This phrase caught me this morning...
Only a Son of the Father could do this.
"...God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, To redeem them that were under the law, that we might receive the adoption of sons..." - Galatians 4:4b-5 KJV
Now the larger concept in a more modern translation.
"I mean that the heir, as long as he is a child, is no different from a slave, though he is the owner of everything, but he is under guardians and managers until the date set by his father. In the same way we also, when we were children, were enslaved to the elementary principles of the world. But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying, 'Abba! Father!' So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God. Formerly, when you did not know God, you were enslaved to those that by nature are not gods. But now that you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God, how can you turn back again to the weak and worthless elementary principles of the world, whose slaves you want to be once more?" - Galatians 4:1-9 ESV
If we don't operate as children of the Father we will return to operating as subjects to rules. We had to be freed by 'the Son' and become children.
"And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy, giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." - Colossians 1:9-14 ESV
We are no longer under 'a power'. We are in God's organized government as heirs to a throne with a King sitting on it that will never die.
Our 'Abba' is the King.
I marvel at that. It is the sweet spot of true freedom yet at the same time a son represents his father and is a reflection of Him to others. What an honor.
--
Showing posts with label Responsibility. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Responsibility. Show all posts
Tuesday, December 19, 2017
Friday, November 17, 2017
Abuse Of Power
Like many these days, I've been thinking about the abuse of power. I've been looking at these passages and substituting the word 'brother' and 'elder' for 'powerful and experienced person who has influence.'
"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector." - Matthew 18:15-17 ESV
"Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality. Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure." - 1 Timothy 5:19-22 ESV
In today's climate in 2017, social media seems to be a way that a group gets justice. Going alone to settle a score can be dangerous, can't it? Can you even get an appointment? Will your life be pulled through the mud as a result?
Looking at these passages I see a God who wants to give mercy and to cover matters if it is possible but it all sits on a foundation of justice.
I cringe at the abuse I see across a multitude of industries. I wish I could say the Church was immune but it isn't nor does the Bible say it is going to be.
Paul said this statement to a group just at the formation of the Church within a generation of the cross and the incarnation.
"Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears." - Acts 20:28-31 ESV
There have always been those who abuse power. Nathan had to walk into the court of King David and confront the King about a grave transgression (see 2 Samuel 12:1f). Nathan had a divine covering but what he did was dangerous. I marvel at the courage a person needs to muster up to face a person in power. Powerful people also get accused of things that aren't true and have to deal with those situations on occasion also.
"Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever! Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly clings to the ground. Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love! - Psalm 44:22-26 ESV
The psalmist captures the feeling there doesn't he?
I read these things and say to myself, 'I refuse to take the easy way out in these matters. I must be accountable and if need be make others accountable. Mercy is to great a cause. Love covers but that covering can't become a hiding place for abuse.'
Speaking truth to power has never been easy but we can live in the confidence that Nathan did when he came before his king.
"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways." - 1 Corinthians 13:4-11 ESV
Let us live in the maturity of love. If God for us who can be against us?
In one of the recent high profile sexual abuse cases the reporters who broke, it said that they spent months interviewing victims but they avoided going to the man directly because they wanted to avoid 'off the record' conversations that might hinder them later. I found it interesting. Of course, the press isn't seeking to 'cover' or reconcile. Hopefully, we are.
--
"If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother. But if he does not listen, take one or two others along with you, that every charge may be established by the evidence of two or three witnesses. If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church. And if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector." - Matthew 18:15-17 ESV
"Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses. As for those who persist in sin, rebuke them in the presence of all, so that the rest may stand in fear. In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of the elect angels I charge you to keep these rules without prejudging, doing nothing from partiality. Do not be hasty in the laying on of hands, nor take part in the sins of others; keep yourself pure." - 1 Timothy 5:19-22 ESV
In today's climate in 2017, social media seems to be a way that a group gets justice. Going alone to settle a score can be dangerous, can't it? Can you even get an appointment? Will your life be pulled through the mud as a result?
Looking at these passages I see a God who wants to give mercy and to cover matters if it is possible but it all sits on a foundation of justice.
I cringe at the abuse I see across a multitude of industries. I wish I could say the Church was immune but it isn't nor does the Bible say it is going to be.
Paul said this statement to a group just at the formation of the Church within a generation of the cross and the incarnation.
"Pay careful attention to yourselves and to all the flock, in which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to care for the church of God, which he obtained with his own blood. I know that after my departure fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things, to draw away the disciples after them. Therefore be alert, remembering that for three years I did not cease night or day to admonish every one with tears." - Acts 20:28-31 ESV
There have always been those who abuse power. Nathan had to walk into the court of King David and confront the King about a grave transgression (see 2 Samuel 12:1f). Nathan had a divine covering but what he did was dangerous. I marvel at the courage a person needs to muster up to face a person in power. Powerful people also get accused of things that aren't true and have to deal with those situations on occasion also.
