Materialism Part III

Matthew 7:11, “If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, (then) how much more will your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him!

In my continuation of Materialism I would like to offer as a definition that Materialism is a desire that keeps God from being able to fully bring prosperity into an individual life. With prosperity being that place of not only all sufficiency but an abundance for every good deed. As I set out to define these terms as I struggle with the Holy Spirit and their implications to my life I find myself running head long into the idea of giving gifts.

Mind you I have been raised in the church since birth. I have heard hundreds of sermons on the importance of tithing, and where the tithe goes, and all of that. When I speak of gifts I am speaking of something the tithe includes, but perhaps not with the religiosity of it. My years of tithing was done religiously, and based largely on objective knowledge, guilt, and pride. The result is that tithing did not in and of itself bring prosperity as at the height of my tithing and still lost virtually everything. Outside of giving religiously, and I have never really been a gift giver. I certainly don't walk through a store and think... oh So & So would really enjoy that. I should get it for them. To be truthful when it comes to purchasing my mind mainly focuses on necessity, and that even goes for giving gifts to family members or friends. 

Gary Chapman wrote a book called The 5 Love Languages. In it he surmises that there are five love languages, and that each person receives one or a few better than the rest. Likewise we as individuals speak one or a few languages better than the rest. Those 5 languages are Words of Affirmation, Acts of Service, Receiving Gifts, Quality Time, and Physical Touch. For me I speak Affirmation and Service. On the receiving side I enjoy the same but feel guilt, shame and obligation to receive Gifts, and abhor touch from anyone but my wife and children. And herein lies the problem and the focus of the Holy Spirit in His pursuit to get me over materialism.

The scripture above says the Father “gives.” (think about that)

The Father “gives what is good.” (gifts)

But what is really hitting me in this moment is that this scripture starts with an “if.” Have you ever heard of an if/then statement? If party A will, then party B will… Do you see where I am going? If I… know how to give good gifts (then) how much more WILL your Father… give… If I will give gifts then the Father will give gifts. Think what you want, but that understanding is revolutionary for me. When I know what giving good gifts is, then God will give His gifts... that is what I am seeing in this scripture. 

How can I give gifts if I am unable to receive gifts, and unable to receive them because I wrongly feel it is taking from someone rather than a blessing being made by my Father. This warped thinking of receiving a gift is taking from someone naturally leads to giving a gift as having an element of either needing repayment or feeling like being stolen from. Does that make sense? If I think receiving a gift is taking from someone then giving a gift is taking from me.

God has spent YEARS teaching me to receive gifts. And I can honestly say I have learned more about “receiving gifts” in the past few days than the past eleven years. But a transition has come for me.

Rabbi Lapin said, if you want to be prosperous, you have to be a giver. He said it was important because God’s plan includes financial interaction, but also that giving helps us to unclench our fist. In other words, giving helps us to overcome materialism. Giving helps us keep money in it's proper (good) perspective as spiritual rather than material. 

Up to this point in my life I have dismissed “gift giving” as simply a love language that God did not give me. I never saw a concern for it because after all Gary Chapman correctly points out that not every one speaks gift giving as love. But Christ did give gifts, and if I am to be more like Him then I am going to have to love with gifts as well. 

Today God is saying to me that gift giving is a love language I am going to learn to speak very fluently… in love, not in any hopes of gain. In fact I started my lessons today.

I have $20 in my wallet to give to someone in need. I am going to try to give $20 to someone every week. On top of that, we have a new employee at work. As a gift to him I took him to lunch today and spent and additional $20 as a purposed gift. My boss came in after lunch to talk about the new guy, and I told him I took him to lunch, and we had a good conversation. My boss reached into his wallet and gave me $20.

I thought momentarily, you are trying to steal my blessing. Then clearly the Holy Spirit interjected… no, I am turning your $40 or giving into $60. God made money right before my very eyes. 

Materialism Part II

Genesis 2:12, “The gold of that land is good…”

Genesis 13:2, “Now Abram was very rich in livestock, in silver, and in gold.”

John 6:7, “Phillip answered Him, ‘Two hundred denarii (days wages) is not sufficient for them to receive a little.”

Matthew 6:33, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these (material) things will be added to you.”

