith is greatly hindered when reason is demanded of it.

By its very nature, Faith is believing. It is an ascent fueled by Grace into a realm wherein Kingdom Activities are then - and only then - understood and experienced. Life in that realm is proportionally diffused with the infusion of too much human reasoning.  It's not unlike a painter who waters down his paint and finds the new hue to be a only a faint resemblance to its original luster.

And he did not do many mighty works there because of their unbelief. Seeking to become masters of the mystery limits the activities of the Master of the Mystery. Remember - the faith of a child?

Here we have Jesus teaching in their own synagogue. As with all his teaching, Kingdom Authority rushed forth in hues of wisdom, miracles, and parables. Yet the exuberance of Divine Revelation was dammed by a demeanor of skepticism. This time the push-back wasn't coming from theological bigwigs. It was coming from the people who raised him. Who is this really? How did he learn all that? Isn't this Mary's son - he played with our children!

And, just like that, their unbelief blinded them to the Hue of Heaven in their midst.

Lord, raise my heart above my unbelief and into the realm of belief, that I would see your words and hear your words in the synagogue of my heart.  Amen.

Matthew Study 13:52

"... every scribe instructed concerning the Kingdom... is like a householder who brings out of his treasure things new and things old..."

The absolute key to flowing in the grace of the Holy Spirit is being prophetic and incarnational in the situation at hand. When a Saint has learned that, the world will begin to notice God.

Some Saints live so much in the moment they have unintentionally discarded their Sacred History. (But God was in the moment back then and just as significant then as he is today!) Others hold on to the spiritual mountain-tops of their past with such fervency that they are blinded to the wondrous revelation of the Present Day.

But Jesus likens us - my dear Scribes of the Kingdom - to a chef who runs her fingers across the spice rack, seeking the perfect ingredient for the meal at hand. Each event demands a fresh, Living Encounter. A wise person will remember, will choose appropriately, the perfect treasure for the occasion at hand, whether it be something from thirty years ago or something she is being led to do for the first time.

How do you choose? You may say, "I have so many treasures to bring out - all of which seem good for this occasion!"  The Holy Spirit is the Highlighter and reveals the exact need for any given situation. He will bring to your mind a certain memory, or not.

I can easily come up with many ways to address a situation. But that would be "me." That's not where we want to be.

As God calls us into situations which demand our response or action we need to remember how Jesus did it. He could have chose many ways to speak, many methods of healing the sick, but his priority to do "only what he saw the Father doing" was his Life's Mission. When he encountered a situation which demanded his input he had a built-in default mode. He asked God what to do.

"What are you doing here, Father? Should I heal this person like the last person - or is there something else you're doing, something else which would speak a keen awareness of your Love into this person?"

The next time you walk into a situation and are fairly certain you have acquired the expertise to deal with it in a timely and expedient manner take a step back and consider: how can the Spirit use your Sacred Experience in this particular situation? What would be the best way - your Way - to dialogue with this?

You may have your ideas. But he always has his!

Matthew Study 12:49

"... let both grow together until the harvest..."

'Worry not too deeply about the tares of regret, remorse, and addiction which seem eternally embedded within the soil of your heart.  For, once you begin tearing apart the tares, the precious stalks of Sacred History also lie in peril. Entrust your field to the Lord of the Harvest and let both grow together as he sanctifies you to himself."

We are a curious mix of humanity and Divinity. We are filled with New Wine and co-heir with Christ. Yet, we are human. (Redeemed Humanity is, after all, still humanity!)  Our minds are very capable of condemning us of events of our past. If we are not careful, these "tares" can become the object of preoccupation of our life. When that happens we become self-condemning and, if not monitored, filled with faithlessness and sorrow.

Sirach writes, "Love your soul, and comfort your heart, and put sorrow far away from you; for sorrow has destroyed many, and there is no profit in it." No wonder the psalmist writes, "I lift my eyes up to the mountains..."

I have found it helpful to agree with the facts which my mind is accusing me of, and even to agree with the facts that the devil throws in my face. I say, "Yes, you are right. That part of me is true, or was true. How wondrous a salvation in Jesus Christ, where all is forgiven as I offer these things to the Lover of my Sou!"

There comes a time in ones life where, after honest inventory, it's evident that our Fields contain good and evil. It is within this realization - this admission of truth - when a certain demeanor arises: Grace-filled Understanding.  It is in that instant, when we become free from the torment of our tares. True confession brings true freedom, even if we don't particularly like (or even want to admit) the depths of the roots.

