Blogging with Wave Walker

The Call of Our Time

Wave Walker — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 16:21:59 +0000

Isaiah 40:6-8 “A Voice says, ‘Call out.’ Then he answered, ‘What shall I call out?’ ‘All flesh is grass, and all its loveliness is like the flower of the field. The grass withers, the flower fades when the Spirit of Yahweh blows upon it; surely the people are grass. The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God stands forever.’”

I have been silent for two years (hard to believe–it has gone fast). In that time our circumstances have grown increasingly difficult. Many voices have offered and continue to offer empty solutions. They are empty because they fail to accurately identify our root problem and the only unique solution to that problem. It is time to emerge from silence.

Our problem is that we have forgotten the Only True God, Yahweh. The only unique solution is by returning to His Word.

Shouldn’t we listen to Him?

Isaiah 8:19 “And when they say to you, ‘Consult the mediums and the spiritists who whisper and mutter,’ should not a people consult their God? Should they consult the dead on behalf of the living?”

Wave Walker

On Being Content

Wave Walker — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 14:35:49 +0000

Hebrews 13:5, 6 “Make sure that your character is free from the love of money, being content with what you have; for He Himself has said, ‘I will never desert you, nor will I ever forsake you,’ so that we confidently say, ‘The Lord is my helper, I will not be afraid. What will man do to me?’”

I have taken a little time off from blogging as 2009 ended and “Twenty-Ten” has begun. I am not sure what direction I will take. I have a few projects I am working on that will take some of my time, precious as it is. In that regard, I have stopped to examine the landscape, so to speak. There is a lot that makes me sad. There is a little that makes me glad.

First the sadness. Far too many of those who I have called friends over a number of years seem to have gotten side-tracked from what is most important in life and instead have gone down roads and paths which have ended up with difficult circumstances. Over the last year there are several of those of which I have personally become aware because they have communicated with me. Others I have just heard about. Whichever the case, the central issue in every one is that relationship with Jesus took second place, while the pursuit of some material goal got in the way. The increasing chaos of the world seemingly, in my mind, should be conviction enough to abandon the pursuit of that which cannot satisfy. Yet it seems to have only hardened many.

There is a glimmer of hope however. Jesus is still the same, and He is still calling by His Grace. A few seem to be getting it, and have responded. As for me, I have once again decided to follow the admonition found on a little sign I have on the wall above my desk which states: “Life’s Priorities: 1. Love God. 2. Take Care of Your Family. 3. Help Others.” If I can do these three things, then all else will fall in place. Those are the only things that really matter. Living with those priorities in firm place will result in God’s Contentment, whatever the circumstances. That of course doesn’t mean just being Spiritually minded. Rather, in the context of my Love Relationship with Jesus Christ, I discover how to Love my family, and those around me in need. That Love for others will then translate into work and efforts which help to build and solve problems.

Contentment is about Right Relationships. Right Relationships mean seeing my opportunities with Others. When that sense of priority is realized, then I will have gladness! That is what will bring Contentment in Twenty-Ten.

Hebrews 13:1 “Let Love of the Brethren continue.”

Wave Walker

Peace

Wave Walker — Fri, 25 Dec 2009 15:13:22 +0000

John 14:27 “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful.”

On this Christmas Day in 2009 there is still only One Way to Peace. As we began our morning, we followed our tradition in reading Luke 2 and paused to remember the Only thing that really is important, Our Lord Jesus Christ. He came as a baby for a reason: To Redeem Mankind from Sin. He alone is our Peace! For that we will always be grateful.

The world looks for Peace and cannot find. Nevertheless, the Only One who can bring Peace has already accomplished that when He Came. It is our prayer on this Christmas Day 2009 that the Peace that God gives through His Son will be yours.

Merry Christmas!

II Corinthians 9:15 “Thanks be to God for His Indescribable Gift!

Wave Walker

The Testimony Of God

Wave Walker — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 18:47:41 +0000

I Corinthians 2:1,2 “And when I came to you, brethren, I did not come with superiority of speech or of wisdom, proclaiming to you The Testimony Of God. For I determined to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.”

Beginnings are important. First impressions last a lifetime. First encounters form our impression of specific scenarios forever. That is why Paul was always careful how he entered new relationships. He purposefully didn’t build relationships on his intellectual prowess or the cultural expression of the day. Rather, he made his own relationship with Jesus Christ and the Truth of Scripture, literally The Testimony Of God, the basis of all his relationships from the very beginning.

Believers would wisely take note that Paul wasn’t interested in impressing people or to connect with the culture. He wanted to make sure that those with whom he was trying to build relationships clearly saw the power and authority of Jesus Christ in lives He has changed by His Grace. This is the deciding factor between victory and shipwreck in the Christian life.

Transparency ultimately is the key to revealing The Testimony Of God.

