Martin Luther King Jr. once observed that "the only real revolutionary is a person who has nothing to lose" There is a truth to this. Those of us with too much invested in the way things are will never embrace the revolutionary cause required for whole-hearted change.
Think Mandela, Gandhi, and as mentioned Martin Luther King Jr.......
"Free from reliance on the system they sought to overthrow, they were liberated to dedicate themselves to their revolutionary cause.
The submission to the threshold of a cross is at the root of our following Jesus; it changes the game completely. Now discipleship is not about mere attendance in church meetings; it is about how we develop, mature, learn, and relate to God. It is about divesting oneself of allegiance to a religious system or institution and embracing the freedom of having nothing to lose. Much of who we are as Jesus's people will depend largely on the quality of our discipleship.
A church as Jesus defined it ought to be comprised of disciples and not just admirers, or it is hardly a church"
Extracts from 'The Faith of Leap' by Michael Frost and Alan Hirsch
Are we ready to 'take a walk on the wild side' as the song goes..? What are we truly reliant upon? How deeply is the Gospel imprinted on our own hearts, let alone upon our lips for others? Discipleship flows accidentally from lives that seek to walk intentionally by the Spirit. If you are a believer upon Christ that is great, but let us not allow a misplaced quest for security, convenience or a form of Godliness to become our raison d'etre, but rather Christ and Christ crucified, a life ravished by gratitude, revelling in and thankful for the Good News in which we stand! Found in Him. Watch what happens then!
Lets take a walk on he Wild side!
JS
Friday, July 29, 2011
Friday, July 22, 2011
My guess!
What would Paul have written to the 'church' in Dublin?
Dear believer in Dublin,
You are dearly loved by me and more so by our Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank God for you, for each one of you and remember you in my prayers. God sees all your good deeds, your perseverance, your faithfulness to the call in Dublin, your love one for another and stewardship of your lives. Most of all you are a people who love our Lord Jesus Christ.
I urge you though to remember the manner after which you first became a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ. You realised how far short you had fallen of deserving God’s grace and in many ways felt undeserving of the free gift of righteousness that has been bestowed upon you. You were undeserving, and in many ways still are, except that the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ has cleansed us from all unworthiness and imputed to us a righteousness that we get for free! Now live this second chance well and stop double guessing whether you are good enough, you are not of yourself, but in every way you are now as a New Person through the Grace and righteousness of our Lord and His finished work on the cross.
Amidst all the clamour of modern life in Dublin, and the vast number of opinions that the media, society and religious culture project all around you each day, I commend to you like never before to have ears to hear what the Holy Spirit would say unto you. Abide in the true vine and bear fruit to God. He is your Shepherd, your guide, you His church and Bride. I urge you specifically in this day to be reminded of the Gospel of our Lord and that the price paid for you was not just an entrance fee to get you to the party in Heaven but is also the daily bread by which you can grow up in Him and the bread that you break for others. We are no longer our own for Christ died for us to make us His own. So don’t believe those who tell you its all about you, and all about your every want, whim or convenience. Let me let you into a secret, its not! Don’t get me wrong here, our Father really is our Father! He loves to give good gifts to us His children, He sees the details of our lives and knows our prayers and heart cries before they even leave our lips! Its just that we can so easily make the focus and point all about us, often due to fears we may have or insecurities about our lives or our future. Remember that word of counsel that recalls the Father’s love for each one of us, ‘How great the Father’s love for us that we might be called children of God, and THAT is what we are!’ As children of GOD though, lets remember how we got to be His Sons, lets remember the price He paid for our adoption, the uncountable cost and suffering so that we could be counted His very own, and that is what we are. We say we are Christ-centered but what does that look like in our daily lives? Are we ravished by the Good News of His Grace or just trying to lead a life of virtue and principle? Are we living in an overflow of amazement for the Gospel and Kingdom in which we stand or just trying to survive another day in the race? Do we tell others about our Lord and their need for salvation? If not, are we ashamed of being different, of being considered a Jesus freak? May it never be so. Come back to where you first began, and pray that I too do so, come back to your first love. The Gospel is about Christ and His Kingdom not our every whim. Reject the lowest common denominator of SELF, and in this you too will find rest and your needs will be met in Him, by your Father in Heaven. Make Christ and His Glory your crowning glory. Make Him famous, seek His Kingdom first, and as our Lord taught us, He is indeed faithful to grant us all the ‘other things’ and to add them unto us.
