A DAILY PRAYER OF CONFESSION

A DAILY PRAYER OF CONFESSION

"Establishing the will of God in our lives by what we confess.

Father, I believe the Bible is your Word; that your word is not only true, but when it is spoken out in faith, it also has creative power. I believe the words of Jesus when he said, "I assure you that whoever tells this mountain to get up and throw itself in the sea and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that what he says will happen, it will be done for him." I believe that when I confess in faith what you have said about me in your word, I establish these realities upon myself in the spirit realm and that they will eventually become evident in the material realm.

Lord, I thank you that you have brought me out of darkness into your marvelous light and that I am a child of God by faith in Jesus. I am an heir of the promises you gave to your servant, Abraham. Abraham's blessings are mine and I receive them with thanksgiving! You said that all the promises of God are "Yes" to us because of our union with Jesus Christ, and I shout to you my "Amen" to the glory of God. Yes, Lord, bring me into the fullness of these blessings!

I thank you, Father, that Jesus shed his blood to pardon my sins and that I have clean hands and a pure heart by faith in His atoning sacrifice on the cross. I now come boldly before your throne of grace because I am clean, I am pure, I am holy, I am forgiven, I am justified, and I am sanctified by the blood of Jesus.

Father, you said that, in Christ, we have all things that pertain to life and godliness. I confess that I am all that you say I am; I am filled with your Holy Spirit; I am able to do all things through Christ who strengthens me; I have all I need and an abundant overflow so that I can be generous to others. I praise you for fulfilling your word to make me prosperous in all that I undertake.

Your name is Jehovah-Rapha, the Lord my healer. There is nothing too hard for you to do and there is nothing impossible to those who believe your word. I believe it is your will to heal me and in Jesus' name I declare that no sickness or disease shall come upon me and remain upon me! JESUS HEALS ME NOW!

Father, Jesus suffered the agony of forty stripes so that I might be healed; I thank you for your promise of divine health. It belongs to me! I believe it; I receive it; I embrace it, I confess it! and I act on it. In Jesus' name I am healed through His sufferings on my behalf.

I confess that those who live in the shadow of the Almighty shall be satisfied with long life. I place my life in your hands and when it comes my time to leave this world, I shall go in your time, in your will, and in your way.

In Jesus' name I affirm that I shall complete all the purposes of God for my life and that, in the end, I will be able to say with Paul, "I have a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, and I have kept the faith."

Father, you said that he who lives and believes in you shall never die; that if a man keeps your word he will never see death; he will never taste of death. I confess that when I depart this life, I shall walk with Jesus through the valley of the shadow of death into the next life with loud shouts of resounding Joy! Amen!

