From the glory and rejoicing of the dedication of Solomon's temple to the hard-hearted stoning of Stephen: what a jolting and disturbing contrast!
I don't have a lot to say about this. Except: this could be us! At any time, it could be me. This is a stark picture of what happens to us when we habitually stop our ears from the Word of God, reject true prophetic expressions from the Lord, or refuse to receive a godly rebuke given in love. Taking the truth can be painful, but when we refuse it, we can kill. (Don't just limit killing to picking up a stone-- you know we can kill with words, with looks, with rejection.)
I pray that the Spirit of Wisdom and Discernment will show us the heart of the matter. One thing I see is that, if we get stuck where we're at and make a religion out of what's supposed to be a relationship, we are at risk of completely misunderstanding, and even outright rejecting, the next thing that God might do. His purposes have been flowing along, right from the beginning, and He's never turned back from where He's been going. The people of Stephen's day were right in the middle of God's river, the same river they were in during Solomon's reign, and yet they misinterpreted what was happening. He even told them in advance what He was going to do.
KEY:
God always goes higher and deeper! Instead of the commandments in the ark and the glory cloud in the holy place of the temple, the living Word was in Stephen and the glory of God had filled him, a temple "not made with hands." [Not just Stephen, but any Christian who allows Him to do so.]
I've seen and heard of God doing some pretty strange things. Sometimes I've misjudged these things, and later had to repent. I think God's going to be doing some very radical things in these days. I've heard some things, even just today, that fit that description, and I'm not going to disregard them. We need discernment, and we definitely need to stay close to Jesus and listen to His Spirit, Who is glad to interpret to us what He is saying and doing in these last days. Let's not cover our ears!
"But they cried out with a loud voice, and covered their ears and rushed at him with one impulse." Acts 7:57 NASB
Bonus: Discern the difference between following the crowd and the unity of the Spirit.
Showing posts with label defensiveness. Show all posts
Showing posts with label defensiveness. Show all posts
Friday, June 11, 2010
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
April 14, 2010
The Luke passage again reminded me of the problem of offenses (remember the walled city). What He says shows us how very serious offenses are. Here, Jesus is teaching us about what we need to do to avoid offenses. Then He said to the disciples, “It is impossible that no offenses should come, but woe to him through whom they do come! It would be better for him if a millstone were hung around his neck, and he were thrown into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones. Take heed to yourselves. If your brother sins against you, rebuke him; and if he repents, forgive him. And if he sins against you seven times in a day, and seven times in a day returns to you, saying, ‘I repent,’ you shall forgive him.” Luke 17: 1-4
Notice that everybody's talking in the last scenario. Offenses come when we don't talk to our brothers and sisters. He's speaking about our family in the faith-- people in a Family whose whole foundation is God's total forgiveness. He instructs us to tell them what they did wrong, that is, when they do something to us that is sinful (He doesn't mean go around and correct everybody for everything! This is personal). And He doesn't say, go point out the person's repeat errors. He says if they do it again and come and repent to you, let them know you forgive them, over and over. This is a great way for us to get trained in a righteous behavior, by practicing accountability. Notice that this brother is not offended, since he keeps asking for forgiveness. And we are walking in forgiveness, which means we've released it to the Lord.
Pay attention, though: Jesus said "Take heed to yourselves." We're being careful here not to create an offense. And not to take offense ourself. We all sin on a regular basis. We get offended when we don't get things aired out. If I let someone sin against me over and over, and I don't point it out to them, it is too easy to become hard of heart, bitter and unforgiving. Soon my fellowship with God and others is ruined. This is offense. Jesus didn't say, "If your brother offends you." We choose to be offended. If we do as Jesus said, we keep ouselves clear. Guarding against offense means we must act against it before it comes, because once we're offended, we're probably going to need to be rescued (delivered).
We must understand how we could possibly create an offense, so we can be careful not to do so. We help create an offense by not speaking correction at the proper time. Consider this: what if, later on, the person realizes they've been sinning all this time, and you didn't tell them. What if they reaped all sorts of bad consequences for their sin that could have been avoided by honesty.
