What does God require of mankind? If we remove transgressions from the picture we are left with this.
"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" - Micah 6:8 ESV
But transgressions complicate things don't they? When we step over the line in life there are new requirement that get added. Fines. Penalties.
When Adam sinned death was added to the equation.
"For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord." - Romans 6:23 ESV
When Jesus came to Earth He met all of God's requirements in every way. Then in His death He met all of our transgression born requirements also.
"For the death he died he died to sin, once for all, but the life he lives he lives to God. So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus." - Romans 6:10-11 ESV
God has only one demand from people. All other demands have been met. It is the lone requirement that takes sin out of the way so that a real relationship can form on His terms.
"Jesus answered, 'Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born of water and the Spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I said to you, 'You must be born again.' '... 'For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.' " - John 3:5-7, 16-17 ESV
We were all born of water. We spent nine months in someone's womb floating in that water. But we must be born of the Spirit by believing in the Son.
Man requires so many things in the name of God and what is right but God has one requirement and He wraps that requirement in a gift and holds that gift out to us and says, 'Please take what my Son has done for you. Take the gift and it will make you clean.'
"He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" - Micah 6:8 ESV
Now the passage takes on fresh meaning when we have experienced God's grace and mercy. We walk with Jesus now are He knows all about these three things. He does justly. He loves mercy (kindness). He walks humbly and we walk with Him.
--
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Monday, November 9, 2015
Two Mysteries
"Yet among the mature we do impart wisdom, although it is not a wisdom of this age or of the rulers of this age, who are doomed to pass away. But we impart a secret and hidden wisdom of God, which God decreed before the ages for our glory. None of the rulers of this age understood this, for if they had, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory." - 1 Corinthians 2:6-8 ESV
"For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way." - 2 Thessalonians 2:7a ESV
There is a mystery that transforms but there is also a mystery that corrupts. The mystery of iniquity involves the emotions. The emotions can get corrupted to the point where people form ideas that go against reason. We see that happening in the world. People betray friendships. They abandon marriages and children. They hurt themselves and others because of hate. It is a mystery. They unite in a hopeless cause against what is good and right and call evil good and good evil.
Then there is the mystery of love and transformation. It is the mystery of redemption. In truth it is the mystery of the resurrection. Christ's resurrection was the first domino to fall in a long string of dominoes. Yet this great coming alive is hidden and misunderstood.
People can live their lives baffled by both of these things. Apart from God there is no explanation.
When Christ is revealed then these mysteries begin to be revealed also. These things don't baffle us. We may not like what we see but we know enough about it to identify it as spiritual and not just natural.
--
"For the mystery of lawlessness is already at work. Only he who now restrains it will do so until he is out of the way." - 2 Thessalonians 2:7a ESV
There is a mystery that transforms but there is also a mystery that corrupts. The mystery of iniquity involves the emotions. The emotions can get corrupted to the point where people form ideas that go against reason. We see that happening in the world. People betray friendships. They abandon marriages and children. They hurt themselves and others because of hate. It is a mystery. They unite in a hopeless cause against what is good and right and call evil good and good evil.
Then there is the mystery of love and transformation. It is the mystery of redemption. In truth it is the mystery of the resurrection. Christ's resurrection was the first domino to fall in a long string of dominoes. Yet this great coming alive is hidden and misunderstood.
People can live their lives baffled by both of these things. Apart from God there is no explanation.
When Christ is revealed then these mysteries begin to be revealed also. These things don't baffle us. We may not like what we see but we know enough about it to identify it as spiritual and not just natural.
--
Friday, November 6, 2015
Lies And Power
It is no wonder that many politicians are liars. Lying is an extension of power lust.
"Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. And after this Ahab said to Naboth, 'Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house, and I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money.' But Naboth said to Ahab, 'The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.' And Ahab went into his house vexed and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him, for he had said, 'I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.' And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and would eat no food." - 1 Kings 21:1-4 ESV
This is where is starts. The King wants something he can't have. People lie to add things to themselves. Convenient things like power or false peace. Wine and grapes often represent happiness in the scriptures. More grapes meant more wine. Ahab wanted to add to his happiness. There was no honest means to do that.
"But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, 'Why is your spirit so vexed that you eat no food?' And he said to her, 'Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, 'Give me your vineyard for money, or else, if it please you, I will give you another vineyard for it.' And he answered, 'I will not give you my vineyard.'' And Jezebel his wife said to him, 'Do you now govern Israel? Arise and eat bread and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.' " - 1 Kings 21:5-7 ESV
Here we see the birth a the lie. Reason dances with power and devises a method.
