Ah..the joys of really reading scripture, receiving revelation and realizing how much man-twisting has been handed down over the decades, calling itself truth. I guess I am questioning everything I have been taught "religiously", because the more I learn about God's nature and His Word, the more I am convinced how utterly twisted conventional church has become. The one thing I do not question is my faith in Jesus Christ, His complete provisional sacrifice on the Cross that offers each one of us the precious gift of grace. He has indeed risen, sitting at the right hand of the Father and, thankfully, makes intercession for us. Oh, how I treasure His divine intercession for I am indeed not worthy! Only by His grace can I come before Him and have access to my Heavenly Father. Thank you, Jesus, my Saviour, for your grace, love and mercy!
God will reveal Himself, His true nature, to those who are seeking Him. I'm certainly not trying to suggest anyone isn't seeking the Lord but it does seem all to often Christian's take what they have been taught by men, by programs, agendas or the like as truth, instead of reading, meditating and soaking in the Word of God themselves, depending on the Holy Spirit to reveal His truth. The Bible tells us to "test the spirits" - test the messages you hear, do not accept them as fact if they fail to align totally with the Bible. You can't take one verse, dissect one sentence and build a faith on that. You either have to accept the entire Word of God as truth or reject it entirely. It is NOT a buffet bar, where you can choose which parts you agree with or those you dislike. God will not be mocked, He will share His glory with no man! It's all or nothing with Christ.
For years, I have heard one other verse misused, misrepresented and misquoted. This verse is Hebrews 4:16, "Let us come boldly before the throne of grace..." Now, if the entire verse was read, it would obvious what the entire context is meant to be. "Let us come boldly before the throne of grace, that we would obtain mercy and find grace to help in the time of need." And that is the King James version! So many times, I have heard others pray the beginning part of that verse and practically explode into a yelling frenzy when they reach the word "boldly". You know, like somehow this word mean you begin screaming your wish list out to God. Boldly does not mean loudly here. Additionally, the boldly part is clearly for the purpose of receiving the mercy, finding the grace we need, not for a platform to shout demands from.
So, I broke out the Strong's Concordance again to find the meaning behind this word "boldly". It's interesting to note that there I found a two part reference. It reads 3326+3954. If you have used a concordance before, then you might recognize the number reference to the original text. In this case, you have 2 separate words that mean the same thing. FREELY! Ah.. who the Son sets free is free in deed comes to mind here. (John 8:36). More on that word (freely) at a later time...
However, simply re-reading the "boldly" verse in NIV is an eye opener! "Let us approach the throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need." That word confidence is used here to describe the sufficiency of Christ's atonement for our sins. Without the Blood and His pure sacrifice, we could not even consider approaching the Father. It is within the Blood of the Lamb, Jesus Christ, God's Son, that we can find ourselves presentable to the Father. We have to believe that Christ paid the price, that His atonement is sufficient so that we can be full of belief and are confident in Him alone. It is not in our own effort or ability that we can approach the Father, it is solely out receiving the grace of God thru accepting Jesus Christ as our personal Saviour that we have any hope at all.
I am so tired of hearing preachers use the Hebrews scripture and "boldly" in a context of "we have arrived" or "we are all that, and a bag of chips". It must also break the Father's heart to hear us clanging around down on earth, parading around and flaunting our gifts, our position and our great speech in front of others. In fact, Jesus warned against this very thing - to NOT be like "the hypocrites". Matthew 6:5 talk about "those who love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the corners of the streets, that they may be seen by man." Did you know that another word there for "hypocrites" is defined as "pretenders"? How can we even fathom pretending before God?
It isn't the loud, ear tickling words of man that captures His attention. God notices brokenness, humility and meekness above all else. I believe that God looks favorably at His children who approach Him confident in Christ's sufficiency yet still humble enough to honor Him with reverence to Who He is. I love the way The Message puts it in Matthew 6:6, "Here's what I want you to do: Find a quiet, secluded place so you won't be tempted to role-play before God. Just be there as simply and honestly as you can manage. The focus will shift from you to God, and you will begin to sense His grace." Oh my...Jesus help me to come before You in this way!
I close with the rest of that scripture in Matthew, verses 7-13 from The Message. The last few verses is "The Lord's Prayer" in a way I've never seen before. All for Jesus!
