January 5 2014 Stumbling Blocks to Love

Month In Review

Lichen- a perfect picture of Christ’s design for the Church

Intimate merger where two living organisms have a mutually dependent and a mutually productive relationship, creating something together that is more dynamic than either of them alone could achieve

ECCLESIA: a governmental body of the called-out ones

Jesus himself established the ecclesia and He is the head

The gates of hell cannot prevail against it

Contains the keys to the Kingdom- gives them power to lock and unlock things on earth

Christ fills the ecclesia with the fullness of who He is

Matt 16:18-19; Eph 1:22-23; Col 1:17-19

KOINONIA

The expression of intimacy, communion, and covenant that a group of people share with Father, Jesus, Holy Spirit AND each other

Displayed through LOVE- Horizontal as well as Vertical

Jesus’ only command was that we love God and each other- Matt 22:36-40; John 14:20-24; John 15:12, 17; 1 Cor 13, Gal 5; Colossians; 1 Thes

KOINONIA (cont’d)

John 13:34-35 ““I am giving you a new command: that you keep on loving each other. In the same way that I have loved you, you are also to keep on loving each other.”

Bob Jones word from Nov 2013

God is looking for:

A governmental structure that is life giving and encourages diversity and uniqueness in individuals

 A governmental structure that doesn’t devour the individual

 Individuals who are life giving to others and to the community

 Individuals that are just as committed to maintaining unity and loving each other well as they are to loving God well

Stumbling Blocks To Love

Judgments

To Judge: to infer, think, or hold as an opinion; to conclude about; to assess; to decide upon critically

It’s a matter of the heart. 1 Cor 2:14-16 There’s a huge difference between

operating in the spirit- thinking with the mind of Christ, asking Holy Spirit for discernment, and speaking with the heart of God- and operating in the flesh with a carnal mind and heart

Matthew 7: 1-5

Luke 6: 36-37

When we judge, we are then taking the role of God

We devalue the person in the sight of God and are elevating ourselves to a superior or more valuable place in the sight of God

When we make a judgment, we accuse them before God, whether or not we actually say the words or just think them in our hearts

Judgment generally starts when we are offended by an individual or situation

Get offended most easily by those we are in relationship with

We then experience a negative emotion when we think about a person or situation- anger, resentment, hate, accusation, critical or negative attitude, blame shifting, retaliation, sarcasm, contempt.

Unforgiveness leading to bitterness often at the root of the judgment

Types of Judgments

Judging God Misinterpret negative events as

instigated or allowed by God

Judging Ourselves We view ourselves by our mistakes and

failures

Judging Others Occurs when the sin done to us or to

someone else becomes an offense

CONSEQUENCES OF JUDGMENTS

We condemn ourselves

We become what we judge in others

We reap destruction and things do not go well with us

We defile others

We reap disease

INNER VOWS

Vows are powerful commitments or oaths

Large number of vows are made in childhood

Unforgiveness—offense—judgment—vow

May be spoken or thought

Vows can direct our behaviors and our paths and this often leads us into direct conflict with the Lordship of Christ

Vows tie to our past by our inner vows and this hinders us from moving forward in our growth and maturity.

Vows can lead to repetitive thoughts connected to that false belief and can “program” us to certain behaviors

When the false belief and vow are replaced by God’s truth, healing of the soul occurs and growth and maturity can resume!

Stumbling Blocks To Love: Unforgiveness, Judgments, & Vows