Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Thanksgiving Conference 2011 Brief, Brief, Brief Recap!

So you struck gold this week!

I will be posting two entries because this past weekend there was a marvelous conference in San Jose that I didn't get to go, but got to watch all the messages through the webcast.

First of all, let me say that this thanksgiving break was both awesome and sad at the same time. This was the first year that I was not able to go to the Thanksgiving Conference live, because it was too far. The last few years it's been at drive-able locations, Columbus and Indianapolis, but they took it away from us :( The good part was that I got to spend quality time with the families in Chicago. It was a great time hanging out with the Barker's, the Robert's, the Yun's, the Johnston's, and the Hall's. We ended up having 6 Thanksgiving meals in total.. a record in my life which I hope I never, ever dare to attempt again.

Anyway, enough of myself, time to focus on the conference! The general subject and the burden of the conference this year was: the focus of the Lord's recovery.

To be honest, going in, I had no idea what this phrase meant, or what it could possibly mean. So, let me do some assisting work for you. First of all, defining the words:

fo·cus

[foh-kuhs]  noun
 
a central point, as of attraction, attention, or activity: The need to prevent a nuclear war became the focus of all diplomatic efforts.

If our Christian living is a road, the center will be the stripes that divide the incoming and outgoing traffic. This conference made me realize how much of my living is in the outskirts, the edges of the road, if not even further, on the dirt on the side of the roads. Well, it's good to be re-calibrated and re-focused!

The Lord's recovery, is not the name of a group, nor an organization, nor a movement, it's something God has been doing ever since Genesis 3. After the fall, God has been doing a recovering work, bringing man from his fallen state back to the original state He had planned in Genesis 1 and 2. In Genesis 1 and 2, we see God's heart's desire and eternal purpose.

In creating man as a vessel in the image of Himself (Gen. 1:26) , God wanted to fill man with Himself. For what purpose? For the purpose of gaining His expression. This is consummated in Revelation 22 with the New Jerusalem. You look at the materials that compose the New Jerusalem - they are all pictures of the Triune God! The golden streets, the jasper walls, the precious stones... No time for me to get into those..

So, knowing the definitions of these words, what is the focus of the Lord's recovery? It is the testimony of the Triune God, which is simply a corporate expression of the Triune God, the testimony of Jesus.

Man failed in Genesis, and continues to fail throughout the Scriptures, and man's failure is constantly seen again and again carried out in our daily lives. Even in the midst of all the men who failed, there is one man who has fulfilled God's original desire, that is, the man Jesus! The Father calls this one His delight, and we should hear Him and see Him only. Jesus, in all His human living, lived for the Father's will and expressed the Father in His thoughts, feelings, intentions, speaking, and living. So you can say, that God's purpose was accomplished in one man. However, God doesn't just want a single, perfect (perfect in God's eyes, not ours) man. He wants a corporate expression - many ones who are just like Jesus.

This man went through a process of death and resurrection, to become the life-giving Spirit to enter into our spirit! He did this to make Himself available to us whenever and wherever. Now, when we contact this One in our spirit, to enjoy Him and partake of Him, we become Him. The phrase you are what you eat (John 6:57), is really true.

Anyhow, my prayer after this conference is "Lord, thank You for recalibrating me!" Also, I am encouraged yet again to read in prayer, Paul's prayers in Ephesians 1 and 3. And also, I really want to get into these messages again. I have to say, the few paragraphs I have put up here is very short, maybe 3% of all the riches in the conference. There is still much left to dig. Anyway, praaaaaaaaaise the Lord!

1 comment:

  1. Amen Joseph, thank you for sharing! May we be recalibrated and refocused to the testimony of Jesus!

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