Part 3: Ascended & Ruling: 3B. Practical Applications

Lessons in Growth Meditations: 29. The Arrival of ‘Life'

Jn 1:4   In him was  life , and that  life  was the light of all mankind.

Jn 5:21  For just as the Father raises the dead and gives them  life , even so the Son gives  life  to whom he is pleased to give it.

Facing the Tidal Wave: Twice I have preached/prophesied about tidal waves, or tsunamis. The first was back in 2006/7 about a coming financial crash, the second is now. Prior to yesterday's recap we took what many might consider a tangent or divergence from our path but which, I would gently suggest, is likely to be one of the biggest and most significant warnings you will ever find on these pages. It was the subject of relevancy in the face of the incredible tidal wave of change that is coming to our world in the immediate future. The only thing about such tidal waves is that many on the ‘beach' are too taken up with playing sand castles to note what is coming.

More than Words: Now, again, yesterday I made two theological assertions about God and about mankind, and now I am going to make a third assertion that should bridge between those ‘spiritual and theological' truths and the panorama of change. It is this: modern man doesn't want to just hear words, he or she wants to see it , and this comes as a particular challenge to the church that is either wrapped up in its organisation and culture, its dogma and its ritual and sacraments, or is wrapped up in its particular expressions of the evangelical, Pentecostal and even charismatic wings of the Church.

Like the Pharisees? If we are not careful, history will show us in the same light that we view the Pharisees or Sadducees of Jesus' day, religious groups, often ignored by the majority but seeing themselves as all-important – yet irrelevant to the world around them. It took Jesus coming with the power and authority of the kingdom to start bringing change. We have commented before on the fact of the demon possessed being able to be part of the life of the local synagogue, and so it was only when the Son of God came, and the presence of God was manifest, that they were disturbed and then ousted (see Mk 1:21-27). Similarly, the sick or disabled were allowed to exist unchanged until the Son of God came (see Mk 3:1-5). If Jesus came in physical form exactly as he appeared two thousand years ago, and came into your congregation and mine, how many lives would be changed as needy people (whose needs are not being met now) crowded around Jesus and he did exactly what he did then and set the captives free? Please don't let defensiveness shy us away from such thoughts. So often we focus on ‘salvation' and ‘making a commitment' – and that is absolutely right – but if it stops there we do a disservice to the word of God and the kingdom of God .

Building the Body through the Word: Preaching and teaching are, you'll be pleased to hear me say, absolutely essential to bringing ‘life'. I dislike short homilies or clever, contrived sermons that hardly look at what the word of God says. Exposition, which includes application, is still, I am certain, the way of transforming minds and lives. But it doesn't end there. We recently touched on the concept of the ‘body of Christ', the church, and the minister, leader or whoever he is, is merely one member of the body and if we leave it to one man, the rest of the body becomes atrophied (Defn. ‘ gradually decline in effectiveness or vigour due to underuse or neglect'.) An encouraging sign that I have noticed in various churches, is the opportunity for individuals to receive prayer at the end of the service on a Sunday morning – by other members! Let me share a recent experience.

A Corporate Example: Twice last summer, once in my own church and once in a church in the States, I was speaking about this all-member body ministry and ended the preaching time as follows. I suggested that every time we prayed over somebody with listening prayer (see Study No.13 in this series) something happened. I believe that when we listen and take God's leading as we pray over one another, He moves and does something. I asked if there were twelve people who would like that ‘something' and if there were, would they like to come and sit on the front row? Immediately twelve came out and sat there. I then asked for twelve (or it could be more – up to twenty-four) ‘volunteers' who would like to step out in faith to come out and pray under my direction.

In each case at least twelve came out and we stood them in front of the seated people. “Now,” I continued, “I want you praying people to just stand with eyes closed, I want you to imagine Jesus standing here with your to-be-prayed-for person. I want you to sense what he feels for them, perhaps even catch a look on his face, and catch a sense of what he wants to say to them and do for them. Only then do I want you to pray out loud for them. I don't want you to enquire about what they think their need is, but sense instead what Jesus wants to say and do for them.”

Effects: Now I am aware that his is probably completely alien to some and scary for others, but all I know is that when we dare step out in faith like this and risk getting it wrong, more often we get it right, and the few times we get it wrong, the Lord just causes forgetfulness to take away any wrong prayers. But in such times, I know three things. First, the people who come forward are stepping out in faith and they are invariably blessed. Second, those who step out in faith to listen and pray find a beautiful awareness of the Lord's presence and are never the same again. Third, there is a beautiful sense of the body moving together. When people minister together, they love together and are bonded together. The body is built up and as individuals we grow. Consider what I have described.

First, it is risky. People might just pray what they think the person needs with their natural knowledge of that person but there are four things that militate against that happening. First, when people come forward like this to minister to others, they come with a sense of weakness and yet excitement and that transcends the “What I think” possibility. Second, in such times people do genuinely seek the Lord. Many feel out of their depth but nevertheless step out of the boat and ‘walk on water' in faith, and in the process lose any sense of preconceived ideas. Third, the Lord will be on their case and there is often a sense of His holiness present which restrains personal thinking. Fourth, the leader (me in that case) is present to watch over all that takes place and discern anything going wrong and be there to bring gentle correction or reassurance as necessary.

Second, it promotes faith and growth: Both groups of people step out in faith and will be blessed by it, because faith pleases God and when God is pleased, He blesses. Both individual and church are blessed and grow and are built up. The bigger thing – ‘life' is released, the life-changing power and presence of the Lord is there, and the kingdom is expressed. Hallelujah!

Lessons in Growth Meditations: 30. The Arrival of ‘Revelation'

1 Cor 14:3 (Msg) when you proclaim his truth in everyday speech, you're letting  others  in on the truth so that they can grow and be strong and experience his presence with you .

(NIV)   the one who prophesies speaks to people for their strengthening, encouraging and comfort.

Different Responses: Moving into these practical outworkings of this picture of us being seated with Christ in the heavenly places to reign with him in bringing in the kingdom of God on earth, will almost certainly mean that a number will be feeling uncomfortable and even defensive because it transforms our concept of ‘church' from a place where we go every Sunday and join in some rituals, sing some songs and listen to some teaching somehow connected to the Bible, to a living body that is an expression of the Son of God who actively speaks and moves in this world today. If you see Christ as anything less than this, I have to very gently suggest to you that you have an inadequate understanding of who Jesus Christ is and what Christianity is all about.

God on our case: In yesterday's study we went from principles to practicalities and I suggested a very simple faith model example that allows Jesus to move in and through His body when they gather together. Because it is such a simple picture and yet a challenging one, perhaps we need to briefly look again at its significance. Back in Study no.26, ‘The Caring Church', we observed two crucial things: the fact that as humans we still have needs to be met and, second, God is love and love delights to help, if I can put it as mundanely as that!

Start with the Bible: In the Evangelical wing of the church we have emphasised salvation through faith in Christ, the need to make a commitment, and the value of Bible teaching, and I would be the first to shout a loud ‘Amen!' to all those three things, but then we stopped there. Indeed, some defensively then took on that ungodly and unbiblical stance that God is no longer the communicating God that we see throughout the Bible and everything we needed to hear was there in the finalised canon of Scripture. Yes, we do need to hear everything that we have in the final canon of Scripture, and I think you would agree that I am one of the foremost who value it so much I meditate on it every single morning, but as much as I do value it, I have to tell you that the life pivoting moments of my life have been when God has spoken directly to me. Yes, sometimes it has been when something in His word stood out so directly that it was clearly Him speaking to me, but there have been a number of other times when His word has come directly to me – and changed me!

Is it God? How do you know it is Him? First, it is in line with His written word. Second, it brings a sense of peace, of goodness and even worship. Third, it cuts across your existing train of thought in a way your natural mind would not have done. Now I am sure these three examples from long back, that I am going to give, are somewhere in the myriads of studies I have written but they have not appeared for a long time so bear repeating.

Conversation 1: When my daughter, our first-born, was just a couple of months old (forty years ago but it seems like yesterday it is so vivid still) she was in a crib in our room and as a new dad I crept into our bedroom one day and looked down at her. It was then a ‘conversation' ensued (and I was a sufficiently young Christian as to just take it for what it seemed) when into my thinking came, and it came just like this:

“Son, what are you feeling for your daughter?”

“Oh Lord, I love her,” I thought back.

“What does she do?” That was a strange question. I paused and thought.

“Well, she cries a lot, she wakes us in the night, she's always wanting feeding and she messes her nappies (diapers) and keeps on needing to be changed.”

“And you love her?

“Oh, yes Lord!”

“Why?”

Without a blink, “Because she's mine!”

“And that, son, is why I love you, because you're mine.”

    End of conversation but I was never the same again.

Conversation number two (and there were others but this one stands out) came when I was preparing for a ministry trip to Malaysia . Now I had been several times before under someone else's leadership, and each time, by way of preparation, we had prayed and fasted for ten days before we went. This time was my first time to lead a small team and although I didn't impose those on the others who were young people, I had decided to do the usual ten days fast. The only problem was that ‘this voice' had said, “Son, I do not want you to fast,” but I had rejected it as having come from the enemy, but the Lord is very gracious. There is nothing romantic about fasting, they are times of self-discipline, but I had previously got through the first three days without a problem. This time on the first morning, just a few hours from when there had not been breakfast or the customary cup of tea or coffee, I was literally rolling around the floor in agony and cried out to the Lord for His grace to cope. Back came the voice in my mind, quite clearly, “Son, I told you not to fast. Get up now and eat and I will bless your trip.” Chastened but still in agony, I got up and ate. I was fine. What is more the Lord blessed that trip and the subsequent one I did, doubly! I am not sure if I heard it, but I knew it: I didn't need to try to twist the Lord's arm to bless these ministry trips; He wanted to bless and use us more than I did!

Conversation number 3. I was reading a book and came to a bit where the author was writing about American TV evangelists who made big money, fail off the rails and so on, and I found myself thinking, “Lord, how can you use such people?” Now it was just a thought with, to my understanding, no significance or direction, but instantly I ‘heard' back, and it came from beyond me, “The same reason I use you, son.” I sat bolt upright. Where did that come from? That didn't sound good! But before I had time to think any more came the following: “Son, I use you, not because you are right but because you are available.” Again, I was never the same again.

When you hear it and learn to know it and know where it comes from, there is nothing so precious as the Father speaking directly to you. He knows me. He is here. He loves me. Yes, all this His written word tells me, but the ‘now-Presence' is life changing in a way nothing else is. When the voice comes with ‘The Presence' nothing is ever the same again. I remember another time, many years ago, when a group of us had been praying and fasting for the day, and The Presence had been very real. When we broke up and I returned to my home, after a little while I realised something strange: I was tip-toeing everywhere around my apartment; The Presence was still there. I have taken up my space but there is more to say, so I'll continue it tomorrow.

