Relationships - Its All About Them

This morning I am back in Paul's first letter to the Corinthians, reading one of his most famous passages.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3, 13 NIV:
[1] "If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. [2] If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. [3] If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing."

[13] "And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love."

I was reading these verses and wondering about the Greek word that was translated love, for there a three. The word in this passage is agape, which is generally defined as brotherly love, but is a love of commitment, not just a passing affection. It is usually between two people, and is the result of a deep relationship. The interesting thing about Paul's statement is that he does not define the object of this love, which is important in that this would define which brother, which friend, which relationship resulted in this love.

I believe that Paul left the object unannounced because he was speaking of the fullness of our relational call as members of the Body of Christ, to love both the Lord and our fellow brothers and sisters. We cannot love one and not the other.

In Matt 22:36-40, Jesus talks about Loving God, and the same Greek word is used. The verses are as a follows:

[36] “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”
[37] Jesus replied: “ ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ [38] This is the first and greatest commandment. [39] And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ [40] All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

Jesus provides the understanding of Paul's statement, it is a love for God and for our neighbor or those around us. Again this love is not some passing affection, but rather a knowing, deep loving, committed relationship. It is love showing itself through action, but at the same time it is the foundation or cause of the action. Without this love and relationship, the good works Paul describes are empty. The reason is described by Paul, he says its just a clanging cymbal or gong, in other words done so the person can boast. Jesus uses similar phrases and ideas in describing the Pharisees (Matt 6:5; Matt 23:5) and it is not a good thing.

In other words it is relationships that give meaning to all that we do. It is relationships that are the vessel in which we minister. It is our relationships that define us. Relationship with God is our first commandment, and relationships with others is our second. In the Kingdom, the most important investment is into relationships. It is all about relationships, first with God and then with our neighbors.

Amen Lord! Help us to understand and invest in that which is the most valuable, the most important, the greatest treasure - our relationship with You, and with each other.

One Body, Many Parts

I felt like I should read from 1 Corinthians 12:12-14, 27 NIV:

[12] "Just as a body, though one, has many parts, but all its many parts form one body, so it is with Christ. [13] For we were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body---whether Jews or Gentiles, slave or free---and we were all given the one Spirit to drink. [14] Even so the body is not made up of one part but of many. "

[27] "Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it."

I was cognizant of the theme of relationship once again being front and center in these verses. Paul could have used the analogy of an army, where each person has a job or task to do, but rather he used an analogy of the body, where each part, each member is connected to all others. The focus is on connectedness not the job or task, or even role.

The first and primary consideration is relationship to all others. It is this connection that makes everything else work, and the separate roles possible. Any part of our body, when separated from the rest of the body is unable to function properly, or even live. So it is with us as members of the Body of Christ. It is our connection/relationship to Christ and to each other that brings us life and enables us to fulfill our role or purpose. It is not the other way around.

Once again, it is relationships, not rules that define us. It is true that we are given tasks to do, purposes to fulfill, but only in the context of the body, which is established and maintained through relationships.

As in the body, there are many roles in the Body of Christ and some seem more important than others, yet there is an interdependence that is essential for anything to happen, and with that interdependence a reliance on all others. Some times members of the Body of Crust get an over-inflated notion of their own importance, or think that they don't need the rest of the body, yet when we look at this analogy fully we see that these attitudes are wrong. For example, a pastor is not more important than a church member, in fact in the shepherd/sheep paradigm, the sheep is of greater value to its owner. We are all parts of the same body, and we all have the same importance in God's eyes.

So let us cultivate in our hearts and minds this relational reality of one Body of Christ, with many parts. Let us strive to enrich and enliven our relationships with the Lord and each other for that is of primary importance.

Talking Or Walking

I am continuing my reading of John's first letter, and maintaining my focus on relationship as the core component to our faith. Reading from 1 John 1:5-7 NIV:

[5] "This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all. [6] If we claim to (say we) have fellowship with him and yet walk in the darkness, we lie and do not live out the truth. [7] But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin."

John is speaking metaphorically here, but the imagery is simple. God is light, pure light with no darkness in Him at all. It is easier to understand that and believe that, than trying to believe there is a being having no dark or bad side to their personality. A light shines forth and penetrates and drives off darkness. The two are in direct opposition to one another.

In verse 6, John is talking about those who are Christian in name only. They say they are Christian, but their actions say otherwise. They are not walking out their beliefs in their daily life. They are fooling themselves possibly, but God is not fooled, and the fruit of their life will be evident.

Finally in verse 7, John speaks as clearly as he can. If we walk, or live our lives, in the light, which is where He is, then we are relationship with Him and all others that are also in the light. John makes a clean distinction between those who say or claim to be Christians, and those who actually are living their lives that way. Early on Christians said they were part of "The Way" (see Acts 19:9 & Acts 24:14) for when John is talking about walking, the Greek word actually translates into following the path or way. You are either on the path or not. You can say you are on the path, but its clear you are not by where you are walking and who you are walking alongside.

I think that it interesting that John speaks about this all as fellowship, or intimate relationship. Those who claim to have fellowship (relationship) with the Father but walk in a way that is evident that they do not have such a relationship are clearly lying. Again, relationship is the key. Its not about rules, following the teachings, but about being in relationship. If we have relationship with Him (God) then we also have relationship (fellowship) with each other. You don't have one without the other. Jesus made it clear when He gave us His command "love one another" (John 15:17) and that if we love Him and keep His commands then He and the Father will come and show themselves ( be in relationship). - John 14:15,21

It is all about relationships, loving God, loving others, walking and living our lives together. Its not about our words, but about our actions. Its not about our intentions, but about efforts and fruit.

Finally, we must not misunderstand John here. He is NOT writing primarily about light and darkness, holiness and sin, but about the difference between talking and walking. Some have taken this verse to say if you have any darkness in your life that you are not in the light or in relationship with God, but that is not what John said at all, if you read it. The Greek words speak about relational position, and some would say they are in the light (relating to the Father) but are demonstrating by their life they are not. Others are demonstrating this relationship by their actions, but John doesn't speak about their lives being perfectly in the light with no darkness (sin). He says it is in this relationship that Jesus blood "purifies us from all sin.". The Greek word here translated purifies is a verb that means to cleanse and purify. This can happen instantaneously or over time like we see in a couple stories from Luke (Luke 5:13; 17:12) where lepers are cleansed, one is instantaneous, the others are cleansed as they walk.

