Antidepressant...(26Apr09)

Jesus Our Centricity

Centric – cen·tric or cen·tri·cal adj
1.at or constituting the middle of something
2.issuing from or relating to a nerve center
Encarta® World English Dictionary © 1999 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved. Developed for Microsoft by Bloomsbury Publishing Plc.

A few centrics:
Self /Con / Ex / Church / Theology / A Cause ….

But ours is to be Jesus-centric…
Therefore we need to KNOW Him & with an approach that has no ceiling / limitations – if we allow a ceiling then we will get to the place where He alone does not satisfy & we will look for make other things "centric" – could be close to idolatry.

So who is Christ – He is Glorious & He is our everything:
His Glory: glo·ry n
1.the fame, admiration, & honor that is given to somebody who does something important
2.something that brings or confers admiration, praise, honor, or fame
3.praise & thanksgiving offered as an act of worship to a deity
4.majesty or splendour
5.beauty that inspires feelings of wonder or joy
6.the idealized beauty & bliss of heaven
7.a halo around somebody's head.
interj
used to express great surprise, shock, dismay, or pleasure (dated)

This is His glory – one aspect at least: that in Him was the fulfilment of the Law - (Matthew 5:17) – all its demands He met, He fulfilled them all….IE He brought it to an end for those who believe.

Opened the way for us not only to be loved by the Father but to KNOW His love – as shared last week –
Eph 3:19 "…& to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God."

It is a massive thing to KNOW the love of Jesus – it is the gateway to being filled with ALL THE FULLNESS OF GOD!!!!

Peter – full of the fullness of God wrote this for our comfort & guidance "…in your hearts regard Christ the Lord as holy…" (I Peter 3:15) – one simple way of doing this is to say, in your HEART & to God – Oh Lord, my HEART is yours….pure love.
"Regard" is too weak a word – a.) set apart, b) sanctify – venerate: regard with profound respect / honour as sacred or SPECIAL - elevate to highest – make holy – pure – simply: set to the fore / front – before & greater than.
This is what counted FOR David in his being a man after Gods own heart & we know how God saw & dealt with him.

This shifts our focus from other things to Christ & His focus is always the Father.
& in this we will find the Holy Spirit a willing & able Helper….the revelation spoken of in Eph 3….He is our Revelator!!!

Peter tells us to "…set apart Christ / Messiah the Lord / as Lord…
This Jesus… & His Glory – awesome wonder of His Being & Name:
Was declared by the Prophets – who heard God & He fulfilled their words.
From Genesis to Zechariah (John the Baptist's father) & all found the fulfilment in Him.
His arrival was announced by Angels:
Matt 2:8 - 15 Good News & Great Joy that will be for ALL people…Glory to God…& peace on Earth…V13 "& suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God & saying 14 Glory to God in the highest, & on earth peace among those with whom he is pleased!"
 Glory Erupted!!!!
His life was one of Love, Power & deep Worship…He was set apart – His life was a demonstration of The Kingdom of Heaven:
There wasn't a thing He didn't know – even the thoughts of men.
He was known by those with pure hearts – those who had faith.
He was known by demons, principalities & powers – His authority.
He was known by those in need of Power – healing & deliverance.
He found those in need of Power…accessible and willing.
Etc etc etc …not enough Tetra bytes in cyberspace to tell of all the good things about Him….
He was the Great High Priest – 5 superiorities of the Priesthood of Jesus -  Heb 7 (John Piper on Heb 7):
 His is sinless - v26 "We have a High Priest who is "holy, innocent, undefiled, separated from sinners, exalted above the heavens."  No other High Priest could say this or will ever be able to, ever!
Because he was sinless, he didn't have to offer sacrifices for himself, but instead could offer himself as a sacrifice. Verse 27: "He does not need daily, like those high priests, to offer up sacrifices, first for His own sins, and then for the sins of the people, because this He did once for all when He offered up Himself."
"His sacrifice of himself was "once for all." You see that at the end of verse 27, "This He did ONCE for ALL when He offered up Himself."
Other priests were appointed by the Law in their weakness, but he was appointed by a divine oath as a perfect Son. Verse 28: "The Law appoints men as high priests who are weak, but the word of the oath, which came after the Law, appoints a Son."
His ministry is forever, IE never ends, IE is alive / active today. At the end of verse 28: The oath "appoints a Son, made perfect forever."
His Life fulfilled the price Sin demanded for our Lives…IE the Law.
Every letter completely "satisfied" IE fulfilled.
Heb 10:12 – a single sacrifice for sin…for all time…He sat down…Heb 1:3 at the right hand of the Father….Hallelujah!!!
His death purchased for us Life & Life Abundant:
Free from sickness / oppression / possession.
Free from poverty.
Free from condemnation & an evil conscience (awareness of the guilt under the Law – Rom 10:22).
His Spirit continues His work today – thro those who have set apart the Messiah as Lord in their hearts – believed – by faith – those "working' for God Jn 6 (i.e. by believing in the One He sent) by His Grace (powerful enabling) that is with us 1 Cor 15:10.
Greater works Jn 14:12 – coz we are 'in the Spirit" & not in the flesh.
By & in His Spirit & NOT by the labour of our flesh in the Law!!!
By Fire & not by sweat.
By Being & not by doing!!!
We ARE therefore we Do…
We, those who Believe, are His great legacy!!!

