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.

Identity in Christ - 58 (Sent Ones)

After Jesus rose from the dead, he walked with his apostles for 40 days. First, they needed to get used to the fact that he rose from the dead. Second, ne needed to make sure the apostles understood his last instructions.

Jesus came to demonstrate his Father's nature to people, to be an example of how to live, to invite people to enter into relationship with his Father,  and to restore his family.

Now, this mission falls to his family.  He sends his family into the world.

◆ God's Perspective

When we chose to follow Jesus, we chose to walk in relationship with the Father. We chose to become part of his family. We chose to become a member of his kingdom. And the Kingdom of Heaven is at war with the kingdom of the world.  All the members of the Kingdom of God are soldiers. All the soldiers of the Kingdom of God are part of an invasion of the kingdom of the world.

It is an invasion, because God seeks to replace the kingdom of the world with his Kingdom.

Of course, it is not a normal war. There are no guns, no bombs, no tanks. The weapons we wield as soldiers of Christ are: love, prayer, faith, grace, and the message of Jesus. Those who are "conquered" receive grace, God's love, sonship, forgiveness,  and life.

We wage war by living as much like Jesus as possible.

The word "apostle" is derived from a word in the original language meaning "sent one." The word "mssionary" is derived from a word in another language meaning "sent one."

We are all sent ones. We are all apostles. We are all missionaries. We are sent from the Kingdom of God into the kingdom of the world. We are sent to live like Jesus in the world. We should act like Jesus, follow his pattern and lifestyle,  and proclaim his message.

Some of us will be missionaries thousands of miles away from the p.aces we were born. Others will be missionaries in our home towns. But no matter where we are, we are missionaries in the places we are in.

◆ Living My Life

As we are soldiers invading the enemy's kingdom, we ought to be prepared for this warfare. However, like physical armies, the soldiers in God's army have different roles. But they also have some of the same training.

1. We ought to be able to give an explanation of Jesus' message.

There are many methods developed for this. Each has different strengths and weaknesses.  And I do not have any particular recommendation, one over another. But, as Jesus followers,  we ought to be able to use one.

And we ought to be wise enough to realize that no conversation will follow the pattern of our tool. Those we speak with will bring in their experiences, problems and objections. They will feel the need to debate, rather than discuss. (Note the difference.) Seeing all problems as nails, and the gospel as a magic hammer, will move no one closer to Jesus.

Jesus met people at their point of need, at their place in life and experience, and applied the gospel to that point. We need to learn to do the same.

2. We need to have our hearts around the world.

Most of us will never go to the ends of the earth.  Our part of the invasion will be waged from our front porch and living room, into our home town. However, our Father's heart is not only in our lives homes, our neighborhoods and local taverns. It is also 10,000 miles away with peoples of different languages, cultures, and circumstances.

Our hearts should be like the Father's heart.

3. We need to remember to use our greatest weapon.

Our greatest weapon is God himself. The Holy Spirit.  Although, we cannot command him, as if he were a tool on our utility belts, we can appeal to him. We can connect with him, focus our hearts, and appeal for him to act.  I do not fully understand the ways of prayer. Why do we need to invite the Father to act on behalf of people he loves, people for whom he is chomping at he bit to act for?  But when we pray, a door seems to open in the spiritual realm. A door our Father seems eager to jump through, and act in ways that bring his presence into whatever situation is on the other side of the threshold.

We need to find ways to invite God's presence into our homes, neighborhoods, and towns. We need to find ways to invite God's presence into homes10,000 miles away. We need to find ways to apply the gospel to people's lives -- in demonstrating God's nature, in love and service, in proclaiming Jesus' message.

Identity in Christ - 57 (Sealed)

A seal is a mark of ownership or security. It is like a sign that reads "This is private property. No trespassing allowed. This property is protected by Acme Security. They have motion detectors, electrified fences, armed guards, a pack of angry dogs, and a flock of specially trained pigeons."

We are marked with God's seal. It indicates we are his property. It indicates his concern that we remain his property.

The Father has paid the very high price of his Son to bring us back into his family. He seals us to ensure his moment by moment,  100%, focused attention to our needs, our growth, our place in his family,  his kingdom,  his mission,  and his purposes.

◆ God's Perspective

Some people act as if God is totally indifferent to people.

    - He designed people before the creation of the world.

    - He campaigned to win people back after the Fall.

    - He labors diligently to get his plan back on track, by his renovation project in our lives.

    - He imprints us with all these identities.

We should notice that the mark of ownership IS the owner. It is the Holy Spirit (the person of God himself) who marks us as God's possession.  God does not just hang a sign around our necks. He stands next to us with his hand on our shoulder,  yelling "Hey! Heads up! This is mine! Y'all take care with what's mine!"

At the lowest level, he is demonstrating how serious he is about our relationship with him. He is maintaining his personal attention in our lives. He is personally overseeing the restoration of our original design.  And I suspect there are several other layers involved that I don't know about.

◆ Living My Life

If the Father takes our relationship this seriously,  we ought to take our relationship just as seriously.

