The Power Twins
Hello greatly loved family!
Kay and I truly missed you this weekend, but we are so grateful for a church family that loves us equally when we are among you and when we are away, sharing the culture of the Finished Work of the Cross and the Divine Liberty we have developed amongst our Beloved peeps.
This reality about us being purposeful in developing and embracing this Kingdom culture is changing lives in so many ways that the leadership team is almost giddy when we get together to testify of the things we see and hear from many of you. Andrew Wommack has a book entitled, “Effortless Change,” and that is something we are witnessing among our Beloved family on a regular basis. AND it is beautiful!
I pray, as you read these words, you take a moment to reflect on where your heart was before you came into our culture and what is currently happening. It is very likely that your testimony will be very similar to all the folks around you that have seen many areas of their life impacted by the preaching AND living of this radical truth spoken in love.
Ephesians 4:15-16
Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part is working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love.
This powerful combination of truth and love is realized in the Lover of our souls and our King, Jesus. This is the commentary on His nature in holy scripture:
John 14:6
Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.
John 1:14
And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.
When we extrapolate the combined declarations of these two verses, we see that Jesus IS truth and that He is the fullness of it. Jesus does not HAVE truth, He IS truth. I deeply yearn for that revelation to impact your heart and mind in a powerful and transformative way. This is a truth that has brought me much peace, confidence, and clarity for many, many years. If it ain’t true in Jesus, it just ain’t true.
The wheels-off, fiery, helter-skelter mess in the economic and political realms of our nation in this snapshot moment is only temporal at best. I would even call it momentary. There is truth that is taking place, unseen, that is more real and powerful than the entire combined forces of all the lies of all time. The thing about truth is that it is always true. It does not bow down to culture, does not capitulate to political pressure, and will never yield in tyrannical threats. We are called to be people of truth, never wavering in our Father’s will.
Next, we see that Jesus is FULL of truth (Jn 1:14). This should invigorate you to hear His words and see His ways in a new and excited way. The truths that Jesus spoke and lived were not just for a few folks two thousand years ago, Beloved. They are eternal and infinite in power, application, and abundant-life. I believe we will spend the rest of eternity learning and growing in these revealed truths as the Father takes us deeper and deeper into the vastness of the truth of which Jesus is the fullness. This also should invigorate us all when we combine and fully grasp the indwelling presence of Jesus with us every second of every day. That means we all have limitless access to full truth and the confidence it brings. We are the truth carriers in a world that is fully immersed in ignorance, self-centeredness, abuse, and hopelessness. You are a great and powerful weapon against the plastic strength of deception and misconception. YOU are filled with full truth!
It is vitally important that, just as our Master showed us, this truth must be delivered through the energy that electrifies the heavenly power grid: love. This is what each of our hearts truly yearns for, the full truth delivered to us in the God-kind of Agape love. This is what every member of your family, your neighbors, and your co-workers truly need as well: the Christ-truth, humbly shown to them in sincere Agape love. They must work together.
Too often, I see these two in unbalanced ways, and it creates disastrous outcomes. If you speak raw truth to someone without love, the same truth that could liberate a person becomes a legalistic and dark dungeon. Just, “telling someone the truth,” makes truth into a hammer and you are the one swinging it in a reckless fashion. The flip-side is dangerous as well. Just untethered love will embolden someone to live more deeply in lies and deception. Love is the self-less motivation that compels us to rescue another, but truth is the tools of rescue.
To illustrate… imagine someone fell into a deep, dark pit that would eventually kill them. Love would be the endless supply of compassionate energy that would compel a limitless rescue attempt for them. Love would keep you at the edge of the pit talking with them to bring peace, hope, and calm to their heart and mind. Love would make you forego meals and sleep to stay with them through this horrid event. Love would open your wallet and your schedule to do whatever was necessary to bring salvation to the object of your Agape love. BUT… truth is the rope that they can climb out with. We need the love that keeps us desiring better things for our world, but we also need the tools of truth that will manifest tangible ways of change. These two working together will mature us and develop us in ways that we could only previously imagine. They can also be the secret-sauce for the tastelessness of our unpalatable world. You are the salt of the earth and the light of the world, filled with the Person of authentic Agape love, speaking the full and eternal truth… Go get ’em!
Beloved, I pray that you are allowing these, “power-twins,” to work together in your heart and life today. Remember how greatly loved and authentically discipled each of you can be in our Grace Culture. I cannot wait to see you again soon!
Steve
