Hewn from the Rock!

We live in a wonderful time! God has deeply favoured our generation and we are seeing and experiencing an even greater revelation of Him. We tend to miss this wonderful revelation of God when we remain focused on ourselves. We are in fact, obsessed with ourselves; we tend to think that everything is about us when in actual fact the Word of God says that it’s all about Him! In ministry I’ve met countless people who have difficulty in hearing the voice of someone else (whether it be mine or someone else’s), because their hearts and minds are filled with their own voice. They are set in their way of thinking and in their interpretation of Scripture. Their lives are arranged according to these set ideas and they (more often than not) tend to fall flat on their faces because of these ‘theologies’. Can we just get away from our prejudices and earnestly seek the Truth in God’s Word? In the book of James (1:21) we find the following: "Wherefore lay apart all filthiness and superfluity of naughtiness, and receive with meekness the engrafted word, which is able to save your souls."

You see, the heart of the Gospel truly is the GOOD NEWS; we cannot save ourselves nor can we change ourselves. The life changing Spirit of God (who now abides in us) is the one who changes us (gradually). These changes are not the result of our own doing, we can only fake these changes and therefore certain fruit tend to be only seasonal (they do not last and more times than not, depend on our circumstances). In order for us to be transformed (changed without the possibility to return to the old way of existence), we need to allow the Spirit of God to do the changes in us. The only way this is possible is if we receive (take up, embrace or hold on to it until we become one with it) the engrafted Word (according to James 1:21), who is none other than Christ (who is the Word according to John 1:14). James goes even further and describes in what attitude we should do this: with meekness (without resistance)!

I am reminded of the story about the woman at the well (in John 4). Jesus speaks with the Samaritan woman and after only a few minutes, she realises that she is talking to the prophesied Messiah. In their conversation she realises that she is not merely a woman at a well, but that she is a woman with a well! You see; she struggled to find Mr. Perfect, someone who could meet certain expectations or fulfil certain needs. And this constant struggle for the right companion became her identity; the woman who had five husbands and the man she was with, was not her husband. But when Christ spoke to her about true worshipers who worship in Spirit and in Truth, she saw that she could not be defined by outer things, but that she is defined by inner things… her true identity lied in the One whom she was talking.

Isaiah 51:1 "HEARKEN TO Me, you who follow after rightness and justice, you who seek and inquire of [and require] the Lord [claiming Him by necessity and by right]: look to the rock from which you were hewn and to the hole in the quarry from which you were dug;"
Let the Holy Spirit open the eyes of heart and look to the Rock, from which you were hewn! The same thing happened to Peter when he realised who Jesus was:
Matthew 16:17-18 Then Jesus answered him, Blessed (happy, fortunate, and to be envied) are you, Simon Bar-Jonah. For flesh and blood [men] have not revealed this to you, but My Father Who is in heaven. (18 )And I tell you, you are Peter [Greek, Petros--a large piece of rock], and on this rock [Greek, Petra--a huge rock like Gibraltar] I will build My church, and the gates of Hades (the powers of the infernal region) shall not overpower it [or be strong to its detriment or hold out against it].

The moment Peter saw his true Origin, his name was changed from Simon (who came from Jonah), to Peter (who was hewn from the Rock)! Dear friends, the end of an era has arrived. You are not who the world or who other people say you are – your true origin lies Christ. “It is of Him [God] that you are in Christ” (1Cor 1:30), He is the Leader, the Source and the Finisher of your faith (Heb 12:2), you are His Handiwork (Eph 2:10) and, you are the branch and He is the Vine (John 15)!

Keep on looking in the Mirror (His Word, according to 2 Cor 3:18), and become who you are, in Him! Your Source will sustain you! Be blessed, because you are! (Eph 1:3)

Please feel free to make a comment, leave a message or ask a question- and remember: you are absolutely and completely loved by God!