Marvin's River: 2011

Will you come?

JESUS IS THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE

Matthew 11:28 – “Come to me all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

Jesus is describing the Jews as suffering under a load of righteous responsibilities laid on them by the priest, rabbis, scribes, and Pharisees.

Matthew 23:4 “For they bind heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on men’s shoulders but they themselves will not move them with one of their fingers”

Acts 15:10 “Now therefore, why do you test God by putting a yoke (the law) on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we were able to bear.” [Peter Speaking]

Galatians 5:1 “Stand fast therefore in liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage” [Paul Speaking]

Jesus came and fulfilled the law. He did not end the law but we are no longer under bondage of the law.

Jesus is calling us to rest in Him when we feel heavy burdened from trying to do what we feel we must do to receive salvation. Jesus is saying, Do not allow “Man” to burden us down with the law but instead to come to him for rest for He has fulfilled the law and we are no longer under the bondage of the Law. We will become heavy burdened when we allow “MAN” (Priests, Rabbis, Scribes, and Pharisees) to lead us to live in accordance to the Law. To live in accordance to the law means we will be working to fulfill the law instead of just receiving the fulfillment of the law through Jesus. It is by the GRACE of God and not of the works of our hands, mind, or body.

All we have to do is come to Him! Will you come to Jesus?

Luke 9:23 “Then He said to them all ‘If anyone desires to come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.”

Although Jesus offered salvation as a free gift, He also warned that following Him would entail suffering and hardship.

Matthew 5:10-12 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for my sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.”

Romans 8:16-17 “The Spirit Himself bears witness with our spirit that we are children of God, and if children, then heirs – heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.

Jesus will always be there for us. He will walk with us, talk with us, carry us and even hold us. He lets us know that we will be persecuted in His name. We will go through sufferings for righteousness sake. If we are willing to go through the persecutions and sufferings, he will be there for us to go to receive rest. Not only we will receive rest in Him but we also we be glorified together.

All we have to do is come to Jesus. Will you still come?

Rivers of Eden Ministries is praying regarding the day to begin meetings again in Finland. All we want to do is allow Jesus to work through us in accordance to God’s will. Are you weary and tired from the bondage's man has placed upon you to work in accordance to the law? Are you willing to come to Jesus and allow Him to give you rest? Are you willing to come to Jesus to begin to do the Will of the Father through you?

John 12:32 – “And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all peoples to Myself.”

In this statement, Jesus is talking about the physical lifting up from the earth that God would perform and not “man” lifting Jesus up for Him to draw all peoples to Himself.

We pray “Jesus we lift you up so draw all people unto you because you said that if we lifted you up you would draw all unto yourself.” This is incorrect in accordance to what Jesus was speaking in Matthew. Jesus was talking about the resurrection that had to take place in accordance to God’s will for all of us to receive salvation.

We cannot expect Jesus to fill a building or to bring people just because we say that we lift him up on high in accordance to John 12:32. We are to allow the lifting up of Jesus by God to be seen through us in what we do, what we say, how we act, in everything and then Jesus will draw people unto Himself. We can expect Jesus to fill a building if the people are willing to hear Him calling. Will you come?

As I was reading notes by Chip Brogden on Ekklesia, I was hit by God with the word abbreviation. Abbreviations are a derivative of man to speed up their writing. Words, names, places, names of institutions, etc. are shortened to letters instead of writing all the letters. Management is abbreviated to Mgmt; University of Southern California Los Angeles is abbreviated to UCLA; Church of God in Christ is abbreviated COGIC; the book of Matthew is abbreviated to Matt: and so on and so on and so on. In man’s attempt to move faster and not have to do things in fullness, they have abbreviated many things. Abbreviating is basically the taking of the fullness of something and breaking it down into smaller portions to allow more time for something else.