Our Hope (that to which we hold unswervingly) is set in One so Great & Wonderful…that if we fix the Eyes of our Heart on Him….His Glory will captivate & accelerate us in all of His Fullness, all of The Fullness of God (Eph 3).

My prayer….may the eyes of YOUR heart be enlightened….Glorious Jesus our Centricity.

Antidepressant...(19Apr09)

Setting the Scene - A Foundation / Security:
1 Cor 1:4 I give thanks to my God always for you because of the grace of God that was given you in Christ Jesus,
5 that in every way you were enriched in him in all speech and all knowledge—
6 even as the testimony about Christ was confirmed among you—
7 so that you are not lacking in any spiritual gift, as you wait for the revealing of our Lord Jesus Christ,
8 who will sustain you to the end, guiltless in the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.
9 God is faithful, by whom you were called into the fellowship of his Son, Jesus Christ our Lord.
&
1 Cor 1:20 Where is the one who is wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the debater of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?
21 For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe.
22 For Jews demand signs and Greeks seek wisdom,
23 but we preach Christ crucified, a stumbling block to Jews and folly to Gentiles,
24 but to those who are called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.
25 For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

The topic: Grace – Love at “work”:
In the minds of men, their wisdom, both Grace & Love are foolishnesses!!!
However in the mind of God, His wisdom, they are His Power & His Brilliance.
Grace – His Heart shown in unmerited favour for the undeserving, unwilling and unworthy!!!
His Love – IE of the Father for US who believe – who are called His own, who have made Him their own.  Key: He loved us FIRST (1 Jn 4). So How does He love us - & we can BELIEVE this because how could one who is Holy (Purest of Pure) be so unjust to desire what He does not offer / give? Illogical.
This is what scripture says of His desire for us & must therefore be His action towards us:
1 Cor 13:3-8 “…but have not love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient and kind;
love does not envy or boast;
it is not arrogant / proud
So humble He gave Himself so we could  be reconciled!
Gave, did not demand…gave.
5 or rude. / Doth not behave itself unseemly (KJV),
It does not insist on its own way; / it is not self-seeking
it is not irritable / easily angered or resentful; / does not keep a record of wrongs
6 it does not rejoice / delight at wrongdoing / evil, but rejoices with the truth.
Rejoiceth (chairo) not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth (KJV)
Chario (khī'-rō) - to rejoice, be glad / to rejoice exceedingly / to be well, thrive.
Sygchairō (sün-khī'-rō) - to rejoice with, take part in another's joy / to rejoice together, to congratulate
Truth (alētheia / ä-lā'-thā-ä) - that candour of mind which is free from affection (feelings of fondness or tenderness, sometimes as opposed to reason), pretence, simulation, falsehood, deceit.
7 Love bears all things, / always protects
True love always protects – looks out for / over.
believes all things, / always trusts
hopes all things, / always hopes
endures all things. / always perseveres
Oh the depths, width & heights of His love for us – enduring / persevering…unfathomable.
8 Love never ends / never fails
Unending & fail-proof.
13 …the greatest of these is love…” being of faith & hope.

