Just a thought.

Does the church set the standard for the world or does the world set the standard for the church. Who is influencing who?

Is it a coincidence that the church is fighting to come out of empire, remove the control, let the underdog speak, let the big man on the stage give way to the person on the fringe whilst in the East the populace is calling for an end to tyranny, an end to the big guy with the control, to allow freedom to speak, to have an opinion or a belief...an interesting thought.

So where we have feared that the world is influencing the church and hidden away from it perhaps the world has only imitated where the church has gone astray in the past....maybe.

Being Perfect?

I’ve been thinking a lot about perfection and being a new creation recently.  I heard John Crowder teach at the recent GloryFest event in Newport, Wales and have also read his book ‘Mystical Union’ which I can heartily recommend.  He is preaching a gospel of the finished work of the cross that, frankly, blew my socks off.  I’ve heard plenty of teaching over the last three or four years about us dying with Christ on the cross (two hands, one nail), the fact that our old self was buried in baptism and that it’s no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me and I’ve been very blessed, encouraged and strengthened in my faith by it.  But last year, at the last SloshFest in Barry, while John was speaking he told a story, in passing really, about his little girl arguing with the Sunday School teacher at a church they had gone to about how she’s perfect and the teacher saying she wasn’t.  It was a funny story and I liked it but when I tried to think of myself as perfect I found offence bubbling up within me.  How arrogant would I have to be to think I could be called perfect? I liked almost all of what John said but that had crossed a line, how could he or anyone claim to be ‘perfect’? It offended a religious mind-set, one I wasn’t even aware I had, I knew one day I would be perfect but to claim that I was already was absurd, possibly even blasphemous, wasn’t it?  This year at GloryFest John spoke several times and was his usual charismatic, energetic, entertaining and outrageous self but he spoke in much more detail about the finished work of the cross and he also talked about perfection and he goes into even more detail in his book.  I’m not going to try and summarise it all here, that would be futile, get the book or listen to the teaching or read Paul’s epistles over and over; but I do want to talk briefly about why I now believe I am made perfect and why I used such a pejorative term as ‘religious mind-set’.

I am perfect

Galatians 2:20 says “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

Rom 6:1-3 says “What shall we say, then? Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase? By no means! We are those who have died to sin; how can we live in it any longer? Or don’t you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into his death?”

2 Corinthians 5:17 (AMP) says “Therefore if any person is [ingrafted] in Christ (the Messiah) he is a new creation (a new creature altogether); the old [previous moral and spiritual condition] has passed away. Behold, the fresh and new has come!”

John 19:30 says “When he had received the drink, Jesus said, ‘It is finished.’ ”

Is there any sense from any of these passages that God has simply begun something in us at our salvation?  Is there any sense of a process that we now embark upon to rid ourselves of sin and make ourselves anew?  If keeping the law was enough, remaining sinless by our own effort, then Christ died for nothing.

If it’s true there are two possibilities and they are that (a) we are sinners and under Satan’s dominion or (b) we are saved and in Christ’s kingdom then how can we be partially saved?  How does a third, partially saved, version fit in with scripture? Paul is stating quite categorically that the old nature, our sinful fallen nature, is dead and gone and we now have a new nature, Christ living in us by His Holy Spirit!  If I am a temple of the Holy Spirit (holy meaning separate, set apart, pure, amongst other things) how can someone who is intrinsically separate from sin by His very nature dwell within someone who is still sinful?  In the Old Testament the Holy Spirit came upon people from time to time to empower them in some gifting or authority but it was always temporary.  Now we are to ‘be continually filled’ with the Holy Spirit as he resides within us! We are in union, ingrafted, joined inextricably with Christ who is the very embodiment of the Father.  Would he, could he even, be joined with anything less than sinless perfection?  I don’t think so.

Jesus’ sacrifice on the cross was an event outside of the realm of time, it has to be or it doesn’t work!  If Jesus’ death was contained within time’s restrictions then his sacrifice could only have been for those alive at the time he died and for those who had died earlier.  How could he die for those as yet unborn?  They didn’t yet exist so their sins hadn’t happened yet, let alone them hearing about Jesus and choosing to believe in Him!  So the sins He took upon himself and paid for were all the sins of all the people in the world.  Every sin I have ever committed and every sin I ever will commit!  In fact, according to the scriptures above, he not only paid the penalty for my sin he took the cause of it onto the cross and killed it there.  When we believe in Him, when the gift of Faith causes us to be able to believe in Jesus, the floodgates of God’s outrageous grace are opened and we enter in to the glorious freedom of the sons of God.