In Matthew 16:18 Jesus said “….on this rock I will build My church (ekklesia), and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it.” Note that Jesus did not say I will build My churches (ekkesias) but instead just “Church” (Ekkelsia). Jesus was saying that He will build His FULL church not part of a church. This Ekkelsia was not to be an abbreviation but instead to be fullness. I am saying all of this because God showed me that Man has taken what God has meant for fullness and applied abbreviations to break the fullness down to smaller components to allow man to move as they want to move.

Man has abbreviated the Ekklesia that Jesus spoke of into many abbreviated parts. If one today speaks of the church, most likely they are talking about a building is some location. When one states that they will attend church on Sunday, they are usually speaking of going to some building of some denominational aspect. Man has abbreviated the church (Ekklesia) to be known as a building instead of leaving it in the fullness that Jesus was speaking of building. Man has gone farther in abbreviating the “church” building into Denominations. This is an AOG (Assembly of God) Church; this is a COGIC (Church of God in Christ) church; this is a Bpst. (Baptist) Church; etc. etc. etc. Man did not stop there. Man has continued to abbreviate the Ekklesia even farther. We have men’s meetings, women’s meetings, children church, youth groups, Wednesday training meetings, and on and on and on it goes. Men meet with men so that they can talk about things in their lives that they should not be talking about in front of women or their wives…. If men are doing things in their lives that can not be discussed around their wives or other women, then maybe they should stop doing those things since they are not of Jesus, for Jesus, or through Jesus. This is also true for the women meeting with other women because they cannot talk about certain things in their lives in front of men. Man abbreviates the youth and children into a group away from the adults because they are not at the maturity level of the adults. Sorry, in the years of working for God and through God, I have met many “Young” people of a higher maturity than some thirty, forty, or fifty year old individuals. This separation is man’s way of abbreviating farther the Ekklesia Jesus is building.,

The following is a quote from the notes by Chip Brogden that I feel shows how man continues to bring in abbreviations to the fullness of the Ekklesia to break down the full power Jesus wants. Chip stated “We have ideas about buildings and steeples; denominations and congregations; preachers, programs, the worship service; Easter and Christmas; choirs, ushers, deacons, elders, boards; picnics, tithes and offerings; pastors, associate pastors, ministers; seminaries, Sunday school, vacation bible school, youth groups; Sunday morning service, Wednesday night service; prayer meeting, men’s meeting, women’s meeting, children’s church, and on and on and on it goes.” All of these are outward things (abbreviations to the Ekklesia [church]), natural, earthly, easily seen and heard and experienced but they are not the Ekklesia in fullness. They are an abbreviation of the Ekklesia that Jesus spoke of building.

The church (Ekklesia), that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 16:18, is being built by Jesus. It is not being built by man and is not being organized by man. Man is not the author or the creator of it. It is not a system of man. Not an organization of man, not a denomination of man, and not a movement of man. Man can build the highest, most beautiful building, and call it a church by a denominational name, organize the meetings to man’s perfection, and even claim a movement taking place but it will never be the Ekklesia that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 16:18. The Ekklesia is not a system of man, not an organization of man, not a denomination of man and not a movement of man. The true full Ekklesia that Jesus spoke of building is all of us who are abiding in Christ and sharing His life.

It is MAN that has developed or created abbreviations and not God. Abbreviations are of the world and not of the Kingdom. I must recognize that the Holy Spirit that is within me is the same Holy Spirit that is within Debra, and the same Holy Spirit that is within a youth or child that has accepted Christ as Lord and Savior. Jesus does not abbreviate or give a part of the Holy Spirit but instead the full Holy Spirit to live within each of us. If we want to experience the fullness of God, then we must remove Man’s abbreviations when addressing the Kingdom. God’s Word is to be addressed in fullness and not abbreviated to take certain parts or verses out of context to support man’s belief or desire.

I want the fullness of Christ. I do not want man’s abbreviations to the Ekklesia that Jesus spoke of in Matthew. What about you?