MATURITY

Restoration of the HOUSE

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“…give no rest UNTIL he has a dwelling place…” Rev 21, 22

Psalm 132:2-5

images-7I wonder what these words paint in your mind, what picture does it cultivate.    As the words are read what is sculpted in your imagination?

There is an implication for us all to do something with these words; an act of disturbance, a work of not allowing settlement, a challenge of activity with a goal of an “UNTIL” in mind.     Take all you have and all you know, all your ability and apply it to disrupting yourself, your acquaintances, deep friends, family and even God, UNTIL an end is reached.

When you are young the UNTIL must be in the fore front of your mind, it is the goal by which the Father requires us to make our focus, our first thought, our life’s ambition and longing “…seek first…”.     Don’t settle back as you get older then, as the years go by be careful not to join the status quo, be mindful not to think it is some one else’s turn or responsibility.   GIVE NO REST, it is not a time to retire or go on holiday, nothing wrong in them but keep the aim of God until our Father receives the goal of his course.   It is said of Jesus “…for the joy set before him…” of Paul “…I press on towards…”, it is too easy to make an excuse why we have done enough, it is too easy to say “this one and that one hurt me”.   To blame others, but these words sculpt in our heart’s “…GIVE NO REST…”

The Father, our God, the God who is so committed to being UNITED with you and me, that God left his abode and created a universe, so that God the Father would be one with us.   God was so given to this that God HUMBLED God to bring it about.    David in Psalms utters this, in the light of the God of grace he met, the Divine that left the Mountain and came to humanity, leaving the high abodes to join us in our ordinary lives.    David overwhelmed by this Father God and says “…give no rest UNTIL God has a dwelling place…”

God has a dwelling place in our union with God, we should take nothing else on, no other agenda, no other view,no other self-centredness or other good cause until God has a dwelling place, this is the root foundation of all true good causes and should be our only cause.   God have a dwelling pace in me,  a UNION with me, that God has a dwelling pace in the people of God, one with the bride, the ecclesia of God, that God has a dwelling place in creation, that Christ might fill all in all.   It really is about the dwelling place of God.  We understand this by the time we read Revelation 21, 22  I saw a city, that turns to a bride and a declaration “…I will be their God and they will be my people and I will dwell in their midst…” Father God has the dwelling place and the UNTIL has come.

Restoration is about the dwelling place of God.   A little personal discomfort until, my sleep, rest, my home will be realised when the Father receives the dwelling place.

There is a major “UNTIL” here, until God has a dwelling place is this not the New Testament declaration, the words of Acts 3 that Jesus will remain in heaven UNTIL a time of Restoration.   That Jesus will be held UNTIL his enemies are made a footstool, I wonder?

The “…dwelling place…” is about taking away the disgrace from the walls of the city of God, it is about building the walls of the city in Nehemiah, it’s the work of Jesus, it the prayer we pray “….let heaven come to earth…”  it is let your dwelling place be found.images-6

Even the goal of maturity in Christ is the personal maturity of Gods dwelling place, a house prepared for you O Lord.   We must not allow our eyes to be taken off finding a dwelling place for God, when we read Jesus saying “…I go and make a place for you…” let us not go away with the fairies and think of our room, house in heaven but continue for the UNTIL God has a dwelling rather than being distracted into finding ours; waiting, holding on until we get our place.   Our life and love must be to give God a dwelling place.

The joy of being about our Father’s business, we must make a place for God.  

 