Lessons in Growth Meditations: 31. Openness to ‘Hear'

1 Sam 3:10 Then Samuel said, "Speak, for your servant is listening."

I ventured yesterday into an area that many might consider very subjective, the reality of ‘hearing' the voice of God, an area that I think is vital in respect of Christian growth, and as a part of the experience of being seated with Christ in the heavenly realms, as he brings in the kingdom of God on earth.

Watch & Listen for God: I believe the Lord has a sense of humour (after all, where do we get a sense of humour from, except made in the image of God!) and it is particularly obvious in the way He deals with us sometimes. Our starter verse above comes from that delightful story about young Samuel. I don't know if you have ever thought about this, but it would have been so much easier for the Lord to have simply sent an angel to Samuel and explained to him about listening to God, but instead we have this little learning exercise which, I suggest, was given largely for our benefit!

My American friend: I have watched this with a particular friend of mine, someone I respect and esteem very highly and have had the privilege of knowing for nearly 20 years, an American pastor, now retired. I will spare his blushes by not using his name. My friend is very knowledgeable, a great teacher and about as cerebral as you can get, except from the earliest moments of our friendship he exhibited a hidden (and he would deny it) desire to know more of the things of the Spirit. Everything from my life (well some of it) he would have said was subjective and so our ‘discussions' have always been about which of us is the most ‘Bible based' (fun times with much laughter). A number of years ago I received a phone call from him from across the Pond in which he said he wanted my opinion on something and went on to share that he felt the Lord had been speaking to him about a potentially life-threatening semi-evangelistic project abroad which, at first hearing, sounded absolutely crazy.

Certainty: Now bear in mind my friend does not do ‘emotional'. He is a hardened ex-Vietnam vet. After I questioned him on the details and the ‘why', I pushed him, almost to get him to back away from it, with, “Come on, the crucial thing, what is it that makes you so sure this is the Lord?” He almost whispered back, “Because it won't go away,” and I realised he was in tears. To cut a long story short, he did this crazy thing and the Lord blessed him abundantly. The same thing happened a few years later, almost identically. He is a man who was called to two absolutely crazy, potentially life-threatening projects, both of which meant we might never see him again. I was there on the first one, when he left, and we were all saying a final farewell and believed it was probable we would never see him again or it we did it might be at least ten years later. It was terrible!

Now I share this precious story which has had some amazing outworkings because my absolutely Bible-based, evangelical friend who is all brain, ‘heard' God and it defied all of what he knew, but he could not escape it. It doesn't happen to many of us like that – but God DOES speak to His people TODAY in ways that we struggle with.

The ‘Wise Men'? Every Christmas I struggle with the fact of the ‘wise men' these men from the east, who came at the leading of a star and goodness knows what else (they might have been astrologers!) but in the midst of it was God leading them to glorify His Son and become the ‘bankers' for his early life (serious gifts of great value to be sold).

A story of my own: I could tell you of some extensive ‘training' the Lord has put me through in respect of ‘listening' to Him but it would take too long. I will tell you of one very simple experience we had that challenges our cerebral approach. I had only known the Lord a short time and the Lord had given me a beautiful Christian fiancé whose spiritual pedigree was much greater than mine. She suggested we volunteer in the summer to work on a mission or camp with a well-known Christian organisation in the UK . To cut a long story short we volunteered, and they sent us to be part of a team on a ‘beach mission' to children and young people for two weeks on the coast in the west of the UK . Somehow or other they asked me to lead the teenagers' team. All went well and it was fun. The next year we were getting married and were not available. The following year we received a letter early in the year saying the present leader of the mission was retiring from it and would I take over. We prayed, and I eventually said yes.

An ‘Impossible' Problem: We would probably have a team of between fifteen and eighteen, probably late teens, early twenties, but the only problem was that the accommodation the teams had used previously was now not available. We visited the place at Easter and checked everywhere, but there was no accommodation to be found for these two peak weeks of the summer holidays. We came home and prayed. Now this is no exaggeration, but this is how it happened. I worked in the city of London and was one morning walking from the station to my office when suddenly ‘that voice' came into my head. “In my father's house are many mansions. I have prepared a place for you.” Put aside the AV version, that's all I knew then. I was a sufficiently young, naïve and brash young Christian that I dared to challenge the Lord and immediately ‘thought back', “Excuse me Lord, but your word says, ‘I go to prepare a place for you.'” (Jn 14:2) Back came, “I have said what I have said.” I went home later and shared it with my wife who, bless her, trusted my ‘hearing'. We decided we would go.

We're doing it! We checked with the local tourist information people at the mission town and they confirmed the place was sold out for those two weeks. We wrote to each of the team volunteers and we told them the situation and said, “We are going down the day before the start of the Mission and as far as we are concerned God will provide and the Mission will go ahead, but we realise that not all of you might feel comfortable with this so we would like you to share this with your parents and if you feel unable to come, we understand completely. (They all came!)

Provision! My wife and I packed all our stuff into our car and arrived after a long journey, camped in a small tent and first thing on the Saturday morning we started praying and looking. At one small caravan campsite the owner said, “Well we don't have any caravans, but we have two old bungalows we are renovating, which are virtually finished, you could have them. They are for letting later in the season.” They became our home for the two weeks for the following years while we continued to do it every summer. Oh, yes, we had found a caravan booking on another site that had been cancelled that week and so when the team arrived at midday we had exactly the right amount of accommodation for them all and had a great two-week mission, the first of a number to follow that we led.

And so? Now I have taken time to use testimonies rather than the usual exposition, because at the end of all this, you will believe and hear God and go on to do exploits (which I'll talk about tomorrow) or you will deny what you hear and miss some wonderful opportunities to be blessed by God and be a blessing to others. Stay with me if you can.

Lessons in Growth Meditations: 32. Listening and Speaking

Jer 1:12,14    The LORD said to me….

Present Goal: In the past two studies I have made a variety of comments and given several testimonies about ‘hearing' God. Moving on into yet a third one about the same subject you might, quite understandably, be asking yourself, why is he keeping on about this, especially if you feel unsure about it yourself. I have two reasons. The first is exactly that: in the modern church there is almost a fear about daring to say, “The Lord said to me,” and when it comes to church services the communication is all one-way. The second reason is that the matter of ‘hearing' God is vital to all other activities in our position of being seated with Christ in the heavenly realms, as he works in and through us to bring the kingdom of God to the earth. I will go on to ‘listening evangelism' in a later study as well as ‘listening to His written word' as well as listening for healing or deliverance and listening for changing the community, but for the moment I really want to confront us with this matter of hearing God.

Look out for ‘said': There is a word in the Bible that my concordance says occurs over 3000 times, a word I am absolutely certain most of us read without any thought to the wonder of it, and it is the word ‘said'. Yes Satan speaks, and men and women speak but the wonder is the fact of the Lord speaking. From now on, every time you read your Bible, when you come to the words, “and God said….” or “and the Lord said”, pause up there and consider the wonder of that. It's not only that God spoke but SOMEBODY HEARD Him! For it to be recorded, somebody actually HEARD God and there are hundreds and hundreds of times when it happens. It is the norm for the Bible.

Excuses: “Ah, but with the completion of the canon…” Hold on before someone rolls out that unbelieving old Chestnut, do you realise that if you hold that view you are worse than the unbelieving Jews of Jesus day, because they had the entire set of scrolls that we call the Old Testament and yet were open to the fact that a new prophet could be in their midst, e.g. John the Baptist, and then Jesus. God's communication did not stop once the last of the minor prophets had been written down.

There is nothing in the New Testament, seen in context, that says God has ceased to be a communicating God. It doesn't diminish the value or worth of the New Testament, in fact it says believe every word of it and don't put time stops on any of it, so when Paul says, “I would like every one of you to speak in tongues, but I would rather have you prophesy,” (1 Cor 14:5) it is only our unbelief that says all that stopped when the canon was agreed. A study of history shows it continued somewhere in the church throughout the Church age. What is the point of you and me seeing ourselves as being seated with Christ in the heavenly places if it means he cannot communicate with us and we can't communicate with him?

Ah but he can communicate through his written word, comes the reply. Er how? Well it is all truth, so we obey it all. Agreed. And he can highlight specific verses and make them stand out to speak specifically to us. Right! Hold on, isn't that just as subjective as ‘hearing God in your mind', you could be making it up, that ‘specific application' couldn't you? The moment you start talking about God speaking specifically through His written word, you've inadvertently climbed into the boat of faith with me. Why is this important? Let me tell you a simple little story I heard from a preacher-teacher who I respect and trust. I will repeat it as accurately as I can, but it was a long time ago – but the main point was exactly as below.

A Christian steps out: There was a lowly Christian at a Bible conference and he understood the idea of hearing God but wouldn't say that he fitted into that understanding. However, in the middle of the worship and prayer he had this almost overwhelming desire to speak out a word from God, as he felt it must be. He wrestled with it and eventually when there was a pause in the prayers, he stepped out in ‘faith' and started, “The Lord says, ‘Do it…” and to his horror his mind went blank and he dried up. He nearly died with embarrassment. A few minutes later after the worship and prayer continued, he felt the same feeling and prayed, “Lord if this is you please give me the whole word,” and at an opportune moment he launched out again, but exactly the same thing happened. More embarrassment. To his horror it continued and was exactly repeated a third time. He nearly died. At the end of the meeting he slunk away as quickly as he could but was stopped by a man who came rapidly up behind him and took his arm.

Understanding: “Please stop,” the man asked. “I want to say thank you to you. For the last few weeks I have been catching a sense that the Lord is calling me to (and he named a ministry in eastern Europe, I believe it was) and I came here looking for confirmation. When you first spoke out it went straight to my heart, and I felt sure it was for me, but I am not strong in these things and so I prayed, “Lord, if that is you, please will you say it again,” and you did! And that was wonderful, but I still doubted and so prayed, “Lord, please forgive me for my doubting but if that was you – and I know it was wonderful the same man said it twice – but if it is you sending me, then please get him to say it just once more and I will go without question – and you did, and I am going. Thank you so much.”

Facing the Problems: As we said in a previous study, we can have a multitude of immediate needs and although we know the truth of His written word, we need something personal and God loves being personal. I was in another church recently where I was just visiting with family, and the young pastor at the end of the meeting said, “If anyone has a word to share, while we sing the last song, come and share it with me.” Nobody came. I know him quite well, having visited there a number of times on holiday staying with family abroad, and I spoke with him afterwards.

