Life Letter February 2010

8. February 2010 by admin.

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February 2010

It is a thrill to have an opportunity to share our lives with you once again, and to have heard from so many of you along the way.  We are blessed to have so many friends and the prayers and love for each other that comes out of that.  Remember, we do love to hear from you and your emails, phone calls, and visits have meant so much to us.  In this letter are updates and insights into the Living and written Word, which we believe, is the foundation of the depth of our relationship with you. I was blessed to be able to share time with Fernando Rivera (picture left), who was a special guest at the Dilbeck’s residence and the

Ruskin

Community

Church in

Ruskin, Florida, where Dennis, Marcy and Matthew are ministering.  Fernando was a guest speaker on a recent Saturday night for an International Mission dinner held at the church.  We met Fernando when we first came to Tennessee, while he was a resident at the

Transformation

Center.  We have seen the miracle of Christ in his life and he blessed us and the Ruskin church body with his humble presentation of where God has brought him from in the past to this day.  Fernando also shared on Sunday morning during the worship service.  We know it was a blessing for Dennis, Marcy and Matthew, as well as for Joy and me, (or should I say as Fernando does, “Miss Joy”).  Please pray for Fernando as he continues to grow in the Lord and in his new relationships in Christ.

Sam Burch:  The Haven of Humility

1 Peter 5:6 Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.  (NKJV-Thomas Nelson) The individual who responds to the draw of the Father, and comes into relationship with Jesus, is not so much offered escape from storms of life as a haven or shelter “in” the storm.  It is rather easy for me to think of being kept or protected from storms as a real haven of rest, but it is considerably more difficult to view humiliation as a welcome port in the storm.  Our world thinking today is not to be under or humble. Greatness and being on top are everywhere.  That is the death struggle we see in relationships.  We don’t want people to “lord it over us;” to be under their hand so to speak.  It certainly is not inviting to those who have been adversely and harshly dominated.    No, humility is not a popular thing in today’s culture, and probably never has been.  Book sales, even those labeled Christian, will soar if they will give us the means or the secrets to being on top in this world.  It seems that many want to know how to exalt themselves in every area from finances, to physical health, appearance and position, and we want it here and now as well as in the forever.  Yet Jesus, according to Philippians 2:8, actually “humbled” and emptied Himself of all those things that many unredeemed people (and un-surrendered believers) pursue.  Jesus chose to pursue complete dependence on His Father’s life operating in Him. When I was a child I learned that being down under protection in a storm or tornado was best.  We were told to go to the cellar as it could save our lives.  Yes, I learned some things during that time as a child.  I learned that being under a blanket, (in

Minnesota), was warmth.  I learned that being “under” my father’s broad shoulders was safety in life’s scary places.  Under was not a bad thing depending on what or who you were under.  I realize not all earthly fathers are dependable, but long before my earthly father left this earth, I learned my heavenly Father was dependable and my ultimate safety.  What security there is in knowing today, that when I am humbled, I am safe and protected in He who is Mighty. The hand of God is mighty for me today, and even in the busiest of days and life’s seemingly endless noise, I can live under His hand and be safe, secure, and at rest.   Notice I said “when I am humbled.”  The proper translation of this “humble yourselves” in the original language is in the passive voice. It reads in the literal, “be humbled.”  This means that I do not humble myself, but rather it is something that happens to me.  Do not be surprised at the variety of “stuff” that may come your way that you do not understand.  It could be that it is His hand bringing you into the haven of humility.  Running from difficulty may be nothing more than an exit from your greatest safety.  Now do not think you can go out and achieve this.  It is a “being humbled” not a doing humbled things.  The great reality is that I do not have to search for His mighty Hand, for He, all of Him lives in me by the Spirit of Christ.  Thank you Jesus, for I am learning that the haven of humility is not a place I go to, but Your life in me, and that is the only exaltation I really need now and forever. 

Juneman Family Update

We know little else to do but give God thanks and praise in our lives for so many reasons.  What we have been learning in His Word has certainly been shaping us, a brief sample of which follows this update.  His presence has filled our home in these days.  Our children, Chaili and Carey, continue to grow in the Lord Jesus and His life is so evident in them in a beautiful way.  It is a blessing to be able to read the Word together and to hear the sounds of Chaili playing worship songs on the piano.  What more can we ask for as parents?  We thank Him for every provision, including the miraculous financial means that He has given over the past year through work and the kindness of individuals and churches. 

