In2Freedom: June 2023

Friday, June 30, 2023

Morning Sharing: The First Triplet of Great Endurance

I am following Paul as he begins to give examples of how he has “put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way”.[1] There are close to 30 descriptive words or phrases that follow, presenting a picture of what Paul endured for the sake of the gospel, something the “super-apostles” would never have endured.

I am looking up the meanings of the words as part of my meditation, and in doing this I find that the first 10 are a collection of one kind of focus. They are made up of a heading for this section which I shared yesterday (the “great endurance” Paul exemplified), followed by three triplets of words showing what Paul greatly endured.[2]

The three triplets are:

1. “Great endurance of” general trials: afflictions, hardships, calamities

2. “Great endurance of” violent trials: beatings, imprisonments, riots

3. “Great endurance of” consequential trials (things Paul experienced as the natural consequences of how he faithfully proclaimed the gospel): labors, sleepless nights, hunger.[3]

So, the first triplet of things Paul faced with “great endurance” are:

Afflictions: distress (state) n. — an oppressive state of physical, mental, social, or economic adversity.[4]

I will go so far as to say that I can relate to the “oppressive” experience of trials that have affected me physically, mentally, socially, or economically as an area I have endured because of mistreatment directly related to faithfully teaching God’s word to God’s people.

Hardships: distress ⇔ necessity n. — a distressing state; especially one those that arises out of matters of necessity.[5]

I can also relate to “distressing” states of being and experience as a direct result of losing out on things that would legitimately be described as “matters of necessity” in life. Examples come to mind that are directly related to teaching people to live by God’s word. Some are part of our story of how we ended up in home church ministry.

Calamities: constricting distress n. — a distress of an especially oppressive and constricting condition.[6]

I have not gone through anything close to the near-death experiences Paul endured, but I can certainly relate to things feeling like a “constricting distress” that put painful limitations on my life. Again, these followed my efforts to walk in the obedience of faith in my ministry.

This first trio of things Paul “greatly endured” both affirms and challenges. It tells me that I have lived through some of these things in various ways, never as intensely as Paul, but similar in kind so I can be comforted by his mentoring. And these qualities in Paul disciple me in my need to keep greatly enduring what I am going through now, and anything that is ahead.

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com

Unless otherwise noted, Scriptures are from the English Standard Version (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.)

[1] II Corinthians 6:3-4

[2] “by great endurance, in afflictions, hardships, calamities, beatings, imprisonments, riots, labors, sleepless nights, hunger; by purity, knowledge, patience, kindness, the Holy Spirit, genuine love; by truthful speech, and the power of God; with the weapons of righteousness for the right hand and for the left; through honor and dishonor, through slander and praise. We are treated as impostors, and yet are true; as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and yet not killed; as sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing everything” (II Corinthians 6:4-10).

[3] This was drawn to my attention by two commentaries I was looking in for help to understand the original meanings of the words Paul used: Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 310). Logos Research Systems, Inc.; Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953–2001). Exposition of the Second Epistle to the Corinthians (Vol. 19, p. 214). Baker Book House. Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[4] Bible Sense Lexicon, Logos Research Systems, Inc.

[5] Ibid.

[6] Ibid.

Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Morning Sharing: A Good Way of Commending Ourselves

There are quite a few things the Bible speaks about in both positive and negative ways. This morning I found another of these in Paul’s testimony: “We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry, but as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way”.[1]

Paul spoke of commending in a negative way when he said, “Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves.”[2] These were the false teachers Paul sarcastically called the “super-apostles”[3] who commended themselves by looking in a mirror and admiring their preferred qualities. Paul would have nothing to do with that kind of commending.

However, because so many young Christians were being deceived by these false teachers, Paul had to speak about commending himself in a positive way, not by looking in a mirror and admiring himself, but by looking at his way of life and calling people to test him by his own devotion to Jesus Christ.

As I assess how I measure up to this positive kind of commending, I am trying to be clear and honest with God about how things look from his perspective. Paul clarified later that, “it is not the one who commends himself who is approved, but the one whom the Lord commends.”[4] This means that Paul’s commendation was as a servant of Christ Jesus who was measured by how faithfully he had suffered and endured all things in Jesus’ name in order to make sure the pure good news of great joy was given to the people.

I will be prayer-journaling (meditating) my way through the extensive list of qualities Paul lists to give objective affirmation of his genuineness. For now, I take it that the negative side of following Paul’s example is to see that I am not putting obstacles in anyone’s way, and the positive side is to make sure I have objective commendations of my service to Jesus that others have witnessed.