"Yet for your sake we are killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered. Awake! Why are you sleeping, O Lord? Rouse yourself! Do not reject us forever! Why do you hide your face? Why do you forget our affliction and oppression? For our soul is bowed down to the dust; our belly clings to the ground. Rise up; come to our help! Redeem us for the sake of your steadfast love! - Psalm 44:22-26 ESV
The psalmist captures the feeling there doesn't he?
I read these things and say to myself, 'I refuse to take the easy way out in these matters. I must be accountable and if need be make others accountable. Mercy is to great a cause. Love covers but that covering can't become a hiding place for abuse.'
Speaking truth to power has never been easy but we can live in the confidence that Nathan did when he came before his king.
"Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways." - 1 Corinthians 13:4-11 ESV
Let us live in the maturity of love. If God for us who can be against us?
In one of the recent high profile sexual abuse cases the reporters who broke, it said that they spent months interviewing victims but they avoided going to the man directly because they wanted to avoid 'off the record' conversations that might hinder them later. I found it interesting. Of course, the press isn't seeking to 'cover' or reconcile. Hopefully, we are.
--
Tuesday, May 10, 2016
Closing Our Fiscal Year
"I know your works. You have the reputation of being alive, but you are dead. Wake up, and strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have not found your works complete in the sight of my God. Remember, then, what you received and heard. Keep it, and repent." - Revelation 3:1b-3a ESV
Jesus' work is complete. He breathed His last doing the will of the Father. We still have breath. Our generation needs us. If we stop before a project is complete then why did we start it in the first place?
The ministry I'm a part of has an international convention at the end of June. People gather and in a way it has become the end of my spiritual fiscal year. Around this time I start to reassess things. For some this may sound clinical or even works oriented but I see it as a planning tool and a way to fulfill my stewardship of God's possessions. It is a way to say, 'Where are we?, and 'What should we be doing to finish out this year?'
It is not a time of critical self analysis as much as it is a time where I question God because I find it easy to slip into, 'I wanted this and I want that' but what does God want?
It sounds harsh but I think it is very possible to have a reputation for being alive but really be dead. We can talk the talk but like an organization our spending may have far outpaced our debt and a financial collapse is imminent even though from the outside the things may looks sound.
I think most of life should be a moment to moment inhale and exhale. Breath in grace and make a choice (as if it is an exhale) then breath in grace and continue to live that way moment by moment.
"And he said to his disciples, 'Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?' " - Luke 12:22-26 ESV
Amen.
But then there is also this...
"For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'" - Luke 14:28-30 ESV
I still have the end of June to close out my year. That's how I choose to think about my life. Large things need a lot of prayer and some flexible planning or they may not happen. God gave Israel already planted fields when He gave them the promised land but they still needed care and tending in order to be maintained.
To be very transparent I look at my life at times like this and say, 'Am I walking by faith?' or 'Have I walked by faith this year?' and I not sure I can answer that question with a full affirmative. But there is still time. The year isn't over. My life isn't over. The questions when I face God are going to be more about faith then accomplishment. Did I start by faith? Will I finish by faith?
All the accomplishments are His anyway. We are stewards and by His grace co-laborers.
Help us God. Steer us away from self analysis but make us good stewards and responsible managers of time and resources. Be glorified in our midst. Thank You God! Thank You for this generation. We want You to be made visible here and now in this time and this place. Thank You. You have given us so much.
I also want to pray for anyone who is in a season of doubt. Strengthen them God. Help them. Bring clarity and eternal perspective. Let the word of God light their path and illuminate each step. Your grace has made a space for them. Please reveal that in a fresh way. Thank You God.
--
Jesus' work is complete. He breathed His last doing the will of the Father. We still have breath. Our generation needs us. If we stop before a project is complete then why did we start it in the first place?
The ministry I'm a part of has an international convention at the end of June. People gather and in a way it has become the end of my spiritual fiscal year. Around this time I start to reassess things. For some this may sound clinical or even works oriented but I see it as a planning tool and a way to fulfill my stewardship of God's possessions. It is a way to say, 'Where are we?, and 'What should we be doing to finish out this year?'
It is not a time of critical self analysis as much as it is a time where I question God because I find it easy to slip into, 'I wanted this and I want that' but what does God want?
It sounds harsh but I think it is very possible to have a reputation for being alive but really be dead. We can talk the talk but like an organization our spending may have far outpaced our debt and a financial collapse is imminent even though from the outside the things may looks sound.
