Looking at people through discernment
I send greetings to you in the name of our Lord Jesus: somehow I want to communicate to you as simply as I can the need for us to be aware of the deceit of the world around us. My spirit is telling me that there is a great number of people within the body of Christ who have been planted there by the enemy of God. These people do not outwardly oppose the word of God, but they refused to bear fruit of the spirit. I challenge you to read the Scripture found in Jude to understand more of what God is speaking to us through his Spirit.
God does not tell us to avoid these people but to be aware of them, and to deal with each situation that comes up through the power of the Holy Spirit. I believe that each one of us, if we look closely enough will be able to determine through the discernment of the Holy Spirit in us who these people are, and then be able to minister to them accordingly. When we begin to look closely at those around us it isn't hard to find certain people that fit into this category. I believe we should love them and do everything that we can to minister to them, but we should not dismayed when we do not see results of growth in God's spirit in them. If we look closely at the Scriptures we will no doubt see this deeper lesson being taught to us over and over again to use our discernment wisely in dealing with the world around us. That world also includes the church that we worship in. In the book of Acts we can see how the first church operated from its beginning.
Those of you who know me also know that I'm looking constantly for ways to understand these things on a deeper level. I see that the church from the very beginning had three different areas that they focused on. This wasn't something that they consciously tried to do, but I believe that as we break it down to a more simple form we can understand these areas a little better.1. People 2. Function 3. Form. These three things are connected to one another having form and structure automatically come together whenever you attempt to achieve a goal. The Scriptures even tell us"without vision my people perish"the church was established with focus of bringing all men closer to God. What do we do and why do we do what we do? We need to determine what our focus or our goal is in ministry and then move forward. Our church calling is different from any other calling in this area so defining what that focus and that calling is becomes the first step in establishing a real church body.
If we were to look at any church through a microscope to see the detailed elements inside; the way things work, and the intentions of people as they share a Sunday morning service, and as they live out brand of Christ that their heart accepts we will begin to see the true structure of that church. If we take that same microscope and look through the lens at the Scripture we can see what the first church used. What they used is different than both history or culture. Instead of trying to find a creed or doctrine they trying to understand Jesus teachings in the Scripture in context with each situation he was in ; they didn't have tunnel vision. That causes me to ask the question how do we use these lenses today to operate in the church? Hebrews 10:25 says"never forsake meeting together". The first century church was absolute about regular meetings. Luke who wrote Acts said that they never stopped teaching and proclaiming Jesus as Lord. Acts 5:42.
As we look closer in the Scripture we find that they taught and preached from house to house. This tells me that the church's commitment went far beyond that of an organization but was very family-oriented. Did they go in the house, preach outside, or on the roof? It depends upon the circumstances and upon the culture they were in, but we do know that a great deal of their inter-reaction was done in their homes, sharing meals, and sharing lives. In fact among the main reasons for the meeting publicly was to demonstrate and witness what God had done for them during their week of interreaction with one another and with God's spirit. They met publicly on the temple steps because they were not allowed to enter into the. In our culture today we may run into some problems as well. In the Iron Curtain countries it is unlawful to meet in private homes. The ratio of people, form and function that we are talking about start to change under a crisis. Without any kind of crisis it is easy for the church to slip into habit and comfort. The word of God however is designed to bring crisis in the Christian's life because we need constant change in order to grow. The law of God was given to us to expose sin. The law is not designed to save us, but to convict us. It is God's spirit, mercy, and love that is the combination for salvation. The word of God teaches the truth which is an absolute truth, and if a life is not in sync with truth it will cause crisis in that life. I want to speak a little more about this with you over the next few blogs. But for now as we begin to look at the people and the church around us remember we need to use our discernment about the fruit of the spirit that we see being developed in each life. May you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
God does not tell us to avoid these people but to be aware of them, and to deal with each situation that comes up through the power of the Holy Spirit. I believe that each one of us, if we look closely enough will be able to determine through the discernment of the Holy Spirit in us who these people are, and then be able to minister to them accordingly. When we begin to look closely at those around us it isn't hard to find certain people that fit into this category. I believe we should love them and do everything that we can to minister to them, but we should not dismayed when we do not see results of growth in God's spirit in them. If we look closely at the Scriptures we will no doubt see this deeper lesson being taught to us over and over again to use our discernment wisely in dealing with the world around us. That world also includes the church that we worship in. In the book of Acts we can see how the first church operated from its beginning.
Those of you who know me also know that I'm looking constantly for ways to understand these things on a deeper level. I see that the church from the very beginning had three different areas that they focused on. This wasn't something that they consciously tried to do, but I believe that as we break it down to a more simple form we can understand these areas a little better.1. People 2. Function 3. Form. These three things are connected to one another having form and structure automatically come together whenever you attempt to achieve a goal. The Scriptures even tell us"without vision my people perish"the church was established with focus of bringing all men closer to God. What do we do and why do we do what we do? We need to determine what our focus or our goal is in ministry and then move forward. Our church calling is different from any other calling in this area so defining what that focus and that calling is becomes the first step in establishing a real church body.
If we were to look at any church through a microscope to see the detailed elements inside; the way things work, and the intentions of people as they share a Sunday morning service, and as they live out brand of Christ that their heart accepts we will begin to see the true structure of that church. If we take that same microscope and look through the lens at the Scripture we can see what the first church used. What they used is different than both history or culture. Instead of trying to find a creed or doctrine they trying to understand Jesus teachings in the Scripture in context with each situation he was in ; they didn't have tunnel vision. That causes me to ask the question how do we use these lenses today to operate in the church? Hebrews 10:25 says"never forsake meeting together". The first century church was absolute about regular meetings. Luke who wrote Acts said that they never stopped teaching and proclaiming Jesus as Lord. Acts 5:42.
As we look closer in the Scripture we find that they taught and preached from house to house. This tells me that the church's commitment went far beyond that of an organization but was very family-oriented. Did they go in the house, preach outside, or on the roof? It depends upon the circumstances and upon the culture they were in, but we do know that a great deal of their inter-reaction was done in their homes, sharing meals, and sharing lives. In fact among the main reasons for the meeting publicly was to demonstrate and witness what God had done for them during their week of interreaction with one another and with God's spirit. They met publicly on the temple steps because they were not allowed to enter into the. In our culture today we may run into some problems as well. In the Iron Curtain countries it is unlawful to meet in private homes. The ratio of people, form and function that we are talking about start to change under a crisis. Without any kind of crisis it is easy for the church to slip into habit and comfort. The word of God however is designed to bring crisis in the Christian's life because we need constant change in order to grow. The law of God was given to us to expose sin. The law is not designed to save us, but to convict us. It is God's spirit, mercy, and love that is the combination for salvation. The word of God teaches the truth which is an absolute truth, and if a life is not in sync with truth it will cause crisis in that life. I want to speak a little more about this with you over the next few blogs. But for now as we begin to look at the people and the church around us remember we need to use our discernment about the fruit of the spirit that we see being developed in each life. May you richly bless God through your life in him.
THE UNWORTHY SERVANT
Comments
Post a Comment