This whole chapter is worth reading but if I quoted it all here this would be a very long post. Jezebel promotes Naboth but she is setting him up to knock him down. Once he is down Jezebel presents the vineyard to Ahab her husband.
"Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 'Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. And you shall say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, 'Have you killed and also taken possession?'' And you shall say to him, 'Thus says the LORD: 'In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood.'' Ahab said to Elijah, 'Have you found me, O my enemy?' " - 1 Kings 21:17-20a ESV
Ahab sees the prophet as his enemy that he must coexist with. For Ahab everything was a power struggle.
It is easy to detach ourselves from an account like this but we are kings also in our own circle of influence. Sweet little girls learn to lie. Timid young men do also. We all do. Some embrace the practice more than others but all human beings lie. All except One.
"I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. I believed, even when I spoke: 'I am greatly afflicted'; I said in my alarm, 'All mankind are liars.' " - Psalm 116:9-11 ESV
"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." - Isaiah 53:6 ESV
Powerful people lie but it is also not strange to see that the ones most angry at lies are powerful people also. Power. Morality becomes just another way to enforce order.
God has laid every lie on Jesus Christ. All human lies are already paid for.
Still lies hurt people. They are illusions crafted for gain, protection and convenience.
There are individuals that I know and love who are just not honest with me much of the time. They feel the need to project a persona. I love them. I realize the situation and greatly value them. My desire is not to get them to come clean with me. My desire is that grace would build them up to a point where the persona would melt away and they would be free to live in the truth of what God has already done on their behalf.
There is a little phrase I like... 'I don't do fiction.' It isn't a moral thing. Grace has made fiction obsolete.
The lie creates a covering. It reshapes reality by skewing perception. If the lie is believed there is a false sense of power and acceptance. People lie to impress. They lie to avoid. They lie to get.
The cross throws a monkey wrench into all of that. Human cruelty and God's compassion meet there and burst all illusions. The cross breaks things while at the same time it was the place where the Son satisfied the Father's need for justice and holiness. The cross disassociates us from false identifications.
Grace causes us to connect with a pre-creation identity that is outside of time. It is eternal. New. It is better than fiction. It is higher.
1 John 1:9 is our provision to confess truth and be cleansed. God is faithful to connect us to cleansing and disconnect us from the past.
Grace is God's method with mankind. Grace coaxes us into the light. The cross kills the liar and the rules written against him with Christ on the cross. God adopts the person who used to thrive in misconception and elevates them because they have a new identity in what Christ has done.
God cares for us. I sometimes imagine Him looking at us living in our small world of limited perception with great care and a kind of pity. We jump to conclusions and don't even know it. We rationalize and misunderstand so much. He knows what we are thinking just won't work. He loves us too much to leave us where we are but respects our right to make our own decisions so much that He won't override our will.
That is why Jesus came. That is why (in part) that the Father sent His Son. The truth walked among us to free us from all falsehood. In Christ the need to alter the landscape to gain an advantage disappears. God prospers us in our own vineyard and multiples it's harvest.
--
"Now Naboth the Jezreelite had a vineyard in Jezreel, beside the palace of Ahab king of Samaria. And after this Ahab said to Naboth, 'Give me your vineyard, that I may have it for a vegetable garden, because it is near my house, and I will give you a better vineyard for it; or, if it seems good to you, I will give you its value in money.' But Naboth said to Ahab, 'The LORD forbid that I should give you the inheritance of my fathers.' And Ahab went into his house vexed and sullen because of what Naboth the Jezreelite had said to him, for he had said, 'I will not give you the inheritance of my fathers.' And he lay down on his bed and turned away his face and would eat no food." - 1 Kings 21:1-4 ESV
This is where is starts. The King wants something he can't have. People lie to add things to themselves. Convenient things like power or false peace. Wine and grapes often represent happiness in the scriptures. More grapes meant more wine. Ahab wanted to add to his happiness. There was no honest means to do that.
"But Jezebel his wife came to him and said to him, 'Why is your spirit so vexed that you eat no food?' And he said to her, 'Because I spoke to Naboth the Jezreelite and said to him, 'Give me your vineyard for money, or else, if it please you, I will give you another vineyard for it.' And he answered, 'I will not give you my vineyard.'' And Jezebel his wife said to him, 'Do you now govern Israel? Arise and eat bread and let your heart be cheerful; I will give you the vineyard of Naboth the Jezreelite.' " - 1 Kings 21:5-7 ESV
Here we see the birth a the lie. Reason dances with power and devises a method.
