A Mission to Maintain.

Consider this, if you will, a very personal challenge, an encouragement to engage. In a world long at War, if you don’t step in to the fray for humanity, if you don’t step up to your place in the line, if you refuse to engage the hearts of those you love for the side of goodness and grace, who will? There’s no other man or woman who can replace you in your life, in that arena to which you’ve been called. And if you leave your place in the Line of Battle, it will remain empty. You know why? Because in order for someone else to fill it, they would have to leave their place in the Line. And on and on it goes.

You can divide the human race up— all of us, men and women alike— into three categories. The first is: those who have no battle to fight, no mission to maintain. They’re killing time... and it’s killing them. They’re just here ...soaking up precious space.

The second is: those who are fighting the wrong battle. Some examples from Scripture: Saul I, who made it his mission to kill off David; and Saul II, who made it his mission to kill off everybody who worshipped the Son of David. A modern example? How ‘bout the woman who spends her time trying to ‘straighten everyone else out’? “Everybody else is wrong. What’s the matter with these people? Everybody I know has a problem, but me!” Yeah! …what are the chances of that being accurate? Or the pastor who preaches against everything and everybody, but never declares what exactly he’s for. It’s the wrong battle in the wrong place at the wrong time.

And the third is: those who know their place in the Line, the calling Abba has placed upon them. They understand the Mission for which they were made.

Husbands and wives, let me ask you this. Do you have a Mission for your marriage? And is it the Mission of the Messiah— “to seek and to save that which was lost” {Lk. 19:10}? If not, where are you going spiritually— anywhere? And what are you doing to stay engaged with God, devoted to your King, committed to one another, fierce in defense of your family— anything? Or are you just here to take up each other’s time, maybe irritating the other into intimacy with Jesus? If you don’t have a Mission, I suggest you find one, and fast. The time to serve the lost and alone, “compelled” by the love of Christ Jesus, is now — 2 Corinthians 5:14-21.

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

Defensive Action Merely Delays Defeat.

Defensive action may delay defeat, but it will never win the War. Peter’s answer to Jesus’ question in Matthew 16:13, “Who do people say the Son of Man is,” was that “You are the Christ, the Son of the Living God,” v. 16. Jesus say’s, “On this rock,” and the word He uses is petra which is a ‘large, massive stone, a cliff of solid rock.’ That “rock solid foundation” is Peter’s confession of faith in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of the Living God and Savior of fallen man. “On this I will build”— future tense— “My Church,” which indicates it belongs to Jesus, comes into existence because of Jesus, finds its Life and power through Jesus …and the “Gates [the place of power and authority in the ancient world] of Hades [all the forces of death, evil, and opposition in this fallen world!] will not overcome it!”

What Jesus is saying is a very simple and straightforward thing: Once He forms it through the indwelling and empowering of the Holy Spirit, the Church is to be engaged in offensive warfare, pounding against the very gates of Hell! Because where the Kingdom of Light advances, the kingdom of darkness must retreat. You see, “gates” don’t advance; “gates” don’t attack. The idea is that Christ’s Kingdom would be a realm on the move, on the offensive, ever advancing, ever gaining ground on the enemy’s strongholds. That we would be on the attack and the enemy would have to defend. The divine intention is the Church of Jesus Christ, day by day by day, would pound away at the “Gates of Hell”! We do this by taking the Light of the Word and the Gospel of Grace to those still bound in darkness and death; we take the Life of God into a lifeless world; and we pour into the lives of the wounded and weary the love of the Lord Jesus Christ.

This is a world at War, a world filled with wounded and weary hearts desperately in need of deliverance, deliverance we might bring them in Jesus. Like David in 1 Samuel 23, wary and on the run from Saul and the army of Israel, but willing to risk his life and deliver the city of Keilah from the Philistines, our lives are meant to make a difference in the Conflict of the Ages. This will only happen on the attack, as we advance on the enemy in the courage and honor of the Lord Jesus Christ. So, press on, my fellow-Warriors and beautiful Warrior-maidens …there is great glory to be gained in the Cause of our King.

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

Offensive Warfare Wins the Day.

