Monday, October 23, 2017

Living Like Jesus (2)

Considering the ideas from the book I referred to, (remembering that I have not completed the book, but am in the section where they are analyzing the problem) there are several results that I think should be mentioned.

 

·         Each movement of God begins with a revelation of a truth. So, someone sees this truth with greater clarity. And often, someone believes that the practice of this truth should become the number one priority. The movement begins, as some move forward with this new revelation, and some decide that the status quo needs to be maintained.

 

God seeks to restore his family to its original design. Each successive revelation should further renew his design, and propel his people forward. It should position his people to complete his vision for the world. So, we need to remain true to the Father, and receive each revelation. It needs to be accepted, assimilated, and practiced.

 

·         But we cannot forget truth that is already revealed. Often, people get so enamored with the new revelation, they ignore what is in their foundation. All of God’s truth needs to be obeyed. All of God’s truth is an expression of God’s nature, and are steps toward completing his purposes.

 

And God has revealed his priorities. We must practice the new, the foundational, and be certain to keep God’s priorities.

 

·         No matter what movement, whether accepting the latest, greatest, or not, we need to remember:

1.     No one obeys God perfectly;

2.     God loves and accepts all of his children, equally, completely, and enthusiastically.

3.     Each one in God’s family must love and accept in each one in God’s family.

 

Living Like Jesus

I have started reading a book – big surprise I’m sure – whose basic premise is: if you are a follower of Jesus, what should your life look like? The writer’s answer to that question is: your life should look like Jesus.

Of course, one could say that any book, written from a Christian perspective, has that perspective in mind. I have said it here, more than once, that God’s purpose for each person is:
  • To give his allegiance to the Father, Son and Spirit;
  • To be united with God’s family;
  • To be restored to God’s original design for people. (Or, if you prefer, to be transformed into the image of Christ.) 
Father, Son and Spirit all have a vision of what each person’s life should be. And they are in perfect agreement. And they are correct.

There have been several movements of Christianity, since the death and resurrection of Jesus: Catholicism, the Reformation, Pentecostalism, Prosperity, Charismatic, Emergent. Each one had different views of spirituality, the church, practice, and lifestyle.

Cultural and social changes have also had affected how people view what it means to follow Jesus.

Do any of them understand what is in God’s heart? And follow it fully?

God seems to be in a process of revealing his heart. People grab onto this new revelation. Usually forming a theology, and a practice, that emphasize the new revelation. Perhaps over-emphasizing, so that following Jesus can get warped, and distorted.

We hope that each successive revelation pulls us close. The enemy pushes buttons to corrupt, and distort. The presence of sin also gives rise to corrupted versions of following Jesus.

The book intends to return to Jesus, re-examine his life, and example, in order to define what it really means to follow Jesus. But, even though the writer will no doubt high light some important, and valuable, areas, can any of us escape our pre-conceptions, assumptions, and habits? Culture covers a person with a coat that they don’t realize they are wearing.

We do need to take each lesson God gives us into account, incorporate it into our lifestyle, and we need to practice the whole. We need to accept each person’s unique design, and how each person fits into the whole. And we need to be open, and honest. We need to repent of any imbalance that distorts the image of Christ in us, and to the world.

Monday, October 16, 2017

Fourth Sign

In this case, the sign and the message are separated by a couple of days. Jesus and his disciples are out in the country, away from any villages. And they are being followed by a large crowd of people.

Jesus says, “The people are hungry. We need to feed them.” The disciples say, “We don’t have enough food. We don’t have enough money to buy enough food. And the only food we do have is this little boy’s lunch.”

So, Jesus borrows the little boy’s lunch, and feeds 15-20,000 people with it. Then, the disciples clean up afterward, and collect 20 times as much food in leftovers, as they started with.

The crowd starts thinking: “If we mad Jesus King, we wouldn’t have to work anymore.” Jesus, knowing his mission (which was not being king), sneaks away into the mountains, and eventually, takes a boat across a nearby lake.

The crowd wanders around looking for him, and, eventually, crosses the same lake. When they find Jesus, he begins his teaching.

He questions their motives. They did not understand the signs, their meaning, nor their significance. They are only looking for him, because their bellies are full.

They were short-sighted. Meeting their basic needs was important; but they were only focused on meeting their basic needs. They were not focused on their relationship with the Father.

