Your Kingdom come, Your will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven

The immediate questions that come to my mind are: “ What does the coming of God’s kingdom look like?” and “What exactly is His Will?” These are big questions! Yet, we are called to make this a pattern of our prayer as Jesus tells us “pray this way”. We need to think about it. We are praying for it, but even more so, we are commanded to pray it. But, what does it mean? What does it require of me? First, we must look at what we know about God’s kingdom. As we read the various statements of Jesus in relation to the Kingdom, we find these common themes: justice, kindness and humility. In seeking God’s kingdom, and doing His Will, we must constantly be asking – is what I’m doing Godly justice, Christly love, Holy Spirit humility? All my relationships and encounters are to be marked and come under the subjection of these qualities. I challenge you to re-examine the gospel passages that speak of the kingdom and apply these themes. Ask what is Kingdom justice, Kingdom kindness, Kingdom humility. These are the elements of God’s Kingdom and expressions of His Will. These are the things that if the Kingdom of God is to come, they must be lived through me. Everything is on the table. My choices, wants, attitudes and opinions are a big part of this kingdom. My relationship with my wife, my children, and my co-workers are considerations for coming of the Kingdom. For others is it is their relationship with a girl friend or a boy friend. As persons called ‘Respond to the Call’, it is directly tied to the ‘how and what’ we do as support workers for those with exceptional needs. It comes to play in our conflicts, how we relate to those in authority, etc. In addition, being that this is being written at the end of February, how and what I report on my taxes. It is at the most fundamental pragmatic levels that we need live out the Kingdom of God. I think that is the root of Jesus’ statement: “Seek first the Kingdom of God, then these things will be added to you”.
I have had many people tell me “this or that is God’s Will” after which I am left wondering, “How do you know that?” The problem with declaring something as God’s Will is we effectively lock down input or counsel from anyone else. How do we know with certainty what God’s Will is? I am afraid I have used this, or seen other people use the statement “it’s God’s Will” as a method of manipulation or self-justification of what we personally want to see happen. As well meaning and convinced as I may be, there are few things that I should be as dogmatic about to as to claim “This is God’s Will”. I am not suggesting that we cannot know God’s Will, I am merely pointing out that we need to be very careful and very sure of making that claim. Here is the ironic bit: many, including myself, have claimed this as a truth regarding particular things. However, if you look closely enough at those things that we feel we know for sure are God’s Will – maybe we aren’t doing quite so well with them. Here is what I mean: if you knew the specific Will of God, would you do it? If you knew exactly what He required of you, would you commit all you are to do it? Well here is the rub, He has told us – clearly. The answer to this is found in Micah 6:8
8He has told you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justice, to love kindness, And to walk humbly with your God?
We do this in our personal walk with God, in our journey with each other, and in our mission to a world that desperately needs to experience the coming of the Kingdom of God (refer to the Haiti reflections).
Here’s my suggestion – for myself especially: first I must focus on what I know to be the Will of God: justice for the poor, broken and forgotten; kindness be the quality that I am known by, and humility to be my character –

Anyway, I was just thinking,
Neil

What should I pray today?

Colossians 1:9-12

9For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you and asking God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all spiritual wisdom and understanding. 10And we pray this in order that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and may please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, 11being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and joyfully 12giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you[d] to share in the inheritance of the saints in the kingdom of light.

A question that keeps arising for me is ‘what and how am I supposed to pray, for myself and for others’? Here we find an answer to that question.

If I’m honest with myself, so many of my prayers tend to be self serving and ‘surfacey’. “God help me have a good day, God help me be safe, God help me find a parking place…anyway you get the idea”. My prayers need to take on a different nature, “God fill me, and those about me with the knowledge of Your Will through all spiritual wisdom and understand”. The purpose of this prayer is pretty precise “that I, we, might live a life worthy of the Lord and please Him in every way. Wow. That’s intense. Paul’s situation I think helped him to cut to the chase. He’s sitting in prison chained to guard, and receiving reports of people that he lead to Christ being persecuted and put to death. He’s not imprisoned for doing bad things, or disobeying God. He’s done, said and behaved as God wanted him to and it’s landed him in trouble and he’s thinking about ‘how can I be pleasing to God in this’? Think about that for more a minute. Is the goal of my life, to live in a way that is pleasing to the Lord in every way – regardless of the circumstance? I’m afraid our orientation is largely living in a way that is pleasing to me, and God will have to understand and accept my wisdom. The only way that I can hope to break out of my self-centred living is if God empowers me with all strength and power according to His glorious might. My will is pretty strong. But consider the result of living His way; bearing good fruit, growing in knowledge, gaining strength, patience and joy.