"The world is full of so-called prayer warriors who are prayer-ignorant. They're full of formula's and programs and advice, peddling techniques for getting what you want from God. Don't fall for that nonsense. This is your Father you are dealing with, and He knows better than you what you need. With a God like this loving you, you can pray very simply. Like this:
Our Father, in Heaven, reveal who You are.
Set the world right.
Do what's best - as above, so below.
Keep us alive with three square meals.
Keep us forgiven with you and forgiving others.
Keep us safe from ourselves and the devil.
You're in charge!
You can do anything You want!
You're ablaze in beauty!
Yes. Yes. Yes.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Whose order is it anyway?
There have been a few things on my heart lately. Both apply to very "popular" scriptures that, when read in the original text of Greek and/or Hebrew, have been quite misquoted, misrepresented and, at times, misused directly to twist things into a man-pleasing event we sometimes call 'church'.
Order - the word in itself evokes a type of control to my own mind. When this happens, I find myself searching the Word of God for meaning in its truest form. So many times I have heard 1 Corinthians 14:40 quoted and honestly, I have only recently delved into its real form and meaning. This, of course, may surprise you and perhaps even a offend a few more but I pray you seek out the scriptures for yourself. It would never be my intent to offend anyone but I also realize many people choose to take offense when truth is revealed and its upsets their comfort zones.
The verse reads, "Let all things be done decently and in order." Here Paul is talking to Christians in Corinth about orderly worship. To go into other sections of chapter 14 would require many, many other posts so I will try to stay on task here. One must understand how worship services were conducted back then to really grasp the full context and meaning of this part of scripture. It was common that the men and women of the church did not sit together. It was more like men on one side, women on the other. There were times when the women might shout across the room to their spouses and question the teachings right in the middle of things! This alone prompted Paul to instruct the women in the church at Corinth to "remain silent in the church" and to "inquire of their husbands at home". Again, another misquoted verse over the years when religious doctrine says this means women cannot preach, teach, etc. Thank you for the freedom you gave us, Jesus!
The word "order" has many definitions in Webster's Dictionary. The first one reads "social position; rank in the community" then onto "a state of peace and serenity; observance of the law". Wow! Isn't it the law that Jesus set us free from? Hmm...I am thinking this next one is what most doctrine feels works the best for them: "the sequence of arrangement of things or events; series; succession". Oh the scary part of it all! You see, the way God operates is very different to the system of the world. His ways are higher, His thoughts are higher (Isaiah 55:8-9), higher than any fleshly idea we can muster.
So, I am readying myself now for going to the Strong's Concordance in this verse, 1 Corinthians 14:40 and the word "order". In the Greek, this word is "taxis" and is a noun, not a verb, not an adverb, as we commonly refer to what order means. We have been taught order is a series of pre-planned events lined out by the Pastor as to how things are going to go in the service we are attending. I cannot help but question where is God allowed to function as Himself here? Order is a tangible thing rather than a descriptive term or word of action. In this verse it is describing the "nature" of God. OK, my spiritual eyeballs are like popping opening as I am reading this! Let everything be done decently and in the nature of God. A whole new meaning unfolds before me and, I must confess, HAVE to look into what is considered decently!
Back to Webster's...surprisingly, the first definition of this word "decent" brings almost an identical term in part of the Strong's concordance, which is "proper and fittingly". It goes on to list further meanings as "not immodest; not obscene" but the humdinger is this one: "conforming to approved social standards". WHOA! This is what we are trying to contain God in? A box designed according to what man believes conforms to an approved social standard?!? I think we need to re-think our doctrine, if this is what we are using! God cannot be contained and He cannot be controlled, He won't be. It is not in His nature to conform to the standards of man, indeed quite the opposite is required. We must conform to His standard, His way of living. We are created in His image, not our own.
Fittingly - I love this word! Fittingly is "applied to that which accords harmoniously with the character, spirit or tone of something". Decently literally means "honestly". The Greek word is "euschemonos" and is used in the original text as an adverb, or a term used to described something.
OK, so now I am going, "God! What are trying to say here?!?Why have we missed this intricate detail of Your character?" The reply I received from Him, within my spirit was this,"Let everything be done honestly and according to My nature." Yes, fittingly is it! Everything being done harmoniously with the character of God! OK, so now I get it but what do I do with this? It literally throws out the door the pre-printed bulletins, the song list, even the message from the preacher when we are not sensitive to what God wants to do at that very moment. When was the last time a church service was interrupted by the Holy Spirit? When was the last time worship lasted an entire service, perhaps only dwelling on one song? When was the last time Christian's gathered together and just ministered unto the Lord, rather than seeking our 'fix" for the week? When was the last time we took off the man-made handcuffs and unleashed God's manifest presence just by wanting to be with Him?
