“THE AFFIRMATION TO ASPIRATIONS!”
BY:J.FARRELL FISHER,MAY 20-21,2019
IN THE RANDOM HOUSECOLLEGIATE DICTIONARY OF 1975, THE WORD ‘AFFIRMATION’ IS DEFINED AS “THE ACT OF AFFIRMING,THE STATE OF BEING AFFIRMED,AN ASSERTION OF TRUTH OR EXISTENCE OF SOMETHING; A PROPOSITION OR IDEA SUPPORTED BY SUCH AN ASSERTION; CONFIRMATION OR RATIFICATION.”
‘ASPIRATION’? SAME DICTIONARY: “STRONG DESIRE,AIM OR AMBITION; A GOAL OR OBJECT DESIRED”! SO, WHAT ABOUT “THE AFFIRMATION TO ASPIRATIONS?” 1 TIMOTHY 3:1 SAYS, “THIS IS A FAITHFUL SAYING: IF A MAN DESIRES THE POSITION OF OVERSEER, HE DESIRES A GOOD WORK.” BUT…IF ASPIRATIONS ARE NOT INSPIRED BY GOD,THOUGH ZEALOUS, BECOME NOTHING MORE THAN ‘FLESH-EFFORT ZEAL’ WITHOUT AN OUNCE OF “SPIRIT-ANOINTING & APPOINTING& AFFIRMING”!!
IT WAS JOHN ARBUTHNOT, IN HIS WRITING “GNOTHI SEATON” (L.3), THAT SAID: “TO BLISS UNKNOWN MY LOFTY SOUL ASPIRES, MY LOT UNEQUAL TO MY VAST DESIRES.” ABSOLUTELY! BECAUSE “GIFTINGS,CALLINGS,
TALENTS,AMBITIONS,DREAMS OR VISIONS, THAT COME IN MAN ARE NOT GOD’S DESIGN, INTENT, CALLING, & EQUIPPING” – THERE MUST BE: “FATHER-GOD, WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE ME TO BE, WHAT WOULD YOU HAVE ME TO DO?” DESTINY IS A MAN’S PEACEABLE BUT GODLESS CHOICE OR TROUBLED ‘SEA OF LIFE’ IF HE/SHE CHOOSES TO “GO IT MY WAY”,RATHER THAN THE GOOD, ACCEPTABLE,& PERFECT WILL OF GOD!
JOHN MILTON,IN HIS “PARADISE LOST”,(BK.X11,L.64), WROTE: “EXECRABLE SON! SO TO ASPIRE ABOVE HIS BRETHREN, TO HIMSELF ASSUMING AUTHORITY USURPED, FROM GOD NOT GIVEN.” THAT STATEMENT ISN’T EVEN STRANGE TO YOU IS IT? OR,ARE YOU A SINATRA, “I DO IT MY WAY” KIND OF GUY OR GAL?
SO, FALLEN MANKIND, THE UNREDEEMED, THE ‘SEPARATED FROM GOD CROWD’, THE SELF-CENTERED, YES, ‘god unto myself’ guy or gal, BRUTALIZING, BRUTIFYING, BLASTING,BATTERING DIVINE TRUTH TO SETTLE FOR THE “HIGHWAY OF THE WORLD, THE FLESH, & SATAN HIMSELF”!!
BUT,I’M SURE IF YOU’RE READING THIS MESSAGE, THAT YOU KNOW THERE IS SUCH A VAST DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ‘FLESHLY AMBITION’ & THE ASPIRATION TO BE OR TO DO WHATEVER “GOD” DESIRES FOR YOUR LIFE! AN ASPIRATION OF LEADERSHIP WITHOUT A WILLFUL CRUCIFIXION OF ‘SELF-GLORY’ BECOMES NOTHING MORE THAN A CORONATION TO VAINNESS & SELF-IMPORTANCE. THE ASPIRATION OF LEADERSHIP THAT HONORS GOD IS NOT CARNAL AMBITION BUT SPIRIT-ANOINTED PASSION TO BE FREE OF “SELF”, FULLY YIELDED & SURRENDERED TO THE LORDSHIP MANAGEMENT OF “CHRIST IN YOU, THROUGH YOU, FOR YOU”, STILL PRESENT IN YOU TO BE HIMSELF, THE “SACRIFICIAL, CRUCIFIED, RAISED-FROM-THE-DEAD JESUS” BEING HIMSELF!!!