In summary, its all about relationship, or fellowship. Our actions speak louder than our words, and our actions are what God is considering. He knows if we are in relationship with Him or not. We may have just started down the path, or we might have been walking this way for years, but we can never forget its about relationships, not rules, teachings or formulas.

The Fellowship Of The Trinity

This morning I felt like I should divert from the Gospel of John to his first letter. His introduction is similar to his Gospel, yet he focuses a bit more on his own relationship.

1 John 1:1-4 NIV
[1] "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked at and our hands have touched---this we proclaim concerning the Word of life.

John is proclaiming a credible witness, as he personally met and lived with Jesus. He heard Him speak, saw Him do miracles, was touched by Him, and we so intimately in relationship with Jesus that he laid his head back into Jesus' chest at the last supper, as they reclined around the table. He is talking about someone that he knew, and knew well. In the midst of this personal experience is also the mystery of Jesus' eternal life, and role in the Godhead. John calls him the Word of Life, and so He is today.

[2] The life appeared; we have seen it and testify to it, and we proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and has appeared to us.

John expounds on Jesus as the eternal life, which just continues to make it more complex and difficult to understand. He is the Word of Life. He is the Eternal Life. He is the Creator. His life is in us all. He was with the Father and appeared as a baby, and became man, and was revealed to John, his brother and all the people in that region at that time. He is the Way, the Truth and the Life (John 14:6), and John heard him say those words, and then demonstrate the reality of those words.

[3] We proclaim to you what we have seen and heard, so that you also may have fellowship with us. And our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son, Jesus Christ. [4] We write this to make our joy complete."

It is John's goal to draw us into the fellowship, the relationship he shared with Jesus, the Father and the Holy Spirit. The Greek word here translated fellowship is Koinonia and it is defined as:

1. fellowship, association, community, communion, joint participation, intercourse (not physical but social)
a. the share which one has in anything, participation
b. intercourse, fellowship, intimacy

As such, we should read the word fellowship in this instance as speaking of intimacy and belonging. This is much deeper than just a group or club to which we can belong. John lived in the place of constant relationship with the Lord. He experienced the reality of the filling of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling of the
Spirit, and the constant interaction and guidance of that relationship. He is inviting us all into this same relationship, this same fellowship. John recognized his own significance to the Lord (he referred to himself as the one the Lord loved) and invites us into that same experience. As a member of the Body of Christ, he knows that it is in the fulfillment of God's plans and purposes that his joy will be complete, and part of those plans and purposes are for us, and include us.

We are all invited to join the fellowship, to enter into relationship with God. This isn't the 'fellowship of the ring' but the fellowship of the Trinity. We are called to enter into and experience relationship with our creator. Why would we settle for anything less then intimacy and relationship with the one who is Life? Religion would constrain us to distant and impersonal experience of God, but He wants intimate, significant relationship. We are invited to step into this fellowship and get to know the members of the Trinity, as John and the disciples all experienced. Wow!

God Is Relationship

Continuing my thinking of religion vs. relationship, I want to spend some time working through John's Gospel, as John focuses much of his attention on why Jesus came, and the nature of His relationship to the Father and to us. When we look at God, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, the triune Godhead, we are confronted with relationship. There is in the very heart of who God is, relationship. One could almost say that God is relationship.

Starting at the beginning of John, we see the following verses:
John 1:1-5, 9-14, 17-18 NIV
[1] "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

John does his best to describe what is really a mystery. Jesus is the Word, the Word of God, there present as another entity, yet also the same. There is a depth and mystery to this relationship that we cannot fathom or fully understand

[2] He was with God in the beginning. [3] Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made.

Jesus has been present from the very beginning, and it is through Him that all is made. When God spoke in Genesis and said "let there be light" that was Jesus. The words were in the Father but when they come out they are Jesus. Its kind of like the Father starts a sentence, but Jesus finishes it.

[4] In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

Jesus is full of life, eternal life, and that life is what distinguishes man from everything else. Man is created in His image, and we have a little bit of His life in us as a result.

[5] The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. [9] The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world.

He came to the earth, to the world to bring revelation, to reveal the Father, to shine light on the truth.

[10] He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him.

The world did not recognize Him, partly because they could not comprehend His humility. They were looking for a great and powerful God, unapproachable in splendor, awesome in majesty, for that was their experience of God in the temple and tabernacle. When God's presence filled them, all were overcome by His presence - see Ex 40:34-40, 2 Chron 5:13-14.

[11] He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. [12] Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God--- [13] children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.

In receiving Him, believing Him, we are invited into divine relationship, as we become God's children, born of God, born again by the Holy Spirit. Our relationship with God is established by God, and we become part of His family.

[14] The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. [17] For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

Jesus became man forever, and as a man, we relate to Him as another person, by establishing a relationship. We can observe Him, read about Him, study Him, but ultimately He wants to be in relationship with us. He is the source of grace (favour, blessing, life, pleasure, delight, loveliness, good will, loving-kindness) and all truth for us all. In our relationship wth Him, He pours these things into our lives. It was through Moses that the rules were given, Jesus gives us something very different, His favour and Truth.

[18] No one has ever seen God, but the one and only Son, who is himself God and is in closest relationship with the Father, has made him known.

Jesus, because of the nature of His relationship with the Father, came and revealed the Father to us all. He is God, and He revealed God to us. He has the closest relationship with the Father, and invites us into that same relationship, extends that relationship to us. Jesus didn't come to reveal the rules (law) but the One, True Father. This new revelation supercedes the old. Where the rules were once sufficient, now there was a better revelation, a better relationship, a better way of living. We are all invited and welcomed into this relationship, why would we settle for anything less?

Treasure Our Relationship

All day long yesterday, I felt the Lord pressing into me concerning the topic of religion vs. relationship and I think that this is one of the key issues with the church, at least from my perspective. The more I thought about it, the more clearly I saw the distinction and the vast need in the Body of Christ for this message. We talked about it briefly last week in church, and I have been plugged into this thematically for the last few years, but there was something about my meditation yesterday that really brought this issue into focus.

It think that the single greatest aim of the enemy, through a false spirit of religion, is to make the Lord irrelevant. If you think about religion, you don't really need a God who is present, engaged, or alive. If we look at history, we see that man will always find something to worship, something to elevate to a level above him, something that he calls a god. Man has developed elaborate rules and ceremonies to try and connect to these gods, or at least draw their attention and hopefully their blessing. These rules and ceremonies and devotions don't require a god at all, for they are empty of life, and only appease man's longing to connect with God.