One Flock, One Shepherd

One Flock, One Shepherd
Posted on 11. Apr, 2009 by Chip Brogden in Articles & Essays
“Behold, the Lord God will come with strong hand, and His arm shall rule for Him: behold, His reward is with Him, and His work before Him. He shall feed His flock like a Shepherd: He shall gather the lambs with His arm, and carry them in His bosom, and shall gently lead those that are with young (Isaiah 40:10,11).”
“And I will set up ONE shepherd over them, and He shall feed them, even my servant David; He shall feed them, and He shall be their shepherd. And I the LORD will be their God, and my servant David a Prince among them; I the LORD have spoken it (Ezekiel 34:23,24).”
“I am the Good Shepherd; I know My sheep, and My sheep know Me – just as the Father knows Me and I know the Father – and I lay down My Life for the sheep. I have other sheep which are not of this fold. I must bring them also. They will hear My Voice, and there will be One Flock, and One Shepherd (John 10:14-16)”.
The Church is compared to many things in the Scriptures. It is described (among other things) as a Bride, a Body, a City, a Flock of sheep, and a House of Living Stones. Each represents a particular truth, but not the entire truth, so we really should be familiar with each of them that we may adequately comprehend God’s thought for the Church. The Bride represents union with Christ; the Body represents Life; the City represents refuge and peace; the Flock represents unity; and the House of Living Stones represents God’s work and residence among us.
I’d like to talk about the Church as the Flock.
May we see before God that there is One Flock, the Church; and One Shepherd, Jesus Christ. There are not many flocks with many shepherds. God established centuries ago that His preference is One Flock and One Shepherd. How did this come about?
In Ezekiel 34, the Lord complains that the shepherds of Israel were feeding themselves and not the flock. They abused the sheep and took more than they gave. They failed to bind up the broken, or seek out the stray, or protect them from the enemy. They ruled with force and cruelty. They allowed the sheep to fight amongst themselves. They permitted the flock to be scattered and devoured. So the Lord vows that He will get rid of these shepherds and install One Shepherd, David, to care for the flock and gather them together into one place.
Obviously God is not talking about literal shepherds in a literal field in Israel, nor is He planning to bring King David back from the dead to tend to literal sheep. The Lord here is speaking of Jesus Christ, who is known as the Root and Offspring of David. He is also known as the Son of David and the Seed of Jesse. All of these titles mean the same thing. This speaks of His earthly lineage, and it also speaks of His heart towards His Father. David is described as a man after God’s own heart. In the same way, the Lord Jesus Christ is totally in touch with and attuned to the heart of God. He is truly a Son of David.
Just as there is One Body with many members, so there is One Flock with many sheep.
THE GOOD SHEPHERD IS ONE SHEPHERD
Jesus is the Good Shepherd. Let us realize that the Lord Jesus Christ is the only One Who totally pleases God in every way. “This is my beloved Son – hear Him.” Jesus Christ alone perfectly satisfies the heart and will of God. He is perfectly obedient to Him in all things. No one else in heaven or on earth is worthy. No one else may take the scroll, read what is written therein, or even look upon it.
Because the flock was abused and scattered by hirelings, the wisdom of God declared that He would shepherd the flock Himself and gather them together again, not just from Israel, but from all over the world, encompassing both Jews and Gentiles, loving and caring for them. Has this happened yet? Yes, the word of the Lord has already come to pass. When did He gather the flock together under One Shepherd? He did it when He raised Christ from the dead and established the Church. Jesus Christ is the Good Shepherd Who lays down His life for the sheep.
In John 17, Jesus says, “I pray that they may be one.” This is more than a cry for unity in the Body, it is a cry for One Flock under One Shepherd. May I say that all who share in the Life of the Lord are already gathered together into One. The One Flock is the Ecclesia, the called-out-of-the-world assembly of those who have the revelation of Jesus. The One Shepherd is Jesus. This is so plain that it cannot be missed.
David looked ahead to this day and declared, “The Lord is my Shepherd.” We might put it this way, for the meaning is the same: “The Lord is my Pastor.” How does that sound? How would you like to have Jesus for a pastor? Psalm 23 is talking about the Church, and Jesus is your Pastor. Of course it’s talking about our individual relationship with Christ, but remember He has more than one sheep. It is not just you and Jesus walking around by yourselves, hand in hand. There’s a whole flock in mind here. It’s talking about what it means to be under the Shepherd’s care as one of many sheep. David is describing the One Flock with One Shepherd. How glorious and beautiful was his insight.
Jesus plainly said, “I am the Good Shepherd.” In John 10 He tells us the difference between the Good Shepherd and the hireling. He even says that ALL who came before Him were thieves and robbers. That’s why God sent the Son to Shepherd the flock for Him. No one else is worthy. Apart from Him we are all hirelings. We just love ourselves too much. In the same way that no one is worthy to open the seal and read the contents of the scroll except for Christ, so no one is worthy to shepherd the flock of God but Christ. The Lord declared that He would tend the flock Himself, and so He has done so and is doing so through the Lord Jesus Christ.
THE UNDERSHEPHERDS SERVE THE CHIEF SHEPHERD
Yet, there is such a thing as human beings who are called to the work of the ministry as pastors and shepherds. They are God’s gift to the Church along with apostles, prophets, evangelists, and teachers, to build up the Body and bring them into Christ. Since there is no question that God has chosen the Lord Jesus to be the One Shepherd, why would the Lord see the need for setting pastors in the Church for its edification? What is the nature of a New Testament pastoral ministry?
After Jesus was raised from the dead He commissioned Peter by saying, “Feed My sheep.” Please see that the sheep belong to the Lord Jesus and Peter is being told to feed them. The Lord did not say He would give Peter some sheep of his own to take care of or rule over. He is not giving Peter anything to have as his own. He did not tell Peter to go start a church and begin gathering people together in his own name. Neither did he tell Peter to go get himself elected to take the place of Jesus as the new leader of the disciples. In fact, no one has ever been elected to take the place of Jesus after He was taken up into heaven. Why? Because He is still the Head, and He is still the Good Shepherd. He never laid aside that role. Do you see this? “Feed MY sheep,” Jesus said. Whose sheep are they? The Lord’s sheep.
So now we have some insight into how this works. Jesus, the Good Shepherd, commissions undershepherds to feed and care for His sheep. We know that Christ is our Meat, Bread, Milk, Honey, and Water. So to feed the flock is to bring them to Christ as their Source. This is a holy work. This is much more difficult (humanly speaking) than preaching a three-point sermon once a week.
How is God going about the process of bringing everyone into One Flock under One Shepherd? He is doing this through undershepherds. A true pastor is but an undershepherd, and the Lord Jesus is the Chief Shepherd. There are but two classes of shepherds: the undershepherds, who are many; and the Chief Shepherd, who is One. What does the undershepherd do? The undershepherd serves the Chief Shepherd. He (or she) is supposed to be out herding the sheep into the One Flock, bringing them to Christ, feeding, caring, and watching over the Lord’s possession.
If God intends on having One Flock under One Shepherd then we know that nothing belongs to any individual. Frequently we hear men speak of “my people”, “my flock”, or “my church”, as though they possessed something. Let us see instead that the undershepherd owns nothing, but is a steward over God’s possession. The Scripture plainly says that we are the sheep of His pasture. Everything belongs to the Father, Who has committed all things into the care of His Son, the Good Shepherd. No undershepherd can claim anything or anyone as belonging to him personally. If we only realized this we would immediately begin treating the Lord’s sheep with greater respect and humility. How can a man lord over something that doesn’t belong to him? How can he abuse and mistreat what is not his?
Let me ask you this question: what do you think the Lord will do to an undershepherd who rules the Lord’s flock with cruelty, abuses the sheep, scatters them in all directions, and lets the enemy come in to tear them apart? Will the Lord just shrug His shoulders, or will He visit that undershepherd and avenge the sheep? It is such a holy trust. We must tread lightly with the sheep and minister to them in fear and trembling. We dare not entertain thoughts of doing as we please with the Lord’s possession. It is not a frivolous thing.
THE HIRELINGS WILL BE JUDGED
Here is where many people err. They think to themselves, now that I’m a pastor I’m in charge of these sheep, and they better start submitting to me. They need to support my vision for ministry and give me the honor and glory due my name. And so on. You’ve seen and heard the type. But again, the sheep do not belong to us. Jesus says that the Father gave Him the sheep, and no man can snatch them out of His hands. Certainly He is not going to just turn around and give them away to some earthly man.
This is the spiritual reality. But when we look around, what do we see happening? We see first of all that the flock is scattered and divided. Next, we see that the flock is diseased and wounded. Then, we see that the flock is ruled by individual shepherds. It appears that the earthly facts do not live up to the spiritual reality. On the one hand the promise is fulfilled in the Good Shepherd, and on the other hand the conditions described in Ezekiel 34 still remain.
What usually happens? Many who claim to be pastors parcel up the flock among themselves, fighting over individual sheep, endeavoring to gather them together into their own little fold with themselves as their own little shepherd. They are not working on behalf of the Chief Shepherd, but on their own behalf. Jesus said, “He that is not gathering with Me is scattering.” This is what hirelings do. They claim to be gathering people together but they end up scattering the Lord’s flock. They want the wool and the fat for themselves. They take more than they give. They don’t truly care for the sheep. They are not undershepherds, but hirelings. Read Ezekiel 34 and see if you have experienced this for yourself.
I know all about hirelings because I was one for many years. I did not work for the Chief Shepherd, but for the denomination. I saw the sheep as the fruit of my ministry, not as the Lord’s possession. So eventually the Chief Shepherd removed me from tending His sheep. Later, only when I learned that the sheep indeed belonged to Him, He permitted me to feed them as His undershepherd. This time the hirelings came and removed me. They permitted me access to “their” sheep as a fellow hireling, but not as an undershepherd. For to be an undershepherd of the Chief Shepherd brings shame to the hireling.
How do you think the Chief Shepherd is going to respond to the situation we have today? First of all, do you think He is totally blind to what is going on? Far from it. What will He do with these hirelings? Why, He will remove them from tending the flock and will call the sheep to follow after Him. May I say to you that no man can snatch a single lamb out of the hands of the Good Shepherd. He knows His sheep, and they know Him. When He calls they will come running.
So it happens that when sheep find themselves within something other than the One Flock, penned up in a cage with a hireling, the Lord will call them out and unto Himself, and the hireling will eventually be judged. We don’t have to take matters into our own hands. The Lord will see to it. I am so thankful that He judged me and is making me into what He wants me to be. Now I work for Him, and no man.
THE ONE IN CHRIST TRANSCENDS ALL HUMAN DIVISIONS
We hear a lot of talk about trying to unify the Church, but until we see that we are already One Flock we will just keep on talking about it and never experience it. We must see before God that He has already made us One Flock under One Shepherd. This is not some future event, but a spiritual reality, waiting for us to enter into.
Permit me to say that from the vantage point of heaven there are only two groups of people: the ones with Life and the ones with no Life. And we cannot say someone does or does not have Life by judging them according to the outward appearances of how they worship, where they worship, or what earthly organization they do or do not belong to. God really and truly does not calculate the members of the Ecclesia by looking at the membership rosters of our denominations, counting heads on Sunday morning, reviewing our baptismal records, or seeing how many home church groups are meeting together. You may or may not find Life in any of these places.
We can point to all the denominations, sects, movements, factions, and individual churches as proof that we are not in unity. Outwardly speaking we are divided. Outwardly speaking I doubt we will ever be in unity. Wheat and tares, sheep and goats will continue to be mixed together until they are separated at the end of the age. But we should see that God neither recognizes nor endorses any of our labels, organizations, and associations. It is not that God is for or against the Baptist denomination, or the Pentecostal denomination. He simply overlooks all of it. It is of no account to Him and has no bearing on His eternal purpose. You can be in, out, for, or against whatever you please, but God is not looking at that either. Of course it’s terribly important to earthly-minded folk, but those who are seated in heavenly places with Christ view things differently.
Now when someone says he goes to the First Baptist Church, I can say, “Praise the Lord, brother! Do you have Life?” And when someone says she goes to a house church, I can say, “Praise the Lord, sister! Do you have Life?” And when people say they don’t know where to go or what to do, I can say, “Praise the Lord, brothers and sisters! Do you have Life?” I’m not looking to the outward anymore, but to the inward. You see, if the Life is there, then the Son is there, and that’s all that interests God. He that has the Son has Life. And if they need to get in this or out of that then the Life will instruct them. Who am I? We cannot call unclean what God has called clean. We cannot reject whom the Lord accepts.
Let me state here and now that man, not God, started every denomination, institutional church, and house church on the face of the earth. Some may be following God’s will, some only think they are following God’s will, and most are just doing what they want to do with no thought to God’s will. We aren’t interested now in explaining how or why they do what they do, we simply wish to state that man does all these things, not God. The Kingdom is within you. There is only One Church, and that is the Church that Jesus is building. There is only One Flock, and One Shepherd. Everything else is periphery.
When we see how much of this is man’s doing we are liable to become upset over it all, but God just bypasses and transcends the boundaries we put up between one another. God is just too big to confine Himself to working within one little sect, whether they are “in” or “out” of the religious system. God has never blessed a denomination, and He never will. He blesses people, not movements. He judges people, not systems. He only sees one thing, and that is His Son. He only gives us one thing, and that is His Son. If you have the Son, you have Life. If you do not have the Son, you do not have Life. This is the only thing God is looking for.
GETTING BABYLON OUT OF YOU
This is what I am most afraid of: that we begin thinking anyone who doesn’t have the revelation to “come out of Babylon” is spiritually dead. I made this serious error when God first began to show me the True Church and spoke to me concerning the One Flock. I was still judging by outward appearances. So let me clarify: you can no more come out of Babylon by leaving a church than a leopard can change his spots by leaving the jungle. Babylon is a mindset, a paradigm, a religious spirit, if you will. Some of the people who claim to have left Babylon are still bound by Babylon. They still think, talk, behave, and relate to others as Babylonians. They haven’t really come out, they just stopped attending church services. If that’s all there is to it, how simple it would be! How easy to tell the difference between the “true” and the “false” if that’s all we have to look for!
Just as we are called to be in the world but not of the world, some people are called to be “in” Babylon but not “of” Babylon. Some have been called by God to walk in the midst of Babylon and represent Him there as a Daniel or an Ezekiel. Some have been called by God to come out of Babylon and represent Him in Jerusalem as a Nehemiah or an Ezra. Not everyone is a Daniel, and not everyone is a Nehemiah. Eventually Babylon will be judged and there will be a New Jerusalem. All the “Daniels” and all the “Nehemiahs” will each give an account of themselves to God. So let everyone be where the Lord has called them to be. Most of all, whether we leave or stay, go out or go in, let it be by revelation, not by the words of some earthly man or teacher.
Some emphasize the actual meeting together and are engrossed in the details of where, how, why, and what we’re supposed to do when we meet. I say bring people together who have Life and the rest of it will take care of itself. We know that the Law was given to people who had no Life. The Law must teach us outwardly, but the Life will instruct us inwardly. When we don’t have Life then we have to depend upon a rule or method or tradition or law. Some say that’s too simplistic, just getting together like that. Well, that’s the idea. You see Life just doesn’t start flowing when we come together into some kind of meeting. Life is present at all times. You don’t turn it on and off like a spigot. Community isn’t something we can create in a test tube, it’s a daily adventure and releasing of Life as we go about the ministry of one-anothering wherever we happen to be at that particular moment in time.
THE TRUE FLOCK IS ONE FLOCK
How do we achieve unity? We do not. Rather, God reveals His Son to us as the Head of the Church. If we see the Head, if we know the Good Shepherd, we will come to know the Body and the Flock. We cannot say we love God if we do not love our brothers and sisters. We cannot maintain communion with the Head if we are separated from the Body. When we follow One Shepherd as One Flock then we will be in one accord. If we are one with the Head, we are one with the Body, even if we are not gathered together. But, if we are not one with the Head, we are not one with the Body, even if we are gathered together in the guise of unity.
Our prayer for the Church is that we would all come to the unity of the faith through the revelation of Christ. All who see Him will be like Him, for they will see Him as He is; and as He is, so are we, in this world.
Today, God’s heart is One Flock with One Shepherd, with the Son filling all in all. May the Church fulfill His desire. Amen.

