What manner of People?

Since all these things are thus to be dissolved, what sort of people ought you to be in lives of holiness and godliness,”

2 Peter 3:11

The Greek from this verse reads “holy conduct and godliness”. Below we examine the thought the Greek definition brings to these two words from Helps Word Studies ~ 

Holy ~ 40 hágios – properly, different (unlike), other ("otherness"), holy; for the believer, 40 (hágios) means "likeness of nature with the Lord" because "different from the world."

The fundamental (core) meaning of 40(hágios) is "different" – thus a temple in the 1st century was hagios ("holy") because different from other buildings (Wm. Barclay). In the NT, 40 /hágios ("holy") has the "technical" meaning "different from the world" because "like the Lord."

[40 (hágios) implies something "set apart" and therefore "different (distinguished/distinct)" – i.e. "other," because special to the Lord.]

Conduct ~ anastrophḗ (from 303 /aná, "down to up" and 4762 /stréphō, "turn") – properly, up-turning; (figuratively) change of outward behavior from an "up-turn" of inner beliefs (presuppositions, etc.).

Godliness ~ 2150 eusébeia (from 2095 /eú "well" and 4576 /sébomai, "venerate, pay homage") – properly, someone's inner response to the things of God which shows itself in godly piety (reverence). 2150 /eusébeia ("godly heart-response") naturally expresses itself in reverence for God, i.e. what He calls sacred (worthy of veneration).

Holiness is something we intuitively try and define as cleanliness.  You can see from the above definition that cleanliness would be the result of someone who has a proper response to the things of God because they are ‘different’.  Peter writes to the believers about their conduct, their lifestyle, reflecting their belief system. 

The church is coming into a great knowledge and understanding of last days theology.  A greater emphasis is being placed upon the return of the Lord.  With many of the worlds crisis events occurring, believers are asking, “Is this the time the Lord will return?”

Let’s highlight 1 Thessalonians 5:22-23 and Matthew 24 for consideration.  Jesus said that ‘wars, rumours of wars, famines, earthquakes were simply the beginning of sorrows.’  We have definitely entered into a great time of sorrow for the multitudes who are experiencing loss in any capacity.  Yet, Thessalonians tells us the end will come suddenly, like a thief in the night, while the world says ‘peace and safety’.  

I think the greater danger the church is facing in North American is the time of peace and safety that lulls one into complacency and sleep.  We are admonished in Matthew 25 to be the wise virgins who are watching and prepared (sufficient oil to not only light our lamps but keep them burning). The bridegroom arrived in the darkness (at midnight) so oil for their lamps were necessary to light the path to Him. The foolish ones were caught unprepared and thus entrance denied. 

All that to say, assurance that the Lord is returning is seen in our verse today. Destruction and judgment will occur and Peter writes to the believers of his time reminding them of ‘what manner of man they ought to be’.  This, of course, must be relevant for us today.  

While waiting and looking, what manner of man ought we to be that could possibly hasten his return?  If he is slow concerning His promise, Peter writes it is because of the patience He is exercising towards US, not wishing for any to perish but all to reach repentance. 

If what I ‘ought to be’ isn’t reflecting the lifestyle that my words proclaim, repentance is required.  Preparation begins with a shift in mindset allowing change.  This begins with  alignment, agreeing with Him.  Following that we simply walk out the obedience that shows we are Christ-like in everything we say and do.  Or as Roman’s asks; do we presume upon ‘the kindness and forbearance of our God not knowing it is his goodness that leads us to repentance?’

Peter concluding this letter writes in verses fourteen and seventeen with an admonition that we are ‘to be diligent to be found by him without spot or blemish and at peace.’  We are to know of these unfolding events beforehand and take care that we are “not carried away with the error of lawless people and lose our own stability. BUT continue to grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.”

“To him be the glory both in and through his church, now and to the day of eternity.   

Amen.”

Battle in Meekness

Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth 

Matthew 5:5   ESV

In my recent writings I’ve highlighted the armour we have been given enabling us to battle better. This week I would like to examine the importance of meekness in the midst of that battle. 

While you might think this a dichotomy, I would like you to consider how many of our battles are found within the construct of personal relationships.  2 Tm 2:24 reminds us meekness enables us to patiently endure evil.

When we say our battle is not with flesh and blood, we hold an understanding that the destructive workings within our relationships are something driven by demonic strategy through the yielded flesh of mankind.  We are not to battle with people, but follow Jesus’ example of committing ourselves to the one who judges righteously.  

Suited up in the armour of God will keep us thinking, speaking and acting in one accord with the Father. While we have all this defensive clothing we must still, in the midst of our battles, govern our hearts.  Meekness is a quality found within a purified heart. 

I do love this word meek.  It isn’t simply that we have power or authority but it is the righteous use of that power displayed ‘under’ authority.  It is defined in various translations as gentle, mild and meek.  Yet these words do little to help us understand the Fathers mind regarding this quality.

Vines Expository Dictionary tells us It is that temper of spirit in which we accept His dealings with us as good, and therefore without disputing or resisting; it is closely linked with the word humility.  Vines goes on to state “ It must be clearly understood, therefore, that the meekness manifested by the Lord and commended to the believer is the fruit of power. The common assumption is that when a man is meek it is because he cannot help himself; but the Lord was ‘meek’ because he had the infinite resources of God at His command. Described negatively, meekness is the opposite to self–assertiveness and self–interest; it is equanimity of spirit that is neither elated nor cast down, simply because it is not occupied with self at all.”

While Helps Word Study below, highlights the use of ‘strength’, it is strength within the  context of authority given in Christ Jesus making Philippians 4:13 ~  I can do all things through Christ which strengthens me; a reality.

Now on to the word meek from  Helps Word Study in the Discovery Bible ~ 

praýs (also listed as 4239a/praupathia in NAS dictionary) – meek.  See 4236 (praótēs).

This difficult-to-translate root (pra-) conveys more than "meek."  Being meek in Scripture is not being weak.  Rather it refers to exercising God's strength under His control – i.e. describing power used without undue harshness.

[The English term "meek" often lacks this blend of gentleness (reserve) and strength.]

4239/praüs ("gentle while strong") describes the blend of: insisting only on what is necessary (in God's eyes), and all that is necessary.  This divinely-produced balance reveals "active submission" by the believer who responds to people God's way.  

2. In sum, meek (4239/praýs, pra-) in the Bible describes God-defined moderation.  It           functions in "perfect submission to the divine will.  The Lord loves the combination of faithfulness and meekness that characterizes His people.  In contrast to prideful exultation, these folk always remain modest.

We have two biblical examples of individuals who are described as meek.  Preeminently, Jesus calls himself "meek and lowly in heart" in Mt 11:29 and tells his disciples to come and learn of Him.  In the book of Numbers Moses, is noted as the meekest of all men on the earth.  Two worthwhile examples to follow when dealing with people. 

Jesus’ statement here from the sermon on the mount was the message he gave to those desiring to follow Him.  These words are still His invite and promise to those who seek a narrow path and a higher way.