I think most of life should be a moment to moment inhale and exhale. Breath in grace and make a choice (as if it is an exhale) then breath in grace and continue to live that way moment by moment.
"And he said to his disciples, 'Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest?' " - Luke 12:22-26 ESV
Amen.
But then there is also this...
"For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, 'This man began to build and was not able to finish.'" - Luke 14:28-30 ESV
I still have the end of June to close out my year. That's how I choose to think about my life. Large things need a lot of prayer and some flexible planning or they may not happen. God gave Israel already planted fields when He gave them the promised land but they still needed care and tending in order to be maintained.
To be very transparent I look at my life at times like this and say, 'Am I walking by faith?' or 'Have I walked by faith this year?' and I not sure I can answer that question with a full affirmative. But there is still time. The year isn't over. My life isn't over. The questions when I face God are going to be more about faith then accomplishment. Did I start by faith? Will I finish by faith?
All the accomplishments are His anyway. We are stewards and by His grace co-laborers.
Help us God. Steer us away from self analysis but make us good stewards and responsible managers of time and resources. Be glorified in our midst. Thank You God! Thank You for this generation. We want You to be made visible here and now in this time and this place. Thank You. You have given us so much.
I also want to pray for anyone who is in a season of doubt. Strengthen them God. Help them. Bring clarity and eternal perspective. Let the word of God light their path and illuminate each step. Your grace has made a space for them. Please reveal that in a fresh way. Thank You God.
--
Thursday, March 17, 2016
Decriminalization
Decriminalization.
It is concept I have been studying and listening to speakers about for the last couple of days. There are some very compelling speakers who argue for the decriminalization of drugs and prostitution anyone who has a computer can listen to on TED talks and other places on the internet.
What laws will help and protect the most people? It is good question. Many approaches have been tried and some of them end up hurting the most vulnerable people involved instead of helping them. Some laws leave to much room for corruption and abuse.
Here are a few scriptures that came to mind as I have been studying and hashing these issues out in my mind.
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire." - Matthew 5:17-22 ESV
"For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." - Romans 8:3-6 NKJV
Regulation is always going to be 'weak through the flesh' but God does not relax His standards. As a matter of fact he 'ups the ante' of morality by telling us that external crimes have meaning to God but internal crimes do also.
This meditation made me think of the street I live on and the children running around outside on it. What if there was no speed limit or theft was decriminalized? How safe would they be? I care deeply for the addict and his or her recovery but I also don't want a drug den or a brothel right down my street.
I listened to all the benefits that were proposed by the speakers who were pitching decriminalization and thought. Wow. Grace gives me those things. My God loves me and gives me freedom to self govern myself with His guidance and direction. Grace never gives me a criminal record. Grace supports me. Grace teaches me and helps me to deny all ungodliness and worldly lust.
Grace does all this without removing the law. Grace gives me aerodynamics to balance the gravity of the law without removing the gravity that holds things down in the world.
I think the punishment should fit the crime. I hate to think that a young person would suffer for a decade in prison for a youthful indiscretion or that a young woman in a desperate financial situation would be placed deeper in harms way because she feels forced to sell her body. No. I don't want that. But lawlessness isn't God's answer and I don't think it should be ours either.
I want safe streets and I want eternal souls saved. I want to have my cake and eat it too. I think working hard to see those things happen is worth the struggle. We have been commissioned to seek and save that which is lost. The flesh will continue to be weak but love is a strong force that binds us together if we let it.
--
It is concept I have been studying and listening to speakers about for the last couple of days. There are some very compelling speakers who argue for the decriminalization of drugs and prostitution anyone who has a computer can listen to on TED talks and other places on the internet.
What laws will help and protect the most people? It is good question. Many approaches have been tried and some of them end up hurting the most vulnerable people involved instead of helping them. Some laws leave to much room for corruption and abuse.
Here are a few scriptures that came to mind as I have been studying and hashing these issues out in my mind.
"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them. For truly, I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law until all is accomplished. Therefore whoever relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever does them and teaches them will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not murder; and whoever murders will be liable to judgment.' But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother will be liable to judgment; whoever insults his brother will be liable to the council; and whoever says, 'You fool!' will be liable to the hell of fire." - Matthew 5:17-22 ESV
"For what the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, on account of sin: He condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteous requirement of the law might be fulfilled in us who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. For to be carnally minded is death, but to be spiritually minded is life and peace." - Romans 8:3-6 NKJV
Regulation is always going to be 'weak through the flesh' but God does not relax His standards. As a matter of fact he 'ups the ante' of morality by telling us that external crimes have meaning to God but internal crimes do also.
