Holy Boldness

reveals what is truly in man’s heart. That is why the message eludes the proud because they are not willing for the truth to come out and when it does, they become very angry. Rather than humble themselves, they lash out and attack the one person or thing that exposes them. This division between light and darkness touches the core of the soul as well as every relationship. For obvious reasons, light affects relationships. It even divides families. Commitment to the truth changes everything. Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. (Matt. 10:37) The commitment to Jesus as a bearer of truth, as the bringer of the Kingdom, and the embodiment of God’s covenant with mankind must claim first loyalty… even more than family. What Jesus was declaring and announcing was so important that there is no way that it could take a back seat to any other commitment. Jesus addressed things to the very depths. The deception that was in the world had spread to every man and every family. Jesus restored the original governmental order. He was the embodiment of all God’s promises. Jesus did not come to destroy family loyalty but rather He sought to establish true loyalty to God and His ultimate purposes. Jesus was not asking people to do anything different than what He did himself. Jesus had to walk away from His family in order to save His family as He pursued His mission to inaugurate the Kingdom of God. This journey was walked out in the fear of the Lord. This was the only way. To be a part of Jesus’ mission, one had to be more committed to God than to man, including family. Some of Jesus’ own family rejected Him. (See John 7:5) Eventually, Jesus’ entire family found their way back to Him and were part of the new covenant community. But for Jesus to establish a new spiritual order of covenant loyalty, a separation process from natural relations had to be embraced and walked out. As it was for Jesus so will it be for all His followers. In order to embrace the new, one must leave the old. Jesus came to establish an entirely new order of mankind, a new family of God. Those committed to the old order will forfeit the new. Do you see how the fear of the Lord is at the core of everything Family Loyalties?

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