Jason Clark's Blog, page 30
August 15, 2018
Be Loved.
We were created to be loved and to love. These two truths are inseparable. That said, the knowing Love always comes first. Love is an encounter before it’s a decision. “We love because He first loved us" (1 John 4:19). Therefore our ability to love is directly connected to our awareness of His love.
Our love is a response to a revelation of His. From our encounter we can decide to love but in all honesty the decision to love is not the goal of a Christian. The goal is to know His love and to become surer each day. The incredible thing about this is that as we become sure in His love we are transformed and we are empowered to love - and it looks a lot like how Jesus loved.
"The decision to love is not the goal of a Christian. The goal is to know His love and to become surer each day."I believe we are saved by Love so that we can truly know Love and in turn become love. It’s about transformation, its the difference between behaviour and identity. You see, if we become love, we don’t have to decide to love, its just who we are.
He loves and we are transformed – that’s the Christian identity.
Often in life, I have placed my focus on the decision to love. I have tried harder, perspired more, become more focused on doing Christian things than becoming sure in His love. At these times I have almost elevated my decisions above the encounter with His love, my doing above my surrender. What I have learned is that when I do this, I relegate, demote, and limit His love. A love birthed from a decision has less power to transform than a love birthed from an encounter.
From my own experience, if I stop encountering His love, my decision to love becomes sterile, forced, and powerless. In fact, loving God or others becomes an overwhelming impossibility. I have learned that I can’t fully love without first encountering His.
"From my own experience, if I stop encountering His love, my decision to love becomes sterile, forced, and powerless."My daily prayer is that I would become more aware of my heavenly Father's Love; that He would give me a heart that knows it, eyes to see it, ears to hear it, a soul that feels it, and a mind renewed by it. I want to experience His love in every season. In fact, that’s my life’s one true ambition, to become sure in His love…
And I believe it’s yours as well.
Jason Clark is a writer, speaker and lead communicator at A Family Story ministries. His mission is to encourage sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, to grow sure in the love of an always-good heavenly Father. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children. Website: www.afamilystory.org
August 8, 2018
Where is God?
We had less than ten dollars to our name, mostly in loose change, and we had about a gallon of gas in the van. Karen is amazing, her faith stunning. She is well acquainted with our Father’s good love and made a statement that highlights it: “We have food in the fridge. We are blessed and God is so good.”
“God is good.” Sometimes it’s the most powerful sentence in the universe, a statement of profound faith.
"A need met can never be the measuring stick of our Father’s goodness, it can only be the evidence."“God is good.” It’s true when we can pay our mortgage and when we can’t.
Karen and I are learning that a need met can never be the measuring stick of our Father’s goodness, it can only be the evidence. His goodness and His love will follow us all the days of our lives and will never be measured or determined by our circumstances. This faith is the foundational truth upon which everything else in our lives is built.
Karen and I have prayed when she starts to get a migraine: “Father, heal Karen’s migraine in Jesus’s name.” And we have thanked Him for His always-good love as the headache that typically becomes a migraine fades away.
We have also prayed against a coming migraine and watched, feeling helpless, as Karen still got the migraine. And yet we are learning, even in the pain, to hurdle the disappointment that seeks to discourage our hearts, and thank Him for His always-good love.
We trusted God absolutely, financially risking everything to start a company. Karen and I watched God come through miraculously, giving us favor and increase. We thanked Him for His goodness as our company prospered.
We trusted God completely, risking everything financially by giving the company back to Him. Karen and I believed and surrendered through the debilitating season of failed business and substantial debt. We chose to thank Him for His always-good love.
"We have met our Dad and are convinced, and we are becoming more convinced, that our circumstances don’t determine His love. He only has goodness and love for us."We have prayed, “Lord, protect this pregnancy and our child,” when a heartbeat couldn’t be found. We celebrated days later in the doctor’s office when life was discovered and again when our first daughter Madeleine was handed into the thankful, waiting arms of a tearfully joyful new mother and father.
We have also prayed, “Lord, protect our child and this pregnancy,” when complications became obvious. And weeks later we stood in the doctor’s office, grief in our eyes, as the devastating news was gently broken. On this journey of faith, we are learning, even in the midst of heartache, to trust in our Dad’s always-good love.
Why? Because we have met our Dad and are convinced, and we are becoming more convinced, that our circumstances don’t determine His love. He only has goodness and love for us.
“God shall supply all your needs according to His riches and glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19 NASB). It’s in my Bible and yours. That Scripture isn’t a bumper sticker platitude or a warm feeling or a nice sentiment; it’s a promise that His love is good. It’s disappointment hurdling revelation. It’s the truth. It’s the truth even when we are facing sickness, bankruptcy, or death. It’s the truth even when everything we are experiencing screams the lie.