Trina continues to work full-time from home in the field of medical billing (in addition to homeschooling the children!), and John has now resumed substitute teaching in between travels after finishing an assignment with the U.S. Census Bureau.  The work has become so much more than just a means of finances.  It has become ministry itself in a new way and the means through which God continues to shape us and our heart for people.  John continues to travel and preach.  He just returned from a great weekend of services in Wabash, IN, and is preparing for a 10-day trip to British Columbia and

Seattle area.  While being apart is not easy, we clearly know it is our call as a family at this time. 

We also thank God for the provision of our home church where we attend and which has been such a blessing to us, and for the relationships and family with whom we are blessed in LifeMessage.  These folks mean the world to us and it is a joy to run with them.  John also continues to write and develop materials to share with others for discipleship and growth, which is a passion of his.  We hope to be publishing and making these available soon.  Our hearts are full, and Jesus continues to shape our hearts in new ways.  It is all about people, and running with them so that we can win the prize together.  We pray that He will continue to make us nothing so that He can be everything. 

With love and gratitude, John, Trina, Chaili and Carey 

John Juneman:  “The Always of Prayer”

Philemon 4

Following Paul’s very warm and personal greetings in the first three verses, he then speaks a prayer in Philemon 4-6 before going on into the remainder of the letter.  What if prayer would always be what shapes the direction and atmosphere of all my words and actions?  The prayers of the Apostle Paul in his letters are of great importance to me.  Since this is God’s Word, I can know for certain that these prayers are the will of God and the kinds of prayers which He will answer.  I desire to pray with this kind of certainty in my own life. 

However, we sometimes run into a problem in the writings of the Apostle Paul, including his prayers.  Some of Paul’s writings include what we might call “run-on” sentences.  In other words, some of Paul’s writing consists of a number of sentences or verses all strung together.  This can make it difficult, at times, to understand the core idea of what he is saying.  It can be easy to get lost in the trees and not be able to see the “forest.”  The way through this problem is to go back to the original language and be able to identify the main idea of the passage and then what are the items which help to “flesh” out this main idea. 

Every complete sentence in either English or Greek has what is called a main verb.  That main verb is the action word of the sentence that can stand on its own.  It is the main idea of the sentence.  When you find the main verb, you have found the idea in the sentence upon which everything else hangs.  In this long sentence of verses 4-6, the main verb is “I thank,” which is the very beginning of the prayer in verse 4.  This means that the main or big idea of this entire long sentence is the idea of Paul giving thanks.  When we think of it, this is really in line with the character of the New Testament — as well as of the Old Testament — and of Paul’s writings.  Giving thanks always seems to be a main idea.  Paul writes in other places:

·       “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).” 

·       “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God, and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus (Philippians 4:6-7).” 

Giving thanks to God seems to be a main, if not THE main, element of prayer.  It is no accident that thanks plays such a central role in the prayers of the Apostle Paul.  When we look throughout his prayers in the New Testament, we see that they nearly always begin with thanks.  What would happen in my own life if thanksgiving became the main thing for me?  How easily negativity can become the main thing for me.  I have, at times, been fluent in negative speaking.  But the nature of the

kingdom of

God is all about thanks.  It is the natural conversational manner of heaven and of the

kingdom of

God.  Would I allow this to take place in me?  

Since we know that “I thank” is the main idea of this long sentence, we can then look to find the other main parts of the structure that are built onto it.  As we begin to look through the verses in the original language, we find that there are three adverbial elements — things that act like adverbs — which describe this main verb (“I thank”).  As we remember from our grammar lessons in school, adverbs modify or tell us something further about a verb. 

