Pilgrim

He Stole My Bible again…

/ 'face2face' - Gareth Duffty / 1 Comment

I am not sure how you read your scriptures and what you draw from the arranged letters that are offered to us.    A number of years ago I was presented with a new translation of the scriptures every year, it was a planned and purposeful exchange, so i would change the way i read and listened to what I read.  It took me a few years to realize what was going on, I was a little slow, rather funny really, every year the question came “What bible are you reading?” I offered my translation and by the end of our conversation, in those first days of each new year my old bible walked out of the room and  a new translation was let in return.   Excuse me I said but my notations are in that bible, the reply was “Yes” my comment was  “Hmmm” and his “that’s exactly why I am taking it”.   But it instructed me to read from different a different vantage point the same word, it brought the scriptures alive again as I saw the different angles of the diamond of this book.   It was a challenging lesson initially, then every first of the year meeting I learned to present my old 1-year-old bible and open my hand for the new one to be exchanged.

One of the lessons of reading the Scripture is to grasp the fuller story, the panoramic view of Gods dealings with his people, some times we get so caught up with this and that little thing, and  we have not understood the over all panorama of Gods working, cause and purpose.   I long for more people to catch what God is doing from a distance rather than getting into the minutiae, when we don’t understand the wide aims of his purpose.   For instance You can look at the book of Joshua and see all the in’s and outs – all good stuff walls falling, inheritance gaining, conquering armies, trust and obedience, establishing a people etc.   But one thing that encourages me in the narrative is simple when we get across from the deliverance from Egypt the victory of transferring from supply upon supply, that is food, water, clothes never wearing out etc., to a place, as we enter the promise and realize there is still unfinished business!    The book is the story of unfinished business, the settlement in the land is the account of unfinished business. We often wish it was not so, why did God not do it all?     Perhaps its the issue of God making us partners with him in everything, he has done his bit, now we have to take hold of the unfinished business and bring it to pass “earth becoming like heaven, his likeness and image in you and me.   That’s another blog.

Unfinished business.    Each new episode of life, each new year each new day is the account of unfinished business.

So you wake up each day with unfinished business, not procrastination on yesterday’s stuff but today is the continuation of completing the purpose, the set course that God has for humanity and creation, your story and mine is the story of unfinished business until a generation comes to see Christ filling all things.    The small reading of Scripture can so easily introduce to us a narrative of me and the immediate, yet we are about a course of direction the Father has begun and we are involved in unfinished business.   I wonder what your unfinished business looks like?

Lets’ Keep Moving Hitting the Mark

You cannot get away from Paul’s encouragement to have one goal in mind and heart as we travel through our Christian journey, the goal to become more and more like Christ until ‘he fills all things’ or until he has the pre-eminence in our lives in book of Philippians he says we are to ‘press on towards the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus’.    It was with this in mind that we set out every year to so call Hit the Mark, to get entwined with unfinished business of the cause of God.

As ever Now in our journey we take steps forward, to grow from strength to strength, glory-to-glory, faith-to-faith and favour-to-favour, it is not the time to settle back and simply enjoy the inheritance we already have.     There is Unfinished business here.

The children of Israel had to be ready at all times to up stakes and move on whenever the cloud or the pillar moved, they moved, sometimes they stayed a month in one place other times a day, they had to be ready and willing at all times to be obedient to the call of the Lord.   As soon as they heard the trumpet sound they were to up camp and move on.    I wonder how they felt about the trumpet sound, did they wait eagerly to hear it knowing that they would be moving closer to Gods purpose for them, or did they dread the sound knowing that once again it would mean uprooting and change.     They journeyed and crossed into the inference which was full of unfinished business.

The trumpet of the Lord is certainly sounding across His church in these days calling us to wake up and step into the fullness of our calling.    It is calling us to move on and not simply camp around our experiences of the past whether good or bad, it is calling us to press on and embrace the revelation that is being birthed in this day.     Unfinished business prevents us from stopping around anything that is not the full cause of Christ.   People say this and that is the main event, the thing God is doing, this is the structure and pattern, it’s that theology and practice, it’s this experience and encounter, yet the main event has always been one thing God’s cause “Christ filling all things” and all is unfinished business until that happens.