Blessed are the meek for they shall inherit the earth.  Whether it means now, or then, or both, I know I want to make sure this quality of Christ lives well in and through me.  Clothed with meekness is one more thing that assures us of victory in every battle we face.

Armour

‘…since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and love...."

1 Thessalonians 5:8 NET 

I will remind you that the armour of Ephesians, chapter six included the breastplate of ‘righteousness’ and a ‘shield of faith’.  In our verse today we read from Paul to put on a breastplate of faith and love.  

Acts chapter 3 tells us about Peter and John going up to the temple at the hour of prayer.  They find the lame man at the gate begging for alms and while Peter and John have no silver or gold to give, they do have the name of Jesus and using that, the man is healed.  As this created quite a stir, Peter takes opportunity to preach and makes known to all that it was the name, and faith in the name, that gave this man ‘soundness’, ‘wholeness’, ’perfect health’  before all.  Acts 3:16.

I was struck again that there is only one thing that can give us the wholeness we desire in life and that is His name and our faith in that name.  So back to the armour’s breastplate.  It is a breastplate of faith/love and a breastplate of righteousness.

Do you realize how much righteousness is challenged in our lives? I’ve always liked the Amplified Bible’s treatment of the word righteousness, ‘being and doing right’.  We don’t normally question our legal state of ‘being the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus,’ 

2 Cor. 5:21,  but how much, or how often, do we battle accusations from the devil, others, and even ourself about our state of righteousness?  The doing that doesn’t quite measure up to the being. How challenged are we in faith and love?  Any area of doubt and unbelief could actually become chinks in our breastplate. 

It is the faith that we carry in the work of Jesus, the believing in all that He has provided that gives us the confidence to take up and cover ourselves with His armour.  Our adherence to what He has said reigns over all other thoughts. 

This breastplate of faith and love requires an absolute confidence in what God has decreed. A breastplate of faith and love guards our hearts. This piece of the armour holds us steady as the earth groans and we are assured that we have not been destined for the wrath God will pour out, rather gain salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.  It is always, and only, His name and faith in His name that gives us this assurance.

Since we belong to the day, let us be sober, having put on ….. 

Stand

Having done all to stand ~ Stand. 

‘Putting on the whole armor of God’, from Ephesian’s chapter six is well known to us. The Apostle Paul sums up his letter, beginning in verse ten with the word, ‘finally’.   Disciples, likened unto soldiers have instructions to ‘gear up’; but, before they are told to put on this amour, they are instructed to be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. This is the ‘how to’  required for standing in a firm, immovable position. 

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. 
Ephesians 6:10-13

These are days, as we engage in battle, that we must recognize and understand our enemy and his strategies.  Interesting to note Paul’s one comment about us not being ignorant of the devil devices, 2 Cor. 2:11 enters around the division created in relationships around forgiveness.  Yet how ignorant are we in this.  The biting and devouring we do within our ranks is nothing more than a tactic, a wile, to destroy us from within,  We must know where to stand, who to stand with and what to do while standing there. 

Our position must first be found in Him.  The Greek interlinear of verse ten reads “henceforth be empowered in [the] Lord and in the strength of the might of Him.  The realization that we are nothing apart from Him.  Every blessing that comes to us is because we are found in union with Christ Jesus.  I’ve said before, we have a natural strength that may enable us in natural circumstances but the strength to successfully stand in the face of both spiritual and natural adversity, must be found in Him.  

Paul then delineates the armor.  It is first the armor of God, then it is the ‘whole’ armor.  It is as we are clothed with what He’s given, that we find His enabling power at work within us.  Paul said it was ‘the exceeding greatness of His power to us who believe’ ~ Ephesians 1:18.  

As we examine each piece of His armor, we examine how individual enablements become a whole. Now in the having done all to stand, our part is strengthened by His.  

Our positions during times of battle must first be found clothed in Him.  

It’s interesting to note that David, as the shepherd boy who slew Goliath, did not go to battle with Saul’s armor which he had not personally tested. David’s success came from using what he knew.  Could this our case, endeavouring to use armour that we have not tested. 

The antithesis of these pieces of armor would be, deception, self righteousness, unwillingness to reconcile, unbelief and doubt.  All or any of these would make us unstable.  James wrote a double minded man is unstable in all his ways.  

In these days of great uncertainty and unrest may we find Jesus, the stability of our times as our sure foundation.  And being found in Him, clothed with the amor of God, let us be confident of our stance.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.  Ephesians 6:10-13

Wars and rumours of wars

You will hear of wars and rumours of wars,….

Jesus answered, “See to it that no one deceives you. For many will come in My name, claiming, ‘I am the Christ,’ and will deceive many.  You will hear of wars and rumours of wars, but see to it that your are not alarmed.  These things must happen, but the end is still to come… 

            Matthew 24:4-6. Berean Study Bible Translation 

‘See to it’ .. is another way of saying you have to take responsibility for your own spiritual condition.  

Most of us have had our attention and prayers drawn to the war taking place these past weeks in Israel. We continue to witness the signs that would indicate a soon and very soon return of the Lord.  Acts tells us the Holy Spirit was poured out in the ‘last days’ and John wrote in his first epistle about the ‘last hour’.  How much closer are we getting to Jesus’ return and the end of this age if those were last days and last hours? 

With the political and economic climate shifting around the world we could very easily be approaching another World War.  I read an article this morning about Canadians being encouraged to leave Lebanon while they could. This reminded me of those between the world wars, urged to leave Europe but did not read the times properly and were ultimately caught up within WWII. 

Jesus said when the time comes, don’t go back in the house and try to save your stuff - it’s enough to save your lives, Mark 13:15. There are things the Lord is preparing His church to endure in the days ahead and he that has an ear to hear what the Spirit is saying will find themselves ‘saved’ through their obedience to Him.  

Yet it is by his great love and unwillingness for any to perish that He warns and prepares us, both internally by his still small voice highlighting His word and the revelation he gives through prophetic voices. Note John 15:15 and Rev. 10:7. Having said that, there must be enough spiritual discernment within each of us that we are individually capable of judging any prophecy we hear.

For now, we have chapter twenty four, the very words of Jesus , preparing us for these end times.  First, with two very real instructions.  

• See to it you are not deceived.  

• See to it you are not  afraid.  

Jesus is the way, the truth and the life.  Living in daily communion with him through the word and Spirit we are assured of knowing, seeing, and hearing rightly.  He sends his word and it delivers.  He sends his word and it divides.  He sends his word and it illuminates.  Jesus said feed on me and live.  He has not given us a Spirit of fear but of power, love and a sound, well disciplined mind.  

I find great comfort in these thoughts.

Right Fruit

The fruit of the Spirit is …..

Galatians 5:22-23

Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control…ESV 

This scripture is very familiar to most of us and today I want to consider the dynamics involved that impact this fruit being manifested through our lives.  Our scripture tells us this is the fruit the Holy Spirit produces.  It does not come through our human efforts or personal disciplines of self control.  It only manifests by the Spirit through a yield, born again vessel, one who recognizes their need and is dependent on Him to do His work.

