Change is the essential process of all existence.

We live in a time where there is much spiritual awareness. Our culture is quickly discovering that there is a vacuum that exists in life that requires something beyond our natural abilities and talents to fulfill. The challenge we face in this season is to be a spiritual people (something in which the organized church is sometimes lacking) and not be moved or lured off of the foundation which is Christ.

The spiritual philosophies of the world today can sound very appealing and yes very tempting but at the heart of each philosophy we usually find self. Remember that in these last days, a spiritual hunger with many false Christs will appear (Mat. 24:24). People want the supernatural, people want a spiritual reality. The problem we face is that people want it their own way, and it is this idea of our own way that is the mark of the beast. You see, spirituality or lack of spirituality is not the problem; the problem lies in the hearts of people who are afraid to trust and open up their lives to others resulting in a spirituality that is self serving, self motivated and puts the focus on ourselves.

The only spirituality that can save the planet is a spirituality that is selfless, lives for the benefit of others, is not concerned about it’s own success but the success of others, a spirituality that is ever growing, ever learning, a spirituality that doesn’t have to be right all the time but will always be there in the right time. Such spirituality can only be found in the Father heart of God through His Son Jesus Christ, revealed through a collective expression of individuals living for each other’s welfare in the higher purpose of The Father’s ultimate intention being manifest in each and every life. For such a concept to come to fruition, the measuring rod must continually be applied; and that measuring rod, which is our foundation, is Christ and Christ alone!

Have you ever wondered what the real reason that Jesus spoke in parables was? Could it have something to do with people understanding the message more than the words?
Remember that the purpose of words is to relay a message, what is important is not so much the words written or even spoken but the message that is trying to be communicated. I believe this is why Jesus spoke in parables. Remember that a picture is worth a thousand words and God wants us to get the picture He is trying to paint in our hearts!
What I have seen over the years is that people will often debate and argue over words written in scripture and in doing so miss the whole point that God is trying to get across. These arguments usually result in divisions and separatisms amongst believers. Let us not be so literal (letter of the law) and try to understand the message trying to be relayed.

2Timothy 2:14 Remind them of these things, and solemnly charge them in the presence of God not to wrangle about words, which is useless and leads to the ruin of the hearers.
(AMP) Remind [the people] of these facts and [solemnly] charge them in the presence of the Lord to avoid petty controversy over words, which does no good but upsets and undermines the faith of the hearers.
(GNB) Remind your people of this, and give them a solemn warning in God’s presence not to fight over words. It does no good, but only ruins the people who listen.

Clarke’s Commentary states: That they strive not about words – Words, not things, have been a most fruitful source of contention in the Christian world; and among religious people, the principal cause of animosity has arisen from the different manner of apprehending the same term, while, in essence, both meant the same thing. All preachers and divines should be very careful, both in speaking and writing, to explain the terms they use, and never employ them in any sense but that in which they have explained them.

Matthew 23:23-24 “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cummin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others. “You blind guides, who strain out a gnat and swallow a camel!

Probably the prime example of missing the message and being caught up in words is found in the 2000 year debate over the divinity of Jesus Christ. Is Jesus God or just the Son of God? This was the thrust of the debate of the council of Nicaea in 325 AD, trying to deal with this topic which had split the church in two.

God’s purpose in Jesus was to express Himself (His love) and His message to the world. God’s message was not necessarily the words of Jesus but rather the life of Jesus. Jesus Christ was God’s message, God’s words, God’s love, God’s law, God’s purpose and intent for mankind wrapped up in human flesh! This is why Jesus did not tell people to focus on His words or teaching but rather taught people to focus on Himself!

To hear the audio click here.

In 1967 the BBC commissioned the Beatles to write a song for the UK’s contribution to “Our World” the first live global television link. The song that John Lennon wrote was entitled “All you need is love”. Whether or not John realized this but it was a song of the heart of God to His children of the planet.

Matthew 22:34-40 But when the Pharisees heard that Jesus had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered themselves together. One of them, a lawyer, asked Him a question, testing Him, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And He said to him, ” ‘YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND.’ “This is the great and foremost commandment. “The second is like it, ‘YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.’ “On these two commandments depend the whole Law and the Prophets.”

Matthew 7:12 “In everything, therefore, treat people the same way you want them to treat you, for this is the Law and the Prophets.

Where love is lacking, law is needed! Where love is lived, law is obsolete!

Romans 13:10 Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

The law is our teacher which over time brings us to a place of love (Christ). Jesus fulfilled the law by living in love. Love is expressed in relationship.

Galatians 3:24-25 Therefore the Law has become our tutor to lead us to Christ, so that we may be justified by faith. But now that faith has come, we are no longer under a tutor.

Galatians 5:14 For the whole Law is fulfilled in one word, in the statement, “YOU SHALL LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF.”

Remember that love is not a feeling; love is a lifestyle of preferring others over yourself. Love is a lifestyle of treating others in the way you want to be treated.

Philippians 2:3-4 Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind regard one another as more important than yourselves; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.

Godly love is more than the absence of treating others badly; it is the initiating of treating others in the way we want to be treated.

To Hear the Audio click here.

It may seem absurd to ask such a question, but if we are to continue on the journey I believe the Lord is taking us on, then it is imperative that these type of questions be asked.

Too often I find that we in Christendom miss a lot that God is trying to portray to us. I believe this is due to the tendency we have to over literalize scripture in areas where it was not intended to be literalized. One such area, I believe, is in the phrase “Son of God”. To properly understand and learn we must ask ourselves the following questions:

Why did God use that phrase, what was His purpose?

What did that phrase mean to the people and culture of that day to which He spoke?

Was it something that was literal or did it have a greater metaphorical meaning?

As a student of scripture I have come to discover over the years that God’s intention when He speaks or expresses Himself is for the purpose of revealing to us a greater reality of Himself and our purpose in Him.

With this in mind, let us look into the following verses in scripture to discover what is meant by the term “Son of God”.

Exodus 4:22,23 “Then you shall say to Pharaoh, ‘Thus says the LORD, “Israel is My son, My firstborn. “So I said to you, ‘Let My son go that he may serve Me’; but you have refused to let him go. Behold, I will kill your son, your firstborn.”

Hosea 11:1 When Israel was a youth I loved him, And out of Egypt I called My son.

Who is the Son of God in these passages of scripture? Is not the Son of God depicted here Israel?

Acts 17:28 for in Him we live and move and exist, as even some of your own poets have said, ‘For we also are His children.’

Ephesians 4:6 one God and Father of all who is over all and through all and in all.

Here we see that God is Father of all, not just the father of believers. In Acts 17:28 Paul was speaking to the Greek non-believers. Does this not make all of us sons of God?

Mark 1:1 The beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God.

Here we see that Jesus Christ is referred to as the Son of God.

Let us look at another metaphor:

Matthew 5:14 “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden;

Who is the light of the world? In this passage is not Jesus speaking to the nation of Israel?

John 8:12 Then Jesus again spoke to them, saying, “I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.”

John 9:5 “While I am in the world, I am the Light of the world.”

Now Jesus says that He is the light of the world and furthermore He unveils to them that He is only the light while He is in the world…….interesting thought!

Let me help you a little. God’s purpose for Israel (His Son) was that they would be light to the whole world. Jesus Christ was the physical embodiment of the nation Israel. Jesus was God’s light in Israel manifest.

We can now see that the term “Son of God” is a metaphor for God manifest or God purpose manifest.

You see God tried to manifest Himself through Israel but they were not willing. Then He decided to manifest Himself through Himself in the form of Jesus Christ. Today He manifests Himself through us who are willing to let go of our own lives and take hold of His life and allow God to manifest through Himself (Christ) in us. Through this we fulfill the purpose of God in being the light of the world. Christ (God) in us manifest to represent the Father and His love to the world.

To hear the audio press here.

Forty: The Road to Faith

It is quite interesting how often and where we find the number 40 in scripture. Whenever and wherever we come accross it we seem to find ourselves in a place of challenge and testing, a place where we are often cornered with seemingly no way out. It is at this place where we find God and feel compelled to trust Him, usually because there is no other way. It is in this place of despair that empowers us to discover that which is beyond our reason and logic and takes us on a journey into the realms of the unknown and endless possibilities. This journey we call “The Road of Faith”. Let us look at a couple of examples in scripture.

Acts 1:3 To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.

Luke 24:1-53

Acts 1:1-11
The purpose of the forty days was to bring the disciples to a place in their lives where they would believe without having to see, that they would learn to see beyond the eyes of the body and see with the eyes of faith. They were to learn to live by a new perspective, the life of the spirit (internal life of relationship), and to free themselves from the limitations of the life of the natural (external life or sense realm).

Gen 8:6 Then it came about at the end of forty days, that Noah opened the window of the ark which he had made;

This is forty days from the time that the ark landed on Mt. Ararat.

Gen 8:11 The dove came to him toward evening, and behold, in her beak was a freshly picked olive leaf. So Noah knew that the water was abated from the earth.

The dove represents the spirit and the olive branch new life. So after another forty days Noah entered into a new life in the spirit and it was at this time that God made a covenant with Noah through the rainbow. The rainbow is found after the forty days of testing.

Acts 1:6 So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”

They still were not getting it, they were still looking for a natural kingdom with a natural king.

What are we looking for today? Are we waiting for a natural king to restore the kingdom to the Christians? Or are we looking to a spiritual kingdom that is lived through us? Our lives still have many forty days to go through until we come to a place of maturity in faith, where we can live the kingdom now from the inside out. It is only through the faith journey that we will see the coming of the King and when the King returns the scriptures say that what He will be looking to see if He can find faith in the earth. Remember that we are the earth!

To here the audio press here.