Each generation have their own journey to walk, their own milestones to reach, and we are so aware of the continuity of the body of Christ knowing that the achievements of each generation build on the last and prepare the way for the next.   I remember once being told that God had no grandchildren, meaning that each generation will have their own encounter and task to fulfill in the great scheme of things.      It is our joy to be in the position to build on what we have received whilst knowing that we will advance a greater unfolding of what we had received – faith-to-faith.

We recognize that the children of Israel had certain milestones in their journey, and likewise we know that the Lord has given us certain milestones that we must reach towards in our journey together.   These are marks for us to hit, things for us to reach towards together and see achieved in our day and generation.

You and I have unfinished business and the grace and supply of god is there as we make his cause our unfinished business!    As you move further and further into this year may you truly finish unfinished business for this is the draw of God s work.  Complete that which is in our day to finish.

Things no one told me

/ 'face2face' - Gareth Duffty / 1 Comment

2012 will be my 28th year of serving the people of God, when I was 28 years old I was asked to consider leaving the building industry, laying brick and mortar down, to give my focus into building a dwelling through people’s lives.   It has been an amazing adventure to date and it is not over yet.  Myself, Sandra and our family have served in so many ways.  I was once told ”try everything” to discover the grace on your life, which we did with eager abandonment.   Serving in different capacities of influence and leadership, being administrators, running children’s ministry to 1000’s, leading outreach teams across the UK from cities and towns, serving in a mission environment, teaching, preaching, imparting,  painting, digging trenches, carrying bags, repairing cars, caring for and loving the ministers of God,  leading congregations, envisioning people, being known as prophets and laying our lives down as apostolic servants of the body.  The list is quite endless when we think of it.

In our journey we have been schooled by some wonderful men and women, been imparted to, impacted by and had understanding laid down in us over the years, some things we learned no one could have taught us or prepared us for.   Here are some of these lessons we hope will empower and advance you in your journey.

People told me about loving God and loving people, but they did not teach me how to love. That came through experience, joys and often challenge.

I had not fully understood how complicated the lives of people were, I learned the need to engage with people in the long journey as well as immediate situations with constant love

I was surprised at how judgmental and cruel Christian people could be.  I was not warned or perhaps I did not listen at the time.

It would have been helpful to have more insight into problem solving, and crisis management.

I thank God for my business training, as not much attention or training was given to financial management.

Although we began more than 20 years ago we heard much about family integrity, we still have many that did not listen as within families of leadership much pain is left to one-side, I recall some saying, “You just go out and serve the church. God will take care of your family.” Many families fractured through it.

There is no way anyone can prepare you for the loneliness of leadership.  The importance of friendship with colleagues should have been reinforced.  We have to help each other, aloneness is a necessary skill to learn and occupy.   To understand aloneness is empowerment but loneliness is a killer.

Another problem that is on ongoing for us all to learn on the hoof was that the church was God’s church … not mine. I was an under-shepherd.   We all subscribe to the notion that the church is His church, but the practicality of that comes into focus when we deal with vision, competitiveness, pressure to conform etc.

I had to learn how to be myself and build on my own strengths.  People, ministry and peer-pressure can make us conform and be as the USA would say “cookie-cutter” copies.

Loving and caring is not for the faint of heart.  Probably, if I had been told everything, I would not have completed the course, perhaps not even begun, but discovering my love for God and for His people enabled me to continue the course. I am so glad no one told me everything, and I am so glad I am pursuing.

My View Of God.

/ 'face2face' - Gareth Duffty / 1 Comment

People often hang around after I preach, talk or even simply share some thoughts, they leave with an understanding that in my journey I have come to a place of, experience and pursuit of God, and realise that my deliverance, liberty and freedom in life, comes down to a basic statement “my view of God determines how well I live”.      For yourself, try removing the ‘my’ and the ‘I’ and replace it with ‘your’ and ‘you’.  The way we picture God in our minds, determines our liberty.     Before you go down the avenue thinking about what you picture, God is faithful, just, or generous, this is not the picture I am getting at, I don’t mean the concepts mentioned which we could go on listing, but I literally mean, what picture of God do you see? Do you see, a great judge in the sky, the wonderful teacher, a Father, and nurturing Mother?