The ValleyDavid was a man after God’s own heart. He both started and finished well. His life was a study in mountaintops and valleys.
His story was one of miracles and misses, faith and failure. David experienced some crushing disappointments but somehow never suc- cumbed. He ended well—better than well—he handed increase to the next generation.
I am convinced there is only one reason David succeeded where so many before and after have failed. David did not believe his circumstances were the measuring stick of God’s love. On the contrary, he was convinced that…
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Jason Clark is a writer, speaker and lead communicator at A Family Story ministries. His mission is to encourage sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, to grow sure in the love of an always-good heavenly Father. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children. Website: www.afamilystory.org
August 1, 2018
More Than A Master
When he came to his senses, he said, “How many of my father’s hired men have food to spare, and here I am starving to death! I will set out and go back to my father and say to him: Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son; make me like one of your hired men” (Luke 15:17-19).
You know, the younger son probably never truly knew how good and loving and redeeming his father was before leaving home, but he did know him as a good master.That limited perspective was powerful enough to invite a despairing son back home after he had desperately failed.
"If our revelation of God as a good Master doesn’t mature into a revelation of God as a good Father, we may find ourselves living like a prodigal."My point? A good master can draw the prodigal home, but it's the good father that empowers a son.
Jesus didn’t tell us this story so we could know the good Master; He was revealing the good Father to us. Why? Because a good Master can still be slaved for, and slavery is never our Father’s heart for us.
I think this is a big deal because most of us know God as a good Master and while that is true and brilliant, if our revelation of God as a good Master doesn’t mature into a revelation of God as a good Father, we may find ourselves living like a prodigal, enslaved either to the world or even religion. The truth that God is a good Master is a wonderful starting place, but was never meant to be the final destination.
God has more names than there are ice cream flavors. He is the Creator, Shepherd, and Deliverer. He is Holy, Majestic, and Righteous. He is our Peace, Provider, Comforter, and Healer. He is Lord, King, Master, and Savior. The list goes on and on. And while Jesus certainly revealed all of these attributes, they weren’t His primary objective. He came for one reason: to reveal the Father.
"Jesus lived, breathed, laughed, talked, walked, slept… every movement, every story, and every word revealed the Father."Jesus said, “Anyone who has seen Me has seen the Father” (John 14:9). He also said, “I tell you the truth, the Son can do nothing by Himself; He can do only what He sees His Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does” (John 5:19).
Jesus lived, breathed, laughed, talked, walked, slept… every movement, every story, and every word revealed the Father. The story of the prodigal son was no different.
“But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him.
The son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’
“But the father said to his servants, ‘Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let’s have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.’ So they began to celebrate. Luke 15:21-24
The moment the younger son truly saw his father’s nature is the moment he received his inheritance. And it’s the same for us. The moment we truly see our Heavenly Father we are set free and empowered to be His sons and daughters, and that’s where our inheritance is accessed. Our Father’s perfect love nature revealed is our inheritance.
Jesus told us this story to reveal His Father—period! He told this story so that we might live beyond the title of “slave” and grow in the freedom, power, and authority of our true inheritance, as His sons and daughters.
The journey of knowing God as more than a good Master is filled with exponential life, exponential righteousness, peace, joy, trust, power, and authority. When we know the good Father, we live in the inheritance of sons and daughters, the measureless love of heaven.
Jason Clark is a writer, speaker and lead communicator at A Family Story ministries. His mission is to encourage sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, to grow sure in the love of an always-good heavenly Father. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children. Website: www.afamilystory.org
July 25, 2018
The Ultimate Revelation
Peter said, “You’re the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
Jesus responded, “…You didn’t get that answer out of books or from teachers. My Father in heaven, God himself, let you in on this secret of who I really am.”
Can you imagine how excited Jesus was about Peter’s revelation? Everywhere Jesus went, every breath He ever took, every smile, every tear, every gesture, every word was meant to reveal the Father. He said, “If you really know me, you will know my Father as well (John 14:7),” and “I am in the Father and the Father is in me… (John 14:11)” Jesus’ life was an expression of the Fathers perfect love. But the disciples, and everyone else for that matter, never seemed able to really get it.
Then Peter has a revelation. He sees and describes Jesus, and in so doing meets His Dad!
What Jesus says next is amazing!
“And now I’m going to tell you who you are, really are.”
Don’t miss this. Peter, in relationship with Jesus, meets the Father, and then is given his identity.
"Peter, in relationship with Jesus, meets the Father, and then is given his identity."“You are Peter, a rock. This is the rock on which I will put together my church, a church so expansive with energy that not even the gates of hell will be able to keep it out.”
Can you imagine? Peter is given a perspective of how the Father saw him, what he was created for - his life’s purpose.