Gen. Patton’s main principle of warfare was simple. He said, “I never pay for the same piece of real estate twice.” His objective was to move forward at all times, to gain ground against the enemy, to stay on the offensive. He understood a soldier on the defensive may delay defeat, but he will rarely win the day. Bold offensive action is the key to waging effective warfare.

So, to bring that over to the realm of the Spirit, what exactly is the ‘spiritual offensive’? It may be the Gospel of Grace offered to the lost and alone, or the willingness to speak the healing words another needs to hear. It may be the Truth that brings clarity into the midst of confusion, or the grace that binds up the wounds of the heart. But whatever, whenever, and however it comes, it is above all else the will to act and to act decisively. This is the thing which characterizes Disciples on the Offensive.

It is not enough to know the Word in theory, to know what needs to be done and be unwilling to do it. “But the one who looks at the perfect Law of Freedom and remains committed to it— thus proving that he is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of what it requires— will be blessed in what he does,” James 1:25 {ISV}. As Peterson puts it in The Message, “But whoever catches a glimpse of the revealed counsel of God— the Free Life!— even out of the corner of his eye, and sticks with it, is no distracted scatterbrain but a man or woman of action. That person will find delight and affirmation in the action.”

What this reveals is a reflection on the Word in our souls and a focus on love in our lives. The Romans used to say, Amor Est Vitae Essentia: ‘Love is the Essence of Life’— John 13:34-35. You see, the power of love protected by Truth is redemptive; the power of Truth surrounded by love is eternal. Love protected by Truth and Truth surrounded by Love. That’s what it means to take offensive action against the evil of the enemy, to defeat his lies and destroy his designs. John wrote in 1 John 3:8, “The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil” {NAS}; He was “seen” and believed in on this “Earth that He might put an end to the works of the evil one.” My prayer is that our hearts would anxiously await that Day as our lives labor toward its end. Amen.

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

Tomorrow Is Not Guaranteed.

There is a War being waged in the human heart between arrogance and humility. These are the two underlying attitudes we can eagerly embrace at any given moment, two utterly opposing viewpoints of Life, conflicting ‘world-views’ if you will. Arrogance {if you’ll allow me to expand your conception momentarily} is ‘unfounded pride, unrestrained ego, a supreme sense of self -importance, a presumptuous conceit, an overbearing attitude, pompous religiosity on one end and self-consumed sensuality on the other.’ Humility and arrogance give rise to two separate styles of thinking and speaking: one with Abba firmly in mind, the other firmly with out. Arrogance gives no thought to the Kingdom of Grace or the will of its King. “Not even on my radar.”

So with this attitude of oblivious arrogance firmly in mind James writes in 4:13, “Now listen, you who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to this city or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.’” Remember, James is speaking to Jewish Followers of Jesus, and Jews were the consummate traders and merchants of the ancient world. It was a world which gave them— by one ever-expanding empire after another— ample opportunity to hone their commercial craft. This is the is the background behind the picture set before us.

V. 14 tells us boldly, “Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow.” Which is another way of saying, “You don’t even know if there will be a tomorrow!” “What is your life?” I.e, “Let’s put this in perspective.” And the way you do this, with anything, is to weigh it against Eternity. “You are a mist which appears for a little while,” James say’s, “and then vanishes” {v. 14}, like morning fog on a country lane which burns away with the first rays of the Sun. “Instead, you ought to say, ‘If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or do that.’” James answer to our own short-sighted arrogance in v. 15 is simple. Man proposes his plan and God disposes this plan. Man proposes; God disposes! Your tomorrow is not guaranteed ...nor is anyone else’s.

The uncertainty of our endeavors was deeply impressed on the nations of antiquity. Proverbs 27:1 says, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring forth.” Jesus seems to be drawing on this divine reality in Luke 12:13-21 when He tells the ‘Parable of the Rich Fool,’ the man who made his fortune, hoarded his goods for a long, prosperous life, and promptly forgot [a] he wasn’t in control; and [b] his soul might be required of him “this very night.” The Roman philosopher Seneca {4 BC-65AD} said, “How foolish for a man to make plans for his entire life, when not even tomorrow is in his control. No man has such rich friends that he can promise himself tomorrow.” Indeed. Even Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “I will come to you very soon, if the Lord is willing” {1 Cor. 4:19a}; again, at the end of his 1st Letter, “I hope to spend some time with you, if the Lord permits” {16:7b}.

