I Must Be About My Father's Business

Every living thing is involved in and sustained by three functions: input, process and output. Likewise, the spiritual growth and maturity of a Christian revolves around these three processes redefined as: relationship, transformation, and dominion. Relationship involves God and man sharing a mutual interaction of love, communication, and trust as: Father/child, Groom/bride, Master/servant, Friend/friend. Transformation involves continuous change: less of my will and more of God’s will, less of my mind and more of God’s mind, less of my limited human love and more of God’s perfect agape love. It involves dominion over self (the soul: will, mind and emotions) -- “He must increase and I must decrease.” Dominion involves God sharing His authority and power with man to fulfill His will and work on earth as we are directed and driven by His perfect love. This involves dominion over Satan and sickness in the harvest field and battlefield. Every concept in the Bible that pertains to Christian living and service relates to one or more of these three key themes or concepts. These should be repeated in a continuous cycle to bring spiritual maturity and fulfillment of God’s purpose and will for our lives. Isaiah’s Three Dimensional Vision: After King Uzziah’s death, Isaiah went to the house of God. Isaiah Chapter 6 describes his life-changing vision and encounter with God and illustrates these three significant elements: Upward vision: He saw the Lord in His holiness and glory. He saw his need to renew his relationship with God. “In the year that King Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple.” It was a vision of height -- the Lord high and lifted up. It was a vision of God’s holiness. A Holy God with the angels crying, “Holy, Holy”. Inward vision: He saw himself and his need for repentance, and transformation. “Then said I, Woe is me! For I am undone; because I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips: for mine eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts.” It was a vision of depth. He saw the recesses of his own heart that needed to be cleansed and changed. It was a vision of helplessness: “I am undone” (my needs). Any time we draw near to God and feel His awesome holiness, we have to fall at His feet like Isaiah and repent. Outward vision: He saw the world, the needs of others and a calling to step into the dominion role to do God’s will and work. “Also I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then said I, Here am I; send me.” It was a vision of breadth that revealed a world with needs that must be met. It was a vision that revealed the desire of God’s heart – for someone to deliver His message to the world. It was God calling for help to fulfill His needs: “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Isaiah felt extremely secure under the leadership, friendship and protection of King Uzziah, because his name was revered throughout the world. But Isaiah’s relationship with Jehovah was incomplete, because he relied on the arm of flesh. It appears that he began trusting too much in a powerful earthly king and not enough in the heavenly King. When it comes to the Kingdom of God and our relationship with God, it is very dangerous to depend on human strength. It will displease God and weaken the leading of His Spirit in our lives: "Woe to them that go down to Egypt for help; and stay on horses, and trust in chariots . . . but they look not unto the Holy One of Israel, neither seek the LORD!" (Isa. 31:1). God desires a relationship with His children of complete trust and confidence in His wisdom, power and ability. A Vision, like Isaiah's is one that we all must have from time to time "Woe" was a word of confession for a need to be cleansed. "Lo" was a word of remission for sins forgiven. "Go" was a word of commission to take God’s message to the world. Twenty- five hundred years later, “Go” is still the most important word of Jesus recorded in His Great Commission to every born-again believer. And may our answer be that of Isaiah: “Here am I; send me.” The Great Commission is not an option to be considered; it is a command to be obeyed! This all-consuming priority of Jesus is emphasized in His Great Commission recorded in the first five books of the New Testament: “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to every creature.” But before Jesus sent them, He told them to tarry in Jerusalem for revival power to accomplish the task of evangelism: "Behold, I send the promise of my Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high" (Luke 24:49). It is Jesus, the Lord of the harvest, who gave the sequence of the two commands: “Tarry ye” and, “Go ye.” “Tarry ye” -- that is revival. “Go ye” -- that is evangelism. And it must always be in that sequence. Like Isaiah, a vision of God will first bring an upward look to see anything between us and God -- anything we have relied on more than God. An inward look will bring an awareness of our need to change and be transformed -- producing inward fruit. Then the burden and call of God will bring an outward look to a lost world and our need to step into the dominion role of doing God’s will and work – producing outward fruit. • The greater our inward look and inward revival with inward fruit -- the greater will be our outward look and outward revival with outward fruit.