For today, I know I can’t say the “in every way” as Paul did. I have far too many failures for that! However, I know I have been exemplary enough in this that I have some right to call people to listen to me for the sole reason that I know I am pointing everyone to Christ, the one and only Savior of the world, and if they listen to me, they will hear the true gospel of God. And so, as Paul told Timothy, “Practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress.”[5]

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com

[1] II Corinthians 6:3-4

[2] II Corinthians 10:12

[3] II Corinthians 11:5; 12:11

[4] II Corinthians 10:18

[5] I Timothy 4:15

Monday, June 26, 2023

Morning Sharing: A Prayer for an Empty Spirit

I love Sunday mornings (yes, I know it is Monday morning when I am sharing this) because being in a home church means I have extra time to go for a prayer walk, listen to our “church prep” sermon,[1] and arrive out at my outdoor prayer chapel for some time of praying through God’s word.

For weeks I have been praying my way through Isaiah as a way to increase my understanding of the context of chapter 49, the one I am prayer-journaling (meditating) through. This is the verse I shared in church yesterday from Isaiah that captivated me as I prayed it back to God:

“and the spirit of the Egyptians within them will be emptied out,”[2]

This brought to mind a number of people who have led the way in churches regarding the idolatry of self-protection. I was warned about this idol of self-protection over thirty years ago, and three decades has proven the warning valid!

The above scripture makes it easy to understand how to pray about such things. The “spirit of the Egyptians” is the enemy spirit, the spirit of rebellion against God. Egypt represents both the quintessential enemy of God that had once held his people captive, but also one of the lovers his people kept turning to for help and refuge instead of to him as their God.

This is the issue with self-protection in the church: it holds God’s people captive, and it is their favorite idol of refuge when they are afraid. The promise of God regarding the Egyptian spirit is definitely valid for today!

My meditation on this brought to mind people who have had such a spirit of idolatry (including sacrificing others on the altar of their self-protection), that it was not difficult to understand how to ask God to confound the fellowship of these idolaters and cause such fighting among them that they will completely lose the courage of this spirit of rebellion in them.[3]

But then I found myself praying about this through the Beatitudes Jesus used to introduce his Sermon on the Mount[4]. I prayed that God would:

· “Bless them with poverty of spirit so they would open their hearts to you,

· “And bless them with mourning over their sinful idolatries and cruelties so they would feel your comfort soothing the wounds that have driven them to desperation,

· “And bless them with the meekness that is so aware that nothing inside them can protect them and help them, and no idol they worship of matter, or man, or demon, can deliver and save them, and bring them to rest in the sovereignty and authority of Jesus Christ our Lord so they are able to seek to know and do your will,

· “And bless them with such a hunger and thirst for righteousness, O God, that they would know they are emptied of their Egyptian spirit, and void of the righteousness of God they have forsaken, and that they see in Jesus Christ such grace and glory and goodness that they believe the good news that there is a righteousness that is by grace through faith, that you made Jesus who knew no sin to be sin for us in order that your people could become the righteousness of God in Christ,

· “And bless them with such an experience of this grace and mercy of God that they would be transformed from mean to merciful, and from cruel to compassionate, and from rebellious to reconciliatory,

· “And bless them with such a profound experience of the righteousness of God that is by grace through faith, and such an amazement and wonder at how good and loving and gracious you are, that their hearts would be purified with first love so they would be all about the kingdom and righteousness of God in everything they do,

· “And bless them with such an experience of the peace of God in their salvation that they become the most loving and relentless peacemakers who want everyone in their lives to have peace with God instead of the praise of man, and would unite with other believers to make the Prince of peace known through the Gospel of peace so others will come to experience being ‘justified by faith’ so they ‘have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ’ along with us all,

· “And bless them with the grace of persecution for their righteousness in Christ that is so strong, and pure, and wonderful, that Satan aims his attacks against its unstoppable power and glory so that they would come to rejoice with us in the persecution we all share in Jesus’ name where they were once Satan’s pawns in that persecution!”

I hope that helps and encourages you to see how praying scripture back to God gives us confidence that we are praying things that are God’s will, but also that we are praying in context of the life of the kingdom of God that is always seeking God’s best for others in the agapè-love (divine love) that wants God’s glory and people’s good to magnify God’s grace, love, mercy, forgiveness, restoration, and reconciliation in every answer to our prayers.

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com

[1] For a number of years, we have helped our church families set our minds on spiritual things prior to arriving at our church fellowship by viewing in our own homes a sermon video by a variety of pastors. This not only helps us prepare ourselves spiritually for fellowship and worship, but it also gives us input and counsel from far more pastoral voices than we have in close contact.

