Not Judgmental but Prayer-mental ~ Francis Frangipane

Not Judgmental, But Prayer-mental

Mercy, Not WrathThe church is created not to fulfill God's wrath, but to complete His mercy. Remember, we are called to be a "house of prayer for all…nations." Consider passionately this phrase: "prayer for." Jesus taught His disciples to "pray for" those who would persecute or mistreat them (Matt.5 44). When Job "prayed for" his friends, God fully restored him (Job 42:10). We are to "pray for the peace of Jerusalem" (Ps. 122:6), and "pray for" each other so that we may be healed (James 5:16).

According to the Word of God, the Lord "desires all men to be saved" (1 Tim. 2:4). Therefore, Paul urged "that entreaties and prayers…be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who are in authority" (vv. 1-2). You see, the call is to pray for people.

"But," you argue, "my country (or city) is a modern manifestation of ancient Babylon."

I don't think so. But even if it were, when the Lord exiled Israel to Babylon, He didn't order His people to judge and condemn their new cities. Rather, He said, "Seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you…and pray to the LORD on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare" (Jer. 29:7).

Time after time, the scriptural command is to pray for, not against; to praymercifully, not vindictively. God's call is for prayer moved by compassion, not condemnation. Indeed, at its very essence, the nature of intercession is to appeal to God for forgiveness and redemption to come to sinful people.

We have studied what is wrong with our society and can prove, with charts and surveys, the trends of sin, yet we have failed to appreciate the influence of the intercessions of Christ. We consider ourselves experts on the nature and cause of sin, but deny the nature and cause of Christ, which is redemption. Friends, being informed by the news media is in no way the same thing as being transformed into the nature of the Savior.

The media sees what is wrong with the world and exposes it; Christ saw what was wrong and died for it. If one could gaze into the image being created within the heart of the church, one would find that it would be more the cynical attitude of the news media than the redemptive attitude of our Shepherd. Righteousness must ascend higher than ascribing to the moral views of our political party; we are called to the standards of God.

Study Isaiah 53. It reveals in wondrous detail the Savior's nature: Christ numbered Himself with the sinners (v. 12). He interceded for the transgressors (v. 12). He is "with us" (Matt. 1:23) and "for us" (Rom. 8:31), even when He is speaking to us of our iniquity.

But the world sees a church with rocks in its hands, looking for adulterers and sinners. We have become the "church of the angry Christians." In the drama that is unfolding in the world today, we have not usually been playing the role of Christ, but more often the part of the Pharisees. Let us drop the rocks from our hands, then lift our hands, without wrath, in prayer to God (1 Tim. 2:8).

"Prayer-Mental," Not Judgmental
God does not want us to be judgmental; He wants us prayer-mental. As instinctively as we have judged people, we should pray for them instead. Today, countless Christians are angry with their elected officials. We say our anger is "righteous indignation." I too feel this troubling that people elected to serve have so misused our national treasure, bringing our nation to near ruin. Yet, if my goal is to be like Christ, I must remember: Jesus expressed "righteous indignation" for, perhaps, a total of one hour during His recorded ministry. Once was for the hardness of people's hearts (Mark 3:5), another was for the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and scribes (Matt. 23:13-36), and other times were at the temple when the Father's house was used for something other than redemptive prayer (Mark 11:17). So, yes, Jesus was angry, but His anger was always replaced with love and intercession for God's people.

How long has your anger lasted? Are you sure your love has not grown cold? Are you sure you are not seeking to justify a root of bitterness and call it righteous indignation?

"Well," some argue, "our government officials have sinned." When Paul called for prayer for kings in 1 Timothy 2:1-2, Nero was emperor of Rome. Nero was one of the most corrupt men who ever lived. He did not have an illicit relationship or two; he had public orgies. He skinned Christians alive. There were occasions when he illuminated his night banquets with living torches, Christians, who were tarred and then set ablaze on poles. Nero and his guests dined surrounded by Christians dying for their faith. Yet Paul wrote that we should pray "for kings and all who are in authority" (v. 2). Nero was king when Paul wrote this command.

Some may misread my words, assuming that I think there is nothing wrong in government or society. Yes, there are many things wrong in our world, and God will certainly call us, at various times, to confront the sins that plague our lands. However, my concern is not as much with the White House as with the Lord's house! If we are not praying for our elected officials, the least we can do is to stop cursing them!

The Father's house is to be a house of prayer for kings and all in authority. We can adamantly disagree with the political views that a leader has, but we must also adamantly cry to God on their behalf and serve as intercessors, even for our cultural enemies.

I can understand the reason for anger toward elected officials, especially if we consider that they are not doing their jobs. But if all we do is judge them, we are not doing our jobs. It is not the Holy Spirit within us that calls for God to judge sinners; it is our frustration with people and the delay in the restoration of righteousness. My friend, beware; for when you pray for judgment to come, remember that it begins "with the household of God" (1 Pet. 4:17). To pray for God to judge a nation or city for its sins actually initiates judgment from God on the church for its sins! And the Almighty will start with those who are quickest to judge others!

When I pray for the political leaders guiding the United States, I ask the Lord to protect them from the influence of ungodly counselors. Where they have failed, I appeal to God to forgive them and to show mercy in regard to the relaxed moral standards of our land and especially concerning abortion, which breaks the Lord's heart. For those who are clearly corrupt, since we are a democracy, I pray that God would replace the evil leaders with righteous leaders.

The Lord desires for us to "stand in the gap" (Ezek. 22:30), positioning ourselves between the failings of man and the sufficiency and forgiveness of God. Then, He calls us to persevere in this intercession until, in one form or another, righteous change occurs in our society.

For all who are embittered with their nation's leaders, remember: each of us must give an account for our sins at the "judgment seat of Christ" (2 Cor. 5:10). Let us consider with holy fear the warning of God: "Judgment will be merciless to one who has shown no mercy; mercy triumphs over judgment" (James 2:13).

Father, I ask You to forgive me for my lack of forgiveness toward our elected officials. Lord, I ask You to forgive, cleanse, and renew them in Your mighty presence. Appear to them, Lord, in the night hours; save them from the lies and plans of hell. Touch and heal their families, and renew them as well in Your love. Lord, I ask You to forgive my harshness toward all who have offended me. O God, this day, deliver me from my judgmental attitudes! Help me to remember in all things and at all times that "mercy triumphs over judgment"!

The Mission Field: Planting Season- Planting a Missionary!

We have been steady in "tilling the soil" in prayer for Long Island/NYC for four years now. Our commission is an inter-denominational mission base that worships God and prays for Long Island/NYC 24-7-365. This is not simply a good idea. It is God's idea. It is prayer that ushers in revival for the church and paves the way for the region to shift from the "world system" into the Kingdom.

In order to fulfill this goal, we know that we need Father to provide full and part-time missionaries who will give of their time, finances and energy. In the economy of God's kingdom, we reap what we sow.

On Tuesday Evening, Angela DeLuca is going to be at IHOP-LI , speaking about her call as an intercessory missionary. We were "lent" her services for this year and Father is calling her back to Kansas City to serve there. She has been given to us as a "seed for the sower" and we want to honor the gift Father has given us and bless her with support from Long Island. We have a wonderful opportunity to "sow" an intercessory missionary and pave the way for others to engage in this expression of mission here on Long Island. We believe that as we freely give, we clear the way for more missionaries here as well.

Please ask Father if He would like you to come and learn about what we are building here and in KC and if He would like to gift you in joining us in supporting her. She will need prayer support and financial support. She will also need TLC and communication as she leaves her family to engage in night and day prayer on behalf of NY and the Nations. What follows is her note.

"You are invited to partner with me in ministry!

I am moving back to Kansas City in July to re-join staff at IHOP-KC, and I am in need of financial and prayer partners. I would love to have you come and fellowship with me over some pizza, and share with me as I tell my story. I will be giving a presentation after dinner to walk you through how the Lord has called me into this ministry of worship and intercession, and to tell you more about the International House of Prayer in Kansas City, where I will be serving.

