Recently my prayer time has been one of deeper diving, thinking about, reading about and praying about some questions that have been raised in my reading of scripture and in life. The main two questions have been as follows:
1) How do we in the western Church think about sickness, illness and deformity, as it relates to sin, God's punishment, and healing? Along with that, the question of how much of what we think is the result of how we have been taught, and how we have been trained to interpret the scriptures?
2) How do we read the Old Testament passages of prophetic curses being called down on nations and peoples, in light of the revelation of Christ, and foundational doctrines about God as creator, as each human being made in God's likeness and God's desire to save?
These are deep questions and ones that encourage me to dive deeper into the Lord, to push past common themes and into areas that really challenge my thinking, my understanding, and how I read and understand scripture. Much of this is beyond my present level of understanding, so I spend quite a bit of time reading others, researching related topics, trying to build up a foundation of learning.
Why? Because I feel the Lord is directing me this way and has revelation He wants me to understand to a greater extent. By no means am I special or something, I just try to embrace that which I feel the Lord is directing me into, and these themes, while I have visited them before, have popped up again with greater emphasis.
Recently, it seems that He has been calling us (our Church at least) deeper into His purposes, opening ways and calling us into some radical following, and I feel that this is related, as in creating some framework for understanding and guidance as we step into new territory. I guess you could say its nice to have navigational tools when you are pressing into uncharted waters, and I feel that this is related.
I am not sure if this is relatable to anyone else, but I feel like Holy Spirit is laying the groundwork for new things. Much like He did in Acts 10, when through visions, He laid the groundwork for the new door He was going to open in the church into the Gentile population. Without the understanding that He dropped into Peter's mind and heart through the vision, Peter would have never agreed to the invitation He was about to receive (See Acts 10:1-45 for the whole story).
I am clearly not relating this season of my prayer to that occurrence in significance or the importance to the Body, just using that instance of new revelation and the ensuing direction as an example. God is always working at expanding His Kingdom, growing the Body of Christ, and this always involves new works and new ideas, new peoples and fresh direction and revelation from His throne. Doing the same old thing will result in the same old results, and God is about creating new, which requires new thinking, new perspective. I am daily encouraged in my time of prayer by that new bit which I learn and understand. I feel like my whole life is one large classroom where the primary course of training is to become more like Jesus. I have come such a long way, and have even further to go!
My point in sharing this is two-fold. First, to encourage those who are feeling called to press into new things, experiencing the trepidation of change and new territory in the Lord. It has been my experience that Holy Spirit is a wonderful teacher and guide, who fully comprehends my inabilities, fears and general naivete about new things. He is kind and patient, encouraging and patient, loving and patient... but always desiring me to press on further. He doesn't just know my limitations, but He knows my capabilities and knows His plans, which match perfectly to my capabilities. Thus, I can take take great solace in the fact that He already knows I am capable when I am stepping into new things.
Second, I want to encourage our willingness to look deep, to go past the normal daily paths, deeper into the woods, if you may. God desires and needs people who are world-changers and Kingdom-builders, and that requires a willingness to risk and press into the unknown. It requires, on our part, a humility, the ability to retrace our steps and start over down a different path if needed. It requires us to trust Him with our lives, believing that there is more that He has planned for us, more that He would do through us, and that there are new vistas that we have never seen or experienced.
Putting that in religious lingo, there are nations and peoples that He desires to reach (Matt 28:19)! There are neighborhoods that He wants impacted! There are old wells that He wants refreshed and opened back up (Gen 26:18 and John 4:10-14). There is a new wave of Holy Spirit empowered life that He is birthing! There are new wine-skins that need filling (Matt 9:17)! There is something He is about that we have not seen nor heard before, and yet He is already making a way in the wilderness, preparing the way (Is 42:9, Is 43:19) .
My hope and prayer is that we would all be encouraged to press deeper into relationship with the Lord! In the place of deep relationship, He desires to open our eyes and our ears to what He is doing and saying that we might join in the fun! He wants so much more for each of us, and this more is found in Him.
Help us Lord!
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