This opens up more questions I have for God. "God, what is Your character? What is it to be harmonious with Your nature?" I want to be like Him in being the creation He designed me to be. He created me in His image, in His likeness and I am so far from that. Oh, Jesus, help me! My heart's desire is to be in harmony with You, to be like Your nature, to be that "little Christ" that Christian's are called to be. Show me, Lord! Purge me, Lord, of things not in Your nature. Oh, Jesus, I am undone!
Order - the word in itself evokes a type of control to my own mind. When this happens, I find myself searching the Word of God for meaning in its truest form. So many times I have heard 1 Corinthians 14:40 quoted and honestly, I have only recently delved into its real form and meaning. This, of course, may surprise you and perhaps even a offend a few more but I pray you seek out the scriptures for yourself. It would never be my intent to offend anyone but I also realize many people choose to take offense when truth is revealed and its upsets their comfort zones.
The verse reads, "Let all things be done decently and in order." Here Paul is talking to Christians in Corinth about orderly worship. To go into other sections of chapter 14 would require many, many other posts so I will try to stay on task here. One must understand how worship services were conducted back then to really grasp the full context and meaning of this part of scripture. It was common that the men and women of the church did not sit together. It was more like men on one side, women on the other. There were times when the women might shout across the room to their spouses and question the teachings right in the middle of things! This alone prompted Paul to instruct the women in the church at Corinth to "remain silent in the church" and to "inquire of their husbands at home". Again, another misquoted verse over the years when religious doctrine says this means women cannot preach, teach, etc. Thank you for the freedom you gave us, Jesus!
The word "order" has many definitions in Webster's Dictionary. The first one reads "social position; rank in the community" then onto "a state of peace and serenity; observance of the law". Wow! Isn't it the law that Jesus set us free from? Hmm...I am thinking this next one is what most doctrine feels works the best for them: "the sequence of arrangement of things or events; series; succession". Oh the scary part of it all! You see, the way God operates is very different to the system of the world. His ways are higher, His thoughts are higher (Isaiah 55:8-9), higher than any fleshly idea we can muster.
So, I am readying myself now for going to the Strong's Concordance in this verse, 1 Corinthians 14:40 and the word "order". In the Greek, this word is "taxis" and is a noun, not a verb, not an adverb, as we commonly refer to what order means. We have been taught order is a series of pre-planned events lined out by the Pastor as to how things are going to go in the service we are attending. I cannot help but question where is God allowed to function as Himself here? Order is a tangible thing rather than a descriptive term or word of action. In this verse it is describing the "nature" of God. OK, my spiritual eyeballs are like popping opening as I am reading this! Let everything be done decently and in the nature of God. A whole new meaning unfolds before me and, I must confess, HAVE to look into what is considered decently!
Back to Webster's...surprisingly, the first definition of this word "decent" brings almost an identical term in part of the Strong's concordance, which is "proper and fittingly". It goes on to list further meanings as "not immodest; not obscene" but the humdinger is this one: "conforming to approved social standards". WHOA! This is what we are trying to contain God in? A box designed according to what man believes conforms to an approved social standard?!? I think we need to re-think our doctrine, if this is what we are using! God cannot be contained and He cannot be controlled, He won't be. It is not in His nature to conform to the standards of man, indeed quite the opposite is required. We must conform to His standard, His way of living. We are created in His image, not our own.
Fittingly - I love this word! Fittingly is "applied to that which accords harmoniously with the character, spirit or tone of something". Decently literally means "honestly". The Greek word is "euschemonos" and is used in the original text as an adverb, or a term used to described something.
OK, so now I am going, "God! What are trying to say here?!?Why have we missed this intricate detail of Your character?" The reply I received from Him, within my spirit was this,"Let everything be done honestly and according to My nature." Yes, fittingly is it! Everything being done harmoniously with the character of God! OK, so now I get it but what do I do with this? It literally throws out the door the pre-printed bulletins, the song list, even the message from the preacher when we are not sensitive to what God wants to do at that very moment. When was the last time a church service was interrupted by the Holy Spirit? When was the last time worship lasted an entire service, perhaps only dwelling on one song? When was the last time Christian's gathered together and just ministered unto the Lord, rather than seeking our 'fix" for the week? When was the last time we took off the man-made handcuffs and unleashed God's manifest presence just by wanting to be with Him?