Here comes the obvious objection: “If all that’s true then how come I still sin then?” Have I sinned since I started to believe in the perfection of the finished work of the cross? Sadly, yes I have.

Now bear with me, this is where it gets tricky, and I’m not 100% certain I’ve got all this nailed down in my own head yet!  Maybe what we’re doing is we are muddling up nature and actions here.

Before I knew Jesus and believed in Him and his wonderful sacrifice I was a sinner.  I had a sinful nature and that nature expressed itself in my actions and thoughts and attitudes and desires.  I couldn’t help it.  I was a sinner – it’s who I was not what I did.  The sins did not make me a sinner; I was a sinner so therefore naturally I sinned. I had no choice in the matter! See Romans 7:15-24 for Paul’s take on this issue.  However now I have received this new creation life, my very nature is new.  The old sinful nature isn’t tied up and gagged but still struggling to be free with me having to keep re-tying the knots and re-fitting the gag, no it’s dead, properly dead, buried under the water of baptism and I am now living only because Christ lives in me!  I now have a new nature – that is who I am!  I choose not to sin because of my new nature…but should I sin this does not change my nature any more than stopping sinning, by following the law, could have changed my nature from a sinner to a saint!  What we do does NOT determine who we are – it’s the other way around.  The times I choose to sin are despite my new nature not because that new creation reality isn’t true.  That decision to sin, and let’s face it sinning by mistake is pretty rare if not impossible, was also dealt with 2,000 years ago on the cross.  And that’s why Paul says what he says in Rom 6:1-2.  This isn’t a licence to sin all we like; it’s a call to live in the fullness of the perfection we have already been given as a free gift.

Religious Mind-Set

The reason I used the rather pejorative term is because religion is all about our own efforts trying to close the gap between us and God.  If I don’t accept the gift of a sinless perfect new nature I am going to try, by my own effort, to close a gap between me and God. Once we understand that the gap that no longer exists, our mind-set should change to a grace mind-set rather than a religious one.  That’s why I called this way of thinking a ‘religious mind-set’, and surely we’re not treating the finished work of cross as insufficient are we?

Conclusion

You can agree with me or disagree with me, in the words of Catherine Tate’s ‘Lauren’ character “I ain’t bovvered!” I still love you and I hope you will still love me!