Come and See

Come and See
By Francis Frangipane www.frangipane.org
John and Andrew began their spiritual commitment to God’s will as disciples of John the Baptist. In fact, they had actually been standing near the prophet when Jesus walked by. As the Baptizer saw Jesus, he cried out, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” and from that moment the two disciples began to follow Jesus (John 1:35-37).

This was an insightful account. It is John’s handwritten testimony of how he came to the Son of God. Yet, John has deeper truths to reveal beyond this historic portrayal. He is also going to reveal what we should each ultimately seek when we come to Christ.

Let’s pick up the narrative. The two disciples, having heard and believed John’s messianic proclamation about Jesus, are now walking, perhaps hurriedly, to catch up to Jesus. They are within conversation range.

Then Jesus turned, and saw them following, and saith unto them, What seek ye? They said unto him, Rabbi, (which is to say, being interpreted, Master,) where dwellest Thou? He saith unto them, Come and see.
—John 1:38-39 KJV

There are many reasons one comes to Christ. We may seek Him for health issues or to possess the keys to prosperity. Perhaps we need deliverance or are burdened with the cares of a loved one. Yet, as the Lord asked John and Andrew, so He asks each of us: what are you seeking in life? What goals compel us? When we approach the final season of our lives, will the things we have achieved be transferable into eternal accounts? Or will we have spent our time and energies on that which is void of true life?

Jesus asks, “What are you seeking?” It is a very important question. The Lord desires that we take inventory of our passions and objectives, and then chart our course toward heavenly values. You see, many say they love Jesus. What they mean is that, in time, they hope to get around to loving Jesus. Right now, however, they barely know Him and almost never spend time seeking Him.

The proof that we love Him is that we keep His commandments (John 14:15). What must He think when so many who say they love Him are, in fact, not loving Him but actually having an affair with this world? May God have mercy.

Yet, this is not your situation. In spite of your flaws and weaknesses, you sincerely desire to possess more of God. You have emerged from your past trials, determined to walk closer to the Lord. Indeed, Christ sees this holy desire and, to Him, it is the most precious part of you.

The Lord’s heart is also moved toward those who follow Him, though they may walk limping. To those wounded by injustice or the effects of sin, the Lord’s promise remains faithful: “A bruised reed He will not break and a dimly burning wick He will not extinguish.” Surely, He will bring to victory the justice due you (Isa. 42:3; Matt. 12:20).

Like John and Andrew, we, too, “behold the Lamb of God.” Just as He asked them, so He asks us, “What are you seeking?”

The Dwelling Place of Christ
In response to Jesus’ probing question, the disciples’ answer may seem strange. For they did not ask Him for greater power or one of His many spiritual gifts. Instead, they asked Jesus something more personal, and intimate: “Where dwellest Thou?”

I’d like us to consider the poignancy of their answer. They wanted to know where Jesus lived. There are times when a question transcends the simple boundaries of intellectual curiosity and actually reveals one’s quest in life. Such is now the case: they are seeking to live with Jesus. They are searching for the dwelling place of God.

Our Father wants us to ask for spiritual gifts and special blessings of health and financial prosperity. To desire these things is not wrong; it is just not enough. Inside the heart of a God-seeker is a quest for more. We are in search of the “dwelling places” of God. In truth, our hearts have been divinely programmed. There are within us “the highways to Zion” (Ps. 84).

Our destination is nothing less than oneness with Christ. All fruitfulness comes from living in spiritual union with Jesus. In contrast, whatever we offer as service to God that is not the result of our union with Christ, that labor is in vain; it is a weak comfort. For apart from Him, we can do nothing.

John tells us in his first epistle that those who say they abide in Him ought to walk “in the same manner as He walked” (1 John 2:6). Abiding in Jesus leads to walking like Jesus.

Beloved, there is yet much more to learn and discover concerning our Lord! We must beware of spiritual complacency. Recall the prayer of Moses: At the end of his life – after being used by God to confront and defeat the gods of Egypt, after dwelling in the Lord’s glory and beholding miracle after miracle for forty years – Moses prayed, “You have begun to show Your servant Your greatness and Your strong hand” (Deut. 3:24).

You have begun? No matter how much we attain, no matter what revelations of God’s glory are ours, we have only begun to see His glory.

The disciples answered astutely, “Rabbi, where dwellest Thou?” May this become our prayer as well: Where do You live, O Son of God? Where is Your dwelling place? To all who feel similarly, Christ says to us what He promised them: “Come and see.”

