Yesterday morning my little girl was birthed into the world, leaving me stunned by God’s creative genius and overwhelmed by the amount of love that He places in the heart of a father for their child.
I left the hospital in pursuit of coffee, which I desperately needed, and found some right down the road at Caribou Coffee. For most that know me here in Minnesota, that isn’t my favorite coffee place and most the time feel as though the coffee tastes burnt.  After getting rebuked by the drive thru lady for calling Caribou’s “Chillers” by the Starbuck’s name of “Frappucino” I ordered and pulled forward.  After getting the “stink eyeâ€Â from the same drive thru lady as I paid, to my surprise, the Mint Chiller was really good and exactly what I was looking for.  FYI – I did my best to love on the crabby Caribou lady :)
I then jumped on the highway and started down the road.  Shortly after getting on highway 169 heading north, my Caribou Chiller quickly faded into the background.  As I drove, weeping began, followed by uncontrollable sobbing.  The Holy Spirit was enlightening my eyes (Eph. 1:18) right there on the highway by the loving touch of His Spirit, hitting me hard with revelation that has been stirring in me for many months now.  The reality of the revelation had just been physically exemplified in seeing my very own daughter come out of the womb and take her first breaths. Â
In the two minutes of snotting all over myself as I drove, months of revelation from the Lord came together with such clarity that it left my heart faint before the living God.  I thought I might need to pull over at one point.  If anyone passed me and looked over, they probably thought the same. :) Â
Since the fall of man God has been on a trajectory of redemption to “birth†those who are His into the next age with righteous hearts and radiating resurrected bodies.  Without going into a huge theological tangent (maybe a little one), I will simply say that I believe the guarantee of salvation is found in receiving a resurrected body unto life at the Second Coming of Christ.  A salvation that is defined with faith in Jesus as the Messiah, the chosen and appointed governmental “Seed†that will come at the end of this age, crush the last enemy of death in the physical resurrection of the body and restore all things (Gen. 3:15; Rom. 16:20; 1 Cor. 15; Heb. 2:14,15; Rev. 20:14). Â
Those who live in the final generation of this age prior to Jesus’ return will be tested far beyond any generation before them, encountering the “labor painsâ€Â that have been anticipated by many generations before them.  They will feel pressures that have never been felt by any other generation.  And if they are to remain in Him, endure to the end in order that they might be saved, then their hope must be strongly anchored in God’s “deliveryâ€Â brought through the resurrection of their bodies at His appearing.  With a faith that in the return of Jesus as their Messiah.  That is the hope by which their hearts survive the turbulent times clearly marked out in the Bible for the one final generation.  Through learning to cry out to the Spirit from the place of prayer, they become strengthened by His grace to not only endure but also become a witness in the process.  Especially through strong worldwide persecution even unto martyrdom.  Apart from intimacy with God through the leadership and grace of His Spirit (the Down Payment given to lead our hearts to righteousness and ultimately resurrection), some won’t endure to the end and thus not be “born again†into the Messianic Kingdom of the next age (i.e. resurrected unto life).  1 Thess. 5:2-11; Matt. 24
So, as I drove down the road, the birthing process that I had just experienced was framed in the reality of how the “birthing processâ€Â will some day be upon the entire earth (soon in my opinion).  Labor pains, as in childbirth, will overtake the world and shake everything that can be shaken, leaving many exposed to the true reality that had existed in their hearts (Heb. 12:25-29).  Some founded upon the sandy structures of fame, prestige, recognition, materialism, pleasing men, jealousy, envy, rage, etc (even in western Christian circles); and others upon the Rock and returning Messiah, suffering as He did that they might live as He lived following the crucifixion (Matt. 7:24-27; Matt. 13:18-23; 2 Tim 3:1-3, 4:3,4; 1 Peter 4:1-5). Â
All the weeping in that moment was a result of a myriad of different realities colliding all at once around the subject of living for the next age and restored creation.  In that brief moment I was thankful for all God has done in me over the past few years; was smacked by the fear of God which left me crying out to the Spirit for mercy and grace to live rightly before Him; pondered God’s tender mercy in temporal judgments, trials, etc making way for man’s wicked heart to be tested and humbled unto entrance into His Kingdom at the Day of the Lord; and was filled with the reality that His Day is coming along with the resurrection of my body.  Â
It is still hard to describe all that hit my insides in that moment, but definitely God rooted me deeper in His love within a few minutes. Â Like an onion, I feel as though there is layer after layer that the Lord continues to unfold before me in hopes that I will be one who walks worthy of His invitation to be with Him at the supper of the Lamb.
