Identity in Christ - 67 (Yoked with Christ)

In this passage, Jesus invokes the image of a yoke of oxen. The yoke is a wooden "collar" that a team of oxen wear while working.

A team of oxen can accomplish an extraordinary amount of work, when joined to together. Much more than two oxen separately. The trick is: they need to move and work together. A yoke is constructed so if one ox moves on its own, it twists the yoke, choking both oxen, and they both stop. To make any sort of progress, the oxen have to move together.

Jesus invites us to take his yoke. We are on one side; he is on the other. We are partners with Jesus. We move together with him. But he is the lead. He moves, and we need to move with him. As the lead, he teaches us how to work within the yoke. He a gentle and kind teacher.

He promises us rest as we work with him. The yoke is easy to wear, and all burdens easy to pull, because he pulls with us.

♦ God's Perspective

God's plan is to create a family, and the family will demonstrate his character, and proclaim his glory. He has a lot riding on that family. He has bound his reputation, his mission and the destiny of the world tightly to that family.

He wants their success. He wants fruit and growth. He has designed the destiny of his children, and he want each one to walk in it. He is willing to go to extreme lengths to assure that success. He is willing to walk with each one, sharing their loads, to ensure that success. He encourages each willing heart.

What he gets is: fear, sin, failure, and hard hearts. What he wants is a nation of priests and ambassadors. What he gets are televangelists.

NOTE: I am not against churches using television. I am against God's children living out their relationship with God through Christian celebrities. I am against God's children believing that sitting in front of their tV is sufficient to reveal God to them, and not prayer, his word, and meditation.

♦ Living My Life

We are yoked with Christ. We are a team. We are connected. We are directed, empowered and provisioned to complete God's mission, demonstrate God's glory. All while walking with him.

And it is really much more complicated. He is yoked with each individual. He is yoked with each local family of God. He is yoked to the entire family of God. It is like the way each cell of the human body is synchronized to the brain. Each cell is coordinated to achieving the overall purposes of the person directing the body. But it reduces down to each cell, each part, obeying its directives.

How do we walk in step with him> How do we walk "yoked" … knowing that getting out of step robs us of our strength, and cuts us off from life? Looking at modern day Christianity, with its many different directions, emphases, interpretations, bright lights and clamoring voices, is God's family not following him? Is he directing them in an almost insane manner? Or is it simply to complicated for us to see?

Scripture plainly promises that if we live in relationship with God, we will experience abundance: abundant life, abundant love, abundant joy, and abundant peace.

It is walking in this yoked arrangement that is the main step toward personal success in living, as well as growth for churches, for movements, and for God's kingdom.

So, the first step toward abundance is learning to detect and understand God's voice. And once it is detected and understood, to act on this information. Since, there are scores of books, lectures and YouTube videos about this subject, I will refrain from further comment. Except to underline, that this is the first step to bring God's life into the world. And it is the first step in establishing his kingdom.

All Things for Good - 2

It is in God’s heart, God’s intention and desire, that people experience good. Because of sin, that’s not always possible. Because of sin, and its fall-out, it sometimes seems like there is never any good.

Yet, Scripture says that no matter what happens, God moves in it, so good results. If something bad happens in a person’s life, God speaks into that area. God gives revelation concerning anything negative in our lives, and attaches that revelation onto the negative.

God intends the revelation to shift our thinking, our expectations, and our perspectives about the negative.

Part of this is God’s method of training us in spiritual discernment. As we grow in the Lord, we grow in seeing life the way he sees life. God is the ultimate definer of reality. He says what is true, and what is false. And part of growing in the Lord is agreeing with him.

If we agree with him, we speak the way he would speak, and we act the way he would act.

The first step in this upward spiral of positive effects is learning to listen to God first about any situation.

Even, when he speaks in correction, faith, hope, and encouragement should grow. If we are under the pile of condemnation, and discouragement, it is not God speaking. I am not suggesting that we will always like what God says. But God desire is that we move back toward him, not that we feel like an idiot. If we feel like an idiot, it is not God talking. Feeling like an idiot does not motivate me to get back on the horse. Our Father has designed us to ride. If we have fallen, our Father knows we need to climb back in the saddle.

Identity in Christ - 66 (Ambassadors for Christ)

After leaving the A's far behind, I discovered recently that we missed one.

An ambassador is an agent of one government, chosen to represent the government to another government.

An ambassador is a trusted, respected person, fully capable of communicating the heart and position of the government he/she serves. Fully capable of acting in a way that brings honor and favor to the government he/she serves.

♦ God's Perspective

We choose allegiance with god. We become a part of this family. We become a citizen in his kingdom. And he names us an "Ambassador at Large to the World."

