Spiritual insight – Wisdom From the Word

Values, What a Concept Part 3

I close this series looking at the challenges of aligning our values and worldview with scripture. The first thing to note is that this is a real battle, spiritual warfare. As I noted in my last post, “The presentation of our body to His service and the considering of ourselves as dead to our former way of life, sin, are both acts of spiritual warfare that establish and enforce His victory in our lives and make us salt and light in our culture.”

To intentionally engage in this transformational process, we need to draw on His grace to swim against the tide of our culture and the spiritual influence of darkness, which is of course a significant part of our current culture. We draw on His grace in two ways. One, way is by asking for the Spirit’s help, the other is intentionally stepping into this battle by seeking to find and engage in the things He has prepared for us to do. Paul said it this way.

⁸ For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, ⁹ not of works, lest anyone should boast. ¹⁰ For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:8–10 (NKJV)

The Lord has already prepared things for us to do, our part is to discern and engage in them. While there may specific things each of us need to discern, some things are clearly laid out for all of us. Jesus presented a number of them in the Sermon on the Mount, here is a brief sample.

¹⁶ Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:16 (NKJV)

⁴³ “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ ⁴⁴ But I say to you, love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you, ⁴⁵ that you may be sons of your Father in heaven; for He makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust. ⁴⁶ For if you love those who love you, what reward have you? Do not even the tax collectors do the same? ⁴⁷ And if you greet your brethren only, what do you do more than others? Do not even the tax collectors do so? ⁴⁸ Therefore you shall be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect. Matthew 5:43–48 (NKJV)

If you haven’t thought of these as acts of spiritual warfare and engaging in cultural transformation, they are, and when you engage in them you are modeling the values of the kingdom. This is presenting our members as instruments/weapons of righteousness (Romans 6:12-14, 17-19) and presenting our body as a living sacrifice and aligning our thinking and acting with the values of the kingdom (Romans 12:1-2).

Let’s daily do that.

Values, What a Concept Part 1

Those of you who are older may remember a popular sitcom from decades ago, one where the broader populace was first exposed to the comedy of Robin Williams. The show was called Mork and Mindy and featured Robin Williams as Mork and Pam Dawber as Mindy. Williams played a bumbling alien from another planet here to study earth and humanity. One of the key ongoing plots was Mork not understanding our values and behaviours. In the midst of his attempts to understand, at one point in an episode he uttered a line, “Reality, what a concept!”

This brings me to our subject, ‘Values, What a Concept!’ In our multicultural society we are often exposed to people from other cultures. Not individuals from other planets like Mork, but from places with different values and customs. Which leads to the idea of the source of our values. I don’t know how often most of us reflect on the idea of where our values come from, yet I am confident that most of us are familiar with some version of the following verses.

¹ I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. ² And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Romans 12:1–2 (NKJV)

¹ I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. ² Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:1–2 (ESV)

As an aside, I have addressed the ‘reasonable service’ versus ‘spiritual worship’ in the past. Suffice to say the first is accurate in terms of the meaning of the words and the second is accurate in terms of the spirit of the words. Thus, consecrating our whole being to Jesus is both reasonable and an act of worship. Yet for our purposes we need to consider why Paul penned these verses. From my perspective the answer is simple, Paul recognized that when people came to Christ their values need to be realigned to come into conformity with the values of the kingdom of God.

What is inherent in Romans 12:1-2 is a values test. I know that may not be your first thought when reading those two verses, yet the test is there. We see it when we recognize that there are two types of values, professed and expressed. That is, there is what we say and what we do. In these verses Paul is calling his readers to align their professed values, what they say, with their expressed values, what they do. Whether or not we recognize there is a values issue in the church there is one. When we recognize it, we are in a position to respond to the issue. The problem is well illustrated in the 2024 worldview survey from Arizona Christian University. Here is a sample statement, “The 2024 national survey shows that 66% of adults consider themselves to be Christians, yet just 4% of all adults – and only 6% of the self-identified Christians – possess a biblical worldview (i.e. Biblical Theism).[1] Canadian statistics are harder to come by but when I have found comparable ones in the past the results are very similar to the US results.

