opinions

In previous blogs I have mentioned the choice we have to develop opinions concerning anything. These are often about people and relationships but they can also be about God and Scriptures. I was meditating the other day on an unrelated subject and the Spirit spoke to me that God was not limited by my opinions. I didn't realize I was expressing an opinion but that is how subtle an opinion can be. Then the Spirit said that I was the one limited by my opinions. I realized that limitation could be on my prayer life, my relationships to God, family, church family, friends, sinners, strangers, and even Scriptures. Everything that concerns us can be limited by opinions.
When it comes to limiting the Scriptures by our opinion, it is because we are not coming to the Word as the tree of Life but the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. We want to learn the good, but we are in control of the knowledge. Our opinions are a symptom of our control. There is an arrogance in opinions that is the expression of the self nature. We are all born with self being our world. The infant knows nothing but his own comfort and need. Everyone who comes into his sight is there to please him and answer his demands. Maturity broadens our world and empathy is the measure of our participation in that world. Ezekiel said he "sat where they sat" and was dismayed. When we can identify with another's pain or joy, we begin to understand them. Understanding brings compassion and compassion brings ministry. Jesus is our example to follow. He knew what was in the heart of man and moved by compassion, He healed and forgave.

Our country is divided by opinions. If those opinions become the driving force, the division becomes greater. At any time, if opinion becomes your identity, you have walled yourself into a limitation that others accept.

Our answer is to yield completely to God's provision for us. Let the Spirit lead you into Truth. He will manifest Jesus to you for He is the perfect plumbline that God has dropped into our realm. See His humility and His willing servitude to do the Father's will. It is the channel through which the magnitude and majesty of God's love and power can flow. When we, as Jesus did, seek only His will and fear nothing but failing to do His will, we will know the joy of life without self-imposed limitation.

Thanksgiving

I am grateful that our country still pauses for Thanksgiving Day. I know many just call it Turkey Day but the majority of our nation still gives thanks for their blessings. Thankfulness is one of the responses that is required in all of God's covenants with man. Even nature is required to praise God and is faithful to do so. Jesus said that the rocks cry out their praise. I think it would be wonderful to not only see creation's granduer but hear the harmonious praise it raises to God. It certainly inspires my praise as I wonder at the vast diversity God has created for us.

There is a verse I have often contemplated as an expression of God's infinite provision for fulfilling His purpose. Colossians 3:15 (NLT) And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful.

Jesus said "My peace I leave with you." God gives us His peace to rule (control, overshadow, reign) in our hearts or the essence of our being. Worry, fear and manipulation are the result of not having an abiding peace that comes from God. But this peace is connected to the position we have in the Body of Christ. That position is held and maintained by the faith we have in the completed work of Jesus. We learn (as we yield to the teaching of the Holy Spirit) to not only have faith in where we stand in Jesus, but where each member stands. Our respect for what God has done in them and what He has destined for each one, gives us peace that God is in control and what He says, He will accomplish. The flesh we yet see in our own selves and in each other is a temporary condition that God will lead us to be victorious in overcoming. Repentance for our own condition and for each problem we see in another is a response that leads to peace.

For peace to reign in the Body, there must be peace in our own heart. Our peace with God leads to peace with each other. Religious acceptance of the Word we hear does not deliver us from criticism, gossip or backbiting. Jesus said this was evidence of poor soil. Only when we let the Word abide in us richly, creating worship and praise and thanksgiving, do we see the seed planted to bring forth an abundant harvest.

Covenant purpose

John 14 (NASB) "If I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself, that where I am, there you may be also."

God's covenants with us in this realm have a purpose and move toward that purpose. God's purpose for creation was to make man in His image. As I explained before, covenant is God's way of achieving that purpose with full protection of both God and man. Covenant response allows both sides to progress toward the fulfillment of that purpose. Jesus gave to His disciples the reason for His willingness to pay the price for this New Covenant. We could be where He is. I have heard this explained that He would return to this earth and receive us so that we could be with Him in heaven. That leaves us to live our lives in this realm without the same contact with the Father that Jesus had on earth. Jesus is the Way. We follow Him in the Way. What He did on earth, we can do. My cry is to have the same leading Jesus had--to see and hear the Father. He did it by the Holy Spirit and I have the same Holy Spirit. My surrender must match that of Jesus and I can have the same relationship.

