God said "Abraham, get out of your native land!" (Gen 12:1)
– Leave the culture behind that has dictated who you are your entire
life. You are not a product of your culture: God defines who we are and
calls us to His culture and kingdom life. Getting out of the ‘native
land’ is to leave the world’s system of expectations and morals, the
value they place on things, and their cultural norms. We are no longer
of this world; we are in it to be an influence for the glory of God and
the salvation of mankind, but our native land is heaven. Paul said “our
citizenship [rights and privileges as a community member] is in
heaven.” (Php 3:20)
God said "Abraham, leave your kindred!"
-Leave your constant fellowship with unsaved people – they are not
your brothers and sisters, they are the world’s brothers and sisters.
This is not saying that we are to completely cut them off and forsake
witnessing to them, but our kindred are now the people of God. Setting
boundaries with people of the world can be one of the hardest elements
of Christianity, but Jesus said of His own family “For whoever does the
will of My Father in heaven, that person is My brother and sister and
mother." (Matt 12:50). This is not telling us to dishonor our families,
but to first seek fellowship with people who are kingdom minded.
God said "Abraham, leave your father’s house!"
-Leave the idea that your DNA is earthly. We have been reborn into a
heavenly family with a Heavenly Father. The limitations of our natural
DNA have been lifted off of us and we are enabled to fulfill God's
calling! Further, we cannot truly love and honor our earthly parents
without having God’s heart of love and wisdom, and that is the crux of
His DNA. We are kingdom born children of the Living God, born not of
the flesh, but of the Spirit. John said “As many as received Him, He
gave the power to become the sons of God.” (John 1:3).
God said
“Abraham, do these things – let go of the earth and cling to Me. My
eyes have roamed the earth looking for someone on whom I can place my
blessing, someone who will live life to the fullest through Me, and
someone who will believe my Words” (Gen 12:2-3).
Then Abraham
believed God and it was credited to him as righteousness – conforming
to the will and character of God. And Abraham became a vessel of
blessing to all the people the earth! (Gal. 3:5 paraphrased).
Peace and grace – they’re like twin blessings! Peter tells us how to
obtain a continued and increasing flow of both of them: expand and
intensify your knowledge of God and fellowship with Him. Peter isn’t
telling us to know about God, but to continually become more fully
acquainted with God, intimately depend on Him, and see Him as the source
of everything that pertains to life. (2 Pet 1:1-2)
This hyper
focus on God will bring a flood of peace (exemption from havoc,
prospering of the soul, and the blessed state of security in God) and
grace (God’s holy influence and favor on your heart and in your life,
and great benefits from God).
But these twin blessings won’t
come as a little pat on the back to comfort you, there will be a
multiplication of them and a synergy that only God can bring. This
multiplication of grace and peace will continually flood your being and
astronomically shift your focus to the heart of God. Synergy is an
unexplainable multiplication – when the sum of the parts is far greater
than the effort and elements that are put into it. This supernatural
increase of peace and grace are like fast growing plants that reach to
the sky – they are unstoppable empowerments from the throne room of God.
The key to this synergy is to increasingly make God the
center of your universe. When you sit, when you rise, when you walk and
when you rest – it’s all about the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. His
Word is your food and His Spirit is your breath. Criticism, negativity,
circumstances – they cannot block the peace and grace of God – they are
simply opportunities to apply it for His glory!
Are you
willing? He is able! Purposefully put aside every hindrance (thought,
word, deed, distraction) that tries to keep you from obtaining an
increasingly intimate knowledge of God. Make Him your priority, then
dive into His grace and peace!
May grace (God's favor) and
peace (which is perfect well-being, all necessary good, all spiritual
prosperity, and freedom from fears and agitating passions and moral
conflicts) be multiplied to you in [the full, personal, precise, and
correct] knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord.” (2Pe 1:2)
Remember
Gamaliel? He suggested to the Sanhedrin that they shouldn’t persecute
the followers of Jesus (Acts 5). He spoke truth to them so they
wouldn’t find themselves fighting against God as they pridefully protected
their religious mindsets. They were absolutely certain they had the
whole counsel of God within their select group and they immediately
crushed anyone whose opinion slightly differed from theirs.
James 4 says that God opposes those who set themselves above others, but
for those who are humble and teachable He pours out great grace – He
abundantly opens avenues to benefit us! Those avenues may very well be
the counsel and wisdom of people who we consider to be ‘less learned’
than us. In fact, the very things that we pray for over and over, those
things that seem to be vicious cycles in our lives, may be happening
because we have not been open to receiving advice or teaching that will
break the cycle.
