I read something on JewishEncyclopedia.com that was interesting: Justin Martyr, a Samaritan who grew up outside of Galilee, and a 2^nd century historian/philosopher writes that the plows and yokes made by Jesus and Joseph were still in existence at his (Justin’s) time, about the year 120 A.D.

Think about that, Jesus’ plows and yokes were famous.

His mission was to come to planet earth and be the Messiah, but while he was here he made some great farm equipment. I’m sure he was quite aware that this wasn’t his primary purpose for coming to this spinning ball of dirt called earth…it’s not like he was chasing a spotlight or celebrity carpenter status. In his hidden years, in obscurity, without pursuing the hope of fame or money, he made simply made great plows. What made his plows and yokes stand out?

Maybe Jesus knew a couple of things about plows that are good for us to be reminded.

Plows are Secondary. Jesus was called first to God. His chief passion was not plows, it was to “Be God’s” – but the passion to be God’s concentrates all the energy of who we are into whatever He has us doing. Colossians 3:23 Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.

Plows were not beneath him. While they weren’t the heart of his calling, they were a part of his calling. Was it frustrating for Jesus to make plows until age 30 knowing that he would step into his mission in years ahead? Or was it the years spent making yokes and plows freed him up for a clarity and intensity in the 3 years of ministry once he got there? I wonder how many sermons were crafted in his mind while he was building something with his hands. Hudson Taylor: a little thing is a little thing, but faithfulness in a little thing is a big thing.

Plows produce character. In order to rise to the full stature of who He was, Jesus had to spend 30 years in obscurity, virtually unknown. Hard work in obscurity produces humility when you are working unto God not men. 1 Peter 5:6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.  

Plows Preach. Whether people believed that Jesus was the Messiah or not, they couldn’t argue with his excellent craftsmanship.  It appears that he was respected for his plows before the glory of the cross and an empty tomb. 

Whatever you are doing today is preaching. People are watching.  What is the plow that God has put your hand to? What are you leaving behind? 

Make God famous with your plow. 

Romans 10:17 So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
The other night I was at a late movie with some friends, we were like the only ones there; well there was one other couple in the otherwise empty theater. And we made a bad choice. The movie was good but we had chosen the film for the hearing impaired. There were these HUGE yellow captions at the bottom of the screen. If a dog was barking, it would read [dog barking]. After about 45 seconds this was unbelievably distracting and incredibly frustrating. It was hard to get past every word that was spoken being displayed in letters that took up the lower third of the screen. The interesting thing is that the source for the captioning came from another projector.
My friend had an idea to use his jacket to cover up the projector that was putting out the captioning. So he stood up and began to make his way to the back to do the “cover up.” He was thoughtful enough to say to the couple in the back, “hey, do you mind if we cover up the words?” And….

There was silence.

Then the guy spoke up, he said, “yeah, we mind, she needs them.” Oh man. It was one of the most uncomfortable moments I’ve witnessed in my life. Mike sat down in the awkwardness and whispered to us, “I wonder if I can find a blind person so that I can cover up their ears.
When I was thinking about this the next day, I actually laughed out loud. Seriously. It was funny…and then it wasn’t.

Because I the Holy Spirit helped me realize that we have a world that is “faith impaired.” And sadly, many of us who have faith, we’re the ones who can easily follow the story, but often times we’re the ones who are covering up the words.

God wants everyone to understand the story. God wants every person to follow the larger narrative of what he doing in the world. God wants people to get Kingdom, to grasp Gospel. But to get the essence of the story, the “faith impaired” need to see the words.

We have the words, don’t cover them up…don’t be ashamed to put the words out there. Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. When crack open the door for faith when we speak the word. For God’s sake, and the sake of His story, and the sake of the faith impaired, don’t cover up the words.

Dear Mr. President,

Have you ever asked God for a dream? What kind of dream were you asking for?

What if God said that he wanted to give you a dream tonight when you sleep – but then He let you choose what kind of dream? What if he asked you, would you rather see me in a dream or have a dream in which I reveal my plan for your life?

Most of the time when we ask for a dream or vision, we are asking for God to give us Google maps while we sleep. We want turn-by-turn directions, or at least a picture of the destination.  We want to know what to do, where to go.

The psalmist seems to have a different longing – he longs to see the face of God more than a picture of God’s preferred future for his life.

