Sunday, April 27, 2014

What’s It Going to Be?

The Cross is the beginning of the glorious work of God in Christ. It is the “power of God for salvation to everyone who believes” {Rom. 1:16b} and the demonstration of His eternal Triumph over every enemy named and unnamed. Notice I said it’s the beginning, not the end. {And a glorious beginning it is.} But does it surprise you that everything we need is not finalized and finished in this one place? The finished Work of Jesus includes the Resurrection and Ascension; and these are key pieces to the puzzle if you hope to ever have victory over Satan’s System, your own sin-nature, and the realm of the demonic. And that’s just the thing. You can …if you will fight for it! But you must take a stand— in faith— on all that Jesus did for you and within you, and never relent, never back down, never relinquish the hard-fought ground of Grace.

From the Resurrection flows all the power we need to live lives that are whole and healed, in humility and with honor. In the Resurrection power of Jesus there is Life and life abundant. His Ascension and acceptance at the right hand of God is where authorityresides. The right hand of God as a place of power, glory, prominence, prestige, honor and authority comes down to us from the practice of ancient kings. Jesus ascended to the Throne of His Father as “King of Kings and Lord of Lords” {Rev. 17:14; 19:16}, that is, having accomplished every last thing Abba had set before Him He is now the rightful Ruler of the Universe— King over all kings and Lord over all lords.

It is this authority, this might, this rulership we exercise every time we end a prayer ‘in Jesus’ name,’ for the ‘name’ in both Hebrew and Greek signifies the essential characteristics of a person: his status, his power, his might, his majesty, the intrinsic nature of the individual. There is no greater authority to appeal to in the midst of spiritual warfare, in battling the forces of darkness, than the One who completed their conquest and now sits enthroned at “the right hand of the Majesty on high” {Heb. 1:3}.

It requires the full work of Jesus for our full sanctification from the enemies around us. We must bring by faith His full work— the Cross, Resurrection, and Ascension— over our lives, our marriages, our friendships, our families, our ministries, and against the powers of darkness seeking to deceive, distract, and destroy us. The key to spiritual warfare is the simplest thing in the world: the willingness to recognize it, and to take a stand against it! It’s that simple. The willingness to fight, faithfully and fiercely, is the most powerful step you can take. “I will not give way to this. I will not stand by while those I love or lead are brought to ruin. Including me!” Your stand in the power and authority of the Lord Jesus Christ can change the course of Time for all Eternity.

Conversely, your unwillingness to acknowledge it means you get to be a walking target, with a soft soul ever-ready to soak up the enemy’s arrows like a spiritual sponge. Not a place I highly recommend. So, what’s it going to be? A fierce Warrior in the Cause of Christ, battling in the might and power of his holy Master, or a complacent pin cushion for “all the flaming arrows of the evil one” {Eph. 6:16c}, a living, breathing bull’s-eye? It’s your choice.

Ric Webb, Shepherd
Heart's Journey Community
hjcommunity.org

Friday, April 18, 2014

Resurrection Means a New Life in Time.

Make no mistake, the Resurrection of Jesus is the foundation of our Faith. If you look down the corridors of Time through the Long Hall of History, the Cross is the centre-point but the Resurrection is the turning point. Nothing will ever again be as it was before. There is Hope for a Life with God far beyond the walls of this world for one reason and one reason only, the Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth.

But there’s a point we often miss in our Easter Celebrations, our glorying in the bodies that will be ours, and it’s this. The Resurrection is about so much more than a new body in Eternity; it means a new Life in Time, a new power at work within us, a supernatural courage and conviction, boldness and bravery to our witness in the world, a divine endurance to our labor and love in the Kingdom of Christ! Paul in Romans 6:4— inspired by the Spirit of the Living God— said “we were buried with” Jesus “through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new Life.”

You think he meant that or was he just being dramatic, just waxing poetic? “Ohhhhh, it’s not a ‘new life,’ it’s just a new destiny… a little ‘fire insurance’ right? Sure, He redeemed me from my slavery to sin, ransomed me from darkness and death, His righteousness dwells within me, His own Eternal Life is alive within my soul, His Spirit occupies the now holy place of my heart so I’ll never walk alone— unaided, unadvised, unaccompanied, unempowered. But, why should things change? Why should I have to submit to His will, to His leading and His prompting? Your will be done, but my will is fun!” For the moment. We all know this Story.

Why? “In order that we may live a new Life.” That’s why. “In order that we may live a new Life.” See, that’s the purpose, that’s the point …that’s the point of the Resurrection of Jesus, that’s why the Holy Spirit has now come to live inside of us. To do through us and within us what Jesus in the flesh, on the outside, could only do for us. This is exactly what He told His disciples, is it not? In John 14:16, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Counselor [‘Another’ just like Me] to be with you [How long?] forever— the Spirit of Truth. The world cannot accept Him, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him. But you know Him, for He lives with you and will be in you,” v. 17.

