A few years ago one of the buzz words in the churches was vision. The question would be asked of pastors and church leaders "what is your vision?"What is your vision for the church, the city, the congregation? Maybe a better question would have been, "what are your goals?" for these areas. I am not suggesting that a vision is bad or not desirable. To be sure the vision question is not without biblical backing. The verse that is sited for this vision question is Proverbs 29:18. "Where there is no vision the people perish vs. 18a KJV. The same verse in the NKJV vs. 18a "Where there is no revelation the people cast off restraint. The ESV. 18a says " Where there is no prophetic vision the people cast off restraint. So what is the point? The point is that a goal expressed as a "vision" by a particular church or pastor is not the same thing as a "revelation" or a prophetic "vision". Again there is nothing wrong with a pastor or church leadership board setting goals. The issue, in my view is when these goals are said to be the leader's"vision" for the church. The term vision caster is often used by those in leadership and the people are encouraged to wholeheartedly buy in. Those who may disagree or question the "vision" may be seen as "baggage" or "dead weight ". Those who find themselves in that place may no longer be welcome. Unless that "vision"is centered on Jesus it may bind folks to something that is extra-biblical. Those who are unbound by revelation are free from such entanglements. I have noticed that the Lord drops revelations on us one at a time, when He deems we are ready for them. How may times have we read over a passage of scripture ,and then one day we read it again and it JUMPS off the page! In a manner of speaking we "see" something we hadn't noticed before. The examples are too many to list, and they range from the very basic to the very deep and profound. I think most of us come to the gospel knowing that we by nature are sinners in need of salvation. When we take the step of faith and recognize Jesus as our savior we are reconciled back to God, by the finished work of Christ on the cross. Even at this elementary stage we have been given revelation or else we would still be lost. Not long after this it is common to begin to wonder how and when we will be changed. After all our our former life was not acceptable to God, now something has to change. It is not uncommon for the new believer to try to be a child of God ,by acting like he or she thinks Christians should act. Usually after struggling for a time they come to the realization that they can't do it. It's been said that the "I can't" admission is what the Lord has been waiting to hear. When we admit that we can't we discover that He can! This is often followed by the revelation that He never intended to change us. His desire is for us to discover that He has Ex-changed us, our old life for His new life in Christ. Once that revelation is in place in our heart and spirit then it is time to hold on there is more to come. The path to more and deeper revelation is being in His word. As we learn more of Jesus, He delights in taking us to new heights, revealing and confirming who we are. We are His own. In a previous post I mentioned being One with Him from I Corinthians 6:17, a revelation that we are not dual spirited. According to John 5:24 we've passed from death to life even though we're still alive, and we do not come into judgment if we believe in Him who sent Jesus. We are secure in Christ in John 6:37. There is forgiveness for failure I John 1-8 & 9. Life in Christ (with Christ) is our present reality, not just a goal someday. In Philippians 1:22 Paul said "to live is Christ and to die is gain". Take a look at I Peter 3:18b, "being put to death in the flesh but made alive in the spirit". With our spiritual eyes we see ourselves here. We've been put to death with Christ to the flesh and made alive with Him in the spirit! I'm sure you have many of your own revelations which are monumental to your spiritual life. Praise God for them and look for Him to continue blessing you. Jesus gives us His character as we live in Him. Once we are in Him. He gives us His life One Revelation at a Time! Grace & Peace, ( scripture reference ESV except where noted)
I wonder how many of us have heard the two wolves story? I just ran across it again on social media not long ago. The story is told of a native american grandfather and his grandson. I've heard it with a variety of tribes mentioned. The old man is telling his grandson about the inner battle that we all struggle with. He tells the youngster that there are two wolves inside us-one is evil and the other is good. Grandfather goes on to describe all the negative facets of the" evil "wolf. In short it is an ugly picture of self interest and ungodly activity. This is then followed by the description of the "good" wolf, which is in sharp contrast to the "evil" wolf. The "good" wolf is full of goodness, things like caring for others, joy, faith, respect and such. These attributes closely resemble the fruit of the spirit mentioned in Galatians 5:22,23. The grandson,after listening intently to the old man's wisdom asks the question, "which one wins? " His grandfather gives the familiar answer "whichever one you feed the most." On the surface the old man's wisdom is spot on and thought to be life changing and a goal for the young man to strive for. If he would just feed the "good wolf" and starve the "evil wolf" all would be well. To be pursuing the "good" and avoiding the "evil" is the message left to us by the story. Unfortunately this story is nothing more that christian Taoism with it's symbol the yin and the yang. You have probably seen it, the circle with half white and half black. While pursing the good "white" the evil "black " is right behind us. My friend the late Dr. M. Wells told me once if you put a trunk on that circle what you have is the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The tree that believers in Jesus should avoid, which our foreparents chose to partake from in the garden. Good and evil are from the same tree with the same root. The implication in this story is that we have two natures. It may not be stated in so many words, but that is the subtle message. We are encouraged to strive for the good and avoid the evil and at the end of the day which ever one we fed the most wins the day. The blessing of being Unbound by our oneness with Jesus is knowing we are not dual spirited after conversion. The apostle Paul tells us plainly in I Corinthians 6: 17 "But he who is joined to the Lord becomes ONE spirit with him." This is a simple statement yet with life changing impact! The child of God is free to shift their focus from the tread mill of the wrong tree, which the enemy of our souls tries to keep us on. Jesus is inviting us to step off the tread mill of "good and evil"and into the fullness of the tree of Life. His desire is for us to recognize that we are united as one with the Father and Son. In order to live as Unbound servants, bound only by love and rejoicing in our Oneness with Him. Look again at John 17 ground zero for our oneness with Jesus. The fact of oneness begins in v.11 b ''that they may be one even as we are one. It continues in v. 21 " that they may all be one,just as you Father,are in me ,and I in you,that they may also be in us, so that the world may believe that you have sent me. The thought continues on through v.23 where Jesus says," I in them and you in me , that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you have sent me and loved them even as you loved me". To be sure there is a battle raging in our souls. It is the battle between the flesh and THE spirit. It is not between the spirit and the other spirit. We know which one to yield to! Grace & Peace
