The Phil Files

Our View from the Gate - Lovely

Well, here we sit all tired and restless,
hoped for London, still in Texas.

Yep folks, we are off for a bit of respite in the cooler regions north of Europe. But having left the house at 9:15 this morning, we are still sitting at the DFW airport at 5:40 p.m. Saving $300 per ticket seemed like a smart move about 5 hours ago. Oh how the thinking changes over time.

We have heard from Zach and Mandy and they are on their way from Newark to Copenhagen. We will join them there some time tomorrow … Lord willing and the creek don’t rise.

We are still in a pretty good frame of mind for the view, the wait, and with the help of some baby back ribs and 43 trips to the bathroom. Of course, knowing that there will be no internet for the next 12 days is both terrifying and exhilirating … I will take the latter.

Grace to you all!

Such a lovely couple, especially with all that waiting!

As I look at the Lord’s Prayer, I am reminded that not only can I pray for deliverance, but I can also be partnered with God in answering someone else’s prayer for deliverance! In fact, that is part of the call God places on hearts when we pray, “your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” I am saying to God, “Use me to do your work in my world!”

Evil does exist. For awhile, modern culture wanted to deny that there was evil or an evil one. But since we’ve learned more about the persecuted church and the high number of martyrs for Jesus in the last few decades and the brutality of genocide and ethnic cleansing, more and folks talk about evil in the world. For followers of Jesus, there has never been any doubt. On the same day, I was pointed to two different online resources that speak to the problem of evil. One deals with the conspiracy to kill Christians in Turkey: Martyrs Killed by Conspiracy. The other is a powerful video resource called Deon, that focuses upon a police officer in the skid row area of Los Angeles, California, who cares for the people he serves regardless of how they feel about him. One deals with the source of evil and it’s impact on the lives of believers: the other is about a believer who overcomes evil with good.

Let’s pray the Lord’s prayer and let’s follow Deion’s example: let’s overcome evil with good!

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

For yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.

Jesus wasn’t kidding when he laid out this prayer for our “come to Jesus” meeting with the Father. He told me to pray this way if I am going to come before the abba Father and live in genuine relationship with my brothers and sisters in our family. He said to pray this way:

Our Father in heaven,hallowed be your name,your kingdom come, your will be done,on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen.

What makes this prayer so applicable today is the commentary Jesus adds to it.

For if you forgive others when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins. (Matthew 6:14-15)

Couple this addendum with Jesus’ words in Matthew 5:23-24 and Matthew 18:21-35 and you understand very clearly that forgiveness is a crucial part of Kingdom character. In my Heartlight.org article today, we look at Jesus forgiving His disciples who had abandoned, forsaken, betrayed, and denied Him in His hours of greatest need. This prayer and the article really challenge me in my life and force me to ask some questions of myself and of us, Jesus’ people.

Why is forgiveness hard for you?

How is forgiveness liberating to the person forgiven?

How is forgiveness liberating to the person who does the forgiving?

Why do you believe Jesus is so adamant that His followers be a forgiving people? (Read the Lord’s Prayer, along with Jesus’ editorial comment in Matthew 6:9-15 and also Jesus’ parable about the unforgiving servant in Matthew 18:21-35 before answering this question!)

The apostle Paul called us to forgive like we have been forgiven(Ephesians 4:32-5:1). How are we like God when we forgive?

How can we help each other become more forgiving?

Why are confrontation of sin and confession of sin so important to creating an environment of forgiveness? (Matthew 5:23-24; Matthew 18:15-20; James 5:16)

I’d love to hear any insights or responses you have!

In my Heartlight.org article today, I talk about Jesus knowing us personally and speaking to us. Here are some questions to go with the article that I’d love your feedback on as well as your input into the whole idea.

So if God — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — are involved in our lives, and if the Lord speaks to us, then how does He do it and how can we can be sure it is really God and not some selfish desire or some worldly wisdom or some evil spirit trying to deceive us?

Ah! Two good questions. I’ll give you a response, but leave it to you to do some digging in Scripture to deepen your understanding and to discover God’s truth for yourself. (Try these ideas out and work through the Scripture references!)

How does Jesus speak to us today?

• While we sleep! (The Bible talks about God ministering to us while we sleep. I encourage you to read the article, While We Sleep.)
• During our times with our church family! We forget that church is more than filling pews and following a worship order. Jesus is present (Matthew 18:20) and through the power of the Holy Spirit, our worship becomes more than a sharing of words (1 Corinthians 5:4). Our songs are Spirit-filled messages where we speak to each other (Colossians 3:16; Ephesians 5:17-19). Those who speak are to do so as speaking the very words of God (1 Peter 4:11). So what is preached, what is said to encourage us by friends, the loving confrontations we help each other face in Bible study, and the messages we sing to each other are one way Jesus speaks truth and hope into our hearts!
• During our everyday life experiences. God is at work in us, speaking to us when we read His word, when we hear repeated thoughts from multiple sources, and through the well-timed note, phone call, or card we receive from a friend (Philippians 2:13; Romans 8:28).

What are some other ways you think the Lord may have spoken truth into your life?

But how can we know it is really from the Lord and not from some other source? Aren’t we taught to “test the spirits” to see if what is being said is true? (1 John 4:1-6)

Here are some ways to test to see if what we hear the Lord communicating is really from Him:

Know Jesus. Get into the Jesus story and recognize what has the ring of truth from knowing what the Lord said and how He lived (John 10:1-4; John 10:27; read Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John).

Pray for the Holy Spirit’s help in knowing what is truth and knowing Jesus’ will. The Holy Spirit is given to us to help us know the truth from error and to recognize what is from God and from some other source (1 John 2:20-27;  1 John 3:23-24;  1 John 4:1-6; John 14:16-18; John 14:26; John 15:26; John 16:12-15).

Do what Jesus says to do. Not only is Jesus’ truth self-validating when it is lived by His disciples (John 8:31-32), but Jesus promises to reveal Himself to us and come make His home with each of us (John 14:19-23).

What are other ways that you believe we can discern what is truly from Jesus and what is from some other source?

We love the old Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan movie, Joe vs. the Volcano. For those that like it, it is a cult classic. There is a line in the movie where Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan are floating on Joe’s luggage, lost at sea, and the moon comes up over the ocean. Tom Hanks looks up and says something like, “Dear God, whose name I do not know, I had forgotten how small.”

My daily Bible reading has recently taken me through the book of Isaiah. I haven’t really gotten to the part of Isaiah that is known for it’s great praise of God (Isaiah 40-66). Yet even in the less “God’s grandeur” portion of Isaiah, we meet a God who is global, cosmic, and glorious. After finishing this part of Isaiah, my response is similar to Hanks: “Dear God, who is bigger than all human names used to praise you, I had forgotten how small I am and how expansive and glorious You are!”

As we say the Lord’s prayer today, let’s remember how incredibly awesome God is!

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

For yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.

I was sitting in the left hand turn lane behind a pickup waiting for a break in traffic so I could turn left. All of a sudden, as the light turned yellow, the pick up hit the gas, spun his tires a bit, yanked over one lane and sped down the street half a block, turned left into a parking lot, cutting off an oncoming car in the process. Guess where he was head? The Center for Conflict resolution.

Imagine that! A person in the course of 10 seconds broke three traffic laws, cut off two people, and slid into the Center for Conflict Resolution. I’m surprised the last guy he cut off didn’t follow him into the parking lot … or into the Center for Conflict Resolution! Yowsers.

I truly did feel sorry for the guy who had to hit his breaks to keep from getting hit head on by an oncoming pick up. I have no idea what he said or who he felt, but I know it would have been hard for me to control my temper — I was pretty scorched just watching all of this from the red light where the pick up truck should have still been located. Temptation comes in all sorts of shapes and sizes. One thing I do know, it often seems so tailor made to my weaknesses and vulnerabilities at the worst possible time. So, I’m saying the Lord’s prayer with a focus on temptation tonight … hope you will join me.

Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.

Give us today our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from the evil one.

For or yours is the kingdom and the power
and the glory forever. Amen.