Transformation vs. Reformation

 2 Corinthians 3:18
“But we all, with unveiled face, beholding as in a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, just as by the Spirit of the Lord.”

In our western culture we think more in the sense of reform rather than transform. Reform means “to improve (someone or something) by removing or correcting faults, problems, etc.: to improve your own behavior or habits. “We watch TV shows, read books, hear teachings and sermons on how we can correct our faults and improve ourselves, our marriage, our children, our job, and our church. While these are good, God desires to do something much greater than what we can produce ourselves.

The emphasis in Scripture is on transformation. Transform means “to change (something) completely.” The word in Greek is metamorphoo from which we get our English word metamorphosis, as a caterpillar changing into a butterfly. When Nicodemus came to Jesus in John chapter three, his mind was so bound by the reformation of religion that he could not grasp the metamorphosis of the new birth.

For many becoming a Christian is adopting a religious belief and lifestyle. But, from its inception Jesus demands the transformation of a new birth. The reason we embrace reformation rather than transformation is that we can reform ourselves or attempt to reform ourselves, while transformation is supernatural and requires a yielding to and submission to God. We struggle with the supernatural because it is beyond our understanding and capability, requiring faith in God to do the impossible in our lives.

The other issue we face is that transformation requires dying to ourselves. Jesus said, “Most assuredly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it produces much grain. He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” John 12:24-25 Dying to self releases the transforming and explosive growth of the Spirit in our lives.

The wonderful thing about transformation is that it moves us from the natural into the supernatural, from our ability to God’s ability, and from provision to the promise. Transformation happens as we take our eyes off of ourselves, others, and the world and begin fixing our gaze on the Lord of glory, allowing His Spirit to transform us from glory to glory into His image.

Andy Clark

Receiving the Promise

In Genesis 26:3-5 God reaffirms to Isaac his covenant with Abraham, “Dwell in this land, and I will be with you and bless you; for to you and your descendants I give all these lands, and I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham your father. And I will make your descendants multiply as the stars of heaven; I will give to your descendants all these lands; and in your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed; because Abraham obeyed My voice and kept My charge, My commandments, My statutes, and My laws."

Over six hundred years later Israel stands on the bank of the Jordan River preparing to receive the promise God had given Abraham. For forty years they had walked under God’s provision in the wilderness, but now was the time to move from provision into promise. They faced great challenges of fortified cities, giants and great armies with chariots. Forty years earlier their fathers had stood on the banks of this very Jordan. But because of a bad report of ten spies, they retreated from the promise back into the comfort of provision.

Oftentimes in our lives we fail to move from provision into God’s promises for us. As I mentioned last week, we often let the promises that God gave us die in us because of time and circumstances. The challenges of entering into the promises seem often times overwhelming and impossible. God intentionally makes His promises too great for us because He wants to fulfill the promises as we trust and obey him. Notice God’s word to Isaac, “I will be with you, I will give you all these lands, I will perform the oath which I swore to Abraham, and I will make your descendants multiply.” To receive the promise, we must maintain faith that He who is faithful will fulfill the promise. Because it is only out of that position of faith that we can be led by the Spirit to walk out in obedience today what God wants us to do in order to receive the promise.

God told Isaac, “I will give your descendents all these lands --- because Abraham obeyed my voice and kept my charge.” Abraham was not some great preacher or evangelist. He was a herdsman who most of his life led a nomadic life like many in his day. But when God asked him to do something, He immediately did it whether it was leaving his home and country, or being asked to sacrifice his son Isaac. In the midst of all Abraham’s wandering, he never forgot his charge, what God had charged him to do, his destiny. In all the places he traveled, all the challenges he faced and things he did, he never lost sight of the faithfulness of God and the promises God had given him.

As Joshua stood on the banks of the Jordan facing the giants of Israel’s past, the Lord appeared to him and said to Joshua, “Be strong and of good courage, for to this people you shall divide as an inheritance the land which I swore to their fathers to give them. --- Every place that the sole of your foot will tread upon I have given you. --- Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:3,6,9

“Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:” Heb. 10:35-36

“For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us.”         I Corinthians 1:20

Andy Clark

Great Expectations

"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.  And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?"  John 11:25-26

This was a trying time for Mary and Martha. Their brother Lazarus had been sick, and they had sent a message to Jesus to come quickly. Mary, Martha and Lazarus were good friends of Jesus, almost like family. Jesus often stayed in their home that was not far from Jerusalem. But for some reason beyond their comprehension, Jesus had delayed, and now Lazarus had been dead for four days. When Jesus finally arrives, Martha is the first one to meet him. Notice her comment in verse 21. "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”  She is declaring her faith that Jesus could have healed her brother. But now that he is dead and buried, all hope is passed.

