This morning I started reading from Jeremiah 25, which is where God announces the 70 year of captivity, and where Jeremiah says he has been personally warning the people of Judah for 23 years. Turning the page, there is Jeremiah 28 where the false prophet Hananiah is proclaiming a completely different message, of hope and restoration, and one the people chose to listen too, despite Jeremiah's prophecy.
This got me thinking of the almost dueling nature of so many doom and judgement voices in the Body of Christ today, compared to the voices of Bill Johnson, Randy Clark, Chris Vallaton, Graham Cooke, and others, who see God moving in awesome ways, and focusing on the expansion of the Kingdom, the power of the Holy Spirit, and the coming worldwide outpouring.
It seems similar to the time of Jeremiah, in that you wonder who you should listen too? I find myself looking internally to the experience I have with the Lord, and how he deals with me. I think that has been one of the reasons I have never gone in big for the holiness or shepherding movements, as my own walk with the Lord, has been full of love and mercy, compassion and forgiveness, increasing intimacy and revelation, never the harsh judge or punishment I would deserve or experience if God was requiring me to walk in purity and perfect righteousness on my own.
I think of scripture as a continual revelation, and the culminating revelation of the nature of God is Jesus. He shows us personally what the Father is truly like, for He is doing and saying what the Father is saying. He has seen the Father and shown Him to us - Matthew 11:27 NIV:“All things have been committed to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him".
I see Jesus loving sinners, calling sinners to repentance and relationship, working healing and miracles, signs and wonders, and extending mercy to those that are lost. I see Him fulfilling the harsh requirements of the law, and setting people free from the judgement of the law. I see Him confronting the 'religious' of His day who were leading people astray and not representing God (Matt 23 is a great example).
So the question for me, is what is the true message of God to me and our world today? What version of the Father should I be representing? My own thoughts are that I should show the world the Father that I know, and I see revealed by Jesus in the Gospels. I want the world to know the Love of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the mercy and grace available in Jesus sacrifice, the application of His righteousness to our lives, the opportunity to have a deep and intimate relationship with the One who loves you more than anyone else, the power of the Holy Spirit working through us to heal, and break the power of the enemy.
I don't experience my relationship with the Lord as requiring me to be pure and righteous before He will show me His love. Rather, I have experienced His love and mercy while still a sinner. I find myself motivated to be like Jesus, because I have relationship with Him already, and I love Him and want to be like Him. Its not purity and righteousness first, so I can have relationship, but rather purity and righteousness because I have relationship and am motivated by love. Sin does not remove me from relationship, nor does it require punishment. Jesus chooses to correct me, lovingly, showing me the better path, that which helps me grow to be like Him. His correction is not harsh punishment, or severe discipline, the silent treatment, or time-out. When I have fallen short He is always there waiting with open arms, like the Father in the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:20)!
Lord, help me to be like You! Help me to share You with those around me. Help me to be a witness of Your love, mercy, compassion and grace.
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