SPIRITUAL ASPIRATION IS NOT THE ‘BEST EFFORTS OF FALLEN FLESH’ BUT REDEEMED, BLOOD-BOUGHT MEN & WOMEN AS “TEMPLES” IN WHICH THE HOLY SPIRIT LIGHTS THE FLAMES OF CHRIST’S RESURRECTED PRESENCE EXTENDING HIMSELF THROUGH “YOU”!! SPIRITUAL ASPIRATION IS NOT BASED ON HOW MANY SERVANTS I HAVE IN THE LITTLE KINGDOM I’M BUILDING, LIKE A ‘STREET-GANG BOSS’ RUNNING HIS CRIMINAL ‘ENTERPRISE’, BUT THE NUMBER I SERVE IN JESUS’ NAME BECAUSE THE SAVIOR IN ME DESIRED THROUGH ME TO POUR OUT TO THE ‘THIRSTY’ A DRINK OFFERING. SPIRITUAL ASPIRATION IS ALSO NOT AN UNSATISFIED THIRST FOR POWER & PROMINENCE, BUT A SATISFIED THIRST FOR MEETING OTHERS’ NEEDS EXPECTING NOTHING IN RETURN. SPIRITUAL ASPIRATION IS NOT A CONSIDERATION FOR A PLACE OF RANK OR TITLE BUT AN INWARD PASSION TO SEE THAT CHRIST IS UPLIFTED & HONORED AS I BOW AT THE FEET OF OTHERS TO DO AS CHRIST STILL DOES!
OSWALD CHAMBERS, IN “SPIRITUAL LEADERSHIP,” (P.16) MADE A POWERFUL STATEMENT ABOUT THE NEED OF THE CHURCH: “THE OVERRIDING NEEDS OF THE CHURCH, IF IT IS TO DISCHARGE ITS OBLIGATION TO THE RISING GENERATION, IS FOR A LEADERSHIP THAT IS AUTHORITATIVE, SPIRITUAL, & SACRIFICIAL…(LISTEN!)…AUTHORITATIVE, BECAUSE PEOPLE LOVE TO BE LED BY ONE WHO KNOWS WHERE HE IS GOING & WHO INSPIRES CONFIDENCE. THEY FOLLOW ALMOST WITHOUT QUESTION THE MAN WHO SHOWS HIMSELF WISE &STRONG, WHO ADHERES TO WHAT HE BELIEVES…SPIRITUAL, BECAUSE A LEADERSHIP THAT IS UNSPIRITUAL, THAT CAN BE FULLY EXPLAINED IN TERMS OF THE NATURAL, ALTHOUGH EVER SO ATTRACTIVE & COMPETENT, WILL ONLY RESULT IN STERILITY & MORAL & SPIRITUAL BANKRUPTCY…SACRIFICIAL, BECAUSE MODELED ON THE LIFE OF THE “ONE” WHO GAVE HIMSELF A SACRIFICE FOR THE WHOLE WORLD, WHO LEFT US AN EXAMPLE THAT “WE SHALL FOLLOW HIS STEPS.”
ALWAYS REMEMBER WHAT JESUS SAID ABOUT THE ESSENCE OF TRUE LEADERSHIP, MATTHEW 20:25-28: “BUT JESUS CALLED THEM TO HIMSELF & SAID: ‘YOU KNOW THAT THE RULERS OF THE GENTILES LORD IT OVER THEM. YET IT SHALL NOT BE SO AMONG YOU; BUT WHOEVER DESIRES TO BECOME GREAT AMONG YOU, LET HIM BE YOUR SERVANT. AND WHOEVER DESIRES TO BE FIRST AMONG YOU, LET HIM BE YOUR SLAVE – JUST AS THE SON OF MAN DID NOT COME TO BE SERVED, BUT TO SERVE, & TO GIVE HIS LIFE A RANSOM FOR MANY.”
