Promises

This morning as I sit down to pray I am reminded once again of a theme that has been on my mind, the patience of the Lord, and His fulfilling His promises.  We had an event at church Friday evening and I had a chance to briefly share and read a couple of verses from 2 Peter.  As I was reading them I could definitely sense there was more the Lord was doing and releasing.  I thought I would spend some time mining those same verses this morning.  Here are the verses- 2 Peter 3:8-9 NIV:

[8] “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. [9] The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”

One of my regular reflection themes is how the Lord is different than us, His thinking and HIs ways (See Isaiah 55:8-9) and these verses once again highlight the Lord’s difference from us.  We want everything now, He is patient beyond our comprehension.  We think we know what His Promises mean, but often only grasp the smallest facet of His Promise.  We struggle in time, He is outside of time, and so has no real concern, for He sees everything in every moment!  His view of time is vastly different than ours! 

I think Peter must have just caught the smallest glimpse of God’s perspective, for he seemed to grasp a bit of God's intimate knowledge of everything and everybody, all at the same time (one day is like a thousand years).  At the same time He must have seen the smallest glimpse of God’s position outside of time, able to look at any moment, in any age, being present, and understanding everything, but at the same time seeing the landscape of thousands of years in an instant. This simple sentence should open a door for us into the absolute microcosmic and macro-cosmic nature of God.  

In school I took two courses that really helped me see this reality, without being religious in nature, microbiology and astronomy.  Having a small understanding of the inner workings of the cell, of the mitochondria, of the critical and foundational functions that happen in the interior of our cells helped me see and appreciate the absolute wonder of order and function at our smallest level. Later when I took Astronomy, I was able to compare the micro with the macro, through the study of the heavens, universes, galaxies, planetary movements, and distances beyond real comprehension in light years. Having a faith perspective I saw in these studies beautiful order and the unknowable depth of the Glory of God, and was able to start to grasp just the tiniest piece of His immenseness and intimate knowledge.

This morning I am brought back to these ideas and thoughts by Peter’s observation and exclamation.  While helpful on one hand - it is in the application of these ideas to God’s faithfulness that really grabs my heart today.  I know that God is faithful, and operates with such a different perspective than ours, that at times it does seem like He is slow!  We think that HIs promises should be fulfilled right now, or in the next few days, and we don’t like waiting for anything or anybody (at least that is true for me!). We think we know what God means when He speaks a promise to us, and in my experience of His promises to me, I am almost always wrong about what His promises actually mean. 

For instance, more than 10 years ago the Lord spoke some promises to me about my job situation.  It felt like I was being launched into a time of significant success and multiplication and I was very excited.  In the midst of His releasing those promises, I was contacted by a company and given a new job that appeared to be the direct fulfillment of His recent promises.  I felt His hand guiding me, giving me favor, and then 3 years later that company closed its doors, and the promise of God never seemed fulfilled. 

That event began for me a real season of testing and frustration, as my career actually seemed to be going in the opposite direction.  I was so confused. I knew I had heard the Lord's word, and His promise, and yet could see no real fruit. In the ensuing years I changed jobs multiple times, bouncing between companies, technologies, etc. and always having enough to support our family, but never what seemed to be the fulfillment of His word over my  life. I picked up a random mix of skills and experiences that had limited market value, and seriously wondered if I had missed His promise somehow.

However, unbeknownst to me, God was aligning things and situations, companies, technologies and my employment so that in the last 2 years, I have stepped into what i can only describe as the most perfectly aligned opportunity that only a person with my exact random assortment of skills could succeed at, and have seen my career reach previously unapproachable heights.  

As I look back at my life I see the Lord crafting me for this time, this company, this opportunity.  I see His hand on every strange twist and turn, and see His crazy faithfulness, and attention to the most minute detail.  I see Him in the Micro and the Macro, and clearly am walking in some of the fulfilment of His promises, 10 years later.  

I am absolutely convinced that God saw this all in the moment when He spoke those promises to me, and while I was really close to giving up on those promises, He was always faithful! 

This brings me back to the words of Peter, God is not slow in fulfilling His promises, He is patient.  He knows everything and is at work in our lives in ways we cannot comprehend!  He hasn’t forgotten a single promise, and is faithful to fulfill them in the most perfect way.

On Friday evening, when I read these words I felt that there was an encouragement from the Lord, for us to revisit those dreams and promises that we have given up on, to dust them off and to lay them before Him!  God is faithful to fulfill all of His promises! He will never forsake us, nor abandon us.  As David writes in Psalm 9:10 NIV: “Those who know your name trust in you, for you, LORD, have never forsaken those who seek you.” 

At one specific point in the last 10 years, I had to lay down my frustration, and my offense at the Lord for not fulfilling His promise the way I thought He should!  Frankly, I was in unbelief and was believing the accusations of the enemy, believing that all of my following God was in vain, and that He had abandoned me and forgotten His promise.  When I came to that place and laid it all down and asked for the Lord’s forgiveness, His answer was swift, and within a few days I could see Him at work, leading me on the path to today, and my experience of His fulfilling His promise.

My prayer is that all of us might understand today that He is not slow, He is patient, and He is faithful!  He hasn’t abandoned us, hasn’t forgotten us, hasn’t trashed our promises, hasn’t walked away!  Instead He has been carefully crafting the perfect fulfillment of His promises, and shepherding all the circumstances and situations into the perfect alignment to fulfill His promise, in the exact way He meant it to be fulfilled. 

My prayer is that we would step back from our demands and expectations and trust that He actually knows exactly what He meant, and its better than we could have thought our imagined, and perfectly inline with His will!  

My prayer is that we would see His hand at work, even in unfulfilled moments, seeing that glimpse of His greater plan, purpose and perspective!

My prayer is that we might put our hope in the Lord once again!  He is good!  He is faithful!  He loves us perfectly!  He is the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, and totally in control at every point in-between.

As someone said recently, if it’s not good, He isn’t finished yet.  

Let us hold onto His promises, keep them fresh, and trust the He is absolutely watching over them to fulfill them!

Amen and Amen!  

 

The Kingdom In Our Midst

Last evening I was reflecting on some verses and reading out of Luke, Chapter 17.  This Chapter has plenty to reflect on, but the two verses that caught my eye were the following - Luke 17:20-21 NIV:

[20] “Once, on being asked by the Pharisees when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus replied, “The coming of the kingdom of God is not something that can be observed, [21] nor will people say, ‘Here it is,’ or ‘There it is,’ because the kingdom of God is in your midst.”