We together are a part of a great calling. God has chosen you to be part of the ministry of Christian Horizons. Our greatest impact will be as we pray this prayer for ourselves, each other, and the persons whom we have been called to serve.

Anyway, I was just thinking.

Neil

Ps. We’re presently attempting to determine if this blog is being effective. If you’d be willing to take a moment a give a quick response to ministry@christian-horizons.org to let us know your thoughts on the matter that would be greatly appreciated.

All saints (every) day

Colossians 1:
Thanksgiving and Prayer

3 We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, 4 because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints—

Firstly, I’m challenged by Paul’s statement “we always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ when we pray for you…” Think about the impact of our relationships with each other, our place of work, and the people we serve, if we ‘always thank God….when we pray for you’. God does a work in our hearts and minds when pray this way.

Every day here at the Corporate office our team gathers to pray for our programs across Ontario and around the world. What is always moving is when we hear the stories of how you as teams through significant investment of time, patience and compassion and as a result of the faithful years, a person supported is able for the first time to go into the community, or participate in a vacation, or make contact with their family or…(the list goes on and on). We enjoy and rejoice in the opportunity to hear of ‘your faith in Christ and the love that you have for all the saints’.

The word saint is an interesting one. Paul refers to all those who are children of God as saints. Now, think about that for a bit. The people whom you work with, the people whom you serve, dare I say, the people you work for J are ‘saints’ – that means you too. That’s pretty heady stuff – but don’t let it inflate your ego too much. You might need to straighten and shine your halo. We are all saints, not by our own will or worthiness, but by the call and purpose of God. How should that affect how we treat each other, how we serve, how we view and ‘handle’ each other? We are caring for saints of God, because He has declared it.

‘The love that you have for ALL the saints’ It seems God doesn’t give us much room to pick and chose eh? It would be so much easier if we could say “I’ll love that saint, and that one, I think is more the opposite of a saint”. Again, we are saints, but not because of our will, earning or worthiness, but by God’s delight and pleasure – whomever God has declared a saint is worthy of love, respect and peace. Now not everyone in the world is declared by God to be a saint – only those who are seeking to yield their will to Him.

Consider all those that you serve and work with as ‘saints’ called by God. Think about how God would have us interact, relate and treat His saints.

Anyway I was just thinking…..

Neil

Working by the Will of God

Colossians 1
1 Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and Timothy our brother,
2 To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Colosse: Grace and peace to you from God our Father.

Have you ever considered the work that you do with Christian Horizons as ‘by the will of the God’? I don’t mean the organization per say, I mean the serving of persons with exceptional needs.

I have been reflecting on the book of Colossians for the past while, and will be for the foreseeable future. I’m not really interested in reading through the Bible in a year (although it is a good idea at least once or twice). I find when I do that, I’m more interested in getting the required reading done than I am in understanding, processing, digesting, and applying what I have discovered. I’m not speaking for everyone’s experience, that’s just seems to be how I’m wired. Colossians is deeply challenging and convicting me. So it will be the little letter of Colossians for awhile yet. I’ve decided to drag you in on some of my wrestling.

So back to the opening question, have you considered the work that you do to be ‘by the will of God’? I think how we answer that question truly sets the tone, passion and way that we ‘do what we do’. As Mark and I have travelled Ontario doing the Spiritual Edge Seminar, one of the passages we have examine is Matthew 25: 34-40:

"Then the King will say to those on his right, 'Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.'
"Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?'
"The King will reply, 'I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers [Children] of mine, you did for me.

This passage is about a way of living by the Will of God. It isn’t about the identification of ‘those who are least’ as a separate class i.e. the sick, disabled, imprisoned etc. It is about the realization that, in truth, we are all ‘poor in spirit’ – we are all ‘the least’ – we are all children of God and have a mandate to ‘be’ with each other in a way that reflects the truth ‘…you did it for Me (Christ)’.

How we do our work ‘by the will of God’ is found in our attitude, conduct and behaviour with each other, and with God. The answer starts right in verse 2; To the holy and faithful brothers[Children] in Christ at Colosse. Colosse could be anywhere. Read the verse this way: To the holy and faithful brothers in Christ at Christian Horizons – Horizon House__. We participate ‘by the will’ of God by seeking to be holy and faithful children in Christ, right where we are. We struggle with this idea of ‘by the will of God’, but as we read on in Colossians we discover just how far and completely Paul believed this himself. He believed that even being in chains in prison he was able to work by the ‘Will of God’. So even though you think your work is as ‘bad as prisons’ (hyperbole) – even there, you can work ‘by the will of God’.

