In the 9th verse of the 3rd chapter of the book of Genesis, God asked Adam and Eve the question: Where are you? After creating the Earth and all of its inhabitants, God gave them dominion over this extension of His heavenly domain.

As the Triune Presence of God culminated the creation with the assignment of regents to subdue the Earth, endued with power and privilege to be fruitful and multiply, God established order for creation, as well as His regents. God told Adam and Eve that they could partake in every area of the paradise called Eden, but of the tree in the midst of the garden they could not partake under penalty of death.

The Word of God says that they were naked and not ashamed. After the beguiling of the serpent they experienced a paradigm shift that caused them to question the trustworthiness of God, the overall character of God, and thus the Love of God. To think that the Creator of all they had come to know as good; that the one who had the power and authority to give them dominion and power to subdue the creation of God, could be trusted less than a serpent seems unthinkable.

Yet they partook of the fruit of that tree and encountered the catastrophic aftershock of their actions - the penalty of death.

• Their eyes were opened. Opened to what? Open to their transport from life to death, from spirituality to carnality, to separation from God - the Life-giving Source of all that is!
• They realized they were naked. They perceived that they were naked - meaning they no longer experienced the covering of God. They always had skin, but now they were separated from God, and had lost their spiritual connection and thus their spiritual covering!
• They were ashamed of their nakedness. They felt shamed and vulnerable without the covering of God.
• As a result of their shame, they attempted to cover what they had become; cover what resulted from their disobedience; cover what they allowed to come between them and the Loving, Wise, Counsel of God - themselves!
• Not only did they attempt to cover themselves, they attempted to hide themselves from the one who they were now separated from. When the heard God coming through the garden in the cool of the day, they hid from God's presence.

God responds to their behavior with the question, "Where Are You?" That is the question we must deal with in this dispensation of Grace. After all that God had decreed would take place through Jesus the Christ, salvation has been given, captives have been set free, the divine empowerment of the Holy Spirit is available for us to experience a New and Living Way! And if God was to come down your aisle in the cool of this day would God feel you? Would you feel God? Would you experience the joy of sweet communion with the King? Or has the New Order of Grace eluded you?

Have you not said yes to God, who loved you so much that God's Love was expressed to you and because of you? While you were yet sinning and rejecting Love, Love was dying for you. Yet Love made a way for Loving Power to fill you, and enable you to walk in a manner worthy of Love!

And the remaining question on the table is: If God came down your aisle today, and yes God is coming, would God have to ask: "Where Are You?"

For His Glory,

Pastor Emery B. Barber

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With so many distractions that are taking place on a regular basis, we often forget where our priorities as Christians should truly remain. Besides the wars, hate crimes, and diseases of the day, we're almost dizzied with the latest technological innovation; Wondering what will be the next big thing. 

Well Saints if you're looking for the next big thing, please take this as a reminder: Jesus is the latest and the greatest! Every good and perfect gift comes from the Lord! James 1:17  The next big thing comes continually as you engage the awesome invitation that He has given to come into His presence where there is fullness of Joy, and at His right hand - pleasures evermore! Psalms 16:11  The key that unlocks the door however, is to walk by faith. Walk in obedience to the Word of God believing that He will do what He says He will do.

In this series, we continue to focus on God's Holiness Imperative. Here we focus not on just what we want, but what we need! 

If you haven't already, be sure to watch Ready for Lift-off and read the scriptures related to it. And let's get ready for the next big thing  in Jesus!

For His Glory,

Pastor Emery

Until next time, may the Lord God bless you real good!

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It has been little more than a week since we began this scriptural reflection on Psalm 24:3-6, and we have received quite a few requests to clarify what I meant by, "we naturally assume that the God who loves us so, has given us a free pass into the presence of the Lord..." and that is the reason why we engage the scriptures - to have a greater understanding of the scriptures for application to our lives. I mentioned that we naturally assume, because many people who classify themselves as Christian have received their criteria for being Christian from sources other than the source that God provided for us - the Word of God. Some defer to what our family has told us, others to what our friends have shared, but many never seek the scriptures available to us for ourselves. Thus many assumptions are made.

We've heard that God is a loving God, and God is. We've heard that God loves us just as we are, and God does. However the qualified source has to be a speaker of the truth, and yes that means the whole truth - nothing but the truth; that is to say, in so much as God loves us - just as we are, there is an expectation for us to change. Otherwise there would be no need for divine intervention. That change is something that happens in agreement, in cooperation with - in partnership with the empowerment of God for our lives. To clarify: God does God's part, and expects, or requires humanity to do humanity's part.

In the book of John 8:31-32, Jesus communicated to the Jews that believed, that if they continued in the Word (that is the study and practice of it) that they would be his disciples indeed; that they would know the truth, and the truth would make them free. This scripture, and so many others, paints the picture of the required process of our journey toward proximity to and relationship with the sacred God that we long to love and be loved by. Like many gift giving activities, there are two parties and two acceptable actions: The giver who gives, and the recipient who receives. Both parties play a part in this transaction. In fact the transaction is not complete unless both fulfill their roles in this action. First, there would be no belief if God had not initiated the process of engagement through God's divine revelation of Godself. Our response of receiving that revelation is believing that revelation. To deny or refuse it is to reject the gift! These Jews received the revelation of God.

Thus the writer communicating that Jesus is speaking to the Jews that believed, is to further clarify to us that they had fulfilled an integral part of laying hold of what God had for them. They had already believed - which they could not do in and of themselves, as the very act of believing requires divine intervention along with our receiving of that help. Additionally, they also had to continue in the Word. Jesus elucidates for them and us even further that it is not enough that the gift is offered, it must be received. After the gift is received, it must be opened, further examined to understand its purpose - its use, and put in to practice continually. This ongoing work of continuing in the Word again is not something that we can do in and of ourselves.  It requires us to continually seek God as we unwrap and unpackage, and apply such an awesome gift to our lives by faith!

To know the Truth that makes us free is the task, and it is the privilege; it is the work, and it is the result of the work, the very state of being, that makes us ready for lift-off! My prayer for us today, is that we would be continually surrendered to this awesome task and privilege of continuing in the Word; and as we do so, may we too more and more each day, know and be known by the Truth who makes us free.

For His Glory,

Pastor Emery

Until next time, may the Lord God bless you real good!

Host Pastor: Emery B. Barber, Shepherd's House Prayer Band Tabernacle
Scriptures: ​Psalms 24:3-6