Entering His Rest by Chip Brogden

"Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest" (Mt. 11:28, NKJV).

"Come to Me." Come to Me. Not a church. Not a man of God. Not a teaching. Not a group. Come to Me, and learn of Me. I will give you rest. No one else can give you the rest. You cannot earn the rest. The rest is the gift of God.

If you are a born-again, child of God then you have done this at least once in your life. The moment you said, "God, I cannot save myself. I trust in the finished work of Christ to save me, Jesus be My Savior and Lord," that is when you stopped trying to earn your salvation through works. You entered into rest. You "retired" from being your own savior. And most people have learned that it is settled from that moment on. You would not dream of going back to the days of trying to work for your salvation. You're saved and you know it.

That is how you begin the Christian life. But there is more to the Christian life that just getting saved. That is the first step into a larger world. Jesus is continually calling out to you, saying, "Come to Me, and I will give you rest." That is a progressive thing. It is a daily thing. Every day we come to Jesus, everyday we hand over something else, every day we learn to rest in Him, and trust in His life.

What does it look like? Well, so many Christians struggle with sin. They struggle with their feelings, their emotions, their memories. They worry, they fret. They are in bondage to fear. They are in bondage to bad habits. They are in bondage to their past hurts. They experience many defeats and very few victories.

Can we not trust Jesus to give us rest from these things as well? If we can trust Him and believe Him for salvation, can we not trust Him and believe Him for victory? That is what He means when He says, "Come to Me, and I will give you rest." This rest that we enter into is intended for every area, not just salvation. How very pitiful if we can only rest in salvation but we have no peace, no rest, no freedom from the constant stresses and disappointments and fears of this present time.

The principle of the Sabbath rest is applicable to every area of your life, not just salvation. Are you ever troubled with anxious thoughts? Of course, from time to time we all worry about something. But when we have entered into His rest we no longer worry about it. Outside of Him there is plenty to worry about; but when we come to Him, and stay in Him, He gives us rest, and it is impossible to rest and worry at the same time. A worried person cannot sleep, and certainly cannot rest. A person who is resting in the Lord does not worry.

Mark 3:14 is a special Scripture for me, and it illustrates this very important point. It says that Jesus called twelve disciples, that they should BE with Him, and that He might send them forth to preach. We are anxious to go out, to be used, to go to work; but Jesus is more interested in the relationship, in being with Him, in learning to rest in Him. Remember the Sabbath day, get that principle deep down in your spirit, before you launch out into the doing.

Of course I come into contact with a great number of people who are coming out of the religious system, and they are usually full of a lot of anxiety and excitement. When they ask me for advice, I counsel them to take a year off and "do nothing" for awhile. What I mean is, religion has kept you doing, doing, doing for God. There needs to be a season of rest. You need to experience a Sabbath day and just "be" with Jesus in terms of spiritual activity. Oh yes, that sounds so nice, but I have seldom met anyone who could do it. They come out of church, and before you know it they start a home church, or they go looking for fellowship with others, or they get restless and end up going back to church where things are more familiar. The idea of just being with Jesus and resting for awhile is completely foreign to their understanding.

Regardless of where you are in your journey - a new Christian, someone who is just coming out of religion, or someone who has been in the wilderness for a long time now - you cannot get away from this principle of the Sabbath day. It is about relationship. Being with Jesus. Coming to Him and resting in Him.

Are you content to just be with Jesus? Is Jesus enough? When Jesus is enough then you are resting. We you feel something more is needed, and you start looking outside of Him, then you become rest-LESS.

What if we took a position with the Lord that says, "I am content to just be with You. If you see I am lacking something, I trust you to bring it. But I am not seeking anything outside of You. That includes fellowship with others, ministry, spiritual experiences, or anything else. You are enough for Me." God can do something with that. Now you are getting aligned to the Sabbath principle. I'm not seeking, or striving, or trying to make anything happen. I am content, I am resting in the Lord. And that is the life of faith, the life of trust, the life of rest...

Elitism -Impaired Vision Through Filters by Milt Rodriguez

“When the days grew closer for Jesus to be taken up to heaven, he was determined to continue his journey to Jerusalem. So he sent messengers on ahead of him. On their way they went into a Samaritan village to get things ready for him. But the people didn’t welcome him, because he was determined to go to Jerusalem.

When his disciples James and John saw this, they asked, “Lord, do you want us to call fire down from heaven to destroy them, as Elijah did? But he turned and rebuked them, and they went on to another village.” Luke 9:51-56

Elitism: the Corporate Filter

Now we come to one of the most powerful filters around: elitism. What exactly is elitism? You could define it this way: the consciousness of or pride in belonging to a select or favored group. It’s when a group starts believing their own reviews and begins thinking that they are special. This filter is a little different than most because of it’s corporate nature. It’s a group mentality and a group deception. And it tends to go something like this:

We are special because we have deeper revelation or more accurate doctrine than all of those other groups.
We are special because we are more anointed with gifts, instances of healing, and miracles.
We are special because we follow so-and-so leader or preacher and they have more revelation, are more anointed, or sell more books than others.
We have a special calling and place in history that no one has ever had.
We are special because we know the Lord better than most and love the brethren more than most.
We are not really that interested in anything or anyone outside of our own church or movement.
We love all true believers but we are much more advanced spiritually than they are.
We look strange to most Christians because of our maturity level in Christ.
We follow so-and-so because he is the only man God has truly raised up for this generation.

I have personally heard all of the above statements (and more) come out of the mouths of some of God’s people. Once I was at a conference and there was a tiny group there that was spouting off some of these statements with reckless abandonment. No one could stand to be around them. It was a very graphic demonstration of what my co-worker Frank Viola calls the B.O. of the body. Everyone else knows you have it except you! And it really does stink to high heaven.

Of course, this is the basis for every sect, denomination, and just about every movement within institutionalism. The “we are superior to you” attitude is the very foundation for every denomination and that includes the groups that call themselves “non-denominational”. They have camped out around a particular truth, person, or way of doing things and told everyone within and without the group that this is the best (and really) only way. But this particular malady is not only found within the institutional church.

Elitism in Groups Outside the Religious System

This spiritually cancerous filter isn’t only found within the institutions. It is also widely spread throughout house churches, simple churches, missional churches, emergent churches, and organic churches. I have personally been in one house church and one organic church where this disease had been propagated as leaven in a lump of dough. This attitude caused untold damage to the saints of God and resulted in isolation, broken marriages, division, immorality, poor health and much more. Some have even left their faith completely.

Some of the history of groups throughout the centuries that stood outside the religious system is tainted with such stories. Some of these had awesome revelations of Christ with wonderful teachings and strong churches that dared to walk the line of the centrality of Christ and His Cross. And left all to follow Him so that He would have the fulfillment of His eternal purpose. But they fell into the trap of believing they were special and therefore superior to the rest of God’s people. That heart attitude will kill a group or movement faster than anything I have seen.

Safeguards Against Elitism

Now we all think that what we are currently doing is the best way, right? Of course we do or we wouldn’t be doing it! I honestly believe that the way that I am going is the way that God has directed me and firmly will hold to this position no matter what. I would be a fool to do otherwise. However, I cannot say that “my way” of following Christ is superior, therefore I AM SUPERIOR. This is the best way FOR ME. I cannot say if it is the best way for you or not. For me, authentic organic church is the only way to go. But that doesn’t make me superior to anyone. There must be grace, acceptance, and freedom within the Church of the living God.

So here are a few ways that we can help to safeguard ourselves against the plague of elitism:

    * Promote and encourage a healthy attitude of love and acceptance for all of God’s people.
    * Learn to abide in Him so that His humility is displayed through us
    * Visit other groups, attend conferences, and read books by other authors than those of your own movement
    * Develop and maintain relationships with believers outside your own little group
    * Always think the best of other believers and treat them as you would want to be treated

A Vanishing God by Frank Viola

Jesus often comes to us in unexpected ways and unexpected means.