Effective…Success…Maturity

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Interesting coupling of words, words that are used at so many levels and in so many environments, whether in business or in church I wonder which one is used most in your world?
images-4The online dictionary says this of these three
Effective (adj) Being productive of or capable of producing a result
Success (n) The achievement of something desired, planned, or attempted: The gaining of fame or prosperity
Maturity The state or quality of being fully grown or developed.
All have their place and all have their challenges for the in place in which you work and the people of God you are family with.   I wonder which one of these three would you put at the top of your priority list,  priority in your walk with God?
To be effective in your call there will be a process of growing in ministry, to be fully involved in the growing there are fundamental vital aspects that will need to be grappled with and fully grasped with both hands, I will attempt to out line what I have noticed over the last 40 years of my Christ like walk to become like Christ in every way.
There will be a need to grow and develop a burden, this is not a whimsical thought or one that changes with fashion or fad of the church, but one that overwhelms and keeps us on course.   A burden is an old term yet a requirement, it is that, which as you process on ward  you actually experience the weight of carrying it in prayer, heart and thought.      It is a burden, it something you cannot put aside but it fills your day, it fills your thinking, it fills you desire and is all-embracing.   Although it is a ‘Burden of the Lord’ it is light to the soul yet it is that which governs you, it is greater than vision as it becomes your life.
It is that which God entrusts you with, it is the will of God for your destiny.
Along with the burden must come a ‘Zeal of Conviction‘ a passion, a zeal that fires you up and keeps you burning, a zeal around the conviction of truth, a zeal around the Christ of God.   This zeal is what will put one foot in front of another when objections come.  It is this zeal that will get you to leave your homeland, your comfort zone and move towards the burden.   It is that which keeps you running, this zeal, that is like a fire deep inside you, will not let you go or you will not let it go.   It is what Paul said “I lay hold of that which has laid hold of me”  
There comes to each of us the necessity to grow in the burden and respond to our zeal by being able to communicate to the average, learning that we must add skill to ourselves to be able to communicate to the average person in the streets of life.   Why you ask simple put in-order that they
Understand the principle
See the application
Move on conviction
So that burden comes to life in the lives of others as well as you.
That we become Simple. Clear. Relevant. Practical
A call will ask of each of us to give ourselves whole heartedly to people, as a friend, as a councillor, as an example.   Unreservedly being hospitable, learning the skills to be social to be able to love people and be over joyed in it.
Many long for anointing, many look and run to the anointing but the grace and anointing moves with those who are spirit-sensitive and sensitivity too changes in the anointing.    Knowing on the inner life as the goodness of God moves and ebbs and flows.   This cannot be put in notes but it can be caught.     To be one who knows and sees the moving of the Holy Spirit, knowing that seasons and moods are to there  to be caught and demonstrated to all.   Learning in the burden what it is to sense God.   To Knowing when to teach, proclaim the prophetic and when to reach out.
Prepared at all times for the supernatural,  expectant in every place even the place you least expect, develop a life of continuous conversation with the Father, inspired to move towards the supernatural.   Become sensitive to the presence of God in the heart and make things happen.
Develop a mind that is clutter free and free of negatives, along side that to be free of personal pressures
Become men and women of burden that are freely receiving grace, the grace that God is giving so much that we enjoy the grace, living in it and through it,  grace in our life flow.

 

“To This End…” my end for now but not the END.

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Which End Up?

My aim in this blog is to attempt to finish this series on “ to this end…”, I have attempted to outline some fundamental learning curves and have been experienced over the last 30+ years, it’s frightening to think it’s 40 years since I 1st began my journey into Christ.   I’ve had the privilege of serving the Father I hope in seeking 1st the kingdom of God while learning to trust him fully in all matters, living by the gospel for the last 28 years time just flies.

My prayer is that these few meanderings may have helped others on their journey to consider their own lives and perhaps moved towards God a little further.

Rather than making any introduction I will just dive into the last 4 Views I present

Failure to exercise judgment

Now before I commence I know for some to use the word judgment is a challenge as we are in a season of enjoying the grace of God yet we will need still to understand in our journey towards the Father.

What we know now & teach regarding judgment was unheard of, the theology of Grace was preached but I must admit we very really saw it exercised. When I first came before God I was presented by those around me at 16 a gospel of give up.  Now please hear me these where good people, loving people it was just the scene we had all been brought up in, the perceptions developed, they where people who put so much into me that was good as well.   I found quickly what I should, could not and must not do, what the gain, what was added to us was left to the imagination and I discovered it as i grasped the grace of God more fully.  I simply adopted the attitudes, opinions & prejudices of those I admired, believing they must be right.  My only form of judgment was to condemn those who didn’t agree or conform to my newly adopted prejudices.

It was not until I was baptised with the Spirit that I learnt to judge or ‘prove all things’ & thereafter recognize that I should learn from people’s strengths and avoid their weaknesses.

  • To be free of something we must pass & carry out sentence on it within ourselves, bring the grace of God alive in our lives.
  • Judgment not only delivers it protects our freedom – Grace and Mercy along with judgment are part of God we still have to face this.

Poor testimony in my family

Looking back I believe the reason much didn’t ‘go well’ for me in the early years of my Christian experience was because of my violation of the Word of God in not ‘honouring my parents’ adequately.   I future learned that it was not only my natural mum and dad but also those who are mothers and fathers spiritually to us all.   In a growing appreciation of a ‘culture of honour’ it is still necessary to learn the honour of all form weakest to strongest not just celebrity ministry.   Its is also necessary for honour of spiritual parents more and more that all will go well and our days be long.