SECOND: I WANT YOU TO SEE THE AFFIRMATION OF THE ASPIRATION OF THE PLEASURE OF GOD! IN 1 THESSALONIANS 4:1 WE READ, “FINALLY THEN, BRETHREN, WE URGE & EXHORT IN THE LORD JESUS THAT YOU SHOULD ABOUND MORE & MORE, JUST AS YOU RECEIVED FROM US, ‘HOW’ YOU OUGHT TO WALK & TO PLEASE GOD.” TO THE GALATIANS PAUL MADE IT EVEN CLEARER: GALATIANS 1:10, “FOR DO I NOW PERSUADE MEN OR GOD? OR DO I SEEK TO PLEASE MEN? FOR IF I STILL PLEASED MEN, I WOULD NOT BE A BONDSERVANT OF CHRIST.”
DO YOU REALIZE HOW FOREIGN A CONCEPT THIS IS TO FALLEN HUMANITY? THE WHOLE BENT OF MOST FOLKS IS THE APPROVAL OF MEN MORE THAN THE APPROVAL OF GOD! RECEIVE ROMANS 15:1-3! “WE THEN WHO ARE STRONG OUGHT TO BEAR WITH THE SCRUPLES OF THE WEAK, & NOT TO PLEASE OURSELVES. LET EACH OF US PLEASE HIS NEIGHBOR FOR HIS GOOD, LEADING TO EDIFICATION. FOR EVEN CHRIST DID NOT PLEASE HIMSELF; BUT AS IT IS WRITTEN ‘THE REPROACHES OF THOSE WHO REPROACHED YOU (GOD) FELL ON ME.”
THIS IS WHY PAUL STRONGLY AFFIRMS “SPIRIT-ANOINTED LIVING” AS IN ROMANS 8:8 WHEN HE SAID, “SO THEN, THOSE WHO ARE IN THE FLESH (OLD ‘SIN-NATURE PROMINENCE’!) CANNOT PLEASE GOD.” SPIRIT-ANOINTED LIVING IS TAKING WILLFULLY, DAILY, THAT SENTENCE OF DEATH UNTO OURSELVES THAT THE RESURRECTION LIFE OF CHRIST MAY BE MANIFESTED OR RELEASED IN OUR MORTAL BODIES! LISTEN TO JOHN 8:29, JESUS SAYING, “AND HE WHO SENT ME IS WITH ME. THE FATHER HAS NOT LEFT ME ALONE, FOR I ALWAYS DO THOSE THINGS THAT PLEASE HIM.” I’M GOING TO TALL YOU, 1 SAMUEL 12:22 OUGHT TO RATTLE THE RAFTERS OF YOUR REDEEMED LIFE! IT SAYS: “FOR THE LORD WILL NOT FORSAKE HIS PEOPLE, FOR HIS GREAT NAME’S SAKE, “BECAUSE” IT HAS PLEASED THE LORD TO MAKE YOU HIS PEOPLE.” (THAT’S HIM “MAKING YOU”, NOT YOU TRYING TO INTERPRET HIM!!).
ARE YOU THE POSSESSOR OF A WHITE-HOT AFFECTION TO PLEASE GOD? AND THAT WHITE-HOT AFFECTION TO PLEASE GOD IS ALWAYS BECAUSE OF GOD’S GRACE WHICH FAR TOO MANY PROFESSING BELIEVERS HAVE MISINTERPRETED AS “GREASE” – JUST SLIDING INTO HEAVEN DOING THE SAME THINGS THE DEVIL GOT KICKED OUT FOR!
TRUE GRACE IS SO MUCH MORE THAN “PARDON” – IT’S POWER! 2 THESSALONIANS 1:11-12 SAYS, “THEREFORE WE ALSO PRAY ALWAYS FOR YOU THAT OUR GOD WOULD COUNT YOU WORTHY TO THIS CALLING, & FULFILL ALL THE GOOD PLEASURE OF HIS GOODNESS & THE WORK OF FAITH WITH POWER. THAT THE NAME OF OUR LORD JESUS CHRIST MAY BE GLORIFIED IN YOU, & YOU IN HIM, (LISTEN!) ACCORDING TO THE GRACE OF OUR GOD & THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!”