Pressed

I’ve just spent the weekend at Gloryfest with some of our truly fantastic friends. I had time to sit and listen to some of our favourite preachers and teachers; John Crowder, Ben Dunn, Kathy Garda, Karen Lowe and Jo Gravell. I danced at the party whilst Godfrey hammered out the Truth and I made silly noises along to Ben Dunn, such fun. I heard the sound of freedom. We spent time with good friends eating and drinking and sharing our stories. I made some new friends and saw some Big Brother 11 housemates turn up to support Dave.
We stayed with a family who had opened their house up to ten people and created an atmosphere where we all felt like we had come home. We didn’t feel like guests, we felt like a family. We shared meal times around a large table, with kids, dogs and nationalities blending together to make the sound of fellowship. We have found the hospitality and generosity of the Welsh humbling, abundant and overwhelming.
I thought I might share some of the gems I brought home from the weekend.
On arriving on Wednesday night I was chatting with my friend about health issues, particularly linked to digestion and we encouraged each other with the verse from 1 Timothy 5:23 ‘Stop drinking only water, and use a little wine because of your stomach and your frequent illnesses.’ So we headed for the bar where I had a lovely glass of Merlot. This glass of wine was my first in five years, an interesting number as it represents Grace and represented the end of my alcohol fast. Now with hindsight I think breaking that fast was the pre-cursor to the weekend, the end of law and embracing the fullness and complete work of Grace.
In the summer of 2005, having read a very good book called ‘Fear of the Lord’ by John Bevere, I asked God how I could move my relationship with Him into something more intense, more passionate, and more obsessive. I was prompted to fast alcohol from September until Christmas and following a rather lovely glass or two over Christmas, I decided to continue with the fast for however long it felt right. From that time I became more obsessive, more passionate and more frustrated. I did not want to waste time going through the motions, I couldn’t bear doing anything I perceived to be religious. I would try and express my desire for more - more worship, more passion, more focus, more holiness, more truth, more prayer, more experience, but I was not very successful as the frustration was heard more often than the desire. As the years have passed I have learned that frustration with myself, with others or with structures does not achieve anything and probably has a detrimental effect on relationships which can’t be a good thing. So I try to keep my focus where it belongs, on him.
The reasons for my decision to continue with the fast as they developed over the five years - to help me get closer to God, to help me to hear him clearer, to help break some ancestors alcoholism curse that has blighted my family,(not too sure of this one but it sounded good in the right circles), God helping me to avoid becoming an alcoholic because I have a weakness towards alcohol caused by my sinful nature,(a hidden fear), to help me focus, to set me apart like a Nazarite. So whilst last Wednesday night was no different to other nights it was the beginning of a weekend where those reasons were well and truly shattered through the teaching on the cross and what actually happened there. Teaching I had listened to before but perhaps like the seed sown in the field some had drifted away for different reasons. My friend told me once that a God anointed teacher does not teach you anything you don’t already know, they just remind you of the truth. I think that is something to note when the church is full of good communicators and in need of some anointed teachers.
The reasons for the fast were well reasoned, I do think a lot, I do ponder a lot, however I am moving away from fasting as a way to achieve any of the desired goals for the fast and in fact any action on my part to achieve them as I believe I already been given them, as a gift. I also need to remember that a good reason for doing something does not always mean it is a life bringer after all we were not meant to know the difference between good and bad we were to leave that distinction to God. So now I will try and decide whether something will bring life or death rather than whether it is a good or bad decision. Here’s what happened to my good reasons for fasting alcohol:-
To get closer to God - I can get no closer to God than I am today as according to the bible he has moved in – I am a temple of the Holy Spirit, part of his body, all the fullness of the deity living in bodily form in Jesus and I have been given fullness in Christ. So how can I get closer, there is no distance between us, I have been fully reconciled to God. My knowledge/revelation of God may increase as he reveals more of himself to me by his Spirit whilst I rest in his presence but we are not getting closer. My love for him may deepen over time which leads to feeling like I am closer to him than before but the reality is I am in Christ whether I feel like it or not and my actions certainly do not bring him or me closer together.
To hear him clearer - If I believe that Christ lives in me, that he is my head, (not to be confused with in my head), that we are close all the time and that he speaks into my spirit then fasting should make absolutely no difference whatsoever. If I believe that he is God of the Universe and he wants to be heard he will find a way, which may include donkeys and writing on the wall, flowers and sunsets.
Ancestors – What do they have to do with me? I am a new creation, I have been born from above, my Dad is God and my brother is Jesus.
Sinful nature – Mine has been crucified with Christ, no longer attached, no longer in control, it has been taken from me. I am a Romans 6 true believer. I have nothing to struggle with, nothing to drag me down, nothing to cause me to sin, and nothing to separate me from God. I can live a sin free life because he calls me perfect and holy. Whilst I have sinned and fallen short I have now been rescued and am free to live in the Spirit. Galatians 5:24 “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the sinful nature with its passions and desires”. The cross effected a complete work, it did not do half a job, leaving me with a struggle on my hands, to be wrestling with myself every day, to have a split personality, an inward fight of good and bad. The cross totally crucified my sinful nature and if I believe that how can I live in its control any longer, it would be like dragging a skeleton around with me all day discussing my plans with it. I would rather believe the truth and carry the Holy Spirit around with me so he can tell me his plans.
To help me focus – My attention, my gaze, can be turned at any moment. It is my choice where to look.
To be set apart as a Nazarite for God – My belief in Jesus, who he was and is, what he did and accomplished on the cross sets me apart. I am fundamentally different from the world; I am a child of God, a citizen of heaven. I have been delivered and chosen, purchased at a price, ransom paid in full and therefore set apart. This has all been done for me, whilst I was still in my sin he died for me, I cannot assist in my salvation.
If it has all been done for me then why should I press in or pray more or with more intensity, more seeking, more chasing, pursuing, going deeper? I think once I believe the truth of the cross, the fullness of grace, the true Gospel of reconciliation and am fully satisfied with all that he has done for me, these words only now apply when talking about me and God in our unity. Wanting to sink deeper into the revelation of who he is, discover more secrets that he has hidden for me to find, to press in to be suffocated in his embrace, to pray more intensely as in to practise his presence continually. As for contending - only for the gospel not for myself I have been contended for.

So here’s to drinking the mixed wine as spoken of in Proverbs 9:1-6.

Daisy’s Afternoon Tea with the over 60’s.

Yesterday I spent two hours with a group of over 60’s drinking tea and eating cake and hearing them share part of their stories. They had been asked to bring something from home that would tell us something about them and the stories that flowed were a joy and a privilege to hear.

One lady now in her early seventies talked about her 20 years as captain of a darts team and brought her darts to show. She talked of teaching her team in the early days about the dart board and how it didn’t go round numerically and the different kinds of darts. I see the glimmer in the eye and her smile as she tells us something of her history, a part of her life that has been hidden in her memories until shared with us.

Another lady produces two photographs. One a school class photo from 1945 taken when she was 12 and the other, a recent photo with five of the women from the class photo, they are still friends after 65 years. She keeps repeating how different they all look after 65 years. The photos are passed around and everyone takes delight in trying to spot her. She points herself out as the one in the pullover on the front row as she had a cold that day and her mum wouldn’t let her wear her pinafore. She can remember the names of all her classmates. Precious photos and memories.

The conversation moves to first jobs and they tell of mums and dads taking daughters to get a job. One lady’s mum walked her into the shoe shop and asked them to give her a job, not too impressed she walked her to the factory and spoke to the foreman, she was only 14 at the time. She didn’t finish school and started a week later in the ‘Sunlight’ factory. She told us how they would employ you for 11 months then get rid of you so they didn’t have to pay sick pay and she would go down to the jobcentre and get another job for a while and then go back. She had worked in various factories including cracking nuts which made us all laugh and jokes were made about being crackers and nutty.

Another lady had wanted to work in an office but her dad knew a chemist who was looking for an assistant so she went there instead as – “you did what your parents wanted in those days”. She worked there till she got married which seemed to be how it was for a lot of young women in the 40’s and 50’s. Get a job as soon as you leave school until you get married then you will be staying home with the children was the expectation. She went back 20 years later and was so happy to tell us that she was told that ‘she hadn’t lost it in all these years’ once she returned to work. It is fascinating listening to them talk and hearing what snippets of their past they remember. This lady is well into her 80’s now and remembers the nice feeling of being affirmed by her employer which must have been 30 or 40 years previously.

They all agree that their pay, in shillings, was handed to their mum when they got it. One lady didn’t open her pay packet until after she was married as it was handed unopened to her mum. One lady in the army said half of her pay went directly to her mum from the employer, so her mum wasn’t best pleased when she left the army and hit “civvy street”.

We sit around laughing at the different stories there is some teasing about parents expectations and what they would wear when going out at the weekend. They didn’t have many clothes so would wear the same thing the weekend after, just turn it inside out or back to front. Absolutely hilarious, “in by 9 wearing a back to front cardigan.”

One lady is new to the afternoon tea group and as she walks in I note her tidy appearance, good sensible black shoes, dark green tights, just below the knee skirt just showing under her raincoat, hat and one of those spotted plastic rain hats that she folds up and tucks in her pocket. It isn’t actually raining outside. She is quite tall which is a rarity amongst the women, most are less than 5 foot, and one lady is so short she walks under my arm when I open the door for her. This lady is slim and has a very straight back, she sits on the sofa quite near the edge so as not to slouch.

