Things Revealed

As Jesus was walking beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers, Simon called Peter and his brother Andrew. They were casting a net into the lake, for they were fishermen. "Come, follow me,'' Jesus said, "and I will make you fishers of men."

Matthew 4:18-20

“Come, follow me” were the very first words Jesus spoke to Peter and Andrew. No doubt he Lord knew who he was calling, because the very next verse says, “At once they left their nets and followed him.

Every believer hears the Lord’s call to follow him. Sometimes it is the power of the word that draws us to Christ, or maybe a gentle whisper. Sometimes events do. And sometimes it’s truth revealed that causes us to see clearly. After all, it was Jesus who told Pilot, "You are right in saying I am a king. In fact, for this reason I was born, and for this I came into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone on the side of truth listens to me." Pilot dismissed this claim summarily with the infamous words, “What is truth?” and men and women have been wrestling with this question and their response to it ever since.

It says of Peter and Andrew that they followed Jesus “at once.” For many of us, we were slow to hear and maybe even slower to respond. But the Lord is loving and patient and while it is still “today,” he has warned us with these words: “if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts.”

So for those who choose Christ, we follow him and learn of his kingdom; we follow him to the Body of Christ where we can fellowship with other believers; or we follow him wherever He leads us, whether it’s to family and friends, to the office or to the ends of the earth to preach the Gospel.

Anyway you cut it, there’s a lot of following to a lot of different places. And along the way to victory in Christ, there’s a lot of heartache, betrayal and confusion. There’s rejection by unbelievers. There’s misunderstanding and human frailties within the Body of Christ. And there are trials that come no matter how closely we walk with the Lord. In the end, or at least at the point we think we are at the end, we can feel defeated, unworthy and unloved as we try to navigate the world, the church and our own doubts about what we are doing for the Lord and how well we’re doing it.

But take heart. Virtually every man or woman God has used to accomplish his purposes struggled with the same issues. Because God uses pressure and trials and doubt and pain to perfect something Christ-like in us no matter which path the Lord has led us down.

Look at Peter. “Come follow me,” the Lord said, and he did. Then he had the most remarkable life—here’s a few highlights just from the Gospels:

• He’s the one who first said “you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
• He’s the one who found the coin in the fish’s mouth.
• He tried to walk on water.
• He was at the mount of transfiguration with Jesus, Moses and Elijah.
• He also fell asleep in the garden of Gethsemane when Jesus asked him to pray.
• He cut off Malchus’ ear with a sword when they came to arrest Jesus.
• And he’s the who denied Jesus three times, just as the Lord predicted he would.

In that moment of personal failure Peter wept bitterly, wondering if he was wrong about who he thought he was, about how far he had come and about his calling. So when it looked like the end had come, he went back to fishing. No ministry. No calling. Just work. He no longer felt qualified to serve and had somehow lost his way despite the profound life he had been living as one of Jesus’ disciples.

But look at Peter’s last discussion with the risen Lord (John 21: 11-22), the one where Jesus restored him:

Simon Peter climbed aboard and dragged the net ashore. It was full of large fish, but even with so many the net was not torn. Jesus said to them, "Come and have breakfast." None of the disciples dared ask him, "Who are you?" They knew it was the Lord. Jesus came, took the bread and gave it to them, and did the same with the fish. This was now the third time Jesus appeared to his disciples after he was raised from the dead.

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me more than these?"

"Yes, Lord," he said, "you know that I love you."

Jesus said, "Feed my lambs."

Again Jesus said, "Simon son of John, do you truly love me?"

He answered, "Yes, Lord, you know that I love you."

Jesus said, "Take care of my sheep."

The third time he said to him, "Simon son of John, do you love me?"

Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, "Do you love me?" He said, "Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you."

Jesus said, "Feed my sheep. I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go." Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God. Then he said to him, "Follow me!"

Peter turned and saw that the disciple whom Jesus loved was following them. (This was the one who had leaned back against Jesus at the supper and had said, "Lord, who is going to betray you?") When Peter saw him, he asked, "Lord, what about him?"

Jesus answered, "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you? You must follow me."

Peter’s restoration came when Jesus spoke directly to his broken disciple, asking him repeatedly whether he loved him and commissioning Peter, after each response, to feed his sheep. But perhaps the final words of restoration and reorientation were the most important, because they held the ultimate keys to his ministry, and to ours. Jesus' very last words to Peter were these: “follow me.”

Same as his first words.