Whatever picture you have will have an implication on the way you live and conduct your affairs; it will have a formulating hand and could bring a new freedom and liberty.

Your view will colour your pursuit and your research into understanding your Father God.   Our theological journey, our study of God is meant to serve who He is and his purpose in creating this world.    Theology is to be a servant of the gospel and the church.  Pursuit of understanding and experience of God, is meant to clarify the truth we proclaim, helping us to re-examine what we believe and equip us to practice what we believe and preach in a more consistent way.

Eventually all this pursuit is a reflection of God and is reflected in life. Good teaching produces a healthy lifestyle bad teaching produces distorted living. For the theological pursuit to perform its servant ministry we must learn to address the central biblical truths and relevant social and cultural issues. We do not deal with our faith in a removed monastery, but in continually changing societies, that shout for relevance at us daily.  Our View of God will equip us to practice faith with relevance and integrity in our changing world.

The world in which we live is undergoing considerable social change, our view, our theology, our experience of God is intrinsically bound to our personal and corporate worldview.   We live in a world that is inventive on its sin and brings new thinking and practices to old human issues (Romans 1:21), the one thing that has not changed is human hearts, what we find is more modern ways of repeating cycles of sin.    Surely my living faith should help and inform me as I view changes in our world?    There are some, who will consider any change in secular society as negative, because of a fundamental negative view of the world and an eschatology that we are waiting to be removed, to escape, saved from a fallen world, this broken world.    There are others who have grasped a Kingdom view of creational transformation (Romans 8:18-22), grasping that all things are spiritual, that God is aiming to have everything displaying his Christ “…fill all in all…” (Eph. 1:18-23), filling everything with his essence, along with “…the Earth is the Lords…” realising he dwells everywhere (Psalm 139:7-12).    Therefore seeing every “progressive” step in history as an act of God, a direct result of the God of creation in our world.     Today it is paramount that we discover a balanced biblical view of these two poles, while no changes in society can be given utopian status because of the condition of mankind, yet it is true that many changes in society are to be welcomed as God indicated his “…so loved the world (Cosmos)”.

My personal desire and aim is to uphold a high view of the word of God, seeing the scriptures as authoritative, as it speaks about salvation and speaks intentionally on issues.  I am not sure it speaks intentionally on everything as we wish it did, it would certainly make life much simpler and easier if it did, easy to order into prescribed boxes of thought, but this is not our Father God, who longs to bring his son’s into liberty and not prescribe everything for them, all of creation is actually longing to join the liberty (Romans 8:21).

I have arrived at this position of my view of scripture not because I am oblivious to life’s challenges, or having my head in the sand, hiding from realities, but we are all aware of the difficulties that exist in scripture.    History has demonstrated time and time again that the moment we set ourselves up as the judge of what is essential or non-essential within the word of God, we begin to slide towards a rejection of scriptural authority and the enthronement of the human mind.

My journey to date has caused me to end up where I stand at present; history has pushed and pressed me formulating my way of thinking.    Have you ever been challenged by others asking, “…have you had this or that experience…”, or “…do you experience God like this…”, and of course “…this is the way…”, or better said the “…higher way…”, suggesting a superior way, O God help us.    Let me give you an example from my journey regarding a controversial issue, my view on male-female.      Are you a ‘complementarian’ or an ‘egalitarian’?   I have been asked do you stand on this side or that side of the argument, well here is a shock or a truth, I am not sure that all, or better said, every biblical text fits either view.     Here is another “Are you pre-tribulation, post-tribulation” etc., etc., again I am not sure if scripture fits neatly either position, every one would have to admit that there are gaps in each and there are scriptures that do not fit in any view.     So what do we do?