Sometimes un-teach-ability can be a wall of
protection. In effect, if we want to protect our image or control the
outcome of circumstances, we won’t be willing to hear ideas that differ
from what we desire. For example, I greatly desired my oldest son to
live nearby us when he landed his first job. It seemed right that I
should ask others to pray and agree with me… but it wasn’t right. And
God had to show me through others that I was praying against His will.
He had other plans for my son and I was unknowingly fighting against the
blessings that God wanted to bring into my son’s life.
Paul
told Timothy to break out of his legalism and receive the freedom and
healing of God by drinking a little wine for medicinal purposes (1 Tim
5:23). Timothy was perhaps resistant to receiving any advice contrary to
what he believed to be the ‘facts’ of Old Testament law. And when the
prophet Elisha told Naaman to wash in the River Jordan, Naaman became
angry and refused – he wanted Elisha to wave his hands over him and
pronounce him healed. Naaman’s humble servants finally convinced him to
take a dip in the Jordan, whereupon he was instantly healed (2 Kings
5).
Teach-ability is rooted in humility and humility is willing
to say “I don’t really have it all, and I am willing to be instructed
by whomever God sends with His wisdom and understanding.” When we
humble ourselves we shut the door on the enemy - he is the father of
pride and exalts himself above the knowledge of God.
However,
being teachable doesn’t require us to be push-overs. It means we are
open to what others say, but at the same time we are not defensive and
protective. A teachable person listens and ponders, allowing the Holy
Spirit to reveal God’s mind and will. If what’s given as advice through
others is meant for us to receive and use, then God will show us. If
it’s not for us, then we can put it on the ‘thanks anyway’ pile and move
on in love and gentleness.
“Give instruction to a wise man
and he will be yet wiser; teach a righteous man (one upright and in
right standing with God) and he will increase in learning.” (Prov. 9:9)
Paul must have seen that the men in Ephesus were struggling to love
their wives. Perhaps they were treating them more as servants than
wives: we aren’t specifically told. On the other hand, Paul
must have also seen that the Ephesian women were struggling to be
respectful to their husbands - they may have been carrying out their
wifely duties, but it wasn’t always in a respectful manner. So Paul
encouraged each of them in the areas where they were weak: men needed
to learn to love their wives and women needed to learn to respect their
husbands. (Eph 5:22-25)
Some people have taken these
scriptures to mean that women aren’t necessarily supposed to love their
husbands, but it’s required that they show respect. However, this is
not in alignment with scripture. A close look at Titus 2 reveals a
command for older women to teach younger women to love their husbands –
which Paul calls ‘sound doctrine.’ This love is a fondness and
affection for one’s spouse, according to Strong’s Concordance.
While we may not always understand how to love in the way God loves, we
can learn it! We can watch those who have progressed in the love walk,
and listen to those who open the word and teach us how to love, and
follow the leading of the Holy Spirit in loving our spouses well!
“But as for you, speak the things which are proper for sound
doctrine…that older women likewise… be reverent in behavior…teachers of
good things— that they admonish the young women to love their husbands
[with fondness and affection] and to love their children [with maternal
care and tenderness]…” (Titus 2:1-4 AMP with added definitions).
Perspective is defined as personal outlook,
point of view, take on a situation, or interpretation of something.
(Dictionary.com)
Our perspective on things is what sets our attitude. If we believe something, our perspective flows
out of that belief and our responses follow it. But personal
perspective is not necessarily Truth nor is it necessary valid – even
though an individual will generally see his or her perspective as an
absolutely correct, as though there could be no possible way of viewing
something differently (Isaiah 6:9).
Sometimes we allow our past
experiences, self-protectiveness, emotions or desire to skew our
perspective, and we veer off of Biblical thinking and reasoning. Being
skewed towards one side of an argument or situation means that we focus
on one piece of it that seems the most important to us – but God is able
to reveal Truth and get us re-focused on His divine and all
encompassing view of circumstances and events.
Isaiah 11 tells
us that Jesus’ perspective was God driven – and the Holy Spirit inspired
His thought life as He lived and walked in the natural realm. Jesus
wasn’t governed by what He saw or heard, by His past experiences, or
fear of death, and neither should we be - God calls this ‘unrighteous’
decision making. (Isaiah 11:2-3)
There are a multitude of
atrocities and violent acts going on around the world at this time. We
must be people whose perspective is inspired by the Holy Spirit - not by
the world’s actions and reactions or our past experiences - if we are
to stay focused on God and allow Him to inspire our prayers and works.
Today, I pray for each of us to have supernatural perspective - and
the resulting prayers and actions that follow it. May God help us not
to add fuel to a hellish fire, but to burn bright with the love and the
inspiration of the Holy Spirit!