This is how we are loved – first by God & BEFORE we loved Him (1 Jn 4:10).
Why we are called “The Saved By Grace” – Grace is Love at Work.
We are saved coz He loved us and offered us Grace to enable us to enter His Holy presence with confidence.
Why we have Hope – coz the love of God is at work in us and for us…
That’s why the Gospel is Good News & Good News lifts the Spirit, Soul & Mind and energises the Body.
Why we can love ourselves – coz we have been loved – we have been found loveable…
Being found loveable helps us identify our value, returns our dignity, maintains our identity, enables us to love ourselves which in turn activates our ability to love others.
Why we have honour beyond our circumstances – One greater than us loves us & included us in a great Blood Line – bestowed on us all we need – title, purpose & gifting…sons & daughters.
Why we Believe & move on from the things that “easily entangle” us (Heb 12) – the terrible burdens of sin & law - & we run, not CAN but DO, the Race set before us – with our eyes fixed on Jesus – why, coz we can & coz of His great love & the finished work of the cross – we are not only loved but we are the recipients of the greatest / most powerful Work ever done in all of time – the Cross.
We can!!!!!
This is why He calls us Beloved!!!
Why does He call us Beloved, coz He Can!!!!

Wayne's World...(17Apr09)

Inheritance 1

 

Wayne Duncan

 

Inheritance:

 

1.     The act or state of inheriting; as, the inheritance of an estate; the inheritance of mental or physical qualities.

 

That which is or may be inherited; that which is derived by an heir from an ancestor or other person; a heritage; a possession which passes by descent.

 

When the man dies, let the inheritance Descend unto the daughter.

 

2.     A permanent or valuable possession or blessing, esp. one received by gift or without purchase; a benefaction.

 

To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away. 1 Pet. 1. 4.

 

3.     Possession; ownership; acquisition. "The inheritance of their loves."

 

To you th' inheritance belongs by right

 

4. (Biol.) Transmission and reception by animal or plant generation.

 

5. (Law) A perpetual or continuing right which a man and his heirs have to an estate; an estate which a man has by descent as heir to another, or which he may transmit to another as his heir; an estate derived from an ancestor to an heir in course of law. Blackstone.

 

Men are not proprietors of what they have, merely for themselves; their children have a title to part of it which comes to be wholly theirs when death has put an end to their parents' use of it; and this we call inheritance.

 

When was the will written?

 

Ephesians 1:11 In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will,

 

In heaven before the foundations of the earth were laid. God was counseled by His will.

 

How do I receive my inheritance?

 

Galatians 3:18 For if the inheritance comes by the law, it no longer comes by promise; but God gave it to Abraham by a promise.

 

It comes by promise. Adding faith to the promise releases the substance.

 

Gal 3:18  For if the inheritance be of the law, it is no more of promise: but God gave it to Abraham by promise.

 

INHERITANCE

 

G2817 κληρονομίαklē ronomiaklay - ron-om-ee'-ah

 

From G2818; heirship, that is, (concretely) a patrimony or (generally) a possession: - inheritance.

 

LAW

 

G3551νόμος nomos nom'-os

 

From a primary word νέμω nemō

 

law (through the idea of prescriptive usage), generally (regulation), specifically (of Moses [including the volume]; also of the Gospel), or figuratively (a principle): - law.

 

GAVE

 

G5483 χαρίζομαι charizomai

 

khar-id'-zom-ahee

 

Middle voice from G5485; to grant as a favor, that is, gratuitously, in kindness, pardon or rescue: - deliver, (frankly) forgive, (freely) give, grant.

 

PROMISE

 

G1860ἐπαγγελίαepaggeliaep-ang-el-ee'-ah

 

From G1861; an announcement (for information, assent or pledge; especially a divine assurance of good): - message, promise.

 

How do we know we will receive it?

 

1) Because he who promised is faithful

 

2) We have the Holy Spirit.