I have reflected on these verses, or the parallel verses in other so the Gospels, several times, and it always amazes me that the Lord, in His wisdom, chooses to effectively hide His Kingdom inside of people!  There are no geographical boundaries to His Kingdom, no wall or border that separates His domain from others.  Jesus rightly prophesied that people could not see it, or observe it… for it is hidden in the hearts of His sons and daughters.  

There are clearly lands and nations that are affected by His Dominion, some walking in closer alignment with His Character and Revelation than others, but His not the recognized leader in any of them.  Instead, He is King over a Kingdom that spans the globe, and is present in almost every nation, tribe and tongue.  

I love the description of people of the Kingdom from an early church writing titled - Epistle to Diognetus 5:1-6, 9-10

[1] "For Christians are not distinguished from the rest of humanity by country, language, or customs. [2] For nowhere do they live in cities of their own, nor do they speak some unusual dialect, nor do they practice an eccentric lifestyle. [3] This teaching of theirs has not been discovered by the  thought and reflection of ingenious men, nor do they promote any human doctrine, as some do. [4] But while they live in both Greek and barbarian cities, as each one's lot was cast, and follow the local customs in dress and food and other aspects of life, at the same time they demonstrate the remarkable and admittedly unusual character of their own citizenship. [5] They live in their own countries, but only as aliens, they participate in everything as citizens, and endure everything as foreigners. Every foreign country is their fatherland, and every fatherland is foreign....[9]They live on the earth, but their citizenship is in heaven. [10] They obey the established laws; indeed in their private lives they transcend the laws."

I think one of the things that is most vexing about the Kingdom of God, for casual observers, doubters, and even sometimes people of His Kingdom, is its hiddenness when viewed externally.  We are, by and large, people who want to see and know, and have it all make sense.  God, however, is beyond our grasp of understanding, His thoughts Higher than ours (Is. 55:8-9), His ways unexplainable.  

We think that if God was real He would come to earth and clean up all the evil, wiping it from the face of the earth with awesome power, making every wrong right, healing all the disease and sickness, and reigning victoriously from His capitol city!  Our stories of other gods, even of comic book characters, almost always take this approach, and this is where God’s plan and purpose just make no earthly sense (at least to me).

Instead, He has chosen to visit the earth, to become fully man, and rather than reigning in power, He has humbly laid down His life, in payment for debt that we could not pay.  His Kingdom was established in the hearts of 120 followers, almost none of whom had political power, popular favor, or significance!  His Kingdom and His church were persecuted from the very start, and rather than collapsing, it exploded like wild-fire, capturing the hearts of millions, and spreading from city to city, nation to nation.  In the History of the world (that I know of) there is nothing like God’s Kingdom.  It has withstood the rigors of war, deprivation, outright attacks, efforts to destroy it at every turn, and yet it continues to expand and grow, capturing the hearts of billions of individuals!   

The Kingdom of God, and His reign are in our midst, even if we can’t see it with casual observation.  Members of His Kingdom, are our neighbors, co-workers, friends, and family.  My prayer is that His Kingdom would continue its aggressive growth and expansion, and that His Kingship would continue to bring health, healing, mercy, compassion and love to the world around us!

Amen!

Have the Mindset of Christ

This morning I am once again reminded of these verses from Paul’s letter to the Philippians 2:1-5 NIV:

[1] “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, [2] then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. [3] Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, [4] not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 

[5] In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:”

That last sentence just grabs my heart this morning!  In my relationships with one another, that means every one in the Body of Christ, (I think he is specifically speaking about our Christian Brothers and sisters here) that I should think about them, have a similar perspective as Christ would have… have His mindset! 

I can’t even begin to imagine what that is really like, for He was here to love and save us all!  

He knew that He was laying down His life for us!  How can we even grasp for a moment His mindset?

I guess that the closest I can come is how I feel about my family, my wife, my children, their spouses and their children.  I would gladly do anything I can to help them, to be there for them, to serve them, even to laying down my life for them!  There is an absolute mindset in me that they are worthy of any sacrifice, not because of what they have done, but rather because of who they are, those that I love with my whole life! 

I imagine that Christ Jesus has this same mindset about each of us! Wow!

Going back to some of the most quoted verses in Scripture - John 3:16-17 NIV:

[16] “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life. [17] For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.”

These two verses are worth mining for the rest of our lives, for they explain God’s motivation and plan so clearly. When Jesus issued His famous new command (John 13:34-35), I believe He was building on the foundation of these two verses. 

John 13:34-35 NIV:

[34] “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. [35] By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

I think the phrase, “As I have loved you, so you must love one another” perfectly captures Jesus’ mindset, His motivation and His invitation to us!  This is how we should live!  This is how the world will be changed!  This is what  putting on the mindset of Christ is all about!

Lord help us!  This certainly doesn’t flow out of our natural man!  

We need Your help Jesus!

Amen and Amen!

Supporting One Another Through Struggles

I was reading one of my Blogs from 2015 - based on Gal. 6;1-5 and it seems a really good model for life, growing in relationship with others in such a way that we might be able to help one another in their daily walk, and their daily struggles.  I have copied and expanded that blog entry below.

Here are the verses  - Galatians 6:1-5 NIV:

[1] “Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted. [2] Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. [3] If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves. [4] Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else, [5] for each one should carry their own load.” 

It is so interesting reading the English translation and then going back and reading the original language and seeing what if any differences there may be.  Breaking down the Greek:

In verse one, the word Paul used that was translated sin, was not the common Greek word Hamartia, which is defined as missing the mark, or having no share in (target), but rather the word Paraptoma, which is defined to fall beside or near something. The secondary definition is a lapse or deviation from the truth.  

The word translated restore is the Greek word katartizo which is defined as mending or making one complete, fixing something that is broken.  

The word translated temptation is the Greek word Peirazo which is defined as trying or testing whether something can be accomplished. 

Finally the word translated caught is Prolambano which is defined to take before, as in taking hold of someone by the hand before.

