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"Stop doing and not doing because you are told so and start looking for what God is doing and join in with Him."
As quoted from the book "Victor - Breaking Free From a Victim-Based Society" by John H. Hovis Page 81.
Jesus had this amazing ability to deal with religion in a perfectly acceptable way. He wasn't concerned with the do's and don'ts of the day as much as He was concerned with what His father was doing. Check out what Christ said about how He applied religious duty in His life.
Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. John 5:19-20 (NIV)
In our reading today, Jesus was answering His critics who were ready to kill Him. What was Jesus' offense that deserved death? Christ dared to refer to God as His Father. Jesus was about to be stoned for the audacity of thinking that this unapproachable, unknowable and all powerful being was someone a mere man could call Father.
To the 1st century Jew, that was unheard of. Worse than that, it was about the most debase thing a person could do to blaspheme their God. They had a picture of God that had so little to do with relationship. Jesus was rocking that boat in a big way. He made a lot of enemies on this day. At the same time, He made it possible for you and for me to be the victor God sees us to be by stepping into the middle of a controversy that continues to this day.
What I find totally amazing is the first line of our reading. Jesus says that He can do nothing by Himself. That's so crazy. This is the same guy who helped design and implement a little project called our universe! To think that He can't do anything on His own is such a wild statement. What Jesus goes on to say is that what He does is only what the Father is doing. I believe that a lot of the victim thinking that happens in the Church today is a direct result of us not doing what Jesus did when He walked the earth. Let me explain that a bit more.
You see, it wasn't the rules and regulations that motivated Jesus to action. He couldn't care a bit about what the Church thought about what He did. Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing. That meant that Jesus ran head long into direct conflict with the Church from time to time. When he healed on the Sabbath, He broke their rules. When His disciples picked food on the Sabbath, He broke their rules. When he talked to the Samaritan woman, He broke their rules. Jesus isn't concerned about religious rules to the detriment of a relationship with His Father - our God. The same should be said about our walk with God as well.
It is when we try to live a life filled with dos and don'ts that we get into places where victim thinking can really take over. God doesn't consider us victors because we are good at keeping a bunch of rules. We are victors because He sees us as His children. That fact has the power to change our view of life in ways that makes victim thinking that much harder to let into our lives.
Jesus was constantly looking for signs of the Father's presence. When He saw it, He responded with little regard to what others thought. When we follow the dos and don'ts put on us by others, all we can think about is what others think. Same goes with relationship with God. When we think we draw closer to God by doing and not doing we are focused on what God thinks about us. Rules and regulations do nothing for relationship other than make us think we don't measure up when we aren't able to follow those rules.
Making our relationship with God about rules and regulations automatically allows us to believe that God might think less of us. It is when we fail to keep the rules that we are tempted to think God might not be for us at all. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Following this God of ours isn't about keeping a bunch of rules and regulations. It is about seeing Him in our lives and moving in the directions He is moving in. Seeing Him is that much more possible when we live as God sees us! If we entertain thoughts that God isn't pleased with us or doesn't love us because we fail from time to time, it is so much harder to see Him in and around our lives.
How do you know where God is moving? It is always in the lives of those around us. Without fail, God is moving in the lives of people we come into contact with and He wants us to join Him in that movement. It might be as simple as a kind word to that person that is having a bad day. It might be helping someone out you have never met before. It might be making a phone call that you have put off for way too long now. It might be stopping what you are doing and just praying for someone who popped into your mind. God is constantly on the move. He wants us to join Him in that movement. It is rarely though our ability to keep rules and regulations that we will see His movement all around us.
Make today really count. Open your eyes and see where God is working. Join Him in that work and see what happens. Your victor status might just be the power needed to help another Child of God's step more fully into the identity they are struggling to make happen in their lives today.
Jesus gave them this answer: “Very truly I tell you, the Son can do nothing by himself; he can do only what he sees his Father doing, because whatever the Father does the Son also does. For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these, so that you will be amazed. John 5:19-20 (NIV)
In our reading today, Jesus was answering His critics who were ready to kill Him. What was Jesus' offense that deserved death? Christ dared to refer to God as His Father. Jesus was about to be stoned for the audacity of thinking that this unapproachable, unknowable and all powerful being was someone a mere man could call Father.
To the 1st century Jew, that was unheard of. Worse than that, it was about the most debase thing a person could do to blaspheme their God. They had a picture of God that had so little to do with relationship. Jesus was rocking that boat in a big way. He made a lot of enemies on this day. At the same time, He made it possible for you and for me to be the victor God sees us to be by stepping into the middle of a controversy that continues to this day.
What I find totally amazing is the first line of our reading. Jesus says that He can do nothing by Himself. That's so crazy. This is the same guy who helped design and implement a little project called our universe! To think that He can't do anything on His own is such a wild statement. What Jesus goes on to say is that what He does is only what the Father is doing. I believe that a lot of the victim thinking that happens in the Church today is a direct result of us not doing what Jesus did when He walked the earth. Let me explain that a bit more.
You see, it wasn't the rules and regulations that motivated Jesus to action. He couldn't care a bit about what the Church thought about what He did. Jesus only did what He saw the Father doing. That meant that Jesus ran head long into direct conflict with the Church from time to time. When he healed on the Sabbath, He broke their rules. When His disciples picked food on the Sabbath, He broke their rules. When he talked to the Samaritan woman, He broke their rules. Jesus isn't concerned about religious rules to the detriment of a relationship with His Father - our God. The same should be said about our walk with God as well.
It is when we try to live a life filled with dos and don'ts that we get into places where victim thinking can really take over. God doesn't consider us victors because we are good at keeping a bunch of rules. We are victors because He sees us as His children. That fact has the power to change our view of life in ways that makes victim thinking that much harder to let into our lives.
Jesus was constantly looking for signs of the Father's presence. When He saw it, He responded with little regard to what others thought. When we follow the dos and don'ts put on us by others, all we can think about is what others think. Same goes with relationship with God. When we think we draw closer to God by doing and not doing we are focused on what God thinks about us. Rules and regulations do nothing for relationship other than make us think we don't measure up when we aren't able to follow those rules.
Making our relationship with God about rules and regulations automatically allows us to believe that God might think less of us. It is when we fail to keep the rules that we are tempted to think God might not be for us at all. Nothing could be further from the truth.
Following this God of ours isn't about keeping a bunch of rules and regulations. It is about seeing Him in our lives and moving in the directions He is moving in. Seeing Him is that much more possible when we live as God sees us! If we entertain thoughts that God isn't pleased with us or doesn't love us because we fail from time to time, it is so much harder to see Him in and around our lives.
How do you know where God is moving? It is always in the lives of those around us. Without fail, God is moving in the lives of people we come into contact with and He wants us to join Him in that movement. It might be as simple as a kind word to that person that is having a bad day. It might be helping someone out you have never met before. It might be making a phone call that you have put off for way too long now. It might be stopping what you are doing and just praying for someone who popped into your mind. God is constantly on the move. He wants us to join Him in that movement. It is rarely though our ability to keep rules and regulations that we will see His movement all around us.
Make today really count. Open your eyes and see where God is working. Join Him in that work and see what happens. Your victor status might just be the power needed to help another Child of God's step more fully into the identity they are struggling to make happen in their lives today.
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