There is a difference between the message and the messenger. Although this difference is sometimes like splitting hairs I believe it does exist. I don’t want to talk semantics and debating between this and that but I want to look at something that has been difficult for me to separate between at times. I have found myself for much of my Christianity wondering what my message would be, what would be the emphasis of my ministry the ministry of both Jennifer and I? In the day of mega Churches and the promotion of ministries and leaders within the Church world at such a rapid rate I found myself wondering where I would fit in. What would be the thing that I would have to say that would be different from the others?

I believe that this thinking has originated from a worldly thought process that I have not completely found within the Bible. When I say completely what I mean is that there is an element that you and I are responsible for the mandate that God places on our lives and our ministries. You might call the difference between ownership and stewardship splitting hairs but I feel that the difference between the two is the difference of how we live our lives. More than just wording it’s actually how we come across and how we fit into the larger Body Of Christ. When we say ownership it can often mean the same thing as stewardship but many of us struggle between the two.

What we must understand is that the message you and I carry to our world never originated in us, and is about Him more than it is about us. Herein lays the struggle. The message belongs to God, meaning we don’t find our place within body but rather God gives us a message and then places us within the Body. Yes, the message must become ours but only with the backdrop that it’s really Gods. Just like the Proverb says “We prepare for the day of battle but victory belongs to the Lord” (Prov. 21:31). Yes we get ready, yes we cloth ourselves with righteousness, yes we study and promote that which God has placed in us but truth be told God is the One who brings about the victory. Not us. We are unable to do that which is needed to be done and for this reason we confess our weakness before a strong God reminding Him that its His message, His battle and His victory.

The life of Moses clearly paints this idea of the message and the messenger. Let’s remember how Moses got his introduction in the Kingdom hall of fame and the title of a deliverer. He was taking a survey of the Church of his day, found a few things wrong, developed a comprehensive plan to fix it, called some leaders and held a summit, inspired the masses and wrote a book. Although this is clearly fictional it could look like much of what we have today in the Body of Christ. On the contrary Moses was a broken man dwelling in Midian because of the murder of an Egyptian man that was abusing one of His brethren. God visited Moses in his place of brokenness and told him “ I am going to use you as a deliverer of My people”. It was through this process that we have the Ten Commandments. In his second journey through the wilderness found in Exodus chapter 24 and verse 12 it says this;

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Come up to me on the mountain and be there; and I will give you tablets of stone, and the law and commandments which I have written, that you may teach them.”

God says here to Moses I have something in my heart that is Mine, but I’m asking you to be a steward over it and teach them to the Children of Israel. God says I have written it that you may teach it. Receiving something from Someone and teaching it are different. This is the difference of ownership and stewardship. I believe it is the highest place of honor that God would give something to someone and ask him to declare it to others. In this place of receiving we must understand that we are stewards of what He has given to us. We press into His heart to hear what He has to say, and as He places His message on our hearts we become stewards of this message. We cultivate, guard, share and promote the message of God. What a joy that God writes and we teach. Trust that He has something that’s been written for you thus meaning that you will in turn teach it to others.

Jennifer and I have been in a season where we have depended on the Lord’s leadership over our lives more than previous seasons. Although this isn’t something that we have mastered and have complete confidence in, its rather something that we are struggling to work out. In my journey through the Old Testament I came across a passage in Exodus that encouraged me and inspired me to write a quick thought. In Exodus Chapter 13:17 the Bible says this;

Then it came to pass, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God did not lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and return to Egypt”.

In the days that we live in and those that are approaching our level of trust in Jesus’ safe leadership must increase. The Church and those that love Jesus must move into a place where we are not leaning on our own wisdom but in Jesus’ safe leadership. Although a vast majority of this principle (Jesus’ Leadership) must be gained through personal experience we also are strengthened through the written Word Of God. In this passage we get a glimpse into Jesus’ safe leadership over our lives.

As God is leading the Children of Israel out of Egypt he makes this statement about their direction and His foreknowledge concerning the path they are to take. There is a path that is closer than the one He chooses but its important for us to understand why He chose the one He did. We get the answer to His decision within this passage. God says that He lead them the way He did because He was concerned that if they went the short way they would have to engage in battle with the Philistines and He was worried that they would become discouraged and want to return to Egypt. Even though the way He lead them was going to take a little longer He was doing it out of love and His complete understanding of the future. He was at His core looking out for their interest and the safe arrival of the Children of Israel to the promised land. Sometimes in our lives God may lead us in a way that seems out of the way and its in this place that you and I must trust His safe leadership over our lives. The devil comes to try and convince us that He isn’t safe and that He’s not looking out for us. We must make a choice in whom we will trust.

Maybe the path your taking is a path that seems longer than another path that could have been taken, but if you are in the will of God we must trust that He knows what He’s doing. Jesus is more interested in you and I arriving safely at the end of this life and being joined with Him in the age to come then we are. To this end He is committed. Let us learn to trust His safe leadership over our lives more than our wisdom to navigate through the complexities of this fallen world we live in.

Today in the western world and in much of the Body of Christ there is a crisis that has happened and is still happening. We have seen the devastation of legalism on the human heart through the fruit of a hell fire and brimstone message. This type of message although it was truth, came across as a human effort trying to help people stay pure. Rebellion to the message of legalistic holiness was countered with what I’m calling a cheap grace message. Cheap grace is a subtle but destructive message that perverts the true grace of God empowering us to live in sin and compromise as though God doesn’t mind. The Church in this hour is not in need of a message that gets us off the hook. What it does need is a clear understanding of what I am going to call happy holiness. In this Mini-Series I am going to be covering the idea of you and I living before God and Man on the Straight and Narrow.