Dear believer in Dublin,
You are dearly loved by me and more so by our Lord Jesus Christ.
I thank God for you, for each one of you and remember you in my prayers. God sees all your good deeds, your perseverance, your faithfulness to the call in Dublin, your love one for another and stewardship of your lives. Most of all you are a people who love our Lord Jesus Christ.
I urge you though to remember the manner after which you first became a follower of our Lord Jesus Christ. You realised how far short you had fallen of deserving God’s grace and in many ways felt undeserving of the free gift of righteousness that has been bestowed upon you. You were undeserving, and in many ways still are, except that the blood of our Lord Jesus Christ has cleansed us from all unworthiness and imputed to us a righteousness that we get for free! Now live this second chance well and stop double guessing whether you are good enough, you are not of yourself, but in every way you are now as a New Person through the Grace and righteousness of our Lord and His finished work on the cross.
Amidst all the clamour of modern life in Dublin, and the vast number of opinions that the media, society and religious culture project all around you each day, I commend to you like never before to have ears to hear what the Holy Spirit would say unto you. Abide in the true vine and bear fruit to God. He is your Shepherd, your guide, you His church and Bride. I urge you specifically in this day to be reminded of the Gospel of our Lord and that the price paid for you was not just an entrance fee to get you to the party in Heaven but is also the daily bread by which you can grow up in Him and the bread that you break for others. We are no longer our own for Christ died for us to make us His own. So don’t believe those who tell you its all about you, and all about your every want, whim or convenience. Let me let you into a secret, its not! Don’t get me wrong here, our Father really is our Father! He loves to give good gifts to us His children, He sees the details of our lives and knows our prayers and heart cries before they even leave our lips! Its just that we can so easily make the focus and point all about us, often due to fears we may have or insecurities about our lives or our future. Remember that word of counsel that recalls the Father’s love for each one of us, ‘How great the Father’s love for us that we might be called children of God, and THAT is what we are!’ As children of GOD though, lets remember how we got to be His Sons, lets remember the price He paid for our adoption, the uncountable cost and suffering so that we could be counted His very own, and that is what we are. We say we are Christ-centered but what does that look like in our daily lives? Are we ravished by the Good News of His Grace or just trying to lead a life of virtue and principle? Are we living in an overflow of amazement for the Gospel and Kingdom in which we stand or just trying to survive another day in the race? Do we tell others about our Lord and their need for salvation? If not, are we ashamed of being different, of being considered a Jesus freak? May it never be so. Come back to where you first began, and pray that I too do so, come back to your first love. The Gospel is about Christ and His Kingdom not our every whim. Reject the lowest common denominator of SELF, and in this you too will find rest and your needs will be met in Him, by your Father in Heaven. Make Christ and His Glory your crowning glory. Make Him famous, seek His Kingdom first, and as our Lord taught us, He is indeed faithful to grant us all the ‘other things’ and to add them unto us.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
The instinct of faith
23 By faith Moses’ parents hid him for three months after he was born, because they saw he was no ordinary child, and they were not afraid of the king’s edict. Hebrews 11v23
Did you ever feel like you had a gut feeling about how to deal with a situation but instead you did nothing in case you made wrong choices? Perhaps you only expect God to work in one way or another...?
Joseph's circuitous journey had allowed God time to cultivate a faith in Him that helped him see beyond his own lifetime. As such he made arrangements for his bones to be relocated along with the exodus of the Israelites that he knew 'by faith' would come to pass. Faith trusts and expects. Living by faith means preparing for what will come to pass! No ifs' or maybes'!
