Child, Son, Servant, Friend

   

    There is a progression in relationship with God. We are born a child, a baby.  We have nothing to do with that. God in is charge.  Then we are given the "power" to become a son of God.  Sonship is a settled thing in the mind of God, but it has to be walked out here.  A "son" is adopted.  That does not mean he is a foreign born child adopted into the family of God.  To be adopted a child must be tutored by the "Spirit of adoption".  In the Jewish culture, this was a highly educated servant or slave who would take the master's son and train him until about the age of thirty.  Then, at around that age there would be an "adoption" ceremony which declared that the child was no longer a child but a son.  Now, the son no longer worked for the father, he was in business with the Father.  This was what happened when Jesus was baptized and the Father said "this is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased".

    After sonship, which is to be thoroughly empowered, taught and led by the Holy Spirit comes the next stage. Sons become servants. Many are those who never arise to this level.  Oh, they may work hard for the church, or do many good works and even think they are serving the Lord but they remain an infant.  They refuse the Child-trainer, the HOly Ghost in His fulness.  You see, to be a servant, you have to be yielded to the master. The Bible declares that to whom you yield yourselves to, you become the servant.  Many are those who have burnt out in the work of the church who have never yielded one second to the Spirit of God.  They do what they do by their own decision. They do it how they want, when they want, as long as they want.  That is not a servant.  Oh, they work, but they don't serve. Serving and working are two very different things. The Bible also says that we are to yield the members of our fleshly body as one raised from the dead already.  That, sad to say, eleminates a lot of sons from ever becoming a servant. They exhibit no signs of resurrection. They are duty bound, grumpy, sour-puss infantile saints.  Nothing worse than an old saint still wearing diapers complaining about everything under the sun in their church.

  

    I  had served / worked for the Lord from a child to adult but it was not until the 60's  that I finally passed the class and became a servant.  My heart began to burn and my prayers became "Lord, I will do anything for you...I just want to serve you".   I didn't start as many do these days, with some prophetical voice declaring "You are going to be a great and mighty Apostle, Prophet, Pastor, Leader, Evangelist, Teacher, etc."   Many are the ambitious sons telling God what they want to be.   "I am called (want to be) an Evangelist".  That son may work himself into evangelism, but never become a servant.  A servant does not tell his master what he wants to do or be.  He serves.  Over the years, since those days, Bev and I have done anything and everything. We have evangelized, pioneered churches, restored churches, pastored churches, done television, recordings, wrote songs and books and ministered every way under the sun.  Some have called me apostle, pastor, prophet, evangelist and a lot of unmentionable things as well.  Before God, to me, none of that matters.  I just wanted to be a servant. I never wanted a title. I just wanted to serve Him.

    You see, the next stage from "servant" is "friend".  Oh, we should long to be a friend of God. A friend knows the secrets of God.  A friend knows the heart-wishes of God.  Jesus told His disciples, at a certain point, that from that time forth, He would no longer call them "servants" but He would call them "friends". We sing a lot these days, about being a "friend" of God and that is a good confession, a worthy goal.  However, being a friend also has to be walked out.  God makes sons out of babes.  He makes servants out of well-trained sons and He makes friends out of faithful servants. Don't skip a class  You have to born again (babe).  You have to be filled with and be led of the Spirit (son).  You have to learn to yield every moment, with resurrection fervor and joy, to the Holy Ghost (servant).  You have to attend all those classes to become a friend. And, then there is the intimacy of friendship. Words won't work to describe it.

The loving touch of God

  
   You know, it is a very foreign idea in this country for God to just want to touch His people.  Even though we are promised "times" of refreshing (revival, catching of the breath), many are those who don't want, don't believe, even resist the touch of God.  For me, and in our meetings, I love to see God just touch people for the sake of touching them. In the garden, apparently God came regular to fellowship with Adam and Eve.  He sat at the campfire with Abraham.  He became flesh and dwelt among men, touching them, talking to them, eating with them.  Why is that idea so hard for so many?   I have felt the saving, the healing, the forgiving, the delivering touch of God and will forever be thankful for each and every touch.  However, just as precious are those times God just lovingly touches me for no other reason than to just love on me. Oh me oh my!  It is melt-down time.  Ever had one? 

    Many are those who don't believe in the manifested presence of God, in any manner, but even those who do, struggle with the idea of a loving God just loving on His own.  In the church of my youth, and many I have been in since then, if there arose a sense of God being in the house, we were so schooled that such as time could only be seen as a time to put a harness on Him and put Him to work.   I have seen some of the sweetest times of worship and fellowship interrupted by a long altar call for the lost or the sick.  Why is that?   Where man rules, everything has to be about man.  They may call it Christianity, but it is about man.  Anything they are willing to accept, even from God, must be for the benefit of man.  Anything else is considered a waste of important man's time. 

    You see, there is a level of worship which for the most part is hidden to us and hidden by demonic design.  This kind of worship is a time in God's presence where He touches you and you touch Him in response.  Oh yes, I know there are moments when the altar calls are appropriate but there are also  times when God just wants to love on us.  And, He wants us to minister unto Him, to love Him back.  He once told Moses that He had brought Israel out of Egypt to be priests that would minister unto Him.  They never entered into that ministry.  Ezekiel tells the story God dividing the Levitical priesthood. One group, having been unfaithful, would still be priests, but only to the house and to the people, tending to sacrificial offerings and building care.  That was their punishment.  The other, the faithful sons of Zadok, God said they could come near to His table and minister to Him (Ezk. 44).  Don't you want to be in that number?  Or, would you rather your ministry be to the building and to the people?   An awful lot of folks choose the building and the people.  But, oh, for me to stand in His presence, to bask in His glory, to feel the touch of His love is something of such value, I would not trade it for anything.  

    If I had my way, if I could call the shots, if I could dispense some wisdom, I would urge every Pastor of every church to schedule regular meetings for the express purpose of letting God just touch the people.  I would suggest fasting, praying and preparing for those meetings like no other.  I would urge my people to get so thirsty for the Holy Ghost they would pray in desperation for His touch.   And yes, don't worry, we could still have the evangelistic, the healing, the teaching meetings as well.  However, why not set aside a time, just to have a touch of God that did nothing but say "I love you"?  The Bible says that if the Spirit that raised Christ from the dead dwells in us, that Spirit will "quicken", touch, charge up, our "mortal" body (Ro. 8:11). That is not a touch on your immortal body, that is a touch on your flesh.  Oh, it is good.  Why not crave that? I do.