Going the Other Way

A law expert came to Jesus asking about how to go to heaven. Surprisingly, (at least to me it is) Jesus didn't mention anything about receiving Him as Savior and Lord but pointed to two commandments in the Old Testament---loving God with all, and loving your neighbor as yourself. Loving God with our "all" means we leave nothing for anything else except our neighbors, which is an inseparable part of loving God with our all. 

Photo by Possessed Photography on Unsplash.

The law expert thought he didn't have any problem with the first command, but he had some doubts about doing the second one (didn't realize loving God and neighbor cannot be separated). The passage [Luke 10.25 and on] says this lawyer sought to "justify himself." Or, he sought to look the other way instead of loving his fellow. So he asked, "Who is my neighbor?"

I think we all know the story. 

I'm amused how Jesus chose, of all people, two very religious folks (even men of God--a temple leader and a worshiper) to highlight a bad example, and a Samaritan (most repugnant to Jews) to exemplify a good trait. 

Anyway, the point is, often we're more like the priest and the Levite than the good Samaritan, though we can't see ourselves being so, just because we're church people, active in church, born again, serving God, worshiping God intensely and all that. We think these things keep us from being like the priest and Levite, not realizing that like them, we often prefer to look the other way and yet think we're better than Samaritans because we know God and worship Him. We think our church and born-again religion make us look good to God, especially if we have church programs for the poor.

But the Samaritan in the parable had no church (or synagogue) that had a program for the poor. He dug from his own pocket right on the spot, taking out no small amount, not a pittance, but something substantial. I say this because it covered an initial Php 1,200 inn fee (he gave 2 denarii to the innkeeper, and a denarius is equal to a day's labor wage back then, which is Php 600 today, just to give us an idea), and promised to give more when he returned. 

The innkeeper agreed, which said a lot about the Samaritan's character. The innkeeper trusted in  his word, probably because he'd known him a considerable length of time. He knew this Samaritan to be well trusted and liberal when it came to money. Question is, who among us would be ready to shell out Php 1,500 for a helpless stranger in the street? Fifty pesos probably, or a hundred, and that will make us feel "generous" already. We can easily give that amount in church, though, to impress people or the pastor and the treasurer, something which the priest and Levite would also have easily done. Jesus said they loved being seen publicly in their religiosity. 

Remember too, how Samaritans didn't know God. They were a product of diverse pagan peoples that Shalmaneser king of Assyria put there in Samaria after he exiled all Israel (northern) to Assyria, never to return [2 Kings 17]. They didn't know how to worship God or recognize the one true God. Jesus told the Samaritan woman, "You Samaritans worship what you do not know," and Samaritans believed God should be worshiped only on certain places (this mountain or that mountain), as most church people today worship God nowhere else except in their church buildings.

The good Samaritan didn't have the type of spirituality that Jews thought was acceptable to God but he knew in his heart the right thing to do in crucial times, especially when giving away money was involved. He may not be well acquainted with the Word of God but he obeyed the law that the Holy Spirit wrote in his heart. 

14 (Indeed, when Gentiles, who do not have the law, do by nature things required by the law, they are a law for themselves, even though they do not have the law. 15 They show that the requirements of the law are written on their hearts, their consciences also bearing witness, and their thoughts sometimes accusing them and at other times even defending them.) [Romans 2.14-15]

Paul told the Roman believers that it's not those who just hear the law that will be declared righteous but those who obey it [Romans 2.13].  We may not be under the law because of Christ in us, but Jesus said he never intended to abolish the law but to fulfill it, and in fact simplified it for believers into loving God with our all and loving neighbor as ourselves.

Many times, we look down on people we think are not born again, who do not go to church, who do not read the bible or do not know our church lingo, like shouting "Amen!" or "Praise the Lord!" We don't see them being as spiritual as we are, so we have biases against them. We see some of them not as churchy as we are or as busy in church and we think they're idlers or backsliders.

Sometimes, we see pastors not as busy or hardworking as we are and think they don't have a heart for God, church planting, missions or whatever. We want people to make a lot of noise about their ministry, to announce, promote, brag or take pride in themselves and what they do, and we find something wrong if they don't do so. Thus, often we identify more with the priest and Levites who love the best seats in the synagogues and to be seen by men when doing things for God, than with the good Samaritan who quietly did the right thing in his heart in a remote and isolated place where only bandits and robbers frequented. 

Jesus did not promote himself or his ministry. Instead, the Holy Spirit did all the promotion in supernatural ways so that people from everywhere talked about him, sought him and pursued after him.

For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world. [1 John 2.16]

SURRENDERING TO JESUS 

Ask forgiveness and repent of your sins. Believe God's forgiveness. It is promised in the bible. Receive Jesus Christ into your heart as your sole Savior and Lord. Then be assured of heaven, not because of anything you have or do (not your good deeds or religion or church), but because of God's grace and mercy through what Jesus Christ did on the cross. 

In Jesus alone is salvation. Jesus is: 

"‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4] 

Surrender to Him by intently studying the bible daily (ask guidance from the Holy Spirit) and applying in life everything you learn. And then pray that God lead you to the right person who'd disciple you, one who is totally surrendered to Jesus and living His Word in the bible.

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Turning to Another Gospel

There's another gospel. As early as Paul's time, "another gospel" was suspected to exist and hit hard on the Galatian church. It looked authentic that even if the church started right in the Holy Spirit, it was now abandoning being entirely Spirit-led and comfortably settled with being entirely led by the flesh. And they really thought they were doing right and dealing with Jesus' Gospel.

Photo by Mikołaj on Unsplash.

They probably even felt so spiritual because they were working so hard in the ministry with all their efforts. That's characteristic of being flesh-led---everything is by man's effort, design, smartness, programs, strategies and direction, all done "for God's glory." Man's effort is legitimized by that phrase, "for God's glory." But Jesus had it so differently. He said his ministry was all the Father's effort in him, not his own.

Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. [John 14.10]

Once you get out of that pattern and do things your own smart way, you follow "another gospel," which was exactly what the Galatians were guilty of. Man's effort in ministry looks glamorous and probably the reason why the Galatians were "bewitched" by it and threw anything genuinely of the Holy Spirit out the window because they saw how man's effort gave them quicker results that highlighted their geniuses. Like how the modern church today mocks the supernatural of the Holy Spirit as superstition and subscribes to what looks systematic, scientific nd respectable.

I marvel that ye are so soon removed from him that called you into the grace of Christ unto another gospel: [Galatians 3.3]

So Removed

Paul said the Galatians were "so soon removed." The word "removed" here is a big word. They removed themselves from anything of the Spirit of God, and didn't know it because they were bewitched, or as NLT puts it, "cast an evil spell on." Abandoning the Jesus Way and turning to another way or gospel is demonic, it has to do with the occult. And that's what God calls it---abandoning or deserting. Metatithesthe is the Greek which means among other things, not simply changing sides but perverting.

What the Other Gospel Does to Us

1. Throw us into confusion [1.7]. Probably why we have a lot of denominations with different doctrines that say some portions of Scripture do not apply to us anymore---or some of God's Word are already obsolete today 😂. Nope, God's Word is always fresh, like his steadfast love and mercy that never cease but are new each morning. 