This whole chapter is worth reading but if I quoted it all here this would be a very long post. Jezebel promotes Naboth but she is setting him up to knock him down. Once he is down Jezebel presents the vineyard to Ahab her husband.
"Then the word of the LORD came to Elijah the Tishbite, saying, 'Arise, go down to meet Ahab king of Israel, who is in Samaria; behold, he is in the vineyard of Naboth, where he has gone to take possession. And you shall say to him, 'Thus says the LORD, 'Have you killed and also taken possession?'' And you shall say to him, 'Thus says the LORD: 'In the place where dogs licked up the blood of Naboth shall dogs lick your own blood.'' Ahab said to Elijah, 'Have you found me, O my enemy?' " - 1 Kings 21:17-20a ESV
Ahab sees the prophet as his enemy that he must coexist with. For Ahab everything was a power struggle.
It is easy to detach ourselves from an account like this but we are kings also in our own circle of influence. Sweet little girls learn to lie. Timid young men do also. We all do. Some embrace the practice more than others but all human beings lie. All except One.
"I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living. I believed, even when I spoke: 'I am greatly afflicted'; I said in my alarm, 'All mankind are liars.' " - Psalm 116:9-11 ESV
"All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned - every one - to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all." - Isaiah 53:6 ESV
Powerful people lie but it is also not strange to see that the ones most angry at lies are powerful people also. Power. Morality becomes just another way to enforce order.
God has laid every lie on Jesus Christ. All human lies are already paid for.
Still lies hurt people. They are illusions crafted for gain, protection and convenience.
There are individuals that I know and love who are just not honest with me much of the time. They feel the need to project a persona. I love them. I realize the situation and greatly value them. My desire is not to get them to come clean with me. My desire is that grace would build them up to a point where the persona would melt away and they would be free to live in the truth of what God has already done on their behalf.
There is a little phrase I like... 'I don't do fiction.' It isn't a moral thing. Grace has made fiction obsolete.
The lie creates a covering. It reshapes reality by skewing perception. If the lie is believed there is a false sense of power and acceptance. People lie to impress. They lie to avoid. They lie to get.
The cross throws a monkey wrench into all of that. Human cruelty and God's compassion meet there and burst all illusions. The cross breaks things while at the same time it was the place where the Son satisfied the Father's need for justice and holiness. The cross disassociates us from false identifications.
Grace causes us to connect with a pre-creation identity that is outside of time. It is eternal. New. It is better than fiction. It is higher.
1 John 1:9 is our provision to confess truth and be cleansed. God is faithful to connect us to cleansing and disconnect us from the past.
Grace is God's method with mankind. Grace coaxes us into the light. The cross kills the liar and the rules written against him with Christ on the cross. God adopts the person who used to thrive in misconception and elevates them because they have a new identity in what Christ has done.
God cares for us. I sometimes imagine Him looking at us living in our small world of limited perception with great care and a kind of pity. We jump to conclusions and don't even know it. We rationalize and misunderstand so much. He knows what we are thinking just won't work. He loves us too much to leave us where we are but respects our right to make our own decisions so much that He won't override our will.
That is why Jesus came. That is why (in part) that the Father sent His Son. The truth walked among us to free us from all falsehood. In Christ the need to alter the landscape to gain an advantage disappears. God prospers us in our own vineyard and multiples it's harvest.
--
Thursday, November 5, 2015
Two Small Copper Coins
I want to express love to people while I have the opportunity to do so. When we are in "survival mode" that priority drops lower. We have less and so it seems we have less to give but it is important to resist that resistance.
"And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, 'Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.' " - Mark 12:42-44 ESV
This passage seems to be about money but it has a deep message. Of all the people giving large sums Jesus noticed this person who was loving in a risky way.
One passage from my reading yesterday stuck with me. Perhaps it seems unrelated but it holds great meaning for me.
"I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law." - Luke 12:49-53 ESV
Is this the fire of judgement. No. I believe it is this fire.
"I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." - Matthew 3:11 ESV
"He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." - Acts 1:3-5 ESV
"And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." - Acts 2:2-4 ESV
The fire that Jesus wanted to already be kindled is the fire of Love. It is the fire of His Spirit which is not separate from Him. The Father, The Son and the Comforter are individual but One.