Here's the plan:

6:00 ~ Pizza & fellowship
6:30 ~ Ministry Presentation
7:00 ~ Invitation and prayer
7:30 ~ IHOP-LI worship and intercession

I have truly enjoyed building friendships with each one of you, and would love to share with you in this ministry. Please be praying and asking the Lord if this is something He would have you sow into. I am excited for what the Lord is doing through the prayer movement and would love the opportunity to excite your heart as well!

Hope to see you there!

Blessings,
Angela

Threshold Covenant by Craig Hill

I was sent this article by a friend. It is a very interesting look at the passover blood on the doorposts.

THE THRESHOLD COVENANT

Craig Hill pastor of Family Foundations International.

I have found that there are several profound principles and practices in the Bible that we, as westerners, totally miss simply because the eastern imagery is unfamiliar to us. One such practice, the understanding of which is a key that opens profound new insight into the Bible, is a particular type of blood covenant known as the "Threshold Covenant".

In the ancient East, when a host became aware that a guest was to call on him, if he wished to receive and honor that guest, he would pour out a sacrifice of blood at the threshold of his dwelling. The sight of this blood sacrifice was then taken by the guest to be an invitation to pass over, or step across the blood-stained threshold and enter into a covenant of hospitality with the host. Since the blood on the threshold represents the life of the host, the greatest insult a guest could convey would be to step on the threshold, and thus in the blood (Hebrews 10: 26-29).

Blood Covenants
Covenants in the East have for centuries been ratified by the outpouring of blood. While blood in the western mind is usually thought to represent death, the the eastern mind, blood represents life, God told the Hebrew people in Leviticus 17:11 "For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you upon the altar to make atonement for your souls".

So the blood poured out on the threshold was representative of the life of the host. This greeting customs was, and still is in many parts of the Middle East today, commonly known and practiced.

The costliness of the blood was indicative of the dgree of honor to be conveyed to the guest. If the guest was to be lightly esteemed, the blood of a dove or pigeon might be offered. If he was to be honored more highly, then perhaps the blood of a goat or an ox may be used. If the guest was a king, then the blood of a very special animal called "the fatted calf" reserved for a king, would be used.

So, when an invited guest crossed the threshold of the host's home, he was agreeing to come in peace and to support, bless and honor that host while in his home. No honorable man would cross the threshold of a host's home with an intent to rob, kill, or do the host harm. The host, on the other hand, by receiving the guest, was obligated to defend, protect and provide for the guest while in his home. To an eastern mind, how strong is that covenant of hospitality? So strong that a host would even protect a stranger who has passed over, or covenant-crossed his threshold, to the same degree that he would protect one of his own family members.

Abiding Under the Shadow:
We find recorded in Genesis 19:1-11 the account of Lot receiving into this home as guests two angels, whom he believed to be strangers on a journey. The wicked men of the city came that evening to Lot's home and demanded that he grant them access to the two strangers that they might homosexually rape them. Lot, as a covenant host, responded that he would not give them up, but rather would protect these guests to even a greater degree than he would protect his own virgin daughters, because, he states, "they have come under the shadow of my roof" Genesis 19: 6-8.

This phrase "to come under one's shadow," is very interesting. It is a Hebrew idiom denoting the covenant commitment of a host to protect one who has covenant-crossed the threshold with all available resources, even unto the death of the host. Without threshold covenant understanding, Lot's response makes no sense to us as westerners. However, this insight opens up for us the incredible statment God is making to us in Psalm 91: 1-2 when we are told, "He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High, shall abide UNDER THE SHADOW OF THE ALMIGHTY." God is stating here that, to the same degree Lot was willing to protect those who had passed over this threshold, with all available resources, God is willing to do the same for all who have covenant-crossed His threshold where the blood of the Messiah is poured out.

Undestanding Passover:
Let's now look at how this custom of threshold covenenat applies to the Passover. In ancient times, it was common practice for a king to travel throughout his land securing the loyalty of his subjects and ridding the land of his enemies. Usually, the king would travel with a large entourage of diplomatic emissaries, his harem, and his army. In each village, either he, personally, or one of his diplomats would pass over (covenant-cross) the threshold of the homes of each loyal family, enter in that home in peace, and delcare the terms of the kingdom. However, wherever the king found a disloyal family who refused his sovereignty over them, he would not pass over the threshold of that house, but rather would send the army in and rid that home of his enemies. How would the king tell which families were loyal to him and which were not? The primary indicator was the blood poured out at the threshold of the house, inviting him in.

This understanidng of the historic, eastern threshold covenant greeting custom and its apllication to the visit of a king is critical in understanding the events surrounding the Hebrew Passover recorded in Exodus 12. I believe that this event has been taught, by many Jewish and Christian teachers, in the opposite manner from the way in which it actually happened.

"And you shall take a bunch of hyssop, dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two doorposts with the blood that is in the basin (threshold very bottom of the doorway). And none of you shall go out of the door of his house until morning. For the Lord will pass through (abar) to strike the Egyptians; and when He sees the blood on the lintel and on the two doorposts, the Lord will pass over (pasakh) the door and not allow the destroyer to come into your houses to strike you" Exodus 12: 22-23.

In looking at the Hebrew verbs used in this passage (abar and pasakh), it became evident to me that the way I had looked at this event all of my life was exactly the opposite of the way it actually happened. I had alwasy been taught that the Passover event had to do with the blood of the lamb being placed on the door of the house to ward God off and make sure that He didn't come into the house. The concept was more of God being a wrathfull killer, Whom you want to ensure will not come into your house.

The actual event was just the opposite. God told Israel that when He saw the blood on the lintel and doorposts of their homes, He would pass over (Covenant-Cross)(pasakh) that door. In other words, He would come into that house and not allow the army (destroyer angel of death, that He had released to destroy the Egyptians) to come in to harm them. He would rather instead send the destroyer (army) into the houses of the disloyal enemies who did not place the blood of the lamb on the lintel and doorposts of their houses to welcome the conquering King.

an observation: When we look at the lintel and door posts. It creates a Chet, the 8th letter of the Hebrew aleph-beit. which means life. So the angel of death would have seen the the LIFE (God made manifest throught the Blood of Jeshus, King of King and Lord of Lords) was a guest. And the angel would know the Blood of the creator and not harm the occupants. WOW.
added by editor

While this threshold covenant greeting custom would have been very familiar to the Israelites of that time, it is very foreign and unfamiliar to most of us as modern westerners. Consequently, many of us have misinterpreted the purpose of the blood of the lamb in Passover. Which picture of God more describes the relationship you have embraced with Him? Do you perceive God as someone to invite into your home, or someone to ward off and keep out of your home?

Once we understand the eastern concept of threshold covenant ant the Jewish Passover, we are now prepared to understand the New Covenant made by the blood of Messiah Yeshua (Jeremiah 31: 31-34). Yeshua came to give up His life and pour out His blood at the threshold of His Father's eternal dwelling. In the New Covenant, God Almighty reverses the roles form the Hebrew Passover. He now says, "I wish to treat you as a king, and to invite you to step across the threshold where the most precious blood in the universe is poured out. This is not the blood of a goat, a bullock or even "the fatted calf." This is My own blood poured out through Messiah Yeshua." When we step across this threshold, we enter into a blood covenant with Him, thus obtaining His authority and benefits including eternal life, healing and protection.

Article by Craig Hill
Family Foundations International, in Littleton, Colorado.

The Burn: Long Island Guidelines

Even though there are guidelines that I posted on this month's Burn event, I rewrote them and decided to post them here in case you need them! Love, t

The Burn: Long Island Guidelines

This Burn is our fast of time and feast of affection. It is a wonderful opportunity to draw together as the Body of Christ and offer the gift of worship in unity and love. We are intentionally coming together as an answer to Jesus’ prayer for us to be One with Him and each other. Let's come ready to offer adoration to the One who loves us.

