Disappointed? Change of Perspective...

As I was thinking about being disappointed and how that affects the way I think, I was reminded of these verses from Matthew 6:8-13 NIV:

[8] "Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

[9] “This, then, is how you should pray:
“ 'Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
[10] your kingdom come, your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
[11] Give us today our daily bread.
[12] And forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
[13] And lead us not into temptation (testing),
but deliver us from the evil one. '

There is just so much good to think on in this example of how to pray.  First, we should turn our mind and thoughts to our Father in Heaven.  He sees us, sees our situation, sees the solution, sees who we become, and He loves us greatly.  He is always good, always faithful, always compassionate, merciful and loving.  We need to first turn our thoughts to Him, and realize that He "knows our need before we ask Him."

Second, we need to think about His Kingdom as it exists in Heaven.  His Kingdom in Heaven, has been established on earth by Jesus, and increased by His church.  We need to think about how Heaven is, and realize that is His will for how things should be on earth.  His Kingdom, means the dominion of the King. the dominion is the area over which He has control, authority and power.  It means the King has the ability to exert His will over that which He rules.  Thus, we are asking that in the same way God exerts His rule and will over Heaven, that He would do that on earth.  Jesus came and proclaimed this, and demonstrated this. It is good for us to change the way we think and begin to realize that this is what God wants to do, and when we understand the realities of heaven, we can ask for those realities here.

Third, He desires to provide for us.  Notice the focus if for the day (present day not future day) and it has already been allotted. The Greek actually reads something like this - This food, this daily provision, give to us this very day."  It is part of the Kings rule to distribute to all as He see fit, for the King owns all.  IT says in another place that all the silver and all the gold is Gods, all things in Heaven and Earth are His.  He can and does distribute as He wills.  We are right to ask Him and know that He will provide.

Fourth,  there is a reconciling of relationships, a reflection on debts we believe we are owed by others, and the requirement to forgive.  We are to apply the same forgiveness to others as we ask of the Lord.  We could say it like this - "Do unto others as you would have the Lord do unto you."  Unforgiveness is a form of unbelief.  It is requiring repayment for wrongs, rather than trusting the Lord to cover you and provide for you and deal with the other who hurt you.  The Lord said that vengeance is His, not ours to exact. We are called to love our enemies (Matt 5:44) in the same way that God loved us and forgave our sins when we were still sinners (Rom 5:8).

Finally, we should be asking to be saved from testing, and the plans of the evil one.  Testing is not so that God sees what we have in us, for He knows all things and even our thoughts.  The testing of our character is established to help us see what we have in us.  Testing helps us to see where we are and how far we have to go.  Additionally, the plans of the enemy try to derail us from God's purpose and plans in our life, and try to convince of His his unconcern or anger towards us.  The Lord understands all this, and part of us praying this is to remind us of it too.

So let us receive this teaching and direction from Jesus and learn to set our hearts and minds, our mindset, in line with the Father.  Let us learn to look at our life from His perspective.  Let us believe that He is good, His plans are good, and that He knows our need and wants to meet our need. Let us believe that He is for us, always.  As we change our mindset and take on His, we will learn to see our lives in a new light, and we will become world changers!

Amen!

He Will Never Love Us Less!

Yesterday I was thinking about sin and purity and how the Lord, very rarely talked about those things.  Paul spoke about them pretty regularly, but the Lord not so much.  I was thinking about the focus of so many of being pure and holy and such, and it seems that the focus of that is to make oneself more pleasing to God, to attract Him in some way.  The point that I think many miss is that Lord already loves us beyond belief, loves us perfectly, even in our sinfulness.

This is not an excuse to sin, but rather an effort to break a works mentality that is woven into the holiness and purity mindset.  Our desire to please God, should come out of the place of intimacy and affection for Him.  We are called to relationship first, then to obedience. In the same way that I don't want to hurt my sweetheart, because I love her and treasure her, and understand her heart, we are invited to love, know and honor the Lord.

In my life my relationship with my sweetheart developed over time, and as my affection for her grew, my life became more and more focused on our relationship. As that happened other things that were not affirming of that relationship were shed, most of the time without effort or much thought. It was my affection and love that drove my behavior not some set of rules that my sweetheart handed me when we first dated.

The difference in this example, is that my honey has a finite perspective, and a finite amount of love and finite capacity to love.  God sits in Heaven, outside of time, sees me as I am now, and as I will be both here on earth and in Heaven.  He loves me perfectly and infinitely and eternally.  He has paid for all my sins, and and set me free from any debt associated with them, and He has hidden me in Christ. His love is immeasurable, and overwhelming.  We can spend our life-time pursuing a greater understanding of His love and affection for us and never reach full knowledge.  God's glory is ever increasing, and His love for us is part of His glory - see the following three verses:

2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV: "And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord's glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit."

Psalm 115:1 NIV: "Not to us, Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness."

2 Peter 1:17 NIV: "He (Jesus) received honor and glory from God the Father when the voice came to him from the Majestic Glory, saying, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased.”

Putting these verses together - God's Glory is ever increasing and we are participants in that increase.  His Glory involves His love and Faithfulness for us.  Jesus received Glory from the Father's love for Him, and His Glory is eternal and ever increasing.  If  the Father's glory is ever increasing, and includes His love for us, His love for us is ever increasing (infinite and eternal). He views us from this perspective, and thus He can never love us less.
 
Wow, do you get that? He can never love us less!

He already sees who I am in my perfection as I am hidden in Christ (Col 3:3).  He can't love me any less than how He loves Christ, because I am hidden in Him.  His love for me is part of His Glory which is ever increasing, never decreasing.

I am just overwhelmed by this reality!  I can't earn Your love, I can't change Your love, I can only love you in return.  You first loved me ( 1 John 4:19), infinitely, perfectly, with an ever-increasing intensity and passion.  How can I ever do anything but love You in return?  My heart swells with love for You Lord, as I meditate on this reality!  You can never love me less!

That Which is Hidden

This morning I am meditating on two examples that Jesus used in describing the Kingdom of God, as recorded in Matthew 13:44-46 NIV:

[44} “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field. When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.

[45] “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls. [46] When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it."

In both of these examples, Jesus says that the Kingdom of God is hidden.  Such and interesting reality that the Kingdom of God is hidden.  Here is the soveriegnty of God, the creator of the universe, and it is hidden from plain view.  Really, that is such a surprising revelation about the Kingdom of God.  One would think that if the all-powerful God of the Universe would come to earth, He would do so in such a way that no one will miss Him, nor have any mistake about who He was and what He was capable of doing.  Instead, Jesus says the Kingdom of God is hidden in a field, or hidden in an oyster.

This is one of the reasons that so many people miss the significance of Jesus, of the church, of the Kingdom, because it is hidden from plain view by God.  We look for an all powerful God to demonstrate His power, and instead we are given Jesus.  For example, the Jews were looking for the Kingdom of God to be reestablished like the Kingdom of David or Solomon, through military might and magnificence and splendor or earthly riches.  Instead Jesus comes, hidden from view for 30 years, and when He does start His ministry He does not follow the path one would expect.  He chooses the lowly path, the simple life, the obscure and humble paths and towns.  Jesus is not the sort of King the Jews were waiting to receive, nor was the Kingdom He demonstrated the type of Kingdom they wanted restored.  Thus, they rejected Him.