They reason that even with our different denominational doctrines we're all united in our basic faith in Jesus, and that's all that matters. But Jesus is the WORD of GOD, and that tells us we cannot just agree on some things in God's Word and disagree on the rest. Is Christ divided? I follow this portion while you follow another portion? I follow Paul, you follow Silas?

2. Pervert the Gospel [1.7]. Try to teach people about Jesus honestly using the bible (without denominational presuppositions or presumptions) and you'd see how "believers" find the real Jesus strange, odd, extreme, even cultic. Why? Because the modern church has been preaching "another Jesus," a tame one. They also don't understand how it is to be genuinely Spirit-led but just rely on how their church or pastor interprets God's Word for them according to the theology or hermeneutics of man. That's a clear perversion of Scriptures, giving undue preference to what man can give instead of total reliance on the Holy Spirit.

17 Jesus replied, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for this was not revealed to you by flesh and blood (by man), but by my Father in heaven." [Matthew 16]

Teachers in church should be genuinely led by the Holy Spirit, relying solely on how HE gives supernatural understanding, not on things learned from endless seminars on how to do things. 

3. Under a curse [1.8]. What we often understand by "under a curse" is suffering poverty or financial insufficiency. Why? Because of the church's money-value system, that anything not translating into church income is useless. If what we do does not grow church membership, it's nothing because church membership translates into income and income grows churches. So we think poor believers or churches are "under a curse."

But Paul gave the Galatians a good idea of what it is. It has all to do with being bound to people's approval and to pride. That's the curse from turning to another gospel. Thus, his opening statement was an emphasis on being called by God, not man. 

Paul, an apostle—sent not from men nor by a man, but by Jesus Christ and God the Father.

Then he added.

10 Am I now trying to win the approval of human beings, or of God? Or am I trying to please people? If I were still trying to please people, I would not be a servant of Christ.

11 I want you to know, brothers and sisters, that the gospel I preached is not of human origin. 12 I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it; rather, I received it by revelation from Jesus Christ.

If you're a man pleaser, that's among worst curses to be punished with. The scary thing is that pleasing people makes you likely to fall into the hands of false believers who want you to remain a slave to the world. No wonder a lot of pastors today are hostage to the whims, fancies and impulses of their church boards or the church itself. They obey the will of the board even if it thwarts God's will because they fear losing their jobs.

This matter arose because some false believers had infiltrated our ranks to spy on the freedom we have in Christ Jesus and to make us slaves. 5 We did not give in to them for a moment, so that the truth of the gospel might be preserved for you. [Galatians 2.4]

SURRENDERING TO JESUS 

 Ask forgiveness and repent of your sins. Believe God's forgiveness. It is promised in the bible. Receive Jesus Christ into your heart as your sole Savior and Lord. Then be assured of heaven, not because of anything you have or do (not your good deeds or religion or church), but because of God's grace and mercy through what Jesus Christ did on the cross. 

 In Jesus alone is salvation. Jesus is: 

"‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4] 

Surrender to Him by intently studying the bible daily (ask guidance from the Holy Spirit) and applying in life everything you learn. And then pray that God lead you to the right person who'd disciple you, one who is totally surrendered to Jesus and living His Word in the bible.

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Men and Places GOD Chooses

"And so John the Baptist appeared," Mark says in the Gospel he wrote, though we don't find this phrase in the original Greek. But the point is John "appeared" or "came" as the forerunner of this exciting Good News about the Christ, and he did the work in (of all places) the wilderness. It was the only reason why he was there--a voice in the wilderness--as a sent messenger to prepare Jesus' coming.

Photo by Juli Kosolapova on Unsplash.

4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him.

Watch this. His life career was to do ministry in this discomfort zone. Nice church buildings with superb facilities, air conditioning and sound systems are good, so are modern big meeting or conference venues--and we ought to use them because they're part of God's provisions. But God provides us with all sorts of stuff, not so we can use them indiscriminately but to train us to make wise choices. 

To see if we finally get the point.

Look at John. He was the son of Zechariah, who was a priest, and John could have just decided to follow in his dad's footstep and do the ministry more conveniently as such--a priest--with all the nice and ample provisions that go with the job. Nope, John opted out and chose to be in the discomforts of the wilderness--the hot sun, terrible humidity and burning desert floor plus the dangers of wild animals and bandits. You could hardly attract people to your ministry with that (that's what our human understanding would tell us) and our mindsets bent on attracting people with nice buildings, altars, music and facilities would think that John was wrong to choose the wilderness as a ministry venue. 

Doesn't make ministry sense.

Preaching on repentance is in itself already too uncomfortable for people, let alone making them come to you in the wilderness. We would have it quite differently. We'd have it in a posh auditorium or at least in an air-conditioned church building where the seats are soft and inviting and the preacher is trained and titled to be entertaining--anything to make repentance palatable. We always cover repentance with sweet icing to make it marketable to our consumers.

This is why church often ends up with spoiled brats, lukewarm and carnal, hardly experiencing any spiritual depth so they'd rather discuss human theology, hermeneutics, denominational doctrines, religion and Sunday school lessons. They seldom deepen in faith--attaining to the measure of Jesus or John, being the least--because going deep is painful and uncomfortable, like the wilderness. It's where you lose all to gain Christ.

But don't get me wrong. Wilderness is not a guarantee for spiritual depth. The Israelites in Moses' time went to the wilderness but their hearts were still in love with Egypt. They all died. Yet, wilderness is an important phase which many Christians avoid. Many went to John in the wilderness for baptism but I wonder how many of them were part of the crucifixion lobby against Jesus? Wilderness is supposed to be where you die to self, the world and sin, preparing your heart to be radical for Jesus.

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And that's where we miss the point about John's ministry as a forerunner-messenger. There's definitely a divine purpose why God would put John in a very unlikely place to do ministry to preach a hated message on repentance---and why God would also put Jesus in a notorious place like Nazareth (and often stay in "remote" unimpressive places) and choose apostles that most people would find repugnant, so ordinary and uninteresting. And the reason or purpose is quite the opposite of what churches today prioritize and find indispensable.

God wants to place his most valuable treasure in places the human flesh would be uncomfortable in. And he chooses servants who would most likely be rejected by the same. Unappealing message by an unappealing servant of God. That's God's formula. You see this Kingdom pattern everywhere in Scripture. However, this is the pattern the modern church keeps contradicting or working against. 

The only thing in our minds today is how the world will like us and our message. We fear being disliked and are at a loss how we can count it all joy brethren when we face various trials like rejection or being ignored like trash---especially if no one cares if we're there or not. We tremble with that. We crave attention and big crowds gathered in our meetings more than we crave being persecuted or rejected or crucified with Christ.

How did the ministry of John fare even without fanfare, promotion or gimmicks?

"5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him."

People "went out to him" from all over, even with all the extreme, intolerable conditions. Why? Because it was genuinely God's work. God did everything. Church MUST go back to this--go back to GOD.

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SURRENDERING TO JESUS 

Ask forgiveness and repent of your sins. Believe God's forgiveness. It is promised in the bible. Receive Jesus Christ into your heart as your sole Savior and Lord. Then be assured of heaven, not because of anything you have or do (not your good deeds or religion or church), but because of God's grace and mercy through what Jesus Christ did on the cross. 