Continuing in my battle for perspective and truth regarding materialism I fully understand that gold, which is nothing more than a storehouse of wealth and formerly used as money, is here on earth created by God and it is good. Godly men of old and new possessed wealth. But one might also argued that there were godly men who also lived in intentional poverty like John the Baptist and some of the prophets. So it is a good thing, but I have a hard time believing that God intended excessive wealth for every Christian or Jew for that matter that gets life right. There is much more argument that there is a promised sufficiency, and even a little more than sufficiency.

So if some are blessed with extraordinary amounts of wealth by God and others not, what is this issue of materialism that has come alive in my spirit? Why can I be so focused on accumulating rewards, rather than focused on the tasks. The English language defines materialism as a desire to accumulate material goods, so if we accumulate goods without having desired to do so are we therefore not materialistic?

I can’t speak for you, but as far as my concern goes my issue with materialism is completely one of priority. Seek first the kingdom of God, Jesus said. Too often I am seeking the paycheck, the reward, or the result. When Rabbi Lapin says, “money is a measure of what one human being does for another” it immediately causes me to think of marketing plans, of how I am inform, trick of otherwise sell my wares… not for the benefit of the consumer mind you, but for an increase in my personal income and consumption. Rabbi Lapin would argue like Christ that if you focus on doing for others the money will naturally follow. 

Lapin said, “we are a spirit in a body.” But as I struggle with materialism I realize that I too often default to the perception that I am a body with a soul. With this thinking I am not in alignment with how God knows me, and more so I allow the body with its desires to overrule or take priorities too often. This is not to say that I am evil, because I am not, but these differences from Christ at this point are keeping the kingdom of God from growing inside of me.

Lapin said something else that is just now starting to hit home in the area of materialism. He said “money is made, not taken.” When someone tried to bless you with some money have you ever said, “I can’t take your money?” If you have then you struggle with the same warped perception that I have.

Money… wealth… is not in any way limited to physical bank notes in the form of dollars and coins. If I am blessed with money through paycheck or gift I have not taken ANYTHING from anyone. At that point it has been “made.”

Let me use Lapin illustration to prove this point. A man knocks on a woman’s door and ask her if she has anything she is not using that she can give away. She replies that there is an old table out back waiting for the garbage man to take away. The man then asks, how much will it cost to haul off.

The woman replies, “$5.00”

The man offers the woman $5.00 for the table to which she gladly agrees. At this point the woman has increased her wealth by $10.00. $5.00 in cash that she received, and $5.00 that she did not have to spend.

The man goes to the hardware store and spends a $1.00 in materials to fix it up. They have now increase by $1.00 or at least the profit of it. He then finds a different woman who is looking for a table. She is planning on spending $20.00 for a table but the man convinces her to buy his for $10.00. Now how much has the $16.00 in cash become in terms of wealth? 

$10 for the first lady plus $1 for the hardware store plus $10 in savings for the second lady plus $4 for the man. $16.00 became $25 of real wealth.

But if we get into the trap that money is taken and not made, then our conscious does not allow us to receive the full blessing of God. We don’t perceive it as something made out of thin air, but rather that we have taken from someone else. Improper thinking is that money is finite, and for us to have it means someone else has to do without. This is very much an issue and subconscious thought process that I am now fighting every day.

To reiterate this point… most money is a number on a page anyway. Are you aware that for every ten cents that you deposit in the bank that the bank can then go out and loan a dollar? And so the bank loans a dollar, borrowing the difference in your deposit and the rest from the Fed. The Fed in turn gets the money from the treasury, who… prints it. You have just been give a micro lesson on GDP. But the spiritual point is money is spiritual as Rabbi Lapin points out. It is not material.

My struggle with materialism is first that my motivation for my work is a paycheck, when it should rather be who can I help today and let the paycheck come. My second struggle is understanding that money coming to my hand is a blessing from God in all its forms and from all its sources… providing of course I didn't steal it somehow. I am not taking money. I am making money. Even when that money is given to me. Better yet, I am not making money, but God is blessing me with it each and every time.   

There is more to all of this and the coming posts will continue with Materialism, Community, & Redemption.

Not That Complicated

Philippians 3:10, “that I may know Him and the power of His resurrection and the fellowship of His sufferings, being conformed to His death.”        