I Corinthians 2:3-5 “And I was with you in weakness and in fear and in much trembling. And my message and my preaching were not in persuasive words of wisdom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of power, that your faith should not rest on the wisdom of men, but on the power of God.”

Wave Walker

God Has Chosen

Wave Walker — Sun, 13 Dec 2009 11:00:53 +0000

I Corinthians 1:26-29 “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble; but God has chosen the foolish things of the world to shame the wise, and God has chosen the weak things of the world to shame the things which are strong, and the base things of the world and the despised, God has chosen, the things that are not, that He might nullify the things that are, that no man should boast before God.”

Appearances are sometimes deceiving. There is always a danger in taking things at face value, if for no other reason than the acknowledgment that genuine heart motivation of others is impossible for the onlooker to know for certain. As Paul motivates the Corinthians to Sanctified Spiritual Maturity he likewise acknowledges that God has worked His Plan in such a way that it appears to the unspiritual and undiscerning to be foolishness. Nevertheless, God Has Chosen for it to be that way, for a specific reason.

Just as God is working by His Grace on behalf of His Children, He likewise is working for the defeat of His Enemies. Those who raise the fist in God’s Face, those who reject the Gracious work of Jesus Christ, both at His Cross and His Throne, those who want nothing to do relationally with The One True God of Heaven but rather work in active opposition to His Plan, God has determined to confound their supposed wisdom, their demonstrated strength, and their empty vanity. God Has Chosen to use simple appearing devices, the things that are not, to overturn the schemings of the proud. Why, you may ask? Because God has determined to put down all those who boast in themselves.

God Has Chosen these things to be. God calls His Children to Spiritual Maturity so that we won’t be tempted to boast in the wrong things!

I Corinthians 1:30, 31 “But by His doing you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption, that, just as it is written, ‘Let him who boasts, boast in the LORD.’”

Wave Walker

The Word Of The Cross

Wave Walker — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 02:17:56 +0000

Romans 1:18 “For the word of the cross is to those who are perishing foolishness, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.”

We live in a polarized world. It seems that proven facts to some are simply foolishness, while to those same individuals obvious foolishness is the gospel truth! It all depends on the point of view taken by these two opposing sides. Without doubt both sides can’t be right. One side must be wrong. The question is, what distinguishes true wisdom from the foolishness?

We discover in both Psalm 14:1 and Psalm 53:1 “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’.” Without doubt, this reference to God is to the One True God, Yahweh. By definition then, foolishness is bound up in the notion that there is no God, specifically Yahweh. The eternal Word of God determines who is wise and who is foolish, and foolishness is bound up in the hearts of those who reject the Gospel of Jesus Christ and His saving work on the Cross. Those who reject God and His Gospel, The Word Of The Cross, are fools. Those who accept by faith this foundational principle of life however have discovered the power of God.

How sad that this underlying foundational Truth, The Word Of The Cross, is so vehemently rejected by so many. Our Sovereign God will make this error right, perhaps very soon.

Romans 1:25 “Because the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.”

Wave Walker

That You All Agree

Wave Walker — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 11:00:09 +0000

I Corinthians 1:10,11 “Now I exhort you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, That You All Agree, and there be no divisions among you, but you be made complete in the same mind and in the same judgment. For I have been informed concerning you, my brethren, by Chloe’s people, that there are quarrels among you.”

Paul now sets forth the main point regarding the great need of the Corinthians, the essential unity found in Maturity, and which the Corinthians were lacking, even in their giftedness. The fact that they were divided is the evidence of their Spiritual immaturity, and Paul is giving them a challenge to redirect their energies.

Paul uses two illustrations to demonstrate the foolishness of divisions. Division always has a leader, a human personality by whom we have been smitten in our Spiritual immaturity. We get sidetracked from God’s Purpose and Plan when we start looking at the men God uses rather than the One who is directing the Plan. In that regard, Paul’s challenge is that neither Paul nor any other man was placed on the Cross for the sins of mankind, and neither in the name of Paul nor any other man were Believers baptized. The central focus is The Gospel, the work of Christ at The Cross. If we all maintain that single focus divisions will not develop. It won’t be important who baptized who. Rather, baptism will become as it was intended, the entrance to Sanctification, the process to the mature Spiritual life in Jesus Christ.

Today I hear a lot of discussion about this author or that author, this speaker or that speaker. I fear we have, like the Corinthians, become enamored by various Spiritual men, rather than recognizing that the men are just instruments by which God’s Plan has been communicated to the world. We all need to take our eyes off the men who have communicated Truth to us, and once again place our central focus on Jesus Christ, the Only Unique One who can both save and sanctify us through the unifying admonition regarding His Finished Salvation Work at The Cross and His Ongoing Sanctifying Work at His Throne, That You All Agree.

I Corinthians 1:17 “For Christ did not send me to baptize, but to preach the gospel, not in cleverness of speech, that the cross of Christ should not be made void.”

Wave Walker

In Everything You Were Enriched

Wave Walker — Sat, 05 Dec 2009 11:00:30 +0000

I Corinthians 1:4-8 “I thank my God always concerning you, for the grace of God which was given you in Christ Jesus, that In Everything You Were Enriched in Him, in all speech and all knowledge, even as the testimony concerning Christ was confirmed in you, so that you are not lacking in any gift, awaiting eagerly the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ, who shall also confirm you to the end, blameless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

Paul in his First Letter to the Corinthians acknowledges at the very first that when the Believers at Corinth received the Good News of relationship with Jesus Christ they were immediately Blessed with a vast array of Spiritual gifts, signified by the comment, “In Everything You Were Enriched.” They were wealthy in terms of Spiritual gifts. They were equipped with everything they needed to sustain them blamelessly to the fulfillment of God’s Plan at the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. This glowing statement of reality requires one underlying foundation: The necessity of Spiritual Fruit, which Paul will explore in great detail.

At this point, it is necessary to begin to digress, even as we will see how Paul digresses from the tremendous potential given to Corinth because of their Gifts. The unifying factor underlying Gifts is Fruit, and until Spiritual Fruit unifies, the Gifts will not prove to be valuable. Paul will begin to explain very shortly therefore how the Fruit will optimize the wealth of Gifts. Paul is set to emphasize that the foundation is relational Faith coordinating in relational Fellowship which makes possible the usefulness of the wealth of Gifts.

It seems like Believers today should identify with Corinth. Indeed, it can be said of us, “In Everything You Were Enriched.” We are wealthy, but we are lacking Fruit. We are in desperate need of Fruit to enable the wealth of Gifts to propel us to Maturity.

I Corinthians 1:9 “God is faithful, through Whom you were called into fellowship with His Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.”

Wave Walker

Toward Maturity

Wave Walker — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:20:31 +0000

I Corinthians 1:1-3 “Paul, called as an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Sosthenes our brother, to the church of God which is at Corinth, to those who have been sanctified in Christ Jesus, saints by calling, with all who in every place call upon the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, their Lord and ours: Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.”

It is no mistake that I Corinthians follows immediately upon Romans in our Canon of Scripture. Romans laid a clear foundation regarding our receipt of Salvation by Grace apart from works, and it follows that, having laid a clear foundation, the process through which Believers mature to effective ministry would then be clearly explained. In his address to the Corinthians, Paul makes it clear that this letter will be about Sanctification, having singled out those Sanctified at Corinth and elsewhere. God’s Grace, His magnificent supernatural enablement, coupled with God’s Peace, the fruit of the Holy Spirit in the lives of believers which typifies Relationship between God and man and between Believers who are controlled by the Holy Spirit, are the means by which the Sanctification process propels Believers Toward Maturity. When men are empowered by God’s Grace and are living in right relationship with God and other Believers the momentum of their Spiritual lives flows Toward Maturity.

Sadly, as was with a significant segment of those at Corinth as we will soon see, most Believers fail to progress Toward Maturity. Somehow, the Sanctification process is short circuited. The First Letter to the Corinthians will identify the problems, redirect our path Toward Maturity, and reveal the final outcome of the mature life.

It is beyond time for Believers to discover God’s Sanctifying enablement, and to re-engage on the path Toward Maturity.

Hebrews 12:14 “Pursue peace with all men, and the sanctification without which no one will see the Lord.”

Wave Walker

Small Blessings at Thanksgiving

Wave Walker — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 16:55:19 +0000

Zechariah 4:10a “For who has despised the day of small things?”

Mankind has a history of overlooking little things which are profoundly important. I want to share a little thing which is important in my life.

My recent health history has revealed slightly elevated cholesterol, which my physicians have labored intensely expressing their concern over the fact that when I take Statin drugs I am among those who develop muscle pain and related problems, which contraindicates their use. I have done my best to try to keep my weight down, eat right foods, and try not to live a sedentary life. Beyond that, there isn’t much else I can do to address this “problem”. Today, I went and had a Calcium Score run to gain an accurate assessment of risk. I was astounded that my Score was zero.

Frankly, I can’t imagine how much smaller something could be than zero. This is something that I have prayed over for a number of years and have entrusted to the Lord, because I really have had no control over plaque buildup in my arteries. Since I can’t take the usual medications really this issue is one which I have had to allow the Lord to control, and He appears to indeed have it under His Sovereign control.

This Thanksgiving, I am Thankful for the Small Blessings, because even Small Blessings at Thanksgiving can have a profound effect on your life.

Join me in Grateful Prayer for Small Blessings at Thanksgiving!

Philippians 4:6,7 “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with Thanksgiving let your requests be made know to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, shall guard your Hearts and your Minds in Christ Jesus.”

Wave Walker