Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Philippians 1:6 King James Version (KJV)
A few months ago I gave a message about destiny. In it I commented that Jesus would not be Saviour without being Lord.
Some people in the congregation thought I was saying that Jesus did not love and would eternally reject those who did not perfectly follow Him as Lord.
Actually that thought never has even entered my mind as a reality. It is fairly easy for me to miss that so many struggle with knowing that God loves them because I have never once doubted His love for me. That is not a proud statement. It is not so because of some great aspect of character in my life. Far from it. It is so because I have never forgotten who I was and still am if He had not loved even His enemies.
For it was the Father’s good pleasure for all the fullness to dwell in Him, 20 and through Him to reconcile all things to Himself, having made peace through the blood of His cross; through Him, I say, whether things on earth or things in heaven. 21 And although you were formerly alienated and hostile in mind, engaged in evil deeds, 22 yet He has now reconciled you in His fleshly body through death, in order to present you before Him holy and blameless and beyond reproach—
Colossians 1:19-22 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
My first encounter with Him was outside a strip joint in Dallas Texas where my band was playing. Though I was in desperate need of Him I did not realize it. When He found me I was psychotic, mentally destroyed from taking psychedelics and extremely paranoid. I knew that I was completely unworthy of anyone loving me, especially God.
But there He was, loving me in spite of it all. His gift to me of life was fully unmerited and I knew it. He gave it just the same.
Since then I have walked through many periods of less than stellar performance in my walk with Him. Yet He has always held out His hand for me to grasp and make my way back to the path He desires me to walk.
As a result I know beyond a shadow of a doubt He loves me without limit. And I also know it was never anything that I did, I was or ever will be that brought it to me.
I was radically saved because I knew I was radically lost - without a hope of impressing God with anything of my life.
Paul understood this. You cannot find one jot of scripture to say that he was doing anything to bring God's love to him. Yet God relentlessly pursued him and one day he responded.
I thank Christ Jesus our Lord, who has strengthened me, because He considered me faithful, putting me into service, 13 even though I was formerly a blasphemer and a persecutor and a violent aggressor. Yet I was shown mercy because I acted ignorantly in unbelief; 14 and the grace of our Lord was more than abundant, with the faith and love which are found in Christ Jesus.
1 Timothy 1:12-14 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
That reality has been wonderful beyond imagination but has also been one of my great difficulties.
You see I find that many people who have received Jesus are still struggling with their acceptance by Him.
I find second generation believers deeply struggle with this.
I have watched so many suffer from an affliction that I have never known. And an affliction it is. As I have listened to countless stories of people who just don't know they are loved by God I have felt a suffering in their hearts that seems as deep as hell itself.
While I have never felt it since the day He came into my life, watching others face it on a daily basis and the efforts they so vainly try to bring themselves to a place of security in having Him love them tears my heart out sometimes.
Even though I try to tell them it is not so, they are internally convinced that God does or does not love them due to something they have or have not done.
Though it may seem harsh or even cruel to say, I think many people who doubt God's love have not fully understood they were and always will be completely unworthy of God's love. As I listen to them I continually hear them express this oh so subtle but extremely binding concept that somehow their actions determine God's heart toward them.
Our actions do not determine God's love toward us. If they did He would hate all of us since all of us have failed him.
God's heart is one of love for everyone. For God so loved the World.... He died for every man and woman who has ever lived....... Their sin does not alter His heart of love for them. Paul continues this thought in the next verses:
Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. 16 But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.
1 Timothy 1:15-16 New International Version (NIV)
But the problem is, though it does not alter His heart of love, our actions borne out of a heart set against him do alter our ability to receive and be transformed by that love.....
That is the point of saying Jesus will not be Saviour without being Lord. It is actually the Relentless Love of God that makes it so.
If I am to have fellowship with the Holy God of the Universe I cannot remain in my sinful attitude toward Him. He must capture my heart completely. He must have it all. He must have my entire life in response to His love.
I love the song by Jesus Culture "You won't relent" You can hear it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEJnePjJZaM
It expresses the divine passion of God's heart to fully gain our heart.
To think of God accepting any less than this would be to degrade His love.
To give the idea that this love relationship is only one sided fails to understand that God's love will mean nothing to those who end up eternally separated from Him by their own choice.
If it were up to God's love alone to save us without our response in love to Him, the whole world would be saved.
His love is universal. People responding to His love is not.
