Too many of us in the Church stand in the shame of our past. It is true that we have much to be ashamed of considering what we have done against our God and the people he loves. But these things that are producing shame in us are things already dealt with, things long forgiven, things that no longer have any claim on us. When we bear shame we are not trusting the promises of Jesus. We have been promised that Jesus has removed our sin from us as far as the east is from the west. We no longer bear the guilt of the things for which we have repented because Jesus bore the blame in our place. It is done. It is finished.
Yet, we remain paralyzed by our shame. We fail to step into Father's plan and will, our destiny, because of our shame.
Along with us not trusting the promise is the enemy's attempted to keep us down. He will use every opportunity to remind us of our past. Although Father has forgiven and forgotten, the enemy will use people with long memories to keep us in our place. Regardless, it is still our fault for not facing the enemy in faith that the promises are true and are applied to us. Regardless of the accusations, name calling and denial of people who have known us, we should know who we are in Jesus and stand in that reality.
I believe some of us need to seek renewal. Actually, I am positive that much of the Church needs to seek renewal so that the authority of Jesus can be renewed in us and in the entire Body. Shame is like the threat of some disease that we do not have but the effects are as if we do. It is causing a dysfunction and the Body looks diseased. We all need to seek the Lord's face with all our heart, throwing off this cloud of shame as the authority and healing of Jesus rushes in. Yes, indeed, we need a massive healing in the Body.
King Asa did that in Judah. He heard from the Lord:
The Lord is with you while you are with Him. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will forsake you. (2 Chronicles 15:2)
He went on to promise Asa great peace if Asa walked with him. The king then performed a great house cleaning in the land and they renewed their covenant that brought in freedom and great joy. But consider their steps:
So they gathered together at Jerusalem in the third month, in the fifteenth year of the reign of Asa. And they offered to the Lord at that time seven hundred bulls and seven thousand sheep from the spoil they had brought. (vv. 10-11)
They renewed their worship, their relationship. They came with great sacrifices in honour of their God.
Then they entered into a covenant to seek the Lord God of their fathers with all their heart and with all their soul; and whoever would not seek the Lord God of Israel was to be put to death, whether small or great, whether man or woman. (vv. 12-13)
They agreed together to seek Yahweh with all their heart and with all their soul. It was a serious covenant between each other. This wasn't some "if I can fit it in" agreement but all consuming, first priority, life or death seeking.
Then they took an oath before the Lord with a loud voice, with shouting and trumpets and rams’ horns. (v. 14)
The oath would have been like a pledge of allegiance, putting themselves under him, under his authority, with a desire to obey him. It wasn't a somber affair but a celebration with loud voices, shouting, trumpets and rams' horns. They wanted everyone, everywhere to hear this oath. They were willing to be accountable to it. I would have liked to hear the words but the words don't matter as much as the motivation of the heart.
And the response of Yahweh?
And all Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn with all their heart and sought Him with all their soul; and He was found by them, and the Lord gave them rest all around. (v. 15)
As promised, they found him and he was pleased with them and he gave them ... peace!
We need this same renewal where we renew our worship / relationship. We need to make this great covenant to seek his face together with all our heart and soul. Why together? Because we are the Body. We are in this together. We are dependent on each other. We need each other to be strong in the Lord. Then we need to make that oath of allegiance. Not quietly but loudly, so that everyone can see and hear and we will be accountable for it. And, as we renew our love with Jesus, the promises will be renewed in us and we will walk in the assurance of shamelessness and the peace he has promised us.
This shame thing is not Jesus' problem. He promised us peace that no one can take from us. He promised this because he was taking away the peace destroyers, the guilt and shame of our sins. No one else needs to recognize this in order for us to walk in this peace; people can remind us all they want. All that matters is that the relationship we have with the Peace Giver is strong and growing. Renewal brings healing and right now healing is the greatest need in the Body. Let us do this thing together so we can be the people of Yahweh that he needs us to be, that the world needs us to be, in this darkening age in which we live.