This confession, of course, needs to be acknowledged before the back drop of Continued Sanctification - God's lovingly persistent mission to break up our fallow ground. All self-revelation needs to be fingered with the his hands of hope and of healing - and of the assurance that, as we agree with God as to the issues of our hearts, his Living Water is poured out and showers the fields in our heart. The field, after all is much greater than the tares. There is wheat there, too - wheat fit for the Harvest.

When we acknowledge both tares and wheat coexisting in the field of our hearts we become qualifiers for God's realized forgiveness and healing. We also see things in perspective. Jesus is Lord of the Harvest, he knows how the Garden grows, he is aware of the tares, he cares more-so for the wheat, he allows both to grow together for our own good, he isn't too distracted by their evil (in actuality, he has plucked their roots at the Dogwood Tree and rendered them powerless), and, at the end of the Day, they have no eternal merit.

In other words, he doesn't give them much power. Neither should we.

Let both reside. Live in the tension, knowing that on that Great and GLorious Day, all will be separated.

Matthew Study 12:32

"... but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him..."

When a person becomes a Temple of the God's Breath he is forever that Temple. And, one day, the Temples will unite and he shall forever be with the Lord. Our words testify as to the Hope that reside within us.

When a person remains veiled to the Persistent Presence of God, and seeks not to embrace the Embracer in Christ Jesus, he will not have access to the Greater Life in God when he dies. And his words will echo that sense of eschatological hopelessness. It will be evident in everything he does.

The "veiling of the Persistent Presence" or, as the Church Fathers describe it, "the closing of ones eyes", isn't a one shot deal. For we all close our eyes to the Lord many times a day, do we not? It is more a prophetic disposition of any given Eternity, heaven  or hell. What Jesus is highlighting here is the division between sheep and goats, the righteous and unrighteous - those who know the Lord and those who do not.

A person who knows the Lord has entered into that relationship as a result of the Spirit's Call and Revelation. Having entered into that sacred relationship he or she has become free of the sin of blasphemy of the Spirit (or one wouldn't be dancing in the Courts of the King in the first place!).

When you entered the Outer Courts, you left that sin behind.

Conversely, a person who seeks to enter Glory outside the Grace given at the Cross has denied the Work of the Spirit and, therefore, cannot be forgiven - for that person has not given into the revelatory work of the Spirit in his heart; that work being the gifting of Grace and Forgiveness in Jesus. So, in the negative sense of the word, he has blasphemed the Spirit.  That's why people who blaspheme the Holy Spirit cannot be forgiven. They exist outside the forgiveness of Christ which is revealed by the Holy Spirit.

Many sincere Followers pick apart their every thought and word, fearing they have committed the unforgivable sin. But the fact they are believers automatically disqualifies them from blaspheming the Holy Spirit. They shouldn't even entertain the idea. They should, however, seek to work out their salvation in fear and trembling, knowing that the Lord Almighty is a Power to be reckoned with. If the fear of having committed the unforgivable sin acts as a motivator for ones personal purity, so be it. But let not the believer be accused (from within or without) of having committed this sin.

Believers can't do that.

Matthew Study 12:12

"... is it lawful to do good on the Sabbath?..."

Jesus' priorities were such that his response to human need far outweighed the consequences of broken religious protocol.

It's not that Jesus was all about breaking the traditions. He, after all, was the fulfillment of those same traditions. He was all about the business of breathing Life into those traditions - about the business of rejuvenating empty works with the Living Word.

Here we see him in a synagogue where there is a man in sore need of healing. At once his heart is stirred to heal the man - to do something to relieve the suffering he sees around him, especially in this crippled lamb. At the same time he is acutely aware that the theological praxis - the religious protocol - speaks against such an act of compassion. The good in his heart is face to face with the hard consequences of that same goodness. He has a choice to make. What is more important here? The substance or the framework? The Law or the Lover? The Sabbath or the Lord over the Sabbath?

Stretch out your hand. It was an intentional no-brainer for Jesus. Ever since the Holy Spirit descended upon him at his baptism, he had been Graced with the Call and Responsibility to proclaim the Kingdom of God in thought, word, and deed. At times it was easy. Everyone loved him. Other times - like here - he had to choose - to be intentional - to live into that which he had been called, knowing the what would happen as a result of acting out in Holy Testimony.

