Word of God; Speak

Plenty has been written about what God has said about one thing or another. This is especially true of His will for us regarding one another and our neighbours, whether in or out of the Kingdom.

Often we avoid ministering one another out of fears and biases (judgments/conclusions about another in a particular circumstance). We often use pious words to hide our fears and biases; “I will pray about that or be praying for you”, “hang in there, don't give up”, “be blessed, warm and fed”.

My personal favourites are “I don't feel lead to do such for so and so.”, or “I will seek the Lord (His Will) on that”. In most cases, the barriers to resolve issues and meeting other's needs are addressed clearly in commands God has given us or examples the Lord and his imitators gave us to follow. For the most part we are without excuse when it comes to these.

The Spirit that lives within will ensure we can keep these commands and follow the examples if we are willing. We can trust the details of timing and method if our desire is to love Him and our neighbour (one another). We gotta wanna for Him to work His will in and through us

His Word does not need anyone to add to it lest it become too wrapped in our opinion. I believe The Holy Spirit will do a better job on the explanations as He draws us to meditate on the words.

That being said, here is the first of a few His-Words-Only posts in the context context of ministering to one another as they are rendered in the New International Version (NIV).

Here are some good places to start.

John 13:33-35

"My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come.
"A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."

1 Peter 4:8-10
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. Offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. Each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms.

John 15:12-14
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.

About Being -- Out of The Furnace

Most of us these days are hearing a fair bit about "being" versus "doing". There is a lot written on the topic in and out of the Body; some of it is quite detailed and lengthly. However, the truth of this matter often gets obscured in the details.


There is a lot that I can say out of my own testimony on the matter. It can also easily get obscured in my wordiness in my attempts to explain what the Spirit communicates in an instant.


His voice is especially clear and profound in the most simplest words. I hear those simple words whispered into my Spirit often in times of worship and intercession; especially during the nightwatches at the Furnace or in my office.


I often walk about and speak with the Father, usually on behalf of another. At one time during an evening, I was searching for what i needed to do. I asked the Father to show me His heart on what i needed to do.


Instead of a list, He gave me a few words as i walked and waited that seemed to soften the edges of a jagged performance-based perspective:



"Be Kind as I AM Kind"




"Be Generous as I AM Generous to you"




"Be merciful as I AM merciful to you"




"Be gracious as my grace to you is without measure"



"Be forgiving as I AM forgiving to you"



He never told me to do anything that He didn't want me to be. Our new natures reflect what He wants us to become. It is easier to understand what our new natures are so that we can do things that give evidence of that newness.



He gives us the power to do so:



Simon Peter, a bond-servant and apostle of Jesus Christ, To those who have received a faith of the same kind as ours, by the righteousness of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ:

Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord;

seeing that His divine power has granted to us everything pertaining to life and godliness, through the true knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and excellence. For by these He has granted to us His precious and magnificent promises, so that by them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world by lust.

Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love.

2 Peter 1:1-7 (NASB)

Prophetic Prefacing

Preface
This is a set of prophetic words that came out of time spent in the Prayer Furnace. The most significant is a a three part progressive word using the imagery of the mailbox we use at GCC for casual communication to each other. The first part came through a dialog with the Lord during a night watch in the Prayer Furnace. The second came in a dream while meditating in the word. The third came as a brief picture. The accounting as it came is noted in italics. My impressions are noted in regular text.

The other impressions seem to be related and support each other. All of the words are given in the order they were received. Their interpretation is for the body, as is, however, I have provided my initial impressions following each account. I trust the Lord will incite a consistent understanding as to their meaning and application on an individual basis.

Recently, the Lord lead me through a review of His words, promises and things i have learned in His presence my journals. I came across an entry that has consistently motivated my thoughts over these past years. It came from Ken Peters during a celebration evening, September 27, 1998. It resonated within me strongly then as it does now. It was not on the agenda and came out spontaneously. As I consider those words today, it appears they all are related. Here is my transcription of that account.

There is a danger of the church not welcoming the transformation of Winnipeg. We need to be prepared in order not to be offended. He is going to pour out His Spirit on many people, perhaps hundreds, and they will be in our midst operating in their gifts and we will not know what to do with them.

