I want today to direct your thoughts to Hosea 6 and see the loving kindness in God's longsuffering patience toward us. Hosea 6:1-7 (New American Standard Bible)
1"Come, let us return to the LORD for He has torn us, but He will heal us; He has wounded us, but He will bandage us. 2"He will revive us after two days; He will raise us up on the third day, that we may live before Him. 3"So let us know, let us press on to know the LORD, His going forth is as certain as the dawn; and He will come to us like the rain, like the spring rain watering the earth." 4What shall I do with you, O Ephraim? What shall I do with you, O Judah? For your loyalty is like a morning cloud and like the dew which goes away early. 5Therefore I have hewn them in pieces by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of My mouth; and the judgments on you are like the light that goes forth. 6For I delight in loyalty rather than sacrifice, and in the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings. 7But like Adam they have transgressed the covenant; there they have dealt treacherously against Me.
We see the covenant response of mankind to God through God's eyes. When we are not loyal enough to Him to heed His Word to us, allowing something in this realm to be more important to us than His Word, we are transgressing the covenant. There is no way that we mortals could not have broken this covenant with God even if Adam had not done so. We have so much more of God's revealed purpose and the sacrifice of Jesus to give us an even greater covenant and we still do not give to Him our first and complete loyalty as He has given to us. God wants us to seek to know him. He wants our first and devoted love above all other recipients in this realm. He wants our conversation and our relationship. There are times when we give this. There are times when we seek Him. But if we treat the relationships we have within this realm as we do the relationship we have with God, those relationships would not survive. God has such a love for us and such a desire to have us as His Sons and share in His glory in eternity that He exhibits to us love and longsuffering patience and kindness that is easily trampled on by human lack of knowledge of God.
It is amazing to me that we have allowed the deception that Satan has distributed so fully among God's own people to succeed. One facet of that deception is that we cannot know God. To have a people that know Him is God's great desire toward us. It is the method we use to know Him that God refutes. God has given His Spirit to minister continually to this realm. One day we will look at the many faceted ministry of the Holy Spirit, but for now let us look at His ministry to lead us in our search to know God.
In the sixth chapter of John, Jesus said that no one had seen the Father but the One who is from the Father but He was showing the difference between being taught of God and seeing God. He said the prophets had declared that God would teach in the New Covenant. The prophets were Isaiah and Jeremiah. Let us look at Jeremiah 31 where he tells the people that there would be a New Covenant. Jeremiah 31:31-34 (New American Standard Bible) 31"Behold, days are coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah,
32not like the covenant which I made with their fathers in the day I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which they broke, although I was a husband to them," declares the LORD. 33"But this is the covenant which I will make with the house of Israel after those days," declares the LORD, "I will put My law within them and on their heart I will write it; and I will be their God, and they shall be My people. 34"They will not teach again, each man his neighbor and each man his brother, saying, 'Know the LORD,' for they will all know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them," declares the LORD, "for I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will remember no more."
In that same chapter of John, Jesus continued with His telling the people to eat of His flesh and drink of His blood to have Life in them. There is a Way to the knowledge of God but we must go His Way.
Hosea 6:3 (King James Version) 3Then shall we know, if we follow on to know the LORD: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. There must be a progressive nature to our seeking to know Him. Passive contentment with what we have is not true loyalty to The One Who has given so much to draw us to Him. The knowledge of God does not come from our study. Yes, study is important, but there is a following The Lamb that must inspire our reading. It cannot be from duty or habit and have that progressive quality we need. He will lead us in the way He wants us to go. David saw that leading and likened it to his own way of minding his sheep. It is sometimes in quiet pasture and still waters. It is sometimes in places called the shadow of the Valley of Death. There are enemies that would attack us but He provides a table in their presence. Jesus said to follow Him and take up our cross. Our cross is very individual. No one has one quite like it. Only I can die on my cross because it is my nature that is the enmity to God and that I must surrender to have His Nature live in me.
John 17:3 (New Living Translation) And this is the way to have eternal life—to know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, the one you sent to earth.
Our covenant response is to seek, follow, and learn at His feet.
Monday, August 31, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
Learning to be blessed/protecting our harvest
Matthew 13:11-17 (Amplified Bible) 11And He replied to them, To you it has been given to know the secrets and mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given. 12For whoever has [spiritual knowledge], to him will more be given and he will be furnished richly so that he will have abundance; but from him who has not, even what he has will be taken away. 13This is the reason that I speak to them in parables: because having the power of seeing, they do not see; and having the power of hearing, they do not hear, nor do they grasp and understand. 14In them indeed is the process of fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah, which says: You shall indeed hear and hear but never grasp and understand; and you shall indeed look and look but never see and perceive. 15For this nation's heart has grown gross (fat and dull), and their ears heavy and difficult of hearing, and their eyes they have tightly closed, lest they see and perceive with their eyes, and hear and comprehend the sense with their ears, and grasp and understand with their heart, and turn and I should heal them. 16But blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are your eyes because they do see, and your ears because they do hear. 17Truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous men [men who were upright and in right standing with God] yearned to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
We can see this process in the nation Israel, but the Bible is full of people who had a desire to live under God's protection but not pay the price or give the required covenant response to "know" that protection. God gives to us and His purpose is to protect what He gives us to the day of completion of it in us. The person that accepts that the substitutionary work of Jesus is for him and so he is made alive in his spirit or born again, begins a journey toward the Day when God will say, "Well done faithful and righteous servant, enter now into the Joy of the Lord." II Timothy 1:12 (New American Standard Bible) For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. In the Greek it is simply "what committed." It can be "what He has committed to me", or as the translators have chosen "what I have committed to Him." It is Truth either way. I like to have Him hold my hand instead of me holding His. I like to think that what He has committed to me, He will protect. The reason I like this is simple. I know my self and I know how easy it is to get distracted and for a little time, let go of the goal and let the cares of this life creep in. I have had experience with people who started out with wonderful revelation slip into human error. It is always because something in this realm or in their nature became so important to guard that they failed to give God the covenant response He was expecting. Only His Spirit can bring one back to repentance and right standing. In Matthew 13:15 one translation says "become dull" and shows that things can come between us and The Light and cause a shadow to fall on us. Whether we live in that shadow or come back into the Light is a choice or response we have to make.
So in committing everything He has committed to us in revelation, experience or testing, we have to be aware He is in control and we need to check with Him before we make judgments. This leads us to the need to draw on the grace of the Holy Spirit to give us the discerning of spirits. This is very necessary as we are living in the time of which Jesus spoke when He warned of a great deception that could deceive even the elect if it were possible. Jesus walked in this discerning for we see in Matthew 16 He blessed Peter because the Father had revealed a truth to him and in just a few verses later He rebuked him for allowing Satan to speak through him. How could Peter utter such a tremendous revelation one minute and be used of Satan the next? Jesus said Peter was not setting his mind on God's interests but on man's.
We must guard our heart in many ways. Faith in God's protective control, seeking the Spirit to give us a discerning of spirits, determined to keep our focus on God and not on man's interests are all ways in which we can effectively be on guard.
Watch those who are walking in His ways and take note of the wisdom and carefulness with which they meet challenges. Hear their silences as well as their words. Take note of where they have their focus and their submission to the Lord's authority over them. Don't mistake the Spirit's grace of discerning of spirits for man's suspicions. The Pharisees never trusted in Jesus' Word because they could not accept that God would do something so different from what they were used to doing. God is restoring to the Church foundational gift ministries. There are men being used of God who are very humbly fulfilling God's commission to them. They are not seeking glory of man or prestige of a following or monetary wealth. They are not moved by praise or criticism. Their eyes are on the vision God has given them and their desire is to be used of Him in any way to accomplish His will through them. We can follow their example and listen to them for God is doing a work of restoration to His Church. We can be imitators of their way of life just as we are followers of Christ. Philippians 3:17 (New American Standard Bible) "Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us."
To me, this is an exciting time. I am seeing God at work in His Church and in those who have set their will to do His will. God is in control and if you guard your heart from the evil around us by focusing on God, your eyes will be opened to see it and your heart will understand the glory of it.
We can see this process in the nation Israel, but the Bible is full of people who had a desire to live under God's protection but not pay the price or give the required covenant response to "know" that protection. God gives to us and His purpose is to protect what He gives us to the day of completion of it in us. The person that accepts that the substitutionary work of Jesus is for him and so he is made alive in his spirit or born again, begins a journey toward the Day when God will say, "Well done faithful and righteous servant, enter now into the Joy of the Lord." II Timothy 1:12 (New American Standard Bible) For this reason I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day. In the Greek it is simply "what committed." It can be "what He has committed to me", or as the translators have chosen "what I have committed to Him." It is Truth either way. I like to have Him hold my hand instead of me holding His. I like to think that what He has committed to me, He will protect. The reason I like this is simple. I know my self and I know how easy it is to get distracted and for a little time, let go of the goal and let the cares of this life creep in. I have had experience with people who started out with wonderful revelation slip into human error. It is always because something in this realm or in their nature became so important to guard that they failed to give God the covenant response He was expecting. Only His Spirit can bring one back to repentance and right standing. In Matthew 13:15 one translation says "become dull" and shows that things can come between us and The Light and cause a shadow to fall on us. Whether we live in that shadow or come back into the Light is a choice or response we have to make.
So in committing everything He has committed to us in revelation, experience or testing, we have to be aware He is in control and we need to check with Him before we make judgments. This leads us to the need to draw on the grace of the Holy Spirit to give us the discerning of spirits. This is very necessary as we are living in the time of which Jesus spoke when He warned of a great deception that could deceive even the elect if it were possible. Jesus walked in this discerning for we see in Matthew 16 He blessed Peter because the Father had revealed a truth to him and in just a few verses later He rebuked him for allowing Satan to speak through him. How could Peter utter such a tremendous revelation one minute and be used of Satan the next? Jesus said Peter was not setting his mind on God's interests but on man's.
We must guard our heart in many ways. Faith in God's protective control, seeking the Spirit to give us a discerning of spirits, determined to keep our focus on God and not on man's interests are all ways in which we can effectively be on guard.
Watch those who are walking in His ways and take note of the wisdom and carefulness with which they meet challenges. Hear their silences as well as their words. Take note of where they have their focus and their submission to the Lord's authority over them. Don't mistake the Spirit's grace of discerning of spirits for man's suspicions. The Pharisees never trusted in Jesus' Word because they could not accept that God would do something so different from what they were used to doing. God is restoring to the Church foundational gift ministries. There are men being used of God who are very humbly fulfilling God's commission to them. They are not seeking glory of man or prestige of a following or monetary wealth. They are not moved by praise or criticism. Their eyes are on the vision God has given them and their desire is to be used of Him in any way to accomplish His will through them. We can follow their example and listen to them for God is doing a work of restoration to His Church. We can be imitators of their way of life just as we are followers of Christ. Philippians 3:17 (New American Standard Bible) "Brethren, join in following my example, and observe those who walk according to the pattern you have in us."