I realize this may be an offensive picture to
some, and it may be a 'funny' picture to others. To me, it's
representative of an attitude that has 'surpassed' Godliness and become
it's own god in trying to right the wrongs of our nation.
There is a definite line that's been crossed in the Christian community
- that of being respectful and fighting for righteousness versus being
disrespectful and unGodly. This image was posted on the Facebook wall of
a Christian - the white wash was added before posting to this message.
Do we have to wonder why our children are disrespectful when parents
put this kind of message out for our kids and the world to see? This
does not breed educated, thinking adults; it breeds contempt and
ignorance.
If we are fighting for righteousness, it cannot be
established with an unrighteous attitude. If our goal is to bring
Godliness into our nation, name calling and degrading is not the way to
do it. Stick with the issues.
I am not a defender of the wrongs
and unGodliness being done in our country, but know that being an honor
student doesn't bring about righteousness and the ability to run a
country as a nation under God. In fact, many of our past and current leaders graduated from law school with honors - including our current president.
We are not fighting people, but principalities who
use people. Let us not become used of the principalities, but let us be
those who stand for righteousness and operate at the highest standards
of respect and wisdom.
Hindrances can be very subtle. They sometimes start out as a good thing
but are turned, ever so slightly, in the wrong direction. As an
example, consider Eve (Gen 3:6). She ate of the tree not only because
the fruit looked delicious, but because she desired to be wise. Her
thinking and decision making process was swayed by her desire for wisdom
– a desire that should have made her seek out God as the source of
wisdom rather than look outside of Him. That desire became a hindrance
to her.
Other words for hindrance are obstacle, impediment,
nuisance, constraint and encumbrance. Encumbrance is a banking term
used to mean a mortgage or debt, and the Bible tells us that whom we are
indebted to is our master (Matt. 6:24). In this instance, we are
speaking about ‘what’ or ‘who’ has become our master because we have
allowed it to take our attention and affection away from God, weighing
us down in the same way a large debt can weigh us down.
As Paul
indicated in Hebrews 12, we are to throw off every hindrance that slows
us down or distracts us from putting God first in our lives. If we
could put an image to this it might be the picture of Elijah, who tucked
his long garment under his belt before he ran to Jezreel (1 kings 18).
His garment would have tripped him up and slowed him down - leaving him
bruised, out of sync with God’s timing, and frustrated - so he removed
it from around his legs.
It’s our job to ‘throw off’ the weight
of the hindrance – others cannot do it for us. We are responsible to
recognize the weight through the help of the Holy Spirit and get rid of
it. That weight may have subtly crept up on us in the form of lack of
sleep, too much television, over eating, attitudes, Godly desires that
have turned to fleshly desires (ie: Eve’s wisdom), or hyper focus on
problems instead of God. Those things that take our affection and
attention off of God are the hindrances that God wants us to remove –
and then RUN the race at Godspeed!
“Let us strip off and throw
aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so
readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run
with patient endurance and … active persistence the appointed course of
the race that is set before us, looking away from distractions and
toward Jesus…” (Heb 12:2-3 AMP paraphrased)
Our physical actions spiritually influence the
world around us, but on the other hand, the way we physical behave is
often the result of spiritual influences.
In effect, our actions either agree with
(and increase) the spiritual realm of God, or agree with (and increase)
the spiritual realm of satan – it’s that simple. We live in physical
bodies which have the immense ability to both influence, and be
influenced, spiritually.
Why are we told to lift holy hands in
prayer (1 Tim2:8) or physically bow down and worship (Ps 95:6)? Why did
God direct the prophet Hosea to marry a prostitute and name his
children “not pitied” and “you are not my children?” (Hosea 1) The
answer to all of these is that these physical bodies are avenues to
establish and carry out the spiritual kingdom of God on earth.
I can see, in my own life, where I’ve missed the mark in this physical
life. That’s not to say that I’m living under some type of law and
keeping track of every right and wrong, but I’ve lost opportunities to
be a spiritual influence by the way I’ve acted out my physical life.
The way I care for my body, my posture toward others, being willing to
physically move at God's prompting; these are things which bring
spiritual influence to the world around me.
We are holy
highways on which the desires of God are constantly brought to earth and
dispersed at His will, and our physical actions can open that highway
to spiritually impact the world around us. The physical acts of
weddings, presidential inaugurations, baptisms –these are common acts
whose spiritual influence is far greater than the words spoken at these
events. But so are the physical actions of each of us as prompted by
the Holy Spirit.
What happened when Jesus gave His physical body as an example of complete surrender to God’s will?
What if God prompts you to dance like David?
What if your next breakthrough is simply a physical motion away?
What if our physical bodies were simply another avenue for God to establish His kingdom on this earth?
“You shall Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your
soul, and with all your body and all of its physical strength" (Deut 6:5
paraphrased).
We are seated with Christ in heavenly realms
(Eph 2:6), having entrance to the throne room of God. This is how our
days of heaven are manifested on earth – we are deeply connected to our
Source and consequently live the life of Christ on earth. Being seated
with Christ is being unified with Him in thought and purpose: we “live
by heaven’s standards and are motivated by heaven’s impulses” (Baker’s
NT Commentary).
When we were ‘saved’ and accepted Christ as our
Savior it was much more than a washing of sins and reserving of our spot
in heaven – those were the blessed beginnings. When the curtain to the
temple was torn in two, at the death of Jesus, we were given complete
access to the Holy of Holies (the throne room of heaven and the presence
of God), and opportunity to daily commune with the God of the Universe.
By the Holy Spirit we enter the Holy of Holies where we sit at His
feet and hear His voice, understand His wisdom and receive His love
(Heb. 6, 10, Is. 6). Our job is to apply that wisdom and love in the
earthly realms in God’s timing and manner.
Going into the Holy
of Holies with God gives us opportunity to seek Him for each individual
decision and circumstance in our lives. No two circumstances are the
same and we need God’s insight for each one - we are not people of
method and law as it relates to living for Him, applying the same answer
to every concern.
As we commune with God, He helps us avoid
picking up the wrong weapon for the battle or even fighting a battle
that isn’t ours to fight. As we purposely sit at His feet, God reveals
motives, hurts and roots behind both our own and other people’s conduct.
He knows the core of each problem and the target that needs to be hit
through prayer or other action: here is the place to wait on Him and
receive His answers.
We have a High Priest, Jesus Christ, who
became the final living sacrifice and gave His blood that we would have
access to the throne room of heaven. Therefore, we can have confidence
that God is waiting for us to commune with Him and we enter in to His
presence not solely for the purpose of receiving answers and wisdom, but
for fellowship with Him, the Blessing above all blessings. Here is
where God lavishes His love on us and frees us of the fear and turmoil
of the world (Heb 4:14-16 paraphrased).
Afraid to be Me
Our individuality is a
gift from God: we are each uniquely formed and prepared for a specific
work that is assigned to us (Eph 4:11, Jer 1:5). And though we're each
cut form a different mold and individually crafted by the Master Sculptor, we fit together in the Body of Christ like pieces of a puzzle.
As we become the sanctified individuals God has intended us to be, we
learn how to love and serve in the unique way that God has created us to
love others and serve Him. But if we allow ourselves to be conformed
to other’s norms, we may wind up walking in disobedience to God – never
fulfilling His purposes through us for His glory.
This is not
to say that any one of us should put his own interests above unity in
the Body of Christ, but that each one should allow the Holy Spirit
freedom to develop him into the person God has called him to be –
thereby becoming free to be a fully functioning member of the Body.
Developing self is not selfishness toward the Body of Christ - if each
person is a seeker of God individually and allows himself to be
transformed to God’s design for him, he will fit into the Body
perfectly.
Sadly, many of us have not become the unique
individuals God has intended us to be – and perhaps this is part of the
reason we don’t see God’s power and creativity abounding in the world
today. We feel pressured to conform – causing us to use our God given
creativity within “acceptable” boundaries which bring comfort to men’s
flesh. We must dress a certain way to fit in, behave a certain way to
be accepted, and speak with a certain lingo to communicate with the
group. This can cause us to love through the lense of other’s
expectations of us and live in fear of being rejected. This is not
mature love – perfect love casts out fear.
We miss out
considerably when we exclude people because they aren’t ‘like us.’ John
the Baptist was quite different than his contemporaries….but his
personality was necessary for the work God called him to. What
individual ‘quirks’ do you have that may be the avenue to bring God’s
power and love to others?
Being a unique individual is not
an excuse to be rude or selfish, or keep us from being an integral part
of His Body - that would be negating the purpose of individuality.
Becoming a fully mature, unique, child of God is becoming who God has
created us to be in Him so that we can love and be a witness as no other
person can be. This is not because we are better or greater, but
because we are created to minister His love through our own unique,
sanctified personalities.
Perhaps it's time to break out of the
mold that has kept you stifled and held the love of God captive inside
of you. You're not just another brick in the wall - you're a living,
breathing, life giving, master crafted, unique individual - perfectly
formed for His glory!
