I’m still focusing on my responsibility to set an example
for believers in faith.[1]
Today this took on the dimension of how our smallest issues of faith (the most
personal) fit in to the biggest issues of our faith. Here is a look at how the
biggest issues of our faith affect the most personal issues of faith, and how
to pray about everything the way faith would love to do.
1. The Big Stuff in
Faith
The “big stuff” in faith has to do with the foundational
issues of what we live by as children of the living God. The point is that, if
we get the big stuff in faith right, and make this the focus, the smaller
issues of faith (getting more and more personal) will become clearer. Conversely,
if we keep trying to get the smallest issues of faith right, thinking we will
get to the big stuff if we ever get our daily walk with God figured out, we
will not only have greater difficulty getting the small stuff, but we will
never get the big stuff into its proper place.
A. Our Salvation
FAITH: that we are truly born again by the Spirit of the
Living God[2]
and are now new creatures in Jesus Christ,[3]
able to live out of new hearts that God has given us,[4] in
a love-relationship with God that is settled forever.[5] We
know that we are saved by the grace of God working in our lives through faith, and
that this is not dependent on works whatsoever, and yet we are now God’s
workmanship, created in Jesus Christ our Savior to live a life of good works as
God prepared them in advance for us as his church.[6] We
know that everything God will do in our lives will be an expression of our new
life in Jesus Christ.
B. God’s Kingdom
FAITH: God has delivered us out of the domain of darkness
and transferred us into the kingdom of his beloved Son in whom we have
redemption, the forgiveness of our sins,[7]
and now our whole lives are as citizens of this new kingdom,[8]
the kingdom of God.[9]
It is for this reason that we seek first God’s kingdom and his righteousness,
trusting him to provide for our earthly needs as we do so.[10]
We know that everything God will do in our lives will be in his kingdom and
righteousness.
C. The Gospel
FAITH: we believe that the gospel is the power of God for
salvation to all who believe, and that the righteousness of God is revealed in
the gospel as coming from faith and is for faith, so that “the righteous shall live by faith.”[11] We
also know that this gospel is the gospel of Jesus’ kingdom, and that this
gospel will be proclaimed throughout the whole world before the end shall come.[12]
We know that everything God will do in our lives will be an expression of this
gospel as we join with other believers as the light of the world that makes Jesus
known in the darkness around us.[13]
D. The Church
FAITH: in God’s kingdom, we are not a whole bunch of
individual children trying to make our way through life, but are now the one
body of Christ,[14]
the church,[15]
the bride of Christ,[16]
the one people of God,[17]
working together in the fellowship of the Spirit through the bond of peace (our
salvation).[18]
We know that Jesus is building his own church, his own way, and that even the
gates of hell will not prevail against it,[19]
and so we know that everything God does in our lives will be in connection with
his church.
2. The Big Issues
in Faith
The big issues in faith have to do with our own personal
situations and circumstances in living out the big stuff. We all live in
certain places, in certain relationships, with certain economic things going
on, with particular expressions of the church, and so we must work out our own
personal issues of how to live by faith in our own world, but with all the big
stuff in place first and foremost. With those big things settled by faith, we
can then focus on how to contribute our own personal lives of faith to the
activities and relationships of Jesus’ kingdom.
A. Our Place in
the Church
FAITH: We know that we have some distinctive place in the
body of Christ that is ours to live out in a way that no one else can do for
us.[20]
This place will have many customized features that make our place in the church
distinct from others, including whatever spiritual gifts God has given us by
his Spirit,[21]
and so we know God will be at work to give us the greatest possible experience
of being who we are in Jesus Christ as members of his body. Our aim is to work
out all these issues of our salvation since we know that God is working in us
to both will and to work whatever is according to his good pleasure of his
church.[22]
B. Our Condition
in the Church
FAITH: Not only do we have a distinctive place in the body
of Christ, but we also have a distinctive condition that gives some expectation
to what God is doing in our lives at any given time. While we know that all the
big things are settled issues no matter how we are doing, church life has a lot
to do with how we are doing, and so we expect God to include these things in
our growing up in Jesus Christ. Our condition essentially comes down to “freedom
issues”, things for which we need help and healing so we are able to grow up in
our Savior, and “maturity issues”, things God will address in our lives simply because
they are the next things he is doing to conform us to the same image as Jesus Christ
“from one degree of glory to another”.[23]
C. Our
Relationships in the Church
FAITH: because we are born again into the kingdom of God’s
beloved Son, now living as vital members of the one body of Christ, we know
that God will constantly address our relationships with other believers.[24] Not
only do we expect him to work for our growth in brotherly love,[25]
and to lead us through specific relational experiences for our maturity, but we
also expect him to address our own heart-condition so that our love “may abound more and more”,[26]
and that the “sincere brotherly love”
we already have would lead us to “love
one another earnestly from a pure heart”.[27] Because
the love relationships in the church are so central to the work of God, we look
at all our relationships with the expectation that God will give us divine
appointments and responsibilities that will nurture and build these
relationships up in every increasing ways.