When we reflect on where our values come from, we can think of our family, community, those we associate with in our spare time, the media and the broader culture. We are always either influencing or being influenced by those around us. This survey tells us that our values are not being drawn from scripture or the church. In short, whether by design or default, we have not followed Paul’s injunction and the church has been largely conformed to the world in our day-to-day activities.

My goal here is not to merely highlight the problem, I will come to solutions as we head into one of the seasons that highlights the issue, Christmas. However, if we don’t recognize the need to change we have no impetus to do so, and by default continue to have our values shaped by forces other than scripture and the church.

As we continue this journey, I will present ways to actually live out Romans 12:1-2. For now, I encourage you to reflect on it.

More to come.

[1] https://www.arizonachristian.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/CRC-Release-AWVI-2-April-23-2024.pdf

The Tree of Life Part 3

Continuing, we will look a little deeper at the soulish versus the spiritual aspects of our lives after our conversion. Many fail to make any distinction between our spirit and soul, viewing them as interchangeable. Scripture doesn’t view them that way. If we have become converted or born again, then we have partaken of the life of Christ, the tree of life. While I firmly believe that the two trees in the garden were literal trees, I also believe the tree of life represents Jesus. We see this in the imagery in Revelation.

⁷ “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes I will give to eat from the tree of life, which is in the midst of the Paradise of God.” Revelation 2:7 (NKJV)

² In the middle of its street, and on either side of the river, was the tree of life, which bore twelve fruits, each tree yielding its fruit every month. The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations. Revelation 22:2 (NKJV)

¹⁴ Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city. Revelation 22:14 (NKJV)

Methodius, Bishop of Olympus in the early fourth century saw the tree of life here as representing Christ, as does the present Lexham Bible Dictionary,

TREE OF LIFE (הַחַיִּים עֵץ, hachayyim ets; ξύλον ζωής, xylon zōēs). A tree that represents immortality, divine presence, wisdom, and righteousness as a path of life and an eschatological promise.

If we think this through, Christ is the source of life both now and in eternity. He created all things and He sustains us. The choice we have in this life is whether we learn to daily lean into and draw from Him. This is where spirit and soul take on their importance.

Like many important truths this one is hidden in plain site. It simply requires digging into and understanding scripture. We start with walking by the Spirit, which is of course drawing on Jesus.

¹⁶ I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the flesh. Galatians 5:16 (NKJV)

¹⁸ But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law. Galatians 5:18 (NKJV)

²⁵ If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit. Galatians 5:25 (NKJV)

¹⁴ For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. Romans 8:14 (NKJV)

When we take these verses seriously, it leads us to learning how to lean into and depend on the Spirit. The scriptures teach that we have both a spirit and soul and that they do not have the same function. 1 Thessalonians 5:23 shows that we have both a spirit and soul and Hebrews 4:12 shows that they have different functions. Even those who have not been born again have a spirit (1 Corinthians 2:11, Proverbs 20:27, James 2:26) though the Lord is not dwelling in it (1 Corinthians 6:17). God has a soul as well (Leviticus 26:11, 30, Jeremiah 6:8, 12:7, Zechariah 11:8) but His essence is spiritual (John 4:24).

Now to functions. With our spirit we can contact the Lord as Isaiah 26:9, Luke 1:46-47 and 1 Corinthians 2:12 teach. Although most translations do not have a difference in tense when referring to the functions of soul and spirit in the Isaiah and Luke passages, the difference is there in Hebrew and Greek. The lack of difference in most translations reflects the theology of the translators, not the teaching of scripture. The difference in Hebrew and Greek is brought out in the KJV, NASB, NKJV, LEB and interlinear translations.

In the Isaiah and Luke passages we see that Isaiah knew that no matter how much he desired God with his soul he was only going to contact Him via his spirit. Similarly, Mary’s soul magnified the Lord only after her spirit had encountered Him and rejoiced in Him. This is not a matter of splitting theological hairs. It is a matter of utmost importance because we in the church so easily follow after the things of the soul believing them to be spiritual. We need to understand what our soul is if we are to not be deceived into believing ourselves to be spiritual when we are merely soulish.