Jesus wasn’t finished.
“And that’s not all. You will have complete and free access to God’s kingdom, keys to open any and every door: no more barriers between heaven and earth, earth and heaven. A ‘yes’ on earth is ‘yes’ in heaven. A ‘no’ on earth is ‘no’ in heaven.” (Matthew 16:15-19)
Not only is Peter given his identity, he is given his inheritance. “No barriers Peter, no measureable limits. You will live from the measureless revelation of heaven. You will have all the authority I have Peter.”
“Keys to open any and every door.” Or you could say it this way, “Love trumps any and every need.”
If we want to know who we are, if we want to know what we are called to, if we want to know what we have access to, all we have to do is say ‘yes’ to Jesus - the perfection of our Father’s good love.
"If we want to know who we are, if we want to know what we are called to, if we want to know what we have access to, all we have to do is say ‘yes’ to Jesus - the perfection of our Father’s good love."One revelation of the Father brings more clarity regarding call, promise, identity, destiny, power and authority than a lifetime of anything else including Bible study and good messages – “You didn’t get this from a book or teachers… I’m not suggesting bible study and good messages aren’t valuable, I’m simply noting they should always lead to Jesus and reveal the Father.
“Who do you say that I am?” It’s an invitation to hear and know the Father and it’s an invitation to discover our identity and inheritance.
And Jesus is still asking today.
And Jesus is still revealing the Father today. He is still releasing the keys to “any and every door.” He is still empowering sons and daughters.
Jesus, may we know You, and in knowing You know our Father, and in knowing our Father become sure as sons and daughters.
Jason Clark is a writer, speaker and lead communicator at A Family Story ministries. His mission is to encourage sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, to grow sure in the love of an always-good heavenly Father. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children. Website: www.afamilystory.org
July 18, 2018
The Day I Found Abundance in the Midst of Scarcity
Over the last month, He was only saying one thing. It was a daily, hourly, minute-by-minute floodgate of His good pleasure, His presence.
“I love you, Jason.” God whispered to me. It was so sweet, and yet the question I'd asked Him seemed fair, “Will we be alright?”“I love you, Jason.”
We had followed God faithfully and now we were over a year behind on our mortgage, our fridge was nearly empty, our pantry, a ghost town. The bill collectors and the lawyers left their threatening voicemails every morning, they wanted their pound of flesh.
“I love you, Jason.”
It was so sweet, and yet the question I'd asked Him seemed fair, “Will we be alright?”
I got home at dusk. There was just enough time to mow the small unruly patch of grass in our front yard. And there were still fumes in the mower, enough to accomplish the task.
I settled into the seemingly mundane routine, but my heart never left fellowship with my good Father.
“I love you, Jason.”
And I reveled in His love. It was more than enough. I was growing sure and no circumstance would change my mind. He is good. Always.
“I love you, Jason.”
I stood on the front porch in the last light of day with a suddenly new thought. It was heaven sent, it was revelatory, it was bigger, and greater, and more powerful than any other thought I’d ever had.
“It’s measureless! Your love is measureless!”
"And I reveled in His love. It was more than enough. I was growing sure and no circumstance would change my mind. He is good. Always."At that moment, everything in my life changed.
Of course! We would be alright!
Laughing, I went in to kiss Karen and hug the kids. Karen kissed me lightly and the kids ran away giggling. I needed a shower.
In the shower I sang, “I’m becoming like you, I’m becoming like you. Let Your love be all I know, till Your glory becomes my own.”
I leapt from the shower, wrapped myself in a towel, ran into our bedroom, riffled through papers on Karen’s nightstand, found a pencil, then back to the bathroom dripping on the linoleum, I wrote...
I’ve been Your echo, I’ve been Your shadow
But my heart is to know You so I can be Your voice
I’ve stood on mountains, I’ve knelt in valleys
From glory to glory my heart will always be Yours
I'm becoming like You, I’m becoming like You
It's the cry of my heart my King, that I’d display Your majesty
I'm becoming like you, I'm becoming like you
Let Your love be all I know, till Your glory becomes my own
Oh, let Your glory come down
Let Your goodness surround, we’re singing
Oh, this revival sound
It's shaking the ground, it's transforming us
I have played this song over the years and many have asked about it. It’s my love song to Him, and I thought it was time to tell the story of the day I found His abundance in the midst of scarcity.
A few years ago I recorded it for an EP. You can listen at the link below.
Link to song - https://jasonclarkis.bandcamp.com/track/becoming-like-you
Jason Clark is a writer, speaker and lead communicator at A Family Story ministries. His mission is to encourage sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, to grow sure in the love of an always-good heavenly Father. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children. Website: www.afamilystory.org
July 11, 2018
How to Be Transformed
He had proof and all the sad fruit, a broken marriage, and hurting kids. He had asked God to forgive him but hadn’t repented.
