Tuesday, November 16, 2004

10 Emerging Prophetic Shifts - Day 2

2. New emerging strategies that will cause us to have the right word to change legal structures.

Chuck wrote, "This is where the real war over our nation lies."

I read Acts 3-5. In a nutshell, Peter and John heal a lame beggar, begin to teach about Jesus, get arrested by the religious leaders, are freed by an angel, preach the Gospel some more, are arrested again, but this time they are flogged and then released based on the idea that if it is not from GOD, their movement would fizzle out. And the famous words are uttered: "It's necessary to obey God rather than men." (see acts 5:29) Please don't take that verse out of context. They were being ordered not to preach the Gospel. The disciples were not breaking any "legal" laws... The religious leaders simply did not like their preaching.

There is more that happens, but, I believe, the point is made. The early Church had a boldness we often lack today. And that boldness led then to confront many legal structures and legalistic-religious structures of their time.

LORD, I pray give us a new boldness in our spirit. Let Your boldness rest on us. Holy Spirit deal with all our infirmities through Jesus Christ our Lord. All we need is Jesus, and we can walk in full boldness and strength. Father, I also ask that you show each one of us, Your children, our place of involvement concerning the legal structures around us. Give us Your way to deal with the injustices, unrighteousness, and ungodliness in our world.

Read Colossians 2. This passage is all about legalism and a religious spirit. It is so easy to be deceived and to believe that what we think and believe is absolutely the truth and Scripturally sound, when often it is not. Often, our believes are based on some kind of tradition or opinion or personal taste. The Gospel has nothing to do with personal taste. The Gospel is Truth for ALL people. Lord show us and remove any areas in our lives that might be operating under any religious legalism. We are free in Christ of all man-made rules, and we are free to worship and serve God based on His Word.

Be blessed

No comments: