April 7
Living in command mode takes us beyond perfection
How do we view commands?
Do we see them as demands?
Do we see them as God would have us see them? Namely: divine, eternal, supernatural masterplans?
I ask this because Psalm 119:96 tells us that the thing that is “beyond the consummation of all perfection” is: God’s command.
Jesus summed up all of God’s command as “Love God, love people and love one another as Jesus loved us”. John 13:34. Accordingly, we can say love is the essence of all that God has determined exceeds perfection. The essence of His commands.
Going beyond
I am proposing that beyond the Mona Lisa, Handel’s Messiah, Black Panther , Lord of the Rings, Transformers, World cup victories, the defeat of Isis, a double your salary promotion;
is God’s command.
These things are examples of what human beings determine in the natural to be ‘perfection’. Do we get a greater desire, inspiration, motivation from God’s command or things that we perceive as perfection?
Love was and is God’s greatest command and some of the ways that Jesus demonstrated His love in person by command included speaking the world, light and creation into being, healing the centurion’s servant, the fig tree withering up, Lazarus rising from the dead.
God wants us to live in command mode – being like Him Ephesians 4:13.
Beyond = past a certain point; - horizon, the universe, the grave, personal best, all we can ask or think/imagine
Perfect carries meaning of mature, be perfect, holy as God is perfect/holy. Strongs Bible Dictionary puts it as perfection, completion, completeness - hope and confidence
As with everything in God’s kingdom, achieving Biblical perfection, maturity, holiness, hope, confidence, is based on God’s efforts, where He takes the lead and we follow.
Phil 1: 6 Being confident of this very thing, that he which hath begun a good work in you will perform it until the day of Jesus Christ:
Matt 5: 48 -“Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect”.
1 Pe 1: 16 “…it is written, Be ye holy; for I am holy” - Holy: wholeness, wholesome, wholehearted.
Matt 16: 18 “upon this Rock I will build my church”.
Perfection is NOT Perfectionism. Perfectionism is where no matter how good it is, the critical, jealous, envious, legalistic, pedantic, mean spirited heart deems it “not good enough”.
Perfection includes the notion of hope and glory.
Hope: expectation of desire being fulfilled, of purpose being achieved.
Implicit in perfection is purpose. You can’t have purpose without process. Keynote affirmation of Jesus the Son by 0ur Father in heaven is “well done!” That is what God’s heart yearns for us to hear from him, God does not flatter and to hear “well done” we need to do something, to hear “Well done” from God, we have to obey His commands. When we obey God’s commands we will experience what it is to go beyond perfection.
Beyond can include what happens once we get there, what happened to get us us there in the sense that once we are there, it is easy to simply focus on the final outcome and not appreciate all that went into that outcome
These days a big deal is made of “quality tim”e in relationship . What is quality time?. It can and should involve a whole range of experiences; from rest to intense work, from peace to battling to conquer, from ecstatic joy to deep sorrow, from thunderous applause to quiet meditation, from relaxed routine to extra effort to meet deadlines, from proactive planning to effective response to contingencies.
Perfection includes the notion of Beauty. This is a concept that God designed and defined to be totally desirable. However there are those who for one reason or another reject, shy away from and delve into expression that is anything but perfect /beautiful.
The ways we can experience beauty/perfection include every natural sense; taste, touch, sight, sound, feeling, however there is a realm of experience that takes us beyond natural beauty and perfection, that is the realm of Faith. – Heb 11:6 “without faith it is impossible to please God”.
Biblical faith works by love Gal 5: 6 but faith which worketh by love.
As is said, "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". In other words, Beauty has many and varied expressions. What appeals to one may not be what appeals to another. Beauty is more than skin deep. Implicit in this statement is the notion that what can appear beautiful to the eye, can be quite different below the surface
Interestingly, there is an aspect of modern physics understanding that suggests some things take on a different form of existence when they are being observed. Similarly, when we are observed dong things it can change us. In good ways and bad. It can lead to attention seeking which is not good or it can lead to maturity and leadership even more when we are not seen. God however sees wherever we are at.
