From Imitation To Liberty

 "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 13:9-11 ESV

This morning i am seeing this passage in a fresh way as i ponder imitation and identity formation.

As children we imitate others... that is how we learn to speak... we see adults doing things and we do things the way we saw them do it, or try to.... identities get formed they can be healthy or very unhealthy depending on what is modeled, accepted and rejected.

"From that time Jesus began to preach, saying, "Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand."" - Matthew 4:17 ESV

That was John the Baptizer's message... Jesus saw the value of this man and imitated him. Jesus. The perfect man. But then there was a break into manhood.

"And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil. And he ate nothing during those days. And when they were ended, he was hungry." - Luke 4:1-2 ESV

Jesus had a 'rite of passage into manhood', a hard thing He had to do Himself, just Him and His heavenly Father... no help from anyone... a victory that propelled Him into manhood and ministry.

"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 13:9-11 ESV

"So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, "If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."" - John 8:31-32 ESV

I see so many 'identity issues' linked to imitation. People just don't know who God has made them to be or they forget and latch on, in their dissatisfaction, to something in the culture and they parrot those outward behaviors they see.... which is fine if you are a child but must eventually end.

Jesus latched on to His Father in Heaven. He showed us how to do that also. Something we can do at any age.

"Jesus said to him, 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.' " - John 14:6 ESV

He said this and gave us a book full of red letter words (the words Jesus spoke).

"Nevertheless I tell you the truth; It is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you; but if I depart, I will send him unto you." - John 16:7 KJV

"But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, he will teach you all things and bring to your remembrance all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts be troubled, neither let them be afraid." - John 14:26-27 ESV

The word and the Spirit and people who have come before us and walk in that same Spirit.

"So that ye were ensamples to all that believe in Macedonia and Achaia. For from you sounded out the word of the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in every place your faith to God-ward is spread abroad; so that we need not to speak any thing." - 1 Thessalonians 1:7-8 KJV

"Neither did we eat any man's bread for nought; but wrought with labour and travail night and day, that we might not be chargeable to any of you: Not because we have not power, but to make ourselves an ensample unto you to follow us." - 2 Thessalonians 3:8-9 KJV

Liberty is for adults... we can see freedom in others and imitate them but there comes a day, usually though something extremely hard, that can propel us in adulthood. I want that for all who are struggling today.

As we face the challenges of life let do it as adults who have love, joy and peace that passes understanding because we have left the imitation of temporal things behind.

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The Feminine Nature of Wisdom

 Wisdom is is spoken of as a woman in parts of Proverbs and i have been fascinated by that idea. This 'personification' is not actual... but it does reflect an aspect of human nature.

"The man gave names to all livestock and to the birds of the heavens and to every beast of the field. But for Adam there was not found a helper fit for him. So the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. And the rib that the LORD God had taken from the man he made into a woman and brought her to the man." - Genesis 2:20-22 ESV

Adam was missing something. He was incomplete. This morning i am seeing that rib as language and mathematics. Human things that are descriptive. God is transcendent. He is beyond what he has created but he took something human and made a woman to complete 'him' (humanity). Be His companion.

He gave us what we could never have alone.... wisdom... the rib became a woman... the logos (information) becomes a rhema (logical God breathed illumination).

"Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree of life to those who lay hold of her; those who hold her fast are called blessed. The LORD by wisdom founded the earth; by understanding he established the heavens; by his knowledge the deeps broke open, and the clouds drop down the dew. My son, do not lose sight of these - keep sound wisdom and discretion, and they will be life for your soul and adornment for your neck. Then you will walk on your way securely, and your foot will not stumble. If you lie down, you will not be afraid; when you lie down, your sleep will be sweet. Do not be afraid of sudden terror or of the ruin of the wicked, when it comes, for the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught." - Proverbs 3:13-26 ESV

Wisdom isn't a person we can meet like in Greek mythology... She is a gift we can treasure and a way we can operate. A companion both men and women can have so we are not alone in this world. Our 'plus one' who comes with us to commune with God and whispers insight into our ears about what she sees in those meetings.

"The LORD possessed me at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth, before he had made the earth with its fields, or the first of the dust of the world. When he established the heavens, I was there; when he drew a circle on the face of the deep, when he made firm the skies above, when he established the fountains of the deep, when he assigned to the sea its limit, so that the waters might not transgress his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth, then I was beside him, like a master workman, and I was daily his delight, rejoicing before him always, rejoicing in his inhabited world and delighting in the children of man." - Proverbs 8:22-31 ESV

We are made in God's image and wisdom is an impartation He has given us if we want it and woo it and value it. We can be fools. Information can just be a tool for our selfishness but it doesn't have to be... she can make us noble.

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The Prize of the Upward Call

 "Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." - Philippians 3:13-14 ESV

Just thinking about this... the 'prize of the upward call' is IN pressing on not looking back... it is in Christ Jesus who took the blame not in us blaming people (others, ourselves or God) in order to make sense of what happened in the past... the future and upward specifically.... not just outward... the upward call.

Yesterday might not have been what we wanted... the past may seem better than what we have today but we all have this great 'yes and amen' option. The gospel of grace gives us this new and living way.

"As surely as God is faithful, our word to you has not been Yes and No. For the Son of God, Jesus Christ, whom we proclaimed among you, Silvanus and Timothy and I, was not Yes and No, but in him it is always Yes. For all the promises of God find their Yes in him. That is why it is through him that we utter our Amen to God for his glory. And it is God who establishes us with you in Christ, and has anointed us, and who has also put his seal on us and given us his Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee." - 2 Corinthians 1:18-22 ESV

"The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you." - Joel 2:24-25 ESV 

Let's press forward to what lies ahead together like logs burning brightly stacked together not as lone sputtering smoking branches extinguished and smothered by the wind... not as people looking back pointing fingers at those who seem to be at fault but as people who are in awe of the great God who promises an overflow or blessings in the future.

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What is the best day of the year?

I was at the physical therapist yesterday. It is one of those places where it is mostly just a big horseshoe shaped room and all of us are working and being worked on. One of the supervising physical therapist calls out to another therapists and says, 'Claudine' {FYI. That isn't her name or the name he said} 'Claudine, What is the best day of the year.' and she says something like, 'What? I don't know.' and he repeats the extra loud question. 'Come on... What do you think? What is the best day of the year?' 

She hesitates...

He says, 'Today. Today is... and when tomorrow comes that will be the best day of the year.'

She isn't playing along... she isn't hostile... it isn't that kind of place... it is an upbeat place on purpose but she isn't at his level of Rah! Rah! and is reluctant to pretend she is.

She joking says, 'I though it was my birthday.' and he says 'No. No. It's today.'

So I am laying there with my hip being worked on and it gets me thinking about the whole dynamic... my Pastor used to say, 'Today is the best day of my life.' not all the time or in that Rah! Rah! way but he said it and lived it out and at one point I believed it and said it by faith sometimes.

I started to talk to my physical therapist about what my Pastor used to say and what was being said in the place and how it can be annoying to hear that kind of talk when you are not in that same 'positive confession' mode of 'Today is going to be a great day'. We spoke a bit about that and how if someone said, 'Today is going to be the worst day of my life' that it wouldn't be so annoying and we might have compassion for them.

I miss being more positive. I'm convicted that i must live in a faith statement. Not in a delusional way. Not in a demanding way where I am forcing people to echo it but out loud in a way that draws others into in and gently challenges them.

God is good. Life is a gift. Our words spoken out loud are powerful... not to manifest reality... that is hogwash... we aren't 'gods' but we are clay vessels filled with treasure... our words can reveal that... when we are walking 'with' God that really is the best thing we can do. We can do it today and today really is the 'best day of the year' if our eyes are open to see it. 