To me, this is an exciting time. I am seeing God at work in His Church and in those who have set their will to do His will. God is in control and if you guard your heart from the evil around us by focusing on God, your eyes will be opened to see it and your heart will understand the glory of it.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
Learning to be blessed/persecuted
Matthew 5:10-11 (New Living Translation) "God blesses those who are persecuted for doing right, for the Kingdom of Heaven is theirs. God blesses you when people mock you and persecute you and lie about you and say all sorts of evil things against you because you are my followers."
In the process of covenant making, there is an exchange of enemies. Among nations and tribes, clans, families and friends, the presence of an enemy was a common reason for the covenant making--you needed the protective covering that covenant would provide.
Sin entered God's Space long before man was created. Lucifer introduced the rebellion of sin through pride and greed. Ezekiel 28 describes his downfall but in Isaiah 14 we see his rebellion spelled out for us. Isaiah 14:12-15 (New American Standard Bible) 12"How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn, you have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations! 13"But you said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. 14'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' 15 Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit.
Sin entered man and this realm through the lack of covenant response and the desire for the control for gaining knowledge and position. When we turn the control back to God and live by covenant response to God, we actually leave our citizenship of this realm and, through the Blood of Jesus Christ and the voicing of our confession of trust in His finished work, become citizens of God's realm. Ephesians 2:19-22 (New American Standard Bible) 19So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, 20having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, 21in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, 22in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
And again in Colossians 1:13-14 (NLT)13 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.
Living in His Kingdom under the covering of His Covenant with us, we become aliens and foreigners to this realm. Jesus said we were to be in this world but not of it. This makes us children of Light and the children of darkness who choose to live in darkness cannot tolerate the Light. Jesus said if they rejected Him and persecuted Him, they would also reject and persecute us, His followers. We know how the people persecuted the early Church and all through the years since, people have been persecuted for their faith in Jesus. It is the covenant exchange. We become a part of His Kingdom and those who hate the King will hate you. What is the blessing? The Kingdom of Heaven is yours now and forever.
What is our covenant response? Matthew 5:12 (New Living Translation)
12 Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.
This is not the normal way we humans look on persecution. But as you die to self and follow in the Lord's footsteps, taking on His nature and purpose, you change from human "normal" to God's "normal". You don't stop and think "I have to do this because this is more like Jesus!" Praise and worship become a part of your soul and spirit. You find yourself reacting to Him and not to the circumstance. You are living in another kingdom!
In the process of covenant making, there is an exchange of enemies. Among nations and tribes, clans, families and friends, the presence of an enemy was a common reason for the covenant making--you needed the protective covering that covenant would provide.
Sin entered God's Space long before man was created. Lucifer introduced the rebellion of sin through pride and greed. Ezekiel 28 describes his downfall but in Isaiah 14 we see his rebellion spelled out for us. Isaiah 14:12-15 (New American Standard Bible) 12"How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn, you have been cut down to the earth, you who have weakened the nations! 13"But you said in your heart, 'I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God, and I will sit on the mount of assembly in the recesses of the north. 14'I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.' 15 Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol, to the recesses of the pit.
Sin entered man and this realm through the lack of covenant response and the desire for the control for gaining knowledge and position. When we turn the control back to God and live by covenant response to God, we actually leave our citizenship of this realm and, through the Blood of Jesus Christ and the voicing of our confession of trust in His finished work, become citizens of God's realm. Ephesians 2:19-22 (New American Standard Bible) 19So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, 20having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, 21in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, 22in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit.
And again in Colossians 1:13-14 (NLT)13 For he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son, 14 who purchased our freedom and forgave our sins.
Living in His Kingdom under the covering of His Covenant with us, we become aliens and foreigners to this realm. Jesus said we were to be in this world but not of it. This makes us children of Light and the children of darkness who choose to live in darkness cannot tolerate the Light. Jesus said if they rejected Him and persecuted Him, they would also reject and persecute us, His followers. We know how the people persecuted the early Church and all through the years since, people have been persecuted for their faith in Jesus. It is the covenant exchange. We become a part of His Kingdom and those who hate the King will hate you. What is the blessing? The Kingdom of Heaven is yours now and forever.
What is our covenant response? Matthew 5:12 (New Living Translation)
12 Be happy about it! Be very glad! For a great reward awaits you in heaven. And remember, the ancient prophets were persecuted in the same way.
This is not the normal way we humans look on persecution. But as you die to self and follow in the Lord's footsteps, taking on His nature and purpose, you change from human "normal" to God's "normal". You don't stop and think "I have to do this because this is more like Jesus!" Praise and worship become a part of your soul and spirit. You find yourself reacting to Him and not to the circumstance. You are living in another kingdom!
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Learning to be blessed/peacemakers
Matthew 5:9 (New Living Translation) God blesses those who work for peace, for they will be called the children of God.
Until I was married and joining my husband in ministry as missionaries, King James Version was the only Bible available to us. We turned to the original Greek New Testament for more words to help us understand some verses for there were not that many "help" books available either. We memorized in King James and even now we tend to think in that text. But the word "peacemakers" had a double meaning. There was a popular gun used in the West called a "peacemaker" and we found that many Christians were using that method for "peace".
As humans sharing human nature, we often fall back on that familiar territory when we find ourselves "scraping along" with people in close contact. No matter how vigorously we are trying to achieve the Divine Nature, first reaction is often "human". I remember as a girl I had an almost constant prayer that I would bleed Christ. I longed for that first reaction to be Christlike. I find I am still praying that same prayer for some aspects of our human nature die very slowly. We achieve higher levels of relationship but that only invites our Father to dig deeper in His bringing us closer to His likeness. It is always amazing how much He can find that I thought was taken away! Striving for peace is a great revealer of the nature within.
This translation speaks of those who work for peace and I like that concept. We start that work in ourselves to examine our reaction to the person or the situation. Have we developed that set reaction that automatically molds our conception because of previous experience? We have faith that God is at work in us and we are changing, but do we give that same faith to others with whom we have had unhappy experiences in the past? Division comes because of a failure to unite. Love unites. Not the word "love" but the spirit and emotion of love that has been determined to exist. That means work. As in a garden that we want to take delight in displaying and using, there must be work. Weeds must be eliminated.
A group of people dwelling together in peace is a delightful garden. But what are the weeds that threaten it. There are few things in this life that are static in perfection. It can be perfect today and not so perfect tomorrow. It takes continual weeding. Lack of prayer is a tremendous threat to peace. As is a lack of faith for God to be in control and have the final word. It is necessary for us to have faith that "it is not about us but all about Him!" when it comes to our own failings, but we will not have peace until we can have that same faith for everyone.
The list of weeds is long: jealousy, irritation, desire to see our own agenda prosper, an unyielding spirit, lack of compassion, lack of revelation of God's will and purpose and a lack of identification are weeds that spoil the growth and beauty of peace.
What are our tools for working for peace? I mentioned prayer but there are many aspects of prayer. The first tool of prayer has to be directed back to our own self and let the Spirit examine our hearts. (I have been amazed at the tools in my husband's work shop that all bear the same name but have different shapes and uses. I liken prayer to this diversity!) Our prayer must be producing a willingness to turn from our own will to allow His will to be accomplished. There must be the compassionate prayer that puts you in another's shoes. There must be the intercessory prayer that binds the spirit and work of the enemy. There must be the prayer that builds bridges across the chasms that seem to be prevalent in any aspect of our existence. No two people think alike or have the same goals to the same measure. We see it in our reaction to politics, religion, philosophy and even in what is acceptable in behavior or fashion or polite response. There are generational gaps, educational gaps, experiential gaps until the possibility of a chasm seems endless.
This is true of any relationship. If a relationship is to exist, there must be peace. Any person who has experienced marriage or family life knows how important peace is and how easily threatened that peace can be. Jesus holds out to us God's covenant expectation. We must work at peace if we are to give the covenant response that will allow us to be sons of God. Being a son of God is for eternity. The benefits of that goal are everlasting. Our work for peace is fleeting in comparison.
Until I was married and joining my husband in ministry as missionaries, King James Version was the only Bible available to us. We turned to the original Greek New Testament for more words to help us understand some verses for there were not that many "help" books available either. We memorized in King James and even now we tend to think in that text. But the word "peacemakers" had a double meaning. There was a popular gun used in the West called a "peacemaker" and we found that many Christians were using that method for "peace".
As humans sharing human nature, we often fall back on that familiar territory when we find ourselves "scraping along" with people in close contact. No matter how vigorously we are trying to achieve the Divine Nature, first reaction is often "human". I remember as a girl I had an almost constant prayer that I would bleed Christ. I longed for that first reaction to be Christlike. I find I am still praying that same prayer for some aspects of our human nature die very slowly. We achieve higher levels of relationship but that only invites our Father to dig deeper in His bringing us closer to His likeness. It is always amazing how much He can find that I thought was taken away! Striving for peace is a great revealer of the nature within.
This translation speaks of those who work for peace and I like that concept. We start that work in ourselves to examine our reaction to the person or the situation. Have we developed that set reaction that automatically molds our conception because of previous experience? We have faith that God is at work in us and we are changing, but do we give that same faith to others with whom we have had unhappy experiences in the past? Division comes because of a failure to unite. Love unites. Not the word "love" but the spirit and emotion of love that has been determined to exist. That means work. As in a garden that we want to take delight in displaying and using, there must be work. Weeds must be eliminated.
A group of people dwelling together in peace is a delightful garden. But what are the weeds that threaten it. There are few things in this life that are static in perfection. It can be perfect today and not so perfect tomorrow. It takes continual weeding. Lack of prayer is a tremendous threat to peace. As is a lack of faith for God to be in control and have the final word. It is necessary for us to have faith that "it is not about us but all about Him!" when it comes to our own failings, but we will not have peace until we can have that same faith for everyone.
The list of weeds is long: jealousy, irritation, desire to see our own agenda prosper, an unyielding spirit, lack of compassion, lack of revelation of God's will and purpose and a lack of identification are weeds that spoil the growth and beauty of peace.
