“Judge not, and you will not be
judged; condemn not, and you will not be condemned; forgive, and you will be
forgiven; give, and it will be given to you.
Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put
into your lap. For with the measure you
use it will be measured back to you.” Luke 6:37-38
The bible is rich with stories of God’s closest followers doing things that the Pharisees would look at as sin – The Pharisees – followers of the law - are still very alive and well today – they live within our church walls, in our families, work, and social lives. They’re the ones who haven’t been set free from the religious spirit that binds us like prisoners in a cell. I’m not judging or condemning, rather drawing attention to a subject matter that the bible blows open through the testimony of Jesus, and in Kings, Queens and followers before his time.
The traditional mindset that holds by the rigid rules of the
Ten commandments without room for error is where the religious spirit loves to
reign, and frequently causes people to cast judgment on others. But the bible says “There is therefore now no
condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. Living life by the Holy Spirit
changes the authority from the bible back to God. For the law of the Spirit of life has set you
free in Christ Jesus from the law of sin and death.” Romans 8:2 The spirit of life has set you free! What is the Spirit of life?
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The Spirit of life is a delivered, whole,
healed Christian…
“But if Christ is in you, although the body is dead because
of sin, the Spirit is life because of righteousness. If the spirit of him who raised Jesus from
the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give
life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you”. Romans 8:10-11
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The Spirit of life is driven by God as the
first authority, the bible as the second…
“(God), who has made us sufficient to be ministers of a new
covenant, not of the letter but of the spirit.
For the letter kills, but the spirit gives life. Now if the ministry of death, carved in
letters on stone, came with such glory that the Israelites could not gaze at
Moses’ face because of its glory, which was being brought to an end, will not
the ministry of the Spirit have even more glory? For if there was glory in the ministry of
condemnation, the ministry of righteousness must far exceed it in glory. 2
Corinthians 3:6-9
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The Spirit of life is a renewed mindset…
“As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not
to quarrel over opinions. One person
believes he may eat anything, while the weak person eats only vegetables. Let not the one who eats despise the one who
abstains, and let not the one who abstains pass judgment on the one who eats,
for God has welcomed him. Who are you to
pass judgment on the servant of another?
It is before his own master that he stands or falls. And he will be upheld, for the Lord is able
to make him stand. One person esteems
one day as better than another, while another esteems all days alike. Each one should be fully convinced in his own
mind. Romans 14:1-5
In order to be effective in the kingdom of Heaven, we first
need to learn how to give out unconditional love. Living life by the Spirit of God as opposed
to through the legalistic books of law, opens us up to freely love as Christ
did. What does this look like in our
world? To me it means reaching across boundary
lines previously set as danger zones. It
means seeing each person we encounter as a child of God and calling greatness
out of those lives that we touch – no boundaries! When I say no boundaries, typically
Christians think to look into the impoverished areas of society – the poor, the
dirty, as I’m sure noses might sneer at the though of caring for a smelly
homeless person, but what about the other extreme. Domestic violence effects not only the poor,
there are men and women trapped in beautiful homes, tied to the chain of wealth
that also need your love and ministry.
It’s easy to judge based on outward appearances and think we see where
to be effective, but clothes and financial status are deceiving.
My pastor recently put it quite well that by following the
bible and not allowing yourself to be led by first and foremost the spirit of
God is opening yourself up for the demonic realm to be your guide. Yes – you read that right – Christians know
the bible – but so does the devil. In
Luke chapter 4, when Jesus was led out into the wilderness to be tempted for 40
days, the devil tempted him with scripture. Had he not been led by the spirit,
God his father, receiving the kingdom offered or the food offered could have
become a devastating stumbling block to all of humanity. But Jesus – grounded in love, rooted in the
kingdom of heaven and having direct communication with the father knew the
deception and was not fooled by the illustrious gold that the devil was
offering. If we are to start loving on
others, we need to come to an understanding that we don’t know the end from the
beginning. We don’t know the whole backstory
of any individual that we encounter – nor do we know their futures. But God does, like an engineer who planned us
out from the beginning all the way through the end of time, God himself knows
every second of every day, of every single story that happens to each and every
individual here on earth – and until we have the power to do such a thing –
judgment and assumptions against others must stop! There is no way for any of us to understand
the story that brings each of His children to salvation. Because in the end – we are all his babies
and he will get to us by any means necessary.
Bringing this back around to the topic of freedom in Christ, freedom – is the absence of law, being of
free will, and because of that freedom, allowing ourselves to be governed by
the Holy Spirit. Who of you knows that
the Holy Spirit is a free spirit, moving and doing as it pleases to call each
one of us and to guide each one of us into partnership and ruling with our one
true God. Because of being crucified,
the veil that kept us from God was torn, allowing us to have full access to
converse with God whenever we want to.
When an individual has an intimate and loving relationship with God, and
is living by the spirit, being free in Him, He or she is guided and directed,
and given knowledge into the secret things of God. We become business managers for his kingdom,
and unless you’re pressing in to him, hungering for him, and wanting more of
him, those secrets will not be revealed to you.
But for those that do press in, the spirit leads us in directions that onlookers
with their religious glasses on see as outside of the rulebook. Prove it?