Can I appeal to us all that we mature in our views of scripture, before you say “he wants us to become liberal” I began by saying I have a high view of the scriptures, the word of God so hold on!    However I do believe that there is a new reformation upon us, demanding a gospel that relates to our streets and brings Gods biblical view into life daily.    I know its makes some of us uncomfortable, lets not react, but rather see what the Holy Spirit is doing in bringing forth a better grasp and a clearer view of God and understanding of God.

One helpful practice, I would suggest to all who are journeying and being led by the Spirit, which makes us son’s of God, is, we must avoid getting hijacked along the way by asking some good questions in order to become word based and led by the Holy Spirit here is one good question and practice

When a fresh idea, thought, teaching, a revelation, an insight arrives and captures people’s imagination, ask what direction does it set us on?

Every missile, every aircraft, every vehicle of transportation has a direction, it will conclude, if it’s not knocked off course or its course changed.   Ask then, what course does this thinking, this theology, this experience set us upon, where will its full trajectory take us?

As we consider the issues of our day along with scripture we must ask this question in relating to the arguments take the issue of gender, homosexuality, abortion, youth euthanasia etc., where does the theology take us to if we take on board that way of thought and practice?    If the destination of any way of thought, or new experience, or old experience that is coming around again, etc., replaces the Trinitarian God of scripture with anything we must be careful.   If Christ is not lifted up at the center of every trajectory adjust the compass, change the course.

Trajectories – Where is it going? – An important question, if any destination replaces the Trinitarian God of Scripture with anything they must be careful.

Lets get our View of God sharpened, enlarged as this where our freedom and liberty and equality of life lies!   Happy adventures in Christ and life!

Stand up & be counted – Foundations

/ 'face2face' - Gareth Duffty / 1 Comment

“The priesthood of all believers” this was once well taught, Martin Luther in the early reformation took it as a central teaching. Yet after all this time we are still battling with it.     Today we have a professional priesthood or pastors more than ever and with it people are moved into a consumer approach to faith, where we come and get God served to us on Sunday mornings.   We all agree with the notion knowing we are all priest unto God.   The dilemma for us today is this, do we continue to live as we are, are we ‘consumered out’ and so hierarchically set that we have to live with a priesthood once again and thus remain with a professional priesthood ?

I know this is not our desire.  Today with the great cry for freedom  and liberty all around us, we should  take hold of our position through the love of God.

We have to become a priesthood to all creation, while maintaining a corporate people of God understanding and existence.    Some however have taken it to such an extreme that they have become islands of faith and individuals with no connections,  that is yet another extreme.   We are a community and family of priests unto our God, here to minister to one another and bring explanations of the Father to our world.    This is what  our High Priest the Christ has done before us.

Suppose that you gathered one Sunday morning, and some one stood before the congregation  asking, “Would any priest  here please stand?”   I am sure for some their historical backgrounds would determine the response.  Who would stand and who would you expect to stand?

Some would be comfortable to stand and others wait for those in the vocation or profession to stand.   Before you start looking to other denominations and saying ‘Ah they would….’ What have we slowly and subversively come to?   The question deals with the fleeting issue of ‘Image and Likeness’ and ‘Identity’.  This is central to all dealing with how we see and think of ourselves.  One of Gods central concerns, at this time, is to produce his image and likeness back into his world and humanity, that Christ might have supreme position in all – Restoration.   The Holy Spirit is working to bring about a people of image and likeness to the Father in the cosmos, it is an important issue today.

Heavens resources are working to bring the image and likeness of God back in view to all.

Back to the question on that Sunday morning, how many people do you think would rise? More important, would you stand?

You should! every believer is anointed to serve as a priest.

For the early Christian in the New Testament, the word priest is never used of a church leader; it is only used to characterise the role of all believers.  Imagine how it was received by the early Christians. When Peter wrote, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people” (1 Pet. 2:9, RSV), he was writing mostly to people who formerly had nothing to do with Israel and its God. Peter confers on these new Christians both a Jewish heritage (“you are a holy nation, God’s own people”) and the privilege of priesthood (“you are a royal priesthood”). Such a notion would have shaken them to the soles of their sandals.