The fire would bring separation because paradoxically that is what God's Love can bring. Sentimental human love allows for mixed allegiances because it is shallow. God's love is different. It leaves no room for garbage.
If love remains unexpressed divisions can grow wider. If love is expressed there is the possibility that divisions will disappear.
Oh God... please help us... Help me... Help us to communicate love in creative ways... We want affection and hospitality to flow even if all that we have are two small copper coins... give us the courage to be kind... give us words to say and ways to love... Thank You God for loving us... You love us from the richness of Heaven just as you loved us from the poverty of the cross... thank you... thank you... thank you... You are the awesome God... thank you.
--
"And a poor widow came and put in two small copper coins, which make a penny. And he called his disciples to him and said to them, 'Truly, I say to you, this poor widow has put in more than all those who are contributing to the offering box. For they all contributed out of their abundance, but she out of her poverty has put in everything she had, all she had to live on.' " - Mark 12:42-44 ESV
This passage seems to be about money but it has a deep message. Of all the people giving large sums Jesus noticed this person who was loving in a risky way.
One passage from my reading yesterday stuck with me. Perhaps it seems unrelated but it holds great meaning for me.
"I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division. For from now on in one house there will be five divided, three against two and two against three. They will be divided, father against son and son against father, mother against daughter and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law." - Luke 12:49-53 ESV
Is this the fire of judgement. No. I believe it is this fire.
"I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire." - Matthew 3:11 ESV
"He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now." - Acts 1:3-5 ESV
"And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance." - Acts 2:2-4 ESV
The fire that Jesus wanted to already be kindled is the fire of Love. It is the fire of His Spirit which is not separate from Him. The Father, The Son and the Comforter are individual but One.
The fire would bring separation because paradoxically that is what God's Love can bring. Sentimental human love allows for mixed allegiances because it is shallow. God's love is different. It leaves no room for garbage.
If love remains unexpressed divisions can grow wider. If love is expressed there is the possibility that divisions will disappear.
Oh God... please help us... Help me... Help us to communicate love in creative ways... We want affection and hospitality to flow even if all that we have are two small copper coins... give us the courage to be kind... give us words to say and ways to love... Thank You God for loving us... You love us from the richness of Heaven just as you loved us from the poverty of the cross... thank you... thank you... thank you... You are the awesome God... thank you.
--
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Grace In Luke Chapter 12 - Returning From The Feast
Luke chapter 12 is so interesting. I am reading it over and over and Jesus is painting a picture of several scenes and sides of God's heart.
At one point Peter says this...
"Peter said, 'Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?' " - Luke 12:41 ESV
Jesus is describing aspects of God's gracious character but He Is also describing God's Kingly justice.
If you read the chapter carefully you see each parable is strung together linking different colored stones.
Here is a key passage.
"Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks." - Luke 12:35-36 ESV
The wedding feast in the scriptures is the height of human celebration. It was the event of the year. When a person returns from an event like that they are floating on a cloud. That is the time when they are prone to great generosity. But, Also woe be upon the head the the person or people that ruin that day for them.
A good parallel that comes to mind is when parents leave children at home and go away on a trip. If the house is clean and in order when they get home life is good but if they threw a party and destroyed the place the penalties would be especially harsh.
Peter wonders, 'Who Is Jesus talking to?' for a good reason.
The Church is at the wedding feast. Believers are not servants minding the store. We are family members traveling with the King.
When I see God's holiness and justice in how He deals with his servants and it comforts me but as a family member it does not scare me. I see His high standard and it does not cause me to strive but as a son added to His family it raises the bar of my thinking.
Grace is a safe place.
"Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure - for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, 'Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.' And he said to me, 'These are the true words of God.' " - Revelation 19:7-9 ESV
The Lamb will have His Marriage feast and then He will clean house on the Earth. Those who receive Jesus now in this window of time will only ever experience His favor.
"I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division." - Luke 12:49-51 ESV
Jesus suffered great distress. More distress than an man ever has or ever will. He did it so that man could be on God's 'good side.' The King is not lenient to those who mess with His possessions when He is away.
If you have moment read Luke chapter 12. It is a true work of art.
--
At one point Peter says this...
"Peter said, 'Lord, are you telling this parable for us or for all?' " - Luke 12:41 ESV
Jesus is describing aspects of God's gracious character but He Is also describing God's Kingly justice.
