Justice (Ablaze Message)

These are my (Amy's) sermon notes that I taught from at our IHOPE Ablaze service.

Justice

Defining “Justice”: Making wrong things right.

The issue of justice in the world is very popular today. Terms like “social justice” “social equality” and “equal rights” are seen frequently in the news concerning a variety of situations in our state, nation, and around the world. Everyone has an opinion about what “justice” really is- essentially, what they think is right and fair, or unjust and unfair.

Justice and Judgment

For justice to be brought about, there has to first be a determination of what is right and wrong- a judgment has to be made. To “judge” something is simply to make an evaluation.

To judge something is to make an evaluation. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tells us that the way we evaluate others is the way is an invitation for others to evaluate us in the same way. If we are critical of others and make harsh or snap judgments, others will likely judge us in the same manner. (Matthew 7:1-5).

Jesus’ instruction about judgment is not to stop evaluating, but to evaluate rightly by looking beneath the surface issue. “Stop judging by mere appearances, but instead judge correctly.” John 7:24

Humanity’s Impaired Judgment (Genesis 3:1-5)

After the fall, humanity became more concerned with “being right” than “knowing God”. We were deceived by the enemy into thinking that we have the ability or perspective to determine what is good or evil apart from God.

The result of this deception is that humanity is now prone to fit God into our way of thinking instead of letting who God is shape the way we think.

Getting to know Jesus, the Judge

We know biblically that Jesus’ second coming is going to look very different from his first coming. If we do not acknowledge these differences, we risk being offended at God or worse, not recognizing Him when He returns. These are the foundational purposes of the 1st and 2nd comings of Jesus:

1. Jesus first coming to the earth was to make a humble appeal to humanity by revealing who God is, performing acts of compassion, and atoning for our our sin on the cross. Jesus the suffering Servant.

2. Jesus, second, final, and permanent return to earth will be to display His glory, achieve justice for His people, and establish the kingdom of heaven on earth forever. Jesus the conquering King.

Revelation 19:11-16 is a clear picture of Jesus at His second coming. The intensity that Bible describes Jesus having at His 2nd coming is shocking in comparison to His first coming! Where is the vulnerable baby in a manger that humanity met 2,000 years ago? We must know the heart behind this intense appearance to make right evaluation of who He is. We must not judge “by mere appearances.”

The Heart of the Judge

When God revealed Himself to Moses on Mount Sinai, this is how He describes Himself:

“The LORD, the LORD, to compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands, and forgiving wickedness, rebellion, and sin. Yet he does not leave the guilty unpunished; he punishes the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation.” Exodus 34:6-7.

“Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God.” Exodus 34:14

“Jealousy” implies ownership. We must remember that God is Sovereign (he rules over all). His ownership of us is expressed in 2 main ways:

1. God made us. He fashioned our very beings- body, soul, and spirit.

Genesis 1 & 2; Psalm 139; Acts 17:24-28

2. God purchased us back from the grip of satan with the blood of Jesus.

1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Revelation 5:9

God is jealous for our affection (and all of us!), it rightly belongs to Him- because He has given humanity His full affection. This has 2 main implications:

1. God will not “share” us with anything less that Himself because we were made for Him- to share close relationship with Him. This means He is opposed to false idols in our life.

2. God will not forever tolerate satan, demons, and people under their influence to abuse His people. There will be a day of reckoning when He fights for His people.

Partnering with the Judge

1. We trust that Jesus will fight for us. This gives us freedom to forgive others quickly.

2. We immediately bring sin issues to Jesus whenever they arise, knowing that He has made atonement for our sin. This gives us freedom to forgive ourselves quickly.

3. We trust Jesus in the process of our sanctification. We trust that because He is opposed to our sin, He will cleanse us and bring to completion the good work that he has begun. (Philippians 1:6)

4. We ask the Holy Spirit to help us know Jesus rightly and prepare us for the return of Jesus.

5. We ask Jesus what is on His heart so we can intercede with Him and receive strategy to bring about His Kingdom on the earth.

House of Prayer Job Description

Sometimes it is difficult to describe to other people what it means to be an "intercessory missionary" at the House of Prayer. A few months ago, I (Amy) felt like the Lord spoke to my heart about how to explain this concept more clearly. I felt like the Lord said "You are a Levite". So I started doing some research in the Bible. The following is a concise explanation from what I gathered biblically.

