Spiritcode

Spiritual sacrifices 2 servant heart

Romans 12:1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable (logical) way to serve. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may discern what is the good (beneficial) and acceptable (appreciated) and perfect (completing God’s highest goal for our life) will of God.

There is a logical way to sacrificially serve God and one another that has a higher goal than other goals of just being faithful and doing our duty, or even to getting some kind of calculated reward or ‘good deal’ out of it. That is why we are talking about spiritual sacrifice, which means that if there is something that takes us beyond our selves and into God and is so worth doing, it is worth giving up other things to have that.

And here we have a goal that transcends ourselves and our own needs.
The higher goal is being transformed into the image and likeness of God, with Jesus living within us to know and discern what is the good and acceptable and perfect will of God. That ends up also transforming the world around us. We are here to make things better than what they are and that is worth doing, worth a sacrifice.

Well, how do we do that?
It is done by understanding that whatever we do, it can always be regarded in our spiritual conscience as ‘good’ and that God ‘appreciates it’ and that it is part of completing God’s highest goal for our life (the perfect will of God) which is to make us the best kind of person we were created to be and enjoying the blessings of his peace and love and joy in the doing and being of that (meditation). We give God all that we are, doing the best we can, aware and grateful for all of our limitations, and he makes us the best we can be. Our faith becomes the co-creative activity of doing life with God that results in the best that can be done. Tis is more of an adventure of discovery than mere duty of service.

Jesus compared the Old Testament total commitment offering, called the Burnt Offering to the total commitment in the New Testament of offering our bodies as a Living Sacrifice.
Hebrews 10:5 … a body You have prepared for Me. In burnt offerings and sacrifices for sin You had no pleasure (those things did not tick the box to complete or perfect the goal). Then I said, ‘Behold, I have come to do Your will, O God.’ (God’s will here means his heart’s desire for us that delights him and us)

Luke 17:5 …Lord increase our faith… This Scripture ends up with the story of servants doing their duty, knowing their place and not taking a place that is not theirs by wanting special attention in being served up their meal before the master had been served up his meal. He puts them in their place and they are called unworthy servants just doing their duty. None of us wants our shadowy self getting in the way and taking the shine off God’s work. And our serving him is not transactional in order to get for our self.

Each of us has a measure of faith, which is the faith necessary for each of us for our own particular servant life in our own particular circumstances and surroundings. That is our personal responsibility, not to be compared to someone else’s area of responsibility for which they get their faith and their grace and complete their goal in and with God.
We can fully believe and hope and expect that God’s supernatural power and love will be released and that we will share in the joy of seeing the result of God at work. Good things start happening that are beyond what we ask or think – wow. That is the logical way to serve and complete the highest goal in life that God has ordained for us. That is worth a sacrifice. That is a magnificent spiritual sacrifice.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Spiritual sacrifices The priesthood

1Peter 2:4 you yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house (where God abides), to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. (There are about five in the New Testament)

THE FIRST PRIESTHOOD
Moses spoke to Israel in the Old Testament and told them they were to be a nation of priests (Exodus 19:5). He set apart a priesthood that was to offer sacrifices to God on Israel’s behalf.

THE FIRST SACRIFICE
The first sacrifice was the shedding of blood for the forgiveness of sins (Hebrews 9:22). The first blood sacrifice offered was when God killed an animal to make hide-skin clothing for Adam and Eve to cover their sin and shame after the fall (Genesis 3:21).
Adam and Eve first tried to cover their own shame and guilt by using fig leaves to cover their nakedness, but this did not work because it was their own self-consciousness that devised this superficial covering. This never works, because we do this out of a feeling of feeling unaccepted for who we are in our weakness and so we try to hide that with things of our own design and making .
They also each put the blame onto someone else. Adam blamed his wife and said ‘the woman you gave me made me do it’. So he is also blaming God in this act of blame avoidance. Eve blamed the serpent ‘The devil made me do it’. This blood sacrifice of God for Adam and Eve foreshadowed the death of Jesus Christ as the lamb slain before the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8) in giving his life to the Father on behalf of all of us and our sins, covering our shame and guilt through his love for us.