I'm praying for some folks... some are living in a manic dream... others are detoxing from drugs.... some are bored... some are old and struggling with a lack of seeming productivity... the range of situations are wide and varied but we can walk with God which is humbling but also uplifting... we realize how little we know and see how marvelous others are... and eyes open to glory and tragedy... and today has great great potential.

So again I'm saying, 'Today is the best day of my life' I'm saying it out loud. Thank you God. Thank you for my Pastor, Dr Stevens, and the other men who have pastored me... thank you that i got to see this lived out... thank you for another day to annoy others with my positivity... hopefully in a humble and gently challenging way.

A 2023 Update

It's hard to believe that it has been over a year since i made an entry here. 

Because of hardware and other logistical issues i shifted to public facebook posts in 2023. 

I would like collect and edit some of those and put them here or in some other place where readers can find them. 

Perhaps that is something i can begin to do in 2024. We will see... 

Your Friend in Christ, 

P Allan Leitner

Moving from 1 Corinthians chapter 12 into chapter 13

1 Corinthians 12:1 ESV - "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed."

Today I'm taking a deep dive into this chapter and using it to 'interpret' 1 Corinthians chapter thirteen (known as the love chapter).

That first verse really is fitting. The chapter does explain 'spiritual gifts' in a unique way. There is so much here. The body parts listed... perception (ear, eye, the sense of smell)... action (hand and foot)... Head (is high up, deciding and perceiving)... every proposed dynamic is a real potential dynamic that gets addressed in chapter thirteen in some way.

1 Corinthians 12:15 ESV - "If the foot should say, 'Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,' that would not make it any less a part of the body."

One kind of role seemingly 'lower down' could and might envy the one 'higher up' with a different kind of tangible 'output'.

"And if the ear should say, "Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body," that would not make it any less a part of the body." - 1 Corinthians 12:16 ESV

A person may want to perceive things the way another person does and feels left out. An eye sees light.

Also, there is the dual nature of eyes, ears, hands and feet. We have two. The 'hearing' group might be tempted to envy the 'seeing' group or feel 'less than'.

"The eye cannot say to the hand, "I have no need of you," nor again the head to the feet, "I have no need of you." - 1 Corinthians 12:21 ESV

Perception without application. Administration without implementation.

"If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing." - 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 ESV

The body theme is continued... love resolves the differences.

Perception needs Love

Action must be based in Love

"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. For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known." - 1 Corinthians 13:7-12 ESV

We only see our 'place' dimly. We see glimpses of what other people contribute but later we will see more. Unity with diversity.

We love 'by faith' not understanding or seeing it all now... but later we will see more.

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The Only Other Choice

We think we are choosing between Christ and our own moral value system...

.. or Christ and Buddhism

.. or Christ and academia as the ultimate solution

.. or Christ and the evolution of man into a higher state

but we are not... It is Jesus or Barabbas

Mark 15:6-7 ESV — Now at the feast he used to release for them one prisoner for whom they asked. And among the rebels in prison, who had committed murder in the insurrection, there was a man called Barabbas.

Barnabas was dangerous. He was a wild man. Society wanted him locked up and for good reason.

Mark 15:9-13 ESV — And he answered them, saying, “Do you want me to release for you the King of the Jews?” For he perceived that it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered him up. But the chief priests stirred up the crowd to have him release for them Barabbas instead. And Pilate again said to them, “Then what shall I do with the man you call the King of the Jews?” And they cried out again, “Crucify him.”

Those were not the choices they wanted but that is the real choice.

Barabbas is let loose and chaos ensues. If we don't want God. If we don't the want the truth contained in the scriptures. In particular, if we don't want Jesus to mess up our convenient little system... Barabbas... a person we know should be locked up... gets let loose.

Antichrist will be a Barabbas. It might be us. If we shake off the shackles of truth we might just become the thing we hate.

People blame God because the world isn't what it should be but humanity has chosen the wild man again and again.

Choose Jesus today. Not everyone else is or will but your choice makes a difference.

1 John 4:2-4 ESV — By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, and every spirit that does not confess Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you heard was coming and now is in the world already. Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

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