Where I was located, with the layout they had, it was almost impossible for me to get out and get to him but I am certain there were at least five people in his congregation who ‘heard' words of strengthening, encouragement or comfort, either for the congregation at large or for individuals, but they just needed encouraging to come out, to be reassured that they had ‘heard' but a) they weren't laid out for movement (they didn't expect it and so hadn't made access and movement easy) and b) he didn't follow through and bring a further encouragement. My ‘five people' was a word and the Lord didn't want me to be the main message bringer, just the encourager, but it wasn't possible. So why did He speak to me like that? To teach, to face the inadequacy of the situation (sharing it with the young pastor) so we can learn and get it right next time, and there will be a next time, and next time will still require us to be people of faith and ‘risk it'. You may not be in a place where this is acceptable, and change won't come (but talk with your leaders to make sure it won't come) so go somewhere where it will. Will we confront the truth of His word and seek for a church where Jesus speaks, lives change, and the world is changed?

Lessons in Growth Meditations: 33. Ground Rules for Sharing

Deut 30:19,20  Now choose life, so that you and your children may live and that you may love the LORD your God, listen to his voice, and hold fast to him.

Listeners: Listening to God is perhaps one of the fundamental characteristics of the people of God throughout the Bible. Adam and Eve had to listen to God. Cain had to listen to God. Noah had to listen to God. Abram had to listen to God, and so it goes on. If God hadn't spoken to Israel at Sinai they would never have been constituted as a nation, never led to Canaan and never taken the Promised Land. Years later, it was because they refused to listen that they ended up in Exile. Yet it was because an ungodly king, Cyrus, listened to God, that they were sent back to their own land.

Threefold Purpose: The other facet of God speaking, we said yesterday, was people hearing. Many people deny hearing, I believe, because they are insecure in their faith and fear that if they start hearing they will find themselves being told off. However, let me remind us again of the threefold thing Paul said prophecy should do today within the church: strengthen, encourage, and comfort . (1 Cor 14:3) Those are all good things. So, perhaps to allay fears and show a feasible and secure pathway through, may I suggest some guidelines to help you become available to bring these three things to people as you listen to the Lord.

Stick to the Threefold: First, stick to the three things above. Prophecy, or hearing a word for another, is not an opportunity for you to vent all the feelings you might have for that other person. You are NOT there to correct them or chasten them; God will do that in His own way.

A simple example: Many years ago I was ministering in West Malaysia under the leadership of an apostle with whom I was travelling. We were having a ministry time after the main part of a service in a church in the north, and as I stood there I felt the Lord focus my attention on a young man standing across the room and the Lord said to me, “Go and tell him that I love him.” And that was all. It doesn't get more simple than that! I went across and shared that with him, to which he broke down in tears and ran out of the room.

Confession flows: He came back a little later, more composed, and said, “How can God love me when I've done what I've done?” He went on to share how he and a friend had gone across the border into Thailand one night and visited prostitutes and he was now sure he had AIDS. “What's more,” he confessed, “I am engaged to that girl over there and I don't know how to tell her.” The girl in question was a beautiful young Malaysian Christian. We talked, and he agreed he would tell her if I would come with him. I did, and he did and, listen to this, she looked at him tenderly and said to me, “I love him, so it doesn't matter. We'll get married and trust God for the outcome.” What example of faith and commitment, and possible sacrifice, and all because of the most simple word shared.

Keep it simple: Did you see how simple that was? An illustration I gave yesterday simply involved two words – “Do it.” Even more simple. We are not talking about bringing deep and meaningful and highly theological words here. The first ground rule is keep it simple and keep it love.

Conform to God's Word: The second ground rule is say nothing that is contrary to God's word, so you never give permission to someone to sin, say. More often than not, your words of strengthening, encouraging or comforting, are most likely to be words of assurance. I say again, you may know areas of weakness in the person before you, but you are not there to correct, chide or chasten them; God does that. This is different from the correction process that Jesus spoke about when someone has sinned against you (see Mt 18:15-17). We are, in all we are saying, ministering to the imperfect people of the church (that's a big field; it's all of us) and as we seek the Lord (and do nothing outside that context) we are making ourselves available to Him to strengthen, encourage or comfort another brother or sister.

Humility: The third ground rule is approach in humility and deference. Where I know people are not used to this sort of thing, I may approach them with, “I hope you will forgive me if I've got this wrong, and if I have, please just forget it and put it down to the ravings of a guy having a bad day, but I felt as I looked across at you that the Lord wanted to say to you……” Then, as you share and see tears of appreciation and even wonder running down their face, you know you got it right, especially when they say, “Thank you so much, that was exactly right.”

Avoid Dogmatism: Fourth, and perhaps associated with that, never speak beyond contradiction. As a church leader many years ago, I often used to say in leadership meetings, “The Lord said to me that we….” and it continued until my wife pointed that that shut down every conversation because no one wanted to challenge the assertion that I had God's will. I may have had but we are all imperfect and we can get it wrong, and if we speak in dogmatic ways, we shut anyone else down who might put forward an alternative – which may be the right path.

Straight forward language: Fifth, as part of this, you don't need to use Authorised Version, “Thus says the Lord…” In fact these days I never say, “The Lord says….” Which so often raises the defences of our listeners. I simply say, “I believe the Lord says…” which is much less dogmatic and not so confrontational.

Don't dress it up: Sixth, don't be defensive and dress it up by explaining how this word came, i.e. you don't need to justify it. It doesn't need lots of preamble. Many of us do this, and I still find myself doing it from time to time, perhaps to give time for people to take on board what is coming. Yet it shouldn't need that. When you are saying good things to people it neither needs dressing up nor justifying.

Checking it out: Seventh, you can say perhaps as you end, “Does that make sense?” but often they will show by their response that it certainly did, so don't emphasise your rightness by asking. However, if they stand there and you ask, and they say no, then simply apologise that you've obviously got it wrong and leave it at that. You might not have done; they might just be feeling insecure still and it will take a little time for them to accept what they've heard.

Walk away: Eighth, when it comes to giving deeper or fuller words for the future, leave it with the Lord and don't worry about it. Walk away and leave it; you've been the messenger boy He wanted you to be. The greatest extreme I've had of this was someone who didn't look particularly blessed by what I shared but who ran across me years later and said, “Do you remember that word you shared with me ten years ago? Well the Lord's just done it as you said.” I try not to look blank at that point because I rarely can remember even a few days later what I've been able to share.

And us? Available to bless others? You will be if you concentrate on your relationship with the Lord. These things will just naturally flow when that relationship is alive and well. It's streams of living water flowing; it's that simple. Can we grow into that?

Lessons in Growth Meditations: 34. Hearing leads to Action (1)

John 2:5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

Just in case we've lost the thread, let's remind ourselves that in the big picture of ‘ways to grow', we are now considering how, as part of the body of Christ, seated with him in the heavenly realms, we can be part with him in bringing in the kingdom of God on earth. For the last few studies I have been talking about how important it is to learn to listen to God. Now I will have said this before, but it is so important we need to hear it again here: hearing must be followed by obeying. Now that may sound heavy and so I want to divert from what we do usually and instead reiterate an example of this I have written elsewhere. This takes place in an imaginary prayer group. Now don't be put off by the word, ‘imaginary', because is does work like this. To make it easier to take in I will insert sub-headings so you can see how they proceed:

(Alan's ‘issues')

Alan, (our imaginary Christian) comes to the weekly church prayer meeting and shares about the difficulties he is having at work. There are several issues:

•  he has a member of staff below him who is not performing well and who gets angry and irritated if challenged over it.

•  Alan has received indications that the firm is in financial difficulties,

•  A bad-tempered client slammed the phone down on him yesterday.

Alan asks the group to pray. Very well, let's see how this church responds.

(The young member of staff)

As they start to pray and thank the Lord that He is in charge of their lives, one person stops the group praying.

“Alan,” she starts, “just as we started praying, I had this picture of your young member of staff and they were in their home, sitting with their head in their hands, crying. I believe the Lord wants you to reach into his life and help him.”

The prayer group leader joined in. “That's great. One thing I noticed about life in the Old Testament, was that they sought the Lord for an answer, got a sense of it, and then prayed for it. Would someone like to pray for Alan then in respect of this young man?”

One of the other group members prayed and asked the Lord to give Alan an opportunity at work to speak to the young man, and another asked the Lord to give Alan wisdom to know how to gently ask about his home life.

(Alan's Boss)

There was a pause after the prayers and then one of the others in the group spoke up, “Well, this seems a bit weird. I'm sorry about this Alan but I saw your boss in tears as well.” There was laughter around the group. “No, no, this wasn't because he's in trouble,” the other replied, “it seemed to be for some other reason, but you were sitting across his desk from him, Alan, so I don't know what was happening.”

The group leader broke in again. “Well it looks, my friend, as if the Lord has got something for you to do with your boss as well.” He grinned.

Alan grinned back, “Well, I don't know about that; he's a hard-bitten old something or other, and I can't ever see him in tears.”

“Well, somebody pray for Alan and his boss then,” the leader suggested.

Another of the group prayed: “Lord, this is starting to get heavy. We can't see how Alan's boss is ever going to be in tears, but will you help Alan to be on the lookout for opportunities to talk to him and give him wisdom to know what to say or do when those opportunities arise. Amen.” The group responded with an ‘Amen'. Alan sat there wondering what was coming next.

(Alan's client)

Someone in the group giggled. “I'm sorry, Alan, I don't have a picture of your angry client in tears. In fact, quite to the contrary, I see him getting even more angry, but somehow you say something, and I see him smiling. I know that's not much help, but that's what I see.”

In came the group leader again, “Well that's all right; it may start out worse but that looks like a good outcome. Sorry, Alan, you're getting dumped with rather a lot here tonight because it looks like you are the catalyst that will change him from fury to smiling. OK, folks, this is getting harder. One or two of you pray for Alan and his client, would you please.”

One person prayed and asked the Lord to give Alan a gift of faith to believe in this possibility, another prayed that the Lord would give him grace to just cope with this client graciously the next time he spoke with him, and another asked the Lord to give him wisdom in speaking to this client.

Alan sat there wondering why he had risked asking for prayer, yet he realised that deep down there was a sense of excitement within: three people had received pictures for him and a number of them had prayed with real care and concern for him. Yes, that was good, but what would the future hold?

I say again, when we are open to the Lord's leading, when we risk ‘hearing' from Him, He shares His heart and brings revelation that will take us on. Now I used as our opening verse those famous words of Mary, the mother of Jesus, at the wedding in Cana , and they should act as a constant reminder; this is not to entertain us, this is to let us know how we are to proceed. I have said it before, one aspect of listening prayer is to ask, “Lord, is there something you want me to do to be an answer to this prayer? Is there a part you have for me to play in this?” If we come with this sort of attitude, watch out, the kingdom is coming!

    Oh, the outworking of Alan's situation? I'll share that tomorrow.

Lessons in Growth Meditations: 35. Hearing leads to Action (2)

John 2:5   His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

 We are pursuing a fictitious example of a listening prayer group and the revelation that came. We need to move on to see what happened and then draw some lessons from it.

