Facing the Future

It seems to me that for some years the Lord has been at work changing the shape of His Church wineskin in preparation for the new wine. In His wisdom and grace Jesus is shaping you and I to conform to the image of Jesus. To quickly qualify that by the term Church I mean all those who have been "born from above" by trusting in the completed work of Christ on the cross - His death, burial and glorious resurrection. The purpose is for Him to share in "fellowship" with us. That is His choice! The plan is to prepare a spotless Bride - amazingly beautiful and so infused with the Spirit of the Holy One. We have been chosen by the Father, to be holy and to be the instruments to do His work, in His time and by His grace. We can tell others of the night and day difference that He makes in our lives - from nothing to something, from rejected to accepted.

Walking Alone:

In going on in our walk with Jesus I believe that we must come to understand that "without Him, we can do nothing!" Our daily walk with Him will be lonely at times and a dying to the preconceived ideas that "we can do it" in our own strength. Let us be clear - we cannot live this life through human effort, even through our best intentions. In a world that looks for affirmation and promotion we are called to walk in obscurity and alone. Of course there are many others who are also walking "alone" and He will join hearts on the journey of life as He sees fit. But, walk alone with Him we must if we are to honour Christ. In the days that lie ahead many will be called to walk in an aloneness with Christ which ultimately will reveal the harmony and diversity of the body of Christ. If we walk like this we will be a breath of fresh air to the world and a fragrant offering to God.

Prepared Hearts:

Today is preparation for tomorrow! It may be that you are feeling completely insignificant as a Christian. In the old way of doing things people used to say - "God will use you!" It has become a hackneyed phrase within religious circles and alone meant to be encouraging is somewhat of a slight against a loving Father. He prepares our hearts for service, He does not use us, thankfully. A prepared heart is a still heart, an available heart and a humble of heart. Everything that goes into a life of pleasing God has been miraculously given to us by getting to know, personally and intimately, the One who invited us to God. The best invitation we ever received.

Keeping in Step:

If we are serious about walking free from religion into lifestyle we must keep in step with His gracious Spirit. He encourages us - "Walk with Me and work with Me - watch how I do it. Learn the unforced rhythms of grace. I won't lay anything heavy or ill fitting on you. Keep company with Me and you'll learn to live freely and lightly.

Leaning On Him:

We are an ordinary people with faith in an extraordinary God. Some of us may remember the song we used to sing some time ago, which is partially taken from the Song of Songs - "Who is this coming up from the desert leaning on her lover?" It reveals a heart attitude which we need to learn each day afresh. His people coming through difficult times leaning and learning each day to lean and depend upon Jesus. As we see the Day approaching - even more we will need to learn this as a way of life. There are challenging times ahead of us and these times will act as a tool to discover the content of the heart. In some translations the word tribulation has the meaning of one treading out the grapes to produce the wine. The juice within the grapes will be pressed out and go towards the production of new wine. As this happens within His Church the blending of differences will create an indivisible unity of harmonious love where no self will, personal pride and ambition or carnal attitudes can divide us.

We have heard calls in the past to walk in unity with our brothers and sisters - but He is not looking for a superficial or organized unity; which may be based upon performance and external criteria. He is not interested in manipulated (man-made) unity but rather organic unity, which He will bring about. His intention is that our fellowship with Him will grow and mature and increase in liberty. Let us look at unity from a slightly different perspective - Individual believers walking alone with God with other believers who are also walking alone with God. In a very real sense, when each member of the Body of Christ works properly according to the measure of grace given then the whole body will reflect His order and harmony.

Our Goal - To know Him:

I love the defining statement , which Jesus makes about eternal life. "Now this is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent." In over thirty years on this journey He has constantly underlined and encouraged that desire within me, to know Him - not that I have arrived, but how wonderful it is as I grow in the knowing process.

I am not saying that we do not seek to maintain the unity of the body of Christ, but, that rather as we hear and respond to Him, Father will enlarge His grace in our hearts and bring about a unity with others. This focus on the Father will bring maturation for each believer. We have three children. They are unique and different to others because they are members of our family. They carry the "family likeness" They do not have to work at being a part of the Langford family, as they are by birth. They do need to be aware of maintaining the unity of the family and this they do by being aware of who they are and fulfilling their natural roles within the family unit. We are, through the new birth, members of The Father's family. This reality should grow within us every day as we come to know how wonderful The Father is. What each of us has to learn is a growing dependence upon Him in all things.

As we look to the future, we do not know what it holds but we do know the One who holds it. We will need to know the immediacy of His Presence and the reality that we can hear Him for ourselves without the need of an intermediatry to do the hearing for us. Our ordinary lives can be changed as we put our trust in Him and watch with amazement as that seed of trust grows within our hearts true and strong.

Let us look ahead to the future with confidence in Jesus knowing that He is with us each step of the way teaching us patiently to lean on the Beloved!

See you soon...