Showing posts with label Renewal. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Renewal. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 25, 2014
Monday, September 2, 2013
Facing A Crisis Of Faith
It is a very natural process for a pastor to evaluate where he is in ministry. It is not a doubting of God, his will, his love, mercy or grace, but more a pondering and examination as to our place in that will. The past few months have been this process for me and it hasn't always been comfortable.
This past weekend was the crisis point for me, where I laid it all before the Lord and asked for a revealing of the truth. I wanted to know if I was the man for this task or if there was something else I was suppose to be doing. It is a very vulnerable moment where you hope that God doesn't leave you hanging for too long. I was facing two problems.
The first problem was that things have not been very successful. I have faced a lot of failures in the last seven years but I am a great believer in the "if you obey me I will bless the work of your hands" promise. Was I not obeying? And which of my many acts of disobedience had I not dealt with God?
The second problem was that there were no open doors. There is only one time that the Lord had me move out of one ministry without having something else prepared for me. That one time was when he brought me into a time of great rest and study. But I knew at the time that this is what he was doing and there was no discomfort in it. So, here I am evaluating, knowing that there were no open doors which meant I was to stay put, but my failures made me uncomfortable and I wanted to move away from them.
Sunday morning I spoke to my wife and told her that I was going to speak to our apostle. We prayed together before I set off to prepare for our worship gathering. My wife began to pray without ceasing for us and the ministry.
That morning I put out a few things before the Lord and was very specific in my desperation to have confirmation. I told him I really needed someone to speak into my life. I needed confirmation from someone who knew nothing of my self-examination and desperate struggle. I needed to hear from the Spirit so I could re-gain my confidence in my place in God's will.
As worship started that day I knew there was something different but specific to me. Quickly the Spirit began to work on me. As the enemy brought accusation of my failures the Spirit dealt with each as presented. There was pure honesty as the Spirit showed how and why I failed. In each case it was because I willingly gave up territory, did not press on, did not stand my ground, did not stand in faith. The Lord had not failed me but I had failed the Lord. The honesty of the Spirit was brutal as he did not pull any punches, but along with each incident remembered was the assurance of forgiveness. It was like he said, "Forgiven. Now forget it".
Then he simply stated, "Now what?" I was confused. That was my question to him and he was asking me? I understood though, in that moment of honesty: What decision was I going to make? Stand the ground that was given to me and be victorious in the Lord or quit like I had done in the past and lose more territory? But it was not only in the quitting, it was also the inches I would allow the enemy to gain on me. The little here and the little there. I had to draw a line and say to the enemy, "You shall not pass". The Lord had defined the ground he had given me and I was not to give up a single inch.
I knew in that moment that I had been faith out of one side of my mouth but confessing the wisdom of this world out of the other. My decisions could not be based on what others valued but must be based in faith in the Lord's values and promises. In that moment I knew my decision, which would be tested in the next few minutes.
The Word was preached by our Apostle
He spoke directly into my life, just as I had requested. But instead of thanking the Lord my first thought was that my loving wife, out of great concern for me, had told our apostle what I was facing. She had nullified my prayer, or so I thought. I was not pleased. Regardless, it was a powerful word that broke walls and brought encouragement with the challenge not to give up but to go the distance. It was about discipline and training from the Lord through the trials we face. It was exactly what my heart needed to receive and which confirmed what the Spirit had done for me in worship. I had to stand my ground in blind faith in every aspect of my life.
After the meeting and prayers of affirmation that had been prayed over me; after anointed moments of praying over members of the church, I told my wife she had ruined my request of the Lord. She was totally confused. I told her of my prayer and my suspicion of what she had done in love. She smiled as she assured me that she had not told anyone of my struggle or of our conversation. To my shame I had chosen to believe that my wife had interfered instead of trusting that the Lord had actually responded; and wow did he respond.