[2] Isaiah 19:3

[3] This is the context of Isaiah 19, that God was describing how he would get the Egyptian territories fighting one another in confusing resulting in the Egyptian spirit being brought to nothing.

[4] Matthew 5:1-12

Friday, June 23, 2023

Morning Sharing: Finding Myself in Christ

Even though I really need my downstairs exercise time (missed it all week), I feel the need for my outdoor prayer-chapel even more! So just a quick sharing and then off to pray.

This morning, I have poured my heart out to God about so much disappointment and failure in my life, listened to his word about, “In a time of favor I have answered you; in a day of salvation I have helped you”,[1] felt so much uncertainty of how it applies to me or anyone else, and settled into the following scripture as the way to express everything about the huge disappointment in another world-flesh-and-devil graduation in Merritt, the heartache I feel for loved ones who have felt so many losses because of my walk with God, and just the way I feel about myself as “a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief” like my Savior[2]:

“Whoever finds his life will lose it,

and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.”[3]

The essence of this is that I am thankful for the failures at “finding” my life that have resulted in such a Beatitudinal Journey[4] experience that has made me feel blessed in both the losing and in the finding.

I’m heading out to my prayer-chapel with the intention of being the little child with Jesus that he said he wants, and use my prayer-walk to pour out my heart to him with utter abandon, and see how he comforts the one who mourns this morning! Or is it mourning?

Anyway, here is the short-sharing version I posted on Facebook:

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com

[1] Isaiah 49:8; II Corinthians 6:2

[2] Not to the same measure, but of the same kind!

[3] Matthew 10:39

[4] This is the way I picture the Beatitudes Jesus uses to introduce his Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:1-12.

Wednesday, June 21, 2023

Morning Sharing: A ‘No Fault’ Ministry Claim

This morning, my focus has been on this claim from Paul: “We put no obstacle in anyone's way, so that no fault may be found with our ministry”.[1]

I can get how Paul could say that even though people found fault with his ministry (the super-apostles were maligning him all the time, as were brothers who were envious of the success of his ministry).

The question is, can I say this?

I think I can answer that, as far as I know, I have not objectively put an obstacle in front of anyone regarding the gospel of the kingdom of God. I will leave it at that since I can’t prove anything. But I imagine there are many pastors who have faced things similar to Paul’s experience and know in their hearts they have not done anything to cause people to stumble even if some claim that they have. Or they know that if anything has come up as an obstacle, they have been very quick to remove it and reconcile.

What is so clear is that the ministry Paul was always concerned about was “the gospel of the kingdom” because, if people believed what he later called, “another Jesus,” “a different spirit,” and, “a different gospel,”[2] it meant they were not saved. People had to believe the gospel Paul taught, the gospel all the apostles taught, because it was the only one that revealed the finished work of Christ in the “by grace through faith without works” purity.[3] The false gospel of the super-apostles was leading people to hell because it did not provide the forgiveness of sins and reconciliation with God.

I did present my heart to God about specific scenarios to assess whether I could say I have a clear conscience as Paul did. At the very least, my willingness to, “practice these things, immerse yourself in them, so that all may see your progress”[4] has been a way of life for me, and hearing people out when I do something to trigger their Enemy Mode or trip their Relational Circuit breaker has been my practice.[5]

I have taken great comfort many times in Nehemiah’s declaration, “No such things as you say have been done, for you are inventing them out of your own mind.”[6] That is exactly how I have felt on many occasions.

Anyway, I say this simply because it feels like God is speaking to me about the integrity of my ministry because I need to be bold in continuing to proclaim the gospel of the kingdom as given by Jesus and the apostles, and to lead the church of Jesus Christ that meets in our home. It is “the favorable time” and “the day of salvation”, so we must make Jesus known to everyone without wavering just because our world (and so many church-folk) is so easily offended.

I can see that joining God in his work involves being “strong and courageous” in ministry of the “no matter what it takes” kind of way, perhaps after the pattern of Joseph who was unjustly enslaved and falsely accused. And so, I share this in the hope that it encourages others to persevere in the ministry of the gospel handed down from the apostles, to constantly examine ourselves to see that we are pursuing the agapè-love of the kingdom with all our hearts, and to receive the counsel of other believers when there is need to work through the “multitude of sins” God says we will find in every congregation.[7]

Bottom line:

“preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.”[8]

If Paul was dealing with that already in his day, we can be sure we need to be true to this with all our hearts in our day.