In the Book of Matthew chapters five through seven Jesus lays out line by line Christianity 101. He walks us through the idea of a New Covenant lifestyle, dealing not as much with the outward but the inward. He talks about what a Christian’s heart should look like and what his new outward actions and reactions to this present age should be. Our outward reaction is now called to come from an inward condition. Matthew chapter seven and verse’s thirteen and fourteen say this;

“Enter by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and there are many who go in by it. Because narrow is the gate and difficult is the way which leads to life, and there are few who find it”.

Here Jesus lays out the basic premise that the way you and I enter into eternity is through a narrow gate as opposed to a large wide one. Today more than ever before we see our culture inviting us to enter into a so called eternity though a wide door that includes many eastern and humanistic ideas of empty and vain religions. The word “many” that Jesus uses in this passage is a word that is translated majority. Jesus is telling us that the majority of humanity even folks who call themselves Christians will travel the busy, wide, easy road to a eminent destruction. As beleivers in Christ who are looking for a city who’s builder and maker is God we have need of this wise counsel. In the Gospel of Luke chapter thirteen and verse twenty-four Jesus uses the word strive when He says this, “strive to enter the narrow gate”. That word strive is a word that is translated fight, or contend. These are not words of ease and passivity asking us to enjoy our liberties in Christ but words that should provoke great thought and concern in the hearts of hunger beleivers. So many today in the Church are calling this narrow gate that Jesus Himself calls humanity into a path of legalism and a cumbersome load that we shouldn’t have to bare. The goal of this life in my opinion is not trying to see how close we can get to the fire of sin and compromise and still love God. Many would call that idea, you and I enjoying our liberty in Christ. If that’s what were going to call liberty in Christ I don’t want anything to do with it. That liberty leaves me dull, disconnected and board in my relationship with this Beautiful Man.

In my upcoming posts I am going to talk more about the straight and narrow, cheap grace, a permissible Gospel and how we live in this present hour. Those are in no specific order. Until next time…..

This is a list of some prayers that I pray as I sit before The Holy Spirit and The Word. I hope they help you in your journey of reading The Bible.

Holy Spirit I thank You that You live in me. Its for my good that You have come, and I ask today that You help me comprehend that which You want me to hear from Your Word today.

I take The Word Of God and set it before me like a giant block of ice, and I ask that You, Person Of The Holy Spirit, that You would blow upon this block of Ice and refresh me this morning. Breath on me through the written Word.

I ask that You create an umbilical cord from the Word of God into my heart today, so that as I read You would supernaturaly fill my heart with understanding concerning the Scriptures. Connect Your Word into my life today.

I thank You that Psalms 119:11 says ” thy Word O Lord have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against You.” I ask today that You would place Your Word in my heart in such a way that I would not sin against You. Fill my heart with Your Word that when I preach its just Your Word that comes forth. When I pray its just Your Word that comes out. Your Word in me, changing me from the inside out. Let Your Word come from the inside out.

I thank You that James 1:5 says ” you would liberally give me wisdom if I asked in faith”, so today I ask in faith that You would fill me with wisdom beyond my years and my education. Fill me with the wisdom of God for the situations in life.

Today I lay hands on my mind and I quote Romans 12:2 saying ” be not conformed to this world but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind”. I ask today that you would renew my mind as I place it before Your Word. Break into my mind today with your Word so that it produces change again from the inside out, that I may prove Your will to the earth around me.

I hope that some of these are helpful to you as we endevor to become students of The Word.

In the last part of this mini-series I am going to cover how I actually read my Bible. After setting my Bible on my lap in the morning, I take a few minutes and talk with The Holy Spirit who lives in me as a means to slow down my mind, and position my heart in such a way that I can receive from the Word. I then ask the Holy Spirit several things that I am hoping for as I read. At this point with my pen in hand I am ready to begin my daily journey reading the Scriptures. For this last part I have a scripture for doing what I do when it comes to the reading of the Word. Revelations chapter one and verse three says;

“Blessed is he who reads and those who hear the Words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written in it, for the time is near”.

Now before you saying anything I know that this passage is speaking directly about the Book of Revelations but I have taken it and applied it to the entire Word of God. What I mean when I say that I have applied it to the entire Word of God is that I read the Bible 99.999 % of the time out loud. I find that when I read in my head or silently I have a hard time staying on track and my mind can often wander to the point that I quickly forget what I just read. So not only does it help me to stay focused while I read but I am using more then just my mind to interact with the Word. It allows the Word to go also through my ears so that I understand in my mind what I’m reading but I also hear it through my ears.

I have read the Bible this way for approximately 7 1/2 years and it has helped me to not be just a hearer of the Word but a doer. This method has enabled me to absorb more of what is being said allowing it another point of access into my life. As weak humans attempting to love an invisible God we need as much of the Word getting into us as we can get. So, reading out loud doesn’t only take place in the privacy of my house but everywhere I read my Bible. That means airports, airplanes, restaurants, Jiffy Lubes, Church, the bus, Jen’s Beauty College and anywhere else that my journey takes me. This style of reading has impacted in me in a way that I see no changes in the future. I want my heart to receive from the Word anyway it can. And whatever it takes I want to make the attempt to make it happen.

So this concludes my mini-series on The Spirit And The Word. I will be posting one more that will have several prayers I pray before and during my reading of The Bible. Thanks so much for reading and I hope the thoughts and prayers impact you and draw your heart into a greater relationship with The Scriptures.