I come now to the remarkable verse highlighted above - verse 23. The plan of God that Joseph and the Patriarch's had foreseen began to accelerate under Moses. There is mention here however of a faith contribution that can so easily be overlooked in this whole episode of God's redemptive history. We can reflect momentarily that, as per Moses' parents, some lives and contributions of faith will only gain acknowledgement in Heaven. Moses' parents had faith in the most traumatic of situations. It seems that faith arose in the hearts of Moses' parents when they saw that there was something special about their child. We would I am certain all agree that all children are special and unique but this is not what seems to be implicitly referred to in this verse.
It seems that God gave Moses' parents faith that the little bundle in their hands had destiny upon His life. There is no mention though of a specific 'word' or 'prophecy' spoken over him, just an 'instinctive knowledge' that led to fear-defeating faith inspired actions.
Michael Eaton says this about this passage,
Moses' parents had an instinctive faith impulse.
Are you waiting for 'writing on the sky' when deep down you 'know' what you should do through 'instinctive faith'? If so, remember you have 'no ordinary destiny' as a child of the Living God. He will help you to understand the times and situations that you face and show you what you need to do.
JS
Did you ever feel like you had a gut feeling about how to deal with a situation but instead you did nothing in case you made wrong choices? Perhaps you only expect God to work in one way or another...?
Joseph's circuitous journey had allowed God time to cultivate a faith in Him that helped him see beyond his own lifetime. As such he made arrangements for his bones to be relocated along with the exodus of the Israelites that he knew 'by faith' would come to pass. Faith trusts and expects. Living by faith means preparing for what will come to pass! No ifs' or maybes'!
I come now to the remarkable verse highlighted above - verse 23. The plan of God that Joseph and the Patriarch's had foreseen began to accelerate under Moses. There is mention here however of a faith contribution that can so easily be overlooked in this whole episode of God's redemptive history. We can reflect momentarily that, as per Moses' parents, some lives and contributions of faith will only gain acknowledgement in Heaven. Moses' parents had faith in the most traumatic of situations. It seems that faith arose in the hearts of Moses' parents when they saw that there was something special about their child. We would I am certain all agree that all children are special and unique but this is not what seems to be implicitly referred to in this verse.
It seems that God gave Moses' parents faith that the little bundle in their hands had destiny upon His life. There is no mention though of a specific 'word' or 'prophecy' spoken over him, just an 'instinctive knowledge' that led to fear-defeating faith inspired actions.
Michael Eaton says this about this passage,
'This is a good example of the way in which faith is not so much based upon a specific word from God but on a kind of instinctive knowledge of what God's will is. They knew that there was something very special about this child. They knew the character of God was against child-murder. This was the kind of situation where they needed no special further word from God. Their faith was instinctive.'Is it possible that believers like you and I are nullifying the God instilled ability to take steps of faith in our lives because we are waiting for a 'neon sign' type of revelation before acting? Listen, I agree, 'Faith comes by hearing and hearing through the Word of God' however, are: the distilling of every Word we have heard in the course of our lives, the ongoing schooling and guidance of the Holy Spirit, maintaining 'faith and a good conscience' and the ability to interpret God's dealings in circumstances, any less important factors in our ability to walk and act by faith? Surely not.
Moses' parents had an instinctive faith impulse.
I believe that too often we outwit ourselves by over-reasoning situations when it would have been better to go with our gut reaction that is born of faithnot fear or the laws of probability. In outwitting ourselves we are robbed of the ability to act as people of faith who take appropriate actions at the appropriate times. The men of Issachar of old 'Understood the times and knew what to do' Our friends the Thomsons, in our home-group, highlighted this point shrewdly last week, rightly pointing out that a prophetic people not only can 'discern the times' but also know 'how to respond'. They understood the times but then also knew what to do!
This kind of instinctive working of faith empowers believers to make courageous choices that appeal to God on the basis of his known character.Moses' parents knew there was destiny on this boy and that somehow God would make a way where there was no way. God did. The result of this was the protection of a deliverer leader through whom God would emancipate a nation.
Are you waiting for 'writing on the sky' when deep down you 'know' what you should do through 'instinctive faith'? If so, remember you have 'no ordinary destiny' as a child of the Living God. He will help you to understand the times and situations that you face and show you what you need to do.
JS
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