Without the yieldedness of the vessel to the Holy Spirit, the potential side effects of life’s harshness can result in diminishing our profession as Christ-like-ones.  

Paul wrote to Timothy to 'endure hardness as a good solider’.  With that instruction, we as the current resource of God on this earth, must know how to endure hardships while we allow our lives to be transformed and conformed into the image of Christ in the midst of circumstances.  

I’m mindful of Jesus’ example in the book of Hebrews ‘ who for the joy set before Him endured the cross’.  The Son of Man was anointed with the ‘oil of joy’ above all others.  James’ also admonished us to “consider it pure joy when you encounter trials of many kinds”.  

Without exercising these graces, empowered by the Holy Spirit, hardships can be the snare that so easily besets us.  

Consider how ~ 

• Hardships can produce hardness of heart.  

• Hardships can change what we believe. 

• Hardships can produce an evil heart of unbelief that cause us to depart from the living God.

• Hardships can create a desire to escape.

• Hardships can enhance an excessive sense of self preservation. 

We would be remiss if we did not remember as well, the actual antitheses of the specific  fruits Paul enumerates here in Galatians five.  

We will never escape the hardships of this life.  They will be with us until Jesus returns or we move to heaven.  Jesus showed us the way.  Prepared us with the word.  Enabled us with His spirit and grace.  Life can make you bitter or better depending on how you respond to your circumstances.  

Paul wrote to the Corinthians that the grace of God given to them in Christ Jesus enriched them in every way so they were not lacking in any gift as they waited for the revealing of the Lord Jesus Christ, 1 Cor. 1:4

While we are assured the Holy Spirit is at work in us to help during these times, it is our responsibility to lean into all that He is saying and giving, to believe that He is actually the one we need our help from.  We know He leads us and guides us into all truth.  We need His power, His might to strengthen us in our humanity’s weakness.  Paul also wrote that Gods’ grace was sufficient for him.

Learning to lean into the grace so that it is not to us in vain and we are not found to be frustrating it; I believe, will become increasingly more needful as the world begins to watch the unfolding of events leading to the return of the Lord. 

We are to examine ourselves, whether we are in the faith, so we can correct the areas that are needful, not by our own personal disciplines but rather by the spiritual graces that draws us further into the only one who can help us in our time of need.  

We know we are growing up into Him in all things when our first response in and through hardness is the display of His fruit.  When I am weak, there is a grace that is sufficient for me to overcome my own personality and feelings to show forth the Jesus I want the world to see.  Not by my might but by His spirit; His Spirit in me, that I am yielded to. 

New

Behold I am doing a new thing ~ 

Isaiah 43:19 

Various renderings of our verse today indicate that God is “about” to do…, “will do” … ‘I am going to do’, all which indicate a future and a hope and yet the verse goes on to include the ‘now’ moment.  

I think sometimes all of us get hung up in our personal methodologies. We set our faith upon the way we think something should be done and we are invested spirit, soul and body in seeing it accomplished and loose sight of the works that God is actually doing.  

Of course we would all say we have taken the time to seek the counsel of the Lord and are building according to His plan, yet so often, we fall prey to the disappointments of failed experiences.  

It’s a dicey thing when our plans go awry.  We examine ourselves, we examine others, we question God and sometimes nothing is resolved.  We are left to our own understanding and walking in the same paths simply because we are unable reconcile our realities. But the reality is always going to be the need to find ourselves daily, continually, aligning with the new that God is working.  The dichotomy is our need for our faith to hold loosely to our methods and tightly to His ways. 

Our faith can be so specifically exercised to an exact end that when it looks any other way we have a hard time seeing and understanding the workings of God.  Isn’t that the way with much of life?   We are so fixated on what we think is right, so assured of what we have set our faith to, when God doesn’t move the way we expect, in the time we have allotted him, we struggle over the will of God and then we fail to recognize the goodness of God in the midst of our struggle.    

Romans reminds us of the condition of those who are unable to see the works of God and give Him thanks.  Perhaps we could truly be those who would wake daily with the expectation of a new day with new things to behold and experience and rejoice in His creative processes.  

We learn how, like wise master builders to bring forth out of our treasury that which is old and that which is new.  We cannot allow ourselves to be so ridged in our understanding that it actually creates limitations and boundaries for our lives.  The one who is the beginning and the end, the creator of all things, has a new thing each day He is endeavouring to work in each of us. 

Morning by morning he awakens my hear to ear and I am taught, was Isaiah’s declaration, 50:4  I love this verse from a couple of translations which all speak to our willingness to hear. 

• The Sovereign Lord has given me a well instructed tongue, to know the word that sustains the weary.  He wakens me morning by morning, wakens my ear to listen like one being instructed ~ NIV

• The Sovereign Lord has given me his words of wisdom, so that I know how to comfort the weary.  Morning my morning he wakens me and opens my understanding to his will ~ NLT

And finally the ESV which reads - 

• The Lord God has given me the tongue of those who are taught, that I may know how to sustain with a word him who is weary. Morning by morning he awakens; he awakens my ear to hear as those who are taught.  

Berean bible adds ‘ to listen as a disciple’.  On a side note we must pay head to the disciplined tongue which comes with the hearing ear.  Much of the time it is our unrestrained tongue that actually wearies our own soul.  

Behold I am doing a new thing, now it springs forth is a reality we all need to hold fast to in these days.  We have no sacred cows, we have no paths so firmly set that we are not prepared to move when He does.  After all, it is His presence and His glory we are seeking as we give ourselves to the establishment of His Kingdom. 

Remember

But this I call to mind and therefore I have hope.  Lamentations 3:21

From our scripture today we find Jeremiah lamenting his circumstances and declares from Lamentations 3:18.  ‘my endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord’,

Jeremiah continues with his prayer; 

Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall!  My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. Verse 19.  

I want you to note the thing that Jeremiah is faced with.  His endurance and hope are diminished because of what He is remembering. "My soul continually remembers it"   His focus on his affliction, wanderings, wormwood and gall is literally discouraging him.  It isn’t until Jeremiah, like King David who encouraged himself in the Lord, shifts his remembrance and calls to mind the mercies and faithfulness of God that his hope is restored. 

In an hour where the Lord is calling for much endurance from His people, we are sorely tempted to yield to the pressures and look for a way of escape.  Yet the very word endurance demands ‘a remaining under’.   Endurance is the ability to remain stedfast to the Lord in whatever situation we find ourselves. It is in calling to mind who He is and what He has done and what He is willing to do that breathes hope into our very being.  

Our exhortation to remember Him is foundational to the longevity of our life of faith.  It is through our rehearsing of things past, present and hoped for that we find the strength needed to carry on.  Our acts of worship are a stirring up of our pure minds to remember the exceeding greatness of our God.  As we celebrate Him, we displace us. Our fears and unbelief, our doubts and pain, and darkness flees because we have engaged with Light.

