IT IS US, NOT ME – RECEIVE HEAVEN’S PERSPECTIVE

THIS IS THE MESSAGE GOD GAVE ME TODAY FOR THE BODY OF CHRIST. I sense it is really important that you read this and not take it for granted. I feel the weight of it in my heart.

Today I had planned to spend the day having time alone with God, just to hear from Him about myself and to re-center on His goals for my life. I choose to do this once a month in order to get a laser sharp focus into His plans for my life.

Many things tend to throw us off kilt and unbalance us on our journey, on a regular basis. Only intentional re-centering on His plans for our life can help us move ahead with purpose to fulfill the call He has for our lives. Allowing the winds of life to drift us and following where they lead will only result in a wasted life. I have a plaque in my home which says:

“ONE DAY YOUR LIFE WILL FLASH BEFORE YOUR EYES, MAKE SURE IT’S WORTH WATCHING …”

I make sure of this by setting a day aside to seek God and think with Him about where I am at in every area of life to ensure I stay on target and up to date with His plans for my life.

I was so looking forward to today … but I had a feeling as I drove off from home that He is not going to let the day be just about my re-centering. I started to pray while driving to the Gold Coast, making sure that I had a clean heart before Him. I felt led to apologize for any time my bad 

choices have impacted on other people who were meant to receive from me and I was not able to give. He then led me to forgive anyone in the body of Christ who was not there for me when I needed them.

I felt His heart which was yearning deeply that we all give one another what we need from each other in the body of Christ, that we consider one another deeply. Oh, how important this is to Him! If you could feel His longings for this! I started to cry as I felt my heart softened by His desires for a church where every member cares DEEPLY for the other members…

He continued:
Mari, do you realize how important it is what each of the people in the Body of Christ does for each other?
Do you see why I have asked you to love one another?
Do you see how vital it is to think with an ‘us perspective’ rather than a ‘me perspective’?

Let Me explain and unpack this for you:

EVERY decision you make is not just about you, it affects the health and strength of the Body of Christ.

When you decide not to pray one morning, YOU DECIDE TO WEAKEN THE BODY OF CHRIST.
When you decide to allow yourself tempted into a particular sin, YOU DECIDE TO CORRUPT THE BODY OF CHRIST.
EVERYTHING you do or don’t do is not just about you, it has an effect on the Body of Christ.

THEREFORE, I WANT YOU TO CHANGE YOUR WHOLE CHRISTIAN WORLD VIEW TO NO LONGER THINK ‘YOU’ BUT THINK ‘US’.

AND TEACH THE CHURCH TO DO SO AS WELL.

When My disciples asked Me to teach them how to pray, I started by showing them the heavenly perspective. I wanted them to understand what heaven values and to think like heaven thinks:
‘OUR Father’
‘Give US our daily bread’
‘Lead US not into temptation’
‘But deliver US from the evil one.’

I showed them what heaven values: an ‘US’ perspective rather than a ‘ME’ perspective. I want you to change your Christian world view to the ‘US perspective’ – every decision is about us, not just about me. And teach My people to do the same.

Every individual’s decisions are not just about them, it is about the Body of Christ. If they make poor choices, the Body will be weaker, if they procrastinate in obtaining the promises of God in their lives, my Body will have lack. If they don’t fulfill their part in the will of God, the Body will not receive something they were meant to provide as a member of the Body.

And He said to me: Prepare yourself for what My people will say to this message:
“Of course, we all know that, we are all members to one another’

Tell them that they don’t know it as they ought to know it, or they would live very differently and revival would be the result if they did.

Jesus gave us ONE NEW COMMANDMENT:
“Love one another AS I HAVE LOVED YOU.”

Why was this a NEW commandment? They already had ‘Love your neighbor as yourself’ as a commandment from the Old Testament. This was a new commandment because Jesus showed them HOW to love, based on His own example. He GAVE HIMSELF for the church. He explained what kind of love He is expecting us to walk in.

Not love as WE know it, from the examples we see in the world, not our own concept of love, not what the world defines as love, but love as defined by His life example.

His love was one that died to self for the benefit of others. He said that He willingly gives His life for our benefit. He gave Himself in obedience to God for our benefit, even to the point of death on a cross.

He showed His love to the end, when He took the apron of a slave and washed the disciples feet at their last dinner together. He did so in order to teach us what it means to love each other to the highest degree. He showed that death to self must work in us so life can work in others. It’s no longer about me, but about us, it’s about how ‘me’ gives way to ‘us’.

Heaven has an ‘us perspective’. In an individualistic society like Australia, this is a challenge for us to renew our minds and change the perspective of our life in order to align with the heavenly perspective. No wonder the early church experienced the heavenly ‘us perspective’. Observe how many times the word ‘together’ appears:

“All the believers were TOGETHER and had EVERYTHING IN COMMON. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet TOGETHER in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate TOGETHER with glad and sincere hearts.” Acts 2:44-46

There are around 70 verses in the New Testament alone that speak about the ‘us perspective’ through the use of ‘ONE ANOTHER’ commands – because we are ‘members to one another’ and we need to:
‘Admonish one another’
‘Love one another’
‘Be kind to one another’
‘Forgive one another’ etc

HOW DO I APPLY THIS?

Before you make a choice, consider the ripple effects in the Body of Christ.
How will your choice impact the other members that need what you as a member are meant to supply to the whole Body?
Will it strengthen it or will it weaken it?
Will it corrupt it or will bring health to it?
Will it add something good to it or bring loss to it?

Don’t make the decision until you have considered the consequences. When you are happy with the end result your decision will produce, go ahead. If not, reconsider.

One day your life will flash before your eyes and God’s – make sure both you and Him will like what you will see.