Think about how He came to Earth. For centuries, Israel had waited for a political Messiah. They expected Him to lead a rebellion and free Israel from Roman oppression. But how did the Messiah make His entrance? He came in a way that made it easy for His own people to reject Him. He came as a frail baby, born in a feeding room for animals. There He was. The promised Messiah who was expected to overthrow the Roman Empire and set Israel free from oppression. A needy Nazarene born in a manger.

When Jesus grew up, He ate and drank in their presence and taught in their streets (Luke 13:26). Yet they didn’t recognize Him. He was unassumingly modest. A mere craftsman; the son of a craftsman. He grew up in the despised city of Nazareth, fraternizing with the despised and oppressed. But more startling, He befriended sinners (Luke 7:34). As such, the people of God didn’t recognize Him. Why? Because He came in a way that made it easy for them to reject Him. And what about the disciples?

Read the story again. Jesus continued to break out of their expectations. He couldn’t be pinned down, figured out or boxed in. The Twelve were constantly confounded by Him. His teachings were offensive. His actions scandalous. His reactions baffling.

But the greatest offense of all was the cross. It offended everyone—both Jew and Gentile. The only crown the promised Messiah-King would accept was a crown of thorns. Look at Him again. A suffering Messiah, a defeated King. It’s easy to reject Him.

One of the Lord’s most faithful disciples teaches us this principle well. Mary Magdalene was the first person to see Jesus after His death and resurrection. Do you remember what she did as soon as she recognized Him? She grabbed Him, and she wouldn’t stop clinging to Him. Jesus responded, “Stop clinging to me” (see John 20:17, Greek text). Why did Jesus tell Mary to stop clinging to Him? Because Jesus had somewhere to go. He was on the move. Jesus was poised to go to Galilee to see the other disciples and then to ascend to His Father.

Note the principle: He was moving forward, but she was clinging to Him. Jesus was in effect saying to her: “Mary, stop holding on to me. There’s a new way to know me that’s different from what you’ve experienced thus far. Let me go. I must move on.” Do you remember the disciples who walked on the road to Emmaus?

Their hopes were shattered by Jesus’ horrible death. Suddenly, the resurrected Christ began walking beside them, yet their eyes were blinded from recognizing Him. However, when He engaged in the very simple gesture of breaking bread (something He had done frequently before them), their eyes were opened. He then quickly disappeared from their sight.

These stories hold a critical insight. You cannot cling to the Christ you know today. He will vanish from your midst. Jesus Christ is an elusive Lover. Seeking Him is a progressive engagement that never ends. He doesn’t dance to our music. He doesn’t sing to our tune.

Perhaps He will in the beginning when He woos us, but that season will eventually end. Just when you think you’ve laid hold of Him, He will slip out of your grasp. He will appear to you as a stranger. But on second glance, we’ll discover He’s no stranger at all. Emmaus will be repeated.

We all wish to cling to the Lord who we know now. We all wish to hold on to the Christ who has been revealed to us today.

But mark my words: He will come to us in a way we do not expect—through people we’re prone to ignore and inclined to write off. Perhaps they don’t talk our religious language. Perhaps they aren’t theologically sophisticated. Perhaps they don’t use our vocabulary. Perhaps they don’t share our insider knowledge nor parrot our religious idioms.

So we cling fast to the Lord we recognize—receiving only those who talk our language, use our jargon and employ our catchphrases—and all along we end up turning the Lord Jesus Christ away.

What, then, does Jesus do after we fail to receive Him when He comes to us in an unexpected way? He moves on. And the revelation we have of Him ceases to grow. Jesus Christ is richer, larger and more glorious than any of us could ever imagine. And He comes to us in ways that make it tempting to reject Him.

When Peter, James and John saw the transfigured Lord on the holy mountain, Peter wanted to build a tabernacle for Jesus, Moses and Elijah and remain on the mountain to enjoy the encounter. But God would not allow it (Matthew 17:1-13).

There is something in our fallen nature that, like Peter, wishes to build a monument around a spiritual encounter with God and remain there. But the Lord will not have it. He will always break free from our frail attempts to pin Him down, box Him up and hold Him in place. And He does so by coming to us in new and unexpected ways.