Rehearsing the past mercies and faithfulness of God holds us through everything.  We see, hear and read the testimonies revealing His very nature.  This brings joy to our hearts and hope rises. Who He has been to others, He will be to me.  The leper who meets Jesus knows Jesus’ ability.   He has seen and heard and it has drawn him to Jesus.  His question is, ‘Will you do this for me’? As he is met with assurance and provision, we learn the heart of God for all.  He is unwilling for any to perish.

This I call to mind and have hope!  What is it I am to remember?  The ‘hesed’ of the Lord. His unfailing, stedfast love for His people.  His covenant established.  His word kept.  His promise fulfilled. Jeremiah calls to mind who His God is, merciful and gracious, mercies never ending because of His great faithfulness. I can hear Jeremiah’s proclamation though his trial, “The Lord is my portion!”  

As we choose to be mindful of the Lord as our portion we are assured of hope.

Set….part 2

Set over Kingdoms and nations to root out, pull down, destroy, build and plant 

Jeremiah 1:10

Legal, and vital truth are different sides of a two edged sword. Legally, we have been given a position in Christ, seated with Him in heavenly places and with authority to use His name.  Vitally, effective use of the name hinges on the reality of our spiritual condition.  If, and it does, judgment begins in the house of God, and if, and we are, the temple of God, then it’s living as purified vessels that makes us fit for the masters use, thereby enabled to righteously exercise the dominion and authority given. 

This reminds me of the book of Acts, where the seven sons of Sceva try to cast out a devil in the name of Jesus whom Paul preaches.  The demonic forces, acknowledge the name of Jesus, recognize Paul, yet do not acknowledge these men’s right to drive them out.  

While we recognize the power in the name of Jesus and our right to use the name, it comes with the believers responsibility to be under the authority of our Lord, Jesus Christ. 

Jesus went about doing good and destroying the works of the devil BECAUSE, there was nothing in Him that attached Him to the God of this world, John 14:30.

I want you to understand the importance first of all in the phrase ‘set over’. Our ability to recognize our set places in God is necessary.  These will be the field, the garden, we are given to tend and keep. 

The Apostle Paul wrote from 2 Corinthians 10:13- NLT…

• “We will not boast about things done outside our area of authority. We will boast only about what has happened within the boundaries of the work God has given us which includes our working with you. 14: We are not reaching beyond these boundaries when we claim authority over you, as if we had never visited you.  For we were the first to travel all the way to Corinth with the Good News of Christ.”

All spiritual activity eventually involves engagement with people and the exact relationships given and the roles assigned by God within them.

If I’m not set in the right physical place, I am unable to pursue the relationships given to me in that place.  I’m out of sync; but within the right place, with the right people, there is and should be increase occurring. 

• Nor do we boast and claim credit for the work someone else has done. Instead we hope that your faith will grown so that the boundaries of our work among you will be extended. 2 Corinthians 10:15

Much spiritual energy can be misdirected if first things are not first. We all want to be effective in our spiritual battles so understanding who, what and where we have been set becomes vital to our victory in them. 

Engaging in spiritual battle requires us to follow the example Jesus’ has set before us.  We learn from His testing in the wilderness when we ourselves are pressed to control our natural circumstances, i.e. ‘command these stones to be turned into bread’.  We are so aligned with the Father that we too are able to say ‘and I shall live only by the word of God’.  In other words, unless I am instructed to say and do something, I will not exercise my own desires.  I will not worship and exalt my own will and I will not test the Lord through my own presumptive desires.

All successful battles begin with our proper alignment to God and end with the will of God being accomplished.  We send forth His word which always accomplishes what He has sent it forth to do. Jeremiah’s instruction began with…. "Behold I have put my words in your mouth”, before he was to begin to root out, pull down, destroy, build and plant.  

Set

I have set you this day over nations and over kingdoms…..

Jeremiah 1:10

This word to Jeremiah, found in the book of Jeremiah, chapter one, is God’s commission to him.

As a young man, Jeremiah finds himself called and appointed to speak firstly to the nation of Israel during a time of judgment that will be bringing them into captivity.

From The Lexham Bible Dictionary we learn,

Jeremiah’s focal point is the destruction of Jerusalem, in 587–86 bc, and the deportations of the ruling class of Judah, in 597 and 587–86 bc. His major concerns are the illicit worship of other gods by the people of Judah, social injustices, the collective guilt of the people of Judah (past and present), the futility of trusting in the sanctity of Jerusalem and the temple for protection, the sufferings of the prophet, and the future restoration of Israel….

As New Testament believers we find ourselves set by God in specific places, with specific people,  designed for specific purposes, just like Jeremiah.  There is a generation prepared for every season in God to be the voice of God and to do the works of our Father.  Each season highlights varying activities that are always unto the preparation of a people who will hear and obey.

Jeremiahs instructions were ~ “See, I have appointed you this day over the nations and over the kingdoms, To root out and to tear down, To destroy and to overthrow, To build and to plant.”   Those who work naturally in a garden understand the effort involved in rooting out existing plants and the toil involved in clearing space for something new.  It is hard work.

Every place we are set, much like the children of Israel going into the promised land, is met with opposition.  Jesus told us, ‘the kingdom of God suffers violence and the violent take it by force’, Matthew 11: 12.  Whatever place and people we find ourselves set in requires our alignment with our Father to build and plant.  We call it the extending of His Kingdom and pray ‘your kingdom come, your will be done’.

Jeremiah writes a letter to the surviving elders, priests, prophets, and all the people taken into exile from Jerusalem to Babylon.   In chapter twenty nine, verse one, the Lord instructs in verses four through seven, to build houses, live in them, plant garden, eat the fruit, take wives, have children, give them in marriage and multiply there and DO NOT DECREASE.  They are to pray for the peace of the city for in its peace they will find their peace.   

Our position in Christ is to be continually increasing with the increase of God. WE are designed by God to multiply and increase.  His body grows as each part is working properly.  And just as he said through Jeremiah, we are not to decrease!

The children of Israel fought natural battles to take the promised land.  We fight ours spiritually. The apostle Paul wrote to Timothy and encouraged him to fight the good fight of faith, to endure hardness as a good solider.   Paul faced many oppositions and hindrances but he recognized these as spiritual forces at work and leaned into the grace of God, that  he came to realize, was sufficient to see him through.

Understanding that we do not wrestle against flesh and blood but with rulers of darkness, prayer becomes our weapon we use to fight the forces arrayed against advancement of His Kingdom.

We strengthen ourselves through our union with Him as we position ourselves to hear and then to obey.  We receive His words and we decree what He has revealed, privately and publicly.  We become skilled in handling a two edged sword.

Paul had a people, a place and the purpose to preach a message that would bring the gentiles into the fullness of the blessing of Jesus Christ.   He had to root out, pull down and destroy  religious mindsets.  People holding traditions that blinded them from first receiving Jesus as their Messiah and then recognizing and accepting that God had made a way for the gentiles to partake of His salvation.  Paul laboured to present every man, Jew and gentile alike, “in Christ’.