So at the end of the day my problems were resolved. My failures were my own, failures of faith, but they had been dealt with. Now I must forget them so they do not interfere with the present nor the future. The second problem was also resolved. There were no open doors because I am exactly where Jesus wants me to be, only I need to be more. Wait, that didn't sound right. I need to be empowered through faith to be more of what he has called me to be. Words of life were spoken into me by the Spirit as the Spirit called the seeds planted in me to come forward. No losing ground; in fact, an increase to my spiritual territory.
I share this with you for one reason: we all face moments of doubts and indecision. The one thing you should not do is rely on the wisdom of man's ways. We know the mind of God because we have the Spirit. Rely on the Spirit who speaks to us with God's Word. Ask. Seek. Knock. It is amazing how the Lord responds to those who honestly seek him. Nothing in my situation has changed but I have been changed in my situation. The line has been drawn and I have stated to the enemy, "You shall not pass". And he shall not, in Jesus' authority.
This past weekend was the crisis point for me, where I laid it all before the Lord and asked for a revealing of the truth. I wanted to know if I was the man for this task or if there was something else I was suppose to be doing. It is a very vulnerable moment where you hope that God doesn't leave you hanging for too long. I was facing two problems.
The first problem was that things have not been very successful. I have faced a lot of failures in the last seven years but I am a great believer in the "if you obey me I will bless the work of your hands" promise. Was I not obeying? And which of my many acts of disobedience had I not dealt with God?
The second problem was that there were no open doors. There is only one time that the Lord had me move out of one ministry without having something else prepared for me. That one time was when he brought me into a time of great rest and study. But I knew at the time that this is what he was doing and there was no discomfort in it. So, here I am evaluating, knowing that there were no open doors which meant I was to stay put, but my failures made me uncomfortable and I wanted to move away from them.
Sunday morning I spoke to my wife and told her that I was going to speak to our apostle. We prayed together before I set off to prepare for our worship gathering. My wife began to pray without ceasing for us and the ministry.
That morning I put out a few things before the Lord and was very specific in my desperation to have confirmation. I told him I really needed someone to speak into my life. I needed confirmation from someone who knew nothing of my self-examination and desperate struggle. I needed to hear from the Spirit so I could re-gain my confidence in my place in God's will.
As worship started that day I knew there was something different but specific to me. Quickly the Spirit began to work on me. As the enemy brought accusation of my failures the Spirit dealt with each as presented. There was pure honesty as the Spirit showed how and why I failed. In each case it was because I willingly gave up territory, did not press on, did not stand my ground, did not stand in faith. The Lord had not failed me but I had failed the Lord. The honesty of the Spirit was brutal as he did not pull any punches, but along with each incident remembered was the assurance of forgiveness. It was like he said, "Forgiven. Now forget it".
Then he simply stated, "Now what?" I was confused. That was my question to him and he was asking me? I understood though, in that moment of honesty: What decision was I going to make? Stand the ground that was given to me and be victorious in the Lord or quit like I had done in the past and lose more territory? But it was not only in the quitting, it was also the inches I would allow the enemy to gain on me. The little here and the little there. I had to draw a line and say to the enemy, "You shall not pass". The Lord had defined the ground he had given me and I was not to give up a single inch.
I knew in that moment that I had been faith out of one side of my mouth but confessing the wisdom of this world out of the other. My decisions could not be based on what others valued but must be based in faith in the Lord's values and promises. In that moment I knew my decision, which would be tested in the next few minutes.
The Word was preached by our Apostle
He spoke directly into my life, just as I had requested. But instead of thanking the Lord my first thought was that my loving wife, out of great concern for me, had told our apostle what I was facing. She had nullified my prayer, or so I thought. I was not pleased. Regardless, it was a powerful word that broke walls and brought encouragement with the challenge not to give up but to go the distance. It was about discipline and training from the Lord through the trials we face. It was exactly what my heart needed to receive and which confirmed what the Spirit had done for me in worship. I had to stand my ground in blind faith in every aspect of my life.
