The feet of Jesus...

Hands up who likes feet? No, me either. You see some pretty dodgy ones that's for sure. Somehow because they are so far away from the CPU they obviously don't get a lot of attention and often they look pretty neglected  but we would be very lost without them.

I have been thinking about a verse and it made me think about feet.

The verse goes like this:

'But the multitude were aware of this and followed Him; and welcoming them, He began speaking to them about the kingdom of God and curing those who had need of healing.' Luke 9: 11

 The church, of which I am a member, has adopted this verse as its vision and we have declared ourselves to be:

'Following in the footsteps of Jesus by Welcoming, Proclaiming and Healing.'

www.communitylifechurch.org.au

 

Together with this vision are eight core values which you can see by looking at the website.

Lately we have been encouraged to consider our missional response to this vision and our values.
It made me think about feet. The reference to 'footsteps', I guess, was the inspiration.
If we are Christians I don't think we could reasonable argue with the thought that we are the sent ones of God. Just as Jesus was sent so are we sent...Jesus was pretty plain when He said that. Undoubtedly this is a great challenge to some, if not all. We are the sent ones, like ambassadors sent to a foreign land to extol the virtues of our land of origin. Our role is to extol the virtues of the King of our land of origin. When we accepted Jesus, the King, we moved to a new land and so as we are still here in this world our primary role is to do whatever we can to bring to light the virtues of the King of our land. I guess there are a myriad of ways in which we can do that but one thing is for sure that is the purpose of our remaining. Not to extol the virtues of any organisation, even dare I say it, if that organisation is a church...our purpose is to bring Jesus.

Feet...feet propel us on our journey.
Where do they take us? I have no interest to know where your feet took you this week but I want to give you a thought.
Think of Jesus' feet, (I wonder what they were like?) they took Him to places where there was lack, and disease, and rejection, and condemnation, and even death.
My thoughts are these...He went there so that we, in our own lives need not. He went there so that you need not personally accept and suffer these things. So it is on the basis of what He did that you can say no to these things.
And...He went there so that we would know where to go to co-mission with Him. Oh, I accept that not everyone will know the strength or inspiration to go to these places but God will certainly give you a role to play in touching hopeless, diseased, rejected, condemned and dead lives.

Consciously make yourself available to that role...

You know I think He was serious because after a lot of 'going' He went to the cross where His feet were pierced in the most barbaric way man could conceive. The enemy undoubtedly rejoiced in the thought that he had ceased the ministry of going in Jesus but not so, because having done what was necessary we read in John 20: 19 that when the disciples were gathered together after Jesus had been to the cross 'Jesus came and stood in their midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you." '
Luke 24: 40 says that 'He showed them His hands and His feet.' Great significance in this act, I think.

I think Jesus stood on His feet as He said, "Peace be with you; as the Father sent Me, I also send you." Still standing He breathed on them to receive everything they would need to fulfil this commission...the Holy Spirit.

Take heart, you have all you need, He will not fail you, just stand up on your feet and make yourself available to the role He has for you to bring the kingdom...not the church...beloved hear this truly, we aren't here to build the church, we are here to build the Kingdom.

Stand and make yourself available to Him and He will show you His Kingdom purpose for you. You see it isn't about what you will do for Him, it's about what He will do through you. No burden there, make yourself available to Him.
Bless you.

Chicken or egg...?