Until we die, God will never stop seeking to draw us closer to Himself. No matter how close or far we are from Him, if we are His child He will never stop his relentless pursuit of our submission out of love for Him as the sole ruler - the Lord of our lives.
He who has My commandments and keeps them is the one who loves Me; and he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and will disclose Myself to him.”
John 14:21 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
“Why do you call Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?
Luke 6:46 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Knowing God will relentlessly pursue my heart until it yields to Him is one of the most comforting things I know. I am not left to simply wander around until I get it right. He orders every footstep to continually bring home to me that I cannot possibly hope to find any good thing in my life without Him.
Look at the life of Peter. He was constantly having issues with his walk. Those issues finally ended in his denial of Jesus.
Yet Jesus relentlessly pursued him. But it is important for Peter and us to see what the issue really was. Look at what Jesus asked Peter in his moment of reconciliation:
So when they had finished breakfast, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me more than these?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He *said to him, “Tend My lambs.” 16 He *said to him again a second time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” He *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; You know that I love You.” He *said to him, “Shepherd My sheep.” 17 He *said to him the third time, “Simon, son of John, do you love Me?” Peter was grieved because He said to him the third time, “Do you love Me?” And he said to Him, “Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.” Jesus *said to him, “Tend My sheep.
John 21:15-17 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Jesus was not asking Peter if he had prayed a prayer......
He did not ask him if he knew how much Jesus loved him....
He did not ask if he had been faithful.....
He did not even ask him to repent from his sin......
He asked him if he loved him. This is what God is after. This is what He relentlessly pursues in our lives. That we would love Him as He loves us. This is salvation, sanctification, justification and glorification..... to be transformed by His love into His image.
And he answered, “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND; AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”
Luke 10:27 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
He relentlessly pursues our hearts to fully love him..... no matter what.
Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be. We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.
1 John 3:2 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
Yet we can resist that pursuit.
No matter how much a man may love a woman.... no matter how long and hard he pursues her.... No matter how many gifts or provisions he makes for her..... his love will not make her love him..... It will give her the chance to respond but it will not force her to love him.
So it is with God.
A few weeks ago as I was praying through the fallout of my message on destiny the Lord whispered into my heart,
"Love cannot transform anyone who will not love in return."
The point of salvation, the point of Lordship, the point of Jesus' death is that we love God in response to His love toward us.
Those who will spend eternity separated from Him will have been loved just as much as those who will spend eternity with Him. The only difference in the latter is that they let His love transform them into His image by responding in love to Him.
Like a mother continually pours out her love towards her child yet cannot force the child love her even were she to die for the child, so God cannot make us love Him no matter how much He loves us or what He may do for us.
Yet when we respond to His love by opening our hearts He is right there to fan the flame. Even when we reject Him He will relentlessly pursue us. And if our love is lacking He will never stop working in our lives to bring it to fullness.
He won't relent until He has it all.....
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Sunday, December 11, 2011
What God created us to be - part two - Communicating Blessing
Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.
Philippians 4:8
I wrote in my last post about the sowing and reaping principle in our communication. I have found as I communicate out of the three roots of sin - Lust of the Flesh (self pity, fear and seeking self pleasure) - Lust of the Eyes (covetousness, jealousy and competition) - Pride of Life (self aggrandisement, self will, using and controlling others for my own power) I plant in them the same seeds which if they do not uproot will grow the same bad fruit that it has in my life.
However I have found that if I communicate in the opposite Spirit birthed roots - Thanksgiving (defeats the lust of the flesh) - Contentment (defeats the lust of the eyes) and humility (defeats the pride of life) I also plant in others those same seeds which, if they do not uproot will grow the same good fruit that is has in my life.
Today I was meditating on the area of communicating blessing.
Blessing others through thanksgiving and praise is a powerful weapon against all kinds of deadly attacks against our soul and the souls of every person we contact.
As a teacher I work with young children all day long. It is a wonderful place to see how this principle works.
The first aspect I see is we set an image of others in our minds and instill an image of them in their minds through our words.
When we speak death giving words of criticism, shame, condemnation or discouragement we diminish the value of the person we speak about in our own heart and, unless they are very strong in their own identity, their heart as well.
When we speak life giving words of blessing through thanksgiving and praise we uphold God's value of them in our own hearts and more importantly theirs.
I can hear someone saying they find nothing to bless, be thankful for or to praise in certain people in their lives.
Usually when we are confronted with this message our minds feel the need to defend our death giving communication. It is a fortress we run to for safety. But it does not really protect us and it always harms others.
The person we most feel we can find nothing in to bless, thank or praise is usually the one whose words and actions we are most vulnerable.
Following the principle of sowing and reaping they most likely are the one that has sown the most pain through their words of cursing, ingratitude or discouragement into our lives.
Most of the time it is a parent. Usually a father. Often it is our spouse. Sometimes it is a child who has gone astray and blamed us for it. It can be a boss, co-worker or any number of people who we find difficult to bear from their death giving words.
So why would we ever bless, thank or praise a person like that?
Because just as their words have had such a devastating effect in our lives our words can have a life giving effect on them. If they will let them, our Spirit breathed, life giving words can begin to break the power of the death in their soul out of which their death giving words come.
It also changes our soul.
I have found, like forgiveness, the ability to sincerely bless, thank and praise someone who has harmed us by their words or actions actually sets us free from those words and actions.
I live in an area where dandelions grow in abundance. Every spring my wife regularly spends a significant part of her gardening time pulling them up from our yard. Some people must think they are pretty since they do nothing about them which like the principle we are discussing, leaves them to infest my yard as well.....
One thing I have noticed is that beyond the direct attack against the weed by pulling them up, growing strong thick grass makes them much less likely to take root. Where they grow the most is where the grass is thin and unhealthy.
I have found this applies in my life as well. I find that I can root out the weeds that have been planted in my life by others by forgiveness. I find that I grow the life giving plants that keep the weeds from developing a foothold by blessing, thankfulness and praise.
I also find my heart is changed in its view of another person by my blessing them, being thankful for them or praising them for the good I find in their lives or if I cannot find it for the good that God sees in them that is yet unrealised. I get a bigger picture of them which is not so me centered.
I tend to paint the picture of that other person on the basis of the pain, shame, worthlessness and so on I have felt they have sown into my life.
When I begin to purposefully look for praiseworthy things about them I begin to be freed from my own self-centeredness and begin to see them in another light. I then can begin to sow good seed into their lives which can help them move away from their wrong communication if they will let it.
The farmer first digs up the weeds - that is forgiveness. Then he plants the good seed - that is blessing.
In this case I am the farmer and my field is my own soul and the other person's soul.
Again I hear someone say, "If I bless them they will act worse and hurt me more."
It is a strange thing about our understanding of this. It does seems counter to all reason to bless someone who is not blessing you, to be thankful for someone who is not thankful for you, to praise someone who is not praising you, or to encourage someone who is not encouraging you. Yet Jesus said to do it.
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Matthew 5:43-45 (KJV)
Why on earth would I bless a person who wants to harm me?
It says clearly in the passage.... So I can be like God. So I can share in His nature of loving those that hate him, blessing those that curse him and doing good to those that despitefully use and persecute him. And what is his purpose in sending sun and rain to those who would gladly destroy him if they could? To give them another opportunity to also grow to love him and be transformed into his likeness as well.
So here is the secret of our communicating blessing when we are cursed. It is the very practical way we ourselves find transformation and it also gives a moment of possibility of the other person being transformed if they will let the seed we plant in them grow.
I see this principle happening every day in my work.
Yesterday as I began my day I went an whispered something in the ear of one of my children.
I work with special needs kids whose difficulty range from a significant learning disability to major physical impairment. Almost all of them have great difficulty in their behaviour.
To see them flourish never occurs by responding to their behaviour in an angry or frustrated way. Nor do they thrive with permissiveness.
I have found I must build a strong foundation of confidence in them before I can help them overcome their negative behaviour.
So yesterday I did for my little friend what I do every day when I first see him. I whispered to him, "I am so glad to see you today. I know we are going to have a wonderful day together. You are going to work so hard and do your best today aren't you? He always answers yes now though when I first said it he would say no. Finally I tell him how proud I was of something he did the day before.
This little interaction does not communicate permissiveness but it does communicate value, hope and high expectation.
I have seen a remarkable change come over him when he is with me.
Perhaps as important is the change I see it brings in me toward him. As I speak those things to him I also am being changed. I find I no longer view him as a potential problem. I find I see him like God sees him. Infinitely valuable with a life full of purpose and promise. God gave his own son Jesus to demonstrate that value.
