Kingdom of God--Part II

Do you ever sit through a sermon and at the end of the message the pastor gives an "altar call" or invitation or whatever your group calls it and very few, if any people go forward. Awkward. Sometimes, the message is so of the flesh that the only ones to "walk the isle" should be to rebuke the pastor. Other times, the message is so of God. . .so Spirit breathed that no one can walk forward because they are paralyzed in their spirit because the Word of God has been sent out and it is not returning void. But we need to sit with it for a minute. Actually, I need to hop on the treadmill and let God get me quiet enough to hear Him apply His remedy. (I can't talk and run--or jog--just to be truthful.)  I don't happen to know if anyone went forward yesterday--I was watching via internet but Pastor Dan Riley's message series about demolishing strongholds--oh my--it would not be an understatement to say it was HUGE!!! Profound! And because I always like to add my "two cents" worth--I'll do that now. Oh, and if I got to add some notes here's what I'd say. So in this blog I'm totally taking his message and passing it along but ya'll I've got to--it was life changing. If you struggle with doubt, shame, anger, fear. . .etc, etc. and you want to be free-- As I was jogging/running--okay, I'm calling it running because I did shave two minutes off of my 5K time after listening to the sermon (podcast) having God apply this truth.  As I was running, I just wanted to set each of these issues before the Lord. Some things were obvious. I needed to repent and walk in freedom. But there is one. A big monster in my life. The loch ness of the lake. Never seen by others but always lurking about in the deep waters of my soul. FEAR. Fear. Fear. My fears have fears. I am always afraid of something bad happening. I live looking over my shoulder--sometimes afraid of experiening joy because I just know something bad is about to happen. Oh, I don't show this to anyone or many ones. . .but it is there.  So I sat it before the Lord.  And I simply said, "Lord, where is this coming from? What is fueling this?" And you know what--there may be things in life that have added to this . . . circumstances in life, untrustworthy people who have hurt me. . .but friends, God showed me that some things trace their roots back to Eve. Some strongholds have been passed down because we are "sons and daughters of Adam and Eve". Any men wonder why they don't assert themselves? Women wrestling with issues of trust? Read the account of the fall. And while life might have given added reasons to think that God is not for us--it all started with "did God really say. . . ?" (Genesis 3) Trust broken. So now what, Lord? His answer-- The journey to freedom is in the life of Jesus. He is the way, the truth and the life. Oh, how precious that Word.  Freedom becomes obvious in the life of Jesus. (And Pastor Riley's sermon didn't hurt, either)!! Smile.
Pastor Riley spoke of repenting, rebuking, replacing, and receiving. Let me clarify that repenting is "to change one's mind" as Dallas Willard says, it is to think about how you are thinking. It is not to bang your head on the floor in tears. . .though you may want to do that after you "think about the way you are thinking".  Repent means to turn to God. Stop following the father of lies and follow the lover of your soul. Just for clarification. I want to say that this idea of repenting, rebuking, replacing and receiving is so intertwined that one barely knows where one ends and the other begins.
God began to show me this by taking my mind to various "scenes in the gospel". Thank you, Dan Riley, so much for basing your sermons on the Word of God, btw. John the Baptist began with "repent for the kingdom of heaven is near" (Matthew 3:2). He told them to share their things. "The man with two tunics should share with him who has none. . ." (Luke 3:11). Repent meant to change their mind about thinking only about themselves. Seems to me John was telling them to take care of one another. Hold their possessions loosely always ready to give. Because when we live in the reality of God's kingdom we learn that it's all God's. And He cares for us.We can relax--trust Him--and not spend every waking hour trying to control the world (it's an illusion, anyway). Daughters of Eve feed themselves the lie that no one is looking out for us with our best interest in mind. God is holding back His goodness so I'd better go get all I can for myself. I can't count on God.  Daughters of Eve even misquote God, remember she told Satan "we must not even touch it, or we will die" (Genesis 3) Uh, no. Can't eat it.  But you see,  I'm no longer a daughter of Eve. I am "in Christ". His life in the kingdom of God is my reality.  So I can change the way I am thinking (repent) and instead of just looking out for myself-- I can trust God to care for me. Remember the lillies.
Oh, this is long. Let's do a part III.  If you have a stronghold that is plaguing you, the first thing to do is to change the way you are thinking (repent). Go to God's word and see what He has to say about it. Then find some time to sit quietly alone and allow Jesus to speak a word to your heart. A word directly to your specific situation. He will. Then rehearse it over and over in your mind-- twice for every time you have rehearsed doubt or anger or fear or lust (or whatever it is). Have mercy, we are not sons and daughters of Adam and Eve. If you are in Christ then it's time to update the family album. Once we were lost and the album was dark and black and not very lovely. But pull out that white, shiny one, my friend because you and I are new creatures and we need a new family album. Let's picture all of us  huddled together  in beautiful new robes . . ., in my mind's eye I see the loveliest arms draped around us. Thank you, Jesus.