In the same way, we must understand that the Kingdom is not what we would think it should look like, but rather it is generally hidden from view, and found by those who seek it.  The Kingdom is not one of fanfare, and earthly splendor and riches, but rather of relationships and people.  The Kingdom of God is one of power and authority, but the use of both are directed to setting people free and restoring relationship and worship.  His power and sovereignty is established over individual lives, not usually over geographic regions.  His Kingdom is unlike any human kingdom, or rule or organization. We must not reject the Kingdom because it appears different than we expect.

One of the other things that Jesus focuses on is the value of the Kingdom being exceedingly great!  It is worth pursuing, worth trying to find, and of greater worth than everything else we own.  The cost is high, but the value is greater.  This is one of the stumbling blocks for many people, the call to be sold out for the Kingdom of God.  It is important to note that Jesus gave this teaching about the Kingdom to His disciples in private.  I believe He was specifically addressing their own lives and their concerns about what they had given up to follow Jesus.  Regardless, our call is the same, to pursue the Kingdom and in joy embrace it with our whole life.

So let us pray for understanding and insight into the Kingdom of God.  Let us pursue Him, and His Kingdom.  Let us pursue Him knowing that we will encounter that which is of greater worth than everything else!  Let us find that which is hidden, and rejoice!

When Prayers Fail

This morning I thought I should read Matthew 17:14-20 NIV:

[14]"When they came to the crowd, a man approached Jesus and knelt before him. [15] “Lord, have mercy on my son,” he said. “He has seizures and is suffering greatly. He often falls into the fire or into the water. [16] I brought him to your disciples, but they could not heal him.”

[17] “You unbelieving and perverse generation,” Jesus replied, “how long shall I stay with you? How long shall I put up with you? Bring the boy here to me.” [18] Jesus rebuked the demon, and it came out of the boy, and he was healed at that moment.

[19] Then the disciples came to Jesus in private and asked, “Why couldn't we drive it out?”

[20] He replied, “Because you have so little faith. Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you.”  (some manuscripts add the following - “This kind can come out only by prayer. ” - Mk 9:29)

I like these verses for a couple of reasons.  First, this is the only time we see the disciples failing at healing someone (that I remember anyway).  It is good to know that in their ministry they saw failure.  I am not wishing failure on anyone, but only saying that their lack of success should help us to realize that when we pray and people don't get healed that is part of the learning process.

Second, Jesus points to the reason the boy wasn't healed initially, and it is because they had little faith.  In Mark's version, Jesus calls it unbelief (Mk 9:19,23). Their initial failure was not the result of a lack of faith on the part of the person receiving prayer, nor was it a lack of power to heal in the Kingdom, nor was it because it wasn't God's will to heal this boy - all of which are commonly proclaimed as reasons people don't get healed when we pray.

Jesus laid the lack of power and faith/belief clearly on the people doing the praying and said it was due to their unbelief or little faith.  So let us correctly align our belief system with Jesus' demonstration and teaching here.  When people don't get healed when we pray it is due to those of us who are praying.  Also, we must not allow this failure to stop our ministering, but rather to drive us deeper into experience with the Lord, that our faith and belief would grow and  mature.

If we look at the addition that is from Mark 9, Jesus gives us the prescription for growing in faith and belief - more prayer.  Prayer is the relationship building communication that we are all needing.  The result of prayer is understanding God's heart and mind (as much as we can) and having a pathway for communication.  The more time we spend in prayer, actually communicating with the Lord rather than just rote recital of form prayers, the more we will be able to understand and discern His voice in all situations and circumstances.  The more intimacy we have with the Lord, the more we will walk in His authority and power. Jesus demonstrated that His level of authority, due to His intimacy with the Father, and power flowing through Him by the Holy Spirit was sufficient to vanquish the demonic source of this child's seizures.  Because Jesus did heal the boy we also know that it was the Father's will all along to heal the boy, just the authority and power to do so were missing in the disciples.

Additionally, one of the early manuscripts adds fasting to Jesus' explanation of what was needed to drive out this type of spirit.  So looking at Jesus description of the lack being in the disciples, we can see that fasting is to help us change, not change God's mind, or cause Him to do something.  Fasting is about getting things out of us and helping us to see ourselves more clearly.  One of my favorite teachers, Bill Johnson, says that he hates fasting because it always brings out the worst in him.  In other words, it is in fasting that he sees those things in him that are not of God, and understands more clearly the work that remains in his life as he endeavors to become like Christ.  Fasting, for us, should have the same focus, not some sort of super-prayer that causes God to notice us, but rather a refining and purifying of our own lives that enables us to be more in touch with God.

Lastly, it is important to not take Jesus' words in verse 17 personally.  It was to the teachers of the law (Pharisees) that Jesus was directing those words.  In Mark's Gospel, He reports that there was an argument that was going on between the teachers of the law and the remaining disciples (Mark 9:14).  They were clearly arguing about the disciple's inability to heal the boy, for that is what Jesus addresses and does.  It is in private, not in public, that He speaks to the disciples and gives them instruction (see verses 19&20 above) not a rebuke.  He was not rebuking the disciples for trying and failing, but rather the Pharisees for doubting.  Jesus ends His instruction of the disciples with this encouragement - "nothing will be impossible for you!"  Let us take heart in Jesus words and desire for us!  He doesn't want to see us fail, but rather desires that we all walk in the power and authority that He demonstrated.

Let us desire to grow in faith, belief and intimacy with the Lord.  He is the way the truth and the Life (John 14:6).  It is in Him that we will learn to walk in authority and power and nothing will be impossible for us as we walk in His will.  Let us pursue the Lord, and relationship with Him! He desires us to succeed, and see our prayers answered every time.

Amen!

Being His Cloak

This morning, I was thinking about and praying for my nephew Joe who has terminal cancer, and was thinking about how we just need the presence of God or specifically the presence of His Kingdom to touch Joe, much in the same way the woman touched Jesus' cloak .  As I was thinking about that I realized that in some ways that is what we are  - Jesus' cloak (actually His Body but in this case it is imagery that is helpful), and that I might have faith to be that. His Spirit clearly lives inside of me, in much the same way that His Spirit permeated His clothing.

Here is the story of the woman from  Mark 5:24-34 NIV:

[24]"So Jesus went with him. A large crowd followed and pressed around him. [25] And a woman was there who had been subject to bleeding for twelve years. [26] She had suffered a great deal under the care of many doctors and had spent all she had, yet instead of getting better she grew worse. [27] When she heard about Jesus, she came up behind him in the crowd and touched his cloak, [28] because she thought, “If I just touch his clothes, I will be healed.” [29] Immediately her bleeding stopped and she felt in her body that she was freed from her suffering.