By this daily act of blessing him I find that my responses toward his behaviour are more out of a desire to fulfill his destiny and not to save myself from problems. It builds the heart of God in my heart. His success or failure is no longer an isolated thing. His success is central to my destiny as well. I was created to be a channel for God to bless him.
Philippians 4:8
I wrote in my last post about the sowing and reaping principle in our communication. I have found as I communicate out of the three roots of sin - Lust of the Flesh (self pity, fear and seeking self pleasure) - Lust of the Eyes (covetousness, jealousy and competition) - Pride of Life (self aggrandisement, self will, using and controlling others for my own power) I plant in them the same seeds which if they do not uproot will grow the same bad fruit that it has in my life.
However I have found that if I communicate in the opposite Spirit birthed roots - Thanksgiving (defeats the lust of the flesh) - Contentment (defeats the lust of the eyes) and humility (defeats the pride of life) I also plant in others those same seeds which, if they do not uproot will grow the same good fruit that is has in my life.
Today I was meditating on the area of communicating blessing.
Blessing others through thanksgiving and praise is a powerful weapon against all kinds of deadly attacks against our soul and the souls of every person we contact.
As a teacher I work with young children all day long. It is a wonderful place to see how this principle works.
The first aspect I see is we set an image of others in our minds and instill an image of them in their minds through our words.
When we speak death giving words of criticism, shame, condemnation or discouragement we diminish the value of the person we speak about in our own heart and, unless they are very strong in their own identity, their heart as well.
When we speak life giving words of blessing through thanksgiving and praise we uphold God's value of them in our own hearts and more importantly theirs.
I can hear someone saying they find nothing to bless, be thankful for or to praise in certain people in their lives.
Usually when we are confronted with this message our minds feel the need to defend our death giving communication. It is a fortress we run to for safety. But it does not really protect us and it always harms others.
The person we most feel we can find nothing in to bless, thank or praise is usually the one whose words and actions we are most vulnerable.
Following the principle of sowing and reaping they most likely are the one that has sown the most pain through their words of cursing, ingratitude or discouragement into our lives.
Most of the time it is a parent. Usually a father. Often it is our spouse. Sometimes it is a child who has gone astray and blamed us for it. It can be a boss, co-worker or any number of people who we find difficult to bear from their death giving words.
So why would we ever bless, thank or praise a person like that?
Because just as their words have had such a devastating effect in our lives our words can have a life giving effect on them. If they will let them, our Spirit breathed, life giving words can begin to break the power of the death in their soul out of which their death giving words come.
It also changes our soul.
I have found, like forgiveness, the ability to sincerely bless, thank and praise someone who has harmed us by their words or actions actually sets us free from those words and actions.
I live in an area where dandelions grow in abundance. Every spring my wife regularly spends a significant part of her gardening time pulling them up from our yard. Some people must think they are pretty since they do nothing about them which like the principle we are discussing, leaves them to infest my yard as well.....
One thing I have noticed is that beyond the direct attack against the weed by pulling them up, growing strong thick grass makes them much less likely to take root. Where they grow the most is where the grass is thin and unhealthy.
I have found this applies in my life as well. I find that I can root out the weeds that have been planted in my life by others by forgiveness. I find that I grow the life giving plants that keep the weeds from developing a foothold by blessing, thankfulness and praise.
I also find my heart is changed in its view of another person by my blessing them, being thankful for them or praising them for the good I find in their lives or if I cannot find it for the good that God sees in them that is yet unrealised. I get a bigger picture of them which is not so me centered.
I tend to paint the picture of that other person on the basis of the pain, shame, worthlessness and so on I have felt they have sown into my life.
When I begin to purposefully look for praiseworthy things about them I begin to be freed from my own self-centeredness and begin to see them in another light. I then can begin to sow good seed into their lives which can help them move away from their wrong communication if they will let it.
The farmer first digs up the weeds - that is forgiveness. Then he plants the good seed - that is blessing.
In this case I am the farmer and my field is my own soul and the other person's soul.
Again I hear someone say, "If I bless them they will act worse and hurt me more."
It is a strange thing about our understanding of this. It does seems counter to all reason to bless someone who is not blessing you, to be thankful for someone who is not thankful for you, to praise someone who is not praising you, or to encourage someone who is not encouraging you. Yet Jesus said to do it.
Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. 44 But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; 45 That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.