Be prepared in order not to be offended,...Know that the Father loves you and me, He loves the church. The Father will bring people in in His own way, be ready for it.

I feel these words have a more global application and speaks about those that are not only coming into the Kingdom, but those on either edge of it; those who love the Lord but are disconnected and those who the Lord has His hand on but have not yet come in for fear of safety. I have seen this a fair bit in the last 8 years or so, especially in the cracks. The evidence for this can be seen in the emergent church as well as the swelling spiritual hunger in those outside the Kingdom.

John Micklefield noted that “prophecy does not provide any guarantees but does provide opportunities.” I believe these particular prophetic impartations to reflect the Father's heart for us individually and corporately; as opportunities to be transformed if we press in (ask, seek, knock, hope, believe, trust, act) we can see it come to pass.


29-March-2006

"Behold! How They Love One Another"

Central Thought

We Desperately need Him and His Love at work in us.
We also Desperately need each other to love.

I read this often quoted line a few months back. The line itself is believed to orginate from a report given by a Roman procurator to Caesar (Tiberius, Julius??) about the potential threat of this new cult that was spreading throughout the empire. That statement frequently poked into my thoughts.

During a night watch the following came to me during a time of soaking prayer in 1 John over GCC. It became an on-going prayer that the Lord continues to add to as it is given out. While this one wasn't the most peculiar or flashy communique, its subtle. soft voice grabs our attention as it invites us to carefully consider its simplicity. Here is how it unfolded:

This is Our Witness, Our Testimony, to the world and to each other, before a Loving Holy God, that the world will know that we are His because the great love He lavished on us has been evidenced in our great love for each other.

He then told me to put a banner over that statement, “Behold How They Love One Another”. Love is as simple as it is complex and facinating. It would be un-realistic to believe we can completely describe its facets. However, the Lord began to describe some of the important ones i believe He wants us to consider and act on.

“Perfect Love:

... Covers a multitude of Sin
... Casts out all Fear
... Permeates our Being
... Is Seen – Our Fruit
... Looks for the Lost and Lowly
... Lifts the Fallen
... Restores to Righteousness
... Gives Life by Giving it up for another
... Always Hopes and Trusts
... Never Fails or Gives up
... Gives deference to the other
... Seeks His Neighbour's welfare

Each time i would enter into a soaking prayer or pray over this word, He would give me a few attributes. The interesting thing about them is that the majority are verbs:

Lives Larger
Encourages
Lifts
Builds
Gives Instantly
Dreams
Shares
Rules
Lives Larger
Swings Wide the Gates
Makes Room for More
Welcomes
Comes out of Brokenness and Surrender

I believe this is a good start and we all can and should, no, must, add to this list within the words of our testimonies. We can ask the Father which ones He wants us to add. It is an on-going thing. While we can't be all things to everyone, we can be someone to somebody. We just have to ask the Father who and He will show us.

Initial Impressions

No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. -- 1 John 4:12 (NIV).

While this verse is a huge statement in itself, it should not be seriously considered without meditating on the whole of this chapter let alone the book. Out of all the things God desires and calls us to, Love is the head, framework and foundation. It really is what we are to be focusing on; Loving Him, foremost, passionately without reservation, and, Our Neighbours. The rest of the things we need to be mindful of would become instinctive within this context.

A Greater Sense
The most powerful moves of God will come out of a spirit of humility, anonymity and keeping a low profile but keeping a watchful, prayerful eye on each other, as opposed to bringing our ministries to the forefront, synthesising community through process and program, and merchandising God's truth and healing.

In the world today there is more money, food, goods and services available than at anyother time in history. As a race we can generally say we lack for nothing corruptable or temporal. Yet famine, pestilences, poverty, loneliness, sickness and abandonment are wide spread. We are in a glut of truth in the Church these days. Everyone has a book, a conference to stage or a ministry to tell about, but, are we really about the doing of what we know? There is a literal smorgasbord of truth to feast at, which in itself is a great thing. but we have become spiritually obese. We eat and don't exercise like we should.

Before this starts to sound like yet another world vision appeal, i would like to say that we, the church, heirs to the kingdom have the best position in this world to not only just relieve these things grieving the Father's heart but to also bring His presence in to those places, into the cracks where a huge populace has fallen into. I believe this to be observable and measurable.