In Jesus alone is salvation. 

Jesus is: ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4] 

Surrender to Him by intently studying the bible daily (ask guidance from the Holy Spirit) and applying in life everything you learn. And then pray that God lead you to the right person who'd disciple you, one who is totally surrendered to Jesus and living His Word in the bible.

Traits of a Path Maker

Previously

Path makers sent ahead by God obviously possess the traits of the One whose path they are sent to prepare. Though an imperfect reflection, God's glorious presence remains discernible in their lives and ministries. Moreover, they resemble the path maker sent way ahead of them---the path-maker model---that is, John the Baptist. He made straight the way, raising up every valley and making low every mountain and hill. 

Why do I say this?

Photo by Lili Popper on Unsplash.

Because God will not take the trouble to describe John in the Gospel if this were not so. And Mark 1 says the good news about the Messiah begins with the ministry of John, showing how it was prophesied in the Old Testament and painstakingly described in the Gospel. If that's not important, I don't know what is.

“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way”[C] —
3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”[D]

- Mark 1 

If you and your ministry claim to be sent by God (or are from God) and a herald or precursor of Christ's second coming, don't forget to stay close to how your predecessors looked like--John and Jesus--if not look exactly like them. They looked alike and we should blend in the appearance. This was how people saw Jesus' ministry:

Jesus asked his disciples, “Who do people say the Son of Man is?”

14 They replied, “Some say John the Baptist; others say Elijah; and still others, Jeremiah or one of the prophets.” [Matthew 16]

See that? They looked alike. One look and people could tell how they were closely related. We cannot afford to look differently from how people saw the prophets and John and Jesus. Thus, we should emphasize the traits of a prophetic path maker and an apostolic Messiah. Aside from being sent by God, path makers must be:

• A voice. Not "the voice" but merely a voice. You're just one among many others. You're nothing special, merely chosen by grace. Although Jesus and John were highly esteemed in the spirit realms (Jesus pleased the Father so well and John was the greatest among those born of women), Jesus emptied himself and John didn't think himself worthy to untie Jesus' sandals.
  
  God's path makers are nobodies. Faceless. Extremely low profile. They never put themselves forward but are called and wait for God's move and timing like eagles. Thus, John saw himself only as a voice. You wonder what this makes of people so eager to have titles and degrees, positions, mega ministries, influence and popularity. Remember the Kingdom standard---the least is the greatest.
  
  
• In the wilderness. John was a voice in the wilderness and Jesus often stayed in remote places, preferring the company of the marginalized, tax collectors (the rejected) and sinners (sinners curious about God). They frequented the small corners of the marginalized and despised, not the halls and corridors of palaces.
  
  Jesus once hinted what real men of God are most UNLIKELY to be wearing and where they're most UNLIKELY to be found: "What did you go out to see? A man dressed in fine clothes? No, those who wear fine clothes are in kings' palaces," [Matthew 11.8]. This connotes extreme simplicity in status and lifestyle (the life of a non-joiner). Yet, most church leaders are keen on wearing particularly fine clothes to gain entry in kings' palaces. God's path makers are radically low-profile and settled in places of rejection, disapproval and discomfort.
  
  Path makers, in fact, are tasked with paving a straight "highway" in the desert for God [Isaiah 40.3]. It's not the highway (or broad way) to destruction that Jesus warned about but an extensive offer to anyone who wants to deny self and carry Jesus' cross daily, to repent and redirect to the right path less traveled and be found in places where no want wants to be. An offer to be a non-joiner like Jesus.
  
  
• Promoting Kingdom values. God's path makers follow and promote Kingdom reversed principles where the least is the greatest and the greatest the least. They are never impressed by what greatness this world makes possible because their God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Their God intently looks for the despised and rejected, those seen by the world as weak and scorned.

Every valley shall be raised up,
every mountain and hill made low. [Isaiah 40.4]

This should be more pronounced in church where the body parts that are less presentable should get more help, attention and honor (today, mega churches get all the honor and glory and small churches are belittled and looked down on). This is why Jesus chose ordinary people to be his apostles.

22 On the contrary, those parts of the body that seem to be weaker are indispensable, 23 and the parts that we think are less honorable we treat with special honor. And the parts that are unpresentable are treated with special modesty, 24 while our presentable parts need no special treatment. But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body (probably why the church is divided into denominations because of wrong values system), but that its parts should have equal concern for each other.

[1 Corinthians 12.21-26].

Many church ministries have deviated too far from this Kingdom paradigm, which Jesus and John exemplified. They have gone after the ways and standards of the world which they deem more effective because they draw or lure lots more people to church and produce more members and church income. If they do not subscribe to the ways of the Sender, who, then, sent them?

[Continued here]

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SURRENDERING TO JESUS 

Ask forgiveness and repent of your sins. Believe God's forgiveness. It is promised in the bible. Receive Jesus Christ into your heart as your sole Savior and Lord. Then be assured of heaven, not because of anything you have or do (not your good deeds or religion or church), but because of God's grace and mercy through what Jesus Christ did on the cross. 

In Jesus alone is salvation. 

Jesus is: ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4] 

Surrender to Him by intently studying the bible daily (ask guidance from the Holy Spirit) and applying in life everything you learn. And then pray that God lead you to the right person who'd disciple you, one who is totally surrendered to Jesus and living His Word in the bible.

Why Prepare Straight Paths for Jesus

First part here.

Each time God makes a major Kingdom move, he sends servants ahead to "prepare straight paths" or "the way" for Him. 

Photo by Steve Yang on Unsplash.

“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way”[C] —
3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”[D]

- Mark 1 

Why? Because the servants or prophets are harbingers of his power. When God makes an entrance, it's always to demonstrate his supernatural power. This is so even with salvation. God's saving grace is actually his power to save. And his servants ought to demonstrate that power to give people hints of what kind of Kingdom God has or what Move he is about to do. And for sure, it's a move that nothing man (even redeemed man) can do on his own.

1 Corinthians 1:18

For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.

This is why it has to be accompanied by supernatural power--to show that it's nothing of man. And the straight paths we make (and "the way" we prepare for the Lord) should be as accurate as God wants them to be--an intro to the coming Move of God. We have to make clear that it's nothing of man or his religion or church program or activity. It is purely of GOD. Mixing God's Move with man's efforts, understanding, ability or plans makes the paths we make cease being "straight paths for the Lord." 

The intro should be nothing short of supernatural. The supernatural factor makes people's faith genuine.

1 Corinthians 2.5

For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. so that your faith might not rest on men's wisdom, but on God's power.

John the Baptist was the servant sent ahead of Jesus as a voice crying in the wilderness. To people's perception, his ministry was not marked with signs and wonders [John 10.41]. 

"They said, 'Though John never performed a sign, all that John said about this man was true.' "

But that's just their perception because they lacked spiritual discernment. They didn't know that John saw the heavens open and the Holy Spirit descending as a dove and resting on Jesus Christ, aside from hearing the supernatural voice of God declaring Jesus as His pleasing Son.

Secondly, the mere fact that "everything John said about this man was true" confirmed the accuracy of his prophecy. And prophecy is something supernatural. It's a powerful miracle. Not to mention how Jesus said John was the Elijah "who was to come," if we're willing to accept it.