This opens up more questions I have for God. "God, what is Your character? What is it to be harmonious with Your nature?" I want to be like Him in being the creation He designed me to be. He created me in His image, in His likeness and I am so far from that. Oh, Jesus, help me! My heart's desire is to be in harmony with You, to be like Your nature, to be that "little Christ" that Christian's are called to be. Show me, Lord! Purge me, Lord, of things not in Your nature. Oh, Jesus, I am undone!
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Entering into Intimacy with Jesus...
Intimacy - that word has remained fresh within my spirit for some time now. I can't seem to escape it. The Lord keeps drawing me to a deeper level with Him and, honestly, it kinda scares me. I'm not talking about a fearful-being-afraid fear and really not even a reverential type of fear (although healthy doses of this is a must-have at all times). The fear I describe is really one of the unknown - you know, the times where you KNOW you are supposed to do something yet you cannot see beyond the 'right now', much less the outcome of your obedience but yet you are so drawn to this level of deepness in the Lord, you can't help but obey.
Oswald Chambers once wrote something about being obedient to the Lord and how that, when you are obedient to Jesus, it really doesn't cost you anything when done in the right heart. That heart, of course, is one of sheer love for God! Chambers goes on to say how your obedience to the Lord, done in love for Him, may well prove costly to those around you. I find this interesting in that Jesus spoke clearly about the costs of true discipleship. Luke 14:25-34 is so eye opening! Looking at verses 25-27,"ONE DAY WHEN LARGE GROUPS OF PEOPLE WERE WALKING ALONG WITH HIM, JESUS TURNED AND TOLD THEM, 'ANYONE WHO COMES TO ME BUT REFUSES TO LET GO OF FATHER, MOTHER, SPOUSE CHILDREN, BROTHERS, SISTERS - YES, EVEN ONE'S OWN SELF - CAN'T BE MY DISCIPLE. ANYONE WHO WON'T SHOULDER HIS OWN CROSS AND FOLLOW BEHIND ME CAN'T BE MY DISCIPLE."
Your love walk with Jesus may indeed cost you relationships with those closest to you, But as verse 33 reads, "BUT IF YOU'RE NOT WILLING TO TAKE WHAT IS DEAREST TO YOU, WHETHER PLANS OR PEOPLE, AND KISS IT GOODBYE, YOU CAN'T BE MY DISCIPLE." I also noticed the part in verse 27 about following BEHIND Jesus. If He isn't in the lead, we are walking in self once again. Discipleship is a training process...learning to follow the leader, Jesus. I don't want to be one of those folks who were merely following Him, walking along with the crowd. I want to be on the hem of His garment, even walking in His footsteps, with an echoing heart of "Yes, Lord".
Learning to be intimate with Christ is weird. I say this honestly because I can't think of another word! It's a foreign thing, something unfamiliar to me naturally. My flesh fears rejection but my spirit knows better. I cry out to Him in reckless abandon, not worrying about my mascara running or how my eyes get all red and puffy after tears not even worrying about my nose getting all snotty and stuffed up to the point of not even sounding like myself anymore. And perhaps, than might be the point anyway...giving up any and all claim to my-SELF and instead seeking His heart to replace my own.
Back to the intimacy part...the word intimate reflects a willingness of oneself to reveal secrets, dreams, your past, your present and your future; bring out the inner most part of yourself and revealing it to someone else. Without trust, this is difficult, if not impossible. And then, that feeling of vulnerability, an inadequacy of sorts. I recall the book titled, "Naked and Not Ashamed" that TD Jakes wrote many years ago. The title itself is worth a thousand words. That stripping away of all the falsehoods and all the distance we keep between ourselves and the heart of God has to go. God longs for our fellowship. He is our Daddy, our Heavenly Father, who desires relationship with us. I think He grows weary of the arms length distance we keep Him from our hearts.
Oh, make no mistake God knows us, He knows our hearts and He is not fooled by words from our mouths instead of truth from our hearts. I think what He wants from us is that willingness of each person to reveal themselves to the Father. All the good, the bad, the ugly - He already knows its there but to take than step in willing revelation of our hearts to Him, captures His attention! Purity is found in the only motivation being that of self-sacrifice, throwing it all out there for Him to love anyway.