For every three healthy souls, there are five broken. For every one visibly broken, there are four who have fallen through the cracks, For every one we stumble across in the cracks, there are four we may never see. That is, of course, without asking the Father where the are.

The Mailbox – Part Three: Alive!

The Body Becomes Vibrant and Vital.

Initial Sense:
God not only identifies our current states, circumstances and tells us how we got to where we are but He shows us a way forward. That way is inviting as it is wonderful. It may also be hard work for us if we seize this prophetic bit as the opportunity He sees for us to press in on.

This one came during John Micklefield's exposition on becoming peacemakers for that is what we often need to be in the Kingdom. I believe that teaching is very much integral with the whole of the mailbox transformation. The following came to me as he was impressing us with the facts that we have the Holy Spirit within us to release joy within the midst of sufferings, perhaps even the hard road of peacemaking too. The transformation of the mailbox is all about taking the hard road of peacemaking. The definitions he used to describe peace would also serve as evidence that the mailbox has been in deed transformed. I can't explain how it segued but the following is the result of it.


The realisation of the jealousy that forms the roots of control within us individually and corporately, makes way for the Holy Spirit to release us from its effects, as He begins to move freely within each cell. Seing jealousy the way it is and in its varied and subtle forms makes the way for repentance. Repentance makes the way for the Spirit totake hold of us individually. His life begins to flow and we begin the (possibly rapid, if not immediate) process of transformation to His purposes. We begin to take upon the shape He has predestined for us.


The ridgid, well defined shape of the mailbox becomes supple and pliable in the flow of the Spirit. The essential oils of grace and mercy soften the hardness in the cell walls. The scars left by jealousy, indifference and pride are removed and pure delight in Him and each other begins to take root and manifest.


The cells move and bend to embrace each other's form. They delight in their Creator. They delight in each other. They begin to shimmer and move; dividing and imparting new growth, new cells. Each cell is unique and fit to each other perfectly.


We become bendable to the will of God. We not only begin to find it joyful and satisfying; we are excited in the prospect of being conformed to our individual shape within that very unique and wonderful shape He has for us together; His children, His cells, formed in an organ of community with in the body with Christ as the head and essences of life. The Connections and life within is vital and vibrant, from the least cell, throughout every organ to the head, without exception. There is no cancers in this body as the cells all love each other to the point that it becomes the glory of the whole body. It can not be mistaken or hidden.


The three scenes imparted about the mailbox need some though and reflection. We need to put the three stories together for ourselves and seek God in what He is saying to us individually.

What do you think?

Purpose in Connecting

Further posts will explore the nature of connections, their contexts, purposes and the barriers obstacles we face in connecting.

why thoughts to finish the phenomenons of .... dissonance ... disconnected-ness in the light of why we are here (in the Kingdom, our Kingdom Communities and in (not of) the world.


Knowing the nature of a thing or a matter often reveals its purpose
Connecting is a term that is almost too cliche in these days but it is a good synonym for relationship. Perhaps it is a better word for relationship as it implies a bond where relationship can mean anything from disconnected to vital, depending on the context. I have a relationship to my rabbit. He thumps the floor when there is no food in his bowl; i feed him in response. That pretty much describes that relationship. It may be vital to him but it is not that vital to me. Nothing meaningful is shared or imparted. There is little if no mutual edification.

Connecting does imply something vital. It is simply a bond that exists between one another where interpersonal transactions take place. It comes to my mind as two one way transactions that are not governed by anything other than love (agape); no other conditions other than meeting another in a need (emotional, spiritual, material, physical, etc.).

The Word describes vital connections in detail and is perhaps best left for our own honest and earnest discovery. Most prominent in my mind are the Gospels, Acts 1-6, 1 John where the vitality of the connections are exemplified in community. It is the conduit of community. We see it in forms of encouragement, kindness, forebearance. The attributes of vital connections and their workings are laid out in 1 Corinthians 12-14.

Love is also about Community and Connecting: ordinary people with extraordinary relationships; to the Father, to the Son and in the Spirt to each other. It Goes Beyond Forgiveness, past Reconcilliation, past healing into Restoration into what God desires for our lives. It is Connecting to the Father's heart to release the Spirit of Might (true power) and going beyond the appearance of being connected (a form of godliness but denying His Power).

