I was reading from Ephesians 4 and thinking about how interpersonal conflicts arise.  Sometimes they come out of self-preservation, self-promotion, self-protection, as well as a host of other reasons.  But usually ”self” is at the heart of them.  Proverbs tells us that “only by pride cometh contention.”  Conflicts often arise because of this focus. 

     Ephesians 4:1-3 give us the opposite approach.  “I therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you that ye walk worthy of the vocation wherewith ye are called.  With ALL LOWLINESS and MEEKNESS, with LONGSUFFERING, FORBEARING one another in love; ENDEAVORING to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.”  It helps me remember that this life is not about me nor is it about seeing me continue to rise higher and higher in the eyes of God and man.  If I let go of all of that and focus on the exultation and promotion of others, I am free from this carnal approach to life. 

     Focus this day on being an encouragement to someone else.  Bless someone else.  It’s not about you anyway so don’t worry about the ramifications of circumstances surrounding you.  Just yield yourself to God and trust Him to live His life out through yours.  Do as He did.  Go from place to place healing the brokenhearted, comforting the weak, being an ambassador for Christ in this lost world.

     Focus on that.

I was reading from Ephesians 3 today…  Verse 12, when speaking of Christ, says: “In whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of him.”  Because we are in Christ, certain things should be prominent in our walk.  Note the boldness and access with confidence.  How can we have this boldness and access with confidence? - Because Christ has access to the Father and WE ARE IN CHRIST.  Therefore, WE have access to the Father.  This can’t be something we just skip over.  This is a truth that must be meditated on.  This is a truth that frees us from our insecurities and self-doubt and misgivings!  I’M IN CHRIST.  I have this access to God because Christ does.  And let me take this a step further…  I have the SAME access to the Father that Christ does!!!  How can this be??? - Because, once again, I’m in Christ.  Don’t forget that you already died when Christ died.  Don’t forget that God counts you to have died when Jesus gave up the ghost.  You no longer live.  It is Christ in you Who lives.

This means I can relax and let go of self-effort.  This means I can “enter into His rest” as Hebrews 12 states it.  And this means that boldness and confidence should characterize my walk with Christ.  My access to the Father is OPEN and FREE and POWERFUL.  I should be expecting God to do great things in and around my life because of this Jesus Who lives in me.  Count yourself as God does - DEAD!  Count yourself as God does - RISEN WITH CHRIST!

Father, open the eyes of our understanding!  Enable us to see who we are in Christ.  Actualize Your life in our lives.  God! - It’s true of our position but make it true of our condition!  May we reckon it so because it is so!  Thank You for making us joint-inheritors with Christ.

By various maxims, forms, and rules,

That pass for wisdom in the schools,

I sought my passions to restrain;

But all my efforts proved in vain.

But since my Saviour I have known

My rules are all reduced to One,

To keep my Lord by faith in view,

This strength supplies and motive too.

     I like the line “My rules are all reduced to One.”  Notice that John Newton capitalizes “One” because he was saying Christ is the rule.  The rules are no longer the rules!  Living by “what’s right” or by duty or by any human invention is living by the law which was nothing more than our “schoolmaster” (Galatians 2).  All it did was prove our gilt.  It didn’t redeem us.  It didn’t perfect us.  It just proved that we were worthy of death.  So then, why do we try to live according to human effort?  One answer is that human effort is all we know early on in our Christian life.  So as we grow and fail in these feeble attempts to serve God in the power of the unredeemed flesh, we begin to realize the impossibility of it all.  At this point one of two things happens…  Either our frustration causes us to quit it all and serve ourselves - God forbid!  OR our frustration causes us to cry out to God for Him to do His work in spite of our failures.  We begin to understand that God fights for us and desires to do ALL OF THE WORK Himself.  We need only watch Him do His work while we pray and yield. 

     I was reading in 2 Kings 23 about the life of a great man of God by the name of Josiah.  He is a guy I have always admired because the Bible says that no one before or after him followed hard after God like he did.  He took the throne at age 8 and by age 26 removed all of the idolatrous practices from the land.  His father was extremely wicked and had done much to screw up all that God desired for His people.  But Josiah showed up, read from the Bible, saw how far the nation had strayed from God, and did everything in his power to turn things around.  But he overstepped his bounds…

     2 Kings 23:29 tells us that Pharaoh-nechoh, king of Egypt killed him.  We see that Pharaoph-nechoh decides to enter into battle with Assyria and so Josiah decided to fight against him.  My question is why would Josiah fight FOR Assyria?  Here’s my thought:  Was it because his brothers, the children of Israel, had been taken into captivity by Assyria years before?  Was he trying to save them knowing that many of the Israelites would have had to go to battle in the stead of the Assyrians?  Did Josiah think that it was up to him to take care of those that had been carried into captivity?  Did he believe he was their “savior?” 

     In the corresponding passage in 2 Chronicles we learn that Pharaoph-nechoh tells Josiah that God is the One Who has led him into battle against Assyria.  In fact, GOD HAD LED PHARAOPH AND GOD WAS SPEAKING TO JOSIAH!!!  But Josiah didn’t recognize God’s voice and, as a result, ended up losing his life as a result.  

     I think an important lesson in all of this is in not overstepping your bounds.  This fight Josiah got into wasn’t his.  God told him not to.  He went anyway.  He paid the price.  Are you overstepping your bounds?  Are you listening for God’s voice in your life?  Are you obedient to that voice? 

Tuesday - Prayer and testimonies at 7 pm at the Point.

Wednesday -Jr. H Sold Out at the Point and H.S. Home Groups throughout KC metro area.

Thursday - Next Level Study at UMKC. See Andy Castro and/or the Coleman’s for more info.

Sunday at 8 am! - Come to prayer in the Upper Room of the Point.