apostle: meaning one who is sent. someone who is commissioned and sent to perform a specific task. it is generally accepted that an apostle has more gifts than a disciple or a "spectator" christian. the truth, however, is that an apostle flows in the gifts he/she has where a disciple is still learning about their gifts and learning how to use them.
anointing: meaning the manifest power of God in Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit in a person or event.
love: "love is patient, love is kind it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, not self-seeking, not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. love does not delight in evil but rejoices in the truth. it always protects, always perseveres. love never fails...now these three things remain: faith, hope and love. the greatest of these is love." (1 cor. 13:4-8,13)
so what, then is the apostolic anointing of love? it is the manifest power of God in Christ Jesus through the Holy Spirit in the life of one who is sent to love.
but why love? the anointing of love is the super-natural power to love in any situation. regardless of the person or the situation. in spite of the person or the situation, but not to spite the person or situation. love that is objective and not subjective. apostolic love should reflect 1 cor. 13. prior to the apostolic period, Jesus taught the disciples about love. teachings that were imperative to remember when he commissioned and called them as apostles to do his work.
among those teachings are the following selections: matthew 5:43-48 "you have heard that it was said, `love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' but I tell you: love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. if you love those who love you, what reward will you get? are not even the tax collectors doing that? and if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? do not even pagans do that? be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect."
luke 6:27-35 "but I tell you who hear me: love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. if someone strikes you on one cheek, turn to him the other also. if someone takes your cloak, do not stop him from taking your tunic. give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. do to others as you would have them do to you. "if you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even `sinners' love those who love them. and if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? even `sinners' do that. and if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? even `sinners' lend to `sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full. but love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because He is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."
in luke 11: 37-43, Jesus actually chastens the pharisees for not having love and compassion. in the beginning of the apostolic period (which, by the way, has never come to an end) paul writes of apostolic love in romans 12:9-13 and 13:8-10, as well as in his letters to the church at corinth. it is important to note that the "love chapter" is found between two chapters describing other spiritual gifts given to believers; apostles and disciples alike as well as to "spectators." the reason for this is stated at the beginning of chapter 13. to paraphrase, "i can have all the evidences of the gifts, but if i don't have love, i am nothing."
peter, james and the other apostles also wrote of apostolic love in their writings. 1 peter 4:7-11 addresses, specifically, the apostolic anointing of love. "the end of all things is near, therefore be clear minded and self-controlled so that you can pray. above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. offer hospitality to one another without grumbling. each one should use whatever gift he has received to serve others, faithfully administering God's grace in its various forms. if anyone speaks, he should do it as one speaking the very words of God. if anyone serves, he should do it with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. to Him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. amen."
we are all sent to love. Jesus prayed for unity, not conformity. love has the power to unite, it does not pressure one into conformity. we will begin to see greater power, a greater outpouring of His Spirit, a greater spiritual renewal when we begin to move in the apostolic anointing of love.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
22 July 2005
20 July 2005
sprint or ultramarathon?
i was reflecting this morning on the tour de france and running the race that is set before us. i got to thinking about how we go about running our race.
we have grown accustomed to watching others in the race. we've seen how long they've been running and figure that our race will be long as well, so we choose to pace ourselves. how many of us really know how long our race will be?
i ask this because if we believe we are in a marathon, then we will pace ourselves as such, but if we believe we are in a 100 m sprint, we won't even bother to take the time to breathe. The difference between the world's longest race (the 3,100 mile sri chinmoy) and the world's shortest competition race (the 60 m sprint) is the approach. the sri chinmoy takes at least 51 days, the 60 m sprint takes less than 7 seconds. (for a really rediculously short race, check out the shortest race video created by nike)
all of that info is extremely useless except to show the difference in strategy. you wouldn't try to run an ultramarathon without taking a breath just like you wouldn't begin a 100 m sprint with a lazy jog.
my point in this is, we don't have a clue what we're running in, we just have to run. i would rather run at a sprint and find out i was in a marathon than run a marathon and discover that i was in a sprint.
the slower we run, the fewer people we pass by. the fewer people we pass by, the fewer opportunities we have to share the gospel message.
let me put it this way, matthew 5:4-30 recalls the parable of the talents. you know the story, a master gives his servants some money and leaves, then he returns to find out how they did with the money. the money he gave wasn't for personal use or personal benefit, it was so that they could do business for him. in essense, they could be about his business while he was away.