The misunderstanding of the time element in Jesus' words gives rise to the misunderstanding of His words. Jesus was going to the cross. He knew the next three days were going to be traumatic to the disciples. He knew exactly what they were expecting of Him and He knew that they would only truly learn by going through the experience of those days. Our understanding (or lack of it) is not a threat to God. He can lead us to a place of understanding. Jesus knew He would rise from the tomb but He knew this was past their capacity to understand. So He told them He would return and He would receive them to Himself. This hint of their new relationship to Him would be remembered and understood later.

Our being shaped into the image of God requires exposure of God to us and of us to Him.
II Corinthians 3:18 (NLT) 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 price Jesus paid provides for us to dwell in His realm. We can be as close to Him as we desire. The price we pay for this is our desire. We have to sell everything for the pearl of great treasure. Jesus wants us where He is. He is seated at the right hand of the Father. Paul declares us seated with Him. Everything God desires is already provided, finished, complete. We have to desire it, believe God and rest in Him. To us, process is time. To God process is our response. We can move into the absence of time by our response. Enoch did, Elijah did, Paul did in a different way.

God is about to move on the face of the earth in a new way. It will be new to us as we have not gone this way before. But God has been moving man toward this day for more than 6000 years. We are about to see it happen. Our response is the catalyst for which God is waiting. Revelation 22:17 (NLT) The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” Let anyone who hears this say, “Come.” Let anyone who is thirsty come. Let anyone who desires drink freely from the water of life.

Finding His comfort

When we read the Bible, we must remember that it was not divided into chapters and verses originally. So I continue reading through chapter divisions to get more understanding. This is particularly true of the chapters (13-17) we are considering in John. The 14th chapter of John is a continuation of the 13th where Jesus is talking to Peter. After telling Peter he is going to deny Him, Jesus continues to say, "Don't let your heart be troubled, trust....." John 14:1-6 (NLT) “Don’t let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God, and trust also in me. 2 There is more than enough room in my Father’s home. If this were not so, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? 3 When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am. 4 And you know the way to where I am going.” 5 “No, we don’t know, Lord,” Thomas said. “We have no idea where you are going, so how can we know the way?” 6 Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.

The key to understanding this passage is in verse 6.."No one can come to the Father except through me."

Jesus was in the process of cutting the New Covenant. He was going to the cross to be the sacrificial Lamb of Passover, the Feast of deliverance into the Promise. He was telling Peter, and all of us, we will fail Him in our own nature, but "don't let your heart be troubled," believe or trust in God and in Jesus to make the way of escape into His promise for us. His promise of the New Covenant is one of royalty. The promise of the Abrahamic covenant was of possession. Can you see the progression?

In the New American Standard Version, verse 2 is translated, "In My Father's house are many dwelling places." One day as I was reading this, the Spirit reminded me of the royal way of speaking of their royal family heritage as "house". The "house of Tudor", or "house of Stuart", etc. All through the scriptures you see reference to this, i.e., "the house of David", "the house of Saul." The "house of the Father" is a royal House. Jesus was going to prepare a place for us in His House as His family. He was going to the cross so we could go to His Throne. There is no way to the Father except through Jesus and His sacrifice. We follow in the Way by leaving our human Adamic nature at the cross and follow all the way He leads us. He will return to this earth to rule the nations and we will be ruling with Him. He had to go to the cross for our sake and if we want all He has provided, we, too, must take up our cross and see our human nature die and His Nature live in us. It is a covenant response.

Jesus returned to them as He promised and breathed on them. Thus He ministered to them the New Birth He had won for them on the cross. John 20:22 (NLT)Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit." It is one of the ministries of the Holy Spirit to minister the New Birth to us. We are born into the Father's royal family.

Knowing our weakness

I have always loved the scriptures that speak of our coming to know God and having understanding of His ways. Paul speaks of this often as his prayer for the churches. But in studying the reactions of people when God speaks, I am beginning to realize we need first to understand our human limitation and weakness. Unfortunately, our weakness is thought to be our strength. I am coming to believe that in our human control, that is the essence of the Adamic nature, we cannot recognize what is our weakness unless God reveals it to us. Peter had no idea that he would deny Jesus. I don't think Judas had any concept of the result of his actions. Their opinions of who they were and what they wanted were so strong in their eyes, they could not hear or see what Jesus was saying and doing.

This deaf ear and blind eye are very much a part of all human nature. In the 14th chapter of John, Jesus meets this also in Thomas and Philip. When what God is saying and doing cuts across our opinion, we reject what God is saying. Actually, we reject the person that is speaking because we do not perceive God in the message. We automatically think we know best. Our opinions are more important than what anyone else thinks and we set about to correct. The disciples felt they needed to "help" Jesus see something differently or they discussed among themselves things Jesus said, trying to find their own understanding of what He meant.

