FreshBread Archives:
Food For Thought- from Raven Ministries April 2009
In this issue:
1. Hearers Can Change the World- by Robert Ricciardelli
2. Where Faith Really Stands -- by Faye Higbee
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"Hearers" Can Change the World! By Robert Ricciardelli (used by permission)
"The world is dying for want, not of good preaching, but of good hearing.” (George Dana Boardman)
It is time that God's people begin to take the initiative in seeking the Lord like never before. Going to church on Sunday and yet not living as the church on Monday has given us a powerless message to society. We have an identity crisis in the fact that we have created a place for ministry instead of a people mobilized for the work of the ministry. We are a nation of kings and priests, filled with the Spirit of the Living God, and supposed to be a church in which the gates of hell has no chance in hell to defeat.
As the Body of Christ continues to go through a global transition, it is increasingly evident that much of what might have worked in the past, right or wrong, will not work going forward. The times of leading with fear, control, and manipulative tactics to capture the lost, and lead the gullible is over. It has had its day, and the results are in, it simply has not been effective in impacting society around us. Organizational agenda’s can serve the system so well that it leaves little ability to serve the needs of the people inside or outside the system, beginning with authentic relationships.
Ears to Hear!
Are we hearing the Lord’s voice for our own lives, or have we become accustomed to listening to the voices of others in how we live, move, and have our being? Teaching others to hear the Lord's voice for themselves is often a threat to some systems and its leaders. Letting God speak His directives to His people can sometimes threaten others agendas. If leaders are not being discipled by Jesus, and His Kingdom principles, then how are they able to teach, disciple, and lead others to Him? By not being disciples themselves of His Eternal Kingdom, then to where and to what are others being led? Religion? Agenda filled organizations? Another movement or trend?
God’s people can begin to bring God’s presence to others when Christ is leading them daily in their personal lives. He will direct them to faith communities that will allow them to grow in the areas of "one anothering". We all must attain another level of obedience in pursuing His Kingdom standards because we understand that His life matters most. As we live the exchanged life, we can trust the Father for all things, and to work out all things according to His plan.
All that we would seek to accomplish must be done because we are hearing His voice. His destiny for us can only be fulfilled because we have the revelation and vision of His plans and purposes. This does not mean we may know the forseeable future, but that we are obediently moving towards our future as Father's children who desire to please Him above all things.
Where do we start?
We must get a hold of the fundamentals or foundations of our faith, starting with, God is love. It is not all about trying to sin less and become better. Conscientious living of the moral majority standards is not the answer. The law proved to the world long ago that the answer is not in following the do’s and the don’ts of the law, as interpreted by the “Whose Who” of our faith communities. Morality can only change because His loving presence has overwhelmed us to the degree that sin nature that was once prominent, continues to lose its steam because our former lives have been exchanged for His agape life. The answer is a Person, the answer is the Lord Himself, and not anything we can do.
When we choose Jesus, it means we do not choose us before Him any longer. It means we have relationships that are not birthed by agendas, but by His love and by truly caring for each other. It means we choose His ways and no longer our ways. It is a constant battle, no doubt, and one that needs intimacy with a most glorious Father and Savior. And the methods of our journey can no longer be carnal, but strategically supernatural because He lives and moves us towards His best daily, as we submit to His directives in every sphere of life…
And so we seek Him, we listen, and learning Him, we become empowered to bring His transformational Spirit into every environment and rejoice in all He will do through our lives. God’s “Hearers” can truly change the world.
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Where Faith REALLY Stands - by Faye Higbee
I had a close friend ask me the other day where the balance was between giving ourselves to the Lordship of Christ, and just being a normal human. She said it because she is going through some very rough waters in her life, and feels like she is failing or doing something wrong in a lot of areas. Well, get a number, get in line. The only perfect Guy is the One who went to the cross!
Let me share with you a couple of stories that might illustrate the answer. The real faith, the real "submission" to the Lordship of Christ is not found in some religious exercise- it is found in personal trust of the Lord we love. As Robert Ricciardelli mentioned above, it happens when we are so overwhelmed by God's Love that we learn how to move forward even when we want to hide in the cave and give up or take matters into our own hands and really mess it up.
Once I was out hiking in the High Sierras with my husband, his best friend, and our daughter Dana. It was about 98 degrees and at that high altitude the air is significantly thinner than I'm used to. At one point I ran out of water in the climb up a very sheer cliff, and heat exhaustion began to take my ability to walk away. My head was reeling in pain, my vision blurry, and I felt as though I would pass out. I leaned down and drank water out of glacial stream just to survive. (No, I didn't have a filter, I had the Blood of Jesus). As I grew sicker, and the climb got steeper I felt as though if I continued I would die. I prayed for a helicopter. [That's right, you can "declare and decree" anything, but if it isn't God you're just spitting in the wind.] Anyway, at the top of a rock about 500 feet above the lake below, I finally locked in fear and pain. I looked down (not a wise choice -- ever-). The only thing I had the strength left to do was call out to Jesus- like that -- "Jesus! Help me!" At that moment, my husband threw his leather belt to me, told me to grab it, and he literally hauled my not-so-little body off the rock. Had he not done that, I might have perished. Eventually, he shoved a log into the waters of the lake, and we swam back to camp-- the cold water revived me and all the pain left. An important lesson in getting through difficult times: keep moving forward and trust! In that moment, God revealed Himself in my husband -- and I got through "Survival 101" without dying.
Trust and faith are not things we can work up on our own. Scripture says that we are all given a "measure of faith." That measure can be very small and yet we are told it "moves mountains." But the faith that really does great things is the "gift of faith" from 1 Corinthians 12. It comes directly from the Holy Spirit and is the one you need to know God will give when you need it. You can "cheerlead" yourself into a frenzy, but God is the one who distributes the gifts to the ones who need them at the exact right time.
Learning to trust Him in all circumstances is where we often blow it. Our faith is sometimes based upon bad experiences, not on Jesus. As an example, if my mother had relied on her bad experiences to have me, I would have died. She lost 8 full term babies before me, and was told that I was either dead or would be a vegetable. But her faith in Jesus told her not to give up. Her faith in Jesus told her that in spite of the reports of doctors, the child would make it fine. And here I am (yes, sometimes I feel like a head of broccoli, but honest I'm not a vegetable.). She didn't place her trust in people, she placed it entirely in Christ. And she received her answer to prayer.
You and I will never be perfect here on earth. Paul was excruciatingly honest when he told us that he was often conflicted by the struggle between the Holy Spirit and his flesh. The answer of hope lies in Romans 8:31-39, New Living Testament. I'll write it in it's entirety here so that you can grab ahold of all that it entails. Read it ALL, soak it in, and remember that NOTHING, not even our stupid moments can separate us from the love of God. Because He IS Love, mercy, and truth. Peter's faith didn't get him back to the boat, Jesus' faith did. Trust Him for that faith now, when circumstances are overwhelming. He has heard your heart cries, and He will answer!
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"What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us?Since He did not spare even His own Son but gave Him up for us all, won't He also give us everything else? Who dares to accuse us whom God has chosen for His own? No one-- for God Himself has given us right standing with Himself. Who then will condemn us? No one--for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and He is sitting in the place of honor at God's right hand, pleading for us.
Can anything ever separate us from Christ's love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? As the Scriptures say, "For your sake we are killed every day; we are being slaughtered like sheep". No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ who loved us.
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God's love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow -- not even the powers of hell can separate us from God's love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below -- indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord."