I'm finding in life that things don't always go the way that you would like. I mean, I realized this early on in my childhood, but it is becoming even more of a reality as I mature in my walk with God. I'm finally over my low self esteem issues, no longer struggle with depression and don't battle anxiety as often as I used to. My battle has now become the reality of no longer being in control. I have verbally submitted my will to God, said yes to His will and to His ways, but my heart has not fully accepted what comes along with this decision. Jesus told us to count the cost - that cost being our very life, including our will. I don't have a right anymore to do what I want to do - as much as I want to! I don't have a right to complain when things don't go my way. My only right is to do God's will. I've been thinking about Jesus' statement before He was betrayed when He said "I did nothing except my Father in heaven told me." I read this a few months ago and told God that before I die I want to say "I did nothing except my Father in heaven told me." I've already slipped up, but I want to reach a point in my life where this is the case. I know it is possible! However right now it "looks" impossible.
The writer of Hebrews said that Jesus learned obedience by the things that He suffered. Perhaps that is what God is doing with me. I'm experiencing so much right now, no one person knows the extent of every situation. God is certainly strengthening me and teaching me to be content and not complain - but it isn't easy!! What makes it difficult is when the people who you love don't supply the comfort, the encouragement or even the love that you desire! This has made things 100X more difficult for me - but again, God is strengthening me. I guess He is allowing this to happen so that I would find my comfort, encouragement and love in Him alone. Even David had to encourage himself when He was enduring trials, and I am learning how to encourage myself too.
Life can be tough. But who said it would be easy? Pain is not always bad. I want to be dead to myself and my will. I want to walk in the will of God 24/7!!
LORD, I cannot do it out of my own strength! I need the power of Your Spirit!! You know what is best for me, and I know that my choices outside of Your will are only going to be detrimental! Give me wisdom and understanding so that I might glorify You! Help me to accept Your will, to walk in Your will, to exalt Your will!
I need a personal revival of my soul. It is time to lose control.
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Ministry Mess - Part I: Traditions of Man
Every person follows a tradition, whether it be the customs of one's culture, habits passed down from one's familial line, or learned behaviors adapted from one's environment. They are what make us unique as humans, and can result in wonderful expressions of our beliefs. Traditions often change as beliefs evolve and people grow. In essence, there is nothing wrong with carrying tradition - for we all do it! The problem arises when we mix the traditions of man with the word of God.
In this age of "non-tradition", the very overzealousness that saints have to reject the traditions of our forefathers in the faith have created a vast number of new traditions of men which have infiltrated the church. This happens for a few reasons: ignorance of the Word; absence of the leading of the Holy Spirit; and pride.
The error in this thinking is that tradition is wrong. As Christian's we have a tradition!! The problem we face is that we must follow the correct tradition:
Our tradition is to carry out the work of ministry that was laid out before us, Christ being the chief cornerstone, the Apostles laying the foundation, and us building upon that foundation. Our tradition is not in what we wear, how we speak, or the way in which we conduct worship. Our tradition is to uphold the Word of God and preach the Truth of the Gospel to people of every kindred, nation and tongue. This is how we build upon the foundation laid before us, following our forefathers as they followed Christ (and not as they followed man).
Be careful not to fall into the traditions of men - the body of Christ is full of them, in fact many denominations are founded upon them. Discard any tradition that causes you to forsake the greatest two commandments: 1. love the LORD thy God with all your heart, soul and mind; 2. love your neighbor as yourself.
The church has allowed so many things to infiltrate and affect the very word of God from being preached rightly. We have tainted the Apostle's Doctrine with our traditions of men, and the Word of God has become of none affect - the power of the cross has been lost. Don't act as the Pharisee's did. It is possible you might not even realize you are caught up in traditions of men. Let us stop focusing so much on vain traditions and instead allow the love of Christ to flow through us as we build upon the foundation laid before us - the Word of God being our guide.
"...the Pharisees and the scribes asked him (Jesus), “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.”
And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban”’ (that is, given to God) — then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”— Mark 7:5-13
In the above passage Jesus was rebuking the Pharisees, who were influential religious leaders in the Jewish world. Jesus pointed out their error in elevating their traditions above the Word of God. In doing so, they made the Word of God void by developing new doctrines and passing them off as God's commandments. He gave the example of the 5th commandment to honor thy mother and father. The Pharisees set up traditions that superseded this commandment and made it possible for Jews to lawfully forsake their parents.
In this age of "non-tradition", the very overzealousness that saints have to reject the traditions of our forefathers in the faith have created a vast number of new traditions of men which have infiltrated the church. This happens for a few reasons: ignorance of the Word; absence of the leading of the Holy Spirit; and pride.