If I were to find the most common weakness we share I think it would be our inability to empty ourselves to take on His nature. Jesus did it perfectly. Philippians 2:5-8 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus, who, although He existed in the form of God, did not regard equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a bond-servant, and being made in the likeness of men. Being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

Pride is a very subtle thing. It exhibits itself in making us feel we are more than we are. Jesus addressed this weakness when He told us we must approach everything concerning the Kingdom of God as if we were little children. When the scripture says, He humbled himself, it means just that. He became willing to be humiliated. It is the only way He could take our place. II Corinthians 5:21 (NASB) He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him.

If we continue eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, we will continue in our own way choosing a knowledge source that is not life. When we come to the Spirit, confessing we are lacking, He will teach us and lead us into all Truth. When you read the Bible, let the Spirit bring understanding and don't let prior knowledge or experience direct your thoughts. He will make the Word live and bring new revelation until you will feel you had never read that before. But tomorrow, don't live on yesterday. Be as a little child and let Him direct your path. The Word is given for our protection and sustenance, so let the Word abide in you richly. Psalm 100 is a way of life. Meditate on it and follow the Lamb.

Emotions of Covenant

We see many emotions in covenant response as people meet the challenges of covenant. Some emotions are part of the covenant expectation such as praise, resting in faith, and thanksgiving. In the chapters of John (13-17) where Jesus is preparing His disciples for the cutting of the New Covenant, we see Jesus moved by various emotions as He positioned Himself for the hours that were pivital for our eternity. This is very important for us to understand for we must do the same every time we approach God for a covenant transaction. You see it in many of the men in the Old Testament who were petitioning for God to move in their behalf. There is a positioning of yourself in the act of cutting a covenant and, also, in the act of petitioning the promised covenant provision. John 13:1, 3 NASB 1Now before the Feast of the Passover, Jesus knowing that His hour had come that He would depart out of this world to the Father, having loved His own who were in the world, He loved them to the end. 3Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into His hands, and that He had come forth from God and was going back to God,

Know who you are in God. Know His purpose for you. That was what Jesus was doing. It is a part of covenant participation to know what you have in covenant and know your position. Establishing Himself in the authority over all things, even the hours of trial and crucifixion and the final surrender of His Life into the hands of the Father, Jesus began the ceremony of covenant. The disciples must have been awed by the authority with which He began the ceremony of the Passover, not realizing it was a New Covenant ceremony Jesus was initiating. This is a very human experience we all share. We do not know at the moment when God is leading us through a trying time, the eternal importance of that experience. This is why trust is a very important covenant response. Give God the glory in all you experience. Yes, Satan and people may be the instruments, but God is allowing you to experience the hate, rejection, hurt and humiliation so you can overcome them and experience the triumph of Jesus' victory over these "knee-jerk" reactions to the enemy's attack. Live your life from the position of victory and not as a victim of the enemy. This is your covenant privilege. Hebrews 4:16 (NLT)So let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most. Hebrews 10:19-20 (NIV) 19Therefore, brothers, since we have confidence to enter the Most Holy Place by the blood of Jesus, 20by a new and living way opened for us through the curtain, that is, his body,...

Everything God had provided and commanded in the Covenant and the Prophets concerning His first coming, Jesus fulfilled. The expectation of the New Covenant He also fulfilled by taking us into Himself and nailing us to the cross and bringing us with Him to His exalted place in the Father's Presence. He provided the means for us to dwell in Him. His obedience opened the way for the Holy Spirit to inbide us. Our response of obedience and trust will allow us to come to the Father in a relationship not known before this Way was opened to us.

Jesus took our human nature and nailed it to the cross. Our response is to let go of it, and take on the nature of Jesus. The Holy Spirit will bring this to pass as we yield the control over to Him. Our emotions must yield to Him. Your first reaction to a situation will undoubtedly be your human reaction. But by the blood of the Lamb and your own testimony, you will overcome. Repentance (the blood of the Lamb) and a victorious shout of praise (your testimony) might be your second reaction but it will override the first. Just be faithful to respond with a covenant response until you find that His nature is responding first and yours is no longer strong enough to be heard. That day will come because you are His workmanship!