Yesterday’s post titled “Materialism” was my longest post to date. I talked of how in my spirit three separate concepts have come into question within me simultaneously. Those concepts being materialism, community, and redemption. The tendency is to over complicate things and begin to wonder how the three are related, is God requiring something of me? Is He trying to reveal some big secret? Is there some trick of catch to all of this? And the answer is a resounding "no" to all the questions.

When God is drawing us to look at anything Kingdom related He is ALWAYS drawing us to look at Christ. Yes I am learning details about myself as it relates to the three subjects, but those details at the end of the day will be how I am different from Jesus so that He can present Himself in a fuller way.

For example, materialism… Christ in no way was materialistic. He was never motivated by a paycheck. He was never deterred or alarmed by any temporary lack of anything. On community, we are the body of Christ. True Christianity as a whole is an inseparable community, and to want to separate is really to be a cancer within that body. As for redemption, Christ is the Redeemer.

So everything always comes back to Jesus.

My mother engaged me in a discussion the other day about a book she had read and “judgment coming to America.” The book went into great detail pulling American history together all the way back to George Washington, and somehow tying it all with the Prophet in 2 Chronicles 7 where He quoted God saying, “and My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and see My face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land.” As she went into one event after another I thought, “how complicated.” Who has time to go and check every detail for facts, because if one little detail is off, one point of history is made up the whole theory falls a part. Beyond that what does it have to do with Christ. The very passage screams of Christ. Christ is how God hears us, Christ is how we are forgiven. And Christ is the door to an INDIVIDUAL relationship with Christ. We are no longer under judgment as nations. We are under judgment as individuals because of Christ. If this were not the case then our redemption would be dependent upon someone else.

If spiritual life were that complicated then only the intelligent would know God, and that is not true at all.

Rabbi Lapin said something that rings so true. “We are spiritual beings in a body. We are not a body with a soul.” Spiritual understanding, relationship with God is from the inside out, not the outside in. When we are in right relationship, when we are believing the truth then there is peace and joy and fruits of the spirit. If something from the world, from outside our spirit is bothering us it is because we are not agreeing with the truth that is found in Christ.

For me Christ is showing me the truth about materialism, community, and redemption. In that process I am confused because it is different from my current beliefs.  Can you see this? But the point is not to make me a better theologian. The point is the let me see Jesus more clearly, and to become more like Him.

In the past I would complicate things. I would assume I am on some path to find some great spiritual truth, some secret spiritual formula to living successfully, to achieving my desired results. But God is simply saying, ‘here Jeff, let me show you Christ; but to see Him we have to change some of your preconceptions that are not founded in truth.’

My prayer is that as you get confused in your spiritual growth that you will remember it is not that complicated. It is all about Jesus and being in right relationship with Him to see the truth.

For the video below consider the remote control Jesus... what lengths we go to to get to Him when He is just  an arms length away. 

Materialism

Genesis 11:4, “They said, ‘Come, let us build for ourselves a city, and a tower whose top will reach into heaven, and let us make for ourselves a name, otherwise we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.”

On Sunday May 19, 2013 Jim Spivey in his blog quoted Glenn Beck on the Tower of Babel. Here four days later I am still convicted by the quote.

“GLENN: So here it is. The Tower of Babel as most people know it is these people got together and the king said let’s build a tower and it will reach the sky and it will reach heaven and then God got pissed off and came down and destroyed them, confused their language and they all scattered. That’s really not the way the story goes, and it’s important that you understand the story. It has affected us do you know that Bugs Bunny actually used to call Elmer Fudd Nimrod? And do you know why? He used to call Bugs Bunny was the one that really made Nimrod really popular because Bugs Bunny was the one that called Elmer Fudd Nimrod, Nimrod, Elmer Fudd was the hunter. He wasn’t a king at first. He’s first described in the in Genesis as a hunter, but not a hunter of animals. A hunter of men. A hunter of people. And the people, after Noah, they all, they get off the boat and they do what two and two do and they make four and six and et cetera, et cetera. And so then they repopulated the Earth. And they’re all focused on God. And that’s when the first time an oppressive government, the idea of a totalitarian leader comes to the forefront, and it’s done by a hunter of men, Nimrod. And what he says is he gets together and he says to everybody, "Hey, let’s build bricks." Why would you say let’s build bricks? Does that sound like anything anybody would want to do? Let’s build bricks? Oh, and then we’re going to build a big tower and it will reach heaven.