[30] At once Jesus realized that power had gone out from him. He turned around in the crowd and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”

[31] “You see the people crowding against you,” his disciples answered, “and yet you can ask, 'Who touched me?' ”

[32] But Jesus kept looking around to see who had done it. [33] Then the woman, knowing what had happened to her, came and fell at his feet and, trembling with fear, told him the whole truth. [34] He said to her, “Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering.”

I was thinking about this story, and thought about the fact that Jesus, in His earthly ministry had laid down His divinity, emptying Himself to become fully man (Phil 2: 6-8), and that His healing ability came through the Power of the Holy Spirit, who was present on Him and in Him (Luke 3:21-22, Luke 4:1).  It was the Holy Spirit that worked the will of the Father through Jesus, and Jesus was obedient to do what He saw the Father doing, as shown Him by the Holy Spirit.

Actually as I am thinking about that, I just realized that Jesus teaching on the Holy Spirit was really based on His own experience.  He was filled by the power of the Holy Spirit, and ministered out of the power of the Holy Spirit, as described by Luke 4:1, 14 NIV: "Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, left the Jordan and was led by the Spirit into the wilderness, [14] Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside."  His was a Holy Spirit led and empowered ministry.  Thus, when He spoke about the role of the Holy Spirit in our lives, once He ascended to Heaven (John 14-16) He was speaking from His own personal experience.  Anyway, not a major point, but one had I never thought of before, and one worthy of more thought and research.

Anyway, part of what got me thinking about this whole situation was the fact that Jesus was ministering as a man, and thus, although highly in tune with the Father and the Holy Spirit, He was not experiencing the same level of unity and oneness as He normally did as a part of the Trinity, as evidenced in this story.  It was clear that the woman had some inspiration (in Spirit-ation) and the thought about touching Jesus cloak was not her own.  I can almost see the Father and the Holy Spirit conspiring to surprise Jesus in this situation.  He wasn't shown the woman, wasn't aware of her need, and even after the power went out from Him, not sure who she was (He might have been asking as a way for her to exercise her faith, but that is another topic).

I think the Father and Holy Spirit were just loving on the woman and having a little fun with Jesus at the same time.  They purposely didn't make Him aware of what they were doing, and Jesus was apparently caught unaware.  He was focused on the other situation (Jairus's daughter who was sick) and apparently distracted by the whole crowd of people following Him.  He might have missed what the Father was doing with this woman who was suffering bleeding, but I think it is more likely she was hidden from His view and foreknowledge (for He clearly operated in all the fullness of all the gifts of the Holy Spirit) and that He was surprised by her healing.

His reaction, as recorded by Mark and Luke, shows that the sudden outflow of power caught His attention, and stopped Him.  Here is Luke's recording of it - Luke 8:44-46 NIV: She came up behind him and touched the edge of his cloak, and immediately her bleeding stopped. [45] “Who touched me?” Jesus asked. When they all denied it, Peter said, “Master, the people are crowding and pressing against you.” [46] But Jesus said, “Someone touched me; I know that power has gone out from me.”  The fact that everyone denied touching Him indicates some passage of time, as He scanned the crowd around Him.  I can almost see the Father and the Holy Spirit, smiling at each other, having pulled a fast-one on Jesus.  He was clearly not aware of who had touched Him and yet she had been healed completely.  She had been inspired to get close and touch Him, having the thought placed into her mind by God, and when she did touch His cloak the Holy Spirit flowed out of Jesus to such an extent that He felt it and stopped.  He wasn't angry, nor was he upset over the interruption, but He wanted to make sure to finish the deal, and speak life to the woman.  He clearly wanted in on the fun, and wanted to bless the woman too.

Anyway, just a funny little perspective.  The point here is that in the same way that the power of the Holy Spirit saturated Jesus so thoroughly that even His clothes were saturated. We have the same Holy Spirit in our bodies.  We are much better vehicles and conduits for His presence and power than cloth could ever be, so we can assume and believe that we are the bearers of at least the same healing power and authority.

Lord, help us to turn to You, and entrust our lives to You and ask for Your presence to touch those who are sick around us.

The Kingdom of God and Power & Authority

I am continuing my dive into the Kingdom of God, and this morning I am still in the twelfth chapter of Matthew's Gospel.  Jesus is discussing the fact that His acts prove that the Kingdom of God is present.  Here are the verses - Matthew 12:22-28 NIV:

[22] "Then they brought him a demon-possessed man who was blind and mute, and Jesus healed him, so that he could both talk and see. [23] All the people were astonished and said, “Could this be the Son of David?”

[24] But when the Pharisees heard this, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this fellow drives out demons.”

[25] Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. [26] If Satan drives out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then can his kingdom stand? [27] And if I drive out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your people drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. [28] But if it is by the Spirit of God that I drive out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you."

I like these verses because they show Jesus' own proving of the Kingdom of God exists by His own demonstration of authority over demonic powers.  His ability to deliver the afflicted man into healing and freedom, proved that He had authority.  Although not specifically mentioned here, most all the times we see Him dealing with demons, He commands them to come out and they must bow to His authority and respond accordingly (see Mark 1:25 or Mark 5:8 for examples).
 
The people understood authority and power, and Jesus was clearly demonstrating both in this case.  He specifically tied His authority and power to the reality of the Kingdom of God.  What He means in verse 28, is that the power and authority that He personally demonstrated came directly from the authority and power of the King (Father God) who He is representing.  They were proof that the power and authority of the King, was greater than the demonic power He confronted.

Jesus described his greater power and authority by using an analogy as follows -  Matthew 12:29 NIV: “Or again, how can anyone enter a strong man's house and carry off his possessions unless he first ties up the strong man? Then he can plunder his house."  The only way to tie up a strong-man would be to over-power him, because you are more powerful.  Jesus describes Himself as doing exactly that, but in this case the possessions are people that He is setting free. He (Jesus) is plundering the enemies house, setting people free, restoring them to freedom and health.

Lord, we look to Your continued demonstration of Your power and authority in our lives.  Help us to faithfully represent You and Your kingdom reality in  our lives.

The Kingdom Isn't About Rules

This morning I am back-tracking a little in Matthew's Gospel, starting in his twelfth chapter. Although still focused on the Kingdom, I am seeing a different twist this morning, more of a looking at what the Kingdom of God is not. Here are the verses I am considering - Matthew 12:1-2, 9-14 NIV:

[1] "At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath. His disciples were hungry and began to pick some heads of grain and eat them. [2] When the Pharisees saw this, they said to him, “Look! Your disciples are doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath.”

[9] Going on from that place, he went into their synagogue, [10] and a man with a shriveled hand was there. Looking for a reason to bring charges against Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?”

[11] He said to them, “If any of you has a sheep and it falls into a pit on the Sabbath, will you not take hold of it and lift it out? [12] How much more valuable is a person than a sheep! Therefore it is lawful to do good on the Sabbath.”

[13] Then he said to the man, “Stretch out your hand.” So he stretched it out and it was completely restored, just as sound as the other. [14] But the Pharisees went out and plotted how they might kill Jesus."