We also create a situation for offense when we wound someone and do not admit it and ask them to forgive us for our sin. It's not enough to repent privately to God and know we're forgiven. If someone is harboring something against us (we used to call it "an ought" from the King James, and all that means is "something"), then things are not healthy, and we are all hindered. The Kingdom of God is a lot about right relationship. These things can contribute to people taking offense-- not only against you, but against the whole church, and eventually God. They create opportunities for the devil to steal, kill and destroy.
The direst circumstance of creating offense is against "one of these little ones." I see this as little either in the natural, as a young child, or young in the family of God. I think a "little one" can be anyone you are have authority over. When a person in authority-- such as a parent, or a spiritual leader-- sins against those in their protection-- those who trust and follow them-- they create a situation where the rebuke-repent-forgive scenario (open communication) cannot usually take place.
"Little ones" will usually be too afraid to approach the authority to confront them about a sin. If they do attempt it, most of the time, they are repelled, and will never attempt it again. The young, untrained, and immature have the ability to forgive a parent or leader's sin without speaking about it to them (and most of the time to no one but God), but if the sin is very heinous or repeated, and it is not humbly confessed, this places a burden on these little ones that, too many times, cannot be overcome without help.
Parents are mistaken if they think they should never admit wrong to their children. [In order to keep from defiling them unnecessarily, we confess only what the child already knows about]. Humble repentance is always in good order. Children respond very gracefully to it, are very forgiving (unless they are already offended), and learn by the example.
Our responsibility as Christians, especially if we are in a place of maturity and leadership, is to do everything we can to guard against offense. Offense causes people to build terrible walls around their heart and life. These walls become fortresses that keep people from loving and receiving love, and often make people lash out angrily. If we realize we have helped create an offense, we must get on our face and repent before God, seeking Him as to how to restore the person or people. It will not be easy, but nothing is impossible with God.
Having been in the place of offense myself, on both sides, I can testify that the feeling is much like Jesus described: a millstone tied around one's neck and drowning in the sea. Until we realize how horrible it is to treat people in this way, and how unbearable it is to be in this place, we will not be diligent enough.
I have not discussed sinning against, and causing offense, in unbelievers. How has the world been affected by the professing Christian who does not walk in love or obey Christ's commands? What must we do to deliver the world from offense?
Notice that everybody's talking in the last scenario. Offenses come when we don't talk to our brothers and sisters. He's speaking about our family in the faith-- people in a Family whose whole foundation is God's total forgiveness. He instructs us to tell them what they did wrong, that is, when they do something to us that is sinful (He doesn't mean go around and correct everybody for everything! This is personal). And He doesn't say, go point out the person's repeat errors. He says if they do it again and come and repent to you, let them know you forgive them, over and over. This is a great way for us to get trained in a righteous behavior, by practicing accountability. Notice that this brother is not offended, since he keeps asking for forgiveness. And we are walking in forgiveness, which means we've released it to the Lord.
Pay attention, though: Jesus said "Take heed to yourselves." We're being careful here not to create an offense. And not to take offense ourself. We all sin on a regular basis. We get offended when we don't get things aired out. If I let someone sin against me over and over, and I don't point it out to them, it is too easy to become hard of heart, bitter and unforgiving. Soon my fellowship with God and others is ruined. This is offense. Jesus didn't say, "If your brother offends you." We choose to be offended. If we do as Jesus said, we keep ouselves clear. Guarding against offense means we must act against it before it comes, because once we're offended, we're probably going to need to be rescued (delivered).
We must understand how we could possibly create an offense, so we can be careful not to do so. We help create an offense by not speaking correction at the proper time. Consider this: what if, later on, the person realizes they've been sinning all this time, and you didn't tell them. What if they reaped all sorts of bad consequences for their sin that could have been avoided by honesty.
We also create a situation for offense when we wound someone and do not admit it and ask them to forgive us for our sin. It's not enough to repent privately to God and know we're forgiven. If someone is harboring something against us (we used to call it "an ought" from the King James, and all that means is "something"), then things are not healthy, and we are all hindered. The Kingdom of God is a lot about right relationship. These things can contribute to people taking offense-- not only against you, but against the whole church, and eventually God. They create opportunities for the devil to steal, kill and destroy.
