As a man thinketh in his heart, so is he. Proverbs 23:7 ( KJV)

Most of us are familiar with the proverb quoted above. In contemporary language, it means that a man typically lives up to his self-image – the view he holds of himself. If he sees himself as small and insignificant, incompetent and failure prone, he will accomplish little in life because he will attempt little. He will never see himself as a leader and, therefore, will not step into that role even if it is offered to him. He will settle for lesser jobs than he is capable of because he doesn’t believe that he is capable and will settle for lesser relationships because he will feel he doesn’t deserve more. It’s not just men who are crippled by a small and insignificant self-image, women fall into that trap as well.

I am the convinced that the church has fallen into that trap as well. The church, typically, has a much smaller view of herself than God does. The enemy has done an outstanding job convincing us that the words of Christ are not really true when he said that the gates of hell shall not prevail against his church.

Somewhere, Satan planted a distorted interpretation of certain passages in the Bible that has become a prevalent theological view, especially in the past 50 years. The view is that in the last days, evil will abound more and more and that the church as well as goodness will dwindle and become week. The idea is that things will get so bad and the church will be so down trodden that Jesus will simply pull his people out in moment called the rapture. Basically, this view declares that Jesus will have to evacuate his people from a lost cause. Of course, then after the tribulation, he will return with his saints and establish his millennial reign. Scriptures do say that the world will get darker in the last days but light always shines brighter in the darkness. The question is how do we respond to this growing kingdom of darkness. Does the church find herself helpless to push back or do we walk in the authority of the King and take planet earth back in his name?

Many prophecies declare just the opposite of this view that in the last days the church will seemingly have no power against the darkness. Isaiah declares, “In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as chief among the mountains; it will be raised above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. Many peoples will come and say, ‘Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob. He will teach us his ways, so that we may walk in his paths.’ The law will go out from Zion, the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He will judge between the nations and will settle disputes for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore” (Isa.2:2-4).

This is a picture of the church that has been exalted above earthly governments and the nations are drawn to the wisdom and glory of the church. Isaiah says that this will occur in the last days. In Acts 2, Peter declared that the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost marked the “last days.” Many theologians refer to this period as the church age. We are still in those days and believe it or not, many leaders of nations around the globe are meeting with God’s prophets in private meetings in search of wisdom and problem solving for their nations. They are already coming to the church for answers and finding those answers just as Isaiah prophesied.   Entire nations such, as Honduras, are inviting the church in to preach and share the gospel in schools, universities, and even police stations because they sense we have the answer to something they desperately need.

Habakkuk also prophesied, “For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea” (Hab.2:14). Later, Jesus commanded us to go and make disciples of all nations because he had been given all authority in heaven and on earth (Matt.28:18-20). In recent years, the church has decided that Jesus meant for us to make a few disciples in every nation rather than to make disciples of entire nations. We have settled for less.

In the Book of Acts, Peter preached, “Repent therefore, and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Messiah appointed for you, that is, Jesus, who must remain in heaven until the time of universal restoration that God announced long ago through his holy prophets” (Acts 3:19-21)

What restoration is Jesus waiting for? Could it be the restoration of the church to its intended glory – the bride of Christ, strong and radiant, and reigning on the earth so that she is a glorious bride waiting for her glorious groom? For centuries, Christians believed that they had a hand in the return of Jesus and that when they had preached the gospel to every creature under heaven he would return. Now, many Christians believe that the trigger point for his return is when the world inevitably gets bad enough and the church inevitably gets weak enough that we must be rescued. With that view, who would even try to redeem culture or nations? Who would even try to cover the earth with the knowledge of God, disciple nations, and draw world leaders to herself? Even if a believer has a desire to do those things, he or she is told that it would be futile because it is not God’s plan. But what if Jesus is waiting until the church restores the glory and leadership of God’s people that he always intended? What if he is waiting for the church to restore glory to the Kingdom so that nations come to us as in the days of Solomon when kings and queens travelled to Jerusalem to seek his wisdom and see his glory?

Much of the church today does not see herself as the glorious bride of Christ triumphing in victory over the enemy and bringing in a harvest of nations for her king so that God’s intent – that his children will rule this planet as his representatives – will be restored and then Jesus will return. We are like the Israelites who saw giants in the land and saw themselves as grasshoppers in comparison. Even though God had promised them that he would give them the land and every place they set their foot, as grasshoppers, they saw no point in even making the effort.

At this point, most of the church is suffering from a poor self-image – the bride of Christ, weak and worn, tarnished and looking desperately to escape this planet rather than winning the war. It is true that Jesus came the first time as the meek and submissive Lamb of God who would not lift a hand to defend himself against the enemy. But he rose as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, the Rider on the White Horse and the Commander of the Armies of Heaven with all authority in heaven and on earth. It is not his nature to role over and give the earth to Satan after he died to take it back. It is not his nature to retreat when he declared that the gates of hell would not prevail against his church and it must not be the nature of his church or our nature, as followers of the King, to retreat or see ourselves as weak and helpless either.

As the church thinketh in her heart so is she. We need to redefine our view of the church and with that to redefine our view of ourselves as those who make up the church. There are sports teams who have a tradition of winning and confidence that they will continue to win. When they walk on the field or the court they see themselves as the victors before the game even begins and they walk with a certain swagger that intimidates their opponents. Even when things get hard in the game they still believe they will win in the end because, in their hearts, they are champions. We need to believe that we are champions because the leader of our team cannot be defeated and that leader lives within each of us.

The Lord tells us that we are more than conquerors, that we can do all things through Christ, that we have been given power and authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy, that we can make disciples of all nations, and that Satan himself will flee when we resist. How does that add up to a desperate church waiting to be evacuated from the planet their King died to redeem?

If I know I am part of a winning team, then I can see myself as a winner. If I know I am on a championship team then I can see myself as a champion. As we define the church, we define her members. We define ourselves. We need to begin to speak and prophesy victory rather than defeat, glory rather than insignificance, and exaltation rather than humiliation. We are the body of Christ in this world and Jesus doesn’t lose. As you go out today, walk and think like a champion because that is who you are in Christ.

He will give you another Counselor to be with you forever –Jn. 14:16

This is a rewrite of a blog I wrote months ago but I sense that God is wanting me to revisit the theme. For most of my years in ministry, I functioned as one of the primary pastors in my church that provided counseling for members as well as for other believers from the community. I typically saw problems that you would encounter in any counseling practice – chronic depression, anxiety, anger, shame, addictions, gender confusion, eating disorders, and marriages on the brink of dissolving. Most of these individuals had been Christians for years. The huge red flag should have been that our people, after following Jesus for years, looked very little different from those living in the world who did not know Jesus. They were saved but their lives had not been transformed.

As I met with individuals, I gave them a little insight into their troubles and a couple of exercises to do at home, prayed over them, and sent them on their way. I would see them again the next week and hoped for a little progress. Typically, little or no progress had been made and we would march around the same mountain again. We would work until some identifiable progress had been made and I would release them. I would likely see them again in six months. I had taken graduate courses in Marriage and Family counseling and went to top-notch workshops offered by both secular and Christian counselors. Other than an opening prayer, I heard essentially the same strategies for counseling.

However, as the years passed something kept eating at me. When I read the New Testament, I never got the sense that the church in Jerusalem (or anywhere else) offered counseling from leaders who went to the world’s universities for training nor did the writers of the N.T. encourage believers to work hard to “manage their issues. ” Instead they commanded them to rid themselves of those things. More strikingly, there was no sense that followers of Jesus took months and years of meeting with a local pastor or a therapist to experience healing and significant life change.

What I did see was the power of the Holy Spirit and the authority of Christ healing bodies, hearts, and lives. I saw once broke and even perverse sinners transformed and walking in a holiness that stood out from the world…and it didn’t take a lifetime. Paul clearly expected the church to be the place where the wisdom and power of heaven would reside and where the Holy Spirit would unravel the knots of a believer’s past while drawing the poison out of long-standing wounds. There was no hint that the church would go to the world for help but that the world would come to the church. Yet I (and other Christian counselors) tended to call secular training with an opening prayer Christian counseling. Even Christian colleges offered essentially the same training in counseling and therapy that unbelieving universities offered.

I am not denying that secular counseling can help. But what I am saying is that there is power and transformation available from God’s Spirit that secular counseling cannot touch. Paul is clear that the real battle for the hearts and minds of people rests in the spiritual realm where only divine weapons have impact. The N.T. church seemed to rely much more on encounters with the Holy Spirit and the powerful exercise of spiritual gifts to heal and change those who followed Jesus than wisdom the world might offer.  As those who will “judge angels” (1 Cor. 6:3) and who have the Counselor of Heaven residing within us, we should have much more to offer than secular therapists.

Once I began to allow the power of the kingdom of heaven to invade the counseling room and began to be a catalyst for encounters with God, I began to see the radical life change that I saw on the pages of the gospels. Once I began to speak God’s truth over situations I began to see Christians delivered from anger, fear, depression, addictions, eating disorders, and sexual brokenness in hours or weeks rather than months and years. I saw marriages on the brink of divorce begin to thrive because the Holy Spirit changed hearts rather than people simply changing behaviors. I must admit that when the power of God brings the transformation rather than my “amazing counseling skills” I feel much less significant in the process. In those moments I am no longer the dispenser of wisdom, the Holy Spirit is. But then, I get to see radical change rather than miniscule progress.

The good news of the kingdom of God is that Jesus has come to heal the brokenhearted and set captives free. He wants to release His power into the lives of his children for every circumstance. The Holy Spirit is an amazing counselor full of not only wisdom but also power.   Until a greater portion of the church discovers that, many committed believers who love Jesus will continue to walk for years with a relational limp and a broken heart – never living up to the dream their Father has for them. That is not God’s will for his church. The bride of Christ is meant to be shining, glorious, and powerful. Lets not settle for less. The world needs us and it needs us to be the distributors of God’s power on this planet. “For the kingdom of God is not a matter of talk but of power” (1 Cor.4:20).

For many years I have felt that a popular “end-times theology” undermines the mission of the church and contradicts a great deal of scripture. I also believe that it can seep into our own personal view of life and undermine our own victorious mindset as well. This particular theology was popularized in the 70’s and really launched into the psyche of the church by Hal Lindsey’s book, The Late Great Planet Earth. This view depicts the last days as a dismal day for the church and believers everywhere. It promotes a view of a one world order, the anti-Christ, and the downward spiral of all nations and cultures into an abyss that can only be redeemed by the coming of the Lord and the rapture of the saints who have become powerless in the face of all that evil.

The damaging part of this theology in my mind is the inevitability of the outcomes and the powerlessness of the church to stand against it. The power of evil is so overwhelming that the only thing to do is to bunker in and pray for the Lord’s quick return. Too often that is also translated into the lives of individual believers so that they “check out” and give in to the world system rather than working to redeem it and establish a glowing and victorious bride for the Lord to retrieve. That theology can and has instilled a sense of futility and hopelessness in the hearts of many believers.

There is also a dynamic that sociologists and psychologists call a “self-fulfilling prophecy.” Simply stated, it means that we often act in ways that confirm the beliefs we already hold about ourselves or others. For instance, if a child experiences the loss of a parent, he or she may come to believe that they will eventually lose anyone that they come to love or depend on. In response to that belief, this child may grow into an adult who never fully commits to a relationship or who never fully engages emotionally with anyone because they believe that person will eventually leave them or that they will lose them to some tragedy. Because they never commit to a relationship or connect emotionally, their relationships keep ending and those who attempted to connect with them move on. When those relationships end, the individual is all the more convinced that their beliefs are true and inevitable.

When Christians believe that poverty, evil, tyranny, persecution, unbelief, and the demise of Christianity on the earth are inevitable they withdraw from the battle. When they withdraw, evil wins and they believe all the more that the end is near and there is no use trying to save America much less the world. With this mindset, believers who are supposed to be more than conquerors withdraw from the cultural battles, stay out of politics, retreat from championing social justice, and even fail to vote because they think it won’t matter. Believers with this view cease to be salt and light in the world and simply forfeit the battle to the enemy.

Kris Vallotton adds an interesting insight into this same dynamic in his book, How Heaven Invades Earth, (p.204). “But what happened to destiny when our prophetic people were taught that there wasn’t supposed to be a future because the end of the world was near? They stopped prophesying into the future. And what took place in the absence of the Holy Spirit’s prophetic intonation is absolutely frightening; a visionary vortex, or vacuum was suddenly created that sucked every kind of dark, foretelling spirit into it. This has resulted in the worst psychic resurgence since the days of Daniel. We have Wiccans, New Age people, fortune tellers, astrologers, and psychics all sharing their insights in the highest offices of the land.” That used to be the role of God’s prophets but we left the playing field.

When God’s people leave the playing field the enemy regains his swagger. We are promised that if we resist the devil he will flee from us but this particular theology teaches that there is no point in our resistance. There is another centuries-old theology that declares a triumphant church on the earth that welcomes back the groom rather than a church that has scurried off the field because she was helpless against the one Christ has already defeated. Those who know that they are more than conquerors do not surrender to a bully or a tyrant but stand and fight knowing that they will win because their champion is Jesus Christ who has all authority in heaven and on earth. They don’t give in to injustice, false religion, abortion, violence, deceit, divorce, or any other works of the devil. They don’t give in on a personal level nor do they abandon the culture in which God has commanded them to be salt and light. All the gifts, the power, and the authority Christ has delegated to his church are not just for the church to be exercised behind high walls. They have also been given to redeem the culture and finally the world. We have been letting the devil push us around too long. It’s time to push back.

Over the past week or so we have been looking at the letters to the seven churches of Asia to get insights into some of the things that take us out of the will of God or that misalign us with his heart. For those who want to walk in the fullness of God’s Spirit for a lifetime, staying aligned with the Father is crucial because being out of step with the Lord restricts the flow of the Spirit.

One thing we need to notice is that each of the churches who received a rebuke were still serving God in some ways and were still lifting up the name of Jesus. But they were also participating in or tolerating certain things that generated a warning from heaven that discipline was in the pipeline – even to the extent of Jesus removing their lampstand which might be a reference to the Holy Spirit.

However, for those who responded to the warning and realigned themselves with the Father, there were numerous promises. Some of the promises were primarily for the life to come but many can be understood as promises for the here and now. I want to look at those promises over the next few days because they are part of our motivation for staying in step with the Spirit in every facet of our lives.

To the church in Ephesus, Jesus said, “To him who overcomes, I will give the right to eat from the tree of life, which is in the paradise of God. (Rev.2:7). The word overcomes is significant because later in Revelation we are told that the saints overcame the devil “by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony” (Rev.12:11. The word translated “overcomes” is the word “nikao” in Greek. It does not mean to simply endure but it means to triumph over, to win, to defeat, or to overwhelm the enemy. The word communicates aggressive action on our part rather than a passive endurance. It calls to mind the words of Jesus that the gates of hell will not prevail against his church. Victory for the believer comes from being on the offensive rather than the defensive. It reminds us that many great promises stand on our ability and willingness to wield the power and authority of heaven (divine weapons – 2 Cor. 10:3-6). Even though the promise of the tree of life in the paradise of God seems to be related to our heavenly state, we must remember that we are already citizens of heaven and are now seated with Christ in spiritual realms.

The promise seems to be that for those who align themselves with heaven and who aggressively take on the enemy, two things will be theirs in both this life and the life to come. One is the energy and power that flows from heaven that fuels an eternal life and the other is rest and the presence of God which paradise has always symbolized. In the book of Genesis the tree of life stood in the midst of the garden and those who ate of it could live forever. In John’s writings (which include his gospel. his letters and the book of Revelation) eternal life is not about duration as much as it is quality. Eternal life is the kind of life experienced by those who live in close fellowship with the Father. Jesus showed us that life in its fullness and that life is also available to those who live for Jesus no. The power and provision of heaven was a constant in the life of Jesus.

But in the paradise of God there was also rest and the presence of the Father. In the midst of threats and an almost chaotic schedule Jesus often stole away and found rest and comfort in the presence of the Father. How often did he go away to a private place exhausted, spend the night in prayer, and come back energized – even walking on water?

As Jesus closed his memorandum to the church at Ephesus he called them to repentance or “realignment” and promised that those who stayed faithful and maintained their alignment with the heart of the Father could live on this earth with access to the power and provision of heaven along with the rest and renewal that comes from being in the very presence of God. Ultimately, I believe that Jesus is the tree of life. Those who eat of the tree can live forever and those who eat of the bread of life will also live forever (Jn.6:51). It is through a close walk with Jesus that all these promises are ours. As we partake of Jesus we partake of life, rest, and presence. We partake of Jesus by submitting all that we are and all that we have to him with nothing reserved for ourselves. Be blessed today.

Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. News about him spread all over Syria, and people brought to him all who were ill with various diseases, those suffering severe pain, the demon-possessed, those having seizures, and the paralyzed, and he healed them.  Matt.4:23-24

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received, freely give.  Matt.10:5-8

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God is near you.’ The seventy-two returned with joy and said, “Lord, even the demons submit to us in your name.” He replied, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven. I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”   Luke 10:1, 17-20

Very truly, I tell you, the one who believes in me will also do the works that I do and, in fact, will do greater works than these, because I am going to the Father.  I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Father may be glorified in the Son.  If in my name you ask me for anything, I will do it.   Jn.14:12-14

But the manifestation of the Spirit is given to every man to profit withal.  For to one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; To another faith by the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing by the same Spirit; To another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues:  But all these worketh that one and the selfsame Spirit, dividing to every man severally as he will.  1 Cor. 12:7-11

For the kingdom of God is not a matter of words but of power.  1 Cor.4:20

Notice a pattern.  It is a pattern of power.  Jesus displayed it first.  Preach the gospel, heal the sick, cast out demons, cleanse lepers, raise the dead. Jesus then delegated power and authority to his twelve apostles. He told them to preach, heal, deliver, cleanse, and raise the dead.  Then he sent out seventy-two ordinary disciples who were told to do the same.  They came back triumphant.

Then Jesus promised that anyone who believes on him would do the works he had been doing and in fact they would do even greater things.  Then the Holy Spirit descended on the church and distributed spiritual gifts to every believer which included gifts that display miraculous power. The power of the kingdom of God was not reserved for Jesus or even for the twelve. It was given to seventy-two others and then to the whole church so that the church might continue to do the works Jesus did and even greater things.

There is no hint in these passages that the power and authority distributed first by Jesus and then by his Spirit would fade to a whimper within a few decades of their inauguration.  Power has always been at the core of the gospel: preach it, then demonstrate it.  That is the pattern. Destroy the works of the devil.  Heal broken hearts.  Return health to diseased bodies. Set people free from every form of bondage.

Why would we ever want less or settle for less? Instead, press in, cry out for more, risk asking for and declaring the miraculous works of God.  Bring Jesus everyone he died for by using every bit of the power and authority he paid for.  For the kingdom is not a matter of words but of power.

One of my favorite authors these days is Bill Johnson.  He is extremely practical and believes that Jesus is coming back for a glorious church rather than a church hiding in the shadows of persecution and apostasy.  He believes in a kingdom of power rather than resignation.  He believes in a triumphant church rather than a church winding down its influence in the last days.  I like that.

One of the thoughts he has challenged me with is that believers should limit their self-examination and introspection.  That thought immediately flies in the face of Paul’s admonitions in his letter to the church at Corinth form believers to examine themselves (1 Cor.11: 28) and to judge ourselves (1 Cor.11: 31).  Many of us have been taught that the true way to holiness and spiritual maturity is to identify every sin and shortcoming in our lives so that we might live a life of confession and repentance, bathing all those failings in the blood of Christ.  I am an introvert by nature so all that introspection is something I am wired for anyway.

However, I believe the Holy Spirit has confirmed in my own heart the truth of what Bill Johnson has said.  I’ll quote from him.  “I struggled for many years with self-evaluation. The main problem was that I never found anything good in me. It always led to discouragement which led to doubt, and eventually took me to unbelief. Somehow I had developed the notion that this was how I would become holy – by showing tremendous concern for my own motives.”

He goes on to point out that a preoccupation with our weaknesses and failings keeps the focus on “Me” rather than on Christ.  It keeps the focus on the failings of the natural man rather than the glory of the spiritual man who has been clothed with Christ.  It tends to deny the things that God says are true about me – that I am a son in the house of God, holy, forgiven, beyond condemnation, seated with Christ in the heavenly places, representing the courts of heaven on the earth, walking with the power that raised Christ from the dead within me, and so forth.

Its not that we never deal with sin and weakness, we just let the Holy Spirit point out the things he wants to deal with rather than us always being the judge and setting the agenda.  Paul had just pointed out specific issues in the church at Corinth that had ben revealed by the Spirit.  Once revealed by the Spirit, they were to acknowledge the issues within them and deal with them.  Part of the ministry of the Spirit is to convict us of sin and to lead us into truth.  Our role is to listen and be led by the Spirit, not to dissect ourselves on the table each day until we are overcome with remorse and condemnation.

Our own constant introspection becomes a kind of work where we are trying to establish our own holiness through our own efforts.  God’s process for making us holy is to constantly remind us if who we are in Christ rather than reminding us of all the ways we are not like him.  I have come to agree, that we should take the same tact – spend more time reflecting on who we are because of Jesus rather than the ways in which we don’t yet measure up.

So, if you are a prone to introspection, self – criticism, and condemnation think about it.  Satan is the accuser of the brethren.  The Holy Spirit is the encourager! Perhaps, you should park your introspection and simply listen to the Spirit to see what he is concerned about in your life.  See what God shows you.  It might be a better, more biblical path to spiritual maturity.