This meditation made me think of the street I live on and the children running around outside on it. What if there was no speed limit or theft was decriminalized? How safe would they be? I care deeply for the addict and his or her recovery but I also don't want a drug den or a brothel right down my street.
I listened to all the benefits that were proposed by the speakers who were pitching decriminalization and thought. Wow. Grace gives me those things. My God loves me and gives me freedom to self govern myself with His guidance and direction. Grace never gives me a criminal record. Grace supports me. Grace teaches me and helps me to deny all ungodliness and worldly lust.
Grace does all this without removing the law. Grace gives me aerodynamics to balance the gravity of the law without removing the gravity that holds things down in the world.
I think the punishment should fit the crime. I hate to think that a young person would suffer for a decade in prison for a youthful indiscretion or that a young woman in a desperate financial situation would be placed deeper in harms way because she feels forced to sell her body. No. I don't want that. But lawlessness isn't God's answer and I don't think it should be ours either.
I want safe streets and I want eternal souls saved. I want to have my cake and eat it too. I think working hard to see those things happen is worth the struggle. We have been commissioned to seek and save that which is lost. The flesh will continue to be weak but love is a strong force that binds us together if we let it.
--
Monday, October 26, 2015
Send Out Laborers
"And Jesus went throughout all the cities and villages, teaching in their synagogues and proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom and healing every disease and every affliction. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.' " - Matthew 9:35-38 ESV
I always thought that this was an interesting grace oriented prayer.
The natural thing would be to put pressure on people to serve but instead Jesus said to ask God to send laborers into His own fields.
If you ever have worked in a department that is understaffed you have seen what it can be like. The people there already have to much to do. They are hoping management will hire people to help.
There are times in our lives where we are looking at real deadlines. That harvest must be brought in or else it will be lost.
Jesus saw needs and had compassion but the need He communicated to His disciples was a 'prayer need.' He didn't say do more until you are exhausted. He said, 'Pray to the Lord of the harvest.' Be someone who sees the need and puts pressure on management.
I'm praying for people to show up in situations. I'm praying that God would send people.
That God would send the wife to the young man that is lonely.
That God would send the caretaker to the older person that needs help.
That God would send the leader and the team to place that need truth.
That God would send the benefactor to help those with monetary needs.
That God would send soul winning people into groups and areas.
That God would send laborers into His harvest field.
Our society teaches us to be the answer we are looking for but I see people who often put pressure on themselves and others in ways that aren't realistic.
I'm going to talk to management today... staying in the mix and by God's grace having eyes of compassion to do what a believing person can do. Not as a slothful complainer but as a responsible contributor. Living as a person investing time and love and believing God.
--
Then he said to his disciples, 'The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest.' " - Matthew 9:35-38 ESV
I always thought that this was an interesting grace oriented prayer.
The natural thing would be to put pressure on people to serve but instead Jesus said to ask God to send laborers into His own fields.
If you ever have worked in a department that is understaffed you have seen what it can be like. The people there already have to much to do. They are hoping management will hire people to help.
There are times in our lives where we are looking at real deadlines. That harvest must be brought in or else it will be lost.
Jesus saw needs and had compassion but the need He communicated to His disciples was a 'prayer need.' He didn't say do more until you are exhausted. He said, 'Pray to the Lord of the harvest.' Be someone who sees the need and puts pressure on management.
I'm praying for people to show up in situations. I'm praying that God would send people.
That God would send the wife to the young man that is lonely.
That God would send the caretaker to the older person that needs help.
That God would send the leader and the team to place that need truth.
That God would send the benefactor to help those with monetary needs.
That God would send soul winning people into groups and areas.
That God would send laborers into His harvest field.
Our society teaches us to be the answer we are looking for but I see people who often put pressure on themselves and others in ways that aren't realistic.
I'm going to talk to management today... staying in the mix and by God's grace having eyes of compassion to do what a believing person can do. Not as a slothful complainer but as a responsible contributor. Living as a person investing time and love and believing God.
--
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Taking Ownership
"I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them. He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me, just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep. And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd. For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father." John 10:11-18 ESV
I am so glad that God has this attitude. He does not have 'hireling' attitude.
Jesus took ownership of His calling and laid down His life and had fellowship with God the Father in it.
It is amazing that we can take ownership by faith of what we are powerless to perform. By prayer and faith we move in God's leading and He produces fruit in the midst of it.
I am so glad that God has this attitude. He does not have 'hireling' attitude.
Jesus took ownership of His calling and laid down His life and had fellowship with God the Father in it.
It is amazing that we can take ownership by faith of what we are powerless to perform. By prayer and faith we move in God's leading and He produces fruit in the midst of it.
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