The Psalmist

The Psalmist is not a rare unique person who spews out poetry wherever he goes. He is someone who has seen more of God than we do. He has seen more of God at work in the situations of life.He has seen more of the nature of God. He is a person whose spirit is in tune with God and His Spirit.

The Psalms are not just chapters of how the Psalmist received comfort from God in His times of trouble. The  main theme ringing throughout the Psalms is about the mighty works of God. When the Psalmist talks about his enemies, he does not stop with God passing judgement on his enemies. He continues to mention how God is righteous and just and how He is going to judge wickedness everywhere.  He cannot be satisfied with God destroying his enemies but he exults that God's righteous reign is over all. The Psalmist is not just praising God for His righteousness and justice but he is also a person who has tasted of the joy of living in righteousness and justice himself.

The Presence of God

The presence of God is being taught and sought after nowadays as the place where God can manifest His glory and remove every problem from His people. They see it as a magic place or more like a cloud which can envelope them and bring dramatic changes no matter what kind of life they are living until then. People are waiting for His presence to fall upon them and think that nothing else really matters. So they sit there doing nothing but going to meeting after meeting, longing for the breakthrough 'experience from heaven'. The problem is that they have unknowingly embraced a gospel of passivity which is the hallmark of deceptive spirits. 

Now the presence of God can come upon us in visible manner but that is God's prerogative. We are called to go to His presence and not just wait for His presence to be manifest on us. We go in faith and not in feeling. We go not for the visible experience of it but for the invisible sanctification that takes place there when a saint prepares himself for the presence of God to benefit him. The right question is not whether we are enjoying God's presence, but rather - are we gaining from it?

The three types of trees in Eden

The three types of trees in the garden of Eden denote three different aspects of man's created nature. The different trees which was good for food meant that man was created a sensual being so that he could enjoy the blessings of God through his five senses. The tree of life meant that man was created an eternal being and that he could live for ever enjoying God even though he had a natural body. The tree of the knowledge of good and evil meant that he was created a moral being and that tree was there to help him know it, to warn him that there is something good and there is also something evil - something that goes against the way he was created to live. By not eating it, he was supposed to learn about morality, God's way. Something is right and something is wrong. He could know about evil without entering into evil. By eating of it, he learned about morality his way. He was now helpless to keep himself from evil. He learned about evil by entering into it headlong.

The Vision of the Church

The vision of the church is always the vision of Jesus for the church. We cannot make it less. We cannot make it more. The vision of the church is not evangelism. It is not bible teaching. It is not serving the poor. IT IS ALL OF THESE AND MORE. Now it is possible for us to say that the church leaders have received a vision. We personally can receive a vision. Paul personally received a vision. I can say things like - my vision for the church is that we become a powerhouse for prayer. But please understand that it is not the complete vision for the church. My vision is just part of the larger picture. Sometimes we need to combine all our visions together. I do not need to throw away my vision to fulfil yours. God's purposes are much bigger than what any one of us could do by ourselves. We are the body of Christ. If only we would realize that the different churches in a local place are not competing each other but complementing each other. The only line I can draw is when a church does not glorify Jesus and leads its people into the bondage of self-glory instead of the glorious freedom that comes from exalting the grace of God. A church cannot be truly called a church if it does not lift up Jesus.