 

Ephesians 1:14 who is the guarantee (Or down payment)  of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it,(Or until God redeems his possession)  to the praise of his glory.

 

Guarantee of our inheritance..legal term…

 

G728 ἀῤῥαβώ νarrhabōnar - hrab-ohn'

 

Of Hebrew origin [H6162]; a pledge, that is, part of the purchase money or property given in advance as security for the rest: - earnest.

 

God had given us the deposit, a legal guarantee of the rest…Jesus death was the deposit that purchased our inheritance…he will continue to mediate/pay every installment.

 

3) He has qualified us for the inheritance…

 

Colossians 1:12 giving thanks(Or patience, with joy giving thanks)  to the Father, who has qualified you(Some manuscripts us)  to share in the inheritance of the saints in light.

 

How… by making us sons, by removing the law the separating barrier, replacing it with grace and truth.

 

John 1:12 But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God. 13who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. 14And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. 16And from his fullness we have all received, grace upon grace. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

 

 

Jubilee Church Sydney

Wayne's World... (12 Apr09)

Resurrection reflections…

 

Wayne Duncan

 

1)      To help us believe and therefore become righteous.

 

Romans 4 (the whole Chapter)

20No distrust made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, 21fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. 22That is why his faith was "counted to him as righteousness." 23But the words "it was counted to him" were not written for his sake alone, 24but for ours also. It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification.

 

2)      He was crucified for our sins…but raised up for our justification.

 

Romans 4 It will be counted to us who believe in him who raised from the dead Jesus our Lord, 25who was delivered up for our trespasses and raised for our justification

 

3)      To demonstrate the power of life within you.

 

Romans 8:11 If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you.

 

4)      So we may walk in the newness of life

 

Romans 6:4 We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.

 

5)      To die to the law, and be raised to fruitfulness.

 

Romans 7:4 Likewise, my brothers, you also have died to the law through the body of Christ, so that you may belong to another, to him who has been raised from the dead, in order that we may bear fruit for God.

 

6)      He was raised to a ministry of intercession

 

Romans 8:34 Christ Jesus is the one who died - more than that, who was raised - who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us

 

7)      To show He has the power to raise us up.

 

I Corinthians 6:14 And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by his power.

 

8)      To fulfill scripture and prophecy

 

I Corinthians 15:4 that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,

 

9)      To Purchase our heavenly citizenship

 

Ephesians 2:6 and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus,

 

10)   To make Christ the head of the church

 

Ephesians 1:17 that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of him, 18having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places, 21far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and above every name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come. 22And he put all things under his feet and gave him as head over all things to the church, 23which is his body, the fullness of him who fills all in all.

 

11)   To show us the degree of power at work in us

 

19and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might 20that he worked in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly places,

 

12)   To secure for us our inheritance.

 

18having the eyes of your hearts enlightened, that you may know what is the hope to which he has called you, what are the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, 19and what is the immeasurable greatness of his power toward us who believe, according to the working of his great might

 

We can be certain that He has the power to give us what he has promised. The full inheritance.

 

 

 

 

John Piper

The Goal of God's Love May Not Be What You Think It Is
Download:
By John Piper October 14, 2000

Do people go to the Grand Canyon to increase their self-esteem? Probably not. This is, at least, a hint that the deepest joys in life come not from savoring the self, but from seeing splendor. And in the end even the Grand Canyon will not do. We were made to enjoy God.

We are all bent to believe that we are central in the universe. How shall we be cured of this joy-destroying disease? Perhaps by hearing afresh how radically God-centered reality is according to the Bible.

Both the Old and New Testament tell us that God's loving us is a means to our glorifying him. "Christ became a servant ... in order that the nations might glorify God for his mercy" (Romans 15:8-9). God has been merciful to us so that we would magnify him. We see it again in the words, "In love [God] destined us to adoption ... to the praise of the glory of His grace" (Ephesians 1:4-6). In other words, the goal of God's loving us is that we might praise him. One more illustration from Psalm 86:12-13: "I will glorify your name forever. For your lovingkindness toward me is great." God's love is the ground. His glory is the goal.

