How do I follow Jesus?

I am sitting here in a place called Erina Fair in NSW, Australia.

I've decided to write a little of my current thoughts on following Jesus.

I don't have the answers, but realise that the one who is and has the answers has a plan for me and is walking with me, leading me, and filling me with His power and presence.

It is lunch time here (or just finishing up), and many people are finishing up or beginning their meals.

I see people of all demographics eating and chatting away.

The question comes to my mind:

How do I follow Jesus?

I believe my life was and is meant to be lived following Jesus.

It's that simple.

I have been given His Spirit, His Word, and His body.

Jesus said that he only did what he saw the Father do and that if we have seen him, we have seen the Father.

I want to do what I see the Father in Jesus do.

I just want to follow Jesus

and

Jesus wants me to follow him.

This is a match made in heaven.

I want to acknowledge God in all my ways that He would make my paths straight.
To do this I need to look and begin seeing how Jesus acknowledged the Father in all his ways.

A kind of vision, angels, the Lord, and heavenly music

On Wednesday night,

I was laying in bed and asking God to teach me about tongues, and for Him to send angels to attend to my needs.
I then began reading a book called God's Generals, and as I opened the pages, I felt that I had to speak in tongues.
After a few minutes of this, I then read a few pages, then closed the book, turned off the light and got ready to try and sleep.
Usually I take a couple of hours to fall asleep (on average), but suddenly:

I felt I was immersed in a spiritual darkness and fear...one which I have felt before.
Now the light was off, so it was dark, but not this kind of deep darkness.
The fear was so much so that I tried to say Jesus name and felt that I barely could, as my mouth was trembling.
I then felt my spirit say to God please take me to a place of your peace, realising that this was now my last resort.
Next thing I know the spirit of darkness and fear leave me, or I leave it, and although I can’t see anything, I feel a sense of being in a different place with life.
I hear the sound of tongues, but not just any tongues, it was as though they were coming from angels...beings worshipping the Lord.

I now started to notice the sound of a piano in the back ground towards the upper left of wherever I was...the piano was far away and up high but still very clear and was playing a beautiful melody or song mainly in the higher pitch/octave range...thus I could sense I was in a vast space, with what could only be described as having heavenly acoustics.
I then felt my hands being lifted up by the hands of another.
I felt that this other was the one who loved me, who loves me, and really knew me.
He was right in front of me, though I couldn't see him.
I felt peace as he put his hands under mine and began to lift them up.
He then began to gently swing both of my hands to one side, and then to another, as though playing and dancing with me. I felt such absolute peace, nothing like I have ever felt before...yet similar to when you are a baby in the arms of a loving mother...but deeper.
He had answered my prayer request.

I felt his love for me, a constant, eternal, deep and intimate knowing kind of love.
At some point during this time in what seemed to be a visit to a, or the, heavenly realm I felt myself go back to the worldly realm, the first time this happened I think I could still feel fear, but once I focused on the heavenly realm where he dwelt and the praises, songs, tongues, and music of heaven was heard, I was immediately back there.
After a couple of visits back to this place I then came back to the realm of the world and upon trying to visit again, felt that that was it for now.  It was after feeling Jesus dance with me, that I recall waking up, looking at my hands and seeing that they were not apart as in the vision, but were clasped together in a kind of prayer pose around a pillow.
More to the point, the fear that I felt was now gone.
Instead I felt the fragrance of His love on me from head to toe.


God taught me that tongues comes from Heaven and originates from there as a language of worship.
God showed me how close the angels were and how their singing could act like warfare keeping the enemy at bay.
Finally God showed me that spiritual beauty is beauty you can experience even when you can't see anything.  Spiritual beauty is eternal and comes from the Lord himself.  He is the source of spiritual and eternal beauty, for He himself is the beautiful one, who's love for each of us is beyond comprehension my friends.

Back in Oz

From Nihon to Japan
and
my initial Impressions and actionings in my pursuit of Pho!

Upon my return to Oz, I find that there is indeed a plethora of cultures at play, more so than my first return to Australia some 6 years ago from Japan.  My first return just made me see blonde hair and hear dinky dye Aussie accents everywhere I went, particularly at the airport.

Finding myself in Sydney City only an hour or so after landing at Sydney Airport I immediately go on the lookout, with suitcase in tow, for a Pho restaurant near Central Station.

Looking at the time and seeing 6.59am meaning 8.59am I notice that the earliest a Pho restaurant will open is 9.30am.

Nearby are some adult stores/shops with one lady opening up a store standing directly in front whilst peering intently down one end of the footpath.  I notice this and make eye contact.  I then notice that the Adult shop is right next door to the Pho restaurant that would soon open up.