Thus, when he declared Jesus as the Lamb of God, he did it with supernatural power from God. He could not have done so without God's supernatural revelation. Only supernatural revelation from the Holy Spirit can make God's servants prepare straight paths for the Lord. Nothing else can, especially not our own smart or systematic understanding of the bible, not the nice church programs or activities we plan, even if we pray hard for them a lot. 

And the same principle works in these last days when His remnant believers prepare straight paths for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ. We have to be servants sent ahead preparing straight paths for the Lord by relying 100 percent on the revelation and supernatural power of the Holy Spirit.

[Continued here]

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Just email me at jesusstalkeremail@gmail.com and get an email back in 20 or 30 seconds with a download link to the e-book, "Your Power Within." It's FREE! You also get my GCash details in case you decide to donate P40, P50, P100 (or any amount) for the e-book to help my ministry. But with or without donation, the e-book is yours 😄. 

With the e-book you get my NONJoiner emails (short, radical insights about things you probably haven't heard of) on potentials, life, family, success and failures, all tied up somehow with some unique insights about Jesus Christ. You may unsubscribe anytime. 

 SURRENDERING TO JESUS 

Ask forgiveness and repent of your sins. Believe God's forgiveness. It is promised in the bible. Receive Jesus Christ into your heart as your sole Savior and Lord. Then be assured of heaven, not because of anything you have or do (not your good deeds or religion or church), but because of God's grace and mercy through what Jesus Christ did on the cross. 

In Jesus alone is salvation. 

Jesus is: ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4] 

Surrender to Him by intently studying the bible daily (ask guidance from the Holy Spirit) and applying in life everything you learn. And then pray that God lead you to the right person who'd disciple you, one who is totally surrendered to Jesus and living His Word in the bible.

Why HE was "More Powerful"

First, let's look at how God's Kingdom sees power. When John the Baptist said, "Someone more powerful than I is coming," it means he viewed himself someone "powerful." Now that makes us wonder about what John meant, if we look closely from a worldly point of view, about being powerful.

Photo by Raimond Klavins on Unsplash.

John? Powerful? Really? How? Here's how he looked:

John wore clothing made of camel’s hair, with a leather belt around his waist, and he ate locusts and wild honey. [Mark 1]

Doesn't look powerful to me and neither to the people back then, especially the religious elite. I can imagine John had only one set of wardrobe, which was camel's hair and leather belt, and that's no indication of power, whatsoever. Catching insects daily for dinner? I don't know. 

Power presupposes wealth, influence, title and degree, high position and impressive scholastic achievement. John didn't have them, yet being a kingdom person, he knew something else, something better---in the Kingdom, the least is the greatest. That was why he saw himself "powerful." 

This is something the modern church terribly lags behind in. It still cannot grasp true power. It sees power in terms of what the world values---money, possessions, titles, degrees, prestige, mundane connections, popularity, wearing altar (Pharisaical) robes for an aura of religious respectability, rituals, etc. Christ died to free us from all this but churches insist on having them back to please people, get respected and up their membership.

Respect from the world has nothing to do (zero) with Kingdom power. 

And there was someone else coming, John said, carrying the same brand of power, only "more powerful" (to the nth level). The crowd must've wondered what kind of "power" that might be, seeing John had little to show for it, if any. John looked more pitiful than powerful in the earthy realms. He practically had nothing (and wasn't bothered one bit), and yet he talked about himself and the Messiah as powerful.

But the power of God is such that people start getting seriously curious about Kingdom power even if they see nothing substantial in the man of God declaring it. Even if God's prophet is a nobody. In fact, the more unknown and faceless, the better and the more potent, dynamic and dominant in the spirit realms. I mean, people started trooping like crazy into the wilderness where John was despite his odd and unimpressive looks and the fact that they'd get nothing material out of it. 

Just imagine how uncomfortable the wilderness was, but people (even the elite) still went out of their way to get to where John was though he looked too ordinary, in fact even inferior and plebian. That's genuine Kingdom power the church should understand and possess today. Real power is perfected in weakness. Sadly, the church would have none of it.

Do you see this? It means the religious, demonic stronghold keeping people and holding them back from God's Truth was demolished so that people saw a glimpse of the God behind John rather than John himself. John didn't have to impress or lure them with anything but they willingly went to him to the desert---a most uncomfortable place to be in, listening to God's judgments about how wicked they were.

(Today, we dare not offend people with that, lest they boycott our evangelistic or revival meetings. So we appease and entertain them with our impressive choir and worship teams, programs, stage, music, sound system, prayers and preaching. We invite them to our meetings almost pleadingly or beggingly. John didn't have any of that, yet sinners pursued after him. That's genuine Kingdom power. Church must look at this seriously).

True Jesus stalkers (those who stealthily follow Jesus close behind, watching him really up-close) know that genuine Kingdom power (the supernatural kind that demolishes both earthly and demonic kingdoms) is granted only to the least. So they all the more gladly boast of their weaknesses that Christ's power may rest on them.

Now, notice that the Good News of the Kingdom starts with John's wilderness ministry. This is not accidental. God is showing something powerful here.

The beginning of the good news about Jesus the Messiah,[a] the Son of God,[b] 2 as it is written in Isaiah the prophet:

“I will send my messenger ahead of you,
who will prepare your way”[c]—
3 “a voice of one calling in the wilderness,
‘Prepare the way for the Lord,
make straight paths for him.’”[d]

4 And so John the Baptist appeared in the wilderness, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 5 The whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem went out to him. [Mark 1]

[Continued here]

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SURRENDERING TO JESUS 

Ask forgiveness and repent of your sins. Believe God's forgiveness. It is promised in the bible. Receive Jesus Christ into your heart as your sole Savior and Lord. Then be assured of heaven, not because of anything you have or do (not your good deeds or religion or church), but because of God's grace and mercy through what Jesus Christ did on the cross. In Jesus alone is salvation. 

Jesus is: 

 ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4] 

Surrender to Him by intently studying the bible daily (ask guidance from the Holy Spirit) and applying in life everything you learn. And then pray that God lead you to the right person who'd disciple you, one who is totally surrendered to Jesus and living His Word in the bible.

Even Now the Reaper Draws a Wage

The context is Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman about eternal life at Jacob's well. In short, it's evangelism. He said the reaper draws or gets his "wage" or pay or reward. The reaper is the one  guiding the unsaved to finally and actually receive eternal life by surrendering fully to Jesus as Lord and Savior. 

Photo by Brienne Hong on Unsplash.

When you reap or harvest a soul, you're given a "salary," as it were, by heaven. From the same passage, we see how this is something spiritual when Jesus said "My food is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work," [John 4.34]. Obviously, he was talking of spiritual food, not physical. From that, we also safely deduce that the "wage" (pay or salary) that harvesters get is something spiritual. It's not a salary in the form of fiat money.

What's the "wage" for?

It's connected to what Jesus said about storing up treasures in heaven, particularly about the "purses" (plural) he said we need for storing treasures. The word "purses" suggests storing small amounts which we later transfer to our heavenly account [Philippians 4.17] where we amass Kingdom wealth. The small amounts are the wages given us each time we harvest souls or obey other instructions in the Word.

Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. 34 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. [Luke 12.33-34]

Not that I desire your gifts; what I desire is that more be credited to your account. [Philippians 4.17]

In the Philippian passage above, Paul was referring to church giving and financial support, clearly showing that our obedience gets "credited" to our "account." There is an account in heaven where "credits" from our spiritual investments here get deposited (and, I believe earns residual interests as people we disciple also disciple others or plant churches). In fact, Paul said the Holy Spirit is the initial deposit guaranteeing our inheritance. 

What's the Kingdom wealth or treasure for? It's for furnishing our mansion in heaven. Jesus said he will prepare a place for us in his Father's place (or "house") where there are many mansions. As he "prepares" our mansion, he uses the treasure we have accumulated in our heavenly account for the materials and furnishings. The more treasures you store, the grander your mansion will be. This is why some will be called great in the Kingdom, some will be called least. There will be a hierarchy in heaven, a citizenship status in the New Jerusalem and on the New Earth, and we need to invest spiritually now.

Therefore anyone who sets aside one of the least of these commands and teaches others accordingly will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, but whoever practices and teaches these commands will be called great in the kingdom of heaven. [Matthew 5.19]

The Hard Work

Not many believers and church pastors understand that the hard work is done by the sowers who do not get to reap the harvest themselves. They do the plowing and sowing but seldom get to take part in the spectacular activity of harvesting. The reapers do that glamorous part and enjoy the limelight. They are the ones seen in public with the membership increase, church growth and mega churches. Everyone congratulates them and have them as authoritative speakers on church planting and church growth.

Sad part is when the reapers become myopic, thinking it's all due to their brilliance, programs, strategy and hard work and look down on the sowers because they very seldom get to have a harvest, if any. They often have small churches and stay behind the scenes, their "hard work" almost never recognized. A lot of reapers fail to see that what they thought was their hard work from start to finish is really just a harvest from somebody else's earlier work.

Some unknown, faceless, low-profile individual or church had planted the seed in people's hearts a long time ago and prayed for it. That was reinforced further by others, also unknown and low-profile, who shared testimonies to them or shared a Word from their hearts. This happened a lot more times until these people's hearts had become ripe for the harvest, and then a reaper-church was sent by God to harvest. But most reaper-churches don't see this. All they see is their efforts and achievements and think they alone did the hard work and are therefore greatest in the Kingdom.

Jesus said, it's the sowers that quietly do the hard work in the dimly lit corners, not the harvesters, and he stressed that reapers should realize this, probably foreseeing how some reapers are prone to get all the glory for themselves and belittle the sowers.

"I sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” [John 4.38]

Jesus said, sowers and reapers should realize that they are both part of the one body of Christ. The effort and gains of one is the efforts and gains of the other. 

...that the sower and the reaper may be glad together. [John 4.36]

Does the Sower Get Paid, Too?

It's not indicated in the John 4 passage, but we know how GOD is just and fair. If he gives harvesters their wages, he will surely give sowers their wages. This ensures that both of them "may be glad together."

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SURRENDERING TO JESUS

Ask forgiveness and repent of your sins. Believe God's forgiveness. It is promised in the bible. Receive Jesus Christ into your heart as your sole Savior and Lord. Then be assured of heaven, not because of anything you have or do (not your good deeds or religion or church), but because of God's grace and mercy through what Jesus Christ did on the cross. 

In Jesus alone is salvation. Jesus is: 

‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4]

Surrender to Him by intently studying the bible daily (ask guidance from the Holy Spirit) and applying in life everything you learn. And then pray that God lead you to the right person who'd disciple you, one who is totally surrendered to Jesus and living His Word in the bible.

Where Are You at the Cana Wedding?

 

We know the story. Jesus and company were invited to a wedding at Cana in Galilee and quality wine was running out halfway the feast. Nobody knew who Jesus really was and what miracles he could do except his mother and disciples who, the Gospel says, heard what Jesus told Nathanael about seeing greater things and heaven opening on Jesus with angels ascending and descending on him. 

Photo by Yousaf Abbasi: pexels.com.

And Mary, his mother, likely still remembered the miraculous events that surrounded his birth. Though they hadn't seen him do a miracle yet (changing water to wine was the first), they had a good idea of his supernatural capability. His mom knew he could do something, so she informed him of the wine shortfall. The newly wed couple probably was closely connected to Mary so she was bothered by the wine issue and wanted it fixed.

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Where was He?

Now here's the thing. I want you, the one reading this article, to guess where Jesus was in this wedding. It's clear in the passage [John 2] that Jesus "also was invited" (he wasn't a gatecrasher) to the wedding but I'm wondering where he was seated. Was he at the presidential table or among the guests? I think neither. When he instructed the servants or waiters on what to do when he turned water into wine, he was already right there with them. 

I mean, it doesn't say that, "Jesus went to the servants," or anything to that effect, meaning he was somewhere far and had to go to them, but it merely says that Jesus "said to the servants." Clearly, he was right there with them all the time. Watch below how the story was set.

When the wine ran out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.” 4 And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what does this have to do with me? My hour has not yet come.” 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”

6 Now there were six stone water jars there for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons. 7 Jesus said to the servants, “Fill the jars with water.” And they filled them up to the brim.

It's even clearer that when Mary was talking to Jesus about the lack of wine and instructed the waiters to "Do whatever he tells you,"  they were all together in the same place with the waiters. The waiters were right there with them and vice versa, revealing accurately where Jesus and company were in the wedding. They were in the kitchen. That's where waiters hangout in feasts. 

You see that?

Jesus would rather be with the servants in the kitchen than be at specially designated tables or even with guests. He was comfortable to be with the waiters--the unknown, the lowly, the nobodies, the faceless, the despised. This detail reveals so much of Jesus' character and preferences. 

Yes, you'd see him in social functions and invited to grand dinners but not so much with dignitaries and the rich and famous. He was seen more with the servants and serving with them. 

We'd prefer to sit next to popular personalities celebrated by society, to be seen talking with them and having our selfie or groupie pictures taken and posted on FB to brag to friends. We'd love being identified with the elite--the rich, politicians and showbiz people. We're crazy about them. We're proud to be in that company. 

We do this even in church. We love inviting the famous, the titled and the degreed as speakers, paying close attention and treating them well. But we want nothing to do with the lesser rest, those with nothing to show for it.

Not Jesus. He loved being with the lowly, belittled or rejected. 

Didn't Claim Credit

After turning water into wine so that the master of ceremonies announced and marveled at the good quality of wine still being served even to the wee hours of the feast, Jesus never claimed credit. He just sat there smiling, keeping mum and settled in a dimly lit corner of the kitchen, happy and content to be of some help. 

I wonder how many of us, pastors, would do the same. I mean, not grab the credit which would have been a perfect occasion to promote our ministry and service to society for "God's glory" and evangelize to people? You just performed a miracle! So you go to the master of ceremonies:

"Ahh, I did the miracle. Glory to God!"

You may even want the MC to recite a liturgy of your credentials and achievements before being introduced. It would have led to invitations for us to speak or perform miracles in special occasions, not just turning plain liquids into whisky, beer or vodka but multiplying fine-dining food from a few loaves and fish. 

We may even be made partners of a bar and restaurant business and make money for ministry. We'd probably entertain the idea. It's a great ministry exposure.