THE SECOND PRIESTHOOD AND THE SPIRITUAL SACRIFICE
God’s love covers THE multitude of sins and that means all sin.
1Peter 4:8 Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
So our love for one another covers the shame and guilt for each other as each of us falls short and misses the mark of living in the fullness of God. That is a spiritual sacrifice of a spiritual priesthood.
Ephesians 5:2 And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

When we do this we do not cause another person to have to cover up for themselves by hiding from themselves or by blaming others. This act of mercy allows them to see who they really are and that they are loved as they are in the eyes of God. Then that person can accept their own responsibility in walking in light and truth and can be healed from their shame and guilt and self consciousness.
The alternative is that we judge and punish one another. If God did this to us we would stay in hiding under our inadequate covering of fig leaves of or own making, and hide from God and his love.
When Adam and Eve tried first of all to cover themselves up with fig leaves they stayed in hiding
It was only when they could see that they were still loved by God after they had fallen short and missed the mark that they could then accept the covering of hide-skin that was provided by God for them. We have to get on our knees and ask for grace to offer this spiritual sacrifice. That love is powerful and strong. It can also be tough and impose boundaries on people’s behaviour who are in our sphere of care.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Occupy till I return

Luke 19:12 A nobleman was called away to a distant Empire to receive a Kingdom and then return. Before he left his city, he called together ten of his servants and divided among them ten pounds of silver, saying, ‘Occupy till I return'. There were also people of the citizenry who despised him and sent a delegation after him to say, ‘We do not want him to be king over us.’ And when he returned, having received the kingdom, he commanded his servants to be called to him, to whom he had given the money, that he might call them to account for their occupying till his return.

In Daniel 4:13 Daniel had visions relating to Babylon's king, Nebuchednezzar, being dealt with by God, and he identified a 'watcher' which was an angel (‘iyr’) watching over the city (‘iyr’). So we see that a city is something that is watched over by angels. In ancient times cities had watchmen on the walls, as well as watching angels in the heavens. In Daniel ch. 9 Daniel had to wait for twenty one days for Michael to come and assist in the spiritual battle over the city. And in today’s cities we have angels or watchers over cities and we have the Church, also watched over by God’s angels (Revelation 1:20). The difference is that the Church is seated above Principalities and powers!

Matthew 16:18 I will build my church; and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it.
He was using language that the Jewish people of that day could relate to. He was actually touching the covenant promise made to Abraham in Genesis 22:17, where Abraham was told that his seed would possess the 'gates of his enemies'. Jesus was opening the gates of Heaven, and possessing the gates of His enemies. Those standing around and hearing Jesus say those words, were versed in the history of Israel and in its victories over its enemies, where the gates of the enemies were possessed.

The gates of the cities were where the elders of the city sat. Cities can have many gates. Jerusalem had twelve gates, according the Bible. The gates of today's cities stand for the different aspects of influence that rule people's lives.

There are earthly gatekeepers and Heavenly gatekeepers. We are told in Ephesians chapter 6:12 that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against Principalities and Powers, against spiritual wickedness in high places. The nature of 'spirit' is that it seeks expression, and Principalities, the dark angels who watch over cities will find expression through the structures and attitudes in that city.

There is a space to ‘occupy’.
Our spiritual warfare as the Church can shake and unseat those evil Principalities which are the 'heavenly' gatekeepers of the cities. These Prince powers set those attitudes in concrete, as it were, and people are imprisoned within those walls. People have their values endorsed by those attitudes promoted to them, and they become shaped and limited by them. But it is not enough to just shake loose the hold of those principalities. We must loose things on earth as well. Otherwise, if we do nothing about the structures and attitudes and only cast out the evil powers, then seven more demons will come in!