ALL of the arts are welcome to present an offering! Let me know if you have something you want to present. If you are interested in leading a set of worship, please let me know at Gworship9@yahoo.com. 

There are no stars here before the Lord. Everyone is invited to participate in worship and prayer. You may jump in musically provided you are able to yield to the leader and work with your instrument in a larger group. (Sorry, this is not the place for beginners to try out an instrument although we encourage you to learn!!)

I.                   Prayer: We pray the Bible.

A.                All prayers should be biblical, edifying, encouraging prayers – blessings, thanksgiving, supplications and petitions before the Lord. 

B.                 Testimonies of the Lord’s work are worship! We love them! Please share but keep it concise/to the point. Make sure it is in line with the movement of the set. If you are unsure, ask the Burn Leader.

C.                Prayers are to God alone. He knows the deal. Please do not explain your prayers, teach/preach from your prayers or yell on the microphone.

D.                Please do not correct the “body of Christ” or the world either subtly or overtly.

E.                 Please do not address or take on satan or powers and principalities. That arena belongs to God.

F.                 Healing through deliverance should take place in private if at all possible to protect the dignity of the brother or sister that is being prayed for. Ask for help from the leadership and we’ll take you somewhere safe.

G.                For order and love’s sake, the Burn/Prayer Leader in cooperation with the Worship Leader is the one who gives instruction for the larger group if there is an opportunity for ministry.

II.                Worship Leaders: Decide in advance if there is a leader or two or if you want to wait and see if someone is feeling "anointed"

III.             Whoever is leading needs to be comfortable with communicating clearly, be comfortable holding their gifts for flare and talent in check to serve the larger group and be very patient with those who will jump in even if they are not really sounding as nice as the leader may like or being as sensitive to the Spirit as they would prefer i.e., they need a gentle touch !

IV.              The instructions for your set (keep them short and simple) and overall directions need to be given up front before everyone jumps in so they are confident and they know how to follow you when you are changing direction and can signal you if they are inspired.

V.                 Come prepared with one, two or three really simple songs and a few 2, 3 or 4 easy chord progressions that are also in easy musical keys to follow. You may teach new songs, but most of the songs chosen should do two things:

A.                Convey your heart and yet

B.                 Be familiar to everyone in order to act as a diving board so that the worship can spring from it corporately and spontaneously.

VI.              Leaders:  please bring a copy of the music with lyrics in simple "chord" notation (e.g. G, Am, C, D, etc. ) and we'll either make enough copies for everyone or if you would like I can set up the screen and they can be posted.

VII.           Leader(s) need to come at least 30 minutes early so there is enough time to make copies and make last minute changes. I have LOTS of music and if you get a last minute change in your spirit, you can scan the “library” and it will give us time to adjust.

VIII.        Chord Progressions: The chord progressions will be useful for following the Holy Spirit in free spontaneous worship without losing people along the way. It will also pave the way for prayer. I know that many musicians may be able to jump in without instruction but when there is a large group that has never worked with every person in the room musically and they are not all as free or familiar with the same music.... that leads to a lot of insecurity. This is about love and preferring one another.   There are varied skill levels, spontaneity levels and worship streams/preferences at play. Taking this step of restraint prefers others and offers some safety and stability until everyone is confident.

IX.              Chord progressions should be communicated clearly and out loud so everyone can follow regardless of their skill level. Not everyone will need it but at least those less adept at improvisation musically will still feel valued and a part of the larger tapestry/symphony.

X.                 If, as a team, you would rather wait and see who is "anointed" that night - that works too but then everyone coming out should to be encouraged in advance to bring ONE easy song with a chord progression and then wait and see how the Holy Spirit leads.

XI.             

An unforseen follow up to my last contemplation

I rewrote the last blog and expanded my memories of the prayer set and the lessons taught. It seemed the Holy Spirit was bringing to mind Matthew 11. When I was done and had reposted the edit, I read through my email and ran across this. I realized the Lord was driving the lesson home...
http://www.internetmonk.com/archive/the-ninth-station-jesus-falls-the-third-time

The Ninth Station: Jesus Falls the Third Time

17 Apr by Lisa Dye

Scripture

“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and familiar with suffering. Like one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not” (Isaiah 53:3 NIV).
“In bringing many sons to glory, it was fitting that God, for whom and through whom everything exists, should make the author of their salvation perfect through suffering” (Hebrews 2:10).
(With references in the Meditation to Matthew 11:28-30, Matthew 23:2-4, Matthew 26:36-44, 2 Corinthians 12:9, 10, Philippians 2:5-11, Hebrews 4:14-16.)

Meditation
Jesus is reeling in the street, struggling through the gauntlet of human flesh and sweat and dust and hurled abuse. Simon is there, carrying the cross for him to Golgotha just ahead. Yet, it hardly matters. Jesus can no longer walk – no longer feel his feet touch the stones of the street. Weakness so pervades his body that even his agony is blurred by numbness. He is nearly empty of everything – of blood, of pain and of his whole being.

The clamor of the crowd stills for a moment as Jesus stops moving and the procession halts. Those near hear the rasp of his ragged breath, watching him sway in slow motion and collapse. Impact forces the air from his body in a sharp groan. Then it is quiet.

The crowd peers at him with a low buzz of speculation starting to rise. Is he already dead? The rabbi’s chest heaves and the people start shouting again.

While the cacophony gains momentum, Jesus opens his eyes and studies them, the heat from the street renewing his consciousness of pain. He has been pressed to the ground by their guilt and staggered under their load of suffering. Now he is with them in profound weakness, pierced by the paradox of the circumstance. Burdened beyond bearing on the one hand and left void on the other, he is both filled up with sorrows and empty of strength, inadequate for further existence.

Yet, he knew it would come to this. He left the Father, risking everything to enter humanity. He laid aside his prior place to be with his people and knew there were only two ways to return. Both would regain his position, but only one would make him their Savior. He had submitted and served and suffered for them and he would not return to his Father without the completion of these things. He would not take his place again by force, by a bold grasp of what was rightfully his. He would arrive there humbly, obediently and submissively – poured out of all that could be poured out, altogether abandoned, perfected in his partaking of human sorrows.

The enemy had tried him … to see if he would depart without the payment. The temptation to return by the easier path had come in Gethsemane. “My Father, if it is possible may this cup be taken from me …” But the cup would bring the consummation of the course. The cup would make him the Christ. And it was only as Christ he could make this people his brothers, sons and daughters of God.
Now, Jesus feels the soldier’s foot prod him to move, but he cannot. This weakness is part of the cup. This weakness is theirs, but they don’t know it. Each of these people around him is helpless, without power and without life before God. But he, having shared the nature and glory of equality with his Father, is being emptied out for them. He is feeling the devastating drain of his own power and life before God. This is not a fraction of the world’s weakness. It is all of it. The void being left in him is measureless.

Yet, it is the way of perfection. There would never in all eternity be a weakness he would not comprehend. His people would always find his sympathy as they approached him and he would speak to his Father for them with infinite compassion born out of infinite suffering.

That he is now bearing their guilt and sicknesses and embodying their frailties means they will be free. His words to them in the towns surrounding Galilee have not empty ones. “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” These people have tried to keep the law, but the requirements are tiresome and impossible. Their teachers have done nothing to help, but continue putting the heavy loads of more law on them.

But no more. By his perfect living he is atoning for them. By his present suffering he is identifying with them. By his imminent dying he is purchasing their peace with God. Once and for all, he is fulfilling the law that they have labored under. He is plumbing the depths of their weakness in human flesh and with divine understanding so that he might welcome these profoundly weary people into his yoke. So that he might make their burdens light. He is drinking the last dregs of the cup that will make them whole.This time the soldier reaches down and hefts the almost dead weight of Jesus. “Come. We’re almost there.”

Action

I will not despise my human frailties, but anticipate the opportunity they provide to see Christ’s life manifested powerfully in me. I know I can boldly approach God with every weakness because Christ is at his right hand interceding with a perfect compassion that comes from perfect understanding. As I stand there, I will expect what has been promised – mercy and help and Christ’s strength coming to rest on me.

