Furious love.

This week was the week that everyone in the Ministries Without Borders circle looks forward to all year round. It was the week where churches from all over the UK come together to celebrate Jesus and equip ourselves in our walk with Him. It's a week where we're able to have amazing fellowship with our brothers and sisters and hear about all the incredible things that God is doing all over the world. Yes, Bible Week has come and gone and once again it was amazing. We were reminded of God's everlasting, overwhelming love for us and our calling to the world.


...But if i've learnt anything this week, it's that the love of God doesn't allow us to be passive.
To be passive can be defined as;  "Accepting or allowing what happens or what others do, without active response or resistance." Passivity is the opposite of activity. It is a lack of feeling and desire...Generally lukewarmness or laziness. This doesn't sound like the God I know.
This week we were told more than once that God loves people and it is because of this that He sent Jesus to the world and it is why Jesus has sent us. It is Gods love for the world that caused Jesus to act. In John 5:19 Jesus says that He only does what He sees His father do. This meant that whenever He saw a need, he was moved into action because the fathers heart is for His people... He loves us and doesnt want to see us in need.
It's encouraged me to spend more time with God because the more time I spend with the father the more His heart will become my heart.

Richard Anniss made the point that it is our relationship with God that sends us. We can't be sent without having a relationship and we can't have the relationship without being sent. They come hand in hand, you can't have one without the other. Our relationship with God is what sends us to the need in the world. The need may have been right infront of us the whole time but because we have spent more time with Him, we have become more like Him and where we may have ignored the need before, for whatever reason, we now see the need and want to see Gods love come through because we are moved by Gods heart.
It reminded me of something I read in one of Joyce Meyers books. She was referring to Christians who are so ruled by their emotions that an absence of feeling stops them from doing what they've been taught to do. She said "They praise if they feel like it, give if they feel like it, keep their word if they feel like it - and if they don't feel like it, they don't." This is exactly what I mean by 'passive'.  God doesn't just love if he 'feels like it'. God IS love - it's impossible for Him to do anything outside of love. Which is why it is so important for us to live by the Spirit and not by our emotions because to love people as God does is impossible for us to do in our own strength. We'll find ourselves getting burnt out and giving up. But when we "Let go and let God" it is no longer us trying to love, but it is God's love through us and it is God's love that will impact this world.

Gods love isn't passive. It is furious and it will be shown through us.

"Its not about what people think of me, it's about what Jesus thinks of them... and He loves them." Arne Skagen

Understanding.

My favourite verse in the bible is Proverbs 3:5. It says;

"Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight."

I don't know about you, but when I read this verse it takes alot of pressure off. Alot of the time we try to wrap our head around something and get frustrated when we don't understand. But here we're told not to lean on our own understanding, but instead, trust in the Lord.
We try to condense the gospel to be understood by the human mind. But the truth is, the gospel is powerful. Far too powerful for our minds to comprehend. When we find that our understanding fails us, all we can do is marvel at the goodness of God and trust that He knows what He is doing.
When we water down the gospel so much there's no freedom left to just sit in wonder at the feet of Jesus. Once you think you know it all, you haven't understood. The love of Jesus is far beyond understanding and the ways of God are far above ours. The moment we claim to know it all, we've put a limit on God. This excites me because it means that there is always more! More of Gods goodness, love and mercy.

If we are to mature in our understanding we have to let go and let God. Let go of trying to understand the hows and whys and trust God with all your heart.

"Natural wisdom is not the key to Spiritual understanding." Bryn Jones

Honesty

Every breath seems heavier than the last.

Every tear comes with a little more sadness.

Each good thought pushed through with a little extra effort.

Things were looking good, you were doing so well.

Until life threw its punches and gave its best shot.

It's not so easy when life gives you reason to give up.

"You're not good enough.

You don't understand.

No one understands.

Whats the point in trying?"

But

He has made you good enough.

He gives you understanding by His Spirit.

He is all you need.

I will learn the art of trusting in you, leaning on you, depending on you.

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I will learn to stand firm in the truth you have given, even when the world reaches out to pull me down.

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I will be reminded of the joy you have set in me that gives me strength and I will forever be thankful for it.

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I will run this race with perseverence. Not by my strength, but by your Spirit, Lord.

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Pilgrim Heart

"Grant me, Lord, a pilgrim heart
In this world, but set apart
On you alone I fix my eyes
Your dwelling place I make my prize
Guide me in the path I take
All distractions I forsake,
The greatest treasure earth awards
Is dust compared to you my Lord"

We have to be OK with change. We have to be in a place where we're ready to leave all that is 'comfortable' and follow Jesus, wherever that may take us. When Jesus called His disciples to follow Him it required them to leave everything. Not just their material things and their daily routines but their whole way of thinking. Following Jesus is a pilgrimage. A journey  that requires sacrifice. I look at the way we live now and try to imagine how we should be living and it's going to take alot more than changing programmes and objectives. The changes we need are not merely cosmetic. They must go right down to the core. We should expect to cause disruption and be drastic in our way of thinking because thats the kind of change we need. The moment we become comfortable we must challenge our thinking...are we in a position to say yes to the calling of Christ at any given moment or are we comfortable where we are?