Most of those who recognize the distinction between soul and spirit view the soul as the mind will and emotions. This seems to fit with scripture with the soul as simply our natural ability to think, feel, choose and interact with others. In short, the natural man (literally soulish in Greek, it is the adjective form of the Greek word for soul) of 1 Corinthians 2:14.

If we think we can lean on the abilities of our soul once we are converted we need to read Matthew 26:38, Mark 14:34 and John 12:27. Here we find Christ very aware that His soul desired to draw back from the will of His Father. He had to choose to be led by the Spirit.

Practically, the difference between being led by the soul or the Spirit is that if we are responding out of, and first depending on, our mind, will or emotions, (the natural man) to lead we are open to deception and this is where counterfeit spirituality enters in. Many of the mystics down through the centuries had incredible experiences while leaning on their emotions and intellects but their experiences were contrary to scripture. Similarly, many down through the centuries have trusted in the intellect and ended up persecuting God’s people. Depending on and functioning out of the abilities of the natural man is in fact a major gateway of hell into the church (Matthew 16:18).

We can only follow our mind, will or emotions when they are in agreement with and in submission to our spirit joined to His Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:17). In practice the relationship between soul and spirit is a bit like that between a parent and child. The child is free to choose within prescribed limits or rules. However, the child needs to be attentive for the voice of the parent and if the parent speaks the child has to choose whether or not to obey. Just so the soul is free to choose within the guidelines of the written word, but when the spirit moves or leads our soul has to choose whether or not to obey. Spiritual believers obey, while the carnal do not, or they do so with mixed motives.

A scriptural example of walking in freedom and then responding to the prompting of the Holy Spirit is seen in Acts 16:6-10. Here Paul and the rest of his apostolic team were travelling and fulfilling the call on Paul’s life (Acts 26:16-18). At this point Paul was trying to go where he thought best because he had no clear direction from the Spirit. His soul was free to choose. As He followed his commission the Lord intervened and gave new direction. The result was that a whole new area was opened to the gospel.

I am not suggesting all or any of us will do something this dramatic by paying attention to the leading of His Spirit in our spirit. I am saying that it is how we are called to walk as believers. We know He has called us to prayer, worship, His word, godly relationships and to be salt and light. As we choose to walk this way, we simply need to be sensitive and attentive to His direction in our day to day lives and depend on His leading instead of our natural wisdom.

When we do life this way, we are both walking in the Spirit and continuously partaking of the tree of life!

The Tree of Life Part 2

We continue our exploration. Last week I provided the places in scripture where the tree of life is referenced and noted that qualitatively life is life in the Old Testament (OT). I then concluded by briefly pointing out Paul’s distinction between a soulish and spiritual life. The difference wasn’t in the word life, the distinction is whether the life we have is soulish life or spiritual life.

To clarify, as I noted in Genesis 2:7 Adam became a living being. The Hebrew literally says Adam became a living soul (nephesh in Hebrew). In quoting this in 1 Corinthians 15:45 Paul makes the distinction between Adam being a living soul and Jesus as the last Adam being a lifegiving spirit. In the Greek here, just as in the Hebrew in Genesis, the literal rendering of the word ‘being’ is soul and that is how it is still translated in the most recent version of the New American Standard Bible and the very recent Lexham English Bible.

Now we need to look at how the distinction between soul and spirit relates to the tree of life. The tree of life represents Jesus as our source of life. Adam and Eve, like us, had the opportunity to partake of a natural life and natural understanding, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or to partake of the tree of life, Jesus. We know something happened within them when they ate of the wrong tree. In a similar manner, something happens to us at conversion when we initially partake of Jesus, the tree of life. Paul described it in the following manner. First, he identifies the problem of partaking of the wrong tree in Ephesians. He points out that not only did we sin in our pre-conversion life, sin was in fact our very nature.

³ among whom also we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, just as the others. Ephesians 2:3 (NKJV)

Paul then describes what happened when we partook of Jesus.