Excerpted from REVISE US AGAIN, Chapter 10, Your Christ is Too Small

Video - Robert Introduces Converging Zone Network

America Ripped Asunder by Regis Nicoll

Look at the society we have become: We are a bi-polar nation, a bureaucratic, centralised state that presides dysfunctionally over an increasingly fragmented, disempowered and isolated citizenry.” Phillip Blond, quoted by David Brooks

The United States is breaking apart. That, according to a bracing piece earlier this year by New York Times columnist David Brooks. As Brooks tells it, public disdain for politicians and widespread cynicism about the political process have combined to tear at an already enfeebled social fabric.

It began with two revolutions from opposite ends of the ideological spectrum.

Brooks writes,“First, there was a revolution from the left: a cultural revolution that displaced traditional manners and mores; a legal revolution that emphasized individual rights instead of responsibilities; a welfare revolution in which social workers displaced mutual aid societies and self-organized associations.

“Then there was the market revolution from the right. In the age of deregulation, giant chains like Wal-Mart decimated local shop owners. Global financial markets took over small banks, so that the local knowledge of a town banker was replaced by a manic herd of traders thousands of miles away.”

The first created a welfare state and the second a market state. Together they displaced small, local businesses, “weakened families, increased out-of-wedlock births and turned neighbors into strangers,” all which required a gargantuan government to administer programs and audit the market. Ironically, both revolutions, which were aimed at increasing personal freedoms, ended up putting the individual under greater state control. Of course.

Once traditional morality is jettisoned, so is moral duty, leaving only legal rights and a litigious society overseen by a Leviathan state to adjudicate disputes between competing interests.

Whether of the right or the left, libertarianism, removed from external moral standards, atomizes society into self-interested individuals alienated from each other, fearing that any loss of personal autonomy will result in a little death to self.

Great Britain is a case in point. Phillip Blond, director of British think tank ResPublica, notes that in Britain, these two revolutions have led to a bloated centralized government and a country with “rising crime” and “four million security cameras.” His solution? In a nutshell, “subsidiarity.”

Subsidiarity

According to the principle of subsidiarity, the responsibility and authority for any action should be left to the lowest level competent to handle it. In civil society, the levels are three: the individual, “mediating” institutions, and the state.

As the name implies, “mediating” institutions are those that stand between the individual and the state, protecting the former against the overreaching tendencies of the latter. They include churches, schools, civic organizations, volunteer associations, and, foremost, the family.

Subsidiarity is the basis of federalism, whereby the powers of government are divided between the central authority and its constituent parts (e.g., states), recognizing that civil affairs are most effectively governed by those closest to them and most directly affected by them.

Subsidiarity means that the concerns of the individual (like whether or not to buy health care insurance) are best handled by the individual, concerns of the family (like decisions about the rearing and education of children) are best handled within the family, the concerns of the neighborhood (graffiti, gangs, and feral teens) are best handled within the neighborhood, and likewise for the city, county and state.

For instance, recognizing that charitable institutions are closer to the needs of people than the state, Blond recommends that more state-run services be run by charities. Blond doesn’t give specifics, but consider welfare and entitlement programs.

Such programs have greatly benefited individuals who are permanently disabled or temporarily in need of assistance. But administered by bureaucrats in the withdrawn centers of governmental power, they have created an underclass held captive in a perpetual orbit of dependence and idleness. It is a condition helped along by misery merchants who secure their messianic role by keeping the downtrodden in their back pocket.

For most of its history, the Church took responsibility for the comprehensive care of its own. But with the social programs spawned by the New Deal, the Church began abdicating that responsibility en masse. It is time that the Church, along with other faith-based organizations, reclaim its role from the overweening state.

Subsidiarity requires a virtuous society, where character informs the space between what the heart desires and what is morally right. Without virtue, law, not character, must fill that space. When individuals renege on their pledges, when companies operate unethically, when parents fail to exercise responsible parenting, the state, using the full force of law, must step in.

For example, when disagreeing parties fail to reach a decision over their disagreements, the magistrate can be counted on to impose a decision guaranteed to further alienate and embitter. Hence, the timeless warning of Jesus: “Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison.”