The first adverb to describe “I thank” is the word “always.”  Scholars have discussed where the word “always” belongs in the sentence, with some believing that it describes “making mention of you in my prayers.”  However, the placement of the word in the original language leads some scholars to believe that it is really an adverb describing “I thank.”  This also fits with the spirit and attitude of the Apostle Paul and his message.  It is completely consistent with the message of the New Testament and Paul’s other writings to say “I thank always.”  As was said earlier, what an attitude this would be to have in my life!  What would happen to me and in the lives of those around me if I would thank God always?  Why not thank God always?  When we consider His faithfulness and provision in every way, there is every reason to thank Him.  In particular, when we look at the prayers of the Apostle Paul, we see Paul really thanking God and asking Him for His spiritual blessing and provision in Jesus Christ to be realized in the lives of the people for whom he is praying.  When we consider all of these blessings and provisions in Jesus Christ, we realize that it is not what God is going to do, but what He has already done.  The reason Paul can be so full of thanks is because everything we need has already been provided in Jesus Christ.  What would happen in my life if I began thanking God for Jesus and everything that has already been provided in Him?  All I need to do is to read the New Testament – even Paul’s prayers – to find out what that is. What more sure thing could there be?  No wonder we can give thanks always!

QUESTIONS FOR FURTHER DISCUSSION

1.     According to God’s Word, what are the things which are true today?  What is God doing and what has He already done on my behalf or on the behalf of those for whom I am concerned?  Spend some time in His Word discovering these things (Ephesians 1, for example). 

2.     In what situation right now in my life will I thank God always as an act of my will and as a sacrifice of love and praise to Him? 

3.     How has God demonstrated His goodness in my life? 

We are grateful to Joel, from Community Worship Center in

Minnesota, for his contribution.

Joel Burch:  “Be Holy, for I am Holy”

1 Peter 1:16 

Holiness!  What is holiness?  Is holiness practical?  Is holiness applicable?  Is holiness possible, attainable, or reachable?  These are the kinds of questions and concerns that I am finding arise when the topic of “holiness” surfaces within Christian circles.  No doubt one of the most difficult and even discouraging commands in the Scriptures (at least for many Christians) is to be holy even as God Himself is holy.  This, I must admit, is quite the decree.  You see I could understand if we were told to be as holy as our “humanity will allow.” I could understand if we were told to be holy to the “best of our ability.” But when we are told to be Holy even as God in His very nature is holy, to be perfect even as God in His very nature is perfect, suddenly Christians find themselves faced not with a difficult, but with an impossible task (or so it seems).  It is as if God has placed a high-jump bar over

Mount Everest and commanded us to jump over it; knowing full well that such a task is infinitely beyond our human capabilities.  Now lest you think I am exaggerating the point, listen to words of the prophet Isaiah, “We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteousness are like filthy rags or a polluted garment…” (Isaiah 64:6).  What the prophet Isaiah is trying to communicate to his listeners is that when compared to the righteousness, holiness and absolute perfection of the Person of God, all of man’s humanistic attempts at such God-like perfection raise us to the level of dirty garbage – needing to be discarded.   Isaiah’s simile reveals that God alone is holy, that God alone is righteous, and that no one outside of His Person possesses these divine characteristics.  “There is none righteous”, writes Paul in Romans 3:10, “no, not one.”  God and God “alone” is Holy.

Now if God alone is holy and righteous, and if when we are compared to the holiness and righteousness of God are “as filthy rags”, how are we to be holy even as God Himself is holy? To begin shedding light on the answer we must start by coming to terms with the fact that, through the love and grace of God, every regenerated Christian is indwelt by and joined to the holiness of God’s own Life. God, by the pouring out of His Spirit, made us sharers and partakers of His very holiness, despite our absolute inability to “achieve” such holiness.  Because of this indwelling the New Testament often refers to us as “saints” and as “holy ones.”  Being indwelt by the Holy Spirit, we have within our spirit “the spirit of holiness, Jesus Christ our Lord” (Rom 1:4, emphasis added). This is why Peter can tell us that we are, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, a “holy nation and a holy priesthood” (1 Peter 2:9, 2:5).  Paul writes that through the imputed holiness of the Holy One, we are a “new man, created in holiness” (Eph 4:24, emphasis added).  To further the point, Paul says that we are regarded as holy and even blameless before God (Eph 1:4,

Col 1:22).  This, according to the Scriptures, is the spiritual condition and position of every regenerated Christian.  Through the indwelling Spirit of Christ the Holy One, we have been made holy.