Of course, the man was completely restored - God is seen! Of course, the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might destroy him. Jesus knew that would happen. Yet he considered the religious repercussion of the event secondary to the restoration of a Soul.

Most of the time, we who drink New Wine, find ourselves well within with the norms of accepted Christian culture. Tradition is a needful container for the Wine - a safety net - else it would become unbalanced. But, lest we forget, he is not a tame God. The Wind blows where it will. My ways are not your ways, says the Lord. The Son of Man is Lord of the Sabbath. There will be times in our life when - in the Spirit of Christ - we will find ourselves in a similar position: a position which challenges us to flow in the Spirit of the New Wine, in spite of what "the right thing to do" is.

Jesus had his choice, too. And he took it.

And, when he humbly rose into the Call for which he was ordained, it not only testified to the Greater Love of the Father but, in so doing, it healed - completely restored - a precious Human Image which, as a result of his display of compassion, he eventually died for.

Matthew Study 11:25

"... you've hidden these things from the wise and revealed them unto babes..."

In a sense, one is more apt to experience God's Grace when one is less apt to excel in one's own self-righteous worldview.

When a person approaches Grace with a predetermined bias -  a "prove it" mentality, or a disposition of spiritual elite-ness - Grace gracefully slips away and waits patiently in the shadows for that person to come around. Many seek to make sense of - to discover God -through Bible reading, hymns, prayer, liturgy, etc. - in a Pharisaical spirit, seeking what these things can do for them, rather than leveling themselves under the Author's Authority.

Do we live the Life with the intent of proving our own interior logic - making sure that each piece of the theological puzzle is present, accounted for, and confirmed, making certain that everything is Kosher? Or do we come to Christ like a child, completely accepting of the fact that this thing is so much bigger than can be imagined, self-resigned to God's most mysterious ways?

Jesus is saying that the pseudo-righteousness of the Pharisees has, in itself, distanced them from the very thing they long to live for. The flute playing isn't danceable - it's too loud!  And the mourning seems superficial - they're getting paid to do this!  And everyone knows John ate bugs - probably demon possessed. And Jesus? All he does is hang out with sinners and drink all night! Nobody does nothing right anymore. In the Name of God, somebody bring order back to this thing...  But a child doesn't have these thoughts. A child sees, a child trusts, a child believes for the sake of Belief.

Jesus isn't asking us to forsake adulthood. He's warning us of the trap of presuming ourselves to be too grown up.

Come to me. Humility is a wonderful thing. In humility the Kingdom is seen and experienced. Humility enables us to recognize the the Father, extending his desire to co-yoke himself to us. My yoke is easy and my burden is light. Come to me.

 If I am to be co-yoked with Christ, certain headstrong principles need to be forsaken (killed?) in order for me to shoulder up to the Beast, steer my head through the hole, and become sacrificially fastened to  its sturdy frame. In short, we need the same humbled acceptance which fastened Jesus to the Cross to fasten us to a similar Wood.

The Pharisees missed it. Their theological astuteness got in the way of what Jesus really was asking for: a simple, child-like faith. Trust and faith, by nature, transcend the temptation to pick "it" a part, judging whether a matter is heanvenbound or hell-bound at the first red flag it sees. This "wise and prudent" disposition has it's place to be sure (especially in an age where orthodoxy is challenged) but, if not rooted in a deeper experience of a sincere babe-like faith, it will drain us of all we have.

Thank you, Father... that you have revealed these things unto babes...

Matthew Study 11:1

"... are you the coming one, or do we look for another?..."

John is a Shepherd of integrity. He knows the value of a person's heart, and the timidness of the lambs who have forsaken everything and followed him in all religious sincerity. They are tender, they are lost without a leader. And, now, their leader is in prison.

Things haven't gone as planned. And he needs to redirect his disciples to another Faithful Shepherd.

So he sends word to Jesus and asks, "Are you the One?"

Are you the one who I can send my sheep to? Are you faithful? WIll my sheep be cared for, fed and nurtured, under your Rod and Staff? I love my sheep. And I'm just not going to hand them over to anybody.

Jesus' reply? I am faithful. I will love your lambs - more than you can know. I will teach them how to heal the sick, how to preach to the poor and raise the dead. At night, I will love on them. I'll share with them the hidden mysteries of parables, and we will do a lot of laughing together. You can trust me with them, Jesus says. I will be their Friend.