When I put those words together I get an image of a brother or sister walking alongside another brother or sister, reaching out their hand to steady them or help them when they stumble or fall and helping them back to their feet, back to the path, helping them fix anything that might have been broken. Paul encourages them to do so gently, lest the one helping might also be drawn into the testing.  I can almost picture two people walking together on a rough trail, steadying each other, both knowing they are the support for the other.  What an awesome picture of how to help one another in our faith walk.  Neither individual takes a judgmental position, but rather they are both acknowledging they are walking the path together.

This actually makes better sense as we shift into the second verse of bearing one another's burdens.  Why would Paul write that if He was just talking about catching someone in their sin? If the image is of walking down a path together, it makes perfect sense, for in the natural we often times will offer to carry the burden of another as they traverse a difficult stretch or their strength is waning.  When we are walking alongside another, we have an understanding of load each other is carrying, their strength and their needs.  Paul says this is fulfilling the law of Christ, which I think relates back to the commandment that Jesus gave us to love one another as He loved us, laying down His life.

Imagine if we all were willing to walk alongside one another and were willing to help each other in their time of need and struggle, willing to lay aside our own concerns and attentions and instead look to them to help them.  We see this type of behavior come out when we are confronted with major catastrophes, as in earthquakes, tornados, blizzards, etc.  People are willing to help one another, laying aside their own concerns for a while, going to those who need help and providing whatever aid and assistance they can.  It is in these times that we see the goodness in our neighbors and people around us.  I believe Paul's encouragement this morning is to live this way all the time.

As I was reading these verses  and this reflection, I was thinking about how important having people who we can trust to help us, and us them, especially in areas where we struggle. We have wonderful models for support groups of all sorts, grief support, dealing with divorce,  chemical dependency support, A.A, etc. These are such wonderful helps for those who are dealing with significant burdens in life.  As I noted above, the truth is that we probably should all live this way, and have groups that help support one another all the time.  

I think Paul, in his next sentences, identifies the issue that keeps us from living with such interdependence, namely pride!  We don’t want to admit that we all need help!  We want to compare ourselves to others and consider ourselves better than those that need help! 

I think in all areas, in all of our lives, we need encouragement, support, transparency and vulnerability with a trusted group of a few who we can trust totally.  If we are all truthful, we all struggle with sins, selfishness, and wanting things our way, which is more often than not in contrast to God’s ways!  Paul encourages us to take a real look at our own lives, not to compare with others, but to own our own state, and see ourselves as we really are! 

In this social media infested world, where people are aspiring “influencers”, the temptation to create and project false personas and false lifestyles is all around us.  Authenticity is being lost in the world of make-believe, pushed on us daily through social media. This is the exact opposite of what we are called to embrace in our lives as Christians.

I am reminded of Paul’s encouragement from his letter to the Philippians 2:1-4 NIV:

[1] Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, [2] then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. [3] Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, [4] not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others. 

I am encouraged this morning to learn to walk alongside my brothers and sisters, learning to rely on their help and provide real help as well.  I am encouraged to make this a  lifestyle for every day rather than just during special times of extraordinary need.  I am encouraged to look at myself, to see who I really am, and how I am really doing.  I am encouraged to look for those that I can trust and be in relationship with, so that I might grow in my ability to love as Christ loves me.  Lord help me and help us to have such an attitude towards one another.

Amen and Amen!

Humility vs. Pride and Judgment

Last evening we had a time of prayer for our church, and the Lord stirred up some things in my mind and heart.  Last night I was rereading some of my writings from 2015, and the following (with some additions) is what I had written.

As I sat down to pray I felt like I should read from the letter of James 4:4-12 NIV:

[4] "You adulterous people, don't you know that friendship with the world means enmity against God? Therefore, anyone who chooses to be a friend of the world becomes an enemy of God. [5] Or do you think Scripture says without reason that he jealously longs for the spirit he has caused to dwell in us ? [6] But he gives us more grace.

That is why Scripture says: “God opposes the proud but shows favor to the humble.”

[7] Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. [8] Come near to God and he will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. [9] Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. [10] Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.

[11] Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. [12] There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you---who are you to judge your neighbor?"

It seems the theme the Lord specifically was pointing me towards had to do with humility and love for one another.  Our theme last evening was pushing past unity to full integration.  The only way a people can do this is to embrace humility.  Before we can do that we need to look at our lives and deal with our tendency to walk in judgment rather than love and acceptance.  

It is actually pretty interesting how often this whole topic is dealt with in the New Testament. The term judgment is used 65 times in the New Testament, and at least half of those speak of the Day of Judgment.  Jesus, Paul, Peter, James, Jude and the author of the letter to the Hebrews all write about judgment, so apparently it was an important subject.

It is interesting that James includes statements about judgment immediately following his discussion of the need to be humble. Actually I think that makes perfect sense for the one who judges takes a place above the one they judge, as if they have authority.  Putting ourselves above another, is really an indication of pride.  I saw somewhere recently a statement that pride is the chief weapon of satan.  It was clearly his main downfall, and makes sense that it is the chief tool he uses to cause us to sin.  At the core of this sin is the idea that we know better, and are better than those around us, and that can include God.

There is only one Judge, and when we take Jesus' place as judge over someone, are we not saying effectively that we are a better judge than He is? Maybe we don't believe that He is doing a good job judging them, or punishing them for their obvious sin.  Maybe we think that He is taking too long, and that He shouldn't be as merciful as He is.  Whatever the vague thoughts or feelings we have when we step into the position of judgment, we are effectively taking Jesus' place.  Lord have mercy on us!

Another attitude that seems to be common is when we assume the motives of someone else.  We look at their life and we think we know what they are thinking, and judge them accordingly.  Again, who knows our every thought and the secrets of our hearts?   It certainly is no one besides God.  For us to assume that we know, is once again us taking the rightful place of the Lord.  He is the only one who knows everything, who understands the person’s life, thoughts, emotions, sins and obedience and even their future.  He is the Lord of their life, and is fully capable of being their Lord.  He really doesn't need our help!

Additionally, as Jesus put it so eloquently, we need to deal with the plank in our own eye before we deal with the speck of sawdust in someone else's (Matt 7:3-5). In other words we need to humbly review our own life, and submit ourselves to His Lordship first.  If we humble ourselves, if we soberly view our own lives in comparison to Him, we will have a lifetime of opportunity to change ourselves.  We will have so much to focus on (our plank) that we really will never need to review anyone else's life.  