If you were really somebody who was an electric speaker, you would say let’s build a tower to heaven. Let’s build this giant tower, and we’re all going to work together on it. Now, what does the tower represent? The tower represents what we were talking about with, like, Elton John. His intentions are good. The average person wants to do the right thing. The average person wants to help the poor. They want to live in harmony. So if you give them a grand idea, people will do it and they’ll do it for the right reasons. It’s why I’ve said be careful on social justice. Social justice has been perverted. It is a perversion of the gospel. The gospel is go help. Not, "Let’s get everybody together and build bricks. Oh, and we’ll build a tower to the sky."

So what is the brick? Bricks especially I live in Connecticut. Stones, those great stone calls, they’re all different and they are all made by God and they are all made differently. And when you build these stone walls or a foundation, all of our churches back in colonial days, they weren’t bricks. They were all stones. Stones are all different and they are all made by God. The stones represent people. So do the bricks. Nimrod says let’s make bricks. He’s talking about people, let’s make them all equal, let’s make them all exactly the same. Because then everybody is equal, everybody will have the same and they will be interchangeable. And what did they use as mortar? In the ancient Hebrew, mortar, the word "Mortar" actually means "Materialism." So materialism. It’s what holds the bricks together.

Let me ask you this question: What is holding us together as a nation? What’s holding us together as a nation quite honestly for a long time has been our materialism. It has been, as Rabbi Lapin said last night on TV, "Hey, let’s all just get together and watch the Super Bowl," but we watch for the commercials. That is what holds us together. What used to hold us together was our common history, our common love of God, our common understanding of freedom. We don’t even understand freedom. We don’t celebrate freedom anymore. It’s all about materialism. If you take away our mortar of materialism, do the bricks stay together? What binds us? Our materialism is about to disappear. That’s why we must replace and put real mortar between us. We must break ourselves out of what they’re trying to build now and that is everyone is exactly the same. We’re all the same. We’re all bricks. No, we are not. We’re all stones. And we can put ourselves together. And it is our common understanding of freedom and the Constitution and values and principles that bind us together and hold us together. That is the mortar.

Nimrod also is a guy who builds this up and he’s building on a grand scale. Well, God comes down and he sees it, and according to Genesis he sees it. But there are two names for God. In the English Bible it’s just God. But in the ancient Hebrew there’s two names for God. One is the happy go lucky God. The other one is the, "you don’t want to see me; I’m in a bad mood" God. The bad mood God is not the one that comes down to confuse people’s language. The benevolent God does, the happy name for God. He’s not punishing the people. He is setting the people free by destroying the Tower of Babel, by confusing their language. Now, what does it mean that I language? Not the same, again in the ancient Hebrew. There’s language and tongue. The tongue is the language, is what we would say is language. The language is the things that make them all the same. The languages are their tribal customs, their you know, it’s like everybody being from New York City. It’s different here. The language New Yorkers speak is different than the language that they speak in Iowa. And so what did he do? He came down and he confused their language to where they couldn’t understand each other anymore. And they were scattered. And they became stones again and not bricks. At the same time one of the big enemies of Nimrod was Abraham. And Abraham brought back the idea that God exists, God is your master, not a king. And if you have that personal relationship with him, if you trust him and have a personal relationship with him, you will be fine.” http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/198/48240/

In this Glenn Beck is making an argument against government. Jim celebrated his recognition of being stone rather than a brick. And I was convicted of materialism… or was I?

So many things are converging right now in my spirit. For weeks community has been a word I am hearing but if fills me with confusion as it appears to be a direct assault of my “loner” mentality and comfort zone. Overlaid on community is materialism, and the “guilt” I feel as I struggle financially. And a third layer or topic very much alive and calling in my spirit is “redemption.” All three topics are murmurating around me. All my thoughts and questions of God fall on one of these topics. I know what God is doing. He is in the middle of changing my perception and preconceived notions about community, materialism, money, and redemption. What I don’t know is what He is trying to change them too.