Prayer

Jesus, forgive me for so quickly seeking to escape weakness, for panicking when it invades my life. When I am confronted with my frailty, I am often like Jonah and take desperate measures to flee it. Thank you that I cannot outrun your love or your compassion or your desire to be my help in times of need. Help me to see my most fragile moments as chances to know the fullness of fellowship with you and experience the flow of your life and power that longs to rush into my empty and weak places.

Chorus

We adore you, O Christ, and we bless you. Because by your holy cross you have redeemed the world.

Contemplations on Isaiah 40

We started the prayer set on Friday with Matthew 5 and the Sermon on the Mount. For unknown reasons, I followed by singing/contemplating Isaiah 40 beginning in verse 21-22 with this little chorus: "Do You not know, have you not heard... It's God Who sits above the circle of the earth." Little did I know that there is a clear path between the King's power and perspective and living in the King's value system.

As is often the case, when I sit before the Lord and listen for His promptings, I get a deeper revelation of His great kindness and love. He leads me into passages that I have always developed in the perception of anger and wrath over our sins and He redefines them in light of Jesus and love.

This little meditation set was no different. As I read and sang further, I saw He was describing His strength on our behalf to subdue all that oppresses us and His comfort in letting us know that He knows, He understands and He does not grow weary in encouraging us and teaching us - helping us to be "overcomers" just like Jesus. (Actually, it would be better to say "with Jesus, through Jesus and in Jesus". )

In verse 29 in particular, He says that He gives strength to the weary and to him who lacks might, He increases power. I pondered that - what do you give strength and power for, Lord?

Suddenly, one of our older saints began to pray Revelation 3:12-13 and it confirmed my thoughts:
¹²'He who overcomes, I will make him a pillar in the temple of My God, and he will not go out from it anymore; and I will write on him the name of My God, and the name of the city of My God, ^the new Jerusalem, which comes down out of heaven from My God, and My new name. He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.'

It became clear that being an overcomer was the key and it brought me deeper into reading the passage in that light. I saw a clear encouragement that He helps us in our poverty of spirit, our meekness,etc.by supplying the power of love (grace) we need. Read it with me. The entire chapter of Isaiah 40 was about comforting God's people that her warfare had ended and He had removed her iniquity - by Whom? By His own power. He was coming in strength (get this) like a Shepherd carrying lambs in His bosom and gently leading nursing ewes. It was by His power, strength and tenderness that she would overcome - that she would live the Kingdom life by the strength of the King. He, Himself is the strength to the weary to overcome. As we wait for the Lord, He comes alongside us and gives us new strength - HIS- to mount up above our destitution with wings like eagles. We conquer the sins that beset us with His strength - not ours. Selah.

I love that we live in that story now with Jesus - the Good Shepherd. John 10:11

In Matthew 11 we see this idea repeated, "Come to Me, all you who are weary and heavy laden and you will find rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” Matthew 11:28 

Actually, if you spend time in Matthew 11, you'll see that Matthew parallels Isaiah 40's description of the one crying out in the wilderness with Jesus speaking about John in this light and the in the same section, He describes Jesus as the supplier of strength and the answer to our struggle. He is the provider of power for him who lacks might. It is the lead in to "Come to me". He is clearly the gentle power supply. "Take my yoke upon you for my yoke is easy and my burden is light."


The following link is to a brief devotion by John Piper ( To the Rob Bell defenders... humility is called for. Have a listen. There is wisdom and awe in his heart for Jesus. He is due honor as a beloved brother. To those who don't understand this reference - good for you!)  Anyway - John is contemplating the very same thing from a different passage in scripture. The reference is different but the idea is the same... The God who sits above the circle of the earth is deeply, lovingly invested in providing the will and strength to live in the victory of being an "overcomer" and a pillar in the Temple of the Lord.
http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/your-acting-is-his-acting

IHOP-LI Mission Statement

Introduction to Night and Day Worship/Prayer:

For He rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins. He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, both in the heavens and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things have been created through Him and for Him. Colossians 1:13-16

The scriptures above are the primary reason for building a House of Prayer on Long Island. He is our Creator. He has shown us His Beauty, showered us with His Mercies and stirred our love for Him from a freed heart. He is so very worthy of our unending worship and our joyful affirmation of His desires. This alone is the reason for Night and Day Worship/Prayer in the region. However, there is a subordinate reason:

Love + Justice = Mission.

God is the brilliant Creator and Demonstrator of this equation. His unyielding commitment in Love combined with the mercy of His Just Heart sets in motion the mission of His transformational grace; all to His Glory and the glory of His creation.

In Isaiah 56-61 and Luke 18 (among other passages), God clearly links our worship-filled prayer in faith to this equation and outcome. He is clear that His love is not only enormous it is also deeply interactive; linked to our involvement. Woven into the fabric of His creation is this truth: the emergence of the Kingdom of God here on earth comes through agreement with Him, expressed through the pleasures of prayer, worship and deeds of mercy/justice. It is within this dynamic that we discover, in Him, unending treasures of joy.

When we pray in agreement with His heart, God is demonstrably loved, honored and enjoyed. Serendipitously, so are we. As a result, His Kingdom manifests in power and true, biblical justice is released on earth as it is in Heaven. This results in the transformation of hearts and lives through Love.

Understanding these principles, as we corporately agree with God through concerted intercession, we are preparing the way for the Church itself (the Body of Christ) to have a strategic impact of Love and Power in the region.  The ultimate goal is the summing of all things in Christ, Who is both the beginning and the end.

IHOP-LI: The Ark House of Prayer is a growing regional, mission-base; expressing these principles by serving Long Island and New York City's metroplex through worship-filled prayer. Our prevailing desire is to see Long Island/NYC fully equipped and engaged in Worship-filled Prayer 24-7-365; carrying a mantle of love, power and the good news that Jesus is The King and the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.
Our desire is:

1. To develop an inter-denominational 24-7-365 Worship/Prayer Center
2. To facilitate relational connections between Church and Para-church ministries from all over Long Island/NYC through worshipful music/the arts and prayer for our region
3. To serve, support and equip worship communities on Long Island to engage in Worship-filled Prayer

We believe this will transpire:

1. By cultivating and nurturing a regional mission-base that is open 24-7-365 as a furnace of worship and prayer here on Long Island
2. By serving the local church in equipping/developing/nurturing many relational communities of lovesick, worshiping-intercessors throughout the region.

IHOP-LI is part of a global worship-prayer-missionary movement that draws its inspiration from David's Tabernacle and later, the Moravians who demonstrated the powerful impact of the marriage between worship, prayer and evangelism. (See http://www.zinzendorf.com/countz.htm)

IHOP-LI is sustained by voluntary lovers of God; i.e., those who willingly pour out their lives as a responsive offering to Jesus and humanity through worship, intercession and deeds of justice/mercy in the power of His Love. We are missionaries to the region; paving the way for the Church in worship-filled prayer and by living simple lifestyles in order to quickly respond to opportunities for love, evangelism and biblical justice.

As "Intercessory Missionaries", we spend a great deal of our time worshiping God while in a prayerful, agreeing partnership with the heart of Our Father, the Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit by means of the scriptures He inspired. (In other words, we pray the Bible.)

We very specifically pray for the region, our families, the local & corporate Church and our communities so they are saturated in love and empowered to walk in the Grace of His Purposes.  Additionally, we partner with the Church (both locally and regionally) to worship together and walk out our prayers in practical expressions of love.

The result we seek is both a regional and global awakening to the Beauty and Worth of the Lord Jesus, the Christ, the release of true, biblical justice on the earth and a fresh empowerment for the Churches of Long Island and NYC. (See Ephesians 1-3)

 This has three clear benefits for Long Island/NYC and the Church:

1. Blessing the Bridegroom-King (Jesus): exalting His Love and Beauty
2. Blessing the Bride (the Church): releasing her into the fullness of her identity
3. Blessing the Land (the Region): creating an atmosphere of love expressed in power that is conducive to healing and evangelism while unveiling a sober understanding of the urgency of the hour we live in.

