Wednesday, September 28, 2016

The Clarity of the Kingdom.

Jesus gave us two parables which illustrate the stance of the heart which leads to becoming a Follower, an Apprentice, and ultimately, a Lover of His!  They also illustrate what He meant when He said the teacher, the ‘scribe,’ the scholar of the Kingdom teaches from the realities of life as we know it, who brings out of the “storeroom” of the soul “new treasures as well as old” {13:52}.

First, He said in Matthew 13:44, “The Kingdom of Heaven is like treasure hidden in a field.  When a man found it, he hid it again, and then in his joy went and sold all he had and bought that field.”  Secondly, He said in v. 45, “Again, the Kingdom of Heaven is like a merchant looking for fine pearls.  When he found one of great value, he went away and sold everything he had and bought it,” v. 46.

These two little parables— stories ‘thrown down’ beside life: the temporal to illustrate the eternal, the physical to illuminate the spiritual— perfectly express the stance of a man or woman’s heart who chooses Life in the Kingdom of God alongside the Son of God.  As Dallas Willard so perfectly stated, “The sense of the goodness to be achieved by this choice, of the opportunity” which “may be missed, the love for the value discovered, the” passion and “joy over it all, is exactly the same as it was for those who were drawn to Jesus in those long-ago days when He” walked among us in flesh, blood, and bones.  It’s also the stance of the soul from which discipleship can be clearly chosen this very day.

Now, put the often feared ‘cost of discipleship’ in light of these two parables.  You think the businessman who found the great pearl was sweating over its cost?  What about the poor laborer who found the “treasure hidden in the field”?  In our day it might be oil or natural gas, but what if it were gold, silver, precious stones buried there by an invading army?  Does it look like he was worried about its cost?  The only thing these cats were sweating— the one thing consuming their consciousness— was whether they could ‘get the deal done’!  Now that is the soul of a Disciple!

No one goes sadly {‘Oh woe is me’}, reluctantly {‘Aagghh, I don’t know why I did this’}, fearfully into apprenticeship with the Lord Jesus Christ.  As the God-Man Himself said, “No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for service in the Kingdom of God” {Lk. 9:62}.  Nobody goes in bemoaning the cost.  Serious Students understand the opportunity and its eternal ramifications.  And one of the things which has obscured the Path of Discipleship in our post-modern Christian circles is this very idea: it will be incredibly difficult and will most certainly ruin what you call ‘your life.’

The entire point of these two parables— along with Jesus’ straight shot in Luke 14:26-27 that those who come to him must ‘hate’ their families, even their own lives, carry their cross and follow in His footsteps— is as long as we think anything may be more valuable than intimacy with Him under His rule and reign we cannot learn from Him or His Spirit.

Counting the cost is to bring us to the point of clarity and decision.  To help us see with the eyes of Eternity, from an eternal perspective.  Counting the cost is precisely what the man with the pearl and the hidden treasure did.  Out of it came joy, passion, and decision!  It’s joy and decision which are the outcomes of the cost-counting.

The passage in Luke, just like the parables, is about clarity.  It’s not about misery, or some incredibly dreadful price one must pay to be Jesus’ Apprentice.  There’s no such thing as a dreadful price for the ‘pearl’ of the Kingdom.  And “unless we see clearly the superiority of what we receive as His students over every other thing that might” possibly be valued in this life we cannot succeed in following His footsteps.  This stance of the soul, the surrender of the human heart, to Jesus’ love, mercy, rule, authority and dominion, is the single greatest key to drawing on the resources of His Kingdom!


HJC
Ric Webb  |  Shepherd
Heart’s Journey Community
9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204
t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously

Friday, September 23, 2016

Grace Opens Our Eyes to the Glory of God.

One of the things which is absolutely essential for us to look deeply, and see clearly, into the heart of our New Testament is the ‘Law, or Principle, of Grace’— Jn. 1:14; Col. 2:14-17; Titus 2:11-14; Heb. 8-10; 13:9-10.  The Law of Grace tells us any teaching which is contrary to the clear expression of the grace of God is false.  This builds on the ministry of the Holy Spirit and the insight He brings to understand the full scope of the New Covenant as it relates to how we live, how we love, our standing in the Son of God, our service to the Son of God, prophecy, His-Story, Eternity ...and on and on it goes.