GRACE THAT IS POWER? TITUS 2:11-14 SAYS: “FOR THE GRACE OF GOD THAT BRINGS SALVATION HAS APPEARED TO ALL MEN, TEACHING US THAT, DENYING UNGODLINESS & WORLDLY LUSTS, WE SHOULD LIVE SOBERLY, RIGHTEOUSLY, & GODLY IN THE PRESENT AGE, LOOKING FOR THAT BLESSED HOPE & GLORIOUS APPEARING (OR FULL MANIFESTATION) OF OUR GREAT GOD & SAVIOR JESUS CHRIST, WHO GAVE HIMSELF FOR US, THAT HE MIGHT REDEEM US FROM EVERY LAWLESS DEED & PURIFY FOR HIMSELF HIS OEN SPECIAL PEOPLE, ZEALOUS FOR GOOD WORKS.”
(GOOD WORKS? “BEST EFFORTS” OR THE ‘GOOD WORKS’ OF DAILY DEATH TO SELF THAT CHRIST MAY BE MANIFESTED IN & THROUGH YOUR MORTAL FLESH, YES, YOU, DYING DAILY, THAT CHRIST MAY BE RELEASED TO BE HIMSELF THROUGH YOU, WE THEN “WITNESS” HIS PRESENT MINISTRY & CARE OF OTHERS THROUGH US?) I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THE TRUTH JOHN PIPER WROTE WHEN HE SAID: “WE ARE HIS PLEASURE WHEN HE IS OUR TREASURE.” (THE PLEASURERS OF GOD, MULTONOMAH PUBLISHERS, SISTERS, OR.,97759, P.250.). WE’RE NOT “IVORY TOWER” INHABITANTS, BUT INITIATED TRUSTEES OF THE INSPIRED TRUTH OF GOD THAT, THAT WHICH TRULY PLEASES GOD, IS A LIFE LAID DOWN DAILY CHOOSING “CHRIST IN US AS OUR ONLY HOPE OF GLORY”!
IN ISAIAH 55:11, GOD SPEAKING, “SO SHALL MY WORD BE THAT GOES FORTH FROM MY MOUTH; IT SHALL NOT RETURN TO ME VOID, BUT IT SHALL ACCOMPLISH WHAT I PLEASE & IT SHALL PROSPER IN THE THING FOR WHICH I SENT IT.” (ARE YOU ‘PROSPERING’ BECAUSE YOUR PASSION IS TO PLEASE GOD OR YOUR PASSION IS.. “THE SENTENCE OF DEATH DAILY TO YOUR OLD SELF THAT THE RESURRECTED LIFE OF CHRIST MAY BE MANIFESTED DAILY THROUGH YOUR MORTAL FLESH”?
THIRD, THE AFFIRMATION OF ASPIRATION MUST BE YOUR ASCENT TO HEAVENLY LIVING IN THE HERE & NOW- NOT AFTER YOU DIE! THE PASSION OF TRUE BELIEVERS? IT’S THE PASSION OF SEEING, REALIZING, SUBMITTING TO SEEING CHRIST ON HIS THRONE NOW, IN YOU, BEING HIMSELF,NOT SEEING HIM AFTER YOU DIE & ‘GO THE HEAVEN’! PSALM 37:4 IS SO CLEAR: “DELIGHT YOURSELF IN THE LORD, & HE SHALL GIVE YOU THE DESIRES OF YOUR HEART.” DO YOU REMEMBER THOSE HEROES OF THE FAITH IN HEBREWS 11? VERSE 16 SAYS, “BUT NOW THEY DESIRE A BETTER, THAT IS, A HEAVENLY COUNTRY…”
WHEN YOU’RE PRESSED IN THE FLESH, YOU’RE ASKING, “IS THERE ANYTHING OF THE SPIRITUAL WORLD WORTH LIVING FOR OR DYING FOR?” WHEN YOU KNOW YOUR “LIFE IS A VAPOR THAT APPEARS BRIEFLY & THEN VANISHES AWAY,” YOU’RE ASKING, “IS THERE ANYTHING OF ETERNAL SIGNIFICANCE?” WHEN YOU BECOME AWARE OF HOW INFANTILE, FLEETING, & UNIMPORTANT YOUR FLESHLY THOUGHTS ARE, YOU’RE ASKING, “WHAT IS THERE OF VALUE TO RENEW MY MIND?” WHEN YOU SEE THE DOWNGRADING, THE DEGRADATION, THE DARK SIDE OF A “BRITTANY SPEARS,” YOU BEGIN ASKING YOURSELF, “IS THERE A BETTER REFLECTION TO LIVE OUT BEFORE MY WORLD?”