After the meeting and prayers of affirmation that had been prayed over me; after anointed moments of praying over members of the church, I told my wife she had ruined my request of the Lord. She was totally confused. I told her of my prayer and my suspicion of what she had done in love. She smiled as she assured me that she had not told anyone of my struggle or of our conversation. To my shame I had chosen to believe that my wife had interfered instead of trusting that the Lord had actually responded; and wow did he respond.
So at the end of the day my problems were resolved. My failures were my own, failures of faith, but they had been dealt with. Now I must forget them so they do not interfere with the present nor the future. The second problem was also resolved. There were no open doors because I am exactly where Jesus wants me to be, only I need to be more. Wait, that didn't sound right. I need to be empowered through faith to be more of what he has called me to be. Words of life were spoken into me by the Spirit as the Spirit called the seeds planted in me to come forward. No losing ground; in fact, an increase to my spiritual territory.
I share this with you for one reason: we all face moments of doubts and indecision. The one thing you should not do is rely on the wisdom of man's ways. We know the mind of God because we have the Spirit. Rely on the Spirit who speaks to us with God's Word. Ask. Seek. Knock. It is amazing how the Lord responds to those who honestly seek him. Nothing in my situation has changed but I have been changed in my situation. The line has been drawn and I have stated to the enemy, "You shall not pass". And he shall not, in Jesus' authority.
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
It's A Daily Walk, Not A Weakly
How quickly does the refreshing of a Sunday wear off for you? How quickly do you feel the dullness invading, causing your keen insights and revelation to slip away? How quickly does discouragement and doubt come knocking? How quickly do you lose your sensitivity to the Spirit? It's not suppose to be like this.
Maybe you didn't realize? Maybe you thought this was just normal; how it worked? It's not.
We don't belong here.
There is a condition in this world that has twisted our basic nature so that the world is in constant rebellion against its creator. We did that. We introduced this rebellion and made everything dull, cold and ugly. But our Creator loved us too much to leave us like that, even though it was our decision.
So he punched a whole in this thing to allow us to escape and enter into vibrant, colourful life again,where he lives in us and we in him. He did this through Jesus who had to sacrifice everything so we could gain everything. But there was more to God's plan.
He couldn't bring us home yet because we are part of his plan to bring the good news of what he has done to the four corners of this planet. So because we had to stay in this dull, dying, rebellious place, he filled us with himself; his power; the Spirit of God, to keep us fresh, alive, colourful, and equipped to do his will. But we have to participate.
The moment we take our focus off of Jesus the dullness of this rebellious place crowds in. We have no power of our own to drive it away but we are filled by the power of Jesus through the Spirit of God. So we must stay focused. We can`t become distracted. We can`t allow the dullness to prevail. We must overcome every day.
Jesus had to as well.
He did not walk this planet as God. Although he is fully God and fully man, he set his divinity aside to fulfill his mission. His power came via the Holy Spirit who took from the Father and gave to the Son. Did you not notice that Jesus started off his day in solitary prayer and he ended the day in the like manner. Jesus, who is God, had to walk this spiritually dull and rebellious planet as us and it must have drained him as it drains us. He needed refreshing every day. Every single day he looked for his spirit to be renewed in the presence of his Father.
What about us?
Do we think we are better than Jesus, that we can go from Sunday to Sunday without refreshing, without renewal, without sweet communion with our God? I pray all day long about everything and everyone, but it isn't the same as coming aside from this dull world and sitting in the presence of my Father. Of course it is my desire to be aware of his presence 24 hours a day, but I am not there yet. I am like Jesus; I long to be renewed each day, to have the dullness of the rebellion washed away and to be re-energized in worship. Every day.
That is the cure to your spiritual dullness; worship. Seek our Father's face. Desire to be in his embrace. Listen to his voice. Listen for instruction. Search the Word. Study. Dig deep. Dance in his presence. Present yourself to him and allow him to do what needs to be done. To repair the brokenness. To remove the hurt. To restore your energy. To be reminded of his grace, his strength and his purpose for you.
