Being the Change

Be the change you want to see in the world.    - Mahatma Gandhi

It is easy to see problems and point them out. But God has called us to have the solution. Sometimes what begins as discernment tragically ends as empty complaining. You see a problem, and it bothers you, you know that something must be done, but it stops there. We are meant to act. God shows us these things for a reason.

I’m talking about the church. We are the light of the world. The light cannot blame the darkness for being dark, it can only shine brighter and change the darkness into light. (read 1 corinthians 5:9-13) I am not talking about the world. The world is dead in sin. It cannot be righteous without God. This is why I’m not surprised when an ungodly government legalizes abortion. I’m appalled, but I’m not surprised. I cannot expect an ungodly system to behave like God. What we need is for the ungodly to become godly, and that only happens through Jesus.

So let’s talk about the church.

I was talking with my boss a few days ago about stuff like this, and he said, “Well, the problem is that there’s no real love.” That stuck with me. Jesus said we should love each other, but what does that mean? The New Oxford American Dictionary defines love as “An intense feeling of deep affection.” 1 Corinthians 13 defines it more in depth for us. It is patient, kind, doesn’t get angry easily, and you know the rest. These words perfectly describe love. However, it is easy to go through the outward signs of “Christian love” with nothing ever happening on the inside. 

Really love each other. Feel it.

There is a sentiment that says, “I have to love you, but I don’t have to like you.” That’s not even love. God likes all of us. If you dislike somebody, ask God to change you.

The love of God is a feeling, a sentiment, even a substance, something profound that happens in Him. The love that lives in Him demanded action. He would not go on without us. Something had to be done to save the one He loved, He had to have us. So He sent Jesus. 

All I’m getting at is that the love we are to reflect to the world is not just an action. It is something profound that happens in us that demands action. 

Divine Healing: Part I

There are certain things that Jesus commanded us that we simply cannot ignore. In the great commission (Matthew 28:19-20) Jesus told the remaining eleven to make disciples of all nations, teaching them to obey everything He commanded them. 

Things like love God, heal the sick, give to the poor, raise the dead, go to the nations, cast out demons, pay your taxes, the list goes on. 

These are the things He commanded, and these are the things we should obey and teach others to obey. Everything else is secondary. 

A Christian is missing the point if he does anything other than this. There are many things in life that are good, but they all play second fiddle to the things Jesus commanded. Many of His commands are purely supernatural, and that does not make them any less of a priority. 

In another account of the Great Commission in Mark 16, He lists off signs and wonders that “will follow those who believe.” In other words, those who have been taught to obey all that He commanded. This begs an interesting question. If those signs aren’t following you, what do you believe? Another good question is, are you a disciple? Do you obey all that He commanded? This isn’t to say that your salvation is false, or even that you are missing the mark. It is merely an invitation into normal Christianity. 

Revival puts the church back in her place. It was never meant to end, it was meant to be the norm. When you read the picture Jesus painted of the Christian life, His words are strong and radical. It sounds like outright revival. 

Healing is a part of all this. It is the birthright of every believer. Jesus lives inside of us and He does the same things today that He did back then. It’s Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Colossians 1:27, Matthew 28:20.) 

Anytime Jesus gives a command, He immediately follows with the ability to carry it out. This ability is usually given in His death and resurrection. 

Isaiah 53:5 By His scourging we are healed.

Sozo is the Greek word for “to save”. It pertains not only to your soul, but to your body as well. This what Jesus has done! Let us never cease to be amazed!

Eternal life starts now.

*Endnote: Let’s not philosophize, theologize, or theorize our way out of this. Talk is cheap, let’s see the stuff.

Revival in Disneyland

I’m not actually in these videos, but this is what happened when a couple of my classmates got free tickets to Disneyland. 

 

The New Wine is in the Cluster

Week 3. Keys to Revival part 2. 

We need each other.

This is something that God started in me at Bethel and He just picked it up again in my life this weekend.

It is obvious pride when you don’t believe that you need anyone in the whole world.

It is a more subtle form of pride when you believe that you don’t need the people immediately around you.

He created us to be a body. Each organ and ligament needs the others in order to survive. Each one brings something unique to the table. If you believe that you don’t need the people around you, therefore isolating yourself, you will slowly wither up.

Matthew 10:41 “He who receives a prophet in the name of a prophet will receive a prophet’s reward. He who receives a righteous man in the name of a righteous man will receive a righteous man’s reward.”

When you recognize an anointing or gift on a person and honor it as such, you are enabling it to be activated and released. It creates faith.

When you see it on someone, you can place a demand on their anointing. This opens you up to receive an impartation from them, or benefit more fully from their ministry.

Romans 1:11 “I long to be with you that I may impart some spiritual gift to you, that you may be established.”

Everything in the Kingdom is passed person to person. It’s the way God designed it. The disciples had to be with Jesus in person, or they would never have made to the book of Acts. That’s not saying He can’t just sovereignly give it to you where you are, because He can and He has before. This is just the way it usually works. Every move of the Holy Spirit can be traced person to person back to pentecost.

We need each other.

When you see that someone has something that you want, it’s OK to ask them to pray for you.

Just like the Holy Spirit brings unity, unity also attracts Him. There is anointing in the unity of the Spirit.

There is a passage in Isaiah that says, “The new wine is found in the cluster.” Not sure what this means in context, but it’s an interesting statement.

Psalm 133, “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brothers to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious oil upon the head, coming down upon the beard, even Aaron’s beard, coming down upon the edges of his robes.”

There is anointing in unity and fellowship. This is specifically talking about anointing oil. There is a corporate breakthrough that cannot be achieved alone. A corporate outpouring.

Ephesians 4:1-6 “Therefore I, the prisoner of the Lord, implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, showing tolerance for one another in love, being diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit, just as also you were called in one hope of your calling; one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.”

This is the unity that He brings. In this type of unity, He is just present! The new wine just “is” in the cluster.

*Sidenote: Proverbs 19:11 says, “A man’s discretion makes him slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook a transgression.” Why? Because God is perfectly full of glory and that’s what He did with us. If we want to chase after the glory, this is a way! Start looking for things to overlook! This is one way to spread the glory of God on the earth!

When God poured out the gift of tongues on pentecost, He removed the curse of Babel.

Read Genesis 11, specifically 11:6-7 and Acts 2:1-8. “Now nothing will be impossible for them.”

God is in the business of reversing curses. Every curse He has decreed, He has taken away through Jesus. When He poured out His Spirit on Pentecost, everyone began supernaturally speaking in other tongues. The language barrier that God had placed, He took away. Impossibility was crippled forever.

The only reason God even introduced the idea of impossibility was because mankind became more concerned with their own purposes than with His. Now God has taken 120 people at a holiday feast and turned the world upside down.

Our unity is God’s plan for world conquest. “Be diligent to preserve the unity of the Spirit.”