Journey - Who is Your Family?

Some thoughts to ponder. Do you need a push?

How many of you have had a “friendly” nudge or push from a friend or even a parent into the water to force you to learn to swim? Although uncomfortable and sometimes fearful, this method often works for many (not all) as they realize that they really can swim.

I have had several jobs that did the same thing for me. I remember a time when I had been unemployed for a long period. A person I knew called me into his office, and we talked about various things of little importance when he suddenly said, “ok, you're hired.”

Confused I looked at Steve and said, “Hired, hired for what?”

With a big grin, Steven responded back, “Oh, by the way, this was an interview, did I forget to tell you?”

Up to this point, I had no idea what Steve did for a living, so I asked him, “What do you do?”

Steve then explained he was the manager of a third-party petroleum inspection company and that I was getting hired to learn to do the same, all because I had answered correctly a couple of random chemical questions he had slipped into our conversation. Steve was sneaky like that.

This was a job that I had I saw it advertised in the local paper, but I would have ignored it because I knew it was something I could not do. But I needed a job badly. So there and then, I decided I would just “fake it” for as long as I could to at least get a paycheck for a week before getting fired because I did not know what I was doing.

So I managed to fake it for a week, then a month, and before I knew it, three months had passed, and I was still employed. Somewhere along the line, I learned, and eventually, for a very short period of time, I became the senior field inspector for the company. Hmm… good faking.

Spiritual “Nugging”

God the Father has often done the same with me. A couple of times, I have wandered into the back of the room, not really wanting to be present at a meeting, hoping to slip back out when everything was done. Then, to my surprise, someone pulls me up to the front for ministry purposes.

“…Behold, to obey is better than a sacrifice…” 1 Samuel 15:22

The Christian World is changing. It’s currently being altered by the author who brought it to life with his own Blood. And just like every other time in scripture when the Lord did anything, the religious leaders who were in charge resisted the Lord's hand. The modern pretenders in the pulpits are yelling, condemning, preaching, and prophesying against the coming wave. Their thrones are in trouble, and they know they are about to lose their favored places before men.

This coming wave, however, is building as the lost, hurt, and lonely are sensing the change; they can see the light, the city on the horizon, and everything within them calls them to move forward. The fragrance of freedom and the wonder of holiness call from a distance; it’s intoxicating. Because of this, like any flood or tsunami, they will climb over the hills and walls and break through windows to reach their destination. The old system, overrun by the new, will be a shadow of what it once was.

A few years ago, so many of us would never have taken up this journey; we had to be forced. Our eyes had to be pryed open, and we had to walk away from the fearful and cowardly around us who knew the truth… but refused to move.

“… all things that are Mine are Yours, and Yours are Mine…” John 17:10

In this world, we often have little in the way of worldly things, but in the quest before us is the promise of spiritual abundance, not worldly. Where the world sees old clothes, the Father sees Gold. Where we see turmoil within us, the Holy Spirit sees the rendering of all things precious. While we trouble our minds over whether we should turn left or right, Eternity awaits our next step.

In this world, the pretenders gaslight the sheep while we see a greater light. On the left and the right is the synthetic glory of the Babylonian kingdom residing in every purchase, device, and pulpit. But on the edge of the world, a strong force of sheep gathers.

“I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all people will know that you are My disciples: if you have love for one another.” John 13:34-35

Some people are confused by this. They don’t understand why the new has such a low regard for the old, which has turned them into victims. The plea, “Should we not all just love each other?” This confusion is centered around just one issue… who is my brother?

This is another area where our cultural programming gets in the way of biblical reality with what many of us consider a very harsh, cold answer. “But Jesus replied to the one who was telling Him and said, “Who is My mother, and who are My brothers?” And extending His hand toward His disciples, He said, “Behold: My mother and My brothers! For whoever does the will of My Father who is in heaven, he is My brother, and sister, and mother.” Matthew 12:48-50 NASB

In this, Jesus sets the requirement of what his family is, and if you flip this around, you could easily say that the rebellious leaders of the people who are not doing the will of the Father are not family. To that, a person could add other hard scriptures like Matthew 12:30. Perhaps that is one of the reasons Jesus is the narrow gate.