So the chapter starts out with a conflict over rules. I was thinking about how the Pharisees were really the keeper of the rules, under the law, and how Jesus comes along and basically thumbs His nose at many of the laws that the Pharisees were most concerned with upholding. Both of the conflicts described in these verses have to do with doing work on the Sabbath, a highly defined set of religious rules. The Pharisees had developed a complete list of what constituted work, and what didn't, so they could be sure are to being righteous according to the Law. For an understanding of the modern Sabbath rules, please go to teh following link: http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/95907/jewish/The-Shabbat-Laws.htm/mobile/false

The actual command from the Law was to keep the Sabbath holy, and was the fourth and longest of the Ten Commandments. Here is the actual commandment from Deuteronomy 5:12-15 NIV:

[12] “Observe the Sabbath day by keeping it holy, as the Lord your God has commanded you. [13] Six days you shall labor and do all your work, [14] but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your ox, your donkey or any of your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns, so that your male and female servants may rest, as you do. [15] Remember that you were slaves in Egypt and that the Lord your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and an outstretched arm. Therefore the Lord your God has commanded you to observe the Sabbath day."

The commandment is quite clear about not working, and thus they had spent years defining exactly what work was, how many steps they could walk, etc. Jesus and His disciples were picking grain on the Sabbath, that was work (harvest) and thus not allowed. Jesus was demonstrating the Kingdom paradigm of relationship and care for His friends, and they were coming up against those who guarded the old paradigm of a rules-based understanding of the Kingdom of God.

Jesus must have just drove the Pharisees crazy, because they set traps constantly, and He just never fell into them. His perspective was completely different, and His answers were out-side the bounds of how they thought. They were all focused on rules and laws and such and He was focused on the people. That is actually a really good Kingdom principle, its about people not rules. They were trying to trap him and in both cases he uses the scripture and their own practices against them.

In the first example Jesus talks about the Priests and their requirement to "work" on the Sabbath. In the second, He uses their own escape clauses from their countless lists of what constituted work. While work on the Sabbath was outlawed, there were allowances for saving lives, crops and animals should something happen on a sabbath. God required your rest, but not that you lose possessions or money. However healing for the sake of healing, when it wasn't life threatening clearly crossed over into being classified as work. What I think really irked the Pharisees is that Jesus didn't actually do any work - He apparently didn't touch the man, didn't say a prayer, didn't go through any healing ritual, He just had the man stretch out his arm, something that was completely allowable under the "work" definition. So even though Jesus addressed their concerns and proved them wrong in their thinking, He didn't actually even break the law. It must have drove them crazy.

Finally, the real conflict was that Jesus was proclaiming the Kingdom of God, something the Pharisees thought they understood completely, and as Jesus proclaimed and demonstrated it was radically different. This is a great example of a new wine skin, or a new paradigm (using modern language). The Pharisees were the experts on the old, and Jesus comes along and completely upsets their world and understanding. The Pharisees maintained their power because of their demonstrated knowledge of the Law, not because of power or authority. Jesus demonstrates that He has all three - power, authority and a better knowledge of the Law. He was directly confronting their power base, and defeating them at every turn. Rather then listen to what Jesus was saying and seeing what He was clearly demonstrating as definitions of the Kingdom, they refused any redefining, and chose instead to reject everything new. They could not transition from being rule-based to relationship-based in their thinking and thus failed to recognize who Jesus was and what He was proclaiming.

In our own lives we want to look at our own understanding of the covenant we are under, the precepts and realities of the Kingdom of God as demonstrated by Jesus, and make sure we are not stuck in a rules-based mindset. As I have written many times before, we are no longer under the old covenant, but are instead partakers in the new covenant established by Jesus. He fulfilled all the requirements of the Law (Old Covenant) and set us free from them. The new covenant is established by His blood, and we join ourselves to it when we accept the salvation that He has purchased for us. This is the message of grace, that we didn't earn it, rather that He did and He gives it freely to all. Since we didn't earn it, nor can we earn it, we do not focus on works (rules) of righteousness but rather on the One (relationship) who has given us this great gift of righteousness.

Amen. Help us Lord.

The Kingdom and Healing

So this morning I am continuing to read from Matthew's Gospel. I came across an interesting set of verses, which demonstrate a significant reality about the Kingdom of God, namely that healing exists and occurs in the Kingdom of God, even without prayer, or the laying on of hands. Here are the verses -

Matthew 14:34-36 NIV:

[34] "When they had crossed over, they landed at Gennesaret. [35] And when the men of that place recognized Jesus, they sent word to all the surrounding country. People brought all their sick to him [36] and begged him to let the sick just touch the edge of his cloak, and all who touched it were healed."

I find these verses interesting because people were figuring out the reality of what the Kingdom of God brought to them. Proclaiming the Kingdom of God present, was one of Jesus' most significant messages and the demonstration of that included healing, miracles and the like. The idea being that if the Kingdom of God was present, then the authority of God was present, and His will would be accomplished. Jesus regularly demonstrated healing, and the people were grasping the idea that this healing was available to them in the Kingdom, as represented by Jesus, even without His direct involvement, simply touching His cloak was enough. At some point, likely after the woman touched his cloak and was healed as described in Matt 9:20-21, this became a widespread understanding as evidenced by the passages above. All the people had to do was touch His cloak, "and all who touched it were healed!" I find that simply amazing! Jesus doesnt pray for them or lay hands on them, or likely even look at them directly, yet they are healed.

As I was thinking about this a couple of interesting questions came to mind. First, did Jesus have to start wearing longer more flowing cloaks so that more people could touch his cloak? Did touching His cloak bring healing, even if He wasn't wearing it? Did Jesus have to speak about the Kingdom or proclaim it prior to the cloak touching? Its funny how quickly we can get caught up in the 'what if' scenarios, and suddenly find we have created some religious rules about this Kingdom reality. I could see a whole cloak touching ministry team, a rating system for effectiveness related to where on the cloak you touch, or what color the cloak was and how that relates to the effectiveness of the healing. We could get so caught up in this that we lose sight of the actual thing that Jesus and His Father were communicating, namely that in the Kingdom of God, healing is available to all, and it doesn't take some special intervention by God to occur.

In the early church, they would demonstrate this reality even further, and expand their understanding to include the sending of handkerchiefs and aprons - Acts 19:11-12 NIV: "God did extraordinary miracles through Paul, so that even handkerchiefs and aprons that had touched him were taken to the sick, and their illnesses were cured and the evil spirits left them." They even came to realize that this Kingdom reality didn't even require physical touch, as at some point the people realized that it only took the shadow crossing over someone for them to experience healing - Acts 5:12, 15-16 NIV: "The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people... [15] As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter's shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. [16] Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed."

