Flowing in Mercy

... judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!    (James 2:13 NIV)

We were discussing the need for us to abide in God, to walk in the Spirit. They are essentially the same thing. What are the attitudes which remove us from this flow? Rolland Baker from Iris Ministries said that God will discipline us regarding anything which moves us out of Love, Joy and Peace. I agree. I also think failure to exhibit mercy will have the same effect. This verse from James makes that clear. It will move us out from under the mercy of God.

Until we put on the resurrection body, we are living in a body disposed toward sin, under the power of temptation. Our every encounter with God, infact our ongoing fellowship, needs to be tempered by His mercy. He has provided for that need for mercy in Jesus, our High Priest and Mediator.

For this reason he had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he might make atonement for the sins of the people.    (Heb 2:17 NIV)
 

He is constantly overlooking a multitude of sins in us all, even as believers. He calls us to do the same;

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.    (1 Pet 4:8 NIV)

Our basic attitude in coming to God needs to be like the tax collector:

"But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, 'God, have mercy on me, a sinner.'  "I tell you that this man, rather than the other, went home justified before God. For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and he who humbles himself will be exalted."    (Luke 18:13-14 NIV)

We can come to God confidently when we have learned and accepted the lesson that we need mercy, that He is merciful, and He is overlooking our sins for the most part in the interests of our confidence, happiness and fellowship. I say for the most part, because He will progressively deal with specifics from time to time. However He does not intend for us to be under a generalized, vague sense of accusation and condemnation. That comes from, and belongs to, the devil.

Now we can block this flow of mercy by failing to exhibit it to others. 

 ...because judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful. Mercy triumphs over judgment!    (James 2:13 NIV)

Judgment and mercy are opposite and exclusive. I mean judgment in the sense of writing a person off as a bad job and therefore unworthy of mercy. Anyone, the verse says, who does not show mercy will be shown judgment. So mercy is absolutely key in God's scheme of things. If we start to look for excuses not to show it, we will come under judgment. 

Mercy and forgiveness are two sides of the same coin. If we fail to show them as an ongoing and deepening attitude, we will get into spiritual difficulties, as Jesus makes clear in Matthew 18v21-end.

Blessed are the merciful, for they will be shown mercy.    (Mat 5:7 NIV)

He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the LORD require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.    (Micah 6:8 NIV)

God is angry with those who consistently refuse to show mercy. They become vindictive, spiteful, and show hate.

Forgive even your parents and ancestors if they have sown problems in you.

"In those days people will no longer say, 'The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the children's teeth are set on edge.'    (Jer 31:29 NIV)

Your parents and relatives may have neglected you, abused you, abandoned you, led you in a bad way, or put you under a curse by making an ungodly vow. Forgive them and set yourself free. It is only unforgiveness that ties you to curses, generational or otherwise.

Let us follow Jesus. On the cross, Jesus showed mercy even to those who were showing him no mercy at all!

True Freedom

When we were trying to think of a name for our ministry, I was reminded of a prophetic dream in which I (being single then) appeared in the form of an aircraft! (I spent some time working in aviation-related industries and have been interested in aircraft for as long as I can remember). The aircraft was a US military plane nicknamed 'Freedom Fighter' during the stand against communism (the Northrop F5). The aircraft in my dream was dropping benign weapons (if there is such a thing) on various establishments including schools. I had this dream in 1992 so it has been a while in realization. Later, at the time when we were seeking to name the ministry, we were attending a church called 'River of Life'. So we decided (Julia's suggestion) to call ourselves 'Flow of Freedom' Ministries. A couple of people said it was too political in the South African context, so I called our website 'Live in the Liberty'. This is a similar ethos, but then it seems to also be a slogan for some gay rights group! Anyway, hopefully you know what we are getting at with the names.

All this is preamble to the fact that I want to understand, and for others to understand, how we live in the freedom Christ paid for on our behalf. More of that later.

A question. What does freedom really look like?

It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.    (Gal 5:1 NIV)

Now freedom really means freedom, especially if it is God's idea of freedom. When we are truly, fully, in the Spirit, we are free.

Free to do what we want? Yes!!! 

Hang on a minute, you say. Please bear with me.

This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh.    (Gal 5:16 KJV)


The lust of the flesh is the stuff we sometimes want to do but know we should not. However, if we walk fully in the Spirit, we won't do that stuff. The more we walk in the Spirit, the less we will do that stuff.

Think of someone you know who really seems full of Jesus. Do they seem free? Are they doing what they want to do or are they laboring hard to do the right thing? The two people I am thinking of are generally free and doing what they want to do. They seem harmonious and happy. I can think of some seemingly very worthy and earnest, disciplined people in ministry. I may admire them but I do not really want to be like them. I want to be free! We are new creations in Christ. I do not believe we are called to live in a turmoil of inner confusion, fighting our desires all the time. We are called to a willing, loving overflow, surely!

If we are sons and daughters of the King, we share His nature. It is natural for us to show forth the fruits of His life.