Dear Master, I turn to You now. You are my life’s greatest goal. I desire to live with You, to abide in the wonder of a life united with You.

Romani, Balkan of Turkey

Romani, Balkan of Turkey
Gypsies call themselves Rom, which in their language means "men." Rom is derived from the Indian word Dom, meaning "a man of low caste who gains his livelihood by singing and dancing." Gypsies have their roots in India. Wherever they have lived, they remained mysterious and distinct. Curiosity about them eventually led to hatred and discrimination. In the twentieth century, many Gypsies were killed by Nazis. Today, they are still discriminated against. Many Gypsies have maintained their ancient religious traditions and beliefs.

Ministry Obstacles
The Rom are strongly inclined to keep outside influences away.

Outreach Ideas
Christians need to form bridges of friendship with the Rom, caring genuinely for their needs, helping them with employment, and so forth.

Pray for the followers of Christ
Pray for the few followers of Christ among the Rom Gypsies of Turkey. They live in an environment hostile to their faith. Pray they will remain firmly established upon Christ and His promises and provision.

Pray for the entire people group
Pray for the Gypsies to escape their low status in society, to live honorable lives that will earn them respect and acceptance.

Scripture Focus
"All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats." Matthew 25:32

PUT YE ON THE LORD

Put Ye On the Lord Jesus
Posted on 11. Apr, 2009 by Chip Brogden in Articles & Essays
“But put ye on the Lord Jesus, and make no provision for the flesh, to fulfill its lusts (Romans 13:14).”
We have discussed the difference between receiving the Life of the Lord and receiving the Lord as our Life. The two sound very similar, but in actual practice they are not exactly the same. We have seen how that God, desiring that we should not perish, did not give us “eternal life”, but gave us His only Son to be our Life. Then we are told, “He who has the Son has the Life, and He who does not have the Son does not have the Life (I John 5:12).” Eternal Life, then, is not everlasting existence, but an eternity of union with CHRIST OUR LIFE.
As we look for some practical help for living out our new Christ-Life, the apostle Paul gives us some rather peculiar advice. We know that Paul is very good about laying the foundation, and then calling us to live out of that foundation with regard to some very practical matters. So it is interesting that he would say, “Put ye on the Lord Jesus.” What exactly does that mean? How do we put on the Lord Jesus?
If we are looking for a method, or a technique, then we are apt to be disappointed, for neither the Lord nor the apostle Paul gives us such a method. The method is Christ: He is Way, He is Method, He is Technique. We are not given a three-point sermon for how to put on the Lord Jesus; yet we are told this is the key to making no provision for the flesh. This much is clear, however: victory is bound up in Christ, and not in ourselves.
It is fine to have the theory, but we need the practical application. I am mostly concerned with foundational truth, because the foundation of the Church is more important than anything (and that foundation is Christ). Nevertheless, the saints need some practical instruction on how to put on the Lord Jesus, for this is seldom done. This, evidently, is not an ethereal thing in the clouds, but a practical thing which involves our flesh. May God grant us further insight into His Son.
CLOTHED WITH CHRIST
“For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Galatians 3:27).”
What does it mean to be baptized? It is to go down into death and to come back up into life. We were baptized into Christ. The water of baptism does not merely signify the washing away of sins, but the death of the sinner. We go down into the water, and we are brought up out of the water. If we were to stay under the water for long we would surely die. But we are quickly lifted back up out of the “grave”. This represents death and resurrection.
The outward sign of water baptism is meant to represent an inward spiritual truth – that I am baptized indeed, not into water only, but into Christ. I died with Him, and I was raised with Him. If I am one with Him then His death is my death; when He is raised, I too am raised. God has placed us in Christ, and since we are joined to the Lord, we are one spirit with Him. The Branches will go the way of the Vine. The Body will go the way of the Head.
So we may say it this way: to put on the Lord Jesus is to be clothed with Him. The apostle makes a connection between baptism into Christ and putting on Christ: he says these two are one and the same. When we signified our oneness with Him through baptism, we buried ourselves into Him and He became our covering. Have you clothed yourself with Christ? Some people are naked altogether, and their shame is evident to everyone but themselves. Others are clothed with the filthy rags of their own self-righteousness. Then there are those who are clothed with Christ. They are immersed into Him, and we touch something in them which is larger than them.
In our relationships it is easy to touch one another in the flesh. But to put on the Lord Jesus is to make no provision for the flesh, even in our relationships. To “know no man after the flesh” is truly a challenge. We “project” a certain something, and either it is ourselves, or it is Christ. We note the personality differences between Paul, and Peter, and John, and James, and Barnabas; even so, they each have the same clothing, having put on the Lord Jesus. So we can touch them on a deeper level than who they are in themselves. We can still see the man, but we mostly see the Lord of the man. When we put on the Lord Jesus then the outward man becomes consistent with the inward man. This is fruitfulness, and this should be the normal experience of all disciples of the Lord.
“Put on the New Man, created in God’s own Righteousness and true Holiness (Ephesians 4:24).”
What is the Christian Life? It is leaving our ground altogether and coming onto the ground of Christ. It is deeper than a changed life – it is an exchanged life. Over time we can accomplish a change, but we can do nothing to exchange our life for His Life. This, from start to finish, is God’s work, and it is a work of grace. What, after all, is Righteousness? What is true Holiness? Christ is not righteous because He does righteous things; He does righteous things because He is Righteousness. Christ is not holy because He does holy things; He does holy things because He is Holiness. His “doing” flows out of His “being” – and OUR “doing” flows out of His “being” as well.
How so? The old man (self) is put off, and the New Man (Christ) is put on – this is Christianity. Christ then becomes my Righteousness and my Holiness. But too many of us take a natural, intellectual approach to Christianity. We think if only we can instruct people concerning the tenets of our faith, or persuade them with a logical argument, or woo them with some emotional plea, then we will have disciples. This is a falsehood. That is not Spirit and Life. Christianity is not memorizing certain doctrines or disseminating a systematic theology or having people repeat a so-called “Sinner’s Prayer”. Christianity is becoming one with a God-Man! You can have all the other in its proper place, but for too long that “other” has been offered as Christianity. And so people touch our beliefs, our doctrines, our religion, our theology, our zeal, but they do not touch a Living Christ.
When we are called to put on the New Man we are challenged with something radical, something which by reason of Who He is must result in an upsetting of the natural, earthly order of things. It is a major upheaval. Why? Because this New Man is Totally Other. This New Man is of Heaven. This New Man is Spirit. This New Man is foreign from this world. And when we put on THIS New Man, we are going to be at once set apart from the world and earmarked for something larger than we can fathom with our mind, something apart from flesh and blood, something we call “Spirit and Life”.
