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A Higher Presence, a lower self
I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. – 2 Corinthians 12:2

I have let the scripture speak for the most part in this series of posts. In one brief summary from an earlier post:

Worship requires the creature to bow down to it’s Creator. The Apostle John records the worship of the living creatures. Man must also bow down to the Lord our God.

Man ‘adam is that creature.

Man: created by God in His own Image, the very Image of the Son of Man sent to us in Christ Jesus, the very Spirit given to whom He does choose created by Him, the One God Who sits on the Highest Throne of Heaven — man, you and I, must WORSHIP GOD.

The Heavens are Telling the Glory of God – Joseph Hayden

Psalm 19:

The heavens declare the glory of God,
and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.

2 Day to day pours out speech,
and night to night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech, nor are there words,
whose voice is not heard.

4 Their voice goes out through all the earth,
and their words to the end of the world.

What is the point of worship?

God created.

He created the heavens and the earth and the creatures of the earth.

God created man ‘adam.

Man must bow down to God.

He created us to worship Him and love one another.

Again, look to the true meaning of worship – shachah –

to bow down to God or before superior in homage

Jesus also speaks of worship – proskyneō – in the NT by kneeling or prostration to do homage (to one) or make obeisance, whether in order to express respect or to make supplication used of homage shown to men and beings of superior rank
1. to the Jewish high priests
2. to God
3. to Christ
4. to heavenly beings
5. to demons
Jesus said: John 4:23

But the hour is coming, and is now here, when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for the Father is seeking such people to worship him.

Are you willing to bow down to God Almighty as a true worshiper?

NOTHING you can do is worthy of ANY relationship with God.

Yet the Cross of Christ is sufficient for you to be called into the Higher Place and eternal relationship of Perfect Love with God our Father in Heaven.

Daniel and Ezekiel also gave words to the wordless and imagery to the indescribable place of Heaven and the Almighty God of creation. The Apostle John reveals an experience of being brought up to the Throne of the Living God, where the Apostle is given revelation of the completion of the days and the fulfillment of all scripture.

It is a fearful place and awesome Revelation of what is to come!

If you can image beyond the imagery of the describable, Paul’s attempt to describe the third heaven is something like this:
1. We see through the first heaven of the blue atmosphere of this earth.
2. We look into the endless and timeless black heavens at the stars and galaxies of creation.
3. Higher than even this, God IS in a Third Heaven, a dimension beyond time and space and the created mind of man. He IS and was and will always be.
God can and does show certain created men what man cannot know or comprehend.

We are dust. We are a speck of sand on a vast sea of an incomprehensible creation.

Whether from true Prophet or true Apostle, description of our lowly position, requiring worship of God and description of heaven is worth noting.

What does it mean to ‘bow down?’ Paul describes it in relation to other men of God and to God our Father.

2 Corinthians 10

I, Paul, myself entreat you, by the meekness and gentleness of Christ—I who am humble when face to face with you, but bold toward you when I am away!

7 Look at what is before your eyes. If anyone is confident that he is Christ’s, let him remind himself that just as he is Christ’s, so also are we. 8 For even if I boast a little too much of our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be ashamed.

13 But we will not boast beyond limits, but will boast only with regard to the area of influence God assigned to us, to reach even to you.

17 “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.” 18 For it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.

2 Corinthians 11: 30 If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. 31 The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, he who is blessed forever, knows that I am not lying.

2 Corinthians 12

ESVEnglish Standard Version (ESV)

Paul’s Visions and His Thorn

12 I must go on boasting. Though there is nothing to be gained by it, I will go on to visions and revelations of the Lord. 2 I know a man in Christ who fourteen years ago was caught up to the third heaven—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows. 3 And I know that this man was caught up into paradise—whether in the body or out of the body I do not know, God knows—4 and he heard things that cannot be told, which man may not utter. 5 On behalf of this man I will boast, but on my own behalf I will not boast, except of my weaknesses— 6 though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth; but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me.

11 I have been a fool! You forced me to it, for I ought to have been commended by you…

And I will not be a burden, for I seek not what is yours but you. For children are not obligated to save up for their parents, but parents for their children. 15 I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls. If I love you more, am I to be loved less?

It is in the sight of God that we have been speaking in Christ, and all for your upbuilding, beloved.