For most of us this would probably really stretch our idea of how things are supposed to work. If we believe healing can occur, then it generally occurs when you bring the elders, have them anoint the sick person with oil and pray for them (James 5:14-15) and then maybe they receive healing. This whole shadow passing over someone or hankies and aprons being sent to a sick person would be seen as highly questionable and a bit "out-there" and practiced only by weird Christians. We don't really want to think about the fact this it was Peter and Paul who were practicing this stuff. We also might believe that it was only Peter or Paul that could do this type of stuff. Both perspectives are incorrect, for it wasn't Peter or Paul who had healing in them, but rather the reality of the Kingdom of God as proclaimed and demonstrated by them. This is the same Kingdom of God that is present today, and the reality of the Kingdom that was true back then is still true today, for clearly God has not changed nor has He lost any power or authority.

So, the question is why we don't see this demonstrated more widely in the Body of Christ? I can think of several reasons, but think the primary reason is lack of faith and proclamation of the Kingdom of God. I am not pointing fingers, only calling for a revisiting of our thinking and understanding of the Kingdom of God, and what that really means. We need to proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God and believe that the demonstration of that reality will occur, and continuing pressing into that reality as described and demonstrated by Jesus and later by the Apostles, disciples and fellow Christians. We need to proclaim that Healing is one of the demonstrations of the Kingdom of God and it is available to all and does not require special interaction with God, it is freely available. Amen.

His Kingdom and Weeds

I am continuing my reading from Matthew's Gospel. It seems the the whole of the thirteenth chapter is about the Kingdom of God, and Jesus speaking in parables about its characteristics and value. Again, the good news is about the Kingdom of God being established in their midst and was one of the core messages of Jesus, so it is worthwhile spending considerable time understanding His teachings about it.

This morning I am considering the other parable of the sower, Jesus' next teaching on the Kingdom - Matthew 13:24-30 NIV:

[24] "Jesus told them another parable: “The kingdom of heaven is like a man who sowed good seed in his field. [25] But while everyone was sleeping, his enemy came and sowed weeds among the wheat, and went away. [26] When the wheat sprouted and formed heads, then the weeds also appeared.

[27] “The owner’s servants came to him and said, ‘Sir, didn’t you sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from?’

[28] “ ‘An enemy did this,’ he replied.

“The servants asked him, ‘Do you want us to go and pull them up?’

[29] “ ‘No,’ he answered, ‘because while you are pulling the weeds, you may uproot the wheat with them. [30] Let both grow together until the harvest. At that time I will tell the harvesters: First collect the weeds and tie them in bundles to be burned; then gather the wheat and bring it into my barn.’ ”

This is such an interesting parable, for it is clearly demonstrates how unlike man God is. First, from a purely kingdom perspective, what King would ever knowingly allow His enemies lies and false fruit to exist and grow in the same territory of His kingdom? Most earthly kingdoms are about territory and geography. The kingdoms have very specific boundaries and those borders are usually the focus of much discussion and even conflicts of force. Here the King cares more about the new little plants than He does about His borders or appearances of His kingdom. One would think that allowing the weeds to grow would seem to be weakness on the part of the King, but He chooses mercy over judgment. He was clearly not concerned about His ability to have a pure and fruitful harvest.

Secondly, what man would choose to wait until the harvest to separate or deal with the weeds? From a farming perspective, allowing the weeds to grow, means that resources that should be available to the good seed are being used by the weeds, this is one of the reasons that farmers pretreat for weeds then spray again once the plants are mature enough to deal with the weed-killer. The way to maximize the yield of the harvest is to minimize anything else growing in the same field, as early as possible. The King again chooses to trust in His seed's fruitfulness and in His ability to separate weeds from good seed at the harvest.

Finally, Jesus explains the parable as follows - Matthew 13:37-43 NIV:

[37] "He answered, “The one who sowed the good seed is the Son of Man. [38] The field is the world, and the good seed stands for the people of the kingdom. The weeds are the people of the evil one, [39] and the enemy who sows them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the harvesters are angels.

[40] “As the weeds are pulled up and burned in the fire, so it will be at the end of the age. [41] The Son of Man will send out his angels, and they will weed out of his kingdom everything that causes sin and all who do evil. [42] They will throw them into the blazing furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. [43] Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their Father. Whoever has ears, let them hear."

A few last thoughts, the Kingdom is clearly defined as being about people, not specific territory. This is one of the reasons the Jews, in general, couldn't grasp the message. They were looking for a national kingdom with territory, government and a King on earth, and the Kingdom of God is found in people. Jesus said the Kingdom is within us. Second, this is somewhat parallel to the story of Noah, except the promise is to not destroy the world or the people, but to bring them to a point of final judgment. Third, we see God's heart for people. He would rather allow confusion and misperception than bring judgement upon us all. He truly desires all to come to a point of fruitfulness (salvation). Fourth, the separation or judgment will be related to the fruit that is produced. It will be that which distinguishes wheat from weed. Finally, one thing that is unique here, and although not mentioned by Jesus, something we know to be true, namely that weeds can become wheat. It is a matter of faith and belief that causes a weed to become wheat, and as such allowing the weeds to grow all the way to the harvest provides the most merciful response to that which the enemy has sown in lies and deceit.

Lord, thank You for Your great mercy and Your absolute faith in Your ability to produce a bountiful harvest in and through our lives. I pray that You will continue to provide deep understanding of Your Kingdom realities in our lives.

Kingdom Secrets

I am continuing my study of things related to the Kingdom of God, and this morning I felt like reading from Matthew 13:10-23 NIV:

[10] "The disciples came to him and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”

[11] He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them.

[12] Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. [13] This is why I speak to them in parables: “Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. [14] In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: “ ‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. [15] For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’

[16] But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. [17] For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.

[18] “Listen then to what the parable of the sower means: [19] When anyone hears the message about the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what was sown in their heart. This is the seed sown along the path. [20] The seed falling on rocky ground refers to someone who hears the word and at once receives it with joy. [21] But since they have no root, they last only a short time. When trouble or persecution comes because of the word, they quickly fall away. [22] The seed falling among the thorns refers to someone who hears the word, but the worries of this life and the deceitfulness of wealth choke the word, making it unfruitful. [23] But the seed falling on good soil refers to someone who hears the word and understands it. This is the one who produces a crop, yielding a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.”

The key verses that caught my attention this morning were verses 11 and 19, this whole story is about the Kingdom of God. Jesus is speaking about the secrets of the Kingdom, and the parable is specifically about a message about the Kingdom. When Jesus is explaining the parables, He is providing key insight into Kingdom realities.

In essence His whole message is concerning the proclamation of the Kingdom, and our reception of it, having eyes to see and ears to hear, and not letting our hearts be callused, so that we can respond. The message is about the Kingdom of God, being present and being real. It is possible to totally miss this message or to have this message produce an abundant blessing in our lives, and it depends on how we listen and respond.

How we listen and respond is affected by two things, time and pressure. The longer we hold onto the message about the Kingdom of God, the better the chance of it bearing fruit. Secondly, the more we are able to embrace the reality of the Kingdom, the more we are able to resist the pressures of the world. This is such an important truth, for we want to live in a simple and logical world, and the Kingdom is Spiritual, and as such requires a different mindset to embrace it fully.