You see, in our time together, he revealed that he still believed he was prone to sin. And as an innate wanderer, He was hoping I would somehow help him to get God back in control of him. He wanted to be punished.
I asked, “When’s the last time you felt God’s love, His pleasure?”
He started to give me the correct answer, “I know God loves me…”
I gently cut him off. “I didn’t ask for Bible verses. When is the last time you felt God’s absolute joy and laughter over your life? When was the last time you knew to your very bones that He was absolutely in love with you?”
He looked at me a little confused and he started to give me the correct answer again, “God is love. I know He loves…”
I interrupted again, “I’m not looking for what you know, here,” I said, pointing to my head. “When is the last time you experienced to the core of your being His unquestionable pleasure, His joy, His overwhelming love for you, here?” I pointed to my heart.
He began to think back through his life. After some time he looked at me with tears in his eyes and said, “I can’t remember.”
“Well, that’s a problem,” I said.
He nodded in shameful agreement. He still didn’t get it.
“God’s pleasure over you is not determined by your actions, but by Jesus’.”Then I asked him a question, which to him, considering the context of our meeting, probably seemed ridiculous. “Is He pleased with you right now?”
He began to cry. “No.”
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“How can He be pleased with me right now?” He responded.
"Is God's pleasure over who you are determined by your actions or Jesus'?" I asked, then. “Ask Him how He sees you,” I said, smiling with tears in my eyes. “I promise you, it’s good news.”
We spent the next half an hour discovering the good news. Jesus paid it all and my new friend is forgiven. We discovered together that repenting is about changing your mind regarding who He is, and just as importantly, who we are in Him. To repent is to agree with God on our value based on the price Jesus paid.
Repenting is changing our focus from sin to righteousness. You see, it our Father’s good pleasure to give us the Kingdom (see Luke 12:32), the finished work of the cross.
"We are no longer sinners needing to punished, we are saints living in the greater revelation of His good pleasure."Sin is the crisis of identity. Jesus paid the price so that we could be free, so that we would no longer be forced to live in crisis.
We are no longer sinners needing to punished, we are saints living in the greater revelation of His good pleasure. In Christ, we are not desperate for Him to be in control, we are confident and free in the Holy Spirit power of self-control (Gal 5).
Sin separates us from who He truly is and how He truly sees us. But when we live in a revelation of His good pleasure, the same good pleasure Jesus lived in and then purchased access to, sin has no chance to separate us from our Father.
My new friend experienced such great transformation that day as He tasted the love of God and truly repented.
I pray you would be transformed by His good pleasure today.
Jason Clark is an author, speaker, and director of A Family Story ministries. His mission is to encourage sons and daughters to grow sure in the love of an always-good heavenly Father. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children.
Website: www.afamilystory.org
July 4, 2018
A Simple Theology
I also happen to be a fan of coffee. I’m not sure who first discovered it, and I refuse to Google it. Some things are better left to the imagination. If I Google it, then my theory regarding the coffee bean and how it was originally considered to have magical powers would have to be abandoned.
And then I couldn’t say, “I’m drinking magic bean juice,” which I say sometimes.
We may have never met, but you know me. I’m the guy in the corner of Starbucks with the oversized noise-cancelling headphones, the MacBook—because all good writers use Macs—and The North Face laptop bag (a gift from a friend way cooler than me). On the best days, the music becomes my momentum and God’s presence my catalyst. On the worst days, the magic bean juice does the trick.
I love getting to know the baristas and the other regulars that frequent the shop. Over time you develop friendships. Some of my closest friends started out as coffee shop friends. Recently, I got talking with a regular. Through previous conversations, I’ve pieced a bit of his life together.
He is a tough fella, in his sixties. He had grown up as a rancher in the Midwest. He had been a minister “in a past life.” He had lost his wife and had a few grown kids scattered across the U.S. He loved God, but best I could tell, somewhere along his journey some of God’s people had hurt him. He didn’t have much use for the church anymore. He could find passion when he talked about church, but it was usually when he was pointing out its hypocrisies and failures.
This fella reads a lot of history, but theology is his favorite—any theology, any religion. He sits for hours in the coffee shop reading some old book, always thicker than the last, and never any titles I know. But once he found out I was a “Christian writer,” his new favorite hobby was to challenge me with sweeping questions about theology. He loves to talk about Scripture. Every nuance is intriguing, every word is a question, and every mystery is waiting to be discussed, if not debated. I learned rather quickly that it’s not a good idea to ask him what he was reading unless I had some free time.