Jesus says the same thing when we lose our way or grow weary, when we feel frustrated or unappreciated and when we think we are no longer qualified to serve him: “Follow me.”

That’s how your walk with God and your ministry began.

That’s how it is sustained.

And that’s how it keeps on track.

With all that you’ve accomplished or seen or failed at or forsaken, with all the questions that arise about where you’re heading, where you are and where you’ve been, Jesus reorients with the same two words: “Follow me.”

As the Book of Acts reports, Peter clearly got his bearings after hearing and responding to these words.

The same is true for us. When we wander off the narrow path or lose our way, God shows us the way back by saying "Follow me."

The next step is up to us.

It always is.

I'll not be talking with you much more like this because the chief of this godless world is about to attack. But don't worry — he has nothing on me, no claim on me. But so the world might know how thoroughly I love the Father, I am carrying out my Father's instructions right down to the last detail.

John 14: 30-31 (The Message)

The last detail was no small point. It was the point of everything, the turning point for all mankind. It was selfless obedience to the Father. It was sacrificial love on the cross. And it was mercy beyond comprehension. Jesus subjected himself to unfathomable brutality. To separation so great he cried out "My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?" And to restraint beyond measure when he chose not to stop it all and call down the legions of angels at his disposal. But as Jesus himself put it, had he chosen another path or been led astray, “how…would the Scriptures be fulfilled that say it must happen in this way?"

Jesus fulfilled the Scriptures exactly as written. The punishment that brought us peace was upon him and by his sacrifice we were set free and restored. He gave his life for us. Nobody took it. No one could—not the Romans, not the Pharisees, not even Satan. And no one could lead him astray. There was nothing—no thought, no sin, no doubt—no leverage or claim that anyone had on him, nothing that could be used to manipulate him or prevent him from fulfilling his destiny, right down to the last detail. Jesus chose death on the cross that we might have eternal life, and in doing so freed us from the grip of guilt and sin.

There is no greater freedom in heaven or on the earth. Because of Jesus, neither the enemy nor anyone else has a claim on us. We are his. We are forgiven and spiritually debt free—born again with a clean slate. And his victory for our lives was sealed with these final words: “It is finished.” Nothing the father of lies can say will ever change that fact, no matter what the accusation, no matter what’s in our past, no matter how he tries to mislead us. His claims on our souls, on our minds and on our hearts are null and void. Our debt is paid. We are free. Period.

Still, Paul understood that the choice was ours when he said, “It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery.”

Jesus wanted there to be no doubt about it. He put it this way: “if the Son sets you free, you will be absolutely free.”

Are you walking in God’s absolute freedom?

Or are you enslaved again by believing a lie of Biblical proportions?

Your choice.

That's the responsibility that comes with absolute freedom.

As for you, the anointing you received from him remains in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things and as that anointing is real, not counterfeit—just as it has taught you, remain in him.

1 John 2: 27

Where have we heard this before? And why do we need to be reminded that the anointing we received when we became believers “remains” in us? Because we are mere mortals. Born again, but from worldly stock. Some of us forget names seconds after introductions. Others forget important dates and appointments. And many forget that they have been transformed—filled with the power of God to do great and mighty things, forgiven for past transgressions and equipped in all ways to fulfill God’s call on their lives.

The anointing is for a purpose. One purpose is to bring us into intimate relationship with God himself, to know his love and fellowship. Another is to equip us deep within so we can step out in faith with holy confidence.

John says we received the anointing (an infilling of the Holy Spirit; the oil of God; gifting and equipping; the act of having been chosen by God). He says that it remains in us. When called to step up and step out in faith and speak the word of the Lord to friends or family, our first thoughts are often that we are not qualified. And rather than risk embarrassment, we remain silent. So John reminds us we are qualified because the anointing remains in us. No one has to teach us about it, because the anointing—the Holy Spirit—teaches us about all things. And it’s not just wishful or positive thinking, but the very power of God. Only, we must remain in him. (Jesus himself proclaimed: “Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.”)

Paul put it this way: “He has made us competent as ministers of a new covenant—not of the letter but of the Spirit; for the letter kills, but the Spirit gives life.”

And even before Jesus walked the earth, God’s radical plan was to pour out his anointing on our lives. It was prophet Jeremiah who told us what to expect:

'The time is coming,' declares the LORD, 'when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,' declares the LORD.

'This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time,' declares the LORD. 'I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God, and they will be my people. No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, "Know the LORD," because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest,' declares the LORD. 'For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more.'