Jesus didn't think so. He didn't grab any chance for self-promotion or public exposure even to boost God's work. He stayed away from such publicity. Do we have this discipline and faith today? Can you keep quiet in the face of so much success? 

Let the deed do the talking.

Where Were you?

And where are you in this wedding? If the wedding were to take place today and you're invited, where would you be found? At the presidential table with the big shots? Somewhere in the guests area? Would you be invited to do the officiating yourself? How about the program coordinator? Or, is there any chance you'd be sent to serve in the kitchen? 

Jesus was invited as a guest but he chose to be in the kitchen. 

Nothing wrong with being anywhere else in weddings except the kitchen. It's good to be among the big shots, even being one of them, if it's God's will. That's a blessing. It isn't necessary to insist on hiding in the kitchen, avoiding people or refusing to be with high-profile individuals--or trying to turn water into wine. It's okay if you can't.

The thing here is, you can be at a big-time presidential table associating with people from high places or sitting with the guests, or officiating or coordinating the program. What's vital is you maintain your humility, especially toward the lowly, like those doing menial jobs and serving people. How do you treat waiters and security guards or janitors? Something like that. Always ask yourself, where's your heart when you're in the company of the great?

Where do you place yourself at the wedding in Cana?

His Body on Earth

His body has tremendous, awesome  powers, and I'm not just guessing, hyping or saying this out of tradition or cliché. God's body is the ultimate spiritual weapon against Satan and his kingdom. Worship and prayer are powerful and can markedly neutralize the enemy, but the body of Christ is something else. Hence, it was specially prepared to meet the specs of God's optimum war machinery. It's what we should get excited about.

“Sacrifice and offering you did not desire, but a body you prepared for me." [Hebrews 10]

Photo by Andre Taissin on Unsplash.

To better understand this power, let's take the body's arm, for instance. The Lord's arm alone carries power to rule (both the enemy and his people), and included in that rule is reward the faithful and shepherd his people--the kind of "rule" we badly need in ministry. If only we realize the anointing on the body, and use it, the gates of hell shall not prevail against us. This will be fulfilled in the end times. Checkout God's arm here:

“Here is your God!”

10 See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and he rules with a mighty arm. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. 11 He tends his flock like a shepherd:

He gathers the lambs in his arms
and carries them close to his heart;
he gently leads those that have young. [Isaiah 40]

Spiritual Body

Some will disagree and say the passage above is a metaphor or analogy, not literally applicable. God cannot be referring to his literal "arm" because he is spirit. Well, a spirit has no fleshly body but it does have a spiritual body, and that's what he means here. God sees with his "eyes," for instance, and at one time walked in the cool of the day when Adam and Eve heard him walking in the garden while they hid in their guilt. God has spiritual feet humans can hear.

His body on earth is God's flesh. Know more about the e-book by clicking this link.

In fact, a spiritual body is more real than a physical or earthly one. Our fleshly body is temporal, so limited and often has value only in our fantasies and wishful thinking. We need to see more the value of of a spiritual body, the one we will have on rapture day. Anyway, a spiritual body works in both the spiritual and physical worlds. Hence, God gathering "lambs in his arms" is literal in a very true spiritual sense. He really does gather them "in his arms" because he does have spiritual arms. Remember, nothing is impossible to him.

When religious experts say something is literal or figurative in the bible, they judge it by their human intellect, by what their bible schools and seminaries taught them, not the Spirit. The Spirit of God sees everything possible. EVERYTHING. Things figurative can be literal and vice versa. God and his Word have no limit. You cannot set limits on what God means with his Word using your theology, titles or degrees. The infinite cannot be judged or interpreted by the finite. Only the Spirit can interpret God's Word accurately.

...no one knows the thoughts of God except the Spirit of God.
[1 Corinthians 2.11]

Peter tried to interpret with his own understanding what God was saying, particularly using his Jewish tradition. In a vision, a blanket full of unclean animals was lowered and God told him to kill and eat. But he refused. He rejected unclean animals as food as written in the Old Testament. But God showed him HE alone has the correct interpretation of his Word, though it seemed wrong from a human point of view. Peter didn't get it till the third time.

Then a voice told him, “Get up, Peter. Kill and eat.” 14 “Surely not, Lord!” Peter replied. “I have never eaten anything impure or unclean.” 15 The voice spoke to him a second time, “Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.” 16 This happened three times, and immediately the sheet was taken back to heaven. [Acts 10.13-16]

Imagine what could have happened if Peter simply obeyed and ate.

God's Hand

Now, let's take God's hand, for instance. His hand alone measures the total amount of water in the oceans and seas of the earth combined, and probably the exact salinity or pH in the different regions, the increase in amount during rain and decrease during evaporation, etc. The same hand also sustains the universe, making sure each galaxy, solar system, star and planet stay in their proper places as the whole Milky Way spins and moves forward. Nothing crashes against another. The power of his hand does that.

Plus more.

Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or with the breadth of his hand marked off the heavens? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on the scales and the hills in a balance? [Isaiah 40]

See that authority, rule and power? And that's just God's one hand! Do you realize how big God is? And that big, powerful, almighty God is in you 100 % through Christ in you. God decided that we are his body on earth. More on this later.

God's Finger

Watch how powerful God's finger can frustrate all the devils' plans, as taught and demonstrated by Jesus, the Apostle. The enemy has power over non-believers but believers simply has to use God's finger to flick him out. Jesus did it and he is in us 100 percent.

But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. [Luke 11.20]

God's finger can singlehandedly drive out demons regardless of number, rank or strength. At one time, Jesus drove out a legion of demons begging him permission to enter 2,000 pigs instead of being kicked out of their territory for good. That may mean 2,000 demons or more. One demon represented the 2,000---the one named Legion and who talked with Jesus---which may indicate the rank of this spirit. Probably the leader of a principality, territory or region. That's big-time.

But all it took was God's finger to put him and his minions out of commission. The demonic leader recognized Jesus at once as being the higher Authority because Jesus knew what he had from the Father, which is the Father's NAME, and which protects his disciples from Satan. Demons bow to those who have that NAME and know how to actually use it. Evil spirits can identify who does and who doesn't.

Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. While I was with them, I protected them and kept them safe by that name you gave me. None has been lost except the one doomed to destruction so that Scripture would be fulfilled. [John 17. 11-12]

What the Body Can Do

Jesus demonstrated what his body could do. He healed diseases on the spot and rebuked demons. He performed awesome signs and wonders, controlling nature and spiritual elements. These served as samples, giving the church a good idea of what believers could do as his body on earth after he ascended to heaven. To ensure the church can operate supernaturally as he did, being his body, he asked the Father to send the Holy Spirit in his name to empower and enable them as the Holy Spirit did him.

Specifically, Jesus showed how God's mere finger was enough to demolish enemy territorial strongholds. What more his whole body? What more his body wearing God's full armor? Yup, God not only decided the church to be his body on earth, he even gave the church his own full spiritual armor. Are we using all these supernatural equipment in ministry as Jesus did? Or are we limiting ourselves to what we can do? To our own efforts and understanding?

Earlier, God had demonstrated in the Old Testament what his arm and hand could do. His eyes could survey the earth all at once to see everything, see in the spirit realms, know accurately what the enemy is planning or doing. Or search, monitor or discern certain individuals supernaturally. His mouth could speak to dry bones and fit them with muscles and then blow on them the breath of life, transforming them into a mighty army.

