“So then, brothers, we are not obligated to the flesh to live according to the flesh, for if you live according to the flesh, you are going to die. But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live. All those led by God’s Spirit are God’s sons. Romans 8:12-14
The sons and daughters of God are to be a people led by the Spirit of God. Unlike the broad way of the flesh that leads to destruction, the “narrow way” of the Spirit leads to life-Christ. The way of the Spirit is the way of Jesus. It was how he walked, totally dependent and reliant upon His Father through the Spirit. And if this was how Jesus walked (the unique Son of God), then how much more should we walk in the same way!
When Jesus came to earth the Scriptures are clear that He laid aside His divine nature, humbled Himself by becoming a man, and became totally dependent upon the leading of the awesome Holy Spirit. That same Spirit who was in and upon Christ now lives in us. “Do we not know that we are the sanctuary of the living God and that His Spirit lives in us?” If we believe this truth to be so then why do we allow our carnal desires (the flesh) to lead us and not the Spirit of God? Perhaps it is because we do not believe God to be better then earthly pleasure and treasure. Or maybe we have not yet learned the language of the Spirit and do not know when He is speaking.
I proclaim it loud and clear, “the way of the Spirit is the better way. It is the way that leads to life.”
In part, to be led by the Spirit means to submit ourselves to the revealed Word and Will of God. But it also means something more specific, it means that we learn to discern and identify His compelling, leadings, whispers, voice, and follow. I love my neighbor simply because the love of God has given me love for them, and because His Word commands it. But I may bake my neighbor some banana bread because I feel the Spirit of God wanting to use that as a tool to open up their heart to the gospel. I promise you that if we are listening, the Holy Spirit will be speaking.
“I say then, walk by the Spirit and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh… Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. If we live by the Spirit, we must also follow the Spirit.” Galatians 5:16, 24-24
Let us walk by the Spirit, follow the Spirit, for our own joy and for the world to see what a son and daughter of God are really supposed to look like. May we imitate Jesus.
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Why I Trust the Scriptures
In speaking with a young man who called himself a Buddhist and claimed to really admire Jesus but not trust the Bible, he asked me why I trust and believe the Bible. My answer was because through the Bible God revealed Jesus to me. I saw Jesus in and through the Bible and in return this Jesus whom I have both seen and experienced has confirmed the Bible as being not just the work of man but the work of God. The promises that are made in the Bible I have come to enjoy and realize in Jesus.
For example, Romans 10:11-13 says this, “Now the Scripture says, ‘No one who believes on Him will be put to shame, for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, since the same Lord of all is rich to all who call on Him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Guess what, I called upon Jesus and He answered me, He richly answered me, He saved me. When I saw Him, I believed in Him. When I believed in Him, I saw Him. The Scriptures say that He will richly answer us when we call upon Him and I can testify of this being true in my own life. I am rich with evidence and confirmation that Jesus is for real.
I cannot see how anyone could possibly say that they believe that the Word of God is truth if they have not experienced it to be true. This is why so many people lose faith in the written Word of God when they pick up a book like “Misquoting Jesus” by Bart Ehrman. Firstly, most people are not biblical scholars and so do not have the resources needed to challenge and resist the claims made by people like Ehrman. Secondly, if they have never experienced the claims and promises of the Bible to be for real then they have nothing left to stand on, and I cannot blame them for questioning and rejecting Scripture.
Not until Christians begin to believe what the Bible says, to live as it tells us, and to walk in its supernatural promises will the world have any reason to take the Bible seriously. The reality is that the modern western Church offers no supernatural confirmation. There is no demonstration of the Spirit and power of God. If there was ever a time that we needed “the Lord working with (us) and confirming the word by the accompanying signs,” it is now.
The battle for the Bible does not simply belong to the scribes and scholars but it belongs to the Church. If by sound, rational, and persuasive arguments we manage to show the Bible to be the Word of God but do not live as if it were the Word of God to us then we have still lost the debate. Most people don’t really believe what they cannot see, and if they do not see us living by the Word of God why should they believe us?
Even though Christianity is a historical religion it is also an experientially supernatural religion. We are rooted in history and presently enjoy it by experience. The Bible introduces us to one Jesus but in two different contexts. In the first context we are exposed to a Jesus who claimed to be the Son of God, come down from heaven, born of a virgin, lived as a Jew in a nation under Roman occupation, and He was betrayed, crucified, and raised on the third day to reconcile all who would believe in him to Father God. The second Jesus context that Bible exposes us to is the Jesus of history in present reality as the risen savior able and desiring to save all who would call on His name. From my own testimony, as I was exposed to this Jewish man who lived two thousand years ago, by the grace of God I believed on Him as my risen Savior.
For example, Romans 10:11-13 says this, “Now the Scripture says, ‘No one who believes on Him will be put to shame, for there is no distinction between Jew and Greek, since the same Lord of all is rich to all who call on Him. For everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” Guess what, I called upon Jesus and He answered me, He richly answered me, He saved me. When I saw Him, I believed in Him. When I believed in Him, I saw Him. The Scriptures say that He will richly answer us when we call upon Him and I can testify of this being true in my own life. I am rich with evidence and confirmation that Jesus is for real.
I cannot see how anyone could possibly say that they believe that the Word of God is truth if they have not experienced it to be true. This is why so many people lose faith in the written Word of God when they pick up a book like “Misquoting Jesus” by Bart Ehrman. Firstly, most people are not biblical scholars and so do not have the resources needed to challenge and resist the claims made by people like Ehrman. Secondly, if they have never experienced the claims and promises of the Bible to be for real then they have nothing left to stand on, and I cannot blame them for questioning and rejecting Scripture.
Not until Christians begin to believe what the Bible says, to live as it tells us, and to walk in its supernatural promises will the world have any reason to take the Bible seriously. The reality is that the modern western Church offers no supernatural confirmation. There is no demonstration of the Spirit and power of God. If there was ever a time that we needed “the Lord working with (us) and confirming the word by the accompanying signs,” it is now.
The battle for the Bible does not simply belong to the scribes and scholars but it belongs to the Church. If by sound, rational, and persuasive arguments we manage to show the Bible to be the Word of God but do not live as if it were the Word of God to us then we have still lost the debate. Most people don’t really believe what they cannot see, and if they do not see us living by the Word of God why should they believe us?
Even though Christianity is a historical religion it is also an experientially supernatural religion. We are rooted in history and presently enjoy it by experience. The Bible introduces us to one Jesus but in two different contexts. In the first context we are exposed to a Jesus who claimed to be the Son of God, come down from heaven, born of a virgin, lived as a Jew in a nation under Roman occupation, and He was betrayed, crucified, and raised on the third day to reconcile all who would believe in him to Father God. The second Jesus context that Bible exposes us to is the Jesus of history in present reality as the risen savior able and desiring to save all who would call on His name. From my own testimony, as I was exposed to this Jewish man who lived two thousand years ago, by the grace of God I believed on Him as my risen Savior.
Meditating on the Word
“Instead, his delight is in the Lord’s instruction, and he meditates on it day and night. He is like a tree planted beside streams of water that bears its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers.” Psalm 1:2-3
“So if you have been raised with the Messiah, seek what is above, where the Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God.” Colossians 3:1-3
Meditation is the art of seeking, pondering, praying, asking, and repeating. By meditating on the Word of God we are setting our minds on what is above. The discipline of the mind is essential for the follower of Jesus. Like every other human faculty the mind must be trained and transformed by submitting itself to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. An untrained mind is a playground for all kinds of demonic and fleshly activity while a renewed mind enjoys the peace and prosperity of God.
Through careful and intentional meditation on the Word of God double-mindedness must eventually pack its bags and leave. I believe this is so because godly meditation doesn’t just think or ponder over the Word of God for pondering sake but it ponders for the sake of doing or acting on the Word of God. While biblical meditation is a spiritual discipline whereby the Holy Spirit brings revelation to us it is not a transcendental one. It is practical and ultimately is meant to help change or transform our praxis.
“Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise—dwell on these things. Do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:8
I once heard Pastor Kerry Kirkwood say that, “if you know how to worry then you know how to meditate.” By worrying, he means that ones mind is dwelling in a place of turmoil, poverty, death, materialism. But for the mind trained in the Word of God meditation is dwelling on whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, morally excellent, and praise-worthy.
Meditating on the things of God is an act of worship. In “dwelling on these things” we are fellowshipping and experiencing God. “And the God of peace will be with you.” Not the God of politics, anxiety, depression, but the God of peace
“So if you have been raised with the Messiah, seek what is above, where the Messiah is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your minds on what is above, not on what is on the earth. For you have died, and your life is hidden with the Messiah in God.” Colossians 3:1-3
Meditation is the art of seeking, pondering, praying, asking, and repeating. By meditating on the Word of God we are setting our minds on what is above. The discipline of the mind is essential for the follower of Jesus. Like every other human faculty the mind must be trained and transformed by submitting itself to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. An untrained mind is a playground for all kinds of demonic and fleshly activity while a renewed mind enjoys the peace and prosperity of God.
Through careful and intentional meditation on the Word of God double-mindedness must eventually pack its bags and leave. I believe this is so because godly meditation doesn’t just think or ponder over the Word of God for pondering sake but it ponders for the sake of doing or acting on the Word of God. While biblical meditation is a spiritual discipline whereby the Holy Spirit brings revelation to us it is not a transcendental one. It is practical and ultimately is meant to help change or transform our praxis.
“Finally brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable—if there is any moral excellence and if there is any praise—dwell on these things. Do what you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, and the God of peace will be with you.” Philippians 4:8
I once heard Pastor Kerry Kirkwood say that, “if you know how to worry then you know how to meditate.” By worrying, he means that ones mind is dwelling in a place of turmoil, poverty, death, materialism. But for the mind trained in the Word of God meditation is dwelling on whatever is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, morally excellent, and praise-worthy.
Meditating on the things of God is an act of worship. In “dwelling on these things” we are fellowshipping and experiencing God. “And the God of peace will be with you.” Not the God of politics, anxiety, depression, but the God of peace
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
One Third Agnostic
Unbelievers are not the only agnostics out there. Plenty of us Christians are agnostic too. We are one third agnostic. We believe in God the Father, certainly in God the Son, but don’t ask us who God the Holy Spirit is because many of us just don’t know.
We are like the Ephesians in Acts 19:2, when asked about the Holy Spirit, we act as if “we haven’t even heard that there is a Holy Spirit.” A Holy Who? The reality is, we are unbelieving Christians.
Out of sight, out of mind, is our unspoken Holy Spirit policy. He is nothing more than a seal or stamp of approval given as a gift from Father. We are like teenagers with Ipods in our ears closed for business and out of touch with the world.
If only we knew. If only we understood what a Gift we have been given. That God has come to dwell not just amongst His people but in His people.
Letter Worship
We really are worshipers of the letter, with a lust for what is purely literal. We have forgotten that the letter kills; it is only the Spirit who gives life. Thus we study and labor over the letter for hours on end with all our commentaries, systematic theologies, concordances, etc. until we have mastered and harnessed the letter into submission. What we should have learned by the leading of the Holy Spirit we were determined to learn by our own strength and intelligence. But not without consequence, for now our new found biblical truth is only information to be stored in the brain, whereas had we learned to wait upon the Holy Spirit and follow His leading, it would have come as revelation bringing transformation to our lives.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Obedience to the Spirit
I have always known this but not with the weight and revelation I know it now. When the Holy Spirit speaks to me what He is saying is of most importance. I now know that obedience to the Spirit of God is the better wine, the greater pleasure. No matter what I am doing, to obey the Holy Spirit will be better—much better—no matter how much it hurts and offends the flesh.
When walking with/in the Spirit of God there is no wasted time.
When walking with/in the Spirit of God there is no wasted time.
To be led by the Spirit of God
“Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the Devil.” Matthew 4:1
Have you ever thought about what it meant for Jesus to be led by the Spirit? Did the Spirit grab his hand and say, “come now, it is time to go into the wilderness”? Was it a series of signs strategically placed by the Spirit that pointed Jesus into the wilderness? Could He have taken Him to a passage of Scripture and given Jesus revelation about going into the desert? Or did Jesus hear an audible voice from heaven saying, “Son go yonder into the wilderness”?
I believe that all those possibilities are possible but inaccurate. Unlike anybody that has ever lived I believe that Jesus understood the art of fellowshipping with the Spirit of God. Jesus learned to hear, and more specifically, to identify the voice of the Holy Spirit no matter how He spoke, when He spoke, where He spoke, or by what means He spoke.
Even in my own life as Father has been teaching me the ways of His Spirit I have discovered that God doesn’t always speak the same way twice. Therefore, the real art of hearing God is the art of discerning or identifying the “still small voice” of His Spirit.
It is important that we understand that the Holy Spirit doesn’t just speak to us concerning Scripture, though He will never speak against or contrary to Scripture, but He will also speak to us and lead us to do things we would/could never do on our own. You may find yourself about to take a left at the stop light and suddenly (A suddenly moment as in Acts 2) the Holy Spirit tells you to continue driving straight. You’re not sure at first why He told you not to turn but in faith you obey only to find out that He was saving you from a car accident or leading you to share the gospel with somebody that needed to hear it at that very moment in time.
I have heard on occasions Christians mocking other Christians for saying they heard from God. Not that I am unaware of the abuses that abound in this area, but what Christians need isn’t ignorance and mocking but teaching on how to rightly and properly discern and obey the Voice of God. Some Christians live as if they hadn’t received the Spirit of God at all but a deaf and dumb spirit much like the idols worshiped by the pagans. For the sake of Christ, we have the Spirit of God Himself living on the inside of us and to act as if no-one is even there is either because no-one is there or because our minds need to be renewed by the Word of God.
You say that you have the word of God, but do you have the voice of God ringing in your ears? When you read your Bible are you simply reading about God or are you hearing God speak to you, convict you, convince you, challenge you, drawing you, sending you? I dare say that many have the Word of God but they have not heard or do not know the Voice of God. That voice that “shatters the cedars of Lebanon, that flashes flames of fire, that shakes the wilderness, and makes the deer give birth. (Psalm 29:5-9)” It is important that you know that the letter kills, but it is the Spirit who gives life.
Have you ever thought about what it meant for Jesus to be led by the Spirit? Did the Spirit grab his hand and say, “come now, it is time to go into the wilderness”? Was it a series of signs strategically placed by the Spirit that pointed Jesus into the wilderness? Could He have taken Him to a passage of Scripture and given Jesus revelation about going into the desert? Or did Jesus hear an audible voice from heaven saying, “Son go yonder into the wilderness”?
I believe that all those possibilities are possible but inaccurate. Unlike anybody that has ever lived I believe that Jesus understood the art of fellowshipping with the Spirit of God. Jesus learned to hear, and more specifically, to identify the voice of the Holy Spirit no matter how He spoke, when He spoke, where He spoke, or by what means He spoke.
Even in my own life as Father has been teaching me the ways of His Spirit I have discovered that God doesn’t always speak the same way twice. Therefore, the real art of hearing God is the art of discerning or identifying the “still small voice” of His Spirit.
It is important that we understand that the Holy Spirit doesn’t just speak to us concerning Scripture, though He will never speak against or contrary to Scripture, but He will also speak to us and lead us to do things we would/could never do on our own. You may find yourself about to take a left at the stop light and suddenly (A suddenly moment as in Acts 2) the Holy Spirit tells you to continue driving straight. You’re not sure at first why He told you not to turn but in faith you obey only to find out that He was saving you from a car accident or leading you to share the gospel with somebody that needed to hear it at that very moment in time.
I have heard on occasions Christians mocking other Christians for saying they heard from God. Not that I am unaware of the abuses that abound in this area, but what Christians need isn’t ignorance and mocking but teaching on how to rightly and properly discern and obey the Voice of God. Some Christians live as if they hadn’t received the Spirit of God at all but a deaf and dumb spirit much like the idols worshiped by the pagans. For the sake of Christ, we have the Spirit of God Himself living on the inside of us and to act as if no-one is even there is either because no-one is there or because our minds need to be renewed by the Word of God.
You say that you have the word of God, but do you have the voice of God ringing in your ears? When you read your Bible are you simply reading about God or are you hearing God speak to you, convict you, convince you, challenge you, drawing you, sending you? I dare say that many have the Word of God but they have not heard or do not know the Voice of God. That voice that “shatters the cedars of Lebanon, that flashes flames of fire, that shakes the wilderness, and makes the deer give birth. (Psalm 29:5-9)” It is important that you know that the letter kills, but it is the Spirit who gives life.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Man Shall not Live by Bread Alone
“If you are the son of God, tell these stones to become bread.” But He answered, “It is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.” Matthew 4:3-4
Have you ever really stopped to think about this and ask for revelation from the Holy Spirit as to what is going on here? Here we have a dialogue between Satan and the 2nd Adam. How Jesus responds should have been how Adam and Eve responded in the Garden when challenged by the Tempter. It should be the way we all respond against demonic opposition. With the Word of God!
“If you are the son of God then tell these stones to become bread.” Could he have done so? Sure, why not! Whether He could or not is not the point though, for Jesus had not gone out into the desert to simply catch some solo time with God, but He went as He was led by the Spirit who proceeds from the Father. His going and fasting was not His own leading but the leading of God. He heard the Word/will of God and obeyed. But it wasn’t the written Word that He was being obedient to by going into the desert, rather, it was the spoken Word of God communicated by the Spirit of God.
He could have turned the stones into bread but He knew that such was not the will of God. He knew it was contrary to His Father’s words for Him. I don’t think the Devil is going to waste time trying to get us to do things that are not contrary to the Word/will of God for our lives. If he comes to challenge us, it will be to challenge those Words or Seeds planted within our hearts. His “has God really said” challenge hasn’t changed since the time of Eden.
“But He answered, ‘it is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
Where is this written?—Deuteronomy 8:3. Let’s begin in verse one for contexts sake:
“You must carefully follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase, and may enter and take possession of the land the Lord swore to your fathers. Remember that the Lord your God led you the entire journey these 40 years in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commands. He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then He gave you manna to eat, which you and your fathers had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”
Why must they follow every command? So that they might live and increase, and may enter and take possession of the land the Lord swore to them. Because the Word of God had not been followed or kept we see that God allowed them to wander in the desert and even experience hunger. He disciplined them as any good Father would in an effort to teach them that “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” That is the greater food, the finer wine.
Jesus is for us the perfect example of obedience. As He was a keeper of the Word of God we are shown what “living, increasing, and entering” are really all about. He is the perfect doer of God’s word.
Jesus is the most excellent expression of Gods will/word (I don’t separate the Word of God from the Will of God). John 1 says that He was the Word become flesh. Jesus was the word of God becoming tangible to the five senses. He was also the very Word of God—the Living Word. But even as the Living Word, like us He had to learn to hear the words of His Father. As He heard He obeyed, no hypocrisy could be found in Him. In this way too we could say that the Word of God became flesh. It found perfect residence in human flesh.
“But He said, ‘I have food to eat that you don’t know about.’ The disciples said to one another, ‘Could someone have brought Him something to eat?’ ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work,’ Jesus told them.” John 4:32-34
We have a food of which this world does not understand nor is able to see. This food is found in living by every word of God, in doing the will of God. The word of God is our satisfaction, sustenance, life, and fulfillment.
This eternal food is without an expiration date, it will not perish. So let us live by the word/food of God and grow up into maturity, into Jesus Christ.
Have you ever really stopped to think about this and ask for revelation from the Holy Spirit as to what is going on here? Here we have a dialogue between Satan and the 2nd Adam. How Jesus responds should have been how Adam and Eve responded in the Garden when challenged by the Tempter. It should be the way we all respond against demonic opposition. With the Word of God!
“If you are the son of God then tell these stones to become bread.” Could he have done so? Sure, why not! Whether He could or not is not the point though, for Jesus had not gone out into the desert to simply catch some solo time with God, but He went as He was led by the Spirit who proceeds from the Father. His going and fasting was not His own leading but the leading of God. He heard the Word/will of God and obeyed. But it wasn’t the written Word that He was being obedient to by going into the desert, rather, it was the spoken Word of God communicated by the Spirit of God.
He could have turned the stones into bread but He knew that such was not the will of God. He knew it was contrary to His Father’s words for Him. I don’t think the Devil is going to waste time trying to get us to do things that are not contrary to the Word/will of God for our lives. If he comes to challenge us, it will be to challenge those Words or Seeds planted within our hearts. His “has God really said” challenge hasn’t changed since the time of Eden.