Covenant Identification

In earlier studies, we saw the exchange of names as covenant identification. But in Christ we see that brought up to a higher form. He emptied Himself to take on our identity. He made it possible for us to empty ourselves of human nature and take on His likeness. He came to live in our realm so we could be where He is and dwell in Him, living in His realm so we are in this world but not of it. Paul wrote in his letter to the Colossians, "for he has rescued us from the kingdom of darkness and transferred us into the Kingdom of his dear Son...." The King James Version says, "translated". The meaning is clear, we are enabled to live in His Kingdom.

After Judas left the table and went out into the night, Jesus began to prepare the disciples for the coming hours. It is interesting to see how much like children we are in our humanity through the reaction of the disciples to the words of Jesus. They seemed to bypass some of the most profound teaching of Jesus to question Him on the one thing He said about leaving and they could not go with Him. John 13:33-37 Dear children, I will be with you only a little longer. And as I told the Jewish leaders, you will search for me, but you can’t come where I am going. 34 So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other. 35 Your love for one another will prove to the world that you are my disciples.” 36 Simon Peter asked, “Lord, where are you going?” And Jesus replied, “You can’t go with me now, but you will follow me later.” 37 “But why can’t I come now, Lord?” he asked. “I’m ready to die for you.” Jesus made it clear (to us!) that He was talking about His death and that Peter would follow Him at a later time. This is so often the way we communicate with the Lord. He is speaking from His viewpoint and we are answering from ours. I have often thought how wonderful it would have been if the disciples would just have listened to what Jesus was saying to them. And then, I realize, we too, get so involved with our own opinion of what is happening that we lose our "hearing aid". We slip out of our rightful place in the Kingdom of Light and stumble around in our own darkness for a period of time until our Guide can get our attention and direct us back to the word of the Lord.

The patience and long suffering kindness of our Lord as He listened to them and continued to give them hope in God's provision for them. The next three chapters are a discourse on the ministry of the Holy Spirit that is the covenant promise of the earthly Presence of God with His covenant friends. He is as close to us as our breath. The promise of covenant is that the Spirit of God is not only with us, but, if we will receive Him, will indwell us. He is with all who call upon the Name of Jesus, but if you are willing to empty room in your being, He will fill it with His presence. If you give him the reigns of your control, He will direct your path and lead you into all Truth. He will reveal the Personality and the Victory of Jesus to you and help you follow in His steps. His Personality will become yours, if you let Him. His Power will be expressed through you if you identify with Him. He will speak for you with your tongue, He will minister with your hands, and He will take your feet where the Father wants you to go. But the most important of all, He will love with the Father's love through you.

Walking in Light

If we are mindful that in the thirteenth chapter of John, Jesus is preparing the introduction to a covenant ceremony, then everything He says takes on the depth of "covenant language". John 13:10 (NLT) Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean. And you disciples are clean, but not all of you.” John 15:3 (NLT)"You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you." Jesus knew the authority of His Word and the power receiving that Word generated in a person. He also knew they had opinions and desires that were of human understanding, but only Judas had determined to take into his own hands the control to make things happen to his will. His response was not to Jesus but to his own desire to use Jesus for his own means. All through the Scriptures we see "imperfect" people whose hearts are turned to God to give Him covenant response but make great "sinful errors". God keeps His covenant responsibility and moves in to bring change to keep them in His purposed path for them. But when that error was spawned by a turning away from a direct covenant command, they lost their covenant connection. Again, our understanding of sin causes us to make a judgment call, but God, Who looks on the heart and the intent, shows mercy.

Judas had given Satan an opportunity to use him as an instrument to vent his hatred of Jesus. A lesson we can learn from Judas is the difference of covenant response to God and self interest. Judas received hope from what he heard Jesus say, but it was a hope centered on his own interests. He never intended to do harm to Jesus but, I believe, wanted to force Jesus to proclaim Himself king and get rid of Roman power. When it did not do what he had believed would happen, he had remorse but not repentance. He took the guilt to himself and found an answer to that guilt in himself. We must guard ourselves from self involvement. Making a judgment concerning anyone else makes us the judge. Self takes over and our own opinion becomes the plumbline. Hurts, rejection, disappointment and discouragement can isolate us from that connection that covenant makes between us and God. The strength of covenant is connection. We are in covenant with the greatest power in all eternity. Because the purpose of this covenant is so awesome, God does not rely on feeble human efforts to make covenant with Him. He cuts covenant on our behalf. We are the object of His love, but the weight of covenant is on Him and not us. So it is not about us but all about Him. Our response is to trust and obey. Believing He loves us and trusting Him to take care of us, takes the anxiety out of the most terrible of circumstances. If we repent when we move in our own self and do not trust Him, He moves in His compassion and mercy that are greater than we can comprehend. Remember, we are in "child training" for something much greater than we can comprehend now. When we keep our focus on Him and praise Him for His control over all things, we can view the present circumstance through light and not our limited vision. Turn to His Word and let Him direct your thoughts. It is the best "foot washing" you can imagine.