No doubt you have heard the dilemma question...'which came first the chicken or the egg?'
I have been thinking about that.
The great oracle 'Wikipedia' declares that this 'causality dilemma' goes back a long way and that to 'ancient philosophers the question about the first chicken or egg also evoked questions of how life and the universe in general began'.
Aristotle (384 - 322 BC) apparently got a bit hung up on this question and came to the conclusion that the chicken and the egg must have always existed. 'If there had been a first man he must have been born without father or mother - which is repugnant to nature. For there could not have been a first egg to give beginning to birds, or there should have been a first bird which gave beginning to eggs; for a bird comes from an egg. The same he held good for all species, believing, with Plato, that everything before it appeared on earth had first its being in spirit'. Interesting thought!
Plutarch (46 - 126) wrote that '...the problem about the egg and the hen, which of them came first, was dragged into out talk, a difficult problem which gives investigators much trouble. And Sulla my comrade said that with a small problem, as with a tool, we were rocking loose a great and heavy one, that of the creation of the world'.
I've got a headache.
I am not a philosopher and make no claim to match with these great minds of the past but the fact is that despite the phenomenal advances we see since Aristotle and Plutarch had their moments the question still frustrates us today. It is frustrating me right now. It is about dilemmas. We are presented with dilemmas. The chicken and egg question is really about the dilemmas we face. Well it is for me.
One thing to note from the references I have shared above is that these blokes clearly had a view that the dilemmas like the chicken - egg tapped into something far greater than just chickens and eggs. Statements like 'creation of the world' and 'first its being in spirit' opens something greater than what we mere mortals are capable of producing.
Now you may not agree with me, there isn't a lot I can do to convince you, but the fact is that I am personally convinced that the greater depths of these questions and considering such things as 'creation' exposes me to God. And when I am exposed to God then I must position myself.
In fact I think mankind experiences this dilemma everyday. Everyday we are exposed in some way to God. We see a beautiful vista and we wonder; we look into the night sky and we wonder; we have a near miss and we wonder; we receive some amazing blessing and we wonder; we receive the blessing of a new born child and we wonder; we get a text and we answer 'OMG'...and in the midst of our 'wondering' we consciously or sub-consciously position ourselves in relation to God. I guess in all those moments we actually make a decision whether we believe in God or not...whether it's all about us or all about Him.
Anyway back to the question...which came first the chicken or the egg?
This question has come to me in recent days and it is a dilemma.
This is about WTL.
If you want to know about WTL can I suggest you go to our webpage, www.cambodiawtl.org.au.
We are standing before a door.
Some time ago God clearly declared that we were entering a period of growth. In fact WTL exists only because God said that WTL would be an 'avenue that we must walk down into growth'. We have been waiting for the growth.
Now I am often a bit slow and in my dullness I have been believing that growth equalled increased funding. The sad fact is that for WTL to do what WTL is called to do we need money and so I have 'believed' that growth equalled more money.
A dear friend said recently words to this effect, "But what does growth look like? Is it more money, or is it something else?"
It didn't hit me right there and then but it has slowly seeped in.
A few other things have happened, (there is a lot going on), and we are standing in front of a door.
We know a little of what lies beyond the door but only a little and frankly it is scary.
If we go through the door we are going to need a lot more money.
Which comes first? The chicken or the egg?
What is he talking about?...I hear you ask.
In our walk before God we absolutely declare Him to be the provider of all things, the One who hold us in His hand and will never let us go, the One who gave everything He had to restore us to Him, the One who is waiting for us to position ourselves to receive the absolute magnitude of the 'riches of glory in Christ Jesus', the One who wants to 'bless us with all spiritual blessings in Christ Jesus', the One who wants us to sit at His right hand in Christ and receive 'the surpassing riches of His grace in kindness', the One who wants us to experience His favour...I could go on and on.
Our dilemma of faith is this...
'Do we wait for the funding, or do we just walk through the door anyway?'
Take Abraham who is one of the giants of faith presented to us in Hebrews 11. God clearly declares there in verse 8 'when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive as an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going'. Hmmm...
Isn't it funny how people who preach often get challenged by their own words? I have taken some young people to Cambodia on mission trips. Part of being on one of our little trips is that you have the opportunity to speak...you don't have to but you can if you want. I always encourage these people to prepare their testimonies as a good place to start when preaching because there is nothing, I find, more powerful than our own stories under the hand of God; it is our story given to us by God and we can easily get passionate about our own story. There are a significant number of times when I have had a young person before me quivering with apprehension as the time approaches for them to speak. I always say the same thing...'Don't worry, you have done some preparation, Jesus is here, He is with you, just get up and go to the front and He will meet you there. God doesn't meet us when we are sitting in our chair, He meets us on the way. He wants us to start walking first and then He meets us on the way. Don't worry, He will meet you there'. You know what? He always does. I have seen quivering wrecks go to the front with their little testimony in their shaking hands and watched them not refer once to their little piece of paper and bring the house down, in Jesus name.

My dilemma...
To step through this door we need a lot of money which we don't have...that is that hand.
The other hand says that this is the call of God, step in, get up and go, move forward, step through, get underway, go!...and I will provide.
Which comes first the chicken or the egg?
I hear God say, 'Step through'.
I hear God say, 'Do you need the egg before you have the chicken?'
I hear God say, 'Do you really believe that I need the egg before I can give the chicken?'
I hear God say, 'Take the chicken, I will provide the egg'.

Remember Plutarch who thought that the chicken - egg dilemma was really about the creation of the world? This is all really about the creator of the world. Does God really need an egg to produce a chicken, or a chicken to produce an egg? God spoke and 'made the stars also' (Genesis 1: 16).

Does he really need our bank account full before we step through His door?

What would you do?