We do not have a particular country or culture that we represent the kingdom to. We are representative wherever we are.

There are some who represent God to particular people groups. Usually, it is the people group around them.

We are trusted by God to represent him truthfully and accurately. We are trusted by God to demonstrate his motives, his desires, his habits, his practices, and his ways.

People know what God is like, by looking at Jesus. People should also be able to the same thing by looking at his ambassadors.

Yes, Jesus is going to do a much better job that we are. Yes, we are going to fail. There are children of God who keep sinning. There are some who keep sinning in the same area … for 30 years!

Do you suppose the Father does not realize that we are a bunch of air-heads? Has he ever revoked the office of ambassador from anyone?

He does not expect perfection. He expects truth, and reality. He expects growth. He expect the pursuit of his image, and maturity.

We expect these things too. But we tend to see them in terms of "following the rules" with less failure. Is the Father merely concerned with following the rules. Scripture says love automatically follows the rules. Maybe we need to focus less on the rules, and more on love. Scripture says God wants relationship with us. Maybe we need to focus more on being connected to him, listening to him, and being reliant on him.

♦ Living My Life

We are God's representative. We need to demonstrate who he is. We need to listen and carry out his instructions.

I do not mean to imply that obedience to the King is not necessary or important. However, some people assume that maintaining a particular standard of morality, or a particular set of Christian practices is enough. We can see through the life of Jesus that he went beyond the status quo. It was this following the heart of God, beyond what the religious authorities preached, that got him into trouble with them. But his Father was very pleased.

I do mean to suggest that our focus and emphasis might be slight skewed. Perhaps we do not emphasize love enough. Perhaps we are not alert for persons of peace enough.

"Person of peace" is a term Jesus coined for people who are open to learning the things of God. They were open to the point of extending hospitality. They wanted to include friends and family in the learning process. Jesus instructed his disciples to be watching for these people. Not only could their lives be affected by the gospel, but there could be a door into a family, or a community.

Ultimately, being God's ambassador in the world is living like Jesus in the world.

- Loving the world's rejects.

- Seeking to connect everyone to God.

- Creating a community of ambassadors.

- Creating a community of servants.

Identity in Christ - 65 (Called by His eXcellence)

Obviously worded so the original compiler of the list got an "X."

The passage says that, because we have given our allegiance to Jesus, because we have chosen to enter into relationship with the Father, the Father, in turn, has provided all we need to live, and all we need to live in a way that agrees with and honors him. He pumps the necessary fuels into our spirits to feed them. But more than merely survive, he gives them in abundance.

And he invites us to have relationship by showing us his glory and his excellence. His glory would indicate his transcendent qualities: power, knowledge, presence. His excellence indicates his moral qualities: purity, goodness, but also love, kindness, faithfulness.

It is hard for people to relate to God as transcendent. We cannot imagine omnipresence, omnipotence, or omniscience. We recognize them and understand them to a point. It is the moral qualities that we identify with. It is that part of God's image that he imprints human beings with. So, it is that part we understand best.

♦ God's Perspective

Scripture says that it is God's kindness that moves us to turn from following our path, and choose to follow his.

Fear does motivate a desire to follow the rules. People seek to avoid punishment. But fear does not motivate relationship. And God seeks relationship, not just keeping the rules.

God communicates honestly with us. We know the consequences of breaking his law. He also communicates that it is impossible for us to keep his law. So, he invites us to take the way of escape that he has provided.

But it is more than a way of escape. It is the way into relationship. It is opening the door into God's family room. We can enter, sit by the fire, eat popcorn and play "Settlers" with our Father. We can pursue meaning, purpose and the heart of God.

♦ Living My Life

Rather than areas to practice, I think this trait reveal more concerning God's heart toward us. God's purpose is to create a family. He created the first people in his family. And they said that knowing God and being in his family was not enough. Since, then, no person is born belonging to God's family.

God pursues people. He attempt to convince them to choose relationship with him, and, then, adopts them into his family.

There is a lot of discussion about God's methods of revealing himself and convincing people to follow him. Many people think they know a better way than God does.

First consideration: Jesus told a story where the punchline is – even if someone were to rise from the dead, and warn people about God's judgment, some people would listen, but many people would not.

Second consideration: The Bible says that god's method is God's people. People walk with him, live with him, and he reveals himself to them. They are transformed. They live in greater wisdom, emotional health, and balance, because they know the One who provides, feeding their hearts. People who have had relationship with Jesus for 50 years still do not have it together. There are some people who know Jesus for 1-2 years, who have it together more than the 50-year person, because the 2-year person depends on the Father who gives, and the 50-year person on the system of religion.

The family of God has gotten into the habit of trusting in the system, and the professional experts, rather than the Father.