Understanding commands

We are viewing the chapters in John that reveal the nature of the covenant Jesus made for us. The chapters 13-17 are filled with covenant expectation and actions as Jesus prepared His disciples for the testing His covenant ministry would be to them. Such brutality and violence that would be loosed against their beloved Messiah were totally beyond their ability to comprehend. Jesus knew their human reaction would be the testing of their lives. Their human expectation of a kingdom and their place in it filled their minds and emotions, leaving no room for what they were soon to witness. This opened the door to their discouragement and defeated fear of what would happen to them. Turning to anything that would be a comfort and distraction from their unhappiness was natural to human nature. It is still a common reaction to events in a Christian's life that cannot be "explained" in their expectation of what they want God to do. Coming to the end of human understanding and seeking God to reveal His will, gives the Spirit the opportunity to lead us into spiritual wisdom and understanding.

The Holy Spirit gave new meaning to the days of agony and confusion the disciples had passed through. Peter's message gave new meaning to those who heard him of the terrible cloud that had blanketed that Passover. John was led to give us the account of the words and actions of Jesus as He prepared for His sacrifice in covenant.

Jesus began to give them the "expectation of covenant" that would be continued by the revelation to them by the Holy Spirit. As His chosen apostles, they would continue the New Covenant's expectations as the doctrines they would teach the Church. The Holy Spirit continues this as He writes on our hearts. Expectations of covenant were a part of the covenant ceremony when two people met to make a covenant. When God makes a covenant with man, the expectations of that covenant are not revealed to man in that one ceremony, but they continue in the generations to come. It was not until Moses, in his obedience and response to God's commands, that God gave the written "expectation" of the Abrahamic covenant, and, as covenant procedure demanded, were written by His own hand and sealed with His own blood.

The New Covenant has "expectations" of God and demand covenant response. A failure to give covenant response is sin. That was Adam's sin and it brought terrible consequences to every human being born since that time. We are born in sin and come into a realm of darkness, cut off from God and destined to judgment. But God made a way of escape. If we ignore His covenant provision, we simply go on in our dark destiny. The chapters 5 through 7 in Romans were always difficult for me until I became acquainted with covenant meaning. Paul is speaking of his own experience of trying to live under the Old Covenant expectation. He understood the inescapable penalty of broken covenant. He also understood the human inability to never fail and always live up to God's expectation. The "expectation" of God's covenant are called "commands". Man has no idea of God's holiness or His purpose for mankind except through His Word. Therefore, man has no idea of how his actions and manner of life are viewed by God. Man has no idea of God's justice and mercy and His great love for us. Only when God reveals this to us do we begin to understand. Getting only a glimpse of His great love for us creates great joy in us and suddenly we see through eyes that are enlightened by His light. To walk in His love means a growing light. Proverbs 4:18 (NLT) The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day. This continuing action of following Him as He leads us deeper into His Nature is a response that God needs to lead us as He desires. Hosea 6:3 Oh, that we might know the Lord! Let us press on to know him. He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn or the coming of rains in early spring.” This growing revelation or light is necessary if we are to "see" where God is leading us and we are to know the day in which we live. He gives understanding as we walk in His Way.

What God reveals and the way in which He reveals to us is dependent on our Covenant response. However, Satan, the great deceiver, knows our human reluctance to walk in continual response and so he hold out an "easier" way and makes religion of the revelation by lulling us into our comfort zone. We still want God and we still want the results of following God, we just don't want to become "fanatics" or seem too zealous. We give God a portion of our lives and continue living the rest the way we desire. I have no problem with comfort and relaxation and fun. There is a way that we can enjoy what God has provided for us. Colossians 3:15-17 (NLT) 15 And let the peace that comes from Christ rule in your hearts. For as members of one body you are called to live in peace. And always be thankful. 16 Let the message about Christ, in all its richness, fill your lives. Teach and counsel each other with all the wisdom he gives. Sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs to God with thankful hearts. 17 And whatever you do or say, do it as a representative of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks through him to God the Father. What this means to me is simply living an undivided life. My whole life belongs to Him. That means when I am cheering my favorite football team, or visiting friends, or enjoying my family, I am joined to Him. He "reads over my shoulder" the book I am enjoying. He listens to all my conversation and I am aware of His Presence. I am instantly aware of that which I do or say that does not please Him and I instantly repent and change my course. It isn't difficult. What is difficult is turning away from His peace and going back into the stress of my own way. People feel guilty about enjoying life. Don't forget He made and has provided "all things to enjoy" in this realm He has created for us. He wants us to laugh and enjoy and be happy. He created the sense of humor. Satan has degraded and vilified everything in our culture with suggestive language and filthy humor. That does not change what God has given. We can have all that God has provided and revel in His love and peace.