Day’s before Jim sent out this piece from Glenn Beck we met with a group of men in a bi-weekly meeting we have. One of the members is wealthy, and at the end he shared with us a recent trip to a Mecum Auto action and that how he kind of was caught up in the frenzy and the stroking after buying one car, and ended up buying four. From my perspective I heard a man that at the drop of a hat spent $50,000 on a whim, and all I thought is what I could do with $50K, and frankly became jealous. Particularly in light of needing $8500 for an a/c unit and no practical way of getting it, and insufficient savings to pay for it out right. Then as always on Saturday I was jealous again that someone won the $590 million dollar powerball other than me. It makes me wonder if I will ever get past the place of just enough, or worse almost enough.

Is it God’s intent to leave me in a perpetual storm, though the waves have calmed substantially in the past couple years?

Am I a faithless Israelite doomed to live out my days in the wilderness because a giant or two frightened me?

And so I went searching for the origins of this interpretation of the Tower of Babel and found that it originated from Rabbi Lapin the author of “Thou Shalt Prosper.” A book that I bought many many years ago when it first came out, but never ready. (murmuration). Which led me to youtube where I watch a four part series of Rabbi Lapin discussing the principles of the book.

Now I write all of this not for you to glean some new theology, or truth but for you to see the journey I walk with Christ. The confusion I feel is Him having pulled away. Not because of sin, but because He is growing me once again. As I cry out, “where have you gone.” I hear at different times, materialism, redemption, community. All things standing in the way of our closeness.

And it is not materialism that stands in the way, but my preconceptions on materialism. It is not community standing in the way, but my dislike for community and lack of understanding about its importance. Redemption draws us to God, so that cannot be in the way, but my notions of redemption that are wrong prevent this next evolution of my soul and character.

And so I write a little of this process of God drawing, teaching and conforming me.

Continuing... several things popped out of the videos of Rabbi Lapin. Some of which I believe, and some of which I can immediately prove false. Still other things drew me in having never heard them before. For example… “ Money is spiritual.” Oh boy do I see that as its lack keeps me in the constant state of stress relief through prayer. But primarily that money is made not taken. That in transactions money grows. All of which I understand on a GDP level, but something I never really considered from a blessing from God standpoint.

Rabbi Lapin did say prosperity comes when we are obsessed with other’s needs, wants, and desires. And this certainly is true with a product that is successfully marketed, but also compatible with what Jesus said in Matthew 6:33, “But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these (material necessities) will be added to you.”

Rabbi Lapin says a lot of things that all are mulling in my head. For example, “Money is a measure of what one human being does for another.” And “Money is a mechanism for God to do kindness from one human to another.” And “Work is making things better for other people.”

Something he said that I don’t agree with is that “money turns problems into expenses” and we all know that there are a host of diseases, injuries, and aliments for which no amount of money can solve. There also is nary a relationship that is more than patched up by money. No… money turns money problems into expenses. Yet expenses are why we have problems with money… so now I’m confused.

Rabbi Lapin said that giving is a common trait among the prosperous. And I know that not to be true either. In my profession I look at thousands of tax returns for individuals. Very few of the rich give to charity anything at all. As far as tithers go, I barely remember a few. But of those that I know personally, if I think about it, they are “givers.” If fact, I might even say that their love language is giving gifts as I have seen many buy their employees expensive gifts. I have seen them donate to causes that are not the church, or necessarily tax deductible. So perhaps there is something to this giving aspect that I have lost.

He made another comment in passing. He said, “An essential act of redemption is financial.” (murmuration) There's that word "redemption" again, but without explanation. It also happens to be a key buzz word of the rich car buyer above.

Lapin said God created a world of binding and connection. (Community) (Murmuration). His example was salt. NaCl… individually Sodium (Na) and Chlorine (Cl) kill a human. But together as sodium cholirde they have wonderful results. Using this he said that “connectiveness” is important to prosperity. In an expanding community of people that “know you, like you, and trust you” there is no lack of prosperity.

Do you think it is a coincidence that materialism/prosperity/money, redemption, & community have ALL been used in congruence by Lapin?

And yet even as I write this the term “prosperity” seems so dirty, disgusting, and evil. And herein lies one issue I know that I must overcome. Somehow in seeing money for what it is… spiritual. If I can see the truth of it's spiritual nature then I can find the place to celebrate with those who God blesses with it. When I see that He invented it back in Genesis, giving it to Abraham then I can somehow understand and see “money is a mechanism for God to do kindness from one human to another.”