Talk to me,

Joy

Kingdom of God--Part I

I have not blogged much of late as I simply have not had much to say/write. . .which has typically never stopped me in the past, but God in His great mercy has kept my mouth/fingers shut lately. Usually, if I have little to say and do so anyway I spout off such ignorance that I later blush. Some of you may know what I'm talkin' bout!
Lately, ya'll God has been teaching Rob and I something so profound that I don't know whether to tie my hair back and stick my face toward the wind of the Spirit or hide under the covers in fear.  Somehow, I forget from time to time that Jesus came preaching the kingdom of God. Now. Not when we die and go to heaven. How, as the church are we forgetting this? God is teaching us afresh that this kingdom is now and later. Eternal life begins now!! I am totally indebted to Dallas Willard, Richard Foster, Ravi Zacharias and oh my, Henry Blackaby! These men have poured into my life in ways (that of course) they will never know. Give me an amen if you love 'em as well.  I so often need a succint way of understanding what that means--this kingdom life. The kingdom of God, is simply God's action---God's activity. . ."on earth, as it is in heaven". (Thank you Dallas Willard for the definition.) And folks God is doing such AMAZING things all around and in your sweet life that Satan is hell bent on keeping you unaware of. . .and a couple of his tools are shackles and distractions. These strongholds in our life are Satan's attempt to use what God meant to redeem as our mental weapon to assail the trustworthiness of our God. Listen, what Satan meant to ruin you--God meant for your redemption. . .otherwise He would never have let it happen (thank you for that wisdom, Beth Moore). God means to send you out with a word of freedom for your brothers and sisters. Jesus means for us to be free--so that we can allow Him to live out His life through us in God's kingdom on this earth!!
I simply have to share this and I don't do it lightly. Rob and I have sat through some doozies of pastors. . .so I am very cautious. We have heard the Bible be misquoted from the pulpit with the verses blazed (in error) across the big screens. . . then proceed to have a whole sermon "preached" from the misquote. Yikes! True, though. So when I recommend something I want to make sure that it is of God. Folks, if you want to be equipped to see God demolish the strongholds in your life go to www.knoxcalvary.com and listen to the last two weeks worth of sermons in the "Blueprint for Life" series. It has so blessed Rob and I that we sat in front of the computer to see church this morning.  I do mean sat through forty-five Droid commercials to hear the message. Our little ones have a cold so in good conscious we couldn't go expose them to ten other 2-3 year olds. It was so worth it. . . that and I might buy the Droid (kidding)!
God delights in allowing us the joy of participating with Him as He sets us free--then, He alone prepares a table before us in the presence of our enemy. We can eat that meal in front of Satan. The Bread of Life. The stream of living water. And we can crush the head of the serpent because when those shackles hit the floor our feet are going to learn to walk again in freedom. . .and then we are going to run--run to the side of the hurting and the lost--those that Jesus said looked like sheep without a shepherd. . . and then friends those feet are gonna dance before the Lord. Can I get an Amen?

Skipping down the road,

Joy

P.S. Tomorrow I'll tell you how this message shaved almost two minutes off my 5K.