Many years after having first put on the Lord Jesus, Paul declares that he is still trying to apprehend the One Who has already apprehended him. The height, width, breadth, length, and depth of this New Man, this Heavenly Man, is quite beyond what we can measure apart from Spirit-revelation. We are more familiar with and have more confidence in the old man than we do in the New Man. By the grace of God, this has to change. When we truly see the New Man we transcend the old man. And this, in a nutshell, is how God accomplishes the work of decreasing us and increasing Christ.
“Bring forth the best robe and put it on my son (Luke 15:22ff).”
It would be helpful to illustrate what it means to clothe oneself with Christ. In the story of the prodigal son we find such an illustration. The phrase “put it on” my son is the same Greek words used as in “put ye on” the Lord Jesus. It is even the same word in English – “put on”. So the connection is clear. In the fullness of time God brought forth His Son, and we are told to put Him on, to be clothed with the best robe.
Praise God! We are not laying down a rule for Christian life and saying that in order to be a good Christian you must start doing this, that and the other, and then you must stop doing this thing or that thing. That is the natural approach. But when the son returns to his father, we do not hear a word of rebuke (except from the elder son). It is not a question of our being “worthy”, for the son frankly admits he is no longer worthy to be called a son. Nevertheless, he IS a son. The remedy our Father has for him is not what we would expect. We are looking for a rebuke, or a reproof. Perhaps we are looking for some new list of expectations, punishments and rewards. Instead, he is given the best robe, a ring, and shoes for his feet. This is grace!
To put on the Lord Jesus is to be clothed with the very best robe. This robe makes us look better than we really are. But when we are dressed with the best we begin to act differently. Our behavior and our conduct is the fruit of who we are, not the cause of what we are. Paul never gives us commandments for the sake of commandments. He gives us a lot of instruction regarding our conduct, but it is always based on who we are in Christ, not who we hope to be in ourselves. Having put on the Lord Jesus, we are enveloped with Him and His character replaces our character. His Life is received in exchange for our life. If we cooperate with the Life we will naturally find our behavior is changed.
But what of the elder son? “Son, you are ever with me, and all that I have is yours (Luke 15:31).” Hallelujah! There is no partiality with God, however much we may think God is being more fair or more generous to some brother or sister. Not so: the robe, the ring, and the shoes only represent the “all”, the fullness of the Father, and “of His fullness we have all received (John 1:16a)”. The Father says, “All that I have is yours!” Who can dare ask God for a single thing apart from the Son?
CLOTHED IN PURE LIGHT
“Put on the armor of light… put on the whole armor of God (Romans 13:12b; Ephesians 6:11a).”
In the matter of our spiritual warfare, we must see before God once and for all just what His armor consists of. By now we should know that God has not given us anything outside of or apart from Christ. We should know that God’s Answer is Christ, God’s Provision is Christ, God’s Way is Christ, God’s Victory is Christ.
So our overcoming is not bound up with a piece of armor, real or imagined. It is not without significance that just after saying “put on the armor of light” in Romans 13:12, Paul goes on to say “put ye on the Lord Jesus” in verse 14. It is hard for us to miss the point. Christ is the Armor of Light. To put on the armor is to put on the Lord Jesus. So it is not a great leap for us to connect Romans 13 to Ephesians 6 and discern that the Whole Armor of God is a MAN. Christ is Righteousness, Truth, Peace, Faith, Salvation, and Word of God. He is each individual piece of armor, as well as the Whole Armor. How ridiculous for us to go through the motions of “putting on our spiritual armor” in a sort of melodramatic pantomime. “Put on the armor” is another way of saying “Put on the Lord Jesus.”
May I frankly say that anyone trusting in “spiritual armor” as a thing in and of itself is going to fail miserably. Anyone relying upon a faith-formula or a spiritual warfare method is going to see both the formula and the method eventually meet with defeat. Why? Because God has not given us a formula or a method: He has given us His Son. He does not give us a ritual or ceremony to follow, He says, “Put on the Lord Jesus”. Having the Lord Jesus, I have the Whole Armor of God. It is not necessary to ask for each piece of armor, or to confess anything, or to do anything. It is only necessary, having put on the Whole Armor of God, to “stand therefore”. It is only necessary, having put on the Lord Jesus, to abide in Him.
God’s Solution to the problem of sin, self, and satan is to have us put on the Lord Jesus. Only through Him can we “make no provision for the flesh”, and only through Him can we “stand against the wiles of the devil”. We dare not make it more complicated when the Lord has made it simple. To focus on our flesh and on our enemy is a huge waste of time. Instead, we must perceive just how glorious the Son of God is, and press deeply into Him. Do you have a method, or a Man? It is not about me, my flesh, or the devil – it is all about Christ, and as He is increased, none of these other things can do anything but be decreased.
“Jesus was transfigured before them: His face shone like the sun, and His clothing was pure white, as white as light (Matthew 17:2).”
To be clothed with the Lord Jesus is to be transfigured. For too long we who claim a heavenly calling, a heavenly citizenship, and a heavenly birth have lived as earthly men. What light we have is hidden beneath a bushel; there is no glory that surrounds us. We are not talking about an outward display, or something fleshly, but a Light and a Life which demonstrates the presence of Christ. “In Him was Life – and the Life was the Light of men (John 1:4).”
If we are abiding in Him then we will be as He is. If we have put on the Lord Jesus then we are being changed into His likeness, we are being made into His image, and we are in the process of being transfigured. After some time following the Lord we should not have to stop and ask ourselves, “What would Jesus do?” If we are being transfigured then that Light and that Life will respond spontaneously and effortlessly to any demand placed upon it. Just as Testimony follows Revelation, so Life follows Light. We simply know what to do because He Himself is doing it through us. If we have put on the Lord Jesus then we need not look to the past, or to the future. We need not look up to the heavens, or down upon the earth. We need not look outward at all, for the Kingdom of God is within us. The One Who said, “I am with you, but will be in you” has now taken up residence within all who believe.
We might ask why Peter, James, and John were selected to come apart into a high mountain alone with Jesus to witness this revealing. A better question is, how can we be included in this remnant? We cannot answer why these three only, and not the remaining disciples, were given this revelation. The issue is: have we seen the Lord? Have we, at least once, ascended up the mountain and caught a glimpse of this Light? Have we, at least once, seen the Son of Man transfigured into the Son of God? Eventually all the disciples saw His glory, but in Peter, James, and John we have a type of Overcomer – those who see the glory NOW and possess the Kingdom now, not waiting for a future inheritance or a future reward, but standing for the Will and the Kingdom in advance of its future fulfillment. Because they see in advance, they are able to bring the firstfruits to the Lord.
Moment by moment, hour by hour, we are being changed. This transfiguration is subtle, but powerful. How is it affected? How does God change us? When we put on the Lord Jesus then we become what we have put on. When we see the glory of the Son of God then we are changed thereby. We become what we have seen. When we see Him as He in fact is, when we behold His glory, we will be smitten to the ground. If what we have seen thus far of the Lord has not struck us dumb and blind then we have not yet touched upon His glory. Our vision is too small. May God illuminate our hearts and grant us further revelation into His Son, that we may be transfigured. Amen.

