To the heart | Robert E Rasmussen.com - Part 11 Robert E Rasmussen.com

The Wildest Member of the Trinity

29 06 2011

Well, if you think I am going heretical, comparingÂ and contrasting members of the Tri-unity, I beg to differ. I only quote Jesus himself (who, may I remind us, said that everything He said He got from the Father). So there seems to be consensus.

THE WILDEST MEMBER OF THE TRINITY IS THE HOLY SPIRIT.

Okay, so here comes the tip-off:

“The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear the sound of it, but cannot tell where it comes from and where it goes. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3:8) — Jesus

We cannot predict what the Spirit of God is going to do next.

He is wild. Untamed.
Yet Holy. Tender
Comforting. But expect anything
Incredibly intelligent. Simple

Because Jesus said:

“I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever–the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive….”(Jn. 14:16)

The Spirit of God is not the “It” of the Trinity. He is a “He,” a Person. And He dwells in us who trust in Christ, and displays God through us,

“But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all” (Jn. 12:7)

Today, whatever is before us, is a day that the Wild One is here. John baptized with water. Jesus ascended to heaven having promised to baptize us with the Holy Spirit. In the Holy Spirit.

We are to be full of, immersed in, controlled by this Spirit whom Jesus sent. He brought wind on a calm day in Jerusalem. He put tongues of fire on heads in the upper room. He touched Galileans such that pilgrims heard the good news in the languages of foreign lands.

I’m telling you, that One is wild.

There, where you are, He is. Ready. What’s coming down? What’s going to blow?

Wait for the breeze. Expect it.

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Tags: Holy Spirit, Trinity
Categories : To the heart

A prayer to remember

10 05 2011

It was on our last day of meetings in Ethiopia that I had an experience I will never forget. During our closing prayer time, all the church leaders were praying and we who had come from the States to teach were moving among them laying hands on them and praying for them individually. The day fell on my father’s birthday and I had been mindful of his legacy on my life all day, especially since I was in Africa teaching the Word of God, two ways in which my life intersects so deeply with my dad who passed away two years ago.

So I was praying for men one by one as I moved from the back of the sanctuary when I came to an older man praying to himself. I laid my hands on his shoulders from behind and suddenly a strange sensation came over me. In my mind, I felt as if I was praying for my own father. Emotion began to well up within me as I suddenly missed dad so much. I prayed for the Ethiopian man, for his family and ministry. It was cathartic as I felt like I was being given a chance to touch my dad and pray for him. The experience seemed to transpire somewhere between earth and heaven. I even prayed that this man would greet my dad in heaven when they were both there together!

After this, I needed to move on to pray for others. Tears were now flowing, and I wanted to hug this man. I needed to hug him, and when I did, I wept like a child, tears running down my face, my body jerking slightly with crying. We held each other for a couple minutes, tightly. He knew I was weeping, and began to pray for me in English. I’m sure he wondered why this guest speaker from America was so emotional! But I felt God was strongly in that episode, and gave me a gift to treasure.

When our team had finished praying for all the participants, we took ourÂ seats again and the chairman asked some of the Ethiopians to come up and lay their hands on us and pray. Several did this, and it was a great encouragement as I sought to regain my composure. But God had a double blessing for me. I heard that familiar voice, and felt on my shoulder and arm the hands of that same older man who had made his way from the back to touch my life one last time. When he finished praying, I placed my hand on his and squeezed my profound thanks for the unexpected gift God had given me, His son, in Ethiopia.

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Categories : To the heart, Travels

I met a guy named Miracle

30 04 2011

The most extraordinary people are seldom on the evening news. They are hidden from the limelight, humbly going about their daily routine. This is especially the case in the family of God.

On my recent trip to Ethiopia, I met one such remarkable person who told me this story.

My mother had five daughters. From a one-night encounter with a man she didn’t love and never saw again, a boy was born. That boy was me. My mother did not want me, so she tried to abort me. Nine times she drank poison to try to abort me, but nine times she was not successful. I was born anyway.

After she gave birth to me, my mother left me in a box to die. Someone came along later, found the box with me in it–dead. They picked up the box and were carrying it to a place for my burial. On the way, I woke up.