(The office junior)

When Alan went onto the office the next morning he went with a slight sense of apprehension. What should he say or do? The easy answer was nothing but just watch. In his interactions with his junior over the next couple of days, he was particularly careful to be open and friendly and gracious. Nothing happened. It was on the third day that things started to change. As he happened to be passing the young man's desk, he noticed he was just sitting there staring ahead and doing nothing.

He paused. “Kev?”

No response. He pulled up a chair. There was no one within listening distance. He tried again, very gently. “Kev, what's up?” Kevin seemed to suddenly realise he wasn't alone. “Oh, sorry Alan, it's nothing.”

“Are you sure? Do you need to talk about something?”

“No, not really, no it's fine, it really is…. well …. I don't know what to do. My wife's has been diagnosed with cancer. We've known about it for a number of months, and it's the bad sort and now at the hospital yesterday they say it will be touch and go, and…” his voice trailed off as he fought back tears.

Alan found he had tears running down his own face. “Oh Kev, I am so sorry. Is there anything I can do?”

“There's nothing anyone can do. Anyway why are you crying, you don't even know her!”

“Well that's right but I just don't know how I would feel in your shoes. I am so sorry. Look you're not going to be able to concentrate on some of this stuff you've got on your desk at the moment. Let me get one of the others to lighten your load. What can I take from you?”

They discussed the possibilities and Alan took several files to redistribute round the office without saying why to the other staff.

“Do you need some time off? Is there anything you can be doing for her?”

“Well not really, but I suppose I need to arrange for the kids to be picked up from school in the days to come. Oh, what are we going to do?” He fought back the tears as a floodgate looked like it was just ready to burst.

“Look let's not worry about that for now. Take one day at a time. Look, the other stuff you have here is not urgent. Go home now and just come in when you can. Kev, would you mind if I asked my church to pray for her?” Kev just nodded. “What's her name so we know who we're praying for?

“Marianne, but we call her Merry. Alan, I just don't know what to do, and I know my work's been going to pot, and I'm struggling with some of this stuff anyway.” He looked miserable.

“Look Kev, let's not worry about that now. Let's see how this works out and then perhaps in the future I can get you on that training course that is up on the notice board.”

“Yes, I'd like that. Thanks.”

“Come on, let's go and get a coffee into you then you get back home, and we'll take it from there – together.” The two left the office for coffee.

Back in the office, Alan thought to himself, “well that was an answer to prayer I wasn't expecting!”

I am tempted to follow on with the other two things the group had prayed about, but this is all about bringing in the kingdom of God on the earth and there are some things in the story above that bear thinking about.

New Expectation: Because the group has prayed. and revelation had come, Alan is now in a state of expectation about an outcome. He doesn't know what it will be, but he is on the lookout for something to happen. He is looking for the Lord to move, but that isn't always in ways that we might expect.

    New Concern: We may say (being really pious) that as Christians we should always be loving, gracious and caring for those around us, but the truth is that in the mundane ongoing-ness of daily life, especially life at work, it is so easy to stop making an effort to be a blessing to all those around us. However, now Alan is in a new state of expectancy, that has caused him to be particularly alert to those around him, and especially his young subordinate. It is because of this, that he spots the young man looking down, and needing some help.

New Compassion: Something different has happened and, because he is on the watch for such things as maybe part of God's moving, he pauses up and gives the young man time, care and consideration, expressed in a variety of ways to help him with his present situation.

Spiritual Input: Don't rush here, for there will be time to go further, yet Alan does gently ask him if he may share this with his prayer group. Don't be surprised or cynical about the response because very often people may not be ready to hear the Gospel and certainly not be ready for church, but they will very happily receive prayer.

Conclusion: Perhaps the most important change here has been that in Alan himself. He has suddenly gone on the alert because someone dared to say they thought they had heard from God and he is now watching to see how God will open the situation up. As we said before, don't prejudge how the Lord might move, but just be open and available to Him and, working with Him, you prepare the way of the Lord, for Him to come more fully into this situation: “ In the wilderness (of the office) prepare the way for the Lord.” (Isa 40:3) Tomorrow, we'll see what else happens to Alan

Lessons in Growth Meditations: 36. Hearing leads to Action (3)

John 2:5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

    We continue pursuing a fictitious example of a listening prayer group and the revelation that came, as an example of how we may cooperate with the Lord, seated with him in the heavenly realms, bringing in the kingdom of God on earth. Let's move on to see what happened next.

(Alan's Boss)

It had been two days after the prayer meeting that Alan had been in his boss's office talking through various pieces of work. When they came to the conclusion of it, Alan realised there was something he needed to mention.

“Boss, I'll be off in a couple of days, just for the one day, I'll take it out of my annual leave. It's just that my daughter is applying for Uni and we want to go with her to the Open Day of one she has her eye on, if that's all right with you?”

“Yes, no problem,” the boss replied and then added almost as an aside, “I wish I had got stuff like that happening with my kids.”

“Sounds like it's not going well?” Alan enquired lightly.

“You're joking. My boy, the older of the two, is coming up to his A-levels and we just can't get him to work. And then my wife caught the younger one, my daughter, and she's only thirteen, talking to a friend on the phone about using Cannabis. I really don't know about kids today! Who would have ‘em!”

Alan made non-descript noises and made for the door, then paused in the opening, “Mind if I pray for them, boss?”

His boss didn't answer and just turned back to papers on his desk.

Alan left feeling a little rebuffed – but that night he did remember to pray for them.

It was the day after his day off, when he was back in the office, and again had to talk some business stuff through with the boss. His boss seemed a bit more irritable than usual – which was saying something! – but they talked through the stuff and then as Alan was about to leave his office, his boss said in a casual but nervous, if not embarrassed tone, “Er… I don't know if you prayed about my kids the other day but there's been a remarkable change in them in just a few days. My wife has managed to have a good talk with my daughter about the dangers of drugs – which she seemed to accept – and my son suddenly seems to have got down to revising for his exams like there's no tomorrow.” He winced.

“Are you all right, boss, you look like you're in pain?” Alan ventured.

“Yes, I don't know what it is; I woke up with a stiff neck this morning. I can hardly move it and it's agony!”

Now it was Alan's turn to feel nervous. “Er… would you like me to pray for it?” he ventured again.

“You can do what you like; I'll take anything to get rid of this!”

“No, I mean would you like me to pray for you now, here, this minute?”

His boss looked uncomfortable. “Well shut the door then.”

Alan shut the door and went over to his boss. “I'll just put my hand on your shoulder as I pray, if that's all right?” His boss said nothing, so he did. “Lord Jesus, I know you love us both and I know you healed anyone who was ill when they came to you when you walked on this earth, so can I ask for you to heal this neck right now. Father, please let it be, in Jesus name. Amen.” His boss said nothing.

Alan opened his eyes and to his surprise saw tears running down his boss's face and the older man was swivelling his head.

“That's amazing. How did that happen? The pain's completely gone!”

“Jesus just healed you because he loves you,” Alan found himself saying.

“Sit down, I need to ask you some things,” his boss replied.

Forty minutes later Alan came out of his office very thoughtful and with tears in his eyes.

Now this may be making some of us seriously uncomfortable. I was recently in a well-known annual ‘Bible Convention', led by good evangelicals and they had invited a delightful head of a bible seminary to take the morning Bible studies – and she was excellent. On the last one, as a natural outflow of the Bible book we had been following, she suggested that the Lord might want to heal people there, that morning, and graciously turned to the man who had been compering the morning, if that is the right word for such a time, and said, “I'm just a visitor here, how do you want to do this?” I have never seen someone look so discomforted and he replied after a moment, “Well, people can just pray for each other where they are,” which was not a faith-filled answer as she had already spoken about people with real needs coming to the front for prayer. Many of us are good at receiving ‘the Word' but as soon as it means stepping out in faith, we move to the back of the boat and let the brash Peters of the world step over the side. God delights in His children who ‘risk it'.

Alan, with the sense of high expectation that we mentioned yesterday, ‘stepped out of the boat' and God turned up. He had already pushed the boat out (to change the metaphor slightly) by offering to pray and when he got no answer, just went home and prayed – and things happened! Because they happened, when his boss was in such pain he was past caring what happened, the way was open for Alan to pray for healing and leave the answer to the Lord – who healed!

I was at a brunch for the vulnerable in society recently and a young man (well a good bit younger than me) walked in, a man I had known some ten years before and whose family and work situation was dire! I noticed that he could hardly hobble his way in, with back and leg problems, so I greeted him and, knowing he had been anti-Christian and had forbade his wife to go to church, nevertheless sought to reach out to him. (We'll call him Rick.) When I offered to be available to pray for him in private he hedged. “Look,” I said, the best that could happen is that you get healed completely, the next best is that you get partly healed and the worst that could happen is that nothing happens! You can't lose.” He still went out refusing prayer. How crazy is that! Make yourself available with humility and gentleness, and the worst that can happen is nothing and they might think you rubbish. The best that might happen is they get healed and might just turn to the Lord. “Your kingdom come, your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” (Mt 6:10) Go for it!

Lessons in Growth Meditations: 37. Hearing leads to Action (4)

John 2:5     His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

We continue with this fictitious example of a listening prayer group and the revelation that came, to see how we may cooperate with the Lord, seated with him in the heavenly realms, bringing in the kingdom of God on earth. Now let's move on to see the final phase of this story:

(Proactive after further prayer)

Having been left feeling somewhat encouraged by what had happened so far in the week with his junior and his boss, Alan realised that the problem of the Client was still not resolved, and he needed to do something about it. He prayed briefly and dialled the number. The call was not exactly an unqualified success but at the end of it the client had agreed to have lunch with him in two days' time. In that waiting time he called a couple of others from the prayer group and asked them to pray for his coming encounter.

 (Approaching the Client)

Two days later he sat at a table in the restaurant waiting for the client who was ten minutes late.

As soon as the man arrived, he muttered at Alan, “I don't know why I am bothering with you! I'm thinking of taking my business elsewhere. You're a blithering idiot!”

“Yes, I am,” was all Alan could manage.

“Well, that's a good starting place,” the other replied tartly.

“Yes, I'm really sorry I upset you on the phone the other day. I'm afraid I made a very bad job of explaining some of the pitfalls of the course of action you were proposing, and I fully understand that it upset you, and I'm really sorry.”

(A change of response)

The other looked embarrassed. “Well I must confess I wasn't expecting to hear that from you.” He looked a lot calmer. “All right, let's order and as we're here, you might as well have another go at explaining what you're thinking.”

They ordered and talked.

Twenty minutes later the client put down his knife and fork and smiled at Alan. “You young idiot! Why didn't you put it like that in the first place?”

Alan thought it better not to say that he had said roughly the same thing before, and just shrugged his shoulders. “I must have been having a bad day. I'm sorry.”

