The Holy One call to me this morning. I am reminded that there is much about the Book of Revelation that is being talked over in the confusing times we find ourselves living. Notwithstanding the common teaching on the 7 churches of Revelation 2 and 3, the Holy One simply asks me this morning "So, which one are you?"
I have to admit that I never took these scriptures so personally as to realize that, who I am, makes up the Church. The Church is, because I am, and that fact is not too far from the truth. I never made the correlation between the Church's violations and the attitude of my own heart.
In moving past the shock of His question, I need to stop and read again what John writes and what Christ says, to the 7 churches as if He is saying them to me. Corporate accountability begins with individual and personal accountability.
The splinter in the eye of the church cannot be handled properly until the huge beam in my own eye has been dealt with. The purity of the Church depends on the purity of the congregation, plain and simple. We all know that a little yeast........and I cannot expect the church to go beyond what I am personally pouring into the Body of Christ.
Reading what our Lord says to the churches, I must stop and ask Him, "Lord is it I?" " Have you dived into the catacombs of my heart and found corruption? Has Your residency found pockets of sin You want to clean up, or a wayward independence away from the leading of Your Spirit? What, if anything, lies deep and brings defilement to Your temple?"
When Jesus spoke of the "betrayer", the Disciples were struck with the real possibility that it might have been themselves. It is one thing to claim the "righteousness" of Christ and yet another to allow Him to clean out the dirty places of flesh corruption that hinder our walk, defame His presence, and limit His power of healing, not only for ourselves but for the world around us.
Past readings of the warnings to the churches has created an opportunity for Pharisaical legalism to take place in my mind. I do not want to be associated with those things Jesus had against "those" churches and I can easily slide into a place of legalism and judgement.
I do not want to tolerate false teaching, turn a deaf ear to what the Holy Spirit has to say, be asleep at the switch, more dead than alive, be lukewarm and not hot, say I am rich when I am actually poor, blind and naked. My desire is to be the one who has kept His word and not denied His Name, but in the end, I find myself in a place of judgement, not of myself, but of others.
The Holy One is working on me this morning because He wants me to move on to a greater lesson. Jesus wants both my feet on the "Pentecostal side of the Cross". He has pointed out that to live in legalism is to have one foot on either side of the Cross straddling both the Old and New Testaments.
The day that the Holy Spirit came upon the people and ignited their being, was a supernatural event. That supernatural event began the legacy of the Church AKA the Body of Christ.
Judgement is a sad part of the human mindset, yet Jesus said, "I did not come to judge the world but to save it". The real offense of legalism is not that it convicts, but that it condemns. As the Holy One leads, I can see that legalism focuses on the disease while the Holy Spirit stands ready to bring down the cure.
Luke's account of the life of Jesus, says over and over that the Power of the Spirit was on Jesus as He executed the miraculous cures to the sick human conditions of life on earth. Jesus gave us, who would follow Him, a sampling of what was to follow after His Ascension and His release of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus broke the power of sin through His death and resurrection. By releasing the Holy Spirit and His Baptism of fire on the day of Pentecost, we can also experience and do those "greater works" that Jesus did by the Power of the Holy Spirit when He walked the earth.
Repentance and forgiveness between the human and our Creator begins the process, but is not the end goal of salvation. Something supernatural and bigger than our minds can fathom takes place in the human once the reconciliation has been made and our relationship with our Maker is restored.
The indwelling Holy Spirit wants to bring His fire to ignite my internal hearth. I am convinced that the cold water I have doused Him with is legalism and the judgement that goes with it. His is the power to heal, but to experience it, I must stop focusing on the disease and see to the "cure".
Forgiving myself and others releases His power and enables me to walk in the "Spirit". With eyes fixed on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, instead of on each other and our failures, what healing might the Lord do to and through the Church under the anointing of His Holy Spirit?
Traditional legalism is a duality of thinking. Today I see that we need both feet on the same side of the Cross in order to walk in the Resurrection power of "Pentecost". Only then will we see the same miracles that Jesus modelled and said that we would do too.