But when people take seriously their moral duties and resolve their disputes at the lowest levels, the need for a paternal state is reduced. Regrettably, that is far from our current situation.

A mosque and a convent

In the ongoing brouhaha over the mosque at Ground Zero, we've heard a lot about rights and a lot about wisdom. But one thing that we haven't heard much about is responsibility.

Rights are about what we can do, wisdom is about what we should do, but responsibility is about what we are obliged to do. Responsibility is doing what is morally right over what is legally allowed. It is character operating in permissible spaces of social action.

In a free society, rights and responsibilities go hand-in-hand. Honoring our individual freedoms while serving the common good can only work when rights are exercised responsibly.

For example, although the neo-Nazi group Aryan Nations has the rights of free speech and assembly, it has the responsibility to refrain from exercising them in front of the Holocaust Museum. Likewise, adults have the right to own and view sexually explicit material. But they have the responsibility to do so away from the eyes of children.

In the same manner, Muslims have the constitutional right to build a mosque anywhere they desire, consistent with local zoning laws. However, those who would do so in lower Manhattan, especially those who claim that the motives are to promote tolerance and better interfaith relations, are obliged, as citizens of a pluralistic nation, to build one with sensitivity, compassion, and respect for the victims of individuals whose actions were informed by Islamic teaching.

Which begs the question: If Muslims should refrain from building a mosque near ground zero, should Christians do the same in communities that would be upset over the building of a church? They should, and have.

In the 1980’s, a group of Carmelite nuns set up a convent at Auschwitz. A Christian presence on a site where over 1.5 million Jews were executed was an immediate affront to Jewish sensibilities. The Jewish reaction was understandable to many, but others wondered how a mendicant order devoted to contemplative prayer could offend anyone. Sound familiar?

For years the convent was a festering sore in Jewish-Christian relations; then Pope John Paul II stepped in. Although everyone agreed that the nuns were acting within their legal rights, the pope knew that they were not acting rightly. So in 1993, he ordered the Carmelites to move to a different location in the province. In his statement, the pope expressed regret that the decision to do the right thing wasn’t made at a lower ecclesial level. Did I mention that subsidiarity is a core principle of Catholic social teaching?

In the same way, if the Muslim community does not stand down from its decision to build a mosque near the sacred soil of the fallen towers, what it’s doing is sure to be anything but salve to American-Muslim relations.

The controversies over the convent and mosque are emblematic of our sad condition: a fractured society of self-concerned selves, straining against the little death of putting the concerns of others above the desire to exercise their untrammeled freedoms.

While the first controversy was settled, eventually, by what was morally and civilly right, it remains to be seen whether the second one will, or whether it will only widen the crack in Humpty Dumpty’s shell.

SOURCE: www.breakpoint.org

Transition and Change by Stephen Gray

What is God saying? This question has been raised a great deal lately as I travel. It seems like everyone knows there is a transition under way. To answer the question of “What is God saying," we must understand that often God is speaking about things that are coming and deal with future movements. We see this in the ministry of John the Baptist as he preached repentance and a coming kingdom. I personally find that God speaks on different levels. Such as He speaks to me personally and then about the things he wants me to do and then about the things He is doing.  I also believe God wants to share many things with us if we will take the time to press in and listen. My word to you is that God is speaking profoundly right now and you need to know what He is saying to you. So many struggle in the matter of knowing how to hear God. When in fact the real problem is taking the time to hear from God.

God is speaking directly to the church about change! There is a powerful move of transformation moving in the body of Christ today. Your spiritual growth is under God’s microscope and He is making the necessary changes to bring about faster and greater growth. Two words I heard this morning were sovereignty and providence.  It means God is everywhere and involved in everything. God does not cause tragedy although He does allow it even to His people. It is perhaps the greatest change agent not just for his people but also for civilization itself. Always has been and always will be. Today for the Christian trials and testing is epidemic in the church at a rate never before seen. Why? Because God is growing faith at an incredible rate because we will need it for the days ahead. Not to survive but to become the fruitful bride He desires. It is a time to examine your fruitfulness!