2 Corinthians 13

He is not weak in dealing with you, but is powerful among you. 4 For he was crucified in weakness, but lives by the power of God. For we also are weak in him, but in dealing with you we will live with him by the power of God.

5 Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

No, Paul’s description is not of the Higher third heaven, but of the lower self. The Apostle describes a Power in Christ to which we have claim, and a humility of the Cross to which our Lord submitted even Himself, as He sacrificed His mortal life for the Immortality from which He descended to those He loved.

The love of God our Father in the Place of the Highest Heaven is high above and well beyond the heights of our imagination and the depths of the understanding of our created mind.

That God would die on a lowly cross for His created ones is a grace well worthy of our worship.

Worship and bow down to Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior. Amen.
November 9, 2013
How Do Children Respond to Grief?
By Rachel Harned, M.A. Counseling Ministries, Wheaton College

Most people don’t know how to respond to other people’s grief. Even fewer know how to respond to a child’s grief.

My first introduction to grieving was when I was 6 years old and my mom died. As a result, I wanted to post a follow up on interacting with grieving children.
- First, it is important to look at what a child would consider a loss.
When I was in 3^rd grade, we moved from North Florida to Central Florida. That seemed like moving across the world to an 8 year old girl who had lived in the same house her whole life. I was losing my home, my friends, and my school in one fell blow. That was a major loss to me.

A small toddler may even need to grieve the loss of a favorite stuffed animal.

When I was 3 or 4, I cried for days when I lost my favorite doll. Almost every kid up until a certain age has a stuffed animal or blanket that they can’t go to sleep without.

To a child, not all losses are equal but all losses are serious.

A loss can be anything that affects how you live your life.

I had to learn how to sleep without my doll and make friends in a new school and live without my mom.
- You also have to be especially careful about your phrasing with children.
You obviously don’t want to be too blunt but you can’t be vague about what’s happening or they won’t understand, particularly about death.

I remember someone told me that my mom was asleep (or something like that) but she wasn’t waking up.

For awhile, I did not want to go to sleep because I was afraid that I wouldn’t wake up either.

Telling a child that someone passed away (probably one of the most common phrases) is better but young children will need to have it explained to them because they need to know what’s going on before they can process it.

I use the word ‘processing,’ but I want to talk about that for a minute because different people will do it differently.
- God created us with different personalities that are very distinct, even in children.
Many (probably most) children will want to talk about it but others won’t. If they want to talk about it, it’s important for them to have a listening adult ear.

Hopefully, that can be in the form of a parent or other family member, but sometimes that’s not possible. Especially in the case of death, family members can be so focused on their own grief that they emotionally can’t handle the child’s as well. It’s OK to admit that, but there needs to be someone available for the grieving child to talk to.

The most obvious choices would be a pastor or a counselor but it could also be a close family friend (with a Christian understanding of death and eternal life).

I was able to talk to mentors and friends’ parents about my feelings and that had a significant impact on how I was able to deal with my mom’s death and some other things that were happening in my life shortly afterwards.
- If a child does not want to talk, that is OK too.
Don’t push them into it. Sometimes they need to think about it on their own or just wait and see what changes occur before they talk about it.

As I mentioned in my previous post, it is important to acknowledge that grieving is normal and OK with adults, but it is doubly important to tell this to children.

In a society where it is a virtue to “pull yourself up by your bootstraps,” I have seen many children taught that crying is a sign of weakness and that only babies cry. This is especially common with boys.

The problem with that is that some things are worth crying over. One of my parenting pet peeves is when parents tell their sobbing children “it’s OK” but clearly, something is not OK or they wouldn’t be crying.

A better phrasing might be “I know it hurts right now but you WILL BE OK” or something along those lines.

That applies to grief as well. When a child is caught in the middle of a divorce or has just lost a parent, sibling, pet, etc., they need to be told that it’s OK to cry about it now but, eventually, it won’t hurt as much.

Also, if you don’t let out your feelings of sadness, they will inevitably manifest themselves in another way, usually in depression, anxiety, or anger. I have no research to back this up but I am convinced that the rise in teens that need anti-depressant or anti-anxiety medications is at least partially due to the increasing stigma against proper grieving in our culture.

Feel free to comment below with any other questions, tips, or stories about your experiences with grief.