The indwelling Holy Spirit of Christ has and is the Cure...shall we allow Him to bring and be it?
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
I have to admit that I never took these scriptures so personally as to realize that, who I am, makes up the Church. The Church is, because I am, and that fact is not too far from the truth. I never made the correlation between the Church's violations and the attitude of my own heart.
In moving past the shock of His question, I need to stop and read again what John writes and what Christ says, to the 7 churches as if He is saying them to me. Corporate accountability begins with individual and personal accountability.
The splinter in the eye of the church cannot be handled properly until the huge beam in my own eye has been dealt with. The purity of the Church depends on the purity of the congregation, plain and simple. We all know that a little yeast........and I cannot expect the church to go beyond what I am personally pouring into the Body of Christ.
Reading what our Lord says to the churches, I must stop and ask Him, "Lord is it I?" " Have you dived into the catacombs of my heart and found corruption? Has Your residency found pockets of sin You want to clean up, or a wayward independence away from the leading of Your Spirit? What, if anything, lies deep and brings defilement to Your temple?"
When Jesus spoke of the "betrayer", the Disciples were struck with the real possibility that it might have been themselves. It is one thing to claim the "righteousness" of Christ and yet another to allow Him to clean out the dirty places of flesh corruption that hinder our walk, defame His presence, and limit His power of healing, not only for ourselves but for the world around us.
Past readings of the warnings to the churches has created an opportunity for Pharisaical legalism to take place in my mind. I do not want to be associated with those things Jesus had against "those" churches and I can easily slide into a place of legalism and judgement.
I do not want to tolerate false teaching, turn a deaf ear to what the Holy Spirit has to say, be asleep at the switch, more dead than alive, be lukewarm and not hot, say I am rich when I am actually poor, blind and naked. My desire is to be the one who has kept His word and not denied His Name, but in the end, I find myself in a place of judgement, not of myself, but of others.
The Holy One is working on me this morning because He wants me to move on to a greater lesson. Jesus wants both my feet on the "Pentecostal side of the Cross". He has pointed out that to live in legalism is to have one foot on either side of the Cross straddling both the Old and New Testaments.
The day that the Holy Spirit came upon the people and ignited their being, was a supernatural event. That supernatural event began the legacy of the Church AKA the Body of Christ.
Judgement is a sad part of the human mindset, yet Jesus said, "I did not come to judge the world but to save it". The real offense of legalism is not that it convicts, but that it condemns. As the Holy One leads, I can see that legalism focuses on the disease while the Holy Spirit stands ready to bring down the cure.
Luke's account of the life of Jesus, says over and over that the Power of the Spirit was on Jesus as He executed the miraculous cures to the sick human conditions of life on earth. Jesus gave us, who would follow Him, a sampling of what was to follow after His Ascension and His release of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus broke the power of sin through His death and resurrection. By releasing the Holy Spirit and His Baptism of fire on the day of Pentecost, we can also experience and do those "greater works" that Jesus did by the Power of the Holy Spirit when He walked the earth.
Repentance and forgiveness between the human and our Creator begins the process, but is not the end goal of salvation. Something supernatural and bigger than our minds can fathom takes place in the human once the reconciliation has been made and our relationship with our Maker is restored.
The indwelling Holy Spirit wants to bring His fire to ignite my internal hearth. I am convinced that the cold water I have doused Him with is legalism and the judgement that goes with it. His is the power to heal, but to experience it, I must stop focusing on the disease and see to the "cure".
Forgiving myself and others releases His power and enables me to walk in the "Spirit". With eyes fixed on Jesus, the Author and Finisher of our faith, instead of on each other and our failures, what healing might the Lord do to and through the Church under the anointing of His Holy Spirit?
Traditional legalism is a duality of thinking. Today I see that we need both feet on the same side of the Cross in order to walk in the Resurrection power of "Pentecost". Only then will we see the same miracles that Jesus modelled and said that we would do too.
The indwelling Holy Spirit of Christ has and is the Cure...shall we allow Him to bring and be it?
The Spirit is calling. Can you hear Him?
No comments:
Post a Comment