¹⁷ Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)

²¹ For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him. 2 Corinthians 5:21 (NKJV)

We were spiritually regenerated when we had our first taste of the tree of life, Jesus. The question before us as believers then becomes twofold. It is a matter of how we continue to partake of Jesus and whether we will continue to partake of Jesus.

To be continued.

At Hand

I last wrote about the kingdom of God being within us and our ability as believers to access it via our ‘state of mind.’ That is, how we think about it. Here I will look at a related idea, starting with the following verses.

¹ In those days John the Baptist came preaching in the wilderness of Judea, ² and saying, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” Matthew 3:1–2 (NKJV)

¹⁷ From that time Jesus began to preach and to say, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Matthew 4:17 (NKJV)

¹⁴ Now after John was put in prison, Jesus came to Galilee, preaching the gospel of the kingdom of God, ¹⁵ and saying, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:14–15 (NKJV)

Here we have John the Baptist and Jesus delivering the same message. There are two parts, the need for repentance and ready access. They both require choices to be made on our part. Repentance is a change of mind and heart that produces a change in behaviour and the phrase ‘at hand’ is a single Greek word that refers to something coming near or being close at hand, again, the idea of access.

Their message was that if the hearers changed their thinking and heart attitudes, they could have access to the kingdom. What is important is recognizing what Jesus in particular meant by the kingdom. Which He nicely summed up for us in a portion of what we call The Lord’s prayer.

¹⁰ Your kingdom come. Your will be done On earth as it is in heaven. Matthew 6:10 (NKJV)

From Jesus perspective the kingdom being at hand was the authority of the kingdom being accessed and demonstrated.

While we can understand what Jesus meant looking back, neither John nor Jesus closest followers really understood what the kingdom being at hand meant.

We know from John’s interactions with Jesus, that like the prophets of old, he was being faithful in delivering the message Yahweh had entrusted to him, even though he didn’t fully understand it. In fact, even after he had publicly endorsed Jesus as “The lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world!” (John 1:29) he still struggled. After he was imprisoned, he sent two of his disciples to Jesus to ask, “Are You the Coming One, or do we look for another?” (Matthew 11:3).

There is no need to be critical of John, after all, he did understand that the kingdom was accessible and whether he knew it or not his prophetic voice was beckoning people to a new era of kingdom authority that Jesus was ushering in. Even after walking in the benefits of this access to the kingdom His closest friends who heard all of His teaching and parables didn’t understand what they were accessing. That is evident based on what they asked Jesus just prior to His ascension.

⁶ Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” ⁷ And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. ⁸ But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:6–8 (NKJV)

What this means is that even though John and Jesus preached that the kingdom was accessible, at hand via repentance, those hearing didn’t understand what they were looking for or seeking to access! I also contend that even today, many of us who have been delivered, “from the power of darkness and conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son…” (Colossians 1:13) don’t fully grasp what has taken place, I know I don’t. This is what we will briefly look at now.

¹ For I want you to know what a great conflict I have for you and those in Laodicea, and for as many as have not seen my face in the flesh, ² that their hearts may be encouraged, being knit together in love, and attaining to all riches of the full assurance of understanding, to the knowledge of the mystery of God, both of the Father and of Christ, ³ in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2:1–3 (NKJV)

This passage is related to Paul’s prayer in Ephesians 1:17 for wisdom and revelation. Once we have repented and have been born again, we have access to the kingdom through the King living in us by the Spirit because we have changed domains and dominions (Colossians 1:13). Paul’s prayer for the Colossians, and by extension us, is that we could come to a full assurance and understanding of what it means to have Christ in us and access to Him to extend His kingdom. We have spiritual authority, we have access to the throne of grace, we carry eternity in our hearts. These things, and many others in scripture, are available and I invite you to search them out. Additionally, Paul presents a number of the benefits we have in the rest of Colossians 2, 3 and 4.

Now for a simple example of accessing the kingdom that is at hand. As I write this I am in another country. I am here on vacation but I have been walking around seeking to know His heart and pray. Not that I am interceding every waking moment, but I am seeking to be sensitive to the Spirit’s leading.

