"And they came to Bethsaida. And some people brought to him a blind man and begged him to touch him.
And he took the blind man by the hand and led him out of the village, and when he had spit on his eyes and laid his hands on him, he asked him, 'Do you see anything?'
And he looked up and said, 'I see people, but they look like trees, walking.'
Then Jesus laid his hands on his eyes again; and he opened his eyes, his sight was restored, and he saw everything clearly." Mark 8:22-25 ESV
I was thinking today about the stages of seeing things when we are healed.
Compassion was around the blind man. He could perceive it but not see it. Then Grace touched him. Truth like light came pouring in. He saw men as trees. They had a productive shape. Trees give shade and fruit and construction materials to build things. You burn the wood to cook and heat yourself in the cold. As a blind man you lean on them and feel their shape. People were now like that. Things of structure and shape.
Grace asks us if we see. We truthfully say we see strangely. Eyes show us what people can do but that is not truly seeing the whole picture.
Then Christ kindly blinded him again with His hands. He blinded him for a moment to production and form. Grace went farther and verified that the first perspective was incomplete but a temporary return of darkness coupled with the warmth of intimacy would fix the problem. Jesus' touch must have been warm on his eyes this time. Before it was spittle and Christ hands on his person. Now Jesus touched his eyes directly. He was healing this man's mind so that he could use his eyes correctly.
God must blind us again to cure us from 'tree vision'. Seeing people by their shape and what they produce is not the full healing. Freedom temporarily makes us think we can perform something and that others should also. Being established in grace is having 'eyes that see' because they have been closed and opened again by Jesus' touch.
God blinded the Apostle Paul to open his eyes to grace. He crippled Jacob so that He could walk humbly with God.
God strengthens us and at first, we rely on that strength but that is only part of the story. God must reorient us to Himself. When we are fixed on Him that is where the real full healing lies. People are not just objects that do things. People have value because of who God has made them to be.
All the Glory belongs to God and we will see that if our perception is touched and healed by the God of all grace.
Showing posts with label Reproduction. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reproduction. Show all posts
Thursday, May 10, 2018
Friday, November 21, 2014
Two Types Of Division
Let's look at two forms of division that deal with the outside and inside concept.
Reproduction is division. Cells split and stay bonded together in order for there to be growth or healing. A sperm and an egg meet and suddenly there is a flurry of division and very complex structures form as healthy individual cells that compose a individual life that has qualities of both the mother and the father.
"Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for 'All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.' And this word is the good news that was preached to you." - 1 Peter 1:23-25 ESV
Grass grows and reproduces quickly but it is just grass making more grass that dies. When we believed there was a conception. Now the qualities of the word of God have been incorporated into our being. Our reborn self splits and multiplies but can not die. We have an eternal soul structure.
Churches multiply. Believers multiply. Life is reproduced but there is a duplication and division that still has connection and sameness.
Then there is division where there is separation. Parts are carved off by force or things that were one become separate. Reproduction can be painful because growth can cause strain but this separation is more like amputation.
Bringing the natural man into spiritual things causes this kind of division.
"A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends." - Proverbs 16:28 ESV
The whisper infects the emotions and connects with the wounded natural man and suddenly two people who were one have been separated. The air has made it's way into a space that had no air before. It is a tragic division.
" 'Be angry, and do not sin': do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil." - Ephesians 4:26-27 NKJV
If the accuser has a place he will use it like a wedge to divide. A lie is like a thorn that causes pain and creates conditions where infection can occur.
"But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves." - Malachi 4:2 NKJV
"Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 ESV
Growth is beautiful isn't it!
Divisions that add to complexity in a structure that is unified is amazing. The same flowers grow on many shores separated by bodies of water but they are there.
"And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." - Mark 16:15-16 ESV
"Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household." - Matthew 10:34-36 ESV
Divine reproduction does bring a certain kind of separating division. A great gulf is fixed that only faith in God's gracious character can bridge.
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28 ESV
God wants to divide us from our burdens. He wants to multiply grace so it surrounds us in our experience. He will at times prune off many things all at once so that in time we can grow and be focused on fruitful reproduction.
"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." - Hebrews 4:12 ESV
Oh God! Divide what must be divided and preserve that which never should be divided. Make us ministers of reconciliation and give us reproductive lives that spread your words like seed.
"Happy are you who sow beside all waters, who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free." - Isaiah 32:20 ESV
--
Reproduction is division. Cells split and stay bonded together in order for there to be growth or healing. A sperm and an egg meet and suddenly there is a flurry of division and very complex structures form as healthy individual cells that compose a individual life that has qualities of both the mother and the father.
