By Francis Frangipane
Transferred Guilt
When church leaders serve the living Christ in love, aggressive faith, and prayerful humility, the people who live in harmony with their anointing become rich in the presence of God. Conversely, when a leader scandalizes a congregation by committing a major sin or is led into Christ-denying doctrinal deception, the heartache of his downfall is also absorbed into the perception and attitudes of those in relationship with him.
This precept, that a leader's sin carries negative consequences, is seen in other positions of authority as well. Consider the distress that crushes a family when a father or mother commits serious sin and ends up going to jail. Unless it is remedied, the impact of these events is similar to that of a curse upon one's life.
When a Leader Sins
God is Bigger Than Our Knowledge of Him
By Francis Frangipane
When God moves in the earth, He calls out the lowly people who are not satisfied by mere knowledge about Him, but who want God Himself. The Lord invades the lives of this people and begins to teach them the difference between His actual living presence and their knowledge about Him. He challenges what they think is right, and strips them of pride, enabling them to hear from Him and be led into His presence.
When we first come to God, we have so much of His joy and presence in our new life and very little knowledge about Him and His ways. We just love God: we have been saved! But slowly, a subtle change occurs and we gain knowledge. We begin, imperceptibly, to serve our knowledge about God, and this diminishes our Life with God. As our knowledge grows, it can actually envelop us, and we begin to lose the vibrant expression of the real God. Thus, the Lord causes us to lose confidence in our organized logic and programs and draw us into the ability to hear and obey His voice.
The Morning Star
The day of the Lord, like the dawning of any calendar day, does not burst forth abruptly. It is not pitch black at 5:59 a.m. and then, suddenly, bright morning the next minute. The night sky gradually recedes, retreating from the approaching rays of light. Even before the dawn breaks, the morning star faithfully heralds the coming day, announcing to the world still in darkness that light is at hand.
The Scriptures use the image of the morning star to depict the church at the end of the age. Indeed, this visual portrays well the reality that awaits us.
Concerning the end times, Peter wrote:
The Living Fire
What we define doctrinally as "salvation" is, in truth, the entrance, and then expansion, of Christ's presence within us. As we accept Him, Christ unites with our spirit and begins His transformational work: He begins to influence our thoughts, giving us insight into the Scriptures, convicting us of sin, and creating godly attitudes within us. He brings healing to the wounds of our past, and even our mortal bodies are quickened by His indwelling.
Our journey in Christ is, at the same time, His journey into us. We are His promised land. We can be assured that the giants in our lives, though they have humiliated us, will not humiliate Him. He shall conquer our enemies and dwell in us forever.
To Delight in Hiddenness
By Francis Frangipane
The desire to be acknowledged and appreciated by others is basic to human nature. After healing ten lepers, Jesus Himself seemed disappointed when only one returned to give thanks (Luke 17). Yet, while the need to be occasionally appreciated is not sin, it can become sin when our goal shifts from seeking God's glory to seeking the praise of men. We must determine that our service to mankind is guided by a higher, more focused obedience to God.
Jesus lived solely for the glory of God. We, however, too often seek the praise of man. In spite of the fact that Jesus repeatedly affirmed that the Father who sees in secret will reward us openly (Matt. 6), we remain offended if we do not receive credit for our good deeds. This quest for recognition can become a source of wrong motives and failed expectations; it can give a place to jealousy, pride and selfish ambition if we are not careful.
God Took You Seriously
People give their lives to Jesus Christ for many reasons. Some need physical or emotional healing; others are in search of peace and forgiveness. Whatever our condition, God meets us in the valley of our need. Indeed, the Lord reveals Himself to man as heaven's answer for our needs. He is a "father of the fatherless and a judge for the widows." He even makes "a home for the lonely" and leads "out the prisoners into prosperity" (Ps. 68:5-6).
God uses our need to draw us to Christ. Yet, the consciousness of our need narrows our revelation of God, limiting His activity in our lives to the boundaries of our struggles. Thus, many Christians never awakened spiritually to the deeper call of God, which is to attain the likeness of Christ. We are forgiven, healed and blessed, but we experience a ceiling on our spiritual growth.