Surroundings

P 3331 In but not of …

/ DVH

“Stop imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around you, but be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how you think. This will empower you to discern God’s will as you live a beautiful life, satisfying and perfect in His eyes.” Romans 12:2 TPT.  That’s pretty plain isn’t it? Not much to explain there. And here’s another one, where Jesus Himself is praying for us… “My prayer is not that You take them out of the world but that You protect them from the evil one. They are not of the world, even as I am not of it.” John 17:15-16. 

The thing is, without inward transformation, we are wasting our time and effort trying to capture the-people-who-don’t-know-Him’s attention with our own clever ideas and plans. We need to have the Lord’s guidance, His way to reach out to people. We serve the One Who took people out onto a hillside and they were so captured by what Jesus said, they didn’t even think about eating.

The point made in this scripture is that the Lord knows how to go straight to the heart of the matter, and we don’t. Let’s ask for His help! The bonus is we get to know God’s will for our lives. We no longer live by this world’s standards. The ‘latest thing’ is the ‘last thing’ on our minds! Unless the Holy Spirit kisses what we are doing and tears off the roof, our plans are limited, His are not.

Jesus isn’t praying for us to live detached from this world, like somehow what’s out there can stop what’s inside us from flourishing!  Our choices do that for us, they are what influence us. We don’t need to separate ourselves from the lives we are here to touch when we’ve decide to make Him our priority. Instead Jesus is praying that we will be protected from the devices of our enemy – who is all around us. Here’s my litmus test for in not of …  Ask yourself what occupies most of your thoughts? 

I have been to churches in many places, that are pale imitations of what this world can produce all by itself. In the end, the productions become more important than the God we worship or the people we are here to reach. Let’s realise that when it comes to production – this world is waa-aa-aa-ay better at it than we are! They’ve got great gizmos to help them make fake things look real.

I think that’s because whatever IS represented by this world is fake. In our churches we want to produce the real thing — but you can’t produce the real thing, from fake roots. Entertainment is by its very nature, anti-what-Jesus-stands-for. He wants to glorify His Father, by what He says and does. He can use entertainment, but He doesn’t need it. We can say we want to glorify God, but I’ve been involved in the production of a number of things in the past and this world does not easily let go of the idea that being bigger, better, brighter, more clever is the way to go! 

Human beings think that doing something well, is going to impress the world and help them to believe in what they are selling. They don’t need to be impressed with us, these people need the King, not our clever, glamorous well-produced rhetoric. Our message doesn’t need any help! It’s in the book and God Himself wrote it. Our God is the God of the Universe, He doesn’t want or need our advertising, He  wants to reach the people around us, with healing, deliverance, salvation and the Good News.

We have been asked to make disciples, followers of Jesus Christ – not groupies. Changing someone’s heart is His job. Ours is to co-operate with the Holy Spirit and make a permanent place for the Lord in our hearts and our churches – then we follow the Holy Spirit’s instructions regarding how we approach others. Our churches are where we meet to glorify Him and give Him the praise He so richly deserves. And all our gifts are to be surrendered and used to glorify Him — our fellowship is sweeter because of Him. 

Our meetings cannot be about “the atmosphere’ either – an atmosphere is easily created and easily broken. What we do is about Him, done for His sake, for His pleasure. We can’t substitute special effects for the anointing – it is far better to get on our faces and find out where we’ve missed Him, than to plough on competing with this world’s idea of a good time.  

To be in not of  means we are totally aware of our surroundings, and we can see and hear the people around us. Their needs, their hopes, their squashed broken lives. It is so easy to segregate ourselves away from the very people the Lord saved us to reach — simply because they do this and that, and that stuff might corrupt us. The hard times that have fallen upon everyone has disproved that theory. People are dying inside – they have no hope.  And guess what we have – HOPE! 

We have the incorruptible One living inside us!1 Peter 1:23 says: “For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God.” 1 John 4:4: “Little children, you are of God, and have overcome them; for He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.” In but not of is about singular focus, not just distraction. I would rather spend 5 minutes with a Spirit-filled person than 5 seconds with someone else’s clever ideas. Bye for now, 👋

P 3307 Count the cost.