She was asked to share what she did for her first job. She smiles and tells how one summer in her late teens she and a friend had helped out on a farm picking potatoes and despite the backbreaking work had enjoyed it so much they joined the Land Army. They were living in Liverpool at the time and the two girls signed up, committing to go together. Unfortunately they were sent to separate parts of the country. This lady was sent to Somerset to work on a cattle farm, she had never been anywhere near a cow before. She spent one month on a training farm and then she was sent away to different farm. She talked of getting up at 5 in the dark, fetching the cows in for milking in knee high mud, pulling her wellingtons up at every step so the mud didn’t go in over the top. She learnt to milk the cows by hand whilst being whipped by tails and then being put on a farm with mechanical milking machines which made the job much faster. Fresh milk being put in huge pan on the Arga and 24 hours later cream being skimmed off the top. She is asked whether she was lonely and she states quite openly that it was very lonely. Whilst the family who owned the farm were kind they were very busy. It seems she can remember the isolation. She sent half her pay home and as there was only one bus a day and half a day off a week she didn’t get much time to make any friends. When the Land Army was stopped she returned to Liverpool and got a job in an office till she got married. She smiles and carries on drinking her tea. An absolutely fabulous story.

Most of these women come every other week to our afternoon tea. Some come on the bus using their free bus pass, some still drive – one lady after a serious stroke, and some walk down the road. They struggle with aches and pains, bad hips, shaking and slurred speech, scary coughs, deafness and vision problems (one lady has a huge magnifying glass which is brought out to view anything close up, I think she doesn’t bother too much with what she can’t see at a distance). One lady is from Chile and is difficult to understand as she speaks quickly with a heavy accent, she sits in an armchair that envelops her as she is so dainty. One lady had a house fire that led to months of upheaval, in the midst of which her son died tragically. She came for a cup of tea after the funeral as she knew we would be there. They like their tea and coffee in a cup and saucer and exactly how they like it. They like millionaires shortcake and to sit and set the world to rights.

I love to sit and listen to them talk.

I love to see them.

Perspectives

Many years ago, when I first decided that maybe I should try ‘church’ again, we went to a Pioneer ‘Event’ in Norfolk and Martin Scott was speaking at one of the sessions.  I had only recently decided to be back on speaking terms with God and was still unconvinced by a lot of what passed for ‘church’.  Some of the people seemed nice and some seemed, frankly, nuts but what bothered me most about organized Christian clubs (or churches as we like to call them) was what is sometimes called theology but I’d more readily call dogma. By dogma I mean not just a way of thinking about God and our relationship to him but one specific set of ideas becoming crystallised and solidified so that they are unchanging, worse still unchallengeable, and are given the label ‘truth’.  Sadly I can remember nothing of what Martin spoke about that day but his introduction has stuck with me.  Obviously I can’t remember the exact words but the gist of it was along these lines…

“What I’m going to teach today isn’t the truth.  It’s what God is saying to me at the moment.  There are things I believe now that I didn’t necessarily believe five years ago and in five years’ time I may not believe some of the things I talk about today.  Don’t swallow what I say whole, take your Bible, and some time, to ask God what he thinks about it and then make up your own mind.”
(Now if I’ve misquoted you horribly Martin I apologize – this is only my imperfect recollection so if anyone disagrees with this statement vehemently you may direct your diatribes at me not Martin Scott!)

That to me was like someone taking all of my foundations of what it means to be part of a ‘church’ and smashing them up right before my eyes and then handing me another sledgehammer and asking me if I’d like to join in!  Intentionally or otherwise the church network I’d grown up in had instilled in me the belief that revelation, absolute revelation, was not only possible but had in fact been achieved; that there was a dogma that was better than all the other churches and it was ours.  We may learn a bit more and enhance our dogma a little, but there would never, ever, be anything we needed to unlearn.  I liked Martin’s viewpoint so much we threw our lot in with a Pioneer church and my renewed adventure with Jesus got off to a good start.

All of this is background to the point I want to make, it’s the scenery that gives my thoughts in this blog some context.

Since 2008 my wife, Mags, and I have been going down some interesting roads on our spiritual journey.  Mags really started her trek off the beaten path a few years earlier when we were on holiday in Canada in 2005, but she can tell you about that herself another time. In 2008 we met Justin Abraham and Dave Vaughan from ‘Emerge Wales’ and I felt like a door to a previously unheard of path was suddenly opened in front of me and Jesus was inviting me to come through it.  Over the last two years I’ve experienced Jesus in wonderful new ways and I’ve started believing some things that have shifted my whole life.  Simple stuff about how He came not just to pay the price for my sin but to actually destroy my sinful nature and to give me His nature, how the fullness of the Godhead dwells in me, that God never makes us sick to ‘teach us a lesson’ or develop our character, that good health and healing were bought for us and are our inheritance, that there’s living water bubbling up from my belly, that there’s nothing I can do to earn my salvation, that He’s done it all and I can stop trying and just be, that the good news is still ‘the Kingdom is near at hand’, that the struggle with sin is over and I’m not the man in Romans 7, that healing and deliverance and supernatural encounters are the norm for believing believers, that passion, wild abandon and fun can be the hallmarks of an encounter with God’s presence!  And there’s more…so MUCH more!  It’s impossible to create a dogma out of this Jesus because if you could then he’d be finite and limited to our understanding and suddenly He wouldn’t be God any more!

It’s been an interesting road because not everyone thinks the same way about some of this.  Some people really don’t like this road and don’t want to travel on it or don’t feel it’s for them.  Which is fine, but some people don’t want anyone else travelling on it either, which isn’t fine.

I woke up the other morning with the following thought floating round my head; “Any theology that doesn’t produce more grace and more love needs to be viewed with suspicion.” I was pondering where I’d heard it before or where I’d read it and have come to the conclusion it’s my thought, for me.  It’s a reminder not to judge other people’s motives, journey with Jesus or beliefs.  Just because I’m on a certain journey what makes me think everyone else has to be on it too?  If I try to police another person’s faith I have stopped having my own perspective and I have instead created myself a dogma, one I feel is superior to theirs. The flip side is true too, I will not allow myself to be policed by someone else’s beliefs or dogma, their journey is theirs and not mine.  When I am hurt by criticism or when I get offended by someone disagreeing with me surely it’s my pride that is hurt or offended; and really I should just get over it!  That’s the herd mentality that wants everyone to be going in the same direction in all things and Jesus doesn’t treat us that way.  He is capable of having a unique relationship with every one of us and I want to pursue my relationship with him into deeper realms of mystery.  Some of that journey will be alone, some of it will involve a small group of close friends and some of it a larger group using the label ‘church’.  However my responsibility is to be so full of grace and love that I rejoice in the things we have in common and don’t let our differences cause me to stumble and lose my way.  That’s my perspective… for today anyway!

Kingdom

In the last few weeks I’ve been reading the Message Old Testament and yesterday finished reading 2 Kings. For the first time I was struck by the loss of, and devastation to, the temple and Jerusalem. The last chapter setting out the removal of anything precious and burning the temple to the ground leaving only a few farmers behind. It is a shocking chapter in the history of our story.

The nation of Israel crossed the Jordan and for a time dominated the region, pushing out other cultures and setting themselves up with cities and occupying the land. I’m not sure they ever fully occupied all the land that had been promised to Abraham but they certainly arrived in the promised land and made their present felt. At its peak, the nation of Israel has Jerusalem with Solomon on the throne with a magnificent temple and palace, riches beyond measure and his wisdom influencing other nations. Biblical history sets the story out in graphic detail including where it all went wrong and why.

Their loss was enormous and not just economic but physical and most importantly they lost their identity and inheritance, but for a remnant. The ark was gone, judgement had been levied against them and exile had come upon them. All they had was gone, the land, the culture, the promise and the presence. Devastation.

The bible tells us of the return and the start of the rebuild of the temple. This would be at odds with our thinking perhaps. Surely the place is an absolute tip and homes and infrastructure are needed first but they start rebuilding the temple. Even when they start to rebuild houses at the expense of the temple they are told by Haggai that the reason they are not being successful is because they have stopped the rebuilding of the temple.”You expected much, but see, it turned out to be little. What you brought home I blew away. Why? Because of my house, which remains a ruin, while each of you is busy with his own house” Haggai 1:9

I think it is no wonder that when Jesus arrives a few hundred years later the nation of Israel was a confused place. Over the years they had been allowed to return but to an area that no longer had the influence or affluence of earlier days. They knew the stories of old, they were taught the law, letter by letter they did not want to forget again and be forced again into exile. They would now obey every word and hold onto what they had, remember their identity - they were the children of Abraham and they added regulation after regulations and waited for the rescue that had been promised by the prophets. They appear to have become seriously legalistic and controlling and missing the biggest commandment of all - to love. Hoping that one day their empire would return. And then Jesus arrives.