John spoke of the Logos of God and said, “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us.  We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only [Monogenes is an amazing word, it means- ‘the uniquely born, never to be replicated, the One, the Only’], who came from the Father, full of Grace and Truth”— and these in perfect balance {1:14}.  I love this next part.  In v. 16 he says, “From the fullness of His grace we have all received one blessing after another.”  This is charin anti charitos, literally- ‘grace in place of grace’ or ‘grace on top of grace,’ like waves on the seashore, one after another after another after another.  “For the Law was given through Moses; Grace and Truth came through Jesus Christ,” v. 17.  And hallelujah that they did!

The author of Hebrews, in his final exhortation to the believers still living in Jerusalem and Judea, commands them in 13:9-10 saying, “Do not be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings [‘Strange’ being xenos, a word going all the way back to the time of Homer and meaning- ‘a guest-friend, a stranger, foreigner.’  We get xenophobia- ‘fear or hatred of foreigners,’ from this.  ‘Don’t let a variety of foreign teachings whisk your souls away from Christ!’ {RRExp}].  It is good for our hearts to be continually strengthened by grace, not by ceremonial foods [Which were a part of the sacrificial system under the Old Covenant of the Mosaic Law, and:], which are of no value to those who eat them.  We [the Children of God in the Age of Grace] have an altar [Based on the Finished Work of the Lord Jesus Christ, a place from which we receive an unlimited supply of spiritual nourishment.] from which those who minister at the Tabernacle have no right to eat.”  He’s talking about those still bound to a shadow-system which ceased with Jesus’ Death on the Cross because the reality of which it spoke had now come into being!

Jesus canceled the written code with its regulations, which was against us and stood opposed to us,” wrote Paul in Colossians 2:14; “He took it away, nailing it to the Cross.  ...Therefore, do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, or with regard to a religious festival, a New Moon celebration or a Sabbath Day.”  None of these things are the issue; Jesus is the issue!  They weren’t then and they aren’t now.  The reason we ‘gather together,’ assemble ourselves in little Communities of Faith, is to lift up the Name of the Most High God.  It is to worship Jesus, to praise Jesus, to honor Jesus, to glorify the Son of God, not get bound by the erroneous opinions of other believers.  Why should we not cave under the legalism and superficial spiritual ideas of others?  Cause “these are a shadow of the things that were to come; the reality, however, is found in Christ,” vv. 16-17.

Once you have the Real Thing living and breathing in your grateful little hands, you don’t need the picture of it any longer!  It’s like falling in love or discovering your destiny.  All your passion and purpose is directed towards a lover or a goal, an objective, an all-consuming desire.  You may hold on to memories of time spent together or dream about opportunities arising in the future.  You might look over the pictures of them on your phone or search out info on the I-Webs about your field of endeavor, but once you have them in your arms, once your goal is solidly in your grasp, you don’t need the images any longer.  You have the Reality, and that’s worth its weight in gold.  Grace offers us the Ultimate Gift of Reality: a rock-solid relationship with the Lord of Heaven and Earth, the Creator of All that Is, which will last for all Eternity!

HJC
Ric Webb  |  Shepherd
Heart’s Journey Community
9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204
t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously



The Frozen Chosen {or How to Worship in a Morgue}.


In Luke 18 Jesus tells the Story of two men in the Temple, “a Pharisee” and “a tax-collector” {vv. 9-14}.  He goes on to give us what can only be called a Parable of Grace.  The “tax-collector” praying away by himself and apart from the crowd, unwilling to even look in Abba’s direction, is an indication of the emptiness in his soul.  Notice his posture in prayer.  In utter humility he flings himself recklessly on the mercy of God!  As opposed to the ostentatiousness of the Pharisee, who “stood up and prayed to himself....”  And why not?  After all, he is confident of his own righteousness” and therefore “views everyone else with contempt.”  Thus, he prays: “god [We’ll make it a small ‘g,’ since he’s praying ‘to himself.’], I thank you that I am not like other men— robbers, evildoers, adulterers— or even like this tax-collector.”  Heaven forbid, right?

The “Pharisee” mouths a “thank you” in v. 11 but there’s no thanksgiving here.  His statement about not being like other people is a bold-faced lie; he’s exactly like other people.  Notice throughout his prayer the Pharisee has no praise for God, only praise for self; in the place of praise is self-exaltation.  He makes no request of Abba because he’s totally unaware of any need; therefore, he gets exactly what he asks for.  He gets nothing because he asks for nothing!

Now, transplant this Pharisaic prayer to our post-modern setting and we can see believers in this Age who get nothing whatsoever out of prayer, praise, giving, or immersion in the Word— all aspects of worship, the devotion of the heart.  And you know why?  Because they ask for nothing.  They see absolutely no need for anything Abba has to give in grace.  Consequently, they get exactly what they ask for.  Some of us never seem to benefit, in the least, from worship in Community, no matter how on target, how intense or how practical.  It’s simple, really.  We don’t go away full because we don’t come in hungry.  Our passion has flown for Southern skies... gone like the wind.  And doesn’t appear to be coming back.