I was listening to a speaker recently, and one of the things he said was pretty scary. He said that in most churches today, they don't need God to show up to have church. Think about that statement and the implications. The one thing about Christianity is that we worship a God who is alive and present, yet most of our churches today operate as if this isn't necessary. Other than being the founder of Christianity, most churches don't need Jesus in their services. They might speak like they do, they might welcome Him, but if He isn't present they can still have a service, pretty much like any other Sunday. The focus has become the service or the sermon, not the person Jesus, not our relationships wth our living Savior. In other words, in many places He has become irrelevant for the day to day life and operation of the church.

I guess the foundation of this all is unbelief. We don't really believe that the Lord will show up and be present in a manifest way. We don't really believe that He desires an intimate and loving relationship with us. We don't really believe that He is present in our midst when we gather, or if we do, its a nice warm thought not an experiential reality. We don't really believe that He will move in power and authority like He once did, like they experienced in the early church. We develop teachings to explain the lack of His manifest presence and miracles, because we don't really believe He does them any more. If you think about cessationism, what they are teaching is that the gifts of the Holy Spirit were only really needed to get the organization, that is the church, up and running, and after that His gifts, nor His manifest presence were no longer needed. In other words, God is not really needed for the continued running of the organization that the church has become.

It is not enough for us to be part of an organization that was founded on Jesus' teaching. It is not enough for us to do good things, to think good thoughts, to have good intentions. It is not enough to have good teaching, good worship, or a good service. It is not enough to remember and celebrate the historical events, like His death and resurrection or His birth. It is not enough to go to church every Sunday, or even every time the church gathers. If we are not in relationship with the Lord, experiencing His touch, His heart and His day to day interaction, we have missed the whole point of Christianity. He is alive! He is present! He loves us! He wants relationship with each of us.

The Apostles and disciples understood this and taught this and lived this. When Jesus said He was going back to Heaven, there was a major panic, because He was required for church! Jesus totally understood their concerns and spoke about how it would be better for them, the church, if the Holy Spirit came and was present to them all (John chapters 14-17). The Holy Spirit came and filled the church and then every member of the church had God inside them, present in the most intimate of ways, and that was normal, and is still supposed to be normal. We must have relationship with God, for He is the only source of life. We must make Him relevant in our lives and in our churches. We must have Him present, alive, full of power and authority, mercy and compassion. We must learn to invest in this relationship, to live in this relationship and to treasure this relationship. Our relationship with Him is what He came to earth to make possible, it is the joy that was set before Him. Our relationship with Him is the treasure!

I know I have only scratched the surface of this topic. Lord, help us all! We want to know You alive in our hearts and alive in the church! Amen!

It Is For Freedom That I Have Been Freed

This morning I opened my Bible to Galatians 5 once again. It seems I have been spending a fair bit of time in this chapter recently. Anyway, the first verse is what I want to focus on today.

Galatians 5:1 NIV: "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery."

This is a very famous verse, one that I have quoted or read many times, yet this morning there was a freshness to it, and a new insight, as far as I remember anyway. :-) Paul is writing to remind the Galatians of the Gospel, and calling them back to the mind-set they originally had understood. I think in general, its good for all of us to spend time assessing our lives, our thinking and our living, to see if we are still following the Gospel as we should.

I love Paul's statement and its implications. He says the Jesus set us free so that we might experience freedom, and then implies that its up to us whether we experience this freedom or not. In other words, Jesus has accomplished everything to set us free. He has broken the chains of sin and death, fulfilled the law, opened the way to the Father, given us a new covenant, and it is totally up to us to live that way or not. Our choice! Our free-will!

Now Paul, in a larger sense, is referring to the law of the old covenant when he is talking about the bonds or yoke of slavery. The original Greek says it more like this - do not again in the yoke of slavery, become entangled or caught. The yoke of slavery, although it can mean literally that, was also commonly understood to mean the requirements of the law. I like the word entangled, as it helps describe the process the Galatians were apparently sliding into, starting to observe the law in small ways first, but then as questions arise about where to draw the line, where to stop, they find no clear answer and slide back into what they know, or knew.

Although most of us have never had to meet the requirements of the law, I think Paul's statement can be applied to us in the realm of sin and disobedience. We have been set free by Christ from all that binds us, and in Him we experience forgiveness, mercy and compassion. He calls us out of a life of darkness into the light. However, many of us, after walking in the light, will take occasional strolls into those dark areas once again. The problem is that we can find ourselves entangled in sin once again, for there is a familiarity to our old ways, and it is often more comfortable than walking in the light. However, the longer we dwell in the shadows, the more entangled we become. It is important to realize that this was our choice, and we must change our mind and choose differently to get out of the entanglement. Jesus already set us free, He already gave us the power to walk in this freedom, and we must choose that path.

I think these verses can also apply to the false spirit of religion as well. The false spirit of religion would try to resurrect the requirements of the law, and turn our faith into some sort of activity checklist that is supposed to enable us to achieve righteousness. What is supposed to be relationship based, becomes task based. Our faith is in Him, in our relationship with the Lord, not in what we have learned about Him, and some set of tasks He taught us to do.

That is why Jesus said He lives in us, why He gave us the Holy Spirit. Our faith is in Him being present in our situation, not riding in from Heaven to deal with situations we have learned He will intervene in. So much of the Old Testament speaks of visitations of God, where comes to rescue His people, but the reality of God's desire was expressed through the tent of the tabernacle. God intended to live in the midst of His people, so that they knew He was always present, so they didn't need to wait for Him to show up. The spirit of false religion is built around the premise that God isn't present, and isn't interested in relationship. There is no focus on the living God, other than being the one to whom all the activity is dedicated. There is no expectation of daily interaction, no intimate meetings of the beloved, just tasks to complete, and rules to follow.

We were talking about this last week at church, about the fact that rules are easier and someways cleaner. We don't really have to change our insides, just our external activities or appearances if we are just following rules. We can complete the tasks perfectly and keep score of how we are doing, but never change inwardly. Others can keep track of our progress and make judgements about our level of compliance and fulfillment of the tasks assigned. It seems neat, clean and easy to administer, but Paul calls it the yoke of slavery. Anything other than the Gospel, other than relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ can become this yoke to us. Most importantly, it is our choice whether we live in freedom or under the yoke of slavery.

My encouragement today is to look at my life, to take a good honest appraisal of my faith walk and see if I am sliding back into old familiar ways of enslavement, becoming task oriented rather than relationship focused, whether I am serving a distant god, or whether I am living in union with Him constantly present? It is for freedom that Jesus set me free!