What are our tools for working for peace? I mentioned prayer but there are many aspects of prayer. The first tool of prayer has to be directed back to our own self and let the Spirit examine our hearts. (I have been amazed at the tools in my husband's work shop that all bear the same name but have different shapes and uses. I liken prayer to this diversity!) Our prayer must be producing a willingness to turn from our own will to allow His will to be accomplished. There must be the compassionate prayer that puts you in another's shoes. There must be the intercessory prayer that binds the spirit and work of the enemy. There must be the prayer that builds bridges across the chasms that seem to be prevalent in any aspect of our existence. No two people think alike or have the same goals to the same measure. We see it in our reaction to politics, religion, philosophy and even in what is acceptable in behavior or fashion or polite response. There are generational gaps, educational gaps, experiential gaps until the possibility of a chasm seems endless.
This is true of any relationship. If a relationship is to exist, there must be peace. Any person who has experienced marriage or family life knows how important peace is and how easily threatened that peace can be. Jesus holds out to us God's covenant expectation. We must work at peace if we are to give the covenant response that will allow us to be sons of God. Being a son of God is for eternity. The benefits of that goal are everlasting. Our work for peace is fleeting in comparison.
Sunday, August 23, 2009
Learning to be blessed/Pure in heart
Matthew 5:8 (New Living Translation) "God blesses those whose hearts are pure, for they will see God."
To understand this scripture, we have to begin with understanding the biblical "heart" of man. It is the center of his being so it involves the spirit of man. It is also the conveyer of emotion and will. The heart is mentioned in many different ways and times. "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he," conveys the idea that the thoughts of a man that are already mixed with emotion and possibly involving his will are a part of his "heart". We have already considered that the intellect and emotion is of the soul. We know that Satan has access to our mind to sow thoughts there. We can develop emotions of anger, distrust, vengence, lust and even hate from those thoughts. This deepens the thoughts that are sowed in our mind into our soul. When dwelt on and acted on, these become a part of our spirit. This would cause our "heart" to be contaminated and our being would become what our "heart" is.
Jesus spoke quite often of the "heart" and that both good and evil come from the heart.
Matthew 5:28 (NLT) "But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
Matthew 6:21 (NLT) "Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be."
Matthew 13:15 (NLT) "For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes—so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them."
Matthew 15:19 (NLT) "For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander."
Matthew 18:35 NLT) “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”
Luke 2:19 (NLT) "but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often."
Luke 2:51 (NLT) "Then he returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. And his mother stored all these things in her heart."
These are a few of the Scriptures concerning the heart of man. So let us consider what a pure heart is. Certainly Jesus was pure of heart. In Him there was no sin. Is it possible for us to have a pure heart? Yes, Jesus would not have spoken of "the pure in heart" if it were not possible. How do we achieve this purity?
David had certainly committed acts that would show what was in his heart and it was a terrible revelation to him. His cry is recorded in Psalm 51:10-12 (Amplified Bible) "10Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me. 11Cast me not away from Your presence and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. 12Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit."
Psalm 51:17 (Amplified Bible) "My sacrifice [the sacrifice acceptable] to God is a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart [broken down with sorrow for sin and humbly and thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise."
True repentance is the first step to a pure heart. Dwelling in His Word until your thoughts are filled with His Word and meditating on it until your actions follow after these pure thoughts are more steps. Jesus gave us a further clue to a pure heart in His answer to the Pharisee who was testing him. Matthew 22:37-40 (Amplified Bible) 37And He replied to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect). 38This is the great (most important, principal) and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself. 40These two commandments sum up and upon them depend all the Law and the Prophets.
Love is the expectation of the New Covenant. Jesus did not give us a list of commandments but He summed up the expectations of the Old Covenant with the one word, Love.
Moses had a desire to see God and God answered his desire. We can have the same expectation and we have the promise of Jesus that we will see God. We give to Him the covenant response of making sure our heart is pure.
To understand this scripture, we have to begin with understanding the biblical "heart" of man. It is the center of his being so it involves the spirit of man. It is also the conveyer of emotion and will. The heart is mentioned in many different ways and times. "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he," conveys the idea that the thoughts of a man that are already mixed with emotion and possibly involving his will are a part of his "heart". We have already considered that the intellect and emotion is of the soul. We know that Satan has access to our mind to sow thoughts there. We can develop emotions of anger, distrust, vengence, lust and even hate from those thoughts. This deepens the thoughts that are sowed in our mind into our soul. When dwelt on and acted on, these become a part of our spirit. This would cause our "heart" to be contaminated and our being would become what our "heart" is.
Jesus spoke quite often of the "heart" and that both good and evil come from the heart.
Matthew 5:28 (NLT) "But I say, anyone who even looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart."
Matthew 6:21 (NLT) "Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be."
Matthew 13:15 (NLT) "For the hearts of these people are hardened, and their ears cannot hear, and they have closed their eyes—so their eyes cannot see, and their ears cannot hear, and their hearts cannot understand, and they cannot turn to me and let me heal them."
Matthew 15:19 (NLT) "For from the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, all sexual immorality, theft, lying, and slander."
Matthew 18:35 NLT) “That’s what my heavenly Father will do to you if you refuse to forgive your brothers and sisters from your heart.”
Luke 2:19 (NLT) "but Mary kept all these things in her heart and thought about them often."
Luke 2:51 (NLT) "Then he returned to Nazareth with them and was obedient to them. And his mother stored all these things in her heart."
These are a few of the Scriptures concerning the heart of man. So let us consider what a pure heart is. Certainly Jesus was pure of heart. In Him there was no sin. Is it possible for us to have a pure heart? Yes, Jesus would not have spoken of "the pure in heart" if it were not possible. How do we achieve this purity?
David had certainly committed acts that would show what was in his heart and it was a terrible revelation to him. His cry is recorded in Psalm 51:10-12 (Amplified Bible) "10Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right, persevering, and steadfast spirit within me. 11Cast me not away from Your presence and take not Your Holy Spirit from me. 12Restore to me the joy of Your salvation and uphold me with a willing spirit."
Psalm 51:17 (Amplified Bible) "My sacrifice [the sacrifice acceptable] to God is a broken spirit; a broken and a contrite heart [broken down with sorrow for sin and humbly and thoroughly penitent], such, O God, You will not despise."
True repentance is the first step to a pure heart. Dwelling in His Word until your thoughts are filled with His Word and meditating on it until your actions follow after these pure thoughts are more steps. Jesus gave us a further clue to a pure heart in His answer to the Pharisee who was testing him. Matthew 22:37-40 (Amplified Bible) 37And He replied to him, You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind (intellect). 38This is the great (most important, principal) and first commandment. 39And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as [you do] yourself. 40These two commandments sum up and upon them depend all the Law and the Prophets.
Love is the expectation of the New Covenant. Jesus did not give us a list of commandments but He summed up the expectations of the Old Covenant with the one word, Love.
Moses had a desire to see God and God answered his desire. We can have the same expectation and we have the promise of Jesus that we will see God. We give to Him the covenant response of making sure our heart is pure.
Friday, August 21, 2009
Learning to be blessed/mercy--2
Matthew 5:7 (King James Version) "Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy."
As I went over the last session on "Mercy", I realized we needed to consider the "other side of the coin" and recognize a common misuse of mercy. I never thought of the common sin of justifying worry as a misuse of mercy until the Holy Spirit began to show me how easy it is for this in our nature. It is called self-justification and is the other side of mercy. We will apply mercy to our own self when we will deny it to others.
The first response of the adamic nature was to give excuses to God for disobeying His (at that time) only covenant condition. Giving an excuse is so natural to us we don't even realize we are doing so most of the time. Listen carefully to yourself and to others. You will find that you recognize an excuse in someone else almost immediately and, most of the time, realize how frail is their excuse. For instance, if you tell someone not to worry about a certain thing, there will be an instant excuse for the necessity of that worry. I was told once, "If I don't, who will?" A good excuse for worry? Probably not, but I realized it was a powerful reason to that person for worry.
Seeing criticism as a result of not showing mercy, I began to see worry as a criticism of God. When God becomes small in our sight, we have to be big enough to control the situation. How better to exert control than to worry! Surely our worry can bring the change we desire! A family member becomes sick or is in danger. We fear the worst possible thing that can happen and begin to worry. We pray and worry that God won't answer our prayer. A covenant response is impossible when we have set in motion the process of turning away from the only possible solution.
Jesus addressed worry about a very common care. Matthew 6:31-32 (NLT) “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs." Now to make this personal, do you worry about this or do you know that God cares about this detail in your life? Worry is so common, we do not realize we worry. When confronted about worry, a person told me, "But my grandfather was a worrier and my father was so that is just who I am." That is the other side of mercy -- self-justification.
We justify our self when we compare ourselves to someone doing what we would not do. Jesus gave the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18:9-12. We can also justify our self when we use our inadequacy as an excuse. Moses used stuttering, Gideon used his tribe, Jeremiah used his childhood. But God is not limited by any limitation we have. If we consider mankind in the light of Eternal God, what do we have but limitation? I began to consider the Scriptural references to limitation, excuses, and self-justification and decided I would have to copy most of the Bible in this blog and I don't have the space or time. Just know you are not alone nor are you the first to have worry, give excuses or justify yourself. But that does not justify any of us. We still are required to give a Covenant response. Trust, obedience, and love will open the door to all God's power in our behalf. Never forget, God cares for you. His mercy is everlasting!
As I went over the last session on "Mercy", I realized we needed to consider the "other side of the coin" and recognize a common misuse of mercy. I never thought of the common sin of justifying worry as a misuse of mercy until the Holy Spirit began to show me how easy it is for this in our nature. It is called self-justification and is the other side of mercy. We will apply mercy to our own self when we will deny it to others.
The first response of the adamic nature was to give excuses to God for disobeying His (at that time) only covenant condition. Giving an excuse is so natural to us we don't even realize we are doing so most of the time. Listen carefully to yourself and to others. You will find that you recognize an excuse in someone else almost immediately and, most of the time, realize how frail is their excuse. For instance, if you tell someone not to worry about a certain thing, there will be an instant excuse for the necessity of that worry. I was told once, "If I don't, who will?" A good excuse for worry? Probably not, but I realized it was a powerful reason to that person for worry.
Seeing criticism as a result of not showing mercy, I began to see worry as a criticism of God. When God becomes small in our sight, we have to be big enough to control the situation. How better to exert control than to worry! Surely our worry can bring the change we desire! A family member becomes sick or is in danger. We fear the worst possible thing that can happen and begin to worry. We pray and worry that God won't answer our prayer. A covenant response is impossible when we have set in motion the process of turning away from the only possible solution.
Jesus addressed worry about a very common care. Matthew 6:31-32 (NLT) “So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat? What will we drink? What will we wear?’ These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs." Now to make this personal, do you worry about this or do you know that God cares about this detail in your life? Worry is so common, we do not realize we worry. When confronted about worry, a person told me, "But my grandfather was a worrier and my father was so that is just who I am." That is the other side of mercy -- self-justification.