Please don't misunderstand. God wants us to live in relationship with him … and his family. God uses our brothers and sisters to speak to us, to our hearts and lives. A community of open-hearted, living, obedient children of God facilitates and strengthens God moving in our hearts, as well as being a powerful weapon of drawing people into relationship with him.

But he is the expert and the source of heart renewal and transformation. He is the only One who can touch a person's spiritual DNA. Ultimately, reliance on a person, system, or tool leads us away from reliance on the Giver of life.

Again, please don't misunderstand. A few posts back, I mentioned that I practice a form of divina lectio. Divina lection was developed by Benedict in the 6^th century. It is a very old tool. Tools and systems can be very valuable in our spiritual growth. Other people can be very valuable as guides. At times, we cannot hear God clearly, because our circumstances, or the enemy, are screaming too loudly in our ears. Others can help clear away the confusion and distractions.

If a tool or system continues to help someone walk with God, by all means, he should continue to use it. But we cannot ultimately depend on a system, tool, or person, except the persons of the Father, Son, and Spirit. The trick is discerning when something is no longer profitable, and we need to move onto some other practice. And what that is.

Lives with Missing Pieces

People everywhere are facing missing pieces in their lives. The world is broken. There is an enemy who seeks our misery. People are not big enough, and make bad decisions. There are lots of reasons for these areas of lack.

The question is: what do we do about it?

For many, the lack becomes the thing. If I had the thing, life would be perfect.

            If I were married …

            If I had children …

            If I had that job …

            If my children did (or were like) …

Wants become needs. Good things become essentials.

Even those who know God fall into this – God is not enough. The very first sin was – God is not enough.

I do believe that God created people to need multiple spiritual fuels. But it is the relationship with our Father that activates all those fuels. If our focus is on the fuel, instead of the Activator, we are trusting the fuel to give life and meaning, instead of the Giver of the fuel.

For many people, it was the lack of moral perfection, or having no assurance of forgiveness or acceptance by God, that drove them to pursue God. For many, it was the lack of peace, meaning, or acceptance. God did not create the lacks. His world was perfect. There was nothing lacking. But God does continue to allow lacks, as a reminder of our need for him, and a nudge to pursue him.

We pursue independence and self-sufficiency. We pursue political and social perfection.

Guess what !! We are not going to get any of them !!

We need to pursue the only One who is sufficient, and who give all the fuels we need.

Identity in Christ - 64 (Workmanship)

Jesus died on the cross. He saved us from the results of sin: the penalty of separation from the source of life, and the misery of not fulfilling our design.

He was motivated by love and grace. We are his creation, planned and designed with great love and care. He demonstrated total wisdom in our creation, as well as our salvation.

I have read theory by a man who believes God spent considerable time in eternity past with the design of each person. He planned their personality, their gifts, their place in history, and the works and effects for good each one will have.

Sin disrupted this design. Some people never reconnect in relationship with their Father. Those who do take a large step in restoring God's intentions for their lives. They reconnect with the Source of life and meaning. They return to the correct path for fulfilling God's purposes for their lives.

◆ God's Perspective

The Father designed and created his children. I don't think Scripture says so specifically, but it is not too far-fetched to conclude that the Father is envisioned a perfect path for our lives. A person reaches a place of decision. Choice A leads towards to perfection. Choice B leads to imperfection.

Even without sin is perfection possible? People are not all-knowing. We cannot see the consequences of choosing B. Perhaps without sin, God is eternally present for the each one of us, and we are able to hear him clearly and plainly. Perhaps, he intended to be with us in each decision. "No, my son if you choose B, this and this will happen. Choose A. Things will work out better."

With sin, he is not present with us, and we cannot hear him. When we give him allegiance, he returns to be eternally present, but our spiritual ears are weak and ineffective from disuse. He is present and he continually speaks, but we are unable to hear him.

Our allegiance and his presence reestablishes our connection. Our ears get opened.  We can exercise our ears and learn to hear him better and better.

◆ Living My Life

We give Jesus our allegiance, and reconnect to Jesus and the Father. He desires moment by moment relationship and communication. He wants to say "Choose A," so that we can walk as close to his vision of perfection as possible. Our part is learning to hear him, and walking in what he says.

First, we need to be alive to the fact that he is always speaking. He wants us to hear. We have all lived a large portion of our lives with no expectation that God wants communication with us. So, we are not ready or aware when he does speak.

People often get intent on their own inner world, that they are unaware of other people speaking. We are equally oblivious to God. We need to develop habits of alertness and receptivity.

Second, we need to develop to discernment. People often confuse their own thoughts for God's thoughts, or the enemy's thoughts for God's thoughts.

Whatever God does, results in the fruits of God. Whatever God does, it is completed with the traits of love. Even when God correct our failures, or encourages transformation in patterns in our lives, love, joy, peace will be the fruit.

This doesn't mean we will be jumping with elation. However, the Father wants us to feel encouraged and hopeful when facing correction. The Father wants us to recognize that change will bring improved life and improved relationships. He wants us to be encouraged and confident when facing the need for change. 

The enemy wants no change, no improvement. He wants discouragement, dejection and depression. He wants to convince us to cease being open to God speaking, and God's life. He wants us to accept misery. To think, we will never fulfill our purpose and our place.

And sometimes. God speaks in correction, and the enemy interrupts. God will speak to the need and the area of change. The enemy will seek to hijack it for his purposes.

Become familiar with your Father's voice. Learn to be receptive and alert. Exercise your spiritual ears.

Identity in Christ - 63 (Victorious in Christ)

The passage refers to victory over sin and death.

When God created the world, the world was perfect: no sin, no death, no pain, no disease. When the first people choose to disobey the Father, sin entered the world, and with it, death, pain, and disease.

First, the laws of physical life were disrupted. I don't know how it worked, but it seems like there were "forces" that held back physical decay, and aging. Those "forces" we're somehow extinguished, or overcome. Now, aging, infirmity, and disease were free to act in the world.

Second, the laws of spiritual life were disrupted. Spiritual life is derived from a right relationship with God. All meaning, significance, purpose, joy, peace, and love take as their foundation, a right relationship with God. Sin breaks that relationship. All these things break, and crumble.

Life is not simply continued existence. Death is not simply a cessation. Life and death refer to qualities of existence. Life is a positive existence. Death is a negative existence. Life is derived from a relationship with the Source of life. Death results from being cut off from that Source.

So, Jesus died. It saved us from the penalty of condemnation. It saved us from experiencing death, that is, the loss of meaning, hope, purpose, love, and joy. It saved us, because it created a bridge to the Source of life. It gave us life, because it gave us the Source.

The enemy's goal is our death. Or, in other words, he seeks our misery. He wants to cut us off from life. If we stop seeking God, we stop seeking life. We settle for death.

We are vicgorious, because the enemy cannot cut us off from the Source of life. He cannot stop us from experiencing life. He cannot stop us from experiencing life as we were designed to live.

The best he can do is convince us to stop reaching out. Pretend that we are an slectric appliance. We were designed to toast, to mix, to perk, or to blend. To fulfil our design, we need to be connected to a source of electricity. And someone is trying to convince us to pull the plug, and cut the cord.

"That last smoothie you made was way too lumpy. You don't deserve to use any electricity. Disconnect. Forget what you were designed for."

◆ God's Perspective

God's heart is: people are designed to experience life. He designed us for life. We can only experience life when we are connected to him, whe  we are in relationship to him, when (to refer to a previous post) we join him in the dance.

God knows our failure. But, to be true to his nature and his purposes, he sent Jesus to the cross. And Jesus chose to go to the cross. The reason for the cross is not only his tremendous love for people (though, for that reason alone he would choose to act this way), he also needs to be true to his nature and purposes in creating a spiritual family to have relationship with him. For him to be true to himself, he needs (again, reference to previous post) to get everyone to join in the dance.

The enemy purposes to multiply misery and alienation. The Father purposes to multiply love and joy.

◆ Living My Life

We need to recognize that we have already won, because nothing can sta d in the way of our connecting with God and experiencing life. We can choose to move away from connection, relationship, and life. Or we can choose to move toward those things.

we do fail to embrace life as we should. The small amount of joy revealed in the world is a sure indicator of that. Yet, God works, leads, speaks, and encourages us to step further into the light, into his love.

I have previously mentioned some practices which some people believe should lead us toward him, and the life he desires us to live. A life characterized by transformation, but also characterized by joy. Perhaps we need to invent others. Perhaps we need to fine tune the ones we have.

The enemy attacks, disrupts, and distracts to diminish joy. So, joy is not constant. That doesn't mean we should stop pressing. Joy should flow from the Father / child relationship. If joy is not present, we are not connecting as we should. Or we are permitting interference. Joy (life) must be a natural result of relationship with God.

Don't feel guilty if this is not a picture of your experience. If it is a result of personal sin, then, by all means, repent. But most importantly, re-connect. Join in the dance. And don't be distracted by a lack of immediate results. Just continue to dance. Even the most accomplished dancers still stub their toes.

Identity in Christ - 62c (part of the Vine)

♦ God's Perspective

I recently read someone's description of the relationship of the Trinity. (The description was in Tim Keller's "Reason for God," but I think Keller was quoting someone else.)

In eternity past, each member of the Trinity focused 100% love and attention on each of the others and received 100% love and attention in return.