The rules of the Kingdom, and the operation of it flow along relational lines and we must learn to see ourselves with the right identities to fully embrace the message and become fruitful. Jesus says the one who hears and understands the message will be fruitful (Mt 13:23), and the Greek word that is translated 'understands' literally means to put together the pieces in one's mind. I like that image of taking the components of the message and putting them together in my mind. The primary components in this case relate to our identity (His son's and daughters), God's present sovereignty, and our ability to walk in His Authority, representing Him.

In the preceding days, Jesus had demonstrated His authority over demonically possessed (Matt 12:22), creative miracles (Matt 12:13), and had the Apostles demonstrate that His authority was transferrable by sending them out to heal, cast out demons, raise the dead, and cleanse lepers (Matt 10:8), and had called anyone who did the will of His Father in Heaven His brother, sister and mother (Matt 12:50). He had shown them His kingdom authority, and shown them that because of their relationship with Him, they too could minister with the same authority. The hearing and understanding is about this simple message, we become representatives of the Kingdom when we join ourselves to Him.

Thus, the secrets of the Kingdom that Jesus was revealing have to do with these same realities. We are called and invited to demonstrate to the world the reality of the Kingdom of God, and it all flows out of relationship with Him. Our fruitfulness will depend on our own understanding and embracing this reality, and mindset. Amen Lord, help us!

Clothed For The Wedding Feast

This morning I was thinking through some ideas about the Kingdom of God and found myself thinking about the parable of the Wedding Feast. One of the things that always bothered me was the one guy who showed up without the appropriate wedding garb. Here is the story as told by Jesus in Matthew 22:8-14 NIV:

[8]“Then he said to his servants, ‘The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. [9] So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.’

[10] So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. [11] “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. [12] He asked, ‘How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend ?’ The man was speechless. [13] “Then the king told the attendants, ‘Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.’ [14] “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

As I was thinking about this story this morning, I realized that the issue was that this individual had refused the wedding clothes that had been prepared for him. All the others were appropriately garbed, and they had come from the same place that he had, and had been lately invited, yet they had the appropriate clothing. I was reminded of this verse from Isaiah as I was thinking this through:

Isaiah 61:10 NIV: "I delight greatly in the Lord; my soul rejoices in my God. For he has clothed me with garments of salvation and arrayed me in a robe of his righteousness, as a bridegroom adorns his head like a priest, and as a bride adorns herself with her jewels."

It was the King who provided both the invitation and the clothing, and all the man needed to do was accept both. This is symbolic of grace, and salvation through faith. God sent His son Jesus to pay for our sins, to extend salvation to all, and then invited us into relationship. We are called of His initiative, not because of something we have done, we are saved through His sacrifice, not through something we have accomplished. The wedding garb is symbolic of salvation through grace, of being clothed in the righteousness of Christ Jesus, and this man had refused the offer. Paul speaks about us being clothed in Christ is his letter to the Galatians 3:26-29 NIV: [26] "So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith, [27] for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. [28] There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. [29] If you belong to Christ, then you are Abraham’s seed, and heirs according to the promise."

Thus, the King was justified in his response, for He clearly symbolizes the Father who has given His greatest gift, the Son, that we might be clothed in salvation and righteousness. This man symbolizes, in his refusal to wear that which is provided and for which was paid the greatest cost, one who rejects the gift of salvation and righteousness available in Christ Jesus. One could say that he has preferred his own cloths (works) to those provided (grace). Oh Lord help us to rightly receive Your greatest gift, and recognize that it is not our works but through Your grace (unmerited favor, free gift) that we can partake.

The Poor In Spirit Receive The Kingdom

This morning I thought I would go back and reread the Sermon on the Mount, for that is considered by many as the formative thought regarding the Kingdom, some even call it the Kingdom Declaration akin to our Declaration on Independence. Jesus starts out speaking about the Kingdom - “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." ( Matthew 5:3 NIV).

David Guzick has the following to say about this verse in his commentary:

(3) "The foundation: poverty of spirit.

"Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

a. Blessed: Jesus promises blessing to His disciples, promising that the poor in spirit will be blessed. The idea behind the ancient Greek word for blessed is "happy," but in the truest, godly sense of the word, not in our modern sense of merely being comfortable or entertained at the moment.

b. The poor in spirit: This is not a man's confession that he is by nature insignificant, or personally without value, for that would be untrue. Instead, it is a confession that he is sinful and rebellious and utterly without moral virtues adequate to commend him to God.

c. The poor in spirit recognize that they have no spiritual "assets." They know they are spiritually bankrupt. With the word poor, Jesus uses the more severe term for poverty. It indicates someone who must beg for whatever they have or get.

i. Poverty of spirit cannot be artificially induced by self-hatred; it is brought about by the Holy Spirit and our response to His working in our hearts.

d. For theirs is the kingdom of heaven: Those who are poor in spirit, so poor they must beg, are rewarded. They receive the kingdom of heaven, and poverty of spirit is an absolute prerequisite for receiving the kingdom of heaven, because as long as we harbor illusions about our own spiritual resources we will never receive from God what we absolutely need to be saved.

e. The call to be poor in spirit is placed first for a reason, because it puts the following commands into perspective. They cannot be fulfilled by one's own strength, but only by a beggar's reliance on God's power."

From this point forward Jesus is speaking of the Kingdom. He makes it very clear that this is a spiritual kingdom, and its affects are initially internal. This is a kingdom that we must rely on Him to bring about, hence the call to recognize our own spiritual poverty. God will provide us everything we need to enter into, and fulfill our purpose in His Kingdom.

The message was also very important for the Jews, for they were expecting a national resurgence, and reestablishment of the Kingdom of Judah and Israel, like they experienced under David and Solomon. In fact, even after three years of Jesus teaching and trying to set expectations correctly, the apostles were still thinking worldly kingdom, right up to Jesus Ascension, as described here in Acts 1:6 NIV: "Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” This idea of the natural Kingdom was so firmly ingrained that apparently it wasn't until after Pentecost and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit to teach and guide them, that the Apostles and disciples finally understood the reality of the Kingdom of God, of which Jesus spoke.

Let us pray for understanding and insight as well, for in my opinion the church is not doing a good job, at least in America, of representing and expanding the Kingdom. Let us pray for poverty of spirit to come to us, for we NEED His Spirit, not our own efforts, ideas or natural abilities. His Kingdom is not founded on nor dependent on any of those things. His Kingdom flows out of His own sovereignty, His own power, His own ability. We must recognize our own lack, and His abundance, and embrace this. When we do, then "theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven".

Amen!

The Kingdom And Relationship With The King

This morning I was thinking more about the Kingdom of God, and the fact that one of the primary reasons Jesus came to earth was to reveal the Father. In essence, He was revealing the character of the King, for Kingdom's take on the character of the King. Jesus was the perfect representation of the Father, so what we see in Him, in His life, is what the Father is truly like. Bill Johnson says it this way, "Jesus is perfect theology".

The author of the letter to the Hebrews said this - [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." (Hebrews 1:1-3 NIV).