The Bad List

Last night, some friends and I were taking about a challenging set of verses in Paul's letter to the Galatians 5:16-21 NIV:

[16] "So I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh. [17] For the flesh desires what is contrary to the Spirit, and the Spirit what is contrary to the flesh. They are in conflict with each other, so that you are not to do whatever you want. [18] But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law.

[19] "The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity and debauchery; [20] idolatry and witchcraft; hatred, discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, dissensions, factions [21] and envy; drunkenness, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I did before, that those who live like this will not inherit the kingdom of God."

These are some of the verses where we often only read part, because if we read the whole verse it would potentially hit to close to home. The list of the acts of the flesh gets down right uncomfortable in places, such as selfish ambition, envy, and dissensions. We tend to like to classify our sins, into categories of bad, and not so bad. I wouldn't put envy in the same category as idolatry or witchcraft, yet Paul does, and then he says that those who live this way won't inherit the Kingdom of God. This clearly is uncomfortable talk.

Paul writes a very similar message to the Church in Corinth in 1 Corinthians 6:8-11 NIV:
[8] "Instead, you yourselves cheat and do wrong, and you do this to your brothers and sisters. [9] Or do you not know that wrongdoers will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived: Neither the sexually immoral nor idolaters nor adulterers nor men who have sex with men [10] nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. [11] And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God."

In this list, Paul adds the greedy to the same list as idolaters and sexually immoral. Again, uncomfortable talk, and talk that probably hits a bit close to home. The truth is that sin is sin in God's eyes. God apparently sees sin differently than we do, and from His perspective greed and idolatry are just as bad as each other, selfish ambition and witchcraft are also the same. So what are we to do when we find greed, envy, selfish ambition, anger, grumbling (dissension), or any of the other sins listed, in our own hearts?

The good news is found in verse 11 of the second group of verses from above, namely that we have been made new in Christ, being washed (cleansed from our sins), sanctified (selected and set apart by God) and justified (seen as righteous, without any marring of sin) by Him and by the Holy Spirit. In his letter to the Galatians, Paul speaks about walking by the Spirit, which is in direct contrast to the flesh. Later in the 6th chapter (Gal 6:7-10), he says we should sow to the Spirit, in other words invest in a life pursuing the Holy Spirit's action on our behalf, opening our lives to the direction and guidance of the Him and becoming full of the fruit of that pursuit.

We are not expected to immediately become perfectly like Christ the moment we experience salvation, but we are expected to move in His direction. By His works we are already seen as righteous by the Father, and now it should be our life's pursuit to become like Him. As Paul says, you were once these things, but now that we have experienced salvation we are washed, sanctified and justified. As we pursue Him, we will find that more and more of the old gets washed out of our life and is replaced by that which is from Him. We are no longer identified by our sins, but rather by our identity in Christ.

As we pursue Him, our lives will begin to be filled with a different list - "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, [23] gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law." Gal 5:22-23 NIV. This is what our lives will be full of, this will be what people experience when they interact with us. In greater measure, our lives will be transformed, as we sow into the Spirit.

So let us not fret, or focus on the things in our lives that are found on the bad list, but rather let us focus on the good news that in Jesus we are a new creation (2 Cor 5:17). We are washed, sanctified and justified, and the fruit we bear is good. Let us release those other things and grab hold of Christ, pursuing Him, and allowing the Holy Spirit to renew us, refresh us and fill us wth His life! We will inherit the Kingdom because we are no longer identified by our sins, but rather are found in Christ Jesus, and are His co-heirs (Rom 8:17). Now that is some GOOD NEWS!

Beyond Our Imagination

This morning I was reading from Paul's 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."

As I was reading this verse, I was reminded of a book that I have been reading called "Culture of Honor" by Danny Silk. This is an excellent book and one that I realty should read over and over. One of the things that he talks about is having a wealth mind-set as a Kingdom perspective. He talks about the difference between a poverty, middle-class and wealth mind-set as experienced in the church. I found his thinking intriguing and enlightening.

This verse reminds me of his thoughts regarding the wealth mind-set. When we look at what Paul says, he is basically saying God is capable of doing anything, even more than we can ever imagine. That is a very challenging and hopefully freeing statement. God does not just limit himself to our little earthly imaginations, to only our direst needs, but rather is a God of extravagance, and immeasurability. In other words, He is beyond our ability to think.

When Danny was talking about the wealth mind-set, he referenced the church's consistent reliance on earthly thinking, and human wisdom in its efforts to govern, lead, teach, and grow. He talks about how this is more of a poor or middle class perspective, because we don't think there is anything really available to us in the supernatural realm, that which God controls, and that which is heavenly. We don't think the Holy Spirit really does much more than guide us to wise thinking, and that we, within our earthly abilities, need to deal with people as they are, sinners one and all. So, we have limited our capabilities to what we can think up, and most of that is related to how we can keep people from sinning.

The opportunity we have in God is to step into our true identities as sons and daughters of the King. He has given us all we need in the Holy Spirit to see Heaven's realities become earthly realities. He wants to work the supernatural through the Church, and wants to take us beyond our imaginations. He is the King of the Universe, and everything He has is ours for the asking. As Jesus said in Matthew 7:7-8: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened." There is an open door to Heaven if we will but ask.

One of the things the Lord has spoken to me over and over again is to "not settle for less than what He wants to provide". I grew up within a frugal family culture and my propensity is to make do with what is available,. This is not a bad thing, but it is not the heart of the Lord for us, and it is not a characteristic of the Kingdom. The Lord wants us to ask for the improbable, the impossible, the world-changing stuff. The context of these verses is Paul speaking about the mission he has been given to preach the good news to the gentiles, in other words the rest of the known world - that is certainly beyond my imagination.

In the Gospels, Jesus demonstrates just little glimpses of the Kingdom reality of abundance and wealth when He heals, when he multiplies the food, when He deals with the demonized and sinners, when He cleanses the Lepers. He never stops with what would be sufficient, or just enough. He feeds five thousand, and has enough afterward to fill 12 baskets, after everyone has eaten their fill. He doesn't just forgive the sins of the man on the cot, but heals him so completely that He is able to stand, walk and even carry his own cot. He doesn't just bind the power of demons, He completely casts them out of the people they are afflicting, so much so that their lives are radically transformed, as in the life of the Gadarene demoniac who goes from being a naked, crazy man living among the tombs, to one of the first evangelists spreading the good news of Jesus to the ten cities. He doesn't just cleanse the lepers, but touches them, restores them and heals them completely. We serve a God of abundance, a God of the impossible, and yet we tend to settle for the things we can do under our own power and wisdom.

