“……We know that “We all possess knowledge.” But knowledge puffs up while love builds up.” 1 Corinthians 8:1
When I was in college one of my professors told me, “Because you chose to get an education you are now more aware of the problems in society. You are no longer ignorant and now you are obligated to do something to make things better. “ The significance of his words has stuck with me for over 40 years.
Education allowed me to gain knowledge I did not have before. My high school did not offer a physics course, therefore I did not have knowledge of the laws of physics that can explain how things work. I remember being in awe as I took my first physics course in college as I learned about those laws of which I previously had little knowledge. I have wondered if the professor saw me with my mouth open in awe and wondered “who is this country bumpkin?”. The things I learned explained many things I had pondered but did not understand. This set the course of my completing college with a degree in Electrical Engineering and a soon to end 41 year career of applying that knowledge.
You may be wondering what this has to do with the scripture quoted above. I have chosen in recent years to better understand racism and how I have been very ignorant of its effects on our society. I am stunned by what I did not know but am now learning about. But if I only gain knowledge it leads to me being puffed up in pride unless I am moved in love to do something about it.
I am choosing the way of love but will need a lot of light from the Holy Spirit to change my thinking, which will change my understanding of what I see, which will change what I do.
“No one has ever seen God, but God the only Son, who is at the Father’s side has made him known. “ John 1:18 (NIV 1978 version)
I cut my spiritual eye teeth on the 1978 NIV Bible but over time have have come to see that I need to read multiple translations to get to the core of the nature of God as portrayed in the scriptures. The verse above is an example. The phrase “at the Father’s side” conveys a sense of being with God the Father but does not convey the intimacy that Jesus always has and always will have with his Father. The KJV more accurately translates this phrase as “is in the bosom of the Father”.
What is the bosom of the Father? The word bosom refers the upper part of the body where a loose fitting garment creates a pocket where a person could carry valuable items. It is a picture of a child being held in an embrace of love. In that embrace is safety and assurance of the Father’s love.
This is conveyed in the parable that Jesus spoke about the lost son (see Luke 15:11-31) which he told in response to the religious leaders criticizing him for associating with sinners. In that story the Father embraces his prodigal son with compassion when he returns in all his brokenness from previously turning away from his Father to go do his own thing. Don’t miss the point of Jesus’ parable. He came from the bosom of the Father in order that he might bring us all into the bosom of the Father! This is what my soul needs and longs for. It is already a reality but I must believe it in my heart and abide in the bosom of our Father where I am loved, accepted and desired no matter what I do. This is good news!
“That, however, is not the way of life you learned when you heard about Christ and were taught in him in accordance with the truth that is in Jesus. You were taught, with regard to your former way of life, to put off your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires; to be made new in the attitude of your minds; and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” Ephesians 4:20-24
I have come to realize that when I experience anxiety it is rooted in my fear of other people’s opinions about me which leads to me doing or not doing certain things so that I will be thought well of that day.
I once had an experience that gave some meaning to the phrase “ the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness.” I was cutting up a fallen tree limb when I clearly heard in my spirit “How precious is the doing that comes out of being”. This is the opposite of “doing to be thought well of”.
My true being is that I have been born again and given a new self that is created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness. It is a gift to be received but my mind must also be made new for me to believe it and live in it.
Please join me in receiving and abiding in our true selves that are created to be like God that we may go and live in true righteousness and holiness rather than doing to try to be righteous and holy.
“For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:38-39.
I must admit that there are times that my heart feels so far away from Jesus. At those times I must turn my heart and mind to believing what Jesus has declared to be true – “On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you”, “never will I leave you or forsake you”.
The literal meaning of sin is to the miss the mark. What is the mark that I have missed? Is it that I think my performance of what God expects is lacking? If everything that does not come from faith is sin, then sin must be the result of not believing what God has spoken. Satan is always looking for ways to get me to think that “I am not…..” such that I will feel distant from Jesus. My sin is from not believing that Jesus has included me in his fellowship with his Father. That is where the feeling of separation comes from. It is not from Jesus. Will you join me believing what he has said that nothing shall separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus?
“Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows. Whoever sows to please their flesh, from the flesh will reap destruction; whoever sows to please the Spirit, from the Spirit will reap eternal life. Galatians 6:7-8
I deceive myself whenever I give agreement to thoughts and words that do not come by the Holy Spirit. My agreement with such things grants authority to the spiritual forces behind those thoughts. Those thoughts will produce fruit of the same kind, I will reap what I have sown.
Self-deception is like being inside a box that keeps me from seeing what is real and true. The danger of self-deception is that once I enter that box I do not recognize it.
My only hope is that by the conviction of the Holy Spirit I will recognize the symptoms of the walls of self-deception that are confining me. Some of those symptoms are: devaluing others; overvaluing myself; blaming others; and rationalizing my thoughts and actions.
“Abba Father, I pray for the light of your presence to break into the box of self-deception when I deceive myself by believing the lies of Satan and his spiritual forces under his control that cause me to see people and myself in ways that are not from you. Help me see no man according to the flesh any longer. “
“…..do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?” Romans 2:4
The Greek word translated as contempt means literally, “think down”. It refers to holding someone in contempt, deeming them unworthy and hence despised because I see myself higher than they are on whatever measure I am using at the moment.
Examples are “they are obese and I am not”, “they smoke and I do not”, “they go to that liberal church and I do not”, “they support Planned Parenthood and I do not.” The list of such things that I find myself thinking that devalues people seems to be endless. This does not please me me and I fight it daily. These thoughts are rooted in the brokenness of humanity that we all have to some degree. None of us are totally free from such thoughts even if we think we are. That is one reason of many, why I need to be around people who are different from me so that when the thoughts of contempt occur that I may take them captive by the power of the Holy Spirit and bring them into submission to Jesus Christ.
We give authority to spiritual forces by agreeing with them. Jesus told his disciples, “You do not know what kind of spirit you are of” when they asked if they should call down fire from heaven to consume those they disagreed with about who Jesus was. They were upset because some people did not see him as they did, but they did not recognize they were speaking words that were not from the heart of Jesus or God his Father.
“Abba Father, I pray that I will be sensitive to the conviction of the Holy Spirit today when I think less of people than you do and that I will quickly repent and embrace the high value you have for every person. May I honor others above myself and seek understanding so that I will not think more highly of myself than I ought. Thank you for your kindness that leads me to repentance.”
“All the peoples of the earth shall be blessed through you.” This is what God spoke to Abraham when he called him into an intimate relationship of walking with him. This is ultimately fulfilled in the coming of Jesus. This is stated in Ephesians 1:3-6, “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ. For he chose us in him before the creation of the world to be holy and blameless in his sight. In love he predestined us for adoption to sonship through Jesus Christ, in accordance with his pleasure and will— to the praise of his glorious grace, which he has freely given us in the One he loves.” To bless means to think and speak well of. If that is God’s response to the brokenness of humanity then what does that say about my own heart when I do not think and speak well of other people? God speaks “of what as not as though it existed” or “he calls into existence that which does not exist.” Every word he speaks is to call into existence that which he desires in his heart. My desire is that I would do likewise when I interact with people who are different from me.
“Lord, I know every person is an image bearer of the God I worship. Therefore, please empower me to joyfully extend my love to every person regardless of color, culture, gender or ethnicity. Whether in my home, my school, my community or my church, I need your help, God, to promote a culture that values and celebrates diversity. And by your grace, Jesus, I will follow your lead and dedicate myself to a lifestyle of honor, radical love, humility and action! In Jesus name, Amen! “
The Word of God, who is Jesus, becoming flesh and entering into our brokenness and blindness is God’s but to that same brokenness and blindness. “But God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), and raised us up with Him, and seated us with Him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the ages to come He might show the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.” Ephesians 2:4-7
Words have meaning and I cherish the use of “were” and “but” in 1 Corinthians 6:11, “And that is what some of youwere. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.” The “but” negates what I “were” and creates what I am in Christ Jesus. This is the Good News!
In American politics we often hear about either the need for our government to do more or to do less. This may shock you but I am for and believe in the value and need for ever increasing government. Before you throw me off of a cliff or stop reading this post let me explain what I mean by this statement.
Isaiah 9:6-7 (NIV) says “For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulders and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace. Of the increase of his government and peace there shall be no end, upon the throne of David, and upon his kingdom, to order it, and to establish it with judgment and with justice from henceforth even forever. The zeal of the LORD of hosts will perform this.” It is the ever increasing government of the Kingdom of Heaven of which I am for and hope for in the face of what seems to be ever increasing chaos in our world.