I was thrilled with the fellowship I was getting outside but at home I became a restless & moody young man. At times when conscience would speak strongly to me about my relationship with the family, I would squash it’s views by my wrong understanding and interpretation of the scripture, “unless you hate your father and mother for my sake…”

After I was baptized with the Spirit, I realised the full extent of my loss in these respects, & sought as much as possible to in my relationship and fellowship with the family, which I am still learning.

  • Honouring parents is the first command with a promise. The law of first mention means that association of ideas is highly significant, e.g. worship & Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac.

The wrong concept of God

From childhood the religious idea of God that I gained from parents, people and church, was warped. He was depicted as severe, easily offended and quick to punish. That before he would extend forgiveness he needed to have his wrath totally placated by punishing me.

This distorted mental image of God hindered my ability to fellowship with Him as Father. It continually undercut my ability to believe His promises since I was constantly disqualifying myself as unworthy. One day, reading the word I was struck by the response of Jesus to Philip – “If you’ve seen me you’ve seen the Father”. I realised then that the only image of God I should hold is the revelation seen in the person of Christ. This changed my whole approach to fellowship with God.

  • A right knowledge of God’s nature is foundational to making a right response to His presence and power.
  • Your View of God determines how you live – free, joy, life all find their root here
  • The right image of God is received by a revelation of Christ in the Word.
  • The Word freed me from the God created in my imagination

Rationalisation of the Word of God

The most casual reading of scripture convinced me that the bible portrays a God of miracles and power.

It is this element of the supernatural that was a stumbling block in the teaching of the churches I first found myself in. They gave spiritual significance  to everything associated with the supernatural and made it merely symbolic of things to do with one’s character or behaviour.

e.g. Leprosy became symbolic of sin, therefore the healing of the lepers was indicating God’s desire to completely cleanse you from sin.

Opening the eyes of blind Bartimaeus represented God’s desire for us to have spiritual sight.

Consequently I slipped into the pitfall of believing my interpretations of the Word instead of the Word itself. Looking back I see my interpretations were undercutting my faith for like miracles. Obviously the more rational the interpretation the more acceptable to the mind. Nevertheless, not one of the interpretations I put on things ever fully satisfied me emotionally or spiritually, and it is very doubtful whether they truly settled in my mind.

  • I have come to see the Word is always true; my interpretation of it may or may not be.
  • I am not called to believe my interpretation but I am called to believe His Word.
  • The mind and soul must always submit to the word, not the word submit to the mind.

I want to emphasize that all these issues took place before I was baptized with the Spirit. Indeed, they resulted in such unhappiness and dryness that they were the reason why I began searching for more – even though I had no idea of what.

 

To this End… will we reach it, by the Spirit of course.

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images-4Accompanied by the last number of blogs we have been journeying through a process in my experience, its aim is that God may achieve an end in me and just a little assist us all.   I suppose we would have to say its a maturing process, a journey of one degree to another.   Over the 40 years I have come to realise that what we call sonship is not an event or something that is given but it really is a process, a process of maturing.   We are all born ‘children of God’ and all have the potential to become sons of God as we mature into the full measure of Christ.  I would suggest that this is the only thing that can explain the circumstances, the challenges along with the joys of our walk for however many years we remain in our ‘earth suit’ so to speak, the apostle Paul called it a ‘tent‘.

Here is a biblical story to hook that though on.   At the age of 12 as Jesus grew in favour with God and mankind, we will know this account of Jesus that he was left behind in the temple, this is not a series of titles for an eschatological writings but Jesus was actually left behind by mum and dad.   The day mum and dad lost God, what a parenting achievement.    All of us who have had children have lost one in a shopping mall, or somewhere the scare, the fear, well Mary and Joseph lost God.   It tells us of a very different community feel that they lived with to today, may be?      Community was so strong for Jesus, someone would be caring for the other child, “…no need to worry when you cannot see him, some ones eye will be upon him…” but after a day they realized “he’s not here.”     Jesus own words told us he know his aim of life “about my Fathers business” yet his heavenly Father sent him back for 18 years to the wood cutting shed to be a builder.   He was not ready, although he could confound the teachers in the centre of all things of God, he had not matured to the place necessary yet.    In his 30th year when he stood at the river banks with John “this is my beloved Son” was declared and the Old Testament saying “today I have begotten you as my Son” comes into view.   Jesus had matured through 30 years of life, joys, pain, challenges, suffering as he learned to be obedient until he now was a mature Son – Think about it!   Sonship is a process open to us all to become ‘sons of God.’

