the mighty soft answer
Look close how Acts 2 begins. God picked a point where all those who cared most about him were in one place seeking him with one passion (literal translation of Acts 2.1 from the greek). The Holy Spirit was first poured out then, and the church was born.
This place of coming together with one passion is so indescribably valuable. What if in the middle of all our lives and all our priorities and all our ambitions and concerns and pursuits, we were able to all be simultaneously overtaken by the kingdom of God?
Just as the Holy Spirit came upon Mary, just as she was overshadowed by the Most High, and just as that Holy thing was conceived in her; so is anyone who truly believes from the heart that the resurrected Jesus reigns. The shadow of the Most High - what an amazing and sacred place to live in!
God leaves no question that that’s the collective environment the church was born in. What if we started to treat that as the most valuable thing we possessed together? We all love talking about Christ in you - the hope of glory.
Consider that the baby (John the Baptist) leapt in Elizabeth’s womb when Mary walked in the door pregnant with Jesus. What if we looked at each other and immediately expected to recognize Christ at that depth? What if our relationships were ongoing opportunities to say blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord? I’m guessing the unity of the Spirit and the bond of peace would be revealed at a level this earth has never seen before.
What about this timeframe in the continuum of history - could we live out the kingdom of God like no other generation since the church was born? What if we gave ourselves over to the soft answer of the Holy Ghost that turns away anger? What if all who named the name of Jesus were skilled in making and never violating peace, in being unoffendable, in reconciling what everyone else views as irreconcilable; the quickest people in the world to say “i’m sorry” in the face of strife and misunderstanding? What if we had no interest in being individual know-it-alls, what if all our interest was in loving God and being known by him?
Can you meet up in that place of one mind, one heart, one soul, one passion?
I hope and pray.
I LONG to see it. thanks for your help keeping our heads turned toward the Kingdom of God.
there’s no doubt in my mind it’s what the Spirit has to say to the churches in 2008. God wants so badly to catch us off-guard, to suddenly be right in the middle of us, upon us, overwhelming us, amazing us. i love when i get words like this because they’re written out before i have a second to think twice - these are the things Father has engraved deep and pure on our hearts. when we speak them out as the Spirit breathes them, we have a witness in our own spirits - & that witness comes unmistakably out of the place of our inner man. there is such an intense precious hunger and thirst that God wants to release among his people right now. the creation itself literally is groaning over this tension, this desire, this infinite promise. the Kingdom of God is revealed wherever the freedom of the sons of God is on full display. This is worth any price. Human abilities and resources can’t get near it - what Father wants is our absolute abandon >>
woah…. wow. amen. speech to make speechless filled w/ utterances. measure upon measure upon measure upon measure. is what happens in this corporate pursuit. Glen, God has been showing me this word and these scriptures for 2008. I believe this corporate heart is coming fast!
the Hope of His Calling - He said, I did not come to pray for the world, but those Father, you gave me out of the world.” John 17.
Then Ephesians chapter 1 - I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened, so that you will know what is the hope of His calling, what are the riches of the glory of His inheritance in the saints,
19and what is the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe. These are in accordance with the working of the strength of His might
20which He brought about in Christ, when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places,
21far above all rule and authority and power and dominion, and every (BK)name that is named, not only in this age but also in the one to come.
22And He put all things in subjection under His feet, and gave Him as head over all things to the church,
23which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all.
He wants his body, the church to be the FULLNESS OF HIM! Unified in Spirit and Truth!
He said to his Father in John 17 -
21that they may all be one; even as You, Father, are in Me and I in You, that they also may be in Us, so that the world may believe that You sent Me.
22″The glory which You have given Me I have given to them, that they may be one, just as We are one;
23I in them and You in Me, that they may be perfected in unity, so that the world may know that You sent Me, and loved them, even as You have loved Me.
We shall be in The Father and the Son like we have not been before as a church!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Yes! Lord - do it!
yes. all i can say is amen. bro, this is deep to say the least. lets come together before the Lord. really. one in mind and spirit.
It just struck me as I was reading Thomas’ words how passionately Father wants Jesus to be seen in the earth today. He tells us over and over as individual believers are told to look in look in the mirror and see Jesus. And the verses Thomas just quoted spell it out so loud and clear: anyone looking at the church should be seeing nothing short of Jesus. >> His ministry on full display in those he is proud to call his brothers >>
That puts us together in that place of desperate confidence to see what God has promised actually played out in our lives. Again, the upper room is our prayer closet; and it is that amazing intimacy carried over into wherever 2 or 3 are gathered in Jesus name. And the invitation to being unmistakably ONE with the Father and the Son and each other is a wide wide open door.
John 17 are paryers Father answers before teh 2nd Coming. Jesus only saw what the Fahter was doing. Jesus prays what the Father is doing. He is making intercession for the Fullness of Him, his body - the church to come forth. He wants it to shine. He did not keep it a secret. Isaiah 62 speaks to this church or bride as well!!!
I would quote it - but just go look.