Before we get too comfortable and content in this truth, I want to make something crystal clear.  Even though we have been made spiritually holy through the indwelling Spirit of Jesus Christ, this does not necessarily mean that the holiness of Christ’s indwelling Spirit is being dynamically displayed and dispensed through our behavior on a daily basis.  In other words, just because we have been made holy through the holiness of God’s indwelling Spirit, we must not forget that we are still called and commanded to “be” holy as God Himself is Holy.

How then can the Holiness and purity of God’s Holy Spirit be displayed through our lives on a continual basis?   Major Ian Thomas, in his famous work, “The Indwelling Life of Christ”, writes this concerning the “Holiness” of Christ’s Character: “Jesus Christ was not holy because He focused His efforts on avoiding sin. Instead, He refused to allow there to be any possible explanation for the quality of His Life but the Father, as God, dwelling in Him, as

Man.”  All throughout the Scriptures Jesus makes it very clear to us how He lived and operated the way He did. In John 14:10 Jesus tells us that He did not do anything on His own accord, but that it was the Father, who was living and dwelling within Him, living through Him.  “Do you not believe”, He asks, “that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me?  What I am telling you I do not say on My own authority and of My own accord, but the Father who lives continually in Me does the works.”  According to Jesus’ own words, the reason Jesus visibly displayed the holiness of God’s character through His Life was not solely because He was “innately” or “intrinsically” Holy (though He was), but because He was continually resting in and relying on the Holiness of His Father’s Life within Him.  This is why He could say, “Those who see Me, see the Father”, for it was the Life and Holiness of the Father in Him that was being displayed through Him.  Apart from the Father, therefore, He was completely incapable of living and behaving the way He did. 

Knowing just how incapable we humans are of producing such a holy life, Jesus invites us to share in the very same relationship with Him that He shared with His Father while on earth.  In John chapter 15 He refers to Himself as the Vine and we as the branches.  Because the role of a branch is to continually receive into itself the life of the vine. Jesus knew that in order for His “Holy” Life to be properly displayed and dispensed through us, we would have to continually receive and invite into ourselves all that He is.  This, my dear friends, is holiness!  The Life of God Himself being dynamically displayed and dispensed through ours.  Anything outside of this falls short of New Testament Christianity.  Hence, all our works of holiness and righteousness, no matter how holy and righteous they may appear before the eyes of men, are like filthy rags in the eyes of God if removed from the Holiness and righteousness of Christ’s indwelling Life.

Holiness is therefore not a virtue to be achieved or acquired through self-effort, disciplinary tactics or behavior alteration.  Holiness is a living, breathing Person who dwells in the spirit of every regenerated Christian.  We as Christians need to realize that to be “holy” is nothing more or less than receiving all that He is into all that we are.  If we fail to understand this, then we will continue to exhaust our efforts trying to be and do what only He can be and do through us.  Stop trying to be holy! Stop trying to act holy!  Stop trying to produce holiness in your life!  You were never meant to live that way. Instead, learn to walk and abide in the Holiness that you have been graciously given through the indwelling Spirit of Jesus Christ.

RESOURCES:  We have avenues of providing resources to people around the world.  You may go to www.lifemessageinternational.org and you will find the information right on the home page as well as on the resource page.  We will still be glad to send free any resources you request as we have the supplies and means available to send them.

FINANCIAL:  We desire always to be open about our finances.  Please click on the following link for our latest report.   LifeMessage December 2009 Year End Report   Support Information:  As you desire and the Lord directs you, you may support LifeMessage International in a number of ways.  Just click here on  “How can I help” where you will find a number of ways to run with us.  You will also find a PaPal donate button on this page.  You may mark your gifts to one of our ministers, missions, or general fund.  Your undesignated gifts will go into our general fund to be applied to the most immediate needs.  We truly thank you as your gifts have not only helped our ministers to be bi-vocational but have also made it possible for us to give “freely” to others as needed. It is not our expectation, but should you feel compelled to contribute to this ministry directly from this page you can go to www.paypal.com, log into your personal account and then choose to send money to lifemessageinternational@gmail.com, you may also send a check to the address at the top of this letter.  Thanks so much for your kindness in helping us. 

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8. February 2010 by admin.

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