PARABLES AND THEIR MEANINGS

There are numerous examples Biblical patterns of three that relate to our lives. (See again A Revelation of… The Power of Three) However we are going to limit ourselves to one that succinctly and beautifully sums up the basis of God's desire for how we should walk with Him. Found in one verse, tucked away in the middle of the last 'Book of Revelation' of the Bible, incidentally the one on which Walking With Jesus Ministries is based, clearly defines the path God wants us to take. The path towards becoming one that produces a 100-fold crop.

One day as I, in my usual, unusual fashion, was feeling good with myself for nearing my goal of finishing reading the Bible from beginning to end, the Lord stopped me at Revelation 12:11. He told me to base a ministry upon this verse and went on to explain what it meant. Once I got over the initial shock, I did it!

The special verse talks about a particular, some would say 'peculiar' group of people, who are able to overcome satan. We know from experience that these are not your normal Christian, for our lives surely reflect the obvious - that in most of us, satan has not yet been fully overcome. Yet in these simple 29 words, Jesus reveals through the revelator, John, how it is to be done. And here it is.

"They overcame him (i.e. satan. See verse 10) by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death." (Revelation 12:11)

Here we are given a cumulative three-step process as the means by which we can fulfill the ultimate goal in our Christian journey, to overcome the power of satan in our lives. To become fully reconciled with the Father! To become reflections of Jesus! As taught by the Holy Spirit! What Jesus did 'positionally', spiritually, for us on the cross, we still have to apply 'experientially', practically, to our lives. This dilemma of the ongoing battle within us between our old earthly and new heavenly natures, the Apostle Paul describes so vividly.

I have met but two extra 'super-spiritual' men in my life, those who effectively claim to have reached perfection. One was shown not to be so by his treatment of his wife and his teachings, the other by his reaction to the Holy Spirit coming in a way he couldn't control. Very definitely, spouses and the Holy Spirit are two critical areas that expose our old earthly natures!

So let's now have a look at the 3 ways in which satan is overcome in our lives.

Belief in Jesus, is the first and foundational step in our Christian experience. The words used by John the Baptist in announcing the ministry of Jesus were:

And of course we are forgiven through the blood that represents life. His life for our life, as God requires.

We take the first step on our walk through believing and personally accepting that Jesus died for us, as 'the blood of the Lamb'. We cannot earn our salvation through living a good life, but are accepted back into relationship with God the Father through the blood of Jesus. Jesus is our one and only 'hope' of salvation.

Walking in this amazing truth of the salvation of Jesus enables us to produce a 30-fold crop.

Receiving forgiveness for our sins though, is just the beginning of our Christian walk. We next have to grow into the likeness of Jesus, not physically, (fortunately ladies!) but spiritually. To enable us do this, Jesus promised that the Father would send the Holy Spirit. He arrived 50 days after Jesus rose from the dead, having overcome satan and sin on our behalf, on the day of the Jewish 'Feast of Weeks', which we call the Day of Pentecost. ('Pente' meaning 50)

The Holy Spirit empowers us to make the necessary adjustments and changes in our lives required to become more and more like Jesus. As Paul said:

But how do we relate, 'the word of their testimony' to the Holy Spirit, I can hear you asking? Well, that was my question of the Lord too, when he first stopped me at this verse. And as usual, He had the answer! He took me to Matthew 12:34.

The book of James similarly tells us that “no man can tame the tongue (3:7)”. Yes, in the end, no matter how we try to cover things up, when tested, the words we speak reflect our heart attitude. And our heart, the symbolic seat of our emotions or feelings, is the realm of the Holy Spirit. That is why, when we are baptized in or released into the power of the Holy Spirit, our ability to express our emotions in our worship, in the adoration of our God, increases amazingly.

The power of 3 once again! The Holy Spirit builds the reality of Jesus into our life. He increases our level of 'faith'. I have found this to be reality too, when looking at individual Christians and churches. For those who are empowered by the release of the Holy Spirit in their lives, while still having lots of faults, are more open to allowing Him to change their lives and generally show a greater dedication towards the expansion of God's Kingdom. Enabling us to produce a 60-fold harvest.

The ultimate goal of every Christian is to become like Jesus. And the key area of difference in His life to ours, (excluding resisting sin 100%) was his 100%, absolute obedience to the will of God the Father - even though it would ultimately cost Him his life. This is amazingly illustrated in the hours before His death.

Yes, Jesus was literally prepared to sacrifice His life for the Fathers will. So we too, are expected to deny our own human desires to do His will. For most of us this, at least until now, this has not required literal martyrdom. In a way though, it's equally difficult living a life of total obedience as it is facing death for the cause. So for most of us, the death talked about in this verse is 'death to self.' It is hard and it is painful, but it reaps the richest of rewards.

And which forms the basis of the Golden Rule, the 'new commandment' of Jesus.

Yes, the precious ones throughout the ages who have been prepared to commit their all to Jesus by doing the Fathers will as revealed by the Holy Spirit, are those whom truly display God's 'love.' These are the hearts that God truly desires. For 'love' is the greatest of all.

Truly those who produce the 100 fold harvest.

..... as we see the application of the parable to the church.