June 2019 – Wisdom From the Word

Honouring His Presence Part 2 – What Jesus Offers

There is the expression, “You can never go home again.” It is akin to the idea, “You can never step in the same river twice.” Time marches on and we need to recognize the impermanence of moments. However, one would expect Jesus to be welcome at home, He was after all a nice guy. He didn’t bully people while growing up, He was helpful at home and in the community and there were now stories circulating of people being healed by Him. Here is what happened when Jesus spoke at the synagogue upon His return to Nazareth.

¹⁸ “The Spirit of the LORD is upon Me, Because He has anointed Me To preach the gospel to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted, To proclaim liberty to the captives And recovery of sight to the blind, To set at liberty those who are oppressed; ¹⁹ To proclaim the acceptable year of the LORD.” Luke 4:18-19 (NKJV)

After His testing in the wilderness Jesus returned to Nazareth and stood up and read this passage about the coming Messiah and then told them the scripture was fulfilled, that is, that He was the fulfillment (verse 21). This was Jesus first public proclamation that He was the prophesied Messiah. The response – they marveled at His words and when He challenged them to believe it they were “filled with wrath” (verse 28).

What was the outcome of their response?

⁵ Now He could do no mighty work there, except that He laid His hands on a few sick people and healed them. ⁶ And He marveled because of their unbelief. Then He went about the villages in a circuit, teaching. Mark 6:5-6 (NKJV)

When Jesus was not honoured He could do very little in their midst.

It is interesting if we look around at various segments of the body of Christ that those who believe in healing see more of it. Those who believe in spiritual gifts tend to operate in them. This happens because just as Jesus was present in Nazareth, He is also present when believers gather.

²⁰ “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them.” Matthew 18:20 (NKJV)

Jesus reinforced this message just before His ascension to heaven.

¹⁸ And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, “All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” Amen. Matthew 28:18-20 (NKJV)

Since Jesus is with us when we gather why not honour His presence and pursue all that He has to offer?

Honouring His Presence Part 1 – Discerning His Body

In 1 Cor. 11:17-34 Paul addresses how we are to partake of communion, the Lord’s Supper. We generally focus in on verses 28-29.

²⁸ But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of the bread and drink of the cup. ²⁹ For he who eats and drinks in an unworthy manner eats and drinks judgment to himself, not discerning the Lord’s body. 1 Corinthians 11:28-29 (NKJV)

What I want to focus on is the phrase, ‘not discerning the Lord’s body.’ In general I believe the teaching on this addresses the elements, the cracker and grape juice or wine because they represent Jesus broken body and shed blood.

While there is important truth in that in the context of the passage there is a broader application. Paul’s focus is on the behaviour of the congregation as they gather. In the early church they ate a whole meal together. Here is what Paul said of their behaviour.

²⁰ Therefore when you come together in one place, it is not to eat the Lord’s Supper. ²¹ For in eating, each one takes his own supper ahead of others; and one is hungry and another is drunk. 1 Corinthians 11:20-21 (NKJV)

What concerned Paul was how they were treating one another in the process. They were not discerning Jesus body, that is, the church, and in the process were not honouring Jesus presence among them and within them. Paul’s statement below is a commentary on verses 20-21.

²⁷ Therefore whoever eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. 1 Corinthians 11:27 (NKJV)

I don’t know how often we think about this but our call as Christians is also a call to honour and bless our fellow believers. We have different degrees of relationship with different ones but regardless of the level of relationship the common factor needs to be one of respect and honour. When we do this we discern Jesus body, honour His presence and instead of coming under judgment we open the door to the blessing of more of Jesus presence in our lives.

Are we discerning His body?

Thinking Within

In my last post I referenced the importance of thinking and our imagination. In response a friend posted a comment that included the following, “The importance of a sanctified imagination.” I read this comment and it has been with me for days. In our walk with Jesus our thinking is critical, and is highlighted in Proverbs.

In examining this proverb it is important to compare two versions as when most quote it they refer to how we think in our heart.

⁷ For as he thinks in his heart, so is he. “Eat and drink!” he says to you, But his heart is not with you. Proverbs 23:7 (NKJV)

⁷ For as he thinks within himself, so he is. He says to you, “Eat and drink!” But his heart is not with you. Proverbs 23:7 (NASB)

The NASB is the more accurate translation. The reference is about our inner thoughts. The word translated as heart in the NKJV is actually the Hebrew nephesh, soul.

Proverbs 23:7 is an important verse that presents an important principle in the context of verses 1-2. The context provides both wisdom and warning, for who of us doesn’t entertain the fantasy of knowing the ‘important’ people? Who would not have his ego ‘stroked’ by their attention? Solomon recognized this.

¹ When you sit down to eat with a ruler, Consider carefully what is before you; ² And put a knife to your throat If you are a man given to appetite. Proverbs 23:1-2 (NKJV)

The phrase ‘given to appetite’ translated more accurately would be ‘ruled/mastered by your soul.’ The word ‘appetite’ is also the Hebrew nephesh, soul. Solomon is saying the degree of control our appetites have over us is connected to how we think. This connection leads us to verse 7 which contains a key idea about the impact of our thought life.

If we focus on a soulish desire to be seen as ‘important’ in the eyes of others we will concentrate on their assessments and this is what we will think about. IF we root our thought life in the renewed and renewing mind of Christ, we will embrace His assessment of us.

The importance of this is found in the word translated ‘thinks’ in verse 7. It is the Hebrew word shāʿar and in addition to referring to our thinking also means to act as a gatekeeper. What Solomon is saying is that the way we think, what we open or close the gate to, determines who we are. Years ago I read something by A. W. Tozer talking about taking responsibility for our thought life. He said, “You may not be able to keep a bird from landing on your head but you can keep it from building a nest in your hair.”

Tozer’s idea echoes Solomon. The enemy or our flesh may initiate things in our thought life. Our responsibility is to shoo them away and close the gate.

Abiding

Jesus said,

⁴ Abide in Me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in Me. John 15:4 (NKJV)

If we want to bear fruit we need to learn to abide. If we approach the metaphor from the perspective of agriculture it is clear that branches that are not connected to life giving vines cannot produce fruit, even though for a season we may be able to produce a semblance of life.

For example, one spring I cut down a large willow tree. I left a four foot portion of the trunk lying on the patio. In a couple of weeks small leaves appeared on the side of the prone trunk. There was the remnant of life in the trunk, but in a few days the leaves withered. The trunk was no longer connected to life giving roots.

Beyond the obvious practical need to abide to produce life, we need to know how to abide. With that in mind I will look at one tool to aid in abiding, our imagination. Isaiah said something very interesting and I have included a couple of translations to bring out the shades of meaning in this verse.

³ You will keep him in perfect peace, Whose mind is stayed on You, Because he trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3 (NKJV)

³ You will guard him and keep him in perfect and constant peace whose mind [both its inclination and its character] is stayed on You, because he commits himself to You, leans on You, and hopes confidently in You. Isaiah 26:3 (AMP)

³ An imagination supported Thou fortifiest peace -peace! For in Thee it is confident. Isaiah 26:3 (YLT)

The Amplified translation brings out the idea of inclination and character while Young’s Literal Translation correctly informs us that the Hebrew word here for ‘mind’ actually refers to our imagination, or more specifically how our thoughts are formed. Our thought life is a powerful tool to deepen our walk with Jesus or draw us away. So, allow me to take the presentation in the different translations above further and offer my own.

³ You will keep him in deep peace, Whose imagination is fixed upon You, Because he trusts in You. Isaiah 26:3

The idea here is the need to take control of our thought life. Doing this requires that we be intentional regarding the use of our mind. My friend Evelyn used to warn me, and others, of the need to avoid passivity in our thought life. We are in a spiritual battle and when we let down our guard and let our thoughts wander we cease to abide. If we recognize what is happening we have an opportunity to pull our thoughts back. When we fix our thoughts on Him He responds by imparting peace to our hearts.