I close with this scripture from Isaiah 66:1-2 (the Message Bible) "GOD'S MESSAGE: HEAVEN'S MY THRONE, EARTH IS MY FOOTSTOOL. WHAT SORT OF HOUSE COULD YOU BUILD FOR ME? WHAT HOLIDAY SPOT RESERVE FOR ME? I MADE ALL THIS! I OWN THIS! GOD'S DECREE. BUT THERE IS SOMETHING I'M LOOKING FOR: A PERSON SIMPLE AND PLAIN, REVERENTLY RESPONSIVE TO WHAT I SAY."
Oh, Jesus, make it my heart cry today!
Oswald Chambers once wrote something about being obedient to the Lord and how that, when you are obedient to Jesus, it really doesn't cost you anything when done in the right heart. That heart, of course, is one of sheer love for God! Chambers goes on to say how your obedience to the Lord, done in love for Him, may well prove costly to those around you. I find this interesting in that Jesus spoke clearly about the costs of true discipleship. Luke 14:25-34 is so eye opening! Looking at verses 25-27,"ONE DAY WHEN LARGE GROUPS OF PEOPLE WERE WALKING ALONG WITH HIM, JESUS TURNED AND TOLD THEM, 'ANYONE WHO COMES TO ME BUT REFUSES TO LET GO OF FATHER, MOTHER, SPOUSE CHILDREN, BROTHERS, SISTERS - YES, EVEN ONE'S OWN SELF - CAN'T BE MY DISCIPLE. ANYONE WHO WON'T SHOULDER HIS OWN CROSS AND FOLLOW BEHIND ME CAN'T BE MY DISCIPLE."
Your love walk with Jesus may indeed cost you relationships with those closest to you, But as verse 33 reads, "BUT IF YOU'RE NOT WILLING TO TAKE WHAT IS DEAREST TO YOU, WHETHER PLANS OR PEOPLE, AND KISS IT GOODBYE, YOU CAN'T BE MY DISCIPLE." I also noticed the part in verse 27 about following BEHIND Jesus. If He isn't in the lead, we are walking in self once again. Discipleship is a training process...learning to follow the leader, Jesus. I don't want to be one of those folks who were merely following Him, walking along with the crowd. I want to be on the hem of His garment, even walking in His footsteps, with an echoing heart of "Yes, Lord".
Learning to be intimate with Christ is weird. I say this honestly because I can't think of another word! It's a foreign thing, something unfamiliar to me naturally. My flesh fears rejection but my spirit knows better. I cry out to Him in reckless abandon, not worrying about my mascara running or how my eyes get all red and puffy after tears not even worrying about my nose getting all snotty and stuffed up to the point of not even sounding like myself anymore. And perhaps, than might be the point anyway...giving up any and all claim to my-SELF and instead seeking His heart to replace my own.
Back to the intimacy part...the word intimate reflects a willingness of oneself to reveal secrets, dreams, your past, your present and your future; bring out the inner most part of yourself and revealing it to someone else. Without trust, this is difficult, if not impossible. And then, that feeling of vulnerability, an inadequacy of sorts. I recall the book titled, "Naked and Not Ashamed" that TD Jakes wrote many years ago. The title itself is worth a thousand words. That stripping away of all the falsehoods and all the distance we keep between ourselves and the heart of God has to go. God longs for our fellowship. He is our Daddy, our Heavenly Father, who desires relationship with us. I think He grows weary of the arms length distance we keep Him from our hearts.
Oh, make no mistake God knows us, He knows our hearts and He is not fooled by words from our mouths instead of truth from our hearts. I think what He wants from us is that willingness of each person to reveal themselves to the Father. All the good, the bad, the ugly - He already knows its there but to take than step in willing revelation of our hearts to Him, captures His attention! Purity is found in the only motivation being that of self-sacrifice, throwing it all out there for Him to love anyway.
I close with this scripture from Isaiah 66:1-2 (the Message Bible) "GOD'S MESSAGE: HEAVEN'S MY THRONE, EARTH IS MY FOOTSTOOL. WHAT SORT OF HOUSE COULD YOU BUILD FOR ME? WHAT HOLIDAY SPOT RESERVE FOR ME? I MADE ALL THIS! I OWN THIS! GOD'S DECREE. BUT THERE IS SOMETHING I'M LOOKING FOR: A PERSON SIMPLE AND PLAIN, REVERENTLY RESPONSIVE TO WHAT I SAY."
Oh, Jesus, make it my heart cry today!
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