“But He answered, ‘it is written: Man must not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.”
Where is this written?—Deuteronomy 8:3. Let’s begin in verse one for contexts sake:
“You must carefully follow every command I am giving you today, so that you may live and increase, and may enter and take possession of the land the Lord swore to your fathers. Remember that the Lord your God led you the entire journey these 40 years in the wilderness, so that He might humble you and test you to know what was in your heart, whether or not you would keep His commands. He humbled you by letting you go hungry; then He gave you manna to eat, which you and your fathers had not known, so that you might learn that man does not live on bread alone but on every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord.”
Why must they follow every command? So that they might live and increase, and may enter and take possession of the land the Lord swore to them. Because the Word of God had not been followed or kept we see that God allowed them to wander in the desert and even experience hunger. He disciplined them as any good Father would in an effort to teach them that “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” That is the greater food, the finer wine.
Jesus is for us the perfect example of obedience. As He was a keeper of the Word of God we are shown what “living, increasing, and entering” are really all about. He is the perfect doer of God’s word.
Jesus is the most excellent expression of Gods will/word (I don’t separate the Word of God from the Will of God). John 1 says that He was the Word become flesh. Jesus was the word of God becoming tangible to the five senses. He was also the very Word of God—the Living Word. But even as the Living Word, like us He had to learn to hear the words of His Father. As He heard He obeyed, no hypocrisy could be found in Him. In this way too we could say that the Word of God became flesh. It found perfect residence in human flesh.
“But He said, ‘I have food to eat that you don’t know about.’ The disciples said to one another, ‘Could someone have brought Him something to eat?’ ‘My food is to do the will of Him who sent Me and to finish His work,’ Jesus told them.” John 4:32-34
We have a food of which this world does not understand nor is able to see. This food is found in living by every word of God, in doing the will of God. The word of God is our satisfaction, sustenance, life, and fulfillment.
This eternal food is without an expiration date, it will not perish. So let us live by the word/food of God and grow up into maturity, into Jesus Christ.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Do you Really Want God?
Do you know what its like to be in love with God? Or does such language scare you? To be so in love with God that He has arrested your thoughts, saturated your speech, and directed all your actions? Do you know what its like to wake up with God on your mind and to go to bed with Him in your heart?
Have you ever panted for God? Have you ever hungered and thirsted for God? Have you ever been love sick for God to the point that nothing else matters? Has your soul ever yearned for God? Or is such language contrary to your theology?
When you sinned against God, did you feel like dying because you knew you had just hurt the heart of God? When it felt as if God had withdrawn, as if His presence had departed, did you weep? Did you call upon God like a child drowning in the ocean? Or did you not even notice?
Have you ever tasted and seen that God is good? That He is better than any earthly treasure or pleasure? Have you ever experienced His fullness of Joy and partaken of His eternal pleasures? Have you ever known that love of God that surpasses all understanding? Or are you waiting till you die and get to heaven to know and enjoy God? Are you to busy enjoying the fleeting pleasures of this world that you don’t even know what it means to enjoy the Creator of all pleasure? Shame on you!
Are you anxious and troubled about many things, not knowing the “one thing” which is needed? Dwelling in the presence of the Lord ought to be a present reality, for eternal life begins on earth in the heart. This eternal life is to be lived out and unpacked now, for as Jesus tells us it is the intimate knowing of God. Have you learned to seek after that One thing, that you might gaze, know, and experience the beauty and glory of the Lord?
If under the old covenant Moses asked God to show him His glory why do we not do so every day in the New? Are we that detached from the reality and presence of God that we do not long to see His glory as new born infants longing for milk? If we do not ask for more of God it may be that we have never tasted any of God.
Have you ever panted for God? Have you ever hungered and thirsted for God? Have you ever been love sick for God to the point that nothing else matters? Has your soul ever yearned for God? Or is such language contrary to your theology?
When you sinned against God, did you feel like dying because you knew you had just hurt the heart of God? When it felt as if God had withdrawn, as if His presence had departed, did you weep? Did you call upon God like a child drowning in the ocean? Or did you not even notice?
Have you ever tasted and seen that God is good? That He is better than any earthly treasure or pleasure? Have you ever experienced His fullness of Joy and partaken of His eternal pleasures? Have you ever known that love of God that surpasses all understanding? Or are you waiting till you die and get to heaven to know and enjoy God? Are you to busy enjoying the fleeting pleasures of this world that you don’t even know what it means to enjoy the Creator of all pleasure? Shame on you!
Are you anxious and troubled about many things, not knowing the “one thing” which is needed? Dwelling in the presence of the Lord ought to be a present reality, for eternal life begins on earth in the heart. This eternal life is to be lived out and unpacked now, for as Jesus tells us it is the intimate knowing of God. Have you learned to seek after that One thing, that you might gaze, know, and experience the beauty and glory of the Lord?
If under the old covenant Moses asked God to show him His glory why do we not do so every day in the New? Are we that detached from the reality and presence of God that we do not long to see His glory as new born infants longing for milk? If we do not ask for more of God it may be that we have never tasted any of God.
Lovers of God
Paul ends his list in 2 timothy 3:1-4 with the statement that in the last days men shall be “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.”
Can we be honest and admit that our love of pleasure-sports, movies, food, etc-makes our love for God look really small. Never in the history of the world has the mass population had at their disposal so much entertainment and pleasure so easily accessible. Many of us in the US of A live like kings—maybe even better.
I want to be a lover of God. I want my love for God to make every other love in my life look like hatred.
Can we be honest and admit that our love of pleasure-sports, movies, food, etc-makes our love for God look really small. Never in the history of the world has the mass population had at their disposal so much entertainment and pleasure so easily accessible. Many of us in the US of A live like kings—maybe even better.
I want to be a lover of God. I want my love for God to make every other love in my life look like hatred.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Hate Him of Love Him
You either love Jesus or you hate him. To say anything else proves you have not encountered Him. Everywhere Jesus went they either loved Him or they hated Him. That is why some left everything to follow Him and others brought weapons to arrest and crucify Him.
This fact continues through church history. In the first acts of the Church we see 5000 men being pierced to the heart as the Holy Spirit convicts them when Peter preached Jesus, the crucified and risen messiah. Only a few chapters later we see Stephen being stoned to death for doing the exact same thing Peter did. Was Peter a success and Stephen a failure? Absolutely not! There job was not to save but to preach the gospel and as they did so with boldness, the Holy Spirit was convicting the hearers of their sins. Only two reactions were possible: turn to God in repentance or throw a stone in anger.
“Reaction” as it was then remains the same today. For when Jesus is clearly and rightly preached and Holy Spirit brings illumination we see that people’s reaction to Him really hasn’t changed. Humanity is more consistent then we think.
Why must this be you say? Because the message of Jesus demands our personal attention. By it we are confronted with the claim that we are guilty sinners in need of a savior. Jesus is the Savior and we are the sinners.
