translater

Annoiting for unity

1. Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
2  It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments;
3  As the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life for evermore.
 
 What is the unity referred to in Psalm 133? HTow do we achieve unity when every man has his opinion about what the Word means? Simple. Exit the realm of subjective opinion, casting aside what WE think and replace our thoughts with "The Mind of Christ". God opposes the proud, but grants grace to the humble. Unity is experienced among believers when each member is yielded to the Lord, and does not promote himself. We do not CREATE UNITY in the body of Christ, the unity is already there. To enter in, we need only to humble ourselves and yield.

Ye must be born again

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Jesus answered a question that Nicodemus did not ask. At least not directly, that is. So Nick comes to Jesus, by night (perhaps the only time such an intimate conversation would be possible). Nick tells Jesus, "We know you are from God, for no man can do the things you do, save that God is with him". What Nick does NOT say is, "How can it be that a man who does not follow our rules be from God". "Don't we Pharisees know what God is like - but this man comes along and does miracles, and leads them away from us". Nick is offended, but, like Peter, he also knows that Jesus speaks words of Eternal Life, and just where would he turn to?

But Jesus knows Nicodemus' heart. He hears his struggle, and does not condemn him for it. Rather, he just explains to Nick that the reason he cannot reconcile Jesus and his claims to be God is that His Kingdom is totally apart from the world, which knows only a pattern of the real thing. But Jesus is Himself that real thing, and He is standing right there, offering Nick Himself. To get in, Nick, ye must be born again? Say what? Can I enter in to my mother's womb, and be born of water twice? No, Nick. You must be born of water AND of the Spirit. My Spiritual DNA must be planted in you, and a New Creation must be the result.

Jesus answered and said unto him, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.” (Joh 3:3 AV)

Seek the Kingdom

Brother Larry Crabb presented a seminar on Maui last weekend based on his new book, "66 love letters". Larry's message is essentially that we in the West have tried to fit God into our story, instead of letting Him reveal to us where we might fit into His story. That is, we seek God for comfort, or riches, or ease in relationships. We have treated Him as if He were our servant, a cosmic genie in the sky.

Brother Larry has hit the nail on the head. Far from "Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness", we end up with a homeocentric babble that is not in conformity with the Bible we supposedly honor as our authority. Seeking first the Kingdom ALWAYS leads to our cross, which is an opportunity to trust God within whatever unpleasent environment we find ourselves in, rather than a ticket out of it.

The Kingdom is a great mystery. What makes sense there most often baffles us here. What is high is made low. What is abased is exalted. God doesn't play by our rules. He never intended to. We might not understand why a child dies, or a young girl is abused, or why a terrorist flies a plane into a building, and God apparently does nothing, or sometimes even takes credit for that which we deem as evil. To resolve this, we must first put on "the mind of Christ". All that God does is good, but we won't see this unless we have humbly entered the door of the Kingdom

Matrix

I watched the movie "The Matrix" for the first time last week. In this movie, Keanu Reeves is a computer programmer by day, and a computer hack by night. Like all men, Reeves supposes himself to be free to do as his pleases, but he is beginning to wonder. If he is free, why does he spend most of his waking hours at work? Free men do what THEY want to do, not work to please others. So one night, hacking away on his computer (an old dinosaur- this was 1999), someone from a place called "Zion" contacts him. He is invited to take a red pill that will transform his mind. When he does, he is taken into a vision of reality. No, Mr. Anderson, you are NOT free. In fact, you are hooked up to a computer program, and you will do exactly what you are programmed to do.

When he comes to, his mind is freed, because he now sees reality for what it is. After a period of training, he works now to free others from The Matrix. In the end, Reeves' character dies, but is resurrected by a kiss from his new love, Trinity.And then they are on to the next adventure.

The parellels to the Christian walk are numerous. Men DO suppose that they are free, but Jesus Christ says this is NOT so: Men will serve either God or Mammon. Men are not free because, in fact, they are slaves to sin. Like Reeves' Mr. Anderson, Jesus dies at the hand of sinners, but is resurrected by the Holy Spirit (Trinity). And now He invites those for whom He has died to die with him, be buried with him, and be raised up to a NEW LIFE with him.

As I shared tonight with the brothers, Jesus Christ has set us free, no longer bound to the law of sin and death found in Romans seven. We are crucified with Christ (Gal 2:20), baptized into His death (Romans 6:3) and raised up with Him to a New Life. Our lives are a complete identification with Jesus Christ, if he is in us, and we be in Him. Not only has He paid for our sins, he has set us free from the law of sin and death.

What Spirit?

“And it came to pass, when the time was come that he should be received up, he stedfastly set his face to go to Jerusalem, And sent messengers before his face: and they went, and entered into a village of the Samaritans, to make ready for him. And they did not receive him, because his face was as though he would go to Jerusalem. And when his disciples James and John saw this, they said, Lord, wilt thou that we command fire to come down from heaven, and consume them, even as Elias did? But he turned, and rebuked them, and said, Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of. For the Son of man is not come to destroy men’s lives, but to save them. And they went to another village.” (Lu 9:51-56 AV)
I came accross some brothers handing out tracts last night at the First Friday event in Wailuku. They said that they were not members of a church, but that they studied together every Monday night in Lahaina. At first, I was intrigued; could it be that I finally found some brothers who have a vision for a NT church, and who are living that vision? Not so much. They hadn't even thought about it. They only said that they believed their mission was to save as many souls as they could before the LORD comes back.

Nothing wrong with that, surely. But I wonder. Who would go fishing without a place to put the fish when caught? Without a NT church, or even a vision for a NT church, why bother? Only God knows their hearts. I don't. Many times, preachers seem to hate the audience they are preaching to. To be sure, the nonbeliever does face destruction, but is that the point of Jesus' coming to earth? He told the Sons of Thunder his mission was to seek and to save, not to destroy. So we are warned to watch carefully what manner of spirit we are manifesting.

God gives grace to the humble, but He opposes the proud. May we always concern ourselves first of all about the bolder of pride that is in our own eyes before we try to help someone with a pebble in theirs.