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| Positioning For The Kingdom |
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Positioning is a cultural phenomenon. I think we learn it in grade school. Remember those aptitude tests...there were no right or wrong answers...but we didn't know that.
We only felt the pressures of the 'testing' environment. At the end of the eighth grade, I remember receiving some of the results of aptitude tests taken throughout my years in the education system. The test results stated that I had an inclination to 'help people', therefore I should consider a career as a nurse, a teacher, or a counselor. In my mind, I failed miserably...I had no desire to be any of those things. What does an eighth grader understand about life paths?
The same is true about walking faith, isn't it?
We feel the pressures of the 'testing environment'...and we feel inclined to categorize the experience. Pass...or fail, acording to our own desires, and sometimes spurned on what by what others tell us. However, there are no right or wrong answers...only we don't know that yet. There is only one test question that you can fail: Do you believe?
That relieves the pressure. If you believe... you can't fail. Neither can you clamor for position--it isn't in your hands, and it never will be. There are no 'positions' to be had in the Kingdom other than that of a servant. All servants are created equal...and the Master chooses whom, what, why and where you will serve... servants have no choice. There is one trick question on the Kingdom aptitude test .It reads like this: 'will you obey?' It isn't a pre-qualified question--you don't get the liberty of narrowing it down to your own self-serving interests. It requires a yes or no answer. At the end of the day, no one pre-qualifies you for Kingdom service or sets you into position, except the King...and He may place you in positions you feel absolutely unqualified to be in...but there you are anyway. Take for instance, the woman described in Matthew Chapter 26 who washed the feet of Yahshua/Jesus with her tears, wiping the mud away with her hair--after spending all of her savings on a bottle of costly perfume with which to anoint Him. She was a sinner ...deeply despised...and no doubt the keeper of many sinful secrets. Yet, she was appointed a place in history for her act of worship...in the very presense of those who despised her. 26:13 Verily I say unto you, Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, [there] shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her. At that moment, she was elevated from a sin-ridden prostitute to Kingdom leadership through an act of unashamed, heartfelt worship. In that particular gathering, many leaders were present...religious leaders...disciples...community leaders--and she was chosen above them all. Servitude motivated through the purity of worship can impact history. Intentional positioning works in the world, but not in the Kingdom Seeking to position yourself, is tainted worship: Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came to him with her sons, giving him worship and making a request of him. And he said to her, What is your desire? She says to him, Let my two sons be seated, the one at your right hand, and the other at your left, in your kingdom. But Jesus made answer and said, You have no idea what you are requesting. Are you able to take of the cup which I am about to take? They say to him, We are able. He says to them, Truly, you will take of my cup: but to be seated at my right hand and at my left is not for me to give, but it is for those for whom my Father has made it ready. And when it came to the ears of the ten, they were angry with the two brothers. But Jesus said to them, You see that the rulers of the Gentiles are lords over them, and their great ones have authority over them. Let it not be so among you: but if anyone has a desire to become great among you, let him be your servant; And whoever has a desire to be first among you, let him take the lowest place: Even as the Son of man did not come to have servants, but to be a servant, and to give his life for the salvation of men. You can't vie for what does not exist in the Kingdom of God. You can only choose to worship or not. Worship interweaves the motives of the heart with action which leads to serving the Kingdom, by serving others. Remember--whom you serve is not your choice. We serve One, and His assignment is to serve all. "If any man serve me, let him follow me; and where I am, there shall also my servant be: if any man serve me, him will my Father honour." |
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| Nice blog! This helps get our man made ways of attaining promotion out of the way, and brings us back to the simlicity of attaining a servants heart. That is what the father seeks, and we need to hear it often because we can tend to become a bit self righteous sometimes! Thanks for posting! |
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Barvubuela--In that story of the woman with the alabaster box (Luke 7: 37-48) I think it is important to also see what it was that disturbed Yahshua about Simon's heart. While Simon had the guise of being gracious--there was no love...it was lip service, not heart service. No doubt, Simon was positioning himself by having this popular Rabbi and his crew over for lunch. His selfish motive is exposed in what he did not do.