Only two legitimate responses: you either admit to being a sinner who needs a savior and thus receive the message of Jesus (the person of Jesus) with joy, or you are enraged by the fact that someone would question your integrity, goodness, or morality and you reject the message (Jesus) in anger.
If you are under the impression that a third response exists that is simply because you are confusing ignorance with honesty. There are only two honest responses, the third is illegitimate. To claim neutrality is what Scripture first refers to as double-mindedness and ultimately as enmity.
This fact continues through church history. In the first acts of the Church we see 5000 men being pierced to the heart as the Holy Spirit convicts them when Peter preached Jesus, the crucified and risen messiah. Only a few chapters later we see Stephen being stoned to death for doing the exact same thing Peter did. Was Peter a success and Stephen a failure? Absolutely not! There job was not to save but to preach the gospel and as they did so with boldness, the Holy Spirit was convicting the hearers of their sins. Only two reactions were possible: turn to God in repentance or throw a stone in anger.
“Reaction” as it was then remains the same today. For when Jesus is clearly and rightly preached and Holy Spirit brings illumination we see that people’s reaction to Him really hasn’t changed. Humanity is more consistent then we think.
Why must this be you say? Because the message of Jesus demands our personal attention. By it we are confronted with the claim that we are guilty sinners in need of a savior. Jesus is the Savior and we are the sinners.
Only two legitimate responses: you either admit to being a sinner who needs a savior and thus receive the message of Jesus (the person of Jesus) with joy, or you are enraged by the fact that someone would question your integrity, goodness, or morality and you reject the message (Jesus) in anger.
If you are under the impression that a third response exists that is simply because you are confusing ignorance with honesty. There are only two honest responses, the third is illegitimate. To claim neutrality is what Scripture first refers to as double-mindedness and ultimately as enmity.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Is Discipleship an Option?
There must be repentance of sins. We cannot expect a person to be saved by simply praying a 50 second prayer with them. We cannot repent for them and repentance cannot happen by means of repetition. Do you see what has happened? We don’t even give the Holy Spirit time to create genuine contrition and then we don’t even let the person repent and believe in Jesus as Lord for themselves. So we take both the place of the Holy Spirit and the place of the lost.
I say this loud and clear, “I do not believe that saving faith in Jesus is mere intellectual assent or agreement with a Conclusion.” It is not less then that but certainly much more. We do not work our way intellectually into God but we are Saved by God. It is not a spiritual education into God but Conversion. Saving faith in Jesus Christ is stirred up within us ONLY by the Spirit of God.
There are teachers, doctrines, and churches that would teach that in order to be saved all one has to do is “believe.” Let me explain. When people say that saving faith/belief in Jesus is of the exact same nature as faith/belief in gravity they are making a categorical mistake.
When we look at the psalms it is more than obvious that the psalmist had genuine belief and faith in God. Different words are used though—Trust/Refuge.
“The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord, their refuge in a time of distress. The Lord helps and delivers them; He will deliver them from the wicked and will save them because they take refuge (trust) in Him.” Psalm 37:40
“Our Fathers trusted in You; they trusted, and You rescued them. They cried to You and were set free; they trusted in You and were not disgraced.” Psalm 22:4-5
Believing in Jesus cannot be whatever we want it to be. I believe thousands of different things about the world but only a few of those beliefs demand commitment and trust. To separate belief and faith from trust, refuge, and commitment is to do a disservice to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Moreover, if saving faith was of the same nature as faith that the sun is hot then the Holy Spirit is not needed.
Theologians that believe this kind of stuff tell me that where the Holy Spirit comes into play is in the opening of our eyes to see that He is the only way to be saved. They are only half right. He opens our eyes to see and then gives us courage to believe or Trust in Jesus. He doesn’t only open our eyes, but He awakens a faith not of this world. A faith that only comes from God and goes to God.
What I feel has happened is that we have churches filled with people who only believe in Jesus from a distance but disbelieve in him from up close. They trust him for the “then and there” but not for the “here and now.” Jesus is not divided. One cannot come to him for salvation now and then only if they feel like it decide to come to Him for discipleship later. There are not two Jesus: Jesus the Lord & Jesus our Salvation. Jesus is our salvation precisely because He is Lord. We come to the Lord Jesus and it is He alone that Saves us.
If faith in Jesus is a trusting in Jesus then commitment and devotion to Jesus come into play. Now we know that we cannot serve to masters, so we either follow Jesus or we follow the world (which as James tells us is enmity with God). To trust Jesus for real means to no longer trust in the spirit of this world. It means to turn away from self, sin, the world, and satan and turn to Jesus. To trust in Jesus is at the same time to repent of our sins.
Let us be done with a painless, comfortable, and cross-less Christianity and become followers of Jesus for real.
“There is no part time service, leave everything and follow me.” Leonard Ravenhill.
I say this loud and clear, “I do not believe that saving faith in Jesus is mere intellectual assent or agreement with a Conclusion.” It is not less then that but certainly much more. We do not work our way intellectually into God but we are Saved by God. It is not a spiritual education into God but Conversion. Saving faith in Jesus Christ is stirred up within us ONLY by the Spirit of God.
There are teachers, doctrines, and churches that would teach that in order to be saved all one has to do is “believe.” Let me explain. When people say that saving faith/belief in Jesus is of the exact same nature as faith/belief in gravity they are making a categorical mistake.
When we look at the psalms it is more than obvious that the psalmist had genuine belief and faith in God. Different words are used though—Trust/Refuge.
“The salvation of the righteous is from the Lord, their refuge in a time of distress. The Lord helps and delivers them; He will deliver them from the wicked and will save them because they take refuge (trust) in Him.” Psalm 37:40
“Our Fathers trusted in You; they trusted, and You rescued them. They cried to You and were set free; they trusted in You and were not disgraced.” Psalm 22:4-5
Believing in Jesus cannot be whatever we want it to be. I believe thousands of different things about the world but only a few of those beliefs demand commitment and trust. To separate belief and faith from trust, refuge, and commitment is to do a disservice to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Moreover, if saving faith was of the same nature as faith that the sun is hot then the Holy Spirit is not needed.
Theologians that believe this kind of stuff tell me that where the Holy Spirit comes into play is in the opening of our eyes to see that He is the only way to be saved. They are only half right. He opens our eyes to see and then gives us courage to believe or Trust in Jesus. He doesn’t only open our eyes, but He awakens a faith not of this world. A faith that only comes from God and goes to God.
What I feel has happened is that we have churches filled with people who only believe in Jesus from a distance but disbelieve in him from up close. They trust him for the “then and there” but not for the “here and now.” Jesus is not divided. One cannot come to him for salvation now and then only if they feel like it decide to come to Him for discipleship later. There are not two Jesus: Jesus the Lord & Jesus our Salvation. Jesus is our salvation precisely because He is Lord. We come to the Lord Jesus and it is He alone that Saves us.