/ DVH

Since we have come to know Jesus, our aims for this life have to change. We are no longer living to do what we want to do, we live to do what He sent us here to do to: “Since Christ, though innocent, suffered in His flesh for you, now you also must be a prepared soldier, having the same mind-set, for whoever has died in his body is done with sin. So live the rest of your earthly life no longer concerned with human desires but consumed with what brings pleasure to God.” 1 Peter 4:1-2 TPT. 

Heaven’s help in our growth is essential. I am sorry to say, that in years gone by, the church hasn’t always prepared God’s people to participate in dying to self. We’ve talked a great deal about a free ticket to heaven, and God’s love for mankind, and how His power released into our lives will enhance our lives, but unfortunately, we didn’t emphasise the cost. The bible is clear, and Jesus said it — we simply must count the cost! Let’s not avoid the verses that talk about this subject and accidentally allow His word to be watered down in our daily lives. 

Here’s a useful tip — rationalising God’s Word leads us to a cliff. We can fall off and think we will be OK because God is good and He will catch us, but His aim is to have functional, mature Christians! The Lord’s death was a serious thing and our response should be just as serious. One of the reasons people struggle with their faith today is that they have not counted the cost by deciding to live their life ‘all in.’ They say things like:‘Well, I’ve prayed about my faults and it’s up to God to fix them.” The Holy Spirit requires our co-operation and interaction in this process – He will help us, correct and direct us and prompt us. 

Jesus Himself mentioned several times: “go and sin no more!” Now does it sound like that skill is going to just fall on us? I think we are either all in … … or not. There is no middle ground. That middle ground we’ve embraced is not supported by scripture. The bible forces us to look at our decision-making processes.  And here are some examples of what compromise can look like.

Chapter 14 in Luke is a really challenging chapter. Let’s look at what Jesus said in verses 25-33:“Now great crowds accompanied Him, and He turned and said to them, “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not bear his own cross and come after Me cannot be my disciple. For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who see it begin to mock him, saying, ‘This man began to build and was not able to finish.’ Or what king, going out to encounter another king in war, will not sit down first and deliberate whether he is able with ten thousand to meet him who comes against him with twenty thousand? And if not, while the other is yet a great way off, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So therefore, any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be My disciple.”

Giving our lives to Jesus means that we are going to encounter various difficulties and challenges at different times. However, we can’t avoid making the tough choices. What happens when loving Jesus means we will tick off our parents, friends, rabbits and relations? I have found my true devotion shows up under pressure and there’s nothing like family to turn the pressure on! That’s a cost all of us face, explaining our faith to the people we dearly love, and sometimes being ostracised because of it.

Previous to the above scripture in Luke, the Lord also mentioned a number of scenarios we need to pay attention to – maybe we’ve been invited to a feast by somebody important, and praying for a sick person will interrupt the formal proceedings.The Lord wants us to be mindful, about whether we are influenced by our surroundings, or not. Standing up for Jesus in private is one thing – standing up for Him in public is another. There’s a cost.

At another time the Lord explained that certain guests were invited to the wedding party of all wedding parties, by God Himself – but when they were invited, they said they had other more pressing things to do. So the Master of ceremonies sent His servants out to find ANYONE they could find, and compel those people to come in and enjoy the happy time. We simply can’t afford to be careless and casual about His instructions or invitations. Counting the cost means we will have to choose under pressure.

Above in Luke it talks about counting the cost. This time it is about building a house. It says: let’s make sure we can pay for the house, on the spot, or progressively … before we start. The Lord knew the importance of counting the cost before you jumped into something incredibly challenging and life changing. Better to live in a shack and be able to concentrate on your faith, than skipping being with Him and overworking to pay a mortgage. The cost can sometimes be our own comfort.

Living for Jesus means we consult Him first, and we will take the time to wait for His answer. Then we face the cost personally, and do what He asks us to do. In His very last example, the Lord talked about going to war, and how important it is to count the cost and be aware of your ability to win, before you start. War has long term ramifications. Standing up for Him in the midst of conflict, can cost people their lives. All these things are part of counting the cost. Be aware of it first, because bearing the cost makes us His disciples. Bye 👋.