I’m not, by the way, a “Christian writer.” I’m just a guy who writes about Love. I am not much of a theologian either, or at least I’m not a proper theologian. You know, the kind of person that loves theology religiously. Come to think of it, I’m not very religious at all. In fact, I can’t stand most things about religion.
I do have a core theology though. It’s quite simple: God is love and He is always good. It’s my position on everything. And I’m not much into debating it. I’d rather show than tell.
God is love and He is always good. It’s my position on everything.“How’s your day going?” my sixtyish coffee shop friend asked me.
Before I had fully removed my headphones, he had launched into the book he was currently reading. I can’t remember what it was called. The Veils was still playing when he gave the title. I paused my iTunes.
He started quoting Scriptures faster than I could Google them and pointing out the hypocrisies of certain Christian leaders, most of whom I had never heard.
“He’s fired up!” I thought.
I once heard a hero friend of mine, Bill Johnson, say that he believes “Jesus is perfect theology.” I like that...a lot. So I don’t want you to misunderstand me when I say I’m not a proper theologian, it’s just that I’m only interested in the theology Bill described.
So while this guy hurtled Scriptures, I tried to keep up. But it soon became apparent that I couldn’t play ball with this fella. As I listened to him, I began to pray in my heart, “Father, how do You see this man? What are You saying right now?” Immediately, I felt God’s presence— His love. Suddenly I was overwhelmed with love for the guy who was mid-sermon.
The question I’d asked God was so beautifully answered by His presence that I abruptly interrupted him to ask the same question, “What is God saying to you right now?”
He paused for a moment. This question seemed out of place. Ironic? Yeah, a little.
“I’m sorry?” he asked.
“What is God saying right at this moment, to you?” I asked again. I wasn’t being difficult or clever. We weren’t in a competition for significance, I wasn’t trying to win an argument, and I don’t need to be right. I know that seems like an odd statement from a man who writes books, but it’s a freedom I’ve been growing in for years. Don’t get me wrong, I like to be right, I just don’t need to be.
When the Holy Spirit answered my question, I felt I had the answer to the question that’s ached inside the heart of my coffee shop friend for years.
He finally got his head around the question and began to reference the Scripture and the leader he’d just finished raking over the coals, but I interrupted him to ask again, “What is He saying to you right now, in this instant?”
He seemed distressed by the question.
It’s not really a distressing question unless you aren’t sure of the answer.
It was that simple, it was that beautiful. Love always is.I continued, “God just told me He is madly in love with you. He particularly loves your mind and He is also immensely proud of you— especially regarding how you raised your kids.”
It was that simple, it was that beautiful. Love always is.
For a moment my rugged sixty-something coffee shop friend looked like he had just been speared to the heart, then there were tears. He smiled, his eyes alive in a way I had not seen before. He caught his breath, then again. I could see he was trying to maintain the appearance of control. Then shakily he whispered, “Thank you.”
It’s amazing how even the smallest glimpse of our Father’s love, the slightest brush with His presence, can transform. The moment I shared that short but sweet message from our heavenly Father, our conversation radically shifted. I got to tell him about my theology, which I’ve mentioned but let me repeat it: God is love. His love is always good. And we exist to become sure of that love.
We had a beautiful time of fellowship as we discussed in Spirit and Truth the nature of God’s always-good love…
Jason Clark is an author, speaker, and director of A Family Story ministries. His mission is to encourage sons and daughters to grow sure in the love of an always-good heavenly Father. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children.
Website: www.afamilystory.org
June 27, 2018
A Boy, A Puppy, And A Greater Faith
I sat on the trail edge with him in my lap looking out on the valley of burnt oranges and brilliant reds. And I prayed with him when he asked Jesus into his heart. It is one of my favorite memories.
Ethan isn’t an overly expressive boy – except when scoring touchdowns. He is shy and quiet around strangers. I think it comes from his Canadian Anglo Saxon roots. It’s the same excuse I use for not dancing in public… For the two years following Ethan’s salvation prayer, he was reserved. That is to say, his faith was a private one. When it came to life, he was loud at Lego Star Wars and flag football. But when it came to praying, he was beyond quiet, he had nothing to say.
Ethan didn’t like to pray. Not at the supper table, not at bedtime, not in the morning and certainly not at church. He was shy. He was embarrassed. He did his best to give the impression of disinterest. I was facing a parent’s conundrum. I wanted my son to learn how to pray but I wasn’t certain how to make it happen. I had been trying to find a way to encourage him, not for form or religious expression but for relationship - that he might encounter God’s love through prayer.
Prayer is one of the ways we learn how to hear God. This hearing is absolutely essential because hearing increases our faith. In fact you could say it this way “faith comes by hearing… (Rom 10:17)” So I was intent on my son not just knowing about God but knowing how to hear God.