Imagine an entire region saturated by and alive with night and day worship, intercession and the pleasure of His Presence! It will be both breathtaking and remarkably powerful.

Our Prayer: At the beginning of our journey to establish this House of Prayer, the Spirit of the Lord laid these words on our hearts:

 “I long for Long Island . . . See what I will do with an Island that longs for me.”

We are responding to His desire by asking that He establish a House of Worship/Prayer on Long Island that will move Him like a kiss blown straight to His heart. The Father is coming . . . and we long for Him.

"Lord, our prayer is:

That You would be loved;

That the nations would flock to You;

That Your Kingdom would come!"

The Prophetic Savant

The Prophetic Savant


by A. W. Tozer

(*The use of the male pronoun in this writing is for convenience only.

We mean no partiality to our brothers, and no disrespect to our sisters.)

The prophetic savant is a person afflicted with a heavenly autism,

making him nearly incapable of normal relations with those around him.

Accused of being aloof, cold, and distant, he is apt to hide himself from people,

withdrawing into a world of his own. He never seems to be all “there”.

Even if he forces himself to come down to Earth for a moment,

those around him may have the sense that there is an unspoken dialogue going on somewhere inside of him,

a secret communion carried on beneath the surface that never allows him to be fully “in the moment”.

How do we explain this? As a prophetic savant he sees, hears,

and relates to the world differently than the rest of the population.

They have not seen what he has seen; they have not heard what he has heard.

And so he finds very little camaraderie, very little sympathy or understanding,

no one with whom he can open his heart and share his soul,

because he no longer speaks the same language, and they no longer speak his.

Of course, he may have surface-level exchanges with anyone: he is approachable, not haughty,

or high-minded. He may even be personable and likable.

Yet there is something so other-worldly in his demeanor that he is more often frightening than friendly,

in spite of his best efforts. He is a spiritual autistic,

and no matter how hard you try to know him, he is generally unknowable,

and to a certain degree, he resists all attempts to know him.

If a prophet is anything, he is extra-terrestrial – above the Earth.

He walks the Earth with others, but he is not of the Earth. He is from beyond; he is from above.

If we trace his history we will find that he may or may not have had a normal childhood.

He may or may not have come through extraordinary experiences.

But at some point in his life, either as a child, or as a young adult, or as an old man,

something from another realm broke through the thin membrane between Heaven and Earth

and took hold of him. It may have been a burning bush, or a Voice crying out to him from beyond the veil,

or a Heavenly Vision which brought him briefly into contact

with something and Someone that he could not completely fathom.

However it happened, for one moment at least, the clouds parted and the veil was rent,

and he saw something that is unseeable; he heard something that is unhearable;

Heaven itself was opened up to him, and he saw into another world.

The thing he saw and heard now burdens him like a mantle that has been draped over his shoulders.

He feels its weight, for it is with him day and night, whether he is eating or drinking, working or resting.

It is the impression that everything around him is a lie,

and what he has seen and heard is the Truth, and this Truth is not static,

but it is living, growing, and increasing within him from the day it comes to him in the form of a seed.

For a long time he struggles to find words and vocabulary to express the inexpressible.

He cannot explain why he feels the need to try and express it,

but for some inexplicable reason something drives him to open his mouth,

or take up his pen, and make it known. Whatever it is, it will not permit him to savor it or keep it to himself,

and it seems intent on coming to the surface and interrupting the normal course of his life.

This process can be frustrating and painful, so much so that he may give up several times,

content to simply walk in what he has seen and heard and leave it at that.

But try as he might, he cannot run away from what he has seen and heard,

and he cannot deny the compulsion to bring it forth.

On the one hand he cries out for a “normal” life,

while on the other hand he knows he cannot deny what has been revealed to him.

When he does achieve some modest success in articulating something of Heaven he is pleased for a time,

but soon grows impatient with it, and eventually is dissatisfied with it altogether,

because it cannot do justice to what he has seen and heard. And so the process begins again,

the continual search for words to more perfectly express what he is trying to communicate

(and a subtle fear in the back of his mind that he may never be able to adequately express it),

which leads him to invent words which may have never before existed,

or to look for Spirit-inspired words in some unknown tongue

that can be translated into something others can understand.

The prophets of old correctly called it the “burden of the Lord”,

for it is like a woman who must live the rest of her life being in perpetual labor,

delivering the same child over and over again. What relief there is only comes in discharging the burden,

but that is not to say it ever really leaves:

it merely allows the prophet time to catch his breath until the next contraction doubles him over again.

The burden is with him the rest of his life, and he never fully discharges it.

Even when he tries to be disobedient to the Heavenly Vision

and flees from the presence of the Lord he is pursued and hunted down like some kind of a wild animal

who has gotten loose, knowing it is only a matter of time before he is captured again.

The Voice never leaves him, the Vision never lets him go.

When he refuses to speak then the fire which is already kindled only burns hotter,

until he ends up doing what he has resisted doing all along,

just to relieve himself of the unbearable tension and inward pressure.

He cannot extinguish or quench the fire no matter what he does,

he can only be obedient and find temporary relief,

until the next word comes, and then off he goes.

He may beg God to send someone else, and may protest his inability to speak, or to write.

But he is already ruined for anything else,

and even when he denies the Lord Who called him and returns to his former occupation,

it is all dull and lifeless, and he meets with nothing but frustration and failure.

There is no way to escape it. He knows he is called to something Higher,

even when he is clinging with everything he has to something Lower.

Like a wild horse, he resists the dealings of the Lord and must be broken before he will obey.

Eventually he learns not to resist the Lord, but to cooperate with Him.

He becomes pliable and bendable in order to survive.

His very life now is bound up with what he has seen and heard.

He cannot be disobedient to the Heavenly Vision, and if it means he dies, then he dies.

If it means a renunciation of everything he once believed, then he renounces it – reluctantly at first, then cheerfully.

If it means suffering the loss of all things, then he lets them go.

Over time the one who has seen and heard becomes the very essence of what he has seen and heard.

The Man becomes the Message. He bears the Testimony in himself,

and becomes one with it. He needs no preparation to speak; indeed,

preparation does nothing to help the message he brings, and it often gets in the way.

His whole life is the preparation, and since he is the Message, it is with him constantly.

He can no more separate himself from the Message than he can separate his head from his body.

If there is an “On/Off” switch then it was long ago turned on and then disabled so that it can never be turned off again. After many seasons of God’s dealings he finally perceives that this is what the Lord has sought for all along,

not just to GIVE him a Message, but to MAKE him a Message;

to gain for Himself a Messenger and capture him completely,

embossing the Message into his very being.

And so he goes about his daily business, constantly haunted by that Voice,

torn between the menial task at hand which calls for his physical and mental exertion,

and the Higher Calling which seeks his undivided attention.

He knows he should do all things, great and small, as “unto the Lord”.

But he also knows that Heaven and Earth are locked in mortal combat over him while he stands there in the middle,

torn between the two, desiring to depart the Earth altogether and be with Christ,

but knowing that it is more profitable for his brethren if he remains.

Heaven calls him to rise up, but Earth tells him to keep his feet firmly planted.

His heart is constantly breaking and longing to go, to ascend,

to rise up, to stop seeing through a dark glass, and see face to face,

without the distraction of the natural, the fleshly, the temporal,

because he knows the Earth is not his home.

Yet he struggles with the fact that Earth is where he must live and work.

This accounts for why he may sometimes seem difficult to be around.

As a savant he possesses insight and skill which others do not possess.

But it is a gift, not anything of himself, nothing of which he could boast of.

If you were to ask him if he considers this to be a blessing,

he would probably say it is more like a curse,

because it sets him apart from others even when he tries his best to be hidden and to blend in.

