Cannot Be Shaken

The Israelites wanted a king so they chose Saul according to his outward appearance. But the Lord had a different plan - the shepherd boy David because of his heart. So, the Lord anointed David as king yet David had to wait over 20 years to begin his rule. TWENTY years. During this time Saul's *obsolete* rule continued (and caused David quite a bit of grief). David and the people looked forward with anticipation to the *last days* of Saul's reign, for he was a terrible king - a king chosen by the people, not by the Lord.

This was a shadow of things to come.

About 1000 years later, Jesus Christ, from the line of David, was anointed King after His crucifixion, resurrection and ascension to the right hand of the Father, where He sits on the eternal throne of David (2 Sam. 7:12-16). At that time, the Old Covenant law of Moses was rendered obsolete (Heb. 8:13), yet it continued day after day for another 40 years. FORTY years (and caused the Christians quite a bit of grief). Day after day bulls and goats continued to be sacrificed, in spite of the fact the perfect once-for-all sacrifice of Jesus had already been offered. This 40 year period was the period during which the entire New Testament was written. The writers of the New Testament looked forward with anticipation to the *last days* of the obsolete Mosaic covenant, for it was a terrible covenant - a covenant chosen by the people, not by the Lord (Deut. 5:27). It was a covenant concerning outward appearances, rather than heart. The prayers of the first Christians were finally answered in AD 70, with the destruction of Jerusalem and the entire Temple sacrificial system, including the Levitical priesthood and genealogical records which ensured the temple sacrificial system could never legitimately rise again.

While the Lord Jesus may have wonderful future events planned for us, the "last days" which the New Testament speaks of are behind us.

It was the period from 30AD to 70AD, when the New Testament was written, right before the destruction of Jerusalem in 70AD. It was exactly 40 years, which happened to be considered one Jewish generation. 

Interestingly, in Matthew chapter 24 Jesus prophesied all of this would happen. In fact, He said, "This generation will not pass away until all these things have been fulfilled." The generation He was talking about was THAT generation - those living at 30AD when He spoke those words to them. Essentially He was saying to the people living in 30AD, "some of you standing here will see all this happen before you die."

And they did - in 70AD.

Do not fear. Jesus is on the throne, the New Covenant is an eternal covenant and "we live in a Kingdom that cannot be shaken."

"By calling this covenant “new,” he has made the first one obsolete; and what is obsolete and outdated will soon disappear." - Hebrews 8:13 (written in 65AD)

One in Spirit

A lot of people today look at the Spirit of God the way we used to look at the old scuba diving tanks. They had two tanks on the back, and they had to get the mixture perfect between the two, but they always had two tanks. Most people still look at that interaction the same way today. 'Well, here I am, and there is the Holy Spirit. I am over here, and the Holy Spirit is over there.' They think of it just like the two tanks on the scuba divers.

Then they figured out, 'We could mix these two gases and get a perfect mixture so that nobody would have to mess with the mixture. It would be perfect, and we could just put them together in one tank.' Now, when you see the scuba divers, instead of having two tanks, they have one tank because the mixture is perfect, and they don’t have to mess with it. Why is it that in the church they still talk about the Spirit of God as being separate from us?

"But he that is joined unto the Lord is one spirit." - 1 Cor. 6:17

We're Winning

Today for every baby born into the world, four people are spiritually born again. In spite of all the tragedy the media tells us about, the Kingdom of God is steadily advancing. Thirty three percent of the world's population is now ruled by this King who arrived in a manger like a little mustard seed and is now seated on the throne as the Tree of Life. He waits patiently until His Body the Church makes His remaining enemies a "footstool for His feet." He waits until His will is done "on Earth as it is in Heaven."

Helper

All of the Bible was written 'for' us, but not all of the Bible is written 'to' us.

What we call the Bible is a collection of 66 books written over a period of 1500 years. It was organized into its present form during the Council of Carthage in AD 397. The Bible has many other names such as the Scriptures, the Good Book, the Holy Canon and the Word of God. It can be described a historical record of God's covenantal dealings with mankind through the ratification of five major covenants between God and 1) Noah, 2) Abraham, 3) Moses, 4) David and 5) Jesus.

Much confusion results when we take verses out of their historical context and apply them to ourselves in the present day. For example, what we know as "the Law" (10 commandments + hundreds of other rules) was given to Moses and was something God employed as a part of His covenant specifically with Moses and the covenant people who at that time was only the Israelites.

God employed these rules because He hadn't yet filled them with His Holy Spirit (Greek "paraclete" = Helper). Because God hadn't yet filled His people with Himself, they needed what Scripture calls a "tutor" - much in the same way our children need rules until they "come of age" and can start making wise choices on their own. The Bible also says that the Law was only a "shadow of things to come" (Col. 2:17; Heb. 10:1) and not the reality of what we now have - the "Helper" who now lives inside of us as a result of the Father's new covenant with His Son Jesus.