Jesus said it this way in John's Gospel - [6] “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. [7] If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” (John 14:6-7).

Thus, as we understand Jesus, we understand the Father and we understand the character of the King, and His Kingdom as well. It is in knowing, in relationship, that we best understand and can grasp these truths. Religion would say that we can learn the character of the King and reflect His nature by following rules, but Jesus came to reveal the Father and reestablish our relationship with Him, and anything less than that is dealing in partial truths.

One of the only things that Jesus was really upset about while on the earth, at least as it is recorded in the Gospels, is the way the religious leaders of the day portrayed the character of the Father, through their lives and actions. In fact, I can't think of a single time where He was angry with those that were sinners or lost. Instead His harsh words were directed at the Pharisees who espoused 'religion' above all else. As a note, this religion is not related to worship of God, but rather is rules of men (Is 29:13). Jesus had several discourses against these 'teachers' and warned His followers against following them, for they kept people from entering the Kingdom. In Matthew 23:13, Jesus said: “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the door of the kingdom of heaven in people’s faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let those enter who are trying to."

Instead, Jesus showed us the Father, and His character, and invited us into relationship with Him. Everything Jesus did and said originated with the Father. Jesus said the following - [19]... “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. [20] For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed." (John 5:19-20). He desired us to be in relationship with Him and the Father - "that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me." (John 17:21). Later, John would write of the purpose of sharing the Gospel as such - "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." (1 John 1:3).

So, let us endeavor to enter into this fellowship with the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, that we might know them, their character, and thus understand their Kingdom. Let us dive into relationship rather than rules for living righteously, for those are only a shadow of the truth. It is only out of relationship that we have righteousness at all, that which Jesus extends to us.

The Kingdom of God and Heaven

So yesterday morning the Lord reminded me of the importance of the Kingdom of God, that the coming of the Kingdom to earth was the primary Good News that Jesus proclaimed. In fact one could say that other than speaking of the Father and revealing Him, that the Kingdom was Jesus' primary message. The authors of the Gospels use two different terms for the Kingdom, Matthew calls it the Kingdom of Heaven, and Mark, Luke and John and the rest of the epistles refer to the Kingdom as the Kingdom of God. The reality is that the coming of the Kingdom that Jesus announced is accurately described by both terms. It is both the Kingdom reign that God established in Heaven that was being established on earth.

Jesus began His ministry proclaiming the message of the Kingdom. In Matthew, Mark and Luke His first message was that the Kingdom of God had come near.

Matthew 4:17 NIV: "From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.”

Mark 1:14-15 NIV: "After John was put in prison, Jesus went into Galilee, proclaiming the good news of God. [15] “The time has come,” he said. “The kingdom of God has come near. Repent and believe the good news!”

Luke 4:14-15, 43 NIV: "Jesus returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit, and news about him spread through the whole countryside. [15] He was teaching in their synagogues, and everyone praised him. ...[43] But he said, “I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other towns also, because that is why I was sent.”

In the Book of Acts it is recorded what Jesus taught about during his last days on earth, after His resurrection. Acts 1:1-3 NIV: "In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach [2] until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. [3] After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God."

So we have Jesus beginning and ending His earthly ministry on earth speaking about the Kingdom of God, thus one can conclude this message and the reality of what He is saying is of utmost importance. This message and the demonstration of this reality were the key components of the Good News as preached by the Apostles. We see two good examples in Acts.

Acts 8:12-13 NIV
[12] "But when they believed Philip as he proclaimed the good news of the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. [13] Simon himself believed and was baptized. And he followed Philip everywhere, astonished by the great signs and miracles he saw."

And at the very end of Acts it speaks about Paul's topic of teaching - Acts 28:30-31 NIV: "For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. [31] He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ---with all boldness and without hindrance!"

Paul spoke regularly about the Kingdom, and demonstrated the reality of it through signs and wonders and miracles. He understood and taught that the proclamation must be accompanied by power - 1 Corinthians 4:19-20 NIV: "But I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing, and then I will find out not only how these arrogant people are talking, but what power they have. [20] For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power."

The Greek word used by Paul in this verses is Dunamis with the following definition:

Definition
1. strength power, ability
a. inherent power, power residing in a thing by virtue of its nature, or which a person or thing exerts and puts forth
b. power for performing miracles
c. moral power and excellence of soul
d. the power and influence which belong to riches and wealth
e. power and resources arising from numbers
f. power consisting in or resting upon armies, forces, hosts

This is clearly not the power of persuasive words, but rather power that can affect change. This power was coupled with the proclamation, because God is powerful, and His reign and sovereignty is achieved through His power. If we proclaim His Kingdom is present, but are unable to demonstrate that reality, how do we know it exists, or is indeed present? When the Germans invaded countries in WW2, they used impressive demonstrations of power to prove that they were the new power, the new authority.

In the same way, Jesus came proclaiming the establishment of the Kingdom of God and Heaven here on earth, and proved it by the demonstrations of power and authority. He banished those things that were not allowed in God's Kingdom, namely sickness, disease and demons. Jesus was demonstrating that the Kingdom of God on earth had the same characteristics as the Kingdom of God in Heaven, and the authority of God was sovereign over all. He taught us to pray specifically that God's Kingdom would come and His will would be done on earth, just as it was in Heaven. (Matt 6:10)

While He operated in a geographical region and generally within a specific people group, the Kingdom was not established over either, but rather was established inside of the people. Jesus spoke of this reality in Luke 17:20-21 NIV: "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 (literally within you).”

So in summary, the Kingdom of God is established on earth in us. It is demonstrated through the power and authority that is shared from the Father. Since His Kingdom on earth is like His Kingdom in Heaven, the demonstration of this is best accomplished through the demonstrations of the power and authority of God as they exist in Heaven, now come to earth. If we are to be bearers of this Kingdom, and share in the ministry of the proclamation of this good news, we must also be able to demonstrate the reality of the Kingdom. I, for one, will not settle for anything less than the fullness of the Good News as proclaimed and demonstrated by Jesus, and passed down to the apostles and the early church. Come Lord Jesus and help us!

The Good News: The Kingdom of God!

This morning I felt like reading from Luke. I love reading from the Gospels, as I can't ever get enough of the life of Jesus. The verses for this morning are Luke 9:1-6, 10-11 NIV:

[1] "When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, [2] and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal the sick. [3] He told them: “Take nothing for the journey---no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt. [4] Whatever house you enter, stay there until you leave that town. [5] If people do not welcome you, leave their town and shake the dust off your feet as a testimony against them.” [6] So they set out and went from village to village, proclaiming the good news and healing people everywhere.

[10] When the apostles returned, they reported to Jesus what they had done. Then he took them with him and they withdrew by themselves to a town called Bethsaida, [11] but the crowds learned about it and followed him. He welcomed them and spoke to them about the kingdom of God, and healed those who needed healing."