The picture used was a member of the Trinity circling another, showing love, focusing totally on the other. Then, he moved to the other. Then, he moved back. Meanwhile, the other two are pursuing the same thing.

The picture in my mind was three orbs of light three (suns) swirling around one another in a complicated, perfectly balanced pattern. There were no collisions, no near misses. Each sun urging each other in a perfect harmony. The writer called this "the dance of God.":

Now, imagine God wanted to share this dance. God designs and creates billions of living beings (imagine living sparks next to three suns) and invites them into the dance. Each created being swirling around the suns with love and attention. Then, they are swirling around the other created beings with love and attention. Giving to God. Giving to others. Receiving from God. Receiving from the others. 

The place of the greatest love and the greatest joy lies within the dance of God. The dance is a picture/metaphor of the relationship within the God-head. And God invites people into the dance, into the relationship, into the life of God.

The vine is another picture of people moving into the life and relationship of God. In this case, the emphasis is focused on the relationship being a resource of life and energy. It is the relationship that feeds. It is the relationship that triggers changes in the spiritual DNA. It is the relationship that gives life that can be transferred to others.

♦ Living My Life

The basic message here is to practice that which creates, strengthens, and improves one's connection to God.

People have written and taught all sorts of ways to achieve this. Benedict created the Rule to help the monks in his order live focused on Christ. People have followed Bible reading plans, participated in rituals developed in the Middle Ages, going on retreats, memorized large sections of the Bible, and engaged in various sorts of prayer. I myself seem to use a variety of "divina lectio," which is a combination of reading, meditation, and praying on / about / through Scripture. 

Some people hold that worship is the main way to foster and grow the connection. Groups has developed a common form, so that there was coordination and no confusion when they meet as a group.

Worship in the New Testament could be described as a heart and practice that acknowledges all of God (words, acts, nature, ways) and lives in surrender to him. This opens up a wide range of practices that could express true worship in a church. (I know a church that allows much freedom for personal expression. In that church,  there's a man who literally dances through the worship portion of the meeting. For this man, it is important to have open, transparent exuberance in his celebration of God's nature and work. And I'm sure God honors his honest and open devotion.)

But worship is not confined to the church meeting. If worship is a heart and practice that acknowledges all of God, and surrenders to him, then all of life should entail worship. Work, leisure, eating, sleeping, and interacting with other people should be worship

Therefore, worship encompasses a wide range of activity and emotion. Worship meetings do not have one form, or one setting. Personal times with God do not need to follow one pattern.

People find patterns or rhythms that work for them. They promote those patterns, other people adopt them, and they work for those other people. The expectation becomes that the pattern will work for all people. (Should all people be dancing through worship? On the other hand, maybe more people should be dancing?)

The Bible does prescribe certain practices, and I believe each one of God's family should follow these practices. But there are variations in how to pursue these practices. All of God's children should read the Bible regularly. That doesn't mean they should all use the same systematic reading plan. Maybe they should use no plans, but rather listen to the Father as to where they should read. Or maybe they should do both. In any case, it is important for each one to find their own pattern and rhythm. This pattern is our part in the dance of God. This pattern is our connection to life, health, wholeness and growth. Ignoring our place in the dance leads to experiencing a diminishing of life. Choosing to engage in the wrong pattern could result in poor nourishment. (NOTE: Still, any food is better than no food.)

Identity in Christ - 62b (part of the Vine)

Last week I ended with, "it all depends on the connection." So, what is this connection?

I sometimes use the term "heart focus." This is a relationship of our hearts with God's heart. But as I've said before, I regard the heart as a symbol of the inner life. So, the heart includes cognition, memory, imagination, motivation, attitudes and perspectives. The connection involves engaging all of one's inner life with God.

And, as the branch's connection to the vine is consistent, all the time, so our engagement with the Father should be consistent, all the time. One reason why Scripture says to pray continually. 

If we meet by prayer, the total focus total absorption, in proclaiming the wonders of God, thanksgiving for what he has done, honesty with our needs, our failures, and our pursuits, and discussion of our needs, wants, and concerns, we cannot possibly pray continually. We need to work, to eat, to sleep. We do need to engage in prayer of this sort. We simply are not capable physically of pursuing it 24 x 7 x 365. We need to have a practice, a habit of it both regularly and consistently. 

We need to engage with the Father in all the disciplines -- Bible reading, Bible meditation, worship, meeting with one another, fasting, service, waiting and watching, silence and solitude -- on a regular consistent basis. But the connection needs to happen moment by moment, second by second, heartbeat by heartbeat, thought by thought, This connection is something different than normal prayer. 

