Dear People Who Keep Company With God,
I think most of us would like our faith to simplify some things, answer some questions and settle issues of life. And it does, but not always. For instance, we would love to know why everyone who believes God for healing is not healed.
In some ways Christianity would be so much easier if everything was black & white, but it’s not. The answers to some of life’s most challenging questions are not always an either/or, but more like both/and.
Being a follower of Christ is both simple and not so simple. The way into the kingdom of heaven is incredibly narrow (Matt. 7:13-14) and there are some very black & white things in the New Testament that are there to serve and protect us.
But, once you are in the kingdom the life we’re called into is wide open. The Message Bible calls it the wide-open spaces of grace (Rom. 5:1-2). As beautiful as that sounds, and it really is a beautiful life, that does not mean it is always simple. There is a plethora of stuff in the New Testaments that is anything but black & white.
On some days black & white seems so appealing, but do we really want a life of principles and rules and not one of relationship? After all, living in the wide-open spaces boils down to a life of relationship with the Lord and each other. We have been granted the opportunity to learn to live in the wide-open. It is a process and here are five things that have helped me in my ongoing journey in the kingdom.
1. Stop relating to God like you are still under the Old Covenant. Don’t interpret the New Testament with the Old Testament. Interpret the Old with the New. God poured out His wrath on Jesus at the cross. We are no longer vessels of wrath. He is not mad, disappointed or put off at us, ever. He does not cause sickness, death or sorrowful difficulties. Jesus is our perfect representation of God now. What you see in Him is what God is really like. As Bill Johnson said, “Jesus is perfect theology.”
2. Training For Reigning. You have to get into the corral with Jesus and let Him train you before you will ever understand how to live in the wide-open spaces. The Message Bible says it best, “Walk with me and work with me — watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won’t lay anything heavy or ill-fitting on you” (Matt. 11:29).
3. Stop looking for the manna to fall from heaven. Manna was for the wilderness wanderings, but when Israel crossed over into the Promised Land the manna ceased (Josh. 5:12). We are to participate with God by accessing, and cultivating what He gave us in our land of promises, the heavenly places in Christ (Eph. 1:3). We are Co-laborers with Christ.
4. Learn to live with mystery. Mystery is part of the beauty of the wide-open spaces. And part of the beauty is the adventure in discovering and knowing the mysteries (Matt. 13:11-12). And besides that, would you really want a God that you can fully figure out (Rom 11:33)?
5. Deny the temptation to be an expert. You do not have to have all the answers. Don’t take yourself so seriously (Rom. 12:3). Paul refused to wear the expert tag (Phil 3:12-14 Msg.) and for good reason. The Pharisee’s were the experts in his day.
Many Blessings, BW