Tag Archives: life

The Oracle Is, There Is No Oracle

Posted by on February 8, 2012 No comments

Jeremiah says that no one will remember the oracle of the Lord because it has been drowned out by every man's own word. So long have they listened to their own words that they no longer hear the oracle of the Lord. Each think their own words are now the oracle of the Lord.

So to this situation, where every man has his own oracle of the Lord, Jeremiah says the true oracle of the Lord is “You shall not say, ‘The oracle of the Lord’”. (Jeremiah 23:36-38)

This new oracle from the Lord creates the ultimate dilemma. Anyone who says “an oracle from the Lord” their words are false because the Lord’s oracle is “You shall not say, ‘The oracle of the Lord’”. If they do not say, “the oracle of the Lord”, then they have no oracle from the Lord and they are forced to sit in silence.

The oracle is the Word of the Lord. It is the presence of the Lord in their midst guiding them. Now, without the oracle of the Lord the Word of the Lord does not come into their presence by the active spoken word. Rather, the Lord’s presence is now only found in silence.

If the Lord never speaks, they have the Lord. If they say the Lord speaks, they do not have the Lord. This separates God from their day to day life where they speak.

As far as silence is from the spoken word so far is God from their current life.

In this silence they must listen to the echo of their own false oracles. In silence they are forced to leave their daily life. Only in silence may they touch God.

God is in the silence. In the silence God is their Lord.

© 2012, VoiceWind. . .Greg Loveless. All rights reserved.

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God’s Provisions Endless With Time Limits

Posted by on June 21, 2010 No comments

In Joshua 5:11-12 it states that:

"On the day after the Passover, on that very day, they ate some of the produce of the land, unleavened bread and parched grain. The manna ceased on that day after they ate some of the produce of the land, so that the sons of Israel no longer had manna, but they ate some of the yield of the land of Canaan that year."

As Israel set out from Egypt to the promise land, part of this transition included passing through the desert, During this transition, God provided food for them in the form of manna. This lasted up to the moment they entered the promise land and ate of the fruit of that land.

During any journey through life, whether as an individual, as a family or as a group of believers, we will hit a point of transition from one way of life to another. During these times of transition, we cannot produce from the old way of life what we will need in the new life. It is at these points of transition in life that God enters and provides for us. However, once we have transitioned from the previous life to the new, that provision needs to end.

This is the message in Joshua 5:11-12. As Israel transitioned from a people in slavery to a self sustaining nation, God provided for them during this transition. But once they entered on the other side of this transition, God ceased to provide and they became responsible for this part of their life.

So many of us, as we go through a transition, find that God steps up and takes care of us. Once we have completed this transition, we wonder why God is no longer with us in the same way He was during our transition.

Actually He is, its just that what He once had to do for us, in the same way a parent does things for a child, He now is able to hand over to us so we can do it for ourselves. This does not mean God is not with us any longer. Rather, what use to come to us as a gift from outside, and appeared to be miraculous, now comes to us through a more natural process. And yet God is no less present in this than He was in the miraculous.

Just as God provided manna until the people of Israel entered and ate of the fruit of the land, so also for us, during times of transition, God will provide for us until the time when we can do so for ourselves. This does not mean God has left us, rather it means we have successfully transitioned into our new life.

In fact our attempt to hold on to how God comes to us during times of transition, will only cut us off from taking full possession of the our new promise land He intends for us.

God's provisions are boundless. But God's provisions have time limits. Failure to acknowledge the time limits creates stagnation in the transition rather than entrance into the promise land.

© 2010 – 2011, VoiceWind. . .Greg Loveless. All rights reserved.

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Does Hate Give Life? – John 12:19-26

Posted by on May 19, 2010 No comments

In John 12:19 we are told that some Greeks who were in Jerusalem for the Feast approached Andrew and asked to "see" Jesus. This is an interesting term. They did not want to meet with Jesus, debate with him, ask him a question, be healed, etc. They just wanted to "see" him.

Christ's response is "Truly the hour has come for the son of man to be glorified." Jesus then follows this up with comments about the fact that a seed is alone unless it falls to the earth and dies, then it becomes something new, a plant that bears much fruit. Then he says those who love their life in this world, will loose it while those who hate their life in this would will find eternal life.

What kind of response is this? The Greeks have come to see Jesus and rather than taking advantage of the opportunity, Jesus response appears to be a total disconnect as he starts talking about himself and then finishes with what are actually some very negative comments – that you must hate your life, etc.

The answer to this is actually located in the first and last verses of this section — verses 19 and 26. The Greek term used to describe the Greek's request simply means "see" or "meet". This implies that while they were in town for the Feast they wanted to take advantage of the opportunity and see this famous person, Jesus they had heard so much about. Jesus, understanding this, cuts to the truth of the matter.