God has given us all a task to accomplish together: the never ending increase of His kingdom, the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory, the finishing of the great commission. regardless of our talents or the amount of different talents we have, we are to be working together- whether actively together as a group, or passively together as individuals, we are to striving for one common goal: the advance of the kingdom.
Jesus tells us to work while there is still daylight because darkness is coming and no one will be able to work. figurative or literal, we have to do what we've been given to do now. not two years from now, not two months from now, not two weeks from now, not two days from now, not even two hours from now. we have to do it now, because we're not guaranteed another breath.
paul wrote in 1 corinthians 9:24, that we need to run in such a way that we win.
we tend to like the idea of running in packs or in teams and having teammates to feed off of, because we like to have the security of knowing that even if we fall, we're on the winning side. well, here's a wake-up call: you're already on the winning side! Jesus secured the victory when he died on the cross and rose from the grave, now go run the race to win! don't settle to be in the middle of the pack.
i don't want to run like it's a marathon to discover all to late that it was a sprint. i wonder if the reason it's seems like an ultramarathon might be because we are looking at it like it is one. who's to say, that if we all sprinted the race wouldn't finish sooner.
the tour de france is built on individual stage racing. on each stage, the pace is determined by the pack leaders. those out front have to set the pace, if they don't someone else will, if no one does, the race takes forever... we are content to sit in the dugout while our team is playing; we are content to ride in the middle of the pack while our team is leading; we are content to be cheerleaders when we should simply be leaders.
we're afraid of losing our breath if we run too fast, but we don't realize that the more we pour out, the more He can pour back into us. i like what dennis said in response to my last post, "When we try to hold on to the 'river' it becomes stagnant like a pond, or a swamp."
"For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." matthew 16:25 (amplified)
there is more to life than just surviving, there is more to do than just observing. it is in our observations that we find the time to assign a religious title to a spiritual action.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
we have grown accustomed to watching others in the race. we've seen how long they've been running and figure that our race will be long as well, so we choose to pace ourselves. how many of us really know how long our race will be?
i ask this because if we believe we are in a marathon, then we will pace ourselves as such, but if we believe we are in a 100 m sprint, we won't even bother to take the time to breathe. The difference between the world's longest race (the 3,100 mile sri chinmoy) and the world's shortest competition race (the 60 m sprint) is the approach. the sri chinmoy takes at least 51 days, the 60 m sprint takes less than 7 seconds. (for a really rediculously short race, check out the shortest race video created by nike)
all of that info is extremely useless except to show the difference in strategy. you wouldn't try to run an ultramarathon without taking a breath just like you wouldn't begin a 100 m sprint with a lazy jog.
my point in this is, we don't have a clue what we're running in, we just have to run. i would rather run at a sprint and find out i was in a marathon than run a marathon and discover that i was in a sprint.
the slower we run, the fewer people we pass by. the fewer people we pass by, the fewer opportunities we have to share the gospel message.
let me put it this way, matthew 5:4-30 recalls the parable of the talents. you know the story, a master gives his servants some money and leaves, then he returns to find out how they did with the money. the money he gave wasn't for personal use or personal benefit, it was so that they could do business for him. in essense, they could be about his business while he was away.
God has given us all a task to accomplish together: the never ending increase of His kingdom, the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory, the finishing of the great commission. regardless of our talents or the amount of different talents we have, we are to be working together- whether actively together as a group, or passively together as individuals, we are to striving for one common goal: the advance of the kingdom.
Jesus tells us to work while there is still daylight because darkness is coming and no one will be able to work. figurative or literal, we have to do what we've been given to do now. not two years from now, not two months from now, not two weeks from now, not two days from now, not even two hours from now. we have to do it now, because we're not guaranteed another breath.
paul wrote in 1 corinthians 9:24, that we need to run in such a way that we win.
we tend to like the idea of running in packs or in teams and having teammates to feed off of, because we like to have the security of knowing that even if we fall, we're on the winning side. well, here's a wake-up call: you're already on the winning side! Jesus secured the victory when he died on the cross and rose from the grave, now go run the race to win! don't settle to be in the middle of the pack.
i don't want to run like it's a marathon to discover all to late that it was a sprint. i wonder if the reason it's seems like an ultramarathon might be because we are looking at it like it is one. who's to say, that if we all sprinted the race wouldn't finish sooner.
the tour de france is built on individual stage racing. on each stage, the pace is determined by the pack leaders. those out front have to set the pace, if they don't someone else will, if no one does, the race takes forever... we are content to sit in the dugout while our team is playing; we are content to ride in the middle of the pack while our team is leading; we are content to be cheerleaders when we should simply be leaders.
we're afraid of losing our breath if we run too fast, but we don't realize that the more we pour out, the more He can pour back into us. i like what dennis said in response to my last post, "When we try to hold on to the 'river' it becomes stagnant like a pond, or a swamp."