Sometimes we are like Mary and Martha. We have received promises from God, had visions or dreams that we have prayed and believed for, and they just haven’t come to pass. Maybe we have an unsaved loved one or a child who has strayed away from God for whom we have prayed for years, and there seems no more hope. Maybe we have launched out in ministry and expected great things for God, and it hasn’t happened. Maybe we have prayed for a job or some desperately needed financial provision, and nothing has come forth. We don’t understand why it hasn’t happened. We really believed God. Over time the call, the vision, the prayer and desire dies’ and we bury it and go on with life.  Like Martha, we say, “God if you would have come through then it would have been awesome, but it is a little late now.”

Our challenge is that we live in time, bound by circumstances and situations that are beyond our control. But God is not bound by either time or circumstances. Revelations 13:8 says that Christ was crucified from the creation of the earth.  In God’s mind, even before He created Adam and Eve, Christ had been crucified for man’s redemption. It was a done deal. Neither time nor circumstances could alter it. In Eph 1:18-20 Paul prays, “that the eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that you may know ….what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead.” That resurrection power is available to you to fulfill His promises to you.

The Bible says, “By faith Abraham, even though he was past age and Sarah herself was barren was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.” Hebrews 11:11 Notice the time factor, Abraham was past age, and circumstance, Sarah was barren. What we think is past may be the present to God. What we deem as dead is not dead to God. 

2 Corinthians 1:20-22 says “For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us. Now He who establishes us with you in Christ and has anointed us is God, who also has sealed us and given us the Spirit in our hearts as a guarantee.” The same one who established you, anointed you and sealed you by His Spirit will do it through you. “Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise:” Hebrews 10-35-36

May God by His Spirit rekindle the great expectations that you once had.

Andy Clark

(To be continued next week. “Receiving the Promise”)

Heirs of God

“Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father. Even so we, when we were children, were in bondage under the elements of the world. But when the fullness of the time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. And because you are sons, God has sent forth the Spirit of His Son into your hearts, crying out,  "Abba, Father!" Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.”  Galatians 4:1-7

Paul refers in this Scripture of our “adoption as sons.” We think of adoption as being born into one family and adopted into another. The problem with this concept of adoption is that even when we are adopted we still carry the character traits of our birth parents. But as Christians we are born again, our old nature has died, and we have taken on the nature of Christ. We are a new creation in Christ Jesus.

The concept of adoption Paul lays out in this Scripture is from Roman and Jewish culture of his time. It refers to when a child is young, he was no different than a slave in that he had no rights as a son but was under guardians and stewards. But at the time appointed by the father he would come into the full right as heir. Not that the father had died, but everything the father had also became his.

Paul in speaking to Jews who understood this was teaching that under Old Testament law, even though they were heirs of the promise they remained as slaves to the law.  But at the time appointed by the father, God sent His Son to redeem us from the law, that we might receive the adoption as sons. So now because of Christ we are heirs of God, so that everything that is His becomes ours also.

Paul goes on in Romans 8:14-17 to explain how that works out in our lives. “For as many as are led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God.  For you did not receive the spirit of bondage again to fear, but you received the Spirit of adoption by whom we cry out, "Abba, Father." The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs — heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.”

If we are led by the Spirit of God, we do not have the spirit of bondage to fear as a child would, but we have received the Spirit of adoption. Through the guidance and power of the Spirit, we have full access to everything that Christ had and everything that is God’s. Children of this world have much to fear, but as children of God, we have nothing to fear. You belong to God and nothing can pluck you out of His hand. Everything that God has belongs to you. How much better can it get than that!

May you today by the Word and the Spirit come into a fuller revelation of how much the Father loves you that He would call you His child.  “Therefore you are no longer a slave but a son, and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ.” Amen and amen.

Andy Clark

Take Your Place

Psalms 23:5 “You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; You anoint my head with oil; my cup runs over.”

The table of the Lord is a place of abundance, a place of peace, and a place of communion. David draws this picture from the ancient Near East custom, where covenants were often concluded with a meal expressive of the bond of friendship. The head of the honored guest at the banquet was customarily anointed with oil. The cup running over was a sign of abundance. What an awesome picture of the relationship God wants to have with us!

Jesus reinforced this at the Last Supper with His disciples. In Luke 22:15 Jesus says, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you.” (NKJ) In the Message Bible it says, "You've no idea how much I have looked forward to eating this Passover meal with you.”  Then just as the honored guest would have his head anointed with oil in David’s day, Jesus in the custom of his day honors his disciples by getting down and washing their feet.