Brother Lawrence, a monk in the 15th century, practiced something someone called "practicing the presence of God." Essentially, this involves hundreds, if not thousands, of short prayers -- a phrase, one word -- directed towards God throughout the day. "Help me in this." "Give me wisdom." "Thanks." John Eldridge talks about check-ins. Short, perhaps even without words. "I'm here. I'm listening. Do you have something to say to me?"

There seems to be a spiritual law (the law of agreement?) that says what we focus our hearts on, what we agree with, we attract that "thing" and draw it to us.

So, we take all the parts of our inner life, and use them to engage with our Father. We read 

scripture. Analyze it. Memorize  it. Personalize it. Imagine how it should work in our circumstances. Ask God for understanding, or wisdom. Ask God to make it real, to change our motivation and perspective of the self, the world, people (both ones in God's family, and ones not in God's family) as a function of this truth. Apply it to relationships, God's mission, situations, and roles. Recognize that the Father and Jesus perfectly reflect this passage. See how this is expressed. Recognize that the Father seeks to build this in you. This is a part of your design. The Father responds to you, initiates with you based on your failures, based on your successes. He will speak to your emotions. He will speak to your understanding. He will encourage, rebuke and praise.

Then he will reboot the whole process. Review the same thing, so we see it differently, truly. He will peel off one layer, so we go deeper or move on to a completely different area.

In all this, he speaks. He interacts to build, to pour love and grace into our hearts. He works to maintain the connection our hearts because people live from their hearts.

Identity in Christ - 62a (part of the Vine)

Jesus introduced a metaphor about life in God: the grapevine. First, he identifies all the roles in the story. Jesus is the vine. The Father is the vine dresser, the gardener, or the farmer. God's family are the branches. The results are fruit. Grapes according to the story. Lives, conditions, and growth in real life.

(Again, the original compiler of this list worded this trait so there would be a "V" in the list. Otherwise, it would be included in the "B" section, under "Branches.")

I am seeing a need to include a lot of material in this post. Since, Jesus highlighted the roles, we should look at them. There is the process of producing fruit. There is my normal God's Perspective and practical applications. There will be definitely be more than one post. Perhaps several.

We will being the same way Jesus did.

♦ Roles

As a reminder, the God-head is trinity. Scripture says that the Father, Son and Spirit were all involved in creation. Each had a part. So, all have a part, or are active in, wherever one is mentioned. Father, Son and Spirit are active in each role.

The Father is a farmer. The farmer is the strategist for the vineyard. He evaluates the ground, the condition of the vine, and each branch. He works the ground and environment. He removes rocks, and other obstructions of the root system. He adds nutrients. He removes weeds, and other things that leech life from the branches. He prunes the vine. That is, he removes legitimate "growth" of the vine, but "growth" that does not add to the health, growth, and fruit. It is a part of the branch that detracts.

Jesus is the vine. He is the connection between the root (the gatherer\synthesizer of the nutrients) and the branches (the place fruit occurs). When Jesus died, he prepared a place for the branches to connect to the vine. When we gave our allegiance to Jesus, we\he initiated the connection process. Now, the Spirit maintains the connection. The Spirit continues the feeding process, fosters a flow of love and grace into the branches.

God's family are the branches. The branches are where God's "nutrients" — love and grace — meet the world. The branches are where the good God gives the worlds originates.

♦ Process

This will not be an exhaustive description. We will focus on the process in terms of the story,

Nutrients are collected\created in the root. Raw materials are drawn from the earth, which has been strategically developed by the farmer.

The nutrients are pumped from the root into the vine, into the branches. Unlike a real vine, the nutrients are tailor-made, individualized for each branch. The farmer and the vine have crafted a particular "cocktail" for each branch. The branch yields a particular effect, a particular fruit, into the world.

But it all depends on the connection. If the connection is inferior/blocked/broken, no nutrients can flow into the branch. It is the nutrients that enable the production of fruit. The nutrients enable the health and growth of the branch. The vine grabs onto the branch. The branch grabs onto the vine. It all depends on the connection.

Identity in Christ - 61 (United to Christ)

The passage begins as a warning. We become one with whatever we unite with. We unite with whatever we ficus our hearts on.

The focus of the human heart is not pure and unadulterated. It is a mixed bag. Human hearts are captured by many things: money, see, love, fun, school, success, popularity, family, career, hobbies, sports, etc.

That is not to say God's family cannot like, engage in, practice things not solely associated with God. God does command a diligent attention to family, making a living, and doing good. It is not wrong to have hobbies or play sports.

It is wrong for any of these  things to have first place in a person's heart. It is wrong for a person to define his\her identity by something other than the Father, and our relationship with him.

◆ God's Perspective

God commands a focus on others and other things. God command we give our hearts to him. So, our hearts are focused, united and one with him. God does not command the impossible. So, we are able to focus our hearts on him, and football, at the same time.