"Since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God; for 'All flesh is like grass and all its glory like the flower of grass. The grass withers, and the flower falls, but the word of the Lord remains forever.' And this word is the good news that was preached to you." - 1 Peter 1:23-25 ESV
Grass grows and reproduces quickly but it is just grass making more grass that dies. When we believed there was a conception. Now the qualities of the word of God have been incorporated into our being. Our reborn self splits and multiplies but can not die. We have an eternal soul structure.
Churches multiply. Believers multiply. Life is reproduced but there is a duplication and division that still has connection and sameness.
Then there is division where there is separation. Parts are carved off by force or things that were one become separate. Reproduction can be painful because growth can cause strain but this separation is more like amputation.
Bringing the natural man into spiritual things causes this kind of division.
"A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends." - Proverbs 16:28 ESV
The whisper infects the emotions and connects with the wounded natural man and suddenly two people who were one have been separated. The air has made it's way into a space that had no air before. It is a tragic division.
" 'Be angry, and do not sin': do not let the sun go down on your wrath, nor give place to the devil." - Ephesians 4:26-27 NKJV
If the accuser has a place he will use it like a wedge to divide. A lie is like a thorn that causes pain and creates conditions where infection can occur.
"But to you who fear My name The Sun of Righteousness shall arise With healing in His wings; And you shall go out And grow fat like stall-fed calves." - Malachi 4:2 NKJV
"Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love." - Ephesians 4:15-16 ESV
Growth is beautiful isn't it!
Divisions that add to complexity in a structure that is unified is amazing. The same flowers grow on many shores separated by bodies of water but they are there.
"And he said to them, "Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned." - Mark 16:15-16 ESV
"Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a person's enemies will be those of his own household." - Matthew 10:34-36 ESV
Divine reproduction does bring a certain kind of separating division. A great gulf is fixed that only faith in God's gracious character can bridge.
"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." - Matthew 11:28 ESV
God wants to divide us from our burdens. He wants to multiply grace so it surrounds us in our experience. He will at times prune off many things all at once so that in time we can grow and be focused on fruitful reproduction.
"For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart." - Hebrews 4:12 ESV
Oh God! Divide what must be divided and preserve that which never should be divided. Make us ministers of reconciliation and give us reproductive lives that spread your words like seed.
"Happy are you who sow beside all waters, who let the feet of the ox and the donkey range free." - Isaiah 32:20 ESV
--
Friday, December 6, 2013
It Is Finished - Part 14
"And God said, 'Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth.' And it was so. ... And God said, 'Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds - livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.' And it was so." Genesis 1:11, 24 ESV
If 'like begets like' what does the finished work produce?
"From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 ESV
Why do we not regard Christ, a perfect person, after the flesh? I always thought this was an interesting idea. I think it is the same reason the Israelite's were not to make graven images of God. Any image would fall short of perfection. Jesus is not just the image he bore on the Earth. Men got glimpses of His glory before the cross. He dwells in that glory now. We are not to confine our imagination to the flesh. We see by faith with grace as our lens.
"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:29-31 ESV
One bit of a fruit brought ruin to the human race. Things have been decaying ever since. One bite of 'It is Finished' brings a newness that will continue to spread through a person. It will overtake creation and one day death will be swallowed up in victory. The last inch of desert will bloom.
"And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." Philippians 1:6 ESV
"Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator." Colossians 3:9-10 ESV
Natural plants and creatures replicate using seed or cells split imparting the nature to a new version of itself. God creatures using words. Words uncover reality. God's words create reality. His words are seeds and the light that every seed needs.
"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 ESV
People are so different from each other. Every one carries their own history and unique fingerprint. Grace produces the same kind of newness in each person without destroying their uniqueness.
We speak finished work words by faith. When we do it our mouth is in agreement with Heaven's decree. We bind and loose in a powerful reproductive way. Living in grace and love sets the stage for a glimpse of Christ that will transform.
If 'like begets like' what does the finished work produce?
"From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come." 2 Corinthians 5:16-17 ESV
Why do we not regard Christ, a perfect person, after the flesh? I always thought this was an interesting idea. I think it is the same reason the Israelite's were not to make graven images of God. Any image would fall short of perfection. Jesus is not just the image he bore on the Earth. Men got glimpses of His glory before the cross. He dwells in that glory now. We are not to confine our imagination to the flesh. We see by faith with grace as our lens.
"For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" Romans 8:29-31 ESV
One bit of a fruit brought ruin to the human race. Things have been decaying ever since. One bite of 'It is Finished' brings a newness that will continue to spread through a person. It will overtake creation and one day death will be swallowed up in victory. The last inch of desert will bloom.
"And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ." Philippians 1:6 ESV
"Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator." Colossians 3:9-10 ESV
Natural plants and creatures replicate using seed or cells split imparting the nature to a new version of itself. God creatures using words. Words uncover reality. God's words create reality. His words are seeds and the light that every seed needs.
"Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit." 2 Corinthians 3:17-18 ESV
People are so different from each other. Every one carries their own history and unique fingerprint. Grace produces the same kind of newness in each person without destroying their uniqueness.
We speak finished work words by faith. When we do it our mouth is in agreement with Heaven's decree. We bind and loose in a powerful reproductive way. Living in grace and love sets the stage for a glimpse of Christ that will transform.
Friday, October 4, 2013
Fruit with Seed
'And David lamented with this lamentation over Saul and Jonathan his son, and he said it should be taught to the people of Judah; behold, it is written in the Book of Jashar.
He said: 'Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen! Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult. You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you, nor fields of offerings! For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil. From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty. Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely! In life and in death they were not divided; they were swifter than eagles; they were stronger than lions. You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan lies slain on your high places. I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant have you been to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women. How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war perished!' " 2 Samuel 1:17-27 ESV
I've been reading several different portions today and they all minister to me in some way but this one just struck me and reverberated.
One of the concept we spoke about last night at coffee was reproduction. Something that has life reproduces that life. God made living things to be reproductive. This is true of a Church, of a person and of a message. The Gospel of Grace is a reproductive message. It is good seed.
"The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:12 ESV
David's epitaph for Saul and Jonathan is a beautiful one. It is full of grace, honor and finished work perspective. He honors friend and enemy equally. It is God's anointing on Saul that mattered not Saul's actions toward David.
It is this little phrase that especially interests me in verse eighteen '... he said it should be taught to the people of Judah ...' because David's seed was making more seed. He had it in his mind to teach honor, grace and finished work perspective.
God's life is a life that multiplies.
Any number multiplied by zero returns a zero. This is called the 'zero element' or the 'zero property of multiplication'. If we magnify ourselves life what will we get?
David was not magnifying himself. He lived a life that magnified God. David's thought life was fertile soil for God's multiplication. God anointed David and David, unlike Saul, responded to grace and David had life that multiplied.
We are going to make decision after decision as we move through life. Those decisions can function as spiritual birth control. They may purposely hinder reproduction to preserve our self life.
We all want to grow but growth and fruitfulness are linked. Why would God continue to grow something that is not fruitful?
God help us. Show us the difference between what is reproductive and what is not. Help us to make decisions that give room for multiplication. Today will be an extremely productive day if we walk it with you.
He said: 'Your glory, O Israel, is slain on your high places! How the mighty have fallen! Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised exult. You mountains of Gilboa, let there be no dew or rain upon you, nor fields of offerings! For there the shield of the mighty was defiled, the shield of Saul, not anointed with oil. From the blood of the slain, from the fat of the mighty, the bow of Jonathan turned not back, and the sword of Saul returned not empty. Saul and Jonathan, beloved and lovely! In life and in death they were not divided; they were swifter than eagles; they were stronger than lions. You daughters of Israel, weep over Saul, who clothed you luxuriously in scarlet, who put ornaments of gold on your apparel. How the mighty have fallen in the midst of the battle! Jonathan lies slain on your high places. I am distressed for you, my brother Jonathan; very pleasant have you been to me; your love to me was extraordinary, surpassing the love of women. How the mighty have fallen, and the weapons of war perished!' " 2 Samuel 1:17-27 ESV
I've been reading several different portions today and they all minister to me in some way but this one just struck me and reverberated.
One of the concept we spoke about last night at coffee was reproduction. Something that has life reproduces that life. God made living things to be reproductive. This is true of a Church, of a person and of a message. The Gospel of Grace is a reproductive message. It is good seed.
"The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind. And God saw that it was good." Genesis 1:12 ESV
David's epitaph for Saul and Jonathan is a beautiful one. It is full of grace, honor and finished work perspective. He honors friend and enemy equally. It is God's anointing on Saul that mattered not Saul's actions toward David.
It is this little phrase that especially interests me in verse eighteen '... he said it should be taught to the people of Judah ...' because David's seed was making more seed. He had it in his mind to teach honor, grace and finished work perspective.
God's life is a life that multiplies.
Any number multiplied by zero returns a zero. This is called the 'zero element' or the 'zero property of multiplication'. If we magnify ourselves life what will we get?
David was not magnifying himself. He lived a life that magnified God. David's thought life was fertile soil for God's multiplication. God anointed David and David, unlike Saul, responded to grace and David had life that multiplied.
We are going to make decision after decision as we move through life. Those decisions can function as spiritual birth control. They may purposely hinder reproduction to preserve our self life.
We all want to grow but growth and fruitfulness are linked. Why would God continue to grow something that is not fruitful?
God help us. Show us the difference between what is reproductive and what is not. Help us to make decisions that give room for multiplication. Today will be an extremely productive day if we walk it with you.
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