Acting on the Word

While Jesus said, "Follow Me," to the men who were to become His disciples, the Spirit assures us that we can hear the same invitation today. While they followed Him without understanding the full import of Who they were following, we fight the tendency to not see where He is leading us because we have so many distractions. The way to combat this is to focus on the simplicity of His commands. "Love one another," "forgive and you will be forgiven," and "judge not." These commands can be practices in any circumstance we may be at any time. Work, school, home and at play, we are among people and we can be responding to His Word.

In the 13th chapter of John, we saw Jesus getting Himself and His disciples ready for the process of cutting the New Covenant. We began last time to see how His washing their feet is an ongoing lesson for us. I want to show you how, in our following Jesus, this can become a means of fulfilling His commands. Our spiritual feet pick up much of the filth of this realm and of the day in which we live. Our reactions to people and to circumstances add to this as well as our opinions of what is ongoing in our lives, work and nation. If we are not careful, these harden our hearts and deaden our sensitivity to the Spirit's voice. This is where "foot washing" becomes very important in our lives. There are some Scriptures I want you to consider. They speak of how we can wash one another's feet in the spirit.
Ephesians 5:25-27(NIV)Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless.In the Old Testament, God counseled His people to speak the words of the Law and rehearse them in the ears of their children. There is a cleansing to the speaking of God's Word to one another. If the Word of God were included in the conversation between husband and wife, there would be blessing in their marriage, as much of the stress would be removed. In all our conversation there should be that which glorifies God and honors the Lord. We have no idea how this can wash away the effects of this realm. Malachi 3:16-18 Then those who feared the Lord spoke with each other, and the Lord listened to what they said. In his presence, a scroll of remembrance was written to record the names of those who feared him and always thought about the honor of his name. “They will be my people,” says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. “On the day when I act in judgment, they will be my own special treasure. I will spare them as a father spares an obedient child. Then you will again see the difference between the righteous and the wicked, between those who serve God and those who do not.”

There is also the vicarious repenting we do for those who do not know, or are not aware, of the necessity of repenting. II Chronicles 7:14 (NLT)Then if my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land. We need to repent, not only for the sins of abortion and homosexual sins, but the attitude of withdrawing from God in every facet of our national life. These can affect our reactions to daily contact with these conditions or people who justify them in their acceptance. We are to love the people while repenting for the sin.

There is tremendous power in the act of forgiving. John 20:23 (NLT)If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven. If you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” Be a forgiver. As you have been forgiven, forgive. Do not hold grudges or the memory of hurts and rejection. This makes a great difference in the relationships you have in your family, in your church and at work. Retaining even the memory of sin against you, only hurts you and robs you of His joy. Let the Word wash away the effects of hurtful actions and words.

Receiving understanding

Today, we are going to be comparing the Scripture passage, John 13:6-20 with Colossians 1:9-14. Keep in mind, Jesus did not give us doctrine but IS the WAY, the TRUTH and the LIFE. He purchased and created the Church and is the plumbline to the foundation and the building. The Church is built on the apostle and the prophet. We have the apostles' doctrine and the prophets' revelation of Jesus Christ as the foundation, but we are His Church. How we understand and live is as vital to God as any ministry that has ever participated in any era. When anyone speaks of the perfection of the Church, the power of the Church or the ministry of the Church, it means you and me. The world may never know our name or see us as important, but God does.

How you understand and what you understand is vitally important to God. Adam had been taught by God and he lived in Light, but he gave it up to gain understanding and control his way. We struggle with this in our adamic nature. These two passages of Scripture address this struggle and God's invitation to us to choose once more God's way. In Colossians, Paul shows us God's intent for us to live in Light and be taught of God.