We, the body, have all these supernatural capabilities in Christ!

Through Christ in us, we are that body now. God chose to reveal himself through us as he did through Jesus, because Jesus lives fully in us 100 percent. What we see God's body doing in the bible, we can do now, if first we genuinely believe this with all our hearts. Second, if we truly unite as one body of Christ. This calls for a thorough understanding of what the body of Christ really is.

Crucified Body

Jesus' sufferings and crucifixion triggered God's power to crush death and its sting. His own body was prepared for this when he was here, and the church, as his body on earth, is likewise being prepared for this. Church persecution and sufferings because of the Word will pave the way to glory and more souls saved. Here's another awesome Kingdom reversal--the church (body of Christ) wields the power and authority of God in Christ, as it also suffers persecutions and trials in increasing measure in these ends times. The cross brings power to those who believe.

No wonder the sole individual who had the power and authority to open the 7 seals of the scroll in the book of Revelation was the lamb that was slain. It's a picture of meekness and severe persecution and yet powerful and authoritative to unleash the great power and wrath of God almighty.

Grave Misconception

The common mistake today is to refer to a local church or denomination as the "body of Christ." I often hear it and just shake my head in disappointment. They still don't get it. A local church is just a small, minuscule dot on the body, and so is a denomination. Or perhaps a tiny, tiny cell among trillions in the body. The true body of Christ consists of all Jesus believers both living and dead (though the dead in Christ are really alive). 

And this body is a temple. We're all parts or members of it. Jesus was clear when he referred to his body as the temple when he was asked for a sign to explain his ire against money changers in the temple. When he did so, declaring the challenge to "Destroy this temple," he also ended the era of religious buildings as God's temple. Jesus ended the use of any material structure for worshipping God in John 2.19:

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and I will raise it again in three days.”

They replied, “It has taken forty-six years to build this temple, and you are going to raise it in three days?” But the temple he had spoken of was his body."

This is so important, you have got to get this. Jesus referred to his body as the temple and vice versa. It signaled from then on that the temple will be his body. No more physical temple buildings. There's no more use for them. Zero, Nada. Pfft! Sadly, Christians today still can't get it. They can't imagine ministry without a church building. They waste a lot of money improving or enhancing how their buildings look. They still think like Jesus' detractors who thought he wanted their temple building demolished, missing his point altogether. Lots of believers today are stuck to that time some 2,000 years ago.

It's Not an Alliance

When several church denominations get together for a cause, like a crusade, conference or national prayer meeting, they often refer to themselves as the body. They're not. I don't care how big the alliance is, an alliance or temporary assembly is NOT the body. Again, they're just tiny, tiny cells among trillions that clustered somewhere in the body, and let's hope they don't clog up the vascular system. I mean, free radical cells are also body cells, and they often unite to wreck body systems. 

As long as these denominations and independent churches all have different doctrines, chopping off portions of the Holy Scriptures which their doctrines have no use for, they're not part of the body--yet. They're just religious organizations or clubs until they finally succumb to the will of the Spirit and meekly accept everything in God's Word and how the Holy Spirit (alone) interprets it. Genuine body parts are 100% organic, not artificial or man-made. 

It's Not a Membership

Being a member of the body is different from "membership." Membership smells of man's organization and system. You join something. But being part of the body comes solely from God. God puts you in the body. You cannot "join" Jesus' body, fill up and sign some forms, swear allegiance and then have voting rights 😆. The apostles didn't do any of that. Jesus called them and they followed him. Well, the crowds did join and later crucified him.

I just laugh when I hear about so-called "apostles" and "prophets" today who claim their church network alone is legit in the Kingdom and others should join them. If you have to "join" them or anything, chances are it's not "legit" in the Kingdom. It's probably just another religious fan club or exclusive society calling itself "apostolic" or "prophetic." Nonetheless, it's almost there. It has great potential to become part of the body if it aligns itself with Jesus--demolish its organization and fully yield to the one body of Christ, which is without spot or wrinkle or any other blemish, holy and pure. 

You become part of (not join) the body of Christ when you're genuinely born again, and it's the only thing you have to be part of, the body. Nothing else. Especially not a denomination, though you may linger there for a while. Meanwhile, you need to be nourished spiritually by someone--a genuine man of God--and see you grow up from being a baby in Christ to a mature believer. Then you, in turn, share the Gospel and disciple others. This naturally forms a group of believers which can be aptly called "local church." It is not concerned about membership increase but the multiplication of serious Jesus believers.

Again, local church is not a membership. It should be a gathering or meeting of believers in a locality for spiritual nourishment and ministry and it's God who brings people to this gathering. Today, they promote and advertise their local churches in communities and often grab people to their church membership. Jesus did not promote any local church. He preached and discipled. Period. There was no church name or membership. 

“No one can come to me unless the Father who sent me draws them, and I will raise them up at the last day." [John 6.44]

See? Jesus didn't bother promoting himself because it was solely the Father who did the promotion and brought or "drew" people to him. We should never change or discard this ministry principle. Yeah, promotions, advertising and gimmicks can increase membership dramatically, but that's all you'll have, membership of spoiled people with rights and privileges, believing they can meddle with (or control) the pastor. 

Surrendering to Jesus

Ask forgiveness and repent of your sins. Believe God's forgiveness. It is promised in the bible. Receive Jesus Christ into your heart as your sole Savior and Lord. Then be assured of heaven, not because of anything you have or do (not your good deeds or religion or church), but because of God's grace and mercy through Jesus Christ. In Jesus alone is salvation. 

Jesus is: “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other Name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4] 

Surrender to Him by intently studying the bible daily (ask guidance from the Holy Spirit) and applying in life everything you learn. And then pray that God lead you to the right person who'd disciple you, one who is totally surrendered to Jesus and living His words in the bible.

He was Emphatic, Not Strict

Strictness was never part of Jesus' leadership style. He taught what was right but left people to themselves about their lives and decisions. Even with his disciples. Jesus knew Judas was stealing money from their ministry fund, for instance, but nothing's said about the Lord confronting him about it. Neither did he pluck him out of being treasurer.

Photo by Riccardo Annandale on Unsplash.

Judas did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it. [John 12.6]

The same with Peter's denial. Jesus prophesied and emphasized Peter's retraction but didn't stop him from doing so. Jesus didn't confront or counsel him about it, didn't oppose or forbid him. He left Peter to decide about the matter. Jesus did pray for him, but that was all. He also prophesied about Simon's consequent turning back from failure.

“Simon, Simon, Satan has asked to sift all of you as wheat. 32 But I have prayed for you, Simon, that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned back, strengthen your brothers.” [Luke 22]

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Holiness and Being Strict

Church people often connect holiness and godliness with strictness. But in the Gospel, only the Pharisees were strict. Jesus wasn't. Emphatic, yes, but never rigid, austere or harsh with standards or rules. He stressed Kingdom truths and standards and demonstrated them in his life for emphasis but never imposed them on people, not even on his disciples. He commended those who adapted but cautioned those who didn't. He didn't "warn" them to scare but to inform about real consequences. 