No matter what place or people you have been set among by God, He has assigned purpose for you that requires hard work and much prayer as you follow generations who have gone before.  We all have a great cloud of witness who have gone before us.  Therefore let us run with endurance the race that has been given to us and be not weary in well doing.

Joyful Obedience

Because you did not serve the Lord your God with joyfulness and gladness of heart, because of the abundance of all things,

Deut. 28:47

I wrote last week, willingness is as important to the Lord as obedience because it speaks to the motivation of our hearts.

If God, and He is, is at work in us both to will and do of His good pleasure, you can see why Paul continued his thought in Philippians chapter 2 for us to do all things without murmuring and complaining.

Joyful obedience is more than simple obedience.  We can all be ‘made’ to obey by sheer force or manipulation, but when it comes to our Father, true obedience must be like Second Corinthians chapter nine, it must be freely and cheerfully given. Is it enough in the sight of God to simply do or must we as our verse says today do it with joyfulness and gladness of heart?  The blessing lies in the cheerful obedience freely given.

I don’t think there can be joy until we believe what is set before us is good.

And we know that for those who love God all things works together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28.

Deuteronomy contains these admonitions ~

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, 13 and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good. “ Deut. 10:12-13

“And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, too fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that he might preserve us alive, as we are this day. 25 And it will be righteousness for us, if we are careful to do all this commandment before the Lord our God, as he has commanded us.” Deut. 6:24

Always hidden with the instruction for obedience is the phrase “for our good’.  Where there is no understanding, we cannot be like Jesus who for the joy set before him endured the cross.

From Psalm 40:7-8, we find the prophetic scripture referencing, Jesus which is rehearsed again in Hebrews chapter 10.

“In sacrifice and offering you have not delighted but you have given me an open ear.  Burnt offering and sin offering you hav not required.  Then I said, Behold I have come in the scroll of the book it is written of me: I delight to do your will, O my God, you law is within my heart.”

The Hebrew word for obedience literally means ‘to hear’.  Obedience begins with our hearing.  Discipline is the school of obedience.  Jesus had to learn obedience by the things he suffered and we must too.  It is the willingness to endure hardness, spirit, soul and body, that teaches us.  It is our willing and cheerful heart that yields a ‘prompt to do it’  action and it is in serving the Lord with joyfulness and gladness of heart that yields the blessings.   

Don’T call them unclean

And the voice came to him again a second time, “What God has made clean, do not call common.” 
Acts 10:15  

I’ve written about this before but just because we read the scripture once doesn’t mean we have learned it. 

You will recognize this word from the time Peter has had his vision of the unclean animals descending in a sheet and the voice instructing him to rise, kill and eat.  We read this from the book of Acts chapter ten verses nine through sixteen. Peter’s response to the instruction was, ’No Lord, I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean’ and this occurred three times leaving Peter puzzled. 

The New Living translation tells us Peter was ‘very perplexed’.  The Amplified Translation adds ‘completely at a loss’.  The King James Version uses ‘doubted in himself’.   The HELPS WORD STUDY gives us the understanding of the Greek word used to describe Peter’s condition.

1280 diaporéō (from 1223/diá "thoroughly," which intensifies 639/aporéō, "no way out") – properly, totally perplexed because having no solution ("no way out").

1280/diaporeō ("deeply perplexed") refers to "one who goes through the whole list of possible ways, and finds no way out. Hence, 'to be in perplexity'" (WS, 174).

As an intensified form of 639/aporéō ("perplexed"), 1280 (diaporéō) means "thoroughly without an explanation for something, or way of coping with it" – "thoroughly at a loss" (WS, 234) and utterly perplexed (with great misgivings).

The opportunities we face with others methods and means can tempt us to cry unclean in the face of what we don’t understand.  Peters vision was directly contrary to Jewish law yet God showed him that he should not call any man impure or unclean.  Our natural divisions that occur within denominations and teachings can lead to this very dynamic.  Our responsibility is to always be mindful there is only one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. 

How much new we are facing in these day.  New days holding new ways.  Practically speaking it is because there is a great shift that has occurred in generational transference.  Our culture today finds itself being expressed in Daniel 12:4 ‘…..  many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased.’

We have an abundance of knowledge and information at our fingertips increasing exponentially in this last hour we are living through. The church is challenged to be as a wise master builder drawing out from its treasures, both old and new, to build His Kingdom. 

Understanding the times, discerning the methods God desires us to use can be a daunting task for those leading.  Like Peter, the shift demanded brings much consternation if we try to reason out the words as opposed to hearing and obeying.  

Peters religion forbade this version of ‘rise, kill and eat’.  Yet this command gave entrance into a household that brought salvation and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit in a construct that astounded him.  
 

Every new wineskin must be pliable to hold the new ways God desires to work through.  Please note it is the old wineskins refusal to be re-purposed that makes it dry, brittle and cracked. 

May we be found supple, pliable, amenable putty in our masters hand; willing to yield to his creative process as He works in us all both to will and do of His good pleasure.  

The Glorified Christ

And in the midst of the lamp stands one like the son of man….

Revelation 1:12

Unlike any person John had seen or known, ‘one like the son of man’ revealed himself on the isle of Patmos.  He ‘was clothed with a long robe and with a golden sash around his chest.  The hairs of his head were white, like white wool, like snow.  His eyes were like a flame of fire, his feet were like burnished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters, from his mouth came a sharp two-edged sword and his face was like the sun shinning in full strength. When I (John) saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead.’

The book of Revelation shows us a very different picture of Jesus as the son of man. In Revelation it’s written, one ‘like the son of man’.  As the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, Jesus is now the exalted one Daniel has prophesied, ruling and reigning at the Fathers right hand.  The glory Jesus sought in his prayer from John 17 has now been placed upon him.  What was sown perishable has been raised imperishable.  What was sown in dishonour is raised in glory.  What was sown in weakness was raised in power.  A natural body, raised a spiritual body. I can only imagine.

Jesus as the glorified Christ now identifies himself as the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last, the morning star and the living One.  The one who died, and behold is alive forevermore holding the Keys of death and HADES.  Again, the fulfillment of Daniel's prophecy.

As we beheld his glory upon earth (John 1:14) so too we have opportunity now to behold his glory.  Isaiah saw the Lord high and lifted up with his train filling the temple.  Peter, James and John on the mount of transfiguration were witnesses to the Lord’s transformation ‘his face shone like the sun and his clothes became white as light.’

Paul met him on the Damascus road and was blinded by His light.  We see, some years later, Paul caught up to the third heaven, seeing and hearing things that he was not allowed to speak.  Here we have John’s testimony from the book of Revelation.   All these moments were transforming in the individual lives of these men.

