"I Am Of...I Am Of"...........

"For we are God's fellow workers; you are God's field, you are God's building."  (1 Corinthians 3:9)

I have often wondered over the years why there was so much pettiness in the Early Church.  1 Corinthians 3 reveals that there was arguing, jealousy, one-upmanship in that Church.  Sound familiar?  These people were in a period of some of the most violent persecution of the Church, battling for their very lives, yet they were still engaging in the pettiness of, "envy, strife, and divisions among you", and, "For...one says, 'I follow Paul,' and another, 'I follow Apollos.'"  Then John tells us of, "Diotrephes, who loves to have the preeminence."  Persecution or not, the battle is the same today.

The Holy Spirit in Paul says, "So then neither he who plants is anything, nor he who waters, but God Who gives the increase."  This is another way of calling the Church back to Foundational Living, as Paul told the Corinthian Church, "For no other foundation can anyone lay than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ."  Worship, Prayer, Preaching, Evangelism, Missions, Giving, etc., all are built upon and in, "....no other foundation...than...Jesus Christ."  Remember the Psalm, "If the foundations are being destroyed, the righteous can do nothing." (best translation) 

If you and I want to "do" something of lasting value in the Kingdom of Heaven, we must live and obey, "For there is no other foundation...than...Jesus Christ."

Father, in Jesus' Name, "Search me...."  Amen.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

Hebrews 12:2

"....Till I Entered The Sanctuary of God"

"When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply till I entered the sanctuary of God...." (Psalm 73:16, 17a--NIV)

I caution today that we not be an I-already-knew-that kind of person.  There is so much more that we don't already-knew-that. 

I never thought of myself like our text.  I have always thought that I was an "accepter."  But I'm not so sure.  Perhaps I have been more of a, "tried to understand all this," than I have realized.  Maybe it's the theologian in me.

I can say, however, that in some of the, "tried to understand all this," I have come to more and more of an appreciation, gratefulness, worship of the Living Triune God.  I am finding out that, "tried to understand all this," has led me "closer" to Jesus, more dependent, more thankful, more worshipful.  As I read the entirety of Psalm 73 today, I had a sort of epiphany, defined as, "the reality or essential meaning of something."    

"....till I entered the sanctuary of God."  This is the "answer," the "breakthrough" for whatever, "tried to understand all this," is in front of us.  For me, "....the sanctuary of God," is not a location, gathering, anointed meeting, etc.  It is living in Father's, Son Jesus', and Holy Spirit's Presence, He dwelling in me, and I dwelling in Him. 

The Psalmist looked at what seemed to be life's unfairness, the wicked doing quite well and he doing not so well.  It didn't make sense to him, "....till I entered the sanctuary of God."  If I may the "sense" of life is Jesus Christ Himself.

Father, in Jesus' Name, I can explain so very little.  Thank You so much for, "the sanctuary of God."  Amen.

****************************************

Tomorrow at 10:15 I go in for the surgery.  I so appreciate those who have indicated that they will be praying for me.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

Hebrews 12:2

"Who Will Roll Away The Stone"?

"And they said among themselves, 'Who will roll away the stone from the door of the tomb for us?'"

No need, ladies.  Already taken care of.

Have you ever been here?  Nothing seems to be working, prayers not answered, that personal prophecy not fulfilled.  So you wonder, "Who will roll away the st0ne...for us?

So many times we face the impossible and wonder the same, only to arrive at the "tomb," you know, what seems to be the end of us, and find that Jesus "had it covered" all along.  Jesus did not need anyone to, "....roll away the stone...."  He promises us, "....I lay down My life that I may take it again.  No one takes if from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I HAVE POWER TO TAKE IT AGAIN.  This command I have received of My Father."  The women, as did the others, had forgotten this.

Too many of us are on our way to the "tomb" with "normal" expectations, viz., it will be closed and our hope and "needs" will be trapped inside.  Those in whom Jesus Christ does not live are those who are still walking to the "tomb" of life with no expectation.  We know better though, don't we?  We now know what the women found, "He is risen!  He is not here."  This is the power of the Resurrection, and this is "our power." 

Our Lord Jesus Christ leaves humanity with no doubt as to how we are to walk in the Purposes of the Living Triune God, "Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed."  We may not see that open "tomb"------------ but it is! 

Father, in Jesus' Name, help me to see those "stones" as already gone in You.  Amen.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

Hebrews 12:2

"They Took Their Daughters...And...Served Their gods"

"Thus the children of Israel dwelt among the Canaanites,..and the Jebusites.  And they took their daughters to be their wives..; and they served their gods."  (From Judges 3:5, 6)

Inevitable, isn't is?  When we take, "their daughters," we will, sooner or later, "...serve their gods."

Later in the Book we read that there was no king in Israel and apparently there was no reading of the Torah; therefore, again, the inevitable rebellion stated in chapter 17, "everyone did what was right in his own eyes.  The problem today is that we have King Jesus; we have His Words; we have His Church; we have His Kingdom.  Yet there is so much in Christendom of, "dwelt among the Canaanites...and... served their gods."  The real malady is that we read Jesus' Words, teach Jesus' Words, and still do, "....what [is] right in his own eyes."

It seems to me that this is where the concept of authority comes in, viz., the Bible, the Church's Five-Fold Ministries, and as Ephesians tells us, "submitting to one another in the fear of God."  Dunn was right when he penned, "No man is an island entire of itself; every man is...a part of the main....Any man's death diminishes me, because I am involved in mankind."  This must be the attitude of the Church among ourselves.  In the Church there is no place for, "everyone did what was right in his own eyes." 

The Church can only live "in victory" in a hostile, Canaanite Culture, by each of us giving up, "in his own eyes."  There must be "corporate eyes."  The Church of Jesus is under the Authority of our Head, Jesus, and the King of The Kingdom, Jesus.  Our service to one another is to really live, "submitting to one another in the fear of God", but a "submission" only to those who continually encourage, yes, demand that we live, "looking unto Jesus," and walking in obedience to Jesus' Words.

Father, in Jesus' Name, I thank You for Your Authority manifested in Your Church.  I pray for grace to not be as, "the Canaanites," but serve the Canaanites with You and Your Words. Amen.

When Peter, an 18 year old Norwegian, "heard the call to evangelize China, on that day he not only emptied his wallet into the collection plate, but included a small note with the words, 'and my life.'"

Hebrews 12:2