Ancient Paths
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
I love the way these two verses speak to each other. God is so creative!
Click on the photo for a full size view.
Labels: photos, portfolio, prophetic art
posted by Fragrant Burning @ 8:34 PM,
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DRUNK PEOPLE DO CRAZY THINGS!
It is true, drunk people do crazy things. They will say the craziest things to anyone who will listen (even if they won’t listen). They will laugh out loud, oftentimes for no apparent reason, and without any sensitivity to their surroundings whatsoever. They will dance, fall on the ground, sway as they walk, and completely sacrifice their personal dignity. Why? Because they are drunk.
They are not concerned with what people think about them at the moment. They have lost all fear of man, not concerning themselves in the least with the aftermath of humiliation that is sure to follow their actions. They therefore express themselves freely. They will even attempt the dangerous, like driving a vehicle or jumping off cliffs into shallow water, crazy things that they would never even dream of doing if they were sober. Why? Because they are drunk. Drunk people do crazy things!
In Ephesians 5:18, the Apostle Paul gives this instruction to Christians: “Do not get drunk with wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit” (NIV).
This word “debauchery” means to be so influenced by the effects of alcohol that one loses all inhibition, so that they do things of negative and evil consequence that they would not do if they were sober. In other words, debauchery is doing crazy things that you are really ashamed of the next morning.
Being filled with the Spirit, on the other hand, causes one to do crazy things, but the difference is that those things are things that you are proud of the next morning. Interestingly, the phrase, “be filled”, is not a one time event. In the Greek, this is a present tense verb, which has a continual sense associated with the action. So, more accurately, Paul is instructing the Church to “be continually filled with the Spirit”; to drink everyday, the “new wine” of the Spirit. Why? Because drunk people do crazy things!
On the Day of Pentecost, in Acts chapter 2, the Church was filled with the Holy Spirit. In verse 13, the crowd made fun of them and said “they have had too much wine”. Peter’s response to this accusation is found in verse 15: “These men are not drunk as you suppose...”. Notice, he does not deny the fact that they are drunk, or at the least, acting drunk. He simply lets them know that they are not drunk in the way that they think that they are drunk. The source of their drunkenness is not due to the wine of the world, but rather the new wine of the Holy Spirit. He explains all of this in verse 17, as he outlines the fulfilled prophetic promise of Joel that God would pour out His Spirit on all people.
Notice that Peter got out of the box, crazy, as he found the courage to stand up to address the crowd of onlookers. This is the same Peter that denied the Lord three times! And now he has unabashed boldness to preach the Gospel to the same angry crowd that had earlier crucified Jesus. The only thing that can explain this uninhibited behavior is the fact that he was drunk. Drunk people do crazy things. And I’m sure he was very proud of his actions the next morning, especially when he realized that 3,000 people had been saved as a result of his boldness under the influence of the Spirit!
Jesus has commanded us to do crazy things like heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, and cast out demons; to preach the message of the Kingdom (Matt. 10:7,8). He has commanded us to be His witnesses in the whole earth as his ambassadors (Acts 1:8; 2 Cor. 5:20). He told Ananias, through a supernatural vision, to go to Saul’s house on Straight Street and lay hands on him to receive his sight, which was a crazy proposal given the fact that Saul was arresting Christians and giving approval for their executions (Acts 9).
I used to never pray for the sick. Not because I didn’t believe in healing. I taught on healing. I just didn’t believe that I had what it took to pray for people for them to be healed. I used the excuse that I just didn’t have the “gift”. Interestingly, after learning to let the Holy Spirit influence my mind, I began to live under the influence (LUI), I began to do things that I would ordinarily never try like praying for someone to be healed. Amazingly, people started getting healed. I started to drink and drive, and when I would get to my destination, I would find supernatural boldness to step out and take crazy amounts of risk to pray for the sick at supermarkets, airports, or at family gatherings. And guess what? People started getting healed.
I have found that most people have a hard time stepping out in risk in the Kingdom because they are too intimidated by what others will think. I want to suggest that you try getting absolutely drunk on the Spirit of God until you have no inhibitions left, and just see what kind of great “crazy” things God can do through your life. Remember, drunk people do crazy things!
Labels: teaching
posted by Fragrant Burning @ 8:31 PM,
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God is Good
Saturday, January 20, 2007
I love my life.
posted by Fragrant Burning @ 1:26 AM,
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Difficult is THE WAY
Click on the photo to see a full size copy of the graphic.
The further and deeper I go with God, the more I am convinced that I have embraced a doctrine of man and not of God. I have accepted man's teaching as "truth" and have failed to seek God's truth out for myself. I have been content to read what others say about God and have used the scripture to give validity to these things. Yes, I have read scripture, I have study scripture but I have begun to realize that most times I have viewed and study God's words with man's understanding. Now, as I sit before God and invest time in truly reading His Word, and asking for Him to help me to understand His truth and His heart, I see so many falacies that I have embraced. I have many questions - foundational questions - such as what really is the "Gospel" what is this good news that Christ proclaimed? The answer is surprising me and scaring me. I am concerned for the church. I am concerned because I know most who call themselves "Christian" are in the same boat as I have been in and I am quite certain that boat is on a collision course with disaster. Let me ask you this? Do you know what the good news that Christ preached was? I challenge you to read through Matthew with that question in mind!
posted by Fragrant Burning @ 12:03 AM,
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An Impossible Life
Sunday, January 14, 2007
He has called us to an impossible lifestyle
& swears by Himself that He will
enable each of us to walk it out...
if...
we would but yield
posted by Fragrant Burning @ 1:25 AM,
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