I will arise and go to my father, and will say to him, “Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you, and I am no longer worthy to be called your son. Make me like one of your hired servants.”  (Luke 15:18-19)

Since we embarked on this journey known as The 21 Days of At.One.Ment Fast on Sept. 22, 2013, we have been looking at factors which conspire to keep us from experiencing the at.one.ment we already have with our Father in heaven.

We began by checking whether unconfessed sin and double mindedness stand in the way and took remedial action.

On Day 4 of the Fast, we look at two related but different conditions that can also prevent us from experiencing at.one.ment in full measure.

In one and the same sentence, the so-called Prodigal Son, gives us a vivid illustration of both at work in his life.

“Father, I have sinned.”—That is an admission of guilt.

“I am no longer worthy.”—That statement reeks of shame.

The difference between guilt and shame is simply this:

I HAVE sinned—admitting that you have DONE something bad.

I AM no longer worthy—declaring that you ARE bad.

This may sound radical, but shame is no longer an option for a follower of Jesus.

Why?

Because shame makes you behave as Adam and Eve did in the garden of Eden when “they hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden.” (Genesis 3:8)

Jesus says in John 6:44: “No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them to me.” The word “draw” implies a persuasive attraction by love. It is as though the Father woos and the child comes running to Him.

In other words, all shame is removed as the former sinner leaves his/her hiding spot and comes into the arms of a loving Father.

In the parable to which we alluded earlier, the father clearly illustrates this, doesn’t he? “When he was still a great way off, his father saw him and had compassion, and ran and fell on his neck and kissed him.” (Luke 15:20)

You could say that the father drew the son unto himself. To reinforce the fact that there was no need for shame, he commands his servants to “bring out the best robe and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand and sandals on his feet.”

So, friends, if you are dealing with shame, recognize it as the work of the enemy to keep you from experiencing at.one.ment with the Father. Call his bluff. Realize your true identity. And be set free!

Similarly, if you have confessed your sin and are still feeling guilt, something is wrong with the picture!

Read these words of David in Psalm 32:5: I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the Lord.” And you forgave the guilt of my sin.

The Lord not only forgives your sin, he also forgives the guilt of your sin. In other words, once you’ve confessed your sin, there is no more reason for you to experience guilt, hallelujah!

(Do I hear an Amen?)

Take some quiet time right now to be with your heavenly Daddy. Just stay in His Presence in silence. Let Him love on you. Let Holy Spirit wash away any lingering doubt of guilt. Let Jesus reassure you that that you are indeed in a state of at.one.ment with the Father.

You adulterous people, don’t you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God…Therefore submit to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God and He will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners; and purify your hearts, you double-minded.  (James 4:5, 7-8)

On Day 3 of the 21 Days of At.One.Ment Fast, we look at another form of sin that can come between us and our Father in heaven.

The apostle James calls it being “double-minded.” It is straddling the fence between the world and God.

It is the state of mind that manifests itself in lukewarmness—neither hot nor cold, unwilling to take a stand one way or another. As Jesus said to the church in Laodicea, “I will vomit you out of My mouth.” (Revelation 3:16)

James minces no words either when he describes being double-minded as being diametrically opposed to God. Do you really want to be known as “an enemy of God?”

Clearly, when you are in the enemy camp, you are not experiencing at.one.ment with God, are you?

What are some ways in which we can be double-minded?

We could be following the ways of the world when it comes to ethical or moral matters while following Jesus simultaneously.

So, for example we could be…

• engaging in questionable accounting procedures or other business practices while claiming to have the mind of Christ,
• compromising the truth for a relativism that accepts all religions as being equally valid paths to God while continuing to profess Jesus as the Way, the Truth and the Life,
• engaging in sexual relationships outside the covenant of marriage and thinking there is nothing wrong about it despite the high value Jesus places on the marriage bond.

Get the picture?

One of the greatest temptations that the people of God have faced through the ages is the tendency to worship other idols concurrently and not realizing that it is sinful.

It happened in the days of the prophet Elijah, when people sacrificed to Baal with the same relative ease as they worshipped the God of Israel. Things finally got to the point where Elijah offers this ultimatum: “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the Lord is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” (I Kings 18:21)

The apostle Paul has to address a similar situation in Corinth where it would appear that followers of Jesus were still eating food offered to the idols (chapter 8) and having sex with temple prostitutes (ch. 6).

God does not tolerate double-mindedness.

Today, would you ask Holy Spirit to show ways in which you too might be an enemy of God, practising double-mindedness? When He does, would you then wash your hands off that practice and ask Him to purify your heart, as James recommends?

When you do, you will be removing one more way in which your sin can stand before you and prevent you from experiencing at.one.ment with God.

For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me. (Psalm 51:3)

When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer (Psalm 32:3-4).

Yesterday’s DWOD ended with a suggested prayer: “Holy Spirit, what could be standing in the way of my experiencing the reality of the Atonement in full measure in my life?”

Chances are that as you waited in silence, Holy Spirit began to release some revelations. You may wish to read a detailed response posted by one of our subscribers right here.

Perhaps the most obvious answer to the question is just this one simple word: SIN.

King David puts it this way in Psalm 51:3: “My sin is always before me.”

According to the notes at the top of this Psalm, these words were penned after the prophet Nathan confronted David about how he had committed adultery with Bathsheba and conspired to commit the murder of her husband Uriah.

Clearly, David cannot experience At.One.Ment with God when sin is standing between him and God!

In verses 3 & 4 of Psalm 32, David expresses the pain this causes not only spiritually and emotionally, but also physically: “When I kept silent, my bones wasted away through my groaning all day long. For day and night your hand was heavy on me; my strength was sapped as in the heat of summer.”

Once again, there is a sense of separation from God, punctuated by pain, caused by unconfessed sin.

In this first part of the 21 Days of At.One.Ment. Fast, we take time to come clean before God. The starting point is examining whether there is any sin in us that we have not yet confessed.

May I suggest that you ask this question on the 2^nd day of the Fast: “Holy Spirit, would you search my heart and reveal to me any unconfessed sin in my life?”

When the revelation comes, would you then follow the prescription in I John 1:9 and experience the fulfilment of the promise it contains? “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”

Please feel free to share your feedback to this word, any revelations you receive, as well as your experience of the Fast to date with the rest of your DWOD family in the comments section immediately below this post.

God presented Christ as a sacrifice of atonement, through the shedding of his blood—to be received by faith. (Romans 3:25)

He (Jesus Christ) is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world. (I John 2:2)

As we embark on the 21 Days of At.One.Ment Fast, we need to always bear in mind that Atonement has already been made.

Both the apostle Paul and the apostle John state very clearly in the verses quoted above that Jesus has already atoned for our sins by the sacrifice of His blood on the cross.

In the words of John the Baptist: “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29)

Atonement is a gift, plain and simple. It is not earned. It is not merited.

If then, atonement is already a reality, why are we calling this the Atonement Fast?

The answer is simple. Even though we have been made at one with God through the death of Jesus, not all of us experience this At.One.Ment with God.

You may have seen or heard this pithy saying that sums it up quite nicely: “If you are not feeling close to God, guess who moved!”

Over the past 31+ years of ordained ministry, I have repeatedly encountered faithful followers of Jesus who know with their heads that Atonement has already been made, yet, do not experience an at.one.ment with the Father.

So, the question we are asking over the first one-third of the 21 Day Fast is something like: What are we doing or not doing that is preventing us from experiencing this At.One.Ment that has already been secured for us by Jesus?

Before I share with you some revelations on this matter, may I encourage you, dear friend, to ask this question yourself.

Pray this way: “Holy Spirit, what could be standing in the way of my experiencing the reality of the Atonement in full measure in my life?”

Then take a time of silence so you can hear His response(s) to your question. Journal them.

Finally, would you kindly share your responses with the rest of us who are also on this journey with you for the next 21 days?

 

This Sunday, Sept. 22, our two churches are beginning The 21 Days of Atonement Fast, which will end on Saturday, Oct. 12.

The focus of the Fast is three-fold:
1. At. One. Ment with God
2. At. One. Ment with Others
3. At. One. Ment within the Body of Christ.

You may wish to listen to the message I delivered last Sunday at Morgan’s Point United Church about the details of the Fast. You can also watch this short video.

The DWOD’s for the next 21 days will also double as Fasting Directives for that day. We invite you to join us on this Fast. You can let us know that you are participating by commenting on this post. You can also join our facebook group “21 Days of Atonement Fast.”

Here are some pointers for preparing and observing this Fast that I shared with our churches last Sunday.

 

We STRONGLY RECOMMEND that you always consult your physician prior to beginning any type of fast.

