in the middle with mystery

 

This blog reflects a year+ of my own writings after a near lifetime of personal discovery & learning to lean into the heart of Jesus. I hope that you find a heart that is still discovering and learning as much today as I was when I began. Thank you for reading.

 

Journey on Dear Friend!

 

Rob

 

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Made In His Image (Monday) – Genesis 1:26-31

Made In His Image – Genesis 1:26-31

Dear Family,

Welcome to a new year of simple devotion to Jesus.

In the Middle with Mystery (MwM) is a celebration of being with God. Its not about searching for Him – it’s about being found by Him and joyfully resting in Him. MwM is a place where I invite my family to explore and celebrate with me the reality of our blessed circumstance in Jesus. The Lord has highlighted a particular verse of scripture to me;

Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life. Proverbs 4:23

It is a simple fact; the things playing out on the surface of our lives are driven by things going on beneath the surface – in our hearts, to be specific. Sadly, we frequently do not see this until we have shipwrecked some aspect of our lives. We are not watching over our hearts well if we expend our energies attending to symptoms, exhausting ourselves (often in religious activity), leaving the subterranean causes untouched.

In The Middle With Mystery was created to call attention to our hearts, where every blessing and every curse has its origin. The heart is not a realm that responds to self help formulas and techniques. It is the mysterious space where our relationship with God works itself out. Our heart is a temple where the Holy Spirit lives.

The name In The Middle With Mystery (MwM) just popped into my mind when I was forced to pick a web domain name. Since then, the name has only grown in relevance. As men invited to commune with the Alpha and Omega, as those in whom Christ dwells, as those who live and move and have their being in God, are we not all in the middle with Mystery?

Father, while we remain inside space and time, give us hearts of wisdom and courage to explore and invest in the unseen things of your eternal kingdom. May time become that talent we redeem, discovering the abundance of Christ in us, the hope of glory.

Blessings,

Rob

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Made In His Image (Sunday) – Colossians 1:15-23

Warning; Today’s post reads like it was written by a cheerleader or a color- commentator.

If we are so foolish as to think life is just a game, may we at least see it as an ultra violent, life-or-death one. Do you remember the game-program (the Bible) we were given? From its last pages, we know our team wins. I sincerely believe we should not be at peace with a world or in a world where the score is lopsided in the enemy’s favor – thinking God ordained “this” particular quarter to be an old fashion #!* whipping.

A hint of good news – I see new recruits who are at peace in Christ and at odds with this world entering the fray. Some of these thought themselves benchwarmers or even mere spectators. Something is awakening in them that say’s “Lord, put me in the line up! I can’t, for one second longer, simply be a spectator!” If this trend continues and the whole team shows up for practice, the enemy is in big trouble.

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Made In His Image (Saturday) – 2 Corinthians 3:12-18

Since the Blue Book theme this week is “Made in His Image” why am I talking so much about “warfare”. Well….If you were God’s enemy wouldn’t a steady assault against the identity of God’s offspring make sense? – Distract them with whatever possible to keep them from this fundamental and simple truth – that God created us in His image and through Jesus Christ is redeeming all things – first and foremost our identities.

Paul’s simple goal as a discipler of men was, through his teaching and example, to return those the Lord had entrusted to him back to the Father, with their identities restored. Listen to Paul war for the soul’s of God beloved…..

“For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.”

The warhead on today’s MwM cruise missile is armed with “simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ.” May it destroy all the lofty counterfeits that exalt themselves above the (simple) knowledge of God (in Christ).

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Made In His Image (Friday) – Ephesians 2:4-10

” Just as you, Father, are in me and I in you, So they might be one heart and mind with us. Then the world might believe that you, in fact, sent me. The same glory you gave me, I gave them, So they’ll be as unified and together as we are— I in them and you in me.”

The mini-testimony teachings of middlewithmystery.com are written to encourage the “now” implications of this verse. Christ in us is the hope of glory.

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Made In His Image (Thursday) – Psalm 8

I watched the movie Fury last night and found myself thinking what a gut-wrenching depiction of war! ChristianMovie.Org (Is there such a thing?) would quickly point out that the the “F” word is used prolifically. They would be right. And I ask; “Are men wrong to swear when their friends or lover’s lives are regularly, violently and senselessly shredded before their eyes by the adversary. I personally thought the writers of Fury used restraint.

I also thought Fury should be required viewing of all Christians as a reminder that we too live on a battle field with blood and guts exploding all around us. The only difference is that most of us in the west have sufficiently insulated ourselves from the carnage. Neither have we been trained to even understand what ours or our enemy’s ordnance looks like. Consequently, we have allowed the enemy to wage a war of attrition he surely names “Operation Church-Frog In Kettle”.

I pray today’s words will serve as a contribution to God’s counter-initiative; Operation RADCLA (Rescue-Arm-Deploy the Child Like Armies” of God. You will just have to read on to lay hold of this.

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