John 13:6-10 (NLT) 6 When Jesus came to Simon Peter, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” 7 Jesus replied, “You don’t understand now what I am doing, but someday you will.” 8 “No,” Peter protested, “you will never ever wash my feet!” Jesus replied, “Unless I wash you, you won’t belong to me.” 9 Simon Peter exclaimed, “Then wash my hands and head as well, Lord, not just my feet!” 10 Jesus replied, “A person who has bathed all over does not need to wash, except for the feet, to be entirely clean....." Human understanding takes us back to the custom of washing feet because of necessity. Spiritual understanding does not always come with defining words. We just know in our being. Just as Jesus told Peter, "you don't understand now...but you will," we face this same dilemma over and over. If we try to reason it out and make explanations for ourselves, we only have human understanding to rely on. If we just trust Jesus and "lean not on our own understanding, but in ALL our ways acknowledge Him," the Holy Spirit will guide us into His understanding.

Colossians 1:9 (NIV) For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding.Paul prayed for the saints at Colosse to be filled with the knowledge of His will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. Paul was writing to them, but he was relying on the Holy Spirit to minister this understanding. Paul had not yet met these saints nor had he ministered to them personally. They, like us, had to rely on the Holy Spirit's ministry to understand what Paul was saying to them. Paul had the understanding in his spirit, but he was not depending on his words or wisdom, but on the Holy Spirit to lead them into all truth, or spiritual understanding, of God's Word that he was giving them.

The Holy Spirit will guide our feet but He also ministers to us the cleansing of the water of the Word. Our "feet" pick up many of this realms ways and it is filth that must be washed off as we enter His House. We never bypass or "outgrow" this. Only His Word reveals and cleanses the inner motivations, the intents and purposes of the heart that can lead us astray.

Understanding of God's ways is the key to walking in His will and purpose for us. He does not "hide" for any other purpose than to bring us to the Tree of Life. In all our testing and struggle with circumstances, we are brought to the choice: our way and our will or God's way and God's will. This cleansing is vitally important to our fulfilling our response to the covenant Jesus made for us with the Father. He took our place in cutting the covenant, but we have the responsibility of giving to God the response He desires. Our human nature stands in the way of producing the fruit God is desiring. Jesus is the prototype of the creation of man in God's image. His Life is the pattern to which we are molded. His works are the example of the works we are enabled to do. Don't sell yourself short or let Satan deceive you. Don't live beneath the plane that has been provided for you.

Colossians 1:10-14 (NLT) 10 Then the way you live will always honor and please the Lord, and your lives will produce every kind of good fruit. All the while, you will grow as you learn to know God better and better. 11 We also pray that you will be strengthened with all his glorious power so you will have all the endurance and patience you need. May you be filled with joy, 12 always thanking the Father. He has enabled you to share in the inheritance that belongs to his people, who live in the light. 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.

Approaching Covenant

When Jesus was answering His disciples concerning their question of the future (Matthew 24), He spoke of the deception of the evil one and of man. The writings of the apostles warn of deception. For many years, as I listen to people quoting Scripture without understanding the foundation of covenant, I have felt that Satan's robbing the world of covenant understanding has been the greatest of deceptions. To believe in covenant to get riches and blessing without understanding covenant response has also been a deception. Covenant response keeps us from making a religion of God's Word and so robbing ourselves of His Life.

We saw in Genesis 15 the approach by God to making a covenant with Abraham. I see the same approach in the first three verses of John 13. Before a covenant can be cut, there must be a receptive response. Human nature had to give way to His Lordship over its response and control. You see the total unity with the Father in Jesus as He entered the covenant mode in these verses. John 13:1-3 (NLT) 1 Before the Passover celebration, Jesus knew that his hour had come to leave this world and return to his Father. He had loved his disciples during his ministry on earth, and now he loved them to the very end. 2 It was time for supper, and the devil had already prompted Judas, son of Simon Iscariot, to betray Jesus. 3 Jesus knew that the Father had given him authority over everything and that he had come from God and would return to God.

The wording in this is very important. The New International Version says, "the evening meal was being served". This implies it had not yet been eaten, so the ceremony of the Passover meal had not yet started. I don't want to distract you from the main message to be seen in this portion, but John most clearly gives us a time sequence that is only hinted at in the other gospels. Notice it starts out "Before the Passover celebration". Jesus had instructed the Passover feast be celebrated one day earlier than the time everyone else would be keeping the Feast. As the Lamb of God, He would be giving His Life for us at the same time the lambs were being slain for the keeping of the Passover by everyone else. I just threw that in so you could see how important it was to God that His Feasts were kept as the vehicle of His Will being carried out to complete His purpose. John wanted us to see the whole covenant procedure and so He includes this approach for us.