Perhaps to understand the privilege of being named a priest, we need first to examine what priesthood meant to those who had a history of understanding of the practice of Priesthood.     Why do I write on this, I believe that if we could catch our Image and Likeness, our identity, many challenges would pass and life would be lived very differently, its time to finally realise the goal of the Father in this.

A Favoured Person

Priests were chosen from among the tribe of Levi (one of the 12 tribes of Israel) to serve as mediators between God and His people. God told Aaron, the first high priest,

I myself have selected your fellow Levites from among the Israelites as a gift to you, dedicated to the Lord to do the work at the Tent of Meeting. But only you and your sons may serve as priests in connection with everything at the altar and inside the curtain. I am giving you the service of the priesthood as a gift. Anyone else who comes near the sanctuary must be put to death Num. 18:6-7

It was a tremendous privilege to serve as a priest in Israel—a gift. Priests enjoyed a special relationship to God: They alone could offer sacrifices; they alone had access to the holy portions of the tabernacle and the temple where God manifested His presence; they alone were the guardians of the Law.

Then, in the New Testament, all believers are called as priests. The book of Revelation says that Jesus “has made us his Kingdom and his priests who serve before God his Father” (1:6, 5:10, NLT). In a sense, when we are “born again,” we are born into a priesthood as if we were actually privileged descendants of Levi. In addition, with our new birth we receive an anointing, not with oil as Old Testament priests were anointed, but with the Holy Spirit (1 Jn. 2:20, 27). This anointing empowers us to serve God in this privileged and vitally important priestly role.

You won’t have to Kill a cow or a lamb.

Here are five ways we serve Christ as priests.

1. We offer sacrifices. Under the Old Covenant, priests offered animal sacrifices. They slaughtered a lamb on the altar every morning and evening, drained the animal’s blood, and sprinkled the blood on and around the altar. Then they cut the animal into prescribed portions and burned much of the meat (see Ex. 29:38-39). These costly and graphic sacrifices were a constant reminder of the deadly seriousness of sin and the need for cleansing and forgiveness from God. They were inadequate, however, to cover sins; they only pointed to the ultimate sacrifice.

This sacrifice was realised in Jesus who came as “the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world” (Jn. 1:29). The offering of His life on the cross was the final sacrifice. None other will ever be necessary: “He sacrificed for their sins once for all when he offered himself” (Heb. 7:27).

Because of Jesus’ sacrificial offering, priests no longer need to make animal sacrifices. But God does call us to sacrifice consider Romans 12:1 “I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship”.

As living sacrifices, we offer ourselves completely to God to use as He pleases.

In addition, instead of the aroma of a burnt offering, God longs for us to offer the pleasing aroma of praise: “Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name” (Heb. 13:15). This too is part of our priestly service.   I have mentioned in a number of places remember that worship was not singing but a life of obedience, worship was obedience and there to be a sweet aroma to God.    Singing has a place, it helps us express and confess, yet without obedience it is just a sing along, for the sake of enjoying the music or the celebrations of songs

2. We read, interpret, and proclaim God’s . One of the extraordinary blessings of the New Covenant is that we have direct and immediate access to the Word of God. This truth led Christian leaders such as John and Martin Luther to translate the Bible into everyday languages so all people—not just the clergy—could read it, interpret it, and delight in it. God calls all of us to be like the priest Ezra, who devoted himself to studying God’s , practicing it, and making it known (Ezra 7:10).

3. We intercede for others in prayer.    We also have direct access to God—through our relationship with him.   Developing and deepening our intimacy with him.,  Because of our close relationship with Jesus, the great high priest, we can “approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” (Heb. 4:16). At that throne, we believer-priests can serve others by interceding with God on their behalf.      God is still looking for those who will become the one ‘mankind’ who will stand in the gap, intercede and rule in the cosmos on his behalf.