We justify our self when we compare ourselves to someone doing what we would not do. Jesus gave the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector in Luke 18:9-12. We can also justify our self when we use our inadequacy as an excuse. Moses used stuttering, Gideon used his tribe, Jeremiah used his childhood. But God is not limited by any limitation we have. If we consider mankind in the light of Eternal God, what do we have but limitation? I began to consider the Scriptural references to limitation, excuses, and self-justification and decided I would have to copy most of the Bible in this blog and I don't have the space or time. Just know you are not alone nor are you the first to have worry, give excuses or justify yourself. But that does not justify any of us. We still are required to give a Covenant response. Trust, obedience, and love will open the door to all God's power in our behalf. Never forget, God cares for you. His mercy is everlasting!
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Learning to be blessed/mercy
Matthew 5:7 (New Living Translation) God blesses those who are merciful,for they will be shown mercy.
Everyone has an idea of mercy, but mercy is not the same to everyone. We will all agree that mercy involves compassion for someones misery. The problem is we do not understand another person's misery. What we consider miserable may not be miserable to someone else or the opposite may be true: a person may be far more miserable than we think they should be! So our mercy can be limited by our own opinion. We find criticism is often more available than mercy.
Only in Jesus Christ does mercy and truth meet together. In Him, we are able to find mercy for others. When we leave off judging we are able to accept mercy from the Lord to show our fellowman. I am not sure if anyone is naturally merciful at all times to all people. It is not a human trait. But we can become merciful. It is a process. We must be willing to die to the control of being the judge and jury. Happiness in any relationship is the result of this willingness. Most of the problems in a marriage is the lack of this willingness. Criticism is the fruit of this unwillingness. The problem with criticism is that we believe it. Our critical thoughts become the identity of a person. We become reluctant to abandon that identity. I have heard the phrase, "that's just like him (or her)!" so many times in response to a comment concerning a person that I realize we all have the tendency to allow criticism to gel into something far deeper than an isolated thought.
We have "gelled" ideas of certain conditions. When we hear a person has a certain problem, we let them fall into our "preconceived category" and limit the mercy we show them. These human nature traits can be overcome and must be if we are to truly give to God the covenant response of following Jesus. We are not His disciples because we call ourselves a disciple. We must learn of Him and follow Him. Taking up our cross to follow Jesus is (bottom line!) overcoming our human nature and letting the Holy Spirit minister the Nature of Jesus into us.
Mercy is beautiful. It is the oil that makes constant contact smooth. Any relationship needs it. Other than love, it is the attribute Satan hates the most. Satan attacks it in marriage, in family relationships, in church relationships, in communities, in nations--wherever people are found. He cannot allow it to exist because it unites people. His purpose is to divide and conquer and criticism is his best weapon. Mercy is his enemy.
In covenant, response demands response. God only moves in covenant. If you want to be blessed by God, you make a covenant response to His expectation. You show mercy and you will receive mercy. When I was much younger, I was worshipping and telling God how much I loved Him. All of a sudden, the Spirit showed me a very startling truth. He would take as much love I was offering to Him as I was also giving to people. He would receive vertically what I was offering horizontally. Needless to say, I began to work on it and set my will to love people. Do you remember John 3:16? "For God so loved the world...."
Mercy can become a part of your spirit. Ask of God, repent, ask of God, repent, ask of God, repent....! Work at your attitudes, work at filling yourself with Scriptures concerning mercy, refuse to listen to criticism and refuse to speak it. When thoughts come in your mind, refuse them. Ask God what He thinks. It is the only path to becoming merciful. Then you will receive mercy on the Day it means the most!
Everyone has an idea of mercy, but mercy is not the same to everyone. We will all agree that mercy involves compassion for someones misery. The problem is we do not understand another person's misery. What we consider miserable may not be miserable to someone else or the opposite may be true: a person may be far more miserable than we think they should be! So our mercy can be limited by our own opinion. We find criticism is often more available than mercy.
Only in Jesus Christ does mercy and truth meet together. In Him, we are able to find mercy for others. When we leave off judging we are able to accept mercy from the Lord to show our fellowman. I am not sure if anyone is naturally merciful at all times to all people. It is not a human trait. But we can become merciful. It is a process. We must be willing to die to the control of being the judge and jury. Happiness in any relationship is the result of this willingness. Most of the problems in a marriage is the lack of this willingness. Criticism is the fruit of this unwillingness. The problem with criticism is that we believe it. Our critical thoughts become the identity of a person. We become reluctant to abandon that identity. I have heard the phrase, "that's just like him (or her)!" so many times in response to a comment concerning a person that I realize we all have the tendency to allow criticism to gel into something far deeper than an isolated thought.
We have "gelled" ideas of certain conditions. When we hear a person has a certain problem, we let them fall into our "preconceived category" and limit the mercy we show them. These human nature traits can be overcome and must be if we are to truly give to God the covenant response of following Jesus. We are not His disciples because we call ourselves a disciple. We must learn of Him and follow Him. Taking up our cross to follow Jesus is (bottom line!) overcoming our human nature and letting the Holy Spirit minister the Nature of Jesus into us.
Mercy is beautiful. It is the oil that makes constant contact smooth. Any relationship needs it. Other than love, it is the attribute Satan hates the most. Satan attacks it in marriage, in family relationships, in church relationships, in communities, in nations--wherever people are found. He cannot allow it to exist because it unites people. His purpose is to divide and conquer and criticism is his best weapon. Mercy is his enemy.
In covenant, response demands response. God only moves in covenant. If you want to be blessed by God, you make a covenant response to His expectation. You show mercy and you will receive mercy. When I was much younger, I was worshipping and telling God how much I loved Him. All of a sudden, the Spirit showed me a very startling truth. He would take as much love I was offering to Him as I was also giving to people. He would receive vertically what I was offering horizontally. Needless to say, I began to work on it and set my will to love people. Do you remember John 3:16? "For God so loved the world...."
Mercy can become a part of your spirit. Ask of God, repent, ask of God, repent, ask of God, repent....! Work at your attitudes, work at filling yourself with Scriptures concerning mercy, refuse to listen to criticism and refuse to speak it. When thoughts come in your mind, refuse them. Ask God what He thinks. It is the only path to becoming merciful. Then you will receive mercy on the Day it means the most!
Monday, August 17, 2009
Learning to be blessed/Hunger
Matthew 5:6 (New International Version) Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.One of the aspects of covenant that I appreciate so much is the surety that I can count on. It is life or death. The covenants that God makes with us are beyond our concept of surety. God cannot lie and He has invested His Being in each Covenant. And if that is not enough, Jesus has already paid the price of broken covenant and He has declared "It is fnished!" So even our breaking covenant by not responding is covered by His Blood! How can we lose? We can only gain by our "Yes!" to His covenant expectation.
We know that God's expectation is man in the image of God. We know that Jesus came to our realm the exact representation of God and could take our place because He came in our likeness. The exchange we see in our verse today is our human nature for His wholly righteous nature. We also see that to get there our response is more than asking.
Let us look at "hunger". I know that for most of us, hunger is what we feel when we miss a meal. I have seen hunger. It goes far beyond that. Children who are dying in their hunger do not even realize they have hunger. They are apathetic to food. A spoonful of food has to be put in their mouth and patience is necessary to see if they will swallow. Food has to be so "watered" that it can be digested. Only small amounts can be tolerated. Hunger is terminal. Without nourishment there is only death.
Let us look at "thirst". Again, we who have never been without water do not realize the condition it can cause. Dehydration is very serious.
Why does Jesus say blessed are the ones who hunger and thirst after righteousness? He knew the condition of mankind in this realm. Mankind is dead while living. Hunger for Righteousness is not a part of our human response. The Holy Spirit ministers this hunger to us. Our response is to nurture this hunger. How? By turning to God to seek His Nature. I said earlier we do not "hunger" by asking. How then do we seek? By eating. How do we "thirst" after God? By drinking. In the natural, you reawaken the natural body response of hunger by giving a very small amount of nourishment that is consistently given over a period of time until the body is able to assimilate and require more. Hunger is awakened. Paul told the church at Corinth he could not give them meat because they were only able to tolerate and digest milk. So even people who have accepted the saving grace of Jesus do not always "hunger and thirst" after righteousness.
To develop the hunger and thirst that Jesus is saying is blessed, there must be a digestive process. Hunger develops hunger. The hunger for God's Word can be cultivated by reading. The more you read, the more you want to read. What you hear (and read) must be put into action. James addresses this in his epistle. James 1:19-25 (New Living Translation) 19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20 Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. 21 So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. 22 But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. 23 For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
Reading the Word of God and praying are two activities we know we should do. But to pray all night and read the Word for long periods of time and meditate on and absorb by the Spirit the heart of God is not achieved all at once. The natural reaction is to dismiss the very idea as impractical. But Jesus did this not once but many times. He stayed connected to the Father, recognizing His need while in this realm, and spoke of His Oneness with the Father as His strength.
If we are to fulfill the expectation of God and become "in His image", we are going to have to develop that desperation of hunger and thirst that will die if we do not have His righteousness. Instead of justifying our own nature (we are only human!) and ignoring the provision set before us, we can have the kind of hunger and thirsting that will fill us. That is God's covenant promise and it will not fail. You will be filled!
We know that God's expectation is man in the image of God. We know that Jesus came to our realm the exact representation of God and could take our place because He came in our likeness. The exchange we see in our verse today is our human nature for His wholly righteous nature. We also see that to get there our response is more than asking.
Let us look at "hunger". I know that for most of us, hunger is what we feel when we miss a meal. I have seen hunger. It goes far beyond that. Children who are dying in their hunger do not even realize they have hunger. They are apathetic to food. A spoonful of food has to be put in their mouth and patience is necessary to see if they will swallow. Food has to be so "watered" that it can be digested. Only small amounts can be tolerated. Hunger is terminal. Without nourishment there is only death.
Let us look at "thirst". Again, we who have never been without water do not realize the condition it can cause. Dehydration is very serious.
Why does Jesus say blessed are the ones who hunger and thirst after righteousness? He knew the condition of mankind in this realm. Mankind is dead while living. Hunger for Righteousness is not a part of our human response. The Holy Spirit ministers this hunger to us. Our response is to nurture this hunger. How? By turning to God to seek His Nature. I said earlier we do not "hunger" by asking. How then do we seek? By eating. How do we "thirst" after God? By drinking. In the natural, you reawaken the natural body response of hunger by giving a very small amount of nourishment that is consistently given over a period of time until the body is able to assimilate and require more. Hunger is awakened. Paul told the church at Corinth he could not give them meat because they were only able to tolerate and digest milk. So even people who have accepted the saving grace of Jesus do not always "hunger and thirst" after righteousness.
