I am a citizen of heaven

Essentials of Effective Prayer

Week 3

So in week 3 of our study, we were discussing Jesus' prayer that he taught the disciples to pray.  We discussed that the Lord's Prayer is a model for us on how to pray.  One of the elements of the Lord's Prayer is worship.  And part of worship is acknowledging God's Sovereignty.  (Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.  Matthew 6:9-11).

One of the cross referencing verses we studied was Philippians 3:20  ^"For our ^[a]citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ;" I started really thinking about that phrase "our citizenship is in heaven".  What does that mean?  It intrigued me.

First, let's look at Webster's 1828 dictionary:  The definition for citizenship is "The state of being vested with the rights and privileges of a citizen.".  

So Philippians 3:20 would then say that we are citizens of heaven.  But how does that work?  We live on the earth right now.  Using logic and reasoning, that means that a believer's permanent place of residence is in heaven.  Now, we are only an alien, an immigrant, here on this earth.  This is only our temporary home.

Benson's commentary had a good description:

This implys our citizenship, our thoughts, our affections, are already in heaven; or we think, speak, and act, converse with our fellow-creatures, and conduct ourselves in all our interaction with them, as citizens of the New Jerusalem, and as being only strangers and pilgrims upon earth. We therefore endeavour to promote the interests of that glorious society to which we belong, to learn its manners, secure a title to its privileges, and behave in a way suitable to, and worthy of our relation to it;

This concept of our citizenship being in heaven came up in class this week (week 5).  Particularly when we were discussing John 17:14-16: "I have given them Your word; and the world has hated them, because they are not of the world, even as I am not of the world. ¹⁵ I do not ask You to take them out of the world, but to keep them ^[a]from ^[b]the evil one. ¹⁶ They are not of the world, even as I am not of the world."

So Jesus Himself said we believers are not of this world, just as He was not.  And even though we are citizens of heaven, our "assignment" here on earth is to build God's kingdom.  Part of building God's kingdom is to mature ourselves to be more and more Christlike.  So when Jesus prayed "I do not ask You to take them out of the world", that means that God does not remove us from our hard circumstances sometimes.  We have to work through our problems.  It's not easy, but it's our job here for this very short time while we're on earth.

Persevere, beloved, Persevere!

Peeling an Onion today?

 Essentials of Effective Prayer 

Week 5

As long as I've known her, my mentor, Karen, told us a great analogy for spiritual growth - the onion!   Sounds a little odd, I know, but give me a minute and let me explain.

In class, we were discussing 1 John 1:9: "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness."  So this verse is all about recognizing our sins and confessing them to God.  God forgives us and we can learn from our sins and mistakes and grow ever more like Jesus.  It's a process called spiritual growth and maturity in Christ.

We were also talking that we are always being refined in God's image.  When we first accept Christ as our Savior, we might still look a lot like the world - nothing in our outward behavior has changed that much.  But when we accept Christ, we receive the Holy Spirit in us.  The Holy Spirit nudges and pushes us to slowly get rid of the outward sins.  Just like an onion.

So first the outer, superficial layers are peeled away.  As we get deeper and deeper into the onion, the harder and harder it is to get rid of those really deeply rooted character flaws.   The closer we get to the center smelly part of the onion, the more tears we shed.

For example, at first the Holy Spirit might be working on you to not swear.  Then He might work on you years later to practice kindness to others.  Then maybe again years later, after you've worked on those two things (and others), then He works on you to "capture every thought". (2 Corinthians 10:5).  It's all a process and just like peeling away the layers of an onion.

Have you peeled an onion today?

Iniquities vs sins

 Essentials of Effective Prayer 

Week 5

Today in class we covered week 5 of our study, Essentials of Effective Prayer. We were discussing about how our relationship with God affects our prayers.  More specifically, the thought that when we harbor sin in our hearts, God will not listen to what we have to say.

One of the Bible verses we looked at was Isaiah 59:1-2:

Behold, the Lord’s hand is not so short that it cannot save; Nor is His ear so dull
That it cannot hear. ² But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His ^[a]face from you so that He does not hear.

 Look more closely at verse 2 -  the prophet used the words "iniquities" and "sins".  Someone in class today questioned this - aren't they the same word?  But if so, why were two different words used.  Let's use some inductive study methods and see if we can figure this out. 

First, I like to check Webster's 1828 dictionary online. http://webstersdictionary1828.com/
Iniquities - means injustice, unrighteousness, wickedness.
Sins - the voluntary departure of a moral agent from a known rule prescribed by God.

 Next, I like to check www.blueletterbible.com:
Iniquities = Strong's Number H5771 - perversity, depravity;
Sins = Strong's Number H2403 - to miss the mark, to wander from the way;

Then, let's do some cross referencing where sins and iniquities are mentioned in the same passage:
Iniquities:
Psalm 51:2: “Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin”
Psalm 32:5: "I acknowledged my sin to you and did not cover up my iniquity. I said, ‘I will confess my transgressions to the LORD.’"

Here's another verse that sheds a light on iniquity:

Micah 2:1: “Woe to those who plan iniquity, to those who plot evil on their beds! At morning’s light they carry it out because it is in their power to do it.”.  So from this passage we see iniquity means a premeditated choice.

Now, let's go back to our passage in Isaiah 59:2 and apply these truths to the passage and see what we can learn.  We can also look at the passages from Psalm as they both mention iniquity and sin together.   By looking at all these verses, the meaning is clear:  Iniquity is clearly meditated and detestable acts.  Sin is knowing God's law and being disobedient to that law.

 Repeating in Isaiah 59:2 -  But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, And your sins have hidden His ^[a]face from you so that He does not hear.
 Conclusion:   your willful detestable acts have separated you from God.  You knew God's law and you disobeyed.  Therefore, God has hidden his face from you so that He does not hear.

Do you wish to have a close relationship with God?  He's always there - it's you that has moved away.  Confess your sins, ask for forgiveness and get your relationship right with God.  Time is short, my friends!