Anyway I was just thinking.

Neil

The Will of God – to seek Justice

How do we seek justice? As mentioned in an earlier post when we wrote on the Beatitudes, the verse "Blessed are those that hunger and thirst for righteousness" could equally be translated "Blessed are those that hunger and thirst for justice". We must ask ourselves: Do I hunger and thirst for God's justice? Is it something that I frequently concern myself with? Maybe more than you think. Whether you've considered it or not, the work that you are engaged in providing support for those with exceptional needs can be a significant part of that 'seeking justice'. I say 'can be', simply because it all depends on the condition and motivation in our heart. If our motivation is serving in such a way that the persons we are supporting are elevated, that opportunities and options that would not otherwise be available are because of our involvement, than I would say you are seeking His justice. If we together are advocating for those who cannot advocate for themselves – and praying that we are honestly representing their voice – we are involved in bringing about justice. Does your mind and heart hunger and thirst to see those with exceptional needs experience equality, dignity, opportunity and inclusion? If so, I would confidently declare that you are seeking God's justice. This is obviously His heart as well. Here's the real powerful part. Recognizing that 'we' are seeking His justice can also unite us in purpose and deed. Each one of us plays a significant role that encourages or discourages those around us as they 'seek' His justice. Imagine how much more of God's justice we can see happen if we are of the same mind, heart and Spirit.

It is easy for us to fall into routine and simply do the 'activities' of justice without having the 'heart' of justice. We must guard against that. The key differences are passion and purpose. If I'm just doing these things because it's my job and it's expected, much of what I do will feel empty and obligated – I will have the feeling of just going through the motions. I will feel drained, tired and frustrated. If however, it is because of passion - I will experience the opposite. I will feel vitalized, empowered and hopeful.

Right where you are - you can be part of God's plan to bring justice to the nations, to be the river of justice that rolls down the mountain, to be a participant in the declaration of Christ: "This is the favourable year of the Lord".

The challenge however is this: for God, it's not enough that we seek justice only in one area that we're passionate about. Instead, we must be seeking His justice in all areas of our lives! This is not easy but must be done. We have to seek his justice in our relationships, in our work, in our private times, with our resources, with our words and actions, in all that we are.

Do not be discouraged. We all have so much to learn and apply. The hope is, God is patient with us and His mercies are new every morning. Today, we can seek His justice. We'll deal with tomorrow when it gets here.

Anyway, I was just thinking.

Neil

If I could only know the will of God!

Have you ever asked "God, if you just told me your 'will' for me I'd do it, if I just knew what you wanted?" Many of us have asked that question at some time or another. A lot has been preached and written about finding the specific will of God for your life. I know this has been a concern for me at times. God what is your will concerning this relationship, what is your will about my career choice, what would you have me do in this situation? Then we create some conditions just so we would know that it was God. "If the light turns green, right now….right now…", or some other 'fleece' we put out there. We're looking for some kind of confirmation sign. I wonder if God just shakes His head some times.

For Him, it has got to be a bit like when someone has come to us and said "if I only knew what I was to do today". You know that what they're supposed to do is obvious. It said in the communication book, "Go wash the van today" – on the check list on the wall it says "Today, wash the van". There was a sign on the door as they came into work that was a reminder "Please remember to wash the van today", and there was a note in their mail slot "Today, wash the van". Now they sitting at the table with a cup of tea, staring off into space and asking you "if I only knew what am I supposed to do today".

However, we're often in the same state with God. He has already told us, in so many ways what His will is for our lives.

Micah 6:8 "The Lord has told you O man what he expects and wants from you, to seek justice, love kindness and walk humbly with your God".

It's actually quite specific. God expects us to seek justice, love kindness, and walk humbly in each and every situation, concern, relationship and activity. At any given moment, we can know a lot about the will of God for a specific situation. Is God's justice being advance and honored in what and how I'm doing or planning, and how I'm speaking? Am I seeking the kind, gentle and merciful way? Am I bringing kindness into this relationship, or in how I am performing my responsibilities, regardless of situation or response from others? Does humility mark my character and guide my behaviour?

Over the next few posts we're going to look deeper at what God has told us.

Anyway, I was just thinking.

Neil