When Jesus gave the Church the keys of the Kingdom, He said 'what you loose on Earth will be loosed in Heaven' This is where the church begins to operate at the 'gates' on the earth. Just as there are gatekeepers in the Heavens, there are also gatekeepers in the earth, some harmful and some are a power for good.
Some of the gates of influence are; Politics, religion, education, the media, Law and order, sport and recreation, corporate finance and banking, healthcare and welfare.
Politics – The main gate of governmental influence. Religion – The gate of spiritual influence. Law and order – The gate of justice, defense, peace and order. Education – The gate of formation of values, knowledge and character. The media – The gate of unbiased transparent communication. Sport and recreation – The gate of friendly competition, character and role modeling. Corporate finance and banking – The gate of honest trade and merchandise and integrity. Healthcare and welfare – The gate of healing, care and compassion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Holy Spirit's burden for our Nation

The Church in Australia is sharing the burden of Holy Spirit for this nation, and this week freedom of religion will be discussed at a leadership level in politics

BEING YOUR SPIRITUAL SELF
1Samuel 17:28 When it was finally realized what David meant, someone told King Saul, and the king sent for him."Don't worry about a thing,"David told him."I'll take care of this Philistine!"
"Don't be ridiculous!"Saul replied."How can a kid like you fight with a man like him? You are only a boy, and he has been in the army since he was a boy!"
But David persisted."When I am taking care of my father's sheep,"he said,"and a lion or a bear comes and grabs a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and take the lamb from its mouth. If it turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. I have done this to both lions and bears, and I'll do it to this heathen Philistine too, for he has defied the armies of the living God! The Lord who saved me from the claws and teeth of the lion and the bear will save me from this Philistine!"
Saul finally consented,"All right, go ahead,"he said,"and may the Lord be with you!"
Then Saul gave David his own armor--a bronze helmet and a coat of mail. David put it on, strapped the sword over it, and took a step or two to see what it was like, for he had never worn such things before."I can hardly move!"he exclaimed, and took them off again. Then he picked up five smooth stones from a stream and put them in his shepherd's bag and, armed only with his shepherd's staff and sling, started across to Goliath. Goliath walked out toward David with his shield-bearer ahead of him, sneering in contempt at this nice little red-cheeked boy!
"Am I a dog,"he roared at David,"that you come at me with a stick?"And he cursed David by the names of his gods. "Come over here and I'll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals,"Goliath yelled.
David replied,"You come to me with a sword and a spear, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of the armies of heaven and of Israel--the very God whom you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head; and then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel! And Israel will learn that the Lord does not depend on weapons to fulfill his plans--he works without regard to human means or methods! He will give you to us!"

Spiritual warfare is now a powerful cooperation with the burden of the Holy Spirit.

Holy Spirit gives us a love for the truth and a contentment in God’s material provision
PROVERBS 30:7 O God, I beg two favors from you; let me have them before I die. First, help me never to tell a lie.
Second, give me neither poverty nor riches; Give me just enough to satisfy my needs. For if I grow rich, I may deny you and say, “Who is the Lord?” and if I am too poor, I may steal and thus insult God’s holy name.

 

Holy Spirit speaks to each one of us to give wisdom in our particular situations
1John 2:26 These things I have written to you concerning those who try to deceive you. But the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need that anyone teach you; but as the same anointing teaches you concerning all things, and is true, and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, you will abide in Him.

BEING PART OF THE CHOICE OF THE HOLY SPIRIT IN THE EARTH
There are many different gifts and ways to serve and bless and heal and encourage one another. This the Holy Spirit at work AS HE CHOOSES.
1Corinthians 12:11 But one and the same Spirit works all these things, distributing to each one individually as He wills.
We are part of that choice because of how we were created in eternity. These unique abilities get purified as God helps to move the motive and heart and thinking for the doing to be in rest and grace. We are part of that choice of Holy Spirit also as we see the Body of Christ in the multitude of denominations and different emphases of doctrine and structures.

Are Political parties going to be shouting at each other or as quiet Australians standing for The Christian heritage of Western society. Totalitarian Government aims to deculture the Western Social heritage and re-educate according to a new definition of Social Justice based on a new morality of enforced political correctness.
(see The Benedict Option – Rod Dreher)

The key to ‘Being part of the choice of Holy Spirit’ is not just matter of personal social preference but of a personal conviction for true freedom within the broad consensus of our Judaeo Christian heritage as a Western Nation under the Holy Spirit.
Ephesians 4:1-7 I urge you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling to which you have been called, with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call— one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all. However, he has given each one of us a special gift through the grace of Christ.)
I can see why we ended up with the RC church and I can see why we had to have reformations and I can see whey we have 33,000 denominations and somewhere there, there is us with one another other in the love of God sharing the heart of the Holy Spirit for our nation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Two Trees