4. We serve according to our giftedness. Not all priests will serve in the same way under this new priesthood. When God poured out His Spirit upon us, He gave us different abilities. God also has provided the church with a variety of gifted people (none of whom constitute a special order of priests) who encourage and prepare their fellow believer-priests to do the ministry. The Apostle Paul says that Christ has given gifts to the church “for the equipping of the saints for the work of service” (Eph. 4:12, NASB).     That the people of God transform the cosmos around by their empowering priesthood.

5. We mediate God’s presence to the world. Ultimately, we are channels of God’s blessing. One of our priestly sacrifices is to serve others: “Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased” (Heb. 13:16). We represent God’s presence to those living with us, those in line with us at the grocery store, serving us in restaurants, working next to us, or sitting across from us in our small groups. As we talk, pray, and live with them, we are fulfilling our priestly role as Peter described it:

1 Peter 2:9 “You are…a royal priesthood…[God’s] own purchased, special people, that you may set forth the wonderful deeds and display the virtues and perfections of Him Who called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.”

Knowing your true identity and role can have a powerful impact on your life. God has called you to a priestly position and has anointed you with His Spirit for this privileged assignment.

 

Freedom II

/ 'face2face' - Gareth Duffty / 1 Comment

In all our travels and connections, in all the meetings I have attended, I am thrilled to see how God is moving so many lives are transformed, thinking is being re wired and whole persons are being healed, we truly are in transformational times.    People  are maturing in every place, admittedly at different stages but maturing, little by little, big leaps towards growing up into God.

We find ourselves sitting with people from all walks of life, from lowly settings, from bush huts in small clearings, to large meetings with 1000’s of believers celebrating, to business men and women, giving advice and counsel to organizational heads, to CEO’s of huge companies as well as sitting with high level offices in world governments and royal palaces.    This gospel is amazing it reaches to all people in all spheres of life and breaks in with freedom.

Through the variety of places we visit we find that the large issues of life we find ourselves peeking into are quite similar, even when cultures are so different, people at heart level are the same, the same never mind where it is, or who it is with.   One of these issues, that can appear to be fleeting and sometimes even elusive to people is the issue of LIBERTY/ FREEDOM.    The desire for this freedom is high, we all know that freedom  belongs to us, it just a matter of where, how and  when, do we encounter it.     At every level and with every person we find the deep conviction that they should be free.

We often find that as we join churches, congregations, organizations and events that should be liberating that we are put into a straitjacket, and liberty and freedom is again curtailed.

A clear and recurring theme of Apostle Paul, spoken of in many ways is the cry or the shout of “Freedom“, Romans 8:14-19, 21, 28-39 Reminding us that all of creation is waiting for this liberty, the liberty of the sons of God to fill the world completely.

It is not only Pau that speaks of freedom but it is also in the red stuff, the red ink that is, it is a recurring theme in Jesus vocabulary John 8:31-32, 36.    It is there for it to become the recurring theme of our life as well

We are promised freedom, socially, politically and in our in attitudes.     Our world continually presses fantasies of freedom upon us:

Buy this….

Have this….

Use this….

Belong here….

Our experience however even with all the products available, is a world lacking in freedom, with all its promise it’s freedom it is fleeting and most people give in to living in lack, slavery, bondage and or boredom.

We have freedom of religion but it has not made us free – cults and other religions pressing enslaving superstitions continue to proliferate.    We meet only to be regularly inhibited, defensive, subjected, enough the world around us can say you are like this or that, they stereo type us and freedom passes by again.

In the middle of all this there are realities of freedom around us that are there to enable us to enjoy this freedom.   “God is free”.    He created the world in freedom and the people in it freely not out of need but in his own freedom, putting his freedom into all he created, all creation is an extension of him.    Creation came from within him, from that other place that is Him, from the unseen into the seen realm.     This creation has in its fabric freedom and liberty just like the creator.   I see it as the reason that creation Is waiting the reveling of the sons of God as they long for that very freedom given to us.    At the center of all is Jesus the free-est person that you would ever come across.     He was so free that he was able to declare “…I have overcome the world…” (John 16:33; 18) a chapter or two later we read how he stood chained during his arrest and yet was clearly able to clearly recreate for us what it looks like to be free, a overcomer, to the eye these chains certainly did not give the outward appearance of freedom!  But he was FREE!

