Of the House of Israel

Jesus sent out these twelve, charging them, Go nowhere among the Gentiles and do not go into any town of the Samaritans; But go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. (Matthew 10:5-6)

It is interesting to me that, the moment when Jesus first grants His power and authority to His disciples, he does not send them out to those who would be considered 'lost,' but rather, He sends them into the midst of God's own people - 'the lost sheep of the house of Israel.' They were sent to preach the kingdom of heaven, to cure the sick, to raise the dead, to cleanse the diseased, and to drive out demons from among God's own people. I can't help but question, WHY would this be His first assignment for them? Why would He have them use the full extent of the power of God to address those who already know about Him when He Himself said He came to reach the lost - that all would come to know Him and that none would perish?

Because the same was true then that is true now - there are 'lost sheep' in the house of God. Probably then, just as now, most did not even know they were lost. They knew of Him, but did not recognize a difference between knowing of Him and knowing Him. There were individuals among God's people who struggled with the truth of the kingdom of heaven; who battled illness that was contrary to God's perfect plan for their lives; and who were tormented by demons that contaminated their hearts and minds, keeping them from a pure and full relationship with God.

What was true then is true now. The body of Christ (the church) must be healed and made healthy and whole; it must be brought back to life; it must be consecrated wholly to the God, clean and uncontaminated, in order for it to function properly. When the church is healthy, it will be a powerful, unstoppable force for reaching the lost, which is the purpose of the church - You shall be My witnesses...to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8)

We cannot reach out to those who do not know God and invite them to enter into an unhealthy, dead, sickly, and muddled, ambiguous church. If the body is not as it is intended to be, if it is not alive and vibrant and healthy, completely in love with Jesus, serving only Him, with no other motive than to glorify Him, then what we are presenting is a church that looks one way on the surface and is something altogether different at the core. It will not take long for someone on the outside looking in, or someone who has just stepped in for the first time, to see through what lies on the surface. And why would they want that? What on earth would make them stay? We cannot offer a mirage of the truth when the truth is so much better!

The spirit of a person knows and recognizes the truth of God long before the mind begins to understand it. When someone is drawn to Jesus, it is because his or her spirit has recognized the truth and longs for it. When their experience 'in the church' is perceived to be something different than that truth they first recognized, a door is opened wide to make way for confusion, doubt, dissatisfaction, and even disgust and resentment to enter in.

It is critical that the observable - the perceivable, physical experience - genuinely reflects the truth of the Spirit. This can only happen if the church is healthy and is operating in God's design and purpose for His body. It must be made up of individuals who are healthy and whole, abiding in Him and vitally connected to Him, passionately in love with Him and living to please Him because of their love for Him. When this is the condition of God's people, our lives will speak volumes to the truth of Jesus, and all that He is, and all that He is offering and has already made available. Oh, how I wish we would live lives that reflect Him like this! Consistently live lives that testify to God's love and faithfulness! That is God's desire for us as individuals, and it is His design for His church as a whole.

The shape of purpose

For over two years at least, a passion has been growing somewhere deep inside me. It has begun to shape my own relationship with Jesus in ways I had never previously experienced, driving me to seek Him, spend time with Him, get to know Him more. These experiences have been incredible, and I have found so much peace, I can't even describe it. But I am often left with a holy dissatisfaction...a feeling that there's more than my own experience with God - that it's meant to go beyond me. Somehow, it's not enough for me to know God and love God if I don't live my life as a testament to all that He is. If He, through me, cannot reach out and impact the lives of others for His awesome plan and purpose, then my life is not being lived to its fullest potential - it's true purpose. I know, because His Word says so, that He has a specific purpose for my life, as He does with everyone's. In the last week, I have experienced some awesome things with God, and I can sense my purpose begin to align with the passion in me, beginning to take shape. I still don't really know what it will look like, but I know that there are various stages to what I am intended to walk out, starting with my own personal relationship with Him.

One week ago today, in my prayer time, my train of thought was interrupted by a simple statement, 'understand the power of submission.' I thought I had made it up or misunderstood or something, but a moment later I heard it again. 'There is power in submission that you need to understand'.

And within a few hours, I came across a writing (by Beth Moore) that gave clarity to that very statement. My purpose, my call from God, is not to be an administrator, or a speaker, or a teacher, or a whatever else. The call on my life is not task-driven. It is not centered around what I do that others can see and recognize. My main call in living this life is simply this: to surrender to Him. Simply surrender and do whatever He asks of me, whether it is to teach a class of 50 students or care for one child in the nursery. My calling is to be abandoned to Him, trusting Him to shape my life for the purpose He has for me.

Authority

I love it when I begin to get a revelation of the truth of things I know in my head. A few weeks ago as I was studying, I read something that brought on one of those kinds of moments. What I was reading was actually on a completely different topic, but for some reason, it was like a crack opened in my understanding of God's authority. I caught just a glimpse of a piece of the whole truth, and not wanting to lose it, I grabbed my journal and started writing. Basically as I finished writing, I ran out of quiet time to read or study any further. I put my journal aside, and went on about my day.

Later that night, I was drawn back to what I had written earlier. As I prayed about what it was that God was trying to show me, piece after piece of the bigger picture began to fall into place. It was nothing I didn't know in my head, but to have a realization of the truth of it in the depths of my spirit was awesome.

I was given just a small glimpse of His true authority -

• to forgive
• to redeem
• to restore
• to heal
• to offer eternal life
• to break down strongholds
• to cast out demons
• authority over time itself
• authority over life and death

I knew as I finished praying that, if I could just get this, really internalize it and let it alter my understanding of Him, it could have a HUGE impact on my life. If I could only realize, recognize, and accept as truth His authority in every area of existence, how could I ever allow doubt to overpower my faith in Him? There would be no room for doubt - it would have to be choked out simply by the depth of my belief. That's awesome to think about!

As I look back over this list that I jotted down in my prayer time, I can't help but see that He has authority in every area that we seem to struggle with in faith. Forgiveness, for example. It's so hard to understand why He would forgive some of the things I've done or thought or said. It's so difficult to accept that He would be willing to do that when I've done nothing to deserve forgiveness. And I know I'm not alone in feeling this way - if we really accepted forgiveness, there wouldn't be so many of us trapped by our pasts, trying to do enough to earn what He is offering. We may not understand why He would so freely forgive, but He does it because He wants to and because can - He has the authority to forgive.

Just think about that in each area I wrote down - how His authority makes possible all the things that don't otherwise make sense. As I thought about it more and more, I got a desire to look up every scripture I could find that discussed His authority. What I found was incredible. Jesus did many things during His time on earth so that we would be able to understand and accept that He has authority over all those things that trouble us - to allow us a wide open door to have faith in Him and believe in Him completely. He spoke with authority. He healed to demonstrate His authority. He died and rose again for the sake of authority. There is definitely not a shortage of verses discussing His authority, but one passage in particular completely captivates me.

1 Corinthians 15:24-28 - After that comes the end (the completion), when He delivers over the kingdom to God the Father after rendering inoperative and abolishing every [other] rule and every authority and power. For [Christ] must be King and reign until He has put all [His] enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be subdued and abolished is death. For He [the Father] has put all things in subjection under His [Christ's] feet. ...However, when everything is subjected to Him, then the Son Himself will also subject Himself to [the Father] Who put all things under Him, so that God may be all in all [be everything to everyone, supreme, the indwelling and controlling factor of life].

His authority in all things is what allows Him to accomplish His purpose for all men - the way to salvation is made available; darkness is defeated; death is rendered powerless; and God the Father is glorified as the 'all in all' - the indwelling and controlling factor of life.