I hope this clarifies things a bit and blesses you!

Modern Day Levites

The calling of an intercessory missionary is similar to the tribe of Levi in biblical times. We sometimes refer to this lifestyle as one of the “Modern Day Levite.” Below are the main tenets of how the “old” way of the Levite plays out presently in our daily lives.

-The Levites were a small portion of the population.

The Levites were descendants of Levi, the third son of Jacob and Leah. The Levites are one of the twelve tribes of Israel. The members of the other eleven tribes of Israel had many functions, some were farmers, government officials, or marketplace workers. Today, we still recognize the importance of different people serving in different functions to make up the complete body of Christ (1 Cor. 12:12).

-The Levites ministered unto God.

“At that time the Lord set apart the tribe of Levi to carry the ark of the covenant of the Lord to minister and to pronounce blessings in his name...” Deuteronomy 10:8

The Levites were called to carry the ark (which was at that time the dwelling place of God), oversee the temple activities, and minister unto God. Today, through the place of prayer and worship, we are the very companions of God, standing in His council, and partnering in intercession with Jesus, our Great and Living Intercessor.

“Therefore He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them.” Hebrews 7:25

-The Levites ministered unto the people of God.

“They (the Levites) are to perform duties...for the whole community at The Tent of Meeting...” Num. 3:7

As the tribe of priests, overseeing the functions of the temple allowed the Levites significant interaction with the people of Israel as they offered sacrifices to God on their behalf. In our day, Jesus is our mediator and we have no need of animal sacrifices. Yet, we are seeing an increased hunger among people for the things of God, to see the power of God at work in their lives and in the world around them. We desire to be vessels of the message, heart, and power of God in our day. In practical terms, this looks like proclaiming, singing, and writing about the Word of God and ministering through counsel and prayer to those whom we meet at IHOPE and our community.

“If they had stood in My council, they would have proclaimed My words to My people and would have turned them from their evil ways and from their evil deeds.” Jeremiah 23:22

-The Levites lived primarily from the offerings of the people.

“The priests, who are Levites- indeed the whole tribe of Levi- are to have no allotment or inheritance with Israel. They shall live on the offerings made to the Lord by fire, for that is their inheritance. They shall have no inheritance among their brothers; the Lord is their inheritance, as He promised them.” Deut. 18:1-2

Like the Levites of the Old Testament and Christians of today, we believe that the Lord is our greatest reward and ultimate inheritance- even as we are His! We do not seek to store up treasure on this earth, but to live simply, honorably, and generously with the finances and possessions we are entrusted with in this age.

Other biblical examples of this “fasted” lifestyle are found in Anna (Luke 2:36-37), Simeon (Luke 2:25), and Mary of Bethany (Luke 10:39-42 and Matthew 26:6-13).

How Does Your Garden Grow?

Not very well, actually.

We had some success with our summer harvest this year. We ate some tomatoes, a few green beans, cucumbers, and our onions did very well.

But there were many sad moments. Mostly due to squinnies (which most other people call "ground squirrels"). They burrowed under our fence and ate all of our snap peas and most of our beans. We made the fatal mistake of not planting any marigolds this year (which deter the critters).

Today, we gutted the whole thing- took down the weed infested chicken wire fence and ripped everything out. Next steps...till it up and construct one raised bed for winter harvest. At spring, put up new fence and build the rest of the raised beds.

HOWEVER, we are very enthusiastic about this fall and spring's planting. We are going to build raised beds and use the square foot gardening techniques that Ben has researched and know about for years but have not yet implemented. We are going to keep things simple and plant what we like to eat.

Here are our goals for our new garden:

To make dill pickles (which we did last year but not this year)

To freeze bags of pesto (same story as above)

To try strawberries and potatoes for the first time

Prune our tomato plants to one stalk each

Use raised beds for the majority of our space

Plant marigolds

Make our garden a more aesthetic place to be :)

Plan for next season's garden. This fall we plan to plant garlic and spinach in the bottom left bed.

Gutted. Ready to be tilled.

Another view. We are blessed to garden in the back yard of some of our most beloved friends. Thanks Bakers! (And Grace Baptist Church)