The Surpassing Greatness of His Power

It was around 2^nd or 3^rd grade that I went to the school office at St. Francis de Sales to have the eye exam that was administered to everyone my age. Part of it was to look into a viewer and identify where the black dot was. One lens showed a table and the other showed a dot and we were to say if the dot was on, above, below or beside the table. At first I told the clinician the truth. My left eye saw the table, my right eye saw the dot and when I'm looking into the lens I do not see a dot and table together.

This did not seem to satisfy the person but it seemed easy enough to calculate where the dots were in relation to the position of the table and so that is what I did, then and a few other times in the future. Later on an eye doctor told me that I had what he liked to call “milk man eyes” - I could drive the milk truck while at the same time checking out my delivery addresses. So just be aware. If it doesn't seem that I'm paying attention to you I am, or at least one eye is.

I was reminded of that today at church. Not one to see the world through rose colored glasses our pastor passed out those 3D glasses which have one lens red and the other green. Near the end of his sermon he showed on the overhead screen the sermon series picture which depicts a bridge in a forested wilderness setting. The series is on Hebrews 11, the great faith chapter and the idea of the photo is that of heading out into the great unknown by faith. Well, in 3D I did not see the bridge coming toward me and the depth of the trees and branches and path. One eye saw a blurry picture in red and the other saw a blurry picture in green (much better by the way) but my brain would not put the two together. It was a little more complicated that tables and dots.

About a month ago I started desiring and praying to be able to see the spiritual aspects of this world with much greater clarity. Although I didn't realize until today the connection with the way my eyes work and the way I have been viewing the spiritual interaction with the physical I have been aware that there has been a disconnect. One of my eyes is much stronger than the other and it dominates, at least in real time, how I discern things. And because it dominates I am missing so much of what is actually going on. I need to both strengthen the other eye and to get both to work together so that I don't have to guess what the true picture is.

In my life, in my experience, God rarely comes out and gives me a clear answer right away on something that I've been praying or contemplating about. He seems to enjoy having me go through the process. I get a bit here and a bit there and then when it's time a bunch of random things come together, a key piece is added and I finally get a clear picture of what the answer is.

My conversion to actually know that God is, to faith in Jesus as my Savior and Lord, was a wild ride that happened over a few months. God was just too big to be able to understand. But a point of stress led to an earnest examination which ultimately led to the truth of the gospel. And yet drawing close I did not see clearly until I finally surrendered and He entered in. Oh what a glorious day that was!

The next few years he gave me understanding and insight that I certainly did not earn. I was available and He was pleased to bless me and take me along with Him. These came in pieces which were added to other pieces until finally I could understand, Oh, that's how that works.

So now I'm in this process of trying to have greater spiritual clarity in viewing the world and people and situations. And I'm noticing all sorts of things. I'm wondering about the activity of evil spirits in the lives of ordinary people and I get a few interesting people come through on my road testing.

One day I have a delightful client from Australia. After a great chat and at the end of the test she tells me that she directs all the planned parenthood clinics in West Michigan. The disconnect between our nice time and the murder of thousands of innocents shakes me. Then the Holy Spirit whispers, “mark this”

The same day I test a very interesting young man who I have a great conversation with and it turns out that he is Mormon, recently back from his 2 year mission. I've studied and written about Mormonism and understand the great spiritual deception of it's history and present and I think a little about it as we talk. I am not prompted to engage in any discussion related to that but the Holy Spirit once again whispers, “mark this.”

I have a client who fails on the first part of their test and there is a computer glitch which slightly alters my schedule and I was a little perturbed about losing a test slot. I take the free time to head to the office and close my eyes to get 40 winks. When I get back there has been an accident on the street where we leave the parking lot and there are police cruisers, ambulances, a fire truck and as I walk closer I see a man with a bloody face and paramedics doing chest compressions on him. It turns out it was a 51 year old man who was doing a wheelie with his motorcycle at 60 mph from the nearby traffic signal who hits a car coming out of our parking lot, killing the man and sending his bike another 50 yards. I realize the next day that if I had a client at the correct time it could well have been our car that was hit by that motorcycle. I mark this as well.

I've had people that I know are struggling with spiritual deception come to mind during my prayer time and I've named some of the darkness’s that have popped into my mind then and prayed against those. I could go on with a lot more examples but the point is at this time that I'm still putting the pieces together and am very interested to see where it all will lead.

Here is a scripture from the first chapter of Ephesians that grabbed my attention. In it Paul prays:

(May) the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him.

(May) the eyes of your heart be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,

and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. There are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might

which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,

far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and every named that is named, not only is this age but also in the age to come.

And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over the church,

which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.

 

Donde Est Oswaldo?

Like many puzzles this trip in search of Oswaldo is a composite of my recent adventures driving around Wyoming.