Added note: Because readers may not know me in person, I understand that this could just as easily come across as a narcissistic-pastor-in-denial kind of way as a genuine encouragement from Paul’s testimony for someone who has been faithful in keeping short-accounts with God about everything. I am not sharing this to prove I am right about anything or everything, nor is it a claim that I haven’t had to apologize for making mistakes or unintentionally hurting someone. Rather, Paul’s testimony is just what I came across in God’s word this morning, it was a huge comfort to my heart in an area of so much heartache and sorrow, and maybe there is someone reading this who has taken quite a beating in ministry but knows in his heart that he has proclaimed the gospel without fail, has sought to hear people out when there are conflicts, and wants to continue doing so with the boldness of a “more than conqueror” kind of faith and the humility of knowing that no one in the church is fully like Jesus.

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com

[1] II Corinthians 6:3

[2] II Corinthians 11:4

[3] Summarizing what Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:8-10

[4] I Timothy 4:15

[5] I have been learning about the “Relational Circuits” God designed into our brains to match the relational realities of our souls, and also the “Enemy Mode” brain reactions that reflect what sin has done to corrupt our “in the image of God” creation. I recommend “The Joy Switch” by Chris Coursey, and “Escaping Enemy Mode” by Jim Wilder. They do a good job of showing how our brains struggle through relational conflicts, and how the church is uniquely equipped with the agapè-love that enables us to love our enemies, and so to agapè-love those in the church who go into Enemy Mode against us.

[6] Nehemiah 6:8

[7] I Peter 4:8, hence the need to “keep agapè-loving one another earnestly”!

[8] II Timothy 4:2-4

Monday, June 19, 2023

Morning Sharing: To Be Trained by Grace

Well, I pushed through my first thoughts and meditations on the word this morning and came to another genuine experience of God teaching me and ministering to me by his Spirit. It was one of those “brought tears to my eyes” moments, and I am so thankful.

It is interesting to reread my journaling and see how negative I felt about myself at the beginning of my time with God. This past year has done quite a number on me, not only with such a grievous loss, but also the pain of the horrid things people I have loved are able to believe about me.

So, I stood again on this foundational verse as of late:

“In a time of favor I have answered you;
in a day of salvation I have helped you;”[1]

I told God how I want to experience this, such an outpouring of his “favor” that we would see “answers” to our prayers for people’s salvation, revival, and spiritual awakening, and such an outpouring of “salvation” that our home church would feel “helped” to bring people to Christ.

And when I stood again on this scripture to see what the view looked like this morning, “Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain”,[2] I suddenly found myself feeling very personal with Paul like he was answering me himself about my longing to not receive the grace of God in vain. What he said was,[3]

For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age…[4]

As I began meditating on this, praying it through with God, feeling amazed and delighted and thankful that he would speak such a clear answer to my soul, the Spirit of God taught me something in a very real and personal way. It was the deep realization that what it means to bear fruit in the kingdom of God is not measured by how many souls I save!

In other words, to NOT receive the grace of God in vain is seen by us learning to “renounce ungodliness and worldly passions”. It is seen by a growing and maturing reality of living “self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age”.

I can’t explain this well enough, but it was like a huge burden was lifted from my heart as Jesus’ teaching that “a tree is known by its own fruit”[5] changed from the weight of guilt and shame that I have no “fruit” of souls that I have brought into the kingdom, to the comforting grace of God that is at work to lead me in things THAT HAVE TO DO WITH ME!!!

In other words, to measure myself by what seems to be happening (or not happening) in others is a bad goal. It is okay to bemoan that the church is not winning souls, but the measure of how we are doing with God is just that, how WE are doing with God, not how OTHERS are doing with God.

I guess one more thing to add is that I did some processing of this through the Beatitudinal Valley[6] and was reminded that the “blessed are those who hunger and thirst” is not followed by “for soul-winning”, but, “for RIGHTEOUSNESS”. THAT is what the grace of God is working in me, and so it is clear how to avoid receiving the grace of God in vain, and how to receive it to the full, by letting it do exactly what Paul said it came to do.

I know I will be camped at this viewpoint for a bit as God makes it all the more real to me, but I testify that God truly lifted my heart as I admitted to him how I was doing, and his grace spoke into that need with “truth in love”[7] so I am feeling at rest that everything looks so different now that the Spirit turned me around to see what I was missing. And I hope the encouragement of this was worth the extra read!

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com

[1] I came across this in Isaiah 49:8, and in II Corinthians 6:2 is the only place it is quoted in the New Testament, so I have been meditating on the context for weeks now.

[2] II Corinthians 6:1

[3] I mean this in a personified way, that what I was learning from the word was like Paul teaching it to me in person, or at least in a personal letter.