John 3:3,7
Romans 8:10-11,18-23
Isaiah 44:1-5
1 Peter 1:22-25
Colossians 3:1-4
Isaiah 26:19
Psalm 110
John 12:23-25
Jesus was a crucified “seed.” Â In order to have His life and reward multiplied in us in the resurrection, we must have His death multiplied in our lives in this age. Â We must carry our cross for the joy set before us.
At around 4pm today, just 12 hours after the labor process had begun, it was my job to go pick up my parents (grandma and grandpa) and Arden (big brother) from our apartment in order to escort them over to the hospital to see our new little Eliana Joy
I left the hospital in pursuit of coffee, which I desperately needed, and found some right down the road at Caribou Coffee. For most that know me here in Minnesota, that isn’t my favorite coffee place and most the time feel as though the coffee tastes burnt.  After getting rebuked by the drive thru lady for calling Caribou’s “Chillers” by the Starbuck’s name of “Frappucino” I ordered and pulled forward.  After getting the “stink eyeâ€Â from the same drive thru lady as I paid, to my surprise, the Mint Chiller was really good and exactly what I was looking for.  FYI – I did my best to love on the crabby Caribou lady :)
I then jumped on the highway and started down the road.  Shortly after getting on highway 169 heading north, my Caribou Chiller quickly faded into the background.  As I drove, weeping began, followed by uncontrollable sobbing.  The Holy Spirit was enlightening my eyes (Eph. 1:18) right there on the highway by the loving touch of His Spirit, hitting me hard with revelation that has been stirring in me for many months now.  The reality of the revelation had just been physically exemplified in seeing my very own daughter come out of the womb and take her first breaths. Â
In the two minutes of snotting all over myself as I drove, months of revelation from the Lord came together with such clarity that it left my heart faint before the living God.  I thought I might need to pull over at one point.  If anyone passed me and looked over, they probably thought the same. :) Â
Since the fall of man God has been on a trajectory of redemption to “birth†those who are His into the next age with righteous hearts and radiating resurrected bodies.  Without going into a huge theological tangent (maybe a little one), I will simply say that I believe the guarantee of salvation is found in receiving a resurrected body unto life at the Second Coming of Christ.  A salvation that is defined with faith in Jesus as the Messiah, the chosen and appointed governmental “Seed†that will come at the end of this age, crush the last enemy of death in the physical resurrection of the body and restore all things (Gen. 3:15; Rom. 16:20; 1 Cor. 15; Heb. 2:14,15; Rev. 20:14). Â
Those who live in the final generation of this age prior to Jesus’ return will be tested far beyond any generation before them, encountering the “labor painsâ€Â that have been anticipated by many generations before them.  They will feel pressures that have never been felt by any other generation.  And if they are to remain in Him, endure to the end in order that they might be saved, then their hope must be strongly anchored in God’s “deliveryâ€Â brought through the resurrection of their bodies at His appearing.  With a faith that in the return of Jesus as their Messiah.  That is the hope by which their hearts survive the turbulent times clearly marked out in the Bible for the one final generation.  Through learning to cry out to the Spirit from the place of prayer, they become strengthened by His grace to not only endure but also become a witness in the process.  Especially through strong worldwide persecution even unto martyrdom.  Apart from intimacy with God through the leadership and grace of His Spirit (the Down Payment given to lead our hearts to righteousness and ultimately resurrection), some won’t endure to the end and thus not be “born again†into the Messianic Kingdom of the next age (i.e. resurrected unto life).  1 Thess. 5:2-11; Matt. 24
So, as I drove down the road, the birthing process that I had just experienced was framed in the reality of how the “birthing processâ€Â will some day be upon the entire earth (soon in my opinion).  Labor pains, as in childbirth, will overtake the world and shake everything that can be shaken, leaving many exposed to the true reality that had existed in their hearts (Heb. 12:25-29).  Some founded upon the sandy structures of fame, prestige, recognition, materialism, pleasing men, jealousy, envy, rage, etc (even in western Christian circles); and others upon the Rock and returning Messiah, suffering as He did that they might live as He lived following the crucifixion (Matt. 7:24-27; Matt. 13:18-23; 2 Tim 3:1-3, 4:3,4; 1 Peter 4:1-5). Â
All the weeping in that moment was a result of a myriad of different realities colliding all at once around the subject of living for the next age and restored creation.  In that brief moment I was thankful for all God has done in me over the past few years; was smacked by the fear of God which left me crying out to the Spirit for mercy and grace to live rightly before Him; pondered God’s tender mercy in temporal judgments, trials, etc making way for man’s wicked heart to be tested and humbled unto entrance into His Kingdom at the Day of the Lord; and was filled with the reality that His Day is coming along with the resurrection of my body.  Â
It is still hard to describe all that hit my insides in that moment, but definitely God rooted me deeper in His love within a few minutes. Â Like an onion, I feel as though there is layer after layer that the Lord continues to unfold before me in hopes that I will be one who walks worthy of His invitation to be with Him at the supper of the Lamb.