To develop the hunger and thirst that Jesus is saying is blessed, there must be a digestive process. Hunger develops hunger. The hunger for God's Word can be cultivated by reading. The more you read, the more you want to read. What you hear (and read) must be put into action. James addresses this in his epistle. James 1:19-25 (New Living Translation) 19 Understand this, my dear brothers and sisters: You must all be quick to listen, slow to speak, and slow to get angry. 20 Human anger does not produce the righteousness God desires. 21 So get rid of all the filth and evil in your lives, and humbly accept the word God has planted in your hearts, for it has the power to save your souls. 22 But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. 23 For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. 24 You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. 25 But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it.
Reading the Word of God and praying are two activities we know we should do. But to pray all night and read the Word for long periods of time and meditate on and absorb by the Spirit the heart of God is not achieved all at once. The natural reaction is to dismiss the very idea as impractical. But Jesus did this not once but many times. He stayed connected to the Father, recognizing His need while in this realm, and spoke of His Oneness with the Father as His strength.
If we are to fulfill the expectation of God and become "in His image", we are going to have to develop that desperation of hunger and thirst that will die if we do not have His righteousness. Instead of justifying our own nature (we are only human!) and ignoring the provision set before us, we can have the kind of hunger and thirsting that will fill us. That is God's covenant promise and it will not fail. You will be filled!
Friday, August 14, 2009
Learning to be blessed/meek
Matthew 5:5 (New Living Translation) God blesses those who are humble, for they will inherit the whole earth. I have many translations available to me and as I use the Bible to interpret the Bible I found many different ways to interpret "meek". I wanted to know what "meek" is. Before I began to look in the Scriptures, I was praying about it. I had looked at "poor in spirit" as not being strong in opinions or pre-set ideas and self-centered to the point that self is right and everything else is suspect but "meek" was evidently not the same.
One translation said "gentle," another said "content with who you are--no more and no less," another said "free of pride," and another "mild, patient and long-suffering." Psalm 37:11 (King James Version) But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
Zephaniah 3:12-13 (New International Version) 12 But I will leave within you the meek and humble, who trust in the name of the LORD. 13 The remnant of Israel will do no wrong; they will speak no lies, nor will deceit be found in their mouths. They will eat and lie down and no one will make them afraid."
So the meek are not just humble (free of pride) but are gentle and long suffering, truthful (to their own hurt), trying to do what is right, mild (not easily roused to self-defense), not fearful but trusting in God, and patient. This reminds me of Galatians 5:22-23
New Living Translation) 22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
How do we become meek? If it is not in human nature (and it isn't)to have a meek and quiet spirit, you will not produce it with will power. Jesus was meek and lowly and people recognized he was different. When Jesus was teaching His disciples of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, He said, "He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you." {John 16:14-15 (New International Version)}The ministry of the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, is to lead you into the yielding of your nature to receive of God's nature. This is God's Covenant desire to make man in Their image. Jesus came into this realm the EXACT image of the Being of God (Hebrews 1:3 (New International Version)The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word...) The Holy Spirit will work in you to rid you of your own Adamic nature and become like Jesus. Jesus gave us a parable of the owner of the vineyard who came looking for fruit and finding none wanted to destroy the tree. The husbandman (the Holy Spirit) asked for more time to dig around it and fertilize it so fruit could be produced.
We don't react to hateful, irritating, or demeaning circumstances with meekness on our own. But the way to let the Holy Spirit work in you to produce meekness is to repent of our own reactions. That is where we need time! We repent and we repent and we repent again because this old nature does not want to give up! We get hurt and we feel resentment, anger and vengence. We give way to self-pity and want others to share in our opinion of what happened. Meek is the last thing we think to be. Later, as the Holy Spirit brings conviction and leads us to repent, we feel remorse and if we are not careful, we will voice a negative reaction to our own self. Your becoming like Christ is not about you but about what God has done to provide you the access to change. We overcome by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. The Word of God becomes our testimony. When Jesus was tempted of Satan, He responded with Scripture. That is our only verbal defense.
Our covenant response then to the circumstances that challenge us is meekness. The covenant blessing is "great peace" and "inherit the earth." Not the earth as it is now but the earth restored to perfection without futility.
We are under covenant and meekness is our covenant response. We are not alone for God has provided all we need to become like Him. Philippians 2:13 (New Living Translation) For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
One translation said "gentle," another said "content with who you are--no more and no less," another said "free of pride," and another "mild, patient and long-suffering." Psalm 37:11 (King James Version) But the meek shall inherit the earth; and shall delight themselves in the abundance of peace.
Zephaniah 3:12-13 (New International Version) 12 But I will leave within you the meek and humble, who trust in the name of the LORD. 13 The remnant of Israel will do no wrong; they will speak no lies, nor will deceit be found in their mouths. They will eat and lie down and no one will make them afraid."
So the meek are not just humble (free of pride) but are gentle and long suffering, truthful (to their own hurt), trying to do what is right, mild (not easily roused to self-defense), not fearful but trusting in God, and patient. This reminds me of Galatians 5:22-23
New Living Translation) 22 But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things!
How do we become meek? If it is not in human nature (and it isn't)to have a meek and quiet spirit, you will not produce it with will power. Jesus was meek and lowly and people recognized he was different. When Jesus was teaching His disciples of the ministry of the Holy Spirit, He said, "He will bring glory to me by taking from what is mine and making it known to you. All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you." {John 16:14-15 (New International Version)}The ministry of the Holy Spirit dwelling in you, is to lead you into the yielding of your nature to receive of God's nature. This is God's Covenant desire to make man in Their image. Jesus came into this realm the EXACT image of the Being of God (Hebrews 1:3 (New International Version)The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word...) The Holy Spirit will work in you to rid you of your own Adamic nature and become like Jesus. Jesus gave us a parable of the owner of the vineyard who came looking for fruit and finding none wanted to destroy the tree. The husbandman (the Holy Spirit) asked for more time to dig around it and fertilize it so fruit could be produced.
We don't react to hateful, irritating, or demeaning circumstances with meekness on our own. But the way to let the Holy Spirit work in you to produce meekness is to repent of our own reactions. That is where we need time! We repent and we repent and we repent again because this old nature does not want to give up! We get hurt and we feel resentment, anger and vengence. We give way to self-pity and want others to share in our opinion of what happened. Meek is the last thing we think to be. Later, as the Holy Spirit brings conviction and leads us to repent, we feel remorse and if we are not careful, we will voice a negative reaction to our own self. Your becoming like Christ is not about you but about what God has done to provide you the access to change. We overcome by the Blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. The Word of God becomes our testimony. When Jesus was tempted of Satan, He responded with Scripture. That is our only verbal defense.
Our covenant response then to the circumstances that challenge us is meekness. The covenant blessing is "great peace" and "inherit the earth." Not the earth as it is now but the earth restored to perfection without futility.
We are under covenant and meekness is our covenant response. We are not alone for God has provided all we need to become like Him. Philippians 2:13 (New Living Translation) For God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Learning to be blessed/mourn
Continuing with the expectations of the new covenant that Jesus was presenting we now consider the human concept of mourning.
There are many things that cause us to mourn. Losing a mate or a child is a devastating loss. For a child, the loss of a parent is life changing. The loss of a sibling, a very close friend is a loss that changes how we see things. To lose a very dear friend in a pet, to lose a friend through a misunderstanding, to lose a mentor or a teacher--the list goes on and we all know such losses.
What is mourning? It invades our heart with pain, it numbs our thought processes, it weakens our strength and changes our daily patterns with a sense of futility.
I am sure Jesus was including this very human concept of mourning. But because this is a new covenant and involves very deeply the kingdom of heaven, there is also, I believe, a deeper concept of mourning involved in this verse. Jesus grieved and mourned over Jerusalem.
Luke 13:34-35 (New Living Translation)34 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. 35 And now, look, your house is abandoned.
Luke 19:41-44 (New Living Translation) 41 But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep. 42 “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes. 43 Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side. 44 They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not accept your opportunity for salvation.”
There are many examples of men who agonized in prayer and mourned for the condition of Israel in her turning away from God. David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Ezra, and Nehemiah to name a few. The letters of Peter, James, John and Paul are full of references to the sorrow they felt over Israel. Paul even said he would be willing to lose everything to see Israel turn to God.
These references show us a mourning that embraces eternity. The cause of mourning is not personal loss but the loss facing mankind for eternity if they do not repent. This mourning moves outside our own circle and embraces the world. It sees as God sees the downward swirl pulling man to eternal darkness, shut out for all eternity from the Presence of God and His Kingdom of Light. As humans we do not appreciate the ministry of God to this realm. The Father is beholding, the Son is present and ready to receive, and the Spirit of God is hovering, convicting, leading and teaching. The protection of covenant that God has made with this realm is with the just and the unjust. It is a day of opportunity, the Day of Salvation. Man has no concept of how much God is a part of their everyday life. There will be a time when that ends. There will be a day of judgment when every living being will give an account for their time of opportunity. This realm as we know it will be no more for God will replace it with His realm.
Do we mourn for the lost? Do we mourn over the lukewarm condition that God hates? Do we pray, as Daniel did, as though it were our own sin and weep before the Lord? Have we entered into that mourning phase that feels as though the heart within would break? Have tears become our companion and sorrow our daily expression? Is our first thought our own comfort and pleasure?
In covenant language there is a way to loose covenant provision. It is called "condition". "If you do this, the result will be..."
Jesus is saying, "If you mourn, you will be comforted and blessed."
What is the comfort? For our personal loss and mourning, there is the Presence of our Lord and the peace that He brings. Only those who have felt it can understand how warm is the comfort He brings.
For those who have known the mourning for the lost condition of this world and the lukewarm apathy of most of the church world,the Lord holds out His comfort. He hears your prayer and your cry for your nation and the world. You are expressing His heart. He will guide you and make you an instrument of salvation. The hope of His hand guiding and His Spirit hovering gives peace in the midst of travail. God wants you to feel His heart and think His thoughts. He appreciates your carrying the condition of the lost in your heart and takes note of it. It is true identity. You are blessed.
There are many things that cause us to mourn. Losing a mate or a child is a devastating loss. For a child, the loss of a parent is life changing. The loss of a sibling, a very close friend is a loss that changes how we see things. To lose a very dear friend in a pet, to lose a friend through a misunderstanding, to lose a mentor or a teacher--the list goes on and we all know such losses.