There is a focus of the heart that commands all other focuses. It affects, colors, and controls all other focuses. God designed people that a relationship with him would be that controlling focus. The problem is the first people chose to give their hearts to something else. And all people, there after, have "broken" hearts. Not hearts that are very sad; hearts that do not work as they should. The problem is not that a focus on football is wrong; the problem is that some people have football as their fundamental, controlling focus. Football defines their identity. Or something else defines their identity ... other than a relationship with the Creator.

So, now there is a cosmic war. The Father strives to reconnect with people. The Father strives to establish a relationship with people where he is the fundamental focus of the relationship. So, the relationship with him becomes the basis of identity.

◆ Living My Life

At some point in life, many people collide with Jesus. Jesus disrupts their lives. And they find themselves needing to choose. There is a fork in the road.

Sometimes people confront their moral failures, and their inability to make those failures right. Sometimes people confront a need they cannot fulfill, like love or peace. Sometimes people confront an existential reality, like evil, or a certainty that something exists outside of this physical existence. And they choose an alternate focus. In my case, and in many others, they chose Jesus. I am one who realized God existed. And if he existed, then he is the one who designed, created, and ruled the universe. And if he ruled the universe, then he ruled me. So, I needed to put myself into the correct role, the correct relationship.

Since then, I have learned about who God is, and what it means to walk with him. I have faced my moral failures, and my needs. And I have continued to unite with the Father and Jesus. He is not just King. He is Father, Friend, Teacher, and Counselor. He forgives, advises, helps, provides, reveals, loves, and encourages.

I have failed more than I have succeeded. But, now that I walk with him, neither success nor failure is his prime concern with me. Restoration, transformation, and new life are his prime concerns. And these occur most in life with him, united to him, with the right heart focus. There are practices that can enhance, promote, and facilitate a proper heart focus. But it is not the practices per se. It is how they teach the heart.

Identity in Christ - 60 (Triumphant)

Since, Rome was an empire, periodically, there was a campaign to extend the empire. If the campaign was successful, the general who was responsible took a "victory lap." That is, he was the head of a parade around the city of Rome. In the parade, besides the general, instead of floats and bands, the spoils of war were presented. There were prisoners, usually the leaders of the conquered people, and collection of the riches of the country, Riches being whatever was valued by that people: precious metals, gems, artifacts, or art. (Maybe, the prisoners were displayed, because they were honored or valued men.)

The Kingdom of heaven is locked a "to the death" war with the kingdom of the world and the enemy. The goals are different. (Restoration of God's kingdom. Reclaiming God's family.) The tactics are different. (Feeding people -- bodies, minds, and souls. Education. Healing -- bodies, minds, and souls.) The weapons are different. (Love. Prayer. Service. Proclamation.) Yet, it is still war.

The passage we are using says that Christ leads in victory. It is a picture of the Roman "victory lap." Jesus is the victorious general, marching in front. But what are the spoils of war? What are the objects of value being displayed behind him? The objects are not precious metals, stones, or art. The "objects" are people.

This war is over the hearts and minds of people. Each battle is over one person; each side fighting urgently to command the allegiance of that person.

◆ God's Perspective

When someone competes and wins a great athletic contest (the World Cup, the Super Bowl, the Olympics) millions of people watch and celebrate even though they did not exert one erg of energy in the competition.

Celebration seems to be a natural human response. (Instinct?) It occurs among all human peoples. People identify with positive achievements, and somehow claim a piece of them. It seems to be something that God has built into people. Celebration is a natural response.

And God is pointing out a reason for celebration, even though it has not happened yet. It the World Cup final. The game is in overage time, The score is 3-0, and your time is winning. It is the Super Bowl. The referee has called time out for the two minute warning, and your team is ahead by 3 scores. You can feel the celebration coming.

God commends celebration. We can celebrate God's ultimate victory. We can celebrate victory over each battle. (God's reclamation of another person. A step of restoration in each person's life.) We can celebrate our allegiance to the Father, and personal restoration.

◆ Living My Life

Life in Jesus is intended to be one long, never ending celebration. Positive things should be happening in our lives. Positive things should be happening in the lives of others. Positive things should be happening in the world.

When we look at the world, most people see only the evil, the setbacks, the failures, and the disasters. One of the results of life in God is joy. If our hearts are focused on God's presence in our lives, if our identity is founded on our relationship with the Father, joy becomes a normal state.

Too many of God's family focus their hearts on circumstances, and find their identity in something other than their relationship with the Father. Joy is lost. Is it any wonder the enemy seeks to capture -- if he is not already totally in control of -- the news media? Should we be surprised if he seeks similar control of social media?