I was raised by one of my sisters and, for whatever reason, I had been given a name meaning “evil.” At age seven I was playing and I suddenly heard a whisper in my ear saying, “Your name is Miracle.” From that day onward, I took the name Miracle.

Some time later I saw a vision of a gold chain coming down from heaven and lifting me up from the flames of hell. I knew it was God who wanted to save me, so I believed in Jesus.

A while passed. By now I was working, driving a horse-drawn cart. While standing on my cart, I heard a voice that no one else heard. It was the same voice that renamed me. This time Jesus said, “You are mine. I want you to serve me.”

So now I am an evangelist. I love to share the gospel about Jesus’ love and sacrifice for our sins. Often times when I am preaching, I feel the fire of God in my belly and it makes me so thankful for the privilege of serving God.

I know this story may seem far-fetched to some people but there was a believability in the way Miracle told it. Perhaps skepticism of such experiences stems not so much from their rarity as it does from the rationalistic worldview that has infected our thinking in the west.

I got to thinking about new names. Perhaps Jesus still gives new names because He has received so many Himself. In one of His last recorded statements (Revelation 22:13–again in a whispered vision to the Apostle John), Jesus said, “I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, the First and the Last.”

These names exude might. I am the initiator and the completer. I was there before anything was and I’ll be your guide through to the end. I’m primary. I’m ultimate.

Just the kind of Lord who would name a young boy Miracle!

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Tags: Ethiopia
Categories : To the heart, Travels

How does one practically “abide in Christ”?

6 04 2011

For the last few months I have been reflecting on the analogy of the vine and the branches (The Bible, gospel of John chapter 15). Jesus, on the way to his betrayal and eventual crucifixion shows super-human composure by likening his disciples (and by extension, his followers today…like me) to branches connected to a vine. In sum, Jesus is the vine, we are the branches, and the Father is the vine-dresser who takes care of the vineyard (including the discomforting process of getting pruned for greater fruitfulness).

But these are just reminders you likely know already. What I want to share this time is some of the ways I have been ponderingÂ how one actually experiences Jesus’ saying that we followers must to abide in Him, and He in us, for unless we are abiding in each other we won’t be able to accomplish, or be, anything (my paraphrase; I can’t seem to find my Bible at the moment). So I offer my thought–this isn’t a Biblical exposition, just my trying to work out how this actually should work for me.

1. I abide in the Vine as I make sure He and I are still connected, my faith pairing with His faithfulness. In my experience, there are several heart ailments that weaken my connection (as a “branch”) with the Vine who supplies life and nutrition. One disconnector is apathy–caring too little about what really matters. Then there’s selfishness–caring too much about matters that don’t.

2. I abide in the Vine as I reaffirm the things we are working on together. We are growing certain kinds of “fruit” He and I, and abiding in Him involves checking in, “We’re still in agreement aren’t we?” Since I’m abiding I’m not asking for off-the-charts selfish materiel like bigger paychecks or nicer threads. When I’m intimately connected with Him, I already desire what He desires, so in my prayer we agree together and confirm the “fruit” He wants is the outcome I want too.

3. I abide in the Vine as I ask for encouragement in areas I’m discouraged about. When organically joined to the Man, I have the freedom to be weak, to admit I can’t carry the weight in all areas all the time. I can confess that I am in over my head, that I’ve been promoted beyond my competence, and that I don’t have a snappy answer to a question. The void created by my discouragement makes room for His peace to flow into me, similar to the way branches naturally draw forth the soil’s nutrients through the vine.

4. I abide in the Vine as I ask for, and yield to His perspective. No matter what the issue is, my view is likely a bit tweaked off center. Anxiety is a key indicator that I’m not seeing things properly. So my abiding gives me the natural opportunity to change my thinking (a.k.a. repent) and align my thoughts with His. This new perspective then becomes the substance of my prayer. Hey, if I want answered prayer I best ask for what He desires to give! So I ask the Spirit of Jesus how He would want to pray in this situation, and I get in sync with that prayer with extreme peace of mind and heart.

5. I abide in the Vine as I acknowledge and celebrate all the good fruit He produces in and through me. When I’ve yielded my wants to His will, when I’ve persevered due to His encouragement, you can bet I feel a sense of camaraderie when we accomplish something good together. I can praise Him for knowing what to do, and for choosing to include me in bearing His quality fruit.