What is mourning? It invades our heart with pain, it numbs our thought processes, it weakens our strength and changes our daily patterns with a sense of futility.
I am sure Jesus was including this very human concept of mourning. But because this is a new covenant and involves very deeply the kingdom of heaven, there is also, I believe, a deeper concept of mourning involved in this verse. Jesus grieved and mourned over Jerusalem.
Luke 13:34-35 (New Living Translation)34 “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones God’s messengers! How often I have wanted to gather your children together as a hen protects her chicks beneath her wings, but you wouldn’t let me. 35 And now, look, your house is abandoned.
Luke 19:41-44 (New Living Translation) 41 But as he came closer to Jerusalem and saw the city ahead, he began to weep. 42 “How I wish today that you of all people would understand the way to peace. But now it is too late, and peace is hidden from your eyes. 43 Before long your enemies will build ramparts against your walls and encircle you and close in on you from every side. 44 They will crush you into the ground, and your children with you. Your enemies will not leave a single stone in place, because you did not accept your opportunity for salvation.”
There are many examples of men who agonized in prayer and mourned for the condition of Israel in her turning away from God. David, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Ezra, and Nehemiah to name a few. The letters of Peter, James, John and Paul are full of references to the sorrow they felt over Israel. Paul even said he would be willing to lose everything to see Israel turn to God.
These references show us a mourning that embraces eternity. The cause of mourning is not personal loss but the loss facing mankind for eternity if they do not repent. This mourning moves outside our own circle and embraces the world. It sees as God sees the downward swirl pulling man to eternal darkness, shut out for all eternity from the Presence of God and His Kingdom of Light. As humans we do not appreciate the ministry of God to this realm. The Father is beholding, the Son is present and ready to receive, and the Spirit of God is hovering, convicting, leading and teaching. The protection of covenant that God has made with this realm is with the just and the unjust. It is a day of opportunity, the Day of Salvation. Man has no concept of how much God is a part of their everyday life. There will be a time when that ends. There will be a day of judgment when every living being will give an account for their time of opportunity. This realm as we know it will be no more for God will replace it with His realm.
Do we mourn for the lost? Do we mourn over the lukewarm condition that God hates? Do we pray, as Daniel did, as though it were our own sin and weep before the Lord? Have we entered into that mourning phase that feels as though the heart within would break? Have tears become our companion and sorrow our daily expression? Is our first thought our own comfort and pleasure?
In covenant language there is a way to loose covenant provision. It is called "condition". "If you do this, the result will be..."
Jesus is saying, "If you mourn, you will be comforted and blessed."
What is the comfort? For our personal loss and mourning, there is the Presence of our Lord and the peace that He brings. Only those who have felt it can understand how warm is the comfort He brings.
For those who have known the mourning for the lost condition of this world and the lukewarm apathy of most of the church world,the Lord holds out His comfort. He hears your prayer and your cry for your nation and the world. You are expressing His heart. He will guide you and make you an instrument of salvation. The hope of His hand guiding and His Spirit hovering gives peace in the midst of travail. God wants you to feel His heart and think His thoughts. He appreciates your carrying the condition of the lost in your heart and takes note of it. It is true identity. You are blessed.
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
Learning to be blessed
In Matthew 5 we begin the "Sermon on the Mount" that is quoted so often but seldom seen as the blessings of the New Covenant that compare with the blessings Moses gave Israel in Deuteronomy 28. Jesus came teaching the Kingdom of heaven. Mark 1:14-15 (New Living Translation) 14 Later on, after John was arrested, Jesus went into Galilee, where he preached God’s Good News. 15 “The time promised by God has come at last!” he announced. “The Kingdom of God is near! Repent of your sins and believe the Good News!” This was a new concept for which they had been prepared by John's message of repentance. God sent John to prepare the way for Jesus' ministry. Luke 7:29-30 (New Living Translation) 29 When they heard this, all the people—even the tax collectors—agreed that God’s way was right, for they had been baptized by John. 30 But the Pharisees and experts in religious law rejected God’s plan for them, for they had refused John’s baptism.I don't know if the people realized that Jesus was speaking the language of a new covenant. Even the thought of a new covenant would be alien to those whose identification was so much a part of the Abrahamic covenant and the Law of Moses. Jesus did not mention a "new covenant" until His final Passover. But the people marveled at His teaching "because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law." (Matthew 7:29)
Why do I say it is covenant talk? Let us look at His words. They are not boldly covenant language but they meet all the requirements of covenant expression. There is the promise and the requirement listed together. Matthew 5:3 (King James Version)"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
How do we receive the kingdom of heaven? A covenant response of being poor in spirit. Have you ever met a person so strong in their spirit you could not carry on a reasonable conversation? They know everything or at least have an opinion about everything. No matter what you say there is an argumentive answer. When the soul is uppermost it feeds the spirit of a person. Strong opinions with strong feelings become a part of one's spirit. This is why in order to come into God's rest the Word of God is necessary. Hebrews 4:11-12 (New Living Translation)11 So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall. 12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Jesus said to let His Word abide in us. The Word of God will cut between the soul and spirit to set the spirit free to be taught by the Spirit of God. You can then begin to take every thought into captivity to the obedience to God. Your own opinions can be brought down to allow God's Word and thoughts to be your guide. You become more and more as a little child learning the ways of the kingdom of God. Mark 10:15 (New Living Translation) "I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” The poor in spirit that is used here is simply one who has become as a little child to learn at the feet of Jesus in humility and hunger and trust in the Holy Spirit to guide into all truth.
To become poor in spirit there must be an understanding of what contaminates a spirit. There is a process. First, something comes into your mind. It can be a thought Satan puts there, it can be something you have been around so much you just think that way, it can be a verse of Scripture that you have read or heard or it can be your thoughts about something a person did to you. If that thought is dwelt on continually it begins to generate feeling. If that feeling is dwelt on it begins to be an emotion. If that emotion is acted on it now has entrance into your spirit. Continuous expression to that gives your spirit an identification. If it is anger and revenge over an action or hurtful word, the next time something happens to you, there will be an immediate reaction because anger is in your spirit. This same pattern works with God's Word. When His Word is meditated on and emotion is generated and the Word is acted on, it gets into your spirit. When the Spirit reveals another Scripture to you, there is immediate reaction because faith has been generated in your spirit.
You have the choice to make your spirit "poor" in the ways of human nature and "rich" toward God.
Why do I say it is covenant talk? Let us look at His words. They are not boldly covenant language but they meet all the requirements of covenant expression. There is the promise and the requirement listed together. Matthew 5:3 (King James Version)"Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."
How do we receive the kingdom of heaven? A covenant response of being poor in spirit. Have you ever met a person so strong in their spirit you could not carry on a reasonable conversation? They know everything or at least have an opinion about everything. No matter what you say there is an argumentive answer. When the soul is uppermost it feeds the spirit of a person. Strong opinions with strong feelings become a part of one's spirit. This is why in order to come into God's rest the Word of God is necessary. Hebrews 4:11-12 (New Living Translation)11 So let us do our best to enter that rest. But if we disobey God, as the people of Israel did, we will fall. 12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. Jesus said to let His Word abide in us. The Word of God will cut between the soul and spirit to set the spirit free to be taught by the Spirit of God. You can then begin to take every thought into captivity to the obedience to God. Your own opinions can be brought down to allow God's Word and thoughts to be your guide. You become more and more as a little child learning the ways of the kingdom of God. Mark 10:15 (New Living Translation) "I tell you the truth, anyone who doesn’t receive the Kingdom of God like a child will never enter it.” The poor in spirit that is used here is simply one who has become as a little child to learn at the feet of Jesus in humility and hunger and trust in the Holy Spirit to guide into all truth.
To become poor in spirit there must be an understanding of what contaminates a spirit. There is a process. First, something comes into your mind. It can be a thought Satan puts there, it can be something you have been around so much you just think that way, it can be a verse of Scripture that you have read or heard or it can be your thoughts about something a person did to you. If that thought is dwelt on continually it begins to generate feeling. If that feeling is dwelt on it begins to be an emotion. If that emotion is acted on it now has entrance into your spirit. Continuous expression to that gives your spirit an identification. If it is anger and revenge over an action or hurtful word, the next time something happens to you, there will be an immediate reaction because anger is in your spirit. This same pattern works with God's Word. When His Word is meditated on and emotion is generated and the Word is acted on, it gets into your spirit. When the Spirit reveals another Scripture to you, there is immediate reaction because faith has been generated in your spirit.
You have the choice to make your spirit "poor" in the ways of human nature and "rich" toward God.
An "Old" and a "New" Covenant
Our God is The God of Covenant. It is the way He relates to our realm. His provision for us is covenanted. His purpose for us is covenanted. The blessing of covenant is accompanied by the curse of covenant. The concept of covenant is life and death. Life when we obey and keep the covenant and death if we fail to honor the oath of covenant. The Covenant known to us as the Old Testament lays out the blessing and the curse of the Covenant in Deuteronomy 28. The New Covenant is laid out in Matthew beginning with Chapter 5 in what we call the Sermon on the Mount. I could not cover all of this in even several days but I want to start with comparing the old and the new.
We have already seen the patience of God with mankind in giving and teaching and patiently waiting for man to "get it" and obey. We saw the length of time that God used in cutting the Abrahamic Covenant. The unfolding of that covenant and the final "test" of that covenant continued all through the time of the Old Testament and through the lifetime of Jesus as He fulfilled completely and perfectly the Law and the Prophets. The New Covenant picks up and continues until the day that Jesus returns to this earth to complete God's purposed decree. Peter, by the Holy Spirit, makes the prophetic declaration concerning the return of Jesus Christ. Acts 3:18-21(New American Standard Bible) 18"But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19"Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; 20and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, 21whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.
The 2000 year period of "the church age" was prophesied by Joel and we see again the patience of God to bring mankind into His perfection. Joel presents the early church as a tree with foliage and fruit. Then the different locusts attack the tree and strip it. Joel 1:4 (King James Version) That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.
The prophecy of Joel covers this time period and speaks of God's purpose and the conclusion of the church age. In Joel 2:25, He picks up the analogy of the tree being stripped and reveals its restoration from the damage of "my great army that I sent among you." Joel 2:25 (King James Version) And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
We should never get very far from the book of Joel but let the triumph of God's plan get into our spirit. We see again one of the ways of God that is revealed in so many different places and lives. God takes us in the opposite direction to teach us and get us where He wants us to go. He takes us down to get us up. He smites us so He can heal us. We die so we can live. If you get your eyes on your circumstances you will never know the mind of Christ. You will only hear the accusations of Satan and feel futility. But when you keep your focus on God and trust in His leading, you can rejoice and trust. I have seen such trust in Christians of other times and places. But I am aware that we here in the U.S.A. have an enemy of our souls in the principality of comfort. We concentrate so much on being blessed that we forget that we are not promised a "bed of roses without thorns" but Jesus said in this world we will have tribulation but He had overcome the world. Our focus must be on Jesus and His victory; on God and His purpose that is expressed in His Covenant with us.
