February 27, 2010
subscribe, view past issues and Get Releasing Kings
Stuck in
Servant - I’m fascinated by human nature and the
transition from
servant to friend in our relationship with God. Those with a servant
mentality
mired in
self-centered poverty are very prone to expect someone else to take
care of
them. It’s easy to see dependency, entitlement, and childish
mismanagement at
this level of maturity. It’s at this stage we wish for someone to rule
over us and
make our problems disappear. "But when you
saw
that Nahash king of the Ammonites was moving against you, you said to
me, 'No,
we want a king to rule over us'-even though the Lord your God was your
king. 13
Now here is the king you have chosen, the one you asked for; see, the
Lord has
set a king over you. 1 Sam 12:12-13 NIV We
all go through this stage as children living under
parents, and even as new believers being discipled by spiritual
overseers or
pastors; nothing wrong with that. In fact, mentoring and accountability
are
great ways to learn. We need that kind of oversight. The problem arises
when we
never graduate to relating to God for ourselves and taking
responsibility for
our own lives. Maturity is God’s goal for each of us. Becoming
personally
creative, industrious, and prosperous is a natural byproduct of our
spiritual
maturity. The parental, pastoral level of oversight is nurturing, and
growing
and healthy for a child, but it turns to bondage if we refuse to leave
the nest
and grow up. A crib is a safe haven of rest for a toddler and a prison
cell for
an adult. What I am
saying is that
as long as the heir is a child, he is no different from a slave,
although he
owns the whole estate. He is subject to guardians and trustees until
the time
set by his father. So also, when we were children, we were in slavery
under the
basic principles of the world. Gal 4:1-3 NIV As
parents of four children, Sue and I enjoyed loving
and raising our kids. Now we enjoy seeing them make their own way in
life
independent from us. We see them growing in their own relationship with
God and
prospering… it’s really fun to see them work through the discipline
issues in
their own children. Our
provider
– Here’s the real message: At every level God is
inviting us to seek Him as our source. This is being played out at the
highest
levels in politics and at personal levels of spiritual maturity. Can
you see that the real
question is not, “How can we provide / pay for health care, welfare,
medicare,
employment, retirement, and education or everyone?” The better question
is, “How
do we enable people to provide those things for themselve?” I believe that,
through Jesus, I can be an over comer, become the head and not the
tail, and
prosper. That belief naturally leads to a “can do” attitude that finds
answers and
solves problems. Listen to the names of God…
A
poverty mentality is filled with the same sense of
entitlement we all have. In fact, healthy believers have a much greater
sense
of entitlement; they just look to God to provide through the work of
their
hands. Poverty looks to man (or a King) to provide things that should
come from
the hand of God. Failure
is important
– All of us have tried to achieve
something we really desired and have failed – often miserably. We often
blame
ourselves or we blame God. Poverty would blame others. What we miss is
that
failure is really part of a death process that is the key to spiritual
growth.
Resurrection power is really only available to those who are willing
to risk
failure and try something new. Listen to the way Jesus explained it: But
Jesus answered them,
saying, "The hour has come that the Son of Man should be glorified. Most assuredly, I say to
you, unless a grain
of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains alone; but if it
dies, it
produces much grain." John 12:23-25 NKJV Our
hopes and dreams are like grains of wheat. When they
fall to the ground (fail), we feel very “alone.” But if that grain of
wheat
dies, the seed germinates and it multiplies. Paul said the same thing,
“What
you sow does not come to life unless it dies.” (1Cor 15:36) The
paradox
– What does it mean to let something I cherish die so
that it can resurrect and multiply? Working with Jesus is a delicate
combination of giving our best effort and relying on His power. If we
drift
away from the power and presence of God, failure will brings us back.
Even when
we don’t drift away from the Lord, a failure will cause us to mature in
new
ways and result in new open doors and greater multiplication and
prosperity… if
our eyes are on the Lord. If we get our eyes off the real source of our
provision and multiplication, a failure will just stay a failure and
we’ll
learn to accept poverty in that area of our lives. What
if my brother is failing?
– You can see the same paradox in Gal
6:2 and 5; “Carry each other’s burdens” and “each one should carry his
own
load.” Our efforts to help others should be an encouragement and point
to
solutions but we should not interfere with a healthy death and
resurrection. Mentoring
real spiritual maturity teaches people to receive from the Lord
themselves.
When we look to other people, a ruling King, or the government to meet
our needs,
the sense of entitlement just taxes our own productivity and leaves us
as dependent servants instead of reigning Kings. When
a door closes or something fails in life, we all
need to realize that God has something much better in mind. We should
begin to thank
him for killing the old and showing us the new. Real maturity learns to
appreciate
failures rather than the status quo because that’s the source of new
ideas,
new
direction, new levels of multiplication… resurrection is good thing. Caution
–
In one sense we believers should wear bracelets that say “do not
resuscitate”.
At another level, the first thing we should do is have an outreach to
others in
place to
help us find the new thing. We’re not monks trying to die alone! We’re
believers learning how to live “life and life more abundantly.” We
should take
full responsibility to personally receive our full inheritance from the
hand of
the Lord. That doesn’t mean that others can’t help us learn to do that.
Prosperous people are famous for learning from others, receiving
correction
from others, and even implementing checks and balances to make
mid-course
corrections. They receive those corrections without any condemnation or
guilt. Graduation to new levels of blessing means the old things pass
away (death) and all things are made new (resurrection). It's really
very exciting! He
who ignores discipline
comes to poverty and shame, but whoever heeds correction is honored.
Prov 13:18
NIV He
who listens to a
life-giving rebuke will be at home among the wise. He who ignores
discipline
despises himself, but whoever heeds correction gains understanding.
Prov
15:31-32 NIV Let a righteous man strike me — it is a kindness; let him rebuke me — it is oil on my head. My head will not refuse it. Ps 141:5 NIV
Desire to Destiny is available now at our store along with reviews. Not sure what your dream is? This book will help you pull the curtain back on your future. Newsletter - If your newsletter comes incomplete (filtered), you can always catch the latest version in our archive along with 200 others. 1700+ people from around the world get Kingly encouragement from our weekly newsletter. Invite a friend to subscribe - they will be blessed. How to Start a Small Group - Kings are increasingly getting involved in Bible study or mentoring groups to facilitate their "Release." Here are some helpful suggestions www.Releasing-Kings.com/Starting-a-Group.html. We've also updated our Vision Brochure with graphics to show how to become a King and how you can help Release Kings. Lastly we've created a guideline to help you take your dream to the next level by considering the elements of a business plan. See Write Your Business Plan. French Translation - Releasing Kings is now available in French thanks to the efforts of Cees Bakker and Support Ministries in the Netherlands. In France, copies can be obtained from Editions Menor or Librairie Chretienne CLC. The Title in French is “Libération des Rois pour le ministère dans le monde du travail”. Cees is also the guy who made the Dutch translation possible - available through his website. He can be contacted for Releasing Kings conferences in France and throughout Europe. Facebook - I'm posting more information on Face book at http://www.facebook.com/john.garfield1
|