While reading about older covenants may be helpful in that they help us more fully understand the reality of what we now have under the New Covenant, in no way are we apply those "obsolete" (Heb. 8:13) rules to the freedom we now have in Christ. For further reading, see the entire book of Galatians.

This is what the apostle Paul means when he exhorts us to "live by the Spirit" and not under the Law. For the Christian, to use rules is equivalent to putting training wheels back on our bicycle or like a mother telling her 40 year old son not to run out onto a freeway.

To the degree we feel the need to keep making & enforcing rules is the exact degree to which we are not trusting what Jesus has done for us - or the Spirit He has given us.

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." - Galatians 5:1

Our Ways

Under the old covenant God's ways were higher than our ways (Isa. 55:9) but then He came and made His dwelling among us (John 1:14) in order to make our humanity compatible with His divinity (Phil. 2:7) after which He got so excited He jumped right inside of us (Rom. 8:11).

Now God's ways are our ways.

Gospel

God is Love (1John 4:8) and Love is patient, kind, not easily angered & keeps no record of wrongs (1Cor. 13:4-5) because God the Son [Jesus Christ] put on flesh and died for the sins of the whole world (1John 2:2) reconciling us to Himself (Rom. 5:10; 2Cor. 5:19) through the new blood covenant [binding unbreakable contract] of eternal forgiveness which He made with the Father (Matt. 26:28) whereby He is no longer counting our sins against us (2Cor. 5:19) because He broke down the wall of separation (Eph. 2:14) between us and God so therefore there is now nothing in all the universe that can separate us from His love (Rom. 8:39).

Now that we stand blameless before Him (Col. 1:22) with no reason to hide (Gen. 3:8-9) He offers us a new resurrected and victorious life (Eph. 2:5; Rom. 5:10) today (2Cor. 6:2) through the giving of a new heart (Ezek. 36:26) which is His Spirit (Ezek. 11:19; John 20:22) breathing into us new identities as sons and daughters of the living God (1John 3:1; Hosea 1:10) by which we cry out, "Abba [Daddy] Father" (Rom. 8:15) with power and authority (Luke 10:19) as His royal priests (1Pet. 2:9), ambassadors and ministers of reconciliation (2Cor. 5:18) as though God was making His appeal to the world through us (2Cor. 5:20) who possess full ownership and inheritance (Eph. 1:14) in our Father's Kingdom [domain of the King] (Luke 22:29) along with the keys to the doors of this Kingdom (Matt. 16:19) which is characterized by righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Rom. 14:17).

Now strong in the Lord and in the power of His might (Eph. 6:10) we put on the full armor of God (Eph. 6:11) and pick up the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God (Eph. 6:17) in order to drive out the remaining vestiges of darkness by enforcing the victory of our King (Col. 2:15), for it was for this very purpose that the Son of God was made manifest – to destroy the works of the devil (1John 3:8) by making him a footstool for His feet (Acts 2:35) via His Bride the Church (2Cor. 11:2; Eph. 5:24) until the body of Christ is built up and reaches unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and becomes mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ (Eph. 4:12-13), for He will not be unequally yoked with her (2Cor. 6:14) upon His return from the right hand of the Father (Psalm 110:1) where He waits until His will is done on earth as it is in Heaven (Matt. 6:10).

He Just Wants You Back

Anyone who has lost track of their child, even for a few seconds, knows what it feels like to have waves of panic well up from within the deepest parts of their soul. At that point it doesn't matter what your child did to get lost - it doesn't matter - you just want your child back and you will do ANYTHING to find them. You will lose all composure and YELL and SCREAM for them. You will run around the block, you will approach complete strangers and ask for help - you will do anything. You just want them back in your presence. You just want to make sure they are safe. No one knows them like you do.

When you finally find them you run to them with open arms - you throw your arms around them and squeeze them tight saying, "Where did you go! Why did you leave me!" Nothing is stronger than the parent-child bond.

God is like that too.

You are God's child. He loves you so much. It really doesn't matter where you ran off to or what you have been doing. Seriously. It doesn't matter.

He just wants you back.

Did you know He will hug and kiss you before you even say sorry?

"But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him." - Jesus describing His Father in Luke 15:20

God is no longer interested in your sin.

He is interested in YOU.

Do Not Fear

Jesus didn't say you will recognize false teachers by you or your pastor's interpretation of the Bible. He said you will recognize them by their fruit. What is being produced on the tree of their teaching? Fear? Worry? Panic? Confusion? Guilt? Shame? Passivity? Insecurity? Criticism? Division? Take a step back so you can see. You need not have a Bible degree to recognize false teaching. Just look at the fruit of their lives and the lives of their followers. Even children can do this. Jesus made it easy.
Jesus' #1 commands to us were "do not fear" and "do not worry". Therefore if anyone's teaching causes you to fear or worry, consider it false.

Nature & Nurture

Children are like sponges. They literally soak up all we give them - good or bad. Their memory is amazing. They imitate, they illustrate and they reflect back to us everything we are to them as their parents. Much can be learned about me by spending some time with my kids (scary!). And, likewise, much can be learned about my kids by spending some time with me.