3. The Big Stuff
in Prayer
With these two things in place, that we know the big picture
of our salvation into the kingdom of God, and we know our distinctive place in
this kingdom, our prayers focus first and foremost on the biggest issues of our
lives, and express to God the biggest prayers and requests we can imagine.
Freedom: Pray for the greatest experience of freedom
that is possible this side of heaven, and tell God you are willing to
experience anything he wants to do in your life to get you there.
Spiritual warfare: Pray for the greatest possible
victories in standing against the powers of darkness, and in raising up weapons
of our warfare that are of the Spirit, so that every blockage, and obstacle,
and wall of self-protection, and stronghold of the evil one, and lie, and
deception, is demolished in us, and in our church, and in the community-wide
church, and we are liberated to live constantly in the Spirit, and tell God you
are willing to be as personally engaged with him in the destroying of
strongholds in your own life as is possible for you in the Holy Spirit.
Ministry towards others: Pray for the very best
experience of ministry you could do for anyone you are helping, and tell God
you are willing to experience any of the spiritual gifts that would maximize
your ministry to others.
God’s glory in (your community): Pray for the
greatest recognition of God’s glory that this community could ever experience
in revival and spiritual awakening, and then tell God you are willing to be
used for his glory however he would be pleased to use you.
Evangelism: Pray for the greatest experience of
divine appointments in your town so the whole church is sharing the good news
of the gospel with everyone you meet, and tell God you are willing to
participate in the sharing of the gospel however he would be pleased to include
you.
Spiritual Gifts: Pray for the greatest experience of
spiritual gifts for building up the church in your community so that we are
every bit the shining light of Christ that God wants us to be, and tell God you
are willing to experience whatever manifestations of the Spirit that would
accomplish God’s purpose and will in this matter.[28]
© 2017 Monte Vigh ~ Box 517,
Merritt, BC, V1K 1B8 ~ in2freedom@gmail.com
Unless otherwise noted,
Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English
Standard Version Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good
News Publishers.)
[1]
I Timothy 4:12 with I Timothy 4:11-16 as the context.
[2]
John 3:3,7; I Peter 1:3,23
[3]
II Corinthians 5:17
[4]
Ezekiel 11:19; 36:26
[5]
Romans 8:28-30
[6]
Ephesians 2:8-10
[7]
Colossians 1:13-14
[8]
Ephesians 2:19; Philippians 3:20
[9]
I Thessalonians 2:12; II Thessalonians 1:5; Hebrews 12:28
[10]
Matthew 6:33
[11]
Romans 1:16-17
[12]
Matthew 24:14
[13]
Matthew 5:14
[14]
Romans 12:5; I Corinthians 12:12,27
[15]
I Timothy 3:15
[16]
Revelation 19:7; 21:2,9
[17]
I Peter 2:9
[18]
Ephesians 4:3
[19]
Matthew 16:18
[20]
I Corinthians 12:27
[21]
I Corinthians 12:7,11 with I Corinthians 12:1-31 as context
[22]
Philippians 2:12-13
[23]
II Corinthians 3:18
[24]
All the letters to the churches include some aspect of how believers are to
handle relationships in the church.
[25]
I Thessalonians 4:1; I Peter 4:8
[26]
Philippians 1:9-11
[27]
I Peter 1:22; I Timothy 1:5
[28]
II Corinthians 12:7 where Paul makes clear that the wording “the manifestation
of the Spirit” is God’s, and is to be welcomed accordingly (no matter who
manmade words deny this).
No comments:
Post a Comment