After we arrived a prophetic friend sent me an assignment. He had an image/vision of me standing on a barren hill praying and declaring some things over the country. We have been traveling to different places along the coast and in one locale as we were walking through the old town to hike along the coast, I saw a barren hill in the distance that I knew was the correct one. In the afternoon after our hike, I went back, hiked up the hill, and prayed and proclaimed over the area. Here is an important part. I prayed about what to pray before I went up the hill, prayed and spoke as the Spirit led, then hiked back down. I felt nothing other than a sense that I had been obedient and that I had done as the Lord asked. I now leave the results in His hands and continue to pray off and on during the day as we vacation, in this way accessing and extending the kingdom. There have been other examples on this trip but I encourage you to seek His face, extend His kingdom and share the results with others!

Holiness

Depending on our church background and experience you may have different views or understandings of what constitutes holiness. Thus, it seems we should begin with defining the term holiness before relating it to prayer.

In my experience holiness was generally presented as related to behaviour, a list of do’s and don’ts. While there are do’s and don’ts in scripture, our behaviour is to flow from our heart attitudes. Jesus put it this way.

⁴⁵ A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks. Luke 6:45 (NKJV)

What we carry in our heart is reflected in our words and actions that flow from our heart.

²³ Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23 (NKJV)

When we see that holiness is more about our heart attitude, we can begin to make sense of a phrase in Psalm 96:9, “worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness!” This was highlighted for me over thirty years ago through a song. I attended a church where one of the pastors, Gordon Dyck, wrote a song about holiness based on part of Psalm 96 (I don’t know if others contributed to the writing). I do remember the words.

I will worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness

Unto His throne room I now come

With my voice lifted up, hands raised on high

I will render the praise due unto His name

Worship the Lord!

Over my years of involvement in the church I haven’t regularly heard holiness linked to beauty, but there it is in scripture, “The beauty of holiness.” The concept of holiness is a reference to something set aside for a sacred purpose. This setting aside is a separation from darkness to reflect light. The word ‘beauty’ in Hebrew refers to an adornment, glory or attire. In essence the beauty of holiness is to be adorned with or attired in holiness! Holiness is the garment we are to wear as we worship!

While holiness in Psalm 96 is connected to wearing something. When we come over to prayer it is also connected to fragrance. The majority of people in the worldwide prayer movement are familiar with the harp and bowl model, the connection between worship and prayer.

⁸ Now when He had taken the scroll, the four living creatures and the twenty-four elders fell down before the Lamb, each having a harp, and golden bowls full of incense, which are the prayers of the saints. Revelation 5:8 (NKJV)

Incense has a fragrance. The point here is that our prayers have a fragrance.

If we reflect back on the tabernacle and temple the priest offering the incense had to wear specific garments and a label on the turban on his forehead that said, Holiness unto the LORD.

³⁶ “You shall also make a plate of pure gold and engrave on it, like the engraving of a signet: HOLINESS TO THE LORD ³⁷ And you shall put it on a blue cord, that it may be on the turban; it shall be on the front of the turban. ³⁸ So it shall be on Aaron’s forehead, that Aaron may bear the iniquity of the holy things which the children of Israel hallow in all their holy gifts; and it shall always be on his forehead, that they may be accepted before the Lord. Exodus 28:36–38 (NKJV)

Now if you are still with me, we need to put all of the pieces together. The high priest carried a fragrance (the incense), wore special garments and had holiness engraved on His forehead. His calling was to walk in a heart of holiness. Jesus was the ultimate representation of all of these symbols. Thus, Jesus could walk into dark places and not be tainted by them, He brought light to darkness because He was adorned with the beauty of holiness and carried the fragrance of heaven.

The more our hearts fully walk in and with Him the more fully we have the same effect on the environment around us and the more effective our prayer life. We are called to both be with Him and like Him. Let’s carry that awareness into the prayer closet and our daily interactions and live in the ‘beauty of holiness.’

Where are You Staying? Part 3

Today’s post is a bit late. We are in the mountains in Invermere. We had a huge storm last night that blew down numerous trees, pulled out patio umbrella out of the stand and deposited it on the roof and left boats and other items all over the lake with no drivers in them. I was driving home from a prayer meeting with debris and branches blowing by me on the highway! Yes, I was calm. We also had the power out for 8 hours. Heroic work by the power company to restore power in the midst of a storm, applicable to today’s post.