Hi Guys,

Kami saat ini tengah mengembangkan pelayanan, salah satunya untuk menjangkau anak-anak subkultur di perkotaan melalui beberapa proyek. Saat ini kami telah melakukan penjangkauan penginjilan melalui persahabatan (friendship evangelism), pelayanan doa dan konseling, pemuridan (e-home Bible school) dan penggembalaan baik secara langsung maupun melalui dunia maya (e-church).

Ada banyak orang termasuk anak muda yang enggan pergi ke gereja pada umumnya dengan berbagai alasan. Biasanya mereka merasa tidak mendapatkan jawaban, merasa tertolak akibat penampilan atau memiliki pemikiran yang “terlalu” kritis, merasa “asing” di dalam gereja, kepahitan pada sikap hamba Tuhan dll. Padahal mereka sebenarnya ingin lebih dekat dengan Tuhan namun “sistem” membuat mereka merasa “tidak layak” atau “muak”.

Kami merasakan panggilan kuat dari Tuhan tentang hal ini. Bila orang enggan pergi ke gereja maka kami akan membawa gereja pada mereka.

Dalam perjuangan kami ini, kami merupakan pelayanan mandiri dimana kami tidak mendapatkan “back up” secara finansial dari organisasi maupun lembaga Kristen lainnya. Sedang harus kami akui untuk melakukan pekerjaan ini, kami juga butuh pendanaan. Kami selama ini memang mendapatkan donasi dari donatur tidak tetap. Hingga terkadang tersendat sebab dana terbatas.

Kami tengah berdoa untuk membangun unit usaha untuk mensupport pelayanan kami ini. Sehingga tidak selalu bergantung pada donatur. Kami memiliki beberapa ide, salah satu pemikiran kami adalah dengan membuat usaha distro, dimana kami coba menggunakan “double sword”, usaha untuk mensupport dan sekalian menjangkau kaum muda melalui fashion yang memiliki nilai positif.

Beberapa proyek untuk anak muda subkultur ini adalah:
- Menyuarakan kesucian sebelum pernikahan (keep your virginity) pada anak-anak muda, “true love waits”, cinta sejati akan menunggu.
- Pro-life movement, anti aborsi.
- Fatherless generation, komunitas pemulihan bagi anak-anak muda yang berasal dari broken home families.
- Dll

Kami butuh dukungan doa kalian semua agar apa yang kami tengah perjuangkan dapat berbuah tetap. Kami tidak dapat melayani seorang diri, kami butuh support dari rekan-rekan atau anggota tubuh Kristus lainnya. Dukungan doa, dana, pemikiran maupun tenaga akan sangat membantu kami. Thanks for hearing and praying for us.

Culture or Christ?