RECEIVE COLOSSIANS 3:1-4! “IF THEN YOU WERE RAISED WITH CHRIST, SEEK THOSE THINGS WHICH ARE ABOVE, WHERE CHRIST IS, SITTING AT THE RIGHT HAND OF GOD. SET YOUR MIND ON THINGS ABOVE, NOT ON THINGS OF THE EARTH. FOR YOU DIED (DID YOU?), AND YOUR LIFE IS HIDDEN WITH CHRIST IN GOD. WHEN CHRIST WHO IS OUR LIFE APPEARS, THEN YOU ALSO WILL APPEAR WITH HIM IN GLORY.”
MANY YEARS AGO IN A CHURCH I PASTORED SOMEONE CAME WITH A BROKEN HEART…”PASTOR, YOU KNOW ‘SO&SO’,A LEADER AMONG OUR YOUTH BUT SHE’S FAST GAINING THE REPUTATION OF BEING PROMISCUOUS & I’M REALLY CONCERNED FOR HER, FOR OUR YOUTH, BUT MOST OF ALL THE CAUSE OF CHRIST SINCE SHE’S SO VOCAL ABOUT HER FAITH.” I TOLD HER, ‘I’M GLAD YOU CAME.I’LL REACH OUT TO HER.’
I ASKED HER TO COME BY MY OFFICE FOR A VISIT. AND WHEN SHE DID I TOLD HER OF HER FAST-GROWING REPUTATION THAT WAS NOT GOOD. I ASKED HER, “WHEN YOU GAVE YOUR HEART TO CHRIST DID YOU BELIEVE THAT DIDN’T INCLUDE YOUR GLANDS? DO YOU NOT KNOW THAT YOU’RE FAST BECOMING LIKE A TACKLING DUMMY ON AN ATHELETIC FIELD THAT BOYS LIKE TO HIT ON OR…DO YOU NOT REALIZE GOD MEANS YOU TO BE A JEWEL, A ROYAL TREASURE, A HOLY GIFT OF THE HUSBAND HE’S PICKED OUT FOR YOU?” AND SHE BROKE DOWN & WEPT & SOBBED & REPENTED & GAVE HER GLANDS TO GOD! HER REPUTATION CHANGED & SHE BECAME A GLOWING WITNESS OF THE LORD JESUS CHRIST!
LIFE IS MADE OF CHOICES: THE GLORY OF GOD OR THE GORINESS OF A MANGLED, MESSED-UP, MISDIRECTED, SELF-INFLICTED SICKNESS CALLED ‘SIN’? THE CURSE OF ONE’S FALLEN SIN-NATURE OR THE BLESSING OF GOD’S PRESENCE? THE WRECK & RECKLESSNESS OF A MISSPENT LIFE OR THE “LIFE” OF ETERNAL PRESENCE, ETERNAL VALUES, & ETERNAL PROMISES?
I REALLY LOVE WHAT WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT WROTE LONG AGO: “SO LIVE THAT WHEN YOUR SUMMONS COMES TO JOIN THE INNUMERABLE CARAVAN WHICH MOVES ON..TO THAT MYSTERIOUS REALM WHERE EACH SHALL TAKE HIS CHAMBER IN THE SILENT HALLS OF DEATH…YOU GO NOT, LIKE THE QUARRY-SLAVE AT NIGHT, SCOURGED TO HIS DUNGEON, BUT SUSTAINED & SOOTHED…BY AN UNFALTERING TRUST, APPROACH YOUR GRACE LIKE ONE THAT WRAPS THE DRAPERY OF HIS COUCH ABOUT HIM, & LIES DOWN TO PLEASANT DREAMS.” ISN’T IT SAD THAT SO MANY DO NOT LIE DOWN TO PLEASANT DREAMS BUT NIGHTMARES BECAUSE THERE IS NO ASPIRATION OF THE ASCENT TO HEAVENLY LIVING ?