Yes – of course I will – look at some of the things that Jesus did –
that drove the Pharisees wild with anger – they didn’t hate him for no reason –
they hated him because he went against everything that they believed in – a
rule breaker. In Luke 5:12-16, Jesus,
after healing a man of leprosy, tells the man to go show himself to a priest. Reading this without the historical context
of the bible, perhaps you wouldn’t know that lepers were complete outcasts of
society – they weren’t allowed to be around people – in fact it was illegal –
but Jesus told the man to go – seek out a priest – He told the man to break the
law! Not good enough for you? Here is another proof…
Luke chapter 6, Jesus and his disciples are walking through
a grain field – picking grain to eat, the Pharisees, witnessing what was
happening on a Sabbath day asked “Why are you doing what is not lawful to do on
the Sabbath?” And Jesus answered “Have you not read what David did when he was hungry, he and
those who were with him: how he entered the house of God and took and ate the
bread of the Presence, which is not lawful for any but the priests to eat, and
also gave it to those with him?”
And he said to them, “The Son of Man is lord of
the Sabbath”. Why was this a big
deal? What is so unlawful about picking
wheat on the Sabbath? In Jewish law, the
Sabbath was a day of fasting and reverence to God – by breaking that “law”
Jesus – according to the Pharisees was disrespecting the God that he claimed to
be a son of. How could he do that and
get away with it? How could Jesus so
boldly – offend, and not have it considered sin? What the bible gave to us as rules, Jesus
came to set us free from – it was never God’s desire for us to live in bondage
to rules. Jesus had complete authority
over the rulebook because of his direct line of communication with God. He only did and said what God said was ok to
do. And that’s exactly how we ourselves
ought to live. Out of that loving
relationship with the father, we are opened up to cross boundaries that religiosity
keeps many in slavery to.
Another example of Jesus breaking the Sabbath can be found
in Luke 14:1-6, Jesus healed a man on the Sabbath and was criticized. What if he never saw that man again – and the
man died of his disease – If Jesus had walked away because it was the Sabbath,
couldn’t he be accused of murder by association? Wouldn’t that be the same as not taking away
the keys from a drunk driver? Knowing
that if they drove home they could crash or kill someone else in an accident?
Think of all the rules that religion has put on people and the hurt that it has caused. Religion has told us for centuries that women under men and are not to hold places of authority and power in the church. Not true – women are created as equals to men – want me to prove that one? Jesus had female disciples – no they’re not frequently mentioned – but look closely enough at scripture and you’ll find little glimmers of them dispersed throughout God’s word. “And the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others,” Luke 8:1-3 If Jesus didn’t want them there, they wouldn’t have been there. And they must have held a significance or they wouldn’t have been mentioned by name in the bible. The part that amazes me about that verse is the spot that says – Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager… When I chew on that – I wonder what great courage it must have taken for a servant in Herod’s household to break from his anti-Christ kingdom – and join Jesus so intimately as to be a disciple with him.
Think of all the rules that religion has put on people and the hurt that it has caused. Religion has told us for centuries that women under men and are not to hold places of authority and power in the church. Not true – women are created as equals to men – want me to prove that one? Jesus had female disciples – no they’re not frequently mentioned – but look closely enough at scripture and you’ll find little glimmers of them dispersed throughout God’s word. “And the twelve were with him, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities: Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager, and Susanna, and many others,” Luke 8:1-3 If Jesus didn’t want them there, they wouldn’t have been there. And they must have held a significance or they wouldn’t have been mentioned by name in the bible. The part that amazes me about that verse is the spot that says – Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s household manager… When I chew on that – I wonder what great courage it must have taken for a servant in Herod’s household to break from his anti-Christ kingdom – and join Jesus so intimately as to be a disciple with him.
So what does this look like for you personally? I am certainly not in authority to answer
that question – but the God who is, is ready to answer those questions for you
– being free in Christ is an amazing adventure full of things that not everyone
can have – don’t you want to become a part of a secret society like that? Imagine being sent on a mission that no one
else is offered – because you listened, or being given a gift that no one else
knew existed – because you listened. How
proud you make your papa when you can use your free will and in spite of that,
choose to listen. “for this purpose I was born and for this purpose I have come
into the world – to bear witness to the truth.
Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice.” John 18:37, and again “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and
you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:32 Jesus is the word – the bible – is
the word of God written in a book, but books – are just stories – the bible is
special in that if offers us the living word – which still speaks and lives and
breathes, but it is ultimately God who breathes life into those verses; because
without him, all we have are words on a page to follow – but God has a journey
planned out for your life that is way beyond your imaginations and intoxicating
in its glory and excitement. Not the
typical picture of what a legalistic Christianity is, is it.? What if your current walk with the Lord was
less about how you perceive your ministry should be and allowing Jesus to
develop your dreams and skills – and lead you into an abundantly blessed
journey that is a constant mind blowing amazement into the wonders of God and
the richness of His amazing kingdom?! No
more somber, depressing, BORING Christianity – choose to live life abundantly –
that’s why Jesus came – “The thief comes only to steal
and kill and destroy. I came that they
may have life and have it abundantly.” John 10:10, So choose life! Ask Jesus how to have you live in the spirit
– choose life and be free!
Jesus – we have been a culture that for far too long have
been tied up in religiosity – forgive us for that Lord and break us free from a
civilization of slavery to rules and regulations, Lord forgive me for judging
and using passages in your book to condemn others. Show me how to live in complete freedom in
you as you have laid out for me on the cross.
Thank you for taking the utmost of disgrace on the cross so that my sins
don’t have to be laid out to bring disgrace in such a way. Bring me life – release within me the power
to love, and guide me with your Holy Spirit.
Jesus – I hear you calling me closer in relationship with you – bless me
and fill me with a greater measure – poured out in all of your richness – In
Jesus name Amen!