Matthew 5:43-45 (KJV)
Why on earth would I bless a person who wants to harm me?
It says clearly in the passage.... So I can be like God. So I can share in His nature of loving those that hate him, blessing those that curse him and doing good to those that despitefully use and persecute him. And what is his purpose in sending sun and rain to those who would gladly destroy him if they could? To give them another opportunity to also grow to love him and be transformed into his likeness as well.
So here is the secret of our communicating blessing when we are cursed. It is the very practical way we ourselves find transformation and it also gives a moment of possibility of the other person being transformed if they will let the seed we plant in them grow.
I see this principle happening every day in my work.
Yesterday as I began my day I went an whispered something in the ear of one of my children.
I work with special needs kids whose difficulty range from a significant learning disability to major physical impairment. Almost all of them have great difficulty in their behaviour.
To see them flourish never occurs by responding to their behaviour in an angry or frustrated way. Nor do they thrive with permissiveness.
I have found I must build a strong foundation of confidence in them before I can help them overcome their negative behaviour.
So yesterday I did for my little friend what I do every day when I first see him. I whispered to him, "I am so glad to see you today. I know we are going to have a wonderful day together. You are going to work so hard and do your best today aren't you? He always answers yes now though when I first said it he would say no. Finally I tell him how proud I was of something he did the day before.
This little interaction does not communicate permissiveness but it does communicate value, hope and high expectation.
I have seen a remarkable change come over him when he is with me.
Perhaps as important is the change I see it brings in me toward him. As I speak those things to him I also am being changed. I find I no longer view him as a potential problem. I find I see him like God sees him. Infinitely valuable with a life full of purpose and promise. God gave his own son Jesus to demonstrate that value.
By this daily act of blessing him I find that my responses toward his behaviour are more out of a desire to fulfill his destiny and not to save myself from problems. It builds the heart of God in my heart. His success or failure is no longer an isolated thing. His success is central to my destiny as well. I was created to be a channel for God to bless him.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
What God created us to be - part one - Godly Communication
The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.
Luke 6:45 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
In the last few months I have been seeking Jesus to help me understand more about destiny, leadership and relationship building. Not that it has not been something that I have sought for my whole life but that lately I have been seeing the desperate need we have for Christians to have practical understandings how to find their God planned destiny, how to lead and how to build relationships that are godly.
Last night as I was again praying about these essential areas in my own life I heard in my heart, "When you are who I created you to be you will do what I created you to do."
As I pondered on this and spoke to Carie about it I saw the absolute truth of it. I have said before, when dealing with an overactive emphasis on guidance, it is not where you are it is who you are.
This word says the same thing but in application it deals with far more than guidance.
I will be expanding this in the next few posts but today it struck me significantly in the area of my communication.
Many years ago God unveiled the secret of the practical way to becoming like Him and dealing with our wrong actions and attitudes - what the Bible calls sin.
He showed me that there are three roots from which all of our wrongdoing and wrong feeling grows.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
1 John 2:16 NASB
Those three roots are 1. The Lust of the Flesh 2. The Lust of the Eyes and 3. The Pride of Life.
We see from Esau, the person who most displayed the lust of the flesh in the Bible, that it is generated out of self pity and seeking short term comfort by giving up long term treasures - his birthright and his blessing from his Father.
The lust of the eyes shown best in David is discontentment. In spite of having many beautiful women in his harem and the ability to have even more, in his discontent with what he had he looked out from his palace and lusted after another man's wife, committed adultery and had her husband killed in battle.
The pride of life is shown in Nebuchadnezzar who instead of understanding his greatness as being given through the care and work of others took the glory of all that had been done by them for himself. He ended up spending seven years insane, living and acting as an animal until he came to realise that his greatness was not his but God's and all those who he had used for his own glory before.
Drawing on this understanding of the three foundations of our wrong actions and thoughts (sin) I saw that we cannot defeat them by just dealing with them. I saw that the way to defeat them is by replacing them.
We replace the lust of the flesh (substance abuse, sexual addiction, overeating and so on) which is generated by our self pitying by replacing it with thanksgiving.
We replace the lust of the eyes (keeping up with Jones, envying others, attempting to build a grandiose image like the wizard of Oz and so on) with contentment.
We replace the pride of life (using others as things for our own pleasure and glory, bitterness, control, self will, exercising power over others and so forth) by humility expressed in serving God and others before serving ourselves.