Don't wait until Sunday. It is a daily walk that requires daily refreshing. Be renewed today.
Maybe you didn't realize? Maybe you thought this was just normal; how it worked? It's not.
We don't belong here.
There is a condition in this world that has twisted our basic nature so that the world is in constant rebellion against its creator. We did that. We introduced this rebellion and made everything dull, cold and ugly. But our Creator loved us too much to leave us like that, even though it was our decision.
So he punched a whole in this thing to allow us to escape and enter into vibrant, colourful life again,where he lives in us and we in him. He did this through Jesus who had to sacrifice everything so we could gain everything. But there was more to God's plan.
He couldn't bring us home yet because we are part of his plan to bring the good news of what he has done to the four corners of this planet. So because we had to stay in this dull, dying, rebellious place, he filled us with himself; his power; the Spirit of God, to keep us fresh, alive, colourful, and equipped to do his will. But we have to participate.
The moment we take our focus off of Jesus the dullness of this rebellious place crowds in. We have no power of our own to drive it away but we are filled by the power of Jesus through the Spirit of God. So we must stay focused. We can`t become distracted. We can`t allow the dullness to prevail. We must overcome every day.
Jesus had to as well.
He did not walk this planet as God. Although he is fully God and fully man, he set his divinity aside to fulfill his mission. His power came via the Holy Spirit who took from the Father and gave to the Son. Did you not notice that Jesus started off his day in solitary prayer and he ended the day in the like manner. Jesus, who is God, had to walk this spiritually dull and rebellious planet as us and it must have drained him as it drains us. He needed refreshing every day. Every single day he looked for his spirit to be renewed in the presence of his Father.
What about us?
Do we think we are better than Jesus, that we can go from Sunday to Sunday without refreshing, without renewal, without sweet communion with our God? I pray all day long about everything and everyone, but it isn't the same as coming aside from this dull world and sitting in the presence of my Father. Of course it is my desire to be aware of his presence 24 hours a day, but I am not there yet. I am like Jesus; I long to be renewed each day, to have the dullness of the rebellion washed away and to be re-energized in worship. Every day.
That is the cure to your spiritual dullness; worship. Seek our Father's face. Desire to be in his embrace. Listen to his voice. Listen for instruction. Search the Word. Study. Dig deep. Dance in his presence. Present yourself to him and allow him to do what needs to be done. To repair the brokenness. To remove the hurt. To restore your energy. To be reminded of his grace, his strength and his purpose for you.
Don't wait until Sunday. It is a daily walk that requires daily refreshing. Be renewed today.
Monday, August 12, 2013
The Rumblings Of Renewed Purpose
We say that we are followers of Jesus Christ but I challenge that assumption. I believe we are very religious but few of us act as followers. To be religious is not such a stuffy stoic thing. The current message of the Church, that God is love, is producing a great deal of religious hearts. Although it is true that God is love, without repentance we cannot reap the benefits of that love. So we set up a false sense of security based on the assumption that in the end, despite everything else God has warned us about, his love wins out. But his love only wins out when a heart is humbled by that love, corrected by that love, redeemed by that love and changed by that love.
The reason that we are religious and not followers is because we follow a system instead of following Jesus. Does this describe you?
“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. (John 4:34)
Who's will is most important to you? No quick answers here. Examine your day and your process of decision making. Is there any consultation with our Father? Do we consider his instructions? His direction? Do we sense we are in step with the Spirit? Or are we just doing our best; what we think we should do?
What is the Father's will? That everyone would be saved.
What is your role in this will? To make disciples.