The error in this thinking is that tradition is wrong. As Christian's we have a tradition!! The problem we face is that we must follow the correct tradition:
"And they (the believers) continued stedfastly in the apostles' doctrine and fellowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers. And fear came upon every soul: and many wonders and signs were done by the apostles. And all that believed were together, and had all things common. And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need. And they, continuing daily with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread from house to house, did eat their meat with gladness and singleness of heart, Praising God, and having favour with all the people. And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." - Acts 2:42-47
Our tradition is to carry out the work of ministry that was laid out before us, Christ being the chief cornerstone, the Apostles laying the foundation, and us building upon that foundation. Our tradition is not in what we wear, how we speak, or the way in which we conduct worship. Our tradition is to uphold the Word of God and preach the Truth of the Gospel to people of every kindred, nation and tongue. This is how we build upon the foundation laid before us, following our forefathers as they followed Christ (and not as they followed man).
So then, brothers, stand firm and hold to the traditions that you were taught by us, either by our spoken word or by our letter (Those traditions being the Apostles' Doctrine) - 2 Thessalonians 2:15 (Paul speaking to the church at Thessalonica)
Be careful not to fall into the traditions of men - the body of Christ is full of them, in fact many denominations are founded upon them. Discard any tradition that causes you to forsake the greatest two commandments: 1. love the LORD thy God with all your heart, soul and mind; 2. love your neighbor as yourself.
The church has allowed so many things to infiltrate and affect the very word of God from being preached rightly. We have tainted the Apostle's Doctrine with our traditions of men, and the Word of God has become of none affect - the power of the cross has been lost. Don't act as the Pharisee's did. It is possible you might not even realize you are caught up in traditions of men. Let us stop focusing so much on vain traditions and instead allow the love of Christ to flow through us as we build upon the foundation laid before us - the Word of God being our guide.
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Intimacy
God has created us as relational beings. Because of this, we have an inner longing to be intimate - to feel the touch of another; to share our innermost secrets, issues and desires; to be completely naked and transparent before another without fear of being hurt; to bear our all and in doing so feel comforted and protected. It is almost as if without intimacy there is no sense of satisfaction in life because that inner longing has not been met.
Deception has crept into mankind through sin and has corrupted these desires. The longing for intimacy still exists, but rather than satisfaction, comfort and protection - the end result has become discontentment, pain and regret. Love is the key ingredient in being intimate and satisfying these desires, yet the enemy has cunningly disguised lust as love, and many fall victim to his schemes, perverting the gifts of God.
Intimacy was originally created to be between God and man, what I call "vertical intimacy". I was meditating on 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 this morning and God began to reveal His desire and His call for us to be intimate with Him through His Son Jesus Christ.
Verse 9 reads: "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." I looked up the word fellowship in Strong's concordance and found that the word "koinōnia" can be defined as: communing intimately; having intercourse; to connect. Looking again at verse 9, we can clearly see that God has called us to intimately know His Son. This "vertical" intimacy is why God created us. It is the reason why God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins - so that we could be clothed in His righteousness and be made holy as He is holy. This sanctification (cleansing of our sins) allows us the ability to enter into the presence of a Holy God and begin to intimately "know" Him. God saved us for Himself. He wants to reveal His hidden treasures, His hidden mysteries, He wants to share His joy and bring us pure pleasure in His embrace.
This is why God instituted marriage, to give us a type and shadow of how He wants our relationship to be with Jesus as our husband, us being His wife. The LORD desires that in marriages between a man and a woman, the two become one, grow together in pure intimacy, and experience joy together in fellowship by truly getting to know each other. I call this type of intimacy "horizontal intimacy".
It is only in these two covenants that true intimacy can exist. However, if we are not careful it is possible to allow perversion to enter into even these two holy relationships. Some of us may have fallen victim to the enemy's illusion of experiencing intimacy outside of the covenants set up by God. In doing so, we have perverted our minds and may very well bring something into a relationship that has nothing to do with God. Sometimes soul ties exist, which are emotional ties that develop through relational contact with another person. This happens not only through sexual intercourse, but also occurs when you become so close to someone that they become tied into your soul - you begin to think about them (mind), desire to be around them (will), and/or are affected by them emotionally. It is possible to have a soul tie and not even realize it. Sometimes people suppress them rather than ask God to remove them. This not only affects your intimacy with Jesus, but will also affect your intimacy with your spouse in the event that you are or one day do marry. Soul ties create hurt and can cause people to put up barricades and hold back from being completely open. Their main assignment is to stop true intimacy and unity and instead bring dissention and division. Whether you are aware of a soul tie or not, I adjure you to first examine your relationship with God. Are you experiencing pure intimacy with Him? If not, ask Him to cleanse you, to remove every soul tie that is coming in between you and Him. And He will cleanse you!
If you are married, be open with your spouse! Sometimes details of your past are better left unsaid - you don't want to create unnecessary warfare on either ones behalf. But if there are any issues with you, or if you notice any issues with your spouse, bring them before the LORD and deal with them so that you can experience the pure intimacy that God desires. God wants us free from ALL soul ties so that we can freely get to know Him and our spouse.