As a heart yearns for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God. My soul thirsts for God, the Living God, When can I come and see the face of the Lord. Psalm 42:2

O God, you are my God, earnestly will I seek you. My soul thrists for You my flesh longs for you. In a dry and weary land where no water can be found. So I have looked ofr You in the sanctuary, to see Your strength and Your glory. Psalm 63:2-3

With my soul have I desired You in the night; with my spirit within me have I sought You earnestly.

Isaiah 26:9

Couple of thoughts:

Maybe the dreams we long for reveal more than the dreams themselves.

Maybe the reason you haven’t had “the dream” is because you are longing for the wrong one.  

Ezra was Inebriated

Ezra 8:21-23 There, by the Ahava Canal, I proclaimed a fast, so that we might humble ourselves before our God and ask him for a safe journey for us and our children, with all our possessions…so we fasted and petitioned our God….and he answered our prayer.

Ezra was at a major crossing in his life and he longed for a special anointing for that passage. Not just for him, but also for those he was responsible for.  When we have major decisions to we have a heightened awareness to make sure we are aligned with God’s leadership for our lives. we want to align ourselves with God’s lead. Begging him for wisdom and discernment to choose the right, for power and courage to do the right. At all times, but specifically at every major crossing there should be a longing to be “under the influence.”

Ephesians 5:18 says not to get drunk with wine but to be filled with the Spirit. How do you get drunk on wine? By drinking a lot of it. How do you get filled with the Spirit? By drinking a lot of him. How do you drink a lot of him? By immersing yourself in His word. In Galatians 3:2 Paul writes that we “receive (drink) the Spirit by believing what we hear.” By hearing what? The word of God. If we want to be filled with the Spirit of God we’ve got to take in the word of God.

Wesley Duewel, in his book Let God Guide You Daily, describes what it is like for him to seek God in a retreat of solitude: “I have at times read as many as fifty chapters from God’s word before I was completely alone with God. But on some of those occasions I received such unexpected guidance that my life has been greatly benefited.” 

If I want to live a life that is “under the influence” of the Spirit, I’ve got to spend time immersing myself in the well of his word. When have I ever read 50 chapters in one day? Ezra and Duewell serve as examples to me, that when I’ve got my own Ahava Canal, my own major crossing to make, I should pull away form the table and drink heavily…. drinking the word of God.

Ezra feasted on God’s presence and was blessed. Duewell found unexpected guidance. God answered their prayers and revealed his joy and favor because it is like him to fill the thirsty. 

When Dr. E. Stanley Jones asked Gandhi what would be required for Christianity to become “naturalized” in India - Gandhi gave him four thoughts which are relevant today: 

1. I would suggest, first, that all of you Christians, missionaries, and all, must begin to live more like Jesus Christ.
2. Second, I would suggest that you must practice your religion without adulterating or toning it down.
3. Third, I would suggest that you must put your emphasis upon love, for love is the center and soul of Christianity.
4. Fourth, I would suggest that you study the non-Christian religions and culture more sympathetically in order to find the good that is in them, so that you might have a more sympathetic approach to the people.

There is no calling unless there is a caller. The Caller sees and addresses us as individuals —as unique, exceptional, precious, significant, and free to respond. He who calls us is personal as well as infinite and personal in himself, not just to us. So we who are called are addressed as individuals and invited into a relationship “I have called you by name,” God said. ) We are known with an intimacy that is a source of gratitude and soul shivering wonder. Humanness is a response to God’s calling. To be unresponsive to that call is to be irresponsible. We must respond to the call and rise to become the magnificent creatures only one Caller can call us to be.  

–The Call by Os Guinness

“The more we get what we now call ‘ourselves’ out of the way and let Him take us over, the more truly ourselves we become. The more I resist Him and try to live on my own, the more I become dominated by my own heredity and upbringing and surroundings and natural desires. In fact what I so proudly call ‘Myself’ becomes merely the meeting place for trains of events which I never started and which I cannot stop.”

–C.S. Lewis

No really, it was.

Driving down Braselton Highway, a guy tagged the side of my Jeep. Not my fault. Everyone all right. Cars still drivable. Just some heavy dents and a flat tire (mine). We talked with the officer and I went off to change my tire.

At first I was ticked, inconvenienced, irritated, thinking “I don’t have time for this.” We’re starting our 3rd service tonight. Then I was thankful that I was still alive. Then I thought about heaven.

Wrecks are temporary. Flat tires are temporary. Cars are temporary. Dealing with insurance companies are eternal. No they’re temporary too.

Growing up, I think I heard every cliché in church – one that I got loaded on my hard drive at a young age is this whole idea that someone can be “so heavenly minded that they are of no earthly good.”

I spent years trying to protect myself from this danger – this horrible thought that I could be too focused on the eternal, too caught up in the reality of the hereafter that I am “no good” for the here and now. But as I go back and think about those people who gave me that phrase and I’m not sure that I want their life. I’m not convinced that they lived the “earthly good.” So in the end maybe they missed out on the heavenly mindset and the earthly good.

I’m believing that to truly dangerous for Christ, to expand his goodness and glory in the earth, the heavenly mindset is a prerequisite. To live with God’s rest in a restless world, and be a force for good, we must move forward by knowing that eternal rest in Him is just around the corner.

Yes, we will face wrecks, flat tires, suffering, illness, and eventually death…but heaven is coming. While I may not know His rest complete and perfect here on earth, I can know a foretaste of heaven as I live in this realm of his kingdom, of his rule and reign.

Yesterday, as I changed the tire I looked at the guy over my shoulder and the God of heaven asked “do you think he has time for this?” In a quick response to God, I thought, “yes it does.” Then the Spirit asked, “do you think he has money for this?” I didn’t respond so quickly that time, because from the looks of things, it was apparent that he did not.

What happened next was one of those moments that you just don’t forget. I’m not sure if that guy had ever made money by causing a wreck, I know I had never given like that. But in light of what’s eternal, God made it clear that I was to serve him financially. A heavenly mindset led to earthly good.

One day in heaven, all we’ll have is time. By tapping into that perspective we see what is temporary and what is eternal. The heavenly-minded Apostle Paul writes, “our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory.” 2.Cor.4.17 For Paul, who had some experience with affliction, the heavenly mindset was the catalyst for expanding God’s goodness and glory in the earth.

Amen

Moses pleaded with God for a personal request. Moses asked God, “Show me your glory.” Moses had a hunger for the glory of God. And the God of the universe does the unthinkable, he says yes. God agrees to reveal his glory to Moses. They’ve been together for years and God finally reveals his glory to Mo. What does God allow Moses to see? He says, I will make all my goodness pass before you.” That’s the ultimate glory of God, the magnificent sum of his attributes. All of his goodness. God’s glory is most glorious in his marvelous goodness.

In John 14:9 Philip came to Jesus with a personal request, he asked Jesus, “can you show us the Father.” Jesus replied, “Philip I have been with you all this time and you haven’t known me?” We’ve been together for years and I can’t believe that you haven’t seen it. If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father. Look at me; I am the sum of God’s attributes.

Jesus came to show us the glory of God. When God came to earth, we beheld his glory. Not the glory of a throne or a crown, but a glory that would set aside all of the royal divine rights to wrap himself in human flesh like us. No one has ever seen the Father face-to-face, it is only the Son who has the same heart who has made him known to those he has created.

When the Bible says, no one has ever seen God, it means no one has ever FULLY realized and experienced the reality of God. No one has ever wrapped their mind around his character and nature.. The more we wrap our minds around Jesus (God wrapped in flesh) the more we understand the Father.

I started out the day praying, asking God that I could “see Him.” I didn’t expect to see a physical being on my way to the coffee house, because God is spirit…but I wanted to experience him. And I found John 14:9 or should I say, John 14:9 found me.

I have called myself a disciple of Jesus past 15 years, and John 14:9 pushed a reset button in my soul this morning. I heard Jesus say to me, “Kevin, we’ve been together all this time and you haven’t known me. The word that Jesus uses for know is the closest kind of relational connection. To know is to have intimacy. It’s to know and to be known. I was broken because I want to know him, but if I’m honest in the past 15 years, I don’t know that the greatest competition to intimacy has been sin, (although I have my struggles) most of the time it’s ministry. Many days, serving him has replaced knowing him. 

I want to know him. I want to see him.If we want to see God, we should look to Jesus. If we want to be close to God, we should draw near to Jesus. To know him and to be known by him. I realized this morning that if I didn’t continue to press into God, in 2024 I could be a follower of Jesus for 30 years and not know him anymore than I do now, because length of relationship doesn’t produce intimacy. Intentionally seeking to find out more about him, to understand more of what he prefers, what he desires, and opening myself up fully and surrendering myself to that. Ordering my life around Jesus brings intimacy. For me, some of that happens through Studying his word, much of that happens through prayer.

Today as I read through John’s gospel, I didn’t read for information, that wasn’t enough, I read for intimacy – to know him and be known by him. As I read and prayed, you know what I saw? I saw Jesus, and through those pages, God made all of his goodness pass before me.