If we think we have it all figured out, or that we are doing really well in an area, then we likely have the plank of pride to deal with.  Every one of the Saints that I have read are convinced of their own sinfulness.  In fact it seems that the closer they get to Christ, the more aware they are of their own sinfulness.  I have yet to read of a Saint, who thought they were a Saint.  Every one of them was very aware of their own plank.

Finally, our decisions to be friends with the world (meaning we embrace the spirit of the world, and worldly attitudes and thoughts) puts us at enmity with God - yikes!  The word enmity means a deep and unfriendly feeling.  The word has the same root as our word enemy. I know I don’t want to be considered an enemy of God!!  

Jesus came to reveal the Father (Luke 10:21-22), to destroy the works of the enemy (1 John 3:8) and to establish the Kingdom of God (Luke 4:43), anything that is not inline with these works is effectively working against Him.  The world would have us focus on our own initiatives, our own priorities, our own wants and needs.  I hate to say it but the root of that type of focus is pride.  We are saying that we know better how to live our life, understand what we need more than the Lord!  

The good news in all of this is that God knows each of us, our depravity, our cluelessness, our weakness, our sin, and our efforts to do good. He sees us in our need, sees our efforts, see everything and rather than judge us, He gives us more grace (James 4:6).  As I have written before, grace is the unmerited favor of the Lord.  In other words, lest we be prideful about this favor of God, it is unmerited, or unearned, as in nothing we have done has earned us His favor.  

He loved us while we were still sinners.  

He loved us so much that He died for us!  While we were still sinners.  

Nothing we did caused Him to extend this mercy, this forgiveness, this atoning sacrifice into our lives, yet He did. Praise God!

So, let us revel in His amazing grace, let us deal with our own planks and let us leave the judging and Lordship to Him. Let us press into love, into fellowship, into relationship with the Lord and with one another!

Finally I am reminded of a few verses Paul wrote in his letter to the Ephesians 3:20-21 NIV:

[20] “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, [21] to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.”

Yes Lord, we want You to do more in us, more than we can ask or imagine, that you might be glorified in our lives and in Your Church!  

Finally, I am moved to pray Paul’s great encouragement from his letter to the Philippians 2:1-4 NIV:

[1] “Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, [2] then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. [3] Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, [4] not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”

Amen and Amen!

Look, See and Know

Continuing to mine the twelfth chapter of John.  Jesus says so much, and I am trying to dig deep. Today I am just looking at a single statement Jesus made about Himself that is so helpful.  Here is the verse - John 12:45 NIV: “The one who looks at me is seeing the one who sent me.”

Again, Jesus is the perfect representation of the Father (Heb 1:3) and here Jesus is saying that very thing!  If we look at Jesus, we see the Father.  We don’t need to question what the Father is like, we can draw a direct line from Jesus to the Father, and Jesus represents Him perfectly.  

This is so important as we read the Old Testament, for at times the portrayal of the Father seems to conflict with the way Jesus lived and taught.  We must always read the Old Testament with our Jesus filter firmly in place.  If we can’t say something about Jesus, we can’t say that about the Father. 

Simply stated, Jesus is a better guide towards understanding the Father than the Old Testament. 

Wow, that is a bit jarring to my mind, but I believe I must hold firmly to that truth and statement.  

I think I might receive some help in this by looking at the verses from the Letter to the Hebrews 1:1-3 NIV:

[1] “In the past God spoke to our ancestors through the prophets at many times and in various ways, [2] but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed heir of all things, and through whom also he made the universe. [3] The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven.”

The author of this letter follows the exact same logic I was just examining.  The previous writings (Old Testament) are records of God speaking through other people, in various ways.  But now we have the witness of the Son, and this is better, in fact He is the exact representation of His Being.  Exact is better than various!

In the same way, if there were many biographies written about me, friends and co-workers, history buffs, etc. (I have no idea why this would ever be the case, but it is just an example) and one written by my son, I would think that the one written by my son would be the most accurate representation of me.  He has lived with me, been raised by me, and understands more about me and my motivation than any other individual (except my wife and daughter).  If someone really wanted to know me, and was trying to choose the best representation, they would want to read his (my son's) biography of me.

Likewise, in understanding God, we must look to the Son, who is an “exact representation of His being”!  His representation is perfect, His words are exactly what the Father would say, His actions are exactly what the Father would do, and told Him to do!   We don’t need to wonder, we just need to read and observe the accounts of His life in Scripture, to get us started on truly understanding God.

However, the good news is that we don’t need to stop there, we can actually have a relationship with Jesus!  He is alive, He is a available, and He is desirous of a relationship with us! 

Biographies are generally written after the person passes, although that isn’t always the case.  They are often written in such a way that we can understand the person, that we might know them in some way.  We could never say from reading a biography that we established a relationship with that individual and really knew them.  That is way, we must not stop at reading the Gospel, and New testament, we must press past these into a real relationship with the Lord!  

Jesus made the way for us to do this very thing!  He invites us to step past the veil into His very presence. 

Lord, help us to press in, past the words into relationship!  

Help us to truly know You, to live our lives connected to You.  Help us to come to truly know You, that we too might represent You to the world!

Help us to look and see You Lord!

Amena and Amen!

Three Truths For Reflection

This morning I have been reading John 8, which is quite the contentious chapter.  It starts with the confrontation of Jesus with the woman caught in adultery, and the rest of the chapter is verbal sparring between Jesus and the Jews, and leaders, regarding where He was from, whose authority He was operating under, and ultimately who He was and is!  A couple of verses caught my attention so I will spend some time reflecting on them.  Here they are- John 8:28-32,58-59 NIV:

[28] “So Jesus said, “When you have lifted up the Son of Man, then you will know that I am he and that I do nothing on my own but speak just what the Father has taught me. [29] The one who sent me is with me; he has not left me alone, for I always do what pleases him.” [30] Even as he spoke, many believed in him. 

[31] To the Jews who had believed him, Jesus said, “If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. [32] Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” 

[58] “Very truly I tell you,” Jesus answered, “before Abraham was born, I am!” [59] At this, they picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus hid himself, slipping away from the temple grounds.” 

I think the three phrases I have underlined above are so important!  Each contains a truth that is essential in our understanding of Jesus, and His ministry. If we take them in reverse order It seems helpful. 