If you would like, you can look further into this teaching here http://word-of-grace.blogspot.com/2011/05/three-roots-of-sin.html
The reason I mention it here is because I saw in my prayer time how these three areas relate to our communication.
The scripture teaches strongly the principle of reaping and sowing.
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
Galatians 6:7-8 (NASB)
We see that there are two kinds of seed that we sow. The one is a self centered seed which brings death. The other is the Spirit's seed which yields life.
The three roots of sin are where the self centered seeds are borne. The three opposite roots of spiritual life are where the Spirit's seeds are borne.
It is very simple to see that when we plant any kind of seed it always produces the likeness of that which bore it. Plant a flower and you get the same kind of flower. Plant a certain kind of tree seed and you get the same kind of tree that created the seeds.
Not only that but the principle of multiplication works as well. When we plant one seed we will grow a seed that will create thousands or even millions of seed in its lifetime.
So what we sow is what we multiply. And what we multiply is what we reap. No farmer plants one seed to get only one seed back. He plants in hope of much increase.
This principle works with both desirable and undesirable seed results.
That principle exists in nature and reflected in scripture to help us see that it is an absolute truth in the spiritual world.
So how does this principle work in our communication?
It is easy. The first scripture we looked at shows us our communication comes out of something in our hearts.
The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.
Luke 6:45 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
The mouth speaks out of the heart. And even though two people can say the exact same things it will be the condition of their heart that determines what they are actually saying.
For instance, I have many times spoken what is true but out of an attitude of unthankful self pity. The self pity I speak I sow into the one to whom I am speaking. The result of that self pitying destroys the truth that I am speaking and yields a harvest of rejection from the one I am speaking with.
We all have experienced this. Suppose we come to someone we feel has wronged us and we tell them how much they have hurt us and how miserable they have made our lives. They right away have deep compassion on us, see the error of their ways and immediately ask for forgiveness and promise to never wrong us again!!!! In our dreams perhaps.
The reality is that we are sowing in unthankfulness for them. Unless the person is very grounded in God's love and is very close to being exactly like Jesus we will sow unthankfulness for us in their hearts and their response to us will be exactly what ours has been toward them.
If we sow words of discontent people do not want to give to us. They begin to think of all the things they wish to get from us.
If we sow words of pride we will reap pride.
Even if we make our words so smooth and polite the sowing will occur. It is not the way we say it. It is what is in our heart.
But here is the wonderful part of all of this.
If we sow words of thankfulness we plant them in those who hear us and that thankfulness will take root in them.
If we sow words of contentment we help others to find contentment in themselves.
If we sow words of humility we begin to break down the iron bars of pride in others.
I see as well that there is a correlation between the three roots of spiritual life - Thanksgiving, Contentment and Humility with Faith, Hope and Love. Thanksgiving is strongly related to Faith. Contentment is strongly related to Hope and Love is the final result of Humility.
Our communication needs to be faith filled, hope filled and always out of love.
The other wonderful aspect I see is when we have sown seeds of destruction we can help root them out if we will turn in our hearts and begin to communicate with life giving words of thankfulness, contentment, and humility.
Luke 6:45 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
In the last few months I have been seeking Jesus to help me understand more about destiny, leadership and relationship building. Not that it has not been something that I have sought for my whole life but that lately I have been seeing the desperate need we have for Christians to have practical understandings how to find their God planned destiny, how to lead and how to build relationships that are godly.
Last night as I was again praying about these essential areas in my own life I heard in my heart, "When you are who I created you to be you will do what I created you to do."
As I pondered on this and spoke to Carie about it I saw the absolute truth of it. I have said before, when dealing with an overactive emphasis on guidance, it is not where you are it is who you are.
This word says the same thing but in application it deals with far more than guidance.
I will be expanding this in the next few posts but today it struck me significantly in the area of my communication.
Many years ago God unveiled the secret of the practical way to becoming like Him and dealing with our wrong actions and attitudes - what the Bible calls sin.
He showed me that there are three roots from which all of our wrongdoing and wrong feeling grows.
For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world.
1 John 2:16 NASB
Those three roots are 1. The Lust of the Flesh 2. The Lust of the Eyes and 3. The Pride of Life.
We see from Esau, the person who most displayed the lust of the flesh in the Bible, that it is generated out of self pity and seeking short term comfort by giving up long term treasures - his birthright and his blessing from his Father.