I concluded the last part of this series encouraging us to live from heaven toward earth, or as Paul put it, ‘set your mind on things above.’ Here I want to look at the fruit of this in Jesus’ life. A great example was Jesus exercising authority over a storm on the sea of Galilee. The incident follows.

³⁵ On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, “Let us cross over to the other side.” ³⁶ Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him. ³⁷ And a great windstorm arose, and the waves beat into the boat, so that it was already filling. ³⁸ But He was in the stern, asleep on a pillow. And they awoke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, do You not care that we are perishing?” ³⁹ Then He arose and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace, be still!” And the wind ceased and there was a great calm. ⁴⁰ But He said to them, “Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?” ⁴¹ And they feared exceedingly, and said to one another, “Who can this be, that even the wind and the sea obey Him!” Mark 4:35–41 (NKJV)

To set the scene a bit, they were on the west shore of the Sea of Galilee, the Capernaum area. Jesus had told His followers that they were going to the other side (the Gadarenes). He was in a boat with an accompanying group of boats and a storm came up that opposed them. Jesus was sleeping in the storm; everyone else appeared to be afraid of the storm and they woke Jesus up and asked if He cared that they were perishing.

At this point I think the storm was spiritual in origin, opposition to Jesus, for a couple of reasons. One Jesus rebuked the storm, He spoke to it. The word ‘ceased’ refers to growing weary. The opposition became weary. The other reason is that Jesus was on his way to set the Gadarene demoniac free from a legion of demons. They knew He was coming and what He could do. I am sure word had gotten around in the spiritual realm!

Now back to the key element, Jesus was sleeping in the midst of a storm. We can speculate that He was simply very weary but that doesn’t seem like enough to account for His behaviour. Our text tells us that the boat ‘was filling.’ Many of those with him were seasoned fishermen who knew how tempestuous the sea of Galilee could be and the were deeply concerned yet Jesus in the midst of the storm needed to be awoken by them even though water was coming into the boat.

I believe Jesus could sleep because His heart was at rest in His Father and He could calm the storm and release peace because that was what He carried. In the spirit realm He simply externalized what He was carrying internally. We may protest that Jesus was God and that is why He could do what He did. I won’t go into all of it here, but though He was fully God and fully man in His earthly ministry, Jesus did what He did as a man under the anointing of the Spirit (I wrote about this in 2015, see the link below).

Now back to what Jesus rebuking a storm means for us. We have this verse in scripture, which I personally find a bit uncomfortable, as I realize how short I fall.

¹² “Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. John 14:12 (NKJV)

I can’t say that I have done greater works than Jesus. At the same time, I accept the responsibility to release peace into the storms of life around me. I think we can all do that! When we set our minds on Him we experience peace no matter our circumstances and we can be a source of peace and stability to those around us. We do this by our words, our actions and our spiritual awareness. After all, if He has assigned us to do something our hearts can rest in the Father just as Jesus did and we can release what we carry.

On many occasions over the years people have commented on how calm I am, it happened again just recently. I appreciate that, but at the same time I recognize that the calmness I carry is the fruit of pursuing my relationship with Jesus. Something we can all do.

http://wisdomfromtheword.ca/the-man-christ-jesus-part-1/

Where are You Staying? Part 2

In my last writing I referenced the importance of recognizing where we are located and the importance of ‘staying’ there. This is explicit in the passage below.

¹ If then you were raised with Christ, seek those things which are above, where Christ is, sitting at the right hand of God. ² Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth. ³ For you died, and your life is hidden with Christ in God. ⁴ When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Colossians 3:1–4 (NKJV)

What we now need to do is look at how we practically apply this spiritual reality because we are spiritually with Him, not there in physical substance. Doing this will of course address the saying, “You are so heavenly minded you are no earthly good” and establish that being heavenly minded is what enables us to truly be of earthly good. After all, as the tagline I came up with for my blog says, “An Eternal Perspective: Living in time, preparing for eternity.” It is what we do in time that determines both our eternal destiny and our role in eternity.