Jesus is making the point that our focus should not be all about this life. Rather our focus should be on eternal life. After all, we are eternal beings and yet we get distracted by events in this life that will not last. When you think about it, focusing on this life really makes no sense in the grand scheme of things because this part of our life in this world will one day perish. In light of that we should be focused on the eternal part of our life.

To get this point across Jesus uses a common teaching method where he pushes the pendulum to an extreme to break through the crowds comfortable thought process.

By saying, "You must hate your life in this world" Christ is not saying there is nothing good about one's life in this world. Rather he is saying that if you love your life in this world, when this world ends, so will your love and your life.

The proper approach is to love our eternal life more than this life so that we can bring our life in this world under the authority and control of our eternal life. That portion of our life in this world that matches our eternal life will continue, eternally.

After pushing the pendulum to an extreme by stating "he who hates his life in this world will keep it into eternal life" Jesus then says, "If anyone is to serve me he must follow me, and where I am, there also will be my servants. Thus, if anyone serves me the Father will honor him."

These final words in this section are Jesus' response to the Greeks who just want to "see" him because they were in town and have heard of him. Jesus wants them to understand that life is more than being connected to the popular. Life is found in true service to the eternal. We are more than the life we have in this world. To place this life above eternal life cuts us off from our true self and our true destiny, which is life eternal.

Since we should not be focused only on this life that will end, but eternal life, are we then to just sit around and hate this life and wait for the eternal life to come? No! We are to use this life in service to the eternal life. To the extent that we do this, we can love our life in this would without compromise.

Thus this life has value to the extent it serves eternal life.

And beyond this, not just our eternal life, but in our service to Christ, we give eternal life to others as well.

© 2010, VoiceWind. . .Greg Loveless. All rights reserved.

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The Gospel of John – Teaching Through Misunderstanding

Posted by on April 28, 2010 No comments

The Gospel of John uses a simple and yet very powerful teaching technique called "misunderstanding".

On several occasions when Jesus has a conversation with someone, there is a misunderstanding. This usually revolves around a single term that has a double meaning. Jesus intends one meaning while the other person understands this term to mean something much different.

A few examples of this are listed below:

Verse Greek Term English Translation Jesus Meaning Hearer's Meaning
3:3 ἄνωθεν again, above, beginning, first above, beginning born again physically
4:10 ζῶν live, living, running, alive, life life/living running water verses well water
11:23 ἀναστήσεται raise, resurrection raise now resurrection on the last day

 

Why is this technique used? Because it creates a simple yet powerful mental process.

The hearer is thinking one way while Jesus' teaching will require that they think in a new way. To simply present the new way would allow the hearer to continue to keep the concepts disconnected. And once they are disconnected it is possible to do some mental tricks and still hold onto the old while we mentally say we also believe in the new.

But when the misunderstanding is used it forces us to consider both the new and the old next to one another. This accomplishes two important points.

  1. It forces those who hear the teaching to acknowledge that there is a new meaning
  2. In the future, any time a person thinks of the old, the new will now intrude upon it and take it captive.

 

Thus, teaching through misunderstanding allows the new idea to be intimately connected to the old way of thinking. By doing so any time the old enters the heart and mind of the hearer, the new will now intrude. This brings about true change.

© 2010, VoiceWind. . .Greg Loveless. All rights reserved.

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Freedom in Christ Does Not Equal Freedom from the Tithe

Posted by on February 2, 2010 1 comment

In a recent online conversation on whether one should tithe and whether it should be on the net or the gross pay Jennifer commented.

"I understanding all comments above and both arguments have good sides. However, if self employed , how do you tithe especially I know is a no no – but if not yet on regular personal income as owner. You depend on "if money" or "when ever" money comes in scenario to pay for personal bills. Honestly I battle with this because I live a hand to mouth lifestyle. Most times when money comes in I am completely broke and buried under a mountain of bills (personal and business). I feel more obliged to pay my bills as a matter of urgency. Then i end up on a guilty trip if left with no "Tithe'."

In response I mentioned that "even this author (me), to one extent or another, stands outside the full share of what God has for us in Christ."

I also struggle with the tithe as well. My wife and I are both self employed and have seen a decline in income recently. However, my point is although we can argue to remove the requirement of the tithe and find some pshycological comfort, this is not the Spiritual reality, as a result we will find no lasting peace in this approach.

Rather, what we need to do is accept the requirement of the tithe and our inability to live up to it. Then we can ask God to guide us to a point in our spiritual life, personal life and business life so that we can make the changes to move to a point where we can tithe and thus share in this blessing.

Jennifer, the fact that you feel the pull means you are sensitive to the leading of the Spirit. And the Spirit would not have this impact if there was not also a way to achieve the goal.

Our prayers are with you. Prepare for His activity to allow you to reach resolution and peace.

In Christ.

Greg Loveless

© 2010, VoiceWind. . .Greg Loveless. All rights reserved.

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