More smiles. “Right, well let's talk some more.”

An hour and a half later Alan returned to the office with a lucrative contact under his belt.

And that is the end of the story. But let's consider the lessons that come out of this particular part of it. It doesn't matter that it was fictitious for it demonstrates how things need to be and how they can work out. First, for this part of the prayer request, Alan recognised that he needed to be proactive. Second, before he acted, he prayed, made contact and then requested further prayer backup. Third, in his approach to his client he exhibited humility. Fourth, and this is vital for us to see in these things, God clearly moved by changing the man's heart. Our expectation must be for God who answers prayer to move and bring changes to the circumstances. Our role of to pray (stick close to Him), be alert and watch the changing circumstances and be ready to move within them with His grace. In that we are watching to see these moves as the hidden hand of God.

The story of Esther is famous for not having clear and obvious signs of God moving dramatically (as, similarly, with the story of Ruth) but we do see what we call the providential hand of God – circumstances changing to make way for God's people to move in. In the story of Joseph in the Old Testament, we find first of all in respect of Potiphar, “Joseph found favour in his eyes,” (Gen 39:4) and then in prison, “the Lord was with him; he showed him kindness and granted him favour in the eyes of the prison warder.” (Gen 39:21) i.e. God moves on the heart of unbelievers on behalf of His people. As people of faith, we should be expecting this when we are available and seeing ourselves as seated with Christ in the heavenly realms (Eph 2:6)

Now our danger is that having read that story, you say, “Oh but it's only a story. It's not that easy!” Well it is, and things happen like this a) when we approach prayer meetings like this and b) are willing to be part of the answer to what we pray. If we reflect on the wider story, we can see a number of things that may help us in our own prayer experiences:

•  The praying people had learned to listen to God for HIS will as they prayed.

•  What they ‘heard' from the Lord became a resource for further prayer for encouraging activity afterwards

•  The ‘answers' involved Alan stepping out in faith in the week ahead:

•  looking at what was happening as the Lord provided opportunities for him to speak and act,

•  being willing to be humble, gracious and available for whatever came up,

•  being willing to accept that he perhaps hadn't handled some of the people very well previously but, even more importantly,

•  here were opportunities to be a blessing to others, despite the past.

•  The ‘answers' also involved the needs of other people coming to the surface and providing a basis for Alan to show love, care and compassion and faith – and then for God to move some more!

Perhaps we may analyse it in the following way. In the Prayer Meeting faith and encouragement and future direction were given when the people listened to God. After the Prayer Meeting, things happened (answers came) when the person in question was willing to play his part in bringing answers. Or to put it in yet another way, simply praying words out loud in a prayer meeting can be unbelieving ritual. Praying, listening and then acting on what you hear is faith building and opens the way for God to move in a much greater way. Simply praying weekly ‘shopping lists' does little to build our faith and we remain unchanged – and circumstances and people around us only change a small amount. ‘Listening prayer' followed by ‘available obedience' develops faith and enables us to grow to be more available and more like Jesus, and so that God can work, and circumstances and people can be radically changed. The kingdom comes!

Lessons in Growth Meditations: 38. When the sky falls down

1 Pet 4:17   it is time for judgment to begin with God's household

We always try to maintain balance and I am aware that for some, the past four studies seem almost too good to be true, but the truth is that this is how it can be – but not always. I seem to remember, when our children were small, reading the story about Chicken Licken (or Chicken Little) and the frequent reference to the ‘sky falling'. Well there are times in life when, to use a variety of phrases, it all goes pear-shaped, all hell breaks loose, or the sky falls down, and I think we need to remember that and carefully hold the balance.

Only the other day someone said to me, “Yes, but Christians get cancer and there are as many divorces in the church as outside it.” He was making this point that things go wrong and that for Christians as well, and he was right, but there are comments to be made. My first reply was, “Well yes, but as far as the divorces in the church goes, that is more a condemnation of the poor spiritual state of the church in the West.” I went on to talk about the fact that we live in a fallen world where things go wrong and we are living as part of that but, I concluded, the big difference is that we have the Lord with us for when he said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you,” (Heb 13:5) He meant He would always be with us in whatever was happening. We also have the encouragement of Rom 8:28 that He will be there working for our good in it. The illustration of Jesus at the tomb of Lazarus (Jn 11), shows that he doesn't stand there dispassionately, even though he knows the will of God is being worked out, but he grieves with us in it.

But Jesus being there and feeling with us in it, doesn't take away the pain and anguish that such circumstances seem to bring. How do we respond in the crisis when natural responses are, “Why should this happen to me?” or “Where is God? Why doesn't God turn up to help?” Perhaps understanding some of the dynamics of the kingdom of God in which we live might help. A kingdom, after all, is ruled over by a king, and our king – Jesus – the Son of God, as God, is all wise and he knows that our lives can only change and improve (and that includes our families, our learning, our business and our social and community lives) when they are brought in line, and are lived out, in accordance with the design and will of God. Now if we had an indifferent God, He would simply sit back and let us stew in our own mess, but He's not. He is love and love constantly looks for and works for the best for the object of its love – you and me.

There are certain passages of Scripture that we dislike. For instance, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds.” (Jas 1:2). There is also, “the Lord disciplines the one he loves” (Heb 12:6). If we are honest, thoughts of discipline and of trials don't thrill us! That is natural but both those things from God are designed to bring us into a better place than we are now. I am sure sometimes the Lord looks at the path we are taking or the attitude we have and He, knowing all things and knowing the future, sees that without realising it we are taking a path that is likely to have severely negative consequences.

Understanding how God disciplines and how He brings trials might help. My studies of the judgments and disciplines of God suggest that sometimes the Lord just lets us continue down that dangerous path knowing that at some point it is going to cause the sky to fall on us. As we said earlier, He will be there in it with us and will be working for our good, but the pain of the circumstances we have brought upon ourselves, will teach us and, like chastened prodigal sons, we may come to our senses and return to the father (see Lk 15). When He sees the folly of mankind settling in us – pride, self-confidence, self-reliance (check out Jer 2:13), apathy, indifference, self-importance, even godlessness, conceit etc., He knows there needs to come a time of correction before those things utterly destroy us. Whether we hear it or not (because it often comes in that ‘still small voice' format) the Lord always warns and warns again about the path we are taking, so if the discipline comes, it means we either didn't hear, or ignored it. But He's not put off!

But I believe, reading His word, that He not only sometimes, allows us to fall into the pit of our own making over a long period of time, but sometimes He shortens the time, by either lifting off His hands of protection or restraint from us so the crisis comes sooner than later. Sometimes He simply lifts off His hand of protection from us and illness strikes (see 1 Cor 11:29-32) and we are chastened and repent or even, on occasion, His children go to be with Him prematurely. Face the truth of His word. Removing restraint is something else. Most of the time, I suspect, we are not aware of the Holy Spirit's restraining work in us and it is the only way that I can explain what I have seen a number of times – Christians who otherwise appear wise and bright, who for some inexplicable reason open their mouths wrongly or take an obviously stupid course of action, and the sky falls on them! (I have been there!)

As Christians, we tend to suffer two major failures. First, we just do not realise how much God loves us. Second, we fail to remember He is a holy God who calls us to be holy, and a simple definition of holiness is “to be utterly different like God.” Put the two things together and we have a loving and holy God who is determined to do all He can for His children to get them to heaven, and to do that He has to be there, working on our behalf for decades, to counter the works of sin, self, and Satan, that are the biggest threats to us. (Remember, when it comes to Satan, the Lord may use him and give him some space to move upon us, but it will always be “thus far and no further” – see Job 1 & 2 + Lk 22:31,32 + 1 Cor 10:13)

To conclude, ‘to discipline' means to ‘bring about a process of change in us, to get us to conform to His likeness, to His perfect design for us', to be even better than we are now. Trials come to test our faith or our faithfulness. Will turning to Him be the first thing we do when a problem or difficulty arises? Are we regularly inputting and feeding on His word so that we have inner resources when the temperature rises? When the pressure comes will we endure, persevere, hang in there, and remain faithful to Him? Those are the sort of things trials reveal. A crisis never happens just like that in the kingdom of God ; it always builds and builds, even though in our short-sightedness we fail to see it, until suddenly the sky comes down. And when it does, most surely, we will moan and groan, and yet hopefully with His grace we'll come through, scathed and changed with the marks of the cross on us, and a new and stronger spirit in us, and when we get to heaven (and we may have to wait until then to see the whole picture), we'll then say ‘Thank you!”

Lessons in Growth Meditations: 39. Exercising Authority

Rev 2:26,27 To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, I will give authority over the nations ….. just as I have received authority from my Father.

    Right, back to our being seated with Christ in the heavenly realms, working with him to bring in the kingdom or rule of God on the earth. Just a reminder: it is not us, it is him in control. Jesus is the one seated at his Father's right hand. At the end of Matthew's Gospel we find Jesus telling his disciples, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations.” (Mt 28:18,19) Note the ‘therefore' that links him with us. We also see, “ When Jesus had called the Twelve together, he gave them power and authority to drive out all demons and to cure diseases, and he sent them out to proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal those who were ill.” (Lk 9:1,2).

Authority in this case is the right to operate under God's name to bring about the rule or kingdom of God on the earth. We have the right from God to, in general terms, go and make disciples for Jesus and as he leads us, to cast out demons and bring healing. To actually do this means faith, a positive response to his words. We speak as he speaks, we act as he prompts us to act. Much of the time we just witness, share Jesus, the Gospel with seekers, but sometimes, especially when the enemy is clearly evident and present, we are called to exercise Jesus' authority.

Depending on the way the Holy Spirit leads us we may:

•   PROCLAIM the truth to set free (Jn 8:32)

•   this often releases faith and action

•   TESTIFY to the truth of the situation (see Rev 12:11)

•   this overcomes the lies of the enemy

•   COMMAND something to happen (see Mt 21:21)

•   giving instructions by faith as led by the Spirit to remove an obstacle

•   BIND the enemy (see Mt 18:18)

•   we declare on earth what has been decreed in heaven

•   LOOSE people or situations (see Mt 18:18)

•   we release people who have been bound up by the enemy

•   PRONOUNCE the name of Jesus into a situation (“in Jesus name”)

•   we speak as Jesus into the situation

Let's check each of these out. First, proclaiming. (See Jesus Lk 3:18, 7:22) Here is the person who is suffering because they have believed the lies of the enemy and yet they have come for prayer and are open to the Lord moving on them. As we pray over them, we proclaim the truth: they are a child of God, loved by Him, not condemned but loved. As we pray with authority and anointing, the Spirit takes our words and applies them to the heart of the person being prayed over and suddenly they know that is the truth and they are freed. The kingdom has come.