The direst circumstance of creating offense is against "one of these little ones." I see this as little either in the natural, as a young child, or young in the family of God. I think a "little one" can be anyone you are have authority over. When a person in authority-- such as a parent, or a spiritual leader-- sins against those in their protection-- those who trust and follow them-- they create a situation where the rebuke-repent-forgive scenario (open communication) cannot usually take place.
"Little ones" will usually be too afraid to approach the authority to confront them about a sin. If they do attempt it, most of the time, they are repelled, and will never attempt it again. The young, untrained, and immature have the ability to forgive a parent or leader's sin without speaking about it to them (and most of the time to no one but God), but if the sin is very heinous or repeated, and it is not humbly confessed, this places a burden on these little ones that, too many times, cannot be overcome without help.
Parents are mistaken if they think they should never admit wrong to their children. [In order to keep from defiling them unnecessarily, we confess only what the child already knows about]. Humble repentance is always in good order. Children respond very gracefully to it, are very forgiving (unless they are already offended), and learn by the example.
Our responsibility as Christians, especially if we are in a place of maturity and leadership, is to do everything we can to guard against offense. Offense causes people to build terrible walls around their heart and life. These walls become fortresses that keep people from loving and receiving love, and often make people lash out angrily. If we realize we have helped create an offense, we must get on our face and repent before God, seeking Him as to how to restore the person or people. It will not be easy, but nothing is impossible with God.
Having been in the place of offense myself, on both sides, I can testify that the feeling is much like Jesus described: a millstone tied around one's neck and drowning in the sea. Until we realize how horrible it is to treat people in this way, and how unbearable it is to be in this place, we will not be diligent enough.
I have not discussed sinning against, and causing offense, in unbelievers. How has the world been affected by the professing Christian who does not walk in love or obey Christ's commands? What must we do to deliver the world from offense?
Saturday, April 10, 2010
April 10, 2010
The Bible says that the Lord knew Moses face to face! Deut. 34:10. I always thought of it the other way around (i.e., Moses knew God face to face), but I even checked out Exodus 33:11: So the LORD spoke to Moses face to face, as a man speaks to his friend.
It seems that Jesus expects this kind of open-faced knowing from us as well. What do you think? I saw it here in this Scripture:
Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ Luke 13:23-27
What does it take for the Lord to know us? He certainly put an emphasis on that here. And it wasn't just about being in the same vicinity and having the same nationality. Obviously, the Lord knows everything, and He of course know us inside and out, as He made us and is omniscient and omnipresent. So what does it take for the Lord to know us? I want to know! I want to make it through that narrow gate!
I try to stick with the Scripture reading of the day (there's so much in them!), but when I picked up my tea to go warm it up again, the Lord reminded me of these verses: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction." Proverbs 1:7 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Proverbs 9:10
We might start out so afraid of God, like Moses (Exodus 3:6), that we won't even show our face. We're not going to get to know God like that! But the Lord's saying, "Where are you? Open up! Why are you hiding?" Like He did with Adam and Eve. If we allow fear, shame and the need to belong (thank you, Eldon, for that great teaching!) to keep us from showing our face to God, we'll remain foolish, because how will we overcome those issues if we will not receive instruction? If the Lord's saying "I do not know you," it's because we're too proud to let Him in. If we're going to go through His gate, He's going to first have to come in through ours.
Jesus said to those of His nation who would not believe in Him: "See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’” Luke 13: 35
I'll never forget the day I realized, with a huge shock, that God saw everything about me! I had spent my life deperately trying to hide from Him, in spite of the fact I'd called myself a Christian for most of it. I was in the middle of a rather wretched fight with my husband, and it was going nowhere. I felt so hopeless. Suddenly, the Lord revealed where I was at. I remember falling onto the floor and weeping uncontrollably when I realized that God saw through my defenses. I decided then that I had to stop hiding from the Lord behind the masks and walls I had built around myself to protect me from hurt, real or imagined.