With 30 minutes remaining on the wait for that delicious bowl of pho, a kind of 2nd breakfast after the Qantas plane b-fast, I decide to go to a cafe which is a couple of shops down.  I order my chai latte large paying the $3.80 and after browsing the selection of pies noting the over $5 price I notice a back section.

Lugging the suitcase out the back but leaving it midway in the hall to better check out the back end scene of this newly found cafe I see a group of asian girls and an older asian lady.  I also semi eavesdropped the moment I felt the inkling of Japanese in their midst.  So I decided that I would bring the suitcase over to a table that gave me a good bit of space to pull out the macbook but also give the group some space.

It then immediately became obvious that they indeed were talking in Japanese, though I wasn’t sure if it was a Japanese lesson, or if it was some other sort of get together.  One of the girls wore a big cross, and I do mean big.  It was silver and kind of funky looking.  Unfortunately though, not long after settling into the groove with chai latte in hand, the group begins to making ready their move to head out of the cafe.

Seeing the Japanese group, or group talking in Japanese, gave me a rye sense of confirmation that indeed I will be returning to Japan soon.  I already have a number of strong feelings and direction on this, but it was just funny that the moment I decided to sit down in Sydney to chill out for a bit before my Pho fix, I find that I am right back in Japan...well kinda.

Receive to believe...Two Trees.

Receive to believe

Faith is received.

The work of the Lord is to believe in the one He sent.

Once we think we have to earn something from God, we have missed the point of faith.

Faith is a gift.

Holy Spirit is a gift.

Life is a gift.

Love is a gift.

Jesus is a gift.

There is a world full of people who think God doesn't love them.

People think that God only loves people if they do this or do that right.

People think that they have to earn God's love.

Two Trees

There were two trees in the garden of Eden.

The tree of Life and the tree of the knowledge of good and evil.

The greatest trick that Satan played on Adam and Eve was not that he got them to look at the tree of the knowledge of good and evil...

It was that he got them to take their eyes off of the tree of Life.

Trust, rest, relationship and love were all characteristics of life before the inevitable moment of Satan's deception.

There was such trust and unity between God and Adam and Eve until this point.

In taking their eyes off the tree of life, Satan achieved the planting and growth of pride in the lives of Adam and Eve.

Up until then there was an absolute dependance on God, his word, and the tree of life, but as soon as Satan introduced Adam and Eve to the "other" tree in the garden, things started to fall apart.

Adam and Eve went from complete trust and acceptance of their position in the care, authority, and relationship of God, to believing that there was another way...

A way through knowledge to become like God...to have their eyes open, as if they weren't already.

Satan is still deceiving people today.

People think that their eyes are open, but in fact their eyes are blinded.
Blinded by unbelief, by the prince of the air, the ruler of this world...Satan.

In the beginning, life and relationship was based on trust, trust that wasn't earned but trust in which "receiving" God was absolute...this receiving God was called and is called faith.

Without receiving from God there is indeed no relationship, and as such no restoration to life which God had always intended that we have.

His intention was ALWAYS that we would eat from the tree of life.

Some may argue this and some may argue that, but the truth is none of us is God, and as such none of us can understand the mind and thoughts of God, apart from God himself.

Enter Jesus.

Jesus demonstrated a life that showed his obedience to the Father, but more to the point his faith in the Father.

Jesus did not fight with the Father on anything, he simply believed...received from the Father.

He received his Fathers plan, but also power from the Father.

This power and direction is through Holy Spirit.

Whilst we may forever in and of ourselves think that we know or should know and walk in what our understanding is of what is right and wrong, God is the only one who truly knows and can lead us.

How can we eat from the tree of Life again, now that we are walking in the fruit of the tree of knowledge of good and evil?

Through receiving, resting in, responding to, and walking in the gift of faith in Jesus given to us by Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit is the one who enables our "hearing" of the word of God...he reveals to us what is true...and then it is up to us how we respond to the truth.

Essentially it is only through our receiving of Holy Spirit that we can once again partake of the fruit of the tree of Life and so be reconciled to God for eternity.

Jesus says:

"Come to me all of you who are weak and weary, and I will give you rest.  Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and humble in heart.  My yoke is easy and my burden is light, and you will find rest for your souls."

You see from the moment Adam and Eve ate from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil they were subject to the law.

Being subject to the law now meant that they had to "of their own accord" achieve perfection to be like God and live forever.

There were of course some examples of people that somehow pleased God...though not perfect, and in these cases I would say that they had faith...and received life from God's righteousness more so than dependancy on their own righteousness or perfection.  This is faith.  Enoch and Noah are two examples of such people.

