Listening for His Melody

1/6/2008

Here’s the thing. We can’t DANCE with Him in His Joyful Dance… if we don’t love and listen to His Music. It’s not a “bad” or “dangerous” thing, really, to do it HIS way, regardless of what men’s logic and fears and pride would often dictate. Men’s wisdom only leads to the bad fruit of chaos, division, and heartache. “Times of refreshing come from repentance” and “He came to BLESS us by turning us from our wicked ways” (Acts 3). Those who LOVE Jesus will always cherish His Word, and know that we cannot have HIM while ignoring or disobeying, or “knowing better” than God’s Word. Thus, these few lines below about this oft-ignored or hated topic of “disFellowship” are to discuss what is truly a Part of God Himself. Though these Truths are unpopular or scorned by Laodicean “lukewarm” religion, they remain in the Scriptures and part of Father’s Heart.

This matter is often brushed aside or rationalized away as God being apparently unloving or unmerciful. But, the reality is that men’s personal power, popularity, and pesos will all take a major “hit” when God is obeyed on this topic, for the same reason Jesus was killed. The cultural christendom of the day wants Acts 2-8 Power, but wants to skip Acts 5 and Acts 7-8 to get there. The Holiness and Courage of those men and women demonstrated in Acts 5 is part of the Dance. If it’s to be His Music we’re dancing to in this grand Together-Life He has left us as an Inheritance, the Bride will offer this Holiness and Courage and Love and Obedience back to Him as Dowry for Jesus!

Unpopular and Inconvenient Truths or not, if we desire what Jesus desires for His Church, we will pay the price of “everything” for the Pearl, as He said we must. And, as we position ourselves in that Way, we’ll find these Truths about “disFellowship” to be Essential to God’s Heart. They are even inGeniusly Designed by the Master to build His Church that “the Gates of Hell can no longer prevail against.” Obeying is a good thing, a precious privilege and way to offer gifts to Jesus—not a burden. We do, after all, belong to Him, the Head and the Living Word, Jesus Christ.

And so, as we carefully discuss this topic of “disFellowship,” hold on to the thought that we’ll never have New Testament LIFE and POWER… unless we embrace and walk in His Ways. “The one who says he abides in Christ, must walk as He walked.” It’s just the Deal. Jesus living Inside of us, you know? And so His Words and Ways are not grievous to us, nor will we rationalize them away based on culture or cost. He IS the Word, and we can’t have Him while ignoring or defying the practice of His Words—no matter how unpopular this may become.

On this Point we must choose between God and cultural religion. Remember, “No man is above his Teacher” and this obedience and propagation of culturally-unpopular Truth resulted in the premeditated assassination of the only perfect and truly loving Man ever to walk this earth, Jesus Christ. This topic, contained in the lines below, chafes man’s flesh similarly, for the same reasons, in this same death-defying strata.

The really precious foundation under all such things is that we REALLY have nothing to prove, or own, or have, or build… He is just calling us to be FAITHFUL, and leave the product and fruit of that simple faithfulness to HIM.