If faith in Jesus is a trusting in Jesus then commitment and devotion to Jesus come into play. Now we know that we cannot serve to masters, so we either follow Jesus or we follow the world (which as James tells us is enmity with God). To trust Jesus for real means to no longer trust in the spirit of this world. It means to turn away from self, sin, the world, and satan and turn to Jesus. To trust in Jesus is at the same time to repent of our sins.
Let us be done with a painless, comfortable, and cross-less Christianity and become followers of Jesus for real.
“There is no part time service, leave everything and follow me.” Leonard Ravenhill.
The Kingdom of God Both Far & Near
“Then the scribe said to Him, ‘You are right, Teacher! You have correctly said that He is One, and there is no one else except Him. And to love Him with all your heart, with all your understanding, and with all your strength, and to love your neighbor as yourself, is far more important than all the burnt offerings and sacrifices.’ When Jesus saw that he answered intelligently, He said to him, ‘you are not far from the kingdom of God.’ And no one dared to question Him any longer.” Mark 12:34
“So then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh—called ‘the uncircumcised’ by those called ‘the circumcised’ done by hand in the flesh. At that time you were without the Messiah, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, with no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah. ….”(17) “When Christ came, He proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.” Ephesians 2:11-13, 17
There are people to whom the Kingdom of God is closer than others but whether close or far the only way into the Kingdom is through Jesus. “Unless someone is born again he cannot see/enter the Kingdom of God.”
In the Gospel of Mark we see that it is the “circumcised” who has grown up with an understanding of God’s covenants and Law who is not far from the kingdom. I have experienced this nearness amongst Muslim friends who say they love God and who in many ways are more devout then many Christians. They have a desire to please God and thus find themselves not all that far from the Kingdom of God. Not in but not far—Jesus is the way.
The opposite was true for the Gentiles to whom Paul was writing. These were a people who lived as “foreigners to the covenants of the promise, with no hope and without God in the world.”
“So then, remember that at one time you were Gentiles in the flesh—called ‘the uncircumcised’ by those called ‘the circumcised’ done by hand in the flesh. At that time you were without the Messiah, excluded from the citizenship of Israel, and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, with no hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus, you who were far away have been brought near by the blood of the Messiah. ….”(17) “When Christ came, He proclaimed the good news of peace to you who were far away and peace to those who were near.” Ephesians 2:11-13, 17
There are people to whom the Kingdom of God is closer than others but whether close or far the only way into the Kingdom is through Jesus. “Unless someone is born again he cannot see/enter the Kingdom of God.”
In the Gospel of Mark we see that it is the “circumcised” who has grown up with an understanding of God’s covenants and Law who is not far from the kingdom. I have experienced this nearness amongst Muslim friends who say they love God and who in many ways are more devout then many Christians. They have a desire to please God and thus find themselves not all that far from the Kingdom of God. Not in but not far—Jesus is the way.
The opposite was true for the Gentiles to whom Paul was writing. These were a people who lived as “foreigners to the covenants of the promise, with no hope and without God in the world.”
Tuesday, September 8, 2009
If you Love Then you Will Keep
“The one who has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me. And the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father. I also will love him and will reveal Myself to him.” “If anyone loves Me, he will keep my word. My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. The one who doesn’t love Me will not keep My words. The word that you hear is not Mine but is from the Father who sent Me.” John 14:21,23-24
Through the Word of God the Holy Spirit has broken up the very depths of my heart. Soil that needed plowing has been plowed by means of this passage above. I have read this passage a 100 times but not until Sunday night has it ever arrested me in this way. A light was turned on and truth has been revealed.
For over a year now I have been asking God for greater illumination and revelation of the greatness of His love. Praying according to the example given by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 3:14-19, that I “may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know the Messiah’s love that surpasses knowledge, so you (I) may be filled with all the fullness of God.” This prayer is birthed in the revelation that “Love is not that I first loved God but that He first loved me (us).” I love God because He first loved me. His love fans into flame my love. Therefore when I encounter the love of God, when Holy Spirit opens my eyes afresh to the Father’s love, I can’t help to love him more. As I behold the God of Love I become more like love-Himself. And it is in this context, with the love of God in mind that 1st John tells us that the commandments of God are not burdensome (1 John 5:3).
Soon after, I began praying for a greater revelation of the Father’s love I began to ask Holy Spirit to help me become a better hearer and doer of the Word of God. The result of such a prayer is that Holy Spirit took me to John chapters 14-15, and Matthew 7:13-29. What He showed me would take days to unpack but in a nut shell He began to teach me what it really means to Abide in the Vine. I use the word “really” because He didn’t just show me in theory what that means but in practice. I came into the good of that truth not just intellectually but spiritually and physically.
Hearing and doing the Word, Commands, and Law of God is all connected to the love of God. Outside a really big revelation of God’s love (Jesus on the Cross for Me) it is an impossible thing to keep his commandments from the heart—which is the very means by which our love for God is measured. (For my theologically savvy readers, without the Holy Spirit Christianity is simply impossible.)
If when I was a child you would have asked me why I chose to love my parents, or when did I make the decision to love them, I would have not been able to give an answer. To ask when, why, how I chose to love my parents is mere nonsense. My love for them had less to do with me and a lot more to do with them. In the same way that a bullet in motion has more to do with the finger that squeezed it then it has to do with the bullet itself. Love was all I had ever been shown and given, thus my decision to love them was less of a decision and more of a reaction enabled by their loving action.
Consider with me the phrase to “fall in love.” Love is less of something that you choose and more of something you simply find yourself in—fallen into. I did not choose to be in love with my wife I simply found myself in love with her. True, the context and ingredients had to be there for it to happen but I did not just wake up one morning and say “I am going to love Andrea today.” No it was more like, “I’m in love with Andrea today.”
Now, while finding myself in “Love” did not involve the exercise of my will-per say. Staying, remaining, abiding in “Love” certainly does. Like Salvation, we don’t work our way to love but from love.
The two parties, persons in love must both work to keep that love alive. Otherwise, if one works, while the other plays, rests, sleeps and simply does not respond, then disappointment and bitterness soon step in. The whole thing goes sour. This needs to be understood loud and clear: God is the better lover and will always, always out-love us. In James 4:7 the Scriptures tell us to draw near to God and He will draw near to us. As I understand the Scriptures, this drawing near to God happens as we become doers of His Word. God draws near to us, we experience God even in the very doing of His Word.
When we the Body, Bride keep the Words of Christ—work to abide in Love, in Him—we can expect with all confidence that He will show up, that He will reveal Himself in the “here and now” not just the “then and there.” This is not a one way relationship.
“The one who has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me. And the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father. I also will love him and will reveal Myself to him.”
Have you ever found yourself wanting and waiting to experience more of God? Wondering why you feel as if you have fallen out of love? Perhaps God is waiting on you to respond to what He has already revealed of himself. Perhaps you have drawn away from God by not keeping your end of the deal, not keeping his commandments. The Scriptures say, “to him who knows to do good and doesn’t do it is sin.” While asking God to reveal more of Himself and His love to you don’t sit around just waiting for revelation to fall out of the sky. Get up and keep his commandments for they will be life to your soul and in the very keeping of His Word you will experience Christ.