Jeremiah 31: 31-34

(Is this word just for Israel? Not according to Paul, who tells us in Romans that the Jews are the natural branch (the original covenant people of God) while the Gentiles are the wild branch that has been grafted in. Which means both believing Jews and Gentiles are the new covenant people of God.)

Since the Garden, God has been reminding us that he provides everything as we abide (remain) in him. But like Adam, it’s in our nature to wander away and forget what we have been given and what we have learned. In fact, much of the Bible is the history of people walking away from God and forgetting what he has done. Many knowingly. Others unaware that they had even strayed.

Maybe it’s time to get our bearings again. Do we remember that we are anointed? Are we moving in it? Are we hearing the voice of God?

If not, we need to ask, Why not?

The anointing remains in you, even if you've forgotten about it. Let the Spirit of God show you where you are and just how far you’ve wandered. Then change your direction, remember the anointing and take your rightful place as competent ministers of the new covenant.

The LORD is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love. He will not always accuse, nor will he harbor his anger forever; he does not treat us as our sins deserve or repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love for those who fear him; as far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us.

Psalm 103:8-12

It is hard to wrap our minds around the magnitude of God’s grace and mercy. Because it's sometimes so hard to be like him. No matter how much we try, it seems that resentment and unforgiveness can dog us our whole lives. Whoever has wronged us, how ever long ago it happened, we seem built to remember. And even when we have gone through all the steps we know to do as believers, the wrong timing coupled with the wrong moment and the wrong thing said can bring on the wrong response. Some wounds just keep on giving and leave us confronting our own inability to completely forgive. The great irony is that even in the face of our own unforgiveness, we have an uncanny ability to forgive that sin in us. That part of being made in God’s image seems always to function on all cylinders!

But there is a cost to pay for our unforgiveness toward others. While we may forgive our inability to be free of the pain and judgment that comes with old offenses against us, too often we are just as unforgiving about old sins in our own lives.

While fasting in the desert, Jesus could not be distracted from his mission by the twisted words and promises of the enemy. But Satan quickly realized his timing was off and “left him until an opportune time.” That time came later in Jerusalem. The enemy is always waiting for an opportune time to take us down or make us ineffective. And the opportune time is inevitably when we are about to do something for the Lord, something for the lost, or something that advances the Kingdom of God. Until then, why would the enemy bother with us? But when he does, it’s no small matter, for “Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”

What better way is there to attack us than to use our weaknesses against us. As we step out in boldness, our enemy seeks to destroy us. And it’s almost always the same technique: He reminds us how inadequate we are. What we’ve done. What only we know about our past. How we believe we have been forgiven, but how unforgiving we are to others. And that being the case, how we must not be forgiven either. And if that’s true, how unqualified we are to do anything on God’s behalf because we are no different than the pagans and enemies of God.

Half truths, misquotes and the opportune time. Attempting to devour us right when God is ready to move through us. Could there be a better time for Satan to move against us? And could there be an easier way to do it? To remind us of old sins we have forgotten and to make us believe they are unresolved, even though Jesus was “pierced for our transgressions.”

God has already forgiven the repentant believer. He has already covered us in the righteousness of Jesus. He has already declared our sins white as snow. He has already said “It is finished.” And he has proclaimed that our sins are removed “as far as the east is from the west.”

We can't get any more forgiven than that.

We are free, because who the son sets free is "free indeed." The sin that enslaved us and the guilt and condemnation are gone. That’s God’s promise through the ages. It is the whip he has given us to tame the devouring lion. Our response to the enemy reminding us of our sin must be acknowledgement. Yet in the same breath, it must also be “but God has set me free.” Then, in recognition of his mercy toward us, we must again forgive those who have hurt us. The enemy may prowl around like a roaring lion, but we serve the Lion of Judah, the King of Kings, the compassionate and gracious God who is abounding in love and forgiveness.

Forgive yourselves! God has. And put the matter to rest. “The past cannot be redeemed. What has been and what might have been both bring us to what is." (Odd Thomas, by Dean Koontz). You are here now. Your past cannot be redeemed. It’s over. But you have been redeemed. And you have been forgiven for whatever you’ve done in your past. And more than that, God will use your past to mold you into the vessel of his desire. So close the book on it and don’t let the enemy read you the story of your sin to sabotage the call on your life. Those transgressions are history, but your life in God is his story in you, and it is without sin.