We leave the parking lot after waiting about 5 minutes for the traffic to totally clear, that is, no visible moving cars for at least a mile in any direction.  We take a right turn at about 1/10th a mile an hour, making sure to run over the curb by at least 5 feet.  I instruct the person to turn right at the next street and as we are approaching the street she points at it and says "Here?" as she is driving past it.  By the time we get to the third street past the one I originally intended her to turn on we finally manage to turn into the residential area, at 1/10th a mile an hour, onto the left side of the street, and proceed on the left side as if the world really was beautiful and we had no cares at all.  I gauze longingly out the window but do not see Oswaldo.

After awhile we get to 28th street and I see a woman walking along on the sidewalk who I would describe as "not really thin".  She is wearing black stretch pants with the word " LOVE" emblazoned across the bottom of her bum.  As she walks the L and E are wildly bouncing up and down.  This is not pretty but sure is interesting and I think that Oswaldo must surely be somewhere near by.  Alas, no.

Later on we are about to make a right hand turn at a light but must stop to let a pedestrian finish walking across the intersection.  I tell the driver that rule number 7 for taking a driving test is to never to hit a pedestrian.  She asks, "Is that really a rule?" and I say "Sure"  A little later I add,  "And you know what rule number 1 is?  Don't hit the driver examiner in the parking lot."  I really wanted to add that the State provides two booklets for passing the driving test.  One is called WHAT EVERY DRIVER SHOULD KNOW and the other is called HOW TO PASS YOUR DRIVING TEST.  But driving examiners have authored their own booklet called RULES THAT LET STUPID PEOPLE STILL PASS THEIR TEST.  However, I thought I spotted Oswaldo behind a lamp pole and got distracted.

I ask the driver if she is still attending school and she tells me that she is going to a police academy this summer and that later on she wants to study law enforcement and become a K9 officer.  After agreeing that is a wonderful idea I add that few people know that there are K10 officers who use pigs instead of dogs. A pre-requirement for getting into the program is that you have to come from the country and been involved in 4H.  "Pigs actually have a better sense of smell that dogs" I tell her.  "The only problem is that sometimes officers become a little embarrassed when the pigs stick their heads out the cruiser windows, tongues hanging out and going 'WEE, WEE, WEE!' ".  At this point the driver was either trying to slap me but more likely was attempting to point out where she thought Oswaldo was.

We are about ready to get on the freeeway and she asks if the highway speed here is 70.  "I really need to drive careful on the freeway" she says to herself.  Helpfully I tell her that is a good idea and that I don't even tell any jokes while taking people on the highway.  "Wouldn't want anyone to crack up on the freeway."  Not cracking up she agrees that yes, it really is important to concentrate here.  We have a nice excursion at 52 mph but I do not spot Oswaldo.  Perhaps he was in one of the 100 cars that speed past us, left side, right side those 2 miles.

Getting off the freeway and on our way back I ask the required question about what would be the safest object to hit if she went off the road and had to choose something.  Because she was stumbling with the answer I add, "Would it be better to hit a tree or a bush?"  She tells me that she certainly wouldn't hit a bush.  "And why not?" I ask.  "Because there might be someone hiding in that bush." she tells me.  Of course.  It must be Oswaldo! 

A Firm Foundation

Early on after asking Jesus into my life I was blessed to be able to read books by men such as M.R. DeHaan, DeVern Fromke, Watchman Nee, Clarance Larkin,  Derek Prince and others.

In books such as PORTRAITS OF CHRIST IN GENESIS and THE CHEMISTRY OF THE BLOOD DeHaan showed me that Jesus was present in a very real way throughout the Old Testament and that every word in scripture had meaning and purpose.

The books Fromke wrote, UNTO FULL STATURE and THE ULTIMATE INTENTION taught me to look at things from God's perspective.  He has a higher purpose for this world and our life than we can imagine.

Watchman Nee showed me that in all things and all circumstances I need to trust that God loves me and still has a plan for my life.

Larkin in DISPENSATIONAL TRUTH presented a framework for understanding both prophecy and many other major themes presented in scripture.

And Prince had a 5 booklet series on the basics of Christian belief.  How do we understand a verse or paragraph in scripture?  We look at the first mention of a word or a theme, how it builds up and develops as scripture progresses, what is it's intended meaning to the reader and what is the Holy Spirit saying through it to us today.  That provides balance.

These men belonged to different denominations but they all had something in common.  They loved Jesus.  They loved the Word of God.  They saw the Creator's fingerprints everywhere.

One of the main plans of the enemy has always been to dilute and distort, to attack and destroy the Word of God.  Many of the major denominations of today, dispute their grand histories, are imploding because they have stopped building on a firm foundation.  They don't preach Jesus.  They don't preach The Word.  There is no fear of God in those hallowed halls.

But I testify to this.  I know that my Redeemer lives!  I've found peace and comfort, chastisement and direction, guidance and hope because He is infused throughout the Bible.  He is there when I quiet my life to listen.  He is there when I praise Him for His love and for His mercy.  And I have a deep assurance that He is even there when I go through times not sensing His presence.

And I also testify to this.  That nothing put up in opposition to Him will stand!