He cannot read the Scriptures as others do,

for after only a few verses the Heavens are opened up to him again and he is lost in its depths.

A single passage may keep him occupied for months as Heaven unfolds it to him,

and he cannot tear himself away from it.

His preaching is affected, because he cannot decide in advance what he will say,

and even when he would like to bring forth something new and exciting,

he usually ends up saying the same thing, like, “Repent!”

He often does not say what he wants to say, and does not say it in the way he would like to say it.

If he wants to be serious, he finds himself laughing.

And when he wishes to be friendly, he finds himself screaming at the top of his voice

to a startled congregation of people,

who wonder how this fellow was ever allowed access to their inner sanctum in the first place.

When he leaves a place he almost never sees the result of his labor,

and only eternity can reveal the true significance of what was said.

For now, it is all hidden, and he has to live with the fact that his fruitfulness will never be measured in terms that human beings, including himself, can see and appreciate.

He cannot go through the motions of religion like most mortals.

It is a dead, shallow thing to him because it cannot compare to the reality of what he has already experienced.

He finds it difficult to listen to another person preach

when he knows they have not yet ascended to the heights nor plumbed the depths that he has already navigated.

And when he tries to lead them into these heights and depths himself he is often misunderstood or rejected altogether. So either he attends the meeting and suffers in silence,

or stays home and suffers in solitude; but either way, he suffers.

His seeing is affected by a sort of “spiritual dyslexia”.

While others view things from a one or two dimensional viewpoint,

he sees them through several dimensions at once – forward, backward, reverse, upside-down,

right-side up: life and death, light and dark, Spirit and flesh, Heavenly and Earthly

– which often puts him at odds with his more pragmatic and doctrinally-correct brethren.

He is so at one with what he has seen that he speaks of it as having already happened,

because he has, in essence, already experienced it and lived it.

It is the Prophetic Tense, which calls those things that be not as though they were.

In his world, the world of the Spirit, they exist already.

We call it “prediction” because we cannot yet see it with our natural eyes,

but he simply stands outside of Time and views Past and Future as one unbroken and continuous Present.

His hearing is affected so that he is increasingly sensitive to his surroundings,

even though it seems as if he is not paying attention.

He is listening, but he is listening inwardly.

He no longer trusts his natural ears, because the Heavenly Voice and the inner witness are more reliable.

Thus, he is able to hear God speaking,

while the rest of the crowd says,

“It thundered!” or “It was an angel!”

He is also able to hear when God is not speaking,

and does not get carried away with the multitudes who claim to speak, see,

and hear things from God when they have not heard or seen anything from Heaven.

He cannot bear to listen to them.

His concentration is affected in such a way as to make him appear obstinate and unyielding to others.

The truth is that he is actually quite flexible and pliable before the Lord,

but before man he is as solid and impenetrable as a rock.

No amount of persuasion or argument from man will move him

– but the slightest touch from the Lord will bring him to his knees.

Having discovered the One Thing that is needed, he will tenaciously

and ruthlessly shun the “many things” which crowd in to seek his attention,

for he sees everything else as a distraction. Indeed, he is quite willing to sacrifice the good in favor of the holy.

And when the Lord has him focused on a particular thing

he is as a beam of light fastened upon a singular point until everything melts before it.

Even his praying is affected, for he can no longer pray as he wills and for what he wants.

He seemingly has no will of his own.

Instead the Heavenly Voice bids him to pray with a Heavenly perspective,

and all too often the Heavenly perspective is at odds with the Earthly perspective.

So when his brothers and sisters pray for blessing and increase,

he finds himself praying for destruction and decrease;

and when they are resisting and praying against something,

he finds himself asking God to perform the very thing the rest of the world is against.

To the rest of the world, the autistic savant is a bit of a retarded genius,

an unfortunate mixture of idiocy and brilliance, caught up in a world of its own.

The prophetic savant bears a similar stigma.

But if you engage him at all, you soon discover that he sees all of this as absolutely normal;

the way it is supposed to be. He no longer wishes for a normal life,

because the life he has now IS normal: he has lost his own life in exchange for a new life.

He lives in the Heavenlies while he walks on the Earth.

He does not think of himself as special, as anything other than a regular person,

but often wonders aloud why others cannot see what he has seen when it is all so self-evident and plain.

To him, maybe; but the rest of us are blinded by the Light he exudes without knowing it.

Journey of an Englishman (and an American Woman) in Kansas City: Interesting Email about Western News Bias in Egypt

Journey of an Englishman (and an American Woman) in Kansas City: Interesting Email about Western News Bias in Egypt

Eagle dream

soooo... had a crazy, funky dream last night about two eagles flying alongside each other and then one turning in mid-flight so that they were, instead flying at each other. They were beautiful from a distance but when I looked closer they each had two heads (one neck was shorter on each) and they were molting on their face so they looked more like vultures. Suddenly, an airplane/rocket ship with Eagle 9 written on it came through the space in between and both eagles were judged insufficient - ugly even- compared to the wisdom of revelation that the ship brought with it. It landed at the airport next to me and I was impressed with the idea that the Eagle 8 was a dud but Eagle 9 represented the fullness of God.

I was just reminded about it and I thought "What do the two eagles represent, Lord?" The impression in my head was "They represent Egypt and the United States."  My other thought was that the airplane/rocketship represented God's revelatory prophetic words spoken/prayed in power. I think perhaps it was communicating that His words and intentions are far more powerful than either of the double-minded/two faced? nations.

I didn't know if an eagle was a symbol for Egypt - turns out it is!!! Who knew? Thoughts?? love, t

Love Your Neighbor: A Movement

Yesterday, in the House of Prayer, we were praying for local and global missionaries. I believed it was the right direction but I could not lift my eyes off of Long Island/NYC and her needs. We prayed for the Church to see herself as a missionary to the region. Suddenly, The Lord dropped an idea in our hearts and it dominated our thoughts in prayer. The idea? Love your neighbor.

The needs of our region are so overwhelming that they can be paralyzing. The result is that although our hearts are moved with compassion, we often withdraw from volunteering or affecting change in our communities because we feel like we can barely keep our own heads above water. Thoughts of mobilizing large projects are often immobilizing. Often, instead of focusing on the mission field right in front of us, we look elsewhere. Don't misunderstand me... There are people that the Lord has called to other nations and regions and we truly believe in their mission and support it financially and in prayer. However, there is a whole "Church" (big C = big Body) that has been planted right here on LI/NYC, a mission field that has the potential to reach the nations naturally, and we ARE missionaries!!!! We represent a King and His Kingdom! We are ambassadors of the Kingdom of Heaven here on LI/NYC.

So... on to the idea that dropped... what if all of the leaders in the Christian Community prayed a release of the first and second commandment (in its right order) and we started a simple movement. "Sons and Daughters, Love the Lord Your God with all of your heart, mind, soul and strength. Then, love your neighbor as yourself." What if we all just loved ONE neighbor with God's help? Not the whole neighborhood, (at least not right now)... just one neighbor.

Long Island used to brim over with neighborhood identities, block parties, mutual support, adopting a watchful eye over your neighborhood kids, etc. What if we just went back to the simplicity of loving ONE neighbor and I mean NEIGHBOR. Not your friends, not your co-workers (they are your neighbors too but this is different)  just one neighbor. What could/would happen to LI/NYC? Can you see the possibilities for the Church as missionaries??? God is so smart!

Well, anyway, that's how we're praying. In the meantime, entirely without foreknowledge I ran across this video this morning and thought, "Wow, can God confirm a word or what?"

Thoughts on MLK Jr.'s "Letter from a Birmingham Jail"

http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html

If you have not read this prophetic letter from MLK Jr., today is the day to do so. In prayer, on the morning of the 2008 Elections, the Lord brought this letter to light - at least a portion of it. He let us know that we were, as a generation, experiencing the results of our inaction to injustice as a body.


In this letter, Reverend Martin Luther King Jr. prophesied this: "But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust."