You are qualified. You are forgiven. And you are without excuse. He has put the call of God in your heart. Do you really want to take issue with his judgment? He loves you. And he’s proud of you. Now accept that truth humbly as you step out boldly to fulfill what he has set before you.

Or would you rather forgo God’s assignment for your life and give the benefit of your doubts to the enemy of all that’s good, holy and righteous.

That is not God’s plan.

The spiritual did not come first, but the natural, and after that the spiritual. 1 Corinthians 15:46

Our biggest problem as believers is that we are human. Certainly, God has blessed us with five senses to fully appreciate his marvelous creation. He has also given us such a wide range of emotions that we feel and experience everything in high-def-surround-sound-dolby-blue-ray-holy-cow-did-you-see-that reality! But being human frequently results in sensory overload, constant exposure to temptation, enormous mood swings and spiritual nearsightedness. And each of us has the same valid excuse: I was born that way!

The Spiritual is new to us. The natural came first. We’ve had so much time to learn what it means to be flesh and blood, to react in our senses and to accept what we see with our natural eyes, that when spiritual transformation does come we are like new-borns, “new creations” who have been “born again.” We recognize that something’s different about us, but we instinctively draw on our prior experience for understanding. Unfortunately, our prior experience is of no real value because it comes from the natural and has not prepared us to grasp or unravel spiritual things.

Look at the twelve spies Moses sent into the land (Numbers 13 and 14) shortly after the Lord miraculously delivered his people from Egypt. God tells Moses to send men to explore the land which he was giving to the people of Israel. They cross the border, see the wonder and riches of the promised land, but still bring back a bad report of powerful cities, giants in the land and a people that Israel could not conquer. What they didn’t see was that God was handing Canaan over to Israel, that he had already shown what he would do on Israel’s behalf and that he would conquer the land through them. Only Caleb and Joshua had spiritual eyes to see because there was something different about them. Something that caused them not to lean on their own understanding but to view things from God’s perspective and embrace it as truth. The rest of the scouting party—men of fear and flesh—paid for their lack of spiritual vision and trust with their very lives. A harsh result that gives us a clear insight into the nature of God’s Kingdom and the risks of continuing to walk, see and respond only in our flesh, like the natural man we all once were.

The Psalmist gives us another perspective (Psalm 73). After observing and complaining about how the wicked prosper, how they seem to be trouble and burden free and how they not only appear to succeed, but arrogantly claim their success is God’s blessing, the psalmist comes to this realization: “When my heart was grieved and my spirit embittered, I was senseless and ignorant; I was a brute beast before you.”

A brute beast responds to what he sees in the natural with emotions and instincts: Fear. Greed. Envy. Desire. Anger. Hatred. Murder. It is a snapshot of man in all his fleshly glory, the exact opposite of the spiritual man enveloped in all of Christ’s holy glory.

Paul puts it this way: “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17). But since the new—the spiritual—did not come first, no matter how long you’ve been walking with God, you still need to train yourself at being spiritual. At thinking spiritually. At seeing the world from God’s perspective by letting Christ live in you. The world challenges the new creation every day with the same old temptations. Virtually every moment, virtually all the time—from corner newsstands to billboards, from songs to DVDs, from video games to TV commercials and from politics to the stock market—our natural man is enticed to respond like it used to. Like a brute beast, senseless and ignorant to the spiritual realm, and unaware or indifferent to the fact that these worldly snares can trap and injure the spirit within us.

Has your flesh succumbed recently and had a “victory” at the expense of your spirit? Sometimes it happens. In fact, it will happen from time to time for the rest of your life, because the natural came first. Think of it as a flesh wound. It’s personally painful, but it does not disqualify you from God’s service or result in your dishonorable discharge from the battle. Want confirmation? Just look around you. No one is perfect. No one is without sin. If your flesh wound disqualifies you, then no one is qualified to serve God. Not one.

There is a maxim in the legal system that says “ignorance of the law is no excuse.” Like the person in court, we too have no excuse in spiritual matters. We can feign ignorance in a moment of weakness, but God has made us new creations who can find no sanctuary behind closed eyes. The spiritual may not have come first in our lives, but it has come nonetheless! And it has opened our eyes and minds to the Kingdom of God and has given us the power to be a spiritual people—Ambassadors of Christ among the lost.

You are a new creation. Don’t forget it when you fail. God doesn’t. He only forgets your sin. And he knows that as his new creation, you’ll get better at it with practice and perseverance. And with his help.