Things can also change in the observer. Jesus said if we look on someone else with lust we should pluck out eye. This is not literal, but does give us a picture of just how seriously God hates lust.
One of, if not the most relational ugly things in the midst of those in today’s culture is hate. Yes hate has a dominant ugly tone and reality to it, however God Himself hates.
How can hate be changed?: By the shedding of blood
You become what you behold, 2 Corinthians 3:18
Psalm 119 is the longest psalm and it is common to hear Christians utter, mutter, or to adapt a Shona term - mumbologise some form of negative expression to the effect ‘"uh, hmmmmm, that’s a really long one" when this Psalm in one way or another comes up on the Bible agenda. This Psalm features 176 verses around the theme of God’s word and it is the word that King David the author of the psalm makes the statement from which we get our months theme. Verse I have seen the consummation of all perfection but your word.
Psalm 119:9 wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.
119:105 "Your word is a lamp to my feetAnd a light to my path.”
119:54 "Your statutes have been my songsIn the house of my pilgrimage.”
How much song do we want in our lives? Do we want to limit the number of songs. From this verse it seems complicit that the more we love Gods word, the more song. Col 3:16, Eph 5:19
What kind of song do we want in our life?
Psalm 119:96 "I have seen the consummation of all perfection: but thy commandment is exceeding broad."
119:165 "Great peace have they which love thy law: and nothing shall offend them.”
WORDS OF ETERNAL LIFE
The eternal is beyond the temporal. It is heaven or hell, both are real, both are our choice, both are something we can determine now. We are going to focus on heaven knowing that not to choose heaven is to choose hell. If we don’t choose heaven today it is not necessarily too late however there is a huge risk in waiting as none of us can take the rest of our today let alone our tomorrows for granted. Only Jesus has the words of eternal life and eternal life is only available from Jesus. What is more it is a gift. All other faiths in one way or another are a works trip , a guilt and in fact a fantasy trip with no actual reality other than to lead us away from heaven and towards hell.
John 6 where can I go
What is life eternal? John 17:3
Examine the setting of eternity: Rev 21
Outward – inward – Moses tabernacle inside much more attractive
Psalm 138:2 exalted your word above all your name
Beyond human reasoning. The place in the word where the phrase "the words of eternal life” (John 6) is found, is right in the midst of Jesus saying we need to eat fo His flesh and drink His blood - which is highly offensive to the natural mind. To get a kingdom view, blood needs to be shed.
So often tragedy brings out the best in people.
WHAT IS THE WORD?
Jesus
Spirit
Life
Truth
Song lyric gist
Revelation
More sure prophecy
Incorruptible Seed
Source of faith
Eternal commands
Love letter
Food
Cleansing agent, washing water
Logos – history, information about God and His will, ways, works, wisdom
Rhema – portion quickened to speak into given situation
and expressed through the loving power of the holy Spirit and operation of the gifts of the holy Spirit
Our testimony psalm 45, Revelaiton 21 :24 - 26,
Now word - command GO Gather Leviticus 26:8 – Romans 10 the word is nigh even in our mouth. Take this word and act on it. Hard sell or giant toast?
So God wants us to know that all of us, regardless of age, height, size, experience, background, ethnicity, gifting or anything else, we can ALL be involved in the consummation of perfection and not only go beyond ourselves, but lead others into and beyond, through living in command mode. It starts with a gift and grows as we get to know God in vibrant, virtuous, vintage relational ecstasy, nurtured by His word and empowered by His Holy Spirit.
B.I.D
Receive Gift of salvation and the Holy Spirit
Obey Leviticus 26:8 word to Megamorphic
”Five of you will chase a hundred, and a hundred of you will chase ten thousand, and your enemies will fall by the sword before you.”