Because of the Holy Spirit “within” us, not just indwelling but filling, dominating, overwhelming, controlling, we’ve been ushered into a Life, welcomed into a Kingdom, not a little different or a little better than the life we once lived, or kinda like the world at work around me, Satanic Central with its schedules, its deadlines, its P & L statements, its hectic and hurried pace draining away my joy and fruitfulness, but a “new Life,” a life centred in the Son of God and lived from the Spirit of God, a radical restructuring of all we once knew, all we once considered indispensable to our happiness and well-being! This is the glory, the power and the majesty of the Resurrection. It is Life in Jesus... and Jesus in action in Life.

Ric Webb, Shepherd
Heart's Journey Community
hjcommunity.org

Friday, April 11, 2014

Coming Near to Worship.

James instructs his audience to, “Come near to God and He will come near to you” {4:8a}. How beautiful is that? It tells us we are not the passive people of God; we are active and engaged in coming near, in the intimacy of our own discipleship! “Wash your hands, you sinners,” which is what the priests under the Old Covenant did before serving in the Tabernacle and Temple. And which is what we do before attempting anything of eternal value in the Kingdom of Grace. We enter into both confession and repentance, a change of attitude leading to action, a ‘turning away’ from what we know will destroy us and the substitution of trusting humility for arrogant pride.

“And purify your hearts, you double-minded” = “you two-souled” {v. 8b}. Here we have a peek at the process of restoration and transformation, a process which— let’s just admit it, let’s acknowledge it openly— is almost always a painful one. Let’s frame it this way: it is bound to involve pain and heartache {literally} at some point. We’re talking about taking a deeper look at our lives, at wounds still at work in our hearts, at our ‘personalities’ and the relational effect we have on others. We’re talking about wading into the murky waters of our own motives and asking Abba to examine us all the way down to the level of why we do what we do. Good, bad, or in between.

James goes on to tell us, “Grieve, mourn and wail....” Why would I do that? This doesn’t sound fun. At all. Because this is the painful part of the Journey. And grief is the agent God uses to purify the pain of a wounded heart— to leach the poison of loss from our souls before it destroys who we are or hinders who we were meant to be.

“Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom” {v. 9b}. It’s sad that I have to say this, but it won’t be as clear if I don’t. My words get twisted enough as it is, so allow me this moment of clarity, if you will. The abundance of Life, the Freedom for our souls which Jesus offers through His Resurrection, is not about endless grief, mourning, and gloom! But “there is a time for everything” wrote “the Teacher” in Ecclesiastes {ch. 3}, and the process of transformation, of restoration, of healing, wholeness and holiness contains ample amounts of all three. The shadows of the past can be very dark indeed, and the losses they contain have been mounting up for years, sometimes decades even. Those losses must be grieved ...so they can be purified by the Light of Christ, and the wounds they represent washed clean by the His blood and healed by His presence. Are you with me here? Good. Because all we long for, all we have dreamed of and desire, is waiting on the other side of this.

Ric Webb, Shepherd
Heart's Journey Community
hjcommunity.org

Monday, April 7, 2014

Standing In the Son-Light.

Going back to v. 6 of James 4, this is the third military word in a row in this section: “God makes war against the arrogant, therefore, we are to submit to His authority, and now we are to resist the enemy”— all military concepts in the ancient world. Anthistemi means- set oneself against, oppose, resist, withstand.

This is a direct command from Divine Headquarters. As the “Lord of the Everlasting Armies,” Jesus sends this order down through one of His most trusted lieutenants {His brother in the flesh} across twenty centuries of Time to you and I today. The verb is in the active voice, which always speaks to the will of the individual being addressed. I.e., if this command is going to be carried out, it will be because you have decided to embrace it. Because you have rejected passivity and taken your stand against demonic deception, spiritual distraction, and satanic seduction! The tense speaks to the very moment when you’re under attack— right here, right now— and says, “You can be victorious. In the Light of the Son, you can win this!”

Ever wonder why all this militancy in the language of the Old and New Testaments? Why all the imagery of warfare, this call to the Warriors and Warrior-maidens of the Faith? Because the battle for our hearts is fierce… relentless... and unending in this Life. And because passivity will not cut it in a world at War! Period. “Take your stand... stand your ground” and “stand firm then” are all military commands in the Koine of Ephesians 6 from our Supreme Commander, the mightiest Warrior of all: to resist the enemy, to hold our ground, to never surrender! In the words of Sir Winston Churchill, “Never give up; never, never, never! Never despair, and never give in.”

So... if your sacred ground has been gained by the “father of lies,” if the territory allotted to your Kingdom has been conquered by the evil one, what do you do with this? Notice, watch, observe where you normally go passive ...and do the opposite. Where are you surrendering ground these days? Take it back; reclaim it from the enemy! Remember, “every time a man makes a hard decision, the Warrior in him is strengthened.” Every time a woman does the difficult thing— ignoring her emotions as they scream for her to throw wisdom and the Word clear out the window— the Warrior-maiden within is strengthened! And Heaven rejoices anew.

Ric Webb, Shepherd
Heart's Journey Community
hjcommunity.org