And from John's imprisonment, after he is convinced that Jesus can be trusted to bring his lambs into Pasture, he relinquishes his life's work into the all sufficient Life of Christ.

Matthew Study 10:1

"... and when he had called his twelve..."

A person can be a Christian for a very long time until, one day, she is called into Discipleship.

In our pilgrimage to Heaven we experience many Conversions, Sacramental Gracing at varying times in our life. Truly the most important one, of course, is our initial Conversion to Jesus Christ, when we are able to trust his Lordship and experience is Saving Grace and Forgiveness of Sin. This happens when, by his wooing, we make the choice to follow him from our old lives and into his New Life. Therefore, if any person be in Christ, he is a new creation. Behold! All things have been made new. Welcome to the Outer Courts!

Yet there are numerous "min-Conversions" along the Way as well. Following the initial Conversion of New Life the single most important "mini-Conversion" is the Conversion to Discipleship. This is a biggie. It's a radical Call that completely strips the Christian of any other priority, save that of the Agenda of God.

Some never get there - it's that big. They simply plod along in their ho-hum spirituality, believing this is the Abundant Life Jesus talked about.

Others travel along with Jesus for - in this case - 10 Chapters (perhaps seasons?) until the issues in their hearts have melted and the Master sees them fit to be called into Discipleship. And as they respond, they are immediately endowed with the same Kingdom Wherewithal as Christ himself - power over unclean spirits, sickness and all kinds of disease. Now THAT is the Abundant Life! It's what you've dreamed of. It is the releasing of the Dream for which you were initially created.

The rub is, of course, is with regard to that which is - by virtue of the Higher Call to Discipleship - left behind. With each Conversion, a little more self is circumcised, and left behind. People tend to believe they can bring the old into the New; that they can moon-walk their way into the more luminous rooms of the Tent of Meeting.

But it doesn't work that way.

The way we go about transference  can be difficult or easy, depending entirely on where our heads are at.  We can obsess on the potential loss of the Call that we become self-crippling and go nowhere - or, in a decisive moment of Grace-filled choice -  swing around to fully face the New Horizon, with no anchors of regret. The choice is ours.

It is then when God will completely reward us, then when his Kingdom Power will finally take root in our hearts and behavior. Fear of man disappears, worry about what to say is alleviated by the spontaneous utterance of the Spirit through us, and the beams of Heaven dance across our brow for all to see. This is the Life worth leaving everything for.

Welcome to Chapter 10.

Matthew Study 9:35

"... Jesus went all about the cities and villages, teaching... preaching... and healing..."

New Wine must be taught, it must be proclaimed, and it must be experienced. To the man on the street It is a beverage so foreign (yet, if it be known, something he has longed for his whole life) that it must be explained, shared, and given opportunity to drink. The sharing of the Word - in its experiential entirety - is the sickle of God's Harvest.

Jesus never turned away anyone needing healing, regardless of the severity of sickness. People with fevers, people with demons, people paralyzed, people who were dead - the manner of illness mattered not to him. He knew the All Sufficiency of his Father would provide their healing through him. He didn't snicker at the child's "boo-boo," nor did he shy away from a dead girl.  Every ill-found situation provided an opportunity for God's Image to be poured onto his Image.

This teaches us two things: It doesn't matter how big or small our need is, Jesus can be trusted with it.

Secondly, (for those of us in the business of teaching, preaching, and healing) it reminds us we need not be intimidated by the size of the prayer request - howbeit be a "boo-boo" or a terminal cancer - for we are not the One who heals. Jesus is still healing every sickness and every disease among the people; through us, disregarding our shortcomings. He seeks our availability. After that, it's all up to him.

Some of us are fearful to come out of the closet and share with others the experience of the Holy Spirit. Yet, when we allow Jesus to flow from us into Creation, Creation will recognize "It" as something they've always longed to hear. (It will be the matching of Image to Image; the marriage of his Image in them with the Image of him, through you.) And that River flowing through you will clarify the Witness to them, it will make deep and profound sense to them. As we faithfully step into his Witness the sharing, explaining, and - perhaps most importantly (and most neglected) - healing of Christ Jesus.... they will love it!

Therefore, pray the Lord of the harvest to send our laborers into his harvest.

Matthew Study 9:29

"... according to your faith let it be done to you..."

The fuel of our prayers is Faith. Faith is the capacity to believe, the capacity to act on that belief. It doesn't have to be an intense emotion. Many times it can simply be a choice - a choice to rise and come to him solely based on our our need or, in this case, our blindness. Sometimes exercising faith is as simple of doing the right thing.

Jesus' heart swells with love when seeing us coming to him in faith. While he regards the particulars of our intercession, he is blessed more-so with the fact that we chosen to come to him, period. This doesn't discount our need, nor its answer. (He is Lord over all our particulars and can answer them with a Word.) But, to him, our particulars run secondary to the fellowship/relationship that his gained as a result of brining our particulars to the Throne of Grace. To put it another way, to him our prayers are in the bag, a no brainer - they will be answered. Yet the intercessions themselves provide an excuse - a sacred avenue? -  wherein Relationship happens.

I suppose, in this sense, it can be said that all situations are gifted for the ultimate purpose of fostering fellowship with the Jesus; the rekindling of Relational Intimacy, regrettably lost in the Garden.

Back to the story: These two blind men followed him, crying, "Son of David, have mercy on us!" They followed him into the house where he asked them, 'Do you believe I am able to do this?" "Yes, Lord."  Jesus often asks the petitioner a question regarding their faith. Here it is, "Do you believe I am able to do this." Another place he asks, "Do you want to be made whole?" And another, "Do you believe this?"

These questions force the petitioners to come to grasp of their true needs and their sole dependence on the Word so that, when the healing happens, it will run unforgettably deep in the psyche of their sacred history. Jesus isn't about the business of healing others based on the latest fad and impulse for self improvement. For him there needs to be an authentic cry from the heart, a desperate plea that pierces through all the superficiality - not because it's the "right thing to do" but because it's an faithful offering, a holy vulnerability, a sincere presentation of my blindness before the Light of the World.

Matthew Study 9:17

"... but they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.."

The life that Jesus gives is completely different than anything we've ever experienced. It is fresh, unpredictable, joyful, pure, hopeful, and purposeful. The old wine - the Old Covenant - is no longer adequate for salvation. The Righteous Standard demanded of the Law is now completely fulfilled in the One person who came in fulfillment of the Law, Jesus Christ. So, in essence, as we place our faith in Christ, we have fulfilled the Old Testament bases for salvation.

Sometimes it's difficult to take the New WIne in Christ and know exactly what to do with it. Some of us take the Life and seek to infuse it into the old system of "works of righteousness."  We say, "I couldn't keep the Law before Christ but now, with the power of the Holy Spirit in me, I can keep the Law." And we fail miserably. Doing this sort of thing is like trying  to fit a square peg into a round hole. In addition it develops a renewed spirituality based on performance (howbeit better performance) of the Law - which is the very thing Grace came to free us from. The Law, is death, says Paul.

Jesus says this New Wine is an altogether completely different animal (though the Law has now become this animal's skeletal structure). It needs a different "cage" to hold it. We are no longer under the "if/then" formulas of yesterday. The Life of the Spirit is living. He has a will, a personality, an agenda of his own. He can't be confined to the old ways. And his people are called to loose themselves from a works-based righteousness and step out into a faith-based righteousness freely given us in Christ Jesus.  For it is by grace that you have been saved, not of works, so that no man can boast.

This is called living in the Spirit, praying in the Spirit, and being in the Spirit - unfurling your sails fully to the mysterious winds of Grace and trusting in his every move, even when others may be operating under the Old Skin. The righteous shall live by faith.

There is risk involved. If I move away from the Law, could I slide into a subjective experience of God that is un-Orthodox. Unlikely. The Law is now written in your heart, and the Spirit has become your life. If you are faithful to following the Peace of Christ ruling in your heart then you will know where God is saying yes, and when God is saying no. Salvation is Grace in Christ. And Christ is the fulfillment of the Law.

"How come your disciples don't fast?" In this passage, Jesus is asked why his disciples weren't fasting, but the disciples of John the Baptist were fasting.  Jesus wasn't arguing his disciples were better than John's disciples. He was questioning their entire religious paradigm.  He was saying that the New Wine doesn't always coincide with the ways of the past. This is a new life, a new way of being. Be assured, they will fast. But not now. It's not what the Spirit is doing at this time.

Matthew Study 9:10

"... many tax collectors and sinners came and sat with him..."

When we respond to Jesus' "Follow Me" and rise from our tax collector's booth to be forever covered with the dust of our Rabbi it is a two way street. Not only do we experience his eternal companionship, but he experiences - and willingly dines with - all aspects of our house.

