Blessing by Association

Talk about an intense study... "The Doctrine of Blessing by Association" is one of those studies that puts life into perspective in so many ways. Getting the right balance is so important or you can really swing off into error. Jesus must be central and kept central in ever aspect of the far reaching implications of this doctrine because it is one of those studies that illuminates both the goodness and the severity of God.

It is very easy to see in the Hebrew scriptures how God would bless a person by grace, not merit, and then proceed to bless others in the progression of time based upon those former commitments He made. Abraham and David are that classic examples... how many people were blessed because of promises to those men?

Then, there is Israel as a nation. The clear Biblical trend is that blessing of nations is based upon treatment of Israel (if there is exposure and opportunity to interact with Israel.)

Then there is Christ who is the fountain of living waters and the source of all blessing. Abraham, David, Israel they are blessed because of the relationship to Christ in some way. We as individuals are greatly blessed by this association. This verse says it all:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ" Eph 1:3

That sounds amazingly good... and it is. There is a severe part... and that is in a sense the narrowness of it. There is this amazing blessing by association... but there is no substitute for specific associations. It is not multiple choice. Salvation is a perfect example:

"Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved." Acts 4:12 NKJV

"Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." Jn 14:6

He is the door and if a person tries to get in any other way they are considered a robber. Robbers are not usually invited to tea if they are discovered.

If we get this part right then we win the whole thing. Without a doubt that association is the most important... but it doesn't end here.

"And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." Matt 25:40

How we treat people reflects something about the true nature of our association to God. There is an important balance between:

"For God commanded, saying, Honour thy father and mother: and, He that curseth father or mother, let him die the death." Matt 15:4

and...

"He that loveth father or mother more than me is not worthy of me: and he that loveth son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me." Matt 10:37

One doesn't negate the other. There is a clear irrevocable blessing for honoring parents in Ex 20:12 and other places in Proverbs.

There is "no substitute" for each individual in our lives. I see people suffer because of broken relationships... it makes me sad for them. They don't just suffer because of the problems that are related to that relationship. They suffer a "lack of blessing" because of being wrongly related to God about and through that relationship to a person. Ouch. People are literally stuck spiritually because a disagreement with God that still needs to be settled.

My late Pastor preached and taught strongly about these issues and it was part of why people were so polarized about him... they either loved him or hated him. They felt covered... or manipulated. Maybe they felt both. I see a man who over a long career saw the consequences of good and bad decisions people made and wanted to equip people. A man who was confident of the move of God going on in his life and ministry and wanted others to partake of those blessings. A man who lived the Bible to the best of his understanding.

As I go forward I see more and more "whys" of what I heard from the pulpit and the choices I often make about what to say and emphasize are ever before me. I sense the blessing of the association I have to men of God who have gone before and at the same time the polarization of it in my life. If grace is properly preached it should produce a degree of polarization. I would rather be "right" with God then with people. But, I would like it to be both if possible. I am going to live the Bible to the best of my understanding.

Right relation to God gives us access to having right relationships to others... and the avenues to be rightly related if at times we aren't. The covering of Love fills us with the humility and the courage we will need to face whatever lies ahead... whatever that may be. That grace is indeed amazing grace.

--

Life More Abundant

Joie de vivre
Technicolor
A sense of adventure
Being home
Seeing clearly
Noticing beauty in the midst of the mundane
Fullness of life
The anointing
Body life (community where God is present)

VS

Dullness
Colorless
Tasteless or tastes bad
No sense of surprise
Drudgery
Out of focus
Searching but not finding
Boredom 
Isolation

John 7:38 ESV — "Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."

John 10:8-10 ESV — "All who came before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not listen to them. I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture. The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly."

1 Corinthians 12:1-27 ESV — "Now concerning spiritual gifts, brothers, I do not want you to be uninformed. You know that when you were pagans you were led astray to mute idols, however you were led. Therefore I want you to understand that no one speaking in the Spirit of God ever says “Jesus is accursed!” and no one can say “Jesus is Lord” except in the Holy Spirit. Now there are varieties of gifts, but the same Spirit; and there are varieties of service, but the same Lord; and there are varieties of activities, but it is the same God who empowers them all in everyone. To each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For to one is given through the Spirit the utterance of wisdom, and to another the utterance of knowledge according to the same Spirit, to another faith by the same Spirit, to another gifts of healing by the one Spirit, to another the working of miracles, to another prophecy, to another the ability to distinguish between spirits, to another various kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues. All these are empowered by one and the same Spirit, who apportions to each one individually as he wills. For just as the body is one and has many members, and all the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ. For in one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—Jews or Greeks, slaves or free—and all were made to drink of one Spirit. For the body does not consist of one member but of many. 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. 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. If the whole body were an eye, where would be the sense of hearing? If the whole body were an ear, where would be the sense of smell? But as it is, God arranged the members in the body, each one of them, as he chose. If all were a single member, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, yet one body. 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.” On the contrary, the parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, and on those parts of the body that we think less honorable we bestow the greater honor, and our unpresentable parts are treated with greater modesty, which our more presentable parts do not require. But God has so composed the body, giving greater honor to the part that lacked it, that there may be no division in the body, but that the members may have the same care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together. Now you are the body of Christ and individually members of it."

Adam lived in the garden but after eating the fruit he began to die inch by inch.

Jesus died once and Is now alive. Truly alive.

John 14:6-7 ESV — "Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”"

Aging can mature us or kill us. Things come into focus but then our eyes begin to fail 

Jesus promises us eternal joie de vivre if we only just believe. He make us the salt of the Earth that bring in flavor.

Don't sulk in the gray shadows.

Matthew 7:7-11 ESV — "“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. Or which one of you, if his son asks him for bread, will give him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a serpent? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask him!"

--

Three People Affected By Broken Relationships

Where ever you stance on divorce and remarriage... this passage just describes reality.

"But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of sexual immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery." – Matthew 5:32 ESV

This passage presents three dynamics.

- We can cause people to be in a bad situation where moral compromise becomes an attractive option
- People do things that cause us to be in this kind of position
- Then there is the person who cares for someone but that person is damaged by what has happened or what they have done in the past

We have known all three people. We have likely been all three of these people.

Operating in integrity is so vital. Integrity and newness.

We can own our failures that have affected others.

We can live in our new identity and not as a victim.

We can help and care for others without entering into their 'issue' as accomplices.

"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." – 2 Corinthians 1:19-20 ESV

Life is difficult and selfishness just continues to make it more difficult... but God... the God of all grace makes a way for us.

"No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it." – 1 Corinthians 10:13 ESV

--

Sifting

"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan has demanded to sift you [men] (plural) like wheat; but I have prayed for you (singular), that your (singular) faith will not fail; and you (singular), when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers." - Luke 22:31-32 NASB20

Sift here is unique. It is only used once in the NT. But it has a clear definition. It was a way of sorting what was heavy and useful, wheat in this case, from what was light and useless. The dust, chafe or grit would blow away.

The prayer Jesus is communicating here is one of 'reorientation'. You and a whole group of people will get tossed in the air or just dropped from a distance into a net or collector of some kind. Everything will go topsy turvy and much will be lost but not you. You are heavy not light. When you are reoriented... not if... when... reorient the others who have also lost things.

Wow.

Satan is the one doing this sifting. Not God. Satan is the Devil's 'accuser title'. It is when he takes on the role of prosecuting attorney to ruin credibility and crush hope. He uses half truths and outright lies to win because winning at any cost is all he wants.

"But he said to Him, "Lord, I am ready to go with You both to prison and to death!" But He said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow today until you have denied three times that you know Me."" - Luke 22:33-34 NASB20

Jesus shifts over to Peter from Simon here because our new identity can hear this truth. Peter's confidence in his own loyalty and morality is about to get blown away by the wind as his life tumbles into chaos.

There will be less confidence in Simon. Peter has less but he will become a strengthener.

Sifting ends up with a good result for the souls that have weight.

"But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are talking about!" And immediately, while he was still speaking, a rooster crowed. And [then] the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had told him, "Before a rooster crows today, you will deny Me three times." And he went out and wept bitterly." - Luke 22:60-62 NASB20

Jesus' words gave Peter a heavy soul. He didn't blow away. He fell into the pile of grain because he had life. Jesus' life made Peter heavy.