God wants to expand our understanding, our mind-set so that we can faithfully represent His nature and the culture of the Kingdom. He wants us to allow the Holy Spirit within us to lead us to the impossible, to things beyond our wildest imaginations, to a place of both reliance on, and regular experience of the supernatural. He wants to birth Heavenly realities in our midst, and cause all the world to see His Glory. We are called to be world changers, and the only way we can do that is if we learn to ask, seek and knock, expecting God "to do immeasurably more than all we can ask or imagine".

Oh Lord, I pray that You impart to us all a new mind-set, one that is in line with Your desires to change this world. Help us to step into, and embrace this Heavenly mind-set, this expectation of the improbable, the impossible, and the mind-blowing. Lord, we want to represent You correctly, and You are all powerful, all knowing and the creator of all things! You are the most creative, dynamic, powerful, compassionate, merciful, faithful, fun, and forgiving individual in the universe. Help us to turn to You and expect You to reveal Yourself through the church, through the Body of Christ present, as You promised You would. Lord, help us to step beyond our imaginations into the Your reality.

Forgive Me As I Forgive

When I opened my Bible this morning, it opened up to Matthew 6:14-15 NIV:

[14] "For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. [15] But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."

These verses obviously flow right out of my meditations yesterday on forgiveness and our need to forgive, so that forgiveness doesn't become a stumbling block to ourselves or to others. As I mentioned yesterday, there is a correlation between our forgiveness of others and God's forgiveness of us, as Jesus describes here. This is actually a significant theme, as Jesus speaks several times concerning forgiveness - see Matt 18:15-20 and Matt 18: 22-35.

The forgiveness available to us in God is complete and forever. There are several scriptures in the old testament that speak about the Father's heart concerning forgiveness.

Isaiah 1:18 NIV
“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the Lord. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool."

Psalm 103:10-12 NIV
[10]..."he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. [11] For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; [12] as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us."

Jeremiah 31:33-34 NIV
[33] “This is the covenant I will make with the people of Israel after that time,” declares the Lord. “I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. [34] No longer will they teach their neighbor, or say to one another, ‘Know the Lord,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,” declares the Lord. “For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.”

These are just a few of the verses dealing with God's desire to forgive, and the completeness of His forgiveness. So, this forgiveness is available, but the application of this forgiveness is dependent upon our own forgiveness of others. There is no other way to read this, and we are wise to heed Jesus' warning here. If we would experience the powerful cleansing of forgiveness in our lives than we need to choose to forgive those who have sinned against us. If we would live under the shadow of God's wings and experience His mercy and compassion, than we need to have a willingness to put all things into the arms of the Lord, including the wrongs that have been done to us. We can no longer hold onto these offenses, but we must release them. We cannot continue to treat the person as if they have hurt us, for that is not forgiveness. The Greek word translated forgiveness is Aphiemi and its definition is as follows:

1. to send away
a. to bid going away or depart
b. to send forth, yield up, to expire
c. to let go, let alone, let be

The definition continue on for several more lines, but the focus of it all is leaving something completely behind, never to have it returned. This is how the Lord wants us to treat those offenses , those sins, those hurts that have wounded us. He wants us to learn to send them away from us, to let go of them, and learn to be free of them. Paul writes a similar encouragement in his letter to the Ephesians 4:31-32 NIV: "Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. [32] Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you."

I don't believe that our forgiveness of others is a prerequisite to our receiving any forgiveness, and Paul seems to be in agreement. However, there is requirement that we express the same heart of forgiveness that God extended to us, to each other.

Lord help me to see in my life anyone that I have not forgiven. Help me to extend forgiveness and let go of any hurt, any offense and any plans for vengeance. Lord, I want to experience the fullness of Your forgiveness and I know that my own forgiveness of others affects my own. Help me to trust Your words, and receive Your grace to forgive.

Amen

Unforgiveness And Stumbling Blocks

This morning I am reading from Luke 17:1-4 NIV:

[1] "Jesus said to his disciples: “Things that cause people to stumble are bound to come, but woe to anyone through whom they come. [2] It would be better for them to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around their neck than to cause one of these little ones to stumble. [3] So watch yourselves.

“If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. [4] Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”

So often when we read the bible we focus on one specific verse or idea, often pulling it out of context. That is generally how I hear these two sets of verses preached, as if they are separate ideas, and with a separate meaning. It is interesting that verse 3, is seemingly split between the two different ideas, but I think its part of the same idea that Jesus is expressing. If we combine the two, we see that unforgiveness can be a stumbling block in peoples lives. As I think more about that, I realize it is very true, especially in relationships that are meant to endure, like family.

I am sure we all know someone who holds a grudge, which is really just unforgiveness. I know several people who are unwilling to forgive family members for past sins and injuries, and those grudges are huge stumbling blocks to themselves and to those that are unforgiven. They are unwilling to see the other person for who they are, unwilling to see repentance or accept it, and unwilling to trust again and grow. They stumble themselves over this grudge, and end up viewing everything through the lenses of unforgiveness. The person who is the object of their grudge cannot move forward themselves in these relationships either.

It is interesting that the focus of Jesus is on the one who places the stumbling block, and the one who must forgive, in this came the same person. So often the person holding the grudge feels justified in their stance, yet the words of Jesus here indicate the danger of that stance. In Matt 6, Jesus connects our forgiveness of others, to God's forgiveness of us. He is teaching the disciples to pray saying, "And forgive us our debts (sins), as we also have forgiven our debtors (those who sin against us).". Matt 6:12. Reading this carefully, forgiveness from God is given to us in the same way we forgive others. So if we don't forgive, we are not forgiven, and we are not forgiven our hearts are in perilous danger.

So back to the verses from Luke 17, Jesus is saying that we have a responsibility to others to forgive them, regardless of how many times they sin had ask forgiveness. We are responsible to make sure we are not putting stumbling blocks in other people lives, and this is our only responsibility in this regard. We are not called to judge, to punish, or anything else, but to rebuke them. Here is a very interesting translation, for the word commonly translated rebuke is the Greek word Epitimao - Definition:
1. to show honour to, to honour
2. to raise the price of
3. to adjudge, award, in the sense of merited penalty
4. to tax with fault, rate, chide, rebuke, reprove, censure severely a. to admonish or charge sharply

This word is a conjunction of two other Greek words, Epi and timao. They mean 'upon or against, positionally" and 'valuation, or setting value' which gives us the definition of getting or understanding or placing the true value of something or someone, and how its valuation is affected. So when rebuking someone, we should be sharing with them, how their actions speaks of our value in their eyes, and by forgiving them we are showing our perspective of their value to us. Unforgiveness says they have no value, and that is the danger, for we do not have the right to set someone else's valuation in the Body of Christ. Jesus has already expressed their worth by dying for them, shedding His blood for them, and paying the price for them.

