Conversing the Kingdom: back-to-front

Galations 2:10

When Jesus walked this earth two major aspects of his ministry were the preaching if the Gospel and his compassion for those in physical need. The whole of scripture speaks of this that our whole life as Christians should preach the gospel and flowing from that the meeting of physical needs. The danger of this comes when we prioritise these two needs incorrectly. As the church, God's gift to the world, we are not to care for the poor and then tag on a gospel message. For what use is it if we help those in need to gain the whole world and at the end they lose their soul for eternity. Instead our priority is the preaching of the gospel and flowing from that the meeting of the physical need... Paul's priority was preaching the gospel to the gentiles, Peter's priority the Jews, but both were concerned for the poor!

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Conversing the Kingdom: Dear Readers...

Dear my faithful 15ish readers,
Thank you for taking the time out to visit my blog. I took the step a year or so ago to begin journalling during my quiet times as I would often come across a verse and go "oh yeah that makes sense." Then the next day I would have promptly forgotten the insight from the Holy Spirit had given the day before. So in an attempt to log these moments and help me remember them for future reference. I began to journal but initially I would write these in short hand but since beginning to post them here I have managed to produce a more coherent thought. My prayer is that these insights from the Holy Spirit will be helpful to you also as they have been to me.
So thanks for being with me and may the Lord be with us all as we continue to Converse the Kingdom for his glory and our Joy.

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Conversing the Kingdom: Mine... All Mine!

2 Corinthians 8-9

The topic of giving is always a touchy subject. This is because as human beings we have this inbuilt assumption (through our sinful nature) that when go off to work, labor hard all day and receive our paycheck that in some way we deserve it, we have earned it, it is our money and we have a right to spend it however we choose. So when the suggestion comes that we should give some of it away we immediately recoil."why should I, it's my money?" Or if we do give some away we feel immediately proud and self righteous because we have given some of our money to help the needy.
As Christians our attitude to life and, in this case, money is the complete reverse of the worlds. It is turned completely on its head. What we understand as Christians is that the whole of life and existence itself is a gift from the Lord. We cannot claim rights to life or the body or time or intellect or possessions because none of it exists without God as creator and sustainer. Our thinking needs to switch completely from ownership to stewardship. The money we earn is a gift from God and we have responsibilities as stewards to use this gift with wisdom and for God's will. Now this does not mean that immediately we give all our money away (although that could be the case). Instead we are to be stewards of the money and with wisdom we are to allocate it amongst the responsibilities God has given us. We need to sustain the body and so some money will be allocated to for. We need a place to live and so an allocation will go to that. We need clothing for the body so some allocation will to to that and so on. The danger comes with over indulgences, or hording, or living outwith our means. Of course priority of allocation will change with quantity of resources. But always remember that where we allocate will shout about where our heart is... So be wary! As Paul explains to the Corinthians he doesn't want them to give so much away that they are burdened whilst others are eased (although that may be the case) but instead that in their abundance (as we are in too) they give to help those in need. That those who have much will not have left over and those who have little will not lack...

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Conversing the Kingdom: Good Grief vs Bad Grief

2 Corinthians 7:9-10

As Christians we are called to a life of repentance but that means that we will need to continually be confronted by our sin through the conviction of the Holy Spirit.
The body's sense of touch is truly a gift for God and enables us to learn about the physical world around us. As we train the sense of touch we learn to distinguish between different surfaces. However if we ignore our sense of touch and continue towards a hot surface we will be burned and loose sensitivity. The pain we feel as a result is an indicator of the damage done and although the body heals and the pain fades we forever carry the scars and a lose of sensitivity.
As we use the sense of touch in the physical world spiritually we are gifted with a conscience to distinguish between right and wrong. And as with a hot surface if we ignore our conscience we will be burned as we sin and cause a lose of sensitivity in the spirit. But unlike a physical scar that has temporal consequence the spiritual scar of sin has eternal consequence. But like the feeling pain after a burn the feeling guilt and grief after a sin helps us to identify the damaged area. We can ignore the guilt and it will fade but along with it also a lose of sensitivity in the spirit to distinguish right and wrong in the future. If however we chose to deal with the guilt we have to be wary of how we go about it as was Paul's fear for the Corinthians. A Godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret. Possible because of Jesus' ultimate sacrifice on the cross. This repentance totally heals the spiritual scars and restores our sensitivity in the spirit as we are reconciled to God. However worldly grief is brought on when through sin we see only the lose of the worlds approval, the approval of family and friends and seek only to regain their approval and not Gods. There is no repentance only a resolve to do better and regret remains. This worldly grief leads only to death and is empty and void of salvation. The spiritual scar of sin remains and the sensitivity of the spirit lost. The wrath of God remains on the sin... And with it divine judgement and death

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Conversing the Kingdom: Allied with Idols

2 Corinthians 6:14 - 7:1

Paul has mentioned several times that he considers the Corinthians to be only children in the Faith and as of yet not mature. In this section he details an application of what it means to be mature. Paul considers it an immaturity that the believers in the church consider it profitable to work together with a unbeliever to progress the kingdom. The Corinthians are looking to partner with unbelievers, to be allied with, to be identified with, to do life direction with. This thinking is immature Paul states for "what fellowship has light with darkness... What agreement has the temple of God (the believer) with idols." When we strive forward in the gospel let us be aware of who we yoke ourselves to, let us first observe their fruit of repentance before we ally together. Beware that just because a person goes to church, just because a person claims faith, the only guarantee is the mark of the Holy Spirit on their life. As Paul boldly responds to his accusers and their doubts about his Faith in Christ."Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves." And these accusers were those who claimed leadership in the Corinthians church!

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Conversing the Kingdom: Obedient to Death

Song: Lost in Wonder

When we think of Jesus being obedient to death perhaps it's too easy to assume that the obedient decision came solely during that night in the garden of Gethsemane. Where through such stress, sweating drops of blood, Jesus submitted himself to the will of the Father. But that night was not an isolated conclusion but the culmination of a life of obedience played out in daily choices. From his obedience to his parents as he grew. To his public ministry and the constant clash with the religious leaders of the day. The unbelief of his disciples. The overwhelming need of the crowds and the betrayal of one of his closest followers. In fact Hebrews states that Jesus was tempted in every way yet was without sin. In each of these daily choices Jesus was obedient to the Father and that obedience led to the cross, the ultimate act of obedience! We too are called to a life of obedience in even the smallest of choices each and every day... How is such a life possible? Only through the empowering of the Holy Spirit...