God sent the Promised One to give people a way to re-connect, and re-establish a relationship with him. Jesus used a metaphor, comparing bread and allegiance with him. Coming to Jesus, giving allegiance to him, and choosing to follow him, results in receiving life from the God-head. He gives life, when we give allegiance, by satisfying the requirements of the Law, redeeming the person from Satan’s kingdom, and moving the person into God’s family.

He also gives life, when we follow him by providing necessary spiritual fuel. We have fellowship with the Father, who pours his love and grace into our hearts. (People need love.) We are joined to his family. (People need community.) And he enables us to live our purposes. (People need purpose. And, he uniquely made each person to fill a niche in the universe.)

Knowing Jesus is like eating bread, that provide nutrients no other food provides. Without this bread, we will eventually starve. With this bread, we live, but more, we thrive.

Thursday, October 05, 2017

Third Sign (2)

Scripture says that when receiving testimony about something, either an accusation, or a defense, we should not accept the testimony as true without verification of, at least, two others.

Jesus has proclaimed that he has a unique position, and relationship with the Father. And the Jews, listening to him, are thinking: “Who is this guy? And where does he come off talking like this?”

So, Jesus reviews with these Jews, who were trying to obey the Scriptures, testimony that confirms what he is saying.

The first to testify was John the Baptist. The leaders sent men to listen to John. And they asked John if he was the Promised One. And John said no. John said he came to prepare for the Promised One.

The second to testify was the Father himself. He testified by giving Jesus the authority to teach the way he did, and to perform miracles the way he did.

When people saw the blind see, the lame walk, and the dead rise, the only conclusion they could come to was that God sent Jesus, God gave favor to Jesus. And God does not favor those who rebel against him. The implication was: to heal on the Sabbath was not rebellion against God, and his Word.

And the Jewish leaders were not ready to accept that. So, since, they did not accept the one God had sent, the Promised One, in reality, they were the ones in rebellion again God.

Monday, October 02, 2017

Third Sign

With the third sign, things begin to change. Jesus finds a man, lying next to a pool with reputed healing properties. Jesus asks the man if he wants to be healed. The man says yes, but when the conditions in the pool are right for healing, he is unable to get in.

So, Jesus tells the man, that he will be healed, if he gets up, grabs the mat he is laying on, and goes home. The man believes Jesus, and does just that. And he is healed.

But there is one small problem. It is the Sabbath.

One of God’s commands is to remember the Sabbath, by separating it from the other days by not working. The Pharisees were big on following the Law as strictly, as completely, and as closely, as possible. So, for this Law, they spent a lot of time defining what work was. Was cooking to feed yourself work? Was feeding your animals work? How far could a person walk before it became work?

And carrying a mat on the Sabbath was work. And they had words with the man. And he told them that Jesus (the man who healed him) told him to carry the mat. So, now they wanted to have words with Jesus. And Jesus gave them a fairly extensive response.

He affirms his Sonship. That is, he affirms his relationship, connection, and fellowship, with the Father. Because of the living reality of the relationship, and their heart agreement, Jesus and the Father ac t together. Jesus acts in agreement with what the Father wants, and what the Father initiates.

All of God’s children have the same type of relationship with the Father. But Jesus has a unique relationship.

First, God has appointed Jesus as judge. God the Father is creator of all, and judge of all. Absolute authority is in his hands. And he has given that authority to judge to Jesus. Because Jesus lives in perfect agreement with the Father, his judgement is as just, and fair, as the Father’s.

Second, the Father has granted Jesus the power of salvation. If we accept the message God gives through Jesus, and trust God, we will never be condemned ,,, even though we deserve to be. Jesus has authority to give life to the dead.

Jesus announces his mission: to restore mankind by bringing people into God’s family, by creating new life in them – life that agrees with the Father and the Son – and by producing lifestyles that agree with that new life.

This was God’s plan from the beginning. But mankind chose, and continues to choose, to move away from the life that God designed. Even those in God’s family.

I sincerely believe that God’s children want to, and intend to, honor God. But often they mix human wisdom with God’s wisdom. The mix a human solution with God’s solution. The result is a caricature of Jesus, instead of a true picture of Jesus. It is this caricature that blurs God’s image, and hinders his purposes in  the world today. And returning to a true expression of God’s heart is not easy. We all hold fast to our particular understanding of what God wants, what is best, and what is the priority.

The Father continues to restore a correct perspective, a correct understanding, so that our lifestyles can represent him more truly. In part, this is what revivals are about. God’s family regains a quantum leap of restoration: in understanding God’s nature, in understanding God’s purpose, in understanding the role of God’s family, and motivation and passion to fulfill that role.