We must understand the pull of religious works and performance for value is at an all time high. Song of Solomon 1:6 warns us of the danger of such action.

“Do not look upon me, because I am dark, because the sun has tanned me.
My mother’s sons were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards,
But my own vineyard I have not kept. “

“Mother’s sons” is a reference to man or religious people. They are angry because you desire intimacy from the king (Jesus) and are not caught up in their worldly pursuits. They put pressure on you to keep the “vineyards” plural meaning the works of man. “But my own vineyard, singular, I have not kept, meaning your true purpose.

Here we are warned of religious exercise that causes us to run around doing things for God and all the time forgetting that God’s priority for each of us is to be “CHANGED.”

For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Romans 8:29

Stay Teachable! by David Orton

To fear the Lord is to be taught of the Lord.


In fact, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.


But this wisdom is so beyond human ken it must be supernatural. Therefore, only by imbibing the “spirit of the fear of the Lord” (Isa 11:2) will we be filled with the desire and the ability to learn His ways.


But how does the “spirit of the fear of the Lord” work?


The majesty of God


First, confronted by the majesty of God, my stubbornly held autonomy is broken and I inwardly bow.


In awe of Him I yield and lose myself in the divine embrace. Relinquishing to Him my very personhood He becomes my King and I his slave. My rebellion dissolves and I am given a new spirit – one that trembles at His word. And so, every futile attempt at self-salvation is relinquished. Laying aside my rights and my will, even in the face of injustice, I entrust myself to Him as a faithful Creator. And finally my broken and contrite heart becomes a sacrifice that is acceptable to God (see Psa 51).


Teachable relationships


Secondly, the spirit of the fear of the Lord flows through into teachable relationships, especially with those whom God sets in Christ’s body as spiritual overseers and shepherds of the flock.


If our hearts have been conquered by the fear of the Lord we will pursue wisdom and counsel. We will seek out teachable relationships with authentic men and women of God in whom we can confide. The habit of our lives will demonstrate the humility of heart that seeks out the wisdom of the wise.
As the wisdom writer declares,


The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; But fools despise wisdom and instruction.
Proverbs 1:7


Without consultation, plans are frustrated, But with many counselors they succeed.
Proverbs 15:22


The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel.
Proverbs 12:15


Whether we are wise or a fool is shown by whether we have heart relationship with spiritual teachers who are intimates of God. The wise are always teachable, seeking out the wisdom of the wise. Fools, on the other hand, are wise in their own eyes, preferring their own counsel. In fact, they scoff, making light of the teaching of the wise.


A wise son accepts his father’s discipline, But a scoffer does not listen to rebuke.
Proverbs 13:1


The loss of the fear of the Lord and consequent refusal to engage in teachable relationships is the source of much demonic disorder in the body of Christ.


Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter envy and self-seeking in your hearts, do not boast and lie against the truth. This wisdom does not descend from above, but is earthly, sensual, demonic. For where envy and self-seeking exist, confusion (disorder) and every evil thing are there. But the wisdom that is from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, willing to yield, full of mercy and good fruits, without partiality and without hypocrisy.
James 3:13–17 NKJV

The anointing that teaches


Lastly, you may exclaim, “Aren’t I a priest of the new covenant, with direct access to Christ Himself? Why do I need relationship with spiritual teachers?”
The answer is, “Yes”, to the first question and, “Because you are proud”, to the second. The kingdom of God operates on laws of humility and interdependence. This is why the ecclesia functions as a body, each member connected and dependent on the other.


Even so, as John explains there is an anointing that teaches.


As for you, the anointing which you received from Him abides in you, and you have no need for anyone to teach you; but as His anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you abide in Him.
1 John 2:27 NAS


Clearly, the Holy Spirit is the divine Teacher operating through human teachers who are given, according to Ephesians chapter four, as gifts to the body. Otherwise, John, as an apostle and teacher, would not be writing these very words.


If you have imbibed the spirit of the fear of the Lord and received those whom God sends as wise teachers the Holy Spirit will witness as to whether their words are true or not.


And so, the believer’s greatest ability is always their teachability.


SOURCE: www.lifemessenger.org