Heavenly Invitation Part 2 or Kingdom and Culture Part 2

 Heavenly Invitation Part 2 or Kingdom and Culture Part 2

By  Meri Ford 

In recent weeks I’ve been reading about various world views and how we Christians can relate to those who hold world views very different from ours. At the end of this I will list some of the resources other than the Bible that I have drawn this article from as the Spirit of the Living God has stirred me up in His Most Holy Faith.

As we face an increasing Islamic presence in the world, one of the areas where the body of Christ is being challenged is to incorporate our “religion into our culture.”

Islam does not separate “religion and culture”. It doesn’t separate what they believe about God (Allah in Arabic for Christian and Muslim alike) from their family relationships, eating habits, dress, etc. One of the biggest accusations against the West and what\ Muslims call “Christianity” is the lack of integration of moral value into the daily life and practices of the West. For the Muslim, their belief in Allah and the Qur’an is inseparable from daily life and practice. They see the decadence and immorality of the “West” as the failure or result of the lack of truth in “Christianity.”

What has happened in our lives that what was once identified as “Christianity” now is more about prosperity, greed, immorality, hate and anger?

In reading this last month, the Lord has been showing me how we who call ourselves “Christians” aren’t following Him as He has called us.  Where did Jesus go and what did Jesus do? Jesus penetrated every dimension of the society he lived in and reached and affected everyone with whom He associated with the Father’s love. 

He told us in the Gospel of John that he wants us to be in Him as He is in the Father that the world may know how much the Father loves them.

I listened to a tape on Pat King’s web site on “Whatever you do, do in faith.”  The minister said something like believers “will carry heaven with them.”  If I believe I am in Christ as Christ is in the Father, then as I go forth I carry that love and power into every circumstance of my life and I will believe that it affects everyone I touch. The presence of it will be as manifest as will the absence according to where my faith is placed.

When my faith is in the Lord, that  faith manifests in wisdom and revelation by the spirit of God as I believe.  That manifestation then equips me and empowers me to endure and live abundantly “to the end” of whatever the Lord has chosen for me.

In Islam the first place they expect and practice their religions system to work is in the home and then the workplace. Islam penetrates every dimension of a society where people believe they must please Allah and must do whatever Allah says to gain access to heaven. They believe this to the point of dying to kill the enemies of Allah whereby they are rewarded for “cleansing” society of the infidel or the enemy of God.

How much more we who know the Living God are freed to bring heaven into our daily lives and into the daily lives of the people around us, even those who might seek to kill us? 

How much more we who are live and have all spiritual blessings as we sit in heavenly places in Christ Jesus are freed to pour such blessing out upon everyone we meet with the spirit of praise and thanksgiving?

Will we take that love and heavenly provision to work, to the gas station, to the grocery store? Will it manifest in loving communion with my spouse and children and the nosey neighbors next door?  Will my faith in God’s love be revealed in faith filled times of prayer exceeding that of the Muslim who by law prays 5 times a day and is proud of his “mark” of religious duty that forms on his forehead when his forehead touches the ground in such obeisance?

Will we display the power of heaven as we take “heaven” in prayer over our President and the Congress or will we find ourselves criticizing those who know not the heavenly love and wisdom and power we have in Christ Jesus? Will we pray revelation upon them and into them or will we judge them and see them unfit to receive God’s love and provision?

Will we bring heaven down when a car cuts us off on the freeway in praise and thanksgiving or will we lift up anger and resentment as if we were still under the law, judging what is “right or wrong” according to our set of standards?

Today I received an invitation to send Christmas Cards to the ACLU addressing the issues of Christmas tree rather than Holiday tree. The email suggested such massive send of Christmas cards would foul up their mail system and make it difficult for them to access their donations.  Is this bringing Heaven to the ACLU?  How can we pray Heaven and the love of God into the ACLU instead of trying to “mess them up”? What would Jesus do? Are we following Him and bringing the love of God into every aspect of our lives or are we still judging under the law, maybe not so different from those who live under “different kind of law” and different world views?

It does appear that until we see ourselves hopeless and helpless apart from all Christ is and in total need of His Excellency being carried in these earthen vessels, and seeing ourselves no different from our Muslim brothers or Hindu sisters, or Buddhist priests in our need for the love of God, we will not yet have entered into the Kingdom of God.

Resources:

Death of a Guru: A Remarkable True Story of one Man's Search for Truth by Rabi R. Maharaj and Dave Hunt (Paperback - Jun 1, 1984) Harvest House Publishers ISBN-13: 978-0890814345

Secret Believers by Brother Andrew and AL Janssen, Revell 2007  ISBN 978-0-8007-3264-6

I Dared to Call Him Father: The Miraculous Story of a Muslim Woman's Encounter with God by Richard Schneider and Bilquis Sheikh (Paperback - April 1, 2003) – Chosen ISBN-13: 978-0800793241

The Crescent through the Eyes of the Cross by Dr. Nabeel T. Jabbour NavPress, 2008 ISBN 978-1-60006-195-0

Ishmael My Brother, A Christian Introduction to Islam by Anne Cooper and Elsie Maxwell, Monarch Books 2003 ISBN 13: 978-0890814345

Creating Powerful People by Eric Johnson, audio  11-13-2009  http://www.ibethel.org

Whatever You Do, Do in Faith  audio  Love Gospel Church Online at http://www.xpmedia.com

                                            

November 19, 2009