We would've done it differently. I probably would. We're too strict about the sin and failure of others. We love to keep our "standards" and impose them on others, scare (or shame) those who'd dare defy us. But often, we trash the same "standards" when the issue concerns us or our loved ones or favorites. When James and John were aching about positions (or their moms were), Jesus didn't outright rebuke their greed for power. He merely explained:

“You don’t know what you are asking,” Jesus said to them. “Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?” “We can,” they answered. [Matthew 20.22]

Then he simply told them that real positions in the Kingdom were decided solely by the Father. It's not that Jesus found church politicking okay. I'm sure he didn't. He lambasted Pharisees about their greed for importance and positions. Neither did he find theft or denial light matters. Far from truth. In fact, his policy about sinning brethren is first personal confrontation, then confrontation with witnesses present, and finally church disclosure. He emphasized that:

“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’ 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector. [Matthew 18]

 

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Willing Obedience

Did Jesus apply this to Judas and Peter?

I believe (though nowhere verbatim in Scriptures) that Jesus did talk to Judas one-on-one. I'm quite sure Jesus would apply his teaching to himself--to walk the talk. But Judas loved stealing money more than anything else and was also too eager to get his 30 silver pieces quite soon, so Jesus allowed the sellout plan pronto. "Whatever you have to do, do it fast." No more taking other witnesses to confront the offender. Finally, the matter was taken to the church--I mean, we (the church) know all about it today, right?

With Peter, Jesus did stress his looming denial in front of the disciples, and I believe he had also talked about the matter with Peter previously. I can even imagine how Jesus took Peter to the Mount of Transfiguration with James and John (other "witnesses") to possibly talk about this denial, among other things (because Moses and Elijah would later discuss with Jesus about his "departure"). That's how I see it. But the thing here is, do you see how Jesus' leadership was?

He wasn't strict, yet people saw his seriousness about it all. He emphasized his points but not shove them down people's throats. He demonstrated his teachings in real life--his willing obedience to the Father--and invited people to follow suit. But he never strictly forced his teachings or required anything to that effect. This is a powerful leadership and church management Kingdom principle we find in Jesus--something quite the opposite of what we find today in church.

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Today you need to abide by church rules, even manuals and "doctrines" that church denominations formulate to keep order and membership intact, because "order" to them means control. God's Word, however, is already complete and effective as it is, but churches feel they need to sift out portions of it they think are harmful to their belief systems. 😒

Jesus demonstrated how order is through the Word and Holy Spirit alone, along with freewill. The Word or Holy Spirit will not restrict you; they will guide you (in fact, obeying God's Word frees you, not restrict), and if you opt to submit, they will strengthen you to obey God. 

But there is, however, a point where a believer opts for radical surrender to God and his will so that freewill is taken away. Doulos is when you tell God HE owns you completely and enter into this covenant with him. You relinquish all rights or privileges (but actually, it is in doulos you enjoy all favors and freedom).

6 then his master must take him before the judges. He shall take him to the door or the doorpost and pierce his ear with an awl. Then he will be his servant for life. [Exodus 21]

This is when God sometimes opts to corner you or give you no choice but to do his will, like how it was useless for Jonah to escape God's will and was forced to end up in Nineveh through a big fish. Doulos covenant can cause big-fish circumstances to swallow you up and give you no choice but end up in God's will. Elijah tried to escape from Jezebel's hand and also quit ministry altogether but an angel "cornered" him gently, as it were, making him go back to where he came from. Jesus told Peter how he would be led to where he didn't want to go [John 21.18]. The psalmist gives us a hint:

You hem me in behind and before,
and you lay your hand upon me. [Psalm 139.5]

Not all believers are in this covenant. Most cling to their freewill and stubbornness to do things their way. But some go up higher with God on his mountain and hear his soft whisper. Nothing dramatic or fancy. Just a gentle revelation about an ultimate surrender--being one flesh with him (as Paul hinted in Ephesians 5)--and enter the covenant. 

“For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” 32 This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. [Ephesians 5. 31-32]

Ananias and Sapphira

Ananias and Sapphira were free to give any amount to the church, even keep part of the sales of their property for their own. Problem was, they claimed to have given the whole amount of the sales when in fact they didn't. Peter even emphasized that the money was theirs to keep. But they lied to the Holy Spirit. Here's the whole story:

Now a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira, also sold a piece of property. 2 With his wife’s full knowledge he kept back part of the money for himself, but brought the rest and put it at the apostles’ feet.

3 Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? 4 Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.” [Acts 5]

God isn't strict about giving. He wants us to give what we can and what we have determined to give. He loves a cheerful giver. He doesn't force us. Problem is when people have expectations about our giving or if we desire to be recognized for it. Or if we're in the habit of competing with others out of egotism and make false claims. Then we suffer consequences. But the thing to see here is, there was clear emphasis on giving and freewill. 

The passage seems too strict at first glance. The couple died on the spot due to dishonest giving, and some preachers would give us the impression that we have to give the amount they expect from us. But if we look closer, it's nothing like that. In fact, God wants us to decide what or how much to give, so that "Each of you should give what you have decided in your heart to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion." [2 Corinthians 9]. No compulsion. Nothing forced. 

However, there are unscrupulous church people who'd twist the passage and think they can decide in their hearts not to give anything because anyway, there's freewill. 😕 When you're under grace, you should know what to do with your freewill. 

(Grace) teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, [Titus 2]

I've seen churches proud of their strictures on tithes and offering. They keep strict records and monitor givers and non-givers, or if giving in church is or isn't enough. Then the pastor preaches accordingly, sometimes capitalizing on the guilt feelings of non-tithers. This is control. It's reliance on man's effort, not the Holy Spirit. Jesus or the apostles never did this. When you control people like that, it's witchcraft. Even with your kids, train them up in the way they should go. It doesn't mean you control and force them to do things. 

Training means to "teach (a person or animal) a particular skill or type of behavior through practice and instruction over a period of time," says Google dictionary. It's primarily teaching, and teaching the way Jesus taught his disciples--through the power and leading of the Holy Spirit, not man's ways or efforts or rigid rules.

Submission and Freewill

Keeping order and compliance are never through man's restrictions, rules or control. It's through emphasis (teaching) and freewill. Let the Holy Spirit do His work, and let people be. Pray that they learn to fully submit to the will of the Lord, and that prayer would strike something in the spirit world through the power of God and trigger radical change in people.

It doesn't mean God will force people to change. Instead, God will reveal to them, open their eyes to see the beauty of Jesus and total submission to him. Then they choose to submit. Revelation, and the decision and act of submission, however, are solely through God's grace and mercy.

Surrendering to Jesus 

Ask forgiveness and repent of your sins. Believe God's forgiveness. It is promised in the bible. Receive Jesus Christ into your heart as your sole Savior and Lord. Then be assured of heaven, not because of anything you have or do (not your good deeds or religion or church), but because of God's grace and mercy through Jesus Christ. 

In Jesus alone is salvation. 

Jesus is: “‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ 12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is NO OTHER NAME under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” [Acts 4] 

Surrender to Him by intently studying the bible daily (ask guidance from the Holy Spirit) and applying in life everything you learn. And then pray that God lead you to the right person who'd disciple you, one who is totally surrendered to Jesus and living His words in the bible.