Prayer is one of the ways we learn how to hear God. This hearing is absolutely essential because hearing increases our faith.Several years ago on a Saturday morning, two years after Ethan’s salvation experience, our kids came into the bedroom and jumped in bed with us. After the customary “good morning” and “how did you sleep?” my daughter Maddy told a story about a friend of hers who just got a puppy.
As a parent of children without a puppy, this is dangerous territory. But before I could say anything to defuse the situation, Karen blurted out, “it would be fun to get a puppy!” That’s all it took. Maddy heard a positive comment about a dog and the little fire we had spent years squelching immediately ignited into a raging inferno. “We should get one! I want a puppy sooo bad!” Ethan chimed in, “Me too, it would be so cool!” I looked at Karen incredulously and then did my best to give her the evil eye. She just smiled.
The rest of the morning was spent discussing all the reasons we couldn’t get a dog right now. As I got out of bed I said, “Your sister Eva is too little.” Maddy said, “She’s almost two, dad, and then she will be three!”
As I brushed my teeth I garbled, “We don’t have a fence.” Maddy was ready for that one - “I will walk him every day, three times a day!” “Yeah, me too!” Ethan promised.
As I put my shoes on to go for my morning run I said, “What about the poop - who’s gonna pick it up?” I thought I had them on that one. Maddy didn’t even hesitate, “We will of course!”
When I got back from my run, Maddy and Ethan met me on the front porch. As I stretched, Maddy began explaining how they could get a bucket and a shovel and how her friend has a dog and they pick up the poop with bags.
I showered and dressed and found Maddy and Ethan waiting outside the bathroom door with drawings of them playing with the “beautiful puppy.” “What’s this one?” I asked Ethan. “In that picture I am wrestling with the puppy,” he grinned. “And this one?” I asked as I took the second offering out of his hands. “In that picture I am sleeping with the puppy.” He actually giggled, which if you are a parent you know is almost impossible to experience without joining in. I giggled with him and then realized I was dangerously close to being swayed by Maddy’s sincere enthusiasm and Ethan’s boyish charm.
I had to leave for a meeting. But before I left, I found Karen in her office and with as much accusation as I could muster said, “You started this!” She just smiled.
What I found when I got home blew my mind. Karen was on the computer, the kids were hovering around her. As soon as I walked in, the kids started yelling,
“Dad come see, come see! It’s the most cutest puppy ever!”
“Seriously?!” I said to Karen. She just smiled.
The Maddy-Ethan-persistent-spouse stuff continued all afternoon and evening. Karen just kept smiling.
Finally it was bedtime. I sat at the foot of Maddy’s bed while she scratched my head and Ethan sat on the floor with me. I told them a story about how one time when I was younger, I went on a treasure hunt. I discovered a cave with a golden statue. The cave was booby trapped with poisonous arrows that shot out of the cave walls. And there was a huge pit that I had to use my whip to swing across. And after I got the statue, the place started to cave in and a huge perfectly round boulder almost flattened me. I barely escaped the cave…
After my story, I prayed for both of them. Maddy wanted to raise the puppy discussion again but I pulled that old dad trick - “I don’t want to talk about it anymore until I have discussed it with your mom.” Then I herded Ethan into his bedroom to tuck him in.
When I got there, he didn’t want to talk about the story or even wrestle. He just wanted to discuss the puppy. I had planned on using the same tactic I’d used with Maddy, when I heard God speak to my heart. It was so beautiful I choked up.
“Jason, I love you. Do you believe me?” That had become a common thread in my own prayer time with God. He seemed pretty intent on me becoming sure in His love.
And in that interaction with God I suddenly knew what He was inviting me to do. While kneeling by Ethan’s bed I said, “Hey buddy, let me ask you a serious question. How much do you think God loves you?”
He paused, “I don’t know.” I asked another question. “Do you think God wants you to have a puppy?” For a moment there was hope in his eyes. Then he got serious and again said. “I don’t know.” I smiled and leaned in, “I want you to pray and ask God whether we should get a puppy. You and God talk for a while and then you tell me what He says. We will do whatever He tells you.”
I could barely control myself emotionally as I said this to him. I already knew Gods answer. You see, He loves my son with a love that rivals His love for me. I kissed Ethan on the forehead and said, “ I want you to really talk with God and hear what He says. When you have heard from Him, come tell me.” Ethan looked at me, scrunched his brow and in a reverent tone said, “Ok dad.”
About twenty minutes later He walked downstairs. “Dad?” “Yes?” I said. “I think God wants us to get a puppy.” I nearly started crying again. My son and God were talking! “Are you sure?” I asked. “I think so.” Ethan said. “Well, I think so too but I want you to be sure. Go pray some more until you are sure.” Another twenty minutes or so passed and he came down again, this time grinning ear to ear.
“I’m sure!” he said.
“Me too. Lets get a puppy!”
…I believe God is always saying one thing: “I love you.” And He always follows up with a question, “do you believe me?”
What would our lives look like if we could answer the question God is always asking: “Do you believe that I love you?” What would life be like if we could somehow live in the revelation that the plans He has for us really are always good? (Jeremiah 29:11) What kind of people would we become if we could somehow breathe in and out such authentic hope. How profound would our joy be to know this Jesus?
1 John 4:8 says it best: “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.” God is love. The words “God and “love” are interchangeable. His very nature is love. The very foundation of this universe is love.
I believe God is always saying one thing: “I love you.” And He always follows up with a question, “do you believe me?”I am learning that the power of His love is life altering. It’s my salvation, my redemption, and my provision. It’s my strength, my joy and my peace. God’s love is an all-consuming fire that encompasses every particle of me - if I surrender, if I let Him. Every need or question I have is answered in a greater revelation of his love.
This isn’t a “feel good gospel” that I’m preaching, this is a feel good, love good, give good, die good, pray good, live good, suffer good, praise good Gospel… It’s all Good!
This isn’t name-it-claim-it, this is about faith, about hearing and knowing and owning. This isn’t about God giving us things, but about the revelation of God’s love. This is about an understanding that he loves us regardless of what of our circumstances say. This is about believing that His love is good, always.
Can you imagine if our hearts where like Ethan’s when we prayed? Can you imagine if we could truly come to God with such sincere anticipation? I believe that if we knew His love, truly knew His love, we would never fear again. Sin wouldn’t exist and nothing would be impossible. Though this full revelation may not take place until we reach heaven, I believe it’s available to us here on earth now in greater measure than we could even ask or imagine.
As Ethan headed back up to bed, Karen came into the room and asked, “What was that about.” “Oh you know. We’re getting a puppy.” I said. Karen just looked at me and smiled…
Jason Clark is an author, speaker, and director of A Family Story ministries. His mission is to encourage sons and daughters to grow sure in the love of an always-good heavenly Father. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children.
Website: www.afamilystory.org
June 20, 2018
Beyond Immeasurable: The Economy of Heaven
I told a story about a bunny princess named Gertrude who only wore plaid, and a squirrel prince named Hank who only wore pajamas. I paused for the expected interruption and then listened, smiling to tears, as Eva made her revisions. Gertrude became Lizzy with a beautiful pink dress. Hank became Lizzy’s best friend Molly. She too had a beautiful dress, hers was purple; and they also had ponies. And as Eva imagined out loud, I thanked my Father for the wonder of this girl. In that moment, I knew love like I never had before.
We transitioned from story time into our closing goodnight communion.
“Eva, you’re my favorite. I love you best.”
I say this to all my kids. It’s become a Clark family way to express our love. And its true, every time.
“I love you best too daddy” She responded and the game began.
“I love you to the tops of the trees.” I grinned.
“I love you to the tops of the tree’s and the moon, times a hundred.” She knows how to play.
"Measurements are something that make perfect sense on earth but are a foreign concept in heaven."“I love you to the moon, and stars, and universe and back, times a hundred and five.” I said as I gave her nose kisses.
She giggled, “I love you to the moon, the stars, the universe and back, times a hundred and ten!”
We continued for a few more beautiful minutes, each taking turns surpassing the last statement, a million, billion, gazillion, eternity, to infinity and beyond.
Many of you know the pure joy of this game. You have played it with your loved one. It never loses its wonder.
I don’t know if you have ever thought of it this way but this is a game of measurements. The stunning thing is, love is immeasurable. Every time Eva and I play this game we do our best to measure love and discover to our immense joy that it can’t be done.
Eva always ends our competition with an amazing statement. The first time she said it I was astonished by its brilliance. Now it’s become the phrase that suspends our conversation until next time…
“I love you bigger than the future…”
“And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17-19)
I can’t imagine how Paul felt trying to describe a love that is bigger than the future – a love that surpasses knowledge. But I bet it felt a little like the game Eva and I play at bedtime.
Paul starts by using the language of earth. It’s as if he is saying Christ love is wider than forever, longer than eternity, higher than a million, billion, gazillion, and deeper than infinity, times a hundred.
Paul invites us into an encounter with Gods love that we may be filled to the full measure of the fullness of God.
Measurements are the stuff of earth. To measure, we use words like wide, long, high, and deep – words like filled and fullness.
But once Paul has done his absolute best to measure the love of God, he shifts into the language of heaven. In the next breath Paul expands our revelation.
“Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us…” (Ephesians 3:17-20)
Paul essentially says, “I want you to be filled to the full measure of the immeasurable.” And just in case we might be tempted to apply measurements to the “immeasurable” Paul added, “beyond” and “all” as if to say, “Stop it, you can’t measure Love, He is bigger than the future”!