The Jewish nation were waiting for a ‘Messiah’, but in their history the restorers meant kings with a mighty sword who pushed back the enemy and restored their former glory in the area. They were looking for another King David who would win in battle and force back the enemy, put them back on the map. Perhaps they forgot that he also had a heart after God and an intense life of worship. Interesting that Jesus did arrive as a king with a mighty sword but he came to defeat the enemy once and for all and to bring a glory to the house greater than the former. But they could not see it because they were looking for a different kind of kingdom, they were looking for an empire. Jesus came to preach the good news and to announce that the kingdom of God was at hand. God’s kingdom looks so different to the kingdoms of this world it is difficult to recognise.

This kingdom comes as a servant, a loving servant, a servant full of the Holy Spirit bringing good news with not just words but with power. This kingdom has one king only, high and lifted up, one counsellor, one teacher, one gate, one Father. The rules of this kingdom are love and grace, freedom and reconciliation. This kingdom looks to restore to its original design all of creation, so it revives and it restores. It brings life to all who encounter it and it has arms open wide to all. This kingdom is advancing every day since the days of John the Baptist. Isaiah prophesied that his kingdom rule would increase. So every day that rule is increasing and the enemy’s dominion is decreasing. Hallelujah!

Once again this kingdom is to be laid hold of by violence but this is a different kind of violence it is a passion for the things of God, being prepared to kill anything that would stand in the way of that passion, to kill daily all those things that hinder.

At the centre of this kingdom is also a temple where God wants to dwell. It too has to be built up first, where worship is the bricks and mortar, where intimacy with the King is the treasure that fills it. This temple has Jesus as it’s cornerstone, the Holy Spirit as the decorator and gardener and the Father as the architect and master builder. The influence and wisdom of this temple can impact nations one advancing step at a time. This is the Kingdom of God that Jesus proclaimed and it is at hand. How close is your hand?

Shot glasses

Shot glass 1.

Healing, the truth that God intends good for me, that I am a new creation, that my body is a temple for the Holy Spirit to reside, that I have the fullness of the deity within me. That on the cross all my sins and sicknesses were dealt with, that I am no longer subject to the world or the fall, I am a child of the Kingdom and it is kingdom rules that apply to me. The glass contains all this truth and a leaf from the tree in heaven whose leaves are for the healing of the nations which includes me. So I drink this glass as God’s medicine to cure me of any sicknesses or illnesses and that my body will work in line with heaven’s order today.

Shot glass 2.

The armour of God. The belt of truth round my waist, the truth – Jesus in my centre. The helmet fitted perfectly with iPod to play me heaven’s music, God singing over me, angels worshipping in the throne room, words of life, strong on the outside to protect me, earmuffs to keep out lies, son glasses so I can see as He sees, muzzle on my tongue to speak only good, chin strap to keep my head up, help is always on the way. Breastplate of rightness with God, full access into the presence of God, holiness, oneness. The sword to use when necessary and only as the author of the book specifies, two edged, powerful and effective. My shield perfectly handled to be held up to keep back any fiery arrows regardless of where they came from. My feet fitted with readiness that comes from knowing the gospel and the peace it brings me.

Shot glass 3.

The anointing cup, my cup overflows, full of the Holy Spirit to fill me full to overflowing today, all of him in all of me. He has anointed me to preach good news, he has en –powered me, he is the living water flowing from the One, he is my wine, my Eden’s spring water, he is my strength, my wisdom, my counsellor, my teacher, my revealer, fruitfulness and gifting. This shot glass never empties to be drunk from constantly.

Shot glass 4.

Communion wine. Representing his precious blood poured out for me, redemption, rescue, love, hope, heaven’s best, he becomes my DNA, the unforced rhythm of walking with him, he is my song and my dance, he is my beloved and I am his. Here I have forgiveness and all sufficient grace. Here is unity with Jesus, full communion, true vine dwelling, and completeness.

Today I remember to drink.