If we find ourselves unable to forgive, then our cry should be the same as the disciples in verse 5, "Lord, increase our faith!". In other words - Lord, I need Your help to belief in the worth of this person, and I need Your help in stepping back and seeing the person as you see them. If we can practice forgiveness, getting rid of grudges, unforgiveness and pain and doubt, we can receive the fullness of what the Lord has planned for us.

Amen Lord.

God's Promises Are Good And True!

The morning I am reading from Romans 4:18-21 NIV:

[18] "Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” [19] Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead---since he was about a hundred years old---and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. [20] Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, [21] being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised."

What a great set of verses having to do with faith, God's promise and His ability to deliver on His promise. I was really grabbed by the last line - that God has the power to do what He promises. I think that we should also add that God has the will to do what He promised.

When I think about the struggles in my faith, I generally struggle with those two issues - does God want to do what He said, and is He really going to do it? Abraham wrestled with these same questions, and was able to answer yes to both of them, in spite of the fact that it was naturally impossible for he and Sarah to have a child. Now Abraham waited for many years to see the promise fulfilled, and every year he waited made the promise that much more unlikely and even impossible to see fulfilled naturally.

I like what Graham Cooke says about significant difficulties and even opposition, namely that where there is a big impossibility, there is an even bigger provision in God! I mean if we really think about the fact that God is sovereign over all things, that He is creator of the universe, that He is all powerful, and has all things under His control, that He owns the cattle on a thousand hills, that all the silver and gold are His, that He is the Healer, the Provider, the Mighty Warrior, and on and on, we should never doubt His ability to do exactly what He says He is going to do! The problem for many of us is that we don't think about God this way. It is so important for us to understand His nature, His character and His will. The more we know God, the less likely it will be for us to doubt His promises and His ability.

So back to the two questions - Does God want to fulfill His promises? Is He really going to fulfill His promises? I immediately am reminded of Psalm 18 which speaks of the perfection of God's way and words: "As for God, his way is perfect: The Lord’s word is flawless; ..." Psalm 18:30. I am also reminded of Isaiah 55:11 NIV: "...so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.". So God's word is flawless and it will always accomplish what He desires, and achieve the purposes for which He sent it forth. In other words, if He says it, He means it and it will happen! That is so true, and something we need to hold onto, and the very thing Abraham was able to hold onto through all those years.

The second issue (is He really going to fulfill His promise) also has to do with God's character, but also with our understanding of our value in His eyes. First, we need to know that His word is perfect, in other words, if He says it, He means to say it. Secondly, sometimes we just doubt God's word, because we don't think we are important in His eyes. The thought goes something like this, "I know God could do it, but why would He bother with me? There are so many more important things for Him to do, or so many more people who are more worthy, or more holy, or who sin less". The real answers to these questions comes in the place of relationship with God. In that place of relationship He reveals to us His heart for us. Its one thing to hear someone else say that God loves you, its a completely different experience when He speaks those words into your heart. Those three words that change everything - I Love You - really can change our lives. The Bible is full of verses where God expresses His love for His people, but He wants that message of love to be firmly planted in our individual hearts.

In that place of relationship, we come to understand that He does love us, has given everything for us and to us, even to the point of dying for us. Jesus describes the Father and his heart toward us really well in Matthew 7:7-11 NIV:

[7] “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. [8] For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened. [9] Which of you, if your son asks for bread, will give him a stone? [10] Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake? [11] If you, then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good gifts to those who ask him!"

Paul writes about the fact that we are His sons and daughters - Romans 8:14-16 NIV:
[14] "For those who are led by the Spirit of God are the children of God. [15] The Spirit you received does not make you slaves, so that you live in fear again; rather, the Spirit you received brought about your adoption to sonship. And by him we cry, “Abba, Father.” [16] The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children."

I could quote hundreds of verses, but as I said before, it's one thing to hear the words from some other source, its totally different when they are spoken by the Lord. I was thinking about when I was in school when someone told me that someone else in my class really liked me. That message was wonderful, but it also brought with it a bit of uncertainty, and doubt. However all doubt was cast aside when the person delivered that message herself, that she liked me. That is what God wants us all to experience, that personal experience of His love for us. In that experience, the question of whether He would want to fulfill His promise, whether He loves me, whether He values me, or even knows me is answered for good.

So back to the original verse - let us be persuaded that God has the power and the will to fulfill what He promised to fulfill in our lives. His promises are true, and He will do what He said. We may need to wait for a while, but do not assume His delayed timing has anything to do with lack of love, or lack of will on His part! Amen Lord!

Bless and Be Blessed

I was reading from 1 Peter 3 last night as my night reading of scripture. I think these two verses are quite challenging, more so the second verse:

1 Peter 3:8-9 NIV
"Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble. [9] Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing."

The first verse, is easy to read, difficult to live out. Peter is challenging us to live in such a way that we consider others, look at their situations, love them, have compassion on them, and work to understand how they think and what they think. Again, it all sounds nice, until we try to live that way. Our society (America} is very self-focused. We value our independence, we value our freedom to be the person we want to be, we love the fact that we can pursue the American dream. In this culture our focus is on ourselves, what we want, like and need.

Peter calls us to a selfless, other focused lifestyle. We are called to lay down our own thinking, our own opinions, our own requirements and be like-minded with our brothers and sisters in the Church. The Greek word means literally having one mind, one perception, one way of thinking. We are encouraged to be sympathetic, in other words to understand and actually feel or experience someone else's situation. This is far beyond just acknowledging their situation, but requires experiencing the same. We are called to have compassion and love one another. The word for compassion means a deep stirring in ones bowels, deep down, life changing, action altering compassion. We are called to stop and really see each other - Heidi Baker preaches about stopping for the one. I know I am so quick to walk past people and never really see them. We touch and operate on the surface, but we are called to go deep.