My kids are made in my image and likeness. Not only do they look like me, but they are literally "like" me. My DNA is in every cell of their body and is flowing through their veins. I guess you could say the blueprint for their life is to be "like" me. Their destiny as my children - all they need to "grow up into me" - is contained within them. It is in their very nature to be like me. They are predestined to be conformed to my image.

But, unless they "like" me they will never be like me.

If they don't want to be like me - if they don't enjoy me - if for some reason they feel I have betrayed them or hurt them or done something to violate their trust - they will do one of two things. They will either run away and never talk to me again or they will run away and only come back during the holidays. Our relationship may be cordial from that point forward, but never of the heart. They will literally buck against the very DNA inside them. They will act contrary to their nature because of their perceived nurture, all because they no longer trust in my character, in my goodness. Their nature and my nurture must be aligned, reconciled.

Our relationship with God is like that too. Our family relationships are a shadow of something much deeper - something much more real.

If for some reason we have come to believe that God has somehow hurt us or abandoned us or "taken" a loved one or betrayed our trust in any way, then a lie has taken root in our heart. This lie starts to grow and creates a wedge between us and God. We no longer trust Him. We no longer trust in His goodness. We are no longer sure about His nature - no longer sure about His "good will" toward us. We take a step back. Our nature and His perceived nurture are no longer aligned in our hearts and minds.

I'm convinced this is Satan's #1 goal. He "kills, steals and destroys" and then tells us it was our Father who did it. We see these lies wrapped cleverly in sheep's clothing - in statements such as "God works in mysterious ways" or "God needed them in Heaven" or "God is controlling everything" or "God gives and takes away".

Do you see it?

It's interesting to me that Jesus actually referred to Satan as a father. He called him the "father of lies."

Don't confuse the father of lies with the Father of Lights! Align your nature with His good nurture. You can trust Him. Seriously, you can. He really does love you no matter what. Go be a sponge and imitate, illustrate and reflect your Father of grace. He is watching, with a smile on His face.

"Every good thing given and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shifting shadow." - James 1:17

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

Anyone who has children knows about the power of redirection. We have all seen it - one of our kids will be throwing a tantrum or in a funk of some sort and we try to "redirect" them by changing the subject or giving them something else to look at. Essentially we try to change what they are focusing on. It works pretty well - I've been able to develop my redirecting skills quite a bit over the past few years.

A few days ago we were driving in the car and the kids were all fighting and bickering with one another. I could have just told them to cut it out and stop, but I knew those commands would just cause them to focus on their fighting even more. I've seen it a million times, especially with my youngest who is 3. The minute I show her a line which shouldn't be crossed, she focuses on the line and wants to cross it. So, I pointed out a farm we were driving by, which had cows in a field. I said, "Look at all the cows! Do you think those are the milk kind of cows?" It worked. The subject quickly changed from fighting to farms.

"But sin used this command to arouse all kinds of evil desires within me! If there were no law, sin would not have that power." - Rom. 7:8

Like a moth to a flame, laws and commands cause children to focus on the commands themselves and it "arouses all kinds of evil desires within them".

We as adults like to think we are more mature than that, but we're not. A speed limit of 55 makes me want to go 65. A speed limit of 65 makes me want to go 80. Having a "limit" on my speed makes me think about how much I can get away with rather than the reason for the law in the first place - safety.
God knows this, which is why He removed the old covenant laws and "redirected" us to something else entirely - our righteousness in Christ. Jesus doesn't remove our ability to sin, He removes our fascination with it. He changes our focus because He knows we walk toward that which we are focused on. A powerful truth about the Christian life is that we literally become what we focus on. "As a man thinks in his heart, so is he" (Prov. 23:7). That's why it's so important to focus on our new righteous identity and freedom in Christ versus our old identity and slavery to law.

"For where there is no law there is no transgression." - Rom. 4:15

Religion is dangerous because it often gets confused regarding this. Because there is a fear of new believers continuing in sin, religion keeps all or portions of the law in order to "protect" people from sinning. Essentially religion doesn't trust the Holy Spirit to do His job, so religion tries to do it for Him. It's kind of like over-protective parents letting their teenagers go out alone for the first time. It's sometimes hard to "let go and let God..."

But we must. We must empower and trust our children [and fellow believers] to make good decisions. When they see that we trust them and that they have been empowered to make wise decisions, they typically do. Even when they stumble, they feel empowered to change and keep moving forward rather than getting stuck in a cycle of shame and guilt.

Invoking old covenant law, or any rules for that matter, in order to "protect" our brothers & sisters essentially denies what Jesus did for us - and the Spirit He has given us. It keeps people in a cycle of sin because they continue to focus on it. Like moths continuing to go back to the flame, they remain hypnotized by the allure of sin.

May we learn to "let go and let God" when it comes to our desires to change people. May we learn to simply scatter the seeds of love and truth while trusting God to prepare the soil and make it grow. May we say, "Look! there is something else outside I want you to see."