Adam and Eve in the beginning of their lives on earth only spoke to God. He was the only person that they had in their minds. That was their life in paradise (which means ‘an enclosed and protected place’). He had told them that there was a tree in the garden that had fruit that they were not to eat of, or they would die. They knew He was greater than them and knew all things and had rule over their lives, so they listened to Him. Then one day they had a conversation with another person they had never met before, a shining serpent in the very tree they had been warned about. And in that day Adam and Eve let that person into their minds, and there he stayed. He also seemed to speak with great authority and he offered them an interesting and beguiling proposition. He told them they would not die, and that God knew that when they ate the fruit they would become like Him and have His knowledge to judge between good and evil. They listened to him and liked his lie and believed his lie and ate the fruit. That was the beginning of mankind’s confusing and distorted experience of incarceration in another kind of life in a new place, no longer Paradise, the enclosed place of protection. They were sent out of there into the province of deception, confined there along with the serpent and his allies, in the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil, where they would die. This has been mankind’s habitation to this day.
There was also another tree in the garden called the Tree of life, which was to be kept, preserved and unspoiled until at an appointed time it would be energized by God Himself, to bring forth a new endless life upon the earth. This tree was guarded from that time on from Adam and Eve and all mankind until the appointed time for its introduction into the earth for mankind’s new and endless life.
God had always planned for his sons and daughters in the earth, whom he loves, to enjoy that new dwelling place, the Tree of Life, better than Paradise, and not an enclosed place, but a place of openness and freedom where they would enjoy life on earth with the fulness of his life within them.
But how could mankind escape the tyranny and deception of the tree of knowledge? For four thousand years it had become the only life they knew, and they had made the best of it and the worst of it. God had not abandoned his children and during that time he intervened again and again, calling out of them a people, Israel, to whom he gave his Commandments of wisdom and knowledge. He sovereignly showed himself supernaturally strong and powerful on their behalf. He also gave them Prophets who would tell of his Son, who would become one of them and live among them and die for them to give them access to the tree of his endless life. His Son came and few believed the truth about him because the Tree of knowledge held too tight a grip upon their minds. They had become too used to its voice.
The Son Jesus has given us entrance into the tree of life, his risen life, available to all mankind through his act of obedience in his accepting the cup that his Father offered him at Gesthemane. Adam and Eve took the fruit of the tree of knowledge, and we take the cup of the tree of life. We receive his endless life and the authority of the Kingdom of God from Heaven into our lives when we voluntarily accept this cup of obedience to God. We cease to struggle to control the circumstances of the tree of knowledge and live in perfect hope and trust in his care for us in the tree of his life. We now bring the spiritual energy of his love and care of the tree of life into the tree of knowledge where we still also live and where we can bring order into disorder, joy into sorrow, wisdom into confusion, healing into pain. We can bring the transforming work of the tree of life over the world of the tree of knowledge that surrounds us. We can bring dead branches to life, set the crooked paths straight, and prepare the way of The Lord in our generation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Logos - The big idea

If a person wants to go ahead with something significant they have to start off with an idea, and how it is going to work and what is the intention for doing it.
The Logos was the Word, from the mind of God, the big idea which spoke all of creation into being for his own purpose and intention and which now sustains and upholds all of creation with that Word of power. That Word from that thought, is Jesus, the Logos made flesh. That was and is God’s big idea. That is what gives our lives meaning and purpose.
God knows the design and purpose for every particle of matter in the universe and he has set that in motion. That includes his big idea for us, to see him in our minds - ordering our hearts and minds to respond with trust and faith in every circumstance, difficult or favourable, that faces us.

We have a known past, a challenging present and an uncertain future. According to how we think and what we think, we are creating a better or a worse future.
It is natural for a person’s mind to dwell on the challenges and problems of the present moment, or the things of the past, and the apprehension for the future. Those thoughts are always accompanied by an emotion.

But our minds need to be wrapped up in the big idea, the lifechanging idea that gives our lives true meaning no matter what the past or present looks like. That big idea of Logos can sit above every other thought and disengage the negative emotion from every other negative or problematic thought.