Although many of us, because of our concerns regarding abortion, cast our vote for Senator McCain that day, the clarity of Lord came with power that evening - way before the election results were in - and He let us know that Senator Obama would be voted in and that President Obama was, in fact, a gift of mercy and redemption. It became clear that how we responded to Him - by praying for him and honoring him respectfully even though we were free to disagree about issues - and how we dealt with other injustices that would be coming into the light during his term would also bring to light what else still needed shaping (in love) in the heart of the Church.

It is clear that MLK Jr. articulated God's judgments in regard to our injustices. Take a good long look around. We are currently living them. However, as a result, we are uniquely repositioned to turn the tide. The kindness of God's righteous judgments have directed our attention to seeking His heart in worship, prayer, mission and the related answer of God's kinetic acts of justice/mercy in us and through us. Remember, the manifold wisdom of God is meant to be expressed through the Church. Lord, help us to finally do exactly that! The Lord is showing us yet again that Love and justice is still, as always, the issue of the hour. "His Kingdom come, His will be done on earth as it is in Heaven."

Don't pass by this opportunity to read this letter and allow it to poke around in places of fear, inaction or even anger. It will force you to ask the Lord, "How shall we now live?". We CAN make a difference in our time frame and do a stunning thing: "Love our enemies, bless those who persecute us, do good to those who hate us and pray for those who use us and persecute us. love, t

http://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html

Why Do We Pray ~ Truman Faulkner

Why do we Pray... Truman Faulkner

I love how kids are unafraid to ask the simplest questions of life that adults are sometimes too proud or too “smart” to ask. In the CEC (Children’s Equipping Center), as I was teaching a class on the Apostolic prayers in the New Testament, a seven-year-old boy named Spencer raised his hand and asked the question, “Uh, why do we pray?” I sought to answer that question in the class this Friday morning. I started by drawing a simple diagram on the board.

Here is reality according to the Bible (see diagram I put together based off a diagram from my friend, John Harrigan):

Because the Church (those people circled in the diagram: sealed with Holy Spirit, or “HS” [Eph. 1:13-14, 2 Cor. 1:22], and chosen to inherit the Kingdom [Mt. 25:34, 1 Cor. 6:9-11, Gal. 5:21, James 2:5, Rev. 21:7]) lives in this present evil age, “saved in hope” for the Messianic age (Gal. 1:3-5, Titus 2:12-13, Rom. 8:24-25), as wheat among the tares (Mt. 13:36-43, 1 Pet. 2:12ff), it conducts itself as a sojourning nation (1 Pet. 2:9-12), waiting, praying for, and preparing for the coming of the Messiah and His Kingdom (Mt. 6:10, Luke 18:1-8, 1 Pet. 1:13, 1 Cor. 1:7, Phil. 3:20-21, 1 Thess. 1:9-10, Titus 2:13, James 5:7-10, Jude 20-21, Rev. 19:7). The tool that keeps us in this posture of repentant faith, so that we may inherit the promises of the age to come (Heb. 10:36-11:6), is the power, or grace, of God. As 1 Pet. 1:4-5 says, “to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you who are protected by the power (grace) of God through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

The grace of God through the Holy Spirit is given to the Church to strengthen us not only in our sojourning, but also in our witness (Acts 1:8) of God’s absolute sovereignty over the Heavens and the Earth. His absolute sovereignty is expressed presently in amnestic patience toward the wicked (Luke 6:35-36, Rom. 2:4ff) and subsequently in recompense when the Day of the Lord is executed at the hands of the Messiah (Mt. 16:27, Rom. 2:4ff, 2 Thess. 1:4-10, Rev. 22:12). The Holy Spirit is given as a “gift” (Acts 1:4) and a “helper” (Jn. 14:16), that the Church might remain faithful and perseverant in her calling.

I then gave two mental pictures of our relationship to the Lord according to the Bible:

1. A Betrothed Bride

“…for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin” -2 Cor. 11:2

As I was teaching the kids the basic contours of this age and the age to come and how we need the power of God to prepare us for that Day, the picture of an engagement ring came to mind. I’ve seen three of my sisters get engaged and then married. Watching the daily emotions and preparations that go into that transition is truly exciting. For a betrothed bride, or fiancée, her role is simply to keep herself in love (see Jude 21). The ring says it’s going to happen, but she just has to wait and get ready. What a tragedy it would be for a bride to get to her wedding day ill-acquainted with and indifferent to her groom as everyone realizes that she had spent her whole engagement period flirting with other men, totally unconcerned with this most important day of her life. As a betrothed bride, we should get up everyday, look at our finger, and concern ourselves with the most important day of our lives. The Holy Spirit is our pledge (2 Cor. 1:22, Eph. 1:14), our “ring”, so to speak, who daily reminds us of our Bridegroom’s faithfulness as He pours out His love within our hearts (Rom. 5:5-11), glorifying Jesus by reminding us of His words (Jn. 14:26, 16:13-14), so that on that day, “His bride has made herself ready” (Rev. 19:7). The metaphor of “bride” is chosen in Rev. 22:17 to describe the Spirit’s preparative work in producing longing love for the Bridegroom in the Church—”The Spirit and the Bride say ‘Come’ “. In this engagement period, “when the Bridegroom is taken away” (Mt. 9:15), perseverant longing is required (“Maranatha” of 1 Cor. 16:22-23). If we don’t order our life in this way, everything, even legitimate things, will choke out the remembrance of the words of our Beloved (his “love letters”) and distract us from the simplicity of devotion to Him (Mt. 13:18-23, 2 Cor. 11:2-3).

2. A Placed Orphan

“You have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, “Abba! Father!” The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God… having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. For in hope we have been saved…” -Rom. 8:15-24

According to Romans 8:23, “we wait for our adoption, the redemption (or resurrection) of our bodies”. Though the Bible emphatically declares, “Beloved, NOW we are children of God” (1 Jn. 3:1-2) and the Spirit testifies to this (Rom. 8:16), there seems to be at times an ambiguous distinction between our present calling and its future realization. Like the picture of an engagement unto a wedding, there is a process in adoption. I gave this analogy to the kids to help solidify the often-etherealized function of “the Spirit of Adoption”. My sister and brother-in-law, Rachel and Marcus Meier, are in the process adopting eight-year-old twin girls from Ethiopia. On March 31st, the girls will legally be theirs. They would have had to fly out to Ethiopia to do that legal transaction, but thankfully they don’t have to anymore (Regardless, what a picture that is of the First Coming of Jesus! I’m getting ahead of myself…). Even though they will legally have the girls on the 31st, they won’t be able to fly over to Ethiopia (Second Coming in the clouds!) to get the girls and actually “have them” for another four to six weeks because of legal processing. So, there is this period of waiting and preparing (“already/not yet”).

For a moment, imagine the excitement of these two girls. They are getting adopted! They found out someone wants them, and they have a new family. They may be thinking things like, “Wow, they are Americans, so I will become an American. I want to live like an American now. I wonder what my new parents like to do, what food they like to eat, what their house looks like. What will my bedroom look like?” Now imagine this: upon Marcus and Rachel’s first visit for the legal transfer, they give these twins a telephone so that the girls can talk to them during the waiting period. The girls are tired of the loneliness of orphanhood. They want to live in the family now. They like their new parents and they want to talk to their new family everyday.

Marcus and Rachel then call the girls on the phone and tell them, “We are so excited to welcome you into our home! We have your room ready. You are going to have a sweet bunk bed. We painted it for you. We’re going to give you this and this and this…” The girls express their gratitude and even call Rachel “Mom” and Marcus “Dad”. Then they ask questions about the family. Marcus replies, “Well, Isaiah, Zion, Rees, Hudson, they are all so excited too. Now, in our home, the family loves each other and shares with each other. Love and sharing in the home is something that’s rewarded. You can get ready by practicing sharing with each other, because those are the laws of this home. I know you may not be rewarded for those things in the Ethiopian orphanage, but you will here. You can get ready now so that it will be a smooth transition and entrance into our home. And if you show long-suffering love towards one another now, we will give you special privileges in the home, just like Isaiah has.” The girls resolve to share with each other right there on the phone and then end the conversation asking their new parents to come to Ethiopia soon. They repeat the conversation each day as anxious expectation grows for their new home and new family.