WHAT DO I GIVE UP:

A.     FOOD & DRINK-e.g. meat, sugar, caffeine, alcohol.

B.      TIME-e.g. television, social media, reading.

C.      THE 4 C’s-Criticism, Condemnation, Complaining & Comparison. (please see our post on this from another fast or watch a short video)

WHAT DO I ADD:

A.     QUIET TIME WITH THE LORD–minimum 15 minutes

B.      Praise, Appreciate, Encourage others and offer Thanks.

C.      ACT OF SERVICE/JUSTICE…e.g. offer to volunteer, sign petitions, send cards, etc.-at least once a week. (Isaiah 58)

D.     FELLOWSHIP WITH MEMBER OF ANOTHER CHURCH-at least once a week-in person or by phone.

SUCCESS FACTORS:

A.     Keep a JOURNAL

B.     Find an ACCOUNTABILITY PARTNER

Sulojana and I pray that this will be a time of drawing closer to the Father’s heart and being at one with Him and His purposes for the world, the Church and our individual lives.

Pastor Jeeva

“The Spirit of the Lord is upon me and he has anointed me…to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of joy instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair.” (Isaiah 61:1, 3)

At the conclusion of the DWOD for Sept. 11, 2013, I had issued an invitation to you, our subscribers, to share testimonies in which a life which was like a yucky overripe banana was transformed into a yummy loaf.

With her permission, I am sharing with you a testimony sent by one of my elementary school classmates, Jewelcy Jawahar.

“I would like to share about my loving cousin Mr. Stephen Dan Jose. When I was a small child, he used to be a drunkard roaming in the wilderness, though he had a loving family behind him. It is electrifying to hear his testimony and how he became a child of God.

Though he was born in a Christian family, he led a wayward life. He spent all the money he earned in drinks.

But, one day, he heard God’s calling while he was alone in the forest. Then he started to go to a prayer cell and gradually his life changed.

After that, he faced a lot of problems, debts, etc. But, he stuck to His Almighty and now he is doing His Ministry particularly among the drunkards. His life is like the bread made of very ripe bananas. Praise be to His name.”

In yesterday’s “Prime Time With God” devotional, Os Hillman shared this incredible testimony that will warm your heart.

“Victoria grew up like many middle income families. She loved school and was even the in her homecoming court all four years in high school. After some tragic family deaths during her teen years, she began to experiment with alcohol and drugs. She was raped, underwent multiple abortions, and began working as a dancer at local nude dancing club, which she continued for more than four years.

After suffering nosebleeds from her cocaine addition, Victoria became very involved with the new age movement, nearly had a nervous breakdown, and eventually became suicidal. By the age of 28 she was homeless, stranded and fired from her job as a strip-club dancer. Barely 100 pounds, she was no longer profitable to the industry. Then a Christian gave her a Bible. The first book she read was Job and something gripped her heart. A church family took her into their home. They surrounded her with love and pointed her to who she was in Christ. Victoria says, “Jesus is the only healer of deep, deep wounds.”

Now, years later, Victoria’s compassionate heart is focused on reaching other lives on the brink of life or death. She founded a ministry called Victoria’s Friends, which goes into the heart of the darkest places of the city in the strip clubs. Trained women ministry volunteers bring baskets to the dancers in their dressing rooms with no motive other than to show they care. Men stay outside the clubs and pray for the women going inside. It is the ultimate rescue mission. It is the love of Christ expressed in a simple, but powerful way. This act translates into relationships that are formed between those who continue to show their love for them.

Hundreds of young women have come out of this lifestyle because one woman decided to do what others had done for her – rescue her from the pit of darkness.”

Praise God who takes yucky bananas and transforms them into yummy banana bread!

“…Your Father knows what you need before you ask Him.” (Matthew 6:8) “And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered.” (Matthew 10:30)

On Thursday evening of last week, Sulojana and I decided to use a 2 for 1 cappuccino coupon at McDonald’s.

As we were waiting for our order to be fulfilled, one of the other workers asked: “Would you guys like to take this oatmeal? We just made it and no one wants it. You can have it for free, otherwise we’ll just throw it out.”

Oh, did I mention that it was now 8:15 p.m., which was breakfast time in Malaysia, perhaps, but not in Canada?

Regardless, a freebie is a freebie. I meant to say, God’s favour is God’s favour. How dare we turn down this token of favour, especially when it was free?

The oatmeal came with a small supply of raisins and diced apples, as well as a package of brown sugar. But they offered no milk.

I mean, how do you eat oatmeal porridge without milk? So, I asked for some. The employee looked at me kinda funny, as if to say: “What do you need milk for? This should be moist enough.”

Regardless of his misgivings, he offered me two choices—buy a small carton of milk or take a few creamer-size containers of milk. Would it surprise you to discover that I opted for the one that spelled favour, I mean free?

We took the four miniature tokens of favour to a booth and started fixing up the porridge. Much to my surprise, the porridge was actually quite moist. I only needed to add the contents of two of the containers.