Even though I had gotten revelation, it took years before I was willing to totally lay down the things that I used to shield myself from others and from God. I was so expert at creating defenses that most of them were hidden even from myself. I'm still not sure they're all gone, but at least now I am willing to be shown, either by the Lord or a person that He might speak through. The more I reveal myself to Him, the more He reveals Himself to me.
Have you ever seen a child, who, by covering her eyes, thinks she is hiding from her parent? I have! A child quickly figures it out, but it is funny when they first do it. We are like that with the Lord, and yet how slowly we come to the reality that we must not try to hide from Him. He can see us anyway. And the great truth is, that He loves us, so much more, than we love our own little children.
It is wisdom to uncover the face of our heart when we go to the written Word, for in it we will find Christ, if we will only open our eyes and let Him see us.
It seems that Jesus expects this kind of open-faced knowing from us as well. What do you think? I saw it here in this Scripture:
Then one said to Him, “Lord, are there few who are saved?” And He said to them, “Strive to enter through the narrow gate, for many, I say to you, will seek to enter and will not be able. When once the Master of the house has risen up and shut the door, and you begin to stand outside and knock at the door, saying, ‘Lord, Lord, open for us,’ and He will answer and say to you, ‘I do not know you, where you are from,’ then you will begin to say, ‘We ate and drank in Your presence, and You taught in our streets.’ But He will say, ‘I tell you I do not know you, where you are from. Depart from Me, all you workers of iniquity.’ Luke 13:23-27
What does it take for the Lord to know us? He certainly put an emphasis on that here. And it wasn't just about being in the same vicinity and having the same nationality. Obviously, the Lord knows everything, and He of course know us inside and out, as He made us and is omniscient and omnipresent. So what does it take for the Lord to know us? I want to know! I want to make it through that narrow gate!
I try to stick with the Scripture reading of the day (there's so much in them!), but when I picked up my tea to go warm it up again, the Lord reminded me of these verses: "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, But fools despise wisdom and instruction." Proverbs 1:7 "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding." Proverbs 9:10
We might start out so afraid of God, like Moses (Exodus 3:6), that we won't even show our face. We're not going to get to know God like that! But the Lord's saying, "Where are you? Open up! Why are you hiding?" Like He did with Adam and Eve. If we allow fear, shame and the need to belong (thank you, Eldon, for that great teaching!) to keep us from showing our face to God, we'll remain foolish, because how will we overcome those issues if we will not receive instruction? If the Lord's saying "I do not know you," it's because we're too proud to let Him in. If we're going to go through His gate, He's going to first have to come in through ours.
Jesus said to those of His nation who would not believe in Him: "See! Your house is left to you desolate; and assuredly, I say to you, you shall not see Me until the time comes when you say, ‘Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!’” Luke 13: 35
I'll never forget the day I realized, with a huge shock, that God saw everything about me! I had spent my life deperately trying to hide from Him, in spite of the fact I'd called myself a Christian for most of it. I was in the middle of a rather wretched fight with my husband, and it was going nowhere. I felt so hopeless. Suddenly, the Lord revealed where I was at. I remember falling onto the floor and weeping uncontrollably when I realized that God saw through my defenses. I decided then that I had to stop hiding from the Lord behind the masks and walls I had built around myself to protect me from hurt, real or imagined.
Even though I had gotten revelation, it took years before I was willing to totally lay down the things that I used to shield myself from others and from God. I was so expert at creating defenses that most of them were hidden even from myself. I'm still not sure they're all gone, but at least now I am willing to be shown, either by the Lord or a person that He might speak through. The more I reveal myself to Him, the more He reveals Himself to me.
Have you ever seen a child, who, by covering her eyes, thinks she is hiding from her parent? I have! A child quickly figures it out, but it is funny when they first do it. We are like that with the Lord, and yet how slowly we come to the reality that we must not try to hide from Him. He can see us anyway. And the great truth is, that He loves us, so much more, than we love our own little children.
It is wisdom to uncover the face of our heart when we go to the written Word, for in it we will find Christ, if we will only open our eyes and let Him see us.
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