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Do you have to or do you get to?
It’s been awhile since my last posting – I hope you will forgive me for my absence and not judge me unfaithful to a steady stream of apostolic thought and repose.
As I was riding through a busy intersection the other day, I was struck with the notion that the only entity keeping order in a potentially dangerous traffic area was an electronic signal that changes colors. The question that flooded my mind at that point was, “What makes these people submit to traffic laws?” Immediately I knew the answer and understood the Kingdom ramifications. The only impetus requiring order was the consequence of hitting someone or being hit by someone and/or the consequence of getting a ticket. The only motivation for order was the consequences that have been imposed by the local “authorities”.
An understanding of the Old Testament reveals that Yahweh never wanted to impose the law on the children of Israel. Yahweh wanted relationship but the Israelites were unwilling to enter into a relationship, therefore the law was instituted for preservation until a time when the Israelites would desire a relationship, born of the Spirit. You see, a life in the Spirit is always about the benefits that emanate from a relationship. Simply stated, the difference between the law and the Spirit is how you perceive and respond. Do you have to go to church or do you get to go to church? If you don’t go what would be the consequence? If you do, what would be the benefit? Do you have to pay the tithe or do you get to tithe? When it comes to tithing, do you focus on the commandment and its consequence of being cursed, or are you expecting the windows of heaven to open and pour out the commanded blessings of Yahweh’s favor.
Having been raised as a Pentecostal, I can’t remember too many messages that didn’t include the threats of my disobedience – going to hell and missing out on heaven. Today, I walk and live in the Spirit, and I can honestly say that going to hell doesn’t even cross my mind – ever! Why, because I now have a relationship with Yahweh through the shed blood of Yahshua, the Christ and the ongoing ministry of the Holy Spirit that focuses on the blessings and benefits of a relationship with Yahweh. Many people are walking away from churches all over the world weighted down with the law. People just flat get tired of trying to live up to expectations that they never reach. However, I must warn you, that no matter that the message is born of the Spirit, anyone can make a law out of revelation. As long as it is someone else’s revelation and not your own, it runs the risk of being an impersonal law that will not bear life. One of my pastors said to me recently, “The law conforms; the Spirit transforms.” The law works from the outside and never changes within. The Spirit works from the inside out. If you have to schedule time to pray, read the Scriptures, commune with Yahweh, you’re under the law.
Remember Yahshua’s words, “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.” John 6:63 NKJV Just about everyone that was following Yahshua at that time left that day. The Spirit is about laying your life down for whatever the Father, Yahweh desires and has ordained. People usually surrender to the law so that they can get and not what they can give. In the flesh, you don’t have anything to give anyway. Only those things born and created by Yahweh’s Spirit have value.
So press in to the deeper dimensions of the Spirit. Scrutinize why you do what you do. Is it a revelation of the Kingdom to you or is it someone else’s spin on the order of Yahweh’s Kingdom come? Is what you’re dong producing life or death? You might be doing right things the wrong way. Get revelation through relationship and get life!
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Posted: 07/24/2008 15:53
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