This is shocking. The love of God is not God's making much of us, but God's saving us from self-centeredness so that we can enjoy making much of him forever. And our love to others is not our making much of them, but helping them to find satisfaction in making much of God. True love aims at satisfying people in the glory of God. Any love that terminates on man is eventually destructive. It does not lead people to the only lasting joy, namely, God. Love must be God-centered, or it is not true love; it leaves people without their final hope of joy.

Take the cross of Christ, for example. The death of Jesus Christ is the ultimate expression of divine love: "God demonstrates his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8). Yet the Bible also says that the aim of the death of Christ was "to demonstrate [God's] righteousness, because in the forbearance of God he passed over the sins previously committed" (Romans 3:25). Passing over sins creates a huge problem for the righteousness of God. It makes him look like a judge who lets criminals go free without punishment. In other words, the mercy of God puts the justice of God in jeopardy.

So to vindicate his justice he does the unthinkable - he puts his Son to death as the substitute penalty for our sins. The cross makes it plain to everyone that God does not sweep evil under the rug of the universe. He punishes it in Jesus for those who believe.

But notice that this ultimately loving act has at the center of it the vindication of the righteousness of God. Good Friday love is God-glorifying love. God exalts God at the cross. If he didn't, he could not be just and rescue us from sin. But it is a mistake to say, "Well, if the aim was to rescue us, then we were the ultimate goal of the cross." No, we were rescued from sin in order that we might see and savor the glory of God. This is the ultimately loving aim of Christ's death. He did not die to make much of us, but to free us to enjoy making much of God forever.

It is profoundly wrong to turn the cross into a proof that self-esteem is the root of mental health. If I stand before the love of God and do not feel a healthy, satisfying, freeing joy unless I turn that love into an echo of my self-esteem, then I am like a man who stands before the Grand Canyon and feels no satisfying wonder until he translates the canyon into a case for his own significance. That is not the presence of mental health, but bondage to self.

The cure for this bondage is to see that God is the one being in the universe for whom self-exaltation is the most loving act. In exalting himself - Grand Canyon-like - he gets the glory and we get the joy. The greatest news in all the world is that there is no final conflict between my passion for joy and God's passion for his glory. The knot that ties these together is the truth that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him. Jesus Christ died and rose again to forgive the treason of our souls, which have turned from savoring God to savoring self. In the cross of Christ, God rescues us from the house of mirrors and leads us out to the mountains and canyons of his majesty. Nothing satisfies us - or magnifies him - more.

Wayne's World...(3Apr09)

You are a royal king!

 

1 Peter 2:9  But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar, people; that ye should show forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light

 

G1588 ἐκλεκτόςeklektosek-lek-tos' (CHOSEN)

From G1586; select; by implication favorite: - chosen, elect.

 

G1085γένος (GENERATION)

genos ghen'-os

From G1096; "kin" (abstractly or concretely, literally or figuratively, individually or collectively): - born, country (-man), diversity, generation, kind (-red), nation, offspring, stock.

 

G934βασίλειος basileios bas-il'-i-os(ROYAL)

From G935; kingly (in nature): - royal.

 

G40 ἅγιος hagios hag'-ee-os  (HOLY)

From ἅγος hagos, sacred (physically pure, morally blameless or religious, ceremonially consecrated): - (most) holy (one, thing), saint.

 

G4047περιποίησιςperipoiēsisper-ee-poy'-ay-sis (PECULIAR)

From G4046; acquisition (the act or the thing); by extension preservation: - obtain (-ing), peculiar, purchased, possession, saving.

 

YOU ARE PURCHASED TO BE GODS FAVOURITE ROYAL KING

 

Rom 5:17  For if by one man's offense death reigned by one; much more they which receive abundance of grace and of the gift of righteousness shall reign in life by one, Jesus Christ.)

 

G936

βασιλεύωbasileuōbas-il-yoo'-o (REIGN)

From G935; to rule (literally or figuratively): - king, reign.

 

We reign in life with kingly anointing, through the abundance of grace, and the gift of righteousness!!!It's our inheritance through the blood of Jesus, a free gift.

 

You are a king!