But I am not there yet. I know that we have a responsibility to be responsible. I know that He is trying to teach me to sleep in the storm. I know that He is trying to show me the truth about community, redemption, and materialism. I even know that all of this is secondary to knowing Him. And lest I forget He sends Oswald Chambers to murmurate that as well. “Matthew 6:25, ‘…do not worry about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink; nor about your body, what you will put on… If we have received the Spirit of God, He will squeeze right through our lives, as if to ask, “Now where do I come into this relationship, this vacation you have planned, or these new books you want to read?” And He always presses the point until we learn to make Him our first consideration. Whenever we put other things first, there is confusion.

“. . . do not worry about your life . . . .” Don’t take the pressure of your provision upon yourself. It is not only wrong to worry, it is unbelief; worrying means we do not believe that God can look after the practical details of our lives, and it is never anything but those details that worry us.”

The destination is never the point... it's all about the journey with Him.

Selah

Looking Back

Genesis 19:17 – 26 “When they (angels) had brought them outside, one said, ‘Escape for your life! Do not look behind you, and do not stay anywhere in the valley; escape to the mountains, or you will be swept away...’ But his wife, from behind him, looked back, and she became a pillar of salt.”

This morning as I drove to work I thought of my day ahead and wondered heavenward how the month would come together financially. That’s just me, always evaluating on a financial basis. And in an instant I thought back through my colored past. Nothing new mind you, I often look back wondering what if? But today I looked back and didn’t see something I dearly missed, but I saw a beautiful path of where God has brought me to today.

On the radio the DJ’s were discussing a poll that said 92% of men had someone in their past they regret not being with. They called it their white elephant. Me… I can’t believe it took me so  long to find the wife perfect for me. I actually embrace life today as it has been perfectly designed by God for me.

Isn’t it funny how we look around and the grass is always greener than the very grass we stand on. Looking back our mind erases the pain and says that grass was greener. Looking to the side that same mind ignores the pain of others and says their grass is greener. Equally wrong, we even still will say tomorrow’s grass will be greener.

Perhaps all this green grass comes from the fact that we live in a valley. Peace, safety, green grass, flowing springs… it all looks so wonderful as mankind gorges on grass. But for me, there is very little grass. I have been brought outside, lead, even driven from the valley up the mountain.

The mountain is not as hospitable. There is less grass, the beast are wild and gamey as well as more dangerous. But up the mountain is always where God is found, and it is always better to be forcibly removed from the valley than to be swept away with its destruction.  I just thank God for grace and mercy on all the times I looked back longing to return. I thank Him that I have my life, a full life, and that my longings and curiosity didn’t destroy my soul and flesh like it did for Lott’s wife.

Have you ever considered the valleys of the Bible? The Valley of the Shadow of Death. Hades is a Valley. Armageddon is a valley. Sodom, Gomorrah, Jericho… all in valleys. While Jerusalem sits on a hill. Moses met God on Mount Sinai. Jesus prayed on Mount of Olives. All the time Jesus is going up the mountain to pray.

These thoughts, these reminders make me commit again to climb that mountain with Christ, never looking back to miss the past, but pressing onward to the high calling of God.

Finally the music selection today reminds me of my wife and the wonderful life that Christ has brought me to… albeit kicking and screaming the whole way. 

Power

Acts 1: 7-8, “He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even the remotest part of the earth.”

In the previous post I focused on the term “witnesses” that Jesus used as He spoke to His disciples. But today the scripture still stirs in my heart, and I want to explore the term “power.”

Power of the Holy Spirit… power when the Holy Spirit has come… power for what? As mentioned in the post Witnesses it is the power to see the kingdom of God and what He is doing. It is the power to hear His voice. On many levels it is the power of the blood to not only cover our sin, but to provide complete and total forgiveness to the point that God has even wiped them from His own memory. It is the power for God to orchestrate heaven and earth and move you closer to Himself.