Finally, verse 9 is one I don't even like to read, let alone live out. It just goes against my natural inclination to defend myself, to resist and stand-up against that which is evil or those who would insult me. There is some deep call here, that we don't usually grasp, and that is the fact that this is how Jesus lived. His life says this is possible, and this is the heart of God, for Jesus came as an exact representation of God (Heb 1:3). As Bill Johnson says, "Jesus is perfect theology!". Living as representatives of the Lord, means we must learn to live like this as well. Jesus blessed those who killed Him. He paid for ALL sinners with His own blood. He opened the door to relationship with God for ALL men, regardless of whether they are good or evil, sinners or saints.

Peter says we were ALL called to this, so its not an optional extra, or something we can let someone else do. There is a blessing that is available to us when we do this - blessing those that insult us, or do evil to us. I like the NASB version of this, for it reads slightly different and with better focus saying, "...for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing." (1 Peter 3:9b NASB}.

If you have ever wondered what your purpose was in life, Peter says this is one of your purposes! Like I said earlier, I don't like reading this, let alone living it. The idea that one of my purposes in life is to bless those that insult me, or plan or do evil to me, is just hard to accept. Regardless, this is all of our call, and there really is a blessing that is purposed in God, for those of us that learn to live this way. When God promises blessing, this is not something to be taken lightly, like when we say "bless you" after someone sneezes. This is the blessing of God. In the blessing of God is protection, provision, relationship, direction, interaction and presence. I guess if we turned this sentence around it might be easier to digest. It would read something Ike this -'if you want God's provision, protection, direction, and presence in your life, then bless those the insult you and persecute you, loving and caring for those that plan evil against you'.

So let us love and bless all, and open the for the blessing of God to poured into our lives

Unbelief and Religion

Recently I was reading from John 7:21-24 NIV:

[21] "Jesus said to them, “I did one miracle, and you are all amazed. [22] Yet, because Moses gave you circumcision (though actually it did not come from Moses, but from the patriarchs), you circumcise a boy on the Sabbath. [23] Now if a boy can be circumcised on the Sabbath so that the law of Moses may not be broken, why are you angry with me for healing a man’s whole body on the Sabbath? [24] Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.”

When I was reading this, I was amazed by the attitude of the people (specifically the religious people) that Jesus was addressing, namely that they thought He had broken the religious rules by healing on the Sabbath (see John 5:1-15 for the story). I was thinking about the fact that Jesus healed a man who had been an invalid for 38 years, and people were saying this couldn't be from God because He did it on a Sabbath. They were offended that God didn't follow the rules. They couldn't say they didn't believe the healing, because the man was whole and visible for all to see. But they were bound and determined not to believe that Jesus was the Messiah for any reason they could find, and breaking the rules of the Sabbath was enough reason.

I was reading an autobiography by Aimee Semple McPherson and she was talking about a time when God miraculously healed her broken foot and ankle. She had severely broken it, so bad that she had torn ligaments and the foot would hang straight down. She broke the foot and had it cast in one town, then traveled to the next town with her husband. In the next town the Lord healed her foot instantaneously, completely restoring the broken bone and all the ligaments, even cleansing it of any of the bruising. What I found interesting was that many of the people in the town where she was healed didn't believe she was healed because they had no proof it was broken in the first place, despite the fact that you could see her black and swollen toes sticking out of the end of the cast. When word got back to the town where she broke her foot and ankle, they didn't believe that she had been healed because they couldn't see her running and dancing.

As I was thinking about this story, I felt like the Lord tied it back to the verses from John. I felt like the issue being addressed is the issue of unbelief. So many people have a propensity to unbelief, and their first reaction on hearing anything miraculous is one of doubt, followed by trying to find a reason to prove the report wrong. Whether it doesn't fit their 'rules' for the way God works, or whether they don't have proof of one thing or the other, people are trying hard to not believe that God is alive and well and fully capable of healing people, and doing miracles. If they can't discredit the miracle, as happened in John 5, they try to discredit the one who God used. If they can't discredit them by finding something they have done wrong, they will try to attack their character, and label them radicals, zealots, holy-rollers, crazy, of the devil, etc.

I remember reading an author, I don't remember who, who was saying that the spirit of unbelief is one of the most prevalent anti-Christ spirits in the Church. At the time, it made some sense, but I see this more and more clearly. The enemy is actively trying to discredit anything that the Lord does through the power of the Holy Spirit, even in His own church.

Many of our churches are fine with worshipping God, reading the Bible and even preaching about God, but if strange things start happening like healing, miracles, speaking in tongues, laughing, crying, shouting, dancing, resting in the Spirit, or any other assorted experiences that are common under the power of the Holy Spirit, they start getting uncomfortable, and start trying to limit their exposure and try to bring things back into order. This order is the set of rules they have constructed within which God can work, and if it fits inside their rules, than it is God, anything else is questionable, and highly discouraged. While this might seem like good administrative process and can be passed off as protecting the body, it is really at its core the spirit of unbelief, for they refuse to believe God is capable of being God, continually creative, and sovereign over all.

I know, in my life, growing up with western thought and logic, I am quick to doubt, as I want proof. My prayer is that I will be open to the Lord in all His glorious ways, and that, even though it doesn't fit into anything I might have seen or experienced previously, my first inclination will be to believe and trust that God is alive and we'll and perfectly able to defend His own name and reputation.

Dealing With Unclean Spirit in Church

This morning I am continuing my reading from the first chapter in Mark's Gospel - Mark 1:21-28 NIV:

[21] "They went to Capernaum, and when the Sabbath came, Jesus went into the synagogue and began to teach. [22] The people were amazed at his teaching, because he taught them as one who had authority, not as the teachers of the law. [23] Just then a man in their synagogue who was possessed by an impure spirit cried out, [24] “What do you want with us, Jesus of Nazareth? Have you come to destroy us? I know who you are---the Holy One of God!”

[25] “Be quiet!” said Jesus sternly. “Come out of him!” [26] The impure spirit shook the man violently and came out of him with a shriek.

[27] The people were all so amazed that they asked each other, “What is this? A new teaching---and with authority! He even gives orders to impure spirits and they obey him.” [28] News about him spread quickly over the whole region of Galilee."

As I was thinking about these verses, I had a couple of insights and thoughts based on experience and teaching concerning oppressing spirits.

1) Most likely the other people didn't know the man had an unclean spirit, for he was allowed inside the synagogue.
2) Often times the type of spirit that shows up in church is a religious spirit. The religious spirit generally wants to distract, cause disruption, and focus on rules rather than relationship.
3) The religious spirit will generally not make itself known unless the presence of God, this time in the person of Jesus, shows up.
4) The religious spirit will always try to distort the word of God, and try to paint a portrait of God that is not accurate.
5) The man with the unclean spirit was in church, and sometimes we think that could never be the case, but churches are filled with many who are oppressed or affected by unclean spirits. What better place to cause disruption and distortion than from the inside.