[4] Titus 2:11-12

[5] Luke 6:43-44

[6] Based on the Beatitudes at the introduction to Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5:1-12

[7] God taught us to do this in Ephesians 4:15-16 because that is who he is and how he communicates with his children

Friday, June 16, 2023

Morning Sharing: The Triune Salvation of the Triune God

Well, I was up way too early. I have way too much on my mind. And the topic of interest in God’s word has way too much to say!!!

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.[1]

Yesterday, my focus was on how Jesus was “made… to be sin”, and how utterly remarkable that is. Today I am considering the other side of that which is, “that in him we might become the righteousness of God.”

One theme in all of this is to see a contrast between worldly religions like Islam that portray the Bible as false based on their inability to understand it. I have seen some videos where converts to Islam say that it is how it “makes sense” to them that convinced them it is true.

But it is actually the other way around. A religion that “makes sense” to the natural man is proof it is manmade! The only belief in the world that transcends man’s understanding (as is obvious from how it contrasts with every other worldview) is the revelation in the Bible that God is Triune, and that the salvation God has provided is Triune.

I was also drawn to what Paul says about these things, how, “the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (which explains why people can’t see the truth), and, “God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (which explains why believers do see and understand what is revealed in God’s word).[2]

The Triunity of salvation is in the fact that it begins with our “justification” by grace through faith whereby God credits to our account with him the righteousness of his Son so that we can be treated as righteous in their sight. Romans and Galatians are where Paul makes justification very clear. Here is one sample:

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.[3]

Once we enter this salvation by our justification, we begin the journey of “sanctification” in which we are constantly changed from the unrighteous side to the fully righteous side over the course of our lifetimes. I love the way Paul describes it:

And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.[4]

And the third dimension of our Triune salvation is “glorification” when our personal righteousness will finally match the righteousness of Christ in every aspect. John’s description is what my heart longs to experience:

Beloved, we are God's children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is.[5]

Part of what God is speaking to me about is the glorious way he has done things so that we will truly “become the righteousness of God” in every way, and part of what he is emphasizing is how all the complexities of his incomprehensibleness builds our faith in how glorious and good he is even while we are mocked by the spiritually blind who have no idea what we see in Jesus Christ our Lord.

The application for me is to focus on making this Triune salvation of the Triune God known to everyone and wait on the Holy Spirit to open the eyes of the blind to see it and believe. For now, God appears to be teaching me to be faithful in proclaiming the gospel in all its glory and goodness even while not having any soul-winning fruit to encourage me along. Trusting God for such things when we see nothing happening is worshipping him in spirit and in truth, and I am resting in that today.

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com

[1] II Corinthians 5:21

[2] II Corinthians 4:4,6

[3] Romans 5:1

[4] II Corinthians 3:18

[5] I John 3:2

Wednesday, June 14, 2023

Morning Sharing: "Begging and Pleading as Ambassadors"

This:

20 Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. 21 For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. (II Corinthians 5)

follows what I shared yesterday about the church (through the foundation laid for us by the apostles) has both “the ministry of reconciliation” and “the message of reconciliation”, so we as the church are as much “ambassadors for Christ” as the apostles were.

NOTE: this is NOT an appeal to lost sinners (although it can be so applied). It is an appeal to the Corinthian Christians who have been lured away from their “sincere and pure devotion to Christ” by the not-true teachings of the “super apostles”.

First application: are we presently fully reconciled to God so that we are experiencing and enjoying everything Jesus has given us for walking in “the newness of life” in this present age?

Second application: are we (as the body of Christ together) surrendering to God “making his appeal through us”, calling sinful and deceived Christians to “be reconciled to God”?

Third application: is our church identified by our activity in “the ministry of reconciliation” and our proclamation of “the message of reconciliation” as “peacemakers” to the world around us so that we are finding the lost sheep of God to bring into the salvation of our Lord Jesus Christ?

Email: in2freedom@gmail.com

In2Freedom

Pages

Friday, June 30, 2023

Morning Sharing: The First Triplet of Great Endurance

Wednesday, June 28, 2023

Morning Sharing: A Good Way of Commending Ourselves

Monday, June 26, 2023

Morning Sharing: A Prayer for an Empty Spirit

Friday, June 23, 2023

Morning Sharing: Finding Myself in Christ

Wednesday, June 21, 2023

Morning Sharing: A ‘No Fault’ Ministry Claim

Monday, June 19, 2023

Morning Sharing: To Be Trained by Grace

Friday, June 16, 2023

Morning Sharing: The Triune Salvation of the Triune God

Wednesday, June 14, 2023

Morning Sharing: "Begging and Pleading as Ambassadors"

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