But this power includes the gifts of God. Jesus told the apostle Paul, “My grace is sufficient for you, for power is perfected in weakness.” (2 Cor 12:9) – As we witness Christ we also witness our own weakness. In see Christ’ perfection, we understand our own imperfection. Out of this relationship. Out of this understanding that Christ is totally other, there is the opportunity to experience God’s power. “But to each is given the manifestation of the Spirit for the common good. For one is given a word of wisdom through the Spirit, and to another the word of knowledge according to the same Spirit; and to another effecting of miracles, and to another prophecy, and to another the distinguishing of spirits, and another various kinds of tongues, and to another the interpretation of tongues.” (1 Cor 12:7-10)

For me the experiences that led to me writing God Heals were encounters with this power and these supernatural gifts. But I feel God calling to a deeper understanding of that power… an experience with that power in surrender to Him rather than in exploration and proof of His word.

As Christians we gain salvation through belief in Christ and His death and resurrection from the cross, and committing to following Him. But after salvation God is at work drawing the Christian even closer to Himself. I call this entering the Kingdom of God. T Austin Sparks calls it going on to the “fullness of life.” (Col 2:10) T Austin said, “Whether you like the theory or not, it is a fact. There are many Christians who are in the way of life, that is, who have entered the way of life, but are not going right to the fullness of Life.”

The Christians T Austin-Sparks refers to is us as we wrestle with God, we question His motives and plans. We try to possess the power of God to conform our life to the idea of fullness, rather than press on to a life of the cross in surrender to God completely. But if we will press on, if we will continue in our surrender to God I believe there is a power to be seen that the world has at best been only given a small sample since Christ left the earth.

Rather than the power of God in man being some indicator of relationship to Him… Rather than the power of God being some desire akin to any other fleshly desire… Rather than the power of God being reduced to a formula, intellectual study, or born out of an objective relationship, or some magic words… I believe that there is a power of God that is and will manifest out of a living, breathing, subjective relationship to Christ & The Father through the Holy Spirit. It is the power that orders our steps. It is the power that all creation murmurates God in everything. It is the power that I witnessed many time in healing.

I am looking forward to seeing that power at work. A power that radically alters perceptions, that shocks, amazes, and that forever changes lives for Christ. A power that shakes the foundations of beliefs not grounded in Jesus. Bring on more of Your power Father.

Witnesses

Acts 1: 7-8, “He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even the remotest part of the earth.”

My mother shared with me a dream the other morning with a message about sharing who Jesus is. Part of her revelation was that in order to share who Christ is, we must know Him and not just know of Him. As her son you could give infinite detail of who I am, but her question of herself is does she know Christ to the degree that she could do the same of Him?

And so it made me think of the above passage of scripture. Jesus said to us all, “you shall be My witnesses…” Have you ever considered the role of a witness? A witness repeats, describes, and reports on what he/she has personally seen. This is not only a promise that we will witness Him moving and acting upon mankind and the earth, but it also beautifully limits our responsibility.

As a “witness” we have somewhat of a passive role in the kingdom of God. Of course we are required to walk in love, act in brotherly kindness, exhibit patience and understanding, but in terms of being a witness; I believe we are more a witness of Christ, rather than for Christ. We can slow down on the man created and concocted versions of evangelism and proselytizing, and focus on watching the murmurations (the moving of the Holy Spirit in beautiful unison with mankind and nature) and be like Peter on the day of Pentecost when he said, “this is that described by the prophet…” this is God moving.

We want to tell someone how to live. We have a natural desire and tendency to be or support kingdom entrepreneurs in ventures that will “change the world.” Those efforts are wonderful, but they are not the primary actions we are called to. Our primary action is to witness Christ. To be in relationship with Him… to be close enough, aware enough... to see what He is doing. This is the “power of the Holy Spirit.”

I could rewrite the passage above to say, ‘Life with Christ is not about knowing the future or how or when the end is coming. That stuff is for the Father to know. Life for you is to have your spirit empowered by the Holy Spirit so that you can see what God is doing. And He is doing it all over the world, even in the remotest parts.”

There is a “power” from God that heals, and prophecies, and speaks in tongues, and inspires, and so much more. But the power most needed is the power to see. To see that the kingdom of God is at hand. The power to hear the voice of God. The power of the Holy Spirit to be in living relationship with Christ.  From here God will project out with, or without you. But His primary objective is for YOU to witness Him. For you to see what He is doing. For you to love Him spirit to spirit until we can do it face to face.