So here we stand today.

Whether you are a person who has believed and received Holy Spirit through the gift of faith in Jesus or not, this warning is here for your benefit.

Eating from the tree of life is were you will find life.
Eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil will only end in death.

The tree of life is full of grace, relationship, love, trust, hope, and is eternal.

The tree of the knowledge of good and evil will only serve one purpose:  Death.

Jesus came to set us free of the trappings and death that the tree of the knowledge of good and evil brought and brings.

Jesus offered himself to become the tree of life for us by first eating the fruits of the tree of knowledge of good and evil, dying, and then by Holy Spirit power being raised to life.

Jesus reveals to us through the word of God that another would come who would convict the world of sin and unbelief, as well as righteousness and the coming judgement, that those who don't believe stand condemned already.

Holy Spirit is our counselor, comforter, and the one who will reveal all truth to us...he is also the only one who can fill us in such a way where we once again walk in relationship, being clothed with His love and power, and restored to our place as children of God given free access to the tree of life.

If you are walking in pride of your own goodness, then you are walking in the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and there is only death for you.

If you are walking in humility acknowledging God's goodness and your sin, then as you turn from sin, receive faith in Jesus and are led by Holy Spirit, you are walking in the fruit of the tree of life.

There is now eternal life for you in Jesus which overflows to touching others and also restoring people in this world to the tree of life found only in Jesus.

So as you receive the gift of faith through humility choose which tree you shall eat from.

Just the beginning...

As I type this I shoot up a prayer to the almighty God, who is both all powerful and "all-intimate" if that could be a kind-of word.

Trying to listen to the bible on mp3 whilst typing this at the same time proves to be quite difficult, and so for now the headphones are coming off.

So today I had a light bulb thought moment...one which made me think of how awesome it would be to do something like write for a living, and more to the point blog for a living.

I have been reading various reviews on things such as my now eight week old 13 inch Macbook Air, as well as reviews in the past on other items I have either purchased or researched in the lead up to that inevitable swipe of the eftpos card with the "savings" button so nonchalantly (hehe, I had to google that word and then add the l and y to the end) pressed.

You see I am in the midst of (as I smell a refreshing scent of some kind of perfume here at Starbucks Ikebukuro, Japan) organising information and Q&A's relating to my desire to return to Japan, after raising prayer and financial support in Australia, as a full time missionary.

I have another blog titled Life in Japan which goes into more detail of my life and learning experiences as a follower of Jesus in Japan.

Now back to the thought of writing or blogging for a living.  Although writing may be something you are either gifted in or have studied hard to develop skill and prowess in, I feel that if I have at my hearts centre the desire to "help the living" rather than "make a living", that I will indeed give something to the world of people who may be interested with the thoughts of a unique and blessed individual by the name of Tri.

I realised today that as great as facebook is for communication through status updates, messages, wall posts, notes, and facebook chat, that I have this blogging resource which although tapping into for missions purposes, has been sitting there lying dormant to what could be somewhat of a great kind of companion and outlet.

As a follower of Jesus, I am very blessed in that I have Holy Spirit in me pointing me to Jesus and revealing him to me, as well as my identity as a child of our Heavenly Father.  It's true I'm not perfect, but that is exactly why Jesus is my Lord and Saviour.

(Just to interject right now...it's snowing.  There are flakes of snow falling in Ikebukuro which is a city of Greater Tokyo here in Japan)

Ok, and I am yawning even though I am practically ninety percent the way through this Super Gigantic (Venti sized) hot Mocha...strange times we live in.

Anyway, there are some things which just aren't relevant to be sharing on facebook, and at least in a way which reaches people who may care about particular aspects of my life such as extended thoughts on life as a single person...and even more so, a single guy following Jesus by His grace and mercy.

This blog is a kind of introduction to aspects of singleness in my life as a follower of Jesus.

In the past eleven years or so as a person saved by Grace, I have been blessed by God in ways I believe too deep and beyond my understand to authentically communicate, particularly just with words...as good as words are and can be.  I do though pray He will speak through what I do end up sharing from blog to blog.

I recalled today how I felt about three months in to my walk with God back in Nov/Dec 2000 as I stood on my friends porch overlooking Australian bush, how this new relationship with God through Jesus was both fascinating and deep.  I remember thinking of how I wouldn't even mind if I was single for a year or so whilst I explored this newfound relationship with Jesus.  The question coming to my mind of what life would be like in a years time came to mind and I think I even asked my soon to be flatmate and long time brother in Christ that question.