If you are not married, now is the time to sanctify yourself and deal with these issues! In the event you do get married one day, you do not want to bring any mess into the relationship. You don't want to bring anything unholy into the bedroom. The marriage bed itself is undefiled, but we can defile it by bringing in our past, our lusts, our perversions, our comparisons, our expectations, our soul ties. Allow God to shower you with His anointing, to remove every burden and destroy every yolk. To sanctify you by the washing of His Word.
Let us all strive to be more intimate with our husband Jesus Christ. Start today. Ask Him to remove every hindrance and be completely open - stand bare and transparent before Him. Our husband is a perfect gentleman, who will never take advantage of us, never hurt us, and will love us unconditionally, even when we don't love Him back.
Feb 18, 2008: I just came across a website link that I thought was very interesting pertaining to this very blog entry: http://www.pureintimacy.org
Deception has crept into mankind through sin and has corrupted these desires. The longing for intimacy still exists, but rather than satisfaction, comfort and protection - the end result has become discontentment, pain and regret. Love is the key ingredient in being intimate and satisfying these desires, yet the enemy has cunningly disguised lust as love, and many fall victim to his schemes, perverting the gifts of God.
Intimacy was originally created to be between God and man, what I call "vertical intimacy". I was meditating on 1 Corinthians 1:4-9 this morning and God began to reveal His desire and His call for us to be intimate with Him through His Son Jesus Christ.
Verse 9 reads: "God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord." I looked up the word fellowship in Strong's concordance and found that the word "koinōnia" can be defined as: communing intimately; having intercourse; to connect. Looking again at verse 9, we can clearly see that God has called us to intimately know His Son. This "vertical" intimacy is why God created us. It is the reason why God sent His Son Jesus Christ to die for our sins - so that we could be clothed in His righteousness and be made holy as He is holy. This sanctification (cleansing of our sins) allows us the ability to enter into the presence of a Holy God and begin to intimately "know" Him. God saved us for Himself. He wants to reveal His hidden treasures, His hidden mysteries, He wants to share His joy and bring us pure pleasure in His embrace.
This is why God instituted marriage, to give us a type and shadow of how He wants our relationship to be with Jesus as our husband, us being His wife. The LORD desires that in marriages between a man and a woman, the two become one, grow together in pure intimacy, and experience joy together in fellowship by truly getting to know each other. I call this type of intimacy "horizontal intimacy".
It is only in these two covenants that true intimacy can exist. However, if we are not careful it is possible to allow perversion to enter into even these two holy relationships. Some of us may have fallen victim to the enemy's illusion of experiencing intimacy outside of the covenants set up by God. In doing so, we have perverted our minds and may very well bring something into a relationship that has nothing to do with God. Sometimes soul ties exist, which are emotional ties that develop through relational contact with another person. This happens not only through sexual intercourse, but also occurs when you become so close to someone that they become tied into your soul - you begin to think about them (mind), desire to be around them (will), and/or are affected by them emotionally. It is possible to have a soul tie and not even realize it. Sometimes people suppress them rather than ask God to remove them. This not only affects your intimacy with Jesus, but will also affect your intimacy with your spouse in the event that you are or one day do marry. Soul ties create hurt and can cause people to put up barricades and hold back from being completely open. Their main assignment is to stop true intimacy and unity and instead bring dissention and division. Whether you are aware of a soul tie or not, I adjure you to first examine your relationship with God. Are you experiencing pure intimacy with Him? If not, ask Him to cleanse you, to remove every soul tie that is coming in between you and Him. And He will cleanse you!
"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." - 1 John 1:19
If you are married, be open with your spouse! Sometimes details of your past are better left unsaid - you don't want to create unnecessary warfare on either ones behalf. But if there are any issues with you, or if you notice any issues with your spouse, bring them before the LORD and deal with them so that you can experience the pure intimacy that God desires. God wants us free from ALL soul ties so that we can freely get to know Him and our spouse.
If you are not married, now is the time to sanctify yourself and deal with these issues! In the event you do get married one day, you do not want to bring any mess into the relationship. You don't want to bring anything unholy into the bedroom. The marriage bed itself is undefiled, but we can defile it by bringing in our past, our lusts, our perversions, our comparisons, our expectations, our soul ties. Allow God to shower you with His anointing, to remove every burden and destroy every yolk. To sanctify you by the washing of His Word.
Let us all strive to be more intimate with our husband Jesus Christ. Start today. Ask Him to remove every hindrance and be completely open - stand bare and transparent before Him. Our husband is a perfect gentleman, who will never take advantage of us, never hurt us, and will love us unconditionally, even when we don't love Him back.
Feb 18, 2008: I just came across a website link that I thought was very interesting pertaining to this very blog entry: http://www.pureintimacy.org
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)