If you read the chapter carefully you see each parable is strung together linking different colored stones.
Here is a key passage.
"Stay dressed for action and keep your lamps burning, and be like men who are waiting for their master to come home from the wedding feast, so that they may open the door to him at once when he comes and knocks." - Luke 12:35-36 ESV
The wedding feast in the scriptures is the height of human celebration. It was the event of the year. When a person returns from an event like that they are floating on a cloud. That is the time when they are prone to great generosity. But, Also woe be upon the head the the person or people that ruin that day for them.
A good parallel that comes to mind is when parents leave children at home and go away on a trip. If the house is clean and in order when they get home life is good but if they threw a party and destroyed the place the penalties would be especially harsh.
Peter wonders, 'Who Is Jesus talking to?' for a good reason.
The Church is at the wedding feast. Believers are not servants minding the store. We are family members traveling with the King.
When I see God's holiness and justice in how He deals with his servants and it comforts me but as a family member it does not scare me. I see His high standard and it does not cause me to strive but as a son added to His family it raises the bar of my thinking.
Grace is a safe place.
"Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen, bright and pure - for the fine linen is the righteous deeds of the saints. And the angel said to me, 'Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.' And he said to me, 'These are the true words of God.' " - Revelation 19:7-9 ESV
The Lamb will have His Marriage feast and then He will clean house on the Earth. Those who receive Jesus now in this window of time will only ever experience His favor.
"I came to cast fire on the earth, and would that it were already kindled! I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how great is my distress until it is accomplished! Do you think that I have come to give peace on earth? No, I tell you, but rather division." - Luke 12:49-51 ESV
Jesus suffered great distress. More distress than an man ever has or ever will. He did it so that man could be on God's 'good side.' The King is not lenient to those who mess with His possessions when He is away.
If you have moment read Luke chapter 12. It is a true work of art.
--
Tuesday, November 3, 2015
Grace In Receiving And Grace In Cultivation
Looking at the transition from manna to seeding.
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him." - John 12:24-26 ESV
"And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year." - Joshua 5:12 ESV
Manna represents the daily supernatural provision that God has for us. We gather new mercy each day. We look at the Bible and God feeds us a fresh provision.
The kernel of wheat that falls into the ground and produces life out of death represents resurrection life. It is a long term investment. It requires cultivation and not just harvesting.
Both are grace provisions. God gives manna and He gives growth.
When Israel left Egypt they left as slaves. They had a slave mentality. God fed them manna and taught them to trust. Later when they entered the promised land there was a transition. Stewardship requires investment.
"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it." - Revelation 2:17 ESV
A mature believer has moved beyond the old identity and takes this new self into a life of seeding that has hidden manna.
Manna could only be collected for an individual or a family. It is a solitary experience. Seeding cultivates a crop that feeds many people not just the individual.
I have heard people teach grace that emphasizes solitary life. A new identity that is solitary. It is foundational teaching. People need to know who they are and that they have been set free from slavery. They need to develop a strong vertical relationship with God. But there must be seeding grace balance. If folks are isolated they will never learn stewardship. People must learn to live with other people in the horizontal. There needs to be investment that takes time to blossom. Dealing with people requires a death to self that the solitary manna gatherer will not experience unless they make the transition to stewardship.
God has promised hidden manna to those that overcome. It has a daily grace provision that is available during planting, watering and harvesting. He isn't talking about winning on the outside only. He is talking about the battlefield of the mind. The battlefield of the soul. Those who war a good warfare from the new guilt free identity of freedom find manna they didn't see before. It is right there on their doorstep when they wake up. Hidden from the rest of the world but given to them and them alone. It becomes oil for the lantern of the soul.
Every morning can be a morning of new mercy. Lets live a seeding life where we are in the process of long term investments to see redemptive outcomes.
--
"Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. Whoever loves his life loses it, and whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life. If anyone serves me, he must follow me; and where I am, there will my servant be also. If anyone serves me, the Father will honor him." - John 12:24-26 ESV
"And the manna ceased the day after they ate of the produce of the land. And there was no longer manna for the people of Israel, but they ate of the fruit of the land of Canaan that year." - Joshua 5:12 ESV
Manna represents the daily supernatural provision that God has for us. We gather new mercy each day. We look at the Bible and God feeds us a fresh provision.
The kernel of wheat that falls into the ground and produces life out of death represents resurrection life. It is a long term investment. It requires cultivation and not just harvesting.