Second, there is testifying. (See Jesus, Jn 8:18) Again, this is declaring the truth of what has happened to us and as we so do it, the Spirit confirms it with assurance and faith is released. It tends to be that we proclaim over other people and testify for ourselves, but in both cases the Spirit affirms the truth and change is brought. The kingdom comes.

Third, there is commanding. This is declaring the authority of Jesus as he leads to bring about change. I was in a house group situation recently where two of the women prayed over a third woman and as the Spirit led them, one of them commanded a sickness to go – and it did. Jesus often did this with both healing and deliverance; sometimes he instructed the demon or sickness to leave, other times he instructed someone to do something. He also commanded and took control over the elements (e.g. Lk 8:29, Mt 8:3,13,26, Jn 9:7)

Fourth, there is binding. Jesus taught his disciples, “whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Mt 18:18) When we bind something (usually the enemy, often in the form of an evil spirit) we limit or restrict him. If in the process of casting out a demon, it seeks to make a lot of noise and gain publicity for the enemy and create fear, you may bind him and silence him (see Mk 1:25) and then proceed to command that he leaves. Binding is about restricting the enemy, limiting his activity, and the kingdom prevails.

Fifth, there is loosing, the exact opposite of binding, when we release someone who has been restricted or limited by the enemy. Again, Jesus did this with demonically oppressed or possessed people. (see above)

Finally, there is pronouncing, “in Jesus' name”. Very often people use this phrase almost as a good luck talisman at the end of a prayer. When the Holy Spirit is leading us in ministry we speak that out as a declaration of the Spirit-inspired, Jesus ministry, that we ARE doing or saying what Jesus IS saying from heaven.

Remember, these things we do as we learn to let the Holy Spirit lead us by putting these things into our minds at the appropriate moments. In each case it is the WORD OF GOD, from God for us at that moment, imparted by the Spirit TO HAVE EFFECT.

When we speak out the word BY FAITH in response to the Spirit's prompting, we may expect things to change in the heavenly realm, which in turn will change things here on earth.  Remember, it is AS WE ARE LEAD BY THE SPIRIT that these words are released in us so that we may release them OUT LOUD, either to PRAY or to PROCLAIM. It is  speaking them out  that is the act of faith on our behalf which enables the Lord to bring change.

In this way our words act as weapons of the Spirit and the enemy is defeated and the rule of God, the kingdom, is expressed, just as it was when Jesus was on earth in a single human body. Now he is here through multiple bodies. All he looks for is his disciples who will be open to hear him, be sensitive to the lading of his Spirit, and who will speak out and become the channels of his power and authority here on the earth. Hallelujah!

Lessons in Growth Meditations: 40. Releasing People

Lk 19:5,6 When Jesus reached the spot, he looked up and said to him, “Zacchaeus, come down immediately. I must stay at your house today.”   So he came down at once and welcomed him gladly.

I was about to move on into the wider subject of ‘ruling over the earth' but sense that perhaps we need to put some more body or shape into what we have just been saying in the previous study when we spoke about ‘taking authority' at Christ's leading and noted various ways we may speak while praying in authority. Back in Study No.26 we considered ‘The Caring Church', speaking about being carriers of love. Moving on in Study No.29 we considered being life-bringers, and then went on to speak about being revelation bringers as we are enabled by the Spirit. In Studies 34 to 37 we saw how faith, released through the prayer meeting in Alan, enabled him to move in grace, love and humility to minister to three different people in his work environment.

In the next study we will go on to consider this matter of exercising authority more widely but here I sense we need to consider how we minister in love, and THAT is a means of exercising authority that brings life change. However, before we go into that we might ask the question, what is our goal or intention for the person or people before us, to whom God has given us the opportunity to minister. Now the word ‘minister' simply means ‘to serve' and so we come to them as servants, servant of God to bring God's blessing to them. Put like that, we can now see that our goal is to present God's love.

Now I have pictures in my mind from the distant past from Snoopy cartoons. In one of them Snoopy is out in the cold in the snow and two of the other characters come along and note he is cold and in need of comfort so go over to him and both just say, “Be of good cheer Snoopy” and then walk off and leave him shivering in the snow. That is a vivid picture. Our person in church may need us to give them a coat, or dig their garden or paint their house, i.e. a practical matter, and simply uttering cheering words will do little to help them. Money is sometimes what people need, not cheering by words.

However, we have been moving in the area of speaking spiritual truths and very often this needs to be our starting place. Until they are changed on the inside, outward ministrations may act like a plaster or bandage but will do little in the long run. So, let's see if we can imagine some people who we are likely to find in our congregations from time to time, if not most of the time.

Now anything I suggest is purely hypothetical. The key point here, in line with so much else we have been saying, is that we need to pray and sense what the Lord feels about this person and wants to say about them, to them. Call this prophecy, call it encouragement, whatever makes you feel comfortable, but it is a sense that comes when we pray. This must be true of any situation I may suggest here.

First of all, here is a lady (it might be a man) who has low self-esteem, feels lonely, unloved and uncared for. Now as you pray – with a heart open to convey God's unconditional love – it may be that the Lord gives you either a verse, or a sentence, or a picture that applies to this person. If it is the Lord, it will impact and lift the heart of this person and they will feel loved and the focus of God's special attention. As the Lord speaks into their heart through you, they know the reality of that, and are blessed. Nothing has changed outwardly, their external circumstances are still the same, but they are changed, and it came through simple loving revelation.

Second, here is someone who is being pestered by their ex-partner and they are living in anxiety and fear. What can you say here? I don't know, but God does as you wait on Him in prayer. As the Spirit moves on this thing, once or twice in the past I have sensed the Spirit's directing to command (in prayer) this pestering partner to be removed from the situation. We had this only the other day in our house group and I prayed accordingly. In the past, twice I have known the Lord to move on someone physically (presumably by lifting off His hand of protection and allowing Satan access as in Job's case) so they were no longer able to be a distraction. We speculated about this prayer the other day and wondered whether He would lead this person to another part of the country by job circumstances, new partner attraction or some other means. We simply watch this space and the lady over whom we prayed is watching with anticipation and the fear has gone. We dare not pray like this unless sure of His leading. Be careful.

Most of the time it is n ot by command but by the conveying the grace of blessing. A blessing in Scripture (see the story of Isaac with Jacob and Esau) is a prophetically inspired command for the goodness of God to come. A blessing is also an inspired acceptance by heaven (because that it where it originates). We can either pronounce a blessing or we can speak that acceptance in other words.

Our starting verses above are about Jesus calling Zacchaeus down from the tree so that he may eat with him. This little chief tax collector would have been very powerful and almost certainly very corrupt, but Jesus saw his heart yearning for acceptance and gave it to him. He was instantly transformed. That is evangelism in a different style to that which we normally see. This was God seeing his ready heart and speaking into it just what was needed to melt it. The word will either melt it or break it or cause resistance to its already hard state (see Pharaoh with Moses).

The objective of these words is to convey love that melts or breaks. Of course, we do not know that the outcome will be, we don't know what effect it will have. All our role is, is to bring words of love and acceptance as given by the Spirit. In an earlier study I testified about a most simple word I gave a young man in Malaysia . I had no idea that this word of living acceptance would break open his heart and release confession.

The more open to being used in this way we are, the more the Lord will use us and bless others. As you mature in this (but only when we mature), the Lord may give you words of correction, but they will always come with love and hope for what follows. I have brought a word that a man's ministry would be terminated and when his face fell, I was able to add, “only that something greater may emerge.”

For many believers, life just goes on day by day, and they learn to live with negatives, learn to cope with ongoing worry, learn to accept that background nagging fear, or even have questionable guilt hanging over them (the enemies Jesus came to destroy), and then one day some Spirit-filled believer comes up and says, “As I was thinking of you and praying for you, I had a feeling that the Lord had something for you. Would it be all right if I shared it?” And as permission is granted they share, under the Spirit's leading, God's specific words of loving acceptance, and the person knows where it has come from, they suddenly know the truth of it, and are changed. The kingdom of God has just come, Jesus has just destroyed some of his enemies – through you! How wonderful, how easy, how marvellous. Isn't he good!

Lessons in Growth Meditations: 41. Subduing the Earth

Gen 1:28   God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”

    In the previous study we wrote, “ Authority in this case is the right to operate under God's name to bring about the rule or kingdom of God on the earth. We have the right from God to, in general terms, go and make disciples for Jesus and as he leads us, to cast out demons and bring healing.” That is the New Testament mandate, post the Cross, but for an even wider picture we need to go back to the beginning of the Bible.

    Now I have to confess I considered putting this particular study in the ‘Theory' section of Part 3 but eventually considered that unless we see it in practical terms it really just remains head knowledge. So here goes, first the theory.

    In our verse above we have what is sometimes referred to as ‘the Creation mandate' and it is basically in two parts: i) “Be fruitful and increase in number, fill the earth,” and then, ii) “and subdue it.” The word ‘rule' that follows clearly puts mankind in a superior position to any other living creatures but what ‘rule' means there is left to speculation but the words we have picked out, “and subdue it,” leave little room for speculation especially, later on, when we see that working the earth after the fall is going to be hard work (see Gen 3:17-19). Now as population and culture developed, a literal ‘working the earth' became the domain of only a relative few.

The vast majority of us are not involved in agriculture or horticulture. But if ‘earth' is taken to have a bigger meaning – the whole of human life existence on this planet – then it suggests something much, much greater. Any activity to do with mankind's habitation of this planet must fall under this heading and that must include anything whatsoever that improves life for mankind and so that includes medicine, science, technology, food provision, government, and the arts to mention just some of such areas.

Now a false dichotomy has grown up in popular thinking, between spiritual and non-spiritual, a hangover from the thinking of Plato (how these things hang around!). Anything that can be included in my list in the previous paragraph is ‘spiritual' because it is something given to us to do by God. Now the only things that are outside that will be things that go expressly against God's design for His world, so anything specifically harming or oppressing other people (e.g. slavery) is obviously outside that mandate. Producing, selling, and distributing illicit drugs would also be a no go. You may think of others.

Now those running on an ‘environmental ticket' might question whether doing any sort of work that can harm the world or the people on it (e.g. working in the tobacco industry) might fit that ‘no-go' growing list and where we are in questionable areas, we have to ask ourselves and the Lord, “If this the area I should be in, and if not, what else could I do?”

Now so far, in recent studies, we have been considering things that are usually considered well and truly spiritual things, things to do with the bringing in of the rule of God to overcome sin, but whenever I have read people writing on this ‘creation mandate' and the nature of our jobs in this present world, it seems to be that most effort is made in justifying what were once called ‘secular' jobs (as I have done above) to such a degree that the writer only works on a ‘do your best in your job' approach meaning be the best worker you can be. Now although I agree with that, it can be a godless approach and everything I have been saying in this entire series is to be seen from the viewpoint of ‘God first' or at the very least, ‘God involved'.

