January 5 2014 Stumbling Blocks to Love

1. Month In Review

2. Lichen- a perfect picture
of Christ’s design for the
Church
Intimate merger where two
living organisms have a
mutually dependent and a
mutually productive
relationship, creating
something together that is
more dynamic than either of
them alone could achieve

3. ECCLESIA: a governmental body of the
called-out ones
 Jesus himself established the ecclesia and He is
the head
 The gates of hell cannot prevail against it
 Contains the keys to the Kingdom- gives them
power to lock and unlock things on earth
 Christ fills the ecclesia with the fullness of who
He is
Matt 16:18-19; Eph 1:22-23; Col 1:17-19

4. KOINONIA
 The expression of intimacy, communion, and
covenant that a group of people share with Father,
Jesus, Holy Spirit AND each other
 Displayed through LOVE- Horizontal as well as
Vertical
 Jesus’ only command was that we love God and
each other- Matt 22:36-40; John 14:20-24; John
15:12, 17; 1 Cor 13, Gal 5; Colossians; 1Thes

5. KOINONIA (cont’d)
 John 13:34-35 ““I am giving you a new
command: that you keep on loving each other.
In the same way that I have loved you, you are
also to keep on loving each other.”
 Bob Jones word from Nov 2013

6. God is looking for:
A governmental structure that is life giving and
encourages diversity and uniqueness in
individuals
A governmental structure that doesn’t devour the
individual
Individuals who are life giving to others and to the
community
Individuals that are just as committed to
maintaining unity and loving each other well as
they are to loving God well

7. Stumbling BlocksTo Love

8. Judgments
 To Judge: to infer, think, or hold as an opinion; to
conclude about; to assess; to decide upon
critically
 It’s a matter of the heart. 1 Cor 2:14-16
 There’s a huge difference between operating in
the spirit- thinking with the mind of Christ,
asking Holy Spirit for discernment, and speaking
with the heart of God- and operating in the flesh
with a carnal mind and heart

9.  Matthew 7: 1-5
 Luke 6: 36-37
 When we judge, we are then taking the role of God
 We devalue the person in the sight of God and are
elevating ourselves to a superior or more valuable
place in the sight of God
 When we make a judgment, we accuse them before
God, whether or not we actually say the words or
just think them in our hearts

10. Judgment generally starts when we are
offended by an individual or situation
 Get offended most easily by those we are in
relationship with
 We then experience a negative emotion when
we think about a person or situation- anger,
resentment, hate, accusation, critical or
negative attitude, blame shifting, retaliation,
sarcasm, contempt.
 Unforgiveness leading to bitterness often at
the root of the judgment

11. Types of Judgments
 Judging God
 Misinterpret negative events as instigated or
allowed by God
 Judging Ourselves
 We view ourselves by our mistakes and failures
 Judging Others
 Occurs when the sin done to us or to someone
else becomes an offense

12. CONSEQUENCES OF JUDGMENTS
 We condemn ourselves
 We become what we judge in others
 We reap destruction and things do not go well
with us
 We defile others
 We reap disease

13. INNERVOWS
 Vows are powerful commitments or oaths
 Large number of vows are made in childhood
 Unforgiveness—offense—judgment—vow
 May be spoken or thought
 Vows can direct our behaviors and our paths
and this often leads us into direct conflict with
the Lordship of Christ

14. Vows tie to our past by our inner vows and this
hinders us from moving forward in our growth
and maturity.
Vows can lead to repetitive thoughts connected
to that false belief and can “program” us to
certain behaviors
When the false belief and vow are replaced by
God’s truth, healing of the soul occurs and
growth and maturity can resume!

15. Stumbling BlocksTo Love:
Unforgiveness, Judgments,
&Vows