To See The Glory

Sometimes those who give their lives to Christ at a young age feel they have no testimony. They hear the stories of those who went from drugs, prostitution, murder or other extremes to a life in Christ and compare their “goody-two-shoe” lives and feel they have no story. We see the great love that those saved from the extremes have for their Lord and Savior- Jesus Christ. We desire that love.

You probably can recall where Jesus says “Why I say to you, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little.” (Luke 7:47) and we see Jesus explain how the one who is forgiven much loves much. Most of us would say that there is a difference in the forgiveness for the murderer and the one who came to Christ in his youth. I beg to differ…

I believe that if you read Luke 7 and realize that we are all the ones who owed the larger amount, you will then love like that “sinful woman” in the story. When you search the scriptures and read how we ALL are sinners, lost and without hope apart from Christ Jesus and see that there is “no one good, no even one” (Romans 3:12, Psalm 53:3), we can began to see how we are all equally sinful! We can see this throughout the word of God. “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.” (Isaiah 64:6)

Once we come to the understanding of our complete inability to please God on our own, to find God without His calling, to find forgiveness without the blood of Jesus, we can then LOVE MUCH. If you struggle with feeling like others love the Lord greater than you, it may only be that they understand the depth and width of their forgiveness, not so much that they were forgiven more than you, they just “get it!”

May God reveal to you the depth of His love and forgiveness.

I am sure you already know that this last week was the 10 year anniversary that so many will remember.  There are images of terror that will stay in your memory for many years to come. We will have different emotions that will rise when we revisit those memories, such emotions as anger, fear, confusion, and thoughts of revenge.

I would like to turn your attention to another event that took place that has stayed in the memories of even those who were not there. World War II does not even compare to the memories, nor does Vietnam. The Civil War may be in many books, but that doesn’t even hold a bar close to this memory.

Let’s go back even further to an event that has changed all of the world forever. This one event was planned for so long, was written about even before it happened, is discussed daily and will never, ever be forgotten. The event happened seemed to be at first, only affecting a few. But you have probably figured it out by now, I am talking about the death and resurrection of Jesus.

Now that I have your thoughts on Jesus, let’s put those thoughts back with the event of 9-11. Those who we see as responsible for the event, those who want to see death and destruction. Those who are willing to kill or even die for their beliefs. How can you fight this enemy and win? I will tell you this, the war has already been won. Jesus is the victor, justice will be served. BUT, while we are you on the earth, what do we do to fight? I will tell you this, that no amount of bullets or bombs will actually defeat the true enemy. This battle is not of the human flesh, this battle is in the spiritual realm. It can only be truly fought and won in the spirit. The physical part of the army can only be conquered in the hearts, the spiritual enemy does not what us to see that, he wants us to fight in the physical where he can win.

We should view this battle correctly and fight the way our Lord intends us to. We should be praying for those who are against us, we should be supporting our fellow believers in those territories and even send others there to spread the Gospel of Christ and to disciple the new believers. By this we will truly conquer the enemy and grow the army of God throughout the world.

So remember…..

… Why Jesus died.

Job went through so much to learn this:

2 “I know that you can do all things,
and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.
3 ‘Who is this that hides counsel without knowledge?’
Therefore I have uttered what I did not understand,
things too wonderful for me, which I did not know.
4 ‘Hear, and I will speak;
I will question you, and you make it known to me.’
5 I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear,
but now my eye sees you;
6 therefore I despise myself,
and repent in dust and ashes.”

I hope my heart will always acknowledge God in this way.

If you have not yet read the book of Job, I would suggest you set some time aside to do so. Reading Job will open your eyes up to the Lord in a greater way. The lesson Job learned is a lesson we all need to learn. To see ourselves for who we are and the Lord God for who He is.

Praise God!

Throughout the New Testament we read how the church was formed under that covenant and we are able to see what Jesus taught. He started with twelve. These 12 men were the beginning of a fire that is still spreading today, however, that fire seems to be diminished. What began through 12 became thousands in a few short years. What was the distance between Jesus and 12 men, became thousands of miles instead of just inches. The Gospel spread and was contagious.

What has happened between the time of the 12 to today? What has changed? Has God changed? Has the Word changed? Or has the message been changed?

Many of us desire to see the power of the book of Acts in our lives. We want to see miracles both of the physical and of the spiritual. We want to see the ‘many’ come to Christ. Where have we fallen short of this great story?

Let’s go back to some of the final words of Jesus himself and what He told us to do. He had a commission, a command if you will, of what the believer is to do. We are to reach the whole world with the Gospel. But how does one person do this? Do we go to church regularly, tithe regularly, go to bible studies and fellowship regularly? (None of those things are wrong.) How do those things spread the Gospel of Christ? What then, do we invite people to church so they can hear the pastor talk about who Jesus is? Do we tell the pastor or deacons who is sick in a hospital or who is in prison who needs to be visited?

I believe the whole church is backwards or inside out in its current structure.

Before you think I am going to condemn churches as a whole, or say pastors are at fault, please hear me out.

What is the pastor’s role according to the Bible?

Ephesians 4:11 And He gave some as apostles, and some as prophets, and some as evangelists, and some as pastors and teachers (NAS)

Pastors are to be shepherds of the flock, teachers of the Word. They should be building up and teaching the flock, equipping them to go. The equipped flock will go out and tell others about Jesus, but not to stop there, what was the command Jesus gave His followers? To “Therefore go and make disciples of all nations” (Matt 28-19a) – make disciples! How do you make a disciple? Well, what did Jesus do? He said to follow Him. We may not necessarily say it the same way, but if we are following Christ and we can then point to Him and say “follow Him” by my example.

Our discipling should not stop there, it should be on going. We need to teach the new believer how to do the same thing, equip them with the Word, walk with them in the life and stand by them in battle. This may be a weekly time set aside, it could be talking on the phone, it can be showing up when they want to tell someone about Jesus and helping them speak the truth of the Word.

So, if we were to take the church and reverse the flow of thought, instead of people going to church to see the pastor and hear a message that could change you – how about go to church to be equipped to take the Word out to the world? Can we see how 12 men (11 who remained) touched thousands of lives by discipling others? Can we see the multiplication that took place? How about the reverse – can we see the duplication of the pastor being the “go to guy” who may touch and transform a few a year? Which way will actually even keep up with the population growth?

Can we change?

Who needs to change?

Let me suggest that it isn’t necessarily your pastor. (Even though his view of the church may need to be adjusted.) How about I suggest it is me? It is I. The one who needs to go and make disciples of all the nations is me. I need to widen my world view!! I need to think how Christ wanted me to think, bigger than I ever could be! Why? Because then He will do what I can not! Through making disciples I can touch the world!

How big is your vision?