The fruits of His life in us are the same as the fruits of the Spirit. God is One; Father, Son and Holy Spirit (see Galatians 5v22-24 for what the fruit of the Spirit looks like).

This harmony between will and action is where we are headed. The Kingdom of God will be a place of complete harmony, inward and outward. However we cannot continue to love things like conflict and oppression and expect to enter the Kingdom of God in that state.*

I am not saying that there will be no temptations while we are on earth. I am not saying that there will not be times when we will have to yield to the guidance of God against our inclinations (again only while we are living in this fallen world order, and even then He will help us). Recently I had zero inclination to return from a nice break, but I knew God wanted me to return. In the end He let us stay on a little longer, during which time He graced me to return.now I am happy to be back.

What I am saying is that the more we learn to abide in His life, His love, the more we will find we are doing what we really want to do. A servant does what he does not want to do in order to be able to finish work and do what he wants for a while. A true son or daughter does what they want. What they want is good. What they want is for the family of God to be Happy. does this smack of 'Happy Clappy' Christianity? Well provided it is inward 'happy' and not just outward 'happy', then yes, why not? (The clapping is optional). We are new creations; our new creation self is in inward harmony.

Why do we not always experience this? Maybe we only experience it rarely; a tantalizing taste. Well, I think there are attitudes which keep us out, or bump us out, of this peaceful, fulfilled place of abiding in the Spirit. I want to look at one in my next post.

*All this has an effect on whether we can believe the Theory of Evolution for the Origin of Species: see my Logic and Creation blog if this interests you!

Child then Disciple

Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.    (Isa 49:15 KJV)

As a mother comforts her child, so will I comfort you; and you will be comforted over Jerusalem."    (Isa 66:13 NIV)


Well I've been getting to one of those places of burnout and lack of motivation! I have been getting ratty, irritable and unpleasant to put it mildly. Ask my wife. Actually, don't on second thoughts. I have come to see that this is because life makes demands I feel unable to meet, or I make demands on life and others they cannot meet. I therefore need to go to God in a deeper way for grace and love.

Anyway, I bought 2 books at Faith Camp held in Peterborough in the UK recently just before we returned to South Africa and both have helped.

Both are recommendable and have been helpful for very different reasons. The first is called 'Sarah' by Sarah Shaw. I will discuss the other later. 'Sarah' chronicles recovery from ongoing childhood sexual abuse which occurred between the ages of 3 and 18. The recovery followed emotional breakdown as an adult. It is moving for it's honesty and insight.

One lesson from the book is that God accepts us before he seeks change in us. I have been saying that for a while from a theological perspective but this book seems to confirm it. To attempt to make demands from someone like Sarah before she was ready would have been cruel. She was abused from age 3 by her father and rejected by her mother who blamed her for the abuse. Abuse, especially sexual, and rejection are extremely destructive, the more so the earlier it happens. She needed ongoing, committed tender love and acceptance. It needed demonstrating and not just saying. Thankfully, Sarah was led to an organization which specialized in this.

Sarah had learned, it seems to me, to abandon parts of herself. She learned to see parts of herself as unacceptable. Now it is true that we are unacceptable to God in our natural state. However, because of Christ, we are made acceptable. We are clothed in his righteousness until we learn to live in that righteousness. In other words, God can still love a mess, provided the mess (you and me) is willing to acknowledge his or her need of him.  

God is the supreme Father and actually the supreme Mother, as the Isaiah verses make clear. The verses quoted above tells us that the mothering compassion, comfort and commitment of God exceed that of a human mother. Although Sarah initially needed a human channel to display this, God was the source of the love and acceptance shown to her.

Sarah makes clear that her greatest need and desire was for maternal comfort following abuse. That was not forthcoming at the time from her human mother who merely treated her as a serious problem. However as she was willing to forgive and look to God instead, healing was received.

The point of contact with God is relational, through the God-Man Jesus Christ, and through contact with his people. Once we know him by the Spirit we can receive much of this restorative and nurturing motherly love directly by prayer and faith.

Lest us men are overtaken by need denial, machismo and bravado, we should remember Peter and John. The first appears to be Mr Macho, the second much more tender. However it seems John was the one keenest to stay near Jesus the longest when things got nasty. (John 18, if the 'other disciple' is indeed John as is often assumed). I also remember hearing that dying soldiers will commonly call for their mothers.

I feel as if sometimes we are trying to make people disciples before they have become children and friends. In so doing we demonstrate slavery and not sonship. Some of our harsher attitudes as Christians can be inappropriate, and some of these attitudes can produce a lot of damage and condemnation if the recipient is not ready for the discipling we are offering. Paul was caustic at times but he could also be warm and gentle. May we learn which is required and when, and may we honour ministries which specialize in different approaches, seeing the place of our own contribution in the bigger picture of the Body of Christ.

So you are no longer a slave, but a son; and since you are a son, God has made you also an heir.    (Gal 4:7 NIV)

Now a slave has no permanent place in the family, but a son belongs to it forever.    (John 8:35 NIV)