Now in the relatively recent studies I did four that considered a hypothetical series of events that sprung out of a prayer meeting that took the life of God into the job of one of the prayer group. Now if that just seemed too way out for you, then perhaps the question should be raised, “Can you see God in your workplace, someone spoken about at least to those closest to you, can you see opportunities for informally sharing your faith, and offering prayer?” How many of us tolerate working environments or learning conditions that are unrighteous or, at the very least, could be seriously improved?

Bringing the kingdom of God into these environments, I want to suggest, probably needs to start in a prayer group as I showed, who should then bring that working environment to the Lord to see how He might want to change it – possibly through you. I look back on my working life into these sorts of environment with regret. No one taught me these sorts of things and so I was a lonely example of righteousness in an ungodly environment in otherwise fine and acceptable careers. I don't think I did it well, even though I believe I did my job well; there was a better way and I have sought to show that in these recent studies. It is not spiritual or secular but God in every sphere of work. The big question is, how far will be let Him have space to move so that we can be people of faith in the midst of these places? Can other people find and meet God in work or learning environments through us, or will we accept ungodly thinking that relegates such things to ‘church' or ‘missions' or ‘campaigns'? May that not be so.

Lessons in Growth Meditations: 42. Areas of Rule

Dan 7:13,14    “there before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. He was given authority, glory and sovereign power ;

    In a previous series, “Focus on Christ” in Study No.56 we noted the following about Christ and because it is so pertinent to our present series, we repeat it here. It flowed out of the prophetic picture that Daniel had about the Son of God referred to in our starting verses above, of Christ the ruler, and we will see the areas of his rule:

‘Reign' is about exercising sovereignty, about being in control, not merely coping, not merely surviving, but being in control. When we come to the ruler over the Kingdom of God , the ruler is a benign controller who controls for the benefit of his subjects. That is the big difference between the kingdoms of the earth and the Kingdom of Heaven . So, let's see ‘ Christ in Control'. It is so obvious we have probably never thought about it.

A. Control over the material world: This is the most obvious thing in Jesus' earthly ministry, and many of us struggle to believe that this is still true of his body today when we allow him to lead. In the pages of the Gospels we see Jesus in control of the elements – calming a storm, walking on water, turning water into wine, expanding bread and fishes to feed thousands; these are all examples of Jesus being in absolute control of material elements.

B. Control over health and life itself: When we see Jesus healing the sick and casting out demons and even raising the dead, we see this power and authority over the material world being applied into flesh and blood human bodies. This is Jesus reigning in the most obvious ways.

C. Control over himself: Now here is an area we don't tend to think about but when it is paralleled into our lives as part of his body today it becomes very pertinent. Let's consider various ways we see this.

i) In respect of Satan: The Gospels record Satan coming with three temptations before Jesus starts his ministry, seeking to bring him down, but in each case, he remains firmly in control of his mind and his behaviour and gives right responses. This is significant because Satan questioned his very identity, but Jesus remained firmly in control of his own thinking about himself and so did not succumb to the enemy's negatives; he knew who he was and what he was to do, right up to an including the Cross and never deviated from that, even in the Garden of Gethsemane when he was confronted with the awfulness of what was just about to happen

ii) In respect of human prejudices: Jesus not succumb to prejudices or false religious expectations which we see in the way he met with and spoke to the Samaritan woman, the adulterous woman, the Greek woman, a leper who he touched, tax collectors etc. who he dined with, all of whom would have been rejected by respectable Judaism.

iii) In respect of his speech: But it goes beyond meeting with the unclean, the sinners and so on; it includes how he encountered and responded to the leaders and religious elite; he did not speak out of turn, he was in complete control of his tongue. He did not waver before ‘great people'; he knew who he was and therefore never felt defensive, as we so often do. He never felt uncomfortable in any situation because he knew who he was and knew the power and authority that he had.

iv) In respect of his emotions: This is an area where we are so often stunted and so our emotions are oppressed by expectations or hardened and calloused by the hard knocks of life or the hard words of parents or teachers or other people of influence that shut us down. No, he was clearly saddened by the fact of his disciples' little belief sometimes, he was saddened by the grief that he saw in those he loved (at Lazarus's tomb), and he anguished over the thought of being separated from his Father on the Cross.

In each of these ways Jesus was in complete control. He knew people (Mt 12:25, 27:18, Jn 2:24) and was not fazed by them, whether they were the great and good and influential or whether they were prostitutes, demon possessed, sinner and crooks. In one sense we might say he was above them all and was therefore not controlled by what they thought, either of themselves or about him.

Application: Now that was what I wrote in that series about Christ but now we have to take and apply this to all we have been saying about being seated with Christ in the heavenly realms, ruling with him. He, we said, is the head of the body and so if that is how he exercised his rule, seen in the Gospels in one single body, it must also be how he reigns through us, his body today. So, let's apply those things.

When we are led and empowered by his Holy Spirit, in the light of these things, we should expect the body to, at times:

•  have control over the elements, the material world,

•  have control over health and life itself, bringing healing

•  have control over ourselves with His enabling, so that

•  we do not let Satan put us down

•  we do not tolerate prejudice

•  we control our speech

•  we are not fazed by ‘big people', the good, the bad, anyone.

Now our tendency may be to duck and dive and make excuses and say well, these things will only happen through ‘big ministries', apostles etc., but Jesus did say, “ whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing.” (Jn 14:12). Admittedly the miraculous, whether in respect of the elements or in respect of human sickness, will only occur when needed, i.e. when we make ourselves available to Christ on the frontline, but why should that not include you and me? This IS the way Christ ruled and still rules, so if we are seated with him exercising this rule……? Some areas for serious thought and prayer, and maybe reassessing of our ‘belief'. “Whoever believes”?

Lessons in Growth Meditations: 43. Relevancy Again

Luke 4:18,19 “The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favour”

May I take a couple of quotes from earlier studies in this Part of this series. First, “ Will we confront the truth of His word and seek for a church where Jesus speaks, lives change, and the world is changed?” Look at those last words: “a church where Jesus speaks, lives change, and the world is changed”. Second, “ I will go on to ‘listening evangelism' in a later study as well as ‘listening to His written word' as well as listening for healing or deliverance and listening for changing the community.”

Now I want to link these quotes back to the study that I am sure raised some questions, about the relevancy of our faith in the face of the enormous changes that are taking place in our world, social and environmental changes as well as scientific, cyber and technological changes. The whole teaching about the kingdom of God is incredibly practical. Consider the things that took place in the simple imaginary story about the prayer meeting and the things that followed it:

•  It brought a change in faith expectancy in Alan

•  That led to him being able to help his younger member of staff.

•  It also opened up the way for Alan to offer to pray for his boss's family and then pray over his boss, which opened his heart to Alan.

•  It also changed his approach to his client which in turn brought a complete change in him.

That prayer meeting? Part of “a church where Jesus speaks, lives change, and the world is changed”. The changes that took place could be summarised as:

•  Faith released

•  Compassion, care and concern released

•  Faith for further prayer, including healing prayer

•  Three sets of circumstances, involving unbelievers, changing.

Now you might say, yes, but no one got saved! Hold on, it was an imaginary story and so I could have made the office junior, the boss and the client all come to the Lord, but I left that hanging, a possibility for the future. The changes that will take place in respect of the kingdom of God will

•  Come as we pray (and listen)

•  Occur as we step out in faith, and

•  Involve the sovereign working of God to change people and circumstances.

In the light of the prophetic words from Luke's Gospel above

•  The (spiritually) poor (the unbeliever) will hear the good news

•  Those who are in prisons that are emotional or mental will find freedom

•  Those who are (spiritually, and maybe even physically) blind will be enabled to see

•  Those who are spiritually oppressed will be released

•  And those we touch with His love will realise that this is indeed the year when He favour is available to them.  

Changed lives, changed circumstances, the coming of the kingdom or rule of God. And how? Through “a church where Jesus speaks, lives change, and the world is changed”. That is what all this talk about Jesus being glorified through his ascension goes, this is where it ends, these are the practical outworkings. Is that your church? Is that mine?

There is another facet of all this that we haven't really touched on because it was necessary to first of all pick up on the fact of the largely absent belief in much of the modern church that Jesus is alive today wanting to do exactly the same things he did on earth two thousand years ago. It is the aspect of the compassionate and generous and hospitable expressions of the church. It is the practical ministry summarised so often as ‘caring for widows and orphans' but which has been observed throughout the church era as establishing schools, hospitals, clinics and so many other things that have impacted our worlds for good.

“Good works” (Mt 5:16) are not to be one thing or another, but both spiritually supernatural and humanly natural. The ‘supernatural' may include the miraculous or simply people and circumstance changes, as we've recently been considering, or they may be the incredible grace that sometimes enables believers to act as they do beyond usual abilities. The ‘natural' is being kind, compassionate, caring, hospitable and generous and, of course, all these are expressions of Christ, expressions of his grace in believers. It's not one or the other, it is both. Both require the power and the presence of the Lord and both reveal the kingdom of God in action – but it is action.

I have just now suggested why we have taken so much time working on our faith levels for the works of Jesus through the body – the absence of it so often in the modern church – but there is something else linked to this that I have observed in the modern church. It is the ‘good intentions' that people have to reach out to the world around them with the good news of the Gospel of Christ, and even start community projects which are in themselves good.

However, what I also witness is an absence of the manifest presence of God so often in these things, absence of clear direction to start these things, or how to go about these things, i.e. their origins that should be clearly coming from the heart of God, people ‘doing stuff' but with the absence of the presence of God or the revelation of God (because they haven't learn to listen) or the power of God to bring changes. i.e. often such ‘projects' seem such hard work because they come from human enthusiasm, and they operate with human effort so that when crises come (and they do) the resources are not there to cope. The truth is that a lot of charities and other ‘good works' operate in a godless environment. Our activities must originate from the Lord and be carried out with the revelation of the Lord and the power of the Lord. When this does happen, the world will know and God will be glorified. That is what all this kingdom stuff is about. May it be so.

Lessons in Growth Meditations: 44. Distinctive

Heb 12:14  Make every effort to live in peace with everyone and to be holy; without holiness no one will see the Lord.

The Relevant Church : We must be drawing near the end and as we do we need to sharpen some of the things we have said along the way. We have countered the potential accusation that the church is irrelevant in today's scientific age, with talk of the unchanging truths about God and mankind, while at the same time pointing out that the church which is genuinely acting as the ‘body of Christ'' will be demonstrating the power and revelation of Christ in such ways that lives and circumstances will be changed.

The Distinctive Church : This, you might think, is enough to suggest that the church, seen like this, will be distinctive and will stand out in society as both a lighthouse that sheds light and shows the way, and a rescue and recovery centre for lost and damaged mankind. Yet I must suggest that its distinctiveness must be seen in its very nature or its character as suggested by our verse above – its holiness.