Jesus often spoke about the Kingdom of God or the Kingdom of Heaven. What is the Kingdom of Heaven? A kingdom is the domain of a king who is the sovereign ruler of a territory of the people who dwell there. When God created this world and formed man from the dust of the earth he gave mankind the mandate to “Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth.” (Gen 1:28, NIV)
God created us to express his very nature and life by us believing what he says is true and then to believe that he has the power to do what he has promised.
God told Abraham “”I have made you a father of many nations.” He is our father in the sight of God, in whom he believed–the God who gives life to the dead and calls into being things that were not. Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, “So shall your offspring be.” Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead–since he was about a hundred years old–and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waver through unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what he had promised.” (Rom 4:17-21, NIV)
I love this story of Abraham and Sarah being childless and God coming to them in their old age and telling them that Sarah would conceive and bear a child fathered by Abraham. They desperately wanted a child that would become their heir, but they could not conceive a child even in their younger years because of Sarah being sterile. Years pass by with no conception of a child until they were so old that Abraham no longer had “seed” and Sarah had gone through menopause. Years before God had promised Abraham an heir but it had not yet happened. If you think you are in a situation where there is no hope for a change compare that to the situation that Sarah and Abraham faced. The passage above from Romans 4 is in reference to Genesis 18 where God appeared to both Abraham and Sarah and told them that within one year Sarah would bear a son by Abraham. Go back and again read the Romans 4 passage above. Believing what God speaks is not just mental assent. Our experiencing the reality of what God speaks is dependent upon our obedience by faith to what he has spoken.
In my mind I can see Abraham approaching Sarah and saying something like, “Sarah you heard what God spoke to both of us. We have walked with God long enough and seen him work in such ways that I know he cannot lie and that he has the power to do what he has spoken. Will you join with me by faith in believing that if we come together in an act of love that he will give life to our reproductively dead bodies?”
So what does this have to do with the government of Jesus of which there shall never be an end to its increase? We have been given authority to speak by faith of what is the desire of God our Father to be made manifest in the world we live in. It already exists in heaven but not on the earth.
That is why Jesus told his followers, ““But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him. “This, then, is how you should pray: “‘Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name, your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.””(Mat 6:6-10, NIV)
The Greek word translated as room in the passage above means store-chamber, granary, barn or treasury. Jesus is speaking about entering into the heavenly storehouse of the Kingdom of Heaven and praying from there for what already exists in that place to be manifest here on the earth. In heaven there is no shortage of anything that is needed here on the earth.
“Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Luk 12:32-34, NIV)
So what does the word government mean in the Isaiah 9 passage above? I admit that I am a word nerd. I enjoy looking at the origin and meaning of words. I can often learn more about the meaning of a word by looking at other scriptures where the word is used. However, that did not help me when looking at the word government. It only occurs two times both of which are in Isaiah 9. However, in looking at this word I found a related word that opened up the meaning. The related word is in the account of where God changed Jacob’s name to Israel.
“And he said unto him, What is thy name? And he said, Jacob. And he said, Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel: for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.” (Gen 32:27-28 KJV) Jacob means deceiver or twister. God had promised his parents that Jacob as the younger brother would rule over his older twin brother Esau. However, Jacob had lived his entire life trying to obtain by deception and trickery what was already his in Heaven because God had already promised it. God changed Jacob’s name after he realized that he could not wrestle the promise out of God and thus he named him Israel which means he rules as God, “for as a prince hast thou power with God and with men, and hast prevailed.”
God has set his seal upon us and
made us to be ambassadors of the Kingdom of Heaven. We represent King Jesus because we are
members of his body. When we speak by
faith what he is speaking, that already exists in heaven, then the Holy Spirit
works to make it a reality here on the earth.
Thus, of the increase of his government of righteousness, peace and joy there
shall never be an end! Will you join
with me believing in our hearts that God has the power to do whatever he
promises, then by faith to speak it aloud over whatever situation we see that
is contrary to the nature of God, and to obey whatever he tells us to do. If we do we shall see an end to the chaos that
exists in our time, for God is a God of order not confusion.