Matthew - a scum of the earth tax collector - is called by Jesus to follow him. Jesus knows his occupation and doesn't care. He sees far beyond the social stigma of "tax collector" into the untapped Plan waiting to be birthed in the heart of his Image. The sinful friends in Matthew's living room do little to deter the Call of God in his life.

Matthew rises and, in response to the Call, invites Jesus fully into his home. Sure, it's not the most kosher home - filled with ill-gotten gain and - even worse - his other tax collector friends and sinners. But it's all he has. He has given his life to the Lord and, for better or worse, these things are a part of his life.  But, the surprising thing is, Jesus is wants to be a part of Matthew's entire life - sacred and secular - for the sake of his profound love for him. He loves Matthew and that love remains unmoved for him, regardless of the others dining around the table.

Jesus loves us. He loves all of us. And, for the sake of that love, he has willingly resigned himself to all of us (hook, line, and sinker). He chooses to affiliate with the parts of us that, let's just say, have yet to be redeemed; our fellow tax collectors and sinners.

We have a tendency to hide our "friends" from Jesus. Perhaps it's shame that makes us do that. But we need not keep from him things that fall short of his glory. We need not falsify our joy, perform admirably, or live in denial of who we really are. True Life for the disciple happens as we open the doors to our homes and invite Jesus to come to dine with all of who we currently are. He has forever committed himself to us and - good and bad - seeks to dine with with us in our entirety.

Open fully. It is the only way your homes can ever be fully cleansed.

Matthew Study 9:7

"... and he arose and departed to his house..."

Following the commands of Jesus may cause us to abandon political correctness and rise into Kingdom Correctness.

This poor paralytic finds himself between a Rock and a hard place. Jesus is forgiving him of his sin and telling him to walk go home in the power of his healing. The religious scribes are scrutinizing the act and accusing Jesus of blaspheming God.

What does the paralyzed do when hearing the words, "Arise, take up your bed and go..."? What will he do? All eyes are on him. Does he succumb to the old wineskin of political correctness, becoming once again paralyzed ecclesiastical protocol? Or, has he become so transformed through his encounter of the Living God that he has become blissfully unaware of what others might think?

When a person chooses to rise into the obedience of the Word they are automatically affiliated with that same Word. This paralytic had a choice. He knew he would either authenticate the teachings of Jesus, or keep them hidden - though no less True - simply by his testimony. When we choose to testify, we both lend credibility to, and associate with, the Master. It's a win-win. He gets the glory, we arise to New Life.

It's a glorious combination, regardless of what others think.

There may be an opportunity for you this day to do just that - to rise in the power of the word, giving testimony to Christ - even if your witness is outside the box. That will the be hour of your decision. Will you succumb to the political routine and, in so doing, deny others from seeing a glance of your Lord? Or will your obedience follow the heels of your experience of the Living God and, tossing your mat aside, "arise and go home?"

Matthew Study 8:32

..."go... and they went into the heard of swine..."

Our deepest and most troubling torments leave us at a single word, "Go." One Word and the darkness is overcome by the Light. One Word, and the demons flee. "Go!"

The passage is revealing. Two demon-possessed men - terrorizing all who might pass that way and personally possessed by the ruler of this world - wind up, after a single Word, completely set free.


And the light shines in the darkness and the darkness has not understood it.

No mention here as to how these men fell into their condition. It didn't matter to Jesus. He simply carried on with his mission: to set the captives free.  Jesus doesn't become distracted with the "how and why's". His loving Goal of Redemption by-passes all that and goes for the root of the ailment. For he knows, when pigs fly, it means his children are restored to True Freedom and the right patterns of living will eventually follow.

The whole city came out to Jesus and, after they had met him, they begged him to leave their region. Some people prefer to live with their oppression. They say, "I know my demons, I like my demons. My demons are all I know and, after all, they're not hurting anybody." (Besides, let it be known, demons like humans. They are safe and make things - to the best of their toxic ability - as comfortable as they can and fool us into believing they really aren't that bad after all.) So, rather than to hear the Word that will rid them of their bondage - "Go!" -  they beg him to leave their region. 

The demons have fooled them into thinking there is nothing good on the other-side of the tomb.

True Freedom comes as we embrace the Word, as we press into the powerful Word that has the Kingdom Power to set us completely free. "Go!" And we rise - and rise again and again - into the Perfect Freedom in Christ, into the One who set us completely free by the power of his Word.

And that happens when pigs fly!