Jesus said that 'in the last days' he will 'shake all things' until only the unshakeable is left... the Kingdom of God. Our world is being shaken and yet we are still wanting things to remain as they have always been. We have to stop thinking of ways to keep the church as it is or even get it back to how it was as the early church and instead, keep moving forward in the vision and purpose God has for His bride. We must be like the men and women of faith that we read about in Hebrews 11 who maintained a pioneering attitude and refused to become 'settlers'. They had their hearts set on the land God had promised them and this caused them to live a life of pilgrimage. Always ready to move and be used.

Reading about these men and women has challenged me to think of how willing and ready I am to change, but it's time to stop just thinking of the change we need to see and instead start by changing our thinking and in time, see the change we seek. We need to stop relying on others to bring about this change and take it upon ourselves to be the change we long for by setting our hearts on pilgrimage.

“Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage.” Psalm 84:5

"Big shots are only little shots who keep shooting."

So, I was playing Kung Fu Panda on the Xbox the other day and the aim of the game was to shoot down the targets. I figured if I aimed really well and took my time, I would get it in one shot. However, by the time i'd aimed right, my amazing friend James Carr had already shot it down. The difference was, I thought we had a limited amount of bullets and so I tried to get it right the first time and when I didn't, I gave up. James, however, was aware that he wasn't going to run out of bullets and that if he shot repetitively he would end up hitting the target with at least one of his bullets... and he did.

So why am I sharing this story? Well, it occurred to me that, in life, if we don't get something right on our first try we often give up because our pride has been hurt. We're very quick to brush things off as a fail and use it as an excuse not to try again. But doing this is like having an unlimited supply of bullets and only using one... & where is the sense in that? I'm not saying we shouldn't always aim to get it right the first time around. But what I am saying is that we shouldn't let it stop us if we don't. We learn from our mistakes, get up, and try again. 

In order to get somewhere it requires us to take one step at a time. It makes no sense for us to give up after one step because we didn't reach our destination. But in the journey there, every single step is important because it gets us that much closer. The moment we stop moving, we've lost the race. 

"But those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." (Isaiah 40:31) It's those who put their trust in God with every step who will find themselves at the finish line saying "I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith."

(2 Timothy 4:7)

A renewed mind - Part 2

Jesus said; “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” (John 8:12). 

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He also said; “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light.” (Ephesians 4:8).

Not only were we in darkness, but we ourselves were darkness. Now, having received Jesus, we not only live in the light but we are the light to the world. This is because when we become a Christian, we are given the 'mind of Christ' (1 Corinthians 2:16). We no longer look with a world-view, instead we have the ability to see and understand from a heavenly perspective. However, this doesn't happen in an instant, its a process. Romans 12:2 says; “Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God's will is – his good, pleasing and perfect will.” Our minds are affected by sin which has limited our understanding of the Spiritual things of God. The renewing of the mind is the process of adopting the mind of Christ so that we no longer think independently of God but instead we're submitting the mind to the Spirit. This is the key to unlocking the mysteries of the Kingdom as Jesus told us that it is the Spirit who will “guide you into all truth.” (John 16:13) Therefore, by allowing the Spirit to rule over our minds, we are allowing Him to transform us into the likeness of Christ. It is with the mind that we exercise our will and therefore if we are adopting the mind of Christ, it will be His will that we exercise and His will is to see His Kingdom reign on earth as it is in heaven. 

The Kingdom of God is a new Spiritual reality that we need to grow accustomed to. It requires us to mature. Paul tells us to do this by putting off our old self and be made new in the attitude of our minds and to put on the new self, created to be like God in true righteousness and holiness (Ephesians 4:22-24). This means having nothing to do with “the fruitful deeds of darkness”(Eph 5:11), but instead bringing them into the light because “everything exposed by the light becomes visible”(Eph 5:13). This then tells us that we have an obligation to expose any dark and evil deed in order to advance the Kingdom because although the Kingdom of God is within us (Luke 17:21), it is still yet to come (John 18:36). The Kingdom is present on the earth through people who are filled and ruled by the Spirit of God as ambassadors of His Kingdom. The Kingdom will come in fullness when the knowledge of the glory of God fills the earth and Christ returns in power to take back His full creation. This gives us a responsibility to make His gospel known.

"For you are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on a stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your father in heaven." (Matthew 5:16)