In my mother’s dream she was in prison and under the threat of death she was asked to tell a man about Jesus. As I listen to the dream what I hear in my spirit is this. It is not about being in prison. We are all prisoners of our flesh. It is not about being a martyr. We are all destined to die. It is not about telling someone else about Jesus with or without consequence. The dream, life, Christianity is about how well do you know Christ. What is our relationship to Him? Is He a character in a book? Or is He someone your spirit is acutely aware of? Is He in a distance, or so close and personal that He is worth dying for?

What of Christ do you witness?

Sheep, Goats, & Wolves

John 10:27, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”

Matthew 25, 32-33, “All the nations will be gathered before Him, and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left.”

John 15:19, “If you were of the world, the world would love its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.”

Matthew 7:15, “Beware of the false prophet, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.”

Matthew 10:16, “Behold, I send you out as sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and innocent as doves.”

Christianity from outside the kingdom seems full of paradox, conflict, and dualism. But from inside the kingdom there is a clarity. Inside… if you will allow, you will see that all that is important is Christ, and obedience to Him.

Take the passages above. Clearly there are godly people (sheep), and ungodly people (goats & wolves). Are we to judge a person as to their nature, and like Christ separate from them? Do we ostracize the sinner as a goat? Or do we understand our own sinful nature and condemn ourselves and worry that perhaps we are the goats and not the sheep? Why did Christ even mention sheep and goats if we were not to be aware of them and in judgment? Is He talking about associations that should be avoided?

We all have our own ideas about the matter, but the end of the end is it comes down to only YOUR relationship with Christ. He is the only one that can truly judge, and He will instruct… He will shepherd you from the goats. He will protect you from the wolves.

Is the sinner always the goat? What about the adulteress who Jesus did not condemn? What about the thieving tax payer Jesus dined with, or the thief Judas whom He allowed to follow so closely?

Is this a paradox? That we know there are sheep, goats, and wolves, but no way to determine their status in our own faculties?

“My sheep hear my voice.” Are you Christ’ sheep? Do you hear His voice? Do YOU follow Him?

If yes, then just keep following the shepherd and stop worrying about identifying the goats, and wolves in sheep clothing. Are you surrounded by goats and wolves? Then perhaps you are not paying attention to the Shepherd. 

2nd Anniversary of Propel

John 10:27, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.”

John 21:15-17, “… Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these? He said to Him, ‘Yes Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Tend My lambs.’ He said to him a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?’ He said to Him, ‘Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.’ He said to him, ‘Shepherd My Sheep.’ He said to him the third time, ‘Simon, son of John, do you love Me?’ Peter was grieved because  He said to Him the third time, ‘Do you love Me?’ And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Tend My Sheep.’”

When I was having conversation with God this morning I did not realize that today is the second anniversary of this blog. But when I arrived at work and saw the reminder on my Calendar it made that conversation all the more meaningful.

The Holy Spirit was asking me, “why have you quit writing.”

My feeble explanation, but truth of my heart was that no one has even noticed there has not been any posts in a couple of weeks or more. What's the point if no one cares. 

To that I heard deep in my spirit. Jeff I did not call you to “gather” My sheep. I did not call you to “eat from My sheep.” I did not call you to “lead” My sheep. I called you to “tend” My sheep, and your obedience of writing is doing just that all over the world.

And so I checked the states for the first time in a long time. Over 17,000 have read the words I pray our God’s through me. 2000 alone have come to The Offense of the Cross.  1100 have read Money… Money… Money. 86 Countries on all continents have visited. April was the 4^th highest month of traffic, but the least number of post.

So this morning I heard God say to me, “Jeff, do you love Me.” And to that I say, “Yes Lord, You know that I do.” Only to hear again… “Tend My Sheep.”

And they are HIS sheep. Not mine.

If you are reading this… You are HIS sheep, and I am not here to be your shepherd. I’m not here to take from you. I do not live for your compliments, and nor do I die by your complaints. In fact, I am here following the Shepherd just like you, only occasionally throwing a handful of feed, trimming the overgrown wool, or pointing out the occasional danger. Beyond that… I spend most my time just being one of the sheep myself.

God Bless you.