Culture or Christ?
"Peter began to say to Him, 'Behold, we have left all and followed You.' Jesus said, 'Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for My sake and for the Gospel's sake, but that he shall receive a hundred times as much now at this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and fields, with persecutions, and in the coming age, eternal life.'" Mark 10:28 - 30
In this series of "or Christ" articles I am making an attempt at exposing some of the modern day hindrances that we face in fulfilling the true mission of God, which is God's eternal purpose (Eph. 1 & 3). As I have said elsewhere, this eternal purpose is centered in Jesus Christ himself. It is that all things would be summed up (or headed up) in Christ (Eph. 1:9 - 12). It is that he would have the preeminence (first place) in all things (Col. 1:18). And that he would fill all things with himself (Eph. 4:10).
This eternal purpose is fulfilled by God having a Body, a Bride, and a House (Eph. 1:22, 23). But it is the house that we will take a look at in this article.
The History of the House
God has always desired to have a place in which to dwell. Starting with Genesis in the Garden of Eden and ending with the book of Revelation and the New Jerusalem, it is easy to see God's original intention to have a dwelling place. It is the sweeping story of the whole bible.
But along with that story has been the history of the hindrances to God getting his house. And one of the most powerful hindrances has been this matter of the culture of man. In fact, our culture, by and large, has had a more powerful influence over us than the gospel of Jesus Christ! That's not something to be proud of, but it is a fact we must deal with. In order to do so, we need to understand the aspects of our culture that stand in the way of God having his dwelling place - a spiritual temple made of living stones (I Pet. 2:4, 5).
I believe that the best story in the scriptures to illustrate this "culture block" is found in the Babylonian captivity of the Jewish nation. This story is found in the books of Ezra, Esther, Nehemiah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi. In case you aren't familiar with the story, I will give you a brief background.
The Babylonian empire began way back in Genesis chapter eleven with the tower of Babel. There was a city built around the tower that existed in the country referred to as Shinar and later called the land of the Chaldeans. This is the city of man made religion. When Nebuchadnezzar became king of Babylon he attached Jerusalem, tore down the temple, and took captive the Jews. Their captivity lasted 70 years in Babylon.
The Jews were marched 700 miles in the nude to Babylon. The Babylonians gave them new names and many of the children starved to death. Their women were raped and they all became slaves (Lamentations 5:12 - 21).
Comfortable in Babylon
Eventually, the Jews were given much freedom by their captors. They built their own houses, some started business, and many prospered. There was even considerable religious freedom. Since they no longer had the temple (the house of God), they created their own religious system called the synagogue.
The problem was that this synagogue system was only an artificial substitute for the true worship in the temple in Jerusalem. That was the only place God ordained the sacrifices.
In 538 BC, King Cyrus decreed that the Jews were not free to go back to Jerusalem and the Canaan land. But only 2% would go back! They were not willing to make the long trek (700 miles) back. They had become comfortable in Babylon. They had become Babylonians! And they were not willing to pay the price of returning to Jerusalem to rebuild God's temple and God's city.
The Three Pillars of Our Culture
Brothers and sisters, we have become comfortable in Babylon. God is calling his people everywhere to leave Babylon behind and to come and rebuild his true temple, the church. But many of us are stuck in the world's system and the religious system. We have become too comfortable and are afraid to leave it all behind. There are three strongholds that hold together our western culture. They are as follows:
I) Individualism
Our isolated individualistic lifestyles are an outward expression of our individualistic minds. We only think about life individualistically. It's only about me and my world. It's all about my career, my family, my hobbies, my vacation, my investments, etc. We even call a device to listen to my music an I-pod! It's very difficult for us to think any other way. That's why it is such a miracle when a person begins the shift from thinking as me to thinking as we. Thinking corporately is not something that comes naturally to us. It requires a renewal of the mind (Rom. 12:1 - 5; Eph. 4:22 - 25; Col. 3:10, 11). But yet, it is absolutely necessary for a group of believers who want to "rebuild" the true house of God in their city. If we are going to live as the community of God, we must begin by thinking corporately. *
*See the author's new book: "The Community Life of God"
II) Money
Jesus had a lot to say about money and the pursuit of money and how it has a foothold on our lives (Matt. 6:24; Matt. 13:22; Mark 10:23; Matt. 21:12; Mark 6:8; Matt. 13:44; Matt. 6:32). Of course, it's not money in itself, but rather the pursuit and love of money and everything that goes along with it. The problem is the hold that our consumeristic, materialistic society now has over us.
It's absolutely incredible how much time and effort people will spend on the development of their careers. I live in a college town. About 50,000 young people come here every year to spend somewhere between 4 - 8 years and lots of their parents' money to obtain a "marketable" career. Then there are all the night classes and vocational colleges and classes on the internet. Then, once we begin our careers, there are all of the late night hours to attempt to "climb" the corporate ladder.
But do we ever have enough stuff? Consumerism and materialism have taken over our lives and then to top it all of, we become claves to debt. We esteem highly those who have the top level credit scores and thieves get more prison time than rapists! But our Lord said that you cannot serve two masters.
III) Family
Our Lord also had many things to say about the pull of family upon our lives (Matt. 10:35 - 37; Matt. 12:47 - 49; Matt. 19:5; Matt. 19:29; Luke 2:48, 49; Luke 12:53; Luke 14:26; John 19:26). I would say that in the western world Christians either neglect their families (because they are too busy pursuing mammon), or they idolize their families to the point of sacrificing the house (family) of God. When we place our family on a pedestal, then the pursuit of money is important to support the family. And this vicious cycle goes on and one.
Let's face it folks, we have become Babylonians! We have become too comfortable and too busy with our own individual lives to be willing to make the long trek back to Jerusalem and join the rebuilding project. It is much too costly. Who would do such a thing?
Another Call to Rebuild
In the first century there was another call to rebuild. But this time it was to be the fulfillment of all of the shadows and types in the Old Testament. It was a call to build the true spiritual temple of the ecclesia. And I don't think that it was a coincidence that it all happened in the same city of Jerusalem
Some had come from Galilee, and some had come from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Egypt, Libya, Rome, Arabia, and many other places. Three thousand souls came to Christ that day of Pentecost and became part of this new thing on the earth called the church. But here is the most amazing thing to me. They all decided to leave everything to follow Him! What about their families, and their homes, and their jobs back home? They decided to stay in Jerusalem to build the true house of God.
I get emails and phone calls from believers all the time telling me that they want organic church life so badly, but there is no one else near them who has this same desire. I ask them if they have ever considered moving to another location. Then they tell me that it's impossible. Christians will move because of a new job or to be closer to family, but to move for the house of God? Who would do that? Now don't get me wrong, I understand that sometimes it is "impossible" to move because of circumstances. But that's not my point. What God is after is our hearts. Are we willing to leave all to follow Him? Is His house that important to us?
When He said to seek first His kingdom (Matt 6:33), he really meant it! If we will allow Him to have the first place in everything (Col. 1:18), then we will want Him to have His house, His body, and His bride. And whatever perceived cost we may have to pay will pale in comparison to His glorious church!
written by Milt Rodriguez