Now to the solution to our apparent problem. We find it in a verse in Isaiah that we will dig into.

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

The words perfect and peace are shalom in Hebrew, it is translated as ‘perfect peace’ to convey the importance via repetition but in Hebrew it is shalom shalom. Isaiah is telling us up front that this perfect peace, a heart at rest, is the result of an activity. That activity is keeping our minds set on Him (This may be the verse Paul had in mind when he wrote Colossians 3:2). We also see in what Isaiah wrote that we can only keep our mind fixed on Yahweh if we trust Him.

To go a little deeper the Hebrew word translated as mind is yester and it refers to how something is framed or formed and includes the idea of intention. The word stayed is the Hebrew samak and refers to leaning, resting or laying. In a number of places in scripture it is used to refer to a priest laying (resting) their hands on an animal before it is sacrificed. We can then see that when our intention is resting in and on Him we experience His peace and rest.

That is the background and in terms of our daily practice it means constantly looking to Him. Let me give you an example, one of my cousins recently shared a sermon with me. Bob, who is one of the pastors at a church in St. Albert, was preaching in a smaller community outside of Edmonton that my cousin attends. In his message Bob frequently referenced being in situations where he would inquire as to what the Father wanted him to do in that situation. He shared one story which had quite an impact on my cousin, and subsequently on me. Bob, was converted as a teenager from a lifestyle of drugs and partying in a small town in Northern Alberta. Not long after he attended a party to share the gospel. There he felt the Father leading him to share with two young men in their late teens who subsequently both acknowledged they wanted to change their lives and give their hearts to the Lord, which they did. Within two weeks they both died in a car accident.

One of those young men was my cousin’s brother and I was one of the pall bearers at the funeral forty-four years ago. It was only recently that the family learned through this sermon that he had given His heart to Jesus prior to his death.

The significance of these events is tied into how Bob lives his life. He is constantly looking to the Father for direction. His life is a pattern of how we are to live. We really have two options. We can live from earth toward heaven, or from heaven toward earth. Which is what Isaiah and Paul both described. When we live from heaven toward earth our hearts are at rest and we have no anxiety because we are assured of the ultimate outcome of our faith.

An example from my life took place over twenty-four years ago. I followed what I believed was His leading in applying for a different role at work. Logically it made no sense to me as I had just moved offices to be closer to home, thought I was to be in this particular office, and the new job was way across the city far from my home. I went through about four weeks of internal wrestling and anxiety because I tried to follow what seemed to be His leading but the logical outcome appeared to contradict His leading. It seemed that the Spirit’s leading to change offices and the Spirit’s leading to apply for the new role were contradictory!

In this situation if I had kept my mind set on Him, I could have gone through that time period with no anxiety. However, my vacillation between living from heaven toward earth and then seeking to live from earth toward heaven created a great deal of stress in my life. In the end it was needless. The position I had applied for was to be the manager of an office and it was offered to me – in the office I had transferred to! The current manager was transferred to the office I had applied to manage and I remained in the office I thought I was supposed to be in and in the role I sensed He had led me apply for. It worked out.

In the examples above, Bob had learned to consistently live from heaven toward earth. I had vacillated. I still do at times but the majority of the time I am at rest because I trust Him and seek His perspective on a daily basis. The choice is before all of us. We can live in and out of rest in Him or we can trust in our own wisdom. I prefer the former, what about you?

An additional thought. One of the places I have been reading in scripture is through Numbers. Recently in my reading I came across what has to be the funniest group of people in the bible. Who knew it would be found in Numbers! If you are curious read Numbers 26:23 in a more literal version like the NKJV, ESV or NASB.

Where are You Staying? Part 1

The title comes from a question that was asked of Jesus at the beginning of His earthly ministry. Here John the Baptist is pointing his disciples to Jesus.