We see this behavior here, and the man is accusing God of wanting to destroy them all, in other words saying He is an angry God. Its amazing how often we hear these same themes preached in churches today.

Earlier in Nazareth, in Luke's Gospel, we find Jesus first message is one of hope and visitation from Isaiah 61. We don't have a historical record of what Jesus was teaching on here in Capernaum, but my conjecture is that it was something similar, as Jesus was just launching His public ministry and drawing parallels to what was said prophetically. Isaiah has what's known as the Servant of the Lord sections in Isaiah 42, 49, 50 and 53, and I think it's likely that Jesus was reading out of one of these.

Regardless, Jesus came to reveal the Father's heart and in the famous passage from John 3:16-17 we hear this heart: "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. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him."

I think its safe to say that Jesus wasn't preaching a fire and brimstone message in Capernaum, yet that is what the man with the unclean spirit accused Him of planning. Jesus, in His authority silenced this spirit and set the man free. We need both in the church today - freedom from the bindings of the enemy, whatever they are, and the truth about the Lord preached clearly and without interruption, distraction or distortion.

Lord, we pray that You will be present in Your church and bring freedom and truth to all!

Repentance Isn't So Bad...

This morning as I opened my Bible, my eyes were immediately drawn to the first statement that Jesus makes in Mark's Gospel - found in Mark 1:15 NIV
“The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Yesterday I spent a bit of time on his fist sentence - "the time has come" - and today it was His third sentence that grabbed me. We often read the word repent, and immediately assume He is talking about sin, as we commonly only use repent in that context. The Greek word translated repent is Metanoeo:

Definition
1. to change one's mind, i.e. to repent
2. to change one's mind for better, heartily to amend with abhorrence of one's past sins

Further breaking down the Greek word, it is a contraction of two other Greek words, Meta and Noeo. Meta means after, and Noeo means thinking, pondering and understanding something. So the Greek word Metanoeo could be translated - after thinking about this and understanding it more - in other words hind-sight.

So going back to Jesus statements, He says:

1) The time of Israel's waiting for a Messiah has been completed.
2) God's kingdom is approaching, coming near, soon to be seen (demonstrated by healing, signs, miracles, etc.)
3) Because of these two facts you need to change the way you are thinking. You are no longer waiting, but rather are now experiencing that which you have waited for, and you must believe, accept the good news, and spread the good news.

I like what Graham Cooke says about the good news, "its so good its almost too good to be true!". I think that is the context that Jesus makes His statement in. The people are overwhelmed by what He is saying! They are in a daze, saying to themselves, 'this can't be happening, this can't be the Messiah can it?'. Jesus is speaking very clearly and makes sure that they perceive this correctly, bringing their hind-sight into the foreground and helping them change the way they are thinking.

That is in reality what repentance is, being convinced of something, often because we have had a chance to think about it and recognize we are wrong, and then choosing to change our mind, and then our actions. Whether the issue is sinful behavior, or just some wrong thinking, it is usually in hind-sight that we gain our perspective, and see things more clearly. It is a great gift when our hind-sight is pulled forward into our present perspective, which is what I think what the Holy Spirit does when He brings conviction. Oh, that I could live more of my life being guided in the present by hind-sight concerning the present situation. I think that is what we receive if we ask for the gift of repentance, or metanoeo.

I guess, in this light, repentance isn't so bad! So let us repent and believe the Good News! God is here, He is present, and His Kingdom is in our midst! Not only that but He wants us to be active participants in His Kingdom, not just observers. If we have been waiting for some sign, this is it! He is here!

This is what we are really celebrating in this Christmas season, the real and present Jesus, Christ the King! Its time for us to live our lives in line with this reality - change the way we think and believe and live accordingly. Repent! Amen!

Waiting for the Messiah

This morning I decided to start reading the Gospel of Mark, which I read the least of the 4 Gospels. I thought it would be a refreshing change. I like Mark's Gospel for he jumps right into it, and Jesus ministry is quickly evident.

Jesus starts His ministry by teaching in the synagogues and teaching with authority (Mark 1:21-22). He announces the good news that their time of waiting has come to an end, and the Kingdom of God was near.

An few thoughts here, since He is the Word of God, it would make sense that He could teach the word with an authority and insight that had never been heard before. I love listening to inspired teachers, those who draw deep connections and parallels between different scriptures, those who can take a single passage and mine it for incredible riches. I imagine that Jesus was better than anyone we have ever heard, or will ever hear - no wonder the people were amazed.

Second the proclamation of the end of their wait (Mark 1:15), is a very significant statement, one that we really can't comprehend, as it is something that had been building for 400+ years. The Jews were waiting to hear a fresh word from God, for the last prophet had spoken 400+ years ago. This is also a fulfillment of a prophecy of Daniel, given during the time of their exile in Babylon (605 BC, although some believe it wasn't written until much later around 165BC) proclaiming an end to the time of waiting, or as Jesus said, waiting for the time to be fulfilled or completed (His words based on the original Greek). Regardless of how we date the books or the time of waiting, it had been significant, and something that was on the common pysche, as the fulfillment of time was when the Messiah would come and restore Israel.

They were a country and a people who were occupied, but they never forgot their identity as God's chosen people, so they were waiting for His promise of a Messiah to be fulfilled. I think the closest we could get to understanding the communal anticipation for a messiah, would be the tearing down of the wall in Berlin, the setting free of those people from an oppressive government. There was an almost worldwide waiting for the day that wall would be torn down, almost from the day it was built nearly 30 years earlier. The East Germans never forgot who they were, what freedom was like, and never stopped resisting the wall. In much the same way, the Jews never forgot who they were, never stopped calling to mind the promise of the coming messiah, and reminded themselves for hundreds of years that God would establish His Kingdom through the Messiah and save them all.

The awesome nature of the Gospel is that it is still good news today! The same message of God's Kingdom present, the Messiah who has come to set us free, the healing of disease, the cleansing of lepers and sin, is available to us all today! So whether we have waited hundreds of years, tens of years or only a few days, Jesus is present to change our lives. He is the Lord, the Messiah and He has established His Kingdom here on earth. Let us turn to Him, as the leper did in Mark 1:40 and ask Him for His help, whether we need cleansing, healing, restoration, hope, health, or freedom.

Amen Lord!