The Holy Spirit is free, he is like “…the wind that blows where ever it wills…” this Holy Spirit produces freedom, liberty as once again the Spirit reproduces His nature.   When the Spirit leads me, when I live in faith, I live FREE – our testimony is this, when Christ is the center of my life vast FREEDOMS and surprising spontaneities begin to be seen.

When life becomes centered in my will, my freedom is diminished.

Our lives are to grow into the FREEDOM of the Kings Rule, of the Kingdom of Christ, as we pray your Kingdom, come freedom, come so I can be me!

How can I awaken your appetite, hunger and thirst for a free life?  This freedom found in Christ is a gift we can offer the world. Slogans, dogmas, great sayings and quotations don’t really do anything.

Discover freedom and receive it, as Paul “…took hold of that which had taken hold of him…” has this freedom taken hold of you?   Freedom is a gift; it is also a skill; a gift provided for us in Christ.   A skill that must be experienced and walked out by each person

Paul a specialist in the matters of freedom 28 times he talks about it and brings it to our attention in his writing, there are only 8 other mentions in the NT remainder books.   The book of Galatians brings us face to face with the freedom Paul has found and wants the whole community of God to participate with and be filled with.  A book aimed at restoring vigor and passion to a life of faith to confront the world with the free life of Christ.

I have heard it said that the tomb of the Egyptian Pharaoh Tutankhamen was filled with treasure, and people said “Wow that’s living”, contrast that with the empty tomb filled of the Christ of God filled with freedom – Jesus out of emptiness poured out a freedom to live, rather than leaving us lifeless gems that will disintegrate.

In the creation story of Genesis 1, God creates Freedom that is LIFE, the new testament tells us he gave us “…life and this life MORE ABUNDANTLY…” the story in Genesis 3 tells us that humanity chose death, which by its nature is bondage, but we have been delivered from this death to a new life of liberty, freedom. Romans 7:24 “who will deliver us from this death”

In order for the story of FREEDOM to be told we must begin with God (Genesis 1) we have been brought unto a FREEDOM TO LIVE.   Therefore LIVE.

We are to show men and women today the beginnings of the pathway that leads to freedom, that moves credibly and concretely into the freedom of God.   Have no doubt the goal of God is to unite such as heaven and earth, man and God in union Christ in us is the expression of the united life and this life is fully expressed by Freedom, becoming a measurement of a restored, redeemed world, the church of God producing that very freedom, in all people and creation.      Union with God is freedom for this is true liberty.

Leonardo Da Vinci when he sculptured great forms from large block of marble or stone would say he saw the from, the shape, the body, the person in each stone or marble his goal was to simple liberate the shape/person from that block, to bring form to the unshaped rough stone, bringing liberty to what he saw inside.   God did the same to you and me and we are to continue in the same vein, through our words, actions and sayings liberate and bring freedom to ALL that we touch every day.

Da Vinci showed again in the ceiling in the Sistine Chapel, the painting of the creation, in which humanity and God sits in the exactly same position, depicting that mankind is created in the image and likeness of God.   Looking behind the depiction of God he painted a shape that is somewhat like a human brain, in that mind are other faces, the first of a woman and many others, showing that God had humanity in his mind from the beginning.        The picture is there to display the liberation of a freedom group called mankind that would be his church bringing freedom to whom ever and where ever they go

Let me shout Freedom, Liberty into YOU!

Feel it, let it break you out; let your inner person arise…Freedom!

So what should I do?

Feel it.

Dream it.

Ask yourself what does your freedom look like?

Take pen write what it looks like, and then add a strategy to bring it about.

Ask yourself, what needs adding to you in order that you can experience this?

What needs removing in your life form around your life to launch it?

Start your life with it Now.

What will you notice if you begin to walk in Freedom, and liberty?

YOU ARE FREE DO NOT SUCCUMB TO SLAVERY AGAIN IT IS NOT THE HOLY SPIRITS WAY NEVER MIND HOW GOOD IT SOUNDS.