³⁶ And looking at Jesus as He walked, he said, “Behold the Lamb of God!” ³⁷ The two disciples heard him speak, and they followed Jesus. ³⁸ Then Jesus turned, and seeing them following, said to them, “What do you seek?” They said to Him, “Rabbi” (which is to say, when translated, Teacher), “where are You staying?” ³⁹ He said to them, “Come and see.” They came and saw where He was staying, and remained with Him that day (now it was about the tenth hour). ⁴⁰ One of the two who heard John speak, and followed Him, was Andrew, Simon Peter’s brother. John 1:36–40 (NKJV)

Here two disciples of John the Baptist leave John to follow Jesus, and Andrew, who became one of the twelve apostles, recognizes right off that Jesus is the Messiah they have been seeking. Their key question was about where Jesus was staying as clearly that is where they wanted to be. Once they found out where Jesus was staying, they remained with Him.

Having presented the context I am going to make an application that isn’t obvious from the text. To get there we will go post resurrection to Paul. First however, we need to understand, these two disciples of John the Baptist recognized two things. They knew they needed to leave John and they knew they needed to be where Jesus was. Now on to Paul as He tells us where Jesus is now staying.

Jesus is now staying in the heavenly realm and Paul informs us that we need to be there as well. More accurately, Paul says we are there, our ‘life is hidden with Christ in God.’ We are in Him. Paul, knowing the importance of this spiritual reality tells us that we need focus and set our minds ‘on things above.’ The Greek word translated as mind is phroneo, it means to think and is connected to our attitudes, intentions and purposes. The KJV translated phroneo as affections. While I prefer a more modern rendering in most cases, here the KJV captures something. We need to have an affection, a desire, set on our life that is hidden in Jesus.

In summary, we need to both want to know where Jesus is staying and we need our desires set there.

Next week we will delve into how to practically apply this idea.

Having Gifts Part 3

In my last post I focused mainly on the way gifts can be used, drawing primarily on the Old Testament (OT). Now we turn to the New Testament (NT) and the use of gifts in building the body of Christ, the church. The parallel is that in the OT there were gifts given to the craftsmen to build the tabernacle, Yahweh’s earthly dwelling place and to establish worship in and before it (Exodus 31:1-5, 2 Chronicles 7:6, 29:25–27). Bezalel was the main artisan gifted by Yahweh to build the tabernacle and David was the worshipper who created musical instruments to bring forth worship.

Bezalel means ‘in the shadow of El’ which carries the idea of protection as in Psalm 91:1, our protection being found in abiding in His shadow. The shadow idea is fascinating as we know from Colossians 2:17 and Hebrews 10:1 that the OT rituals were shadows pointing to the reality found in Jesus.

In the NT the primary gifts given to build His dwelling place and bring forth worship are listed in Ephesians 4. Gifts given to move us from shadow to substance. Here we have Paul referencing apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors and teachers given to the body to build, not build their ministries, as is sadly the focus for so many today in the Western church, but to build His body. Paul is clear on Jesus’ purpose for giving the gifts and the outcome Jesus desires to see.

¹² for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, Ephesians 4:12 (NKJV)

¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love. Ephesians 4:16 (NKJV)

These ministries gifts are given to equip all of us to build the body and the body is built when it is rightly joined and knit in community and every joint, every relationship between parts, works effectively. Then the church, His body, grows. This is Jesus plan for building His church.

This means that we as His body as a whole need to understand our part. The focus of the leadership gifts from Ephesians 4:11 is dualistic. The apostolic and prophetic gifts are described as foundational. They are to lay the foundation of Christ in the life the church. The evangelistic gift is given to bring others into the body, the pastoral gift given to shepherd and tend the body and the teaching gift given to establish the body on and in truth. This is their first responsibility. Secondly, they are also to raise up and release others into their gifts and callings.

I am well aware that this is not what happens in most fellowships as the majority of us function as an audience not participants. Whether by design or default that doesn’t take away from what Jesus has called us to, which means we each need to labour to see the church built into what Jesus desires, not what we are familiar with. If we embrace His call our labour will include sharing, intercession and active involvement. In essence we are called to be that which we wish to see. If we wish to see the church grow into what Jesus envisioned, we need to embrace His desire and follow Him in being and doing.