I was struck by a couple of things when reading these passages. First, the theme of their proclamation was the Kingdom of God. This was their message, first and foremost. The rest of the charge given to the twelve was related to proving that the Kingdom of God was actually present through the healing of diseases and driving out all demons. This is a classic proclamation and demonstration model, and one we would be well counseled to follow. If you can't prove what you are saying by demonstration, the acceptance rate by your audience is very low.

Second, it was because Jesus gave them the power and authority to proclaim and prove what they were saying that the twelve were successful. As I read that, I thought about how Jesus would a have given them the power and authority. Based on John 20:22 where Jesus breathed on them and Luke 4:40 where Jesus laid His hands on the people and healed them, I believe that the transference of authority and power was accomplished in this same way. The twelve went out and ministered effectively, and thus were both convinced by the impartation they had received and by the results of their ministry.

I come back to this often, as one would expect that if we are called to continue to represent Jesus' ministry on the earth, called to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God to the whole world (Mark 16:15-18) then the accompanying signs and proofs would also need to be available to us, as Jesus said they would. If we look at His early ministry, that is exactly what Jesus did - proclaim the good news of the Kingdom of God, then demonstrate the reality of His proclamation by casting out demons and healing every disease. Here is a description of His early ministry - Matthew 4:17, 23-24 NIV: "From that time on Jesus began to preach, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” [23] Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. [24] News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed; and he healed them."

My prayer is that I, and all the church, would be equipped and empowered to continue this ministry of Jesus, proclaiming the Good News of the present reality of the Kingdom of God, and then demonstrating this reality with the authority and power of The Holy Spirit. Lord, help us to be strengthened and empowered to fulfill Your plan for us. We cannot possibly accomplish this on our own, under our own power. We pray that You would breath on us and give us authority and power and the maturity to represent You correctly. We want to proclaim the Good News of the Kingdom of God, and back up that proclamation with proofs.

Amen!

Son of David, Son of Man

Yesterday morning I was reading through Luke 18 when a few verses caused me to stop and think. Here are the verses - Luke 18:35-38 NIV:

[35] "As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging. [36] When he heard the crowd going by, he asked what was happening. [37] They told him, “Jesus of Nazareth is passing by.” [38] He called out, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!”

What caused me to stop was the fact that the Blind man was using a purely Messianic and kingly title for Jesus. Jesus had time and time again chosen to not specifically say He was the Son of David, but rather the Son of Man. In fact, later in the Gospel, after his triumphal entry in Jerusalem when the title was used freely by the people, He specifically addresses this title as follows - Luke 20:41-44 NIV: "Then Jesus said to them, “Why is it said that the Messiah is the son of David? [42] David himself declares in the Book of Psalms: “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand [43] until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” ’ [44] David calls him ‘Lord.’ How then can he be his son?”

The Baker's Evangelical Bible Dictionary has the following entry for "Son of David":

"Son of David. We can trace two lines of interpretation regarding the Son of David (Gk. hyios Dauid) in the Old Testament, one that draws attention to a direct successor during the united monarchy (2 Sam 7:12-16), and the other that applies the earlier promises to the coming of a future individual (Isa 9:6-7). Both are crucial to understanding the title for Jesus in the New Testament."

"Mention of the Son of David begins in the Old Testament with the oracle the prophet Nathan delivers to David (2 Sam 7:12-16). God promises David offspring to succeed him. God "will be his father, " and David's house and kingdom will be established forever. Numerous psalms highlight the same excitement over the continuation of the Davidic line (89:3-4; 110; 132). Even after the collapse of the united monarchy, the line of David remained significant for describing a future leader for the covenant people. Isaiah, for example, looks to the future for a child to be born who will reign on David's throne (9:6-7; cf. 55:3-4; Jer 23:5; Eze 34:2."

Baker's has this entry about "Son of Man":

"Son of Man. The term "Son of Man" occurs sixty-nine times in the Synoptic Gospels, thirteen times in John, and once in Acts. All but three occurences come from the lips of Jesus. In John 12:34, the crowd, equating the Son of Man with eternal Messiah, was puzzled at Jesus' prediction that he would be "lifted up" and inquired about the idenity of the Son of Man. The dying martyr Stephen said he saw "the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God" (Acts 7:56). Jesus frequently refers to the Son of Man in the third person, causing some to assume he was not speaking of himself. Nevertheless the term seems to be not only a self-designation, but Jesus' favorite one."

And finally Baker's has this to say in summary of the terms and the way Jesus addressed His role:

"Jesus was in constant danger of being forced into limited or illegitimate messianic role (John 6:15). In response to Peter's confession (Mark 8:29-31) he accepted the title "Messiah, " equated it with Son of Man, and linked his work with that of the Suffering Servant. In the Judaism of Jesus' day "Messiah" was frequently understood as a political-military leader whose primary concern was for the welfare of Israel. Jesus' usage seems to be an extension of the portrayal of the Son of Man in Daniel and the intertestamental literature. With the term Jesus dissociated his nature and mission from purely earthly, nationalistic notions. He is a transcendent, preexistent person whose mission is primarily a spiritual one that originates in heaven and whose concern is with all peoples, nations, and languages."

It appears to me that there was an underlying belief among the people and the countryside that Jesus was the Messiah. This term specifically, relates to the expected Kingly role that the Messiah would fulfill and as prophesied by Nathan, and several psalms. Jesus, on the other hand, chose a term that more closely identified Him as a man who served all men. As I read this I immediately thought of Paul's letter to the Philippians 2:6-8 NIV:

[6] "Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; [7] rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. [8] And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death---even death on a cross!"

Personally, I find this a very interesting scenario, as we have Jesus, clearly the Messiah, the anointed one the very Son of God, essentially refusing to let others title Him. Titles are so defining, and although they were all true, they also carry with them a set of expectations of behavior and role fulfillment. Jesus was so much more than what the Israelites were looking for in a Messiah, and I think that as such He knew that title would be defining and limiting. He was being sent to the chosen people, but also to all men. Being seen as just the Messiah of the Jews, would have made His sacrifice unacceptable to those who were not Jewish. Instead, Jesus embraced a lowly designation, "Son of Man" choosing instead to be identified with any and all men. He specifically chose the humble title and servant mentality it brings.

In our own lives and specifically within the church, we are always wanting to know titles, roles, etc. They are important for the understanding of our roles and responsibilities, and as such helpful. However, we must be careful to embrace only those that the Lord calls us, as otherwise we are pursuing pride and vanity. We want to have the same mindset as Christ (Phil 2:5) and embrace humility, service and love for each other. It is possible a to operate as a prophet without being titled a prophet, the same is true for any title or role. It is especially important that we do not allow others to assign us titles that are not inline with how the Lord sees us, and probably good to just use the lowest term, the simplest designation. I have been to several conferences where the introduction of the individual is effusive and lengthy, I have also seen those that refer to themselves in puffed up and inaccurate ways. It is sad to see the church giving in to the worldly ideals of titles and roles and such. It is clearly good to honor those in leadership and with authority, but it is also dangerous to allow such accolades to be the source from which we start to form our own opinion of ourselves. Oh that we would take Jesus example to heart and choose instead to just be a 'son of man'.