Worship should be like breathing to us, a natural and important part of our day, but it isn't your purpose. It is like saying breathing is my reason for being. It's not. It's what keeps me alive so that I can do other things. If we only focus on worship we are missing our purpose. Jesus told his disciples and thus us:
Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” (vv. 35-38)
We have been sent out as reapers into a world that is ripe for harvest but we are too busy building a farm house for ourselves. We are in a hostile land, in the middle of spiritual battles and we set our armour aside to look after our own needs. This despite the fact that Jesus told us to trust the Father to do that while we seek after the Kingdom things.
Could it be that the many messages that are coming out from the Church that get us to focus on ourselves instead of the harvest, are clouding our understanding? Could it be that we have allowed the enemy of our soul to convince us that the system of this world is like God's system? Can I tell you that there is no early retirement in the Kingdom, no "freedom 55", no setting aside, no taking it easy, no "me time"?
Jesus told his disciples that his "food" was doing the will of his Father. This is the one we claim to follow. Jesus also taught that no student can be better than his teacher. Have we lost sight of the fact that Jesus spent three years showing us how it is done; how it is that we are to live by the Spirit; how to live the Father's will? We are great at building communities of like-minded people but not so great at living a Spirit-filled life bent on the will of the Father.
I am sure if I studied our history long enough I would discover how we got to this point, how we got it so wrong, but I am not sure that matters as much as recognizing that we are at this point. We need more than revival in our land; we need a deep renewal of relationship and purpose. We need fresh wind and fresh fire as the Spirit sweeps through the heart of God's children again. We need to hear the shout of the Father to his children, calling us back to him, back to what is important, back to his will.
Before you conclude that this does not apply to you, ask yourself how you have walked like Jesus this week? Have you put the Father's will above everything else in your life?
The reason that we are religious and not followers is because we follow a system instead of following Jesus. Does this describe you?
“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work. (John 4:34)
Who's will is most important to you? No quick answers here. Examine your day and your process of decision making. Is there any consultation with our Father? Do we consider his instructions? His direction? Do we sense we are in step with the Spirit? Or are we just doing our best; what we think we should do?
What is the Father's will? That everyone would be saved.
What is your role in this will? To make disciples.
Worship should be like breathing to us, a natural and important part of our day, but it isn't your purpose. It is like saying breathing is my reason for being. It's not. It's what keeps me alive so that I can do other things. If we only focus on worship we are missing our purpose. Jesus told his disciples and thus us:
Don’t you have a saying, ‘It’s still four months until harvest’? I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest. Even now the one who reaps draws a wage and harvests a crop for eternal life, so that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. Thus the saying ‘One sows and another reaps’ is true. I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” (vv. 35-38)
We have been sent out as reapers into a world that is ripe for harvest but we are too busy building a farm house for ourselves. We are in a hostile land, in the middle of spiritual battles and we set our armour aside to look after our own needs. This despite the fact that Jesus told us to trust the Father to do that while we seek after the Kingdom things.
Could it be that the many messages that are coming out from the Church that get us to focus on ourselves instead of the harvest, are clouding our understanding? Could it be that we have allowed the enemy of our soul to convince us that the system of this world is like God's system? Can I tell you that there is no early retirement in the Kingdom, no "freedom 55", no setting aside, no taking it easy, no "me time"?
Jesus told his disciples that his "food" was doing the will of his Father. This is the one we claim to follow. Jesus also taught that no student can be better than his teacher. Have we lost sight of the fact that Jesus spent three years showing us how it is done; how it is that we are to live by the Spirit; how to live the Father's will? We are great at building communities of like-minded people but not so great at living a Spirit-filled life bent on the will of the Father.
I am sure if I studied our history long enough I would discover how we got to this point, how we got it so wrong, but I am not sure that matters as much as recognizing that we are at this point. We need more than revival in our land; we need a deep renewal of relationship and purpose. We need fresh wind and fresh fire as the Spirit sweeps through the heart of God's children again. We need to hear the shout of the Father to his children, calling us back to him, back to what is important, back to his will.
Before you conclude that this does not apply to you, ask yourself how you have walked like Jesus this week? Have you put the Father's will above everything else in your life?
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