FOURTH, THERE IS THE AFFIRMATION OF ASPIRATION TO THE APPROPRIATION & ASSIMILATION OF YOUR GOD-APPOINTED, GOD-ANOINTED SPIRITUAL GIFT & MINISTRY! 1 CORINTHIANS 14:1 SAYS, “PURSUE LOVE, & DESIRE SPIRITUAL GIFTS, BUT ESPECIALLY THAT YOU MAY PROPHESY.” DID PAUL SAY, “DESIRE SPIRITUAL GIFTS”..? IT OUGHT TO BE AN ALL-CONSUMING PASSION THAT THROUGH THE WORD OF GOD & THE HOLY SPIRIT YOU DISCOVER THE SPIRITUAL MOTIVATION OF YOUR LIFE AS DEFINED BY GOD!
LOOK AT 1 CORINTHIANS 12:11, “BUT ONE & THE SAME SPIRIT WORKS ALL THESE THINGS, DISTRIBUTING TO EACH ONE INDIVIDUALLY AS HE ( GOD) WILLS.” ELIZABETH BARRETT BROWNING IN HER “SONNETS FROM THE PORTURUESE”,( NUMBER 26), WROTE: “GOD’S GIFTS PUT MAN’S BEST DREAMS TO SHAME.” SO TRUE! EXAMINE ALSO 1 CORINTHIANS 12:7-10 & 18-31! IT SAYS: “BUT THE MANIFESTATION OF THE SPIRIT IS GIVEN TO EACH ONE FOR THE PROFIT OF ALL: FOR TO ONE IS GIVEN THE WORD OF WISDOM THROUGH THE SPIRIT, TO ANOTHER THE WORD OF KNOWLEDGE THROUGH THE SAME SPIRIT, TO ANOTHER FAITH BY THE SAME SPIRIT, TO ANOTHER GIFTS OF HEALINGS BY THE SAME SPIRIT, TO ANOTHER THE WORKING OF MIRACLES, TO ANOTHER PROPHECY, TO ANOTHER DISCRNING OF SPIRITS, TO ANOTHER DIFFERENT KINDS OF TONGUES, TO ANOTHER THE INTERPRETATION OF TONGUES.
VERSE 18-31, BUT NOW GOD HAS SET THE MEMBERS, EACH ONE OF THEM, IN THE BODY JUST AS HE PLEASED. AND IF THEY WERE ALL ONE MEMBER, WHERE WOULD THE BODY BE? BUT NOW INDEED THERE ARE MANY MEMBERS, YET ONE BODY. AND THE EYE CANNOT SAY TO THE HAND, ‘I HAVE NO NEED OF YOU’, NOR AGAIN THE HEAD TO THE FEET, ‘I HAVE NO NEED OF YOU.’ NO, MUCH RATHER, THOSE MEMBERS OF THE BODY WHICH SEEM TO BE WEAKER ARE NECESSARY. AND THOSE MEMBERS OF THE BODY WHICH WE THINK TO BE LESS HONORABLE, ON THESE WE BESTOW GREATER HONOR; & OUR UNPRESENETABLE PARTS HAVE GREATERMODESTY, BUT OUR PRESENTABLE PARTS HAVE NO NEED. BUT GOD COMPOSED THE BODY, HAVING GIVEN GREATER HONOR TO THAT PART WHICH LACKS IT,THAT THERE SHOULD BE NO SCHISM IN THE BODY, BUT THAT THE MEMBERS SHOULD HAVE THE SAME CARE FOR ONE ANOTHER. AND IF ONE MEMBER SUFFERS, ALL THE MEMBERS SUFFER WITH IT; OR IF ONE MEMBER IS HONORED, ALL THE MEMBERS REJOICE WITH IT.
NOW YOU ARE THE BODY OF CHRIST, & MEMBERS INDIVIDUALLY. AND GOD HAS APPOINTED THESE IN THE CHURCH: FIRST APOSTLES, SECOND PROPHETS, THIRD TEACHERS, AFTER THAT MIRACLES, THEN GIFTS OF HEALINGS. HELPS, ADMINISTRATIONS, VARIETIES OF TONGUES. ARE ALL APOSTLES? ARE ALL PROPHETS? AREE ALL TEACHERS? ARE ALL WORKERS OF MIRACLES? DO ALL HAVE GIFTS OF HEALINGS? DO ALL INTERPRET? BUT EARNESTLY DESIRE THE BEST GIFTS. AND YET I SHOW YOU A MORE EXCELLENT WAY.”