Holiness in God: So what is holiness? It is the very foundational character of God which, put in its most simplest of terms, refers to His utter differentness. God is different in many ways: in His nature, size and scope – He is Spirit, ever present, everywhere present, all-powerful, all-knowing, all-wise. But then there is the ethical or moral element – He is utterly good, totally perfect (cannot be improved upon), beyond criticism.

Holiness in Us - Generally: Now when this is seen in human beings, and it should be seen in some measure in every Christian, this sense of being utterly different should include

•  our godliness (the presence of God with us and being the focus of all we do), and

•  our piety (the way we express our devotion to God), and

•  our spirituality (fully embracing this material world but also clearly operating in the world of the Spirit)

Holiness in Us – Specifics: But these distinctives, these things that make us stand out in the crowd in a good way, should be able to be seen in specific characteristics that the New Testament speaks about. Here are some of the key ones:

Love: Love is a foundational command (see Jn 13:34) still seen in later centuries: “See, they say, how they love one another” (Tertullian's  Apology, Chapter XXXIX). Love is seen in compassion, care, acceptance, all very ‘tangible' visible things. It is love (total commitment come what may) that was seen in Jesus and is what binds relationships together today. The love that holds us is often expressed as ‘grace'.

Unity: “I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.” (Jn 17:23) The presence of God in us – revealed in the ways we have been considering in so many of these studies – working to make the unity that IS, visible.

Truth: The word comes up about 35 times in the Old Testament but about 102 times in the New Testament. “We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth .” (Jn 1:14) Jesus was truly God and truly man, and in both there was nothing that was unreal, nothing false, nothing of pretence, just absolutely genuine. Can that be us, with no pretence, utterly real? Can it be seen in the ways we live and deal with others, seen in honesty and integrity? Can it be seen in purity, having nothing to do with the distortions and perversions of the life of sinful mankind?

Goodness: Goodness is difficult to define but obvious when you see it. Something that is good is something that is right, appropriate, pleasant, apt, enjoyable. Goodness is the expression of that and, yes, it does have a moral dimension but goes further that just ‘doing right', it goes beyond that with such things as mercy and grace that may be seen in generosity or hospitality.

And So? So, yes, we are to be distinctive by the spiritual power and revelation seen through our lives as we allow Jesus to work through us bringing in his kingdom rule, but it is also to be seen in the nature or character of who we are, his children and his disciples, displaying his nature: “ love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Gal 5:22,23) Not work or character, but both: working with his character, both revealing him, both glorifying the Father. This is what the kingdom is all about, this is what the body of Christ is all about. Can we grow in this, for this is what growth is all about?

Lessons in Growth Meditations: 45. Recap 3B

Eph 2:6,7   And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.

Jesus transforms life: As we moved into the final Part, looking to apply practically the theory of the previous Part, we observed the barrenness of religious life in Israel until Jesus came bringing life transformation through the power of God. That was a challenge for us today, to become a people who don't simply act as spiritual sponges absorbing the word through sermons Sunday by Sunday, but who are to genuinely become the ‘body of Christ', learning to minister one to another and then to the world outside.

God & People of Communication: We moved on into thinking about us being a people of revelation, expressing Jesus to the people around us as we learn to listen to him and then convey what we hear to one another, to strengthen, encourage and comfort one another. I gave illustrations of listening to God. We pursued this whole subject of learning to listen to God and gave a further variety of illustrations. We confronted the fact that the word, ‘said' comes up again and again in respect of God in Scripture and considered the God who communicates and still wants to speak to His gathered people.

Guidelines for Personal Prophecy: We laid out ground rules that personal prophecy today is to strengthen, encourage, and comfort, and we are to keep it simple and express love in accordance with God's written word. Our words should come with humility and deference and without dogmatism, in everyday English, without dressing it up, and being open enough to check how our recipients are receiving it, and leaving the outcome in the Lord's hands. In such ways we can be available to the Lord to bless others.

An Imaginary Example: In the following four ‘studies' I gave an imaginary example of a prayer meeting and what came out of it so that we might see the fruit of listening to God and then following up with raised faith levels to see how He wants to work out the answers to that praying.

Living in the Fallen World: To bring a balance to what could potentially become triumphalist teaching, we considered the reality of living in this fallen world where things go wrong, which can often bring confusion, pain and questions. We considered the matter of discipline which can be painful but is always for our good in the long-term.

Exercising Authority: Back on the main track we considered how, being seated with Christ in the heavenly realms, as he rules at his Father's right hand, bringing in the kingdom of God on the earth, we may be led by him to exercise authority as through prayer we may proclaim, testify, command, bind or loose and pronounce the will of God. To catch the bigger picture, we reminded ourselves of the ‘creation mandate' where we have been called not only to fill the earth but to reign over it and subdue it, and we saw that this includes the vast majority of activities that we call ‘work'. This not only means that we seek to do well in our work, but we look for ways that the Lord might want to work in it sand through it.

How Jesus ruled: Considering the subject of authority, we considered various ways that Jesus ‘ruled' while he was on earth – having control over the physical world, which included bringing healing etc. – but also in the way he controlled himself and his tongue and his emotions. When we apply them to ourselves we see areas of life for us to work into as he leads us.

Being a Relevant People: We expanded and clarified our thinking about being a relevant people in the midst of today's world, as we reminded ourselves of the outworkings of that imaginary prayer meeting and all that followed. The outworking of all this, as we are led by Jesus, means lives are touched and changed and circumstances can be transformed, and God is glorified as the kingdom is expressed. We noted that it isn't just supernatural gifting but also expresses the nature and character of Jesus to bless the world around us through our ‘good works'.

Being a Distinctive People: Finally, we considered our distinctiveness that is holiness, being utterly different in the mould of the Lord, specifically as we express love, unity, truth, and goodness or, more generally, the ‘fruit of the Spirit'. In these ways we are to grow as a body that is led by the head, Jesus, who is seated at his Father's right hand in heaven, bringing in the kingdom of God on earth.

   And So? How can we sum all this up? This third phase, if we may call it that, of Jesus being glorified when he is lifted up, of him ruling at his Father's right hand in heaven, is all about how, when we allow ourselves to be led by his Spirit we will become a people who don't only express the character of Jesus but also the works of Jesus. It will be not only by what we have historically called ‘sharing the gospel' (presenting the truths of the New Testament about who Jesus is and how he has come to bring us salvation) but also by being his ‘body' today, being led by his Spirit as he rules in this world in the midst of his enemies, to express God's kingdom in the midst of the effects of the fallen world around us. As we do this, lives and circumstances will change. The only question is, will we rise to be this people the scriptures describe?

Lessons in Growth Meditations: 46. Conclusion

Jn 12:32  “when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all men to myself.”

Rev 1:5   Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.

How to put all these studies together? It is impossible in a relatively small space to cover every one of the studies of the past six weeks. All we can do is observe our starting point, our finishing point and the key parts in between.

Jesus our model for growth: Our starting point was our ultimate goal which was to consider the New Testament call to us to grow. Our framework for that was John 12:32 above and I suggested from the outset that there were expressions or outworkings of that verse: first, Jesus lifted up on the cross to die for our sins, second, Jesus lifted up from death by his resurrection and, third, Jesus exalted on high through the ascension so he is now seated at his Father's right hand, where his presently ruling.

Jesus' model applied to us: That was the framework, and I suggested that this same framework can be observed in the Christian life – first, our call to die to the old life and to sin, then second, our call to live the resurrected, Spirit-empowered life, and finally, to realise and see that that we are seated with Christ in the heavenly realms where we are to rule with him, as the Spirit-led body of Christ on the earth, that is bringing in the kingdom or rule of God on the earth. Perhaps a few key items for each of those.

Death: Without death to the old life and to our old way of doing things and our old ambitions, we cannot come and receive Christ as both Saviour and Lord. Christ cannot bring his salvation to us and cannot lead us in a new life if we insist on holding onto the things of our old carnal life.

Resurrection: Without death there can never be resurrection. Resurrection is the shorthand picture of what takes place when we come to Christ. When we are ‘born again' it is a work of the Holy Spirit who God places within and so the Spirit becomes an inner source of revelation (teaching) and power (for life transformation and service). All the virtues and all the gifts and fruits of the Spirit find their origin and expression in Him.

Ascension: This is the area that many of us struggle with most. It is first of all seeing ourselves seated with Christ in heaven, linked by his Holy Spirit, second, it is understanding that now he is there ruling over the affairs of the world, even in the midst of his enemies who will eventually be destroyed, enemies that are all things contrary to the way God originally created this world perfect, and third, it is seeing ourselves as now his body on the earth, directed by him from heaven, led and empowered by his Spirit on a daily basis and, finally, fourth it is understanding that his body now, as two thousand years ago, is to work to bring the kingdom or rule of God on the earth.

It is the enormity of this third phase that leaves many of us struggling and is, perhaps, the most difficult area for growth. Perhaps there are various reasons for that. First , it is a spiritual experience that is expressed into the physical world. We are all right with the spiritual bit (e.g. simple prayer) but when that is extended to hearing God and responding to His directions that mean us stepping out in the physical world to bring physical changes, our faith wavers.

Second , we have settled in the past in the good, but only partial, teaching that the spiritual parts of being a Christian are just about being a witness, sharing the Gospel with friends, family etc. etc. Now that is good and right, but it stops short of Jesus call that said, “whoever believes in me will do the works I have been doing.” (Jn 14:12) and his explanation of those works seen in Matt 11:5 and Lk 4:18,19. The other ‘spiritual' aspect that we have watered down is in respect of prayer which is so often simply reduced to telling God what He ought to do and uttering words into the air, instead of it being a life-filled experience where there is a two-way communication. It is the so-often absent ‘hearing element' of prayer that releases faith for action.

And So: So there we are, death, resurrection and ascended to a place of ruling, that is our syllabus or our learning programme, a programme that is not merely about learning words but putting them into action (Mt 28:20). To conclude, note our second starter verse from above: “Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.” (Rev 1:5)

There again we have the three phases of the life and ministry of the Son of God. First , he was a faithful witness, sharing in all the Father was doing (Jn 5:17,19), perfectly fulfilling the plan of the Godhead, formulated before the beginning of time and resulting in his death on a cross for the sins of mankind. Second , he is the firstborn from the dead, having been raised to life after death. Third , he is now the ruler of all the earth, seated at his Father's right hand, working slowly and purposefully in the midst of his enemies on the earth to bring the rule of God which will be culminated in his Second Coming.

Oh yes, there is very much yet a future element to all this, as there is for us. That says to us that we are working towards a guaranteed future when, if we learn these things, we will hear, “ Well done, good and faithful servant!” while at the same time being welcomed home as the sons and daughters, the children of God, that we are. Hallelujah and Amen!