Life is going to be filled with trouble, because of sin. Life is supposed to be love, joy, and peace. Life is supposed to be celebration. And life can be. It is why Scripture says we need to guard our hearts. We guard them by what fills them, what they are focused on.

As people live from their hearts -- fruit, growth, obedience are all products of what flows from the heart -- someone's connection with the Father takes on a greater level of significance and importance. And celebration (what, how, and how often) becomes indicators of the state of that connection.

NOTE:

There is a difference between the mission of God in the Super Bowl. In the Super Bowl, we can all celebrate the victory, but we cannot all participate in the victory. Participation belongs only to the players and coaches. In the mission of God, we can all celebrate and we can all participate. God's mission encompasses all of God's children. It is our allegiance, becoming God's child that puts us on the field.

How we participate is different. (Lineman. Receiver. Defense. Special teams.) Keep in mind:

(1) We are on the team.

(2) There are some skills everyone on the team should have.

(3) There is a special place for each of us.

(4) We choose to exercise our parts, to be on the team.

(5) Guard your hearts.

Identity in Christ- 59 (Temple)

Since the time of the Fall, people have sought a connection with the supernatural. Most often, since, they did not want it on God's terms, they sought it on their terms. So, they were not very successful as a result.

Quite often, people invented a pantheon of gods, and picked their favorites. And they sought to magnify their favorites.  So, they built temples to demonstrate to others how great the god they served was. (Of course, it also helped to keep that god on their side. "Look at this magnificent temple we built for you. You need to be good to us. Protect us. Feed us. Make us happy. Make us all rich.")

A temple is a monument to a god. Like any monument, it shows the worth and value of the object to which it is dedicated.

There is a temple being built for Jesus. It is not being built from wood, stone, steel, precious metals, or precious stones. It is being built from precious lives. If you have given your allegiance to Jesus, you are a part of his temple.

◆ God's Perspective

God is the creator of beauty, so it is not that he does not appreciate the wonders of the world.  I am sure that God no doubt delights in the Taj Mahal, the Haggia Sophia, Stonehenge  (Carhenge?) -- but his real delight is in the lives of his children.

It is in their lives that he sees real beauty. People were designed to live out their lives, demonstrating the nature of God. The person of Jesus, the traits of love, and the fruit of the Spirit all describe how people should be. So, as God restores his image in his children, his temple begins to grow, to become more beautiful,  to be more of a demonstration of God's nature.

It is not just one person, it is all of us. We were designed with painstaking patience, and exquisite care. We were shaped for just the niche we are placed in. Each stone has been designed to fit its niche perfectly. Each stone has been designed with the total structure in mind.

I am not saying we all fit perfectly now. We absolutely do not.  Sin has marred the stones. There are too many cracks, too many rough edges, and too many pieces chipped off.

God is restoring each stone, so it will fit perfectly within the temple, to  make it the most beautiful structure ever.

◆ Living My Life

A follower of Jesus has multiple emphases: 

    1. Relationship with the Father.

    2. Healing brokenness, and restoring his image.

    3. Filling the place where he puts us.

Each of these intermingle and interact. Connecting in relationship allows a flow of grace and love to fill our hearts, bringing healing. Healing allows us to express our purposes and identities in Christ, filling our places more fully. Filling our places requires moving over new ground, which requires greater connection to the Father,  which requires a greater relationship.

If we continued further,  we would no doubt find that each emphasis flows into the others. A breakdown in one area results in a breakdown in the other areas. An increase in one results in an increase in the others.

A follower of Jesus must pursue all of the areas.

There are different strategies of prayer, reading,  and meditation that affect our relationship.  We ought to follow what helps,  ignore what does not,  but be open to change.

We need to be alert and humble. No one is perfect,  and reproof for wrongs we do can come through a number of avenues: our connection with God, Scriptures, and other people ... those who follow God, and those who do not.

We need to be prepared to follow multiple paths that lead to growth. Some may require individual discipline. Some may require healing directly from God's hand.

We need to find our place.  Again, there are many different ways.  People have developed tests and surveys. Churches have positions and roles to fill. Or we may get an inspiration on our own.

We need to remember that we do not walk alone. We are part of a family,  a Kingdom. We are living stones,  intended to fit into a larger monument. Our relationship,  growth and place should fit into the overall purposes of God. They should also fit into the life of the local family of God we are aligned with. (And that local family ought to fit within God's overall purposes too.) There should be ones we partner with. But God intends that no child of his should walk alone.

As a final reminder, we are also in active partnership with the Father. He intends we all will receive support, direction, and encouragement from him. Each of us needs to recognize, receive, rely on, and respond to that voice in our hearts.

All of these steps are in active participation and cooperation with the Father to build his temple. We are his temple. We are fellow-builders of his temple.