Measurements are something that make perfect sense on earth but are a foreign concept in heaven. Heaven sits outside of time, it is infinite and operates in an economy of a love that is bigger than the future. I believe this scripture is an invitation to move from the measurable reality of earth to the immeasurable revelation of heaven.
"Jesus never lived for the immeasurable, He lived from it."And I would like to suggest that’s why Jesus came. Jesus didn’t live simply to reveal a destination, He showed us the foundation – our Fathers perfect love.
Jesus never lived for the immeasurable, He lived from it. Jesus demonstrated what a “bigger than the future” love could look like. And He invited us to know and live it like He did. Immeasurable was never meant to be simply a description of the destination; it’s always been His heart that it would be our foundation.
Need is measurable; it’s the stuff of earth. Love is immeasurable; it’s the economy of heaven. Love trumps need. This life is the only time we will ever be given the opportunity to live from heaven while on earth.
Thy Kingdom come… bigger than the future.
Jason Clark is an author, speaker, and director of A Family Story ministries. His mission is to encourage sons and daughters to grow sure in the love of an always-good heavenly Father. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children.
Website: www.afamilystory.org
February 16, 2018
Doubting Thomas?
Years ago, I overheard my mom in the kitchen telling my sister, Aimee, how Thomas was her favorite disciple of Jesus.
I was a little surprised by her choice and thought I’d be clever.
“Mom, I don’t want to be a doubting Thomas, but I’m pretty sure your favorite disciple was the fella with the underwhelming moniker.” I yelled into the kitchen sarcastically.
My mom came out of the kitchen and gave me a fiery look. One I saw too many times in my youth; a look that releases the awe-inspiring fear of God, “Jason, it’s just horrible we call him that! Think about the scripture we have because Thomas was bold enough to ask when the others weren’t?”
And just like that, my whole thought about Thomas changed. Thanks, mom! I am so grateful for your wisdom!
Jesus, attempting to prepare His disciples for the coming dark days of His death, tells them, “You know the way to the place where I am going.” (1)
And John leans over to Peter and whispers. “Hey Pete?”
“What?” Peter responds in a whisper yell. Peter was a horrible whisperer.
“Do you know the way to the place Jesus is going?” John asks with sincerity.
Peter furrows his brow, “Of course!”
John raises an eyebrow, “So you have no idea then.”
Peter waves John off brusquely. John is a little concerned but then he remembers and smiles, “No worries, Thomas will ask Him.”
And Thomas did. And we are all infinitely glad he did.
“Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” (2)
“We don’t know…” It was nice Thomas included the other disciples, but because of his question we all have an answer, and it’s one of our all-time favorites!
“Jesus answered, ‘I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.’” (2)
Thomas’ “we don’t know” makes room for Jesus to highlight the tension of mystery and revelation, “You will know” and “From now on, you do know...” Jesus’ answer is the beautiful invitation to live in the tension of not knowing with a promise of knowing.
Like always, Jesus is speaking in the infinite language of sovereign love…
John and Peter looked at each other after Jesus was finished. They still didn’t understand, but that wasn’t unusual. Jesus was always saying stuff that was not only confusing, but also often seriously controversial.
The fact is, most of the time, most of the people listening to Jesus had little to no idea what He was talking about.
One time Jesus told His followers that the only way they could experience eternal life was if they ate His flesh and drank His blood. A lot of people stopped following Jesus that day. When Jesus asked the twelve disciples if they would leave Him also, Peter famously said, “Lord, to whom shall we go, you have the words of eternal life.” (3)
Interpretation, “I don’t know… but God is good” and that’s enough.
Peter, John, Thomas and many others have revealed that to truly follow Jesus, we must be willing to live in the tension of not knowing and the invitation to know; to “get wisdom. Though it cost all (we) have, get understanding.”
We must embrace mystery if we are to gain revelation.
Jesus is the way to where we are going; He is the lens by which to discover wisdom, the key by which to unlock understanding.
I don’t call Thomas “doubting” anymore. He was a man of faith willing to live in the tension of the question so he might discover the whole story, the greater revelation. Thomas gave everything up to follow Jesus and after He ascended to heaven, Thomas is believed to have shared the gospel of sovereign love, planting churches in Syria, Babylon (Iraq), Persia (Iran) and even into India before dying by a spear, martyred for his profound faith in the way the truth and the life.
**This is an excerpt from Jason’s new book on the sovereignty of love entitled, God Is (Not) In Control.
Jason Clark is an author, speaker, and director of A Family Story ministries. His mission is to encourage sons and daughters to grow sure in the love of an always-good heavenly Father. He and his wife, Karen, live in North Carolina with their three children.
