Freedom Blog

A verse of Scripture that encourages and touches every part of my being is 2 Corinthians 4:7: “But we have this treasure in jars of clay to show that this all-surpassing power is from God and not from us.”The reason I like this verse so much is that it not only takes into account my brokenness, but also my redemption. Just recently I was watching a movie and this line came streaming through, “She’s a bit tore up, but she’ll fly true.” He was taking about the plane they were flying, but how this line impacted me was that it made me long to hear God say this about me: “He’s a bit tore up, but he’ll fly true.” Again, the reason being is that it’s honest. I am a bit tore up (broken), but I will fly true (redeemed).

In our frailty, the very power of God is manifested. The more I embrace my brokenness (the reality that I am a jar of clay) the more I will realize just how precious and amazing this treasure that I have within me is (the reality that I am redeemed). So what is this treasure? If we look back to the second half of 2 Corinthians 4:4, we will see it: The treasure is “the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.” Paul contrasts this with the expression jars of clay which would be familiar to the Corinthians because pottery was an everyday item. It could be found everywhere because it was used by the common person. We, just like the Corinthians have either seen or even used a ceramic pot of some sort. And if you have, you know that they hold water really well and are useful for many things, but that they are also easily broken.

Now, the connection that Paul wants to make here is that just like jars of clay, human beings are just as fragile and easily broken. Now I don’t know about you, but I can understand and relate to that. If you’ve ever held a baby you know what I’m talking about, or if you’ve ever broken a bone or know someone who has, you know what I’m talking about. If you’ve ever been in any kind of relationship then you know what I’m talking about because we are fragile beings and our hearts and bodies feel pain. But just as Paul marveled, we too should also marvel, because we have an amazing God who has entrusted us, weak vessels, with the treasure of the gospel of God’s glory that is revealed in Jesus. According to this verse, God does this to show that it is His all-surpassing power that is at work in all of us. To be more specific, the power that Paul is talking about is the divine power that enables him to preach the gospel while persevering through personal hardships and trials. Phew! I don’t know about you, but I am glad to hear that because it takes all the pressure off of us and frees us up to speak and be truth, life and love to people.

I believe with all my heart that God has called every believer to do great and amazing things for His Kingdom. But this means that we will have to lean into this power of God within us to 1) be the Gospel to strangers, friends and family and to 2) persevere through the hardships and trials that will come our way because of this. What helps me when I get fearful or discouraged is remembering that I don’t have to do this alone, but that God is always with me. He has given us His Holy Spirit to not only comfort us, but to also empower us with love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control and has also lavished us with some pretty awesome supernatural gifts. “Though I am a bit tore up, I will fly true” because the same Spirit that rose Jesus from the dead is also living within me.

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I just recently went to visit a church (which will remain unnamed) where I heard a sermon preached on the importance of the having a firm grip on the Bible. The preacher talked about how the Bible is our road map through life. At first, I was in agreement. Yes, we need to be listening, reading, studying, memorizing and meditating on God’s Word which combined helps us apply it to our lives. But, then the preacher said, “…and Jesus is our compass.” Why this concept of Jesus is disconcerting to me is that Jesus is not a tool that we use to give us direction, but a Person with whom we are in relationship. Sure, I get the point he wanted to make (Jesus gives us direction), but reducing Jesus to a compass? I know that Jesus Himself, referred to Himself as living bread (John 6:51), as the light of the world (John 8:12), as the door (John 10:9), as the resurrection (John 11:25), as the true vine (15:1), and  as the way, the truth and the life (John 14:6). But, in today’s mindset where efficiency reigns supreme, preacher’s need to be careful that they don’t indirectly convey that Jesus is a tool at our disposal.

Afterwards, what further struck me was that there was no mention of the Holy Spirit’s role. Now, hear me on this, I believe that God desires worshippers of Spirit and Truth (John 4:23, 24). So, He has given us both a road map (the Bible = Truth) and a tour guide (the Holy Spirit = Spirit). If all that is taught is the road map, then what this indirectly teaches is that people can find their own way through understanding the Bible which is misleading. Sure, we may be able to intellectually and morally grasp some truth. But, to be transformed by God’s Word, this comes only from the ministry of the Holy Spirit (John 16:8-11). He is the One who brings conviction about sin and the need for repentance (v.9). He is the One who reveals the way of salvation through Jesus (v.10). He is the One who demonstrates Jesus’ victory over satan (v.11) because greater is the One who lives in a believer than the evil one of the world (1 John 4:4). I believe it is also the Holy Spirit who cultivates the soil of a person’s heart into the good soil that hears and accepts God’s Word, so that they bear abundant good fruit to the Father’s glory (Mark 4:20). Bottom line, the Holy Spirit is the One who makes the things of Jesus known to us (John 16:14): without Him how can we truly know Jesus?

As a preacher, I am further convinced that I need to be sharing the Gospel in a way that makes room for the Holy Spirit to move in power. There needs to be both the proclamation of the Gospel (preaching God’s Word) and the demonstration of the Gospel (releasing the anointing of the Holy Spirit). (This means of course I will need to wrestle with my own fears on this which is a topic is for another day, but it looks like I’d be in good company with Paul.) In 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, Paul tells the Corinth church that he didn’t come to dazzle them with his amazing intellect, but he came to them in his brokenness. He says, “When I came to you, brothers, I did not come with eloquence or superior wisdom as I proclaimed to you the testimony about God. For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified. I came to you in weakness and fear, and with much trembling. My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.” What strikes my heart hardest is the last part of Paul’s plea: “My message and my preaching were not with wise and persuasive words, but with a demonstration of the Spirit’s power, so that your faith might not rest on men’s wisdom, but on God’s power.”