Jesus’ clear statement “before Abraham was born, I am” is as clear of a statement about His true identity as He can make, for He takes the name of God, “I am” as His own!  This phrase was known to the Jews since God spoke them to Moses in Exodus 3:13-15 NIV:

[13] Moses said to God, “Suppose I go to the Israelites and say to them, ‘The God of your fathers has sent me to you,’ and they ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what shall I tell them?” 

[14] God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’ ” 

[15] God also said to Moses, “Say to the Israelites, ‘The LORD, the God of your fathers—the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacob—has sent me to you.’ “This is my name forever, the name you shall call me from generation to generation.”

There are those that say Jesus never said He was God, but they would have to change this verse to make that claim. God names Himself, I Am, and Jesus does as well, and to add to that claim, says He existed before Abraham.  The Jews understood this claim and to them it was the worst blasphemy, which is why they picked up stones to kill Him, for He was claiming that He was God.

We all come to this point in our life, do we really believe that He is God?  

For many of us, we say we do believe, but we don’t act that way in our lives. I know that in my life this is a point I must come back to over and over.  If I truly believe He is God, then I must listen to His words, and live my life accordingly.   His words should affect every part of my life and being, and I find that I consistently turn my attention to other voices, my own most prevalent. Lord, help me to truly believe that You are God, both in my thoughts and in my deeds.

Secondly, if we hold to His teachings, we will ‘know the truth and the truth will set us free!’  I certainly need to listen and hear, and let His words change me!  I can’t just listen and consider that I have followed His commands, for they require action. 

In believing and following, and doing we “know the truth” and are set free. The truth is the Gospel of Grace, and the Lord’s choosing of us, and paying for us, opening the way for us to have relationship with Him, and experience Eternal life! When we recognize all that he has done, in setting us free from the penalty of death and the requirements of the Law we are truly set free!  When we realize that we are invited to walk in relationship with Him, we recognize that we have access to all that He has access to, and we are free!

Additionally, this freedom denotes a deeper truth, that we are truly free to do what we will do, for we have free-will.  Jesus has done everything to make a way for us to have real relationship with the Father, to walk in constant unity with Him, but it is up to us to choose this!  We must respond,and must embrace our role, taking responsibility for our own actions to follow Him. We are free to choose.  In choosing to do what He commands (see John 13:34) we step into His truth!  Oh Lord, help me to walk fully in Your truth, following Your command to love as you have loved me! 

Lastly, (or firstly if you look at the original order of the verses) we understand that Jesus only did and said what the Father told Him to speak, and was speaking out of that place of intimate relationship with the Father. Jesus says a bit later (John 12:49)  that He only speaks what the Father tells Him to speak, and earlier (John 5:19) that only does what the Father tells him to do. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews says it clearly, Jesus is the perfect representation of the Father! (Heb 1:3).  He is constantly representing the Father to us!  He is “re” presenting, as in showing us over and over again what the Father is like, what He says and what He is doing! 

If we want to know what the Father is like, we must look to Jesus, as He is our best representation of the Father.  His words and actions are all directed and guided by the Father.  He is God with us, “Immanuel”,  which brings us back to “I am”.  

He is God!

He is the one who sets us free!

He is the one that shows us the way!

He is the one we can believe in and follow unto eternal life! 

Oh Lord, help us to embrace these truths, that we might know You, and embrace the life You invite us into, Your very life and continued ministry of representing the Father to the World!

Amen and Amen!

Disowned or Restored?

This morning I am reflecting on some interesting stuff, namely the restoration process of the Lord.  I am going to look at three sets of verses that almost seem to be opposites.  

First from Matthew 10:32-33 NIV:

[32] “Whoever acknowledges me before others, I will also acknowledge before my Father in heaven. [33] But whoever disowns me before others, I will disown before my Father in heaven.”

Next from John 18:15-17,25-27 NIV:

[15] “Simon Peter and another disciple were following Jesus. Because this disciple was known to the high priest, he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard, [16] but Peter had to wait outside at the door. The other disciple, who was known to the high priest, came back, spoke to the servant girl on duty there and brought Peter in. [17] “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” she asked Peter. 

He replied, “I am not.” 

[25] Meanwhile, Simon Peter was still standing there warming himself. So they asked him, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?” 

He denied it, saying, “I am not.” 

[26] One of the high priest’s servants, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, challenged him, “Didn’t I see you with him in the garden?” [27] Again Peter denied it, and at that moment a rooster began to crow.”

And finally from the end of John’s Gospel - the restoration of Peter as recorded in John 21:15-19 NIV:

[15] “When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?”

“Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” 

Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” 

[16] Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?”

He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” 

Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” 

[17] The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” 

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” 

Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. [18] Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go.” [19] Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, “Follow me!”

Putting these three sets of verses together is an interesting study.  If we just read the first two sets of verses, we would think that Peter was done, that Jesus had disowned Peter before the Father, and he was as good as gone!  I mean, how does one come back from denial, disowning and abandoning the one you had just promised you would rather die than disown or abandon? 

Since John is the one recording this, we know he was an eye-witness to Peter’s denials, and his promise to never falter in his following of Jesus, even to the point of death (See John 13:37, and Matt 26:33,35).  It is clear that Peter certainly through he would never disown Jesus, but within just a few hours, when he felt like he was being exposed, that he must deny Christ Jesus.  This was no small issue, but one that would mark Peter, and certainly impact the rest of the ministry team Jesus had gathered.  Peter was one of the leaders, and he had effectively failed!  His failure shows the true nature of his ability to follow Jesus on his own power.  

I love the fact that Jesus was not going to allow Peter to stay in that place of self-condemnation, that place of doubting himself, his abilities, etc.  You know the enemy was working overtime on Peter.  In fact Jesus had prophesied exactly that in Luke 22:31-32 NIV: “Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. [32] But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” 

Jesus, even though He knew that Peter did or said or didn’t say, never lost His hope in Peter, nor in the rest of his followers.  The other 11 all had abandoned Him, and yet He loved them, appeared to them and acted like nothing had happened, other than asking Peter three times, we see no other indication that Jesus considered disowning those that disowned Him.

How must we then interpret Matt.10:32-33?  

Did Jesus misspeak?  

Is the Bible contradicting itself?

Which perspective should we take as our key understanding?  I think that we must look at the context of the statement, and and the rest of Jessuss’ ministry.  At the time He spoke the words in Matt 10, he was talking about a future time of testing, and such  I believe that He was specifically talking about relationship with Him, and in the case of the individual in 10:32-33, they never had one, which is what the disowning before men is relating to.