Are we okay with this?  Are we fine with the fact that our worship feels like a stroll through the morgue ...that our hearts leap with excitement over a glass of good wine or a well-thrown football, when steaks come off the grill or the Razorbacks win a conference game, when we inhale deeply from our ‘new car smell’ or buy that perfect pair of shoes at sixty percent off {just for you, ladies!}?  Are we good with this?  And if so, why?  When the deep and desperate hunger raging in our hearts can be satisfied only in Jesus, why is it okay to come into His Presence with the same passion we would normally reserve for warm milk and a handful of Saltines?  We look forward to Sonday’s Celebration of the Resurrection with all the anticipation of a root canal.

‘O God our God, mighty King of all Creation, Holy One, Righteous Lord, Son and Savior, Master and Redeemer, deliver us from our ridiculous notions of worship.  And usher us into a place of awestruck amazement, profound passion, and joy unbound!  In Your holy and beautiful Name.  ...Amen.


HJC
Ric Webb  |  Shepherd
Heart’s Journey Community
9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204
t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously

Friday, September 9, 2016

Are We Safe In the Arms of the Omnipresent State?


One of Rome’s greatest orators, the philosopher, lawyer and unabashed ‘constitutionalist’ Marcus Tullius Cicero {106-43 BC} once said: “A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious.  But it cannot survive treason from within.  An enemy at the gates is less formidable, for he is known and carries his banner openly.  But the traitor moves amongst those within the gates freely, his sly whispers rustling through all the alleys, heard in the very halls of government itself.  For the traitor appears not a traitor; he speaks in accents familiar to his victims, and he wears their face and their arguments [Liberal or Conservative, Socialist or Capitalist], he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the hearts of all men [Personal enrichment, self-centredness, and self-preservation at all costs.].  He rots the soul of a nation, he works secretly and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of the city, he infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist.  A murderer is less to fear.  The traitor is the plague.  {Bracketed commentary mine}.

Are we safer than we were fifteen years ago?  Are we stronger than we were fifteen years ago?  Are we better off than we were a decade and a half back?  Or just more easily herded into the stifling pens of un-liberty, the cramped confining spaces of ‘government knows what’s best’?  Whoever was behind the vicious attacks upon our sovereignty and the subsequent attacks upon our liberties knew full well that if enough hysteria could be stirred up in a nation the size of the US, with its population and its vast wealth, if you could strike enough fear in the hearts of its people, we would accept anything.  Any curtailing of our liberties in the name of ‘safety,’ any expenditure of national treasure in the name of ‘security.’  And we have... we have.

We stand now on the very edge, teetering on the brink of bankruptcy.  In more ways than one.  We’re not only financially bankrupt as a nation and deeply indebted to Communist China and globalist bankers, but spiritually, ethically, emotionally and relationally.  We have lost our sense of faithfulness and fidelity to Causes true and right; we have lost our identity as a People of honor, of integrity, of courage and conviction.  We as the Body of Christ have lost a firm grasp on what it means “love the Lord” with all we are and “one another” as He loves us.  We’re wandering in a wilderness ...with no exit in sight.

This coming election is the Day of Decision for the United States of America.  We stand upon the precipice, balancing precariously on the balls of our feet.  We can return to our foundation of Freedom and Faith in the God of all Grace, or we can plunge ourselves into an abyss from which there will be no return.  This is our moment in His-Story, the moment when we decide our destiny.  God has put it firmly in our hands, asking as He has been for the past half-century, “Which Path will you choose?  Freedom and Life... or Destruction and Death?”  Our situation is just this serious, and just this simple.

While we watch and witness, hearing with alarm the death throes of a dying nation, those last gasps of the American Empire, my one prayer for this November is: “God, give us what we need, and not what we deserve.  Have mercy on us, Lord.  And spark the fires of service and sacrifice within us so they burn like a Beacon of Hope to a world bound in darkness and death.  Do not cast us from Thy sight, Abba, or turn Thy back upon us.  Refresh our spirits, renew our strength, and lead us on to glory and greatness.  For Your Name’s sake.  Amen!”  Will you pray this with me, as we lay down our lives at the feet of our King?

HJC
Ric Webb  |  Shepherd
Heart’s Journey Community
9621 Tall Timber Blvd. |  Little Rock, AR 72204
t +1.501.455.0296
hjcommunity.org
Heart’s Journey – Live Generously and Love Graciously