And please SHARE our discussions on How to Respond to Grief with any who are grieving.
November 2, 2013
Moving on.. 2

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 3:1 4

Matthew 10:11 And whatever town or village you enter, find out who is worthy in it and stay there until you depart. 12 As you enter the house, greet it. 13 And if the house is worthy, let your peace come upon it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.

IF anyone will not listen.. Shake off the dust of your feet when you leave that house.. It will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah. + “Jesus – Matthew 10:14-15

35 For I have come to set a man against his…

… nearest and most beloved family members.

Rejection! Rejection by loved ones for taking up your cross…

His Cross… and His reward.

36 And a person’s enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Rewards

40 “Whoever receives you receives me, and whoever receives me receives him who sent me.

41 The one who receives a prophet because he is a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward, and the one who receives a righteous person because he is a righteous person will receive a righteous person’s reward.

Luke 10:1-20

Jesus Sends Out the Seventy-Two

10 After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go. 2 And he said to them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest. 3 Go your way; behold, I am sending you out as lambs in the midst of wolves…

Do not go from house to house. 8 Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you…

10 But whenever you enter a town and they do not receive you, go into its streets and say,

11 ‘Even the dust of your town that clings to our feet we wipe off against you. Nevertheless know this, that the kingdom of God has come near.’

16 “The one who hears you hears me, and the one who rejects you rejects me, and the one who rejects me rejects him who sent me.”

The Light in You

Luke 11:33 “No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light…

35 Therefore be careful lest the light in you be darkness. 36 If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light.”

Acknowledge Christ Before Men

Luke 12:8 “And I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before men, the Son of Man also will acknowledge before the angels of God, 9 but the one who denies me before men will be denied before the angels of God.

You Must Be Ready

35 “Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, 36 and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks.

Not Peace, but Division

49 “I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled!

50 I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! 51 Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. 52 For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three.

Repent or Perish

Luke 13: There were some present at that very time who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices. 2 And he answered them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered in this way? 3 No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.

The Narrow Door

22 He went on his way through towns and villages, teaching and journeying toward Jerusalem. 23 And someone said to him, “Lord, will those who are saved be few?”

And he said to them, 24 “Strive to enter through the narrow door. For many, I tell you, will seek to enter and will not be able.

25 When once the master of the house has risen and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and to knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, open to us,’ then he will answer you, ‘I do not know where you come from.’

26 Then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.’

27 But he will say, ‘I tell you, I do not know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of evil!’ 28 In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth…

Temptations to Sin

Luke 17: And he said to his disciples, “Temptations to sin are sure to come, but woe to the one through whom they come! 2 It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck and he were cast into the sea than that he should cause one of these little ones to sin. 3 Pay attention to yourselves! If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, 4 and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.”

24 For as the lightning flashes and lights up the sky from one side to the other, so will the Son of Man be in his day. 25 But first he must suffer many things and be rejected by this generation. 26 Just as it was in the days of Noah, so will it be in the days of the Son of Man.27 They were eating and drinking and marrying and being given in marriage, until the day when Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all.

28 Likewise, just as it was in the days of Lot—they were eating and drinking, buying and selling, planting and building,

29 but on the day when Lot went out from Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from heaven and destroyed them all

— 30 so will it be on the day when the Son of Man is revealed.

The Death of Jesus

Luke 23:44 It was now about the sixth hour, and there was darkness over the whole land until the ninth hour, 45 while the sun’s light failed. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two. 46 Then Jesus,calling out with a loud voice, said, “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!”

Jesus Appears to His Disciples

Luke 24: Jesus himself stood among them, and said to them,“Peace to you!” 37 But they were startled and frightened and thought they saw a spirit…

44 Then he said to them, “These are my words that I spoke to you while I was still with you, that everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalms must be fulfilled.”45 Then he opened their minds to understand the Scriptures, 46 and said to them, “Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead,

47 and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things…

The Ascension

50 Then he led them out as far as Bethany, and lifting up his hands he blessed them. 51 While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven. 52 And they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy, 53 and were continually in the temple blessing God.

The Risen King has sent them out…

It will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah

A servant of the Lord comes to you. He needs a room. He needs work. He needs food. He asks for your love and friendship. And he shares Christ Jesus, his Lord with you.

He invites you to be part of His family and fellowship of lasting true love.

What will be your reward?

November 1, 2013