According to Romans 8:13-25, The Holy Spirit (“of Adoption”) presently works four things in us. He:

1. Orders our life to imitate our new Father; we are now under obligation to live according to Him [vs. 13] and follow His lead [vs. 14].

2. Testifies with our spirits to the acceptance of our new Father by crying out, “Abba! Father!” [vs. 15-16] He pours out the love of the God in our hearts, testifying to the present peace and reconciliation we have with the Father [5:1-11].

3. Testifies to the implications of our sonship, the future glory of being revealed as a co-heir with Christ on a restored earth [vs. 17-22].

4. Produces a groaning longing for that day of our adoption [vs. 23-25], when we get to be with Him, see Him, and freely receive all the things [looking to vs. 32] He’s prepared for us in our “new home”, that is, the restored home of the earth [see climax of Rev. 21:1-7].

Like the imagery of a telephone, the Holy Spirit is dialogical. He is a person. As He fellowships with me and I talk to Him in prayer and worship, I receive grace and strength in my inner man (Eph. 3:16) to persevere in the present age unto the day of my adoption and wedding. The grace that is imparted through the Holy Spirit (“Spirit of grace” Heb. 10:29) is what preserves me unto the Day of Christ (1 Cor. 1:3-9). Therefore, talking with Him and receiving grace from Him is my primary function in this age. This is why I pray.

Can People in Severly Damaged Relationships Reconcile ~ Clive Jackson

Can people in severely damaged relationships reconcile?

by Clive Jackson on Monday, January 3, 2011 at 6:50pm.

If an enemy were insulting me.
I could endure it;
If a foe were raising himself against me,
I could hide from him.
But it is you, a [person] like myself,
My companion, my close friend,
With whom I once enjoyed sweet fellowship
As we walked with the throng at the house of God. (Psalm 55 vv. 12-14)

When your relationship is fractured, you may fear that it is beyond repair. Whether that relationship is with a long-time friend, business colleague or other family member, you may wonder about the feasibility of reconciliation.

What picture comes to your mind when you think about reconciliation? You may consider the wonder of your own reconciliation with God through the cross of Jesus Christ.

Sometimes reconciliation is like a cease-fire in which warring parties stop their barrage of negative exchanges. Did your parents ever tell you to tell someone you were sorry? In this case a more powerful external authority imposes reconciliation on the contentious relationship. Or did a serious ideological argument threaten a friendship? To preserve your connection without abandoning your ideals, you may have decided to settle your differences by agreeing to disagree. In these examples, the external fighting ends but the internal tension remains. These unresolved issues may smoulder for years under an apparently banked fire, ready to ignite when the conditions are right.

At other times reconciliation implies that you have achieved some degree of friendliness with the person from whom you are estranged. Here we add a positive element to reconciliation. We not only call a cease-fire (end negative exchanges) but also create a treaty (begin positive exchanges).

A definition of reconciliation: Reconciliation is the active commitment to the restoration of love and trustworthiness by both injured party and transgressor so that their relationship may be transformed.

Why should we resolve differences between our brethren?

1) To maintain peace in the body of Christ (Eph. 4:1-3). Whenever there is friction and turmoil in the body it hinders people from entering into worship and receiving from God's Word. It hinders people from coming to Christ, creates an uninviting atmosphere for visitors, and can even grieve the Holy Spirit (Eph. 4:30-32).

2) So Satan cannot gain advantage over us (2 Cor. 2:10-11). For our own spiritual well-being, we must be quick to resolve our differences with brethren and forgive. Satan can hinder our spiritual life, and even deceive us into apostasy, through harboured bitterness or unforgiveness (Matt. 18:35).

3) To restore a Fallen Brother (Gal. 6:1). Christians must make every attempt to restore brethren who fall into sin. Especially when the transgression has been committed against you personally, your love for your brother's spiritual well-being demands that you confront the brother so that he might be reconciled to God.

Many people foolishly allow themselves to become offended by misinterpreting other's intentions, or listening to rumours and second-hand information which always contain distortions or exaggerations. Many offenses could be immediately resolved by confronting the offending party and hearing their explanation. You'd be surprised how many people are so immature that they don't even bother to investigate the facts or hear the other side of the story.

There would be far fewer misunderstandings in the body of Christ if people would be firmly devoted to love for their brethren. Love for the brethren gives us a desire to believe the best in our brother. Love gives them the "benefit of the doubt," instead of jumping to conclusions and always expecting the worst. The Bible says "If you love someone... you will always believe in him, always expect the best of him" (1 Cor. 13:7 -- The Living Bible).

A church is very much like a hospital. It is for sick people - people sick with sin and hurt. Jesus is the Great Physician and He uses the church to show us the way to get healed of our spiritual ailments. Wouldn't it be ridiculous for a doctor to be frustrated because sick people kept coming to the surgery, for him to expect only the well to come and visit? Yet, many Christians want only the "righteous" to come to church. The Pharisees of Jesus' day had the same wrong thinking (see Luke 7:37-50). That is why Jesus told them, I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance
In Luke 5:32. The church is filled with sinners, including you!

Wouldn't it be just as ridiculous for one of us to go to the hospital with a broken leg and spend all of our time and energy focusing on the ailments of others? Why did we go to the hospital? We went to get help for our hurt. Jesus warned us about the tendency to look at the sins of others in many passages, but especially look at Matthew 7:1-5. When we attend the house of God, we should be seeking God's help with "our" ailments (sins, trials, frustrations, wrong thinking and wrong behaviour), not looking at the ailments of "others". Until we are 100% right with God ourselves, living for Him and serving Him with all of our heart, we have no place to be concerned with whether or not "others" are as right with Him as we are. That is between them and God! They measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise, II Corinthians 10:12. Everyone grows at different rates, and we cannot see the hearts of others. We must be careful about making character judgments based upon the externals. The LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart, I Samuel 16:7.

My friend, even Jesus' disciples let Him down. One of them betrayed him. They argued about who should be the greatest. They wanted to kill those that were not with them. They wanted to chase away the children that desired some time with the Saviour. They did not understand the spiritual lessons Jesus tried to teach them along the way. They even forsook Him during His darkest hour! There is no perfect church and there won't be until heaven! How can an organisation filled with sinners ever be perfect?

If a man say, I love God, and hateth his brother, he is a liar: for he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how can he love God whom he hath not seen?

Oh, may we all go to church with the attitude of David in Psalms 122:1, I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD. May we go with the intent of helping someone rather than hurting someone, Galatians 6:2, Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ. May we look forward to the opportunity to serve the LORD with gladness, Psalms 100:2

Eyes on Jesus ~ Oswald Chambers

If a teacher fascinates with his doctrine, his teaching never came from God. The teacher sent from God is the one who clears the way to Jesus and keeps it clear; souls forget altogether about him because the vision of Jesus is the only abiding result. When people are attracted to Jesus Christ through you, see always that you stay on God all the time, and their hearts and affections will never stop at you.


What has crippled many a church, many a Sunday School class and Bible class, is that the pastor or teacher has won people to himself, and the result when they leave is enervating sentimentality. The true man or woman of God never leaves that behind, every remembrance of them makes you want to serve God all the more.

So beware of stealing the hearts of the people of God in your mind. (2 Samuel 15:6) If once you get the thought, ‘It is my winsome way of putting it, my presentation of the truth that attracts’—the only name for that is the ugly name of thief, stealing the hearts of the sheep of God who do not know why they stop at you.

Keep the mind stayed on God, and I defy anyone’s heart to stop at you, it will always go on to God. The peril comes when we forget that our duty is to present Jesus Christ and never get in the way in thought.” --Oswald Chambers
(Thanks Carol)