LISTEN TO CHUCH SWINDOLL IN “THE QUEST FOR CHARACTER”, (P.146), “MARBLES OR GRAPES, WHICH WILL IT BE? EVERY CONGREGATION HAS A CHOICE. YOU CAN CHOOSE TO BE A BAG MARBLES, INDEPENDENT, HARD, LOUD, UNMARKED, & UNAFFECTED BY OTHERS. OR YOU CAN BE A BUNCH OF GRAPES..FRAGRANT, SOFT, BLENDING, MINGLING, FLOWING INTO ONE ANOTHER’S LIVES. MARBLES ARE MADE TO BE COUNTED & KEPT. GRAPES ARE MADE TO BE BRUISED & USED. MARBLES SCAR & CLANK. GRAPES YIELD & CLING.” SO TRUE! GRAPES MAKE SWEET WINE – MARBLES BANG AROUND & MAKE NOISE! WHAT’S CALVARY MADE OF? LOUD MARBLES OR SWEET WINE?
FIFTH, THE AFFIRMATION OF ASPIRATION IS AN ARRIVAL OF BEING WHAT, WHERE, & WHY GOD WANTS ME TO BE, WHO I AM “IN CHRIST”& WHAT CHRIST WANTS TO DO IN ME & THROUGH ME, WHICH IS WHY WE CHOOSE DAILY, “DEATH TO SELF – THAT CHRIST’S MANIFESTED PRESENCE MIGHT BE RELEASED THROUGH US! IN ROMANS 15:22-24,29,32, WE READ: VERSES 22-24, “FOR THIS REASON I ALSO HAVE BEEN MUCH HINDERED FROM COMING TO YOU. BUT NOW NO LONGER HAVING A PLACE IN THESE PARTS, & HAVING A GREAT DESIRE THESE MANY YEARS TO COME TO YOU, WHENEVER I JOURNEY TO SPAIN, I SHALL COME TO YOU. FOR I HOPE TO SEE YOU ON MY JOURNEY, & TO BE HELPED ON MY WAY THERE BY YOU, IF FIRT I MAY ENJOY YOUR COMPANY FOR A WHILE. VERSE 29, BUT I KNOW THAT WHEN I COME TO YOU, I SHALL COME IN THE FULLNESS OF THE BLESSING OF THE GOSPEL OF CHRIST, VERSE 32, THAT I MAY COME TO YOU WITH JOY BY THE WILL OF GOD, & MAY BE REFRESHED TOGETHER WITH YOU.”
GALATIANS 4:4 TELLS US: “BUT WHEN THE FULLNESS OF TIME HAD COME, GOD SENT FORTH HIS SON, BORN OF A WOMAN, BORN UNDER THE LAW, Verse 5, TO REDEEM THOSE WHO WERE UNDER THE LAW, THAT WE MIGHT RECEIVE THE ADOPTION AS SONS.” GOD SENT FORTH HIS SON –RIGHT TIME, RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT PURPOSE!
RECEIVE JESUS’ RESPONSE IN JOHN 4:34! “MY FOOD IS TO DO THE WILL OF HIM WHO SENT ME, & TO FINISH HIS WORK.” WHAT IS THE “FOOD” THAT YOU’RE PARTAKING OF? THE “FOOD” OF SELF-WILL OR THE “FOOD” OF THE MASTER’S WILL? IN JOHN 5:30, JESUS SAID, “I CAN OF MYSELF DO NOTHING…I DO NOT SEEK MY OWN WILL BUT THE WILL OF THE FATHER WHO SENT ME.” IN JOHN 6:36 JESUS SAID, “FOR I CAME DOWN FROM HEAVEN, NOT TO DO MY OWN WILL, BUT THE WILL OF HIM WHO SENT ME.” AND HE SAID IN JOHN 10:18, “NO ONE TAKES (MY LIFE) FROM ME,BUT I LAY IT DOWN OF MYSELF. I HAVE POWER TO LAY IT DOWN, & I HAVE POWER TO TAKE IT UP AGAIN.” WHAT AWESOME POWER!
DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE GOSPEL? DO YOU UNDERSTAND “ADOPTION AS SONS”? DO YOU UNDERSTAND “PLACED BY GOD ACCORDING TO HIS TIME, HIS PLACE, & HIS PURPOSE”? DO YOU UNDERSTAND WALKING ON THE BASIS OF DIVINE WILL – NOT FLESHLY LIKES OR DISLIKES? CAN YOU REALLY SAY, “YOUR KINGDOM COME, YOUR WILL BE DONE ON EARTH, IN MY LIFE, THROUGH MY SOVEREIGNLY CIRCUMSCRIBED PLACEMENT, AS IT IS IN HEAVEN?” CAN YOU REALLY SAY, “I WANT TO BE WHERE GOD WANTS ME TO BE –EVEN A CROSS ON GOLGOTHA’S HILL?”
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE, IN HENRY V111,(ACT 3, SCENE 2, LINE 456) WROTE: “HAD I BUT SERVED GOD WITH HALF THE ZEAL I SERVED MY KING, HE WOULD NOT IN MINE AGE HAVE LEFT ME NAKED TO MINE ENEMIES.” OH, HOW MUCH TRUTH IS IN THAT POETRY? WE SERVE OURSELVES ABOUT WHERE WE’RE GOING TO BE & WHAT WE’RE GOING TO DO, RATHER THAN THE WILL OF GOD –AND,AS A RESULT, WE GO “WELL-DRESSED” IN OUR OWN WAY WHEREVER WE WANT TO BE…BUT DO NOT KNOW, BEFORE GOD, WE’RE STRIPPED NAKED! PROVERBS 16:7 SAYS, “WHEN A MAN’S WAYS PLEASE THE LORD,HE MAKES EVEN HIS ENEMIES TO BE AT PEACE WITH HIM.”
IS YOUR HEART-CRY, “GOD, I WANT TO BE EXACTLY WHERE YOU PLACE ME, WHERE YOU WANT ME, WHERE I WILL BE A VESSEL UNTO YOUR HONOR & THAT THROUGH ME THE RESURRECTED CHRIST CONTINUES TO HONOR HIMSELF & YOU IN THE GREATEST FASHION OF HIS RESURRECTED PRESENCE, RESURRECTED POWER, & RESURRECTED PURPOSE?” CAN “YOU” SAY AMEN TO THAT?
IN THE “BROADMAN HYMNAL”, PUBLISHED IN NASHVILLE,TENN.,IN 1940,(P236),IS A HYMN ENTITLED “LEAD ON, O KING ETERNAL.” IT SAYS: “LEAD ON, O KING ETERNAL, THE DAY OF MARCH HAS COME;HENCEFORTH INFIELDS OF CONQUEST YOUR TENTS SHALL BE OUR HOME;THRO’ DAYS OF PREPARATION YOUR GRACE HAS MADE US STRONG, & NOW,O KING ETERNAL, WE LIFT OUR BATTLE SONG.
LEAD ON, O KING ETERNAL, TILL SIN’S FIERCE WAR SHALL CEASE, & HOLINESS SHALL WHISPER THE SWEET AMEN OF PEACE; FOR NOT WITH SWORDS LOUD CLASHING, NOR ROLL OF STIRRING DRUMS; WITH DEEDS OF LOVE & MERCY, THE HEAVENLY KINGDOM COMES.
LEAD ON, O KING ETERNAL, WE FOLLOW, NOT WITH FEARS; FOR GLADNESS BREAKS LIKE MORNING WHERE’ER YOUR FACE APPEARS; YOUR CROSS IS LIFTED O’ER US; WE JOURNEY IN ITS LIGHT: THE CROWN AWAITS THE CONQUEST;LEAD ON,O GOD OF MIGHT.”
WHAT’S THE SONG YOU SING IN YOUR PRESENT DAY JOURNEY OF FAITH, OR SONGLESS BECAUSE YOU STAND ON A FAULTY FOUNDATION OF FAITHLESSNESS, UNBELIEF, & EVEN RESENTMENT THAT “GOD” KNOWS YOU NEED TO BE SAVED, WASHED IN THE BLOOD OF THE LAMB, BORN-AGAIN, & COMMISSIONED AS, YES, THE ROYAL AMBASSADOR OF CHRIST JESUS? OR ARE THERE JUST NO SONGS IN YOU TO DESCRIBE A FAITHLESS LIFE?