The lust of the eyes shown best in David is discontentment. In spite of having many beautiful women in his harem and the ability to have even more, in his discontent with what he had he looked out from his palace and lusted after another man's wife, committed adultery and had her husband killed in battle.
The pride of life is shown in Nebuchadnezzar who instead of understanding his greatness as being given through the care and work of others took the glory of all that had been done by them for himself. He ended up spending seven years insane, living and acting as an animal until he came to realise that his greatness was not his but God's and all those who he had used for his own glory before.
Drawing on this understanding of the three foundations of our wrong actions and thoughts (sin) I saw that we cannot defeat them by just dealing with them. I saw that the way to defeat them is by replacing them.
We replace the lust of the flesh (substance abuse, sexual addiction, overeating and so on) which is generated by our self pitying by replacing it with thanksgiving.
We replace the lust of the eyes (keeping up with Jones, envying others, attempting to build a grandiose image like the wizard of Oz and so on) with contentment.
We replace the pride of life (using others as things for our own pleasure and glory, bitterness, control, self will, exercising power over others and so forth) by humility expressed in serving God and others before serving ourselves.
If you would like, you can look further into this teaching here http://word-of-grace.blogspot.com/2011/05/three-roots-of-sin.html
The reason I mention it here is because I saw in my prayer time how these three areas relate to our communication.
The scripture teaches strongly the principle of reaping and sowing.
Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man sows, this he will also reap. 8 For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.
Galatians 6:7-8 (NASB)
We see that there are two kinds of seed that we sow. The one is a self centered seed which brings death. The other is the Spirit's seed which yields life.
The three roots of sin are where the self centered seeds are borne. The three opposite roots of spiritual life are where the Spirit's seeds are borne.
It is very simple to see that when we plant any kind of seed it always produces the likeness of that which bore it. Plant a flower and you get the same kind of flower. Plant a certain kind of tree seed and you get the same kind of tree that created the seeds.
Not only that but the principle of multiplication works as well. When we plant one seed we will grow a seed that will create thousands or even millions of seed in its lifetime.
So what we sow is what we multiply. And what we multiply is what we reap. No farmer plants one seed to get only one seed back. He plants in hope of much increase.
This principle works with both desirable and undesirable seed results.
That principle exists in nature and reflected in scripture to help us see that it is an absolute truth in the spiritual world.
So how does this principle work in our communication?
It is easy. The first scripture we looked at shows us our communication comes out of something in our hearts.
The good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth what is good; and the evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth what is evil; for his mouth speaks from that which fills his heart.
Luke 6:45 New American Standard Bible (NASB)
The mouth speaks out of the heart. And even though two people can say the exact same things it will be the condition of their heart that determines what they are actually saying.
For instance, I have many times spoken what is true but out of an attitude of unthankful self pity. The self pity I speak I sow into the one to whom I am speaking. The result of that self pitying destroys the truth that I am speaking and yields a harvest of rejection from the one I am speaking with.
We all have experienced this. Suppose we come to someone we feel has wronged us and we tell them how much they have hurt us and how miserable they have made our lives. They right away have deep compassion on us, see the error of their ways and immediately ask for forgiveness and promise to never wrong us again!!!! In our dreams perhaps.
The reality is that we are sowing in unthankfulness for them. Unless the person is very grounded in God's love and is very close to being exactly like Jesus we will sow unthankfulness for us in their hearts and their response to us will be exactly what ours has been toward them.
If we sow words of discontent people do not want to give to us. They begin to think of all the things they wish to get from us.
If we sow words of pride we will reap pride.
Even if we make our words so smooth and polite the sowing will occur. It is not the way we say it. It is what is in our heart.
But here is the wonderful part of all of this.
If we sow words of thankfulness we plant them in those who hear us and that thankfulness will take root in them.
If we sow words of contentment we help others to find contentment in themselves.
If we sow words of humility we begin to break down the iron bars of pride in others.
I see as well that there is a correlation between the three roots of spiritual life - Thanksgiving, Contentment and Humility with Faith, Hope and Love. Thanksgiving is strongly related to Faith. Contentment is strongly related to Hope and Love is the final result of Humility.
Our communication needs to be faith filled, hope filled and always out of love.
The other wonderful aspect I see is when we have sown seeds of destruction we can help root them out if we will turn in our hearts and begin to communicate with life giving words of thankfulness, contentment, and humility.
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