Many have promised a better future for whoever will believe their ideas or their ideology for a better world.
1Corinthians 14:10 There are so many kinds of voices in the world, and none of them is without significance.
Jesus predicted that people would be swamped by a multitude of deceptive big ideas.
John 5:43 you do not receive me but there is another who will come in his own name whom you will receive…
We are living in a time when many people want to believe in anything new that might promise an idealistic future with more personal benefits. But many have not learned history or learned from history the struggles to achieve good and Godly government, and so personal discontent can open them up to false hopes in mistaken big ideas and ideologies. That is how Marxism was received and believed by millions upon millions of people who were and still are being destroyed by its principles.
Jesus brought the most radical new idea that mankind had ever heard of. The mind of God with a magnificent big idea for everyone - And the spiritual battle is for the mind of man – The trophy is the heart of man.

He said he was the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End’. He said ‘I am the way the truth and the life’ and ‘I am the light of the world’ and ‘Before Abraham was, I am’ and ‘I am the true vine and you are the branches and my Father is the husbandman’ and ‘I am the good shepherd’ and ‘I am the resurrection and the life’ and ‘I am the bread of life’. That was from the mind of Logos -The Big Idea that delivers truth and salvation.
So we base our hopes upon what we know and we become very serious about what we think.
We need to know why we think what we think? Proverbs 23.7 As he thinks in his heart so is he.
We let the seed of that Big Idea grow in our hearts and multiply its fruit in our lives.

Psalm 72:6 There will be a handful of grain in the earth, on the top of the mountains. Its fruit shall wave like Lebanon; And those of the city shall flourish like grass of the earth

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Logos at work

1Thessalonians 2:13 … when you received the word (Logos) of God which you heard from us, you welcomed it not as the word of men, but as it is in truth, the word of God, which also effectively works in (energao - energizes) you who believe.

James 1:21… Humbly receive the implanted word (Logos), which is able to save your souls.

Hebrews 4:12 For the word (Logos) of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, making a division between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires. That is the way to go forward in life!

The soul and the spirit are not opposed to each other, but they operate with different energies. The energy of the soul operates by the movement of our emotion, directed by our will, according to what our mind tells us what is ‘good’ for us to have or to do. Our minds can be corrupted by the spirit of the ‘age’, the intellectual, moral, and cultural climate of an era (Zeitgeist). There is a frenzied unbridled spirit abroad that is emotionally hyperactive and lawless. It seeks to destroy long established and time honoured values, and punish the people who hold to them. This is in the sense that laws are meant to be made by respecting the accumulated wisdom of those who have gone before us to shape a civilized community of God fearing people into the present day. God’s absolute Law for the government of human behaviour in a community is the Ten Commandments. Jesus elaborated on the application of these in the setting of his time (eg, killing/anger). Godly wisdom gets applied in areas of unexplored territory so as to serve the entire community (RBT), and not just special interests. Godly government under God strives to realize this in the midst of hollow and pretentious agendas.

Romans 12:2 And do not be conformed to this age (aion) but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.
Ephesians 2:2 you once walked according to the age (aion) of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience.

BUT…

The energy of our spirit, joined by faith to God’s Spirit releases the energy of Logos, the Word, Jesus, Who is the energy that uphold and orders the Universe.
Hebrews 1:3 who upholds all things by the word (Logos) of His power…
Living according to the Word is more than simply reading the Word; it is reaching into the implanted Logos , the seed, with its DNA, and aligning our mind and heart to that, to release that energy from our spirit through into our souls, which becomes reordered in its RENEWED MINDSET of truth, anchored in emotional stability and graced in its yielded and redirected will. You are a walking, talking Logos in action, part of God’s action.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Logos and the Seed

Peter 1:23 since you have been born again, not of a seed that wastes away but of one that continues throughout the ages, through the living and abiding word (LOGOS) of God which lives and abides forever.

Ephesians 3:17 And I pray that Christ will be more and more at home in your hearts, living within you as you trust in him. May your roots go down deep into the soil of God's marvelous love; and may you be able to feel and understand, as all God's children should, how long, how wide, how deep, and how high his love really is; and to experience this love for yourselves, though it is so great that you will never see the end of it or fully know or understand it. And so at last you will be filled up with God himself.