To me, that's the big story here...if I make that personal...what is being exposed about the condition of my own heart through what I do and do not do in relationship to serving others? Is my service to Christ lip service or heart service? Am I more like Simon or more like the woman kissing the feet of Yahshua and washing His feet with my tears? |
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JayKTX |
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June 29, 2008 at 11:30pm |
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| Bravo! Excellent. I have been enriched by this post. |
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Joey |
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June 30, 2008 at 4:52pm |
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Thanks, Birdie |
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| If I may add to your wonderful insight. Romans 12:1 "I beseech you my brethern by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice Holy and acceptable unto God which is your reasonable service." Two concepts here...one of death and one of worship. "A living sacrifice" & "Reasonable Service." In the Kingdom of God we must die to self so that Christ might be made alive in us. Our service/worship to God involves us yeilding all of what we are to His glory. Birdie, good teaching! God Bless You and thankyou. |
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Brother Todd--I'm not so sure that my insight is as wonderful as my hindsight! lol!
Thank you for what you have added here--dying to self can really trip you up...I'm thinking that's the little clause in the contract that is often over looked...it's written in BOLD...signed in blood...yet we tend to skip over it...
Really...there is no reasonable service that one can lend to the Kingdom unless the Living Sacrifice clause has been fulfilled. Ahhh--the prerequisite!
Applying Romans 12:1 to this scenerio (Luke 7: 37-48) --we can visually understand that this woman was fulfilling that Living Sacrifice clause...while we see Simon denying it. Thanks for pointing that out, Brother Todd! Awesome!
What else can we pull out of these scriptures to help us understand the heartbeat of Kingdom service?
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| Birdie, excellent word. I had not read this blog. It all boils down to obedience and true worship from the heart. Wisdom Principle: God does not always respond to prayer, but He always responds to worship. It's all about the eternal issue; WORSHIP. Let us continue to worship.
~DR |
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| Good Morning Dr.! That is a powerful Wisdom Principle--thank you for adding it! I remember vividly your teaching on the only real 'eternal' issue'--in the end, all that remains is our worship. For all that we see Yahshua doing, He loudly declared 'I'm doing what I see my Father doing' --well, that simply means He lived his life in a constant state of worship and we can to, all we have to do is point our heart in the right direction begin the dialogue. |
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| I started to comment on this yesterday, and must have gotten busy and not sent it. I was going to say that for me, I keep seeing the title in my head as, Re-positioning For the Kingdom. I am in major re-positioning right now, so I guess that is why I keep seeing that. |
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I love that concept, Shannon--repositioning. When I think of that, I think of the 'backward Kingdom' analogy--in order to go higher we must go lower. When I read your comment I had this visual of entering in to worship--I usually start out standing--but the deeper and the more intimate the worship, the less elevated I become, and it's just natural repositioning of the body, the flesh. By the time I'm entering into the Holy of Holies--I'm usually flat on my face and have no desire to get up again ever. lol!
I think the same holds true for repositioning our life--for becoming that 'living sacrifice' Brother Todd spoke of. As we reposition our life for the Kingdom, we shed the non-essentials--we travel light and what we 'create for ourselves' fades away as He overtakes every aspect of our daily lives. We become more like a dancing partner, moving in perfect synchroncity with the Holy Spirit and less encumbered by the distractions of the world. |
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What a beautiful anology, you said:
| We become more like a dancing partner, moving in perfect synchroncity with the Holy Spirit and less encumbered by the distractions of the world. |
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Sorry about all the other stuff that showed up on
this copy and paste, but it will not delete! LOL! | | More Posts from Birdie Courtrig... |
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Joey |
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September 08, 2008 at 4:25pm |
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I've come back to this post again, Birdie.
You can't vie for what does not exist in the Kingdom of God. You can only choose to worship or not. Worship interweaves the motives of the heart with action which leads to serving the Kingdom, by serving others. Remember--whom you serve is not your choice. We serve One, and His assignment is to serve all. |
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