1 John 4 (New International Version)

Dear friends, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. This is how you can recognize the Spirit of God: Every spirit that acknowledges that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God, but every spirit that does not acknowledge Jesus is not from God. This is the spirit of the antichrist, which you have heard is coming and even now is already in the world.

You, dear children, are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world. They are from the world and therefore speak from the viewpoint of the world, and the world listens to them. We are from God, and whoever knows God listens to us; but whoever is not from God does not listen to us. This is how we recognize the Spirit of truth and the spirit of falsehood.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.

We know that we live in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. If anyone acknowledges that Jesus is the Son of God, God lives in him and he in God. And so we know and rely on the love God has for us.

God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him. In this way, love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment, because in this world we are like him. There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.

We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, "I love God," yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen. And he has given us this command: Whoever loves God must also love his brother.


One of my favorite paraphrases of Love comes from a band called the 77's. Not too many people know of their work. They don't fit the molds well in either secular or Christian music. Larry Norman calls them “too Christian for the radio and too radio for the Church”.

This Is The Way Love Is (Mark Tootle)

When I gave up, you held up
When I ran out, you filled me up
When I kept runnin', you kept up
When I let you down you lifted me up

This is the way love is

When I couldn't find the words, you understood
When I didn't find the time, you were in no hurry
When I wouldn't make ends meet, you tied them together
When I cheated you kept to the rules

Well, this is the way love is
This is the way love is
When it's a one-sided double-minded mirror with no reflection

When I was keepin' it in, you were givin' out
When I was losin' out, you'd let me come back
When I was holdin' back, you were holdin' on
When I was losin' my cool you were keepin' your love warm

Well, this is the way love is
This is the way love is
When it's a one-sided double-minded mirror with no reflection

When I kept it all to myself like a miser holds on to his last dime
When I closed up myself like a desperate hand on a lifeline
Well I was bled, I was dried, all wrapped up in my pride
This is the way it is when you're on the wrong side

Well, this is the way love is
This is the way love is
When it's a one-sided double-minded mirror with no reflection

Bless you all.

Connecting Understood

Connecting has been defined in our post modern times. Most of it has taken on a post modern meaning mostly in social contexts. The Wikipedia, the popular post modern reference work, defines social connections as "the human desire to experience the integration of the self and the other... accomplished through communication and empathy".

Like many of our worldly definitions, it reflects some truth but is lacking in its completeness when compared to what God defines it as. True connections go beyond social contexts and involve much more than a single emotional vehicle. In short, the worldy, post modern definition while true in some aspects is shallow at best. God's definition is as deep, complex and vital as its subject.

The desire for deep and meaningful connections is buried deep within us. I believe it compliments the God-shaped hole.

Shallow connections (relationships) are pretty much the norm in our present culture and much of that shallowness is also in the Church.

Inter-changeable terms: The Body, The Church, One Another, Brethren.

Fear of connecting and the safety found in shallow relationships.

programs, technology while enabling activity does little to connect us unless we take the initiative to go deeper. People connect through blogs, e-mail, instant messages, texting. We may understand what is being communicated but we dont connect with each other albeit abstractly; we connect to each other through a blog like this, just as much as through a program in person although we have an illusion of connectedness.

To understand God's design for the Body is to understand connectedness. Ephesians chapter 4...verse 13 refers to maturity (in the Greek it is "completeness"). expand on this one...more examples ... Romans 12:4-8

Ephesians 1:22-23..." And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way."...Ephesians 4 (all) ...

Connection in the Body, a reverse definition out of Colossians 2:18-19 Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions. He has lost connection with the Head, from whom the whole body, supported and held together by its ligaments and sinews, grows as God causes it to grow.

Paul uses body illustrations to describe the church relating it to Christ's body. The Body form, gifting and purpose...1 Cor 6:19 our individual bodies are a dwelling place for the Spirit just as it is collectively. .. 1 Cor 10:15-18... 1 Cor 12 (entire) is the central teaching ...

Colossians 3:14-16 peace rules in the Body, an attribute of connectedness?

why thoughts to finish the phenomenoms of .... dissonance ... disconnected-ness in the light of why we are here (in the Kingdom, our Kingdom Communities and in (not of) the world.