HOW DOES THIS SEED GERMINATE? - The seed has to be sown or planted.
The first response for the planted seed is its reaction to water. The water must soften the outer shell in order to penetrate and then it is vital for water to combine with the receptive active enzymes and proteins within that seed, which can only spring into life when water reacts with them.
The second response is for a root to form and to break through the softened outer shell and begin its growth downwards into the soil so that more water can be accessed and also to allow it to become anchored.
The third response is for a shoot to begin to form and to break through and grow upwards towards the warmer soil and to finally break through where it can be exposed to the sunlight.
Up to this point all the energy that has gone into the growth has come from within the essence of the seed itself. There has yet been no energy from the sun’s rays to act upon the leaves.
The fourth response is when the sunlight acts upon the shoot and its leaves and there is a new burst of growth that produces branches and fruit to be harvested.(Mark 4:28)

The seed of LOGOS has to be delivered into a receptive heart that will give meaning to that WORD and to understand its great worth us, to bring us into harmony with God’s life that can become active in us. Our spirit has been joined to His Spirit (1Corinthians 6:17) Spiritual energy works out from rest. Will power toils.
The original seed gives way to a new form of life (it dies) which begins to grow and multiply more seed, which goes through the same cycle to multiply the population of that new form of life.

Jesus said that he was that seed, and that unless that seed went into the ground and died there would be no multiplication of his life upon the earth. Jesus was once the only human being to carry the life of God within, and to be able to choose to let God be active and on display through his humanity. He wanted all of humanity to have this great blessing (2Peter 3:9 willing that none should waste away -perish, come to nothing).

John 12:23 Jesus replied that the time had come for him to return to his glory in heaven, and said "I must fall and die like a seed of wheat that falls into the furrows of the earth. Unless I die I will be alone--a single seed. But my death will produce many new wheat seeds--a plentiful harvest of new lives. If you love your life down here--you will lose it. If you put your life down here second to my new life--you will exchange it for the glorious expression of my life all the time and for all time.”

We allow the outer shell of that seed to give way for its hidden life to become the expression of His life. That involves the suffering we go through as we yield our self-serving will to give way to the Spiritual energy of His love that He desires to live though us. We are watering that seed and softening our outer shell when we sit in contemplation and thanksgiving for the wonder of who He is and what He is doing from moment to moment.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Logos

For four hundred years before Jesus came to Earth, God had prepared the then known world to be conquered, ruled and assimilated by the Greeks, under Alexander the Great. The Greek territories absorbed the conquered cultures and developed philosophical principles of government and culture and thought (Socrates, Plato Aristotle). The one overarching thought that encompassed the meaning, wonder and design of an ordered Universe was the concept of the Logos.

It was a belief that Logos was some form of intentional idea/principle (abstract?!) that can be seen everywhere; it made up the earth, trees and even us as humans, and logos does not just give everything form; it also gives it order. For humans, this means that logos determines who is who and who is placed where, because logos, the immutable essence of life and underlying master plan for all events, encompasses the entire world and, therefore, constitutes the ideal way to order it. In fact, logos is perpetually working to move the universe forward in the best way possible.

This Stoic philosophical thought meant that even when people went through difficult periods of life, they kept faith that they fitted into the grand plan of logos, since everything that happens is answerable to and ordered by what is right. This word was also the belief system of the Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius (contained in those thoughts above).

For the Jewish Nation over that same four hundred year period (called the ‘silent years), after the book of Malachi was written, the last book of the Old Testament, The Jewish people had no Prophets, and no living Word from God. They had the Torah, and other Scriptures, which they endlessly studied and debated.

This was the state of the mindset of that world that Jesus was born into.
So the following Scripture by the Apostle John astonished the then known world, both Jews and Greeks;

John 1:2-5 In the beginning was the Word (Logos), and the Word (Logos) was with God, and the Word (Logos) was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.
14. And the Word (Logos) became flesh and dwelt among us, and we beheld His glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father, full of grace and truth.
16. And of His fullness we have all received, and grace for grace. For the law (Torah) was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.

