heaven's tree book club

September 25, 2012
His Majesty's Secret Service
 This day started off very challenging. I began again upon waking up with the uncertainty of whether or not God is still real. I don't sense His nearness or grace. My mobility today has been very difficult. I begin to loath living in a two story house and don't know how much longer I can use stairs. There are no bedrooms downstairs. Life is challenging and God seems so indifferent. I seem to be going through this all alone. The distance from the bathroom to the front door is only ten feet but seem farther than that and my wheelchair was waiting for me. Daniel wanted me to hold him in the chair but my health situation prevented me from doing so and he was upset and obviously could not understand because he is only 18 months. I felt no joy to see him and all morning my face and heart was very downcast. Even my mom who is not a believer rebuked me for not smiling. Today, I feel very stuck, lost, and discouraged.     
"OUR call to royalty comes with authority and much responsibility. Jesus said,"From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and to whom they entrusted much, of him they will ask all the more" (Luke 12:48).Authority and responsibility always go together and we must understand both of these aspects of our call. God has invested His church with His authority over everything on earth, but we also have the responsibility to use that authority to fulfill His purposes.
He has commissioned us to disciple the nations. It is important for us to understand our job description so that we can accomplish the will of the Father. Although Jesus said to make disciples of all nations, most of the church has reduced our call down to making disciples in all nations. So much of the way we read and interpret the Bible has been affected by a pauper mentality. When we feel small and powerless, we tend to dilute the word of God down to something we can accomplish in our own weak state so we don't feel convicted for not doing what's required of us. Therefore, as we begin to be transformed into a royal priesthood, we need to take a fresh look at the Scriptures."
I am guilty more than ever of the pauper mentality. I don't believe God for accomplishing great things either in me or in the world. My God is too small. I like the point about authority and responsibility. Authority alone can lead to misuse and abuse. As citizens of the kingdom, there is both authority and responsibility. Many churches see the responsibility part and neglect the authority part. We do a lot of activity but do not operate out of God's power and authority. At least for me, I haven't seen believers heal the sick or cast out evil spirits.
"There is an obvious difference between discipling people and discipling nations. We know that everyone who comes to Christ needs to be discipled, as we addressed in the chapter on covenant, but reducing the Great Commission down to merely discipling people is a complete misunderstanding of the word of God. Notice that Jesus sets discipleship in the context of all authority in Heaven and on earth being transferred from the devil to Him. Therefore (because of this), make disciples of the nations."
Matthew 28 is the author's focus for this chapter. I am unsure what he means by discipling nations but I do understand discipling people. That is what we practice. The author tries to say that we have reduced this into a much smaller and simpler mandate. I am not sure what the difference is between discipling people versus nations. It appears much smaller in scope and whenever there is something much smaller in scope the less we rely on God.
"The fact that the Church has been restored to man's original position of dominion on earth requires vis to learn and carry out the responsibilities that come with our authority. What is the purpose of our dominion? We are called to fulfill the original commission given to Adam and Eve, but the task is different because we must not just subdvie the earth but restore it from centuries of destruction it has suffered under the devil's tyranny. The Church is called to destroy every work of the devil, as Jesus modeled, to make disciples of the nations, and to teach the world to obey the commands of Christ.
Those in the church who still think like paupers feel powerless, and so they often distance themselves from the challenges and troubles of the world, sometimes without even knowing they're doing it.They commonly develop doctrines that release them from any responsibility for things that are wrong or evil. One of the biggest problems I have with people interpreting disasters as God's judgment or declaring that, "the kingdom is also 'not yet,' so we just need to ride it out until the millennium," is that those perspectives leave people in a place where they can't and shouldn't do anything about the world around them. As we can see from our study of the Word, God has called us to be His answer to the world's troubles, not to run from them."

"Unfortunately much of the abdication of responsibility on the part of the Church is the result of cultural influence. American culture has promoted a self-serving individualism to the point where community- life is under attack on all fronts. Most people have very little awareness how their choices affect the community around them. If we are going to wake up and take ownership of our communities, we will by necessity confront the individualism around us and in us. One way to get a glimpse of our true attitude regarding our responsibility is to ask ourselves if we treat every person we meet like family. Jesus taught us to pray with a corporate prayer addressed to "Our Father," which reveals God's desire for His people to identify with the situations of their neighbors and community as if they were all in the family of God."

"The Body of Christ is equipped to bring the kingdom of righteousness, peace and joy wherever we go.We have power over the evil prince who keeps people in bondage. We have love that causes people to know- they are cared about.We have grace that gives them the power to change. We have mercy that picks them up when they fall. We have courage that stands in the face of violence and brings peace, and we have wisdom that shows people how to live. Most of all, we have an awesome Father who knows how to melt the hearts of His people. We have the answers to the world's problems and the devil's devices.
John said, "I he Son of Clod appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil' (1 John 3:8), and a few verses later he declared/As He- is, so are we in this world "(4:17b KJV). Let us not stop short of imitating every work of Jesus Himself, for He has all authority in Heaven and on earth and has commissioned us to represent Him in His fullness. He was the One who promised we, His royal family, would do even "greater works than these" (John 14:12)."
Prayer:
Father, in my weakness, I cannot see Your power, love or grace. We are called to change the world but today, I feel so small and really discouraged. My faith and my hope have radically dropped off these couple of weeks. I want to be a part of the world's solutions, but I struggle right now to even know whether or not You are rea and that You care. Today has been hard. Father, please show me Your healing power and limitless grace and with that, lead me to help bring hope to this world.