"For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." matthew 16:25 (amplified)
there is more to life than just surviving, there is more to do than just observing. it is in our observations that we find the time to assign a religious title to a spiritual action.
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
19 July 2005
the spirituality of sprite™
remember when sprite use to run the "image is nothing, thirst is everything" commercials? i always found it humerous that the coca cola company was repackaging their product (in other words, making over its image) as a "who cares what it looks like, just obey your thirst and drink up" product. yet, in their quest to throw off an image label, they simply traded one image and took on another.
.oO(that'll preach)
in the garden, adam and eve traded a pure image for a tainted one. they gave up His Glory in search of their own glory, and what did they find? they discovered they were naked.
we get to wake up every morning with the opportunity to choose whose glory we're going to live for.
here's another tie in: the answer to our daily decision comes in the form of this next question (are ya ready?): "what are we thristy for?" well, ok, that's only part of the question and the only part that ties in. the other part of the question is "what are we hungry for?"
matthew 5:6 says that if we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we are blessed because we will be filled.
the opposite of that, i would assume, is if our hunger and thirst is for anything less than righteousness and the holiness of God, then we will be unsatisfied.
i guess this all goes back to what our treasure is. in one post, i made the comment that a man dying of thirst in a desert will gladly give up diamonds for a glass of water. i once saw the previews for a movie that i have no desire to actually see, but writing about treasures spurred a memory. at one point in the preview, a woman looks across a desk and says, "so, you're treasure hunters..." and one of the men says, "i like to think we're treasure protectors..."
i want to be more than just a treasure hunter, because they are little more than glorified grave robbers (this is not a poke at archeology, which is an important mating of history and science); i don't care to be a treasure protector. the late evangelist, c.h. spurgeon once called the bible "a roaring lion; you don't have to protect it, you just have to set it loose." no, i want to be a treasure giver.
because if my treasure is the glory of God, and i find pleasure in my Treasure, then i want to share my pleasure with as many people as possible- not keep it locked inside the vault of my heart.
.oO(wow, this thread didn't go where i thought it was going to go...)
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
.oO(that'll preach)
in the garden, adam and eve traded a pure image for a tainted one. they gave up His Glory in search of their own glory, and what did they find? they discovered they were naked.
we get to wake up every morning with the opportunity to choose whose glory we're going to live for.
here's another tie in: the answer to our daily decision comes in the form of this next question (are ya ready?): "what are we thristy for?" well, ok, that's only part of the question and the only part that ties in. the other part of the question is "what are we hungry for?"
matthew 5:6 says that if we hunger and thirst for righteousness, we are blessed because we will be filled.
the opposite of that, i would assume, is if our hunger and thirst is for anything less than righteousness and the holiness of God, then we will be unsatisfied.
i guess this all goes back to what our treasure is. in one post, i made the comment that a man dying of thirst in a desert will gladly give up diamonds for a glass of water. i once saw the previews for a movie that i have no desire to actually see, but writing about treasures spurred a memory. at one point in the preview, a woman looks across a desk and says, "so, you're treasure hunters..." and one of the men says, "i like to think we're treasure protectors..."
i want to be more than just a treasure hunter, because they are little more than glorified grave robbers (this is not a poke at archeology, which is an important mating of history and science); i don't care to be a treasure protector. the late evangelist, c.h. spurgeon once called the bible "a roaring lion; you don't have to protect it, you just have to set it loose." no, i want to be a treasure giver.
because if my treasure is the glory of God, and i find pleasure in my Treasure, then i want to share my pleasure with as many people as possible- not keep it locked inside the vault of my heart.
.oO(wow, this thread didn't go where i thought it was going to go...)
for the world-wide renown of His sovereign glory...
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