We are in the last days of the church age. We must give to God the covenant response that will allow Him to wrap up, complete one age and bring in the next. It is demanded of the generation that lives in the completion of one and the introduction of the next. Jesus has given explicit direction in His Sermon on the Mount. He addressed people in very different circumstances than we now find ourselves. But we have learned some very valuable lessons in the meantime. God is now ready to make those words live in us and bring forth something new on the earth--a living and vibrant church to be a tool in His Hand to do His will. He has been moving everything toward this day. Pray that we will have the zeal and commitment to respond to Him.
The greatest difference to me between the response required in the Old and the New is the lack of curse. Jesus took the curse of the Old Covenant which He had fulfilled completely and perfectly. But He Himself became to us more in the New Covenant than ever expected under the Law. Our greatest response is to abide in Him. He becomes more to us than Savior for He enables us through the Holy Spirit. We are to love as He loves. We are to forgive as He forgives, show mercy as He shows mercy. We follow in His footsteps. As we look to Him, He stays right with us. The relationship we have with Him is so much more than we could have had under the Law. We respond to such love by turning away from our own nature to embrace His nature. We respond to God's expressed desire by letting the Spirit change us.
We have already seen the patience of God with mankind in giving and teaching and patiently waiting for man to "get it" and obey. We saw the length of time that God used in cutting the Abrahamic Covenant. The unfolding of that covenant and the final "test" of that covenant continued all through the time of the Old Testament and through the lifetime of Jesus as He fulfilled completely and perfectly the Law and the Prophets. The New Covenant picks up and continues until the day that Jesus returns to this earth to complete God's purposed decree. Peter, by the Holy Spirit, makes the prophetic declaration concerning the return of Jesus Christ. Acts 3:18-21(New American Standard Bible) 18"But the things which God announced beforehand by the mouth of all the prophets, that His Christ would suffer, He has thus fulfilled. 19"Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord; 20and that He may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you, 21whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things about which God spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets from ancient time.
The 2000 year period of "the church age" was prophesied by Joel and we see again the patience of God to bring mankind into His perfection. Joel presents the early church as a tree with foliage and fruit. Then the different locusts attack the tree and strip it. Joel 1:4 (King James Version) That which the palmerworm hath left hath the locust eaten; and that which the locust hath left hath the cankerworm eaten; and that which the cankerworm hath left hath the caterpiller eaten.
The prophecy of Joel covers this time period and speaks of God's purpose and the conclusion of the church age. In Joel 2:25, He picks up the analogy of the tree being stripped and reveals its restoration from the damage of "my great army that I sent among you." Joel 2:25 (King James Version) And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten, the cankerworm, and the caterpiller, and the palmerworm, my great army which I sent among you.
We should never get very far from the book of Joel but let the triumph of God's plan get into our spirit. We see again one of the ways of God that is revealed in so many different places and lives. God takes us in the opposite direction to teach us and get us where He wants us to go. He takes us down to get us up. He smites us so He can heal us. We die so we can live. If you get your eyes on your circumstances you will never know the mind of Christ. You will only hear the accusations of Satan and feel futility. But when you keep your focus on God and trust in His leading, you can rejoice and trust. I have seen such trust in Christians of other times and places. But I am aware that we here in the U.S.A. have an enemy of our souls in the principality of comfort. We concentrate so much on being blessed that we forget that we are not promised a "bed of roses without thorns" but Jesus said in this world we will have tribulation but He had overcome the world. Our focus must be on Jesus and His victory; on God and His purpose that is expressed in His Covenant with us.
We are in the last days of the church age. We must give to God the covenant response that will allow Him to wrap up, complete one age and bring in the next. It is demanded of the generation that lives in the completion of one and the introduction of the next. Jesus has given explicit direction in His Sermon on the Mount. He addressed people in very different circumstances than we now find ourselves. But we have learned some very valuable lessons in the meantime. God is now ready to make those words live in us and bring forth something new on the earth--a living and vibrant church to be a tool in His Hand to do His will. He has been moving everything toward this day. Pray that we will have the zeal and commitment to respond to Him.
The greatest difference to me between the response required in the Old and the New is the lack of curse. Jesus took the curse of the Old Covenant which He had fulfilled completely and perfectly. But He Himself became to us more in the New Covenant than ever expected under the Law. Our greatest response is to abide in Him. He becomes more to us than Savior for He enables us through the Holy Spirit. We are to love as He loves. We are to forgive as He forgives, show mercy as He shows mercy. We follow in His footsteps. As we look to Him, He stays right with us. The relationship we have with Him is so much more than we could have had under the Law. We respond to such love by turning away from our own nature to embrace His nature. We respond to God's expressed desire by letting the Spirit change us.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Name of Covenant
Today I want to contemplate one of those many passages that are vital to our covenant response. I will give you three translations to consider. II Corinthians 3:16-18 (New American Standard Bible) 16but whenever a person turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. 17Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty. 18But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as from the Lord, the Spirit.
(New Living Translation) But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
(The Message) Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We're free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.
Each of these gives a certain slant to our understanding. But view these from the “bottom line” of God’s purpose for us—to be made in His image—and you see the provision we have to bring change in us.
First, God gives us the responsibility of a covenant response so He can do the work in us. We have to first turn to the Lord. This is not only seeking Him but turning from all human resources that self can generate and humbly turn to Him. Those who saw Moses after He had been with God, made the decision that they did not want to look on the resulting glory. Not only did they not want to pay the price to see the Lord, they did not want to see Him in Moses. I have found that if I truly want all that God has for me, I have to be willing to see Him in others who seek Him and rejoice in the glory that is being revealed into them. There is a humility in seeing and receiving God in others. We recognize our need for the other members of the Body of Christ. We do not receive all as an individual. We come to share in Him and receive what others have received in their seeking Him. No one is unnecessary.
Second, we look as in a mirror. This to me is identity. When I look in a mirror, I expect to see myself. If I see Jesus, I accept that He is not only willing to identify with me, but I must identify with Him. He came to take my place, but I must be just as willing to take the place He has provided for me. I must accept the riches He laid aside to take on my poverty. This is His purpose. He has provided that I be seated with Him where He is. John 17:24 (New Living Translation) 24 Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!
Colossians 3:1 (New Living Translation) Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
Everything Jesus won for us is in His Name. Just as Moses entered a new relationship with God through the revelation of His Name, so we enter into a new relationship with God through Jesus. Don’t let religion rob you of the wealth you have in God. God has a destiny for you and Jesus paid the price for you to enter into the fullness of that destiny. Ask, seek and knock. Never be content with less than all God has for you.
(New Living Translation) But whenever someone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. For the Lord is the Spirit, and wherever the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. So all of us who have had that veil removed can see and reflect the glory of the Lord. And the Lord—who is the Spirit—makes us more and more like him as we are changed into his glorious image.
(The Message) Whenever, though, they turn to face God as Moses did, God removes the veil and there they are—face-to-face! They suddenly recognize that God is a living, personal presence, not a piece of chiseled stone. And when God is personally present, a living Spirit, that old, constricting legislation is recognized as obsolete. We're free of it! All of us! Nothing between us and God, our faces shining with the brightness of his face. And so we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.
Each of these gives a certain slant to our understanding. But view these from the “bottom line” of God’s purpose for us—to be made in His image—and you see the provision we have to bring change in us.
First, God gives us the responsibility of a covenant response so He can do the work in us. We have to first turn to the Lord. This is not only seeking Him but turning from all human resources that self can generate and humbly turn to Him. Those who saw Moses after He had been with God, made the decision that they did not want to look on the resulting glory. Not only did they not want to pay the price to see the Lord, they did not want to see Him in Moses. I have found that if I truly want all that God has for me, I have to be willing to see Him in others who seek Him and rejoice in the glory that is being revealed into them. There is a humility in seeing and receiving God in others. We recognize our need for the other members of the Body of Christ. We do not receive all as an individual. We come to share in Him and receive what others have received in their seeking Him. No one is unnecessary.
Second, we look as in a mirror. This to me is identity. When I look in a mirror, I expect to see myself. If I see Jesus, I accept that He is not only willing to identify with me, but I must identify with Him. He came to take my place, but I must be just as willing to take the place He has provided for me. I must accept the riches He laid aside to take on my poverty. This is His purpose. He has provided that I be seated with Him where He is. John 17:24 (New Living Translation) 24 Father, I want these whom you have given me to be with me where I am. Then they can see all the glory you gave me because you loved me even before the world began!
Colossians 3:1 (New Living Translation) Since you have been raised to new life with Christ, set your sights on the realities of heaven, where Christ sits in the place of honor at God’s right hand.
Everything Jesus won for us is in His Name. Just as Moses entered a new relationship with God through the revelation of His Name, so we enter into a new relationship with God through Jesus. Don’t let religion rob you of the wealth you have in God. God has a destiny for you and Jesus paid the price for you to enter into the fullness of that destiny. Ask, seek and knock. Never be content with less than all God has for you.
Saturday, August 8, 2009
The Holy Name
Understanding why so many Names are given for Jehovah is the beginning of a deeper relationship with Him as you respond to His covenant with you. Your need is His opportunity to touch you. Jeremiah 29:13 (New International Version) You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. It is the desperation caused by our need that drives us to seek Him with a whole heart. However, that cry must be mixed with faith and that faith must be based on Who He is. It is His Being that God has committed to the covenant process. He cannot lie, He cannot fail. His Word is His Being. Jesus is The Word. It is not as we consider words. We use words to express emotion, to convey facts, to persuade people to our own opinions and to impress the hearer. When we come to God’s Word with that mindset, we do not generate faith. Faith comes by hearing but it must be the ear of our spirit not our mind that already has a set reaction. It may be a good reaction, but it is still our mind that is in control. The way to change this is in our approach. Come with a humble prayer for the Spirit’s guidance and teaching. Humbly admit you are a child learning His ways. Come with a desire to know Him, not just find facts about Him. God meets us where we are. If we have a wrong standing then the Spirit must guide us to a right standing. That does not mean we have received all that God has to give us but we are now on the path to receive from Him. On that path we will learn gradually as we are able to receive. We buy the Truth. We pay the price of our own control, our own understanding, our own opinions and our unbelief. Unbelief does not mean you disbelieve God’s Word but you do not have a strong belief that God will do what He says He will do. You have a wait and see attitude. Hebrews 11:6 (New Living Translation) And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.