John, on the isle of Patmos, in the book of Revelation, was ‘in the spirit on the Lords day’ and was to ‘write what you see in a book…’  From chapter four of Revelation, we see John instructed to ‘come up here’  to see things that will take place. While we can’t make an experience like this happen, we are all invited to come and behold Him.  Allowing the written word to show us ‘as He is,’ and will be in the age to come, we can now see him as he is.

While I have never personally experienced a visible encounter with the Lord, I can say, we all have opportunity to behold him with unveiled faces and be transformed through His glorious revealing.   While we may see in a mirror dimly now, we do have the promise of a then, face to face, knowing Him fully.

This Apostle, John, who was privileged to know him on earth as a man, and to see Him as the glorified Christ, wrote in his first letter to the church ~

Beloved, we are now children of God, and what we will be has not yet been revealed. We know that when Christ appears, we will be like Him, for we will see Him as He is.

1 John 3:2.   

Until then… all of heaven now exalts and honours Jesus.  Until then..we on earth

are to join with the heavenly hosts, the created beings, the elders and worship (in the fullness of that word) the one who alone is worthy to receive power and wealth and wisdom and might and honour and glory and blessing.  Jesus, one like the son of man, glorified, seated at the right hand of our Father and soon coming King.

Son of Man. 2

“I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven

there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

Daniel 7: 13-14

There are so many descriptives of Jesus that we should all hold in our understanding. The logical place to continue our search of Jesus’ as “the son of man” would be in his identity as the lamb that was slain from the foundation of the world, as unveiled in the book of Revelation.  As the heavenly Type required for Atonement at Passover, in the shadow of the law, Jesus became sin’s once and for all offering. Following his death, we now come to the glory of his resurrection as the Son of Man with the achieved and universally acknowledged right and power to rule..

Allow me to quote the following from J. Armitage Robinson commentary on the Book of Ephesians regarding the glory of Jesus’ resurrection

“ Henceforth, he (referring to the Apostle Paul) says, ‘now, we know man after the flesh; yay, if we have known Christ after the flesh, yet now, henceforth know we him (so) no more'.  The death, the resurrection, the ascension, these are to him the important moments of the life of Christ; they are the ladder that leads upwards from Christ after the flesh to Christ in the heavenly sphere, the exalted, the glorified, the reigning, Christ yet to be manifested as the consummation of the purpose of God.”

You will remember we began with Jesus asking Peter ‘who do you say I am?’  And Peters answer, ‘you are the Christ, the son of the Living God.’  It is in understanding Jesus as a man, Jesus as The Man, the perfect man that

God intended to rule and reign, who now is, that brings us into our greatest victories.

Jesus’ own testimonies tell us how he continues as the Son of Man in heaven ~

“But from now on the Son of Man shall be seated at the right hand of the power of God.”

Luke 22:69.

Jesus said to him, “You have said so. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of Power and coming on the clouds of heaven.”

Matthew 26:64

Now we are gleaning from Him the understanding of how to live, as Him, on the earth and how to overcome, through Him, as the exalted one seated NOW in heavenly places, far above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name that is named not only in this age (here and now) but also in the one to come (His return).

After Jesus’ resurrection, we find he was physically unrecognizable as the Jesus the disciples had known.  While he continues in a bodily form, this form is so transformed by glory that he was only recognized through the spiritual dynamic of ‘hearts burning within’ and ‘ eyes opened’  that  bore witness to the truth this was indeed their risen Saviour.

We find the man Daniel described above as “given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.”

Jesus is seated in the heavenlies, in the Kingdom of God where his rule and authority reign supreme in divine order and willing submission.  We pray for that Kingdom and that reign, to be manifested that way, here on earth and it begins in knowing Jesus.

Son of Man

 “I saw in the night visions, and behold, with the clouds of heaven there came one like a son of man, and he came to the Ancient of Days and was presented before him. And to him was given dominion and glory and a kingdom, that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him; his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom one that shall not be destroyed.

Daniel 7: 13-14

Scholars note ‘Son of man’ is simply a periphrastic term for “human, and the term is used for Jesus or by Jesus,  88 times in the New Testament.  As the Son of Man he is also referred to as the Son of David twelve times in the NT.  Beginning in Matthew chapter one, we find written ‘the book of genealogy of Jesus Christ, the Son of David, the son of Abraham…..’  to establish Jesus as the prophetic fulfillment given to King David;  I will raise up your offspring after you, who shall come from your body, and I will establish his kingdom. He is the one who will build a house for my Name, and I will establish the throne of his kingdom forever.” 2 Samuel 7:12-13

Jesus becoming fully man, born of a virgin, is an essential Christian Doctrine.

Just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all because all sinned…..for if because of one man’s trespass (Adam) death reigned through that one man, much more will those who receive the abundance of grace and  the free gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man Jesus Christ.   Romans 5:12,17.

There needed to be a man who could meet the same temptations in this world and overcome every fleshly desire.  One who loved righteousness, hated wickedness and delighted to do the will of the Father, as a man, in order to restore God’s order.

Our entire redemption lies in the work He accomplished, as the Son of man. Jesus had to become a man, tempted in every way that we are so that he could be a merciful and faithful high priest after his resurrection.  He had to be touched with every feeling of mans infirmity to identify with him as a man of flesh and blood.  It was as the son of man Jesus was rejected, betrayed and suffered and condemned to death.

It was as the son of man that Jesus fulfilled his purpose on the earth.  As the law required the animal sacrifice to atone for man’s sin there had to be an offering to pay the price for man’s redemption.  This man, Jesus became flesh to die and destroy the works of the devil and through his death deliver those who all their lifetime were subject to death.

God’s design for Jesus was unto an eternal purpose.  Not only has Jesus, the Son of man, redeemed man, but as a man he showed us how (and has given his disciples the ability) to live as he lived while we have opportunity on the earth.    

His work on earth is finished.  He has done his part and left His church to carry on the greater works because he has gone to His Father.

And the Son of Man returns….next week.

Who do you say I am?

And he (Jesus) asked them, “But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.” And he strictly charged them to tell no one about him.

Mark 8:29

Jesus began this conversation with his disciples, asking the question, “ ‘Who do men say I am?’ They replied, ‘John the Baptist, others say, Elijah, and others, one of the prophets.’  And he asked them, ‘But who do you say I am?’ “

Peter is the one who responds,  ‘‘You are the Christ’’.  From Matthews Gospel, Peter says, ''You are the Christ, the son of the living God’’.

How did he know this? As jews, Peter and the other disciples were looking for the coming Messiah and would have known the scriptures pointing to His coming.  Matthews gospel takes great pains to show the prophetic fulfillment of Jesus’ works.

And yet, with all this knowledge, the thing that strikes me is that Jesus said this understanding was revealed to Him by the Father, not flesh and blood. Once again, we find that while signs can be a testimony, the ultimate awareness of knowledge and understanding is birthed by the work of our Father.  It is a spiritual working.