Jesus died on the cross to "cancel the record of our sin" and "break the power of the Devil." He worked to make sin a non issue.  He worked to make our connection and communication with him the issue.  He worked to make reality in our restoration the issue.

We ought to focus on these things too. I am not saying we should not take our sin seriously.  I am saying we should not obsess about our sin. I know people who have a tendency to fail in a particular area. Their hearts are filled with their failure, their inability to change,  God's hate of sin -- especially this sin -- and their expectation of God's judgment.

Our spiritual renovation is not based on our ability to stop sinning. Scripture makes it plain, we cannot.

Our spiritual renovation is based on God's injection of new spiritual DNA into our hearts,  our moment by moment connection with the grace and love of God, and the renewal of our mind's -- a revolution in the pattern of our thinking. Focus on these things.

Identity in Christ - 56 (Sanctified in Christ)

At one time, each member of God's family had a heart focus toward sin. They were rebellious and selfish. They pursued sin. Sin was their identity.

But each member of God's family chose to change. They focused their hearts on the Father of all. They chose to give him their allegiance. They chose to live in relationship with him. And they chose to walk with him and to walk toward him.

And the Father chose to walk with them. The passage says he completely cleansed, he made them holy, he made them right with him.

We all know we do not walk in total perfection. But as God's family, we focus our hearts on walking with him. And we are focused on walking better -- with him and in the world.

"Sanctification" is a theological term expressing the step by step walk toward restoration of Christ's image in our lives. Scripture also says that we are already sanctified.

• God's Perspective 

God keeps two things in mind as he relates with us. He does keep in mind where we are. He knows where we fail; he knows where we are weak; he knows our greatest tendencies to sin.

He also keeps in mind who we are. All these traits that I have been writing about are who we are. Our identities were forged when we aligned with Christ. In Christ, all these things are true.

God also keeps the end result in view. Because we have given Jesus our allegiance, where we will end up is not in doubt. So, God gives 100% focused attention on how do we move past our failures. How do we move into Christ's image. He plans out all our steps in our restoration.

The word in the original language can also be stated as: "made holy." (Some English translations do use those words.) We have looked at this concept in a couple other places. "Holy" does not mean perfect, rather it means dedicated, separated for a special purpose.

It is here that we can see best that we are already sanctified. God chooses that all people -- past, present and future -- should be dedicated to him, separated for a special purpose.

It is here that we can see best that we are already sanctified. God chooses that all people -- past, present and future -- should be dedicated to him, separated for relationship with him. When we give him allegiance, we agree to this dedication. We agree to the process and identity God gives us. And God dedicates us and separates us. God names us and gives us our identity. And he works to bring our identity to fruition.

• Living My Life 

We need to accept our identities. God has proclaimed who we are. We have to believe him.

We need to accept, participate, and cooperate with the process. This means engaging in relationship. (Communication. Prayer. Meditation. Listening. Obedience.)

I am beginning to wonder if we should pursue his standards, not because failure means breaking the rules, rather because failure means a disruption of fellowship. We cut ourselves off from our primary spiritual fuel. We divert God from focusing his heart towards us. The love, life and grace of God gets throttled down.

We are designed to live in relationship with God. We live to the fullest when the relationship throttle is fully open.

It is an act of spiritual war, when the enemy attempts to convince us that living in relationship with God robs us of life. It is the opposite. Whatever hinders the relationship robs us of life.

Identity in Christ - 55 (Sheep)

There was a book written about sheep by a man who raised sheep. In the book, he claimed there was nothing that could be more destructive to land than a herd of sheep; and there was nothing that could be more constructive to land than a herd of sheep. The difference depended on the shepherd.

If the shepherd was wise and knew how to care for the sheep, sheep could actually improve the land. If the shepherd was foolish, or did not know how to care for the sheep, sheep could destroy the land.

Sheep are not the wisest of animals. They will follow one another through danger. They will find something good and waste it through over indulgence or misuse. They will find something bad and use it the same way. All of which leads to destruction, bad health and very sad sheep.

That’s why a good and wise shepherd is necessary. He will lead the sheep away from bad things. He will lead them to good things. And he will help them utilize the good things in ways that are not wasteful, good for the land and good for the sheep.

• God's Perspective

We are Jesus’ sheep. Like natural sheep, Jesus’ sheep can be the best thing for the land … or the worst. (Guess which “thing” the Father wants us to be.)

Like natural sheep, it is all about the shepherd. It is all about where he puts the flock, the ground he puts them on and how they travel over it.

We are Jesus’s sheep. We list to his voice. We follow him.

This is our part. To listen to his voice. To follow his voice. To act on what he says. It is that which injects health into the world.

• Living My Life

Jesus lives perfectly, expressing love and giving grace. That is also how he wants us to live. We fall short, of course. But our struggle can give some hope. It is not just perfect people who follow Jesus.

And there is competition. Many other voices fight for our attention. The enemy, hos servants, the world and even, our own inner voice seek to lead us away from acting in agreement with his voice.

It is the agreement and the resulting action that yields health and good in the world. It is the agreement with the other voices that breeds destruction.

One of our most important areas of focus is learning to hear his voice, and giving time and energy to this practice. And learning how to act in agreement with what we hear.