Through the Word of God the Holy Spirit has broken up the very depths of my heart. Soil that needed plowing has been plowed by means of this passage above. I have read this passage a 100 times but not until Sunday night has it ever arrested me in this way. A light was turned on and truth has been revealed.
For over a year now I have been asking God for greater illumination and revelation of the greatness of His love. Praying according to the example given by the Apostle Paul in Ephesians 3:14-19, that I “may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the length and width, height and depth of God’s love, and to know the Messiah’s love that surpasses knowledge, so you (I) may be filled with all the fullness of God.” This prayer is birthed in the revelation that “Love is not that I first loved God but that He first loved me (us).” I love God because He first loved me. His love fans into flame my love. Therefore when I encounter the love of God, when Holy Spirit opens my eyes afresh to the Father’s love, I can’t help to love him more. As I behold the God of Love I become more like love-Himself. And it is in this context, with the love of God in mind that 1st John tells us that the commandments of God are not burdensome (1 John 5:3).
Soon after, I began praying for a greater revelation of the Father’s love I began to ask Holy Spirit to help me become a better hearer and doer of the Word of God. The result of such a prayer is that Holy Spirit took me to John chapters 14-15, and Matthew 7:13-29. What He showed me would take days to unpack but in a nut shell He began to teach me what it really means to Abide in the Vine. I use the word “really” because He didn’t just show me in theory what that means but in practice. I came into the good of that truth not just intellectually but spiritually and physically.
Hearing and doing the Word, Commands, and Law of God is all connected to the love of God. Outside a really big revelation of God’s love (Jesus on the Cross for Me) it is an impossible thing to keep his commandments from the heart—which is the very means by which our love for God is measured. (For my theologically savvy readers, without the Holy Spirit Christianity is simply impossible.)
If when I was a child you would have asked me why I chose to love my parents, or when did I make the decision to love them, I would have not been able to give an answer. To ask when, why, how I chose to love my parents is mere nonsense. My love for them had less to do with me and a lot more to do with them. In the same way that a bullet in motion has more to do with the finger that squeezed it then it has to do with the bullet itself. Love was all I had ever been shown and given, thus my decision to love them was less of a decision and more of a reaction enabled by their loving action.
Consider with me the phrase to “fall in love.” Love is less of something that you choose and more of something you simply find yourself in—fallen into. I did not choose to be in love with my wife I simply found myself in love with her. True, the context and ingredients had to be there for it to happen but I did not just wake up one morning and say “I am going to love Andrea today.” No it was more like, “I’m in love with Andrea today.”
Now, while finding myself in “Love” did not involve the exercise of my will-per say. Staying, remaining, abiding in “Love” certainly does. Like Salvation, we don’t work our way to love but from love.
The two parties, persons in love must both work to keep that love alive. Otherwise, if one works, while the other plays, rests, sleeps and simply does not respond, then disappointment and bitterness soon step in. The whole thing goes sour. This needs to be understood loud and clear: God is the better lover and will always, always out-love us. In James 4:7 the Scriptures tell us to draw near to God and He will draw near to us. As I understand the Scriptures, this drawing near to God happens as we become doers of His Word. God draws near to us, we experience God even in the very doing of His Word.
When we the Body, Bride keep the Words of Christ—work to abide in Love, in Him—we can expect with all confidence that He will show up, that He will reveal Himself in the “here and now” not just the “then and there.” This is not a one way relationship.
“The one who has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me. And the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father. I also will love him and will reveal Myself to him.”
Have you ever found yourself wanting and waiting to experience more of God? Wondering why you feel as if you have fallen out of love? Perhaps God is waiting on you to respond to what He has already revealed of himself. Perhaps you have drawn away from God by not keeping your end of the deal, not keeping his commandments. The Scriptures say, “to him who knows to do good and doesn’t do it is sin.” While asking God to reveal more of Himself and His love to you don’t sit around just waiting for revelation to fall out of the sky. Get up and keep his commandments for they will be life to your soul and in the very keeping of His Word you will experience Christ.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
A Generation That Will Shake the Earth
“After three days, they found Him in the temple complex sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions. And all those who heard Him were astounded at His understanding and His answers. When His parents saw Him, they were astonished, and His mother said to Him, ‘Son, why have you treated us like this? Your father and I have been anxiously searching for you.’ ‘Why were you searching for me?’ He asked them. ‘Didn’t you know that I had to be in My Father’s house?’ But they did not understand what He said to them. Then He went down with them and came to Nazareth and was obedient to them. His mother kept all these things in her heart. And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and with people.” Luke 2:46-52
Powerfully distinctive to Christianity is God’s relation to us a Father. Jesus lived in and understood this truth better than anyone. Everything He did and said He connected to His Father. The Father revealed His heart through His Son.
Through Jesus we have now received adoption. We are now sons and daughters of the Father.
I just know that the generation that will shake the earth is the generation that understands what it means to be Sons and Daughters of God. The generation that lives this reality—hearing and doing only what they have first heard and seen their Father do, is the generation that will shake the very foundations of this earth and usher in the 2nd coming of Jesus.
It is an understanding that goes so much further than mere head knowledge. This reality/revelation changes everything. It changes the way we pray, talk, preach, live, eat and die.
I once heard my brother Dean Davis pray that the Word of God would become flesh in Him. Meaning that the word of God would incarnate him, be perfectly executed through him. When in John 1:1 it says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” the Greek definition for Word (Logos) carries with it both Reason(or thought) and Word(the sound or sign). Logos = Word/Thought. Without giving it much thought we tend to often think of our thoughts and our words as separate realities but for the Greek philosopher they can’t be separated. Thought can’t develop without words and words can’t be articulated without thought. It is these two (or this one thing) that reveals who people are. From the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Thought expresses itself through words, actions etc, and also develops through these. So, our words/thoughts reveal who we are. And it was the Living Incarnate Word of God that revealed the Father. Jesus was and is the revelation of the Father. Should we not also be?
I have often heard my beloved friend Ryan Couch say that what you behold is what you become. As we behold Jesus, the Incarnate Word through the written Word of God we become more and more like Him. Christ becomes formed in us. “No one has ever seen God. The One and Only Son—the One who is at the Father’s side—He has revealed Him. John 1:18” Jesus is the Way (John 14:6) and the Father is the Destination. The Father is our Destiny. John 15 speaks of a double abiding, us abiding in Jesus and Jesus abiding in us and this abiding in Jesus happens when we abide in His words (John 15:7, Matt 7:24). As we abide in His words, in Him, Christ expresses Himself or lives His life through us. In this way the Word of God incarnates us—becomes flesh in us. When people see us they see Jesus and thus see the Father. The Sons always lead back to the Father.