No man can come to Him unless he is called.  We have not chosen Him, he has chosen us.  Lest you think I believe in some type of exclusivity, the bible assures us that this gospel message is unto all and God is not willing for any man to perish.  There is some point in a life (many points, for He never tires of drawing men to Jesus) the Spirit wooing and convicting a heart.  They will be without excuse if and in the rejection.

So this question, ‘Who do you say I am’  becomes foundational to every individual.  Jesus is the entry way to the Father.  He is called ‘the door’.  He is called ‘the way’. He is ‘the truth’ and he is ‘the life.’  All these words define and express His heart and purpose.  Without understanding each and every one of these aspects, we miss out on whatever that aspect provides.

The bible reveals Jesus with a variety of names.  There are the metaphorical names (e.g., the Vine, the Door, the Way, the Bread of life), His personal name (Jesus), and then the various titles (e.g., Good Shepherd, Christ, Son of God, Son of Man).

I would like to take the next few weeks to examine the value of all that His name encompasses and trust the Holy Spirit to fill us with an increased wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of Him.

Let us begin with his birth name. Jesus, the name above every name.  The name every knee will bow to and every tongue will confess. The very name, chosen by the Father and given to Mary by the angel Gabriel, Luke 1:31, and to Joseph in a dream; "She will give birth to a Son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins". Matthew 1:21.

[Yəhôšuaʿ (Joshua, Hebrew: יְהוֹשֻׁעַ), including Yahweh/Yehowah saves, (is) salvation, (is) a saving-cry, (is) a cry-for-saving, (is) a cry-for-help, (is) my help].

All who call upon this name shall be saved.  Jesus comes first to us as the Saviour of our lives and brings us into the family of God.   His very body and blood are the redeeming sacrifice that provides eternal life for all who chose to call upon the name.

Hebrews 13:6, reminds us the Lord is our Helper or “Boethos”.

From Helps Word Study in the Discovery Bible we learn this Greek word means:

a helper, bringing the right aid in time, i.e. meeting an urgent, real need.  See 997 (boēthéō). 998/boēthnos (literally, "one who runs to help") refers to someone quickly responding with no unnecessary delays, supplying aid where there is intense distress.

998 (boēthnos) only occurs in Heb 13:6 to give exactly the assistance just when we need – in just the right way, at just the right time!

“The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous man runs into it and is safe.” Proverbs 18:10

The assurance of God’s heart for salvation resides in the name of Jesus. In the knowing, it gives us a place of rest.  He is Jesus, the Saviour; the name we call for all we need.

So that

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction……SO THAT we may be able ble to comfort those who are in any affliction with the comfort which we ourselves are comforted by God.

2 Corinthians 1:3-4

HELPS WORD STUDIES ON MERCIES -

3628 oiktirmós – properly, compassion (pity), i.e. deep feeling about someone's difficulty or misfortune (TDNT, 1:159).

3628 /oiktirmós ("visceral compassions") is used of the deep feelings God has for all of us, and powerfully shows and shares in those following Him.

COMFORT -

Cognate: 3874 paráklēsis – properly, a call (urging), done by someone "close beside," i.e. a personal exhortation that delivers the "evidence that stands up in God's court."

[3874 (paráklēsis) is cognate with 3875 /paráklētos ("legal advocate") and thus has legal overtones.]

3874 (paráklēsis) is an "intimate call" that someone personally gives to deliver God's verdict, i.e. "the close-call" that reveals how the Lord weighs in the relevant facts (evidence). 3874 /paráklēsis ("holy urging") is used of the Lord directly motivating and inspiring believers to carry out His plan, delivering His particular message to someone else. The core-meaning of 3874 /paráklēsis ("personal urging") is shaped by the individual context, so it can refer to: exhortation, warning, encouragement (comfort), etc.

Knowing and understanding the very nature of our Father is the one thing that leads us into life.  We live our lives meeting opportunities to learn who He is through all the circumstances and challenges we encounter. This is SO THAT we may be that same, sweet fragrance of life to others.

Mercy is seen when God gives to us something we do not deserve. While God sits as the righteous judge his desire is to give mercy.  Jesus was the provision of God in his righteous judgment to give mankind mercy.  We owed a debt we could not pay and Jesus has made the way for us to now draw near.   God dispenses judgment from a mercy seat, desiring mercy above judgment.  The Bible tells us God is rich in mercy and that mercy is new to us every day. This is the heart of God and it is this motivation that extends to us the comfort we need in all our afflictions.

Jesus said if I don’t go I can’t send another comforter, helper, who will abide with us forever, the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of truth.  It is this descriptive of the Holy Spirit that we find all that is given to us by Him.  The God of all comfort brings to us through the Comforter all we have need to comfort us in all our afflictions.

He helps us SO THAT….what we have seen and learned, received from Him can be given to others in their afflictions.

This very nature of the Father is to be ours.  Extending mercy that exalts above judgment, we are to be touched with the feelings of others infirmities.   When we are moved with compassion, we extend a hand to comfort others in their time of need.

Freely, we have received His mercy, freely we give.  May this day afford us new opportunities, to see and receive, spend and be spent, all for His glory.

'A little'

Proverbs 24 NIV

30 ~ I went past the field of a sluggard,

past the vineyard of someone who has no sense;

31~ thorns had come up everywhere,

the ground was covered with weeds,

and the stone wall was in ruins.

32 ~ I applied my heart to what I observed

and learned a lesson from what I saw:

33 ~ A little sleep, a little slumber,

a little folding of the hands to rest—

34 ~ and poverty will come on you like a thief

and scarcity like an armed man.

There is something seductive about summer. Wherever your summer occurs, for most, it is the time to relax and recover from what has been a very busy work season.  Whether it’s job or schooling, summer promises escape from the routines of life.  However, our proverbs today remind us of the dangers of ‘a little sleep’, a ‘little slumber’, ‘a little folding of the hands to rest’.

As this proverb is true naturally it also carries many spiritual implications. Our spiritual disciplines are the very things that tend our lives.  They are the true foods that feed and water, giving true rest and refreshment.  Without attending to them, poverty and scarcity do come.  Believing that one day won’t hurt can turn into a week of snacking on all the wrong things and you begin a deficit in your spirit.  Your appetites begin to change.

The Apostle Paul spoke about the disciplines he exercised in his life so that he would not be a castaway.  Spiritual dullness is something we all must guard ourselves against; especially in these last days that hold the last hour.  Jesus warns about last day’s loveless, deceived believers.

Deception is the greatest wile of the darkness.  Where we lay aside our disciplines, we lay aside our armour.  This helmet of salvation that shields our mind, this breastplate of righteousness may not be put on as we allow ourselves to entertain the ‘not too bads’ of the world.  The sword of the Sprit, which is the word of God, ceases to be the tool that divides reason and right. Our feet begin to carry a message other than the gospel.   These are realities that we must guard against.  Attendance to the word, spirit and presence must always hold the priority in our day.