Now, let us look at a deeper approach. Abraham had faith that God would cut a covenant with him, a mortal man. This was accounted to him as righteousness. He still did not have any of the “things” that God would later give to His people. He did not have the Law (the written part of the covenant), nor priests to interpret the Law and offer sacrifices for his sin nor did he have the prophets to give Him prophetic words of God’s purpose. He did not have the understanding of the Deliverer and Savior of The Name that God would give to Moses. But he had what God was giving at that moment.
This is a very important truth for us to grasp. God is I AM. He is always moving forward toward His purposed goal to make man in His image. When we are in step with His present step we will be full. We will please Him. Abraham pleased God. Enoch, who had less than Abraham, pleased God. Only the Spirit of God can lead you to the place of pleasing.
It was time for God to reveal more of Himself to Moses. It was time in Moses’ life to receive more of God and he was ready to and desiring to receive. He asked God to let him see him. This is the covenant response God wants from us. He wants us to ask, seek and knock that we might have a manifestation of Himself to us. When our spirit yearns for God, we meet Him.
Jesus said this to the Samaritan woman. John 4:21-24 (The Message)"Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God's way of salvation is made available through the Jews. But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you're called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter. "It's who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration."
Moses received The Name and the revelation of the holiness and might of God and the anointing to lead the people of Israel from slavery to a nation. He had known God as the God of Abrahamic Covenant, but now he knew in a different way. He had an intimate relationship with God and talked to Him face to face. This is what Jesus opened to us. He is the Way. Through the vail of His flesh we enter boldly into the very Presence of God. This is not to be taken lightly. The price was high to attain this for us. We could not have attained it ourselves. The most Holy Name is ours to call. We have the invitation to enter. This is what covenant is all about.
Now, let us look at a deeper approach. Abraham had faith that God would cut a covenant with him, a mortal man. This was accounted to him as righteousness. He still did not have any of the “things” that God would later give to His people. He did not have the Law (the written part of the covenant), nor priests to interpret the Law and offer sacrifices for his sin nor did he have the prophets to give Him prophetic words of God’s purpose. He did not have the understanding of the Deliverer and Savior of The Name that God would give to Moses. But he had what God was giving at that moment.
This is a very important truth for us to grasp. God is I AM. He is always moving forward toward His purposed goal to make man in His image. When we are in step with His present step we will be full. We will please Him. Abraham pleased God. Enoch, who had less than Abraham, pleased God. Only the Spirit of God can lead you to the place of pleasing.
It was time for God to reveal more of Himself to Moses. It was time in Moses’ life to receive more of God and he was ready to and desiring to receive. He asked God to let him see him. This is the covenant response God wants from us. He wants us to ask, seek and knock that we might have a manifestation of Himself to us. When our spirit yearns for God, we meet Him.
Jesus said this to the Samaritan woman. John 4:21-24 (The Message)"Believe me, woman, the time is coming when you Samaritans will worship the Father neither here at this mountain nor there in Jerusalem. You worship guessing in the dark; we Jews worship in the clear light of day. God's way of salvation is made available through the Jews. But the time is coming—it has, in fact, come—when what you're called will not matter and where you go to worship will not matter. "It's who you are and the way you live that count before God. Your worship must engage your spirit in the pursuit of truth. That's the kind of people the Father is out looking for: those who are simply and honestly themselves before him in their worship. God is sheer being itself—Spirit. Those who worship him must do it out of their very being, their spirits, their true selves, in adoration."
Moses received The Name and the revelation of the holiness and might of God and the anointing to lead the people of Israel from slavery to a nation. He had known God as the God of Abrahamic Covenant, but now he knew in a different way. He had an intimate relationship with God and talked to Him face to face. This is what Jesus opened to us. He is the Way. Through the vail of His flesh we enter boldly into the very Presence of God. This is not to be taken lightly. The price was high to attain this for us. We could not have attained it ourselves. The most Holy Name is ours to call. We have the invitation to enter. This is what covenant is all about.
Friday, August 7, 2009
Covenant Exchange
My apologies for the lapse in this blog. I have had computer problems that are now solved by a new computer. The new problem will be with me trying to learn my way around this computer! For those of you who knew we were taking a vacation (61st honeymoon!)we had a wonderful rest with the most tremendous sights. Arkansas is a beautiful state (at least what we saw!)and we had a great rest.
Meditating was wonderful with no interuptions or distractions. I want to share with you one today.
The beauty of covenant is the exchange of covenant. I marvel at the wisdom of God that allows man to be the recipient of His Nature through the provision of covenant. When God said, "Let Us make man in Our image..." He started a process that will allow us to enter His realm to share in His joy and His eternity with no shame.
In the manner of covenant, the exchange of names is common. It is most familiar to us in the marriage covenant. We already saw God used it with Abraham and Sarah. We see it in the New Covenant when Jesus said, "In My Name..." Mark 16:17-18 (New American Standard Bible) 17"These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; 18they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover"..Let us look at the name exchange. In the Old Testament, names were very important and carried identity to a higher level than we experience today. An example is found in I Chronicles 4:9-10. "There was a man named Jabez who was more honorable than any of his brothers. His mother named him Jabez because his birth had been so painful. 10 He was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and expand my territory! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!” And God granted him his request." (Jabez sounds like a Hebrew word meaning “distress” or “pain.”) God used names to send a message to Israel in the time of Hosea. He instructed Hosea to give his children names that would warn Israel of His judgment for their wicked ways. (Hosea 1-2:1)
God gives us His Names that will allow us to identify with Him. Each Name carries a revelation of His Being to us and meets a need we have. In our human limitation, we can only open to God in a manner that He can have an input into our being when we have a need so great that we can recognize our need and cry out for God to meet us in that need. He gives us a Name in covenant that will meet that need. I am going to dwell on a few of these Names so that you will understand how our need gives new understanding of each Name.
JEHOVAH-JIREH "The Lord will Provide". In our desperation we recognize our limitation (it may be financial, personal, familial or national) and need of a covenant partner who can come to our aid and supply that need.
JEHOVAH-NISSI "The Lord Our Banner". No matter what the battle, Jesus has overcome and gives us the victory and allows us to display the banner of that victory. Song of Solomon 6:4 "You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling, as lovely as Jerusalem, as awesome as an army with banners." A banner means a victory in a battle!
JEHOVAH-SHALOM "The Lord send Peace". In the Old Testament we see many times that God came on the scene to bring peace. In the New Covenant, Jesus gives us His Peace. John 14:27 (New American Standard Bible) "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful."
JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH "The Lord is There". In the O.T., people called for the Presence of the Lord. In the New Covenant, Jesus promises His continual presence. "I'll never leave you." No matter how alone you "feel", He is always with you.
JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU "The Lord our Righteousness". In the New Covenant we are assured by the Blood of Jesus a new confidence. II Corinthians 5:21 (New American Standard Bible) "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." The accuser of our souls might bring condemnation, but the Word brings us back into right standing where we have confidence in His finished work.
I will continue this exaltation of His Name in my next lesson. For now, let the Spirit bring to your realization the need you have and the accompanying realization of His mighty power to meet your every need. You are under covenant!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go to mobile site
Go to the top of the page
Contact us/Feedback
Gospel.com
Site map
Privacy policy
Terms of use
Meditating was wonderful with no interuptions or distractions. I want to share with you one today.
The beauty of covenant is the exchange of covenant. I marvel at the wisdom of God that allows man to be the recipient of His Nature through the provision of covenant. When God said, "Let Us make man in Our image..." He started a process that will allow us to enter His realm to share in His joy and His eternity with no shame.
In the manner of covenant, the exchange of names is common. It is most familiar to us in the marriage covenant. We already saw God used it with Abraham and Sarah. We see it in the New Covenant when Jesus said, "In My Name..." Mark 16:17-18 (New American Standard Bible) 17"These signs will accompany those who have believed: in My name they will cast out demons, they will speak with new tongues; 18they will pick up serpents, and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover"..Let us look at the name exchange. In the Old Testament, names were very important and carried identity to a higher level than we experience today. An example is found in I Chronicles 4:9-10. "There was a man named Jabez who was more honorable than any of his brothers. His mother named him Jabez because his birth had been so painful. 10 He was the one who prayed to the God of Israel, “Oh, that you would bless me and expand my territory! Please be with me in all that I do, and keep me from all trouble and pain!” And God granted him his request." (Jabez sounds like a Hebrew word meaning “distress” or “pain.”) God used names to send a message to Israel in the time of Hosea. He instructed Hosea to give his children names that would warn Israel of His judgment for their wicked ways. (Hosea 1-2:1)
God gives us His Names that will allow us to identify with Him. Each Name carries a revelation of His Being to us and meets a need we have. In our human limitation, we can only open to God in a manner that He can have an input into our being when we have a need so great that we can recognize our need and cry out for God to meet us in that need. He gives us a Name in covenant that will meet that need. I am going to dwell on a few of these Names so that you will understand how our need gives new understanding of each Name.
JEHOVAH-JIREH "The Lord will Provide". In our desperation we recognize our limitation (it may be financial, personal, familial or national) and need of a covenant partner who can come to our aid and supply that need.
JEHOVAH-NISSI "The Lord Our Banner". No matter what the battle, Jesus has overcome and gives us the victory and allows us to display the banner of that victory. Song of Solomon 6:4 "You are as beautiful as Tirzah, my darling, as lovely as Jerusalem, as awesome as an army with banners." A banner means a victory in a battle!
JEHOVAH-SHALOM "The Lord send Peace". In the Old Testament we see many times that God came on the scene to bring peace. In the New Covenant, Jesus gives us His Peace. John 14:27 (New American Standard Bible) "Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Do not let your heart be troubled, nor let it be fearful."
JEHOVAH-SHAMMAH "The Lord is There". In the O.T., people called for the Presence of the Lord. In the New Covenant, Jesus promises His continual presence. "I'll never leave you." No matter how alone you "feel", He is always with you.
JEHOVAH-TSIDKENU "The Lord our Righteousness". In the New Covenant we are assured by the Blood of Jesus a new confidence. II Corinthians 5:21 (New American Standard Bible) "He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." The accuser of our souls might bring condemnation, but the Word brings us back into right standing where we have confidence in His finished work.
I will continue this exaltation of His Name in my next lesson. For now, let the Spirit bring to your realization the need you have and the accompanying realization of His mighty power to meet your every need. You are under covenant!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Go to mobile site
Go to the top of the page
Contact us/Feedback
Gospel.com
Site map
Privacy policy
Terms of use
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)