What does it mean for the Word of God to become flesh?
When Jesus came down from heaven by taking on human flesh, He was God living amongst his people. But Jesus came not to testify of Himself, He came to testify of His Father (Father God). “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.” It was perfect revelation, God the Son revealing God the Father as God the Holy Spirit Revealed the Son. Revelation, revelation, revelation, what a beautiful relationship!
In Jesus there was no separation between hearing the word and doing the word. There was no division of thought in him, no double-mindedness. He was the most excellent hearer and the most supreme doer. He was the Wise master builder (Thinking of Matt 7:24). It is my conviction that as the Word becomes flesh in us, the manifestation of Christ in us, through us, around us, that hearing and doing the Word join together in beautiful matrimony.
Consider this, in Matt 7:21 Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven.” Just how do we discover the Will of the Father—I dare say through the Word of God. The two cannot be separated. The will of the Father is that we would be hearers and doers of His Word. “As He was saying these things, a woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “The womb that bore You and the one who nursed You are blessed!” He said, ‘Even more, those who hear the word of God and keep it are blessed!’ (Luke 11:27-28)”
Do you remember how when Jesus taught his disciples to pray in this way He taught them, “Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven….” First, he was teaching them to come to God as sons coming to their father. And second he teaches them to pray that His Kingdom come His will be done. The kingdom of God is central in the teachings of Jesus, but how does it come? It comes, manifests itself, when His will is done. Thus when His Word is done, His will is done, and When His will is done, His Kingdom will come, and when His Kingdom Comes, Christ will Come.
I repeat my first conviction, that the generation that comes to understand and live in the reality of God as Father and they as Sons and Daughters will be the generation that shakes the earth and prepares the way for the coming of the King. Let us learn from our Elder Brother how to see and hear the deeds and words of our Father in Heaven. This is our inheritance.
Powerfully distinctive to Christianity is God’s relation to us a Father. Jesus lived in and understood this truth better than anyone. Everything He did and said He connected to His Father. The Father revealed His heart through His Son.
Through Jesus we have now received adoption. We are now sons and daughters of the Father.
I just know that the generation that will shake the earth is the generation that understands what it means to be Sons and Daughters of God. The generation that lives this reality—hearing and doing only what they have first heard and seen their Father do, is the generation that will shake the very foundations of this earth and usher in the 2nd coming of Jesus.
It is an understanding that goes so much further than mere head knowledge. This reality/revelation changes everything. It changes the way we pray, talk, preach, live, eat and die.
I once heard my brother Dean Davis pray that the Word of God would become flesh in Him. Meaning that the word of God would incarnate him, be perfectly executed through him. When in John 1:1 it says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God” the Greek definition for Word (Logos) carries with it both Reason(or thought) and Word(the sound or sign). Logos = Word/Thought. Without giving it much thought we tend to often think of our thoughts and our words as separate realities but for the Greek philosopher they can’t be separated. Thought can’t develop without words and words can’t be articulated without thought. It is these two (or this one thing) that reveals who people are. From the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. Thought expresses itself through words, actions etc, and also develops through these. So, our words/thoughts reveal who we are. And it was the Living Incarnate Word of God that revealed the Father. Jesus was and is the revelation of the Father. Should we not also be?
I have often heard my beloved friend Ryan Couch say that what you behold is what you become. As we behold Jesus, the Incarnate Word through the written Word of God we become more and more like Him. Christ becomes formed in us. “No one has ever seen God. The One and Only Son—the One who is at the Father’s side—He has revealed Him. John 1:18” Jesus is the Way (John 14:6) and the Father is the Destination. The Father is our Destiny. John 15 speaks of a double abiding, us abiding in Jesus and Jesus abiding in us and this abiding in Jesus happens when we abide in His words (John 15:7, Matt 7:24). As we abide in His words, in Him, Christ expresses Himself or lives His life through us. In this way the Word of God incarnates us—becomes flesh in us. When people see us they see Jesus and thus see the Father. The Sons always lead back to the Father.
What does it mean for the Word of God to become flesh?
When Jesus came down from heaven by taking on human flesh, He was God living amongst his people. But Jesus came not to testify of Himself, He came to testify of His Father (Father God). “If you’ve seen me, you’ve seen the Father.” It was perfect revelation, God the Son revealing God the Father as God the Holy Spirit Revealed the Son. Revelation, revelation, revelation, what a beautiful relationship!
In Jesus there was no separation between hearing the word and doing the word. There was no division of thought in him, no double-mindedness. He was the most excellent hearer and the most supreme doer. He was the Wise master builder (Thinking of Matt 7:24). It is my conviction that as the Word becomes flesh in us, the manifestation of Christ in us, through us, around us, that hearing and doing the Word join together in beautiful matrimony.
Consider this, in Matt 7:21 Jesus says, “Not everyone who says to Me, Lord, Lord will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of My Father in heaven.” Just how do we discover the Will of the Father—I dare say through the Word of God. The two cannot be separated. The will of the Father is that we would be hearers and doers of His Word. “As He was saying these things, a woman from the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “The womb that bore You and the one who nursed You are blessed!” He said, ‘Even more, those who hear the word of God and keep it are blessed!’ (Luke 11:27-28)”
Do you remember how when Jesus taught his disciples to pray in this way He taught them, “Our Father in heaven, Your name be honored as holy. Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven….” First, he was teaching them to come to God as sons coming to their father. And second he teaches them to pray that His Kingdom come His will be done. The kingdom of God is central in the teachings of Jesus, but how does it come? It comes, manifests itself, when His will is done. Thus when His Word is done, His will is done, and When His will is done, His Kingdom will come, and when His Kingdom Comes, Christ will Come.
I repeat my first conviction, that the generation that comes to understand and live in the reality of God as Father and they as Sons and Daughters will be the generation that shakes the earth and prepares the way for the coming of the King. Let us learn from our Elder Brother how to see and hear the deeds and words of our Father in Heaven. This is our inheritance.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Disciples of John or Jesus?
“Again the next day, John was standing with two of his disciples. When he saw Jesus passing by, he said, “Look! The Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this and followed Jesus. When Jesus turned and noticed them following Him, He asked them, “What are you looking for?” They said to Him, “Rabbi,” “Where are you staying?”
John 1:35-38
This short passage of Scripture reveals some good truth about discipleship. Notice that Mr. JTB didn’t try to keep his disciples from leaving him. John understood that the one who would come after him would be greater than him. He had been creating within them an expectancy and longing for Jesus. Thus, when he shouts out, “Look, check it out! It is Jesus the lamb of God—the one I have been telling you about.” He has no reason to fear competition. Actually, how could he even think of competing with the King of the world?
Yes, they were John’s disciples, but first and ultimately they were to be disciples of Jesus. This is what discipleship is all about. It’s all about teaching people how to follow Jesus. To walk with Jesus.
A discipleship that would restrain its disciples from seeing and following Jesus is nothing more than a cult established for selfish gain.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