Big decision time. What do you do with the remaining two? Do you toss out tokens of God’s favour into the trash receptacles? Of course, not!

At my encouragement (or was it command?), Sulojana deftly deposited them into her handbag. And we went home and put them in the fridge.

In all fairness, I did have a slight theological debate in my brain that night. Was the act of bringing the two containers home a violation of the eighth commandment: “Thou shalt not steal?” Or was it an act of stewardship? I mean, rather than add to the garbage piles of the world, we acted responsibly by using them in a humane way, did we not?

Of course, in the midst of this internal conversation, I could not discount the fact that being of Indian origin, I simply could not resist a freebie! (As proof, I offer the aforementioned incident where I had no trouble receiving the gift of the free oatmeal).

Once the debate ended in my favour (with yours truly as the moderator), I slept like a baby that night with a very clear conscience.

Fast forward a couple of days. Our Sunday morning breakfast usually consists of cream of wheat porridge, which Sulojana always makes, but she was not home. She was staying overnight at the home of one of our members after being away Friday and Saturday at Women of Faith in Rochester, NY.

So I decided to make myself a bowl of oatmeal porridge instead in the microwave.

As per custom (see above), I went to add milk, only to discover that there was none left. Just as I began to steel myself for the prospect of consuming porridge in this less than moist state, I spied with my little eyes two miniature containers of 2% milk screaming: “Come and get us!”

I don’t know how you would interpret this incident, but I would like to think that our heavenly Father, who cares for us so deeply that he numbers the hairs on our head (a not so easy task with my full mop, but a relatively simple one with Darren’s, ha, ha!), knew my need even before I asked for it, and prompted me on Thursday night to bring those little containers home.

Amen? (or Nay, man?)

“For the spirit that God has given us does not make us timid; instead, His spirit fills us with power, love, and self control.” (2 Timothy 1:7)

To say that it was frustrating would be an understatement. There I was, driving on Scott Street in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada, attempting to adhere to the rule of “plus nine”. It was impossible.

What is this rule, you say? It simply means that in the city, except in a school zone, you can drive the posted speed limit plus nine km and you will not get a speeding ticket.

Please note that this is applicable to speed limits of 50, 60 & 70 km only. When posted speeds are 80 km and above, we adhere to the “plus nineteen” rule.

But I digress. You’re curious to know why it was impossible to implement the “plus nine” rule, right?

Blame it on the white Porsche Boxster. More precisely, the middle-aged driver of the aforementioned speed machine.

He stubbornly refused to drive faster than the posted speed limit of 50 km/hour.

Now, I am no expert on the Porsche Boxster, but, I knew instinctively that it could go a lot faster than the Buick Regal that was promptly obeying my prompts to go “nine plus”.

In the interests of ensuring journalistic integrity, I verified this fact by perusing the Porsche website and found that “The Boxster with six-speed manual gearbox accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in 5.8 seconds and reaches a top speed of 264 km/h.”

Contrast this please with the chariot in which I was chugging along. Investigative journalism revealed that the Regal zooms from 0-100 in 9.3 seconds flat, with a maximum speed of 180 km/h.

In automobile terms, the Boxster is a hare, the Regal a tortoise. No contest whatsoever. The Boxster wins feet down, every time on every count!

Despite sitting at the controls of such a powerful machine, the driver chose to abide by the law.

Yes, I was frustrated. But, after hearing Holy Spirit whisper something in my ear, I was also full of admiration for the driver.

What was the whisper, you ask? He said: “Now there is a fine illustration of meekness for you, Jeeva.”

Meekness…I am sure you immediately thought of the Beatitude: “Blessed are the meek; for they shall inherit the earth” (Matthew 5:5). Right?

Although mousy people are usually labelled “meek” by society, did you know that the Biblical definition of meekness is not weakness, but “strength under control?”

The most popular way for preachers to explain this is to use the example of a horse, such as a wild stallion, which never loses its raw power, but is trained to use it according to its master’s control.

The Thoroughbred Boxster has a horsepower of 267 at 6700 rpm, compared to 200 at 5200 for the Shetland Pony known as the Regal.

In other words, the driver had more power to burn, but chose not to. He was indeed modeling meekness.

Dear DWOD friend, you may be tempted at times to show off how much power you have. You may even mistakenly think that you can win others over by an awesome display of brute force.

That is worldly thinking. According to Jesus, the way to be recognized as a great leader is by demonstrating your ability to control the power that is at your disposal. It is not only a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22). It is also an act of obedience.

Now you know why Jesus described himself as being meek. (Matthew 11:29)

Believe it or not, limiting your speed will actually accelerate your progress on the road to your destiny.