To the Greeks the Logos was a powerful concept, as described above; it wasn’t thought of as a person…
To the Jews the Word was the Torah, the Commandments, the Statutes, the Covenant; Words written by God. They immersed themselves in the Word and in this way they were bound to God and his ways. (Psalm 119).
But the Gospel was that LOGOS had arrived, a person, Jesus Christ, born of The Spirit, the living seed of life from above. And Jesus caused us to be bound to God, joined to God through himself, the Logos, the creative fulness of God’s love and wisdom and power for good in the Universe. This was the new seed of life from Heaven which has been planted in us, the fulness of God - born to grow and mature and bear the fruit of God’s ways.

Jesus told them he was Logos as the seed of the word, and he told the Jews he was more than Torah
John 5:38 But you do not have His word (Logos) abiding in you, because whom He sent, Him you do not believe. You search the Scriptures, for in them you think you have eternal life; and these are they which testify of Me. But you are not willing to come to Me that you may have life.
1Peter 1:23 since you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word (Logos) of God;

We allow, by our conscious faith and thanksgiving, this living Logos to form and shape us, filling our minds and hearts. (John 5:38)
The parable of the sower (Matthew 13) speaks of the growth of that seed, that depends upon the heart response to the logos, and the conscious attention we give to the cultivation of that seed. There are four types of heart responses – disordered mind, distressed heart, materialistic distraction, or hearts of faith in Jesus.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Resurrection and the King of Justice

When Jesus rose from the dead and went to Heaven, God as man entered the throne room of Heaven.
Psalm 24:7 Lift up your heads, O gates! and be lifted up, O ancient doors, that the King of glory may come in.
Jeremiah 9:24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices lovingkindness, righteousness and justice, in the earth. For in these things I delight…

Jesus as God and man came back to the earth for forty days to show that he had indeed risen from the dead
Jesus met with his disciples and many others (500+) with some believing and some doubting. They gathered in rooms and also at the seashore and ate fish with Jesus after they had been fishing. This was a time when they listened to Jesus talk about the coming of The Holy Spirit and it was the time for Peter to resolve the guilt and shame of his denial of Jesus, and to confirm his love for him. It was also the time when he was forgiven and lovingly commissioned for his Apostolic leadership ministry of the Gospel.

After the forty days were over Jesus ascended bodily back to Heaven to rule over his Kingdom. and then ten days later the Holy Spirit was poured out, and then the ascended Jesus could make his heavenly place a heavenly place in our hearts, along with the Father and the Holy Spirit. We could now share a heavenly life with them in the earth, because only then did the heavenly Kingdom rule in the earth. We were also given the heavenly place at his side, seated together with him, where he rules as King of the Universe.

Jeremiah 9:24 but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices lovingkindness, righteousness and justice, in the earth. For in these things I delight…

WHERE IS GOD’S JUSTICE IN THE EARTH?
God charged the kings of Israel to rule justly. The archetype is Solomon early in his reign (1Kings 3:9).
These three things that God has always exercised in the earth he now does as Jesus, the King of kings.
lovingkindness (kindness, compassion) and righteousness (morals, ethics, integrity) are probably more often discussed than justice (Rescue, recovery, restoration and resolving). Unfortunately justice in a democracy is inconsistent and arbitrary.
We are his representatives to exercise these same things on behalf of the king of Heaven in the earth.
You are the place on earth where Heaven meets a struggling humanity that needs justice from those who serve them justly. Each of us has a role in life with a sphere of influence in which we can do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly before our God.
Just means trust. We should all put the needs of those in our care above personal advantage.
1Kings 3:9 Give your servant therefore an understanding mind to govern your people, that I may discern between good and evil, for who is able to govern this your great people?”
It pleased the Lord that Solomon had asked this. And God said to him, “Because you have asked this, and have not asked for yourself long life or riches or the life of your enemies, but have asked for yourself understanding to discern what is right, behold, I now do according to your word. Behold, I give you a wise and discerning mind, so that none like you has been before you and none like you shall arise after you. I give you also what you have not asked, both riches and honor, so that no other king shall compare with you, all your days
You are that place on earth, where prayers are answered and the supernatural witness of God is established. (Acts 4:33)
Jesus said he was the Resurrection and the life. Are we now willing to be his Resurrection and the life? It is not just His resurrection – It is ours.