From now until the end of the month we will be re-releasing highlights from our Wake-Up Call Acts journey together. Join us on December 1 when we begin our new series celebrating Advent—Protagonist by Matt and Josh LeRoy.
PRAYER OF CONSECRATION
Wake up, sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.
Jesus, I belong to you.
I lift up my heart to you.
I set my mind on you.
I fix my eyes on you.
I offer my body to you as a living sacrifice.
Jesus, we belong to you.
Praying in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, amen.
Acts 2:42–47 (NIV)
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
CONSIDER THIS
Recapping yesterday: If there was a Bible verse on the birthday cake of the church on the day of Pentecost it was this one:
“‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.”’ (Psalm 110:1)
On the day of Pentecost, the enemies of God (and us) were put on notice. They had lost any and all claim they had to the property of God. And the people of God were also put on notice. They now belonged completely and exclusively to Jesus Christ. This revelation called for their response, and you remember the CTA (call to action):
“Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off—for all whom the Lord our God will call.”
Repent. If ever a word has gotten a bad name this is that word. It carries such a yoke of moralism. In fact, the whole “repent and be baptized” idea has been largely reduced to mean, “believe and behave” to so many. It actually means “belong and become.”
A friend recently recounted a story to me about a property issue around his home. He bought the property a few years back. It came with a fenced-in backyard. Everything seemed fine until one day he was looking at the deed and the map of the land plot. He realized his fence was a solid ten yards inside of the actual property line. All told he had well over a thousand square feet of backyard he had no idea of. Next thing you know he was moving the fence and building a swimming pool!
What if that’s what repentance really looks like? Aligning our life with the dominion of God. Clearly, there are areas in all of our lives where the dominion of darkness has taken adverse possession. From the disrepair of our bodies to the dysfunction in our families to the anxiety and despair in the pit of our souls—the signs of adverse possession abound. The Holy Spirit stands on the ready to help take back these already reclaimed territories.1 The dimension of repentance we don’t often realize, though, is that of my friend and his backyard. There is so much more to this life than we ever imagined possible. The dominion of God (aka our property line), extends vastly beyond what we can even conceive of right now. While I am no advocate for the so-called “prosperity gospel,” the gospel does mean a vastly new dimension of prosperity. We are given a glimpse of it in today’s text. Here’s what belonging and becoming looked like from the very first days of our movement:
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.
THE PRAYER OF TRANSFORMATION
Lord Jesus, I am your witness.
I receive your righteousness and release my sinfulness.
I receive your wholeness and release my brokenness.
I receive your fullness and release my emptiness.
I receive your peace and release my anxiety.
I receive your joy and release my despair.
I receive your healing and release my sickness.
I receive your love and release my selfishness.
Come Holy Spirit transform my heart, mind, soul, and strength so that my consecration becomes your demonstration; that our lives become your sanctuary. For the glory of God our Father, amen.
THE QUESTION
Have you ever thought about the property lines of your inmost self? Where have those been compromised (aka adverse possession) by “our enemies” (aka the world, the flesh, and the devil)? How have you possibly built fences that have walled you off to the expansive territory of the kingdom of God beyond your known boundaries? Journal these reflections and ask the Spirit how might the property lines become graciously realigned.
THE HYMN
We will continue with the marathon of “O For a Thousand Tongues to Sing,” adding the last five (of nine) verses. If “And Can it Be” is our fight song, then “O For a Thousand Tongues” is our alma mater! It is hymn 1 in our Seedbed hymnal, Our Great Redeemer’s Praise.
For the Awakening,
J. D. Walt
Sower-in-Chief
seedbed.com
P. S. Would You Share a Word Back?
Please take two minutes to give us some feedback on the recent Wake-Up Call series. I would greatly appreciate it. LINK HERE.
Notes for further reflection and study
- We have allowed a mindset of scarcity to set up shop in our lives, shifting our life’s focus to money and its meticulous management. We have allowed the occasional glass of wine to become an overstocked wine cellar in our home and it has slowly set up shop as the primary “spirit” in our soul, pushing the Holy Spirit to the margins at best. What began as a vocational calling to do some good in the world in the name of Jesus has turned into a sweatshop where we slavishly labor to try and make a name for ourselves. If any of these describe you and your situation, do not despair. It is simply time to break the adverse possession and put the house under new management. That’s what repentance means. It does not mean the endless and fruitless quest to try and manage sin. It means to align your life with the gracious and generous dominion of God. He knows you and your frailties and weaknesses and he delights to deliver you from any and all darkness. It can take time and it will take some other people who love you to come alongside. If you aren’t following Jesus yet, start here. If you are and keep hitting the wall on change, try this.
Subscribe to get this in your inbox daily and please share this link with friends.
6 Responses
It’s time to allow Jesus to remove our self-imposed religious boundaries!
Acts 2:42-47 demonstrates that relationship with the living Jesus extends vastly beyond weekly attendance at a Christian event center. Widespread awe, sincere hearts, sacrificial community, signs and wonders, and praising God in daily gatherings was the norm for the early Christ-followers. Attending a Christian event center should never have become a replacement for having a lively heart-to-heart connection with the risen Jesus and intimate community with other believers as described in Acts 2.
Being part of the body of Christ means so much more than attending programs at a religious event center. Christian event centers provide lectures and music but Christ in you is the hope of glory. Perhaps it’s time we let Jesus take the Headship of His body and build His Spirit-led town hall meeting (ekklesia).
Amen, Steve!
Today’s appointed text is the Father’s YES to the prayer that Jesus prayed back in John 17:20-23. This documented activity of the early Church demonstrated unequivocally that the Ecclesia is first and foremost the Household of Faith. When this obvious contrast to life in the ways of of the world is witnessed by the world, it will result in “And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.” And “In him was life, and that life is the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” As the kingdom advances in reclaiming what has been redeemed by Christ, the first verse from an old hymn: “ Jesus lead thou on Till our rest be won; And although the way be cheerless, We will follow calm and fearless; Guide us by thy hand To our fatherland.”
“On the day of Pentecost, the enemies of God (and us) were put on notice. They had lost any and all claim they had to the property of God.” That’s why the “Great Commission” is in reality, a declaration of war against the god of this world, why when we are brought to faith in Christ, we are automatically enlisted in a cosmic battle between good and evil. The so called “Prosperity Gospel “ is in fact a ruse from the enemy of our souls to abandon our roles as solders of the cross and lay down our weapons. Many of God’s people have been deceived into buying into this heresy. See, 1 John 2:15-17.
See more, realize more, and experience more of God’s glory.
To repent is to look unto Jesus and to align our heart and will with Him. The more we open our eyes and delight in Christ’s light the more we are delivered from darkness and the more our heart is strangely warmed and molded from glory to glory into His likeness.
JD: Thank you for being such a good example of humility, openness, and love for Jesus. And thanks for the many ways your writing and example have encouraged me personally. Steve