We know from other verses that Jesus, in describing the final day of judgement, uses relationship with Him as the primary calling card for those who enter into the Kingdom.  Jesus speaks of this in Matthew 7:22-23 NIV:

[22] “Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ [23] Then I will tell them plainly, ‘I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’

Those the Lord has chosen, those He has selected, those who do have relationship with Him, have been chosen, and the Lord, in His unchanging nature, never thinks otherwise.  Jesus prophetically knew they would abandon Him, for He knew scripture and clearly had some direct revelation from the Holy Spirit about Peter’s denial. 

In other words, if Jesus has chosen you, we know this if we are saved, then we must believe that He already knew about our abandonment, our disowning him, our struggles with our faith, and He still chose us!  

The good news is that the Lord is so confident in His selection that He has no doubt that even if we screw everything up, His plan and purpose will still stand!  He knew everything about us, our struggles our sins, our walking away, our disowning, our betrayals, and He still chose us, called our names and sanctified us! 

The enemy was trying to separate His followers, beating them down with condemnation, and Jesus stepped in and said that’s enough!  He restored Peter, and all the rest!  He acted as if that never happened, and continued to bear witness of His selection of Peter andall the rest!

He feels the same about all of us!  He loves us, knows we will stumble, fall, be discouraged, want to quit, actually quit, sin, reject Him, disown Him, and still He chooses us!

This morning I am greatly encouraged that the Lord is waiting to restore anyof us, his followers, who have believed the lies of The enemy who is trying to get us to believe that we have screwed up too much!  

Jesus made no mistake in choosing us, loving us, and calling our name!  HE is faithful, ever when we are not faithful (2 Tim 2;13).  He is faithful to restore, faithful to forgive, and faithful to complete his plan and purposes.

Amen and Amen!

A Rich Tapestry of Life

I had an interesting dream last night and interpretation right after I woke up.  In my dream I went back to our childhood house, and was given the opportunity to walk around it, but as it was back when we lived there.  I guess a sort of time travel dream.  

Anyway, I was aware of the fact that the house didn't look like remembered it, in fact it was much larger, had many more features and things than I remembered.  IT was completely familiar, and yet everywhere I turned there were added features that I knew weren’t present when we lived in the house, at least according to my memories. In my dream I was pondering why my memories were so wrong, and then I woke up.

As soon as I woke up I felt like the Lord gave me the interpretation.  In our dreams your house generally represents your life, and what I was seeing was the difference between my conscious experience and memory, and what actually was happening in the spiritual realm as well as how others' lives were interacting with mine, if that makes sense.  

To put it another way, I saw the richness of my life as the Lord sees it.  There is so much more that is happening in and through me than I am ever aware of consciously.  There is a rich spiritual reality that is all around me and I almost never have a sense of what is happening in that realm, but I know from experience that it is real  

Additionally, my life is interconnected with many others and my little life impacts others, and their lives impact mine.  Whereas I might look back at a family event in my life, and have one perspective,  my brothers and sisters, my Mom and Dad all would have memories of that event and they would be different than mine, and they would have a different take on my part and place in the midst of that event..  

It is almost like I was seeing a documentary about my life written by tens if not hundreds of others and that was being projected as a very rich three dimensional house.  My life is not some single strand of thread, but as I was writing yesterday is connected to so many others and part of God’s plan and purpose!  

I think if I were to try to create a word picture, it seems like God is creating a massive tapestry that is not not just two-dimensional, but rather can be viewed from many points of reference, and angles.  Our lives are part of His master plan, and purpose, and an integral part.  

I was reminded of a simple three dimensional sculpture we have at our local park if you view it from the side it looks like a child leaping.  If you move  your position exactly 90 degrees from where you were standing and look at it again you will see a butterfly. The artist who created it did a wonderful job of capturing 2 completely different images and combining them in a sculpture. 

In the same way our lives are interconnected and part of a much larger reality, that is rich beyond our best imaginations, and part of God’s great plan.  We have impact in people lives both in this present age and through our children and grand-children, impact in the lives of future generations.  

We live in a spiritual realm and Jesus says that our prayers and actions here affect the spiritual realm as well. Here are just a couple of verses that refer to this reality as spoken by Jesus - Matthew 18:18-19 NIV:

[18] “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven. [19] “Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything they ask for, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.”

This morning I am encouraged that my life is much richer than I know!  My life, my words, and actions impact those around me, and somehow are part of God’s grand plan!  I am conscious of how little of the overall picture I am aware of in my daily life.  I have no idea how my life, my words, my writing, my interactions with others are actually being received or experienced, but God sees it all!

Oh Lord, I pray that more than anything, my life might in some way give glory to You for everything good in me comes from You!  I pray that I might fulfill my part in Your grand plan!  I am so aware of how little I see and understand, but trust that You are faithful to finish what You started in me!   I am reminded of a couple of verses from Paul’s letter to the Philippians 1:4-6 NIV:

[4] “In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy [5] because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, [6] being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

Amen and Amen!

God's Magnificent Plan

This morning I was reading the book of Zephaniah, and had a picture run through my mind and spirit of the ages of the Lord's crafting and directing, watching over His plans and purposes through generation after generation.

Here is one verse that got me thinking - Zephaniah 3:6 NIV: “I have destroyed nations; their strongholds are demolished. I have left their streets deserted, with no one passing through. Their cities are laid waste; they are deserted and empty.”

When I read that verse I saw sort of a fast action view of the world and empires rising and falling, cities being built and destroyed, families growing and spreading, nations rising and falling, and it was all part of HIs plan!  We are at a point in history within that flow of His working, and He is every bit as focused and in control as He has ever been.  Somewhere in the mix of all this the thread of His purpose and plan that would produce me was being watched over, blessed and directed.  

As I was thinking about this and God’s plans for redemption, His purposes, I saw how my life was just this tiny little thread in the greater work of the Lord, but one that He has been actively directing, guiding and blessing, along with all the rest of the work He is doing in the earth!  His plans are so rich, so complex, so perfect! 

In my life time, I think about how He has directed us (My family) to our present state, relating with our friends and family, and all of it matters to Him.  There are in each of our lives, things that have been forgotten, things done long ago, people and places we used to frequent that we no longer do.  The Lord’s hand is over all our lives, He is so intimately aware of our situation, or the days and weeks and years that have been perfectly crafted to get us to this point. 