Both are grace provisions. God gives manna and He gives growth.
When Israel left Egypt they left as slaves. They had a slave mentality. God fed them manna and taught them to trust. Later when they entered the promised land there was a transition. Stewardship requires investment.
"He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To the one who conquers I will give some of the hidden manna, and I will give him a white stone, with a new name written on the stone that no one knows except the one who receives it." - Revelation 2:17 ESV
A mature believer has moved beyond the old identity and takes this new self into a life of seeding that has hidden manna.
Manna could only be collected for an individual or a family. It is a solitary experience. Seeding cultivates a crop that feeds many people not just the individual.
I have heard people teach grace that emphasizes solitary life. A new identity that is solitary. It is foundational teaching. People need to know who they are and that they have been set free from slavery. They need to develop a strong vertical relationship with God. But there must be seeding grace balance. If folks are isolated they will never learn stewardship. People must learn to live with other people in the horizontal. There needs to be investment that takes time to blossom. Dealing with people requires a death to self that the solitary manna gatherer will not experience unless they make the transition to stewardship.
God has promised hidden manna to those that overcome. It has a daily grace provision that is available during planting, watering and harvesting. He isn't talking about winning on the outside only. He is talking about the battlefield of the mind. The battlefield of the soul. Those who war a good warfare from the new guilt free identity of freedom find manna they didn't see before. It is right there on their doorstep when they wake up. Hidden from the rest of the world but given to them and them alone. It becomes oil for the lantern of the soul.
Every morning can be a morning of new mercy. Lets live a seeding life where we are in the process of long term investments to see redemptive outcomes.
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Sunday, November 1, 2015
Praying With God
We had a long drive back from a trip today and I was thinking about the difference between praying 'to' and praying 'with' God and how I want to pray 'with' God for people and situations.
When someone is in a crisis and they ask you to pray they give you the details but they also often give you a result that they desire also. Often we see some of the details of what is happening with people or situations but what is the result that is really desirable?
When we are praying 'to' God only we are asking for the result we desire but when we pray 'with' God it is shared. There is a walk together that is happening where we are side by side and He is leading.
I want that... but am I willing to give up what I want to get it. Also do I know or have an inkling of what God wants or thinks?
"But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." - 2 Peter 3:8-9 ESV
Two things leap out of this verse to me. God desires that no one would perish and that all would turn to Him and away from whatever is occupying the attention that only He should have.
Someone may say pray for my business, pray for my business partner or pray for my health. We want to pray with them for their desired result but if our prayer is just for what they want then are we praying to God or with God?
We can pray a prayer something like this, 'Prosper their business in your time Lord but let that business draw them close to You. Keep them alive and cause them to live in the midst of the details.'
Jesus prayed with His Father and when He paused to lay hands on a person for healing it was just an extension of that life of communion.
Wow. That's living.
"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind." - James 1:5-6 ESV
Let's face it. None of us really knows all the details but God may just fill in some of the gaps (on a need to know basis) if we are praying with Him and asking for wisdom then even if we have great gaps God is moving in the midst and answering because we are keeping pace with His mind.
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When someone is in a crisis and they ask you to pray they give you the details but they also often give you a result that they desire also. Often we see some of the details of what is happening with people or situations but what is the result that is really desirable?
When we are praying 'to' God only we are asking for the result we desire but when we pray 'with' God it is shared. There is a walk together that is happening where we are side by side and He is leading.
I want that... but am I willing to give up what I want to get it. Also do I know or have an inkling of what God wants or thinks?
"But do not overlook this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day. The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance." - 2 Peter 3:8-9 ESV
Two things leap out of this verse to me. God desires that no one would perish and that all would turn to Him and away from whatever is occupying the attention that only He should have.
Someone may say pray for my business, pray for my business partner or pray for my health. We want to pray with them for their desired result but if our prayer is just for what they want then are we praying to God or with God?
We can pray a prayer something like this, 'Prosper their business in your time Lord but let that business draw them close to You. Keep them alive and cause them to live in the midst of the details.'
Jesus prayed with His Father and when He paused to lay hands on a person for healing it was just an extension of that life of communion.
Wow. That's living.
"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea that is driven and tossed by the wind." - James 1:5-6 ESV
Let's face it. None of us really knows all the details but God may just fill in some of the gaps (on a need to know basis) if we are praying with Him and asking for wisdom then even if we have great gaps God is moving in the midst and answering because we are keeping pace with His mind.
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