Sifting isn't fun but it gets rid of what isn't weighty and makes individuals that can strengthen the group.

i hope this encourages you. It encouraged me. i have less and i find myself tumbling through space more now in this season than ever but I also know that Jesus speaks to the Father about me. He has prayed for me and that is why i have survived as long as i have. He isn't going to just cut me loose now. i will have my bearings soon enough... just thinking the thoughts above gives me hope.

Peter made it through his 'dark night' and had a profitable life. It was all because of his 'association' with Christ. We also can prosper by association. 

"Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised." - Hebrews 10:35-36 ESV

--

A Theology Of Rebirth

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." – 2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV

The new testament focuses on rebirth as a vehicle for acceptance not rehabilitation. Other world views often clash with this idea because true rebirth must be divinely initiated and accomplished. We can't do it ourselves. People can't do it for us.

Reinvention is a 'natural' way people try to accomplish this without God. They change their name or start over somewhere new but that only goes so far.

"Now there was a man of the Pharisees named Nicodemus, a ruler of the Jews. This man came to Jesus by night and said to him, "Rabbi, we know that you are a teacher come from God, for no one can do these signs that you do unless God is with him." Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." Nicodemus said to him, "How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born?" 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.' The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit." Nicodemus said to him, "How can these things be?" Jesus answered him, "Are you the teacher of Israel and yet you do not understand these things? Truly, truly, I say to you, we speak of what we know, and bear witness to what we have seen, but you do not receive our testimony. If I have told you earthly things and you do not believe, how can you believe if I tell you heavenly things? No one has ascended into heaven except he who descended from heaven, the Son of Man. And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life. "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. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God." – John 3:1-18 ESV

This account make things very clear. 

'You must be born again'... that happens when you believe in Jesus and enter into this new economy of rebirth.

If you live in a rehabilitation economy you will never be 'on the same page' as the God on the New Testament. Newness with growth produces peace and progress because we...

"Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus," – Philippians 2:5 NKJV

--

Humility Is Humiliating

"Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, 'Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.' " – Job 1:20-21 ESV

We quote this and it is a good thing to quote but it is also good to remember that this is just the first chapter of Job. Job has forty two chapters. Job was wealthy and living in a momentum of prosperity when he said this. This was just the beginning of his life unraveling. He isn't 'humble'... yet.

"Then Job answered the LORD and said: 'I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted. 'Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?' Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand, things too wonderful for me, which I did not know. 'Hear, and I will speak; I will question you, and you make it known to me.' I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes.' " – Job 42:1-6 ESV

This is Job after Job has 'died to his situation'. A thing you just can't do by choice alone. Circumstances are needed. Ones no one wants.

"Then He looked at them and said, "What then is this that is written: 'The stone which the builders rejected Has become the chief cornerstone'? 'Whoever falls on that stone will be broken; but on whomever it falls, it will grind him to powder.' " – Luke 20:17-18 NKJV

In years past i thought i was humble and maybe i was... in degrees. I look at God now more like Job in chapter forty two. As a morally bankrupt person in awe of His holiness and wisdom.

"He also had seven sons and three daughters. And he called the name of the first Jemimah, the name of the second Keziah, and the name of the third Keren-Happuch. In all the land were found no women [so] beautiful as the daughters of Job; and their father gave them an inheritance among their brothers. After this Job lived one hundred and forty years, and saw his children and grandchildren [for] four generations. So Job died, old and full of days." – Job 42:13-17 NKJV

Not a bad end.

--

The Refiners Fire

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen." - 1 Peter 5:6-11 ESV

After you have suffered awhile is just as much a promise as...

"Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, 'I will never leave you nor forsake you.' " - Hebrews 13:5 ESV

Money won't buy off the roaring lion. Boot camp tears boys down so they can be built up together as men. We see to need to have certain natural tendencies dismantled. It isn't fun but admire the people who have had God has restored, confirmed, strengthened, and established. Not because of some thing they did but because they have become God's works of art.

"Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you," - 1 Peter 5:6 ESV

"For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will deliver us again. You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many." - 2 Corinthians 1:8-11 ESV

Another promise filled passage... 'He will deliver us again'... Yes. He will. 

--