Our back-stories go back centuries, as our family trees are each crafted and purposed to bring us to this place in time and space. I have traced my honey’s ancestry back tens of generations, and while most of us don’t have records, this is true for all of us.  Her genetics go back to the before the time of Christ, and who she is is directly there result of all those generations of people marrying and having children.  Her ancestors are scattered across North America, the UK and Europe.  The combination of all of them has resulted in her creation! It is just amazing to think about God’s purpose and plan alive and well through all of that!

I am reminded once again of the statement Paul makes in Athens, found in Acts 17:26-28 NIV:

[26] “From one man he made all the nations, that they should inhabit the whole earth; and he marked out their appointed times in history and the boundaries of their lands. [27] God did this so that they would seek him and perhaps reach out for him and find him, though he is not far from any one of us. [28] ‘For in him we live and move and have our being.’ As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’

My appointed time in History is now, and the boundary of my land, my influence is set by Him. This has been a part of His plan since before the creation of the world!  This is just so amazing to me!   I think I need to reread Ps 139.

Psalm 139:13-18 NIV:

[13] “For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. [14] I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well. [15] My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.” 

[16] “Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be. [17] How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! [18] Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you.”

I am also reminded of Paul’s grasp of this concept and his statement found in Ephesians 1:3-6 NIV:

[3] “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. [4] For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love [5] he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— [6] to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.”

This morning I am just amazed by the grandeur of the Lord’s plan and purpose in my life!  I am amazed at HIs infinite ability to interact with all of us, with every nation and tribe, every individual, and perfectly coordinate it all inline with His plans and purposes!  

He truly is far beyond our comprehension, and yet He is knowable to each of us, in our own way, in our life!  

Wow!

Lord, help me to better grasp Your magnificent plan and glory!

Amen!

Who Is The Good Shepherd?

This morning my mind and heart are drawn back to my reflections of the last few days.  I am reminded of some additional points the Lord made to me, as I continued to let that reflection rumble around in my mind and heart.

The first thing that I felt the Lord add was that He, not the church, is our Lord!  Specifically this applies to each and every person individually.  His relationship with us is the most important thing in all our lives, and He sees it that way!  He is more interested in us individually, and our relationship with Him, than He is about our role or position in the Church! 

I hope that makes sense!

Our role, our job, our position, our gifts, our ministry all are supposed to flow out of our relationship with Him, and are never meant to replace our relationship with Him, or take precedence over our relationship with Him.

Secondly, He is our Shepherd, our Lord, not church leadership.  He is fully capable of shepherding each of us, of speaking to us, of directing and guiding us!  He says in John 10:2-4,14 NIV: 

[2] “The one who enters by the gate is the shepherd of the sheep. [3] The gatekeeper opens the gate for him, and the sheep listen to his voice. He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out. [4] When he has brought out all his own, he goes on ahead of them, and his sheep follow him because they know his voice. “

[14] “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me—”

Sometimes in our humanness and our desire to help, we can start thinking we are responsible for speaking for Him.  While that is true to some extent (proclaiming the Gospel, preaching and teaching, and prophesying), we are never meant to be the sole voice of the Lord in anyone’s life!  We all know His voice, and we all need to learn to hear His voice, and while He does speak through us on occasion, He desires to speak to us all, individually, first and foremost. We must help one another group in our ability to hear and discern the word of the Lord!

Church leaders are called to care for those under them, but that does not mean they replace the Lord, rather that they become examples and bring encouragement, counsel, pray, preach, teach and aid in discipling.  Peter specifically cautions leaders against replacing the Lord - 1 Peter 5:2-4 NIV:

[2] “Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; [3] not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. [4] And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away.”

Thirdly, the Lord deals with each of us through our unique relationship with Him!  We are each unique, and the path the Lord has each of us on, is custom developed for us!  We can’t take our path, or experience and force someone else into the same process and path.  We can talk about what the Lord is doing, but we should never think that what He is doing in our life is exactly the same as what He is doing in someone else’s life.

For example, it is amazing to me to see how even in a church service, the Lord will speak completely different things to many people.  He is crafting His voice so that we hear what He wants us to hear, and this actually reminds me of the day of Pentecost, which each heard the Good news in their own language (See Acts 2:6-12).  

Fourthly, my role in someone else’s life, even my spouse’s, is one of encouragement and service, not Lordship. (See verses from Peter 5 above)  Jesus is each of our's Lord!  I must never replace Him for any other, for that would be idolatry.  

Sometimes, I have seen churches so elevate a pastor or leader that they think they have a position right next to the throne of God (it seems) and this is always a bad thing.  Not only for the leader, but for those that allow that leader to take a role in their life that is the Lord’s!  Yikes!  I have seen leaders that think that their perspective, their understanding, their view of what the Lord is doing is more important and more accurate than anyone else’s, even if it conflicts with what the Lord might be saying to another individual directly. 

Fifthly, if the Lord is each of our's shepherd, then we must believe that He is the one that can most effectively bring correction, direction and guidance.  Psalm 23 is a wonderful set of verses that describe the shepherding of the Lord - Psalm 23:1-4 NIV:

[1] The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 

[2] He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 

[3] he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. 

[4] Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me”.

We must not try to take that role (shepherd/judge/Lord) on for ourselves or others.  We never know fully the heart and mind of another, only He knows that, and thus our judgment of someone’s motivation is always incorrect to some extent. The Lord is fully capable of being each of our's Chief Shepherd and Lord, individually!  We must believe that He is capable of doing so.

Jesus, during His ministry was specific in not taking on the role of judge.  He said the following in John 12:47-48 NIV:

[47] “If anyone hears my words but does not keep them, I do not judge that person. For I did not come to judge the world, but to save the world. [48] There is a judge for the one who rejects me and does not accept my words; the very words I have spoken will condemn them at the last day.”

I know I have written  on this specific theme recently, but I guess it bears repeating.  If Jesus didn’t come to judge, then who are we to think we can?  Jesus is also very clear about who the Judge will be, and that is His spoken word!  Our job, if anything, is the proclamation of His word, and the teaching of His word. 

Oh Lord, help us to embrace a right perspective, right mind-set, and right relationship with You!  Help us to encourage one another, serve one another, care for one another, extend grace, mercy, compassion to one another!  Help us to preach and teach Your word!  Help us to be good examples to those around us of living connected to You, making You the Lord of our lives! Help the church to have a right understanding of her role, especially those in leadership positions.

I am encouraged that the Lord is providing us a plumb-line to allow us to get ourselves and our thinking in proper order and perspective.  The Lord spoke of this through the Prophet Amos 7:7-8 NIV:

[7] “This is what he showed me: The Lord was standing by a wall that had been built true to plumb, with a plumb line in his hand. [8] And the LORD asked me, “What do you see, Amos?” 

“A plumb line,” I replied. 

Then the Lord said, “Look, I am setting a plumb line among my people Israel; I will spare them no longer.”

In our days, a plumb-line is meant to enable us to see where we are out of alignment, to bring repentance, and change.  The Lord cares deeply for each of us, and cares deeply for us corporately, as His Body, and we must believe that He is our Lord, the Good Shepherd, and that He will guide us and direct us, whether with rod or staff (See Ps. 23) and lead us to  good places.  

My prayer for each of us is that we might learn to hear the Lord, that we might know His voice, and that we might embrace HIs invitation to go deeper, to pursue Him, to allow Him to direct, correct, and lead us to life!  

Help us all to get in proper alignment, that we might bear up under the weight of His increasing glory!

Amen and Amen!

Dealing With Sin In The Church

This morning I was reflecting on some recent stuff swirling around in the church and everywhere in life, it seems, and I was reminded of something that Jesus said, to help us deal with  sin and conflict, specifically in the Ekklesia and within the Kingdom, found in Matthew 18:10-17 NIV:

[10] “See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven. [12] “What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off? [13] And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. [14] In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.” 

[15] “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. [16] But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ [17] If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.”

I included the verses about the lost sheep which immediately precede these verses on dealing with sin because I think they set the context for the following comments by Jesus. He is speaking of the value we all have in the heart of the Father, and the Father's heart for restoration of relationship!  He loves us and values us immensely, and cares about our path, and seeks us in our waywardness, and rejoices when we return to Him, whether we return on our own or are brought back by a brother or sister.

Secondly, any reflection on inter or intra body conflict must be based first on the new commandment that Jesus gave us in John 13:34-35 NIV: “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. [35] By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”

Sacrificial love is meant to be the calling card of our faith, belief and relationship with Jesus and others in the Church. Our love should be the very thing that people experience and see, more than anything else!  

In this context of love, and value for others we can then look at Matt 18:15-17. The first phrase is most telling,  “If our brother or sister sins” is pointing first and foremost to the fact that you have relationship with someone and they are part of the body of Christ.  Secondly, Jesus does not specify the sin, but a form of the Greek word hammartia is used by Matthew, and this word, is used several ways in scripture, as follows: 

• to be without a share in
• to miss the mark
• to err, be mistaken
• to miss or wander from the path of uprightness and honour, to do or go wrong
• to wander from the law of God, violate God's law, sin

Since we don't know what specific sin we are looking at, we must use a generic perspective, and consider this a minor issue, and one that somehow affects us, as Jesus’ next command is that we should go directly to that person, to discuss their behavior that was missing the mark, etc.  We don’t involve anyone else, we don't mention it to someone to get their take, their perspective, etc. Instead, we go to that person directly, one-on-one.

In my experience, one of the most difficult things to bring into the alignment with the Word of God is our tongue, the things we are saying,  and the things we are thinking about another.  I have written a few things lately about the accuser and the courtroom of judgement, and this reflection is related. Going back to the two foundational principles, of value (one could say honor) and sacrificial love of laying down one’s life for another, we must look at our words, commentaries, and conversations we have in our daily life, with our friends and fellows in the church.  If we are ever talking about someone else, we must ask ourselves are my words reflecting the value that they have to the Father, and am I loving them as I should by laying down my life for them?  If the words and thoughts are not from this place of foundation, then it would be better for me to keep my mouth closed.

Getting back to the verses from Matthew, the whole purpose in going one-on-one is restoration of relationship, not to point out another's fault. I find that almost 100% of the time, my perspective of someone’s motivation, or thoughts is wrong.  If I go to them one-on-one, I have the opportunity to discover their true motivation, their thinking and from that place provide commentary or questions about their sin, if any remains.  Again, the purpose is restoration of relationship, and this is supposed to be done one-on-one.

If we look closely, we find that it is only after going to them directly, and their NOT listening that we are supposed to discuss this issue with anyone else. Then and only then! 

This is very much against our present culture, of taking offense about pretty much everything and sharing our offense with others, to get them to take up our perspective. Our news headlines are almost 100% sharing of offense, rather than reporting news, and somehow this mentality has infiltrated the church.  

Rather than being for one another, we find ourselves engaging in “he said, she said, he did, she did” conversations with others, and none of this should be happening in the church, if we haven’t first gone to the other, one-on-one.  The point of bringing in another is not to spread the offense, but to revisit the individual and have further conversation, in an effort to restore them to right relationship.  

If our words are critical or judging towards someone else, and we haven’t talked to them yet, then we are not in alignment with this teaching of Jesus, and we have the opportunity to change or repent, for we are missing the mark ourselves.

I am reminded of one other thing Jesus said in His sermon on the mount, found in Matthew 7:1-5 NIV:

[1] “Do not judge, or you too will be judged. [2] For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.” 

[3] “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? [4] How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? [5] You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

In the case of speaking about someone else’s sin without going to them first, we are in a similar state, we have a plank in our own eye, for we are going against the very word of Jesus, and certainly not following His command to love one another as He loves us.

Oh Lord, please help us!

Help us to stop speaking accusations, and judgment!

Help us to stop judging someone’s motive! 

Help us to stop spreading the offense, or conflict!

Help us to instead pray for one another that the enemy would not have access to our ears to spread his accusations against the brethren, our brothers and sisters.

Help us to love one another first and foremost!

Help us to always look to the value that each other has in the heart of the Father and treat each other that way!

Help us to embrace this teaching from Jesus, for it runs counter to the ways of the world.

Help us Lord, to embrace one another, to honor one another and to bless one another!  

Help us Lord!  Help us to demonstrate to the world a different approach to dealing with conflict and sin!  Help us to operate from a Kingdom perspective rather than a worldly perspective.  Help us to love each other as You loved us!

Amen and Amen!