Sometimes we fail to understand how much Jesus desires to fellowship and commune with us. We become so busy running here and there, trying to meet our needs and the needs of our family, when He already has a table of provision set for us. We are desperately trying to prove ourselves and to demonstrate our value or worth, when He desires to honor us. We struggle with worry and fear in an uncertain world and struggle with the attacks of the enemy, when He has already set a table for us in the presence of our enemies. We struggle in our own might to serve Him, when he wants to anoint our head with the oil of His Spirit to empower us to do what we cannot do in ourselves.

Stop struggling and running and take your place at the Lord’s table.  “In His presence is fullness of joy;

at His right hand are pleasures forevermore.” (Psalms 16:11) The God of the universe “fervently desires” your presence. He has prepared a table for you and for me. He is honored to have us as a guest at his table. Even more than that, He wants to honor us. We are the apple of His eye, His joy and His desire. He wants to give us honor even before our enemies, for we are His treasured possession and he has redeemed us from every tribe, tongue, and nation by the blood of His Son.  He wants to fill your cup until it runs over.

The one thing our Lord seeks above all else from his servants, ministers, and shepherds is communion with Him. His table is vast and is never lacking. This table is a place of spiritual intimacy and is spread daily with all that we need. David said in Psalms 27:4, “One thing have I desired of the Lord, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the Lord, and to inquire in his temple.”

May you be blessed, encouraged, strengthened, and satisfied in the presence of the Lord today.

Andy Clark

Ground Zero

Jeremiah 25:6-7

“Do not go after other gods to serve them and worship them, and do not provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands; and I will not harm you.’Yet you have not listened to Me," says the LORD, "that you might provoke Me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.”

We all know “Ground Zero” is the place where the Twin Towers once stood as symbols of capitalism and American economic might. It should be a warning that we should not put our confidence in what we have achieved with our hands, which is temporal and can easily be destroyed.

God had an ongoing issue with His people Israel. He had chosen them, blessed them, and made them great. But instead of worshiping and thanking Him for their abundance, they began to worship the works of their hands. So, God sent His prophets to warn them, but because of the love of the works of their hands, they refused to listen and repent. As a result, God sent the Babylonians to destroy Israel and take them into captivity.

Yet those in Jerusalem and Judah thought it was impossible for it to happen to them because Jerusalem was God’s chosen city and the temple was God’s dwelling place. After all, they were the people of God, and they were worshiping God in His temple. Despite this, God destroyed His city and temple and sent His people into captivity because they continued to worship the works of their hands.

We the church, who are God’s people, must be careful that we, too, do not become deceived into thinking that because we are God’s chosen people and worship God that we will avoid the judgment that God will bring upon this world, if we, like the world, worship the works of our hands.

If we are not watchful, prayerful, and obedient to God’s Word, not only could our nation experience a Ground Zero, but we as the church could face a Ground Zero when what we have put our confidence in is stripped away. Ground Zero is not for our destruction but to cause us to make Jesus, His Word, and His will the center of our lives. It is only when we reach Ground Zero that we will have the courage to stand up and proclaim the lordship of Christ in our society, no matter what the cost, because we have already lost everything for Christ.

Paul said in Philippians 3:7-9, “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish , that I may gain Christ.”

Andy Clark

God Apps

This past week at my home group we were discussing the importance of prayer in our everyday lives. We talked about the discipline of having times of prayer at church, in the mornings and evenings, but more than that we needed develop a habit of prayer where we incorporated God into every aspect of out lives. One of the ladies in the group was sharing about how stressful her job was and how she continually turned to God for wisdom and help in dealing with people who had terrible attitudes, got angry, and even cursed at her over the phone.

As she was sharing, another woman in the group picked up on the discussion and began to talk about how hard it is for us to understand, believe, and tap into the spiritual realm. However, we have all kinds of electronic devices, such as I-pads and smart phones, of which we have little understanding about how they work, but we constantly use them to get information out of the air and instantly communicate with people all over the world. Her husband spoke up and said, “What we need is a God app.”

The fact is that we do have God “apps,” such as gifts, fruit, and power of the Spirit, prayer and the Word. Jesus told the disciples in John 16:7-8, “Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you.” When we are born again, we receive a tremendous gift from God, the Holy Spirit, the Helper who dwells in us always. We have access to the Author of life who knows all things and has unlimited resources, but we are too busy to learn how to use our God given apps.

My children are much better than I in using their smart phone because they spend hours exploring the limits of its use. It is such a part of their daily lives that they feel they could not live without it. You only get to know the Holy Spirit by spending time with Him and incorporating Him in every aspect of your life. He needs to become such an important part of your marriage, family, work, and finances that you cannot function without Him. He is your one-stop solution to everything.

Jesus said, “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) 

Don’t just use your smart phone to make emergency calls, or worse yet, leave it at home. Get to know the Author of life who lives in you. He is an awesome genius who knows everything and has infinite resources that are available to you for every situation.

Andy Clark