Paul’s words challenge me all the more to lean into God’s anointing, rather than my skills as a preacher. When I preach, am I helping people put their faith in my explanation of the Scriptures or in a direct encounter with the living God? To put it another way, am I preaching for transformation where people are opened up towards an encounter with the living God (through the proclamation of the Gospel) and where the Kingdom of God comes near to people (through the releasing of the anointing of the Holy Spirit)? I need to take to heart Paul’s words that say, “…knowledge makes us feel important, it is love that strengthens the church. Anyone who claims to know all the answers doesn’t really know very much. But the person who loves God is the one whom God recognizes” (1 Corinthians 8:1b-3 NLT). Love is more important than knowledge. Too often, knowledge can produce arrogance and an overly inflated sense of importance, but love listens because love is a relational concept. For love to be fully realized and expressed in fullness, there must be a relationship in place. The way to truly know God and gain knowledge of Him is through loving Him. The more I live out the Christian faith, the more I am convinced that it is through an encounter with the love of the Father that changes everything. Preaching needs to be towards an encounter with the living God where people experience more of the Kingdom of God and where the Father’s love breaks through in greater measure in a person’s life. 

Jesus is pivotal in this. Jesus is the Gospel. Without Jesus, the Gospel is emptied of its purpose and power. Jesus meant it when He said “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). But, we must always remember that Jesus walks with us as He shows us the Way, that Truth is a Person, Jesus, whom we can love and get to know through a relationship and that we gain Life because Jesus actually lives His life in and through us. He is more than just a compass. Jesus also made it a point to make sure we understood that He was sending us a Helper, the Holy Spirit, who is more than a spiritual force, but who is also a Person (John 14:15-31; 16:5-16). Too often, preachers forget to remind us that we are not alone in this, that we have a real live tour guide (Holy Spirit) to help us understand the road map (God’s Word), even to actively guide, lead and empower us on this journey of faith through the varying terrain and storms we will be confronted with in this life. I don’t know about you but that’s Good News.

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These days, I have been challenged more and more by God to be fully reliant upon Him everyday and in every way. That I am to fully embrace the reality that I live, move and have my being in Him (Acts 17:28). For me this means I need to be consciously engaging with God throughout my day. This doesn’t mean that I connect with God in the morning and then reconnect with Him before meals and then a quiet time before I go to sleep. No, the way I understand this truth is that I need to be in continual and constant contact with God all day, everyday. This may seem like a tall order, but what helps me stay connected with God is the understanding that:“Sure I could probably make it through an average day without too much of a stretch, but life to me is more than just getting through the day. A full and abundant life involves making an eternal impact in this world for Jesus. And for this to happen, I need to be seeking out the specific Kingdom impact that Jesus wants to make  for each moment of the day.” This means that I need to humbly admit that I don’t have the answers, nor the power to achieve this and that I need God to actively lead and empower me if I am to be of any use to Him.

If that’s not enough, Scripture says, “For the foolishness of God is wiser than man’s wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than man’s strength” (1 Corinthians 1:25). How I understand this verse is that God is not interested in what we have to offer Him, He is more interested in letting us know what needs to happen and how it needs to happen. Furthermore, Paul continues on to say, “But God chose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise; God chose the weak things of the world to shame the strong. He chose the lowly things of this world and the despised things—and the things that are not—to nullify the things that are, so that no one may boast before him” (vv. 27-29). Again, God is in the business of showing us what’s what. Not, the other way around. The last thing we should be trying to do is impress God. Remember, God is the Creator of the univese. impressing Him just won’t happen. The quicker that we admit that we need God’s direct and active guidance in our lives the greater intimacy we will have with Him and the greater impact we will make for His Kingdom here on earth.

Jesus is the good Shepherd who speaks to His sheep because they know His Voice (John 10:4). If we are not use to listening to Him speak to us, then it may take some time to recognize our Shepherd’s Voice. But, we must trust that Jesus knows us and we know Him (John 10:14). Furthermore, I believe that the only way to  consistently recognize Jesus’ Voice is through our dependency on the Holy Spirit, who loves making the things of Jesus known to us (John 16:14) which means He helps us not only know about Jesus, but also to encounter Him. Too often, good intentioned believers shy away from a more experiential (even mystical) approach to encountering Jesus because they are fearful of being deceived and led astray. Now, I can be compassionate towards them and understand where they are coming from, but this is what I have to say to them: “Trust that God is able to sovereignly keep you from being deceived as you pursue to encounter more of Jesus. Don’t you think the Father would bless your pursuit to know more of His Son? Don’t let the fear of being deceived stop you from encountering more of King Jesus in your life and having His Kingdom break in greater measure into your surroundings.”

Living in the anointing means that I am doing all I can to press into the grace that Jesus has apportioned to me (Ephesians 4:7) all day, everyday. This means I am actively seeking to hear His Voice in my life. Jesus, the Anointed One (which is the meaning of Christ),  lived His life fully in the anointing of the Holy Spirit while He walked the earth. Believers today can do no less. We must seek to live in the anointing of the Holy Spirit on each of our lives. I am more and more convinced that what is lacking in the Body of Christ is that believers are not walking in the fullness of God’s grace for them. I believe if we were, the Church truly would be the unstoppable force that Jesus envisioned (Matthew 16:18) because every believer would be living in their God given anointing. So this is my prayer: that the Holy Spirit would impress upon every believer’s heart to consciously pursue walking in the fullness of God’s grace, that He would unshackled their hearts to receive this grace and that He would give them a hunger and thirst to seek out the righteousness of God by empowering them to claim the anointing of God on their lives. In Jesus Name, Amen.

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