Jesus entered the covenant mode and deliberately interupted the "normal" Passover procedure to wash their feet. Nothing hits the old human nature as hard as foot washing. This was not an uncommon procedure for these men, but washing feet was given as a duty to the lowest ranking of the slaves. They met each person at the door to wash the filth of the street off of the feet of those who would enter the house. For Jesus to take this role was offensive to the men who respected Him as their Messiah. It brought out responses from their human nature. We see it cemented Judas' attitude and forced him into action. Jesus was preparing these men to face what was to come but also introducing a teaching of humility that would serve them as leaders of His church. I do not believe Jesus was establishing a new ritual for the church but a necessary attitude for receiving His Power and Authority to establish and minister to His church. There are times when the Spirit leads and directs a time of foot washing but I do not see the ritual as a command but the attitude of heart certainly is a command.

Just as Abraham had to be instructed and met by God before he could enter covenant with God, so these disciples had to be prepared for the New Covenant that would be cut for them. We need to be very alert in the Spirit and heeding every Word that comes from God as the Spirit prepares us for The Day of the Lord. We are in precarious times. Spiritual warfare is greater than ever as Satan knows his time is short. God is bringing His Church up to maturity and perfection. The two forces are producing trying times for us much as the disciples faced at the meeting of the two forces in their day. Trust and rest in Him are our greatest defense and also our greatest offensive weapons.

Covenant exposed

John 15:7-8(NLT)But if you remain in me and my words remain in you, you may ask for anything you want, and it will be granted! 8 When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father.

Not until the Holy Spirit revealed the covenant language in the words of Jesus, did I begin to understand His message to us in John 13-17. He was defining the New Covenant in His blood that was to be offered in only a few short hours. The verses you just read go back to the Abrahamic covenant when the blessings (the inheritance of the Israelites) were defined. All the "promises" of God are covenant blessings defined in the covenant.

God's covenants with man, being open ended, are given and expanded over time and generations of men. The Law and the Prophets were all part of the Abrahamic covenant that Jesus walked out in our behalf. The words of the Prophets must all be fulfilled in Jesus. Some of those words are fulfilled in His body, the Church. But their fulfillment is absolutely necessary before Jesus can return to bring the covenant we are now under into the third great covenant that will rule our eternity. Acts 3:21(NLT) For he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets. Peter's sermon on the Day of Pentecost is a defining of the expansion of the New Covenant out of the Old.

During these hours of the "Last Supper", Jesus brings the blessings and expectation of the covenant with which these disciples were familiar, into the greater blessings and expectation of the covenant He was about to cut in their place. One of these was the division of the inheritance of tribes of Israel when they arrived in Canaan.
All of the tribes were to receive land except the tribe of Levi. This tribe was to receive God as their inheritance and they were to have the privilege of serving God from generation to generation. Where they were to live was designated by God. Their abiding place was to be in cities designated as offerings to God. Many of the prophets were priests from these cities. Samuel from Ramah and Jeremiah from Anathoth, Micah from Moresheth Gath and Amos from Tekoa were some who were born to the priesthood. This is important to us who are born into the priesthood of God by our second birth. We receive the blessing of the priesthood by the privilege of abiding in Jesus Christ. Acts 17:28(ESV)for "'In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own poets have said,"'For we are indeed his offspring.'"

The priests who served were also to be partakers of the sacrifice. The bread that was laid out on the table in the Holy Place was to be eaten daily. The Word of God is to abide in us....eaten daily. The covenant of bread is a mighty covenant and is with us today as we take communion. But to live in The Word of Life and to eat daily of His Word until it abides in us, lives in us, and we move and have our life in Him, is a privilege beyond description. It is so much more than the priests of the Old Testament knew. As marvelous and productive as this is for us, it is still only a promise of what is to come.

What fruit are we to produce? I believe it is a twofold harvest. The first, and most important, is the Life of God shining through us. It is what God looks for in His vineyard. His Life is the "seed" sown in us and is to produce His likeness. The second, and vitally important to us as His ministry on earth, is to bear witness of His Life to the world and to be light in a dark realm. We are witnesses of His resurrection. We can only be that if the Spirit that raised Him from the dead also abides in us. That was what made the witness of the apostles so effective. Many have tried to carry out the commission as a religious duty and it has not been fruitful. But when His Presence is abiding in you richly, you cannot help but bear witness of Him. Then you are bearing much fruit and God is glorified in you.