Thank you Grace and Eliana for exemplifying God’s means by which He will restore things back to the way they were in the beginning.  What a sobering reality!
 Â
What a powerful thing it was to see Eliana stop crying in response to the familiarity of my voice right after coming out of the birth canal. Â Lord, may my heart be the same with you as I exit this age and enter the next. Â
John 3:3,7
In reply Jesus declared, “I tell you the truth, no-one can see the (Messianic) kingdom of God unless he is born again.”…You should not be surprised at my saying, ‘You must be born again.’ Â
Romans 8:10-11,18-23
But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you (at the Second Coming)….For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God (born from the womb of this age in the resurrection). For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God (the firstfruits of the restoration of all things in the first resurrection, cf. Rev. 20:6, Ac. 3:21). For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies.
Isaiah 44:1-5
“But now listen, O Jacob, my servant, Israel, whom I have chosen. This is what the Lord says— he who made you, who formed you in the womb, and who will help you: Do not be afraid, O Jacob, my servant, Jeshurun, whom I have chosen. For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring (seed), and my blessing on your descendants.  They will spring up (from the ground in resurrected glory in the Day of the Lord) like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams. One will say, ‘I belong to the Lord; another will call himself by the name of Jacob; still another will write on his hand, ‘The Lord’s,’ and will take the name Israel.
1 Peter 1:22-25
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart, since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for “All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.†And this word is the good news that was preached to you (i.e. the gospel, or the word of God, is the seed that leads to life).
Colossians 3:1-4
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ (reference to water baptism, coming up out of the water; cf. Rom. 6), set your hearts on things above (the inheritance or treasures stored up for us in heaven and to be given at Second Coming, cf. Mt. 6:19-21, 1 Pet. 1:4), where Christ is seated at the right hand of God (as the firstfruits of the resurrection; i.e. keep your eyes fixed on the resurrected Christ as the firstfruits of the reward that will also be yours at His appearing, cf. Heb. 2). Set your minds on things above (where your treasures are stored, cf. Mt. 6:19-21), not on earthly things (your body of death and the wickedness of the earth in this present evil age). For you died (reference to water baptism, cf. Rom. 6), and your life is now hidden with Christ in God (Spirit transforming us on the inside, but still have bodies of death). When Christ, who is your life (when He speaks the word of life, we will be raised from the dead, cf. 1 Th. 4), appears, then you also will appear with him in glory (the completion of your redemption in the resurrection, with an eternal weight of glory, cf. Rom. 8).
Isaiah 26:19
But your (the LORD’s, cf. Is. 26:16-18) dead will live; their bodies will rise. You who dwell in the dust, wake up and shout for joy. Your dew is like the dew of the morning (dew comes up from the ground a vapor, and then condenses in a solidified form which the sun hits and it causes it to shine); the earth will give birth to her dead (sons of God coming forth in glory).
Psalm 110
The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.†The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies. Your troops will be willing on your day of battle (cf. Ps. 149, 1 Cor. 6:1-3). Arrayed in holy majesty (resurrected glory), from the womb of the dawn you will receive the dew of your youth (NIV footnote: alternative “your young men will come to you like the dewâ€).
John 12:23-25
Jesus replied, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. I tell you the truth, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds. The man who loves his life will lose it, while the man who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.Â
Jesus was a crucified “seed.” Â In order to have His life and reward multiplied in us in the resurrection, we must have His death multiplied in our lives in this age. Â We must carry our cross for the joy set before us.