So we continue on our process of life and learning, maturing to this end…

Taking up other people’s’ offenses

Frequently those who were proud, rebellious or stubborn would get hurt. They would then Campaign for support. In the ensuing controversy I often foolishly found myself supporting persons out of sympathy or friendship though lacking understanding as to the issues involved, taking up their offenses as my own.

Some of these arguments would go on for months at a time and churches would have several ‘cliques’ within them that were quite political in nature. I had to learn that:

  • To be part of the answer you must not become part of the problem.
  • Defend a rebellious person and you share their lot and outcome.
  • Support the proud and you share their downfall.

When friendship rules judgment then the best means of bringing resolution is rendered impotent.

Secondhand opinions

Because I was generally untaught in the scriptures, I tended to learn from what I saw in others. The people I admired were strong men with equally strong opinions.

In the absence of personal revelation I adopted their opinions as my own. I failed to realize that when secondhand opinions are stubbornly defended, one can end up a bigoted exponent of other people’s’ prejudices.

  • Your foundation in life is your personal revelation.
  • In order to stand in truth you must be in the revelation of it

This is the essence of John’s assertion ‘Yet I know that the touch of the Spirit never leaves you, and you don’t really need a human teacher. You know that his Spirit teaches you about all things, always telling you the truth and never telling you a lie. So, as he has taught you, live continually in him.’  (1 Jn.2:27)

Let us press on as we are encouraged to do so in the scripture laying hold of the end that the Father is drawing, loving us to!

To This End… EARLY YEARS LEARNING

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images-4They are spiritual, I was not?  Well it didn’t half feel like that…

Most books I was encouraged to read in my early years were very encouraging, they presented us with the opportunity to drink from someones experience, it was and is a continuing a great privilege.   However there was a recurring factor, I read of preachers, powerful people of God putting pen to paper outlining their endeavors, yet the writers only seemed to emphasis their greatness and spirituality without highlighting any faults or life’s realities.   I know the trend today is a little different in the willingness to be vulnerable but still it’s not every one who does it.   Indeed, many ministries would not advocate the sharing of mistakes and challenges, saying, “It will leave you exposed to your enemies,” or “open to criticism.”    It brought, probably intentionally such a testimony, a picture that inspired you to what God can do but it did not help to present that it could be YOU and though YOU.   They were great and mighty never dealing with normal little stuff of my life, it felt as if they had gone beyond this life, the supermen and women.

They are spiritual I was not.   Don’t get me wrong these accounts did wonderfully open up God greatness in a life, but made the experience inaccessible.

It would have greatly helped if someone had written honestly of their mistakes when I was young in the faith, and shared some of the pitfalls on how to avoid them. So embracing the risk of vulnerability I am going to share with you as openly as possible as we continue our journey in “To this End.”   In my challenges I felt its was only peculiar to me, it cultivated an attitude that I should not talk myself about my struggles, these were not to be talked about, these things of life, they were clearly my issues nobody else had them, or it felt like that.

It was learning about life I needed, it has taken a necessary cultural change to happen to make lives more accessible, for ministries it was a long time before people came down off their distant pedestals, and some still retain an ungodly superior or untouchable manner.   As a young man when I found people who would be open and tell of their joy’s and failures it was a real release, to know others had the same struggles and they had overcome them.

I recall later on in my journey, actually the day I left the building industry to live by the gospel, one of the most helpful lines ever given to me was said, it continue to serve me well in almost 30 years of ministry life.    I was taken aside and told “…all these, every one you have put on a pedestal have clay feet – that is are a mixture in their lives.”    So simple but so profound, It did not destroy my honour or admiration of them far from it, it actually helped as I saw their failures, mixture of attitudes and as I got close to so-called the “great?”   It did not excuse them, it did help me to see their journey, I saw real people walking with God.  It helped to avoid disappointment along the way and prevented feeling let down as they made their mistakes.     As I began to move, relate to ministries of great renown and stature, these people who I had put far above, I know that’s the Christ but we do it so easily to people, foolishly rather than Christ.   Now I am not talking about honour, honour should be a disposition we live by, honour is positive but the negative view at its worst celebrities and super-spiritual, so-called people who set themselves distant from you, who occupy the pedestal and control from there, rather than becoming co-workers, partners, fellow journey men and women.

I needed people who would help with my life and help me to see I was spiritual even with my foibles and wrongs as I walked my journey into God.   Discover that I am spiritual and can be all God wanted even with my thoughts and actions, even with my insecurities and attitudes.   People who have the same challenges to walk and talk me thought them from their book of life.

This will be my aim as we continue the next chapters of “To this End.”