This was a special Sunday at Revival Life Church. There was a spirit of breakthrough from the beginning of worship followed by times of prophetic prayer and spiritual warfare. God was truly present in the service! Pastor Carl started the message with prophetic ministry over several individuals with words of hope and destiny.
Drawing from the Lectionary text of Matthew 15, Pastor Carl cautioned the church against the tendency to read ourselves into the text. Instead of allowing Holy Spirit to breath on the word and illuminate the plan of Jesus, we read ourselves into the text, taking the role of the hero.
The disciples were discriminated against by the religious leaders having had the religious leaders go to Jesus and telling Him that his disciples were not worthy of his tutelage. Jesus took His disciples to the region of Tyre and Sidon where they encountered a Canaanite woman who was begging Jesus to heal her demonized child.
The disciples quickly took the position of authority and tried to marginalize the woman the say way the religious leaders had done to them. Just as we discovered last week how they failed to be enlightened by the lesson of the multiplying of the bread, they failed to learn the lesson of their marginalization from the religious leaders.
Jesus was more than happy to heal this woman’s daughter and teach the disciples how easy it is to exploit power.
God always wanted Israel to be a blessing to the earth but continually fell into the trappings of empire building and idolatry. Jesus was preparing His disciples to be servants after he left instead of oppressors. Peter reminded the Jews of their call in 1 Peter 2:9-10 “But you are A CHOSEN RACE, A royal PRIESTHOOD, A HOLY NATION, A PEOPLE FOR God’s OWN POSSESSION, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;”
Or identity is tied to the promise of God to Abraham and his offspring to be a blessing to the whole earth.
When we read the Bible we need to look for the poor and oppressed that Jesus came to save and identify with them to see the true heart of God.
This week, pray for those in your life that seem far from God. Pray with the understanding that they are close to their breakthrough whenever you are near.
Think about how power dynamics can be an impediment to love and dream with God how He can use your power to give others a better life.
Share the love of God with someone. That’s the point of this whole faith.