Paul wrote to the church in Ephesus - awake sleeper!  Be the light you are created to be.  Don’t allow the lazy hazy days of summer lull you into dullness of heart, mind and body.  Jesus’ message to the church in Sardis from the book of Revelation is a strong rebuke to how easy it is to fall into an appearance of spirituality.  A reputation for being alive does not necessarily mean we are alive.

These days, dullness cannot be afforded by any believer who desires to endure to the end.  The pressures of darkness grow greater and stronger and the light God desires to increase within us individually, and thus corporately, as His body, can only come as our lives stay vitally united to the one, who is our life.

We have only one great commandment (Matthew 22:37) that demands all of us, being all in, at all times.

We can not allow ourselves to cast off what gives us life for any reason in any season.

Beware the lull that pulls into dullness.

I’ve said before my husband, David, has some great insights and I’ve added his below because they highlight my word today!

“Reading again, from 1Thess. 3 about love ‘increasing and abounding’ reminds me that quantity and quality of love is never static. If love can increase and abound, and it can, then it can decrease and diminish, and it does.

The memory of having loved is not love itself any more than a Stop sign is a stop. It’s just a sign, a mark, of something that once happened here.

Memories can be good things, but if a relationship is not on-going and nurtured, it dies leaving only memories in it’s wake. Memories can be good reminders, even encouragement to move ahead, but they are not love itself. They can also be tomb stones, ‘here lies, what (who) I once loved.’

As Paul prayed, I too pray, that your love will grow, and as that chapter further says, God himself will make you to increase and abound in love. This is not a ‘try harder’ and ‘work more’ thought. It’s a reminder that the author of love is always working to purify and stretch your heart and soul into a more perfect grasp of Him and what love truly is.”

What is Man

What is man that you are mindful of him or the son of man that you care for him?

Ps. 8:4

God is all sufficient in Himself.  There is nothing we can add to God that makes God anything more than He already is. God does not actually ‘need’ anything.  So I asked, like the Psalmist did in Psalm 8 after he reflects on the wonder and majesty of God;  what is man that you are mindful of Him, the Son of man that you care for Him?  He answers, purpose.

 Colossians 1: 16 For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.

He destined us in love[ a] to be his sons through Jesus Christ, according to the purpose of his will.  Ephesians 1:5 RSV

The Psalmist went on to write in verses five through eight

you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings

and crowned him with glory and honour .

You have have given him dominion of the works of your hands;

you have put all things under his feet…..

O Lord our Lord how majestic is your name.”

Creating for purpose is something very different than creating from need.  We all live within our own personal framework of need.  Our relationship with God is based upon needs.  We are only complete in Him and sufficient only because of His sufficiency.  We have been created to need Him, abide in Him, and serve His purposes.

If I live from creative purpose, I am able to join with the Apostle Paul declaring I am not my own.  I am His workmanship created in Christ Jesus, ordained for good works.

For it is God who works in you, both to will and to work for his good pleasure

Philippians 2:13

It is within this created purpose that God has crowned man with glory and honour and given him dominion over the works of His hands and put all things under his feet. It was this way from the beginning of mans creation seen in Genesis one.  And again, from Hebrews chapter two with the redemptive work of Jesus Christ.

Understanding we have been created for His purpose, His use, and enabled by His glory, honour and authority to do His works on this earth, we become a people motivated by purpose rather than need.

There was no need Jesus met that He was not able to overcome in purpose. All of His activity moved in purpose towards God’s created design.

Jesus was a lamb slain from the foundation of the world.  Purpose.

For this purpose was the Son of God manifest…. Purpose.

When we don’t understand purpose we misuse the created.

When we don’t understand purpose we spend and are spent in vain.

God has placed much value upon man and the work he has been created to do here on earth.  Mindful and caring of this creation He works all things in our lives unto His purpose and will.   We have the joy of being able to say, I was simply a servant doing my duty and, hopefully, enter into the joy of the Lord.

On another thought- perhaps this is why joy is lacking in so many - we are outside our created purpose? But we can write about that another time.

Ask the Father

“At that time you will ask me no questions.  I most solemnly say to you, the Father will give to you, as bearers of my name, whatever you ask him for. Up to this time you have not asked for anything, as bearers of my name, but now you must keep on asking and you will receive that your cup of joy May be full to the brim. 
               John 16:23-24 Williams Translation

We hold this gospel message with Jesus as our sacrifice for sin and the redemption given by his cross.  Jesus lived to show us our Father in heaven.  He lived to display the very nature and love the Father holds for mankind.  While Jesus’ earthly focus was towards a specific people, his salvation is unto all who believe in His name.  

Our personal belief upon his work and name gives us entrance into the family of God. Almighty God now becomes Our Father. 

Romans 15 For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have
    received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.  16 The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God….
    
Lately, I have been writing about prayer, and since all prayer is communication, I want to consider with you Jesus’ phrase, “you shall ask me nothing”.  Jesus has been telling them things they do not understand and then points them to the future ~  the ‘at that time’ phase where his disciples ‘will ask him no more questions’. I find that an interesting declaration. There’s a relationship change. Almost all of their heavenly walk had been either originating from or oriented towards Jesus. This is not a subtle statement. It reveals an entirely new door required for them to enter in going forward, they will “ask him no more questions”. 

‘At that time’ has become today’s reality.  Jesus has made the way for us to have fellowship with our Father by the Holy Spirit just as he had.  Jesus has finished his work, ascended to the right hand of the Father and established us as joint heirs with him. Now, in this time, we are directed to ‘ask the Father’.  

Can you imagine how this statement would impact them. Already facing challenges in understanding everything he says, he now tells them he is leaving.  He will give them the Spirit who will reveal to them all things that are his and any questions they have - ask dad. No dis-respect intended, nor implication that Jesus won’t talk to us, but rather our need to understand the greater dynamics of heavenly roles, and the place Jesus now operates from. 

‘Now’ the Spirit of truth has given to teach his disciples all things. Questions, centering around the activity of Jesus as “bearers of his name”, are now directed to our Father. We are both invited into and told of a new sphere of life, just as he had, in the Father. 

Fellowship has been enlarged, entrance granted to be with the Father, through Jesus Christ and by and in the Spirit.  The mystery of God, the wisdom of God has been destined for our glory according to 1 Cor 2:7, receiving this wisdom by His Spirit that we may understand what God has freely given us…verse 12. 

‘…God has revealed them unto us by His Spirit. For the Spirit searches all things, yea, the deep things of God.  1 Cor 2:10

One of the things I enjoy about the Williams translations is the attention he has given to verb sense.  Did you notice in this portion of our scripture today, Jesus said to “keep on asking”.  Which of course makes me think of Matthew 7:7. We are not to be those who do not know, but rather in our need or desire to know, we continue to seek and ask of the Father to fill us with all wisdom and spiritual understanding that we might do the greater works assigned. 

So Jesus has left us with this great promise from John’s gospel.  There is knowledge and wisdom we need and must hold for the hour we live in. Jesus wants our joy to be full and I’m mindful of how much fuller my joy is when I do ask and receive.