1 Corinthians

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“God, who has called you into fellowship with his Son Jesus Christ our Lord, is faithful.”

1 Corinthians 1:9

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He will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ.

China Made Me: John 19

PROPHETIC WORSHIP

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“They divided My garments among them, and for my clothing they cast lots.”

John 19:24, Psalm 22:18

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Prophetic worship is too hyped in my opinion.  If we carve it down to it’s inmost function, I think we’d find a man in love, singing his praise to God.  I don’t think it comes in that time where we say, “Oh we’re going to have prophetic worship now,” but rather in the spontaneous moment of prayer and worship.  Looking at the prayer of David in Psalm 22, I don’t think that he was planning on prophetically singing about Jesus’ passion and suffering, but he was simply doing his normal bizznus.   It was not a planned moment!  They didn’t have prophetic worship training seminars back then.  He simply lived a life of worship in songs and psalms daily before the Lord, and the prophetic spirit of God would meet him in that moment of surrender.  And in that place of seemingly “ignorant” worship, David sings about the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ and His death that would bring life to all mankind.

China Made Me: John 18

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“Shall I not drink the cup which My Father has given Me?”

John 18:11

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China Made Me: John 17

I am from…

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“I do not pray that You should take them out of the world, but that You should keep them from the evil one.”

John 17:15

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I am not of this world.

But I am not out of this world.

I am supernaturally natural

And naturally supernatural.

I am from heaven.

But I am here on earth.

I am so heavenly-minded,

that I am of earthly good.

If I were earthly-minded,

I would be of no earthly good,

Nor heavenly good.

Therefore, keep me in this world,

But not of this world.

China Made Me: John 16

Can you tell? I love Him.  Holy Spirit.

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However, when He, the Spirit of truth, has come, He will guide you into all truth; for He will not speak on His own authority, but whatever He hears He will speak; and He will tell you things to come.  He will glorify Me, for He will take of what is Mine and declare it to you.  All things that the Father has are Mine.  Therefore I said that He will take of Mine and declare it to you.”

John 16: 13-15

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From this passage:

(1) The Holy Spirit hears.

(2) The Holy Spirit speaks.

(3) The Holy Spirit is the epitome of truth.

(4) The Holy Spirit tells us of things to come (Spirit of Prophecy).

(5) The Holy Spirit lives for the glory of Jesus.

(6) The Holy Spirit declares (to us).

(7) The Holy Spirit can only move within the jurisdiction of Jesus (which is no limitation at all).

China Made Me: John 15

The Stretching Process

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“Every branch in Me that does not bear fruit He takes away; and every branch that bears fruit He prunes, that it may bear more fruit.”

John 15:2

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John 15- a verse that is permeated through every sphere of Christian living.  Yet today, I would like to offer my own experience in these words today.

To begin, I believe that everyone has a physical body, but there is also a spiritual body- a holy temple, that is born of the spirit  (John 3 and Nicodemus).  But our spiritual bodies are not contained within our physical bodies, but can grow beyond its borders.  Now as we experience growth in our spirits, through testing, purging, trials, and love, there is also a stretching process that occurs.  Just like any physical stretch, it is uncomfortable, slightly painful, and feels utterly long.  But, it is important, because without it, our muscles would tighten up like a rock and be limited in growth and expansion.  In the same way, our spiritual bodies must be stretched.

In my Blessed K-Group, we discussed this stretching process.  The question arose: Is it true love if you have to push yourself to offer an act of kindness to someone? If I have to force myself to give someone a ride, is that true love?  If I must be intentional about offering edifying comments to my brother, is that false love?  When I stretch myself to love beyond what I am normally capable of, is that a pseudo-love?

The conclusion was given: Sometimes, we must force and condition ourselves to love others even when we don’t feel like it.  And when I do so, I am stretching my spiritual muscles so that the forced acts of kindness now would be easy and natural in the future.

Jesus never said, love your neighbor only when you feel like it.  He simple stated that we must do it all of the time, because it pleases His heart.  And when we begin to love one another and stretch ourselves beyond what the standard love requires, then a true love would be apparent that would seem alien to those on the outside of the church. Once we condition ourselves to love, then we would be conditioned to love those outside the church as well.

China Made Me: John 14

Holy Spirit

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And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Counselor to be with you forever – the Spirit of truth.

John 14:16

But the Counselor, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.

John 14:26

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I need you Holy Spirit.  I enthrone You as king Holy Spirit.  I love you Holy Spirit.  You’re pretty much my best friend Holy Spirit.

China Made Me: John 13

How Will You Respond?

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Peter said to Him, “You shall never wash my feet!”  Jesus answered him, “If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me.”  Simon Peter said to Him, “Lord, not my feet only, but also my hands and my head!”

John 13:8-9

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The act of washing feet was an offensive act for a man who was a King.

Only after Jesus’ revolution had it become a redeemed act of servitude and grace, and a cornerstone teaching of leadership in the church.

I like Peter.  He was a wholly-given man who gave his complete obedience into what he believed, whether it was right or wrong.  He was a man of integrity to what he believed to be true.  In one situation, we see him even rebuking Jesus for his actions.  Then the next, he’s begging Jesus to wash his entire body.  What a funny man.

Today I was walking on the beach with no shoes on.  Beforehand I had taken a shower.  I was pretty much clean, except my feet, which was completely black and dirty from the places where I had gone.  At that moment, this passage came alive to me,

“”He who is bathed needs only to wash his feet, but is completely clean.”

John 13:10

I think Jesus was talking about our condition… that we are already made clean by the blood of Christ which has cleansed us from every wickedness, but we still need to wash our feet everyday as we’re walking here on earth.

China Made Me: John 12

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Yet at the same time many even among the leaders believed in [Jesus].  But because of the Pharisees they would not confess their faith for fear they would be put out of the synagogue; for they loved praise from men more than praise from God.

John 12:42-43

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The religious spirit sucks the life out of true faith.

The religious spirit suppresses the voice of belief.

The religious spirit hinders people from following Jesus.

The religious spirit creates fear.

The religious spirit loves praise from man.

The religious spirit is going down

China Made Me: John 11

Incomplete Faith is No Faith at All

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Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” <incomplete faith>

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.  He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.  Do you believe this?”

John 11:24-26

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In chapter 11, Jesus intends on raising Lazarus from the dead.  But nobody has the faith to believe with him in this.  Let’s look at the other believer’s responses…

Martha: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  John 11:21 <incomplete faith>

Martha: “I know [my brother] will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”  John 11:24 <incomplete faith>

Mary: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  John 11:32 <incomplete faith>

Other believers: “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”  John 11:37 <incomplete faith>

Martha, Mary, and the Jews all believed that Jesus was the son of God.  However, their faith had not yet been completed.  They believed that Jesus could heal the sick and do miraculous signs, but they did not believe that he could do all things. Mark 9 is one of my favorite passages; it describes an instance when Jesus delivers a boy from demon possession and it reads,

Father: “But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us.”

Jesus: “If you can? Everything is possible for him who believes.”

True faith is this- to believe that God can do anything. Incomplete faith is to believe that God can do miraculous powers and heal the sick and even raise the dead.  <haha> Which is quite the controversy in itself.  But our God can do anything!  And the time may come one day where I will be tested by an impossible circumstance, to see if I have cultivated true faith.

And even still, when Martha, Mary, and the other believers were lacking faith, Jesus was the one to freely speak and give true faith to them.  By His words, Jesus pulled them into the place of believing, (and not by their own efforts).  It is true when it says, “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing from the word of God” (Romans 10:17).