The work (fruit) of righteousness will be peace, and the effect of righteousness, . My people will dwell in a peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places (Isaiah 32: 17-18).
The work or fruit of righteousness is peace. That peace is a work within us, as our soul lines up with our spirit which is in fellowship directly with Christ.
This is part of what is meant when Jesus told us to seek first His kingdom and His righteousness. When we throw all of who we are onto Christ, who dwells within us, we are working toward a place of quietness of the soul, and a resting place where we cease from our own labors.
That's the end of the pursuit of the righteousness of Christ. We rest in Him and His work, and labor only as we see Him labor, and speak only what we hear Him speak.
Jesus lived this way throughout His life on earth, submitting His purpose and soul unto the Father.
Our major job in this life is to learn to rest in Christ within, allowing the cross to destroy our self-centered lives so we may live our lives unto Him; or rather, allow His life to live in us. We are to live by His life after all.
While this is simple to understand, it takes a lifetime of pursuit to accomplish. Our souls have become so over-stimulated and strong that we need to ask the Lord to weaken it through the work of the cross in us so we even have the desire to pursue this way of life.
Jesus did this His entire life on earth, not only when He was in public ministry. This is why the Father was "well pleased" with Him when He was identified by John the Baptist and emerged out of the water of baptism, before He did anything related to what we consider ministry.
The Father was pleased with Him before He did anything publicly, because Jesus simply lived out His life in union with the Father in His spirit within Him.
They didn't suddenly become closer because Jesus went public, they were close during His entire life on earth. He quietly spent His life fellowshipping with the Father, and kept doing it even when He became busy.
Dwelling in union with Christ in us is the peaceful habitation and quiet resting place referred to by Isaiah. While we need to learn to do this individually, it's primarily related to the church, which will become a peaceful resting place when we learn to deny ourselves and think of each other more important than ourselves.
The reason there is so much turmoil in the church is because people don't embrace the cross and allow it to demolish their old man and self so that the life of Christ may be formed within them, and ultimately flow out to others as the river of life.
First we must individually embrace the cross, and then connect to others looking to travel the same journey. If we don't embrace the cross, all the talk of the organic church or non-institutional church will be meaningless, as the self-life will always end up destroying the work of God He attempts to give birth to.
Only a people who are willing to have their self-life weakened and destroyed will be able to enter into peaceful habitations; within themselves or with their brothers and sisters.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Last post we talked a little about the reason why Christ dwells within us. I did want to follow it up to clarify that while there is definitely a transformation that happens when we pursue union with Christ, at the same time, it's not a negative thing to simply enjoy the general presence of God as well.
In reality, what I termed the general presence of Christ within us was for the sake of understanding, in practice we really can't separate them, as if we enter into union with Christ , we can't escape the change that will come.
How much we change depends on the type of ground the seed falls into, as Christ Himself is the perfect seed without blemish, and He will transform us practically into His image as much as we allow the cross to work itself within us; removing the love of self so the love of Christ, and Christ alone becomes our focus, while we become like Him as we fellowship with Him.
I mention this because it could have been misunderstood that simply enjoying being with the Lord isn't the greatest end in itself. It's just that when we are with Him (which can be always), it will end up with us changing - it's impossible that we don't if we open our hearts to Him and focus on Him on a consistent basis.
In reality, what I termed the general presence of Christ within us was for the sake of understanding, in practice we really can't separate them, as if we enter into union with Christ , we can't escape the change that will come.
How much we change depends on the type of ground the seed falls into, as Christ Himself is the perfect seed without blemish, and He will transform us practically into His image as much as we allow the cross to work itself within us; removing the love of self so the love of Christ, and Christ alone becomes our focus, while we become like Him as we fellowship with Him.
I mention this because it could have been misunderstood that simply enjoying being with the Lord isn't the greatest end in itself. It's just that when we are with Him (which can be always), it will end up with us changing - it's impossible that we don't if we open our hearts to Him and focus on Him on a consistent basis.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
A number of people I've communicated with through the years have misunderstood what it means to walk in the presence of the Lord. I thought I'd take a moment and help give some understanding and insight into this so we can know better what it is this means.
First of all, let's talk about the presence of the Lord from a couple different areas. You have the general presence of the Lord, which fills the universe, and which the created universe can't hold; even the heavens of heavens. That talks about a general presence where God is everywhere because nothing created can hold Him.
Second, there's the much more important specific presence of God, which dwells within those who have received Christ as their Lord and Savior. That presence dwells within us with a very stated purpose: filling us with Christ. But it isn't a general filling, where God is there because of his endless, eternal makeup, rather He's there so His life can inhabit us in a complete way.
Taking up residence within our spirit, God then begins to work His presence within us through the cross so that He doesn't simply inhabit us, but changes us into His very image.
Eventually, His eternal purpose of filling everything with Himself will be fulfilled, as His people embrace union with Him and change from glory to glory through the many trials and struggles of life.
So while the presence of Christ within us definitely is a tremendous blessing and closeness, at the same time His dwelling within us is so He can have pre-eminence and the two will become one. Essentially that's what it means for the church to exist, to be a visible testimony of the invisible Lord.
For that to happen we must open our hearts to Him in faith so He can rule the kingdom of our hearts.
All of us who truly believe have the life of Christ within us, but very few are willing to walk the difficult path that will destroy our self life in order for the life of Christ to be manifest. The work of the cross is the tool used by God to bring this about, but most aren't able or willing to embrace that effective, destructive tool in order that the perfume of Christ can be released from these human vessels.
This is why God continually calls a people to walk in this way, as there aren't many able to walk this walk individually. It's also his ultimate will and purpose that a people exist that show forth who Christ is; not simply an individual.
While we all need to embrace this way as individuals, it's to be expressed and displayed in a corporate people. In the end, that's the reason God created and the purpose for being called out of all the nations to Christ. That's what the church is, a people called out of this world into a higher life and world, which, corporately, is to be brought from a higher realm to this one.
It all happens in the hearts of a people sincere and serious about walking in union with Christ.
First of all, let's talk about the presence of the Lord from a couple different areas. You have the general presence of the Lord, which fills the universe, and which the created universe can't hold; even the heavens of heavens. That talks about a general presence where God is everywhere because nothing created can hold Him.
Second, there's the much more important specific presence of God, which dwells within those who have received Christ as their Lord and Savior. That presence dwells within us with a very stated purpose: filling us with Christ. But it isn't a general filling, where God is there because of his endless, eternal makeup, rather He's there so His life can inhabit us in a complete way.
Taking up residence within our spirit, God then begins to work His presence within us through the cross so that He doesn't simply inhabit us, but changes us into His very image.
Eventually, His eternal purpose of filling everything with Himself will be fulfilled, as His people embrace union with Him and change from glory to glory through the many trials and struggles of life.
So while the presence of Christ within us definitely is a tremendous blessing and closeness, at the same time His dwelling within us is so He can have pre-eminence and the two will become one. Essentially that's what it means for the church to exist, to be a visible testimony of the invisible Lord.
For that to happen we must open our hearts to Him in faith so He can rule the kingdom of our hearts.
All of us who truly believe have the life of Christ within us, but very few are willing to walk the difficult path that will destroy our self life in order for the life of Christ to be manifest. The work of the cross is the tool used by God to bring this about, but most aren't able or willing to embrace that effective, destructive tool in order that the perfume of Christ can be released from these human vessels.
This is why God continually calls a people to walk in this way, as there aren't many able to walk this walk individually. It's also his ultimate will and purpose that a people exist that show forth who Christ is; not simply an individual.
While we all need to embrace this way as individuals, it's to be expressed and displayed in a corporate people. In the end, that's the reason God created and the purpose for being called out of all the nations to Christ. That's what the church is, a people called out of this world into a higher life and world, which, corporately, is to be brought from a higher realm to this one.
It all happens in the hearts of a people sincere and serious about walking in union with Christ.
Monday, August 11, 2008
In what I can only call disgusting, a new reality "Christian" TV series is going to air in Britain, where a group of 13 non-Christians have volunteered and agreed to "live by the teachings of the Bible for three weeks."
Dubbed "Make Me a Christian," four so-called pastors from various religious Christian backgrounds - Anglican, Catholic, Evangelical, and Pentecostal – are supposed to mentor these people into how to live like a Christian.
One of these pastors had this to say: "Viewers will be deeply moved by the participants' personal journeys. I believe that a major nationwide evangelism initiative could be launched on the back of the series."
Of course to make it interesting to gullible viewers, they've included a mix of extreme people to draw in eyeballs.
For example, they have the necessary lesbian, and then a lap-dancer, party animal, tattooed militant atheist biker ... you get the idea. In other words it's a circus and mockery for all those involved. It's hard to believe these four pastors are allowing themselves to sell out to get name recognition.
It's nothing other than idiocy to say that off the back of this sick show a nationwide evangelistic effort will be launched. It's shows the warped state of people purporting to be spiritual leaders to allow themselves to be brought to the spotlight for the purpose of fame. They can say what they want, there's no other purpose in this.
But worse to me, is the exploitation of the participants, who have many obvious issues which are dealt with in an anemic way.
What are some of the suggestions offered by these spiritual counterfeits? "The lesbian is asked to throw away her porn, the witch is encouraged to toss her Tarot cards, the womanizer is instructed not to look lustfully at women and so forth."
The entire show is based upon showing these people how to outwardly conform to a "Christian code of conduct." In other words, teach them how to be hypocrits.
The only way people can be changed is by Christ within them. That requires believing in Him and then learning to fellowship and walk with Him inwardly, which results in a changed life if it's pursued over a lifetime.
To lower Christianity to a reality show to exploit Christ for ratings, and to have these alleged mentors participate is about as low as I've seen things go. Evidently opportunists have no shame whatsover, and promoting themselves at the expense of everything, including the Lord and His people, as well as the non-believers involved, is an abomination.
Dubbed "Make Me a Christian," four so-called pastors from various religious Christian backgrounds - Anglican, Catholic, Evangelical, and Pentecostal – are supposed to mentor these people into how to live like a Christian.
One of these pastors had this to say: "Viewers will be deeply moved by the participants' personal journeys. I believe that a major nationwide evangelism initiative could be launched on the back of the series."
Of course to make it interesting to gullible viewers, they've included a mix of extreme people to draw in eyeballs.
For example, they have the necessary lesbian, and then a lap-dancer, party animal, tattooed militant atheist biker ... you get the idea. In other words it's a circus and mockery for all those involved. It's hard to believe these four pastors are allowing themselves to sell out to get name recognition.
It's nothing other than idiocy to say that off the back of this sick show a nationwide evangelistic effort will be launched. It's shows the warped state of people purporting to be spiritual leaders to allow themselves to be brought to the spotlight for the purpose of fame. They can say what they want, there's no other purpose in this.
But worse to me, is the exploitation of the participants, who have many obvious issues which are dealt with in an anemic way.
What are some of the suggestions offered by these spiritual counterfeits? "The lesbian is asked to throw away her porn, the witch is encouraged to toss her Tarot cards, the womanizer is instructed not to look lustfully at women and so forth."
The entire show is based upon showing these people how to outwardly conform to a "Christian code of conduct." In other words, teach them how to be hypocrits.
The only way people can be changed is by Christ within them. That requires believing in Him and then learning to fellowship and walk with Him inwardly, which results in a changed life if it's pursued over a lifetime.
To lower Christianity to a reality show to exploit Christ for ratings, and to have these alleged mentors participate is about as low as I've seen things go. Evidently opportunists have no shame whatsover, and promoting themselves at the expense of everything, including the Lord and His people, as well as the non-believers involved, is an abomination.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Jesus Christ: The Tree of Life - 7
The recent death of Alexander Solzhenitsyn on August 3, made a lot of people who lived through the times when he wrote his powerful books that changed an empire - reflective.
There's one thing I want to mention, because it has to do with our recent theme of Jesus as the tree of life.
I want to focus on what he talked about in reference to good and evil some time ago. Here's what one writer says about it:
"For Solzhenitsyn, right and wrong, good and evil, undoubtedly do exist. However, as he first expressed it in a poem written in his head in the camps nearly 60 years ago, the dividing line between good and evil passes not between warring parties, ideologies, armies, but runs through the heart of each individual and flickers ceaselessly to and fro."
This is an extraordinary understanding of the source of what becomes outward actions and deeds: it comes from the heart.
Eating of the tree of life was meant to take in the life of Christ interally, and willingly allow Him to live out that live in creation. That's the very purpose of creation, that it would bear the testimony of the invisible Christ. It's still the ultimate end of the eternal purpose of God. This is the purpose of the church, to be a letter written from God within, that then expresses itself outwardly.
Solzhenitsyn understood that everything was connected to the heart, and if that changed, the rest would follow.
That's why the scriptures teach that Christ has written His laws in our hearts. He is the king and ruler, and His kingdom is an inner one. Once we learn to eat of the tree of life, the outer starts to take care of itself as the living Christ expands who he is within us. Eventually the two will become one, as heaven and earth become a visible testimony to who Christ is.
This is why we are to embrace the kingdom coming and the will of God being done on earth as it is in heaven, because the two are one in Christ. Now He is looking for people who are willing to endure the cross so that can become a reality. The ultimate work of the cross is to eliminate who we are so He can live fully within us.
The secret is we retain our soul while He becomes everything. He never forces us, but woos us to Himself within. That puts the responsibility upon us to keep our hearts open and pliable to Him while we go through the myriad tough times those embracing the cross will always go through.
It all has to do with internalizing and eating of the tree of life.
By the way, if you want to understand a portion of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, Solzhenitsyn expresses the fruit of it accurately, it "runs through the heart of each individual and flickers ceaselessly to and fro."
The tree of life on the other hand, does the opposite.
Jesus Christ: The Tree of Life Series
Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7
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The Saudi Arabian government ordered that over a dozen Christians must leave the country for meeting in their homes for worship.
This is important because there was a big deal made about Saudi King Abdullah calling for "interfaith dialogue" a few weeks ago, where the media made a big deal about representives of major religions coming together.
"Deporting Christians for worshipping in their private homes shows that King Abdullah's speech is mere rhetoric and his country is deceiving the international community about their desire for change and reconciliation," said Jeff King, the president of ICC.
This is true of course, as Abdullah called for reconciliation between religions, which he evidently says through his actions doesn't apply to Christianity.
Altogether, 15 Christians will be deported of the 16 arrested at the end of April this year. One has already left the country after being released three days after the arrest.
The original charges against those were for preaching and singing, while they "later changed the charge to holding a 'dance party' and collecting money to support terrorism."
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