As He Was

"On the same day, when evening had come, He said to them, 'Let us cross over to the other side.' Now when they had left the multitude, they took Him along in the boat as He was. And other little boats were also with Him."
Mark 4: 35-36

This is a familiar account that shows the magnificent freeing power of Jesus. It can be read in full at Mark 4:35 - 5:20.

Why must we cross over? Because there are crazy people out there who are unable to free themselves from their bonds. Their behavior and their spiritual condition bind them to themselves.

We must cross over to the other side. What is on the other side for you? What person? What neighbor? What fellow worker? What family? What people? What nation?

And what will you bring with you?

From Mark chapter 4, verse 36: "They took Him along…as He was."

There is great confusion in the church world over “how Jesus was”.

In the 2,000 years since God was with us in Christ, religion has re-shaped His image.

It’s not a new strategy of the enemy. It’s straight from the Garden. If the enemy can get us to question what God has said or done (Genesis 3:1), he will be successful at compromising the truth in us. And compromised truth will only bring a compromised victory, which is what we have today. Sure we have had some success. We have vibrant music and meetings and great preaching. Beautiful buildings and TV shows and church programs. But it’s hard to accept this as the life for which Jesus died. I may be willing to give MY life for what we have in the church today, but I don’t think I would give my son’s life.

It is the same for God. I believe He envisions something more. And if we can find our way back to the Truth, we will finally be set free - and be alive enough to set others free.

If His seed in us is virtuous, the fruit is virtuous. And we will cross over our boundaries of religion and philosophy and man-made doctrine and see the demoniac set free. If we are going to do this, we must do as the disciples did in Mark, Chapter 4 and take Jesus along "…as He was”.

More on this tomorrow.

Found in Translation - Sons and Heirs

I've had opportunity to minister using interpreters in at least 7 different languages. There have been times where my words have been accurately translated and others where this hasn't been the case.

When what I have faithfully said is faithfully delivered, there is a marked difference in the response.

It is this way with our representation of Christ. People see Him in us. Hence, this week's topic: Found in Translation.

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"For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise"
(Galatians 3:26-29).

This amazing proclamation secures our place in Him.

We aren't His children by nature (Jesus is the only begotten) or by creation (as Adam, the angels, and all mankind) but by divine adoption. We are made legitimate in Him by His sovereign act of grace in accepting us in the Beloved (Ephesians 1:6)!

Because we are children of God we are heirs of God. And because we are spiritual children of Abraham we are heirs of the promise!

Represent Him as His son and heir to the promise. In this spiritual posture - recognizing His sovereign act of grace in us, not by our works - He can be found in us.

Be a faithful translation. Walk as His son and heir.

Carbon-based Copies

Our culture is flooded with knock-offs. TV shows, songs, fashion, electronics, ministry...

Someone had the fearlessness to try something new and others followed.

God, in His fearlessness, made you new.

Ephesians 4:11 And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹² for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, ¹³ till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; ¹⁴ that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, ¹⁵ but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love."

What has God equipped you to do? Lead with your gift. It's what God gave YOU so you could do your share.

Genetics

One of the major influences on who we are is in our DNA. It is how God designed us genetically to fulfill the plan He has for us.

He has placed there certain qualities - physical, emotional, and intellectual - that, even before we meet Christ, "bend" us a certain way.

Character and talent starts here. Research has shown that - in the womb - different babies respond in different ways to the same stimuli.

We won't debate the source, but even weaknesses are as deep as our DNA.

We can't accept this as final. Our work, after Christ, is to "bend" to the New Birth.

When it comes to character, deal with your weaknesses. Let God change you.

When it comes to talent, expand on your strengths. Let God grow you.

The Value of Trust

God trusted Adam and Eve with His plan for taking back the Earth from an enemy that was here before they were.

Genesis tells us of a five-fold mandate and confirms that man has the Divine Nature of the Almighty (the DNA, if you will) to carry it out. He is, after all, made in the image of God (Genesis 1:26-28).

Adam and Eve's trust in God would be evidenced by their obedience to Him in carrying out the mandate.

satan attacked that trust ("Has God indeed said...?") and they chose disobedience. It's a tragic situation when a human being, created in the very image of God, submits to a low-life serpent.

It's the same today.

When we elevate the lie of our common enemy above the trust and obedience to Our Loving Creator, we forgo the privilege of walking in our Divine Nature, and the opportunity to fulfill our mandate.

Let's be people who trust His Word, His Son. He won back our right to submit to God and to resist the enemy (James 4:7). He bought us back - redeemed us - for His higher purpose.

"He's not a tame Lion."

This is a line oft-repeated in CS Lewis' "Chronicles of Narnia" series. Pastor Kris brought a word this morning that caused that line to resound over and over in my head.

Religion has sought to tame Him over the years. Restricting, even, our perspective of Who He is.

Our perspective of who WE are has been affected, too.

In these times, particularly in these times, it does us good to remember that He is the Lion of Judah. And the same Spirit that raised Him from the dead now lives in us (Galatians 2:20)! His is not a Spirit of tameness. And the Christian life isn't for wimps.

You were created to live in wild times. It is in your DNA. Scripture confirms that Adam was created in the wild and "placed" in the garden. That means it is in you to survive and to excel in wild times!

It seems like American Christians, as never before, have been able to conduct their Christian lives 99% faith-free. We have programs, safety nets, health plans, insurances, everything we need to guarantee that we won't fail.

Scripture makes this guarantee too. But it's conditional (2 Peter 1:10). Maybe that's why we choose the safe way.

Let there be no doubt: There is a "call to the wild". It's the Wild One in you, longing to stretch out and take some ground through you. How BIG is your God? Let Him be BIG in you!


Click here for today's Daily Bread.

The Problem with Genetics

My two boys have taught me how much genetics influences who we are. I had to face it. Nature (God-creation) contributes to character and giftings as much as nurture.

When I was a Psychology student, my leanings were to the Behaviorist Camp, which puts so much emphasis on cause and effect and environmental contributions to who we are and why we are who we are.

But I can't deny that my two boys, raised in the same home under very similar circumstances, influences, etc. are dramatically different. And they've always been. As infants they handled sleep and eating different. Little tiny (but significantly different) attitudes towards everything that was in their little tiny world.

So what do we do with this? Are we stuck with who we are?

Clearly not. We can make remarkable changes in our attitudes and deep adjustments in our personalities when we encounter forces of influence that are greater than ourselves.

Some of these forces will require change - like strict family systems, or extreme governmental controls. Over time, these can account for differences in entire people groups who, although it sounds prejudicial, behave differently from each other.

My adventures over the past few years into a number of countries and cultures has shown me that, in fact, people behave differently in different cultures. They even think differently, process ideas differently, and react to change differently. Nurture responses.

Some of these forces will coax us into change and show us how we can change and what that change might mean.

Our own experiences with God are of this sort. He invites us to change.

When it comes to character, we should focus on our weaknesses - and pursue growth and maturity there. When it comes to our giftings, we should focus on our strengths.

Identify a character weakness and eradicate it. Identify a gifting and grow it. In this, I believe we are partnering with God in growing us up in to Him.

^{Ephesians 4:11} And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, ¹² for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ, ¹³ till we all come to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ; ¹⁴ that we should no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the trickery of men, in the cunning craftiness of deceitful plotting, ¹⁵ but, speaking the truth in love, may grow up in all things into Him who is the head—Christ— ¹⁶ from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

Click here for today's Daily Bread.