Perspective

I am so thankful to the Lord that He is steadfast, faithful, paitent, and slow to anger. Why you may ask because I need all these characteristics as I walk through life. As I journey along the road of life and walk ever more in the new life I have been given in Christ, I realize that having the right perspective is essential. So many times in our life and childhood, it is the words of a loving parent or friend that say "this too shall pass" that remind us that our current difficulty is not permanent. These words of a comforting person bring perspective but now if we look at the words of Our Abba Father we see a whole new realm. I am convinced that to experience victory on earth, we must have a Heavenly perspective. Some would say that the old quote "To Heavenly minded to be of any earthly good" I have found this to be a lie. The more that I walk by faith in the Word of God that I am seated with Him in Christ (Ephesians 2:6) then the words and choices I bring are valued on earth because they bring His life into a situation. It is when I get stuck on assuming that my earthly perspective is total truth that my words and actions bring death (not manifesting His life through me). We are continually making assumptions about people, situations, problems, challenges, and our own issues. These assumptions are based on what we see but I believe what we see is the problem. If we see simply with earthly or carnal eyes, then I resulting assumptions will not bring life (His Life). Paul in Ephesians 1 talks about the opening of the eyes of our hearts, clearly Paul is not saying we are physically blind but spiritually. To be spiritually blind means to not see what God sees, for God sees the whole truth and through the Holy Spirit (who leads us into all truth - John 16:13) we also can have our spiritual eyes open. I was struck as I studied 2 Corinthians 2:9-16 how trained our senses are to this earth and not to the spiritual realm of Heaven. Since we have looked for life on earth, then it would it is reasonable that our senses would be trained to perceiving on earth. How do we actually experience being seated with Him in Christ in the heavenly places, it must come through believing the revealed Word of God. So training our senses to be directed by our spirit through the Holy Spirit comes as our mind is renewed by the Word of God. The Holy Spirit has been given to take the written Word of God and make it a reality in our lives. In other words the Holy Spirit takes of the things of Jesus and makes them personal for us. Forgiveness of all our sins is a wonderful truth but does not have power to free a person from guilt and condemnation til they appropriate the truth in the Word by faith. The Holy Spirit shows a person how specifically they have been forgiven and how the guilt and condemnation have been washed away. Forgiveness is a finished work in Heaven, it is not something I see materially in front of me so I must put faith in the Word of God that it is an accomplished work through Christ. Throughout the New Testament their are many references to Heaven as a present reality that will endure forever, rather than a place we are waiting to go when we die. This doctrine or tradition of the "sweet by and by" is a distortion of truth and something I believe the Devil has used to keep Christians from experiencing Abundant Life now. It is easy to put off "life" waiting for something to happen, change, or come about. Faith does involve waiting upon God, but the Life (Zoe=God's Life) is offered present tense. In 1 John 5:12 it says that if you have God's Son you have the life (Zoe-Eternal Life of God). All of this is in Heaven which is present tense, Jesus prayed in Matthew in the Lord's pray "Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven". Showing us that God's perfect will is in heaven but that He wants Heaven to be made manifest on earth. All this high and lofty talk, back to practical. Instead of looking at my latest tiff with my wife and drawing the conclusion that we will never totally have the partnership that I dream of I can look in Heaven for His perspective. The Lord gave me a picture of my wife and I in a dance where we move in partnership and union, as I see this picture as reality the occassional stepping on of each other's toes fit into the dance. If I go down the road of carnal assumptions about the latest tiff it brings me into discouragement. I really do have a choice to set my mind on things above (Colossians 3:1-4). Also as I have this wonderful picture of the dance, I can see that the empowerment comes from God. I see that we are both listening to the same music and moving in harmony with the music. The good news is I don't produce the music, this is His music. The music is captivating and beautiful, with the music comes the desire to dance and be in harmony. Another situation where I have an opportunity to see into Heaven and see that become a reality on earth is our current transition at ELM. As the ministry is working on wrapping up the sale of our current building our attentions go to finding a smaller more suitable location that is closer to the homes of the staff. It is easy to go down the road of anxiety, worry, frantic looking, or passivity. The Lord has shown me another road and that is to see He already has an ideal place for us, it is a matter of receiving the revelation of it in Heaven and then believing by faith that He will lead us to it. This takes out striving and self-effort but also shows us that we have a part and that is to be willing to see in Heaven and walk by faith for it to be manifested. I believe that God primarily works through His people (His Body in Christ) and one of the main ways that His power is released on the earth is through our prayers. Jesus gives us this template of how to pray in Lord's prayer, He wouldn't instruct us in meaningless and haphazzard ways to pray. I believe that prayer is one of the most powerful spiritual weapons we possess (along with the sword of the revealed Word of God), yet our view of prayer has been too shaped by worldly influences, our own upbringing, traditions, and cliches. I believe that to pray as Jesus showed us to pray is to release the resources of Heaven into earth, now that is a different way to view prayer. I do not believe that perceiving the spiritual realm is for those "special" or particularly "gifted" believers, as I look at the Word of God looking into the heaven is "normal" for believers. I am not saying that what you perceive in heaven will ever violate the written Word of God but only having it revealed by the Holy Spirit. I encourage you to look at some of the Scriptures I have discussed and ask the Holy Spirit to show you what is in heaven. I believe that as I look to God's perspective (will) in heaven that I will be able to pray for children more effectively. Instead of starting with my fears, I can begin with God's plan and will to see that come about in their lives.

In Christ's Finished work of Grace,
Bret