Pic from the web

Without going in to too much detail, that year went by with such a growth in my passion and desire for Jesus that I really didn't care too much about my pre-facebook single status back then.

To cut a long story short (of which I may extend upon later) I am still single today, though having built some friendships with real quality sisters in Christ.  Yes I have had opportunities for education in life as a single christian guy looking for that special someone, but with every day that God is with me, I have felt His grace to be sufficient...so much so that I pray all of His best for my sisters in Christ, every single beautiful one of them.  Of course there has certainly been moments and perhaps even seasons of frustration in this area too.

Speaking of "beauty", a thought or topic which has been an ongoing one for the past eleven years or so, I feel that God has indeed revealed to me just how significant inner beauty is to the beauty of a person.  It may sound oh so cliche but as I begin to feel Holy Spirit revealing to me the spiritual nature of my faith and walk with him, it is far from cliche.

Holy Spirit has been showing me that as the bible is the inspired, breathed, or God revealed Word of God, so is the hearing or understanding of it.  To put it more simply: God who revealed Himself through his word to the initial writers of the bible is the only who can reveal the meaning of it to the reader or listener...it is not just a head understanding that we need.

So this connection with Holy Spirit revealing to me the Spiritual meaning of the bible is made with what I feel is also Holy Spirit's desire to reveal to me Spiritual beauty...that inner beauty in any given person, and not just my future wife either.

I believe that when I eventually meet that special someone that there will be both a physical attraction, but even more importantly, a spiritual attraction.  You see each of us has that eternal part which does not fade, hence being eternal.  That eternal part of us is the spirit which God has created in His own image, the image of the Eternal One.

I won't go into detail regarding the fall of man/woman but basically since sin has entered the world the outward part of a person has become mortal and so has a point where eventual death is the result.  When looking at a person from an eternal perspective as Holy Spirit reveals to us, we are then, I believe, able to recognise beauty not so much in terms of a peak in looks and perfection, but rather, beauty in terms of life...or the eternal part of that person, their spirit.

There are indeed people who many would regard as beautiful on the inside whether it be due to a character or multiple character traits, and as good as those things are, even they alone are not what I am referring to when I refer to inner beauty of the spirit.

Pic from the web

As I write/type this segment of the blog I realise that I am now writing about things that are indeed beyond my understanding, so in fact I am writing by faith (though still learning) hoping and praying that Holy Spirit will guide my words.

There is a light that is indeed beautiful.  In fact when we think about beauty it is quite difficult for most to comprehend beauty without there being some kind of light involved.   This light that I am referring to is the eternal light, the Creator light, and the Light that has entered the world.  The light is Jesus.

It is I believe only when a person has Jesus revealed to them, that they can truly see beauty for the first time...eternal spiritual beauty.  This is not perceived with their physical eyes but their spiritual eyes.  Yet this beauty desires not only to reveal himself to us but to give himself to us.  This occurs when we actually respond through our repentance of sin and life in darkness...spiritual darkness, to turn to and receive this eternal Light, Jesus.

The world in which we live in wants to claim that there are many kinds of light, that there are many kinds of beauty, and while with our human minds this may seem spot on(particularly in the physical), this is actually not the case in truth(in the spirit).  Spiritually there is only one light, and one darkness...basically light and darkness.

You are born into darkness, but are saved and given life through the light.

You become a child of the light when you have Holy Spirit fill you and renew you.

It is not something you can do on your own, but something that you have to have first revealed to you, and then through the gift of faith, you respond to by turning from the darkness, and receiving Jesus.
This then is only the beginning.  You are now given His Spirit with whom the purpose of the Light is now love and ushering in of the Kingdom of Light, the kingdom of Heaven.

Pic from the web

There are some dreams children have that are more truth than fiction.  These dreams that I am referring to are the childlike faith dreams of the heart.  Children are not born expecting death, they are born expecting life.  They are not born desiring confusion, but instead care.  Children are ultimately born for relationship through love.  They are born for and from love, but into a dark world...spiritually dark I mean.

There is a time coming when God will pour out His Spirit on all flesh, our sons and daughters will prophecy, our young men will have visions and our old men will dream dreams.  This is only possible as the light of His Spirit reveals truth, indeed illuminates truth to the people whom he so truly loves, with an undying love.



I pray the amazing Creator and Saviour Jesus Christ would be revealed to each of you more and more by the power of Holy Spirit.  He has such great love for each of you it amazes me.




In love...His Love, be supremely blessed with the greatest gift, the gift of the Son, Jesus.


Tri.

(Some of the photos in this blog were taken today, some were taken other days recently here in Japan)