To those of us who are blood-bought children of God there are many bedrock truths of our faith. We have them and exercise in them by our faith and the prompting of the Holy Spirit. I think all of us will admit that all of these truths are above our ability. In fact we cannot live them out in the power of the flesh. We must tap into the life of Christ within us for them to be evident to the world around us. Forgiveness is one of those bedrock truths that we struggle with. Because when someone has wronged us we want justice rather than mercy. Then the Holy Spirit reminds us that WE have received mercy rather than justice.Then we can move into forgiveness and see the results of true forgiveness and marvel and wonder why it has been so long in coming. The unbinding that accompanies a forgiving spirit is priceless. I happen to believe that the Lord Jesus wants us to be unbound in our walk with Him. By withholding forgiveness we continue to be bound by it. At times we let the negative thoughts and emotions ruin our day or week or even longer. If we stay there too long we might start listening to the voice of the accuser as he tries to drive a wedge between us and God and the one we need to forgive. When we do chose to forgive the unbinding we feel is indescribable. Forgiveness doesn't make the news. When those who have been at odds or worse forgive one another the world barely notices. We don't often see pictures of people forgiving one another and getting on with life. In the picture above that is exactly what we see. This photo was taken a couple of years ago in Rwanda. The man on the right is my friend Charles. The man in the center is Jean Paul, one of Charles neighbors from his village, holding the sticks he is using for crutches. Charles is a survivor the 1994 genocide in Rwanda. Jean Paul is one of the men who took part in the killing in those dark days. It is estimated that there were between 800,000 and a million people killed from April to July 1994. Charles lost around sixty of his family members including his father, sister, and, a brother. The day this photo was taken Charles and I had gone out to the village to check on a small plot of coffee we have growing there. As we where leaving Jean Paul and his wife,also pictured, came walking by. He had been hit by a pick up truck and had suffered several broken bones. He had surgery and had been in the hospital and was just now starting to get around. Charles heard that his neighbor had an outstanding balance for his medical expenses. So from the small profit from the coffee that year Charles cleared the balance for Jean Paul. You are looking a a picture of the Grace of God and the forgiveness that only comes from knowing Jesus and the Hesed (lovingkindness) that flows from Him. From the man who lost family and was nearly killed himself, forgiveness to the man who participated in the killing. All in an attempt to show his neighbor the love of Christ and the gospel of peace. The apostle Paul said in his defense before Agrippa in Acts 26: 15-18 (please read after reading this) look at v.18. Jesus speaking, "to open their eyes, so that they may turn from darkness to light and from the power of Satan to God,that they may receive forgiveness of sins and a place among those who are sanctified by faith in me." If we have these things ,forgiveness of sins, and a Place among the sanctified by faith in Jesus, then we have no excuse for withholding forgiveness. He is our destination! ( Scripture reference E S V. )
Last weekend we were in Mt. Hermon Ca. in a cabin enjoying the beauty of redwood and giant sequoia trees. On Saturday morning I got a call from a friend who asked us to pray for his daughter. She was in the hospital and declining rapidly he said. Four months earlier she had been in a tragic head on collision. She suffered a compound fracture of one of her legs,and an arm was basically crushed. She also broke her pelvis. It was a miracle she survived. By the time of my friend's phone call, all of her bones had healed and she was about to start rehab to hopefully begin walking again. However the night before the phone call she was taken to the E.R. with terrible pain. It appeared to be an undetected injury from the accident. She was septic and they tried valiantly to save her but early that Sunday morning she departed for her home in Heaven at the age of 27. After receiving that message from my friend on Sunday morning my wife and I were in shock and disbelief. This man had lost his father and his wife and now his daughter in the span of four years. A couple of years ago he was remarried and has a wonderful wife by his side to walk with him through this time of sorrow. Later that day I sat on the deck of that cabin taking in the view of the forest below me. I began reading again from John's gospel chapter 11, in particular the account of the raising of Lazarus. The old familiar passage began slowly to bring some comfort as I tried to come to grips with the passing of Amber. It was not in the familiar details or the drama of Jesus speaking the resurrection of Lazarus, where my soul began an upward climb. It was with the final words of verse 44 where Jesus said to them "Unbind him and let him go." The idea of being unbound in Christ and by Christ lifted my head and heart. There is no telling how many time I've read those words, but on that Sunday morning they impacted me afresh. While it is true Lazarus had to pass through death again, he would no longer fear it,or be bound by it. Amber was not going to be bound by death or anymore struggles here in this life. She is unbound in heaven and enjoying eternity with her mother and grandfather and yes Jesus himself face to face. Then I began to think about how we are also "Unbound in Christ". I think at times we forget about the freedom we have in Jesus as His children. We allow ourselves to be bound up by certain things and circumstances that come our way. Some of these are possibly out of our control and others we may bring on ourselves. It could be that some of these things are well known to us. We have no problem identifying them. Others are more covert or subtle. Maybe we're bound by performance or trying to meet another's standard. Maybe some are still trying to impress the Lord who is no longer keeping score. We've either passed from death to life or we haven't according to John 5:24. If this truth is your truth, then let's begin today to realize that we are "The Unbound" in Christ and start enjoying His fullness right here right now! Begin to hear Him speaking these words to and of you "Unbind him or her, and let him go!