The lesson James is trying to teach us is: This unpredictability to life in a fallen world is cause for neither fear nor inaction among the Family of Faith. It’s simply one more reason to realize our complete dependence on Someone greater than self— our Abba. We make plans in surrender to His will and submission to His power, trusting the Holy Spirit to guide us through the minefields we could never foresee on our own! This passionate trust in the Spirit is the identifying characteristic of those who walk “in step with” Him {Gal. 5:25b}, of full grown Sons and Daughters of God {Rom. 8:14}.

Jesus’ Way is to not be terrorized into fear of the future or paralyzed into passivity by what we imagine might happen ...but to trustingly surrender all we have, all we are, and all we ever will be, into the good and gracious hands of our Father. Your plans may not be His plans; and your will may not be His will. We need to be honest and humble enough to admit it.

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

Doing the Devil’s Deeds.

Slander. It’s a vicious little term, isn’t? Just sounds like an oily, weaselly, evil little word. Slander... slanderous... slanderer. Nobody wants to be called this but few people seem to mind engaging in it. Oh irony of ironies.

‘Slander’ is defined in one modern dictionary as ‘to make false and damaging statements about someone.’ As a noun it is ‘the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person’s reputation.’ You seeing this? We can offer a litany of synonyms here: ‘to defame someone’s character, assassinate their reputation, blacken someone’s name, to tell lies about, speak evil of, to libel, smear, spread words of scandal, to besmirch, tarnish or taint, to vilify, denigrate, mudsling {election year, anyone?}.’

Did you know diabolos, Satan’s NT designation as “the devil,” means- accuser, slanderer, traitor? When you speak evil against the Family of Faith, when you slander the Children of God, when you defame the character of another believer, you are literally ‘doing the devil’s deeds.’ Because that’s what he’s about! You’ve taken on the attitude and the arrogance of the adversary of God, the opponent of all that is good.

James 4:11 kicks off with a single command: “Brothers and sisters,” my fellow Warriors on the Battlefield of Faith, “do not slander one another.” I.e., stop this practice of ‘speaking evil of each other,’ stop this ongoing habit you’ve developed of ‘slandering one another,’ put an end right now to ‘defaming the good name of your Brothers in the Battle,’ your friends in the Faith, your Kindred in the Kingdom! The rest of this section is merely commentary on this command... with a question thrown in at the end of v. 12 to remind us of exactly who we are and the humility which is required of us when we remember who we are.

Think: what’s the theme of this entire context, going back to v. 1? It is the wars within and the battles without which rage when we refuse to live as subjects under the will of a Sovereign, when we refuse to surrender the ‘rights’ of our hearts and lives as creatures to our Heavenly Creator. And the chaos which comes from not asking our Creator for what it is we need! Or ...asking with utterly arrogant motives: to get what I want, not what I need, so I can surround myself with sinful “pleasures” {notice my distinction: not ‘pleasure,’ sinful pleasures, unholy and unhealthy}. We wind up seeking deeper and deeper intimacy with the enemy and his 3D system of distraction, deception and destruction rather than passionately pursuing communion with Christ Jesus.

This is the theme down through v. 5. But what is the solution ...beginning in v. 6 and carrying forward through v. 10? Humility. It is the humbling of our selves under the shadow of His grace, a willing surrender to the Spirit of Grace, and the honest acceptance of who and what we are = the Sons and Daughters of God in whom Jesus dwells, and who live in and from our Abba’s Kingdom. We love from our Abba’s Kingdom, we forgive from our Abba’s Kingdom, we embrace the lonely from our Abba’s Kingdom, we comfort the weary from our Abba’s Kingdom, we tend to the wounded from our Abba’s Kingdom, we help heal the brokenhearted from our Abba’s Kingdom. All our resources flow from the abundance of Jesus’ Kingdom, from the riches of the Kingdom of Grace. And it takes humility and trust, the trust of a child dependent on their parent, surrendered to a strength far greater than their own, to access them.

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